Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/216



BERTI,, poet, patriot, and teacher of declamation, born 1805. Together with his friends, Modena and Mazzini, by the power of the pen he succeeded in raising the youth of Italy to action against the tyranny of a foreign domination, and to the establishment of the national independence. His poems are noticed at length by Cesare Cantú in his History of Italian Literature. Born at Milan, he lived there the greater portion of his life engaged as a teacher of declamation. He numbered Malibran and Grisi amongst his pupils, and was the last of the masters of declamation who still preserved the old traditions of classical tragic acting. He died by his own hand in 1876, a patriot, but a republican to the end. [ J. C. G. ]

U. C. (Ital. una corda; Fr. petite pedale; Germ, mit Verschiebung). An indication of the use of the left pedal of the pianoforte, by means of which the action is shifted a little to the right, and the hammers made to strike a single string (in modern instruments generally two strings), instead of the three which are ordinarily struck. The return to the use of three strings is indicated by the letters t. c., tre corde, tutte le corde, or sometimes tutto il cembalo. The shifting pedal, the invention of which dates from about the end of the 18th century, is an improvement on the earlier Celeste pedal (also called Sourdine) in which the sound was deadened by the interposition of a strip of leather, or other material, between the hammers and the strings. This arrangement, which is now used only in upright pianos, where from lack of space or from the oblique direction of the strings the shifting action would not be available, gives a dull, muffled sound, which in small instruments is often so weak as to be practically useless; the shifting pedal, on the contrary, produces a beautiful and delicate quality of tone, arising from the sympathetic vibrations of the unused strings, which is by no means the same thing as the ordinary pianissimo, but is of the greatest service in producing certain special effects. Beethoven uses it frequently, in the later Sonatas (from op. 101), and in the Andante of the G major Concerto, op. 58, the whole of which movement is to be played a una corda, except the long shake in the middle, in which Beethoven requires the gradual addition of the other strings, and afterwards the gradual return from three strings to one. His directions are due, e poi tre corde,' and afterwards due, poi una corda,' but it is not possible to carry them out strictly on the modern pianoforte, as the shifting action now only reduces to two strings instead of one.

In music for string instruments, the direction a una corda is occasionally given, to denote that the passage is to be played upon a single string, instead of passing from one string to the next, in order to avoid any break in the quality of tone produced. [See also .] [ F. T. ]

UGALDE,, née Beaucé, was born on Dec. 3, 1829, at Paris or at Larne. She received instruction in singing from Madame Moreau-Sainti, and in 1848 made her début as Angela in 'Le Domino Noir' at the Opéra Comique where she became a great favourite. Her repertoire included Henriette in Auber's 'L'Ambassadrice,' and characters in many new operas by A. Thomas, Halévy, Massé, etc. On June 12, 1851, she made her début at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, as Nefte on the production, in England, of Auber's 'L'Enfant Prodigue,' and during the season also played Corilla in Gnecco's 'La Prova,' but though favourably received, did not appear to her usual advantage. According to the 'Musical World,' June 14, 1851, she could 'execute passages with a facility rarely ever heard equalled or surpassed—she sings like a musician and a thorough artist, and in her acting betokens singular esprit and fine comic powers.' Chorley considered that with all her vocal cleverness and audacity, and a dash of true dramatic instinct here and there, she was always an unattractive singer. A want of refinement as distinct from accuracy or finish ran through all her performances; she was too conscious, too emphatic and too audacious; she came with great ambitions to make her first appearance as Semiramide with not one solitary requisite, save command over any given number of notes in a roulade.' In 1853 she retired for a time from the Opéra Comique, through loss of voice, and played at the Variétés, but returned Jan. 26, 1857, as Eros on the production of Psyche (Thomas). In 1859–60 she sang at the Lyrique as Suzanne ('Le Nozze'), and in 'La Fée Carabosse' (Massé) and 'Gil Blas' (Semet) on their production. She afterwards sang in opera bouffe, and, with her second husband Varcollier, for a short time undertook the management of the Bouffes Parisiens.' She is now living in retirement. She also devoted herself to teaching, among her pupils being Madame Marie Sass; also her daughter,

, who made a successful debut in 1880 at the Opéra Comique, in 'La Fille du Regiment,' and played Nicklausse on the production of Contes d'Hoffman' (Offenbach), and was recently singing at the Nouveautés. [ A. C. ]

ULIBISCHEW. The German mode of spelling the name which the author himself spells. [Vol. ii. p. 616.] [ G. ]

ULRICH,, a composer of great ability, whose life was wasted owing to adverse circumstances, and probably also to want of strength of character. He was born Nov. 26, 1827, at Oppeln in Silesia, where his father was schoolmaster. By twelve he had lost both his parents, and was thrown helpless on the world. He then got into the Gymnasium or Convict at Breslau; in 1846 went to Glogau, and lastly to Berlin. From Mosewius, the excellent director of the University of Breslau, he had an 