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Scan 112
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1910
8 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. Printed page 82. See the scan on archive.org.
1of Mr. Knyvett, and the post was then offered to Dr. Crotch, who ultimately declined it. Sir George Smart was invited to conduct the first two concerts of 1840, and was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Bishop, Mr. Lucas, and Mr. Turle. It was found however that this system did not work well, and in 1843 Sir Henry Bishop was appointed sole conductor. There was also a change in the leadership of the band, Mr. W. Cramer succeeding Mr. Hay in 1780, and being succeeded in his turn by his son François, who filled the post from his father's death in 1805 until 1844, when he retired. Mr. J. F. Loder led the band from 1844 to 1846, in which year Mr. T. Cooke was appointed. Until 1841 it was the custom for the conductor to preside at the organ, but in that year the directors appointed Mr. Charles Lucas as their organist. The band at the time of the establishment of the concerts consisted of sixteen violins, five violas, four cellos, four oboes, four bassoons, two double basses, two trumpets, four horns, one trombone, and drum. At the close of the concerts in 1848, the orchestra numbered seventeen violins, five violas, five cellos, five double basses, three flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, two drums, one harp, two cymbals, and triangle. The canto chorus at first consisted entirely of boys selected chiefly from the boys of the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey, but they afterwards gave place to ladies. The earlier programmes included an overture (usually one of Handel's), two or three concertos by Handel, Martini, Corelli, Avison, or Geminiani, several choruses and solos from Handel's oratorios, and an anthem, glee, or madrigal; but occasionally an entire work, such as the Dettingen 'Te Deum,' was given as the first part of the concert. For many years the programmes were almost exclusively Handelian, varied by songs from Gluck, Bach, Purcell, Hasse, and others. After the year 1826 there was greater variety in the schemes, and Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, his Symphonies in D and E flat, the overture to the 'Zauberflöte,' and a selection from his Requiem were included in the programmes for 1826. From that date an orchestral work by Mozart was performed at nearly every concert, although Handel still maintained his supremacy. In 1834 we find Haydn's 'Surprise' symphony, and in 1835 a selection from the 'Creation' and the 'Seasons' in the programmes. In the latter year Beethoven was represented by his 'Prometheus' overture, and during the last ten years of the concerts his symphony in D, overtures to 'Fidelio' and 'Egmont,' a chorus from 'King Stephen,' and other works were given. In 1847, at a concert directed by Prince Albert, Mendelssohn was the solo organist, and played Bach's Prelude and Fugue on the name of 'Bach.' The later programmes were drawn from varied sources, Handel being only represented by one or two items. In 1785 the Royal Family commenced to attend the concerts regularly, and then it was that they were styled 'The King's Concerts.' As a mark of his interest in the performances King George the Third personally wrote out the programmes, and in later years Prince Albert was one of the directors. Among the distinguished artists who appeared at these concerts were Madame Mara and Mrs. Billington (1785), Signora Storace (1787), Miss Parke, Miss Poole (1792), Messrs. Harrison and Bartleman (1795). Up to 1795 the concerts were held in the new rooms, Tottenham Street, afterwards known as the Queen's or West London Theatre, but in that year they were removed to the concert-room in the Opera House, and in 1804 to the Hanover Square Rooms. In 1811 Catalani made her first appearance, and three years later Miss Stephens (afterwards Countess of Essex) made her début at these concerts. In 1816 Mrs. Salmon was heard, and shortly afterwards Messrs. Braham and Phillips were engaged. In addition to the twelve concerts given every year, a thirteenth was added, when the 'Messiah' was performed in aid of the 'Fund for the support of Decayed Musicians and their Families,' a practice still maintained in the annual performances by the Royal Society of Musicians. In accordance with one of the customs connected with the concerts it was the rule for the director of the day to entertain his brother directors and the conductor at dinner. The last concert took place on June 7, 1848, and the library of old masters belonging to the society was afterwards removed to Buckingham Palace, and was subsequently presented to the Royal College of Music.
3ANDACHT, MIT, 'With devotion'; a direction found at the beginning of Beethoven's Mass in D, and in a few other passages. Schumann uses 'Reuig, andächtig,' for the superscription of No. 6 of the 'Bilder aus Osten.'
5ANDAMENTO (Italian verbal substantive, from andare, 'to go,' 'to move'). A form of fugal subject, more highly developed, and of greater length, than the ordinary Soggetto, and generally, though not by any means invariably, consisting of two distinct members, more or less strongly contrasted with each other, and consequently calculated to add materially to the interest of a long and exhaustively-developed fugue.
7It is in these respects that the Andamento most strikingly differs from the more usual Soggetto, which, as Cherubini naïvely remarks, 'should neither be too long nor too short, but of a convenient length,' and which is generally, though not always, of a more homogeneous character; while the Attacco, shorter still, and frequently consisting of no more than
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