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ComiJopera in 2 acts; words by Anelli, music by Rossini. Produced San Benedetto, Venice, 1813 ; Paris, Feb. 1, 1817; London, Jan. 27, 1819; in English, Dec. 30, 1844. <3.

(Lat. inscriptio, Ital. motto), a motto, or sign, or combination of both, placed at the beginning of a canon, to indicate, more or less clearly, the manner of its resolution. During the latter half of the 15th century, the founders of the Flemish School-by whom the more abstruse forms of imitation were assiduously cultivated-seem chiefly to have aimed a t rendering the solution of their Enimmey or enigmatical canons, impossible. Some of their most extravagant conceits are presented in the shape of crosses, circles, squares, triangles, rainbows, chess-boards, sun-dials, and other equally fantastic designs, without the addition of any clue whatever to their hidden meanings. (See examples in Hawkins's Hist. chap. 67.) But, more frequently, they are written in a single line-called the Guida-headed by some old proverb, or well-known quotation from Holy Scripture, which, though ostensibly vouchsafed for the purpose of giving the student some little insight into the secret of their construction, tends rather, as a general rule, to increase his perplexity. Headings, such as these, are called Inscriptions : and so obscure is their occasional meaning, that even Glareanus calls one of them Trjs atftiyyos ali'iy/ia. Foremost among the composers of these in genious works, and high above them all, stands Josquin des Pres, the refinement of whose scholarship is as clearly proved, by the grace of his Moiti, as his quite exceptional genius is by the smooth flow of the canons to which they are prefixed. In the second Agnus Dei of his ' Missa L'Ami baudichon ' he intimates that the tenor is to be silent by the pretty inscription, ' Agnus secundum non est cum grege.' In another place he veils the same meaning under the Greek proverb, parpaxos ck 'Zep'Kpov, in allusion to Aelian's statement that the frogs on the island of Seriphos do not croak. Other writers have contented themselves with . Vox faucibus haesit.' To show that the second voice is to begin at the end, and sing backwards, Hobrecht says, plainly enough, ' Ut prius, sed dicitur retrograde.' Pierre de la Rue more sternly exclaims, ' Vade retro, Sathanas.' Another quaint old composer writes, ' Canit more Hebraeorum,' referring to the custom of reading Hebrew from right to left. Josquin sums up the whole matter in a single word-' Cancriza,' i.e. walk liko a crab (see C a n c r i z a n s ) . Equally terse is the motto prefixed to the third Agnus Dei in his ' Missa L'Omme arme ' ; where the omission of all rests, in one of the parts, is indicated by the direction ' Clama ne cesses.' Sometimes he gives us a French motto, as in his ' Missa de Beata Virgine,' where ' Vous jeunerez les quatre temps ' shows that one part is to wait four semibreves before taking up the subject -a direction which is less poetically expressed by another writer, in tho words ' Fuga in epidiapason, post duo tempora '-' a canon in the octave above, after two semibreves.' Some of Obrecht's inscriptions are very obscure. ' Accidens potest inesse e t abesse praeter subjecti corruptionem ' implies that the part may be sung, or omitted, at will, without injury to the music. ' Decimas reddo omnia quae possideo ' shows that the (unwritten) bass must sing a tenth below the Discant. ' Tu tenor cancriza, e t per antifrasin canta ' indicates that the tenor is to sing backwards, and with all the intervals inverted. Not less oracular is Mouton's ' Duo adversi adverse in unum,' which means that two singers are to stand opposite each other, with the canon between them, each reading it upside down from the other's point of view-an arrangement which is also dictated by 4 Respice me, ostende mihi faciem tuam.' More mysterious still is ' Justitia e t Pax osculatae sunt '-indicating that the two performers are to begin at opposite ends, and meet in the middle. When black notes are to be sung in the time of white ones, we sometimes find * Nigra sum, sed formosa ' ; or, ' Noctem in diem vertere ' ; or, ' Dum habetis lucem credite in lucem.' By ' Crescit in duplum ' (or * triplum ') we understand that the notes are to be sung in double (or triple) augmentation. * Tres dent sex voces ' means that each of the three written parts is to be doubled, in canon, so as to form a composition for six voices. The list of these hard sayings is interminable; and the hardness of many of them is increased by the signs of Mood, Time and Prolation, with which they are sometimes accompanied. For instance, a semicircle, a semicircle with a bar drawn through it, and a circle with a point in the centre, would, if placed one above the other, a t the beginning of a stave, serve to indicate that one voice was to sing four crotchets in a bar, another, four minims, and the third, three semibreves. In the last Agnus Dei of Pierre de la Rue's ' Missa L'homme arme,' we find a combination of no less than four such signs. Following the example of Palestrina, the great composers of the golden age cast all these pedantries aside, and wrote their really beautiful canons in notation which any singer could readily understand. Palestrina himself delights in making two voices sing in canon, while three or four others carry on the subject in close imitation, or complicated free fugue, as in the lovely second Agnus Dei of his ' Missa Brevis,' and many others, equally beautiful. In all these cases, the voices to which the canon is committed are expected to sing from a single part; but the inscription prefixed to tha t part is so plain that they find no difficulty whatever in doing so. Thus, * Symphonizabis * (Missa Brevis as above) indicates a canon in the unison, Canon in Diapason ' or ' Epidiapason,' a canon In the octave above, and so on. The sign, :8 :, or some similar figure-called the Presa-indicates the place at which the second voice is to begin ; and a pause,/Ts, is placed over the note on which it ends. The two voices can therefore sing just as easily from a single part as from two separate copies. In m o d e rn e d i t io n s th e m a t t e r is s t i l l f u r th e r s implified, b y w r i t in g o u t th e c a n o n in f u l l ; th o u g h , in th e b e s t copies, th e in s c r ip t io n is s t ill c a re fu l ly r e ta in e d . w . s. R.

(2nd half of 16th cent.), musician a t the ducal court and maestro di cappella (c. 1573) a t the cathedral of Ferrara, composed between 1568-90: 5 books of masses, 4-8 v.; psalms, motets, a Magnificat, etc. ; 4 books of madrigals ; also secular songs. E. v. d. s.

i.e. * The Reproaches,* proper to Good Friday morning in the Latin Rite. The tex t is based on passages trom Micah and other prophets, and the refrain is the Trisagion, sung both in Greek and in Latin. The main thought is the sorrowful remonstrance of our Lord w ith His people, concerning their ungrateful return for the benefits He has bestowed upon them. The tex t was originally sung to well-known plain-song melodies, preserved in the Graduate Romanum, and still retained in very general use, both in England and on the Continent: but since the Pontificate of Pope Pius IV. they have been invariably chanted, in the Sistine Chapel, to some simple but exquisitely beautiful Faux bourdons, to which they were adapted by Palestrina in the year 1560. No printed copy of the Impropcria was issued, either by Palestrina himself, or the assignees of his son Igino. They were first published in London by Dr. Burney ; who, on the authority of a MS. presented to him by the Cavaliere Santarelli, inserted them, in the year 1771, in a work entitled La musica della Settimana Santa, which has now become very scarce. Alfieri also printed them among his * Excerpta,' published at Rome in 1840; and in 1863 Proske included them in the fourth volume of his Musica Divina. Burney's version was reproduced, by Choron, among his examples of the great masters, in 1836 ; and again, in 1840, by Vincent Novello, in Holy Week Music, as used at the Sistine Chapel at Rome. These, with Haberl's in the collected edition of Palestrina's works, were accepted as the principal authorities until in 1919 Ca s imir i (q.v.) discovered the original autograph score with Palestrina's own final corrections, and published it as ' II Codice, 59.* This proved that none of the published versions from Burney to Haberl accurately represented the composer's intentions. The varied readings of Burney (1771),

(Ger. Umkehrvng). The word bears, in musical terminology, five different significations. (1) Intervals are said to be inverted when their lowest notes are raised an octave higher, and thus placed above tho highest ones, or vice versa, thus In order to ascertain the inversion of a given interval, add to it as many units as are necessary to make up the number nine. The sum of these unite will represent the inverted interval. Th u s: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 G 5 4 3 2 1 The process of inversion not only changes the name of an interval, but, in certain cases, and to a certain extent, influences its nature. Major intervals, for instance, become minor by inversion ; and minor intervals, major. Augmented intervals become diminished, and diminished ones augmented. But the essential character of the interval survives the operation unchanged, and asserts itself, with equal force, in the inversion. I n whatever position they m ay be taken, consonant intervals remain always consonant; 1 dissonant intervals, dissonant; and perfect intervals, perfect. (See I n t e r v a l .) (2) A chord is said to be inverted when any note, other than its root, is taken in tho lowest part. Thus- Common First Chord. Inversion. If the same process be applied to the chord of the seventh we shall, by successively taking the third, fifth and seventh, in the bass, obtain its three inversions, the 6 -5 -3 , the 6 -4 -3 and the 6-4 -2. i Although the Perfect Fo urth-th e Tnver'ion of the Perfect Fif th-is classed, by contrapuntists, among Discords, i t only forms an appa rent exception to the general rule ; since i t is admitted to be a consonance, when i t appears between th e upper p a r ts of a chord. VOL. I I Chord of the First {Seventh. Inversion. -0 - Second Third Inversion. Inversion. =?& = = e ' s= 1 (3) A pedal point (point d'orgue) is described as inverted when the sustained note, instead of being placed in the bass, is transferred to an upper part, as in Mozart's pianoforte fantasia in C minor (op. 11) : etc. -or, to a middle one, as in the following passage from Deh vieni, non tardar (Nozze di Figaro), where the inverted pedal is sustained by the second violins : In these, and similar cases, the characteristic note (whether sustained or reiterated) forms no part of the H a rm o n y (<7.1?.), which remains wholly unaffected, either by its presence or removal. (4) Counterpoint is said to be inverted when the upper part is placed beneath the lower, or vice versa : thus (from Cherubini)- (a) Double Counterpoint for 2 Voices. L - ^ - . - 1-J[ _ ......... . 1 =----H (b) Inversic y L u .a." . n. r r ri -J- #'---f----LI F - ^ - J----- . - 1 We have, here, an example of what is called * Double Counterpoint in the Octave,' in which the inversion is produced by simply transposing tho upper part an octave lower, or the lower part an octave higher. But the inversion may take place in any other interval, thus giving rise to fourteen different species of double counterpoint-those, namely, invertible in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth, either above or below. In order to ascertain what intervals are to be avoided in these several methods of inversion, contrapuntists use a table, constructed of two rows of figures, one placed over the other, the upper row beginning with the unit, and the lower on

Whenever sentences are to be uttered loud for many people to hear, in the open air or in a large building, there is a natural tendency, for distinctness' sake, to say the greater part on one note, tha t is, in monotone. I t is not, however, natural to say tho whole at one pitch ; nor is it pleasing, for then monotone becomes monotonous. I t is natural and pleasing to make a t the opening some short gradual ascent to the note in question, to make at the close some gradual descent from i t ; and if the phrase is long, possibly also to make some variation of the monotone in the middle of its course. The foregoing statement contains the germ out of which a great part of plain-song has developed; the simpler developments denoted by the term inflexion will be treated in this article, the more elaborate ones under R e s po n so r ia l P salmody. The simplest method of singing a religious service, or part of one, may then be described as * monotone with inflexions ' ; and three classes of inflexion above indicated have their technical names as follows : the ascent to the monotone is called the intonation, the descent is called the cadence or ending; the variation that may occur between these two is called the mediation. The Gregorian Tones afford an excellent illustration of this ; for in their normal form each of | them consists precisely of these elements. An intonation leads up to the monotone, which is broken by a half close expressed in the mediation ; the m onotone is then resumed, till it ends with the closing inflexion called the ending. Of these three w'ays of varying the monotone, the cadence or ending is the most universal, the intonation is the one most readily foregone (see I n to n a t io n ). This, too, is shown by Psalmody; for in the ordinary singing of P salms the intonation is used but once, while the mediation and ending are used a t every verse. But turning from P salmody, which is fully treated in its own place, it is well to see how these principles affect other simple parts of the service-the reading of lessons, the saying of collects, the singing of versicles and responses, and the like. I n all such matters as these, experience soon showed that it was necessary to lay down rules ; the individual officiant could not be trusted in all cases to use melodious or pleasing inflexions or cadences if left to himself and the light of nature ; it was necessary to define those that were to be used. Still more was such definition necessary in the case of responses and chants in which a large body of singers had to unite. Regular forms of inflexion have, therefore, been prescribed for the guidance of officiant and choir ; they have differed in detail at various times and in various places, but the same principles underlie them all. Some examples from the ancient English Sarum Use, compared with Guidetti's Directorhnn chori of 1582 and with the revised choir-books of Solesmes, will set the similarities and differences in a clear light. 1. For the collect proper, the collect of the day, the Sarum books prescribe, as a rule, one very simple inflexion, a cadence a t the end taken up by the Amen, thus :. In other cases the cadence took a different form, thus : and sometimes there was a mediation as well as a cadence, for example, thus : prescribed three forms, one festal and two fe r ia l: tho ordinary ferial is uninflected monotone, tho festal has two inflexions, th u s : p e r . . tuum, q u i . . spi-ri-tus sanc-ti deus, p e r sae-cu-lo-rum. The latter of the two inflexions is employed also at the principal break, or metrum, in the body of the collect, and the former a t minor breaks. In the other ferial form, used in collects said on various occasions, the inflexion employed is the drop of a minor third, or * semiditonus.' The Benedictine rules are more elaborate ; the Tonus solennis recites on G, but rises from F for the intonation, and falls to it again in mediation and cadence The simpler form combines the use of the semiditonus, the drop of a fifth called ' diapente,* and the usual inflexion given above for the metrum. 2. For the ordinary versicles and responses the semiditonus is used universally ; but a divergence of use shows itself when the sentence ends with a monosyllable, for then both Guidetti and Solesmes prescribe a return to the reciting note (F), while the familiar English custom is to rise only a tone (to E). Some versicles have more elaborate cadences: Exurge do - mi - ne ad - j u - va nos is the Sarum form. Solesmes has a similar cadence for its solemn form, and for its ordinary form agrees with Guidetti in having the following but on some occasions there was merely the drop of a third as the inflexion at the cadence. Solesmes has a solemn form corresponding to that of the c o lle c t ; and a simple form which, as at Sarum, is simply a semiditonus. Guidetti prescribes nothing but monotone. 4. The ' ekphonesis,' or closing sentence pronounced aloud at the end of a prayer, had similarly two forms. The more elaborate was this but the simpler form, having the drop of a semitone at the end, was also used. These are common elsewhere. 5. The drop of a fifth, which was used for versicles as well as for the collects, according to Sarum use, thus, was also the inflexion for Old Testament lessons read at Mass, and for the preliminary. At the end of lessons there was a different inflexion, thus : non aub-ais-tam. Similar rules for the lessons prevail elsewhere. 6. The Chapter had similar inflexions, but differently arranged: The drop of the diapente was modified like the semiditonus in case of a monosyllable. When sentences containing a question occurred, the reciting note was altered ; the bulk of the sentence was said a semitone lower, and a rise took place at the end to the normal reciting note. Guidetti gives a special inflexion for the Chapter. 7. The descent of three notes already noted above was used also in the normal form of the F y Be-ne-di - ca - luua do-ini-uo. V? De - o gra-ti - as. but many elaborate forms of * B enedicamus * were and are still in use, which are distinct melodies borrowed from elsewhere, and not inflected monotone. 8. The singing of the Epistle and Gospel follows the lines already indicated ; but the forms are more elaborate. The form used at Salisbury comprised a mediation (metrum) and an ending (punctum) for each sentence. The metrum is the same for Epistle and Gospel, thus : In di - e -b u s ill-is. The punctum differs; that for the Epistle is as follow s: - In pecuuia e t th e - sau - ria. The final sentence has a special form of its own, common also to the Gospel, thus : The punctum for the Gospel is a mere drop of voice, a semitone on ordinary days, a semiditonus, or minor third, on great days. The treatment of interrogatives is the same here as in the case of the ordinary lessons. The Benedictines have preserved the same forms as those used at Salisbury, in a slightly different shape. Guidetti gave a very poor substitute for them, which has become sadly common since. He prescribed monotone for the Epistle, except in case of a question ; this, however, is sometimes varied by the rise of a tone on the last accented syllable of the last sentence and a descent again to the reciting olote. For the Gospel he ordered no metrum, the following punctum- Simou P etru s ad Iesum, and the following conclusion : Of the Ambrosian inflexions it can now only be noted that they are very many and very different from those given above. To describe them adequately would require another long article. They may be seen in one form in La regola del canto fermo ambrosiano (Milan, 1622). w. h . f .

the pseudonym adopted by F rancis H utche son (b. Dublin, Aug. 13, 1721 ; d. there 1780), a medical man who was also an amateur composer. He graduated B.A. in Dublin 1745, M.A. 1748, and M.D. 1762. As early as 1750 he had published a medical work at G lasgow. In July 1760 he was appointed lecturer in Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1775 was elected consulting physician to the Rotunda Hospital. He adopted the pseudonym of Francis Ireland, fearing to injure his professional prospects by being known as a composer. Under this name he produced in the latter half of the 18th century many vocal compositions of considerable merit. The Catch Club awarded him three prizes, viz. in 1771 for hi3 catch ' As Colin one evening *; in 1772 for his cheerful glee ' Jolly Bacchus ' ; and in 1773 for his serious glee ' Where weeping yews.* Eleven glees and eight catches by him are printed in Warren's collections. His beautiful madrigal, 4 Return, return,' is well known. w . h . h . ; addns. w. h . o . f .

left a MS. written during his rectorship at Stendall in 1448, containing some short pieces for a keyboard instrument, which Cummings, the onetime owner of the MS., declared to be organ pieces.

(Ger. Zwischenspiel), literally, something played between the parts of an occasion, whether that occasion be a church service, a dramatic performance or itself a musical work. (1) In the church the performance of interludes has been an important function of the organist in various times. In England, in the early part of the 10th century, a good extempore interlude, or short voluntary, between the verses of a hymn or metrical psalm, was regarded as no unfair test of an organist's ability. Thomas Adams (1785-185S) had a peculiar talent for voluntaries of this kind : and he, as well as other organists of the period, published specimens of their interludes. In French cathedrals a long and elaborate interlude is usually played, a t Vespers, between the verses of the Magnificat, as well as those of the Hymn : and, a t Notre Dame, S. Sulpice, and other churches built on the same grand scale, where the organ in the choir is supplemented by a larger one at the western end of the nave, a fine effect is produced by the alternate use of the two instruments, the smaller one being employed for the accompaniment of the voices, while the larger is reserved for the interludes alone. In the Lutheran churches of North Germany interludes, not between the verses of the Choral, but between the separate lines of each verse, had an important result in producing the figured treatment of the Chorals of which J. S. Bach became the supreme master. (2) In the theatre it has been either a piece of instrumental music (see Act -t u n e ) or a variety of musico-dramaticentertainment. (See I n t e r mezzo (1).) w. s. r ., rev.

usually known as N ic o lo (b. Malta, Dec. 6, 1775; d. Paris, Mar. 23, 1818). His father was a merchant a t Malta and secretary of the ' Massa Frumentaria,' or government storehouses. Nicolo was taken to Paris as a boy, and educated at the Institution Berthaud, a preparatory school for the engineers and artillery. Much of his time was taken up with the study of the pianoforte under Pin, but he passed a good examination for the navy. He was, however, recalled before receiving his commission, and on his return to Malta in 1790 was placed in a merchant's office. His pianoforte-playing made him welcome in so c ie ty ; and encouraged by this he went through a course of harmony with Vellaand Azzopardi, and with Amendola of Palermo-where he passed several years as clerk to a merchant-and completed his studies under Sala and Guglielmi at Naples, where he was employed by a German banking firm. He now determined to become a composer, and abandoning commerce, much against his father's wish, produced his first opera, ' L' avviso ai maritati,* at Florence in 1795. After this date he called himself simply Nicolo, in order not to compromise his family, and it was under this name that he made his reputation. From Florence ho went to Leghorn, and composed ' Artaserse,' an opera seria, which procured him the cross of San Donato of Malta. He succeeded Vincenzo Anfossi as organist of St. John of Jerusalem at Malta, and on the death of San Martino became maitre de chapelle to the Order, retaining both posts until the occupation of the island by the French (June 10-13, 1798). During these early years he acquired that facility which was afterwards one of his most marked characteristics. There was not a branch of composition W'hich he did not attempt, as a list of his works at this date will show : nine cantatas; masses, psalms, and m o te ts; vocal pieces for concerts ; and eight or nine operas which it is not necessary to enumerate. At this time he was strongly urged to go to Paris.1 On his arrival he found a useful friend 1 Fayolle, in his Dictionnaire des musiciens, states th a t General Vaubois took h im to Paris as his private secretary, b u t a comparison of dates will show this to have been an impossibility. General Vaubois was in command of th e French a t Malta, and with a garrison of 4000 m en m aintained his position against the blockading forces of the allies without and th e Maltese themselves within, for two years from 1798. lsou ard. on th e other hand, reached Paris w ith 'h is family in 1799. F6tis, followed in Q.-L., has reproduced this error, in Rodolphe Kreutzer, and the two composed, conjointly, * Le Petit Page ' (Feb. 14, 1800), and ' Flaminius k Corinthe ' (Feb. 28, 1801). At the same time Delrieu rewrote the librettos of two of his Italian operas, which were performed under their original titles, ' L'lmpromptu do campagne ' (June 30, 1800), and ' Le Tonnelier ' (May 17, 1801). lsouard also made considerable mark in society as a pianist. To his friendship with Hoffmann and Etienne he owed not only sound advice, but a series of librettos upon which he was able to work with a certainty of success. Thus favoured by circumstances, he produced in sixteen years no less than thirtythree operas. Tho following list is in exact chronological order : o La Statue, ou la femme ava re ' (Apr. 26, 1802); * Michel-Ange * (Dec. 11. 1802) ; ' Les Confidences ' (Mar. 3d) ; ' Le Baiser e t la q u ittance ' (June 17), with Mehul, Kreutzer and Boieldieu ; ' Le Mtfdecin tu rc ' (Nov. 19, 1803) ; * L 'Intrigue aux fenetres ' (Feb. 2 4 ) ; ' Le Dejeuner de gargons ' (Apr. *24) ; ' La Ruse inutile * (May 30) ; * Ldonce ' (Nov. 18, 180.*) ; * La Prise de l 'assau ' (Feb. 8) ; * Ida la ' (July 30, 1800) ; ' Les Rendez-vous bourgeois ' (May 9 ) ; * Les (Jrdanciers ' (Dec. 10, 1807) ; ' Un J o u r k Paris ' (May 24) ; ' Cimarosa ' (June 28, 1808) ; * L 'Intrigue au s6rail ' (Apr. 25, 1809) ; * Cendrillon ' (Feb. 22, 1810) ; ' La Victime des a r ts ' (Feb. 27), with Solid and Berton ; * La F e te du village ' (Mar. 31) ; ' Le Billet de loterie ' (Sept. 14) ; ' Le Magicien sans majrie ' (Nov. 4, 1811) ; ' Lulli et Quinault ' (Feb. 27, 1812) ; ' Le Prince de Catane ' (Mar. 4) ; ' Le Francais A Venise ' (June 14, 1813); * Bayard k M6zi<'res ' (Feb. 12), with C herubini, C ateland Boieldieu ; * Joconde ' (Feb. 28) ; ' Je a n n o t e t Colin' (Oct. 17, 1814), ' Les Deux Mar is' (Mar. 18) ; and 4 L'Une pour l 'autre ' (May 11, 1816). To this long list must be added ' Aladin, ou la lampe merveilleuse,' which he did not live to finish, but which was completed by Benincori, and produced Feb. 6, 1822 ; also a one-act piece, ' Die Haasen in der Haasenheide,' mentioned in Q.-L. as existing in tho Munich operahouse. lsouard had the gift of melody, and remarkable skill in disposing his voices so as to obtain the utmost effect. Instances of this are-the quintet in ' Michel-Ange,' quite Italian in its form ; the ensemble and trio in the ' Rendezvous bourgeois ' ; the quartet in the second act of ' Joconde *; the trio in the same opera, and that of the three sisters in ' Cendrillon ' ; the finale in the ' Intrigue aux fenetres ' ; the trio and the duet in 4 Jeannot e t Colin,' and many others. To these qualities must be added the originality and unadorned simplicity of his music, which gave it a kind of troubadour character. His later works, composed when Boieldieu was running him hard, are manifestly superior to the earlier ones, when he had no competitor. 4 Joconde * far surpasses 4 Cendrillon,' though inferior to ' Jeannot et Colin.' Another of Isouard's good points is that his comedy never degenerates into vulgarity. In Boileau's words, this composer- Distingua le naif du plat e t du buffon. He strictly observed the proprieties of the stage, and thoroughly understood the French public. In his own way he continued Gretry's work, but being no originator was eclipsed by Boieldieu and afterwards by Auber. The successes of his rival provoked him beyond control, and when Boieldieu was elected by the Institut in 1817 to succeed Mehul in preference to himself, his mortification was extreme. It was, perhaps, to drown the remembrance of this defeat, and of the triumphs of his opponent, tha t he plunged into a course of dissipation which ruined his health and brought on consumption, from which he died. Several portraits of Isouard have been published, but they are of no artistic merit. From one of them was executed in 1853 the marble bust belonging to the foyer of tho Opera- Comique. Isouard is little known in England. Tho only two of his pieces which appear to have been brought out on the London stage are ' Les Rendez-vous bourgeois ' (St. James's, May 14, 1849), and ' Joconde,' English version by Santley (Lyceum, Oct. 25, 1876). G. o. One of Nicolo's daughters, Mme. Ninette Nicolo Isouard (d. Paris, Oct. 6 , 1876), was musical, and composed several songs. B i b l .-E d u a r d W a h l , Nicolo Isouard. sein Leben, und sein Schaffen a u f dem Gebiet der Opira-Comique (Munich, (J. Wolff, 1906). M. L . P .