DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22422#0156
144
LANSDOWNE HOUSE.
Letter XVI.
porphyry; two busts of Adrian; a colossal bust of Antinous, as
Bacchus; a Marcus Aurelius. The appearance of the grand
saloon is particularly striking, it being most richly and taste-
fully adorned with antique sculptures, some of which are very
valuable for size and workmanship. The two ends of the apart-
ment are formed by two large apse-like recesses, which are loftier
than the centre of the apartment. In these large spaces antique
marble statues, some of them larger than life, are placed at proper
distances with a crimson drapery behind them, from which they are
most brilliantly relieved in the evening by a very bright gaslight.
This light, too, was so disposed that neither the glare nor the heat
was troublesome. The antique sculptures of smaller size are
suitably disposed on the chimney-piece and along the walls. The
principal sculptures were collected at Rome by the first Marquis
of Lansdowne, through the intervention of Mr. Gavin Hamilton.
Several of the finest were found in the year 1778 in the vineyards
near Tivoli.
The concerts which are occasionally given by the Marquis in
this splendid saloon—two of which I had the honour to attend—
offer a rare combination of attraction ; for, while the ear is beguiled
with tones of the most enchanting music, the eye rests with in-
creased pleasure alternately on the admirably lighted sculpture,
and on the numerous specimens of English female beauty who
here appeared in the most elegant attire.
In this mansion and other private dwellings, as well as in places
of public entertainment, I became convinced of the esteem in which
the masterpieces of German music, and the musical genius, gene-
rally speaking, of our nation, are held by the English. Indeed, in
all classes of society the highest compliments have been paid to me
on the subject, which I have always accepted with a safe conscience
and with the greater feeling of national pride, because this feeling
is not often gratified in comparing our nation with the English ;
in my estimation, however, the Germans have surpassed all other
nations in music. For what other people can produce a series of
composers of the finest period of the art who, in genius, richness
of invention, and solid study, can be compared with Handel,
Sebastian Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven?* And
how entirely peculiar in his own sphere is each of these eminent
* The above was written before Mendelssohn had attained his celebrity.
LANSDOWNE HOUSE.
Letter XVI.
porphyry; two busts of Adrian; a colossal bust of Antinous, as
Bacchus; a Marcus Aurelius. The appearance of the grand
saloon is particularly striking, it being most richly and taste-
fully adorned with antique sculptures, some of which are very
valuable for size and workmanship. The two ends of the apart-
ment are formed by two large apse-like recesses, which are loftier
than the centre of the apartment. In these large spaces antique
marble statues, some of them larger than life, are placed at proper
distances with a crimson drapery behind them, from which they are
most brilliantly relieved in the evening by a very bright gaslight.
This light, too, was so disposed that neither the glare nor the heat
was troublesome. The antique sculptures of smaller size are
suitably disposed on the chimney-piece and along the walls. The
principal sculptures were collected at Rome by the first Marquis
of Lansdowne, through the intervention of Mr. Gavin Hamilton.
Several of the finest were found in the year 1778 in the vineyards
near Tivoli.
The concerts which are occasionally given by the Marquis in
this splendid saloon—two of which I had the honour to attend—
offer a rare combination of attraction ; for, while the ear is beguiled
with tones of the most enchanting music, the eye rests with in-
creased pleasure alternately on the admirably lighted sculpture,
and on the numerous specimens of English female beauty who
here appeared in the most elegant attire.
In this mansion and other private dwellings, as well as in places
of public entertainment, I became convinced of the esteem in which
the masterpieces of German music, and the musical genius, gene-
rally speaking, of our nation, are held by the English. Indeed, in
all classes of society the highest compliments have been paid to me
on the subject, which I have always accepted with a safe conscience
and with the greater feeling of national pride, because this feeling
is not often gratified in comparing our nation with the English ;
in my estimation, however, the Germans have surpassed all other
nations in music. For what other people can produce a series of
composers of the finest period of the art who, in genius, richness
of invention, and solid study, can be compared with Handel,
Sebastian Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven?* And
how entirely peculiar in his own sphere is each of these eminent
* The above was written before Mendelssohn had attained his celebrity.