HAYDN'S WELSH SONGS

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 5288, 28 May 1904, Page 15

HAYDN'S WELSH SONGS

•AN INTERESTIN' G DISCOVERY. ' FORTY UNKNOWN COMPOSITIONS. Tho composer Heinrich Schenker, of Vienna, has discovered more that 40 Welsh national songs by Haydn ready printed, the existence of which, it may. with tolerable certainty be conjectured as hitherto unknown. Schenker’s information is based upon Fold’s book, “Mozart and Haydn in London,” and upon the chronological list of Beethoven’s works by Nottebi.hm, from which it is known that Haydn, Beethoven, Kozeluch. and. others arranged Scots, Welsh, and Irish national songs for solo voices, piano, violin, and violoncello. This edition was published by George Thompson of Edinburgh. Four collections appeared, in all of which Haydn took part. As regards BEETHOVEN'S SHARE in those,compositions, they all-.ap-peared in the published edition of his entire works, but not those of Haydn—at least, none of them are to be found in the Vienna libraries. Thayer and Nottebohm were also unable to state in their catologue what had become of these compositions of Haydn, hut only intimated their existence. Pohl declares there is also a fifth collection, published in London in 1794. by William Napier, which contains 365 national songs, many of them by Haydn. As for the first four volumes issued by Thompson, these are known to DR RUDOLF GENEE. of Berlin, who published, two years ago. ton songs from these four volumes through Deneke, in Berlin, but he mentions nothing of the fifth and sixth hooks in his preface. Dr Schenker wrote, therefore, to the British Museum to ask whether these national songs were preserved in that institution. The Director replied in the negative, hut added that in 1806 William Whyte, of Edinburgh, had published them; the Museum mentioned also a sixth volume of songs in the composition, of which Haydn had shared. Tins sixth book is not mentioned by any biographer, and it was first made known to the world through the British Museum that such a collection was in existence. Presuming that the British Museum was in possession of all Haydn’s songs. Dr Schenker asked in a second letter for details of THOMPSON’S OOLLEOITON. The Director replied that the Museum only possessed the second and fourth books, therefor© Dr Geneo must have seen the first collection elsewhere, or, at least, the first four books from ■ which he took the ten songs published by. him. Hie question is. whero are Napier’s and Whyte’s collections? Wo learn from Nottebohm that tho second book in the British Museum contains 40 songs by Haydn, but ho does not say what share Haydn had in tho fourth book, so evidently be could not see it. It seems that tha catalogues are very complicated as Dr Rudolf Lothar, when lately staying in London, first succeeded in obtaining a glimpse of this treasure. -V lady, Frau Percy Broemel, undertook to copy, the notes,

but she only obtained a sight of tho piano score. In the margin of tho preface Dr Lothar fortunately discovered the correct catalogue number, which aided considerably iu clearing up tho matter.