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 NOVA SCOTIA— NOVELLO.

J3

NOVA SCOTIA, Bishop OF. (See

BiNNBY, Dr.

NOVELLO, Claba Anastasia (Countess Gioliucci), fourth daughter of Mr. Vincent NoveUo, musical composer, born in London, June 10, 1818, at an early age dis- played so mudi musical talent as to induce her father to give her a thoroughly professional education. Her progress repaid the care be- stowed upon her, for at the early age of eleven years she won, by competition, her admission as a pupU into the Conservatoire de Musique Sacr^e at Paris, where, for two years, she studied assiduously, and at one of the public examina- tions of the pupils was complimented by Charles X. and his court. On the closing of the institution, in the revolution of 1830, she returned home fitted to take a prominent part among the singers of the day, at the concerts of the Philharmonic Society and other leading musical entertainments. When only seven- teen years of age she was elected an Associate of that Society ; and soon afterwards accepted an invita- tion from Mendelssohn to take part in the Leipsic Gewand-Haus Con- certs. In Berlin and Vienna she was equally well received; and so great was her success at the first- mentioned place, that the late king presented her with introductions to his sister, the Empress of Russia, and to the court of Vienna. Before this time Malibran and Bubini advised her to go to Italy, and study for the stage. Her success at Vienna induced her to take part in the musical festivals in Lom- bardy, and she felt disposed to follow their advice, but, owing to engagements at St. Petersburg and in Germany, could not carry out this plan until 1839-40. She ap- peared at Padua in 1841 in the character of Semiramide with such success, that engagements at Bolog^na, Modena, and Genoa fol- lowed, and in 1842 both Home and <>ejioa endeavoured to s^cujre her

for the fStes of the carnival. In 1843 she returned to England, and sang in London and Manchester; and having contracted a matrimo- nial alliance with Count Gigliucci, she withdrew from the stage in 1844. Circumstances, however, in- duced her return in 1850, to the arena of her earlier triumphs j and she constantly appeared in concerts, oratorios, and operas, on the Conti- nent and in London, until 1860, when she finally retired.

NOVELLO, Joseph Alpbed, son of Vincent Novello, organist and composer, was born in 1810. He followed his father's footsteps in devoting himself to the propagation of good music in England, and at the early age of nineteen estab- lished himself in London as a musical publisher. Some years after he devised a system of print- ing cheap music, and succeeded in introducing this beneficial novelty, notwithstanding the general oppo- sition of fellow music-sellers. To his efforts is due the abolition of a vexatious printers' guild law, which had hampered the trade since 1811. A friend and admirer of Felix Men- delssohn, Mr. Alfred Novello eagerly introduced to English auditors the works of that great master, and aided him in translating " St. Paul/* " Lobegesang," and other composi- tions. In 1849 he associated him- self with the energetic men who relieved England from "taxation on knowledge," and for years was the active treasurer of their society, the object of which was the repeal of the advertisement duty (accom- plished in 1853), the repeal of the newspaper stamp (accomplished in 1856), duties on paper and foreign books, and the repeal of the security system. Ever ardent in promoting the progress of art, science, and social advancement, he materially assisted the inventive genius of his friend, Mr. Bessemer, in his scien- tific discoveries in glass, &c., and especially that of producing the metal now known as Bessemer steel.