€0 New Music and the Drama. 



"Come, let us prepare" a favourite 

 Masonic Melody, with Variations for 

 the Piano-Forte. Composed by Bro- 

 ther Joseph JMttjor. 3*. 

 The style of the vaiialions which Mr. 

 Major has siihjoincd lo this very sim- 

 ple and equally pleasing little air, 

 would induce our supposition of his 

 skill as a piano-forte pcrforincr. While 

 they are of a east both to accommo- 

 date the juvenile hand and interest the 

 cultivated ear, they demonstrate a tho- 

 rough knowledge of the inslruinentfor 

 which they are intended. The execu- 

 tion is progressive in difliculty, and 

 obviously written with tlie laudable 

 view of inducing practice, and encou- 

 raging the youthful student. ^\ e 

 know Mr. j\I. to bo a real master, and 

 tiiercfore the more freely remark a 

 Utile lapsus mentis in tlie penultima bar 

 of his theme : wo allude to tlie un|)re- 

 pared discord of a fourth and liflh, 

 which is as often rcj)eatcd as the 

 melody of that bar recurs. With 

 common coni|)OSers, harmouial errors 

 of this kind are so usual, that we never 

 think them worthy of notice, except 

 when, unluckily, we find them in 

 genuine musicians. 



Number I. of the Companion to the 

 Catch and Glee Clubs, consisting of a 

 Selection from the most admired and 

 favourite Compositions of the Ancient 

 and Modern Glee Composers, among 

 which will be introduced several 

 Manuscript Productions never yet 

 published. 2s. 



The specimen before iis of this in- 

 tended series of glee compositions, 

 gives a promise of much future good 

 matter. It consists of a prlze-glce for 

 four voices, composed by C. S. Evans, 

 (one of the gentlemen of the Chapel 

 Royal) which last year gained the cup 

 given by the noblemen and gentlemen's 

 Catch Club to the best st)-i(ms glee sub- 

 mitted to their taste and judgment. 

 Its principal feature of excellence is 

 the general spirit of joviality bj' which 

 its three movements are characterized. 

 Were we asked whether it be strictly 

 classical, and the evident production of 

 a sound musician as well as a man of 

 genius, good faith to our readers 

 would oblige us to answer in the nega- 

 tive ; but, had we to say, whether, not- 

 withstanding some few awkwardnesses 

 in the respousivepoints,and the general 

 combination of the parts, the com- 

 poser has not contrived to produce a 

 -lively, andeven powerfully exhilarating 

 effect, our reply must be in liis favour. 

 3 



[Feb. 1, 



In the long course of our critical du- 

 ties, we have often met with serious 

 glees of a very comical description, 

 and cheerfil glees very sadly set ; but, 

 Mr. Evans's " Bacchus, place me near 

 the bowl," is a striking evidence of the 

 real sprightliness of his fancy, and of 

 his just conception of the style proper 

 to such a subject as that on which his 

 talents have been employed. 

 The Parliament Man, or. Hear! Hear 

 Hear! A Comic Sung, sung by Mr. 

 Harley at the Theatre Royal, Drury- 

 Lane, in the Comic Opera, entitled, 

 " Tlie Veteran." Composed, and 

 arranged for th« Piano- Forte, by 

 E. Knight, jun. \s. 6d. 

 This is as comic a little production 

 as, for a long time, has come under our 

 notice. The words, by Knight, the 

 comedian, and author of the opera, 

 are conceived with a good deal of 

 humour, and the composer has, happily 

 enough, fallen in with his ideas. It is 

 not in the music of vocal productions 

 of this kind that we look for any thing 

 more than fluency of melody and an 

 iinolfending bass ; and thus much Mr. 

 E. K. has been careful to give us. We 

 think this whimsical eHusion capable 

 of maintainingitself unsupported by the 

 scene it enlivens in the piece, and that 

 it will be found an agreeable compa- 

 nion at table. 



THE DRAMA. 



Covent-Garden. — The exhibitions 

 at this theatre, during the past month, 

 and in spite of weather not much 

 calculated to draw people from the 

 comforts of the fire-side, have been 

 well attended. Mr. Charles Kemble's 

 Lovemore, and Miss Chester's \\ idow 

 Bclmour, in Murphy's Way to Keep 

 Him ; Macready's Macgregor, and 

 Miss Tree's JJiana Vernon, in Rob 

 Roy; Miss Paton's jMaiulane, in Artax- 

 erxes ; Miss F. H. Kellj's Juliet, in 

 Romeo and Juliet ; Mrs. Ogilvie's 

 Katharine, in Henry the Eighth; and 

 other specimens of dramatic and vocal 

 excellence, seconded by the continued 

 favourable reception of a pantomime, 

 rich in tricks and scenic changes ; 

 have proved so attractive as to realize 

 good houses, and throw a cheerful as- 

 pect over the affairs of the establish- 

 ment. We, however, are not a little 

 surprised, that the judgment of the 

 managers has not pointed out to them 

 the necessity of a greater degree of 

 novelty, and their activity been ex- 

 cited in its production. HenriQuatre, 



Maid 



