me
among us; the powers and performances of Farinelli, Caffarelli,
Pachierotti, Gabrielli, Mara, and others, are handed down by tradition,
while all remember the great artists of still later times. These have
been our preceptors in the art of song, and to them, and them alone, are
we indebted for our knowledge of the singer's, powers; and but for their
guidance and instruction, our native home-taught professors would have
been centuries instead of years behind. It may, however, be some
consolation to reflect, that we have not been alone in our pupilage; for
Italy, herself the pupil of ancient Greece, has in her turn become the
preceptress of the modern world in music, as well as the other branches
of the fine arts, in all of which her supremacy has been universally
acknowledged. Besides the native musicians whose names we have
enumerated, many _ephemerae_ of the genus have fluttered their short
hour, and been forgotten. On turning over the popular music of the early
years of the present century, or the music which may, perhaps, have
formed the delight and amusement of the last generation, the musician
will marvel that such productions should have been ever tolerated.
Native skill has undoubtedly advanced since this period; and however
worthless much of our present music may be considered, it is
nevertheless superior to most of the like productions of our immediate
predecessors. We have some living composers whose works are not without
some merit; but they can scarcely be placed even in the second class.
Their compositions, when compared with the works of the great
continental masters, are tame, spiritless, and insipid; we find in them
no flashes of real genius, no harmonies that thrill the nerves, no
melodies that ravish the sense, as they steal upon the ear. Effort is
discernible throughout this music, the best of which is formed
confessedly upon Italian models; and nowhere is the universal law, of
the inferiority of all imitation, more apparent.

These observations apply with especial force to the _dramatic_ music, or
compositions of the English school. The term opera, is incorrectly used
in England. The proper meaning of the word is, a musical drama,
consisting of recitative airs and concerted pieces; without the
intervention of spoken dialogue, it should consist of music, and music
alone, from the beginning to the end. With us it has been popularly
applied to what has been well characterized as "a jargon of alternat