119 us. By the Tone or Accent, I do not mean the Pronunciation of each particular Word, but the Sound of the whole Sentence. Thus it is very common for an English Gentleman, when he hears a French Tragedy, to complain that the Actors all of them fpeak in a Tone; and therefore he very wifely prefers his own Countrymen, not confidering that a Foreigner complains of the fame Tone in an English Actor. FOR this Reason, the Recitative Mufic, in every Language, fhould be as different as the Tone or Accent of each Language; for otherwife, what may properly express a Paffion in one Language, will not do it in another. Every one who has been long in Italy knows very well, that the Cadences in the Recitativo bear a remote Affinity to the Tone of their Voices in ordinary Converfation, or, to fpeak more properly, are only the Accents of their Language made more Musical and Tuneful. THUS the Notes of Interrogation, or Admiration, in in the Italian Mufick (if one may fo call them) which resemble their Accents in Difcourfe on fuch Occafions are not unlike the ordinary Tones of an English Voice when we are angry; infomuch that I have often seen our Audiences extremely mistaken as to what has been doing upon the Stage, and expecting to fee the Hero knock down his Meffenger, when he has been asking him a Queftion; or fancying that he quarrels with his Friend when he only bids him Good-morrow. FOR this Reafon the Italian Artists 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 ex prefs the fame Paffions by the fame Sounds. I am therefore humbly of Opinion, that an English Composer fhould not follow the Italian Recitative too fervilely, but make use of many gentle Deviations from it, in Compliance with his own Native Language. He may copy out of it all the lulling Softnefs and Dying Falls (as Shakespear calls them,) but should still remem ber 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 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 Climates. In the fame manner I would allow the Italian Opera to lend our English Mufick as much as may grace and foften it, but never intirely to annihilate and deftroy it. Let the Infufion be as ftrong as you please, but fill let the Subject-Matter of it be English. A Compofer fhould fit his Mufick to the Genius of the People, and confider that the Delicacy of Hearing, and Taffe of Harmony, has been formed upon thofe Sounds which every Country abounds with: In fhort, that Mufick 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 Mufick, may be applied to all our Songs and Airs in general. SIGNIOR Baptist Lully acted like a Man of Senfe in this Particular. He found the French Mufick extremely defective and very often barbarous : However, knowing the 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 Mufick and plant the Italian in its ftead; but only to cultivate and civilize it with innumerable Graces and Modulations which he borrow'd from the Italian. By this means the French Mufick is now perfect 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 Mufick 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 frequent Opportunities of joining in Concert with the Stage. This Inclination of the Audience to Sing along with the Actors, fo prevails with them, that I have fometimes known the Performer on the Stage do no more in a celebrated Song, than the Clerk of a Parish-Church, who ferves only to raise the Pfalm, Pfalm, and is afterwards drowned in the Mufick of the Congregation. Every Actor that comes on the Stage is a Beau. The Queens and Heroines are fo painted, that they appear as Ruddy and Cherry-cheek'd as Milk-maids. The Shepherds are all Embroider'd, and acquit themfelves in a Ball better than our English Dancing-mafters. I have feen a Couple of Rivers appear in red Stockings; and Alpheus, inftead of having his Head covered with Sedge and Bull-rufhes, making Love in a fair full-bottomed Periwig, and a Plume of Feathers; but with a Voice fo full of Shakes and Quavers, that I fhould have thought the Murmurs of a Country Brook the much more agreeable Mufick. 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 himself 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 Mufick, Architecture, and Painting, as well as Poetry and Oratory, are to deduce their Laws and Rules from the general Senfe and Tafte of Mankind, and not from the Principles of those Arts themselves; or in other Words, the Tafte is not to conform to the Art, but the Art to the Tafte. Mufick is not defigned to please only Chromatick Ears, but all that are capable of diftinguishing harsh from difagreeable Notes. A Man of an ordinary Ear is a Judge whether a Paffion is expreffed in proper Sounds, and whether the Melody of thofe Sounds be more or less pleasing. Voi. I. F Wednesday, N° 3°. Wednesday, April 4. Si, Mimnermus uti cenfet, fine amore Focifque If nothing, as Mimmermus ftrives to prove, Ο NE common Calamity makes Men extremely affect each other, tho' they differ in every other Particular. The Paffion of Love is the moft general Concern among Men; and I am glad to hear by my laft Advices from Oxford, that there are a Set of Sighers in that Univerfity, who have erected themfelves into a Society in Honour of that tender Paffion. These Gentlemen are of that Sort of Inamorato's, who are not fo very much loft to common Sense, but that they underftand the Folly they are guilty of; and for that Reason feparate themselves 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 Difcourfe, but at once, as he is leating himself in his Chair, fpeaks in the Thread of his own Thoughts, She gave me a very obliging Glance, She never looked fo well in her Life as this Evening;' or the like Reflexion, without Regard to any other Member of the Society for in this Affembly they do not meet to talk to each other, but every Man claims the full Liberty of talking to himself. Inftead of Snuff-boxes and Canes, which are ufual Helps to difcourfe with other young Fellows, thefe have each fome Piece of Ribbon, a broken Fan, or an old Girdle, which they play with while they talk of the fair Perfon remembered by each refpective Token. According to the Representation of the Matter from my Letters, the Company appear like fo fo many Players rehearsing behind the Scenes; one is fighing and lamenting his Destiny in befeeching Terms, another declaring he will break his Chain, and another in dumb-Show ftriving to express 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 Paf fion in general, and defcribe the Temper of his Mind in fuch a manner, as that the whole Company fhall join in the Description, and feel the Force of it. In this Cafe, if any Man has declared the Violence of his Flame in more pathetick Terms, he is made Prefident for that Night, out of refpect to his fuperior Paffion. WE had fome Years ago in this Town a Set of People who met and dreffed like Lovers, and were distinguished 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 Institution dropped. Thefe Fellows could exprefs their Paffion in nothing but their Drefs; but the Oxonians are phantaftical now they are Lovers, in proportion to their Learning and Understanding before they became fuch. The Thoughts of the ancient Poets on this agreeable Phrenzy, are tranflated in honour of fome modern Beauty; and Chloris is won To-day by the fame Compliment that was made to Lesbia a thoufand Years ago. But as 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 Society, under the Colour of laughing at the Paffion and themfelves: But at the fame time, tho' they are fenfible of the Extravagances of that unhappy Warrior, they do not obferve, that to turn all the Reading of the best and wifeft Writings into Rhapfodies of Love, is a Phrenzy no lefs diverting than that of the aforefaid accomplished Spaniard. A Gen'tleman who, I hope, will continue his Correfpondence, is lately admitted into the Fraternity, and fent me the following Letter. |