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ROS After making some considerable progress in Nottingham, Rossi repaired to London, and entered as a student in the Royal Academy, where in 1784 he gained the gold medal, and was sent accordingly in 1785 to complete his studies at Rome, where he remained until 1788. He returned to England, became a member of the Academy in 1802, was appointed sculptor to the prince regent, and employed on the works for Buckingham palace; he was also sculptor to William IV. He was twice married, and had eight children by each wife. He died February 21, 1839, having been very little employed the latter years of his life. Rossi's chief works are his monuments in St. Paul's cathedral, where he executed several, of which the most successful are those to the Marquis Cornwallis, in the nave; Lord Heathfield and Captain Faulkner, R.N., in the south transept; and Lord Rodney in the north transept. The figures of these monuments are of a manly and vigorous character. His fancy works are not remarkable.—R. N. W.  ROSSI, or, a musician, was born at Naples towards the end of the sixteenth century, lived at Rome in 1620, and is mentioned as still active in his art in a letter dated 1640. Too little is known of the history of this remarkably gifted man, and far too little of his works; of these, a large number of manuscript cantatas are preserved in the British museum, and some others, together with some motets, in Christ Church library, Oxford. Rossi is noted as having advanced secular music by the composition of his cantatas—a class of music comprising rhythmical melody and recitative, and constituting a dramatic scene for a single voice, of which he was one of the earliest writers. His beautiful aria "Ah Rendimi," familiar in our concert rooms, is so prodigiously in advance of the period when it was produced, as to make one question its authenticity. He is censured for having introduced florid divisions into vocal writing, and praised on the other hand for the pure counterpoint in his sacred music. A portion of an oratorio by Rossi is extant, called "Giuseppe figlio di Giacobbe."—G. A. M.  ROSSI. See.  ROSSINI,, the musician, was born at Pesaro in the Papal States, February 29, 1792. His father was a horn-player attached to an itinerant company who used to perform operas in towns which were too small to maintain a regularly appointed theatre, and his mother sang the parts of seconda donna in the same troupe. It is stated that when a boy, Rossini played second horn to his father in this roving establishment. A better authority declares, that in 1799 he was placed under the tuition of Angelo Tesei at Bologna, from whom certainly, sooner or later, he learned singing and the pianoforte; and we are told by the same writer, that he used to earn a trifle by assisting in the service at different churches, when his fine voice always won admiration. He left Bologna in August, 1806, to officiate as maestro in the company with which his parents travelled; his duty being to teach the chorus and the principal singers, and to accompany the recitative on the pianoforte in public. He left this engagement in March, 1807, entered the Lyceum of Bologna, and there became a pupil for composition of Padre S. Mattei. He learned the principles of harmony from this master, but revolted against the contrapuntal exercises he wished to impose upon him, having no inclination to write for the church, and believing that such severe studies would avail him nothing in composing for the theatre, which was his sole ambition. Independently of his teacher, he examined the scores of the symphonies and masses of Haydn and Mozart, and it is to his study of these masterpieces that he ascribed his knowledge of practical composition. His first productions were six violin quartets, which were printed without his sanction, and gave little token of the power he afterwards developed; a symphony for full orchestra; and a cantata, "Il Pianto d'Armonia," which was given at a public performance in the Lyceum, in August, 1808. During the next year he wrote his first opera, "Demetrio e Polibio," which, however, was not performed until after he had produced other works. He was befriended by the noble family of Perticari, through whose interest he was enabled to bring out a one act opera, "La Cambiale di Matrimonio," in the autumn of 1810, at Venice. This, his first fair challenge of public criticism, was favourably received; but another work of the same extent, "L'Equivoco Stravagante," was unsuccessfully given at Bologna, a year later. After this, Rossini went to Rome to produce his Demetrio, which some say he recomposed for the occasion, and he wrote there a cantata, "Didone abbandonata," for Mombelli, the principal singer in that opera. In the carnival of 1812, "L'Inganno felice," a one act opera, was produced at Venice with more decided and continuous success than anything he had yet written. He went then to Ferrara to produce a serious opera, "Ciro in Babilonia," during Lent; returning to Venice, he gave there in the spring season, "La Scala di Seta," and in the autumn, "L'Occasione fa il Ladro," both in one act; and he crowned the labours of this busy year with the two act opera of "La Pietra del Paragone," which was performed at Milan in the autumn. He began in 1813 with the production of another one act opera, "Il Figlio per Azzardo," at Venice; and this was followed during the same carnival season by "Tancredi." Hitherto Rossini had only proved his rare facility, and had done little to extend his reputation beyond his own country, and nothing to give permanence to his fame. This opera, however, was not only a turning point in the composer's career, but the commencement of a new epoch in dramatic music; it fully demonstrated the power of his genius, and the world recognized the evidence with a cordiality that has never been exceeded. Public enthusiasm was unbounded in the reception of the work, and from that time the specialities of Rossini's style engrafted themselves upon the writings of all musicians, who had not sufficient individuality and independence to resist his forcible influence. "L'ltaliana in Algeri" was given also at Venice, in the summer of the same year, and added to the list of its author's successes; but he had a slight reverse in the reception of "Aureliano in Palmira," at Milan, in the carnival of 1814. He composed "Egle e Irene," a cantata for a Milanese lady, during this year, and revived his good fortune with "Il Turco in Italia," in the same city, in the autumn. "Sigismondo," however, which was next given at Venice, appears to have been a decided failure. He now entered into an engagement with Barbaja, the manager of the theatre at S. Carlo at Naples, for a salary equivalent to £480, to compose for him two operas every year, and to officiate as musical director at his theatre. Barbaja was also at the head of La Scala at Milan, and of the imperial opera at Vienna, and thus had threefold opportunity of bringing forward these compositions; but Rossini seems not to have been bound by the contract to write for him alone, as is shown by his many productions at theatres not under Barbaja's control. "Elisabetta d'Regina Inghilterra" introduced him to the Neapolitan public in the autumn of 1815—an opera of which nothing is now known but the overture, and this is appropriated to the "Barbiere." He had to produce during the carnival of 1816, operas at two theatres in Rome; "Torvaldo e Dorlisca" seems to have been written with little care, and performed with little effect; "Il Barbiere di Seviglia," on the contrary, caused its composer greater concern than he took in most of his works, and amply repaid this by the enduring success it achieved. There was great difficulty in choosing a libretto for the second opera Rossini had contracted to write; and so, as the time approached for its production, he was asked to reset the Barbiere, Paesiello's composition of which—condemned though this had been on its performance at Rome, when its author returned with it from St. Petersburg—was now a favourite with the Roman public. Rossini, as much to justify his own tardiness as to show deference to the veteran master, wrote to ask Paesiello's permission before he would appropriate this subject, and received a cold answer. Time wore away, and he still delayed his task; he was accordingly placed under arrest by the management, and in this predicament composed his masterpiece, as some say, in ten days, and as others aver, in a fortnight. Prejudiced by the non-success of "Torvaldo" at the rival theatre, and not inclined to accept any work which would displace the Barbiere of their favourite Paesiello, the public would not listen to Rossini's opera on the f irst night, and hooted the composer from his post in the orchestra. On the second performance, however, the audience being less noisy, the music was heard, and its beauties struck every listener with delight; and Rossini, who fearing again to pass through the fiery ordeal, had absented himself from the theatre, was relieved from his anxiety as to the reception of his work by the acclamations of the mob, who surrounded his lodging and proclaimed his triumph. This was the opera which first introduced Rossini to an English audience, it being performed in London in 1817, for the first appearance of Garcia, who was the original Almamiva. A one act opera, "La Gazzetta," was written for Naples in the summer of 1816, and in the ensuing autumn "Otello" also was produced there. This opera is notable in the history of the art as being the first in which the parlante 