Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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452 SIGURD SILBERMANN
an English opera, Mtocris ' ' ;
overture
called Alia breve, and two minim beats in
Musical Notation,and an Essay on a new method
^ The Organ, its Hittorp and Conttruction, London, 1870.
of Harmony—^both unpublished. He has still 2 Gottfriad Silbermann. Langenaalza, 1857.
Alia Cappella. Some Gennan vpriters once
in MS.
and incidental music to Fanchette ' ' ; a musical
used the doubled Semicircle, barred (CD) comedietta, Love's Dilemma
for Alia breve— ' ; a Cantata ;
an
which they called the Orosse 'AveVerum'; two 'OSalutaris' ; a Symphony
Allabrevetakt, and the ordinary single form, in C major ; and other compositions. The list
barred, for Alia Cappella Kleine Allairevetakt of his published instrumental works is very
but this distinction has long since fallen into large, and includes many PF. pieces, among
disuse.
which the best known are Gavotte in E minor,
The Circle is no longer used ; all other forms Bourrfe in G minor, 'Malvina' (romance),
of rhythm than those already mentioned being Suite in A minor, op. 103, Six Duets, etc. etc.
distinguished by fractions, the denominators Mr. Silas was for many years a teacher of
of which refer to the aliquot parts of a semibreve,
harmony at the Guildhall School of Music and
and the numerators, to the number of the London Academy of Music. G.
2 3 SILBERMANN. A family of organ-builders,
them contained in a bar, as ^ (=^), | (=(=)>
clavichord and pianoforte makers, of Saxon
ete. And even in this we only follow the origin, of whom the most renowned were
mediasval custom, which used the fraction g to
Andreas, who built the Strasburg Cathedral
organ, and Gottfried, who built the organs of
denote Triple Time, with three minims in a bar, Freiberg and Dresden, and was the first to construct
the pianoforte in Germany. Authorities
exactly as we denote it at the present day.
,
A complete list of all the fractions now used diSer as to whether Andreas and Gottfried were
as time-signatures will be found in the article brothers, or uncle and nephew. Following
Time, together with a detailed explanation of Gerber's Lexicon they were sous of Michael
tlie peculiarities of each. w. s. E. Silbermann, a carpenter at Kleinbobritzsch,
SIGURD. Opera in five acts ; text by Dulocle near Frauenstein in Saxony, where Andreas
and A. Blau, music by Ernest Eeyer. Produced was bom May 16, 1678. He was brought up
at Brussels, Jan. 7, 1884 ; at Covent Garden, to his father's craft, and travelled, according to
July 15 of the same year, and at the Grand the custom of the country, in 1700. He learnt
Opera, Paris, June 12, 1885.
organ-building, and in 1703 we find him settled
SILAS, ilDOUARD, pianist and composer, was in that vocation at Strasburg. According to
l.orn at Amsterdam, August 22, 1827. His first Hopkins and Rimbault ' he built the Strasburg
teacher was Neher, one of the Court orchestra organ—his greatest work of 29 recorded by
at Mannheim. He first appeared in public them—in 1714-16. He had ninesons, ofwhom
at Amsterdam in 1837 ; he studied the piano three were organ-builders, and after the father's
in 1839 with Lacombe, and in 1842 he was death, March 16, 1734, carried on the business
placed under Kalkbrenner at Paris, and soon in common. Of the three, Johann Andreas,
afterwards entered the Conservatoire under the eldest (bom June 26, 1712, died Feb. 11,
Benoist for the organ and Halevy for composition,
1783), built the Predigerkirche organ at Stras-
and in 1849 obtained the first prize for burg and that of the Abbey of St. Blaise in the
the former. In 1850 he came to England
; Black Forest. In all he built fifty-four organs,
played first at Liverpool, and made his first in addition to writing a histoiy of the city of
appearance in London at the Musical Union, Strasburg, published 1775. His son, Johann
May 21. From that date Mr. Silas was established
Josias (died June 3, 1786), was a musical
in London as teacher, and as organist instrument maker. The next son of Andreas,
of the Catholic Chapel at Kingston-on-Thames. Johann Daniel, born March 31, 1717, died
His oratorio 'Joash' (words compiled by G. May 6, 1766, in Leipzig, was employed by his
Linley) was produced at the Norwich Festival uncle Gottfried, and was intrusted after his
of 1863. A Symphony in A (op. 19) was uncle's death with the completion of the famous
produced by the Musical Society of London, organ (in the Hofkirche) in Dresden. Mooser,^
April 22, 1863 ; repeated at the Crystal Palace, however, who claims to follow good authorities,
Feb. 20, 1864 ; and afterwards published. A attributes the completion of this instrument to
Concerto for PF. and orchestra in D minor is Zaoharias Hildebrand. Be this as it may,
also published. A Fantasia and an El^gie, Johann Daniel remained at Dresden, a keyedinstrument
maker, and constructor of ingenious
both for PF. and orchestra, were given at the
Crystal Palace in 1865 and 1873. Three barrel-organs. A composition of his is preserved
Mythological Pieces for orchestra were played in Marpurg's ' Racoolta ' (1757). Johann Heinrich,
at a Philharmonic Concert in 1888. In
the youngest son of Andreas, born Sept. 24,
1866 he received the prize of the Belgian competition
1727, died at Strasburg, Jan. 15, 1799. His
for sacred music for his Mass for four pianofortes were well known in Paris ; he made
voices and organ.
them with organ pedals, and constructed a harpsichord
Mr. Silas is the author of a Treatise on
of which the longest strings were of