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Untitled Article
all the dreadful scenes in the latter chapters of the ' Fair Maid of Perth / the murder of the Duke of Rothsay , the suicide of the infamous Henbane Dwyning , the punishment of Ramorny , the combat and slaughter of the two Highland clans—all is related with an atrocious indifference , all is painted with the highest colours , all is described alia terzina with dotted and skipping notes ,
" with that musical figure whose bold and animated movement gives to the composition an activity , a bustle , and a vivacity " which do not always belong to the subject , or at least which the subject would hardly seem to bear . I can prove to demonstration , multiplying examples ad irrfinitum , that the artifice of the two writers is precisely the same , that is , as far as analogy can be established between a thought expressed by words and a thought expressed by musical notes .
The author of the Magazine article above alluded to , observes that " the compositions of Rossini excel in extraordinary plainness of construction , in uncommon clearness and intelligibility , in fullness of melody , and harmonious colouring , and in remarkable simplicity . " * Now , if I substitute the name of Walter Scott for that of
Rossini , there is not a syllable that need be added to or taken from this eulogium . Who will deny the plainness , the clearness , the intelligibility of plot characterizing tlie romances of Sir Walter ? I am acquainted with children of twelve years of age , who lose not a single thread of the magic woes which that consummate genius spreads out before his readers ! Then , as to fullness of melody and harmony of colouring , there is scarcely a page of his writings which does not overflow Math these beauties . Whether he paints the civil wars of his country , or leads you through the obscure labyrinth of policy ; amidst the magnificence of courts , or into the humble abode of the artisan . Whether he presents to
you virtues , public or private , vices , crimes , or weaknesses , whether , in short , he appears as an historian or poet , a man of law or a gallant ; whether he speaks like a sovereign or a mendicant ; whether lie penetrates into the cabinet of a minister or a lady ' s bower ; whether , in fine , he walks the earth like a common mortal , or ranges through infinity like a pure spirit , —his colouring is always harmonious , his tints are always proper to the subject , -j- and above all , true to nature . Then , simplicity of plot in Scott ' s Romances is a quality which , in spite of the ornamental work abounding in them , is so conspicuous , that to comprise an accurate analysis of one of them in the space of twenty lines
• Whatever may be the simplicity in fundamental construction of Rossini ' s music , the term cannot be generally appropriate to so ornate a composer . —Ed . ¦ f 1 his , at all events , cannot be « aidof Rossini . Some of his overtures , and many «> f his songa are as little suited to the subject as can be deliberately imagined . Th * Gazza JLadra is , however , a fine exception . —Ed .
Untitled Article
564 Rossini and Walter Scott .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1836, page 564, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2661/page/40/
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