CURIOSITIES OF THE OPERA.
MODERN COMPOSERS, AND CONCLUSION.
Our series of sketches now draws towards its close. The rise of the
many-voiced harmony in Italy, France, Germany, England, and the
Netherlands, the contrapuntal works of Palestrina, Dufay, De Lattre,
etc., come rather under the head of the history and science of music,
than within the scope of a work which only endeavors to collect the
curiosities of the art, and things not generally known. But in the rise
and progress of the opera, we find some interesting facts which belong
to our subject, and which bring our chain of sketches down to the music
of our own times.
The opera was the legitimate offspring of the Miracle plays of the
Middle ages, which were only sacred operas or oratorios, wherein some
events in the life of a holy personage were represented with songs and
acting. The first opera (being exactly like a “mystery play,” except
that the subject was a secular one) was “Orpheus,” by Angelo Poliziano,
and was performed in Rome in 1480. The libretto was by Cardinal Riario
(nephew of Pope Sixtus IV.)
Pope Clement IX., wrote seven librettos for operas. All was not sung in
these: they were rather tragedies with choruses.[279]
In 1500 the popes possessed a theatre, with decorations and machinery.
The paintings in this edifice were by Balthazar Peruzzi, who may be said
to be the father of scene painting. His scenery is said to have been
very realistic.
Julian de Medicis, brother of Leon X., on being proclaimed a citizen of
Rome gave public plays, and had a comedy of Plautus presented for two
days, the music of which was much admired.
In 1574, Claudio Merulo, organist at St. Mark’s, composed music to a
drama, which was performed in the presence of Henry III., of France.
Vincent Galileo, father of the astronomer, and Giovanni Bardi invented
the recitative at about the same time.
Peri and Caccini, two of the best musicians of Florence were engaged by
two rich noblemen to write for them a complete opera; _Dafne_, produced
in Florence (1597,) was the result, and was the first complete opera in
modern form; these composers were therefore the originators of the
opera.
An opera by the same writers was given at the wedding of Henry IV., and
Marie de Medici. Rinucci, the author of the _libretti_ of both the above
was silly enough to imagine that Marie de Medici loved him, and followed
her into France the ridicule which he received for his conceit soon sent
him back to Italy.
The score of “Orpheus,” by Monteverde, 1608, allows us to see the
construction of his orchestra.
There were,—
2 Clavichords,
2 Lyres, or Grand Viols (13 strings),
10 Violas,
3 Bass Viols,
2 Double Bass,
1 Double Harp (2 rows of strings),
2 Small French Violins,
2 Great Guitars,
2 Organs (wood),
4 Trombones,
1 Pair of Regals (small organ),
2 Cornets,
1 Small Flute,
1 Clarion,
3 Sourdines (muted trumpets).
These instruments gave to each chorus and character a different effect,
thus the double basses accompanied Orpheus; the viols, Euridice; the
trombones, Pluto; the regals, Apollo. The shepherd’s choruses were
accompanied by flute, cornets, sourdines and clarion, and most singular
of all, Charon sang to the light tones of the _guitar_.[280]
In Italy, from this time forth, opera followed opera.
In France it was not known till much later plays “with songs” were known
however, and one of these, “in the Italian style,” was performed in
Paris, before the King and Royal family, on the occasion of the victory
of the Duke of Guise at Calais, 1558.
The chief representations for years after, lay rather in the direction
of ballets, than of operas. Religious plays also still were given at
Paris, but after the ordinance, of 1548, that no Catholic ceremony
should be represented on the stage, they disappeared.[281]
The theatres, that is those which were public, were at this time very
poorly appointed, but through the constant festivities of the court,
many inventions came into use.
The Court of France had always a _penchant_ for music, the drama, and
dancing. Henry IV., was very fond of the latter.
Louis XIII., cultivated music with much success, he composed many airs,
and several motets which he had performed in his Chapel. Music was his
ordinary recreation when he could not go hunting. At the siege of La
Rochelle, there being no musicians or singers with the army, he himself
wrote out the vespers for Pentecost, that they might be ready in time.
Three weeks before his death, and after he had received the extreme
unction, feeling himself somewhat better, he begged Nyert, his first
_valet de garderobe_ to sing a paraphrase of David, which he had set to
music, to give thanks to God.
Saint-Martin and Campeforte who were present, each sang a part, and thus
made a concerted piece which they sang around the bed, the king from
time to time joining in with his own voice.
He also wrote a “_de Profundis_,” which was sung over him after his
death.[282] The words still exist which were written by him for his now
well-known “Amaryllis;” they were written for Madame de Hauteforte, and
one of the verses runs:—
Tu crois, o beau soleil!
Q’ua ton eclat rien n’est pareil;
Mais quoi! tu palis
Auprès d’Amaryllis.[283]
Tallement speaks of a concert given once where one of his songs was sung
four times, the king beating the measure. To these gatherings he would
admit none who were not musical, and no women whatever, “for” said he,
“_they cannot keep silent_."[284]
Under Louis XIV., the opera became well known in France, nor was it any
longer a borrowed spectacle, for Lulli in 1664 associated himself with
Moliere in writing; the latter furnishing the _libretti_, which were in
themselves of the best order. In 1672 he built a permanent opera house,
(Academie Royale de Musique) and thus gave to France, what it had never
before possessed,—a national opera.
There were, to be sure, a few French operas, before his enterprise; one
given at Paris, by Cardinal Mazarin, in 1645; one entitled “Akébar, King
of Mogul,” by the Abbeé Mailly and “La Pastorale en musique,” by
Cambert,[285] but these do not deprive Lulli of the claim of being the
“founder of French opera.”
La Fontaine tried to write some _libretti_ for Lulli, which were total
failures, and declined by the musician.
The King (Louis XIV.), was passionately fond of Lulli’s music, and would
hear scarcely any other.
About this time, the idea of _whistling and hissing_ to show
disapproval, was invented. It is said that Corneille’s “_Baron de
Fondrieres_” has the questionable honor of being the first play that
ever was hissed.
The hiss, spread rapidly, but on some one having injudiciously hissed
the opera of Orpheus, by the sons of Lully, the hiss was interdicted by
law in 1690.[286]
The repression was not very effectual, and innumerable epigrams (some of
which still exist),[287] showed the derision of the public.
The singers of Lulli’s operas had all the faults of their later
brethren. Dumenil, the tenor, used to steal the jewelry of the _prime
donne_, and get intoxicated with the baritone. He is said to have drank
six bottles of champagne every night, and only the sixth deteriorated
his performance.
Marthe Le Rochois, another of the troupe, on being accused of too much
intimacy with the bassoon of the orchestra, exhibited a promise of
marriage from the fond performer, written on the back of an _ace of
spades_.
Mlle. de Maupin was the wildest scapegrace the stage ever saw: her
adventures read like the most improbable sensational novel, and would
take as much space to reproduce.
England’s first opera was performed in 1656. It was entitled the “Siege
of Rhodes,” and was composed by five persons in collaboration. Musicians
and players were at this time held in low esteem, and were liable to
arrest as vagabonds at almost any moment.
England possessed in Henry Purcell (1658-1695) a musician of whom any
country might be proud. This composer soon turned his pen to the writing
of operas; the music to “The Tempest” was excellent, while his “King
Arthur” contains music which is still loved by Englishmen everywhere.
Now that opera was established firmly, the rivalries of the singers at
once began.
In 1726 a bitter rivalry sprang up in London between Cuzzoni and
Faustina Bordoni, in which the whole town took part. It lasted over two
years, and was throughout causeless, as the styles of the two were
entirely dissimilar, Bordoni being unapproachable in the lightness and
rapidity of her runs and embellishments, and Cuzzoni excelling in the
pathetic quality, and breadth of her tones.[288]
But to follow the absurdities which constantly arose in the rivalries of
the various composers, singers and performers, would require, not one,
but very many volumes by itself; we need only allude to the disputes and
rivalries between Gluck and Piccini (in the composition of operas,) the
singers Mara and Todi, in France, and Billington and Mara in London.
The names of those who have established a reputation as wonderful
operatic singers, also make a formidable list. Among the very greatest
may however be mentioned Farinelli (male soprano) Catalani, and
Lablache, and among the most successful of operatic writers, Gluck,
Mozart, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Verdi, Gounod. Of course many names could be
added, but these may stand as representatives.
It is not singular that the great masters, Händel, Beethoven and
Mendelssohn failed in this branch of composition. None of them had the
ability to stoop to the musical _finesses_, and _coups de theatre_,
which were necessary to make a successful opera. They might have
succeeded, if the pure style of Gluck, with _libretti_ taken from the
Greek tragedies, had continued, for these were in their vein. But the
public demanded a more spicy operatic diet which they were not able or
desirous to finish.
It is well that it was so, for to this fact we owe our grandest
oratorios.
Händel had trouble enough with opera, before he finally left it. He had
a temper which was simply frightful (and an appetite which was the
same), and when he came in contact with the conceited and irascible
singers of his day, an explosion was sure to follow.
Cuzzoni (who had the sweetest of voices, and the harshest of tempers),
was the hardest of all for him to get along with.
One day she refused absolutely to sing a part which he had assigned to
her; his patience, small at the best, gave out totally, and he was going
to throw her out of the window, when she hurriedly gave her consent to
sing.
Händel’s losses and trials as operatic manager, temporarily drove him
crazy.
Rossini also had his troubles in the operatic field. Once a manager,
whose _libretti_ he was bound by contract to set to music, took offence
at some action of the composer, and sought to revenge himself by writing
a wretched opera for him. The result nearly brought both to ruin, for
Rossini retorted by writing a terribly poor score to the words; in the
overture, during an _allegro_ movement, the violins were arranged so as
to stop at every bar, and tap the tin shades of their lamps with their
bows. The audience nearly demolished the theatre. The “Barber of
Seville” was a failure at its first performance.
There is a note to be made here, of a passage in one of his operas,
which is of interest to conductors.
The overture to “William Tell” had been played from its first
representation, August 3, 1829, for more than thirty years, with a major
trill in the violincello at the cadence of the first part; (the andante
at the beginning of the work), but on the 16th of November, 1861, the
piece was played before the composer, who stigmatized as “a great
fault,” the major trill in the third measure of the cadence.[289] “It
should be minor” he said. And since that date it has been played so. But
it is very uncertain whether the abrupt remark was not a mere whim of
the composer. The trill is more satisfactory with G sharp, than with G
natural; the earlier editions have none of them any mention of a minor
trill and it is scarcely possible that “a great fault” like this, should
have escaped notice so long.
Meyerbeer, was in all respects, a person well calculated to popularize
opera. He knew how to work up dramatic effects, in which he was well
seconded by his French librettists, and he did not hesitate at any
innovation to ask if it were classical, or belonged to pure art; and he
succeeded far better than the martinets who condemned him.
At the first representation of his “_Robert le Diable_,” an accident
occurred which nearly resulted in disaster. In the last act, Bertram,
the tempter, has to descend to the infernal regions, alone; Levasseur
(who performed the character) leaped down the trap, and Robert
(represented by the tenor Nourrit), who should have remained on earth,
saved by the prayers of Alice,—after a moment of indecision (not
remembering the denouèment) _leaped after him_.
There was general consternation on the stage, for all thought that
Nourrit was injured. In the audience they must have thought that the
opera had a rather immoral ending, since Bertram, the tempter, had
triumphed over the prayers of Alice.
Fortunately the mattresses had not been removed; and Bertram was vastly
astonished to find that he had bagged his victim after all; he asked
Nourrit in amazement.—“Has the plot been changed?” but Nourrit
recollecting his mistake, hastened back to the stage, where the audience
were astonished to see him reappear, but soon grasping the situation
burst into loud applause.
The curiosities of the opera of to-day are even greater than those of
twenty years since, for the world has found an iconoclastic composer who
is endeavoring to reform all that went before him, by pulling it to
pieces. Yet he has done opera precisely the service which it at present
needed, in showing composers the importance of bestowing a greater
attention upon the libretto, and elevating the orchestra as well as the
scene painter to their proper places; his idea that an opera should be a
“perfect chrysolite,” a complete picture in all its accessories, is the
true one, though his mode of effecting it may not be.
His zeal has allowed him to commit a ludicrous “curiosity of music” in
attacking almost all that the Jews have ever done in music, and
endeavoring to depreciate the most prominent talent of that race; a
talent which has been acknowledged ever since the days of the Babylonian
captivity.
Yet a still greater curiosity (and the most recent of all) has been
written by one of his defenders. Of course his attacks upon all who
differed from him, provoked retorts innumerable; these have been
collected and published in a compact form, and the work is entitled “A
Dictionary of Impoliteness.”
With this “curiosity” our catalogue appropriately ends. We have not
mentioned some of the great names in music (Haydn, Cherubini,
Palestrina, Schumann, Schubert, etc.), and have touched but lightly upon
others. They did not seem to come within our scope.
The incidents in the lives of the musical giants have all been sought
out by persons possessing facilities which no American writer can have,
and are generally so well known that they can no longer be called
curious. We have endeavored to show that music is a very uncertain and
fickle art, and continually changing, and that there never can be
_absolute_ laws laid down in this free art, as if it were a fixed
science. If we have done this and amused our readers at the same time,
we consider our work brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES
[1]Krause.—Geschichte der Musik.
[2]The Raagni is the popular mode of singing in India; it is a free
Fantasia, or improvisation.
[3]Wm. Jones; Music of India.
[4]Ambros.
[5]Krause.
[6]Plutarch, of Isis and Osiris.
[7]Herodotus, Hist.
[8]Plutarch, of Isis and Osiris.
[9]Petronius.
[10]Champollion.
[11]Lepsius, Abt. 2 Pl., 86e.
[12]Wilkinson, p. 240.
[13]Wilkinson, v. 2, p. 222.
[14]V. 3, p. 83.
[15]Abtheilung, 3, page 106.
[16]Hist. Gen. de la Mus.
[17]Doubts have been expressed concerning the genuineness even of these.
[18]Lloyd.
[19]Lloyd, Age of Pericles, Vol. II., p. 222.
[20]Ambros, Gesch. d. Musik, p. 237.
[21]Olympia, p. 106.
[22]The nome, or hymn for which Chrysothemis, gained the prize,
celebrated the victory of Apollo over the serpent Python.
[23]Gevært, Mus. de l’antiquite, p. 45.
[24]Chappell, Hist. of Mus., p. 32.
[25]Diodorus.
[26]Ambros Ges. d musik, p. 265, v. 1.
[27]Later there were more characters added, but at first, the whole
action consisted of dialogues between a solitary actor and the
chorus.
[28]Jullien however, thinks Sappho in common with many other ancient
poets much overrated. Theses Supplementaires, p. 439.
[29]Geschichte der Griech. Lit.
[30]Lucian, Lapithæ.
[31]Ambros, Gesch. d. musik, v. 1, p. 260.
[32]Jullien, Theses Supplementaires, p. 130.
[33]The very title “philosopher” was of his own coining, for previous
sages called themselves Sophos (wise), but he preferred the better
name of Philosopher (lover of wisdom).
[34]Some of the pupils of Pythagoras, maintained that he only of all men
had heard the harmony of the spheres.
[35]The sense of sound differs in different ears. In Chappell’s Histy.
of Music, page 251, an account is given of a wire of sixty-four feet
in length, arranged by Sir F. A. Gore Ouseley, to sound the C, four
octaves below C in the bass clef. The note was inaudible, but when
taken at half length some of the listeners heard it, while at
quarter length it was audible to all.
[36]See Lucian, Auction of Philosophers. Some say two years.
[37]Women were also admitted, but probably only to attendance on
lectures, not to membership.
[38]Legum II.
[39]Lloyd, Ages of Pericles, Vol. 2, p. 239.
[40]See Lucian, Lapithæ.
[41]Ottfried Müller, V. I, p. 343.
[42]Socrates intimates that the hiring of a large retinue of servants,
and the purchase of an expensive flute, went very far towards
establishing a reputation as a skillful flutist.
[43]Physcon was a nickname signifying thick belly.
[44]Müller, Gesch. d. Griech. Lit. v. 1, p. 380.
[45]Müller, Gesch. v. 1, p. 399.
[46]Müller, Ges. v. 1, p. 394.
[47]At seven years old the study was usually commenced.
[48]See O. Müller, Gesch. v. 2, p. 44
[49]The lips of the tragic mask were usually half open.
[50]Gesch. d. Griech. Lit. p. 44
[51]Some Dithyrambic poets kept a band of flute-players to accompany
their choruses.
[52]There was, and possibly is still, in some parts of Italy, a custom
analogous to this, when the director of the orchestra marked time by
rapping his baton regularly on his music stand instead of simply
waving it.
[53]Thucydides also gives an unfavorable picture of Cleon. Grote in his
History of Greece, defends Cleon’s character.
[54]Müller, p. 207, v. 2.
[55]_De Saltatione_
[56]Czerwinski, Geschichte d. tanz kunst, p. 19.
[57]Lucian, _de Saltatione_.
[58]Czerwinski, Gesch. d. Tanz k.
[59]Phillina, in dialogues of the Hetaræ.
[60]O. Müller, Gesch. d. Griech. Lit. v. 2, p. 210.
[61]Valerius Maximus, Book 2, x.
[62]Book 2. s. iv
[63]These are still used in Italy, and their performers are called Zam
pognari. The derivation is obvious.
[64]Chappell, in his History of Music, is the most lucid of these.
[65]See Fetis’ Hist. Gen. de la Musique.
[66]Fetis, Hist. v. 8.
[67]Gevært, Hist. de la Mus. de l’ant. p 56.
[68]Tacitus, Bk. IV.
[69]Gevært, Mus. de l’ant. p. 58.
[70]Tacitus, Bk. I.
[71]Lucian, _de Saltatione_.
[72]Lucian, _de Saltatione_.
[73]Lucian, ibid.
[74]Seneca.
[75]Suetonius, Calig. LIV.
[76]Suetonius, Vesp. XIX.
[77]Letters of Julian, No. 56.
[78]Tacitus, Bk. XX.
[79]Suetonius, XX.
[80]Tacitus, XV.
[81]Suet. Nero, XXI.
[82]Tacitus, Bk. XXI.
[83]Suetonius, Nero. XXIII.
[84]See chapter on Games of Greece.
[85]Nero however sometimes took part in other contests, he was as poor
and persistent a charioteer as magician.
[86]Tacitus, Book XVI.
[87]In the early historical part of this article, we have mainly
followed the dates used by La Fage.
[88]Ambros, Gesch. d. Mus. p. 20, v. 1.
[89]Amiot, Abrege Chron. p. 201.
[90]Chinese annals claim that their empire was founded 80,000 or 100,000
years B. C. Fo-hi’s reign is fixed by some at about 2,250 B. C.
[91]Amiot, De la Mus. des Chinois, p. 54.
[92]Amiot, p. 57.
[93]It is singular that a similar personage exists in the Hindoo
mythology.
[94]Quoted by La Fage, Hist. de Mus., p. 47.
[95]La Fage, p. 50.
[96]Amiot, de la Mus. des Chinois, p. 11.
[97]P. 63. Mus. des Chinois.
[98]La Fage, 69. De Mailla, 191.
[99]Amiot, de la Mus. de Chin., p. 33.
[100]Ambros, Gesch. der Musik, p. 27, v. 1.
[101]Ambros, Gesch. d Mus. p. 32.
[102]Pieces for the Clavichord in the style of Rameau.
[103]Amiot, Mus. des Chinois, p. 3.
[104]Cibot, Essai sur les Caracteres Chinois.
[105]Amiot, de la Mus. de Chin., p. 35.
[106]Figures 2 and 3, pl. 1, Amiot, des Chin.
[107]Figures 4 and 6, pl. 2, Amiot.
[108]Figure 7, pl. 2, Amiot.
[109]Amiot, Essai sur les pierres sonores.
[110]L’Abbé Roussier, Annotations sur Amiot.
[111]The chronicle says “it was mute forever,” but this was meant as
hyperbole.
[112]De la Mus. des Chin., p. 60.
[113]There are two kinds of _siao_, the great and the small. The latter
has the same number of tubes, but pitched an octave higher.
[114]Fetis, Hist. Gen de la Mus. VI. 1, p. 66-67.
[115]Fetis, p. 73.
[116]“Les Chinois ont remplacé les voix des femmes par celles des
casrats. Les chirurgiens Chinois sont arriveés a pratiquer
l’operation avec une addresse singuliere et presque sans souffrance
pour le sujet.” La Fage, Mus. des Chin., p. 150.
[117]La Fage, Mus. des Chin., p. 241.
[118]Amiot, Mus. des Chinois, p. 179.
[119]In singing this the chorus speaks in the name of the emperor.
[120]Amiot, des Chin., p. 180.
[121]The offerings are viands, libations, and perfumes, the latter being
burnt as incense by the emperor.
[122]Copied by Ambros, in Gesch d mus. v. 1, p. 34-5.
[123]Quoted by Fetis, Hist. Gen. de la Mus. v. 1, p. 62.
[124]Amiot, p. 171.
[125]La Fage, des Chinois, p. 269.
[126]First it was Haydn, then Handel, then Mozart, then Beethoven and
to-day Wagner (a few years ago, Schumann) whose bold eagle-flights
dismayed the more timid owls.
[127]“Among the Chinese themselves, society chiefly consists of certain
stated forms, and expressions, a calm, equal, cold deportment,
hypocritical attentions, and hyperbolical professions.” Barrow’s
Life of Macartney, v. 2, p. 414. The curious reader will also find a
very full description of Chinese social etiquette, in the
“_Description de la Chine_,” by Pere Du Halde, pages 115 to 154,
vol. 2. Rules are given for set formalities, even on the slightest
occasions, such as, the opening of a conversation when visiting (p.
126), the exit, the rising from table after meals, (138), etc., etc.
It is possible, that in the customs of this people, we may see a
living reproduction of some traits of the ancient Egyptians
[128]Barrow’s life of Macartney, v. 2, p. 231.
[129]Ibid, v. 2, p. 217
[130]Desc. de la Chine. T. II. p. 132. In La Fage’s quotation the page
is given as 112, probably an oversight, or a later edition.
[131]Account of Lord Macartney’s embassy, by Sir George Staunton.
[132]Musical Myths and Facts, vol. 2, p. 163.
[133]La Fage Mus. des. Chinois T. 1. p. 302
[134]_Leit motiven_ however the Chinese have _not_!!
[135]De Guignes, Voyage a Peking v. 2, p. 325.
[136]It would however, be as unjust to judge average Chinese plays by
this one instance as to judge of the Shakesperian drama by “Titus
Andronicus.”
[137]Voyage to Cochin China, p. 295.
[138]In like manner physiologists at one time endeavored to account for
the peculiar singing of the Tyrolese peasantry (called the “yodel”)
by the theory that the Tyrolese throat was shaped differently from
throats in general. Anatomy exploded the assumption.
[139]La Fage, Mus. des Chinois, v. 1, p. 311.
[140]Edward Brown, Adventures In Cochin China, p. 221, quoted by Engel
Mus. Myths and facts, vol. 2, p. 157.
[141]DuHalde, Description de l’emp. de la Chine. T. 2, p. 156.
[142]LaFage, Mus. des. Chin., T. 1, p. 313.
[143]Barrow’s life of Macartney, v. 1, pp. 341-2
[144]Ibid, p. 337.
[145]Ainsworth, around the world, p. 102.
[146]The following is a short synopsis of Chinese education. “When
choosing a wet-nurse, the mother must seek a modest, virtuous,
affable, discreet, respectful, exact and prudent woman. When the boy
can carry his hand to his mouth he is weaned, and taught to use his
right hand in eating; at the age of six, teach him the simplest
numbers, and the names of most important parts of the globe; at the
age of seven separate him from his sisters, and let him neither eat
nor sit with them; at the age of eight teach him the rules of
politeness and civility, which he must observe when entering or
leaving a house, or when he is with his elders; at nine teach him
the calendar; at ten send him to the public school and give him no
more cotton-stuffed garments, they will be too warm for his age. The
school-master is to give him knowledge of reading, writing and
arithmetic. At thirteen, let him study music, that he may sing
poetry, and that the wise maxims contained in the verses, be
engraven on his memory. At fifteen he is to learn archery and
riding. As for girls, when they have attained the age of ten years,
they are not to be allowed to go out of doors; teach them to speak
sweetly, to have an affable air, and to understand all household
duties.” Book of ancient rites quoted in Pere du Halde’s Descrip. de
la Chin., T. 2, p. 438.
[147]Ainsworth, p. 102.
[148]A good example of the ludicrous side of this over politeness, may
be given here. The host in China will constantly press his guest to
accept of things which the latter is _expected_ to refuse; the host
is also required by etiquette to depreciate himself and extol his
guest, which the latter returns in kind. An English gentleman having
resigned himself to his interpreter, the following dialogue (like
that in Kinglake’s “Eothen,”) takes place:—
_Interpreter._ His excellency has long looked forward to this day.
_Chinese Dignitary._ I meet him now as an old friend, and request to
know his honorable age.
_Int._ His excellency has profitlessly passed —— years.
_Chinese Dig._ The ears of his excellency are long, and betoken
great ability.
_Int._ Ah! oh! he is unworthy of the compliment.
_Chinese Dig._ You have had an arduous journey.
_Int._ We deserved it, etc.
A similar “call” is described in Ainsworth’s “all around the world,”
p. 106.
“At last we begged to take our leave, and began violently to
‘tsing-tsing,’ a ceremony which consists in clasping your hands
before your breast, and making a crouching baboon-like gesture; it
is the equivalent of shaking hands, only one shakes one’s own
hands.... Our host insists on following us to our chairs. We
remonstrate; ‘stop! stop! we are unworthy,’ say we. ‘What language
is this’ he replies. ‘We are really unworthy’ we reiterate. ‘You are
in my house,’ he insists; and so we back to our chairs, perpetually
imploring him not to accompany us, which he vehemently resists,
until at last, when we are in our chairs, he reluctantly consents to
return, apologising to the last, for being so rude as to leave us
even then.”
[149]Japan, Aime Humbert, p. 173.
[150]Ambros, Gesch. d. Mus. v. 1, p. 38.
[151]Ibid, 39.
[152]See Article on Egypt.
[153]Fetis, Hist. de la Mus. v. 1, p. 84.
[154]Humbert’s Japan, p. 174.
[155]Siebold, Pantheon of Nipon, part C, plates
[156]Or more properly, agglutinate.
[157]Humbert, Japan, p. 42.
[158]Abbe Huc, Travels in Thibet.
[159]S. Osborne, Japanese Fragments.
[160]Mr. Oliphant, in Elgin’s Mission to Japan.
[161]Thunberg, Voyage to Japan, p. 351, Sherwood’s Edition.
[162]Kaempfer, Hist. of Japan (Pinkerton), p. 745.
[163]Kaempfer, Hist. of Japan, p. __.
[164]Dr. Müller, Journal of the German Eastern Asiatic Society.
[165]Letter to the “Leisure Hour,” June 9, 1877.
[166]Humbert, Japan, p. 248.
[167]Caron’s Account of Japan (Pinkerton), p. 633.
[168]Humbert, Japan, p. 295.
[169]Humbert, Japan, p. 258.
[170]Thunberg, Voyage to Japan (Sherwood’s Ed.), p. 293.
[171]Kæmpfer’s history of Japan, p. 815 (Pinkerton’s).
[172]Ibid, p. 818.
[173]Caron’s Account of Japan (Pinkerton’s ed.), p. 611. v. 7.
[174]Dr. Müller; paper read before the German Asiatic Society.
[175]Wood’s Natural History of Man, v. II, p. 849.
[176]La Fage, Hist. gen. de la musique, v. I, p. 376.
[177]Wood’s Nat. Hist. of Man, v. II, p. 850.
[178]Dr. Müller, German East. Asiatic Society.
[179]Japan and the Japanese. Capt. Golownin, v. II, p. 149.
[180]Worn one above the other. Sometimes six or seven dresses are worn
in this manner by one fair fashionable.
[181]Humbert’s Japan, p. 336.
[182]Thunberg.
[183]La Fage, Hist. de la Mus. v. I, p. 375.
[184]Engel, Mus. Myths and Facts, v. II, p. 164.
[185]La Fage, Hist. de la Mus. v. I, p. 376.
[186]Humbert, Japan, p. 337.
[187]All Round the World, p. 206.
[188]Thunberg, p. 307.
[189]Ambros, Gesch. d. Musik, v. I, p. 4.
[190]Comettant, Mus. et Musiciens, p. 586.
[191]Fetis, Hist. gen. de la Mus., v. I, p. 26.
[192]Ambros, Gesch. d. Musik, p. 10, v. I.
[193]See Fetis, Hist. gen. de la Mus. v. I, p. 15.
[194]The effect of this in some Australian dances, is said to be very
striking. The favorite device, is to draw the outline of a skeleton,
on the front of the body, with white paint. As the dancers twirl
round, the pattern is plainly perceptible when their faces are
turned toward the spectator, but when their black backs are turned,
the whole vanishes, and gives the impression of a number of ghastly
skeletons, alternately appearing and disappearing, by the dim
flicker of the firelight.
[195]Here we see one of the earliest traits of primitive music. The use
of a plain, rhythmic accompaniment, without tune.
[196]From the “Illustrated London News,” Oct. 8, 1863.
[197]Wood’s Nat. Hist. of Man, v. I, p. 68.
[198]Meinicke, Inseln des Stillen Oceans, v. I, p. 329.
[199]Wood’s Hist. of Man, v. I, p. 162.
[200]Meinecke, Inseln d still. Oceans, v. I, p. 330.
[201]A conundrum from Java may be interesting to the reader. Here is
one,—
_Q._—What is lower than the knee, yet higher than the mountain?
_A._—The road which crosses the mountain.
[202]De Backer, L’Archipel Indien, p. 185.
[203]De Backer, L’Archipel Indien, p. 207.
[204]Quoted in Ainsworth, Round the World, p. 246.
[205]Engel’s Musical Myths, e. c., v. 2, p. 150.
[206]A voyage round the World (Cook’s) Forster, p. 398, v. 1.
[207]Wood’s Nat. History of Man, v. 1, p. 285.
[208]An account of a Government mission to the Fiji Islands, p. 116.
[209]Fetis, Histoire de la Mus., v. 1, p. 96.
[210]Wood’s Nat. History, v. 2, p. 288.
[211]All Kaffir chiefs aspire to obesity as an emblem of rank.
[212]The Heart of Africa, v. 2, p. 29.
[213]Schweinfurth, Heart of Africa, v. 2, p. 30.
[214]Central Africa, or Naked Truths about Naked people, p. 278.
[215]Wood’s Nat’l History of Man, v. 2, p. 498.
[216]Journal of the discovery of the source of the Nile, by Capt. Speke,
page 210.
[217]Captain Speke’s Journal, p. 222.
[218]Heart of Africa, v. 1, p. 287.
[219]Heart of Africa, v. 1, p. 289.
[220]Ismailia, By Sir S. W. Baker, page 391.
[221]Ismailia, p. 355.
[222]See “Ismailia,” p. 372.
[223]It will be recollected that the Abyssinians belong to a sect of the
Christian Church.
[224]Coomassie and Magdala, by H. M. Stanley, p. 310
[225]Coomassie and Magdala, page 488.
[226]Ismailia, page 282.
[227]Baker’s “Ismailia,” page 351.
[228]Stanley’s “How I found Livingstone,” page 622.
[229]Brendel, Gesch. d. Musik, p. 7.
[230]According to Clemens Romanus, a contemporary of St. Paul.
[231]Tertullian, Apologia, 39. Evidently a custom derived from the
_skolion_ of Greece.
[232]Ambros, Geschichte d. Musik, v. II, p. 5.
[233]Gesch. d. Musik, v. II p. 11
[234]Marcillac, Histoire de la Mus. Modern, p. 25.
[235]Fetis, Histoire Gen. de la mus, v. 4, p. 6.
[236]Letters, v. 5, p. 7.
Affirmabent autem, hanc fuisse summan vel culpæ suæ, vel erroris
quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem convenire; carmenque
Christo, quasi Deo, dicere secum invicem; seque sacramento non in
scelus aliquod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne
adulteria committerent ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati
abnegarent, quibus peractis morem, sibi discedendi fuisse, rursusque
coeundi ad capiendum cibum, promiscium tamen et innoxium.
[237]Quoted by Fetis, Histoire Gen. d. l. Mus., v. 4, p. 7.
[238]Fetis.
[239]Marcillac, Histoire de la Mus. Moderne, p. 27.
[240]Ambros, Geschichte d. Mus., v. 2, p 13.
[241]Fetis, Histoire Gen. de la Mus., v. 4, p. 17.
[242]A good explanation of the system is to be found in Fetis, v. 4, pp.
29-56.
[243]See Curzon’s “Monasteries of the Levant,” or Proust’s “Voyage on
Mt. Athos.”
[244]Some excellent German translations of the hymns, have been made by
Zingerle, and are to be found in the “Zeitschrift d. Deutschen
Morgenl. Gesellschaft.”
[245]Fetis, Histoire Gen. T. 4. p 90.
[246]Rambosson, Harmonies du Son, p. 21.
[247]King’s “Ten Thousand Wonders,” p. 241.
[248]Marcillac, Hist. de la Mus. Moderne, p. 28, and Brendel, Gesch. d
Mus. p. 9.
[249]Confessions, Book IX., Chap. 6.
[250]Ambros, Geschicht der Musik, vol. 2, p. 14. Fetis, Biographie Univ.
v. 1. p. 85.
[251]Confess, IX., 7.
[252]Fetis, Hist. Gen de la Mus., v. 4, p. 135.
[253]Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, part 1, vol. 1, article
“Ambrosian chant,” by Rev. Thomas Helmore.
[254]Ambros, Gesch. d. Mus., v. 2, p. 43.
[255]Ambros, v. 2, p. 45.
[256]These latter letters may however, only refer to the diagrams, and
not to musical notes.
[257]Epoch men, by Sam’l Neal, p. 43.
[258]Vie de Charlemagne, Guizot, T. 3, p. 151.
[259]Ambros Gesch. d. Mus., v. 2, p. 94. We must remind the reader that
“Gregorian” music, does not always refer to the compositions of
Gregory, but simply means the singing used at Rome, as the
“Ambrosian” means the style used at Milan.
[260]Monachus Engolismensis (the monk of Angouleme), an anonymous writer
of this era, in his _Vita Caroli Magni._ quoted by J. J. Rousseau,
in his Dictionnaire de Musique article “Chant,” also by Crowest,
Mus. Anecdotes, v. 2, p. 239; Fetis, v. 4, p. 279; Ambros, v. 2, p.
94, etc., etc.
[261]It has been suggested by some recent writers on this subject, that
even this should be met by forming the notes of various lengths,
thus, a whole note ———, a half note ——, a quarter —, etc., but this
difficulty can be obviated, in spacing, by any good music engraver,
and does not require so radical a change.
[262]The semitone falling always between the second and third note, is
the only regularity apparent.
[263]Stainer’s Dictionary, p. 311.
[264]There is some ambiguity regarding the title of this pontiff. Some
authorities call him John XX., and the next John (1276) the XXI.
[265]Quoted by Stainer and Barrett, Dict. p. 314.
[266]Topog. Hibern., 3 C. 1.
[267]“The Troubadours,” F. Hueffer, p. 61.
[268]Quoted by Hueffer, “Troubabours,” p. 72.
[269]Hueffer, p. 274-5.
[270]Richard.
[271]Taylor’s “Lays of the Minnesingers,” p. 229.
[272]French.
[273]Those of the Troubadours.
[274]This line is vague in its meaning.
[275]Taylor’s “Minne-singers,” p. 98.
[276]Fabeln und Erzehlungen aus d. zeiten d. minne-sanger. Von Bodmer
and Breitlinger Zurich, 1757, p. 247.
[277]Rambosson, Harmonies du Son, p. 46.
[278]Anglice—Master-singers.
[279]L’Opera Italien. Castil-Blaze, p. 20.
[280]L’Opera Italien. Castil-Blaze, p. 26.
[281]Curiosites Theatrales, Fournel (Paris), p. 17.
[282]Bibliotheque de Poche, v. VIII., p. 345.
[283]Ibid, vol. II., p. 811.
[284]Historiette d. la Marechale de Themines, book 5, p. 196.
[285]Edwards’ History of the Opera, vol. 1, p. 15.
[286]Curiosites Theatrales, Fournel, p. 161.
[287]See Annals Dramatiques, VII., p. 165.
[288]L’Opera Ital. Castil-Blaze, p. 128.
[289]Deldeves. Curiosites Musicales, p. 215.
INDEX.
A
Abyssinian Music 270
Æschylus 74
African Music 251
Amanieus, troubadour 334
Amaryllis 356
Ambrosian Chant 299
Ancestors, feasts of 186
Aristotle 57
Armenian Church 292
B
Bamboo Instruments 153
Banquet Music, Egyptian 17, 24
Banquet Music, Grecian 53, 57
Banquet Music, Japanese 213
Barbarians, Music of 229
Bards, ancient 323
Bardesanes 291
Bells 148
Bertrand du Born 336
Bœthius 308
Bongo Songs 267
Brahma, legend of 8
C
Caligula 99
Canadian, curious song 234
Canute 328
Caste of musicians, Chinese 131
Caste of musicians, Egyptian 18
Chant, Ambrosian 299
Chant, Gregorian 303
Charlemagne 308
Cheng 155
Chinese ceremonies 162
Chinese compositions 162
Chinese music 114
Chinese a musical language 160
Chinese music resembles Scotch 166
Chinese songs, earliest 115
Chinese songs 158
Chinese theatre and plays 176
Chinese whistle 149
Chorus, a terrible 74
Chorus, Greek 74
Christian, early customs 287
Christian, early music 283
Christian churches of Africa 293
Chun, Song of 121
Clavichord in China 137
Confucius 124
Conservatories in ancient Egypt 25
Coptic Hymns 294
Crusaders’ songs 349
Cuzzoni 358, 360
D
Dances, Australian 234
Dances, Bushmen 256
Dances, Chinese 176
Dances, Egyptian 21
Dances, Fiji Islands 248
Dances, Grecian 79
Dances, Roman 97
Dances, Savage 234, 277
Dances, Tasmanian 238
Dances, War 241
Destruction of musical instruments 133
Dictionary of Impoliteness 363
Drums, African 265
Drums, Chinese 143
Drums, used to mark the hour 144
Drums, Javanese 243
Drums, water 256
E
Egyptian music 15
Egyptian Muses 16
Egyptian banquets 17
English Bards 327
Essenhamens 334
European music in China 135
F
Female musicians, Chinese 129
Female musicians, Greek 51
Female musicians, Troubadours 341
Festivals, Chinese 170
Festivals, Theban 21
Fiddle, Chinese 156
Fiji Islanders, Music 248
Flute, Chinese 139
Flute, Egyptian 23
Flute, Grecian 41, 42, 43, 59
Flute, Kaffir 255
Flute, Roman 86
Flute, Prehistoric 232
Flute-playing at Grecian Games 41
Foang-hoang 116
Fo Hi, the Chinese Noah 116
Folk Songs 350
Funeral music, Chinese 173
Funeral music, Egyptian 19
Funeral music, Japanese 207
Funeral music, Roman 88
G
Games of Greece 35
Goura—African Instrument 257
Greek Church, music of 288
Greek music, ancient 35
Greek Hymns 35
Greek Scale 36, 55
Gregorian Chant 303
Gregorian Chant in France 310
Guido d’Arezzo 318
Guitar, African 263
Guitar, Hindoo 14
H
Handel 360
Harmony, Egyptian 19
Harps, African 255
Harps, Egyptian 23
Harps, Hebrew 26
Hebrew music 26
Hebrew music, resemblance to Negro 33
Hermes, Egyptian god 15
Hindoo music 8
Hissing, when first began 357
Hucbald 315
Hymns, Christian, ancient 281, 294
Hymn, Chinese 164
Hymn, Greek 35
I
Instruments, African 257, 259
Instruments, Chinese 142
Instruments, East Indian 13
Instruments, Egyptian 24
Instruments, Greek 59
Instruments, Hebrew 29
Instruments, Hindoo 13
Instruments, Japanese 202
Instruments, Kaffir 255
Instruments, Roman 89
Irish Bards 325
Irova, Japanese 204
J
Japanese music 201
Jews, music of modern 27
Jewsharps in Africa 258
Jongleurs 331
Julian, reforms of Emperor 100
K
Kaffir songs 251
Kin, Chinese 150
King, Chinese instrument 147
Kithara, Greek instrument 57
L
Laborers’ songs, Egyptian 18
Lamia 61
Laws relative to music, Egyptian 20
Legends of music, Chinese 116, 119
Legends of music, Egyptian 15
Legends of music, Hindoo 8
Legends of music, Japanese 215
Legends of music, Javanese 244
Louis Xiii. 355
Louis Xiv. 357
M
Malay music 243
Meistersingers 349
Melody, Hindoo 12
Melody, an old 348
Meyerbeer 361
Military music, African 262
Military music, Chinese 131, 169
Military music, Greek 47, 60
Military music, Japanese 219
Minnesingers 329, 341
Mode, Ambrosian 301
Mode, Gregorian 365
Musical Buildings 44
Musical course Roman 86
Music as a means of inspiring fear 276
Music boxes in Africa 269
Music boxes, Chinese 175
N
Nero, musical history of 101
Neumes 313
New Zealand, Harmony in 233
New Zealand songs 240
Nose-flutes 248
Notation 313, 316, 317, 321
Nyam-Nyams, Music of 258
O
Olympic Games 39
Opera 352
Orchestra, an old 354
Organ, ancient Rome 89
Organ, Chinese 155
Organ, Hebrew 28, 30
P
Pantomimes, Chinese 195
Pantomimes, Roman 97
Pantomimes, Javanese 243
Persecution of musicians 126
Philosophers and music 53
Pindar 65
Pianoforte in Japan 227
Poems of the Troubadours 338
Power of Music 9, 10
Power of Music in Africa 274
Processional music, Egyptian 22
Processional music, Japanese 218
Processional music, Roman 92
Processional music, Savage 263
Provençal songs 330
Psaltery 30
Ptolemy 62
Pythagoras 53
Pythian Games 41
Q
Quarrel between choirs 311
Quarrel between singers 358
R
Ragas, Hindoo 9
Religious music, Abyssinian 269
Religious music, Chinese 162
Religious music, Christian 280
Religious music, Greek 35
Religious music, Hebrew 26
Religious music, Japanese 205
Religious music, Roman 86
Rhythm, Egyptian 20
Rhythm of savage nations 229
Riquier, Guirant 332
“Robert,” accident at first performance 361
Roman, ancient music 85
Roman Empire, music of 99
Rossini 360
Royal dancers 193
Royal musicians 99, 100, 102, 115, 332, 355
S
Salaries, ancient Greece 61
Salaries, Chinese 187
Salaries, Nero 105
Sappho 61
Savage music 229
Scale, Chinese 167
Scale, East Indian 11
Scale, Grecian 36, 55
Scale, Hindoo 11
Scale, Japanese 201
Scale, modern 320
Scale, Religious, Greek 289
Schofer, Hebrew horn 27
Schools of music, Egypt 25
Schools of music, Rome 86, 100
“Selah!” meaning of 31
Signals, musical Chinese 123, 173
Simonides 63
Sistrum 22
Skolion 57
Societies, or Guilds of Musicians, Roman 87
Songs, Chinese 158
Stesi-chorus 49
Stones, musical 145
Stringed instruments 149
Syrian Church 290
T
Tales of the Minnesingers 346
Terpander 45
Theatre, Chinese 176
Theatre, Greek 67
Theatre, Japanese 219
Theatre, Javanese 245
Theatre, Roman 95
Timbrel 30
Time marked by bells 120
Time marked by drums 120
Tone-picture, Grecian 59
Treatises on music, Chinese 135
Triumphs, Roman 92
Triumphal Odes, Greece 62
Trumpeter, a great 40
Trumpets, African 261, 265
Trumpets, Chinese 120, 157
Trumpets, pre-historic 231
Trumpets, Russian 157
Troubadours 329
V
Vina, Indian instrument 13
Violin, Hindoo 13
Volkslied 350
W
Wagner 362
War Song 284
Watch Song 344
Welsh Bards 324
“William Tell,” an error in 361
Wood instruments of China 151
Y
Yu, Chinese musician 132
Transcriber’s Notes
—Silently corrected a few typos.
—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.
—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.
—Created a Table of Contents based on the chapter headings.