51. It was a considerable time before opera music was entirely freed from the shackles of fugue and complicated contrivance, and before recitative was completely distin guished by its own phraseology. About the year 163.5, Giacomo Carissimi, of Rome, began to flourish. He ba nished formal cadences from his recitatives, and made them approximate more nearly to declamation, and, at the same time, gave new grace and expression to his vocal melody. In his works, and in those of his cotemporary Alessandro Stradella of Naples, there are .to be foun:1 more traits of fine melody than in any other composers of the 17th cen tury. Marc Antonio Cesti, of Venice, in the opera of Oron tea, brought out in 1649, first introduced an air at the end of a scene of recitative, and coutributed greatly to the im provement of both these species of melody. A short air from this opera is given as a specimen of Cesti's simple and expressive melody-. Taken from Dr. Burney's His tory.
52. In the mean time instrumental music, properly so called, began to improve. Ludovico Viadana, if he did not invent, was at least the first who drew up general rules for the figures of thorough bass, and composed an organ bass different from the voice part. Girolamo Frescobaldi, of Ferrara, who flourished about the beginning of this cen tury, composed fugues expressly for the organ, which were admired and imitated over all Europe. His ricercari, &c. were among the first compositions printed in score and with bars. Ricercari and fantasie preceded sonatas and con certos, and were the first compositions expressly made for instruments after the invention of counterpoint.
53. The violin kind of instruments may be traced to the ancient cithara. Tbe first step towards the modern instru ment, was the invention of a neck, by means of which the strings might be shortened during performance, so that a few strings furnished many sounds. This produced the lute, guitar, &c. In the latter name the ancient word cithara remains. But the capital improvement was the invention of the bow. From some ancient figures it appears that this in strument was in use in France, as early as the beginning of the fourteenth century' ; and even, as Abbe Le Beuf thinks, as early as the middle of the eighth. The instruments played by the bow were viok, with six strings over a fretted finger-board, besides several other strings towards the left, which produced clicn-d, to the higher part. The violin with four strings, and without frets, was despised, and left to strolling performers. About the beginning of the seven teenth century the value of this instrument began to be found out. In the orchestra, at the performance of Monteverde's opera of Ariatine, there were ten Viole de brazto, and only two violins; Duoi Violini piccoli alla Prancese.
The superiority of this instrument began to be felt ; the best masters began to think it nib degradation to compose for it. The frets were removed from the finger board, and in strunients capable of perfect intonation took place of the old chest of viols.
54: The composer who contributed most to the favour of the violin, was the justly celebrated Arcangelo Corelli, a Bolognese by birth; but settled at Rome about 1683, when his first work was published. Soon after the publication of Corelli s works, the violin was universally esteemed the ca pital instruinent, and a crowd of great perforiners and great composers tor that instrument appeared. Nearly cotenipo rary with Corelli were Albinoni and Vivaldi. Ilis greatest scholar was the celebrated Tartini. 'file style of this great performer was at first extremely difficult, but in 1744 he changed it entirely to graceful and expressive. Continual practice, when there is no natural inaptitude, will generally ensure the attaininent of great execution; but grace and ex pression can be attained only by- those on whom nature has bestowed taste and sensibility. Geminiani, another of Co relles scholars, settled in England; and contributed to the natlonal taste and improvement.
17"___ rxr -r 55. Alessandro Scarlatti, towards the end of the seven teenth century, was the father of the illustrious School of Naples. The immediate scholars of Scarlatti. and of contemporary Gaetano Greco, were Leonardo teo, Nicola Porpora, Domenico Scarlatti, who, by his happy licenses, removed many of the old restraints, Leonardo Vinci, who set the example of banishing from the theatre fugue and la boured contrivance, in which he was followed by Pergolesi and Hasse, Francesco Feo, Francesco Durante, &c. these succeeded Jomelli, Sabbatini, Sacchini, Piccini, Pae siello, Guglielmi, Cimarosa, Sala, Tarchi, Sarti, Martellari, &c. &c. who have delighted, and still delight the lovers of music.
56. In England we may disting,uish three periods in the history of music, since the invention of printing. The first ends early in the seventeenth century. " However inele gant, uncouth, and imperfect our lyric compositions may have been," says Dr. Burney, 44 till after the niiddle of the sixteenth century, our counterpoint and church-music arrived at a perfection with respect to art, contrivance, and correct ness of harmony:, about that time, which at least equalled the best of any other country." This period comprehends the names of Robert Fairfax, John Shepherd, Robert Johnson, Robert Parsons, Dr. Tye, Robert Whyte, Thomas Tallis, William Bird, author of iVon nobis Dondne; Thomas Mor ley, author of the Introduction to Practical Musick ; Dr.