pastoral nations, have, from the earliest period of their history, been passionately fond of that species of music which consists in the simple expression of natural feeling, and which aims at no other object but the exciting of one emotion in the breast of those who hear it. This has long been observed; and hence, the Scotch music has become, throughout the whole island, the usual expression to denote those simple and touching strains which spring from the genuine feelings, and are adapted to the unsophisticated sentiments of a rude and artless state of society. In the expression of such feelings, it is inferior to none that has ever existed; and hence, her national airs, like the poetry of Burns, have spread far beyond their native sphere, and touch the human heart, in places the most remote, and among nations wholly unknown to the people among whom they originally arose. But though, in this simple and artless style, the Scotch music has long and deservedly been celebrated, yet there is no disguising the fact, that till of late years there has been very little taste amongst us for those higher and more complicated efforts of art, which, in other countries, contribute so much to the delight and moral improvement of the inhabitants. Perhaps, from the universality of the taste for the simple and national airs of the country, and from the intensity of the feelings which they awaken, has arisen a dislike of foreign music, and a contempt for the complicated system on which it depends, which has contributed in a great measure to prevent the growth of that delightful art in this country. There can be no doubt, however, that such prejudices are utterly unfounded. That we do not, in many instances, perceive the beauty of pieces of music, of which greater proficients in the art express the highest admiration, is quite certain. But we are by no means warranted in thence drawing the conclusion, that our taste is the only correct one, and that there is something artificial or unnatural in the music of other countries. With equal justice might we conclude, that no state of society is agreeable to the order of nature, but that which first springs up amongst men, or that no poetry is beautiful but that which is adapted to the taste of the first ages of the world. In fact, in all the fine arts, a relish for the higher and more complicated efforts of genius is, as Sir Joshua Reynolds has remarked, an acquired taste, and can be felt only by those who have made the subject long a matter of study, or, from accidental causes, have been insensibly led to an habitual observation of its excellencies. If we imagine, that the works of Raphael, or Handel, or Tasso, are fitted at once to please every capacity, and that no previous education, or discipline of the mind, is requisite to a perception of their excellencies, we have fallen into an opinion which the universal experience of the world proves to be erroneous. It is observed by the author last quoted, himself gifted beyond most other men with a sense of the grand and the beautiful in the arts of design, that at first he could perceive no beauty in the paintings of Raphael and Michael Angelo, in the Vatican; but that, by incessant study, their merits gradually opened before him, till at length he came to regard them as the utmost efforts of human genius. The same observation has probably been made by every person who has had the good fortune to see these inestimable remains; and it is equally applicable to all the other fine arts. It is hence that the peasants of Scotland gaze with utter indifference on the beautiful hills of the Trosachs, clothed with the utmost profusion of natural beauty; and that the modern Greeks lived for centuries at the feet of the Athenian temples, without perceiving that there was any thing remarkable either in their execution or design. But to none of the fine arts does the observation so forcibly apply, as to the art of MUSIC. This delightful art, indeed, speaks a language which, in part at least, is felt by all mankind, and which possesses the power of moving the soul beyond what human genius, by any other means, is able to effect. But from this very fact, of the universality, generally speaking, of a taste for some of its beauties, has arisen in this country, the circumstance which has contributed most to check its progress. The generality of men, feeling intensely the charm of those simple airs to which they had been habituated, and perceiving at first no beauty in the more complicated music of fo reign countries, have been naturally led to imagine, that there is something artificial and incomprehensible in such foreign productions. They have adhered, in consequence, with obstinate, though very natural patriotism, to the music of their own country; and, without attempting to understand the higher efforts of the art, or to unravel the charms of foreign masters, have rested in the firm belief, that every thing from which they derived no pleasure, was in reality destitute of beauty, and that the only species of music truly worthy of admiration was, that which came home alike to the heart of the most uninstructed as the most cultivated part of the audience. Our artists and professional men, on the other hand, being led by the study and cultivation of their art, to a strong and ardent admiration of those higher branches of music in which its greatest powers are developed, and finding themselves surrounded by persons incapable of appreciating what they felt to be delightful, have almost relinquished the task of improving and new modelling the public taste; but associating entirely among themselves, and entertaining the utmost sovereign contempt for the taste of those around them, have created a language unintelligible to the rest of mankind, and established a criterion of taste, deviating perhaps as widely from the rules of genuine beauty. In this way has arrived, with reference to this object, a division of society into the musical and the unmusical; the former comprehending a few persons intimately acquainted with the rules, the technical expressions, and the professors of the art; the latter, the whole remain der of the people, whose natural taste has received no cultivation. Both sets entertain a sovereign contempt for the other; the musicantes regard the rest of society as utterly ignorant, and beneath all contempt in the estimation of art; and they, in their turn, are regarded as a trifling and despicable set of men, who, according to Adam Smith's distinction, have degraded themselves by devoting themselves to the arts which please, in place of those which serve, mankind. This complete separation of the musical set from the rest of society has had a most injurious effect on the progress of art. The artists, as they always do when not coerced by the taste of a numerous and discerning public, have aimed at what is new, rather than what VOL. VI. is beautiful; and sought rather to display their own powers than to develope the real beauties of their art. From these absurd and despicable efforts of artists have arisen, in this country, a complete misconception of the nature of foreign music; and hence it is that the Italian music is thought to be characterized by those long shakes and forced exhibitions of vocal power, which never would be, for an instant, tolerated by the taste of the people on the other side of the Alps. Nor has the effect of this circumstance been less injurious on the public taste than on the direction which the efforts of our artists have taken. Most men have relinquished all attempt even to understand an art, from the greater part of whose productions, and from the most admired, they could derive no pleasure. From hence has arisen the singular fact, that in this country, excelling all others in the vigour of intellect, and the force of genius which it has recently developed, there is so little conception in the higher classes of society of the beauty of the Italian music, or so little attempt even to understand the latent beauties of an art, which addresses itself, more directly than any other, to the finest feelings of our nature, and in which, perhaps, the greatest triumphs of human genius are to be found. We are not to impute this extraordinary fact to any want of natural taste among its inhabitants; for there is no country in which the indigenous music is of a more touching or pathetic description. It is to be imputed to the want of opportunity which is here afforded of acquiring a taste for the higher branches of the art; and to this deficiency the absence of sacred music from the religious service of the country has eminently contributed. If we attend to the music of all countries, we shall find that its principal object is to awaken one or other of these emotions; either the enthusiasm of war, or the tenderness of love, or the ardour of devotion. The first of these objects is that which is principally aimed at, in the earlier period of society; but its influence necessarily declines as pacific habits become general, and when the profession of arms is confined to a particular class of the people. At all times indeed it possesses a greater power perhaps of mov2.A ing the soul, than any other species of the art, and of this, its constant use to excite men to the greatest and most heroic deeds, affords ample evidence. But its influence is, from its nature, momentary and transient, nor can it even take that hold of the mind, or excite those permanent feelings of admiration which are awakened by music more adapted to our ordinary and domestic feelings. The influence of that species of music which is devoted to the expression of love, perhaps the most numerous and extensive of any, continues the same in all ages and countries, for the obvious reason, that the passion to which it relates, is the same in all periods of the world. The greater proportion of the native Scottish airs accordingly are devoted to the expression of this passion, and of the domestic affections with which it is associated. The Irish music, in most instances the same as the Scotch, but which has lately been adorned and restored by the exquisite genius of Moore and Stevenson, is of the same description, although it has been tinctured by the misfortunes in which the country has been involved, and breathes that air of melancholy which has so often been felt by its authors. "The warm lay of love on the light note of gladness, Has awakened thy fondest, thyloveliest thrill, But so oft hast thou echoed the wild notes of sadness, That, even in thy mirth, it will steal from thee still." But how delightful soever this species of music may be, and admirably as it is calculated to awaken the most tender and delightful feelings of our nature, yet it is obvious that its cultivation can never extend, to any great degree, the knowledge of the higher branches of the art, or awaken that general appreciation of its excellencies on which its successful progress mainly depends. To the young, the gay, and the ardent, it is, of course, the most attractive of any; but they form but a small proportion of that large mass which composes the public taste; and they are, perhaps, of all others, the persons least qualified to judge of the real merits of such music, because it is associated, in their minds, with so many interesting and individual recollections. Besides this, it is obvious that genuine feeling, in that branch of the art, can be expressed only by a single voice, or, at the utmost, by a very limited number of performers; for the feeling to which it relates is, by its nature, devoted to one object, and, consequently, can only be expressed in such a way as may, for the moment, induce the belief of the reality of the sentiment in the performers. To whatever perfection, therefore, this species of music may be brought, it is obvious that it is necessarily limited to the production of effect by simple means, and never can diffuse a taste for the complicated branches of the art, in which its greatest triumphs have been gained, and from the study of which alone a thorough knowledge of its beauties can be obtained. It is RELIGIOUS MUSIC alone which furnishes the fit subject for the exertion of art in all its branches, and aims at the expression of feelings in which all ranks and classes of men feel an equal interest. That "Music is the voice of love," is indeed true, and it is equally certain, that it has arisen from an endeavour to express where every that delightful feeling. But it is equally true, that, to the great proportion of mankind, this subject does not possess the interest which it does durbeauty. ing the visionary period of youth or The influence of religious felt, and, unlike all other feelings, its music, on the other hand, is always interest increases as we advance in years, and become greatest when the incite ments of a temporary existence have decayed. It is when the passions of youth have ceased, and the attractions of the world are no longer felt, that it comes to concentrate the delight which had formerly been dissipated by other objects, as the traveller who has witnessed the freshness of the morning co lours, and been dazzled by the splendour of the noontide blaze, beholds when the shades of night have fallen, the same rays reflected from the celes tial bodies, and fixes a steady eye on that mellowed light, where the gaudy colours of the day have yielded to the softening influence of heaven. In sacred music, moreover, there is an obvious propriety in the employment of many voices, or in the. complicated harmony of a variety of instruments. We follow the multitude into the house of God; and however important or salutary the exer the beauty of complicated works of art, cise of private devotion may be, we feel that it is when we join in the prayers or the thanksgiving of our brethren, that we are most intimately impressed with the feelings befitting the service in which we ourselves are engaged. By a law of our nature devotion is made a social duty; and how-gress of this delightful art, and the ever indifferent on other occasions we greatest improvements which its highmay be to those who surround us, we er branches have ever received, were are prompted by an irresistible im- entirely owing to the efforts of the pulse to draw together when we ap- Catholic clergy, who were incessantly proach the throne of Divine Mercy. devoted to this object, even during Every body accordingly has felt the the period of the Anglo Saxon sosublime effect of a multitude of voices, vereigns; and we are almost tempted even the most unskilled, when joined to regard as fabulous the accounts in the acts of grateful praise-an ef- which contemporary authors have transfect greater than any single voice, mitted to us of the influence of relihowever perfect, would be capable of gious music, at that early period, on producing. Nor is the employment of our barbarous forefathers. In the glodifferent instruments less in union rious works of Handel, and in the with the spirit or less favourable to general diffusion of a cultivated taste the ardour of devotion. We feel that for every species of the art among our it is fitting, in the solemn service of polished neighbours, we perceive the thanksgiving, that all the powers of influence of this early and habitual art should be assembled ; and the com- attention to sacred music among the bination of so many instruments, and English people. The Italians, from such a multitude of voices, in the pro- the first restoration of the art in their duction of one harmonious strain, ac- country, have been habituated to the cords with that common emotion by finest and most impressive music, to which so many hearts are then link- increase the pomp and enhance the ed together, and becomes the fit ex- fervour of the Catholic worship, pression of that heavenly feeling by and in the well known and proverbial which the discordant passions of the taste of that people for every species human soul are lulled into a tempo- of music, as well as in the unrivalled rary subjection to the influence of re- beauty and celebrity of their compoligion. sers, we perceive the natural effects of such advantages. Like the Athenian citizens, in whom the public debates of the orators created the utmost delicacy of taste in judging of composition and pronunciation; or like the modern Romans, who are accustomed daily to behold the works of Raphael and the Caraccis, the Italians, even of the lowest order, have imbibed such a taste for the beauties of music as enables them not only to appreciate with perfect accuracy its greatest excellencies, but to exercise a salutary control over the genius of their greatest artists. There is the same propriety, therefore, in the use of complicated music in the expression of that religious feeling which we share with our brethren, as in the use of a single voice, to express those effusions of love, which are necessarily confined to a single individual; and, therefore, in all countries, a taste for instrumental melody, and an acquaintance with the higher branches of the art, must commence with sacred music; where its adaptation to the emotion intended to be awakened, is obvious to the most untutored mind. When once acquired, this taste is rapidly extended to other objects, and the mind becomes capable of perceiving the capacity of such efforts of art to express many of the other emotions which music is fitted to awaken. Universally, accordingly, a taste for instrumental music, and a sense of There is nothing, indeed, which is so calculated to effect a mighty change on the feelings or the taste of mankind, as what is connected with their religious feelings. The interest of all other things is temporary or transient it varies with the disposition of the individual, or is obliterated by other *Henry's History of Britain, Vol. 3, 321. objects of ambition; but the interest excited by religious emotion comes home alike to every heart, and touches with equal force the humblest as the greatest of the audience. The constant repetition of the same strains in religious service, in the end works them into the hearts of the most careless, and expands the taste of the least cultivated minds. Thousands who could never be brought to attend to music as a matter of amusement only, or would despise it as the subject of serious thought, are insensibly led to feel its charms when it mingles with their weekly devotions. Greater and more lasting effects may be anticipated, therefore, on the national taste, from the influence of sacred music, than from the greatest exertions of skill, in that which is devoted to mere amusement; and in particular, it is from the habit of hearing the great works of former genius in that sublime branch of the art, that a taste for its higher beauties, and an appreciation of its complicated excellencies, is to be acquired. Now it has unfortunately happened, that the Presbyterian form of worship, amidst many great advantages, has been attended with one most unfortunate consequence-the total want of any attention to sacred music, and the entire absence of any taste for its beauties amongst our people. The influence of this circumstance has not been confined to this one species of music, but has materially checked the progress of a taste for this delightful art amongst us; and by depriving us of the school in which its beauties were to be learned, kept us in entire ignorance of the delight which they were fitted to communicate. It is with sincere pleasure, therefore, and with the warmest hopes of the future influence which it may exercise on the national taste, that we hail the es tablishment of a Musical Festival in this city; and could we assure ourselves that it would come in time to be repeated at short intervals, we can perceive no bounds to the beneficial consequences with which it would be attended, or the change which it would produce on the national habits. It is in vain to expect that by any other means a taste for this charming art can be generally established. Our youth are, fortunately for them and for their country, too much engaged in serious duties, to be able to waste their time in operas and musical parties, like the higher classes in Milan and Naples. The national character moreover is too grave, to admit of any material change being brought about by the influence of such frivolous amusements. Yet experience has shewn, that without a constant attention to fine music of some description, and the early habit of hearing it on impressive occasions, it is impossible that a perception of its excellencies can ever be generally diffused. It is in the establishment of festivals for sacred music, and in the consequent improvement which may be expected in that which is employed on ordinary occasions of devotion, that we perceive the means of training the higher orders amongst us to a due sense of the importance of this noble art; and when we recollect how universal the attendance on divine service is in this country, and how great an influence religious feelings exercise over our people, we are convinced that no other means equally efficacious could possibly be imagined. It is difficult to estimate the benefi→ cial consequence with which such a change in the national taste would be attended. There is no disguising the fact, how mortifying soever it may be to our national pride, that in the charities and amusements of social life-in the arts which embellish and adorn the character of a perfect gentleman-we in this northern part of the island are as yet almost in a state of barbarism. Gifted indeed, beyond perhaps any other people, with the more material qualities of courage, energy, and useful knowledge, the higher orders amongst us have hitherto, with some splendid exceptions, paid little regard to the arts which address themselves to the imagination, and been almost insensible to the charms of those elegant amusements which in all ages of the world have been found to be the most efficacious means of softening and humanizing the national manners. It is a singular fact, that in a nation celebrated beyond all others for the extraordinary genius, both in literature and philosophy, to which it has recently given birth, the amusements of the higher classes should in general be precisely of the description which is adapted to the rudest state of society; and that in observing the manners of |
