2-d S. N» 5%, Jan. 24. '67.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



73 



I shall be happy to reply to any of your corre- 

 spondents who may desire further information on 

 this subject. 'AAievf. 



Dublin. 



MUSICAL BACHELORS AND MCSICAL DOCTORS, 

 TUKIE PRKSS AND PLACE. 



( 2°" S. iii. 48.) 



I am glad to hear from M. A. (Oxon.) that the 

 method of teaching music in the Universities is 

 meeting some consideration. The Universities 

 appoint Professors of Music without knowledge of 

 their education, and grant degrees without supply- 

 ing education. This system has led to the de- 

 struction of all proper class-books in music, and 

 Dr. Crotch terminated the matter by writing a 

 work on composition, out of which no professor 

 dare examine, and from which no one can learn 

 music, and at which scholars smile in astonish- 

 ment. For aught that Dr. Crotch proves, the scale 

 of music dropped from the clouds, and parts of it 

 have since been lost, or, to quote his own words, 

 " become obsolete ; " and of anything particularly 

 ugly he cautions the student, " Be careful not to 

 use this in music for the drawing-room, but put it 

 into your church music, — there it is fine." ! The 

 " Chants" of Sir H. R. Bishop just published, and 

 his work on " Gregorian Chants," put him out of 

 consideration as a co»tr#puntist, and demonstrate 

 he was unacquainted with the most ordinary rules 

 of the alia Cappella school of writing. Is not this 

 the result of no school, and no class-books, at the 

 Universities ? But upon the exercises for degrees 

 tin's result has had a still more disastrous effect. 



A reply to M. A. (Oxon.) suggests the question 

 whether the University degrees in music are not 

 given in contravention of the charters of the Uni- 

 versities ? The riglit to give the degree is founded 

 on the duty to aflbrd the education, for the degree 

 is the proof that the education has been received. 

 The faculty is the record that the pupil has gra- 

 duated through a course of instruction, been pro- 

 perly exercised, and fairly examined. To supersede 

 the education is to resign the degree, and no 

 charter contemplates the banishment of any art 

 from the University, and notwithstanding retain- 

 ing the right to dispense symbols of proficiency in 

 its study. By what moral or legal right can an 

 examiner inquire into that over which the Uni- 

 versity has had no control, and of which it has no 

 knowledge ? Can a degree given under such cir- 

 cumstances be consistent with the charters of the 

 Universities? Would it meet with the approval 

 of the Visitor, should the legal value of such de- 

 gree be called in question ? Let us see how this 

 state of things tells upon the candidate. How can 

 a candidate know the opinions of the University 

 professor on it* scale of music, its chords, tiie 



power of the scale, the forms of composition, or, 

 indeed, of any of the elements of music ? What is 

 the young man to say if examined on the "Tierce 

 de Picardie," the "Hypo-Phrygian," the "German 

 sixth," or other such absurdities ? What can he, 

 or dure he reply, if asked how many B flats thera 

 are in the key of C, or what is the root of C, D 

 sharp, F sharp, and A, when heard together in the 

 key of C ? What is he to say on the alteration 

 now made in England in the first .movement of 

 Mozart's Requiem, or of the celebrated chord in 

 Beethoven's last Symphony, which is now pro- 

 nounced " no chord at all" ! What can he know 

 of the mind of the professor, and all being mystery 

 and doubt, how can he safely reply ? Under 

 these circumstances is the University doctor a 

 myth, or a reality ? Of course I am arguing on 

 the supposition that his degree is not an honorary 

 one. If honorary, can the University legally give 

 a degree in an art she has despised and rejected ? 

 and if so, what is her own appreciation of this sin- 

 gular mode of treating her dignities ? No Uni- 

 versity has a right to make any statute or bye-law 

 which shall prove to the injury of the under- 

 graduate, and benefit only its members. 



I shall be happy to answer the two Queries of 

 M. A. (Oxon.) as to dress and place, but before 

 doing so beg to inquire if the semi-academical 

 nakedness of the Mus. Doc. of Oxford, given in 

 Ackermann, be the veritable attire of that dignity 

 in these days ? And farther, what status a Mus. 

 Doc. holds in his college, if he belong to a college, 

 and what place he takes therein ? I have looked 

 for him in vain, and his place appears to be " no- 

 where," unless in the ruck, or among the fillies in 

 the distance. H. J. Gauntlktt. 



Powys Place. 



CKOMWBLLS PORTRAITS AND BUST. 



(2"'! S. ii, 468.) 



In reply tt) your Manchester correspondent 

 T. P. L.'s three questions, allow me to offer the 

 following Replies : 



1. I never heard of a portrait of Cromwell 

 smoking in a public-house after the battle of 

 Naseby, said to have been taken by General Lam- 

 bert. 



2. I have seen an engraving of the Lord Pro- 

 tector's effigy, but whether the one your corre- 

 spondent alludes to I know not. The Cromwelli- 

 aria, p. 185., describes his effigy. 



3. I have seen several busts as well as casts, 

 none in my opinion good, if we may judge from 

 the fine original painting of that great and extra- 

 ordinary man. But I possess a very fine modern 

 bust in plaister, from the " waste " mould, and 

 from which no mould or copy has been made, con- 

 sequently it is unique ; it was modelled from a 



