Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/454

Although the employment of the Nachschlag is so general in composition, it appears to have no distinctive name in any language except German. Some English authors^[1] have adopted the translation Afternote, but it has never come into general use, while among the old French agrémens there is one called Accent, which is identical both as to sign and execution with the Nachschlag described by Marpurg (Ex. 5), but which, according to Rousseau, who speaks of it as a coup de gosier, only belonged to vocal music.

The term Nachschlag also signifies the turn of a trill. [See Trill.]

[ F. T. ]

NACHSPIEL, i.e. Afterpiece. A name given by the modern German school of organists to pieces intended to be played at the conclusion of the service, while the congregation is leaving the church. This form of composition is also called Postludium, and has even been englished as 'Postlude.' The German title corresponds to the word Vorspiel, used as an equivalent to Präludium or Prelude. Examples of the name (Nachspiel) may be found in the works of Joseph André and Rinck, and examples of Postlude in that of the late Henry Smart, and in the Organist's Quarterly Journal, etc.

[ J. A. F. M. ]

NACHTSTÜCKE (Night Pieces). The name of four pieces for pianoforte solo by Schumann, constituting op. 23 of his published works. They were written in Vienna in 1839 (the same year as the Fasschingsschwank aus Wien, the Three Romances, the Humoreske, etc.) and are dedicated to F. A. Becker of Freiberg. The name is taken from the title of a series of tales by Hoffmann, whose works, like those of Jean Paul Richter, had a great fascination for Schumann at this period of his life. [See Kreisleriana, which were written the year before the Nachtstücke.] They are entirely distinct in character from the ordinary Nocturne, though the name would seem to imply a resemblance; in fact, they are much more like the 'Nuits Blanches' of Stephen Heller, being, with one exception (No. 4, the simplest and most popular, as well as the quietest of the series), excited and restless yet full of vigour.

[ J. A. F. M. ]

NAGELI, Johann Georg, an eminent music publisher, and also a composer and litterateur, born at Zürich in 1768. He started his music business in his native town in 1792, and quickly issued editions of Handel, Bach (48 Preludes and Fugues, Art of Fugue) and other classics, large oblong folio, in a style of great clearness and beauty for the time. In 1803 he started the 'Repertoire des clavecinistes,' a periodical publication in which new works by Clementi, Cramer, Beethoven and others appeared. For Beethoven he published the three grand solo sonatas now known as op. 31, but which appeared without opus number, the first and 2nd in 1803 in Pt. 5 of the Repertoire, the 3rd in 1804 in Pt. 11. It is in connection with the 1st of the three that the circumstance occurred which will prevent Nägeli from being forgotten as long as Beethoven's sonatas are studied. He actually interpolated 4 bars into the 1st movement of that sonata, between the 28th and 27th bars from the end:—

Beethoven however must have pardoned this crime; for several of his later letters to Nägeli are couched in terms of affection, and he did his utmost to induce the Archduke Rodolph to subscribe to a volume of Nägeli's poems in 1824.

Nägeli's compositions were chiefly vocal—choruses for Church and School use, etc., popular enough in their day. He founded an association for the encouragement of music and acted as its President. He was a great adherent of the Pestalozzian system of education, and wrote in support of it. But these and his other active labours for his beloved art, his disputes with Thibaut and with Hottinger, were brought to an end by his death at Zürich Dec. 26, 1836, and are all now forgotten. An exception may be made for an air which was long highly popular in England under the name of 'Life let us cherish,' and which is even now sometimes heard. The Finale in Woelfl's sonata 'Non plus ultra' is a set of variations on that air. [App. p.727 "Mention should be made of the 'Lied vom Rhein,' given on p. 16 of Scherer's collection."]

[ G. ]

NÆNIA. A cantata for chorus and orchestra on Schiller's words 'Auch das Schöne muss sterben' by Hermann Goetz. It is op. 10 of his published works. Nænia or Nenia was a classical term for a funeral dirge. [App. p.727 "A setting of the same words for chorus and orchestra is op. 82 of the published works of Brahms."]

[ G. ]

NALDI, Giuseppe, born at Bologna, Feb. 2, 1770, was the only son of Giuseppe Naldi, of the same city, who held a government appointment of high trust. The son was educated in the universities of Bologna and Pavia, where he made very rapid progress in his studies for the law, the profession of his choice. Finding this, however, uncongenial after a short time, he obtained, at the personal request of the Marchese Litta, a secretary's place in a government department, where he gave promise of ability and distinction; but the Italian Revolution put an end to his career in this direction, and he left the country.

He next appeared at Milan, where he was persuaded to give way to his natural genius for music, and where he achieved his first success, upon the stage. According to Fétis (who, however, is incorrect in some details of his biography), Naldi appeared at Rome in 1789, then at Naples, and next at Venice and Turin. In 1796 and 7 he reappeared at Milan. In London he made his début April 15, 1806, and he continued to sing here every subsequent season up to 1819 (inclusive). His principal characters were in 'Le Cantatrici Villane,' 'Così fan tutte' and 'Il Fanatico per la musica.' In the latter, he showed his skill in playing the violoncello, on

1. Dr. Callcott, 'Grammar of Music.'