Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/537

SKENE MANUSCRIPT. [ J. M. W. ]

SKETCH (Ital. Schizzo; Germ. Skizze, Fr. Esquisse). A short Movement, usually written for the Pianoforte, and deriving its name, in some cases, from its vividly descriptive character, in others, from the slightness of its construction.

Among Sketches of the purely descriptive class, the most perfect examples we possess are Sterndale Bennett's three well-known Movements, entitled, 'The Lake,' 'The Mill-stream,' and 'The Fountain' (op. 10). In freshness of conception, and finished delicacy of treatment, these delicious little inspirations stand absolutely alone, in their own peculiar sphere. Their truthfulness to Nature is as remarkable as their loyal submission to the laws of Art. Though rightly called Sketches, because each one presents a single feature, only, selected from the infinite variety of detail comprised within the limits of a beautiful landscape, they are, in reality, elaborately finished pictures, reminding us of three little water-colour drawings by Turner, or three bright flashes from the pencil of Girtin. And, like the works of the last-named Painter, they are so thoroughly English, that we should seek in vain for the realisation of their poetical imagery in he scenery of any other country than our own. As surely as Schubert's 'Forelle' lived in a German trout-stream—and, who can hear the Song, and doubt it?—so surely does the rush of Bennett's flashing wavelets turn an English mill-wheel.

Mendelssohn's three little Capriccios, written, in Wales, for the cousins of Professor Taylor, and now known as op. 16, have also been published under the title of Sketches, and may fairly lay claim to it, though it was not given to them by the Composer himself. The first of these, in A minor, was suggested by the perfume of a carnation; the second, in E minor, by the fairy trumpets of the Ecremocarpus, a spray of which the Composer drew upon the margin of the original autograph; and the third, in E major, by a little Welsh Rivulet—a 'real actual Rivulet'—at Coed-du, near Mold, in Flintshire, which particularly struck Mendelssohn's fancy, and the tiny waterfalls, smooth reaches, and other details of which he painted, so carefully, from Nature, that, years afterwards, his manner of performing the Music suggested to Schirmer the idea of a charming little water-colour drawing.

Schumann's four 'Skizzen' for the Pedal Pianoforte (op. 58), are of an altogether different class, and derive their name from the Composer's modest appreciation of their calibre; as does, also, Stephen Heller's pretty, but certainly not unfinished little Study, entitled 'Esquisse.' [ W. S. R. ]

SKETCHES. SKETCH-BOOKS. SKETCHING,. A broad distinction must be drawn between the preliminary Sketches made during the progress of a great work, and the modest Movements described in the foregoing article. Though called by the same name, the two forms have nothing whatever in common.

One of the most accomplished Art-critics of modern times assures us that the conceptions of true genius invariably present themselves to the inspired imagination, even in their earliest manifestation, in a complete and perfect form; that they spring from the Artist's brain, as Minerva, adult, and fully armed, sprang from the forehead of Jupiter. No doubt, this is true enough, in a certain sense; but, only so far as the general form of the idea is concerned. Among the treasures presented to the University of Oxford by the late Mr. Chambers Hall, there is a little square of paper, which, if we attempt to press the canon beyond a certain point, cuts away the ground from under it. On one side of this priceless sheet is drawn the seated figure of a female skeleton, surrounded by faint lines indicating the contours of its delicate covering of flesh. On the other, is presented the figure of the Holy Child, exquisitely drawn with the bistre pen, yet not finished with sufficient care to satisfy the Artist, who has several times repeated the feet, with certain changes of position, on the margin of the