Part 37

=Other Musical Leaders=.—=Alexander Campbell Mackenzie= (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1847) became teacher and conductor in his native city, afterwards joining the University forces. His “Colomba,” an early opera, displays much real dramatic worth; more, in fact, than his later productions. Among his other works are two oratorios, “The Rose of Sharon” and “Bethlehem,” while his entr’actes for “Manfred” and his powerful “Coriolanus” music also deserve notice. =Frederic Hymen Cowen= (Kingston, Jamaica, 1852) studied with Reinecke, Moscheles, and Kiel, and conducted in many cities, including Melbourne, Australia. He has written two oratorios, “Ruth” and “The Deluge,” four operas, including “Pauline” and “Harold,” and several cantatas, of which “The Sleeping Beauty” and “The Water Lily” are delightfully poetic. But his six symphonies are his most valuable works, the “Scandinavian,” “Idyllic,” and “Welsh” ranking in the order named. =Arthur Goring Thomas= (Eastbourne, England, 1850—London, 1892) devoted himself to the lighter style of romantic music, in which his opera “Esmeralda” and his posthumous cantata “The Swan and the Skylark” met with the most success. With these five should be classed =Sir J. Frederick Bridge=, often called in jest “The Westminster Bridge” because of his post as organist in Westminster Abbey. His works include many cantatas, oratorios, and lesser sacred pieces. His teaching has been made delightful by his inimitable humor, which often appears in his compositions also. Other men of this school are =Walter Cecil Macfarren=, =Sir Walter Parratt=, and =Charles Harford Lloyd=, while the excellent work of =Sir Arthur Sullivan= in light opera must not be forgotten.

=Elgar=.—In Edward William Elgar (Broadheath, England, 1857) we find a man who is possessed of real originality, and takes rank with the world’s great composers. This is all the more remarkable when we consider that he is almost wholly self-taught. Son of an organist, he soon grew familiar with the instrument, and gained further musical experience by playing in a theatre orchestra at Worcester. Too poor to go to Germany, he lived by teaching violin at first. He went through various books on harmony and orchestration, gaining much from Mozart’s “Thorough-Bass School,” and Parry’s articles in Grove’s dictionary. He ruled a score for the same number of bars and instruments as in Mozart’s G-minor symphony, and wrote a work in this form—an exercise which he considers of the utmost value. When he obtained a new orchestral work, he would go into the fields to study it.

=His Works=.—Elgar first won attention by his cantata “The Black Knight,” given at a Worcester festival. Its success caused him to continue with “The Light of Life” and “King Olaf,” the latter displaying much direct power and orchestral mastery. His “Variations,” which won a London triumph, possess great intrinsic worth; but each one is intended to portray some friend of the composer’s, and the work thus has an added meaning for his acquaintances. “The Dream of Gerontius,” a setting of Cardinal Newman’s sacred poem, met with remarkable favor. It is not altogether unified in effect, but contains many passages of compelling beauty and sublimity. It has been heard in many countries, and one German writer considers it the greatest sacred work of the last century, except the “Requiem” of Brahms. “The Apostles,” a later oratorio, is the first part of a proposed trilogy. It displays similar excellence, but at times is too mystic and psychological in effect. Other works by Elgar are three overtures: the attractive “Froissart,” the broadly-popular “Cockaigne” (typical of London), and the more recent “In the South.” The music to “Diarmid and Grania” is also worth mention, while the five songs, entitled, “Sea Pictures,” show remarkable breadth and nobility.

=Coleridge-Taylor=.—England boasts the first great negro composer in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (London, England, 1875). Son of an educated African father and a white mother, he began violin lessons at six. At a more mature age, he studied piano with Ashton and composition with Stanford. His early works included a number of anthems, some chamber-music, and a symphony in A-minor. For his beloved violin he wrote the passionate “Southern Love-Songs” and “African Romances,” also the “Hiawatha” sketches. In 1898, he became world-famous by his cantata “Hiawatha’s Wedding-Feast,” which he followed with “The Death of Minnehaha” and “Hiawatha’s Departure.” These display a strength and profusion of passion that sway all hearers, and the glowing richness of the instrumentation forms an appropriate frame for Longfellow’s picture. Later vocal works are “The Atonement” and “The Blind Girl of Castel-Cuillé.” His other compositions include an orchestral ballade with violin, an Idyll, a Solemn Prelude, the music to “Herod,” and four waltzes. All show breadth of treatment, and effects of real beauty attained by simple means.

=Bantock=.—Some younger composers have headed a movement for greater originality, under the lead of Granville Bantock (London, England, 1868). His one-act operas “Caedmar” and “The Pearl of Iran” show much warmth of color, and his musical ideas are always worthy of the great literary conceptions in which he delights. His two overtures, “Eugene Aram” and “Saul,” the suite of “Russian Scenes,” and the more recent rhapsody, “The Time Spirit,” are the work of a truly musical nature. His greatest effort, however, is a set of twenty-four symphonic poems, illustrating Southey’s “Curse of Kehama.”

=Other Composers=.—In the new movement are William Wallace, Erskine Allon, Reginald Steggall, Stanley Hawley, and Arthur Hinton. Clarence Lucas and Cyril Scott are two other young men of prominence.

=Edward German= is a composer of remarkable gifts, for he attains effects of the utmost grace and musical beauty by the simplest diatonic themes. His “Rival Poets” and “Merrie England” are worthy examples of light opera, while the “English Fantasia,” the symphonic poem “Hamlet,” the suite “The Seasons,” and the “Welsh Rhapsody” are all works of pleasing freshness and originality. German has also made a name in the special field of incidental music, his settings including “Romeo and Juliet,” “As You Like It,” “Much Ado about Nothing,” “The Tempest,” and several other plays. In a period when many composers are losing themselves in the intricacies of the modern orchestral style, the clear simplicity of German’s compositions is an example of the utmost value.

=The Belgian School: Benoit=.—The new school of Belgium, fostered by the Brussels Conservatory, owes its origin chiefly to Peter Benoit (Harelbeke, Flanders, 1834—Antwerp, 1901), who broadened its influence by his teaching at the Flemish School of Music, in Antwerp. His early opera, “Het Dorp in t’ Gebergte” (The Village in the Mountains), showed delightful local color. A second opera, a mass, a concerto, and a choral symphony increased his fame, but he is identified chiefly with the cantata. His great works in this field include “Oorlog” (War), “Lucifer,” “De Schelde,” “De Rhyn,” the Rubens cantata, and “Promethée.” They are modern in effect, and show breadth of conception and real inspiration, united with ripe technical mastery. They have been described as great decorative pictures in tone, suggesting vistas of grand palaces, armies in battle array, rich fields of grain, mystic visions of the spirit world, or gorgeous triumphal marches.

=Gilson=.—Paul Gilson (Brussels, Belgium, 1865) has written for orchestra a Dramatic Overture, a Festival Overture, a Canadian and an Irish Fantasy, half a dozen suites, the “Bucolics” of Virgil, and other lesser works. But his best-known composition is the set of symphonic sketches entitled, “La Mer.” This illustrates a poem of Levis, frequently read before the performance. The different movements depict sunrise at sea, and the many-colored splendors of dawn; the rollicking songs and lively dances of the seaman; a love-duet and parting between a sailor and his sweetheart; and a fatal tempest, in which the themes of the sailors’ choruses are introduced in mocking irony as the ship goes down. Through it all runs a vein of poetic fancy, well suggesting the beauty and mystery of the sea. The oratorio “Francesca da Rimini” is another strong work, the best of Gilson’s productions in that form.

=Lekeu=.—Guillaume Lekeu (Verviers, Belgium, 1870-1894) was a composer whose early death cut short a career of great promise. His chief studies were pursued in Paris, where he came under the elevating influence of Franck. The subtle delicacy of his harmonic effects is a result of this teaching, and Lekeu seems like a member of the French school who strayed across the border by mistake. His early cantata “Andromède,” and his Fantasie on popular Angevin airs, gained him some notice. His works include two Symphonic Studies, an attractive “Poeme” for violin and orchestra, and an exquisite Adagio for violin, ’cello, and strings. His greatest vocal composition is the “Chant Lyrique,” for chorus and orchestra, but he has produced many songs of lofty melodic style. His music is marked by great originality and fertility of invention, but tinged with a spirit of melancholy and gloom.

=Other Composers=.—=Edgar Tinel= (Sinaai, Flanders, 1854) is another pupil of the Brussels Conservatory, where he studied with Fétis. His great work is the three-part oratorio “Franciscus,” treating the story of St. Francis of Assisi. Other works are “Sainte Godelieve” and the music to “Polyeucte.”

=Jan Blockx= (Antwerp, Belgium, 1851) is the most popular opera composer of his country. His greatest success is the “Herbergprinses” (Princess of the Inn), a work with a strong dramatic plot and music of remarkable freshness and vigor. “Thyl Uylenspiegel,” in Blockx’s opera of that name, is no longer the graceless rogue of the old German story, but a popular hero who rescues Maestricht from the Spaniards. Other operas of this composer are “The Bride of the Sea,” and “Maître Martin,” an earlier work. Other composers prominent in the new movement are Keurvels, Wambach, Mortelmans, Vleeshouwer, and Mathieu. The first place among the women is occupied by Juliette Folville, the young violinist, who has written the opera “Attala,” a march, parts of a symphony, and many smaller works.

=Music in Holland=.—=Richard Hol= was for many years the Nestor of the Dutch composers. His fame was assured by the patriotic hymn, “Comme je t’aime, O mon pays,” and his long career of activity was of great service to the cause of music in Holland. He was a prolific composer, and an excellent critic and journalist. =Julius Roentgen=, who studied under Reinecke and Lachner, was better known as pianist than as composer, but produced an excellent concerto, also “Das Gebet,” for chorus and orchestra, and other works. The best of the younger men are =Bernard Zweers= and =Alphonse Diepenbrock=, while others deserving mention are Van t’Kruys, Gottfried Mann, Dirk Schaefer, and the Brandt-Buys brothers. Among the women-composers, Catherine van Rennes and Hendrika van Tussen-Broek have done excellently in small forms, while Cornelia van Oosterzee attempts ambitious orchestral work, and Cora Dopper has entered the field of opera. Amsterdam has become a great musical centre, and Holland, no less than Belgium, is reaping the result of the widespread educational movement.

REFERENCES.

Maitland, J. A. Fuller.—Music in the 19th Century; England.

Willeby, Charles.—Masters of English Music.

QUESTIONS.

What obstacles have hindered the English in developing composition?

Tell about the work of Stanford.

Tell about the work of Parry.

Name other important English composers.

Give an account of Elgar and his works.

What characteristics are strong in the works of Coleridge-Taylor?

Name other prominent composers of the new English school.

Give an account of the work of Benoit, of Gilson, Lekeu, and other Belgian composers.

Who composed the most popular Belgian opera? Tell about other works by this composer.

Name some leading composers of Holland.

LESSON LV.

NATIONAL SCHOOLS: BOHEMIA AND SCANDINAVIA.

=The Influence of Folk-Music=.—Some races are endowed with a better musical taste than others. Among these favored peoples the Folk-song, the music that appeals directly to the popular heart, needs only the touch of a gifted composer to fashion it into a great national school. In the case of England and Belgium, we have seen that even the most thorough musical education cannot wholly atone for a lack of real public taste in music. Scotland, possessing a wealth of beautiful Folk-songs, has not yet given birth to a composer who can employ its style in larger forms. But in Bohemia and the countries of Northern Europe, the Folk-music has not only been worthy in itself, but has been properly developed and amplified by gifted composers.

=Smetana=.—František Škroup (1801-1862) composed many popular Bohemian _Volkslieder_, and wrote the first national opera, but the real founder of the Bohemian school was Bedřich, or Frederick, Smetana (Leito mischl, Bohemia, 1824—Prague, 1884). Parental opposition could not prevent his studying music, and we find him at Prague, under Proksh, and, later on, taking lessons of Schumann. That master recommended a course with Mendelssohn, but as the pupil was too poor, he changed his advice and suggested a study of Bach. Smetana became an ardent admirer of Liszt, at whose house his own career was decided. Hearing Herbeck remark, while there, that the Czechs were merely reproductive, he made a solemn resolution to devote his life to the building up of a national school of music in Bohemia.

=His Works=.—While conductor at Gothenburg, Sweden, he produced three worthy symphonic poems: “Richard III,” “Wallenstein’s Camp,” and “Hakon Jarl.” On his return, he wrote “The Brandenburgers in Bohemia,” the first of the eight operas that have made him so famous in his native land. This was Wagnerian in style, and at once the critics assailed him fiercely for trying to bring Bohemia under the musical domination of Germany. To show that he could write in a more popular vein, Smetana produced a second opera, “Prodaná Nevĕsta,” (The Bartered Bride), which proved a marvel of musical grace and delicacy, and was enough in itself to establish the reputation of any composer. “Dalibor” is a dramatic work in serious vein, while “Libuše” is based on a national subject. “The Two Widows” and “The Kiss” are light operas of marked success, the latter being often cited as a perfect model for this style. “The Secret” is in the same vein, while “The Devil’s Wall” is again on a national legend. Other notable works are the string quartet “Aus Meinem Leben,” and the “Carnival of Prague”; but Smetana’s greatest orchestral work is the set of six symphonic poems entitled “Ma Vlast” (My Fatherland). These depict “Vyšehrad,” a historic fortress; “Vltava,” the river Moldau; “Sarka,” a mythical Amazon; “Bohemia’s Groves and Meadows,” “Tabor,” the Hussite camp; and “Blanik,” the magic mountain where the warriors sleep. Smetana’s music shows an inspiration and depth of feeling that make him rank with the world’s great composers, and his struggles against poverty and disease form a story of the utmost pathos.

=Dvořák=.—The greatest of Smetana’s pupils was =Antonin Dvořák= (Mühlhausen, Bohemia, 1841—Prague, 1904). Son of a butcher, he persuaded the village schoolmaster to give him lessons. He began composition at Zlonitz, and soon sent home a polka to surprise his family; and as he had written it without considering the transposing instruments, thus causing three different keys to sound together, the resulting discords certainly accomplished that purpose. After further study at Prague, he was able to gain a Government pension, and to interest such men as Hanslick and Brahms. He spent his time in “hard study, occasional composition, much revision, a great deal of thinking, and little eating.” Being asked what teacher helped him most, he replied: “I studied with God, the birds, the trees, the rivers, myself.”

=His Works=.—Dvořák’s many operas, including “Wanda,” “Dimitri,” “Armida,” and others, have been surpassed in importance by his orchestral works. His “Stabat Mater” and the cantata “The Spectre’s Bride” are important vocal compositions. His overtures include such well-known examples as the “Husitzká,” “Mein Heim,” “Othello,” “In der Natur,” and the “Carneval.” Other instrumental works are the famous “Slavic Dances,” the Slavonic Rhapsodies, the “Scherzo Capriccioso,” three Ballades, and a “Hero Song.” Before coming to New York, in 1892, he had written four great symphonies; but the fifth, “Aus der Neuen Welt,” is of the greatest interest to Americans, since Dvořák here adopted the plantation style in his themes, to show what could be done in building up an American school of music. He was eminently successful in handling his material, and he produced a greater and more truly national work than any resident composer has yet done. In general, Dvořák’s style is more cosmopolitan than that of Smetana, and his faculty of melodic invention makes his works attractive. He enriched the symphony by two Bohemian dance-movements—the Dumka, and the Furiant.

=Other Bohemians=.—=Zdĕnek Fibich=, though little known outside of his own country, was another famous opera-composer. He devoted some efforts to melodrama also, “Hippodamia” being his chief work in this field. He published two symphonies and several symphonic poems, the latter showing the influence of Liszt. =Reznícĕk=, who has recently identified himself with the musical life of Germany, has produced five operas, of which the sparkling comedy “Bonna Diana” and the later “Till Eulenspiegel” are the best. =Josef Suk=, son-in-law of Dvořák, has composed some attractive instrumental music, while =Nápravník=, of an earlier generation, won operatic successes in St. Petersburg. Hungary, too, has a national school of opera, founded by =Franz Erkel=. This school is carried on by such men as Alexander Erkel, the Doppler brothers, Mihalovitch, Zichy, and Hubay, while Dohnanyi is better known as pianist than as composer. Poland is represented by =Paderewski=, while =Soltys= has won renown in symphony, and =Stalkowsky= in opera.

=Norwegian Music=.—Norway is preëminently a land of song. Its sombre fiords, dark forests, and smiling meadows have at all times inspired a school of Folk-music whose plaintive sweetness exerts the utmost charm on the musical auditor. In =Edvard Hagerup Grieg= (Bergen, 1843-1907) we find a composer of wonderful melodic gifts and expressive power, who has preserved admirably the flavor of the local Folk-songs and dances. Grieg owed much to the wise training of his mother, a woman of rare gifts. At Ole Bull’s advice, he took a course at Leipzig, after which he studied further with Gade, at Copenhagen. There he met Rikard Noordraak, who first aroused his enthusiasm for the songs and legends of his native land.

=Grieg’s Works=.—Grieg’s genius was essentially lyric and melodic, but this in no way detracts from the greatness of his orchestral works. The “Autumn” overture is clear and beautiful, with the simplicity of strength, not of weakness. The “Norwegian Dances” mark the beginning of the national style that is carried out in the melodrama “Bergliot,” the two “Peer Gynt” suites, and “Sigurd Jorsalfer.” The piano concerto, somewhat in the style of Schumann, is one of Grieg’s best works, and shows the utmost perfection of melodic and harmonic architecture. The “Elegiac Melodies,” the “Norwegian Themes,” and the “Holberg Suite,” all for strings, are further examples of his rich fulness of romantic utterance. His choral and chamber works show the same sympathetic treatment, while his piano works and songs include some of the most exquisite gems in the entire musical repertoire. His works show endless melodic invention, great power of expression, and a warmth of tender sentiment that seems never to lose its charm.

=Christian Sinding= (Kongsberg, Norway, 1856) studied at Leipzig also, and won a royal scholarship that took him to Munich and Berlin. He belongs to an artistic family, for one brother, Otto, is a painter, and another, Stefan, a sculptor. Sinding’s music is melodic in character, and distinctively Norwegian in style, but less so than that of Grieg. His orchestral works include an excellent symphony, brought out under Weingartner and later by Thomas; an attractive concerto for piano, and two for violin; a “Rondo Infinito”; and the interesting suite, “Episodes Chevaleresques.” His chamber-music, violin sonatas, piano solos, and songs are made of the most attractive material.

=Other Norwegians=.—=Johann Severin Svendsen=, though prominent in Danish music, is really Norwegian by birth. Son of a military bandmaster, he soon obtained a position similar to his father’s. But he longed for higher things, and after a tour as violin virtuoso, he studied at Leipzig, under Reinecke. He traveled much, meeting in Paris an American woman whom he afterwards married in her own country. After some experience in Christiania, he became court conductor in Copenhagen, where he owns the baton used by von Weber and inscribed with that composer’s name. His orchestral works include two symphonies, four Norwegian Rhapsodies, the legend “Zorahayde,” and the “Carnival at Paris,” but they are too conventional to take foremost rank. A prominent composer among the younger Norwegians is =Ole Olsen=, of Hammerfest, whose symphonic poem “Asgardsreien” is but one of his many successes. =Gerhard Schjelderup= is one of the modern radicals, and shows all the complexity and dissonance of Strauss. =Agathe Backer-Grohndahl= is the leader of the Norwegian women-composers.

=Music in Denmark=.—In Denmark, the fame of Gade obscured that of other composers, and such a man as J. P. E. Hartmann could gain scarcely more than local reputation. The most important name in recent years is that of =August Enna=, who won a popular operatic triumph in 1892 with “Die Hexe.” He was almost wholly self-taught, for poverty prevented him from taking lessons, sometimes even from buying music paper. “Cleopatra” is a later work, while “The Little Match-Girl” was the beginning of a series of fairy operas. Enna handles his orchestra with boldness and skill, and displays vocal fluency and thematic excellence. =Eduard Lassen= gained more renown by his melodious songs than by his operas or orchestral works. =Otto Malling= is known for his piano pieces, while =Victor Bendix= has attempted the symphonic poem. =Ludwig Schytté=, a friend of Liszt, has made Berlin his home, and is identified with light opera as well as piano music.