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cognition* of the subject, with its consequents or derivatives, is indispensable to the effect of the contriv ance. Without this recognition, the auditor, confining his attention to a single part in the score, is led to notice, for one agreeable passage of melody, many others of a subordinate character, and a still greater number which have been inserted for mere harmonic purposes; and as his attention has been so constantly misguided, he very naturally conceives a disrelish for the piece; or, prejudiced in favor of the composition, through the decision of more competent judges, he gleans his scanty gratification from a most unproductive source. He admires, as it were, but the mere border of the painting, without any comprehension of the picture. Many of the elaborate choruses of Handel, and in general the learned symphonies of the modern orchestra, are of this description; a circumstance which is too little understood by the ordinary listener.

The question has sometimes been asked, what is it in melody that constitutes originality. In view of the preceding discussion, the answer to this question should not seem to be difficult. Originality is not to be sought for in the clauses of melody, simply as such; for most of them, as we have intimated, are in the common storehouse of the composer: nor is it to be sought for merely in the character of individual

*This recognition is less difficult from the fact that here different melodies are not claiming our attention at the same moment.

phrases; for, as a phrase consists in general but of two clauses, there is but a limited choice as to combinations.

More depends on the arrangement of phraseology, than on the selection; though both are important. Not only phrases, but entire sections of melody are also used everywhere as common property. Old Hundredth, for example, maintains its proper identity of character, notwithstanding the second section, embracing the second line in the stanza, is common property among composers. Celebrated authors often repeat themselves in this respect, as was the case with Handel, who closed hundreds of strains and movements, by passing regularly through every note of the descending octave. Even the same subject, in larger compositions, is often so differently elaborated by different composers, as to belong to each with · equal propriety. This is no more than occurs in literary compositions, when half a dozen writers may compose independent theses on the same subject.

The question, then, is, not whether a melody contains new clauses, or is made up of new phraseology, nor yet whether the arrangement of passages, in a general point of view, differs materially from that of hundreds of the same class of composition, but whether, taken as a whole, it makes a new and agreeable impression upon us. If it does so, we shall be disposed to award to it the praise of originality.

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CHAPTER X.

DESIGNS IN REFERENCE TO PUBLIC TASTE.

If the composer has no higher object than to afford amusement to the multitude of listeners, his task is comparatively easy. While the fashionable world require music for the same reason they require light poetry and romance, he will readily please them by following their taste. This is one reason, among others, why such a large proportion of our parlor music is of a trivial character; for where amusement is the sole object, we naturally have recourse to trifles. The particular class of amateurs, also, who delight in the indulgence of that unproductive species of sensibility, which has been termed by Johnson "the invisible riot of the mind," may also be satisfied where their wishes are occasionally consulted; and if to these be added a larger class who, through the affectation of sensibility, admire what is pleasing to others, the demand for light composition will appear con

siderable.

But may we not question how far such a taste ought to be gratified? The tendency of such trivial compositions is certainly not very favorable to the

interests of the art. Such pieces display but little talent, and generally excite only a temporary interest. Even those more remarkable for tenderness, which aim only at amusement, will soon be laid aside, like a stale romance. This whole department of composition is of the same order as ephemeral productions in literature, and must share the same fate. Music, like eloquence, should have some higher aim than this, if we wish its real importance to be apprcciated.

When the composer has a more worthy object in view, such as that of enforcing patriotic, moral, or religious considerations, the general habit of looking for mere amusement from the art, renders his task peculiarly difficult. It might seem, indeed, that, wherever complying with the demand for light, evanescent phraseology, would have a tendency to keep the listener's attention away from its proper object; the composer should withhold this species of gratification, and endeavor to render the general expression of the piece more obvious and striking. Yet, taking the community as he finds it, he feels constrained to furnish his piece with adventitious attractions, in order to secure for it a cordial reception and a patient hearing.

This is a hard alternative; for, though one must gain a hearing or lose his object, the hearing is, in this case, to so little purpose, as scarcely to be worth laboring for. But, has not this state of things arisen

from a vitiation of public taste, more or less manifested in different countries, to which composers themselves have contributed, by not adapting their productions in other respects, to the general apprehension of their auditors? If so, the remedy, after all, is in the right hands; and there are reasons abundantly sufficient to warrant us in urging its faithful application.

We shall be told, perhaps, that no one complains of the misapplication of refinements in the sister arts. No one presumes to censure the painter, the statuary, the poet, or their devoted admirers, for being enthusiastic in their attachment to such arts; though, by constantly recurring to them for amusement, the taste of amateurs becomes so fastiduous, and their conceptions so refined, as to render it necessary for the artist to overstep the limits of ordinary apprehension, the more effectually to please them. Nor has it been considered as a reproach to designers, that the sign-painter, the quarryman, or the writer of doggrels, was unable to appreciate their productions. On the contrary, those very properties which are hidden. from common observation, have frequently stood foremost in the enumeration of excellences, and been, in fact, the principal sources of the artist's celebrity. These more latent beauties are what often constitute the very charm of his productions. Why, therefore, it will be asked, should not the musician be indulged in the same privilege?

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