122 
MUSIC AT HOME. 
[Nature and Art, September 1, 1866. 
there are no English equivalents, and we need not be 
ashamed to have recourse to words invented or 
applied by foreign masters or philosophers ; such, 
for instance, as “Sonata,” and “Chiaroscuro,” and 
“ motives,” in music and painting. But it is difficult 
to see the necessity, when writing in English, for 
Calling even a Bomano-British tile, vase, lamp, or 
cup, much less a mediaeval jug, pot, or pitcher — a 
vas, or vasum fictile. Not that the fault is in our 
author ; for he has but adopted what is probably 
the cant of the curiosity-shop, and possibly of the 
museum ; but the habit is one which is but too 
much in vogue, and it would be well could it be 
checked. On the other hand, the necessity and 
convenience of conventional terms must be admitted, 
and a dead language frequently affords the best 
materials for their construction. Nor should we 
be too strict in criticising them, though it would be 
well if care rather than chance' selected them. 
Possibly it would be said that, in the present case, 
it was wished to have some generic term, under 
which all earthen vessels of past ages, the possession 
whereof is the result of excavation and research, 
may be classified ; and that the correct Latin term 
is as good as any other ; and that, as it is fitly 
applicable to Roman remains, it is by a fair analogy 
extended to mediaeval relics discovered in a similar 
position. The question is not perhaps worth dis- 
cussion, and for practical purposes is in the 
present case useless ; but we hope we may be ex- 
cused for having been led by it into thus alluding 
to a tendency which often leads to less justifiable 
results. 
The author has evidently too much eye and feeling 
for beauty and art to dwell with much sympathy on 
the ancient British pottery, and dismisses it in the 
following short but comprehensive passage : — 
“ The earliest specimens of British pottery found in 
England are principally funereal, discovered at the burial- 
places of the ancient Britons, under mounds of earth called 
barrows, or heaps of stones called cairns. These are the 
most primitive kinds of sepulchral interment. The barrows 
are mostly seen on elevated situations, either on downs or 
on uncultivated spots ; and the investigation, although 
interesting, yields in general little to repay the antiquary 
for his trouble ; as they seldom contain more than the rude 
sun-dried urn filled with the ashes of the dead mixed with 
the charcoal of the funeral pile, cremation being universal 
at that early period. These urns are sometimes ornamented 
with chevrons, semicircles, and longitudinal lines, cut or 
scratched on the vessel. We shall not enter into any 
lengthened description of these early British vessels, but 
proceed to give the reader an account of the more artistic 
productions of the Roman settlers in Britain, who brought 
with them improved methods of making and decorating 
pottery, as well as other manufactures.” 
The ground is thus cleared for the essay on the 
“ Vasa Fictilia of England,” which is divided into 
two parts: 1. on Bomano-British Pottery; 2. on 
Mediaeval Earthenware. It is written in a simple, 
unaffected style ; and the well-executed illustrations 
add to the pleasure and instruction to be derived 
from its perusal. "We hope to continue our remarks 
in a future number. 
MUSIC A 
S PEAKING- “ by the card,” Mr. Gye may be pronounced 
the victor in the Nozze cli Figaro contest of a few 
weeks since ; for he produced the opera in his regular 
season, though as late as July 27th, the last night but one 
thereof. The “ Orpheus of the Haymarket ” was before 
him by three days, it is true; but the “cheap night” 
period had set in, and La Nozze was a pearl thrown before 
audiences allowed to retain the habiliments of every-day 
life while doing- homage to Mozart. Dignified and con- 
servative Oovent Garden may point the white finger of scorn 
at the vulgar giant of the Pall Mall district, but much comfort 
is gained by the temporary abolition of swallow-tailed gar- 
ments, tight boots, tape neckties, and similar emblems of 
civilization. In a general sense, this gem among operas was 
satisfactorily given at both houses, and the balance of 
advantages was tolerably equal. 
The public gain by the very creditable rivalries among 
operatic artists ; and no doubt considerable emulation 
existed between those who played the corresponding- 
characters at each theatre. It may be quite as safely 
assumed that all of them felt they were engaged upon a 
master-piece of musical genius, and an opera which may 
serve as a model for all ages. Though musical amateurs 
had but little time to make comparisons, they possibly dis- 
covered in Mdlle. Titiens’s Countess an intensity of feeling 
and expression, and in Mdlle. Artdt’s a more dreamy and 
tender pensiveness. It may likewise have appeared that, 
although Mdlle. Sinico, as Susanna, is a much better acti-ess, 
than Madame Lemmens-Sherrington, our English soprano 
carries off the palm as a vocalist of extraordinary refine- 
ment. Mr. Santley’s Count Almaviva is preferable in 
every respect to that of his rival Signor Graziani, for the 
first-mentioned baritone, in the jealous passages with the 
T HOME. 
Countess, is energetic and at the same time gentlemanly in 
manner. M. Faure’s Figaro is formal and constrained, 
whereas M. Gassier’s is wonderfully buoyant and genial. 
As for the Marcellinas, an enraged musician might well 
exclaim with Mercutio “A plague o’ both your houses!” 
and notwithstanding Madame Trebelli-Bettini’s incom- 
parable voice and singing, Mdlle. Pauline Lucca is certainly 
nearer the ideal of that saucy little spoiled darling Cheru- 
bino. At the Royal Italian Opera Mozart’s intentions are 
respected, but at Her Majesty’s the enthusiastic Signor 
Arditi may be called to account for certain brazen interpola- 
tions in the March. 
A concert of far more than average interest was given by 
M. Moscheles, at St. James’s Hall, on the 30th of July. 
The veteran pianist, be it remembered, did a great deal, 
some years ago, to foster pure taste, and led students into 
the right path. He was a great executant in his time, and 
gave to the world pianoforte music that would shame many 
week inventions of the enemy nowadays. Yet how often is 
the name of Moscheles heard of in drawing--rooms ? Only 
a few months since, Madame Arabella Goddard resuscitated 
his “Recollections of Ireland,” and shortly afterwards 
Moscheles himself received an ovation at Mr. Arthur 
Sullivan’s concert, whither he had betaken himself as one 
of the public. He played at the concert of the 30th (for a 
charitable object) some of his admirable studies, and 
extemporized on themes from Beethoven’s C Minor 
Symphony, and “ See the conquering hero comes.” Ex- 
temporaneous performance was always a speciality with M. 
Moscheles, but the spirit of musical creation is sometimes 
not conveniently at hand. True spontaneity is not invariably 
at command, and much technical ingenuity hardly com- 
pensates for its absence. Parrots will not talk save when 
