ABSTRACT
The fact that Novello turned his hand to composing was typical of contemporary practice; it provided an additional source of income. Thus the act of composing did not necessarily denote either a desire to assert an individual voice or a sense of vocation. It is therefore as much for what his works demonstrate about his lifestyle, career opportunities, and musical instincts as for their content that we consider them here. The aim is to indicate the typical features of Novello’s compositional output and, in so doing, to better understand the function and suitability of the works he wrote. To this end, we will first consider his secular songs, which weave a thread through his career, increasing his popularity, reinforcing the sense of family in his work, and reflecting his moral values. As an example of his sacred writing we will also examine his ‘Mass in E (Four Sharps) for a Treble (or Tenor) and a Bass’, published in 1816 as the second number of his Twelve Easy Masses. Despite his ambition to write an oratorio, his most substantial secular piece appears to have been his cantata Rosalba commissioned by the Philharmonic Society (1833) which is also discussed below.
