Sketch of Handel and Beethoven.
by Thomas Hanly Ball.
DEDICATION.
TO JOHN A. BEAUMONT ESQ., WIMBLEDON PARK HOUSE.
MY DEAR MR. BEAUMONT,
Seneca has well said, "The three main points in the question of benefits, are, first, a judicious choice in the object; secondly, in the matter of our benevolence; and thirdly, in the manner of expressing it."
Of the first, it would not be becoming in me to speak; of the second, you are the rightful judge; of the third, I beg leave thus publicly to state, that not only in requesting permission to publish this lecture at your own expense but _on many other occasions_, you have fully come up to Seneca"s idea of what a benefactor ought to be.
I shall not attempt describing what I hope you give me credit for; _Furnius_ never gained so much upon _Augustus_ as by a speech, upon the getting of his father"s pardon for siding with _Anthony_, "THIS GRACE,"
says he, "IS THE ONLY INJURY THAT EVER CaeSAR DID ME; FOR IT HAS PUT ME UPON A NECESSITY OF LIVING AND DYING UNGRATEFUL."
Allow me to dedicate the little volume to you, and believe me, ever to remain,
Your obedient and faithful Servant,
T. HANLY BALL.
_Wimbledon, 12th February, 1864._
PREFACE.
A brief account of "The Wimbledon Village Club" will explain the origin and object of the two following Lectures.
"The design of the Inst.i.tution is to afford to the inhabitants, and more especially the working and middle cla.s.ses of Wimbledon and its vicinity, opportunities of intellectual and moral improvement, and rational and social enjoyment, through the medium of a Reading Room and Library, Lectures and Cla.s.ses."[A]
The Reading Room is supplied with Daily and Weekly Newspapers, Periodicals, and Books.
The Library contains upwards of Six Hundred volumes, all which have been presented to the Inst.i.tution.
The Lectures are on various literary and scientific subjects.
To these have been recently added, _Readings_ and _Chat Meetings_.
_Readings_, are three short readings from some popular author, by different readers, on the same evening.
"_Chat Meetings_ are simplifications of a soiree, or a conversazione.
They originated in the idea that many parishioners, having in their homes interesting objects, the examination of which would afford pleasure and instruction to their fellow-parishioners, would on certain occasions gladly take these objects to a room appointed for the purpose, and display and explain them."[B]
Mr. Toynbee, the _Fidus Achates_ of the Club, has, in his admirable "Hints on the Formation of Local Museums," well said--"The Wimbledon Club is admirably calculated to meet the wants of the working cla.s.ses, as regards their recreation and instruction. While it furnishes amus.e.m.e.nt and instruction to all cla.s.ses, it brings them together at its various meetings in friendly intercourse; the management of the Inst.i.tution, and the organization of its several proceedings, afford a valuable experience to the Committee, who portion among themselves their respective work; and the preparation of the Lectures, &c., proves a healthy mental stimulus to those intelligent inhabitants who desire to take part in _one of the most delightful of duties, viz., the conveyance to the minds of others an interest in those pleasing and elevating subjects from which, happily their own minds derive gratification_."--"Hints," pp. 8, 9.
Should these Lectures again interest any of the large and attentive audiences with which they were honoured, I will consider myself justified in having consented to their publication, and feel happy to be the medium of imparting information, even on a secular subject, to those whom it is my duty, and is my pleasure, to profit and please.
It is scarcely necessary for me to say, biographical lectures are chiefly the result of reading and research;[C] I have, however, somewhat fully expressed my opinions on the advantages of music, and very freely on one or two cognate subjects, and others incidentally alluded to.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote A: "Rules and Regulations of the Wimbledon Village Club," p.
1.]
[Footnote B: "Hints on the Formation of Local Museums, by the Treasurer of the Wimbledon Museum Committee," p. 27.]
[Footnote C: Works referred to, and extracted from, in the following Lectures:--Besides those mentioned in the Lectures, the following works are alluded to, or quoted;--Beattie"s Essays; Burnet"s History of Music; Hogart"s Musical History; Edwards"s History of the Opera; The Harmonicon; Schlegel"s Life of Handel; Holmes" Life of Mozart; Moschele"s Life of Beethoven.]
A SKETCH OF HANDEL.
A Lecture.
Before I say of that great composer and extraordinary man whose life I have undertaken to sketch, it will not be out of place, I hope, to make a few remarks on the History and Utility of Music.
I.--THE HISTORY.
It has been well said by Latrobe, that--though the concise and compressed character of the Mosaic history admits no data upon which to found this supposition, yet we may readily conclude from the nature of music, and the original perfection of the human powers, that the Garden of Eden was no stranger to "singing and the voice of melody."
We read in Scripture that before the Fall, the state of our first parents was a state of unmingled happiness. Now, it is the very nature of joy to give utterance to its emotions. Happiness must have its expression. And thus it may well be supposed that man in his primal felicity would seek to express, by every conceivable mode, the love, grat.i.tude, and joy which absorbed every affection of his nature.
Now, the most natural, as well as powerful, medium for conveying those feelings with which we are acquainted, is music. If then music be the expression of joy, it cannot be supposed unknown to our first parents, whose exultation was as intense as it was hallowed.
Milton says:--
"Neither various style, Nor holy rapture wanted they to praise Their Maker in fit strains, p.r.o.nounced or sung Unmeditated, such prompt eloquence Flowed from their lips, in prose or numerous verse, More tuneable, than needed lute or harp To add more sweetness."
But soon the voice of unalloyed thanksgiving was silenced. Sin brought with it sorrow; and, ever since, the Hallelujahs of the saints have been strangely intermingled with the moanings of self-reproach, and the cries of judicial sufferings. The heart, now become the seat of a tremendous conflict between sin and holiness, lost its elasticity, and needed some outward excitement to call forth its song of praise. Hence the invention of instrumental music, which is a.s.signed by Scripture to Jubal.
Longfellow says:--
"When first in ancient time, from Jubal"s tongue, The tuneful anthem filled the morning air, To sacred hymnings and Elysian song His music-breathing sh.e.l.l the minstrel woke-- Devotion breathed aloud from every chord, The voice of praise was heard in every tone, And prayer and thanks to Him the Eternal One, To Him, that, with bright inspiration touched The high and gifted lyre of everlasting song, And warmed the soul with new vitality.
"To the element of air," says Bishop Horne, "G.o.d has given the power of producing sounds; to the ear the capacity of receiving them; and to the affections of the mind an aptness to be moved by them, when transmitted through the body." The philosophy of the thing is too deep and wonderful for us; we cannot attain to it! But such is the fact; with that we are concerned, and that is enough for us to know.
II.--UTILITY.
Of the Utility of Music there can be no question.