conducting. To the autographs in Buckingham Palace and the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, and to the copies by Smith now in possession of Mr. H. B. Lennard, he obtained access, and thus provided, published 'The Life of Handel, by Victor Schœlcher,' London, Trübner, 8vo., 1857. The author was materially assisted by Mr. Rophino Lacy,[1] whose labours are amply acknowledged in the preface (p. xxii). The work was written by M. Schœlcher in French and translated by Mr. James Lowe. It contains much information beyond what is indicated in the title, especially with regard to Italian opera and music in general in England during the 18th century. The French MS., 'Handel et son temps,' was handed over to 'La France Musicale,' which (Aug. 19, 1860) published the first four chapters, and the beginning of the fifth (Nov. 2, 1862), but there broke off, doubtless for political reasons. The MS. was supposed to have been destroyed, till May 25, 1881, when it was offered for sale by M. Charavay, and at once bought for the library of the Conservatoire, thus completing M. Schoelcher's magnificent gift (Nov. 1872) of all the works, in print or MS., used by him in preparing the book, and his collection of foreign instruments. He has since added a quantity of music and rare books bearing on the history of Italian opera in London, and on singing and pianoforte-playing in the United Kingdom. The 'Fonds Schœlcher,' as it is called, contains in all 500 volumes uniformly bound with the initials of the donor, and has already been of immense service to French artists and musicologists, whose knowledge of the madrigal writers and pianists of the English school, and indeed of Handel himself, is as a rule but imperfect.
M. Schœlcher's work, though the only modern English biography of Handel, is very inadequate to its purpose. The author was no musician, and was therefore compelled to depend on the labours and judgment of another. His verdicts are deformed by violent and often ludicrous partisanship; and his style, which is extremely French, has had but small assistance from his translator.[2] No man can write a serious book on a great subject without its being of some value, and Mr. Schœlcher's dates and lists are alone enough to make the student grateful to him; but it is to be hoped that before long some one may be found to produce a life of Handel which shall steer midway between Dr. Chrysander's highly elaborated narrative and the curious farrago of the French Republican senator. It is a great pity that M. Schœlcher's original French work is not published.
SCHÖNSTEIN, Carl, Baron von (son of Baron Franz Xaver, who died in 1825), was born June 26, 1797 was Imperial Chamberlain and Ministerial Councillor, was twice married, retired on his pension in 1867, and died July 19, 1876. Schönstein was one of the Esterhazy circle in the time of Franz Schubert, and was noted as being at that time, with the single exception of Vogl, the finest singer of Schubert's songs. He had, says Kreissle, like Vogl, a special set of songs which exactly suited his voice, such as the 'Schöne Müllerin'—dedicated to him—'Ständchen,' 'Der zürnenden Diana,' etc.; while Vogl was more attached to the dramatic and expressive 'Winterreise,' 'Zwerg,' etc. Schonstein's position in society enabled him to introduce Schubert's music into the highest circles. In 1838 Liszt heard him in Vienna, and wrote as follows to the 'Gazette Musicale':—'In the salons here I have often heard Schubert's songs given by the Baron Schönstein, always with the liveliest pleasure, and often with an emotion which moved me to tears. The French version gives but a very poor idea of the manner in which Schubert, the most poetical musician that ever lived, has united his music to the words of these poems, which are often extremely beautiful. The German language is admirable for sentiment, and it is all but impossible for any one not a German to enter into the naiveté and fancy of many of these compositions, their capricious charm, their depth of melancholy. The Baron gives them with the declamatory science of a great artist, and the simple feeling of an amateur who thinks only of his own emotions and forgets the public.'
SCHOOLS OF COMPOSITION. In Music, as in other Arts, the power of invention, even when displayed in its most original form, has a never-failing tendency to run in certain recognised channels, the study of which enables the technical historian to separate its manifestations into more or less extensive groups, called Schools, the limits of which are as clearly defined as those of the well-known Schools of Painting, or of Sculpture. These Schools naturally arrange themselves in two distinct Classes; the first of which embraces the works of the Polyphonic Composers of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, written for Voices alone; the second, those of Composers of later date, written, either for Instruments alone, or for Voices supported by Instrumental Accompaniments. The critical year, 1600, separates the two classes so distinctly, that it may fairly be said to have witnessed the destruction of the one, and the birth of the other. It is true that some fifty years or more elapsed, before the traditions of the earlier style became entirely extinct; but their survival was rather the result of skilful nursing, than of healthful reproductive energy; while the newer method, when once fairly launched upon its career, kept the gradual development of its limitless resources steadily in view, with a persistency which has not only continued unabated to the present day, but may possibly lead to the accomplishment, in future ages, of results far greater than any that have been yet attained.
The number of distinct Schools into which these two grand Classes may be subdivided is
- ↑ M. Schœlcher's statement as to Mr. Lacy's assistance should materially modify our inferences from his account of his own part in the examination of Handel's MSS., p. xxi.
- ↑ Who did not do his work well. Instead of modifying the natural over-exuberance of the author he has rather exaggerated it, and has allowed a number of sentences to pass which no literary man of any pretension should have written.
