GREENE. 



tlie degree of doftor in mufic at Cambridge, and was ap- 

 pointed public miific profefTor in the fame univerlity, in tiie 

 room of Dr. Tudway. Greene was an intelligent man, a 

 conftant attendant at the opera, and an acute ohferver of 

 the improvements in compofition and performance, which 

 Handel and the Italian lingers employed in his dramas, 



as compofer to his majefty, and mailer of his band, in wfiicS 

 ftation he fet all the odes of the laureate, CoUey Cibbcr, 

 as long as he lived. 



The compofitions of Dr. Greene were \-ery numerous 

 particularly for the church. Early in his career he fet a 

 Tc Deum, and part of the Song of Deborah, which were 



had mtroduced mto thn country. His melody is therefore never printed; but the anthems and fcrvices which he pro- 

 more elegant, and harmony more pure, than tliofe of his Juced for St. Paul's and the Kings Chapel, he collected 

 predeceflors, tliough Icfs nervous and original. Greene Ind and publifhed in two vols, folio; and of thefe tlie meWt is 

 tile misfortune to live in the age and neighbourhood of a " ' " " ' 



mufical giant, with whom he was utterly unable to con- 

 tend, but by cabal and alliance with his eiiemie:;. Handel 

 was but too prone to treat inferior artifts with contempt; 

 what provocation he had received from Greene, after their 

 firll acquaintance, when our countryman had a due fenfe 



fo various as to leave them open to much difcrimination and 

 fair criticifm. Among the faults to be afcribed to this com- 

 pofer, none are fo flagrant as the light diviiions in which 

 his folo anthems abound, and the repetition of palTages a 

 note higher or a note lower in what tlie Italians call rofalia, 

 which are always dull, tirefome, and indications of a iU»ile 

 or his great powers, we know not; but for many years of fa„cv. The opening of his fecond folo anthem, vol. i. p. 26, 

 his life, Jie never fpoke of hnn without fome injurious cpi- is very folemn and pathetic, and the organ- part judicious 



thet. Greene's figure was below the common lize, and he 

 had the misfortune to be very much defoi-med ; yet his ad- 

 drefs and exterior manners were thofe of a man of the world, 

 mild, attentive, and well-bred. Hillory has little to do 

 with the infirmities of artills; who being men, in fpite of 

 uncommon gifts and infpirations, are fubject to human 

 frailties, which entkufiafm, praife, and the love of fame, 

 more frequently augment than diminiih. 



Greene had the honour, early in life, to teach the duchefs 

 of NewcalHe, which, joined to his profcfiional merit, and the 

 propriety of his conduct, was the foundation of his favour 

 with the prime miniller, and the notice of the firll people 

 about the court. In 1730, when the duke of Newcallle 



and pleafing; but, page 4 j, Santa Rofnlia tells her beads 

 fix times, while one very Ihort pafTage is tingiii"-. " Lord 

 how long wilt thou be angry," alia Pal^lrina, for five 

 voices, though none of the fubjefts are new, feems to us 

 the bell full anthem of his compofition. The llyle is clear, 

 the anfwers are regular, and the modulation fuch as dif- 

 covers a familiar acquaintance with the beil ancient writers. 

 for the church. Of the fidl anthem: " O fiiig unto the 

 Lord," for five voices, the fugue in the firft movement is 

 well worked, and has a good elfecl in performance; but 

 the red of the anthem is not equal in its fubjefts, or their' 

 treatment. " I.,ord how are they increafed that trouble 

 me," feems one of the moll pleating of Dr. Greene's folo 

 anthems. The laft anthem in the firil volume, for two 

 voices, has many pleating paflages, and rather more variety 



was inftalled chancellor of tlie univerfity of Cambridge, he 



was appointed to fet the ode, and then not only obtained . . „ _ _ 



his doctor's degree, but, on the death of Dr. Tudway, he "f fubjeft than moll of the others. 



was honoured with the title of profelTor of mufic in' that The firll movement in the fecond volume feems calcu- 



URiveriity. As an exercife for his degree, he fet Pope's lated to difplay, in the performers, the power of making a 



ode for St. Ceciha's day; having firll had mtereil fufficient f|,;,ke upon fiiort notice. A (liake, judicioufly applied, is 



to prevail on the author to make new arrangements in the a brilliant embeUiniment in a finger; but when lavilhed, ira- 



poem to render it more fit for muhc, and even to add an properly, is pert and unmeaning; nor is it ever more fo 



entire new flanza, between the fecond and third, which had 

 never appeared in any of the printed editions. 



Greene had fenfe and knowledge fufficient, in his younger 

 days, to admire and refpccl the abilities of the two great 

 mufical champions, Handel and Bononcini, whofe difputcd 

 talents occafioned as much difcord in the capital as the 

 factions of Whig and Tory. At the fame time as he was 

 imprefied xvith the higheil reverence for Handel's great 



than upon the firll note of a movement. There are no 

 fewer than feventeen or eighteen fiiakes diftributed among 

 the performers in the courfe of one page, which are more 

 than a modern opera finger of judgment, talle, and ex- 

 preifion, would ufe in a month, were his Ihake ever fo 

 good; the reil of the anthem is on common fubjects, which 

 are commonly treated. 



The two-part anthem, " Thou, O God, art praifed,"' 



ftyle of playing the organ, and the force of his genius for has repeatedly a pafl'age on the word praifed, which has ti 



compofition, he could not help lillening with plealure to Bo- our ear the difagreeable effeft of two fifths; and there i$ 



noncini's performance on the violoncello, and to the grace a point at " unto thee (hall my vow be performed," for 



and good talle of fome of his opera fongs; at wliich, per- whicli he was manifeilly obliged to the fecond movement o"f 



haps, Handel took umbrage — for during thefe feuds, he Handel's fourth organ concerto. Tlie red of the anthem 



broke off his acquaintance, and ever afterwards, regarding confids of agreeable paflages of the times, but nothing like 



him as an enemy, never mentioned his name but with con- originality appears in any one idea. 



tempt. This treatment naturally rendered Greene a par- 

 tizan on the fide of Bononcini, and in 1728 he defended 

 him, as long as he was able, from tlie charge of plagiarifm, 

 with refpeCt to a cantata which had been introduced at the 

 academy of ancient mutic as Bononcini's, and which was 

 afterwards difcovcred to be the compofition of Lotti, at 

 Venice. See Bononcini. 



Greene's merit and connections were fuch, that he foon 

 arrived, at the moll honoilrable appointments in his profcf- 

 fion: for befides being organill of St. Paul's, in 1727, on 



" The King fltall rejoice," for three voices, is agreeable 

 commoH-place. Perhaps that is hardly enough to lay of 

 the fecond movement : " O Lord grant me a long life." 



" Let ray complaint," a full anthem, a 5, is very folemii 

 and folid compofition. 



The anthem for Chrillmas day has an air of chearfulnels, 

 fuitable to the occafiou, which runs through the whole 

 compofition. " Hear my prayer, O God," has more merit 

 of gravity and cxprefilon than moil of the anthems in this 

 volume. " O fing unto God," is agreeable mufc, but too 



the death of Dr. Croft, he was appointed organid and com- fecular in its melody, and return to the fubjetl. " Have 

 jjofer of the Chapel Royal; audini735 he fucceeded Lccles mercy upon me;" the t\v« fird movements of this anthem 

 Vol.. XVI. 5 -'^ ='•*: 



