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ORTHOMETRY. |
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Kingsley's " Three Fishers" and " Sands o* Dee" are specimens.
And, lastly, there is the Comic Song, which, in these days of " penny dreadfuls," is rapidly becoming a popular favourite.
Before concluding this brief notice of lyric art, it seems necessary to say a few words respecting those more complex compositions of the kind that are specially designed for elaborate musical treatment, embracing solo, chorus, and recitative, viz., the librettos of the Oratorio, the Opera, and the Cantata.
The Oratorio, always sacred in its theme, and the Opera, always secular, resemble each other in nearly every other respect. Both are essentially dramatic: they have separate characters with distinct r61es, and depict changing scenes and continuous action. The latter is always acted, and embellished with all the accessories of a regular drama; the former, no doubt solely on account of its subject matter, is rendered with the picturesque effects of sound only; but no one can listen to an adequate representation of such an oratorio as Mendelssohn's Elijah without mentally realising the dramatic situations as though they were visibly before him. In both, also, the lyrical element takes the form of song, duet, trio and chorus, the narrative portion being rendered in recitative.
The Cantata is usually devoid of the dramatic element altogether. It gives expression to the |
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