Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/133

LENZ. great artists, from personal knowledge, well translated in the Monthly Musical Record for 1878. [App. p.699 "Date of death, Feb. 1883."] [ F. G. ]

LÉOCADIE. A lyrical drama in 3 acts, founded on a story of Cervantes; words by Scribe and Mélesville, music by Auber. Produced at the Opéra Comique Nov. 4, 1824. It is the subject of a curious invective by Mendelssohn in his boyish letters from Paris (see Goethe and Mendelssohn, pp. 44, 45). It had however a great popularity, and by Apr. 1825 had had 5 2 representations. [ G. ]

LEO,, one of the most celebrated of Neapolitan composers, was born in 1694 at San Vito degli Schiavi, in the kingdom of Naples. His musical studies were pursued at the Conservatorio of la Pietà de' Turchini, in Naples, under Alessandro Scarlatti and Fago (Il Tarentino); besides which it is said (in a notice of his life by Girolamo Chigi, chapel-master of St. John Lateran) that he learned counterpoint of Pitoni, at Rome. After his return to Naples he was appointed second master in the Conservatorio of la Pietà; in 1716 was named organist of the royal chapel, and the following year was elected to the post of chapel-master in the church of Santa Maria della Solitaria. His first serious opera, 'Sofonisbe,' was produced in 1719, and met with great success. Not many years after this he quitted the Conservatorio of la Pietà for that of San Onofrio, to which he remained attached till the end of his life. He was perhaps the most eminent professor of his time, and the list of his pupils includes many distinguished composers, among whom may especially be named Jommelli and Piccinni. But he was not satisfied, as was Durante his contemporary, with the rôle of a pedagogue. 'Sofonisbe' was succeeded by nearly fifty other operas and dramatic cantatas, conspicuous among which is 'Demofoonte,' in which the great singer Caffarelli made his first appearance, and which contains an air, Misero Pargoletto, quoted by Piccinni, in a short biographical sketch of his master, as pre-eminent among all Leo's compositions for beauty and dramatic expression. Mention should also be made of 'L'Olimpiade,' two pieces in which acquired a lasting popularity—the duet 'Ne' giorni tuoi felici,' and the air 'Non so donde viene,' both remarkable for melodious charm.

His compositions for the church are very numerous, amounting to nearly a hundred. The chief of these are, the oratorio 'Santa Elena al Calvario'; the 'Ave maris stella,' for a soprano voice, two violins, viola, and organ; the Mass in D for five voices, written for the church of San Giacomo degli Spani at Rome; and the 'Miserere' for a double choir of eight voices. This celebrated Miserere was composed in 1743, and was the work of a few days. It was written for the Duke of Savoy, who on hearing it, was so delighted as to heap presents upon the composer, granting him at the same time a pension of a hundred ounces of silver. Leo was overpowered by this munificence, and regarded his acceptance of it as tantamount to a renunciation of all property in his own work, so that when, on his return to Naples from Turin, his pupils petitioned for a copy of the score, he thought himself bound in honour to refuse them. One of them however, having found out where the manuscript was kept, contrived to possess himself of it; he divided it among his companions, and, between them all, it was so speedily copied as to be restored to its place before Leo had had time to perceive its absence. It was rehearsed in secret, and in a few days the students invited the unsuspecting maestro to hear the performance of a new work, when to his astonishment his own 'Miserere' was executed in his presence. His first impulse was one of resentment, but this feeling quickly gave way to emotion aroused by the enthusiasm of the young students, and the end of it was that he caused them to repeat the entire piece, so that he might himself add the finishing touches to their performance.

He did not long enjoy his pension. The Marquis de Villarosa, to whose reminiscences of the Neapolitan composers subsequent biographers are indebted for many interesting details, says that he was engaged in writing the opera 'La finta Frascatana' when he was struck down by apoplexy. He was found with his head resting on his clavichord, the score before him open at the buffo air 'Voi par che gite.' He was apparently asleep, but he was dead. This was in 1746.

In the bright constellation of Neapolitan composers Leo shines as a brilliant star. To a complete command of science and of the art of vocal writing he united freshness and originality of thought, and perhaps in no composer are the germs of modern fancy so happily blent with the purity and dignity of the old Roman writers. His ideas, if not sublime, are noble; always sound and healthy; occasionally tender, but with no tinge of sentimentality. They did not transcend the limits of contemporary form; his art was therefore adequate to give them that perfect expression which is in itself beautiful. It is impossible not to feel in all his music the master's joy in his power over his materials; and the satisfaction afforded by a study of his works is mainly based on a perception of this even balance between thought and expression, showing as it does, the extent, while it defines the limits, of his sphere as a composer. He was not tormented, like his pupil Jommelli, by the unequal conflict between prophetic glimpses of new phases of art, far beyond the power of his own limited genius to grasp or realise, and a science too superficial to do justice to ancient forms. What Leo thought, he could express.

By his tonality he belongs essentially to the moderns. His harmonies are for the most part lucid and simple, yet there is a certain unconventionality in their treatment, while occasionally (as may be seen in the 'Miserere') chromatic progressions occur, quite startling in their effect. That his simplicity was the result of consummate art is shown by the purity of his part-writing. The Chorus of Pilgrims, 'Di quanta pena è frutta,' from