Muth.
NEW PIANOFORTE. MUSIC.
As the season advances, the publication of music increases in activity. The following are among the most remarkable new works, which have come under our notice within these few weeks. We take at present the pieces for that most universal of instruments, the pianoforte.
Bachiana ; select pieces from the works of John Sebastian Bach, (pub- lished by Davison and Co.,) is a serial publication deserving the attention of every amateur. The works of the illustrious master, till lately a sealed book in this country to all but the learned few, are now beginning to be- come not only well known but actually popular among us. In regard to his sacred choral music, (the oratorio of the Passion, &c.,) this is much owing to the labours of the Bach Society, and their excellent President, Dr. Bennett : and, for his harpsichord and pianoforte pieces, Miss Arabella Goddard, by her inimitable performance of them in public, has done more to make them known than any other musician living. The present publication consists of the pieces which she has performed ; all of them taken from rare German collections, and now printed for the first time in England. The real lover of music will find in thorn a rich mine of beauties, and will perceive how much the greatest musicians—even the Mozarts, Beethovens, and Mendelasohns—of later times, owe to the great master who may well be called the father of the pianoforte.
Two pieces by Mr. Brinley Richards—hel, a Romance, (Davison N D and Co.,) and Le Soir, a otturno, (Wessel and Co.,) are pleasant specimens of this elegant and fertile composer. They are not very diffi- cult, though they require a good player ; and, under the delicate fingers of an accomplished lady such as we now meet in every social circle, they will be found to be full of melody, fancy, and grace.
Where the Bee sucks, arranged for the pianoforte by Jules Benedict, (Chappel and Co.) is a chef d'oeuvre of its class. Arne's lovely melody is expanded into a little movement, in which the simplicity and fairy lightness of the theme are never for a moment lost sight of, while great brilliancy is attained without any operose exertions on the part of the player.
The Royal Wedding March, composed by Meyerbeer on the occasion of the marriage of our Princess Royal, has been published, arranged for the pianoforte, at Berlin, Paris and London. It is festive, joyous, and full of grand orchestral effects, which are well preserved in this very skilful arrangement. It is the fourth in a series of " Marches aux Flambeaux," which Meyerbeer has written for festive occasions.
M. Silas, whose numerous works for the pianoforte have given him a place among our best composers for that instrument, has produced a Gavotte, Passepied and Couranic (Cramer and Co.) ; a piece, as its title indicates, in the form and style of the hapsichord music of the beginning of the last century. It is exceedingly simple and pretty, and will give our young pianists an idea of the graceful dancing measures of the olden time.
La Fuite, galop brillant, by Rene Favarger, (also published by Cramer and Co.,) is founded, too, on dance music but, instead of the stately measures of our ancestors, we have here the galop—the headlong rush, fashionable in our ball-rooms of the present day. M. Favargeis piece is-really brilliant, and, played with due freedom and rapidity, will have an animated and exciting effect.
-Mr. Aguilar's Sunset Glow a Reverie, (Davison and Co.,) has that vague dreamy character which gives it the air of an extemporaneous effusion, and consequently renders its proper execution by no means easy; for the effect of such things depends on the absence of all appa- rent premeditation and effort. So played, however, it will be found to be a poetical and suggestive piece of music.
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