DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

KEELEY KEISER 561
Choke Collection of 300 Country Dances vol. Jflo
174s, London, ob. 8vo, as follows : —
Yorkshire Lad.
Another, even more like, is named '
The Dumb
"Waiter ' in Rutherford's collection, circa 1751 :
Dumb Waiter.
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fifeagi^
The above bears another name, ' The Dumb
Glutton,' in a later collection. ' Le Double
Entendre,' 1759 ;
' Smiling Polly, '1 763 ; 'Shamboy
Breeches '
;
' Charlie is at Edinburgh, ' are
other 18th-century dance airs stronglyresembling
the ' Keel Row.
KEELEY, Mes.
r. K.
(Mart Anne Gowakd),
was born at Ipswich, Nov. 22, 1805. Being
endowed with a pure soprano voice of remarkable
compass, she was apprenticed for seven
years to the well-known teacher of music, Mrs.
Smart (a sister-in-law of Sir George Smart and
mother of Henry Smart), under whom she made
her iirst appearance on the stage at Dublin in
1824. On July 2, 1825, she appeared in
London at the Lyceum, then under the manage-
ment of Arnold. The performance consisted
of ' The Beggar's Opera ' (with Thorne, Miss
Stephens, and Jliss Kelly), Shield's 'Rosina,'
and 'The Spoiled Child,' in which last two
pieces Miss Goward played. The event is thus
chronicled in the Times (July 4) :— ' Miss
Goward, the debutante, appeared as Rosina in
the opera of that title. She is j'oung, of a
slender figure, and with intelligent features.
Her voice is pretty, and after she had overcome
the first embarrassments of her entrance, she
went through the jjart very successfully. She
sang the songs in a simple manner, which
deserved the applause she received. It is
dangerous to prophesy at first appearances, but
w"e may, nevertheless, venture to say that this
young lady promises to make a very fine actress.
. . . Miss Goward played Little Pickle in the
"Spoiled Child" very well indeed.' In the
VOL. II
same season she sang Annetta in ' Der Freisohiitz
' with Braham and Miss Baton. On
April 12, 1826, on the production of Weber's
' Oberon ' at Covent Garden, she undertook the
small but important part of the Mermaid, the
musio of which had been previously tried by
Miss Love and Miss Hammersley, both of whom
declined to sing it owing to the difiiculty of
hearing the delicate orchestral accompaniments
at the back of the vast stage where the Mermaid
had to appear. 'Little Goward shall sing it,'
said Weber, and she overcame this obstacle, as
J. K. Blanche states (^Recollections and Reflec-
and
tions, vol. i. ) : 'She was even then artist
enough to be entrusted with anything, '
singing of the Mermaid's music earned
her
for her
the personal thanks of the composer. For the
next few years Miss Goward continued to sing
in English opera, but after her marriage with the
well-known comedian, Robert Keeley (which
took place on June 26, 1829), she devoted her
talents entirely to comedy, in which she was
one of the greatest artists of the English stage.
In the present work it would be out of place to
trace her dramatic career. Mrs. Keeley never
formally left the stage, but for many years took
the greatest interest in theatrical allairs, and
was loved and respected as the doyenne of the
profession. She died in London, March 12,
1899. w. B. s.
KEISER, Reinhaed, an eminent German
opera-composer, born 1673 (baptized Jan. 12,
1674), at Teuchern near Weissenfels, Leipzig.
He was grounded in music by his father, a
sound church composer, and afterwards attended
the Thomasschule of Leipzig, under Johann
Schelle, at the same time coming frequently
before the public at the many concerts renowned
even then for their excellence. In 1692 he
was commissioned to set a pastoral, ' Ismene,"
for the court of Brunswick, and its success procured
him the libretto of ' Basilius.' In 1694
he removed to Hamburg, and there remained
for forty years a favourite with the public.
' Irene ' (1697) was the first of a series of 116
operas composed for the Hamburg theatre, each
containing from 40 to 50 airs, besides operas in
collaboration with others, and sacred music.
Keiser was luxurious and self-indulgent, and
led an adventurous life, but without sacrificing
his love of art or his taste for intellectual
enjoyments. In 1700 he opened a series of
winter-concerts, which formed a remarkable
combination of intellectual and sensual gratifica-
tion ; the most accomplished virtuosi, the finest
and best-looking singers, a good orchestra, and
carefully selected programmes, furnishing the
former, and a banquet of choice viands and
wines the latter. In 1703 he assumed the
direction of the opera in conjunction with
Driisicke, but his partner absconded, and the
whole burden fell upon the shoulders of Keiser.
He proved equal to the emergency, for in one
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