A GLANCE AT THE MUSIC OF THE SEASON.

Tam musical season is now drawing to a close ; and, according to custom, we shall take a rapid glance at its character, chiefly in order to ascertain the position of the art viewed in connexion and comparison with that of preceding years. And we regret to look in vain for any perceptible progress. The only public exhibition which produced any sensation, or accomplished any thing beneficial to art, was the revival of Acis and Galatea. An English version of Norma, or La Sonnambula, adds

nothing to our musical store; it is the mere "counterfeit presentment" of an original already in our possession, and of little worth—the clumsy copy of an inferior picture. The only cheering fact which the late dramatic season exhibits, is the success attendant upon the revival of

such an opera as Ads and Galatea; and if, instead of wasting his money and power upon a wretched attempt at comedy, the Drury Lane Manager had followed it up by the production of another opera of equal excellence and as carefully prepared, his theatre would not have been closed in the month of May. MACREADY will probably profit by the experience of the past season, and know in future where and how he may employ his money, his experience, and his industry, with the best chance of repayment. As regards dramatic music, we stand, in several respects, in a more advantageous position than our Continental neigh- bours. We have a larger supply than the Germans, and we have not the silly and sweeping dislike to antiquity of the Italians. The English opera was full-grown a century before the national lyric drama of Germany was born. The English people affect no contempt for a dramatic composition of any kind because it belongs to a distant age. Our habits of thinking and our prepossessions connected with the stage lead and lean the other way—we identify the past rather than the present with it, and associate its brightest glories with the names of those who lived nearly three centuries ago. A manager who revives the music of PURCELL, HANDEL, ARNE, or BATTISHILL, has no public prejudice to overcome, no silly sneer or senseless shrug to dread : a few fools may practice these grimaces, but the sympathies of the people, of those to whom an English manager must appeal for support, will be in his favour.

The German company, as we expected, have found their speculation an unprofitable one. When the second German company came to this -country in 1834, we predicted the result of any such experiment except under very favourable circumstances ; and experience has confirmed the opinion we then stated in the following terms-

" The English public want the power, which musical knowledge alone can confer, to estimate the excellence of the German opera. Their attention is directed to one or two principal singers, while the entire opera, regarded as a work of art, attracts but little notice. The success of the German opera in its first season led to the supposition that we had acquired a taste for the works of Weber and Beethoven. This, as regards the public, is a mistake. Schruider was the real attraction ; and bad she been absent, Fidelio would have been per- formed to empty benches, even had every other part been played and sung by the same persons. The works of Beethoven, Spohr, and Weber, are addressed to a musical population : they demand cultivated ears, which the English have not. Some connexion of enjoyment with playing and singing, they possess in common with what are called uncivilized nations, and little more. 'Ears have we, but we hear not."

The German Opera musts neither the patronage of the aristocracy nor the sympathy of the people : it fails even to obtain the support of resident Germans, who; accustomed in their own country to pay a shilling for an evening's entertainment, regard the demand of five as an exorbitant tax, and refuse to submit to it. The engagement of one of the great theatres was a palpable mistake. The only chance for the success of a German company in London would be in one of the minor theatres unoccupied in May and June, with a small but very select band and chorus. This experiment, perhaps, would not succeed; but any other will be sure to faiL The Italian Opera used to be esteemed, and it was, the fountain of musical waters—the source whence all Europe drew its supply of vocal nutriment. A dozen eminent composers scattered throughout Italy gave out, year after year, the rich produce of their genius, fertilizing not only their own beautiful land, but the entire musical world. The ehroniclea`of the Italian opera in England too plainly indicate the musi- cal as well as moral decline of the parent land. Travel from Milan to Naples, and. "all is barren." The spirit and the power to produce exist no longer, and enfeebled and oppressed Italy is in her musical dotage-

. " Qual notte atra importima

Tutte ample tue glorie a an nano ammorza? Glorie di senno, di valor, di forza

Gilt mille avesti: or non at hai tu par una."

No, not one survives to transmit the musical renown of his country, and the Tuscan lyre is mute. Nothing remains but to resort to the works of past ages ; and if folly and fashion forbid this course, a few years must terminate the existence as well as the reputation of the Italian opera.

We proceed to the Concerts of the season. And first of those which appeal more emphatically to the public—the concerts of the Sacred Harmonic Society at Exeter Hall. This Society, which all at once attracted so large a portion of public attention—which in the revival of several of HANDEL'S Oratorios aimed at and in part accomplished re- sults highly beneficial to the art—grew out of a combination of various small knots of amateur singers, who agreed to unite for the practice of sacred music. The constitution of the Society, which shut out all professional cooperation, was designed to free it from all professional cabals; a result which has been rather nominally than really obtained, while the management of its affairs and the direction of all its musical concerns was committed to individuals of highly respectable character and station, but of limited knowledge, experience, or leisure. The consequence of this was soon evident : every new revival was a leap in the dark ; and it was not till a performance had taken place that it was often discovered how much pains and expense had been fruitlessly thrown away—how much had been revived that had better have been forgotten, and how large an expenditure had been incurred to prove that HariuEz. was the most unequal of composers. The Ninth Report of the Society exhibits but a gloomy statement of its prospects. Out of seventeen concerts, seven only paid their expenses ; and the balance due to the treasurer at the close of the season was 911. 14s. 10d. This, considering that the performers themselves for the most part Pay instead of being paid, is a result almost incredible, and can only be accounted for by the fact we have mentioned—a waste of power or ma- terial, arising from inexperience and want of knowledge. The Report is foolishly swelled and encumbered by pages of newspaper-puffs, the real value of which is apparent to every musician, and ought to have been rightly estimated by any managers of a musical society. These gentle- men must submit to be told, that from the moment they quitted their character of directors of a meeting for private practice and assumed that of caterers for the public, they became fair objects of public criticism, Mid their acts of a scrutiny as rigid as those of any professional directors. When their Report appears, and its disagreeable result, they cannot be allowed to plead the amateur inexperience that has produced it, or to urge their unprofessional habits in arrest of judgment. The pieces which they announce for performance will assuredly not prove more attractive than those which failed in preceding years ; and they will discover their error when too late. The Society will probably revert to its original design, and meetings for social practice will supersede pub- lic exhibitions. The fondness for connecting public display with music is a consequence of the dearth of musical knowledge in England. We are so accustomed to regard the art in this form alone, that we involun- tarily turn to it on all occasions. Mr. HULLAH'S pupils are periodically congregated for a display in Exeter Hall ; while the partisans of Mr. Manizea contemplate the erection of a huge music-hall for the same purpose. We have yet to learn the true value and use of musical edu- cation; which is, to afford a cheap, rational, and delightful amusement to the people, at home and in quiet, and not an accomplishment to be paraded in public. This hall is to he larger than any in the kingdom :

Why ? Exeter Hall is already too large for any except very powerful voices ; and the practice of accumulating increasing hosts of singers is a mere sacrifice to a vulgar love of noise, and resembles the practice of puffing tradesmen with their placards of "twenty thousand pair of blankets !! "

Of the other periodical concerts we have had occasion frequently to speak during their progress. The Ancient Concerts survive by the

presence of those who assemble in front of the orchestra, rather than by the exertions of the performers within it. It is because Prince ALBERT, the Duke Of WELLINGTON, and other royal and noble persons, are in the concert-room, that subscribers enough are found to meet the current expenses of the season. Like the directors of the Exeter Hall concerts, these individuals are out of their place, and every performance is good or bad by accident. Sir HENRY BISHOP receiving musical in- structions from the Duke of WELLINGTON, is not more absurd than the worthy Knight's dictating to the old Field-Marshal the plan of an as-

sault. The Ancient Concerts will always afford a certain degree of pleasure to cultivated ears ; but it is strange that the noble directors cannot or will not perceive the advantage of delegating the real power with all the responsibility into the hands of the conductor. They may enjoy their titles and their seats—they may even obtain the reputation of being able to make a good concert-bill—let them only invest their conductor with full powers to act in their name.

To our ample notices of the Philharmonic Concerts we need not here make any addition. The Musical Clubs of the Metropolis exhibit some symptoms of de- cline. The Madrigal Society, the oldest of them, has sustained a

serious loss in the retirement of Sir JOHN ROGERS : and although a

society over which fashion has no influence, and whose character is strictly social, meeting always for practice and never for display, is in no danger of extinction, its members are well aware how much of its prosperity and good government resulted from the character, the zeal, the knowledge, and the polished manners of their late President. The existence of the Catch Club is more precarious. The rules, the hours, the musical requirements of the age in which it origin- ated, are unacceptable to the present generation. The professional men who go there enter the room OD terms of admitted inferiority to the men whom they condescend to entertain for the sake of a dinner ; while the stimulus to exertion which existed for so many years in the annual 'size is now withdrawn. The Glee Club is in a state

equally critical. The well-earned respect which every English musician felt for its late President, Mr. CAPEL, insured for its

meetings constant, effective, and willing support. This feeling is certainly not extended in a like degree to his successor ; and the Club will probably assemble next season with very diminished numbers. Meanwhile, it is gratifying to know that a desire to hear English vocal

harmony, and a tendency to admire and applaud it, is arising in certain fashionable circles. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, Lord FRANCIS EGERTON, and some other well-educated men of rank, have given con-

certs composed of English music, in the selection and performance of which proper pains were taken ; and the result was such as might have

been anticipated on every polished and cultivated mind. The careless and slovenly performance of glees, we have had frequent occasion to reprobate : it remains with our singers to regain their lost characters, and to profit by a returning willingness on the part of their countrymen. to hear the beautiful compositions of WEBBE, STEVENS, CALLCOTT, and HORSLEY.

The Benefit Concerts of the season have been about as numerous as those of former years ; but these are affairs of mere private concern, al- though chronicled in our daily journals with such minute and unvarying commendation that to the uninitiated they would seem to be the prin- cipal musical events of the year. Neither exercising nor affecting to exert the smallest influence over the art, they rarely attract our notice : a benefit-concert speculation has, in fact, no more to do with music as an art than a speculation in cotton.