144 PINE ARTS. 



verberating through the holy aisles of some time-honoured edifice, 

 or, perchance, to the swelling chorus of voices united in fitting 

 praise and adoration of the Almighty, but has felt that he is better, 

 we will even say greater, after what he has heard ? High, then, is 

 the rank which we award to sacred music ; and noble, nay divine, 

 is the mind which can exert such blessed influence on others, and, in 

 defiance of the lapse of time and the change of fashions, be the in- 

 strument of solace, of happiness, and of improvement, to the gene- 

 rations of men for ever. But there is a spurious kind of sacred mu- 

 sic, sacred in nothing but its subject ; music grave without sublimi- 

 ty, frivolous without ornament. Minims and semibreves are the 

 staple of this style ; under them does solemn dullness seek and too 

 often find shelter. Absence of all idea is its characteristic, correct- 

 ness (if that can be called correct which so lamentably fails of its 

 end) its only recommendation. 



As a specimen of this falsely-called sacred music, the compositions 

 before us are every way qualified to stand. Correct without genius, 

 grave without grandeur, scarce a single sentiment of veneration are 

 they calculated to excite, even in minds the most predisposed. 



The chants are good, and the idea of varying the chant according 

 to the character of the psalm excellent. Many an obvious absurdity 

 (such as singing a joyful chant to a psalm of a mournful character) 

 would thus be avoided. 



Bum not, tliou Taper, loo inlensely bright. The words by Sir 

 Thomas Lawrence, the music composed by William Thorold 

 Wood. T. Boosey & Co., 28, Holies-street. 



In our January number we noticed with approbation some of the 

 earlier productions of this composer. The characteristic of these 

 was tenderness and simplicity. The song before us is of a more am- 

 bitious character. This is as it should be ; the artist is never to 

 stand still, or even to flag, in the search after ideal perfection. And 

 truly delightful has it been to us to meet with the production of an 

 amateur (as we know the author to be) which gives evidence of re- 

 search into, and acquaintance with, the mysteries of art. This song 

 belongs to that class of vocal music which aims at producing a perfect 

 whole by bestowing equal attention on all the parts ; which regards 

 the accompaniment as an essential feature of the musical picture, as 

 a means of strengthening and prolonging in the mind the emotions 

 excited by the poetry and the vocal melody. Such is the principle 

 which, carried into practice, has enabled the German school to out- 

 strip its once invincible Italian rivals. It is needless to add that the 

 combination of many melodies is a higher branch of the art than 

 that which, neglecting the accompaniment, bestows exclusive atten- 

 tion on the vocal melody. A child, a peasant, may invent a pleas- 

 ing melody, and any one who has studied Hamilton's Catechism of 

 Thorough Bass may indite an accompaniment to match ; but how 

 wide is the interval between such patch-work and the simplest song 



