Scan 287

A popular history of music, musical instruments, ballet, and opera, from St. Ambrose to Mozart, 1888

4 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 271. See the scan on archive.org.

1of walking through the streets taking no notice whatever of the acquaintances he chanced to meet. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-one years, having succeeded by force of character in achieving a great reputation in all the branches of music which he attempted. The principal characteristics of his style were the increased energy, the greater richness of his harmony, and the importance which he gave to the chorus. His instrumentation also showed a wonderful step in advance. The flutes, oboes, and bassoons, no longer double the string parts, but are treated independently, as indeed are frequently the brass and drums. We have already drawn attention to the fact that the music of Rameau exercised an important influence on the career of Gluck.

3As we have seen, Rameau's first dramatic efforts were made at the Théâtre de la Foire. This was an institution about which a word must be said. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the difficulties of communication gave an importance to fairs, both for business and pleasure, which they have now generally lost. In Paris there were at least two such fairs, one called the "Foire St. Laurent," held in the districts now known as the Faubourg St. Denis and the Faubourg St. Martin; the other, which was more aristocratic in its aims, was called the "Foire de St. Germain," and was held in the faubourg of that name. Among the attractions of these fairs was a theatre, at which the artistic merit of the performances was much greater than might have been anticipated, and the short pieces represented were frequently the work of

The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.

← Scan 178 Scan 323 →