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Leader (1850-1860), 13th December 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 18, RISE AND FALL OF THE ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY....

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      Franklin's Illustrations Of The Parables...

      FRANKLIN'S ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PARABLES . Mr . Mitchell , of Bond-street , has just published one of the most superb Christmas Books yet issued , and one in every way a grace to the Drawing-room . It is an imperial quarto tastefully bound , and contains the Parables engraved ( not printed ) , with twelve very large Illustrations by Franklin , engraved with great beauty by Nusser of Dusseldorf , Goodall , Lightfoot , Joubert , Blanchard , and Watt . It is difficult by description to convey an accurate idea of the costly beauty of this work as an Illustrated volume ; I shall , therefore , now consider it under its other aspect , that of Art . Franklin has evidently bestowed great pains on these Designs , and has succeeded in producing Illustrations which have thought and beauty enough to charm the willing public , if they do not always command the suffrages of those who set up a high standard . They have great merit ; but they have that abiding want of English Painting : —grandeur and fullness of conception .

      They show thought , but it is first thought . In the drawing I miss that sense of movement and action , which gives reality to a picture ; the attitudes express motion , but the muscles are too often in complete repose . The heads are too often generalized forms , not individual faces . They run into types , misnamed Ideal . The expression is apt to have the . same fault .

      Plate I . The Merciless Servant . This is a curious mixture of Raphael and Stoddart , illustrating the general remarks just made , especiallyin the want of visible muscular activity . The servant in the lower plan , who is struggling with his hard creditor , could not for a moment stand in that position with the muscles of his legs so unstrung ; he would topple over at a touch .

      Plate II . The Lord of the Vineyard is in many respects superior—perhaps , because the figures are in a state of repose . The engraving too is splendid . The faces are individualized and expressive ; the drawing excellent . The back of that man in the centre is a study ; and the disposition and drawing of the hands admirable . But the figure of Christ is very unsatisfactory , both in conception and drawing . The figure is dumpy , the hands out of proportion , and the face nambypamhy . Indeed , throughout the figure of Christ is a failure—but is it not always so in modern Art ?

      Plate IV . 1 he Faithful Servant will , I venture to say , he a great favourite . It is in the approved Keepsake style , exquisitely engraved , hut no more like Art than sweetmeats are like food . Plates V . and VI . have something of the same charm and same defect . It is hazarding Jittle to say that the sale of the hook , after its general appearance , will he owing to these plates ! Plate VII . The Sheep and the Goats is an attempt at the Michel Angelesque , the reverse of terrific or imposing . Yet there are some happy touches in those figures on the right hand . Plate VIII . The Good Samaritan . In the

      landscape of tins there is nice feeling ; but if you look at the leg of the Samaritan , you will see that it is not clinging to the donkey ' s side , not even in the faintest manner ; nor is the hand which supports him exerting the smallest effort : the le ^ is dangling by the suit : of the donkey , the hand is lying on the side of the Samaritan .

      Plate IX . The I ' rodiyal Son in very fine ; well conceived , well drawn . Fine the attitude of the prodigal , shamed and flung upon his father's love — fine the calm impassive inquiry of the servant standing * behind ! Hut the father is a failure . His head belongs to the conventional old man ; in his face yon read neither overflowing joy , nor pitying tenderness . The figure below , of the prodigal among the swine , is perhaps the best in the book .

      The other plates are weak and commonplace . have thus run through the plates , pausing to indicate defects with a severity and minuteness which , in general , no one thinks of demanding from notices of Illustrated Hooks . I have done no , because tins work , sumptuous uk it (» ift Book , comes before me wiJli serious claims to be considered a work of Art . A beautiful book it unquestionably is , and J'Yaiiklin bus surpassed himself in its defligiis ; but when we cease to regard it as an elegance for the drawing-room , and look at the designs with reference to the deep import of the subjects , the feelings they aroiiHe in every mind and the high qualities neccaaary for their true imaginative netting

      forth , the standard of criticism necessarily becomes elevated . I sum up as I began , The Parables of our Lord is a superb Gift Book . Vivian .

      Haydn's Seasons. The Sacred Harmonic Soc...

      HAYDN'S SEASONS . The Sacred Harmonic Society commenced its winter performances on Friday , the 5 th instant , with Haydn ' s last great composition , the Seasons . Every endeavour had been made to do justice to this work , which , though known disjointedly to all lovers of music , had only hitherto been executed by very small orchestras , or in the provinces after very insufficient rehearsal . For the first effective performance , therefore , of the Seasons , we are indebted to the Sacred Harmonic Society . We are the more anxious that the society should have full credit for this production , because it is its first

      attempt to emancipate itself from leading strings . We fancied the society intended for ever to proceed in the " safe " and beaten track , enriching its coffers without doing anything to warrant its position . Let it have , then , all the commendation it deserves for the production of Haydn ' s work , the success of which will , we trust , stimulate it to the production of compositions hitherto unknown or imperfectly rendered . The advance of musical taste is so considerable , that the curiosity of the musical public is now sufficient to indemnify the society for loss in the production of any work of mark and likelihood .

      The Seasons was the last great work on which Haydn engaged ; and , as a composition , it betrays the declining powers which he himself confessed . " I have done , " he is reported to have said ; " my head is no longer what it was . Formerly ideas came to me unsought . I am now obliged to seek for them , and for this I feel I am not formed . " The subject of the Seasons is not a happy one . It is descriptive , not dramatic ; and it abounds in recitative which , possessing little beauty of phrase , is given with that tedious , drawling enunciation by which English singers commonly mar the best efforts of a composer . The songs are also Uninteresting and feeble . The whole beauty

      of the Seasons , as a musical composition , lies in the concerted pieces ; and among these are to be found much genuine inspiration and some of the finest scoring which even Haydn ever wrote . The choruses , " Come , gentle Spring , " * Hark the tempest / ' " Marvellous , Lord , are thy works , " and " Hosannas to thy name , O Lord , " will bear successful comparison with any choral writings we have . The work opens with the change from winter to spring , wherein the labours of the husbandman and the beauty of the landscape are described ; and , after an invocation for the blessing of Heaven , concludes with a magnificent Hymn of Praise . Summer opens with the rising of the sun , a feeble imitation of the same idea in the Creation . Then

      follows the burning heat of mid-day , a tempest , and the stillness and repose of night . Autumn introduces us to a bounteous harvest , the joys of the chase , and the revels of the ruddy vineyard . Winter , which depicts the happiness and amusements of the domestic circle , and in which there is an arch ballad with chorus , about a country girl who baflles an amorous squire by galloping away on his horse , concludes with a comparison between the seasons and the life of man , and a hymn full of contrapuntal fire and rich harmony . The orchestral writing throughout the work is admirable .

      The Orchestra and Chorus displayed the magnificent training of Mr . Costa . Nothing could be finer than the manner in which the work was done . ' 1 he principals had , as we have indicated , a diflicult and rather ungracious task . They had not music that much could be made of , and they made as much of it as possible . The Seasons is a work which will not bear frequent repetition . It would be decidedly unsafe to the treasury to produce it more than once in a season . (« reat . compositions become popular with the people in proportion as they arc dramatic .

      I he Messiah * though undrainatic in form , becomes so from tin ; thorough acquaintance which all people have with the , persons and the scenes , mid the facility with which the mind in such a case overlooks the want of unity , and at once transports it . self to the place of action . The rapid success of tin ; I'llijah is owing to its intensely dramatic form . It is worth while for writers , as well as for those who areentrust . cd with the production of works , especially sacred compositions , to consider that their success or failure with the public will depend on their possessing or wanting this essential feature . In musical matters the Mnglish people can only be HucccsHfully treated us barbarians . The

      gradanotion of a melody . So again with the peonif Marches and Polkas are among the most pop ular because of their measured and strongly marked ' Rhythm ; and with Rhythm and Melody the people stop . Harmony they hear in the mass ; but of tie parts of which it is composed they have no knowledge . It is the latter which makes a composition " valuable to the amateur : it is the two former which lead the public to appreciate it .

      tions of music are Rhythm , Melody , hT ^ " The " tom-tom " gong of the Indi £ stT beaten in time and with a strong accent fft ! f ?' first gradation in music . As he advances in dSr tion , we find a certain wild melody . Harmui ? science only to be found among the civilized « children begin with Rhythm . A child will f quently beat its hands or feet perfectly in aconr ? ance with the music it hears , long before it has arT

      Carry these ideas of Rhythm , Melody , and Harmony in connection with dramatic form , which includes them all , and it will be found that all chances of success may be measured by this standard . Where the dramatic form is present even comparatively an inferior composition may become popular ; but where it is absent , even

      though it were written with the pen of an angel , it will ere long be found only in the library of the student .

      Rise And Fall Of The Orchestral Society....

      RISE AND FALL OF THE ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY . A few weeks ago , we drew the attention of our readers to the formation of a society for the presentation of new and comparatively unknown works in the higher range of orchestral music . The list of the Orchestra which we gave at the time contained many of the most honoured names in the instrumental department of the profession ; and we rejoiced , not only that such works were to be so produced , but that a love of the art had at length actuated its-professors to this effort towards raising it in the eyes of the world . At the eleventh hour an advertisement appeared , indefinitely postponing the first concert . The reason will be found in the following STATEMENT O * THE COUNCIL . "St . Martin ' s-hall , Lonj-acre , Dec . 3 , 1851 . " The Council of the Orchestral Society beg leave respectfully to lay before their Subscribers the following statement . " The Orchestral Society is not a commercial speculation , set on foot by an individual or a company of whom the agents are paid servants ; but strictly what its name implies—a . Society formed with , a special object , composed exclusively of persons fitted by their particular professional talents for the attainment of that object , and governed by a body of laws , an agreement to abide by which is an indispensable prelude to membership . " The Society is not only a Society , but an Orchestra , the absence from which of any Member must be injurious , and of sonic , fatal to its interests .

      " The Council , relying on the good faith and common sense of the Members , never contemplated the possibility of men \ oluntarily accepting posts , and then deserting them on the first occasion when their services were culled into requisition . "On Saturday morning , November 15 , a Rehearsal for the first Concert was called at eleven o ' clock ; at that hour but forty-jour Members were present , out of sixtythree summoned ; which number , in the course oi an hour , was increased to Jifty-onc ; nineteen members being too late , and twelve not having presented themselves at all ; two of these being performers oil principal instruments , and having also accepted special duty an of these two

      Solo performers . Of the proposed absence gentlemen the Council had received , previous intimiition , with the names of the deputies ihey had proposed to send ; and , in ordinary easea , the servic . 'S of the latter might have been accepted , or the piece in winch they were to take solo parts might have been changed , lint , in the present instance the ( ' " < : il had undertaken—not that , certain Orchestral Works Hhould be performed at certain Concerts , in the- best way that circumstances would permit ; but that tliuy should be performed by an Orchestra in which certain individuals Hhould occupy eeilain responsible position : ! , and that the Subscribers would have just ground * ioi complaint on finding that the places of those individual

      had been supplied by others , however eminent . " The Council , therefore , decided on postponing int first Concert ; and were even unanimously of opinion ., unless they could obtain from th < - Members noine "' tional guarantee for currying out the prospect us in i . int . grily , it would be belter ut once to ch . ^ olw - ' " '' ' tJh . proposition that the Society be /''^ "J r '' * "'" I met by the unanimously express .-. ! wish of the M . . »^ 111 ' I . IJV L 1 K 1 II IKLlll IliUlini * * j »| , «^ . « - . i . nW » time to considchon < -

      that the Council would take further . meai . H by which the Concerts could be I *"" " ;; ""*''' i , ried on ; accordingly , having consulted togc" ' ' " the b . 'Ht means of Having the Society , » nd at t » .. M » J timekeeping faith with the . Subscribe , » tf 1 »' V to the Member , for MK » Htur « , t , m ,, « r to the J * effect :- ' We , whose h . uim-h are unde . H . gned , n Mta to aKKiHtyW .. r «;/ m % «« orchestral performers a « ig t ^ _ certs , to be held ut Ht . Martin ' s hall , on ul einato M day croniDg * , com mencing December 1 , and we prom *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1851, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13121851/page/18/