Page:Rolland - A musical tour through the land of the past.djvu/55

Rh This is a confession of the approaching defeat at the hands of the Italians, when English music was to abdicate its position.

I have dwelt at some length on this Diary of an English amateur at the Court of Charles II. I have done so not merely for the amusement of reviving a few agreeable types which have not undergone overmuch variation in a couple of centuries:—the distinguished English gentleman, statesman and artist, thoroughly sane and well-balanced, with the quiet activity, the serenity of mind, the good humour and the rather childlike optimism which one often meets with north of the Channel; pleasantly gifted, as a musician, but superficial, and seeking in music rather a wholesome pleasure, as Milton advised rather than a passion beyond his control. And around him are other familiar types: Mistress Pepys, the Englishwoman who is determined to be a musician; who perseveringly labours at the keyboard, never becomes discouraged "and has good fingers." And there are others too… But it is not for this reason that I have undertaken to ransack this Diary. It possesses a real historical interest in that it is a barometer of English musical taste about the year 1660; that is, at the beginning of the golden age of English music.