=Development of the Art-Song Idea=.—A most significant phase of musical
activity is that centred around the art-song for solo voice. In the
period before the opera, choral singing was the principal medium for
vocal music. With the Opera came a style of composition from which
was developed the principle of the Aria, the latter dominating both
Opera and Oratorio for many years, as the form for an art-song for a
solo voice. In this form, as we have seen, the production of vocal
effects, the making of attractive melody, and the opportunity for
virtuosic display were sought first of all. It was not until the
beginning of the 19th century, when Schubert’s peculiar genius asserted
itself, that we meet what can be truly called the art-song, a form of
composition without the artificiality of the operatic aria and with
higher musicianly and artistic qualities than those that mark the
people’s song. Several tendencies contributed to bring this about.
Gluck’s theories and practice led both composers and people to pay
closer attention to the text and to its delivery. The development of
instrumental music, particularly the principles of thematic treatment,
led composers to the inventing of new melodic and rhythmic figures that
should serve as the basis of accompaniments of higher artistic quality
than those founded on some variation of the Alberti bass figure. Piano
technic had greatly improved, and so had the instrument. And it may
also be said that the verse of this period was better suited for a
dramatic musical setting than the formal, often stilted and artificial
lyrics of earlier days, with their shepherds and shepherdesses and
constant reference to pastoral and classical life.
=Italian, French and English Forms=.—A study of musical conditions
in Italy, France, Germany and England shows a different style of the
solo song in each country, each having some distinctive feature that
maintains today, and one that may be said to characterize the song-idea
of that people. The Italians were so taken with the opera and in the
course of its development it so fully embodied the national love for
sweet, graceful melody that a species of art-song apart from the opera
had little or no chance to shape itself. The French _Chanson_ has never
yielded place to the methods which distinguish the modern art-song.
The French language has certain qualities which seem to call for a
treatment that centres the attention in the voice part rather than on
the song as a whole, according to the German idea. Yet French composers
have produced and still make most beautiful and charming songs which
unmistakably embody the national characteristics, clearness, polish
and an effective singing melody. The old English Ballads are pieces of
narrative verse; but the term has been used so freely and for almost
every kind of verse that it is not possible to give it a precise
definition. Thomas Morley, in a work on music, which he published in
1597, mentions “songs which, being sung to a dittie may likewise be
danced”; in 1636, in a book called “The Principles of Musicke,” the
author, Butler, refers to “the infinite multitude of Ballads set to
sundry pleasant and delightful tunes by cunning and witty composers,
with country dances fitted to them.” The principles of musical
construction and the character of the text are such that we do not find
in the English ballad the true germ of the art-song.
=The German “Lied”=, a poem intended for singing, as it came from the
hands of the great poets, such as Goethe and Heine, seems to have
afforded to composers the inspiration to the making of a style of song
that should have the value of a musical setting in full consonance
with the character of the text. As instrumental music developed, the
_Volkslied_, the people’s song, the natural medium for expression,
gradually disappeared. Yet composers made use of it as a medium, such
masters as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Weber giving attention to it,
although the demand for a simple, clear melody, due to the dominance
of the Italian opera, and for an accompaniment that was always much
subordinated, prevented the art-song (_Kunstlied_) from taking a high
place. Since then the accompaniment has been given more and more
prominence, less attention being paid to pure melody and more to the
value of harmony and rhythm as the means for characteristic color and
expression. Melody, which is made up of a succession of phrases, cannot
furnish a sequence of sharp effects so readily as can well contrasted
chords; hence the old idea of tune changed as harmony became better
understood. The methods of song composers vary, and a classification
is made by German writers: A song that has simple form and tune akin
to that of the Folk-song is called “_Volksthümlich_”; one that has the
same tune to the different stanzas is called strophic; one that is
carefully worked out, the music illustrating every shade of meaning
and emotion is called “_Durchcomponirt_”; a narrative song is called
a “Ballad” or “Ballade.” The great masters in song composition are
Schubert, Schumann, Franz and Brahms.
=Schubert as a Song Writer=.—A consideration of Schubert’s education
and his general make-up shows clearly why he should seek outlet for
self-expression in song rather than in the large instrumental forms. We
find that he was not systematically educated in musical science, like
Mozart, Beethoven or Weber, and that he was by nature very spontaneous
and amenable to external influences. Such a composer is particularly
open to the effect of a poem and will turn to the small song form
rather than to the elaborate instrumental forms. Many of Schubert’s
songs were written on the spur of the moment in response to an impulse
from reading a chance bit of verse. The first reading of the poem
usually gave the complete idea, both tune and accompaniment; whether it
should have the simple folk-song character, a more declamatory style,
strophic or the more elaborate form, depended upon the character of
the text. It is fortunate for music that he was brought into contact
with some of the finest lyrics in the field of poetry, such as called
forth his highest powers in melody, harmony, rhythm, modulation,
declamation and recitative, for he aimed to the very fullest extent
possible to heighten the thought of the text by the emotional power of
music. It is a phase of Schubert’s genius that some of his finest songs
were written before he had reached his majority.
=Schumann and His Songs=.—Schumann brought to song writing a different
type of mind from that of Schubert, more poetic, more gloomy, more
emotional, a fine literary training, a faculty for expression in word
as well as in tone, a fund of new forms of expression in instrumental
music, particularly the piano, so that we find in his songs certain
elements that indicate development toward a more highly organized
structure. Schumann was highly intellectual, hence we find in his
songs a close union of voice and instrumental parts in working out the
fundamental conception of the poet’s meaning; and so deeply does he
carry out this plan that the accompanist must enter most thoroughly
into the singer’s part, and _vice versa_, that the full effect be
brought out; as compared with the songs of Schubert and Mendelssohn we
can say that the latter are the “verses set to tunes, while Schumann’s
songs are poems in music.” The piano part of a Schumann song contains
the atmosphere of the poem, is an attempt to heighten the meaning by
suggesting thoughts and feelings which the words, spoken or sung,
cannot express; sometimes it is an entirely independent composition,
and carries out to a final close the thought left unfinished by the
voice, thus avoiding the conventional ending, by the singer, on the
tonic chord. Schumann’s effort was to express his own reading of the
poet’s lines by the musical means that seemed to him best suited to
the purpose. To this end he refused to allow himself to be bound by
conventional treatment, either of voice or instrument.
=Robert Franz= (1815-1892) combined in his songs the romanticism and
general methods of Schumann, with a polyphonic treatment inspired by
his deep study of Bach. He wrote to various styles of verse, hymns,
love-songs, lyrics of the field, the forest, the hunter, the soldier,
and though his songs lack the tender, passionate, melodious quality
of Schubert’s and the deep poetic feeling of Schumann’s, they are
nevertheless models of perfect, even elaborate workmanship in which
the composer follows with great faithfulness the mood of the poet;
Schumann, on the contrary, seems to project his own interpretation of
the poem into his music, while Schubert seems to grasp the emotion at
its highest moment and the song pours out as the spontaneous expression
of the singer.
=Three Modern Writers=.—Of modern writers, those who contributed most
to the development of the art-song are Wagner, Brahms and Richard
Strauss, the first-named by his style and treatment of the voice and
the instrumental part rather than by his songs, which are few in
number. =Brahms= wrote nearly two hundred songs, varying in character
and quality, and using a highly-developed accompaniment, often
intricate in its construction, complicated in rhythm and restless in
harmonic support, employing all the resources which his mastery of
chromatic harmony placed at his disposal. He frequently wrote in the
style of the Folk-song, making use of its simple melodic quality,
enriching it, however, by his great skill in elaboration in the
accompaniment. Brahms’ songs are great favorites on concert programs.
=Richard Strauss= (b. 1864) is the leading composer of today, and has
used in his songs the principles that distinguish his large works.
These songs are very difficult, both for voice and accompaniment, and
are full of tonal coloring, for Strauss has adapted to the miniature
form of the song the means of harmonic and rhythmic effects which he
uses so powerfully in his orchestral scores. When well sung and well
played, the hearer cannot but be absorbed by the wealth of musical
effects of the highest emotional and picturesque quality displayed in
Richard Strauss’ songs. In a full study of songs and song writers, many
more names would be mentioned; those selected for consideration in this
lesson represent those who have contributed most significantly to the
development of the modern art-song.
=Oratorio Composers after Mendelssohn=.—The later history of the
Oratorio requires some consideration at this point. After Mendelssohn,
many of the leading composers of Europe turned their attention to
this form of composition, influenced, in many instances, by the
splendid opportunities for production offered by the strong choral
organizations and festival associations of Germany and England, as
well as by the great advances made in orchestral playing, which gave
to composers resources far beyond those at the hand of Mendelssohn
and his predecessors. We may mention, among the Germans, =Schumann=,
whose “Paradise and the Peri” was produced in 1843; =Liszt=, who was
much attracted to sacred subjects, wrote two oratorios, “The Legend of
St. Elizabeth” and “Christus”; =Rubinstein=, who used his great skill
in tone painting with orchestral masses in “Paradise Lost” and in his
sacred opera “The Tower of Babel”; =Brahms=, whose “German Requiem” is
a standard work to be done well only by thoroughly disciplined vocal
and instrumental forces; and =Dvořák=, who has shown great power in
his “Stabat Mater.” Among the French writers most prominent in this
form of composition are =Berlioz=, whose “Requiem” is a colossal work
in which he drew upon all the resources of the orchestra to heighten
the powerful, dramatic character of the text; =Gounod=, who wrote his
remarkable works, “The Redemption” and “Mors et Vita” for English
production; =Saint-Saëns=, whose “Noël,” a Christmas work, is oratorio
in style and construction, although small in dimensions; and =César
Franck=, the most modern of all, whose “Beatitudes” has been made the
subject of much discussion. English composers, following the lead
of Handel and Mendelssohn, have given great attention to this form.
=Bennett=, the friend of Mendelssohn, produced a beautiful work, “The
Woman of Samaria”; =Costa=, an Italian by birth, spent a great part
of his professional life in England; hence his oratorio, “Eli,” may
be classed with English works; =Sullivan= wrote two oratorios, “The
Prodigal Son” and “The Light of the World”; =Macfarren’s= “St. John
the Baptist” and =Mackenzie’s= “Rose of Sharon” can be classed among
oratorios. The most eminent in this form at the present day is =Elgar=,
“The Dream of Gerontius” and “The Apostles.” Young Italy has lately
shown interest in this form, the most noteworthy being the =Abbé
Perosi=, who is under the patronage of the Pope. In the United States
the leading representatives are =J. K. Paine=, of Harvard University,
with the oratorio “St. Peter,” =Dudley Buck=, “Golden Legend,” and =H.
W. Parker=, “Hora Novissima.”
=The Cantata=.—More popular even than the Oratorio with choral
societies is the Cantata, both sacred and secular, and the great
increase in strong choral organizations, particularly in England,
Germany, France and the United States, has resulted in the production
of a number of splendid works which show dramatic power and the
highest skill in handling voices and instruments. These works contain
opportunities for the use of the finest quality of melody, variety of
rhythm, solid harmonic or the more fluent polyphonic style, richness
of harmonic coloring and every accessory in the way of tone painting
by the orchestra, which such masters as Berlioz and Wagner pointed
out. The important works are too many to be mentioned here; only the
composers’ names can be given. In Germany, Brahms, Bruch, Dvořák, Gade,
Goetz, Hiller, Hofmann, Rheinberger; in France, Berlioz and Massenet;
in England, Bennett, Corder, Cowen, Macfarren, Mackenzie, Smart,
Sullivan, Coleridge-Taylor among the younger men; in the United States,
Buck, Foote, Chadwick, Gilchrist, Paine, H. W. Parker, and Carl Busch.