Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/512

496 'Harmonicon' as 'eccentric and very difficult,' and consequently was coldly received. The receipts diminished to £16,769 11s. 6d., and £1400 only was obtained for the charities. Since then no other festival has been held at York. [ A. C. ]

YORKSHIRE FEAST SONG, THE. An ode for solos, chorus, and orchestra, in fourteen numbers, composed by H. Purcell in 1689, for 'the Assembly of the Nobility and Gentry of the City and County of York, at the Anniversary Feast, March the 27th, 1690.' The feast was held in Merchant Taylors' Hall, London, and the anniversary was that of the proclamation of William and Mary (Feb. 13, 1689), the day originally fixed for the festivity having been Feb. 14. All this and much information will be found in Mr. Cummings's Preface to the edition of the Song by the Purcell Society, 1878. It had previously been published by Goodison in 1790. The title of the poem mentioned that the piece 'cost £100 the performing'—a sum quite equal to £200 of our present money. [ G. ]

YOUNG,, born at Canterbury, 1809, received his musical education there, and from 1831 to 36 was first principal alto singer at the cathedral. In 1836 he became deputy and afterwards lay vicar at Westminster Abbey, and March 3, 1848, first alto at the Temple. This last post he held until his death, with the exception of a year's interval, when he married the widow of a Canterbury alderman and went into business without success. Young was an excellent solo singer, and was successor in public favour to Knyvett and Machin, being the last male alto soloist of eminence. As such he was frequently heard at the Antient and Sacred Harmonic Concerts. With the latter Society he sang for a period of ten years: he first appeared Nov. 14, 1837, in the 'Dettingen te Deum' and Mozart's 'Twelfth Mass,' etc. He took the parts of Hamor and Joad on the respective revivals of 'Jephthah' and 'Athaliah.' He also sang in the revival of Purcell's Jubilate and in various anthems and services. He died at Walworth, Aug. 12, 1872. [ A. C. ]

YRIARTE,, author of a Spanish poem on music published in 1779. The work, which is in irregular metre, is divided into five cantos. The first two deal with elements such as the notes, scales and ornaments, and with musical expression in its various branches. In the third, which treats of Church music, the writer distinguishes three principal species—(1) the Gregorian, having no measure of time in its five varieties; (2) the Mixed or Florid, measured by common or triple time, admitting of various cadences and ornaments; and (3) the Organic, to some extent a combination of the two former, in which both voices and instruments were employed. Here the writer takes occasion to praise the Spanish composers Patiño, Roldan, Garcia, Viana, Guerrero, Vittoria, Ruiz, Morales, Duron, Literes, San Juan, and Nebra. The canto closes with a description of the examinations for admission to the Royal Chapelle, from which it appears that candidates were required to show proficiency on the organ, violin, flute and hautboy, and to play sonatas at sight. The fourth canto treats of theatrical music: the shade of Jomelli appears, and after assigning to Spain the palm for pure vocal music, to Germany and Bohemia for instrumental, to France for science, and to Italy for the opera, gives a lengthened description of the Orchestra, of Recitative, 'greater than declamation, less than song,' which he limits to the compass of an octave, and of the Aria with its various graces, the Rondeau, Cavatina, Duos, Trios, Quartets, etc. Among dramatic authors the palm is assigned to Gluck, whose rivalry with Sacchini and Piccini was distracting the musical world. The fifth and last canto, which treats of chamber music, contains a long eulogy of Haydn, who is said to have enjoyed special appreciation in Madrid, where prizes were given for the best rendering of his compositions. The poem concludes with a wish for the establishment of a Royal Academy of Music. Not the least interesting portion of Yriarte's book is the Notes: altogether it presents an amusing picture of music a century ago, which may be compared with Salvator Rosa's Satire 'La Musica' a century earlier. It was translated into French, German and Italian; and an English version by John Belfour, who acknowledges the assistance of Dr. Burney, Dr. Callcott, and S. Wesley, was published in 1807. [ E. J. P. ]

ACCONI,, one of the most learned musical theorists of the early Italian School, was born, about the middle of the 16th century, at Pesaro, but spent the greater part of his life at Venice, where he was admitted to the priesthood, received the tonsure as a monk of the Order of S. Augustine, and officiated, for many years, as Maestro di Cappella in the great church belonging to the Order. In 1593 he was invited to Vienna by the Archduke Charles, who made him his Kapellmeister, and in 1595 he received a similar appointment at the Court of the Pfalzgraf Wilhelm, Duke of Bavaria, at whose invitation he removed to Munich. In 1619 he returned to Venice, and devoted himself to the completion of his great theoretical work, the first