Scan 34
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians ed. by J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1907
11 lines. Read by computer on 5 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1concerts in St. James's Hall in June 1883. (See LIEDERTAFEL.) F. G.
2MÄSSIG. 'In moderate time'; the German equivalent of Moderato, used much by Schumann, as in the sixth of the fugues on the name Bach, and constantly throughout the Album. 'Im mässigen Tempo,' occurs in the fourth figure of op. 72, 'Sehr mässig' in the Lager-scene, No. 3 of op. 76. He uses 'Mässig durchaus energisch' as the translation of 'Moderato con energia' in the second movement of the Fantasia in C, op. 17. M.
3MAESTOSO. 'With majesty,' or in a dignified way. It is used either alone, as a direction of time, in which case it indicates a pace rather slower than andante, or, combined with other indications of tempo, as a guide to the expression. Beethoven uses it frequently in both these ways. It occurs alone in the Pianoforte Sonata, op. 111, first movement, in the Namensfeier overture, op. 115, Quartet in Eb, op. 127, etc.; also in Pizarro's song at the end of Act I. of 'Fidelio,' 'Auf euch, auf euch, nur will ich bauen.' In the final chorus of that opera, 'Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,' the direction originally stood Maestoso vivace, but was afterwards changed to Allegro ma non troppo. The first movement of the Choral Symphony is marked Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso; the passage in the last movement to the words 'Seid umschlungen Millionen' is Andante maestoso; and the four bars of 3–4 time immediately before the final Prestissimo are marked Maestoso simply. Mendelssohn uses Allegro maestoso frequently, as in 'Elijah' 'I am he that comforteth,' and 'Be not afraid,' and in 'St. Paul' very often. He uses Moderato maestoso in 'Then did Elijah the prophet.' Maestoso con brio occurs as the equivalent of the German 'Rauschend und festlich' in Schumann's Novelette, No. 5. M.
4MAESTRO, master. This word is almost exclusively applied to the great classical composers, but occasionally it is used of the very highest class of executive musicians, though even in this case it may be taken as implying an appreciation of their compositions rather than of their performances. It is seldom applied to teachers as such, but refers almost always to composers of note.
5Maestro di cappella is the exact Italian equivalent to the German term Capellmeister, or conductor.
6Maestro dei putti (master of the boys) is an office which was founded in 1538 (not, as is generally supposed, in the Papacy of Julius II. which was much earlier), and which was first held by Arcadelt. Its duties are to teach singing to the boys of St. Peter's, in Rome, and more or less to superintend the choir arrangements. It thus represents our 'Chormaster.' [See ARCADELT, vol. i. p. 101.]
7Maestro al cembalo is an officer at the Opera, next in importance to the conductor, and occasionally taking his place. His duties consist of superintending the rehearsals of the music, and accompanying at them. This post was held by Handel at Hamburg, when he was quite young [see HANDEL, vol. ii. p. 280], and afterwards by Mattheson. M.
8MAGADA, or MAGAS (Greek), the semi-circular wooden bridge fixed at one or both ends of the monochord. The name was also applied to the movable bridge inserted below the string of the monochord to mark the harmonic intervals (Boethius, iv. 18), and generally to the bridge in stringed instruments (Philostratus, 778). [See MONOCHORD.] J. F. R. S.
9MAGADIS, an ancient Greek instrument, our knowledge of which is almost wholly derived from a passage in the fourteenth book of Athenaeus, in which the scattered references to it in Greek literature are brought together. Athenaeus died in A.D. 194. The instrument had then long been obsolete, and the doubts which existed as to its exact form and structure are no nearer solution at the present day. From the conflicting statements of the authorities quoted, some of whom identify it with the Pectis, others with the Sambuca and others again with the Psaltery, it would seem that the magadis was an instrument of the dulcimer type, provided with a bridge (magas) or bridges so placed that octaves could be played on adjoining strings. It was introduced from the East through the Lydians, and was in use in Greece as early as the 6th century B.C., when Anacreon speaks of playing on a magadis of twenty strings. According to Aristoxenus it was played without a plectrum. The characteristic of the instrument was the production of sounds in octaves, and consequently we find the name also applied to a species of double flute, also said to be of Lydian origin, on which octaves could be played, and a verb magadizein signifying to play in octaves on any instrument (Pseudo-Aristotle, 18). J. F. R. S.
10MAGGINI, Gio. Paolo, a celebrated Italian violin-maker, born in Brescia in 1581; died in the same place about 1628. According to information culled from the Brescian State Archives, Maggini's family came originally from Botticino, a village in the neighbouring hills of Brescia. His grandfather, Bartolommeo de Maggini, lived and died at Botticino, but after his death his son Zovan or Giovanni, migrated with his wife Giulia, to Brescia, where Paolo, their second son, was born. The Brescian Income Tax papers for 1568 state that Gio. Paolo's elder brother was a shoemaker, but no mention is made of his father following any profession or trade. In all probability he was a retired farmer with private means. Nothing is known of Gio. Paolo's childhood, or what caused him to adopt the profession of violin-making, but a legal document, signed by him in 1602, proves two things clearly: first, that his signature is that of a person of
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