"(Saper novelle de l'altro monde) "fhould repair, on the ift of May, "to the bridge which divides the city of Florence. On the day appointed, the bed of Arno was "found covered with machines, "reprefenting dens and caverns of exalted devotion: whereas, in Italy, the Carti bandite, or festive companies, who reforted to thefe feftivals, of which public notice was given fome time before the celebration, compofed among themfelves plays frictly conformable to the rules of drama, and animated" of various forms, in which, by a judicious combination of all "amidst fire, flames, fhrieks, the feveral powers of poetry, mu- "ejaculations, and howlings, were fic, and dancing; together with "feen the tortures which devils, ballets relative to the main action. "under a thoufand hideous forms, "The ftage-players," fays an "were bufy in inflicting on old Milanefe chronicle, "ufed to "the damned; when, lo! in fing the feats of Rowland and "the height of the fhow, the "Oliver; and thefe fongs were "bridge being then only of wood, "intermixed with, and followed part of it gave way under the by, dances accompanied with "crowd." mufic, performed by buffoons, and mimes in various evolutions, "equally grave and graceful." Donifon the monk, in the firft book of his poem on the famous countess Matilda, has in a fingle line, not indeed very harmonious, fummed up the feveral inftruments which formed the orchestras of thofe fpectacles: Tympana cum cytaris, ftivifque lyrifque fonant bec. In those ages of darkness I have met with only one act of hoftility between Italy and France, relating to mufic; and that is, in a decree of the republic of Bologna, which Ghirardacci, in his hiftory of that republic, places in the year 1288. That decree orders, Ut cantores Francigenorum in plateis communis ad cantandum omnino morari non poffent. I know of no monument, from which any fure judgment may be formed of the ftate of Italian mufic during thofe times it may only be fuppofed, that the opportunities of diftinguishing itfelf at the feftivals and exhibitions, which were infinitely more frequent in Italy than in France; the kind reception which entertaining talents every where met with, together with the rewards beftowed on the Coryphai of thofe arts, muft of courfe have powerfully improved and ftimulated the natural difpofitions of those numerous companies, which devoted themfelves to mufic, as their fettled bufinefs. I had made my felf fure of find ing fome information, concerning : As to the remaining monuments of French mufic under the fame epochs, they have all paffed through abbé Lebeuff's hands: the moft ancient are of the eleventh He has feen fome of the century. two following centuries: he has perufed the old French ballad-makers he has examined the count de Champaign's famous ballads, with Danz Gauthier's fongs and lamentations and in all these compofitions, even thofe of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, he could fee only tunes with little or no "melody; tunes, in which many "graces were left to be fupplied "by the fingers; tunes, which "were mere Gregorian finging, "and that of the feventh mood, of "all others the molt dull and dif "agreeable, and at the fame time "the most difficult: but," adds the judicious cenfor," the ears of "that time probably were accuf"tomed to them, fo that thofe tunes feemed fine, and affected them accordingly." before-hand It must be added, that Italy, in Indeed, we find from the ancient Italian chronicles, that fuch reprefentations of the Paffion and other` mysteries, prevailed in Italy, fo early as the thirteenth century. The grand jubiice in the following century, drawing numberless crowds of pilgrims from all parts of Europe to Rome, this put them on the defign of introducing into their feveral countries the imitations of fhows, which from their novelty, and their agreement with the taste of the times, could not fail of having a great run. 'The era of As to dramatic compofitions in mufic, on fubjects either taken from pagan mythology, or purely allegorical, the mufical improvements of the Italians qualified them to fhine in this kind, long before other nations were in any wife capable of fuch performances. them was from the year 1480. The firft effay was exhibited by cardinal Riari, to the pope his uncle, and the whole Roman court, in opera entitled Pomponiano. Medicean family foon gave this fplendid kind, and difplayed that tafte and munificence, for which every branch of the fine arts was to highly indebted to it. an The into From Florence thefe reprefentations quickly fpread into all the Italian itates that were able to fupport the great expences of decorations, dreffes, and machines, which even then were a part of these performances. M 2 John that kind, fcarcely could the latter fupport them, even under the reiga of Francis I. though that prince was eminent for munificence to the fine arts, and his wars laid open a communication between France and Italy. John Antony Baïf, who had been on fome efforts of the French in brought up among thefe fhows, during the embatly of his father (the celebrated Lazarus Baïf) at Venice, was the first who introduced the tafte for them into France. He turned his houfe into an academy of mufic, which was frequented with applaufe both by the court and city; but this academy died with its founder. Amidst all the fondness of Catharine de Medicis, and the Italians in her fuite, for their country exhibitions, all that the annals of French mufic mention of this fpecies, is only a kind of opera, acted in 1582, at the rejoicings of the famous nuptials of the duke de Joyeuse and the princefs of Vaude mont. I had hopes of finding fome infight into the ftate and the refpective claims of both mufics, towards the clofe of the fifteenth century, in the poem by Jean le Maire de Belges, called the reconciliation of the two languages. The poet's fcope in it was, to bring about a thorough peace and agreement between two nations feparated by the Alps, and ftill more by the difference of the climate, of manners and customs, as to action; and by accents, geftures, and pronunciation, as to fpeech. The author of this poem, which for the most part confifts of triplets, after the Italian manner, places about Venus a mufic loofe and wanton like herfelf; and the inftrumental part of which was quite in a new tafte; the old pfalterions, dulcimers, and pipes, being thrown afide for harps and monochords. Whether the poet meant to indicate the Italian improvements in inftrumental mufic, or had his eye The Louvre collection of ordinances has one of Charles VI. dated the 24th of April, 1407, in favour of the fcience of Minstrelife, and its practitioners, the chief of whom was ftiled King. In the fame collection there is even a me. moir concerning a like ordinance, iffued by king John, in favour of the Paris minstrels. However eminent we may fuppofe thefe hands to have been, Francis I. thought fit to bring back, and to procure from Italy, feveral virtuofi in this kind. One of the moft diftinguished was Mercer Albert. Aretin, in a letter of the 16th of June, 1538, compliments him on his excelling in an art, di che, fays he to him, fiete lume, e vi ha fatto si caro a sua maeftá e al mondo, i. e. " of which you are "the luminary, and which has fo "endeared you to his majefty, and to the world." He concludes with defiring him to deliver to the king a letter which he had written to him. Whether these musicians had gone retrograde; whether (which is little probable) Henry II. and Catharine de Medicis had, on the deceafe of Francis I. fent them back to their own country; or whether, during their ftay in France, the art had been prodigiously improved in Italy; Brantome, in his Life of Marthal Britlac, tells us, "that this nobleman, who was "for a long time Henry the Ild's "general in Piedmont, had the "best beft band of violins in all Italy, and paid them very handfomely. "The late king, Henry II. and "his queen, hearing great com"mendations of them, afked them "of the marshal, to teach their "band, who were good for no"thing, and no more than as little "Scotch rebecks in comparison of "them. They were immediately "fent, the head performers being "Jacques Marie and Baltazarin: "the latter, coming afterwards to "be valet de chambre to the queen, was named M. de Beaux"Joyeux." If the state of mufic in the country deferves to come into account, I might mention, that in 1672, Lewis XIV. paffing through the capital of a province nearest to Paris, that city, which now has regularly two concerts a week, could give the king no other mufical entertainment than a concert in the manner of that in Scarron's comic opera, that is, of eight choir-boys, two of whom fang, two played on the top of a bafs-viol, and the four others were hanged to four violoncellos, under the direction of the mafter of the chorifters. This the proprietor of the houfe, where the king had taken up his lodgings, accounted an event fit to be tranfmitted to pofterity in a picture; and from the very picture have I taken this defcription. On the fecond revival of the fine arts in France, under M. Colbert's miniftry, to whom it owed that of mufic, is well known. Some zealous Frenchmen will have it, that Lully acquired his whole fkill and knowledge on this fide the Alps; yet for the fymphonies of his firft opera he could find only forry rebecks, the faintnefs of which for a long time fhackled a genius, whofe fublimity and fire was not known till it met with inftruments capable of keeping pace with it. A writer, both cotemporary with that renovation, and an excellent judge, has spoken of it with equal truth and impartiality. "M. Lul"ly," fays he, " has enriched our "mufical reprefentations with the "moft happy productions of art, "knowledge, genius, and experi66 ence combined. Born in the "country of fine productions, and "on the other hand, habituated "to our ways, by living long in "France, he has, from the dif "pofition of his nation blended "with ours, made that mafterly "mixture of one and the other, "which pleafes, which affects, "which ravishes, and, in a word, "inftead of leaving any thing in "Italy for us to envy, enables us "to fet it copies." The Italians, who are most able to form an eftimate, have the fame thoughts of Lully, and likewife of Rameau and Mondonville; nay, the ftandard by which they judge of their own mufic, is the melody which thefe French harmonists have hit on, and which, they complain, is often wanting in the productions of their modern compofers. Perfevering in the contraft between them and the French, they have retained the ancient fimplicity in the accompaniments, and ftill more ftrictly in their touch of the organ. Every note is diftinctly heard, and the mafculine gravity of their play anfwers to the majefty of the places, where this inftrument is peculiarly admitted. It commonly executes the thoroughbafs of the pfalmody, and afterwards performs its part piano, with M 3 Out out lengthening or fetting it off with futile trills, even in those pieces where it is left to its own liberty. They who have heard, at Rome and Naples, fome of the pieces which the organ plays at the Elevation, mention them as pieces compofed and executed in that noble fimplicity, which characterifes and ever accompanies the fublime. In all other compofitions, the prefent Italian mufic is a continual ftruggle against difficulties arifing one from the other. When no more difficulties fhall remain to overcome, when the glory or get ting the better of them fhall ceafe, when they fhall be fmoothed to all fymphonists, the love of change will neceffarily bring back mufic to fimplicity; and a melody, difincumbered from the noife which drowns it, will be felt by every ear. This revolution perhaps is not far off; all inftruments are carried in Italy to a point, which feems a ne plus ultra: but the most brilliant execution there cannot deceive the ears of eminent connoiffeurs; with them, the noife which aftonifhes the fenfitive organs, is very different from the melody which fhould fpeak to the foul. Naples has, for a long time, been the fchool and feminary of the beft violins; yet they queftion their fkill till they have been tried by the renowned Tartini, fo that they flock to Padua purely to court his approbation. Tartini coolly hears them; and, after very attentively liftening to what they propofe to execute, "That's fine," fays he, or that is very difficult; that is brilliantly executed; but," adds he, putting his finger to his breast, it did not reach hither." Father Martini Valotti of Padua, an intimate friend of Tartini, and of the fame tafte in mufic, has formed a fcheme for bringing the art and artifts to true principles; and it is carried on by himfelf, Tartini, monfignori Giuftiniani, and Marcello, Venetian nobles. This fcheme comprehends the book of Pfalms tranflated into Italian verse, as literally as could be, without injuring the poetry, and fet to a mufic as fimple as Lully's plainest compofition. I have seen the first production of this fcheme, in two volumes, excellently engraved. This mufic, at first fight, appears to be common church mafic. Whilft the Italians are clofely furling the fails of mufic, France fpreads them all, and improves every wind to forward its courfe through the rocks, fands, and dangers, of a fea noted for wrecks. That which it feems to defy, would perhaps be rather advantageous than hurtful to it; as thereby it would only lofe the refufe of the Italian warehoufes, of which it has hastily made up its cargo. To fpeak plainly, when the revolution in Italy, of which the endeavours above-mentioned feem a commencement, fhall be accomplished; when Italy, excluding from mufic thofe concetti, which its prefent poets and orators are no lefs careful to avoid than thofe of the last century were ftudious to affect; the French, notwithstanding their language, will be found hampered in all the bellowings of which the Italians have rid themfelves, and which France will likewife lay afide in time, either from reflection or fatiety. Of this the confequence will be, that two nations, fo like one another in fo many amiable qualities, |