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Jean Jacques Rousseau
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
pp. 264-266
Giorgio Pestelli ; translated by Eric Cross., (1987) The age of Mozart and Beethoven Cambridge University Press
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2 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
crime and mine of having prostituted your voice to this heavy psalmody and
of having for so long mistaken a noise that merely deafens the ear for the
language of the heart. Oh, how right your worthy brother was! In what a
strange error I have hitherto lived concerning the productions of this
charming art! I felt their ineffectiveness, and I attributed it to its weakness.
I said: music is only an empty sound which can flatter the ear and acts only
indirectly and slightly on the soul; the impression made by the chords is
purely mechanical and physical; what has it to do with feeling, and why
should I hope to be more keenly moved by a beautiful harmony than by a
beautiful blend of colours? In the accents of the tune applied to those of the
language, I did not perceive the powerful and secret link between passion
and sound; I did not see that the imitation of the various tones with which
the feelings animate the speaking voice gives the singing voice in its turn the
power of agitating hearts and that the forceful representation of the move-
ments of the soul of him who is making himself heard is what constitutes the
true charm for those who are listening to him.
This is what my Lord's singer, who, for a musician, speaks pretty well
about his art, pointed out to me. 'Harmony', he said to me, 'is only a remote
accessory in imitative music; in harmony in the strict sense, there is no
principle of imitation. True, it reinforces the intonations, it testifies to their
accuracy; and, by making the modulations more perceptible, it adds energy
to the expression and grace to the singing. But it is from melody alone that
the invincible power of passionate accents springs; from it is derived all the
power of music over the soul. If you form the most skilful sequences of
chords without any admixture Df melody, you will be bored after a quarter
of an hour. Beautiful songs without any harmony are long proof against
boredom. If the accent of feeling animates the simplest airs, they will be
interesting. On the other hand, a melody that does not speak always sings
badly, and mere harmony has never been able to say anything to the heart.'
[... 1
Then, having recited some Italian scenes without singing them, he made
me aware of the connection between music and words in the recitative,
between music and feeling in the arias, and everywhere of the force that
exact time and the choice of chords add to the expression. Finally, having
added to my knowledge of the language the best idea within my reach of the
rhetorical and pathetic accent, that is to say of the art of speaking to ear an·d
heart in a language without articulating words, I proceeded to listen to this
enchanting music, and I soon felt, from the emotions it aroused in me, that
this art had greater power than I had imagined. An indefinable voluptuous
sensation gradually stole over me. It was no longer an empty succession of
sounds, as in our recit31ives. At every phrase, some image entered my brain
or some feeling my hedt; the pleasure did not stop at the ear, but penetrated
to the very soul; the execution flowed effortlessly, with charming felicity; all
the performers seemed to be animated by the same spirit; the singer, in
perfect control of his voice, readily drew from it everything that the melody
and the words required of him; and it was above all a great relief to me to
feel neither the heavy cadences, nor the painful vocal effects, nor the
constraint that, with us, is imposed on the musician by the perpetual
conflict between song and time, which, being unable ever to agree, weary
the hearer no less than the performer.
Readings
But when, after a series of agreeable arias, they came to those great
expressive pieces that can arouse and describe the disorder of violent
passions, I forgot at every moment the notion of music, singing, and
imitation; I seemed to hear the voice of grief, wrath, and despair; I seemed
to see mothers in tears, deceived lovers, enraged tyrants; and in the emo-
tions I was compelled to experience, I had difficulty in remaining in my
chair. I understood then why this same music that had formerly bored me
now excited me till I was quite carried away; for I had begun to understand
it, and as soon as it could affect me at all, it affected me with all its force.
No, Julie, one is not half-receptive to such impressions: they are excessive
or non-existent, never weak or mediocre; one must remain insensible or
allow oneself to be moved beyond measure; either it is the empty noise of a
language one does not understand, or it is an impetuosity of feeling that
carries one away, and that the soul cannot resist.
I had only one regret, but it did not desert me; namely, that someone
other than you formed sounds by which I was touched, and that I had to see
the tenderest expressions of love come from the mouth of a vile castrato! 0
my Julie! is it not for us to lay claim to everything that pertains to that
emotion? Who shall feel, who shall say better than we what a loving soul
must say and feel? Who shall be able to utter 'cor mio' and 'idolo amato' in a
more loving tone? Ah! how the heart will give force to art if ever we sing
together one of those charming duets that cause such delicious tears to flow!
From among the numerous reports concerning the skill and organic
unity that were characteristic of the orchestra established at Mann-
heim by the Elector Carl Theodor of the Palatinate, here is the
evidence of the historian, composer and organist Charles Burney
(1726-1814), published in The present state of music in Gennany, the
Netherlands, and United Provinces (London, 1773), i, 92-7 (modern
editio'n in Dr Burney's musical tours in Europe, ed. P.A. Scholes
(London, 1959), 2 vols.)
I cannot quit this article, without doing justice to the orchestra of his
electoral highness, so deservedly celebrated throughout Europe. I found it
to be indeed all that its fame had made me expect: power will naturally arise
from a great number of hands; but the judicious use of this power, on all
occasions, must be the consequence of good discipline; indeed there are
more solo players, and good composers in this, than perhaps in any other
orchestra in Europe; it is an army of generals, equally fit to plan a battle, as
to fight it.
But it has not been merely at the Elector's great opera that instrumental
266