272 



SINGING. 



taires.) It has hence come to be applied to any 

 charge or post without duties attached to it. The 

 gross abuses which exist in this country in regard 

 to sinecures, have arisen mostly from changes in the 

 state of society, alterations in the management of 

 the revenue, or the administration of justice, and 

 from the union of the three kingdoms. The offices, 

 with their emoluments, have thus been kept up 

 when the duties had ceased. Besides the absolute 

 sinecures, there are offices of which the duties are 

 discharged, for a small salary, by a deputy, while 

 the placeman pockets the principal profits. In the 

 departments of the army, navy, revenue, administra- 

 tion, &c., are many such cases. The total amount 

 of money thus paid, in great part, to noblemen, or 

 their relations and dependants, is little short of half 

 a million pounds sterling a year. 



SINGING. In the article Music we have 

 touched upon the origin of vocal, as well as instru- 

 mental music. Singing unites, in its perfection, 

 music with lyric poetry : we say lyric poetry, be- 

 cause the poetry must accord with the music, and 

 music is, in itself, a language of feeling. The chief 

 elements of a good singer are, 1. a voice distin- 

 guished for melody and compass; 2. skill to read 

 notes correctly and readily, and accurate intona- 

 tion ; 3. a distinct utterance ; and 4. adaptation of 

 the delivery to the meaning of the words, in which 

 the singer shows his taste and feeling. There are 

 three chief methods, or schools of singing the Ita- 

 lian, German, and French. (See Music, and Italian 

 Music.") Formerly, the Italians only had a proper 

 school of singing, because, with them, singing was 

 early made a subject of scientific instruction. The 

 Itab'an method is distinguished by peculiar attention 

 to the cultivation of the vocal organs, in order to 

 give the voice the greatest clearness and flexibility; 

 secondly, by the soft swelling and blending of the 

 tones, which is called portamento di voce, and gives 

 to the whole a charm and keeping similar to the 

 effect of a perfect picture ; thirdly, by a distinct 

 utterance of the words, though in this the Italian 

 singers are greatly aided by their melodious lan- 

 guage. Another advantage of this school is its 

 skill in recitativo a musical discourse, between 

 singing and speaking (though, even among the Ital- 

 ians, this latter excellence has become comparatively 

 rare of late). The defects of this school are, that 

 it often runs into an excess of art and ornament, 

 which, among many other causes, is partly owing 

 to the circumstance that, formerly, composers wrote 

 only the fundamental notes for the singers, and left 

 them to supply the rest. But Rossini has intro- 

 duced the fashion of writing all the ornaments in 

 full. The Italian style of singing appears to the 

 greatest advantage in the concert, and the buffo 

 style of the opera. The German school, or style, 

 is more unbending, and better adapted for church 

 music. The fugue is its triumph; firmness and 

 steadiness its excellences. The German aims at 

 simplicity, character, and deep meaning, and wishes 

 to make the music a perfect expression of the feel- 

 ing. Hence the German singer often neglects to 

 make the words distinctly intelligible. Yet the 

 Germans have adopted much from the Italians, in 

 regard to the cultivation of the vocal organs, as 

 well as the execution, and have treated singing 

 most scientifically. There is a surprising similarity 

 of character in the schools of singing and painting, 

 in each of these two nations. The French method 

 borders closely on declamation, and shows the 

 proneness of the nation to conversation. The lan- 



guage is very unfavourable for singing, on account 

 of its want of verbal accent, and the swallowing of 

 the final syllables. Though the German idiom c;ui 

 by no means be said to be well adapted for singing, 

 on account of its many consonants, yet the French is 

 still less so, particularly from its many nasal sounds. 

 The French singing is, however, truly fine in the 

 simple national songs: these recall the time of the 

 troubadours, and have something uncommonly 

 charming. With the chansons, vaudevilles, and 

 rondelays, the case is different: in these, the French 

 aim chiefly at wit and point, and the song is made 

 subservient to the words, not the words to the 

 song. All three nations have many works for giv- 

 ing instruction in singing, but none so many as the 

 Germans. 



Singing Schools The study of singing, as an 



art, has been hallowed by its devotion to the ser- 

 vice of religion, both in ancient and modern times, 

 and it has been considered an effectual instrument 

 in the civilization of mankind. It was a law of the 

 Egyptians, that children should be instructed in par- 

 ticular branches of music and singing: we may 

 therefore justly infer that singing schools existed in 

 Egypt. Among the Jews, singing was connected 

 with all their religious ceremonies. Samuel estab- 

 lished, during the peaceful years of his rule, the 

 celebrated schools of the prophets, in which sing- 

 ing, music, and poetry were taught. Under David, 

 the chief of the Levites gave instruction in singing, 

 and had the direction, with twenty-four assistants, 

 of a choir of 4000 singers and musicians. Among 

 the Chinese, also, singing schools have been estab- 

 lished from the most remote times; two of the 

 principal mandarins are directors of the singing 

 schools at Pekin; eight head teachers, and sixteen 

 under teachers, with eight subordinate mandarins, 

 eight musicographers, and eighty scholars, compose 

 the institution. Among the Jews, splendour, and 

 the love of the fine arts, reached their height under 

 Solomon, and no exhibition of modern times can be 

 compared with the musical festival at the dedica- 

 tion of Solomon's temple, at which, according to 

 tradition, were united 200,000 singers, 40,000 

 harps, 40,000 sistrums, and 200,000 silver trumpets. 

 Among the Greeks, the oracles were always de- 

 livered in song. The scholars of Pythagoras were 

 obliged, on waking in the morning, and before go- 

 ing to sleep in the evening, to chant songs, in order 

 to overcome the disturbing influences of the world. 

 The greatest variety of hymns were sung in the wor- 

 ship of Apollo. The singing schools of the Greeks 

 are celebrated: at their great public games, mu- 

 sical contests took place, and the four most sacred 

 festivals, the Olympic, Pythion, Nemsean, and Isth- 

 mian games, as well as the Panathenaea, thus be- 

 came schools of music. Through the Etruscans and 

 Greeks, singing was introduced among the Romans. 

 Under the Roman emperors, the passion for music 

 and singing reached its height ; many of the emperors 

 gave themselves up to it with ardour. But proper 

 singing schools were not known in ancient Rome, 

 as the most distinguished musicians were foreigners. 

 Among the Gauls, music was taught and practised 

 by the Druids, and Bards. With the religion of 

 the Druids, these singing schools were also in- 

 troduced into Britain. From the earliest times, 

 the singers of Britain were celebrated; after the 

 extinction of Druidism, they were called minstrels, 

 and resided chiefly in Wales. What has been said 

 of the Tuiscon of the Germans, is very uncertain ; 

 however, the Germans had singers, and national 



