uggested by the melodies
and harmonies of a symphony, or concerto. These creations of the
imagination are in themselves a source of interest and delight, wholly
different, in their nature, from the pleasure conferred by mere sounds.
How beautiful are the scenes, about to follow, depicted in the overtures
to _Der Freyschutz_ and _Oberon_; what wild _diableries_ are not
suggested by those wonderful compositions! There are sounds of awful
mystery, proceeding, as it were, now, from the dread rites of dark
malignant beings of another world, now, from the mad frolics of
mischievous and reckless imps; in the midst of which a stream of
beauteous, gentle melody--like a minister of grace--breaks forth; now,
gliding smoothly along, now, rushing on impetuously, or, broken and
interrupted in its course, as though the powers of good and evil were
striving for the mastery; and at length, as if the former were
victorious in the strife, that melody again bursts forth, loud and
expanded in the bold exulting tones of triumph, with which the imaginary
scene is closed.

Similar observations might be made of many other pieces of instrumental
music; but these effects depend upon the imagination of the hearer,
there being no words to convey definite ideas to the mind. In vocal
music, where the words express no passion or emotion, the voice becomes
little more than a mere instrument of the composer or the performer.
Now, the national music of our country is for the most part adapted to
words of this description, and the anthem, the madrigal, and glee, are
thus necessarily deficient in dramatic power and expression. The glee
has been described as "_quelque chose bien triste_," and few but the
fanatics of the school who have listened to a succession of glees, will,
we think, deny the accuracy of the description. The oratorio is often
highly dramatic; but we have few, if any, oratorios of merit, of native
production. Our operas we have already designated as plays, with songs
scattered about at random. Thus, music of the highest class is rarely
attempted in this country; and the neglect of the one great requisite of
musical excellence, _may_ have prevented our composers from assuming
that rank, to which they might otherwise have shown themselves entitled.

There is, however, another class of composers whom we must not omit to
notice: we mean the song-writers of the day, the authors of those
ballads and vocal compositions, with knights and ladies f