Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/34

22 named 'Down-the-road Galop,' with obbligato parts for two posthorns, one in F and another in A. Beethoven has quoted a post-horn solo. [See .] [ W. H. S. ]

POSTHUMOUS. A term applied to works published after the death of the author. It is frequently used with reference to Beethoven's last five quartets, though the term is in no way applicable to the first of the five—op. 127, in E♭—which was published by Schott & Sons, on March 26, 1826, exactly a year before Beethoven's death, March 26, 1827. The following table of the order of composition, date of publication, and opus-nuinber, of these five exceptional works may be useful.

Schubert died Nov. 19, 1828, and all works by him after op. 88 are Posthumous, excepting 'Winterreise' part 1 (1–12); op. 90 (nos. 1 and 2); ops. 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 100, 101, 105, 106, 108. Mendelssohn's posthumous works begin with op. 73; Schumann's with op. 136. [ G. ]

POSTILLON DE LONGJUMEAU, LE. An opéra-comique in 3 acts, or rather perhaps an extravaganza; words by De Leuven and Brunswick, music by A. Adam. Produced at the Opéra Comique, Oct. 13, 1836. [ G. ]

POSTILLONS. 'Symfonie allegro Postilions' is Handel's autograph inscription to the piece of orchestral music which precedes the entry of the Wise Men in 'Belshazzar,' and begins as follows:—

It is written for the strings, with oboes in unison; no horn is employed; some of the later passages resemble those which can be played on the ordinary posthorn; but there is nothing to say whether this was the origin of the indication, or whether it refers to the haste in which the Wise Men may be supposed to have arrived, or contains some allusion now lost.

Sebastian Bach, in his Capriccio describing the departure of his brother, has introduced an 'Aria di Postiglione' and a 'Fuga all' imitazione delle cornetta di Postiglione.' One of the figures in the former has some likeness to that quoted above.

Beethoven, in a sketch-book of 1812, quoted by Nottebohm (Mus. Wochenblatt, April 25, 1879), has quoted a flourish of the 'Postilion von Karlsbad':—

But this is a mere ordinary phrase, and may be heard from many a postilion or driver in Germany of less renown than the one from whose instrument Beethoven is supposed to have taken it down. (See Thayer, 'Beethoven,' iii. 183, with the remarks of Nottebohm, as above.) [ G. ]

POSTLUDE, a piece played after service, an outgoing voluntary. The term is an adaptation from the Latin-German 'Postludium.' Henry Smart has occasionally employed it. [ G. ]

POT-POURRI. A name first given by J. B. Cramer to a kind of drawing-room composition consisting of a string of well-known airs from some particular opera, or even of national or other familiar tunes having no association with each other. These were connected by a few showy passages, or sometimes by variations on the different themes. The pot-pourri was a less ambitious form of composition than the (modern) fantasia, as there was little or no working-out of the subjects taken, and very little 'fancy' was required in its production. It had its own class of admirers, and was at one time a very popular form of composition. Peters's Catalogue contains 38 by V. Felix, and 64 by Ollivier, on all the chief operas. Chopin, in a letter, calls his op. 13 a 'Potpurri' on Polish airs. The pot-pourri has been invaded by the 'transcription,' which closely resembles it in form although taking only one subject as a rule, instead of many. 'Olla podrida' was another name for the same sort of production. [ J. A. F. M. ]

POTT, born November 7, 1806, at Nordheim, Hanover, where his father was Stadtmusikus. He adopted the violin as his instrument, and shortly after Spohr's appointment to be Hof-Capellmeister at Cassel, went there as his pupil, and there made his first public appearance in 1824. He occupied the next few years in travelling through Denmark and Germany. In 1832 he was appointed Concertmeister to the Duke of Oldenburg, and afterwards advanced to the post of Capellmeister at the same court. This he resigned in 1861, and is now (1880) living at Gratz. In 1838 he visited England, and played Lipinski's concerto in B minor at the Philharmonic on May 21 with great applause. The critic of the 'Musical World' speaks with enthusiasm of the extraordinary power of his tone, his great execution, and the purity of his style. He has published two Concertos, and various smaller pieces for the violin with and without orchestra. [App. p.751 "He died in Nov. 1883."] [ G. ]

POTTER,, born in London in 1792, began his musical education at 7, under his father, a teacher of the pianoforte. He<section end="Potter, Cipriani" />