mistaken as to what has been doing upon the ftage, and expecting to see the hero knock down his meffenger, when he has been afking him a question; or fancying that he quarrels with his friend, when he only bids him good mor row. For this reafon the Italian artifts cannot agree with our English muficians, in admiring Purcell's compofitions, and thinking his tunes fo wonderfully adapted to his words: 'because both nations do not always exprefs the fame paffions by the fame founds. I am therefore humbly of opinion, that an English compofer should not follow the Italian recitative too fervilely, but make use of many gentle deviations from it, in com pliance with his own native language. He may copy out of it all the lulling foftnefs and dying falls (as Shakespear called them), but should fill remember that he ought to accommodate himself to an English audience; and by humouring the tone of our voices in ordinary converfation, have the fame regard to the accent of his own language, as thofe perfons had to theirs whom he profeffes to imitate. It is obferved, that feveral of the finging birds of our own country learn to fweeten their voices, and mellow the harfhness of their natural notes, by practifing under those that come from warmer cliinates. In the fame manner I would allow the Italian opera to lend our English mufic as much as may grace and foften it, but never entirely to annihilate and destroy it. Let the infufion be as ftrong as you please, but ftill let the fubject-inatter of it be English. A compofer fhould fit his mufic to the genius of the people, and confider that the delicacy of hearing, and tafte of harmony, has been formed upon thofe founds which every country abounds with: In fhort, that music is of a relative nature, and what is harmony to one ear, may be diffonance to another. THE fame obfervations which I have made upon the recitative part of mufic, may be applied to all our fongs and airs in general. SIGNIOR Baptift Lully acted like a man of fenfe in this particular. He found the French mufic extremely defective, and very often barbarous: however, knowing the genius 115 genius of the people, the humour of their language, and the prejudiced ears he had to deal with, he did not pretend to extirpate the French mufic, and plant the Italian in its ftead; but only to cultivate and civilize it with innumerable graces and modulations which he borrowed from the Italian. By this means the French mufic is now ferfect in its kind; and when you fay it is not fo good as the Italian, you only mean that it does not pleafe you fo well, for there is fcarce a Frenchman who would not wonder to hear you give the Italian fuch a preference. The mufic of the French is indeed very properly adapted to their pronunciation and accent, as their whole opera wonderfully favours the genius of fuch a gay airy people. The chorus in which that opera abounds, gives the parterre fiequent opportunities of joining in confort with the ftage. This inclination of the audience to fing along with the actors fo prevails with them, that I have fometimes known the performer on the ftage do no more in a celebrated fong, than the clerk of a parifh-church, who ferves only to raise the pfalm, and is afterwards drowned in the mufic of the congregation. Every actor that comes on the ftage is a beau. The queens and heroines are fo painted, that they appear as ruddy and cherry-cheeked, as milk-maids. The shepherds are all embroidered, and acquit theinfelves in a ball better than our English dancing-mafters. I have seen a couple of rivers appear in red flockings; and Alpheus, inftead of having his head covered with ledge and bull-rushes, making love in a fair full-bottomed periwig, and a plume of feathers, but with a voice fo full of thakes and quavers, that I fhould have thought the murmurs of a country-brook the much more agreeable mufic. I remember the laft opera I faw in that merry nation, was the rape of Proferpine, where Pluto, to make the more tempting figure, puts himfelf in a French equipage, and brings Afcalaphus along with him as his valet de chambre. This is what we call folly and impertinence; but what the French look upon as gay and polite. I fhall add no more to what I have here offered, than that mufic, architecture, and painting, as well as poetry and oratory, are to deduce their laws and rules from the ge neral fenfe and taste of mankind, and not from the principles of thofe arts themselves'; or, in other words, the talte tafte is not to conform to the art, but the art to the tafte. Mufic is not defigned to please only chromatic ears, but all that are capable of distinguishing harsh from difagree able notes. A man of an ordinary ear is a judge whether a paffion is expreffed in proper founds, and whether the ine Tody of thofe founds be more or less pleafing.. N° 30. Wednesday, April 4. Si, Minnermus uti fenfit, fine amore jocifque. HOR. Ep. 6. 1. 1. v. 65. If nothing, as Minnermus frives to prove, CREECH. NE common calamity makes men extremely affect each other, though they differ in every other particular. The paffion of love is the most general concern ́among men; and I am glad to hear by my laft advices from Oxford, that there are a fet of fighers in that univerfity, who have erected themselves into a fociety in honour of that tender paffion. Thefe gentlemen are of that fort of inamoratos, who are not fo very much loft to common fenfe, but that they understand the folly they are guilty of; and for that reafon have feparated themfelves from all other company, because they will enjoy the pleasure of talking incoherently, without being ridiculous to any but each other. When a man comes into the club, he is not obliged to make any introduction to his discourse, but at once, as he is feating himself in his chair, fpeaks in the thread of his own thoughts, She gave me a very obliging glance, fhe never looked fo well in her life, as this evening;' or the like reflection, without regard to any other member of the fociety for in this affembly they do not meet to talk to each other, but every man clains the full liberty of talking to himself. Inftead of fnuff-boxes and canes, which are ufual helps to difcourfe with other young fellows, thefe have each fome piece of ribband, a broken fan, or an old girdle, which they play with, while they talk talk of the fair perfon remembered by each refpective token. According to the reprefentation of the matter from my letters, the company appear like fo many players rehearfing behind the feenes; one is fighing and lamenting his destiny in beseeching terms, another declaring he will break his chain, and another in dumb-show striving to exprefs his paffion by his gefture. It is very ordinary in the affembly for one of a fudden to rife and make a difcourfe concerning his paffion in general, and defcribe the temper of his mind in fuch a manner, as that the whole company fhall join in the defcription, and feel the force of it. In this cafe, if any man has declared the violence of his flame in more pathetic terms, he is made president for that night, without refpect to his fuperior paffion. WE had fome years ago in this town a fet of people who met and dreffed like-lovers, and were diftinguished by the name of the fringe-glove club; but they were perfons of fuch moderate intellects, even before they were impaired by their paffion, that their irregularities could not furnish fufficient variety of folly to afford daily new impertinencies; by which means that inftitution, dropped. Thefe fellows, could exprefs their paffion in nothing but their drefs; but the Oxonians are fantastical now they are lovers, in proportion to their learning and understanding before they be came fuch. The thoughts of the ancient poets on this a greeable frenzy, are tranflated in honour of fome modern beauty; and Chloris is won to-day, by the fame compliment. that was made to Lefbia a thoufand years ago. far as I can learn, the patron of the club is the renowned Don Quixote. The adventures of that gentle knight are frequently mentioned in the fociety, under the colour of laughing at the paffion and themfelves: But at the fame time, though they are fenfible of the extravagancies of that unhappy warrior, they do not obferve, that to turn all the reading of the best and wifeft writings into rhapsodies of tove is a frenzy no lefs diverting than that of the forefaid accomplished Spaniard. A gentleman who, I hope, will continue his correfpondence, is lately admitted into the fraternity, and sent me the following letter. But as SIR 6... SIR, S INCE I find you take notice of clubs, I beg leave to give you an account of one in Oxford, which h you have no where mentioned, and perhaps never heard of. We diftinguish ourselves by the title of the amorous club, are all votaries of Cupid, and admirers of the fair fex. The reafon that we are fo little known in the world, is the fecrecy which we are obliged to live under in the univerfity. Our conftitution runs counter to that of the place wherein we live; for in love there are no doctors, and we all profefs fo high a paffion, that we admit of no graduates in it. Our prefident hip is beftowed according to the dignity of paffion; our number is unlimited.. and our ftatutes are like thofe of the Druids, recorded: in our own breafts only, and explained by the majority of the company. A miftrefs, and a poem in her praife, will introduce any candidate: without the latter no one can be admitted; for he that is not in love enough to rhyme, is unqualified for our fociety. To fpeak difrefpectfully of any woman, is expulfion from our gentle. fociety. As we are at prefent all of us gown-men, in ftead of duelling when we are rivals, we drink together the health of our iniftrefs. The manner of doing this fometimes indeed creates debates, on fuch occafions we have recourfe to the rules of love among the ancients, Navia fex cyathis, feptem Juflina bibatur. MART. Epig. 72. 1. 1. Six cups to Nævia, to Juftina Seven... A This method of a glafs to every letter of her name, occafioned the other night a difpute of fome warmth. young ftudent, who is in love with Mrs Elifabeth Dimple, was fo unreasonable as to begin her health under the name of Elifabetha; which fo exafperated the club, that by common confent we retrenched it to Betty... We look upon a man as no company, that does not figh five times in a quarter of an hour; and look upon a member as very abfurd, that is fo much hinfelf as to make a direct answer to a question. In fine, the whole aflembly is made up of abfent men, that is, of such persons... |