2*1 S. VII. Fbb. 5. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



109 



the highest degree improbable that they should 

 have been wilfully or even accidentally destroyed. 

 The only possible way to account for their disap- 

 pearance, is to suppose that they were lent by 

 George III. to some person about the court, who 

 forgot to return them. Had they been stolen, they 

 would long ago have turned up in some form or 

 other ; and even now I do not despair of seeing 

 them come to light again some day, to the great 

 joy of all true antiquaries. F- Madden. 



British Museum. 



HANDEL S MODE OF COMPOSING. 



(2°'» S. vi. 409.) 



In answer to the note of N. S. Heineken sug- 

 gesting the publication of the movements from 

 which Handel has borrowed and worked out other 

 people's ideas, I beg to reply that the note I 

 wrote on the Israel in Egypt was penned with 

 the hope of exciting an interest on the subject, 

 and that some wealthy amateur would come for- 

 ward and assist in their publication. But I con- 

 ceive the works ought to be issued in their integ- 

 rity ; and the most important at first to produce 

 would be — 1 . The Magnificat, which forms so 

 large a part of the second act of the Israel. 2. 

 The Stradella Serenata, which forms so much of 

 the first. 3. The Te Deum of Uria, which is 

 "used up" in the Saul, and the Dettingen Te 

 Deum; and 4. The MufFat Sonatas which Handel 

 has translated thus. The march in Judas Mac- 

 cabeus stands in page 78. note for note, save the 

 final close. Chorus, " The dead shall live," Dry- 

 den's Ode, see fugue in B flat, page 46. " Hear 

 U3, O Lord," see fugue in G, page 78., and also 

 for the germ of the first subject in the overture to 

 Samson. For the second subject of the overture, 

 see page 76. (The fine chorus, " Hear Jacob's 

 God " in Samson is the " Plorate filias " in the 

 Jefta of Carissirai.) For the first movement to the 

 overture of Joshua, see MufFat, page II. For 

 the chorus "From harmony," see page 12., and 

 for the symphony in B flat in the Ode, see page 

 44. For the second movement in the grand con- 

 certo in G, see page 76. For the last movement 

 in the overture to Solomon, see page 50. For 

 the fifth movement in the grand concerto, No. 

 5., see page 6. For the minuet to the Theodora 

 overture, see page 23. and page 18. In page 9. 

 is a march in C, used in some opera, but which 

 I have not yet traced. 



Muflfat's book is in the British Museum, and is 

 a legacy of John Groombridge, who had remarked 

 many of these resemblances, and left his opinions 

 in his handwriting, desiring these curious coinci- 

 dences should be made matter of public record. 



It seems to me that Handel was of the opinion 

 of George Whitfield and Daniel O'Connell. These 

 orators noticed what ideas told upon humanity, 



and made no scruple in repeating them without 

 limit. In Handel's time it was thought he failed 

 in tune, or pretty melody ; and even his biogra- 

 pher declares he did not " excel in air " unless 

 expressing some strong character or passion, and 

 that "he failed oftenest and most in his oratorios." 

 Again, Dr. Greene and his party gave Handel no 

 credit for command of counterpoint ; and it is in 

 the pretty tunes and the counterpoint that we 

 find Handel composing with the ideas of others or 

 borrowing altogether. Thus in the Saul, the 

 counterpoints in " Our fainting coui-age," " Gird 

 on thy sword," "O fatal consequence of rage," are 

 by Uria. The veriest tyro in musical writing may 

 see the two different hands in the chorus, " O fatal 

 consequence." Again, the pretty carillon, " Wel- 

 come, welcome " in this oratorio is from Uria. 

 Novello remarks that Handel has used up ten of 

 the movements from Uria's Te Deum. Dragonetti, 

 in his facetious moments, was accustomed to call 

 Handel " the robber," and no one knew better 

 than the great contrabasso the mass of operatic 

 Avriting lying in MSS. written previous to the 

 epoch of Handel ; and it must be recollected that 

 before the time of A. Scarlatti and Bononcini 

 scarcely any of the hundreds of operas had appeared 

 in print. 



May I suggest to N. S. Heineken that, as there 

 will be no difficulty about the Muffat, — a volume 

 abounding in charming music, — he should at once 

 do what he can to get it published. Perhaps Mr. 

 SciKELCHEB wIll add to his fame by giving us the 

 Stradella. A copy of Vria was sold at Great- 

 OREx's sale for five shillings, but there is one in 

 the library of the Society for Ancient Music, and 

 possibly Mr. Anderson or Mr. Cuzins may take 

 the hint, and give us that work. The Magnifi- 

 cat should of all MSS. come forth, and that might 

 well be produced by Mr. Costa under the auspices 

 of the Sacred Harmonic Society. 



In the opinion of Dr. Crotch, Handel used the 

 works of Bach, Bononcini, Calvisius, Carissimi, 

 Corelli, Cesti, Graun, Habermann, Kerl, Kuhnau, 

 Leo, Morley, Muffat, Pergolesi, Porta, Steffani, 

 Teleman, Turini, Uria, and Vinci. That Handel 

 did not scruple transplanting entire movements is 

 proved by the preserice of the Kerl Canzone, 

 which is the chorus "Egypt was glad," in the 

 Israel; and the Stradella concertante, which is 

 the chorus " He spake the word," also in the 

 Israel. No doubt he did these importations from 

 mixed motives. Sometimes, because the music 

 was so beautiful and artistic. At others, because 

 the jewel was splendid but badly set, and thus 

 we see Dr. Croft's fugue for his degree turned 

 into that noble chorus " From the censer " in So- 

 lomon, and a theme of Bononcini converted into 

 the overture of the Messiah. Again, he evidently 

 adopts odd and outside music as a foil ; and on 

 this principle, after one of his grandest choruses, 



