Mr. Pepys the Musician (Continued) Author(s): Francis Hueffer Source: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 22, No. 460 (Jun. 1, 1881), pp. 291-293

Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3355728 Accessed: 01-01-2016 20:20 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Musical Times Publications Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 131.172.36.29 on Fri, 01 Jan 2016 20:20:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICAL TIMES.--JNE I, 188I. 291 the veritablekings of men. He has sustainedyou Lawes, the psalm composer,from his greater and withhis approbationand his fortune;it is thereforemore famousbrother, Henry, the friendof Milton. more than ever an obligationto praise this great To beginwith the lesser light, we findthat on Novem- musician,who has taken you by the hand. Dear ber 7, 166o,Lord Sandwich,after a long and confi- Berlioz, I embrace you verytenderly, in all the joy dential talk with his humblekinsman and retainer, of myheart." " called for the fiddlesand books,and we two and As soon as Berlioz was able to leave his room,he W. Howe and Mr. Childe did sing some psalmes of hastenedto Paganini's house:- Will. Lawes's and some songs,and so I went away." "They tell me that he is walkingup and down The same William Lawes, no doubt,is meant when his billiard-roomalone. I enter; we embraceeach Pepys describesanother musical gatheringat Lord other without power to say a word. After some Sandwich's house, December14, 1662,"where Mr. minutes,as I falteredout I knownot what expres- Howe and Pagett the counsellor; we sang some sions ofgratitude, Paganini, whose wordsthe silence psalms of Mr. Lawes and played some symphonys of the room permittedme to hear, stoppedme say- between till night"; and again a year and some ing: ' Don't speak any more about that. No. Add monthslater, where the Diarist aftera " verymerry nothing. It has given me the mostprofound satis- dinner" repairs withMr. Blagrave "to his chamber factionI everexperienced in mylife. You will never and therewe sang a Psalm or twoof Lawes's." This know what emotionsyour music excited; foryears William Lawes, it is perhaps desirableto add, was past I have not feltanything like it.' " Henry'selder brotherand a pupilof the JohnCooper Berlioz then went home; paid his debts,found a whoItalianised his good Englishname into Coperario, good sum leftto live upon yet awhile,and set about and acquireda certainreputation as a composerand writing" Romeo et Juliette." In seven monthsthat performeron the lute. William Lawes being,like great work was completed,and introducedto the most musicians of the time, a staunch Royalist, public by three successive performancesunder its foughtfor his king,and was killed at the siege of composer'sdirection. But the man who had made Chester,fifteen years beforethe beginningof the its creationpossible was not present:- Diary. But his music was evidentlystill popular " To mygreat regret Paganini neverheard or read when Pepys wrote. it. I hoped alwaysfor his returnto Paris. I waited, HenryLawes, who survivedhis brotherby many moreover,for the workto be revised and printedto years,is of courseof infinitely greater importance, and send him a copy, but meanwhilehe died at Nice, we findthis factreflected in the referencesmade to leavingme, amid so manyother poignant sorrows, in him in the Diary. Not thatthese are morenumerous ignorance as to whether he would have deemed than those referringto his brother,but their nature worthya workwritten to please him beforeall, and sufficientlyshows the deep interest taken in his with the intentionto justifyin his own eyes that work by Pepys, who in this,as in other instances, which he had done for the author. He himselfdisplays his criticalacumen. Whether he was per- seemed to regret much not knowing'Romeo et sonally acquainted with the composer does not Juliette,'and said so in a letter from Nice dated appear; there is every possibilitythat he was, for January7, 1840,where also occursthis phrase,'Now HenryLawes survivedthe evil days of the Common- all is done,envy can onlykeep silent.'" wealth,regained all his honoursat Court,and lived But if envyclosed her mouth,criticism did not. to set forthe coronationof Charles II. the anthem " Poor dear, great friend! he had never read, "Zadok the priest," so famousin English church happily, the horriblestupidities written in several history. He died in 1662. Parisian journals about the plan of the work,the In- The firstnotice of him in the Diary occurs as troduction,the Adagio,the QueenMab, the recitative earlyas May 31, 166o,and is to this effect:" All the of Friar Laurence. One reproachedme forthe ex- morningmaking orders. Afterdinner a greatwhile travaganceof attemptingthis new form of symphony; below in the great cabin tryingwith W. Howe some another foundin the scherzo of Queen Mab only a of Mr. Law's songs, particularlythat of "What is petty grotesque noise, like that of syringesbadly a kiss? " withwhich we had a greatdeal of pleasure; greased. A third,in speaking of the love-sceneof afterthat to makingof orders again." the Adagio,of the piece which three-fourthsof the I confessthat I have not been able to trace a song musiciansof Europe,who knowit, put at the head of withthe beginningabove quoted amongstthe works all I have written,declared that I had not compre- of anyof the Lawes's; and Mr. R. Lane Poole, of the hendedShakespeare. Frog puffedup withsilliness, musical departmentof the BritishMuseum, to whose when thou canst prove that to me. . ... Never did courteousassistance I am much indebted,informs criticismsmore unexpected, more cruelly wound me; me that he has in vain searchedfor it amongstthe and, as usual, none of the Aristarchswho wrote MS. and printedcollections of the Museum. From foror againstthe workpointed out one of itsdefects, internal evidence, however,it seems to me most which I successivelycorrected later, as I was able probable that HenryLawes is the composer,for the to discernthem." reason,amongst others, that a fewmonths afterwards (To becontinued.) Mr. Pepys refersagain to some songs by Mr. Lawes -this time undoubtedlyHenry. The passage is MR. PEPYS THE MUSICIAN this:- " So home,and therehad a firein closet,and fell By FRANCIS HUEFFER. my to enteringthese two good songs of Mr. Lawes,' Helpe, (Continuedfrom page 236.) helpe, O helpe,' and 'O, God of Heaven and Hell,' VI. in mysong book,to whichI have got Mr. Childeto THE name of Lawes occurs altogethersix timesin set the base to the Theorbo,and that done,to bed." the Diary, and in one instanceMr. Pepys has further Here we are on safe ground. Both songs occur specifiedthe person he means the Christian in that " " byadding interestingcolletction, The second book name, Will." The editoraccordingly immediately of Ayres and Dialogues for one, two, and three comesto theconclusion that the other five entries refer voyces, by Henry Lawes, servantto his late Matie tothe same person-another instance of how carelessly in his publickand privatemusick. (London: Play- the of music has subject been treated in the notes. ford,I655)." A very moderateacquaintance with the historyof The song firstmentioned by Pepys is entitled Englishart would have sufficedto distinguishWilliam " A Storme,"and bears the characterof a monologue.

This content downloaded from 131.172.36.29 on Fri, 01 Jan 2016 20:20:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 292 THE MUSICAL TIMES.-JUNE I, I88I. Chlorisat sea, near the land, is surprisedby a storm. growingout of the otherwith almost organic con- Amintoron the shore, expectingher arrival, thus sistency. How thiscan be done withoutany loss of complains:- lyrical impulse or melodic beauty, is shown most " Help, help, O help, Divinity of Love, eminentlyby such a song as When I listen to thy Or Neptune will commit a rape upon my Cloris, voice" to beautifulwords by Waller. For in those She's on his bosom, &c. days Englishcomposers loved to drawtheir inspira- The music is of a declamatorycharacter, and tionfrom the leading English poets,justly avoiding depictsthe situationof the unfortunateAmintor with the inane sentimentalitieswhich nowadayspass as considerableforce. the mostappropriate " words formusic." It was to More dramatic,however, and infinitelymore in- this qualitythat Lawes owed the tributeof his great terestingis the second song referredto in the Diary, friendMilton, embodied in the lines frequently,but whichoccurs at page 47 of the same volume. It is not too frequently,quoted:- entitled" Orpheus' Hymn to God," and bears the Harry, whose tuneful and well-measured song, Greek The firststanza First taught our English music how to span motto, AiOLpog2)' aiLov. may Words with just note and accent, not to scan be quotedhere:- With Midas' ears, committing short and long. King of Heav'n and Hell, of Sea and Earth, Miltonin his admirationof his friend how- Who shak'st the world when thou shout'st thunder forth, just is, Whom Devils dread, and Hosts of Heaven prayse; ever,led into slightlyoverstating his case. English Eternal cause who on the winds doth ride: composersbefore Lawes knewthat in vocal music Whom Fate (which master's all things else) obeys; And Nature's face with thick dark clouds dost hide. thejust and harmoniousemphasis of the wordsis of paramountimportance; and thegreatest English poet The musical treatmentis highlycharacteristic of had insisted the factthat and ofthe school to whichhe already upon Lawes, belongs. Again, . . . music and sweet poetry agree the declamatoryelement prevails over the melodious, As they must needs, the sister and the brother and veryquaint, amongstother things,is the long roll of semiquavers to the word thunder,which One God is God of both, as poets feign. Purcellseems to have imitatedin a famouspassage. In briefthe English school of music,when there Altogetherthe two songs are very interesting,and was an Englishschool, was essentiallyof a declama- fewmodern critics will differfrom Mr. Pepys' state- tory,and wouldhave been had it lived of an essen- mentthat they are good. tiallydramatic kind. The fact cannotbe statedtoo There is yetanother reference to Lawes, occurringemphatically in these days,when it has become the in a passage whichis amusinglycharacteristic of the customto call that hideous excrescenceof modern Diarist and his surroundings.As the end of our times,the drawing-roomballad-with its mechanical conversewith Mr. Pepys is drawingnigh, the reader repetitionof one tunethrough all thestanzas in spite will probablynot objectto spendinganother Sunday of divergencesof text,its commonplaceharmonies, in thatworthy's company. its religiousavoidance of anythinglike decentpoetry "Nov. 19, 1665. (Lord's Day.) Up, and afterbeing -the " Englishsong " or ballad par excellence.The trimmed,alone by waterto Erith,all the way with name is a misnomerin everysense, exceptingper- mysong-book, singing of Mr. Lawes's long recitativehaps the one thatin everycountry but England com- song in the beginningof his book. Beingcome there, posersand singersof repute would refuse to descend on board my Lord Brouncker,I findCaptain Cocke to this style of composition. Apart fromthis, the and other company,the lady not well, and mightymodern ballad of the kind alluded to has nothing merrywe were; Sir EdmondPooly being very merry English about it; neitherwith English folk-song nor and a rightEnglish gentleman,and one of the dis- with English art-songhas it anythingin common. contentedcavaliers, that thinktheir loyaltyis not Its model,on the contrary,must be discoveredin considered. Afterdinner, all on shore to my Lady fifth-and sixth-rateGerman composers,Abt, and Williamsand theredrank and talked; but Lord ! the Kiicken,and Gumbert,et hoc genus omne. most impertinentbold woman with my Lord that It is perhaps hardlynecessary to add that these ever I did see. I did give her an account again of remarksare not intended to condemnat one fell my business with my lord touchingW. Howe, and swoopthe entiresong literatureof modernEngland. she did give me some more informationabout it and Such a masterpieceas Mr. Hatton's " To Anthea," examinationtaken about it, and so we parted and and all his settingsof Herrick,would be alone suffi- tookboat, and toWoolwich, where we foundmy wife cientto show thatthe spiritof Lawes and Purcellis not well,and I out of humourbegun to dislike her stillalive amongstus, and he is fortunatelynot alone paynting,the last thingsnot pleasingme so well as in his endeavoursto revivethe purer spirit of English the former,but I blame myselffor my being so little lyricalmusic. complaisant. So withouteating or drinking,there But to returnto Pepys. His remarkson the being no wine (whichvexed me too), we walkedwith subjectof Englishmusicians should be supplemented a lanthorneto Greenwichand eat somethingat his bya fewreferences to foreignschools of art,or rather house,and so hometo bed." to that one foreignschool which in those days had The " long recitativesong" which cheered Mr. real and internationalimportance-the Italian. And Pepys's long rowto Erith, althoughnot named by here again we observethe same justness ofview, the him,may be easilyidentified. It is evidentlythe one same catholicityof taste. The namewhich is foremost givento " Ariadne sittingupon a rock in the Island in one's mind if one speaks of Italian music in the of Naxos, desertedby Theseus," opening the firstsecond half of the seventeenthcentury is Carissimi, book of the " Ayres and Dialogues" beforequoted. the last great representativeof the Roman School, Andhere again Pepysshows his keen perception of the and himselfthe precursorand modelof a numberof characteristicsbelonging, not onlyto a singlepiece, great musicians in his own country,of Lulli in butto a wholeschool of music. Lawes's songs,even France, and throughhim of Humphreysand Purcell thoseof the mostlyrical type,partake of the nature in England. One accordinglyfinds that a leading ofthe recitativein the sense that the declamatoryplace inthe Diary is grantedto Carissimi. "Baptista," elementis neverlost sight of. His treatmentof the writes Pepys (February 12, 1667), "tells me that wordsis alwaysmost carefuland refined,as careful Giacomo Charissimiis still alive at Rome,who was as in Liszt, or Wagner, or Robert Franz. As in masterto Vinnecotio,who is one of the Italians that these moderncomposers, his poetryand his music the King hath here,and the chiefcomposer of them," are always wedded togetherinseparably; the one and we have alreadywitnessed his modest admiration

This content downloaded from 131.172.36.29 on Fri, 01 Jan 2016 20:20:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICAL TIMES.-JUNE I, i88I. 293 of the " best piece of musique countedof all hands rule Florenceis no exception. Duringthe fewyears in the worldmade by SignorCharissimi." that she enjoyedthe privilegeof beingthe capital of To conclude,let us say a fewwords of the Italian Italy,two or threenew opera-houses were opened,in musiciansin London withwhom Mr. Pepyscame into additionto those alreadyexisting; and hence,when contact. The Baptistajust referredto, who supplied the shortreign of glorycame to an end,the Floren- Mr. Pepys withforeign information, is GiovanniBap- tines foundto their surpriseand dismay,that they tista Draghi,a fertilecomposer frequently and admir- had on theirhands no less thanfive of these temples ingly referred to in the Diary, e.g.: " Feb. 12, 1667. of art,viz., the Pagliano,the Pergola,the Nuovo,the With my Lord Brounkerby coach to his house, Politeama,and the Niccolini,offering accomodation there to hear some Italian musique; and there we to at least nine or ten thousand persons in the met Tom Killigrew,Sir Robert Murray,and the aggregate. Florence paid dearly for her charac- Italian, SignorBaptista, who hath composed a play teristicimprovidence and love of show,for the opera in Italian forthe Opera, which T. Killigrewdo intend rapidlydeclined, and all those spacious and hand- to have up; and here he did singone ofthe acts. He some houses are now open forhardly three months himselfis the poet as well as the musician,which is in the year, and that only at intervals. It is only verymuch; and did sing the wholefrom the words within the last six months that the fair Tuscan withoutany musiqueprickt, and playedall alongupon capital has begun to show some signs of recovery a harpsicon most admirably,and the compositionfrom the state of bankruptcyand despondencyinto most excellent. The words I did not understand,which she had fallen,and that in instrumentaland and so knewnot how theyare fitted,but believevery dramatic music too there has been perceptiblea well, and all in the recitativovery fine. But I per- certain revival. The only new opera producedat ceive thereis a properaccent in everycountry's dis- the Pagliano theatreduring the shortwinter season course,and that do reach in theirsetting of notesto was Signor Auteri's " Stella," which,for Florence, words,which therefore cannot be naturalto anybody was put on the stage in a remarkablycomplete else but them; so that I am not so much smittenmanner: and certainly,its lyrical and dramaticmerits withit as I shouldbe if I were acquaintedwith their entitleit to a morethan passing notice. accent. But thewhole composition is certainlymost As yet, Signor Auteri's name is probably little excellent; and the poetryT. Killigrewand Sir R. knownbeyond the bordersof Italy, although in his Murray,who understoodthe words, did say was native countrythe young composer,a Sicilian by excellent. I confessI was mightilypleased withthe birth,has alreadyachieved considerable success. His musique. He pretendsnot to voice, though it be first compositions: six songs, or " melodieper good,but not excellent." camera,"were publishednot many years ago, and Draghi subsequentlylearnt to write to English not onlygave greatpromise for the future,but offered words,and composed,amongst other things, part of a pleasingcontrast to the namby-pambysongs which the music to D'Urfey's comic opera, "Wonders in SignoriTosti, Rotoli, and othermaestri di cantoin Italy the Sun." dedicateto their admiring lady pupils. In 1875 Auteri's AnotherItalian musician,Cesare Morelli,stood to firstopera, " Dolores," was broughtout in Florence Mr. Pepys in the relation of teacher and humble at the Pagliano. The Florentines,it is true, pro- friend. A letterfrom him, written in curiousFrench, nouncedit heavyand monotonous-whichmeans that shows what Mr. Pepys's kindness and helpfulnessit was not writtenafter the patternof Bellini and were believed to be by his acquaintances. It may Donizetti-for, be it observed, even to this day fitlyconclude the presentinstalment:-- Florencehas hardlygot beyond that obsolete standard. Bruxelles, ce 23 Novembre, stile de.Flandre, 1686. The criticism,therefore, was worthlittle or nothing: Monsieur et mon unique Bienfaicteur, indeed since then the has made its in Je vous demande mille pardons de ce que je vous n'ay pas escrit opera way plust6t; mais la cause fut, que ayant trouve ma mere et ma sceur spite of the defectsof a firstwork of this kind,and mort, j'ay est6 oblig6 d'aller au pays d'Hainault pour voir l'estat des was revivedin Romeas recentlyas last winter. The peu d'heritage qui estoit rest6; mais ayant veue, je les ay trouv6 tout new ruin6 et les maisons abattues par les dernieres gueres de l'Espagne composer's opera," Stella," producedfor the first avec la France, tellement qu'il m'est rest6 que les semples terres, et timein Florencein Januarylast, is in everyrespect ces la encor en mauvais stat; je les ay voulu vendre, mais on m'at a moremature, a more and a moreadvanced offertsi peu que rien. Si j'aurois seu avant mon depart de Londres le finished, mechant de mes affaires en Flandre, je n'aurois pas m'esloign6 de work than "Dolores"; and the three special per- vostre protection. formancesat the Pagliano sufficedto establish it Le bruit s'etende par tout que Sa Majeste Britannique va former sa Chapelle de Musiciens; vous m'avez fait esperer par vostre puis- firmlyin the public favour. No doubtthe unexcep- sant appuy que j'en serois un du nombre, si vous avez encor les tionable way in whichit was put on the stage goes mesmes bontez pour vostre creature (Je vous supplie de me faire farto accountfor the success it but scavoir par cet mien Amy Le Sieur Hustin, porteur de la presente achieved; the lettre), je me transporterayavec joye pour jouir les effects de vouz workis in itselfso interestingand repletewith beauty, graces, et en mesmes temps vous donner les preuves et marque de ma bothfrom a lyricaland a dramatic of that gratitude par mes continuelles soins de vous plaire en ce que vous me point view, honorerez de vos commandement; entretemps Je prie Dieu pour la its salientfeatures may be brieflynoticed here. prosperit6 de vostre tres chere personne, estant eternellement, Stella,a truechild of the lagoon, is the daughter Monsieur et mon unique Bienfacteur vostre tres humble of an honest Venetian fisherman. et tres oblige She is affianced Serviteur to Lamberto,a youngminstrel in her own station of CESARE MORELLI. life,who worshipsher; butshe is madlyin love with (To becontinued.) Venerio,a wealthyVenetian noble. Lambertois far away with his lute, and, whilst her fatheris out fishing,Stella thinksof Venerio,not withoutcertain "STELLA": LYRICAL DRAMA BY AUTERI- doubts as to his professionsof love being true and MANZOCCHI. honest. A passingtroop of gipsies attract her atten- tion,and she calls them in to knowher fate. They AMoNG the many losses, social, artistic, and tell her that she will live amid surroundingsof gold pecuniary,which Florence has sustained since she and splendour; and she thereforereadily yields to ceased to be the capital of Italy, none is perhaps Venerio,who carries her off in his gondola,and makes more keenly felt than the loss of good opera. her,of course,not his wife,but his mistress. While Italians are so fondof theatresand outwardshow, she thus lives in splendour,but is conscious of her that will they at any time build ornamentalopera- disgrace, her poor old fatherdies with grief and houses ratherthan schools or otherpublic edifices of sorrow,in Lamberto'sarms; not, however,without more immediateand and to practical utility; that enjoiningthe deceived lover to findout Stella,and

This content downloaded from 131.172.36.29 on Fri, 01 Jan 2016 20:20:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions