Diary entry 27 March 1716 I went then with Mr. [George] Smith to a friend of his, who plays upon the bass viol very well, who is a silk weaver and works in gold and silver and makes the richest gold and silver stuffs that are made in England. We played, Mr. Smith and I, upon the flute [recorder] and he upon the viol, and some time after a Frenchman came in who sung some of the French opera songs in concert with our two flutes [recorders] and the bass. He sung particularly that part of the opera of Psyche which we saw at Paris, in which the Vulcans come in and sing Frappons, &c. It pleased me very much as it revived in me the ideas I had when I was at Paris and filled me with that same kind of pleasure which I had when I was in the opera there. The French music has a very different air and manner from ours; it is extremely simple and easy, but there is a peculiar kind of harmony which touches me very sensibly.