DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

404 HILLER HILTON
Hiller established the German 'Singspiel' as a
separate branch of art. He took for his basis
the simple 'Lied,' a form which brought it
within the capacities of the company, who
were by no means trained singers ; but within
these narrow limits he developed a variety of
invention and expression, a delicacy and
precision of character, which at once secured
universal approval, and have sufficed to maintain
this class of piece to the present day. He
enlarged both the form and substance of the
' Lied ' proper, by departing from the simple
strophe, and giving to thesongs a specificdramatic
colouring in accordance with the cliaracter. He
also introduced 'niorceauxd'ensemble, 'and traces
are not wanting of the beginnings even of the
dramatic 'scena.' Of these ' Singspiele ' Hiller
composed fourteen, each containing thirty
numbers of this ' lied '-like character. The best
known are ' Lisuart
'
' Lottchen am Hofe
und Dariolette ' (1768),
(1769), ' Liebe auf dem
' Lande (1769), ' Dorfbarbier '
(1771), and especially
' Die Jagd '(1771), which has kept the stage
for more than a century, and is even still per-
formed. He also wrote a quantity of sacred songs
' and Lieder,' which had their share in bringing
to perfection tliis style of composition— so significant
a contrast to the Italian 'aria.' Having
been induced to accompany his pupils, the two
Fraulein Podleska, to the court of the Duke of
Courland at Mittau, in 1782 Hiller made so
favourable an impression, that on his departure
in 1784, he was appointed Hofcapellmeister,
with a salary. He resigned his post at the
' ' Gewandhaus concerts in 1785, and in 1789 his
many services to the cause of music were recompensed
by the appointment as Cantor andmusical
director to the Thomasschule in Leipzig. He was
at first appointed as deputy to Doles, and succeeded
to the post after the latter's death in 1 797.
This post he held till 1801, and his death took
place on .Tune 16, 1804, after much trouble from
the old hypochondria. As composer, conductor,
teacher, and author. Killer's industry was inde-
fatigable. His instrumental compositions are
now quite antiquated, but not so his vocal works.
These consist chiefly of motets and the ' Singspiele
' already named ; but the following must
not be omitted:—
' Choralmelodien zu Gellerts
geistliuhen Odenund Liedern' (1761) ; 'Weisse's
Lieder fiir Kinder ' (1769) ;
' 50 geistliche Lieder
fiir Kinder' (1774); and ' Vierstimmige Chor-
arien' (1794). Ofhis larger works may be cited,
a 'Passions-cantata,' and a 100th Psalm, both
much prized by his contemporaries. Hiller also
composed a C'horaMuch (1793), with two apiiendices
(1794 and 1797), largely used in his day,
though since widely condemned. It should he
remembered that he lived in a time of general
softness and relaxation, when all music took its
tone from Italian opera. Hasse and Graun were
the models of his taste, whom he revered all
his life. But he was by no means insensible to
the influence of the great renovation of music
originated by Haydn and Mozart, and was powerfully
impressed by Handel, while for Bach and
Gluck he entertained a bare outward respect, with
no real sympathy. He had deej)ly imbibed the
spirit of that insipid and shallow age, which
being entirely without feeling for historical pro-
priety, permitted arbitrary changes in the treatment
of older works, which in our day of historical
enlightenment seem as astounding as they are
impertinent. This is very remarkable in Hiller's
careful editions of classical works. Thus he
introduced many alterations of his own into a
under the
German edition of Handel's ' Jubilate '
arranged Pergolesi's
title of the|100thPsalm : and
two-part ' Stabat Mater' for a four-part choir.
He also edited Hasse's ' Pilgrinime auf Golgatha,'
Graun's ' Tod Jesu,' and Haydn's ' Stabat Mater'
with German words, and in an abridged form
for pianoforte. Still much praise is due to him
for his frequent performances of oratorios, chiefly
those of Handel. The ' Messiah ' especially was
given at Berlin, Breslau, Leipzig, and other
places, with nearly as much eclat as at the great
English festivals. As an author Hiller was
painstaking and prolific. [His first important
book seems to have been Abhandlung von der
Nachahmung der Natur in der Musik, 1753.]
Besides several single articles in periodicals he
edited a weekly papier, Wochenlliche Nachrichten
und Anmerkungen die Mnsik bctreffend (1766-
1770). He had always given gi-eat attention to
the cultivation of singing, and two instruction
books of that kind Anweisung :>im musikalisch-richtigen
Gesange (1774), and Amvdsung
zum Musikalisch zicrlichen Gesange (1780), are
among the most valuable ofhis works. He also
published a good method for violin. He edited
Lebensbeschreihungen beruhmter Musikgelehrten
imd Tonkiinstler (1 vol. 1784), with his autobiography.
Two of his collections also deserve
mention Musikalische Zeitvertreib (1760), of
German and Italian airs, duets, etc., and 'Vierstimmige
Motetten,' etc. (6 vols. 4to, 1776-91),
containing motets by many celebrated composers
—a work of real value. [For complete list of his
works, both musical and literary, see the QudJen-
Ixxikon.'] His grateful pupils, the sisters Pod-
leska, erected in 18.32 a small monument to
his memory on the Promenade at Leipzig, before
the windows of his official residence at the
Thomasschule, and close to Mendelssohn's Bach
memorial. A. M.
HILTON, John (1), contributed a five-part
madrigal, ' Fair Oriana, Beauty's Queen,' to the
' Triumphs of Oriana,' 1601. He is there called
' Batcheler of Musick, ' very likely correctly,
though no record exists of his having taken his
degree. He may probably be identified with John
Hilton, a counter-tenor in Lincoln Cathedral
Choir, first mentioned in 1584. The Lincoln
Chapter gave him 30s. (Jan. 21, 1593), for
helping to prepare two Comedies to be acted by