DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

GASSMANN GATES 147
E. T. Smith, where Gassier made liis debut,
April 16, as the Count in ' Sonnambula,' and
later played Figaro in '11 Barbiere,' and Malatesta
in 'Don Pasquale,' his wife being the
heroine on each occasion. In 1860 he was
engaged alone by Sniitli at Her Majesty's
in 1861 with Jlme. Gassier at the Lyceum under
JIapleson, where they sang together as Samuel
and Oscar in the production in England of
as Don Juan
Verdi's ' and Ballo in Maschera, '
and Zerlina. From 1862 to 1867 Gassier was
engaged at Her JIajesty's, and in 1868 at Drury
Lane under JIapleson, and sang the usual
baritone repertory ; and in the operas new to
England—in 1863 as Troilo in Schira's 'Nicolo
de' Lapi, ' and
Jlephistopheles in ' Faust' ; in
1864 as Page in Nicolai's 'Merry "Wives," and
Ambrose in Gounod's 'Mireille' ; in 1866 Thoas
in Gluck's ' Iphigenie en Tauride '
; in 1867
Pirro in a revival of Verdi's 'Lombardi, ' Fra
Melitone in ' La Forza del Destino,' Figaro in
the 'Nozze,'etc. In 1870 he sang under Wood
at Drury Lane in two operas new to England
May 12 as Don Beltrano in Mozart's 'L'Oca
del Cairo,' and, July 5, Laertes in 'Jlignon.'
He was a very useful singer and actor, and
withal, according to Santley, ' a very good
comrade.' He died in Havana, Dec. 18, 1871.
His wife, Josefa, nie Fernandez, was born
in 1821 at Bilbao. She was originally a eliorus-
singer, but later was taught singing by Pasini,
a favourite tenor of the period. On April 8,
1846, she made her debut at Her Majesty's as
Elvira in ' Ernani, ' according to Chorley ; but
she was admittedly a failure. Later she sang
in Spain, Milan, and Genoa. In 1855 at Drury
Lane she made a great temporary success as
' Amina, Lucia, Norina, and Rosina in II Barbiere.'
In this opera she introduced with great
success * Ah che assorta, ' called the Gassier
vocal waltz, composed for her by the Genoese
composer Venzano. At the end of the season,
according to the Musical World, she was presented
with the managerial testimonial of a
magnificent piece of plate. In the autumn slie
sang at JuUien's Concerts, Covent Garden. In
1858 she sang again under Smith at the same
theatre, and in 1861 with Mapleson at the
Lyceum, with diminished favour. Chorley 's
description of her in the Athencnim was that
' she was one of tlie sour and acute soprani,
still the effect she produced in certain parts by
the dash and audacity of her execution ' was
such that Meyerbeer w-anted her to sing at
Covent Garden as Catherine in ' ' L'Etoile, ' a
notion of which he was only dispossessed by
the lady's utter pliysical unfitness for . . .
male attire ' (Athcnauin). She died at Madrid,
Nov. 8, 1866. A. c.
GASSMANN, Floeian Leopold, born May
4, 1729, at Briix in Bohemia : in 1736 ran
away from his father, who wished to educate him
as a merchant. By playing the harp he worked
his way to Bologna, where he studied for two
years under Padre Martini. He then entered
the service of Count Leonardi Veneri at Venice,
and his compositions were soon in general request.
In 1762 he was invited to Vienna as a balleteompioser.
In 1771 he had entered on his new
office and suggested the formation of the * Tonkunstler
Societat, ' a Fund for the Widows and
Orphans of Vienna musicians, a society which in
1862 was reorganised under the name of the
' Haydn.' See FoWa Senkschrift, etc. (Vienna,
1871). On the death of Eeutter, the Emperor
Joseph II. appointed him in March 1772 Court
capellmeister with a salary of 800 ducats.
Gassmann died at Vienna, Jan. 22, 1774, owing
to a fall from his carriage. He composed twentythree
Italian operas, of which two were translated
Neefe and
into German, ' by ' L' Amor artigiana
' La Contessina ' by Hiller. [See list in the
Qtiellen-Lenlon.] He also composed anoratorio,
' La Betulia liberata ' (Vienna, 1771), and much
church music, which Mozart thought more of
than of his operas (Letter, Feb. 5, 1783). When
at Leipzig, he said to Doles, who could not quite
join in his praises, ' Papa, if you only knew all
we have of his in Vienna ! As
soon as I get
back I sliall study him in earnest, and hope to
learn a great deal.' Gassmann cannot be said
to have exercised any special influence on the
development of musical form effected during
his time by Emanuel Bach, Haydn, and Mozart.
His best pupil was Salieri, who educated Gassmann's
daughters as opera - singers after their
father's death. F. G.
GASTOLDI, Giovanni Giacomo, born at
Caravaggio about tlie middle of the 16th century
; maestro di cappella at Santa Barbara in
Mantua [from about 1581 until liis death, which
seems to have taken place in the first decade of
the 17th century.] He was the author of ' Bal-
'
letti a 5 per cantare, suonare, e ballare (Venice,
1591-95 ; Antwerp, 1596), which are said to
' have served Morley as models for his Ballets or
Fa-las.' His later collections are ' Balletti a 3
' voei, ' etc. 1594, and Canzonette a 3 voci. ' Two
of them are well known to English amateurs
under the names of ' Maidens fair of Mantua's
' city,' and Soldiers brave and gallant be.' Two
others, ' Viver lieto voglio,' and 'A lieta vita,'
are given by Burney in his History of Music.
These were adopted as Hymn tunes by Lindemann
in 1597 to the words 'Jesu, wollst uns
weisen,' and 'In dir ist Freude ' respectively
(During, ' Choralkunde,' 46). [A magnificat
and two madrigals are in vol. ii. of L' Arte
Masicale in Italia, and ' Al mormorar ' in
AusgewdJiltc Madrigale.~\ F. G.
GATES, Bern.aed. Second son of Bernard
Gates of Westminster, Gent. Born probably in
1685, is mentioned in 1702 as one of the Children
of the Chapel Royal ; was made a Gentleman
of the same in 1708 in place of John Howell,
who died July 15, and Master of the Choristers,