ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE OPERA IN LONDON. 217 



animated, more vigorous^ and considerably more ornate ; the embel- 

 lishments partake of a greater freedom, and display more knowledge 

 of the human voice. As, however, this school, like the preceding, 

 relied exclusively on the beauty of the airs, neglecting science and 

 ingenuity in the harmony, they are equally amenable to the charge 

 of feebleness and monotony. On the other hand, their beauty was 

 so exquisite as not only to spread the fame of Italian operas over 

 the world but to cause it to be transplanted into every other coun- 

 try.* "Whatever is an object of nearly exclusive attention will, 

 under favourable circumstances, be speedily brought to perfection. 

 If these statements prove correct, the assertion that the melodies in- 

 vented by the Italian composers, from Jomelli or Pergolesi down to 

 Paisiello, are, with one exception, more beautiful than any which 

 occur elsewhere, will not excite surprise. While it is my decided 

 conviction that no improvement in vocal melody has been effected 

 by later composers, I freely admit that the motivi of their successors, 

 commencing with Martini and Cimarosa, are intrinsically equal to 

 them, while their effect is enhanced by the adoption of the system 

 introduced by Mozart. Cimarosa and his successors always availed 

 themselves of the power of the orchestra in strengthening the feel- 

 ing intended to be produced by the air, and therefore they intro- 

 duced the delightful orchestral effects with which their works 

 abound. But after Paer, the last of that classical school, beauty of 

 melody may be said to have declined. Rossini relied upon orna- 

 ment as a means of exciting the wonder of his audience, and upon 

 his power of expressing the ludicrous. The manner of Bellini may 

 be described as a return to the simplicity, bordering upon inanity, 

 which characterised the old Italian composers (Vinci and Galuppi), 

 combined with the noisy, unmeaning system of instrumentation, 

 which Mr. Hogarth designates as pseudo-German. I cannot con- 

 template the works of the classical Italian masters without experi- 

 encing a sensation of regret that, while the majority of students re- 

 main in ignorance of productions on which the fame of Italian music 

 is founded, they should be induced, by a vague idea of the excel- 

 lence of all Italian music, to consume time and corrupt their taste 

 by persisting to draw from a source which is nearly exhausted, in- 

 stead of recurring to the pure stream of melody which flows through 

 the pages of those classical composers. Actuated by the hope of in- 



* In proof of the admiration excited by the Italian compositions of the 

 early schools, see the' Letters of Gray, Marmontel's Autobiography, and Rous- 

 seau's Essays on Music, and Musical Dictionary. 



VOL. VI. NO. XX. EE 



