THOUGHTS ON THE SUBLIME IN MUSIC. 245 



to be the case. The last part of his sentence amounts to this — an- 

 cient music is the most sublime j ergo, it is so. Here he has given 

 himself needless trouble. He goes on — " Ancient music is, then, 

 confined to the period between 1400 and 1600. The learned pro- 

 fessor of Oxford, finding that by this assertion, he had foreclosed 

 the works of not a few writers, who enjoy the reputation of occa- 

 sionally stumbling upon the pure sublime, subsequently enlarges his 

 boundaries to the early part of the eighteenth century. He is thus 

 enabled to let in Purcell and his contemporaries. Those who wish 

 to study the early specimens of pure sublimity, on the principles 

 laid down, must, we presume, look into the Dodecachordon of Gla- 

 reanus. Choron, Fetis, Cherubini, and Reicha, afford examples suf- 

 ficiently numerous to satisfy any reasonably modest student." Now, 

 as Dr. Crotch distinctly avows, specimens of sublimity, if that were 

 all that is wanted, may be found in the compositions of later 

 writers ; but it is to the general tenor of their works to which he 

 directs attention : a mass by Cherubini is less sublime, as a whole, 

 than one by Leo or Pergolesi : not that in the former, there may 

 not be found specimens of sublimity, but that music, not adapted 

 for sacred purposes, forms too large a portion of it. Let us hear 

 Dr. Crotch himself: — " As long as the pure sublime style — the 

 style peculiarly suited to the church service — was cherished, which 

 was only to about the middle of the seventeenth century, we consi- 

 der the ecclesiastical style to be in a state worthy of study and imi- 

 tation — in a state of perfection. But it has been gradually, though 

 not imperceptibly, losing its character of sublimity ever since. Im- 

 provements have, indeed, been made in the contexture of the score, 

 in the flow of melody, in the accentuation and expression of the words, 

 in the beauty of the solo, and in the delicacy of the accompaniment. 

 But these are not indications of the sublime. Church music is, there- 

 fore, on the decline." Again : "Let the young composer study the 

 productions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in order to 

 acquire the true church style, which should always be sublime and 

 scientific, and contain no modern harmonies or melodies." Here is 

 distinctly mentioned, the class of writers to be studied by the stu- 

 dent, if sublimity be his object ; which, from Mr. G/s silly refer- 

 ence to the Dodecachordon of Glareanus, one would not think had 

 been the case. When a writer on science descends to ridicule, he 

 may fairly lie under the suspicion of feeling himself on ground that 

 will not bear him. Again, ancient music is not confined to the pe- 

 riod between 1400 and 1600, but the assertion of Dr. Crotch is, that 

 the true style of church music was most cultivated during the six- 



