Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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'
SEQUENTIA SEEAPHIN 417
it is called by medisEval writers, ' The Golden
Sequence.
3. For the festival of Corpus Christi, S.
Thomas Aquinas wrote the celebrated sequence,
'
Lauda Sion, ' which is generally believed to
date from about the year 1261.
4. To Innocent III. is also attributed the
'
Stabat Mater,' sung since 1727 on the Feasts
'
of the Seven Dolours of Our Lady ' (the Friday
in Passion Week, and the third Sunday in
September). The authorship, however, has
not been certainly ascertained ; and many are
inclined to attribute it to Jacobus de Benedictis
(Jacopone). (See Stabat Mater.)
5. Even more celebrated than any of these
is the Dies ' irae ' written, during the latter half
of the 12th century or beginning of the 13th
century, by Thomas of Celano, and sung in
the Requiem, ' ' or Mass for the Dead. In the
triple stanzas of this wonderful poem the
rhymed Latin of the Middle Ages attained its
highest perfection ; and, though the Stabat
'
Mater ' is frequently said to be second only to
it in beauty, the distance between the two is
very great.
The plain-chant melodies of sequences differ
from hymn melodies in their structure. The
ancient jubilus was divided into sections, each
of which was sung twice, and consequently a
sequence melody properly consists of a series
of phrsises each of which is repeated. Similarly
a sequence is a series of verses each dual in
structure and consisting of strophe and antisti'ophe.
They may be represented by the
formida aa! : hV : cd, etc. In the early rhythmical
proses a, h, c, etc., are usually unlike one
another ; in the later metrical proses for the
most part the same scheme runs throughout
the words though the music varies. The ' Dies
irae ' is irregular and does not conform to the
usual type, because it was not originally a
sequence at all. All of these, and other
sequences besides, are found in use in whole
or in part in Anglican services. For ' Dies irae
see ffymiis Ancietit mid Modem (new edition),
302, English Hymnal, 351; 'Lauda Sion,'
'
E. H. 317 ; Stabat Mater,' fi; A. and M., 132,
B. H. 115, in part
'
; Veni sancti Splritus,' H. A.
aiid M. 184, E. S. 155 ; 'Victimae paschali,'
E. H. 130. Compare an early French rhythmical
prose 'Salus Aeterna,' E. H. 10,- and contrast
it with a late metrical sequence such as Sponsa
'
Christi,' H. A. atid M. 245, E. H. 253, both as
regards text and melody.
In addition to these plain -song melodies,
we possess innumerable settings of all the
sequences now in use, by the great masters of
the Polyphonic School ; and many by the
classical composers of the 18th and 19th centuries.
For these see Dies Irae ; Lauba Sion ;
Stabat Mater ; Veni Sancte Spiritus ; and
Victimae Paschali. w. s. r. ; revised by
w. H. r.
VOL. IV
SERAGLIO, THE. (i.) The English title
of an adaptation (produced 1827) of Mozart's
Entfuhrung aus DEM Serail. See vol. i.
p. 784.
(ii.) An opera by Charles Dibdin under this
title was produced at Covent Garden, Nov. 14,
1776. Dibdin being then in France, Dr. Arnold,
composer to the theatre, had some share in the
musical part of it, but it contains Dibdin's fine
song Blow ' high, blow low ' sung in the opera
by Reinhold, and afterwards introduced by
Bannister into Arne's opera 'Thomas and Sally.'
The opera had very little success, but both
libretto and the music were published. Harris
the Covent Garden manager had altered the
piece considerably for acting purposes. r. K.
SERAPHIN, Sanctus (or Santo Seraein)
and Giorgio (uncle and nephew), two celebrated
violin - makers of Venice. The uncle, as his
label infoi'ms us ('Sanctus Seraphin Utinensis
fecit Venetiis '),
was originally of Udine, a town
in the Venetian territory towards the mountains
of Carinthia, and probably of Jewish extraction.
His violins date from about 1710 to 1740.
The nephew, if we may judge from the style of
his instruments, worked with the uncle many
years, and appears to have succeeded him in the
business. The instruments of Sanctus Seraphin
occupy a middle place between the Italian and
the Tyrolese school. As far as external appearance
goes, the maker seems to vacillate between
the model of Stainer and that of Nicholas Amati.
But in the essential particulars of the art, in
the selection of wood of the finest and most
sonorous quality, in the proper calculation of
the proportions, and the solidity and finish of
the parts, he worked on the principles of the
Cremona makers. Few equalled him as a workman.
Those who wish to see how far mechanical
perfection can be carried should examine Seraphin's
purfling with a magnifying glass. In
Seraphin's earlier years the Stainer character
predominates in his instruments ; in his later
years he leaned to the Amati model. His instruments
are famous for their perfect finish
(reminding forcibly of the style of Stradivarius),
their remarkably lustrous deep red varnish, and
fine mellow tone.
[The period of Sanctus Seraphin's activity
extends from about 1678 to 1735. He worked
in Udine for nearly twenty years, and during
that time he employed an engraved label of
large dimensions which
'
runs : Sanctus Seraphinus
Nicolai Amati Cremonensis AUumnus
'
faciebat : Udine A. 1 6 : It is worthy of
note that the dates on Seraphin's labels are in
accordance with the rest of his work, neatly
wiitten in, and not bungled, as is frequently
the case with his contemporaries. The Venetian
label quoted at the beginning of this article is
larger than any label to be found in a Cremona
instrument. The legend on Seraphin's ticket
is framed by a design composed on three sidea
2 £