fimple requifites, especially those of finging with agreeable founds, and with variety of height, depth and measure, in melody and harmony.

The effects of pleafing founds are great, and very fenfibly felt even naked and bare, conveyed to the ear by inftruments only, but much more ravishing and active are they, when prefented to the mind and paffions by the human voice in the elegant garb of poetry and oratory.

It is poetry which gives mufick its very form, and the power of conveying fenfations and ideas in the defcription of actions, and in the excitation and abatement of the paffions.

Here founds in melody and harmonymay one while be plain and narrative, as in recitative, yet neat, pleafing and instructive; another while full, bold, and enforcing; fublime, marvellous, and even terrible.

Again, on the contrary, founds may be tender and perfuafive, lively and joyous, plaintive, melting, pathetic and fupplicatory, softening severity into pity, and haD 4

tred

tred into love, cheering the heart, foothing its cares, elevating it with fpirit, and rousing it into courage.

It were easy to fpecify compofitions containing innumerable airs, capable of raising these latter emotions of the foul in almost every common hearer; I shall therefore bring to the remembrance of the judicious a few inftances only of the marvelous and terrible kind from among many, in the choruffes of the Meffiah, Ifrael in Egypt, Saul, and the final grand chorus in the Prodigal Son; the whole of which last is a moft excellent compofition, the choruffes enriched and varied with pleafing melody, and many of the airs most delightful, in the Italian cast.

"Unto us a Son is given-Glory to God in the highest-Lift up your heads,

ye gates-Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth-Bleffing and honour -Begin; each tuneful voice employ". Thefe choruffes are in the grand and fublime style, as thofe of "Fire running along the ground, mingled with the hail—

of

1

of lice, frogs and raifing of Saul"-are of the marvelous and terrible kind.

When we hear in these pieces the chromatic genus mixed fo ftrongly with the diatonic, to use the words of Virgil,

Arretta que

horrore comæ, et vox faucibus hæfit

our hair ftands an end, and our tongue

cleaves to the roof of our mouth ; or of Milton, we are terrified and affrighted with

"A fiery deluge-darkness vifible-fights of woe-regions of forrow, and doleful fhades".

In public dramatic exhibitions and in private concerts, the generality of auditors like to be amused without being instructed; expecting merely to be entertained and abftracted from themselves with light airs, fet to trifling words, they feel no emotions of fedate pleasure resulting from the fulnefs, gravity and expreffion of facred mufick; but the few, who wish to be improved with fentiments, are best pleased with compofitions, which elevate by excitement of the nobler paffions and divine

feelings

feelings, fuch as courage, pity, devotion and friendship.

The multiplicity of mufical compofitions produced by the mafters of this nation alone, and that within these few years, is truly aftonishing; but still more astonishing is the diverfity of compofitions, judicious and pleafing, upon the fame words, I mean the Te Deum, fubilate, nunc dimittis and cantate Domine-commonly called services. Many of these are in the fame key, and fome in different keys, by the fame author, as Blow's in Gamut, Are, Elami-Purcel's in Bmi and D-Child's in Gamut, F, D.

Blow's in Gamut is famous for a Gloria Patri, called a Canon in four parts; which stands vifible to this day, engraved upon his monument in Weftminster Abbey, and in Dr. Boyce's publication.

The two prefent masterly organists and composers of his Majefty's Chapel, have distinguished themselves by feveral verse services, as Dupuis's in Ebb, C, B bb, and Arnold's in C and F b.

Beautiful

Beautiful inftances of Homophony and Antiphony in Handel's Detingen Te Deum.

First instance of the foprano, "To thee all angels cry aloud"-Then of the tenors and baffes, "The heavens and all the powers therein," the organ accompanying in octaves below.

Second inftance, "The glorious company of the apostles-The good fellowship of the prophets"-Where the basses are all in unifons, giving out as it were the fubject, which is answered and taken up by the trebles and contratenors.

The musician and poet by the art of founds, numbers and elegance of words, meet in concert, when they present to our fenfes beautiful imitations of external objects, their figure and motion, through the feveral modifications of beauty and deformity, gloominefs, rapidity, flowness and velocity; we hear and fee them, and we feel their impreffions upon the paffions. Thus they walk hand in hand, lend each other their friendly aid for our pleasure

and