VINCENT NOVELLO (1781–1861) For my grandparents: Charles Forrest Simpson and Edith Jane Muirhead & Walter Thomas Palmer and Decima Mabel Brunger Vincent Novello (1781–1861) Music for the Masses

FIONA M. PALMER Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK First published 2006 by Ashgate Publishing

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Palmer, Fiona M. Vincent Novello (1781-1861) : music for the masses. – (Music in nineteenth-century Britain) 1.Novello, Vincent, 1781-1861 2.Composers – Great Britain – Biography 3.Musicians – Great Britain – Biography I.Title 780.9’2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Palmer, Fiona M. Vincent Novello (1781-1861) : music for the masses / Fiona Palmer p. cm. – (Music in nineteenth-century Britain) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7546-3495-7 (alk. paper) 1. Novello, Vincent, 1781-1861. 2. Music publishers – England – Biography. I. Title II. Title: Music for the masses. III. Series.

ML427.N69P35 2006 780.92 – dc22 [B] 2006045955

,6%1 KEN ,6%1 SEN Contents

List of Plates vii List of Music Examples ix Acknowledgements xi Bibliographical Abbreviations xiii Library Sigla xvii General Editor’s Series Preface xix Novello Family Tree xxi

Introduction 1

Part 1 The Man

1 Formative Years 9 2 Marriage and Family 23 3 Friends and Network 47

Part 2 The Career

4 Phases and Preoccupations 77 5 Practical Musician and Educator 101 6 Editor 139 7 Composer 183

Epilogue 213

Select Bibliography 221 Index 237

List of Plates

1. Pencil sketch of Vincent Novello by Edward Petre Novello (undated).

2. Miniature in oils of Mary Sabilla Novello as a bride by James Holmes (1808).

3. Oil on Canvas, ‘The Novello Family’, by Edward Petre Novello (c.1830).

4. Watercolour sketch of Joseph Alfred Novello as ‘Clericus’ of the Tortoise Club by Edward Petre Novello (c.1830).

5. Pencil and chalk sketch of Clara Anastasia Novello by Edward Petre Novello (undated).

6. (James Henry) Leigh Hunt by Thomas Charles Wageman (1815).

7. Pencil sketch of ‘in the orchestra’ by Edward Petre Novello (undated).

8. Autograph ‘Sung Grace’ by Vincent Novello (14 November 1847).

9. Title page to Vincent Novello’s Twelve Easy Masses (London: published for the Author by Phipps & Co., 1816).

10. Opening page of ‘Jehovah quam multi sunt hostes’, from Vincent Novello ed., Purcell’s Sacred Music (London: J. Alfred Novello, 1832), no. 70, p. 2.

List of Music Examples

(Unless otherwise stated examples were composed/edited by Vincent Novello)

3.1 A Grace ‘For what we have received’ (14 Nov. 1847) 52 5.1 Chant by John Goss written for the competition for the post of organist at St Michael’s Church, Highgate (22 Dec. 1843) 116 5.2 ‘Scotchy’ from ‘A Collection of Dances Composed for his Children’ 123 6.1 Haydn’s Salve Regina (1811 edn) 158 6.2 Haydn’s Salve Regina (1825 edn) 159 6.3 ‘Three hideous fifths’ (The Harmonicon, Feb. 1829) 164 7.1 ‘Concealed Love’, piano introduction, bb. 1–10 187 7.2 ‘The Infant’s Prayer’, Allegretto, bb. 1–4 189 7.3 ‘The Infant’s Prayer’, Andante soave, bb. 1–4 189 7.4 ‘The Infant’s Prayer’, opening recitative, bb. 16–26 191 7.5 ‘Sterne’s Maria’, bb. 1–4 191 7.6 ‘Turn to me those Lovely Eyes’, bb. 9–12 192 7.7 Second Chorus of ‘Italy’, ‘Deliver them from foreign thrall’, bb. 84–92 193 7.8 Mass in E, Kyrie, bb. 1–4 194 7.9 Mass in E, Gloria, bb. 1–4 195 7.10 Mass in E, Gloria: ‘Qui tollis’, bb. 38–41 195 7.11 Mass in E, Gloria: ‘Qui sedes’, bb. 58–61 196 7.12 Mass in E, Gloria: ‘Et in terra pax’, bb. 13–27 197 7.13 Rosalba: Aria di Costanza, bb. 5–12 203 7.14 Rosalba: Double Bass obbligato, final movement, bb. 150–56 204

Acknowledgements

Since this project began, two scholars who played a vital role in my academic development have passed away. The inimitable Professor Cyril Ehrlich (whose shared connection to Queen’s University is a satisfying yet coincidental one) transformed my doctoral studies and advised astutely on much that has followed. Dr Percy M. Young also supported and encouraged my doctoral work on Dragonetti and mooted the Novello project back in 1994. Sadly, both men died in 2004: I will always remember their generosity. This book could not have been written without the unstinting support, patience and hospitality of family and friends. First and foremost, I must single out my parents, Ian and Margery, to whom I owe so very much; my sister Cheryl has also been a constant source of common sense and kindness. I am very fortunate that my nonagenarian grandmother, Decima (who gave me her piano in my primary school days and has relished my musical activities ever since) knows all about my Novello journey. Then there are my close friends – although I do not name them individually here my sincere appreciation is expressed to each and every one of them. This book is dedicated to my grandparents, three of whom cannot know that one of their granddaughters is able to remember them in this way. I began the research for this monograph on starting work at Queen’s University, Belfast, in July 1999. The process towards completion has been greatly helped by genuinely close and rewarding working relationships with colleagues in the School of Music and Sonic Arts. Here I must single out the immeasurable benefit of Professor Ian Woodfield’s kind offer, gladly accepted, to read and comment on the final draft. Dr Yo Tomita was unfailingly helpful in the preparation of the music examples. I am also indebted to Professors Jan Smaczny and Piers Hellawell and to Dr Tony Carver, each of whom has spent time discussing my progress, thereby greatly easing the isolation of the writing process. Beyond Queen’s University the invaluable contribution of two fundamentally important AHRB Small Grants in the Creative and Performing Arts allowed me to undertake many months of primary research in London and Leeds. In the pursuit of scattered sources the following people and organisations were very helpful: Jenny Cooksey and Chris Sheppard (Brotherton Library, Leeds University); Chris Banks and Rupert Ridgewell (British Library); Peter Horton (Royal College of Music Library); Veronica Ramos de Deus (Portuguese Embassy, 11 Belgrave Square, London); Monsignor Jim Overton (Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London); Don Roberts (Northwestern Music Library, Evanston, Illinois); Amy Cooper (University of Iowa, Special Collections Department); Jennie xii Vincent Novello (1781–1861) Rathbun (Houghton Library, Harvard University); and Rigbie Turner (Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Music Manuscripts and Books at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York). I am also indebted to the following institutions: in London, the Society of Genealogists, Public Records Office, British Library Newspaper Library, Catholic Central Library, General Register Office, Guildhall Library, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Music, and Westminster Archives; in Birmingham, the University’s Barber Institute Music Library and the Central Library; in Cambridge, the University Library and Fitzwilliam Museum; in the north of England: York Minster Library, Liverpool Central Library, and Manchester Central Library; in the south of England: the Somerset Record Office, Taunton. There are many colleagues who have offered insights and help during the course of my research. In particular I must acknowledge my gratitude to Michael Allis, Gabriel Austin, Chris Banks, Christina Bashford, Michael Beckerman, Barra Boydell, Rachel Cowgill, Basil Deane, Peter Horton, Michael Kassler, Simon McVeigh, Leanne Langley, Philip Olleson, Lynda Pratt, Tina Ramnarine, Rupert Ridgewell, Paul Rodmell, Michael Smallman, Colin Timms, John Wagstaff, William Weber, and David Wright. I am indebted to the Brotherton Library, Leeds University, for permission to reproduce plates 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 and to draw extensively on the contents of the Novello Cowden Clarke Collection; to the National Portrait Gallery for permission to reproduce plates 3 and 6; to the British Library for permission to reproduce plates 9 and 10 and to quote from manuscripts within their collections. Finally, my thanks to the team at Ashgate Publishing and in particular to my editor Heidi May.

Fiona M. Palmer Belfast, September 2005 Bibliographical Abbreviations

ClarkeLLVN M.V. Cowden Clarke, The Life and Labours of Vincent Novello (London, 1864) ClarkeMLL M.V. Cowden Clarke, My Long Life (London, 1896) ClarkeRW C. and M.V. Cowden Clarke, Recollections of Writers (London, 1878) CooperHN V. Cooper, The House of Novello (Aldershot, 2003) CPM L. Baillie, R. Balchin et al. eds, The Catalogue of Printed Music in the British Library to 1980, 62 vols (FRG: K.G. Saur, 1985) DarbyRC R. Darby, ‘The Music of the Roman Catholic Embassy Chapels in London 1765–1825’ (Unpub. MusM diss.: University of Manchester, 1984) Exr The Examiner GigliucciCN V. Gigliucci, ’s Reminiscences (London, 1910) Grove1 G. Grove ed., A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 4 vols (London, 1899) Hn The Harmonicon Humph-Sm MusPubBI C. Humphries & W.C. Smith, Music Publishing in the British Isles, 2nd edn (Oxford, 1970) HurdVN&Co M. Hurd, Vincent Novello & Co. (London, 1981) JRMA Journal of the Royal Musical Association KasslerEBA Michael Kassler ed., The English Bach Awakening: Knowledge of J.S. Bach and his Music in England 1750–1830 (Aldershot, 2004) Kassler- OllesonSB M. Kassler and P. Olleson, (1766–1837): a Source Book (Aldershot, 2001) MC The Morning Chronicle ML Music & Letters MMR Monthly Musical Record Moldenhauer The Moldenhauer Archive, Arthur F. Hill Collection, Northwestern University Music Library, Evanston, IL 60208–2300, USA MQ Musical Quarterly MT Musical Times MW Musical World NCC Novello-Cowden Clarke Collection, Leeds University, Brotherton Library xiv Vincent Novello (1781–1861) Neighbour- TysonPN O.W. Neighbour & A. Tyson, English Music Publishers’ Plate Numbers (London, 1965) NG2 S. Sadie ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edn, 29 vols (London, 2001) ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004) http:// www.oxforddnb.com OllesonLtrs P. Olleson, The Letters of Samuel Wesley (Oxford, 2001) OllesonSW P. Olleson, Samuel Wesley: the Man and his Music (Woodbridge, 2003) PalmerDinE F.M. Palmer, Domenico Dragonetti in England (1794–1846): the Career of a Double Bass Virtuoso (Oxford, 1997) Pilgrimage R. Hughes & N. Medici di Marignano, A Mozart Pilgrimage: Being the Travel Diaries of Vincent and Mary Novello in the Year 1829 (London: Novello, 1955) PRMA Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association QMMR Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review

Frequently Mentioned Names

(These abbreviations are used only in chapter endnotes)

CAN Clara Anastasia Novello (1818–1908), 7th child of VN & MSN, singer CCC (1787–1877), married MVCC (5 July 1828) CeN Cecilia Novello (1812–90), 3rd child of VN & MSN, married Thomas Serle CIL Christian Ignatius Latrobe (1758–1836), Moravian minister and musician CL Charles Lamb (1775–1834), essayist CS Charles Stokes (1784–1839), organist and composer DD Domenico Dragonetti (1763–1846); virtuoso double bassist EAN Emma Aloysia Novello (1814–1902); 5th child of VN & MSN EH Edward Holmes (?1797–1859), music critic EPN Edward Petre Novello (1813–36), 4th child of VN & MSN, artist GN Giuseppe Novello (1744–1808), father of VN JAN (Joseph) Alfred Novello (1810–96), eldest son and 2nd child of VN & MSN, publisher and bass singer LH (James Henry) Leigh Hunt (1784–1859), journalist and poet MSN Mary Sabilla Novello (née Hehl) (1787–1854); married VN (17 Aug. 1808) Bibliographical Abbreviations xv MVCC Mary Victoria Cowden Clarke (née Novello) (1809–98), 1st child of VN & MSN, author, married CCC (5 July 1828) SW Samuel Wesley (1766–1837), organist and composer VN Vincent Novello (1781–1861), son of GN, married MSN (17 Aug. 1808), organist, composer, editor and publisher

Frequently Mentioned Place

PEC Portuguese Embassy Chapel

General Abbreviations bk book f./ff. folio/s fn. footnote n.f. no folio number n.p. no page number n.s. new series pmk postmark

Editorial Policy for Music Examples

Clefs, accidentals, dynamic markings, ornaments, rhythmic groupings and stem directions are true to the source and have not been modernized. Hyphenation has been added to clarify word underlay when necessary. The intention is to preserve a sense of Novello’s notational practices since they reflect the needs and expectations of his purchasers. Other editorial additions appear within square brackets.

Pitch Designations

Pitch designations adhere to the following guidelines (middle C is notated c’):

C, C c c’ c’’ c’’’ c’’’’

Currency

During Novello’s lifetime the pound (£) was equal to 20 shillings (s); a shilling was made up of twelve pence (d). The guinea was equal to £1. 1s.

Library Sigla

GB–

Bu Birmingham University Library Cfm Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, Dept of Manuscripts and Printed Books Cu Cambridge, University Library LEbc Leeds, University of Leeds, Brotherton Library LVp Liverpool, Libraries and Information Services, Humanities Reference Library Lam London, Royal Academy of Music Library Lbl London, British Library Lccl London, Catholic Central Library Lcm London, Royal College of Music Library Lgc London, Guildhall Library Lpe London, Portuguese Embassy Lpro London, Public Record Office LSocG London, Society of Genealogists MLocS Manchester, Manchester Library, Archives and Local Studies Ob Oxford, Bodleian Y York, Minster Library

US–

CAh Cambridge (MA), Harvard University, Houghton Library Eu Evanston, Northwestern University Iwa Special Collections, University of Iowa, Iowa City NYp New York Public Library at Lincoln Centre, Music Division NYpm New York, Pierpont Morgan Library

General Editor’s Series Preface

Music in nineteenth-century Britain has been studied as a topic of musicology for over two hundred years. It was explored widely in the nineteenth century itself, and in the twentieth century grew into research with strong methodological and theoretical import. Today, the topic has burgeoned into a broad, yet incisive, cultural study with critical potential for scholars in a wide range of disciplines. Indeed, it is largely because of its interdisciplinary qualities that music in nineteenth-century Britain has become such a prominent part of the modern musicological landscape. This series aims to explore the wealth of music and musical culture of Britain in the nineteenth century and surrounding years. It does this by covering an extensive array of music-related topics and situating them within the most up-to-date interpretative frameworks. All books provide relevant contextual background and detailed source investigations, as well as considerable bibliographical material of use for further study. Areas included in the series reflect its widely interdisciplinary aims and, although principally designed for musicologists, the series is also intended to be accessible to scholars working outside of music, in areas such as history, literature, science, philosophy, poetry and performing arts. Topics include criticism and aesthetics; musical genres; music and the church; music education; composers and performers; analysis; concert venues, promoters and organisations; the reception of foreign music in Britain; instrumental repertoire, manufacture and pedagogy; music hall and dance; gender studies; and music in literature, poetry and letters. Although the nineteenth century has often been viewed as a fallow period in British musical culture, it is clear from the vast extent of current scholarship that this view is entirely erroneous. Far from being a ‘land without music’, nineteenth- century Britain abounded with musical activity. All society was affected by it, and everyone in that society recognised its importance in some way or other. It remains for us today to trace the significance of music and musical culture in that period, and to bring it alive for scholars to study and interpret. This is the principal aim of the Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain series – to advance scholarship in the area and expand our understanding of its importance in the wider cultural context of the time.

Bennett Zon University of Durham, UK

Novello Family Tree

Introduction

Vincent Novello was a musical enthusiast: a genuine ‘amateur’ who delighted in what he described as ‘sterling’ musical compositions. He wanted others to learn about the repertoire he first encountered as chorister and trainee organist. Turning professional he capitalized on his practical educational experiences and developed a wide-ranging career out of his musical interests and skills. The title of this book is an unsubtle play on words, of course, but it neatly encapsulates Novello’s vocation. He regarded music as a force for good in human existence and saw it as a commodity that should be accessible to all. As his career unfolded he supplied published materials for the market he knew best. His appetite for undertaking this work – angling the style and content of his editions so that they could be used by amateurs and professionals alike – was insatiable. His approach to editing was non-elitist and helpful. His mission was to raise musical standards and to promote the wider dissemination of the works of composers both ancient and modern. The name ‘Novello’, once synonymous with a well-known music-publishing brand, typically still sparks a glimmer of recognition. It stands for affordable (and therefore popular) sacred choral music. Find Vincent Novello’s name in a reference book and the entry will usually furnish the information that he was the founder of the enterprise known as J.A[lfred] Novello (later Novello & Company; Novello, Ewer & Company, and so on). The company flourished in an ever-more secular marketplace in which increased leisure time fuelled the demand for popular choral repertoire. His publishing activity, however, represents only one aspect of his career. The complete picture of his achievements is much more diverse. The general perception of Novello’s work has thus far been based on limited and, in some cases, subjective secondary sources. His biographers have often been either related to him or associated with the publishing company. His first-born child, , wrote a thoroughly Victorian appreciation, The Life and Labours of Vincent Novello (1864)1 a hagiographic biography which is nevertheless fundamentally reliable in its account of the chronology and shape of Novello’s life and work. It remains the only book dedicated entirely to Novello himself. Almost a century after his death, the enterprise of Novello and his wife was encapsulated in A Mozart Pilgrimage (1955). This illuminating and painstaking publication evaluated the couple’s separate accounts of their 1829 visit to Mozart’s sister.2 Most of the work done in relation to Novello since then has concentrated on the history and achievements of the publishing house. In 1981 Novello was included in ’s overview of the Company’s history.3 In 2003 Victoria Cooper’s study of the policies and practices of the company was published.4 Taking this context into account, it is hardly surprising that Novello’s 2 Vincent Novello (1781–1861) importance has generally been gauged according to his contribution to the firm’s work. This is the first attempt to provide a more rounded view of his life and career. His involvement with (and importance to) the family firm will be discussed against the background of the other facets of his musical life. Much about Novello’s work as freelance musician, editor and composer is revealed in original correspondence and family papers, music manuscripts and contemporary printed material (including music).5 The most important of these sources were donated to libraries either by Novello himself, by the firm, or by his descendants. At the Brotherton Library, Leeds University are extensive family-related materials, including official papers, notebooks, diaries, letters, sketches, music books, poems, portraits and jewellery.6 The British Library holds music manuscripts relating to Novello’s editorial activities (including catalogues and engraver-ready copies), significant correspondence, published music and much else besides. The Royal College of Music Library similarly contains editorial materials, correspondence and printed editions.7 Scattered in libraries worldwide are miscellaneous letters and music manuscripts. The riches of this primary and secondary material are inevitably a double-edged sword. My book does not aim to be an exhaustive biography or to provide a full catalogue of Novello’s work as editor or composer. Unhindered by the rose-coloured sentiment which imbues the portrait of his life lovingly written by his daughter so soon after his death, its goal is to evaluate his musical career through an understanding of the contexts of his personal and working life. In particular, an understanding of the structure and dynamics of his London-based career reveals much about the value of his contribution to the music profession as a whole seen in his diverse work as performer, teacher, editor, composer, publisher, antiquarian, collector and donor. In order to establish this level of objectivity the motivations of family, friends, journal proprietors (and indeed Novello himself) in their public and private writing are continually evaluated. Their vocabulary is so powerfully evocative of the character and social nuances of the era that, when quoted here, it is designed to contribute a sense of time and place, attitude and protocol to the discussion. It goes almost without saying that as a freelance musician Novello depended on many types of publicity for the generation of ongoing work. The ways in which he marketed his publishing activities, responded to critical reviews in the press and generally negotiated his progress in the marketplace represent standard practice made personal to him. The openness of correspondence between family members and close friends provides an intimate view of their regular discourse. The book falls into two parts. The first deals with Novello the man. It considers his formative years and early musical training, particularly his experience of music- making in London’s embassy chapels. It then considers his family and marriage – the role of his wife, Mary Sabilla Hehl, and the nurturing of the talents of their children. Finally it examines his network of close friends and associates. The importance of the extended social unit of family and intimate friendships in his career is repeatedly apparent. It is difficult to know which of his friendships stemmed solely from the drawing power of his own character, and which from his public musical standing. Introduction 3 Often the conclusion must be that his wife’s confident practicality and charm, together with the musicality of their children, allowed stronger bonds to be formed with those they met than would have been the case had he remained a bachelor. By examining the interconnections between his professional colleagues and his more personal friends and acquaintances much is revealed about his personality and also his importance (or lack of it) in the circles within which he moved. The riches of his own correspondence and the annotations in his manuscripts, combined with the refreshing candour of letters written by his wife, children and close friends, gives us a first-hand insight into of their struggles and achievements. Important musicians and literary figures crowd the pages of the Novello family’s life, including Mendelssohn, Rossini, Leigh Hunt, Charles Lamb and Mary Shelley. Vincent Novello’s place in their lives reflects both on him and them in new and illuminating ways. Fundamental moral and social attitudes underpinned Novello’s progress and achievements. Ideas on religion, education and the function of family and friendship within society shaped his life choices and featured in not only his response to crises but also in his wife’s writings. As practising Roman Catholics the Novellos were open- minded about other faiths and expressed strong opinions in relation to the failures of their own church. They lived in turbulent times and were widely-read, discussing politics and religion and not only the arts at their social gatherings. Within their close circle were men such as Charles Cowden Clarke and Leigh Hunt, radical thinkers with republican views who saw sociability as a means of reorganizing society. Much has been written on the preoccupations of the age in which Novello lived. Russell and Tuite’s Romantic Sociability (2002) provides one of the most useful studies as a backdrop to the discussion here.8 The second part of the book comprises case studies which enhance our understanding of the nature of Novello’s career. After a chapter in which the phases and preoccupations of his life’s work are seen in overview, thematic studies focus on Novello as practical musician, as editor and as composer. His work in connection with, among others, the Portuguese Embassy Chapel, the Pantheon, the Philharmonic Society, and more generally as an organist is examined. Through a contextualization of his activities as organist and choirmaster at the Portuguese Embassy Chapel in particular, we witness the ways in which he contributed to the traditions he found. Novello drew on his performing experiences in his work as editor and arranger. The approach that he took to his core activities of editing and arranging was unpretentious and sometimes unprofitable. Often in his lengthy annotations of the music he copied from various sources we find him eulogizing about the quality and style of the work in question. He found great pleasure in happening upon what he considered to be musical gems. That pleasure was multiplied through his efforts to publish the works he had found in a manner for the intended purchasers. He sought to ensure that works that had languished unpublished would become part of regular music-making. His approach chimed in with the ethos of the times – philanthropists, educationalists and social reformers all played important roles in the development of society in Novello’s lifetime. Commercial opportunity was not his prime motivation. 4 Vincent Novello (1781–1861) He produced multiple volumes of sacred music in which the works of continental composers were predominant, the masses of Mozart and Haydn, and five volumes of sacred Italian repertoire extracted from the Fitzwilliam Collection. He also assembled a complete edition of Purcell’s sacred music. These were far from the only editions that he produced. It is human nature to be wary, even sceptical, of anyone who produces publications (or anything else for that matter) quite so prolifically. Such, almost vulgar, quantity must surely be at the expense of quality. Interestingly, a general sense that Novello’s work being so extensive cannot have been scrupulous – and was therefore in some way amateurish – may have stemmed from two sources. First, his own explicit policy towards the accessibility of the music he published. He pitched his product to a wide constituency including budding choirmasters, organists and family music-makers, but not usually cognoscenti. Perhaps writing and editing with amateurs in mind caused his work over time, to be considered amateurish itself. The second reason was his eldest daughter’s description of her father’s speedy execution of editorial work:

Vincent Novello’s economy of time, and his indefatigable industry, were the reason of his achieving so much. That which has been printed and given to the world is scarcely a third of the manuscripts he made. His editing generally implied re-writing the whole work; voice-parts as well as separate accompaniment, which he himself added. His speed in copying was really wonderful; while the neatness and distinctness of the writing equalled its rapidity.9

Thus in this one kindly-meant but damaging paragraph seeds of doubt were sown. Did Novello compromise the music he edited? Were his editions rushed and inaccurate? The discussion of Novello’s editing practices here includes evidence of his attitude towards the finding and use of sources. The spotlight falls on two major items from his portfolio: the Collection of Sacred Music (1811) and Purcell’s Sacred Music (1828–32). The style of these publications together with their resonance (or lack of it) with the zeitgeist are examined, along with the commercial risks and marketing mechanisms employed. Looking closely at the patterns within these selected landmark editions allows us to map Novello’s steady progress in establishing a viable family business. Along the way, we learn much about his motivations, methodologies and principles. It is important to note that Cooper’s study The House of Novello includes a chapter dedicated to ‘House Editorial Techniques’. In it she considers the value and accuracy of Vincent Novello’s editions and emphasizes the force of these publications as a means by which ‘musicians in mid-century England’ got to know works by Beethoven, Mozart, Purcell, Boyce and Greene, among others.10 She examines sources and editorial philosophy and substantiates her discussion with particular reference to the Cathedral Voluntaries, Purcell’s Sacred Music, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and the editions of masses by Mozart and Haydn. Her study complements my focus in which the fundamentals of Novello’s approach are discussed in the context of his personal and professional life. Introduction 5 The consideration of Novello as composer takes a detailed look at examples of his approach to mass setting and solo songs. Together with his dramatic cantata Rosalba, these give a clear indication of his compositional style and interests. His works are what one might expect from someone who spent many years transcribing, editing and arranging the works of past masters. They show how, not just in editing but also in composing and arranging, Novello focused on the expectations and needs of his audience. Novello’s legacy was multi-faceted. His donations to libraries were significant, and an assessment of the nature and importance of these is made. The large quantity of manuscripts that he gave to the British Museum – as it was then – was bolstered by later acquisitions which have been described by Chris Banks.11 Although the reconstruction of Novello’s library is an impossible task, it is possible to deduce from the bindings and the numbering system he employed the system within which he operated. Unsurprisingly, his mindset appears to have been an ordered, fastidious and carefully controlled one. Without such punctilious attention to what were, in essence, filing or cataloguing tasks, Novello would surely have been far less efficient in his output. What we discover is a strange mixture of the unworldly and practical. Add to this a potent zeal (indeed a formidable work ethic) and passionate musical views and we have a man whose life’s work enlarged the musical experiences of amateurs and professionals alike. Novello first came to my attention as a result of his active friendship and support for the double bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti.12 It seemed to me then that here was a man whose personal contribution to musical life had been obscured by the prominence of the company he helped to establish. In this study I hope to redress the balance, with a long overdue account of Vincent Novello as his own person.

Notes

1 ClarkeLLVN first published in MT (January 1862–) 2 Pilgrimage. 3 HurdVN&Co. 4 Victoria Cooper-Deathridge, ‘The House of Novello: Practice and Policy of a Victorian Music Publisher 1829–1866’ (unpub. PhD diss.: University of Chicago, 1991). Published as CooperHN. 5 Relevant substantial archives are in GB–Lbl, GB–Lcm and GB–LEbc. 6 My thanks to Jenny Cooksey of the Brotherton Library whose generosity of knowledge and time has made a great difference to my research. For information on the scope and provenance of the collection see: Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, The Novello Cowden Clarke Collection (Leeds: Brotherton Library, 1955); Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, ‘The Novello Cowden Clarke Collection Handlist’ (Leeds: unpub., 1955). 7 My thanks to Dr Peter Horton, reference librarian at the Royal College of Music, for his kind assistance and advice throughout the course of my research. See Jeremy Dibble, ‘The RCM Novello Library’, MT, cxxiv/1680 (Feb. 1983), pp. 99–101. 8 Gillian Russell and Clara Tuite, Romantic Sociability: Social Networks and Literary

6 Vincent Novello (1781–1861) Culture in Britain, 1770–1840 (Cambridge: CUP, 2002). 9 ClarkeLLVN, p. 18. 10 CooperHN, p. 29. 11 Chris Banks, ‘From Purcell to Wardour Street: a Brief Account of Music Manuscripts from the Library of Vincent Novello now in the British Library’, British Library Journal, xxi/2 (1995), pp. 240–58. 12 PalmerDinE.