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diff --git a/37410-h/37410-h.htm b/37410-h/37410-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e7ab54 --- /dev/null +++ b/37410-h/37410-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5912 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> + <head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> +<title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Masters of French Music, by Arthur Hervey +</title> +<style type="text/css"> + p {margin-top:.2em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.2em;text-indent:2%;} + +.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + +.cb {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;} + +.ch {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;margin:3% auto 2% auto;} + +.ch2 {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;margin:6% auto 2% auto;font-size:110%;} + +.eng {font-family:Old English Text MT, serif;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-size:120%;} + +.engg {font-family:Old English Text MT, serif;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + +.hang {text-indent:-2%;margin-left:5%;} + +.nind {text-indent:0%;} + +.r {text-align:right;margin-right: 5%;} + +small {font-size: 70%;} + + h1 {text-align:center;clear:both;} + + h3 {margin-top:15%;text-align:center;clear:both;} + + hr.full {width: 50%;margin:5% auto 5% auto;border:4px double gray;} + + table {margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;border:none;text-align:left;} + + body{margin-left:2%;margin-right:2%;background:#fdfdfd;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} + +a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + + link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + +a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} + +a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} + +img {border:none;} + +.blockquot{margin:10% auto 5% auto;} + +.bbox {border:solid 1px black;padding:2%;max-width:18em;margin:8% auto 8% auto;} + + sup {font-size:75%;} + +.caption {font-size:90%;} + +.figcenter {margin: 3% auto 3% auto;text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + +.footnotes {border:dotted 3px gray;margin-top: 8%;clear:both;} + +.footnote {width:95%;margin:auto 3% 1% auto;font-size:0.9em;position:relative;} + +.label {position:relative;left:-.5em;top:0;text-align:left;font-size:.8em;} + +.fnanchor {vertical-align:30%;font-size:.8em;} + +.poem {margin:2% auto 2% 25%;text-indent:0%;font-size:90%;} +</style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Masters of French Music, by Arthur Hervey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Masters of French Music + +Author: Arthur Hervey + +Release Date: September 12, 2011 [EBook #37410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTERS OF FRENCH MUSIC *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Internet Archive.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="eng">Masters of Contemporary Music</p> + +<p class="c">A SERIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL AND<br /> +CRITICAL SKETCHES</p> + +<div class="bbox"> +<p class="eng">Masters of Contemporary Music.</p> + +<p class="c"><i>W<small>ITH</small> P<small>ORTRAITS,</small> &c.</i></p> + +<p class="c"><b>MASTERS OF ENGLISH MUSIC.</b><br /> +By C<small>HARLES</small> W<small>ILLEBY,</small><br /> +Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.<br /> +<br /> +<b>MASTERS OF GERMAN MUSIC.</b><br /> +By J. A. F<small>ULLER</small> M<small>AITLAND,</small><br /> +Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">[<i>In the Press.</i></span></p> +</div> + +<table border="3" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td><a href="#PREFACE">Preface</a><br /> +<a href="#CONTENTS">Contents</a><br /> +<a href="#ILLUSTRATIONS">Illustrations</a><br /> +<a href="#APPENDIX">Appendix</a><br /> +<a href="#FOOTNOTES">Footnotes</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a> +<a href="images/gounod.jpg"> +<img src="images/gounod_sml.jpg" width="422" height="550" alt="CH. GOUNOD + +Frontispiece." title="CH. GOUNOD" /></a> +<br /> +<span class="caption">CH. GOUNOD<br /><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 40%;">Frontispiece.</span></span> +</p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<h1 class="engg">Masters of French Music</h1> + +<p class="c"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<small>BY</small><br /> +<br /> +ARTHUR HERVEY<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<i><small>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS</small></i><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +LONDON<br /> +OSGOOD, McILVAINE & CO.<br /> +<small>45 ALBEMARLE STREET</small><br /> +1894</p> + +<p class="c"> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THIS LITTLE VOLUME<br /> +<br /> +<small>IS<br /> +<br /> +BY SPECIAL PERMISSION<br /> +<br /> +DEDICATED TO<br /> +<br /> +HER ROYAL HIGHNESS</small><br /> +<br /> +THE PRINCESS OF WALES</p> + +<h3><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h3> + +<p class="nind"><i>T<small>HE</small> reader who turns to these pages with the idea of finding therein a +large and exhaustive account of the composers mentioned, with a +technical analysis of their works, will, I fear, be disappointed. My +intention has been a far more modest one.</i></p> + +<p><i>The dimensions of this volume would not have allowed me to devote that +amount of space to each composer that might be considered due to his +merits.</i></p> + +<p><i>The object I have had in view has been to give an account of their +lives and to draw attention to the tendencies exhibited in their works.</i></p> + +<p><i>The French can boast a splendid musical record, particularly as regards +the opera. Paris was for many years the centre towards which foreign +artists were wont to gravitate. It was here that Gluck laid the seeds of +his musical reforms; that Cherubini and Spontini lived and brought out +their best works; it was the influence of French taste that caused +Rossini to forsake the inartistic devices of his earlier Italian operas +and write "Guillaume Tell," his masterpiece; it was for Paris that +Meyerbeer composed "Robert le Diable," "Les Huguenots," "Le Prophète," +and "L'Africaine;" that Donizetti wrote the "Favorite," and Verdi, "Don +Carlos." It was Paris that Wagner had in his mind when he composed his +"Rienzi."</i></p> + +<p><i>Then if we cast a glance at their native composers what treasures of +melody, what grace, and what innate dramatic feeling do we not find in +the works of Méhul, Boïeldieu, Auber, Hérold, Adam, Halévy, and others +whose operas during the first half of the present century were heard all +over Europe.</i></p> + +<p><i>Of a different type to the above we meet the Titanic figure of Berlioz, +whose influence has been so great over the younger generation of +composers and whose orchestral innovations have borne such fruit. In the +present volume I am only dealing with living composers, otherwise there +are four who occupy prominent places in the records of contemporary +music whose names would have been included, Bizet, Lalo, César Franck, +and Léo Delibes.</i></p> + +<p><i>Bizet, the gifted author of "Carmen," the inspired musician who wrote +"L'Arlésienne," snatched away at the very moment when his genius was +beginning to meet with recognition. Who knows what he might not have +done had he lived! As it is, "Carmen" is probably the most generally +popular opera that has been written by a Frenchman since Gounod produced +his "Faust," and Bizet was only thirty-seven years of age when he died!</i></p> + +<p><i>Edouard Lalo, whose death occurred last year (1892), had to wait a long +time before his merits received the recognition to which they were +entitled. His popularity in France may be said to date from the time +when his opera, "Le Roi d'Ys," was first produced at the Opéra Comique +some five years ago, when the composer had reached his sixtieth year. An +opera of his entitled "Fiesque," composed many years previously, was +accepted by one manager after another, but some circumstance invariably +occurred to prevent its being brought out. His ballet "Namouna" contains +much that is both charming and original, yet it failed to captivate the +public of the Paris Opéra when it was produced.</i></p> + +<p><i>Amongst his orchestral works are to be found a fine symphony, which I +remember hearing at one of the Lamoureux concerts in Paris and which +ought to be given here; two Norwegian Rhapsodies, and the "Symphonie +Espagnole" for violin and orchestra. The work he will probably be best +remembered by is "Le Roi d'Ys." A great admirer of Wagner, Lalo in this +opera applies the master's theories in a restricted sense only, and "Le +Roi d'Ys" has a greater affinity with "Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin" than +with "Tristan" or the "Meistersinger." His chamber compositions and +orchestral works reveal a considerable amount of originality and +knowledge of effect, allied to consistently elevated notions with regard +to the æsthetics of his art. A tendency towards the employment of +curious rhythms often imparts a peculiar "cachet" to Lalo's +compositions. In all his works he exhibits a complete mastery over +orchestral resources, a branch of the art in which French composers as a +rule excel.</i></p> + +<p><i>The name of César Franck is less known in England. Although a Belgian +by birth, he may through his long residence in France be reckoned +amongst the composers of that country. His reputation has been steadily +on the increase of late, and some of his enthusiastic admirers have not +scrupled to call him the "French Bach."</i></p> + +<p><i>Perhaps we may one day have an opportunity of judging works such as +"Ruth," "Rédemption" and "Les Béatitudes," which last is generally +considered as his masterpiece.</i></p> + +<p><i>Léo Delibes will be remembered chiefly through his exquisite ballet +music, such as "Coppelia" and "Sylvia," full of grace, charm and +refinement, never commonplace, and bearing the stamp of a distinct +individuality. His operas, "Le Roi l'a dit," "Jean de Nivelle," and +"Lakmé," do not show his talent off to the same advantage, albeit +containing many delightful pages.</i></p> + +<p><i>Léo Delibes' music is typically French and is full of that "esprit" so +characteristic of our neighbours. A pupil of Adolphe Adam, Delibes seems +to have acquired his master's lightness of touch and gift of melody, to +which he was able to add a quality of distinction which the composer of +"Le Postillon de Lonjumeau" did not possess.</i></p> + +<p><i>It is, however, with the living that we are concerned, and, having paid +a passing tribute to the memory of the above deceased musicians, I will +now proceed with my task, once more claiming the indulgence of my +readers, and begging them to bear in mind that, whatever defects may be +noticeable in these imperfect sketches, I can at least claim that they +have been written in perfect good faith.</i></p> + +<p class="r"><i>ARTHUR HERVEY.</i></p> + +<p><i>P.S.—Among the books that I have had occasion to consult I may mention +especially Mons. Adolphe Jullien's "Musiciens d'Aujourd'hui," Mons. +Pagnerre's "Charles Gounod," Mlle. de Bovet's "Life of Gounod," Mons. +Hugues Imbert's "Profils de Musiciens," and "Nouveaux Profils de +Musiciens."</i></p> + +<p><i>I also take this opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to my +friend, Mr. Robin H. Legge, for having been instrumental in procuring +for me information of a valuable nature.</i></p> + +<p class="r"><i>A.H.</i></p> + +<p><i>July 1893.</i></p> + +<p><i>Note.—Since these sketches were written, the death of Charles Gounod +has deprived France of one of her greatest musicians. The composer of +"Faust" died on the 18th of October (1893), the anniversary of the first +performance of his opera, "La Nonne Sanglante," which was produced in +1854. His loss is one that will be mourned, not by France alone, but by +all other nations, and Englishmen will not forget that their country was +the birthplace of the "Redemption" and "Mors et Vita."</i></p> + +<p class="r"><i>A. H.</i></p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS" +style="font-size:90%;"> +<tr><th colspan="2" align="center"><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a><big>CONTENTS</big></th></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#AMBROISE_THOMAS">AMBROISE THOMAS</a> </td><td align="right"><a href="#page_001">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#CHARLES_GOUNOD">CHARLES GOUNOD</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_037">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#CAMILLE_SAINT-SAENS">CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#JULES_MASSENET">JULES MASSENET</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_173">173</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#ERNEST_REYER">ERNEST REYER</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_207">207</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#ALFRED_BRUNEAU">ALFRED BRUNEAU</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_223">223</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SOME_OTHER_FRENCH_COMPOSERS">SOME OTHER FRENCH COMPOSERS</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_253">253</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#APPENDIX">APPENDIX</a></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_277">277</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="ILLUSTRATIONS" +style="font-size:90%;"> +<tr><th colspan="3" align="center"><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a><big>ILLUSTRATIONS</big></th></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#Frontispiece">CH. GOUNOD</a></td><td align="right" colspan="2"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#THOMAS">AMBROISE THOMAS</a></td><td align="center"><i>To face p.</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_001">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#GOUNOD">CH. GOUNOD</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_037">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SCOREGOUNOD">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE BY GOUNOD</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_092">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SAINT">CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#DALILA">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "SAMSON ET DALILA"</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_144">144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#MASSENET">JULES MASSENET</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_173">173</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#WERTHER">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "WERTHER"</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_200">200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#REYER">ERNEST REYER</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_207">207</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#BRUNEAU">ALFRED BRUNEAU</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_223">223</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#REVE">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "LE RÊVE"</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_240">240</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><p><i>The frontispiece and the portrait of M.<br /> Massenet are taken from +photographs by M. G.<br /> Camus, Paris. The portrait of the late M.<br /> Gounod, +facing page 37, is taken from a<br /> photograph by M. Petit, Paris; and the<br /> +portraits of MM. Thomas, Saint-Saëns,<br /> Reyer, and Bruneau, from +photographs by<br /> MM. Benque and Co., Paris.</i></p></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="THOMAS" id="THOMAS"></a> +<a href="images/thomas-a.jpg"> +<img src="images/thomas-a_sml.jpg" width="446" height="550" alt="AMBROISE THOMAS" title="AMBROISE THOMAS" /></a> +<br /> +<a href="images/thomas-b.png"> +<img src="images/thomas-b_sml.png" +alt="signature" +title="signature" +width="400" +height="183" +/></a> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="AMBROISE_THOMAS" id="AMBROISE_THOMAS"></a>AMBROISE THOMAS</h3> + +<p class="nind">I<small>T</small> has become a trite saying that music is the youngest of the arts. The +truth of this is nevertheless indisputable, and the remark is perhaps +more applicable to music as represented in the "lyrical drama" than in +any other form. What pleases one generation is often distasteful to the +next, and a period of twenty or even ten years has sometimes been +sufficient to witness a thorough evolution in the methods and general +style of dramatic music.</p> + +<p>The career of the composer whose name heads this chapter is, from this +point of view, interesting to study, and a cursory glance at the state +of musical affairs at the time when he emerged from the Paris +Conservatoire, having won the "Grand Prix de Rome," will not be<a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a> out of +place, and may help towards forming a more accurate estimate of his +talent.</p> + +<p>Every art has traversed a period of degeneration, when true æsthetics +have been neglected and men of undoubted talent, or even genius, have +been unable to free themselves from the shackles of a vitiated taste. +This applies, perhaps, more to music than to any other art, probably for +the reason that in this case the demand upon the intellect is +proportionately greater, and a certain degree of culture is absolutely +necessary for its due appreciation. There is a semblance of truth in the +contention advanced by Rubinstein, that music is the reflex of its time, +and even re-echoes the political events and general state of culture of +the age. The following paradoxical opinion of the eminent Russian +composer and pianist, taken from his "Conversation on Music,"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> is well +worth quoting <i>in extenso</i>: "I can follow musically even the events of +our century. Our century begins either with 1789, the French Revolution +(musically<a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a> with Beethoven), or the year 1815 is to be looked upon as +the close of the eighteenth century, disappearance of Napoleon from the +political horizon, the Restoration, &c. (musically the +scholastic-virtuoso period: Hummel, Moscheles, and others); flourish of +modern philosophy (third period of Beethoven); the July Revolution of +1830, fall of the Legitimists, raising the son of Philippe Egalité to +the throne, the Orleans dynasty, democratic and constitutional principle +in the foreground, monarchical principle in the background, 1848 in +sight (Berlioz); the Æolian harp of the Polish rebellion of 1831 +(Chopin); romanticism generally and its victory over the pseudo-classic +(Schumann); flourish of all the arts and sciences (Mendelssohn); the +triumph of the bourgeoisie, in sense of material existence, a shield +against all disturbing elements of politics and culture (Capellmeister +music); Louis Napoleon becomes Emperor (Liszt, the virtuoso, becomes the +composer of symphonies and oratorios); his reign (the operetta a branch +of art); the<a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a> German-Franco war, Germany's unity, the freedom of Europe +resting on ten millions of soldiers, change in all formerly accepted +political principles (Wagner, his music-drama, his art principles, +&c.)."</p> + +<p>We are able with a tolerable degree of certainty to determine the period +when a house was built by the style of its architecture, just as we +experience no difficulty, as a rule, in discovering the date when a +picture was painted through details that unmistakably reveal the epoch +when the artist lived, even if the subject he may have chosen to +illustrate be ever so remote. The well-known picture by Paul Veronese of +the "Marriage Feast of Cana" is a case in point.</p> + +<p>In respect to music, a similar law would appear to govern its +manifestations, and special characteristics are associated with the +productions of different epochs. This is made evident by the non-success +that attends the composer whose genius impels him onward towards new and +unknown horizons. Woe be<a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a> to the one who has the temerity to forestall +his own generation. Although immortality and a tardy homage to his +memory may be his reward, these will perhaps scarcely afford +compensation for the trials and hardships endured whilst battling for +sheer existence in this vale of tears. It is a moot consideration +whether the wisest course to adopt is that followed by Hector Berlioz, +or the one that has brought prosperity as well as celebrity to Ambroise +Thomas; for whereas the former may result in post-mortem panegyrics, the +latter procures a more immediate recompense, and may lead to the +directorship of the Paris Conservatoire.</p> + +<p>There is something inexpressibly sad in the evanescence of music, and in +thinking of the comparatively small number of compositions destined to +survive their age. In this respect music is at a decided disadvantage in +comparison with the sister arts; the fact of the former being +essentially creative possibly accounting in some measure for this. At +any rate, whereas masterpieces of classic art, such as "The<a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a> Dying +Gladiator" and the "Apollo Belvedere" remain unrivalled and do not +betray a vestige of their antiquity, much of the music composed fifty +years ago has become so hopelessly old-fashioned that it can scarcely be +listened to with patience.</p> + +<p>Is it that in this special case familiarity breeds a larger dose of +contempt than usual? The fact has been proved over and over again, that +compositions that seem absolutely incomprehensible to one generation, +are accepted as comparatively simple by the next; whereas those that +have caught on with the public at once very soon lose their hold.</p> + +<p>The great test of an art work, as such, is its truth of expression. The +moment this is wanting, its value diminishes, and it is powerless to +survive the caprice of fashion.</p> + +<p>Thus we find that those works into which composers have poured their +innermost feelings, untrammelled by any desire to purchase an ephemeral +popularity at the cost of the sacrifice of principle, are those that +have remained.<a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a> This is so much the case with stage works that it is +necessary to state it definitely before proceeding any further.</p> + +<p>For years the operatic composer was almost entirely at the mercy of the +singer, and it has required many efforts on the part of great artists to +shake off the load, the final emancipation being effected through the +agency of one whose genius towers far above that of his contemporaries, +and whose influence upon music has been as widespread as it has been +beneficial. Need I say that I allude to Richard Wagner?</p> + +<p>The spirit of routine, so engrained in the human mind, has also much to +account for in preventing the development of music as represented in the +opera. It is far from my desire to say anything in disparagement of a +form of art such as the "opéra comique," a <i>genre</i> that has been +illustrated with so conspicuous a degree of success by composers such as +Grétry, Monsigny, Dalayrac, Nicolo, Boiëldieu, Hérold, and Auber. At the +same time, it must be admitted that the ideal aimed<a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a> at by modern French +musicians is altogether a higher one. The "lyrical drama" has usurped +the place of the old "opéra comique," and those composers whose +inability or disinclination have kept them from following the prevalent +movement, have perforce drifted into that mongrel species of art known +as the "opérette." From an æsthetic point of view the change is +emphatically for the better, as the "opéra comique," corresponding to +the German "Singspiel," and to our "ballad opera," and consisting of an +amalgam of speech and song, being neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, is +utterly inconsistent with logic.</p> + +<p>That there is still, however, a place for works coming under the +denomination of a modernised form of "opéra comique," as distinct from +the "opérette," without pretensions of too lofty an order, is evidenced +by the delightful works of the late Léo Delibes, "Le Roi l'a dit," "Jean +de Nivelle," and "Lakmé"; and more recently by Mons. Chabrier's "Le Roi +Malgré Lui" and Mons. Messager's "La Basoche."<a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a></p> + +<p>In the year 1832, when Ambroise Thomas had completed his twenty-first +birthday, the Rossini fever was at its height. Beethoven was +comparatively little known in France, and those amongst his symphonies +that had been brought to a hearing had excited more wonder than +admiration.</p> + +<p>"Il ne faut pas faire de la musique comme celle-là," Lesueur had said to +Berlioz after having listened to the C Minor Symphony; "Soyez +tranquille, cher maître, on n'en fera pas beaucoup," had been the answer +vouchsafed by the future author of "La Damnation de Faust." In the +meanwhile Boiëldieu never lost the opportunity of playing through +Rossini's operas to his pupils, and descanting upon their merits. It is +indeed difficult to account for the extraordinary influence exercised by +Rossini over his contemporaries. That his "facile" melodies should have +proved agreeable to the general public, and his florid ornamentations +grateful to the singers, "passe encore." But that an entire generation +of composers<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a> should have been so fascinated by the sham glitter of his +brilliant though shallow compositions as to follow his methods in so +faithful a manner, is incomprehensible. It is eminently to the credit of +French taste that "Guillaume Tell," his only really great work of +serious import, should have been written for the Paris Grand Opéra.</p> + +<p>Entirely devoid of artistic conscience or of any of those lofty +aspirations towards the ideal that stamp the true artist, be his name +Bach or Beethoven, Schubert or Schumann, Berlioz or Wagner, Rossini +deliberately squandered his genius. Success seems to have been his only +object, and this once acquired he was content to idle away the remainder +of a long existence, sublimely unconscious of the great musical upheaval +that was being accomplished by genuine workers in the cause of art.</p> + +<p>What can we think of a composer who could employ the same overture to +precede operas so widely different in regard to their subject-matter as +"Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra" and "Il<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a> Barbiere"? What of the +musician who thought that a brilliant martial strain was the right +musical interpretation of the sublime and poignant words expressive of +Mary at the foot of the Cross? "Cujus animam gementem, contristantem et +dolentem"; words of indescribable sadness and depth; a mother mourning +her Divine Son; a theme unexampled in point of pathos and emotion, set +to a melody that would be in its proper place in some pageant +descriptive of the triumphal entry of a conqueror into a city!</p> + +<p>What, again, of the composer who could prefix a tragedy like "Othello" +with an overture fit for an "opéra bouffe?" And what would be said +nowadays of the musician who, finding himself short of an idea, pilfered +that of another composer, as Rossini did in "Il Barbiere," the trio in +the last act of which being palpably taken from Haydn's "Seasons"? The +greater a man's genius—and no one would dream of denying this attribute +to Rossini—the greater his responsibility. <i>Noblesse oblige.</i> In order<a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a> +that I may not be accused of formulating too harsh a judgment upon the +Italian master, I will quote the following words of Blaze de Bury, his +friend and admirer: "Avec du génie et les circonstances, on fait les +Rossini; pour être Mozart ou Raphaël, Michel Ange ou Beethoven, il faut +avoir quelque chose de plus: des principes."</p> + +<p>What has been termed the "golden epoch" of the "grand opéra" was at this +time at its <i>apogee</i>, and the period often years from 1828 to 1838 +witnessed the production upon the same boards of Auber's "La Muette de +Portici," known here as "Masaniello," Rossini's "Guillaume Tell," +Halévy's "La Juive," and Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable" and "Les +Huguenots."</p> + +<p>It has been too much the fashion in recent years to decry the works of +Meyerbeer, and to lay stress upon their shortcomings whilst giving but a +grudging half-hearted acknowledgment to the many undeniable beauties +that pervade them. Against so unjust a verdict I desire<a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a> emphatically to +protest, for however much Meyerbeer may have sacrificed for the sake of +effect, there can be no doubt that he contributed in a large measure +towards raising the operatic standard, then at a very low level.</p> + +<p>If we find the rich crop of wheat not devoid of chaff, we must at any +rate admit that the former is of excellent quality. To be the author of +"Les Huguenots," the fourth act of "Le Prophète," and the music to +"Struensee," not to speak of many another dramatic masterpiece, is in +itself a sufficient title to rank amongst the greatest musicians of the +age.</p> + +<p>It would occupy too much space were I to enter further into a question +which I may in the course of this volume have occasion to allude to +again. I will therefore terminate these preliminary observations by +stating the position occupied by the three great emancipators of +dramatic and instrumental music—Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner—at the time +I mention, <i>circa</i> 1832.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a> The first was endeavouring to obtain a +hearing for works that were condemned as incoherent and unintelligible, +the second had achieved high fame as a pianist, and the third was +qualifying for the humble position of "Capellmeister" in a German +provincial town. The charge of incoherence was destined to cling to +Berlioz even unto the end, whilst the colossal reputation of Liszt as an +executant for a long while caused his labours as a creative musician to +be underrated. As to Wagner, the number of misrepresentations that he +had to live through are too numerous and too well known to mention.</p> + +<p>Time, however, sets all things right, and the three masters are little +by little gaining the position in public estimation to which they are +entitled.</p> + +<p>Ambroise Thomas was born at Metz on the 5th of August 1811, the same +year as Liszt. He entered the Paris Conservatoire, of which institution +he is at the time I am writing the honoured director, in 1828, and +studied there<a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a> under Zimmerman, Dourlen, and Lesueur;<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> also receiving +instructions from Kalkbrenner,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and Barbereau.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The vein of +sentiment which in later years was to be so prominent a feature in his +compositions must have been noticeable even at that time, for it is said +that his master Lesueur, on being told that the future author of +"Mignon" was seventh in the class, remarked: "Thomas est vraiment ma +note sensible." (The seventh note of the scale, or what we in England +call the leading note, is known in French as "la note sensible.") Having +won the "Prix de Rome" in 1832, for a cantata entitled "Herman et +Ketty," Ambroise Thomas repaired to Italy, where he spent the following +three years according to the usual custom.</p> + +<p>It must have been about this time that he composed the trio and +"Caprices en forme de<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a> Valses" for piano, marked respectively Opus 2 and +4, which were appreciated in the following terms by Schumann.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>"We come to an extremely pleasant composition, a 'salon trio,' during +which it is possible to look around without completely losing the +musical thread; neither heavy nor light, neither deep nor superficial, +not classical, not romantic, but always euphonious and in certain parts +full of beautiful melody; for instance, in the soft leading motive of +the first movement, which, however, loses a great deal of its charm when +it reappears in the major, and even sounds commonplace," etc.</p> + +<p>"The 'Caprices' of Thomas move in a higher circle than Wenzel's 'Adieu +de St. Petersbourg,' but, notwithstanding the evident application and +the great amount of talent evinced, are nothing more nor less than +higher-class Wenzel; 'lederne' German thoughts translated into the +French language, so pleasant that one must needs beware of them, and so +pretentious that<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a> one could well get vexed with them. Occasionally the +composer wanders into mystic harmonies, but, soon frightened at his own +temerity, returns to his natural mode of expression, to what he +possesses and is able to give. But what do I expect? The 'Caprices' are +pretty, sound well," etc.</p> + +<p>During his sojourn in the eternal city, Thomas made himself popular with +all who came across him, and was alluded to by Ingres, the celebrated +painter, at that time head of the school whither were sent the +successful young artists and musicians who had won the "Prix de Rome," +as "l'excellent jeune homme, le bon Thomas."</p> + +<p>The operatic career of the composer of "Mignon" dates from the year +1837, his first venture being a one-act comic opera entitled "La Double +Échelle," produced at the Opéra Comique. This was succeeded the +following year by "Le Perruquier de la Régence," three acts, at the same +theatre; and in 1839 by "La Gipsy," a ballet at the Opéra, in +collaboration<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a> with Benoist, and "Le Panier Fleuri," at the Opéra +Comique.</p> + +<p>The prolific nature of the composer's talent was further illustrated by +the production in quick succession of "Carline" (1840), "Le Comte de +Carmagnole" (1841), "Le Guerillero" (1842), and "Angélique et Médor" +(1843), none of which obtained any appreciable success. It was otherwise +with "Mina," a three-act comic opera, produced at the Opéra Comique in +1843, which enjoyed a certain vogue at the time, but has not survived.</p> + +<p>The first permanent success achieved by Thomas was with "Le Caïd," a +light opera given in 1849, which rapidly became popular, and is regarded +by some as the precursor of the style of <i>opéra bouffe</i> which was +destined later on to achieve so great a notoriety at the hands of +Offenbach and his imitators. This is scarcely a correct view to take, as +the innate refinement of a nature such as that of Ambroise Thomas has +little in common with the vulgarities associated with the <i>genre</i>. "Le +Caïd," in which the<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a> composer amusingly parodies the absurdities +associated with the now happily obsolete Italian opera style of the +period, would nowadays pass muster as a high-class <i>opérette</i>. This +bright little score is full of that <i>esprit</i> of which French composers +seem to possess the secret, and is wedded to an exceedingly amusing +libretto. "Le Caïd" has remained popular in France, and occupies a +permanent place in the <i>répertoire</i> of the Paris Opéra Comique.</p> + +<p>Before proceeding with the composer's operatic career, it may be well to +mention a phase in his existence during which he bravely performed his +duties as a citizen. At the time of the political troubles of 1848, when +art was forcibly relegated into the background, Ambroise Thomas donned +the uniform of a <i>garde national</i>. It is related that one night, when +passing under the windows of his friend and collaborator Sauvage, with +whom he was at that moment working, he shouted out to him, brandishing +his gun, "This is the instrument upon which I<a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a> must compose to-day; the +music it produces requires no words."</p> + +<p>Happily Thomas was able soon to revert to more pacific and profitable +occupations.</p> + +<p>The composer's next work was of a different nature, and if "Le Songe +d'une Nuit d'Été" ("A Midsummer Night's Dream"), given at the Opéra +Comique in 1851, did not achieve a similar success to "Le Caïd," it +possessed merit of a higher order, and is even now still occasionally +performed.</p> + +<p>This opera has nothing to do with Shakespeare's comedy, as its name +might imply. Curiously enough, the immortal bard is made to figure as +the hero of the piece. He is represented as a drunkard, who is rescued +by Queen Elizabeth from his evil habits through a stratagem, by which he +is made to see the veiled figure of a woman, when he is recovering from +a drunken bout, whom he mistakes for the embodiment of his own genius, +and who threatens to abandon him unless he promises to reform. It is +strange that such a farrago of nonsense<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a> should have been deemed worthy +of serving as an operatic text.</p> + +<p>"Raymond," a three-act opera, founded upon the story of the Man with the +Iron Mask, followed the above work in 1851. The overture is the only +number that has survived. It is a brilliant orchestral piece, somewhat +in the style of Auber.</p> + +<p>In the course of the same year Ambroise Thomas was elected a member of +the Institute in the place of Spontini. It can scarcely be said that +this brought him much luck, for of the five operas that he wrote within +the ten succeeding years, not one has kept the stage. They need not +detain us long. Their names are "La Tonelli" (1853); "La Cour de +Célimène" (1855); "Psyché'" (1857), a revised version of which was +produced at the Opéra Comique in 1878; "Le Carnaval de Venise" (1857); +and "Le Roman d'Elvire" (1860).</p> + +<p>After these comparative failures the composer appears to have taken a +much-needed rest and devoted some time to reflection, which was to<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a> be +productive of excellent results. It may safely be urged that had Thomas +died at this period he would have been only entitled to rank with +musicians of subordinate talent, such as Massé, Maillart, Clapisson, "e +tutti quanti."</p> + +<p>As it happens, he had not then given the full measure of his worth, and +the two works destined to procure for him the European reputation he +enjoys belong to his full maturity.</p> + +<p>The following is the opinion emitted by Fétis in his "Dictionnaire des +Musiciens" upon Ambroise Thomas. It must be remembered that these lines +were written before the production of either "Mignon" or "Hamlet": +"Talent fin, gracieux, élégant, toujours distingué, ayant l'instinct de +la scène, souvent mélodiste, écrivant en maître et instrumentant de +même, cet artiste n'a malheureusement pas la santé, necessaire a +l'énergie de la pensée. Il a le charme délicat et l'esprit, quelquefois +il lui manque la force. Quoi qu'il en soit, M. Ambroise Thomas n'en est +pas moins un des<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a> compositeurs les plus remarquables qu'ait produits la +France."</p> + +<p>Six years after the "Roman d'Elvire," the bills of the Opéra Comique +announced the first performance of "Mignon," the instantaneous success +of which must have helped to console the composer for former reverses. +In constructing an opera book out of Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister," the +librettists, Michel Carré and Jules Barbier, showed an even greater +independence of spirit than they displayed when adapting the same poet's +"Faust," for they deliberately altered the original <i>dénouement</i>, and +instead of ending the work with Mignon's death, they prosaically allowed +her to marry the hero, with whom she is presumably supposed to live +happily for ever afterwards, possibly in order not to depart too +abruptly from the conventionalities of the Opéra Comique Theatre, which +has long been a match-making centre for the <i>bourgeoisie</i>.</p> + +<p>Happily, Ambroise Thomas did not compose his "Hamlet" for the same +boards, otherwise who knows but that the Prince of Denmark<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a> would not +have been made to see the error of his ways, and wed the fair Ophelia, +who would thereby have been saved from going mad, and spared the trouble +of mastering the vocal acrobatics that are always indulged in by +operatic heroines who are bereft of reason.</p> + +<p>The marriage festivities given in honour of Hamlet and Ophelia would +have enabled Ambroise Thomas to make use of his ballet music, and every +one would have been left happy and contented, except perhaps the Ghost, +who is sufficiently tedious not to deserve any sympathy. It is but fair +to say that the requirements of <i>habitués</i> at the Opéra Comique have +considerably changed. Realism has invaded the stage, and a tragic ending +is no longer the exception to the rule in works destined for this +theatre.</p> + +<p>The poetical subject of "Mignon" was well suited to the refined nature +of the composer's talent, and the musical value of the work has amply +justified its success. What soprano<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a> vocalist is there who has not sung +the suave cantilena, "Connais-tu le pays"?</p> + +<p>The melodious duet between Mignon and the old harpist ("Légères +Hirondelles"), the piquant little gavotte that precedes the second act, +the tenor song, "Adieu, Mignon," and the brilliant overture, are amongst +the most noteworthy and popular numbers of the opera.</p> + +<p>The original interpretation of "Mignon" was of great excellence. Nothing +could have been more perfect than Mme. Galli Marié's<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> assumption of +the heroine, an actual embodiment of Ary Scheffer's well-known pictures +of Mignon. I have heard many artists in this part, but none who so +completely realised the character in all its details. Mme. Cabel<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> +personified Philine, and the cast was completed by Achard (Wilhelm +Meister), Couderc (Laertes), Bataille (Lothario), etc. Mme. Christine +Nilsson, Mme. Minnie Hauk, and Miss van Zandt must be mentioned<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> as +successful interpreters of the title <i>rôle</i>. For the Italian version, +Ambroise Thomas altered the small part of Frédéric, and added a vocal +arrangement of the "Entr'acte Gavotte" for the late Mme. Trebelli.</p> + +<p>"Mignon," it may be mentioned, was the opera that was being performed on +the night of the terrible fire that destroyed the Opéra Comique in 1887.</p> + +<p>In Germany and in Austria this opera has not proved less successful than +it has in France, and the following appreciation of Dr. Hanslick<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> may +not prove uninteresting: "This opera is in no place powerfully striking, +and is not the work of a richly organised, original genius. Rather does +it appear to us as the work of a sensitive and refined artist showing +the practical ability of a master-hand. Occasionally somewhat meagre and +tawdry, akin to the vaudeville style, the<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a> music to 'Mignon' is +nevertheless mostly dramatic, spirited and graceful, not of deep, but of +true, and in many instances warm feeling. Its merits and defects are +particularly French, which is the reason why the first are more +noticeable upon the French and the latter upon the German boards."</p> + +<p>Having followed the example of Gounod in going to Goethe for a subject, +Ambroise Thomas further trod in his illustrious <i>confrère's</i> footsteps +by seeking for inspiration in the works of Shakespeare.</p> + +<p>The opera of "Hamlet," performed for the first time in 1868, was the +result. After having cruelly libelled the bard of Avon by presenting him +in the character of a drunkard in his "Songe d'une Nuit d'Été," the +composer of "Mignon" was but making an <i>amende honorable</i> in doing his +best to provide one of the immortal poet's greatest works with a worthy +musical setting. If his attempt can scarcely be said to have been +crowned with the fullest amount of success, the fault is not entirely +his own, unless<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a> he may be blamed for ignoring the fact of discretion +being the better part of valour.</p> + +<p>In endeavouring to set Shakespeare's tragedy to music Ambroise Thomas +undertook an almost impossible task, and it is scarcely surprising that +he should not have been absolutely successful. It would require the +genius of a Wagner to give an adequate musical rendering of a work so +deep and philosophical, and the Bayreuth master took care not to attempt +it. Then again the peculiar nature of Ambroise Thomas's talent would +appear to be absolutely unsuited to the musical interpretation of a +tragedy of this description.</p> + +<p>In judging the operatic version of "Hamlet," the fact must be borne in +mind that this was written for the Paris Opera, and subjected to the +exigencies of that institution, which were then far more stringent than +at the present time, when Wagner has at last been admitted into the +stronghold, "Lohengrin" forms part of the regular <i>répertoire</i>, and the +"Walküre" draws large audiences. Amongst these exigencies must be +specially mentioned the introduction of<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a> a "ballet" towards the middle +of an opera, whatever its subject. Wagner's refusal to conform to this +practice had not a little to do with the failure of "Tannhäuser" at the +Paris Opera in 1861.</p> + +<p>The French are ever priding themselves upon their superiority to the +rest of the world in all matters theatrical. They are nevertheless +prepared to accept the most glaring inconsistencies in the matter of +operatic "libretti." What, for instance, can be more incongruous than +the introduction of a set ballet in a tragedy like "Hamlet"? This can +almost be placed on a similar level of absurdity as the mazourka +introduced by Gounod in his "Polyeucte," the action of which takes place +during the time of the early Christian martyrs, or as the Scotch ballet +supposed to be performed at Richmond in Saint-Saëns' "Henry VIII."</p> + +<p>Curiously enough, the most successful portion of Ambroise Thomas's +"Hamlet" turns out to be precisely this ballet act, during which all the +choregraphic resources of the Paris Opera House<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a> are called into play. +In order to render justice to this work it is necessary to try and +forget Shakespeare as much as possible and look upon it in a purely +operatic light, when much will be found that can be unreservedly +admired. The melodies are refined, and a certain poetical tinge, +peculiar to the composer, pervades its pages, whilst the instrumentation +is altogether of great excellence. In this last branch Ambroise Thomas +has ever shown himself highly proficient, and I do not think that the +following remarks of Mons. Lavoix<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> are unmerited: "Mons. Ambroise +Thomas' orchestration is clear in its general design, <i>spirituel</i> and +ingenious in its details, always interesting and full of poetical +touches and of pleasant surprises."</p> + +<p>The original interpretation of "Hamlet" had much to do with the success +that attended it, and the parts of Ophelia and Hamlet found unrivalled +exponents in Mme. Christine Nilsson and Mons. Faure. During the +rehearsals, in order to be free from interruption, Ambroise<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a> Thomas +transferred his abode to the Opera House itself, where he was allotted a +room and kept a strict prisoner by the manager, with his piano and a +goodly assortment of cigars to keep him company, for the composer of +"Hamlet" has always been an inveterate smoker. On the night following +the first representation he was re-accorded his liberty, and being asked +to make a few alterations in his score, plaintively remarked that he +thought "his two months were over."</p> + +<p>At this period Ambroise Thomas was one of the lions of the day, and a +favourite at the Court of Napoleon III. His presence at the sumptuous +entertainments given by the Emperor at the palace of Compiègne will be +remembered by many who profited by the Imperial hospitality. Every +autumn the beautiful château was used to entertain series of visitors, +and all the notabilities of Paris were bidden thither as the Emperor's +guests. How some of these requited his hospitality later on, when +trouble had gathered about his head, is unhappily a matter of history.<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a></p> + +<p>Ambroise Thomas had now reached the apogee of his fame, and this was to +receive its final consecration when he was called upon to succeed the +veteran Auber, whose last days were embitterred, and possibly shortened, +by the misfortunes that had befallen his country and disturbed his +essentially pacific habits, as director of the Paris Conservatoire. This +office he has continued to hold until the present day.</p> + +<p>Since then his dramatic compositions have been few and far between, and +if we except "Gille et Gillotin," a one-act trifle written many years +previously, and played at the Opéra Comique in 1874, have consisted of +"Françoise de Rimini," a grand opera in five acts produced at the Opéra +in 1882, and "La Tempête," a ballet given at the same theatre in 1889. +These works have maintained their composer's reputation, without, +however, in any material way adding to it.</p> + +<p>In examining the compositions of Ambroise Thomas it is impossible to +avoid being struck by the eclecticism that pervades them all.<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a></p> + +<p>The composer of "Mignon" is not one of those great leaders of musical +thought whose individuality becomes stamped in an indelible fashion upon +the art products of their period. He has been content to follow at a +respectful distance the evolution that has gradually been effected in +the "lyrical drama," taking care to avoid compromising himself through a +too marked disregard of recognised traditions. Hence the presence of +much needless ornamentation and countless florid passages, introduced +obviously in order to show off the singer's voice, that cause many of +his works to appear old-fashioned.</p> + +<p>Mons. Adolphe Jullien, the well-known critic, somewhat severely sums up +the measure of the composer's talent in the following words; "The +principal talent of Mons. Thomas consists in having been able to bend +himself to the taste of the public by serving up in turn the style of +music that suited it best. Very clever in his art, but without any +originality or conviction of any sort, he began by writing <i>opéra +comiques</i><a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a> imitated from Auber, and pasticcios of Italian <i>opéra buffa</i> +imitated from Rossini (such as "Carline" and "Le Caïd"); he then +attempted the dramatic <i>opéra comique</i>, after the manner of Halévy, in +the "Songe d'une Nuit d'Été," and "Raymond." Later on he did not disdain +to compete with Clapisson in writing "Le Carnaval de Venise" and +"Psyché"; then, after a long period of inaction provoked through several +repeated failures, during which the star of M. Gounod had risen on the +horizon, he has attempted a new style, imitated from that of his young +rival, with "Mignon" and "Hamlet." In one word, he is a musician of +science and worth absolutely devoid of artistic initiative, and who +turns to all the four quarters of the winds when these blow in the +direction of success."</p> + +<p>These words contain undoubted elements of truth, inasmuch as they +accentuate the fact that Ambroise Thomas' talent partakes largely of an +assimilative nature. Notwithstanding this, there is a certain degree of +personality evident<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a> in much of his music, discernible through an +indefinable touch of melancholy that imparts a measure of distinction to +many of his works, which can be sought for in vain amongst the +compositions of his more immediate contemporaries.</p> + +<p>Ambroise Thomas is one of the last offshoots of a brilliant period, +showing in his later works indications of a desire to follow the new +movement, without possessing sufficient strength to do more than make a +feeble attempt at breaking through the bonds of operatic "routine," and +ridding himself of the tyranny of the vocalist.</p> + +<p>His work is unequal as a whole, but there is sufficient good in "Mignon" +and "Hamlet" to atone for many weaknesses, and it is through these +operas that his name will be handed down to posterity.</p> + +<p><a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a></p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="GOUNOD" id="GOUNOD"></a> +<a href="images/gounod_037-a.jpg"> +<img src="images/gounod_037-a_sml.jpg" width="529" height="550" alt="CHARLES GOUNOD" title="CHARLES GOUNOD" /></a> +<br /> +<a href="images/gounod_037-b.png"> +<img src="images/gounod_037-b_sml.png" +alt="signature" +title="signature" +width="250" +height="78" +/></a> +</p> + +<h3><a name="CHARLES_GOUNOD" id="CHARLES_GOUNOD"></a>CHARLES GOUNOD</h3> + +<p class="nind">T<small>O</small> be the composer of "Faust" is in itself sufficient to establish a +claim upon the sympathy and gratitude of many thousands, as well as to +enjoy the indisputable right of occupying a niche by the side of the +greatest and most original composers of the century.</p> + +<p>There are but few creative musicians whose individuality is so striking +that it leaves its impress, not only upon their own productions, but +upon those of their contemporaries. Their genius is reflected, their +mode of thought copied, and even their mannerisms are reproduced by +numberless admirers and conscious or unconscious imitators.</p> + +<p>As it was with Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner, so it has been with +Gounod. A higher tribute of praise it is indeed impossible to offer.<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a></p> + +<p>The French master has himself defined in a few words the indebtedness of +every composer to his predecessors, and the difference existing between +that which is communicable and that which is individual.</p> + +<p>"The individuality of genius consists," he says, "according to the +beautiful and profound expression of an ancient writer, in saying in a +new way things that are not new: 'Nove non nova.' The influence of the +masters is a veritable paternity: wishing to do without them is as +foolish as to expect to become a father without ever having been a son. +Thus the life which is transmitted from father to son, leaves absolutely +intact all that in the son constitutes personality. In this way is it +with regard to the tradition of the masters, which is the transmission +of life in its impersonal sense: it is this which constitutes the +doctrine which the genius of St. Thomas Aquinas admirably defines as the +science of life."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a><a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a></p> + +<p>With some masters the personality above alluded to shows itself earlier +than usual, as in the case both of Mendelssohn and Gounod.</p> + +<p>There exists a point of contact between these two composers, so entirely +dissimilar one from another in every way, which it may be well to point +out. This is in respect to the nature of the influence they have +exercised over other composers, which consists not so much in the +adoption of any special mode of thought or art principle, but is +exemplified by the servile imitation of specific mannerisms. Less +far-reaching and wide-spread than that of Wagner, the influence of the +above masters has also been less beneficial, for the reason that it has +been more objective than subjective, and has shown itself rather in the +outward details of many a composition than through its inward +conception. The likeness has been more in the cut of the garment than in +the material thereof. This may be accounted for by the fact that both +Mendelssohn and Gounod are mannerists in the highest sense of the word, +and their favourite<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a> methods of expression being easy to imitate, have +been repeated by others <i>ad nauseam</i>, until they have begun to pall; +whereas Wagner has opened a vast expanse, beyond which stretches an +illimitable horizon, whither the composer of the future will be able to +seek fresh sources of inspiration. His art, which has been described by +some as typically Teutonic, is in reality universal, because it reposes +upon the immutable principles of truth and logic, and is applicable to +all nations, amongst which it has imperceptibly struck root and become +acclimatised, perhaps nowhere more so than in the country of the +composer with whom I am now dealing.</p> + +<p>Two elements have in their turn exercised their sway over Gounod, and +both have helped to impart, either separately or jointly, to his music +certain of those characteristics familiar to all who have studied his +works—religion and love. The mysticism and sensuous tenderness that +pervade his compositions, whether sacred or secular, are evidently the +reflex of a mind<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a> imbued with lofty aspirations, swayed at one moment by +worldly tendencies, but returning with renewed intensity towards the +pursuit of the ideal. Something of the same spirit may be discerned in +the musical personality of another great artist, and both Liszt and +Gounod exhibit in their widely different works the dual ascendancy of +divine and human love.</p> + +<p>"Das Ewig Weibliche zieht uns hinan," the words with which Goethe +terminates the second part of his "Faust," are singularly applicable to +the composer whose greatest work is founded upon the immortal poet's +tragedy, and who has been especially successful in his treatment of the +sentimental portions thereof.</p> + +<p>The sensuous nature of his music is noticeable even in his religious +compositions, of which it does not constitute the least charm.</p> + +<p>The future composer of "Faust" was born in Paris on the 17th of June +1818.</p> + +<p>From his earliest age he displayed exceptional musical aptitudes, and +showed signs of an undoubted vocation for the career in which he was<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> +destined so conspicuously to shine. In her "Life of Gounod" Mdlle. de +Bovet relates the following anecdotes of his childhood: "At the age of +two, in the gardens of Passy, where he was taken for exercise, he would +say, 'That dog barks in Sol,' and the neighbours used to call him <i>Le +petit musicien</i>. He likes to repeat what he said one day in that far +distant childhood. He had been listening to the different cries of the +street vendors, 'Oh!' he exclaimed suddenly, 'that woman cries out a Do +that weeps.' The two notes with which she hawked her carrots and +cabbages actually formed the minor third—C, E flat. The baby, scarcely +out of his leading-strings, already felt the mournful character of this +combination."</p> + +<p>When about seven years of age he was taken to hear Weber's "Freischütz," +or rather the mutilated version of this masterpiece by Castil-Blaze +known under the name of "Robin des Bois." The impression produced upon +his youthful mind by Weber's beautiful melodies appears to have been +very great. A few years later, when<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a> a schoolboy, he heard Rossini's +"Otello" interpreted by Malibran and Rubini, and the Italian "maestro's" +florid strains seem to have struck him in an equal degree. His +enthusiasm, however, reached its highest pitch when he became acquainted +with "Don Giovanni." He has ever since been an ardent devotee at the +shrine of Mozart, and of late years his admiration for the master's +music seems, if anything, to have increased.</p> + +<p>Having had the misfortune to lose his father at an early age, he was +brought up under the care of his mother. His first studies in +composition were pursued under Reicha, one of the most celebrated +theorists of the time; and having completed his general education at the +college of St. Louis, he entered the classes of the Conservatoire in +1836, receiving instruction in counterpoint from Halévy, and in +composition from Lesueur. In 1839 he obtained the "Grand prix de Rome," +and soon afterwards left for Italy. During his sojourn in Rome Gounod +devoted himself largely to the study of religious<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a> music, and spent a +great portion of his time in perusing the works of Palestrina and Bach.</p> + +<p>Whilst residing at the famous Villa Médicis he made the acquaintance of +Fanny Hensel, the sister of Mendelssohn, in whose correspondence may be +found several interesting details concerning the future composer of +"Faust."</p> + +<p>In a letter dated April 23, 1840, she writes: "Gounod has a passion for +music; it is a pleasure to have such a listener. My little Venetian air +delights him; he has also a predilection for the Romance in B Minor +composed here at Rome, for the duet of Felix, his 'Capriccio' in A +minor, and especially for the concerto of Bach, which he has made me +play more than ten times over." Later on, in another letter, she writes +as follows: "On Saturday evening I played to my guests, and performed, +amongst other things, the Concerto of Bach; although they know it by +heart, their enthusiasm goes 'crescendo.' They pressed and kissed my +hands, especially Gounod, who is extraordinarily expansive; he always +finds himself short<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a> of expressions when he wishes to convey to me the +influence I exercise over him, and how happy my presence makes him. Our +two Frenchmen form a perfect contrast: Bousquet's nature is calm and +correct, Gounod's is passionate and romantic to excess. Our German music +produces upon him the effect of a bomb bursting inside a house."</p> + +<p>In June 1840 Fanny Hensel and her husband left for Naples. The following +extract from a letter is interesting, as showing to what extent, even at +that early period, Gounod had become imbued with religious ideas: +"Bousquet confided to us on the way his fears concerning the religious +exaltation of Gounod since he had come under the ascendancy of the Père +Lacordaire ... whose eloquence had already during the previous winter +grouped around him a number of young men. Gounod, whose character is +weak and whose nature is impressionable, was at once gained over by +Lacordaire's stirring words; he has just become a member of the +association entitled 'John the<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a> Evangelist,' exclusively composed of +young artists who pursue the regeneration of humanity through the means +of art. The association contains a large number of young men belonging +to the best Roman families; several amongst these have abandoned their +career in order to enter into holy orders. Bousquet's impression is that +Gounod is also on the point of exchanging music for the priest's garb."</p> + +<p>In 1843 we find Gounod in Vienna, where a "Requiem" of his composition +attracted some attention. On his return to Paris he vainly endeavoured +to find a publisher for some songs he had composed while at Rome. When +we hear that these included "Le Vallon," "Le Soir," "Jésus de Nazareth," +and "Le Printemps"—that is to say, some of the most beautiful +inspirations that have emanated from his brain—it becomes difficult to +account for the obtuseness of the publishers.</p> + +<p>Discouraged in this quarter, Gounod devoted his attention once more to +religious music, and accepted the post of organist to the chapel of<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a> the +"Missions Etrangères." He even entertained the idea of entering into +holy orders. Happily this was not to be. The name of Gounod was becoming +known in musical circles, and through the influence of Mme. Viardot, the +celebrated singer, sister of Malibran, the young composer was +commissioned to write the music of an opera to a book by Emile +Augier,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> for the "Académie Nationale." This, his first contribution +to the lyric stage, was "Sapho," which was brought out in 1851, without, +however, achieving much more than a <i>succès d'estime</i>. It was revived in +a curtailed form seven years later, and finally, remodelled and +enlarged, was reproduced in 1884. Notwithstanding its failure to attract +the public, "Sapho" commanded the approbation of many competent judges, +amongst whom we find no less a musician than Berlioz, who thus expressed +himself upon the composer's merits: "M. Gounod is a young musician +endowed<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a> with precious qualities, whose tendencies are noble and +elevated, and whom one should encourage and honour, all the more so as +our musical epoch is so corrupt."</p> + +<p>"Sapho" is by no means the worst opera Gounod has composed, though +unequal as a whole. The original version remains the best.</p> + +<p>The year after the production of "Sapho" Gounod married a daughter of +Zimmermann,<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> a well-known musician and professor.</p> + +<p>His next venture was at the Théâtre Français, for which he wrote +incidental music to "Ulysse," a tragedy by Ponsard. A detail to note is +that the orchestra was conducted by Offenbach. Although the music to +this was universally praised, it did not suffice to save the piece from +dire failure. "La Nonne Sanglante," a five-act opera, founded upon a +novel by Monk Lewis, produced in 1854, was even less successful than +"Sapho." At the same time, the press was sufficiently favourable, and +Gounod's reputation, though awaiting its final consecration, was at<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a> any +rate on the increase. It is as well to mention here the success achieved +in London of some religious compositions of Gounod's at a concert given +in 1851, which called forth an enthusiastic article in the <i>Athenæum</i>.</p> + +<p>The year 1855 witnessed the production of one of the master's most +individual works, the "Messe de Ste. Cécile," the popularity of which +has remained unabated on both sides of the Channel, and which furnishes +perhaps the most typical example of his genius in this particular line. +Mons. Pagnerre, Gounod's biographer, very rightly considers this as +occupying the same position in regard to his religious as "Faust" does +to his dramatic works.</p> + +<p>For years Gounod had cherished the desire of setting Goethe's "Faust" to +music, and in 1855 he mentioned the subject to the librettists Michel +Carré and Jules Barbier, who immediately set to work and provided the +required text. Circumstances, however, combined to prevent him from +completing his work, and Mons. Carvalho, then director of the Théâtre<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a> +Lyrique, having suggested something of a lighter description, Gounod +interrupted his labours, and in five months completed the score of "Le +Médecin Malgré Lui," an operatic version of Molière's comedy, which was +performed for the first time on January 15, 1858. This little opera is a +perfect gem of delicate fancy and refined humour. It affords a proof of +what can be achieved with limited means by a true artist, and how +burlesque situations are susceptible of being treated without a +suspicion of vulgarity or triviality. Berlioz well defined its true +worth when he wrote: "Everything in this comic opera is pretty, piquant, +fresh, spontaneous; there is not a note too much nor a note too little." +It has frequently been performed in England under the title of "The Mock +Doctor."</p> + +<p>We now approach the culminating point in the composer's career. The +score of "Faust" was almost finished in October 1857, and Gounod was +said to be at work upon a grand opera entitled "Ivan the Terrible," +which was never<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a> completed, or at all events never played. The composer +utilised several portions thereof in other operas: the celebrated +soldier's march in "Faust" was originally composed for the above work. +"Faust" was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique on the 19th of March +1859, with the following cast: Faust, Barbot; Mephistophéles, Balanqué; +Valentin, Reynald; Siebel, Mdlle. Faivre; Marguerite, Mme. Carvalho. It +was transferred to the Grand Opéra in 1869, with certain alterations, +including new ballet music for the fifth act, when it was interpreted by +Colin, a young tenor of great talent and promise, who was destined to +die prematurely not long after; Faure, unsurpassed as Mephistophéles; +Devoyod, Mdlle. Mauduit, and Mme. Nilsson, the best of Marguerites.</p> + +<p>The success of "Faust" did not for some time assume anything like the +proportions it was destined to attain later on, and the following +extracts from some of the criticisms of the day may not be +uninteresting. Berlioz was on the whole distinctly favourable to his +young<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a> rival's work, and his appreciation, coming from one who had +himself sought for inspiration from the same source, acquires thereby +additional importance. According to him, the most remarkable portion of +the score is the monologue of Marguerite at her window, which closes the +third act. In this it is probable that many will now agree.</p> + +<p>Scudo,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> the once famous critic of the <i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i>, was +less favourable than Berlioz, although he admitted the work to be +thoroughly distinguished; "but," he added, "the musician has not seized +the vast conception of the German poet; he has not sufficiently +succeeded in appropriating unto himself the epic force of Goethe, to +render any new attempt impossible." In this, Scudo was perhaps not +altogether wrong. As, however, he always showed himself the +uncompromising opponent of Berlioz, Wagner, and the newer school of +musical thought, his judgment loses some of its weight, and it is not +surprising that he should<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a> have pronounced the soldier's march to be a +masterpiece, whilst failing to recognise the beauty of the garden scene.</p> + +<p>Strangely enough, neither Berlioz nor Scudo, judging the work from such +different standpoints, were in any way impressed by the musical beauties +or dramatic force of the prison scene. Jouvin, the critic of the +<i>Figaro</i>, whilst praising the second and fourth acts, thought the third +monotonous and lengthy. On the other hand, the critic of the +<i>Illustration</i> considered this as the finest. Scudo having died in 1864, +he was succeeded on the <i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i> by Blaze de Bury, who +proved even more hostile to Gounod than his predecessor.</p> + +<p>"Faust" was first performed in London under Col. Mapleson's <i>régime</i>, in +1864, with the following cast: Mme. Titiens, Marguerite; Mme. Trebelli, +Siebel; Giuglini, Faust; Gassier, Mephistophéles; Santley, Valentine. +Signor Arditi was the conductor.</p> + +<p>Later on, during the same season, it was given at Covent Garden and +interpreted as<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a> follows: Mme. Miolan-Carvalho, Marguerite; Mme. Nantier +Didier, Siebel; Tamberlik, Faust; Faure, Mephistophéles; Graziani, +Valentine.</p> + +<p>Since then, the number of singers who have appeared in this unique work +has been very great. There probably does not exist a <i>prima donna</i> who +has not enacted the part of Marguerite; and "Faust" has usurped the +place formerly occupied by "La Sonnambula" as the <i>débutante's</i> opera.</p> + +<p>In his amusing Memoirs, Colonel Mapleson gives an entertaining account +of the production of "Faust" in London.</p> + +<p>Finding that there appeared to be a lack of public interest in the new +work, discernible through the fact that only £30 worth of seats had been +disposed of for the first night, he adopted the bold and singular course +of distributing the tickets for the first three performances far and +wide, and giving out that the house was sold out. He then put an +advertisement in the <i>Times</i>, stating that, "in consequence<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a> of a death +in the family, two stalls for the first representation of 'Faust,' the +opera that had excited so much interest that all places for the first +three representations had been bought up, could be had at 25<i>s.</i> each." +The success of this stratagem appears to have been complete. Public +curiosity was aroused, and the triumphant career of "Faust" in this +country was begun.</p> + +<p>The success "Faust" has achieved all the world over is probably +unprecedented in operatic annals.</p> + +<p>Gounod is said to have got only £40 for the English rights, and he was +deemed lucky to get even that.</p> + +<p>It would appear to be an impossibility for a composer to succeed in +pleasing every one, and although perhaps "Faust" possesses this gift as +much as any other operatic work, yet it is not surprising that it should +have been criticised adversely from many varied points of view. That it +should have proved distasteful to Wagner is but natural, considering the +fact that the "libretto" must have seemed to the German<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a> master a +desecration of Goethe's poem, even as much as the book of "Guillaume +Tell" was a parody of Schiller's play.</p> + +<p>Amongst the most singular appreciations of "Faust" is that emitted by +Blaze de Bury, who qualifies it as an "Italian" opera!</p> + +<p>As a contrast to this, several others have commented upon the composer's +German tendencies, and the names of Mendelssohn and Schumann have been +freely mentioned as furnishing the source of his inspiration. In point +of fact, "Faust" is neither German nor Italian, but French, essentially +French in its melody, essentially French in its harmony. The few +unmistakable reminiscences of Mendelssohn do not detract from this any +more than does the undoubted influence in many places of Meyerbeer. Of +Schumann I can find but few if any traces. On the other hand, the work +bears the stamp throughout of Gounod's own individuality. It is not an +occasional reminiscence or a passing thought that suffices to class a +work as belonging to any special school, but rather its general<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a> +characteristics. Those who want a typical German Faust must go to +Schumann, whilst those who prefer Goethe as seen through Italian +spectacles can apply to Boïto. As regards the essentially Gallic +interpretations of Berlioz and Gounod there can be no question.</p> + +<p>Probably no legend has ever been turned to such account by poet, +dramatist, and musician as that of "Faust." The fascination of the +story, whether looked at in its philosophical or purely romantic aspect +has proved irresistible to many generations. The original Faust appears +to be a mythical personage, who in some form or another has figured in +the folk-lore of all nations, and is not to be confounded with Faust, or +Fust, the printer. An individual of this name is mentioned by Melancthon +in his "Table Talk" as having been a professor of magic at Cracow, and a +great traveller, who had startled the inhabitants of Venice by flying +through the air. The Reformer pleasantly alludes to this person as +"Turpissima bestia et cloaca multorum diabolorum." The existence of this +Faust at Cracow<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a> is further corroborated by Wierns in 1588, a year later +than the publication of the earliest version of the Faust legend by +Spiess. It is upon this last that Marlowe founded his "Dr. Faustus," +which was brought out in the following year. The long narrative of the +story by Widman appeared in 1599. In all these versions the character of +Marguerite is absent. It was reserved for Goethe to evolve this +beautiful conception from his brain.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>Since the appearance of the great German poet's masterwork, the subject, +as treated by him, has been utilised in various manners by numberless +musicians. It would perhaps not be uninteresting to cast a glance at +some of these. The following composers had preceded Gounod in making use +of "Faust" as an opera text: Lickl (1815), Strauss (1814), Spohr (1814), +Seyfried (1820), Béancourt (1827), Sir Henry Bishop (1825), Lindpaintner +(1831), Mdlle.<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a> Berlin (1831), Rietz (1837), and Gordigiani (1837).<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +What has become of all these works? <i>Chi lo sa?</i> The only one that has +in any way survived is that by Spohr, extracts from which are still +occasionally heard in the concert-room. Boïto's "Mefistofele" belongs of +course to a subsequent period. It redounds greatly to the credit of the +Italian composer that he should have succeeded in imposing a new +operatic setting of Goethe's poem when this was so intimately associated +in most people's minds with the music of Gounod.</p> + +<p>Although strangely unequal, "Mefistofele" is nevertheless in many ways a +highly remarkable work, particularly as marking a departure from the +usual methods peculiar to Italian composers, and aiming at a higher +ideal. It has born fruit. Boïto is a poet as well as a musician, and in +his<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a> operatic adaptation of "Faust" he has evidently striven to depart +as little as possible from Goethe's plan. This is of course commendable. +Unfortunately, the result has not been altogether satisfactory, for in +endeavouring to compress the two "Fausts" of Goethe into one work, the +Italian composer has been compelled to make a selection from the +different situations occurring in the original, and has only succeeded +in presenting a succession of scenes strung together apparently without +rhyme or reason. A proper sub-title for "Mefistofele" would be, "A +selection of scenes from the two Fausts of Goethe, operatically treated +by A. Boïto." Certainly the librettists of Gounod's opera have shown but +scant regard for Goethe's intentions, but they have at any rate +concocted a story with a well-regulated and dramatically logical plot. +Boïto, on the other hand, in his evident desire to do justice to Goethe, +has attempted too much and achieved too little. "Qui trop embrasse, mal +étreint." This has been the case with Boïto. Many people have tried to +discover a philosophical<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a> meaning, and the realisation of a quantity of +abstract notions in Boïto's music, which only exist in their +imagination. Perhaps the three composers who have best grasped the +spirit of the wonderful poem have been Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner: the +first in his "Scenes from Faust," the second in his "Faust Symphony," +the third in his "Faust Overture." Gounod has been more successful in +this respect than many people are inclined to allow. It is only +necessary to point to the first bars of the Prelude and the commencement +of the first act as a proof of this fact.</p> + +<p>Of late years Berlioz's "Damnation de Faust" has acquired a +well-deserved though tardily-bestowed popularity. It was considered by +the composer as one of his best works, a judgment which has since then +received a practically universal endorsement. At the same time, it is +rather by reason of its own individuality than as a satisfactory +interpretation of Goethe, that the above "dramatic legend" is entitled +to the high rank it occupies in the esteem of musicians, and much<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a> of +the effect produced by this extraordinary composition can in a large +measure be assigned to the glamour shed over it by the wonderful +orchestral colouring that Berlioz knew so well how to employ, his +mastery of which will probably remain his chief glory with posterity. +Berlioz states that the score of his "Faust" was composed by him with an +amount of facility that he rarely experienced in connection with his +other works. The famous march on a Hungarian theme was written by him in +one night. "The extraordinary effect," he writes, "that it produced at +Pesth decided me to introduce it into the score of 'Faust,' in taking +the liberty of placing my hero in Hungary at the outset of the work, and +causing him to assist at the passing of a Hungarian army across the +plain where he is indulging in dreamy thoughts." Berlioz excuses this +liberty by stating that in composing his "Faust" he had never intended +to bind himself into following the plan adopted by Goethe in his +masterpiece. This specious sort of argument is all very well in its way, +and<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a> the adoption of similar methods might prove of infinite service to +composers in enabling them to utilise previously-written works, and +thereby save themselves trouble. Whether it is artistic or not, is +another matter. If we suppose, for instance, that Berlioz had had by him +a "Tarantella" and an Irish jig, he might have transported his hero +alternately to Italy and to Erin, and named his work "The Travels of +Faust," which at any rate would not have been open to the same objection +as the original title chosen by him. Despite these casual observations +and the fact that, looked at from the point of view of a satisfactory +interpretation of Goethe's poem, the work falls short, Berlioz's "Faust" +none the less remains one of its author's most inspired compositions; +beautiful in parts, though needlessly eccentric in others; powerful, +and, above all, eminently individual.</p> + +<p>If the "Faust" of Berlioz may be ranked as one of its author's best +works, the same place of honour can undoubtedly be ascribed to the +"Scenes from Faust" of Schumann in the<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a> lengthy catalogue of the master +of Zwickau's compositions, and it is strange that so few opportunities +should be afforded to Londoners of appreciating its beauties. The second +part of this work is generally considered by musicians as being the most +remarkable, but Schumann's setting of the Church scene counts amongst +his finest inspirations. The overture is the weakest portion, and cannot +compare with Wagner's masterly tone-poem known as "Eine Faust +Ouverture," one of the most striking examples of modern orchestral +music. I must not omit to mention the "Faust Symphony" of Liszt, which +is also too seldom performed, probably on account of its length and +extreme difficulty, also possibly owing to the uncompromising hostility +entertained in certain quarters against the master's music. Although +consisting of three movements—labelled respectively "Faust," +"Marguerite," and "Mephistophéles," the work in question might rather +come under the category of a "symphonic poem." It is constructed upon +entirely unconventional<a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a> lines, the themes being subjected to various +transformations, after the method peculiar to Liszt. The second portion +is one of the most beautiful movements in the entire range of +instrumental music.</p> + +<p>The following composers have also treated the same subject more or less +successfully: Prince Radziwill, Litolff, Hugo Pierson, Zöllner, and +Eduard Lassen.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> The latter's incidental music is constantly given in +Germany in conjunction with the drama. As this is the age of festivals, +I should like to suggest to the minds of those responsible in such +matters the feasibility of attempting what might be termed a "Faust" +festival. This could be made to occupy the inside of a week, and would +be devoted entirely to works inspired by Goethe's poem. I venture to +think that the idea is susceptible of being turned to good account. Many +musical treasures, the existence<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a> of which is unsuspected, would thereby +come to light.</p> + +<p>It would appear to be almost needless to attempt to give a description +of the music that Gounod has wedded to Messrs. Michel Carré and Jules +Barbier's operatic version of "Faust." That it is perhaps the most +popular opera composed during the last fifty years is a generally +recognised fact, and one that is not likely to be seriously contested, +whatever restrictions may be made from different points of view +concerning its merits. Since it was first produced, a new generation has +sprung up, and what appeared startlingly bold thirty years ago has long +ceased to be so considered. In 1859 matters were very different from +what they now are. The operatic <i>pabulum</i> in England consisted of the +works of Balfe and Wallace. In France, Auber was at the head of the +Conservatoire; Ambroise Thomas had written neither "Mignon" nor +"Hamlet"; Clapisson, Massé, Maillart, and composers of that calibre, +enjoyed the confidence of the patrons of the<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a> Opéra Comique; whilst +Berlioz and Wagner were looked upon as musical iconoclasts.</p> + +<p>In Italy, Verdi reigned supreme, the Verdi of "Il Trovatore" and "La +Traviata," and nothing tended to foreshadow the astonishing +transformation of style that was eventually to lead the master to +compose works such as "Aïda," the "Requiem," "Otello," and "Falstaff."</p> + +<p>Musical education has made considerable progress since those days, and +the all-absorbing individuality of Wagner has exercised a sway over +musical art that is far from having spent itself.</p> + +<p>The form in which "Faust" was composed did not tend to differ in any +appreciable degree from that adopted by Meyerbeer, with the exception +that certain Italianisms and concessions to the vocalist were dispensed +with.</p> + +<p>Gounod's method, from which he has not since departed, seems to have +been to musically delineate each phase of the drama, treating<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a> every +scene as a separate whole—that is to say, without having recourse to +any connecting link or <i>leit motiv</i>; the recurrence of previously-heard +melodies in the fifth act hardly coming under this category. He is +satisfied to depict his characters in music that is intended to be more +or less in accordance with their individuality. Herein consists the +great difference that separates his works from those that are conceived +after Wagnerian ideas.</p> + +<p>The music allotted to Mephistophéles has an appropriate amount of +Satanic colouring, and is invested with a certain grim humour. It has +been remarked that Gounod has been less successful than Berlioz in his +musical depiction of the philosophical side of Goethe's poem. This may +or may not be true, but in comparing the two works it must be +recollected that the composers cannot be judged from the same point of +view, for whereas Berlioz was hampered by no theatrical trammels or +operatic conventionalities, but was able to turn the legend to whatever +account he chose, even to transporting<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a> Faust to the plains of Hungary +and accompanying him to the infernal regions, Gounod was to a certain +extent dependent upon his librettists, who saw in Goethe's poem nothing +more than a story susceptible of being turned to operatic purposes. As +to what really constitutes the philosophical in music, probably no two +people will agree. Music is intended to convey certain impressions which +in turn cause corresponding emotions to the listener, in accordance with +that which it has been the composer's intention to depict. If it fails +in so doing, the fault may be ascribed either to the composer's +incapacity, or to a want of sympathetic feeling on the part of the +listener.</p> + +<p>It is eminently to the credit of Gounod that he should have found the +means in his "Faust" of pleasing a variety of differently constituted +individuals, who probably admire his work from totally different +standpoints.</p> + +<p>To the great majority the charm of "Faust" lies in melodies such as +those of the "old men's" and soldiers' choruses, the Kermesse<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> and +well-known waltz; the more refined and sentimental will prefer the +famous love duet and the prison trio; <i>prime donne</i> will incline to the +jewel song, which furnishes them with the opportunity of displaying the +agility of their throats; and the cultivated musician will single out +parts that do not attract the same amount of attention, but are not the +less noteworthy—such as the opening bars of the Prelude, the entire +first act, the end of the third act, the death of Valentine, the Church +scene, the commencement and end of the last act. When "Faust" was +transferred from the Théâtre Lyrique to the Grand Opera in 1869, Gounod +wrote additional ballet music, which, though charming enough in itself, +is absolutely out of keeping with the nature of the subject, and might +equally well figure in any opera of the type associated with this +theatre.</p> + +<p>"Faust" may be considered as an important landmark in French music, and +from the year 1859 may be said to have sprung up an entirely new +generation of composers, imbued with a<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a> high and noble ideal, and +differing in many essentials from their predecessors. Previous to this +the voice of Berlioz remained that of one crying in the desert, unheeded +and scoffed at. The author of the "Symphonie Fantastique" had come too +soon, and, moreover, was altogether too thorough in his ideas and devoid +of any spirit of compromise. The pen of the critic, which he wielded +with such a conspicuous amount of success, was too often dipped in gall, +and the shafts of sarcasm which he unremittingly hurled at his enemies +kept their rancour alive, and mayhap did something to prevent even a +moderate amount of fair criticism from being meted to his musical +compositions. Although not a reformer in the same sense, Gounod +nevertheless contrived, in a quieter and less obtrusive manner, to +impose certain innovations without offending the prejudices of the +partisans of the older style of operatic music. To us nowadays it seems +difficult to realise that an opera so full of melody as "Faust" should +have seemed at all unduly complicated, but so it<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a> appears to have been +thought, and the Parisians of thirty years ago concentrated their +admiration upon the lighter portions, and looked askance at the rest. +These same Parisians were destined two years later to show the measure +of their musical aptitudes by the disgraceful manner in which they +received Wagner's "Tannhaüser" on the occasion of the memorable +performances of this work at the Opéra in 1861. At that period Gounod +was professedly an admirer of the German master, although since then his +opinions seem to have become sensibly modified. It is necessary to +remember that Wagner was only known then as the author of "Tannhaüser" +and "Lohengrin," and as holding certain heterodox views upon dramatic +art.</p> + +<p>After the <i>fiasco</i> of "Tannhaüser" Gounod appealed to the detractors of +the master, and gave them <i>rendezvous</i> in ten years' time before the +same work and the same man, when, he said, they would lift their hats to +them both. It has required somewhat more than ten years for this, but +the Parisians have gone even<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a> further now than Gounod, and possibly the +popularity of Wagner in Paris may eventually equal, if it does not +surpass, that of the composer of "Faust."</p> + +<p>Within a year after the production of this last work, a new opera by +Gounod was brought out at the Théâtre Lyrique. "Philémon et Baucis," +played for the first time on February 18th, 1860, is a graceful and +delicate little score, that has remained popular in France and only +recently has obtained a fair measure of success in London, where it was +produced by Sir Augustus Harris at Covent Garden in 1891.</p> + +<p>This pleasing work belongs entirely to the Opéra Comique <i>genre</i>, and +consists of a number of detached pieces connected together through the +means of spoken dialogue. In writing it Gounod evidently did not trouble +himself about questions of operatic reform, but was content with filling +in the framework provided for him, and allowing his ideas to flow +naturally. There is nothing forced in this melodious little opera. +Everything is pure and<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a> limpid as crystal. Putting aside all æsthetic +considerations as to the somewhat old-fashioned form in which the +composer's ideas are expressed, it is impossible not to feel charmed by +their refinement and delicacy.</p> + +<p>"La Colombe," a little comic opera given at Baden in 1860, and later on +at the Opéra Comique, is comparatively of little importance. A charming +<i>entr'acte</i> still occasionally finds its way into concert programmes. A +work of larger dimensions was "La Reine de Saba," produced on February +28th, 1862, the third opera written by Gounod for the Grand Opéra.</p> + +<p>The music of this work is unequal, and the <i>libretto</i> devoid of +interest. There are, however, certain numbers that have survived the +wreck of this ill-fated score, which has been somewhat too harshly +condemned. Amongst these may be mentioned the air, "Plus grand dans son +obscurité" (which has remained a favourite with dramatic <i>prime donne</i>), +the graceful women's chorus at the beginning of the second act, the +characteristic ballet music,<a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a> and the grand march. These last two +extracts have become popular, and form part of all properly constituted +concert <i>répertoires</i>. At the period when this opera was produced, the +peculiar disease known as "Wagnerophobia" was raging in Paris, and every +composer with something new to say was gratified with the epithet +Wagnerian, which was held to be a term of contumely, implying absence of +melodic ideas and want of inspiration.</p> + +<p>There is not much in the "Reine de Saba" that suggests the influence of +the German master, except a passing reminiscence of "Tannhaüser," but at +that time people did not look too closely into these matters. The score +was both long and monotonous, it did not contain too plentiful a +proportion of sops to the singers, and it was forthwith pronounced to be +Wagnerian, an expression as condemnatory in its intention as its real +meaning was little understood. Gounod himself laid great store upon his +work, and being met a short time after its production by a musical +critic at Baden, he told<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a> him that he was travelling on account of a +family bereavement. "I have lost," he said, "a woman whom I loved +deeply, the Queen of Sheba."</p> + +<p>Only those who know the amount of labour involved in the composition of +a five-act opera can measure the disappointment that must accrue to its +author on finding that his work has failed to satisfy that agglomeration +of entities known as the public. "La Reine de Saba" was more successful +in Brussels than in Paris, and was well received in Germany, where, +however, it has been dethroned in favour of the far finer work by +Goldmark bearing the same name. It has also been heard in London under +the title of "Irene."</p> + +<p>The opera of "Mireille," played for the first time at the Théâtre +Lyrique in 1864, and introduced to the notice of the English public at +Her Majesty's Theatre during the same year, is one of Gounod's most +characteristic productions in the way that it illustrates the composer's +qualities and defects perhaps as much<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a> as anything he has done. The poem +upon which it is founded is the "Mireio" of Frederick Mistral, the +celebrated Provençal poet. It is a pastoral, and as such necessarily +appealed irresistibly to a composer who is never so happy as when +treating a subject of this kind.</p> + +<p>The story is simple enough, and is thus condensed by Mons. Pagnerre, +Gounod's clever biographer, to whose work I may refer those amongst my +readers who seek for further information upon the composer's life: "A +rich young girl, a poor young man, an ill-fated love; and death of the +young girl through sunstroke."</p> + +<p>This tragic <i>dénouement</i> was subsequently altered, and, according to the +latest version of the opera, Mireille lives presumably to enjoy +connubial bliss with her lover.</p> + +<p>Gounod has been less happy in his treatment of the essentially dramatic +portions of the story than in those in which the lyrical element +predominates. The general colour of his score is<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a> quite in keeping with +a subject dealing with Provençale life, although it can scarcely be said +that he has proved so successful in this respect as Bizet has in his +music to Alphonse Daudet's "L'Arlésienne."</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this, there are many charming pages in "Mireille," +strongly marked with the composer's individuality, suggestive of warm +sunshine and southern skies. If the opera is emphatically a +disappointment when considered as a whole, if it absolutely fails to +carry conviction as a musical drama, if it is full of contradictions of +style and concessions to the vocalist, it may at least claim to be +replete with melody of a refined nature and to contain several numbers +that are always heard with pleasure. The melodious duet, "Oh Magali ma +bien-aimée," has been one of the chief items in the <i>répertoire</i> of +tenors and sopranos during the last five-and-twenty years, and has been +massacred by numberless amateurs in countless drawing-rooms.</p> + +<p>The overture is a delightfully fresh composition<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a> of a pastoral nature, +and serves as a fitting prelude to the story. For some reason, best +known to himself, Gounod has written two endings to this, the first of +which is immeasurably superior, which is probably the reason why the +second is usually played. In the first act the composer has introduced a +vocal waltz of the same type as the one he was subsequently to place in +the mouth of Juliet, both being evidently written for the purpose of +giving Mme. Carvalho, the creatrix of these parts, the opportunity of +indulging in vocal acrobatics. Such concessions to the exigencies of the +singer are much to be deplored.</p> + +<p>Amongst the most noticeable numbers in "Mireille" I would mention, in +addition to those I have already singled out, the opening chorus of the +first act, the "couplets" of Ourrias, so often sung in our concert rooms +by Mr. Santley, the "Musette," the shepherd's song, and Mireille's air, +"Heureux petit berger." This opera was originally in five acts; it was +then reduced to three, and restored to five, with<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a> certain +modifications, on the occasion of its revival at the Opéra Comique in +1874.</p> + +<p>If Gounod had not succeeded since his "Faust" in producing any work that +could bear comparison with this masterpiece (however creditable in their +way the operas that had followed it might be), he was destined in "Romeo +and Juliet" to be more fortunate, and to wed music to Shakespeare's +story, that many of his admirers have not scrupled to place upon the +same level as the former work. With this estimate I am by no means +disposed to agree, although I should be inclined to consider "Romeo" as +occupying the second place in the list of the composer's dramatic works.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare's wondrous tragedy had already been set to music by several +composers,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> amongst whom it will be sufficient to mention Dalayrac, +Steibelt, Zingarelli, Vaccai, Bellini,<a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a> and Marchetti. An opera by the +Marquis d'Ivry, entitled "Les Amants de Vérone," on the same theme, +although written before the production of Gounod's work, was brought out +in Paris in 1878 with Capoul as Romeo. It may be well to point out also +that, by a curious coincidence, Gounod once more chose a subject that +had been treated by Berlioz, whose symphony of "Romeo and Juliet" +remains one of his greatest works.</p> + +<p>In her interesting biography of Gounod, Mdlle. de Bovet makes the +following apt observations: "'Faust,' as we have seen, is remarkable for +its homogeneity, the happy outcome of the subordination of the fantastic +to the emotional element. It is not possible to say that all the parts +of 'Roméo et Juliette' are linked by so close a bond, and this could not +well have been so. All Jules Barbier's cleverness could not make the +plot other than a love duet, or rather a succession of love duets."</p> + +<p>It is this fact that accounts in a measure for the tinge of monotony +noticeable in this opera.<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a> When Mons. A. Jullien very truly remarks that +of all musicians Gounod is the one whose ideas, method, and style vary +the least, he strikes a vulnerable point in the composer's armour. Thus +the duets in "Romeo" have appeared to many people as attenuated versions +of the love music in "Faust." Not that the themes in themselves bear any +appreciable likeness one to another, but that the general +characteristics and harmonic colouring are similar. To many this will +appear an additional evidence of powerful individuality, whereas others +will see in it an element of weakness. Wagner has proved that it is +possible to write love duets totally distinct in conception one from the +other, yet bearing the impress of the same hand, in "Lohengrin," "Die +Walküre," "Tristan," and "Siegfried."</p> + +<p>Although the love music of "Romeo" cannot compare with that of "Faust," +yet there is no denying the charm that pervades it. Over-sentimental and +apt to cloy, it is eminently poetical and full of melody. If we miss +the<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a> note of true passion, we find in its stead a fund of tenderness. +The prelude, or prologue, in which the characters are seen grouped upon +the stage, is altogether happily conceived and novel in point of form. +There is little in the first act that calls for much notice, with the +exception of the clever song for Mercutio, "La Reine Mab," and the +graceful two-voiced madrigal. The vocal waltz to which I have previously +alluded is out of place in a work of this kind. The second act contains +the balcony scene, and is conceived in a delicate and refined vein well +adapted to the situation. The music throughout is suave and charming. +There is nothing particularly noticeable in the treatment of the +marriage scene in the cell of Brother Lawrence.</p> + +<p>During the next scene we witness the famous quarrels in which Mercutio +and Tybalt are killed. The influence of Meyerbeer is strongly marked +here, although the music lacks the dramatic force which is so prominent +in the works of the composer of the "Huguenots." The <i>finale</i> to<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a> this, +with its impassioned tenor solo, is highly effective.</p> + +<p>Gounod is once more in his element in the fourth act, which contains the +celebrated love duet, "Nuit d'Hyménée," and in the phrase "Non ce n'est +pas le jour" he strikes a note of genuine inspiration.</p> + +<p>The charming orchestral movement accompanying the sleep of Juliet and +the final love duet bring us to the end of the numbers demanding special +attention.</p> + +<p>"Romeo" proved successful in France from the outset, whereas in England +it failed to maintain itself in the operatic <i>répertoire</i> for a number +of years, notwithstanding the appearance of Mme. Patti as Juliet. +Recently it has acquired an undoubted popularity, owing possibly in part +to Mons. Jean de Reszke's assumption of the principal character.</p> + +<p>Alike to "Faust," "Romeo" has also been transferred to the <i>répertoire</i> +of the Grand Opéra. It is in these two works that the essence of the +master's genius would appear to be concentrated.<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a></p> + +<p>Gounod having been successful in his treatment of works by Molière, +Goethe, and Shakespeare, now turned his attention to Corneille, whose +"Polyeucte" exercised an irresistible fascination over his mind.</p> + +<p>Several events, however, were destined to transpire before this work was +to be brought to a termination.</p> + +<p>The Franco-German war broke out, and Gounod, who was past the age to +serve his country in a military capacity, took refuge in England. During +his sojourn in London he composed the cantata "Gallia," inspired by the +troubles that had befallen his native land. This work was written for +the inauguration of the Royal Albert Hall, where it was performed for +the first time on May 1st, 1871. On this occasion four composers were +asked to contribute to the solemnity. Sir Arthur Sullivan represented +England, Gounod France, Pinsuti Italy, and Ferdinand Hiller Germany. +Gounod entitled his work a "biblical elegy." It met with success in +London, and was subsequently performed in<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a> Paris. The best portion of +"Gallia" is the effective <i>finale</i> for soprano and chorus, "Jerusalem." +Gounod was at that time working at his "Polyeucte," and was also engaged +upon the "Redemption." Mrs. Weldon was to take the principal part in the +first of these works.</p> + +<p>Whilst in London Gounod composed a great deal. In addition to "Gallia" +he wrote several choral works and a quantity of songs. Amongst these +last may be mentioned such popular favourites as "Maid of Athens," "Oh +that we two were maying," "There is a green hill far away," "The +Worker," "The fountain mingles with the river," and the fascinating duet +entitled, "Barcarolle." The "Funeral march of a Marionette" also dates +from this epoch, as does the charming "Recueil" of songs entitled +"Biondina," instinct with southern spirit. It may be amusing to peruse +his opinion of English musical feeling, as recorded by Mdlle. de Bovet: +"When one sees Englishmen attentively follow the execution of a score, +as grave and solemn as if they were fulfilling an austere duty; then +suddenly, as if<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a> a spring had been touched, raise their heads and with +beaming faces exclaim, 'Oh, how nice! very beautiful indeed!' and again +bury themselves in their book as gravely and solemnly as before, one +cannot help thinking that they are would-be rather than real musicians. +They are actuated by British pride, because their artistic taste must be +superior to the taste of other nations, just as their navy is more +powerful and their cotton and flannel of better quality."</p> + +<p>The opera "Polyeucte," which was terminated in London, was not brought +out until October 7, 1878. Previous to this Gounod had set to music an +operatic version of Alfred de Vigny's "Cinq Mars," given for the first +time at the Paris Opéra Comique on April 5, 1877, which may be classed +among his weakest productions. It bears manifest signs of haste. Apart +from a suave "cantilena," "Nuit resplendissante," and some graceful +ballet music, there is little in "Cinq Mars" that calls for notice.</p> + +<p>Gounod was not much luckier with his "Polyeucte," over which he had +devoted so<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a> much thought and labour. This opera, which savours rather of +the oratorio, was not particularly suited to the stage of the Grand +Opéra, notwithstanding the introduction of a set ballet, very charming +in its way, but utterly unfit for the subject. A gorgeous +<i>mise-en-scène</i> and an admirable interpretation did not save it from +failure. Out of this elaborate and unequal score it is possible to +detach certain pages that are worthy of the illustrious name by which +they are signed, but the work in its <i>ensemble</i> is thoroughly +disappointing. Gounod seems after "Romeo" to have adopted an entirely +retrograde style of composition in his operas, and to have receded with +each new operatic attempt.</p> + +<p>If "Cinq Mars" and "Polyeucte" were both destined to accentuate this +fact, "Le Tribut de Zamora," given at the Grand Opéra in 1881, confirmed +it without further doubt. This last work is certainly one of his least +interesting operas, not so much in respect of want of ideas, as from the +fact of its being constructed upon old and obsolete models. Gounod has +pursued<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a> an absolutely contrary course to that adopted by Wagner and +Verdi, for whereas these masters have produced their greatest works at a +comparatively advanced period of their lives, the composer of "Faust" +has lost ground at each successive production. In saying this I allude +especially to his operas. Mons. Adolphe Jullien, in an article on the +"Tribut de Zamora," makes the following apt remarks: "Generally +speaking, musicians as they advance in their career obtain renewed +strength, and follow an upward course—at any rate, as long as they have +not attained old age. It is even the case with certain musicians, such +as Rossini and Verdi, that a revelation at a later stage of their career +enables them to perceive a new ideal, which they endeavour to attain, +with more or less success, according to the amount of genius they +possess; even for the one who is unable to reach his aim, it is always a +merit to have had it in view. There is nothing of this in M. Gounod. +After the long period of rest that followed the production of his best +works, from 'Faust' to<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a> 'Roméo,' he has re-entered the career with ideas +absolutely modified as regards dramatic music; he has returned straight +to the old type of opéra comique and opera, carefully cutting up each +act into airs and recitatives, each romance or melody into short square +periods, simplifying the orchestral accompaniment as much as possible, +and subordinating it to the voices, which it often doubles. According to +this retrograde system he has written his last operas, 'Cinq Mars,' +'Polyeucte,' and 'Le Tribut de Zamora,' whilst the young French +musicians taking his earlier works as their starting-point, were +endeavouring to add to the refinement of his orchestration, and to treat +each act as a vocal and orchestral symphony. There can be no doubt that +it is to this that the dramatic music of the present day tends, and it +is all the more strange to see M. Gounod going against this irresistible +movement that he has been one of the first to help."</p> + +<p>Before taking leave of the master as a dramatic composer it is necessary +to mention a<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a> musical version of Molière's "Georges Dandin," which has +never been performed, and may possibly be still unfinished. The +peculiarity of this work consists in the fact of the music being +composed to Molière's actual prose. In a preface destined to precede the +above opera, Gounod has exposed his ideas with a considerable amount of +ingenuity regarding the superiority he considers that prose possesses +over verse for operatic purposes. It is to be hoped that an opportunity +may some time or other be offered to the public of judging the practical +value of these theories by the production of "Georges Dandin." According +to Gounod, the substitution of prose for verse opens to the musician "an +entirely new horizon, which rescues him from monotony and uniformity." +The question, it may be added, had already been mooted by Berlioz, who +expressed himself favourable to the employment of prose in an article +published in 1858.</p> + +<p>There remain two important compositions of Gounod's to be mentioned, +both of which naturally<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a> possess great interest to the British public, +having been heard for the first time in England. "The Redemption," which +was produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1882, has obtained a great +and lasting success amongst us. It forms part of the current +<i>répertoire</i> of the Royal Choral Society.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="SCOREGOUNOD" id="SCOREGOUNOD"></a> +<a href="images/ill_092.png"> +<img src="images/ill_092_sml.png" width="550" height="223" alt="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE BY GOUNOD" title="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE BY GOUNOD" /></a> +<br /> +<span class="caption">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE BY GOUNOD</span> +</p> + +<p>Gounod has preceded the score of what he terms a sacred "trilogy" with a +few explanatory words. He describes his work as being the expression of +the three great events upon which rest the existence of Christianity: +(1) The Passion and death of the Saviour; (2) His glorious life on earth +between His resurrection and ascension; (3) The diffusion of +Christianity throughout the world by the apostolical mission. These +three parts of the "trilogy" are preceded by a prologue on the Creation, +the first Fall, and the promise of a Redeemer. This is, indeed, an +ambitious programme, and it is scarcely to be wondered at that Gounod +should not have succeeded altogether in realising it. The music rarely +approaches the grandeur and depth of<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a> expression requisite for an +adequate interpretation of such a theme. It is full of sensuousness and +mystic charm, but although containing several numbers of undeniable +beauty, the effect of the work as a whole is decidedly monotonous. +Having dedicated the "Redemption" to Queen Victoria, Gounod dedicated +"Mors et Vita," a sacred "trilogy" produced at the Birmingham Festival +of 1885, to Pope Leo XIII. This companion work to the "Redemption" is at +least equally ambitious in its scope. The first part consists of a +"Requiem," the second is descriptive of the Judgment, and the last deals +with Eternal Life. Hence its title, "Mors et Vita." This work has not +obtained the same popularity in England as the "Redemption," to which I +personally am inclined to prefer it.</p> + +<p>Having arrived thus far in the composer's life, I will have to content +myself with the bare mention of works, such as the incidental music +written by him to "Les Deux Reines," "Jeanne D'Arc," and "Les Drames +Sacrés." Gounod is also the author of two symphonies, composed at<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a> an +early stage of his career, several masses, and other religious works. As +a song-writer he has greatly distinguished himself, and his melodies +have long been the delight of vocalists all the world over. Amongst +these is one that deserves special mention and has probably done more to +popularise his name than the majority of his larger works. I allude to +the famous "Ave Maria," composed upon the first prelude of Bach. A +facetious Teuton a year or two ago published a book purporting to +contain biographies of great musicians. His sketch of Bach runs thus: +"John Sebastian Bach owes his great reputation almost entirely to the +fortunate circumstance that he received a commission to write the +accompaniment to a famous melody by Gounod. With a most incomprehensible +impertinence he also published his accompaniment, without Gounod's +melody, as a so-called 'prelude,' together with a number of small pieces +under the title of 'Wohltemperirte Clavier,' but the book had little +success, on account of its silly title, among the admirers of<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a> the +melody. His numerous sons are, to the annoyance of historians, also +called Bach."</p> + +<p>Gounod has lately attempted to improve (?) another of Bach's preludes, +but with indifferent results. Such things are not to be repeated. +Amongst his other songs it is only necessary to mention at random such +exquisite gems as the "Serénade," "Medjé," "Le Vallon," "Le Printemps," +"Au Printemps," "Prière," "Ce que je suis sans toi," &c., in order to +revive the most delightful recollections. Occasionally the composer of +"Faust" has been tempted to express his views upon art and artists. Of +late years he has exhibited an exuberant admiration for Mozart, upon +whose "Don Juan" he has written a pamphlet abounding in expressions of +the most dithyrambic description. In a preface to the "Lettres Intimes" +of Berlioz, he expresses his great admiration for that master. He has +also written two interesting and eulogistic notices of Saint-Saëns's +"Henry VIII." and "Ascanio."</p> + +<p>Composers are proverbially bad judges of<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a> each other's works. This is +probably due to the fact that every composer looks upon his art from a +special point of view, and is often unable to appreciate works that are +constructed upon different lines to his own. Every one knows the manner +in which Weber and Spohr criticised Beethoven, and how Schubert was +unable to perceive the beauties of Weber's "Euryanthe." Meyerbeer fared +badly at the hands of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner. The last-named +has been freely condemned by many of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, +there is a decided attraction in hearing the opinion of one creative +artist about another, and Gounod's ideas concerning some of the great +musicians are worth recording. We are already aware of his boundless +enthusiasm for Mozart, whom he terms "the first, the only one." Bach and +Beethoven have also exercised their sway upon him, and both these +masters run the composer of "Don Giovanni" hard in Gounod's estimation. +He is reported to have one day expressed himself in the following terms +concerning Bach:<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a> "If the greatest masters, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, +were to be annihilated by an unforeseen cataclysm, in the same manner in +which the painters might be through a fire, it would be easy to +reconstitute the whole of music with Bach. <i>Dans le ciel de l'art, Bach +est une nébuleuse qui ne s'est pas encore condensée.</i>"</p> + +<p>According to Mdlle. de Bovet, "Rossini is in Gounod's estimation the +most limpid, broad, and lofty of lyric authors"—after Mozart be it +said. This certainly would seem to upset my theory that a composer is +not able to appreciate works conceived after different methods to his +own, for what operas could possibly be more opposed in style than say +"Semiramide" or "La Gazza Ladra" and "Faust?" Certainly, if we read the +following passage in Mdlle. de Bovet's book we find that Gounod +considers that Rossini's work "is summed up in two masterpieces of +strangely opposite character, 'Il Barbiere di Seviglia' and 'Guillaume +Tell,'" which possibly qualifies the force of the preceding passage. His +appreciation of Berlioz is curious.<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a> According to Gounod, the composer +of the "Romeo and Juliet" symphony is "fantastical and emotional; he +suffers, he weeps, he grows desperate, or loses his head. The personal +side of things seizes hold of him: he has been called the Jupiter of +music. Granted; but a Jupiter who stumbles, a god who is a slave to his +passions and his transports; but withal possessing masterly qualities: a +marvellous colourist, he handles orchestration—which is the musician's +palette—with a sure and powerful grasp. And then we come suddenly +amongst remarkable passages, upon mistakes, awkward bits, betraying a +tardy and faulty education—in short, an incomplete genius." As regards +Wagner, the composer of "Faust" prefers to keep his opinion to himself, +or at any rate only to deliver it in words the ambiguity of which fit +them for an illustration of the saying that <i>La parole a été donnée à +l'homme pour cacher sa pensée.</i></p> + +<p>Gounod inhabits a handsome house in Paris. Mdlle. de Bovet has given the +following interesting description of his study, which I will take<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a> the +liberty of reproducing: "It is an immense apartment, rising the height +of two floors, lit by a broad window with light-stained glass; it is +panelled with oak and vaulted like a church. And is it not the sanctuary +of art? At the further extremity, on a platform reached by several low +steps, stands a large organ by Cavaillé Coll; the bellows are worked by +a hydraulic machine in the basement. A medallion representing a head of +Christ is placed in the centre of the instrument. The writing-table, +under the stained-glass window, is one of those composite ones used by +musicians, a movable keyboard sliding backwards and forwards under the +desk at will. The Renaissance mantelpiece in wood, richly carved in high +relief representing scenes of the Passion, is decorated with a bronze +medallion of Joan of Arc and massive iron ornaments. In the centre of +the room is a large grand piano by Pleyel. One side is filled with +bookcases—works on Theology and Philosophy occupying a conspicuous +place—and with musical scores; amongst these, the<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a> collection of +ancient ones inherited by Gounod from his father-in-law is extremely +valuable." "In this immense room," writes Mons. Pagnerre, "the author of +'Faust' can often be seen, clad in black velvet, with a loose cravat +round his neck, and his feet imprisoned in small slippers fit for a +woman. There is ever something feminine about Gounod. His conversation +is charming and persuasive. The musician is a witty and eloquent +conversationalist. His physiognomy is mobile, his voice is soft, and +when he speaks it is like music."</p> + +<p>The individuality of a great composer is ever attractive to his +admirers, and when in addition to his gifts as a creator he possesses +that peculiar qualification known as "personal magnetism," their +enthusiasm occasionally causes them to outstep the bounds of +common-sense. It is especially members of the fair sex who are prone to +indulge in exaggerated expressions of hero-worship. The emotional nature +of music causes it to appeal to their minds with such intensity that +they make a fetish of their idol,<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a> and fall down and worship not only +him but everything he touches and looks upon. There are plenty of most +amusing incidents on record which might be cited in support of this. +Amongst these I will mention the following, concerning which it may be +said, <i>Se non è vero, è ben trovato</i>:</p> + +<p>A story is told of a lady admirer of his who once paid him a visit. +Noticing a cherry-stone on the mantelpiece, she annexed it, took it home +and had it set by a jeweller as a brooch, surrounded by diamonds and +pearls. Paying a visit to Gounod some weeks later the lady drew +attention to her act of reverence, when Gounod said: "But, madam, I +never eat cherries; the stone you found on the mantelpiece was from a +cherry eaten by my servant Jean!" Tableau!</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>In summing up the qualifications of a great composer—and as such there +can be no doubt that Gounod must be reckoned—it is evidently better to +dwell upon that which he has actually<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a> achieved than upon what he may +have left undone.</p> + +<p>The composer of "Faust" has imprinted his mark in an unmistakable manner +upon his epoch. He has struck a note that had not previously been heard, +and if he has perhaps reiterated this note somewhat too frequently, +thereby attenuating its effect, the credit of having been the first to +employ it must not be refused to him.</p> + +<p>Mons. Adolphe Jullien judges him severely when he says that the more he +has had occasion to hear and study his works, the more convinced he has +become that Gounod possesses the genius of assimilation. According to +him, the greatness of Gounod's talent is derived through the study of +the works of all the masters, and especially of those of Bach, Handel, +Schumann, and Berlioz. This I consider open to doubt. That Gounod has +studied the works of his predecessors and profited thereby is evident, +but this has been the case with all musicians. Something more is +required to<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a> compose a work such as "Faust"; that something which is the +appanage of but few composers, and which is known as "individuality."</p> + +<p>Mons. Arthur Pougin, in his Supplement to Fétis's "Dictionnaire des +Musiciens," thus describes the genius of Gounod: "Musically and as +regards the theatre, M. Gounod is more spiritualistic than +materialistic, more of a poet than a painter, more elegiac and more +nervous than truly pathetic. It is perhaps this that has caused people +to say that he lacked dramatic feeling; those who have expressed +themselves thus have been mistaken, for it is not the dramatic +feeling—that is to say, <i>la perception passionée</i>—which Gounod +occasionally wants, but rather the temperament. At the same time, the +author of 'Faust,' 'Roméo,' 'Le Médecin Malgré Lui,' remains a true +poet, an inspired creator, an artist of the first rank and of high +order."</p> + +<p>The essence of the master's genius is contained in "Faust." Although +since then he has composed many works of great merit, yet he has<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a> never +been inspired to a similar degree. He may have abused certain formulas, +and employed the same devices <i>ad nauseam</i>, but at any rate he can claim +them as his own. It is not his fault if his imitators have reproduced +his mannerisms to so great an extent.</p> + +<p>Ernest Reyer once remarked that every one nowadays wrote music in the +style of Gounod. "So far," added the witty Academician, "it is still +that of Gounod himself that I prefer." This opinion, I venture to think, +will probably be endorsed by my readers.</p> + +<p>I cannot better terminate this notice on the composer of "Faust" than by +reproducing the following sonnet addressed to him by Camille +Saint-Saëns:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;">"<i>Son art a la douceur, le ton des vieux pastels</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Toujours il adora vos voluptés bénies,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Cloches saintes, concert des orgues, purs autels;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>De son œil clair, il voit les beautés infinies.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Sur sa lyre d'ivoire, avec les Polymnies,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Il dit l'hymne paiën, cher aux Dieux immortels.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>'Faust,' qui met dans sa main le sceptre des génies</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Egale les Juan, les Raoul et les Tell.</i><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>De Shakespeare et de Goethe il dore l'auréole;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Sa voix a rehaussé l'éclat de leur parole,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Leur œvre de sa flamme a gardé le reflet.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Echos du Mont Olympe, échos du Paraclet</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Sont redis par sa Muse aux langueurs de créole;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Telle vibre à tous les vents une harpe d'Eole.</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a></p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="SAINT" id="SAINT"></a> +<a href="images/saint_saens-a.jpg"> +<img src="images/saint_saens-a_sml.jpg" width="449" height="550" alt="CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS portrait signed" title="CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS portrait signed" /></a> +<br /> +<a href="images/saint_saens-b.png"> +<img src="images/saint_saens-b_sml.png" +alt="signature" +title="signature" +width="450" +height="125" +/></a> +</p> + +<h3><a name="CAMILLE_SAINT-SAENS" id="CAMILLE_SAINT-SAENS"></a>CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS</h3> + +<p class="nind">T<small>HERE</small> probably does not exist a living composer who is gifted with a +musical organisation so complete as that of Camille Saint-Saëns. A +perfect master of his craft, the French composer has contributed his +quota to every branch of his art, and may truly be said to have +distinguished himself in each. An eclectic in the highest sense of the +word, Saint-Saëns has attempted every style and form, disseminating his +works right and left with seemingly reckless prodigality. Never at a +loss for an idea, invariably correct and often imaginative, going from a +piano concerto to an opera, and from a cantata to a symphonic poem with +disconcerting ease, composing rapidly, yet never exhibiting any trace of +slovenly workmanship, finding time in the meanwhile to distinguish<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a> +himself as organist and pianist, and to wield the pen of the critic, the +astonishing capabilities of this wonderfully gifted musician may be put +down as absolutely unique. His eclecticism may indeed be said to have +been with him both a source of strength and weakness, for reasons which +I shall propose to examine later on. Before endeavouring to formulate an +opinion upon his multifarious works, a few biographical notes will not +be out of place.</p> + +<p>Camille Saint-Saëns was born on October 9, 1835. He lost his father when +a child, and was brought up by his mother and his great-aunt, thanks to +whose combined care he was able to battle against the natural delicacy +of his constitution. Many anecdotes are related concerning the precocity +of his musical development, and the ease with which he mastered those +first principles of his art which usually appear so trying to the +youthful mind.</p> + +<p>One day, when he was at play, a visitor having been ushered into the +adjoining room, the<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a> child, in listening to his footsteps, gravely +observed, to the amusement of those present: "That gentleman in walking +marks a crotchet and a quaver." The visitor in question walked with a +limp.</p> + +<p>It was from his great-aunt that he learnt the elements of music. Later +on, he studied the piano under Stamaty,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> and composition under +Maleden, subsequently entering the Conservatoire in the class presided +over by Halévy.</p> + +<p>In 1852 he competed without success for the "Prix de Rome," and that +same year witnessed the production of his first symphony by the Société +de Sainte-Cécile under Seghers.</p> + +<p>Twelve years later, he once more entered the lists, but again failed, +and the prize was awarded to Victor Sieg.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>Saint-Saëns was luckier in 1867, when his cantata "Les Noces de +Prométhée" was allotted the first place in a competition organised for a +work to be performed on the occasion of the opening of the International +Exhibition.<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a></p> + +<p>No less than one hundred and two musicians competed for the prize. +Berlioz wrote as follows to his friend Ferrand concerning the success +achieved by Saint-Saëns: "On avait entendu les jours précédents cent +quatre cantates, et j'ai eu le plaisir de voir couronner (à l'unanimité) +celle de mon jeune ami Camille Saint-Saëns, l'un des plus grands +musiciens de notre époque.... Je suis tout ému de notre séance du jury! +Comme Saint-Saëns va être heureux! j'ai couru chez lui, lui annoncer la +chose, il était sorti avec sa mère. C'est un maître pianiste foudroyant. +Enfin! voilà donc une chose de bon sens faite dans notre monde musical. +Cela m'a donné de la force; je ne vous aurais pas écrit si longuement +sans cette joie."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>A curious incident is related as having occurred on the occasion of this +competition. The works sent in naturally did not bear the names of their +authors, and many of the judges seemed to imagine that Saint-Saëns' +cantata, which was far ahead of the others in point of<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a> merit, was by a +foreigner. This caused the veteran Auber to make the following remark: +"Je voudrais être certain que l'auteur de ces 'Noces' soit un Français. +C'est un symphoniste si sur de ses moyens, si franc du collier, d'allure +si libre, que je ne vois pas chez nous son pareil."</p> + +<p>The fact of Saint-Saëns having sent his score from London led some of +his judges to imagine that they were voting for Sir Julius (then Mr.) +Benedict.</p> + +<p>Saint-Saëns had been named organist at the church of Saint Merry when +only seventeen years of age, and in 1858 was appointed to a similar post +at the Madeleine, in succession to Lefébure Wély.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> He relinquished +this position in 1877, finding that he had not sufficient time to devote +to his duties, and was succeeded by Théodore Dubois.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> In the +meanwhile, the reputation of Saint-Saëns as a pianist had been +spreading, and during frequent journeys over Europe he<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a> invariably met +with great success wherever he went.</p> + +<p>The opinion of one artist concerning another is ever interesting, and +the following words of Hans von Bülow, written in 1859, will give an +idea of the esteem in which the great German pianist held his French +colleague: "There does not exist a monument of art of whatsoever +country, school, or epoch, that Saint-Saëns has not thoroughly studied. +When we came to talk about the symphonies of Schumann, I was most +astonished to hear him reproduce them on the piano with such an amount +of facility and exactitude that I remained dumbfounded in comparing this +prodigious memory with my own, which is thought so much of. In talking +with him I saw that nothing was unknown to him, and what made him appear +still greater in my eyes was the sincerity of his enthusiasm and his +great modesty." It must be recollected that at that time Schumann was +comparatively little known in France. Testimony of this kind coming from +a musician like Hans von Bülow<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> is indeed precious. We have already seen +what Auber and Berlioz thought of Saint-Saëns, it remains to record the +opinions emitted by Wagner and Gounod.</p> + +<p>The composer of "Tristan," in a <i>réunion</i> consisting of several French +artists who had journeyed to Switzerland to see him, drank to the health +of Saint-Saëns, whom he qualified as the "greatest living French +composer."</p> + +<p>Gounod has never lost an opportunity of expressing his admiration for +his friend's wonderful gifts, and has recorded his appreciation of the +surprising versatility so often exhibited by Saint-Saëns in the +following words: "He could write at will a work in the style of Rossini, +of Verdi, of Schumann, or of Wagner."</p> + +<p>Mons. Edouard Schuré has endeavoured to trace the musical physiognomy of +Saint-Saëns in the following lines, occurring in the preface written by +him to the interesting "Profils de Musiciens" of Mons. Hugues Imbert: +"Personne ne possède plus à fond la science technique de la musique, +personne ne connait mieux les maîtres, de Bach<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a> jusqu'à Liszt, à Brahms, +et Rubinstein, personne ne manie plus habilement toutes les formes +vocales et instrumentales. Mons. Saint-Saëns peut dire: 'Rien de musical +ne m'est étranger.' Il a abordé tour à tour tous les genres et presque +avec un égal bonheur. On remarque chez lui une imagination souple et +vive, une constante aspiration à la force, à la noblesse, à la majesté. +De ses quatuors, de ses symphonies se détachent des échappées +grandioses, des fusées trop vite évanouies. Mais il serait impossible de +définir l'individualité qui se détache de l'ensemble de son œuvre. On +n'y sent pas le tourment d'une âme, la poursuite d'un idéal. C'est le +Protée multiforme et polyphone de la musique. Essayez de le saisir; le +voilà qui se change en sirène. Vous êtes sous le charme? Il se +métamorphose en oiseau moqueur. Vous croyez le tenir enfin? mais il +monte dans les nuages en hypogriffe. Sa nature propre perce le mieux en +certaines fantaisies spirituelles d'un caractère sceptique et mordant +comme la 'Danse Macabre' et le 'Rouet d'Omphale.'"<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a></p> + +<p>Saint-Saëns is no stranger to us. His visits to London have been +frequent, and his cantata, "The Lyre and the Harp," was composed +expressly for the Birmingham Festival of 1879. This very year, 1893, the +University of Cambridge has paid homage to the greatness of the musician +by conferring upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. His first +appearance in London was at the Musical Union in 1871. He played at +Philharmonic Concerts in 1874 and 1879, choosing Beethoven's concerto in +G on the first occasion, and his own concerto in G minor on the second. +He has also been heard at the Crystal Palace, and this year (1893) he +again appeared at a Philharmonic Concert, playing the same concerto in G +minor of his own composition, and conducting his symphonic poem, "Le +Rouet d'Omphale." During one of his visits to London, some ten or twelve +years ago, he met with an accident that might have had fatal results. He +fell through an open trap-door, and received serious injuries to his +back, from which he did not recover for a long while.<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> Having promised +to take part in an arrangement for eight hands of his "Marche Heroïque," +at a concert given by Sir Julius Benedict, he somehow contrived to get +on to the platform and perform his task, but when it came to acknowledge +the applause of the audience he was unable to bend forward or bow, and +had to slide off as best he could. As a pianist, Saint-Saëns may be +classed in the very first rank. His execution is prodigious, and his +lightness of touch quite unique. He is, perhaps, heard at his best when +interpreting Bach, with whose works he is as intimately acquainted as +any living musician.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, he now seriously contemplates giving up performing in +public, not feeling anxious to continue after his powers are on the +wane. The reason he alleges will scarcely be accepted as a good one, for +so far there has been no falling off whatever in his execution. What is +more likely is that he finds he has no time to practise. As a matter of +fact he now rarely touches the instrument, and a paragraph that +recently<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a> appeared in a paper to the effect that he was in the habit of +practising all day long, caused him to indulge in a prolonged fit of +merriment. In his humorous way—for Saint-Saëns is a humorist, <i>comme il +y en a peu</i>—he told me that he considered that an executant should know +how to stop in time, and that he was not desirous of emulating the +example of certain artists who went on giving concerts until they had +completed their allotted span of life, and were capable, even after +their demise, of finding sufficient strength to announce a "posthumous +recital."</p> + +<p>In the course of his eventful career Saint-Saëns has had some amusing +experiences of the stupidity of those amateurs who pretend to be +musical, and whose knowledge may be put down at zero. The Duchess de +C—— once expressed the desire to hear him perform some strictly +classical music. A party was organised, and none were invited but those +whose musical proclivities were known to be of a serious order. +Saint-Saëns seated himself at the piano, and<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a> asked the Duchess de +C——, who was by his side, what she would wish him to play. There was a +pause, the Duchess thought deeply, and suddenly turning towards him, +said she would so like to hear <i>the Miserere from the "Trovatore."</i></p> + +<p>On another occasion he was asked by a lady who was giving a party to +play something that would not be too difficult of comprehension. "Play a +piece suitable for a pack of donkeys," she said. As it happened, +Saint-Saëns had just got up a "fantasia" upon Bellini's "Casta diva," +one of those drawing-room show pieces utterly devoid of any musical +value; so he expressed himself ready to provide the required article. +The evening arrived; he sat down at the piano and duly went through his +fireworks. The moment the piece was at an end, up jumped a gentleman, +who was profuse in his expressions of delight, and warmly clasping the +hostess's hand, exclaimed: "I am sure you got him to play this beautiful +piece for <i>my</i> benefit!"</p> + +<p>Having remarked at the beginning of this sketch that Saint-Saëns had +distinguished himself<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a> as a composer in every branch of his art, I will +endeavour to allude briefly to those amongst his works that have +contributed the most to ensure him the supremacy he now occupies amongst +the musicians of his country, a supremacy which is practically +uncontested, if only for the reason of the universality of his gifts. +Whereas other composers occupy, perhaps, an equal or even superior rank +in some particular line, there is not one who has shown himself capable +of shining in conspicuous fashion in so many varied styles. Mons. +Gauthier Villars, in a clever article upon the composer, has remarked +that there exist in Camille Saint-Saëns "three men—three temperaments +that influence one another. There is an 'absolute' musician, a dramatic +musician, and a critic, whose polemics are always erudite, frequently +witty, occasionally bitter and violent." These words will serve in a +great measure to explain certain apparent inconsistencies that are +noticeable in the composer's works. A thorough master of every technical +detail of his art, a contrapuntist of unsurpassed excellence,<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a> a +musician endowed with a prodigious facility of production, Camille +Saint-Saëns has not always been able to keep his productivity within due +bounds. His sureness of hand enables him to complete a work in so short +a time that he has not invariably given proof of that spirit of +concentration which shows itself in the compositions of some masters. +With Saint-Saëns it is the impulse of the moment that compels him to +compose in one style or another. This will account for the fact that if +in some cases his works betray a want of inspiration, yet they rarely +smell of lamp oil, or seem unduly laboured. He is essentially a +<i>fantaisiste</i>, careless of any preconceived plan, but exhibiting a +wondrous command of musical resources, and a complete grasp over his +subject. The themes he employs may sometimes lack character or +distinction, yet no one knows better than he does how best to treat +them, and by ingenious transformations to render them interesting. This +applies more especially to his chamber music, of which the piano trio in +F, op. 18, the piano quartet,<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a> op. 41, and the septet for trumpet, +piano, and strings, op. 65, are perhaps the best examples. In these +compositions the classical turn of mind, to which a happy admixture of +modern elements lends additional charm, is very noticeable. This +peculiar combination of the classical and the romantic is a special +characteristic in the works of Saint-Saëns, and is found in the majority +of his productions. Janus-like, he keeps one side of his head turned +towards Bach, Handel, and Beethoven, whilst he finds means with the +other of gazing at Liszt, Wagner, and Gounod. These masters have +exercised a very marked influence upon his style.</p> + +<p>The simplicity of treatment and perfect clearness in the workmanship +noticeable in his chamber music, form a distinct contrast to the +complexities indulged in by that section of the modern German school +represented by Brahms. The perfectly balanced nature of his mind, and +his predilection for works of classic proportions, prevent Saint-Saëns +from ever falling into any musical aberrations of intellect. At the +same<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a> time, he rightly considers that new forms in music do not +necessarily imply formlessness, as some people appear to imagine, and in +his larger orchestral compositions he has ever displayed a tendency to +avoid recognised models. His four symphonic poems illustrate the dual +nature of his talent as much as any of his productions. If in these we +miss the powerful grandeur of Liszt, we find in its stead a clearer and +more compact method of expression.</p> + +<p>These four works constitute one of the most abiding titles to the +composer's fame. They also offer an opportunity of discussing a question +over which there has been much controversy—viz., the position occupied +by so-called "programme music" in contradistinction to "absolute music." +The partisans of musical reaction, who are ever doing their utmost to +stifle any attempt at emancipation from routine, and place every +obstacle in the way of true progress, have often directed their sneers +against this particular form of art. It is difficult to understand the +reason that actuates them when they try all<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a> they can to shut the doors +upon the efforts of musicians whose only desire is to serve the cause of +true art to the best of their ability. These dogmatic pedants would lead +one to believe that "programme music" is the product of our degenerate +age, invented by musicians barren of inspiration, eagerly clutching at +anything enabling them to earn even a fictitious reputation.</p> + +<p>In reality, "programme music," in some form or other, has existed for +many generations.</p> + +<p>Kühnau, the precursor of Bach, has left a sonata intended to describe +the fight between David and Goliath. Bach himself has not disdained the +"form" in question. His capriccio on the departure of a friend, with its +differently labelled parts, comes distinctly under the above +denomination.</p> + +<p>It is as well though, in dealing with this subject, to draw a +distinction between purely imitative and descriptive music. Whereas the +<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>former exemplifies a puerile, and necessarily inferior, form of art, +the latter is susceptible of serving the noblest ends.</p> + +<p>It stands to reason that a musical imitation of physical sounds must +necessarily fall short of the reality.</p> + +<p>A single clap of thunder will produce more effect than all the symphonic +thunderstorms that have ever been composed, with all due deference to +Beethoven and Rossini. Haydn has attempted to imitate all manner of +sounds in the "Creation," from the bounding of a deer to the falling of +snow! These things fail to do more than provoke a smile. Music should +act by suggestion rather than actual imitation. At the same time, a +composer should not be denied the use of any device calculated to aid +his inspiration, or to enable him to enlarge the domain of art by the +employment of new or little used formulas.</p> + +<p>Beethoven and Mendelssohn have both given the sanction of their names to +"programme" music, and the example shown by the composers of the +"Pastoral" symphony and the "Hebrides"<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a> overture ought to be sufficient +to silence the objections of the partisans <i>quand même</i> of "absolute" +music.</p> + +<p>In an admirable article upon the "Symphonic Poems" of Liszt, Saint-Saëns +has dealt fully and conclusively with the matter, and I cannot do better +than reproduce the French master's own words, which have the advantage +also of drawing attention to the great and still imperfectly recognised +merits of Liszt as a composer. After laying stress upon the fact that +Liszt had dared to break with the traditions regulating the symphonic +form, and had by this shown a greater amount of boldness than Weber, +Mendelssohn, Schubert, or Schumann, he proceeds to discuss the principle +of "programme music" in the following terms:</p> + +<p>"To many people, 'programme music' is a necessarily inferior <i>genre</i>. A +quantity of things have been written upon this subject that I find it +impossible to understand. Is the music in itself good or bad? Everything +lies there. Whether it be or not accompanied by<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a> a programme, it will be +neither better nor worse. It is exactly as in painting, when the subject +of a picture, which is everything for the vulgar, is nothing or is but +little for the amateur. There is yet more: the reproach made against +music of expressing nothing of itself, without the help of words, +applies equally to paintings. A picture will never represent Adam and +Eve to a spectator who does not know the Bible; it will only represent a +naked man and woman in a garden. And yet the spectator, or listener, +will lend themselves easily to this deception, which consists in adding +to the pleasure of the eyes or ears the interest or emotion of a +subject. There is no reason to refuse them this pleasure, neither is +there any compelling one to grant it. The liberty in the matter is +complete; the artists profit by it, and they are right. What is +undeniable is that the taste of the public at the present epoch tends +towards the picture with a distinct subject and towards music with a +programme, and that the taste of the public, at least in France, has +drawn artists in this direction.<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> 'Programme music' is, for the artist, +only a pretext to explore new tracks, and new effects require new +means."</p> + +<p>Saint-Saëns has put his theory into practice with considerable success +in the four symphonic poems entitled "Le Rouet d'Omphale," "Danse +Macabre," "Phaëton," and "La Jeunesse d'Hercule." Fundamentally +different the one from the other, each of these compositions comes under +the category of descriptive music, and is intended to illustrate a +special subject. In the "Rouet d'Omphale," the composer has employed the +well-known classic tale of Hercules at the feet of Omphale as a pretext +for illustrating the triumph of weakness over strength.</p> + +<p>No words can express the art with which the composer has developed his +themes, or give an idea of the delicacy of an instrumentation which, +gossamer-like, seems to float in an atmosphere of melody.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most characteristic of the four symphonic poems is the +well-known "Danse Macabre." This work is suggested by a poem<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a> of Henri +Cazalis, the first verse of which runs thus:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;">"<i>Zig et zig et zag, la mort en cadence</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Frappant une tombe avec son talon</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>La mort à minuit joue un air de danse</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Zig et zig et zag, sur son violon.</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The hour of midnight is heard to strike, and Death is supposed to +perform a weird and ghastly dance, which grows wilder and wilder, until +the cock having crowed, the excitement gradually subsides, and quiet +reigns once more.</p> + +<p>The way in which Saint-Saëns has succeeded in musically depicting the +above story is intensely original and masterly. The general plan of the +piece is perfectly clear and logically worked out. The two themes upon +which it is constructed are admirably adapted for the purpose, and +susceptible of being employed together with striking effect. There is a +certain passage which produces the uncanny impression of the wailing of +an unhealthy night wind through the trees of a churchyard. In order to +give an imitation of the rattling of bones, Saint-Saëns has<a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a> made use of +the xylophone. A curious detail to be noted is the introduction, in a +species of burlesque manner, of the "Dies Iræ," transposed into the +major and converted into a waltz, to which the skeletons are supposed to +dance. Strikingly original and ingenious is the effect of the "solo" +violin, with its string tuned to E♭, producing a +diminished fifth on the open strings A and E♭, which, +being reiterated several times, conveys a peculiar sensation of +weirdness. The "Dance Macabre" has contributed largely to spread its +author's reputation all over Europe. It is undoubtedly one of his most +popular works. "Phaëton," op. 39, and "La Jeunesse d'Hercule," op. 50, +although less well known, are not the less remarkable. The first of +these deals with the well-known story of Phaëton, who has obtained +permission to drive the chariot of his father, the Sun, through the +skies. His unskilled hands are powerless to retain the steeds. The +entire universe is about to perish through the too close proximity of +the flaming chariot, when Jupiter strikes the imprudent<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a> Phaeton with +his thunderbolts. Upon this legend Saint-Saëns has constructed a +symphonic piece of great descriptive power. The music may indeed be said +to tell its own story. A prelude of a few bars describes Phaeton +gathering up his reins. He starts, and, presumably, after a preliminary +canter, induces the horses to proceed quietly. Suddenly, however, they +break away. Vainly does he use all his endeavours to stop them in their +frantic course. The catastrophe is nearing, when a formidable crash puts +an end to Phaeton and his misplaced ambition.</p> + +<p>The instrumentation of "Phaëton" is in itself worth a detailed notice, +and is a perfect marvel of ingenuity.</p> + +<p>"La Jeunesse d'Hercule" is the most elaborate of the four symphonic +poems, and is, perhaps, the least well-known. It attempts to describe +the legend of Hercules, who at the outset of life saw two roads open to +him, that of pleasure and that of duty. The hero does not allow himself +to be swayed by the seductions of nymphs or bacchantæ, but resolutely +follows<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a> the path of struggles and of combats, at the end of which he is +to receive the recompense of immortality.</p> + +<p>In treating this subject Saint-Saëns has given full rein to his +imagination, and has shown a complete independence of spirit in the +matter of construction. The score of this poetical and original +composition will fully repay any amount of study that may be devoted to +it. It is, of course, impossible to attempt an analysis of this +interesting work in these pages. I would, however, draw the attention of +musicians to the wonderfully ingenious manner in which the climax is +reached, producing an accumulative effect of concentrated force bursting +through its bonds, evidently descriptive of the final triumph of +Hercules.</p> + +<p>A symbolic meaning is attached to all these symphonic poems, with the +possible exception of the "Danse Macabre," and although they are each +professedly intended to describe an actual story, this is only used as a +means of suggesting the abstract idea that underlies it.<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a></p> + +<p>Saint-Saëns has published four pianoforte concertos, the second and +fourth of which are the best known. Some years since he told me that he +contemplated writing a fifth, but for some reason best known to himself +he did not put his project into execution. The second and fourth +concertos are two of the most striking examples of the kind that have +proceeded from the pen of a modern composer. Why the third should be so +persistently neglected is more than I profess to understand, except for +the reason that pianists are like the traditional <i>moutons de Panurge</i>, +and are, as a race singularly destitute of initiative, preferring to +follow on the beaten track sooner than give themselves more trouble than +necessary.</p> + +<p>The form adopted by Saint-Saëns in his second concerto, op. 25, is +sufficiently novel. Its first movement is labelled "Andante sostenuto," +and commences with a long introduction for the piano, somewhat in the +style of Bach. The passionate melody which succeeds to this, and may be +considered as the principal theme of the movement, is, however, quite +modern in<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a> character. The delightful "Scherzo" and inspiriting "Finale," +are slightly suggestive of both Weber and Mendelssohn, whilst bearing +the distinctive mark of their composer's personality. In his fourth +concerto in C minor, op. 44, Saint-Saëns has departed still further from +the usual model. This work is divided into two sections, which include +five changes in the "tempo." A noticeable feature in the concerto is the +reintroduction in the last movement of themes previously heard in the +first, thus producing a sense of homogeneity.</p> + +<p>The fourth concerto is the most ambitious work of the kind that +Saint-Saëns has written. It is also the best. A few years since, the +composer attempted the experiment of performing all four works in +succession at a concert given at the St. James's Hall.</p> + +<p>Saint-Saëns did not make his <i>début</i> as an operatic composer until he +had reached the age of thirty-seven, and then only with a one-act +opéra-comique, entitled "La Princesse Jeaune," produced at the Opéra +Comique Theatre in<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a> 1872. This curious little work, the scene of which +is laid in China, was not well received and speedily disappeared from +the bills. The overture is delightfully quaint, and is occasionally +heard at concerts. Now that one-act works are coming into vogue, this +delicate little score might well be reproduced.</p> + +<p>The reputation acquired by Saint-Saëns as a symphonist, and what is +known in France as "un musicien savant," had been sufficient to cause +any pretension on his part to aspire to the fame of a dramatic composer +to be looked upon with suspicion. Added to this, he had the reputation +of harbouring feelings of admiration for Wagner, which at that time was +quite enough to prevent a manager from producing his works.</p> + +<p>An opera entitled "Le Timbre d'Argent," not to be confounded with +Vasseur's operetta "La Timbale d'Argent," was written before the war of +1870, and was destined for the Opéra Comique Theatre. It was, however, +not brought out until 1877, when it was played at the<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a> Théâtre Lyrique +under the direction of Mons. A. Vizentini.</p> + +<p>The influence of Gounod is very apparent in this work, and Bizet even +found therein certain affinities with Auber which I confess myself +unable to discover. One thing certain is, that this opera has but little +in common with Wagner. "Le Timbre d'Argent" reveals the hand of the +practised musician, but is very unequal as a whole, and does not occupy +an important place in the composer's dramatic outfit. A point to note in +this opera is the superiority of the orchestral treatment and general +workmanship over the melodies, many of which border upon the +commonplace.</p> + +<p>The same year that "Le Timbre d'Argent" was produced in Paris, the Grand +Ducal Theatre of Weimar announced the first performance of a new opera +by Saint-Saëns, entitled "Samson et Dalila."</p> + +<p>As many consider this the composer's finest dramatic work, and as it is +only comparatively recently that its beauties have come<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a> to be generally +recognised, and that it has been incorporated into the <i>répertoire</i> of +the Paris Opera, a short account of the genesis of this remarkable +composition may not be out of place, the more so as if will accentuate +the difficulties that appear to beset composers and stand in the way of +works of the highest merit.</p> + +<p>"Samson et Dalila" was begun by Saint-Saëns before the year of the +Franco-German war.</p> + +<p>The second act was tried over in private, when the part of Samson was +sung by the ill-fated painter, Henri Regnault, who was destined to be +killed a year later, during the war. The "Marche Heroïque," composed by +Saint-Saëns, is dedicated to the memory of the unfortunate artist.</p> + +<p>The score of "Samson et Dalila" was terminated towards 1872, and a +performance of the second act was given by Madame Viardot at her +country-house at Croissy two years later. On this occasion the gifted +hostess undertook the part of Dalila, and all who can remember her +incomparable method of singing will agree<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a> that she must have been an +admirable interpretress of the passionate accents allotted by +Saint-Saëns to the heroine of his opera.</p> + +<p>The influence of this admirable artist upon French music has been very +great. In a volume of verses recently published Saint-Saëns thus +apostrophises her:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;">"<i>Gloire de la Musique et de la Tragédie;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Muse qu'un laurier d'or couronna tant de fois,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Oserai-je parler de vous, lorsque ma voix</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Au langage des vers follement s'étudie?</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Les poëtes par Apollon vainqueur</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Ont seuls assez de fleurs pour en faire une gerbe</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Digne de ce génie éclatant et superbe</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Qui pour l'éternité vous a faite leur sœur.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Du culte du beau chant prêtresse vénérée,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Ne laissez pas crouler son autel précieux,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Vous qui l'avez reçu comme un dépôt des cieux,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Vous qui du souvenir êtes la préférée!</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Ah! comment oublier l'implacable Fidés</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>De l'amour maternel endurant le supplice,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Orphée en pleurs qui pour revoir son Eurydice</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Enhardi par Éros pénétre dans l'Hades!</i><a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Grande comme la Lyre et vibrante comme elle,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Vous avez eu dans l'Art un éclat nonpareil.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Vision trop rapide, hélas! que nul soleil</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Dans l'avenir jamais ne nous rendra plus belle!</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>In 1875 the first act of "Samson et Dalila" was given in its entirety in +Paris at one of Mons. Colonne's concerts.</p> + +<p>It was, however, not until the second of December 1877 that "Samson et +Dalila" was brought out upon the stage. Liszt, ever anxious to further +the progress of art, had been struck by the merits of the work, and +undertook to have it mounted at Weimar, where some twenty-five years +earlier he had been instrumental in producing "Lohengrin" for the first +time on any stage.</p> + +<p>Musicians of the calibre of Liszt are indeed rare, and it is right to +tender a passing tribute to the absolute disinterestedness of this great +man, who never lost an opportunity of helping a brother artist. Having +been brought out on German soil for the first time, a fact which the +composer should remember when indulging in<a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a> those patriotic ebullitions +that of late years have so frequently appeared from his pen, "Samson et +Dalila" was played at Hamburg in 1883 with Frau Sucher in the principal +part.</p> + +<p>It was not until 1890 that the opera was given in France, Rouen being +the first town in which it was played. During that year it was produced +in Paris at the Eden Theatre under the same manager. On this occasion +the principal parts were interpreted by Mme. Rosine Bloch and Mons. +Talazac, both of whom have recently died.</p> + +<p>Lyons, Marseilles, and Aix-les-Bains followed in 1891, and the next year +"Samson et Dalila" was given at Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nantes, +Nice, Florence, Monte Carlo, Geneva, and Dijon, receiving its final +consecration by being produced on a grand scale at the Paris Opera +House, having thus occupied a period of twenty years in reaching its +goal. It has since then been played in other continental towns. London +still remains, and upon this I should like to say a word. The fact of +"Samson et<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a> Dalila" being taken from a Biblical source has been accepted +as a reason for its non-production in our metropolis. That a work of the +most serious import should thus be excluded from our stage when +productions of the most futile description are passed without demur, is +another example of the contradictions that exist in our pharisaical +country.</p> + +<p>Not so long ago an operetta was licensed in which ministers of religion +were held up to ridicule, and jokes were freely made concerning matters +that must by a great portion of the audience have been held sacred, and +yet nothing was said. But should some manager think of producing an +episode culled from the Old Testament, and treated in a strictly serious +and even reverent manner, the British conscience, that article of home +manufacture of which Englishmen are so proud, is at once up in arms. We +cannot support too many music-halls or give too much encouragement to +those bastard specimens of operatic music known as "original" (?) comic +operas, but our feelings of<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a> propriety revolt against anything like the +stage treatment of works founded upon Biblical subjects. Let us be +consistent whilst we are about it. If it is wrong to introduce Samson, +Dalila, the Queen of Sheba, Joseph, Moses, or other Biblical personages +upon the stage, it is surely worse to sanction the performance of operas +or dramas in which scenes are introduced representing the interior of +churches, or religious ceremonies of any description! Worse than all is +the performance of pieces calculated to throw ridicule upon ministers of +religion. To see respectable audiences sitting complacently gazing at a +popular actor personifying a clergyman dancing in a <i>pas de quatre</i> with +his chapel in the background, and to think that some of these very +individuals may possibly be numbered amongst those who object to Sunday +concerts, is indeed more than strange.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile as this state of things exists, and the musical public +is debarred from hearing a work like "Samson et Dalila" on the stage, it +may be wondered that no one seems to<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a> have been struck with the idea of +producing it in oratorio form in the concert-room. It is not creditable +that England should remain the only nation where "Samson et Dalila" has +not been given.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>The prejudice existing against the employment of Biblical subjects for +operatic purposes is unfortunate, as the fund of material is apparently +exhaustless. The story of Samson and Dalila has furnished Saint-Saëns +with a plot such as he has since sought for in vain in the pages of +English and French history. The less complicated the story, the better +it is fitted for operatic treatment. Wagner has exposed his reasons at +length concerning the superiority of a legendary over a historical +subject. Saint-Saëns is unfortunately not of this way of thinking. Of +later years the bias of his mind has been rather tending towards +historical subjects.<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a></p> + +<p>"Samson et Dalila" may be considered not only as one of the master's +best operas, perhaps even as the very best, but as one of the finest +dramatic works produced by any French composer during the last +five-and-twenty or thirty years.</p> + +<p>A work like this cannot be otherwise than the spontaneous outcome of a +composer's feelings, untrammelled by outward considerations. The varied +influences that are noticeable in the musical style of Saint-Saëns, and +to which I have already made allusion, are perhaps more marked in this +work than in any of his other operas. In the first act the choruses sung +by the captive Hebrews breathe the spirit of Bach and Handel, and are +conceived rather in the oratorio style. As a strong contrast to these we +have the dainty chorus of the priestesses of Dagon and their +characteristic dance, the fascinating trio in which Dalila endeavours to +cast her spell over Samson, and the lovely air, "Printemps qui +commence," which terminates the act and which has been sung by every<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a> +contralto. Samson's spirited appeal to arms must also be mentioned. The +second act commences with Dalila's invocation to love, praying for aid +in her design to ensnare Samson. The lengthy duet between the heroine +and the high priest is eminently dramatic, and the following duet +between her and Samson may be ranked amongst the finest love scenes ever +written. It contains a beautiful phrase sung by the temptress when +endeavouring to inveigle her victim, which is reproduced later on in an +admirably suggestive manner by the orchestra, and reappears in the third +act, transformed into a mocking theme, when Dalila is scoffing at her +victim in chains and deprived of his sight. The third and last act +contains a touching prayer for Samson, bewailing his lost sight, some +admirable ballet music, in which the composer has made effective use of +the Eastern scale, and a masterly scene depicting the revelries of the +Philistines, culminating in the destruction of the temple by Samson. So +ends this beautiful score, the merits of which are so transparent<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a> and +yet have remained so long unrecognised.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="DALILA" id="DALILA"></a> +<a href="images/ill_144.png"> +<img src="images/ill_144_sml.png" width="550" height="202" alt="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "SAMSON ET DALILA"" title="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "SAMSON ET DALILA"" /></a> +<br /> +<span class="caption">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "SAMSON ET DALILA"</span> +</p> + +<p>In "Samson et Dalila" Saint-Saëns had made use of representative themes, +and although he has done so in a sufficiently discreet fashion, avoiding +anything approaching to Wagnerian polyphony, the fact deserves to be +noted as affording, perhaps, the first instance in which the system has +been rigorously followed by a French composer. There can be no doubt but +that the device contributes to a great extent in securing that unity +which is so much sought for nowadays in dramatic works. Another point to +be noted is the suppression of detached numbers, the opera being divided +into scenes that are logically developed.</p> + +<p>The instrumentation of "Samson et Dalila" is rich and varied, yet never +unduly complicated. Saint-Saëns knows how to distribute his effects with +unerring certainty, and his work is a model of orchestral skill. The +opera is scored for a very full orchestra, of which it may be +interesting to give the composition. In addition to the<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a> strings and +usual wood wind, he employs a third flute, a <i>cor anglais</i>, a bass +clarinet, a double bassoon, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three +trombones, a bass tuba, two ophicleides, two harps, three kettledrums, a +<i>grosse caisse</i>, cymbals, a triangle, a <i>glockenspiel</i>, <i>crotales</i>, +castagnettes made of wood and iron, a <i>tambour de basque</i>, and a tamtam.</p> + +<p>These constitute a powerful engine of sound, which is made subservient +to the composer's will, and reproduces his thoughts with unimpeachable +exactitude.</p> + +<p>"Samson et Dalila" perhaps remains the dramatic masterpiece of +Saint-Saëns. His other operas may be equally remarkable in point of +style and more elaborate in the matter of detail, but they often lack +that apparent spontaneity which constitutes not the least charm of the +Biblical work, and, although containing much that is admirable, are +perhaps less inspired. Saint-Saëns could not write an uninteresting work +if he chose, and musicians will find much to admire in his later operas. +In "Samson et<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a> Dalila" he has succeeded in compelling the admiration of +both musicians and the public at large, perhaps for the very reason that +when he wrote it he did not attempt to please either, but was content to +follow the bent of his inspiration without <i>arrière pensée</i> of any sort.</p> + +<p>"Etienne Marcel," the composer's next opera, produced at Lyons in 1879, +has not received the amount of attention due to its merits. The defects +in this work arise from a certain want of unity, consequent upon the +obvious desire of the composer to reconcile the conflicting elements of +the old and the new schools. Putting such considerations aside, there +can be no doubt as to the general effectiveness of the music. The +subject deals with a stirring episode of French history. If in treating +it the composer has not discarded the older forms associated with the +"grand opéra" style, he has imparted a modern colouring to his score +which goes far to redeem any shortcomings in this respect. He has been +particularly happy in his treatment of the scenes of popular life that +abound in this opera.<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a> There is a freshness and an irresistible +<i>entrain</i> in the ballet music, which is deliciously scored and abounds +in charming details. The presence of a waltz in an opera, the action of +which is laid in the fourteenth century, may cause some surprise, but it +does not do to be over-particular in such matters, and much may be +forgiven when the result is so pleasing.</p> + +<p>A few years ago it was quite on the cards that "Etienne Marcel" should +be performed at Covent Garden, with Mme. Patti in the principal +character. The great <i>prima donna</i> had taken a strong fancy to the +music, and expressed a desire to sing it. Unfortunately circumstances +occurred which induced the <i>diva</i> to change her mind, and to display her +vocalisation in an opera of little musical worth, which has long since +disappeared from the <i>répertoire</i>.</p> + +<p>If would be a thousand pities if an opera containing so much that is +excellent should be allowed to suffer perpetual neglect, and it may be +hoped that some day we may be afforded the chance of hearing it in +England.<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a></p> + +<p>The great moment in the dramatic career of Saint-Saëns was now at +hand—that psychological moment so long desired and eagerly anticipated +by every French aspirant to operatic fame. The doors of the Opera, that +<i>sanctum sanctorum</i>, was at length to be opened to him. After the +comparative failure of such works as Gounod's "Tribut de Zamora," and +Ambroise Thomas' "Françoise de Rimini," the prestige of the French +school wanted looking after, and some fresh blood was required to renew +it. That a composer such as Saint-Saëns should be obliged to go to +Weimar and Lyons in order to get played seemed an anomaly, and the +author of "Samson et Dalila" was at last, and not too soon, commissioned +to write a work for the leading operatic stage of Paris.</p> + +<p>Great expectations had been formed concerning the opera that so +consummate a musician, and one holding such high artistic notions, would +produce. It was held that a composer so well endowed would prove to be +the one, <i>par excellence</i>, destined to free the French operatic stage +from<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a> the bondage of "routine," and be the standard-bearer of French +progressive art. These anticipations were destined to be only partly +realised. Leaving French history for the nonce, Saint-Saëns found in the +life of our much-married monarch a subject congenial to his muse, and +"Henri VIII." was produced with success in March 1883. If this opera is +ever to be performed in England certain alterations will have to be +made, as the inclusion of a Scotch ballet danced at Richmond might tend +to ridicule.</p> + +<p>It must be admitted that if the book of "Henri VIII." is in many senses +disappointing, yet it is not devoid of merit, and contains several +highly dramatic situations that have been well treated by the musician. +The authors, Messrs. Détroyat and Silvestre, have not adhered entirely +to Shakespeare. The action takes place at the time when Henry has begun +to be struck with the charms of Anne Boleyn, who also has an admirer in +Don Gomez, the Spanish ambassador. The divorce of the King from +Katharine of Arragon is at hand, and<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a> the Pope's Legate having refused +to sanction it, the King, amidst the acclamation of the people, +proclaims the schism with the Roman Church. The last act is perhaps the +best. Anne Boleyn is now Queen, and Katharine, who is dying, has in her +possession a compromising letter from Anne to Don Gomez. Henry is +devoured by jealousy, and comes, accompanied by Don Gomez, to endeavour +to obtain possession of this document. Anne has also come to see if she +can regain the letter. This leads to the capital situation in the opera. +Henry, in order to excite the jealous and revengeful feelings of +Katharine, speaks in the tenderest tones to Anne, whose eyes are fixed +upon the note that Katharine has in her hands. At length Katharine, +having prayed for strength to resist the temptation, throws the letter +in the fire, and falls down dead.</p> + +<p>There is no denying the dramatic force of this situation, which has been +treated by Saint-Saëns in a masterly manner. The splendid quartet which +terminates the work, in which the different<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a> emotions of the four +characters are depicted in accents as powerful as they are varied, may +rank amongst his finest inspirations, and as one of the most stirring +scenes in the entire range of modern opera.</p> + +<p>An interesting feature in "Henri VIII." is the partial employment of +<i>leit-motiven</i>. Saint-Saëns, who at one time was looked upon as a +disciple of Wagner, has taken pains to dispel this impression. And yet +in the first work composed by him for the chief French operatic theatre, +he set to work by making use of one of the Bayreuth master's favourite +devices. He will probably urge that it is not so much Wagner himself +that he has been combating, but the unreasoning enthusiasm of some of +his thick-and-thin admirers. This may be so, but the fact remains, that +Saint-Saëns has laid himself open to misconception, which might easily +have been avoided had he displayed a less militant tendency in his +criticisms. At any rate, he has deliberately adopted the system of +representative themes in his "Henri VIII.," and if,<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a> whilst so doing, he +has not abandoned the old operatic set forms, the innovation is a +sufficiently important one to note. It is this attempt to reconcile such +antagonistic elements that is held by some as constituting a weak point +in this remarkable work. "From the beginning," writes a well-known +critic, "we see the two forms of the opera and the lyrical drama in +juxtaposition, and thus all unity of style is at once broken."</p> + +<p>The opinions of Saint-Saëns himself on the subject of dramatic music are +interesting, as they explain the spirit of compromise that exists in all +his works. "Henri VIII." was considered by some as foreshadowing a new +departure in the composer's style. These were doomed to be disappointed, +for the works that have succeeded it are not in any way more "advanced." +Saint-Saëns has taken the trouble to write and explain his views on the +subject, and from these it is highly unlikely that he will now depart. +In a letter written to the editor of the <i>Carillon Théatral</i>, soon after +the performance of his opera "Proserpine,"<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a> Saint-Saëns expressed +himself thus: "My theory of dramatic art is this: I believe the drama is +progressing towards a synthesis of different elements, song, +declamation, and symphony blending in an equilibrium which leaves the +composer free to avail himself of all the resources of art, while it +affords the spectator the gratification of every legitimate desire. It +is this equilibrium which I seek, and which others will one day find. +Both heart and head impel me to pursue this aim, and to this I must +adhere. It is for this reason that I am disowned, now by those +Wagnerites who despise the melodic style and the art of singing, now by +those reactionaries who lay the entire stress on those elements, and +consider declamation and symphony as mere accessories."</p> + +<p>The above definition of the "musical drama" is rational enough, and I do +not see what even the most uncompromising Wagnerite could find to object +in it. As to the allusion to "those Wagnerites who despise the melodic +style," it would be interesting to know precisely to whom<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a> the composer +refers. If there exist a few fanatics who imagine that melody can be +banished with impunity, they are in absolute disaccord with Wagner +himself, who wrote that "the one and only form of music is melody; no +music is conceivable without melody, and both are absolutely +inseparable." Mons. Imbert, in an article upon Saint-Saëns, has +amusingly termed him "le Wagnérien sans le savoir."</p> + +<p>The truth of the matter is, that every composer nowadays is actuated by +the same desire, namely, to make his music fit the subject he is +illustrating as closely as possible. If the method adopted differs in +any way, this must be ascribed to a variety of causes, the composer's +temperament, his education, his nationality, and others. As to the +interpolation of ballets and sundry <i>hors d'œuvre</i> introduced often +apparently without rhyme or reason, that still find their way into +operas, it must in justice to the composer be remembered that he has a +number of conventionalities to fight against and prejudices to<a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a> +overcome. Every one has not got the prestige of a Wagner, and even he +had to fight a fearfully uphill battle, and only reaped the full fruits +of his labours at the end of his career.</p> + +<p>The taste of the public is little by little coming round to the "lyrical +drama" as distinct from the opera, and composers are but following the +tendency of the age. The transformation of style that has led Verdi to +rise from "Trovatore" to "Otello" is there to attest it.</p> + +<p>The next opera—or shall we say "lyrical drama"?—composed by +Saint-Saëns was "Proserpine," brought out at the ill-fated Opéra Comique +in 1887, the same year during which the theatre was destined to be +burned to the ground. Despite its title, this work has nothing in common +with mythology. It is taken from an early work by the poet Vacquerie, +published some fifty years ago.</p> + +<p>The action takes place in Italy during the sixteenth century. +Proserpine, a courtesan, is in love with Sabatino, a young nobleman, who +is engaged to be married to Angiola, the sister<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a> of his friend. After +endeavouring vainly to entrap Angiola and her brother, assisted by +Squarocca, a bandit, she seeks Sabatino, who is awaiting his bride. When +Angiola enters, Proserpine hides behind some drapery. Maddened by +jealousy at hearing the lovers interchange protestations of affection, +she rushes forward and strikes Angiola with her stiletto. Sabatino then +snatches the weapon from her hands and plunges it into her heart.</p> + +<p>This story was considered somewhat melodramatic in Paris, and the +<i>dénouement</i> has since been somewhat modified. A few alterations have +been made in the score, and in its new form "Proserpine" will surely be +performed sooner or later. There are some delightful numbers in this +opera, which throughout bears the impress of the master's hand. I will +especially draw attention to the closing scene of the second act, which +is a perfect gem of delicate fancy and exquisite workmanship. The scene +represents the interior of a convent, and a<a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a> number of mendicants enter +to receive alms. Their voices are accompanied by a melodic figure which +is repeated in various guises until the fall of the curtain, without +ever sounding monotonous in any degree, through the consummate art and +skilful manipulation with which it is handled.</p> + +<p>With his next opera Saint-Saëns returned to the Grand Opéra, where +"Ascanio" was produced in 1890. Benvenuto Cellini is the leading +character in this work, but the composer discarded the great sculptor's +name as his title, probably out of deference to the memory of Berlioz, +whose first dramatic attempt bore that name. These scruples did not +trouble Mons. Diaz, who curiously enough brought out an opera bearing +that title during the same year at the Opéra Comique, where it met with +no success. There has always been something of the mystifier in +Saint-Saëns. He likes to go his own way, regardless of what may be +expected of him or whether he satisfies the partisans of any particular +style of music. Mons. Camille<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a> Bellaigue remarks that he was not much +astonished that this work should have produced a feeling of surprise and +even of disappointment. "L'œuvre," he says, "que peut-être on +attendait puissante et grandiose, n'est que touchante parfois, toujours +intime et presque familière."</p> + +<p>This definition gives so good an idea of the general character of the +opera that I do not hesitate to reproduce it here. The plot of "Ascanio" +is rather complicated for a "lyrical drama," the numberless episodes +that occur detracting from the continuity of the work. Saint-Saëns +appears to have composed the music in a remarkably short space of time, +less than a year. Those who take the trouble to study this interesting +score, which has been aptly termed a musical mosaic, will appreciate the +prodigious amount of labour involved. The composer has again employed +representative themes, very much after the system he had previously +adopted in his "Henri VIII." The score of "Ascanio" is a veritable +monument of ingenuity, and if it does not produce an<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a> altogether +satisfactory impression, the fault may be ascribed rather to the book +than to the music.</p> + +<p>A curious incident in connection with the first performance of this +opera was that the composer, doubtless anxious to seek perfect rest +after his prolonged labours, and desirous of avoiding the fatigues +consequent upon attending its production, took himself away and +carefully omitted to leave his address behind. Weeks elapsed, and no +news of him was forthcoming. Fanciful stories were concocted of how he +had met with foul play. Telegrams were dispatched all the world over, +with the result that he was authoritatively declared to have been seen +in at least a dozen different places several hundred miles away one from +the other. Finally, he was discovered, quite by chance, under an assumed +name in the Canary Islands. A visitor staying in the same hotel, hearing +some one playing the piano in a manner the reverse of amateurish, and +having that morning read about the mysterious disappearance in the<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a> +French papers, had the curiosity to go down and verify the suspicions +that had occurred to him. He had no difficulty in identifying the +composer, and in a very short time the news had spread all over the +place. Saint-Saëns then had to pay the penalty of being a celebrity. He +wrote thus to Mons. Louis Gallet, his friend and collaborator: "For the +last three days, since I have been recognised, I lead an insupportable +life. I do not have a moment to myself. I am scribbling you these lines +whilst talking. If there is no common sense in what I say, do not be +surprised."</p> + +<p>The last dramatic work produced by Saint-Saëns is "Phryné," a two-act +comic opera, given at the Opéra Comique in the month of May of the +present year (1893).</p> + +<p>It might have been hoped that a composer such as Saint-Saëns would have +thought fit to devote his great gifts to the elaboration of a "musical +comedy" that might have ranked side by side with Wagner's +"Meistersinger" and Verdi's' "Falstaff." Not one of his countrymen<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a> is +better qualified than he is for such a task. Perhaps he may undertake it +later on. At any rate, he has not attempted anything of the kind in +"Phryné," which is modelled upon an old pattern, includes spoken +dialogue, and consists of a number of detached pieces, following the +conventional practice associated with the Opéra Comique.</p> + +<p>In writing this graceful score Saint-Saëns has evidently aimed at +simplicity. There are some charming numbers of a melodious nature in +this little work, which also displays the composer's capacity of dealing +with humorous situations to great advantage. Perhaps the best portion is +the "Invocation to Venus," in which the means employed are of the +simplest, whilst the results are eminently poetical and effective. +"Phryné" has proved very successful in Paris. The title part has been +interpreted by Miss Sybil Sanderson, whom the composer has gratified +with a liberal allowance of <i>roulades</i> and other vocal acrobatics.</p> + +<p>It now remains for me to allude to some<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a> of the other compositions of +Saint-Saëns in various lines—and what line has he not attempted? That +one who has achieved so great a reputation as an organist should also +have distinguished himself as a composer of sacred music stands to +reason. One of his most representative works of this kind is his +oratorio "Le Déluge," which exhibits the peculiar characteristics of his +style to an almost equal degree as "Samson et Dalila." Every one knows, +or ought to know, the beautiful Prelude with the lovely violin solo, the +commencement of which is suggestive of Bach, whilst the end is +reminiscent of Gounod. I must also mention his noble "Requiem" and fine +setting of the psalm "Cœli enarrant." The "Oratorio de Noël" is an +early work, but contains several charming pages.</p> + +<p>To analyse in detail all the compositions of this indefatigable worker +would take up a volume in itself. I must therefore be content with the +bare mention of songs full of originality, such as the "Mélodies +Persanes," pianoforte<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a> music like the "Menuet et Valse," "Six études," +and the three Mazourkas; violin music such as the three Concertos, the +"Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso" so often played by Señor Sarasate, +the Sonata, op. 75, for the same instrument; and violoncello music such +as the characteristic "Suite," the admirable Sonata, op. 32, and the +Concerto, which is a favourite with all 'cellists. Neither must I omit +the masterly variations for two pianos on a theme of Beethoven, or the +splendid pianoforte transcriptions from Bach. Several of these works may +almost be said to rank as classics. Two important compositions remain to +be noted, both of which were produced for the first time in England. The +first of these is the picturesque cantata "La Lyre et la Harpe," +composed for the Birmingham Festival of 1879; and the second is the +Symphony in C Minor, first produced by the Philharmonic Society in 1885. +It seems strange indeed that a work so remarkable in every way as the +last should not be given oftener. Saint-Saëns has not here written a +symphony upon the usual model, but<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a> has endeavoured to produce something +entirely unconventional, whilst keeping within certain limits, that +enabled him to claim the title of symphony for a work which, although +possessing many of the characteristics of the <i>genre</i>, yet in the matter +of form differs much from the compositions of recognised masters. If the +influence of Beethoven is not absent, neither is that of Liszt, and +there is as much if not more of the "symphonic poem" in a work, that is +unique in its way, than of the symphony proper. A curious detail to note +is that in this work the organ and piano are added to the usual +orchestra.</p> + +<p>Saint-Saëns is a very quick worker. The rapidity with which he is able +to conceive and transcribe a work of large proportions is all the more +remarkable for the reason that his writing never exhibits the slightest +sign of that carelessness often engendered by undue haste. The following +extract from Mons. Hugues Imbert's "Profils de Musiciens" will give an +idea of this: "With Saint-Saëns the conception is rapid; he<a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a> writes +without pause or hesitation (<i>d'un seul jet</i>). Once the idea is chosen +and defined, he immediately realises the development. He orchestrates +with the greatest ease, whilst conversing, and almost without making any +corrections. Scarcely does he find it necessary to have recourse to the +piano in order to aid his inspiration. His opera 'Proserpine' was +composed at Chaville, without the aid of any instrument. He writes a +score or a symphony as he would pen a letter or an article, or as he +would solve a problem. A number of instances are cited concerning his +prodigious facility of creation; we will only recall the following: A +few years ago he had promised to write an <i>opérette revue</i> for the +Cercle Volney, of which he is a member. A few days before the +performance nothing had as yet arrived. Upon inquiry from Saint-Saëns +himself it was discovered that he had totally forgotten his promise. +'But,' said he, 'the evil can be repaired;' and in the space of two +hours he wrote off twenty-one pages of full score."</p> + +<p>Some critics have found the music of Saint-<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a>Saëns devoid of feeling, +cold and passionless. How it is possible to come to this conclusion +after hearing pages such as the famous love duet in "Samson et Dalila," +or the quartet in "Henri VIII.," it is difficult to understand.</p> + +<p>And yet Mons. Arthur Pougin, the well-known critic, has not scrupled to +pass the following judgment on Saint-Saëns in his article upon the +composer, included in the Supplement to Fétis's "Biographie des +Musiciens": "Le tempérament musical de Mons. Saint-Saëns est sec, +nerveux, absolument dépourvu de tendresse, de sentiment et de passion." +After this it again becomes evident that a great man is not necessarily +a prophet in his own country. When he penned the above lines Mons. +Arthur Pougin was presumably unacquainted with "Samson et Dalila."</p> + +<p>In the course of this incomplete sketch of one of the most remarkable +artists of his time I have alluded to his polemics as a critic. A few +years since, he collected some of his writings together, and published +them in a volume<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a> entitled "Harmonie et Mélodie." In this book will be +found various criticisms, many of which are as just as they are well +expressed, but it is to be regretted that the author should occasionally +have thought fit to mix up so-called "patriotic ideas" with his musical +opinions.</p> + +<p>For many years Saint-Saëns used to be considered one of the ardent +champions of Wagner. The moment, though, that the Bayreuth master's +music seemed to obtain a firm hold upon the French public, through the +medium of the weekly concerts given by Messrs. Lamoureux and Colonne, +the French composer's zeal appeared to cool down, and the enthusiast +gave way to the critic. Any one is of course entitled to air his +opinions, and no one more so than a composer of such eminence as +Saint-Saëns. The mistake was that he chose the wrong moment to publish +his views, and thereby stirred up a controversy which would best have +been avoided.</p> + +<p>In 1879 he recorded his impressions of the<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> "Ring des Nibelungen" in a +series of remarkable articles that are reproduced in the volume above +mentioned. His opinion of this colossal work was summed up in these +words: "From the height of the last act of the 'Götterdämmerŭng,' the +entire work appears, in its almost supernatural immensity, like the +chain of the Alps seen from the summit of Mont Blanc."</p> + +<p>He terminates the preface of "Harmonie et Mélodie" by these words: "I +admire the works of Richard Wagner profoundly, in spite of their +eccentricities (<i>en dépit de leur bizarrerie</i>). They are superior and +powerful, which suffices for me. But I have never belonged, I do not +belong, and I never shall belong, to the Wagnerian religion!"</p> + +<p>This being the case, I am unable to see why the composer of "Henri +VIII." should have taken so much pains to qualify his opinions. He +admires Wagner, and it certainly would be odd if a composer of his value +did not;<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a> but he is anxious to avoid being comprised amongst those +fanatics, whose admiration of Wagner prevents their acknowledging the +greatness of any other composer.</p> + +<p>It may here be noted that when the publisher Flaxland acquired the +French copyright of "Lohengrin," the translation was at the author's +request submitted to Saint-Saëns, who wrote, in the newspaper <i>La +France</i>, that when "Lohengrin" was about to be produced in Paris, he, at +the desire of the publisher and M. Charles Nuitter the translator, +revised the French version and refused to participate in the <i>droits +d'auteurs</i>.</p> + +<p>Amongst his many gifts Saint-Saëns possesses that of the poet, and has +proved his capability of writing charming verses. I will quote the +following satirical lines written by him after the production of Bizet's +"Djamileh," the delightful little one-act work which has recently been +revived with success on various operatic boards, the merits of which +were totally unrecognised by the Parisians in 1872:<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a></p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;">"'<i>Djamileh,' fille et fleur de l'Orient sacré,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>D'une étrange guzla faisant vibrer la corde,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Chante, en s'accompagnant sur l'instrument nacré,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>L'amour extravagant dont son âme déborde.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Le bourgeois ruminant dans sa stalle serré,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Ventru, laid, à regret séparé de sa horde,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Entr'ouvre un œil vitreux, mange un bonbon sucré,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Puis se rendort, croyant que l'orchestre s'accorde.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Elle, dans les parfums de rose et de santal,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Poursuit son rêve d'or, d'azur et de crystal,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Dédaigneuse à jamais de la foule hébétée.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Et l'on voit, au travers des mauresques arceaux,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Ses cheveux dénoués tombant en noirs ruisseaux,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>S'éloigner la Houri, perle, aux pourceaux jetée.</i>"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>He has lately published a little volume of poems which he has entitled +"Rimes Familières," from which I have extracted the lines addressed to +Mme. Viardot.</p> + +<p>There is a great fund of humour in Saint-Saëns. This has shown itself in +many of his works, and occasionally he has given full rein to his +fanciful imagination by writing a burlesque set of pieces entitled "Le +Carnaval des Animaux," and another time by composing<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a> a parody of +Italian opera, which he called "Gabriella di Vergy." Is there not a vein +of grim humour in the "Danse Macabre"?</p> + +<p>It is related that he once took part in an amateur performance of +Offenbach's "Belle Hélène," and interpreted the character of Calchas! A +detail to note: the composer of "Samson et Dalila" is still known as "ce +jeune maître," although his birthday belongs to the year 1835. It is +more than probable that he will keep this title to the end.</p> + +<p>Camille Saint-Saëns has retained all his freshness of inspiration, and +there is no knowing into what paths his fancy may lead him. But whether +he elects to add to the number of his symphonic poems, to produce some +fresh example of chamber music, or to elaborate the score of a "lyrical +drama," he may rest assured that his doings will be followed with deep +attention on the part of all who take interest in music.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="MASSENET" id="MASSENET"></a> +<a href="images/massenet-a.jpg"> +<img src="images/massenet-a_sml.jpg" width="448" height="550" alt="J. Massenet portrait, signed" title="J. Massenet portrait, signed" /></a> +<br /> +<a href="images/massenet-b.png"> +<img src="images/massenet-b_sml.png" +alt="signature" +title="signature" +width="450" +height="109" +/></a> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="JULES_MASSENET" id="JULES_MASSENET"></a>JULES MASSENET</h3> + +<p class="nind">I<small>N</small> the year 1842 there lived near St. Etienne, in the department of the +Loire, an ironmaster of the name of Massenet, an ex-superior officer of +engineers, who had been twice married, and both of whose unions had been +blessed in a manner apparently rare in France. In the year in question +yet one more offspring was destined to be added to the already crowded +quiverful. This child, who was named Jules, was the future composer of +"Manon" and "Werther." It is needless to state that, alike to all great +musicians, Massenet gave evidence of talent at an early age, to the +extent that he was sent to the Conservatoire, where he rapidly +distinguished himself.</p> + +<p>His family, who at that time resided in Paris, were, however, obliged, +on account of his father's<a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a> health, to leave the capital. It appears +that young Massenet, tormented by the desire to resume studies that had +been so brilliantly begun, thereupon made up his mind to quit the +paternal roof, which was then situated in the town of Chambéry, in +Savoy, and one day, without saying a word to any one, he undertook to +walk all the way to Lyons. How he ever got there it is difficult to say, +for he had apparently neglected to provide himself with ready cash, +doubtless deeming this a superfluity and a needless encumbrance. Trifles +such as these sit lightly on a mind of fourteen, and young Massenet +succeeded somehow or other in reaching the great manufacturing centre; +where he discovered the abode of a relative, and presented himself, +tired and hungry, to his astonished gaze. Having explained the cause of +his sudden appearance, the young truant was forthwith expedited back to +his parents, who, seeing that it was useless to combat so decided a +vocation, made up their minds to send him to Paris in order that he +might<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a> continue his studies. Unfortunately, it is impossible to live +upon air, and during the time when he was mastering the principles of +his art the young neophyte was obliged to look for some occupation that +would help him to keep body and soul together. This he was fortunate +enough to find at the Théâtre Lyrique, where he obtained the privilege +of presiding over the kettledrums at a salary of 65 francs a month. It +was not precisely riches, but it sufficed to keep the wolf from the +door. For six years did Massenet have the opportunity of venting the +superfluity of his energies by striking the drums. In the meanwhile he +was not idle, and the first prize for piano as well as the first prize +for fugue were both successfully awarded to him. Finally, at the age of +twenty-one he reached the goal of his ambition, obtained the "Grand Prix +de Rome" through a cantata entitled "Rizzio," and departed for the +Eternal City, where he remained for two years.</p> + +<p>Massenet has himself recorded his impressions of Rome in some +interesting autobiographical<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a> notes published recently in the <i>Century</i>.</p> + +<p>"It was at Rome," he says, "that I began to live; there it was that +during my happy walks with my comrades, painters or sculptors, and in +our talks under the Villa Borghese or under the pines of the Villa +Pamphili, I felt my first stirrings of admiration for Nature and for +Art. What charming hours we spent in wandering through the museums of +Naples and Florence! What tender, thoughtful emotions we felt in the +dusky churches of Siena and Assisi! How thoroughly forgotten was Paris +with its rushing crowds! Now I had ceased to be merely a musician; now I +was much more than a musician. This ardour, this healthful fever still +sustains me, for we musicians, like poets, must be the interpreters of +true emotions. To feel, to make others feel—therein lies the whole +secret."</p> + +<p>It is natural that with recollections such as these Massenet should +consider a sojourn in Rome to be fraught with great advantage to young +musicians. He believes that a residence<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a> there "may give birth to poets +and artists, and may awaken sentiments that otherwise might remain +unknown to those in whom they lie dormant."</p> + +<p>It was at the close of the year 1865 that he left Rome, and shortly +after, a one-act comic opera from his pen, entitled "La Grande Tante," +was produced at the Opéra Comique, according to the regulations, which +prescribe that every winner of the "Prix de Rome" should have a one-act +work played at this theatre. Massenet's hour had not yet arrived. His +"Poème d'Avril," one of his most delicate inspirations, had been refused +by a publisher, and he found himself obliged to earn his livelihood by +giving lessons.</p> + +<p>In 1869 he took part in the competition for the composition of an opera +upon a libretto entitled "La Coupe du Roi de Thulé,"<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> but without +success, the prize being awarded to Mons. Diaz,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> whose work was +subsequently<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a> brought out at the Opéra without creating any great +sensation. This shows the value from an artistic point of view of these +competitions.</p> + +<p>The Franco-German war came to interrupt Massenet in his labours, and +like a good patriot he served his country on the ramparts of Paris.</p> + +<p>After matters had settled down he was able to again set to work. His +next operatic venture was "Don César de Bazan," played at the Opéra +Comique in 1872, concerning which it is not necessary to say much. A +piquant little <i>entr'acte</i> has survived, and is occasionally heard at +concerts. A more important work was the music he composed to Leconte de +Lisle's drama, "Les Erinnyes," which still ranks amongst his most +remarkable productions.</p> + +<p>Massenet has been most successful in imparting a sort of antique +colouring to his score. A selection of the music has found its way into +the concert-room, and was heard at the Crystal Palace under the +composer's direction some years ago. The best numbers are the beautiful<a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a> +invocation of Electra and the characteristic dances.</p> + +<p>The turning-point in the composer's career was at hand. He had written a +sort of oratorio entitled "Marie Magdeleine," and having shown the score +to Mme. Viardot, this great artist, who had been instrumental in +furthering Gounod's <i>début</i> as an operatic composer, was much struck by +its merit, and determined to have it produced and sing in it herself. +"Marie Magdeleine" was accordingly performed at the Odéon in 1873, and +created a great stir in musical circles. This delicate and refined score +reveals many of the special characteristics well known to those who +admire the composer's music. It is very different from what we +understand in England as an oratorio. The sensuous vein of melody and +the sickly sentimentality which Massenet so often mistakes for true +feeling are noticeable in many of its pages. "Marie Magdeleine" was just +the sort of work to please a French audience of twenty years ago, whose +acquaintance with Berlioz and Wagner was limited, and whose<a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a> ideal was +bounded by Gounod. It was the Bible doctored up in a manner suitable to +the taste of impressionable Parisian ladies—utterly inadequate for the +theme, at the same time very charming and effective. These words apply +equally to "Eve," a work of the same nature that was produced two years +later with equal success.</p> + +<p>It is but right to say that Massenet has not employed the title of +"oratorio" for either of the above works. "Marie Magdeleine" is styled a +sacred drama, and "Eve" a <i>mystère</i>. Concerning the first of these Mons. +Arthur Pougin informs us that Massenet had not intended to adopt "the +broad, noble, and pompous style of the oratorio. Painter and poet, he +had endeavoured in this new and long-thought-out work, to introduce +<i>rêverie</i> and description; he further employed the accents of a +veritably human passion, of a tenderness in some way terrestrial, which +might have given rise to criticism had he let it be imagined that he +intended to follow on the traces of Handel, Bach, or Mendelssohn."<a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a></p> + +<p>The feminine nature of Massenet's talent has often led him to choose +frail members of the fair sex as heroines of his works, such as Mary +Magdalen, Eve, Herodias, and Manon. He lacks depth of thought and +strength to grapple successfully with Biblical subjects, and the absence +of these is not atoned for by an artificiality of expression, and the +too frequent employment of affected mannerisms. At the same time, there +is a distinct element of poetry noticeable in all his works, and a +peculiar sensuous charm is prominent in most of his compositions. These +qualities are not to be despised. To them are to be added a +richly-coloured and varied instrumentation, and an always interesting +and often original harmonic treatment. Massenet's name was now well +known to concert-goers, and was shortly to become so to that larger +section of the community, the theatre-going public, through the +production of his opera "Le Roi de Lahore." Previous to discussing the +value of this work it will be well to mention the orchestral suites +composed by him<a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a> at different times, some of which occupy a permanent +place in concert <i>répertoires</i>. Of these the most popular is entitled +"Scènes Pittoresques," a set of four short movements, simple in +structure, melodious, and well scored. There is not much in them, but +although the material is scanty the workmanship is extremely clever, and +the general effect decidedly pleasing. The "Scènes Dramatiques," after +Shakespeare, the "Scènes Hongroises," and the "Scènes Alsaciennes" are +interesting and replete with imagination and fancy.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most remarkable of the composer's purely instrumental works +is the overture to Racine's "Phèdre," a composition full of passion and +feeling, well worked out and admirably orchestrated, which is fully +entitled to rank amongst the best modern concert overtures. It is to be +regretted that the composer has not produced more works of the same +kind. There is a virility of accent and an avoidance of specific +mannerisms that may often be sought for in vain in his other +compositions.<a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a></p> + +<p>"Le Roi de Lahore," produced at the Opéra in 1877, obtained a great +success, partly, perhaps, owing to the magnificence of the mounting, but +also, it must be said, on account of the intrinsic value of the music. A +spectacular opera in the fullest sense of the word, "Le Roi de Lahore" +was a work eminently suited to a theatre such as the Grand Opéra, where +the ballet, <i>mise-en-scène</i>, and other accessories rank on an equal +footing with the music. It was produced on a grand scale, the ballet +act, taking place in the Paradise of Indra, forming one of the most +gorgeous spectacles possible.</p> + +<p>This act is perhaps the best from a musical point of view. In it +Massenet has given full rein to his fancy, and has composed dance music +of a really superior kind, which he has enriched with a piquant and +effective instrumentation. "Le Roi de Lahore" remains perhaps the best +work that Massenet has composed for this theatre. It is more spontaneous +than either "Le Cid" or "Le Mage," and<a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a> contains many portions of great +excellence. Every one knows the suave <i>cantilena</i> for baritone that +Mons. Lassalle used to interpret in so incomparable a fashion. In his +criticism of this work Mons. A. Jullien formulates the following opinion +of Massenet and the present school of French composers: "They all know +their work admirably, and treat the orchestra to perfection. They have +more or less natural grace and tenderness, but they often lack power and +originality. They make up for the first of these by the employment of +noisy effects, and for the other by a search after novelty that +occasionally amounts to eccentricity. Neither have they got sufficiently +settled ideas: they try to reconcile the elements of different schools; +they do not write any more <i>roulades</i> or <i>points d'orgue</i>, but they +allow singers to spread out their fine voices on final cadences; they +understand the necessity of renovating and vivifying the opera, but they +only dare to make timid attempts in this direction at long intervals, +and return immediately to used-up formulas, to<a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a> <i>ensembles</i>, to +choruses, and to the most commonplace finales."</p> + +<p>There is a great deal of truth in these words; at the same time it is +difficult to foresee an epoch when the "lyrical drama" will have +attained that state of perfection as to be no more susceptible of +improvement. The progress that has been effected in France during these +last thirty years in the direction of a higher conception of the musical +drama has been enormous. The ball has been set rolling by some of those +composers who would perhaps now be anxious to arrest its course, but the +impetus having been given, it has been kept going by the younger +aspirants to operatic fame, and is not likely to stop.</p> + +<p>"Le Roi de Lahore" obtained a distinct success, which was repeated in a +number of continental cities, including our own metropolis.</p> + +<p>Massenet visited England in 1878, and conducted a concert devoted to his +own music at the Crystal Palace. The programme included extracts from +"Le Roi de Lahore" and "Les<a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a> Erinnyes." He also appeared at a concert +given by Mme. Viard Louis at the St. James's Hall, on which occasion he +directed the performance of his orchestral suite entitled "Scenes from +Shakespeare."</p> + +<p>Massenet's reputation was now established upon a solid basis. On the +death of F. Bazin he had succeeded him as one of the leading professors +of the Conservatoire. He had also been elected a member of the +Institute. His next work, a religious cantata entitled "La Vierge," +produced at the Opéra in 1880, was, however, coldly received. Massenet, +who conducted the orchestra in person, was grievously disappointed at +this, but set to work with renewed vigour at an opera entitled +"Hérodiade," which was brought out with great success at Brussels in +1881. This work has since been given in Paris, as well as in various +continental towns, where it has been well received. The nature of the +subject necessarily stands in the way of its being produced in London. +Certain extracts, however, have been heard in our concert-rooms.<a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a> The +score of "Hérodiade" abounds in examples of that sensuous melody so +characteristic of the composer. There is very little Biblical about it, +and it is to be regretted that another and better subject was not hit +upon than this parody of Holy Writ. Massenet's strains would probably +have been equally appropriate, and the susceptibilities of those who +look upon this sort of thing as a desecration of religion would have +been respected.</p> + +<p>There is indeed a vast difference between taking a subject like "Samson +et Dalila," against which none but the most strict could object, and +turning St. John the Baptist into a commonplace operatic hero. If it +were not for the libretto, "Hérodiade" ought to be heard in London, as +it counts amongst its author's best works, and, despite certain +weaknesses, occupies an honourable place in the ranks of modern operas.</p> + +<p>The following lines, written by Camille Saint-Saëns after the first +performance of "Hérodiade" at Brussels, will be read with interest.<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a> I +will not spoil the charm of the original words by attempting to +translate them; "La qualité maîtresse de la musique du jeune maître est +la fraîcheur, qualité si rare que M. Massenet me parait être le seul à +la possèder. On dirait par moments qu'il n'en sent pas le prix, à le +voir poursuivre, en apparence du moins, un idéal de force violente. +N'est-ce donc rien que le parfum de la rose, la voix du rossignol et +l'aile du papillon? Bien des gens trouveront que la rose, le rossignol +et le papillon ne sont pas fort a plaindre, et qu'ils n'ont que faire de +lutter avec le tigre et le mancenillier."</p> + +<p>We now arrive at the work through which Massenet is best known in this +country, one which perhaps displays the peculiar nature of his talent to +the greatest advantage. "Manon," that very fascinating musical setting +of the Abbé Prévost's romance, was first played at the Opéra Comique in +1884. For twelve years no new opera by Massenet had been produced at +this theatre, and he had since then conquered celebrity as a dramatic +composer and as an<a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a> orchestral writer. The famous novel of the Abbé +Prévost had already previously been utilised for operatic purposes by +Auber, and has since been used as an opera text by the Italian composer +Puccini. It furnished Massenet with a subject particularly suited to his +muse.</p> + +<p>Apropos of Auber's setting, the following story is related:</p> + +<p>Auber did not enjoy the reputation of being a great reader. One day he +received a visit from a friend, who found him at his writing-table. Upon +inquiring what he was working at, Auber replied: "I am busy with the +first act of my new opera."—"By whom is the book?"—"By +Scribe."—"Might I ask its title and subject?"—"Manon +Lescaut."—"Manon! that splendid masterpiece?"—"The romance; do you +mean a romance?" asked Auber.—"Yes, certainly."—"Mon Dieu! I have +never read that," said Auber.—"What! you write an opera on the subject +of Manon, and have not read the story?"—"True; I have not got it in my +library,<a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a> for I have just been looking for it."—"Well, borrow it from +Scribe."—"But I don't think Scribe has read it either," said Auber, "he +may have glanced at it to get the situations, but Scribe never wastes +his time if he can help it."</p> + +<p>Massenet's opera contains an innovation which has a certain importance +and deserves to be noted. It is well known that the old-fashioned <i>opéra +comique</i> comprised spoken dialogue. The tendency of late years has been +to abandon this illogical custom, and the ideas of most composers +nowadays tend in this direction. Certain ingrained habits are hard to +get rid of, and even now there are composers of eminence who either have +not the courage or inclination to break with a custom so antagonistic to +the principles of the lyrical drama.</p> + +<p>Massenet, a musician of compromise, imagined a method which he doubtless +thought would give musical continuity to his work without departing +absolutely from the customs of the theatre. This was to retain the +spoken<a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a> dialogue, but to accompany it with an orchestral commentary in +keeping with the words. A similar method has been employed with success +in dramas for which incidental music has been written. It is not a +course that can be recommended for operatic purposes, although the +effect in "Manon" is not unpleasing. The analogy existing between the +stories of "Manon" and "La Traviata," or rather "La Dame aux Camélias," +is sufficiently striking. Several situations are almost identical. In +both cases we have a heroine for whom it is difficult to feel much +sympathy, a weak young man, and a heavy father given to singing +long-winded <i>cantilenas</i>. The subject is essentially French, or rather +Parisian, and the music of Massenet fits it like a glove. The composer's +mannerisms seem less out of place in the mouth of Manon than they do in +that of Mary Magdalen. Massenet is essentially a colourist, and even as +he had succeeded in imparting an Eastern <i>cachet</i> to his "Roi de +Lahore," and giving a tinge of the antique to his music for "Les<a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a> +Erinnyes," so in "Manon" he has felicitously caught the spirit of the +last century. This delicately perfumed score is in many places +suggestive of the boudoir of a <i>petite maítresse</i>. There are plenty of +accents of genuine passion noticeable in the course of the work, such as +those in the great duet between Manon and Des Grieux; also in the fine +monologue of the latter. It is in what might be termed operas <i>de demi +caractère</i> that Massenet excels, and he would do well in future to +confine himself to this and eschew works of larger calibre, such as "Le +Cid" and "Le Mage," the two latest operas that he has produced upon the +stage of the Grand Opéra.</p> + +<p>"Manon" has been successful on the Continent, but curiously enough, does +not appear to have taken much in London, despite the superb +interpretation of the hero by M. Van Dyck. An English version was +produced by the Carl Rosa Company in 1885, and it has remained in the +<i>répertoire</i>.</p> + +<p>The year after the production of "Manon"<a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a> Massenet reappeared as the +musical delineator of another French classic. This time he sought +inspiration from Corneille, undeterred by the failure of Gounod over +"Polyeucte."</p> + +<p>"Le Cid" is one of the great dramatic poet's finest works, and one with +which I will not do my readers the injustice to suppose them +unacquainted. The music of this opera contains much that is excellent, +but fails in many respects to do justice to the heroic subject. In his +efforts to be powerful the composer is often merely noisy. The best +portions are certain <i>hors d'œuvre</i>, such as the delightfully +characteristic ballet music. "Le Cid" has apparently proved to the taste +of the <i>habitués</i> of the Opéra, and has been successfully performed on +the Continent.</p> + +<p>A work which I should from many points of view be disposed to prefer is +"Esclarmonde," produced at the Opéra Comique in 1889, the year of the +International Exhibition. In this opera Massenet has taken a step in +advance as regards the musical form he has adopted.<a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a> "Esclarmonde" is +constructed more according to the lines of the modern "lyrical drama," +and the composer has made use of "representative themes" to a great +extent. One of these indeed bears a certain affinity to a motive in the +"Meistersinger." This apparent adherence to the principles of the +Bayreuth master caused some waggishly disposed critic to allude to +Massenet as "Mlle. Wagner." "Esclarmonde" is really a remarkable opera, +and should be given in London. The story, which is taken from an old +romance of chivalry, is a species of fairy tale and has this peculiarity +about it that, reversing the ordinary order of things, it is the heroine +who falls in love with the hero, who, it must be owned, does not seem +inclined to repel her advances. The lady in question being gifted with +magic powers, causes the object of her flame to be transported to an +enchanted island, where she visits him every night without his being +allowed to contemplate her features. The love duet between the two is +one of the most passionate and voluptuous examples of<a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a> amorous music +that has been heard on the stage. A species of orchestral interlude, +played whilst the lovers are gradually surrounded by the trees and +boughs of the enchanted island, is remarkably expressive, impregnated as +it is with a peculiar sensuousness of utterance and exuberance of +passionate feeling. This perhaps is the finest page in an opera that +must count as one of its author's best works. Mons. Adolphe Jullien, +whom I have had occasion to quote more than once in the course of this +volume, remarks that Massenet's great fault is that he alternately +attempts every style and perseveres in none. Certain it is that "Le Cid" +was a distinct falling off after "Manon," and that "Le Mage," produced +at the Grand Opéra in 1891, was absolutely inferior to "Esclarmonde." It +is of course impossible for any musician to command inspiration. Certain +subjects have the power of appealing to a composer more than others. +With Massenet, as I have previously remarked, these rather pertain to +the <i>genre intime</i>.<a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a></p> + +<p>"Le Mage" is a spectacular opera upon a large scale, the action of which +takes place in the time of Zoroaster.</p> + +<p>It furnished grand opportunities for the scenic artists to display their +skill, but was admittedly a disappointment from a musical point of view. +The composer was destined to take his <i>revanche</i> with "Werther," +performed for the first time in Vienna on the 16th of February 1892. The +composition of this work dates already some years back. It was in 1885, +the master relates himself, when he had just terminated "Le Cid," that +Mons. Hartmann, his publisher, suggested to him the idea of setting +Goethe's story to music. Pleased with the notion, Massenet entered into +communication on the subject with Messrs. Milliet and Blau, the authors +of the libretto. The book having been supplied, Massenet set to work in +the spring of 1885, and the opera was completed at the end of the winter +of 1886.</p> + +<p>When he was asked for a new opera by the director of the Opéra Comique, +to be played<a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a> during the International Exhibition of 1889, the composer +preferred to let him have "Esclarmonde," deeming this to be more fitted +for the occasion.</p> + +<p>Having had to go to Vienna to superintend the rehearsals of "Manon," a +proposition was made to produce his "Werther" at the Imperial Opera +House.</p> + +<p>Massenet, in the course of a conversation published in the <i>Echo de +Paris</i>, gives some interesting details concerning the administration of +the two imperial theatres in Vienna.</p> + +<p>"Hierarchically, and in the first rank, Prince Hohenlohe, the direct +representative of His Majesty, dominates. After him come first a high +official personage bearing the title of General Intendant, and then in +the third place the director, Mons. Jahn. The artists, including the +ballet-dancers, are looked upon as accomplishing a service of State. +Each day official carriages take them to the rehearsals. These take +place from ten o'clock to half-past twelve, in the most absolute <i>huis +clos</i>. In the<a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a> evening equally, during the performance, no one is +admitted either behind the scenes or in the boxes, and this from the +point of view of the strictest morality. They play, sing, and dance +without any stranger being allowed to be present. The archdukes +themselves are not admitted."</p> + +<p>Massenet also gives an account of the trying ordeal he underwent when +playing through his score for the first time before the director and all +the artists. He was admitted into an immense and luxuriously furnished +room, capable of containing over 200 people. "All the artists," he +relates, "were seated there, grouped in a charming but imposing +<i>ensemble</i>. At my entrance they all got up and bowed. The director +approached me and said a few amiable and too flattering words of +welcome. All this was assuming the intimidating aspect of an official +reception. I felt much moved. With the exception of my two old +interpreters, Mdlle. Renard and Vandyck, I knew no one. Meanwhile the +director led me to the piano, on<a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a> the desk of which my yet unpublished +score was placed, open at the first page. I sat down on the stool and +was about to strike the first chord.... At this moment I must tell you +an intense feeling of emotion came over me.... My heart was beating as +if it would burst.... In one second, with a really painful intensity, I +felt the vivid notion of the artistic responsibility which I was +incurring.... What a terrible game I was about to play.... This score of +'Werther' was six years old.... I scarcely had it in my memory.... How +many works by me had not been played since.... I was finding myself, +alone, far from my country, representing by the force of circumstances +French musical art.... On the other hand, I had full conscience of the +undeserved honour that was being conferred on me.... Was I not in +Vienna, the guest of the Emperor, invited at the expense of the State, +and remembering that alone two masters before me—both above +criticism—Verdi and Wagner, had been the objects of such a high and +such a<a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a> precious distinction?... All these thoughts suddenly came into +my brain; tears rose to my eyes, and stupidly, like a weak woman, I +began to weep. Then what kindness and delicate attention was shown all +around me. 'Courage, courage,' was said to me from all sides. I made an +immense effort, and still trembling with emotion I played through the +entire score. This was in Vienna the first hearing of 'Werther.'"</p> + +<p>In Goethe's sadly pathetic story, Massenet has found a subject eminently +suited to the peculiar nature of his talent. The idyllic charm of the +sad tale has inspired him to write pages full of poetry and refinement.</p> + +<p>"Werther" was a distinct success in Vienna, and this success was +repeated when the opera was produced in Paris at the Opéra Comique. +Massenet has seemingly been desirous in this work of writing a "lyrical +drama" rather than an ordinary opera. He has kept his music well within +the bounds of a subject so simple yet so interesting and so human. We do +not find set<a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a> duets, choruses, or <i>ensembles</i> in this delicate and +artistic score, and we need not regret their absence.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="WERTHER" id="WERTHER"></a> +<a href="images/ill_200.png"> +<img src="images/ill_200_sml.png" width="550" height="172" alt="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "WERTHER"" title="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "WERTHER"" /></a> +<br /> +<span class="caption">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "WERTHER"</span> +</p> + +<p>Long before Massenet's time, "Werther" had been set to music by Pugnani, +musical director to the King of Sardinia. It was played at the Burg +Theatre in Vienna in 1796. Pugnani's work was described as a symphony, +which the composer sought to make as realistic as possible. On one +occasion it was performed at Turin before a party of invited guests. +Pugnani conducted in his shirt sleeves. At the moment when Werther dies, +Pugnani pulled a pistol out of his pocket and fired it.</p> + +<p>Blangini also wrote a cantata upon the same subject, which he entitled +"Werther's Swan Song, half an hour before his death." At that time +Werther's Lotte (Frau von Kestner) was still living in Hanover, and she +journeyed to Cassel on purpose to hear Blangini's work.</p> + +<p>A curious thing happened when Massenet's "Werther" was given at Weimar +in 1892. Giessen, the Weimar tenor, was deputed to sing<a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a> the title +<i>rôle</i>. His real name happens to be Buff, and he is a grand-nephew of +Lotte, whose name was also Buff. When the Weimar performance took place +it was therefore discovered that Giessen had to make love to his own +great-aunt. In the German version of the opera Goethe's text is +faithfully followed. Both Lotte and Werther are drawn from life.</p> + +<p>A few days after the first performance of "Werther" at Vienna a ballet, +entitled "Le Carillon," by the same composer, to a <i>scenario</i> furnished +by M. Van Dyck, was successfully produced upon the same boards. Massenet +has another opera in readiness, which has not yet been presented to the +public—"Thaïs," a lyrical drama in three acts, words by Louis Gallet.</p> + +<p>The composer of "Werther" is an indefatigable worker, and being in the +full force of his maturity, may yet be counted upon to further enrich +the operatic <i>répertoire</i>. Concerning his powers of work the following +story is related: The director of one of the French operas, in<a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a> speaking +with the composer, said, "My dear Master, give me the secret of your +abnormal creative ability. Every day you listen to a crowd of singers, +you attend every rehearsal, and, besides, you are professor at the +Conservatoire. When do you find time to work?" "When you are asleep," +replied Massenet, quickly. It is true that Massenet rises every day at +five, and works incessantly until midday.</p> + +<p>In the Supplement to the "Biographie des Musiciens" of Fétis, edited by +M. Arthur Pougin, published in 1880, mention is made of two "lyrical +dramas," entitled "Robert de France" and "Les Girondins," upon which the +composer was supposed to be engaged at the time. I am not aware whether +these have been finished or not. Recently he has terminated the +orchestration of Léo Delibes' "Kassya," left unfinished.</p> + +<p>Whatever the composer's defects may be (and who is free from them?), +there can be no doubt that Massenet has indisputably a style of writing +peculiar to himself, which is more than<a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a> can be said of all of his +"confrères." His individuality may not be so marked as that of Gounod, +whose influence, by the way, can be traced in some of his compositions, +but it is none the less existent, and has been reflected in the works of +many of his pupils.</p> + +<p>Few musicians can touch him in the art of handling the orchestra. At the +time when he was studying at the Conservatoire he astonished every one +by the prodigious amount of work he got through, and the ease with which +he was able to compose. This facility of production does not seem to +have deserted him, and the danger lies, not in his composing too little, +but in producing too much.</p> + +<p>Massenet's position is so well established that he can now afford to +concentrate his mind upon his work without troubling himself as to +whether or not it pleases the superficial portion of the public. What he +now requires is a good subject and a well-written libretto. I trust he +may find both.</p> + +<p>Although necessarily absorbed by his multifarious<a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a> labours, Massenet +finds time occasionally to attend to his social duties. A story is told +of how one evening, when he was dining out, the mistress of the house +insisted upon making him listen to her daughter's playing. At the end of +the performance, upon being asked his opinion, Massenet gravely remarked +that it was quite evident that the young lady had received a Christian +education. "Why?" ejaculated the surprised parent. "Because she so +scrupulously observes the precept of the evangelist—her right hand +knoweth not what her left hand doeth."<a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a></p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="REYER" id="REYER"></a> +<a href="images/reyer-a.jpg"> +<img src="images/reyer-a_sml.jpg" width="457" height="550" alt="Ernest Reyer portrait, signed" title="Ernest Reyer portrait, signed" /></a> +<br /> +<a href="images/reyer-b.png"> +<img src="images/reyer-b_sml.png" +alt="signature" +title="signature" +width="350" +height="195" +/></a> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="ERNEST_REYER" id="ERNEST_REYER"></a>ERNEST REYER</h3> + +<p class="nind">"N<small>OWADAYS</small>, more than ever, musicians have the leisure to occupy +themselves with other things than music."</p> + +<p>These bitter words, savouring of disappointed expectations, occur in the +preface to the volume entitled <i>Notes de Musique</i>, written by Ernest +Reyer and published in 1875.</p> + +<p>Since that time the author of the above lines has received a tardy +compensation for a somewhat unaccountable neglect, and his operas +"Sigurd" and "Salammbô" have achieved what promises to be a permanent +success at the Paris Opera.</p> + +<p>Although the composer of these works is but little known in this +country, yet he none the less occupies an honourable position in the +front<a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a> rank of modern musicians. His "Sigurd," which was given at Covent +Garden some few years since, did not meet with the success due to its +unquestionable merits.</p> + +<p>A man of strong convictions, imbued with a high ideal and averse to +anything approaching the spirit of compromise, Ernest Reyer had to wait +longer before receiving due recognition than if he had been disposed to +pander to the taste of the public at the cost of his artistic +principles. This he has never done but he has been satisfied to work +quietly and wait patiently until his hour should arrive, careless of +popularity, and content to devote his talents to the sole cause of art. +Born on Dec. 1, 1823, at Marseilles, Ernest Reyer at the age of sixteen +went to Algeria, where he spent some time, living with his uncle, who +had an appointment in the province of Constantine.</p> + +<p>It may be that the early influences of the <i>milieu</i> in which he was +thrown may have had something to do with developing a tendency he +exhibited later on of setting Oriental<a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a> subjects to music. His first +important work was an eastern symphonic ode, entitled "Le Sélam," the +words of which were by Théophile Gautier, produced in 1850. This +composition had the misfortune to come a little too late. Félicien +David, in his "Désert," had already musically illustrated a subject in +many ways similar, and the success of his work proved detrimental to +that of his younger colleague.</p> + +<p>Many years later (in 1876), Ernest Reyer was destined, curiously enough, +to succeed Félicien David as a member of the Institute.</p> + +<p>The <i>début</i> of Reyer as a dramatic composer dates from the year 1854, +when "Maître Wolfram," a one-act opera, was produced at the Opéra +Comique. This was followed in 1858 by "Sacuntala," a ballet, at the +Opéra; and in 1861 by "La Statue," at the Théâtre Lyrique. It was this +last work which brought the composer's name in a prominent manner before +the public. The distrust that existed at that period against all +musicians holding so-called "advanced" ideas naturally affected Ernest +Reyer,<a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a> who was known to be an intimate friend of Berlioz, and to hold +unorthodox views with regard to the nature of dramatic music. "Le Sélam" +had come too late, "La Statue" arrived too soon. At a time when the +beauties of "Tannhaüser" were unrecognised and this work had been hissed +off the stage, when even Gounod's "Faust" was looked upon with +suspicion, it is not surprising that a work exhibiting qualities of so +serious a nature as "La Statue" should have met with only a partial +success. At the same time the qualities abounding in this work were +recognised by the press, and its author was by common consent classed +among the most rising composers and looked upon as one from whom much +was to be expected.</p> + +<p>"La Statue," in its original form, included spoken dialogue. On the +occasion of its revival at the Opéra Comique in 1878, the composer set +this to music, to the great advantage of his work, thereby insuring that +continuity which nowadays is rightly regarded as essential in operas of +serious import.<a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a></p> + +<p>The music to this work is impregnated with an indefinable Oriental +colouring which imparts to it an undoubted measure of charm.</p> + +<p>To Félicien David must be accorded the credit of being perhaps the first +to employ distinctively Eastern characteristics. It was doubtless this +that helped to ensure the prodigious success that attended "Le Désert." +Without in any way laying himself open to the charge of plagiarism, +Reyer may be said to have followed in his footsteps with conspicuous +success. Since then many composers have treated Oriental subjects, and +have endeavoured to invest their music with the peculiar "cachet" +associated with the East. Amongst these may be mentioned Bizet, in his +"Pêcheurs de Perles" and "Djamileh," Rubinstein in "Feramors," Goldmark +in "The Queen of Sheba," Saint-Saëns in "Samson et Dalila," Massenet in +"Le Roi de Lahore," Bruneau in "Kérim," and Villiers Stanford in "The +Veiled Prophet."</p> + +<p>Bizet considered "La Statue" as the most remarkable opera that had been +given in France<a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a> for twenty years. It is sad that this, in company with +many other works of value, should never have been offered to the +judgment of the British public.</p> + +<p>The composer's next operatic venture took place on German soil. It was +at Baden-Baden, at that period in the prime of its glory and the chosen +playground of Europe, that "Erostrate," a two act opera, was brought out +in the summer of 1862.</p> + +<p>Nothing at that moment seemed to presage any strained relations between +France and Germany. French tourists came in crowds to the gay +watering-place and deposited their offerings with a light heart in the +temple of chance presided over by Mons. Bénazet; that very same year a +cantata, the words of which were by Méry and the music by Reyer, given +at Baden-Baden, celebrated the praises of "The Rhine, symbol of peace."</p> + +<p><i>Quantum mutatus ab illis.</i> The French element disappeared with the war +of 1870, and the suppression of the tables has long since<a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a> brought +Baden-Baden down to the same level of respectability as many another +"Kurort."</p> + +<p>Musical amateurs sojourning in the picturesque valley of the Grand Duchy +of Baden at this epoch seem to have had a good time of it.</p> + +<p>Berlioz was in the habit of directing every year a grand festival at +which were performed extracts from his orchestral works. Reyer states +that each concert given by Berlioz used to cost a matter of 20,000 +francs to Mons. Bénazet the energetic head of the "Kurhaus." Certain it +is that this enterprising director must have had strong musical +proclivities, for it is to his initiative that the production of +Berlioz's "Béatrice et Benédict" is due. This work served to inaugurate +the opening of the new theatre at Baden. Two days later witnessed the +first performance of Reyer's "Erostrate," which was shortly afterwards +followed by another new work, "Nahel," by Henry Litolff. "Erostrate" +seems to have pleased the cosmopolitan public of Baden better than it +did Parisian amateurs when it was transferred to the Grand Opéra ten +years later, where<a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a> it was only accorded two representations. The +composer was reproached at this time for having dedicated his score to +the Queen of Prussia. As if it were possible for any one, in 1862, to +foresee the course of events that were destined to happen in 1870. +Patriotism occasionally seems to have the effect of deadening the +intelligence.</p> + +<p>It certainly appears strange that after the favourable reception +accorded to "La Statue" in 1861, Reyer should have been ostracised from +the Paris theatres, if we except the two performances of "Erostrate" in +1872, and the revivals of "Maître Wolfram" in 1873, and of "La Statue" +in 1878, for a period of twenty-four years, when he made a triumphal +reappearance at the Opéra with "Sigurd." This last opera had been +performed the year before at Brussels.</p> + +<p>The Belgian capital seems to be a sort of refuge for those French +composers who experience a difficulty in obtaining a hearing in their +own country.</p> + +<p>It was at the Théâtre de la Monnaie that the<a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a> following operas were +first produced: Reyer's "Sigurd" and "Salammbô," Massenet's "Hérodiade," +the brothers Hillemacher's "St. Mégrin," Godard's "Jocelyn," and +Chabrier's "Gwendoline." It was also there that some of Wagner's later +music dramas were heard for the first time in French.</p> + +<p>"Sigurd" had been composed many years previous to its production on the +stage, and fragments had frequently been introduced into the +concert-room. I recollect myself hearing an important extract performed +at one of the far-famed Conservatoire concerts, and the overture at one +of Pasdeloup's concerts, in 1876. The subject of this opera is taken +from the same source as Wagner's "Ring des Nibelungen."</p> + +<p>Sigurd and Siegfried are one and the same individual, and many of the +incidents of the French composer's opera are identical with those that +occur in the "Götterdammerŭng." This is, of course, unfortunate, and +although it has been pointed out that Reyer composed his work before the +completion of the "Ring," yet<a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a> he must have been aware that the German +master was treating the same subject, considering that Wagner had +published the poem of his four works as far back as 1853. +Notwithstanding the reputation he had already achieved, endless +difficulties had to be surmounted before Reyer was able to get his work +performed. The nature of the subject frightened Mons. Halanzier, the +then director of the Paris Opéra, who imagined that the barbarous +sounding names of the leading characters might prove objectionable to +the public. Who had ever heard of Sigurd, Hagen, Gunther, or Hilda? The +last name seemed especially to act upon his nerves. "Why not call her +Bilda?" he exclaimed. "Do I call you Balanzier?" answered Reyer. There +was nothing for the luckless composer to do but wait for another +opportunity, which happily occurred some years later.</p> + +<p>It is immensely to the French composer's credit that, in spite of +inevitable comparisons, he should have been able to succeed as well as +he has.</p> + +<p>"Sigurd" is full of dramatic power, and<a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a> bears evidence of the constant +endeavour of the composer to fit his music to the sense of the words, +avoiding as much as possible any of those conventional effects so dear +to the uneducated section of the public. His style has been described as +proceeding from Gluck and Weber, whilst his admiration for Berlioz and +Wagner reveals itself in the richness and variety of his +instrumentation. This appreciation is perfectly correct, and although +his operas may be criticised in some respects, they reveal a true +artistic temperament both in their method and execution. It may be said +with truth that Reyer's individuality is not of the most marked, that +his melodies sometimes lack distinction, and that his inventive faculty +is scarcely equal to his skill in making the most of his materials; but +none will contest the true artistic feeling that presides over all his +compositions, or deny him the possession of strongly pronounced +convictions impelling him to do his utmost towards raising the standard +of operatic art.<a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a></p> + +<p>After having been the first town to offer hospitality to "Sigurd," +Brussels was destined to have the <i>primeur</i> of "Salammbô," the last +opera that Reyer has composed, which was brought out in 1890 with great +<i>éclat</i>, and produced later on in Paris, where it at once succeeded in +establishing itself in the favour of the public. Perhaps of somewhat +less sustained interest than "Sigurd," the music of "Salammbô" shows the +same tendencies on the part of its composer to adhere to a strict +interpretation of the drama, and contains many pages of great beauty. +Those who have read Flaubert's powerful and imaginative work will +probably consider it somewhat unsuited for the purposes of a "lyrical +drama." It must be admitted, however, that the composer has found in it +a subject well adapted to his artistic temperament, and that it has +enabled him to produce a work which is an honour both to himself and to +his country.</p> + +<p>The production of "Salammbô" in London is an event much to be desired, +and a revival of "Sigurd" would also be of the greatest<a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a> interest. Now +that the British public are more familiarised with Wagner's "Nibelungen +Ring" they would be able to draw interesting comparisons between the +treatment of the same legend by the German master and the French +composer.</p> + +<p>If Reyer has acquired a well deserved reputation in France as a +composer, he is equally well known as a writer on music, and for many +years has occupied the post of critic to the <i>Journal des Débats</i>, +formerly held by Berlioz.</p> + +<p>The opinions advanced by Reyer have always been remarkable for sound +common sense. An intimate friend and ardent admirer of Berlioz, he +enjoys the credit of having been one of the first in France to recognise +the genius of Wagner.</p> + +<p>The perfect honesty of his convictions is apparent to those who read his +writings with care, and it may in passing be noted to his honour that +when the course of time and increased acquaintance with his subject +have<a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a> caused him to modify any previously expressed opinions, he has +never hesitated to say so. No one is infallible, but many pretend so to +be.</p> + +<p>When travelling in Germany in 1864 Reyer, who was already a strong +admirer of Wagner's earlier works, had occasion to run through the score +of "Tristan," then still unperformed. The first impressions produced +upon him by this most complicated of scores was not a favourable one, +and Reyer in stating this avowed that his admiration for the German +master would stop at "Lohengrin," until the beauties of the "Nibelungen +Ring" should have been revealed to him.</p> + +<p>In 1884 when the first act of "Tristan" was given at one of Mons. +Lamoureux's concerts, Reyer made amends for the appreciation somewhat +hastily recorded by him twenty years previously by expressing his +intense admiration for the wondrous beauties of this sublime work. "What +a metamorphosis," he wrote, "had taken place in my musical faculties +during twenty years! But also what a difference in<a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a> the execution! It +was the first time that I was hearing 'Tristan' with the orchestra."</p> + +<p>Reyer in his criticisms has always held up the banner of high art, and +his writings will doubtless not have been without influence in +determining the nature of the musical movement in France during these +last few years. His admiration for Berlioz has not diminished, whilst +his admiration for Wagner has increased. Apropos of the "Proserpine" of +Saint-Saëns, he wrote: "We are practically all affected with Wagnerism, +perhaps at different degrees; but we have drunk and we will drink at the +same source, and the sole precaution for us to take is not to drown our +own personality."</p> + +<p>This frank avowal may not be to the taste of all French composers, but +it is none the less true.</p> + +<p>Ernest Reyer has almost entirely confined himself to operatic +compositions. He is not a quick worker, and his operas all bear evidence +of thought and an avoidance of claptrap effects.</p> + +<p>He is still a bachelor and has the appearance<a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a> rather of a retired +military officer than of the traditional musician. Reyer is +<i>bibliothécaire</i> of the Opéra, and inhabits a quiet little apartment on +a fifth floor, where he is able to work undisturbed and meditate upon +the trials and uncertainties of a composer's existence.<a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a></p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="BRUNEAU" id="BRUNEAU"></a> +<a href="images/bruneau-a.jpg"> +<img src="images/bruneau-a_sml.jpg" width="446" height="550" alt="Alfred Bruneau portrait, signed" title="Alfred Bruneau portrait, signed" /></a> +<br /> +<a href="images/bruneau-b.png"> +<img src="images/bruneau-b_sml.png" +alt="signature" +title="signature" +width="400" +height="228" +/></a> +</p> + +<h3><a name="ALFRED_BRUNEAU" id="ALFRED_BRUNEAU"></a>ALFRED BRUNEAU</h3> + +<p class="nind">I<small>N</small> the month of November 1891, there was brought out at Covent Garden +Theatre a work that had the effect of setting the musical world of +London into a state of ferment. This was "Le Rêve," a musical rendering +of Emile Zola's well-known romance, by the composer whose name heads +this chapter. The absolute unconventionality of the music, the boldness +and the novelty of the composer's method, took the public by surprise +and led to many a discussion, at the end of which both antagonists and +supporters remained unconvinced and, as is generally the case, retained +their own opinions.</p> + +<p>It has always appeared to me to be idle to attempt to impose one's ideas +upon the relative merits of a composition on those whose disposition<a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a> is +antagonistic to its due appreciation. There are many to whom the later +works of Wagner appear as a senseless agglomeration of notes, devoid of +meaning and destitute of feeling, a mere jumble of sound. These people +are doubtless absolutely sincere in their convictions. Where is the +argument that would cause them to change their minds? If no sympathetic +current is generated between the music and the listener, it may be taken +for granted that these are not meant one for another, and all the +arguments in the world will not alter the fact. On the other hand there +can be no doubt that increased familiarity often causes the reversal of +a previously expressed opinion, one sometimes formulated in undue haste, +and this is especially the case with a work such as "Le Rêve," the +tendencies of which are so novel and the methods so uncompromising in +their thoroughness.</p> + +<p>The composer has boldly flown in the face of recognised traditions and +flung all compromise to the four winds. He has treated "Le Rêve"<a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a> +according to his own ideas, careless as to whether these should be +agreeable to the vocalist, who looks upon an opera solely as the means +of displaying his voice; to the average amateur, whose fondness for a +good square tune of doubtful originality is as great as ever; or to the +musical pedant who gauges the value of an art-work according to the +theoretical ideas of a past generation.</p> + +<p>Art and literature have during the last few years been invaded by a +strong current of realism. The marked tendency exhibited by the present +generation of inquiring minutely into all matters and subjecting them to +a searching process of analysis, has been pregnant in its results. The +physiology of the mind appears to be the leading factor in the works of +many of the lights of contemporary literature. This is discernible in +the writings of poets like Swinburne and George Barlow, in the novels of +Emile Zola and Alphonse Daudet, and in the studies of Tolstoï, to +mention only a few. In music the same tendencies are apparent, and it<a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a> +is rather the inner motives of the action than its outward details that +the serious operatic composer is tempted to depict.</p> + +<p>Bruneau exemplifies the latest phase of that evolution that has been +taking place during recent years in the domain of dramatic music. It may +be taken for granted that the theory enunciated by Gluck in his preface +to "Alceste" more than a hundred years ago has now come to be +universally adopted. This is, that "the true aim and object of dramatic +music is to enhance the effect and situations of a poem, without +interrupting the dramatic action or marring the effect by unnecessary +ornamentation." It is this which forms the basis of Wagner's theories. +There are, however, many other points of importance raised by the German +master which practically amount to innovations. Of these none has +perhaps a greater bearing on the construction of the "lyrical drama" of +the future than the employment of <i>leit-motiven</i>, or representative +themes.</p> + +<p>It has been argued that Wagner can scarcely<a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a> claim to be the actual +inventor of this device.</p> + +<p>To this it may be replied that Wagner's method differs essentially from +that followed by any of his predecessors. The bare repetition of a +phrase previously heard may be dramatically significant, but it only +represents the Wagnerian idea in its most embryonic form, and has little +in common with a system subject to which an entire opera is constructed +upon a certain number of themes susceptible of being modified and +transformed according to the sentiments expressed by the words. Whatever +objections may be adduced against such a system if pushed to its +furthest limits and adopted as rigorously as Wagner has in his later +"music dramas," it must be conceded that it opens a large field to the +composer and adds a powerful element of interest to the musical +exposition of a plot.</p> + +<p>So far, French composers who have profited by Wagner's many innovations +have shown themselves shy in following the master in this<a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a> particular +one. Some of them have, it is true, adopted it to a certain extent, and +endeavoured to effect a compromise by trying at the same time to retain +set pieces of the kind associated with the older forms of opera. +Saint-Saëns in "Henri VIII." and "Ascanio," Massenet in "Esclarmonde," +to name only two, have exhibited a marked tendency in this direction. It +has, however, been reserved for Alfred Bruneau to employ the Wagnerian +plan in a more complete way than any French composer has yet done. I am +not here venturing to express an opinion as to whether or not the total +absence of set form in an opera is advisable. It is evidently quite +possible to compose a "lyrical drama" on a different plan than one +entailing the strict employment of representative themes. Art should +comprise every method that is likely to add to its scope, and the use of +<i>leit-motiven</i> opens a vista of illimitable possibilities to the +composer of the future. It is a powerful agent of dramatic expression, +and one which requires musical ability of a very high<a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a> order if it is to +be employed in any profitable manner. When I mention Alfred Bruneau as +being perhaps the first French composer who has applied the Wagnerian +system so thoroughly in his "lyrical dramas," it must not be implied +that he is in any way a servile imitator of the German master, and he +must not be confounded with composers who, having no original ideas of +their own, trade upon those of other people. As his friend and +collaborator Mons. Louis Gallet remarks in his <i>Notes d'un Librettiste</i>, +"Son criterium est tout personel." There is one point, for instance, in +which he diverges entirely from Wagner. This is in his choice of +subjects. Instead of searching for inspiration in the legendary lore so +dear to the composer of "Tristan," Bruneau prefers to musically +illustrate a story of modern life. His ideas upon the lyrical drama are +best expressed in his own words, and I do not scruple to reproduce the +following passage from a letter addressed to myself: "Je suis pour +l'union aussi intime que possible de la musique et des paroles, et<a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a> +voudrais faire du théâtre vivant, humain et bref. J'aurais aussi +l'ambition de traiter une suite de sujets essentiellement Français et +modernes d'action comme de sentiments. C'est pourquoi, après 'Le Rêve,' +d'un mysticisme bien Français je crois, viendra 'L'Attaque du moulin,' +drame pris au cœur saignant de notre pays. Mais la suite n'est qu'un +projet que je n'aurai peut-être jamais la force de mettre à exécution."</p> + +<p>It is the human element that predominates in Bruneau's compositions +which constitutes so powerful a fascination to those who are in sympathy +with his ideas. His music is not theatrical in the ordinary acceptation +of the term but intensely dramatic, inasmuch as it aims at depicting the +innermost details of the action, and describes in searching accents the +varied emotions of the leading characters.</p> + +<p>He has been blamed for his disregard of the so-called rules of harmony, +and for apparently revelling in the employment of discords, strange +progressions, and harsh modulations. Let it be<a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a> remembered that there is +scarcely a composer of eminence who has not been subjected to the same +reproach. To take a few of the most notable instances, it is only +necessary to mention the cases of Schumann, Wagner, Berlioz, and Bizet. +A name that may carry conviction even further is that of Beethoven. Is +it not a fact that within the memory of some who are still amongst us, +the "Choral Symphony" was stigmatised as the work of a genius whose +powers were on the wane, and this mighty work was pronounced dull and +incoherent?</p> + +<p>The question as to how far a composer may go in his search after novel +effects, and what discords he may or may not employ, is one that cannot +easily be answered. Where is the musician who will have the presumption +to erect himself as the supreme arbiter upon so complex a question, and +venture to say to the composer, "Thus far shalt thou go and no further?"</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly there must be rules of some kind, but these are intended for +the student and are not meant to hamper the inspiration of the<a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a> master. +In order to explain my meaning I cannot do better than quote the +following extract from the preface of Mr. Ebenezer Prout's admirable +work on "Harmony,"<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> which conclusively disposes of the question:</p> + +<p>"The principle must surely be wrong which places the rules of an early +stage of musical development above the inspirations of genius! Haydn, +when asked according to what rules he had introduced a certain harmony, +replied that 'The rules were all his very obedient humble servants;' and +when we find that in our own time Wagner, or Brahms, or Dvórak, breaks +some rule given in old text books, there is, to say the least, a very +strong presumption, not that the composer is wrong, but that the rule +needs modifying. In other words practice must precede theory. The +inspired composer goes first, and invents new effects; it is the +business of the theorist not to cavil at every novelty, but to follow +modestly behind, and make his rules conform to the practice of the +master."<a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a></p> + +<p>These are golden words, involving a precept that should be seriously +taken to heart by those who are inclined to pass a hasty verdict upon +works exhibiting tendencies of a novel nature. At the same time it does +not follow that composers of inferior talent should be allowed a liberty +which with them often degenerates into licence, and imagine that it is +only necessary for them to stud their scores with consecutive fifths and +octaves, and avoid any but the most out-of-the-way modulations in order +at once to be ranked as men of genius. There is a vast amount of +difference between the crude harmonies, obviously introduced for effect, +that occur in the scores of some composers, and those employed with a +due sense of dramatic fitness by a musician like Bruneau.</p> + +<p>The composer of "Le Rêve" was born on the 1st of March 1857. He is, +therefore, at the present time in the full flush of his creative +ability, and his powers of production have doubtless not yet reached +their full maturity of expression. There is no knowing how far<a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a> a +musician of his calibre may not eventually go, or what works he may be +destined to produce. Up to the present he has shown a wonderful amount +of independence of thought, and his very exaggerations are the evident +outcome of a consistent striving to attain an elevated ideal.</p> + +<p>Alfred Bruneau's musical studies were begun in a brilliant manner at the +Paris Conservatoire, where he obtained the first prize for violoncello +in 1876. He entered into the composition class, presided over by +Massenet, and finally, in 1881, triumphantly carried off the "Prix de +Rome." This was already a great step towards fame and fortune, although +it has been proved over and over again that it leads to neither. Many an +old winner of the "Prix de Rome" has, after a fruitless struggle, been +compelled to give up the game and resign himself to a life of +comparative obscurity. For an artist to remain true to his convictions +and resist the temptations thrown in his way of obtaining an ephemeral +popularity by pandering to the taste of the public, is not always so +easy an achievement<a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a> as it may appear. It was through the means of the +concert-room that Alfred Bruneau's name first became known to the +musical public of Paris. An "Ouverture Héroïque," a symphonic poem +entitled "La Belle au bois dormant," and "Léda," styled a "poème +antique;" these works were played at different times, and sufficed to +stamp their author as a musician of undeniable capacity and distinct +promise. "Penthésilée" is the name of a symphonic poem of great daring +and originality for a solo voice and orchestra, which was only recently +produced at one of Mons. Colonne's concerts. It is a musical +interpretation of some wild and striking stanzas by the poet Catulle +Mendès. Thoroughly independent in structure as it is in its workmanship, +bold almost to excess, distinguished by a most unconventional harmonic +treatment, this composition exhibits a masterly grip that irresistibly +commands attention. The interest may be said to be mainly concentrated +in the orchestra, the voice part being strictly declamatory.<a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a></p> + +<p>It is, however, through his conception of the "lyrical drama" that +Bruneau especially asserts his individuality.</p> + +<p>"Kérim," his first stage work, brought out in 1887 at the Théâtre du +Chateau d'Eau, provisionally given up to operatic performances, does not +appear to have excited much attention, possibly owing to the inadequacy +of the interpretation. In this work, the tendencies which are so +accentuated in "Le Rêve" are already foreshadowed. There is but little +in this interesting score that denotes the beginner, and "Kérim" is +distinguished by qualities for which we may search in vain through the +pages of many works that have acquired a greater popularity. For some +reason hard to assign, operas dealing with Eastern subjects do not seem +to appeal readily to the taste of the public, at any rate in England. +And yet what delightful musical impressions are evoked by the +recollection of works such as Goldmark's "Queen of Sheba," Cornelius' +"Barber of Bagdad," Bizet's "Djamileh" and others! It may be remarked<a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a> +<i>en passant</i> that the fact of the first of these works being practically +unknown on this side of the channel scarcely redounds to our credit.</p> + +<p>From the very first page of "Kérim," it becomes evident that we are in +the presence of a composer who has something new to say and who intends +to say it whether or not it pleases the musical faculty or those who +measure the value of a work according to a preconceived standard.</p> + +<p>In the matter of harmonic boldness Bruneau goes to very great lengths, +and from this point of view alone the score of "Kérim" will prove highly +interesting to musicians. The plan upon which he works is admirably +logical. He commences by exposing some of his most important themes in +their simplest guise, so that they may in a way impose themselves upon +the attention of the listener. These are then subjected to various +transformations according to the sense of the words they are intended to +interpret, and are heard in different forms, either<a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a> singly or jointly, +being employed in combination when the composer has in view the +expression of some complex sentiment. It is this system, which in a more +embryonic form is apparent in "Kérim," that constitutes the constructive +basis of "Le Rêve."</p> + +<p>The first of these works, which is termed an opera, but has more of the +characteristics of the lyrical drama, treats of an Eastern legend.</p> + +<p>An emir of Beyrouth (nothing in common with Baireuth!), is in love with +an unknown maiden who appears to him in his sleep and tells him that she +will belong to him if he finds her some tears that are the outcome of a +truly suffering heart. These will then be turned into pearls which he +can offer her. The emir pursues his quest far and wide without success, +and finally himself bursts into tears which are suddenly transformed +into pearls. The object of his thoughts then appears and tells him that +he has found what she required, and that the tears produced by genuine +love have won her as his own.<a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a></p> + +<p>It can scarcely be said that the above story offers material of a +particular interesting order. It has, however, been sufficient to +furnish Bruneau with the opportunity of exercising his skill and +displaying his fancy often to great advantage. Before taking leave of +"Kérim" I may point out, for the benefit of those who might experience +the curiosity of perusing this score, the monologue for tenor in the +first act with its delightful accompaniment in canon, the effective +treatment of some popular Oriental tunes, and specially the consistent +working out of the representative themes. I must also mention the +delicious "Adagietto," sung by the heroine in the last act, as an +example of simple and pure melody.</p> + +<p>There are certain legends that require a long time before they are +dispelled, and the accusation that for a considerable while hung over +the heads of Wagner and Berlioz of being deficient in melodic power, has +been levelled against many other composers. Bruneau has not escaped it, +but he may console himself with the<a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a> thought that he is in very good +company. It is I think Liszt who invented the excellent definition of a +species of melody "à plusieurs étages," which it is not given to every +one to grasp.</p> + +<p>We now come to the work that has been instrumental in bringing the name +of Bruneau to the front in a prominent manner. If "Le Rêve," which was +first played at the Paris Opéra Comique in 1891, has given rise to much +controversy, it has at any rate not been passed by in silence or damned +with faint praise.</p> + +<p>The mysticism and poetical charm of Zola's book, so different to the +majority of novels by the apostle of realism, has caused it to be widely +appreciated even in circles where his romances are not usually admitted. +Bruneau's desire originally had been to write a "lyrical drama" upon "La +Faute de l'abbé Mouret." It was only when he found that Massenet had +chosen the same subject that he was forced to give up the idea and turn +his attention to "Le Rêve." I am not aware whether Massenet has +abandoned his intention of turning "La Faute<a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a> de l'abbé Mouret" into +an opera or not. Now that composers appear bent upon introducing realism +into their music, it is not impossible that even "L'Assommoir" may +eventually serve as the groundwork of an operatic textbook. We trust +that this will not be so. However realistic musicians may strive to be, +they should not associate their muse with themes that are not +susceptible of being idealised.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a name="REVE" id="REVE"></a> +<a href="images/ill_240.png"> +<img src="images/ill_240_sml.png" width="550" height="296" alt="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "LE RÊVE" + +Act I." title="FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "LE RÊVE"" /></a> +<br /> +<span class="caption">FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "LE RÊVE"<br /> +Act I.</span> +</p> + +<p>The desire nowadays of musically photographing, if I may employ a +somewhat far-fetched comparison, certain types of humanity is excellent +in its way. But it is as well in so doing to choose a period remote from +ours, where no sense of incongruity can be produced through the +appearance of operatic characters clad in the prosaic garb of the +present day. The general characteristics of humanity have always been +the same, and Wagner, with his marvellous poetical insight, knew well +what he was about when he drew the subjects of his "music dramas" from +mythical sources.</p> + +<p>In "Le Rêve" Bruneau has written a work<a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a> remarkable in point of +originality and sustained expression. His music must be either accepted +in its entirety or rejected altogether. Upon those who appreciate its +beauties it exercises an irresistible fascination. Bruneau is a +psychologist, and he aims at musically describing the innermost feelings +of the soul. He has also in "Le Rêve" proved himself to be an idealist.</p> + +<p>I will in a few words endeavour to sketch the subject-matter of this +admirable work.</p> + +<p>Angélique is a young girl, the adopted child of a respectable old +couple, embroiderers by trade. She is subject to hallucinations, and +through constantly reading a book entitled "The Golden Legend," dealing +with the lives of saints and martyrs, fancies she hears voices in the +air, and dreams of the arrival of a prince who will come and carry her +off. As the first scene closes, she imagines she sees the one she has +been dreaming of, who turns out to be the son of the Bishop Jean +d'Hautecœur, still sorrowing for the wife he lost many years ago. It +stands to reason that the two young people fall in love with one<a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a> +another, and that the course of their love, according to the usual +precedent, does not run smooth. The bishop intends his son to become a +priest and refuses to consent to his marriage, remaining deaf to his +entreaties. Angélique thereupon pines away and is on the point of death, +when her lover finally induces his father to give in, and save her by +performing a miracle such as was accomplished by his ancestor, who cured +the sufferers of a plague by kissing them on the forehead and using the +words, "Si Dieu veut, je veux," which have since become the motto of his +family. The Bishop yields and performs the miracle. The lovers are about +to be united, but at the very porch of the church where they are to be +married, Angélique hears voices in the air calling to her, she staggers, +and dies. This last scene was omitted at Covent Garden.</p> + +<p>As I have previously remarked, "Le Rêve" is constructed entirely upon a +number of representative themes. There is a practically complete absence +of set pieces, the work running its<a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a> course uninterruptedly without a +break. Bruneau has in fact treated his setting of Zola's book in a form +that might be best described as "speech in song" accompanied by an +orchestral commentary. It is doubtful though whether the word +"accompany" can be used at all in connection with his music, seeing that +the most important part is allotted to the orchestra. The themes +employed are most impressive, thoroughly characteristic, and well +adapted for polyphonic treatment. There are certain scenes in which the +melodic interest lies mainly in the voice parts, although the +instrumental portion is invariably pregnant with suggestion, fragments +of motives being blended together and worked in with consummate skill. +Angélique's appeal to the Bishop is one of these, and is marked by +genuine dramatic feeling. One of the most strikingly original scenes is +the one comprising the Bishop's monologue. The poignant accents are +admirably fitted to describe the emotions of one whose life has been +blighted through the loss of the woman he loved, and whose determination +to force his son into the<a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a> priesthood is shaken by the affection he +bears him.</p> + +<p>Pages such as these are sufficient in themselves to stamp their author +as an artist of the first rank and a musician of genius.</p> + +<p>The chorus occupies but a small place in "Le Rêve," and the choristers +are never seen upon the stage. A few bars for the sopranos, supposed to +represent the voices in the air heard by Angélique, an "Ave verum," sung +in the cathedral, and an old French hymn heard in the distance sung as a +procession is passing underneath the windows, represent the choral +numbers.</p> + +<p>At the commencement of the second scene we have a lively dance to an old +French tune. In this place I think the effect would have been greatly +enhanced by the adjunction of voices to the orchestra. This would have +been æsthetically correct, as there is a certain incongruity in the fact +of a number of young girls dancing and apparently enjoying themselves in +silence.</p> + +<p>I would draw attention to the admirable<a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a> delineation of the dear old +embroiderers, as kindly a couple as could well be imagined, a creation +that Dickens might well envy, whose characteristics have been musically +transcribed by Bruneau in accents so suave and so touching.</p> + +<p>The composer of "Le Rêve" possesses the sense of contrast to a very high +degree. Witness the manner in which he has set the following words when +the Bishop describes how his motto, "Si Dieu veut, je veux!" came to be +adopted by his family:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"<i>Pendant une peste cruelle,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Il pria tant que Dieu le fit vainqueur</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Du terrible fléau.—Pour ramener la vie</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Aux corps déjà glacés par l'agonie,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Il se penchait vers eux,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Les baisait sur la bouche et n'avait rien qu'à dire</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Aux mourants: 'Si Dieu veut, je veux!'</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>On voyait les mourants sourire;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Car, dès qu'il les touchait des lèvres seulement,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0em;"><i>Les malades étaient guéris soudainement.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></span><br /> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a></p> + +<p>The part dealing with the description of the plague is accompanied by a +strange and gruesome succession of chords, which gradually leads to a +lovely melody typical of the miracle that is supposed to have been +worked. Nothing can be more appropriate than the strains that accompany +the above words to which they appear intimately allied.</p> + +<p>When "Le Rêve" was given at Covent Garden it was accorded a well-nigh +perfect rendering. Mdlle. Simonnet realised the character of Angélique +to the life, and imparted an infinity of charm to the music. The part of +the Bishop furnished Mons. Bouvet with the opportunity of presenting an +admirable character study. The remaining parts were exceptionally well +performed by Mdme. Deschamps-Jéhin, and Messrs. Engel and Lorrain. A +better <i>ensemble</i> it would be difficult to imagine. The orchestra was +conducted by Mons. Jéhin.</p> + +<p>Like so many other composers, Alfred Bruneau is also a musical critic, +and has succeeded<a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a> the late Victor Wilder in that capacity upon the <i>Gil +Blas</i>.</p> + +<p>Victor Wilder was ever one of the strongest advocates of Wagner on the +Parisian press, and it is to him that are due the excellent translations +into French of the master's later music dramas.</p> + +<p>It may be interesting to my readers to peruse a specimen of Bruneau's +writing, and I will therefore cite an extract from an article he lately +wrote concerning the first performance of the "Walküre" in Paris, in +which he lucidly defines the difference existing between the +old-fashioned opera and the "lyrical drama." I must apologise if my +translation fails to do justice to the original.</p> + +<p>"It is not only the independence of music (<i>l'indépendence des sons</i>) +that we owe to Richard Wagner. Owing to his prodigious genius, the +musical drama has entered into a new era, an era of true reason, of +rigorous good sense and of perfect logic. No one nowadays is unaware of +the profound dissimilarity existing<a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a> between the 'lyrical drama' and the +opera. In the one, the music unites itself intimately to the poetry in +order to impart life, movement, passionate interest to a human action, +the course of which must run uninterruptedly from the rising of the +curtain to the last scene.</p> + +<p>"In the other, the music is divided into a number of pieces which are +occasionally nothing but cumbersome <i>hors d'œuvres</i>, the traditional +form of which hampers the action of actors and choristers contrary to +the most elementary scenic necessities.</p> + +<p>"In the one, the symphony comments upon the inward thoughts of the +different characters, makes known the reasons that cause them to act, +and whilst depicting their natures, magically evokes before our eyes the +subtle and fabulous scenes dreamed of by our fancy.</p> + +<p>"In the other, with a singular docility, the orchestra submits itself to +the slavery of the voice. Its function, which is absolutely secondary, +consists in accompanying the voices, in playing <i>ritournelles</i>, in +striking a few chords<a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a> during which the recitatives are being declaimed, +and in more or less harmoniously accompanying the entries and exits.</p> + +<p>"Alone the overture is reserved; and even this often serves but as a +pretext for the composition of a piece of instrumental display rather +than as a description of sentiments and facts.</p> + +<p>"In the one, the melody is infinite, as Richard Wagner has rightly +expressed it; it goes and comes, moves from the voices to the orchestra, +ever renewing itself in the freedom of its flight.</p> + +<p>"In the other, it appears only in certain places: if the vocal portion +is melodious, the accompaniment is rudimentary and the traditional +recitative endlessly intervening in the middle of the music in order to +divide it into set forms, arbitrarily condemns melody to submit to +wretched formulas and snatches away its wings."</p> + +<p>In the course of the same article, Bruneau expresses himself thus:</p> + +<p>"These are, however, terms imagined rather for the purpose of defending +certain ideas<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a> than for designating certain works, as there exist in the +classical form of opera masterpieces worthy of eternal and fervent +admiration. One does not necessarily run down works such as 'Don Juan,' +'Fidelio,' 'Iphigénie,' and so many others in desiring the +rejuvenescence of an art that owes to these masterpieces its +imperishable glory.</p> + +<p>"After Gluck, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, fresh innovators will come, +who, respectful of the traditions of the past and eager for the +conquests of the future, will still further enlarge the field of action +of the musical drama."</p> + +<p>The above words may be taken in a measure as furnishing Bruneau's +profession of faith as regards matters operatic. He has finished the +score of a new "lyrical drama" entitled "L'Attaque du Moulin," founded +upon a tale of Zola, which at the time I am writing has not yet been +performed. It is to be produced shortly at the Paris Opéra Comique +Theatre.</p> + +<p>I must not fail to allude to Bruneau's characteristic settings of +Catulle Mendès' "Lieds<a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a> de France," which are distinguished by an +evidently studied simplicity of expression.</p> + +<p>Unless I am mistaken, it was the late Victor Wilder, his predecessor on +the <i>Gil Blas</i> who once alluded to the composer of "Le Rêve" as "the +standard-bearer of the young French school," a qualification to which he +is, in my humble estimation, well entitled.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>N<small>OTE</small>.—Since this volume has gone to press, "L'Attaque du Moulin" +has been produced at the Paris Opéra Comique, with great success.</p></div> + +<p><a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="SOME_OTHER_FRENCH_COMPOSERS" id="SOME_OTHER_FRENCH_COMPOSERS"></a>SOME OTHER FRENCH COMPOSERS</h3> + +<p class="nind">I<small>T</small> may with truth be averred that France has never been so well provided +with composers of talent as she is at the present time. Every year the +far-famed Conservatoire turns out a number of young men whose musical +knowledge is undeniable, and who are all of them filled with buoyant +hopes of achieving distinction in the arena of fame. The musical +progress that has been effected in France during the last thirty years +is immense. This may be largely attributed to the initiative of +Pasdeloup<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> the organiser and conductor of the celebrated concerts +which were started at the Cirque d'Hiver in 1861, and to the zeal and +talent of<a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a> his successors Messrs. Lamoureux and Colonne. It is through +the efforts of the above indefatigable <i>chefs d'orchestre</i> that +instrumental music of a high class has come to be generally appreciated +in Paris. The famous Conservatoire concerts, it must be remembered, +were, and are, only accessible to a few privileged individuals.</p> + +<p>Pasdeloup began his work by familiarising the Parisians with the +symphonic works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Mendelssohn and Schumann +followed, and the valiant <i>chef d'orchestre</i> from time to time +introduced the names of Berlioz and Wagner. The appearance of the latter +on the programme generally foreshadowed a disturbance. Nowadays, when we +witness the spectacle of large crowds listening in wrapt attention to +some of the most complicated works of the great master at the concerts +of Messrs. Lamoureux and Colonne, it seems difficult to realise the +possibility of such turbulent scenes as I remember myself witnessing +only a few years since at the Pasdeloup concerts.<a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a> On one occasion a +performance of the Prelude to "Lohengrin" produced a veritable +disturbance, one section of the audience desiring to hear it over again +in spite of the manifest opposition displayed by the major portion of +the spectators. Pasdeloup adopted the sensible course of making an +impromptu speech, in which he said that as many people wished to hear +the Prelude once more he would repeat it at the end of the concert, when +those who objected to it would be at liberty to retire. By thus severing +the Gordian knot the clever <i>chef d'orchestre</i> effectually disposed of +the difficulty to the manifest disappointment of the anti-Wagnerites +present.</p> + +<p>The members of the younger generation of French composers have had no +cause to complain of any want of hospitality at the hands of either +Pasdeloup or Messrs. Lamoureux<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> and Colonne,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> and many a now +well-known musician has won his spurs through their help.</p> + +<p>It would almost appear as if a veil which for<a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a> a long period had +obscured the vision of the musical section of the public had at length +been removed. The genius of Berlioz and that of Wagner are now +uncontested, unless it be by a few retrograde individuals whose opinions +are not entitled to any weight, and the influence of these masters upon +the modern French school has been both great and far-reaching. It is +highly regrettable that the spirit of free trade is not acted upon to a +greater extent in the matter of musical affairs. If this were the case +we should be afforded more chances of becoming acquainted with the works +of those members of the young, and if I may so term it, militant French +school, which are not sufficiently known on this side of the channel.</p> + +<p>In like manner, our native composers might be given the opportunity of +proving to the Parisians the fallacy of the notion, seemingly +entertained abroad, that England is destitute of creative musical +talent. Art has not, or ought not to have, any boundaries. That which +is<a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a> good deserves to be known and to survive; as for the rest, it +matters not.</p> + +<p>In music, time seems to march with disconcerting rapidity. Composers who +but a few years since were considered as hopelessly advanced in their +ideas are now in danger of being left behind by their juniors.</p> + +<p>One of the most ardent champions of the new school of thought some years +ago was Victorin Joncières, who enjoys a well-established reputation in +Paris as composer and critic.</p> + +<p>Born in 1839, this artist is the author of several operas denoting +aptitudes of no mean order, although devoid of any distinctive +originality. Passing by such early works as "Sardanapale" (1867), and +"Le dernier jour de Pompei" (1869), we come to "Dimitri," which contains +several good numbers, "La Reine Berthe" (1878), and "Le Chevalier Jean" +(1885). This last work has been played in Germany with success under the +title of "Johann von Löthringen." "Dimitri" and "Le Chevalier Jean"<a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a> may +be looked upon as the composer's best operas.</p> + +<p>The influence of Wagner's earlier style is very apparent in these works. +Mons. Joncières is also the author of an interesting "Symphonie +Romantique." As a critic he has done much to aid the cause of Wagner in +France, although not going to the length of some of the master's thick +and thin admirers.</p> + +<p>A musician of a different type is Théodore Dubois, born in 1837. This +composer, like his friend Camille Saint-Saëns, whom he succeeded as +organist at the Madeleine, has written a great deal and attempted a +variety of <i>genres</i>. Amongst his works it will be sufficient to mention +the opera "Aben Hamet," the ballet "La Farandole," the concert overture +"Frithjoff," "Paradise Lost," an oratorio which gained the prize offered +by the city of Paris in 1878, and his setting of the "Seven Words of the +Cross" (1867).</p> + +<p>Besides these, Théodore Dubois, who won the "Prix de Rome" in 1861, is +the author of<a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a> a number of orchestral works, piano music, and religious +compositions which denote talent of an uncommon order and exhibit +qualities that entitle him to occupy an important place amongst +contemporary musicians.</p> + +<p>Another composer whose name is better known in England, and who has also +achieved distinction as an organist, is Charles Marie Widor, born in +1845, several of whose compositions have been heard at the Philharmonic +and Crystal Palace Concerts. This composer has given proof of a +considerable amount of versatility in his different contributions to +orchestral and chamber music, also in his charming ballet "La +Korrigane." His opera "Maître Ambros" did not meet with success. He has +also written a quantity of excellent piano music and many songs. There +is imagination and skill displayed in Widor's compositions, and much may +yet be expected from him.</p> + +<p>If the name of Widor is known in England, the same may be said of +Benjamin Godard, born in 1849, in whom we have one of<a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a> the most prolific +of the younger generation of French composers. Godard exhibits a decided +individuality of his own. He is endowed with an extraordinary facility +of production, and is, in fact, apt to err on the side of +over-productivity, and to spread his talents over too large an area. His +dramatic poem "Le Tasse," which won the prize offered by the city of +Paris in 1879, is a work of considerable importance, revealing an +undoubted personality.</p> + +<p>With his operas "Pedro de Zalamea," "Jocelyn," "Dante," Godard has been +less successful. It is in works such as the "Concerto Romantique" for +violin, the "Symphonie Légendaire," the piano trio, amongst others, that +his talent finds its true expression. The composer of these works is in +the full force of his powers, and it is not too much to state the belief +that he has yet much to say. Godard is perhaps greater in small things +than he is in large. There is an exquisite charm in some of his songs +such as "Ninon," and "Te souviens tu," whilst<a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a> many of his piano pieces +have a savour all their own.</p> + +<p>Emile Paladhile, born in 1844, is the composer of the famous +"Mandolinata," which has been warbled by every vocalist all the world +over. This single melody has probably done more to render his name +popular than all his other works put together. His opera "Patrie" has +met with success in Paris. Amongst his other dramatic works may be +mentioned "Le Passant," "L'Amour Africain," and "Suzanne."</p> + +<p>Some composers are doomed to wait a long while before an opportunity is +offered them of obtaining a hearing. Such has not been the case with +Gervais Bernard Salvayre, born in 1847, who has had several operas +performed, without, however, so far scoring any great success.</p> + +<p>His first opera, "Le Bravo" played in 1877, was favourably received, but +none of his later works, "Egmont," "Richard III.," or "La Dame de +Monsoreaux," have succeeded in<a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a> maintaining themselves in the +<i>répertoire</i>. The second of these, unless I am mistaken, was first +produced in St. Petersburg, and the last at the Paris Opéra, where it +was a complete <i>fiasco</i>. This composer is also the author of a ballet +entitled "La Fandango," a "Stabat Mater," and several other works, +including a graceful "Air varié" for stringed instruments.</p> + +<p>As the dimensions of this volume are restricted, I am unable to do more +than draw attention to some composers whose works would merit more than +a cursory mention. Amongst these I may name the erudite +Bourgault-Ducoudray, Lenepveu, whose opera "Velléda" was brought out in +London some years ago with Mme. Patti in the principal part, Henri +Maréchal, the brothers Hillemacher, joint composers of a remarkable +opera founded on Dumas' "Henri III.," Wormser, author of "L'Enfant +Prodigue," Diaz, Pierné, Pessard, Pfeiffer, Mdlle. Chaminade, Lefebvre, +Véronge de la Nux, Cahen, and Messager. This last composer's name is +well known in London, where his<a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a> delightful opera "La Basoche" was +successfully performed at the English Opera House, now given up to that +form of art, the variety entertainment, so dear to the British public.</p> + +<p>The music he has lately composed to Loti's "Madame Chrysanthème" will +surely add much to his reputation. It is full of refinement and charm.</p> + +<p>We now come to an interesting group of composers who are understood to +represent musical ideas of a more "advanced" kind. Some of these are +pupils of the late César Franck, and have been humorously designated as +forming part of "La République Franckaise."</p> + +<p>It may here be said that the almost absolute ignorance existing in +England as regards the compositions of so eminent a musician as César +Franck does not redound to our credit. Surely it would be worth the +while of our choral societies to produce a work so remarkable in every +way as "Les Béatitudes," and a place might occasionally be found in our +concert programmes for some example of his chamber<a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a> music. His fine +violin sonata was recently played at the St. James's Hall by Mme. +Frickenhaus and Mons. Ortmans, and great credit is thereby due to both +these artists, who have shown an example that might with advantage be +followed.</p> + +<p>There exists a certain "Prélude, Choral et Fugue," for the piano, +published by Messrs. Enoch, that I can confidently recommend to the +notice of musicians, who will find therein the expression of a strong, +deep, and noble talent.</p> + +<p>Vincent d'Indy, one of César Franck's best pupils, is equally little +known in England, except by name. Born in 1852, this composer has +produced a number of works, the value of which has caused him to be +regarded as one of the most earnest and promising amongst the younger +French musicians, as well as one of those who consider their art as +sacred, and do not seek the suffrages of the masses, but are content +with gaining the approval of a select few.<a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a></p> + +<p>The entire modern French school is strongly tinged with Wagnerism, but +the essentially Teutonic nature of Brahms would seem to render his style +absolutely uncongenial to a French mind. According to Mons. Hugues +Imbert, the impression caused upon Vincent d'Indy by the perusal of +Brahms' "Requiem," in 1873, was such that he forthwith started for +Germany in order to become acquainted with the master. He first sought +him in Vienna, then at Munich, and finally came across him at the +Starnberger See, in Bavaria. The result of the long-desired interview +does not seem to have been so satisfactory as it might have been, the +German composer receiving the young enthusiast with a certain amount of +reserve.</p> + +<p>The first work by Vincent d'Indy which was given in Paris was the +overture to the "Piccolomini," which forms the second part of Schiller's +trilogy of "Wallenstein." This took place in 1875. It was not until five +years later that he terminated his symphony bearing the title of +"Wallenstein," a composition<a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a> conceived upon a large scale, displaying a +marked capacity in the handling of the orchestra, and revealing +symphonic aptitudes of a high order.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most remarkable work that Vincent d'Indy has as yet produced +is his dramatic legend "Le Chant de la Cloche," op. 18, the words of +which are adapted from Schiller's well-known poem. This composition was +awarded the prize offered by the city of Paris in 1886. The +predominating influence in this work is that of Wagner. Perhaps somewhat +unduly complicated in the matter of detail, the score is remarkable as +an example of consummate workmanship and as an evidence of the lofty +aspirations and elevated ideas held by its author. I must not omit to +mention the Symphony in G for piano and orchestra, op. 25, which has the +merit of decided originality in the matter of structure. It is divided +into three parts, and is mainly constructed upon a French popular +melody, which is subjected to a variety of transformations. So far, his<a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a> +only contribution to the stage consists in a one-act opera, entitled +"Attendez moi sous l'Orme," played some ten or twelve years since at the +Opéra Comique.</p> + +<p>Vincent d'Indy is essentially a symphonist, and the same may be said of +Gabriel Fauré, whose talent and originality English audiences have +occasionally had an opportunity of appreciating. The <i>habitués</i> of the +Monday Popular Concerts will not have forgotten a certain quartet played +at these exclusive gatherings a year or two ago, and amateurs may +recollect the brilliant violin sonata which Saint-Saëns introduced on +the occasion of one of his last visits amongst us. Every violinist +plays, or ought to play, his delicious "Berceuse."</p> + +<p>Fauré, who was born in 1845, has written works of high musical value, +such as the quartet above mentioned, the violin concerto, op. 14, and +the symphony in D minor, op. 40. Many admirable songs and a large number +of pianoforte works are also due to his pen.<a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a></p> + +<p>Mons. Hugues Imbert commences his interesting notice of the composer, +included in his "Profils de Musiciens," with the following words: "If +there be a French musician who by temperament and taste has left the +French school in order to approach the German symphonic school; if there +be a composer who has the profoundest respect for his art, who loves it +with his whole soul; if there be a man who despises self-advertisement, +and is averse to all concessions in favour of the doubtful taste of the +public, it is Gabriel Fauré."</p> + +<p>Whilst agreeing with the measure of praise allotted to the composer in +the above lines, and recognising the influence of German music +discernible in his works, I am of opinion that his nationality is +perhaps more marked than his biographer would seem to imagine.</p> + +<p>The nature of Fauré's talent has been appreciated by Mons. Camille +Benoit in these terms: "Fauré's talent has especially manifested itself +in 'La Musique Intime,' that which one hears in an artist's salon or at +a concert of chamber<a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a> music, that which wants neither scenery nor +orchestra. From all points of view, if I had to liken him to a +contemporary foreign composer, it is to the Norwegian, Eduard Grieg, +that I should compare him. That is to say, that in France, G. Fauré is +the first in the special line he has chosen, and towards which his +nature has impelled him."</p> + +<p>I now come to a composer who has only comparatively recently made a +name. Emmanuel Chabrier was born in 1842, and commenced his musical +career somewhat late in life. Always a musical enthusiast, and having +found time to cultivate his favourite art as a pastime, he threw up an +administrative appointment in 1879, and resolved to devote himself +entirely to composition. Two years previously he had written an "opéra +bouffe," entitled "L'Etoile," which was played at the Bouffes Parisiens. +It was not, however, in this style that he was destined to shine. Very +different is "Gwendoline," an opera performed for the first time in 1886 +at Brussels with great success, and which<a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a> has since been given in +Germany, notably at Carlsruhe and Munich, and is, I believe, shortly to +be mounted in Paris. Highly imaginative and poetical, this work must +undoubtedly rank amongst the best operas that have emanated from the +brain of a French composer for many years. The intense admiration that +Chabrier entertains towards Wagner has not obscured the individuality of +his own musical ideas. Ernest Reyer wrote an extremely eulogistic +article on this work, from which I will cite an extract:—"Je me trouve +en présence d'une œuvre extrêmement intéressante, renfermant des +pages superbes et qui dans ses parties les moins saillantes, porte quand +même la griffe puissante d'un compositeur admirablement doué."</p> + +<p>For some reason, which I do not pretend to fathom, Chabrier has +introduced a popular Irish melody into his score!</p> + +<p>In "Le Roi Malgré Lui," played at the Opéra Comique in 1887, Chabrier +has attempted a different style. This pleasing work is especially<a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a> +striking through the ingenuity of the orchestral treatment, which often +redeems the occasional <i>banalité</i> of its themes. It is altogether a +delightful example of a modernised form of "opéra comique," and had +reached its third representation when the luckless "Opéra Comique" +Theatre was burnt to the ground. The orchestral rhapsody "España," +constructed upon Spanish melodies, brimful of <i>entrain</i> and scored with +a wonderful lightness of touch, has largely contributed to popularise +the name of Chabrier in the concert room. There is both fancy and +originality in the "Pièces Pittoresques" for piano, published by Messrs. +Enoch in the Litolff edition. Chabrier is said to be at work upon an +opera entitled "Briseis."</p> + +<p>I must not pass over in silence composers such as Arthur Coquard, Mdlle. +Augusta Holmès, a lady of extraordinary talent, some say genius, Vidal, +Chapuis, Hue, Camille Benoit, Marty, Henri Duparc, and Gustave +Charpentier, one of the youngest and not the least gifted.<a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a></p> + +<p>With these few lines concerning some of the most remarkable amongst +living French composers, I must take leave of my readers. That France +will yet produce works destined to keep up and further enhance her +prestige there can be no doubt. The essentially dramatic temperament of +her composers will continue to assert itself, and it is highly unlikely +that they will allow themselves to fall into the exaggerations of any +particular system.</p> + +<p>If during the first half of the century the influence of Rossini has +been predominant, that of Wagner has been at least equally so during the +latter portion. In either case, French composers have taken as much from +each master as would amalgamate with their individuality without +abrogating that national element which is so recognisable in their +productions.</p> + +<p>Truth of expression and dramatic characterisation are now universally +sought for by operatic composers. Whether these are attained through the +employment of one method or another<a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a> matters but little. A composer is +no more bound to construct an opera upon a number of representative +themes than he is to reject all set forms. If his inspiration prompts +him to compose in one particular style, by all means let him do so, +provided he be sincere, and that his music bears the stamp of +conviction. Musicians are apt to be too exclusive in their tastes. It +should be possible to entertain preferences without necessarily +condemning everything that does not come within the radius of one's +ideas. The French school has, during this century, left its mark in an +undeniable manner upon operatic history, and the versatility of its +composers has over and over again been proved.</p> + +<p>Casting a cursory glance backwards, do we not find, side by side with a +work of such severely classic proportions, noble aspirations, yet simple +construction as Méhul's "Joseph," bright specimens of the "opéra +comique," like Boïeldieu's "Dame Blanche," Hérold's "Pré aux Clercs," +Auber's "Fra Diavolo," and<a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a> "Domino Noir"? The Grand Opéra stage is +enriched by works so full of natural spontaneity as Auber's "Muette de +Portici," and of dramatic power as Halévy's "La Juive." Later on, +Berlioz revolutionises orchestral methods whilst raising the ideal +previously aimed at, Gounod adds an elegiac note and an intensity of +poetical feeling to the characteristics of his nation, and Bizet gives +evidence of a genius unhappily too soon cut short, and prepares the way +for the realistic operatic style now so much in vogue. "Faust," +"Mignon," "Carmen," "Manon," "Samson et Dalila," and other operas +acquire a European fame, whilst the younger French composers are +impatiently waiting for the opportunity to vie with their elders.</p> + +<p>In closing this little volume I must again express the consciousness I +entertain of the inadequacy of my efforts to deal with a subject that +would require several volumes to do it justice.</p> + +<p>If, however, I have succeeded, in addition to<a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a> furnishing particulars of +the lives of the most popular French composers, in drawing attention to +the works of some who are less well-known than they deserve to be, my +object will have been attained, and this little book will not have been +written in vain.</p> + +<p><a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a></p> + +<h3><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX</h3> + +<p><a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS COMPOSED BY AMBROISE THOMAS, GOUNOD, +SAINT-SAËNS, MASSENET, REYER, AND BRUNEAU</p></div> + +<p class="ch2">AMBROISE THOMAS</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>DRAMATIC WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="right">1.</td><td align="left">"Le Double Échelle," opéra comique, 1 act. 1837.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">2.</td><td align="left">"Le Perruquier de la Régence," op. com., 3 acts. 1838.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">3.</td><td align="left">"La Gipsy," ballet, 2 acts. 1839.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="center">(In collaboration with Benoist.)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">4.</td><td align="left">"Le Panier fleuri," op. com., 1 act. 1839.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">5.</td><td align="left">"Carline," op., 3 acts. 1840.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">6.</td><td align="left">"Le Comte de Carmagnole," op., 2 acts. 1841.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">7.</td><td align="left">"Le Guerillero," op., 2 acts. 1842.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">8.</td><td align="left">"Angélique et Médor," op. com., 1 act. 1843.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">9.</td><td align="left">"Mina," op. com., 3 acts. 1843.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">10.</td><td align="left">"Betty," ballet, 2 acts. 1846.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">11.</td><td align="left">"Le Caïd," op. com., 3 acts. 1849.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">12.</td><td align="left">"Le Songe d'une Nuit d'Été," op. com., 3 acts. 1850.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">13.</td><td align="left">"Raymond," op., 3 acts. 1851.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">14.</td><td align="left">"La Tonelli," op., 2 acts. 1853.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">15.</td><td align="left">"La Cour de Célimène," op. com., 2 acts. 1855.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">16.</td><td align="left">"Psyché," op., 3 acts. 1857.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">17.</td><td align="left">"Le Carnaval de Venise," op. com., 3 acts. 1857.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">18.</td><td align="left">"Le Roman d'Elvire," op. com., 3 acts. 1860.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">19.</td><td align="left">"Mignon," op., 3 acts. 1866.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">20.</td><td align="left">"Hamlet," op., 5 acts. 1868.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">21.</td><td align="left">"Gille et Gillotin," op. com., 1 act. 1874.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">22.</td><td align="left">"Françoise de Rimini," op., 5 acts. 1882.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">23.</td><td align="left">"La Tempête," ballet. 1889.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>SACRED WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Requiem.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Messe Solennelle.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Marche Religieuse.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">3 Motets.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>MISCELLANEOUS WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Hommage a Boïeldieu," cantata.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Souvenirs d'Italie," 6 romances, pour chant et piano.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quintet for strings.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quartet for strings, op. 1.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Trio for piano, violin, or violoncello.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Fantaisie," for piano or orchestra.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Fantaisie sur un air écossais," for piano.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Six caprices pour piano."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Deux nocturnes."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Rondeaux pour piano à quatre mains."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Choruses for male voices.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">&c. &c.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch2">CHARLES GOUNOD</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>DRAMATIC WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">1.</td><td align="left">"Sapho," op., 3 acts. 1851.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2.</td><td align="left">"La Nonne sanglante," op., 5 acts. 1854.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">3.</td><td align="left">"Le Médecin Malgré Lui," op. com., 3 acts. 1858.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">4.</td><td align="left">"Faust," op., 5 acts. 1859.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">5.</td><td align="left">"Philémon et Baucis," op. com., 2 acts. 1860.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="center">(Later enlarged to 3 acts.)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">6.</td><td align="left">"La Colombe," op. com., 2 acts. 1860.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">7.</td><td align="left">"La Reine de Saba," op., 5 acts. 1862.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">8.</td><td align="left">"Mireille," op., 5 acts. 1864.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">9.</td><td align="left">"Roméo et Juliette," op., 5 acts. 1867.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">10.</td><td align="left">"Cinq Mars," op., 4 acts. 1877.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">11.</td><td align="left">"Polyeucte," op., 5 acts. 1878.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">12.</td><td align="left">"Le Tribut de Zamora," op., 4 acts. 1881.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">"Georges Dandin," op. com. (unperformed).</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>SACRED WORKS</i></p> + +<p class="hang">Several Masses, of which the best known is the "Messe de Ste. +Cécile," 1855. Amongst the others may be mentioned the "Messe aux +Orphéonistes," 1852; "Messe du Sacré Cœur," 1876; "Messe de<a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a> +"Pâques,"1885, and "Messe à la Mémoire de Jeanne d'Arc," 1887.</p> + +<p>"Tobie," oratorio. 1854.</p> + +<p>"The Redemption." 1882.</p> + +<p>"Mors et vita." 1885.</p> + +<p>"Hymne à St. Augustin." 1885.</p> + +<p>"De Profundis."</p> + +<p>"Te Deum."</p> + +<p>Also a quantity of motets, choruses, and other religious compositions.</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>VOCAL WORKS</i></p> + +<p class="hang">"1<sup>er</sup>. Recueil de 20 Mélodies." (Includes the "Ave Maria" on the +first prelude of Bach; "Venise," "Sérénade," "Le Vallon," "Chanson +du Printemps," "Jésus de Nazareth," "Le Soir," etc.).</p> + +<p class="hang">"2<sup>ème.</sup> Recueil de 20 Mélodies." (Includes "Marguerite," "Medjé," +"Envoi de Fleurs," "Au Printemps," "Ce que je suis sans toi," +etc.).</p> + +<p class="hang">"3<sup>ème.</sup> Recueil de 20 Mélodies." (Includes "La Pâquerette," "Où +voulez-vous aller?" "Le Ciel a visité la Terre," several extracts +from operas, etc.).</p> + +<p class="hang">"4<sup>ème.</sup> Recueil de 20 Mélodies." (Includes "Le Banc de Pierre," +"Le Nom de Marie," several extracts from operas, etc.).</p> + +<p class="hang">A volume of 15 duets.</p> + +<p class="hang">The above are published by Messrs. Choudens.</p> + +<p class="hang">During his sojourn in England Gounod composed a large number of +songs, the best known of which are: "Maid of Athens," "The Fountain +mingles<a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a> with the River," "Oh, that we two were Maying!" "The +Worker," "There is a green Hill far away," and "Biondina," a +collection of 20 songs to Italian words.</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>MISCELLANEOUS WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Music to the tragedy "Ulysse." 1852.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Music to "Les deux Reines." 1872.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Music to "Jeanne d'Arc." 1873.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Symphony No. 1, in D. 1854.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Symphony No. 2, in E flat. 1855.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Funeral March of a Marionette.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Saltarello.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pianoforte music, Marches, etc.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch2">CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>DRAMATIC WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="right">1.</td><td align="left">"La Princesse Jaune," op. com., 1 act. 1872.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">2.</td><td align="left">"Le Timbre d'Argent," op., 3 acts. 1877.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">3.</td><td align="left">"Samson et Dalila," Biblical op., 3 acts. 1877.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">4.</td><td align="left">"Etienne Marcel," op., 4 acts. 1879.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">5.</td><td align="left">"Henri VIII," op., 4 acts. 1881.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">6.</td><td align="left">"Proserpine," op., 3 acts. 1887.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">7.</td><td align="left">"Ascanio," op., 5 acts. 1890.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">10.</td><td align="left">"Phryné," op. com., 2 acts. 1893.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a></p> + +<p class="ch"><i>SACRED WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Messe Solennelle, op. 4.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Tantum ergo," chorus, op. 5.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Oratorio de Noël," op. 12.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Psalm xviii., "Cœli enarrant," op. 42.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Le Déluge," poème biblique, op. 45.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Les Soldats de Gédéon," double chorus, op. 46.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Messe de Requiem, op. 54.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>ORCHESTRAL WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Symphony in E flat, No. 1, op. 2.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Symphony in A minor, No. 2, op. 55.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Symphony in C minor, No. 3, op. 78.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Overture, "Spartacus."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Le Rouet d'Omphale," symphonic poem, op. 31,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Phaëton," symphonic poem, op. 39.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Danse Macabre," symphonic poem, op. 40.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"La jeunesse d'Hercule," symphonic poem, op. 50.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Orient et Occident," march for military band, op. 25.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Marche héroïque," op. 34.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Suite (Prelude, Sarabande, Gavotte, Romance, Final), op. 49.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Suite Algérienne," op. 60.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Une Nuit à Lisbonne," barcarolle, op. 63.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"La Jota Aragonese," op. 64.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Sarabande et Rigaudon," op. 93.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a></p> + +<p class="ch"><i>CONCERTOS AND WORKS FOR A SOLO INSTRUMENT WITH ORCHESTRA.</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for the piano in D, No. 1, op. 17.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for the piano in G minor, No. 2, op. 22.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for the piano in E flat, No. 3, op. 29.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for the piano in C minor, No. 4, op. 44.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rhapsodie d'Auvergne, piano & orchestra, op. 73.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Africa," fantasia, piano & orchestra, op. 89.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, violin & orchestra, op. 28.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for violin, No. 1.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for violin in C, No. 2, op. 58.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for violin in B minor, No. 3, op. 61.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Romance in D flat for violin or flute, op. 37.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Romance in C for violin, op. 48.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Morceau de Concert," for violin, op. 62.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Havanaise," for violin, op. 83.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Tarantelle," for flute & clarionet, op. 6.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concerto for violoncello, op. 33.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Allegro appassionato," for violoncello, op. 43.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>CHAMBER MUSIC</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Trio in F, piano, violin & violoncello, No. 1, op. 18.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Trio in E minor, piano, violin & violoncello, No. 2, op. 92.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quartet in B flat, piano, violin, viola & violoncello, op. 41.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Septet for trumpet, two violins, viola, basso & piano, op. 65.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Suite for violoncello & piano, op. 16.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sonata for violoncello & piano, op. 32.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sonata in D minor, for violin & piano, op. 75.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>PIANO MUSIC</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Six Bagatelles, op. 3.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">1ère Mazourka, G minor, op. 21.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gavotte, C minor, op. 23.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2ème Mazourka, G minor, op. 24.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Six Études, op. 52.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Menuet et valse, op. 56.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">3ème Mazourka, B minor, op. 66.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Album of six pieces, op. 72.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Souvenir d'Italie," op. 80.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Les Cloches du Soir," op. 85.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Valse Canariote, op. 88.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Suite, op. 90.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Variations on a theme of Beethoven, for two pianos, op. 35.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Wedding-cake," "caprice-valse" for piano and strings, op. 76.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Polonaise for two pianos, op. 77.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Feuillet d'Album," for piano duet, op. 81.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Pas redoublé," piano duet, op. 86.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Scherzo for two pianos, op. 87.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>MISCELLANEOUS WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"La Lyre et la Harpe," ode, op. 57.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Hymne à Victor Hugo," op. 69.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"La Fiancée du Timbalier," ballade, op. 82.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Scène d'Horace," op. 10.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"3 Rhapsodies sur des Cantiques Bretons," for organ, op. 7.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Bénédiction nuptiale," for organ, op. 9.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Elévation ou Communion," for organ, op. 13.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Romance," for horn & piano, op. 36.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Berceuse," for piano & violin, op. 38.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Romance for violoncello & piano, op. 51.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2 Choruses, words by Victor Hugo, op. 53.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2 Choruses, op. 68.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">2 Choruses for men's voices, op. 71.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Saltarelle, chorus, op. 74.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Caprice" on Danish melodies, for flute.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oboe, clarionet, and piano, op. 79.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Les Guerriers," chorus for men's voices, op. 84.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Chant Saphique," for violoncello & piano, op. 91.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Music to "Antigone."</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"> Also a number of piano transcriptions of Bach, Beethoven, &c. &c.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"> The large majority of the compositions of Saint-Saëns are published by +Messrs A. Durand & Fils.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch2">JULES MASSENET</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>DRAMATIC WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="right">1.</td><td align="left">"La Grand'tante," op. com., 1 act. 1867.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">2.</td><td align="left">"Don César de Bazan," op. com., 3 acts. 1872.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">3.</td><td align="left">"Le Roi de Lahore," op., 5 acts. 1877.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">4.</td><td align="left">"Hérodiade," op. 1881.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">5.</td><td align="left">"Manon," op., 4 acts. 1884.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">6.</td><td align="left">"Le Cid," op., 4 acts. 1885.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">7.</td><td align="left">"Esclarmonde," op. 1889.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">8.</td><td align="left">"Le Mage," op., 5 acts. 1891.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">9.</td><td align="left">"Werther," op. 1892.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">10.</td><td align="left">"Le Carillon," ballet. 1892.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">11.</td><td align="left">"Thaïs," op. (as yet unperformed).</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>SACRED WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Requiem.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Marie Magdeleine," drame sacré.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Eve," mystère.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"La Vierge."</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>VOCAL WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Poème d'Avril."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Poème d'Octobre."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Poème pastoral."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Poème du Souvenir."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Poème d'Hiver."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Chants intimes."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Vingt Mélodies."</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"> (These include "Elégie," "A Colombine," "Nuit d'Espagne," "Sérénade du +Passant," &c.) &c. &c.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>MISCELLANEOUS WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Mlle. de Montpensier," cantata</td><td rowspan="2" valign="middle"> +<span style="font-size:200%;">}</span> early works.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"David Rizzio," cantata</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Paix et Liberté," cantate officielle. 1867.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Narcisse," idylle antique.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Music to Leconte de Lisle's tragedy, "Les Erinnyes."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Music to Victorien Sardou's piece, "Le Crocodile."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Pompeia," four symphonic pieces for orchestra.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Concert Overture.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Overture to Racine's "Phèdre."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">First Orchestral Suite.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Second Orchestral Suite. "Scènes Hongroises."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Third Orchestral Suite.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fourth Orchestral Suite. "Scènes Pittoresques."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fifth Orchestral Suite. "Scènes Dramatiques"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">(after Shakespeare).</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sixth Orchestral Suite. "Scènes Alsaciennes."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sarabande Espagnole, for small orchestra.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Lamento" to the memory of Georges Bizet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Introduction and variations for strings, flute, oboe,<br /> + clarionet, horn and bassoon.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Scenes de Bal," for piano.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Improvisations, for piano.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Le Roman d'Arlequin," pantomime enfantine.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> &c. &c. &c.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch2">ERNEST REYER</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>PRINCIPAL WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Le Sélam," ode symphonique. 1850.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Maître Wolfram," op., 1 act. 1854.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Sacountala," ballet. 1858.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"La Statue," op. com., 3 acts. 1861.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Erostrate," op., 2 acts. 1862.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Sigurd," op., 4 acts. 1884</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Salammbô," op., 5 acts. 1890.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a></p> + +<p class="ch2">ALFRED BRUNEAU</p> + +<p class="ch"><i>DRAMATIC WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Kérim," opera, 3 acts. 1887.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Le Rêve," lyrical drama, 4 acts. 1891.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"L'Attaque du Moulin," lyrical drama, 4 acts. 1893.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="ch"><i>MISCELLANEOUS WORKS</i></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Ouverture héroïque.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Léda," poème antique.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Penthésilée," poème symphonique.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"La Belle au Bois dormant," poème symphonique.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Lieds de France," album of songs.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="c"> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<i>Printed by</i> B<small>ALLANTYNE</small>, H<small>ANSON</small> & C<small>O</small>. <i>London & Edinburgh.</i><a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb"><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Published by Messrs. Augener.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Berlioz was born in 1803, Liszt in 1811, and Wagner in +1813.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Lesueur, born 1763, died 1837; composer of "Les Bardes," +and other operas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Kalkbrenner, born 1788, died 1849; celebrated pianist.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Barbereau, born 1799, died 1879.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> "Gesammelte Schriften."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> This admirable artist was later on destined to create +Bizet's "Carmen."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The original of Meyerbeer's "Dinorah."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Hanslick, Edward. Born 1825. The well-known critic and +writer on music. Strongly antagonistic to Wagner and his school. Author +of "Das Musikalische Schöne," etc.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> "Histoire de l'Instrumentation."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Preface to the "Choix de Chorals de Bach, annotés par Ch. +Gounod." Published by Messrs. Choudens.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Augier, Emile. Celebrated dramatist. Author of +"L'Aventurière," "Le Manage d'Olympe," "Lions et Renards," etc.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Zimmermann, born 1775, died 1853.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Scudo, P. Born 1806. Died 1864.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The above details are taken from "The Lyrical Drama," by +H. Sutherland Edwards. (W. H. Allen & Co.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Lickl; b. 1769, d. 1843. Spohr; b. 1784, d. 1859. +Seyfried; b. 1776, d. 1841. Bishop, Sir H.; b. 1786, d. 1855. +Lindpaintner; b. 1791, d. 1856. Mdlle. Bertin; b. 1805, d. 1877. Rietz, +J.; b. 1812, d. 1877. Gordigiani; b. 1806, d. 1860.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Radziwill; b. 1775, d. 1833. Litolff, Henry; b. 1819, d. +1891. Pierson, H.; b. 1815, d. 1873. Lassen, E.; b. 1830.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Dalayrac; b. 1753, d. 1809. Steibelt; b. 1764, d. 1823. +Zingarelli; b. 1752, d. 1837. Vaccai; b. 1791, d. 1849. Bellini; b. +1802, d. 1835. Marchetti; b. 1831. Marquis d'Ivry; b. 1829.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> B. 1811; d. 1870.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Victor Sieg, b. 1837.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "Lettres Intimes."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Lefébure Wély, b. 1817; d. 1870.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> See last chapter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Since these lines were written, a solitary performance of +"Samson et Dalila," in concert form, has taken place at Covent Garden +Theatre during Mr. Farley Sinkins's season of Promenade Concerts, under +somewhat untoward circumstances.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Massenet has introduced some of the music of this work +into "Le Roi de Lahore."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Diaz; b. 1837.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Published by Messrs. Augener.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> A special word of praise must here be accorded to Mons. +Louis Gallet, the author of the book, whose version of Zola's romance is +eminently poetical.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Jules Pasdeloup, born 1819, died 1887.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Lamoureux, b. 1834.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Colonne, b. 1838.</p></div> + +</div> +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Masters of French Music, by Arthur Hervey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTERS OF FRENCH MUSIC *** + +***** This file should be named 37410-h.htm or 37410-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/4/1/37410/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Internet Archive.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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