A I R 



A balhid, tune, or flioi't inlhiiiTn.'utal air, confifts of two 

 (Iraiiis or parts. 



No very fatisfaftoiy etymology l.as been found for the 

 word yllr. Sauniailc believes tliat it conies fiom ura, Lat. ; 

 but Menage dilpvites this derivatiiii, iu his Etvni()l<)'.!;ical 

 l>ictionary, wit'uout fnrnithing a better. The tcnn ^;Vi; in 

 Itahan, is of no li!j;i\ ant'Cjuity : the: fnil inllaiioe of its ufe 

 in the Ciiifca Dictionaiy is from R^di, who died in 169H. 

 \Vc know, however, that the word became of general life 

 about the middle of the I 7th centuiy. 



Though Air iometimcs implies the words of a fong, 

 as well as the melody in general ; nice diferiniinatiim 

 requires, that we (hould couiine its import to melody, a 

 tunc, alone, and foty:; to the words. A line or pleafing air 

 has ncihing to do with the poetry, which may hi line, 

 though ill ftt. And the air may be beautiful, eve;, to non- 

 fenfical words. 



Meafured an', in an opera, is oppofed to recitative, where 

 no regular time is obferved. Thio mulical declamation, 

 which needs only two kinds of notes, crotchets and cpiavers, 

 with paufes at the end of a verfe, approaches nearer to 

 what we conceive to liave been the vocal muiic of the an- 

 cients, confined to longs and (liorts, than any of our Airs, 

 except fucii as are very fimple, can do. Chanting, in the 

 Cathedral fei-vice, is more rapid than recitative ; but re- 

 fembles it by the abfence of regular meafure, more than Air, 

 which mult be arranged in fome one of the diviiions of 

 common or triple time. ' 



In accompanied recitative, flio-.t pafTages or fragments of 

 Air occur in the inllrumental parts, in meafured melody, 

 •which is often called fymphony; but the Italians, with more 

 propriety, ftyle thefe tragnients Ritornelli ; which fee. Some- 

 times indeed the inftruments accompany the reciter in regular 

 time, which obliges the linger to ]Monounce the recitative in 

 meafure, (which likcu-ife lee). Of this the performers are 

 informed by the words a tempo, in time. 



A vocal air is only the melody of a fmgle part or voice. 

 If another part is added to it, in different intervals, it is 

 ftyled a Duo, or Duet; in three parts, a Trio; iu four, a 

 ^atiior, or ^leirlel, &c. 



The Ancients had Airs, botli vocal and inftriimental, 

 called Nome.!. The words of lyric meafures, which we 

 lliould call fongs, were llylcd Scolia, (which fee under their 

 feveral articles). 



In the work of Philodemus on mufic, which has been 

 recovered from the cinders of Herculaiitum, the bed and 

 only mulical information it contains, after being fo long cx- 

 pefted, and with fnch difficulty deciphered, is the folution 

 of the miraculous powers afcribed by the poets to Amphion, 

 of building cities by muiic. We find in this traft, (which 

 is but a fragment, and neither a treatife nor an eulogium on 

 muiic, but a fevere fatire) that eveiy trade, occupation, and 

 profeflion, had its nomes or peculiar and appropriate Airs, 

 which were played to the workmen ; fo that towns were not 

 built ij muiic, but /omufic,<MAOAHMT ngPI MOTCIKHC. 

 We fee in Buffi-riiievi and ancient fcnipture, that there 

 was a niufician at the ftern of every veffel, to regulate 

 and animate the rowers. Orpheus, civihfing the world, and 

 introducing religion and order aniong mankind, implied only 

 that religious rites were accompanied by muiic. See Ph i lo- 

 de m us. 



The derivation and progrefs of air in dramatic mufic will 

 be found under the article opera, in which lyric poetry be- 

 came iubordinate to mufic. We fear the word yi/fonA'H^/if 

 will offend the pouts, and fnch as love poetry better than 

 muiic. " The words (lays Iranklin) are oidy an excufe for 



A I R 



finging." And StiUingficet afl<s " tvho reads the <wortfs of 

 a lung but the author :" In a mufical d'.-una, the biifu-.tl'* 

 is all tranfafled in recitative, or dcclam.ition : whicii bu- 

 iinefs, at the end of a fccne, is illnitrateil by a fiinile, or a 

 few paffionate lines, let to meafured tnulic, in fl(/rid coun- 

 terpoint ; and thefe are calculated to difpl.iv tiie talmts of 

 a finger, and the genius and abilities of a coiiipofer. AVire 

 tliis not the cale, and if the poetry wouM be bitter fcA ar.d 

 uiidtrllood by the mere articulation and impallioned enun- 

 ciation of common fpcech, why difguiie and iiivolve it in a 

 tunc, accompanied and incumbered by difierent mch)dies .' 



" A long, or the words of an air for a great ctitnpoler to 

 " let, and a capital finger to execute, (lioidd confilk only of 

 " one j'uiy.H o\- pirjion, cxprelfed in w^ffw and fuj'i ivonls rs 

 pojfihh-." Metaltafio has furnilhed the bell models of words 

 fen- airs in the Italian opera. And witli refpeft to Er.glilh 

 dramas ior nuilie, on the Italian plan in all things, except 

 tiie dialogne being declaimed in common fpcech, inilead of 

 the mufieal tones of recitative, wc lliall venture to quote on 

 the fubjecl of long-writing, opinions whicli we thought juil 

 30 years ago, and v>liich, during that period, wc liavc 

 ieen no realon to retrail. 



" Since the refinement of melody, and the exe-hifion of 

 " recitative, a fong, which ufiially recapitulates, ilhilliatcs, 

 " or doles a fccne, is not the place for epigrammatic points, 

 " or for a number of heterogeneous thoughts and clafliing 

 " metaphors ; if the writer has the leall pity for the com- 

 " poler, or love for mufic, or wiflies to atibrd the leal! op- 

 " portunity for fymmetiy in the air, the thought lliould be 

 " one, and the numbers as fniooth, and the expreflion as 

 " eafy and laconic as pofiible. What I'ublime ecclefiaiHcal 

 " muiic has Handel compofed on the lingle words yllleh'jah, 

 " and yiDien ! But, in general, eveiy new line in our fongs, 

 " introduces a new thought ; fo that if the compoier i* 

 " more tender of the poet's reputation than his own, he 

 " nniH:, at every line, change his fubjeft, or be at llrife 

 " with the bard ; and in either cafe, the alternative is in- 

 " jurious to the general interelt of the nnific, poetry, and 

 " audience. 



" In an air, it is by reiterated ftrokes that pafiion is iin- 

 " i)refled ; and the moll paflionate of all llrainr., is, perhaps, 

 " that in which a beautiful pall'age is rej)tated and varied, 

 " and when the linger, by a few appropriate notes of talte, 

 " feeling, or fpiril, returns to the lirll liibject, while it ilill 

 " vibrates on the ear, and is recent in the memory ; this 

 licence, no doubt, may be, and often is, abufed ; but not 

 by men of true genius and talle." Prefent Jlate r.f Mtific in 

 France and Italy. 



Alelfandro Scarlatti, Vinci, and Pergolefi, were the firll 

 who reilncd, phrafcd, and polifhed vocal melody, and fettled 

 the form and cantilena of dramatic airs. But thefe elegant 

 ftraiiis comipofed for great fingers, and a polite audience, 

 are tolr.lly different from national melodies, wliich are tra- 

 ditional, and were invented long before eitiier the gammut 

 or modulation was fettled : as may be difcovered by innu- 

 merable old tunes of different nations, that begin in one 

 key, and end in another. Indeed the ancient chants of 

 the Romifh churcii did the fame. See Chant and Canto 

 Ffrmo. 



The Gluckiils, in France, cenfurc all airs that they are 

 unable to fing, or that are likely to draw the attention of 

 the audience from the poet to the niufician. M. Suard, in 

 a long and well written article of the new Encvckpedie j\Te- 

 thodirjue, has analyfed feveral of the moll exquifite and re- 

 nowned Italian opera airs that have ever been fung on the 

 ilage, with a fcvcrity that borders 011 infenlibility. All the 



charms. 



