(See page 573.)
]
One of the most prominent masters of the early part of the seventeenth
century was Michael Prætorius (1571–1621). He witnessed the great change
which was then taking place in music, but contributed nothing to it
himself. He endeavored, however, to educate his countrymen to appreciate
the new style of secular music which, in Italy, was then making rapid
headway in the operas of Peri, Caccini and others. For a number of years
he was organist and director of music at Brunswick, where he died. In
his great admiration and study of the new Italian masters, he did not,
like his eminent successor, Heinrich Schütz, lose his nationality. The
number of works he composed, collected, and elaborated is two thousand.
His most important contribution to music, however, is his “Syntagma
Musicum,” a theoretical work of great value to students of musical
history. Concerning instruments and the theory of music, it is a rich
source of knowledge.
During the seventeenth century the opera was invented and ardently
cultivated in Italy. With the adoption of the new lyric style of
recitative and aria, much greater scope was possible for artistic
instrumental music than ever before. The violas and other bowed
instruments were brought into prominence, and in the course of the
seventeenth century formed the basis of the orchestra. Yet, during the
latter half of the sixteenth century considerable use was made of
instrumental accompaniment in church music. In the choir, directed by
Orlando Lasso, in Munich, from 1569 till 1595 there were twelve bass
singers, fifteen tenors, thirteen altos, twenty sopranos, and thirty
instrumentalists. The Dresden band had ninety-three wind and percussion
instruments, and only thirteen stringed instruments. The curious
character of some of these combinations is indicated in the clearest
possible way on the title-page of Prætorius’ “Syntagma Musicum.” Here we
see three separate choruses, each accompanied by a separate organ. In
the first of these (at the left of the illustration) the voices are
supported by stringed instruments, in the second (at the right), by reed
instruments, and in the third, by trombones and bassoon.
Hand in hand with the development of orchestral accompaniment, the
seventeenth century witnessed a wonderful development of organ and
clavier playing. In this also Italy took the lead. The first great
artists in organ playing were Italians; the most prominent of whom were
Claudio Merulo and Giovanni Gabrieli, appointed organists at St. Mark’s
in Venice in 1551 and 1557. A noted disciple of this Venetian organ
school was the Netherlander, Jan Pieters Sweelinck, who studied under
Zarlino and Cyprian de Rore. Later he was the teacher of various German
organists, among whom was Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654). The “father of
true organ playing,” Girolamo Frescobaldi (1587–1640), organist of St.
Peter’s in Rome, wielded even greater influence on Germany through his
famous pupils, Caspar Kerl and Jacob Froberger. Various forms of
composition, whose names suggest their Italian origin, became common in
Germany at this time; such as the capriccio, the canzona, the toccata
and the ricercata. In all these forms fugal imitation is predominant,
and the modern fugue begins to take determined shape. Pachelbel
(1653–1706), a pupil of Kerl, was the first to combine the various
advantages of both the German and Italian schools, and his works also
mark the establishment of the modern tonal system. He made important
advances in fugal art. We of to-day recognize the wonderful artistic
consistency of Bach’s master-works in the fugue form. We note that they
are composed of various sections which include separate developments of
a principal theme, and that these sections are connected by episodical
passages of a character similar to that of the rest of the composition.
But we are apt to lose sight of the fact that this perfection of form
was of very gradual growth. Pachelbel was the first to feel the
necessity of attaining such artistic unity by careful attention to these
details of construction. His successful endeavors to individualize and
to group his ideas give a hitherto unknown clearness of form to his
organ fantasias and toccatas. In his fantasias especially he employs
rich figurations, but always with the evident purpose of making such
ornamentation naturally grow out of the thematic material of the work,
and all is carefully designed with reference to the nature of the
instrument. His contemporary, Johann Adam Reinken, who died in 1732, at
the age of ninety-nine, was, as composer and player, a veritable
virtuoso. Sebastian Bach made two journeys to Hamburg for the purpose of
hearing this master play. But, among all the predecessors of Bach in
this branch, the most prominent was Dietrich Buxtehude, organist at
Lübeck from 1669 to 1707. In all respects he elevated the art of organ
composition and organ playing. The structure of his themes shows the
greatest appreciation of the peculiar character of the instrument. Two
years before Buxtehude’s death Bach became his pupil, and the influence
of Buxtehude[23] is seen in the earlier organ compositions of Bach.
Clavier, or clavichord, composition was of later growth. At first,
indeed, the same principles were applied to both instruments. The
earlier English and Italian clavier masters used the various forms of
organ composition with little regard for the different construction of
the instruments. But as time went on the less ponderous of the two
instruments became the exponent of the gayer moods, as represented by
various forms of the dance. Under French masters, especially, the
clavier began to have a style of its own. The clavier suite, or
_partita_, was the favorite form, and consisted of a succession of dance
movements. The name sonata, now of such definite meaning in connection
with chamber music, was at first represented by short Venetian organ
pieces. Subsequently, in the seventeenth century, the sonata was a
composition for one or more violins with clavier. This originated in
Italy under Corelli and others, and was imitated in England by Purcell,
and in Germany by Biber and others. The first application of the name
sonata to a solo for clavier was made by Johann Kuhnau, Bach’s
predecessor as cantor of the St. Thomas School at Leipzig. His “Fresh
Clavier Fruits; or, Seven Sonatas of good Invention and adapted to the
Clavier,” shows by its title that this branch of composition was
receiving some attention at a time which has been wholly eclipsed by the
splendor of the succeeding period.
From this rapid sketch of the progress of organ and clavier music during
this period, which produced but few works that have survived, we see how
steady was the development of the art which became grand and ultimate in
the works of Sebastian Bach, and how intimate was this master’s
connection with the musical activity of his time. A similar review of
the course of the opera and the oratorio will enable us to trace the
growth of certain other art forms which took definite shape before the
dawn of Germany’s musical greatness.
We have already spoken of the important influence exerted by the
folk-song on the German church music of the sixteenth century. Hassler
was the first to attain a blending of the folk-song style with that of
older counterpoint. He was aided in his striving by a study of the
Italian madrigals and villanelle. His dance-songs are especially rich in
melodic feeling, and show that in the art of melodic phrasing he
followed closely in the footsteps of the Italians. With the development
of the instrumental accompaniment early in the seventeenth century there
came certain changes of style. The ever-increasing tendency of the time
to allow the melody to stand forth more prominently began to modify the
nature of the harmonic setting. The songs of Jeep (1582–1650), and of
his rival, Valentin Hausmann, show degeneracy, while the songs of Adam
Krieger (1634–66) and Johann Krieger (1652–1736) are noble examples of
the new style. The melodies of Johann Krieger are particularly charming,
and show strong rhythmical character and real artistic power. He employs
simple harmonies, yet shows more freedom and naturalness in modulation
than any of his predecessors.
We perceive in the music of these German masters the universal sway
which Italian opera already began to exercise. The opera—as the special
article on Italian music fully describes—had its beginning in Italy just
at the dawn of the seventeenth century. “Mysteries” and “liturgical
dramas”—both of them crude stage representations of episodes in biblical
history—had been common in Germany long before this time; and the church
musicians—Isaak, Senfl, Walther, Lasso and others—had worked to some
extent in this field. But it was not until the great Monteverde
(1568–1643) had embodied in his operatic works the results obtained by
the Bardi society of connoisseurs, and not until Carissimi had done
similar service for the oratorio, that the new principles began to take
root and develop in Germany. Johann Kapsberger, a composer, who resided
at Rome from 1610 to 1630, was the first German to adopt, to a
considerable extent, the new ideas concerning vocal composition. But
there soon arose in Germany a number of composers who cultivated the new
style, especially the oratorio, without losing their German
characteristics. Johann Gottlieb Staden (1581–1636), for instance, was a
Nuremberg composer of operettas. He had for his motto in art, “Italians
know not all, for Germans, too, have thoughts.” The works of Staden show
that the Germans from the outset had a tendency to characterize the
personages of the drama by the accompanying music. Unfortunately the
music of the first serious opera, “Dafne,” by Heinrich Schütz, the words
of which were translated from the text of Rinuccini, has been lost.
Although a considerable amount of creative energy was bestowed on
“Singspiele” and operas, especially by amateurs, it was not until
theatres were established in Germany that the opera enjoyed a
cultivation equal to that of the oratorio and church music.
The experiment of a permanent theatre was first made at Hamburg in 1678.
The determined zeal of Gerhard Schott, an influential jurist of that
city, made the attempt successful, and as long as he lived the opera did
not lack encouragement. This period embraces over sixty years. The first
performance at this theatre was a musical play by Johann Theile
(1646–1724), who had been under the instruction of Schütz in Weissenfels
and a former choir-master in Gottorp. This sacred, allegorical work was
succeeded by a number of similar pieces by the same composer. Other
successful masters of the same period were Franck, Strungk, the
celebrated violinist; also Förtsche, Conradi and Kusser. The
last-mentioned composer was appointed conductor in 1693, and was a
worthy forerunner of Keiser.
[Illustration:
HEINRICH SCHÜTZ
]
Reinhard Keiser was twenty-one years old when, in 1694, he was appointed
director of the Hamburg opera. He was a man of undoubted genius. His
productivity as a composer was immense. His works number about one
hundred and twenty operas, many of which contain, in addition to
choruses, recitatives, etc., no less than forty airs. In all his serious
operas there was no spoken dialogue. His works were very popular
throughout Germany. His activity was not confined to the stage, for he
composed church music, passion music and cantatas. He had a rare and
seemingly inexhaustible gift of melody, and his recitatives are
masterly, but his music lacks the breadth and massive strength of his
successor, Handel. “All that Keiser wrote,” says Mattheson, “was
uncommonly easy to sing, and was so easily caught by the ear that one
enjoys it without feeling any respect or intense admiration for it.”
Keiser lacked earnestness, and did not exert an enduring influence for
good on the Hamburg opera. He was willing to lend his art to the most
trivial and nonsensical farce, in order to afford amusement to the rough
and common people. Mattheson compares him with his more earnest
contemporary, Rosenmüller, whose sonatas were “like the fresh blue
salmon of the Elbe,” while Keiser’s light music was “like the smoked
golden herrings of the North Sea, which tickle the palate, but awake a
thirst for drink.” In place of the sacred spectacles and plays which at
the outset had formed the subject of the drama on the Hamburg stage, in
the course of time the gods and heroes of mythology, and vulgar farces,
began to divide the attention of the public. The stage spectacle grew
more and more sensational. Fireworks, devils, serpents, dragons, battle
scenes and all kinds of noises and sights were introduced. Not content
with mere humanity on the stage, various animals became personages in
the drama, and mingled their outcries with the music of the orchestra.
Then again, in some operas, no less than four different languages were
spoken and sung indiscriminately; yet in spite of all these absurdities,
the Hamburg opera remained worthy of the services of a Handel or a
Mattheson.
[Illustration:
FIRST SCENE IN KEISER’S OPERA OF “HANNIBAL.”
]
John Mattheson was a Hamburger by birth, and began his musical career as
a singer at the opera. He made his last appearance in that capacity in
Handel’s “Nero” in 1705. Mattheson was a man of remarkable versatility
of talent. He was a very prolific composer, but did not possess great
originality nor depth of conception. He was a good actor, singer, and a
finished performer on the harpsichord. As a literary musician he still
holds an eminent place. He used his facile pen in the composition of an
opera, or passion, or in the preparation of a musical essay; also in the
translation of some such pamphlet as that on “The Properties and Virtues
of Noble Tobacco.” His music, which once found so many enthusiastic
admirers, is no longer performed, but his writings are still of value to
students of musical literature. His most famous books are “The Complete
Art of Conducting,” “The Newly Opened Orchestra,” and the “Triumphal
Arch.” The last is especially valuable as a source of information
concerning the lives of musical artists. These works have a place in
every complete musical library.
A more gifted musician was Georg Philipp Telemann, who was born four
years earlier than Handel and Bach. Telemann was the last famous
composer for the Hamburg theatre. His works are more distinctly German
than the majority of those of the period, which was thoroughly under the
influence of Italy in all matters pertaining to opera Telemann’s name
marks the decline of the Hamburg stage. The time was not yet ripe for a
distinctively national style of opera. It was destined for Gluck and
Mozart, half a century later, to reform and develop German opera.
It has already been said that the oratorio enjoyed at first a steadier
and more constant development in Germany than the opera. Heinrich
Schütz, whom we have mentioned as the author of the first opera given in
Germany, was also the first prominent oratorio composer. He was born in
1585. By frequent visits to Venice, where he studied with Gabrieli, he
kept himself in touch with the musical life of Italy. Although Dresden
was the scene of his principal labors, the last twenty-five years of his
life were spent in Weissenfels, where he died in 1672. His larger works
are “The Passion” according to the four Evangelists, the “Story of the
Resurrection,” and the “Seven Last Words.” In the second of these works,
produced in Dresden in 1623, the form of the modern oratorio is clearly
defined. The customary “Introitus” is for six-part chorus, and the words
of the Evangelist are intoned. The more significant passages of the text
are selected for characteristic music. The _dramatis personæ_—the
Saviour, the Angel, Mary Magdelene, and some of the disciples—are given
prominence and individuality in various _cantilene_ movements, sometimes
for one or two voices. This distinguishes the new form of oratorio from
the older, in which everything was performed by choral masses. In
Schütz’s sacred symphonies and concertos he attained far greater finish
and variety in the solo numbers, and greater mastery in general. By his
attempts to tell the story in dramatic form, without the aid of scenery
or action, Schütz became the real founder of the modern German oratorio.
We cannot suppose, however, that Handel was acquainted with the music of
Schütz, for before the end of the seventeenth century his works were
generally forgotten; but his greater freedom of treatment, and dramatic
interest, established ideals in Germany which prevented the oratorio
from yielding in that country to the degenerating theatrical influence
which had such baneful effect on all forms of sacred music in Italy at
this period.
Contemporary with Schütz was J. H. Schein, who was noted for his sacred
concertos. Johannes Rosenmüller, who died in 1680, effected a more
regular construction of the concerto. His works in this form consist of
a series of separate movements, which show unity of character by the
repeated presence of some principal thought. Thus the form of the
cantata was established, in which Bach afterwards displayed such
wonderful activity. The immediate predecessors of Bach were Johann
Rudolph Ahle (1625–73), and his son Georg Ahle (1650–1706). In the
oratorios of the latter the form of the aria is clearly defined.
The account that has been given of the development of Protestant Church
music, and organ and clavier music, previous to Handel and Bach, may
serve to show the foundations on which their monumental works were
built. It was Handel’s mission to reconcile the church and secular
styles in his great oratorios. His long career as a dramatic composer
served as an admirable school for his talents; and when in middle life
he abandoned the field of Italian opera for the oratorio, he was so well
equipped that his triumphs were but as the natural result of his former
discipline. His forty operas shared the fate of all operas of that time;
not one holds a place on the modern stage. The operas of Handel are not
musical dramas in the sense of the present day. They consist chiefly of
a string of airs, with little or no dramatic action. His stage heroes
are generally trivial and insipid. It was destined for Gluck and Mozart
to reform the traditional Italian opera. Handel was content to avail
himself of the conditions of the opera as they then existed. His opera
airs are the best of his time; they are lyric, but not dramatic.
The dramatic talent of Handel did not find expression in his operas but
in his oratorios. The great heroes of Jewish history, like Samson, Saul
and Judas Maccabæus, are represented in a combined narrative and
dramatic form. Many of his oratorio solos are more dramatic than his
opera airs.
In the oratorio of “Samson,” for instance, the characters of Samson,
Delila, Minoah and Micah naturally suggest the dramatic scene. But it is
especially in the conflicting ideas and emotions of the people—the
chorus of Israelites, in opposition to the chorus of Philistines, the
heathen priests of Dagon, and the chorus of Virgins of Delila—that the
dramatic conflict is sharply defined with sublime choral effects. His
choruses are elemental in their irresistible and overwhelming power when
sung by large masses of voices. In this respect his choruses are unique
and have never been equalled. While Handel’s oratorios in general hold
the middle ground between the secular and church style of his time,
Bach’s great choral works belong more distinctly to the older church
style of Schütz and others.
As Palestrina marks the culmination of the unaccompanied (_a capella_)
church music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, so Bach is the
highest representative of Protestant Church music. Yet he is more than
this, for in his sacred cantatas and passions he reveals a nature more
profoundly religious than even Handel or Palestrina. His Passion music
to St. Matthew has no rival in its special form. It is the sublimest
conception in music of the trials and death of Jesus. Among similar
works before and during Bach’s time, his passions are the only ones that
have lived. The oratorio has replaced the passion; but the older form as
perfected by Bach possesses a certain reality and intensity of religious
fervor that not even the grandest oratorios of Handel can match, except
possibly the “Messiah.” Notwithstanding the sublimity, variety and vocal
effectiveness of the latter work, the St. Matthew Passion surpasses it
in lyric pathos and dramatic fire. Handel’s long experience with the
public, his Italian vocal training, the example of Purcell and other
masters of the English anthem, were important factors in his artistic
development, and enabled him to carry the art of solo and chorus
composition to the highest perfection. On the other hand, Bach’s
difficult choral style suggests the organ, and his airs, though full of
religious pathos, are often stiff and archaic in style.
Great as Bach is in his vocal works, he is still greater in his
instrumental music. Through him, for the first time in history,
instrumental music reaches a point of influence where it predominates.
He is justly considered as the true progenitor of modern instrumental
music, and largely to his influence we owe the subsequent wonderful
development of this youngest branch of art. Handel, on the other hand,
had little influence on instrumental music. His counterpoint is more
vocal than instrumental; he makes a more limited use of dissonances and
modulation. Bach stood far in advance of his time in these respects, and
anticipated many of the effects of the present day. His remarkable use
of chromatic and enharmonic modulation is exhibited in all his principal
works, especially in such movements as the great organ Fantasia in G
minor. (Volume II., Peters’ Edition.)
As a master of the fugue, nay, of all polyphonic writing, Bach stands
pre-eminent, a model for all time. We are overcome by the inexhaustible
wealth of his ideas, that seem as boundless as the forces of nature, and
we constantly feel the emotional depth and romantic sentiment of this
wonderful artist.
He not only perfected the stricter forms of counterpoint, but the older,
lighter forms found their ideal in his charming clavier suites, violin
sonatas, etc. His “Well-Tempered Clavichord” is a unique work, one of
the corner-stones of modern music.
Above all, his organ works are the very central point and acme of his
achievement. The great Prelude and Fugue in A minor, the Fantasia and
Fugue in G minor, the Toccata in F, the Passacaglia, and other organ
compositions are to be classed with Beethoven’s symphonies as among the
greatest works of art.
Notwithstanding the attempt to establish German opera at Hamburg,
Italian opera held full sway in Germany until the influence of Gluck and
Mozart was felt.
At the time when the great achievements of Sebastian Bach were almost
entirely unrecognized and unappreciated by his countrymen, his
contemporaries, Hasse and Graun, were lauded to the skies, and the
operas of the Neapolitan school, with their singer-triumphs, held all
Europe in subjection.
The Italians Steffani, Cimarosa, and Jomelli lived in Germany, and their
works were often given in the principal opera houses. It was then only
natural that Germans should seek public favor by adopting the prevailing
musical style. Chief among the writers in the Italian style were Johann
Adolf Hasse (1699–1783), Karl Heinrich Graun, and Johann Gottlieb
Naumann. The number of Hasse’s compositions is extremely great. They
include operas, oratorios, masses, cantatas, and instrumental movements
of every kind. The florid style of Italian vocal composition
predominated in his music. The harmonic structure is of the simplest
nature, and his instrumentation is without individuality. He had better
taste than most Italians of his time, and showed greater dramatic
instinct. On the whole it may be said that he represents the highest
attainment of the Italian opera of the school of Scarlatti. The music of
Graun, who was born in 1701, is not so purely Italian in style, and
certain of his sacred works, notably his passion music, entitled “Tod
Jesu” (Death of Jesus), are known at the present time. His recitatives,
like those of Hasse, are dry and insignificant. On the contrary, his
arias are more pleasing, and show the influence of Keiser. The songs of
Graun deserve mention. The compositions of Naumann (1741–1801) display
perfect facility in the Italian style; his career, however, was
interrupted by the appearance of Gluck and Mozart in the operatic field.
Gluck had a long experience as a dramatic composer before he entered on
the path which has rendered his name illustrious in the annals of music.
He was already advanced in years when he turned his back on the Italian
opera, and disclosed his plan of reform. His principles applied only in
their full force to the degenerate _opera seria_ of that period. These
ideas were by no means original with him; they had previously been
accepted, and realized by other musicians. They were, however, first
brought into the foreground by the production of his “Alcestis,”
“Orpheus,” “Iphigenia,” and other mature works, and divided the musical
world of that time into opposite parties.
[Illustration:
R. Bong. X.A.
KARL HEINRICH GRAUN.
]
It is remarkable that Gluck, who fought against the musical
inconsistencies and defects of his time, should not have felt the
necessity of reforming the dramatic construction of the opera, for he
showed a much keener insight and appreciation of dramatic effect than
the poets whose librettos he composed. He knew how to give
characteristic expression to the personalities of the play. His
characters may be read like an open book. In simplicity and dignity of
style he approached the Greek ideal.
While Gluck increased the significance of accompanied recitative and
insisted on truer methods of declamation, he would not allow the air the
same prominence that the Italians did. His airs are divested of all
richness of ornament and colorature. Many of them are noble in their
simplicity, but in general they lack sensuous charm and beauty. The
chorus was a very important feature of his operas, and fulfilled
something like its original object in ancient tragedy. In his dramatic
use of the orchestra, Gluck stood in advance of his time. He added new
instruments, and produced original and impressive effects which render
his orchestration interesting to musicians of the present day.
Notwithstanding the nobility and grandeur of his conceptions, he neither
fulfilled the ideal of the musical drama from the point of view of
Wagner, nor of the opera as perfected by Mozart. The latter embodied
Gluck’s ideas in works which surpass his in every respect except
dramatic simplicity.
The field of music in which Mozart stands pre-eminent is the opera. He
was endowed by nature and favored by opportunity to bring this form to
ideal perfection, at least as regards the musical element of the opera
of his time. He learned first of the Italians and then of Gluck, and
surpassed the highest accomplishments of both. “Don Giovanni” and
“Figaro” are the greatest of Italian operas. No one has ever united more
perfectly than Mozart precision and energy of dramatic expression with
the richest and purest melody. His dramatic characters are thoroughly
individualized by the music. Each one appears on the stage to remain
true and consistent to his or her individuality in every phase of
passion and conflict of action. This power of contrasting characters is
especially vivid in his concerted music, in the inimitable quartets and
sextets of his latest operas. For this purpose, Mozart exercised his
perfect command of vocal composition and polyphony.
Before his time the orchestra, as a means of dramatic expression and
coloring, was not appreciated, although Gluck pointed out the way. Under
Mozart it became more symphonic and massive in character. The solo
instruments became refined organs of feeling, giving color and sensuous
beauty to the vocal parts. The orchestration intensified the dramatic
fire of the scene from beginning to end. In his operas every feeling of
the heart finds utterance. A divine harmony and classic purity of form
distinguish his dramatic music, as, indeed, all his music, from the
little minuets which he composed as a child to his last operas and
symphonies. During the time of Gluck and Mozart the German operetta came
into existence. Mozart’s “Entführung” (Belmont and Constanza) is the
noblest example of this style. This new form of musical drama was
suggested by the French comic opera. It adopted the spoken dialogue for
the less dramatic moments of the play. It resembled, however, the French
operetta only externally, and soon developed a genuine German character.
This new species of musical play sought to do that which the brilliant
and conventional Italian opera could not accomplish, namely, interest
the great masses of the people. This was at first possible only through
inartistic exaggeration of the realities of life, and by the
introduction of humorous elements of a distinctly coarse kind. But the
general demand for musical plays of this class gradually attracted to
their composition writers of real musical and dramatic ability.
Johann Adam Hiller (1728–1804) was the first German who became prominent
as a composer of operettas. “Lottchen at Court,” “Rustic Affection,” and
“The Hunt” are his principal operettas. The last named was given not
less than forty times during a short theatre season in Berlin in 1771.
Even before this time the operetta had become so generally popular that
a writer had had occasion to remark that tragedies and legitimate
comedies were being driven to the wall. Yet there was one serious
obstacle to the operetta’s rapid artistic development. The good singers
were monopolized by theatres giving Italian opera, and operetta managers
had to take what was left.
Vienna soon began to acquire the prominence in operetta performances for
which it is distinguished at the present day. In 1778, the erection by
Joseph II. of the “Deutsches Nationalsingspiel” was a sign of the
growing popularity of this new form of entertainment, and gave a
powerful incentive to the composers of such works. Operettas of Gluck,
Mozart, Salieri, Umlauf, Schenck and others attained great popularity
here. In 1786, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf scored a signal success with
his “Doctor and Apothecary.” This versatile musician soon became a
favorite of the entire nation. Born at Vienna in 1739, he first became
prominent as a violinist. Later his symphonies, concertos, quartets,
oratorios, etc., became well known. In all these forms, however, he was
surpassed by others. He possessed, it is true, much cleverness, but his
counterpoint was not faultless, and he wrote too much and too
superficially. In comedy and farce he took the lead. His melodies are
lively and flowing, characteristic and very catching. He learned much
from Haydn, but something also from French composers. His “Doctor and
Apothecary,” “Jeremiah Knicker,” and “Red Riding Hood” gained for him
great popularity. In all, he wrote twenty-eight such works. His
autobiography, published in 1801, two years after his death, is also a
work of remarkable freshness and interest.
In Gotha, the conductor, George Benda (1721–99), produced operas which
became popular in Germany. His melodramas, in which the text was spoken
to the accompaniment of fitting music, were novelties, and became even
more favorably known. Munich was identified with more serious
undertakings in dramatic music through Peter von Winter (1754–1825),
Court Kapellmeister. This once highly esteemed master composed numerous
operas, the most popular of which were “The Labyrinth,” “Marie of
Mantalban,” and “Unterbrochene Opferfest.” The last is still
occasionally performed. Likewise Mannheim—which from Mozart’s time until
to-day has been devoted to the highest interests of music—became the
scene of serious operatic endeavors. Ignaz Holzbauer (1711–83) wrote
several operas during his conductorship of the theatre in that city.
The most prominent of the composers who succeeded Dittersdorf was Johann
Friedrich Reichardt, whose interesting literary work, “Letters of an
Observant Traveller,” is full of useful information. Born in 1752, he
became orchestral conductor to Frederick the Great in 1775, and was
salt-inspector in a town near Halle, at the time of his death in 1814.
He was liberally educated, travelled much, and was acquainted with many
of the prominent persons of his time. Few of his works have lived, and
those which have survived are chiefly songs. He produced, however, an
enormous amount of music. His imagination was not equal to his
understanding or his artistic intentions, and, indeed, he was to a great
extent a mere copyist. A single new form is due to him, the
“Liederspiel,” the musical part of which, as the name suggests, consists
only of songs.
The development of the opera in Germany, during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, has now been traced, and next we will turn our
attention to the progress of instrumental music after Sebastian Bach.
No more remarkable instance of lack of appreciation of a great man’s
genius has ever been known than that furnished by the history of Bach’s
works. The reasons for this are perhaps twofold. Like Shakespeare, Bach
must have been ignorant of the supreme excellence of his artistic
creations. Hence, like many other great men, he occupied himself little
with the dissemination of his works, except those used in teaching. Not
only the musical world, but even Bach’s immediate family and pupils were
unable to appreciate his significance and to use his compositions in a
way most advantageous to the development of music. It would indeed be
interesting to know what difference it might have made in the
development of music in Germany if Haydn, and especially Mozart, had
enjoyed opportunities of intimate acquaintance with Bach’s works.[24]
[Illustration:
JOHANN FRIEDRICH REICHARDT.
]
Only a few of his organ compositions, the “Well-Tempered Clavichord” and
some of his other clavier music, seem to have been generally known in
Haydn’s and Mozart’s time. It was only indirectly through his sons and
other pupils that his powerful influence on instrumental music was then
felt.
Among Bach’s numerous pupils the most noted, besides his own sons, were
Krebs, Altnickol, Agricola, Vogler, and the theorists, Marpurg and
Kirnberger. His most distinguished sons were, Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl
Philipp Emanuel, Johann Christoph Friedrich, known as the Bückeburg
Bach, and Johann Christian, called the Milanese Bach. Wilhelm Friedemann
Bach (1710–84) was the eldest son of Sebastian Bach. He was a genius,
and his father bestowed great care on his musical training, and had
great hopes of his future. He studied at the St. Thomas School and
university of Leipsic, where he distinguished himself in mathematics.
For a number of years he held a position as organist at Dresden. In 1747
he became director and organist at Halle. In later years he led a wild
and wandering life, and finally died in utter want and misery in Berlin.
He was perhaps the greatest organist of his time, and was famous for his
wonderful improvisations. He wrote a large number of compositions, many
of which are preserved in the Berlin Royal Library, but few of which are
published.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was born at Weimar in 1714. In his youth he
studied law thoroughly, and busied himself with music rather as an
amateur than as one who intended to make it a profession. His attention
was devoted chiefly to piano playing and the art of improvisation,
which, thanks to his father’s rare teaching, he carried to the highest
degree of perfection. He was destined, after all, to make music his
life-work. He had hardly completed his university studies when he
received an invitation from the crown prince of Prussia, afterward
Frederick the Great, to accept a musical position at court. He accepted,
and remained in his service for a number of years. In 1767 he became
successor of Telemann as conductor of the opera at Hamburg, where he
remained until his death. By his daily practice in improvisation,
Emanuel Bach acquired a freedom and elegance of style equalled by no
other German master except his father. His position and intercourse with
the best society were not without good influence on his music. He
possessed hardly a tithe of his father’s genius; but, as he lived more
in the world, he became a man of fashion and popularity. In his day his
name was far better known than that of his father, and musicians looked
upon Emanuel Bach as the great authority. Even Mozart said of him: “He
is the father; we are mere children. Those of us who can do anything
right in music have learned it of him. Although we could not be
satisfied nowadays to do what he did, nevertheless, no one was able to
equal him in what he did.” He was an inferior vocal composer. It was
chiefly as a clavichord player and composer that he took first rank. His
refined style and uncommon finish of execution excited universal wonder.
Emanuel Bach’s vocal works embrace two oratorios; twenty-two passions;
sacred cantatas; Singspiele; sanctus for two choirs; sacred and secular
songs, etc. His works for clavier are very numerous, consisting of
sonatas, concertos and solos. Eighteen of his orchestral compositions
are published by Breitkopf and Härtel.
Emanuel Bach’s talent as a teacher was evinced in his celebrated
treatise, “On the True Art of Playing the Clavichord,” which contains
the principles of all good piano playing. But his greatest services to
modern music were rendered in his sonatas and symphonies, in which he
not only enlarged the form, but also increased the means of expression
and of instrumental effects. Emanuel Bach exercised a great influence on
the clavier sonata, and first brought it into prominence. The so-called
sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti were single, brilliant movements which
resembled the prelude. Sebastian Bach’s sonatas for the organ, clavier
and violin, etc., in three or four movements, were more or less fugal
and strict. Emanuel Bach combined the solidity of the style of his
father with the brilliancy and lightness of Scarlatti. Although it
remained for Haydn to develop fully the principle of free thematic
music, the germ of the modern style existed in the sonatas of Emanuel
Bach. The habit of improvisation gave full scope to the play of his
imagination, and consequently his works are characterized by a certain
ease and brilliancy which distinguish him from his predecessors. He made
more use than formerly of contrasted themes in the several movements of
the sonata, and they were brought into relation to each other by means
of free passages. His “Salon” style is distinguished for its elegance
and grace, ornateness and playfulness, and well represents the polite
world in which he lived.
Having traced the early development of organ and clavier music, we will
turn our attention, for a moment, to the growth of orchestral music to
the advent of Haydn, and the so-called classical period of modern
instrumental music. During the first half of the seventeenth century the
instruments used in connection with the opera served a subordinate
position. The accompaniments of the recitatives and arias consisted of a
ground bass (_basso continuo_) for chittarone, organ, clavier, etc.,
which supplied the chords indicated by figures. In the opera-madrigals
the orchestral accompaniment was simply a reproduction of the vocal
parts, on wind and stringed instruments. In the course of time
instrumental ritornelli were introduced to relieve the solo voices, and
melodic phrases were given to the instruments. The first operas
generally opened with a flourish of trumpets or with a madrigal played
by the instruments alone; sometimes dances played by the instruments
were introduced in course of the opera.
The opera overture was invented subsequently, probably by Lully. It
consisted, at first, of three short movements, slow, quick, slow.
Scarlatti and his contemporaries adopted the overture, and changed the
order of the movements to _allegro_, _adagio_, _allegro_.
With the perfection of the violin and the other stringed instruments,
about the beginning of the eighteenth century, solo playing became more
and more artistic. With Corelli, sonatas and suites for one or more
violins and clavier became the fashion. At this time the orchestra was
well organized, so far as the true relation of the string band to the
wind instruments is concerned.
The cultivation of chamber music was encouraged by titled and
fashionable people, and virtuosos on various orchestral instruments
appeared. Thus instrumental music began to be cultivated independent of
the opera and church music.
[Illustration: CHARLES PHILIPPE EMMANUEL BACH]
The three-movement form suggested by the overture was the type of this
independent orchestral music, under the names of symphony, concerto, or
suite. Such were the orchestral symphonies of Sammartini, the famous
Milanese conductor of the first half of the eighteenth century. His is
the first prominent name in this field. He was soon followed by German
composers, among whom were Stamitz, J. C. Bach, Abel, Wagenseil,
Cannabich and Emanuel Bach.
Among noted German instrumental soloists of this period were Johann
Georg Pisendel (1687–1755), who was celebrated as a violinist, and
composed concertos for solo violin and string quartet, which were
considered as among the best of that time.
Franz Benda (1709–86), Georg Benda and Ignaz Holzbauer (1711–83) were
likewise able masters of the violin, and had large experience as
orchestral musicians.
Under Stamitz and Cannabich the Mannheim orchestra became a famous
organization.
Johann Karl Stamitz, who was born in 1719, became in 1745 director of
music for the Elector of Mannheim. His works have no interest for the
hearers of to-day, but in the characteristic elements of the modern
form, they represent a distinct advance over those of his predecessors.
In general, they are imitations of the symphonies of Sammartini. The
pupil and successor of Stamitz, Christian Cannabich, was born in 1731.
Considering the superlative praise which Mozart bestowed upon this
conductor, we cannot doubt that the playing of the Mannheim band was of
great service to Mozart in his orchestral works, by increasing his
knowledge of instrumental expression.
In 1756, the year of Mozart’s birth, this orchestra had two concert
masters, ten first and ten second violins, four violas, four
violoncellos, two contra-basses, two flutes, two oboes, two bassoons,
four horns, twelve trumpets, two kettle drums, two organists, besides
twenty-four singers. About 1767 clarinets were added, and years later
Mozart learned how to use the clarinets from hearing them in the
Mannheim orchestra.
Burney says of the Mannheim orchestra, “This is the birthplace of the
crescendo and diminuendo”; and the philosopher, Schubart, is recorded as
saying of the orchestra under Cannabich, “Here the forte is a thunder,
the crescendo a cataract, the diminuendo a crystal stream babbling away
into the far distance, the piano a breeze of spring.” As for the
symphonies of Cannabich, they do not seem to represent any advance
toward the establishment of modern form.
From the preceding account it will be seen that the external form of the
symphony was already partly determined when Haydn began his artistic
career. Under his treatment and that of his successors its growth, in
all respects, was marvellous.
Haydn is justly called the real creator of the modern symphony and
string quartet. He enlarged the works, as a whole, extended the separate
movements in their larger and smaller divisions, and developed the
so-called art of free thematic treatment. He first gave musical
clearness, order and variety to the form, and adapted it to the
expression of the multitude of different phases of musical thought. The
stricter thematic imitations of the older masters gave way to that free
thematic play which has been an element of all concert music since his
time.
In Haydn’s development of this principle we recognize a power of
invention and fertility of imagination only equalled by few others. The
originality of Haydn cannot be over-estimated. He discovered a new world
in music. An infinite variety of musical effect was produced by his new
art of motive-building. Haydn also laid the foundation of modern
orchestration. He understood, as no one before his day, the true scope
of the combined stringed instruments. In his string quartets, even more
than his symphonies, his mastery of the technical effects of the solo
strings is most complete; for though the possibilities of tone-color are
greater with the full orchestra, yet in Haydn’s quartets there is a
wealth of musical expression and a certain charm of style which place
them beside those of Mozart and Beethoven.
The tragic fire and grandeur of thought so characteristic of Beethoven
have their counterpart in the geniality, humor and playfulness of Haydn.
The symphonies of Beethoven may be compared with tragedies, Haydn’s with
comedies. “Papa” Haydn is never tragic nor sarcastic. His seriousness is
imbued with contentment, never tinged with despair. He overflows with
good humor, and is fond of a musical joke now and then; yet he is
intensely serious at heart, and his mirthful compositions never leave
the impression of superficiality. Haydn prepared the ground for Mozart
and Beethoven. One master cannot be considered without reference to the
other. Mozart and Beethoven obtained the form of the symphony from
Haydn; on the other hand, it was not until Mozart’s last works had
appeared that Haydn produced his finest symphonies and quartets. In his
use of the wind instruments, Mozart was the indispensable teacher of
both Haydn and Beethoven.
[Illustration: