fleeting, for it depended chiefly on the skill of the individual performer; what is most admired in one age is least pleasing to the next. The same dismemberment made itself apparent too, in the cantilene. The various vocal tricks, long notes, sustained melodies, long jumps, syncopated passages, &c., to which due effect had to be given, could not be thrown together without some connecting principle. For this the subjects of the songs were made use of, but the effect was still disjointed and inartistic. The detached phrases were usually still further separated by a full or a half cadenza, to which an instrumental interlude was often attached. No doubt this wealth of variety was then considered a great charm; now we miss unity of form and conception. The turns of harmony are generally monotonous and poor, the form of the cadenza with its trills is just as stereotyped as that of the present day with its suspended sixth, and both the singer and the public expected and required that this should be so. No doubt the freedom which was allowed to the singer in delivery often gave quite a different form to the cadenza, but the want of conception could at best but be concealed.
These shortcomings are not to be ascribed in Mozart's case to youthful immaturity, but to the musical conditions of the time at which he wrote; they are equally observable in the works of the most experienced contemporary musicians, and were indeed hardly regarded as blemishes. The question involuntarily arises what there was in these early operas which could so enchant the public and draw from a master like Hasse the prediction that this youth would eclipse them all. A witty artist once declared that the public always requires novelty, but it must be novelty that they are acquainted with; anything really new demands too great an effort of comprehension from them. In this case, no doubt, the public, agreeably prepossessed by the readiness with which the work complied with all existing conditions, were quick to appreciate the skill and taste which were manifest, as well as a certain youthful freshness, and here and there traits more significant still of genius; traits in which Hasse recognised the germ of future development. We, who know Mozart in the full perfection of his powers, seek eagerly in