308 



New Music. 



[March, 



tflste and feeling manifested by this com- 

 poser, l)nt can scarce give liini the meed of 

 originality which many of his ])artizan.s are 

 so anxious to bestow on him. Some of the 

 pieces possess more of this merit than 

 others, and the selection plihhshcd by Mr. 

 Willis is excellently adapted to shew off the 

 composition to advantai^e. Besides those 

 airs which are established fa-vonrites, as 

 " Giovinetto," " Idoni d'Elmireno," &c., 

 this collection contains the most beautiful 

 concerted pieces, as the canon, " Sogni 

 r'denti," "Oh! cielo demente," thechorus, 

 '' Nel silenzio," &c. — Of the translation we 

 scarcely know how to give an opinion : it 

 is certainly more literal than any we have 

 previously met with, and in some instances 

 well adapted to the musical expression ; but 

 there are two or three instances which woe- 

 fully annoy us — for instance, in the cavatina 

 "Cara Mano," or "This dear hand," at 

 the top of the second page ; the words ac- 

 cording to the musical notation throw the 

 accent invariably on the unaccented sylla- 

 ble, occasionally giving a rest between 

 two syllables of one word. This is certainly 

 the most glaring instance in the work, and 

 even minor defects are not of very constant 

 occurrence : but we regret to see a publi- 

 cation, so well selected and got up, dis- 

 figured by a flaw of this sort, which a little 

 attention, and a trifling degree of manage- 

 ment, might so easily have avoided. 



" Of Woman'' s Smile," siiiif/hi/ Mr. Horn 

 ill the Opera of^^Malciiia," aminfjed bi/ T. 

 Cooke. Is. &d. " When Sorrow's deep 

 Gloom," by Sinchir. Is. 6(/. '' Love fell 

 Asleep," sung hi; Miss Ponc^- Is. 6d." Wa/ie, 

 ?ni/ Harp," sung hij j1/r. Horn. Is. Qd. 

 "■'Take thou this Cup," Trio sung, by Miss 

 S'ep'ieni, Sinclnir, and Horn. 2s. Gout- 

 din;/, Dabnaine, and Co. — This piece, as we 

 may premise from tiie title, " A National 

 Ballad Opera," is a collection of popular 

 airs, either simply adapted to the poetry of 

 the opera, or arranged as concerted pieces. 

 From tlie well-established connexion be- 

 tween the Scotch and Irish mnsic, Mr. 

 Cooke has considered himself authorized 

 to draw largely from the stores of the latter 

 nation ; and appears to have given the pre- 

 ference to them : for out of the six principal 

 songs, five together with a trio are Irish me- 

 lodies." The Cooluu," "the MinstrelBoy," 

 and two of the others, are already well 

 known to the public througft the medium 

 of Mr. Moore's elegant selection ; we be- 

 lieve the two others are given in the same 

 work, but have not acquired such general 

 celebrity. Tlie accompaniments are chaste 



and simple, and sustain the voice without 

 interfering with it, and on the whole, both 

 selection and arrangement do infinite 

 credit to Mr. C.'s judgment. It may be a 

 temptation to some of our readers to know, 

 that the piece does not average above half 

 of that of the Irish melodies (par dminencej. 

 " .See the Sun li brightly Glowinri," Quar- 

 tette in " Malvina," arranged by T. Cooke. 

 2s. Gd. " O'er Heath-covered Mountains," 

 GL-e. 2s. Gd. " Oh, strike the Harp," 

 Glee. 2s. Goulding and Co. — The first of 

 these pieces we do rot recognize as a 

 Scotch air : it approaches very nearly to the 

 old ditty of Ducandarte and Balerma — it is 

 well harmonized, and the effect is pleasing. 

 " O'er Heath-covered Mountains" is a 

 hunting glee, arranged for alto, tenor, and 

 bass. We do not recollect the name of the 

 air, but it is well adapted to the subject ; 

 the symphonies are spirited and character- 

 istic, and an original tenor solo and cada 

 which occur are well suited to the style of 

 the melody. 'ITie third glee is the old air 

 of "The Boatie Rows," which is not so 

 well adapted to the festive strain of the 

 words as the other two ; but as it is ar- 

 ranged for two female voices with a brilliant 

 harp-accompaniment, it will probably be 

 more popular than either. 



Sportive Smiles and Mirthful Measurrs," 

 sung by Miss Stephens in "Malvina." Ditto. 

 Is. 6(/. Ditto. — The air is " Saw ye my 

 Father /' the second and third verses are bril- 

 liant variations on the subject ; the passages 

 are completely vocal, and easy of execution 

 though shewy. No more of the rnusic has 

 been yet published. We hope Mr. Cooke 

 will make the opera' complete, for in our 

 opinion tiic mclo-dramatic music is not the 

 least estimable part of the work. 



" Wandering Willie," composgd by W. 

 Smith. Is. Preston. — Devotional Hymn, 

 Ditto. Is. Ditto. — This beaiitiful little song 

 lias been already so sweetly arrai ged t j a 

 plaintive old Scotcli air, published in 

 Thomson's collection, that it was, to say 

 the least, a bold attempt to assay the same 

 words. Mr. Smith has, however, no occa- 

 sion to regi'et ha^■ing ventured : the ballad 

 though of the very simplest class, is iiaifsmd 

 pleasing, and harmonizes well with the feel- 

 ing of the words. The Devotional Hymn is 

 a good specimen of psalm tunes, with a sim- 

 ple organ accompaniment. We were rather 

 surprised to see the words flauti, corni, 

 tutti, in the symphony, as there is not 

 otherwise the slightest indication of orches- 

 ti'al effect, nor indeed is it in the least ap- 

 propriate to the style of the music. 



