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V O L . XXXII. N o . 18. Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 3 East Fourteenth Street, New York, May 4,1901,
THE NOriENCLATURE AND TERniNOLOQY fancy. Cantabile and dolente may be men-
OF riUSIC.
tioned among the useful terms, and these
I T is doubtful if any other art or science require no synonymous expressions. Of
possesses a nomenclature so involved and course, these are occasionally perverted, as
inconsistent as that of music. Almost every when an English composer wrote in his
composer seems to have contributed at least score, "con espressivo,"—literally "with ex-
a little to" our superfluous catalogue of terms, pressive."'
and the result is that we have at present a
Allegro has become an indication of tempo,
heterogeneous polyglot which we call the whereas it was originally a term of expres-
terminology of music. It is really too bad sion, bright, cheerful. But that is no fault
and cries loudly for relief.
of the word.
A recent Dictionary of Musical Terms
I have intended to correct at least a few
was given me last spring with a request for of the thousand and one errors in the use
my opinion. During my vacation (when the of these terms, and indeed have made a be-
flies were especially troublesome) I marked beginning. But if time does not serve me,
more than one hundred errors, not of the perhaps some one more able will disentan-
type, but of the compilers; and the volume gle the confused mass.
was a small one!
A. J. Goodrich.
The principal objection to our terminol-
A SCHUBERT riANUSCRlPT FOUND.
ogy is that it is borrowed from too many
A N interesting original manuscript work
different languages; not only Greek and
**
by Franz Schubert has been discovered
Latin, but Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, French,
among the property of the official Court of
German, Bohemian, Hungarian, Icelandic,
Justice. It is the long-sought-for composi-
Polish and English. The natural result is
tion in D flat for two violins, a viola and vio-
that these have, in many instances, become
loncello, and is dated March, 1844. It was
perverted or corrupted, so that at present
recognized as genuine some years ago by
it is almost impossible to trace their etymol-
Schubert's stepbrother. The discovery has
ogy. Another fault consists in the great
caused a great sensation in Vienna musical
number of superfluous synonyms which
circles.
serve merely to add still more confusion to
FRENCH GOVERNriENT HONORS SOUSA.
the subject. There is, for instance, no syn-
H E French Government has recognized
onym for the Italian term largo. The word
the services of John Philip Sousa at the
langsam has frequently been substituted in
recent years, but it is not properly inter- Paris Exposition last Summer by conferring
changeable with largo. We do not require upon him the Academic palms, a decoration
synonymous terms, as a literary writer does. of the French Academy, which carries with
Nor is there any reciprocal term for appog- it the honorary title of "officier d'academie."
giatura, or for acciaccatura. The latter A cablegram Saturday to Mr. Sousa from
signifies crushed, and as applied to the short, M. Couesnon, head of the band instrument
(quick) appoggiatura, the term is particu- manufactory at Paris, announced the ap-
pointment and at the same time conveyed
larly expressive and appropriate.
the
congratulations of a number of eminent
It would seem that the bulk of our musi-
French
musicians. The decoration consists
cal terms should be confined to their natu-
of
silver
palms leaves crossed, and purple
ral source, the Italian. During the forma-
ribbon.
tive period of modern musical art (say from
T
1500 to 1770) Italy produced or nourished
nearly all the great composers, and the term-
inology naturally became Italian. Besides,
that language is rich in poetic and descrip-
tive words suitable to music terminology,
and being derived from the classical Latin,
it would be comparatively easy for the phil-
ologist to arrive at the exact solution of any
verbal misapprehension which might exist.
Many of the Italian terms are found, upon
close examination, to be highly suggestive,
and therefore well suited to the nomencla-
ture of an indefinite art like music, which
appeals so much to the imagination and
ALBERT OERARD-TH1ERS' LECTURE-
RECITAL.
OROSIS received in the small ball-room
of the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday af-
ternoon of last week. Mr. Albert Gerard-
Thiers delivered his lecture on Musical Ex-
pression, which was followed by an illustra-
tive group of songs by old and modern com-
posers. This lecture, which is being widely
discussed, proved to be all that was expected,
original as well as clever. Mr. Thiers
charmed his audience with the recital, in
which his sympathetic voice was heard to
unusual advantage. The audience presented a
brilliant assemblage.
S
AT PARTING.
The time has come when o'er the placid stream
Of things that were the portent of a change
Is imminent. We try to rearrange
Our vision and gaze backward; thus we know
Ourselves enabled to retain our dream,
Awhile we play our foolish game, and strange
New pleasure take in old past joys that range
The lengthy gamut through. We try to seem
Contented, sorrow waiting at the door !
Inexorable Time demands his pay,
Postponement is not reckoned in his lore ;
Our payment must be made. Each precious day
We grudgingly expend—we have no m o r e -
Then bankrupt stand and face the parting way.
—Ada Eugenie Fischer in The Bookman.
Jl
ROYAL flUSICIANS.
" T H E Crown Prince of Germany has
developed a decided taste for music,
and has therefore obtained permission from
the Kaiser to study the art seriously. Like
his great-uncle, the late Duke of Saxe-Co-
burg (Edinburgh), the violin is the instru-
ment of his choice, and the professor se-
lected for him is Herr Willy Siebert, of the
Conservatorium, Cologne. The lessons will
begin in the autumn. There is nothing
strange in the Crown Prince's taste, for he
comes of a musical family on both sides.
His ancestor, Frederick the Great, was a
skilled flautist and composer, and even wrote
an opera, "II Re Pastore." His father, the
Kaiser, also composed an ode, though avow-
edly with the assistance of a musical expert.
On the side of his grandmother, the Empress
Frederick, the young prince comes of a whole
family of musical amateurs. George IV.
played the 'cello, and also had a good bass
voice. His brother the first Duke of Cam-
bridge, w r as a celebrated amateur violinist,
who often played in an orchestra; and he
was the reputed author of the courteous
suggestion, "Pray do not stop for me, gen-
tlemen. I shall soon pick you up." Wil-
liam IV. was also a violinist; Princess Au-
gusta composed several songs; the Prince
Consort was a composer and an amateur of
refinement; while the late Duke of Albany,
the Princess Christian, and others, may be
included in the list of royal musicians.
A propos of royal musicians, Brahms, who
was not usually considered a wit, is credited
with a good thing, says our London name-
sake. To Mr. Henschel, who retails the story,
Brahms warningly said, "Speak not disre-
spectfully of the music of princes, for you
know not who may have written it."
The New York State Music Teacher's As-
sociation will hold its convention in Glens
Falls in June. Preparations are under way
to make the gathering a great success.