"Of melody aye held in thrall," I profess myself an admirer of that English music which preceded the appearance of Mr. Braham--the music of Arne, Jackson, Carter, Storace, Linley, Shield, Davy, even of Dibdin, and of those fine airs, (the names of whose composers are now little better than traditional), which glow in the Beggar's Opera. And of this music there never was heard a singer equal to Incledon, and perhaps never will. The pathos, the richness, the roundness, the satisfying fulness to the ear, which characterize these composers, can never be mastered by the _merely scientific_ singer; _they_ composed for the _voice_, and without that organ in its most perfect state, complete justice can never be done to their strains.
I before said these masters flourished previous to the debut of Mr. Braham; for it is in a great measure owing to that gentleman, and the false taste he introduced and has kept alive, that they are now so seldom heard in our theatres, concerts, or drawing-rooms. We have lost the notes of melody and feeling, and what have we in their stead? The glitter and plagiarism of Rossini, the ponderous science of Weber, and the absolute trash of all our English composers. The last mentioned gentlemen certainly came into court "in forma pauperis,"--satisfied with the merit of arrangers, harmonizers, &c., and are found to confess, when detection is probable, that the very soul of their pieces--the melody[5]--is taken from such an Italian, such a Sicilian, Greek, nay even Russian air.
[5] "Melody is the essence of Music," said Mozart to Michael Kelly; "I compare a good melodist to a _fine racer_, and counter-points to _hack post-horses_."
I think I can, in some degree, account for the fashion these composers have gained, and why, I fear, they are likely to maintain it. It is that the _public have become too musical_. Every female, from the highest to the lowest, whose parents can purchase a piano-forte, and pay a master, _must_ learn music; the number of teachers and pupils are multiplied without end; and out of either class how many are there qualified by nature as singers? Not two in fifty. What follows? By labour and attention _science_ may be acquired, although _voice_ cannot. The voiceless teacher may instruct his voiceless pupil in the foppery of an art, the _spirit_ of which is unattainable by either; pieces merely scientific are placed by him on her piano--are performed to the credit of both, with vast execution, as far as respects the science and the harmony---but as for the singing, as singing ought to be, 'tis