The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor Part 6

Drove off in wild affright the polish'd muse.

_P._ Sure there are more, whose names have not yet reach'd me.

_C. M._ Why should I rescue from oblivion's flood, Such names as Morton, Reynolds, Dibdin, Cherry.

Morton a melancholy wight, whose muse, Now sighs and sobs, like newly bottled ale, Now splits her ugly mouth with grinning.[10]

Reynolds,[11] whose muse most monstrous and misshapen, Outvies the hideous form that Horace drew.

Dibdin[12] a ballad monger--and for Cherry-- But Cherry has no character at all.

_P._ Who is the favour'd bard you come to seek?

_C. M._ For sterling wit and manly sense combin'd, Where, Congreve, shall I find thy parallel?

For charming ease, who equals polish'd Vanbrugh?

Where shall we see such graceful pleasantry As Farquhar's muse with lavish bounty scatters?

But yet, ye great triumvirate--I fear To call you back to earth, for ye debas'd With vile impurities the comic muse, And made her delicate mouth p.r.o.nounce such things As would disgust a Wilmot in full blood, Or shock an Atheist roaring o'er his cups[13]

O shameful profligate abuse of powers, Indulg'd to you for higher, n.o.bler purposes, Than to pollute the sacred fount of virtue, Which, plac'd by heaven, springs in each human breast.

_P._ Too true your words. But what of Ma.s.singer?[14]

_C. M._ O how I love his independent genius, As vigorous as the youthful eagle's pinion.

With admiration and with joy I view The master-touches of his powerful hand.

But, oh! I fear his muse too grand and weighty, For this less manly, though more elegant age.[15]

_P._ Then choose the milder song of gentle Fletcher.

_C. M._ 'Tis true, 'tis mild as notes of dying swans,[16]

But I'd have something of a loftier strain, Which sweeps with manlier cadence o'er the strings.

_P._ The page austere of learned Jonson[17] suits you.

_C. M._ Yes--'tis a n.o.ble and a virtuous muse, But still her range is rugged and confined.

No. I'll have one who conquers all--'tis Shakspeare,[18]

Whose genius now with rapid wing sublime, Soars with strong course, like generous Ma.s.singer; Now warbles forth her "native wood notes wild,"

In tones more sweet than Fletcher's tender lays.

Now with strong arrows steeped in caustic wit, Like Jonson, stabs the follies of the times, Deep in the "heart's core:" He's the bard I seek, He always joy'd in me, and I in him.

He will revive the glory of the stage.

Then all the puny bards of modern days, Scar'd at his looks, shall fly; as birds of night, Shun the full blaze of heaven's refulgent orb.

[Footnote 7: I congratulate Mr. S. on his promotion to office.

Certainly a person of his rigid economy will discharge the duties of treasurer of the navy, with the utmost precision; nor could a properer man be fixed on to manage public business of a pecuniary nature, than he who administers his own affairs with such care and frugality. Heaven forefend then, I should object to the propriety of his election to that office.--I only join with the muse in lamenting his dereliction from her service.]

[Footnote 8: It is with regret that I animadvert on such a veteran in literature as Mr. c.u.mberland. I admire his abilities and attainments. I have read his Observer, particularly the papers relating to Greek comedy, with the highest pleasure; but I think it a disgrace to him to have carried his admiration and fondness for that witty profligate Aristophanes to such a length as to attempt to raise his character on the ruins of the brightest ornament of the Heathen world, the wise and virtuous Socrates. As to his account in his "Memoirs" of Bentley's Ma.n.u.scripts, credat judaeus.]

[Footnote 9: Mr. Colman cannot plead that, like Shakspeare, he wishes to humour the age. This would be to insult the acknowledged taste of many thousands of the present day. But if he is sunk so low, as to prefer the noisy applause of the "groundlings," or rather of the "G.o.ds," to the approbation of the judicious, who are now "not a few," then the case is hopeless, and he must be content to be despised by those whose esteem alone is worth having.]

[Footnote 10: I allude to such characters as the blubbering droll Tyke.]

[Footnote 11: Reynolds's characters are as faithful copies of nature as Woodward's caricatures of men with heads ten times bigger than their bodies. How could Mr. Surr, in a late well written novel, offer any apology for him? But friends.h.i.+p is as blind as love, in spite of Horace's opinion.]

[Footnote 12: Though I call Dibdin a ballad-monger, I do not think him by any means equal to the other songster, sans-souci Dibdin.]

[Footnote 13: It is a melancholy thing, that men of the first abilities have frequently lent their aid to the cause of vice.

Better be dull as Cobb, or h.o.a.re, than so to abuse great talents.]

[Footnote 14: The age are under great obligations to Mr. Gifford for his very excellent edition of Ma.s.singer. I wish he had not been so severe on poor Mason and c.o.xeter. Their inaccuracies certainly warranted a few expressions of spleen, but not such harsh language as Mr. Gifford uses; but alas! his Persian fist cannot hit a gentle blow. Like his author, whom he has so successfully translated, whenever he attacks, "instat, insultat, jugulat." --_Scal. de Satira._]

[Footnote 15: I am not one of those who think the age degenerate: but certainly the rigid manly character of old times is melted into one of elegance and comparative softness. Perhaps the change is for the better, as I think no virtue has been lost in the transfusion. Be that as it may, there is something in the tone of Ma.s.singer not altogether suited to the general taste of the present time. I wish it was.]

[Footnote 16: Fletcher is an amiable writer; but the general effect of his tragedies appears to me languid. His comedies, however, are exceedingly entertaining.]

[Footnote 17: Jonson's genius and learning s.h.i.+ne to advantage in his Volpone, Alchymist, Silent Woman, and Every Man in his Humour.

It is to be lamented his characters are not more general.]

[Footnote 18: Let me join my voice to the universal chorus of praise to Shakspeare, "si quid loquar audiendum." It is merely a testimony of grat.i.tude; nor presumes to add to that fame which has been celebrated, not to mention a thousand others, by the nervous prose of Johnson and the rapturous poetry of Gray. O "Magnum et memorabile nomen!"]

MUSIC.

_Reviews of late publications._

Respecting the overture to the opera of _Il don Giovanni_ lately published, and the manner in which it was composed, the following singular anecdote is related. The celebrated _Mozart_ had completed the whole of the opera, with the exception of the overture, and as the performance was to take place in a few days, the managers began to be alarmed, lest in his usual habit of procrastination, he should leave his task incomplete, and thus disappoint the public.

For of old Mozart's virtue, we are told Often with a b.u.mper glow'd And with social rapture flow'd. --_Francis's Horace._

Messengers were sent to remind him of the shortness of the time, and urge him to finish the undertaking--but in vain; Mozart was nowhere to be found. At length he was discovered in a billiard-room, half intoxicated, earnestly engaged in a critical part of this very fascinating game. The person who came in search of him, aware of Mozart's pa.s.sionate fondness for this amus.e.m.e.nt, contrived to remove the queues out of the way, and refused to let the game proceed till the overture was written. Mozart, therefore, called for music-paper, &c. and in the state of mind we have described (the agitation of which must have been considerably increased by the vexation of being interrupted in his favourite game) actually completed the overture while leaning over the billiard-table. After this wonderful effort of genius (for such it must be called) he resumed his game as if nothing had happened--

What cannot wine perform? it brings to light The secret soul; it bids the coward fight-- Gives being to our hopes; and from our hearts Drives the dull sorrow, and inspires new arts.

Whom hath not an inspiring b.u.mper taught A flow of words, and loftiness of thought.

_Where shall the lover rest_, the song of I. Eustane, from Scott's Marmion, has been set to music by three different composers--but that of sir John Stephenson is preferred far before the others--the melody being tasteful and elegant--the words judiciously distributed, and the pa.s.sages well adapted to the different voices allotted to perform them.

The accompaniment is ingenious and expressive, and the symphonies tasteful and much in the style of Moore.

A duet composed by _V. Rauzzini_, and sung at the Bath concerts by Mrs.

Billington and Signora Cimador, has deservedly received the greatest approbation. It is called "_Care luci inamorati_"--the style is truly Italian; being simple, natural, and of course pleasing.

_Sweet Ellen, Sorrows Child_, a ballad set to music by Rauzzini also, is spoken of with great applause. The ballad itself is censured as being too long, it consisting of four verses, which produces a slight monotony, notwithstanding that the composer has displayed vast ingenuity in varying the accompaniment to each verse. The most beautiful melody is generally found to become tiresome after a third repet.i.tion. The present is sweetly plaintive and well adapted to the words.

_The Sigh and the Tear_, a duet--the words by c.u.mberland, the music by Hawes, is very particularly recommended by the reviewers of music. The words are excellent, the music well adapted and finely impressive. The melody, particularly of the first movement, elegant, pathetic and graceful--the harmonies scientific, and the accompaniments varied and appropriate. "We recommend it," say the reviewers, "to our fair readers as one of the most pleasing duets we have met with for a long time."

Of "_A grand Sonata_" for the piano-forte, composed by J. B. Cramer, fame speaks largely. An eminent connoisseur and reviewer speaks of it in these words: "We here recognise the genuine style of J. B. Cramer--this is really a _grand_ sonata. It consists of three different movements, each so excellent in its kind, that it is difficult to decide which is best!

"The first is expressive and majestic, in which are introduced several novel and ingenious ideas. One hand takes the chord of the 6-4, and the other the chord of the 7th, and by a very quick alternation an effect is produced similar to a triple shake.