Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/223

MARCELLO. monument in the church of S. Giuseppe states his age to have been 52 years, 11 months, and 23 days. He was elected Cavaliero of the Filarmonici of Bologna in 1812, and was also a member of the Pastori Arcadi of Rome. In his youth he was wild, but sobered down in middle life. His great work, in 8 volumes, folio, 'Estro poetico-armonico, Parafrasi sopra i primi 50 Psalmi,Poesia di Girolamo Giustiniani,' appeared in two parts of 25 Psalms each (Venice, 1724–27). They are composed for 1, 2, 3, and 4 voices, with figured basses, and occasionally with 2 violins and cello obligati; and for expression far surpass any other work of the kind. Dr. Burney, in his notice of Marcello (Hist. iv. 543), considers that they have been overpraised, and that even in the composer's day his airs and themes were neither new nor original. In spite however of this judgment it is not to much to say that, as a whole, they constitute one of the finest productions of musical literature. An English edition, edited by Avison and Garth, was published in London in 1757 in 8 vols.; a second in Italian soon after (Venice); and a third by Valle (1803–8). The latest, with P.F. accompaniment by Mirecki, was printed by Carli of Paris. Marcello also composed instrumental concertos (1701), and 'Canzoni madrigaleschi' (Bologna, 1717); besides 'Calista in Orsa,' pastoral (libretto printed in 1725, music unpub.); 'La Fede riconosciuta,' opera (Vicenza, 1702); 'Arianna,' cantata; and 'Giuditta,' oratorio, all to his own words. As a poet he was above the average, and furnished the libretto for Ruggieri's 'Arato in Sparta' (Venice, 1709). In 1720 he published a satirical pamphlet 'Il Teatro alla Moda,' reprinted in 1727, 33, 38 (Venice), and 1741 (Florence). The Library of St. Mark in Venice contains a MS. 'Teoria Musicale'; the Royal Library of Dresden ancient copies of two cantatas, 'Timotheus,' to his own Italian translation of Dryden's poem, and 'Cassandra '; the Court Library of Vienna many autographs and other works, including the cantatas 'Addio di Ettone,' 'Clori e Daliso,' and 'La Stravaganza'; and the Royal Library of Brussels 'Il Trionfo della musica nel celebrarsi la morte di Maria Vergine,' an oratorio for 6 voices and chorus. This score was once in the possession of Fétis, who speaks highly of its expression, pathos, and effective instrumentation. Rossini has borrowed one of the most prominent themes in his overture to the 'Siege of Corinth' note for note from Marcello's 21st Psalm. For Marcello's 'Lettera Famigliare,' see ../Lotti, Antonio. [ F. G. ]

MARCH (Ger. Marsch; Fr. Marche; Ital. Marcia), a form originally associated with military movements, and afterwards imported into the music of the stage, the orchestra, the chamber, and the oratorio. In ancient times the sound of instruments was used as a means of stimulating the action of large numbers of people, whether in processes of labour requiring consentaneous effort, or as a means of exciting ardour in armies advancing to battle by the tones of 'the shrill trump, the spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife'—equally familiar being Milton's reference to the effect of the sound 'of trumpets loud and clarions,' and the influence on a mighty host of 'Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds.' Like most forms however in instrumental music, the development of the March followed that of vocal music. We find Marches in the early operas, in the stage works of Lully, and later in those of Handel and Rameau. In clavecin music, too, it appears at a comparatively early date, the 'Suites des Pièces' of the French composer Couperin offering examples.

Of the Military March as now understood, as a strictly rhythmical and harmonised composition, written for a band of wind instruments, and intended not only to stimulate courage but also to ensure the orderly advance of troops, it does not appear that any examples are extant earlier than about the middle of the 17th century, and these seem to have originated during the Thirty Years' War, and are to be traced to the form of the Volk-lied; war-songs, in which patriotic and military ardour was expressed lyrically, having long preceded the exclusive use of instruments for that purpose. A good specimen of the old German military march is that which Meyerbeer introduced in his 'Ein Feldlager in Schlesien' ('Camp of Silesia'), and afterwards, with other portions of that work, in his 'L'Etoile du Nord,' in the camp scene of which the fine old 'Dessauer March' stands prominently out from the elaborations with which the composer has surrounded it.

The earliest instance of the march form in regular rhythmical phrasing seems to be the wellknown and beautiful Welsh tune, the national Cambrian war-song, 'The March of the Men of Harlech.' This melody, which has only become generally popular within recent years, is stated by Llwyd, the 'Bard of Snowdon,' to have originated during the siege of Harlech Castle in 1468. If this be so, Dr. Crotch was justified in saying (in his 'Specimens of Different Kinds of Music') 'the military music of the Welsh is superior to that of any other nation'—i.e. reading the remark with reference to the war-songs of the period.

In England the Military March would seem to have been of later development. Sir John Hawkins, however, in his History of Music, says:—'It seems that the old English march of the foot was formerly in high estimation, as well abroad as with us; its characteristic is dignity and gravity, in which respect it differs greatly from the French, which, as it is given by Mersennus, is brisk and alert.' On this subject Sir John quotes a bon mot of Sir Roger Williams, a soldier of Queen Elizabeth's time, in answer to the French Marshal Biron's remark that 'the English march being beaten by the drum was slow, heavy, and sluggish'; the reply being, 'That may be true, but, slow as it is, it has traversed your master's country from one end to the other.' Hawkins (writing in 1776) speaks of 'the many late alterations in the discipline and exercise of our troops, and the introduction of fifes and other instruments into our martial music'; and, in reference to an earlier condition thereof, quotes, from Walpole's Catalogue of Royal and Noble