DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

514 ISRAEL IN EGYPT ISRAEL IN EGYPT
able skill in disposing his voices so as to obtain
the utmost ett'ect. Instances of this are—the
quintet in ' Michel- Ange,' quite Italian in its
form ; the ensemble and trio in the ' Rendez-
'
vous bourgeois ; the quartet in tlie second act
of ' ' Joconde ; the trio in the same opera, and
that of the three sisters in ' Cendrillon ' ; the
tinale in the ' Intrigue aux fenetres ' ; the trio
and the duet in ' Jeannot et Colin,' and many
others. To these qualities must be added the
originality and unadorned simplicity of his
music, which gave it a kind of troubadour
character. His later works, composed when
Boieldieu was running him hard, are manifestly
superior to the earlier ones, when he had no
competitor. 'Joconde,' the favourite romance
in which will never be forgotten, far surpasses
'Cendrillon,' though inferior to 'Jeannot and
Colin,' which for tinish, taste, sentiment, and
charm of style will always be appreciated by
musicians.
Another of Isouard's good points is that his
comedy never degenerates into vulgarity. In
Boileau's words, this composer
Distingua le naif du plat et du buffon.
He strictly observed the proprieties of the stage,
and thoroughly understood the French public.
In Ills own way he continued Gretry's work,
but being no originator was eclijjsed by Boieldieu
and afterwards by Auber. The successes
of his rival provoked him beyond control, and
when Boieldieu was elected by the lustitut in
1817 to succeed Mehul in preference to himself,
his mortification was extreme. It was, perhaps,
to drown the remembrance of this defeat, and
of the triumphs of his opponent, that, although
a married man, he plunged into a course of
dissipation which ruined his health andbrouglit
ou consumption, from which he died in Paris,
March 23, 1818.
There is no biography of Isouard, nor indeed
any sketch at all adequate. Several portraits
have been published, but are of no artistic merit.
From one of them was executed in 1853 the
marble bust now in the foyer of the Opera
Comique.
Isouard is little known in England. The
only two of his pieces which appear to have been
brought out on the London stage are ' Les
Rendez-vous bourgeois ' (St. James's, May 14,
1849), and 'Joconde,' English version by Mr.
Santley (Lyceum, Oct. 25, 1876). G. c.
ISRAEL IN EGYPT. The fifth of Handel's
nineteen English oratorios. The present second
part was composed first. The autograph of it
is headed ' Moses song. Exodus Chap. 1 5.
Introitus. Angefangen, Oct. 1, 1738,' and at
the end ' Fine Octob''^
voUig geendet. ' The
11, 1738, den 1 Novembr.
present first part is headed
'15 Octob"-. 1738. Act y^ 2'!.' Three pages
were written and erased ; and on the fourth
page begins the present opening recitative.
headed 'Part y" 2 of Exodus.' At the end of
the Chorus ' And believed ' stands ' Fine della.
Parte 2da d'Exodus. {'^TX^.H.) 1738.
The autograph is in the Royal Library at Buckingham
Palace, and the two parts are bound in
their present order, not in that of composition.
The title ' Israel in Egypt ' appears in the
announcements of the first performance, which
was on April 4, 1739. On April 11 it was
performed again 'with alterations and additions.'
Elsewhere it is announced that ' the Oratorio
will be shortened and intermixed with songs '
four in number, all sung by Francesina. (See
Rockstro, G. t. Handel, p. 220.) It was given
a third time, April 1, 1740, with the Funeral
Anthem as a first part, under the name of the
' Lamentation of the Israelites for the Death
of Joseph.
Dr. Chrysander suggested that the adaptation
of the Funeral Anthem as an introduction
followed immediately on the completion of
Moses' Song, and that ' Act y^ 2* ' followed on
that adaptation ; and it is diflicult to resist the
conclusion that he was right, though beyond
the addition of a
the words ' Act y" 2"^ ' and
short overture to the Funeral Anthem there is
no positive evidence. The use of the word
' Act ' prevents
our taking ' Act the 2