TO LADIES.-THE NEW COSTUME. MARION'S RESILIENT BODICE AND CORSALETTO DI MEDICI. PATENTED IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AUSTRIA. Vocalists and others cultivating sustentation of the voice and the power and fulness of its tone will find these an invaluable acquisition. Figure 1.-Front view of the Corsaletto di Medici, having resilients in conformity with the movements of respiration. Figure 2.-View of the back of the Resilient Bodice and Corsaletto di Medici, with the resilients in imitation of the natural arrangement of the muscles, and corresponding therewith in the movements of the body. NEW MUSIC FOR THE PIANOFORTE. POOR MARY ANN. Arranged for the Pianoforte by BRINLEY RICHARDS, 38. (The first number of the "Recollections of Wales.") "One of the most favourite of the admired Welsh melodies, transcribed for the Piano by one of the most elegant of modern writers for that instrument." THE ASH GROVE. Arranged for the Pianoforte by BRINLEY RICHARDS. 3s. This is one of the admired series of National Airs arranged by Mr. Richards, under the title of "Recollections of Wales." The most successful work of its kind. "It affords us pleasure to observe the goodly array of our Medical brethren who have borne testimony in favour of the above useful invention, than which we conceive nothing can be more desirable or complete."-Editor of the Medical Circular. They combine Firmness with Elasticity, fit closely, fasten easily in front, retain the original symmetry of their adjustment, and are judiciously adapted to every varying condition of the female form. Ladies in health, convalescents, and invalids wear them with equal satisfaction; and once having experienced the comfort and advantages they ensure, will not return to the ordinary stays and their attendant evils. Under the open transverse work quilted silk, fine flannel, or coutil is inserted at the option of the wearer, preventing chilliness in the back, and promoting the general health. The additional resilients in the lower part of the front are given in the Corsaletto only. Bodices of plain Coutil or Jean, with cotton elastic resilients, from 14s. to 20s. (children's, 4s. tolls.) Corsalettos, from 21s. The finest silk elastic resilients are used in Bodices of best single Coutil, at 21s.; Corsalettos, from 31s 6d.; and Bodices of best double Coutil, at 25s. and upwards; Corsalettos, from 35s. LADIES' RESILIENT SUSTAINING BELTS, of fine woven elastic silk, selfadjusting, without fastenings, and affording an agreeable and unvarying support in any temperature. Very durable, and wash well. Prices, from 21s. to £2 2s. ALL COUNTRY ORDERS SENT CARRIAGE PAID OR POST FREE. Enlarged Prospectus, with Tinted Illustrations, papers for self measurement, & sent free, on receipt of two stamps for Postage. MESDAMES MARION & MAITLAND, PATENTEES AND SOLE MANUFACTURERS, 14, CONNAUGHT TERRACE, HYDE PARK (NEAR THE MARBLE ARCH). NEVER FAILING REMEDY. HOLLOWAY'S OINTMENT. ERTAIN Remedy for Scorbutic Humours, and an astonishing from Messrs. Walker and Co., Chemists, Bath. To Professor Holloway, dear Sir, Among the numerous cures effected by the use of your valuable medicines in this neighbourhood, we may mention that of an old lady living in the village of Preston, about five miles from this city. She had ulcerated wounds in her leg for many years and lately they increased to such an alarming extent as to defy all the usual remedies; her health rapidly giving way under the suffering she endured. In this distressing condition she had recourse to your Ointment and Pills, and by the assistance of her friends, was enabled to persevere in their use, until she received a perfect cure. We have ourselves been greatly astonished at the effect on so old a person, she being above 70 years of age. We shall be happy to satisfy any enquiries as to the authenticity of this really wonderful case, either personally or by letter. A private in the Bath Police Force, also, has been perfectly cured of an old scorbutic affection in the face, after all other means had failed. He states that it is entirely by the use of your Ointment, and speaks loudly in its praise. Tea or Coffee, to the value of 40s., sent carriage free to any part of England by PHILLIPS AND CO., TEA MERCHANTS, No. 8, KING WILLIAM STREET, CITY A General Price Current sent free by post on application. Iite of Monche- Corns (Soft) toes and Sand- Cancers Sold at the Establishment of Professor Holloway, 244, Strand, (near Temple Bar,) London; and by all respectable Druggists and Dealers in Medicines throughout the Civilized World, in Pots at Is. 1d., 2s. 9d., 4s. 6d., 11s., 22s., and 33s. each. There is a considerable saving by taking the larger sizes. N.B. Directions for the guidance of Patients are affixed to each. When orders are sent by post, it is necessary to be very particular in addressing to PHILLIPS and Co., Tea Merchants, 8, King William Street, City, London, As some inferior houses are in the habit of copying, not only the form and style, but also the wording of our price currents and advertisements. TO MUSIC PROFESSORS AND OTHERS. MUSICSELLER AND PROFESSOR residing about 60 miles LITTLE CLARINA'S LESSON-BOOK, from London, doing a comfortable trade, and having a good connection in Teach-FORTHE PIANOFORTE, by G. A. Macfarren. The objec ing, Tuning, &c., which altogether realizes a respectable income, wishes to dispose of the same. For Terms apply, A. B., office of this paper. NDER the Patronage of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Rochester, and dedicated by permission to the Hon. Mrs. Mildmay. An Evening Church Service in A, arranged for Four Voices, with an Accompaniment for the Organ or Pianoforte, consisting of Magnifiet and Nunc Dimittis, with four Single Chants, four Double Chants, four Psalm Tunes, two Kyrie Eleisons, and two Doxologies. Composed by John Barnes, Precentor of St. Mary's Church, Chelmsford. To be had of the Composer; the Publisher, Mr. J. A. Novello, 69, Dean-street, Soho, London, and all Booksellers. NEW PIANO MUSIC Book 2 of Op. 74, "Hints on Modern Pianofore Playing." LISZT, "Comorn." Marche de Ragoczy. "Soirées de Vienne." Nine Valses Caprices d'apres. F. Schubert. each 1 0 each 2 0 3 0 3 0 each 2s. 6d. to 4 0 The same in one volume. 25 0 MAYER, (Charles,) Op. 174, "Spring Blossoms." Dix Morceaux de Salon. each 2s. 6d. and 3 0 No. 3 of the above "A Toccato," meets with the same success as "La Grace," No. 5 of Six Etudes Melodiques, Op. 149, by Charles Mayer. Op.178, 4me. Air Italien. in D flat 36 SCHUMANN, (Robt.) "Reminiscences." 43 Characteristic Pieces, edited by Cipriani Potter. Parts 1 to 6, cach 3 0 Nos. 1 to 8, each 1s. to 1 6 TEDESCO, (Ignaz.) Op, 61. Fourth Set of Three German Melodies. TAUBERT, (W.) "Lays of Love." Eight Minnelieder. each 1s. 6d. and 2 0 of this work is to facilitate, by a new method of developing the subject, the tuition of very young pupils in the practice of the Pianoforte and in the principles of Music; which include the rudiments of Harmony. The work is especially designed for household instruction, to enable mothers or sisters, if not to supersede a master, to fulfil that indispensable requisite to infant beginners of superintending their daily practice. The First Part is complete in itself, and the subsequent Parts will continue the subject, each up to some particular point, that will also be complete, without reference to what is to succeed it. Part One is now ready, consisting of forty-eight handsomely printed Music Pages in a neat wrapper, price 2s. 61. Published by Rust and Co., Patent Tubular Pianoforte Manufacturers and Music Publishers, 309 (the Royal Polytechnic Institution), Regent-street. PATENT HARMONIUM. THE NEW MODEL WITH EXPRESSION BY THE HAND.-This Instrument far excels all other Harmoniums, and is deemed to be the most perfect that can be made. It has been approved, and is now in daily use by MM. Thalberg, Liszt, Lefebure, Wely, Madame Dreyfus, Madame Sievres, &c. Prospectuses, with particulars and prices, may be obtained at Messrs. Cramer, Beale, & Co.'s, 201, Regent-street, who have entered into an agreement with Messrs. Alexandre, the inventors, for the introduction and sale of these instruments in England. BOOSEY AND SONS' NEW PUBLICATIONS. SIGNORS MARIO and GORDIGIANI.-The celebrated French Romance, "AIME MOI BIEN," sung by Signor Mario, and composed by Signor Gordigiani, is just published, price 2s. SIGNOR GORDIGIANT'S NEW COMPOSITIONS, as sung Grand Concert, July 20th. Impossibile, Canto Popolari, 28.; Emezzodi, Bolero, 2s.; Impressione, Canto Popo, 2s.; La Rosa d'Inghilterra Álbum, dedicated to Her Majesty the Queen, containing twelve new vocal pieces, price 215., in a handsome volume. FAIR SHINES THE MOON," Mario's celebrated Barcarolle in Rigoletto, encored on every occasion; the poetry by W. H. Bellamy, Esq., is published this day, 2s. NEW SCHOOL PIANOFORTE MUSIC, by Rudolf Nordmann.-Mario's Barcarolle in Rigoletto, with Variations, 3s. The Nuns' Prayer, a Romance, 3s. The Ghost Scene in the Corsican Brothers, 2s. 6d. Alvars? Greek Pirates' Chorus, 2s. 6d. The above are written expressly to suit moderate players, and are remarkable for melody, and brilliancy of effect. THE ENGLISH FLEET POLKA, with a superb Illustration of the great Fleet at Portsmouth, composed by Nelson Sydney, is published this day, price 3s., Postage free. BOOSEY and SONS, 28, Holles-street, Cavendish-square. Printed and Published for the Proprietor, by MICHAEL SAMUEL MYERS, of No. 3, Studley Villas, Studley Road, Clapham Road, in the parish of Lambeth; at the office of MYERS & Co., 22, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, in the parish of St. Paul, where all communications for the Editor are to be addressed, post paid. To be had of G. Purkess, Dean Street, Soho; Allen, Warwick Lane; Vickers, Holywell Street, and at all Booksellers. Saturday, August 27th, 1853. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING. Terms of Subscription, per Annum, 16s.; Half-year, 8s.; Three Months, 4s.; (Stamped Copies 18; per Quarter extra), Payable in advance, to be forwarded by Money Order, to the Publishers, Myers & Co., 22, Tavistock-st., Covent Garden. No. 36.-VOL. XXXI. MUSIC. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1853. the Price Fourpence. Stamped Fivepence. Fourthly, Beethoven was quite as much a prodigy in his youth as Haydn, and his early productions were ten times more remarkable than those of the author of the Creation. from several passages THE following essay, which appeared many years ago in the Quarterly Review, and treats of Music, its conditions, its origin; the sense of time, the innocuousness of music, lovers and nonBesides, why, when citing the poets who have glorified lovers of music, musical poets, non-musical poets, musical music, has he omitted Shelley? Is this a bit of the old happiness, Greek music, false theories, the Troubadours, science leaven of the musty Tory Quarterly bigotry? We fear, to judge of counterpoint, Palestrina; catches, rounds, and canons; of a certain unmistakeable colour, yes! violin, instruments as accompaniments to the voice, early dra-We regret to find such a colour daubing such a page. matic music, English patronage of music, Handel, religious But, above all, Beethoven's "Missa Solennis" is as really scruples, sacred music of Handel and Mozart compared, dis- religious as anything of Handel's. She would not surely tinct characters of keys, imitative music, descriptive music, have Religion invariably expressed in the tone of "Comfort expression, pure musical ideas, composers' first thoughts, ye, my people," or divine miracles in that of the "Hailstone Beethoven's sacred music, &c. &c., is evidently from the pen of a highly accomplished amateur. As we like to hear intelligent amateurs discuss the art, its principles, and its influence, quite as much as-if not more than-we like to hear them discussed by professors and scientific men, we open our columns to the very instructive and pleasant causerie of the writer in the Quarterly Review. To some of his opinions, many of his assertions, and much of his doctrine, we are adverse; but we leave him to speak for himself, which will be more polite, since we are inclined to think that he is a lady. Contenting ourselves with a violent protest against the comparatively unimportant position he gives to Sebastian Bach, in placing him snout by snout with Domenicho Scarlatti, as a mere strengthener of the "joints and muscles" of music; and a still more savage protest-we repeat the word for want of a fiercer-against the position he assigns, by insinuation, to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The latter, however, may be excused on the plea, that the essay was composed before Elijah was given to the world. Moreover, he will excuse us-or she-for running our pen through a passage, which, in the general consideration of Beethoven's genius, makes allusion to certain concoctions of music-publishers, under the denomination of "Longing," "Hope," and "Sorrow" waltzes, of which Beethoven was completely guiltless. Moreover, we do not agree with him-or her-in his views of keys, or rather, of the characters of keys. Par exemple who would think of calling the G minor Symphony of Mozart -one of the most passionate and beautiful creations in the art-" a heart-chilling horror?" The writer in question, it is true, does not so call it; but he might, since he alludes to the "heart-chilling horror" of the key of G minor, in his the "heart-chilling horror" of the key of G minor, in his delineation of the characters of keys; with which we do not agree. Chorus"-would she? To wind up, the writer is evidently ignorant of what Mendelssohn intended by his Lieder ohne worte. In attempting to define the sister arts of Music and Paintward sentiments, the other from outward observation: thereing, we should say, broadly, that the one is supplied from infore, that in presenting them to the comprehension and enjoyment of a race of beings compounded of body and spirit, the art consists in giving to music a form, and to painting a soul; that it is an argument both of our earthly and heavenly natures that music must be materialized and painting spiritualized to fit them for our service, since only a higher order of beings can be supposed to partake of their ineffable beauties in their abstract essence, and converse with art as they do with truth, face to face. We mean no comparison of the relative distinct their lines of light may appear to us here, they unite value and beauty of these two arts, feeling sure that however in one radiant point beyond our sight, though visible to true artist faith. Nor are we less assured that each art is equally favourable to that purity of life and high spiritual attainment subordinate but still divine revelation; but inasmuch as the to which all great poetic gifts are intended to contribute as a process of music is necessarily from within to without, as the very depth of its source requires it to pass through so much of this earth before it reaches the surface of our perceptions, music is of all others that art which is more especially placed pleted his picture, rests from his labour-it requires nothing at the mercy of mankind. The painter, when he has comfurther at his hands. It stands there in silent independence, needing nothing but the light of heaven to convey it to the organ by which it is admitted to the mind. But the offspring and that a mental one-it has to appeal to others to give it of the musician is born dumb-it reaches no ear but his own, voice and being. Men and women, subject to all the caprices and corruptions of their kind-and those of the mere material musician are among the meanest in the world-wood and wire, and brass and catgut, liable to every variation of the atmosphere, are indispensable to its very existence; and thus the composer and his composition are separated by a medium which too often reflects dishonour, though unfairly so, on the art itself. As Guido, in the prologue to his Antiphonarium, bitterly says of those who for centuries were the only instru- valleys or on plains, by resounding sea-shores or by roaring ments of music, namely, singers: "Musicorum et Cantorum Magna est distantia ; waterfalls. There is nothing in the music itself which tells of the natural sounds most common in the desolate steppes of Russia, the woody sierras of Spain, or the rocky glens of Scotland. What analogy there exists is solely with the inward character of the people themselves, and that too profound to be theorised upon. If we search the works of the earliest composers, we find not the slightest evidence of their having been inspired by any outward agencies. Not till the art stood upon its own independent foundations does it appear that any musician ever thought of turning such natural sounds to account: and though with Beethoven's exquisite Pastoral Symphony ringing in our ears, with its plaintive clarionet cuckoo to contradict our words-we should say that no compositions could be of a high class in which such sounds were conspicuous, It is a strange thing, the subtle form and condition of music. When the composer has conceived it in his mind, the music itself is not there ;-when he has committed it to paper, it is not still there; when he has called together his orchestra and choristers from the north and the south, it is there-but gone again when they disperse. It has always, as it were, to put on mortality afresh. It is ever being born anew, but to die away and leave only dead notes and dumb The connexion between sound and numbers is a fact which instruments behind. No wonder that there should have been at once invests music with the highest dignity. It is like men of shallow reasoning powers or defective musical feelings, who in the fugitiveness of the form have seen only the frivolity adding to the superstructure of a delicate flower the roots of an oak of the forest. Far from being a frivolous art, meant of the thing, and tried to throw contempt upon it accordingly: only for the pastime of the senses in hours of idleness, it But in truth such critics have hit upon the highest argument in favour of the art; for how deep, on the contrary, must be would seem to be of that importance to mankind that we are the foundations of that pleasure which has so precarious a form expressly furnished with a double means of testing its truth. of outward expression;-how intensely must that enjoyment of a mathematical head give the same verdict. Science proves The simple instinct of a correct ear and the closest calculations be interwoven with the Godlike elements of our being, in what the ear detects the ear ratifies what science asserts which mere outward sense has so fleeting a share! The very instinct and demonstration coalesce as they do with no limitation of its material resources is the greatest proof of its other art:-for though the same species of identity exists spiritual powers. We feel its influence to be so heavenly, between the rules of perspective and the intuition of a correct that, were it not for the grossness of our natures, we should take it in not by the small channel of the ear alone, but by eye, yet the science in this instance is neither so profound nor the instinct so acute. The mere fact that music and matheevery pore of our frames. What is the medium of communi-matics should be allied is a kind of phenomenon. One can cation when compared with the effect on our minds? It is as if we were mysteriously linked with some spirit from the other world, which can only put itself en rapport with us, as long as we are here, through a slight and evanescent vibration of the air, yet even that all-sufficient to show the intensity of the sympathy. "Whence art thou-from what causes dost thou spring, Oh Music! thou divine, mysterious thing?" We ask the question in vain, as we must ever do, when we would follow paths which lose themselves in the depths of our being. We only know, and only can know of music, that its science is an instinct of our nature-its subjects the emotions of our hearts-that at every step we advance in its fundamental laws we are but deciphering what is written within us, not transcribing anything from without. We know that the law which requires that after three whole notes a half-note must succeed is part of ourselves-a necessity in our being one of the signs that distinguish man from the brute, but which we shall never account for till we are able to account for all things, As to the hackneyed doctrine that derives the origin of music from the outward sounds of nature, none but poets could have conceived it, or lovers be justified in repeating it. Granting even that the singing of birds, the rippling of brooks, the murmuring of winds, might have suggested some ideas in the gradual development of the art, all history, as well as the evidence of common sense, proves that they gave no help whatsoever at the commencement. The savage has never been inspired by them: his music, when he has any, is a mere noise, not deducible by any stretch of the imagination from such sounds of nature. The national melodies of various countries give no evidence of any influence from without. A collection of native airs from different parts of the world will help us to no theory as to whether they have been composed in hardly believe how Euclid and Jenny Lind should have any common bond of union; but deep in the secret caverns of the mind the materials from which both are supplied mingle in one common source, and the paths which have conducted a Galileo, a Kepler, and a Herschel to the profoundest abstractions the human mind is capable of, have started from the sweet portals of musical sound. But the natural history of music is full of wonders, Wherever we look into its inherent elements we are met by signs of precautionary care. It is as if the Giver of all good gifts had presided over the construction of this one with especial love, fencing it round with every possible natural security for its safe development, and planting it among those instincts we have least power to pervert. The sense of time is alone a marvellous guarantee-a conscience which no other art possesses in the same measure-the order which is music's first law-the pulse which regulates the health of the whole impalpable body-the first condition of musical being-an invisible framework in which the slippery particles of sound are knit together for action-a natural regularity which we can only bear to hear trangressed from the pleasurable suspense in which the mind is kept for its return; for the suspensions in the musical world, unlike those in the moral, have the blessed property of never bringing disappointment in their train. How deep the sense of time implanted in the human breast, when the mere motion of a little bit of stick, and that not governed by any piece of nicely-constructed mechanism, but by the sole will of one capricious dandy, can supply it in ample abundance to an orchestra of five hundred performers! But the true timist is time all over-his outward man is one general conductor— eye, ear, or touch are alike susceptible to the electric fluid of true musical measure-you may communicate it to him by the palms of his hands or the soles of his feet. One can hardly imagine a state of corporeal infirmity or mutilation which could render him insensible to this law. He may be blind or lame, he may be paralysed from head to foot, or may have left half his limbs on the field of battle, it matters not-while he has sufficient body left to house his mind, the sense of time will not desert him. The readiness with which the memory lends itself to the service of music is another standing phenomenon peculiar to her. By what mysterious paradox does it come to pass that what the mind receives with the most passivity it is enabled to retain with the most fidelity-laying up the choicest morsels of musical entertainment in its storehouses, to be ready for spontaneous performance without our having so much as the trouble of summoning them? For not even the exertion of our will is required: a thought-ay, less than a thought the slightest breath of a hint is sufficient to set the exquisitely sensitive strings of musical memory vibrating; and often we know not what manner of an idea it is that has just fluttered across our minds, but for the melody, or fragment of a melody, it has awakened in its passage. By what especial favour is it that the ear is permitted a readier access to the cells of memory, and a steadier lodging when there, than any of the other organs? Pictures, poetry, thoughts, hatreds, loves, promises of course, are all more fleeting than tunes! These we may let lie buried for years-they never moulder in the grave-they come back as fresh as ever, yet showing the depth at which they have lain by the secret associations of joy or sorrow they bring with them. There is no such a pitiless invoker of the ghosts of the past as one bar of a melody that has been connected with them. There is no such a sigh escapes from the heart as that which follows in the train of some musical reminiscence. (To be continued.) THE MUSICIAN'S HOUSEHOLD MEDICINES. WINE FOR THE SPIRITS. Take Gold, perfectly refined, three ounces, quench it six or seven times in good Claret Wine; add of Nitre, six grains, for two draughts; add of Saffron, prepared, three grains, of Ambergrease, four grains; pass it through an Hippocras Bag, wherein there is a dram of Cinnamon, gross beaten--or, to avoid the dimming of the colour, of Ginger. Take two spoonfuls of this, to a draught of fresh Claret Wine. [Next morning you will get up with a headache.-ED.] No. 5. THE PREPARING OF SAFFRON. Take six grains of Saffron, steept in half parts of Wine and Rose-water, and a quarter part Vinegar; then dry it in the sun. [Next morning you will find it blown away.-ED.] SOMETHING SENSIBLE FROM THE FIELD. to be sung in German or English. The management-which means, not Mr. Smith, the lessee of the theatre, but Mr. Jarrett, the horn-player, and Mr. Stammers, formerly entrepreneur of Exeter-Hall concerts-were most liberal to the press on the first night of their "special season" of a fortnight; only one thing a little diminishes my gratitude for their civility, namely, that every available space in the house was occupied ten minutes before the tainly I have been hitherto of opinion that the possession of a overture commenced. I don't complain in the least, though cerstall ticket implied the claim to a stall,the theatre on Tuesday I believe I missed a good many imperfec-as by paying my visit to tions which I should have witnessed on Monday. On the whole the performance was good-about equal to what one would meet with at Frankfort or Munich (I should mention that the opera was sung in German), and which one would there consider a very pleasant evening's amusement. I should be very glad to have the winter. It is true that the orchestra and chorus were often such a house open to me for three or four nights a week during rather wild, and hitches in the scene-shifting and machinery (more especially in the incantation scene) were neither few nor far between, but all that will smooth down after a few nights' performance. The small critics, who only admit of two colours, black and white, and who, with the usual intolerance of half-knowledge, will never allow merit to exist in anything that is not perfection, were loud in condemnation, because Mdme. Caradori, who played Agatha, is not Grisi, and Reichardt (Max) is inferior to Mario. I say that the former sings and acts in a broad, energetic, and power, is a good and agreeable tenor, though of course not equal effective style; and that the latter, though certainly deficient in to Mario or Tamberlik. Then Formes was, of course, a magnifi cent Caspar. The fact is that the opera is not yet a habit among the English; it cannot be, for we have never yet had a continuous English opera, at prices sufficiently low to admit of the attendance, without an effort, of the middle classes. The Londoners are wealthy, and any extraordinary attraction, such as the appearance of a singer with whose fame all the newspapers in Europe are ringing, or a fiddler who plays concertos on a single string, suffices to unloose the purse-strings of heads of families, so as to procure at an exorbitant price to the mother and girls the right of listening for once in a way to the wonder of the time. But "post equitem sedet atra cura"-even while listening to dearly purchased arpeggio or cadenza, the thought will intrude whether after all they are worth the money, and of course an audience subject to such influences becomes painfully (albeit per faultless. But the faultless in music is rare, if indeed it exists; chance ignorantly) critical, and patiently endures nothing but the and certainly must not be expected as a permanence in this as yet unmusical realm. The Viennese, the people of Munich, the organized than the English, yet they none of them possess a perMilanese, the Neapolitans, are far more musically inclined and manent opera which one of our perfection-demanding critics would not proclaim to be inferior-not one whose corps dramatique is a great deal better than the hastily constituted one at Drury Lane. Yet the first singers, musicians, and composers in the world have issued from these establishments, and the most instructed and appreciative audiences in the world are found night after night occupying their benches. Why? Because, in the first place, knowledge is always tolerant, and there is nothing so given to find fault-so dénigrant-as ignorance, or (worse still) half-instruction; and, secondly, because in those countries, owing to the permanence and prices of the national musical theatre, opera-going is a habit, not an exceptional effort; and consequently the public accustom themselves to judge performances as a whole, and don't try to show science by pulling to pieces this or that part; are content with the amount of pleasure they have received from a fair render. WE were really thunderstruck at finding the following-ing of the music of Mozart or Rossini, without ungraciously insist with which we almost entirely agree-in the fishy feuilleton of our cotemporary, the Field: Drury Lane opened for one of its short omnibus stages on Monday. Certainly there was no flourishing of trumpets or overdoing of preliminary boasting on this occasion, for when I got to the theatre I was perfectly ignorant whether the Freischütz was Signor B. had occupied the places of Signora C. and Signor D. ng on the improvement there would have been if Signora A. and In one sentence, my meaning is, that I am convinced, as I am of my existence, that a well conducted English opera at Drury Lane, not dependent on spectacle or scenery, but on the music, with low prices, plenty of stalls, and a frequent change of performance, would be a most remunerative dramatic speculation. |