Literary Extracts.

Anglo-Maori Warder, Volume 1, Issue 5, 23 May 1848, Page 3

Literary Extracts.

DR. FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY. FROM THE ATHEN TUM. Since the death of Sir Walter Scott, the world of imaginative creation has received no such shock as in the tidings of the decease of Dr. Meudelssohn-Bar-tholdy. Before the puet-novalist died, however, his triumphant career hal closed—whereas that of the poet-mUMC=an wa" lar frum having readied us zenith. Born at Hamburgh in th: ya..i IS'i'J, " ni'irht reusouabty have been hoped that his best days of energy inJ invention were to come—tu.3 more, since he. occupied a position justifying a tree exercise of his powers, almost unique in the annals of ait. These, contain, indeed, few record! ot a bei»c. at once so erfted—so happy in all that nl3k.es li.i' blessed—so energetic in his calling—whose fvnc att-eaded lura *n early. "'ihe boy," iw.ie Geatt.e uf young Mendelssohn, " itas born upon ahi kj day.' His inner Wis Hie -in of the celebrated philosopher, hi'n.lf an enlightened and accomplished ma -—r rm'tch ut in opulent cue uu.« stances. His mother—a woman of i\mihk intellectual cultivation and g-aeeful I i-.i.ng—ll.ls accustomed to collect around net ..I' tha, u.is moot uistuvsaisiied 111 Berlin. Tims the ea.l 1 -id e.ery adv.u.u e which par. nuil pride, iiutllisiut e/it, a.,d nu.i.r olhc. tion could altord. Never can genius hue bull less forced in Us cultuie—as those «no ncul'.iet the ar.los and ea,er pleasure wliicn the tnnous and Uill- o roKn min took, to the l.,st, in Min,,le things can attest. The i\.ieme uu etst'O ot T,l.\, howvvir, mule all aal scholar—mastered el .ti Luioccaii l-.n ,eiy -, nd, as we once he-ud 1,. n s.n-,—• into nmsie Ue hardly kLeu-.an.'." Bui ILn- lay his ihnle-t : and his lather's h- „• ».i-one 'u win h ell art',!,, anon,-utue.Ou-ti .> - I.lc «cl..unci. Hl3 ui.-tl.ci, Jn. ''•.!'.. b's -l-l. !'■, .. 1i1.1v.-0 I tuV,- u.11.1-'ie-ile'.'lt,"."- tl.'.u I i.i ' '■■■ .mate" »..U .--telv.l te-rnis. Ui. ...a' me; tv Vei.iu, i . 1..v.- i-l.c- U.-JC' Hie lu.tion oi'Z . .t, I'., ■ iiuuU ~; 1. . t.. . for tV ".i.-nce ul ice,-e ni.iu e. i„i 1! ~|.ii- I.lc Hv wi., for .1 1 ,,,i 1 .e.,at -,.,.!,. • -on!, t:..'- I' ti. hujieu - It -'-'■ uti-.v. . ....

lias assured us ajain anj again, never hard. Besides great aptitude to acquire, Na:ure had given him a singular vivacity and willingness of finger, which made all the combinations of kejed instruments easy to him. We remember heat ins; hi* sister tell how, on a visit of Kalkbrenner to Berlin, lie caught and executed after a Binrle hearinp, a. famous left-handed passage in the *' , ..11 io Musics," which in those days was thmsht ihcnf pins ultra of planum. His amount of practit..* on the organ, too, cm never have been t;reat—since such stadies are almost impossible S3ve to those sperially destined to serve in Churches. Tet wc know that wi'*i the exception, perhaps, of Schneider of Drc&dn, there has been of later time no sueb mister of that difficult instrument. Hi> quicknesr- of car and memoi? was prodigious his sense of time (another specialggit,i f t, not equally granted to musicians,) unimpeachable: all so many i]ualifications for the distinction as Conductor, to winch he attained. He acquired, too, without trouble, that general knowledge of instruments, which bunts an oichesTdl composer—himself yh>i"s faiily on the violin —apparently seizing -md arranging ideas as quickly as he kjrued maim il processes, and cncomciously forming a style at an age whi*u boys are mostly writing school cieici&<s. His Piarofotte-Quar-te'tee, published in IS2I. and probably comjio.ed a yenr or two earlier, as dUtinc.'y mark a way of their author's own, as bis hist Conurtu, tr the last issue of his Lictlvro/mc HV/e. It is nWrvablc lunvevc-. thit , as Dr. vieiKielssobn ad\anr-d in cux, osition. a frctti- ; nete andpp'intimety of melody developed thcnseU-es , of which his firat (.[farts gave louipar-unety small p.-u- , nme. lltf-ire this time the wonderful boy had beer, brought ! under Goithe's nolic, by hi* mas'cr .-.id ihew nrutuil friend Zelier. Nor did his fart-ne in the matter of cultivation fail Urn tlnnccbith. The easy c.rcumtances of his parents permitted him to travel through G.rmany, and to England. The latter was his first journey independent of tutflase. Here he first won honors as a compjser, and mad.' f. iendships only to be dissolved by uetth. He visited, shortly afterward?, France and Italy :—lhesprighllines& and sweetness of his manners (not unchequered io those early days by bursts of amusing petuUnce and self-assertion,) winning him friends and pleasures wherever he went. " In Hungary," writes Ga-the, " lie taw the crowning of an imperial head—in Rome he finds a conclave—and even Vesuvius gets up a spectacle for him.'' Previously to weaving Germany he had tried his hand at opera wruinp in " Camacho's Wedding,'* which waß produced at Berlin —the small success of whiih, we have often fancied, contributed to that almost perverse indifference to all temptations to write again for the stage, which he was trying to overcome at the time of his death. But it was uot till he came to London that his musical vocation seemed assurtd. It is with a melancholy pleasure wi recoid that our Philharmonic nudieace was the first tu recognue the rare beauty snl fantasy of his Overture to the " Mid-ummer Night's Dream." That ouce heard and recognized, there could be no further hesitation.—A new composer was accredited past the power of critics or cavillers to obscure or destroy. It was m England, too, that the Overture to the " Isles of Fmgal'* was written—and other of his early works first published. After four years of journeying;, gathering, and composing, we next find traces of Mendelssuhn at the Aix-U-Chapelle Festival in 1834, about which time he accepted a Music-directorship at Dusseldorf: accompanied with some charge ol the Opera conjointly with Herr Immerrmann. The last appointment, however, he early relinquished. While he was resident at Dusseldorf, his Oratorio of l 'St. Paul 1 ' was principally composed- It was produced there tn the year 1836, accordine to the good fashion of the L'>wer-Koine Iti'iMca 1 Festivals, which makts anew auecessary feature ui* every meeting. But Mendelssohn's residence at Duss'ldorf wainn tot long duration: since, in 1837, shortly c terhis marriage with a joung lady of Frankfort —he took up bis abode at Leipsig as Director of fie Concerts. He was inve-ted with the degree of Doctor by the University of that town. —There bis happieat days were spent, and the largest part of bis works -written. To narrate how his energy, research, and gupetintendance, revived the musical life of Leipsig, and raised an entertainment with insufficient materials into a series of orchestral performances, which might compete with the most renowned ones of Europe—how, from the pupiis whom circumstances brought round him, and his personal influence fascinated, a school has absolutely arisen—h«v 4 burgher town (rich in the traditions of Bach, but poor in Court-honors.) ouce again became the dpital of instrumental music, and anisic life in Germany,—wculd be merely to transcribe the notes oi every traveller who had ears to hear, and faculties to make comparisons withal. Everyday seemed to increase the sphere of the Composer's usefulness, and to extend his reputation. Nor was there ever reputation which owed le-s to dishonorable, or indirect practices. Dr. Mendelssohn was no suppliant for orders.—no intriguer for serenades and torch, processions, no trafficker wiih Journalists. He was again and again given to understand that Royal favor waited for him «re he could decide even to try how far a Court appointment at Berlin would suit his independence; and after some months oi experiment (during which he satisfied his self that he could sen e his Kins in any way better than amonjr the intrigues and formalities which, belong to Kings' antechambers) he obtiined leave to reside without Court precincts—aud returned again to pi ch his tent in friendly Leipsig. There he resided till his death—with occasional and increasing aosences, rendered inevitable by tbe calls made upon him from :'verv quirter—-for not merely his music was winted, but his presence as a Conductor—tbe inspiriting influence of which it too fresh in eveiy one's memory, to claim any emphatic mention. The .4tfmi;eum has already recorded, if we mistake not, how ht was crowned at SJrun^vu-k—.-erenided at Cob-m—and the k-s» demonstrative, but not Uss ahcere admiration which attc .Jed him during his rectnt visits to England, his, j Kasure in which was attested by their tucteasiug frequency. We had bis first important composition in the Sluksr/crim Overture—we had hii last complete poem, :.nd his best, in the *' Elijah"—his seventieth woik, written f..r la,t year'*, Birmingham Festival—rml the performance of which is, the most timmrhant//>(*pcif'>rmjnce recorded in the Chronicles l Mmi: Toiu:c.;.:c t:. \:\ -ii? of Dr. h k: i~d LT-j-it • i ■ . L J u. mt-i almost every provinej «>t m-ji «;.'.■ no.; i.. '".— opera alone fxcepud, A ccm;'.-:e rV I •_ ■ : -. of j--s.. beyond presenl 1 ; - -,,j[.—' (! t „,. [,,-t ..i-.rt to .i'- principal features 'Ukbti;,. of -r. 1>: Imu-i: » r.-1 nnchid by him ii Cii - a ■;.'.. idtrumo .. b-rth to tU " I.U. ut bii-!" uv.it .T.H.d ro-mi-.'C-.nv.-r'- »•■ - ' ~ -JUtU i oi tf-rt i«ce-~ a.d tue Hton.p.. i '-le -• o -ii C.nccrv With tUri n.ny b- mei.f"i. ■' th. Cd-itn. nnt.cV, " 1.-*t W«i ; ..ir s i 3 Nr;l:, w.:h Ub prt'u.e ar;d one Io: .ilui'.'V,.. lu'-t ' .... io. w« ow.-t.. him lv>o ti-a.i.ius.M ,■ '■ M ri'." i.dt'.i- " r...|i'.'—siv*: 1 . -lai. th -Lv.ji ..tO -.ji " j-. if i'r,. ■•:, .-.i.b

"Lauda Sion," written for last year's solemnity at Liege—the hymns for the nuns of the ennven* of Trinita di Monte, Rome, and an " Ave Maria"*-to say nothing of occasional Lutheran-service music produced for Berlin and some for England. The amount of his concerted vocal music and single sona;s is expensive. Onlv a few of the latter, are as yet well known in this country—some of the la*t, and loveliest, hiiherto unpublished, were written for Mdlle. Jenny Lind. Among Dr. Mendelssohn's chamber-music may be specified an Ottett, two Quintetts (one in the press), eight Quar letts (including two in course of publication),—for "tringed instruments, three pianoforte Quartetts, two Trios, and three Duet Sonatas; —for pianoforte solos, Preludes and Fugues, Rondor, Studies, characteristic pieces, and " Lieder ohne wiirte"—a form of composition entirely created by Dr. Mendelssohn, as different from the Romances of the Steinbelts and Fields as from the operatic transcripts of the Ltszts and Thalbergs;— fur the organ, the six Sonatas recently published ; and till now, for inevitable reasons, almo-t unknowu to the public. We have still to mention Dr. Mendelssohn's Theatrical music, produced for the Court of Prussia,—his exquisite settings and entr'actes completing the ' MidMiinmer Night's Dream,' bis noble choruses to ' Antijroue,' his music to the ' GUdipus,* and Choruses to Racine's ' Athalie,' written to the French text—the two la*t unpublished. No common venatihty and dramatic power, it must be insisted, were required to graßp subjects so widely different as the pompous hymns bf the old Greek drnmatist, and the revel of ilie faery court conjured up by Shabspeare. Of th? last poet the mas'er was a diligent student—and was used to speak of many among the phvys which could be arranged in the operatic form as tasks be might one day attempt "when," he '/vould say, he " could write better." Meanwhile, there remains, we believe, one complete act of the ' Lorely"—an opera which was to be produced at Berlin, written in Switzerland, this autumn, on the te.\t of Herr Geibel,—with the well known legend for its subject. It was a favorite dream with the Composer permanently to establish himself in some nook on the banks of the Rhine, "in Germany, but hear Euglaiid ;'* and bis last inspirations will ho* now listened for with peculbr interest, as having the sadness aud significance of a farewell to the river and [he land he loved so dearly. This is not the mrment for entetin=r, into a minute analysis of tbe amount of gain to art and originality of form which the above various compositions reveal. Enough to say that rone were slighted, pre*ump'ujuslj dismissed from the writer's baud, ur extoried from the manufacturer in violence to the artist's severer taste and better judgment. In this the prosperous fortunes of his life secured him a rare privilege — ut it was his instinct to do whatever be Jtttempted— with all his heart —as wrII as it could be done. Lastly, the sketch of Dr. Mendelssohn as the greatest of modern musician i would be incomplete were we not to speik of him as a performer. Had he not been averse to public exhibition, distrustful of all that it brings, «nd, from firat to last, regarding it as totally subset vicnt to the Composer's iuteutbii, he might on the strength of his executive powers alone have challenged Europe. Hi mechanical fatality on the pianoforte was prodigious—his expression true and deep, Without a tinge of cane <- tare—his style was unapproached for grace, and animated by that vivacity which also gave such a charm to his demeanour—bis readiness, science, and humour in extemporizing, were unsurpassed. He preferred, however, tbe organ to the pianoforte: since, on that nobler instrument, his ideas always cast in large and orchestral proportions, amplified by everf resource of consummate learning and experience, could be most thotoughiy expressed by his vigorous hand. His memory was prodigious, and his fancy inexhaustible. The writer may be permitted a moment's reminiscence of one of the Master's organ improvisations—most probably bis last. Ihe time was a few days before he left Switzerland—the place a hamlet-church, by the side of the Lake of Bnenz, inaccessible by road, and only to be reached by steps in the rock, overgrown with ivy and moss and maidenhair—the organ a poor little instrument, built by a Vallaisan maker. It seemed, however, as if tbe poet's spirit gave it power and voice and grandeur; as he sat there, for the pleasure of one or two friends exciting himself by his own performance—chain after chain of lolty thoughts and noble modulations unfolding themselves, —till the confined space and the limited means under his grasp were forgotten in the triumphant exercise of that art which, as Milton sang, '»All Heaven before the eyes.'* He had been almost tempted to pass on to Friboarg, to play upon Mooser's organ, but the weather prevented him, " Winter," be said " vas coming, aud he had better draw quietly homewards." Thus much with regard to the artist. Of the man, it is difficult for those who knew him to speak in terms which shall not seem exaggerated. To such as have been used to distrust, or make excuses for genius, as a fever necessarily destructive of sound principles and healthy domestic affections—to those w ho maintain that a life of exhibition, fame and adulation must be incompatible with the simplest tastes and the freshest enjoyments —Dr. Mendelssohn may be pointtd out as au instance falsifying all their accusations or self-apologies. He was an affectionate son and brother—an exemplary and devoted husband —a wise and indulgent father. He remained faithful to old fneuds, with a constancy rare even among those who are less brilliantly tempted to fickleness. His wit was ready, his spirit as playful as his sense was sound. While never was musician more keenly alive to the honor and beauty of his own art, few men have possessed tastes and sympathies embracing so wide a circle of pursuits and objects. He drew from Nature with great fidelity—he kept close pace with the questions of the day, and its literature solid or ephemeral. Let ii never be forgotten that he was intensely and affectionately German—regarding his country and its prospects with an interest impossible to counterfeit or conceal—and anMOus to employ his art as an instrument of peace, brotherly love and progress. The last time we heard him discuss his future plan-., lie spoke with a warmth aud eager anxiety ot the /«■ ile-tnfcl societies— which, owing to the spell of their political significance, seem, in Germany, gradually displacing the elder mixed musical festivals m which the amateurs of both sexts joined. He had been advised not to write for them, on tbe plea thai the music produced it thei ■ meeting's was too trivial aud pfpular " hut," said he, in a larger more liberal spirit, "let us make them a= goud as we can." Deeply mar Lcd, however, as v\a a hi 9 nationality, it vras neither morbid no. nn rowing m We have never known 3 iore gxi.'x more Itomst in Ins love lor—mure discn•:il; 'm, . . ina apprccationof— England. He relished our iiumcu—-i'- hrei our poetry, hv iutere*t?dhun«lf in our pdilW)—Jnd Lnw ueartily and cLaimiujjly lie gave hiaiH-lf up to M tint «..» best uud siureres: m our socuty, h-i fe-Mrowing fr.mds have a thuu-and rtu-onj to renumber. l\ cly»e—not compU-tL-i. i, P«n.na: sketch, we need hardly remind our lvadci,, thu N.vurc l,ad gifted htr bwin\- with one ot the brighten .uid moat exprcssuc t-ou-iUiuucts e>tt be* a.uwtfd on U-uius ihuajuli li-w am* Us expression Lt "tut Jetpu" *• h.' -at " m u uA. , i (bu fcflu phased or wa'.cUd it-. fl..> u

society, will bear us out in Baying that the beet portrait extant is meagre and pedantic as a likeness. The sword, however, was appointed to wear out the scabbard. Dr. Mendelssohn had felt for the last three years that the ceaseless excitement of his professional life was maintained at the peril of his health—and as such to be laid aside. It was his earnest intention to disengage himself from what might be called the exhiIntional part of his duties—to live in retirement with his family, and devote himself exclusively to composition. He had recently, too, restricted himßelf in organ playing, on account of the fatigue and nervous agitation which it produced. It was but a few days after he quitted England in May last, that ..e was startled by the news of the death of his sister, Madame Hansel —to whom he was tenderly attached. This he never recovered. From that day forward, though he resumed his habits of occupation and a certain cheerfulness of intercourse with his family and friends, he would speak to them of his own approaching departure with a presentiment which bystanders interpreted as merely over-wrought feelings, but which would seem to argue that he was visited by warnings of the malady. Shortly after his return to from Switzerland, where lie passed the summer, he was arrested on the Bth of October by an attack of nervous disorder in thu head, strangely similar to that which had already proved so fatal in his family. From this he rallied ; but the disease returned, more than once—until his exhausted frame had no streogth left to oppose to its violence. He died at Leipsig on the 4th of this month, lovingly tended—to the consternation and distress of a larger circle of devoted fripnds than most men can number—end leaving in Ms own world of Art a void which there is small rational chance of any of the present generation living to see tilled.