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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Wagnerian forms Wolf’s work consists chiefly, as we have already seen, of Lieder, and these Lieder are characterised by the application to lyrical music of principles established by Wagner in the domain of drama. That does not mean...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 material for musical expression There are few subjects that offer richer material for musical expression. Strauss has treated it with power and dexterity; he has preserved unity in this chaos of passions, by contrasting the Sehnsucht of...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Wolf’s genius here approached a classic clearness of form The Italienisches-Liederbuch (1890-96) is quite different. The character of the songs is very restrained, and Wolf’s genius here approached a classic clearness of form....
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Strauss had a programme In Heldenleben («The Life of a Hero»), op. 40,[179] he recovers himself, and with a stroke of his wings reaches the summits. Here there is no foreign text for the music to study or illustrate or...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 his genius was recognised As soon as Wolf was really dead his genius was recognised all over Germany. His sufferings provoked an almost excessive reaction in his favour. Hugo-Wolf-Vereine were founded everywhere; and to-day we have...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Strauss’s music as a whole In considering Strauss’s music as a whole, one is at first struck by the diversity of his style. The North and the South mingle; and in his melodies one feels the attraction of the sun. Something...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 the sweet music of Italy DON LORENZO PEROSI The winter that held Italian thought in its cold clasp is over, and great trees that seemed to be asleep are putting out new life in the sun. Yesterday it was poetry that awaked, and to-day it is...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Strauss’s subjects But it is especially in Strauss’s subjects that caprice and a disordered imagination, the enemy of all reason, seem to reign. We have seen that these poems try to express in turn, or even simultaneously,...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 descriptive mass Each of the oratorios is really a descriptive mass, which from beginning to end traces out one dominating thought. Don Perosi said to me: «The mistake of artists to-day is that they attach themselves too much to...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 unbounded faith in the power He is an idealist with unbounded faith in the power of the mind and the liberating virtue of art. This idealism is at first religious, as in Tod und Verklärung, and tender and compassionate as a woman, and full...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Perosi’s dramatic genius It is not, however, Perosi’s dramatic genius that strikes me in his work; it is rather his peculiar mournfulness, which is indescribable, his gift of pure poetry, and the richness of his flowing melody....
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 trials and disappointments HUGO WOLF The more one learns of the history of great artists, the more one is struck by the immense amount of sadness their lives enclose. Not only are they subjected to the trials and disappointments of...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Josquin and Roland As a matter of fact, I do not think this is quite correct. I rather doubt if Josquin and Roland were eclectic at all; for they did not really combine the styles of different countries, but thrust upon other countries the...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Windischgratz in Styria He was born at Windischgratz in Styria, 13 March, 1860. He was the fourth son of a currier–a currier-musician, like old Veit Bach, the baker-musician, and Haydn’s father, the wheelwright-musician....
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 becoming a classic CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS M. Saint-Saëns has had the rare honour of becoming a classic during his lifetime. His name, though it was long unrecognised, now commands universal respect, not less by his worth of character than by...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 sketchy portrait In this sketchy portrait I must not forget one of the finest of this composer’s gifts–his talent as a teacher of music. Everything has fitted M. d’Indy for this part. By his knowledge and his precise,...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 for two orchestras and a choir It was the Symphonie funèbre et triomphale for two orchestras and a choir, and the Te Deum for orchestra, organ, and three choirs, which Berlioz loved (whose finale Judex crederis seemed to him the most...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 M. Saint-Saëns in art The significance of M. Saint-Saëns in art is a double one, for one must judge him from the inside as well as the outside of France. He stands for something exceptional in French music, something which was almost...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 The popular art The popular art that he extols is not an art belonging to the people, but that of an aristocracy interested in the people. He wishes to enlighten them, to mould them, to direct them, by means of art. Art is the source of...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 magnificent roads for Art Well, what did it matter? Whether he wished it or not, he opened out some magnificent roads for Art. He has shown the music of France the way in which her genius should tread; he has shown her possibilities she...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 absolute fearlessness of his judgments And he has proved it by the absolute fearlessness of his judgments on art; for not only has he reasoned soundly against Wagner, but dared to criticise the weaknesses of Gluck and Mozart, the errors of...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Wagner’s music WAGNER «SIEGFRIED» There is nothing so thrilling as first impressions. I remember when, as a child, I heard fragments of Wagner’s music for the first time at one of old Pasdeloup’s concerts in...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 discernment and undeniable ability He has been able to take up all sorts of things, I will not say with equal skill, but with discernment and undeniable ability. He shows a type of mind rare among artists and, above all, among musicians....
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Sunday concerts What a place in my life those Sunday concerts held! All the week I lived for those two hours; and when they were over I thought about them until the following Sunday. The fascination of Wagner’s music for youth has...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Liszt was also a lover of freedom M. Saint-Saëns has good reason for liking Liszt, for Liszt was also a lover of freedom, and had shaken off traditions and pedantry, and scorned German routine; and he liked him, too, because his music was...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 decadent side in Wagner I do not say that there may not be a decadent side in Wagner, revealing super-sensitiveness or even hysteria and other modern nervous affections. And if this side was lacking he would not be representative of his...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 M. Saint-Saëns’ work This influence seems to me to explain some of M. Saint-Saëns’ work. Not only is this influence evident in his symphonic poems–some of his best work–but it is to be found in his suites for...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Revolution of 1848 The first ideas of Siegfried were contemporary with the Revolution of 1848, which Wagner took part in with the same enthusiasm he put into everything else. His recognised biographer, Herr Houston Stewart...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 criticism is useless VINCENT D’INDY «I consider that criticism is useless, I would even say that it is harmful…. Criticism generally means the opinion some man or other holds about another person’s work. How can...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 The opera public The opera public would probably be very astonished to learn that in Siegfried they applaud a revolutionary work, expressly directed by Wagner against this detested Capital, whose downfall would have been so dear to him....
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 faith in God and faith in his art «Maneant in vobis Fides, Spes, Caritas. Tria haec: major autem horum est Caritas. «An artist must have at least Faith, faith in God and faith in his art; for it is Faith that disposes him to...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 the amusing account Tolstoy gave Do you know the amusing account Tolstoy gave of a performance of Siegfried? I will quote it from his book, What is Art?– «When I arrived, an actor in tight-fitting breeches was seated before an...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 mediaeval spirit And again its mediaeval spirit is shown by an extraordinary symbolism, which discovers in everything (as far as I understand it) the imprint of divine mysteries, and the mark of God in Three Persons in such things as the...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Tolstoy’s rough banter Tolstoy’s rough banter recalls Rousseau’s sarcasm about an opera of Rameau’s. In the Nouvelle Héloïse, he rails in a similar fashion against the sadly fantastic performances at the theatre. It...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 the old Gothic spirit So the old Gothic spirit still lives among us, and informs the mind of one of our best-known artists, and also, without doubt, the minds of hundreds of those who listen to him and admire him. M. Louis Laloy has shown...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Rameau’s operas I have quoted this rather long passage to show how the impression made by one of Rameau’s operas on his contemporaries resembled that made by Wagner on his enemies. It was not without reason that Rameau was said...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Franck’s fine moral nature Of all the characteristics of Franck’s fine moral nature, the most remarkable was his religious faith. It must have astonished the artists of his time, who were even more destitute of such a thing...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 dramatic in the Tetralogy The first act of Siegfried is one of the most dramatic in the Tetralogy. Nothing satisfied me more completely at Bayreuth, both as regards the actors and the dramatic effects. Fantastic creatures like Alberich and...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 quality of M. d’Indy’s mind Clearness is the distinguishing quality of M. d’Indy’s mind. There are no shadows about him. His ideas and his art are as clear as the look that gives so much youth to his face. For him...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 for joy is there Yet it does not really matter, for joy is there, nevertheless; and so splendid was the first inspiration of the work that the years have not dimmed its brilliancy. One would like to end with Siegfried, and escape the...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 symphonic introduction The scene of L’Étranger is laid in France, by the sea, whose murmuring calm we hear in a symphonic introduction. The fishermen are coming back to port; the fishing has been bad. But one among them, «a man...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 towers like a mountain «TRISTAN» Tristan towers like a mountain above all other love poems, as Wagner above all other artists of his century. It is the outcome of a sublime conception, though the work as a whole is far from...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 certain nobility The music is not without a certain nobility, and bears the imprint of the calm, strong spirit of belief. But I was sorry that the story was only about a mere entity when I had been getting interested in a man. I can never...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 imperfections of Wagner’s dramas I do not want to dwell upon the inherent imperfections of Wagner’s dramas; they are really dramatic or epic symphonies, impossible to act, and gaining nothing from representation. This is...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 The boats put hurriedly back to land The boats put hurriedly back to land, and one of them seems likely to be dashed to pieces on the shore. The whole village turns out to watch the disaster; but the men refuse to risk their lives in aid...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 touches me most deeply The quality that touches me most deeply in Tristan is the evidence of honesty and sincerity in a man who was treated by his enemies as a charlatan that used superficial and grossly material means to arrest and amaze...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 his nature is too dignified Of course his nature is too dignified to let the quarrel be shown openly. His heart obeys the commands of his reason, or compromises with it, and by seeming respectful of authority saves appearances. His reason,...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 laugh with your old words «You make me laugh with your old words about a mission to fulfil. What a missionary! But there is in me an inexplicable mechanism which works in spite of all arguments; and I let it work because I cannot...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Berlioz’s harmonies «Berlioz’s harmonies, in spite of the diversity of their effect, obtained from very scanty material, are distinguished by a sort of simplicity, and even by a solidity and conciseness, which one only...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 threshold of death On the threshold of death he turned in despair to the one ray of light left him–Stella montis, the inspiration of his childish love; Estelle, now old, a grandmother, withered by age and grief. He made a pilgrimage...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Conquerors of the world Poor beings! Conquerors of the world, conquered and broken! But of the two deaths, how much sadder is that of the artist who was without a faith, and who had neither strength nor stoicism enough to be happy without...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 unhappy and irresolute heart Such was the unhappy and irresolute heart that found itself united to one of the most daring geniuses in the world. It is a striking example of the difference that may exist between genius and...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 a man in a frenzy He forgot to eat and drink; he was like a man in a frenzy. A performance of Iphigénie en Tauride finished him. He studied under Lesueur and then at the Conservatoire. The following year, 1827, he composed Les...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Berlioz’s genius The zenith of Berlioz’s genius was reached, when he was thirty-five years old, with the Requiem and Roméo. They are his two most important works, and are two works about which one may feel very differently. For...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 mournful destiny Oh, mournful destiny! There are great men who have outlived their genius; but with Berlioz genius outlived desire. His genius was still there; one feels it in the sublime pages of the third act of Les Troyens à Carthage....
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 first to be astonished Think of the effect that such works must have produced at that period. Berlioz was the first to be astonished when he heard them for the first time. At the Ouverture des Francs-Juges he wept and tore his hair, and...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 his devilish cleverness That he was an originator in this direction no one doubts. And no one disputes, as a rule, «his devilish cleverness,» as Wagner scornfully called it, or remains insensible to his skill and mastery in the...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 sense of pure beauty But this genius had other characteristics which are less well known, though they are not less unusual. The first is his sense of pure beauty. Berlioz’s exterior romanticism must not make us blind to this. He had...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 expressing tragic melancholy I have said that Berlioz had a matchless gift for expressing tragic melancholy, weariness of life, and the pangs of death. In a general way, one may say that he was a great elegist in music. Ambros, who was a...
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SubmittedFriday, 03 May 2019 Italian and German influence Some more rational minds have tried to rid themselves of this Italian and German influence, but have mostly arrived at creating an intermediate Germano-Italian style, of which the operas of Auber and Ambroise...
