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744 «t> * VLt&Htt. t SATOHDAY
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THK J'KTKS OF PARIS. International enter...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Industrial Congress. The Musician In Th ...
require their music transposed , that it may lie easier for their voicejT or that some favourite note may be employed on a telling phrase . The difficulty of transposing a piece of music into another key at sight is well known . Several attempts had been made to effect transposition by mechanical means . But either the keys were to be moved , which soon caused looseness , with an unpleasant rattle ; or the strings were made movable , which rendered the piano liable to get out of tune ; or the hammers were shifted , the worst system , of all , as , unless moved thoroughly home , they were frequently half on one string and half on the other . The contrivance Albert
adopted by Messrs . Addison in the " Royal is exceedingly simple . It is effected by a kind of shoulder between the ivory keys and the action leading to the hammers , and consequently all objections vanish , while every song or vocal piece can be , merely by the turning of a handle , transposed into six different keys , thereby bringing many thousand musical works within the compass of every voice . This pianoforte has the suffrages of upwards of 300 of the musical profession . Messrs . Stodart exhibit a horizontal grand , in rosewood ; and a " compact square , " the peculiarity of which is , that the strings and sounding-Board are sunk in the case , and that the hammers strike downwards instead of upwards . Its appearance , when shut , is much like that of a sofa-tableand the tone is good . Mr . Cadby sends
, grand and upright cottage pianofortes , on his new patent suspension principle , which , involving a great deal of machinery , and increasing the bulk of the instrument , produces no compensating results . The Tavola pianoforte exhibited by Mr . R . Hunt , 22 , Blake-street , forms a drawing-room table on a centre pedestal . In tone it is exceadingly mediocre , and it appears more curious than useful . Mr . R . Allison has produced a cottage pianoforte , with the keys alternated in colour to show all the scales . It appears to us only calculated to mystify . We should like to see a student " brought up" on such a principle of playing . The cottage grand pianoforte , with repeating-check action , exhibited by Mr . C . Holdernesse , is an exceedingly line instrument . Messrs . Jenkins and Son , 10 , London-street ,
Fitzroy-square , send an expanding pianoforte for yachts . It has a movable front , and is especially adapted for cabins , where space is so important . Mr . G . H . Aggio , of Colchester , exhibits a pianoforte with plate glass case , with elegant gold carvings . The tone unfortunately doesnot correspond with the really elegant exterior . The walnut cottage of Messrs . Oetzman and Plumb , 56 , Great Russell-street , is a most elegant and hi-hly ornamented instrument . The keys are of mother- o ' -pearl and tortoiseshell , and the tone and touch are exquisite . While we were examining this instrument a young lady who arrived with her mamma , on noticing the peculiarity of the keys , wondered " if it affected the tone . ' The young
lady threw her hands across the keys , exhibiting some acquaintance with music ; but what a lamentable commentary washer ignorant observation on the style in which music is taught in " schools and families" ! Mr . Wornum , whose endeavours to produce cheap pianofortes have given considerable impulse to the nvmufacture of piccolo instruments , sends a piccolo in walnut and a semibichord giand . Messrs . Ilund and Son , of Ebury-strcet , Pnnlico , exhibit a lyra pianoforte , which , in addition to u grand check action , has a new description of pedal , by which the shifting on to one string to produce a piano effect ia wholly uvoided . The back or lyre of the instrument is turned towards the centre of the
room , enabling the performer to face the audience . The tone i » brilliant , and the touch pleasing . The pianofortes in the mediaeval department appear to be worthy of the age : plenty of outside show , but little in the interior to warrant it . The foreign pianofortes certainly cannot be said to equal those of our own country . They are not bo well finished in their mechanical departments , and their lone is more rocky and less musical . The touch it * peculiar ; but this is a matter of taste , and it is perhaps better adapted to the foreign mode of playing the instrument . Although the IJelgie pianofortes , so far as touch and equality are concerned , are far
superior to anything in the foreign department , on the whole the French occupy the next place in importance to our own . JKr . rd , in addition to that already noticed in the nave , fiends five more , which olfcr no peculiarity woithy oi remark , except that it appears very absurd thus to turn the Crystal Palace into a warehouse . ILurz exhibits a grand and a Hemigrand , with both oi which we- were greatly disappointed . We were prepared to find them exceedingly confidential iit tone ; but wo had anticipated something a little less
toylike from no celebrated a maker . There are nome excellent specimens of" buhl work and marquctcrie ; the principal of which are an elegant collage in tulip wood and marqueterie by M . Mouial , an exceedingly rich and beautiful instrument by M . Van Ovenbuig , and a beautiful piccolo in inarqueterie , with ornaments in the Htyle of Louis XIV ., by Detir and Co ., the Working Pianoforte Makers' Association of Paris . The tone and lininh of these instrument uro equal to anything jn , ti 10 foreign department , and it phowe
the power of cooperation when we find that this working-men ' s association have , in addition to the two specimens sent to the Exhibition , already completed and sold tioo huudred and twenty-five pianofortes ! M . Herding and M . Aucher exhibit metalframed pianos . We do not perceive any advantage in these metal-framed instruments . Thev have generally a har * h tone and an unpleasant vibration , and though much softened by M . Herding , the objection is not wholly removed . M . Aucher ' s pianos , with movable keys , offer an advantage in point of space , more than nullified by the risk of variation in the balancing of the keys . They have not the power we anticipated from report , and the medium notes are poor and thin . M . Pape , who has introduced several important improvements which have been adopted by our own countryexhibits specimens of his console
, pianofortes . M . Mercier's specimens of cottage pianofortes possess great beauty and purity of tone , but the touch is not equal to English pianos of the same form . M . Souffleto has , besides two pianos , a most beautifully worked rosewood oblique instrument , which proves him a worthy disciple of MM . Rollet and Blanchet . M . Scholtus exhibits a very improved pianoforte with iron cramps , which doubtless has the proposed effect of keeping the instrument in tune . M . Scholtus has yet , however , to produce an instrument equal to his competitors , when his own peculiar adaptation would prove valuable . M . A . Bord exhibits a very magnificently toned grand pianoforte of seven octaves . There is no show about this instrument ; but we should prefer it to any in the
French department . In ihe Austrian room is a very beautiful cottage pianoforte , with or-molu figures on each side , and buhl work of exceedingly chaste design and execution . 'In the gallery there is also a grand of American maple , with a border of wood mosaic . From Belgium are a number of instruments , but they are principally copies of French manufacture . The principal in this department is a grand , by L . Sternberg , whose pianos are a perfect luxury to play on . They have also the impress of Thalberg ' s name in token of their superiority .
In the States of the Zollverein and the North of Germany are some pianofortes , which , though they do not possess any qualifications worthy of a special remark , are , nevertheless , creditable manufactures . In the American department are several instruments , whose tone by no means answers to the expectations held out . The square , by Nunn and Clarke , is the best in this department . There is a double pianoforte , a horizontal grand , having a set of keys at each end , with separate sets of strings , though with one sounding-board . Thus , two or four
performers , can readily play on the same instrument . The finish of this pianoforte is most extraordinary . It is a complete go-a-head manufacture . In the open work of the interior , the French polished surface is soiled by the fibre of the carelessly wrought interstices , while the coils of wire round and in the vicinity of the pins remind one rather of some clumsy muchinery on shipboard than of an instrument for a lady ' s boudoir . There is a novelty called the " Piano Violino , " the invention of Mr . J . S . Wood , of Virginia . It is a curious and
ingenious instrument . By a kind of treadle , beneath the piano in the vicinity of the pedals , four bows at the back are set in motion , which pass over the Btrings of a violin ; the kejs of the piano when played on depress these bows , which are guided in a groove , and the corresponding note is produced on the violin . The most surprising part is , that the most difficult of instruments should thus be played mechanically ; but there is a monotony of tone and an absence of expression which prevents the instrument from becoming more than a mere curiosity . In musical instruments the United States certainly do not shine .
The pianofortes , as a whole , must be taken as exhibiting the exact position of the manufacture at this moment in the various countries , rather than the capabilities of pianoforte making . Where an attempt has been made to produce anything for the occasion ( with theexecption of theMensi « . K . irkman ' s miniature instrument ) , the tusk has been handed over to the cabinet-maker rather than the pianoforte-manufacturer . There lias been raiher a desire to show how
gaudy u case could he made than to exhibit what powers could be t fleeted by it pianoforte if people were content to give the price . We have plate-glass pianos , pianos in brans cufes , pianos of choice woods Bur / eited with gilding and or-molu . Where is the piano which puts forth its claims in the only legitimate mode ? With the exception of those of the Messrs . Kirkman and Messrs . Addison , which we have already indicated , we have nothing of the kind . Manufacturers have been aiming to pkase the eye with an instrument especially designed to delight the ear .
744 «T> * Vlt&Htt. T Satohday
744 « t > * VLt & Htt . t SATOHDAY
Thk J'Ktks Of Paris. International Enter...
THK J'KTKS OF PARIS . International entertainments have not in any age Hiirpushed the series of fetes given by tin ; city of Paris to the city of London in honour of the Great Expotiition . Early on Friday morning , the 1 st of Auguit , three
trains bore away the English party , after considerable scrambling for seats , and immense anxiety respecting luggage . The arrangements of the railway are reported to have been none of the best ; and to have caused great despair among the ladies , and positive vexation among the gentlemen respecting the safety of their dresses respectively . A rapid ride landed all the company in security at Folkestone ; where two steamers waited to convey the guests to Boulogne . On board these vessels were the mayor , sixteen aldermen , a few common council men , the royal commissioners , the executive committee and a few of the jurors . The citizens , it is whispered , had with their customary disinterestedness demanded so many invitations that several eminent jurors could not be
invited . The passage across the channel was not without its incidents . First the ladies , then the gentlemen bowed to the influence of the ocean . The lord mayor succumbed without a murmur . Even aldermen turned pale . Mandarin Keying , from the Chinese Junk , devised many expedients to evade the penalty which the rocking waters levy upon landsmen . In vain was it that he scientifically took up his position amidships , seated low , with his elbows rested on his knees , and his face buried in his hands . Nature had her will of Mandarin Keying . But on the whole , the sons and daughters of Britannia bore bravely up , and stood out stoutly ; so that when the steamers ran alongside the p ier at Boulogne , and their human freight touched once more the solid land , they were not
much the worse for wear . For the first time in the history of the two countries the vexation of passports was not inflicted , neither were custom-house investigations undergone . Carriages rapidly conveyed the guests to the station of the Boulogne and Amiens Railway , where a breakfast awaited the hungry and reireshed the fatigued . The saloon at the station was fitted up with crimson and white hangings ; and a large mirror , adorned with flowers , reflected the whole of the room . In
this apartment one hundred of the elite sat down , Under the presidence of M . de St . Paul ; while about two hundred were entertained in an outer saloon . Here , too , short speeches were made , international and complimentary toasts proposed ; English cheers , and the inveterate habit of " one cheer more , " saluting those in honour of Boulogne , the union of the two nations , and the prospect of visits to come . An amusing incident is related by the Times' reporter who accompanied the train : —
" Whiie peaceful sentiments were being exchanged within doors , a \ ery neat bit of finesse was successively practised without . On the opposite side of the station a tiain was drawn up , evidently about to start for Paris , and this the most pushing spirits , who wish * d to be in at everything , hastened to occupy . As soon as they were all seated , and the doors locked , a short empty train snddenly appeared on the near line of rails , and at the same moment the chief guests emerging on the platform
took possession of it , and were , without an instant's delay , hurrying at express speed on the route to Paris . Great was the indignation and dimay of several aldermen and other magnates of the day at thus being left behind , and on their arrival , nearly two hours later , at Paris than those who preceded them , their wrath burnt brightl y against their civic chief , who could ihu > desert his council of sagos , and appropriate to himseli ail the honour ol the icception in the French metropolis . ' *
On went the train . At Amiens a reception from the National Guard ; refreshments of wine and biscuits ; " God save the Queen" from a band , acknowledged by British cheers , and rupidly onward again , the train at one period reaching 6 G miles an hour . It was dark and nine o ' clock when the Paris terminus wus gained by the train conveying the chief guests ; the remaindt-r did not arrive until after midnight . At the Paris station the passengers by the " train of honour" were received by M . lierger , the Prefect of the Seine , and M . Carlier . Prefect of
Police und modern louche to the Party ol Older . Mounted Republican and Municipal Guards e .-coited the carriages when they all set off for the Ildtel de Ville , and on their progress through the Rue du Faubourg Poisoiniieie , along the Boulevards , down the Rue Richelieu , across the Place du Currout-el , nnd no , by the quays , to the Hotel de Ville ; they were salute "! with " Vive le Lord Mairel'' " Vive l'Anglcterre ! " But there wan no noise compared to the progress of a similar party through the streets ot London . In the Hotel de Ville upartments were fitted up for the Lord Muyor and his suite , and his companions found shelter , many at Meuiice ' s and other hotels , and numbers in hospitable quarters .
Saturday was a great day . The Hotel de Vim ' , the theatre of so many important scenes in the history of France , feudal , municipal , and revolutionary , was magnificently lilted up for the banquet of the evening . In the Cour de Louis XIV . a garden was improvised , decked out with trees . Mowers , fountains , and statucK . In the Salon de la Kepublique a pretty little theatre was erected . And after the dinner the grand arrangements were made for converting the grand hall into a concert-room . h
The IJanquetting-hall , the " Sulle des Fetes , w » superbly decorated . Fluted columns run round the wulls , und those wero surmounted by flugs of all * lU ~ tioD * . The hanging * oi ; th » jnwguuftowit window **
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 9, 1851, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09081851/page/4/
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