Hiftory, are defigned for pofterity, fhould be unmixed with any thing which the prefent times alone can understand or relish. Some of the paffages, quoted from this compofer, we do not think quite inexplicable; though we diflike them as much as Dr. Burney.

Michael Wife we have always confidered as poffeffing more genius than any other compofer of this time. While our author was mentioning his works, how could he omit this beautiful anthem, Awake, put on thy ftrength, O Zion.'— There are parts of it, no doubt, in which the modulations are unprepared and abrupt; but it abounds with fine paffages, and even expreffion. Tudway, Turner, &c. had nothing particular enough to intereft us, at this time. John Banister was the first Englishman that diflinguifhed himself on the violin, and was alfo one of the first who eftablished concerts in London at which there was a payment for admittance. It is curious to mark the progreffion from the mufic-school in White-friars, to the mufic-meetings at York-Buildings, which was fucceeded by the performances at Hickford's Room, and in later and prefent times, by the concert at Almack's and Hanover-Square.

"Thefe are to give notice, that at Mr. John Banister's house, now called the Mafick-fchool. over against the George taverne, in White Fryers, this prefent Monday, will be Mufick performed by excellent mafters, beginning precifely at four of the clock in the afternoon, and every afternoon for the future, precifely at the fame hour."

There are other advertisements from Banifler of the fame kind, in 1674, 1676, and 1678. In that for Dec. 11th, 1676, his musical performance is faid to be "At the academy in little Lincoln's-Inn Fields," where it was to begin with the parley of inftruments, compofed by Mr. Bannister, and performed by eminent mafters."

One

In Mr. North's manufcript Memoirs of Mufic, we have a more minute account of thefe performances. "Banifter having procured a large room in White Fryars, near the Temple back-gate, and erected an elevated box or gallery for the muficians, whofe modefty required curtains, the rest of the room was filled with feats and fmall tables, ale-houte fashion. fhiliing, which was the price of admiffion, entitled the audience to call for what they pleafed. There was very good Mufick, for Baniller found means to procure the best hands in London, and fome voices to affift him. And there wanted no variety, for Banifter, beides playing on the violin, did wonders on the flagelot to a thro' bafe, and feveral other mafters likewife played folos."

Dr. Burney makes flight mention only of Mr. Britton, the celebrated mall-coal-man, who collected his club in 1678,

which continued till 1714, probably because so ample an account of them is given in another History of Mufic: the fubject, so far as it is connected with musical anecdote, is certainly interefting. In the beft of the treatifes on mufic, publifhed at this time, our author meations Salmon's proposal for abolishing all clefs but one, and feems rather to approve than to condemn it. Difficulties, in the first principles of art, fhould certainly be lessened as much as poffible; but, in this cafe, if it would be easier for the firft beginner to have but one clef to learn, it would be worfe for thofe who are more advanced, to find out the notes, when made on a quantity of ledger lines. The origin of the various clefs feems to be founded on the convenience of keeping the voice as much as poffible within the staff. Thus the base clef being appropiated to the base voice, there are few notes which go above or defcend below the staff: the tenor clef for the tenor voice has the fame property; and now this convenience, which is a very great one, must be given up, if Salmon's idea be adopted. When Dr. Burney mentions Playford's Dialogues, &c. he is led to explain the term glee, which has of late fo much departed from its former meaning. In its original fenfe it was nothing more, as our author very properly obferves, than a fong of three or more parts upon a gay or merry fubject, in which all the voices begin and end together, finging the fame words.' When fubjects of fugue or imitation occur, and the compofition is more artificial than fimple counterpoint, it more nearly refembles a madrigal. Glee always implied mirth; and a serious glee is a folecifm, if we revert to the original meaning of the word.

Mace's Mufic's Monument is a fingular work, and we shall extract fome parts of our author's review of it.

The work is divided into three parts; the first treats of palm-finging, and cathedral Munc; the fecond, of the noble lute, now made eafie; and all its occuit, lock'd-up-fecrets plainly laid open; fhewing a general away of procuring invention and playing voluntarily upon the lute, viol, or any other inftrnment, with two pretty devices, &c. In the third part the generous viol, in its righteft ufe, is treated upon; with fome curious obfervations, never before handled, concerning it, and Mulick in general."

In pfalm-nging the author recommends short square-even and uniform ayres, and is bold to fay that many of our old pfaim tunes are so excellently good that art cannot mend them or make them better." In fpeaking of the difficulty of finging in tune, even with a good voice, he obferves, that "with an unfilfull-inharmonious-course-grain' d-harfh-voice, it is impoffible. Tis fad to hear what whining, toling, yelling, or freeking there

is in our country congregations, where, if there be no organ to compel them to harmonical unity, the people feem affrighted or distracted."

66

The liberal use of compounds by the ingenious master Mace gives his language a very Grecian appearance. He doubts not but that there are many rational-ingenious-wellcompofid willing-good Chriftians, who would gladly ferve God aright, if pollibly they knew but how ;" and therefo e he ade vites the purchafe of an organ of thirty, forty, fifty, or fixty pounds; and then, the clark to learn to pulfe or strike the palm tunes, which he offers himself to teach for thirty or forty ihillings; and the clark afterwards may instruct all the boys in the parifh for a filling or two a piece to perform the bufiness as well as himself. Aud thus by little and little, the parish will fwarm or abound with organiits."

The lute and viol are mafter Mace's favourite inftruments, concerning the effects of which, and, indeed, of Mufic in general, he is a great rapturist. On the lute, though he had occation to break both his arms, by reafon of which he could not make the neram flake well, nor ftrong; yet, by a certain motion of his arm he had gained such a contentive-fake, that his fcholars afked him frequently how they fhould do to get the like?"

Mace's advertisement is fingularly curious; we are forry that, from its length, we can only transcribe a part of it.

He farther adds, "if any be defirous to partake of his experimental skill in this high-noble-art, during his ftay in town, he is ready to affift them; and (haply) they may obtain that from him, which they may not meet withal elfewhere. He teach. th thefe 5 things, v. the theorbo, the French-lute, and the viol, in all their excellent ways and ufes; as alio compofition, together with the knack of procuring invention to young compofers, (the general and greatest difficulty they meet withal) this last thing not being attempted by any author (as he knows of). yet may be done; though fome has been fo wife (or otherwife) to contradict it:

Sed experientia docuit.

"Any of these things may be learned fo understandingly, in this little time he trays (by fuch general rules as he gives, together with Mufick's Monument, written principally to fuch purposes) as that any aptly inclined, may (for the future) teach themfelves without any other help."

If mafter Mace communicated to any one his knack of procaring invention, we hope the fecret has defcended to our own times, and that the perfon in poffeffion will speedily advertise where he is to be spoke with,' as the commodity feems to be growing fcarce.

The greater part of the doctor's former road may be con

fidered

fidered as a path which he was obliged to pass over, in order that he might arrive at a place of more confequence. A General History of Mufic muft, of course, contain accounts both of genius and stupidity; but our hiftorian feems to be always glad to reft on men and works of ability, fo long as his plan will permit. He is now luckily arrived at the era of a mufician, which gives him ample range for mufical obfervation and criticism, we mean Henry Purcell. The variety of fubjects to be noticed will not admit of a very extenfive account of our ingenious countryman; fo that we fhall chiefly extract fome paffages, which we trust will induce our readers to perufe the whole.

After fome introductory matter, on the neceffity of the fine arts being protected; Dr. Burney exclaims, happy for the art, when a fovereign's favour is founded on fo firm a bafis, as the works of Handel;' adding, that this country would now be lefs fenfible of their worth, if it were not for royal patronage and protection. We do not think, that Dr. Burney can very cordially praife this exclufive attachment to Haudel; but, without pushing the argumentum ad hominem too far, we may in general obferve, that, if this fashion prevents the moderns from being attended to, and checks every spark of emulation, the public lofes more on one hand than it can poffibly gain on the other.

In tracing the progrefs of English mufic, from James I. to Charles II. Dr. Burney tells us, that there are few fecular compofitions, which can be heartily praifed. Artists played and fung without animation.

Unluckily for Purcell! he built his fame with fuch perifhable materials, that his worth and works are daily diminishing, while the reputation of our poets and philofophers is increafing by the constant study and ufe of their productions. And fo much is our great musician's celebrity already configned to tradition, that it will foon be as difficult to find his fongs, or, at least to bear them, as thofe of his predeceffors, Orpheus and Amphion, with which Cerberus was lulled to fleep, or the city of Thebes conftructed.

So changeable is tafte in Mufic, and fo tranfient the favour of any particular style, that its history is like that of a ploughed field: fuch a year it produced wheat, fuch a year barley, peas, or clover; and fuch a year lay fallow. But none of its productions remain, except, perhaps, a fmall part of last year's crop, and the corn or weeds that now cover its furface. Purcell, however, was fuch an excellent cultivator of his farm in Parnaffus, that its crops will be long remembered, even after time has devoured them.'

In these paffages and fome others, Dr. Burney feems to think good mufic as of too perishable a nature. Perhaps he

may

may abate a little of the force of this opinion, by reflecting, that thofe pieces of Purcell, which are yet performed, are undoubtedly the beft of his works, and are preserved on account of their merit, as others have perished for want of it. The author gives the best review of a compofition, by defcribing the effects it produced on him in the performance. Many of Purcell's anthems pafs in fucceffion before him, on which he makes many pertinent remarks, though, perhaps, we have not exactly, on all occafions, the fame opinion of their respective beauties and defects. In his review of the Jubilate, he mentions Handel's Te Deum, without any defign of raifing one compofer at the expence of the other. The Jubilate was conftantly performed, he tells us, at St. Paul's, on the feaft of the fons of the clergy, from the death of the author 1695, to 1713, when it was in part fupplanted by, and performed alternately with, Handel's first Te Deum, compofed at the peace of Utrecht. From 1743, the period of the fecond Te Deum, it feems to have been neglected. This is partly attributed, by our author, to Handel's fuperior knowledge and ufe of inftruments;' his • more polished melody,' and partly to novelty,' Handel's Te Deum, like most of his other compofitions, is full of great beauties and great faults; faults, which an ordinary compofer would have avoided, and beauties which even a great genius could not reach. On the whole, it is certainly much fuperior to Purcell's; and it is from that fuperiority, rather than from its novelty, preferred: at this time, both are • funk into the vale of years.'

• Purcell's airs are in four parts, for two violins, tenor, and bafe, and were played as overtures and act-tunes in my own memory, till they were fuperceded by Handel's hautbois concertos, and thofe, by his overtures, while Boyce's fonatas, and Arne's compofitions, ferved as act-tunes. In procefs of time thefe were fupplanted by Martini's concertos and fonatas, which were thrown afide for the tymphonies of Van Maldere, and fonatas of the elder Stamitz. About this time, the trios of Campioni, Zanetti, and Abel, came into play, and then the fymphonies of Stamitz, Canabich, Holtzbauer, and other Germans, with those of Bach, Abel, and Giardini; which, having done their duty many years very pleasantly slept with their fathers;" and at prefent give way to Vanhall, Boccherini, Haydn, and Fleyel. Sic tranfit gloria Muficorum!'

It is always entertaining to mark the progrefs of improvement; and, probably, the author is correct in this fucceffion, but was it not Richter who first introduced the German fymphony into our orchestra? Exclufive admirers of modern fymmetry and elegance may, in our author's opinion, call Pur

cell's