688 



MUSIC. 



beside, preserved the golden age of chivalry round 

 the throne of their mistress. But, beyond the 

 iiuigic circle of the court, the romance of life 

 ceased. It found no home among the people. 

 There was nothing of that wild and poetical exis- 

 tence, which, for 150 years afterwards, was found 

 in the highlands of Scotland. 



But it may be said, there was as much of the 

 romance of life in England as in Italy, from the 

 time of the Medici downwards. This may be 

 true, and yet nothing can offer a greater contrast 

 than life in these two countries. We do not refer 

 merely to the style of living, the manners and cus- 

 toms, the degree of comfort, and the amount of 

 external conveniences; but to the spirit of society, 

 the objects of life, the callings of men, the most 

 important and absorbing interests. In England, 

 life is business. Its objects are, improvements in 

 the accommodations of existence ; the means of 

 keeping out the cold and wet; commerce, manu- 

 factures, voyages of discovery; and, above all, the 

 absorbing game of politics, whether in the forum 

 or the battle-field. These are the great and seri. 

 ous objects of Englishmen. Accomplishments, 

 arts, amusements are the mere ornaments of life, 

 but little prized, and never brought into compari- 

 son with the other weighty matters. 



In Italy, the case is very different. There, life 

 is art. The weighty occupations, the important 

 business, the concerns oi states, and the interests 

 of governments, are art. Cities are more proud of 

 their statues and their pictures, than of their con- 

 venient streets and their ingenious by-laws. States 

 boast more of their artists, than of their internal 

 improvements. And this admiration of the fine 

 arts is not confined to the wealthy and refined. 

 It pervades all classes, and becomes the high in- 

 terest and the pride of all. Italy is, in truth, the 

 republic of art. Music, sculpture, poetry, paint- 

 ing, are not there the exclusive property and pri- 

 vilege of any class. They belong to all. They 

 are claimed and enjoyed by all. A few remarks of 

 Bombet's, where he is speaking of the inutility of 

 transferring the objects of art from Italy to France, 

 are in accordance with what we have just remarked. 

 He tells us, that, at Milan, we hear of Titian's 

 " Christ crowned with Thorns," as soon as we 

 arrive. At Bologna, the street valet will direct 

 your attention to the St Cecilia of Raphael. " At 

 Rome," he continues, " the person best known, 

 and in highest estimation, is Canova; " "at Rome 

 they will talk for a fortnight of the manner in 

 which the fresco of the convent of San Nilo, 

 painted by Domenichino, is going to be transferred 

 to canvass. At Rome it is the great artist who 

 occupies the public attention ; at Paris, it is the 

 successful general, or the favourite minister, 

 Marshal Saxe. or M. de Calonne." 



These differences between England and Italy 

 arise, rather, we apprehend, from the natural su- 

 periority of the latter country, than from any ad- 

 ventitious circumstances. The Italians have a 

 keener sense of art than the English. Music is 

 the native growth of the country ; it is universally 

 understood, loved, and practised. In England it 

 is an exotic ; of slow growth, and fit only for the 

 saloons of the wealthy. There is an atmosphere 

 of music in Italy. People hear it from their birth. 

 It becomes one of the invariable concomitants of 

 life. To be without music is not a conceivable 

 idea. The fine arts are indispensable with Itali- 

 ans. They are more needed and more sought 



than those comforts which in England are prized 

 as the first requisites for living. The Italian*, to 

 borrow the idea of a witty acquaintance, can get 

 on without the necessaries of life ; but the lux- 

 uries are absolutely indispensable. 



This want of a general capacity to enjoy music 

 or to appreciate it, in England, is, we believe, 

 more than any adventitious difficulty, the reason 

 why they have no national music. It is not 

 enough, that the art should be cultivated by the 

 wealthy; that the opera should be munificently 

 supported, and that foreign performers should 

 carry away fortunes from the kingdom. Wu 

 would give more for the chance of a national 

 music in a country where the labourers sing at 

 their toil, or join in chorus as they return from 

 the fields, than in that which devotes millions to 

 the building of opera-houses, and the importation 

 of performers. 



The assertion, that England has no music, ought 

 undoubtedly to be qualified. In saying this, we 

 mean, in the first place, that there is no music 

 whirb, from its peculiar character, we pronounce 

 unhesitatingly to be English. We are never at H 

 loss to distinguish Scottish music, or German, or 

 Italian ; but what are the characteristics of Eng- 

 lish music? In this sense, we consider that it 

 does not exist. Again ; there is no class of com- 

 posers belonging to England, whose works form a 

 distinct musical literature. Half a dozen writers 

 of equal merit with Arne would have created such 

 a literature; hut they are not to be found. Handel 

 we do not rank as an English composer ; were he 

 so, England might indeed boast of her national 

 music. Yet we must acknowledge, that, by adopt- 

 ing Handel's music so completely, England lias 

 done all in its power to make it national. 



The nearest approach made to a national music 

 in England is perhaps in the cathedral chants and 

 anthems. Here we think a peculiar and distinctly 

 marked style may be discerned; and in this class 

 of compositions are to be found many honoured 

 names. Some of the composers of these lived in 

 the early days of music; as Richard Fevrant, who 

 flourished in the former portion of the reign or 

 Elizabeth, and William Bird, who was horn about 

 the year 1543, and whose famous canon, Ao 

 nobis, Domine, has been ascribed to Palestrina, the 

 father of modern melody. 



In speaking of the national music of England, it 

 seems only just to cite a remark of the earl of 

 Mount Edgecombe, which appears in the " Musical 

 Magazine." He says; "There is another species 

 of composition more peculiarly our own, and which 

 I should call our only national music ; I mean ylees, 

 which differ from any thing I ever heard, and in 

 their style cannot be excelled. Their harmony is 

 so full, rich, and melodious, when executed, as 

 they long were, by the Messrs Knyvett, and the 

 other performers accustomed to sing them toge- 

 ther, that they completely gratify the ear; and he 

 must be indeed fastidious, or greatly prejudiced, 

 who cannot receive pleasure from their perform- 

 ance If the leading voice permits itself to wander 

 from the strict melody of the air, in order to show 

 grace or agility, as is too frequently the case when 

 singers accustomed to other styles are called in, 

 the effect is injured instead of improved, as the 

 great beauty of those compositions is derived 

 from the complete union and equality of all the 

 voices, none preponderating, and from the simpli- 

 city of their execution. They then produce 



