period was Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), who was born at Bergamo and
educated at Naples. His first opera was produced in Vienna in 1818,
but his first complete success was "_Anna Bolena_," which was written
for Milan in 1830, the principal parts having been taken by Pasta and
Rubini. Soon after this followed "_L'Elisir d'Amore_" (1832), "_Lucia
di Lammermoor_" (Naples, 1835), "_Lucrezia Borgia_" (1834),
"_Belisario_" (1836), "_Poliuto_" (1838), "_La Fille du Régiment_"
(1840), "_La Favorita_," "_Linda di Chamounix_" (1842), "_Don
Pasquale_" (1843). Besides these well known works there were many
others, the total number reaching sixty-three, brought out in various
Italian theaters and in Paris. Donizetti's traits as a composer are
pleasant melody, effective concerted pieces (as, for instance, the
sextette in "_Lucia_," which is perhaps the best concerted piece in
Italian opera), and a good constructive ability. Like Rossini he was a
writer of florid music, and "_Lucia_" remains one of the favorite
numbers of _coloratura_ singers to the present day, which, considering
that more than fifty years have intervened since it was composed, is a
great compliment.
Vincenzo Bellini (1802-1835) was born at Catania, in Switzerland, the
son of an organist. He was educated at Naples under Zingarelli, his
first opera having been composed in 1826, while he was still a member
of the Conservatory. It was "_Bianca e Fernando_," produced at San
Carlos. His next work, "_Il Pirata_," was written for _La Scala_ in
Milan, the tenor part having been especially designed for the
celebrated Rubini. Among the other successful operas of this composer
were "_I Capuletti e i Montecchi_" (in 1830), "_La Sonnambula_" (1831,
at _La Scala_), "_Norma_" and "_I Puritani_." It was this latter work
which contains a brilliant duet for two basses, "_Suona la Tromba_,"
of which Rossini wrote from Paris to a friend at Milan, "It is
unnecessary for me to write of the duet for two basses. You must have
heard it." Bellini was essentially a melodist, a lyric composer of
ideallic _naiveté_. Of dramatic power he had very little. His
orchestration is simple, although frequently very sonorous. If he had
lived to the age of Donizetti or of Rossini it is not impossible that
much greater works would have emanated from his pen, for in his next
great successor we have an example of such a growth under conditions
less favorable than those promised in Bellini's case.
[Illustration: Fig. 89.
GIUSEPPE VERDI.]
The most vigorous of all the Italian composers of this epoch is
Giuseppe Verdi, who was born at Roncole, October 9, 1813, his father
having been a small inn keeper. The boy was of a quiet, melancholy
character, with one passion--music; and when he was seven years of age
his father purchased a spinet for his practice. When he was ten years
old he was appointed organist of the Church in his native town. At
this time his necessary expenditures amounted to about $22 per year,
and his salary as organist $7.20, which after many urgent appeals was
increased to $8. In addition he had certain perquisites from weddings
and funerals, amounting to about $10 per year. In this way he
continued until he was sixteen, having by this time become conductor
of a philharmonic society, and the composer of quite a number of
works, at the little town of Dusseto. He went to Milan, where he was
refused admission to the Conservatory on the ground of his showing no
special aptitude for music. Nevertheless, he persevered in his chosen
vocation, receiving lessons of Rolla, the conductor of _La Scala_. He
studied diligently for two years, Mozart's "_Don Giovanni_" being a
part of his daily exercise. After this he returned for five years to
his country life, and by the time he was twenty-five he was back again
in Milan, in the hope of securing the performance of his opera,
"_Oberto_." This for quite a long time he was unable to do, but at
length in 1839 it was performed at _La Scala_. The moderate success of
this work secured him an engagement to produce an opera every eight
months for Milan or Vienna. But his first work, a comic opera which
the managers demanded, "_Un Giorno di Regno_," was a dead failure, and
disgusted the composer to such a point that he declared that he would
never write again. At this time Verdi was the victim of most severe
affliction. In addition to poverty, within the space of about two
months he experienced the loss of his two children and of his wife, to
whom he was devotedly attached. After living some time in Milan, he
received a copy of the libretto, "_Il Proscritto_," and in 1842 it was
performed. It was well staged, and achieved an unqualified success.
Then followed "_I Lombardi_" (1843), "_Ernani_" (1844), "_I Due
Foscari_" (1844), "_Attila_" (1846), "Macbeth" (1847), "_Rigoletto_"
(1851), "_Il Trovatore_" (1853), "_La Traviata_" (1853), "_Les Vepres
Siciliennes_" (1855), "_Un Ballo in Maschera_" (1859), "_La Forza del
Destino_" (1862), "_Don Carlos_" (1867), "_Aida_" (1871), "_Otello_"
(1887). In addition to these works he has written a great "Requiem
Mass," and many smaller works. Besides the operas above mentioned
there were several others now mostly forgotten, the total number being
twenty-nine; and there is not one of them that does not contain more
or less of striking melody, with effective concerted pieces and
choruses. Verdi's melody was much more vigorous than that of either of
his predecessors. In "_Trovatore_" there are ten or twelve numbers
which have become famous in the barrel-organ repertory. His
instrumentation was very full and sonorous, and his dramatic instinct
excellent. We do not find the long roulades and ornamental passages
according to the taste of his predecessors, but instead of them,
clear, sharp, concise, manly melodies--unfortunately, however, they
are so near the line of the vulgar that only a refined treatment on
the part of the singer can save them for poetry and beauty.
Beginning with "_Aida_," a very important change can be seen in
Verdi's style. By the time this work was undertaken the Wagnerian
theories were attracting general attention, and it was impossible that
a man of Verdi's intellectual force should have failed to be affected
by them. "_Aida_" is much more refined and dramatically truthful than
any of those before it. As the composer was now an old man nothing
farther was expected from his pen. Nevertheless, in "_Otello_," he has
given the world a masterpiece of a still higher order, the music
throughout being subservient to the story, while the dramatic handling
of the work is masterly in the extreme. For this he was in part
indebted to his librettist, the distinguished poet and composer,
Signor Arrigo Boito. The strangest thing in regard to Verdi is that at
the present writing (1891) he is engaged upon a comic opera,
"Falstaff," a subject which he says has interested him for about forty
years, but which until now he has never had time to undertake. As a
man and a patriot Verdi is held in the highest possible honor in
Italy; and for his own original genius, as displayed in his works, and
especially in his aptitude for progress, no less than for his
dignified and simple private life, he deserves to be admired as the
foremost Italian master of the present century.
One of the most earnest among Italian composers and musicians is
Arrigo Boito (1842), who, from an origin which is German from his
mother's side, possesses an earnestness and force in music not usual
in southern lands. After composing two cantatas, which had a good
success, his grand opera of "_Mefistofele_" was produced at Milan in
1868, and later in other leading cities. Two more operas "Hero and
Leander" and "Nero" are not yet published. M. Boito is equally
celebrated in his own country as musician and as poet. In the latter
capacity he prepared his own librettos, besides furnishing that of
"_Otello_" to Verdi and "_La Gioconda_" to Ponchielli. He has
published several books of poems, and other operatic books. As
composer he partakes much of the spirit of Wagner. He has yet another
opera nearly completed, but in 1891 little is known of it. It is
called "_Orestiade_."
Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1866) is generally regarded in Italy as
having been the most distinguished Italian composer after Verdi. He
was educated at Milan, but his early triumphs were made elsewhere, his
famous "_I Promessi Sposi_" having been performed there only in 1872.
His principal works are the preceding, which was composed in 1856,
"_La Savojarda_" (1861), "_Roderico_" (1864), "_La Stella del Monte_"
(1867), "_La Gioconda_," his master work, produced at _La Scala_,
1876, and "_Marion Delorme_" (1885). His music occupies a middle
ground between the melodiousness of the Italian composers of the early
part of the century and the seriousness of later German opera.
In spite of the few examples reaching foreign countries, there is a
continuous and rather abundant production of light and serious operas
in Italy, every principal theater making it a point to bring out one
or more new works every season. The best of these, after a long
interval, become known abroad. It is a great mistake to suppose that
the few Italian operas of recent date performed in England and America
adequately represent the present state of Italian art.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
FRENCH OPERATIC COMPOSERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
In the earlier part of the nineteenth century the operatic stage of
Paris shared with those of Berlin and Dresden the honor of producing
brilliant novelties by the best composers. In France there had been a
persistent cultivation of this province of musical creation, and many
talented composers have appeared upon the scene of the Grand Opera and
that of the _Opéra Comique_. French opera has developed into a genre
of its own, rhythmically well regulated, instrumented in a pleasing
and attractive manner, and staged with considerable reference to
spectacular display.
[Illustration: Fig. 90.
AUBER.]
The oldest of these masters to achieve distinction, and the one most
successful in gaining the ear of other countries than France, was
Daniel François Esprit Auber (1782-1870). He was born in Caen, in
Normandy, of a family highly gifted and artistic in temperament.
Nevertheless, his father intended him for a merchant, and sent him to
England in 1804, in the hope that the study of commercial success
there might wean him from his love of music. But the boy came back
more musical than ever. After composing several pieces, a little
opera, a mass, etc., his first opera to be publicly performed was
"_Le Séjour Militaire_." During the fifteen years next following he
wrote a succession of light operas for the smaller theaters of Paris,
most of them with librettos by Scribe. No one of these works had more
than a temporary success, and the names are not sufficiently important
to be given here. At length, in 1828, he produced his master work,
"_La Muette di Portici_," otherwise known as "_Masaniello_," which at
once placed its author upon the pinnacle of fame. This was an opera
upon the largest scale, and was the first in order of the three great
master works which adorned the Paris stage during this and the three
years following. The others were Rossini's "Tell" in 1829, and
Meyerbeer's "Robert" in 1831. The subject was fortunately related to
the spirit of the times, Masaniello having been leader of the
insurgents in Naples. The work well deserved its success, since for
melody and pleasing effects it has rarely been surpassed. The overture
is still much played as a concert number, but the opera itself has
nearly left the stage, excepting in Germany, where it still has a
distinguished place. All his later works were lighter than
"_Masaniello_." They were "_La Fiancée_" (1829), the extremely
melodious and popular "_Fra Diavolo_" (1830) and many others, for more
than twenty years still. Among them were "The Bronze Horse" (in 1835),
"_Le Domino Noir_" (in 1837), and "The Crown Diamonds" (1831). Auber
was elected member of the Institute in 1829, and in 1842 succeeded
Cherubini as director of the Conservatory. He was an extremely witty
and charming man, beloved by all.
Contemporaneous with Auber, but more allied to the genius of
Boieldieu, was Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold, (1791-1833). After
studying at the Conservatory and composing a number of operas which
failed, or had but moderate success, he brought out "_Zampa_," in
1831. This work had an extraordinary success, and its overture is
still often heard. Another work "_Le Pré aux Clercs_," (1832), is
generally esteemed in France more highly than "_Zampa_," but outside
of his native country public opinion universally regards the latter as
his best work. Hérold's operas are extremely well conceived from a
dramatic point of view, and his melody has much of the sweet and
flowing quality of the best Italian. His concerted numbers also are
well made, and in all respects he is to be regarded as a master of
high rank within the province of light opera, verging indeed upon the
confines of the romantic type, like that of Weber.
The true successor of Boieldieu, with perhaps somewhat less of
originality, was Adolphe Charles Adam, (1803-1856), son of a piano
teacher in the Conservatory at Paris. His most lasting work was "_Le
Postillon de Lonjumeau_" (1836), in which the German tenor Wachtel
made himself so famous. Most of the other productions of this clever,
but not deep, composer, are now forgotten. In their day they pleased.
The most important work of the last half century of French opera was
the "_Faust_" of Charles François Gounod (1818- ), produced in 1859.
Gounod was born and educated at Paris, took the prize of Rome in 1837,
after composing quite a number of works of a semi-religious character,
in which direction he has always had a strong bias. His first opera
was produced in 1854, "_La Nonne Sanglante_." In 1852 he was made
director of the Orpheonists, the male part singers of Paris, numbering
many thousands, somewhat answering to the organization of the Tonic
Sol-fa in England. "_Faust_" made an epoch in French opera. Its rich
and sensuous music, its love melodies of melting tenderness, and the
cleverness of the instrumentation, as well as its pleasing character,
combine to place it in a category by itself. This was the beginning
and the end of Gounod, for in his other works, while there is much
cleverness and melodiousness, there is also much reminder of
"_Faust_." Perhaps the best of his later operas are "_Romeo et
Juliette_" (1867), and "_Mireille_" (1864). Among the others were
"_Cinq-Mars_," "_Polyeucte_," "_Le Tribute de Zamora_." He has also
written an oratorio, "The Redemption," produced at Birmingham in 1882,
many numbers in which are truly imposing. As a whole the work is
mystical and sensuous, rather than strong or inspired. A continuation
of this work "_Mors et Vita_" was given at Birmingham in 1885, and the
following year several times in America, under the direction of Mr.
Theodore Thomas. In this work, a part of the text of which consists of
the Latin hymn "_Dies Iræ_," Gounod contrives to repeat certain of the
sensational effects of Berlioz's work. Both these oratorios belong to
an intermediate category in oratorio, sensational effects possible
only in the concert room intervening with others planned entirely in a
devotional and mystic spirit. As a composer, Gounod has two elements
of strength.
He is first of all a lyrical composer of unusual merit, as can be seen
in his "Oh that We Two were Maying," "Nazareth," "There Is a Green
Hill Far Away," etc. His second element of greatness is his talent for
well sounding and deliciously blending instrumentation, in which
respect he is one of the best representatives of the French school.
This quality is happily shown upon a small scale, in connection with
the other already mentioned, in his famous "_Ave Maria_," with violin
and organ obligato, superimposed upon the first prelude in Bach's
"Well Tempered Clavier." Unfortunately his structural ability is not
equal to the strain of elaborate dramatic works, in which the interest
greatly depends upon the music following the complications of the
drama. In "Faust," and in all his other operas, the songs are the main
attractions--the songs and the choruses. The finales are poorly
constructed, with little invention and less progress of dramatic
intensity.
Among the better composers of the later French school was Felix Marie
Victor Massé (1822-1884), who experienced the usual fortunes of the
better class of French composers, having taken the prize of Rome in
1844 and produced his first opera, "_La Chanteuse Voilée_," in 1850,
which was followed by his "_Galathéa_" in 1852 and the "Marriage of
Jeanette" in 1853. Encouraged by these successes he produced a large
number of operas in Italy, of which the best were "_La Reine Topaze_"
(1856) and "_Les Saisons_" (1855). In 1860 he became chorus master at
the Academy of Music, and in 1866 professor of composition at the
Conservatory. In 1872 he was elected to the Institute as successor of
Auber. In addition to the works already mentioned he produced "Paul
and Virginia" (1866), and several others, besides a number of songs.
His last opera, "_Le Mort de Cleopatre_," was written during his long
sickness, and on the whole was not a success.
Another pleasing French composer is Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet
(1842- ), who took the prize of Rome in 1863, and in 1867 produced his
first opera, "_La Grande Tante_." In addition to this he composed a
number of operas, "_Le Roi de Lahore_" (1877), "_Marie Madeleine_"
(1873), an oratorio, and "Eve" in 1875. He has also written a number
of orchestral suites which have been very popular in all countries.
His latest work, "_Le Mage_," was produced at the Grand Opera, Paris,
March, 1891.
One of the most brilliant and versatile of the French musicians of
this generation is M. Camille Saint-Saëns (1835- ), a virtuoso upon
the piano and organ, and an orchestral tone-poet of very rare quality.
Educated in the Conservatory, he composed his first symphony when he
was sixteen, and was organist of the Church of St. Marri at the age of
eighteen. In 1858 he became organist at the Madeleine. He has produced
a number of operas, of which "_Le Timbre d'Argent_" (1887), "Samson
and Delilah" (1877), and "_Etienne Marcel_" (1879), "Henry VIII"
(1883) and "_Ascanio_," produced in 1890 at the Grand Opera. In
addition to these, Saint-Saëns has produced a large number of
orchestral pieces, including "_Le Mouet d'Omphale_," "_Le Dance
Macabre_," and other symphonic poems of the programme character. He
has also written several oratorios, of which "The Deluge" is the most
important, and a large amount of chamber and pianoforte music. He is a
brilliant writer about music, and is favorably known in Germany and
all the rest of Europe as a virtuoso upon the piano and organ. His
second concerto for piano is one of the best virtuoso pieces for that
instrument. In his "_Melodie et Harmonie_," a collection of newspaper
essays, he discusses many interesting questions. His fame with
posterity is more likely to rest upon his orchestral pieces, which are
extremely clever and interesting, than upon his operas. Personally he
is said to be very witty and entertaining. He has been a member of the
Institute since 1874.
Another French composer, versatile and well gifted in orchestral
composition, is Clément Philibert Léo Délibes (1848- ). After his
education at the Conservatory, and his service as accompanist at the
Grand Opera, he received, in 1866, a commission to compose a ballet,
"_La Source_," in which he displayed such a wealth of melody and such
fortunate rhythm that his talent was henceforth unmistakable. He has
since composed a large number of ballets, many of which are known in
all parts of the world, such as "Sylvia"; also a large number of
songs. His principal opera was "Lakmé" (1883). He is a professor at
the Conservatory, a member of the Legion of Honor, and the successor
of Victor Massé at the Institute.
Still another very talented composer of orchestral music is Édouard
Victor Antoine Lalo (1823- ), who was originally a violinist in a
favorite string quartette. He has composed a large amount of
orchestral music, a violin concerto in F (1874), "_Symphonie
Espagnole_" (1875), for violin and orchestra, a rhapsody
"_Norvegienne_," and many other orchestral works, besides several
operas, of which the "_Roi d'Ys_" (1888) is the most important. He
received the Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1880, and is one of the
best of the French composers. Many of his works have been played by
Theodore Thomas.
Georges Bizet (1838-1875) is best known as the composer of "_Carmen_"
(1875). He had previously produced a considerable number of smaller
works, which had been but moderately successful. In "_Carmen_,"
however, he showed qualities of rhythmic and harmonic coloration which
promised brilliant results in the future. His career was prematurely
cut short by death. He was a fine pianist.
The Nestor of still living French composers is M. Charles Ambroise
Thomas (1811- ), born at Metz in the same year as Liszt, and only one
and two years after Schumann and Chopin. This venerable and highly
gifted master early succeeded in catching the ear of the French
public, and between 1837, when his "_La Double Echelle_" was performed
at the _Opéra Comique_, until 1848, he produced a succession of
charming light pieces in the taste of the day. There was a sort of
middle period in which he wrote several very witty works for the same
stage, but the time of his greatest career dates from the production
of "_Mignon_" (1866), "_Hamlet_" (1868), and "_Francesca da Rimini_"
(1882). He was elected to the Institute in 1851, and at Auber's death
in 1871 was made director of the _Conservatoire_, in which important
position he has accomplished much toward systematizing and deepening
musical education. M. Thomas is a highly cultivated man of the world;
tall, slender, fond of physical exercise, he has retained the
faculties of an active and very versatile mind to an old age. His
opera of "_Mignon_" is probably the one of his productions which will
last longest.
Of French opera as a whole during this century, the general
characterization may be made that it has gained in cosmopolitan
quality, nearly all the composers mentioned in the present chapter
having gained a world-wide fame. The distinguishing feature of this
class of opera is its sprightly rhythm, and the clearness of the
melodic forms. The instrumentation, also, is generally clever. The
music is pleasing rather than deep, and the popularity of French opera
in Germany, for example, is mainly due to its value as a relief to the
often undue elaboration of the original German article.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XXXIX.
LATER COMPOSERS AND PERFORMERS.
Before summing up the remaining names of musical history, a brief
retrospect over the present century may be in place. The first quarter
of the nineteenth century was distinguished by two composers of the
first order--Beethoven and Schubert; and by a large number of highly
gifted lesser artists, some of whom, such as Spohr and Weber, bid fair
to remain long enrolled in the list of immortals. The second quarter
of the century was made memorable by the rise and blossoming into full
glory of the romantic school, all the works of this school (excepting
a few of the earlier of Mendelssohn) having been produced during this
period. Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin and the young Wagner were the
active spirits of this time, and their productions not only enriched
the store of the world's tone poetry, but changed the general
direction of musical ideals in many ways.
The great feature of the third quarter of the century was the
conception and execution of the Wagnerian music-drama, with its wealth
of sense incitation and its somber appeal to accumulated experiences
of the race. The "Ring of the Nibelungen" was completed during this
period and received its first performance at Bayreuth in 1876. During
the same period Franz Liszt had conceived a modification of the
symphony form, bringing its four movements into a single one, or
uniting the different movements (if such there were) by means of
motives common to all or several of them. In this way a certain
novelty was attainable in the most important province of instrumental
music; and while the new compositions generally acknowledged their
indebtedness to external incitation by titles, such as: "What One Sees
from a Mountain," the "Battle of the Huns," "Romeo and Juliette," and
the like, there was nothing to prevent them being in the fullest sense
musical works, having a musical life as such wholly independent of the
suggestion given by the title. Berlioz had been the founder of
programme music, and his leading works had been produced during the
second quarter of the century, but their full force was not recognized
until later. It was a follower of Liszt, the brilliant Frenchman,
Camille Saint-Saëns, who stated the central thesis of the whole
romantic school, when he said that a composer had the same right to
affix a title to his work, in order to give a pleasing standpoint for
judging it, as a painter had to name his picture. And in the case of
music, he added, as in that of painting, the real question finally was
not whether the suggestion of the title had been fully satisfied, but
whether the picture were good painting and the composition good music.
If it were good music, no flaw in the title and no disagreement
between the title and the work could impair its value and lasting
quality.
When carefully scrutinized, the progress of music during the present
century has been governed by certain leading principles which are not
contradictory, although at first glance they might appear so. Since
the time of the Netherlandish contrapuntists, the primary impulse in
musical creation has been the _musical_ ideal--the creation of tonal
fancies, novel, inspiring, musical, satisfactory. Out of this desire
has arisen the entire fabric of fugue, sonata, symphony and the whole
world of free music. And at every period there have been those also
who sought to connect these tonal fancies with the inner life of the
spirit--to awaken feeling, inspire imagination, deepen dramatic
impression; in short, to give us in place of irresponsible tonal
crystallizations a poetically conceived discourse, operative upon the
feelings and stimulative to the entire mind. This was the ideal of the
new movement in Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and
opera has steadily worked along this ideal. Sebastian Bach had moments
when he himself attempted the programme music; and Beethoven made many
attempts of the same kind, some of which are significant and lasting.
Hence the romantic impulse was not something new in the history of
music, but the blossoming of buds from seeds planted long before. The
programme music of Berlioz was simply larger and more flamboyant than
the little exercises of Bach in the same direction. Wagner's idea of
bringing together the entire resources of musical, dramatic and scenic
art into a single highly complex work was merely the idea of the unity
of all the arts, upon which Æschylus worked two thousand years
earlier, and upon which Jacopo Peri and Claudio Monteverde worked at
the beginning of the seventeenth century. In short, the art of music,
while in this century being enriched by a multitude of new creations
representing a variety of subordinate ideals, is nevertheless still a
unity, constantly becoming more elaborate and masterly upon the tonal
side, and continually more and more in touch with the deeper springs
of duration in art, the intuitively realized correspondence between
certain art forms and modes of expression and human feeling.
The composers of the last quarter of the century are very numerous;
indeed, so numerous that a catalogue even of their names would occupy
too much space. Moreover, their proximity to our own times brings them
too near for successfully estimating their places in the pantheon of
art, or even for the much simpler task of deciding upon certain names
which undoubtedly should occupy places in the list. For present
purposes it will be more convenient to notice them by nationalities,
since every racial stock has certain individualities and ideals which
the national composers eventually bring into art, as we see
brilliantly illustrated in the case of the Russians, both in music and
in painting.
There are, however, certain names which stand out above all others and
at the present writing appear destined for place among or very near
the immortals of the first order. These great names are those of
Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saëns, Peter Ilitsch Tschaikowsky,
Antonin Dvorak and Edvard Grieg.
I. MUSIC IN GERMANY.
In Germany, very naturally, the activity in the higher departments of
music remains more intense than in any other country, and the seat of
musical empire may be said to still abide in southern Germany, where
it was established by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The most eminent
living composer in the higher department of the art, Johannes Brahms,
resides at Vienna since these many years; there also Max Bruch long
resided, and there the greatest of the light opera composers, the
Strauss family and Von Suppé, have lived and worked. It is in the
provinces of the Austro-Hungarian empire, moreover, that the Bohemian
composer, Dvorak, has his home.
In Johannes Brahms (1833- ) we have still living a musical master of
the first order, whose quality as master is shown in his marvelous
technique, in which respect no recent composer is to be mentioned as
his superior, if any can be named since Bach his equal. This technique
was at first personal, at the pianoforte, upon which he was a virtuoso
of phenomenal rank; but this renown, great as it is in well informed
circles, sinks into insignificance beside his marvelous ability at
marshaling musical periods, elaborating together the most dissimilar
and apparently incompatible subjects, and his powers of varying a
given theme and of unfolding from it ever something new. These
wonderful gifts, for such they were rather than laboriously acquired
attainments, Brahms showed at the first moment when the light of
musical history shines upon him. It was in 1853, when the Hungarian
violinist, Edouard Remenyi, found him at Hamburgh and engaged him as
accompanist and having ascertained his astonishing talents, brought
him, a young man of twenty, to Liszt at Weimar, with his first trio
and certain other compositions in manuscript. The new talent made a
prodigious effect upon Liszt, who needed not that any one should
certify to him whether a composer had genius or merely talent. The
Liszt circle took up the Brahms cult in earnest, played the trio at
the chamber concerts, and the members when they departed to their
homes generally carried with them their admiration of this new
personality which had appeared in music.
Johannes Brahms was born at Hamburgh, May 7, 1833, the son of a fine
musician who was player upon the double bass in the orchestra there.
The boy was always intended for a musician, and his instruction was
taken in hand with so much success that at the age of fourteen he
played in public pieces by Bach and Beethoven, and a set of original
variations. At the age of twenty he was a master, and it was in this
year that he accompanied Remenyi, made the acquaintance of Joachim and
Liszt, and had a rarely appreciative notice from a master no less than
Robert Schumann himself, who in his _New Journal of Music_ said:
"He has come, a youth at whose cradle graces and heroes kept watch.
Sitting at the piano he began to unveil wonderful regions. We were
drawn into more and more magical circles by his playing, full of
genius, which made of the piano an orchestra of lamenting and jubilant
voices. There were sonatas, or rather veiled symphonies; songs whose
poetry might be understood without words; piano pieces both of a
demoniac nature and of the most graceful form; sonatas for piano and
violin; string quartettes, each so different from every other that
they seemed to flow from many different springs. Whenever he bends his
magic wand, there, when the powers of the orchestra and chorus lend
him their aid, further glimpses of the magic world will be revealed to
us. May the highest genius strengthen him! Meanwhile the spirit of
modesty dwells within him. His comrades greet him at his first
entrance into the world of art, where wounds may perhaps await him,
but bay and laurel also; we welcome him as a valiant warrior."
The next few years were spent by Brahms in directing orchestra and
chorus at Detmold and elsewhere, and in Switzerland, which has always
had great attraction for him. In 1859 he played in Leipsic his first
great pianoforte concerto; most of the criticisms thereon were,
however, such as now excite mirth. Lately he has played in Leipsic
again, conducted several of his works, and was greeted with the
reverence and enthusiasm due the greatest living representative of the
art of music. In 1862 Brahms located in Vienna, where he has almost
ever since resided. Mr. Louis Kestelborn, in "Famous Composers and
Their Works," says: "About thirty years ago the writer first saw
Brahms in his Swiss home; at that time he was of a rather delicate,
slim-looking figure, with a beardless face of ideal expression. Since
then he has changed in appearance, until now he looks the very image
of health, being stout and muscular, the noble manly face surrounded
by a full gray beard. The writer well remembers singing under his
direction, watching him conduct orchestra rehearsals, hearing him play
alone or with orchestra, listening to an after-dinner speech or
private conversation, observing him when attentively listening to
other works, and seeing the modest smile with which he accepted, or
rather declined, expressions of admiration."
The most important works of Brahms, aside from his "German Requiem,"
are four symphonies for orchestra, two concertos for pianoforte, a
concerto for violin and 'cello with orchestra, a violin concerto, many
songs, a variety of compositions for chamber, embracing a number for
unusual combinations of instruments (such as clarinet and horn with
piano), sonatas for piano solo, etc. In the songs he attains a simple
and direct expression, not surpassed in musical quality since
Schubert and Schumann; in the concertos he is more for music than for
display, which is merely to say that in conceiving the display of his
solo instrument, he has sought rather to display it at its best in a
musical sense than to exhibit its peculiar tricks of dexterity. As a
symphonist he follows classic form, and is more successful than any
other writer in the slow movements, a department in which most of the
later writers are distinctly weak, since in an idealized folk song
(which is the essential ideal of the symphonic slow movement) poverty
of imagination cannot be concealed by dexterity of thematic treatment
and modulation. As a writer for the pianoforte he has made important
enlargements of the technique, not alone in his arrangement of easier
compositions by earlier writers, but still more by original demands
upon the fingers, as illustrated in his great sets of variations.
Distinguished among German composers is Max Bruch (1838- ) who was
born at Cologne, and educated there and almost everywhere else in
Germany. Bruch is best known by his works for chorus with orchestra,
of which "Frithjof," "A Roman Song of Triumph," "The Song of the Three
Kings," "Odysseus," "Arminius" are best known. His concerto for violin
is also played in all parts of the world, but his opera of "Hermione"
made but a moderate success at Berlin in 1872. Riemann considers his
greatest works for mixed chorus to be "Odysseus," "Arminius," "The
Song of the Bell," and for male chorus "Frithjof," "Salamis" and "The
Normans." His style is closely wrought, musical, full of deep and
natural musical expression, and well colored instrumentation.
Anton Bruckner (1824- ) a highly gifted organist and composer, has
written seven symphonies, in which the style is very modern, and shows
the influence of the theatrical style of Wagner. He is a composer of
considerable vigor.
II. MUSIC IN RUSSIA.
The awakening of musical art has been remarkable in all parts of the
civilized world, and in many countries not previously distinguished in
music composers have arisen who have embodied the rhythms and spirit
of the national songs in their works, composed dramatic works upon
national subjects, and so have created a national school of music. In
some cases the works of these men have proven of world-wide
acceptance; in others they have set in operation musical life in their
own country, and have been followed quickly by younger composers
working in a more cosmopolitan vein, who have created works which have
been taken into the current of the world's music and bid fair to hold
an honorable position in the pantheon.
[Illustration: MICHAIL IVANOVITCH GLINKA.]
One of the most brilliant cases of this kind is Russia, that country
so vast, so powerful, so mysterious. The first composer in Russia to
distinguish himself and to create a national opera was Michail
Ivanovitch Glinka (1803-1877), born near Selna. His first schooling
was at the Adelsinstitute in St. Petersburg, where he distinguished
himself in languages. But presently, under the teaching of Bohme upon
the violin and Carl Mayer in pianoforte and theory, he showed the
musical stuff which was in him. Leaving Russia for his health, he
resided four years in Italy, constantly studying and incessantly
composing. On his way back to Russia he placed himself for a time
under the teaching of the distinguished S. Dehn in Berlin, in theory.
Dehn recognized his originality and encouraged him to write "Russian"
music. His first opera, "A Life for the Czar" (December 9, 1836), was
a great triumph. The subject was national, the contrast between Polish
and Russian subjects in the music was brilliant, and actual or
simulated folk songs gave a local coloring highly grateful to the
Russian audience. The work received innumerable repetitions and still
remains one of the most popular operatic works upon the Russian stage.
His next work, "Ruslan and Ludmilla," was also successful, and Liszt,
who happened to be in Russia at the moment of its production, accorded
the young composer distinguished praise. Berlioz took up the pen in
honor of Glinka and of his new Russian school of music, and so the
composer's powers were widely celebrated. During the remainder of his
life Glinka made long residences in the south, especially in Spain,
and several orchestral works, with Spanish coloring, represent this
portion of his creative career. His last years were spent in rural
life near St. Petersburgh, busy with new opera projects, and
especially seeking some rational manner of harmonizing the Russian
popular songs. Riemann calls Glinka "the Berlioz of Russia," in the
originality of his invention and his clever technique; and something
more, namely, that he created a national school of music for his
country. The list of his works is very long, embracing compositions in
almost every province. There are two symphonies, both unfinished,
several dances for orchestra, a number of chamber compositions of
various combinations of instruments, a tarantella for orchestra, with
song and dance ("_La Kamarinskaia_"), etc. His operas, however, are
his lasting monument.
[Illustration: ANTON VON RUBINSTEIN.]
The next great name in the roll of Russian music is that of the
pianist, Anton von Rubinstein (1830-1895), who was born at
Wechwotynez, in Bessarabia. His father presently removed to Moscow,
where he carried on a manufactory of lead pencils. The boy Anton
showed such talent for music under the skillful and affectionate
teaching of his mother, that at the age of ten he was brought before
various musical authorities in Paris for opinions concerning his
talent. His concert life began almost immediately from this period.
His mother went with him, and wherever there were pauses of a few days
the studies were resumed, exactly as had been the case with Mozart,
long before. In 1848 he found a friend and appreciative companion in
the Princess Helene, and then he wrote several operas upon Russian
subjects, of which two were published--"Dimitri Donskoi" and "Toms der
Narr." The success of these works was such that in 1854 the composer
was given a subvention for further foreign study by the Princess
Helene and Count Wielhorski, upon which followed four brilliant years
of incessant activity as virtuoso pianist and composer, extending as
far as London and Paris. Rubinstein had already lived some years in
Berlin, where he was as well known as at home. Returning to Russia in
1859, he received important appointments as musical director, founded
the St. Petersburg musical conservatory, of which he remained the
director until 1867, when ensued a new series of concert journeys
covering Europe, and in 1872-1873 extending to America, where he had a
wonderful success, carrying back to Russia as proceeds of the American
tour the at that time unprecedented sum of $54,000.
As pianist, Rubinstein was distinguished for his grand style, broad
and noble mastery of the instrument, and his consummate sympathy and
innate musical quality. He was a player of moods, at times playing
like a god, at other times his work disfigured by many errors, but
always interesting, commanding and noble. He played best the
compositions of Beethoven and Schumann, their innate depth and
intense musical expression appealing to his richly gifted musical
nature irresistibly. His personality was commanding and attractive.
Saint-Saëns relates how Rubinstein played in Paris the concertos of
Beethoven and of Rubinstein, while Saint-Saëns conducted the
orchestra. At the close of the concerts Rubinstein desired to give yet
another in which he himself would direct the orchestra, while
Saint-Saëns should play. It was for this occasion that the Saint-Saëns
second concerto was written. In his later life Rubinstein lived like a
prince in a beautiful estate near St. Petersburgh. The list of his
works is something enormous. Of operas and dramatic works there are
twelve, several of which, such as "The Tower of Babel," "Paradise
Lost" and "Moses," are biblical operas, a type of dramatico mystical
work created by Rubinstein. It contains the gravity and depth of
oratorio combined with the intense realism of the stage. There are six
symphonies, of which the famous and several times enlarged "Ocean"
symphony is perhaps best known, a "Heroic Fantasia" for orchestra,
three character pieces for orchestra, "Faust," "Don Quixote" and
"Ivan"; three concert overtures, a quantity of chamber music,
compositions for piano, songs, and the like. In everything of
Rubinstein beautiful melodies are found; his weakness lies in the
development, which occasionally is carried too far, and with
insufficient vitality of thematic work.
[Illustration: PETER ILITSCH TSCHAIKOWSKY.]
Even greater than Rubinstein as composer was the brilliant Peter
Ilitsch Tschaikowsky (1840-1893). Tschaikowsky was intended for the
profession of the law, in which he took his degree. But his love for
music asserted itself, and after a short career as pupil in the St.
Petersburgh conservatory, he was appointed teacher of harmony in that
institution, and entered upon his career as composer. Here he remained
but a short time, resigning in 1877, after which he lived by turns at
St. Petersburgh, in Italy and in Switzerland. Tschaikowsky was of a
lyric musical nature, and in his early life his taste was entirely for
Italian music. This shows to a remarkable degree in all his earlier
productions, even if he had not himself published the fact so often
and unmistakably. In 1869 he produced his first Russian opera, "Der
Woiwode" which was followed by eight others, of which the best known
are "Eugene Onegin" and "Makula, the Smith." Several of these are now
played throughout Europe. It was in his orchestral compositions,
however, that Tschaikowsky most illustrated his unexampled powers.
Besides a number of brilliant and highly sensational overtures, he
composed six symphonies, of unexampled sonority, rich coloring and
strange musical expression. The fifth symphony of Tschaikowsky met
with almost universal recognition at the hands of the leading
orchestral conductors of the world; and the last, the so-called
"Tragic," only deepened the impression of the composer's powers.
Several points are unusual. The themes themselves are original,
forceful and lend themselves easily to elaboration. The harmonic
treatment is highly original, as if the author had found, as Bülow
said, "new harmonic paths." The instrumentation is richly colored and
the climaxes are of vast power and effect. The whole is a grandly
composed tone poem which even if regarded as surpassing the proper
reserve of symphonic form must nevertheless be counted as one of the
most valuable enrichments of the world's orchestral repertory. In
several places in his works Tschaikowsky introduces peculiarities of
Russian folk music, as for example in the movement in 5-4 measure in
the fifth measure symphony. Nevertheless, the works belong to the
world's music, being in no sense provincial, narrow or limited.
Æsthetically considered, they illustrate the quick technique and
over-mastering energy of the race to which the composer belonged.
III. MUSIC IN BOHEMIA.
Another country in which a notable musical revival has taken place
during the latter part of the present century is Bohemia, where two
names are to be mentioned. Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), is to be
remembered as the creator, or at least the awakener, of Bohemian
music. After a short education at the Prague university Smetana
entered diligently upon the study of music, becoming a brilliant
pianist, and as such forming one of the circle of enthusiastic and
advancing souls surrounding Liszt at Weimar, between 1850 and 1860.
His first position as musical director was at Gothenberg, 1856. Here
he lost his wife, the brilliant pianist Katharina Kolar. In 1861 he
made a long concert tour to Sweden. In 1866 he was appointed director
of the music at the national theater in Prague, a position which he
held until obliged to give it up on account of loss of hearing in
1874. Smetana wrote eight operas upon Bohemian subjects, with music in
the Bohemian spirit; one best known is "The Bartered Bride," which was
the last composed. He also wrote about ten symphonies or symphonic
poems, and a great variety of chamber music. Of his symphonic poems
those most often played are: "In Wallenstein's Camp," "Moldau,"
"Sarka" and "Visegrad." In all these the titles are mainly suggestive,
although in "Sarka" a programme is quite closely followed. Smetana was
a brilliant composer, but his value lies in his awakening of the
Bohemians to musical creation.
[Illustration: BEDRICH SMETANA.]
[Illustration: ANTON DVORAK.]
The most brilliant name in Bohemian music, and the one most valued by
the world in general, is that of Anton Dvorak (1841- ), who was the
son of a butcher at Mulhausen. The boy early applied himself to the
violin, and after some years' playing in small orchestras, found a
place as violinist in the orchestra of the National theater at Prague.
This was at the age of nineteen. About ten years later he first
attracted attention as composer, by means of a hymn for mixed chorus
and orchestra. The attention of his countrymen, thus gained, Dvorak
fastened still more by a succession of compositions of varied scope,
ranging from the Slavic dances and Slavic rhapsodies to symphonies,
chamber music and choral works of great brilliancy. In 1892 Dr. Dvorak
was called to New York as director of the so-called National
Conservatory of Music. In 1895 he returned to Bohemia. The choral
works of Dvorak were generally first written for English musical
festivals. "The Specter's Bride," "Stabat Mater," "Saint Ludmilla."
The list of his works includes five symphonies for full orchestra,
several concert overtures, a very beautiful air and variations for
orchestra, and seven operas upon Bohemian subjects. Dvorak is one of
the most gifted composers of the present time, especially in the
matter of technique. His thematic treatment is always clever, his
orchestral coloring rich and varied, and his style elegant. If
deficiency is to be recorded concerning him it is in invention or
innate weight of ideas. During his residence in America he promulgated
the idea that an American school of music was to be created by
developing the themes and rhythms of the negro melodies, and he wrote
a symphony, "From the New World," in order to illustrate his meaning.
The second or slow movement of this work attained a distinguished
success almost everywhere; but the themes of the first and last
movement are not sufficient for the treatment they receive. This work
has been more successful in Europe than in this country. Perhaps the
most notable quality of Dr. Dvorak's personality is his naiveté, which
shows well in his music. He is quite like a modern Haydn, who has
learned and remembered everything of musical coloration which has been
discovered, but who applies his knowledge in a simple and direct
manner without straining after effect.
IV. MUSIC IN SCANDINAVIA.
[Illustration: EDVARD HAGERUP GRIEG.]
Foremost of Scandinavian composers is Edvard Hagerup Grieg (1843- ),
who was born at Bergen, Norway, and received his early musical
education from his mother, who was an excellent pianist, and very
musical. By the advice of the celebrated violinist, Ole Bull, Grieg
was sent in 1858 to Leipsic for further instruction, where he became a
pupil of Moscheles, Hauptmann, Reinecke, Richter and Wenzel. In 1863
he pursued further studies under Gade at Copenhagen. In companionship
with a talented young composer, Ricard Nordraak, Grieg set himself, as
he says, "against the faded Scandinavianism of Gade and Mendelssohn
intermingled, and undertook to put into tones the real beauty,
strength and inner spirit of the northern folks-life." He composed in
many varieties of work, and in 1879 attained German recognition by
playing his own piano concerto at the Gewandhaus in Leipsic. Grieg's
works are full of poetry, easy and natural expression, and are
pervaded by northern coloring, so decided as in some cases to approach
what in speech is called dialect. Nevertheless, it is indubitable that
his music has distinctly enriched the world's stream of tone-poetry,
and introduced a new accent and voice. He has distinguished himself in
almost every department, in songs, choral work, chamber music,
symphonies, sonatas for piano and piano and violin, and orchestral
suites, of which perhaps his two "Peer Gynt" are the most celebrated.
In person Grieg is slight, fair-haired, with lovely deep blue eyes and
a charming manner. He is subject to pulmonary weakness, and is
compelled to reside much of his time in warmer climates than those of
his native land.
[Illustration: [autograph] Niels W. Gade]
An older composer than Grieg is Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890), of
Copenhagen, who after a thorough musical education received in his
native city, attracted wider attention in 1841 by taking the prize for
his concert overture, "Night Sounds from Ossian," the judges being Fr.
Schneider and Spohr, the violinist. This gave Gade a royal stipendium,
with which he immediately betook himself to study at Leipsic, where he
came under the personal influence of Mendelssohn, an influence which
he never outgrew. At the death of Mendelssohn he was appointed
director of the Gewandhaus, but not proving in all respects
satisfactory he held the position only a part of one season. After the
death of Gläser in 1861, Gade was made royal music director at
Copenhagen, a position which he filled many years. He was active as
composer in every direction, his published works embracing eight
symphonies, five overtures, two concertos for violin and orchestra,
three violin sonatas, several cantatas for mixed voices, soli and
orchestra, and many other works. The ultimate judgment of Gade as a
tone-poet is likely to be that while distinctly talented, he never
attained imagination of the first order.
Among the younger composers Christian Sinding (1856- ) is to be
mentioned. Besides many works for chamber, he has written one
symphony, which while not very original gives promise of better
productions later.
V. MUSIC IN ENGLAND.
The relation of England to the higher art of music has been peculiar.
In the sixteenth century and earlier it was one of the most musical
countries in Europe; but from the appearance of Händel, about 1720,
German music and German composers absorbed public attention to the
exclusion of the natives--no one of whom, it may be added, evinced
creative powers of any high order. England was a liberal patron of all
the leading German masters, from Haydn, who wrote twelve symphonies
for the London Philharmonic, to Beethoven, whose ninth symphony was
written for the same society; Mendelssohn, whose "Elijah," was written
for the Birmingham festival, and Wagner, who received handsome
compensation for conducting a series of concerts in London. A little
past the middle of the present century, however, more creative
activity began to show itself among English composers, until at the
present time there are excellent English composers in all the leading
departments of musical production. The more celebrated names follow.
One of the most graceful and talented of English composers was Sir
William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875), who came of a musical stock,
and was duly trained as a choir boy in King's Chapel, and at the Royal
Academy of Music. In 1836 he went to Leipsic, in order to profit by
the Gewandhaus concerts there and the friendship of Mendelssohn. Here
he produced a number of orchestral compositions which were so highly
esteemed that in 1853 the directorship of the Gewandhaus concerts was
offered him. After a short sojourn at Leipsic he returned to London,
where he ever after lived, highly honored as composer, pianist,
teacher and man. In 1856 he became the conductor of the London
Philharmonic concerts, and in 1866 principal of the Royal Academy of
Music. He was knighted in 1871, having previously been honored by
degrees from Cambridge and Oxford. He was professor of music in
Cambridge University from 1856 until his death. As a composer Bennett
was influenced by Mendelssohn, but he had much delicacy of fancy and a
certain originality of his own. His compositions embrace four
concertos for piano and orchestra, several concert overtures for
orchestra, one symphony, much chamber music, a cantata, "The May
Queen" (1858), "The Woman of Samaria" (1867), and a number of
occasional odes, anthems and part songs.
The successor of Sterndale Bennett as principal of the Royal Academy
of Music was Sir George A. Macfarren (1813-1887), who although totally
blind for many years before his death, produced a greater number of
important compositions than any other English composer of the century.
He was educated in London, and in 1834 became one of the professors in
the Royal Academy of Music. His first opera was produced in 1838,
"Devil's Opera," "Don Quixote" (1836), "Jessy Lea" (1863) and
"Helvellyn" (1864). He wrote a number of cantatas for chorus and
orchestra, oratorios, "St. John the Baptist" (1873), "The
Resurrection" (1876), "Joseph" (1877), and other works of less
importance. There are also many anthems, several overtures and other
pieces for chamber. Personally he was kind-hearted, intelligent,
helpful and public spirited. The amount of work that he accomplished
under the greatest of disadvantages is wonderful, as well as its
generally superior quality. As a lecturer and teacher he was the
foremost musical Englishman of his time. His compositions are strong
and respectable, but not especially inspired.
The successor of Sir Geo. Macfarren in the principalship of the Royal
Academy of Music was Alexander Campbell Mackenzie (1847- ), the
youngest eminent English composer, but also the most successful and
promising. He was educated as a violinist, and resided at Edinburgh as
a teacher of the pianoforte and violin until his compositions
attracted the attention of his countrymen and induced his being called
to London. The most important compositions of Dr. Mackenzie up to the
present time are the operas "Colomba" (1883), "The Troubadour" (1886)
and the oratorio "The Rose of Sharon" (1884). There are several
cantatas, "Jason," "The Bride," "The Story of Sayid" (1886) and a
considerable number of orchestral pieces, of which two Scotch
rhapsodies and the overture to "Twelfth Night" are the best known. He
has also produced a violin concerto (played by Mr. Sarasate), and much
chamber music and songs. On the whole, Dr. Mackenzie seems the most
gifted English composer who has yet appeared.
[Illustration]
INDEX.
"Abel", 351
"Abou Hassan", 408
Académie de Musique, 238
Adam, 491
Adam de la Halle, 122
Æschylus, 55
"Africaine", 414
"Agnes von Hohenstaufen", 479
"Aida", 485
"Alceste", 333
"Alcidor", 479
"Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung", 464
Amati, 201
Ambrosian Scales, 131
Anglo-Saxon Harp, 104
Anglo-Saxons, Music among, 96
"Anna Bolena", 482
Antiquity, Music in, 23
Apprentice Periods of Music, 22
Arabs and Saracens, 109
"Arianna", 224
Aristophanes, 57
Aristotle, 58, 65
Aristoxenus, 58
Arkadelt, 165
Art, Conditions of Its Development, 18
Art Forms, Qualities of, 20
"Ascanio", 494
Assyrian Harps, 45
Assyrians, Music among, 46
Auber, 488
Aurelian, 139
Bach, 265, 468
Bach as Melodist, 272
Bach, Emanuel, 282
Banjo, Ancient, 46
Bar in Vocal Music, 186
Bardi, Count of, 221
Bards, 89
Barytone, 196
"Basilius", 242
Bayreuth, 425
"Beatrice and Benedict", 435
Bede, 139
Beethoven, 305, 316, 319, 320, 355, 499
Bellini, 482
Bellows Bags in Old Organs, 206
Bennett, 501
Berger, 361
Berlioz, 432
Berlioz and Mendelssohn, 434
Bizet, 495
Blondel, 123
Blow, Dr. John, 354
Boethius, 135
Boieldieu, 343
Boito, 486
Bologna, Mozart at, 295
Books Published, 220
Boscherville Sculptures, 208
Brahms, 498
Braithwaite's Musicians for an Earl's Household, 213
Breton Song, 88
Bruce's Harpers, 30
Bruch, 500
Bülow, 423, 507
Buxtehude, 254
"Caliph de Bagdad", 344
"Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage", 457
Calzabigi, 333
Cambert, 236
"Cantilena of St. Eulalie", 116
Canzone, 249
Carissimi, 245
Cassiodorus, 137
Cavalli, 226, 231
"Caverne, La", 342
Celts, 87
Centers of Music, 17th Century, 220
Cesti, 226
Chansons de Geste, 115
"Cheval de Bronze, Le", 490
China, 73
Chitarrone, 193
Chopin, 441
Choral Song, 53
Choral Works of Bach, 268
Chromatic Keyboards, 205
Church Influence, 128
Cithara, 64
Clementi, 355, 357
Concerto, 249
"Concertstück", 411
Corelli, 255
"Corpse Fantasia", 383
Council of Trent, 174
Cramer, 360
Cremona, 198
"Crociato, Il", 141
"Crown Diamonds", 490
Crwth, 24, 106
Cypriano de Rore, 172
"Dafne", 222
"Damnation of Faust", 434
Délibes, 494
"Devil's Trill", 366
"Devin du Village", 339
Didactic of Music, 134
"Dido and Æneas", 349
"Dinorah", 415
"Don Giovanni", 300
Donizetti, 482
"Don Sanché", 446
Drama, Ancient, 54, 55
Druids, 89
Dufay, 158
Dussek, 357
Düsseldorf, Mendelssohn, 459
Dvorak, 503
Egyptians, Early, 25
Elements of Music, 15
"Elijah", 461
English Round, 100
"Entführung aus dem Serail", 297
"Esther," Händel, 277
Eoud, 113
Epics, French Mediæval, 115
"Erl King, The", 384
"Ernani", 485
"Euryanthe", 409
"Eve", 493
"Faust," Berlioz, 434
"Faust," Gounod, 491
"Faust," Schumann, 474
"Faust," Spohr, 369
"Fernand Cortez", 478
Fétis, on the Celts, 90
Field, 356
Fleurettes, 157
Flute, Egyptian, 28
Flute, Greek, 64
Flute, Hebrew, 42
Form, Principles of, 20
"Fra Diavolo", 490
Franco of Cologne, 146, 156, 186
Franco of Paris, 147, 157
Frauenlob, 125
French Opera, Origin of, 225
French Tenacity of Vernacular, 239
Frescobaldi, 252
Fugue, 151, 262, 263, 270
Fugue, Chromatic, 271
Gade, 497
"Gioconda, La", 487
"God and Nature", 413
Grieg, 500
"Harmony and Meter", 460
"Harold in Italy", 434
Heller, 504
Henselt, 504
Hérold, 490
Hiller, 505
"Huron, Le", 341
India, Music in, 70
India, Musical Drama in, 73
Individualism, 374
Instrumental Music, 249
Instruments, Relation to Progress, 20
"Iphigenie", 335
Ireland, Music in, 95
Irish Harp, 97
Iron Frame, 401
Iron Tension Bar, 399
Isidore, of Seville, 138
"Ismene", 242
Italian School of Singing, 228
Japanese, 77
"Jean de Paris", 344
"Jephthah," Carissimi, 245
"Jessonda", 369
Jomelli, 346
Josquin, 163
Jubal, 43
"Judith", 351
Kerl, 253
Kindergarten, Egyptian, 39
King Arthur, 98
King David Playing, 24
Kinnor, 42
Klauser, "Septonnate", 17
Ko-ko, 77
"Kreisleriana", 471
Kuhnau, 354
"Lakmé", 494
Lalo, 495
Landseer Portrait of Paganini, 431
Lassus, 167
Leading Motive, 410
"L'Elisir d'Amore", 482
Léonin, 153
Liszt, 446, 447
Liszt and "Lohengrin", 418
Liszt and the Later Sonatas of Beethoven, 323
Liszt, Pupils of, 451
Liszt's Appearance, 454
Litolff, 504
"Lucia", 482
Lulli, 236
Luther, 175
Lyre, Egyptian, 33
Lyre, Greek, 64
Lyric Element in Music, 263
Macfarren, 501
Mackenzie, 503
Macrobus, 134
Madrigal, 215
Madrigal in Opera, 217
Magadis, 64
"Marion Delorme", 487
Martinus Capella, 135
"Marriage of Jeannette", 493
Mask, 225
Mason's Enthusiasm for Schumann, 475
"Masaniello", 489
Massé, 492
Massenet, 493
Mediæval Violins, 195
Méhul, 342
"Mefistofele", 486
"Meistersinger, Die", 423
Mendelssohn, 455
Mendelssohn on Berlioz, 434
Mendelssohn's Relation to Schubert, 377
"Messe Solennelle," Rossini, 481
Metastasio, 333
Meyerbeer, 411
"Mignon", 495
Minnesingers, 123
Minstrels of the North, 87
Miracle Plays, 244
"Mireille", 491
Mixtures in Old Organs, 207
Modes, Greek, 61
"Moise", 481
Monody and Homophony, 198
Monsigny, 339
Monteverde, 224
"Mors et Vita", 492
Moscheles, 362
Moscheles with Mendelssohn, 455
Moszkowsky, 503
Motette, 154
Mozart, 299
Mozart as an Operatic Force, 336
Mozart on Jomelli, 346
Naples Schools, 169
"Nero", 486
Neumæ, 181
Nicodé, 503
"Nibelung's Ring", 420
"Norma", 483
Notation, 179
Notation, Roman, 189
"Nurmahal," 1822, 479
"Oberon", 409
Odon, 143
Okeghem, 162
Old French School, 153
Opera, 223
Opera in Germany and France, 235
Opera in 16th Century, 327
Opera and Drama, 427
Opera, Future of, 427
Oratorio, 223, 244
Oratorio in Costume, 280
Orchestic, Greek, 56
Orchestra at End of 17th Century, 256
Orchestra, Corelli's, 255
Orchestra, Monteverde's, 224
Organ, Early Form, 202
Organ, Portable, 204
Organ at Winchester, 98
Organ Music Notation, 251
Organum, 142
Orlando di Lassus, 166
"Orpheus," Gluck's, 333
"Otello", 485
"Otello," 1816, 479
Pachelbel, 253
Paganini, 428
Paisiello, 347
Palestrina, 173
Parish-Alvars, 439
"Parsifal", 426
Passions, Bach, 269
Patriotic Use of Music, 52
Pentatonic Scales, 74
People's Song, 263
Perceptions of Tone, 85
Pergolesi, 345
Pérotin, 153
Perrin, the Abbé, 326
Petrucci, 217
Phantasiestücke, Schumann, 469
Philippe de Vitry, 157
Phillidor, 339
Piccini, 347
Pindar, Ode of, 69
Pizzicati, 224
Plato, 67
Pollini, 439
"Polliodoro," Graun, 328
"Polyeucte", 491
Ponchielli, 487
Popular Taste for Music, 213
Popularity in 19th Century, 373, 379
Polyphonic Schools of Italy, 168
Polyphony as an Art Form, 151
Porpora, 228
"Postillon de Lonjumeau, Le", 491
"Pré aux Clercs, Le", 490
"Promessi Sposi, I", 487
"Prophète", 414
Ptolemy, 61
Pupils of Liszt, 452
Purcell, 349
"Puritani, I", 483
"Pygmalion", 339
Pythagoras, 59
Rameau, 336
Ratios, Greek Tetrachord, 61
Ravanastron, 72
Rebec, 196
"Redemption, The", 492
Reinecke, 508
Reinken, 254
Reinmar, 127
Rémi, 139
"Representative Style", 223
"Requiem," Berlioz, 434
"Requiem," Mozart, 303
"Rheingold, Das", 420
Rhythm of Bach, 271
Rhythmic Development, 188
Ricerari, 249
"Rienzi", 416
Rinuccini, 222
"Robert le Diable", 414
"Robin and Marian", 236
Roman Notation, 180
Romantic, The, 373
"Romilda e Constanza", 413
Rondo, 155
Rossini, 479
Rota, 150
Rousseau, 338
"Rubezahl", 408
Rubinstein, 505
Saint-Saëns, 493
Santir, 114
Saracens, 109
Saracens, Instruments of, 112
"Sardanapolis", 433
Scales, Greek, 60
Scales, Ambrosian, 129, 130
Scandinavians, Music among, 99
Scarlatti, A., 227, 232
Scarlatti, D., 275, 353
Scheidt, 250
Schein, 251
School of Munich, 166
Schools of the Netherlands, 160
Schubert, 376, 381
Schulhoff, 504
Schumann, 464-477
Schütz and "Dafne", 239
Scotch Melody, 108
"Septonnate", 17
"Serva Padrona, La", 344
"Siegfried", 421
Socrates, 56
Sonata Form, 264
Sonatas, Bach, 265
Sonatas, Beethoven, 309, 319, 322
Sonatas, Corelli, 255
Sonatas, Haydn, 288, 317
Sonatas, Weber, 410
"Song of Roland", 118
"Song of the Harper", 36
Songs of Schubert, 384
Songs of Schumann, 468
Songs of Troubadours, 121
"Songs without Words", 458
"Sonnambula, La", 482
Spinet, 393, 396
Spohr, 366
Spontini, 478
Staff, 185
Steinway, 402
St. Ambrose, 129
St. Mark's, 133
"St. Paul", 459
"Sumer is Icumen in", 101
Svensden, 500
Swelinck, 250
"Symphoniæ Sacræ", 247
Symphonies, Beethoven, 319
Symphonies, Haydn, 288
Symphonies, Mendelssohn, 464
Symphonies, Schumann, 474
Symphony, 316
"Tancredi", 479
"Tannhäuser", 418
Tartini, 364
Tausig, 505
Technique, Modern, 436, 446
Terpander, 52
Thalberg, 438
Thales, 52
Theaters in Venice, 226
Thematic Work, Schumann, 473
Theory, India, 70
Theory, Mediæval, 134, 147
Thomas, Ambroise, 495
Tinctor, 163
Thomaschek, 359
"Tom Jones", 339
Tonality, 84
Tone Perceptions, 17, 55
"Traviata, La", 485
"Triads of Britain", 93
"Tristan and Isolde", 423
Troubadours, 121
"Trovatore, Il", 485
Tschaikowsky, 499
Verdi, 483
"Vestale, La", 478
Vina, 71
Viol da Gamba, 164
Violin Making, 195
Violin, Stradivarius, 199
Virtuosity, 378
Virtuoso Element, 19th Century, 428
Vitry, Philippe de, 157
Wagner, 416
Wagner and Berlioz, 434
Wagner, "Die Walküre", 420
Weber, 406
Weber as Pianist, 410, 437
Weber's Influence on Piano Playing, 410
Weimar, Liszt at, 449
Welsh, Music of, 93
Wieck, 467
Wilhelm, Count, Troubadour, 121
Willaert, Adrien, 171
Winchester, Organ at, 98
"Zampa", 490
Zarlino, 171, 257
Zelter, 457
Zingarelli, 348
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