bove all of
them, was indeed the high-priest of the art, the grand-master of the
craft. Although the Nestor of composers, none equalled him in manly
vigour and perennial youth. When seventy-six years of age (in 1836) he
composed his fine Requiem in D minor for three-part male chorus, and
in the following year a string quartet and quintet. Of his younger
colleagues so favourable an account cannot be given. The youngest of
them, Batton, a grand prix, who wrote unsuccessful operas, then took to
the manufacturing of artificial flowers, and died as inspector at
the Conservatoire, need not detain us. Berton, Paer, Blangini, Carafa
(respectively born in 1767, 1771, 1781, and 1785), once composers who
enjoyed the public's favour, had lost or were losing their popularity at
the time we are speaking of; Rossini, Auber, and others having now
come into fashion. They present a saddening spectacle, these faded
reputations, these dethroned monarchs! What do we know of Blangini,
the "Musical Anacreon," and his twenty operas, one hundred and seventy
two-part "Notturni," thirty-four "Romances," &c.? Where are Paer's
oratorios, operas, and cantatas performed now? Attempts were made in
later years to revive some of Carafa's earlier works, but the result
was on each occasion a failure. And poor Berton? He could not bear the
public's neglect patiently, and vented his rage in two pamphlets, one of
them entitled "De la musique mecanique et de la musique philosophique,"
which neither converted nor harmed anyone. Boieldieu, too, had to
deplore the failure of his last opera, "Les deux nuits" (1829), but then
his "La Dame blanche," which had appeared in 1825, and his earlier "Jean
de Paris" were still as fresh as ever. Herold had only in this year
(1831) scored his greatest success with "Zampa." As to Auber, he was at
the zenith of his fame. Among the many operas he had already composed,
there were three of his best--"Le Macon," "La Muette," and "Fra
Diavolo"--and this inimitable master of the genre sautillant had still a
long series of charming works in petto. To exhaust the list of prominent
men in the dramatic department we have to add only a few names. Of the
younger masters I shall mention Halevy, whose most successful work,
"La Juive," did not come out till 1835, and Adam, whose best opera,
"Le postilion de Longjumeau," saw the foot-lights in 1836. Of the older
masters we must not overlook Lesueur, the composer of "Les Bardes,"
an opera which