196 Dr. Charles J. Hall on 



Mrs. Cibber), and " Rosamond" was the immediate outcome 

 of her success in "Amelia." But this influence was by way of 

 suggestion and stimulation merely. Arne felt he could do 

 better than Lampe, and (an important consideration) he had 

 his prima donna ready in the person of a tractable relative. 

 With the works of Corelli (who died in 171 3) Arne had an 

 intimate acquaintance, for both were violinists, and he 

 doubtless knew something of Padre Martini, Galuppi, and 

 Ricciotti, whose works had been published in England. Of 

 Sebastian Bach, Arne at this time probably knew nothing, 

 for, although some of Bach's cantatas had been published 

 in Germany 18 years before, his music was slow to travel 

 and popularise itself. But for Mendelssohn and Schumann 

 I question if we should have known anything more of Bach 

 than our countrymen did 150 years ago. If Arne, there- 

 fore, had been anything of a copyist he would have followed 

 Corelli or Handel. Now, to a limited extent in his earlier 

 works he does follow Handel, and it is interesting to see 

 how his individuality gradually matures and asserts itself. 

 This first appears in his masque of " Comus," written in 

 1736, and produced in the spring of 1738. To this work I 

 must refer in some detail, and must preface my reference 

 by a few words about musical form as applied to the overture. 

 Every musical piece, like a poem, a painting, or a build- 

 ing, must necessarily have a plan or design; and experience 

 has shown that what is called the modern binary form 

 is the best plan on which to lay out a classic overture. 

 This is the scheme settled by Haydn and completed by 

 Beethoven, since whose time no advance has been practicable. 

 In this form two subjects are used. One commences the 

 movement, the second is presently introduced in a related 

 key, generally the dominant (i.e. the fifth above the key 

 note), and shortly brings the first section to a close. In the 

 second section these two subjects are developed and worked 

 out according to the composer's genius and fancy, while, in 



