Books › Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1910 › scan 25
Scan 25
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1910
21 lines. Read by computer on 12 September 2026. Printed page 5. See the scan on archive.org.
1attacks upon the new national school of music. Famitsin composed two weak but pretentious operas: 'Sardanapalus,' given in St. Petersburg in 1875, but with so little success that he made no effort to produce his second opera, 'Uriel Acosta.' His instrumental works include three quartets, a pianoforte quintet, and a 'Russian Rhapsody' for violin and orchestra. Two books of 'Songs for Russian Children' have outlived his more ambitious attempts. As a musical antiquary he did his best work in the following publications: Russian Mummers and Gleemen (1889); The Ancient Indo-Chinese Scale in Europe and Asia, and its appearance in the Russian Folk-Songs (1890); The Gusslee: a Russian National Instrument (1890); and The Dombra and Kindred Instruments (1891). Famitsin died at St. Petersburg, July 6, 1896. R. N.
3FANCIES, or FANTASIES, the old English name for FANTASIA, which see. In the various collections catalogued under the head of VIRGINAL MUSIC all three words occur. The name seems to have been confined to original compositions as opposed to those which were written upon a given subject or upon a ground. Sir Hubert Parry made the Fancy the subject of one of his lectures—'Neglected By-ways in Music'—at the Royal Institution in 1900; reported in the Musical Times for 1900, p. 247. M.
5FANDANGO. An Andalusian dance, a variety of the SEGUIDILLA, accompanied by the guitar and castanets. In its original form the fandango was in 6–8 time, of slow tempo, mostly in the minor, with a trio in the major; sometimes, however, the whole was in a major key. Later it took the 3–4 tempo, and the characteristic Spanish rhythm . In this shape it closely resembles the seguidilla and bolero. One Fandango tune is given by Hawkins (Appendix, No. 33). Another has been rendered famous through its partial adoption by both Gluck and Mozart—the former in his Ballet of 'Don Juan,' the latter in 'Figaro' (end of Act 3). It is given in its Spanish form by Dohrn in the Neue Zeitschrift f. Musik (xi. 163, 7) as follows:—
7Andante.
8tr.
10The rhythm of the castanets was
12Mozart's version is known and accessible; Gluck's will be found in the Appendix to Jahn's Mozart.
14There is a curious piece of history said to be connected with this dance. Soon after its first introduction, in the 17th century, it was condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities in Spain as a 'godless dance.' Just as the Consistory were about to prohibit it, one of the judges remarked that it was not fair to condemn any one unheard. Two celebrated dancers were accordingly introduced to perform the fandango before the Consistory. This they did with such effect, that, according to the old chronicler, 'every one joined in, and the hall of the consistorium was turned into a dancing saloon.' No more was heard of the condemnation of the fandango.
16Similar dances to the fandango are the TIRANA, the POLO, and the JOTA ARAGONESA.
18E. P.
20FANFARE. A French term of unknown origin—perhaps Moorish, perhaps onomatopoeic—denotes in strictness a short passage for trumpets, such as is performed at coronations and other state ceremonies. 1. In England they are known as 'Flourishes,' and are played by the Trumpeters of His Majesty's Household Cavalry to the number of eight, all playing in unison on Eb trumpets without valves. The following, believed to date from the reign of Charles II., is the Flourish regularly used at the opening of Parliament, and was also performed at the announcement of the close of the Crimean War, the visit of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales to St. Paul's after the Prince's recovery, and on other occasions:—
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.