Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Popular music of the olden time > Volume 2

REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE TO GEORGE II. (131
Robert Hole. William engraved Parihenia, a collection of pieces for the Vir-
ginals, dedicated to the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I. These were
" composed by three famous masters, William Byrd, Dr. John Bull, and Orlando
Gibbons, Gentlemen of His Majesties Most Illustrious Chappell," and first pub-
lished in 1611. Robert Hole engraved a work of similar character for virginals
and base-viol, under the title of Parthenia inviolata, which was published without
date.
It was, no doubt, the demand for instrumental music, that first suggested the
resort to engraving, and instrumental music was more cultivated in England than
in any other country. Proofs of this have already been given, but it does not
rest wholly upon the testimony of English writers. Many allusions to the ex-
cellence of our instrumentalists might be cited from foreigners, like that of
Giovanni Battista Doni, in his De Prcestantid Musicoe veteris, a book written in
dialogue, and printed in 1647. One of the speakers is the advocate of the then
modern music, the other of that of the ancients. On the subject of the tibiae
or pipes of the Greeks, the latter says " The English are allowed to excel on the
flute, and there are many good performers on the cornet in that kingdom, but I
cannot believe them equal to the ancient players on the tibia, such as Antigenides,
Pronomus, and Timotheus." No mention is here made of other instruments than
the flute and cornet, because the discussion is confined to tibiae and their modern
representatives.
The cornet was an extremely difficult instrument to play well. The Lord
Keeper North says of it, " Nothing comes so near, or rather imitates so much,
an excellent voice, as a cornet-pipe ; but the labour of the lips is too great, and
it is seldom well sounded." He adds, that in the churches of York and Durham,
cornets and other wind music were used in the choirs at the Restoration, to
supply the deficiency of voices and organs, but afterwards disused.
Instrumental music was much employed at our theatres, not only in operas,
but also when tragedies and comedies were performed. Orazio Busino, in his
account of the Venetian Embassy to the Court of James I., says, "We saw a
tragedy [at the Fortune Theatre] which diverted me very little, especially as
I cannot understand a word of English, though some little amusement may be
derived from gazing at the very costly dresses of the actors, and from the various
interludes of instrumental music, and dancing and singing ; but the best treat
was to see such a crowd of nobility, so very well arrayed that they looked like so
many princes, listening as silently and soberly as possible." (Quarterly Review,
October, 1857.)
Down to the time of Tlie Beggars' Opera, it had been the custom to perform
three movements of instrumental music, termed " first, second, and third music,"
before the commencement of each play. ■ A story is told of Rich, the manager,
who when the customary music was called for by the audience at the first performance
of Tlie Beggars' Opera, came forward and said, " Ladies and gentlemen, there is
no music to an opera" (setting the house in a roar of laughter), — "I mean,
ladies and gentlemen, an opera is all music."