Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/195

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TROMPETTE, LA.
TROVATORE, IL.
179

founded by M. Emile Lemoine in Jan. 1861, and now (1884) holding its meetings at 84 Rue de Grenelle-St. Germain. In some respects it differs from all other institutions of similar object. Having sprung from the strictly private meetings of its founder and a handful of friends, then students of the École Polytechnique, it retains the traces of its original domestic character. M. Lemoine is careful to announce that he is not a manager or director, but a host; by a pleasant but transparent fiction the audience are not subscribers (though the amount they pay is fixed, and they are constantly reminded of it); they are the friends of the host, and are invited to réunions at his house. The communications between M. Lemoine and his friends, in the programmes, are all couched in the tone, often almost a brusque one, of personal intimacy.—As Mr. Ella adopted for the motto of the late 'Musical Union' the words 'Il più gran ommaggio alla musica sta nel silenzio,' so M. Lemoine's most frequent and earnest injunctions are directed towards silence during the performances. The name of 'Trompette' arose from a phrase of the École Polytechnique, and the flavour of that famous school is maintained in the 'heure militaire'—military time—which is observed in the hour of commencement.

The meetings began, as already said, in a room at the École. As the number of invitations increased, the locale was changed, until it arrived at its present one, where the audience often reaches 1000. The number of concerts appears to vary from fifteen to twenty, on alternate Fridays and Saturdays, from the beginning of the year onwards. The hour of meeting is 8.30 p.m. The amount of annual contribution invited from each guest is 35 francs. The 'Quatuor de la Trompette' consists of MM. Marsick, Rémy, Van Waefelghem, and Delsart, with solo singers and players. We give one of the programmes of 1882 as a specimen:—

Quartet, No. 5 (A major) Beethoven.
Air and Gavotte for Cello Bach.
a. Polonaise in B Chopin.
b. Gavotte in G minor Handel.
Trio, No. 2, in F Schumann.
'A la bien aimée,' op. 98 Beethoven.

Piano, M. Raoul Pugno.Vocalist, M. Lauwers.

But they are not always so severely classical, and extra concerts are given for the works of living composers.

[ G. ]

TROPPO, i.e. 'top much'; a term of the same force as Tanto; as in the finale of Beethoven's Symphony no. 4, or the first movement of his Violin Concerto—'Allegro ma non troppo'—'Allegro; but not too much so.' Tn the second movement of Mendelssohn's Scotch Symphony the direction at the head of the movement in the printed score is 'Vivace non troppo,' which looks like a caution inserted after trying the speed named in the preface on the opening fly-leaf of the same score—'Vivace assai.' It is as if he were saying 'Quick: but mind you don't go too quick, as you will inevitably be tempted to do.'

[ G. ]

TROUPENAS, Eugène, French music-publisher, born in Paris, 1799, died there April 11, 1850. As a child he showed decided taste for music, but his family intended him for an engineer, and put him to study mathematics with Wronsky, a Polish professor, who however dissuaded him from entering the École Polytechnique and indoctrinated him with his own misty transcendentalism. The results of this early training came out when, left in easy circumstances by the death of his parents, he became a music-publisher, for to the last it was the metaphysical side of the art which interested him. He never gave his ideas in full to the world, but a couple of letters which originally came out in the 'Revue Musicale,' were published in pamphlet form with the title 'Essai sur la théorie de la Musique, déduite du principe Métaphysique sur lequel se fonde la réalité de cette science' (1832). Troupenas took up the brothers Escudier when they came to seek their fortune in Paris, and it was with his assistance that they founded their journal 'La France Musicale.' A man of the world, a good musician, and a fascinating talker, his friendship was sought by many artists of eminence. Rossini, Auber, and de Beriot were sincerely attached to him, and found him always devoted to their interests. He also published Halévy's operas, Donizetti's 'La Favorita,' and all Henri Herz's pianoforte pieces at the time of his greatest popularity; indeed it is not too much to say that from 1825 to 1850 his stock was one of the largest and best selected of all the publishing houses in Paris. At his death it was purchased entire by MM. Brandus, and the larger part still remains in their hands.

[ G. C. ]

TROUTBECK, the Rev. John, a well-known translator of librettos into English, was born Nov. 12, 1832, at Blencowe, Cumberland, and educated at Rugby and Oxford, where he graduated B.A. 1856, and M.A. 1858. He took orders in 1855, and has risen through various dignities to be Precentor of Manchester 1865–9, and minor canon of Westminster 1869. He has translated the following for Novello, Ewer, & Co.'s 8vo series:—

Bach. St. John Passion; Christmas Oratorio.
Beethoven. Mount of Olives.
Brahms. Song of Destiny.
David. Le Desert.
Gade. Crusaders; Comala; Psyche
Gluck. Iphigenia in Aulis; Iphigenia in Tauris; Orphée.
Goetz. Taming of the Shrew.
Gounod. Redemption.
Graun. Der Tod Jesu.
Hiller. Song of Victory.
Jensen. Feast of Adonis.
Mozart. Seraglio.
Reinecke. Little Snowdrop.
Romberg. Lay of the Bell.
Schumann. Advent Song; the King's Son.
Wagner. Flying Dutchman.
Weber. Jubilee Cantata.

besides many minor works. Mr. Troutbeck has also published 'A Music Primer for Schools,' and 'A Primer for Church Choir Training,' and has compiled the 'Hymnbook in use at Westminster Abbey.'

[ G. ]

TROVATORE, IL (the Troubadour). Opera in 4 acts; libretto by Cammarano, music by Verdi. Produced at the Teatro Apollo, Rome, Jan. 19, 1853; at the Théâtre des Italiens, Paris, Dec. 23, 1854; at the Grand Opera, Paris, as 'Le Trouvère,' Jan. 12, 1857; at Covent Garden, London,