PREFACE.
The materials for this essay have been almost entirely gathered from two works by Dr. František Š. Kuhač, the one his collection of South Slavonic Folksongs, the other a pamphlet upon Joseph Haydn. Indeed, so greatly am I indebted to them that the essay would not have been written had it been possible to present them to the reader more directly. All that has been added is a certain rearrangement of the data, a certain amount of commentary and exposition, and a few supplementary facts which happen to have come within my reach. I should state that during a recent visit to Croatia, I saw Dr. Kuhač, who most kindly gave me full permission to make use of his results, and augmented the gift with much valuable information.
It is not for me to determine how far the subject will be of interest to English readers. We have somewhat forgotten Haydn: we do not always attach great importance to abstract problems. But I venture to think that the practical issue is not insignificant, and that in any case the question of historical truth is one which demands some consideration and regard. There is little need to say that I am myself convinced of the point which I have endeavoured to make: if the facts have been misinterpreted, at least the endeavour may invite discussion.
No doubt it will have to take its chance with those critics who would censure it at the outset for prying too curiously behind the veil. From such antagonists I beg, for two reasons, courteously to differ. In the first place, this is not a question of irrelevant detail, but an inquiry into the methods of a great artist, and into the character of his work. Grant that it deals with a single aspect alone, it does not therefore disregard or undervalue the others. And to suppose that Haydn is depreciated by the acknowledgment of his debt to his age and country is, I think, somewhat to misunderstand the conditions under which all true “creative” art is produced. In the second place, if we accept the historical statement as true, we do something to rescue a musical nation from undeserved neglect. The race which has given to a master not only birth but inspiration may surely claim from us something better than the oblivion into which we have allowed its name to fall.
I wish to offer all due acknowledgment to Mr. L. Finkenstein for his translation of Dr. Kuhač’s pamphlet.
Oxford, October 12, 1897.