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Article BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT (DECEAS... ← Page 6 of 11 →
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Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
Tread-away , who ^ declared , ' Giardini himself could not play with greater exactness . ' " Mr . Madan brought Dr . Nares to my house , who could not believe that a boy could write an oratorio , play at sight , and pursue any given
subject . He brought two of the king ' s boys , who sang over several songs and choruses in ' Ruth / Then he produced two bars of a fugue . Sa , muel worked his fugue very readily and well / adding a movement of his own , and then a voluntary on the organ , which quite removed the doctor ' s in credulitv .
" At the rehearsal at St . Paul ' s Dr . Boyce met his brother Samuel and showing him to Dr . Hayes , told him— ' This boy will soon surpass you all . ' Shortly after he came to see us , took up a ' Jubilate' which Sam had lately wrote , and commended it as one of Charles ' s ; when we told him
whose it was , he declared that he could find no fault in it , adding ' there was not another boy upon earth who could have composed this / and concluding with , 'I never yet met with that person who owes so much to nature as Samuel . He has come amongst us dropt from heaven ! ' "
The Honourable Daines Barrington had the first opportunity of being witness to Master Wesley ' s musical talents at the latter end of 1775 , when the latter Avas nearly ten years of age ; all that we have previously stated being the pith of what the Rev . Charles Wesley had
informed Mr . Barrington up to that time . We shall now still further condense the information furnished , by alluding to the more prominent traits of his genius coming under Mr . Barrington ' s personal observation ; and we hope to accomplish this Avith as little technicality as possible .
Mr . Barrington affirms him to have been able to execute the most difficult lessons for the harpsichord , with neatness , precision , and taste ; besides which , many crabbed compositions were performed , at sight , as well as transposition , and harmonizing a melody in any number of
parts . Mr . Barrington mentioned this peculiar faculty to Bremner , the musicseller , who gave him some lessons , said to have been composed for Queen Elizabeth , and which none of the harpsichord masters could execute ; and on one of them being placed before him he played it the first time , with but tavo or three boggles , as the piece lay awkwardly for the hand , but which he surmounted on playing the second time . Upon his being asked how he approved of the composition , he replied , "Not at $ 11 , though he might differ from a queen ; " and that the rules of art were not maintained throughout
the composition . 1 his Mr . B . told to Bremner , who said , the old masters frequently infringed the rules of art , and on repeating the same to Master Wesley , he replied , that when such excellent rules were broken , the composer should take care that such license produced a good effect—whereas , these passages had a very bad one .
Lord Mormngton—who always spoke of the brothers Charles and Samuel as " my cousins , the Wesleys "—had told Mr . Barrington that he often wished to consult Master Wesley upon any difficulty in compo-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
Tread-away , who ^ declared , ' Giardini himself could not play with greater exactness . ' " Mr . Madan brought Dr . Nares to my house , who could not believe that a boy could write an oratorio , play at sight , and pursue any given
subject . He brought two of the king ' s boys , who sang over several songs and choruses in ' Ruth / Then he produced two bars of a fugue . Sa , muel worked his fugue very readily and well / adding a movement of his own , and then a voluntary on the organ , which quite removed the doctor ' s in credulitv .
" At the rehearsal at St . Paul ' s Dr . Boyce met his brother Samuel and showing him to Dr . Hayes , told him— ' This boy will soon surpass you all . ' Shortly after he came to see us , took up a ' Jubilate' which Sam had lately wrote , and commended it as one of Charles ' s ; when we told him
whose it was , he declared that he could find no fault in it , adding ' there was not another boy upon earth who could have composed this / and concluding with , 'I never yet met with that person who owes so much to nature as Samuel . He has come amongst us dropt from heaven ! ' "
The Honourable Daines Barrington had the first opportunity of being witness to Master Wesley ' s musical talents at the latter end of 1775 , when the latter Avas nearly ten years of age ; all that we have previously stated being the pith of what the Rev . Charles Wesley had
informed Mr . Barrington up to that time . We shall now still further condense the information furnished , by alluding to the more prominent traits of his genius coming under Mr . Barrington ' s personal observation ; and we hope to accomplish this Avith as little technicality as possible .
Mr . Barrington affirms him to have been able to execute the most difficult lessons for the harpsichord , with neatness , precision , and taste ; besides which , many crabbed compositions were performed , at sight , as well as transposition , and harmonizing a melody in any number of
parts . Mr . Barrington mentioned this peculiar faculty to Bremner , the musicseller , who gave him some lessons , said to have been composed for Queen Elizabeth , and which none of the harpsichord masters could execute ; and on one of them being placed before him he played it the first time , with but tavo or three boggles , as the piece lay awkwardly for the hand , but which he surmounted on playing the second time . Upon his being asked how he approved of the composition , he replied , "Not at $ 11 , though he might differ from a queen ; " and that the rules of art were not maintained throughout
the composition . 1 his Mr . B . told to Bremner , who said , the old masters frequently infringed the rules of art , and on repeating the same to Master Wesley , he replied , that when such excellent rules were broken , the composer should take care that such license produced a good effect—whereas , these passages had a very bad one .
Lord Mormngton—who always spoke of the brothers Charles and Samuel as " my cousins , the Wesleys "—had told Mr . Barrington that he often wished to consult Master Wesley upon any difficulty in compo-