fuch an improvement neceflary. Yet there is great reason to think men of this clafs the happiest, at least such of them as are raised above want. If they do not enjoy the pleasures arifing from the proper culture of the higher powers of their nature,' they are free from the misery confequent upon the abuse of these powers. They are likewife in full poffeffion of one great fource of human happiness, which is good health and good fpirits." Their fpirits never languifh for want of exercife, and therefore. the tædium vitæ, the infupportable liftleffness arifing from the want of an object, fomething to wifh, or fomething to fear, is unknown among them. Our Author goes on to obferve, that the only powers of the mind, that have been much cultivated in this Island, are those of the understanding. One unhappy confequence of this, he says, has been to diffolve the natural union between philosophy and the fine arts: an union extremely neceffary to their improvement. The influence of mufic over the mind, he obferves, is perhaps greater than that of any of the fine arts; and yet the effects produced by it are inconfiderable. This, we are told, is en-: tirely owing to its being in the hands of practical Musicians, and not under the direction of tafte and philofophy; for in order to give mufic any extenfive influence over the mind, the composer and performer must be well acquainted with the human heart, the various affociations of the paffions, and the natural tranfitions from one to another, fo as to enable him to command them in confequence of his fkill in mufical expreffion. As our ingenious Author treats this fubject with more precifion than any other which hath fallen under his confideration, we need make no apology for inferting part of what he has advanced on this head. Mufic, fays he, is the science of founds, in so far as they affect the mind.-Nature independent of cuftom has connected certain founds or tones with certain feelings of the mind.Measure or proportion in founds has likewife its foundation in nature. Thus certain tones are naturally adapted to folemn, plaintive, and mournful fubjects, and the movement is flow; others are expreffive of the joyous and elevating, and the movement is quick.-Sounds likewife affect the mind, as they are loud or foft, rough or fmooth, diftinct from the confideration of their gravity or acuteness. Thus in the Æolian harp the tones are pleafant and foothing, though they do not vary in acuteness, but only in loudness.-The effect of the common drum in roufing and elevating the mind is very ftrong; yet it has no variety of notes; though the effect indeed here depends on the proportion and measure of the notes. • Melody confifts in the agreeable fucceffion of fingle founds. -The melody that pleafes in one country does not equally please pleafe in another, though there are certain general principles which univerfally regulate it, the fcale of mufic being the fame in all countries.-Harmony confifts in the agreeable effect of founds differing in acutenefs produced together; the general principles of it are likewife fixed. • One end of mufic is to communicate pleasure, but the far nobler and more important is to command the paffions and move the heart. In the first view it is an innocent amusement, well fitted to give an agreeable relaxation to the mind from the fatigue of ftudy or business.-In the other it is one of the most useful arts in life. The effect of eloquence depends in a great measure on it. We take mufic here in the large and proper fenfe of the word, the art of variously affecting the mind by the power of founds. In this fenfe, all mankind are more or lefs judges of it, without regard to exactnefs of ear.-Every man feels the difference between a fweet melodious voice, and a harsh diffonant one.. • As the proper application of the voice to the purposes of eloquence has been little attended to, it has been thought an art unattainable by any rules, and depending entirely on natural taste and genius. In fome meafure it certainly is fo, yet it is much more reducible to rules, and more capable of being taught, than is commonly imagined. Indeed before philofophy afcertains and methodizes the ideas and principles on which an art depends, it is no wonder it be difficult of acquifition.-The very language in which it is to be communicated is to be formed, and it is a confiderable time before this language comes to be understood and adopted. We have a remarkable inftance of this in the fubject of mufical expreffion, or performing a piece of mufic with tafte and propriety. People were fenfible, that the fame mufic performed by different artifts had very different effects. Yet they all played the fame notes, played equally well in tune and in time. But ftill there was an unknown fomewhat that gave it meaning and expreffion from one hand, while from another it was lifeless and infipid.-People were fatisfied in resolving this into performing with or without tafte, which was thought the entire gift of nature.-Geminiani, who was both a composer and performer of the highest clafs, first thought of reducing the art of playing on the violin with tafte to rules, for which purpose he was obliged to make a great addition to the mufical language and characters. The fcheme was executed with great ingenuity, yet it has fcarcely been attended to by any practical musicians except Mr. Avifon. Mufic, like eloquence, muft propofe, as its end, a certain effect to be produced on the hearers. If it produces this effect, it is good mufic; if it fails, it is bad. -No mufic can be pronounced good or bad in itfelf; it can only be relatively fo. Every Every country has a melody peculiar to itself, expreffive of the feveral paffions. A compofer must have a particular regard to this, if he propofes to affect them. Thus in Scotland there is a fpecies of mufic perfectly well fitted to infpire that joyous mirth fuited to dancing, and a plaintive music peculiarly expreffive of that tenderness and pleafing melancholy attendant on distress in love; both original in their kind, and different from every other in Europe. It is of no confequence whence this music derives its origin whether it be fimple or complex, according to the rules of regular composition, or against them; whilst it produces its intended effect in a fuperior degree to any other, it is the preferable mufic; and while a perfon feels this effect, it is a reflection on his taste and common fenfe, if not on his candor, to despise it. They who apply much of their time to music, acquire new taftes, befides their national one, and in the infinite variety which melody and harmony are capable of, difcover new sources of pleasure formerly unknown to them. But the fineft natural tafte never adopts a new one, till the ear has been long accuftomed to it, and after all feldom enters into it with that warmth and feeling, which those do, to whom it is national. The general admiration pretended to be given to foreign mufic in Britain, is a defpicable piece of affectation. In Italy we fee the natives tranfported at the opera with all that variety of delight and paffion which the compofer intended to produce. -The fame opera in England is feen with the moft remarkable Histlefinefs and inattention. It can raise no paffion in the audience, because they do not understand the language in which it is written. To them it has as little meaning as a piece of inftrumental mufic. The ear may be tranfiently pleafed with the air of a song, but that is the most trifling effect of mufic.Among the very few who understand the language and enter with pleasure and tafte into the Italian mufic, the conduct of the dramatic part appears fo ridiculous, that they can feel nothing of that transport of paffion, the united effect of mufic and poetry, which may be gradually raifed by the artful texture and unfolding of a dramatic ftory*.--Yet vanity prevails fo much over the very fenfe of pleafure, that the Italian opera is in England more frequented by people of rank, than any other public diverfion; and they, to avoid the imputation of want of tafte, condemn themselves to fome hours painful attendance on it every week, and to talk of it in raptures which their hearts never felt. "Simplicity in melody is very neceffaty in all mufic intended to reach the heart, or even greatly to deligut he ear.--The *Brown. effect effect here must be produced inftantaneously, or not at all. The fubject must therefore be fimple and eafily traced, and not a fingle note or grace fhould be admitted, but what has a view to the propofed end. If fimplicity of melody be fo neceffary where the view is to move the paffions, fimplicity of harmony must be ftill more neceffary. Some of the most delicate touches of pathetic mufic will not allow any accompanyment. The ancient mufic certainly produced much greater and more general effects than the modern, though the accounts of it be fuppofed greatly exaggerated. Yet the fcience of mufic was in a very low ftate among the ancients. They were strangers to harmony, all the voices and inftruments being unifons in concert and the inftruments they made ufe of, appear to have been much inferior in refpect of compafs, expreffion, and variety, to those which we are poffeffed of. Yet thefe very deficiencies might render their mufic more expreffive and powerful. The only view of compofers was to touch the heart and the paffions. Proper melody was fufficient for this purpose, which might easily be comprehended and felt by the whole people.-There were not two different species of mufic among them, as with us, one for the learned in the fcience, and another for the vulgar. • The introduction of harmony opened a new world in mufic. It promised to give that variety which melody alone could never afford, and likewife to give melody an additional charm and energy. Unfortunately the firft compofers were fo immerft in the ftudy of harmony, which foon appeared to be a science of great extent and intricacy, that these principal ends of it were forgot. They valued themfelves on the laboured construction of parts which were multiplied in a furprising manner. In fact, this art of counterpoint and complicated harmony was in a very few years brought to the highest degree of perfection, after its introduction by Palæftine, who lived in the time of Leo X.But this fpecies of mufic could only be understood by the few who had made it their particular ftudy. To every one else it appeared a confused jargon of founds without defign or meaning. To the very few who understood it there appeared an evident deficiency in air or melody, especially when the parts were made to run in ftrict fugues or canons, with which air is in a great measure incompatible.-Befides the real deficiency of air in these compofitions, if required the attention to be conftantly exerted to trace the subject of the mufic, as it was alternately carried on through the feveral parts; an attention inconfiftent with. what delights the ear, much more with what touches the paffions; where that is intended, the mind must be difengaged, muft fee no contrivance, admire no execution; but be open and paffive to the impreffion. The artifice of fugues in vocal mufic, feems in a peculiar Bb manner 디 manner ill adapted to all the paffions. If every one of four voices is expreffing a different fentiment and a different mufical paffage at the fame time, the hearer cannot poffibly attend to, and be affected with them all. This is a ftile of compofition in which a perfon, without the least taste or genius, may arrive at great perfection, by the mere force of ftudy: But without a very great fhare of thefe to give fpirit and meaning to the leading airs or fubjects, fuch compofitions will always be dry and unaffecting. Befides the objections that lie against all complex mufic confidered as to its compofition, there are others arifing from the great difficulty of its execution. It is not eafy to preserve a number of inftruments playing together in tune. Stringed inftruments are falling, while wind inftruments naturally rife in their tone during the performance. But it is not fufficient that all the performers play in the most exact tune and time. They must all understand the ftile and defign of the compofition, and be able to make the refponfes in the fugue with proper fpirit. Every one must know how to carry on the fubject with the proper expreffion when it is his turn to lead; and when he falls into an auxiliary part, he must know how to conduct his accompanyment in fuch a manner as to give an additional force to the leading fubject. But mufical tafte and judgment are most remarkably difplayed in the proper accompanying of vocal mufic, especially with the thorough bafs. If this is not conducted with the ftricteft attention to heighten the intended expreffion of the fong, it deftroys it altogether, as frequently happens from the throwing in the full chords, when a fingle note fhould only have been ftruck, or when perhaps the accompanyment should have ceafed altogether." Thefe are difficulties few performers have an idea of, and fewer are able to conquer. Moft performers think they do all that is incumbent on them, if they play in tune and in time, and vanity often leads them to make their voice or inftrument to be heard above the reft, without troubling their heads about the compofer's defign. It has been much the fashion for fome years paft, to regard air entirely in mufical compofitions; and the learned works of harmony have fallen into neglect, being confidered as cold and fpiritlefs. This change has been introduced by composers who unfortunately happened to be great performers themselves. Thefe people had no opportunities in the old compofitions of fhewing the dexterity of their execution; the wild and extrava-, gant flights, which they indulged in order to difplay this, being abfolutely deftructive of the harmony. They introduced therefore folo's of their own compofition, or concerto's, which from the thinness and meagreness of the parts, cannot be confidered in any other light than folos.-It is not eafy to characterise the ftile I |