From the popular harp concerto of Krumpholz, arranged for the piano-forte, by Dussek, and now altered, and adapted to instruments having modern improvements, for this work. J. B. KRUMPHOLZ, a Bohemian, was an excellent composer for the harp, which instrument he, in conjunction with M. Nadermann, very much improved, as appears by a notice in the memoirs of the Académie des Sciences, of Paris, 1787. He published eighteen works for the harp, among which is the concerto whence we have extracted the present very expressive movement. His second wife was the young and beautiful Madlle Steckler, of Metz, who came to this country about the year 1789, and produced a great sensation by her exquisite playing on the harp. The best judges now living, who witnessed Madame Krumpholz's performances, declare that that instrument has never since been touched in so elegant and so perfect a manner. M. Krumpholz followed his enchanting wife to England, and endeavoured to prevail on her to return with him to Paris, but she was deaf to his supplications; and in a fit of jealousy and despair, he threw himself into the Seine, and was drowned, in the year 1790, according to the Dictionnaire des Musiciens. Madame K.'s conduct was not afterwards marked by discretion, and she died a few years ago, in circumstances which the admirers of talent could not but deplore. a composer for, and performer on, the piano-forte, who highly distinguished himself towards the end of the last century. He was born at Warsaw, in 1750, arrived in this country in 1782, and immediately was placed on the establishment of the Prince of Wales, as chamber musician. He married a Miss Scott, daughter of an opulent merchant, with whom he received a considerable fortune, and retired from his profession, though the family of the lady allowed him to continue in the service of the heir-apparent to the throne of England. But the hours and mode of living at Carlton House proved very unfavourable to a constitution not naturally strong, and he died in London, of decline, in the year 1788. He published several works, which exhibit great taste, and his performances on the piano-forte were VOL. II. remarkable for delicacy and elegance. Of his style we may judge from that of his pupil, the present Mr. J. B. Cramer, which the latter acknowledges to have been formed on that of Schroeter. OVERTURE, Fidelio—(Page 116). This is the second overture to the same opera, written by BEETHOVEN, and that which is always performed. Concerning an opera which has excited so lively an interest in this country, some account will not here be out of place. Fidelio was first produced under the title of Leonora, by which name we still find it occasionally mentioned in foreign journals. Its success was not of a decided kind; it was therefore re-mo delled, extended, a new overture written to it in E, the former being in c, and thus brought out at the Imperial theatre at Vienna. Still it was received with no very marked applause; and though with respect, as a work of Beethoven, it never there, as a whole, now sometimes, but rarely, heard in Germany, and listened to excites that warmth of feeling which almost invariably attends the performance of the composer's instrumental works. The characters of the drama are, Don Fernando, minister of state, who only appears in the last scene; Don Pizarro, governor of the state prison; Florestan, state prisoner; Leonora, his wife, under the name of Fidelio, and disguised in male attire; Rocco, the gaoler; Marcellina, the gaoler's daughter, and Jacquino, porter of the prison. Florestan, a Spanish nobleman, is secretly and illegally immured in the dungeon of a state prison, near Seville, by his enemy, Pizarro. Florestan's wife, who has some presentiment that he is confined in that prison, hires herself, under the name of Fidelio, and in male attire, as an assistant to Rocco, she finally ascertains the fact of her husband's confinement, is the means of saving his life, and restoring him to liberty. The prisoner is reported as dead, but the minister of state, Fernando, suspecting that he still lives, resolves to examine the prison, and set the question at rest. Hence, Pizarro has no chance of escaping detection but by the murder of Florestan, which crime he determines to perpetrate, and Rocco is ordered to prepare a grave for the victim. For this purpose, the gaoler descends into the dungeon, accompanied by Leonora, who, with an obvious design, offers to assist him in the performance of his task. She now recognizes her husband in the emaciated feeble prisoner, but conceals her knowledge and emotions. Pizarro, aware of the near approach of the minister, enters, disguised, and attempts to stab Florestan. Leonora throws herself before her husband, and averts the blow. Pizarro renews his attempt, when she presents at his breast a pistol which she had concealed, and keeps him at a distance; till trumpets announce the arrival of Fernando. Pizarro is, of course, disgraced, and all ends happily. There is an underplot: Rocco's daughter, Marcellina, falls in love with the supposed Fidelio, who has won the goodwill of the gaoler, and the latter determines to bestow his daughter's hand on the stranger. Thus Jacquino, Marcellina's suitor, is disappointed in his hopes. But this leads to nothing in the musical drama, whatever the author's original design may have been. The love of Marcellina, the embarrassment of Leonora, the H This glee gained the gold medal given by the Catch-Club, in 1788. Of the composer, determination of Rocco, and the disappointment of Jacquino, are expressed in the QUARTET (Page 108). Marcellina. How strange does all appear! Leonora. Rocco. Jacquino. My heart no more is free. Now hope gives place to fear, "Tis plain that she loves me! This charming quartet is called a canon, and part of it, but not the whole, is a canon in the unison, or octave, the simplest and only rational form in which this species of composition can appear. Pizarro enters in the middle of the first act, to the MARCH-(Page 124). At the opening of the second act, Florestan first appears he explains the cause of his confinement, and declares his sufferings and resignation in the following ARIA-(Page 112). Joy has fled and all is cheerless, Though the spring of life remains : Truth I dared to utter, fearless, My reward is these sad chains! All I bear with resignation, Pain, disgrace, till life is gone; And my heart feels consolation When I think my duty's done." After the dénouement is brought about, Leonora and Florestan express their joy and gratitude in the following Leonora. DUET (Page 114). Oh more, far more, than mortal pleasure, We're freed ;-at length we're blest. The beauty of this consists in its melodiousness and simplicity. The accompaniments to most of the pieces in Fidelio are exceedingly elaborated, and full almost to redundance; here they are adapted to the scene-are gentle, tender, and in every way quite appropriate. The English version (by John Oxenford, Esq.) of the German words of these compositions, is as literal as the music would admit. The difficulty of giving an exact translation of German poetry, imitating the measure of the original, so as to suit the expression and accent of the music, can only be known to those who have gone through the labour. GLEE (Page 105). The fairest flowers the vale prefer, So in the lowly moss-grown seat } The storms that rack the rich and great JOHN DANBY, little is known, though some of his contemporaries are living. 'He gained ten prizes from the Catch-Club, for seven glees, two canons, and an ode. Among the first of these are three which will secure to him a niche in the temple of Fame,-" When Sappho tuned the raptured strain," "Awake, Æolian lyre,' and the above. He was a member of the Catholic church, and died, either at the end of the last, or beginning of the present century, at the moment a concert was performing for his benefit: for long-continued bad health had much impaired his circumstances, and rendered the assistance of his friends and the public essentially necessary." AIR-(Page 124). La danse n'est pas ce que j'aime, Et puis nous nous parlons tout bas. Et puis nous nous parlons, &c. there composed many Italian scene, and some overtures, and was even engaged by the managers of the Teatro d'Alberti to write two operettas, which had great success. The famous Piccini publicly praised them, for said he, M. Grétry does not follow the beaten track.' He then proceeded to Paris, and first made himself known by setting Marmontel's Huron, most successfully brought out in 1769. After this, he produced operas in number quite surprising, many of which were enthusiastically received, and scarcely any one failed. Among them were Le Tableau parlant; Zemire et Azor; Les Mariages Samnites; Richard Coeurde-Lion, 1785; Barbe-Bleu; Cephale et Procris; La Caravane du Caire, &c. &c. In 1790 appeared his estimable literary work, Essais sur la Musique, of which the French government published in 1793 a new edition, in three volumes octavo, an act no less redounding to the credit of the then existing authorities, than to the reflecting and ingenious author. M. Grétry was a member of the French National Institute, inspector of the Conservatoire de Musique, &c. In him the republican government found a decided partisan, and he was composer of one, if not more, of those airs which alarmed every monarchy in Europe. He proved, however, not less inconsistent than many other savans, and accepted the order of the Legion d'Honneur from Napoleon. He died in 1813, and was buried with much pomp in a handsome tomb in the cemetery of Mount Louis, close to the great poet, Delille. INSTALLATION AT CAMBRIDGE. CEREMONIALS of this kind are not matters of frequent occurrence, and having been disappointed last year of an account of the installation at Oxford, we are more desirous of noticing that of the Marquess Camden, which took place at Cambridge early in last month. Of course we confine ourselves to the musical part of the business, happy that it is not our duty to observe, except thus en passant, on the conduct of the under graduates, as well as of those who permitted their excesses, which showed that birth and academical education do not always lead to the formation of gentlemanlike manners. The musical performances consisted of sacred music in Great St. Mary's Church, and miscellaneous concerts in the Senate House. The vocal performers were, Mesdames Caradori and Stockhausen, and Madlle. Grisi; Misses Bruce and Wagstaff; Signori Rubini and Lablache; Messrs. Sapio, Parry, jun., Hobbs, Terrail, and Machin. The instrumental band was led by Mr. F. Cramer, and consisted of Messrs. Lindley, Nicholson, Willman, Harper, and several of our best orchestral performers. The whole was conducted by Sir G. Smart, in the absence, occasioned by illness, of the university professor, Dr. Clarke Whitfield. On Saturday morning, July 5th, the MESSIAH, with Mozart's accompaniments, was performed at the University Church, Great St. Mary's, and opened by Mr. Sapio, in a manner only inferior to Braham. Mesdames Čaradori and Stockhausen, together with Messrs. Machin, Hobbs, and Parry, jun., did justice to their respective parts. The first of these ladies was perhaps occasionally a little too florid; and the choruses were not all executed with the nicety that is now so usual. On Sunday, the 6th, the Chancellor, attended by Prince George of Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Duke of Northumberland, (High Steward of the University,) the Bishops of London and Lincoln, Lord Brecknock, (son of the Chancellor,) several other noblemen, judges, the heads of houses, &c., went in full state to St. Mary's, when an anthem, by Mr. Edward Dearle, organist of Newark, was performed as an exercise, previously to the degree of bachelor-in-music being conferred on him. This is a composition of considerable merit; but from the thinness of the band, and the ineffective singing of most of the performers, it was not heard to that advantage which, on such an occasion, was expected. On Monday evening, the 7th, there was a Concert in the Se nate House. The room was full to suffocation, and the lighting miserably defective. Haydn's Seventh Grand Symphony was well executed. Madlle. Grisi sang the aria of Costa, Dall'asilo della pace,' one of her stock pieces, in her accustomed brilliant manner. Lindley, a great favourite with the Cantabs, played a lively concerto. Mad. Caradori and Rubini gave the favourite duet in Mosé, Ah se puoi,' but it failed in effect here. In truth it requires the stage to develope all its beauties. Mad. Stock-: hausen in Mozart's Dove sono,' was by all admitted to be de The overture to Oberon, not very well executed; an aria from Otello, by Mad. Grisi; a song by Professor Whitfield, injudiciously chosen; Mad. Stockhausen's pretty bolero, Ouvrez ! ouvrez!' Mad. Caradori's not less pleasing ballad, Jock o' Hazeldean;' the rich movement of Weber, for the clarinet, admirably played, as a matter of course, by Willman; the comic duet from La Prova d'un opera seria, sung by Madlle. Grisi and Signor Lablache; and the overture to the Zauberflöte, constituted; the second act of this concert. Tuesday morning, the 7th, was the grand day, on which the Prolusiones Academica, or prize-compositions, were recited, the various degrees were conferred, and the Installation Ode was performed; the latter written by the Rev. C. Wordsworth, Fellow of Trinity, and set to music by T. Attwood Walmisley, Mus. Bac.,. organist of Trinity and St. John's. The words of this are far from being lyrical, and a very short time was allowed for setting them to music. These circumstances considered, the production is honourable to the young composer, and was received with the applause it merited, from the real connoisseurs who listened to it; for during its performance the audience were not in the most attentive humour. The overture is remarkably well written, the design is good, the subjects are ably worked, and the various instruments are skilfully employed: it was impossible, however, not to discover resemblances in this. The vocal parts are rather deficient in that kind of melody which immediately fastens on the ear, but the unmusical character of the poetry may in great measure account for this. The choruses are clever, and, had more time been allowed, would probably have been finished in a still more masterly manner. The hasty manner, too, in which the whole was got up will account for reminiscences to be found in different parts of the ode, particularly of Weber. The youthful composer was much complimented on his work, and the Chancellor himself publicly honoured him by his marked notice. In the evening the second concert took place, in the same place. Beethoven's symphony in c minor, his overture to Fidelio, and Weber's Jubilee overture were performed; Mr. Harper on the trumpet, and Mr. Nicholson on the flute, played solos; Signor Rubini sang two Italian airs, the eternal Vivi tu' being one of single pieces, and joined in others; and some ballads were given them; Mesdames Stockhausen and Caradori each sang two by the other vocalists. But the company was very scanty in number; the whole went off, therefore, somewhat languidly. On Wednesday morning, the 8th, a selection of sacred music was performed at St. Mary's. It commenced with Attwood's last Coronation Anthem; after which Mr. Parry, jun., sang Pergolesi's 'O Lord have mercy!' most delicately. Selections, including an air and chorus of extraordinary merit, from Dr. Clarke. Whitfield's oratorio, The Crucifixion, (which the bills take care to say is a sacred oratorio!) from The Mount of Olives, and Spohr's Last Judgment, were well performed, though they certainly produced no very striking effect. To these were added, Let the bright Seraphim,' by Mad. Caradori; Mozart's lovely air, Benedictus,' by Miss Bruce; his motet, Ne pulvis;' With verdure clad,' by Mad. Stockhausen; and the chorus, The Lord shall reign,' with which the musical part of the Installation terminated. 6 The gross receipts at the various performances amounted to: 22701., and the expenses to about 2000l. The title to the small profit was disputed between the Governors of Addenbroke's Hospital and the Committee acting for the music-professor, Dr. Clarke Whitfield, but the latter very liberally withdrew their claim in favour of the charity; though it seems pretty clear, that, as the bility considered-ought to have been placed to his account. risk was the professor's, the gain-a very miserable one, the lia PUBLIC DINNER GIVEN TO MR. J. B. CRAMER. THE nearly approaching retirement from England of this distinguished composer and unrivalled performer, and his relinquishment of a profession which he has, with infinite advantage to the art and to those who have studied it under him, as well as most. creditably to himself, exercised during the long period of half a century, are events that have not failed to produce a considerable sensation in our musical circles. The prevailing feeling is a gentle sorrow-a regret to lose one who has been the source of so much unmixed, refined pleasure, and who, though no longer young, is still in the full possession of those powers which have been not the admiration of this country only, but of all Europe. Deeply, however, as we lament a retreat by which tens of thousands will be deprived of so much exquisite enjoyment, we cannot blame Mr. Cramer for having come to such a determination. He withdraws before he has begun to decline, and the impression his last performance has left is as strong as he ever made when at the meridian of his natural life, and of his professional fame. When generally known that Mr. Cramer did actually mean to retire altogether, it was very properly suggested that some public mark of respect should, previously to his departure, be shown him by the professors and amateurs of music. A dinner was fixed on; but it either did not occur to the proposers, that at such a meeting speakers would be necessary, or they utterly forgot that oratory is not the usual accomplishment of musicians. A tolerably good address on the occasion from the chairman, one that might have been reported in the daily papers, and thence have been transferred to pages of more than ephemeral existence, would have been a lasting tribute to the merits of him whom it was intended to honor. If it had appeared unlikely that any gentleman could be found to preside, whose acquirements and habits qualified him for such a duty, how much better to have presented Mr. Cramer with a piece of plate with a suitable inscription, a memorial which would have proved to his descendants, and enabled them to show, the estimation in which their ancestor was held by his contemporaries. But it was resolved that a dinner should be eaten; it accordingly was eaten at Freemasons' Tavern, on Wednesday, July the 15th. One hundred and thirty gentlemen were present; and on the platform, at the back of the cross-table, seats were provided for one hundred ladies, who were attracted by the performances which it was understood would take place after dinner. Sir George Smart was in the chair. in When the cloth was withdrawn, and Non nobis' had been sung, the King, the Queen, and the Princess Victoria, with the rest of the Royal Family, were severally given. The chairman then-after some remarks, which seemed to have more of a biographical than any other tendency-proposed the health of Mr. Cramer, which was received with every possible demonstration of respect and regard. Mr. Cramer returned thanks; but was so entirely overpowered by his feelings, that he could only express, a brief sentence or two, his grateful sense of the honour conferred on him by the assembling of such a party, and his very sincere thanks for the friendly warmth with which his health had been drunk. William Ward, Esq. late M.P. for the city, proposed in a few complimentary words the health of the chairman. · The Amateurs present' were then given, which Sir John Rogers, Bart., President of the Madrigal Society, acknowledged in a pointed, neat, humourous and appropriate speech. The musical part of the entertainment proved the best, as was to be expected: it was interesting, and might have been rendered. much more so, had the vocal pieces all alluded, in some manner, to the occasion, which could, with the utmost ease, have been contrived. One elegant song, written and composed by Mr. J. A. Wade, alone was appropriate; it was charmingly sung by Mr. Parry, jun., and accompanied by Mr. Moscheles, who most ingeniously, and in excellent taste, introduced as ritornels to the air, passages from Mr. Cramer's Piano-forte Studies. The effect produced was exceedingly striking. him After the King's health had been given, Mr. Bennett sang Braham's song, "The King, God bless him!' the composer self, who was expected, being unavoidably absent. During the evening were performed the following pieces : Glee, Five voices, In this fair vale' Solo, Piano-forte, M. Herz, from Dulce el Utile Song, (as above) Mr. Parry, jun. Solo, Piano-forte, Mr. Neate, the Toccata in G BISHOP. rounding friends once more to hear his touch divine'-perhaps for the last time! The moment the chairman made known to him the unanimous and anxious wish of the company, he sat down, and with that modesty, that good-breeding, which has ever marked his public conduct, instead of introducing one of his own compositions of which there are so many that would have charmed so discriminating an audience—he performed a work of his favourite author, Mozart's Fantasia in c minor, and executed it in a manner which almost wrought on us to believe that the spirit of the composer was hovering over the instrument, enjoying the double triumph of himself and a votary so worthy of him. SIGNOR LABLACHE. (From the French of M. Castil-Blaze.) LOUIS LABLACHE was born at Naples, December 6th, 1794. France in 1791, established a commercial house at Naples, His father, Nicholas Lablache, a Marseilles merchant, quitted Signor Lablache is a charming actor; his voice is prodigious, and shortly after married Françoise Bietack, of an Irish family. and he manages it with admirable skill. There is a circumstance more surprising than his voice, namely, his musical organization; it produces wonders. If he had not possessed magnificent vocal powers, he would not have shone less amongst the virtuosi of the present generation: unpossessed of so rich an organ, he would have performed upon the violoncello like Bohrer; on the flute like Tulou from the organ to the Jew's harp, all instruments were within his power; he had only to make his choice. Lablache entered the conservatorio of Naples at twelve years of age. Gentili, his first master, initiated him in the principles of music. Valente taught him singing. Louis had not yet fixed on the particular line in which he should pursue his musical He already played on the violin and violoncello: he had also a beautiful contr'alto voice. career. When Haydn died, a mass was ordered to be sung throughout the French empire, and the kingdom of the two Sicilies. At Naples, was performed the Requiem of Mozart. Lablache assisted the contr'altos in the chorus. This division was feeble; the young zealous singer, therefore, made great efforts to support it, and thus balanced the other parts, which were more numerously filled. This hazardous exploit entirely destroyed the voice he then possessed; during two months he could not even speak. When, one morning, he awoke coughing, speaking, singing, with a sonorous base voice of prodigious power. He was then fifteen years of age. He played very well on the violoncello; but a contra-base was wanted. This he replaced: three days' study were sufficient for his acquiring the necessary skill. The labour of mastering so very fatiguing an instrument was the cause of an enormous abscess under the clavicle, which rendered a surgical operation necessary. Then it was that a passion for the stage seized the youthful musician; he dreamt of nothing else. Five times did he elope from the conservatorio to embark in a theatrical career, but he was always brought back. At length, to cure his wanderings, a kind of theatre was formed within the walls of the conservatorio, and Lablache's wish was gratified; he no longer sought abroad what was provided for him at home. No more a truant from his school, he continued uninterruptedly his studies, which were completed when he had reached his seventeenth year. But it was not without difficulty that he obtained permission to quit the conservatorio, and make Charles), the smallest in Naples, where two representations are an engagement, as a buffo, at the theatre San-Carlino-(little St. given daily. Lablache had held this engagement only six months, when he married Teresa Pinotti, the daughter of an actor belonging to his own troupe, the best comedian Italy has produced. Madame Lablache soon persuaded her husband to resign a situation unworthy of his talents, and he engaged himself in Sicily: at Messina and Palermo he shone alternately as a Basso Cantante. In 1820 he was invited to Milan, where he made his debût at La Scala, in the part of Dandini, in La Cenerentola. Such was his success in this character, that an engagement for six seasons was immediately offered him. At Rome, Turin, and Vienna, he was not less fortunate, and at the latter city a medal was struck in honor of him. After sixteen years' absence, Lablache returned to Naples, and appeared at the great theatre, the San Carlo, in the character of Assur, in Semiramide. After this, he was engaged for the opening of the grand theatre of Parma, and appeared in Bellini's Zaira, in the character of Orosmano. Vienna, Milan, and Naples, again enjoyed his talents at different seasons. He first visited Paris in 1830; and passed the years 1831 and 1832 between Paris and London. He then returned to Naples; but in 1834 revisited Paris, which city and London have since occupied the whole of his time. The voice of Lablache has only the common compass of a bass, from G to E. If we except the two extreme notes, this voice is equal throughout, and clear as a bell; it proceeds from the chest, as freely as the sound of an organ-pipe of eight feet. Readiness, correctness, a perfectly musical accent, and an invariable firmness-talents united of singer and actor, which at once meet the demands of the music, and of the scene, giving to the musical dialogue the character of familiar conversation; such are the qualities possessed by this performer. His execution is so spirited, so entirely satisfactory,-his action, his humour, comical whims, fill up the musical pauses so well, that a recitative from him, deprived of all the ornaments and enchantments of melody, is heard with as much interest as a pathetic cavatina, or a light and brilliant one executed by the best soprano or tenor. The triumph of Lablache is in the opera-buffa; but his superiority in the comic scene does not forbid his being the admirable serious character of Assur, in Semiramide. His tall and majestic figure, his fine, expressive, noble, and imposing countenance, give to the father of Desdemona a dramatic importance which was doubtful before Lablache accepted this subordinate part. The same may be said of the character of Mosé. The part of Maometto, in the opera of that name, has placed him in the first rank of tragic actors. In this department he is great, beyond In this department he is great, beyond doubt; nevertheless he can afford to confine himself to the comic opera. He only appeared in tragedy to gratify himself occasionally. ally, or to render service to his director. When he plays the part of Campanone, of Geronimo, of Dandini, of the Magnifico, of the Podesta, of Leporello, of Fontanarosa, of Figaro, of Pandolfo, we experience a pleasure so deliciously uniform, so complete, that we would willingly allow him to retire altogether from tragedy. This actor, this singer, unites in a supreme degree all the qualifications that can be imagined for a buffo. It is a model, a chef-d'œuvre of the kind, and whoever has not heard and seen Lablache, cannot conceive the degree of perfection at which a comic opera, nay even an Italian farce, may arrive.-(Gazette Musicale.) THE TELEPHONE OF M. SUDRÉ. THE French journals and periodicals have frequently noticed, in terms of respect and approbation, a new invention, by which not only words, but sentences, in all languages, may be conveyed to any distance within hearing of a musical instrument, by means of inarticulate musical sounds. The author of this discovery-if it ought so to be denominated-M. Sudré, a native of France, has long since exhibited and explained his invention to the Académie des Sciences, and not only obtained from that learned body a public declaration in his favour, but the most distinguished member of the academy, M. Arago, lately furnished him with a recommendatory letter, couched in flattering terms, to the Royal Society of London, at one of the meetings of which he very recently gave a proof that his method is practicable, though to an extent much more limited than he is willing to admit. It appears to us that M: Sudré should have designated his invention a system, rather than an instrument; for if we are not mistaken, all musical instruments, especially those which can be heard at a considerable distance, may be used for his purpose. By the sounds of a violin, a pianoforte, a trumpet, &c., he proposes to accomplish what the telegraph does by figures or colours. Hence the word Telephone, from Tλe, far, at a distance, and Qarn, sound, which however is not quite appropriate, in whatever way considered. It is almost superfluous to remark, that a kind of musical language has long existed among military bodies. Cavalry receive their orders in the field from the trumpet, the various tunes of which-for tunes they are-indicate so many different movements. The same holds good of the bugle, in relation to light infantry. Even the drum, though monotonous, communicates, in a perfectly intelligible rhythm and roll, the orders of the commanding officer to each battalion. And doubtless the same principle, carried out to a greater extent, and very ingeniously applied, is that on which M. Sudré has founded his distant-speaking language. The seven diatonic sounds in music are represented in France by the syllables ut, re, mi, &c., and in Germany and England by the first seven letters of the Alphabet. Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, denote, C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Ut, then, sounded on any instrument, indicates the letter c; re, d: and so on. Thus, however, we should get representatives for only seven letters; but the same nominal sounds taken in three different scales of seven notes each, would denote twenty-one different letters, which are as many as any language absolutely requires. All these, too, might be varied in meaning by the more or less duration of the sound thus combinations in vast number, each significant, may be produced. But all this implies that both speaker and hearer are linguists and musicians, or that they are attended by persons well acquainted with language and music. M. Sudré is accompanied by a young person who gives, in any one language, the words as composed of letters, conveyed by the violin of his principal. But he does not necessarily understand the words thus formed, and in most cases is actually ignorant of their meaning. Some one then must be at hand to act as translator; and the trumpeter, or violinist, who sounds the notes, will almost invariably be a mere agent, and require to be under the direction of one who unites in himself a skill in languages and in music. On Wednesday, the 8th of July, M. Sudré gave a public demonstration of his Musical language,' in the Concert Room of the King's Theatre; and in order to fill up a certain quantity of time agreeably, as well as to relieve himself and justify his demand of half a guinea as the price of admission, several pieces of music were executed by various performers of eminence. But as it is not our intention to view this in the light of a concert, we will confine ourselves to the object which engaged the whole of our attention; and shall avail ourselves of a clear description of what passed, given in Leigh Hunt's London Journal. M. Sudré opened his lecture by some observations on the nature of language in general, as the means of conveying thought from mind to mind, and then, by a variety of satisfactory proofs, established the applicability of music to this purpose. "The audience were supplied with small slips of paper, upon which several ladies and gentlemen wrote sentences. Each sentence was then handed to M. Sudré, who translated it into musical sounds with his violin, while an assistant, so situated as to be within hearing of the sounds, but beyond the reach of personal communication, was engaged in translating the music back again into the very words of the sentence. After hearing the music, the assistant wrote down, not the substance, but the exact words of each sentiment on a black board, in large letters of chalk, and the correctness with which he performed this office seemed to give great satisfaction to the company, and to interest their feelings in behalf of the ingenious inventor. We select a few from the numerous examples : 66 La Telephone, peut-elle seule être le langage des savans?" "Le génie s'impose tôt ou tard." "Amitié entre Angleterre et la France." L'humanité vous sera reconnoissante de cette invention." "Honneur à l'inventeur." "Les arts valent mieux que la politique." "Du Créateur adorons la grandeur." 'M. Sudré also exhibited the efficiency of his "Musical Language" when written in musical characters, by a similar course of experiments, and gave examples of a new finger language founded upon musical notes. The inventor seems to entertain sanguine expectations of inducing mankind to adopt his system as a universal language, but in this he is attended rather by our good wishes than by our hopes. His more moderate view of applying it to telegraphic communications seems better founded; though even that appears beset, on the very threshold, by the awkward necessity of securing a fair wind from the Weather-office.' A few scientific gentlemen who were present on this occasion went away fully persuaded that the whole was the result of confederacy, many active foreigners having been observed to place themselves around the platform, and in apparent communication with M. Sudré. But, a few days after, at the house of a distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society, the inventor privately repeated his experiments, when it was impossible that any combination could be formed, and the results were still more satisfactory, |