ON.

"For, wheresoe'er I turn my ravished eyes,
Gay gilded scenes and shining prospects rise;
Poetic fields encompass me around,
And still I seem to tread on classic ground."

ADDISON.

The opera, or music drama, in which, in lieu of the ordinary forms of
speech, music and song are used to give elevated expression to
thought, is the most extensive, and, to nearly all lovers of melody,
the most charming, of musical compositions. In its construction
several of the other forms of music are most pleasingly united.

In the opera, with the language of poetry, music is associated, giving
increased ornamentation; and it is used also to bridge over, so to
speak, the places where mere language, either common or poetical,
could never pass. That is to say, there are some phases of feeling of
such fineness and depth, that only the soulful tones of music can
call them into exercise, or give them expression.

The requirements for operatic construction are of course very
great,--so great, that none may hope to succeed in the same save those
endowed, if not with genius, at least with very superior talents. They
must possess both marked originality, and power for continuity of
thought; in fact, must form in their capabilities a very "Ariel," a
fountain-head of music, from which must constantly flow melody after
melody, harmony after harmony, ever new, ever pleasing, the whole
presenting an artistically-woven story of the vicissitudes of human
life. In the composition of an opera, two persons are usually
associated; the one creating the words of the drama (the song), and
the other composing its music.

In this field of musical creation, men of great genius find a more
varied, a wider scope for the employment of their powers; and but a
few of the world's most eminent composers of music have failed to
avail themselves of its opportunities for grand achievements, success
in it being generally considered as necessary for a rounding-out of
their inventive harmonic capacities; while, for the establishment of
their titles to greatness, they have sought to make some grand opera
the _chef-d'oeuvre_ of their life-work.

I would not imply, however, that all the great composers of opera
worked simply for fame. To assert that they did, would, no doubt, be
unjust, as it would be denying that they possessed the "sacred fire of
genius," and that deep and pure affection for art, which, judging from
the noble beauty, th