SACRED MELODY.
from Vol: 1.

Subject Haydn.

While evening slumbers press mine eyes,

With thy protection, I am blest;

In peace and safety I repose,

In Thee my wishes, ever rest.

voice of its noble features. His person and manner were agreeable and commanding; and there was an energy of expression about him, that won the hearts of all who enjoyed his company. He excelled in the performance of sacred music, and sang it with a deep sense of the words, and pious feeling; and we cannot express in higher terms the sublimity of his style, than by repeating what Mr. Harrison said of him, that he was the 'Prince of oratorio singers.' Miss Seward erected a monument to his memory in Litchfield Cathedral, from which we copy the last six lines:

Now from that graceful form and beaming face,
Insatiate worms the lingering likeness chase,
But thy pure spirit fled, from pains and fears,

To sinless, changeless, everlasting spheres.
Sleep, then, pale mortal frame, in yon low shrine,
'Till angels wake thee with a note like thine.'

MRS. BILLINGTON

Appeared immediately after Madame Mara, and at the age of sixteen commenced her career upon the English stage. Her voice was of extraordinary height, extending to G in altissimo; but, agreeable to that law which seems to govern all voices, it was proportionably limited in the lower part, scarcely descending to E upon the line. Her great ardor for the science induced her to visit the composer Sacchini, at Paris, under whose instructions gratifying the taste of the auditors of these concerts. The employment of such a singer in a situation so subordinate was like cooping an eagle to prevent its soaring to the skies.-Parke's Musical Memoirs.

she remained for some time. Afterwards, she visited Naples, and at the persuasion of Sir W. Hamilton, our ambassador, she appeared on the great theatre of S. Carlo, in the opera of Inez di Castro. The novel sight of an English soprano assuming the character of prima donna, was an event so extraordinary in Italy, as to cause considerable emotion among the Neapolitans. At this time an eruption of Mount Vesuvius took place, and the superstitious bigotry of the people attributed the visitation to the permission granted to a heretic to perform in S. Carlo. Upon this impression Mrs. Billington retired; but not till she had triumphed over the singers of that country. When she returned to England, her reputation filled every theatre in which she appeared: the clear ringing tone of her voice was highly favorable to a neat execution, which she possessed in so eminent a degree, as to surpass all her predecessors. Her shake was brilliant and regular; but she wanted that warmth of feeling so natural to lower voices. As a musician, she stood higher than any singer of her day; and the style in which she played the piano-forte rendered the accompaniment so finished and beautiful, as to draw from Salomon the expression, 'Sair, she sings wit her fingares.' Indeed, the vocalist who has a thorough knowledge of the instrument, must ever produce an accompaniment of a more suitable texture, than he who feels not the inclination to vent his feelings in the power of song.

JAMES BARTLEMAN,

A gentleman of the Chapel Royal, flourished at the same period with Harrison. His voice was a rich and powerful bass, extending from F below the line to F above it: the upper part was not inferior in quality and evenness of tone to that of Harrison; while the lower was full and reedy. His note upon G was as clear and as well defined as the third string of a violoncello. With a quick and lively imagination, he entered at once into the spirit of every thing he sang. His enunciation was bold and intrepid. In the recitative, 'I rage, I burn, the feeble god hath stabb'd me to the heart,' his manner had all the force of elocution, added to the power of song. While singing, he had the peculiar habit of removing his book a little on one side, to give a better view of his person, every part of which partook of the feelings he expressed. Though a little man, like Roscius, he seemed to have the power of dilating himself to any size. His action, though not theatrical, was sufficient to show the workings of his mind and the energy of his soul. Having no competitor, he domineered in his art, and presumed upon founding a style of his own, never reflecting that it was the fate of music to be ever changing to a style more light and refined. The pieces which he sang have died with him, as his manner is nearly forgotten. As a specimen of his lighter

performance, we subjoin a fragment from Purcell in which his energies were strikingly shown. He was proud and haughty, and prejudice formed so strong an ingredient in his character, that he refused the offer of an engagement in an oratorio, where Mozart's accompaniments to the Messiah were to be performed.

The TREMANDO, or TREMOLO,
Violin.

Piano-forte.

Is a quick reiteration of the same note, to express a trembling sensation. This effect in the early writers was confined to the voice. Purcell introduces it in the Frost Scene of King Arthur, upon the words' What power art thou?' Bartleman gave this passage with a tremulous motion of the voice, representing the shivering effects of cold. The same thing, as applied by Handel in the oratorio of Joshua, to express the trembling nations, falls miserably short of what the words import, and possesses more of the ridiculous than the sublime. In the Chaos of the Creation, it admirably represents a sudden convulsion, or shaking of the earth; and in another part of the same work, when softened into a pianissimo, it reminds us of the buzz and whirl of insects. The voice has nearly surren