Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/81

 11 S. VL JULY 27, 1912. J NOTES AND QUERIES.

61

LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1913.

CONTENTS. -No. 135.

JfOTES .-Handel's Compositions and the Triennial Festi- vals, 61 Cobbett Bibliography, 62 An Eighteenth- Century "Bill Stumps," 64 The English Participle Present and Gerund The Rev. Matthew Pilkington, 65 " Si jeunesse savait," &c. No. 50, Fleet Street, 66 Por- traits of Mary Stuart Madame Vige le Brun's Portrait of la Princesse de Talleyrand " Hen and Chickens " Sign, 67 Ashby Fallows, 68.

QUERIES : Edward Boate, M.P. for Portsmouth Cort of West Ham Books on Malvern Bishop Seabury's An- cestorsDeacon of Chester British Troops in Goa, 68 Authors of Poems Wanted Author of Hymn Wanted Authors of Quotations Wanted References Wanted Detached Portions of Counties Chained Books, 69 Corporal Punishment Cora Kennedy Aitken Qu'arles : Bacon : Miller Heraldic Hpppner's Birthplace in Whitechapel Book of Lecan Biographical Information Wanted, 70.

REPLIES : I'Anson, 70 Regiment de Meuron Henry Mayhew and Aniline Dyes, 71 Bengeworth "Hit": Tense in Chaucer Shakespeare's Signatures, 72 Duration of Families in Male_ Line " Sleeveless errand," 73 Guidarello Guidarelli Poet's Road, Canonbury Church Ales, 74 'Pishoken' "To setdaggs" Snake Poison, 75 The Death of Shelley" Don't nail his ears to the pump " Caraccioli on dive 'The Kentish Note-Book' Yeddiog. 76 Estates of Nonjurors Florence Night- ingale Frances, Duchess of Suffolk, 77 Schaak, an Artist" Dr. Syntax," 78.

ON BOOKS :-' The Oxford Dictionary.' Booksellers' Catalogues. OBITUARY : Andrew Lang.

JSofcs.

HANDEL'S COMPOSITIONS AND THE TRIENNIAL FESTIVALS.

As the Festival which closed on Saturday, June 29th, may be the last held at the Crystal Palace, a note respecting the series should appear in ' N. & Q.'

Complaint has often been made of two- thirds of the Festival being devoted to the same two works, ' The Messiah ' being over-familiar, while ' Israel in Egypt,' if not equally well known, is no novelty. But it is clear that the cost of these great performances is immense, and therefore the directors naturally offer what draws the public. It is, however, interesting specially to note what has been done on the " Selection " days. From the preliminary Festival, down to and including the one that has just taken place, three oratorios the two named above and ' Judas Maccabseus ' (in 1857 and 1906) just the usual cuts ; and excerpts have been performed from the other sixteen oratorios
 * have been given in their entirety, or with

which Handel wrote. The titles of all nineteen works, here set out in chrono- logical order, are as follows :

La Resurrezione (1708).

Esther (about 1720).

Deborah (1733).

Athaliah (1733).

Saul (1738).

Israel in Egypt (1738).

Messiah (1741).

Sarnson (1741-2).

Joseph (1743).

Belshazzar (1744).

Occasional Oratorio (1740).

Judas Maccabaeus (1746).

Alexander Balus (1747).

Joshua (1747).

Solomon (1748).

Susanna (1748).

Theodora (1749).

Jephtha (1751).

Triumph of Time (1757).

Again, of Handel's 38 operas (not including the four written at Hamburg, of which the autographs are unknown) and two dramatic works, excerpts during the period from 1857 to 1912 have been given from 19, i.e., from half of them. The operas are as follows :

Almira (1704). Rodrigo (1707). Rinaldo (1711). Ottone (1722). Giulio Cesare (1723). Rodelinda (1725). Scipione (1726). Alessandro (1726). Ezio (1731-2). Sosarme (1732). Orlando (1732). Alcina (1735). Atalanta (1736). Giustino (1736). Berenice (1736-7). Serse (1737-8). Deidamia (1740, the last).

The two dramatic works were :

Semele (1743). Hercules (1744).

One or two excerpts (in some cases there were more) give no better idea of the whole work than the brick which an Irishman produced as a specimen of his house, but they at any rate call attention to the great number of Handel's compositions.

Of the three oratorios specially named above, the following details may prove interesting.

The first part of ' Israel in Egypt ' was written in six days, and the second in eleven ; twelve more days were occupied in completing the score i.e., in all 29 days.

The first part of ' The Messiah ' was com- menced in 1741, on 22 August, and com- pleted on 28 August ; the second part bears