C. H. H. Parry. A. C. Mackenzie.
Edward Elgar.
S. Coleridge-Taylor. Granville Bantock.
Music in England.—In the Middle Ages, the much-used art of Counterpoint was developed by the people of England and the Netherlands. In the Elizabethan age, the music of England was scarcely less important than her literature. Under Charles II, she could boast of Henry Purcell, one of the few great names in music. But in the 19th century her musical glory had faded, and sentimental songs and popular ballad-operas seemed all that she could produce. Her musical leaders went bravely to work, importing such composers as Mendelssohn and Wagner, and building up great music schools. There was, however, no high standard of taste in the country, so the task proceeded slowly. A race that is gifted with real love of music, and possesses worthy Folk-songs, can easily develop great composers; but England, like the United States, is too commercial for the best results. Dvořák once said of the English people: “They do not love music; they respect it.”
Stanford.—For some years, a group of five men were the advance guard of England’s development. While none of them showed any remarkable inspiration, their work was learned and thorough, and prepared the way for men of more originality. The foremost of them was Charles Villiers Stanford (Dublin, Ireland, 1852). After studying under Reinecke and Kiel, he became organist and conductor at Cambridge University. His works include five symphonies (among them the “Irish”), two overtures, an “Irish Rhapsody,” a piano concerto, two oratorios, and several cantatas; but he is best known by his operas. Of these, “Shamus O’Brien” is most popular, because of its subject, while “Much Ado about Nothing” shows much grace and elegance. “The Canterbury Pilgrims” aims to picture old England, as the “Meistersinger” did old Germany. Stanford’s work is always carefully planned, but not deeply inspired.
Parry.—Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (Bournemouth, England, 1848) fills a similar position at Oxford University. He has composed four symphonies, and two overtures, the “Tragic” and “Guillem de Cabestanh,” but his most important work has been in the field of oratorio. His sacred works include “Judith,” “De Profundis,” “Job,” and “King Saul,” also a great Magnificat and Te Deum. These, too, show excess of erudition, and are somewhat academic in character; but in all his choral work, Parry displays a breadth and power that deserve high praise. His incidental music to the “Frogs” and the “Birds” of Aristophanes is also worthy of mention. His contributions to musical literature are very important.
Other Musical Leaders.—Alexander Campbell Mackenzie (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1847) became teacher and conductor in his native city, afterwards joining the University forces. His “Colomba,” an early opera, displays much real dramatic worth; more, in fact, than his later productions. Among his other works are two oratorios, “The Rose of Sharon” and “Bethlehem,” while his entr’actes for “Manfred” and his powerful “Coriolanus” music also deserve notice. Frederic Hymen Cowen (Kingston, Jamaica, 1852) studied with Reinecke, Moscheles, and Kiel, and conducted in many cities, including Melbourne, Australia. He has written two oratorios, “Ruth” and “The Deluge,” four operas, including “Pauline” and “Harold,” and several cantatas, of which “The Sleeping Beauty” and “The Water Lily” are delightfully poetic. But his six symphonies are his most valuable works, the “Scandinavian,” “Idyllic,” and “Welsh” ranking in the order named. Arthur Goring Thomas (Eastbourne, England, 1850—London, 1892) devoted himself to the lighter style of romantic music, in which his opera “Esmeralda” and his posthumous cantata “The Swan and the Skylark” met with the most success. With these five should be classed Sir J. Frederick Bridge, often called in jest “The Westminster Bridge” because of his post as organist in Westminster Abbey. His works include many cantatas, oratorios, and lesser sacred pieces. His teaching has been made delightful by his inimitable humor, which often appears in his compositions also. Other men of this school are Walter Cecil Macfarren, Sir Walter Parratt, and Charles Harford Lloyd, while the excellent work of Sir Arthur Sullivan in light opera must not be forgotten.
Elgar.—In Edward William Elgar (Broadheath, England, 1857) we find a man who is possessed of real originality, and takes rank with the world’s great composers. This is all the more remarkable when we consider that he is almost wholly self-taught. Son of an organist, he soon grew familiar with the instrument, and gained further musical experience by playing in a theatre orchestra at Worcester. Too poor to go to Germany, he lived by teaching violin at first. He went through various books on harmony and orchestration, gaining much from Mozart’s “Thorough-Bass School,” and Parry’s articles in Grove’s dictionary. He ruled a score for the same number of bars and instruments as in Mozart’s G-minor symphony, and wrote a work in this form—an exercise which he considers of the utmost value. When he obtained a new orchestral work, he would go into the fields to study it.
His Works.—Elgar first won attention by his cantata “The Black Knight,” given at a Worcester festival. Its success caused him to continue with “The Light of Life” and “King Olaf,” the latter displaying much direct power and orchestral mastery. His “Variations,” which won a London triumph, possess great intrinsic worth; but each one is intended to portray some friend of the composer’s, and the work thus has an added meaning for his acquaintances. “The Dream of Gerontius,” a setting of Cardinal Newman’s sacred poem, met with remarkable favor. It is not altogether unified in effect, but contains many passages of compelling beauty and sublimity. It has been heard in many countries, and one German writer considers it the greatest sacred work of the last century, except the “Requiem” of Brahms. “The Apostles,” a later oratorio, is the first part of a proposed trilogy. It displays similar excellence, but at times is too mystic and psychological in effect. Other works by Elgar are three overtures: the attractive “Froissart,” the broadly-popular “Cockaigne” (typical of London), and the more recent “In the South.” The music to “Diarmid and Grania” is also worth mention, while the five songs, entitled, “Sea Pictures,” show remarkable breadth and nobility.
Coleridge-Taylor.—England boasts the first great negro composer in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (London, England, 1875). Son of an educated African father and a white mother, he began violin lessons at six. At a more mature age, he studied piano with Ashton and composition with Stanford. His early works included a number of anthems, some chamber-music, and a symphony in A-minor. For his beloved violin he wrote the passionate “Southern Love-Songs” and “African Romances,” also the “Hiawatha” sketches. In 1898, he became world-famous by his cantata “Hiawatha’s Wedding-Feast,” which he followed with “The Death of Minnehaha” and “Hiawatha’s Departure.” These display a strength and profusion of passion that sway all hearers, and the glowing richness of the instrumentation forms an appropriate frame for Longfellow’s picture. Later vocal works are “The Atonement” and “The Blind Girl of Castel-Cuillé.” His other compositions include an orchestral ballade with violin, an Idyll, a Solemn Prelude, the music to “Herod,” and four waltzes. All show breadth of treatment, and effects of real beauty attained by simple means.
Bantock.—Some younger composers have headed a movement for greater originality, under the lead of Granville Bantock (London, England, 1868). His one-act operas “Caedmar” and “The Pearl of Iran” show much warmth of color, and his musical ideas are always worthy of the great literary conceptions in which he delights. His two overtures, “Eugene Aram” and “Saul,” the suite of “Russian Scenes,” and the more recent rhapsody, “The Time Spirit,” are the work of a truly musical nature. His greatest effort, however, is a set of twenty-four symphonic poems, illustrating Southey’s “Curse of Kehama.”
Other Composers.—In the new movement are William Wallace, Erskine Allon, Reginald Steggall, Stanley Hawley, and Arthur Hinton. Clarence Lucas and Cyril Scott are two other young men of prominence.
Edward German is a composer of remarkable gifts, for he attains effects of the utmost grace and musical beauty by the simplest diatonic themes. His “Rival Poets” and “Merrie England” are worthy examples of light opera, while the “English Fantasia,” the symphonic poem “Hamlet,” the suite “The Seasons,” and the “Welsh Rhapsody” are all works of pleasing freshness and originality. German has also made a name in the special field of incidental music, his settings including “Romeo and Juliet,” “As You Like It,” “Much Ado about Nothing,” “The Tempest,” and several other plays. In a period when many composers are losing themselves in the intricacies of the modern orchestral style, the clear simplicity of German’s compositions is an example of the utmost value.
The Belgian School: Benoit.—The new school of Belgium, fostered by the Brussels Conservatory, owes its origin chiefly to Peter Benoit (Harelbeke, Flanders, 1834—Antwerp, 1901), who broadened its influence by his teaching at the Flemish School of Music, in Antwerp. His early opera, “Het Dorp in t’ Gebergte” (The Village in the Mountains), showed delightful local color. A second opera, a mass, a concerto, and a choral symphony increased his fame, but he is identified chiefly with the cantata. His great works in this field include “Oorlog” (War), “Lucifer,” “De Schelde,” “De Rhyn,” the Rubens cantata, and “Promethée.” They are modern in effect, and show breadth of conception and real inspiration, united with ripe technical mastery. They have been described as great decorative pictures in tone, suggesting vistas of grand palaces, armies in battle array, rich fields of grain, mystic visions of the spirit world, or gorgeous triumphal marches.
Gilson.—Paul Gilson (Brussels, Belgium, 1865) has written for orchestra a Dramatic Overture, a Festival Overture, a Canadian and an Irish Fantasy, half a dozen suites, the “Bucolics” of Virgil, and other lesser works. But his best-known composition is the set of symphonic sketches entitled, “La Mer.” This illustrates a poem of Levis, frequently read before the performance. The different movements depict sunrise at sea, and the many-colored splendors of dawn; the rollicking songs and lively dances of the seaman; a love-duet and parting between a sailor and his sweetheart; and a fatal tempest, in which the themes of the sailors’ choruses are introduced in mocking irony as the ship goes down. Through it all runs a vein of poetic fancy, well suggesting the beauty and mystery of the sea. The oratorio “Francesca da Rimini” is another strong work, the best of Gilson’s productions in that form.
Lekeu.—Guillaume Lekeu (Verviers, Belgium, 1870-1894) was a composer whose early death cut short a career of great promise. His chief studies were pursued in Paris, where he came under the elevating influence of Franck. The subtle delicacy of his harmonic effects is a result of this teaching, and Lekeu seems like a member of the French school who strayed across the border by mistake. His early cantata “Andromède,” and his Fantasie on popular Angevin airs, gained him some notice. His works include two Symphonic Studies, an attractive “Poeme” for violin and orchestra, and an exquisite Adagio for violin, ’cello, and strings. His greatest vocal composition is the “Chant Lyrique,” for chorus and orchestra, but he has produced many songs of lofty melodic style. His music is marked by great originality and fertility of invention, but tinged with a spirit of melancholy and gloom.
Other Composers.—Edgar Tinel (Sinaai, Flanders, 1854) is another pupil of the Brussels Conservatory, where he studied with Fétis. His great work is the three-part oratorio “Franciscus,” treating the story of St. Francis of Assisi. Other works are “Sainte Godelieve” and the music to “Polyeucte.”
Jan Blockx (Antwerp, Belgium, 1851) is the most popular opera composer of his country. His greatest success is the “Herbergprinses” (Princess of the Inn), a work with a strong dramatic plot and music of remarkable freshness and vigor. “Thyl Uylenspiegel,” in Blockx’s opera of that name, is no longer the graceless rogue of the old German story, but a popular hero who rescues Maestricht from the Spaniards. Other operas of this composer are “The Bride of the Sea,” and “Maître Martin,” an earlier work. Other composers prominent in the new movement are Keurvels, Wambach, Mortelmans, Vleeshouwer, and Mathieu. The first place among the women is occupied by Juliette Folville, the young violinist, who has written the opera “Attala,” a march, parts of a symphony, and many smaller works.
Music in Holland.—Richard Hol was for many years the Nestor of the Dutch composers. His fame was assured by the patriotic hymn, “Comme je t’aime, O mon pays,” and his long career of activity was of great service to the cause of music in Holland. He was a prolific composer, and an excellent critic and journalist. Julius Roentgen, who studied under Reinecke and Lachner, was better known as pianist than as composer, but produced an excellent concerto, also “Das Gebet,” for chorus and orchestra, and other works. The best of the younger men are Bernard Zweers and Alphonse Diepenbrock, while others deserving mention are Van t’Kruys, Gottfried Mann, Dirk Schaefer, and the Brandt-Buys brothers. Among the women-composers, Catherine van Rennes and Hendrika van Tussen-Broek have done excellently in small forms, while Cornelia van Oosterzee attempts ambitious orchestral work, and Cora Dopper has entered the field of opera. Amsterdam has become a great musical centre, and Holland, no less than Belgium, is reaping the result of the widespread educational movement.
What obstacles have hindered the English in developing composition?
Tell about the work of Stanford.
Tell about the work of Parry.
Name other important English composers.
Give an account of Elgar and his works.
What characteristics are strong in the works of Coleridge-Taylor?
Name other prominent composers of the new English school.
Give an account of the work of Benoit, of Gilson, Lekeu, and other Belgian composers.
Who composed the most popular Belgian opera? Tell about other works by this composer.
Name some leading composers of Holland.
The Influence of Folk-Music.—Some races are endowed with a better musical taste than others. Among these favored peoples the Folk-song, the music that appeals directly to the popular heart, needs only the touch of a gifted composer to fashion it into a great national school. In the case of England and Belgium, we have seen that even the most thorough musical education cannot wholly atone for a lack of real public taste in music. Scotland, possessing a wealth of beautiful Folk-songs, has not yet given birth to a composer who can employ its style in larger forms. But in Bohemia and the countries of Northern Europe, the Folk-music has not only been worthy in itself, but has been properly developed and amplified by gifted composers.
Smetana.—František Škroup (1801-1862) composed many popular Bohemian Volkslieder, and wrote the first national opera, but the real founder of the Bohemian school was Bedřich, or Frederick, Smetana (Leito mischl, Bohemia, 1824—Prague, 1884). Parental opposition could not prevent his studying music, and we find him at Prague, under Proksh, and, later on, taking lessons of Schumann. That master recommended a course with Mendelssohn, but as the pupil was too poor, he changed his advice and suggested a study of Bach. Smetana became an ardent admirer of Liszt, at whose house his own career was decided. Hearing Herbeck remark, while there, that the Czechs were merely reproductive, he made a solemn resolution to devote his life to the building up of a national school of music in Bohemia.
His Works.—While conductor at Gothenburg, Sweden, he produced three worthy symphonic poems: “Richard III,” “Wallenstein’s Camp,” and “Hakon Jarl.” On his return, he wrote “The Brandenburgers in Bohemia,” the first of the eight operas that have made him so famous in his native land. This was Wagnerian in style, and at once the critics assailed him fiercely for trying to bring Bohemia under the musical domination of Germany. To show that he could write in a more popular vein, Smetana produced a second opera, “Prodaná Nevĕsta,” (The Bartered Bride), which proved a marvel of musical grace and delicacy, and was enough in itself to establish the reputation of any composer. “Dalibor” is a dramatic work in serious vein, while “Libuše” is based on a national subject. “The Two Widows” and “The Kiss” are light operas of marked success, the latter being often cited as a perfect model for this style. “The Secret” is in the same vein, while “The Devil’s Wall” is again on a national legend. Other notable works are the string quartet “Aus Meinem Leben,” and the “Carnival of Prague”; but Smetana’s greatest orchestral work is the set of six symphonic poems entitled “Ma Vlast” (My Fatherland). These depict “Vyšehrad,” a historic fortress; “Vltava,” the river Moldau; “Sarka,” a mythical Amazon; “Bohemia’s Groves and Meadows,” “Tabor,” the Hussite camp; and “Blanik,” the magic mountain where the warriors sleep. Smetana’s music shows an inspiration and depth of feeling that make him rank with the world’s great composers, and his struggles against poverty and disease form a story of the utmost pathos.
Dvořák.—The greatest of Smetana’s pupils was Antonin Dvořák (Mühlhausen, Bohemia, 1841—Prague, 1904). Son of a butcher, he persuaded the village schoolmaster to give him lessons. He began composition at Zlonitz, and soon sent home a polka to surprise his family; and as he had written it without considering the transposing instruments, thus causing three different keys to sound together, the resulting discords certainly accomplished that purpose. After further study at Prague, he was able to gain a Government pension, and to interest such men as Hanslick and Brahms. He spent his time in “hard study, occasional composition, much revision, a great deal of thinking, and little eating.” Being asked what teacher helped him most, he replied: “I studied with God, the birds, the trees, the rivers, myself.”
Antonin Dvořák. Christian Sinding.
Edvard Grieg. Friedrich Smetana.
His Works.—Dvořák’s many operas, including “Wanda,” “Dimitri,” “Armida,” and others, have been surpassed in importance by his orchestral works. His “Stabat Mater” and the cantata “The Spectre’s Bride” are important vocal compositions. His overtures include such well-known examples as the “Husitzká,” “Mein Heim,” “Othello,” “In der Natur,” and the “Carneval.” Other instrumental works are the famous “Slavic Dances,” the Slavonic Rhapsodies, the “Scherzo Capriccioso,” three Ballades, and a “Hero Song.” Before coming to New York, in 1892, he had written four great symphonies; but the fifth, “Aus der Neuen Welt,” is of the greatest interest to Americans, since Dvořák here adopted the plantation style in his themes, to show what could be done in building up an American school of music. He was eminently successful in handling his material, and he produced a greater and more truly national work than any resident composer has yet done. In general, Dvořák’s style is more cosmopolitan than that of Smetana, and his faculty of melodic invention makes his works attractive. He enriched the symphony by two Bohemian dance-movements—the Dumka, and the Furiant.
Other Bohemians.—Zdĕnek Fibich, though little known outside of his own country, was another famous opera-composer. He devoted some efforts to melodrama also, “Hippodamia” being his chief work in this field. He published two symphonies and several symphonic poems, the latter showing the influence of Liszt. Reznícĕk, who has recently identified himself with the musical life of Germany, has produced five operas, of which the sparkling comedy “Bonna Diana” and the later “Till Eulenspiegel” are the best. Josef Suk, son-in-law of Dvořák, has composed some attractive instrumental music, while Nápravník, of an earlier generation, won operatic successes in St. Petersburg. Hungary, too, has a national school of opera, founded by Franz Erkel. This school is carried on by such men as Alexander Erkel, the Doppler brothers, Mihalovitch, Zichy, and Hubay, while Dohnanyi is better known as pianist than as composer. Poland is represented by Paderewski, while Soltys has won renown in symphony, and Stalkowsky in opera.
Norwegian Music.—Norway is preëminently a land of song. Its sombre fiords, dark forests, and smiling meadows have at all times inspired a school of Folk-music whose plaintive sweetness exerts the utmost charm on the musical auditor. In Edvard Hagerup Grieg (Bergen, 1843-1907) we find a composer of wonderful melodic gifts and expressive power, who has preserved admirably the flavor of the local Folk-songs and dances. Grieg owed much to the wise training of his mother, a woman of rare gifts. At Ole Bull’s advice, he took a course at Leipzig, after which he studied further with Gade, at Copenhagen. There he met Rikard Noordraak, who first aroused his enthusiasm for the songs and legends of his native land.
Grieg’s Works.—Grieg’s genius was essentially lyric and melodic, but this in no way detracts from the greatness of his orchestral works. The “Autumn” overture is clear and beautiful, with the simplicity of strength, not of weakness. The “Norwegian Dances” mark the beginning of the national style that is carried out in the melodrama “Bergliot,” the two “Peer Gynt” suites, and “Sigurd Jorsalfer.” The piano concerto, somewhat in the style of Schumann, is one of Grieg’s best works, and shows the utmost perfection of melodic and harmonic architecture. The “Elegiac Melodies,” the “Norwegian Themes,” and the “Holberg Suite,” all for strings, are further examples of his rich fulness of romantic utterance. His choral and chamber works show the same sympathetic treatment, while his piano works and songs include some of the most exquisite gems in the entire musical repertoire. His works show endless melodic invention, great power of expression, and a warmth of tender sentiment that seems never to lose its charm.
Christian Sinding (Kongsberg, Norway, 1856) studied at Leipzig also, and won a royal scholarship that took him to Munich and Berlin. He belongs to an artistic family, for one brother, Otto, is a painter, and another, Stefan, a sculptor. Sinding’s music is melodic in character, and distinctively Norwegian in style, but less so than that of Grieg. His orchestral works include an excellent symphony, brought out under Weingartner and later by Thomas; an attractive concerto for piano, and two for violin; a “Rondo Infinito”; and the interesting suite, “Episodes Chevaleresques.” His chamber-music, violin sonatas, piano solos, and songs are made of the most attractive material.
Other Norwegians.—Johann Severin Svendsen, though prominent in Danish music, is really Norwegian by birth. Son of a military bandmaster, he soon obtained a position similar to his father’s. But he longed for higher things, and after a tour as violin virtuoso, he studied at Leipzig, under Reinecke. He traveled much, meeting in Paris an American woman whom he afterwards married in her own country. After some experience in Christiania, he became court conductor in Copenhagen, where he owns the baton used by von Weber and inscribed with that composer’s name. His orchestral works include two symphonies, four Norwegian Rhapsodies, the legend “Zorahayde,” and the “Carnival at Paris,” but they are too conventional to take foremost rank. A prominent composer among the younger Norwegians is Ole Olsen, of Hammerfest, whose symphonic poem “Asgardsreien” is but one of his many successes. Gerhard Schjelderup is one of the modern radicals, and shows all the complexity and dissonance of Strauss. Agathe Backer-Grohndahl is the leader of the Norwegian women-composers.
Music in Denmark.—In Denmark, the fame of Gade obscured that of other composers, and such a man as J. P. E. Hartmann could gain scarcely more than local reputation. The most important name in recent years is that of August Enna, who won a popular operatic triumph in 1892 with “Die Hexe.” He was almost wholly self-taught, for poverty prevented him from taking lessons, sometimes even from buying music paper. “Cleopatra” is a later work, while “The Little Match-Girl” was the beginning of a series of fairy operas. Enna handles his orchestra with boldness and skill, and displays vocal fluency and thematic excellence. Eduard Lassen gained more renown by his melodious songs than by his operas or orchestral works. Otto Malling is known for his piano pieces, while Victor Bendix has attempted the symphonic poem. Ludwig Schytté, a friend of Liszt, has made Berlin his home, and is identified with light opera as well as piano music.
Music in Sweden.—The national opera of Sweden was brought into being by Ivar Hallstrom, soon after the middle of the 19th century. Since then, a new school has arisen, showing the influence of Liszt, Wagner, Schumann, and at times, Berlioz, with the plaintive sweetness of the native Folk-music pervading it all. Anders Hallen, the first of the new romanticists, has written four operas (of which “Hexfallen” is the best), several symphonic poems and Swedish Rhapsodies, a number of ambitious cantatas, and some beautiful Swedish and German songs. He unites the charm of his native music with strength of passion and richness of instrumentation. Emil Sjögren shows a harmonic feeling worthy of Grieg, but his boldness in modulation often produces bizarre effects. He excels in the smaller forms, such as his “Spanish Songs,” “Tannhäuser Lieder,” and several piano cycles. Wilhelm Stenhammar, pupil of these two, shows much enthusiasm and spirit in his music, but his operas are now laid aside. Wilhelm Peterson-Berger is the best of the new opera-composers, his music-drama “Ran” being a recent success. Hugo Alfven has attempted the symphony, with fair success. Tor Aulin, a famous violinist, has produced concertos and other works for his instrument, while Erik Akerberg has devoted his energy to choral works. Elfrida Andree is the most prominent of the Swedish women-composers.
Music in Finland.—The national epic of Finland is the Kalevala, a work of real poetic beauty. There is also a collection of shorter lyrics, called the Kanteletar. These have furnished inspiration for a large number of modern composers, of whom the most important is Jean Sibelius. He studied with Becker in Berlin and Goldmark in Vienna. On his return to Helsingfors, the capital, he became the leader of the new Finnish school. His two symphonies are worthy if not absolutely great, but his symphonic poems, and the suite “King Christian IV,” show real musical beauty. He has been active in the smaller forms also, and holds the Government pension for musical excellence. Armas Jarnefelt is another good orchestral composer, while Ernest Mielck, who died at twenty-two, showed a lyric beauty not unworthy of Schubert. Richard Faltin is one of the older song-composers. Martin Wegelius, died 1906, did valuable work as director of the Musical Institute, while Robert Kajanus became prominent as the founder and leader of the Helsingfors Philharmonic Orchestra. Both are excellent composers, the former working chiefly in vocal forms, the latter in the orchestral field.
Questions.
Who founded the Bohemian school of composers?
Who was his greatest pupil?
Name the most important works of these two composers.
What contribution did Dvořák make to the symphony?
Who is the leading Norwegian composer?
Name some of his best-known works.
Compare Grieg and Sinding.
What composers of Danish birth have won appreciation?
Name the leading Swedish composers.
Who is the most important Finnish composer?
Folk-Music in Russia.—The Slav nature differs greatly from that of the races of Western Europe, and this difference appears also in the Slavonic music. For a proper understanding of the Russian Folk-songs, the student should be familiar with the country and its history, its vast steppes, its lonely summers and dreary winters, and the patient poverty of its long-suffering peasants. It is rich in legendary lore, and the poetry of Pushkin and Gogol has wrought the wild beauty of these tales into permanent form. The popular melodies trace their origin back to pagan times, and show infinite variety. There are epic chants, songs of weddings and funerals, and weirdly beautiful cradle-songs, Their delicate, capricious rhythm, and their strangeness of harmony and cadence, possess the utmost attraction. At times the songs are strong and savage, at times tranquil and majestic, or brisk and graceful; but usually they are tinged with the profound melancholy of an oppressed race. The church music, too, with its old modes and deep-voiced choirs, flourishes in unusual purity.
The Rise of Russian Music.—In the middle of the 18th century, the Imperial Court began to import foreign composers, and St. Petersburg was enabled to hear and see such men as Paisiello, Cimarosa, and Boieldieu. Works in the native language soon followed, and the Venetian Cavos became so identified with Russian music that he might almost have passed for a native. The first Russian composer, however, was Glinka, whose “Life for the Czar” (1836) was received with profound enthusiasm by the entire nation. Other composers followed, the best of whom were Dargomishky and Seroff. The former died only recently, and his later works show the Wagnerian influence. Instrumental music flourished also. The rich melodic beauty of Rubinstein charmed all Europe, and only the passionate power of Tchaikovsky placed it in the background. But now even he, the greatest of the Russians, is not considered truly national by his countrymen, who think him too German in style.
Balakireff.—Of the five men who strove to make Russian music distinctively national, Mily Alexejevitch Balakireff (Nijni-Novgorod, Russia, 1836) was not the greatest, but may justly be called the founder of the movement. After his university studies, he came under the influence of Alexander Oulibicheff, a retired diplomat who devoted himself to music. The young man soon settled in St. Petersburg, where he met Cui, and began with him the work of developing the new school. Balakireff has been active as pianist, teacher, and concert leader. The musical principles adopted by him and his four associates called for the use of Russian Folk-music in just the way that Dvořák employed the plantation style in his “New World” symphony. This idea is at least as old as the days of Weber, whose “Freischütz,” written in the popular vein, made such an overwhelming triumph in Germany. With the wealth of beautiful Folk-songs in Russia, it has been possible to produce an immense amount of interesting music, with which the Western world is as yet by no means fully acquainted. Balakireff himself was not prolific as a composer, but his works, though few in number, show real value. They include a symphony, three overtures (Russian, Czech, and Spanish), incidental music to “King Lear,” the symphonic poem “Russia,” and a second one, “Tamara,” based on the legend of a beautiful Caucasian princess who entertained the passing cavalier for a night, while in the morning the river Tarek bore away his corpse. Another Oriental subject is the difficult piano fantasie “Islamey.” His lesser works include mazurkas, some four-hand pieces, and a score of remarkable songs, masterly in their perfection of detail.
Anton Arensky. César Cui.
Alexander Glazounov. Mily Balakireff.
Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakoff. Sergei Rachmaninoff.
César Antonovitch Cui (Vilna, Russia, 1835) has been the literary champion of the new school. Son of a French soldier, Cui studied engineering, and became professor of fortification. In his writings we may see that the new Russians seem unwilling to admit the greatness of Wagner, but they have none the less adopted nearly all his dramatic theories. Like him, they revolted against the inanities of the old Italian opera, which was merely a singing-concert. They admitted that after Beethoven and Schumann, the symphony could say little of new import, but reform was needed in opera; the plot should be worthy, and the music not only good in itself, but appropriate to the sentiment. Yet Russian opera has not followed Wagner, but has proceeded along its own lines; and Cui even writes: “I would like to preserve my compatriots from the dangerous influence of Wagner’s decadence. Whoever loves his music, ceases to appreciate real music; whoever admires his operas, holds Glinka as a writer of vaudevilles. The desire to find something deep where nothing exists can have only dangerous consequences.” These strictures are not unlike certain early German criticisms of Wagner, now happily forgotten. Cui’s own operas include “The Prisoner of the Caucasus,” “William Ratcliff,” “Angelo,” “Le Filibustier,” and “The Saracen,” but none has won any real success. His music is good, but even his own countrymen admit that it lacks novelty or individuality. “Angelo” is the composer’s favorite. He, too, has done much in the smaller forms.
Moussorgsky.—The strangest figure in the group of five was, by all odds, Modest Petrovitch Moussorgsky (Karevo, Russia, 1839—St. Petersburg, 1881). Like Cui, he received a military training, and became an officer, but his restiveness soon caused his resignation, and two later attempts at Government work were again failures. His fondness for drink, and his many excesses, soon marked him as a Bohemian whose dominating passions and savage independence could brook no restraint. The same qualities are shown in his music. He was a poet by nature, expressing in great thoughts the passion and misery of humanity, but never taking the trouble to master the technic of his art. Thus his two operas, “Boris Godunoff” and “Chovanstchina,” did not meet with favor until smoothed and polished by his more learned friends. The same is true of his “Night on Calvary” and “Intermezzo” for orchestra. His “Defeat of Sennacherib” is one of many “Hebraic Choruses,” while the “Tableaux d’une Exposition” are among the best of his piano pieces. His songs include settings of Goethe and Heine, as well as the Russian poets.
Alexander Porphyrievitch Borodin (St. Petersburg, Russia, 1834-1887) could claim kinship with the old princes of Imeretia, the former Caucasian kingdom whose rulers boasted of their descent from King David. He studied medicine and surgery, and wrote several important works on chemistry. He was active in the cause of higher education for women, and founded a medical school for them. In music he owed his development chiefly to Balakireff, though he composed at an early age, almost by instinct. The success of his first symphony encouraged him to write two others, as well as an orchestral scherzo. His two string quartets are full of originality, and his choral and piano music shows the same quality. He is best known in America by the “Steppenskizze,” a tone-picture of the vast Russian plains traversed by Oriental caravans. His greatest work, however, is the opera “Prince Igor,” on an old Russian war-legend treated by Pushkin. Borodin is a master of sombre effects, and his dissonances are at times almost too striking; but there is real musical worth, also, in his compositions.
Rimsky-Korsakoff.—The best of the renowned group of five is decidedly Nicolai Andreievitch Rimsky-Korsakoff (Tikhvin, Russia, 1844). He, too, adopted a vocation other than music, graduating from a Government school and afterwards attaining the rank of admiral. His chief musical work has been in opera, and his dozen productions in this form are nearly all widely popular in his native land. “The Czar’s Betrothed” is the best known, but the “May Night,” “The Snow Maiden,” and “Sadko” are not far behind it in favor. “Mozart and Salieri” is a one-act version of a poem by Pushkin, based on the suspicion that Mozart was really poisoned by his Italian rival. In the orchestral field, “Antar,” “Scheherezade,” and “Sadko” are three symphonic poems that show remarkable mastery of expression. Other orchestral works are an overture on popular melodies, another on church themes, a “Serb Fantasie,” a “Spanish Caprice,” and a “Fairy Legend.” He has written a noble and dignified concerto, dedicated to Liszt, and the usual number of lesser works. He shows the greatest skill in handling instrumental color, an art for which the Russians are noted. His music is descriptive, dramatic. His inspiration never flags, and his treatment of the thematic material is always interesting and skilful. His music may perhaps be criticised as lacking unity, but its breadth and originality are undoubted.
Glazounoff.—Among men of a later generation, Alexander Constantinovitch Glazounoff (St. Petersburg, Russia, 1865) is the most prominent, and the only one who may dispute with Rimsky-Korsakoff, his former teacher, the position of greatest of the living Russian composers. Son of a rich bookseller, he was able to devote all his energies to music, and produced at eighteen a symphony that won the congratulations of Liszt. Since then he has composed works as beautiful as they are numerous. His early creations show a tendency to fantastic and imaginative subjects. The haunting beauty of the forest, the inspiring charm of spring, the compelling magic of the sea, the gorgeousness of the Orient, the majesty of the historic Kremlin, all find an echo in his great orchestral rhapsodies. His seven symphonies are marvels of harmonic richness and melodic beauty. His “Triumphal March” for the Chicago Exposition, and a “Coronation Cantata” for the Czar, were both written to order. His early overtures are based on sacred themes, but the “Carnival” and the “Ouverture Solennelle” are again in the style of vivid coloring to which he has accustomed his hearers. His eighty or more published compositions include ballades, marches, suites, mazurkas, and other numbers for orchestra, to say nothing of chamber works, songs, cantatas, and two piano sonatas. For a time, he renounced his early style, and wrote serious works in classical German vein, but he returned to it with a number of ballets, or pantomimes with real plot and full orchestral accompaniment.
Anton Stepanovitch Arensky (Nijni-Novgorod, Russia, 1861-1906) is another of a younger generation, and like Glazounoff, did not limit himself to the style of Russian Folk-music, but aims to be more cosmopolitan. Educated at St. Petersburg, Arensky soon became known by a symphony and a piano concerto, and was called to Moscow as professor of counterpoint. In that city he increased his reputation by a grand opera, “A Dream on the Volga.” “Raphael,” a one-act work, was followed by the ballet, “A Night in Egypt,” but Arensky’s greatest opera is “Nal and Damajanti,” on an East Indian subject. His other works include a second symphony, a fantasie with piano, a violin concerto, and a “Memorial March.” He displays real strength of feeling, and he shows the influence of Schumann and Tchaikovsky, especially in his piano music.
Other Composers.—Taneieff, one of those who held apart from the national movement, has written a symphony, some string quartets, and numerous choruses, but is best known by his “Oresteia,” an orchestral trilogy based on the tragedies of Aeschylus. This is a work of dignity and power, but at times lacking in inspiration. Rachmaninoff, a pupil of Arensky, is one of the younger men who won fame as a pianist and piano composer before attempting larger works. His more ambitious compositions include two concertos, a symphony, a symphonic poem, and the cantata “Spring,” also two operas “The Bohemians” and “The Avaricious Knight.” Another piano composer is Stcherbatcheff, a pupil of Liszt, who displays excessive boldness in his effects, though his “Fairy Scenes” are charming in style, and his “Fantasies Etudes” show the influence of Schumann. Liadoff is another composer of piano works, such as the “Arabesques” and the “Birioulki.” Scriabine is one of the more recent piano writers who has won his spurs in the symphonic field also. Pachulski, too, has become known by his piano compositions. Wihtol has done much valuable work in collecting the Lett Folk-melodies. Solovieff has attempted opera, though not with any remarkable success. Ippolitoff-Ivanoff, active in the musical life of Moscow, has produced operas, suites, and the set of lyric scenes, entitled “Asia.” Michael Ivanoff is another opera composer, whose “Sabawa” has met with some favor. Among many others worthy of mention, Sokoloff has written chamber-works, Alpheraki is noted for his songs, Antipoff and Blumenfeld have produced excellent piano music, while Rebikoff, known for the same reason, has won new laurels with his so-called mimodrame, “Genius and Death.”
Tchaikovsky.—Although the new Russian school does not recognize Peter Iljitsch Tchaikovsky as an exponent of national musical ideas and although he represents a blending of Teutonic and Slavonic methods, yet his music partakes of the latter, rather than of the former temperament, and he is therefore included among the Russian composers in this lesson. He was born May 7, 1840; at ten he went to St. Petersburg. He was intended for the legal profession and was appointed to a place in the Ministry of Justice when only nineteen years old. Shortly after, he entered the harmony classes at the Conservatory, resigned his Government position, and entered the musical profession. In 1866 he became professor of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory; in 1867, brought out his first symphony and his first opera. In 1877 he resigned his post at the Conservatory and gave himself up to composition. In 1891 he visited the United States. He died, October 12, 1893, in St. Petersburg.
His compositions include eight operas, six symphonies, eight overtures and fantasias for orchestra, seven works for special occasions, eight orchestral suites, three string quartets, a trio and sextet, three concertos and two other pieces for piano and orchestra, three works for violin and orchestra, and two for ’cello and orchestra, a large number of piano pieces and vocal works.
An English critic sums up Tchaikovsky’s orchestral works thus: Good points, beauty of melody, brilliancy of workmanship, beauty of color; weak points, undue pursuit of the morbid, extravagance of idea, noisiness of orchestration.
Conclusion.—At the beginning of the 20th century, the chief characteristic of music seems to be a development of national schools. As already explained, in those countries that have worthy Folk-music, composers find the material ready for them to fashion. Such has been the case in Norway, Sweden, and Bohemia, as well as in Russia. Countries that have not this advantage, such as England, the Netherlands, or America, atone for it in part by study and education; but this seldom produces great musical geniuses. Italy, where the common people cared for nothing but the lighter style of tune, has had to build anew, upon foreign foundations. France is making a brave struggle after novelty, but seems to lack the needed inspiration; while Germany, for the moment, seems content with mastering the modern orchestra. The Russian school is today the most spontaneous, the least artificial; and it cannot fail to grow in appreciation during the next few years.
Questions.
What is the character of the Slavonic Folk-music?
Who was the first Russian composer of prominence?
Give a sketch of the work of the composers, Balakireff, Moussorgsky, Cui, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakoff and Glazounoff.
What composition and by whom is it considered one of the most difficult pieces written for the piano?
What composer’s influence is shown in the works of Arensky?