Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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SIEMEN SISTINE CHOIR 473
'
Judas Macoabseus ' at Covent Garden, and on
the 20th between the firat and second parts of
the ' Messiah. ' Her ' Benefit Concert, ' under
the direction of Messrs. Bach and Abel, took
place at Almack's on April 15, Guadagni,
Wendling, Fischer, and other celebrated artists
of the day assisted her ; but Madame Sirmen,
either for a whim, or by request, abandoned
for this occasion the instrument on which she
excelled, and, according to the advertisement in
the P%tblio Advertiser of that date, played ' A
Concerto on the Harpsichord.' In the month
of May her services as violinist were in constant
requisition. She repeated her triumphs at the
King's Theatre, and, besides playing her violin
concertos, contributed some violin obbligati to
the songs of the principal vocalists. The Public
Advertiser of May 28, 1771, announces 'The
celebrated Signora Sii'men on the violin, being
her last perfonnance this Season. ' The following
year the gifted lady returned to London, and
took up her abode in Half Moon Street, Picca-,
dilly. The high reputation she had established
for herself ensured her a welcome on her second
arrival, and her services were more than ever
sought after. She appeared at nearly all the
Lenten Oratorio Concerts at Covent Garden,
playing violin concertos between the parts. On
March 26, 1772, she had another benefit concert,
and on April 1 she introduced a new violin
concerto by the eminent violoncellist Signer
Cirri, after the second part of Handel's 'Messiah'
at Covent Garden. Her final 'appearance in
England is so announced in the Public Advertiser
of April 10, at the newly organised Concert
'
Spirituel' held in thesame building. Apparently
this was not only Signora Sirmen's last performance
in England, but it was the end of her
brilliant career as a violinist. Whether she
was unable to sustain the high reputation she
had achieved, or whether she was drawn away
from her original bent by the dazzling example
of Miss Schmeling (afterwards Madame Mara),
can only be surmised. In any case she came to
London again in 1774, and according to Dr.
Burney ' her last visit to the metropolis was in
the capacity of a singer, in which her success
was questionable. 'In " Sofonisba " and "The
Cid"'—runs the note— 'Madame Syrmen, the
scholar of Tartini who was justly admired for
her polished and expressive manner of playing
the violin, appeared as a singer in the second
woman, but having been first woman so long
upon her instrument, she degraded herself by
assuming a character in which, though not
destitute of voice and taste, she laid no claim to
superiority.' After this unfortunate attempt
the erstwhile distinguished violinist drifted to
the Continent again, and in 1 782 she was singing
secondary parts at the Court Theatre in Dresden.
In May 1785 she made her last recorded appearance
as a violinist at a Concert Spirituel in
' nint. Mus. vol. iii. p. 500.
Paris, but without success, by reason, according
to the Mercure de France, of the old-iashioned
and worn-out music that she played. The
fulfilment of the brilliant promise of Signora
Sirmen's early career appears to have been
arrested after her two brief seasons in London,
and for this reason she is chiefly remembered,
not so much as a violinist, but as the recipient
of Tartini's notable letter.
Her compositions comprise :
1. Six trios fi deux Violoiis et Violoncelle obligd. (Buvre Premier
(Welclcer and Genaud, Soho). 2. Six Qujirtettee tL deux Violons, Alto
et Baaae (written in conjunction witli herLusbaud). Bei^ult, Faria
(1769), also Longman & Broderip, Londou. 3. Six duet« for two
violins (dedicated to the Duke of Gloucester). William Napier,
London. 4. Sixconcertosforyiolin withanaccompaniment fortwo
violins, Alto, Bass, Hautboy, and two horns. Hummel, Anisterdaui.
5. Six Senates & deux Violons. Humjnel, Aiusterdam. In the
Berlin Bibliothek a copv of these Sonatas is embellished with
a picture of Maddalena Sirmeu. 6. Six Concertos adapted for
the Harpsichord by Signer Giordani. London, 1789, Longman &
Broderip, Cbeapside, and No. 3 Haymarket. J. A. Hiller mentions
a Concerto which was published in Venice.
Burney, History of Music, The Present State of
Music in Italy ;
Castil-Blaze, L'Op&ra Italien ;
Choron and Eayolle, Dictionnaire PTistorique
des Musiciens ;
Mercure de France, Sept. 1768 ;
Public Advertiser, 1771, 1772 ;
Fetis, Biog.
des Mus., Quellen-Lexikon. o. R. and E. H-A.
SISTINE CHOIR (Ital. II Collegio dei Cappellani
Canton delta Cappella Pontijicia), A
Collegiate Body, consisting of thirty-two Choral
Chaplains, domiciled—though not in any special
buildings of their own—at Rome, where, for
many centuries, they have enjoyed the exclusive
privilege of singing at all those solemn services
and ecclesiastical functions in which the Pope
oiEciates in person.
The genealogy of the Papal Choir may be
traced back to a period of very remote antiquity.
It is said—and the tradition is worthy of credit
—that a school for the education of choristers
was founded in Rome early in the 4th century
by S. Sylvester, whose Pontificate lasted from
the year 314 to 335. That S. Hilarius (461-
468) established one, not much more than a
century later, is certain. These institutions,
after the lapse of another hundred years, were
supplemented by new ones on a larger scale.
On the destruction of the monastery of Monte
Cassino, by the Lombards, in the year 580,
the Benedictine Fathers fled to Rome ; and,
under the protection of Pope Pelagius II. (577-
590), established themselves in a new home,
near the Lateran Basilica, where they openeci
schools for the preparation of candidates for
holy orders. S. Gregory the Great (590-604)
took advantage of this circumstance while
working out his system of reform, and turned
the seminaries to account as schools of singing.
Under his care they prospered exceedingly,
and in process of time attained proportions
which enabled them to supply the various
Basilicas with singers, who assembled on the
greater festivals, and attended the Popewherever
he ofiiciated. And thus arose the practice to
which the Church was eventually indebted for
the magnificent services of the Sistine Chapel.