rose

Charles Burney

The Present State of Music in France and Italy (2nd, corrected edition)

London: T. Becket and Co., 1773

Rome


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or two ago, the author of such a composition
would have had a statue erected to his
honour; but now, it would be equally
difficult to find 16 people who would
hear it with patience, as that number
of good singers, in any one place, to
perform it. Besides vocal parts in this
mass, there is a part for the organ, often
on a regular subject, different from the
rest: the ground-work, upon which all is
built, is canto fermo; and in some of
the movements, this canto fermo is made
a subject of imitation, and runs through
all the parts. Upon the whole, it must
be allowed, that this work, which con-
sists of many different movements, and
is of a very considerable length, though
it may be thought by some to require
more patience than genius to accomplish,
seems sufficient to have employed a long
life in composing, and to entitle the au-
thor to great praise and admiration.

During this visit, which was my last
to Signor Santarelli, he and his brethren

of