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ex.-

'7.
1^

CONVERSATION ON MUSIC

ANTON RUBINSTEIN
Translated for the Author

MRS. JOHN

PRICE

CHAS.

F.

TRETBAR,

P.

Cloth, $i.oo.

Publisher^

Copyright, 1892,

MORGAN.

by C.

Steinway

F.

Hall,

Tretbar.

New

York.

A CONVERSATION ON

Madame von
villa in

honors me

Peterhof

MUSIC.

with a

visit at

my

after the usual salutations she

expresses a wish to inspect

my home

surround-

ings; in the music-room she notices the busts of

J. S.

Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and

Glinka

on the walls,

and,

greatly

surprised,

asks:

Why only these and not

also Handel,

Haydn,

Mozart and others!

These
my

are the ones

whom

I most revere in

art.

Then you do not revere Mozart?

Himalaya and
peaks of the earth
that Mt. Blanc

is

Chimborazo are the highest

that does not imply, however,
little

mountain.

But

Mozart

is

highest point of which

generally

you speak

considered this
!

he has indeed

given us in his Operas, the highest of which

music

is

capable.

To me^

the Opera

branch of our

In

that

is

altogether a subordinate

art.

you are exactly opposed

to the

views

of the present day, they advocate vocal music as

the highest expression of music.

That

am.

First,

because the

human

voice

sets

a limit to melody which the instrument does

not,

and of which the emotion of the human

be

it

joy or sorrow^, does not admit.

soul,

Second, be-

cause words, even. the most beautifully poetised,

are not capable of expressing exuberance of feeling,

hence

the

Third, because a
exalted joy,

hum

very correct,

'^inexpressible."

human being may,

or carol a

melody

but could and would not set words to

in the deepest sorrow he

ody

to himself,

words.

may

perhaps

in the most
to himself,
it

even as

hum a mel-

most certainly, however, without

Fourth, because the tragic in no opera

sounds or can sound as

it is

ment of Beethoven's

Adagios of his

major,

heard in the 2d move-

minor Trio, or in the

minor,

minor and

other string-quartets, or in the prehide in

minor of Bach's "

in the

Wohl

flat-

temperirte Clavier," or

minor prelude of Chopin; likewise no

Requiem, not even the Mozart {Confutatis and

LacJirimosa excepted), makes an impression so

deeply moving as the 2d movement of the

phony "Eroica" of Beethoven

(a

Sym-

whole mass for

the dead!), or contains the same proportion of the

expression of joy and the soul's emotions in general

as

are

heard

in the instrumental

of the great masters.

To me,

Leonore Overture, No.

3,

the 2d Act

There

are,

for instance, the

and the Introduction

of Fidelio are a

pression of this

works

much higher

drama than the Opera

to

ex-

itself.

however, composers Avho have

written vocal music exclusively; do

you conse-

quently despise them?

Such composers seem

to

me

like people

who

only have the right to answer questions proposed

6
to them, not, however, to ask questions or to de-

clare

and express themselves.

But
well

why

known

Opera

does every composer, and as

is

did Beethoven, also, long to write an

Quick and general recognition has

thing very enticing

to

men

of every

and sing

art, act

something,

all

to

to

and

one's melodies, has

it

the

highest,

express one's self about tJiem,

and that can be done instrumentally

The

some-

times, all climes,

indeed, enticing in

however, remains

it

see gods, kings, priests,

heroes, peasants,

of

in

public, however, prefers the

only.

Opera

to the

Symphony.

Because
readily.

it

undei'stands

the

Opera more

Aside from the interest which the subject

of the play awakens, the words explain the music

to

it.

To be wholly enjoyable, the Symphony

re-

quires the comprehension of music and this quality is possessed only in the smallest proportion

the public.

^but this

Instrumental music

is

by

the soul of music

truth must be anticipated, sought out.

The

discovered, fathomed.
itself to

do

public does not trouble

a work!

this in listening to

AU the

beauties to be found in the instrumental works of

the great masters (classic) are

known

parents or the expressed opinions of

which a priori admiration

it,

pub-

from childhood, through the enthusiasm of

lic

of

to the

however, be obliged
itself, it

it

its

brings with

teachers,
it

should

to discover their beauties

would be sparing of its applause, even

to the classical works, now-a-days.

I see that

you are entirely predisposed

in

favor of instrumental music.

Not

exclusively, of course, but at

all

events

in a high degree.

Mozart
music of

all

has written very

And wondrously
still

much

instrumental

kinds, too.
beautiful; but Mt. Blanc is

not as high as Chimborazo.

How

is it

among your

To
you or

then that Chopin and Glinka are

prophets

explain that, would, I

interest

you

too

little.

am

afraid,

weary

beg you

to

that

you do not

may

say.

On

frightened

am

It

so, witli

the single condition

me

agree with aU you

to

much

the contrary, I wish very

the objections to

much

do

oblige

my opinions, only
by my paradoxes

to

hear

do not be too

all ear.

has always been a matter of interesting

speculation to

me whether and

in ivhat degree

music

not only reflects the individuality and spiritual

emotion of the composer, but

is also

the echo or re-

frain of the age, the historical events, the state of

society, culture, etc., in

am

convinced that

it

which

it is

does and

written.

And

even

to the

is so,

smallest detaU that even the costumes

and fashions

of the time in which the composer writes are to be

recognized, entirely aside from the quaint

"cue"

which usually serves as a characteristic of a certain

epoch

only, however, since music has

language of

its

own and

become a

not the mere interpreter

of set words, viz.: since the flourish of instrumental

music.

It is generally

held that music does not admit

of any positive characteristic

at

that one

all;

and the same melody may sound gay or

sad, ac-

cording to the character of the words to which

is

it

sung.

To me instrumental music alone

ard,

and

hold that music

first

the stand-

a language

is

sure of a hieroglyphic tone

one must

is

image,

character;

have deciphered the hieroglyphics,

may

then, however, he

read

all

that the composer

intends to say, and there remains only the

particidar indication of the

the

task

be

to

of the

the

meaning

interpreter.

Beethoven's Sonata, op. 81

more

latter is

For example:
in the first

move-

ment, designated "ies adieux^'' the character of

the

Allegro,

after

the

introduction,

does

not

throughout give expression to the usual idea of

sorrow at parting.

What

then

phered from these hieroglyphics I

is

to

The

be decicare and

preparation for departure, the numberless farewells, the sincere

sympathy of those remaining

behind, the varied reflections on the long journey,.

10
the good wishes, in a word

all

the exchanges of

endearment usual in leaving those we

second movement

is

called

'^

The

love.

L' absence 'j^^

if

the

executant be able to express the soulful tone of

sorrow and

longing in his

explanation

farther

movement

is

called

interpretation,

necessary.

is

" Le

retour,^^

The

third

and the

inter-

preter has to present to his hearers a whole

on the joys of return.

The

first

no

poem

theme of un-

speakable tenderness (one almost sees the tearful

glance of happiness in meeting) then the joy that
it is

well with him, the interest in the recounting

of his experience and the ever recurring

a joy to see you again!

again
on.

we

(I) shall

not

let

do

'^
:

What

not leave us (me)

him go again," and

so

Before the close another glance of pleased

satisfaction,

then the embrace and climax of happi-

ness.

possible not to call instrumental music

Is

it

a language

Of course,

if

the

first

movement be

rendered merely in a lively tempo, the second

merely in a slow tempo, and the third merely in

a spirited tempo, the executant feeling no neces-

11
sity for further expression, then

we might

call in-

strumental music non-expressive, and regard vocal

music as alone capable of

Another example:

The ballad

2 of Chopin.

it

Is

real expression.
in

major, No.

possible that the interpreter

does not feel the necessity of representing to his

hearers:

field

flower caught

a caressing of the flower by

by a gust

of wind,

the wind, the resist-

ance of the flower, the stormy struggle of the

wind, the entreaty of the flower which at

broken

This

there.

the field flower,

may

also

last lies

be paraphrased,

a rustic maiden,

wind a

the

knight, and thus with almost every instriimental

composition.

Then
music

you are an advocate of " programme

"

Not

altogether.

am

in favor of

poser

writes,

not

programme

am convinced that
merely

notes

mood

every com-

in

key, a given tempo, a given rhythm

the contrary, encloses a

to-be\

divined and poetised^ not of the given

of a composition.

tJie

given

but,

on

of the tone, that

12
is,

a programme in his composition, in the rational

hope that the interpreter and hearer may appre-

hend

it.

Sometimes he gives

general name, that

hearer,

is,

his composition

a guide for interpreter and

and more than

this is not necessary, for

a detailed programme of emotion

produced in words. Thus

is

not to be re-

understand programme

music, not, however, in the sense of the reflected

tone-painting of certain things or events;
latter is admissible only in the sense of the

the

naive

or comic.

But the Pastorale Symphony of Beethoven

is

certainly tone-painting

The

Pastorale

establishes

a characteristic

expression in music of the rustic, the merry, the

simple, the hardy (represented

bass and organ point*).

by

the fifths in

Besides this there are

imitations of natural phenomena, as storm, thunder, lightning, etc., exactly the

above-mentioned

naivete in music, as well as the imitation of the

*
)

of

This has no reference

which

is

quite different,

to the

and

Russian Pastorale, the character

is

mostly of a vocal

art.

13
cuckoo, and the twitter of birds.
this tone-painting Beethoven's

mood

only the

in

its

nixies,

spirits, spectres,

inconceivable

And

that

style: elves, witches,

gnomes, demons, good and

and

is,

most logical expression.

The Romantic-Fantastic
is

mirrors

of nature and the rustic;

programme music

fairies,

Aside from

Symphony

so forth without a

evil

programme

quite correctly, as

it is

based entirely on

naivete in the composer as well as in the hearer.

But

every piece of music published now-a-

days (with the exception of those in which the

designates the musical form, as sonata,

a name, that

The

is,

etc.)

title

bears

a programme designation ?

publishers are mostly to blame for that;

they compel the composer to give his composition

a,

name

in order to spare the public the trouble

of having to apprehend

it,

and many

titles,

such

as Noctumo, Romanze, Impromptu, Caprice, Barcarole, etc.,

having become stereotype,

facilitate

the understanding and rendering of the composition for the public;

otherwise these works would

14
run the risk of receiving names from the public
itself.

How

may become

droll this

shown by one example

'^

is sufficiently

The Moonlight Sonata."

Moonlight demands in music the expression of

the dreamy, fanciful, peaceful
ance.

Now

the

minor Sonata

is

movement

first

tragic from the

note (the minor

key

the

last

soft,

movement

mild radi-

of the
first

itself indicates

a beclouded heaven, the

soul

as

much);

gloomy mood of the

is

stormy, passionate,

and the exact opposite of peaceful radiance

short second

allow of a
is

movement

You claim then

I will not

this sonata

The Moonlight Sonata

"
!

that the composer alone can

give his work a proper

the

alone would in any case

momentary moonlight-and

universally called "

sharp

to the last

title ?

say that.

appellations, the Pastorale

Even with Beethoven's

Symphony and Sonata

op. 81 excepted, I cannot declare

myself

satisfied.

If I did so I should be obliged to assume that he

determined the name of the whole composition

according to the

character of one movement^

15
or

theme of one movement, or an episodic

tlie

For example:

phrase of one movement.

PatJietiquc"

probably

so called

and

ter of the introduction,

tition

during the

of the

mordents

is

and even the

The same

for the

theme

at
is

and the second theme with

anything rather than pathetic,

movement

last

the pathetic does

movement,

episodical repe-

its

allegro bears a decidedly dramatic,

first

animated character
its

Sonata

from the charac-

movement

first

^^

contain

it

what

indeed of

Only the second

most, would admit of this

my

true, in

phony "Eroica."

The

opinion, of the

idea

of

heroic

title.

Symis

in

musical language the valorous, splendid, defiant,

or, in

other words, the tragic.

ment

is

That the first move-

not intended to be tragic

once by the major key

is

indicated at

the f measure also contra-

dicts the idea of a tragic-heroic character.

this,

the legato of the

first

Besides

theme indicates a decided

lyric character, the second

theme has a pronounced

longing character, the third theme a sorrowing-

dreamy

one.

That powerful

efi'ects

appear

in.

16
Powerful moments

the movement proves nothing.

may also be

found in compositions of a melancholy

movement

character, but a

in

which

all

of the

themes are of a decidedly anti-heroic character

I cannot designate heroic.

of the

symphony

the chase

movement

which two

most have a heroic

at

might indeed be called of heroic character

entered forte with the brass instruments.

if it

The

third

the fourth movement, a theme with

variations, of
colour,

The

probably a merry music of

is

title

then

is

given to the Symphony only on

Account of the second movement, which indeed

is

of an entirely tragic-heroic character

is

an evidence that
title to

of

its

his

at that time

to-day

haps more correct); a

same

one could give a

work which corresponded

movements

characteristic

title

for

it

This

is

to

one only

otherwise (per-

implies one and the

the

whole Avork from

beginning to end.

You speak of instrumental music

music

for

you begins with Haydn

0, much

earlier !

only, then

Two centuries were needed

17
to arrive at

Haydn's maturity in form and tone

I call the

effect.

time until the second half of the

XVI. century the prehistoric era of music as an art,

we know nothing whatever of the music of the

since

ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, or at least

only

scientific progress

its

from the time

of the

above-mentioned age

the latter too only

Christian

era until the

even of the folk-song*), and

the dance rhythm, these two most popular expressions of music, there

is

almost nothing knowTi to

hence I denote the above-mentioned date

us**),

as the beginning of music as an art***).

trina's

*)

church compositions are the

With

the

first

Pales-

works of

exception of the Ambrosian and Gregorian

we

cannot say Avith certainty whether folk songs, by a

setting of rehgious texts, became church songs or the opposite,

chants

that church songs

by

the use of profane text have become folk-

songs.
**)

Of

the Troubadours,

later Meistersingers,

Minne-singers, yes, even

we know

of the

only the literary history,

little

or nothing of the musical.

***) The Netherland epoch I also reckon as only a
epoch of the art of music.

scientific

18
art, in

the following sense

one in which the merely

prescribed standard,

emotion asserts

itself.

I call a

work of

scientific ceases to

and in which a

art

be the

spiritual

Frescobaldi's organ

com-

positions give to this instrument artistic character^

the English composers, Bull, Bird and others,

attempt the artistic for the Virginal and Clavecin

(our

modem

Can we
in

pianoforte).

refer these beginnings of the artistic

music in any manner

of that day, or to

In

to the historical events

of cidture

its state

church music

it

is

the immediate effect

of the straits of the Catholic church, whose Popes,

incited

by the attacks of Protestanism,

felt

them-

selves obliged to carry out a stricter discipline

and higher standard in monkish and

affairs,

views in questions of religion.

it

is

ecclesiastic

and a more earnest aim and more ideal

In profane music

the natural effect of the splendor of the

courts of that day, especially the English Court

of Elizabeth

the

Virginal,

her predilection for music and for

which

led

composers

to

write

19

amusingly and, according to the standard of that

time, interestingly.

Do you

find in their compositions a sufficient

degree of spiritual emotion that you would caU

them

artistic ?

Certainly not

would

call these

the

first

endeavors to express something instrumentaUy.

So these
Yes,

are naive expressions of art

of coui'se

they are the

first

programme-

music, in the sense of naive imitation, of enter-

This style held sway a

tainment, for society.

whole century, that

is,

until

the

" Suite " (a

succession of dances then in vogue); in France

even longer, as there the twD most distinguished

musicians admired this

very remarkable work

And
There,

in Italy

style,
:

and in

it

Couperin and Rameau.

church music flourished especially,

but was gradually overshadowed by a

of art which began to develop

Opera.

did really

itself,

new

style

viz.: the

In instrumental music, with the excep-

tion of numerous organists, only two names can

20

command
and D.

our attention,

Corelli

plmjcd^'' but they

i.e., ^^

Violin

The

Scarlatti for the Pianoforte.*)

called his compositions Sonata,

''

for the

latter

sounding^^^

have nothing in common with

the later sonata form.

So

in

instrumental music, and

rightly understand you,

you,

we were

Quite
have

true,

Scarlatti,

The

valued.
his

then

this,

if

interests

in a state of infancy

although I would not wish to

Eameau

Couperin and

first,

humor and

still

what alone

is

under-

on account of his freshness,

his virtuosity

in the second I

appreciate a highly remarkable, artistic nature,

and a combatant for higher

aims in an insig-

epoch in music, especially in his own

nificant

country

art

the third I esteem as a pioneer and

founder of the French Comic Opera,

composed very ingeniously

*)

Compositions

cembalo, Virginal,
Pianoforte, as to-day

ment.

we

etc.,

also

for the pianoforte.

written for Clavecin,

Spinett,

who

Clavichord, Clavi-

I designate as written for

can only perform them on this instru-

21

But

instnunental

music,

at

the Pianoforte, must have developed

since

itself,

England,

in

for

least

first

its

beginnings are discovered

there?!

There,

music occupied the fore-

too, vocal

groimd, especially in madrigals and other choral

works, but
this nation

which

it

it

was capable,

silence reigns,

Henry

as though, with

is

had given expression

for

Purcell,

to everything of

after

him complete

and with the exception of the

Oratorio and the Opera (both styles nourished

and represented by foreigners)

almost to the present

wake

day,

it

has so remained

when

it

begins to

again.

One

thing

is

enigmatical

to

me

what

Shakespeare could have heard of music there,

in his time, that

so

inspired

him with a

love

for this art?

Is

he not the one among poets who expresses

himself the most often and the most enthusiastically

on music, and even in his Sonnets on piano-

playing.

22

And
There

in

Germany ?
cliurch music, with Luther, acquired

a new character hy the introduction of the Choral

and as

in

Italy,

so

Germany

in

organists appear (Frohberger,

hude).

distinguished

Kuhnau, Buxte-

In general, however, music as an

comparison with

reached an

Italy, has not as yet

important standpoint, but

all at

art, in

once, in the

same

year, and in villages merely a few hours apart,

two names shine

forth with

which music expresses

herself in a splendor, a perfection equal to the

^^

Let there be

J. S.

light !^^

These two names are:

Bach and G. F. Handel.

organ,

pianoforte

Church music,
even

opera,

virtuosity,

the

orchestra, everything musical of their time, these

two names represent

ceivable,

With them music

she
to

is

in 'a perfection that is incon-

and bordering
first

equally entitled

be sure she

is

on

the

attains the

by

birth

the youngest

miraculous.

rank

among

sister,

to

which

the arts

but through

these masters she receives the perfect stamp of

maturity.

23

And do you
To me Bach
more

earnest,

iaventive,

consider them equally exalted?

is

more

incomparably higher, because

genial,

more profound, more

more incommensurable

but to com-

plete the idea of the art of music at that time,

the union of the two names

is

necessary, if only

on account of the remarkable work accomplished

by Handel

in the Opera, a branch of art

Bach ignored

How

which

entirely.

does your idea that music

is

the ex-

pression of historical events and the standard of

the culture of a given time coincide with the

stand of the art of music in

Germany

still-

during the

whole of the XYII. Century and with the sudden

appearance of these two stars ?

deny that exactly

took place

at this time

You can scarcely

many great events

It is oftener the

so also here.

It

echo than the re-echo, and

was the war between Catholicism

and Protestantism;

during the

strife,

music was

only the pray er in the ritual ; the Protestant religion gained

an equal footing with the Catholic,

24
that

is, it

emerged victoriously from the

and Bach and Handel arose

to sing

strife,

Hymn

her

of

Victory

But were
in style

they not fundamentally different

Certainly, that arises naturally from the dif-

ference in the style of

mands.

Bach moved

life

of each and

its

de-

in a small world, lived in

several, then insignificant cities (last in Leipzig),

in the circle of his large family, in his

calling of Cantor at the
his character

was

church of

St.

narrow

Thomas j

serious, deeply religious, patri-

archal, of a nature not given to sociability;

dress unpretending and

plain,

his

and he was an

indefatigable worker, even to blindness.

Handel

lived mostly in the great city of London, had the

patronage of the Court and of the public, was an

Opera Director, was compelled

Festival music J
little

we know

of his social

lifej

little

to write

Court and

of his family, very

he wore a long perruque,

and in general the elegant dress of the higher

English

circle;

grandeur,

splendor,

and some

25
superficiality*)

characterize

his

creations;

he

wrote Operas, profane and sacred Oratorios, few

instrumental works (the most beautifully in his
Pianoforte Suites), thus, seldom intimej soulful,
tender.

To you Bach

is

more sympathetic, because

he has written more instrumental works?

Not merely on

that account, (for has he not

written a mass of vocal works unspeakably great

and beautiful?) but on account of the

qualities be-

fore mentioned.

I do not deny, however, that he

(Bach) appears to

me

greater at his organ and at

his piano.

You are thinking, of

course, of the

'^

Wohl-

temperirte Clavier"?

You probably know the anecdote

nuto Cellini,

King
*)

of

who had a

France,

great

work

of Benve-

to cast for the

and found himself without

Proof thereof, the possibility of transforming an Opera num-

ber into an Oratorio and vice versa, an Oratorio number into an

Opera, which he, as

pidity of his

work

is

well

known

not seldom did; also

tlie ra-

the Messiah was written in three weeks, and

immediately after that "Samson," in as short a time.

26
material enough to finish
all

he decided to melt

it;

of his models in order to increase the material;

came

to

he wlU not destroy;

it

in doing so the model of a

hand; he hesitates;

that,

little

goblet

much! The Wohl-temper-

would grieve him

too

irte Clavier is just

such a jewel in music.

fortunately,

aU

of Bach's

Cantatas,

If,

un-

Motettes,

Masses, yes, even the Passion-Music, were to be

lost,

and

despair,

add

this the

to

tions,

this alone

we would

remained,

not need

music were not entirely destroyed. Now,

Chromatic-Fantasia, the Varia-

Partiten, Inventions, the English Suites,

the Concertos, the Ciacona, the Piano and Violin Sonates,

positions!

and more than aU

Can one measure

Organ Com-

^his

his greatness?

Why does the public then caU him only the

^*

great scholar " (Grossen Gelehrten), personify him

in the fague, and deny that he has soulful feel-

ing?

From pure ignorance!

personify

him

its

him

It is

quite right to

in the fugue, as this form has in

very greatest representative

but there

is

27
more of

soul in

an instrumental cantilena of Bach

than in any Opera aria or Church Music ever

written.

Liszt's

saying,

which comes of itself

requires us

to

^Hhere

that

us,"

in the latter sense,

few come

blest; the public is not capable of doing

hence this so fimdamentaUy

so;

music

and other music 'Hhat

to corns to it," is,

as regards Bach, most appropriate.

and are

is

false

opinion of

him.

But
tic

is

not the fugue after

all,

a dry, scholas-

formf!

With
knew how
this

form

all

others, but not with Bach.

He

to express all imaginable emotions in

if

we take

the

" Wohl-temperirte

Clavier" alone, the fugues are of a religious, heroic,

melancholy, majestic, lamenting, himiorous,

pastoral

and dramatic character, alike

only, their beauty/

Add

in one thing

to these the

preludes

whose charm, variety, perfection and splendor are

all

entrancing.

That the same being who could

write organ compositions of such astounding grandeur, could compose Gavottes, Bourrees, Gigues

28
charmingly merrj

of such

melancholy,

and

little

art,

Sarabandes so

Piano pieces of such witchery

And

simplicity, is scarcely to be believed.

yet I have mentioned only his instrumental works.

When we
tions,

add

to these his gigantic vocal

we must come

will arrive

Homer:

when

it

composi-

to the conclusion that a

will

time

be said of him as of

"TA^5 was not written hy

one, hut

&y

manyy

And what remains of greatness Handel?

Grandeur, splendor, mass-effect and
on
for

effect

the masses

by

simplicity of outline in diatonic

construction, (pregnant contrast to Bach's Chromatics), noble realism,

and geniality

in general.

Aphoristically I would distinguish the two

Bach^

a Cathedral; Handel, a Royal Castle; those in

the Cathedral speaking low and timidly, impressed

by

the power of the structure and the exalted

magnitude of

its

fundamental idea.*)

In the

Royal Castle the loud exclamations of wondering

*)

That

is

in general the impression of the hearer in listening

to the performajice of

a work by Bach.

29
admiration, and the feeling of humility awaken-

ed by the splendor,

Then

Ave

brilliancy,

must admit that

and grandeur.
after these heroes of

the art nothing more of the grand and beautiful

remains

In

to

be created?

many

directions,

not in Church music,

in Oratorio, for the Organ.

Altogether I recog-

nize in them the point of climax in the

of the art of music

to

my estimation,

that

is,

with Palestrina.

demanding new expression

two

new

fantastic

these

all

lyric,

new

and

came

after these

lastly,

nationality;

and

so the

makes enormous advancement.

era breaks upon us

plants the

Organ;

the Church-cantata;
Suite;

in art

But new times

represented by great spirits

still

epoch

romantic, dramatic, tragic and

styles resound,

art of music

first

beginning, according

the

Orchestra sup-

the Opera the Oratorio and

the

the Pianoforte

Sonata supplants

supplants

Clavicembalo, Clavichord,

etc.

Opera alone ruled the public

the

the

Clavecin,

But, although the

for almost half of our

century, instrumental music developed itself

more

30
and more, and in

ment
onlj.

it

we

alone

in the art of music,

On

recognize advance-

and that in Germany

the other hand, Italy and France de-

voted themselves exclusively to vocal music. For

who recognize

this reason I,

the ideal of

instrumental music alone, call music a

We have
Not
yet.

cflme

now

There

is

to

one

my art in

German

art.

Haydn and Mozart?

still

to

be mentioned

who, singularly enough, has only lately begun to

be acknowledged as he deserves, and

whom

I re-

gard as the Father of the second (instrumental)

epoch of the art of music, and who has done most

important work in that

which the masters

field in

named by you were

able to present us with so

much

Bach.

of the beautiful
It is

that

is,

Philipp

Emanuel

an error altogether, in music,

to say

he created the Opera, he the Symphony, he the

String-quartette, he the Sonata,

thing has had

little;

its

origin in

and

so on.

many, and

then one always appears

Everylittle

by

who accomplishes

the most beautiful in that particular form, and at

once becomes the bearer of its name.

31

Is Ph.

Em. Bach

in no-wise the legitimate

successor of his father in music

In

the sense of geniality, certainly not; but

he was the representative of a new time, of new

By

his treatise

on rendering

styles of expression in

Piano playing

ideas in the art.

and on the

he opened new

alone,
this

his

aU

fields

composers of

to the

more and more prominent instrument;

in

we

of

compositions also
later efibrts.

Mozart's

find

the

germs

Haydn's amiability and naivete,

loving

tenderness,

even

Beethoven's

dramatique and humor are indicated only, to be

sure, but

in this

none the

less is the

germ apparent,

manner the connecting

Bach and Haydn, and

filling

link between J. S.

in so doing,

drawing music

from North Germany to Vienna.

This transmigration
tury,

and

its

remarkable.

of music for a half cen-

return to North

Germany

is

quite

Instrumental music develops more

and more, and becomes in an astonishing manner

the pronounced expression, the echo or re-echo
of the age,

its historical

events and

its state

of

32
culture.

It

is

scarcely possible

imagine a

to

truer picture of the last quarter of the XVIII.

century until 1825 than

sung in the works of

is

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, especially in reference to

not

to

sion,

An

Vienna.

be understood as

This, of course,

literal or plastic

is

expres-

but as tone-allegorical, relative, and affinitive.

amiable, genial, merry, naive, careless tone

not touching in the slightest degree upon the weal

and woe of mankind, or the

and

its

spirit of the

world

sorrows; bringing his Maecenas (Prince

Esterhazy) a

new symphony

quartette almost every

or a

new

string-

Sunday, that good old

gentleman, with his pockets fuU of bon-bons (in

a musical sense) for the children (the public),

however always ready to give the badly-behaved a

sharp reprimand; the good-natured faithfid subject

and functionary, the just and

strict teacher,

the

good-souled pastor, the distinguished citizen in

powdered perruque and cue,

in

frill

and

lace, in

in a long, broad frock,

buckled shoes

in the music of Haydn.

I hear

all

that I hear

him speak, not

33

High-German, but

in

Vienna

Whenever

dialect.

I play or hear his compositions, I see his public

ladies who, on account of the prevailing toilette,

can scarcely move themselves, and who smile and

nod, applauding his graceful melodies and naive

musical merriment with their fans.

who, taking a pinch of

down with
nothing

to

the words

snuff,
''

Nay^

snap the box-lid

after

We

have

to

Haydn

there is

Haydn P^

geht halt dock

thank him for very much

as regards instrumental music.

symphonic orchestra almost

ity,

all,

compare with our good old

(" Ya, liber unsern alten

nix!^^).

Gentlemen

to

He

brought the

Beethoven's matur-

stamped the string-quartette as one of the

most noble and most beautiful forms of music,

gave grace and elegance

and technique, and

to pianoforte composition

enriched,

broadened

systematized instrumental forms.

remarkable personage in the

art,

Yes, be

and
is

but withal, the

amiable, smiling (sometimes sarcastic), careless,

contented old gentleman

in his

'^

Creation," as

well as in his "Seasons," in his Symphonies as

34
well as in his Quartettes, in his Sonatas as well
as in his Pianoforte pieces

in short, in his

whole

musical creation.

And Mozart
Just Haydn,
?

as

as the old

Haydn, becomes a

type, so Mozart, as the young Mozart,

Although as

called a type.

to his

may be

age and sur-

roundings, standing on the same level of culture

with Haydn, he

everything

is

In

tender in

sincere,

the journeys of his childhood also

had an influence on
feeling.

young,

musical thoughts and

his

consequence the Opera became his

chief work, but his entire

Ego he

gives us in his

instrumental works, and there I hear him too, like

Haydn, speak the Vienna

Helios

of

has illuminated

all

forms of music with his splendor, on one and

all

music I would

call

him

dialect.

He

impressed this stamp of the god-like.

loss

which

to

We are at a

admire most in him, his melody or

his technic, his crystal clearness or the richness

of his invention.
(this

The symphony

unicum of symphonic

in

lyric), the last

minor

move-

35
ment of the "Jupiter" Symphony
in

symphonic technic), the overtures

berflote," or to "Figaro's

ca

of the merry, the

Requiem

(this

unicum

(this

to the

"Zau-

Hochzeit" (these uni-

fresh, the

god-like), the

unicum of sweet tone-in-sorrow),

the Pianoforte Fantasias, the String Quintette in

G minor;

in the latter

how

see verified

it is

not uninteresting to

greatly wealth of melody out-

weighs everything

else

in music.

We demand

generally, in quartette style, a polyphonic treat-

ment of the

voices; here however,

very simplest accompaniment to every

reigns, the

theme that enters

ment of

and we

this divine

all these,

melodie

revel in the enjoy-

and

Gluck,

it is

true,

great things in the opera before

so

paths

to

at last, besides

the wonderful instrumental works, the

wonderful operas

new

homophony

but

say,

him

in comparison with

of stone.

Besides,

had achieved
;

yes,

opened

Mozart he

is,

Mozart has the

merit of having removed the opera from the icy

pathos of mythology into real

human, and from the

life,

Italian

into the purely

to

the

German

36
language, and thereby to a national path.

The

most remarkable feature of

is

figure, so that

the

given to every

each acting personage has become

an immortal type.

It

is

choice of material and

its

ment was of great

The

operas

his

musical characteristic he has

that the

true

happy

excellent scenic treat-

assistance in this.

text to the "Magic-Flute"

is

generally

considered childish and ludicrous!?

I hold a contrary opinion

even

only on account of the variety

musician.

to find

an expression that

offers to the

it

case

the same in

it

would be hard

wanting in

is

Don Juan.

It is

it.

musically, as he has done; but such

incite less genial

composers

The

evident the

genius of a Mozart was required to reproduce

might

were

Pathetic, fantastic, lyric, comic, naive,

romantic, dramatic, tragic, yes,

is

if it

it all

Opera texts

to interesting

work.

But

that

which he

lias

made, he alone could

make

Yes,

a god-like creation

all

flooded with

37
light.

In hearing Mozart I always wish to ex-

claim:

"Eternal sunshine in music, thy name

is

Mozart!"

It is

incomprehensible to me,

how

giving him such exhalted admiration,

give him the highest

Mankind

a storm

may become dry and parched

Haydn-Mozart sunshine;

matic,

do not

it

it

feels that

it

in the Eternal

wishes to express

longs for action,

French

the

still

recognition.

thirsts for

itself earnestly, it

you, while

revolution

it

becomes dra-

breaks

forth

Beethoven appears!

But you do not mean

is

to

say that Beethoven

the musical reverberation of the French Revo-

lution!

Not the

Guillotine J of course, but at all events

of that great drama;

in

no-wise history set to

music, but the tragedy echoing in music which

is

called "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!"

He
the

is,

however, the positive continuation of

Haydn and Mozart

works of his

first

period.

period,

at least

in the

38

The forms

in his first period are the forms

then reigning, but the line of thought

is,

even in

the works of his youth, a wholly different one.

The

last

movement

in his first Pianoforte Sonata

(F minor), more especially in the second theme,

is

already a

new world

of emotion, expression,

pianoforte effect, and even pianoforte technic.

So

too, the Adagio in the second Sonata (A major),

the Adagio in the

and

so on.

And

struments in his

String-Quartette (F major),

first

already the treatment of the in-

first

three Trios

ent from that used until then.

his first period altogether, as I

is

entirely differ-

In the works of

have

said,

we

re-

cognize only the formulae of the earlier composers;

for,

although the garb

a time,

we hear even

still

remains the same for

in these works, that natural

hair will soon take the place of the powdered per-

ruque and cue; that boots, instead of buckled

shoes,

wiU change the

too); that

gait of the

man

(in

music,

the coat, instead of the broad frock

with the steel buttons, will give him another bearing,

and even these works resound with the

39
loving tone (as in

Haydn and Mozart)

the soulful

tone (not apparent in the former), and very soon

after with the aesthetic (as in them), the

ethic

them wanting), and we become aware

(ia

that

he supplants the Menuet with the Scherzo, and

stamps his

so

works with a more

earnest character; that through

music

even

will

art

Adagio

and

instrimiental

be capable of expressing the dramatic

to the tragic, that

that music in

new

him

virile

humor may

general has acquired an entirely

of expression.
is

rise to irony,

astounding,

His greatness
from

in

the

innermost

the

lyric to the metaphysical; yes, he attains to the

mystical in this art of expression.

imapproached in

tirely

them

Lear.")

But he

his Scherzos

is

en-

(some

of

would compare with the jester in ''King

Smiling, laughing,

merry-making, not

seldom bitterness, irony, effervescence, in short,

a world of psychological expression

them.
as

is

heard in

Emanating not from a human being, but

from an invisible Titan, who now rejoices

over humanity, now

is

offended;

now makes him-

40
self

merry over them and again weeps

enough,

wholly incommensurable!

Well,

it

diction with

will

you

be

difficult to

come

into contra-

in regard to Beethoven, because

equally admire him.

all

And

yet

entertain

opinion in regard to

from expressing.

some difference

him which

of

I cannot refrain

Thus, for example,

I consider

"Fidelio" the greatest opera in existence to-day,

because

it is

the true music drama in every par-

ticular ; because, with all the reality of the musical

characteristic, there is always the

most beautiful

melody; because, notwithstanding

all interest

in

the orchestra, the latter does not speak for the

acting persons upon

the

but

stage,

lets

them

speak for themselves; because every tone of

comes from the deepest and

must reach the

truest of the soul

soul of the hearer

and

stiU

it

and
it is

the generally accepted opinion that Beethoven

could not be an opera composer.

his

"Missa

creations,

solemnis'^

and

it is

as

one

I do not regard

of his

greatest

generally regarded as such.

41

May

ask

why

it

does not find grace ia

your eyes!

Because, aside^from the purely musical

with which in

many ways

in

it,

do not sympathize, I

who speaks

hear in the whole composition a being

with God, disputes with Him, but does not pray

to

Him

fully

nor adore

in

his

songs").

Him

as he has done so beauti-

" Geistliche

Lieder"

(''Spiritual

do not either share the opinion that

the use of the vocal in the last

movement

of the

Ninth Symphony was a desire on his part

for a

culmination of the musical expression in a tech-

symphony

nical sense for the

in general

but on

the contrary, that after the " unutterable " of the

three

first

movements he intended

to

have some-

thing utterable, hence the last movement, with

addition of the vocal (with words).

believe that this last

the

Ode

to

Joy but the Ode

said that Schiller

received,
(joy

movement

to

instead

to

is

do not

intended as

Freedom.

It is

was moved by the censure he

write

Freude instead of Freiheit

of freedom),

and that Beethoven.

42

knew

this

I believe

not acquired,

most decidedly.

it,

comes, and

it

it is

hence

dom must

be won

pianissimo in the

there

is

but free-

theme begins

the

through

goes

Bassi,

Joy

many-

variations, to ring out finally in a triumphant

and

Freedom

fortissimo

thing, hence also the

too

is

" Seid umschlungen Millionen " ("Be

theme.

embraced ye millions")
with joy,

since joy

also not reconcilable

is

of

is

character and cannot embrace

in the

a very serious

earnest character of the

same way, many other

So

you

also

more

individual

mankind

all

and

things.

do not share the opinion that

Beethoven would have written many things

ently and others not at

all if

differ-

he had not become

deaf?

Not

in the

slightest

"we call his third period

deafness

The

last

That

which

was the period of

and what would music

third period
last

degree.

his

be without this

Pianoforte Sonatas, the

String Quartettes, the Ninth

Symphony and

others were possible only because of his deafness.

43

This

absolute concentration, this being trans-

ported into another world, this tone-full soul, this

lament never heard before, this bound Prometheus, this soaring above everything earthly, this

tragic not

even approximately present

other opera ;

all

that could only find

press itself because of his deafness.

in

means

to

any
ex-

He had indeed

written the most beautiful, yes unrivalled works

before his

deafness; for example, what

" Hollen-scene " of Gluck's 'Orpheus"

'

in

is

the

compari-

son with the second movement of his G-major

Piano Concerto

What any Tragedy (Hamlet

and King Lear possibly excepted)

in comparison

with the second movement of his D-major Trio

What
the

''

is

Drama

the whole

Coriolanus Overture "

in

comparison with

But yet the most exalted, the most wondrous,

the most inconceivable, was not written until after

his deafness.

that

is,

As the

blind to

seer

all his

with the eyes of the

imagined deaf, deaf

may be imagined

blind

surroundings, and seeing

soid, so the

to all his

hearer

may be

surroundings and

44
hearing with the hearing of the

soul.

deafness

of Beethoven, what unspeakable sorrow for himself,

and what unspeakable joy

for art

and

for

humanity

You did
If only
paradox

right to

as

truth as

be found

is to

am happy

much

warn me of your paradoxes.

have

to

is

contained in every

in this opinion of

So then Beethoven has expressed

and Omega

Not

music

in

quite.

resounding:

You

"O

"

the Alpha

He

has taken us with him in

from below a song

his flight to the stars, but

beautiful

mine I

felt so.

come

is

hither, the earth too is so

This song Schubert sings to

us.

are contradicting yourself there, he

was

vocal composer jpar excellence!

Not
(in

in the pretentious sense of the opera

which he achieved but

little),

but in the sense

of the song, the one and only legitimate vocal

music besides church music

in addition

much and such wondrous

has written so

mental music

and

regard

he

instru-

Beethoven's second

45
epoch as the point of culmination in the

art of

music, and Schubert as the father of the third

Yes, this Schubert

epoch.

ence in music

is

a remarkable pres-

While

in the case of all others

we

find a preparatory fore-

(even the greatest)

runner, he appears as developed of himself (or

even

he had predecessors they are entirely

if

unknown

to

us),

and that

He

instrumental music.

vocal as

in

too

creates

new

in

lyric,

the lyric-romantic in music, before him the song

was

either the naive Couplet or the Ballade,

with

dry,

with

recitatives,

scholastic form, meaningless

He

shallow

cantilena,

accompaniment,

creates the emotional song,

poem

to the poetic one; the

that declares the words

in

rivalled.

so

What

in

gives
melody

he creates a form of art

which very much that

done after him, but

the

etc.

which comes

from the heart and penetrates to the heart

the musical

stiff,

is

beautiful has been

which he

can rival the

still

stands un-

" Winterreise,"

"Schwanengesang," the " MiiUerlieder," and

many

others

Besides these he created the

46
little

piano-pieces

plicable

same

and there he

Living

citj with

as well as his

too most inex-

same time and

at the

Beethoven and

fluenced in his musical creation

piano music.

is

in his

chamber music; and

Compare

in the

so entirely unin-

symphony

also in his

Beethoven's " Bagatel-

len" alone with Schubert's ''Moments musicals,"

Yes, he

or with his "Impromptus."

in his song, as in his

little

"Rhapsody Hongroise"
Marches for four hands,

for

his

stands alone

piano-pieces, in his

four

hands, in his

Waltzes and Fantasias,

In one form

in short, in all that he has created.

alone he does not attain the highest altitude, that

is

the Sonata, but (1st) Beethoven had really said

the last word in this form, and (2d) to the pro-

nounced lyric-romantic character of

this epic

He
His

his creation

form was not natural.

is

generally accused of want of form.

peculiarity

of inserting

whole

songs

(without words) into his larger works {heavenli/

themes with earthly interludes and reproduction),

in

extending them to great lengths (especially to

;!

47
be

felt in his

Pianoforte Sonatas with exception

of two or three)
^^

Schumann has

so rightly called

heavenly lengths."

Can

he and Beethoven really have been sa

estranged

They
mutual

were acquainted, but there was no

esteem

up

the

latter

is

known

only of

Beethoven was either entirely locked

Schubert.
^^-ithin

himself (toward musicians often rude

and forbidding, besides being hard of access on

account of his deafness), or
circles of society (the

pupil, friend

moved

in the highest

Arch-Duke Rudolf was

and patron).

his

Schubert was a genuine

Viennese-child-of-the-people.

The

Folks'-gar-

den, the street, the cafe, the gipsies, his world;

the Vienna dialect (as with

his language.

Hayden and Mozart)

His songs were seldom sung in

public, mostly only in the circle of his friends

the same in regard to his instrumental music, and

his

C-major Symphony he himself never heard

So these two geniuses lived at the same time

and in

the

same

city,

and remained almost

48

unknown

to

music even

each other.
at that time

sad evidence that

was not the common

property of the public (opera excepted), but only

A pastime

for certain circles

He died joung?
And did not gain

recognition, even in his

songs, unto some time after his death.

Bach has

only been rescued from obscurity since the year

1830, and Beethoven's third period was for the

greater half of our century

by

even

designated,

musicians, as a sickly, yet crazed period.

Schubert's enormous
life is

creation in so short a

incomprehensible to me.

^'He

sang as the birds sing" always and

without ceasing, from a

full heart,

gave himself as he was, and polished

a fuU throat,
his

works but

slightly.

That you do
God created

not intend to reckon as a merit?

woman;

certainly

the

beautiful of his creations, but full of faults.

most

He

did not polish them away, being convinced that

all that

was

faulty in her would be out-weighed

49

by

lier

charms

so Schubert in his compositions;

his melody out-weighs

there be.

One

of his most sympathetic attributes

naturalness

is his

deficiency, if deficiency

all

how harmlessly by the

side of

the highest and most beautiful he exhibits the

"Kreuzfidelen Lerchenfelder Wiener" in the

movement
last

and

of the C-major String Quintette, in the

movement

in the last

last

of the D-major Pianoforte Sonata,

movement

so forth,

of the G-major Fantasia,

and withal the manifoldness and

versatility of his creation.

And then

his songs,

*^Die Krdhe,^^ ^'Der Doppelgdnger" ^^Du hist die

JRuh,'^

"Der

Tconig/' his

Atlas/'

Walzes

A- and D-minor,
his

^^

major

Moments

^'

then

his

his String Quartettes in

Hungarian Rhapsody

musicals/' the

no again,

"Der Erl-

Aufenthalt,"

Symphony

then
in

C-

and a thousand times over

and over, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert occupy

the highest pinnacles in music!

As yet you

have not explained

Chopin and Glinka hold the right

with these.

to

to

me how

be classed

50

Vienna has sung

its

song.

^Music seeks its

previous home, North Germany.

You mean German music,

as Mehul, Gretry,

Cherubini, Spontini, Rossini and others, did not

live in

Germany.

They
sively,

are composers of vocal music exclu-

hence

for

me, not standard hearers of the

art of music.

Who then

in

your opinion

the continuation

is

of the chain ?

Weber.
Would you,
regard him

if

he had not

-written his operas,

too as a standard-bearer of the art f

^Not in the full significance of the

could not however pass .him

compositions,

much

that

of the orchestra, and

stamp him as such.

is

by

new

word; I

as his pianoforte

in his treatment

especially his overtures,

Still,

you are quite

right in

regarding his operas as his greatest works.

It is

remarkable how decidedly he has become a type

in all the styles in

which he created.

Every-

the Folk-

thing that he did has been imitated

51
tone (Freiscliutz), the Romantic-fantastic (Oberon), the Lyric-romantic (Euryanthe), his Arias,

Hunting Choruses,

his

compositions

Pianoforte

Overtures and his

his

(Concertstiicke,

etc.).

Concerning his Pianoforte Sonatas, although they

do not by any means attain the height of invention, the

depth of conception, the earnest emotion,

the artistic standard of the Beethoven Sonatas,

in their art they are highly valuable

still

positions.

For the pianoforte he

is,

as

it

comwere,

Virtuoso-Composer.

What do you mean by

Compositions, which
personage where
pears

that

in

as

occupy the foregrovmd even

musical contents
to

we can

Do
that
its

"passage" ap-

brilliancy

and

effect

at the

expense of the

however, when

we remember

what shallowness

him,

the

this style

was brought

after

look upon his work with respect.

you care

so little for opera in general

you do not consider

it

worth while

to

mention

progress side by side with the progress of

instrumental music

52

If I wished to illustrate to

you only my own

sympathies as regards the progress of our

should be obliged

Mendelssohn.

to pass

over at once to

You demand my opinion of every-

thing, however,
fields,

now

art, I

and

so

we

will first explore

which have been prodigiously

two

cultivated,

and which more than everything mentioned heretofore

have entertained and delighted the public,

these are

the Opera, in vocal music, Virtuosityj

in instrumental music.

With

the

Opera you

will

probably begin in

Italy?

Both have
Opera

(bufFa

their beginning there,

and

seria)

there the

bloomed and flourished,

developing very quickly and to a high degree,

and in such a manner,

that,

of France, where with Lulli

the

French language,

Italian

language,

over

it

it

with the exception

appears at once in

was adopted

the

whole

in

world

the

and

through the half of the present century.

The

reason for this

Italian climate

is

probably that the

and language have helped

to give

53
us the best singers.

however,

is

To

decline in the art of creation

They were

circumstance Italy,

this

also indebted for the ever increasing

among

its

composers.

obliged to write beautiful Cantilenas,

grand coloratur-arias, whether allowable by the

subject of the

drama

or not, in order to give the

singer opportunity to show his skill

and

hence

they were obliged to give the orchestra only an insignificant

accompanying

For these reasons,

role.

to the earnest musician, Italian

synonymous with

From an
justifiable,

insignificant

Opera

and

is

be prized, and there are

Italian

legion,

many

Opera

period before Mozart, the

style.

altogether

from a purely musical standpoint, not

Italian Opera.

is

to-day

inartistic.

aesthetic standpoint this

entirely so, for a beautiful Cantilena

to

is

after

all,

be found in

in its prime, is the

number

and they rank as

Of the

to

is

of

its

composers

classic there in this

Mozart and after-Mozart periods

the most important are: Salieri, Cimarosa, Paesiello,

Paer, and later Kossini

his

^'

Barbier von

Sevilla" in freshness, melody, humor, character-

54
istic,

truly a master

"William

also his

work

Tell,"

and drama as well as

his

"Comte D'Ory"

very remarkable in color

in

orchestral treatment,

notably in the overture which might be called a

work

of art if he

had substituted something more

appropriate for the last allegro!

operas also

by

we

side with

find the trivial

much

that

is

and

In his other
inartistic side

excellent.

It is

a not

uninteresting fact that he, as well as the Italian

composers before and after him, preserved a more

noble tone, and gave the orchestra a more interesting

treatment in the operas they wrote for

the French Stage, in the French language, than

operas written

in the

language.

public for a long time

Bellini
first

and shortly

by

for

Rossini ruled

his

Italy

the

in the

entire

until the

European

appearance of

after that of Donizetti,

sweet

Italian

melody, the second

who, the

by

his

temperament and in some measure modern dramatic

tendency, crowded his works, with the exception

of two or three operas, from the repertoire.

The

public and the artists revelled in these two com-

55
posers,

and the French Grand Opera (Meyerbeer)

was their only

rival

and when

one, as

has

I,

heard these Operas sung by Rubini, Tamburini,

Lablache, by Sontag, Grisi, Persiani, Tadolini, and

Jenny Lind, he cannot help revelling

which

consequently

did

my

in

in them,

and

youth,

thoroughly.

And

has Italy done nothing in instrumental

music ?

We have already spoken

Scarlatti, after these

was created.

of CoreUi and

Clementi,

of great significance in

virtuosity and in a pedagogic sense; but of

later.

After

D.

nothing worthy of mention

him

these, Boccherini alone remains to

be noticed, who has written much chamber music

(Quintettes for stringed instruments), but which
in no

way approaches

most importance

on the
Viotti,

violin

that

after

Haydn.

which was done

Corelli

Nardini,

and especially Paganini made

ment the most

Piano.

is

that of

important

musically

Of

the

for

and

Tartini,

this instru-

after

the

56

France comes now on

France and Germany

made

the

list,

since in Italy,

only, the art of

music has

a progress worthy of mention, while in the

other countries

its

progress has been of little or no

importance.

Until

1830 indeed; but from

lights of various

magnitude arise

and end of Europe

that time on

in

every corner

music becomes more and more

a universal possession, and almost every country

has more or

less

renowned representatives of

this

art.

Schools, however,

developed only in these

three countries?

From Rameau
tions,

was

it

until Berlioz, with

was the Opera,

and

solely

cultivated in France.

The

genre

exclusively

Opera, that

opera with dialogue.

is,

mostly

who,

French

as representatives

however,

(of course only those

are

alone, that

French

vated almost

the

few excep-

who have

French language) cultivated the

Comic

Foreigners

regarded

of the

of

culti-

by

the

French school
written in the

so-called

Grand

57
Opera, that

opera with recitative.

is,

Cherubini,

LuUi,

They

Rossini

Spontini,

call

(Italians),

Gluck, Herold, Meyerbeer (Germans) " Chefs de

Vecole Franqaise.^^

an English

The English

composer,

also call

he

because

Oratorios in the English language.

Handel

wrote
I

his

canot say

that this kind of patriotism displeases me.

There

at least

is

more pride

in that

than in

disowning one born and bred in a country and

avowing

its

foreign one.

religion,

The

^^

because

name

his

Opera Comique^^

is,

have

created most

Mehul, Monsigny,
Boieldieu,

Dalayrac,

Adam, Auber,

and
charmingly Oretry,

speaking, the type of French music

they

is

properly
in

it

Berton,

Isouard,

Grisar, Masse, Bizet,

Delibes, and others, deserve not only the respect of

Many
Mehul

their nation, but the respect of all nations.

of these have also written serious Operas

(whose
best in

Portici"
their

^^

Joseph in Egypf^

this

and

style),

Auber,

others, but

creations

in

the

equal of the

"Z)^e

Stmnme von

is

still

the character of

general remains

the

Opera

58
Comique.

It

is

worthy of mention that with

them the treatment of the orchestia

more

^Lively

rhythm, ingenious, piquant

often excellence,

refinement,

even in their symphonic

creation of to-day, are the principal

tinction.

stamp the French in music so

decidedly that they,

mark

of dis-

What they now-a-days have completely

lost is the graceful, simple,

and

much

is

interesting than with the Italian composers.

that

is

charming " Chanson/'

They have become

a pity!

seurs" in music (in the Comic Opera

'^phra-

And

also).

indeed the other nations are not far behind them

in this,

seems

it

be the general

to

evil

of our

time!

Since

the time of the Second Empire, the

"Opera Comique,"

this

charming, witty, merry,

interesting genre, has been thrown into the shade

by the "Operetta,"
become

frivolous;

which the charming has

in

the witty, silly;

the merry,

vulgar; a sort of Comic- Journal set to music a la

'^Journal pour

inventor

rire.'^

The (by-the-way)

of this genre

was Offenbach

talented

he

had

59

many

Audran,

Lecocq,

(Herve,

imitators

and

others) for anything of that kind has disciples

This style seems lately

France, and
it

be losing ground in

to

Germany intends

evidently to elevate

again to the comic opera in the earlier form.

The

serious (Grand)

Opera was,

as already

men-

tioned, mostly in the hands of foreign composers,

who, however, were obliged

demands of the French public

French language, directing
to

declamation

the

Lulli,

and

later

compose

to

the

in the

their attention chiefly

latter

typical character to the

conform

to

especially gave

the

French Grand Opera.

Gluck,

striving

to

stem the

inbreaking Italianism, had constructed a whole

system in this direction

tini

also

(this

musical

Cherubini
echo

Militarismas) remained true to

public
this,

demanded

in

the

of
it.

the

and SponNapoleon

Later on the

Grand Opera, besides

an interesting, almost symphonic orchestra,

interesting treatment of the subject (especiaUy in

wealth of situation) unqualified addition of the

ballet

and a grand setting (the Grand Opera

60
would not allow of

than five

less

Meyer-

acts).

beer more than any other composer

fulfilled

these

demands, and has thus become the type of the

French Grand Opera.

This composer

valued in France and in

over-

is

Germany under-valued

by earnest critics. He has indeed many sins on hi&

artist

sickly vanity, longing for

conscience:

mediate success, want of

strict self-criticism,

impan-

dering to the bad taste of an unmusical public, glosa

in musical characteristic

but

he has two very

highly

distin-

guished orchestral treatment, a highly

artistic

great

qualities

Theatre-blood,

handling of the massive, powerful dramatic situa-

Many musicians who

no doubt be very glad
they

him.
"Robert der

tion, virtuosi technic, etc.

abuse him would

were able

if

to imitate

Teufel,'^

"Der Prophet," and especially ''Die Hugenotten/^

are at any rate opera compositions of

Next

to

him,

it

is

Halevy who

is

most important in France, and his

work very well worthy

of note.

first

rank

counted the
''

Jiidin'' is

From

here on

(with the exception of Rossini, Donizetti,

and

61
Verdi, whose several operas were given there),
the Grrand Opera passes entirely into the possesof French

sion

Thomas, Gounod,

composers:

Saint-Saens, Massenet, Reyer, and others.

And the instrumental music?

only developing
Begins with
and
Berlioz,

itself

is

earnestly at the present day.

So now we must turn with the opera question

to

Grermany?

The

language, in the
in

German

beginnings of opera in the

first

part of the

Hamburg, have only a

a mere archaeological

XVIII. century,

historical, yes, almost

interest.

There too

the comic opera alone which figures in

its

it

is

national

language, the serious opera in the whole of Ger-

many was

presented in

The German

serious

the

Opera

is,

Italian

language.

with few excep-

tions (Kayser, Fuchs, Mattheson, Hasse, Hiller),

a child of the after-Mozart time, and flourished

for

some time

as Vaudeville, Minstrelsy (Sing-

spiel), that is, Avith

spoken dialogue.

upon a circumstance here that

to

me

We
is

touch

always a

62
tender spot in our
be, in

be

any

art.

If the

case, a possible

so only in case

we

Opera

form of

be sung, then

it

again, then spoken again,

ceivable

Even

in a

able to

art, it could

voluntarily accept a con-

ventional falsehood to speak what

however,

is

sung

is

spoken, then

how

is

an

if,

sung

illusion con-

French Vaudeville (when,

after a witty dialogue or interesting scene) the

(incidental) ''Bon jour,

portez vous"

is

me unbearable

Madame, comment vous

given in a singing voice,

it is

to

but in an earnest, dramatic, lyric

or fantastic piece (Opera!) the melo-dramatic in

a French scene of terror, or in a poisoning scene

or a midnight raid, etc.,

where the

sordini^ begin the tremolo is to

ble
his

and

remember

me more

that

"Magic Flute," Beethoven

Weber
it

when

his "Freischiitz," with a

makes me

entirely

violins, con

accepta-

Mozart wrote
'^Fidelio,"

his

spoken dialogue

unhappy!

Are you disturbed

by the mixture

of poetry

and prose in Shakespeare's plays also!

There

it

is

different

persons

who speak

63
differently

prose

the

the important

the person

one

unimportant persons speak in

in poetry

but

in the Opera,

who has just sung begins

who has been speaking begins

to speak, or
to sing.

ruling taste, a frightful thing in art!

I did not

know

that in Italy Operas with

spoken dialogue existed.

For the Comic

the " Becitativo

ing musically

Opera the

secco,^^

Italians invented

a very proper art of speak-

in the

serious

Opera they sing

throughout.

In

this then,

they take precedence of other

nations in music?

Perhaps, however,
regard
Yet Gluck, Mozart, and the German Opera
in this

in general, developed

only.

under the influence of the

Italians ?

In the case of Gluck and Mozart

it

was only

an outward influence, necessitated above

the

all

by

language and by the prevailing forms in

musical works

but neither on their melody,

their musical expression, nor on the progression

64
of their ideas

there an influence apparent.

is

Gluck

is

sician,

although he wrote his operas in these two

neither an Italian nor a French

languages;

nor

is

Mozart an

mu-

musician,

Italian

even though he wrote the most of his operas in

that language.

Gluck

wrote Gluck-music and

Mozart wrote Mozart-music, and the German

calls

them both

his own,

German-musician

because he

feels

the

in them, although they wrote

in a foreign language.

Are

you

in favor of, or

opposed

to,

national

creation in music?

The nationality of
poser

is

bom

that land in

and bred

will,

in

which a com-

my

opinion,

always be recognized in his creation; he

may

live in another land and write in another lan-

guage, as evidence, Handel, Gluck, Mozart and

others

there

is,

however, a reflected national

much in vogue in our day), and

may be very interesting, it cannot
my estimation command the sympathy of the

creation (very

although
in

it

united world, and awakens an

ethnographical

65
interest at most.

For example:

melody that

would charm tears from a Finnlander would

quite coldly upon a Spaniard
that

would compel a

so on.

It is

may be

one nation
that

finally

it

enjoys

it

Hungarian

hop and

to

true that the dance

itself to

yes, even

has become

but two nations can never be of com-

plete unity of feeling, nor of the

in their

it,

(as for instance the waltz

universal)

Italian,

rhythm of

upon that of another

so grafted

accustoms

fall

a dance rhythm

would not disturb the repose of an

spring,

and

melody and dances.

same enthusiasm

The composers

the reflective-national style must rest

of

satisfied

with the acknowledgement (often adoration) of

their

own

valued, as

country, which
it

not to be under-

is

probably has also

its

high worth and

great satisfaction.

You have omitted

the

to give

me

the names of

German Opera composers?

The

nomenclature

minous one
dorf,

in the

Schenk, Muller

is

an exceedingly volu-

Comic Opera from

to Lortzing,

Ditters-

Flotow, Gotze,

66
and many others

and dramatic from

in the lyric

Winter, Weigl, Kreutzer to Wagner, Goldmark,

Kretschmar, Nessler, and

many

others; in the

Operetta from Strauss, Suppe, Millocker to those

growing up daily

in our midst.

portant of these are already

others increase the

the

The

known

most im-

to you, the

number without advancing

art.

You

spoke of a

field

of

virtuosity

that

should be explored?

Yes,

the second

field,

which, next to the

Opera, entirely rules the public

turn to this

we must once more

but before

we

clearly review the

after-Beethoven period in instrumental music.

worthy of mention before the

Is this really

time of Schumann ?

Only

a very few composers

in

Germany

devoted themselves to vocal composition exclusively, the

style

as

most of them cultivated almost every

Weber, who besides being an opera and

song composer was a pianoforte composer.

the head of the

German

Spohr,

school of the violin,

67

was a composer

in all styles of

tinguished in

but in

all,

music and
exhibiting

all too,

dis-

man-

nerism to monotony, hence probably not enduring

although Avorks such

his

as his

Opera " Jessonda,"

Symphony "Die Weihe der Tone" in C-minor,

several

Chamber Music

pieces,

Violin Concertos, assure

honorable

place

in

the

him

and especially
at

events an

all

literature

his

of

music.

Marschner, the most important German Opera

composer between Weber and Wagner, has written, besides,

a large amount of Chamber-Music

Lachner, Reissiger, and others, likewise.

And Mendelssohn
To give
appearance
?

to his

it

deserves,

we must

the value that

not leave unmentioned a

period of time, that brought us

much

that

was

indeed worthy of mention in vocal music, a period

that is

known

as the time of the " Capellmeister-

music."

What
has

is

It

the meaning of this term ?

reference

to

those composers

wrote according to every rule of the

art,

who
and

68
after given models, but

who were

destitute of all

creative impulse, and of the creative vein.

And

who were

these

functionaries

of the

artf

who

All those

lived in the said time.

speak of instrumental music, and thus even the

names of Marschner, Lachner,

painter, Fesca, Kalliwoda,

Reissiger, Lind-

and many others must

be enumerated.

Did you
among

not previously mention Marschner

the great ones?

His

Operas,

^^

Vampi/r,"

^'

Jiidiny^ especially ^'Hans Heiling,^' give

place

of honor

Pianoforte
positions,

among composers; but

Trios,

und

Templer

him a
in

his

and other instrumental com-

even in the overtures

belongs to the above category.

to his

Operas, he

Lachner we must

not omit to mention, for, influenced in technique

by the modern
in his last

spirit,

he made himself conspicuous

days by his Orchestra Suites

evidence of his

old,

giving

masterly technic, and his

rejuvenated power in invention.

Now

bring this

69
time

home very

your mind:

clearly to

Opera, Epigonenthum

in Oratorio

in the

and Church

dry barrenness and pedantry, and in the

style,

Symphony and

Chamber

Kapellmeister

style.

music; in compositions for solo instruments the

most shallow opera-fantasia and variation-scribbling

can you estimate how beneficial to the

art of

music the appearance of Mendelssohn must

have been?

How comes
day, and even

One

it

then that he

is

slighted at this

by musicians?

principal reason for that

great esteem he enjoyed during

is

the very

his lifetime, after

which a reaction must necessarily come; and

then

it

is

not to be denied that, in comparison

with the other great ones of

in depth, earnestness

compensated
I

am

for

by

art,

he was wanting

and greatness

so

many

but that was

other qualities, that,

convinced, art-lovers will certainly return to

him with

love

and reverence, and

stiQ greatly

delight in him.

His chief work was instrumental music?

70

All branches of
in

him one

art,

except the Opera, had

of the noblest representatives

his

creations were master-works in completeness of

form, technic and beauty of tone, and furthermore,

he was a manifold creator.

Nighfs Dream"

and genial

is

His

^'Midsummer

a musical revelation!

New

in invention, in orchestral coloring, in

humor, in

lyric, in

fairy-like.

His

^^

romantic

his type

seems the

Songs tvithout words" are a

genuine treasure of lyric and pianoforte-toneperfection;

his

"six Preludes and Fugues for

Pianoforte" a splendid work of modern-mode in

this old form,

and especially the

his violin-concerto is a
ness, grateful technic

These

(E-minor)
fresh-

and noble virtuosity; and

his overture to ^^FingaVs

literature.

first

imicum of beauty,

Cave" a pearl of musical

are, in

my

opinion, his most

genial compositions, but his Oratorios, Psalms,

Symphonies, Chamber-music, Songs,

etc.,

are also

works which place him among the heroes of the

art.

In general

would designate

as the swan-song of the classic.

his creations

71

His music has never deeply moved me.

"Who
sorrow
bread
ne'er his

"Who

in

ate."

ne'er the sorrow-laden nights," etc

Mendelssohn and also Meyerbeer were the

chil-

dren of wealthy parents, and enjoyed the most

refined training

and education

in their homes,

surrounded by an intellectually select society,

they pursued Art, not as a means of subsistence,
but followed
learned
fied

it

life's

as an impulse of the mind; and

bitterness at most in an unsatis-

ambition or injured vanity at the beginning

of their musical careers;

knew

of livelihood nor position

and

their creations

there are no

neither the cares

all this is

tears,

heard in

no agonies of

the soul, no bitterness, and almost no complaint.

And yet Mendelssohn stands

so high in

your

opinion ?

Yes, because

he created the most beautiful

works and the highest

in

abundance, and because

he rescued instrumental music from ruin.

And contemporary, Schumann

(Romanticism)
The new
his

spirit

that

had been

72
hovering in the literature of

50 of our century, found

echo

lands from 25 to

Schumann

its

musical

even the war against the formal, the scho-

lastic,

in

all

the pseudo-classic had in

champion

he

against

Capellmeister-music,

him

warred against the

its

musical

Philistines,

against

" cue "-

critique, against the perverted taste of the public,

and thus found

in the beginning of his artistic

activity the material for extraordinarily interest-

ing and musically-new creations, especially for the

Pianoforte.

He was

undoubtedly more tender, warmer,

more romantic, richer

more

soulful,

more

subjective than Mendelssohn.

most sympathetic

in fantasy,

and

To me he

is

in his pianoforte compositions:

Sym-

his Kreisleriana, Phantasiestiicke, Etudes

phoniques, Cameval, Fantasia in C-major, and

many

others are pearls in the literature of the

pianoforte,
is just

and his Pianoforte Concerto in A-minor

such a unicum in pianoforte literature as the

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in the literature of

the Violin; after these come his songs.

rank

73
his orchestral works,
sitions as third in the

New

and his larger vocal compolist.

Pianoforte forms (not always grateful,

but always interesting),

new harmonies, new

new rhythms,

rich

and

forms, combined with the

most beautiful invention and wonderfully charming melody;

highest

we

And
That

all this

stamps him as one of the

possess in music.

absolutely without fault!

I do not say.

Some rhythmic monot-

ony, harmonic overloading, predilection for the

song-form in his pianoforte works, often causing

us to miss in them the great
outline

frequent

orchestral

faulty

flight,

the great

instrumentation in his

and chamber-music

(the

doubling of

the voices), and often mere contrapuntal treat-

ment of the singing-voices

in his larger

vocal

compositions are perhaps mere shadow sides of

his creation, but all these vanish in presence of

the wonderful beauty of his thoughts.

How does the Schumann song compare with

the Schubert?


74

me

more

cause

other hand,
poetic
bert,
too,

make

It is difficult to

To

the comparison.

Schubert's songs are more sympathetic, beoriginal,

tender,

simple;

Schumann's are often

at all events the

is

more

finer,

(since their time

beautiful has been created

in this branch) is a golden circlet in the

German

the

song literature of Schu-

Schumann, Mendelssohn

very much that

on

crown of

lyric.

Who comes now on

He, whose

the list?

association -with

caused you so

Chopin?
You

will

much

my

chosen ones

astonishment.

Now you

arouse

my

curiosity.

perhaps have noticed that

greatest of those of

whom we

all

have spoken

the

until

now, have intrusted their most intimate, yes, I

may

almost say, most beautiful thoughts to the

Pianoforte

but the

Pianoforte-5an7,

tlie

Piano-

{orte-Bhapsodist, the Pianoforte-JfmfZ, the Piano-

forte-Soul

is CJiopin.

Whether the

spirit of this

instrument breathed upon him or he upon

how he wrote

for

it,

I do not

it,

know; but only an

75
entire going-oyer-of-one-into-the-other could call

such compositions to

Tragic, romantic, Ijric,

life.

heroic, dramatic, fantastic, soulful, sweet,

grand, simple;

brilliant,

all

possible expressions

are found in his compositions, and are

him upon

dreamy,

all

sung by

this instrument.

You becoming extravagant!

names
Would you
know
are

of the

the

like to

compositions that justify it?

His Preludes

(to nle

the pearls of his works), the greater half of his

Etudes, his Nocturnes

F-sharp-minor,

C-sharp-minor,

minor,

his Polonaises,

E-flat-

A-flat-

major, especially the A-major and C-minor, which

always seem

to

me

a picture (the A-major) of

Poland's greatness and (the C-minor) of Poland's

downfall

and

his four Ballades, his Scherzos,

B-flat minor; his Sonatas, B-flat

of which

B-minor, the

first

with

movement

its

last

is

minor and

a whole drama,

(after the

very typical

Funeral March), which I would name:

winds siceeping over

added

B-minor

'^

the church-yard graves'^

to all of these,

Night

and

"last, but not least," his

76
Mazurkas!

His Polonaises and Mazurkas ex-

cepted, he has written no Polish-reflective music,

but in

all

of his compositions

we hear him

relate

rejoicingly Poland's vanished greatness, singing,

mourning, weeping over Poland's later downfall,

and that
way.

all in

From

the most beautiful, the most musical

beautiful in invention,

form,
often

how

how

how

a purely musical standpoint,

perfect in technic

and new

interesting

great

how

Withal

it is

in

and

harmony, and

not to be forgotten

that he too (one of the very few) developed out of

himself, with the exception of a

where the Hummel influence

few

is felt

first

efforts

in the predilec-

tion for passages; nor should we overlook the highly

interesting fact that he

is

the only one of the com-

posers who, conscious of his specialty, creates for

this specialty (the Pianoforte)

and (with the excep-

tion of a

few songs) attempts no other

position.

He was indeed the

To
should

me

still

too he

is

style of

com-

soul of the Pianoforte!

very sympathetic, but I

not have thought that he could be the

object of such deification.

77

Moreover he

is to

ihird epoch in our

May

I ask

am

as an exhalation of the

art.

you

time into epochs a

do not understand

me

to explain

more

little
it

your division of

clearly to

fully.

not delivering to you a discourse on the

History of Music,

we

are merely talking over the

progress of music in general, and of

important representatives.
I

me ?

its

most

As you already know,

regard Palestrina as the beginning of music as an

art,

and reckon from him on as the

our

art,

and
and

which

I call the

first

epoch of

Organ- and Vocal-epoch

as the greatest representatives of this epoch

its

point of culmination I recognize

Handel.

The second

epoch,

Instrumental-epoch, that

is,

which I

Bach and
call

the

the development of

the Pianoforte and of the Orchestra, I reckon

from Ph. Em. Bach on, with Haydn and Mozart

to

Beethoven inclusive; recognizing these as the

greatest representatives
tion of this epoch.

romantic,

and the point of culmina-

The

reckon

third epoch, the lyric-

from

Schubert

on,

with

78

Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann,

whom

recognize

Everything

else in

as

atid

Chopin,

representatives.

last

its

regard to this question you

will find in the history of music.

^Now

you

I will try to follow

you

comes the second name, that caused

much

so

in your views.

astonishment

that

is.

have spoken before of the striving

in music,

my

but Glinka

opinion of which you already know,

is

so distinguished in this

that he stands high above

made

like attempts.

all

groups

is

endeavor

who have
'^The gods

noticable also in

with every manifestation of art whole

endeavor for national

arise, as also in the

creation in music.
in

others

Schiller says:

never come singlyj^ and that

our art

We

Glinka.

for the national

We

will

the different countries

review these attempts

Erkel

Smetana

in

posers in

Sweden and Norway

in

Hungary,

Bohemia, the majority of the com-

earlier Balfe

and

now

the majority of English composers, and so

on

from

imisic

in

all

the

of these

we hear

the all-the-world-

Romanza, or the Chorus

or

79

Dance

of national character

not the case;

from

the

with Glinka

first

this i&

note to the last in

the overture, as well as in the vocal part of his

Operas (Recitative, Aria, Ensemble),

all

is

of

national character; melody, harmony, yes, even

the treatment of the orchestra.

He

has usually

the combination of two nationalities in his operas;

in his

'''

Lebcn fiir den Zar^^ Russian and Polish;

in his ^'Busslan

Circassian.
is

und Ludmilla"

The

the Russian

and

character of both nationalities

heard throughout,

at

the same time

united

with the most perfect mastery and technic.

Did

he not write after the Italian model,

introducing Arias, Ensembles, etc.?

He

has retained that form, living under the

influence of the Italian

Opera which ruled exclu-

sively in Russia until a short time ago, but his

melody and harmony,

his

invention and

mood

always retain a specific national coloring.

So

far as

known

to

me, he was a composer

of vocal music exclusively f

He has not written many instrumental works^

^ 80
"but
*^

among them a Capriccio on

the folk-theme

Kamarinskaja" which has become the type

Russian instrumental music, and

geniality

some very

is

for

really of great

beautiful Entr'act music to a

tragedy, ^'Fiirst CholmsJcy" in which the Jewish

element

appears

remarkable coloring,

in

ex-

tremely interesting orchestral works on Spanish

and Dances, and a few things

Folk-songs

Pianoforte alone

his chief

branch

the Opera, and in spite of that he

my

is

is,

to

for

however,

me

one of

five.

cannot say that you have entirely con-

vinced me, with reference to your

ones,

but

in

all

has

that

Beethoven and Schubert

can even comprehend

so revel in Chopin,

Before we enter

to

chosen

Bach,

I agree with you,

too, that

and

five

reference

you

and

as a pianist,

as a Russian, in Glinka.

upon the new era of com-

position, the era of to-day (the fourth epoch of

music as an
Yirtuosity

art),

we must

divided

including the

first

into

explore the field of

two epochs, the epoch

half of our century, in which

81
the Virtuoso brought out mostly his
positions,

and the succeeding epoch,

appears chiefly as an executant

positions

only

is

own comwhich he

com-

artist of the

For us the

of others.

of interest, as

in

earlier

epoch

alone could exercise an

it

influence on the progress of the art of music.

Of

the wind instruments

we can

say but

little,

as

the Virtuoso on them could have influence only in

a technical

sense,

and

of the instrument and

This

as regards the construction

its

literature has

use in the orchestra.

always been a cheerless

one with the exception of some few compositions

written for them

Weber).

we have
Eode,

by the great composers (Handel,

Of the

Violin until Paganini and Spohr

already spoken,

Kreutzer,

if

Molique,

we add

the names:

Lipinsky,

Beriot,

Vieuxtemps, David, Ernst, Wieniawski, whose

compositions are

of

great importance

for

the

instrument, although not for the art in general;

for the latter, however, all that such masters as

Bach, Beethoven and Mendelssohn have wTitten

for this instrument

is

of the greatest importance,

82
and we maj now leave
literature

for

still

Servais,

Davidoff,

The

earlier repre-

As regards

for the art in general.

of

significance

Servais for the

influence in this

Popper and

and

manner on the

Of

must not remain unnoticed.

we come

to

the

also

violin,

their

indirect

art in

general

the influence of

the Song- Virtuoso on the composers

we have

is

technic, the

Paganini for the

Violoncello,

beneficial)

others,

than that of the violin and

less significant

great

whose

were Romberg, Dupont and others,

sentatives
later

instrument.

this

Violoncello,

(in

no case

spoken before, and

instrument

that

now

occupies the

principal place, as regards the art, namely, the

Pianoforte.

On

account of

inferior to that of the

Organ

its
(it

compass,

onlj

has

pre-

still

cedence of the latter, however, in the shading

of tone

piano and

forte)

it

must of course be

the instrument most attractive to the musician;

in addition to the advantage of having this

pass

entirely

power

(so

at

his

com-

command, he enjoys the

dear to the musician) of individual

83
rendering

(for in

dependent

numerous

not

any other interpretation he

alone

conditions)

upon

upon

but

himself,

is

therefore the Pianoforte as

the instrument of music has become, so to say, the

photograph-apparatus of the musician,

dictionary

Every great composer was

public.

the

as

the musical Encyclopaedia of the

is

time a Pianoforte Virtuoso

already spoken,

same

at the

of those

we have

now we must speak of the great

who at the same time were

Pianoforte Virtuosi,

composers.

we may

We must begin with Clementi, whom

call

the father or the teacher of

pianoforte virtuosity.
latti,

modem

Who the teachers of Scar-

Couperin, Rameau, Bach, Handel, Haydn,

we do not
how they acquired

Mozart, and even Beethoven, were,

know and can

such

technic

only wonder
(virtuosity),

especially

Bach, and Beethoven, whose technic

to-day,

is

a hard nut to crack.

Scarlatti,

for us,

Clementi

still,

is

the

first

representative of the Pianoforte pedagogy

and

his

^'Gradus ad Pamassum," even to the

present day, the surest guide to virtuosity.

His

84
Sonatas

(a

few among

artistic value) are of the

them are not without

type of that scholastic

period in which, under the cloak of classic-form,

the chief interest was the virtuoso technic.

Not

the fa9ade, but the rear portal of the temple of

preserves such names as Dussek, Steibelt,

art

Hummel,

Cramer,

Moscheles,

Kalkbrenner, Herz, and

the Sonata pines

first

then

the

Pianoforte

many

away

Czerny,

Field,

others, with

whom

in meaninglessness,

was

Concerto

cultivated

merely from a standpoint of the passage, and

Polaccas, Rondos briUants and a la Cosaque were
principal works, and sadly enough, the favorite

nourishment of the public,

the

The

most horribly misused.

variation

was

This eldest of

all

instrumental forms, which in Beethoven rises to

ethics, sinks to the emptiness of Herz,*) to unfold

again, however, with Mendelssohn, and especially

Schumann,

*)

into beautiful being

Mendelssohn even

felt

himself

the pedagogic-

moved

to give his variations

"Variations s^rieuses" in order to distinguish them

ftom the " variations" in vogue at that day.
the

title

85
etude being the onlv branch of the art which at
that time preserved a worthy position.

But

names vou mentioned are mostly

the

contemporary

Weber?
They

with

and

Beethoven, Schubert

ruled the public entirely, however.

Soon after his death the Pianoforte-Beethoven

(except two or three Sonatas which had attained

some popularity) became

of a very few

solely the private cult

music-fanatics

the Pianoforte-

Schubert was entirely ignored; the Pianoforte"

Weber,

it is

true,

remained the order of the day,

but only in a few of his works, and merely as a

more earnest expression of the then reigning

literature.

But

are personages

Hummel, Moscheles and Field

who

others mentioned.

shine as meteors

Hummel,

if

sicklied with the regulation-

craze, might

among

and the passage-

have been counted among the real

composers, for works like his Sonata in

minor, his four-hand Sonata in

Fantasia in

the

he had not been

sharp

flat-major, his

flat-major, his Septette, his

Con-

86
A-minor, and especially B-minor give

certo in

him

entire right to a place in the " parterre des

rois " in the

Temple of Art.

whose Concerto

in

Thus

G-minor

will

also Moscheles,

always remain a

work of music, and who, although

beautiful

scholastic, is

one of the

first

who brought

stiffly

us the

Fantasia (not variation) on opera themes, bringing with

it

a singing and dramatic rendering in

pianoforte playing,

Field

a small frame, but

is

creates,

it

true, in

is

of valuable influence in his

Nocturnes.

But
Liszt,

now

(again, simultaneously) Thalberg,

and Henselt appear

three personages

give the Pianoforte an entirely

freeing

it

qualifying

paniment

new

who

character,

from the scale and passage style and

it

for the canto with arpeggio

Thalberg,

in the orchestral

the polyphonic and broader

accom-

Liszt, in

harmony style

while

Henselt crowded out the variation on an opera

theme and introduced the Fantasia on several

opera themes not however with the Moscheles
simplicity,

but with

an

until

then unknown,

87
virtuosity and a climax-effect allowing two themes
to sing at the

same time.

Liszt and Henselt gave the Etude aesthetic

character, going from the purely pedagogic

to

the artistic (like the ^'Etiide" in the art of painting)

and gave each a name or

title

^'Si oiseau j'etais, a toi je volerais,"

saurais m'abattre," and so on*).

("Mazeppa,''

"Orage, tu ne

All three intro-

duce the transcription of songs and orchestral

works

for the Piano,

dance rhythms with bravura

and concert treatment, inaugurating

in general the

era of transcendental virtuosity for the Pianoforte.

And what
upon

is

the influence that they exert

art!

Virtuosity

exercises an immediate influence

on composition

in general, widens the range of

"Etudes caracteristiques " are works of the

Chopin also wrote Etudes at this time without
especial names, without programme, but worlds of pschycological
*) Moscheles'

same epoch.
contents

minor,

for instance, those in

B flat

minor,

major,

minor, and others.

flat

minor,

I separate the

sharp

Etudes

of these two composers from the above mentioned, because they

appear

to

me

of a

more

serious character musicallj.

88
expression and multiplies the means
position.

As

for

com-

the greatest composers were them-

selves Virtuosi, that

is,

had an excellent technic

on their instruments, they influenced the style of

composition of the ^^minorum gentium''^ and so

one went hand in hand with the other, the composer was influenced by the virtuosity, and this

again by the composer.

Besides

this.

Virtuosity

always influenced the construction of the instrument.

When

Beethoven

in his Sonata op. 110,

allows a tone to be struck 28 times in the begin-

ning of the adagio, that

is

instrument maker to try,

a challenge to the

if possible, to

prolong

the tone of the Pianoforte.

Why do the
and

slight

critics

war against the Virtuoso

him?

They do

who

so against those

as an end

and not a means.

measure,

against

this

ideal

use virtuosity

must

point

protest, in

of view.

think "there must be such fellows too!"

muss auch solche Kauze geben)

fection always

commands

for,

first,

(Es

per-

respect, no matter in

89

what
if

found, and second, their influence

field it is

only indirect

Thus

is still

Paganini's

apparent in the
compositions

art.

not

are

of

especial worth in an artistic sense, but Paganini

gave new

life to

the Violin

Servais' Violoncello

worth

of even less

compositions are

however, gave new

life to

the Violoncello

Servais,
;

Thal-

berg's Pianoforte compositions are of the most

Thalberg gave new

indifferent art, but

and

Pianoforte,

so on.

But

to-day dare not play their

life to

the

since the Virtuosi of

own

compositions, but

only those of others, they are not able to show

us-

what they possibly could accomplish, but simply

what they are compelled
of Virtuosity

own composition

to

fall

" breaking
Virtuosity.

all

one

"break

hence the down-

may

dare only in his

all

bounds/^ and this

bounds " furthers the promotion of

The

scribed and

for

to give,

holding fast to what

demanded

is

beautiful

is

pre-

and noble, yet

At an

earlier

day

the Virtuoso- incited the instrument maker,

by

it

does not further promotion.

his

demands,

to perfection of construction,

now

90
the instrument maker

by

manner of

all

technic.

There

tries to

inauce the Virtuoso,

inventions,

are

perfection of

to

many very

excellent piano

players to-day, but of Virtuosi in the sense of

advancement I would name Tausig as the

same with the

Violin,

and we may

call

last

the

Wieniawski

Virtuoso; of the Violoncello, Davidoff, and

its last

in song, Viardot-Garcia.

In

point I partly agree with you

this

we

believe too, that

require the executive artist

of to-day to express his individuality in too great

a degree, and have in this

musical respectability

way

created a kind of

(so to say),

which

is

inter-

esting, but ultimately rather wearisome.

And now
am

you

about to say

will

I think, that

Schumann and Chopin

Ha,
mean

ha, ha,

"finis

with the death of

musicae"!

cannot be possible that you

it

that seriously?

I paean

musical

much

be horrified with what I

it

creation,

that

is

speak
thought. There

perfectly seriously

melody,

interesting

of
is

and perhaps valuable

91
written to-day^ no doubt, but nothing beautiful,
gi'eat,

or high;

deep,

mental music

and

especially not in instru-

that

is,

my

you know,

as

standard.

How can you prove

excess
By the

that?

existing

of coloring at the

expense of drawing, of technic

at the

expense of

thought, of frame at the expense of picture.

And now
more

would

like to

have a clearer and

precise explanation.

Three names represent the standard bearers

of the

new

of music)

era in music (fourth epoch of the art

Berlioz,

Wagner, and

Liszt.

The

most interesting of the three, even on account of

the time in which he appeared

(in

1830, by the

way), and because he did not become modern, but

declared himself, on the contrary, at the very

beginning of his musical activity as such,

Serlioz.

He

discovered

new

tone-eifects

is

in

orchestra, held to no prescribed form, regarded

the treatment of the text (declamation) as of the

greatest

value

in

tone-painting

(programme-


92
music);
is,

introduced the realistic in music, that

made an attempt

where

in the

'^

to

do this in his Requiem^

Tuba mirum " he ranges a host

of brass instruments at different places in the hall

or church

took delight in strange and peculiar

instrumentation

whole chords

for eight pairs

drums, chords for contrabassi

the

divisi, substituted

instruments

stringed

of

of the

flageolets

for

orchestra,

and other things of the same kind, but

specific musical thought, melodic invention,

of form, richness in

harmony

was really weak) are not

Dazzling in coloring,

beauty

(in this respect

to be

he

found in him.

effective, interesting,

he

is

in everything, but in all too reflective, subtilized,

neither beautiful nor great,

high

and

if

neither

deep nor

one play one of his own compositions

on the piano, even four-handed

(that

toned) the coloring of the instrumentation

and there remains

Symphony

nothing. But

is

full-

is lost,^

play the 9th

of Beethoven upon the piano, even

with two hands (that

overwhelmed with

is

its

with

less tone)

and one

greatness of thought

is

and

93
soulful expression
it

is

One work

I wish to except,

The

the overture to the ''Roman CarnivaV^

famous composition in musical invention.

second in interest

Truly,
While

Wagner.

is

to

me he

was

is

the most interesting.

visiting

Mendelssohn one Sun-

day

in Berlin, in '45 or '46, I

who

noticing the orchestra-score of Tannhauser

met Taubert

also,

on the piano, asked Mendelssohn what he thought

of the composer

answered

'^

of that

man who

opera

one

"

Yes, no

who

reverses

Mendelssohn

writes text

himself^ to his operas^ is no

events

and music

common man

common man, but

my

opinion

at all

still

of the

not

modern

composers.

He

is also

highly interesting, very valuable,

but beautiful or great, deep or high in a specific

musical sense, he

is not.

Would you deny him novelty

He many-sided he appears
too

is

so

it is difficult
is,

to give

as

to us that

a general opinion of him.

besides, so unsympathetic to

me

in

He

his art

94
principles, that

my view

of

him would only annoy

you.

have had the patience

have said

until

now, and so

to

will

hear

that

all

be able to

you

listen

your opinion of him.

to

He

looks upon vocal music as the highest

expression of music

with the

exception of the

song and church music, music-worship for me,

He

begins where words cease.

of Arts (combination of

think that in such case

justice

to

either.

speaks of a Union
the Opera)

all arts for

He

we

my

advocates

Legend

the

estimation the legend

cold expression of art

it

could not do entire

Opera

(Sage), the Supernatural, as material for

text; in

may be

is

always a

an interesting

and poetic play, but never a drama,

for

we

cannot /ee? with a supernatural being.

When a despot .compels

a father to shoot an

apple from the head of his son

or

when

mfe

rescues her husband from the dagger-thrust of

his

enemy by throwing

or

when a son

is

herself between

them

obliged to disown his mother

A
;

95
publicly and declare her mentally deranged in

order to save her

inmost heart, be

life

and

so forth

it stirs

the

spoken or sung or merely

it

represented in pantomime

when a hero

but

makes himself

invisible in a Tarn-cap, or trans-

cendent love

produced by a love-draught, or a

is

knight appears drawn by a swan which shall at

last

unmask

beautiful,

the

heart,

itself as

a prince,

it

may

very poetic for eye and

soul

be

all

very

but the

ear,

remain entirely apathetic.

Leit-motiv for certain personages or situations is

such a naive proceeding, that

comic rather than

allusion

times

old device in the art

same motive

ance of a character, or when he

is,

in

is

is

at

only spoken

may

opinion, psychologically incorrect.

aria in the opera

is

of,

hyper-

say almost a caricature.

exclusion of Arias and ensemble in an

my

some-

each appear-

for particular situations is a

characteristic, yes, I

The

yet does not admit of abuse; but

the resounding of the

and the same

leads to the

appeal to an earnest thought

to

rather an

eflfective,

it

Opera

The

the same as the monologue in

96

drama

the

state of

mind

of a character before or

after certain events as Avell as the ensemble of the

emotions of the several characters

be excluded?

public),

themselves (that

to

to

to the

is,

become uninteresting, because one can-

not discover tvhetJier anything, and ivhat

place in their minds.

moment

it

who speak only

Characters

each other, never

how can

A love-duo

is

taking

which no

in

of mutual bliss (singing together)

is

per-

mitted, cannot be quite sincere, the eye to eye,

heart on heart resounding

ing

The Orchestra

of a good thing,

it

''I

in his

is

want-

too

much

love thee!"

Operas

is

lessens the interest in the

and although, according

to his inten-

vocal part

tion,

to express all that is taking place in

it

is

the minds of the actors, as they do not express

themselves, the additional importance

thereby can only be an

singing on the

stage

evil, for

80 that he
stage.

It

may

hear what

would be

difficult

it

is

gains

it

makes the

superfluous

almost

often feels like begging that

it

it

may be

one

silenced

going on on the

to find a

more

in-

97
orchestra

teresting
^'Fidelio,"

moment

and

felt.

invisible

in

it

Making
it is

change

make

falls

the same, the illusion

disturbed, but

is

after all to

Hiss-Symphony of

a change

rises,

an intervening curtain

is

really too

way than by changing

whether the scene sinks or

disturbance

one

scene

of

is

of

impossibilities are not to

impossible to

of scene any other

scene

the

rising vapours

Theatre

be remedied,

that

this necessity is not for

by means of

unbearable.

an opera than

in

the

whether

or vapours arise,

any

it is

sort of

be preferred to the

rising vapours

Darkening

the audience chamber during the performance

is

rather a caprice than a real aesthetic necessity.

The

proportion

gained by the

of illumination

stage and impersonators by this means,

is

really

not so important that the hearer should be obliged

to suffer the

longing for matches for a whole

evening.

For

tors alone

wUl return him thanks on account of

this innovation the

Theatre Direc-

the reduction in the expense of illumination.

invisible orchestra

which

is

of real

eflFect

The

only in the

98
first

scene of his " Rheingold "

demand, and

own

does

for

an hyper-ideal

no other opera, not even for his

stand the

it

is

test.

The

muffled sound

of the orchestra in this novel position

undesirable
effective

makes

it

aside from that, invisible music is

only in the church, where one looks

within himself, not about him

there

but

are

few compositions, mostly of Beethoven or Chopin

that

gain in

effect,

heard in

manner

this

but

the Tannhauser-Overture, for example, would at

any rate

lose in effect, if one could not see the

movements of the arms

From an

ideal standpoint there

is so-

to disturb one in seeing or hearing a

work

the close.

much

in the violin-figure at

of art, yet one accommodates himself to

it

and

hence

should not

demand

the

sight of a

director

and the musicians of the

impossible

orchestra in the performance of an Opera

so frightful that the

pure musical

beauty of tone should be sacrificed

You speak

avoid

not

is

effect in

to

the

the

it.

altogether of art principles, but

say nothing of his music

99

The

doctrine of the infallibility of the

perhaps disgusted

Church.

Had

and published

own

many

Pope

a one with the Catholic

Wagner composed, brought

out^

his Operas, without expressing his

opinions about

them

in his writings,

would have been praised, blamed, loved or

they
not^

as in the case of the other composers, but to

declare himself as the only source of happiness,

awakens opposition and

Some

protest.

of his

works are indeed worthy of respect (Lohengrin,

Meistersinger and the Faust Overture I like best

among

them),

but the principle, the reflected

pretensions in his creations disgust

in general.

The

me

with them

lack of naturalness, simplicity,

makes them unsympathetic

to

me.

All of the

characters in his operas stride about on

the

sense

of the

stilts (in

musical) always disclaiming,

never speaking, always pathetic, never dramatic,

always as gods or semi-gods, never as human, or as
a simple mortal.

Everything

makes the impres-

sion of the six foot Alexandrian verse, of the cold

forced alliteration.

100

His

melody

mood

other

be heard

to

is

no

either lyric or pathetic,

is

is

it

noble

and

broad, but always only noble and broad; void of

rhythmic charm and of variety

lacking

of musical

diversity

hence

entirely

characteristic

neither a Zerlina or a Leonora are imaginable

from him

even

Meistersinger,
in the

name

in

the
only,

case of his

Evehen

diminutive chen

and not

is

in the

present

be heard in the

to

His melody never indicates the musical

music.

thought, the character, his text alone does that

(the leit-motiv indicates only the outer, not the

inner

character);

exceptions

hence

his

operas

with few

played upon the pianoforte without

underlying text would be mostly unintelligible,

but

Don

Juan, Fidelio, Freischiitz played upon

the piano would always bring before one a satisfactory picture of the different characters, yes,

even the whole action of the Opera.

tra

is

indeed

monotonous

new and
in the

His orches-

imposing, but not seldom

means of

effect or in the

impassioned parts; often trying

to the

un-

nerves in

JOl
the soft instrumentation as well as in the energetic

powerful parts

wanting

of shading, because

in

Wagner

economy and variety

(as to-day in fact all

do) paints (musically) from beginning to end of his

works with
he

is

all

the colors at his

command.

Thus

no doubt a highly interesting appearance

in music, but in comparison with the great ones

of the past, merely specificaUy musical for me,

and of a very questionable

art

Vox populi
him a
The public has heard and read
declares

its

own

genius.
so often of

incapacity to recognize a genius during

his life-time that

it

is

now ready

to declare

any

one a genius out of mere fear of bringing upon

itself

the reproach of non-recognition.

But

you

breathed a

Every

do

new

life

not

recognize

into the

art has its

own

especial claims,

its

branch of

To wish

art.

limits

it

so

life, its

on, also every

make anything

out of an Opera than an Opera

very interesting, but

Wagner

conditions of

and
to

that

Opera f

may no

else

doubt be

annuls the Opera.

It

102

seems

me

to

attempt

to

like the pianoforte manufacturer's

make

string-

wind-instrument

or

"attachments" to the Pianoforte in order

long or change

character

the

wholly useless attempt.

or a Nocturne of Chopin

is

the tone

of

An Adagio

to pro-

conceived and in-

tended for the Pianoforte and

tone-character,

its

arrangement for another instrument

its

coloring

a white marble

statiie

musical photography).

^that is

then

whether
vitality

new branch

of

art

enough

You have

to live,

different

is

Wagner

creates

(Music-Drama)

was necessary and whether

it

like

is

(the arranging of

an orchestral work for the Pianoforte

of Beethoven

possesses

it

time must teach us

not succeeded in taking

away

my

admiration for him.

am

upon you

far

in

discussed so

The
Demon

from wishing to force

opinion

any one of the questions we have

far.

I merely express

them

third of the '^ars militans"

of music I would call him!

intoxicating

my

by

his fantastic style,

is

to

you.

Liszt.

Inflaming,

bewitching by

103

Ms

grace, raising one with

him

in his flight to

the highest height, and dragging one with him

to the deepest deep, taking on

ideal

and real

but

all,

at once,

false

theatrical,

in

and

knowing

and able

all

to

do

contentious,

insincere,

all,

and bearing

off all forms,

in himself the evil prin-

ciple.

He

has two periods in his artistic career

the

first,

the Virtuoso-period, the second, the

The

Composer-period.
his

most

illustrious

first is

in

my

unattained and

estimation

unattainable

in piano playing, highly interesting in his Virtuoso

(Opera

compositions
transcriptions,

Fantasias,

Hungarian

Song-

Etudes,

Rhapsodies,

smaller

concert pieces, and others) he shone, the most

musical firmament from the

brilliant star in the

year 1830

until 1852, dazzling the public of all

Europe with

his light.

Appearing

at the

same

time as Thalberg, one need only look over the

Fantasias of both on a theme from

become aware of the

that

distinguishes

smooth,

curried,

difference,

them.

Don Juan

Thalberg,

insignificant,

to

wide as heaven,
the

perfect

prim,
Salon-

104
gentleman

(in

a musical sense), Liszt the poetic^

romantic, interesting, highly musical^

with

individuality

Dante

Words
ing

profile,

shaggy

long,

imposing

hair,

with a

and with a captivating personaHty.

are far too poor to describe his piano play-

incomparable

in

every way, the cidmina-

tion of everything that Pianoforte rendering could

require.

What a grievous

pity that the phono-

graph did not exist in the years 1840, 1850, to

receive his playing and hold

generations
Virtuosity.

who

it

for the future

have no idea of real Pianoforte

One must have heard Chopin,

Thalberg, and Henselt to

piano-playing means.

Liszt,

know what genuine

Added

to all his greatness

as Pianoforte Virtuoso Liszt has the inestimable

merit to have helped by word, pen, and his

many an unknown,
composer

them

from 1853 on

In each
and

is

forgotten, or unappreciated

to recognition,

to the public.

is

His

in

art,

my

and

to

have presented

period of composition,
opinion of a sorry

art,

of his compositions "owe marks design

out of tuneJ^

Programme-music carried


105
to the highest

his

extreme, eternal gesticulation; in

God

church music before

works before the public

in his orchestral

in his song-transcriptions

before the composers*), in his Hungarian Rhapsodies before the Gipsies

all

gesticulation

enough, always and

^^Dans

arts

les

il

grancV was a common expression of

in

faut faire
his,

hence

the sprawled out character of his compositions.

His desire

for novelty (a tout prix)

gave him the

idea of forming whole compositions of one and

Sonata, Concerto, Symphonic

the same theme.

Poem,

all

with one theme only

unmusical proceeding,
character, a

mood

character and

if it

an

absolutely

theme has a certain

be forced

mood by change

to

vary

of tempo

its

and

rhythm, the whole composition loses in character

and mood, and can

variation.

*)

at

The forms

best only arise to the

of composition are not the

His most genial transcription

Konig

is

the majority of the others are

unsatisfactory
registers,

by the use of

the

that of Schubert's Erl-

made very uupleasing and

melody as phrase

and by changing and adding

to

it.

in various

106
caprice of one composer, but have developed with

times and

the

Sonata form

aesthetic

to set this aside

porize, a Fantasia

is

means

nearest allied to music in

can

to

the

extem-

however not a Symphony,

not a Sonata, not a Concerto.

ciples

So

necessities.

Architecture

is

fundamental prin-

its

a formless house or church or any

other building be imagined

where the fa9ade

is

Or

? *)

a structure,

a church, another part of the

structure a railway station, another part a floral

pavillion,

and

so

and

on

still

another part a manufactory,

Hence lack

of form

in music

is

improvisation, yes, borders almost on digression.

Symphonic Poems

(so

he

calls

his

works) are supposed to be another

art

whether

a necessity

and

orchestral

new form

of

enough

to

vital

*) The C-major Fantasia of Schubert is also built upon a

theme it is however, first, a Fantasia, thus, logical freedom in
second, it is in four movements of which each is
the form
thoroughly worked out in a decided mood, hence not simply
an episodic appearance of the motives a little Adagio tempo,
;

and a
little

little

Allegro tempo, a

little

of tragic character, and so on.

of Scherzo character,

and a

107

Wagner's Music-

time, as' in the case of

live,

Drama, must teach

His orchestral instru-

us.

mentation exhibits the same mastery as that of

Wagner, even bears

Berlioz and
ivith that,

however,

his Pianoforte

is

to

it is

their

stamp;

be remembered that

the Orchestra-Pianoforte

and

his

Orchestra the Pianoforte-Orchestra, for the orchestral composition sounds like an instrumented

composition.

Pianoforte
Berlioz,
poser,
''

Wagner and

and

1 Avould

All

in

Liszt, the

be glad

breaking aU bounds"

the

see

in

Virtuoso-Com-

to believe that their

may be an advantage

to

In the sense however of

coming genius.

musical creation

specifically

all

can

recognize

and,

in

addition to this, I have noticed so far that

all

neither one

of

them

as

composer

three of them are wanting in the chief charm

of creation

the naive

that stamp of geniality

and, at the same time, that proof that genius

after

aU

is

a child of humanity.

on the composers of the day

believe

imhealthy;

it

is

not

Their

is

influence

great, but as I

uninteresting

to

108
observe in this

wJiere their influence

it

of

them and

In

Germany-

particular which
greatest.

is

Wagner, on most of the young and

is

Liszt,

on a very few of the instrumental composers;

France and Russia only Berlioz and Liszt

in

and on the instrumental composers

Meyerbeer

France

in

alone, since

holds

still

sway;

Russia wholly in a reflected national style

Italy

it

turned

Liszt

is

whose

alone

influence

young composers there

the

to

to

nature

the

I believe that this will finally

For you then the

of the

remain

in

has

instru-

mental composition, a branch which until

seemed opposed

in
;

now

Italian,

so.

art period of to-day is only

a transition period ?

At

best.

Whether
teach us

it

whatj time will

to see

and

and

for

me

If that

so I

I shall

and into

probably not live

weep by the waters

the harp
is

will develop

of Babylon,

is silent

really so, then

you have eaten of

the tree of knowledge, and for that reason lose

your paradise of

delight.

109

Only
that

is

memory are mine

the pleasures of

In your opinion

then, there

is

beautiful and great to await in music

Who can undertake

still.

nothing more
?

to foretell the future ?

I speak only and alone of to-day.

But

the living, as Brahms, Dvorak, Grieg,

Ooldraark, Massenet, Saint-Saens, Verdi, Gounod,

Tschaikowsky, and others

composers,

the

of

Joachim, Sarasate, Biilow, D'Albert, Stockhausen,

r.aure, Patti,

" De

and others of the executive

bene "
!

vivis nihil nisi

art ?

And

besides

the most of those you mention are the children of

epoch

a-n earlier

Well,

if

mean

after-growth.

one take no pleasure in the music of

to-day, he can surely enjoy the older music;

offered

it is

him to-day oftener than ever and rendered

in the best manner.

Often
is

certainly

really too

Are you then opposed

of music

altogether too often

there

much music now-a-days!

to the popularization

This

question has two sides

each

of

which

110
has

justification

its

as

^but

often

over, I cannot decide

as

which

thought

it

better.

It is certainly desirable that

know

learn to

have

the

is

the masses

the master works of the art of

music, hear them and come to hear them, bring-

ing with them some understanding for them

this

it is

necessary to found Garden and Popular

Concerts,

Philharmonic Societies, Symphony Con-

and

demands, I
to

found Music Schools, Choral

to

etc.,

Societies,
certs,

so

on

feel,

that

enough, to

^but

on the other hand music

a consecration, a cult in a temple

which only the

requires

for

she

have entrance; she

initiated

be the chosen of the

elect,,

hold some mystery in herself and

the outer world

which of

these two views

is

for

the

right one?

would not

like,

9th Symphony, or the

for

example,

last

the last Pianoforte Sonatas

Grarden

fear that
it

or Popular Concert

it

to

hear the

String Quartette, or

by Beethoven

and not

at all for

would not be understood, but

might perhaps be understood

in

for fear

Ill

You

really take too

much

delight in para-

doxes.

(in

am

also not clear

whether the Art Museums-

a real sense) are or have been an education

of the people for the plastic

are

art,

or whether they

always were merely educational

and

not

of the

com-

I believe that for the people the art of

musie

for the

institutes

intellectual part

munity.

is

subject to other educational laws than those

of the plastic arts, and hence cannot be compared

with them.

^Well,

unsolved.

we

will leave this question altogether

am however

in

all

earnestness of

the opinion that on account of the hearing and

making
very

of too

difficult

much

for a

music,

for

example,

composer of to-day

to

it

is

con-

centrate himself (one of the principal necessities

in creating)

much
still,

for he is obliged to hear

and play sa

of the music of others, not his own,

after

is obliged,

an exciting winter season and the ever

increasing throng of springtide music

festivali

112
(of the public I will say nothing, and can only-

wonder

away

at its

tired,

enormous love

mayhap even

if

these

iU, to

!)

to

rush

a summer-resort;

day there

to listen three times a

and

music

for

to a

concert!-

programmes were only made up

of

Dances, Folk-songs, Military Music and the like

^but no, it is

again the Tannhauser Overture,

the Feuer-Zauber, Mozart, Weber, and so on.

But

the public

musicians

who

not composed solely of

is

should not and do not wish to

hear music.

For

this reason one

seldom returns from a

summer-resort really benefited.

resume our conversation

But

seriously.

let

us again

You spoke

before of the best interpretation of the master

works now-a-days

have

my

doubts of that

the interpreters of to-day (Director and Virtuoso)

delight especiaUy in a capricious interpretation

of the classical works (for which

Liszt are most to blame)

change

Wagner and

of tempo, holds,

ritardandos, stringendos, crescendos, and so on, not

written

by the composer.

Pianoforte

editions,

113
with effect-expression
compositions

(?)

(Henselt,

revisions of pianoforte

Tausig),

adding

Or-

chestra to Pianoforte compositions, melting two

compositions into one (Liszt), re-instrumentation

of Chopin's Pianoforte Concertos (diverse), yes,

even " horribile dictu

Beethoven's 9th

"

adding instruments to

Symphony (Wagner!)

the signs of repetition and

last

particular

it

is

much

besides.

ignoring

^In

the

really astounding that pro-

fessional musicians can give themselves to such

an unmusical proceeding!

and

especially

In Haydn, Mozart,

Beethoven the signs of repetition

are in no case caprice, but on the contrary an

integral part of the structure of the composition.

Perhaps

Adagio of Mozart's Jupiter Sym-

in the

phony, and

in the repetition of the

the Trio in Beethoven's 9th

Scherzo after

Symphony

only, are

the signs of repetition of a questionable nature

(in

Schubert, Avith

exception

of the Scherzos,

they also generally bear the usually-accepted

character)

but,

D-major, in the

for

example,

last

movement

in

the

Trio

in

of the F-minor

114

movement of the

Sonata, op. 57, in the second

B-flat

major Trio, and above

all,

in the String

Quartettes and Symphonies of Beethoven their

absolutely a "crimen laesionis majes-

omission

is

tatis"!

Cutting,

(customary

works of Schubert

same category of crime.

the
the

way in which the

position

How

shall

done in the Operas,

latter is

and the composer

^that

like the theory of the Inquisition,

man
souV

his

It is

one describe

seems

not however to be denied that

opera has gained by cutting

Without

still

the art of music

will

save

by the

his acquiescence.

several questions in regard to

upon which

Willingly

your opinion

to

many an

doubt, but this must be done

are

me

composer himself, or not without

There

to

which com-

be burned alive "iw order

to

by

done for the good of the com-

is

it

pelled a

the

in

often,

belongs to the

always justifying themselves

Directors

saying that

so

especially)

you give

I should like to
it

to

have

me I

of course entirely uncondition-

115
not as a law, but according to the best of

ally,

my

knowledge and

^I

hear so

feeling.

much

said about the subjective

objective in interpretation

am

wholly at a

which

loss to

meant by the objective

and

the better?

is

understand what

in interpretation in

is

any

case.

Every

interpretation, if

and not by a machine

do justice

is

it is

made by a person

eo ipso subjective.

To

to the object (the composition) is the

law and duty of every interpreter, but of course

each one in his own way, that

and how

is

is,

any other imaginable

subjectively
?

There are

no two persons of the same character, the same

nervous system, the same physical complexion;

even the difference of touch of the piano players,

of the tone of Violin and 'Cello players, and the
quality of the voice in singers, of the nature of

the Director effect the subjective in interpretation.

Should

the conception of a composition be

objective, there could

all

be only one right one, and

executants would be obliged to accommodate

116
themselves to

it

be in that easel

Of

would an executive

^what

artist

monkey?
a

subjective

interpretation

makes an Allegro of an Adagio

or a Funeral

course^

if

March of a Scherzo

becomes nonsense

it

but

to

render an Adagio in a given tempo according to

one's

own

feeling cannot be called doing injustice

to the object.

Should

it

pretation of music than

be different in the inter-

it is

in the Art of Acting?

Is there only one correct art of

Lear

Hamlet or King

and must each actor only ape one Hamlet,

or one

King Lear

subject?

in order to do justice to the

Ergo, I can only allow of the subjective

in the interpretation of music.

What

is

your opinion of our young Russian

school ?

It isj in

instrumental music, the

finiit

of the

influence of Berlioz and Liszt with the additional

influence of the pianoforte compositions of Schu-

mann and

Chopin, and in general an

direction of the reflective-national.

also

efibrt in the

Its creation is

based on a perfect control of technic and on

117

but

masterly coloring
outline

also

on an entire absence of

and the previously-reigning want of form.

Taking Glinka, who has

written a few orchestral

works on Folk-songs and Folk-dances (Kamarinskaja, Jota Aragonesa, Nuit a Madrid, as model),

they write

too,

mostly on Folk-songs and Folk-

dances, giving evidence thereby of their

own

of invention, yet cloak their works with the

"National Art,"

Whether we

"New

School," and

so

lack

name
on.

are to await anything from the future

in this direction I

do not know; I do not wish to

for I believe that the peculiarity

despair entirely

in melody, rhythm,

and in the musical character

of the Russian Folk-music gives promise of a

harvest for music in general

ental

music

(I

also capable of as

new

consider the Ori-

much); there are

besides a few representatives of this

new

school

not without high musical endowment.

In

all

that

we have

said heretofore,

only mentioned the names of

of the art of singing,
intentional ?

was

women

in

you have
speaking

that forgetfulness or

118

The

growing increase of women in the

art

of music, in instrumental execution as well as in

composition

(I

exclude the art of singing, the

which she has always accomplished

in

so

field

much

of excellence) dates from the second half of our

I consider this excess also as one of

century

the signs of the downfall of our

Woman

is

art.

wanting in two principal requisites

for the executive art as well as for the creative

Subjectivity and
themselves
(imitation)

as

Initiative.

executants

raise

above the objective

for the subjective they are wanting

and conviction.

in courage

They cannot

For musical creation

they lack depth, concentration, the

power of

thought, breadth of feeliag, freedom of stroke,

and

so on.

music

the

It is

enigmatical to

noblest,

soulful,

loving

created,

is

art

me

most beautiful, most refined,

that

the

so unattainable to

mind

And

the

of

man

woman, who

a combination of all these qualities

*

that exactly

*)

In poetry,

same of Architecture another proof of the

two arts.

tionship existing between the

has

is still

rela-

119

and

literature, painting,

all

the other arts, even

in the sciences, she has accomplished

to

much!

The two

feelings most natural to her: her love

man and

her tenderness to her children, have

never found, from her, their echo

know no

love-duet composed

no cradle-song.

hj a woman, and

do not say that there are none

in existence, but that none

has had

in music.

sufficient artistic

composed by a woman

value to be stamped as

type.

That

is

not flattering for our sex.

we must

the case, however,

with the hope that, as

comfort

If

it

be

ourselves

women have devoted them-

selves in such quantity to music of late, they

may

and give evidence of corre-

in time attain

sponding quality.

Perhaps the next Beethoven

and the next Liszt mav be women

I shall not live to see

it

hence

I will not

try to rob you of the hope.

I should like to

know your views

to Music Schools and Conservatories

tages of which are doubted

by

so

in regard

^the

advan-

many, yes, the

120
very existence of which

nanced by

is

entirely discounte-

others.

There

you touch a tender

spot for

myself have been founder of such

It is not to

me

institutions.

be denied that our great masters are

not the offspring of Schools of Music

^but still

Music Schools are un-

that does not prove that

necessary, and that they have not been of great

value to the

art.

The

principal object of the

Music School was always and must always be

The immense spread

musicians.

to

average number of well-schooled

increase the

of the art of

music makes the Music School a demand

yes, a necessity.

When we

also,

think what a host

(Choruses, Orchestras, Soloists, Directors, Music

Teachers, and so on) the Art of Music requires

now-a-days we must acknowledge that private

instruction could not possibly

ments.
in

meet the require-

Besides, the Music School has advantages

itself that

are not

to

be undervalued

musical atmosphere of the school alone

advantage

to

is

added

a disciple of music

^the

of great
to this

121
the stimulation which belongs to aU class instruction,

and always

acts as

an incentive and so on.

That Music Schools do not always

is

no doubt

first,

is

true, in

my

a government

their task

opinion for two reasons

for lack of sufficient

not

fulfill

money, when the school

institution,

and second,

made up

because the programme of instruction

is

too exclusively of the technical, that

not enough

is,

of the ideal and neglects the practical education

of the pupil.

If the school be a

tution, the first point is

government

insti-

probably solved, but then

comes the system of protection, philanthropic

standpoints, mostly false ideas of art, disregard

of the most important

cost,

and

so that the institution

ideal in the count of

may be very

easily

turned into a Music-factorj^, or a Music-barracks,

or even

School
question

into

a Music-hospital.

If the

Music

be a private undertaking, the money

is

apt to play such a weighty role that

one can scarcely speak of the interests or demands

of art.

This second

consideration

point deserves very earnest

especially in reference to the final

122
examination.

Generally

a pupU of the Music

School during the whole time spent there

technically

is

by his teacher to such a degree

drOled
that he

almost always makes a good final examination, and

so receives the diploma accordingly

he

is,

how-

ever, rarely ripe for independent work, and there-

and with

fore receives the slight of the public,

him

also the institution

musical education.

my

where he received

his

This could be remedied, in

opinion, in the following

manner:

Give the

pupil, perhaps two months before his examination,

a number of pieces of diiFerent composers,

of dififerent character, of difi'erent epochs of art

(Concerto,

Chamber Music, and

Solo)

for

the

Pianoforte for example, from Scarlatti on until

and including

Liszt,

which he must be required

to study aloneJ that is without the assistance of his

teacher (of course one

entirely

pupil
or

?)

must be able

to

depend

upon the honor of both teacher and

in the

same way

for singing, for string

wind-instruments, and for

branch of the profession.

each and every

If the pupil absolve

123
such an examination with honor, he, his teacher

^nd the

may rest assured

institution

of the pupil

is

the ripeness

proven, the paedagogic qualities

of the teacher exhibited, and the value of the

school no more a question

that each has fulfilled

his task.

met a pupil of a well known con-

I once

servatory,

me

played

shortly

after

his

who

examination,

his examination piece (the first solo!)

from Hummel's B-minor Concerto, and that very

iv^ell,

but

who could play me

neither

its

first

nor one measure beyond the solo he had

tutti

learned

too

have had a remarkable experience

in

this regard!

When
happy the

hear piano playing I think

earlier

how

composers would have been

to

have kno^vn the instrument of to-day!

I believe that the instruments of

must have had tone-coloring and

cannot produce

all

times

effects that

on the Pianoforte

of

we

to-day.

That the compositions were always intended

for

124
the character of the inctrument in use, and only

upon such could be heard

therefore played

upon the pianoforte of to-day

they would perhaps be heard

If Ph.

Em. Bach

been possible

to

disadvantage.

could write a book on the

Pianoforte playing

expression in

and

fully as intended,

to interpret

Piano of that day,

it

must have

with expression on the

but we cannot imagine

now known

possible on the instruments

it

to us as

Clavecin, Clavichord, Clavicembalo, Spinet, etc.^

and he speaks no doubt of an instrument knowTi

to his father also.

We

nothing decidedly

of

can

the

at

any rate know

instruments

of

that

day; even those to be found in the Museums of

London, Paris, Brussels, and

idea,

since

so on, give us

no

time would destroy the tone of a

piano entirely beyond recognition, and besides

to us, the

most important point,

playing these instruments

It is strange

how

little

is

tlic

manner of

wholly unknown.

the professional

makers

(instrument makers) know of these things

In London

I attended a lecture on this sub-


125
ject,

where a professional declared that

Bach wrote

his

Pianoforte compositions,

them the Chromatic Fantasia

is

it

possible to imagine this

tive in

would brand

it

for

J.

S.

among

the Spinet

Even

the recita-

this statement as false

but in addition, such compositions as the Prelude

F-major

in

Part

II.

of his Wohltemperirte

Clavier, or the Sarabande in

from the English suite!

G-minor or D-minor

Are the

four to eight

measures prolongation of a tone written

eye alone

There must have been attachments

to the Spinet of that

made

it

for the

day (now unknown) which

possible to sustain a tone, as on the har-

monium

of to-day.

Just

so I do not believe, as is generally said

to-day, that Mozart wrote for the Spinet

orchestration of his Pianoforte Concertos

the

makes

that improbable, also the five octave compass of

his Pianoforte compositions.

It is possible that

he had a Spinet in his work room, but publicly

he must

have played upon a beautiful toned

Grand Piano.

The pinched,

short, small tone of

126
Spinet

the

known

to

us would not allow the

brilliancy of the passage or the wonderful

of his melody in his compositions,

entirely different tone from the one

hear from

day

it

we

to-day.

your opinion then, the Pianoforte of our

^In

is

must be,

it

instrument a hundred years ago

then, that the

had an

charm

no advance!

^No

advance in the sense of works

time of Beethoven.

would like

to

before the

recommend

a different use (touch and pedal) of the Pianoforte

of our day, in playing the compositions of different

So

epochs.

Haydn

for

example, I would play a piece of

or Mozart on the instrument of our day,

especially in

forte" with the

^'

left

because

pedal

their ^ forte" has not the character of the Beethoven

^forte" especially not of the latest composers.

Playing Handel and especially Bach,

by means
to

would try

of variety of touch and change of pedal

register,

that

is,

organ-like character.

give

them throughout an

Hummel

would try

to

play with scholastic, short, clear touch and very


127

Weber and Mendelssohn

pedal.

little

execution

brilliant

with very

Weber

and pedal

his

In

Sonatas and Concertstuck with operatic, dramatic,

and Mendelssohn in his Songs without Words with

character.

lyric

Beethoven,

Schubert,

mann, Chopin, and of course the

require

all

ment of

^I

the resources imaginable in O'or instru-

to-day.

must

positions of

and

full

Schu-

later composers,

confess, that to

me

also the

Haydn and Mozart sound

com-

too strong

played upon the Pianoforte of to-day.

I go so far, that I do not like to hear their

string-quartettes played with a large tone

broad bowing, neither do

like

to

and

hear their

Symphonies by an orchestra of great number

in short,

my

desire in the interpretation

variety in the tone

epochs of

would be

the different

coloring for

art.

You
Pianoforte

speak of organ registration for the

how do you mean

Of course merely

that

in the sense of suggestion,

by means of change of pedal and powerful

or


128
light touch.

In

^hich demand

doing so I imagine the places

the pedal, played with the right

pedal of the Pianoforte, and that not in the sense

of the theoretical requirements of the harmony,

but in the sense of the weight of the organ

pedal, that

is,

often without lifting the pedal in

the change of harmony.

Still,

that could only be applicable to

Organ

compositions arranged for the Piano, since no

Organ character
written by

It

Bach

seems

to

is

required in the compositions

for the Piano.

me

as

though Bach thought of

the Organ in everything he wrote with the exception of his Dances,

and perhaps the Preludes (and

even among these there are many which have an

organ-like character); but, as a matter of course,

what he has written

for the Pianoforte

played upon the Pianoforte

it

is

must be

only that I

cannot dismiss the idea that his Piano must have

had attachments that made

quality of tone,

"^^registering"

hence

when

it

possible to

vary the

this continual desire

for

I play these compositions.

129
I confess that

this is a musical

and " peccavit."

paradox of mine

Is it really so entirely impossible to find out

anything reliable in regard to the manner of

interpretation of the older compositions!

Haydn

^Unfortunately the composers before

have

us entirely in the dark

left

as

to

their

intentions in the rendering of their compositions;

neither tempo nor shading has been indicated

them

(Ph.

Em. Bach

has even writtten only the

upper voice and the bass

positions),

they have

by

in his Pianoforte

left it

com-

then altogether to our

understanding and caprice, and by so doing have

created a truly chaotic state of

This

has, however,

affairs.

been ameliorated in later

times by classical editions edited by distinguished

musicians !

Regarding

this

expressed

my

opinion

several years ago in a letter to the music publisher,

Bartholf Senfi";

than

creased
obtain

the evil has rather in-

diminished.

One can

scarcely

composition by these masters

until

130
and including Chopin, that

is

not published after

the manner of some famed musician.

If after

the publication of the large editions by Bach,

Handel, Mozart, Beethoven,

the publisher

etc.,

would only publish the pieces

singly^ the public

Now,

would be correspondingly thankful!

wishes to

know how

if

one

a fugue of the Wohltem-

perirte Clavier looks in the original edition he

must

find

edition.

in the Library

it

The

Book

X of the

Bach

public derives no benefit from thi&

and must content

itself

with the

edition of

famous musician; of what a problematic nature

these editions are

we have

sufficient

proof in

Czemy's

edition of the Wohltemperirte Clavier.

But

exactly his edition has been regarded as

a model for

many

Yet, in

my

years

opinion,

have never been able

it

is

unhappy.

so

to reconcile

myself either

to the indications of tempo or to the shading in

the Preludes or in the Fugues.

A very few
To

examples

will

be

give the fugue in C-minor, Part

sufficient.
I.,

a delicate^

131
staccato character
ftigue is one

where immediately

after (the

of the shorter ones) a close enters

whose import would require a 32-foot Organ

say the

to

least,

very questionable;

to

the theme of the succeeding fiigue in

is,

give

sharp

major a lively character by making the eighth

staccato
is

is

again questionable, for the whole fugue

tion:

too

much

in

minor, Part

against reason, since

by

gains a scherzo character, while

minor key indicates)

is

lar,

minor

in

Part

for from the

it

this

means

it

plainly (as the

To give the Prelude

a slow tempo

II.

fifth

really

I., is

of a melancholy, com-

plaining, singing character.

nota-

two notes legato and two staccato in the

theme of the fugue

in

The

of lyric import and legato character.

is

also singu-

measure a figure

is

used

which in a slow tempo would be very tiresome

is

the latter even imaginable in

same manner, many other

not

mean

in

any way

Bach ? and

things.

in the

In this I do

to call into question or de-

preciate the pedagogic importance of

Czemy,

myself reckon him as one of the very best in this

132

respect

however seems

his edition

art has this misfortune that

it

Prelude in

C major

temperirte Clavier.
Pianoforte

latory

proved

is

of Part

me

I.

cannot

abso-

make two

And how

musicians the same in feeling.

ently musicians feel

to

our beautiful, divine

It is true that

lutely false.

differ-

sufficiently in the

of the same

Wohl-

the real

modu-

To me

it

prelude,

a chain of broken

is

chords (Arpeggi) to be played in quick tempo

with brilliant touch

piece,

Since

to

be

to

many
with

executed

Gounod used

it

others a

dreamy

shading.

soft

as a foundation for his

"Ave Maria" many

are

without the melody

has also a religious char-

it

of

the

opinion that

acter, etc.

This
sitions

is

indeed sad for the classic compo-

O very, very

sad, unless

an academic edition

of their works should be published soon, in which

tempo, marks of expression,

composition,

art

of

academically decided.

character

embellishment,

of the

etc.,

are

133

To the

best of

my

knowledge Ph. Em. Bach

has written a treatise on embellishments

Yes, he

has, but

first,

he had in view the

manner of rendering the embellishments

for the

instruments of that day; whether this would be

applicable now-a-days to our instruments of the

same character

very questionable

is

composers of that
embellishments iu

day

did

not

second, the
write

their

one and the same manner,

and Ph. Em. Bach wrote

his treatise

merely for

the embellishments in his father's works,

third,

there are to-day not two musicians of the same

opinion in regard to the rendering of embellish-

ments.

In

such a condition of

edition of composers until

affairs

an academic

and including Beethoven

at least is a great need.

If musicians might only agree on

question in music

any one

have heard that you do not agree with the

programmes of the Symphony Concerts.

I confess that the

'^tutti

fruttP^ character

134
usual in the arrangement of such programmes

A Symphony by Haydn, and

disagreeable to me.

immediately following

by Wagner,

is

^^Tannhauser-Overture"

or the reverse,

is

offensive to

and that not on account of the preference

for

me

one

composer or another, or one work and another,

but on account of the glaring difference in tonecoloring.

(Overture,

would prefer a whole programme

Concerto,

Aria,

Songs, Solo,

Sym-

phony) by one and the same composer.

Is there one,

Beethoven perhaps excepted,

who would dare put

the patience of the public to

such a test?

I do not speak of Operas, in

which subject

and scenery might make amends

for the occa-

sional

tedium of the music

nor of sacred or

profane Oratorios and Cantatas where the text

helps the interest.

But

we go

to

hear a lecture on a certain

theme, and whether one agrees with the lecturer

or not

he

listens

to

him.

We

visit

too

the

Atelier of a painter or sculptor, the objects there

135

may

not please us altogether, but

them.

So

it

must be

works of one composer

at least

the

is

recommend the

epoch from

Chopin

inclusive,

look at

in the case of a composer.

however, the listening

If,

we

to the

different

not practicable I would

division into two epochs

Palestrina

to

and the epoch from Berlioz

to the composers of the day*) inclusive,

this

way

Schumann and
and in

include in each series of Subscription-

Concerts a Concerto of the

first

and a concerto of

the second epoch.

To
opposed

my

the best of
to the

The

knowledge you are

also

customary placing of the orchestra?

placing of the orchestra

is

a question

Symphony

requires one

placing, the Oratorio another, the

Opera again

not solved so far

another.

the

*)

It

has always seemed to me, that in

Symphony

I reckon

Goldmark,

^the

Concerts, in placing the

the

etc., as

composers

Raff,

belonging to the

I.

violins

Gade, Brahms, Bruch,

epoch, first on account

first

of the character of their creations, and second, on account of

their musical training.

136
to

the left and the 11. violins to the right of

the
little

on the

director, the listeners

and the

listeners

the second voice.

hear too

left

on the right too much of

have attempted

(the orchestra

always grumbling) placing the string quartette

in plenum on both sides of the Director, that

the second violins next to the

estrade,

and then the

trabass! on the

left

manner again the

violas,

from

then

ascending the

'ceUi,

then con-

of the estrade; and in the

first,

second violas,

right side of the estrade,

the flutes

first

^the

and oboes on

is,

same

on the

etc.,

wind instruments

to the

trombones, in

the middle of the estrade, ascending the estrade

from the director, and above these

also the tim-

pani and other percussion instruments.

told the

was

sound was much more satisfactory and

beautiful to the audience, but

it

is

hard

out old prejudices, and so I gave up this

of placing

it.

In chorus

too I think

it

to root

manner
best to

place aU four chorus voices on each side of the

estrade

^in

double choruses

it

appeared to

me a

matter of course, but in this too I met with un-

137
willingness and opposition
position that I cannot

There

is still

another

understand, that

position of the Director in the Opera.

is

If he

the

would

do his task justice, he must be able to make himon the stage, and at the same time

self felt

orchestra

a glance or a wave of the hand

sufficient to assist the singer,

musical expression
his

and how

way

it

in

is

often

tempo or

in

he should accidentally lose

if
is

be

in the

that possible if the Director

has his stand not at the footlights of the stage (as

formerly) but at the edge of the orchestra (as

now)?

There he can

at

most merely give the

orchestra the necessary hint, the artists on the

stage are entirely forsaken
that
in

is

left entirely to

by

the Director

themselves.

To be

sure

view of the demands made on the singer of

to-day (good memorizing, correct intonation, and

clear declamation)

technic and

many

where singing, phrasing, and

other things are scarce given a

thought, the Director

is

not of importance or use

for the stage

What do you think

of musical prodigies

138

^It

true that the most of our heroes of

is

music have been prodigies

but

their

number

is

a very small one in comparison with the

still

numberless talented children who almost daily

appear, and of

whom later nothing

or very

little is

known. These children generally exhibit astounding musical talent from a very early age, but
there comes a time (with boys from the 15th to

the 20th year, girls from the 14th to the 17th

year)

when

the musical gift weakens or sleeps

and only those

altogether;

cross this Rubicon, will then

Of such

the

There

number
is still

is

who

are

become

das

you

not clear

will ich Sie gleich sagen, meine Grutste,

at once,

real artists.

another question, that interests

iveiss ich Sie selber nichtJ^

myself."

to

very small.

me very much, and about which I am

What is the church style in music ?

^^Bas

able

-my good
After

all

you speak of prayer

friend,

(That I will
I don't

how do you mean

set

to

tell

know
that,

it

do

music or of com-

positions with sacred subject or with sacred text?

139

WeU,

^It

is

church

both.

not possible, in

my

opinion, to

have one

Christian world.

style for all the

southerner feels in prayer diiferent

The

from the

northerner, the Catholic other than the Protestant,

these again different from the orthodox,

me

the singing of a choral in unison

etc.

To

by the con-

gregation supported by the organ, as harmonic

Ijase, as it is

done in the Protestant churches

the most sympathetic, in a musical sense.

singing has already within

itself

is

Part

even more the

character of an artistic performance, hence ceases

to be individual prayer

but

can well under-

stand that the Catholic, for the splendor of his

service, requires Organ, Chorus, Solo, Orchestra,
etc.*)

In

masters,

it

the church compositions of our great

would be

difficult to

dard or prescribed church

Take

for example, the

style,

discover a stanit

seems

to

me.

"Missa Papae Marcelli"

of Palestrina, the " Messe " in B-minor of Bach,

*)

The Greek-orthodox

service allows of no instrument,

and

Is in musical expression merely of a choral (a capella) nature.

140

and the ''Missa Solemnis" of Beethoven, which

of the three
or,

is

really in prescribed church style ?

instead of the

Mass of Palestrina

(since

it is

capella while the other two are with orchestra

we

accompaniment), the Requiem of Mozart, can

speak here of a

church

style

recognized, prescribed

strict,

All these compositions are serioua

in character, with sacred texts

beauty, and that

is all.

and of unusual

Or ought

the fugue

and

the polyphonic treatment of the voices alone distinguish the church style in music

church

style

men,

absolutely

Hale

luja,

require

or should

usual

the

Hosa

na,

with

several measures of figuration on the vowel?

The reason
Music

is

Catholic

that in Protestant countries

musically more earnest than

countries

is

that

in

Latin

Church
it

is

in.

countriea

the Opera has influenced Church Music (that ia

again only the unhealthy influence of the Vocal

Virtuoso on the composer), which

it

could not

do in Protestant countries, because there, and

even to-day, the pious Protestants abhor the

141
theatre.

I think

The

an error, however, to condemn

Mater"

the "Stabat

for that reason

or the " Messe

it

" of

Protestant

of Rossini

Verdi in Protestant countries.

may

indeed say

"

have a

different feeling " but not " that is bad, because

my feeling

than

is other

The operatic and

positions

purely

is

to

of ivorship"

homophonic in these com-

be condemned at any

artistic standpoint, is

Heaven

is

it

in

different

not

from a

rate,

Palermo than in

Insterburg,

and that explains very much.

an example

it

beautiful

As

maiden of Palermo

throws herself upon her knees at the street comer

before an image of the Virgin Mary, and prays

"0

Virgin Mary, help

husband,

if

necklace,

if

me

to

win Beppo

thou dost I wUl offer thee

thou wilt not,

then "

for

my

my

coral

such

prayer, under such a sky, at such a shrine, I

cannot imagine set to music otherwise than with

a melody in aUegro tempo in f measure

when a

beautiful

God with

but

maiden of Insterburg turns to

her heart's desires, her humility, her

142
earnestness and her contrition

demand

in

musical

expression a melody in adagio tempo in

haps

in

|^,

per-

f tempo.

Paradoxes again

but
We were speaking
Possible,

text, of a

true.

is

though of a given Latin,

Mass, composed by musicians of

differ-

ent religions.

And must

not

fail

to consider therefore the

difference in their religious feeling, each accord-

ing to the clime,

the

training,

the

historical

character, the culture-epoch, the tradition, etc.

It is

with that as with the art of painting

a picture by Holbein or by Albrecht Diirer has

another character than the same picture painted

by Leonardo
Italian,

di

Vinci or Rafael, or any other

and so too another character than the

same painted by Rubens, Rembrandt,

You spoke

etc.

in the beginning of the historical

events, state of culture,

echo, etc., in music,

the age,

echo and re-

what connection have they

with the terrible events of our century

143

You seem
the extreme,
case,

and

music

and

it

wish to carry the question

me

to-

could easily become comic in that

I hold firmly to

still

is to

to

my

saying.

the echo and re-echo of

though you

may

again

call

all

Yes,
these

them para-

doxes, I can follow musically even the events of

our century.

Our

century begins either with 1789, the

French Revolution (musically with Beethoven)

and the year 1815

close of the

is to

be looked upon as the

XVIII. century

Napoleon from the

Disappearance of

political horizon, the Restora-

tion, etc. (musically, the scholastic-virtuoso period,

Hummel, Moscheles, and

modem

philosophy (third period of Beethoven).

The July revolution

ists,

others) flourishing of

of 1830, Fall of the Legitim-

Raising of the son of Philip Egalite to the

democratic

and

constitutional principle in the foreground,

mon-

throne,

the

Orleans dynasty,

archical principle in the background,

sight

(Berlioz), the Aeolian

rebellion of

1831 (Chopin).

1848 in

harp of the Polish

Romantic altogether

144

and a victory over the pseudo-classic (Schumann), flourishing of

(Mendelssohn), the

all

the arts and sciences

Triumph

of the Bourgeoisie,

in the sense of material existence, a shield against

all

and culture

disturbing elements of politics

(Capellmeister music); Louis Napoleon becomes

Emperor

(Liszt, the Virtuoso,

becomes composer

of Symphonies and Oratorios) his

Operetta a branch of

War, Germany's

art);

the

reign

(the

German-Franco

unity, the freedom of

Europe

resting on ten millions of soldiers; change in

all

formerly accepted political principles (Wagner,

his music-drama, his art principles)

the present

condition of Europe, the awaiting and seeking to

prevent a frightful

collision, uncertainty,

general

feeling of unstability in the politics of the

(condition

of music,

foreboding,

possibility

day
of

downfall in the art of music, transition period,

longing for a genius)

division

and

conflict of the

ever increasing political religious social parties

(representatives

and defenders of

schools-classic, romantic,

modem

all

musical-

nihilist);

striv-

145
ing of diverse nationalities and races for auton-

omy, or federation, or

independence

political

(more and more striving for reflective nationalism

in music)

and

In such

so on.

paradoxal

cannot possibly

-But you must acknowledge

that in all this a

folloAv

flight

you.

certain affinity

From

is

not to be denied.

that I

all

have heard from you

I con-

clude that you cannot be happy in your profession

now, and

deplore

sincerely.

it

revere has been; what

is

What

you

you do not revere, and

thus you find yourself in complete opposition to

the reigning taste, to art critique, the cultivation
of music, the executive

education, the
art

modem

principles, in

music.

Therefore

you with your

creative, to musical

views of

short
it

and

is

to

all

art,

criticisms, as

connected with

your much lauded

I feel that I shall not live

to enjoy the

modern

easy to understand that

Virtuoso with his technic, " break

the

all

bounds.''

long enough

now

coming Bach or Beethoven, and that

146
is

My

sorrowful to me.

may

still

only solace

have the same enthusiasm

for

is

that I

an Organ

Prelude or Fugue for the Bach that was, for a

Symphony

Sonata, a String Quartette or a

Beethoven that

tvas, for

Moment Musicale

of a

a Song or Impromptu or

of a Schubert that was; for a

Prelude or Nocturno or Polonaise or Mazurka of

a Chopin that was; for a national Opera by the

Glinka that was,

^to-day as ever.

I recognize the creation

advancement

in the art

and

only a period of transition,

more than that which was.

Bach

to enjoy the future

delight thoroughly in his

it

if it is,

as

interests

you

me

say,

greatly

hope most assuredly

or Beethoven,

new

an

of to-day as

and

to

art.

O happy being
After having accompanied Madame von
!

to her carriage,

returned to

my

studio

and

remained standing there, meditating, whether

it

might not be the musical Gdtterddmmerung that

is

now breaking upon

us.

H. A. R06T, PRINTER, 14

FRANKFORT ST.,

N, V.

Mio

R6

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