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VERDI.
of M.A. by the University of Edin- burgh, acted as joint editor with Professor Mansel of Oxford, in superintending the publication of the ** Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic of Sir W. Hamilton, Bart.,*' published in 1850-60. He wrote the *' Memoir of Dugald Stewart," in connection with the new edition of his collected works, upon which Sir W. Hamilton was employed at the time of his death, after which this publication was superintended by Professor Veitch, at the request of the Stewart trustees. In 1861 Mr. Veitch was appointed to the Professorship of Logic and Rhetoric in the University of Glasgow. He has recently written a ** Memoir of Sir W. Hamilton,'* 1869. In 1872 he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Edin- burgh. He is the author of " The Tweed and other Poems," 1875 ;
- • Lucretius and the Atomic Theory/*
1875 ; and '* The History and Poetry of the Scottish Border," 1877.
VERDI, Giuseppe, composer, son of an innkeeper, born at Itancola, in the duchy of Parma, Oct. 9, 1814, received his first lessons from an organist in Milan , where he resided from 1833 tiU 1836; studied dili- gently under Lavinga, and in 1839 published his earliest work, a musi- cal drama, entitled " Oberto di San Bonifazio.*' His principal compo- sitions are serious operas, and the " Lombard!,** one of his first pro- ductions, made a strong impression throughout Italy, and laid the foun- dation of his fame. His best known operas are " Nabucodonosor," ** Er- nani" (founded on Victor Hugo's tragedy), the " Due Foscari," " At- tila," *' Macbeth,*' the '* Masna- dieri" (founded on the "Robbers" of Schiller), "Louisa Miller,** " Ri- goletto," the " Trovatore,** " La Traviata,** " Un Ballo in Maschera " (performed inljondon in 1861), and " Don Carlos" (performed at the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Gar- den, in 1867). The " Masnadieri," written for Her Majesty's Theatre,
and produced in 1847, with Jenny Lind as heroine, proved a failm^ in London, though it has since been successful in Italy. The ••Trovatore" and *• La Traviata"* have had great success, not only in Italy, but in Germany, France, and England. Signor Verdi's more re- cent operas are ** Giovanno d'Aroo," in 1868 ; " La Forza del Deatino," in 1869 ; and " Aida," performed at the Scala, Milan, in 1872. His celebrated *' Requiem Mass," com- posed in honour of his great countryman Manzoni, was first per- formed in the Church of San Marco at Milan, May 23, 187 i. He was elected a member of the Italian Parliament in 1861 . and in 1871 he went to Florence in order to as- sume the post offered him by the Italian Minister of Public Instruc- tion, for the improvement and re- organization of the Italian Musical Institute. M. Verdi, who is a mem- ber of the Legion of Honour, was elected corresponding member of the Academie des Beaux Arts. Dec. 10, 1859 ; was made Grand Cross of the Russian order of St. Stanislaus in 1862; Foreign Associate of the Acad«?mie des Beaux Arts, June 15, 186 1; and Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1872, in which year the Viceroy of Egypt conferred on him the Order ofOsmani. King Victor Euunanuel, by a decree dated Nov. 22, 1874, created Signor Verdi an Italian Senator. In May, 1875, he was nominated a Commander of the Legion of Honour, and the Italian Minister at Paris was charged to present him with the insignia of the order, accompanied by a flat- tering letter from the Due Decazes. In the same year he was decorated with the Cross of Commander and Star of the Austrian Order of Franz- Joseph. Signor Verdi completed, in 1878, a new opera in 5 acts, en- titled " Montezuma," which was given for the first time at La Scala, Milan. On his return from Paris to his native country, in April,
