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So late as the beginning of the eighteenth century, ac¬ 
cording to Riccobpni, the performers in the operas of 
Germany, particularly at Hamburgh, “ were all tradefrnen 
or handicrafts. Your Ihoemaker (fays he) was often the 
firft performer on the liage ; and you might have bought 
fruit and fweatmeats of the fame girls whom the night 
before you had feen in the characters of Armida or Senii- 
ramis.” Soon, however, the German opera arofe to a 
more refpeCtable fituation ; and even during the feven- 
teenth century many eminent compofers ftourilhed in 
that country. 
The lift of great mulicians which France produced dur¬ 
ing the early part of the fame century is not numerous. 
Mufic feems to have been but little cultivated in that 
country, till the operas of Lulli, under the powerful pa¬ 
tronage of Louis XIV. excited public attention. The 
favourite finging-mafter and compofer of France, about 
the middle of the feventeenth century, was Michael Lam¬ 
bert. John Baptift Lulli, foon after this time ; rofe 
from the rank of a menial fervant to fame, opulence, and 
nobility, by his Ikill in mulical compolitions. The cele¬ 
brated linger La Rochois was taught linging and acting 
by Lulli. 
The Englifh mufician whom we laft mentioned was the 
celebrated Purcell. After his time the chief compofers 
for the church were Clarke, Dr. Holden, Dr. Creyghton, 
Tucker, Aldrich, Golwin, Weldon, Dr. Crofts, Dr. 
Greene, Boyce, and Nares ; to -whom may be added 
John Stanley, who attained high proficiency in mufic, 
although from two years old totally deprived of fight. 
The annals of modern mufic have hitherto fumiflied 
no event fo important to the progrefs of the art as the in¬ 
vention of recitative, or dramatic melody; a ftyle of mufic 
which refembles the manner of the ancient rhapfodifts. 
See Cavalieri, vol. iii. p. 921. 
As the Orfeo of Politiano was certainly the firft attempt 
at the mufical drama now called an opera, which was 
afterwards perfected by Apoftolo Zeno and Metaftafio, we 
fhall give the reader a fketch of the fable. To this drama 
there is an argument in verfe. The piece is in five a£ls. 
Ariftseus, a fhepherd, the fon of Apollo, loved Eurydice, 
the wife of Orpheus, in fo violent a manner, that he pur- 
fued her in the fields ; and in her flight from him fhe was 
bitten by a ferpent, of which fhe died. Orpheus, by fling¬ 
ing, fo foftened the inferhals, that they fuft'efed her to 
depart, on condition that he would not look behind him. 
But, not obeying this injunftion, ihe was forced back to 
hell. Upon his great grief, and refplution, never to love 
another female, the Thracian women tore him to pieces. 
That no mufical dramas, fimilar to thofe that were 
afterwards known by the names of operas and oratorios, 
had exiitence in Italy before the beginning of the feven¬ 
teenth century, feems certain by no mention being made 
of them in the ample lift given by Angelo Ingegneri, 1598, 
of all that were then known, in his difcourle oil the re- 
prefentation of dramatic fables, and poetry, where he 
treats of tragedie, comedie, pajiorali, pj calorie, bofckereccie. 
See. all declaimed entirely, except the chorales, which 
leem to have confifted of odes or madrigals, fet to mufic 
in parts. Mufic is the firjl confideration in operas and 
oratorios; but this author fays, at the end of his book, 
“ I now come to mufic, the third and lajl part of dramatic 
reprefentations, which, in comedies and paliorals without 
chorufes, vfltll be ufed at pleafure, in interludes between 
the afts, to relieve the l’pe&ators, whole minds may be 
fatigued by the attention they have bellowed on the 
fable.” We are often told, however, of mufical dramas 
performed at Rome and Venice, long before this period : 
and every writer on the fubjeft informs us, that Sulpitius, 
in his dedication of Vitruvius, fpeaks of a tragedy that 
was recited and fung at Rome, under the aufpices of car¬ 
dinal Riario, in 14.80 ; that Alfonfd della Viola fet a 
drama to mufic, in 1560, for the court of Ferrara; ancf 
tha*- at Venice there was an opera performed for the enter- 
nent of Henry III. of France, at his return from 
xoland, on the death of his brother Charles IX. in 1374, 
S I c. 
which was fet by the famous Zarlino. Thefe, and more, 
have been confounded by father Meneftrier with the 
mufical dramas of later times, after the invention of reci¬ 
tative,which alone ihould diftinguifli the opera and oratorio 
from every other l'pecies of theatrical exhibition; but 
thefe early attempts at flinging were no more dramatic 
than a mafs, fervice, full anthem, or madrigal, would be 
if fung on a ftage. Indeed fome of the dramas, which 
preceded the year 1600, had chorufes, and intermezzi in 
meafured mufic, and incidental longs, like our mal'ques 
in the reigns of queen Elizabeth, and James I. in which, 
however, the dialogue was all fpoken. 
Three Florentine noblemen, Giovanni Bardi count of 
Verona, Pietro Strozzi, and Jacopo Corfi, of good tafte in 
literature, being difeontented with every former attempt 
at perfecting dramatic poetry and exhibitions, determined 
to unite the bell lyric poet with the bell mufician of their 
time; and therefore chole Ottavio Rinuccini and Jacopo 
Peri, their countrymen, to write and fet to mufic the drama 
of Dafne, Which was performed in the houfe of fignor 
Corfi, in 1597, with great applaule; and this feems the 
true era whence the opera, or drama, wholly Jet to mufic, 
and in which the dialogue was neither fung in meafure! 
nor declaimed without mufic, but recited in fimpie mufi¬ 
cal tones, which amounted not to linging, and* yet was 
different from fpeech, Ihould be dated. After this luccelf- 
ful experiment, Rinuccini wrote Euridice and Arianna* 
two other dramas, for the fame kind of mufic. 
Peri, in his preface, after enumerating the great perforr- 
ages who were prefent at the reprefentation of the mufical 
drama of Euridice at Florence in 1600, and the eminent 
muficians to whom his mufic has been Ihown, tells us 
that it was fung by the moll excellent performers of the 
time ; among whom were fignor Francefco Rail, a noble¬ 
man of Arezzo, who reprelented the part of Aminto; 
fignor Brandi, Arcetro; and fignor Melchior Palantrotto, 
Pluto. He then tells us, that “ behind the feenes, fignor 
Jacopo Corfi played the harpfichord; Don Garzia Mon¬ 
talvo the chitarone, or large guitar; Mefi'er Giovambatifta 
dal Violino the lira grande, or viol da gamba ; and Mefi’er 
Giovanni Lapi a large lute.” Thefe lour feem to have 
compoled the whole band. For, though he celebrates the 
performance of Giovambatifta Jacomelli on the violin 
neither he, nor any one elfe, played on that inftrument at 
the exhibition. Pie concludes his account of this drama 
by owning that fome parts of it werecompofed by Giulio 
Caccini, detto Romano, “ whofe griat merit u f as known 
to the whole world,” becaufe it was to be fung by per- 
fons dependent on him; by which he probably means to 
fay, that they were his fcholars. He boafts of having 
opened the road for others, by his eflays at dramatic mufic. 
Monteverde fet Rinuccini’s Arianna for the court of 
Mantua, in 1606 ; the words only were then printed, and 
reprinted feveral times after. This opera was performed 
at Venice, 1640, to Monteverde’s compofition, and the 
words again reprinted; but whether the mufic was eyer 
publilhed, we know not. 
In a Dilcourfe by Pietro della Valle on the Mufic of 
his own time, addrefled by that celebrated traveller to 
Lelio Guidiccione 1640, and publilhed in the fecond 
volume of the works of Battifta Doni, at Florence, 1763, 
there is an interefting, clear, and admirable, account of 
the Hate of mufic in Italy, but particularly at Rome, 
during the beginning of the leventeenth century. We 
fhall tranferibe his account of the manner in which the 
firft opera, or mufical drama, was exhibited at Rome 
which is extremely amufingand curious. “ Though no more 
than five voices or five inltruments were employed, the 
exadl: number which an ambulant cart could contain^ yet 
thefe afforded great variety: a‘s, befides the dialogue^of 
Angle voices, fometimes two or three, and at laft all the 
five, fang together, which had an admirable eftetft. The 
mufic of this piece, as may be feen in the copies of it that 
were afterwards printed, though dramatic, was not all in 
fimpie recitative, which would have been tirelome, but 
ornamented with beautiful palfages, and movements in 
f meaHi ra. 
