MUSIC. 



687 



growth of the English language came the age of 

 reality. The poetry of life was fast fading away. 

 The time when national music is born had gone by 

 in England, and the song of earlier days was lost. 



Thus England was deprived of her traditionary 

 music. Other circumstances, adverse to the 

 growth of music as a creation of art, may he traced 

 in her history. We speak of music as a creation 

 of art, in contradistinction to the music which is 

 handed down from a rude age, and whose origin is 

 lost in antiquity. Among a highly endowed and 

 enlightened people, music, as an art, may spring 

 up at any time. Wherever there is a strong taste 

 for it generally diffused throughout a community, 

 composers will he sure to appear. Wherever a 

 nation is peculiarly excited by powerful sentiment, 

 this feeling is likely to burst forth in song. Thus, 

 for instance, the Marseilles Hymn may be consid- 

 ered a genuine offspring of national enthusiasm. 



Let us briefly compare the musical history of 

 England with that of Italy. In the former, as we 

 have seen, the traditionary music was lost. In 

 the latter it was in some degree, at least, pre- 

 served ; and was inherited, perhaps, from the re- 

 motest antiquity. For many centuries music in 

 Italy was only preserved by the Christian church, 

 having been solemnly proscribed at Rome after the 

 death of the emperor Nero. The airs of ancient 

 Rome, inherited perhaps from the Etrurians, the 

 Oscans, or the Greeks, were chanted by the early 

 Christians at their secret devotions, and were pre- 

 served by their enthusiasm and piety, when they 

 could no longer be heard in the stately abodes of 

 the senators. And this ancient music, it is be- 

 lieved, has never been lost, the Gregorian chant 

 being nothing more nor less than the classical 

 music of Rome. Thus, although music was almost 

 extinct for a long period, it never perished ; and 

 when, after almost disappearing- from even the 

 church, it was revived by Ambrose, bishop of 

 Milan, and improved by pope Gregory during the 

 fifth century, Italy then was in possession of her 

 traditionary music. 



But the art owes its perfection in Italy to the 

 efforts of the church. An institution which de- 

 pends so much upon affecting the senses of its 

 devotees, would not of course omit to use so 

 powerful a means as music. And accordingly we 

 find that both the oratorio and the opera owe their 

 existence to the efforts of churchmen to promote 

 a spirit of devotion in their followers. The earli- 

 est form of the spiritual drama was presented by 

 the Christian pilgrims, who, on their return from 

 the Holy Land, used to accompany their dramatic 

 representations of the life and sufferings of our 

 Saviour and of the Apostles, with songs and chor- 

 uses descriptive of the same. About the middle 

 of the sixteenth century, Philip of Neri estab- 

 lished regular oratorios in Florence, with the de- 

 clared object of calling the public attention to re- 

 ligious subjects. The sacred opera had already 

 assumed a more complete form than the represen- 

 tation of the pilgrims. A religious drama had 

 been performed at Padua in the thirteenth cen- 

 tury ; and it appears, that the " Annunciation " 

 was enacted every year at the city of Treves. 



From sacred to profane subjects the step was 

 easy. Politian produced a musical drama on the 

 story of Orpheus, in the latter part of the fifteenth 

 century, and thus the opera was established. 



It was the good fortune of Italy, that a refined 

 state of living, wealth, luxury, and elegance, and 



with them elevated and refined tastes, were ac- 

 quired before the enthusiasm and devotion, which 

 mark a ruder condition of society, had departed. 

 The church still continued to direct the taste, and 

 to influence the heart, long after the rough feat- 

 ures of barbarism had disappeared from Italy ; and 

 the church, as we have seen, took music under its 

 peculiar patronage. Music, like the other fine 

 arts in Italy, was the offspring of enthusiasm and 

 a romantic spirit, united with civilization, refine- 

 ment, and wealth. 



The case was entirely different in England. We 

 have seen, that the revived music of Italy was 

 founded on the traditionary airs of the country. 

 Had these been lost, the music might now have 

 been of a very different character. In England 

 there was no such foundation to build upon. In 

 Italy the growth of music was owing to the efforts 

 of the church. But all such influences were 

 almost lost in England. The Romish church 

 never exerted the influence on the arts in that 

 country that it did in Italy, because its power was 

 lost before England became refined enough to take 

 pleasure in the fine arts. While Giotto was 

 painting the walls of the Campo Santo at Pisa, 

 and Lorenzo Ghiberti was casting his gates of Pa- 

 radise for the old Lombard church in Florence, the 

 English were industriously occupied in cutting 

 their own throats and the throats of their neigh- 

 bours. The reformation came ; and with it a se- 

 vere spirit, which looked with aversion upon out- 

 ward forms and ceremonies, and all the magnificent 

 paraphernalia of the Church of Rome. Many of 

 the decorations were removed from the churches, 

 many of the forms were interdicted, and the splen 

 dour of worship was much diminished. Little or 

 no encouragement was given to the arts by the 

 Church of England down to the time of Charles I. 

 Then the spirit of Puritanism began to breathe its 

 sternness over the land, and its effects were to 

 retard the growth of the fine arts in England more 

 than a century. In the midst of all these changes, 

 that enthusiastic spirit which gives birth to art 

 was lost. The fervour of the puritans, had their 

 doctrines allowed it, might have originated a new 

 and impressive music, which succeeding refinement 

 would, perhaps, have improved to rival the music 

 of Germany or Italy. But, unfortunately, all such 

 accomplishments and exercises were denounced, 

 and the barbarous twanging hymns of the puritans 

 had no other effect than to destroy even the little 

 taste for the art previously existing in England. 



We have endeavoured to give a few of the more 

 obvious reasons for the non-existence of English 

 music, because we like to account for this want 

 from external causes, rather than from a deficiency 

 in the national capacities. We do believe, that, 

 but for unfortunate influences, there might have 

 been a musical literature peculiarly English ; but, 

 at the same time, we are forced to the conviction, 

 that there is not in England so keen and delicate 

 a perception of art, generally speaking, as in many 

 other countries. 



For many centuries the romance of life has been 

 but little known in England. Even in the bril- 

 liant reign of Elizabeth, it was confined to a com- 

 paratively insignificant number. True, the accom- 

 plished Surrey went abroad proclaiming the charms 

 of his fair Geraldine with spear and sword ; Sidney 

 realized in his own person the ideal virtue and 

 courage of the heroes of the round table ; Raleigh, 

 and Essex, and Hatton, and many a J.oble knight 



