- -- Vol. xxxix. of work for the bow, and very cleverly a modulation which carries an idea along gone through. The movement which with it, and for a harmony which corfollowed was an Andante. Here there refponds to the tone of the paffion was a ceffation of arms among moft which the mafter intended to affect by his of the performers, and I found that this compofition. But how antiquated are movement was chiefly a fhow-piece for our notions of mufic? The Bravoura style the first violin. I own that I was charm- of finging requires but one talent in the ed with the powers of the performer: the performer; a power of throat to execute force of his tone, and the brilliancy of the most difficult paffages. It is this his execution, were truly admirable, The that tickles the refined ears of the mofecond violin took up the subject at in- dern Dilettanti, and secures to the finger tervals; as if to give time to the first to a thunder of applause to compensate for recover ftrength for a new exertion. The his wafte of lungs. bafs all the while had nothing else to do but to drop in two or three hoarfe notes. - This movement was fucceeded by a Prefto, which clofed the overture. This, to say the truth, was, to my ears, no more than an unmeaning rattle of inftruments. The rest of the band, who had lain by during the Audante, now rufhed in all at once; and the brushing and fiddling was fo hearty and vigorous, that it feemed to be a ftrife who should first get through the piece. Thus ended the overture. I have feldom liftened to a piece of mufic without carrying off in my memory a part of the air. But, at the conclufion of this piece, I found that no part of it had made the fmaileft impreffion. We have heard a piece of mufic, where, after its conclufion, the delightful idea continued to fill the imagination, the melodious founds hung upon the ravished ear, and fancy still continued a faint impreffion when the reality had ceafed. When tried by this teft of merit, what must we determine of the mufic at present in esteem? Thus difappointed in the opening of the entertainment, I was in hopes of be ing better pleafed with what was to follow; when the prelude of the harpfichord called my attention to a fong. The finger, a woman, had a very fine voice; but this, I am forry to fay it, was all that I found to praife in the perform ance. I foon found, that here, as in the former piece, the pleasure was limited to an admiration of the art of the perform er. She run divifions which would have been admirable even upon an inftrument; and in her cadences, the art with which the ranged through four or five different keys till the returned to the tone of the fong, could not fail to furprife a novice in the fashionable style of compofition. You and I, my friend, have been in ufe to look for an expreffion of fentiment in the mufic of a fong, for. Why fhould I tire you with dwelling minutely on each of the pieces that compofed my last night's entertainment? I fhould but repeat the fame terms to exprefs my diffatisfaction. We had half a dozen of overtures in the fame ftyle with the firft, and two or three fongs, with a fpecimen of the abilities of the firft violin, in a Solo of his own_compofition. During the performance of each piece, I was in a state of impatient expectation of what was to follow. I felt a prefent want, and longed for a genuine gratification. But the concert ended, and my expectation was vain.. In talking to my acquaintances, I found that the entertainment had given the greatest fatisfaction; and I have now observed, that the prefent ftyle is fo prevalent, and fo ftrongly confirmed, that he who dares to difapprove, is pitied for his old-fashioned notions, and ridiculed for his want of tafte. This, my friend, is a mortifying confideration. I am prompted to examine a little the grounds of fo humbling a de-. cision. It is no favourable proof of the merit of the modern mufic, that it is relished only by those who are accustomed to it. None but a perfon whofe ears are habituated to it, can hear it without difguft. A perfon born with a musical ear, and who has been accustomed to have his. feelings excited by the old mufic, which reaches the heart, when brought to liften to a compofition in the modern tafte, is fenfible of a deplorable want; a want, which no fkill in the performer can ever make up. You know, my friend, that in speaking of the old mufic, I do not. mean that very old ftyle of compofition whofe greatest excellence was a dry counterpoint. I do not even mean the later mufic of Corelli; whofe melodies, though frequently excellent, are too often heavy, and infipid, from his attachment to the the richness of the harmony; but I underftand by the old mufic, that ftyle which is now out of fashion, of which Handel was the head and the father, and in which Geminiani, Pergolezi, and others, have produced works, which, fhould the tafte for real mufic ever revive, will intitle them to the highest efteem and veneration. An admirer of the modern mufic may perhaps argue, that, allowing that none can relish that ftyle of compofition but those who are habituated to it, the fame will hold true with regard to the old mufic, which is relished only by those who are accustomed to it. I deny the parallel; and, as I think, upon folid grounds. I am thoroughly perfuaded, that were the difpute to be determined by the impartial judgement of a favage, whofe ear was equally a ftranger to the one and the other, he would not hesitate to give the preference to the old. For what is the proper effect of mufic, and the teft of a good compofition? Is it not that the heart feels its force; that there is a pleafure of the mind excited by the actual impreffion of the founds? Here the power of the old mufic will be confeffed by every hearer whofe ear is unvitiated. But enquire even at an admirer of the modern ftyle, what are the feelings produced by that mufic. If he can defcribe his own feelings, and has, at the fame time, the honefty to confefs them, he will tell you that they arife from an admiration, either of the ingenuity of the compofition, or of the art of the performer. A tacit confcioufness of the real merit of the old mufic, which the modern composers, to their honour, have not yet loft, notwithstanding the corrupt tafte of their mafters the town, is perhaps the reason that the oratorios of Handel continue yet to make a part of the public entertainments of the winter. But one fact is pretty fingular. I am affured, that it is no uncommon thing to hear even thofe give the preference to the modern compofitions, who have been unable to reftrain their tears at the performance of the Meffiah. Can they name a compofition in the modern tafte which has produced that effect? How strange and unaccountable! that Prejudice, and the folly of Fashion, should still continue their influence, while Nature, with irre fiftible force, gives teftimony against them! An able composer, (Bach), who thought he had facrificed too much to the corrupt tafte of the public, by accommodating to it indeed the greateft part of his works, has lately broke thefe difhonourable fetters, and produced an oratorio which Handel himself would have liftened to with pleasure. The oratorio of Gioas, Re di fuda, is in the genuine tafte of the old mufic. The compofer has fuccefsfully imitated Handel in the conftruction of his choruffes, as well as in the beautiful and varied modulation of his airs. The air, Son paffati i lunghi offanni, has a mixture of the elegant and pathetic, which it would be difficult to rival by any fong-compofition of the ableft mafters. The charge, then, against the modern mufic is, that the compofers feem to have forgot the end and purpose of their art, which is, to please by affecting the paffions.- Were we to extend our view to fome of the fifter-arts, the cenfure of a depraved tafte might perhaps apply with the fame juftice. Dramatic Poetry is as much on the decline as Mufic; and from the fame caufe, a neglect of the true end of that species of composition." The modern tragedy is now refined to fuch a pitch, by an attention to delicacy of fentiment, forfooth, and chastity of expreffion, that the ftrong pathos of nature is loft and gone. A modern critic cannot bear the horrors of Shakespeare's Tragedy, nor the diftrefs of Otway's. To what degree will this refinement of tafte at length transport us? I will tell you, my friend, what I think is an error in judgement in most mufical compofers, ancient as well as modern, but especially in the latter. It is, that they imagine mufic an art capable of exciting a variety of paffions; whereas, in reality, it can but fimply affect a few of them. A compofer shall take it into his head that he will make a piece of mufic expreffive of rage: but let any man hear this piece performed with all the fury of which it is capable, yet it will never put him in a paffion. His ears may be ftunned with the noife, and his fenfes amazed; but I am miftaken if he will feel one fpark of anger or fury. The power of mufic in affecting the passions, feems to correspond much with the power of painting. Both of them can only affect, by imitating a few of the external marks of the paffion; but the consciousness of the imitation, of which we can never diveft ourfelves, is the Y 2 caufe cause that we can never feel a violent excitement. Mufic is indeed far inferior to painting, in this refpect, that it can neither fo ftrongly delineate the outward marks of a paffion, as painting can, nor is it capable, in many paffions, of giving any external marks, where painting can imitate with the greatest force and fuccefs. There are but a few of the paffions that have particular tones annexed to their expreffions, but all of them have external figns, of which the eye is a critical judge. It is vain to aim at expreffing either hope or fear by musical founds: they are mute paffions, and have no tone annexed to their expreffion. For the same reason, mufic is incapable of ex preffing accurately either love or hatred. A foft and plaintive air is best suited to a love fong, becaufe generally the character of the lover is foft and whining; but, unless no man ever whined without being in love, the foft and plaintive tone cannot be an accurate expreffion of love. The paffions in which mufic difplays her utmost power, are thofe of joy and grief. Both of these have strong expreffions by tones, and they are fo characteristically marked by founds, that there is no room for ambiguity. When I fpeak of a ftrong expreffion, I mean no more than comparatively with other musical expreffions: for even at the moft, it is demonftrative, that the mufical expreffion both of joy and grief is defective. No man ever felt either the frantic emotion of impetuous joy, or the delightful rapture of that which is more tranquil, upon hearing a fprightly piece of inftrumental mufic: and I know not whether the moft plaintive melodies, without the aid of pathe tic words, could excite tears. It is certain, that the nerves thrill with a degree of pleafing pain, even from the fimple pathetic tones; but the unfpeakable emotion which feizes the heart, and forces a tribute of tears from the eyes, is only known from the united effect of mufic, and the irrefiftible charm of pathetic eloquence. The modern compofers, from the error of imagining mufic capable of expreffing the external marks, not only of joy and grief, but of a variety of other paffion's, over which mufic has no power, have introduced a ftyle of compofition, which is, in fact, expreffive of nothing at all. The defign of the fymphony which introduces a fong, is to prepare the inind, and bring it to the tone of the paffion of which the fong is expreffive; and hence it has its name of Symphony. The fongs of most of our modern operas are ushered in by fymphonies, of which the melody is fo extravagant and unna, tural, that it is utterly impoffible to guess at the nature of the air which is to follow. Thus a modern master shall introduce a pathetic fong by a fymphony fo outrageously noify, that his audience can fuppofe nothing else to follow but hor ror and fury. Noife, indeed, feems to be a principal aim of the modern compofers; as may be eafily imagined, where the defign is ra therto amaze and furprise, than to please. For this it may perhaps be urged, that they have the example of the beft of the old mafters; Handel himself having introduced drums and wooden cannon in fome of his choruffes. But let it be remembered, that Handel in no inftance deviated from propriety. Where he wanted to exprefs the horror and thunder of war, the thunder of his chorus could not be too tremendous: when he wifhed to exprefs the grateful acclamation of thousands, and the peal of thankf giving and praife to the Almighty, the fublimity of the theme called forth the higheft powers of found, and the utmoft energy of voices and of inftruments. But how different was his ftyle when the fubject required a softness and tendernefs of expreffion? There he showed how much he poffeffed that real feeling of the fentiment which is effential to the character of a compofer. It is not enough, to poffefs the most profound knowledge of mufic, to be acquainted with all the powers of harmony, and the mechanism of counterpoint; unless the compofer is at once a man of exquifite fenfe and exquifite feeling, his works, however they may amufe the trifling foul of a modern Dilettante, will foon fink to that eternal oblivion which they justlỳ merit. If I were to conjecture as to the circumftances which have conduced to corrupt the tafe of our country in mufic, I fhould fix principally upon two caufes. The firft is, the perfection to which inftrumental mufic is of late arrived. The violin itself, which now makes fo capital a figure in our concerts, was, a bout a century and a half ago, hardly at all known. The old inftruments were of a pitch much lower than thofe in mo dern ufe; but they contained the foul હું of I Fre; of mufic, which confifts in the expref- The other fource of the corruption of mufic, is a contagious disease with which the people of fashion are now-a-days affected: A pretenfion to taste in all the fine arts. Every well-bred gentleman is a connoiffeur in painting, a Dilettante in A work is lately published, intitled, A General Hiftory of Mufic, by Sir John Hawkins, a molt ingenious and entertaining book, (as I am informed), which fully fhews the fuperierity of the old mufic to the modern, accounts in a fatisfactory manner for the decline of the art, and contains likewife an amazing magazine of anecdotes of the men and manners of the laff age. mufic, and a profound critic in poetry, Tafte in all the polite arts is now reduced to a system, the knowledge of which, it is fuppofed, may be acquired by any perfon, whatever be his natural genius An able and a difcerning critic (Mr Webb) has written an effay on the beauties of painting, in the defign of forming the tafte of our young travellers, upon this fuppofition, that it is quite eafy for any one to become a judge of painting, I am forry to differ from this writer in fo effential a point as the very principle on which he fets out. I am thoroughly convinced, that, before a man becomes a real critic in painting, he must be endowed with a portion of the genius which forms the painter: and this writer himfelf has, I think inadvertently, given into the fame opinion, in the dedication of his book, where he fays, that "the fame elegance of imagination which forms the painter, muft enlighten the critic." He cannot explain this fentiment confiftently with the fcope of his book, unless by maintaining, that as any man may by ftudy become a critic in painting, fo may any man, by study, and without the leaft natural genius, acquire that requifite elegance of imagination, and become a painter. But this propofition goes too far. That the genius of the true critic must be akin to that of the artift, I think may be eafily proved. A critic, in examining a painting, takes into his view the compofition, or the manner in which the ftory is told, the expreffion of the different figures, and the propriety of the colouring. He finds, perhaps, that the ftory is improperly told; that the painter has dwelt on a trivial circumftance, neglecting what is moft material: he finds, that the expreffion of a principal figure is erroneous, and does not fuit the fitua tion; or perhaps the colouring appears to him out of nature. The figures, fays he, fhould have been difpofed in this manner; the expreffion of that face ought to have been stronger, and more violently marked; and the colouring here ought to have been fo and fo. Why, this man has in effect painted the picture. If his obfervations are juft, he has a greater genius for painting than the artist who executed it. Nothing is wanting to him, but the habit of ufing the pencil. He poffeffes the requifite talents, he has the ideas; and were he taught to handle the pencil, he would exprefs $74 You will pardon me this digreffion. As it is with tafte in one of the fine arts, fo is it in all. In mufic, as in painting, the critic and connoiffeur muft owe his genius to nature. How muft we fmile at the prefumption of thofe, who, wanting almoft the faculty of diftinguishing one found from another where there is a whole tone of difference, fhall yet give their opinion of a piece of mufic, dictate in a concert, and with the ears of a Miñas, equal him too in arrogance and felf-fufficiency? The difeafe, as I have faid, is general. All our young men of fashion are critics; efpecially those who having posted through Italy, and gathered in their courfe the names of the capital painters and musicians, retail them fuccefsfully in all companies, and give the ton to their brethren at home. It is thus that the tide of tafte is influenced. For one good judge, there are at least a dozen bad, and the worft are ever the moft prefumptuous. The profeffors of mufic, who live by the patronage of those judges, mult, whatever is their own tafte, conform to that of their mafters. There was a time, when a genuine tafte in mufic prevailed in England, and when our gentlemen, inftead of indulging an empty affectation of being critics, were, almost all of them, actual proficients in the science. In the 16th and 17th centuries, mufic was fo much cultivated, that it was efteemed difgraceful for a gentleman to be unable to perform his part in concert; and every man who had by nature a voice or ear, was able to fing at fight. It is to be prefumed there was then no fuch thing as a pretended connoiffeur. The man who had a bad taste, was known by his performances; and would find it difficult to per fuade the world by his impudence into a belief of his judgement. The fcience and practice are now almoft confined to the hired performers. It is obvious, that an art muft decline, which is cultivated only by those who find it a fevere and painful occupation, It is therefore natural, that as profit is the fole object, the mafter and compo. fer fhould follow the fashion whatever it is. Every mafter is now an author. E. very infignificant fcraper, who has intereft enough to pick up half a dozen of fcholars, bethinks himself immediately of raising a contribution by the publica. tion of his works. Monthly they fly out, in Sonnate, Canzonetti, Quartetti, Notturni, Overture, Opera 14th, 15th, 16th in infinitum, like the plagues of Egypt. Thefe vile crudities are difperfed through all the mufic-fhops in the kingdom; and as, with many performers, a mufical work needs no other recommendation than that it is new, they have an abundant circulation. It is by fuch produc tions that the public ear is abused, which, from conftantly hearing bad mufic, becomes utterly corrupted. I have read of a propofal for preventing the publication of bad mufic, by and enactment of the legislature, that all mufic, before it goes to the prefs, fhould undergo a severe scrutiny by the governors and affiftants of the Mufical Charity in England, and obtain their Imprimatur. A regulation of this kind, could it be ob tained, could not fail to have the bef effects in promoting a genuine national tafte: but it is to be feared, that the jealous fpirit of our countrymen would regard this as too near an incroachment on their favourite and boasted liberty of the prefs. And indeed, as a Sonata or Concerto can neither be a conveyance for treafon nor blafphemy, fuch a reftriction would certainly appear fomewhat arbitrary. But instead of an inquifition with fuch plenary powers, if our literary cenfors, the Monthly, Critical, or Lon don Reviewers, could find a departmen in their work for our mufical publica tions, and extend to them a little of tha wholefome caftigation which they fre quently beftow on the productions the fifter-mufe of poetry, I cannot hel thinking they would do the public a ver acceptable fervice. I am, my dear C. yours, &c. R. A Sket |