312 THE MUSICIAN ABOUT TOWN. 



tion of Beethoven's choral symphony, which at its first performance 

 (twelve or fourteen years ago) was utterly uncomprehended, and 

 therefore utterly marred, is another " sign of the times," and should 

 indicate to the memhers of the Philharmonic Society the necessity 

 of appointing directors prepared to go hand in hand with, if not to 

 he in advance of, the age. This must be done, or that society will 

 lose its well-deserved supremacy in our musical republic. Another 

 indication of the onwardness of Music in England is, that a society 

 is at the present moment forming, the object of which is to facilitate 

 the introduction of music in schools, to the extent required for 

 teaching its elementary principles ; and this is proposed to be ef- 

 fected by the means of tracts and other cheap works, and by lec- 

 tures. To provide teachers for singing, and the notation of music. 

 To assist in forming choral societies throughout the country, more 

 especially without instrumental accompaniment, on account of the 

 expense of such addition. The reputed judgment and known pre- 

 dilection of Her Majesty for a science so calculated to soften and 

 refine the manners of her subjects, will, it is hoped, prompt her at 

 once to become the patroness of so meritorious a plan. 



In proceeding to our proposed summary of the metropolitan per- 

 formances, courtesy rather than justice demands that the Italian 

 Opera should take the precedence. With a company and an orches- 

 tra that were probably never equalled in this country, the subscrib- 

 ers, up to the present time, have been supplied with less novelty 

 than during any former season within our remembrance. Bellini 

 and Donizetti have been the twin buckets in the well. Mozart, 

 indeed, has three times inundated the house with his Don Giovanni, 

 and every nook was occupied with grateful recipients of that eternal 

 fountain. Donizetti's " Lucia di Lammermoor" was the first no- 

 veltv, and owed its success (if such it might be called) chiefly to the 

 masterly singing of Rubini ; who was called upon to repeat the 

 finale, although he kills himself! There can be no question that 

 Donizetti has a genius for melody ; but he appears not to have even 

 an idea of dramatic effect. His operas are usually compounded of a 

 hurly-burly of brass and blare, interspersed with a cavatina or two 

 of graceful character. This alternation of noise and prettiness is 

 the recipe from which the modern Italian composers manufacture 

 their dramatic works. Donizetti is successor to Zingarelli in the 

 Conservatorio at Naples, and, it is said, ranks with the first theo- 

 retic musicians of the present day ; but that he wants judgment 

 in the ordering of his orchestral effects must be acknowledged, from 

 his eternally employing the full band, down to the great brass in- 



