Opera originated in Florence toward the close of the sixteenth
century. A band of enthusiastic, intellectual composers aimed at
reproducing the musical declamation which they believed to have been
characteristic of the representation of Greek tragedy. The first
attempt resulted in a cantata, "Il Conte Ugolino," for single voice
with the accompaniment of a single instrument, and composed by
Vincenzo Galileo, father of the famous astronomer. Another composer,
Giulio Caccini, wrote several shorter pieces in similar style.
These composers aimed at an exact oratorical rendering of the words.
Consequently, their scores were neither fugal nor in any other sense
polyphonic, but strictly monodic. They were not, however, melodious,
but declamatory; and if Richard Wagner had wished, in the nineteenth
century, to claim any historical foundation for the declamatory
recitative which he introduced in his music-dramas, he might have
fallen back upon these composers of the late sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries, and through them back to Greek tragedy with its
bands of lyres and flutes.
These Italian composers, then, were the creators of recitative, so
different from the polyphonic church music of the school of
Palestrina. What usually is classed as the first opera, Jacopo Peri's
"Dafne," was privately performed at the Palazzo Corsi, Florence, in
1597. So great was its success that Peri was commissioned, in 1600, to
write a similar work for the festivities incidental to the marriage of
Henry IV of France with Maria de Medici, and produced "Euridice," the
first Italian opera ever performed in public.
The new art-form received great stimulus from Claudio Monteverde, the
Duke of Mantua's _maestro di capella_, who composed "Arianna" in honor
of the marriage of Francesco Gonzaga with Margherita, Infanta of
Savoy. The scene in which _Ariadne_ bewails her desertion by her lover
was so dramatically written (from the standpoint of the day, of
course) that it produced a sensation, and when Monteverde brought out
with even greater success his opera "Orfeo," which showed a great
advance in dramatic expression, as well as in the treatment of the
instrumental score, the permanency of opera was assured.
Monteverde's scores contained, besides recitative, suggestions of
melody, but these suggestions occurred only in the instrumental
ritornelles. The Venetian composer Cavalli, however, introduced melody
into the vocal score in order to relieve the monotonous effect of
continuous recitative, and in his airs for voice he foreshadowed the
aria form which was destined to be freely developed by Alessandro
Scarlatti, who is regarded as the founder of modern Italian opera in
the form in which it flourished from his day to and including the
earlier period of Verdi's activity.
Melody, free and beautiful melody, soaring above a comparatively
simple accompaniment, was the characteristic of Italian opera from
Scarlatti's first opera, "L'Onesta nell' Amore," produced in Rome in
1680, to Verdi's "Trovatore," produced in the same city in 1853. The
names, besides Verdi's, associated with its most brilliant successes,
are: Rossini ("Il Barbiere di Siviglia," "Guillaume Tell"), Bellini
("Norma," "La Sonnambula," "I Puritani"), and Donizetti ("Lucia,"
"L'Elisir d'Amore," "La Fille du Regiment"). These composers possessed
dramatic verve to a great degree, aimed straight for the mark, and
when at their best always hit the operatic target in the bull's-eye.
Reforms by Gluck.
The charge most frequently laid against Italian opera is that its
composers have been too subservient to the singers, and have
sacrificed dramatic truth and depth of expression, as well as the
musicianship which is required of a well-written and well-balanced
score, as between the vocal and instrumental portions, to the vanity
of those upon the stage--in brief, that Italian opera consists too
much of show-pieces for its interpreters. Among the first to protest
practically against this abuse was Gluck, a German, who, from copying
the Italian style of operatic composition early in his career, changed
his entire method as late as 1762, when he was nearly fifty years old.
"Orfeo et Euridice," the oldest opera that to-day still holds a place
in the operatic repertoire, and containing the favorite air, "Che faro
senza Euridice" (I have lost my Eurydice), was produced by Gluck, in
Vienna, in the year mentioned. There Gluck followed it up with
"Alceste," then went to Paris, and scored a triumph with "Iphigenie en
Aulite." But on the arrival, in Paris, of the Italian composer,
Piccini, the Italian party there seized upon him as a champion to pit
against Gluck, and there then ensued in the French capital a rivalry
so fierce that it became a veritable musical War of the Roses until
Gluck completely triumphed over Piccini with "Iphigenie en Tauride."
Gluck's reform of opera lay in his abandoning all effort at claptrap
effect--effect merely for its own sake--and in making his choruses as
well as his soloists participants, musically and actively, in the
unfolding of the dramatic story. But while he avoided senseless vocal
embellishments and ceased to make a display of singers' talents the
end and purpose of opera, he never hesitated to introduce beautiful
melody for the voice when the action justified it. In fact, what he
aimed at was dramatic truth in his music, and with this end in view he
also gave greater importance to the instrumental portion of his
score.
Comparative Popularity of Certain Operas.
These characteristics remained for many years to come the distinguishing
marks of German opera. They will be discovered in Mozart's "Nozze di
Figaro," "Don Giovanni" and "Zauberfloete," which differ from Gluck's
operas in not being based on heroic or classical subjects, and in
exhibiting the general advance made in freer musical expression, as
well as Mozart's greater spontaneity of melodic invention, his keen
sense of the dramatic element and his superior skill in orchestration.
They also will be discovered in Beethoven's "Fidelio," which again
differs from Mozart's operas in the same degree in which the
individuality of one great composer differs from that of another. With
Weber's "Freischuetz," "Euryanthe" and "Oberon," German opera enters
upon the romantic period, from which it is but a step to the "Flying
Dutchman," "Tannhaeuser," "Lohengrin" and the music-dramas of Richard
Wagner.
Meanwhile, the French had developed a style of opera of their own,
which is represented by Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots," Gounod's "Faust,"
apparently destined to live as long as any opera that now graces the
stage, and by Bizet's absolutely unique "Carmen." In French opera the
instrumental support of the voices is far richer and more delicately
discriminating than in Italian opera, and the whole form is more
serious. It is better thought out, shows greater intellectual effort
and not such a complete abandon to absolute musical inspiration. It is
true, there is much claptrap in Meyerbeer, but "Les Huguenots" still
lives--and vitality is, after all, the final test of an art-work.
Unquestionably, Italian operas like "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," "La
Sonnambula," "Lucia," and "Trovatore" are more popular in this
country than Mozart's or Weber's operatic works. In assigning
reasons for this it seems generally to be forgotten that these Italian
operas are far more modern. "Don Giovanni" was produced in 1787,
whereas "Il Barbiere" was brought out in 1816, "La Sonnambula" in
1831, "Lucia" in 1835, "Trovatore" in 1853 and Verdi's last work in
operatic style, "Aida," in 1871. "Don Giovanni" still employs the
dry recitative (recitatives accompanied by simple chords on the
violoncello), which is exceedingly tedious and makes the work drag
at many points. In "Il Barbiere," although the recitatives are
musically as uninteresting, they are humorous, and, with Italian
buffos, trip lightly and vivaciously from the tongue. As regards
"Fidelio" and "Der Freischuetz," the amount of spoken dialogue in
them is enough to keep these works off the American stage, or at
least to prevent them from becoming popular here.
Wagner has had far-reaching effect upon music in general, and
even Italian opera, which, of all art-forms, was least like his
music-dramas, has felt his influence. Boito's "Mefistofele,"
Ponchielli's "La Gioconda," Verdi's "Otello" and "Falstaff," are
examples of the far-reaching results of Wagner's theories. Even
in "Aida," Verdi's more discriminating treatment of the orchestral
score and his successful effort to give genuine Oriental color to at
least some portions of it, show that even then he was beginning
to weary of the cheaper successes he had won with operas like
"Il Trovatore," "La Traviata" and "Rigoletto," and, while by no
means inclined to menace his own originality by copying Wagner
or by adopting his system, was willing to profit by the more serious
attitude of Wagner toward his art. Puccini, in "La Tosca," has
written a first-act finale which is palpably constructed on
Wagnerian lines. In his "La Boheme," in Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci"
and in Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana," the distinct efforts
made to have the score reflect the characteristics of the text
show Wagner's influence potent in the most modern phases of
Italian opera. Humperdinck's "Haensel und Gretel" and Richard
Strauss's "Feuersnot" and "Salome" represent the further working out
of Wagner's art-form in Germany.
Wagner's Music-Dramas.
I doubt whether Wagner had either the Greek drama or the declamatory
recitative of the early Italian opera composers in mind when he
originated the music-drama. My opinion is that he thought it out free
from any extraneous suggestion, but afterward, anticipating the
attacks which in the then state of music in Germany would be made upon
his theories, sought for prototypes and found them in ancient Greece
and renascent Italy.
His theory of dramatic music is that it should express with
undeviating fidelity the words which underly it; not words in their
mere outward aspect, but their deeper significance in their relation
to the persons, controlling ideas, impulses and passions out of which
grow the scenes, situations, climaxes and crises of the written play,
the libretto, if so you choose to call it--so long as you don't say
"book of the opera." For even from this brief characterization, it
must be patent that a music-drama is not an opera, but what opera
should be or would be had it not, through the Italian love of clearly
defined melody and the Italian admiration for beautiful singing,
become a string of solos, duets and other "numbers" written in set
form to the detriment of the action.
Opera is the glorification of the voice and the deification of the
singer.--Do we not call the prima donna a _diva_? Music-drama, on the
other hand, is the glorification of music in its broadest sense,
instrumental and vocal combined, and the deification of dramatic truth
on the musical stage. Opera, as handled by the Italian and the French,
undoubtedly is a very attractive art-form, but music-drama is a higher
art-form, because more serious and more searching and more elevated in
its expression of emotion.
Wagner was German to the core--as national as Luther, says Mr.
Krehbiel most aptly, in his "Studies in the Wagnerian Drama," which,
like everything this critic writes, is the work of a thinker. For the
dramas which Wagner created as the bases for his scores, he went back
to legends which, if not always Teutonic in their origin, had become
steeped in Germanism. The profound impression made by Wagner's art
works may be indicated by saying that the whole folk-lore movement
dates from his activity, and that so far as Germany itself is
concerned, his argument for a national art work as well as his
practical illustration of what he meant through his own music-dramas,
gave immense impetus to the development of united Germany as
manifested in the German empire. He as well as the men of blood and
iron had a share in Sedan.
Wagner's first successful work, "Rienzi," was an out-and-out opera in
Meyerbeerian style. The "Flying Dutchman" already is legendary and
more serious, while "Tannhaeuser" and "Lohengrin" show immense
technical progress, besides giving a clue to his system of leading
motives, which is fully developed in the scores of the "Ring of the
Nibelung," "Tristan und Isolde," "Die Meistersinger," and "Parsifal."
That his theories met with a storm of opposition and that for many
years the battle between Wagnerism and anti-Wagnerism raged with
unabated vigor in the musical world, are matters of history. Whoever
wishes to explore this phase of Wagner's career will find it set forth
in the most interesting Wagner biography in any language, Mr. Finck's
"Wagner and His Works."
Wagner a Melodist.
It sometimes is contended that Wagner adopted his system of leading
motives because he was not a melodist. This is refuted by the melodies
that abound in his earlier works; and, even as I write, I can hear the
pupils in a nearby public school singing the melody of the "Pilgrim's
Chorus" from "Tannhaeuser." Moreover, his leading motives themselves
are descriptively or soulfully melodious as the requirement may be.
They are brief phrases, it is true, but none the less they are
melodies. And, in certain episodes in his music-dramas, when he deemed
it permissible, he introduced beautiful melodies that are complete in
themselves: _Siegmund's_ "Love Song" and _Wotan's_ "Farewell," in "Die
Walkuere," the Love Duet at the end of "Siegfried," the love scene in
"Tristan und Isolde," the Prize Song in "Die Meistersinger." The
eloquence of the brief melodious phrases which we call leading
motives, considered by themselves alone and without any reference to
the dramatic situation, must be clear to any one who has heard the
Funeral March in "Goetterdaemmerung," which consists entirely of a
series of leading motives that have occurred earlier in the Cycle,
yet give this passage an overpowering pathos without equal in absolute
music and just as effective whether you know the story of the
music-drama and the significance of the motives, or not. If you do
know the story and the significance of these musical phrases, you will
find that in this Funeral March the whole "Ring of the Nibelung" is
being summed up for you, and coming as it does near the end of
"Goetterdaemmerung," but one scene intervening between it and the final
curtain, it gives a wonderful sense of unity to the whole work.
Unity is, in fact, a distinguishing trait of music-drama; and the very
term "unity" suggests that certain recurring salient points in the
drama, whether they be personages, ideas or situations, should be
treated musically with a certain similarity, and have certain
recognizable characteristics. In fact, the adaptation of music to a
drama would seem to suggest association of ideas through musical
unity, and to presuppose the employment of something like leading
motives. They had indeed been used tentatively by Berlioz in
orchestral music, and by Weber in opera ("Euryanthe"), but it remained
for Wagner to work up the suggestion into a complete and consistent
system.
[Music illustration]
To illustrate his method, take the Curse Motive, in the "Ring of
the Nibelung," which is heard when _Alberich_ curses the Ring, and
all into whose possession it shall come. When, near the end of
"Rheingold," _Fafner_ kills his brother, _Fasolt_, in wresting
the Ring from him, the motive recurs with a significance which is
readily understood. _Fasolt_ is the first victim of the curse.
Again, in "Goetterdaemmerung," when _Siegfried_ lands at the entrance
to the castle of _Gibichungs_, and is greeted by _Hagen_, although the
greeting seems hearty enough, the motive is heard and conveys its
sinister lure.
[Music illustration]
When, in "Die Walkuere," _Bruennhilde_ predicts the birth of a son to
_Sieglinde_, you hear the Siegfried Motive, signifying that the child
will be none other than the young hero of the next drama. The motive
is heard again when _Wotan_ promises _Bruennhilde_ to surround her with
a circle of flames which none but a hero can penetrate, _Siegfried_
being that hero; and also when _Siegfried_ himself, in the music-drama
"Siegfried," tells of seeing his image in the brook.
[Music illustration]
There are motives which are almost wholly rhythmical, like the
"Nibelung" Smithy Motive, which depicts the slavery of the _Nibelungs_,
eternally working in the mines of Nibelheim; and motives with strange,
weird harmonies, like the motive of the Tarnhelm, which conveys a
sense of mystery, the Tarnhelm giving its wearer the power to change his
form.
[Music illustration]
Leading Motives not Mere Labels.
Leading motives are not mere labels. They concern themselves with more
than the superficial aspect of things and persons. With persons they
express character; with things they symbolize what these stand for.
The Curse Motive is weird, sinister. You feel when listening to it
that it bodes evil to all who come within its dark circle. The
Siegfried Motive, on the other hand, is buoyant with youth, vigor,
courage; vibrates with the love of achievement; and stirs the soul
with its suggestion of heroism. But when you hear it in the Funeral
March in "Goetterdaemmerung" and it recalls by association the
gay-hearted, tender yet courageous boy, who slew the dragon, awakened
_Bruennhilde_ with his kiss, only to be betrayed and murdered by
_Hagen_, and now is being borne over the mountain to the funeral pyre,
those heroic strains have a tragic significance that almost brings
tears to your eyes.
The Siegfried Motive is a good example of a musical phrase the contour
of which practically remains unchanged through the music-drama. The
varied emotions with which we listen to it are effected by association.
But many of Wagner's leading motives are extremely plastic and undergo
many changes in illustrating the development of character or the
special bearing of certain dramatic situations upon those concerned
in the action of the drama. As a gay-hearted youth, _Siegfried_
winds his horn:
[Music illustration]
This horn call becomes, when, as _Bruennhilde's_ husband, he bids
farewell to his bride and departs in quest of knightly adventure, the
stately Motive of _Siegfried_, the Hero:
[Music illustration]
And when the dead _Siegfried_, stretched upon a rude bier, is borne
from the scene, it voices the climax of the tragedy with overwhelming
power:
[Music illustration]
Thus we have two derivatives from the "Siegfried" horn call, each with
its own special significance, yet harking back to the original germ.
Soon after the opening of "Tristan und Isolde" a sailor sings an
unaccompanied song of farewell to his _Irish Maid_. The words, "The
wind blows freshly toward our home," are sung to an undulating phrase
which seems to represent the gentle heaving of the sea.
[Music illustration: Frisch weht der Wind der Hei-mat zu: mein i-risch
Kind, wo wei-lest du?]
This same phrase gracefully undulates through _Brangaene's_ reply to
_Isolde's_ question as to the vessel's course, changes entirely in
character, and surges savagely around her wild outburst of anger when
she is told that the vessel is nearing Cornwall's shore, and breaks
itself in savage fury against her despairing wrath when she invokes
the elements to destroy the ship and all upon it. Examples like these
occur many times in the scores of Wagner's music-dramas.
[Music illustration]
[Music illustration]
Often, when several characters are participating in a scene, or when
the act or influence of one, or the principle for which he stands in
the drama, is potent, though he himself is not present, Wagner with
rare skill combines several motives, utilizing for this purpose all
the resources of counterpoint. Elsewhere I already have described how
he has done this in the Magic Fire Scene in "Die Walkuere," and one
could add page after page of examples of this kind. I have also spoken
of his supreme mastership of instrumentation, through which he gives
an endless variety of tone color to his score.
Wagner was a great dramatist, but he was a far greater musician. There
are many splendid scenes and climaxes in the dramas which he wrote for
his music, and if he had not been a composer it is possible he would
have achieved immortality as a writer of tragedy. On the other hand,
however, there are in his dramas many long stretches in which the
action is unconsciously delayed by talk. He believed that music and
drama should go hand in hand and each be of equal interest; but his
supreme musicianship has disproved his own theories, for his dramas
derive the breath of life from his music. Theoretically, he is not
supposed to have written absolute music--music for its own sake--but
music that would be intelligible and interesting only in connection
with the drama to which it was set. But the scores of the great scenes
in his music-dramas, played simply as instrumental selections in
concert and without the slightest clue to their meaning in their
given place, constitute the greatest achievements in absolute music
that history up to the present time can show.