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Title: The story of chamber music
Author: Kilburn, Nicholas
Language: English
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MUSIC ***
_The Music Story Series_
EDITED BY
FREDERICK J. CROWEST.
THE STORY OF CHAMBER MUSIC
=The Music Story Series.=
_Already published in this Series._
THE STORY OF ORATORIO. By ANNIE PATTERSON, B.A.,
Mus. Doc. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF NOTATION. By C.F. ABDY WILLIAMS,
M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF THE ORGAN. By C.F. ABDY WILLIAMS,
M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.
THE STORY OF CHAMBER MUSIC. By N. KILBURN, Mus.
Bac. (Cantab). With Illustrations.
_The next volume will be_
THE STORY OF THE VIOLIN. By PAUL STOEVING. With
Illustrations.
_This Series, in superior leather bindings, may be had on application
to the Publishers._
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
[Illustration:
_Sir E. Burne-Jones, pinx._
_F. Hollyer, photo._
_Chant d’Amour._]
The Story of Chamber Music
BY
N. KILBURN
MUS. BAC. (CANTAB.)
Conductor of the Middlesbrough, Sunderland, and Bishop Auckland Musical
Societies.
London
The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons
1904
Introduction.
Berlioz, who, by the way, wrote no chamber music save a serenade for
two flutes and harp (“L’Enfance du Christ”), in his imaginative fashion
somewhere speculates as to which of his own works he would preserve if
it were ordained that all except one should perish. In like manner, we
may ask ourselves which of the great forms of musical composition we
would plead for in case all the rest were doomed to destruction. Music
for the orchestra, with its vivid colours, its strength and delicacy;
the vast range of choral music; works for the organ, that huge modern
plexus of pipe and reed;—these and others no doubt have strong claims
on our musical affections. But, if forced to such a choice, it is
certain that many a musician would, without hesitation, pledge himself
to uphold the claims of Chamber music, for who can measure the almost
infinite variety and charm which it affords, and that, too, with the
slenderest means?
Probably no other form of music would wear so well as this, and
to hardly any other could we turn, day by day, with such abiding
satisfaction. Of course, in a matter of this kind unanimity is not to
be expected, and some will no doubt take exception to the view here
stated; but, all the same, it may be confidently asserted that the
more this kind of music is cultivated, and the more thoroughly its
literature is known and studied, the less divergent will opinion tend
to become.
The term chamber music, excluding piano solos, which, strictly
speaking, do not come under this head, embraces compositions in the
form of duets, trios, quartetts, and other larger combinations, for
strings (_i.e._ violins, violas, ’cellos, and double basses),
and for wind instruments (chiefly wood wind and horns), both with and
without the pianoforte.
Of all the musical forms, this of chamber music is the most adapted for
home consumption, and its cultivation by any community may safely be
taken as a strong proof of an advanced condition of musical taste.
As regards the present day tendency, no doubt many chamber works are
written too much in orchestral style; and, in addition to this, there
has arisen an inclination on the part of some composers to make this
form express more than it seems naturally fitted to do. We allude to
string quartetts such as Raff’s op. 192, “Die Schöne Müllerin,” and
Smetana’s “Aus meinem Leben,” which introduce the programme idea into
chamber music.
It should not, however, be overlooked that this tendency is by no means
absent in the compositions of earlier times. Among others, Bach and
Beethoven contributed towards it; and in a number of Haydn’s string
quartetts we find a proneness towards realism, although the usual
classical form is in no way violated; such, for example, as op. 33, No.
3, “The Bird”; op. 50, No. 6, “The Frog”; op. 64, No. 5, “The Lark”;
op. 74, No. 3, “The Rider.” It is not to be taken that Haydn gave these
names to the movements, but that the imitations, while artistically
good, are too obvious to be overlooked, and have led up to the fancy
titles which have grown round the compositions.
Even in the earliest forms of vocal music such realism may occasionally
be found. Mr. Henderson, in his book, _How Music Developed_, tells
of certain composers, about the year 1550, who tried to imitate natural
sounds and movements. He names a work by one Jannequin, in which an
attempt is made to portray the street life of Paris; and that, too, in
a piece written for four voices, and entirely unaccompanied! As showing
how, with a difference, history repeats itself, one can hardly help
being reminded by this of an orchestral composition by a distinguished
musician of our time which has for its purpose the portrayal, in vivid
musical colours, of the street life of great London city. We allude, of
course, to Dr. Elgar’s Cockaigne overture, “In London Town.”
It is also now the custom to perform chamber music in large concert
halls. No doubt, so far as the public is concerned, this is convenient,
and maybe it is, financially, essential. None the less it cannot but
be regarded as a perversion, for such music is heard to the greatest
advantage under what may be called domestic conditions. Richard Wagner
said that he never knew what Beethoven’s sonatas really meant until he
heard them played by Liszt, under the most sympathetic conditions, at
Wahnfried, his (Wagner’s) residence in Bayreuth.
The String Quartett may be regarded as the prototype, on the
instrumental side, of chamber music, and along with it must be placed
the other like forms of Quintett, Sextett, etc.; also the Octett, and
Double Quartett, which differs in its antiphonal style from the Octett.
All these imply the opportunity for perfect intonation. The use of
the pianoforte, however, introduces another “atmosphere.” Perfect
intonation is no longer possible, and the purity which the “strings”
afford is of necessity somewhat marred.
It may no doubt be fairly urged that “all life is but a compromise,”
and that the utility of the pianoforte and the splendid array of
compositions which it has called forth condone its defects. This is
unquestionably true, but none the less it must be said, in spite of the
practical hindrances which exist, that the imperfect intonation of the
tempered scale falls short of the artistic ideal.
The late Sir G.A. Macfarren, although an advocate of the tempered
scale, acknowledges that “on the voice and on bowed instruments the
smallest gradations of pitch are produceable, and so all notes, in all
keys, can be justly tuned, which, among others, is one reason for the
exceptional delight given by music that is represented by either of
these means.”[1]
[Footnote 1: Article “Music,” in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_.]
Those who are interested will find the matter fully argued in Perronet
Thompson’s treatise on _Just Intonation_, in the preface of
which work the case against the tempered scale is thus stated with
characteristic fervour:—“Among the signs of progress in these times
(1850!) is the growing discontent with the thing called temperament.
Instead of being considered as the crowning exertion of musical skill,
it begins to be viewed as a lazy attempt to save trouble, like nailing
a telescope to one length for all eyes and distances, or making the
fingers of a statue of one medium size. The belief also gains ground
that all who are able, as for example singers and violinists, do
without it, or more properly, perform in tune in spite of it.”
On the other side a high authority[2] says:—“An ideally tuned scale
is as much a dream as the philosopher’s stone, and no one who clearly
understands the meaning of Art wants it.” And farther on he adds:—“It
will probably be a good many centuries before any new system is
justified by such a mass of great artistic works as the one which the
instincts of our ancestors have gradually evolved for our advantage.”
[Footnote 2: Sir Hubert Parry, _The Art of Music_, p. 50.]
Thus we find that one view is based on the ideal principle that if, on
instruments of the piano and organ type, one key can be put in perfect
tune, the whole matter becomes only a question how practically to get
over the mechanical difficulty of modulation into other keys. The other
view, of course, is that by the compromise of putting all keys a little
out of tune you solve the difficulty most easily; that our present
musical system, to which is due the wonders of our present-day music
and its magnificent literature, is based on the tempered scale; and,
above all, that it works well.
This question no doubt belongs, strictly speaking, to the science
of Acoustics; but of all the forms of the art, chamber music is the
one most affected by intonation, hence these few words on a deeply
interesting matter, which may some day become one of the practical
considerations in connection with music.
N.K.
_May, 1904._
Contents.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNINGS OF CHAMBER MUSIC.
PAGE
How Chamber Music began—Early Chamber Music compositions—Musical
position of England—Purcell—J.S. Bach—Great
violin makers—Haydn and Mozart—Corelli and the compass
of the violin—William Shield and 5/4 time 1
CHAPTER II.
CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTIONS AND CONCERTS.
John Banister’s concerts—Thomas Britton, the musical coalman—Britton’s
concerts—“Music Meetings”—Oxford Music School—_Pepys’s
Diary_—_Evelyn’s Diary_—Frederick the Great—Bach
and the Emperor—The Emperor Frederick’s compositions—Dando
concerts—John Ella and The Musical Union—Analytical
programmes and position of platform—Quartett
Association—Dannreuther’s Musical Evenings—Sir Charles
Hallé’s recitals—Monday Popular Concerts—Joachim—Various
chamber music institutions—Japanese chamber
music 12
CHAPTER III.
HAYDN, P.E. BACH, DITTERSDORF, HANDEL.
J.S. Bach—Joseph Haydn—Philipp E. Bach—Dittersdorf—Early
quartetts of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven—Silence as an
effect in music—Haydn’s quartetts—Haydn’s Kaiser Quartett—Haydn’s
other chamber music—Handel 37
CHAPTER IV.
MOZART.
Mozart’s C major Quartett—Mozart’s string quartetts—The genius
of Mozart—Mozart’s other chamber music—Wagner on
Mozart—Mozart’s letter to his father 59
CHAPTER V.
BEETHOVEN.
Beethoven as democrat—Rhythmic similarities—Beethoven’s first
and last compositions—Musical humour—The distinction in
Beethoven’s chamber music 71
CHAPTER VI.
SCHUBERT, MENDELSSOHN, SCHUMANN, AND SPOHR.
Schubert as song-writer—Schubert’s chamber music—Mendelssohn—
Mendelssohn’s position in England—Mendelssohn’s character—
Mendelssohn’s chamber music—Schumann—Schumann as absolute
musician—The E♭ Piano Quintett—Piano trios—Spohr’s opinion of
Beethoven’s work—Characteristics of his compositions 82
CHAPTER VII.
BRAHMS AND DVOŘÁK.
Opinions of Brahms—Weingartner—H.T. Finck—Bülow on
Rubinstein—H. Davey—Schumann—W.J. Henderson—Philip
Spitta—Sir Hubert Parry—W.H. Hadow—Piano
Trio, op. 8: two versions—Horn Trio, op. 40—String
Sextett in B♭—String Sextett in G major—Piano Quartett in
G minor—Quintett in F minor—String Quartetts—Thematic
resemblances—String Quintetts—Clarinet Quintett—Dvořák—Revival
of Bohemian music—Birthplace and early career—Criticisms
on his works—His symphonic poems for orchestra—An
American national style of music—The Negro Quartett—String
Quartetts—Piano Quartetts—Piano Trios—String
Sextett—Other chamber music 101
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE RUSSIAN COMPOSERS.
Russian chamber music—Glinka—Quartett by Ippolitoff-Ivanoff—Quartett
by Gretchaninoff—Mozart on melody—Russian
schools of musical thought—Belaieff—String Quartett on
name Belaieff—Arensky—Trio in D minor: Arensky—Sokoloff—Tanyeëff—
Kopyloff—Tschaïkovsky 133
CHAPTER IX.
RICHARD STRAUSS AND ANTON BRUCKNER.
Position with regard to classical form—Strauss’s chamber music—Bruckner’s
character and individuality—Bruckner’s symphonies—String
quintett in F major—Hanslick on Bruckner’s
works—Krehbiel on Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony—Weingartner’s
opinion 177
CHAPTER X.
CHAMBER MUSIC OF RECENT TIMES.
Trio by E. Schütt—Trio by Kirchner—Raff’s C minor Trio—Balfe’s
Trio in A major—Trio: C. Hubert Parry—Trio:
Bargiel—Sterndale Bennett’s Trio, op. 26—Trio, D minor:
F.E. Bache—Trio, E flat: Nawratil—Trio: Goetz—Trio:
Schmidt—Other Trios—String Trios—Quartett: Mackenzie—E
flat Quartett: Rheinberger—Quartett: W. Rabl—Quartett:
Prout—Quartett: Verdi—Quartett: Onslow—Quartett:
W.H. Veit—Unusual combinations 191
APPENDIX A.—Chronological and Biographical 209
APPENDIX B.—Glossary of Terms 244
INDEX 249
List of Illustrations.
PAGE
“CHANT D’AMOUR”: Photogravure after Sir E. Burne-Jones’s
Painting _Frontispiece_
A GROUP OF MUSICIANS 15
THE JOACHIM QUARTETT _Face_ 32
BEETHOVEN _Face_ 71
BRAHMS _Face_ 101
THE BOHEMIAN QUARTETT _Face_ 123
IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF AND ARENSKY _Face_ 135
RICHARD STRAUSS 178
The Story of Chamber Music.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNINGS OF CHAMBER MUSIC.
How Chamber Music began—Early Chamber Music
compositions—Musical position of England—Purcell—J.S.
Bach—Great violin makers—Haydn and Mozart—Corelli and the
compass of the violin—William Shield and 5/4 time.
“In the time of the Frankish kings,” says Mr. H.E. Krehbiel,[3] “the
word chamber was applied to the room in the royal palace in which the
monarch’s private property was kept, and in which he looked after
his private affairs. When royalty took up the cultivation of music
it was as a private, not as a court function, and the concerts given
for the entertainment of the royal family took place in the king’s
chamber or private room. The musicians were nothing more nor less than
servants in the royal household. This relationship endured into the
present century. Haydn was a _Haus-officier_ of Prince Esterhazy.
As vice-chapelmaster he had to appear every morning in the prince’s
ante-room to receive orders concerning the dinner music and other
entertainments of the day.”
[Footnote 3: _How to Listen to Music_, p. 45.]
[Sidenote: =How Chamber Music began=]
This may be taken as one explanation of the origin of chamber music.
Another is that near the end of the fifteenth century, madrigals and
other pieces which no doubt were originally intended for singing began
to be described as “madrigali et arie per sonare et cantare,” or, in
the plain English of the time, “apt for voices and instruments,” by
which is meant that the instruments joined with the voices probably at
first to support them, both performing the same music.
About the same period and earlier it became customary to introduce
instrumental music at the banquets of the wealthier classes, and what
may be regarded as chamber music was used as a stimulus and a cover for
conversation, a practice not even yet quite obsolete.
[Sidenote: =Early Chamber Music Compositions=]
From some such sources it seems likely that this form of music made a
beginning. Composers then began to turn their attention to the growing
requirements of such performers, and we find that many works were
issued chiefly in the form of Courantes, Sarabandes, Gavottes, Gigues,
and other dance forms. Music called Fancies, and sets of Ayres, and
other pieces for lutes (a kind of guitar), and viols (the predecessor
of the violin), also incidental music for masques, were much in vogue
in England about this time, composed, among others, by Morley, Gibbons,
John Dowland, Mace, Sympson, Jenkins, Lawes, and Locke. Hugh Aston,
an instrumental composer of distinction, may also be mentioned. He
left, among other works, a hornpipe which is remarkable. There is
also a virginal book in the library at Cambridge that contains two or
three hundred pieces for virginals, which instrument was a kind of
harpsichord. In 1611 a collection of music for the same instrument
was issued, the compositions of Byrd, Bull, and Gibbons. It was
called “Parthenia.” Byrd’s “Variations on the Carman’s Whistle,” and
Sellinger’s “Round,” are noteworthy works. John Jenkins published
sonatas for two violins and a bass, with thorough bass for the organ
and theorbo.
This was the great period of English music. Our position as compared
with other nations was one of artistic supremacy, and we ought not to
forget this as Continental writers are apt to do to-day.[4]
[Footnote 4: Such parchments as the “Angelus ad Virginem Hymn” (No.
284 Arundel MSS., Brit. Mus.); Hymn to St. Augustine (No. 572 Bodleian
MSS., Oxford); and “Sumer is icumen in” (No. 678 Harleian Collection,
Brit. Mus.), indisputably prove that in the tenth and eleventh
centuries English musicians were hundreds of years in advance of
Continental composers in polyphonic composition.—ED.]
[Sidenote: =Musical Position of England=]
Later on compositions such as we have mentioned were followed both
in England and on the Continent by works of a more highly organised
character, and to some of them the titles Sonata and Concerto were
applied. These must not, however, be confused with the music of like
name of our day, for they were much simpler in construction, and
contained little or nothing of what we call development.
[Sidenote: =Purcell=]
[Illustration: Joh. Brahms [signature]]
Thus we find, to name but a few examples, that Reinken (1623-1722), a
pupil of the celebrated Amsterdam composer, Sweelinck, wrote a notable
Quartett, or Suite, for two violins, viola, and bass, which he called
“Hortus Musicus.” Our own Henry Purcell (1658-95), whose compositions
in many styles are so justly held in high esteem, left among others the
so-called Golden Sonata, one of a fine set for stringed instruments.
Corelli (1653-1713) too, a distinguished violinist and composer, of
Italian origin, published in 1685 (the year J.S. Bach was born), twelve
chamber sonatas for two violins, ’cello, and harpsichord.
[Sidenote: =J.S. Bach=]
John Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), whose mighty influence pervades the
art of music of our day, and seems likely to increase in the future,
wrote in all styles, even that of the Humorous Cantata. We need,
however, here only mention his clavier music, which alone extends to
four goodly-sized volumes; his compositions for clavier and strings,
and flute; and, especially as belonging more particularly to chamber
music, the Sonata in C major for two violins and clavier; another in
G major for flute, violin, and clavier; and also that in C minor for
the same instruments, from the so-called “Musical Offering,” which was
written for the Emperor Frederick the Great of Prussia, on a theme
given to Bach by that monarch himself.
Among those more or less distinguished composers who contributed to
the store of chamber music about this time, may be named Geminiani
(1680-1762), Tartini (1692-1770), Giardini (1716-96), Pugnani
(1731-98), and Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-88), a son of John Sebastian.
These lead up to, among others, Dittersdorf (1739-99), Boccherini
(1743-1805), and Haydn (1732-1809), whose first String Quartett was
published in 1755.
[Sidenote: =Great Violin Makers=]
It may not, however, be overlooked that the influence of the
great violin makers, the families Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari
(1535-1745), contributed not a little to the advancement of chamber
music, for these men were no mere artisans engaged in the manufacture
of instruments from a commercial point of view. Rather were they true
artists, and the product of their labours furnished both performers and
composers the highest means of artistic expression. During the period
in which they worked, the old viol was gradually changed into the
violin, viola, and ’cello of our time, a change which has had a most
important and far-reaching effect on the entire art of music.
[Sidenote: =Haydn and Mozart=]
[Sidenote: =Corelli and the Compass of the Violin=]
With Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) we enter a new era, for before the time
of this master and of Mozart, says a high authority,[5] “such a form
(the string quartett) hardly existed, and their work with it was such
as almost to complete its artistic maturity in the course of one
generation.” The same writer also states that prior to the time of
these two great masters “the pleasure of the player was more studied
than that of the auditor,” by composers of chamber music. In this
connection, technically considered, it is interesting to note that
Corelli, who has already been mentioned as a distinguished performer
on the violin as well as a composer, regarded the note D [Music] as
the upward limit of the violin’s compass, and he refused to entertain,
on the ground that it was impossible, any passage written higher than
this note.[6] Yet in Haydn’s Quartett op. 76, No. 5, which was written
not so very long after the time referred to, there is a violin passage
that reaches the note F♯ one octave and two notes higher than Corelli’s
limit; also in the finale of the same composer’s Quartett op. 77, No.
2, a passage reaching an octave higher, and in other of his quartetts,
the adjacent high notes C and B♭ are frequently written. Thus we see
that along with the growth of musical ideas there was a corresponding
expansion of technical means.
[Footnote 5: Sir Hubert Parry, _Summary of Musical History_, p.
54.]
[Footnote 6: Macfarren, article “Music,” _Encyclopædia
Britannica_.]
[Sidenote: =William Shield and 5/4 Time=]
As regards the music of this particular period, even in features which
are generally supposed to belong exclusively to modern music, it is
interesting to find that the older composers have really set the
pattern. For example, the popular idea is that the 5/4 movement in
Tschaïkovsky’s Pathetique Symphony is a rhythmic novelty. Yet in a set
of six chamber trios published in 1790 by William Shield (1748-1829),
Musician-in-Ordinary to his Majesty, may be found such a movement, and
this is all the more curious seeing that it is marked “Alla Sclavonia,”
thereby betokening some connection between Russian music and this
unusual kind of time. Shield was a prolific writer of works both
practical and theoretic. Some forty, now forgotten, operas are credited
to him, but his songs remain among the best which England has produced,
such for instance as “The Wolf,” “Old Towler,” “Arethusa,” and “The
Thorn.”
We quote a portion of the String Trio which has been mentioned:—
[Music: _Giuoco: Alla sclavonia tempo straniere con
variazione._]
The 2nd variation has a syncopated figure in the first violin part.
The 3rd variation gives the solo part to the violoncello, and this
leads to a coda concluding the movement with a repetition of the
original theme.
CHAPTER II.
CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTIONS AND CONCERTS.
John Banister’s concerts—Thomas Britton, the musical
coalman—Britton’s concerts—“Music Meetings”—Oxford
Music School—_Pepys’s Diary_—_Evelyn’s
Diary_—Frederick the Great—Bach and the Emperor—The
Emperor Frederick’s compositions—Dando concerts—John
Ella and The Musical Union—Analytical programmes and
position of platform—Quartett Association—Dannreuther’s
Musical Evenings—Sir Charles Hallé’s recitals—Monday
Popular Concerts—Joachim—Various chamber music
institutions—Japanese chamber music.
With the general advancement which we thus see had taken place in
instrumental music, there naturally arose a desire for its performance,
and this led to the establishment of Concerts, both private and public.
[Sidenote: =John Banister’s Concerts=]
Burney in his _History of Music_ tells us that upon the decease
of Baltzar the Lubecker, who was the first leader of King Charles the
Second’s new Band of Twenty-four Violins, John Banister (1630-79), the
first Englishman who seems to have distinguished himself on the violin,
succeeded him. This musician was one of the first who established
lucrative concerts in London. These were advertised in the _London
Gazette_, and in No. 742, for December 30th, 1672, there is the
following advertisement:—“These are to give notice that at Mr. John
Banister’s house, now called the Music School, over against the George
Taverne in White Fryers, this present Monday will be music performed
by excellent masters, beginning precisely at four of the clock in the
afternoon, and every afternoon for the future, precisely at the same
hour.”
There are a number of such advertisements, and in the _Gazette_
of December 11th, 1676, Banister’s performance is announced to be held
at the Academy in Little Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where it was to begin
“with a parley of instruments composed by Mr. Banister, and performed
by eminent masters.”
In Mr. North’s _Memoirs of Music_ we have a more minute account
of these performances:—“Banister having procured a large room in White
Fryers near the Temple Back Gate, and erected an elevated box or
gallery for the musicians, whose modesty required curtains, the rest
of the room was fitted with seats and small tables, alehouse fashion.
One shilling, which was the price of admission, entitled the audience
to call for what they pleased! There was very good music, for Banister
found means to procure the best hands in London, and some voices, to
assist him, and there wanted no variety, for Banister, besides playing
on the violin, did wonders on the flageolet to a thro’ base, and
several other masters likewise played solos.”
Banister had his first lessons from his father, who was one of the
waits in the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields. He left behind him a
son, John, who became an excellent performer on the violin, and was one
of King William’s band, and also played first violin at Drury Lane when
operas were first performed there.
[Sidenote: =Thomas Britton, the Musical Coalman=]
In 1678, a year before the decease of the elder Banister, a club for
the practice of chamber music, established by Thomas Britton, the
celebrated small-coal man, had its beginning, and continued until 1714.
Britton[7] (1651-1714) was born in Northamptonshire, and apprenticed to
a London coal-dealer; he afterwards carried on business in Aylesbury
Street, at the corner of Jerusalem Passage, Clerkenwell, as a small
coal (probably charcoal) dealer. He seems to have been a man of
progressive mind, and to have cultivated an extensive knowledge of many
subjects, including both theoretical and practical music. His learning
indeed seems to have led to his being regarded with suspicion on the
part of certain narrow-minded and superstitious people, who attributed
to him even so strange a mixture as atheism, Jesuitry, and magic.
[Footnote 7: Rimbault, _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_
(Grove).]
[Illustration:
MVSICA MORTALES DIVOSQVE OBLECTAT ET ORNAT.
A GROUP OF MUSICIANS.]
There does not, however, seem to be any foundation for the imputations
which were made against him, for he appears to have been a sincere,
plain man, but endowed with fine natural tastes, which raised him so
far above his class that he had to pay the usual penalty for such
superiority.
[Sidenote: =Britton’s Concerts=]
As a result of his study of music he established the club to which
reference has been made. Here weekly concerts were held in a large
room over his place of business in Clerkenwell, and these became
exceedingly fashionable. The performers were drawn from among the most
distinguished musicians, professional and amateur, such as Pepusch,
Wollaston (the painter), John Banister, John Hughes (the poet), and
Abel Whichello. It is also said that Handel frequently played the
harpsichord, but the records do not entirely agree on this point. These
concerts, which seem to have been due to Britton’s personal influence,
together with the mutual love for bibliographical and other studies
held by many of his audience, were at first free, but afterwards a
subscription was levied. There appears to be no doubt that many learned
and titled people, such as the Earls of Oxford, Pembroke, Winchelsea,
and Sunderland, were subscribers, and that they fully appreciated and
acknowledged the high conversational powers and book learning of the
musical small-coal man.
Britton’s books were sold after his death, and the catalogue was issued
as “The Library of Mr. Thomas Britton, small-coal man, deceased, who
at his own charge kept up a consort of musick above forty years in
his little cottage. Being a curious collection of Books in Divinity,
History, Physick, and Chimistry, in all volumes.”
His portrait by J. Wollaston, who was one of his supporters, hangs in
the National Portrait Gallery in London. So recently as 1892 concerts
called the Britton Concerts were given in his memory at the Hampden
Club, Phœnix Street, St. Pancras, London.[8]
[Footnote 8: _British Musical Biography_, p. 62.]
[Sidenote: =“Music Meetings”=]
About the year 1680 the principal music-masters in London, perceiving
an eagerness in the public for musical performances, caused a room to
be erected in York Buildings and purposely fitted up for concerts,
where the best compositions and performers of the time were to be
heard. This was called the “music meeting,” and this room was for a
long time the place where the lovers of music assembled at the benefit
concerts of the most eminent professors of the art.
[Sidenote: =Oxford Music School=]
As regards the provinces, in 1665 a music school was founded at Oxford
by the members of the old Oxford meetings which were suppressed during
the Rebellion. Anthony Wood speaks of these meetings when King Charles
was driven to Oxford. This new (1665) school, it is quaintly recorded,
was furnished “with a number of instruments, including an organ of four
stopps, and seven desks to lay the books on, at two shillings each.”
Subscription concerts were given, and these Oxford gatherings were
the first of which any account is to be met with, indeed they seem to
have been the only association of the kind in the kingdom. (Hawkins,
_History of Music_.)
For the common and ordinary people there were entertainments suited to
their notions of music; these consisted of concerts in unison, as they
were called, of fiddles, hautboys, trumpets, etc., performed in booths
at fairs held in and about London, but more frequently in certain
places called music-houses, of which there were many in the time of
King Charles II.
Among the first of this kind was one known by the sign of the Mitre
near the west end of St. Paul’s Cathedral. This was about the year
1664. The name of the master of this house was Robert Hubert,
_alias_ Forges, who besides being a musician was a collector of
natural curiosities.
Another well-known place of this kind was in Stepney, where there was
an organ and a band of fiddles and hautboys, and here at times dancing
was allowed.
[Sidenote: =Pepys’s Diary=]
As quaintly casting light on the musical condition of things during
this period, the following extracts from _Pepys’s Diary_ may be
given:—
“Oct. 1, 1667. To White Hall: and there in the Boarded Gallery
did hear the musick with which the King is presented this night by
Monsieur Grebus, the master of His musick; both instrumental (I think
twenty-four viols.) and vocall; an English song upon Peace. But God
forgive me! I never was so little pleased with a concert of musick in
my life. The manner of setting words and repeating them out of order
and that with a number of voices, makes me sick, the whole design of
vocall musick being lost by it. Here was a great press of people, but I
did not see many pleased with it, only the instrumental musick he had
brought by practice to play very just.”
“Febry. 27, 1668. With my wife to the King’s House to see _The Virgin
Martyr_, the first time it hath been acted a great while; and it
is mighty pleasant; not that the play is worth much, but it is freely
acted by Beck Marshall. But that which did please me beyond anything in
the whole world was the wind-musique when the angel comes down; which
is so sweet that it ravished me and indeed, in a word, did wrap up my
soul so that it made me really sick, just as I have been formerly when
in love with my wife; that neither then nor all the evening going home
and at home I was able to think of anything, but remained all night
transported, so as I could not believe that ever any musique hath that
real command over the soul of a man as this did upon me; and makes me
resolve to practice wind-musique, and to make my wife do the like.”
[Sidenote: =Evelyn’s Diary=]
In _Evelyn’s Diary_ of November 20th, 1679, we find the
following:—“I dined with Mr. Slingsby, Master of the Mint, with my wife
invited to hear musick which was exquisitely performed by foure of
the most-renown’d masters: Du Prue, a Frenchman, on the Lute; Signor
Bartholomeo, an Italian, on the Harpsichord; Nicolao, on the violin;
but above all for its sweetnesse and novelty, the Viol d’amore of
five wyre strings plaied on with a bow, being but an ordinary violin
played on, lyre-way, by a German. There was also a Flute-douce, now in
much request for accompanying the voice. Mr. Slingsby, whose sonn and
daughter play’d skilfully, had these meetings frequently in his house.”
In Hawkins’s _History_ under the date November 23rd, 1685, we
find a copy of an advertisement of the publication of several sonatas
“composed after the Italian way, for one and for two Bass Viols with
a thorough Bass, by Mr. August Keenell,” and of their being performed
at the Dancing School, Walbrook. Also at the school in York Buildings,
some performances on an instrument called the Baritone by the same
Mr. Keenell. Again on January 25th, 1693, it is stated that “at the
Concert room in York Buildings will be performed Mr. Purcell’s Song
composed for St. Cecilia’s day in the year 1692, together with some
other compositions of his, both instrumental and vocal, for the
Entertainment of His Highness Prince Lewis of Baden.”
Other institutions such as the Academy of Ancient Music, established in
1710, The Anacreontic Society (about 1770), the Ancient Concerts (about
1776) did much for the cultivation of good music, but they were not
specially concerned with chamber music.
Of foreign doings, Hawkins relates that in 1598 “upon the arrival of
Margaret Queen of Austria at Ferrara to celebrate a double marriage,
between herself and Philip III. of Spain, and between Archduke Albert
and the Infanta Isabella, the King’s sister, at the monastery of St.
Vite the nuns performed a concert in which were heard Lutes, Double
Harps, Viols, and other kinds of instruments.” Also in an Italian
work of this period called _Il Desiderio_ there occurs a long
dialogue on the concerts which were then the entertainment of persons
of the first rank in the principal cities of Italy, particularly Venice
and Ferrara. The Accademia degli Filarmonica, an important Italian
institution, was begun at Vicenza, exactly when is not now known, but
certainly before 1565, for in that year the Accademia degli Incantenati
was incorporated with it. To this “the nobility and gentry were used
to resort once a week to entertain themselves with music.”
[Sidenote: =Frederick the Great=]
Brahms is reported to have said, “Be careful how you speak of the music
of princes. One never knows who may have written it.” But even with
this note of warning in mind, the story of the Emperor Frederick the
Great of Prussia can hardly be passed over, seeing how influential
must have been the support which he accorded to the art and to his
musicians—Quantz, who composed so many works for the flute (the
Emperor’s beloved instrument); C.H. Graun, the conductor; J.G. Graun,
the violinist; and especially Philipp Emanuel Bach, a son of the great
John Sebastian. The Emperor was accustomed to spend some £7000 a year
on his Court music, which shows that it was an affair of considerable
importance.
[Sidenote: =Bach and the Emperor=]
A pleasant and interesting account is recorded of the meeting of J.S.
Bach with the Emperor. It was on a Sunday evening in the spring of
1747, as the Emperor was about to open his concert with a flute solo,
the stranger’s list was brought to him. Having read it, flute in hand,
he turned to the band and said excitedly, “Gentlemen, old Bach is
come.” The flute was laid aside, and Bach was sent for at once, no time
being allowed him even to change his travelling dress. The elaborately
formal greetings over, Bach was invited to try the numerous Silbermann
pianos distributed through the palace, the band following from room to
room as he tried each instrument. Frederick expressed a desire to hear
a six-part fugue, which Bach then improvised with the utmost skill on
a theme given to him by the King. Next day, wishing to hear him on his
more congenial instrument, the King escorted Bach to all the organs in
Potsdam.
One outcome of this visit was the so-called “Musical Offering” which
Bach wrote on his return to Leipzig. It consists of an elaborate
working out of the royal theme named above, and the work is dedicated
to the Emperor.[9]
[Footnote 9: _Monthly Musical Record_, June 1902; article by C.
Struthers.]
It is said that the Emperor’s chamber concerts were dominated by
himself and his flute, for virtually the only music performed was
that of Frederick himself and his master, Quantz. Artistically there
does not seem much to commend in this, and indeed, if accurately
recorded, it raises serious doubts of the Emperor’s musicianship. But
nevertheless the compositions which this remarkable man left behind him
are of a kind to make one pause before accepting such a view of the
matter, for at the command of the present German Emperor, and under
the editorship of such eminent musical authorities as Spitta, Count
Waldersee, and Barge, four volumes of these compositions have been
published. They consist of twenty-five sonatas for flute and piano, and
four concertos for flute and stringed orchestra.
[Sidenote: =The Emperor Frederick’s Compositions=]
“An examination of the King’s musical MSS., made at the instance of
the Minister of Education, has shown that the compositions, written
entirely by the King himself, are not only of historical interest, but
exhibit command of artistic form and talent for musical invention; a
healthy musical life breathes through them; the slow pieces frequently
surprise us by their beautiful melodies full of warm feeling, and
by their brilliant passages. Such fervour inspires them that the
publication of these noble works, which solaced the monarch amid the
troubles of his country and in his old age, in the loneliness of his
high office, will present the personality of the great King in a new
and important aspect. The notion that Frederick merely sought an
agreeable pastime in flute-playing will be removed by this edition
of his works; his admirers will learn to see in old Fritz a creative
musician of deep feeling and noble simplicity.”[10]
[Footnote 10: Preface to _Musical Works of Frederick the Great_.
Breitkopf and Härtel.]
The following fragment, which is quoted from the slow movement (Grave)
of the Emperor’s Third Concerto, will show better than any mere
description the quality of his music, which certainly warrants the
expressions given below from Professor Spitta’s preface to the edition
referred to above:—
[Music: FROM THE 3RD CONCERTO FOR FLUTE AND STRINGS.
FREDERICK THE GREAT.]
“The form of the music is no doubt like that of his master Quantz,
unoriginal and stereotyped, but his specialty lies in the simple
musical thoughts, which flow freely and easily from him, as the natural
adequate expression of inward emotions. Frederick’s musical personality
is most clearly delineated in his Adagios. These compositions furnish
the proof of the story that he often moved his hearers to tears by his
adagio playing. They reveal a surprising tenderness of feeling, a soul
which seeks its satisfaction in the sweet melancholy and tender, almost
feminine, yet never effeminate plaintiveness. The lovely Siciliani of
Sonatas 3, 16, and 25 charm like Watteau pictures, with their graceful
figures and delicate colour harmony, at the same time not lacking
German depth of feeling. More serious, darker feelings rise up in the
Grave of the Third Concerto.... Certain it is, and remains, that his
music affords the hearer deep insight into a unique soul-life, and for
this reason alone its publication would be justified.”
[Sidenote: =Dando Concerts=]
In the year 1836 a series of Quartett Concerts were organised by
Joseph Dando, a London violin professor. These concerts, which were
continued until 1842, were held in the Hanover Square Rooms, and the
artists associated with Dando were Henry Blagrove, Henry Gattie, and
Charles Lucas. Dando is said to have been the first to introduce public
performances consisting altogether of instrumental quartetts in London.
[Sidenote: =John Ella and The Musical Union=]
In 1845 a series of Morning Concerts for chamber music, under the
title of “The Musical Union,” were commenced in London by John Ella
(1802-88), a Yorkshireman, who, originally intended for the legal
profession, became a violinist, and established himself in the
metropolis. These concerts continued for some thirty-three years.
In the year 1850 Ella also started another series under the title
of “Musical Winter Evenings,” and they went on until 1859. At these
concerts the best chamber music was performed by the leading artists,
both English and foreign.
[Sidenote: =Analytical Programmes and Position of Platform=]
The Musical Union is said to have had its origin in chamber music
meetings which were held at Mr. Ella’s residence in London, and it
would be difficult to over-estimate the important influence which
its doings have had on the taste for high-class music of this kind
in England. To Mr. Ella is also due the introduction of analytical
Programmes, which were unknown before. These were sent to the
subscribers some days before the concerts, thus enabling all earnest
students to acquaint themselves with the various points of interest in
the works to be performed.
Another feature which is worthy of notice was that the Platform for the
performers was placed in the centre of the concert hall (St. James’s
Hall, Regent Street). It was a little raised from the floor, and the
listeners sat in a circle around it. This custom has been recently
(1901-2) revived at the concerts given by the Joachim Quartett, with,
however, the somewhat serious difference that the platform is much too
high, and this interferes with the comfort of those who are seated near
to it. At the Musical Union Concerts of Mr. Ella the platform was much
lower, and this worked well.
[Sidenote: =Quartett Association=]
Another effort for the spread of a knowledge of chamber music was
started in London in the year 1852 by Messrs. Sainton, Cooper, Hill,
and Piatti. It was called the Quartett Association. Six concerts each
season were given, at which the most eminent artists performed. These
were held at Willis’s Rooms, but after the third season they were
abandoned for want of sufficient public support.
[Sidenote: =Dannreuther’s Musical Evenings=]
Among a number of other attempts of a like kind may be mentioned Mr.
Edward Dannreuther’s Musical Evenings, which upheld a high ideal, for
it is well known that Mr. Dannreuther, while an earnest apostle of the
new school of music, is no less zealous for the old, as the range of
the programmes which he set forth at these concerts, and his masterly
interpretations of Bach and Beethoven, abundantly prove.
[Sidenote: =Sir Charles Hallé’s Recitals=]
The late Sir Charles Hallé (then Mr. Hallé) began in 1861 his
celebrated Chamber Music Recitals, the first eight concerts being taken
up with a presentation of the whole of the Piano Sonatas of Beethoven.
There can be no doubt that these recitals, along with Hallé’s musical
work in other directions, have had a most beneficial effect on our
national taste.
[Sidenote: =Monday Popular Concerts=]
No account of British chamber music would be complete without a notice
of the Monday Popular Concerts which were commenced in London in 1859.
The first concerts were of a miscellaneous character, consisting of
old ballads and well-known instrumental pieces. They had, however, but
moderate success. The director, Mr. Arthur Chappell, in conference with
Mr. J.W. Davison, the musical critic of _The Times_ newspaper,
then decided to try a series of good chamber music concerts. The first
of these was announced as a Mendelssohn Night, and was, of course, made
up entirely of chamber music by that composer; and afterwards a Mozart,
Haydn, Weber, and a Beethoven night were severally tried. Still success
did not follow, and the concerts were very nearly abandoned. Chiefly,
however, owing to the determination of Mr. Chappell, a further series
were tried, and as these produced a financial profit, the venture was
continued, with the result that the concerts eventually became firmly
established as the leading chamber music institution in England.
“The One-hundredth Popular Concert,” says Mr. Hueffer,[11] “was given
on July 7th, 1862, when, according to _The Times_, more than
one thousand persons were refused admission for the want of space—a
statement in itself sufficient to show the broad popular basis on
which the concerts were by that time founded. In 1865 the Saturday
Afternoon Concerts were added to those given on Monday evenings,
and on May 15th of the same year one of the most important events
in the history of this institution—the first appearance of Madame
Schumann—took place. The programme on that occasion was devoted
entirely to the works of her husband, which, in those days, were
thought by the public and the press to be the abstruse effusions of the
modern spirit, but which are now as generally, and almost as highly
appreciated as those of Beethoven himself. Five years later, in 1870,
Madame Norman-Neruda was added to the list of executants, and has
remained one of the prime favourites of these and English audiences
generally, ever since. In the season of 1873-74 more than common
attention was paid to contemporary talent, the names of Saint-Saëns,
Rubinstein, Rheinberger, Raff, and other then living composers playing
a prominent part. The cause of this inroad upon established tradition
is partly to be found in the appearance at the piano of Dr. Hans von
Bülow, who, here as everywhere else, exercised a beneficial, but, so
far as the popular concerts were concerned, a passing influence. There
are few names of eminence absent from the list of executants who have
appeared on and off. The one-thousandth performance was given on April
4th, 1888.”
[Footnote 11: _Half a Century of Music in England_, p. 17.]
[Illustration: Chopin [signature]]
[Sidenote: =Joachim=]
Among the other artists who constantly played at the “Monday Pops.”
were Piatti, who for very many years occupied the position of leading
’cellist, and his brother-artist of world-wide repute, Dr. Joseph
Joachim, the violinist. Although Joachim’s connection with the art
of music is by no means limited to any one branch, yet it is in the
realm of chamber music that we have chiefly felt his strong influence
in Great Britain, and as an upholder of a high and pure standard of
musical taste he obtains without doubt the grateful adhesion of all
the serious musicians of our land. Were it for no other reason than
his steadfast advocacy of the high claims of the works of Johannes
Brahms, and for his presentation, under those conditions of a faultless
rendering which they imperiously demand, of the later Quartetts of
Beethoven, we, and the entire musical world, owe him a deep debt of
gratitude.
[Illustration: THE JOACHIM QUARTETT.
JOACHIM. HAUSMANN. WIRTH. HALIR.]
Of course it is obvious that to call these concerts Monday
_Popular_ Concerts was, at the commencement, almost a jocose
perversion of the facts, seeing that they were so badly attended;
yet, as some one afterwards said, “Mr. Chappell (when the concerts
at first proved unpopular) took a bolder course than to alter his
title; he altered the public taste instead,” and thus the name became
an entirely appropriate one. That these concerts should, during recent
years, have declined in public interest is a matter for regret, but no
doubt a variety of causes has contributed to this result. Among these
must be reckoned the competition of orchestral performances, for which
there has grown up a strong public taste; the neglect in the Monday
Popular programmes of the newer and novel compositions; and the death
or absence of some of the most distinguished chamber music performers.
At the same time it is hardly to be believed that chamber music
concerts will be allowed to die out, and there is indeed already strong
evidence of a revival in this direction in London, which shows that
this, the purest form of abstract music, is still held in high esteem
amongst us.
[Sidenote: =Various Chamber Music Institutions=]
Other British chamber music institutions which should be mentioned
are the Cambridge University Musical Society (1843), the Cambridge
University Musical Club (1871), the Oxford University Musical Union
(1884), the People’s Concert Society (1878), the concerts at South
Place, Finsbury, where reigns a specially eclectic taste, and good
annotated programmes are provided; and the flourishing Oxford and
Cambridge Universities Musical Club, established, largely by the
untiring efforts of Dr. Horace Abel, during the year 1900 in the
old Sir Joshua Reynolds’s House, Leicester Square, London; also the
Schulz-Curtius Concerts.
During the season 1902-3 a new series of important chamber music
concerts were inaugurated by Messrs. J. Broadwood & Sons, the
well-known pianoforte makers, at St. James’s Hall, London. The
original prospectus announced the following artistes, most of whom
have appeared:—The Bohemian Quartett, the London Trio (Miss Amina
Goodwin, Messrs. Simonetti and Whitehouse), the Wessely Quartett, Mr.
Clinton’s Wind Instrument Quartett (Messrs. G.A. Clinton, W.M. Malsch,
A. Borsdorf, and T. Wotton), the Grimson Quartett, the Brodsky Quartett
(Messrs. Adolph Brodsky, R. Briggs, S. Speelman, and C. Fuchs), and
the Gompertz Quartett (Messrs. Rd. Gompertz, C. Jacoby, E. Kreuz, and
J. Renard). The Kneisel (American) Quartett and the Moscow Trio have
also recently been heard at these concerts. Messrs. Broadwood have
also organised another series of chamber music concerts in the city of
Manchester.
The direction of the Monday Popular Concerts has also been undertaken
by Professor Johann Kruse, who was well known as a member of Dr.
Joachim’s Berlin Quartett. The Joachim Chamber Concerts will also
be continued, the artists, as before, being Messrs. Joachim, Halir,
Wirth, and Hausmann. Mr. Willy Hess’s Quartett, the Newland Smith Trio,
Messrs. Metzler’s concerts, the Mozart Society’s concerts, and those of
Mr. Donald Tovey (which are of high importance), are among the Chamber
Music Institutions that have recently come into notice.
In many of our provincial towns and cities, too, societies for the
cultivation of chamber music are, in a quiet way, doing excellent work.
These are too numerous to set forth in detail; but, as exemplifying
the good influence which it, like many such institutions in other
places, has for a long time exerted, the Chamber Music Society of
Newcastle-on-Tyne may be mentioned. This Society a while ago set an
example, which might well be followed by others, in commissioning our
English composer, Villiers Stanford, to write a string Quartett (op.
44 in G major), which was performed at one of the Society’s concerts
shortly after it appeared.
[Sidenote: =Japanese Chamber Music=]
It has been stated by a writer,[12] who, by the way, is not afraid
boldly to declare the truth “that the amateur is the backbone of a
nation’s music”—that a Chamber Music Society has been founded through
the influence of an English amateur at Tokio, in Japan. He tells us
that the violinist who leads at these concerts has been engaged by
the Japanese Government to teach at the Tokio Conservatoire, and that
he has already turned out some excellent Japanese pupils, at any rate
so far as technique is concerned, one girl especially having become a
really good viola player.
[Footnote 12: W.W. Cobbett, _Musical News_, May 24, 1902.]
CHAPTER III.
HAYDN, P.E. BACH, DITTERSDORF, HANDEL.
J.S. Bach—Joseph Haydn—Philipp E. Bach—Dittersdorf—Early
quartetts of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven—Silence as
an effect in music—Haydn’s quartetts—Haydn’s Kaiser
Quartett—Haydn’s other chamber music—Handel.
Haydn (1732-1809) has been called the “Father of the Symphony,” and by
some the origin of the Quartett (meaning, of course, that for strings)
has been ascribed to him.
How far this is accurate can only be determined by an examination of
what was being done by others about the same time; but it may be safely
said that, in the absolute sense, no enduring art form has been the
creation of one man. There has always been a growth, although it is no
doubt true that at a certain stage of the process some one with genius
has, as it were, put the top stone on the edifice. Robert Schumann,
writing on this topic, uses the following characteristic words:—“The
world is large. Be modest! You have not yet discovered and contrived
what others before you have not already imagined and found out;” the
meaning of which doubtless is that of absolute originality there is
very little at any time, and what stands in its place (and this will
seem more or less according to our knowledge or ignorance of what has
already been done) is really the fruition of many past influences, plus
the genius of the man who assimilates and gives them fresh shape.
[Sidenote: =J.S. Bach=]
John Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was probably the most original genius
the art of music has known, but it would be idle to deny that he was
deeply indebted to his predecessors, Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, Klemme,
and Pachelbel.
Take, for example, the history of what now goes under the name of
Programme Music. What Liszt aimed at in his Symphonic Poems, and what
Richard Strauss’s remarkable creations—“Don Juan,” “Till Eulenspiegel,”
“Ein Heldenleben,” and the rest, attempt to express, was already in the
minds of composers a very long while ago.
Mr. Corder, in his article on this subject in Grove’s
_Dictionary_, states that W. Byrd (1560) wrote a battle-piece for
Virginals, and John Mundy, another English composer of that period,
published a so-called “Fantasia on the Weather,” professing to depict
fair weather, lightning, thunder, etc. Krieger (1667) gives us a
four-part vocal fugue entirely made up of an imitation of the mewing
of cats! There is also the fairly well-known Cat’s Fugue by Domenico
Scarlatti, suggested of course by his cat accidentally walking over
the keys of his harpsichord. Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Beethoven are
also among the great ones whose works occasionally tended in a like
direction.
It is the same with any other distinctive feature in music, and
therefore, while undoubtedly Haydn did very much for its expansion,
the truth is that the form of the String Quartett was a gradual
development, and not the creation of any single mind.
As to the vitality of the music of different composers, which is
another matter, Boccherini, a contemporary of Haydn, wrote more
quartetts than that master, and they were highly esteemed during his
life-time; but, save the musical student, who knows or plays them
to-day?
[Sidenote: =Joseph Haydn=]
Haydn is known to have studied, early in life, the works of Philipp
Emanuel Bach (1714-88), and there can be little doubt that he was
thereby strongly influenced. Beethoven is said to have been quite
familiar with the greater (John Sebastian) Bach’s compositions, even as
a child, and an argument has been based on this that Haydn’s artistic
position would to-day have been different had he, too, studied the
greater and not the lesser Bach.
[Sidenote: =Philipp E. Bach=]
The following extracts from a String Quartett by this composer, P.E.
Bach, which was found in the Library of the Thomas-Schule in Leipzig,
will convey, perhaps better than any mere words, an idea of the style
in which he wrote, and we will thereby see what it was that influenced
Haydn.
The Finale Presto may specially be noted, presenting as it does
features remarkably like many such movements in Haydn’s Quartetts.
[Music: FROM THE 1ST MOVEMENT OF A STRING QUARTETT BY PHILIPP
EMANUEL BACH.]
The first movement of this work, which has also been called a Sinfonia,
is connected with the second by modulation.
[Music: 2ND MOVEMENT.
(The commencement.)]
[Music: (The last 10 bars, leading to the _Presto_.)]
The orchestral tendencies of this work and its symphonic feeling
are, of course, quite evident; but Dr. Hugo Riemann, in his recently
published edition, entitles it a String Quartett.
[Music: 3RD MOVEMENT.]
[Sidenote: =Dittersdorf=]
Dittersdorf (1739-99) is another chamber music composer of this period.
His name is little known in England, but during his life-time he was
regarded as a rival of Haydn, and although the verdict of time is
against him, yet his compositions go far to justify the popular feeling
in his favour. An opera of his, _The Doctor and the Apothecary_,
still holds the stage in Germany, and his String Quartetts are yet
occasionally heard. His twelve Orchestral Symphonies (most of them
written to a programme), oratorios, and some twenty to thirty other
operas are, however, now practically dead. The scores of six of his
Quartetts, which are published in the Payne miniature edition, are
worthy of attention, especially that in E♭, from which the following
quotations are made. Special attention may be directed to the minuet,
which is followed by a trio or alternativo of a very charming and
dainty character. The lively finale too reminds one of Haydn, and
the effect of silence, which is mentioned elsewhere, is introduced
in several places in this movement. While, however, the music is
spontaneous and sincere in feeling, the absence of strong ideas and of
contrapuntal skill soon shows itself, and the effect tends to become
insipid.
[Music: FROM A STRING QUARTETT BY CARL DITTERS VON
DITTERSDORF.]
A noteworthy feature in the development portion of this movement is a
sudden but effective modulation from E♭ to C major.
[Music: MINUETTO.
Leading into the Alternativo.]
[Music: ALTERNATIVO.]
Some editions of this quartett have three bars of the note G for the
’cello, after the double bar, instead of two, as here printed.
[Music]
[Music: FINALE.]
[Sidenote: =Early Quartetts of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven=]
Haydn wrote his first String Quartett about the year 1755. Mozart’s
first appeared fifteen years later, in 1770. That of Beethoven (No.
1 in F, op. 18) in 1800; so that a period of about forty-five years
includes all three. A comparison of the three works can therefore
hardly fail to be of interest. Haydn’s consists of five movements—viz.,
presto, minuet and trio, adagio, another minuet and trio, and
presto. All the movements are in the key of B♭, except the adagio,
which is in E♭. They are short and undeveloped, and there is little
extraneous modulation. The music is fresh and spontaneous, but simple
and of little importance—indeed, as compared with many of his other
seventy-six Quartetts, it is trivial.
Mozart’s work is in G major. It has four movements—viz., adagio,
allegro, minuet and trio, and rondo. Originally it had only three
movements, the rondo being added later. All are, in accordance with
the custom which prevailed up to about this time, in one key. The
general character of the composition is stronger than that of Haydn,
there is more counterpoint and independence in the parts, but not much
modulation. It is an interesting, but by no means great work.
[Sidenote: =Silence as an Effect in Music=]
Beethoven’s is the well-known No. 1, op. 18, and has four
movements—viz., allegro, adagio, scherzo and trio, and allegro. The
introduction of the scherzo form will be observed here. Humour and jest
had no doubt been attempted before in music, but Beethoven made much
more use of it than his predecessors, and in some of his works, notably
the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, employed it in a remarkable manner.
In the C minor, the grim humour, with the strange touch of mysticism
which occurs near to where the scherzo blends into the finale, are
among the very great effects which Beethoven has left for us. All the
movements of the quartett are in the key of F, save the adagio, which
is in D minor. Both as to contrapuntal skill, modulation, individual
use of each instrument, especially of the viola, and above all in
poetic feeling, this work shows a great advance on the two of Haydn
and Mozart. Beethoven no doubt had the great advantage of what Haydn
and Mozart had already written, but for all this the gap between this
first Quartett and theirs is remarkable. Unquestionably the best of
Haydn’s and Mozart’s Quartetts are works of the highest genius, but in
Beethoven the restraint of conventional form is less felt, and there is
a richer and fuller poetic expression. Nor has Beethoven overlooked (we
find it in bars 59 to 62 of the adagio) the use of a certain negative
means which as a factor in musical expression is of great importance.
Just as it is well not to write continually in full four-part harmony,
but to relieve what is apt to become monotonous, by reducing the score
to three, two, or even at times one instrument, so the introduction of
absolute silence may occasionally produce an excellent effect. Handel
recognised this, and we find examples in “He rebuked the Red Sea”
(_Israel in Egypt_), “Wretched Lovers” (_Acis and Galatea_),
and at the close of the Amen Chorus (_Messiah_). Brahms makes use
of the device in the allegretto of his Second Symphony, as does another
master, Wagner, at the close of the prelude, Act 2 of _Parsifal_.
The scherzo of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony also contains several
examples, and Sir C. Villiers Stanford in the andante of his String
Quartett, op. 45, produces a strikingly artistic effect, where after a
full bar’s silence, the viola enters alone on a note unrelated to the
previous tonality. Of course the use of a means of this kind obviously
depends upon the character and feeling of the music, and its absence
in no way implies imperfection, but it is curious to note that neither
Schumann, Mendelssohn, nor Brahms introduces it into any of their
String Quartetts.[13]
[Footnote 13: At the fifty-fifth bar of the finale of Brahms’s A minor
Quartett there is a hint of this kind of effect; also at the opening of
Schumann’s A major Quartett.]
[Illustration: Antonin Dvořák [signature]]
[Sidenote: =Haydn’s Quartetts=]
The bulk of Haydn’s Quartetts are so well known that any detailed
reference to them would be superfluous. Op. 33, No. 3, in C major; op.
74, No. 1, in the same key; and op. 77, No. 2, in F major, may however
be named as among the most interesting, and not perhaps so often played
as, say, the so-called “Kaiser,” op. 76, No. 3, the op. 64, No. 5, and
the op. 76, No. 1, which with some others are so justly held in high
esteem wherever this style of music is cultivated.
With regard to the slow movement of the “Kaiser,” a set of variations
on the Austrian National Anthem, which Haydn is said to have composed
because he envied the English their “God Save the King,” Mr. W.H.
Hadow, in his book _A Croatian Composer_ (which work may well
be read, containing as it does a report of some very interesting
investigations), gives a number of instances wherein the germ of
symphonic and other of Haydn’s musical themes are traceable to Croatian
folk-songs, and among them is this Austrian National Anthem. What
Handel did with the works of Steffani and others is pretty well known
by musicians, but this less known case is an equally interesting one.
[Sidenote: =Haydn’s Kaiser Quartett=]
Here is the familiar melody as it now stands in the Quartett (op. 76,
No. 3) referred to. The five versions of this melody which by the
praiseworthy investigations of Mr. Hadow are now brought to light
are quoted below. Each one presents the tune as it is found to-day
in a certain district of Croatia. It will, as Mr. Hadow points out,
be seen that in all these versions there is “apparent the same touch
of inspiration, and the same weakness of development.” Haydn took
advantage of the inspiration and dignified the tune by a continuation
worthy to make it take rank among the best national anthems of the
world.
[Music: FROM HAYDN’S KAISER QUARTETT, OP. 76, NO. 3.]
[Music: No. 1.]
[Music: No. 2.]
[Music: No. 3.]
These three are of course very much alike, but the next two
differ considerably from the others, and No. 5 has two bars
more than No. 4.
[Music: No. 4.]
[Music: No. 5.]
[Sidenote: =Haydn’s Other Chamber Music=]
Haydn’s compositions in the chamber music style embrace a large number
of pieces which are now forgotten. Many of these were probably written
to order for his patrons, and have little permanent value. Among them
are some 32 Trios for strings and other combinations, 2 for 2 flutes
and ’cello, 3 for piano, flute, and ’cello, and some 35 for piano,
violin, and ’cello. As regards the last-named, some of which are still
occasionally played, an examination of the twelve published in the
Peters Edition, which may be regarded as favourable specimens, shows
that many of them are hardly trios at all in the modern sense of that
word. The ’cello part, generally speaking, either doubles the actual
notes, or strengthens the harmony, of the left-hand piano part, and in
some movements (_e.g._ the slow movement of No. 1 in G major) has
not a single independent passage. There would, indeed, be little loss
of effect if the music were played by the piano and violin.
There is more interest and vitality in No. 6 in D major, but even in
this the continual doubling of the parts, and want of independence
between the instruments, becomes at last somewhat wearisome. It ought,
however, to be remembered that some of these Trios were published as
Sonatas for the piano with an accompaniment for violin and ’cello, and
that this kind of composition was common during the period of which
we speak. It has also been stated that Haydn wrote these Trios for a
wealthy and enthusiastic patron, who unfortunately was a poor ’cello
player, and hence that part was written in the simplest form.
Haydn also wrote about 175 works for an instrument called the baryton,
a kind of viol da gamba. They were written for Prince Esterhazy, who
played that instrument, but they are now practically forgotten. Some
unpublished MSS. of Haydn’s are to be found in the library of the
British Museum.[14] There are also, among his published works, four
Sonatas for violin and clavier, and six Duets for violin and viola, as
well as a number of other chamber music compositions, which, however,
have no great musical value.
[Footnote 14: _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_ (Grove), vol. i.
p. 713.]
[Sidenote: =Handel=]
The following is a list of the chief chamber music works of Handel
(1685-1759):—
15 Sonatas for violin, flute, or oboe, with harpsichord, or bass
violin.
6 Trio Sonatas for two oboes and harpsichord.
9 Trio Sonatas for two violins, flutes, or oboes, and harpsichord,
or violoncello.
7 Trio Sonatas for two violins, or German flutes, with harpsichord,
or violoncello.
1 Sonata in C major for viola da gamba, and cembalo.
1 Sonata in B♭ for two violins, bass, and organ.
3 Sonatas for flute and continuo.
The Sonata in A major for violin and piano (harpsichord) is of course
familiar, as are others of the fifteen named above. The Trios are also
of high interest, some of the slow movements being distinguished by
that fine pathos which is associated with the best work of the composer
of _The Messiah_. This music deserves more attention than has
hitherto been accorded to it.
CHAPTER IV.
MOZART.
Mozart’s C major Quartett—Mozart’s string quartetts—The
genius of Mozart—Mozart’s other chamber music—Wagner on
Mozart—Mozart’s letter to his father.
“I declare to you before God, as a man of honour, that your son is the
greatest composer that I know either personally or by reputation; he
has taste, and, beyond that, the most consummate knowledge of the art
of composition.”
[Sidenote: =Mozart’s C Major Quartett=]
Such are the remarkable words of Haydn, spoken to Mozart’s father. The
compositions played on the occasion when this was said were the String
Quartetts numbers 458, 464, and 465 of the Köchel Thematic Catalogue
of Mozart’s works, the last-named in C major, being that whose
introductory passage is said to have given much offence to the purists
of that time, on account of the following unusual harmony, which even
to-day sounds (like some of Bach’s) quite modern:—
[Music: MOZART.]
The celebrated Italian musician, Sarti, the master of Cherubini, said
of this passage, “Can more be done to put the players out of tune?” and
some, even of Mozart’s admirers, after his death, proposed to alter
and, as they considered it, rectify the passage. As regards Sarti,
there can be no doubt that his word carried great weight at that time,
and although his views may now be lightly regarded, Mozart evidently
had a high opinion of him, for, in a letter written from Vienna in June
1784, we find him writing, “To-morrow there is to be a concert at Herr
Players, at Döbling, in the country. Mdlle. Babette will play my new
Concerto, I shall play in the Quintett, and together we shall give the
Grand Sonata for two pianos. If the Maestro Sarti had not been obliged
to leave for Russia this very day, he would also have come with me.
Sarti is a fine fellow, an excellent fellow! I played a great deal with
him, and finished with some variations on an air of his own, which gave
him great pleasure.”
Mozart afterwards dedicated a set of String Quartetts, comprising that
cited above and other five, to Haydn, and they remain until now amongst
the most renowned works in this style.
Mozart (1756-91), who was, of course, contemporary with Haydn
(1732-1809), was by nature a musical genius of the very highest order,
but, all the same, he was only in a small degree a reformer, for he
was guided more by the spontaneous creative powers with which he
was naturally endowed than by any mere intellectual or philosophical
theorisings concerning art. The quotation from the Quartett given above
must, no doubt, have alarmed the average musician of that time, but
there is no reason to think that it was written in connection with any
scheme for the reform or expansion of musical resources, for Mozart’s
works display the utmost transparency of harmony and of style. No
doubt he occasionally produces remarkable effects by means of unusual
and sudden modulations (for example, the transition from G into E♭,
near the close of the finale of the G minor Piano Quartett), but, as
a general thing, his works do not furnish very many instances of this
kind.
[Illustration: Niels W. Gade [signature]]
His acceptance of unsatisfactory operatic libretti also points in the
same direction, and it has been jokingly said that he could have set
beautiful music even to newspaper advertisements.
Another theory is that, unlike Haydn, and in a degree Beethoven, he had
no wealthy patron who safeguarded him and his art, and that the want
of easier circumstances affected the quality of his work, as well as
shortened his life. In any case, it may be taken as certain that his
highly-strung organisation unfitted him for the hardships which fell to
his lot, and that the sympathy and protection of some one possessed of
worldly power and influence would, in his case, have been especially
valuable. It is impossible, for example, to read without indignation of
the manner in which he was treated by the Archbishop of Salzburg.
But apart from all this, there can be no doubt that his works are
a priceless treasure, for whose good influence humanity, past and
present, is deeply his debtor.
[Sidenote: =Mozart’s String Quartetts=]
Of String Quartetts Mozart wrote fewer in number by far than Haydn,
but none the less his work in this direction is such as to overshadow
that of Haydn. It has been well said that “next in importance after
his (Mozart’s) Symphonies come his Quartetts. In this form Haydn was
again the pioneer, but it fell to Mozart to produce the first really
great and perfect examples. This refined and delicate form of art had
come into prominence rather suddenly. It was cultivated with some
success by other composers besides Mozart and Haydn, such as Boccherini
and Dittersdorf. But the quartetts which Mozart produced in 1782, and
dedicated to Haydn, are still among the select few of highest value
in existence. In a form in which the actual possibilities are so
limited, and in which the responsibilities towards each individual solo
instrument are so great, where the handling requires to be so delicate
and so neatly adjusted in every detail, Mozart’s artistic skill stood
him in good stead. The great difficulty was the exact ascertainment
of the style of treatment best suited to the group of four solo
instruments. It was easy to write contrapuntal movements of the old
kind for them, but in the new harmonic style, and in the form of a
sonata order, it was extremely difficult to adjust the balance between
one instrument and another so that subordination should not subside
into blank dulness, nor independence of inner parts become obtrusive.
Mozart, among his many gifts, had a great sense of fitness, and he
adapted himself completely to the necessities of the situation, without
adopting a polyphonic manner, and without sacrificing the independence
of his instruments.”[15]
[Footnote 15: _The Art of Music_, Sir Hubert Parry.]
[Sidenote: =The Genius of Mozart=]
The wonderful power of Mozart as a composer is never more clearly
revealed than in the production of that strangely mysterious effect
which, unaided by any mere external text or programme, is here and
there to be found in the works of all the really great composers. It
may be illustrated by even so familiar an example as the fifth bar of
Beethoven’s No. 3 Leonora Overture, where the downward C major scale
ends on F♯, and is followed by the unexpected and weird harmony of
that note. Other instances may be found in the scherzo of the Fifth
Symphony of Beethoven, and in Schubert’s Lebens-stürme, op. 144, where
the chorale-like subject enters. Wagner, too, has many examples in the
instrumental portions of his works; for instance, the commencement of
Scene 4, Act ii., of _Die Walküre_.
The opening of Mozart’s Quartett No. 6 in C major, which has
already been quoted on page 60, has sometimes been referred to as
illustrating this mysterious kind of effect; but, while the passage
is unquestionably peculiar, there are others which better exemplify
what is meant by this atmosphere of “other worldness,” as it has been
called. Take, for instance, the passage beginning at the forty-second
bar of the first movement of Quartett No. 2 in D minor of the set
dedicated to Haydn, and mark the subtle effect in bars 4 and 5,
especially the sudden change from forte to piano at bar 4, and the
double piano which follows:—
[Music: MOZART.]
Of course it must by no means be overlooked that it is only by a
perfect rendering of the music that ideal effects of this kind can be
revealed as they first arose in the mind of the composer.
As illustrating another and quite different kind of effect, we have
in the andante of No. 8 Quartett in D major, dedicated to the King of
Prussia, an example of pure and simple melody, which, without subtlety
or mysticism, flows on in calm, unclouded beauty.
[Music: MOZART.]
[Sidenote: =Mozart’s other Chamber Music=]
The earlier String Quartetts of Mozart are not of equal merit with
those which he composed some nine years later. Of these the six
dedicated to Haydn are quite remarkable, as are also the three
dedicated to the King of Prussia. In these three the ’cello (the King’s
favourite instrument) is more than usually prominent.
The Quartetts for flute and strings and those for oboe and strings
are unimportant, but that for clarionet and strings is a more worthy
work. Of the String Quintetts those in C, G minor, and E♭ are the best,
especially the G minor, which is truly great. Mozart doubles the viola
in these Quintetts. It was the custom of his contemporary Boccherini,
to whom reference has been made, to double the ’cello.
There is also a Quintett for horn and strings, and one in C minor
for the curious combination flute, oboe, viola, ’cello, and glass
harmonica.[16] The Quintett in E♭, a special favourite of its author,
for piano, oboe, clarionet, horn, and bassoon, is a fine work, as are
the two piano and string Quartetts in G minor and in E♭.
[Footnote 16: A mechanical arrangement producing the effect of
so-called “musical glasses,” that is, thin tumbler glasses whose edges
were rubbed with the moistened finger.]
Of Trios, the Divertimento in E♭ for violin, viola, and ’cello is
remarkable; also that for clarinet, viola, and piano, in the same key,
an unusual but effective combination.
The seven Trios for piano, violin, and ’cello do not, as a whole, rank
among Mozart’s most exalted efforts, but some of them, and especially
certain movements, are excellent; that, for example, in E major, and
the slow movement of No. 496 Köchel, in G major. For the piano and
violin Mozart wrote forty-two Sonatas, an Allegro in B♭, and two sets
of variations, which are said to have been generally written for his
lady pupils. “They are neither deep nor learned, but interesting from
their abundant melody and modulation.”[17]
[Footnote 17: _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_ (Grove), vol.
ii. p. 398.]
This concludes the list of the more important of the chamber music
works of this great master.
[Sidenote: =Wagner on Mozart=]
In the words of Richard Wagner: “The life of Mozart was one of
continuous struggle for a peacefully-assured existence against the most
unequal odds. Caressed as a child by the half of Europe, as youth he
finds all satisfaction of his sharpened longings made doubly difficult,
and from manhood onwards he miserably sickens towards an early
grave.... His loveliest works were sketched between the elation of one
hour and the anguish of the next.”[18]
[Footnote 18: Prose Works, vol. v. p. 88.]
[Sidenote: =Mozart’s Letter to his Father=]
But while this was so, it is pathetically interesting to read what
he writes to his father when he first heard of his illness, for it
shows clearly that amid the hardships and trials which beset him,
Mozart never, at heart, repined, but sustained himself with a deep and
far-reaching philosophy of human life. “As death,” he says, “strictly
speaking, is the true end and aim of our lives, I have for the last
two years made myself so well acquainted with this true, best friend
of mankind that his image no longer terrifies, but calms and consoles
me. And I thank God for giving me the opportunity of learning to look
upon death as the key which unlocks the gate of true bliss. I never lie
down to rest without thinking that, young as I am, before the dawn of
another day I may be no more; and yet nobody who knows me would call me
morose or discontented. For this blessing I thank my Creator every day,
and wish from my heart that I could share it with all my fellow-men.”
[Illustration: BEETHOVEN.]
CHAPTER V.
BEETHOVEN.
Beethoven as democrat—Rhythmic similarities—Beethoven’s
first and last compositions—Musical humour—The distinction
in Beethoven’s chamber music.
The genius of this remarkable man has left us a heritage of undying
beauty in every department of the art, and especially in that of
chamber music.
[Sidenote: =Beethoven as Democrat=]
“Beethoven[19] (1770-1827) was the first great democrat among
musicians. He would have none of the shackles which his predecessors
wore, and he compelled the aristocracy of birth to bow to the
aristocracy of genius. But such was his reverence for the style of
music which had grown up in the chambers of the great, that he devoted
the last three years of his life almost exclusively to its composition;
the peroration of his proclamation to mankind consists of his last
Quartetts—the holiest of holy things to the chamber musicians of
to-day.” With regard to these works it has been said with, at any
rate a certain degree of truth, that the musical ideas contained in
them are too large for the means of expression, just as we find some
movements of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas to be orchestral in feeling,
and beyond the powers of the piano adequately to express. Some critics
have ventured to regard the later Quartetts as loose and rhapsodical in
form. This is, however, merely the penalty which conventionality seeks
to impose on creative genius, and may be passed by as harmless.
[Footnote 19: _How to Listen to Music_ (H.E. Krehbiel).]
[Sidenote: =Rhythmic Similarities=]
Among the many notable features to be found in Beethoven’s
compositions, it has, more than once, been pointed out that there is a
curious rhythmic likeness in certain works written by him about same
time, and this is confirmed (as to the time of composition) by the
sketches to be found in his note-books. The opening of the well-known
Fifth Symphony, op. 67, composed about 1804, for example:—
[Music]
may be compared with the Piano Sonata, op. 57, in F minor, written
about 1805, and the Piano Concerto, op. 58, written about 1806. Another
noteworthy instance is found in the String Quartett, op. 74, written
in 1809.[20] The third movement of which opens thus:—
[Music]
And further on the following unison passage occurs, in which the
resemblance to the Symphony just named, both rhythmic and as to the
actual notes, is very striking:—
[Music]
Yet here, as in the other instances, there is no mere repetition, for
each case possesses a distinct and unmistakable individuality of its
own.
[Footnote 20: The dates are according to Nottebohm’s Catalogue.]
The difficulty which presents itself in discussing Beethoven’s chamber
music is that one is embarrassed by the wealth of material which
presents itself on all hands, for although he wrote less in quantity
than many of the classical masters, nearly every work is remarkable,
and there is little or nothing that can come under the term “padding.”
This is no doubt to be accounted for by the slow, yet sure, way in
which he worked. His sketch-books show this clearly. Some melodies,
which seem to us so entirely spontaneous, as, for example, the
slow movement of the C minor Symphony, and the opening of the song
“Adelaida,” are found in these sketch-books in many forms, and were
many times altered before he was satisfied, and the final form decided
on.
[Sidenote: =Beethoven’s First and Last Compositions=]
Save some piano pieces which he did not think important enough to
deserve an opus number, his first published compositions were in
chamber music form. They are the three well-known Trios, op. 1, for
violin, ’cello, and piano, and the fine Trio, op. 3, in E♭, for violin,
viola, and ’cello. His last compositions also were in this form—namely,
the String Quartetts already mentioned, whose meaning is only now
beginning to be comprehended by musicians generally. His actually final
work was the movement which now concludes the Quartett in B♭, op. 130.
This work originally finished with an elaborate fugue, but Beethoven
was prevailed upon (it is said by Artaria, the publisher) to substitute
for it the present allegro, a movement which in its sprightly and
almost joyous character, and the clearness with which it is worked out,
forms a remarkable contrast to the fugue. Yet he wrote it under the
influence of very unpleasant domestic circumstances, and also what was
always very trying to him, while confined to the house (his brother’s,
at Gneixendorf) by rainy weather! Thus we see that he began and ended
his career with chamber music.
Schumann, than whom it would be difficult to quote a higher authority,
says of these last String Quartetts: “They appear to me to reach the
extremest limits of human art and fancy yet attained.”
Of the earlier String Quartetts it is hardly necessary to speak at any
length, as they are as familiar as household words to all who take
their music seriously. To the four published as op. 18, this remark
specially applies. But while this is so, no familiarity can alter the
fact that they are among the most charming and technically perfect
things which music has produced. That in F major, op. 59, too, is
among the well-known ones, for who does not love its dainty allegretto
(quoted below), one of the most remarkable of Beethoven’s scherzando
movements?
[Music: BEETHOVEN, OP. 59, NO. 1.]
[Sidenote: =Musical Humour=]
It is in music of this kind that he shows us the wide gap which
separates the merely comic element from that philosophic humour which
“sees the comedy of life through a mist of tears.” Specially notable
is the conclusion of this movement, where, after a full cadence in B♭,
four bars (pianissimo) are added, which give the momentary impression
of a quite fresh tonality; these are followed by other four bars
(double forte) of the common chord of the key-note, with which the
movement ends.
[Music: BEETHOVEN, OP. 59, NO. 1.]
In quite another mood, but written with the same artistic eccentricity
of effect, is the passage near the end of the adagio of Quartett op.
74, in E♭, where the note F♭[21] is played by the viola in the fourth
bar of the following quotation:—
[Music: BEETHOVEN, OP. 74.]
[Footnote 21: As an isolated note this dominant minor 9th (like that
above) sounds strangely and out of the key.]
Among Beethoven’s earlier works the five Trios (one being a Serenade)
for violin, viola, and ’cello, op. 3, op. 8, and op. 9, rank high, that
in C minor, No. 3 of op. 9, being a specially fine work. The limited
means (only three instruments) must be reckoned with in these works,
yet without any excessive addition to the difficulty of performance,
Beethoven produces continually the effect of a full quartett.
There is also another Trio, op. 25, for the unusual combination
of violin, flute, and viola, in serenade form. The whole work is
most interesting, especially as to the instruments for which it is
written, and the fourth movement, which is an andante in G major with
variations, performs with a surprising fulness of effect.
Another Trio is that for two oboes and English horn (or alto oboe), op.
87, a rather strongly flavoured mixture, which is apt to pall on the
musical palate in actual performance.
It is in his trios for the piano combined with other instruments,
but chiefly with the violin and ’cello, that Beethoven’s work
strongly contrasts with both Haydn’s and Mozart’s. No doubt his three
early works of this kind, published as op. 1, reflect the style and
influence of these two masters; yet even in these (the finale of No.
3 in C minor, for example) there are unmistakable signs of the coming
Beethoven. But in the later ones, and more particularly that in B♭, op.
97, his supremacy is powerfully manifested.
The Trio, op. 11, for clarinet, ’cello, and piano (a combination used
in our time by Brahms in his op. 114), is a pleasant, if not profound
work, with a most expressive and charmingly written adagio movement.
[Illustration: Edvard Grieg [signature]]
Of the Piano Quartetts, that in E♭, an arrangement of the piano and
wind Quintett, op. 16, should be mentioned. The other Piano Quartetts
are, comparatively, of little value. There are also the String
Quintetts, of which that in C major, op. 29, is familiar as a splendid
example of this master. The Sextett, op. 81B, for strings and two
horns, with the delightful adagio, and that for two clarinets, two
horns, and two bassoons, op. 71, may be named; also the well-known
Septett in E♭, op. 20, for strings and wind, both in its original form
and arranged by the composer for clarinet or violin, ’cello, and piano;
and the Octett, op. 103, for wind instruments, based on the Quintett,
op. 4, for strings.
Beethoven’s Sonatas for piano and violin are among the more familiar
of his works. Of these there are ten in number, and for the same
instruments, a rondo in G, and a set of Variations in F. For the piano
and ’cello he wrote five Sonatas, all of which are of great interest,
and three sets of Variations, one being that on the well-known
Handelian air, “See the conquering hero comes.” A Sonata for piano and
French horn, op. 17, and three duets for clarinet and bassoon, may also
be referred to, although they are of no great importance.
[Sidenote: =The Distinction in Beethoven’s Chamber Music=]
The great distinction in Beethoven’s works, especially those of his
later years, is their high emotional expression. This it is which
mainly differentiates him from his predecessors, and which makes him
a romantic as well as, what by common consent he also is, a classical
composer. This was, no doubt, the thought in Richard Wagner’s mind
when, in his report to King Ludwig II. upon the establishment of a
German music school in Munich, he wrote: “Through these last, and to
us still unknown works of our wondrous master [Beethoven’s posthumous
quartetts], of all others, the powers of musical expression has taken
a direction from which the music of earlier periods was often bound
to hold deliberately aloof; I will here call that direction _the
tenderly and deliberately passionate_, through whose expression
music has first raised herself to an equal height with the poetry
and painting of the greatest periods of the past. Whilst Dante,
Shakespeare, Calderon, and Goethe, like the great masters of painting
in Italy and the Netherlands, with this expression took fee of every
portrayable object in the world and man; and whilst it was this
that first enabled them to paint the world and man: in music there
had ruled an axiom which openly degraded her as a branch of Art, an
axiom borrowed from the purely physical pleasure, the purely sensuous
entertainment to be found in her. To what a point this narrow view
of music’s mission still wanders to this day, particularly under the
terrifying impression of the un-understood last works of Beethoven,
we may perceive from the flat assertions of modern æsthetes when
setting up their theories of ‘the Beautiful in Music.’ Us it behoves,
on the contrary, to first take true and full possession of the whole
rich heritage bequeathed us by our great masters, and, through full
knowledge of the powers developed by music hitherto, to procure
ourselves due light on what development is still before her.”
CHAPTER VI.
SCHUBERT, MENDELSSOHN, SCHUMANN, AND SPOHR.
Schubert as song-writer—Schubert’s chamber
music—Mendelssohn—Mendelssohn’s position in
England—Mendelssohn’s character—Mendelssohn’s chamber
music—Schumann—Schumann as absolute musician—The E♭ Piano
Quintett—Piano trios—Spohr’s opinion of Beethoven’s
work—Characteristics of his compositions.
[Sidenote: =Schubert as Song-writer=]
Schubert’s fame rests chiefly on his songs, but in the domain of
instrumental music he also did some remarkable work, although it
can hardly be said that he fundamentally influenced the art in
this direction. He lived (1797-1828) in Vienna at the same time as
Beethoven, and many of his compositions show distinctly how much
he was influenced by the genius of that great musician. Schubert’s
works are distinguished by a spontaneous flow of beautiful melody.
He possessed, by right of nature, the utmost artistic opulence, but
unfortunately, owing chiefly to his birth and early circumstances, this
was not consolidated by that profounder culture which is necessary for
the fullest expression of human capacity. Not that Schubert failed
to reach a most exalted position, for works like the B♭ Piano Trio,
the C major Quintett, that noble fragment the B minor Symphony, and
especially his best songs, proclaim him unsurpassed by any musician
of modern times; but out of the very profusion of his ideas, combined
with a certain want of restraint and self-criticism, arose an artistic
danger, the result of which is most evident in his larger works. This,
too, is probably the reason why he was so great as a composer of songs,
for he had all the means ready at hand for the expression which the
text required, and the form being necessarily free, he could and did
work in an unfettered fashion, with the most wonderful results. That
this is so, such _Lieder_ as “The Erl King,” “Gretchen at the
Spinning-wheel,” “The Wanderer,” and many others, abundantly prove.
Liszt, who greatly advocated his works, called Schubert “the most
poetical of all the musicians,” and Schumann characteristically writes
thus of the Piano Trio in B♭:—“One glance at this trio, and all the
pitiful clouds of life disperse and the world shines again as fresh
and bright as ever. This work is indeed a precious legacy. Many and
beautiful as are the things which time brings forth, it will be long
ere it produces another Schubert.”
[Sidenote: =Schubert’s Chamber Music=]
Schubert’s principal chamber music works are the Octett in F for
strings, horn, clarinet, and bassoon; a Quintett (Forellen) for piano
and strings; another Quintett in C major for strings, which is an
extremely fine work; twenty String Quartetts, two Piano Trios, two
String Trios, a Rondo Brilliant in B minor, a Fantasia in C, and some
Sonatinas, and a Sonata for piano and violin. Of the String Quartetts,
that in D minor, the slow movement of which is a set of variations on
Schubert’s own song, “Death and the Maiden,” and that in G major, op.
161, are among the best of his works in this form. That in E♭, op. 125,
is one of the best known; certainly it is full of charming melody,
besides being very grateful for the players. The C major Quintett and
the Piano Trio in B♭ already mentioned may be specially referred to as
full of that charm and spontaneity which are characteristic of this
composer.
Schubert’s career was one of comparative poverty and hardship. His
compositions brought him little money. Still he seems to have laboured
on without regard to popularity, content to do that which seemed best
and truest, and no doubt finding his highest satisfaction and reward in
the work itself, for as Emerson says, “Every true talent exhilarates.”
Thus was completed the short span of his earthly life, for he passed
away at the early age of 31. Mozart died at 35, Purcell at 37, and
Mendelssohn at 38! The inscription on Schubert’s tomb in the cemetery
at Vienna, where he was, by his own desire, interred near the grave of
Beethoven, reads thus:—“Music has here entombed a rich treasure, but
still fairer hopes.”
[Sidenote: =Mendelssohn=]
[Illustration: herzlich R. Schumann [signature]]
The career of Mendelssohn (1809-47) presents a strong contrast to that
of Schubert. Born in affluent circumstances, he possessed from his
birth all those advantages (and hindrances) which appertain to wealth.
But his parents were discreet people, who were not, so to say, carried
off their feet by the unquestionable precocity and genius of the boy.
They took care that his education, both general and musical, was of the
best, and when he was 16 years old his father took him to Paris, where
Cherubini, Principal of the Conservatoire, reigned supreme as the great
musical authority. The result of the interview was most satisfactory,
and any scruples as to the boy’s musicianship, and as to what his
future should be, were thereby finally disposed of, and Mendelssohn
entered on a career which proved to be one of the most brilliant that
has ever fallen to the lot of a musician.
[Sidenote: =Mendelssohn’s Position in England=]
In England, after Handel, and perhaps Haydn, the name of Mendelssohn
stands next—that is, taking provincial opinion, which is chiefly
concerned with choral works, into account, and not merely London and
the larger civic centres. Indeed, it is hardly an exaggeration to
say that he stands before Haydn. That master is known, among those
of whom we speak, chiefly by his oratorio _The Creation_. But
in this work the choral writing is less satisfactory to the average
choral singer than either Handel—as represented, say, by _The
Messiah_, _Samson_, or _Judas Maccabæus_—or Mendelssohn,
by _Elijah_ and _The Hymn of Praise_; and for this reason
Mendelssohn no doubt, in the opinion of such people, stands higher than
the composer of _The Creation_.
We are not arguing as to the justice of such an opinion, which of
course leaves out of consideration the instrumentation and the solos
of Haydn’s immortal work; but such a condition of things has, none the
less, been of much service in England, for _Elijah_ presents many
dramatic points which are not to be met with in either Handel or Haydn,
and by the study of this work the taste of a very numerous class has
been greatly advantaged, and that pernicious worship of Handel, which
up to some twenty or thirty years ago dominated British choral music,
has to a considerable extent been broken up. Thus the way has been
cleared for the introduction of works by the serious musicians of our
own time, which are apt to be misunderstood and neglected, because they
are often written in a freely dramatic form that is strange, if not
obnoxious, to the average chorister.
This of course applies to choral music, but all the same a sound and
progressive taste in one style is sure to affect the general judgment,
and what is true of the oratorio will soon become equally so of the
symphony, of chamber music, and of the other forms of composition.
[Sidenote: =Mendelssohn’s Character=]
Although from his youth up Mendelssohn exhibited a marked spontaneity
of manner and freedom from the ordinary conventional restraints of
life, yet there was all the time a serious side to his character which
made itself manifest quite early in his career. Ferdinand Hiller
relates that when Mendelssohn’s teacher, Aloys Schmitt, brought him as
a boy to visit Hiller, as they approached the house Hiller, unobserved
by them, saw from the window with what gaiety of demeanour Mendelssohn
behaved, running behind and leaping on Schmitt’s back in a boisterous
and uncontrolled manner, full of life and vigour. When they entered
the house, however, while the youth was unconstrained, yet he became
quite grave and dignified in his manner, and expressed, in what Hiller
thought almost over-ripe a fashion, his views about art and artists.
Later in life the same characteristic of restraint showed itself under
circumstances of such perennial interest that the story may again be
told.
While residing in Frankfort-on-Main, Mendelssohn made the acquaintance
of a certain family named Jean-renaud, the head of the household being
a widow whose husband had been the pastor of the French Reformed
Church. By his frequent visits to the house, it soon became evident
that Mendelssohn was attracted in no ordinary way. But such was his
demeanour that, although it was really the daughter Cécile to whom
his heart went out, his friends were under the impression that the
mother, who was still an attractive woman, was the load-star. To
Hiller, with whom he was on terms of intimacy, Mendelssohn revealed
his true feelings, and spoke with all the enthusiasm of young love of
his regard for Fräulein Cécile. Hiller naturally looked daily for the
usual climax, when to his astonishment he learned that Mendelssohn had
suddenly left Frankfort and gone to Holland, where he stayed for a
month. This he did, as he afterwards told Hiller, deliberately to test
how much and how truly he was in love. On his return, having no doubt
proved the genuineness of his feelings, he became formally engaged
to the young lady, and early in the following year (1837) they were
married.
[Sidenote: =Mendelssohn’s Chamber Music=]
It is not easy even now to deal equitably with Mendelssohn’s chamber
music, for his abundant and charming melody, combined with a clear and
transparent style, are apt to beguile the judgment, and to obscure the
fundamental truths whereby all art must be tried. The slow movement and
the scherzo of the E minor String Quartett, for example, are admirable,
and even though they may not be said to have added anything to the
form in which they are written, yet the pure and elevated beauty of
the music is entirely satisfying. On the other hand, some movements,
such as the String Quartett op. 44 in D major, are, as has been often
remarked, quite orchestral in style and effect, and the same may be
said of the Quartett op. 80. Mendelssohn also set a pattern in the
two Piano Trios, which has been too much followed by later composers,
whereby the piano part dominates and tends to obscure the other
instruments. Especially in some movements of the D minor op. 49 is this
the case, whereby the balance of parts is disturbed, and the artistic
value lowered, of a work otherwise crowded with beautiful ideas.
Professor Ritter,[22] in discussing Mendelssohn’s position, says
“he was more lyric than dramatic, more refined than profound, more
conventional than original,” a judgment which is, in a general sense,
in accord with that of another competent authority, who, speaking of
Mendelssohn, writes:—“It has not been the lot of many men to win so
much affection, or to give so much pleasure. His various gifts were
in constant employment for the benefit of all people who were capable
of enjoying music and good company; and he squeezed as much work into
his short life as most men get into a life of twice the length. The
spirit in the end wore out the body; indeed it seems wonderful that it
stood the strain so long. But his nature would not allow him to live
otherwise, and the enjoyment of all the things which came in his way
was a necessary condition to enable him to produce the happy genial
style of music which is characteristic of him.... He was too full of
occupation to brood over the troubles of the world, or to think much of
tragedies and the stern workings of fate; but all moods must have their
expression in art, and those which were natural for him to express he
dealt with in the most delicate and artistic way, and the results
have afforded healthy and refined pleasure to an immense number of
people.”[23]
[Footnote 22: _History of Music_ (Ritter).]
[Footnote 23: _Studies of Great Composers_ (C. Hubert H. Parry).]
The following are Mendelssohn’s principal chamber music compositions:—
3 Quartetts, op. 1, 2, and 3, for piano and strings.
7 String Quartetts, op. 12, 13, 44, 80, 81, etc.
Octett for Strings, op. 20.
2 String Quintetts, op. 18 and 87.
2 Trios, op. 49 and 66, for piano and strings.
Sextett, op. 110, for piano and strings.
2 Concert-pieces, op. 113 and 114, for clarinet and basset horn,
with piano accompaniment.
2 Sonatas, op. 45 and 58 }
A Set of Variations, op. 17 } for ’cello and piano.
A Lied ohne Worte, op. 109 }
And a Sonata, op. 4 in F minor, for violin and piano.
[Sidenote: =Schumann=]
“The English have adopted Mendelssohn, but in Germany an equal rank is
accorded to Schumann. It may arise from affection for Mendelssohn that
the English are inclined to deny Schumann’s claims, fearing that the
recognition of them may interfere with the justly deserved reputation
of their favourite; but, be this as it may, a comparison should not
be instituted between them. Schumann, apart from his not having the
natural gifts of Mendelssohn, was a solitary student, unable by the use
of his talents or his manners to make himself popular. Mendelssohn,
endowed with every distinction nature and a refined education could
bestow, happily balanced the requirements of the public with the
dignity of the true artist, without yielding to vulgar tastes. If he
did not rely on the _vox populi_ he admitted the truth existing in
that voice. Schumann, if he did not exactly treat popular opinion with
contempt, would not consult it. He never had the means of forming for
himself a clear idea of what was due to the public, not being a public
player, as Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Mendelssohn, and Chopin all were.
It is before the public an artist learns to play, and it is before the
public a composer feels, with even painful acuteness, any imperfections
or tediousness in his works. That which sounds right and interesting
in a small study, with a sympathising friend to turn over the leaves,
may sound dreary, uninteresting, and even tiresome, to an indifferent
audience. We have here a sufficient reason why Schumann would not
have attained a widespread popularity like that of his admired friend
Mendelssohn. But surely in these days, when there are so many weak
productions, we are not justified in disregarding the works of an
intelligent and conscientious master; a man who had the purest and
noblest aspirations, and who was ever the first to acknowledge, with
true sympathy and every sign of delight, the merits of others.”[24]
[Footnote 24: _Analytical Programme_ (Ernst Pauer).]
Robert Schumann (1810-56) was a man of high intellectual capacity and
culture, and this it is which chiefly distinguishes both the man and
his compositions; for it will hardly be claimed for him that he was by
birthright such an absolute musician as, say, Mozart or Mendelssohn.
[Sidenote: =Schumann as Absolute Musician=]
The inborn natural qualities of these masters were, of course,
supplemented by that careful training which is essential to success,
even for the most richly endowed of human beings; but with Schumann
one may almost say that the culture stands first. Not that he failed
to exhibit strong musical tendencies even from his childhood, for
do we not read of his caricaturing his schoolmates by playing, in a
grotesque manner, on the piano, while still at school. Yet anything he
did in this way, and as regards composition, is very different from
what we find in the early years of the two who have been mentioned. It
is evident also that, as he grew to manhood, his aim in life was to
become a solo pianist, for which purpose he worked diligently under
the father of that great artist Clara Wieck, who eventually became his
wife. But, unfortunately, he injured his hand in an attempt to make it
stronger by some mechanical means, and thus he had to relinquish the
idea of playing in public. Then he more earnestly applied himself to
composition, with no doubt most remarkable results. Yet in this sphere
too we find the influence of a resolute determination, as distinguished
from a natural yearning, as, for instance, in the year 1842, when he
resolved to write chamber music, it is said that he shut himself up
with the scores of Beethoven’s string quartetts, and having, as it
were, assimilated their very essence, he proceeded to compose the three
quartetts known as op. 41. There are evidences[25] of a like mental
habit in connection with his larger works, which may be investigated by
those who care to do so.
[Footnote 25: _Studies in Modern Music_ (W.H. Hadow).]
It is, however, in the piano compositions of his early period that one
finds the truest expression of his genius. He was indeed the poet of
the piano, and he has left us, in this style, a wealth of rich romantic
beauty.
[Sidenote: =The E♭ Piano Quintett=]
The Piano Quintett in E♭, op. 44, is generally regarded as one of the
best works which Schumann has given to the world in chamber music
form. It is, from the outset, characterised by a straight-forwardness
of utterance which is not always found in his compositions, and it is
also more than usually grateful to play. The first movement, which
is distinguished by an impressive and stately rhythm, preserves an
astonishing freshness, even after one notices that it consists of
an almost unceasing repetition of the first few notes of both its
principal themes. The dirge-like “In modo d’una Marcia” movement,
which follows, carries with it the convincing argument of true melody
and well-contrasted episodes; the scherzo, with its homespun scale
passages, which are, however, so treated as to sound quite unusual;
these, and the finale, which brings the work to a resounding and
successful conclusion, are all quite clear and need no commentary. That
such a work should meet with high approval and retain a permanent hold
on the musical world is what might naturally be looked for.
The Piano Quartett op. 47, in the same key, E♭, is written somewhat in
the same manner, but with hardly the sustained energy and character
of the quintett. It is in the andante of this work that we find the
succession of sevenths in the chief melody which, while charming in
effect, illustrate the tendency frequently shown by Schumann to write
passages in the Rosalia form. This is to repeat a phrase or melody at
another pitch several times in succession, a method which, at any rate
in Germany, is regarded as betokening a certain weakness of inventive
power. It is also in this andante that the ’cello tunes the fourth
string down to B♭, so as to sustain a pedal bass on that note during
the last bars of the movement.
[Sidenote: =Piano Trios=]
Of the three piano trios, that in D minor is the finest work, and
contains much that is admirable, especially as it avoids, as indeed
is Schumann’s constant custom, the mere bravura pianoforte style of
writing. These trios do not, however, compare favourably with the
quintett or quartett named above, and this applies more especially to
that in G minor.
As regards Schumann’s position as one of the classical composers, Mr.
Hadow in his _Studies in Modern Music_, says:—“It may be that
much of his work will not survive the attack of time. There are few
men who do not find that the greater part of their life’s record is
written in water. But something at least will remain. He is not only
the best representative, but the virtual founder of a distinct style
in music; his sense of beauty is often exquisite; his feeling—pure,
manly, and chivalrous. So long as melody possesses the power to soothe,
to comfort, to sympathise, so long shall we turn in gratitude to one
who could transmute the sorrows of his own heart into an elixir for the
cure of others.”
Schumann’s chamber music compositions include:—
3 String Quartetts in A min., F, and A, op. 41.
Pianoforte Quintett in E♭, op. 44.
Pianoforte Quartett in E♭, op. 47.
Pianoforte Trio in D min., op. 63.
Pianoforte Trio in F, op. 80.
Pianoforte Trio in G min., op. 110.
4 Phantasiestücke for piano, violin, and ’cello, op. 88.
Adagio and Allegro for piano and horn, op. 70.
3 Phantasiestücke for piano and clarinet, op. 73.
3 Romanzen for piano and oboe, op. 94.
5 Stücke im Volkston, for piano and ’cello, op. 102.
Sonata in A min., for piano and violin, op. 105.
Sonata in D min., for piano and violin, op. 121.
4 Märchenbilder for piano and viola, op. 113.
4 Märchenerzählungen for piano, clarinet, and viola, op. 132.
[Sidenote: =Spohr=]
[Sidenote: =Spohr’s Opinion of Beethoven’s Works=]
Had Spohr’s (1784-1859) musical powers, remarkable as they no doubt
were, been equal to his individuality of character he would have
outstripped all his contemporaries, not perhaps excepting Beethoven
himself. He was essentially a self-centred man, a kind of solar mind
whose constant tendency was to make satellites of whoever and whatever
came within the sphere of his personal influence. This it is which
tends to explain his criticisms of the men of his own time, such,
for example, as that the opening of Beethoven’s C minor Symphony was
unfitted for such a work; that the slow movement was tedious; the
finale full of unmeaning noise; that the Ninth Symphony was “monstrous
and tasteless”; and that Beethoven was, as a composer, “wanting both
in æsthetic culture and sense of beauty.” This, too, it should be
remembered, cannot have been any mere hasty or superficial judgment,
seeing that Spohr lived in the city of Vienna for some time along
with Beethoven, knew him personally, and must have had a fairly full
opportunity of forming an opinion of his music. In contradistinction
to this, however, we must place the facts that he admired the earlier
works of the Bonn master, and was indeed the first to perform publicly
at Berlin and Leipzig the String Quartetts op. 18. Also, strange to
say, that in the year 1853 he brought out, in spite of much opposition,
at the Cassel Opera-house, where he was the director, Wagner’s opera
_Tannhäuser_! This curious combination of conflicting qualities is
further exemplified by the fact that he, who was naturally a classic
in style, and regarded Mozart as his model, wrote a number of his
important works to a programme. Among these we find an orchestral
symphony entitled “The Worldly and the Heavenly Influences in the Life
of Man,” with a solo orchestra for the heavenly, and an ordinary full
orchestra for the worldly influences. Another was called “The Seasons.”
No doubt these works contain many fine ideas, and some movements are
full of charm, but for all this, it cannot be said that they were
really successful, or that Spohr thereby increased the scope of the
symphonic form.
[Sidenote: =Characteristics of his Compositions=]
Mannerism of a pronounced kind, such as the frequent employment of
chromatic progressions both melodic and harmonic, of enharmonic
modulations, and a certain kind of constantly repeated phrase and
cadence, these it is which prevent Spohr from occupying a place of the
first rank among composers. His works for the violin, as a performer
on which instrument he occupied a most distinguished position, are,
however, of the highest order, and as a composer of chamber music, with
which we are here chiefly concerned, his double quartetts, especially
the earlier ones, display his powers in the most favourable light.
In his ordinary quartetts, however, the leading violin is, generally
speaking, used with undue importance. Still, when all is said, the
fact remains that these works uphold a high and dignified standard,
and while not in any sense an epoch maker in music, Spohr undoubtedly
exerted a most beneficial influence on the art. His chief chamber music
compositions are:—33 String Quartetts, 8 Quintetts, 4 Double Quartetts,
5 Piano Trios, 2 Sextetts, 1 Septett, 1 Octett, and 1 Nonett; also
Duets for 2 violins, violin and harp, violin and piano, etc. There
is also a Concerto for String Quartett, op. 131, with orchestral
accompaniment.
[Illustration: BRAHMS.
(_Photo of a Bust._)]
CHAPTER VII.
BRAHMS AND DVOŘÁK.
Opinions of Brahms—Weingartner—H.T. Finck—Bülow on
Rubinstein—H. Davey—Schumann—W.J. Henderson—Philip
Spitta—Sir Hubert Parry—W.H. Hadow—Piano Trio, op. 8: two
versions—Horn Trio, op. 40—String Sextett in B♭—String
Sextett in G major—Piano Quartett in G minor—Quintett in
F minor—String Quartetts—Thematic resemblances—String
Quintetts—Clarinet Quintett—Dvořák—Revival of Bohemian
music—Birthplace and early career—Criticisms on his
works—His symphonic poems for orchestra—An American
national style of music—The Negro Quartett—String
Quartetts—Piano Quartetts—Piano Trios—String Sextett—Other
chamber music.
The individuality of Brahms (1833-97) was quite as pronounced as that
of Spohr, although in a different way, but his creative musical powers
were much greater. It is sometimes said that Schumann is the one great
composer since Beethoven; but when we shall have arrived at that point
of time from which Brahms’s position can be adequately reviewed, the
extreme probability is that he will then be regarded as the great one,
rather than Schumann, or any of the others who have lived and laboured
since the death of the Bonn master.
[Sidenote: =Opinions of Brahms=]
[Sidenote: =Weingartner=]
Wagner, of course, is not to be reckoned with in this connection. His
work was of an altogether different order, and no useful purpose is
served in discussing him along with the composers of absolute music.
This favourable opinion of Brahms is not, however, shared by some
critics, and as it is well to hear both sides, some of the opposing
views may usefully be quoted. The well-known German composer-conductor
Felix Weingartner, in a recently published article on the
post-Beethoven symphonists, says:—“Brahms was, above all, a master of
form. His works are of an unimpeachable technical perfection, but I
have only discerned a warm, palpitating feeling of life in a very few
of them, which then has great value, owing to the junction of beautiful
thoughts and a perfect construction.... Taken altogether Brahms’s is,
I might say, scientific music, composed of sonorous forms and phrases;
it is not the language of humanity, mysterious, but still infinitely
expressive and comprehensible.... The music of our great masters is
artistic, and, as such, natural; that of Brahms is artificial.... The
works of Brahms which attract me most, such as, for instance, the
Symphony in D major, are not esteemed as the summit of his creative
power by his enthusiastic partisans. They give the preference to
several others, such as the Triumphlied, the E minor Symphony, and the
Clarinet-Quintett, which, to me, are loud-sounding hollownesses.”
[Sidenote: =H.T. Finck=]
Henry T. Finck,[26] the American critic, disputes the position usually
ascribed to Brahms. After implying that Schumann was already affected
by a growing mental malady when he so strongly advocated Brahms’s
works, Mr. Finck goes on to say that, “it was not until it occurred
to his admirers to pit him against Wagner that Brahms began to loom
up as a big man.... In England another violent enemy of Wagner[27]
and intimate friend of Brahms’s, Joachim, championed Brahms’s cause
and helped him to a temporary vogue.... It was a very clever bit
of strategy thus to pit Brahms against Wagner, for it gave him a
prominence which otherwise he would never have had.... In chamber music
Brahms holds his own against any modern rival; but his symphonies,
while cleverly constructed, have not one tithe of the ideas to be found
in Rubinstein’s Dramatic and Ocean Symphonies; and the same lack of
ideas we note in his songs, as compared with Franz’s. Yet Brahms’s
symphonies and songs are to-day on all concert programmes, while Franz
and Rubinstein are neglected. But it will not remain so.... Ideas alone
confer immortality on works of art; and genius might be defined as the
faculty for originating ideas. Brahms was a great dress-maker—a musical
Worth. No one ever knew better than he how to cut and shape musical
garments, and to trim them with elegant variations. But his faculty for
originating ideas was weak, and therefore he is not immortal.”
[Footnote 26: _Songs and Song-writers_, p. 155.]
[Footnote 27: The “explanation” (_erklärung_) with regard to
the new and the old schools of musical composition, which Brahms and
Joachim published in 1860, conclusively shows that neither of these
artists was “a violent enemy” of Wagner or of his art.]
[Sidenote: =Bülow on Rubinstein=]
This is plain-speaking, but it should be received with caution, when
we call to mind that this writer allows himself the licence at times
to make such loose statements as that Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony is
twice as long as any symphony preceding it, and especially in view of
his over-confident assertion about Rubinstein’s unending symphonies.
Some of us do not forget Hans von Bülow’s caustic wit in this matter.
“Rubinstein’s works,” he said, “remind me of a journey in Russia. Long
stretches of barren and tiresome country, relieved here and there with
the oasis of a picturesque and interesting city.”
[Sidenote: =H. Davey=]
Mr. Henry Davey, in his _Student’s History of Music_, gives his
opinion thus:—“There is, however, one German composer who stands out
above the rest, and has been sometimes spoken of as if he were really
a genius worthy to rank with the greatest. This is Johannes Brahms,
born in 1833 at Altona, and introduced to the world by Schumann. He
has published more than one hundred works, very clever and, generally,
very dry. They are laboured in the bad sense of the word. Brahms
with splendid gifts seems to have gone early on the wrong tack,
imagining that the more abstruse he made his works the better they
would be. Consequently he tangled up his themes with a complication
of uneven rhythms, ravelling very ordinary ideas with skeins of harsh
counterpoint; in fact, making his works as unpopular as possible,
apparently with the idea that if they were unpopular they must
necessarily be good.”
Another critic,[28] whose words are curiously like those just quoted,
says:—“When Brahms writes musically he is usually not profound; and
when he writes profoundly, he is, sometimes, not musical.... Take
the opening theme (of op. 115): would not anybody without the time
direction take it to be a slow scherzo? He has clouded it with his
usual uneven rhythms and tangled accompaniments, but that does not
atone for the poverty of the theme.”
[Footnote 28: _The Overture_ for June 1892; review of Brahms’s op.
115.]
[Sidenote: =Schumann=]
Against these may be placed the well-known opinion of Schumann which
appeared in the _Neue Zeitschrift für Musik_ in 1853. It is
needless to repeat all that Schumann said. How he found in Brahms’s
works a likeness to “some onward foaming flood, bearing on the surface
of its waves as they dashed downward, the peaceful rainbow, and
surrounded on the bank by butterflies and nightingales’ voices. When
this composer sinks his magic wand to where the powers of the masses in
the orchestra and chorus lend him their strength, we shall find still
more wonderful glances into the secret of the spirit-world in store for
us.” Such words from one of the standing of Robert Schumann, poetically
expressed though they be, may not be passed idly by.
[Sidenote: =W.J. Henderson=]
To this may be added the view of another competent and thoughtful
writer.[29] “Brahms’s compositions show a completeness of architectonic
detail, superimposed upon a symmetrical and inevitable organic
development, such as are to be found in those of no other symphonist
except Beethoven.... Some day, I think, if not soon, the world will see
how profoundly representative of his nation and his time Brahms was,
and he will be hailed, as Milton was, an organ voice of his country....
It may take time for the entire musical world to come under the spell
of this austere utterance; but Brahms had the happiness of knowing ere
he died that, wherever music was cultivated, his individuality at least
had made itself known.”
[Footnote 29: W.J. Henderson, _How Music Developed_.]
[Sidenote: =Philip Spitta=]
In his _Essay on Brahms_ (Paetel, Berlin), the well-known
author of the monumental life of John Sebastian Bach, Philip Spitta,
says:—“The leading characteristics of Brahms’s music are all plainly
visible in his first ten works. A manliness that is almost brusque, a
dislike for purely emotional music, stern conciseness in the melodic
matter, a delight in organic structure, particularly by the use of
strict polyphony, all combining with the freer style of Beethoven
to produce entirely new results. The serious underlying feeling, a
sense of depth, and a shrouded exquisite beauty of sentiment under
a dignified reserve.... Such a complete comprehension of all the
forms and means of musical expression as we find in Brahms, and the
way to apply them in the forms of composition he affected, is really
stupendous, and in its way quite unprecedented.”
[Sidenote: =Sir Hubert Parry=]
Speaking of the modern tendencies in music, Sir Hubert Parry[30]
says:—“And even in the highest branches of art, represented by the
noble symphonies of Brahms, which illustrate the loftiest standard
of style of the day, the significant change from the old ideals is
noticeable. For the aim is but rarely after what is equivalent to
external beauty in music. What beauty is aimed at is beauty of thought,
the beauty of nobleness, and high musical intelligence.”
[Footnote 30: _The Art of Music_, p. 333.]
[Sidenote: =W.H. Hadow=]
The personal note is added by Mr. Hadow[31] when he recites the story
of Brahms taking up his residence in Vienna, the city of high musical
activity, in 1862. “As yet his compositions were little known, but
there was no musician in Vienna who had not heard his name or felt some
expectation at his arrival. Before long, introduction had ripened into
acquaintance, and acquaintance into a many-sided friendship. Men were
glad to welcome a new genius of conspicuous power and encyclopædic
knowledge, who never spoke of himself, who never wrote a line in his
own defence, who never attacked an opponent, or depreciated a rival.
Add to this the quiet voice, the undemonstrative manner, the kindly
disposition that expended itself in a thousand services, the upright
honesty that would never stoop even to conquer, and it is not hard
to explain a personal popularity which has lasted unimpaired to the
present day. The artist is too often to be described in Mr. Stevenson’s
phrase, as ‘a man who sows hurry and reaps indigestion.’... It is
not a little refreshing to contemplate a genius who, with all the
astonishing amount that he accomplished, yet found time to enjoy his
dinner, to bear his part in the company of his friends, and to become
the sworn ally of all the children in the neighbourhood.”
[Footnote 31: _Studies in Modern Music_, p. 251.]
An examination of the list of Brahms’s works shows that he found a
congenial field for his labours in the department of chamber music.
His works for Piano Solo number 23, amongst them being the remarkable
Sonatas op. 1 and 2, which were probably among the compositions that
drew from Schumann his highly appreciative notices of Brahms. There
are seven Duet Sonatas, viz.: three for piano and violin (truly great
works), two for piano and ’cello, and two for piano and clarinet. The
last-named, op. 120, are almost his final compositions, and contain
some admirable music, especially that in E♭, No. 2. The andante of No.
1 is also a beautiful and characteristic movement, by which is meant
that its beauty is no mere prettiness, but rather a noble expression of
the composer’s best thought.
[Illustration: P. Tschaïkovsky [signature]]
[Sidenote: =Piano Trio, op. 8: Two Versions=]
There are also seventeen other chamber music works, many of them being
of the highest importance. The Trio op. 8, for piano, violin, and
’cello, may be named first, seeing that after a lapse of nearly forty
years Brahms, with a rare sense of self-criticism, re-wrote the work
and published the new edition, thus, as it were, opening to us quite
freely the windows of his workshop. Each movement of the trio has
undergone some change, the chief of these being the first allegro con
brio, which is shortened by some two hundred bars, the melodious second
subject of the original version being replaced by other matter, and a
fugal episode, based on this subject, which on second thoughts Brahms
evidently rejected as incongruous, is eliminated altogether. The next
movement, a scherzo, remains, save as to slight details, unaltered
until the last thirty bars. In these the treatment is different from
the first edition, a series of descending chromatic chords in the piano
part being replaced by passages evolved from previously-used themes,
and the string parts are radically altered. The adagio has undergone a
considerable amount of alteration. In place of the second subject an
entirely new theme appears; the allegro episode (Doppio Movimento) is
discarded, and the length of the whole movement curtailed by more than
one-third. The finale, originally marked “allegro molto agitato,” is
marked “allegro” only, and instead of 518 bars, it has now only 322.
New thematic matter replaces that which is omitted, and generally
speaking the whole movement is a good deal transformed.
We have here a somewhat rare, although of course by no means unique,
opportunity of comparing the treatment of similar musical ideas by
a great master at two different periods of his career, and while no
doubt the changes of some of the original themes for others is of
interest, the chief lesson which this revised version enforces, is that
of conciseness of musical utterance. The first edition contains more
passages of melodic beauty (or, may we say, more tunes approximating
to prettiness?), and much more of scholarly working out; but for all
this there can be little doubt that Brahms perceived the organic
weakness which arises out of this diffuseness, however charming the
subject-matter may have been in itself, and hence arose the artistic
impulse to rewrite the work.
It would be interesting if some of our chamber music artists were to
perform the two versions at the same concert.
The other Trios are: op. 40 in E♭, for piano, violin, and horn; op. 114
for piano, clarinet, and ’cello, which is not generally regarded as a
satisfactory work; and the two for the ordinary combination of piano,
violin, and ’cello, op. 87 and op. 101, both of which are fine works.
[Sidenote: =Horn Trio, op. 40=]
The Horn Trio, op. 40, may be regarded as specially individualised
in style, and if one of a composer’s works more than another, may be
spoken of as revealing the man himself, this trio certainly seems
to do so with Brahms. There is a dignified simplicity and _al
fresco_-like charm about the commencement of the work, which, with
here and there a touch of sombreness, continues until we reach the
scherzo, a busy movement alive with bright and joyous hunting-horn
effects.
It is, however, in the “Adagio mesto” that we find the strong
individuality of the composer, and a deeply-brooding and fateful
expression of feeling, which is, in a certain mood, more peculiarly a
characteristic of Brahms than any other quality which he possesses. The
whole work, and especially this adagio, is well worthy of sympathetic
study.
[Sidenote: =String Sextett in B♭=]
The String Sextett in B♭, op. 18, has often been spoken of as one of
the finest specimens of Brahms’s earlier compositions. One writer
has called it “the most magnificent piece of chamber music that has
appeared since the death of Beethoven.” Its production at Vienna in
1862 under the famous quartett leader, Hellmesberger, was followed by
an outburst of enthusiasm, which was all the more remarkable seeing
that prior to this the critics had received Brahms’s works with marked
coldness.
[Sidenote: =String Sextett in G Major=]
The other String Sextett, op. 36, in G major, was also given under the
same leader in the Vienna winter season of 1867, and, in the words
of one report of the concert, “It is no discredit to either composer
or audience that the new work was received with more astonishment
than delight. The extremely elaborate polyphony, which is one of its
distinguishing attributes, is probably too intricate to be comprehended
by any one at a single presentation, and we may infer that the public
actually did not hear the melodies for the simple reason of their
abundance.” The charming second subject of the first movement (quoted
below) well illustrates the latter part of this statement—
[Music: BRAHMS, OP. 36.]
while an examination of the score reveals a wealth of material which
can only be assessed by patient and loving study.
[Sidenote: =Piano Quartett in G Minor=]
It was in his Piano Quartett, op. 25, in G minor, that Brahms made
his first appearance in Vienna, after he took up his residence there
in 1862, and although the work is now regarded as an intelligible
and convincing piece of chamber music, it was at first received with
strong disapprobation by the Viennese musical public. “Dull and
ill-developed,” were the terms applied to the first three movements;
and the last, because of its being written in Hungarian dance style,
was condemned as without precedent and artistically bad. That Haydn,
Mozart, and Beethoven had already introduced such movements into their
chamber music was either unknown to these critics, or ignored by them.
The andante of this quartett contains some of its author’s noblest
thoughts, expressed with the utmost clearness. Special attention may be
directed to the middle section in C major of this movement, with its
strongly-marked military rhythm and highly characteristic effects.
The other two compositions in this form are that in A major, op. 26,
and in C minor, op. 60. In the commencement of the former we have a
fine example of poetic expression, yet at the close the same material
is worked out, in a contrapuntal manner, which is quite remarkable.
The slow movement of this Quartett has been referred to by Mr. Fuller
Maitland as an example of “exquisite tone colour,”[32] and this work,
and that in G minor already referred to, are regarded by this writer as
“among the loveliest of Brahms’s works.”
[Footnote 32: _Masters of German Music_, p. 20.]
The Piano Quartett in C minor, op. 60, does not show the same high
qualities as the other two, and is indeed somewhat lacking in
spontaneity. The second entry of the strings in the opening movement
has a chromatic passage which is more like Spohr than Brahms, nor is
the chorale which appears in the last movement at all in his usual
style.
[Sidenote: =Quintett in F Minor=]
Of the works for piano and strings, the great Quintett in F minor,
op. 34, is a remarkable example. It has been said that Brahms has the
gift of making simplicity memorable, and this is illustrated by the
commencement of this quintett. To hear it once is to be impressed
with its power, and although viewed theoretically it seems almost
commonplace, it produces in performance an effect which is truly vital.
The piano, first violin, and ’cello begin thus, the first three bars
being in unison and octave:—
[Music: BRAHMS, OP. 34.]
A little farther on in this movement we meet with a melodious fragment
very characteristic of this composer. Three notes, embraced within
the range of a minor third, are used together in contrary motion, and
furnish a theme which, although curiously simple, plays a considerable
part in the development of the movement:—
[Music: BRAHMS, OP. 34.]
It has been urged against the scherzo which follows that it inclines
too much to be orchestral in effect, and of the finale that it is, as
one writer has it, “overcharged with subject-matter.” But however this
may be as regards these two movements, it will hardly be disputed that
in the andante, whose opening passage is quoted below, we have music
of rare and solemn beauty, deep yet clear, profound yet spontaneous.
We quote the pianoforte part, which is accompanied with a subdued
imitative figure by the first violin and viola, while the ’cello plays
a few pizzicato bass notes:—
[Music: BRAHMS, OP. 34.]
[Sidenote: =String Quartetts=]
In the important form of the String Quartett Brahms has left only three
works, viz.: two (in C minor and A minor), op. 51, and one (in B♭),
op. 67. The number is few as compared with the other great masters,
and especially of course with Haydn, but the quality of each work is
remarkable. In England, at any rate, these quartetts have met with a
cautious and critical reception. The reason for this is, no doubt,
that for their true appreciation they require study and many hearings,
conditions which unfortunately are not common amongst us. Amateurs,
however, who play them, and know them intimately, will hardly share
in these adverse opinions. Some of the movements have been spoken of
as lacking in inspiration, an opinion which, if one accepts Brahms at
all, seems strange, for in none of his works does his peculiar genius
shine more clearly through the medium in which he works than in these.
One may reject Brahms altogether, falling foul of his idioms and
methods, as some do, but it is hard to understand how compositions so
characteristic as these can be rejected by any who rank themselves as
students or disciples of this master. The slow movements of all these
string quartetts may be referred to as showing with what true melodic
charm Brahms can invest his music, and this is all the more notable if
one considers the unusual manner in which the beautiful tunes are often
presented. For example, the romance of No. 1 in C minor:—
[Music: BRAHMS, OP. 51, NO. 1.]
Farther on, at the twenty-seventh bar:—
[Music]
And, later, the following:—
[Music]
Such music is not, however, “for the market-place.” It requires the
most delicate handling, and only perfect technique, united to the
highest taste, are equal to the expression of such lofty and beautiful
thoughts.
[Sidenote: =Thematic Resemblances=]
The resemblance of certain of Brahms’s themes to those of other
composers has often been noted, sometimes in a captious and ill-natured
spirit, whereas the true interest of such a matter lies in the
opportunity which is thereby afforded of showing how two master-minds
can deal with like material. An instance of this is the finale of his
Symphony op. 68, as compared with the leading melody of the vocal
part of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony; another, the commencement of his
A major Sonata for piano and violin, and the Preislied of Wagner’s
_Meistersinger_; and again, the following from the String Quartett
in C minor, op. 51:—
[Music: BRAHMS, OP. 51, NO. 1.]
[Music: WAGNER, “RHEINGOLD.”]
[Sidenote: =String Quintetts=]
It remains to speak of the two String Quintetts op. 88 and op. 111, and
the Quintett op. 115, for clarinet and strings.
The op. 88 was written during a summer holiday at Ischl in the year
1882. It is a masterly composition, the first movement being of an
animated and joyous character. This is followed by a slow movement
(grave ed appassionato), varied by two quicker episodes. The finale
(allegro energico) is written in free fugal form, and has an unusually
prominent part for the first viola.
The second String Quintett, op. 111, in G major, is a delightful
work, in its composer’s ripest style. There is an unusual tenderness
of expression in the melodies of the first three movements, the
lightsome allegretto being well contrasted with the sombre adagio, in
which, as in the other Quintett, an important part is assigned to the
first viola. The vivace, with which the work ends, although complex in
texture, is a vigorous and effective movement.
[Sidenote: =Clarinet Quintett=]
The Quintett for clarinet and strings, op. 115, which appeared about
the same time as the clarinet Trio which has already been mentioned,
was first heard in England in 1892, the clarinettist being the now
well-known German artist Herr Mühlfeld (Brahms’s “unsere prima donna”),
who, it is understood, came from Vienna at the desire of the composer.
This work has gradually grown more and more into favour, which is what
might be expected, for while such music makes large demands on both
performers and listeners, it amply repays study, and is indeed a rich
addition to the treasure-house of art.
To the serious student and lover of good music the works of Brahms are
a lasting delight, expressing as they do the purest and best of our
musical aspirations. What the great masters of the past did for their
day and generation Brahms has done for ours, and it is safe to say
that the sympathetic attitude of any community towards him may be taken
as a conclusive proof that its musical state and condition is sound and
true.
* * * * *
[Illustration: THE BOHEMIAN QUARTETT.
OSKAR NEDBAL.
_Viola._
KAREL HOFFMANN.
_1st Violin._
HANUS WIHAN.
_’Cello._
JOSEF SUK.
_2nd Violin._]
[Sidenote: =Dvořák=]
[Sidenote: =Revival of Bohemian Music=]
Two names, Smetana (1824-84) and Dvořák, are intimately associated
with the revival of music which began in Bohemia about the year 1860.
The political condition of the country had, since about 1620, been
one of national degradation. Conquered by the Emperor Ferdinand of
Austria, the people were down-trodden and oppressed, their language
prohibited, and as a result the arts practically dead. In the year
1860, however, an imperial decree appeared which granted a measure of
liberty to the people. This was speedily followed by a better state of
public affairs, in which, of course, music participated. Smetana, who
had held the appointment of conductor to the Philharmonic Society at
Gothenburg, resigned that post, and returned to Prague to assume what
was practically the direction of the newly-liberated national musical
forces. Here he found Dvořák, a young man with rapidly developing
musical powers, whose career had hitherto been one of comparative
poverty. He was of humble, although by no means ignoble birth, for if
his father had not wealth and worldly position, he at least had health
and a strong character, and in addition to this he was also somewhat
of a musician, although of a rude and uncultured sort.
[Sidenote: =Birthplace and Early Career=]
It was in the Bohemian village Nelahozeves, which is situated on the
river Moldau not far from Kralup, that Dvořák was born in the year
1841, and here he was reared, working at his father’s occupation, which
was that of an innkeeper and butcher. At the age of eighteen, however,
the musical impulses which had already made themselves evident in the
youth became too strong for parental restraint, and he left home and
went to Prague, where he obtained admission to the city organ school,
and, that he might earn enough to keep body and soul together, he
played violin and viola in the orchestras of both church and theatre.
Under the tuition which he here obtained his powers rapidly developed,
and during this time he seems to have composed a great deal. Happily he
now learned of the Austrian state aid which was to be obtained by needy
artists, and making application, a stipend was granted him, mainly, it
seems, through the influence of Brahms, who happened to be one of the
committee having charge of the fund. Thus relieved from the carking
cares of poverty, Dvořák gave himself up to his life-work even more
earnestly than before, with what an excellent result we now know.
That his early surroundings exerted an adverse influence on his
artistic career there can, however, hardly be a doubt, and only the
opulence of his natural powers could have triumphed over these and
given him that large measure of success to which he has eventually
attained.
[Sidenote: =Criticisms on his Works=]
We are all by this time familiar with the stages of criticism through
which his works have passed—undue length and want of conciseness, fresh
episodes instead of organic development, the continual use of national
idioms, and the like. To these must be opposed the splendid qualities
of melody, form, and colour which are found in his best works, such
as _The Stabat Mater_, _The Spectre’s Bride_, the D minor
Symphony, and the A major Piano Quintett, and no just assessment can
refuse for Dvořák a most exalted place amongst contemporary musicians.
True, the Sclav idiom pervades a number of his works, but this is, as
it were, a mere accident of his nationality, and in no way detracts
from the splendour of his achievements. We do not reject Burns because
he wrote a good deal in a Scottish dialect, or Tennyson’s “Northern
Farmer” because it requires a glossary.
Dvořák, although a lover of the romantic, has nearly always worked on
classical lines, and to him must be credited the addition of certain
new forms to the musical literature of our time. For example, “The
Furiant,” a kind of wild and riotous scherzo, and “The Dumka,” with its
alternate episodes of sadness and revelry.
[Sidenote: =His Symphonic Poems for Orchestra=]
In saying this, it is not overlooked that Dvořák has recently
published several so-called symphonic poems for the orchestra, which
are of course programme music. We allude to “Der Wassermann,” “Die
Mittagshexe,” and “Das Goldene Spinnrad.” These are works of no
ordinary kind, and there is in them no want of melody and orchestral
colour. Yet they cannot be regarded as entirely successful. This form
does not seem to be the composer’s true medium, although the works are
deeply interesting as showing the effect of modern influences on a
receptive and sensitive musical temperament.
[Sidenote: =An American National Style of Music=]
[Sidenote: =The Negro Quartett=]
During his residence in New York as director of the National
Conservatoire, from 1892 to 1895, Dvořák conceived the idea of an
American School of National Music based on negro songs and dances.
From the standpoint of the negro question and of national pride it was
hardly a happy notion, yet he must be credited with a large measure of
success in his efforts to carry it out, for in the String Quartett in
F, op. 96, and in the Orchestral Symphony in E minor (“From the New
World”), are to be found a remarkable idealisation of tunes hitherto
more associated with the clog-dance than with the classics.[33] The
whole of this Negro Quartett, as it has been called, will repay study,
but the chief point of interest is, of course, the employment of those
tunes which are either directly drawn or closely imitated from negro
sources.
[Footnote 33: The String Quintett in E♭, op. 97, may also be mentioned
in this connection.]
[Music: 1ST MOVEMENT, STRING QUARTETT, OP. 96.
DVOŘÁK.]
[Music: FINALE, STRING QUARTETT, OP. 96.
DVOŘÁK.]
[Music: 1ST MOVEMENT, FROM “THE NEW WORLD SYMPHONY.”
DVOŘÁK.]
[Sidenote: =String Quartetts=]
Of the String Quartetts that in E♭, op. 51, is the best known, and,
along with the Negro Quartett from which quotations have just been
made, is the most frequently performed. The second movement of the
E♭ Quartett is an exquisite example of the Dumka or Elegy, and is one
of the most charming things which Dvořák has given to the world. The
melodic substance of the work is chiefly Sclavonic in character, but
the genius of the composer has transformed and ennobled that which
otherwise would have remained as the rough material of a mere musical
dialect. The other String Quartetts, which include op. 105 and 106, are
less interesting, especially the A minor op. 16, and the D minor op.
34, in which the tunes and the general feeling are much below the usual
standard of Dvořák’s works.
[Sidenote: =Piano Quartetts=]
The Piano Quartett in D, op. 23 (Schlesinger, Berlin), may be
recommended to amateurs in search of music which, while presenting
no very serious executive difficulties, is full of charm. Dvořák
has written nothing more delightful than the first movement, which
commences with a quaint theme given to the ’cello, and of which much
use is subsequently made. An interesting air with variations follows,
and the work ends with a characteristic allegretto scherzando.
The other Piano Quartett in E♭, op. 87, is much more elaborate, and
abounds with passages skilfully worked out, but the themes are of less
interest and indeed at times almost commonplace.
[Sidenote: =Piano Trios=]
Dvořák has written four Trios for piano, violin, and ’cello, all
of which deserve to take high rank. The first, in B♭, op. 21, is
spontaneous in style and feeling, reminding one indeed a good deal of
Mendelssohn. The adagio is more characteristic of its composer, as are
the allegretto scherzando and the finale. The whole work is well worthy
of attention.
The second, in G minor, op. 26, is also an interesting work. The
arpeggio passages in the first movement may perhaps be regarded as
ungrateful for the stringed instruments, but the remainder of the trio
is most effective, and were it for nothing else than the largo, a nobly
expressed piece of emotional music, the trio should command the highest
esteem. It is curious to notice that the opening phrase of the final
allegro strikingly resembles in rhythm the finale of Schumann’s Piano
Quartett in E♭, op. 47.
The Dumka Trio, op. 90, consists of six exquisite elegies expressed in
the form from which the trio takes its name, each episode consisting of
a slow pathetic movement, contrasted with a rapid and impetuous one.
The work is the outcome of strong national feeling, and is sincere and
convincing in its effect.
[Sidenote: =String Sextett=]
The String Sextett in A, op. 48, which has already been mentioned, is
one of the compositions whereby Dvořák’s name was introduced into
England. “This sextett,” says Mr. Joseph Bennett, who was one of
the first to recognise and urge the claims of this new voice, “is a
good example of the new composer. Its plan and method, according to
the late J.W. Davison, are altogether original; but this statement,
while perfectly true, does not represent its full claim to the rarest
of musical qualities. We find originality in the character of its
themes, especially in those of the second movement (elegy), the third
(furiant), and the fourth, which is an air (varied) of the broadest
national type, and so puzzling in key that Mr. Davison is fain to
describe it as ‘in more respects than one calculated to perplex the
ear as to its absolute tonality though virtually in A major.’ Not less
original than the themes are, in many cases, their harmonic treatment,
while nowhere is the higher mission of music neglected, in virtue of
which it appeals to an inner sense at the same time that it confers
physical and intellectual gratification. The elaboration of the
principal movements forms another striking feature in the work.... Some
of the details confer upon it an exquisite piquancy and grace; and a
first hearing of the entire composition involves a series of surprises,
so unexpected and new are the abounding touches of the master’s hand.
Clearly we must know more of Dvořák, and that soon.” These words
were written sympathetically and with prophetic insight in the year
1880, and since then we have heard _The Stabat Mater_, _The
Requiem_, _The Spectre’s Bride_, the Orchestral Symphonies, and
many other works, all of which have strongly confirmed the high hopes
here foreshadowed.
[Sidenote: =Other Chamber Music=]
In addition to what has been mentioned, the list of Dvořák’s chamber
music embraces three String Quintetts, a Serenade for wind and strings,
op. 44, a Trio for two violins and viola, op. 74, a Sonata for piano
and violin, op. 57, and a Quintett for piano and strings, op. 81, in
A major. The last-named consists of four movements, viz., an allegro,
a dumka, a furiant, and a finale in rondo form. The work is full of
vitality, and rich in those qualities which appeal alike to intellect
and heart.
That Dvořák is occasionally prodigal of his musical means and lacking
in restraint is no doubt to a certain extent true, but, in the words
of Mr. W.H. Hadow, “for all this he is a true genius, true in thought,
fertile in imagination, warm and sympathetic in temper of mind. He has
borne his part in a national cause, and has thereby won for himself a
triumph that will endure. He has enriched his people, and in doing so
has augmented the treasury of the whole world.”
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE RUSSIAN COMPOSERS.
Russian chamber music—Glinka—Quartett by
Ippolitoff-Ivanoff—Quartett by Gretchaninoff—Mozart on
melody—Russian schools of musical thought—Belaieff—String
Quartett on name Belaieff—Arensky—Trio in D minor:
Arensky—Sokoloff—Tanyeëff—Kopyloff—Tschaïkovsky.
[Sidenote: =Russian Chamber Music=]
A comparatively unexplored field presents itself in the chamber
music by Russian composers. Ippolitoff-Ivanoff, Kopyloff, Sokoloff,
Gretchaninoff, these are a few of the almost unknown names of this
school. No doubt certain chamber works by Tschaïkovsky, Arensky, and
one or two others are a little known in England, but those of the
composers named hardly at all. Glinka, César Cui, Rimsky-Korsakoff,
Liadoff, Glazounoff, and Tanyeëff are also composers whose chamber
music is deserving of serious attention, for recent musical history
contains nothing more interesting than the progress of Russian music.
[Sidenote: =Glinka=]
Glinka (1803-57) is usually regarded as the founder of the movement,
but his chief works are operatic. He was a man of remarkable character,
and did a great work for the welfare of music in Russia. His opera,
_Life for the Czar_, marks an epoch in the national artistic life.
Apart from his operas, however, he did not write a great deal, his
chamber music being limited to a Septett, two String Quartetts, and a
Trio for piano, clarinet, and oboe. Some of his orchestral pieces are
remarkable. He took a deep interest in this kind of composition, and
being a man of progressive mind he shook off the ordinary conventional
methods; and his works show this in details such as quitting the
routine which had previously made the first violins always play above
the seconds, and these above the violas. He was also in the habit of
calling the wind instruments “orchestral colour,” and the strings
“orchestral motion.”
Russian orchestral music (notably Tschaïkovsky’s Pathetic Symphony,
and other of his works) has, chiefly by the efforts of Mr. Henry J.
Wood and the Queen’s Hall Orchestra, become familiar amongst us, and
by the use of strong colour and highly emotional effects, such music
has no doubt obtained much attention, but it is very doubtful if we yet
know the best about this Russian school, for an examination of the
chamber music of the composers named above, reveals a surprising number
of works, written with true feeling and the highest technical skill.
Some of these shall be referred to in detail, but it may be observed
that many of these composers are manifestly influenced by, and have
gathered up into classical form (as did Haydn, and, to name a modern
instance, Grieg), the folk music of the common people. There seems
to be an immense wealth of this kind of musical material to be found
in Russia, often couched in quaint, irregular rhythms, but full of a
weird charm, even though strange to Western ears. That such material
should appeal strongly to the musicians of a race so powerfully
affected by their emotions as are the Sclavs is what might be expected,
and as the supply is said to be practically inexhaustible and often
of considerable artistic beauty, the further developments in this
direction will be watched with keen interest.
[Illustration: IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF.]
[Illustration: ARENSKY.]
[Sidenote: =Quartett by Ippolitoff-Ivanoff=]
Our first example is a String Quartett in A minor, op. 13, by
Ippolitoff-Ivanoff (Jurgenson, Moscow). It has been said that the
Sclav temperament is one of “fiery exaltation on a basis of languid
melancholy.” Ivanoff’s quartett, in a measure, illustrates this, for it
opens with a sorrowful passage of much intensity, which, in its feeling
(not the notes), reminds one of the _Tristan_ Prelude of Wagner.
The entry of the two violins on one note, and the poignant effect
which immediately results as they separate a semitone, is a marked
and original feature of the whole work, and may indeed be regarded as
its “motto.” It reappears at the end of the first allegro, and again,
in fuller form with fine effect, just before the coda of the finale.
The commencement of Tschaïkovsky’s String Quartett in F, op. 22, has
a certain kinship to this, but the treatment and the effect are quite
different. The same may be said as to the beginning of his Quartett op.
30 in E♭ minor.
[Music: IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF, OP. 13.]
After some thirty bars of this introduction the first movement proper,
an allegro, begins with the following theme, in which it must be
admitted there is a certain excess of the semiquaver movement, used in
a fragmentary manner as an accompaniment to the leading ideas:—
[Music: IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF, OP. 13.]
This is followed by the second theme, a somewhat quaint people’s song
kind of tune, played by the first violin and viola in octaves, the
second violin keeping up the semiquaver rhythm just referred to, and
the ’cello playing quavers pizzicato.
[Music: IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF, OP. 13.]
After a considerable amount of interesting development the movement is
brought to a close with the motto theme, lento pianissimo, thus:—
[Music: IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF, OP. 13.]
The lento quoted above consists of twenty-one bars, of which only
the last eight are here given. The second movement is entitled
“Humoresca-Scherzando.” It has two principal themes, the first busy and
jocose as becomes such a movement, the second of volkslied flavour and
in good contrast to the first:—
[Music: IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF, OP. 13.
NO. 1.]
[Music: NO. 2.]
Between this scherzo and the finale stands an intermezzo (allegretto
grazioso). The melody is played by the first violin, which, along
with the second violin and viola, is muted while the ’cello plays a
pizzicato counterpoint. This is a graceful and pleasing movement, and
if less characteristic than the others, it affords a well-calculated
change of effect. The last movement (allegro risoluto) begins with
a bold passage in A minor (No. 1), joined a little later on to a
contrasted phrase (No. 2), of which much is subsequently made.
[Music: IPPOLITOFF-IVANOFF, OP. 13.
NO. 1.]
[Music: NO. 2.]
Later on another theme appears, which is worked along with those
already mentioned, and the Quartett concludes with a condensed version
of the introductory lento, or motto theme, merging into a rapid coda of
some thirty bars, based on the opening theme of the allegro. It will
hardly be gainsaid that we here have an interesting work, which, if not
absolutely great, is worthy of attention both for its own sake and as
an object lesson, showing as it does, what is being done by a nation
whose music has already exerted a powerful influence on the art.
Our second example is a String Quartett in G major, op. 2, by Alexander
Gretchaninoff.
[Sidenote: =Quartett by Gretchaninoff=]
According to some authorities the String Quartett as an art-form has
not advanced since Beethoven, he, it is asserted, having said the last
word in this style. While it may be admitted that there is a good deal
of warrant for this assertion, and that an analysis of Beethoven’s
Quartetts, from the op. 18 to say the C♯ minor op. 131, reveals a
wealth of musicianship which is no doubt disconcerting to the modern
aspirant, yet it is hardly a sufficient reason why this particular
source of musical inspiration should be regarded as closed, and that
the man of to-day should cease writing. There is still at any rate one
way in which a composer may justify himself. He may, if he can, write
genuine tunes.
Doubtless a sound knowledge of the multiform devices of harmony,
counterpoint, and the rest, is an important part of his equipment. But
such knowledge may be acquired; whereas, if devoid of true tune, his
best efforts are doomed to failure, for this tune-faculty is born with
the man, and cannot be learned from books.
[Sidenote: =Mozart on Melody=]
Mozart indeed settled the question, once and for all, when he said
“melody is the essence of music.” If we open at random the pages
of works so dissimilar, say, as Handel’s _Messiah_, Wagner’s
_Parsifal_ or Bach’s _Forty-Eight_,[34] what are we sure
(among a host of other things) to find? Is it not melody? It may not
be the conventional eight-bar tune, but in the true sense of the
word it is sure to be melody. No doubt the words “tune” and “melody”
have been used in a too restricted sense, and against this we must
guard ourselves, for melody in reality represents the chief idea
in music, and no art is worth much whose ideas are weak. Take, for
example, Beethoven’s C minor Symphony. No one would call that musical
battering-ram with which the work commences—
[Music]
a tune, in the usual meaning of that word; but, all the same, it is a
musical idea full of real vitality, which clings to the memory with all
the power of the finest tune that was ever written. It is in this light
that the later works of Beethoven, and, to name another of the giants,
those of Brahms, should be viewed.
[Footnote 34: _Das Wohltemperirte Clavier_ (The Well-tempered
Clavichord).]
No doubt a composer may produce certain effects by progressions of
harmony which can hardly be regarded as a tune. For example, the
following motive from the first act of Wagner’s _Götterdämmerung_:—
[Music]
To call this a tune would be straining language, but none the less
if a composer be possessed of what we call genius, such phrases will
(as this does) produce on the mind of the listener an effect in all
respects as vivid as that which the most fully developed melody
produces under other musical conditions. _The idea_ of a true
composer is strong, and therefore it succeeds.
But it will doubtless be in the reader’s mind to ask what all this has
to do with a String Quartett by an unknown composer. This merely, that
without claiming for him the most exalted rank, Gretchaninoff possesses
the gift of tune, and on this account, as well as by reason of his
sound musicianship, what he has done deserves attention.
This Quartett, op. 2, is in classical form, and consists of the usual
four movements. It commences with a short andante, whose opening
phrase, played by the four instruments in unison, is:—
[Music]
As in the Ivanoff Quartett previously noticed, we have here, in the
first three notes of this quotation, a motto theme. This, when the
first movement proper (allegro) is reached, is given out by the ’cello
alone in the following complete form:—
[Music]
and it is frequently met with in various shapes during the progress of
the movement. Its first three notes, modified in this way—
[Music]
are skilfully used in the scherzo to form a connecting link with the
passage which leads from the moderato to the repetition of the presto.
Also it is found at the commencement of the vivace movement with which
the work ends.
The second theme of the opening movement may also be quoted,
exemplifying as it does what has been said about the melodic interest
with which Gretchaninoff invests his work:—
[Music: GRETCHANINOFF, OP. 2.]
The almost Italian feeling and freedom of expression here will not
escape notice; also that while there is no lack of scholarship, it is
only used as a means to an end.
[Music]
The second movement commences thus:—
[Music: GRETCHANINOFF, OP. 2.]
This leads to a charming second theme which speaks for itself:—
[Music: GRETCHANINOFF, OP. 2.]
The remarks on page 149 apply with equal force to the melody played by
the 2nd violin in the above extract.
[Music]
The third movement is a scherzo, full of life and vivacity. Its
first theme, given out by the viola, is heard after a few bars of
introduction, thus:—
[Music: GRETCHANINOFF, OP. 2.]
This is developed, with much spirit and variety of treatment, until
with slackened speed it merges into a “moderato e tranquillo,” to which
reference has been made as containing, near its close, the “motto
theme.” After this the first subject of the scherzo is resumed, and
the movement runs on to a climax, in which, with excellent effect, the
original theme is given out by the violins in octaves.
The finale commences with a slow introduction, whose first notes are
made up of a unison passage in the minor mode, which is closely akin to
the motto theme. At the commencement of the vivace which follows this
introduction we again have the motto in the major mode:—
[Music: GRETCHANINOFF, OP. 2.]
Of this theme (the motto) in various forms much use is made during the
course of the finale. Here, for instance, is an interesting passage,
the latter part of which (meno mosso) is a metamorphosis of this theme:—
[Music: GRETCHANINOFF, OP. 2.]
The almost orchestral effect of extended unison passages such as this
and the previous example is perhaps hardly admissible in the chamber
music form. Yet in the works of the classical masters (Cherubini, for
instance) such passages may at times be found.
[Music]
Later in the movement the viola, with a quiet persistence which runs on
for a number of bars, repeats this same theme thus:—
[Music]
Another theme of melodious character may also be quoted. It appears
first in the key of E♭, and later in G, and, along with what has been
mentioned, constitutes the principal subject-matter of the movement
which ends this interesting Quartett. The following is the theme as it
first appears:—
[Music: GRETCHANINOFF, OP. 2.]
As regards the composer of this Quartett, it may be added that _Le
Ménestrel_ of July 13th of the year 1902 announced “that a new
opera, entitled _Nikita Dobriniez_, by a young and unknown
composer named Gretchaninoff, will be produced in St. Petersburg during
the coming winter season.”
[Sidenote: =Russian Schools of Musical Thought=]
The two chief cities of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg and Moscow,
have each had its representative school of musical thought, the one at
first working almost entirely for the advancement of a purely national
style, the other, with a more eclectic taste, favouring outside ideas
and influences.
Tschaïkovsky was the leader at Moscow, having for his adherents
Arensky, Rachmaninoff, and Siloti; while Rimsky-Korsakoff, Balakireff,
Borodin, and others represented the more conservative St. Petersburg.
But along with this external division of interests there always
prevailed the utmost unanimity and a genuine feeling of brotherhood,
and one result of this may be found in their working together, in
a quite intimate way, in the composition of works like the String
Quartett based on the notes B A F, which is the joint production of
Rimsky-Korsakoff, Liadoff, Borodin, and Glazounoff.
[Sidenote: =Belaieff=]
The story runs[35] that in the year 1881, at St. Petersburg, a certain
M. Belaieff, a wealthy and enthusiastic amateur, happened to be
present at the rehearsal of the first Orchestral Symphony by Alexander
Glazounoff, and was so much impressed by its fine qualities that he
decided to remove what had hitherto been a difficulty and establish a
music-publishing house, which should have for its object the issuing of
Glazounoff’s works and those of other composers of this Russian school.
He, indeed, proved himself a very Mæcenas, organising concerts in and
out of Russia, and never tiring in his endeavours to gain a hearing for
the composers whose cause he had thus so practically espoused.
[Footnote 35: _Notes on Modern Russian Music_ (Edwin Evans).]
No wonder, therefore, that they should desire to do him honour, and in
this Quartett we find one such act of homage. As most musicians are
quite well aware, the note B♭ is in Germany called B, and B♮ is called
H; hence the possibility of writing, as has several times been done, a
fugue whose subject is the name of the great composer Bach.
[Music: B A C H]
[Sidenote: =String Quartett on Name Belaieff=]
In like manner these Russian composers took the three syllables of the
name of their friend Belaieff, and, Be standing for B♭, la for the
sixth note A of the natural scale, and eff for the note F, they used
the theme—
[Music: B la F]
as the leading motive of a composition, consisting of (1) an Allegro by
Rimsky-Korsakoff, (2) Scherzo by A. Liadoff, (3) Serenata alla Spagnola
by A. Borodin, and (4) Finale by A. Glazounoff. The composition begins
in this manner:—
[Music: N. RIMSKY-KORSAKOFF.]
Leading to the Allegro:—
[Music]
The second movement, a Scherzo, commences thus:—
[Music: A. LIADOFF.]
The usual Trio, which follows, commences thus:—
[Music]
After this the Scherzo is repeated, with considerable development.
This is the third movement, written, as the name indicates, in the
Spanish style:—
[Music: _Serenata alla Spagnola._ A. BORODIN.]
The last movement (allegro), which is perhaps the least satisfactory
of the set, commences somewhat after the manner of the introduction by
Rimsky-Korsakoff, but subsequent treatment is different.
[Music: A. GLAZOUNOFF.]
A composition of this kind is obviously more of a curiosity than a
work of the highest art; but an examination of the score reveals a
surprising amount of skill, and, considering the restrictions under
which they wrote, the several composers have contrived to invest the
Quartett with much more melodic interest than at first seems possible.
Other Russian composers who were associated with Belaieff have written
works on the same theme, among these being a Serenade for String
Quintett by Nicolas Sokoloff; and by A. Kopyloff an Andantino, and a
Prelude and Fugue, both for String Quartett.
[Sidenote: =Arensky=]
Another work, which is, however, written much more in the idiom
characteristic of the Russian school than that which has just been
named, is the String Quartett in A minor, op. 35A, dedicated
to the memory of Tschaïkovsky, by Arensky.
[Illustration: Ihr ergebener Richard Wagner [signature]]
Anton Stepanovitch Arensky was born at Novgorod in the year 1862, and
studied for some time with Rimsky-Korsakoff; but, whilst acquiring
a sound knowledge of technique, he does not appear to have been
very largely influenced by that composer’s ideas. He is rather to
be reckoned as belonging to the eclectic school of Tschaïkovsky,
with whom he was subsequently associated for many years in Moscow.
He has composed two operas, of which the first, _A Dream on the
Volga_, is of considerable dimensions; also a Ballet and two
Symphonies, besides a large number of piano pieces of varying merit.
In these he displays considerable ingenuity, but unfortunately the
effect is not always spontaneous; in fact, it seems as though he
sometimes sets out to startle, without due thought as to whether it
is worth while. Amongst his best works should be mentioned three
Suites for two Pianos Concertante, afterwards orchestrated by the
composer, of which the second, entitled “Silhouettes,” has attained
a well-deserved popularity. His activity as a teacher is also very
great, and he has produced some valuable theoretical works. Amongst
the many musicians who have passed through his hands must be mentioned
Sergius Rachmaninoff, one of the most promising members of the younger
generation of composers.
The Quartett, op. 35A, was originally composed for violin,
viola, and two ’cellos, and afterwards re-written for the usual
combination. Far from its losing by the change, its heaviness is
considerably relieved and its value enhanced. It is dedicated to
the memory of Tschaïkovsky, the material being taken from the Greek
orthodox liturgy, from Tschaïkovsky’s own works, and from national
sources.[36]
[Footnote 36: _Notes on Modern Russian Music_ (Edwin Evans).]
The work opens thus:—
[Music: ARENSKY, OP. 35A.]
A little farther on this is repeated in slightly varied form, with a
fresh theme played above it by the first violin:—
[Music: ARENSKY, OP. 35A.]
This, with further variation and another theme of an equally melodious
and elegiac character, constitutes the basis of the first movement,
which after considerable development ends pianissimo with a repetition
of the opening theme. An air, quoted below, obviously of the volkslied
order, treated in variation form, constitutes the second movement, and
presents numerous points of interest. The coda, for instance, commences
with four bars of chords of harmonics played by the four instruments.
This leads on to a repetition of the elegiac theme with which the
Quartett begins, and then the movement ends with certain quaint
allusions to the theme quoted above.
[Music: ARENSKY, OP. 35A.
THEME.]
The finale, which is in free fugal form, with an introductory andante
and a short adagio episode, brings this interesting work to a
conclusion.
[Sidenote: =Trio in D Minor: Arensky=]
Another composition by Arensky is the Trio in D minor, op. 32, for
piano, violin, and ’cello, inscribed to the memory of the ’cellist,
Charles Davidoff, who was the principal of the Conservatoire at St.
Petersburg. It was played at the Monday Popular Concerts in 1896 by
Sapellnikoff, Joachim, and Paul Ludwig. It is well written, but, save
as to the elegiac slow movement, not touched with the usual Sclav
feeling, nor is the melodic material, although pleasant enough, at all
remarkable. In a still greater measure the same judgment applies to
this composer’s Quintett, op. 51, for piano and strings, an elaborate
and high-sounding but really somewhat empty composition.
Other chamber music works of this school which may be mentioned are:—
[Sidenote: =Sokoloff=]
(1) A String Quartett in F, op. 7, by Nicolas Sokoloff, a St.
Petersburg musician, born in the year 1858. The first movement of this
work is well characterised, and contains some remarkable imitative
writing. The whole Quartett, if not great, is certainly worthy of
attention.
[Sidenote: =Tanyeëff=]
(2) A String Quartett in D minor, op. 7, by S. Tanyeëff, which
consists of two movements only, the second being a notable set of
eight variations, with a coda which is based on the principal theme of
the first movement. Tanyeëff, who was a pupil of Tschaïkovsky, is now
professor of harmony and composition in the Conservatoire of Moscow.
[Sidenote: =Kopyloff=]
(3) A String Quartett,[37] op. 15, by Alexander Kopyloff, one of
the staff of the Imperial Chapel in St. Petersburg. This work is
much simpler in construction than the others. It may be recommended
to amateurs as a pleasant and quite practicable, if not very
distinguished, composition.
[Footnote 37: Most of these works and others of the Russian School are
published in cheap miniature scores, similar to the well-known Payne
edition.]
[Sidenote: =Tschaïkovsky=]
Another work which cannot be omitted in a notice of Russian chamber
music is the Trio for piano and strings, op. 50, by Tschaïkovsky; a
lengthy and deeply brooding work of highly impressive character, which
is already well known in England.
Tschaïkovsky (1840-93) was the most distinguished of the modern
Russian school of composers, and a musician of remarkable originality
and power. He was educated for the legal profession, and entered the
Government Civil Service, but the musical impulses asserted themselves
with such force that in 1866, having first seriously studied for some
time, he henceforth devoted himself to the musical profession.
He was deeply imbued with the national influences of his country, and
did what he could to foster and develop them. “His music shows the
strange and violent contrasts of mood characteristic of his race;
now full of a wild and barbarous energy and fiery intensity; now of
almost maiden tenderness and ingenuousness; now of a black and hopeless
melancholy.”[38]
[Footnote 38: _Biographical Dictionary_ (Baker).]
Tschaïkovsky’s chamber music consists of a String Sextett, op. 70,
three String Quartetts, the Piano Trio named above, and a number of
compositions for piano and violin, piano and ’cello, and piano alone.
CHAPTER IX.
RICHARD STRAUSS AND ANTON BRUCKNER.
Position with regard to classical form—Strauss’s chamber
music—Bruckner’s character and individuality—Bruckner’s
symphonies—String quintett in F major—Hanslick on
Bruckner’s works—Krehbiel on Bruckner’s Seventh
Symphony—Weingartner’s opinion.
[Sidenote: =Position with regard to Classical Form=]
Richard Strauss, born at Munich in 1864, is without doubt one of the
most distinguished of living musicians, and although his recent works
are written in a very advanced style, it cannot be said that he has
arrived at this condition without due deliberation, for his earlier
compositions are all in classical form, and his present position is
therefore due to growth rather than to a wanton setting aside of the
established forms in which the great masters wrought. It is only when
we come to the symphonic poem “Don Juan,” op. 20, that we find him
embracing the programme music ideal, and all the seven large works
which have since appeared are fashioned after this kind.
[Illustration: _Richard Strauss._ [signature]]
That Strauss displays an enormous talent for orchestral effect, and
a breadth and vigour of style which carries all before it, no one
acquainted with his works will dispute, but whatever abiding hold he
may have gained on the musical thought of the world will be found not
to be primarily due to qualities of this kind, influential as they
no doubt are, but to his being endowed with the power to write true
and convincing tunes. For example, one may regard programme music and
the hurly-burly of works like _Till Eulenspiegel_ as entirely
obnoxious and subversive of true art, but all the same it is idle to
ignore the character and charm of such tunes as these:—
[Music: TILL EULENSPIEGEL.
R. STRAUSS.]
With the following curious metamorphosis of its first notes, which
plays an important part in the work:—
[Music]
[Music: TILL EULENSPIEGEL.
R. STRAUSS.]
[Music: DON JUAN.
R. STRAUSS.]
[Sidenote: =Strauss’s Chamber Music=]
The earlier Symphony of this composer, in F minor, op. 12, exhibits
also, although in a lesser degree, the same melodic charm; but on the
other hand (and such inequality is a perplexing feature of Strauss’s
works) his chamber music, such as the String Quartett, op. 2, the Piano
Quartett, op. 13, and the Violin and Piano Sonata, op. 18, when tried
by this standard, are more or less disappointing. True, the andante and
the finale of the String Quartett show a certain amount of melodic
interest, as also does the andante (improvisation) of the Sonata; but
in the other movements, and in the Piano Quartett, while the writing is
always masterful, and indeed at times overpowering in its strength and
directness, the want of real tune renders these works unconvincing.
All the same it must be admitted that Richard Strauss is one of the
most interesting personalities among contemporary composers, a position
which is also occupied by our own countryman Edward Elgar, and the
only thing which may with certainty be said is that they both baffle
the prophets, for, judged by what they have already done, we know not
what a day may bring forth.[39] Men who in the prime of life have given
us “The Dream of Gerontius,” and “Till Eulenspiegel,” have within
them possibilities of a far-reaching kind, and it is to them, with
Coleridge-Taylor and some others of, as yet, lesser fame, that we have
to look for the next important contributions to the literature of the
art.
[Footnote 39: This was written early in 1902.]
In addition to the chamber music named above, Richard Strauss has
written a Serenade, op. 7, for wind instruments; a Sonata, op. 6, for
piano and ’cello, which is an interesting work; and a Sonata, op. 5,
for piano solo.
[Sidenote: =Bruckner’s Character and Individuality=]
A composer who has given to the world as many orchestral symphonies as
Beethoven; a number of choral works, all laid out on the largest scale;
who enjoyed the esteem and admiration of Richard Wagner; who lived for
about thirty years in Vienna as neighbour, and in a sense the rival,
of Brahms; whose compositions, and even whose name, are almost unknown
to English musicians; such was Anton Bruckner (1824-96), a man of
strong character and individuality, who by diligence and determination
has made for himself a name and position in the world of music. Nor
has this been accomplished by mere push and personal assertiveness,
for Bruckner was a man of simple, straightforward character, who was
content to let his life speak for itself, and so far as his works were
concerned, to wait for a hearing. It is said that some of his early
symphonies were not performed until many years after they were written.
An examination of his scores reveals an extraordinary command of the
resources of counterpoint, as well as a vigorous and direct manner
of presenting his ideas. He writes, too, in a manner grateful to the
orchestral performers, affording, without any mere striving after
effect, the several instruments opportunities for the display of their
powers.
[Sidenote: =Bruckner’s Symphonies=]
There is also a certain romantic formality, if such a contradiction in
terms may be allowed, about his symphonies, which in part creates a
feeling as though Cherubini had come to life again and become imbued
with the modernity of the men of our time. Had Bruckner been as great a
melodist as he is a contrapuntalist, the balance of musical power would
not have been exactly what it is to-day, and Schumann and Brahms would
have had a serious competitor.
[Sidenote: =String Quintett in F major=]
But it is here that a weakness is revealed which no mere technical
skill or elaborate orchestration can hide. Many of Bruckner’s works
are no doubt here and there quite melodious, but this is the case when
the influence of other masters, chiefly Beethoven and Wagner, is most
evident. In spite, however, of considerations of this kind, his music
deserves more than a passing word, although so far as concerns the
subject treated of in this book, Bruckner has left but one chamber
music composition, a Quintett for strings in F major.
This work, however, made a considerable stir in musical circles when it
appeared, and it is said to have been played with the greatest success
by the Hellmesberger Quartett in Vienna, that most critical of musical
centres. We are not aware if Bruckner has written any other chamber
music; at any rate nothing further appears in the list of his music
which has reached England. This Quintett has not, it is believed, been
performed here, nor indeed, so far as we know (1902), has any work of
Bruckner’s been given, save his Seventh Symphony, which was performed
in London, under Dr. Richter, in the year 1887.
The two extracts from this Quintett which are quoted below will
illustrate better, no doubt, than any written description both the
weakness and the strength of this composer. The first movement has much
ingenuity, but little charm. Counterpoint and modulation are copiously
poured out, and are indeed made to do service for those higher
qualities without which there is no true art.
[Music: 1ST MOVEMENT, STRING QUINTETT IN F.
ANTON BRUCKNER.]
The adagio, on the other hand, reveals a feeling for emotional beauty
of no ordinary kind, and doubtless it is writing of this character,
which is found also in the slow movements of the Orchestral
Symphonies, that explains the effect which Bruckner’s works have
created on the Continent.
[Music: 3RD MOVEMENT, STRING QUINTETT IN F.
ANTON BRUCKNER.]
[Sidenote: =Hanslick on Bruckner’s Works=]
[Sidenote: =Krehbiel on Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony=]
The scherzo of the Fourth (Romantic) Symphony may also be cited as a
movement full of character, and while good, is pleasing even in the
popular sense of that word. Music such as this, indeed, justifies
the bringing forward of Bruckner’s name, and renders it difficult
to acquiesce in some of the severe judgments which have been passed
on his works. For example, when a new Symphony of Bruckner’s was
performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Society some few years ago, Dr.
Edward Hanslick, the well-known critic, said, in his notice printed
in the _Neue Freie Presse_, that he had left the concert-room
before the performance began, because he did not wish to witness the
desecration of the hall! And in his notice of a New York concert, in
which Mr. Theodore Thomas conducted Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, Mr.
H.E. Krehbiel, the musical critic of _The Tribune_, says:—“As
an instance of what the intellect can do in music it is perhaps as
startling and interesting as anything that the century has produced.
But as a musical composition it is nine-tenths cold intellectuality and
one-tenth beauty. It is polyphony gone mad. If one wants originality,
here it is in abundance. There is nothing under the heaven, or on the
earth, or in the waters under the earth like unto this symphony. Those
who think the thematic work in _Tristan_ and _The Ring_
complex and laboured, should hear this symphony, if for no other
reason than to see how, in comparison with it, Wagner’s is a complete
exemplification of good music as defined by Galuppi in a conversation
with Dr. Burney one hundred and sixteen years ago: ‘Beauty, clearness,
and good modulation.’ Every element of symphonic writing which Herr
Bruckner uses he uses in a manner which stamps a unique character on
the work. But it is only unique, not beautiful.”
And after discussing several technical points in the work, Mr. Krehbiel
adds that, all the same, it is not wise or just to condemn an art-work
like this in so superficial and flippant manner as nearly all the New
York newspapers have done; “but bearing in mind a score of marvellous
things in the symphony, notably several moments that approach grandeur
in the slow movement, and remembering that that is not always the
highest type of beauty which is obvious at a glance, we are yet
constrained to say that for the present the work is a failure. It may
be beautiful in twenty-five years; it is not beautiful now.”
[Sidenote: =Weingartner’s Opinion=]
In the article by Herr Felix Weingartner, on the post-Beethoven
symphonists, which was previously mentioned, we find the following
opinion of Bruckner and his works:—“In these last ten years has been
often mentioned a powerful rival of Brahms, born in that artist’s
second fatherland, in that city of Vienna which seems to be the city
of the symphony.[40] Though much older than Brahms, Anton Bruckner,
recently deceased, only became universally known even later than
him.... His was a musical talent veritably rich. For that reason
one would be almost tempted to compare him to his great compatriot
Schubert, if only he had created works perfect enough to be considered
really masterly. But it was not so.... I was once asked my opinion of
the rivalry of Bruckner and Brahms. I replied, ‘I should like nature
to give us a musician uniting in himself the qualities of the two
composers, the immense imagination of Bruckner with the knowledge of
Brahms. From such a combination would arise an artistic figure of the
highest possible value.’”
[Footnote 40: There would seem some mistake here, as Bruckner was born
at Ansfelden in Upper Austria.]
CHAPTER X.
CHAMBER MUSIC OF RECENT TIMES.
Trio by E. Schütt—Trio by Kirchner—Raff’s C minor
Trio—Balfe’s Trio in A major—Trio: C. Hubert Parry—Trio:
Bargiel—Sterndale Bennett’s Trio, op. 26—Trio, D minor:
F.E. Bache—Trio, E flat: Nawratil—Trio: Goetz—Trio:
Schmidt—Other Trios—String Trios—Quartett: Mackenzie—E
flat Quartett: Rheinberger—Quartett: W. Rabl—Quartett:
Prout—Quartett: Verdi—Quartett: Onslow—Quartett: W.H.
Veit—Unusual combinations.
Here we must notice a few chamber compositions, chosen chiefly from the
works of musicians of our own or of recent times. No special method
of selection is followed, nor must the list be regarded as at all an
exhaustive one. Only what is thought may prove acceptable and useful to
earnest amateurs is mentioned.
[Sidenote: =Trio by E. Schütt=]
A Trio, _Walzer Märchen_, op. 54, for piano, violin, and ’cello,
by Edward Schütt, consists of three delightful musical stories, told
in waltz rhythm, without a trace of monotony, which might easily arise
under such conditions. Schütt, their composer, lives in Vienna, where
he has conducted the Akademischer Wagnerverein. He has written a
number of works, and among them is a Piano Trio in C minor, which has
met with much approval.
[Sidenote: =Trio by Kirchner=]
In the _Novelletten_ Trios, op. 59, for piano, violin, and ’cello,
by Theodor Kirchner, we have a set of refined and well-written pieces
which display a considerable amount of character. Kirchner, who was an
intimate friend of both Mendelssohn and Schumann, has written a large
number of works, chiefly in the smaller forms, for the pianoforte. His
model has evidently been Schumann, and he even gives to some of his
works titles which were used by that master. For instance, his op. 17
he calls “Neue Davidsbündlertänze,” and op. 53 “Florestan and Eusebius.”
[Sidenote: =Raff’s C Minor Trio=]
The composer, Joachim Raff (1822-82), of the Trio in C minor, op. 102,
for piano, violin, and ’cello, was a distinguished example of what has
been called “fatal facility.” His powers of musical invention seemed
inexhaustible, and this, along with the demands of publishers, and
probably, pecuniary needs, led him to overwrite himself, for of his
two hundred and fifty and more works many are of but little value.
With his larger works, generally speaking, it is different, and at any
rate his symphonies and overtures entitle him to a leading place among
contemporary composers.
This Trio also ranks as one of his best works. It is full of genuine
melody and true poetic feeling, the andante (Mässig langsam) being
especially charming. Those who are in sympathy with the advanced school
of composition will find food for their fancy also in the String
Quartett in D minor, op. 77, by this composer. It is well known that
Raff was an ardent follower of the Liszt-Wagner school, and in this
work he fully reveals this tendency. The third movement is an extremely
fine example of the emotional style, full of rich and glowing passages
which bring to mind the intensity and glamour of _Tristan_ and
_The Ring_. The Quartett, though difficult, is well worth knowing,
if only for the sake of this movement. As has already been said, Raff
no doubt wrote too much, and, in colloquial phrase, too often “gave
himself away,” but for all that he had the root of the matter in him,
and at his best he rises to great heights.
[Sidenote: =Balfe’s Trio in A Major=]
To those who only know Michael W. Balfe (1808-70) as the composer of
_The Bohemian Girl_ and other operas, his Trio in A major for
piano, violin, and ’cello will come as somewhat of a surprise, for as
a general rule we do not find in opera composers the power to bring to
a successful issue works of this class. Here, however, may be found
not only tunefulness, but such technical skill and musicianship as
this style of composition demands. Each movement possesses merit of
no common order, and especially the scherzo may be mentioned as being
distinguished by freshness and vigour, and also by certain humorous
touches which serve to remind us that Balfe was musically, as well as
nationally, an Irishman.
[Sidenote: =Trio: Sir Hubert H. Parry=]
Chiefly because of its being ahead of its time, and partly because
of its difficulty, Sir Hubert H. Parry’s Trio in E minor for piano,
violin, and ’cello has not had the recognition which it deserves, for
it is a noteworthy work by one of our distinguished English composers.
It also probably represents its composer’s _Sturm und Drang_
period. But it is the works of such periods which very often most
fully reveal the aspirations and powers of an artist, even when also
displaying the immaturities of inexperience.
The second movement, and especially the adagio which follows, contains
some of Sir Hubert Parry’s best music. The allegro giocoso with which
the trio ends will, like the whole work, repay study, although it
doubtless makes large demands on both performers and listeners.
[Sidenote: =Trio: Bargiel=]
Waldemar Bargiel (1828-97) was one of the followers of Schumann, under
whose influence, and also that of Mendelssohn, he came at an early
age. Later in life he worked with Dr. Joachim at the Royal Music School
in Berlin. His works, without being absolutely great, are distinguished
by sound musicianship and all those qualities which arise from true
refinement and culture. The Trio in E flat, op. 20, for piano, violin,
and ’cello is written in an elevated and interesting style. The andante
especially is a nobly expressed and poetical movement.
Another Piano Trio by this composer is that in F major, op. 6. This
work, which is dedicated to Schumann, commences with a theme whose
first four notes are quoted from the scherzo of that master’s Piano
Quintett in E♭. It does not, however, either as regards its themes or
its poetic feeling, compare favourably with the op. 20.
[Sidenote: =Sterndale Bennett’s Trio, op. 26=]
The Chamber Trio, op. 26, for piano, violin, and ’cello, by Sir
William Sterndale Bennett (1816-75), is the fairly-well-known work
of a composer of whom it has been said that although “the number of
his compositions is not large, for polish, refinement, and careful
elaboration they vie with the best in musical art.” “He is in a special
degree a musicians’ composer. His excellencies, in addition to the
real and genuine feeling for beauty and expression which pervades
his music, belong to that interesting and delicate type of art which
illustrates in a special degree the fitness of means to an end, the
relation between the feeling expressed and the manner and medium of
expressing it; a class of artistic production which always has a
peculiar interest for artists, and for those who study critically the
details of the art illustrated.”[41]
[Footnote 41: _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_ (Grove), vol. i.
p. 226.]
The Trio op. 26 consists of three movements—a charming andante
tranquillo, followed by a serenata, and concluding with a vigorous
allegro fermato. In the serenata the violin plays pizzicato throughout,
while the cantabile melody is chiefly given to the piano, occasionally
reinforced by the ’cello, which also joins the violin in the pizzicato
effects.
[Sidenote: =Trio, D Minor: F.E. Bache=]
We are not aware whether the Trio in D minor, op. 25, by Francis Edward
Bache (1833-58), is generally known. If not, it certainly deserves
to be. In style it is no doubt Mendelssohnian; indeed, in choice of
keys and treatment it closely follows that master’s op. 49; but at the
same time there is individuality in Bache’s work. Much modern chamber
music, especially of continental origin, is burdened with elaborations
and flights of fancy which, to say nothing harsher, render it almost
unintelligible unless performed by artists of the highest executive
skill, whilst in the hands of the average amateur the result is
usually chaotic. All this is avoided in this Trio. Without being in
the least tame or insipid, it is never unreasonably difficult. The
opening allegro is fresh and vigorous in style, and in the andante the
treatment of the three instruments is more than usually interesting. A
rondo (allegro molto ed appassionata), twice interrupted by a melodious
episode (un poco più lento), brings the Trio to an end. The composer of
this Trio was the brother of the well-known pianist, Walter Bache, who
laboured so unselfishly in the cause of advanced music, and especially
in introducing the works of Liszt to the British public. Francis Edward
Bache showed great musical ability as a child. He studied the violin
under Alfred Mellon, who was at that time conductor at the Birmingham
Theatre, and in 1846, when Mendelssohn conducted his _Elijah_
there, the boy, who was then thirteen years old, was allowed to play in
the orchestra.
There can be no doubt, from the works he has left behind him and the
high opinions held of him by Sterndale Bennett, Hauptmann, and Plaidy
(Leipzig), under whom he studied, that had he lived he would have
become a distinguished addition to the list of English composers.
[Sidenote: =Trio, E Flat: Nawratil=]
Karl Nawratil (1836), the composer of the Trio in E♭, op. 9, for piano,
violin, and ’cello, has for a long time enjoyed an excellent reputation
as piano-teacher in Vienna. Among his pupils have been Madame Essipoff,
Edward Schütt, and others who have distinguished themselves. He has
written in various styles, and in chamber music form as well as this
Trio, a String Quartett, two Piano Quartetts, and another Piano Trio.
The Trio in E♭ is an interesting composition, and quite grateful music
to play. The last movement, with its fugal episode, may be specially
mentioned. The work is dedicated to Brahms.
[Sidenote: =Trio: Goetz=]
Hermann Goetz (1840-76) is known at any rate by two works which
proclaim him to have been a highly gifted artist, and it is reasonable
to think that but for his early death he would have come to occupy
a very distinguished place among contemporary composers. The works
referred to are an opera, _The Taming of the Shrew_, and the F
major Orchestral Symphony. There is also a fine setting, for soprano
solo, chorus, and orchestra, of the psalm “By the Waters of Babylon,”
and another of Schiller’s _Nänie_. He was also engaged at the time
of his death on a second opera, _Francesca da Rimini_, the sketch
for which was completed by his friend Frank, and performed at Mannheim
in 1877.
The Trio in G minor, op. 1, for piano, violin, and ’cello, is a
composition of dignified character, and full of true poetic feeling.
This composer unquestionably had something to say, and he knew how to
say it. His other chamber music works are a Piano Quintett in C minor,
a Piano Quartett in E, and a Piano Sonata for four hands.
[Sidenote: =Trio: Schmidt=]
Oscar Schmidt, an unknown variant of the familiar name, has written a
Trio in G minor, op. 24, for piano, violin, and ’cello, which may be
recommended as a pleasant and sincere, although not great work. It is
composed in classical form, with the usual four movements. The adagio
opens with a charming and effective theme for the ’cello, and the whole
trio is well laid out and playable for all the instruments.
[Sidenote: =Other Trios=]
Other piano, violin, and ’cello trios which may be mentioned are:—
Trio in F, op. 18, by Saint-Saëns (1835), which is a well-written work,
showing its composer’s remarkable versatility.
Trio in E♭, op. 35, by Sir C. Villiers Stanford (1852), the second
movement of which is a most dainty allegretto.
Trio in B♭, op. 27, by B. Molique (1802-69), an artist who, both as
composer and violinist, worthily upheld a high classical standard.
Novelletten, op. 29, and Trio in F, op. 42, both by Niels W. Gade
(1817-90).
Trio in B♭, op. 52, by Anton Rubinstein (1830-94), with a very fine
adagio movement.
Serenade Trio, op. 64, by Ferdinand Hiller (1811-85). The slow
movement is called “a Ghazel.” This has been described as a short
form of Persian poetry, in which the rhyme of the first two lines
is repeated in every alternate line throughout the piece. Hiller’s
musical equivalent for this is a simple phrase repeated by the strings,
the piano filling up the intervals with other matter. Another of
the movements is written chiefly in 5/4 time, but save for these
peculiarities, the trio is not of any great value.
Two Trios, op. 21 and op. 32, by Emil Kreuz, for piano, violin, and
viola, may also be mentioned.
[Sidenote: =String Trios=]
As modern works for two violins and ’cello are not often to be
met with, reference may be made to Two Trios, op. 135, for this
combination, by Aloys Schmitt (1788-1866).
No. 1, in E♭, consists of one movement only; but No. 2, in D minor,
has three, viz.:—Allegro moderato, minuet, and allegro. Both are well
written, playable, and pleasant. The composer was born at Erlenbach in
Bavaria, and lived chiefly in Frankfort, where he was well known as a
pianist and teacher of high aim.
Of Trios for violin, viola, and ’cello may be named op. 69 in G minor,
by W. Berger (1861). This is the work of a living musician who resides
in Berlin. Berger, who has published a considerable number of important
works, writes in an earnest and musicianly manner, and although this
trio may be somewhat lacking in melodic interest, it should at any rate
prove useful to those who seek for music written for this combination
of instruments, a form which is of course much rarer than the Quartett.
There are also three Trios, op. 85, for the same instruments, in D, C
minor, and F, by Hermann Berens (1825-80), a Hamburg musician.
[Sidenote: =Quartett: Mackenzie=]
Prominent among modern quartetts stands that in E♭, for piano,
violin, viola, and ’cello, by Sir A.C. Mackenzie (1847). This is an
early work of this composer, and one which has hardly been accorded
the recognition that it deserves. The third movement consists of a
canzonetta with an interesting and fanciful set of variations. The
quartett ends with a well-wrought and vigorous allegro. Sir Alexander
Mackenzie has not published much chamber music, having, it would seem,
preferred to occupy himself with works of larger dimensions.
[Sidenote: =E Flat Quartett: Rheinberger=]
The Quartett in E♭, op. 38, for piano, violin, viola, and ’cello, by
Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901), has been a good deal played in England
during recent years, and is an admirable example of this refined and
musicianly composer.
Another of his chamber compositions, which is not perhaps so well
known, is the String Quartett in C minor, op. 89. It is written in
the usual form with four movements; the tunes are sincere, and the
treatment is interesting, without anything which savours of pedantry.
It is also a grateful work, from the performers’ point of view.
[Sidenote: =Quartett: W. Rabl=]
The Quartett in E♭, op. 1, for clarinet, violin, ’cello, and piano,
by Walter Rabl, calls for mention. Rabl is a native of Prague, where
he received his training, and his works have been brought to light
chiefly through the instrumentality of the Friends of Music Society
in Vienna, of whose committee Brahms was an active member. This
quartett, which is dedicated to Brahms, is written in classical form
and has many interesting features; it was played at the London Monday
Popular Concerts in 1899, during a visit to England of Herr Mühlfeld,
the celebrated German clarinettist. Rabl has also written a set of
Fantasiestücke, op. 2, for piano, violin, and ’cello, and a fine Sonata
in D major, op. 6, for piano and violin.
[Sidenote: =Quartett: Prout=]
Dr. Ebenezer Prout (1835), the eminent theorist and musical professor
in the University of Dublin, has written, in addition to many works
in various styles, and the Quartett, op. 18, in F, for piano, violin,
viola, and ’cello, the following chamber music:—two String Quartetts,
op. 1 and op. 15; a Piano Quintett, op. 3; a Piano Quartett, op.
2; a Romance for viola, with piano accompaniment, op. 32; a Sonata
for piano and clarinet, op. 26; and a Duo Concertante for piano and
harmonium, op. 6: all of which may be strongly recommended to amateurs
who love a straightforward, intelligible style. The composer’s intimate
acquaintance with the music of the great classic period, united to a
sensitive and eclectic taste, has enabled him to give to the world in
these works music which worthily upholds a true and pure standard. The
String Quartett, op. 15, with its charming andante movement, as well as
the op. 18, may be specially mentioned.
[Sidenote: =Quartett: Verdi=]
A String Quartett in E minor, by Verdi (1813-1901), is the only work
which the great Italian opera composer wrote in the chamber music
style. It was first privately performed in the drawing-room of the
composer’s residence, in 1873, and another performance took place at
the London Monday Popular Concerts in 1878. Since that time it does not
seem to have been often heard.
The work, which is by no means easy, contains some scholarly and
remarkable writing, but for all that it can hardly be regarded as a
satisfactory or successful composition. Especially does it lack that
melodic interest which one expects from a composer usually so admirable
in this respect as Verdi. Compared with his operas and other works, it
lacks spontaneity and charm. At the same time it should be remembered
that Verdi himself attached no importance to the quartett, and only
very reluctantly allowed it to be performed out of his own house. He
seems to have been as little successful with this work as probably
Brahms would have been with an opera, had he ventured to write one.
[Sidenote: =Quartett: Onslow=]
G. Onslow (1784-1852), who wrote a large quantity of music, was a
grandson of the first Lord Onslow. He was born in France, where, on
his own estates, he chiefly resided. Chamber music was his passion,
and of this he composed a great deal, and spent considerable time in
its performance, the ’cello being his instrument. His String Quintetts
are regarded as his best works, and they contain much charming
music. “One of these, called@ “Le Quintette de la balle,” describes
his emotions—the pain, the irregular beating of his pulse, and his
gratitude on his recovery—consequent on an accident that happened to
him at a wolf hunt, where a spent ball hit him in the face, rendering
him somewhat deaf in one ear for the rest of his life.“[42] Among
his numerous String Quartetts is one in G minor, op. 9, which has an
interesting set of four variations on our national anthem, ”God save
the King.”@@@
[Footnote 42: _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_ (Grove), vol.
ii. p. 497.]
A String Quartett in D minor by Hugo Wolf deserves attention. He
has been described as “the intensified and intellectually developed
Schubert”! The Quartett referred to is in form and melodic material
interesting, especially as an example of the unfettered tendencies in
modern music.
A recently-published composition by John B. McEwen must not go
unmentioned. This String Quartett in A minor has been performed
in London and was approved. Like Dvořák, with whom indeed he has
something in common, Mr. McEwen’s music reveals his nationality. The
_Andante_, with a prominent viola part, distinctly appeals to
those from “beyond the border.”
[Sidenote: =Quartett: W.H. Veit=]
Finally there is the String Quartett No. 1 in D minor by W.H. Veit
(1806-64). Although of no great interest otherwise, this quartett
contains a musicianly set of variations on the Russian national
anthem. Wenzel Heinrich Veit was the district president of the law
courts at Leitmeritz in Bohemia, where he lived all his life. Chiefly
self-taught, he was an excellent musician, and has left behind him some
well-written works.
[Sidenote: =Unusual Combinations=]
In the vast _répertoire_ of chamber music the following works for
unusual combinations of instruments may be mentioned, although some of
them are obviously more musical curiosities than works of art:—
Octett, op. 32, by Liadoff (1855), a Russian composer, for piccolo, two
flutes, three clarinets, harp, and campanelli (bells).
Septett, op. 24, in D, by Vincent d’Indy (1851), a somewhat
distinguished French musician, for trumpet, two flutes, and string
quartett.
Septett, op. 67, by Saint-Saëns, for trumpet, strings, and piano.
Trio (humorous) by Latann, for piccolo, guitar, and trombone.
Theme and Variations by Kroepsch, for tin whistle and piano.
Mozart, Haydn, Hummel, Reicha, Quantz, and others have written for
unusual combinations of instruments, as the list of their works will
show, but only a few of these have much artistic value.
Appendices.
A. CHRONOLOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
B. GLOSSARY OF TERMS.
Appendix A.
Chronological and Biographical.
1510. =Caspar Duiffoprugcar= (Bologna); about 1510.
The reputed inventor of the violin, although there can
be no doubt that this instrument was a slow growth from
earlier forms.
1533. =V. Galilei= (Florence), 1533-1600. Violin and
lute player. Member of the celebrated circle of artists who
met at the residence of Count Bardi in Florence.
1535. =Andreas Amati= (Cremona), 1535-1611. Head of
the family of celebrated violin makers.
1543. =Ganassi=, a Venetian writer, mentions three
varieties of violins as Viola di Soprano, di Tenore, e
di Basso; and Castiglione alludes to a composition for
“Quattro Viole da Arco,” which may of course be taken for
the String Quartett.
1557. =Thomas Morley= (London), 1557-1604. Famous
English composer, who wrote certain instrumental pieces,
after the manner of chamber music, for lute, citterne,
flute, treble and bass viol. He also wrote some excellent
vocal music.
1567. =Claudio Monteverdi= (Cremona), 1567-1643. A
composer of decided originality, who introduced a number
of new effects. The tremolo for strings is first met with
in his works. He was, however, chiefly a composer of the
earliest form of opera.
1586. =J. Hermann Schein= (Grünhain), 1586-1630. One
of the predecessors of J.S. Bach as cantor of the St.
Thomas School at Leipzig. His compositions include a number
of works for strings, notably twenty Partitas with five
movements each. An edition of his works is now being issued
by Breitkopf & Härtel.
1592. =John Jenkins= (Maidstone), 1592-1678. Chamber
musician to King Charles I. and King Charles II. Composer
of chamber music, among which is twelve sonatas for two
violins and bass.
1598. =Salomon Rossi= (Mantua), 1598-1623. Italian
musician who published various early forms of chamber music
for strings.
1600. =G. Bassani= (Venice), about 1600. Violinist and
teacher of Corelli. He composed chamber music suites which
were highly esteemed.
1621. =Biagio and Carlo Marini= (Brescia), about 1621.
Two chamber music composers, well known in their time.
1625. =G. Legrenzi= (Venice), 1625-90. Eminent
composer, who wrote various chamber music works for
strings. Lotti was his pupil.
1625. =Carlo Farino= (Mantua), about 1625. Composer of
chamber music, and one who considerably developed the form.
(See Wasielewski’s _The Violin and its Masters_.)
1628. =Tarquinio Merula= (Cremona), about 1628. One of
the early composers of sonatas for the violin, and of other
forms of chamber music.
1636. =John Banister= (London), 1630-79. Violinist and
director of chamber music concerts.
1630. =G.B. Fontana= (Brescia), —— d. 1630. Composer
who did much for the development of the chamber music of
his time.
1632. =Matthew Locke= (Exeter), 1632-77. Celebrated
English musician; chiefly remembered by his “Macbeth”
music, but he also wrote chamber music for viols and
violins.
1641. =Johann Vierdank= (Stralsund), about 1641.
Organist at Stralsund. He wrote a number of works for two
violins and bass.
1644. =G.B. Vitali= (Cremona), about 1644. Important
violist, and composer of chamber music during the period
leading up to the time of Corelli.
1644. =Antonio Stradivari= (Cremona), 1644-1737. The
great Cremona violin maker.
1649. =Johann P. Krieger= (Nuremberg), 1649-1725.
German chamber music composer. Twenty-four of his sonatas
for two violins and bass have survived.
1650. =Guarneri= (Cremona), 1650-1745. Name of the
famous family of violin makers.
1650. =N. Hasse= (Rostock), about 1650. He wrote
dances (courantes, etc.) for strings and theorbo, a bass
instrument of the lute order.
1650. =Nicolaus Kempis= (Florence), about 1650. He
resided in Brussels in the middle of the seventeenth
century. His chamber music was regarded as among the best
written during his time.
1653. =Corelli= (Fusignano), 1653-1713. Eminent
violinist and composer of important chamber music.
1655. =J.H. Schmelzer= (Vienna), about 1655. Chamber
musician at the court of Vienna, who published various
sonatas for strings and wind.
1655. =Steffani= (Castelfranco), 1655-1730. Venetian
composer of high rank, who lived chiefly in Germany. His
vocal chamber duets are his more important works, but he
also wrote chamber music for strings.
1655. =J. Christoph Denner= (Nuremberg), 1655-1707. A
musical instrument maker, to whom is attributed (about the
year 1700) the invention of the clarinet.
1658. =Henry Purcell= (London), 1658-95. A composer
of great and original genius, among whose works, in many
styles, are various interesting chamber music compositions.
1659. =Alessandro Scarlatti= (Trapani), 1659-1725.
Although not pre-eminently distinguished as an instrumental
composer, it is claimed for him that he was the first to
publish a genuine string quartett for two violins, viola,
and ’cello. Copies of such compositions by him are, it is
stated by Mr. E.J. Dent, to be found in the Santini Library
at Münster in Westphalia.
1660. =Ariosti= (Bologna), 1660-1740 (about).
Italian composer, who for a short time taught Handel. He,
Buononcini, and Handel wrote an opera, each taking an act.
Ariosti left some chamber music for the viola d’amore, on
which he himself was a performer.
1662. =E.F. del Abaco= (Verona), 1662-1726. Italian
composer, who wrote some noteworthy sonatas for two violins
and continuo (figured bass).
1662. =Henri Desmarets= (Paris), 1662-1741. Chamber
musician to Louis XIV.
1668. =François Couperin=, 1668-1733. French organist
and composer of works for the clavecin which are of
historic importance. He also wrote some trios for two
violins and bass.
1669. =Johann Pezel= (Leipzig), 1669-86. A German
composer who published various works for strings in chamber
music style.
1674. =C.H. Abel= (Hanover), about 1674. Composer of
various instrumental pieces for strings; other members of
the Abel family were composers of chamber music.
1674. =T. Albinoni= (Venice), 1674-1745. Composer of
chamber music. J.S. Bach esteemed his music, and wrote two
fugues on themes by him.
1675. =Antonio Vivaldi= (Venice), 1675-1743. Italian
violinist and composer of great distinction who wrote
important chamber music.
1680. =F. Geminiani= (Lucca), 1680-1762. Violinist and
composer. His sonatas, trios, etc., are of importance for
their time.
1685. =Gottfried Finger= (Olmütz), about 1685. He came
to England in 1685, and was appointed chapel-master to King
James II. In conjunction with John Banister he published
chamber music for various instruments.
1685. =F.M. Veracini= (Florence), 1685-1750.
Celebrated violinist composer and chamber-music virtuoso.
1685. =John Sebastian Bach= (Eisenach), 1685-1750.
1685. =G.F. Handel= (Hallé), 1685-1759.
1685. =Domenico Scarlatti= (Naples), 1685-1757.
Composer and performer of clavier music of great
distinction. He leads us up to P.E. Bach, Haydn, and others
of that period.
1685. =Johann Schenck= (Wiener-Neustadt), about 1685.
He published during 1685-95 sonatas for two violins, gamba
(a kind of ’cello), and continuo (figured bass), and
many other works in chamber music form. One set of these
he called (anticipating the Beethoven Scherzo) Scherzi
musicali.
1685. =Torelli= (Verona),—about 1685. Famous
violinist, who wrote some important chamber music for
strings.
1686. =N.A. Porpora= (Naples), 1686-1766. Opera
composer of great fame. He also wrote a number of chamber
music works, including six so-called chamber symphonies for
two violins, ’cello, and continuo.
1687. =J.M. Leclair= (Paris), 1687-1764. Eminent
violinist and composer of chamber music. Two of his sonatas
are included in Ferdinand David’s _High School of Violin
Playing_.
1689. =P. Castrucci= (Rome), 1689-1769. Composer
of violin and other sonatas, and inventor of a stringed
instrument called the Violetta Marina, which Handel used in
his operas _Orlando_ and _Sosarme_.
1690. =Testore= (Milan), 1690-1745. The name of a
renowned Italian family of violin makers.
1690. =C. Tessarini= (Urbino),—born 1690. Celebrated
violinist, and composer of trios for two violins and bass,
and other chamber music. Pupil of Corelli.
1692. =Antonio Veracini= (Florence), about 1692.
Distinguished composer of chamber music. His brother,
F.M.V., was also a violinist and composer of distinction.
1692. =G. Tartini= (Padua), 1692-1770. Violinist,
composer, and theorist. He wrote much chamber music, and
developed a high school of violin playing. Amongst his
pupils were Nardini and Pasqualino. To him is ascribed the
discovery of combination, or resultant, tones, although
this is also claimed for his contemporary, G.A. Sorge.
1693. =Pietro Locatelli= (Bergamo), 1693-1764. A
distinguished violinist; pupil of Corelli. One of the first
to use double stopping, and different modes of tuning the
violin. He published chamber music for strings.
1696. =Robert King= (London), about 1696. Chamber
musician and composer to King William III. of England.
1696. =G.M. Ruggieri= (Venice), 1696-1732. Venetian
opera composer, who wrote some chamber music sonatas, etc.,
for strings.
1697. =J.J. Quantz= (Oberscheden), 1697-1773. Chamber
musician to Frederick the Great of Prussia. Famous flute
player. He wrote many chamber duets, trios, quartetts,
etc., for that instrument.
1698. =Johann G. Graun= (Wahrenbrück), 1698-1771.
Brother of the more celebrated Karl H. Graun. He wrote many
string quartetts, trios, etc.
1703. =G.A. Sorge= (Mellenbach), 1703-78. German
organist and theorist. It is claimed that he discovered
“combination tones” before Tartini, to whom their discovery
is usually attributed.
1707. =Gottfried Keller= (German), about 1707.
Composer and teacher, who lived chiefly in London, where he
published six sonatas for two flutes and bass, and six for
two violins, trumpet, viola, and bass.
1709. =William Flackton= (London), 1709-98. The
English publisher Walsh issued six trios for strings by
this composer in 1758.
1710. =Charles Avison= (Newcastle-on-Tyne), 1710-70.
Organist and chamber music composer. Browning refers to him
in his “Parleyings.”
1710. =G.B. Pergolesi= (Naples), 1710-36. A composer
of great distinction, who wrote many operas, a well-known
“Stabat-mater,” and chamber music, including thirty trios
for two violins and bass.
1711. =Ignaz Holzbauer= (Vienna), 1711-83. He wrote
many string quartetts and other chamber music. Mozart is
said to have esteemed his compositions.
1712. =Frederick the Great=, King of Prussia, 1712-86.
Amateur composer and flautist of distinction.
1714. =Philipp Emanuel Bach= (Weimar), 1714-88.
1714. =Gluck= (Wiedenwang), 1714-87. Opera composer.
He wrote _no_ chamber music.
1715. =G.C. Wagenseil= (Vienna), 1715-77. Composer and
chamber musician to the court. His works, which include
much chamber music, were held in high favour during his
life-time.
1716. =F. de Giardini= (Turin), 1716-96. Violinist
(who resided for some time in London), and composer of
chamber music.
1717. =J.K. Stamitz= (Deutsch-Brod), 1717-61.
Violinist and composer, who wrote a number of trios,
etc., for strings. His sons, Karl and Anton, were also
distinguished violinists and composers.
1722. =P. Nardini= (Florence), 1722-93. Pupil of
Tartini. Composer of string quartetts, sonatas, and other
chamber music.
1724. =C.G. Töschi= (Munich), 1724-88. Violinist and
composer of chamber music, including twenty-four quartetts
for strings and flute, and three sextetts for flute, oboe,
bassoon, and string trio.
1724. =Pierre van Malder= (Brussels), 1724-68.
Violinist, composer, and chamber musician to Prince Charles
of Lorraine.
1730. =G.B. Sammartini= (Milan), 1730-70. Composer
of distinction, who worked, prior to Haydn, at chamber
music and orchestral composition. He wrote a great deal,
including string quartetts, trios, etc. Gluck was his pupil.
1730. =J.T. Goldberg= (Königsberg), about 1730. J.S.
Bach wrote for him the celebrated “Goldberg” variations for
clavier. He himself composed chamber music.
1731. =G. Pugnani= (Turin), 1731-98. Renowned
violinist, who composed a number of chamber works for
strings. He resided for some time in London. Viotti was one
of his pupils.
1732. =Joseph Haydn= (Rohrau), 1732-1809.
1732. =J.C. Friedrich Bach= (Leipzic), 1732-95. The
third of J.S. Bach’s sons. He composed, among other works,
some chamber music, but it is not so important as that of
his brother, P. Emanuel.
1734. =F.J. Gossec= (Paris), 1734-1829. Prolific
composer in all styles. His chamber music, and especially
his quartetts, were held in high esteem.
1734. =Antonio Sacchini= (Pozzuoli), 1734-86. Italian
opera composer, who also wrote some excellent chamber
music.
1736. =J.L. Dussek= (Bohemian), 1736-99. A
distinguished pianist, who, as well as excellent piano
sonatas, composed some chamber music.
1736. =Albrechtsberger= (Vienna), 1736-1809.
Celebrated theorist who composed many chamber music works.
Beethoven was a pupil of his.
1737. =J. Michael Haydn= (Rohrau), 1737-1806. Brother
of Joseph Haydn. His compositions in various styles are
numerous, and by no means unimportant. They include string
quintetts and quartetts. One of the latter was recently
played by the Rosé Vienna Quartett.
1739. =Carl von Dittersdorf= (Vienna), 1739-99. A
distinguished chamber music composer. He was during his
life-time popularly regarded as a rival of Haydn.
1739. =William Forster= (Brampton, Cumberland),
1739-1808. An English violin maker of repute. He also
published Haydn’s string quartetts.
1739. =F.W. Rust= (Wörlitz), 1739-96. A violinist
whose compositions, and especially his violin and piano
sonatas, are of much importance.
1739. =J.B. Wanhal= (Neu-Nechanitz), 1739-1813.
Bohemian composer, who wrote a great deal of chamber music,
which was popular in his life-time.
1741. =Grétry= (Liège), 1741-1813. Celebrated French
opera composer. He also wrote a number of string quartetts
and piano sonatas.
1741. =G. Paesiello= (Taranto), 1741-1816. Italian
opera composer of note, who also published some chamber
music.
1741. =W. Pichel= (Vienna), 1741-1805. Chamber
musician to Duke Ferdinand. A very prolific composer of
chamber music. He has left several hundreds of such works.
1741. =L. Tomasini= (Pesaro), 1741-1808. Violinist and
composer. He acted as leader and chamber musician to Prince
Esterhazy, under Haydn, who was his friend. He published
various string quartetts, etc.
1743. =Boccherini= (Lucca), 1743-1805. Esteemed
Italian composer, who wrote a great deal of chamber music,
including ninety-one string quartetts.
1744. =Giuseppe Giordani= (Naples), 1744-98. A
composer of merit, who wrote much chamber music.
1744. =M.A. Guénin= (Mauberge), 1744-1814. His chamber
works, which were very numerous, were at the time popularly
regarded as equal to Haydn’s, a view, it is hardly
necessary to add, which time has not confirmed.
1745. =J.P. Salomon= (Bonn), 1745-1815. Violinist and
director of concerts in London, at which Haydn’s symphonies
were produced. Salomon was an excellent chamber music
leader. Haydn’s last quartetts were written for him.
1746. =G. Cambini= (Leghorn), 1746-1825. Among the
chamber music of this now unknown composer are found no
less than one hundred and forty-four string quartetts.
1747. =J.W. Hässler= (Erfurt), 1747-1822. A German
composer, chiefly for the piano, of the period between Bach
and Beethoven. His works certainly have a historic interest.
1747. =F. Tourte= (Paris), 1747-1835. The famous
violin-bow maker.
1748. =J.W. Stich= (Prague), 1748-1803. A celebrated
horn player, who also wrote many chamber music
compositions, in which that instrument took part. Beethoven
thought highly of him, and wrote for and played with him
the sonata op. 17, for pianoforte and horn.
1749. =The Abbé Vögler= (Würzburg), 1749-1814. A
distinguished organist and composer, the list of whose
works include a piano quartett called “The Matrimonial
Quarrel,” and other chamber music.
1751. =B. Campagnoli= (Bologna), 1751-1827. Violinist
and chamber music composer.
1752. =Muzio Clementi= (Rome), 1752-1832. Pianist and
composer.
1752. =Leopold Kotzeluch= (Bohemian), 1752-1818. A
prolific if not profound composer, of fame during his
life-time. Amongst other of his chamber music works are
fifty-seven piano trios.
1753. =F. Fiorillo= (Naples), about 1753. Violinist
and composer. Some of his works were edited by Spohr.
1753. =G.B. Viotti= (Fontanetto), 1753-1824. Italian
composer and violinist, who has been called the father of
modern violin playing. He wrote many important chamber
music works.
1754. =Peter von Winter= (Mannheim), 1754-1825. Famous
opera composer, who also wrote some interesting chamber
music.
1754. =William Shield= (Swalwell, Durham), 1754-1829.
English opera and chamber music composer. He was also of
repute as a musical theorist.
1756. =Paul Wranitzky= (Vienna), 1756-1808. A composer
of a large quantity of chamber music. He was violinist
in Haydn’s Esterhazy Band. His brother Anton was also a
distinguished violinist and composer.
1756. =Mozart= (Salzburg), 1756-91.
1757. =Ignaz J. Pleyel= (Rupertsthal), 1757-1831.
Pupil of Haydn. He wrote a great quantity of chamber music
(forty-five string quartetts, and other works), which is,
however, hardly now remembered.
1760. =Franz Krommer= (Vienna), 1760-1831. Among other
chamber music he wrote sixty-nine string quartetts, but
these were overshadowed by the works of his contemporaries,
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
1760. =Cherubini= (Florence), 1760-1842. Eminent
composer in various styles. His string quartetts are
noteworthy.
1763. =A. Gyrowetz= (Vienna), 1763-1850. A
distinguished personality, and prolific composer of chamber
music (sixty string quartetts, etc.), which was not,
however, of an enduring character.
1764. =Regina Strinasacchi= (Ostiglia), 1764-1839.
Noted lady violinist, for whom Mozart wrote the well-known
violin and clavier sonata in B♭ (No. 454, Köchel). When
first performed by her and the composer (in public), no
clavier part had as yet been written, Mozart playing it
from memory.
1765. =D. Steibelt= (Berlin), 1765-1823. Solo pianist,
and composer of a great deal of chamber music which is
now almost forgotten. As a performer he is said to have
competed in public with Beethoven, and was popularly
considered not inferior to that master.
1766. =Anton Eberl= (Vienna), 1766-1807. Pianist,
composer of chamber music, and the friend of Mozart and
Gluck.
1766. =Rudolph Kreutzer= (Versailles), 1766-1831.
Beethoven dedicated to him the piano and violin Sonata op.
47. He was chamber musician to Napoleon and to Louis XVIII.
The large quantity of chamber music which he wrote is now
practically forgotten, but his forty violin studies are
still highly esteemed.
1767. =Andreas Romberg= (Vechta), 1767-1821. Composer
of distinction, if not of genius. He wrote many chamber
music works. His son Bernard (’cellist) was also somewhat
distinguished as a performer and composer.
1769. =J.F. Rochlitz= (Leipzig), 1769-1842. Literary
musician, who edited the _Allgemeine Musikalische
Zeitung_ during the period when Beethoven’s works began
to appear. His discriminating and sympathetic notices were
among the first to call world-wide attention to these
works, and are indeed of much historic importance.
1769. =Martin Marin= (Bayonne), born 1769. Celebrated
harpist, for which instrument he composed (and such works
are rare) quintetts with strings and other chamber music,
which M. Fétis says are “truly classical.”
1770. =Anton Reicha= (Prague), 1770-1836. Theorist and
composer. Friend and associate of Albrechtsberger, Haydn,
and Beethoven. He wrote many chamber music works.
1770. =Beethoven= (Bonn), 1770-1827.
1771. =P.M. Baillot= (Paris), 1771-1842. Celebrated
violinist and teacher, who also wrote some chamber music.
1771. =J.B. Cramer= (Mannheim), 1771-1858. Pianist,
composer, and teacher.
1772. =Joseph Wolff= (Salzburg), 1772-1812. Pianist
and composer, who studied under Michael Haydn. In
extemporisation on the piano he was popularly considered
superior to Beethoven. He published many chamber music
works, but his career was not successful. He died in London
forgotten, and, it is said, almost destitute.
1772. =Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia=
(Friedrichsfelde), 1772-1806. Distinguished amateur
musician and composer of interesting chamber music.
1776. =Ignaz Schuppanzigh= (Vienna), 1776-1830. He,
as leader, with Mayseder, Weiss, and Lincke, constituted
the celebrated string quartett which first performed
Beethoven’s works, under the composer’s own direction.
1778. =J.N. Hummel= (Pressburg), 1778-1837.
Distinguished musician. Pupil of Mozart. Composer of
chamber music, of which it may be said that while good, it
was but superficial in feeling.
1780. =Luigi Borghi=, violinist and composer, who
resided in London about 1780. He wrote some excellent
sonatas for violin, and for viola d’amore and double bass.
1781. =Antonio Diabelli= (Mattsee), 1781-1858. A
prolific but by no means great composer. He was a pupil of
Michael Haydn, but afterwards became a music publisher in
Vienna. He published Schubert’s works, and, it is said, did
not pay that master well.
1782. =J.F. Mazas= (Béziers), 1782-1849. Violinist and
composer of chamber music.
1782. =John Field= (Dublin), 1782-1837. Chiefly known
as a pianist, and for his nocturnes for piano. He also
wrote some chamber music.
1782. =N. Paganini= (Genoa), 1782-1840. Probably the
greatest of violin virtuosi. As a player in classical
quartetts he was said to have been a failure. He did not
subordinate himself sufficiently to the general meaning and
effect of the music.
1783. =Joseph Lincke= (Vienna), 1783-1837.
Violoncellist in the Rasumowsky and Schuppanzigh Quartetts,
with whom Beethoven’s name was so much associated.
1783. =Graf von Gallenberg= (Vienna), 1783-1839.
Beethoven is said to have been in love with the Countess
Guicciardi (who eventually became the Countess Gallenberg),
and he dedicated his so-called moonlight sonata to
her. Beethoven wrote a set of variations on a theme of
Gallenberg’s.
1784. =Ferdinand Ries= (Bonn), 1784-1838. Pianist,
composer, and teacher. Was an intimate friend of Beethoven,
and wrote a biography of that master.
1784. =François J. Fétis= (Mons, Belgium), 1784-1871.
Distinguished literary musician, who wrote also some
chamber music of interest, if not of genius.
1784. =George Onslow= (Clermont-Ferrand), 1784-1852.
The grandson of Lord Onslow. Voluminous writer of chamber
music, to which he almost devoted his life. He played
’cello in the soirées which were constantly held at his
French residence, Clermont-Ferrand (Puy de Dôme). His
chamber music has considerable artistic value.
1784. =Ludwig Spohr= (Brunswick), 1784-1859.
Distinguished violinist and composer. His chamber music, as
well as many works in all styles, are of great importance.
1786. =F. Kuhlau= (Hanover), 1786-1832. He is chiefly
known by his chamber music quartetts, trios, and duets for
flutes.
1786. =Weber= (Eutin), 1786-1826. The famous German
opera-composer (_Der Freischutz_, etc.). He also wrote
some important chamber music. His piano sonatas especially
are noteworthy.
1787. =Antonio Leite= (Oporto), 1787-1826. Portuguese
composer, whose works include sonatas for the curious
combination—guitar, violin, and two trumpets.
1788. =Aloys Schmitt= (Erlenbach), 1788-1866. Pianist
and teacher. His trios and quartetts for strings are
interesting.
1789. =Joseph Mayseder= (Vienna), 1789-1863. Violinist
of importance and composer of chamber music. He was a
member of the Schuppanzigh Quartett. It is said that
Paganini thought highly of him.
1790. =C. Urhan= (Paris), 1790-1845. Violinist and
composer of chamber music, and belonged to Baillot’s
Quartett. He, like his contemporary Michael Woldemar
(1750-1816), who wrote a concerto for the instrument,
constructed a larger violin with a fifth string (low C),
and called it the violin alto.
1791. =Karl Czerny= (Vienna), 1791-1857. Eminent
pianist and teacher. He was for a while a pupil of
Beethoven.
1792. =Anton B. Fürstenau= (Münster), 1792-1852.
Flautist of distinction, who was much connected with
chamber music performances. His works in this form for
flute and strings, etc., are important.
1794. =L. Jansa= (Vienna), 1794-1875. Celebrated as
a quartett leader, especially of the works of Haydn and
of Beethoven, whose Kreutzer Sonata he played first to
Beethoven, with Czerny at the piano.
1794. =Ignace Moscheles= (Leipzig), 1794-1870. A
pupil of Albrechtsberger, and associated with Beethoven,
Mendelssohn, and other great artists. He wrote chamber
music, which is now, however, practically forgotten. Some
of his piano works are of value.
1795. =Kaspar Kummer= (Erlau), 1795-1870. Eminent
flautist, who wrote chamber music for that instrument, with
strings.
1795. =H.A. Marschner= (Zittau), 1795-1861. Opera
composer of distinction, whose works may be regarded as the
link between Weber and Wagner. He also wrote some chamber
music which had little vitality, and is now forgotten.
1796. =Anton Schindler= (Medl.), 1796-1864. May be
called Beethoven’s “Boswell.” He lived on intimate terms,
under the same roof, with the great master, helped him
during his life-time, and afterwards faithfully chronicled
his doings. Schindler was an educated musician, played the
violin, and was for some time Cathedral Capellmeister at
Münster.
1797. =Schubert= (Lichtenthal), 1797-1828.
1798. =J.B. Villaume= (Mirecourt), 1798-1875.
Celebrated French violin maker. He also invented a large
kind of viola which was called “contralto,” and a monster
double bass called “octo-bass.”
1798. =Karl G. Reissiger= (Belzig), 1798-1859. German
composer of operas, etc. He also wrote a considerable
amount of chamber music, which had its vogue. But although
facile in expression, his music is lacking in character and
depth. Such music is useful as showing us what _not_
to do.
1800. =Edward A. Grell= (Berlin), 1800-86. A somewhat
distinguished musician, who held the view that vocal music
was the only real music. Instrumental was decadent!
1802. =W. Bernhard Molique= (Nuremberg), 1802-69.
Esteemed composer, solo violinist, and quartett leader. His
chamber music is of high merit.
1802. =John Ella= (Thirsk, Yorkshire), 1802-88.
Violinist and promoter of high-class chamber concerts
in London. His audiences were supplied with analytical
programmes, a custom, however, which had already been in
use at like concerts given in Edinburgh.
1803. =Glinka= (Nowospask), 1803-57. Distinguished
Russian composer, who also wrote some chamber music.
1803. =Franz Lachner= (Munich), 1803-90. A somewhat
important German composer. Intimate friend of Schubert.
His chamber music includes string and piano quartetts and
larger works.
1803. =Karl F.E. Schafhautl= (Ingolstadt), 1803-90.
Acoustical musician, who assisted Boehm in his improvements
of the flute and other instruments. His investigations into
the causes of the various tone-tints of musical instruments
is said to have shaken the Helmholz theory.
1805. =The Brothers Sebastian and Louis Lee=
(Hamburg), 1805 and 1819. Both ’cellists of repute. Louis,
along with Hafner, established in Hamburg chamber music
concerts. He also composed some chamber music.
1806. =H.W. Veit= (Repnic), 1806-64. Bohemian composer
of repute, who wrote some interesting chamber music.
1807. =H.N. Reber= (Paris), 1807-80. French composer
of distinction. His chamber music is worthy of attention.
1807. =J.L. Ellerton= (London), 1807-73. An amateur
who wrote a large quantity of chamber music, including
forty-four string quartetts.
1808. =M.W. Balfe= (Dublin), 1808-70. The well-known
opera composer (_Bohemian Girl_, etc.). His piano trio
in A major is an exceptional but quite interesting work.
It was played at the Monday Popular Concerts, with Joachim
as leader.
1808. =Prince Rasumowsky= (Russian), about 1808. He carried
on from 1808 to 1816 the string quartett known by his
name, and in which he played second violin. Afterwards it
was called, after its leader, the Schuppanzigh Quartett.
Beethoven dedicated his quartett op. 59 to Rasumowsky.
1809. =E. Sauzay= (Paris), born 1809. Violinist and
pupil of Baillot, in whose quartett he played second
violin, and afterwards viola. He took an active part in
matters connected with chamber music.
1809. =Felix Mendelssohn= (Hamburg), 1809-47.
1810. =Chopin= (Zelazowa-Wola), 1810-49. Celebrated
Polish pianist and composer. He wrote some chamber music,
but is best known by his works for piano solo.
1810. =Ferdinand David= (Hamburg), 1810-73. Violinist
of fame as performer and teacher. Joachim and Wilhelmj were
among his pupils. He was much associated with the best
chamber music doings of his time. During its composition
Mendelssohn conferred with him as to his (Mendelssohn’s)
Violin Concerto.
1810. =Felicien David= (Cadenet), 1810-76. French
composer, known now chiefly by his ode “The Desert.” His
string quartetts were also held in high esteem during his
life-time.
1810. =Schumann= (Zwickau), 1810-56.
1811. =Ferdinand Hiller= (Frankfurt-a-M.), 1811-85.
German composer of repute. His chamber music possesses a
certain degree of interest.
1811. =Henry G. Blagrove= (Nottingham), 1811-72.
Eminent English violinist. Pupil of Spohr.
1811. =Franz Liszt= (Raiding), 1811-86. One of the
world’s great pianists, but more devoted to solo than to
_ensemble_ playing. Wagner (whose devoted friend Liszt
was) has left it on record that he never knew the full
power and majesty of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, especially
the later ones, until he heard them played by Liszt, in
private, at Wahnfried, Wagner’s residence in Bayreuth.
1811. =C.L. Ambroise Thomas= (Metz), 1811-96.
Distinguished French opera composer, who also wrote a
string quartett, a quintett, a piano trio, and other
chamber music.
1812. =Karl Grädener= (Rostock), 1812-83. Chamber
music composer of some distinction, ’cellist, and quartett
player.
1812. =Flotow= (Mecklenburg), 1812-83. Opera composer,
who is best known by his work _Marta_. He also wrote
some chamber music, not, however, of distinction.
1813. =Sir G.A. Macfarren= (London), 1813-87.
Composer, and Principal of the R.A. Music, London. He
published a number of works in chamber music form, also on
musical theory.
1813. =G. Verdi= (Roncole), 1813-1901. The well-known
Italian opera composer, who in 1873 published a quartett
for strings, his only instrumental chamber music work.
1815. =Stephen Heller= (Paris), 1815-88. A composer
(chiefly for the piano) whose works, although written in
the smaller forms, rise above most of his contemporaries in
character, and especially in poetic expression. He, with
the violinist Ernst, published some interesting piano and
violin pieces.
1815. =F. Robert Volkmann= (Lommatzsch), 1815-83.
Eminent modern composer, who wrote many chamber music works
of interest.
1815. =E.C. Sivori= (Genoa),—1815-94. Famous violinist
and quartett leader.
1816. =Sir W. Sterndale Bennett= (Sheffield), 1816-75.
Distinguished English composer, especially for piano. His
trio op. 26 is a charming chamber music work.
1817. =Niels W. Gade= (Copenhagen), 1817-90. Danish
composer. Amongst his chamber music, a piano trio in F and
the violin and piano sonatas are noteworthy.
1817. =M. Gustav Nottebohm= (Lüdenschied), 1817-82. A
well-known German writer on music, especially on Beethoven,
whose interesting sketch books he published.
1817. =Alex. W. Thayer= (South Natick, U.S.A.),
1817-97. An American writer who devoted much of his life to
a biography of Beethoven, which has, however, only as yet
in part been issued in German.
1818. =Antonio Bazzini= (Brescia), 1818-97. Italian
violinist and composer of chamber music. His string
quartetts and a quintett are much esteemed.
1819. =W. Sharfenberg= (Kassel), 1819-95. German
violinist and pianist, who resided chiefly in New York,
U.S.A. He at one time played second violin in Spohr’s
string quartett.
1819. =Sir Charles Hallé= (Hagen), 1819-95.
Distinguished pianist and conductor, who resided chiefly in
Manchester, and did much for chamber music in the country
of his adoption.
1820. =C. Gurlitt= (Altona), 1820-1901. A composer of
sincere and pleasing, if not profound, chamber music. He
also wrote much piano music for young people and children.
1820. =Jules Armingaud= (Paris), born 1820. Leader of
a famous string quartett. He is said to have introduced
Beethoven’s quartetts to Paris.
1821. =Friedrich Kiel= (Berlin), 1821-85. Important
modern composer, who wrote a considerable amount of chamber
music.
1822. =Alfred Piatti= (Bergamo), 1822-1901. Celebrated
violoncellist, which instrument he played for many years
at the leading chamber music concerts in London, where he
resided.
1822. =J. Joachim Raff= (Lachen), 1822-82. A versatile
and highly-gifted composer, many of whose chamber music
works are of great interest. A Piano Trio in C minor, op.
102, may be specially mentioned.
1822. =L.T. Gouvy= (Gaffontaine), 1822-98. A composer
who wrote a large quantity of chamber music in style
somewhat Mendelssohnian. He resided chiefly in Paris.
1822. =César August Franck= (Liège), 1822-90. A
composer whose works, and more especially some of his
chamber music, are highly esteemed by many connoisseurs.
A quintett for piano and strings in F minor is highly
regarded.
1823. =Edward Lalo= (Paris), 1823-92. Violinist and
composer. He was early in his career connected with chamber
music, and has left some interesting works in that style.
1823. =Theodore Kirchner= (Neukirchen), 1823-1903.
A German composer who has written chamber music of a
delightful character, especially in the smaller forms:
novelletten, etc., for piano, violin, and ’cello.
1824. =Anton Bruckner= (Vienna), 1824-96.
1824. =Carl H.C. Reinecke= (Altona), 1824. Composer
of much charming chamber music, also in other forms. He
was conductor for many years of the Gewandhaus Concerts in
Leipzig, and is one of the leading German musicians.
1824. =F. Smetana= (Leitomischl), 1824-84. Bohemian
composer of importance. Dvořák was one of his pupils. His
string quartetts and piano trio are of interest.
1827. =Eduard Silas= (Amsterdam), 1827. Of Dutch
nationality, but settled in London. Has composed chamber
music as well as in various other styles.
1829. =Joseph Hellmesberger= (Vienna), 1829-93. Leader
of the celebrated quartett called by his name.
1829. =Albert H. Dietrich= (near Meissen), 1829. A
pupil of Schumann. His piano trios and other chamber music
are of considerable merit.
1830. =Carl Goldmark= (Vienna), 1830. Interesting
composer, of Hungarian origin. His chamber music is worthy
of attention.
1830. =Anton Rubinstein= (Wechwotynez), 1830-94. One
of the great pianists, and a composer of distinction. Some
of his chamber music is of a high order.
1830. =Hans Von Bülow= (Dresden), 1830-94. A pianist
of great distinction, who exercised a marked influence on
the performance of chamber music. He was also a remarkable
conductor, and musical critic.
1831. =Joseph Joachim= (Kittsee), 1831. Distinguished
violinist and composer, to whom, as the exponent of the
best chamber music, the world of music is deeply indebted.
The string quartett called after him consists of Herren
Karl Halir, E. Wirth, R. Hausmann, and Dr. Joachim himself.
1831. =Ludwig Nohl= (Iserlohn), 1831-85. German
musical _littérateur_, who has written a good deal
concerning Beethoven and Mozart. He has also published
a booklet on _The Historical Development of Chamber
Music_.
1831. =Joseph Bennett= (Berkeley), 1831. Prominent
English musical writer, whose insight and distinguished
literary style have contributed much to the spread of good
taste in our national music. He was among the first to
recognise the high worth of Dvořák’s chamber music.
1833. =Hermann Dieters= (Bonn), 1833. A critic and
writer on musical matters, especially he has written on
Brahms and Beethoven.
1833. =F.E. Bache= (Birmingham), 1833-58. Pianist and
composer of great promise, who unfortunately died young.
1833. =Johannes Brahms= (Hamburg), 1833-97.
1833. =Jean Becker= (Mannheim), 1833-84. Eminent
violinist who established the well-known “Florentine”
quartett.
1834. =Nicolai von Wilm= (Riga), 1834. Pianist and
composer of interesting chamber music. A sextett, op. 27,
for strings is well spoken of.
1835. =Ebenezer Prout= (Oundle), 1835. In the front
rank of living musical theorists. Among his compositions
are a number of chamber music works.
1835. =Felix A.B. Draeseke= (Coburg), 1835. Composer
whose later works in chamber music style are highly spoken
of in Germany.
1835. =C. Camille Saint-Saëns= (Paris), 1835.
Versatile French composer of high standing. Has written in
all styles. His chamber music is very interesting.
1837. =J. Francis Barnett= (London), 1837. Pianist and
composer, who, among other and larger works, has written
some chamber music.
1838. =Max Bruch= (Cologne), 1838. His best known
works are the violin concertos. He has also written some
chamber music.
1839. =Lady Hallé= (Madame Neruda) (Brünn), 1839. Solo
violinist of high standing, and one of the quartett leaders
at the London Monday Popular and other high-class English
concerts.
1839. =Joseph G. Rheinberger= (Vaduz), 1839-1901. A
distinguished German composer, whose chamber music is of
high merit, notably the E♭ Piano Quartett and the C minor
String Quartett.
1839. =J. Knowles Paine= (Portland, U.S.A.), 1839.
American composer of high aim, who has written in various
forms, including chamber music.
1840. =P.I. Tschaïkovsky= (Wotkinsk), 1840-93. Famous
Russian composer. His chamber music is of much importance.
1840. =Hermann Goetz= (Königsberg), 1840-76. German
composer of genius, who unfortunately died young. His Piano
Trio in G minor and other chamber music works are highly
esteemed.
1840. =Johann S. Svendsen= (Christiania), 1840.
Norwegian violinist and composer of a fresh and delightful
talent. He has written a good deal of chamber music.
1841. =Anton Dvořák= (Nelahozeves), 1841. The
well-known composer, who has written works of the utmost
importance in all styles, including chamber music.
1842. =Victor Duvernoy= (Paris), 1842. French composer
and pianist, who, along with M. Leonard the violinist,
established important chamber music soirées in Paris.
1843. =Edvard H. Grieg= (Bergen), 1843. Charming Norse
composer. His piano and violin sonatas are well known, or
should be.
1843. =G. Sgambati= (Rome), 1843. Italian composer,
who has written some chamber music. Some laudatory
expressions of Richard Wagner’s first drew attention to him.
1843. =J.S. Shedlock= (Reading), 1843. Musical critic
and _littérateur_, who has also published some musical
works. His articles on Beethoven’s Sketch Books, Cramer’s
Piano Studies, with Beethoven’s notes, which he discovered;
his work on the Sonata, and on Kuhnau’s Biblical Sonatas,
are of great interest, bearing, as they do in part, on the
subject of chamber music.
1844. =Edward Dannreuther= (Strasburg), 1844. Pianist
and teacher, who resides in London. His influence has been
of the highest value to the cause of chamber music in
England.
1844. =Rimsky-Korsakoff= (Tichwin), 1844. Russian
composer of distinction. His works include some interesting
chamber music.
1844. =Hugo Heeymann= (Frankfurt), 1844. Violinist and
leader of the quartett known by his name, one of the best
in Germany.
1845. =Friedrich Niecks= (Düsseldorf), 1845. Professor
of Music in the University of Edinburgh, where he has done
much to promote the culture of chamber music.
1845. =Gabriel Fauré= (Pamiers), 1845. French
composer, whose works include some chamber music.
1847. =August Klughardt= (Cöthen), 1847. Scholarly
German composer, who, as well as chamber music, has written
a good deal in the larger forms.
1847. =Sir Alex. C. Mackenzie= (Edinburgh), 1847.
Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. A distinguished
composer in all styles.
1847. =Benno Walter= (Munich), 1847. Violinist, and
distinguished German quartett leader.
1847. =Agnes Zimmermann= (Cologne). Pianist of
distinction, who has written chamber music, and also edited
the piano works of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann. Miss
Zimmermann has chiefly resided in London.
1847. =Robert Fuchs= (Vienna), 1847. German composer,
who has written a good deal of music, chiefly in classical
form. His chamber music possesses a certain interest.
1848. =Sir C. Hubert H. Parry= (London), 1848.
Principal of the Royal College of Music, London. Has
written with distinction in every form save opera. His
chamber music is of great interest, although he has chiefly
occupied himself with larger works.
1848. =G.J.R. Heckmann= (Mannheim), 1848-91. Violinist
and founder of the quartett which was known by his name.
1848. =Count Franchi-Verney= (Turin), 1848. Italian
writer on music. He established at Turin in 1875 a society
for the culture of chamber music. The celebrated violinist
Teresina Tua is the Countess Verney.
1848. =F.G. Gleason= (Chicago), 1848. An American
chamber music composer.
1849. =Benjamin Godard= (Paris), 1849-95. French
composer of some note. He was awarded the chamber music
prize by the Institute of France.
1850. =F.X. Scharwenka= (Samter), 1850. Pianist, and
composer of chamber music of an interesting character.
1850. =Hans Sitt= (Prague), 1850. Violinist,
composer, and conductor. Is on the staff of the Leipzig
Conservatoire. He played viola in the Brodsky Quartett.
1850. =Ludwig Stiehle= (Frankfurt), 1850. Violinist,
pupil of Joachim; member of Hubay’s Quartett at Basel. He
also played in the Hochberg Quartett, in Alard’s Paris
Quartett, and in that of Baron von Derwies at Nice.
1850. =Zdenko Fibich= (Bohemian), 1850; A somewhat
distinguished composer, known in England by his Piano
Quartett in E minor, op. 11.
1851. =Adolph Brodsky= (Taganrog), 1851. Now resident
in Manchester as Principal of the School of Music, and
where he has formed a quartett called by his name. He was
formerly a member of the Hellmesberger Quartett in Vienna.
1851. =Vincent d’Indy= (Paris), 1851. French composer
of modern tendencies. Amongst his chamber music is a suite
for trumpet, two flutes, and string quartett.
1852. =Hans Huber= (Schönewerd), 1852. His
compositions include a considerable amount of chamber music.
1852. =Dr. Frederic Cowen= (Kingston, Jamaica), 1852.
Distinguished English composer and conductor. He has
written chamber music, some of which is not yet published.
1852. =Benedetto Junck= (Turin), 1852. Italian
composer of talent. Has published a string quartett, and
piano and violin sonatas.
1852. =Sir C. Villiers Stanford= (Dublin), 1852.
British composer of distinction in all styles.
1853. =Gustave Dannreuther= (Cincinnati, U.S.A.),
1853. Violinist. Has been specially associated with
quartett playing and chamber music in New York. He is
brother to Edward Dannreuther (London).
1853. =Arthur W. Foote= (Boston, U.S.A.), 1853.
American composer, who has written string quartetts and
other chamber music.
1854. =G.W. Chadwick= (Lowell, U.S.A.), 1854. One of
the leading American composers. His chamber music works
include a Piano Quintett in E♭, five string quartetts, and
a string trio.
1855. =Julius Röntgen= (Leipzig), 1855. Pianist and
chamber music composer of merit.
1856. =G. Martucci= (Bologna), 1856. Italian composer,
whose chamber music is of considerable interest.
1856. =Christian Sinding= (Kongsberg), 1856. Norwegian
composer, who studied at Leipzig. His chamber music is of
importance.
1856. =Herbert Thompson= (Leeds), 1856. Musical
and art critic to the _Yorkshire Post_, a leading
provincial daily journal. His numerous articles and
_critiques_ have very beneficially influenced the
condition of music, including that of chamber music, in the
North of England.
1856. =Edward Schütt= (St. Petersburg), 1856. Pianist
and composer, who has written some interesting chamber
music, _i.e._ Walzer-Märchen Trio, and Trio in C minor
for piano, violin, and ’cello.
1856. =J.A. Fuller-Maitland=, M.A. Cantab. (London),
1856. Pianist and musical critic of _The Times_. Has,
among other important musical work, edited Purcell’s twelve
sonatas for strings.
1858. =T. Adamoffski= (Warsaw), 1858. He organised the
string quartett called after his name in Boston, U.S.A.
This quartett gave about thirty concerts annually in the
chief American cities.
1858. =Nicolas Sokoloff= (St. Petersburg), 1858 (?
1847). Russian composer of high rank. His string quartett
and quintett are noteworthy.
1858. =Eugene Ysaye= (Liège), 1858. Distinguished
violinist and leader of the Ysaye Quartett in Brussels. Has
more recently resided in London.
1859. =Willy Hess=, 1859. Well-known violinist, and
leader of the Cologne Quartett, consisting of himself
and Herren Körner (second violin), Schwarz (viola), and
Grützmacher (’cello), which from 1895 to 1903 played
frequently in all the chief German cities. In 1904, when
he entered on the duty of violin professor at the Royal
Academy of Music, London, he established the “Willy Hess”
Quartett, the other artists being H. Fellowes (second
violin), L. Tertis (viola), and H. Withers, ’cello.
1859. =W.H. Hadow= (Ebrington), 1859. Musical writer
of distinction. His work, _Studies in Modern Music_,
occupies a high place among current musical literature.
He has also composed among other chamber music a string
quartett, a piano trio, two sonatas for piano and violin,
and a sonata for piano and viola.
1859. =Algernon Ashton= (Durham), 1859. Composer of
chamber music, who has also written a good deal of music
in the larger forms. He has published two quintetts, two
quartetts, and three trios for piano and strings, and some
ten sonatas for various instruments.
1859. =Arthur S. Chappell= (London), 1859. Director of
the celebrated Monday Popular Chamber Concerts in London,
and head of the firm of Chappell & Co.
1860. =Felix Woyrsch= (Troppau), 1860. Austrian
composer whose works are said to be characterised by
freshness and energy. He has, among others, written a
string and a piano quartett and a violin and piano sonata.
1862. =A.S. Arensky= (Novgorod), 1862. Russian pianist
and composer. Some of his chamber music (Piano Trio in D
minor) has been performed recently in London.
1863. =Miss Fanny Davies= (Guernsey). Eminent pianist,
who has taken part in most of the important chamber music
concerts in England. Miss Davies was a pupil of Madame
Schumann.
1863. =Arnold J. Rosé= (Vienna), 1863. Solo violinist
and leader of the well-known Rosé Quartett.
1864. =Eugen D’Albert= (Glasgow), 1864. Composer and
pianist of high rank. He has especially distinguished
himself as a chamber music performer. His compositions in
this style, too, are noteworthy.
1864. =Richard Strauss= (Munich), 1864. Important
modern composer. His later works are chiefly orchestral,
but he wrote chamber music, in classical form, in his
earlier years.
1865. =A. Glazounoff= (St. Petersburg), 1865. Russian
composer of distinction, who has written some chamber music.
1865. =Robert Kahn= (Mannheim), 1865. Composer of
somewhat interesting chamber music.
1866. =F.B. Busoni= (Florence), 1866. Eminent solo
pianist and chamber music composer.
1866. =Prince Nicholas Galatzin= (Russian), died 1866.
Amateur musician and ’cellist, to whom Beethoven dedicated
some of his last string quartetts.
1868. =Leonard Borwick= (Walthamstow), 1868. Solo
and chamber music pianist of distinction. Mr. Borwick was
a pupil of Madame Schumann, and has played in the chief
concerts, both English and continental.
1873. =S.V. Rachmaninoff= (Novgorod), 1873. A Russian
pianist and composer. Among his chamber music is a Trio
Élégiaque, op. 9.
1874. =Josef Suk= (Křečovic), 1874. Bohemian violinist
and composer of some excellent chamber music. He is a
member of the Bohemian Quartett.
1875. =S. Coleridge-Taylor= (London), 1875. One of
the most promising of the young composers of to-day. He
is, on his father’s side, of West African descent. Among
much interesting music he has written some in chamber music
style.
1875. =Donald F. Tovey= (Eton College), 1875. Pianist
and composer of high aim. His works include a quintett
and a quartett for piano and strings; trios for piano,
clarinet, and horn; piano, violin, and cor Anglais; and
piano, violin, and ’cello. Sonatas for piano and violin,
piano and clarinet, and duets for oboe and piano.
Other contemporary composers and performers of chamber music are:—
R.H. Walthew.
Joseph Holbrooke.
Cyrill Scott.
Norman O’Neill.
J. Kruse.
F.A. Lamond.
E. von Dohnányi.
J.B. McEwen.
A. Fransella.
G. Henschel.
F. Weingartner.
C. Halir.
R. Gomperz.
J. Ludwig.
A.E. Ferir.
P. Cathie.
John Sanders.
Charles Draper.
A. Randegger, jun.
Baron d’Erlanger.
W.H. Reed.
H. Walford Davies.
H. Wessely.
Franklin Taylor.
H. Hofmann.
L. Risegari.
E. Sjögren.
Haydn Inwards.
M. Esposito.
A. Hobday.
P. Wolfrum.
F.W. Davenport.
Rawdon Briggs.
A. Beer-Walbrunn.
A. Burnett.
V. Wilm.
Carl Fuchs.
G.F. Cobb.
G. Henschel.
J.C. Culwick.
J. Klengel.
S. Speelman.
L. Thuille.
W.M. Malsch.
S. Jadassohn.
Chas. Reynolds.
E. Reznicek.
W.B. Wooton.
G.A. Clinton.
G. Horton.
W.E. Whitehouse.
M. Gomez.
Appendix B.
Glossary of Terms.
=Absolute Music=, music _per se_ without relation
to the arts, or to any presentation whatever outside of
it.[43]
[Footnote 43: Riemann’s _Dictionary of Music_.]
=Chamber Music Pitch.= Formerly absolute pitch did not
exist. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the
pitch was high. This we find according to the old organs,
which are some of them a tone higher than our present
French diapason. Chamber pitch in olden times differed from
church pitch. The adoption of a uniform pitch is very much
to be desired at the present time.
=Divertimento=, a kind of chamber music suite, or
combination of pieces of a pleasing and diverting kind.
=Gudok=, a violin-like Russian instrument with drones.
=Volte Subito, or Vide Sequens=, written usually V.S.
It means turn over quickly, or see what follows.
=Violone=, the Italian name for the double bass.
=Musica da Camera=, chamber music (Italian). The
term came into use about the beginning of the seventeenth
century.
=Chrotta= (Latin), =Crwth= (British), probably
the oldest of European stringed instruments. Historically
it is found mentioned so far back as the year 609. The
word chrotta means literally “a bulging box.” The rebec was
the same as the crwth, or nearly so. The geige is a like
instrument.
=Kit= (French Pochette), a small violin which was
carried in the pocket; used by teachers of dancing.
=Early Instrumental Music.= Brass instruments in
the very early times were not used for musical purposes,
but only as an accompaniment to military and other such
affairs. At festivals and weddings of the middle ages
stringed instruments came into use, and here we have the
beginnings of instrumental music. The earliest traces of
the use of violin-like instruments is found about the ninth
century.
=Baryton=, an instrument of the violoncello type.
Haydn wrote much for the instrument, which was played by
his patron, Prince Esterhazy.
=Chanterelle=, the highest string on instruments of
the violin family. Usually associated with the E string of
the violin.
=Concerto da Camera=, chamber concerto. The title was
introduced by Torelli, about 1686.
=The String Quartett.= The instruments which form this
combination, viz.: the two violins, viola, and violoncello,
are, as to their construction, the result of a slow
development of probably 1000 years, the fully-developed
violin dating from about the end of the fifteenth century.
Music for the string quartett came into vogue about the
middle of the eighteenth century. Earlier than this such
music usually took the form of the sonata a tre, viz.: two
violins and bass.
=Arpeggione=, an instrument after the kind of the
gamba (a small ’cello). First made in Vienna, about the
year 1823. Schubert wrote a sonata for this instrument.
=Bassett=, the old German name for the violoncello.
=Modern Violins.= In the year 1891 a certain Dr.
Stelzner, a German, made public his method of constructing
new violins, for which it was claimed that they would
outstrip the old Italian instruments. Stelzner inserted
vibrating tongues in the _f_ holes, and made other
so-called improvements. The claims made for these
instruments have not, however, been sustained. Another
attempt of this kind, called the “Stroh” violin, does not
seem to have been successful.
=Violin Tone.= The players on the viol in England in
the seventeenth century did not welcome the violin. Its
stronger and, to their ears, harsh tone was said to destroy
the delicate balance of the viols.
=Alto Violoncello=, a smaller instrument than the
ordinary one. Boccherini directs, in some of his chamber
music, that the ’cello part is to be played on this
instrument. The unusual difficulty of some of his ’cello
parts may be explained, in part, by this direction.
=Viol.= This instrument preceded the violin. Its
shape, which is still in use as the ordinary double bass of
the orchestra, has been thus described by Mr. Payne:—“It
differs from the violin in having deeper ribs, and a flat
back, which is sloped off at the top. The shoulders curve
upwards, joining the neck at a tangent instead of at right
angles, as in the violin. The neck is broad and thin, the
number of strings being five, six, or seven. The viol was
made in four sizes.”
=Fiddle.= This word has its origin in “fides,” the
Latin name for any kind of string. Its diminutive is
“fiducula.”
=The Strings.= By this is usually meant the violins,
violas, ’cellos and double basses collectively. The Germans
use the term “bowed instruments,” which is better than
“the strings,” seeing that the guitar, harp, piano, etc.,
are stringed instruments. Another German authority claims
that an accurate description is “bow-stringed instruments.”
=The Violin= is constructed of fifty-seven different
pieces of wood, which are glued together, the most numerous
of these parts being the linings and purfling. Its movable
fittings (bridge, pegs, etc.) number thirteen, making in
all seventy different parts.
=François Francœur= (1715). This French composer and
violinist is said to have used the thumb in playing the
violin, so as to produce certain chords, as is done in
’cello playing.
=Lute.= An old instrument whose descendants are the
guitar and mandoline. The chiterna (citerne) was of the
same order.
=Theorbo= belongs to the lute family. It was a bass
instrument, and had a double neck with two sets of strings.
=Taille.= An alto oboe (J.S. Bach). Sometimes used to
describe the viola.
=Urh-heen.= The Chinese violin. It differs very much
from the European instrument, has a different bow, and no
fingerboard.
=Viola-pomposa.= A kind of small violoncello, invented
by J.S. Bach.
=Rebec.= Probably the oldest stringed instrument
played with a bow. Whether Spain got it from Arabia, or
_vice versâ_, is a yet unsettled historical point.
Index.
Academy of Ancient Music, 21
Amati, 6, 209
American School of Music, 126
Arensky, 169, 240
Bach, John Sebastian, 5, 22, 38, 39, 107, 145, 162, 213
—— Philipp E., 22, 39, 216
—— Friedrich, 217
Bache, F.E., 196, 233
—— Walter, 197
Balfe, M.W., 193, 227
Baltzar, (violinist), 12
Banister, John, 13, 16, 211
Bargiel, W., 194
Baryton, 57
Bassett, 246
Beethoven, 39, 49, 52, 62, 65, 71, 74, 77, 85, 92, 98, 101, 104, 106,
114, 121, 144, 145, 146, 182, 183, 190, 222
Belaieff, 162, 163
Bennett, Joseph, 131, 233
—— Sterndale, 195, 197, 230
Berens, H., 201
Berger, W., 201
Boccherini, 39, 63, 219
Bohemia, 123
Borwick, Leonard, 241
Brahms, 32, 52, 101, 105, 109, 110, 124, 146, 182, 183, 190, 198, 202,
204, 233
Britton, Thomas, 14, 16, 17
Broadwood, J., & Sons, 34
Brodsky, Adolph, 237
Bruckner, Anton, 182, 232
Bülow, Hans von, 31, 104, 232
Burney, Dr., 189
Burns, 125
Busoni, 241
Chamber music: beginnings, 2;
early compositions, 3;
various early English composers, 3;
C.M. performed in 1679, 20;
C.M. Institutions, 33;
string quartett performers, 34 and 35;
Haydn’s quartetts, 53;
Russian composers, 133;
unusual works, 205;
C.M. pitch, 244;
performers and composers, 242;
Japanese music, 36;
C.M. for wind instruments, _see_ Wind;
Horn C.M., _see_ Horns;
Clarinet C.M., _see_ Clarinet
Chappell, Arthur, 30, 240
Cherubini, 85, 183, 221
Chopin, 92, 228
Chrotta, 244
Clarinet works, 68, 79, 80, 84, 97, 103, 109, 111, 121, 122, 134, 202,
203
Coleridge-Taylor, S., 181, 242
Compass of violin, 7
Composers and performers, 242
Corder, Frederic, 38
Corelli, 7, 211
Couperin, 213
Cowen, F., Dr., 238
D’Albert, Eugen, 241
Dando, Joseph, 27
Dannreuther, Edward, 29, 235
Davey, Henry, 104
David, F., 228
Davidoff, C., 174
Davies, Miss Fanny, 240
Davison, J.W., 30, 131
Dittersdorf, 45, 63, 218
_Don Juan_ (Strauss), 180
Dumka, 126
Dussek, J.L., 218
Dvořák, 123, 126, 235
Elgar, Edward, Dr., 181
Ella, John, 27, 227
Emerson, R.W., 84
Emperor Frederick, 5, 22, 24, 216
English music (its great period), 3
Erklärung (explanation, Brahms and Joachim), 103
Essipoff, Madame, 198
Evans, E. (notes), 170
_Evelyn’s Diary_, 20
Fiddle, 246
Finck, H.T., 103
Frankish kings, 1
Franck, C.A., 231
Franz, Robert, 103
Frederick, Emperor, 5, 22, 24, 216
Furiant (Dvořák), 126
Gade, N.W., 200, 230
Galuppi, 189
_Gerontius, The Dream of_, 181
Glass harmonica, 68
Glazounoff, 162, 167, 241
Glinka, 134, 227
Gluck, 216
Goetz, Hermann, 198, 234
Goldberg, 217
Goldmark, C., 232
Graun, 22, 215
Gretchaninoff, 144, 147
Grieg, 135, 235
Guarneri, 6, 211
Gudok, 244
Hadow, W.H., 53, 94, 96, 108, 132, 240
Hallé, Sir Charles, 29, 230
—— Lady, 234
Handel, 16, 39, 52, 53, 57, 86, 145, 213
Hanover Square Rooms, 27
Hanslick, Dr., 188
Hauptmann, 197
Hawkins’s _History_, 20, 21
Haydn, Joseph, 2, 6, 7, 35, 39, 40, 45, 49, 53, 56, 62, 65, 79, 86,
114, 118, 135, 217
—— Michael, 218
Heller, Stephen, 229
Hellmesberger, 183
Henderson, W.J., 106
Hess, Willy, 239
Hiller, F., 87, 88, 200, 228
Horns (Chamber Music), 79, 80, 84, 97, 111
Hughes, John, 16
Hummel, 206
D’Indy, Vincent, 206
Ippolitoff-Ivanoff, 135, 147
Italian Academy, 21
Japanese Chamber Music, 36
Jean-renaud, Cécile (Mendelssohn), 88
Joachim, Dr., 28, 32, 103, 174, 195, 233
Kaiser Quartett (Haydn), 54
Kirchner, Theodore, 192
Kopyloff, 175
Krehbiel, H., 1, 188, 189
Kreutzer, 221
Kreuz, Emil, 200
Kroepsch, 206
Kruse, Johann, 35
Latann, 206
Liadoff, 205
Liszt, 38, 193, 197, 229
Ludwig, Paul, 174
Lute, 247
Macfarren, Sir G., 229
Mackenzie, Sir A., 201, 236
Maitland, J.A. Fuller, 115, 239
McEwen, J.B., 205
Mellon, Alfred, 197
Mendelssohn, 52, 85, 89, 130, 195, 196, 197, 228
Molique, B., 199, 226
Monday Popular Concerts, 30, 32, 174, 202, 204
Mozart, 6, 49, 59, 63, 65, 68, 70, 79, 85, 92, 114, 145, 206, 220
Mühlfeld, Herr, 122, 202
Musical humour, 76
Musical Union (Ella), 27
Music meetings, 17
Nawratil, 198
Negro Quartett, 127
Newcastle-on-Tyne Chamber Music Society, 35
Niecks, F., 236
Norman-Neruda, Madame, 31
North’s _Memoirs_, 13
Nottebohm, 230
Onslow, G., 204, 224
Oxford Music School, 17
Paganini, 223
Parry, Sir Hubert, 64, 91, 107, 194, 236
Pauer, Ernst, 93
Pepusch, 16
_Pepys’s Diary_, 18
Performers and composers, 242
Piatti, A., 231
Plaidy, 197
Position of platform, 28
Programme music, 38
Prout, Dr. E., 203, 233
Purcell, 4, 21, 85, 212
Quantz, 22, 206, 215
Queen’s Hall orchestra, 134
Rabl, W., 202
Rachmaninoff, 170
Raff, Joachim, 192, 231
Rasumowsky, 228
Rebec, 247
Reicha, 206
Reinecke, Carl, 232
Reinken, 4
Rheinberger, 202, 234
Richter, Dr. Hans, 184
Rimsky-Korsakoff, 235
Ritter, Professor, 90
Rosalia form, 96
Rubinstein, Anton, 103, 200, 232
Russian chamber music, 133
Russian schools of musical thought, 161
Russian C.M. composers, 133, 161, 163, 169
Russian miniature scores, 175
Rust, F.W., 218
Saint-Saëns, 199, 206, 234
Sainton’s Quartett, 29
Salzburg, the Archbishop of, 63
Sapellnikoff, 174
Sarti, 60
Scarlatti, A., 212
—— D., 39, 213
Schindler, 226
Schmidt, Oscar, 199
Schmitt, Aloys, 87, 200
Schumann, Madame, 31
—— Robert, 37, 52, 75, 83, 91, 101, 103, 105, 109, 130, 183, 192, 194,
228
Schubert, 65, 82, 190
Schütt, Edward, 191, 198, 239
Sgambati, G., 235
Shedlock, J.S., 235
Shield, William, 8, 220
Silence in music, 51
Sinding, C., 238
Smetana, 123, 232
Sokoloff, 175
Spitta, 25, 107
Spohr, 97, 101, 115, 224
Stanford, Sir Charles, 35, 52, 199, 238
Steibelt, 221
Strauss, Richard, 38, 178, 180, 241
Stradivari, 6, 211
Taille, 247
Tanyeëff, 175
Tartini, 214
Taylor, S. Coleridge-, 181, 242
Tennyson, 125
Theorbo, 247
Thomas, Theodore, 188
Thompson, Herbert, 239
_Till Eulenspiegel_, 178
Tourte, 219
Tovey, Donald, 242
Tschaïkovsky, 134, 136, 161, 169, 170, 175, 234
Tune in music, 145, 178
Urh-heen, 247
Veit, W.H., 205
Verdi, 203, 229
Vienna Philharmonic, 188
Viol, 246
Viola-pomposa, 247
Violin compass, 7
Violin makers, 6
Viotti, 220
Wagner, 52, 65, 69, 80, 98, 102, 103, 121, 136, 145, 146, 182, 183,
189, 193
Weber, 92, 224
Weingartner, F., 102, 190
Whichello, 16
Wieck, Clara, 94
Wind chamber music, 79, 80, 84, 134, 206
Wolf, Hugo, 206
Wollaston, 16
Wood, Henry J., 134
THE WALTER SCOTT PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD., NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
[Transcriber’s Notes:
The original text consistently misspelled "Dvořák" with the caron over
the o; this has been corrected. The inconsistent use of ’s or s’s for
the possessives of proper names ending in s has been normalized to s’s
(e.g., “Brahms’s”). Other obvious printer errors have been corrected
without note.
Italics are indicated by _underscores_ and boldface is indicated by
=equal signs=.
Illustrations and sidenotes have been moved so as not to interrupt the
flow of the text.
In Appendix A, Prince Rasumowsky is erroneously listed under 1808. He
was actually born in 1752, per Wikipedia.]
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