ITINERANT MUSIC-MONGERS.

AT the close of the London season, the daily papers usually announce the interesting intelligence of the departure of Mr. Mosu, Mr. Bookss, or some other notorious performer, with a vocal tail on a " professional tour ; " and thereafter the press " prates of their n hereabout " with as much minuteness and •regularity as the astronomers mark the course of a comet in the heavens. To the Musical World of last week we are indebted for a complete and very amusing exposition of the nature of these " progresses ;" which would seem to have been suggested by a scene in the popular opera L'Elisir d'Amore, where a travelling physi- cian (vulgarly termed a quack-doctor) enters a village with drum and trumpet, proclaiming aloud the virtues of his medicines. The article in question is pleasantly entitled " How to do the Provinces, or the Travelling Musician's Best Companion : " unluckily, it is too long to quote entire, but our extracts will be sufficiently intelligible so far as they go. [Fran the Musical rrorld. Dec. 20.) The late provincial season has exhibited three remarkable commercial travellers in the music line. of different degrees of notoriety, as of merit, but all endowed with certain qualities in common, and standing in a close moral relationship in virtue thereof. Messrs. Mori, Bochsa, and Gauntlett arc chiefly known in London as clever, drudging men of business. Mr. Mori, is familiar to us as a musician of considerable punctuality, and a shopkeeper of great genius. He possesses what the late Mr. Hazlitt used to call ' a good prose style of fiddling,' stops in tune, and resides at No. 28, New Bond Street. Mr. kindles is associated with our liveliest recollections of concert-going, as a fellow of infinite jest,' and a harp-player of full proportions. No one can play louder or look larger at his instrument also his shirt-pin defies criticism.

Mr. Gauntlett's name is not so well known, but most assuredly that is no fault of his ; and since his way of doing business in the provinces is precisely similar to that adopted by our other great commercial travellers—the musical bagmen of our age—nor falls short iu any thing but in that maturity which years will give, we have no hesitation in installing him one of the same admired fraternity, of which he may be considered in the light of a younger brother —with expectations. As for what Mr. Gauntlett is known for in London, it is a question which cannot be answered without considerable research ; but we are enabled, by the kiudess of a friend, to say what it is that he wishes to be known for. It appears that he wishes to be known for a very great organist --being a very small one ; and for a very profound musician—being a very

shallow one. •

The further such great musicians get from town, the more astonishing become their abilities. The more unlikely it is we should ever fall in uith the papers in which their advertisments and paragraphs appear, the more those advertisements and paragraphs become worth reading. If at Coventry, for instance, the -combination of talent " is " splendid!" at Huddersfield it becomes " unparalleled! ! "—at Cockermouth it is "unheard of ! !! " (which is true in every sense.) And again, it is especially in small and obscure, even more than in remote places, that their glories shine and their beauties blow. The elo- quence of their concert-bills is in proportion to the distance of any given town from the high-road to London. Some chance traveller, who knew them too Well, might happen to catch a glimpse of them, bills and all, (if in a town on the mail-road.) and so ruin thou entirely during a change of horses! But we detain our readers too long from the repast we have prepared for them. Quer walls anti:firm? We are perplexed by an embarrass de richesses. Here is a rose-coloured concert-bill, of Mori, Lavenu, and Co. headed—" By Permission of the Worshipful the Mayor—The Town-hall, Reading. Mr. Mori has the honour to announce that he has had the goodjbrtune to secure the services of the following distinguished party of vocalists.' Mr. Mori's "good fortune," it should be observed, which is announced here with all the satisfaction of something that has recently sup ised him, is the iden- tical good fortune which had happily attended his labours, without intermission, for sonic months, in a peregrination embracing all the principal counties of England. 'Phis beauteous, blushiug bill, then goes on to enumerate the indi- vidual membern, of a company thus, by a happy and fortuitous combination of circumstances, brought together in one unrivalled plialaux—in other words, the sworn companions of a tramp from John o'Groat s House to Land's End, at the fag-end of their journey. wont to death, and lashing, themselves up, for the hundredth time, to a perforrnauce—stale enough to begin with. But let us listen to the showman. Walk up, ladies and gentlemen ! and see

sins BIRCH.

" Tide yomig lady's voice is a 0 .1' soprano, the excellence of which ,'c the richest and must hidustrions cultirati.41, it includes in its range all the sari. ties ef power that may either excite admiral km or confer delight ; at the same time voided by ntney, judgment, and feeling, wideh cannot fihil to make even in ordinary instru- ment the interpreter of the • h;dsfen .sore tf harnuavir Amongst the nutueruus im- portant intl.:v.:AI meetings for which it has been considered indispensable to secure the brilliant talent of this young lady, the lob! Gloucester tl•stival has afforded her ample opportunity of displaying to great adrantage,,the rich resources of her flue and culti- vated voice, and tended to euhance most materially her daily increasing thaw. In oratorio, or sacred sitrAug, her style is chaste, sublime, and bold; on the other hand, its her ballads (in whidi, new that Step/ens is gone, she has no rival) she Is must simple, swr et, and hears-touching. In her empassioned singing she never • oversteps the mo- desty of nature ;•—she knows how to manage her voice so that it may In' ibreible sett inn, without `who; boisterous and overflowing she always brings into action a thorough knowledge of the compos.•r's intentions, which united to strong feeling and great powers of musical declamation, exhibit, iu fact, the perfectiuu of tchat ',,a', be called vocal science. • • • "Mess Emelt Wien,tue, " Possesses a most exquisite coardto viliose varied qualities of power, exteut, flexibility, and sweetness, are linked togetlwr into such harmonious airy that tat one qualify over towers above the lahers," ezc. " Fu.. F. LAULACIUE.

"The character of this gentlemtues voice is essentially that of a barytone of consi- derable capability ; flexible (a rare quality in voices behav tenors.) round and power- ful; his articulation is at once voluble aunt distiuct, which imparts that agreeable finish to his singing, the absence of which, we too frequently notice nu voices of n similar cha- racter ; indeed the fine taste and feeling with which he governs this lienutifill organ captivate the hearer and produce an effect truly delightfol. To this we may add, that an ease and gentlemanlike deportment, coupled with au unaffected style, render him a favourite both on the stage anti—oil."

[Hitherto we have heard of Mr. Moni's doings : Mr. BOCHSA now ap- pears on the stage ; and the merits of the two peripatetic performers are thus contrasted, after the manner of PIATARC11.] " The Guildhall. Grautham,--ggensfid contUnotion of Tilts? !—Mr. Mori has the honour to:111110111We that he has had the good fortune t'o secure the services of the following distinguished i party." Now there much instruction in a comparison of these bills. in the first place, let us inform our readers, that Grantham is a small borough town, in the Fens of Lincolnshire, with a market on Saturday ' • and is situate at the dis- tance of one hundred and ten miles from London. Reading is only thirty--nine miles from London, if we are right in our suggestion respecting the relations between distance and daring, then we should expect to find a higher scale of professions, and a bolder tone of self-announcement in this one-hundred-iota- t en -miles' bill, than in the thirty-nine miles' bill. And behold ! it is even so ; positively proportionaable 1 As 39 is to 110, exactly so is thelteading puff to the Grantham puff. Or thus— ale Ready. p,tif i : 110

Auuretr.—Orastthnt.

Every line in the latter is a step in advance. The language is richer, the spirit bolder, the type fatter. Mils Birch, by some mistake, comes off with the identical speech spoke in Berkshire ; and' if there is nothing less, there, is vet nothing more, than that too short effusion expresses. We still learn that This young lady's voice is a real soprano ;" that " now that Stephens is gone, she has no rival," &c.; but no new perfections have been discovered in her— which, at such a distance from town, we consider unaccountable. But Miss Fanny Wyndham's charms have been wonderfully increased by the additional seventy-one miles. Over and above what we learnt at Rending, we now learn that- " Miss Fanny Wyndham is both young andilumdsorne—her expressive features re- plete with high intelligence are' curtained—it we may so express ourselves—by /u.ra- neat hair of more than corm darkness; her smile is particularly' sweet, not assumed, but habitual and unconstrained- .'Tis not a lip, or cheek, we benutv call,

But the joint force and fall effect of all.'"

We possess besides these, a fine collection of Salisbury puffs, Stamford puffs, Stratford-on-Avon puffs, Peterborough puffs, Huntingdon puffs, &c. &c. All of them deal in the saute touching allusions to Miss Birch's " Hidden soul of harmony" Miss Wyndham's "luxuriant hair of more than ebon darkness ;" Signor Lahlache's "handsome countenance ;" and Mr. Lavenu's flattering con- nesrion with "Her Majesty's Theatre." They are all " celebrated "—more celebrated the further they go. " The celebrateil Soprano singer, Miss Birch. The celebrated Contralto, of the Opera Buffs, Miss Fanny Wyndham. The celebrated Basso Cantante of the Opera Buffs, Signor F. Labliiche." * * Between the oratory of a Mori and a Boeing', there are many interesting points of difference and resemblance, which it would be a charming task for the critic to trace and comment on. We are disposed to concede to Mori the palm of grammar, but to Bochsa that of' originality. If Mori is more frequently orthographical, Boeslia is more striking and and imaginative,—or (its he him- self remarks in speaking of Puzzi's Fantasias) he -has "the merit of being popular and imagery." 3Iori addresses the understanding, Bochsa the heart. Mori persuades the human mind to take tickets, Bochsa impels the passions to the same course.

'Mori has the deeper voice,

Bid lloels,a's loud as Stetitor ; Mori's spelling is more choice,

) But Buchsa's eloquhder.

But whatever shades of difference may be found between the styles of the two illustrious showmen, their general scheme or plan of proceedings will be

allowed to be cast very much in the same mould. * * *

MRS. II, IL Illoalor.

"Mrs. Bishop, (the wife of our first English composer), sings most exquisitely, nal uv tares/ beprowd indeed to the such a national vocalist. Her voice is a lel. and ex- extended soprano, and the uttering preekion, and finished delieney with which she executes all her passages the twatuess ease itt which she revels in rapid divisions, intervals, see. ; last, nut least, the pathos, expression, and tonehing simplicity, she throws into all her English ballsts, is the ,'harm thgt irlos all her bearers, and inspires them with delight mid admiration. With natural feelings, with high musical taste, with a flowing execution, she is shines sure to to:ciliate, and to lie, p the high

star ion she enjoys," • • •

•• STONell Paint, " We term quite delighted with Mini ; his style is perfect, and reminded us much of Rubini. this • a I. o cora,' alai his ' serenade,' were two gems, both of which were sneered. Siettor Mitzi is au excellent musician, and the best baser singer after 'NNW.' a a a

".rayon Pearl.

" Sig, Puri is certainly is most astonishing performer, and well deserves the exalted rank lie holds itt the Musical World. lu London, his sway is unbotooltd, Mid 110 burr \Iusic:dr,' ur fashienable Soiree,' Mudd derrned to with, at ' II Primo Corno."11te tones lie pans out of his instrument (wide!' owes hint its present perfec- tion) arc the finest ever heard, and his sit/heated powers of execution and expression hoer :over iortli Eiszti's Pablasias, lads)), mien! the :lit rit of being popular and io,rtv,ry, have the rare quality of being music, such as will captivate and satisfy the s.wers• judges, The melodies are always easy end flowing, nod ••Very gr7o- fol, and replete with sentiment," &e.

But now our musical showman goes through a perforinance that, we will en- gage to say, none of our renders ever witnessed. whether at the Tower or Exeter 'Change. Farley Wombwell. tiller going his rounds with the ladies and gentlemen, and showing them all the wild beasts, suddenly jumping into a cage himself and, from behind the bars, thus commending his own person to the admiring scrutiny of the visitors : • this, ladies and gentlemen. is Mr. Wombwell whom you see, as stands five feet ten inches without hit Aloe., and i. thc 1)106t handsomest showman as 1:Ver VOS," &c, Th.is, !mutn't:1% is what Showman poelisa literally does ; and the reader will agree with us, we think, after reading what follows, that, in comparison with himself, the other wild beasts cut but n sorry figure—• " The performances of Itochsa cal the harp are on rrt,fe'adeeaI

,',/deesi

they are so inithitatip lanntsfill that pioin prose is unlined to record his ma gie-like power. ILA he his the days eg "lows ;pow by,' when Fingal fought and Option song—a thougandltnrps would have strung the praise of Mtn who could make that it:ointment diwcolirSi. such eloquent music--whose delicate tiagering could make it breath.. tones like the. whisperings ,f inrisilde spirits ; the dancing and gladdening sounds which make the light heart beat still more fluidly, or the 'thick st..rin of bold soul teen notes,' which stir the cow dcpths of the s,u1." "All other instruments seent to have their ' vents,' us Hamlet earls them; but the harp stands alone as it awe, and by its pnord heating defies the power of moil sweats to make it ' distil its most excellent music,' but Ituelisa has discovered the hidden charm : he Mil and does draw front its distended striae; sounds as sweet and as clear as ' the lark soaring in its matins song.' At times one eau imagine the p toy swing t'or merry (!) from his practised lictel: Gut hr spares not (!) and from the loud-toned thunder to the softest breath of the :Mohan string, he draws out notes to the delight or his enraptured audience." The poor harp " sueina ca. mercy!" Mr. BovInces figurative mind must be allowed to have furnished him here with a most happy and appropthitc image— one, perhaps, with more of truth under it thrsi he himself contemplated. It admirably bears out what we have above said with regard to the sty le of Chia seretlitnisician's performances. The poor harp rues niereg—" hat la spans ,tot! , It is only necessary to odd, that the above moderate recommendations of his several travelling lions, and of himself—the lord of all—are, a-M-..1/Ori, served up under every possible circumstance. in every possible guise, in advertisements, in hills, in newspaper paragraphs, and quasi critiques. You find the same words and phrases still ruuniitg through the composition, and betray hug the great oriiival, as the perpetual Hebrew quotation discovers the rogue in the Vicar ofokcjield. .‘ Her voice is a rich and exteeded soprano, and the tittering preci- sion "—" We were quite delighted with Signor Brizzi"—" Although great ad- mirers of Puzzi, we were utterly anatzerl," &e,