Those who studied this deep subject most profoundly at the time agreed that the aria was to be divided into some five classes, to wit: _aria bravura_--brilliant, rapid, difficult; _aria cantabile_--smooth, long drawn out, designed to exhibit purity of tone and manipulation of the breath; _aria buffa_--humorous; _aria di portamento_--simple in outline, playing with the singer’s trick of swelling out on long-sustained tones; and _aria parlante_--simulating rapid spoken speech, a type peculiarly grateful to the Italian language. These classes had their subdivisions, as, for instance, the _aria parlante_, which might be _agitata_, or _infuriata_, or _fugata_, or what not. The lore of aria was endless. Except that the form continued into Italian opera of the middle nineteenth century it would scarcely be worth recalling. But the greatest of the arias (with considerable musical value added) are among the latest. The ‘Factotum’ aria which opens Rossini’s ‘Barber of Seville’ is a perfect example of the _buffa_ and might also come under the head of the _parlante_; and Leonora’s first aria in _Il Trovatore_ is in the true manner of the _bravura_. In addition to the arias proper we should mention the _cavatina_ and the _arioso_; the former a short aria, rather more musical and graceful than was considered necessary in the longer forms; and the latter a brief lyrical strain, free as to form, planned truly to express an emotion in its momentary passing. All these forms have little more than an archeological interest to us now (though the _da capo_ idea remains one of the most fruitful in all music), except for the purposes of vocal study. But this exception is considerable. The arias were designed to exhibit the utmost of vocal virtuosity. They serve to-day to develop and exercise the same, so far as modern music and musical taste demand it, for the rather more artistic purposes of the twentieth century. V