Charles Dickens and Music Part 17

BID ME DISCOURSE (_S.B.T._ 4)

Words adapted from Shakespeare's _Venus and Adonis_.

_H.R. Bishop._

BIRD WALTZ (_D. & S._ 29, 38) _Panormo._

A very popular piano piece of the pre-Victorian period.

BLACK-EYED SUSAN (_A.N._), OR ALL IN THE DOWNS (_P.P._ 3)

Words by _John Gay_. _R. Leveridge._

This song was printed in sheet form previous to 1730, in which year it appeared in Watts' _Musical Miscellany_, Vol. IV., and was also inserted about that time in several ballad operas.

BOLD TURPIN VUNCE (_P.P._ 43)

Mr. Frank Kidson has pointed out that Sam Weller's song is founded upon a ballad ent.i.tled 'Turpin and the Bishop,' which appears in _Gaieties and Gravities_, by one of the authors of _Rejected Addresses_. The author is said to be Horatio Smith. There is a good four-part setting of the words by Sir F. Bridge.

BRAVE LODGINGS FOR ONE (_P.P._ 29)

Original.

BRITISH GRENADIERS (_B.H._ 49)

The tune as we know it now is the growth of centuries, the foundation probably being a tune in _The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book_. The Grenadiers were founded in 1678. The second verse refers to 'hand grenades,' and the regiment ceased to use these in the reign of Queen Anne. The author is unknown.

BRITONS, STRIKE HOME (_S.L._)

The well-known song in Purcell's _Bonduca_ gave its name to an opera by Charles Dibdin, published in 1803. This work probably suggested the phrase to d.i.c.kens. It was written with a view to arousing a patriotic feeling. The following verse occurs in the work:

When Dryden wrote and Purcell sung Britons, strike home, The patriot-sounds re-echoing rung The vaulted dome.

BUFFALO GALS (_Letters_)

See p. 10.

BY THE SAD SEA WAVES (_Letters_) _Julius Benedict._

A once popular song from the opera _The Brides of Venice_.

CHEER, BOYS, CHEER (_U.T._ 29)

Words by _Charles Mackay_. _Henry Russell._

Cheer! boys, cheer! no more of idle sorrow-- Courage! true hearts shall bear us on our way, Hope points before, and shows the bright to-morrow, Let us forget the darkness of to-day.

One of Russell's most popular songs. He sold the copyright for 3, and shortly afterwards learnt that the publisher had to keep thirty-nine presses at work on it night and day to meet the demand.

COPENHAGEN WALTZ (_D. & S._ 7)

Also known as the _Danish Waltz_.

DEAD MARCH.

From the oratorio _Saul_. _Handel._

See p. 61.

DEATH OF NELSON (_D.C._ 52, _D. & S._ 48, _O.M.F._ iv. 3)

See p. 116.

_J. Braham._

Too well the gallant hero fought, For England, home, and beauty.

DI PIACER (_S.B.T._ 1) _Rossini._

A favourite air from the opera _La Gazza Ladra_.

DOWNFALL OF PARIS

See p. 31.

DRAGON OF WANTLEY (_D.C._ 38)

An eighteenth-century popular burlesque opera.

Words by _H. Carey_, music by _Lampe_.

DRINK TO ME ONLY WITH THINE EYES (_O.M.F._ iii. 14)