ideas, and their skilful arrangement that distinguished this last named, associate it with the highest productions of its class. The Concerto in C minor, another fruit of this fertile year, has all the characteristics of classicality; the stately breadth of the first movement, the dreamy mystery of the andante, and the fire of the finale, are throughout entirely individual to the author; but the merit of the whole is common to this and to the best extant works of its kind. At one of the early concerts of the then promising society of British musicians in this same year, Bennett played his second concerto, and he thus gained such general acknowledgment, that the Philharmonic directors engaged him to repeat the performance at the first concert of their following season, when his success was most triumphant. The next year was occupied with productions of less importance, though, perhaps, of more extensive popularity; but in 1836 an unprinted concerto in F minor, and the fanciful and graceful overture, "The Naiades" (the work of his which is most played in public), brought him again before the highest musical tribunals. It was now at the suggestion of Mr. Attwood that the munificent firm of Broadwood, who have done more for the advancement of music through the encouragement of musicians in this country, than any other individual or institution has effected, offered to defray Bennett's expenses for a year's residence in Leipzig, where, by constant intercourse with Mendelssohn, by constant opportunity of enlarging his experience, and by constant occasion for exercising his powers, he might improve himself and extend his reputation. He accordingly quitted the academy of which he was still an inmate, and went to establish his and his country's character in the city which then, from a combination of circumstances, possessed more advantages for a musician than at this time any place in the world affords. Returning in the autumn of 1837, he left a name of which, perhaps, the highest acknowledgment is the attempt on the part of some shallow critics to traduce it. Repeated successes as a pianist, and the production of some of his best chamber works, fill up his history till 1840. He then wrote another concerto in F minor (that which is published), and so created such a rival to its predecessor in C minor, as few writers could have produced. He now spent another twelvemonth in Leipzig, confirming the impression of his former visit. Here he wrote his Caprice in E for pianoforte and orchestra, and his overture "The Wood Nymphs" which fully sustain the high character of his best productions. In 1843 he gave his first series of chamber concerts, which were continued annually till 1856, and brought his merit as a player periodically under public notice. In 1844 he competed for the musical professorship in the university of Edinburgh against several candidates, of whom Mr. Hugh Pierson was elected. In 1849 Bennett founded the Bach Society, for the study and performance of the music of the master after whom it is named, and is still the chairman and conductor of this institution. Nothing that may be cited within the present limits marks the career of this musician until 1856, when he was engaged as permanent conductor of the concerts of the Philharmonic Society. In this same year he was elected by an overwhelming majority to the musical chair in the university of Cambridge, to which locality his early associations, and his fulfilment of the highest hopes that can have been entertained of him, strongly endear him: subsequently to that, he was created doctor of music by this seminary of learning. As an executant, Bennett is characterized by beautiful mechanism, exquisite grace, and that singing style, which is the strongest link of sympathy between a player and his audience. As a composer, it is fashionable with some to accuse him of imitating Mendelssohn, by which they prove their utter ignorance of his music. He has fancy, he has feeling, he has fire, and, most of all, he has a peculiar grace which distinguishes no less his phraseology than the turning of his ornamental passages, and all these are manifested in a manner as individual to himself, as is that of any artist possessing the traits which constitute a style. This individuality is as obvious in his "Fountain," in his "Genevieve," in his rondo "Piacevole," in his song, "To Chloe in sickness," as in any of his larger works; it consists, first, in his original train of thought; second, in his command of resources, which enables him to mould his ideas at will. They who appreciate him the highest blame him the most, that during the last fifteen years he has almost entirely ceased to compose; and candour must admit the scanty productions of this long period want the merit, when they even have the pretensions, of those admirable earlier works, of which he and his country have just reason to be proud. The lesser interest of these later productions may, perhaps, be ascribed to his having lost the spontaneous vigour of youthful impulse, without replacing it with the fluency which results from habit and the intensity that is given by concentration; and his deficiency in both these is extenuatingly referred to his excessive occupation in teaching. The following are his publications:—For orchestra—overtures to Parisina, the Naiades, and the Wood Nymphs. For the pianoforte and orchestra—Concertos in D minor, in E flat, in C minor, in F minor, and Caprice in E. For pianoforte and string instruments—Sestet, pianoforte, two violins, viola, violoncello, and c. basso; Chamber Trio, pianoforte, viol, and violoncello; Sonata Duo, pianoforte and violincello. For pianoforte duet—Three Diversions. For pianoforte solo—Six Studies; Sonata in F minor; Fantasia in F sharp minor; Suite de pièces; Preludes and Lessons; three Musical Sketches; three Romances; three Impromptus; l'Amabile e l'Appassionata; Introduzione e Pastorale, and Rondino and Capriccio in A minor; Capriccio in D minor; Allegro Grazioso; Rondo Piacevole; Scherzo; Tema e Variazioni; Geneviève; Pas triste pas gai, Rondeau; Minuetto Espressivo. For voice and pianoforte—two sets of Six Songs; two single Songs; three Duets.—G. A. M.
BENNINGSEN, Levin Augustus Theophilus, a celebrated Russian general, born at Brunswick in 1745; died in 1826. He entered the army in 1760, as lieutenant of the Hanoverian guard. In 1773 he took service under the Empress Catherine, in the war against the Turks. Raised to the rank of major, he served under Roumantsof, first against the Turks, and afterwards against the rebel Pougatchef. In 1787 he distinguished himself at the siege of Otchakof, and received the grade of colonel. In 1791 he was selected by the Empress Catherine as a fit leader to carry out her designs against Poland; and having signalized himself in numerous engagements, he was nominated major-general. He was one of the principal actors in the conspiracy against the Emperor Paul, though he was not present at the murder of that monarch. In 1801, when Alexander ascended the throne, he appointed Benningsen governor-general of Lithuania, and in 1802 general-in-chief of the cavalry. In the war against France in 1805, he had the command of the army of the north. He superseded Kamenskoi as commander-in-chief, and in that capacity engaged the French army in 1807, in the battle of Eylau, in which both sides claimed the victory. Shortly afterwards Benningsen gave in his demission, which, however, was not accepted until after the peace of Tilsit, when he retired to his estate. In 1812 he again entered into active service, and commanded the centre of the Russian army at the battle of Moskowa. He afterwards took the command of the army of reserve in Poland, and contributed in a large measure to the victory obtained by the allies at Leipzig. At Zweinaumdorf, where he was victorious, he was raised to the rank of count on the field of battle, and shortly afterwards was made commander-in-chief of the Russian armies. In 1818 he again resigned his command, and retired to his estates in the kingdom of Hanover, where he died. He left a work, entitled "Pensées sur quelques Connaissances Indispensables à un Officier de Cavalarie," Riga, 1794 and 1803.—G. M.
BENNINI, Sigismond, of Cremona, pupil of Masarotti, painted both figures and landscapes. Died in 1728.—W. T.
BENNOR or BENNO, a German cardinal and archpresbyter, who lived in the second part of the eleventh century. He wrote a life of Gregory VII., which has been decried as a mere satire and libel on the great Hildebrand; but though written with a manifest bias, its facts are generally esteemed worthy of some credit. Bennor was a partisan of Clement III., and a subscriber at the council held at Rome in 1098.—J. B.
BENO or BENNO, the bishop of Meissen, against whose canonization, in the fifteenth century, Luther wrote his tract, "The New Idol and Old Demon of Meissen." Beno flourished in the eleventh century. The Germans, it is said, were wont to consider him the lord of the rain and sunshine.
BENOIST, bishop of Marseilles in the first half of the thirteenth century. He twice made a journey into Palestine. His treatise, "De summa Trinitate et fide Catholica in Decretalibus," was published by Baluze in 1713 in vol. vi. of his Miscellanea.—J. S., G.
BENOIST, M. (née) Delaville. This lady was a portrait
