212 ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE OPERA IN LONDON. 



viduals to whom the works of our author afford pleasure ; admitting 

 the admirers of Bellini to be numerous, what do his advocates gain 

 by the concession ? Inferior poetry, indifferent paintings, have 

 been applauded by the public ; why, then, should music be the only 

 one of the fine arts in which we are to bow slavishly to the verdict 

 of the uninformed ? Common chords, either entire or divided, wind- 

 instrument passages in thirds and sixths, are sounds naturally pleas- 

 ing ; and as those who have never seen good paintings are delighted 

 with the gaudy colours of a worthless daub, so thousands who flock 

 annually to the opera with ears inexperienced, save in the tinkling 

 of their own piano forte, or the squalling in the parish church, are 

 enchanted by the brilliancy of the orchestra and the sound of deli- 

 cious voices, unconscious of the inanity or inappropriateness of the 

 strains thus emphatically rendered. Let our author have the bene- 

 fit of every concession not inconsistent with truth ; but it will be 

 found impossible to invalidate the position that the redeeming traits 

 scattered over his operas are inadequate to counterbalance their 

 glaring musical and dramatic deficiencies, or to establish their claim 

 to the title of works of art. To gratify the idle caprice of a modern 

 Italian audience, Bellini scruples not to sacrifice all consistency, all 

 truth of keeping, to transgress dramatic propriety, and to disregard 

 the dictates of common sense. Were a sculptor to represent a Ju- 

 piter or a Hercules with the slender limbs and elegant proportions 

 of an Adonis, he would not sin more grievously against nature than 

 the musician who clothes the most vehement of passions and emo- 

 tions in languishing and effeminate strains. 



The musician escapes the imputation of ignorance in his own art 

 which, in a parallel case, would undoubtedly attach to the sculptor, 

 because the public are at present less versed in the principles of mu- 

 sic than in those of the imitative arts. The execution of the statue 

 might gratify the eye in the same manner as a pretty though inap- 

 propriate melody would please the ear, but the mental faculties 

 would, in each instance, feel revolted. Blunders such as these will 

 meet with toleration, if not with applause, as long as the sensual 

 gratification of the ear is regarded as the sole aim of music. Let 

 the art of soundj like those of form and colour, be universally re- 

 cognised as a legitimate object for the employment of the mental fa- 

 culties, then will music command that share of respect which has 

 been accorded, in all ages, to sculpture and painting. Let those 

 who are conversant with the subject never shrink from exposing 

 the absurdities and errors committed by musicians — let them shew 

 that they proceed from a deficient understanding of the first princi- 



