=Wagner’s Theory of the Music Drama=.—_Lohengrin_, like _The Flying
Dutchman_, was transitional in character and led into Wagner’s third
manner. It was his last opera; all his later works were known as music
dramas. In these he pursued unhesitatingly the logical conclusions of
the theories which he expounded at great length in his controversial
writings, though he was far from being always consistent with himself.
Thus he reasoned that since in the spoken drama but one speaker is
heard at a time, the same practice should prevail in the music drama,
which would naturally do away with all concerted music, choruses,
etc. This rule he observed in _The Ring of the Nibelungen_, but he
wisely abandoned it in his later works. In _Die Meistersinger_ he also
failed to follow his theory that mythical and legendary subjects were
the only suitable material for the music drama. Briefly stated, his
ultimate conclusion was as follows: that the art-work of the future,
as he called it, should consist of a synthesis of all the arts. Music,
poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, he asserted, had exhausted
all that was possible to them as separate arts; a higher plane could
be reached hereafter only by a combination which should gain unity by
subordination to a single principle. This principle he found in poetry.
Beethoven, he argued, had felt the insufficiency of music alone to
express his deepest inspiration, and for that reason had incorporated
in his last and greatest symphony a choral movement to the words of
Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.” In the music drama, therefore, the scene
painter replaces the artist and the architect, the actor by plastic
poses the sculptor, while the musician must allow his music no form
but that dictated by the poet in his verses. He ascribed the thrilling
effect of the Greek drama to such a union of the arts and this it was
his aim to revive through his own works.
=The Leading Motive=.—The part assigned by the Greek dramatists to the
chorus who expounded and commented on the events of the play was in
his scheme transferred to the orchestra. This he did by means of the
_Leitmotiv_ (leading motive). A leitmotiv is a characteristic theme or
harmonic progression associated with each of the _Dramatis Personæ_ and
which appears with such modification of mode, rhythm, or any of its
component parts as the dramatic situation demands. It is not confined
to personages alone; in _The Ring of the Nibelung_, for instance,
the stolen gold, the ring formed from it, the sword which plays such
an important part in _Die Walküre_ and in _Siegfried_ all have their
corresponding motives. It is through these motives that Wagner is
able to give his orchestra an all but articulate speech and to weld
the music drama into an organic whole. By their transformation and
development he succeeds in indicating psychological states and changes
as well as material conditions and objects. Reminiscent themes of a
somewhat similar nature had been used as far back as Mozart and had
been employed more freely by composers of the Romantic school, notably
by Weber in _Der Freischütz_ and _Euryanthe_, but they were undeveloped
and elementary in character. Berlioz in his _Fantastic Symphony_ was
the first to conceive a typical theme and to alter it in logical
accordance with the progression of his program, but he did not adopt
the practice in his operas.
[Illustration: WILHELM RICHARD WAGNER.]
=The Unending Melody=.—Beginning with _Lohengrin_, Wagner abandoned
fixed forms and substituted what he called unending melody, a
practically continuous flow of tone divided alike between voices and
instruments. For the most part he assigned the singer a declamation
as far removed from the set aria on the one hand as it was from dry
recitative of the early Italian opera on the other. Yet like the latter
it was conditioned by principles of speech. Like the early composers,
also, his subjects with but two exceptions were mythical or legendary.
This, because the supernatural and the unreal correspond more closely
with the ideal element introduced by the use of song for speech than
material drawn from everyday experience or from the exact chronicles of
history.
=The Ring of the Nibelung=.—In the old Teutonic folk-epic, the
_Nibelungen Lied_ (Lay of the Nibelung), Wagner found the inspiration
for his next and most extended work. This is the great tetralogy, _Der
Ring des Nibelung_ (The Ring of the Nibelung), composed of four dramas
designed for continuous representation: _Das Rheingold_ (The Rhine
Gold), _Die Walküre_ (The Valkyrie), _Siegfried_, _Die Götterdämmerung_
(The Twilight of the Gods). It was begun and partially finished during
his stay in Switzerland, but his discouragement over what he felt to be
the hopeless task of ever securing its performance led him to abandon
it and to set to work on another drama which he decided should be
lighter in character and less difficult to execute, in order the more
readily to find acceptance.
=Tristan and Isolde=.—The result of this resolution was _Tristan und
Isolde_, but far from being a return to his earlier style, as he had
planned, it was and probably still is the most intricate operatic
score in existence. It was accepted by the Opera in Vienna, but after
fifty-seven rehearsals the singers declared themselves unable to
learn it and it was given up as impossible of execution. Three years
after his return to Germany an unlooked-for change took place in his
fortunes. The young king of Bavaria, Ludwig II, who had just ascended
the throne, had been an ardent admirer of Wagner since as a boy of
fifteen he had heard _Lohengrin_. Hardly had he taken his seat before
he summoned the discouraged composer to Munich and assured him support
and protection. _Tristan und Isolde_ was soon brought out (1865), and
Wagner busied himself with the composition of _Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg_ (The Master Singers of Nuremberg), produced in 1868.
=Die Meistersinger=.—This is his only comic work, full of hitherto
unsuspected humor and geniality. The story of the young poet
endeavoring to gain admission to the jealously-guarded ranks of the
master singers who, notwithstanding the beauty of his song, reject
him because he has violated their hide-bound rules has a distinctly
autobiographic value. Wagner had endured too much from similar pedants
to be lenient with the picture he drew of their prototypes in medieval
Nuremberg. As strikingly diatonic in style as _Tristan und Isolde_
is chromatic, these two works are the strongest illustrations of his
versatility.
=Bayreuth and the Festival Theatre=.—Wagner had long cherished the
plan of a festival theatre for the performance of his _Ring of the
Nibelung_. Jealousy of his favor with the king led to various intrigues
which prevented the building of such a theatre in Munich. The quiet
town of Bayreuth, therefore, as being a central point, was chosen, and
there in 1876 the _Festspielhaus_ was opened with the first complete
performance of the Tetralogy. It made a profound impression, but the
expense of the undertaking was so great that it resulted in a heavy
loss and the theatre was closed for a number of years. In 1882,
however, it reopened with _Parsifal_ and since then its triumphant
career has been part of musical history.
=Parsifal=.—Until 1903, when it was given in this country, _Parsifal_
was heard only in Bayreuth. Its semi-sacred character, its mingling
of religious mysticism and sorcery, its unrivaled stage effects, its
overwhelming power of climax, the consummate art of its thematic
construction have made it the most discussed of Wagner’s works. What
place it may eventually hold in respect to the others can be decided
only by time. As it is, it stands alone; a second _Parsifal_ is hardly
conceivable.
=Influence of Wagner=.—Unlike Weber, Wagner did not create a school—he
belonged to the school which Weber founded. Like Gluck, his influence
permeated all schools but to a much greater extent; none has succeeded
in escaping it. Thus far in Germany it has been felt more in the
development of program music, the symphonic poem, etc., than in the
music drama itself. Many have attempted to follow directly in his
steps, among them =August Bungert= (1846———) with a cycle of music
dramas, _Die Homerische Welt_ (The World of Homer), founded upon
the Iliad and the Odyssey, and =Richard Strauss= (1864———) with his
_Guntram_, _Feuersnoth_ (Fire Famine) and _Salome_, but none has yet
shown the power to bend the bow of Achilles. =Engelbert Humperdinck=
(1854———) is the only one of Wagner’s successors to develop a new phase
of the music drama. This he did by applying it to the fairy tale in his
_Hänsel und Gretel_ (1893), which soon found its way to all stages, the
first German opera to have such a success since the death of Wagner.
=Wagner in France=.—In France, Wagner acted at first not so much
directly as indirectly, and more in his connection with the Romantic
school of Weber than through his individual style as revealed in the
music drama. The characteristic conservatism of the French school was
shown in holding to forms which had been fixed for generations, but
little by little these were filled with the new romantic spirit. This
comes to the fore in =Charles Gounod= (1818-1893), whose _Faust_ (1859)
has exercised a strong and lasting influence on the lyric drama in
France. Though set forms are not abandoned, they are closely joined by
a melodious declamation which approaches the song-speech of Wagner; the
orchestration, too, is unmistakably romantic in treatment. =Georges
Bizet= (1838-1875) in _Carmen_ (1875), an opéra comique notwithstanding
its tragic denouement, produced a work of great individuality, which
shows even more plainly the influence of modern romanticism. Had the
composer’s career not been cut short by his untimely death, it is
possible that the French school would have maintained a more commanding
position. For Paris no longer holds her former preëminence as operatic
centre; she has been distanced by Bayreuth. Of late years the works
that have had the most pronounced success in the French capital have
been Wagner’s music dramas. A little more than a generation ago, in
the palmy days of Auber and Meyerbeer, a success at the Grand Opéra
or the Opéra Comique had an international import and meant a speedy
transference to foreign stages. Now the interest is largely local;
but few of the modern French operas are heard outside of France. The
influence of Wagner is evident in a new French school, consisting in
the main of young composers whose works manifest strongly transitional
features. At present this school is in its storm and stress period; it
is yet too early to forecast its ultimate effect.
=Wagner in Italy=.—Italy proved more responsive to Wagner’s influence
than France. The performance of _Lohengrin_ (1868), in Bologna, created
much enthusiasm among the young musicians of northern Italy, but it was
the septuagenarian Verdi who inaugurated the era of the music drama
by his _Otello_ (1887) and _Falstaff_ (1893). Strictly speaking, he
had been anticipated by =Arrigo Boïto= (1842———), who, thrown under
Wagner’s influence in Germany, had followed his example in being the
poet and composer alike of _Mefistofele_ (1868), a version of the Faust
legend. But this was Boïto’s only opera, and though he gave the initial
impulse to the movement, it was Verdi who carried it to a triumphant
issue.
=Verdi’s Latest Style=.—_Aïda_ had been a grand opera with strong
musico-dramatic tendencies. In _Otello_ and _Falstaff_, Verdi made
a definite entrance into the music drama. The latter in particular,
founded on Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor,” is an astonishing
_tour de force_ for a man of four-score years. Full of the sparkle
and freshness of youth, yet in every measure revealing the ripeness
of matured genius, it is one of an immortal trio of lyric comedies of
which the others are Mozart’s _Figaro_ and Wagner’s _Meistersinger_.
The set and traditional forms of the opera here disappear entirely; the
music is conditioned by the text and its dramatic requirements; the
orchestra supports the voices in a full, melodious, and comprehensive
flow, but never overpowers them. Hardly anything can be detached from
its context without losing significance and interest; and this, by the
way, is one of the most distinctive peculiarities of the music drama
and more than anything else points the radical difference between it
and the opera. Yet though this change of manner is undoubtedly due to
Wagner, Verdi is in no sense an imitator. The style remains his own and
is essentially Italian in character—that is, it is based upon vocal
rather than instrumental capabilities.
=The New Italian School=.—The latest development of the music drama in
Italy has been in the direction of so-called naturalism. This consists
in the choice of brutal phases of life for illustration, told in
short, concise forms which concentrate and hasten the dramatic action.
A greater contrast to the inordinately long and heroic operas of
Meyerbeer and Wagner can hardly be imagined; it is more than probable,
indeed, that the reaction against the excessive length of the music
drama led to the great and sudden vogue of this school. The first
impulse to naturalism was given by =Pietro Mascagni= (1863———) in his
two-act opera, _Cavalleria Rusticana_ (Rustic Chivalry), in 1890.
This is a tale of love, jealousy, and revenge told in music admirably
adapted to the vivid, crude representation of elemental passions.
Two years later followed _I Pagliacci_ (The Clowns) by =Ruggiero
Leoncavallo= (1858———), a work of precisely the same character. Though
many others have essayed the same style, these two thus far remain
the most representative of their class. Their popularity has been
approached only by =Giacomo Puccini= (1858———) in _La Bohême_ (The
Bohemians), produced in 1896. Four years later his _Tosca_ appeared and
did much to strengthen the impression given by its predecessor—that in
Puccini Italy possesses her most promising dramatic composer.
=Schools Compared=.—Thus at the beginning of the 20th century we find
the principles of the music drama as enunciated by Wagner influencing
all the three great schools of dramatic composition. It is worthy of
note, however, that these schools, though thus approaching in artistic
ideals, still retain the characteristics which distinguished them
from the very beginning: the Italian, melody and beauty of tone; the
French, clearness of form and logical dramatic development; the German,
elevation of subject and harmonic richness.
=Younger Schools=.—Younger schools having a strongly national character
exist in Russia and Bohemia, but as yet they possess only local
signification and have produced no practical effect outside of their
respective countries. =Michael Glinka= (1803-1857) with his patriotic
opera, _Life for the Czar_, founded the Russian opera in 1836. The
Bohemian opera is of more recent origin and is associated principally
with the names of =Friedrich Smetana= (1824-1884) and =Antonin Dvořák=
(1841-1904).
=Resumé=.—From its dual nature, the opera is necessarily a compromise.
Composed of two elements, the musical and the dramatic, it is
peculiarly susceptible to disintegration; its history is a record of
almost continuous veering from one to the other of these two phases.
We have seen how the immense proportions of the ancient amphitheatres
led to the musical declamation on which the opera is founded, from
the fact that the tones of the singing voice are far more reaching
than those of the voice in speaking. The Florentine experimenters, in
seeking to restore this declamation, soon discovered the capabilities
for emotional expression latent in the varying timbres and vastly
extended range of the former. As for its musical possibilities, these
were entirely beyond their ken. The steps taken in that direction they
regarded with disfavor as indicating a deviation from the oratorical
standards which were their sole aim. After Carissimi and Scarlatti had
developed the elements of symmetrical form and melody, music emerged
from this dependent condition and dictated to the drama, which sank
to an almost negligible factor. The reaction led by Gluck served to
restore the balance for a time, but through Rossini and his followers
the pendulum again swung in the other direction. The Romantic movement
then brought the drama again to the fore; the spirit of the age was
behind it and all schools felt its influence, though each manifested it
in characteristic fashion.
=Influence of the Opera on Music in General=.—These alternations have
had a powerful effect on the development of music in general, an
effect both technical and expressive in nature. From the harpsichord
and the few viols used at first merely to support the voice and to
give it pitch, the orchestra expanded into a large body of instruments
capable in itself of dramatic utterance. From the tiny ritornello of
eight measures played by three flutes in Peri’s _Euridice_, there has
grown an independent instrumental art of vast significance. The opera
also created a school of singing which though often unworthily used
for purposes of purely personal display is the basis of the vocal art
of today. In short, it is not too much to say that the little band of
scholars and musicians who met three centuries ago with the aim of
reviving a lost art practically originated a new one.