Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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SGAMBATI SHAKE 433
the simplest means, to his complete command of
harmonic combinations of the subtlest kind, and
to the exquisite finish given to even the least of
his inspirations. With Sgambati device is rarely
evident. His figures of accompaniment are as
spontaneous as the melodies they sustain.
Certain
of his minor compositions, such as the
beautiful intermezzo in op. 21 and certain
numbers in his ' Pieces Lyriques ' (op. 23) and
in his 'Melodies po6tiques' (op. 36) may be
cited as exemplifying a level of artistic perfection
which in little descriptive pieces of the
kind has never, perhaps, been surpassed. His
more important pianoforte pieces, his chambermusic,
and his orchestral writings, taken together,
place him at the head of those Italian musicians
of the latter part of the 19th century, who,
not writing for the stage, have moulded their
work on classic models. Sgambati, in appropriating
received forms, has invested them with
southern feeling, deep but restrained, rich and
even glowing, but utterly free from the mereti'ioious
sentiment which served to win immediate
popularity for Italian composers of lesser claims.
His writings, in a word, possess the qualities
which endure.
His native city owes him a lasting debt as
its apostle of classical music, as teacher, performer,
and du-ector. His efforts have not gone
unrecognised in high places. His influence
has been felt and appreciated at the Italian
court, where he was appointed pianist and
director of Queen Margherita's quintet, and
named, by motu propria of King Victor
Emmanuel III. in 1903, Commendatore of the
Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus. But by
his countrymen at large it cannot be said
that Sgambati's talent has as yet been estimated
at its proper value. This, in a nation so
quick to recognise and even exaggerate any indication
of artistic eminence, is little short of
astounding. The omission may be explained
in part by a certain indifference in the musician
himself, though not sufliciently to account for
the slow awakening of Home and Italy to the
merits of a man who was honoured as a amfrire
by Liszt and Wagner. Yet it is certain, as
M. Eugene d'Harcourt wrote in 1906, after
he had been commissioned by the French
government to report on the state of music in
Italy, that 'quand la musique symphonique
italienne aura une histoire et qu'on I'&rira, il
faudra lui reconnaitre, pour v&itable fondateur,
le Eomain Giovanni Sgambati.']
Some of the works mentioned above are still
unprinted ; his published works include the
following :
Op.
1. AJbuin of five songfl.
2. Album of ten songe.
3. Nottumo for pf.
4. Quintet, pf. and strings, F minor.
5. Quintet, pf. and strings, B flat.
6. Prelurie and fugue for pf. in E flat minor.
10. Two Etudes for pf., D flat and P sharp minor, written for the
Method of Lebert and Stark, Stuttgart.
VOL. rv
Op.
12. FogU Tolajiti for pf., S pieces.
14. Gavotte for pf. Easy edition arranged by author.
15. Concerto, pf. and orchestra, in G minor,
16. Symphony in D.
17. Quartet in D flat for strings.
18. Quattro pezzi for pf. Freludio, Vecchio mlnuetto, Ifeuia,
Toccata.
19. Four Italian songs.
20. Tre Nottumi for pf
21. Suite for pf . (Prelude, Valse, Air, Intermezzo, Etude mdlodique).
22. Fassiflore, voice and pf.
2."*. Piftces Lyriques (6) for pf.
24. Due Pezzi for violin and piano.
28. Te Deum landamue, andante solenne, for strings and organ.
The same for full orchestra.
29. Goudoliera for violin and piano.
30. Benedizione nuziale for organ.
31. Fifth Nocturne for pf.
32. Melodie Liriche, four songa.
33. Sixth Nocturne for pf.
34. ' Versa eat in luctum cythara mea.' Motet for baritone, oi-gan,
ajid strings (included in opus 38).
35. Quattro melodie per una voce e pf.
36. Melodies po^tiques (12J for pf.
37. 'Tout has,' Melodia per canto.
38. Messa da Bequlem per coro, baritone solo, orchestra ed orgajio
(od lib,].
[The following are without opus nuiaber.]
Serenata, per canto e pianoforte.
Ballata, per teuore.
Sbjmello toscano, per una voce e pianoforte.
Bomanza senza painle, pL
' II faut aimer,' Gavotte chant^e.
La mia Stella, Melodia.
Melodie Liriclie (flve, and a duet).
Two songs
1. Fior di siepe.
2. Fuori di porta.
TRANBCRlpnoNa.
Liszt. Die Ideale, pf. four hands.
Chopin. Canzone Utiuina, pf. solo.
Gluclc. Melodia deU' Orfeo, pf. solo.
'
Separazione,' old Iti^an folk-song (edited and provided with
accompaniment by G. Sgambati).
G. ; with additions in square brackets, by
H. A, w.
SHAKE or TRILL (Fr. Trille, formerly
Tremblement, Cadeiice ; Ger. Triller ; Ital.
Trillo). The shake, one of the earliest in use
among the ancient graces, is also the chief and
most frequent ornament of modern music, both
vocal and instrumental. It consists of the
regular and rapid alternation of a given note
with the note above, such alternation continuing
for the full duration of the written note. [On
other instruments and on the voice, this definition
of the shake holds good ; text -books
and methods will give examples of how the
shake should be performed, but it is originally
one of the ornaments designed for the keyboard,
and most effective there.]
The shake is the head of a family of ornaments,
all founded on the alternation of a
principal note with a subsidiary note one degree
either above or below it, and comprising the
MoKDBNT and Pbailteillee still in use, and
the EiBATTUTA (Ger. Zuriickschlag) and Battement
' (Ex. 1), both of which are now obsolete.
(See Agk:^mbns.)
1. BaMemAnt.
$ f#:rrrrr g
Mbattuta,
1 RouBseau {Diet, de Musipie) deHcribea the BaUemcnt as a trill
which diffei'ed fi'om the ordinary trill or cadence only in beginning
with the principal instead of the subsidiary note. In this he is
certainly mistaken, since the hattenumt is described by all other
writers as an alternation of the principal note with the note beloiv.
2 F