Andante.

by which we throw the sounds into the order of common time.

But if we listen to the amble or canter* of a horse

6

we hear every third step to be louder than the other two; owing to the first and third foot striking the ground together. This regularity throws the sounds into the order of triple time. To one or other of these descriptions may be referred every sort of time. Varieties, it is true, may be formed by playing the movement faster or slower, or by extending the bars so as to include a greater number of notes; but the principle remains the same. The different degrees of speed with which strains of music may be performed are indicated by the following terms:

Adagio. The slowest time: the movement of the crotchet nearly accords with the beating of the pulse.†

* The pace which pilgrims went on horseback to Thomas à Becket's tomb, or the Canterbury gallop.

†The pulse, in the time of Hippocrates, was probably not more than sixty beats in a minute; from which probably originates our smallest

Largo.

Larghetto.

Andante.-Middle time: the quavers accord

with the trotting of a horse.

Andantino.

Allegretto.

Allegro. Quick time: about as fast again as the slowest.

Presto and Prestissimo.-Still quicker.

These times are performed much slower in the church, than either in the concert-room or the theatre; and we might remark that in the Adagio the notes should be well sustained; the ornaments smooth and flowing; the Appogiaturas slow; the Trills fluent and gently swelled; and the whole to be marked rather by delay than hurry.

The features of the Allegro are lightness, fire, and vivacity; the most flowing passages should be marked with point and animation. Thus we have Adagio, Andante, and Allegro, as the three grand divisions of time: the other terms which lie between mark the intermediate gradations.

The most uncivilized nations, by an attention to the step, perform the most intricate evolutions with exactness, where the metrical effects of music are utterly unknown. Soldiers are compelled to pre

division of time, denominated the moment or second, which divides the day into 86,400 parts. As the human species refine, probably the pulse quickens; and so completely are we machines, that like a clock, the faster we go, the sooner we are down.

serve an exact pace, when marching in a body, however defective the ear. Armies are moved with the greatest regularity in the time of a march, which is always in common time. The Persians, who have no skill in music, vary the rhythm in so masterly a manner, that their music not only pleases the ignorant, but even the learned.* Artisans, such as smiths, tailors, paviors, who work in unison with the pulse, acquire habits of keeping time with the greatest correctness. Stage-coach men have the faculty of ascertaining the lapse of time, almost with the regularity of a watch, by an attention to the pace of their horses.

The most ready and effectual method of acquiring a knowledge of musical time, is that of playing in concert; and the larger the band, the greater is the probability that it will be correctly kept.†

Nothing is more essential to the due performance of music, than adjusting the time to the intention and meaning of the author. Many performers of the present day are guilty of a great mistake in playing the modern music too fast, erroneously supposing that quickness is a necessary character to distinguish it from the old. Haydn was so offended at the rude and hurried manner in which he found his music driven by the English, when he first * Sir Gore Ousley.

† It has been found that in a watchmaker's shop the timepieces or clocks, connected with the same wall or shelf, have such a sympathetic effect in keeping time, that they stop those which beat in irregular time; and if any are at rest, set agoing those which beat accurately.

visited this country, that he sent for the family of the Moralts from Vienna, to show the Londoners the time and expression with which he intended his quartettos to be played.* Kiesewetter also, in leading Beethoven's symphonies at the Philharmonic Concert, insisted strongly upon their being played slower than that orchestra had been accustomed to perform them. The propensity which performers have to hurry the movements beyond their natural pace, for the purpose of showing their agility, has compelled many authors to affix a pendulum length, to express the time of the crotchet or quaver, at the head of each movement. Some of the most striking effects are produced by the change of time. The slow naturally leads to sorrow, but the gay and lively air excites a joy in us, so that the feet can hardly be restrained from dancing.' Destroy the time or thwart the measure, and you rob the strain of its interest and its charm. The less the ear is made sensible of anything mechanical in the giving or keeping the time, whether by hand, fiddlestick, gesticulation, or otherwise, the more fully will the effect of melody and harmony be allowed to operate, and the more deeply will the mind be penetrated with the feelings intended to be awakened.†

* He constantly complained of the Minuet's being played much too fast. The party of the Moralts, during their stay, were invited to the houses of the nobility, and Haydn was always present.

† Kandler.

Having shown the importance of fixing upon a right time, we may remark, that for points of taste and expression it may occasionally be broken, i. e. accelerated or retarded; which instances are generally marked by the terms accelerando, morendo, retardando, and the like.

ON SILENCE AND THE PAUSE.

The pause signifies, that the note or rest over which it is placed is to be continued beyond its given time. Some of the most striking effects in music depend upon a due observance of this character; yet it is often inconsiderately passed over, and when noticed, but seldom or ever sufficiently dwelt upon. Musical rhythm demands a regularity of measure, and, whether the suspense be upon the note or the rest, its duration may generally be ascertained to be a fixed and determinate length. When the pause is upon the rest, an interval of repose is given to the ear, in which it is refreshed for new impressions. As an instance of its effect in raising the mind to an idea of vastness, we may refer to that which occurs in the dedication of Solomon's Temple in the Oratorio of Judah,

'Behold the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee;

How much less-the House that I have builded''