DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

HERCULES HlilROLD 385
Amoris,' Nuremberg, 1613, containing twelve
German madrigals, a live, and two Latin
age. A list of the earliest extant editions of his
works is given in the Quellen-Lexikon.
HERMANN, Mathias. See "Werre-
CORENSIS.
HERODIADE. Opera in fouracts, libretto by
Paul Milliet and Henri Gremont, music by Jules
Massenet. Produced at the Theatre de la
Monnaie, Brussels, Dec. 19, 1881 ; in an Italian
version by A. Zanardini, at the Scala, Milan,
Feb. 23, 18S2 ; and at the Theatre des Nations
(now the Theatre Sarah-Bernhardt), Paris, Feb.
1, 1884 ; and, with certain alterations insisted
on V>y the censorship, as ' Salome ' at Covent
Garden, July 6, 1904. A. c.
HEROLD, Louis Joseph Ferdinand, born
in Paris, "Wednesday, Jan. 28, 1791, at 30 Rue
des Vieux Augustins, now 10 Rue d'Argout
only child of Francois Joseph Hi^rold (1755-
1802) an able pianist of the school of Emanuel
Bach. Louis's gifts for music were soon apparent.
He was educated at the Institution Hix, where
he distinguished himself, and at the same time
Vr'orked at solfege under Fetis, and the pianoforte
under his godfather Louis Adam, father of
Adolphe. Inl806 he entered the Conservatoire,
where he obtained the first piano prize, studied
harmony under Catel, and composition under
Mehul, whom he alwaysheld in greatadmiration,
and at length, in 1812, carried off the 'Grand
VOL. II
prix de Rome ' for his cantata ' Mile, de la
Valliere, ' the unpublished score of which is in
the library of the Conservatoire, together with
texts,
1620,
a 6 ;
20 «
' Meletemata Sacra,' Nuremberg,
3 and 1 a 6. Besides several
occasional compositions, he also contributed
twenty-five settings, a. 5, to Erhardi's Harmonisches
Chor und Figurahj*:sangbuck, Frankfort,
1659, five of which reappear in Schoberlein's
ScluUz dcs liturijisrjieii Cliorgesangcs, 1872, and
show him to be a good harmonist. In Eitner's
Monatshefte fiir Jfiis. Jf'iss. 1900 (Anhang),
'W, Nagel has printed in score a previously
unknown MS. composition by Herbst, ' Symphonia
gratulatoria, Beatua Vir, ' a 5, with
basso continuo. j. r. m.
HERCULES, by Handel ; the words by Rev.
Thos. Broughtou ; composed between July 19
and August 17, 1744. Announced as a ' musical
drama ' performed and published as ; an ' his envois de Rome. These are, a
torio.' First given at the King's
ora-
Theatre,
Haymarket, Jan. 5, 1745 ; at the Lower Rhine
Festival, Diisseldorf, May 17, 1875 ; and by
H. Leslie, June 8, 1877.
HEREFORD FESTIVAL. See
o.
Three
Choirs.
HERMAN, Nicolas(Heermann), bornabout
1485, cantor at Joachimsthal in Bohemia about
the middle of the 16 th century, and esteemed
also as versifier ; he died May 3, 1561. There
are chorales extant, of which both words and
music are by him, e.g. * Erschienen ist der
'
' herrlich Tag and Lobt Gott, ihr Christen alle
gleich.' For tonality and clear rhythm his
chorales sound more modern than most of his
' Hymne i
' 4 voix sur la Transfiguration with orchestra ;
a Symphony in C (Rome, April 1813) ; a second,
' in D (May) ; Scena ed Aria con cori ' (June) ;
and three Quartets, in D, C, and G minor (July
1814), all written at Naples. These works,
which are not given correctly in anj- previous
biography, are short, but contain many interesting
ideas ; the only one performed in public was
the second Symphony, which is b}' no means a
' youthful indiscretion.' The quatuors also contain
much that might even now be heard with
pleasure ; and altogether tliese envois de Rome
show that Herold would have shone in symphony
if he had adhered to that branch of composition.
The stage, however, possesses an irresistible
attraction for a man gifted with ardent imagination
and capacity for expressing emotion. It was
natural that he should wish to make his debut
as a dramatic composer at Naples, where he was
pianist to Queen Caroline, and where he led a
happy life, in good relations with the court and
society. AVith Landriani's assistance he compiled
' a libretto from Duval's comedy La jeunesse de
Henri V.,' and the opera was a success. The
libretto was printed (Naples, 1 S 1 5) anonymously
but the music remains in MS.
Shortly after this he left Italy, and made a
stay of some months at Vienna on his way home.
On his return to Paris he at once tried to procure
a good opera-book, but might have waited
long for an ojiportunity of coming before the
public, if Boieldieu had not asked him to write
the latter half of ' Charles de France,' an opira
de circonstam:e produced June 18, 1816. This
led to his obtaining the libretto of 'Les Rosieres,
three acts (Jan. 27, 1817), which was a complete
success. ' La Clochette, ' three acts (Oct. 18 of
the same year), was full of new and fresh ideas ;
voila' soon became popular,
the charming air ' Me
while those competent to judge were struck by
the advance in knowledge of the stage, and the
originality of instrumentation which it displayed.
His industry and fertility were further proved
by ' '
Le premier venu (1818), ' Les Troqueurs '
(1819), 'L' Amour platonique ' (1819), and
' L'Auteur mort et vivant' (1820) ; but unfortunately
he accepted librettos that were neither
interesting nor adapted for music. * LeMuletier
(May 12, 1823), however, is full of life and colour,
and assured his reputa,tion with all who were
competent to judge. After the success of this
lively little piece it is difiicult to understand how
a man of literary tastes and culture could have
undertaken dramas so tame and uninteresting
as ' L'asthenie ' (Sept. 1823), and ' Le Lapin
blanc ' (1825). The fever of production which
consumes all composers of genius, afl'ords the
only possible explanation. In fact, rather than remain
idle he undertook any employment however
2c