434 
Yer voice; but the effect is too evanescent 
to be cauvlit, and too perceptible to be 
Jost, even in the ears of dullness. if t 
A peal'to my recollection for an idea, I 
vould eal it a Capricious and happy de-~ 
Fungement of tiie and place. . In vain 
siay the Croyplizas of the band attempt 
i i] 
#6 Follow her through these scintillations | 
Of Voice: his powers are great, and 
thotgh fie is the first star of the constel- 
Jation in which he shines, yet his light is 
Jost in the splendour of this divine lus 
ininary. 
Tt Has setved our purpose to speak of 
Hiatmony a8 & chemical combination of 
wound ; but we shall now take notice of 
h grand efféct which the new music pos- 
$esses, from the judicious appoimtment 
Sind coiibination of the various instru- 
shents in a full orchestra: 
Tn tiie time of Handel, it is true that 
the sAine assemblage of instruments oc- 
cured, but it was simply a congress of 
-musi¢al machines. The author never 
Consulted the power or genius of the 
Fnstruments; the bassoon was called 
upoli to move in the graceful inflexions 
of the Violoncello, and the trumpet to 
wrestle with the violin; often whole pas. 
Sayés were out of the verge of possibility, 
Hhany so uncongenial as to be played 
‘with difficulty, and all were so ill digested 
ks 'to-encumber an effect they were in- 
tended to improve. — ; 
The powers of instruments vary In- 
finitely more than the voices of men: 
their size and magnitude, their peculiar 
Structure and force, give them a marked 
distinctness and character. , 
Tt was a pritiie consideration with the 
great masters, Lo consult the species and 
style of voice of the singers for whom 
they wrote. This fact may be exem- 
Pied by turning to the works oP Han- 
Wel, Purcel, Pergolesi, and Croft; but it 
Hever occurred to Any one of these to 
Write for the instraments they employed: 
Je Was left for the immortal Haydn t6 
émbody the ideas of the poet, 
* «¢ The soft-complaining flute 
Jn dying notes discovers 
The woes of hopeless lovers, 
“Whose dirge-is whispeted by the warbé 
Sit oling Jute.” : 7 
Yo exemplify what has been stated, we 
must open that treasure of musical subs 
lnnity, the ‘Oratorio of the Creation. 
Here we find every voice and instrument 
conspiring to raise thé mind of man to 
contemplate the wonderful works of God. 
The exquisite feeling in the songs, and 
tlie taste displayed in the accompani- 
miviit, €xceeds ir beauty every thing we 
Defence of Modern Blusice 
[March 1 
have hitherto felt or conceived. 
collision of the trumpets and trombone, 4 
and the awful motion of the bass, render 
the chorasses terrific and grand, “The 
concluding movement of The heavins 
are telling the glory of God, is penned 
with a majesty of thought that transcends 
the powers of musical expression. With 
our present means we can scarcely ‘pro- 
duce a shade of what the imagination of 
the musician would intend: 
The volume of sound that ig wanted 
in the bass, and that is requisite to pive 
an amplitude of idea, must be sought 
for in instruments as yet unknown, 
Were it necessary to bring farther il- 
Justrations of the great powers of the new 
music compared with that of the an- 
cients, we might attempt a description 
of the chaos, which opens the work we 
have been quoting. It commences with 
all the known instruments, displayed in 
twenty-three distinct parts. After these 
are amalgamated in one tremendous note, 
a slight motion is made perceptible in 
the lower parts of the band, to represent 
the rude masses of nature in @ state of 
chaos. Amidst this turbid modulation, 
the bassoon is the first that makes an 
effort to rise and extricate itself from the 
cumbrous mass: the sort of motion with 
which it ascends, communicates a like 
disposition to the surrounding materials $ 
but this is stifled by the falling of the 
double basses and the contrafagotto. 
In mingled confusion the clarinet 
struggles with more success, and the 
&therial flutes escape into air. A dis- 
position verging to order is seen and 
felt, and every resolution would intimate 
shape and adjustment, but not a concord 
ensues! After the volcanic eruptions of 
the clarini and trombones, some arrange= 
Ment is promised; a precipitation fol- 
Iows of the discordant sounds, aiid leaves 
a misty effect that happily expresses the 
“ Spirtt of God maving upon the face oF 
the waters.” At the hat, “ Let there be 
light?’ the instrameénts are unmuted, 
and the audience is lost in the refulgence 
of harmony. 
Many who have heard these sublime 
éffects with surprise, think there is no. 
thing Jeft. for genius'to do, and. thas 
Haydn has lived long enough to perfect 
the; art, in which he excelleds -On the 
contrary, these emanations, of genius 
have: opened to us.new fields of. disco- 
very, and>it is fortunate for-science; that 
he as succeeded in this elevated walk of 
composition by his pupil Beethoven, 
This author, who is now the first master 
living, is bred up purely in ‘the new 
school, 
oo 
V 
1 
