From a photograph from life by Naumann, of Leipsic.
(See page 595.)
]
We come now to the more recent and widely celebrated composers, Raff,
Brahms, Rubinstein, Goldmark, Bruch and Rheinberger, who form the
subject of special articles in this work. These masters are not to be
classed with the new movement inaugurated by Berlioz and Liszt in
concert music and by Wagner in the music-drama, but with the
“classical-romantic” masters. Raff, it is true, wrote “program” music,
but he differs from Berlioz and Liszt in holding almost strictly to the
regular construction of the symphonic form. Though Raff, in his earlier
days, was a warm advocate of the ideas of Wagner, his own music bears
little relation to the great works of the musical dramatist. Raff has a
style of his own. He never repeated himself, notwithstanding the
enormous amount of music he composed. This fertility of ideas was in
fact a source of weakness, since it rendered him careless in the choice
of themes, and blunted his feeling for what was truly refined and
elevated. He often failed to keep to the high level of the true
symphonic spirit and style. His “salon” style crops out here and there.
The “Lenore” and “Im Walde” symphonies are his most celebrated works.
[Illustration: