and animated melodies! What a profound knowledge of all the re- sung by Mlle. Prévost, whose voice is remarkably clear; the sources of harmony! You, who love novelty, come and hear Beet-beautiful air in La Clemenza di Tito, sung by Mlle. Demeri, who hoven, you will be completely satisfied. He is sometimes wild, it promises to unite the talents of Mme. Fodor and Mme. Pasta; has been said, but what does that matter? Admirers of Mozart, lastly, a fantasia and a military air composed and executed by enthusiasts of Rossini, you will unite your admiration and your en- M. Fontaine, all received great approbation. In the last instance thusiasm in Beethoven, for in him you may find both Mozart and the applause was united in the composer and the performer, a Rossini. tribute to which M. Fontaine has long been accustomed His talent is so well known, and his rank amongst the professors so permanently fixed, as to render any further observations respecting him needless. It is, in a great measure, to his activity, perseverance and love of his art, that the Philharmonic Society is indebted for its existence, and the happy results of his labours. A great number of names, honourably known in the musical world, appear in the list of the members, and there is every reason to hope much from their zealous and combined exertions. I have nothing but praise to bestow on this concert, one of the best of this year, in which there have been so many. The most cheering anticipations may be encouraged respecting the future progress of an association of artists and amateurs, who can already bear a comparison with the best ochestras. The whole || performance was characterized by precision, and expression. A concerto on the violoncello, by M. Benazet, a concerto on the contra-basso, by M. Barizel, both members of the society; an air TABLES OF HARMONY. [We feel great pleasure in giving insertion to the following communication and tables, because they may direct the attention of our youthful readers to the important study of Harmony. We, however, recommend those who play the chords, to add a sharp to every F in each common chord of B, and its inversions, in order that the 5th may be perfect; and to distribute flats or sharps in the chords of the 7th, so that every 7th may consist of exactly eleven semitones, inclusively, and that each 5th may be perfect, and every 3d, major. It follows, that the various inversions of the 7th must be affected by the accidents of the generating chord.] Gentlemen, TO THE EDITORS OF THE HARMONICON. Rochdale, June 9, 1823. Never having seen harmony exhibited in the subjoined manner, I beg to submit my tables to your notice; and shall be happy if you think them worthy of insertion in your valuable publication. The chords being first read straight forward to the end of the staff, then turned upside down and read in the new position, produce the common chords, and chords of the 7th, together with their inversions, to every note in the octave ; the first and last being duplicates. I am, Gentlemen, Your constant reader, Concords with their different Positions. Сн. М. A moderate knowledge of the principles of harmony, united to a degree of skill, easily acquired, in the practical part of it, increase, in a surprising manner, the pleasure derived from combined sounds, and remove many of the difficulties that occur in the performance of every description of musical composition. Hence treatises on the subject are continually called for, and frequently published; nine-tenths of which are produced by those who, though they may be masters in the art, have not the talent of writing with clearness; and about one half of the remainder proceeds from those who, though they can write, are not sufficiently acquainted with the matter upon which they treat, to express themselves with perspicuity. To which of these classes Mr. Klose belongs, or whether he appertains to either, we shall not decide, but enable our readers to judge for themselves, by laying before them specimens both of his musical and literary composition. By way of preface, however, to our examples, we must state, that he is entirely free from the bigotry of system,-he swears neither by Rameau nor Kirnberger, nor by their champions, Marpurg and Kollmann. Indeed, we believe that he has been too independent in his notions to condescend to read, or at least to digest, any of their works. His plan is his own, and we do earnestly hope that none will be found so unjust as to question his sole right of promulgating it. The author begins by defining the term INTERVAL, which he tells us 66 is the distance of one note (on the book, or on the piano-forte,) from another; in ascertaining which the pupil must reckon the note or white key counted from as 1, the next note or white key 2, the next 3, and so on." The black keys are left to shift for themselves if the student, therefore, should wish to gain any preliminary knowledge concerning major and minor intervals, and the construction of the scales, he must extend his reading beyond this book; though the writer "hopes" that it may prove useful," even to those who purpose carrying their studies to the utmost extent of musical knowledge." On the origin, or derivation, of the various chords, Mr. Klose does not bestow a single syllable. All classification of them, which hitherto has been thought so useful and necessary, he rejects. On the accompaniment of the scale, or règle de l'octave, which till now we have held, and supposed that every body else held, to be of primary importance, he is perfectly silent. But he leaves the pupil at full liberty to find out all for himself, if he can; and should he, peradventure, succeed, the facts will, by dint of industry, be more firmly rooted in his memory. At page 7, the following harmony is pronounced to be "good :" If the scholar be early accustomed to such, his ear will certainly be cured of all excessive nicety. Page 18, lesson 9, the novelty of a 7th rising, to be resolved, occurs twice, in the 3d and 6th bars. Example This is the most luxuriant crop of consecutive octaves that we ever gathered from a didactic work. Chapter xi., page 33, introduces the chord of the sharp 7th, or 7th, 5th, 4th, and 2d. In this combination, asl theoretical writers, and all practical musicians, who have pretended to any knowledge of composition, are agreed that the 4th must descend. But Mr. Klose has change tout cela; undeterred by law and by precedent, he boldly causes the 4th to ascend; and we fear that our auricular nerves will have to sustain many a shock before they are reconciled to the method. Examples D: The 5th he omits, because its presence increases the difficulty of the performer. The motive is a kind one. By chap. xiii. p. 39, we are taught that the chord of the 9th and 7th, is the same as the chord of the 9th "taken full!" At p. 46, the second inversion of the 7th or 6, 4, 3, || No. 1-The 7th vanishes! No. 2, the fourth rises again; is thus resolved, ΦΤΟΥΤΟ but this occurs so often, that it is to be understood as the author's established practice. Mr. K. introduces the fine chord of the 9th and 7th in a most forbidding form: Ex. from P. 60. We have given three times the length to the present article that we at first proposed, and can only add, that the language of this book is quite equal to the musical citations which we have made from it. As instances of clear definition and accurate grammar, we offer the following paragraphs. "These three notes struck at once with the right hand, the left at the same time playing the bass note, constitute the common chord of that bass note C, and is called Thorough-Bass." p. 3. Again we have at p. 60, "The above example, and one instance of it (which is given in lesson 36,) is considered sufficient." We have now redeemed our promise, and, offering no opinion ourselves, have, we trust, enabled our readers to form their own of these" Practical Hints.” 1. RONDO, with an INTRODUCTION, for the Piano-forte, composed, and dedicated to Miss ESTCOURT, by J. B. CRAMER. Op. 66. (Goulding, D'Almaine, and Co.) 2. Two AIRS, for the Piano-Forte; the Variations composed for, and dedicated to, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS AUGUSTA, by J. B. CRAMER. (Birchall and Co., New Bond-Street.) The first of these pieces, The Rondo, is formed upon the air, Go, my love, in the opera of The Maniac, by Bishop, a subject well suited to this species of composition, being rather of a gay character, and having nothing lingering in its melody. Mr. Cramer has managed it with great spirit, and converted it into a very lively, brilliant, piano-forte Rondo, adapted to the superior class of performers; but by no means presenting any difficulty of an alarming nature. || If played with the distinctness and animation that it requires, it will not fail to please the great majority of hearers. MOZART'S SIX GRAND SYMPHONIES, arranged for the The Two Airs are written in a more familiar manner than the Rondo, and are within the compass of a greater number of performers. The melody of the first is remark-The celebrated piano-forte player, Hummel of Vienna, ably pretty, and the manner in which it is accompanied indicates the author. The second Air is of a commoner kind, and the variations to both have little of novelty to recommend them. In truth, it is more difficult now to write new variations, than to create new melodies. Many years ago, Dibdin, the admirable lyric poet and musician, published an excellent receipt for composing an Italian bravura: had he lived till the present day, he might have furnished an equally good formula for making any number of variations to any given air. The art is quite reduced to a mechanical rule; and we candidly avow, that the word variation in the plural number, when it appears in the titlepage of a new publication, always costs us a sigh. UN' OFFERTA ALLE GRAZIE, Introduction and Air, with Variations for the Piano-forte, by G. F. HARRIS. (Clementi and Co.) The title of this publication led us to expect that we should find it replete with all the elegancies that music could offer at the shrine of the Paphian queen's lovely daughters; and although it might not, upon close examination, prove to be equally abounding in science, yet we did believe that it would be free from all those faults that are most opposed to gracefulness of effect. But our hopes were repressed at the very commencement of the air, by the skip of a 2d, in the chord of the sharp 7th, to a 5th; and by a B natural, in the chord of G, against a B flat. Our expectations were not revived by the notes below: has lately employed himself in adapting many of Mozart's orchestral compositions. Some time ago we examined the overture to the Zauberflöte, as arranged by him, (republished here by Boosey), and for the first time found nearly all the essential notes of the score brought within the compass of two hands on a keyed instrument. We have now before us two symphonies by Mozart, well-denominated Grand, forming part of a series publishing here, which is intended to embrace the whole of them. The first in D, is No. 2 of Cianchettini and Sperati's edition in score; and the second is the beautiful chef d'autre in G minor. Were we here to enter into the merits of these works, we must necessarily devote a large portion of the Number to them: but our present duty is to state the manner in which, accordOf Hummel, as a musician, it is unnecessary to say much; ing to our opinion, they are adapted to the piano-forte. his scientific skill is every where acknowledged, and some persons go so far, as to rank his compositions with those of the three great geniuses of Germany. His arrangements, forming our judgment from those now under notice, shew his perfect knowledge of the instrument, and his nice discrimination in selecting the most effective parts from the score, in those passages where the whole could not be taken. When the latter case occurs, the accompaniments for the flute, &c., are exceedingly serviceable: with these, the symphonies become most excellent quartetts; but even where they are omitted, the arrangement is so managed, that the pieces are still sufficiently complete in themselves. In the present day, when difficulty seems in itself to be considered as a merit, we may perhaps, be thought a little old-fashioned in wishing that M. Hummel had contrived to render his adaptations rather more easy. They are certainly only calculated for performers of a superior order; and, though we have always been persuaded that this is not a species of music for general use, yet some of the passages will, we fear, exclude from attempting these splendid and beautiful symphonies, many who are far advanced as practitioners. Nevertheless, by a little prudent management, and the occasional omission of a note or two that may prove beyond the performer's reach, it is very possible to facilitate their execution and few will deny that such music will always repay any trouble or industry bestowed upon it. The work is brought out with great care, and in a liberal manner; and if finished as begun, will be a most valuable addition to any musical library whatever. HANDEL'S OVERTURES, arranged for the Organ or Pianoforte, by THOMAS KILLICK, Organist, Gravesend. (Clementi and Co.) This first Number contains the Overture to the Occasional Oratorio. As the work, if continued, may prove very useful to those who wish to gain some knowledge of this noble and pleasing class of Handel's compositions, we strongly recommend the adapter to thin the parts, where the introduction of all the notes found in the original work is attended with a difficulty that many can never surmount. The double semiquavers in the third and fifth bars of page 4, for instance, are not at all necessary to the effect, but will make most performers stumble in their progress. We bear testimony to the "fidelity and correctness" with which Mr. K. has adhered to the score, and hope that he || The similarity is obvious; but Mr. R. is unquestionably will pursue the task which he has so laudably undertaken; innocent of intentional plagiarism, and the likeness does pressing upon his attention the prudence of retrenching not detract one atom from his merit. The finest composers, such notes as the composer himself would, most likely, have fallen into the same delusion, and such will continue have omitted, under similar circumstances. to be the case to the end of time. A FAVOURITE THEME, with Variations, for the Flute; with an obligato Accompaniment for the Piano-Forte, by W. GABRIELSKY.—Óp. 37. (Rudall, 7, Tavistock-street, || Covent Garden. M. Gabrielsky has the reputation of being one of the finest In the 10th bar of the second page, we should have preferred a more simple modulation. a We come, soon after this, to a minore in A, descending by little ladder of semi-tones in the accompaniment, to the majore, where we are left to gambol for a short time, pleasantly enough, and naturally curious to know by what magical contrivance we are to be brought back to the original key of F. This is, however, presently done, and not unskilfully; though we prefer, we confess, this sort of surprises in a symphony of Beethoven. Were we meditating a fairy fantasy like the present, we would rather court the sylph Simplicity, than the more artful enchanter Modulation. The strain from the 9th to the 24th bar, page 8, is exthe Italian school, and the winding up of the song is noceedingly sweet and soothing; then we come again to the Italian school, and the winding up of the song is nothing but a repetition of flights and divisions to exhibit the voice. It should have been brought to a close as soon and as simply as possible, after the sweet pause on C, which we have before noticed.-As it is, we have " Fairy Queen,"-" Fairy Queen, " flying up and down, first with the voice, and then with the accompaniment, through a whole page and a half. Before we conclude, we would recommend to Mr. Raw word "sultry" might have been set as it ought to be spoken, vocal music, the proper pronunciation of the words. The had Mr. R. made two pointed crotchets instead of the tie; and the tie upon the "butterflies" is still worse. These little inaccuracies are easily avoided, and trifling as they may appear, they make for a nice and discriminating mind, a very disagreeable impression. The words "Empresses and state that see," are quite unintelligible; perhaps it was meant to be Empresses and states that be, which does not, however, mend the matter much. Mr. Rawlings's Fairy Flight is quite of a different fa-lings to be more attentive another time, in preserving, in his mily from Dr. Carnaby's, noticed in our last, but it possesses great merit. There is, however, more of Italian about it than English; but, as it was composed "for Mrs. Salmon," who "sung it with distinguished approbation," we must be "with caution bold" in our comments. In truth, when a composer has to write for such a singer as the lady in question, we know full well, that, however judiciously he may wish to treat his subject, and to keep within the probounds, her voice, and plenty of it too, must be heard ; hence, we may fairly make some allowance for the want of connexion and compactness, which is apparent in this air After all, Mr. Rawlings has evinced, in his composition, throughout. The subject, which is very good, is kept too great ingenuity. We only wish him to bring, in future, as much in the back ground to make way for modula-much vocal judgment as fancy into the field; we shall then tions, and passages that are not analogous to it. That Mrs. Salmon can echo back these passages, we admit; but who else, at least, like her, can? And then comes the question,-Is it the difficulty of execution, or the soul, the expression, the speaking in song, that we ought most to admire? per The opening of the air is striking, certainly; but how beautiful, and how just, is Mr. Sheridan's observation: "Faded ideas," says he, "float in the fancy like half-forgotten dreams; and the imagination, in its fullest enjoyments, becomes suspicious of its offspring, and doubts whether it has created or adopted." Mr. R. has very pro bably been, on some occasion, no matter when, or how often, struck with the following opening of an old song, which has been erroneously given to Purcell, have no cause of complaint left. 1. PSALMO-DOXOLOGIA, a new and complete collection of PSALM and HYMN TUNES, set for three or four voices, with an accompaniment for the Organ or Piano-forte. (Simpkin and Marshall, Stationers' Hall Court.) No. 2. EIGHT PSALM TUNES in Score, adapted to the metres generally in use, with an accompaniment for the Organ or Piano-forte. By NICHOLAS HEINEKEN. (Goulding and Co. Soho Square, and T. Inkersley, Bradford, Yorkshire.) The first of these works is a collection of between three and four hundred psalm tunes and hymns, containing all the established old melodies, and a great many new ones, including several of the best and most popular airs of Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Pleyel, Beethoven, &c., &c., arranged for either three or four voices; with an accompaniment for the organ, in small notes, instead of a figured bass. This is the most copious collection that we have ever seen, for the price; and, musically speaking, is better executed than works of this kind generally are. The introduction of the delightful airs of the great German composers, must relieve congregations from the fatiguing reiteration of the old tunes, which, though certainly excellent in themselves, become, like |