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 25 Initialize loop counter

add $a2, $a2, $t7 # $a2 = $a2 + $t7

addi $t7, $t7, -1 # Decrement loop counter
bgtz $t7, loop # If ($t7 > 0) Branch to

Program Counter (PC)

Memory
Out
Instruction Register

Control
Address
Logic

Rt

Data In

Register File
MIPS Assembly Language
Programming
MIPS Assembly Language
Programming

Robert Britton

Computer Science Department

California State University, Chico
Chico, California

PEARSON
--­
Prentice
Hall

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Britton, Robert (Robert L.)

MIPS assembly language programming/Robert Britton.
p. cm.
ISBN 0- 1 3- 1 42044-5
1. MIPS (Computer architecture) I. Title.

QA76.9.A73B79 2004
005.265-dc2 1
2003048273

Vice President and Editorial Director, ECS: Marcia Horton

Executive Editor: Petra Recter
Vice President and Director of Production and Manufacturing, ESM: David W Riccardi
Executive Managing Editor: Vince O'Brien
Managing Editor: Camille Trentacoste
Production Editor: John Keegan
Manufacturing Manager: Trudy Pisciotti
Manufacturing B uyer: Lisa McDowell
Director of Creative Services: Paul Belfanti
Creative Director: Carole Anson
Art Editor: Jayne Conte
Cover Designer: Bruce Kenselaar
Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela Shaffer
Marketing Assistant: Barrie Reinhold

© 2004 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper S addle River, New Jersey 07458

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any format or by any means, without permission in
writing from the publisher

The author and publisher of this book have used their best efforts in preparing this book. These efforts include the devel­
opment, research, and testing of the theories and programs to determine their effectiveness. The author and publisher
make no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, with regard to these programs or the documentation containe d in
this book. The author and publisher shall not be liable in any event for incidental or consequential damages in connec­
tion with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance, or use of these programs.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 0-13-142044-5

Pearson Education Ltd., London

Pearson Education Australia Pty. Limited, Sydney
Pearson Education Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education North Asia Ltd. Hong Kong
Pearson Education Canada Inc., Toronto
Pearson Educaci6n de Mexico, S.A. de C.Y.
Pearson Education-Japan, Inc., Tokyo
Pearson Education-Malaysia Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
To my daughters, Susan, Nancy, Ann, and Becky;
and to my wife, Jan.
 Contents

CHAPTER 1 The MIPS Architecture 1

1 . 1 Introduction 1
1 .2 The Datapath Diagram 2
1 . 3 Basic Functional Components 2
1 .4 The Control Unit 3
1 .5 The MIPS Register File 3
1 .6 The Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) 5
1 .7 The Program Counter (PC) 5
1 . 8 Memory 5
1 . 9 The Instruction Register (IR) 6
1 . 10 Instruction Set 7
1 . 1 1 Addressing Modes 8
1 . 12 The Fetch Execute Cycle 9
Exercises 10

CHAPTER 2 Algorithm Development in Pseudocode 11

2.1 Introduction 11
2.2 D evelop the Algorithm in Pseudocode 11
2.3 Register Usage Convention 12
2.4 Translation of Arithmetic Expressions 13
2.5 Translation of an if . . . then . . . else . . .
Control Structure 14
2.6 Translation of a while Control Structure 15
2.7 Translation of a for Loop Control Structure 15
2.8 Translation of a switch Control Structure 16
2.9 Encoding The MIPS Instruction Set 17
2.10 Assembler Directives 18
2 . 1 1 Input and Output 19
Exercises 22

vii
viii Contents

CHAPTER 3 Number Systems 24

3 . 1 Introduction 24
3.2 Positional Notation 24
3.3 Converting Binary Numbers to Decimal Numbers 25
3 .4 Detecting whether a Binary Number Is Odd or Even 25
3.5 Multiplication by Constants That Are a Power of Two 26
3.6 The Double-and-Add Method 26
3 .7 Converting Decimal Numbers to Binary Numbers 27
3.8 The Two's Complement Number System 27
3.9 The Two's Complement Operation 28
3.10 A Shortcut for Finding the Two's Complement of Any Number 28
3 . 1 1 Sign Extension 28
3.12 Binary Addition 29
3.13 Binary Subtraction 29
3 . 14 Overflow Detection 29
3.15 Hexadecimal Numbers 31
Exercises 32

CHAPTER 4 PCSpim, The MIPS Simulator 35

4.1 Introduction 35
4.2 Advantages of a Simulator 35
4.3 Using PCSpim 36
4.4 Analyzing the Text Segment 38
4.5 Analyzing the Data Segment 39
4.6 System I/O (Input/Output) 40
4.7 Deficiencies of the System I/O Services 41
Exercises 42

CHAPTER 5 Efficient Algorithm Development 44

5 . 1 Introduction 44
5.2 Instructions That Perform Logical Operations 44
5.3 Instructions That Perform Shift Operations 46
5.4 Modular Program Design and Documentation 47
5.5 A Function to Print Values in Hexadecimal Representation 52
5. 6 A Function to Read Values in Hexadecimal Representation 53
5.7 A Function to Print Decimal Values Right Justified 54
5.8 A Function to Read Decimal Values and Detect Errors 54
Exercises 55

CHAPTER 6 Function Calls Using the Stack 57

6. 1 Introduction 57
6.2 Three Different Memory Segments 57
6.3 Argument-Passing Convention 58
6.4 Nested Function Calls and Leaf Functions 58
6.5 Allocating Space on the Stack for Local Variables 60
 Conte nts ix

6.6 Frame Pointer 60

6.7 Dynamic Memory Allocation 61
6.8 An Example Dynamic String Allocation Program 62
Exercises 64

CHAPTER 7 Reentrant Functions 67

7 . 1 Introduction 67
7.2 Rules for Writing Reentrant Code 68
7.3 Reentrant I/O Functions 68
7.4 Personal Computers 68
7.5 Recursive Functions 69
7.6 An Example Recursive Function Call 69
7.7 MIPS Memory Segments 71
Exercises 71

CHAPTER 8 Memory-Mapped 110 73

8 . 1 Introduction 73
8.2 Memory-Mapped I/O with PCSpim 74
8.3 Communicating With a Keyboard Controller 75
8.4 Communicating With the Display Controller 76
8.5 A Real-Time Clock 76
Exercises 77

CHAPTER 9 Exceptions and Interrupts 79

9.1 Introduction 79
9.2 Exception Capabilities of PCSpim 80
9.3 CPU Exception Response 80
9.4 The Trap Handler 81
9.5 Enabling I/O Interrupts 82
9.6 Example Code to Enable Interrupts 82
9.7 A Random-Number Generator 84
9.8 Embedded Systems References 85
9.9 A Programmable Timer 86
Exercises 86

CHAPTER 10 A Pipelined Implementation 89

10.1 Introduction 89
10.2 A Pipelined Datapath 90
10.3 Data Hazard 90
1 0.4 Control Hazard 92
1 0.5 PCSpim Option to Simulate a Pipelined Implementation 92
10.6 Sum of Integers Running in Pipelined Mode 92
10.7 A Function Call in Pipelined Mode 93
10.8 An Example Where nops Cannot be Avoided 94
Exercises 96
x Conte nts

CHAPTER 11 Floating-Point Instructions 98

1 1 . 1 Introduction 98
1 1 .2 The Floating-Point Register File 99
1 1 .3 Examples 99
1 1 .4 Binary Floating-Point to Decimal Floating-Point Conversion 101
1 1 .5 Decimal Floating-Point to Binary Floating-Point Conversion 102
1 1 . 6 Th e IEEE 754 Floating-Point Standard 103
1 1 .7 Decoding Numbers: The IEEE 754 Floating-Point Standard 104
1 1 .8 A Small 8-Bit Floating-Point Format 105
1 1 .9 Decoding the Denormalized Representation 107
1 1 .10 Underflow and Overflow 108
Exercises 109

Appendix A Quick Reference 110

Appendix B ASCII Codes 114

Appendix C Integer Instruction Set 115

Appendix D Macro Instructions 130

Appendix E A Modified Trap Handler 135

Appendix F Floating-Point Instruction Set 138

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xi
Preface

This text is targeted for use in an introductory lower-division assembly language pro­
gramming or computer organization course. After students are introduced to the MIPS
architecture using this textbook, they will be well prepared to go on to more advanced
courses in computer organization where any modern reduced instruction set computer
(RISC) is analyzed. This text provides a technique that will make MIPS assembly lan­
guage programming a relatively easy task as compared to writing complex Intel™ x86
assembly language code. The skills learned, as a MIPS assembly language programmer,
will facilitate learning other more complex assembly languages if the need ever arises.
Students using this text will acquire an understanding of how the functional compo­
nents of modern computers are put together, and how a computer works at the ma­
chine language level. It is assumed that students using this text already have some
experience in developing algorithms, and running programs in a high-level language.
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the basic MIPS architecture, which is a
modern RISe. Chapter 2 shows how to develop code targeted to run on a MIPS
processor using an intermediate pseudocode notation similar to the high-level lan­
guage e. Once an algorithm is specified in this pseudocode notation it is a relatively
simple task to translate it to MIPS assembly language. Chapter 3 is an introduction to
the binary number system. This chapter provides simple procedures for converting val­
ues from one number system to another. The rules for performing binary arithmetic
are explained. Students will learn how to detect when overflow occurs. Chapter 4 ex­
plains the features of the PCSpim simulator for the MIPS architecture, which is avail­
able for free.
Within the remaining chapters, a wealth of programming exercises are provided
that every student needs to become an accomplished assembly language programmer.
Instructors are provided with a set of PowerPoint slides. After students have had an op­
portunity to develop their pseudocode and the corresponding MIPS assembly lan­
guage code, they can be shown example solutions to each of the exercises via the
PowerPoint slides. In Chapter 5, students are presented with the classical input/output
(110) algorithms that involve converting numbers between their integer binary repre­
sentation and their ASCII decimal and hexadecimal representation. The utility of logi­
cal operators and shift operators are stressed.
In Chapter 6, a specific argument-passing protocol is defined. Most significant pro­
gramming projects are a teamwork effort. Emphasis is placed on the important fact that
everyone involved in a teamwork project must adopt the same convention for parameter
xiii
xiv Preface

passing when calling functions. In the case of nested function calls, a specific conven­
tion is defined for saving and restoring values in the temporary registers.
In Chapter 7, the necessity for reentrant code is explained, as well as the rules one
must follow to write such functions. In Chapter 8, students are introduced to memory­
mapped I/O. The MIPS simulator provides a memory-mapped I/O feature so that stu­
dents can gain experience in writing drivers that interface with physical devices. With
this PCSpim feature, students can gain experience in writing code to communicate char­
acter by character with physical I/O devices. The code that communicates with a physi­
cal device at this level is often referred to as a driver. This is a significant advantage of
using a simulator to learn assembly language programming. Students learning to write
native assembly language typically never have an opportunity to write code that inter­
faces directly with the I/O devices. These students have to be satisfied with making calls
to Basic Input Output System (BIOS) procedures that handle the details of communi­
cating with the I/O devices. Typically these students never experience the real-world
challenges that arise as a result of the communication and device time delays.
Chapter 9 introduces exceptions and exception processing. PCSpim responds to
interrupts generated by the memory-mapped keyboard and display terminal. Given
this feature, students have an opportunity to experience writing code to respond to in­
terrupts. Once again this points out the advantage of using a simulator when learning
to write assembly language code. Students learning to write assembly language code
for their desktop computer typically never have an opportunity to write and run inter­
rupt handlers that enable and disable the interrupt system. Typically these students
never experience the real-world challenges that arise in writing the code that resides at
the very heart of the operating system.
In Chapter 10 a pipelined implementation of the MIPS architecture is presented,
and the special programming considerations dealing with delayed loads and delayed
branches are discussed. PCSpim provides an option to run the simulator as if the code
were executing on a pipelined implementation of the MIPS architecture. Using this op­
tion, students gain experience in writing assembly language code that will run on a
pipelined implementation. Chapter 1 1 provides a description of the floating-point fea­
tures of the MIPS architecture, as well an introduction to the IEEE 754 floating-point
standard.
I would like to acknowledge Bary Pollack, James Gips, Doug Milhous, and Dwite
Brown who adopted the earlier draft versions of this textbook. I wish to express my
special appreciation to Bary Pollack and Tom Fountain for their thorough review of my
initial submission to Prentice Hall, and their many constructive recommendations for
improvements. The feedback from Seyed H. Hosseini, and Wagdy H. Mahmoud was
also quite helpful. I also wish to thank Petra Recter, senior computer science editor,
and John Keegan, production editor, both at Prentice Hall, who so effectively managed
this project. I am especially grateful to my wife, Jan, for her support and encourage­
ment. She is my true helpmate and soul mate.
Robert Britton
April 2003
MIPS Assembly Language
Programming
 CH APTER 1

The MIPS Architecture

I f a t first you don't succeed,

Skydiving is definitely not for you.

1.1 I NTRO D U CTION

This textbook provides a technique that will make MIPS (microprocessor without in­
terlocking pipeline stages) assembly language programming a relatively easy task as
compared to writing Intel™ x86 assembly language code. We assume that you have ex­
perience in developing algorithms, and running programs in some high-level language
such as C, C++, or Java.
One of the benefits of understanding and writing assembly language code is that
you will have new insights into how to write more efficient, high-level language code,
even if you never write another line of assembly language code again after this course.
In learning assembly language, you will become familiar with the task that compilers
perform. You will also learn how computers are organized down to the basic function­
al component level. You may even open new opportunities for yourself in the explod­
ing field of embedded processors.
Going to the web site www.mips.com/. you will find that the MIPS processor is
used in these systems: Sony PlayStation, Cisco Routers, Laser Printers built by HP and
Fuji, PDA's, Set-Top Boxes, Sony AlBa ™ Entertainment Robot, and the Minolta Dig­
ital Camera.
The first thing everyone must do before they begin to write MIPS assembly lan­
guage code is to become familiar with the MIPS architecture. The architecture of any
computer is defined by the registers that are available (visible) to the assembly lan­
guage programmer, the instruction set, the memory-addressing modes, and the data
types.

1
2 C h a pt e r 1 T h e MIPS Arch itect u re

1.2 THE DATAPATH D IAGRAM

It is very useful to have a picture of a datapath diagram that depicts the essential com­
ponents and features of the MIPS architecture. Please note that there are many differ­
ent ways that any computer architecture can be implemented in hardware. An initial
picture of a MIPS datapath diagram will be the straightforward, simple diagram shown
in Figure 1 . 1 . This is not a completely accurate diagram for the MIPS architecture; it is
just a useful starting point.
Computers work by fetching machine language instructions from memory, and
executing the instructions. In the case of the MIPS architecture all instructions are
32 bits in length. The acronym "bit" is an abbreviation of "binary digit." The instruc­
tions are stored in memory locations sequentially one after another. The machine
language instructions and the values that are operated upon (operands) are encod­
ed in binary. Chapter 3 introduces the binary number system. As we progress
through the first two chapters of this textbook, we will be expressing values as deci­
mal values, but keep in mind that in an actual MIPS processor these values are en­
coded in binary.

1.3 BAS I C F U N CTIONAL COM PONENTS

The basic functional components of the MIPS architecture shown in Figure 1 . 1 are as
follows:
• control unit
• register file

Program Counter (PC)

Memory
Out
Instruction Register

FIGURE 1.1

Mips simplified data path diagram.

 1 .5 The MIPS Register File 3

• arithmetic and logic unit (ALU)

• program counter (PC)
• memory
• instruction register (IR)

Interconnecting all of these functional components, except the control unit, are buses.
A bus is nothing more than a set of electrical conducting paths over which different sets
of binary values are transmitted. Most of the buses in the MIPS architecture are 32 bits
wide-in other words, 32 separate, tiny wires running from a source to a destination. In
this datapath diagram, we have the situation where we need to route information from
more than one source to a destination, such as the ALU. One way to accomplish this at
the hardware level is to use a multiplexer. Multiplexers are sometimes called data se­
lectors. In Figure 1 . 1 , data selectors are represented by the triangle-shaped symbols.
Every data selector with two input buses must have a single control wire connected to
it. The control unit sends a control signal of zero or one to select which input bus should
be routed to the output. In Figure 1 . 1 , control signal wires are not shown, because it
would make the diagram overly complex. When the control signal to a data selector is
zero, the 32-bit value connected to input port zero will appear on the output of the data
selector. When the control signal is one, the 32-bit value connected to input port one
will appear on the output of the data selector. You will notice in Figure 1 . 1 that there
are two data selectors with three buses connected to their inputs. These data selectors
will have two input control wires. With a 2-bit control signal, it is possible to select be­
tween four different input ports.

1.4 THE CONTROL U N IT

To fetch and execute instructions, control signals must be generated in a specific se­
quence to accomplish the task. As you have already learned, data selectors must have
control signals as inputs. Each register has an input control line, which when activated
will cause a new value to be loaded into the register. The ALU needs control signals to
specify what operation it should perform-for example, add or subtract. The memory
needs control signals to specify when a read or write operation is to be performed. The
register file needs a control signal to specify when a value should be written into the
register file. All of these control signals come from the control unit. When you take a
course in digital-logic design you will learn how to design such a control unit. Suffice it
to say that such a control unit can be implemented in hardware to produce a sequence
of signals to control the fetching of instructions from memory, and the execution of
these instructions.

1.5 THE M I PS REG I STER FILE

Anyone who has ever used an electronic handheld calculator has experienced the fact
that there is some electronic component inside the calculator that holds the result of
the latest computation. This electronic storage component is called a register. Most of
the registers in the MIPS architecture have a capacity to hold a 32-bit binary number.
4 C h a pter 1 T h e MIPS Arch itect u re

TABLE 1.1 The Register File

Register Number Usage

zero 0 Constant 0
at 1 Reserved for the assembler
vO 2 Used for return values from function calls
vI 3
aO 4 Used to pass arguments to functions
al 5
a2 6
a3 7
to 8 Temporary (Caller-saved, need not be saved by called functions)
t1 9
t2 10
t3 11
t4 12
t5 13
t6 14
t7 15
sO 16 Saved temporary (Callee-saved, called function must save and restore)
sl 17
s2 18
s3 19
s4 20
s5 21
s6 22
s7 23
t8 24 Temporary (Caller-saved, need not be saved by called function)
t9 25
kO 26 Reserved for OS kernel
kl 27
gp 28 Pointer to global area
sp 29 Stack pointer
fp 30 Frame pointer
ra 31 Return address for function calls

The MIPS architecture has a register file containing 32 registers. (See Table 1 . 1 . )
Each register has a capacity t o hold a 32-bit value. Th e range o f signed decimal values that
can be represented with 32 bits is -2,147,483,648 ( _2 31 ) to +2,147,483, 647 ( 2 3 1 - 1 ) .
The process of converting numbers between binary and decimal representation is ex­
plained in Chapter 3. When writing at the assembly language level almost every instruc­
tion requires that the programmer specify which register file locations will be accessed to
obtain operands, and the location in the register file where the result will be stored. A
convention has been adopted that specifies which registers are appropriate to use in spe­
cific circumstances. The registers have been given names that help remind us about this
convention. All register names begin with the dollar-sign symbol in MIPS assembly lan­
guage code. It is recommended that every time you see the dollar-sign symbol you say
"register." Register 0 is special; it is the source of the constant value zero. Nothing can be
stored in Register O. Register number 1 has the name Sat, which stands for assembler tem­
porary. This register is used by the assembler to implement macro instructions and should
 1 .8 Me m o ry 5

not be used by the assembly language programmer. The macro instructions are listed in
Appendix D. Registers $kO and $kl are used by the kernel of the operating system and
should not be used in a user program.
According to the convention, registers 2 and 3 (with the names $vO and $vl) are
used to return values from functions. Registers 4, 5, 6, and 7 with the names SaO, Sal,
$a2 and $a3 are used to pass arguments to functions. The 1 0 registers named $tO
through $t9 are used to hold temporary values. Programmers writing functions typi­
cally use these registers. The 8 registers with names $sO through $s7 are used by pro­
grammers when writing a main program to hold values that need to be saved (not
modified) while functions are being called. The stack pointer register, Ssp, is initialized
by the operating system to point to a segment of memory called the stack. The return­
address register, $ra, is loaded with a return address every time the machine executes
an instruction to call a function. The register named $fp is the frame pointer. Program­
mers writing functions use this register to establish a constant reference offset to local
variables and function parameters.

1.6 THE ARITH M ETIC A N D LOG IC U N IT (ALU)

The arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), as its name implies, is a digital logic circuit de­
signed to perform binary integer arithmetic operations, as well as binary logical opera­
tions such as "AND", "OR" , "NOR", and "Exclusive OR" . Which operation the ALU
performs depends upon the operation code in the instruction that has been fetched
from memory.

1.7 THE PROGRA M COU NTER (PC)

The program counter (PC) is a register that is initialized by the operating system to the
address of the first instruction of the program in memory. Notice in Figure 1 . 1 that the
address in the program counter is routed to the address input of the memory via a bus.
After an instruction has been fetched from memory and loaded into the IR, the PC is
incremented so that the CPU will have the address of the next sequential instruction
for the next instruction fetch. The name program counter is misleading. A better name
would be program pointer, but unfortunately the name has caught on, and there is no
way to change this tradition.

1.8 MEM O RY
Memory can be thought of as a large array of locations where binary information is
stored and from which binary information can be fetched, one "word" at a time. In the
case of the MIPS architecture, the term word refers to a 32-bit quantity. Each location
in memory has a 32-bit address. In the MIPS architecture, memory addresses range
from 0 to 4,294,967,295 ( 2 32 - 1) . The MIPS architecture uses the term half-word to
refer to a 16-bit value, and the term byte to refer to an 8-bit value. The MIPS architec­
ture specifies that a word contains 4 bytes, and that the smallest addressable unit of in­
formation that can be referenced in memory is a byte. The address of the first byte in a
word is also the address of the 32-bit word. All instrnctions in the MIPS architecture
are 32 bits in length. Therefore, the program counter is incremented by four after each
6 C h a pt e r 1 T h e MIPS Arch itect u re

instruction is fetched, so that the program counter will be pointing to the next instruc­
tion in sequence.

1.9 THE I N STRUCTIO N REGISTER (lR)

The instruction register (IR) is a 32-bit register that holds a copy of the most recently
fetched instruction. In the MIPS architecture, three different instruction formats are
defined: register format, immediate format, and jump format. The following descrip­
tions apply for the majority of the MIPS instructions. The specific details for each in­
struction are presented in Appendix C.
Register format instructions have a 6-bit op-code field filled with zeros. In these
instructions, the last 6 bits of the word contain a code to specify what instruction should
be executed by the computer. Register format instructions contain three 5-bit fields
that specify the register file locations (Rs and Rt) from which the source operand val­
ues are fetched and the register file location (Rd) where the result of the instruction
operation is stored (destination) :

Op-Code R8 Rt Rd Function Code

l I
ooooOO sssss ttttt ddddd OOOOO l l Iffffff

The immediate format instructions have a 6-bit op-code field where the opera­
tion code is stored to specify what operation should be performed by the MIPS
processor. The last 16 bits of the instruction word contains a binary value (a con­
stant) that is used as one of the source operands. These instructions contain a 5-bit
field that specifies a register file location (Rs) from which a source operand value is
fetched and the register file location (Rt) where the result of the instruction opera­
tion will be stored. Instructions of this format perform arithmetic or logical opera­
tions between a variable in the register file and a constant value stored within the
instruction. Branch instructions, as well as load and store instructions, are encoded in
this format:

Op-Code R8 Rt Immediate

I ffffff I I
sssss ttttt l iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I

The MIPS architecture defines two jump instructions that are encoded as follows:

Op-Code Target

I 00001f I tttttttttttttttttttttttttt l

When these instructions are executed, they perform the equivalent of a high-level lan­
guage "go to" instruction. The lower 26 bits of the instruction are used to specify a lo­
cation in memory to jump to where the next instruction will be found to execute.
 1.10 Instruct i o n Set 7

1.10 INSTRUCTION SET

Refer to Appendix A for a quick reference to the MIPS instruction set and other use­
ful information. Appendix C provides a more detailed description of each of the inte­
ger instructions for the MIPS architecture. Note that unique binary codes are assigned
to each instruction. In reviewing the list of instructions in Appendix A, you will find
that the machine has instructions to add and subtract. The operands (source values) for
these operations come from the register file and the results go back to the register file.
When programming in assembly language we use a mnemonic to specify which opera­
tion we want the computer to perform, and we specify the register file locations using
the names of the register file locations.
Let us suppose that an assembly language programmer wants to add the contents
of register $a1 to the contents of register $51, and to place the result in register $v1. The
assembly language instruction to accomplish this is

add $v1, $a1, $sl

The equivalent pseudocode statement is

$v1 = $a1 + $sl

Let us suppose that an assembly language programmer wants to subtract the con­
tents of register $sl from the contents of register $50 and place the results in register
$57. The assembly language instruction to accomplish this is

sub $57, $sO, $sl

The equivalent pseudocode statement is

$s7 = $sO - $sl

The MIPS architecture includes logical bitwise instructions "AND", "OR" ,

"NOR", and "Exclusive-OR". The following "immediate format" instruction will ex­
tract a copy of the least significant bit in register $a3 and place the result in register $50
(notice that the value 1 is in the immediate field) :

andi $sO, $a3, 1

There are instructions to implement control structures, such as

" if • • • then • • • else • • • "

Let us suppose that if the contents of register $56 is less than zero, in other words, neg­
ative, we want to branch to a location in the program labeled "Quit." Otherwise (else)
we want to decrement the contents of register $s6. The assembly language instructions
to accomplish this are as follows:

bltz $56, Quit

addi $s6, $s6, -1
 Another Random Document on
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course of a tour in Holland, which he made in 1836;—he then went
again to Vienna, and published his first works.
In 1838, Vieuxtemps played with success at the theatre at Brussels,
and also in a concert given in the Church of the Augustins by the
Philanthropic Society. His performances were “fantaisies” and
fragments of Concertos, in which some happy ideas were noticeable,
but mixed with incoherences. Immediately after this, he set out for
Russia, giving concerts, by the way, at Prague Leipsig, Dresden, and
Berlin. On quitting this last city for Petersburgh, he was seized with a
serious illness, in a little Russian village, and was detained there
more than two months. On his arrival at Petersburgh, he met with
splendid success, as he did also at Moscow. It was in Russia that he
wrote a new Violin Concerto, and a Grand “Fantaisie” (orchestral),
the superiority of which, when compared with his foregoing
productions, is so marked, that his detractors, both at Paris and
Brussels, availed themselves of this fact to dispute the authorship. It
is no unreasonable supposition, that his future works will give an
emphatic denial to these jealous insinuations. After a stay of more
than a year in Russia, Vieuxtemps returned to Brussels in 1840, and,
the 7th of July following, he played his new Concerto and his
“Fantaisie” in a grand concert given for the benefit of the musicians
of the orchestra at the theatre. These pieces, in the execution of
which the artist displayed the finest talent, excited transports of
enthusiasm. Vieuxtemps played them again, with similar result, at
the concerts given at Antwerp, on the inauguration of the statue of
Rubens.
A Parisian success formed now the object of Vieuxtemps’ advancing
ambition. This he obtained in the winter following, exciting no less
interest by the merit of his later productions, than by his skill upon
his instrument. He afterwards made a second tour in Holland, and
then revisited Germany, and appeared, for the third time, at Vienna.
Having travelled through Poland, he returned to Brussels in June
1843, and, in the fall of that year, was heard in America. His
subsequent career has confirmed all the anticipations formed by the
judicious as to the distinction he would attain.
Joseph Artot, born at Brussels in 1815, had for his first music-master
his father, a player of the first horn at the theatre of that city. At the
age of five, he solfa-ed with facility; and, with less than eighteen-
months’ study on the violin, he was able to play at the theatre, in a
Concerto of Viotti’s. Charmed with the felicitous aptitude of the child,
M. Snel, at that time first violin-solo, undertook the task of
developing it by his instructions, and not long afterwards sent him to
Paris. There, Artot was admitted as a page at the Chapel-Royal; and
when he had attained his ninth year, he passed under the direction
of the elder Kreutzer, for the study of the violin. This distinguished
artist conceived a regard for him, and often gave him lessons, out of
class, at the Conservatory. On the retirement of Kreutzer, in 1826,
his brother Augustus Kreutzer, who replaced him, evinced for Artot
no less kindness than his predecessor. Artot had just completed his
twelfth year, when the second violin-prize was awarded him, in the
competition at the Conservatory. In the year following, he obtained
the first prize. He then quitted Paris, to visit his own country—
playing with success at Brussels, and making, some months after, a
journey to London, where he was not less fortunate. Returning
subsequently to Paris, Artot became attached to the orchestras of
various theatres; but the desire of making himself known caused him
to renounce these appoint ments, and travel in the south of France.
The result was successful everywhere. He has written quatuors for
the violin, and a quintett for piano, two violins, alto and bass, two
airs with variations for the violin,—and other works.
Shifting the ground, and giving a fresh stir to our attention, let us
now pass “from gay to grave, from lively to severe”—or, in other
words, from France to Germany; in which latter country, will be
found ample matter for observation and comment, as relates to the
theme we are pursuing.
 CHAPTER V.

THE GERMAN SCHOOL.

“Plain, without pomp—and rich, without a show.”—Dryden.

Germany and Italy may each be regarded as an abiding realm of

sweet sounds, a special nursery and home of music. They are the
two countries from which, since the days of modern civilization, the
great supplies of musical thought and feeling have been diffused
abroad, for the delight of nations;—the feeling, for the most part,
proceeding from Italy, and the thought from Germany, comformably
to the characteristics of the two people respectively. Impulse and
passion predominate on the Italian side—intellect and fancy on the
German, and the division into two great schools, or systems, marked
severally by these opposite qualities, takes its date from about the
commencement of the 18th century. The two musical natures, thus
distinguished from each other, have found each a different channel
for its expression—that of Italy becoming essentially vocal, that of
Germany, instrumental. Italian music is fresh from the heart,
spontaneous, and glowing with melody: German music, true to the
spirit of its birth-place, is either grave and solid, or wild and
fantastic. Less simple than the Italian in its elements, the German
musical genius has sought its chief glory amid the intricate
combinations of orchestral science, where its laborious and
meditative turn can have fullest exposition.
Passing from these general remarks to a consideration of the
German School of the Violin, in particular, we may observe, that,
although derived originally, like all the others, from that of Italy, and
contracting no inconsiderable obligations to it in its progress, it has
been, on the whole, much less indebted to the Italians for resources
and support, than the School either of France or England. The cause
of this arises out of the admitted fact, that the Germans are
essentially a more musical people50—are more deeply imbued with a
musical character of their own—than the natives of the two latter
countries. They have been less willing, as well as less needing, than
these, to incur the debt to Italy—and certainly less willing to add to
its amount. The love of the instrument diffused itself very speedily
among them (the Germans), and their own powerful musical
organization enabled them not only to modify more promptly, after
their own character, the hints which they received from its original
Italian cultivators, but to be satisfied with a smaller quantity of
confirmation from the same source. Their comparative
independence, however, or disinclination to borrow, has been
somewhat unfavourable to the completeness of their success as
performers on the violin. They have, as it were, impressed their own
stamp and character upon it —that is to say, they have attained an
honest solidity of execution, of high value in orchestral playing; but,
with a few prominent exceptions, such as Kiesewetter and Mayseder,
they seem to have neglected, as uncongenial to them, the lighter
graces and refinements which have been so readily caught up by the
more imitative Frenchman. As violinists of display, therefore, they
must be content to rank below the French. They are below them in
that which their dignity has not thought proper to make the subject
of competition—the “manual exercise” of the instrument. They are
inferior in execution, and therefore less effective as solo-players; for
though the German violinists have, in recent times, enjoyed some
repute for their skill in fingering difficult passages with the left hand,
they have frequently been deficient with the right; that is to say,
indifferently versed in the dexterities of the bow.
The ingenious author of “A Ramble among the Musicians of
Germany” has considered the Violin School of that country, at
present, to be inferior, not only to the French—which there is no
contesting—but also to that of England. In this latter notion I cannot
help thinking him mistaken—and I would appeal to his own
declaration, that although in Germany “one may find no band equal
to that of the Philharmonic Society, fifty may be found, only inferior
to it.” This fact supposes of necessity a very large body of good
sound violin-players, whose united merits render it scarcely possible
to regard the state of the art in their country as inferior to what it is
in ours.
The Germans have, after all admitted drawbacks, a high renown in
connection with that leading instrument which it is the business of
these pages to celebrate. They have the renown that justly attaches
to the production of the greatest writers of all for the Violin Family.
Their compositions for the instrument, in its single state, are perhaps
over-laboured, over-full of chromatic passages, and wanting in the
broad, simple, vocal character of the Italian music of the same class;
—they have been content, individually, to talk with the violin, whilst
the Italians have sung with it;—but—they have tasked their own
genius to find scope for its powers in the aggregate—to develop its
resources in combination with those instruments that are its
immediate relatives; and, in this collective character, they have given
new triumphs to it. The names of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, at
once suggest themselves, and assert for their country, under this
view, a superiority which the world does not seek to dispute. In the
quartetts, and other instrumental pieces, up to symphonies inclusive,
which have been produced by these great men, all the higher
capabilities of bowed instruments are consulted and brought
forward, with a nicety of discernment, and a richness, variety, and
grandeur of effect, which excite equally our surprise and
gratification.—Let us now consider, in their order, the principal
German masters whose eminence relates particularly to the violin.
It is hardly necessary to enumerate all the early performers
mentioned with commendation by Walther in his Dictionary, since
their fame and influence do not appear to have travelled beyond
their own country. We will therefore commence with David Funk,
originally a singer at Reichenbach, where he was born in the early
part of the seventeenth century. He was an excellent musician, and
a capital performer on the violin and the viol-da-gamba, besides
displaying talent on the harpsichord and the guitar. He was,
moreover, a general scholar, and one of the most elegant versifiers in
Germany. Independently of his excellence as a practical musician, he
obtained credit as a composer, in a variety of styles; and his
compositions for the church and the chamber were much admired.
His talents, brilliant and diversified as they were, suffered some
tarnish from his immoral conduct. It was in 1670 that he began to
shine as a composer, by the publication of a collection of pieces for
the viol-da-gamba. He was under the patronage of the Princess of
Ostfrise, during seven years. That Princess, however, dying in 1689,
Funk, then more than sixty years old, returning to the place of his
nativity, succeeded in obtaining several appointments; but these he
had scarcely retained for a year, when the extreme irregularity of his
life deprived him of them, and reduced him to the necessity of
quitting the town as hastily as possible. It was in the depth of
winter; and in his flight, through frost and snow, he arrived at the
gate of the castle of Schleitz. The sordid state of his habiliments
made so repulsive an impression on the porter, that he refused him
admittance; but his good fortune, prevailing, brought to the spot the
chapel-master, Liebich, who, acquainted with his merit, though
previously a stranger to his person, expressed his desire for the
honor of his friendship, and, in the name of the lord of the castle,
whose favour and protection he himself enjoyed, invited the fugitive
to his patron’s table. The Count was so delighted with his musical
talents and various knowledge, that he retained him as his friend
and companion, till letters arrived from Wohnsiedel, claiming him as
a moral delinquent, to answer for some part of his past conduct. The
Count, disposed to favour him as much as the nature of the case
would admit, advised him to depart secretly, and afforded him every
assistance for his journey. Funk, once more a wanderer, with out
knowing whither to go, was, a few days afterwards, found dead,
behind a hedge, in a field near Arnstadt!
It is doubtful whether any of the violin compositions of this master
are extant; but, among his sacred instrumental pieces, there is one
which has received the encomium of all real judges of music: it is a
drama passionale, the words of which, as well as the music, were his
own.
Thomas Baltzar, born at Lubeck about 1630, was esteemed the finest
performer on the violin of his time. He came to England in 1658, at
which time the instrument had not yet been enabled to manifest its
real powers among us, nor to emerge (as it shortly afterwards did)
from the low estimation in which it was held. Baltzar may be
considered as having helped in no small degree to prepare the way
for its rescue from humility in this country. He lived, for about two
years after his arrival here, in the house of Sir Anthony Cope, of
Hanwell, in Oxfordshire. He is said to have first taught the English
the practice of shifting (that is to say, of what is termed the whole-
shift), and the use of the upper part of the finger-board—in like
manner as Geminiani is believed to have been our first instructor in
the half-shift.51 It is certain that the power of execution and
command of the instrument, exhibited by Baltzar, were matter of
novelty among us, although we had a native performer, of no mean
abilities at that period, in the person of Davis Mell, who, in delicacy
of tone and manner, seems even to have exceeded the more potent
and renowned German. Baltzar was of a Bacchanalian turn in his
habits, and was believed to have brought his end somewhat the
nearer thereby. His remains obtained the honor of a place in
Westminster Abbey, in the year 1663. Dr. Burney has characterized
his compositions as discovering “genius and a strong hand.”
Henry John Francis Biber, vice-chapel-master to the Bishop of
Salzburg, seems to have been one of the best violin-players of his
time; and his solos, which he published in 1681 (with a bass), are
stated by Dr. Burney to comprise more of fancy, as well as of
difficulty, than any music of the same period. One of the pieces is
written on three staves, as a score for two violins and bass, but is
designed to be played (as regards the violin) in double stops. Others
are played in different tunings of fourths and fifths, as for a treble
viol.
Godfrey Finger, a Silesian, was a voluminous composer for the violin;
in a style of less power than that of Baltzar, but of more polish, and
approaching somewhat to the Italians, Bassani and Torelli. He was
some years resident in England, having received, in 1685, the
appointment of chapel-master to King James II. On returning to
Germany, he became chamber-musician to the Queen of Prussia in
1702, and, in 1717, chapel-master to the Court of Gotha.
John Gottlieb Graun, brother of the celebrated chapel-master of that
name, and born about the year 1700, was an excellent performer on
the violin, and a respectable composer, of the old school. He was
concert-master to the King of Prussia, and there are extant of his
writings, several overtures, symphonies, concertos, a “Salve Regina,”
and some masses. He transmitted, through several good pupils, the
serviceable solidity of his talent.
Francis Benda, usually commemorated as the originator of a distinct
style of violin-performance in Germany, was a native of Bohemia,
and born in the year 1709. At the age of seven, he commenced
vocal studies, and, two years afterwards, became a sopranist in the
choir of St. Nicholas, at Prague. He soon afterwards went to
Dresden, where he was immediately received among the élèves of
the Chapelle Royale, in which situation he continued eighteen
months. About this period he began to practise the violin, and had
no other resource than that of engaging himself with a company of
itinerant musicians, who attended fêtes and fairs. While thus
situated, he formed an acquaintance with a blind Jew, of the name
of Loebel, a virtuoso of no mean order, who became his master and
his model. At length, tired of this wandering life, he returned to
Prague, and took lessons of Kouyezek, an excellent violinist of that
town. He was now eighteen; and, eager in the pursuit of
professional excellence, resolved to visit Vienna, where he soon
found an opportunity of profiting by the example of the then
celebrated Franciscello. After a residence of two years in that city, he
went to Warsaw, where he was nominated Chapel-Master. In 1732,
at the recommendation of Quantz, the Prince Royal of Prussia
(afterwards Frederic II) received him into his band. Anxious for
further improvement in his art, he became the pupil of Graun, for
the violin; then studied harmony under his brother; and afterwards
learned composition of Quantz himself. In 1732, he replaced Graun
as the King’s Concert-Master, which situation he held till his death, at
Potsdam, 1786.
Of the peculiar qualities of Benda, as a violinist, Dr. Burney, in his
Travels, thus speaks:—“His manner was neither that of Tartini, nor of
Veracini, nor that of any other leader; it was purely his own, though
founded on the several models of the greatest masters:”—and Hillar,
in his Biography, tells us “that his tones were of the finest
description, the clearest and most euphonious that can be imagined.
The rapidity of his execution, and the mellow sweetness of his
altissimo notes, were unequalled. With him, the violin had no
difficulties. He was master of all its powers, and knew when to use
them.”
John Stamitz, Concert-Master and Chamber-Musician at Mannheim,
and regarded, like the preceding artist, as the founder of a distinct
class of German violinists, was born in 1719, at a small town in
Bohemia, where his father was a school-master. Besides the high
repute he enjoyed as regards the formation of pupils, Stamitz has
attained a just celebrity by his written works. These (which include a
curiosity in art—a duett for one violin) consist principally of
symphonies or overtures, concertos, quartetts and trios. Though
exhibiting a masterly character, they convey the impression, at this
period, of belonging too peculiarly to the old school, and have been
considered, by some critics, to savour too much of the Church style.
The successors of Benda and Stamitz, still adding some
improvements to the precepts or the practice inculcated by those
eminent directors, may be said to have created a school of their
own, at the head of which we should place Leopold Mozart (author
of “Der Violinschule”), Fraenzl, and Cramer, who made some
approach to Tartini, his contemporary, and flourished long in
England, as a concerto-performer and leader. Of the first and the
last of these three professors, some account shall here be subjoined.
Leopold Mozart, father of him who, in the fullest sense permitted to
sublunary credit, may be called, “The Undying One,” was born at
Augsburg in 1719. After having completed his studies, and
particularly a course of jurisprudence, at Salzburg, young Leopold
entered the family of the Count of Thurn, in the somewhat odd
quality of Valet-de-Chambre Musicien. The situation of a violinist
having become vacant in the chapel of the Prince Bishop of
Salzburg, he obtained it in 1743. His compositions made him
favourably known in Germany but his reputation was extended
principally by the Method for the Violin, which he published in 1756,
and which, for half a century, was considered as the best work of
the kind.
In 1762, Leopold Mozart obtained the post of Second Chapel-Master
at the Court of Salzburg. Of seven children whom he had by his
marriage, there remained to him only the son, afterwards so
famous, and a daughter, whose success in childhood promised a
talent which was never realized. The musical education of the
children occupied all the time which his duties and his works left to
the father. A little while after his nomination as Second Chapel-
master, he commenced long tours with his son and daughter, visiting
the principal courts of Germany, Holland, England and France, and
passed many years in Italy. Returning to Salzburg, rich in the hopes
that centered on his son,—but with an exchequer nearly exhausted
by the charges attendant on so much itinerancy—he did not again
quit the residence of his Prince till 1775. Anxiously careful about
ameliorating the condition of his family, he failed to secure that
object, and became more and more impoverished. The forms and
practices of a scrupulous devotion furnished him, however, with
some consolation in his griefs, and alleviated his sense of suffering
from the gout. He died at Salzburg, in 1787.
Of the Symphonies composed by Leopold Mozart, it suffices for their
commendation to say, that some of them have been attributed to his
son. His Method for the violin is entitled “Versuch einer Gründlichen
Violinschule,” Augsburg, 1756, 4to., with a portrait of the author, and
four plates representing the different positions for holding the bow
and the violin. This work, composed according to the doctrine of
Tartini, contains (says M. Fétis) some excellent things, and will
always be read with profit by such violinists as are disposed to
reflection on the subject of their art. The second edition, completed,
appeared, under the title “Gründliche Violinschule,” in 1770. A third
edition was published in 1785. It has since been frequently
reprinted, and translated into several languages.
William Cramer was a native of Mannheim, and born in the year 1730.
Influenced by an early passion for music, and aided by the bounty of
Prince Maximilian, he soon acquired excellence on his favourite
instrument, and, at the age of twenty, obtained a situation in the
chapel of the Elector Palatine. Not, however, receiving on the
Continent encouragement commensurate with his continual and
rapid improvement, he, in 1770, came to England, where he soon
obtained the situations of Leader of the Opera-House band, and of
the King’s Concerts. In 1787, under John Bates, the Conductor, he
led the performances given at Westminster Abbey in
commemoration of Handel, and led them in a style that proved his
thorough comprehension of the music of that great master. Though
Cramer failed to obtain in Germany sufficient patronage to induce his
remaining in that country, his claims were admitted there by all real
judges of executive talent; and in England he was esteemed the first
violinist of his time. It used to be asserted of him that he joined the
emphatical expression of Benda with the brilliancy of Lolli. The
decision and spirit which characterized his playing, gave him great
advantage as a leader.—The latter days of Cramer were somewhat
clouded. The emoluments arising to him from the Opera House, and
from his employment as a private teacher of the violin, had been
considerable during many years; but talent is too frequently a bad
economist, and his was one of the cases in which it proved so. The
embarrassment he sustained in his affairs, and the transfer of the
post of leader of the Opera-band to the greater Viotti, combined to
exercise an injurious effect on his health and spirits. His death
occurred in October 1799. Cramer was twice married, and had two
sons by his first wife—John-Baptist the great Pianiste, and François,
of whom presently.52
John Peter Salomon was born at Bonn, in 1745. Director, purveyor,
composer and performer, he was one of those whom the musical
historian must delight to honour. He was educated for the law; but
the voice of music was too powerful within him to be restrained.
While very young, he became a performer in the Electoral Chapel at
Bonn. In 1781 he went to Paris, with a result of more fame than
profit. His enterprising spirit, regulated by discretion, found a
happier field in London, where his cheerful disposition, polished
manners, good sense, and general attainments, soon obtained for
him the friendship of all who at first patronized him for his
professional talents. His concerts in 1791 form an epoch in musical
history—for, to them we are indebted for the production of Haydn’s
twelve Grand Symphonies, known everywhere as “composed for
Salomon’s Concerts.” Salomon had formed his project, and digested
its details, in the previous year. In order to give every possible effect,
as well as éclat, to his concerts, he determined to engage that “par
nobile,” Haydn and Mozart, not only to write exclusively for them,
but to conduct their compositions in person. For this purpose he
went to Vienna, where, after several interviews with both these
great musicians, it was mutually agreed that Haydn should go to
London the first season, and Mozart the next. They all dined
together on the day fixed for the departure of the two travellers.
Mozart attended them to the door of their carriage, wishing them
every success, and repeating, as they drove off, his promise to
complete his part of the agreement the following year. This,
however, was an abortive hope. L’homme propose, Dieu dispose:—
Mozart, who had filled a short life with durable deeds, was carried,
within that stipulated interval, to the grave!—The terms on which
Haydn undertook so long a journey and so responsible a duty, were,
£300 for composing six grand Symphonies, £200 for the copyright of
them, and a benefit, the profits guaranteed at £200. Salomon re-
engaged Haydn for the season 1792, on the same terms, except
that, for the copyright of the last six Symphonies, the increased sum
of £300 was paid. In the first concert of this year, Yaniewicz played a
Violin Concerto. At the first of the series in 1793, Viotti made his
début in London, in his favourite Violin Concerto. In 1794 and 95,
Haydn, having visited London a second time, was again at the same
post of pianoforte president. In 1796, Salomon’s discriminating
judgment brought out of obscurity, and placed in their proper
sphere, the extraordinary vocal powers of Braham. Of Salomon’s
subsequent subscription concerts, engagements at private music
parties, attendances at the Prince of Wales’s Carlton-House
Concerts, compositions of canzonets, songs, glees, &c. it is not
requisite here to treat. His public career extended to the period of
the formation of the Philharmonic Society, in 1813, of which he was
one of the original and most zealous promoters and assistants. He
died Nov. 28th, 1815. His remains, followed to the grave by a long
train of professional and other friends, were interred in the great
Cloister of Westminster Abbey.
Salomon was one of the few whose right to contend for the honour
of being considered the greatest performer in Europe on the violin,
was manifest. His taste, refinement, and enthusiasm, as Dr Burney
has observed, were universally admitted. His profound knowledge of
the musical art served to add solidity to his fame. His judgment and
vigour, as a leader, are traditionally well known. Among his pupils,
Pinto proved the extent of his master’s skill, and his ability in
communicating it. Unfortunately, this extraordinary young man,
whose musical progress reflected so much honour on his teacher,
possessed qualities that are but too frequently the regretted
concomitants of genius, and he perished just as he was ripening into
finished excellence. Salomon, besides other works, published two
Violin Concertos, arranged for the pianoforte, with full
accompaniments; and six Solos for the violin, printed first in Paris,
afterwards in London. Among his unpublished compositions, are
some Violin Quartetts, Trios, and Concertos.
Charles Stamitz, eldest son of Stamitz the famous, was born at
Mannheim, in 1746. He was made a violinist by his father, and his
father’s pupil, Cannabich; and was afterwards engaged in the chapel
of a German Prince, till the year 1770, when he went to Paris, and
made a durable impression there, both as a concerto-player on the
violoncello and tenor, and as an instrumental composer. His writings
had all the fire and spirit of those of his father, as well as an
admixture of later improvements, without servility of imitation, as
relating to any style. Many of them were published at Paris, Berlin,
and Amsterdam. This artist died at Jena, on his journey to Russia, in
1801.
John Frederick Eck, born at Mannheim, in 1766, became Concert
Director to the Court of Munich. Noted as an artist in his day, he is
further noted as having assisted to develop the great faculty of Louis
Spohr.
Andreas and Bernard Romberg, cousins to each other, and scions of a
family of some note in the annals of music, were for several years
joint participants in labours connected, immediately or incidentally,
with the violin. About the year 1790, the two cousins held situations
in the court-chapel of the Elector of Cologne, at Bonn, where
Andreas was already distinguished by his excellent performance on
the violin, and his compositions, both vocal and instrumental; and
Bernard no less for his violoncello-playing, and the pieces he had
written, either for his own instrument, or the full orchestra53.
When the French armies entered Bonn, at the commencement of the
revolutionary war, the Elector’s musical establishment was broken
up, and the two cousins proceeded to Hamburgh, where they readily
obtained engagements in the orchestra of the German Theatre. In
1795, they left Hamburgh, and, continuing their mutually beneficial
compact, made journeyings together through several cities of
Germany and Italy, establishing everywhere the reputation of being
among the best violin and violoncello players of the day. Their duetts
and concertante performances, in particular, had that perfect
harmony of finish which the constant habit of studying and playing
together could perhaps alone bestow. The familiar interchange of
ideas was likewise of advantage to them in the compositions which
they produced, whether conjointly or separately. They may be
styled, by no very forced parallel, the “Beaumont and Fletcher” of
the musical world.
In 1797, they returned to Hamburgh, where Andreas remained;
while Bernard, two years afterwards, made a separate excursion
through England and Spain, to Lisbon, and, returning to Hamburgh
about 1803, obtained subsequently a situation in the Royal Chapel at
Berlin. Andreas had, in the mean time, turned his attention more
extensively towards composition, and produced works involving
larger combinations, and full orchestral agency, such as it is not
requisite here to specify. Both the cousins, moreover, are best known
as voluminous, and at one time highly popular, composers for their
own particular instruments. Their chief instrumental works, as an
English critic has remarked, will always be heard with pleasure,
although without the excitement which attends Beethoven, or the
deep admiration which waits upon Mozart. Of these works it may
suffice here to enumerate:—
Four Concertos for the violin—two Quintetts—twenty-four Quartetts (comprised in
eight sets)—a Quartett for the pianoforte and stringed instruments—nine Duetts—
and a set of three Studios, or Sonatas for the violin—by Andreas Romberg.
A set of three Quartetts—four single Quartetts—a Trio for violin, tenor, and
violoncello obligato, in F—six Concertos, and several Concertantes and Airs with
Variations, for the violoncello—two Quartetts for pianoforte and stringed
instruments—by Bernard Romberg.

François Cramer, second son of William Cramer, was born near

Mannheim, in 1772. He commenced his labours on the violin under
regular tuition, at a very tender age, and was no novice in the art of
handling it, when, in his eighth year, he left his native country, to
join his father and his brother John, who were settled in England. A
long suspension of his practice, however, was rendered necessary by
feeble health; and the extent of delay prescribed by Horace with
regard to a poem—“nonum prematur in annum”—was nearly
enforced as to young Cramer’s violin, which he had to keep in
reserve during a lapse of seven years. On recommencing, he found
himself under the disadvantage of having to toil over all the
elementary ground anew. He did this, however, with good heart, and
then worked his way into close acquaintance with the Solos of
Geminiani and Tartini, and the Capriccios of Benda and old Stamitz.
At the age of seventeen, he was placed, as a gratuitous member, in
the Opera band, by his father, who was its leader. In the course of a
few years, he rose in the ranks of the orchestra, and was appointed
principal second violin under his father, not only at the Opera, but at
all the principal concerts, as the King’s Concerts of Ancient Music,
the Ladies’ Concerts, and the great provincial musical festivals. On
the death of his father, he was appointed leader of the Ancient
Concerts, and came into very general employment as an orchestral
leader, during many years—a position for which his steadiness of
direction, and his solid style of playing, well qualified him. It was on
his capacity as a leader, especially for the lofty music of Handel, that
his fame rested. As a solo-player, he never had much importance—
his powers of execution not being of the kind that ensures the
uniform triumph over difficult passages.
Friedrich Ernst Fesca, born at Magdeburg, in 1789, was brought up in
the midst of music, and took to the study of the violin in his ninth
year, under M. Lohse, first violinist of the Magdeburg Theatre. Fesca
made rapid progress, and was speedly delighted at being enabled to
join in quartetts of Haydn, Boccherini and Mozart. In his eleventh
year, he exhibited in a concerto on the violin, publicly, at Magdeburg.
His first essay in composition was a concerto for the violin,
performed by himself at Leipsig. Introduced by Marshal Victor to
Jerome Buonaparte, he became first violinist at Cassel. His forte in
instrumentalizing lay principally in the adagio, that true touchstone
of a performer’s abilities and it was in giving effect to this that his
inmost soul shone forth. His compositions, also, showed superior
delicacy in the adagio. Fesca afterwards became first violin of the
Court Theatre at Carlsruhe, and at a later period was concert-master
to the Grand Duke of Baden. He died in 1825, leaving a character
highly esteemed and respected, especially for its exemption from the
alloy of professional envy. He was distinguished in other
compositions besides the instrumental. His quartetts possess great
merit, but are by no means to be ranked with those of Haydn,
Mozart and Beethoven. They are marked by grace and feeling, more
than by invention.
Christoph Gottfried Kiesewetter was born in 1777, at Anspach, where
his father was first violinist at the Royal Chapel. His own devotion to
the instrument was repaid by the high reputation he acquired, rather
than by pecuniary success;—for music in Germany, like virtue
everywhere, is, in a certain qualified sense, its own reward. In that
country, where the practice of the musical art is so extensively
diffused, the individual professor has not the opportunity of
rendering it so lucrative to himself, as it is where talent is
concentrated among a very few of the community. Holding the
appointment of leader of the band to the Hanoverian Court,
Kiesewetter found himself too poor for the maintenance of a wife
and eight children. In 1821, he came to London, and at once
established a reputation here by his spirited playing at the
Philharmonic Concerts. His execution was considered to be
sometimes quite amazing, but not always perfect. It was particularly
remarked that in quick playing he had a sort of jerking squeak in his
high notes, that was somewhat anti-musical, and was one of the
consequences of his too frequent use of the extra shifts. These
squeaking notes, and marked slidings of the finger up the strings, as
it has justly been observed, may shew a certain kind of mechanical
skill that partakes of the nature of practical wit, but they also betray
the weaker part in the instrument, and are apt to be (except when
insured by the skill of a Paganini) more provoking than pleasing.
There existed a similar cause of deduction from the praise due to
another German violinist, M. Hauman, who played at the
Philharmonic in 1829. Kiesewetter, when in Germany, was fond of
introducing Russian airs into his performances, which he did with
happy effect. His action in playing was not graceful: this was
probably to be attributed, in some degree, to the effect of a
pulmonary complaint under which he suffered.
Mr. Gardiner has described the painful circumstances attendant on
the last two performances of this accomplished artist, which took
place at Leicester. On both occasions he was supported into the
orchestra, and placed in a chair, by his brother professors,—his
debility being so distressingly apparent that many persons
apprehended he would expire in the room. The audience, with one
voice, entreated that he would abandon the idea of playing; but he
persisted; and though the withering hand of death had so visibly
touched him, he had yet enough of energy remaining, to exhibit a
few scintillations of his taste and style; but his fire and vigor were
gone. He died in London, in September 1827, receiving unremitting
attentions at the close of his career from his pupil, Oury. His death
may be in some sort regarded as a loss to our English violinists—for
the animation of his performance, beyond what is common either in
his own country or here, afforded a useful example, which might
have been prolonged with advantage.
Louis Spohr, the most highly gifted and accomplished of living
German musicians, is the son of a physician at Seesen, in the
Brunswick territory, where he was born in 1784. In his juvenile days,
he was less forward in the exhibition of the musical faculty than has
been the case with many whose powers, at maturity, have been far
below his. The late Duke of Brunswick, however, who was himself a
performer on the violin, interested himself in the success of young
Spohr, and received him as a musician in the Chapel Royal. The
Duke afterwards enabled him to accompany a distinguished player,
Francis Eck, on a tour to Russia, by which means he acquired much
important musical knowledge. On his return, he applied himself very
closely to violin-practice, and then travelled through various parts of
Germany, exciting enthusiasm by the fine qualities of his playing; for
by that time he had already impressed on the instructions derived
from his master the seal of his own organization and fine meditative
powers. In 1805, he became concert-master, violinist, and composer,
to the Duke of Saxe Gotha. In 1814, Spohr was in Vienna during the
Congress, on which conspicuous occasion Rode and Mayseder had
likewise resorted thither; and a story was current which represented
each of these eminent performers as having played in succession, in
a quartett of his own composition, at a private party, with the result
of a unanimous preference for Mayseder, both as to the composition
and the performance. This tale is not accredited by the judgment
formed of the respective competitors by the public: and any belief of
it must be greatly at the expense of the musical discernment among
the “private party.”—A tour through the principal Italian cities, where
he gained general applause, occupied Spohr in 1817; and he was
subsequently director of the music at the Theatre of Frankfort-on-
the-Main. In 1820, he was in England, exhibiting his admirable
powers at the Philharmonic Concerts, where he introduced two fine
symphonies and an overture, of his composition; but, neither here
nor in France, which country he also visited, was he appreciated to
the full extent of his merits: The cause of this has been well
suggested by an able English critic, whose remarks, somewhat
abridged, I here subjoin:—
“We had the traces, in Spohr’s execution, of a mind continually
turning towards refinement, and deserting strength for polish. His
tone was pure and delicate, rather than remarkable for volume or
richness; his taste was cultivated to the highest excess; and his
execution was so finished, that it appeared to encroach, in a
measure, upon the vigour of his performance. But he was very far
from being deficient in the energy necessary to make a great player.
The fact seems to be, that this quality, which for its inherent pre-
eminence is most distinguishable in other violinists, was, in Spohr,
cast into secondary importance, and rendered less discernible, by
the predominating influence of his superior refinement. His delicacy
was so beautiful, and so frequent an object of admiration, that his
force was lowered in the comparison. And as it is frequently the
consequence of a too subtle habit of refining to obliterate the
stronger traces of sensibility, so his expression was more remarkable
for polished elegance, than for those powerful and striking
modifications of tone that are the offspring of intense feeling. It is
probably owing to this softening-down of the bright and brilliant
effects, that he failed (if such a man could be ever said to fail) in
eliciting the stronger bursts of the public approbation which attend
those exhibitions of art that are directed against, and that reach, the
affections of a mixed audience. Thus, though in the very first rank of
his profession and of talent, Spohr perhaps excited a lower degree of
interest than has frequently attended the performance of men
whose excellences were far below standard. Such is the common
fate of all extreme cultivation and polish. It transcends the judgment
of the million. The Roman critics remarked the pre-eminent beauty
with which Spohr enriched his playing, by a strict imitation of vocal
effects. They said he was the finest singer upon the violin that ever
appeared. This, perhaps, is the highest praise that can be bestowed.
The nearer an instrument approaches the voice, the nearer is art to
the attainment of its object.”
In the autumn of 1839, Spohr was at the Norwich Musical Festival,
where his appearance, after a lapse of sixteen years, excited much
interest. He was then described as “a tall and stout man, with a
noble head, a pleasing aspect, and a presence in which much simple
dignity was engagingly blended with gentleness and modesty.” His
Violin Concerto, played on that occasion was a newly-written work,
exhibiting no mean share of his genius as a composer. It was
remarked that in his playing he made no use of the more artificial
resources of the modern school—not introducing into any of his
highest flights a single “harmonic note,” a single touch of the
instrumental falsetto—but producing every note in those flights by
fairly stopping the string, in perfect tune, and with the utmost parity
of tone. Great command of the bow, and lively rapidity of fingering,
were also obvious.
Broad and large in dimensions as in design, and marked by high
creative genius, are some of the works that illustrate the name of
this potent artist—works that summon to their exposition vocal and
instrumental multitude:—but these it is hardly requisite here to
particularize. It more concerns me to state that, of his active and
intelligent career, one of the best results has been the formation of
many a well-trained pupil, now holding honorable position in this or
that great city of Europe. The principles and details of his mode of
instruction—so far as the breathing soul could convey them through
the medium of inanimate paper—are found in his great didactic
work, “Der Violin-Schule” published at Vienna by Haslinger, and
subsequently translated into French. For the benefit of English
students, a version, prepared by Mr. John Bishop, of Cheltenham,
and bearing the author’s own attestation of its fidelity, has been
issued by Messrs. Robert Cocks and Co.
With reference to the violin-compositions of this great master, the
following warm (and perhaps but little exaggerated) tribute has been
rendered by a critic in the “Spectator:”—
“The writers of violin concertos are, for the most part, only known as
such; but Spohr’s compositions for his instrument display not only
the brilliancy of their author’s execution, but the elevated character
of his mind: we listen not only to the principal performer with
wonder, but to the whole composition with delight. They have a
character of their own—unlike and beyond that of any similar
productions of any age or country.”
Charles William Ferdinand Guhr, “Chef-d’Orchestre” of the Theatre of
Frankfort-on-the-Main, was born at Militsch, in Silesia, in 1787. His
father, a singer at the principal church of that city, undertook the
musical education of his son. At fourteen years of age, Guhr
entered, as a violinist, the chapel in which his father was employed.
His youth, and want of experience in the art of writing, did not deter
his ambition from composing many concertos, quatuors and other
pieces for the violin. When he had attained the age of fifteen, his
father sent him to Breslau, to continue his studies there, under the
direction of the chapel-master, Schnabel, and the violinist,
Janitschek. His progress was rapid, and he soon returned to Militsch.
When Reuter took the direction of the theatre of Nuremberg, he
placed Guhr in the post of Chef-d’Orchestre. His talents in the art of
directing introduced in a short time considerable ameliorations into
the state of music in that town. He performed several concertos of
his own composition, and had some of his operas performed with
success at the theatre. Having passed several years at Nuremberg,
and having, while there, married Mademoiselle Epp, a singer at the
theatre, Guhr accepted the direction of the music at the theatre of
Wisbaden; but the war of 1815 having ruined this as a place of
residence, Guhr went to Cassel, where the Prince named him
director of the music of his chapel, as well as of the theatre.
Vacating this post in the year following, he remained without employ
up to the year 1821. At that period, an engagement for 22 years
was offered him as director of the orchestra of the theatre at
Frankfort-on-the-Main with a salary of 5,000 florins, which he
accepted.
In Germany, M. Guhr was very advantageously known as a violinist;
and he is said also to have possessed considerable skill on the piano.
In the earlier steps of his progress on the violin, following the
example of Rode, he aimed principally at precision and purity in his
playing; but, after having heard Paganini, he entirely changed his
model, and made a special study of the peculiarities of that
extraordinary man’s execution. We are specially indebted to him for
a work (already alluded to) on this subject, which was received with
much interest; it is entitled “Ueber Paganini’s Kunst, die Violine zu
spielen.”
Joseph Mayseder, a violinist of a high order, and, in a certain limited
line, an original composer of acknowledged merit, acquired a
considerable share of popularity in a comparatively short time.
Residing principally at showy and dazzling Vienna, where the present
musical taste does not conform, in point of solidity, to the
accustomed German standard, he exercised the peculiarities of his
style with unchecked freedom. As a composer, his ambition was
generally to sparkle, and his habit was nearly all gaiety, or, as one of
our musical critics has termed it, a tricksy mixture of gaiety and
melancholy. His writings, full as they are of ingenuity, and containing
much that cannot fail to please, are chargeable with a somewhat too
flimsy character, and with too evident a tinge of what may be called
the coquetry of composition. His playing, which was touched with
the jerking manner observed in Kiesewetter, was also distinguished
by much brilliancy and great powers of rapidity.
Bernhard Molique, Concert-master to the Court, and second leader of
the orchestra to the Opera, at Stuttgard, was born at Nuremberg,
Oct. 7, 1803. His father, a town musician, was his first master, and
taught him to play, not one, but many instruments; the violin was,
however, that which the young artist preferred, and on which his
progress was most rapid. At the age of fourteen, he was sent to
Munich, and placed under the direction of Rovelli, first Violin of the
Chapel Royal. Two years afterwards, he went to Vienna, where he
obtained a place in the orchestra of the theatre “An der Wien.” In
1820, he returned to Munich, where, although but seventeen years
of age, he succeeded his master, Rovelli, as First Violin to the Court.
During the two subsequent years, Molique laboured to impart to his
talent a graceful and energetic character. In 1822, he found himself
sufficiently advanced in his art to be in a condition to travel, in the
quality of artist, and give performances in great cities. He obtained
leave of absence, and visited with good success, Leipzig, Dresden,
Berlin, Hanover and Cassel.
In 1826, Molique was engaged at the Court of Stuttgard, as Concert-
Master. There he obtained renown for the development of a new
talent, the direction of an orchestra, in which post he was equally
remarkable for precision, sentiment, and accurate appreciation of
the slightest effects of instrumental colouring.
In 1836, M. Molique made a journey to Paris, and executed one of
his concertos for the violin, at the Concerts of the Conservatoire. The
journals which spoke of the effect of this composition, did justice to
its beauty: but, according to their account, the execution does not
appear to have produced upon the audience such an effect as ought
to have resulted from the talent of the artist. It has been a subject
of remark, that something of the same sort has happened in the
case of most of the violinists of the German School who have
performed before audiences at Paris; and that Spohr and Lipinski,
who have had a great reputation elsewhere, produced but little
sensation in that city. Must not the cause of this be sought in the
diversity of national taste?—The published works of M. Molique have
for many years contributed to the extension of his renown.
Vainly, oh, Pen! expectant here thou turn’st
To trace the doings of Teutonic Ernst—
To shew what praise he won, what hearts he moved,
What realms he traversed, and what trials proved.
Wanting the records that should speak his fame,
Prose fails—and Verse, alas! but gives his name.
So, in life’s common round, when just aware
That one whom we have longed to know, is near—
To see him, hear him, chat with him, prepared,
We find he’s gone, and has but left his card!

Under the German branch of our subject, as more analogous to that

than to any one of the others, may perhaps be most fitly presented
some particulars concerning the remarkable Norwegian artist, Ole
(or Olaus) Bull, who, in 1836, came hither to dazzle and animate us,
like a coruscation from those “northern lights” that are often so
conspicuous in his own land. His advent to our shores was
immediately preceded by a visit to our lively neighbours on the
southern side of the Channel. The following sketch—of which the
earlier and more picturesque portion is chiefly derived from a French
account, written by a medical professor and musical amateur at
Lyons—will furnish some idea of the powers and peculiarities of this
individual.
It chanced, on a certain day, during the time when the cholera was
ravaging the French capital, that one of the numerous diligences
which were then wont to make their return-journey in an almost
empty state, deposited, in the yard of a coach-office, a young
northern traveller, who came, after the example of so many others,
to seek his fortune at Paris. Scarcely arrived at his twentieth year, he
had quitted his family, his studies, and Norway, the land of his home,
to give himself wholly up to a passion which had held sway within
him from his infancy. The object of this pervading passion was
music, and the violin. Deeply seated, active, and irresistible, the bias
had seized him when he quitted his cradle, and had never ceased
from its hold upon him. At six years old, he would repeat, on a little
common fiddle bought at a fair, all the airs which he had heard sung
around him, or played in the streets: and, two years afterwards, he
had astonished a society of professional men, by playing at sight the
first violin-part in a quartett of Pleyel’s—though he had never taken
a lesson in music, but had found out his way entirely alone! Destined
afterwards by his family to the ecclesiastic life, and constrained to
the studies which it imposes, he had still kept his thoughts fixed on
his beloved violin, which was his friend, his companion, the central
object of his attachment. At the instance of his father, the study of
the law became subsequently his unwilling pursuit: and, at length,
these struggles ended in his yielding to the impulse of his love for
the violin; and banishing himself from Norway, in order to devote all
his days to the cultivation of music.
In the midst of a mourning city—a mere atom in the region of a
world—what is to become of the young artist? His imagination is
rich, but his purse is meagre: his whole resource lies in his violin—
and yet he has faith in it, even to the extent of looking for fortune
and renown through its means. Friendless and patronless, he comes
forward to be heard. At any other moment, his talent must have
forced public attention in his behalf; but, in those days of desolation,
when death was threatening every soul around, who could lend his
ears to the charmer? The young artist is left alone in his misery—yet
not quite alone, for his cherished violin remains like a friend to
console him. The cup of bitterness was soon, however, to be
completely filled. One day, in returning to his miserable apartment in
an obscure lodging-house, he found that the trunk, in which his last
slender means were contained, had disappeared. He turned his eyes
to the spot where he had placed his violin ... it was gone! This
climax of disaster was too much for the poor enthusiast, who
wandered about for three days in the streets of Paris, a prey to want
and despair, and then—threw himself into the Seine!
But the art which the young Norwegian was called to extend and to
embellish, was not fated to sustain so deplorable a loss. The hand of
some humane person rescued him from this situation. His next
encounter seemed like another special interposition of Providence;
for he became the object of benevolent attention to a mother who
had just lost her son through the cholera, and who found in the
young stranger so remarkable a resemblance to him, that she
received him into her house, and, though possessed but of moderate
means herself, furnished relief to his necessities. The cholera, in the
mean time, ceased its ravages, and Paris resumed its habitual
aspect. Supplied with bread and an asylum, and soon afterwards
with the loan of a violin, Ole Bull was again enabled to gratify his
devotion for music. By degrees his name began to be heard, and he
arrived at some small reputation. Thus encouraged, he ventured the
experiment of a Concert; and fortune smiled on him for the first
time, for he gained 1200 francs—a large sum, considering the
position in which he then was.
Possessed of this unexpected, and almost unhoped-for, little fortune,
he set out for Switzerland, and went thence into Italy.
At Bologna, where his first great manifestation appears to have been
made, he had tried vainly to obtain an introduction to the public,
until accident accomplished what he had begun to despair of. Full of
painful emotion at the chilling repression which his simple,
inartificial, unfriended endeavours had been fated to meet with, he
one day sat down with the resolution to compose something; and it
was partly amidst a flow of obtrusive tears that his purpose was
fulfilled. Taking up his instrument, he proceeded to try the effect of
the ideas he had just called into life. At that moment, it chanced that
Madame Rossini was passing by the house in which his humble
apartment was situated. The impression made on her was such, that
she spoke in emphatic terms upon it to the director of a
Philharmonic Society, who was in a critical predicament, owing to
some failure in a promise which had been made him by De Beriot,
and the syren, Malibran. Madame Rossini’s piece of intelligence was
a burst of light for the “Manager in distress:” he had found his man.
The artist was induced to play before the dilettanti of Bologna, and
his success was complete.
At Lucca, Florence, Milan, Rome, and Venice, the impression he
made was yet greater and more decisive. On each occasion, he was
recalled several times before the audience, and always hailed with
the utmost enthusiasm. At the Neapolitan theatre of San Carlo, he
was summoned back by the public no less than nine times—thrice
after the performance of his first piece, and six times at the end of
the second. It was a perfect furore.
Our Norwegian artist now revisited Paris, under happier auspices.
Welcomed and introduced with eager kindness by the composer of
“Robert le Diable,” he was several times listened to with delight on
the stage of the Opera, and obtained the greatest success that has
been known since the displays made by Paganini.
Opinions were not agreed as to the extent to which Ole Bull was to
be considered an imitator of Paganini. It appears certain that the
example of the latter first led him to attempt the more strange and
remote difficulties of the instrument. It was during the time of his
distressed condition, that he found means to hear the great Italian
artist, by actually selling his last shirt, with the produce of which he
joined the crowd in the saloon of the French Opera. Every one
around him, after the electrifying strains of the magical performer,
was exclaiming that he had reached the farthest limits of what was
possible on the violin. Ole Bull (says the writer of the French
account), after applauding like the rest, retired in thoughtful mood,
having just caught the notion that something beyond this was yet
possible; nor did the idea cease to occupy his mind, but gathered
fresh strength during his rambles in Switzerland and Italy, until it
impelled him, at Trieste, to abandon the old track, and resign himself
to the dictates of his own genius.
In justice to Paganini, it must never be forgotten that he was the
first who, in modern days, conceived the principle of its being
possible to extract a variety of new effects from the versatile
instrument that had been supposed to have surrendered all its
secrets to the great antecedent Masters; and that his practice lent
marvellous illustration to what he proceeded, under that impulse, to
explain;—nor does the supremacy of Paganini in the nouveau genre,
for the reasons previously touched upon in these pages, seem likely
to be seriously shaken by any who may seek the encounter of a
comparison. It may certainly be averred, how ever, that, of all who
have attempted to follow in the direction taken by the great Genoese
genius, Ole Bull has been, owing to the fire and enthusiasm of his
own temperament, decidedly the farthest removed from servility of
imitation. It speaks much for the originality of the Norwegian artist,
that, in the early practice of his instrument, instead of a fostering
excitement, he had to encounter the decided opposition of adverse
views; and, instead of the open aid of a master, had only for his
guide the secret impulses of his own mind. On the whole, he must
be acknowledged a man of fine genius, who forced his way through
no common difficulties to a distinguished rank in the musical art, and
who presents, to the contemplation of the persevering student, one
of the most cheering of those examples which the history of human
struggles in pursuit of some absorbing object is so useful to enforce.
It must add not a little to our admiration of him, to find that, in the
mysteries of composition, he has discovered and shaped his own
course. The ingenuity of construction evident in the orchestral
accompaniments to his pieces, would suggest a methodical study of
the harmonic art: yet it was said, on the contrary, that he was quite
unacquainted with even the elementary rules of that art; and that it
would have puzzled him to tell the conventional name of any one
chord. How then did he arrive at the power of writing music in
parts? He opened a score, studied it, thought over it, made a relative
examination of its parts after his own way, and then, setting to work,
as the result of this progress, became a composer himself. In the
character of his compositions, we may trace the effect of this
unusual and (it must be confessed) somewhat too self-dependent
“moyen de parvenir.” They are impulsive and striking—enriched with
occasional passages of fine instrumentation, and touched with sweet
visitations of melody—but they are deficient in coherence of
structure, and in the comprehensiveness of a well-ordered design.
They may serve as fresh examples to illustrate the old maxim—that
genius itself cannot with safety neglect that ordinary discipline which
gives familiarity with the rules and methods of art.
The most surprising thing (amounting indeed to an enigma), in
connection with Ole Bull’s powers of execution, was the very small
amount of manual practice which he stated himself to have been in
the habit of bestowing on the instrument—a thing quite at variance
with all the received notions, as well as usage, on the subject. His
labour was, it appears, in by far the greater part, that of the head;
and a very limited application of the hands sufficed to “carry out”
what he ex-cogitated—to work out his purposes and “foregone
conclusions.” It sounds nobly, as a proposition, that it is “the mind’s
eye,” and not the blind gropings of practice, that should shew the
violinist the way to greatness, and give him the knowledge which is
power: but, alas! common natures—nay, all that are not marvellously
uncommon—find it necessary to draw to the utmost on both these
resources, and cannot spare their hands from the neck of the
instrument. This comparatively trifling amount of manual cultivation,
however, while it remains on the whole “a marvel and a mystery,”
may be accepted as a proof in itself of how little trick (setting aside
his extravagant “quartett on one string”) there was in Ole Bull’s
performance: for the successful display of tricks is essentially
dependent on the most assiduous manipulation;—the charlatanerie
of the instrument being the triumph of the hand, as distinguished
from that of the mind. To particularize the various merits which
belong to his execution, would lead beyond the limit here proposed
—else might his sweet and pure tone—his delicate harmonics—his
frequent and winning duplicity of notes and shakes—his rapid and
exact staccato, &c. be severally dwelt upon in terms of delight.—I
cannot forbear referring, however, to the “ravishing division” of his
consummate arpeggios, forming a finely regulated shower of notes,
rich, round, and most distinct, although wrought out by such slight
undulations of the bow, as to leave in something like a puzzle our
notions of cause and consequence. To suit the wide range of effects
which his fancy sometimes dictated, it appears (another marvel!)
that he subjected his violin to some kind of alterative process; for
which purpose he would open it (to use his own expression) like an
oyster!
The manners and conversation of this young artist, at the time when
he was exciting attention in England, bore an impress of genius
which it was impossible to mistake; and his occasional sallies of
enthusiasm served to impart an increased interest to the abiding
modesty which tempered and dignified his character. In describing
the state of his own mind, under the immediate domination of
musical ideas, he pictured it under the forcible figure of an alternate
heaven and hell; while he would speak of the object and intention of
his playing as being to raise a curtain, for the admission of those
around him, as participants in the mysteries open to himself. In his
habits, he was very temperate—wisely avoiding to wear out, by
artificial excitements, the spontaneous ardour of his eminently vital
temperament.
All the ordinary arts and intrigues by which it is so common, and is
sometimes thought so necessary, for men to seek professional
advancement, seemed completely alien to the nature of this child of
the north. In person, he was tall, with a spare but muscular figure,
light hair, a pale countenance, and a quick, restless eye, which
became extremely animated whilst he was in the act of playing.
When I add that he entertained an invincible antipathy to cats—
exhibiting unequivocal signs of distress whenever one of those sleek
and sly animals was discovered in the social circle—I shall have
furnished all the information I am able to give (his latter career
being unknown to me) concerning a man well entitled to
commemoration.

Before concluding this chapter, a few words of record are due to the
two sons of one of the most gifted musicians of the present day. I
allude to the associate brothers Labitsky, who, after a training in the
Musical Conservatory at Prague, and subsequent studies prosecuted
at Leipsig, have become candidates for public favour in England,
where (for the present, at least) they appear to be settled. Their first
appeal to notice in this country took place at Her Majesty’s Theatre,
during the progress of the late Grand National Concerts. Their style
is said to be characterized by firmness and evenness in the bowing,
with a correspondent fulness and purity of intonation.

CHAPTER VI.

THE ENGLISH SCHOOL.

... a crescent; and my auguring hope

Says it will come to the full.—Shakspeare.

Climate, and the national habits of life, have in England presented

no light obstacles to the progress and well-being of the musical art,
as collectively regarded. The fogs and lazy vapours that so oft
obscure, in our dear country, the genial face of the sun, must needs
check and chill our animal spirits, and beat back into the heart the
feelings that else would seek fellowship with the ear, by uttering the
language of sweet sounds. The eager pursuit of business, on the
other hand—the continuity of action, rigorously self-imposed, in
order to satisfy both our material wants and our ambition—leaves us
little opportunity—even when our sky and our land are not mutually
frowning and exchanging sullen looks—for the liberation and
development of our half-stifled musical impulses. The consequence
of this two-fold opposition is—in multitudinous instances—that the
music which is in us, comes not out; and hence it happens that we
are too often suspected, by foreigners, of organic deficiency in this
matter, and too often induced to doubt of ourselves. With the
luxurious climate, however, and the leisurely life, that combine to
make the people of Italy as vocal as grasshoppers, we, too, should
burst forth into the raptures of song, and overflow with melodial
honey;—so at least I venture to believe, when I think of our stock,
actually hived, in the way of glees and ballads—a not contemptible
little store.
In addition to the two sources of impediment just noticed, may we
venture to glance at a third? There is another gloom, besides that of
our skies, that has had its obstructive influence, and still, in some
degree, retains it. England, happily for her own comfort, has now
left far behind her those puritanic days wherein all persons who
ministered to the amusement of their fellow-beings were stigmatized
as the “caterpillars of a common-wealth,” and found law and opinion
alike arrayed against them;—but the spirit of Puritanism, once so
tyrannically exclusive, has never since departed wholly from among
us—and we have, to this day, many sincere and well-meaning
compatriots, whose peculiar notions of what constitutes piety, lead
them to look with distrust and suspicion upon all that is beautiful in
Nature or in Art, and so, to consider musical talent rather as a snare
to be shunned, than as a resource to be cherished. These movers-in-
a-mist, and extra-burden-bearers, confounding into one the two
ideas of cultivation and corruption, as if the terms were
synonymous, refuse all countenance to music, as an art. Its secular
forms, in particular, are their aversion; for they have a strong
impression that music is then, only, in its right place, when directly
employed in the service of the sanctuary. They discover, even in an
Oratorio, copious matter for reprobation. They have no sympathy
with the practice of the sweetly majestic Psalmist of Israel, who
brought together, to aid in the solemnities of public worship, all that
was best in vocal and instrumental skill. Vociferated dissonance,
exempt from rule, and from accompaniment, has their approval, far
above any tempered and balanced harmony; because (as they
persuade themselves) the one comes from the heart, and the other
does not. To such persons, I can only (in the words of the
Archbishop of Granada to Gil Blas) wish all happiness, and a little
more taste—regretting that the influence of what I conceive to be
their mistake should have helped, with the other cited causes, to
lessen the diffusion among us of the most delightfully recreative of
all the arts, which, thus discouraged, has been driven to become the
spoiled favourite of the great and rich, instead of being the constant
friend and solace of the whole community.
Adverting now specifically to the English School of the violin, I would
remind the reader of what has been previously observed respecting
the very low estimation in which that instrument was for some time
held, after its first advent to this country. To raise it into favorable
regard, and to stimulate the efforts of our native professors,
successive importations of foreign talent (chiefly from Italy) were
required, and supplied. Our debt of this kind to the Italians has been
larger than that of our continental neighbours, either of France or of
Germany. Indeed the very fact of our possessing a School of our
own, in this branch of art, has, I believe, been commonly overlooked
by the musical writers of the continent: nor is this very surprising,
when it is considered how the great masters from Italy, taking the
lead in concerts and public performances, became “the observed of
all observers,” and the sole marks, or at least the principal ones, for
the pen of the writer. It may be demonstrated, nevertheless, that
we, too, as violinists, have our separate credit to assert for the past,
and yet more for the present, though we may not aspire to an equal
amount of merit, in this sense, with Germany or France. We have
certainly not caught, so effectually as the French, the various
dexterities and felicities of execution; but it is perhaps not too much
to say that we possess more “capability” for the development of the
graver and better sort of expression. Your Englishman, with all his
lumpish partiality for beef and pudding, is generally allowed to be a
being of profounder sensibilities than your Frenchman. He is a better
recipient of the more intense emotions that lie within the province of
the “king of instruments,” although its more brilliant characteristics
are less within his reach. The violin is a shifting Proteus, which
accommodates itself to almost every kind and shade of emotion that
may actuate the human mind: but then, the lighter emotions more
frequently dispose us to seek the aid of music for their audible sign,
than the graver ones: therefore your Frenchman, “toujours gai,” is
oftener impelled to practise the violin than your Briton; and
therefore he becomes, after his own fashion, a better player. But,
after all, those who would appreciate all the capabilities of the violin
as an individual instrument, should watch its “quick denotements,
working from the heart,” under all manner of hands—Italian,
German, French, English, Dutch, and the rest.
With regard to compositions for the instrument, generally, it must be
admitted that those to which merit, as well as custom, has given the
greatest currency in this country, have been of foreign production—
chiefly Italian or German. Truth requires the acknowledgment, that
in this matter we stand far from high in the scale of national
comparison. It is the remark of Burney, that, for more than half a
century preceding the arrival of Giardini, the compositions of Corelli,
Geminiani, Albinoni, Vivaldi, Tessarini, Veracini, and Tartini, supplied
all our wants on the violin. Though somewhat poor in this point of
view, we are, however, not destitute. Let us advert here to two
instances only, that is to say, Boyce and Purcell. Dr. Boyce’s “Twelve
Sonatas, or Trios, for two Violins and a Bass,” were longer and more
generally purchased, performed, and admired (says Dr. Burney) than
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