REVIVAL OF PURCELL ' S DRAMATIC MUSIC. ON Wednesday night, King Arthur,
the joint production of Darnaiv and PURCELL, was produced at Drury Lane Theatre. Having decided upon the revival of this opera, Mr. MACREADY prepared for it in the spirit of an artist—ss ith a becoming respect for the genius of its authors, au with the intention of realizing, by every means within his grasp 1 4 I
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, thay had conceived. Long and diligent has been the preparation : the scene-painter and the machinist have exerted their utmost skill ; and the music has, evidently, been subjected to frequent rehearsal. The revival itself, as well as the manner in which it is accomplished, evinces those qualities which the manager of a theatre especially needs, and too often wants—courage to quit the beaten track, and an unshaken confidence in the power of true genius. MACREADY has displayed this intrepid reliance on SHAESPERE—he has now exhibited the same trust in Pusegu.
The history of this opera is an interesting one. PURCELL had pre- viously furnished DRYDEN with the music for several of his plays, but merely as his journeyman, or that of the Theatre. He had no influence in the construction of the drama, and simply wrote when and where he was directed to do 51. DRYDEN, at an earlier period of his life, had laid it down as a principle that every writer of an opera was bound to adhere to the rules and the practice of the Italian school : and in those previous dramas in which lie was assisted by PURCELL, music is only incidental, scarcely necessary to the piece. He bad also echoed his profligate master's preference for the wretched French composers of that time ; and, in the preface to his Albion and Albanius, extolled the mise- rable trash of M. Geenn as a miracle of genius. To PURCELL he had never vouchsafed a word of commendation or encouragement ; his praises, like those of CHARLES, were studiously withheld from Eng- lish musiciacs. Against every adverse influence—against Royal pro- scription, so bitter as even to drive him from the Chapel Royal—against the tide of fashion—against the hostility of managers and the sneers of wits—without singers and a band except such as he trained and disci- plined—did this extraordinary man fight his way, and in the course of a few short years fashion and complete the perfect model of the Lyric Drama of England. One among the many proofs of the power of Pea- CELL'S mind is the deference which at length it commanded from DRYDEN; who, little disposed to yield his opinions to any one, consented to ex- change them for those of his great contemporary, and under his guid- ance to write an opera. The result was King Arthur, which may be regarded as the matured display of PURCE11:8 genius, and as the most per- fect exemplification of his views of the English lyric drama. That, in re- ference to the place and mode in which music was to be introduced, DRY- DEN allowed himself to be guided by his coadjutor, he himself admits : and in no opera that we know of, ancient or modern, is exhibited a more perfect knowledge of the real use and value of music regarded as a dramatic agent. It comes whenever and wherever it is necessary, and then only : whenever it can most appropriately carry on the business of the scene it is employed, and nowhere else. And it assumes almost every variety of form and style. The Italian dramatic composers of a time long subsequent to that of PURCELL, shackled by the laws of pre- cedent, never ,:ientured beyond the prescribed routine of song and duet— he had mr..e implicit faith ig the power of his art and the extent of its resou-,,..4. This conviction Ire carried home to the mind of DRYDEN; in thendedication of his play, not only pays an ardent tribute to .-he pubis of PUP1ELL, but intimate:, his apprehension that it has outrun his age. Perhaps he was right : the pusition of PURCELL has been tardily admitted by his countrymen, but the time seems approaching in whieh will be allowed. At his death the English Opera seemed to expge also. No one bad the courage or the power to pursue his track : the managers of the two Theatres united to discourage every attempt to - connect music with the stage : the Italian Opera gradually stole into England, and about twelve years after Putiesci.'s death assumed its perfect form and exhibited its greatest splendour under the management of HANDEL. To this circumstance, which at first crushed and anni- hilated the English Opera, may be ascribed, in a great measure, its revival. The operas of HANDEL contain his best songs, which were sung by that -unrivalled band of singers that he had collected from dif- ferent foreign theatres. These were models of composition, while the Italian Opera-house formed a school for English singers. ARNE at length awakened the attention of his countrymen to their native opera ; and, aided by the talents of Min BRENT, Mrs. ARNE, Mrs. CD3BER, BEARD, and VERNON, acquired a popularity more immediate and more uninterrupted than that of any other English composer.
But PURCELL was still forgotten : in fact, he was unknown. He had published scarcely any thing. His labours were incessant ; the fecundity as well as the versatility of his genius was amazing: but he took no steps to profit by or perpetuate what be wrote. The odds and ends of his works were published by his widow ; but in Anties time few of his secular compositions and fewer of his sacred ones were in print, and to ARNE belongs the honour of having recalled his countrymen to the knowledge and admiration of PURCELL. King Arthur was revived at Drury Lane on the 13th December 1771. Vic-roa's journal thus re- cords the event—" This celebrated performance was written by Dry den, and the music composed by Purcell ; two eminent geniuses! The re- vival of this opera fully answered the expectations ; and managers n ho have singers are always right to have King Arthur in their stock." The play was cut down by GARRICK IO two acts, and therefore could hardly be called DRYDEN'S; nor was the music entirely that of PURCELL. It is most probable that even in Dr. ARNE'S time no entire copy of King Arthur existed—or, at least, that he was unable to obtain one. The manuscript copies differ ; and in most of those that have fallen under our notice, the same pieces (and these are absolutely necessary to carry on the business of the stage) are wanting. ARNE, therefore, reset what it is to be presumed he could not find—writing a new overture, and adding some passages, in order to show off his singers, to some of the original songs. This is the only printed copy of King Arthur that exists, and it at once awakened the public attention to its extraordinary merits. The opera was very successful, and continued to be a stock-piece at Drury Lane for many years. It furnished also copious gratification to the audiences of the Ancient Concerts, for it contains scarcely a scene that was not frequently performed there. Who will ever forget, that once heard it, the Frost-scene sung by BARTLENAN and BILLING- Tort The opera was again revived at Drury Lane in 1784, and in 1827 at the English Opera-house, under the title of "Arthur and Em- meline." The only complete and entire performance of the original music was a few years since at the Gresham Music Lectures ; where, as the most complete exposition of PURCELL'S theory of dramatic com- poaition, it formed the appropriate conclusion of a course devoted to that eabject. King Arthur has never been revived unsuccessfully—this is an ex- traordinary fact. No other opera in existence has thus stood its groind and challenged the admiration of distant generations. What a list of Italian composers, from the time of &mamma downwards, the memory calls up, all of whom enjoyed and deserved European notoriety and fame, and whose dramatic compositions are, without a single exception, dead, buried, and forgotten I The music for the stage consists so much of certain current phrases, admired in their time but soon accounted antique and vulgar, that its character seems to be essentially changeful. It appears to address itself to a single generation, and to recognize no other. An opera, therefore, written in 1691, and especially produced under all the disadvantages which beset its author—an opera written by a man who had never heard any besides his own, and ignorant of the language to which the only good operas were composed—could, at most, have been expected to have attained a decent mediocrity, and to have produced a cariosity over which a few musical antiquarians might pore, but utterly unsuited for representation. But the language of vocal music, properly understood and applied, is in all ages the same : conven- tional phrases change, but the tones and accents which nature prompts, nature will also and always recognize. This is the secret of Pest. CELL'S vitality. The terms are not modern—the musical periods are not rounded according to the received mode; but they are none the worse for that. It is pleasant occasionally to get out of the modern shrub- beries in perpetual flower, where every thing is trim and spruce, into the wild beauty of nature : and such is the feeling with which we recur to PURCELL. As Dr. CROTCH (an ardent admirer of HANDEL) aptly remarks—" When I turn to the thoughts of Purcell after those of Handel, I seem to have exchanged a copy for an originaL" For an analysis of the music in King Arthur we have not space; nor, when so large a portion of it is accessible by the public, is this neces- sary. It includes, as we said, unusual variety of style and form of ap- plication. First, the entire sacrificial scene—the Saxon priests assem- bled in their temple, where the images of Woden, Thor, and Freya conspicuously apppear : to the solemn invocation of the Chief Priest succeed the choral response of his brethren, the eulogy of the victims about to be sacrificed, and the exulting chorus with which the assem- bled crowd proclaim their approaching admission to Woden's paradise. The evidences of PURCELL'S masterly and discriminating hand are im- pressed on every part of this scene. Then comes the ell-known solo and chorus," Come, if you dare," sung by the triumphant Britons. In another scene the Kentish Shepherds and Shepherdesses assemble around Emmeline, to cheer her dark hours with their songs ; and after- wards, when Arthur and his troops are returning from the battle, the aid of music is again invoked. Unseen spirits, adverse and friendly, in alternate response invite his progress. Then comes the well-known dialogue between the Genius of Frost and Cupid, with its accompany- ing chorus ; the scene in the enchanted forest ; and finally, the music in the masque. There are very few operas of any age or in any lan- guage where the composer has so largely invoked the varied powers of his art, or displayed such consummate skill in the employment of them.
Having said thus much concerning its history, (upon which our musical historians are almost silent,) we return to the present revival of King Arthur at Drury Lane. The drama is considerably curtailed, and the libretto of the Arthur and Emmeline is, in the main, adopted. As far as DRYDEN'S play is concerned, this curtailment might be necessary. Much bi the. dialogue no audience of the present day would tolerate; and although the vigour and beauty of the great poet now and then appear, the empty verbosity and prolixity of the French tragic school are too conspicuous. But if too short for a first piece, it is now too long for an afterpiece. Of PURCELVS music the greater portion is retained; and a few songs from the missing part of his opera are supplied from Dr. ARNE'S version. Some pieces are substituted or added from his Dido and ,Eneas, Bonduca, and the Libertine. We have no fault to find in this respect. Nothing of high excellence is expunged, nothing unworthy of its author's reputation is added, and nothing is pulled in neck-and-shoulders. The most important introduction is "Ye twice ten hundred deities !" which, as being one of five consecutive pieces in the minor mode, (late, too, in the opera,) was unfortunately placed; yet we should be sorry to have lost Puusaps's fine execution of it. PURCELL'S opera, or as much of it as exists, may, substantially, be said to be now performed at Drury Lane; nay, more of it than at any former revival. The chief omissions are in the last act ; whence, in fact, almost the entire masque is excluded. We parted with some reluo- tantly—especially the fine song "Ye blustering brethren," the chorus of Haymakers, and the concluding chorus ; but this last, as containing a personal compliment to King Wus.ram the Third, could scarcely have been retained. For a three-act piece there is music enough; but it must be remembered that Pnacem. had spread it over five acts.
The way in which it has been placed on the stage demands high com- mendation. Every thing that long and diligent preparation could do has been done—the public can have no quarrel with the manager in this respect. The scenery is splendid ; and those varied dramatic effects and illusions which PURCELL could only dream of, we see realized. The most striking efforts of the painter's art are the dioramic view of the battle in the first act, the two enchanted forests, and the concluding scene ; all of which are masterpieces of their kind.
The degree of ability displayed by the singers was, of necessity, Very unequal. It was evident that all parties engaged in the opera (PIILL• LIPS alone excepted) were treading upon new ground. Few even of those who call themselves musicians, of the present day, give themselves the trouble to understand PURCELL. The works of other composers, ancient and modern, belong to a school : he is alone—without rival or counterpart. Hence PHILLIPS only, from long training at the Ancient Concerts, knows what there is in , PURCELL, and how to bring it out. The rest are, at present, on the surface : he has dug in the mine. But, though treading tenderly, the other singers .ventured on respectfully and deferentially : if unable to display him, they did not, instead, dis- play themselves. They took his passages as they found them, and es- sayed no improvements of their own.
Upon Miss ROMER devolved a good deal : she was the Cupid of the Frost-scene, one of the Syrens in the enchanted forest, and Venus (at least the singing Venus) in the masque: her most successful character was the first. Miss P. HORTON maintained in Phihrie/ the reputation which she had won in Ark!; acting with great spirit, and singing with good taste. Srarrrox was more efficient in Gritnbald than we have yet seen him ; and Maxie sang the joyous solo" To Woden's hail" with considerable animation. Further acquaintance with Poems. Will enable all the singers to understand his manner and realize his effects : their present deficiencies are chiefly those of training. Let them all attentively listen to what Pnia.Lres makes of "You twice ten hundred deities !" with the score in their hands. The chorus was mag- nificent: every fine feature and point was brought out—the massy har- monies of the sacrificial scene—the graceful melodies of the band of Spirits, especially "Come, follow sue "—the animated burst in the Frost-scene—and above all, the enthusiastic shout, "Britons, strike borne ! " The most important result we have yet to notice. "Mr. Purcell," says DRYDEN, in his dedication to the Marquis of HALIFAX, "has com- posed the musick of this opera with so great a genius, that he has no- thing to fear but an ignorant, ill-judging audience." We have said that he was in advance of his own time—is he behind ours ? This was the experiment to be tried. Disciplined as the public has been into an ac- quaintance with puerility and frivolity—familiarized with waltzes, ga- lops, and opera-songs of no higher pretensions—trained to an admiration of noise and nonsense—would they be able to relish the strength and majesty of PURCELL? The experiment was a bold one, and, in the opinion of many, most hazardous. Our own anticipations were greater than our fears. Our reliance upon the power of genius is unshaken : it knows nothing of date or country, but is the same yesterday, today, and for ever : let it but speak, and it will be heard. It was heard on Wed- nesday night. It was curious to watch the effect of music so new. in style and character upon the audience. The first part of the sacrificial scene, (with which this version of the opera opens,) was heard with deep attention ; but little enthusiasm was excited until its close, when the pit and galleries warmed into a hearty burst of applause. Every piece was applauded more or less : even the more ponderous parts of the opera were listened to with universal attention ; but the fall and final explosion of delight was reserved for the last act. The duet "To arms!" is sung by two of the British soldiers, and the army, advancing to the distant repetition in chorus, presently appears on the stage—not "four or five most vile and ragged foils, Bight ill disposed in brawl ridiculous," but hundreds—a real army ; and when the well-known and truly national chorus, "Britons, strike home !" burst from the crowd, the audience caught the enthusiasm and broke into shouts of acclama- tion. The army marches off singing this chorus ; and the audience, in their eagernesss to encore it, forgot the impossibility of replacing such a scene upon a stage. Some inconsiderate opposition was given to the progress of the piece because the scene was not repeated, but this was the only disapprobation that King Arthur encountered.
As on a former occasion, we desire to tender our best thanks to Mr. MACREADY for this revival—for a tribute so well deserved, though long delayed, to the genius of HENRY Pueoeu,—for the discrimination which guided the selection, for the courage which dared the experiment, and for the industry, zeal, and good taste displayed in the preparation and performance. At the same time, we altogether doubt the policy or the propriety of making King Arthur a second piece. It is understood that the members of the Purcell Club will attend the theatre in a body tonight, to welcome the reappearance of their hero on the stage. We conclude this long notice in the words of Spoils, who, at the termina- tion of PURCELL'S "Jubilate" when performed at the Norwich Festival in 1839, after the massy and majestic subject of the "Amen" had been successively pealing in, burst out with "What a giant is this man!"
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