The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-04 00:00:00

a ridiculous tyranny. Re therefore learns no-
thinglnore than is indispensible to write music,,
.correctly or incorrectly, with .remembered touches
or neglicreilt. transgressions, as-it may happen;
and as he succeeds by the agreeableness of his
melody, even when he violates every musical
canon, he endeavours to believe, and to persuade
others, that the faculty of composing agreeable
airs is competent to produce a master-piece, and
to establish the fame of the musician.

Another Artist, to whom nature has not been
so prodigal, seeks and finds in study the means
of counterbalancing, or of concealing this defi-
ciency. The more he applies himself to it, the
more the art rises in his estimation; every day he
discovers fresh resources and new beauties ; he
strikes, astonishes, and even charms his hearers
by profound fugues ; his successes sometimes
equal those of the most melodious musicians ;
and proud of having owed his success to his ap-
plication, he loudly proclaims the pre-eminence
of his method, ,and despises simple airs, taking
care, however, not to confess that he is indebted
for his reputation to the parsimony of nature to-
wards him in her distribution.

We next' see a third, who, perceiving his
incapacity to compose any other than common
airs, or variations from known airs, and possess-
ing but a scanty knowledge of harmony, devotes
his whole mind to declamation ( a). He never fails
to adapt an expressive note to an impressive word ;
he rests on the long note, he runs rapidly over
the short one, and never fails in punctuation. A.
scrupulous observer of dramatic truth, he occu-
pies himself more with the poem than the division
of the music ; he gives to each personage, each
passion, and each character, the declamation
which suits it ; and as the French study method
even in their pleasures, our declamateui succeeds
often in spite of the melodists and harmonists, if

he has the spirit or the good fortune to set to
music pieces which in themselves possess consi-
derable interest. He fails not, therefore, to
contend that musical declamation is the essential,
part of the art, and that dramatic music is enti-
tled to the superiority (b).
All these three parties possessing their respec-
tive advantages, and being equally capable of
commanding success, each of these composers has
good reason to praise the superiority of his me-
thod, bitt neither of them will acknowledge
that he attached himself exclusively to one
of the three kinds, because he did not pos-
sess in an equal degree the other two:—
He who unites' melody and harmony will
only despise declamation ; the declamateur who
understands melody will ridicule scientific
music; and the harmonise deciwnateur denomi-
nates inferior music that in which melody and
taste alone are combined. That artist, however,
if any such exists, who combines in his. person
the three qualities, will no doubt say that all are
essential ; but where shall we find him ? There
have been four : Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and
Gluck.

It seems that I have pointed out the three
classes of disputants, and yet there is still a
fourth : it is formed of musicians who have pro-
duced no composition, but attaching themselves
exclusively to a sect, applaud only what issues
from this laboratory, decry all that is foreign
from this school, and treat with 'great contempt
those who have the misfortupe to amuse them-
selves with another system. Without entering
into any discussion with them, I shall reply, in
the words of Rivarol, " It is a great advantage
to have done nothing, but we must not abuse
it." (c).
The majority of enthusiasts and critics in mu-
sic are very ignorant, for where there is most
ignorance there exists also the greatest en-
thuSiasm. We do not dispute with acrimony on
subjects in which we are well versed, but on
those which we wish to have the credit of know-
[lig. Hence it happens that the different ama-
teurs and pretended connoisseurs quarrel respect-
ing the lesson which they have received from
their leader ; they wish' to make intelligible those
things which they themselves do not comprehend :
they are lavish in the use of technical terms
which they do not understand ; they get angry
without knowing why, and sometimes draw their
swords and fight to prove the- superiority of a
German or an Italian, without suspecting that
the Italian had copied a German artist who -had
polished his model with Italian melody (d).
They would soon recover their, composure of
mind, if they did but reflect that men in general,
and artists,in particular, are taturallly disposed
to extol the qualities which they possess; and to
depreciate those in which they are deficient.
Little women always perceive .a masculine air in
tall women, and turned up noses.cannot endure
those large ugly Roman noses. Is it not the
same with musicians ? and when one of them
laughs at the large nose• of his colleague, look,
and you will see that leis own is a little too short.
Leave disputation to them who make it a duty,
a profession, or a 'pleasure : let us enjoy the
beauties of the different systems, or rather of
different talents; and let, us not' forget,, that of
three qualities which we imperiously require in
dramatic music, that which the composer causes
to predominate almost always preventslhe other
two from shining in an equal degree. These
three parties ought to mak4 mutual concessions :
occasion and situation ought to permit alternately
one of the three to predominate over the,others.
The piece in which the harmony should always
be scientific and perfect would, become fatiguing,
if not tiresome ; that which produces an air con.:
tinually soft would disgust even by its sweet-
ness ; and that which, deficient in harmony and
melody, should be confined to rigorous declama-
tion, would be rather a comedy than an opera.
I therefOre repeat, that all musicians are agreed
as to principles, that their disputes have no real
object, and 'that the discord , prevailing among
them arises only from their talents being different :
they would soon come to the same opinion re-
specting the method, if they possessed the same
powers of pleasing. The dilettanti, therefore, of
tte schools are great fools: to put themselves into
a passion, i.;‘, quarrel and to fight for any parti-
cular kind of music, since there is in fact only
one kind which is the, perfect union of harmony,
.melody, and declamation. 'We are also in the
I wrong for considering the music of the stage as a