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TOC
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Indeed many of the first persons in
France, for genius and taste, give up the
point; among whom are Messieurs Dide-
rot, D'Alembert, and the AbbŽ Arnaud.
Messieurs De la Lande and De Blainville
openly rank on the Italian side likewise;
but it seems always with some degree
of reserve: (see M. De la Lande, Voyage
d'un Franois, p. 224, tom. vi.) they still
lay great stress on dancing and decora-
tion; but how few subjects fit for music
will admit dancing in the texture of the
drama? And as to singing and dancing
at the same time, if equally good, they
must distract and divide the attention in
such a manner as to make it impossible
to enjoy either: it would be eating of
two costly dishes, or drinking of two ex-
quisite wines at once--they reciprocally
destroy the effect of each other. When music
is really good, and well performed,
the hearer of taste wants no adjunct or
additional provocative to stimulate at-
tention.
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