Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 1.djvu/522

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
510
FAUX-BOURDON.
FELIX MERITIS.

riis, and Viadana will be found in Proske's Musica Sacra, tom, iii., Liber Vesperarum.

[ T. H. ]

FAVORITE, LA. Opera in 4 acts; words by Royer and Waëtz, music by Donizetti. Produced at the Académie royale Dec. 2, 1840; in London, as La Favorita, at Her Majesty's, Feb. 16, 47.

FAWCETT, John, born at Bolton-le-moors, Lancashire, in 1789, was originally a shoemaker, but abandoned that calling to follow the profession of music in his native town. He composed three sets of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, published at various periods under the titles of 'The Voice of Harmony,' 'The Harp of Zion,' and 'Miriam's Timbrel,' which are still very popular in Lancashire. In 1840 he edited and arranged the accompaniments to a collection of psalm and hymn tunes and other pieces selected by Joseph Hart, the music publisher, entitled 'Melodia divina.' An oratorio of his composition, called 'Paradise,' was published in 1853. He died at Bolton, Oct. 26, 1867. His third son,

John Fawcett, jun., Mus. Bac., was born about 1824, and when only eleven years old obtained the appointment of organist at St. John's Church, Farnworth. Seven years later he succeeded an elder brother as organist of the parish church, Bolton. In 1845, leaving a sister to discharge his duties at Bolton, he came to London and entered as a pupil at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied under Sterndale Bennett. During his stay in London (about twelve months) he officiated as organist of Curzon Chapel. On Nov. 4, 1852, he was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Music at Oxford, his exercise, a cantata, entitled 'Supplication and Thanksgiving,' performed on the previous day, being highly commended by the Professor of Music, Sir H. R. Bishop. Fawcett died, after a short illness, at his residence in Manchester, July 1, 1857.

FAYOLLE, François Joseph Marie, born in Paris Aug. 15, 1774; after a brilliant career at the Collège de Juilly, entered the corps des ponts et chaussées in 1792, and became 'chef de brigade' of the École polytechnique on its foundation in 1794. Here, under the instruction of Prony, Lagrange, and Monge, he studied the higher mathematics, but without neglecting literature, and with Fontanes' assistance translated a great part of the Æneid. Of his verses the following line has alone survived:—

'Le temps n'épargne pas ce qu'on a fait sans lui.'

Though forgotten as a mathematician and a poet, Fayolle has acquired a solid reputation for his services to musical literature. He studied harmony under Perne, and the violoncello under Barni, but abstained from printing his compositions; and contented himself with publishing 'Les quatre Saisons du Parnasse' (Paris 1805–9), a literary collection in 16 vols. 12mo. for which he wrote many articles on music and musicians. He also furnished the greater part of the biographical notices in the 'Dictionnaire historique des Musiciens,' published under the names of Choron and himself (Paris 1810–11), a work to which Fétis is much indebted. He collected materials for a History of the Violin, of which however only fragments appeared, under the title 'Notices sur Corelli, Tartini, Gaviniés, Pugnani, et Viotti, extraites d'une histoire du violon' (Paris 1810). After the fall of Napoleon, Fayolle came to England, where he taught French, and wrote for the 'Harmonicon.' On the eve of the Revolution of 1830 he returned to Paris, and resumed his old occupation as a musical critic. Among his later works may be mentioned a pamphlet called 'Paganini et Bériot' (Paris 1830), and the articles on musicians in the supplement to Michaud's 'Biographie Universelle.' He died Dec. 2, 1852, at Ste. Perrine, a house of refuge in Paris.

[ G. C. ]

FAYRFAX, Robert, Mus. Doc., of an ancient Yorkshire family, was born in the latter part of the 15th century. He was of Bayford, Hertfordshire, and is supposed to have held the appointment of organist or chanter of St. Alban's Abbey early in the 16th century. It appears from the Privy Purse Expences of Elizabeth of York that on March 28, 1502 (the Princess being then at St. Alban's), Fayrfax was paid 20s. 'for setting an Anthem of oure lady and Saint Elizabeth.' In 1504 he took the degree of Doctor of Music at Cambridge, and in 1511 was admitted to the same degree at Oxford. He was buried in St. Alban's Abbey, under a stone afterwards covered by the mayor's seat. Several of his compositions are extant in MS. in the Music School, Oxford, and the British Museum. In the latter library, Add. MSS. 5465, is a volume of MS. old English songs for 2, 3, and 4 voices by composers of the 15th and 16th centuries formerly belonging to him, and afterwards in the possession of General Fairfax, at whose death it passed into the hands of Ralph Thoresby of Leeds. Four three-part songs by Fayrfax are printed by John Stafford Smith in his Old English Songs, and others by Hawkins and Burney.

FELDLAGER IN SCHLESIEN, EIN, opera in 3 acts, words by Rellstab, music by Meyerbeer; written and composed in memory of Frederick the Great for the opening of the Berlin Opera house—burnt Aug. 18, 1843; re-opened Dec. 7, 44. It was performed with extraordinary applause at Vienna Feb. 17, 47, with Jenny Lind as Vielka; 80 florins were given for places, and Meyerbeer was called on ten times. The Feldlager appears never to have been played either in France or England, but some of the music was afterwards used up in the Etoile du Nord.

[ G. ]

FELIX MERITIS, an institution in Amsterdam that includes with the performance of music the cultivation of letters, art, and science. It occupies a building architecturally important, with a large concert-room, library, and observatory, situated on the Keizersgracht, one of the larger canals. Orchestral concerts take place in the winter, similar to those of the London Philharmonic and the Crystal Palace: they are