WHOLE No. 914.

bers.

Inaudible Sympathy.
[From the Concordia, March 11.]

BOSTON, SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1876.

VOL. XXXVI. No. 2.

turns round and bows himself. Surely absurdity can no further go. Solo vocalists, from experience, know perfectly well how to draw forth a solid round of applause; and, even at the sacrifice of the intention of the composer, they make the best use of this knowledge. The encore, although of course not so absolutely ridiculous as when occurring in an Opera, is almost always opposed to the wishes of a minority of the auditors; but, as any expression artist as a slur upon the mannner in which a of dissatisfaction might be interpreted by the composition has been rendered, it is seldom that many voices are raised in dissent; sometimes, indeed, an unseemly battle rages between the opposing factions, yet few can doubt on which side the victory will invariably lie.

ment to his acting, and would probably have died once more, in obedience to the request, had he not brought down the laughter of the It was said, I think, of Macaulay that, al- house by innocently saying to the actor who though he was an excellent talker, those who bent over him, "Do you think they mean it?" were much in his company could not but be It is scarcely in accordance with the prevailstruck with his "extraordinary flashes of si- ing notion that the taste for the greatest musilence." Here, indeed, there is proof that it is cal works is very rapidly spreading, to assert sometimes wise to hold one's tongue, and that that the audible sympathy which in a theatre the profoundest sympathy with what is passing is under somewhat reasonable control, should, at the moment is not always audibly expressed, recklessly shown as utterly to ruin the poetry in the opera-house and concert-room, be so I have now in my recollection an instance of a man, highly cultivated both in literature and of the art. Yet that such is the case can be the arts, who prided himself upon the belief proved by the experience of all in the habit of that he had educated his daughters to become attending musical performances. At the Op"good listeners;" and, in truth, I have never era it is thoroughly understood that the drammet more intelligent guests in an assemblage atic action is to be suspended whenever a where anything was said worth hearing. "Sir, show-piece has been sung, the vocalist being But it may be said that vocalists and instruif you do not mean anything, do not say any- overwhelmed with applause whilst the rest of mentalists who come before the public require thing," was Dr. Johnson's rebuke to a mere the company either look on or help the favor- constant applause as a stimulus to their exertalker; but I might go further, and advise such ite of the evening to gather up the floral offer- tions, and that they have no other method of persons not to say anything unless what they ings which are showered upon the stage. If ascertaining what impression they have made mean" will compensate us for the valuable an encore should be insisted upon, the absurd-upon their audience. To this I would reply time they would occupy. When we are in the ity of repeating the expression of feeling I have that nowhere is one of the grandest forms of presence of men endowed with a special gift, pointed out as impossible to occur in a play is musical art-the Oratorio-so thoroughly apit is good to train ourselves to a mute admira- here enacted without a show of protest, the preciated as in a Cathedral, where even the tion of this gift. It must be remembered that few intelligent dissenters from such an anomaly faintest murmur of applause is strictly prohibit is a great power to compel an audience to being compelled to silence by the majority. ited. Here the eloquence of the music is in no listen, and all who possess this power, as a Certainly a very decided stand was made degree deprived of its mighty power by the rule, rank higher than those who are con- against this system by a portion of the audi- clapping of hands or the inexorable demands stantly drawing forth expressions of approval: ence during the late representation of Wagner's for certain portions of a work to be repeated. for where the personal obtrudes, the atten- Lohengrin at the Royal Italian Opera: but, cu- The feeling of devotion called forth at the tion is so distracted that the judgment slum-riously enough, in spite of such manifestation, commencement by the sacred character of the in this very Opera occurred one of the most composition is never for a moment disturbed; To apply this fact to the drama, it is necesglaring instances of thoughtless encores I have one unbroken sequence of ideas is presented to sary only to recall to mind those actors who, ever witnessed the assembled warriors in the the audience in a manner so perfect that the holding their auditors breathless throughout first act, who express in a highly dramatic cho- execution seems a component portion of the entire scenes, tacitly forbid applause, and to rus their wonder at the distant appearance of work; and although there is a consciousness contrast them with those who, seeking for au- Lohengrin, in a skiff, drawn by a swan, being with the listeners that every department, both dible marks of approbation, are perpetually compelled to be astonished over again at his in the orchestra and choir, is thoroughly effi"making points." As there is a grief that lies approach, although Lohengrin had in the mean- cient, the audible expression of this conscioustoo deep for tears, there must be an apprecia- while arrived in front of the audience, and ness, even if it were permitted, would seem a tion of sublimity in art too profound to be exwas waiting to sing the farewell to his trusty sacrilege to all whose thoughts are centred upon pressed by noisy demonstrations of gratifica guide. the sublimity of the music itself. Will it be tion; and this feeling it should be the actor's These interruptions to the continuity of dram asserted, then, by any executant that this "inart to reach, if he would win rather an endur-atic action by the clamorous demands of the audible sympathy" is not fully apparent to all ing fame than a temporary notoriety. The de- many are of course so obviously absurd as to concerned in the performance of the Oratorio? cline of the stage as a vehicle for the represen- strike every thoughtful listener in an Opera- nay, more-that the deep and earnest attention tation of human feelings and actions may be house; but we have equal violence offered to of the audience during a solo, and a half-supdated from the time when the actor obtruded art in our concert-rooms. Applause constant-pressed emotion at the close, do not convey a himself beyond the author, and sought his own ly breaks in where an effective passage has been higher tribute of admiration to a sensitive voglorification at the expense of the drama. An well played or sung; and it appears a recog- calist than the ringing plaudits which can only effective speech, a good exit, an exciting situ- nized fashion to drown the purely orchestral be replied to by bows and curtseys, even if it ation, became positively necessary when the portion of a Concerto by a tumultuous burst of do not lead to that still more absurd acknowlworship of the executant was the one thing for delight at the solo performer, which he or she, edgment of public favor, the repetition of the the management to foster; and "sensation despite the enormity of such a proceeding, is entire piece? Surely at the Three Choir Festipieces" arose on the ruins of the plays which expected to acknowledge. It might be imag-vals, where perfect silence reigns, the effect depended for their success upon carefully-ined that the concertos of Beethoven, Mendels- produced by a solo singer is as obvious as at written dialogue, variety of character, and a sohn and many others are constructed so as to the Opera-indeed, even more so, for vehement well-constructed plot. But, although the render such a desecration of a composition im- applause at our lyrical establishments has now Drama has thus degenerated, we do not find possible; but the glorification of the executant so little to do with real success, that the more that when anything good is placed before them, has so far superseded the "inaudible sympa. impassive listener has been taught to regard it, our audiences, as a rule, destroy the effect by thy" which the creation of a great master should like the cheers of a mob in the streets during undue and indiscriminate applause. Portia, inspire, that even those whose better judgment the progress of a noted personage, as a necessafor instance, in the trial-scene of The Merchant might recoil from such an action in a more arry noise, but little indicative of the true feeling of Venice, at the conclusion of her speech upon tistic atmosphere are often led by custom to of the people. Mercy, is not called forward to the footlights join in the applause. During the performance to make a curtsey and pick up bouquets. Ham- of a Symphony it is certainly not unusual to let is not made to take up Yorick's skull, after interrupt the work by marks of satisfaction he has thrown it down, and deliver his oration whenever a particular passage is effectively upon life and death to Horatio over again. given, and plaudits are therefore reserved for True it is that, within the recollection of many, the conclusion of each movement. Here, howan encore was attempted in a tragedy; but this ever, occurs a dilemma which it is difficult to good-humored joke only proved how utterly meet; for it is impossible to say whether the absurd such a proceeding would be were it in-applause is bestowed upon the music or its extended in earnest. An amateur-known as Ro- ecution. Somebody, nevertheless, must recogmeo Coates, from his always acting this part-nize it, and as the work is often by a deceased finding the applause continue, and a demand raised for a repetition of his dying scene, actually believed that this ovation was a compli

composer, and each instrumentalist cannot con-
veniently make his obeisance to the audience
in front of his desk, the conductor usually

All who have faith in the effect of musical education must feel that the remedy for this evil will grow out of the advanced intelligence of our audiences. The only reason why the most interesting points of a drama are not constantly interrupted by violent applause and demonstrations of delight is that the listeners understand what they are hearing, and will not, in consequence, allow the interest to be broken. When, therefore, they are equally capable of comprehending the meaning and construction of a musical composition, they will repress all attempt to lavish marks of reward upon executants during its progress.

"Inau

dible spmpathy" is not only the truest homage to the work, but to the worker; and any audible recognition of an artist's powers should be limited to appropriate times and places. That this desirable reform will gradually be effected there can be no doubt; and we must learn, therefore, patiently to wait. Meantime, how ever, it is good that these truths should be occasionally spoken, for they may not only assist in helping forward a more healthful appreciation of art in this country, but in proving to the composer that his real duty lies rather in endeavoring to strengthen the judgment of his hearers than in courting their favor by writing down to their weak points.

"Tristan and Isolde in Berlin. [Correspondence of the London Musical World.] The long-expected event, the event looked forward to with such extraordinary curiosity, has at length come off. Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde has been performed at the Royal Opera house before an audience such as is seldom found within the walls of that edifice. Not a seat was empty, though the ordinary "high" prices of admission were doubled by order of the Intendant-General, Herr von Hülsen, while the outside ticket-sellers charged twenty thalers for a place in the pit. So much the better for Wagner and his Grand-NationalFestival - Stage-Play - Tetralogical - Trilogy at Bayreuth, to which the Emperor, who was present on the first night, as he had been present at the grand rehearsal, ordered the receipts to be given. The Wagnerites were naturally wild with delight, and picture Wagner giving up the triumphal car which he now uses. After what has happened, they regard it as a one horse affair, and think their master ought to exchange it for a more brilliant vehicle drawn by two crowned heads, an Imperial and a Royal one, instead of by a king only, as hitherto.

|

To prove that I am not alone in my opinion, I subjoin an article from the Berlin Echo of the 23rd March:

Sublime

drama of Tristan und Isolde was performed for the
"On the 20th March, Richard Wagner's musical
first time on the royal stage! This significant event
compels us, at the last moment before going to
press. to take up our pen-the pen which we would
so willingly allow to remain quiet on the subject of
a work which-nay, really and truly, dear reader,
it is a difficult thing to guide the pen against the
production of a man from whose head and heart
there have sprung genial works, but whom we now
behold, in a path far removed from that of human
morality, and of Nature, employing the magic tones
of music in the service of grossness!
Music, canst thou suffer that the emotions of love
and affection, even of the most passionate kind, of a
man for a woman, and of a woman for a man, of
that affection which sinks deep into the purest
depths of the human breast, and to cherish and de
velop which in all its purity are the tasks of all hu-
manity-canst thou suffer love to be degraded by
furiously bellowing the tones created for thy mod-
est service, and that a degenerate screaming of hu
man voices should convey to us the movements of
the human heart? Canst thou suffer that, sprung
from a fancy run wild, brainless words should be
coupled with disorderly caricatures of thy other-
wise so lovely strains? And when thy most fa-
Webers, and their splendid creations, their Iphige
vored servants, thy Glucks, Mozarts, Beethovens,
nias, Paminas, Leonoras, Agathas, and Euryanthes,
are all incapable of resisting the tendency to what
is common, that stream which is overwhelming thy
kingdom, as well as other things, why dost thou not
send us thy Messiah, that, with the vigorous words
of truth he may purify the temple, and strew about
more healthy seed! If, in the second act of this
drama, Tristan and Isolde, during an entire hour,
writhe here and there about the stage in the wild
intoxication of love; if, like lunatics, they shriek
forth the most meaningless and stupid verses, per-
fectly incomprehensible for a healthy brain, and
amount of strength and effort; if, in the third act,
gradually excite each other with an exaggerated
the hero, Tristan, wounded to the death, flings him-
self here and there incessantly before our eyes upon
a bear-skin; if, in addition to all this, an orchestra
is let loose, which, beginning with low tone-distor-
tions, keeps continually pulling itself together to
indulge in the wildest tumult, that brays down
Future, then, dear reader-then rejoice with us, for
ont of the dark night there will arise the bright
light of day! One more victory like the present,
and Wagner's belauded works of the Future will be
inevitably swallowed up in the abyss of oblivion.
tion is already approaching; that a slight twilight
It strikes us that the ruddy dawn of due apprecia-
is making itself perceptible on the horizon of public
opinion. Though the noise-seeking enthusiasts of
the Wagnerian Muse took care there should be no
want of the usual uproar, though many less inter-
ested persons, stunned by the surging waves of the
orchestra, were carried away to applause, the calm
observer could easily perceive that the largest and
best portion of the public were undeceived, as they
rose from their seats, and, with sobered feelings,
turned their backs on the work they had just heard.
There is not the slightest doubt that, after some few
representations, Tristan und Isolde will undergo the
the only question remaining is to what end so much
well-merited doom of never again awakening. So
useless labor has been expended, and such an
amount of artistic efforts sacrificed. This is a ques-
tion which we shall endeavor to answer in a more
comprehensive notice in our next number."
Referring to the production of Tristan und Isolde,
a correspondent of the Daily News says:—

It would be presumptuous in me to dilate at length upon the beauties of the piece. I will confine myself to stating that the first act went off satisfactorily. How could it be otherwise with people who had paid heavily for the priv-everything else; if this heralds in the Drama of the ilege of witnessing the performance, and who wanted, by "making-believe" very hard, like Dicken's Marchioness with the orange peel, to persuade themselves they had a fair return for their money. It had been rumored about, moreover, that the Emperor was a convert to Wagnerisin; and the game of follow-my-leader is played elsewhere than at school. Justice requires me to state, however, that Mdlle. Brandt was a most effective Brangäne, while Mdme. von Voggenhuber as Isolde, and Herr Niemann as Tristan, made love as warmly as the most uncompromising partisan of the ArtFuture could possibly desire. But such erotic manifestations tax the artists' resources inconveniently. Though there was a wait of at least half-an-hour between the first and the second act, neither Isolde nor Tristan had sufficiently recovered from their previous amorous efforts to do as much as they might have done for the interminable love duet in the latter act. The public gave unmistakable signs of being bored. and well they might. The third act went off with somewhat more spirit; but, if you ask me whether I regard the performance as a thorough and genuine success, I answer unhesitatingly: I do not. It strikes me that very few, not Wagnerites, do so regard it.

Besides the artists already named, the cast included Herr Betz as König Marke, and Herr Schmitt as Kurvenal; but neither gentleman especially distinguished himself. The chorus was exceedingly shaky from time to time, though it has not very much to do. The orchestra, on the contrary, performed its arduous task with wonderful dash and correctness. At the fall of the curtain, we had applause, recalls, and "ovations" to all concerned. But, this notwithstanding, Tristan und Isolde is not a genuine triumph.

"The dramatic effect of the work is exceedingly powerful; the music is Wagnerian. That is to say, the plot is skilful, and skilfully worked out, and the music is well adapted to illustrate, and even interpret the plot. No mistake is more commonly made than to speak of Wagner's music in an absolute sense. There is no such thing as Wagner's music, which is sometimes called the music of the future, but only Wagner's opera, which may or may not become the opera of the future. Wagner's theo

ries'

opera. Hence it is impossible to give a correct i lea
are not theories of music, but theories of the
either of the text or of the music separately. The
two are inter-dependent; they are so fused to-
gether in obedience to a philosophical principle,

that they must be studied, not simply together, but
simultaneously. Every artist has a right to de-
mand that bis work be judged in relation to his ob
ject and principles, and no one has suffered more
than Richard Wagner from violation of this right.
Let me illustrate by this very opera. In the clan-
destine meeting in the garden between Tristan and
Isolde there is a prolonged duet. To many it
doubtless seemed an interminable duet. It was a
development of Schopenhauer's theory of love, which
seems to be some mysterious reconciliation of eter-
nal separation with eternal union. It took the two
nearly three-quarters of an hour of hard singing to
work out the problem. Now, if any portions of
this music were rendered alone instrumentally, they
would perhaps seem to be an unmelodious jargon.
But music, and text, and subject, and surroundings
are all harmonious in the opera, and bound together
by a philosophical principle of unity. Unless a man
can think himself into this principle, or realize it to
bis mind as applied on the stage, he has no right to
criticize Wagner.
It would be as absurd for a
Frenchman to pronounce Hegel's philosophy false,
because to him it was unintelligible. There are
men who do understand Hegel, and to them his
philosophy is the spring of all intellectual prog

ress.

A CORRESPONDENT of the Daily Telegraph gives a very amusing, though occasionally flippant description of Tristan and Isolde as performed in Berlin. The following are some of his general remarks:

"In Tristan and Isolde, Mr. Wagner has achieved one of the most amazing feats ever attempted by a musical composer-he has produced an opera over four hours in length, which does not contain a single melody of any description whatsoever. There is not an eight-bar tune in any part of the piece, orchestral or vocal. None of this gentleman's works can be truthfully said to overflow with easy melodies with the sort of tunes that a person endowed with a quick musical ear can pensively whistle as he strolls home from the theatre, or pick out on the pianoforte-keys after having once heard them. grin out of the question, in which numbers that are Leaving, however, Rienzi, Tannhauser, and Lohenquite unmistakably songs may be found upon rigor. ous search, I will merely observe that, compared to Tristan and Isolde, the Flying Dutchman is a veritable Little Warbler, and the Meistersinger von Nürnberg, a choice selection of negro melodies. One rived at by semitonic extension at both ends of the phrase, composed of enharmonic modulations, arinitial chord, pervades the whole opera in an inexIt is intended to be pressibly tiresome manner. better an apothecary's mixture compared to Donitypical of the Liebestrank or Elisir d'Amore-how dramatic incident of the play turns, and the audizetti's sparkling potion!-upon which the chief ence is pitilessly constrained to drink of it, figurá tively speaking, until the hardiest stomach turns and the most Spartan endurance breaks miserably down. The opera is one long dose of this sickly cordial, doled out by Mr. Wagner ad nauseam in countless spoonfuls. Not only is this crushing performance remarkable in the respect that its author has developed an almost superhuman ingenuity in keeping it void of melody, but in the still more sur

rising peculiarity that its orchestral accompani

ments are contrived to bear such relation to the vocal parts that the audience can never be sure wheth er or no the singer be emitting the note written for him or her, as the case may be an arrangement which is not without considerable negative advantages to an executive personnel, any member of which, with one conspicuous exception, is constitutionally incapable of singing the simplest music in tune, as is the case in the corps d'artistes to whose discordant utterances I had the misfortune of listening yesterday evening. The harmonies of Tristan and Isolde are prepared and resolved in such sort that you never know where to have them, and are alternately suspended upon tenterhooks of anticipation-tenterhooks forged out of your musical experiences and reasonings—and hurled into abysses of disappointment. The tricks-some of them diabolically malignant-thus played with the voices and instruments of the executants and with the ears of the listeners are innumerable, and display a weird cleverness on the part of their inventor. There is not an instant's repose in Tristan and Isolde, save between the acts; the tension of the oral nerves is unremitted-nothing comes off as it might be expected to " eventuate "-all is confusion, accidentals,

diminished sevenths, minor resolutions when major ones seem to be foregone conclusions and vice versa, horrid discords, false concords, moarings, gruntings, and yells a very Pandemonium of sound." The letter concludes thus:

Of the

It is

er of intellect; and we find in him a link with the
present, for although we have attained to a richer
expression and have better instruments, no progress
in harmonization has been made since Bach.
no exaggeration to say that in his works may be
found every chord and harmony used by composers
after him; and we may go so far as to maintain
that the modern composers, such as Brahms, adopt
the system of Bach, and in listening to their music
we feel nearer to that of the old composers, than
when we hear Beethoven, Weber, or Schubert.
With Scarlatti and Couperin we feel at once that it
is old music; it sounds strange, cold, and old-fash-
ioned, and excites curiosity rather than sympathy;
the heart is not warmed by it. Bach is also popu-
lar as being one of the main sources of pianoforte
playing and practice for all who would become effi-
cient executants. It may be said that through the
mastery which Bach attained, it is to him that we
owe the initiative to the free style and the consoli-
dation of rules. Although the basis of the free style
rests in scientific treatment, still there were boun-
daries that prevented a free treatment. All was ob-
jective or outward; the form was still supreme, and
kept intact with almost religions care. Bach's
works, in the order of their difficulty, would be,
beginning with the easy, the duets, inventiones,

mande, Sarabande, Bourrée, Gigue, etc. dance, nothing was retained but the charateristic expression, the time not being regulated by the dance. Great attention was bestowed on the working out; Counterpoint was used for the part writing, the Double Equiration was added to give brill"It must not be inferred from the tone or sub-iancy; and the Suite was thus installed as expres stance of the foregoing letter that I undervalue Mr. sive of the dance. No composers brought this form Wagner's merits as a musician and a poet, or that I to such perfection as Handel and Bach; they underam prejudiced against his compositions in either stood how to preserve the characteristic expression branch of art. I went to hear Tristan and Isolde, of Allemande, Bourrée, Chaconne, Courante, Gigue, sincerely hoping and, I may say, over-confidently Hornpipe, Passepied, Polonaise, Minuet, Sarabande, expecting, to derive extreme gratification from lis etc.. The characteristic expression of these forms tening to the ripe work of a great master-for such will be perceived more completely by arranging is, or was, Richard Wagner, most unquestionably. them under the measures 3-4, 6-8, and Common I came away from the theatre bitterly disappointed, Time. In 8-4 time are the slower forms: the Sarahaving undergone real suffering where I anticipated bande, Chaconne, Courante, Minuet, and Polonaise; keen delight. The truth is that Tristan and Isolde in 6 8 time are the Siciliano and Gigue, which reis as bad a work as Lohengrin is a good one-radi-sembles the modern Tarentelle, and the Saltarello; cally bad, vicions, unrighteous, without a redeeming the Gigue is written also in common time, but it is feature of any genuine significance. In it every best in 6 8 time; it was first used in Ireland, and canon of musical art is violated-above all, that the melodies of that country still retain its characcrowning one which decrees that music shall be teristic expression; it is said also to have been beautiful avant tout. Its very skeleton is at once played for rope dancing, which seems likely to be monstrous and deformed, and the outer case in which correct, in so far as the balance would be more eathe bones are en wrapped is full of subtle diseases, sily maintained to a duple than a triple measure. and defaced by every imaginable blotch, stain, and In Common Time are the Allemande, Bourrée, excrescence. It is a circumstance to be mourned by Hornpipe, Gigue, and Rigandon. Bach, however, symphonies, six French suites, six English suites, every true musician that the author of so noble a production as the Fliegende Holländer should have inflicted such an insult upon the divine art as Tris

tan and Isolde.”

NOTICING Ferdinand Hiller's comparison of Wagner and Napoleon III., the Pall Mall Gazette ob

serves:

wrote the Bourrée, which is the same as the Horn

pipe, in 3-4 time. A cursory glance at the old dance

forms shows how important they were in Clavecin music; each had its charm, and by them composers learnt how to invent more fascinating tunes. We see then how important the people's music, the dance, was to instrumental music generally; and in this widening and consolidating of popular forme, we see, also, why music has such a great hold on the "Is there not, again, something Napoleonic-as public, which is, because it keeps up a connection the word was used up to the year 1849-in Herr with the lowest ranks of society, and refines the Wagner's compelling the musicians and musical ampopular airs and dance-tunes, thus attaining a popateurs of Europe to take tickets for his Baireuthularity which painting and poetry could not have. performances at the rate of £45 for the entire series, although the latter can do a great deal in the form or £15 for a series of four? In economical Germa of popular songs. We may point out, en passant, ny £15 is a good deal of money to lay out on four the difference between the cyclical and the simple days' operatic representations; and £45 is more forms; the former contains the suite, sonata, and than it would cost a rich amateur to go to the opera any piece having three or four movements; the every night for a year. When Balzac, in inflated latter, any piece having a single movement moments, called himself the Napoleon of the pen,' only, as the nocturne and fantasia. The partitaa it is not quite clear what he meant. But it is cerform used by Bach-was the same as the suite, betain that Balzac once conceived, more as a dream ing in several parts. In the toccata, as used in old than as a reality, the notion of having his own music, from toccare, to touch, certain passages were drama of Vautrin played before such an audience as repeated over and over, and in a freer style; the Napoleon I. assembled at Erfurt, and as Herr Wag-capriccio has now taken its place. The ricercata, ner will bring together-for the first time since Er- from ricercare, to seek, was like a prelude, preparing furt at Baireuth. Napoleon I., at his great theat- the hearer for the principal piece: another explanarical festival, is said to have had a parterre of tion of it is that it is an art-fugue containing all Kings;' which seems improbable, since, if all the sorts of contrapuntal devices. Fugue, from fuga Kings had been placed in the pit, there would have flight, is a composition in the strictest style, in been no Royal personages worthy of the position to which a subject is introduced by one part, and reoccupy the dress-circle-supposing the private box-peated by the others according to fixed laws. Symes to have been reserved exclusively for the Emper-phony was not used for such forms as Haydn and ors and their suites. Herr Wagner expects not a royal and military, but a royal and musical audience to hear his trilogy; and the Generals of Erfurt will be replaced at Baireuth by eminent composers and distinguished virtuosi. Those strangely constituted persons who, like Ferdinand Hiller, derive little or no pleasure from Wagner's music say that it is not as an operatic composer nor as a theatrical manager, but as a manager of men, that he has succeeded in inducing so many of the great personages of the earth to promise their attendance next autumn at Baireuth. Such may be the case; but that is not the question. The question is whether the Baireuth gathering is worthy of being considered Napoleonic, as in the style of the first Napoleon, or only Napoleonic as in the style of the third."

Old Dance Forms-Herr Pauer's Lecture
on the Piano Music of Sebastian
and Emanuel Bach.

[Reported in the London Musical Standard, April 1 ] HERR ERNST PAUER devoted his second lecture at the South Kensington Museum to "The Freer Style of Pianoforte Music as illustrated by the works of Sebastian and Emanuel Bach, and their now

almost-forgotten contemporaries." The lecturer

said:

It will be remembered that we spoke in the first lecture of the different kinds of instruments, the Clavichord, Virginal, Spinet, etc.; it is now necessary to glance at the different musical forms, Alle

Beethoven wrote, but was an overture or anything
coming before the aria. In all Italian operas in
which there was no overture, a sinfonia was written
by the old composers. We see that the sonata is
an abridgment of the suite, which first contained an
allemande, courante, sarabande, gavotte or bourrée,
fugue and gigue. Scarlatti, Conperin, and Rameau
showed how these forms could be used, Bach per-
fected and idealized them. The peculiar strength
of Bach consists in the suffusion of intellectual force,
and an amalgamation of the profoundest science
with the most charming and refined art, which was
hitherto unknown. It is acknowledged that he
owed much of this power to his severe study of con-
temporary composers. The works of Scarlatti,
Couperin, and Rameau were then very difficult to
procure, but his energy of will overcame all obsta-
cles. He perused Italian and French works, not
copying their form, but penetrating into their intel-
lect and spirit; and now, after 127 years, his fugues

and suites have the same charm as when the vener

erable master first put them on paper. The first
stage of Clavecin literature thus came to a trium-
phal conclusion with Bach, who gave it the last fin
ishing touch. The smaller forms were rendered so
perfect as to become models. Our admiration and
interest in Bach is not therefore merely historical,
but excited by the beauties of his style, which we
do not find antiquated. He was so thorough an
expression of the spirit of his times, that in playing
his compositions we are transported one hundred
and twenty years back, forget our modern feelings,
and what we call rococo in others, we never feel
with him. He worked out his figures with more
logic than others, gave them greater significance
and a higher meaning, which resulted from his pow.

six partitas, which may be played with real pleasure, the toccatas, which are interesting, the concertos, the chromatic fantasia; a mine of noble harmonies; and the "Wohl Temperirte Clavier," the forty-eight preludes and fugues, which are a monument of the highest art. "Wohl temperirte" means well-tuned. Before Bach, tuning was not sufficiently advanced to enable the performer to play in all the keys; and Bach, who not only had genius, but also mechanical skill, found out how to perpetuate his achievement when he wrote his " Wohl-temper. irte Clavier," which is, indeed, not only a monument of art, but a triumph of human intellect, a ver. itable book of wisdom.

As specimens of the great Sebastian Bach, Herr Pauer played: Inventiones Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4; Suite Anglaise, No. 2, in D minor; Prelude and Fugue in C sharp major, from the first book; and Air and Gavotte in D major. The lecturer continued

Before passing to Emanuel Bach we must mention Friedemann Bach (1713-1780), some of whose Polonaises anticipate that romantic feeling which layed so important a part in the later Clavecin literature. He was rather a dissipated man, and either too careless or too idle to write his compositions, so that we have only fifteen or eighteen preserved. The Polonaises are the most finished, and deserve to be well-known; they are, of course, not like the modern ones, but when we think how old they are, we find them astonishingly full of sweet harmony.

The lecturer having plaved two of Friedemann Bach's Polonaises, continued: Emanuel Bach, the second son of Sebastian, declared that German music was especially adapted to unite the qualities of the French and Italian styles. He was more a man of the world than his father, and anxions to regard all that was most pleasing. With all the difference between him and his father, we perceive the same order and clearness in the works of both, although in loftiness of ideas Sebastian was far superior. Although nearer to us in point of time, and, indeed, forming the connecting link between old and modern music, yet Emanuel Bach's music sounds more antique than that of his father. While Sebastian was a stranger to fashion, Emanuel was much influenced by the taste of his time, and showed a desire for ornament and elegance which, compared with the dignity of his father's style, appears of less importance. Emanuel was more honored by his public, than Sebastian was by his; his music was more easy, but it is undeniable that Sebastian will always stand higher than his gifted son. Emanuel rendered important service in introducing a freer and more independent style, and endeavoring to sing on the instrument; he possessed refinement, elegance, and pleasantness, rather than grandeur. He largely de veloped the sonata form, and was the predecessor of Haydn. Another of his merits is his essay. “Die wahre Kunst Clavier zu spielen," published in 1753, which Haydn declared to be the school of schools, and from which Clementi said that he had formed his style of playing. Its merit lies in subjecting practical playing to a strict analysis.

As an illustration, Herr Pauer played Emanuel Bach's concerto in A major, from the first set for connoisseurs. Before concluding, said the lectur

er, it will be well to summarize what has been ough master of form never loses sight of the fact that said:

Sebastian Bach consolidated the forms then in fashion, rounded and improved the Suite, containing all the dances then in fashion, and for a similar application of science in the pleasantest forms we seek in vain among his contemporaries. In harmonization we have not made much progress since his time; but we have improved in melody. Bach's melodies have a certain modesty, they lack boldness and nervous force; nor is this any reproach to him, but a result of the insufficiency of his means, and it is a sign of genius that he could write such works for such instruments. He excelled especially in sacred compositions. He concludes the first period of Clavecin literature. Emanuel Bach consulted the public taste more, and wrote in a lighter style. He developed the Sonata form, and gave the first indications of that lyrical style which made Haydn and Mozart so charming. A transformation was effected; the scholastic style disappeared before a more natural one, which with Haydn and Mozart attained greater importance, Emanuel's form becoming rounder and more plastic. The latter used the pianoforte, and from this capacity of the instrument for loud and soft playing resulted in part the difference between Sebastian and Emanuel. To complete the subject, the contemporaries of these composers should be mentioned; among these were Francesco Durante, Baldassaro Galuppi, Padre G. B. Martini and Domenico Paradies in Italy, Schubert in France, and Graun in Germany.

Herr Pauer concluded his interesting address by playing, as specimens of these composers: Studio in A, by Durante; Sonata in D major, by Galuppi; Gavotte and Ballet by Father Martini; Sonata, by Paradies; and Minuetto and Allegro molto, by Schubert.

Prof. Paine's Symphony.

[From the New York Nation.]

The symphony is, indeed, one which well repays careful study. For while it cannot be said to indicate a "new departure" in the art of symphonic writing, it illustrates forcibly how much can be achieved without overstraining the mould elaborated by Beethoven for this form of music. It serves to support the opinion of those who hold that in many respects the extravagances of modern instrumental music are due to insufficient mastery of the technique of contrapuntal and thematic treatment. For want of skill in the use of the legitimate means of developing a fundamental melody, modern composers have too often resorted to the excessive multiplication of themes,or to ill-organized modulations, or to sensuous effects of rhythm or of instrumentation, surprising for the moment, but in the long run tedious and unsatisfactory. Schubert and Schumann, and among second-rate composers Liszt, are all in some degree amenable to this criticism; while Mendelssohn, on the other hand-the one modern symphonist who in mastery of form rivals the older masters-with all his Virgilian elegance and majesty, is lacking in the deeper emotional qualities to which Mozart and Beethoven gave expression. Hence the inference has been frequently drawn that further progress in the path marked out by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven is impracticable, and that the greatest wealth of musical expressiveness can only be attained at the present day by partially or wholly discarding the strict sonata-form in which these masters developed their greatest thoughts. Without seeking to decide so far-reaching a question, we think one may safely cite Mr. Paine's symphony as valuable testimony to the unsoundness of this inference. Mr. Paine's easy mastery of the whole technique of musical form is so conspicuous that no competent listener can fail to be struck with it. As a contrapuntist he has few rivals, and of the various resources of thematic development he has acquired such thorough control that the art is ever concealed by its own perfection. A musical criti will soon be struck with this on studying the score of the first movement of this new symphony or of some

of the principal choruses in "St. Peter." The listening public, which does not understand the technical secret of such effects, will still recognize the masterly comprehension which foresees the end from the beginning, which never gropes or fumbles for a decisive chord or leading turn of melody, but promptly strikes it as if its position were fore-ordained and could admit of no doubt or misgiving. This mastery of form is still further exemplified in the clearness with which the musical themes asse t emselves amid the sweeping current of subordinate sounds, so that they are easily carried away from e oncert-room and dwelt upon in memory. A thor

the most complicated symphony is but a highly-devel-
oped song, and this fact Mr. Paine has not lost sight of.

Now, along with this formal power, which enables the
composer to make two or three bright phrases tell a
long and consistent musical story, we think it may be

fairly conceded that the new symphony shows marked
originality in invention of themes. It is not easy to de-
cide such a point upon technical considerations, but ev-
ery one accustomed to hearing music knows the charac-
teristic turns of melody which distinguish the works of
original composers-the ear-marks, as it were, by which
their style of thought is betrayed. One would no more
hesitate between the melodic phrases of Chopin and
Mendelssohn than between the literary phrases of Car-
lyle and Macaulay. In this respect, if Mr. Paine some-
times recalls to us the tones of Bach and again of Schu-
mann, yet on the whole there is a freshness and novelty
about his themes which awakens interest, while it is
saved from provoking us by the formal skill which elu-
cidates each motive, until on its final recurrence it com-
pels our assent and causes all our mind and heart to go
along with it.

Such an interesting combination of melodic fertility with classical form should be enough to make us reconsider some of the questions which there has lately been a disposition to let go by default. Such a work as Mr. Paine's symphony is in itself a protest against the inferences which might be too hastily drawn from the recent prevalence of compositions in the various styles of against unreserved acquiescence in the methods of composition of which Wagner is the great representative; although, with its close adherence to classical form, Mr. instrumentation to no less an extent than Wagner, and in so doing the sympathetic skill with which he has considered the idiosyncrasies of every instrument is by

Raff, Rubinstein, and Liszt. Indirectly, it is a protest

Paine has drawn upon modern sensuous resources of

no means the least of his merits. Both in melodic de-
velopment and in orchestration the significance of Mr.
Paine's work lies in its attempt to attain originality of
musical expression without deserting classical form,
and by its success in this will its permanent value he es-
timated. For the present, we think its favorable recep-
tion augurs well for the success of future attempts which,
with wider experience and in yet bolder mood, its com-
poser is likely to make in this direction.

us that he wished and expected the Government to state what was their position with regard to the very violent attacks of which the Academy of Art, and especially the High School for Music, had been the objects. Gentlemen, the Government really desires nothing better than to do so; not, however, on the ground that they consid. er it their duty to act as the representatives of literary productions, for the discussion of which this is not the place, but because they hold themselves justified in declaring that, in the present and in all similar instances, they have adhered to the principle, which will certainly meet with the approbation of this honorable House, of conscientiously investigating every criticism, no matter how bitter and inimical it might be, directed against any matter and its requirements, and of appropriating and turning to account whatever in such a criticism was justified by the fact; but attacks which have nothing to do with fact nor with truth, and which bear the stamp of impure motives upon their front, such attacks, gentlemen, it is our principle simply to despise."

Thus have been repulsed the attacks against one of our best and most disinterested artists, who, to the glory of German art, has, in so short a time, raised the Music School of the capital to a most flourishing condition. The blow intended for Joachim has recoiled with double force upon him who aimed it.—German Paper.

Handel's Oratorio, 'Susanna.'

M. Schoelcher, in his Life of Handel, records that

the oratorio Susanna' was composed when Handel
was sixty-three years old, and was written between
the 11th of July and the 12th of August, 1748, hav.
ing followed Solomon,' which was composed in the
same year, between the 5th of May and the 19th of
June. Both works were performed at Covent Gar
den Theatre during the season of 1749, and such
was the popularity of Susanna' that it was given
the same number of times as Samson' and the
'Messiah' that is, four times, whereas' Solomon'
and 'Hercules' were only performed twice. 'Su-
sanna' was revived with new additions and altera-
tions, at Covent Garden on the 9th, 14th, 16th, and
21st of March, 1759-a year to be remembered, for
on the 6th of April the Messiah' was given under
Handel's direction, for the last time.
And every
body knows he died on Good Friday, the 13th of
April following. The only other reference to Su-
sanna' in M. Schoelcher's book is this: "
The coup-
lets in Susanna,'' Ask if yon damask Rose,' were
worth a fortune. They were engraved in every
form. The Lady's Magazine gave them to its sub-
scribers even as late as 1793. They were sung with
other words, 'Let rakes and libertines,' in 'Love
in a Village,' a comic opera, produced in 1762.”
Now this transfer of one of the principal airs in
Susanna,' that sung by her attendant in the second
part, when the former is sighing for the return of
her "dearest youth. Joachim," from a sacred to a
secular work is indicative of the nature of the book,
as well as of the style of the music. 'Susanna' is
no more an oratorio than Acis and Galatea;' it is
essentially a serious opera; there are no antagonis.
tic elements of sects and believers to call forth the
composer's powers of contrast. 'Susanna' is a stage
story of a girl persecuted by two villains, whose
titles are those of " Elders; " Joachim, her husband,
is the tender alto; Chelsias is the fond father of the
heroine, who has a faithful friend in the attendant,
who has been crossed in love: Daniel is the right-
eous and sagacious judge, who cleverly cross-exam-
ines the two prosecutors, and convicts them of per-
jury, and thus the dénouement is reached, with the
voices of the people, who have acted throughout the
work as a Greek chorus, singing-

Joachim and his Detractors at Berlin. The High School for Music, which, in connection with the Royal Academy of Arts, can, under Joachim's admirable management, boast of continuous success, has, for a considerable period, been the object of attacks as unwarranted by fact as they are spiteful. These attacks have found characteristic utterance in a small publication, which has recently appeared, from the pen of a Herr August Reissmann, of Berlin. The said publication, both as regards form and contents, can be designated only as a pamphlet. The author (who makes no secret of the fact that the appointment of artists, not natives of Prussia, to the High School, very sensibly wounds his strongly developed local patriotism) disc sses, in a strikingly partial tone, the work done by Joachim and the masters under him; overwhelms other artists, nearly related intellectually to the master, with unjustifiable invectives, and, finally, allows himself to be carried so far by his blind zeal as to call the attention of the Lower House to the alleged abuses in the Royal High School. With regard to the value and the justice of these attacks, especially in so far as they are directed against Joachim personally, the Chamber of Deputies fully enlightened the general public at the sitting of the 16th March. During the consideration of the several items in the estimates of Public Worship and Education, the subject was brought under discussion. An honorable member, Dr. Loewe [Calbe], who began by stating that he regarded as well-founded some of the complaints against the institution, took Joachim's part in the most energetic manner. He said that: "The persons who made the complaints had injured their cause ex-proval of our dramatic licenser, for it seems as if tremely by giving the complaints so personal a character, and, more particularly, by directing them against the Director of the High School for Music individually, an artist of the first rank, whose genuine artistic disposition is proved most strikingly by the fact that, as executant, he presents the public with the masterpieces of our classical period in the best way—a perfect manner; doing so with rare self-abnegation, for he does not exhibit the pretension of other executants, who come before the public merely to shine by means of their technical skill, their dexterity, or their own compositions." Immediately afterwards, Dr. Schöne, Government Commissary and Privy Councillor, spoke as follows:"The honorable member who has just sat down informed

A virtuous wife shall soften fortune's frown, She's far more precious than a golden crown. Instead of being sung in the concert-hall, Susanna' should be acted and sung in the theatre of the Alexandra Palace with a mise en scène, the words, of course, being modified and brought within the ap

situations and dialogue will pass muster in an oratorio which would not be permitted in an opera.

Setting aside, however, the consideration of the drama and poetry of ‘Susanna,' unqualified admiration must be expressed for the dramatic attributes displayed by the composer in setting the story; the most remarkable skill is exhibited in individualizing the characters, each one having musically a special physiognomy, so to speak,—hence the marked contrast in the music allotted to the first Elder (the tenor) and to the second Elder (the bass), the former sly and insinuating, the latter reckless and fiery. Susanna's strains have a type of their own, affec

The manuscript of the $5.000 march, written for the
Centennial celebration, by Richard Wagner, consists of
33 closely written pages, and is all in the composer's
ly seen. Every note is as clear and elegant and sym-
own hand. A more beautiful musical autograph is rare-fred, with Schumann's music. There were, likewise,

lated into English. We do not propose to notice spec- ing the thematic triplet (which is to play such an impor- rely upon in the exhaustive repertory he already