Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 1.djvu/395

COMPOSITION PEDALS.  almost the full amount of contrast then available; and the departments which are now called the 'great' and 'choir' organs were then not unfrequently named from this circumstance the 'loud' and the 'soft' organs. When the organ possessed but one complete manual, the means for even this relief, either by change of row of keys or shifting of stops by the hands, were not readily presented; and this difficulty pointed to the necessity for some contrivance for obtaining it by the foot; and the invention of the 'shifting movement,' as it was called, was the result.

Father Smith's smaller organs, generally consisting of a Great manual of full compass and an echo to middle C, were usually supplied with an appliance of this kind. On depressing the controlling pedal all the stops smaller than the principal, including the reed, were silenced; and on letting it rise they again sounded, or at least so many of them as had in the first instance been drawn. The pedal was hitched down when in use, and when released the sliders were drawn back into position by strong springs.

Shifting movements remained in use for small organs up to the commencement of the present century, about which time they were superseded by the late Mr. Bishop's invention called 'Composition Pedals,' in which the contending springs were done away with, and the stops were left to remain as the pedal arranged them until another pedal, or a hand, made a readjustment. We can now say a 'hand,' because a few years before the invention of Mr. Bishop's appliances pedals for drawing down the lower notes of the manuals had been added to English organs, so that a hand could be spared for the above purpose.

Composition pedals were of two kinds—single-action and double action; but the latter only are now made. A 'single-action' would either throw out or draw in given stops, but would not do both. A 'double-action' composition pedal will not only draw out a given number of stops—we will suppose the first four—but will draw in all but the same four. [ E. J. H. ]

COMPOUND TIME. A rhythm formed by the combination of two, three, or four bars of simple time. The compound times most used are as follows:—

To these may be added 4-4 time, which is made up of two bars of 2-4 time, and in Germany is always classed with the compound times. In England however it is more often called simple time, those rhythms only being considered as compound, in which each beat is divisible into three parts. [See ../Common Time.] [ F. T. ]

COMTE ORY, LE, an opera in two acts; libretto in French by Scribe and Delestre Poirson, music by Rossini; produced at the Académie Royale, Aug. 20, 1828. Neither libretto nor music were new; the former was an adaptation of a piece produced by the same authors 12 years before, and the greater part of the music had been written for 'Il viaggio à Reims,' an opera composed for the coronation of Charles X. 'Le Comte Ory' was first performed in England by a French company (Mr. Mitchell) at the St. James's Theatre, June 20, 1849. [App. p.596 "Correct statement as to first performance in England (last two lines of article) by adding that it was given at the King's Theatre (in Italian) Feb. 28, 1829."] [ G. ]

CONACHER &. established an organ factory at Huddersfield in 1854. Out of a list of upwards of 400 organs built or enlarged by them, we may quote those of the parish church, Huddersfield, St. Michael's, Hulme, near Manchester, Glasgow University, and the Catholic cathedral, St. John's, New Brunswick. [ V. de P. ]

CON BRIO, 'with life and fire.' Allegro con brio was a favourite tempo with Beethoven; hardly one of his earlier works but has an example or two of it, and it is found in the overture op. 124, and in the last piano sonata. The most notable instances are the first movements of the Eroica and the C minor, and the Finale of the No. 7 symphonies. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, rarely if ever employs it. His favourite quick tempo is Allegro molto or di molto. [ G. ]

CON SPIRITO, 'with spirit'; an indication oftener found in Haydn and Mozart than in later compositions. [ G. ]

CONCENTORES SODALES, established in June 1798, and to some extent the revival of an association formed in 1790 by Dr. Callcott, Dr. Cooke, and others. For that society Dr. Callcott wrote his glee 'Peace to the souls of the heroes,' and Robert Cooke 'No riches from his scanty store.' After its dissolution the want of such an association was greatly felt, and in 1798 Mr. Horsley proposed to Dr. Callcott the formation of the 'Concentores Sodales.' The first meeting was held on June 9, at the Buffalo Tavern, Bloomsbury, and was attended by Dr. Callcott, R. Cooke, J. Pring, J. Horsfall, W. Horsley, and S. Webbe, jun. Among the early members were S. Webbe, sen., Linley, and Bartleman, Harrison, Greatorex, Spofforth, etc. Each member who was a composer contributed a new canon on the day of his presidency. In the Additional MSS. in the British Museum, 27,693, is the programme of Thursday, Nov. 18, 1802. The society began to decline about 1812, and it was decided to dissolve it. In May 1817, at a meeting at the Freemasons' Tavern, at which Attwood, Elliott, Horsley, Linley, and Spofforth were present, it was resolved to re-establish it, with this difference—that no one should be a member who was not practicing composition and did not, previous to his ballot, produce a work in at least four parts. The original members were soon joined by Evans, W.Hawes, T. F. Walmisley, and Smart, and later by Bishop, Goes, Jolly, and Attwood. The associates included King, Leete, Terrail, and Sale. The members took the