PINE ARTS. 145 



Mozart ever wrote ! The mental exertion required in order to cre- 

 ate, or even to understand, a whole is greater than the effort neces- 

 sary to produce or comprehend a fragment. For this reason do the 

 generality of composers, as well as listeners, prefer that which, al- 

 though yielding but little credit, and gratification only faint and 

 fleeting, requires neither high genius nor any noticeable expenditure 

 of the " midnight oil" in its cultivation. When, therefore, a com- 

 poser makes choice of the narrow and steep path which, though not 

 destitute of thorns, will, if diligently trodden, procure him a place 

 among those whose names pass not away with their own generation, 

 it is the duty of those who guard the portals of cotemporary criticism 

 to hold out to him every encouragement to disregard the fickle 

 breath of popular applause, and to hold steadily onward in the 

 search after ideal beauty. With this view we cordially recommend 

 Mr. Wood's song to our readers, and feel assured that, on mature 

 examination, they will admire as much as we do the symmetry and 

 unity of the plan, and the accurate and, at the same time, poetical 

 elaboration of the details. 



INSTRUMENTAL. 



Grand Duet for the Piano Forte. By Miss Mounsey. J. J. Ewer 

 & Co., Bow Church-yard. 



Wk have before had the gratification of speaking in terms of 

 high praise of the compositions of this lady. To her we owe a 

 double debt of gratitude ; first, for the delight she affords us by her 

 combinations of sweet sounds, and then for the pleasure we feel in 

 being, through her means, freed from the irksome task of always 

 finding fault. The rarity of true excellence gives additional charm 

 to its discovery, whilst the frequent recurrence of what is worthy 

 of condemnation by no means diminishes the pain with which we 

 witness it. The duet before us consists of four movements, and in 

 its form resembles rather the instrumental symphony than the piano 

 forte concerto. Throughout is evinced a power and excellence of 

 modulation which, in a piano-forte composition of the present day, 

 astonishes while it delights us. The passages of fugue and imita- 

 tion shew that the fair composer has by no means neglected the 

 higher walks of the art, and (if we are not much mistaken) that she is 

 every way worthy of treading in them. The minuet is graceful and 

 characteristic ; but the slow movement which succeeds it, for the 

 elaborate and skilful treatment of the subject, the variety and bold- 

 ness of the modulations, and for the vein of true poetry which per- 

 vades the whole, deserves an admiration which we fear we cannot 

 adequately express. In taking leave of Sliss Mounsey for the pre- 

 sent, we beg leave to assure her that we shall feel pleasure in again 

 and again welcoming to our critical tribunal the efforts of her ge- 

 nius, confident that what she is to write will he worthy of what 

 she has already written. 



vor,. VII., NO. XXI. T 



