Note 416 — Chapter III · (continued 5)

This statement is rather surprising from a fellow countryman of Bach, Handel, Mozart, etc., down to Wagner and Strauss. The explanation appears first to be due to the distinction between a national impulse toward popular singing which the Italian no doubt possesses, and a deep-rooted emotional life which finally discovers its supreme mode of expression in the art of instrumental music as developed by the Teuton stock. Secondly, it is quite clear, I think, from Hegel's correspondence that he had no real sympathy for orchestral music though an enthusiastic admirer of opera, particularly Italian opera.