‘ee 
Qa 
1s 
rly re 
Voices eer inftru 
saan is not Cane cafe with mere Tea 
mental mufic; it fecms that a great 
excellence of che fatter a coniift in 
its prefervirg 2 due edium poe 
the two extremes, namely in Deine ne 
ther io very fimply and pla: imiy, as to be 
likely foon to pall and grow i Gpid, 
nor yet fo intricately eae “complicatedly 
as to require hearing a number of times 
before all its excellences can be dif- 
covered, or tts full effects perceived. 
Tz would therefore be welifor the itate 
of mufic in general, if fubfequent com- 
aS would adhere at ee times to _f7- 
péecity, and not attcmpt to imitate thoie 
very ‘elaborate and extravagant es 
ions s, which were merely defi ned. to 
exhibit the pewers of amedern ochefia, 
and ikew with what wonderful precifion 
fucht Hee pieces can be performed by 
a band of al! kinds of inftruments, of 
which in their turn the principal ofeach 
- have fome obugato pafiages te perform. 
Having thus > confdered the ieee 
ftvles of ancient and modern zzflrumextal 
mufic, it remains for me to oblerye, tha 
the foregoing rem Marks V _ equally apply 
to vocal mufic, ee as alfo underg.-ne 
the fame kind of rev Sige n, as thre initrne 
mental. Thereis 5 full as much difference 
between a modern opera fong (w hether 
Englifh or Italian) and a fong of Handel, 
or of any of his carly contemporaries, as 
between the ancient and mode 
of ‘inftrumenta! mufic. Each of rliem 
aifo has its ee merits ae demerits, 
—* 
oO 
Pe 
t- Vv 
upon the voice for: che effect, leaving 
t 
little for the accompaniments | 
bafs and the mntroductory,_1n 
toe 
ii 
and concluding fy mphonies;t re 
ney be faid frequently to fail 
oppofite extreme, by m aking the inftru- 
menta! frequent ly the principal part of 
e 
the cotpofition, and t 
the ‘voice part, 
little more than an ‘accompa animent. 
Long accompanied recitacives allo are 
much in fafhion -at prefent; this is cer- 
tainly a fine and exprei hive fpecies of 
compofition, if in a lang guage that is 
intelligible to the au: dience, but if- unin- 
telligible, the whole effect of the com- 
pofition will be loit. As therefore this 
kind of recitative is almoft entirely con- 
fined to Italian words, its complete 
‘Comparifon of Ancient and Modern Mufie. 
the e 
rn ftyles- 
[Sup; 
effects muft be likewife -confined to a 
{mall part only of an Enghih audience ; 
mauy ‘of the Italian airs however it aie 
x confeffed, from s thee beautiful meledy 
cH. or from the brilliancy of 
he r accompaniments are well calculated 
2 pl ue independent of the words 
Cw era by the by e, are frequently tri- 
Ai ing 
See " undoubtedly a great addition and 
improvement to the aie concerts. 
Here then our former queflion again 
forcibly een: chy fhould the vocal 
parts of a concert confift entirely of Ita 
lian, poe of Englifi? From their 
difference of fiyle 
priety, and effect, be contrafted to cach 
other, as I have prov ed in the preceding 
remarks upen ancient and modern in- 
ftrumental mufic. 
Therefore in a ufion I hall obferve, 
tat were people in general, inftead of 
bigottedly ‘attachng themfelves whelly, 
either te the ancient or the modern ty! 
of inftrumental mufic, or either te the 
oe or the Englith ftyle of vocal 
mufic, to introduce and encourage each 
in its turn; aud were the managets Of - 
all public fub{cription concerts to follow 
xamples of thofe who have benefits, 
and availing themfeives of every differ- 
ent ftyle of infrumental and voca! mufic, 
(arranging the pieces and airs fo as to 
contrait them weil to each other) the 
following good effects would ariie. 
Firft, “the general complaint of the 
lezgik of our concerts W ‘ould in a great 
meafure be done away, by the variety 
and contraft arifing from the mixture: 
ithe two ftyl = and peop!e in genera | 
would be infin 
niinitely more pleafed than 
when ed are tc -onfined as particular 
ftvle or the whole eve: ning. 
Se ondly, the favorite or moft pleafing 
i of cach author would pleafe much 
eee , or not become fo foon hackneyed, 
‘ neceilarily muft, where only one 
is attended to. 
Thirdly, people who have been 
Tto bigoted to one ftyle, and confe- 
qui enly have avoided hearing the other, 
will have an opportunity of hearing fome 
ti idces of that fiyle azaintt 
which they have been pr ejudiced, which 
from their contraft with the others (if. 
not from their own intrinfic merit) will 
perhaps aiford them greater pleafure 
thaa they expected. 
ORIGINAL 
, infipid or ridiculous ) and are there - - 
they might, with pro- - 
' 
