342 
The First Set of Original Psalm and Hymn 
Tunes ; adapted for Public Worship, and 
harmonized for four Voices; by the Rev. 
David Everard Ford. 2s. 
It is not usual to search for comica- 
Jity in sacred publications; but, never- 
theless, those who lack merriment may 
find it here. Whether the music, both 
in its air and harmony, has been put to- 
gether by ignorance, or with some sly 
and occult design, we know not; but it 
is very droll ; and most of the poetry, and 
some of the prose, might defy the gra- 
vity of Heraclitus, As a specimen of 
the latter, we quote the first paragraph 
of the reverend yentleman’s Advertise- 
ment: “ The anthor wishes it to be un- 
derstood, that, if the treble should ever 
be performed as a tenor, or the tenor as 
aireble, he cannot be answerable for the 
consequences.”—To those who can 
read this, and not hold their sides, we 
present the following :— 
“ Phou soft flowing Kedion, by thy silver 
stream, 
Our Savionr at midnight, when Cynthia’s 
pale beam 
Shone bright on thy waters, would often- 
times stray, 
And lose in thy murmurs the foils of the 
day.” 
or this :— 
‘Tis a point I long to know, 
Oft it causes anxious thought ; 
Do I love the Lord, or no? 
Am FE his, or am I not?” 
—As the first of these quatrains is an ob- 
vious parody on Dr. Johnson’s “ Thou 
soft flowing Avon,” so the latter seems 
to be an imitation of 
*€ Giles Jolt as sleeping in his cart he lay, 
Some pilf’ring villains stole his team away; 
Giles waking, cries, “ Why, what the 
dickens, what ? 
How now, why, am I Giles, or am I not?” 
So much for the Rev. Mr. Ford’s prose 
and poetry. At his melodies and har- 
monizations we leave musicians to laugh. 
While I live I'll love thee,’ an admired 
Ballad. The Air by Mr. J. Smith, the 
Bass and Accompaniment by Mr. J. 
Bardsley. 1s. 6d. 
This air is so regularly and scientifi- 
cally constructed, that we shrewdly 
suspect Mr. Bardsley to be entitled toa 
little more honour than he claims. If 
Mr. Smith was capable of imagining a 
series of passages as smooth, as con- 
neeted, and as consonant with each 
other, as those of the melody before us, 
he had little occasion for an assistant to 
provide him with a bass and aecompani- 
ment. That Mr. Sos fancy might sug- 
gest a leose idea or two towards an air, 
New Musie and the Drama. 
pNov. 1, 
we can easily believe, but the same skill 
must have converted them into a melody 
that suggested the other parts of the 
composition, This particular remark is 
suggested by our general experience. 
Now professors, we know, will assume 
to be musicians, and real masters will 
assist and flatter them. 
[What need of Words,’ a Round for three 
Voices. The Music composed by W. A. 
Nield. 2s. 6d. 
It is one of the characteristics of a 
composition of the nature of the present, 
that it both gives scope to, and dc- 
mands, the faculty of contrivance. The 
first and great difficulty is, to devise a 
melody, or series of intervals, the several 
portions of which, harmonically speak- 
ing, shall so run into and conglomerate 
with each other, that all the parts are 
deduced from the first, and, when any 
or all of them are heard simultaneously, 
they form an agreeable and legitimate 
combination. ‘This Mr.. Nield has 
effected. Firstly, bis leading melody is 
free and pleasant; and, sceondly, the 
harmonization of which he has rendered 
it susceptible evinces very considgrable 
ingennity. The effect of the whole is 
consequently excellent, and not Jess 
gratifying to the hearers than honoura- 
ble to the composer. 
“ The Garlands fade.” A Song, the Music 
composed by Burford G, H. Gibsone. 
18. 6d. r 
_ The words of this song are by Char- 
lotte Smith, and worthy of her truly po- 
etical pen; but the music, we would 
hope, is not worthy of Mr. Gibsone. 
Mr. G. dedicates his composition to his 
tutor, Sir George Smart. Of his pupil 
we envy not the knight. The quaint 
ubmeaning expression, and affeeted ex- 
traneousness of the modulation, are, we 
would hope, not exactly what Sir George 
would teach a pupil, or recomniend to 
be adopted by his greatest professional 
enemy. Wercally do not know whether 
we have ever before seen such a tissue of 
unintelligible harshness and crudity. 
But this we know, that we wish never 
to see such again. 
THE DRAMA. 
CoventT-GARDEN.—At this theatre, 
no Jess than at the rival establishment, 
the best existing strength has been put | 
forth, and every effort of talent and 
novelty been made, during the past 
month, to merit and secure public 
favour. Mr. Kemble’s Char/es, in the 
“ School for Seandal;’ Mr... Young’s 
Hamlet ; Miss M. Tree’s Clari,.in the . 
opera 
