324 " Whether Music is necessary to the Orator, — 



oftentimes peculi;irly expressive ones, with which every language 

 may, and ought to be, occasionally adorned : but as a proof that 

 they are not actually indispensable for the constitution of speech, 

 in opposition to song, I shall proceed to experiment, by s«tting 

 the following sentence in fixed tones or mouotones ; and this 

 too without any deviation from the ordinary intervals of our mu- 

 sical scale. 



Experimevt. 

 [I would recommend to the amateur to defer the execution of 



this passage. By reading a little onward, he will find some 



necessary hints.] 



--ftt: 



May the Aloiiarchs ot iMij^luiid evtr cultivute tlie l,,ip^uK rs i>t man. 



Thus it would appear, that the essence of speech is depen- 

 dent on the series of sounds, not on the individual character of 

 those sounds with regard to slides or monotones : and conse- 

 quently that by the modification of the series, speech may be 

 converted ii.to song, or song into speech, at the pleasure of the 

 composer* 



Preparatory to the execution of this passage, it v\'ill be neces- 

 sary to offer some observations even to the intelligent amateur : 

 for, strange as it is, among the various musical gentlemen to 

 whom I have shown it, not more than two or three have been 

 able to perform it, until the following indispensable requisites were 

 laid before them. 



Requisites for the Execution of the Experiment . 



1. Of Tone. — Agreeably to Italian phrase (for which I am 

 indebted to Dr. Burney) this passage must not be vocalized, but 

 syllabized: the meaning of which is, that the motith must not 

 be unduly opened, nor must the larynx be almost solely occupied 

 as in song ; but that every organ be preserved, and engaged in 

 that exact position in which it would be necessarily placed, were 

 every syllable to be uttered in the ordinary way of language. 

 Tims will be obtained that peculiar modification of sound which 

 is the characteristic of speech. 



2. Of Time. — Every idea of musical time, or musical pause* 

 called rests, must be relinquished — forgotten: neither should 

 any syllable whatever be contracted within, or extended beyond 

 its usual dimensions in speech. Also, 



A sufficient duration must be allotted to every consonant; by 

 no means sufFedng the whole period of enunciation to be al- 

 most 



