The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-04 00:00:00

MODERN ITALIAN TASTE.

The Pope is dead, and the Conclave assembles on tho
14th, A great part of the winter will be occupied with the
ceremonies of his funeral, and the enthronement of the new
Popo. All music therefore and large parties must bo at an
end, so I very much doubt whether I shall be able to un-
dertake any public performance during my stay here; but
I do not regret this, for there are so many varied objects to
enjoy inwardly, that my dwelling on these and meditating
on them is no disadvantage. Tho performance of Grimes
"Passion" in Naples, and more especially the translation
from Sebastian Bach, prove that the good cause is sure
eventually to make its way, though it will neither kindle
enthusiasm, nor will it be appreciated. It is no worse how-
ever with regard to music—in fact, rather better—than with
their estimate of every other branch of the fine arts; for
when some of Raphael's Loggie are with inconceivable
recklessness and disgraceful barbarism actually defaced, "
to.
give place to inscriptions in pencil; when the lower pawil(g I
the arabesques are totally destroyed, because Italiapg
knives, and Heaven knows what else besides, hoer,'" their
eir
insignificant names there ; when one person Painted in
large letters under the Apollo Belvedere,
Intel Angelo 's
an altar has been erected in front of Idic
hides tho centre of the
" Last Judgment," so large that it t .
~ Christ ;" when
when cattle are
eciffi?c-th'e Villa Madam,
picture, thus destroying the whole
driven through the splendid saloonsu
Gi lio Romano, and fod-
the walls of which are painted by .
music,but theyturn
ro indifference towards the
simply 1-- much worse than a bad
der is stored in them,
even more distressed by
beautiful—all this is cart:uile
orchestra, and painters must
such things than I
The fact is, that the Vie are mentally enervated
P religion, but they do not believeand
apathetic. They hays
a i l ba ya
oloit
dh e
al r
Gmo i
vs oe rma bn
il e
et,
th can recall a brilliant and heroic
in it ; they have a Poly
them into ridicule;
gO, , . n, c s t value it. It is thusiundoiffnioarvtelt that
it is really quite revolting to see un-
lit in art, for they are indifferent
theiro all
past, but theye
they du not d ...
that is earnest.
death of the. Pope, and their unseemly
the ceremonies. I
merriment myself saw the corpse
; landd the priests standinc, round incessantly
lying In alaughing• a d '
whispering .
concern about the
..,es are being said for hit soul, they are in the very
,ramiu3-- olpiroh hanimPling, away[tt the scaffolding of the
4The hammers And the noise
00,tafalqueirio that the strokqs.
of tire wor °vie entirely prevent any one hearing there,
ligious sery ces. As soon as the cardinals assemble in.con-
olaVe, satires appear against them, where, for instance,
they parody the Litanies; and instead of praying to be de-
livered from each particar sin, they name the bad quail-
ciC4 of tech WQII-known coil* or again, they perform og

ientire opera, 'where all the characters are cardinals, 4
being the prime amoroso, another the tirawvo asstdto, a
third stage candle-snuffer, etc. This could not be the case
where the people took any pleasure in art. Formerly it
was no better, but they had faith then ; and it is this which
makes the difference. Nature, however, and the genial
December atmosphere, and the outlines of the Alban hills,
sthtreeytcohainngsasel
ifbabricasnthoensaelan,esa,ll
(r)remcoamin unchanged. There
These every one can still individuailleyseeuujooyininserailliltit°huesir-
freshness, and to these I cling. I feel much the want of a
friend here, to whom I could freely unbosom myself;
who
could read my music as I write it, thus making it doubly
precious in my eyes ; in whose society I could feel au in-
' terest, and enjoy reros'e ; and honestly learn from him (it
would not require a very wise man for this purpose). lint
just as trees are not ordained to grow up into the iiky, so
probably such a man is not likely to be found here ; and the
good fortune I have hitherto so richly enjoyed elsewhere, is
not to-fall to my share at present ; so. I must hum over my
melodies to myself, and I dare say I shall do well enous;h,
,_
Of their skill in music he had the lowest estimc ,_,,
"The orchestras," he says, " are worse than any ,7., )
could believe; both musicians, anti a right leelinw
for mw-ic, are Wanting. The two or three violin
performers play just as they choose, and join in
when they please; the wind instrumeutS are tuned
Either too high or too low ; and they execute
flourishes like those we are accustomed to hear in

farm-yards, but hardly so good ; in short, the whole
forms a Dutch concert, and this applies even to com-
positions with which they are familiar." This
judgment may seem harsh to those who, never
having 'visited Italy, adopt the common notion of
the universality of musical proficiency there, but
we can state from our own experience that it is
literally true. Never did we hear so little good or
so much bad music as during our residence there,
whilst the execution was often beneath contempt.
Trite, the performance during the Holy 'Week
is pet uliar, and in a sense impressive,
but an Exeter Hall oratorio is in every
respect far superior, whilst we doubt if any
orchestra in Italy could read, much less play,
one of Beethoven's Symphonies. Indeed, in no city
in the world is so much fine music, of all styles, to
be found as in London; and this Mendelssohn vir-
tt,,uhrrae
admitsi Writing frcm Naples, ho says :
s now closed for some weeks, because
to liquify.
What I heard at the Opera previously did not repay
The orchestra, like that of
lhleytheatre
blood of St. Januarius shottly
tßome,hetrouwbalse oworsefgeintgh
*an in any part of Germany,
and not even one tolerable female singer. Tam-
burini alone, with his vigorous bass voice, imparted
some life to the whole. Those who wish to hear
Italian Operas, must nowadays go to Paris or Lon-
don. Heaven grant that this may not eventually
be the case with German music also!" Again,
writing from Milan, " It is evident that if I wish to
I hear Italian music, I must go to Paris, or to Eng-

land." Returning from Italy, he passed throng-b.
Switzerland, and made a short stay in Paris.
Then, coming to this country, he writes thus from
London
I cannot describe to you the happiness of these first weeks
here. As from time to time every evil seems to accumulate,
as it did during my winter in Paris, where I lost some of
my most beloved friends, and never felt at home, and at
last became very ill ; so the reverse sometimes occurs, and
thus it is in this charming country, where I am once more
amongst friends, and am well, and among well--.vishers, and
enjoy in the fullest measure, the sensation of returning
health. Moreover it is warm, the lilacs are in bloom, and
music is going on : only imagine how pleasant all this is I
I must really describe one happy morning last week : of
all the flattering demonstrations I have hitherto received,
it is the one which has most touched and affected me, and
perhaps the only one which I shall always recall with fresh
pleasure. There was a rehearsal last Saturday at the Phil-
harmonic, where however nothing of mine were given, my
overture not being yet written out. After " Beethoven's
Pastoral Symphony," during which I was in a box, 1
wished to go into the room to talk to some old friends ;
scarcely, however, had I gone down below, when one of the
orchestra called out, " There is Mendelssohn I" on which
they all began shouting, and clapping their hands to such
a degree, that for a time I really did not know what to dD;
and when this NI as over, another called out " Welcome to
him I" on which the same uproar recommenced, and I was
obliged to cross the room, and to clamber into the orchestra,
and return thanks. _

j~Never canflorget it, for it was more precious to me
than any distinction, as it showed ,me that the musicians
loved me, and rejoiced at my coming, and I cannot tell you
As may be imagined, musical criticism occupies no
gi9A feeling this was.
inwhcaotnasiderable place in the volume, and his analysis
of the performance during the Holy Week is pecu-
liarly -valuable ; whilst his estimate of certain
popular modern composers, though it may be con-
sidered severe, is true. Upon the other charac-
teristics of the letters—the admirable remarks on
pictures, the vivid descriptions of manners and
scenery, the good sense and amiable feeling with
which they abound—we might say much, but space
fails us; and we can only recommend all who care
for art or nature to read the volume, the translation
of which by Lady Wallace reflects the highest
credit on her taste and ability.