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The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 17, No. 473, January 29, 1831 by Various
page 38 of 48 (79%)
giving good and _cheap_ music, followed, though on a smaller scale, by
this critic of the new world. One of the two numbers before us contains
Paisiello's delightful serenade from the Barber of Seville, as arranged by
Bishop for two voices; and the other, a movement from Rossini's overture
to William Tell; both very creditable, as well to the selector's taste as
to the progress of American musical typography. The "Euterpeiad" is not
confined to music, but embraces the whole circle of the fine arts,
theatrical criticism, and even original tales. We are concerned, however,
only with the musical part, and, as a specimen of the manner in which it
is probable that department will be conducted, give the following extract
from the editor's address:

"In regard to music, since the appearance of Weber, an almost new era has
commenced. In the works of this celebrated composer, the proverb has been
realized--the German Professor has given to his notes the power of
language: emotions are almost imbibed from the sounds as from a visible
transaction, or a well-told description. If the country which presents the
highest or most generally approved attainments in singing, be demanded,
perhaps the correct answer would be Italy. The contest afterwards for the
highest eminence would lie between England, Germany, and France. The
Scottish, Irish, and Welsh compositions, and English ballad music, must of
course come under the aggregation of the English school, and availing
itself of this union, and taking into view the circumstance of having for
a considerable period steadily adopted, and engrafted upon its own stock,
the beauty and excellence in the science manifested by the Germans and
Italians, the claims of this school become formidable. And it is this
which, through the medium of the same tongue, extends an immediate and
irresistible influence over the United States.

"As this school is so interesting to the American public, we shall go into
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