MUSIC AT MIDSUMMER.
" The Dog.shir rages—hay. past it doubt. All Bedlam or Pornasins is let old."
NOT Pores poetical Parnassus, but the Parnassus of the pipe and the string—the Parnassus, not of poetasters but of music. mongers. Lon- don is visited with an annual musical fever ; which is found in more ways than one to have some connexion with the starry influences : for it gains its height at the time when " the Dog-star rages" and the Sun has climbed to his zenith, and when these luminaries are in conjunc- tion with the earthly stars who swarm within the horizon of London. This is Midsummer week; and the music of the week has been Mid- summer madness. Besides Italian and German operas, all the concert- rooms in London have been in full occupation with musical perform- ances, at the rate of three and sometimes four a day : and all of them have had a fair complement of listeners. We have already exposed sufficiently the kind of people by whom the greater portion of these concerts are given, and the means by which they get audiences. This nuisance, during the present season, has reached such a height that we may hope for its abatement. Of the multitude of concerts during this week of their maximum, there are not above two or three that deserve a moment's notice.
The Philharmonic Society had its last concert of the season on Mon- day. The orchestra played two of the finest symphonies extant, (MozAuT's in E flat, and IlEornovEN's its D,) with their accustomed excellence ; but the vocal portion, as usual, was of the most common- place kind. The only singers were Madame Donus GaAs and TAsint:- Rim. The former sang an air which site has already hacked through every benefit-concert of the season. The latter, in MOZART'S " Non piu andrai," was so imperfect and unsteady, that the orchestra were completely at fault, and we every instant apprehended a positive break- down. The only pleasant thing was the lively duet, "Dunque io sono," in the Barldere ; which the majority_of the Philharmonic audi- ence know by heart. A concert for the benefit of the once famed Mrs. SALMON, got up with great care and pains by the members of the profession, and long and extensively advertised, attracted a miserably thin audience,—a result not very creditable, we conceive, to the public. It is true that Mrs. SALstox has been improvident ; for her emoluments, during a long and brilliant career, ought to have insured to her competence, and even
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wealth. But this is not the light an which the matter ought to have been viewed: Mrs. SALMON was long the queen of English song—a sovereignty which ever since her time has remained in abeyance ; and her claim to grateful consideration ought not to have been forgotten by the professed lovers of the English school of music, especially at a time when that school stands so much in need of support. The pro- ceeds of the concert, however, as we learn from the daily papers, were increased by several donations ; among which, was one of ten guineas from the Dowager Countess of ESSEX; being equal in amount to the do- nation front the Directors of the Ancient Concerts—concerts which, for many years, owed their chief attraction to the talents of Mrs. SALMON, Mr. NEATE concluded a series of Pianoforte Soirees on Thursday. The room was crowded, and the performances greatly applauded ; a proof that the old school of MozAwr and BEETHOVEN is not yet extinct. Mr. NEATE is a pupil, and a worthy one, of BEETHOVEN; who paid him an emphatic mark of res?ect by dedicating to him a set of his Pianoforte Sonatas. The famous trio of BEETHOVEN in B fiat for the pianoforte, clarinet, and violoncello, was beautifully played ; and Mr. NEATE'S own talents as a composer were exhibited in his Quartet for the pianoforte and wind instruments ; which, besides being remarkable for purity of style, has many original and striking effects. Mrs. Hum.An and Mrs. W. SE;UI 7 had a concert yesterday in the Hanover Square Rooms; which were crowded to the doors. Mrs. Huta,.tn (as Miss CAnoins;s: FOSTER) lies been long known as one of our most accomplished pianists ; and Mrs. W. SEcutx is a very good singer, with a sweet voice and an unpretending simplicity of style, which is very pleasing in these days of garish display. Mrs. flonsu played a Sonata by Wnonn, of very difficult execution, but full of melody and expression ; forming, in this respect, a complete contrast to the subsequent rhapsody of Monsicur Insysr. She also played a Duet by MosetnmEs, with her pupil, Master Russm.r.---a very protty and uncom- monly clever little boy of eight or nine years old. Miss ITAINeOiyTti sang an air of Mr. Hutr.Alis described as being front a MS. opera. It WI'S a beautiful composition, charmingly sung by the cleverest of our present dramatic vocalists : but what is the use of an English composer producing "a MS. opera" now-:l-days? if WEBER or Seona had the misfortune to be Englishmen of the present day, they would neither have found a theatre in which to produce their operas, perfbrmers to sing them, nor publishers to print them. St) we fear Mr. littiassu's opera, with all its app.trent merit, will remain in 315. a long time. AIENDELSSOUN'S St. Paul was performed at Exeter hall yesternight- being the last of the Sacred Harmonic Society's perliwmances for this season. The hall was crowded as usual; and the oratorio was exceed- ingly well performed and received.
We had almost omitted a grand concert given by M. Diim.En, which was symisomatie of the instability of mere fashion in music. Last season and the season before, M. DiiELER'S name drew crowds, as ''LlsZT'S does now ; but the other day his room was not above half fall. The lion of' last year has been devoured by the lion or this. We could mention other lions, who are roaring on the other side of the Channel, and will of course be among its by and by. The last devours those who have come before him: and for our part, we should nut care if they all devoured one another, like the Kilkenny cats.
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