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Article ON THE MUSIC OF THE ANCIENTS. ← Page 3 of 3
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On The Music Of The Ancients.
intimately connected . This connexion has been fully ascertained b y Dr . Burney , in ids elegant history of music . The ' result of his inquiries concerning the excellence of the music of the Greeks compared with that or the moderns , he gives in the following sentence , in which he acknowledges that these deli ghtful arts were formerl y closely tnited . 'After a most careful investigation of the subject' this elegant
, says writer , ' and a minute analysis of this music , by examining its constituent parts , I have not been able to discover , " that it watTsupeiior to the modern in any other respect than its simplicity , and a strict adherence to metrical . fact when applied to poetry . For , as music considered abstractedly , it appears to have been much inferior to the modern in the two grand and essential parts of the artmelody and
, harmony . ' * The ancient union , which subsisted between poetry and music appears now impossible to be restored . Modern languay . es are probably not more capable of serving as the medium of " such combination , than they are of being mou . de'd into verses consisting of dactyls and spondees .
Whether both or either of these sentiments have gained or lost by the separation which has been effected between them , and which may be termed a separation between sense and sound , is a point on which I shall not pretend to offer an opinion ; but it appears
reasonable to presume , that we must be incompetent to judge of the beauty and excellence of their combination , as it subsisted in ancient Greece unless we could realize it b y specimens in some modern langtiao-e ! I seem to be in some degree supported in this opinion by the authority of the pleasing writer already quoted on the subject . He says , ' It is with the music of every country as with the lantruage ; to read it with the
eye , and to give it utterance , are different rhino's ; and we can arrive at no greater certainty about the expression of a dead music , than the pronunciation of it dead language . " - | - 'Time has rendered the study of the Greek music sufficiently ' hopeless and desperate to repress the courage of the boldest enquirer . ' j Ai > -airi , ' It must be acknowledged , that the subject of ancient music hi still remains '
general , and probably everwi !/ remain , involved in much difficulty and uncertain ?} . '!] 'As to the superior or inferior degree of excellence in the ancient music compared to the modern , it is now as difficult to determine ; -. s it is to hear hoib sides ; indeed it is so entirely lost , that the stud y of it is as unprofitable as learning a dead language in which there are no books . To several of the
terms crammed into our books we are utterly unable to affix any precise or useful meaning . ' § It seems to be a natural inference from such concessions , that the Grecian music may not onl y have much excellence , but even much superiority over the modern music , alT though we may not now be able to discover it . M y , PrO BE CONTINUED . 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Music Of The Ancients.
intimately connected . This connexion has been fully ascertained b y Dr . Burney , in ids elegant history of music . The ' result of his inquiries concerning the excellence of the music of the Greeks compared with that or the moderns , he gives in the following sentence , in which he acknowledges that these deli ghtful arts were formerl y closely tnited . 'After a most careful investigation of the subject' this elegant
, says writer , ' and a minute analysis of this music , by examining its constituent parts , I have not been able to discover , " that it watTsupeiior to the modern in any other respect than its simplicity , and a strict adherence to metrical . fact when applied to poetry . For , as music considered abstractedly , it appears to have been much inferior to the modern in the two grand and essential parts of the artmelody and
, harmony . ' * The ancient union , which subsisted between poetry and music appears now impossible to be restored . Modern languay . es are probably not more capable of serving as the medium of " such combination , than they are of being mou . de'd into verses consisting of dactyls and spondees .
Whether both or either of these sentiments have gained or lost by the separation which has been effected between them , and which may be termed a separation between sense and sound , is a point on which I shall not pretend to offer an opinion ; but it appears
reasonable to presume , that we must be incompetent to judge of the beauty and excellence of their combination , as it subsisted in ancient Greece unless we could realize it b y specimens in some modern langtiao-e ! I seem to be in some degree supported in this opinion by the authority of the pleasing writer already quoted on the subject . He says , ' It is with the music of every country as with the lantruage ; to read it with the
eye , and to give it utterance , are different rhino's ; and we can arrive at no greater certainty about the expression of a dead music , than the pronunciation of it dead language . " - | - 'Time has rendered the study of the Greek music sufficiently ' hopeless and desperate to repress the courage of the boldest enquirer . ' j Ai > -airi , ' It must be acknowledged , that the subject of ancient music hi still remains '
general , and probably everwi !/ remain , involved in much difficulty and uncertain ?} . '!] 'As to the superior or inferior degree of excellence in the ancient music compared to the modern , it is now as difficult to determine ; -. s it is to hear hoib sides ; indeed it is so entirely lost , that the stud y of it is as unprofitable as learning a dead language in which there are no books . To several of the
terms crammed into our books we are utterly unable to affix any precise or useful meaning . ' § It seems to be a natural inference from such concessions , that the Grecian music may not onl y have much excellence , but even much superiority over the modern music , alT though we may not now be able to discover it . M y , PrO BE CONTINUED . 1