The Romantic Orchestral Composers
Beethoven and his nine symphonies--Significance of his
work--His technical alterations--His romanticism--Meaning
of classicism and romanticism--The symphonic poem and the
programme overture--The Liszt piano concertos--Successors of
Beethoven--Berlioz and his programme symphonies--Tschaikowsky
and Dvorak--The music of Johannes Brahms.
The classical period in musical history is that in which composers
appear to have been engaged in perfecting the form and technic of
composition. The impulse which led them to make their improvements was
the romantic impulse, for by romanticism in music we mean an impulse
which urges the composer toward expression. Such an impulse has always
been at work in music, but it was impossible for the classical composers
to give it free exercise, because they had not fully established a
method of composition. Beethoven found the method pretty well
formulated. His material was ready to his hand. In the sonata form his
predecessors had prepared for him a vehicle which they had fully proved
to be capable of a clear, logical, and luminous presentation and
development of beautiful musical ideas. It remained for Beethoven to
prove that the symphony, the orchestral sonata, was not only the most
complex, diversified, and yet organically unified of all musical forms,
but that most thoroughly suited to the embodiment of great
mood-pictures, outpourings of love, suffering, despair, joy, triumph. It
remained for Beethoven to show how the four movements of a symphony,
without any merely technical links, could be made to picture a
succession of emotional states which should have a natural variety and
an equally natural homogeneity.
Because Beethoven's symphonies stand to-day as the highest types of
absolute music, and because all of them are living music, heard in
concert rooms, I quote the list with dates of production, etc., from Sir
George Grove's admirable work: "Beethoven and his Nine Symphonies."
----+---------+-----+----------+-------------------+-----------------
| |Opus | |Date of Completion | Date of First
No. | Key. | No. | Title. |when ascertainable.| Performance.
----+---------+-----+----------+-------------------+-----------------
1 | C | 21 | | | April 2, 1800
2 | D | 36 | | | April 5, 1803
3 | E-flat | 55 | Eroica | August, 1804 | April 7, 1805
4 | B-flat | 60 | | 1806 | March, 1807
5 | C minor | 67 | | | Dec. 22, 1808
6 | F | 68 | Pastoral | | Dec. 22, 1808
7 | A | 92 | | May (?) 13, 1812 | Dec. 8, 1813
8 | F | 93 | | October, 1812 | Feb. 27, 1814
9 | D minor | 125 | Choral | August, 1823 | May 7, 1824
----+---------+-----+----------+-------------------+-----------------
In the chapter on the sonata I have already mentioned some of the
details of Beethoven's developments. As displayed in his symphonies the
technical changes which call for especial mention are first strikingly
seen in the "Eroica." Here we find that Beethoven made the progress from
his first to his second subject (see outline of first movement form,
Chap. X.) in a thoroughly logical and organic manner. In the working out
he introduced new melodic episodes, but he never forgot that they were
subordinate to the two melodic topics of his movement. In the third part
of the first movement he introduced a coda of 140 measures, in which new
subject matter is introduced, and part of it made to act as a "descant"
above the first principal theme.
[Music: 1st subject of "Eroica."
_Part of Coda._
1ST VIOLINS.
2D VIOLINS.
BASSES. etc.]
As Sir George Grove has said, "this coda is no mere termination to a
movement which might have ended as well without it. No, it is an
essential part of the poem, and will be known as such. It is one of
Beethoven's great inventions, and he knows it, and starts it in such a
style that no one can possibly overlook what he is doing." In the same
symphony Beethoven entitles his slow movement "March," and his third
movement "Scherzo." Both of these titles were new to the symphony. The
finale is made more important and more expressive than it has ever been
in any previous work. In his sixth symphony Beethoven gave each of the
movements descriptive titles, such as "Scene by the brook." This was a
distinct innovation in symphonic writing, and the artistic beauty and
eloquence of the work prove that the symphony as a form was capable of
the most free expressiveness. In the fifth symphony the composer
demonstrated in the convincing manner the complete organization of the
form by using a single motive, that which introduces the work, as the
germ and the connecting instrument of the whole. The fifth symphony is
the most convincing of all Beethoven's works. Its portrayal of man's
struggle against fate and his final triumph is superb; yet in form the
symphony is absolutely perfect. In his seventh symphony he developed the
slow introduction to the first movement, which has previously occupied a
dozen measures, to sixty-two. In his ninth symphony he made his only
confession of the inadequacy of his instrumental means. He introduced
voices. The ninth symphony is a work of transcendent genius, and its
effect justifies its method; but the use of voices in instrumental works
since has almost inevitably failed. Only Beethoven could bridge the
chasm between musical mood-pictures without words and music leaning on
the shoulder of text.
Beethoven's symphonies are the connecting link between the classic and
romantic schools. They are classic because they adhere to the classic
form; they are romantic because they are the instruments of direct,
intentional, and highly designed expression. Beethoven was satisfied to
accomplish the full achievement of expression within the limits of the
classic form. His successors, despairing of succeeding on the same
lines, and urged by a desire for personal and representative expression
as strong as his, broke away from the classic form of the sonata, but to
this day have never been able to escape the sovereignty of its
fundamental principles. The kinds of musical devices which Beethoven
employed in making his designs expressive, in the widest and deepest
sense of that word, may not be discussed here. To attempt to discuss
them would lead the reader into the field of pure musical technics. The
great fact for him to keep in mind is this: Beethoven seized upon the
musical material left him by his predecessors, and instead of employing
it to produce simple beauty, used it to express his inner life, treating
that life as typical and hence as capable of representation in the broad
tints of orchestral music. His successors in the composition of
symphonic music have followed his lead, some adhering to the classical
form and others departing from it, according to the bent of their
genius. All of them, however, have sought to employ the power of music
to express emotion, some following plans with broad outlines and others
endeavoring to enter into detail. Because these composers have
proclaimed the expressive power of music, they are classed as
romanticists. It should be noted, however, that many historians include
in the classic school all those who adhere strictly to the classic form.
A product of the romantic school is called "programme music." This means
music which is intended to illustrate a definite story, and its best
examples are those which endeavor to illustrate wholly by voicing in
music the sequence of emotions contained in the tale, with the aid of
such descriptive music as will convey some idea of the scenic
surroundings. The reader will readily understand that some acquaintance
with the composer's purpose is necessary to an appreciation of such
music. A key to the plan is offered usually by the title. A composition
labelled "Macbeth" would, of course, be understood as intended to
illustrate Shakespeare's tragedy, and the hearer would naturally call to
his aid in listening to it his knowledge of the drama. Two familiar
forms of programme music have grown out of the attempts of the
romanticists. One of these is the symphonic poem, and the other the
programme overture. The symphonic poem is a composition symphonic in
style and general treatment, but shorter than a symphony and without
pauses between its movements and designed to illustrate a story. An
attentive listener will find that a symphonic poem contains definite
principal themes, development or working out, climaxes, and conclusion,
for no matter what the sequence of emotions in the story may be, the
fundamental laws of musical form must be observed. The programme
overture is an overture built on lines much the same as those of a
symphonic poem, but designed as a musical prelude to a play, or a poem
of dramatic contents, as, for example Tschaikowsky's "Hamlet" overture,
or Goldmark's "Sakuntala" overture. The latter belongs to a poem.
In addition to these forms the romanticists have made certain
alterations in the old sonata form. One of Schumann's symphonies, that
in D minor, is in the usual four movements, but without any pauses
between them, and the principal subjects of the work are heard in
various forms in the various movements. This plan was followed by Liszt
in his piano concertos, which are played without pauses and have their
several movements largely developed from the themes announced at the
beginning of the works.
The principal symphonic writers since Beethoven have been Ludwig Spohr
(1784-1859), Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Felix Mendelssohn-Bartoldy
(1809-1847), Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Hector Berlioz (1803-1869),
Franz Liszt (1811-1886), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Peter Ilitisch
Tschaikowsky (1840-1893) and Antonin Dvorak (1841,--still living).
Spohr's symphonies are generally classic in form, but romantic in
subject and treatment, as is indicated by their titles, "Lenore" (on
Burger's poem), "Power of Sound," "Consecration of Tones." Schubert's
symphonies are also classic in form, and only mildly romantic in
content. Schubert was one of the leaders of the romantic school, but his
romanticism found its most complete embodiment in his songs.
Mendelssohn's symphonies are absolutely classic in form and in the
finish of their style and instrumentation, but they are romantic in
tendency. His overtures--such as "Hebrides" and "Melusine"--are
unquestionably of the romantic spirit. Schumann was an ultra-romanticist
and his piano music teems with compositions with suggestive titles, such
as "Papillons" and "Carnival." His symphonies are romantic in the
fulness of their plan to embody emotion. Hector Berlioz, the famous
French symphonist, was one of the extreme romanticists. His symphonies
are really symphonic poems in several detached movements and are all
original in form. Sometimes he uses voices to help him out, but usually
he is content with the orchestra, which he handled with a marvellous
insight into its capacity. His symphonies all bear suggestive
titles,--as "Romeo and Juliet" or "Harold in Italy," and are designed to
illustrate stories. Franz Liszt was the inventor of the symphonic poem,
and is included in this catalogue chiefly for that reason. His works are
very rich in color, and occasionally rise to a level of real power.
Tschaikowsky was a Russian composer and produced six symphonies, all of
which depart from the strict classic form, make free use of Russian
style in their melodies, and are intensely romantic in spirit. His fifth
symphony introduces a slow waltz instead of a scherzo. His sixth, the
"Symphony Pathetique," is one of the noblest of modern symphonies. Its
second movement is a waltz in five-fourth measure (five beats to the
bar), its third a scherzo which turns into a march, and its last is the
slow movement. In the first movement a partial working out of each theme
follows immediately upon the first appearance of the theme. Dvorak is a
Bohemian, and most of his works are Slavonic in color. He has introduced
as a slow movement the "Dumka," or elegy, and in place of the scherzo
the "furiant," which is explained by its name. During a stay in the
United States he conceived the idea that an American element could be
introduced into music by using themes resembling those of negro songs
and Indian chants. His chief exemplification of his theory is found in
his symphony in E minor, "From the New World." Dvorak's symphonies
adhere closely to the principles of the sonata form, and are very
popular in style without descending from the level of artistic music.
The music of Johannes Brahms has given rise to a great deal of
controversy. Most recent writers have shown a tendency to break away
from the strict letter of the sonata form, and too many commentators
have come to mistake manner for matter. In calling those writers classic
who have adhered to the classic sonata they have too often denied to
them the possession of romantic feeling. At the same time some
commentators have seemed to think that it was a work of virtue to
preserve the sonata form precisely as it was left to us by the hand of
Beethoven, while others held that any man who adhered to it was a mere
formalist. It was criticism of this kind which obscured the merits of
the late Johannes Brahms in his early days. It was not difficult for the
commentators to perceive that Brahms employed the sonata form, and that
he preserved the outlines laid down by Beethoven. For that they praised
him, as if it were a _sine qua non_ of absolute music that it should be
in the sonata form. It is generally conceded that that form is the most
intellectual, the most highly organized, which has yet been devised; but
it is not and ought not to be conceded that a man is bound to adhere to
that form. If he can produce another which presents an equally
convincing process of musical development and conclusion, he deserves
laudation as one who is not a mere student of forms, but is a master of
the philosophy of form.
A piece of music is not necessarily formless because it is not built on
the model of one of the acknowledged forms. A composer is not a heretic
because he builds a new pattern. But there are certain fundamentals of
form, and these we should demand in every work. In the simplest music we
should require that there be recognizable a beginning, a middle, and an
end. We should demand discernible rhythms and symmetrical phrases, and
we should require that these be exhibited throughout the composition
with evident design. In the higher forms there ought to be melodic
subjects, and these subjects ought to be discussed and developed. It is
almost impossible to escape the cyclic form, with its proposition,
discussion, and conclusion; but if the composer does escape it, we must
insist upon it that he adhere to the essential principle of repetition
and that he distribute his repetitions in such a manner as to preserve
the symmetry and balance of his work and to effect an organic unity. His
work should contain nothing that does not belong to it. Every phrase
should be, as W. A. Hadow suggests, "inevitable."
On the other hand a man is not necessarily a mere formalist because he
clings to the old-fashioned sonata form. Brahms's compositions show a
completeness of architectonic detail, superimposed upon a symmetrical
and inevitable organic development, such as are to be found in those of
no other symphonist, except Beethoven. Why deny to the late Viennese
master depth of feeling because he fashioned the expression of that
feeling with all the force of a gigantic musical intellect? Brahms's
music grows slowly in popular favor because it is not easy for the
careless hearer to grasp its inner spirit. But it is not true that
music, to be real music, demands a Swinburnian diction.
"The low downs lean to the sea; the stream,
One loose, thin, pulseless, tremulous vein,
Rapid and vivid and dumb as a dream,
Works downward, sick of the sun and the rain;
No wind is rough with the rank rare flowers;
The sweet sea, mother of loves and hours,
Shudders and shines as the gray winds gleam,
Turning her smile to a fugitive pain."
That is great poetry, and the rhythm and the melody and feeling of it
are as the music of Chopin and Schumann. But this also is great
poetry:--
"And chiefly thou, O spirit! that dost prefer
Before all temples the upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for thou knowest; thou from the first
Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread,
Dovelike sat'st brooding on the vast abyss,
And madest it pregnant; what in me is dark
Illumine! what is low raise and support!
That to the height of this great argument
I may assert eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men."
But the melody and the rhythm and the emotion of it are as the music of
Brahms. Some day, I think, if not soon, the world will see how
profoundly representative of his nation and his time Brahms was, and he
will be hailed, as Milton was, an organ voice of his country. The
irresistible seriousness of Germany has never spoken with more
convincing accent than in the music of Brahms. There is a feeling in
this music which is far removed from the possibility of a purely
sensuous embodiment. It may take time for the entire musical world to
come under the spell of this austere utterance; but Brahms had the
happiness of knowing ere he died that wherever music was cultivated his
individuality at least had made itself known.