similar effects. In every other respect the style of the two men was as different as the colour of their hair. While Paganini's manner reflected his passionate Southern nature to such an extent that his hearers felt as under the spell of a demon, Ole Bull transferred his audience to the dreamy moonlit regions of the North. It is this power of conveying a highly poetical charm—a power which is absolutely beyond any mere trickster or ordinary performer that redeems him from the reproach of charlatanism. His rendering of Scandinavian airs never failed to charm and move, and his tours de force, if they raised the smile of the musician, invariably carried away his audience. He appears to have been conscious of his inability to do justice to serious music—at least he never, with the exception of one or two movements of Paganini, played anything but his own compositions. His private rendering of quartets is said to have proved the wisdom of this self-imposed restraint.
He used on his violin an almost flat bridge, an arrangement which enabled him to produce beautiful effects by the playing of chords and passages in four parts, but which had the obvious disadvantages already mentioned. His bow was of unusual length and weight, such as no man of smaller stature and strength could effectively or comfortably wield.
Three only of his numerous compositions appear to have been published: a set of 'Variazioni di bravura,' 'La Preghiera d'una madre,' and a 'Notturno.' The rest consisted of concertos and other solo pieces, of which a 'Polacca guerriera' appears to have been his cheval de bataille. The titles of others, such as 'The Niagara,' 'Solitude of the Prairies,' 'To the memory of Washington,' betray their American origin.
The dates and main facts contained in this article are taken from the biography of Ole Bull by his second wife, Sara C. Bull.'
[ P. D. ]
BUNN, Alfred. Add that the date of his birth was probably April 8, 1796 or 1797. In 1826 he was manager of the Birmingham Theatre, and in 1833 held the same post at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He was declared a bankrupt on Dec. 17, 1840. In later life he became a Roman Catholic, and died of apoplexy at Boulogne, Dec. 20, 1860. (Dict. of Nat. Biog.) Lines 3-4 from end of article, for Long before his career as manager had come to an end read In 1840. [See also Drury Lane.]
BUONONCINI. See vol. i. p. 649, note, and add a reference to Ariosti.
BURANELLO. See Galuppi, vol. i. p. 579.
BURGMÜLLER, Fr. See vol. ii. p. 729a, where the date of his birth should be corrected to 1806. Add a reference to Flotow and Lady Henrietta.
BURNEY, Charles. Line 2 of article, for 7 read 12. Add that [H]e wrote the music for Thomson's 'Alfred,' produced at Drury Lane, March 30, 1745, and that in 1747 he published six sonatas for two violins and bass. Shortly afterwards Fulke Greville paid Arne £200 to cancel his articles, and took Burney to live with him. In 1749 he married Miss Esther Sleep, who died in 1761. Eight years after her death he married Mrs. Stephen Allen of Lynn. In 1759 he wrote an Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, which was performed at Ranelagh Gardens. In 1806 Fox gave him a pension of £300, and in the following year he had a paralytic stroke. His appointment to Chelsea Hospital was given him by Burke in 1783. (Dict. of Nat. Biog.)
The following is a catalogue of the musical extracts in his 'History of Music':—
Vol. 1. contains no musical example of consequence.
vol. ii. | page |
---|---|
Romance on the death of Richard I. from the Provencal | 242 |
Prologue to the Paraphrase of the Epistle for St. Stephen's Day | 252 |
Plain Song for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist | 255 |
Song for New Year's Day | 256 |
Chanson de Roland | 276 |
Two Chansons du Chatelain de Coucy | 283 |
Chansons du Roman d'Alexandre | 290 |
Song of Thibaut of Navarre | 296 |
Chanson 'L'autrier par la matinée | 300 |
Old French song (fragment) 'Faux semblant' | 308 |
Hymn 'Alla Trinita beata' | 328 |
Song on the victory obtained at Agincourt | 384 |
'Sumer is icumen in' | 407 |
Cantilena of Guido | 415 |
Canon in epidiapente by Okenheim | 474 |
La Deploratlon de Jehan Okenheim, par Josquin des Prés | 481 |
Two canons from Josquin's Mlssa sine nomine | 490 |
Trio 'Pleni sunt' from Josquin's Missa 'l'homme armé' | 495 |
Osanna from Josquin's mass 'Faysan regrés' | 499 |
Benedictus from Do | 500 |
'Misericordias,' Motectus | 503 |
'Murae Jovis ter maximi ' (monody on Josquin's death) Benedictus | 513 |
'Anima mea.' Isaac | 521 |
'De testimoniis' Do | 523 |
Benedictus a 3. P. de la Rue | 527 |
Crucifixus a 2. A. Brunnel | 529 |
Kyrie a 4. Anthony Fevin | 531 |
Et vitam. Do. | 532 |
'Quam pulcra es' (Motetti della Corona, lib. lii, no. 12), Mouton | 535 |
'Youre counterfeyting.' Wm. Newark | 541 |
'My woful hart.' Sheryngham | 544 |
'That was my woo.' R. Fayrfax | 546 |
'Alas, it is I.' Edmund Turges | 548 |
'Dum transisset.' Taverner | 557 |
'Qui tollis' from mass 'O Michael.' Taverner | 560 |
Do. from mass 'Albanus.' Fayrfax | 561 |
'Quoniam' from Do | 563 |
'Gloria,' from another mass by Fayrfax | 564 |
'Esurientes.' John Shepherd | 587 |
'Et In terra pax,' from mass 'Euge bone.' Tye | 589 |
'Sabbatum Maria Magdalene.' Robert Johnson | 593 |
Song, 'Enforced by love and feare.' Robert Parsons | 596 |
vol. iii. | |
'Heare the Voyce and Prayer.' Tallys | 27 |
Ps. cxxviii. 'Selig ist der gepreiset.' Luther | 35 |
Easter Hymn 'Jesus Christus unser Heiland' | 36 |
'Ein veste burg' | 37 |
Hymn 'Es woll uns Gott' | 38 |
Ps. c. harmonized by Claude Lejeune | 40 |
'Erhalt uns Herr' | 53 |
Four-part song, 'In deep distresse.' Mundy | 55 |
Anthem, 'Lord, who shall dwell.' Robert White | 67 |
'Salvator Mundi,' from 'Cantiones Sacrae,' Tallys | 77 |
Motet, 'Derelinquit.' Tallys | 87 |
The Carman's Whistle. W. Bird | 89 |
'O Lord my God.' Do | 95 |
'My mind to me a kingdom is.' Do | 97 |
Canzonet. 'Cease mine eyes.' T. Morley | 103 |
Do. 'See, see, mine own sweet jewel.' Do | 103 |
Dr. Bull's difficult passages, from Virginal Book | 115 |
Dr. Bull's Jewel | 117 |
Alman by Robert Jhonson | 118 |
'Fortune,' set by Bird for the Virginal | 118 |
'My flockes feed not.' Weelkes | 125 |
'Thou God of Night.' John Milton (Sir William Lelghton's 'Tears and Lamentations') | 139 |
'An heart that's broken.' Dowland | 139 |
'I shame, I shame.' Do | 140 |
Airs, 'Like Hermit poore' and 'Singe we then.' A. Ferrabosco | 141 |
Canon. 'Veni Creator.' Zarlino | 169 |
'Deposuit' from Magnificat in Second Tone. Palestrina | 170 |
'Sicut erat' from Do. Pietro Pontio | 177 |
Miserere. Animuccia | 184 |