226 ON THB PRESENT STATE OT THE OPERA IN LONDON. 



the words, few would have had the patience to listen to it, no plan 

 could have been more judicious than that of presenting a succession 

 of exquisite musical miniatures, consisting of inexhaustibly lovely 

 melodies, with delicately instrumented accompaniments. A lofty 

 style would only have rendered the absurdity of the poem more con- 

 spicuous, while Italian buffoonery and volubility are too remote 

 from nature and feeling to impart that moral interest which can 

 alone confer on any work of art the power of pleasing, after pro- 

 ductions of greater cotemporary fame (because complying with and 

 flattering the false taste of the day) have been consigned to oblivion. 

 The tone which pervades alike this opera and Figaro, is that of 

 refined society, or rather of the beau ideal of it, which Goldsmith, 

 Sheridan, and Cumberland have so happily attained in their come- 

 dies. To assert that these would have been improved by a mixture 

 of low buffoonery, that they are too serious — too heavy, is not a 

 more palpable absurdity than to maintain that Mozart would have 

 been greater had he been capable of descending to vulgarity. But 

 the English public have yet to learn the distinction between a comic 

 opera and a musical farce. Cosifan tutte is an excellent example of 

 the former, / Virtuosi amhulanti of the latter. 



If we refer to the classical Italian school, we find that Paisiello, 

 by depicting the passions with equal truth and beauty, has produced 

 in his Barhiere di Seviglia a genuine musical comedy. Nor should 

 it be forgotten, that, in music as well as in literature and in acting, 

 the acme of the ridiculous is frequently obtained by the contrast 

 between the gravity of the narrator and the ludicrous situation in 

 which he is placed. It would prove highly interesting to pursue 

 these speculations more in detail. It cannot but form a subject for 

 regret, that, in England, music being regarded either as a branch of 

 learning or as an accomplishment, and never as a vehicle for the 

 expression of our familiar feelings, we remain, in consequence, still 

 so far behind our German brethren in its application to the passions 

 and emotions, as to compel us to abide by their decision on all aesthe- 

 tic questions. Our love for the art is intense, and all the elements 

 of musical greatness are in existence in this country, but as yet en- 

 cumbered by the dross of ignorance, prejudice, and inexperience. 

 Instead, therefore, of criticising the chef d'ceuvres of a great master 

 because they do not, in all respects, accord with our present views, 

 it would be wiser to distrust the correctness of our own taste until 

 we have bestowed some pains in acquiring an intimate knowledge 

 of the principles on which he wrote. Were the modesty, the defe- 

 rence to a great name which is observed in the criticism of the 



