Chapter 77

LATER COMPOSERS AND PERFORMERS.

Before summing up the remaining names of musical history, a brief retrospect over the present century may be in place. The first quarter of the nineteenth century was distinguished by two composers of the first order--Beethoven and Schubert; and by a large number of highly gifted lesser artists, some of whom, such as Spohr and Weber, bid fair to remain long enrolled in the list of immortals. The second quarter of the century was made memorable by the rise and blossoming into full glory of the romantic school, all the works of this school (excepting a few of the earlier of Mendelssohn) having been produced during this period. Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin and the young Wagner were the active spirits of this time, and their productions not only enriched the store of the world's tone poetry, but changed the general direction of musical ideals in many ways.

The great feature of the third quarter of the century was the conception and execution of the Wagnerian music-drama, with its wealth of sense incitation and its somber appeal to accumulated experiences of the race. The "Ring of the Nibelungen" was completed during this period and received its first performance at Bayreuth in 1876. During the same period Franz Liszt had conceived a modification of the symphony form, bringing its four movements into a single one, or uniting the different movements (if such there were) by means of motives common to all or several of them. In this way a certain novelty was attainable in the most important province of instrumental music; and while the new compositions generally acknowledged their indebtedness to external incitation by titles, such as: "What One Sees from a Mountain," the "Battle of the Huns," "Romeo and Juliette," and the like, there was nothing to prevent them being in the fullest sense musical works, having a musical life as such wholly independent of the suggestion given by the title. Berlioz had been the founder of programme music, and his leading works had been produced during the second quarter of the century, but their full force was not recognized until later. It was a follower of Liszt, the brilliant Frenchman, Camille Saint-Saëns, who stated the central thesis of the whole romantic school, when he said that a composer had the same right to affix a title to his work, in order to give a pleasing standpoint for judging it, as a painter had to name his picture. And in the case of music, he added, as in that of painting, the real question finally was not whether the suggestion of the title had been fully satisfied, but whether the picture were good painting and the composition good music. If it were good music, no flaw in the title and no disagreement between the title and the work could impair its value and lasting quality.

When carefully scrutinized, the progress of music during the present century has been governed by certain leading principles which are not contradictory, although at first glance they might appear so. Since the time of the Netherlandish contrapuntists, the primary impulse in musical creation has been the _musical_ ideal--the creation of tonal fancies, novel, inspiring, musical, satisfactory. Out of this desire has arisen the entire fabric of fugue, sonata, symphony and the whole world of free music. And at every period there have been those also who sought to connect these tonal fancies with the inner life of the spirit--to awaken feeling, inspire imagination, deepen dramatic impression; in short, to give us in place of irresponsible tonal crystallizations a poetically conceived discourse, operative upon the feelings and stimulative to the entire mind. This was the ideal of the new movement in Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and opera has steadily worked along this ideal. Sebastian Bach had moments when he himself attempted the programme music; and Beethoven made many attempts of the same kind, some of which are significant and lasting. Hence the romantic impulse was not something new in the history of music, but the blossoming of buds from seeds planted long before. The programme music of Berlioz was simply larger and more flamboyant than the little exercises of Bach in the same direction. Wagner's idea of bringing together the entire resources of musical, dramatic and scenic art into a single highly complex work was merely the idea of the unity of all the arts, upon which Æschylus worked two thousand years earlier, and upon which Jacopo Peri and Claudio Monteverde worked at the beginning of the seventeenth century. In short, the art of music, while in this century being enriched by a multitude of new creations representing a variety of subordinate ideals, is nevertheless still a unity, constantly becoming more elaborate and masterly upon the tonal side, and continually more and more in touch with the deeper springs of duration in art, the intuitively realized correspondence between certain art forms and modes of expression and human feeling.

The composers of the last quarter of the century are very numerous; indeed, so numerous that a catalogue even of their names would occupy too much space. Moreover, their proximity to our own times brings them too near for successfully estimating their places in the pantheon of art, or even for the much simpler task of deciding upon certain names which undoubtedly should occupy places in the list. For present purposes it will be more convenient to notice them by nationalities, since every racial stock has certain individualities and ideals which the national composers eventually bring into art, as we see brilliantly illustrated in the case of the Russians, both in music and in painting.

There are, however, certain names which stand out above all others and at the present writing appear destined for place among or very near the immortals of the first order. These great names are those of Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saëns, Peter Ilitsch Tschaikowsky, Antonin Dvorak and Edvard Grieg.

I. MUSIC IN GERMANY.

In Germany, very naturally, the activity in the higher departments of music remains more intense than in any other country, and the seat of musical empire may be said to still abide in southern Germany, where it was established by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The most eminent living composer in the higher department of the art, Johannes Brahms, resides at Vienna since these many years; there also Max Bruch long resided, and there the greatest of the light opera composers, the Strauss family and Von Suppé, have lived and worked. It is in the provinces of the Austro-Hungarian empire, moreover, that the Bohemian composer, Dvorak, has his home.

In Johannes Brahms (1833- ) we have still living a musical master of the first order, whose quality as master is shown in his marvelous technique, in which respect no recent composer is to be mentioned as his superior, if any can be named since Bach his equal. This technique was at first personal, at the pianoforte, upon which he was a virtuoso of phenomenal rank; but this renown, great as it is in well informed circles, sinks into insignificance beside his marvelous ability at marshaling musical periods, elaborating together the most dissimilar and apparently incompatible subjects, and his powers of varying a given theme and of unfolding from it ever something new. These wonderful gifts, for such they were rather than laboriously acquired attainments, Brahms showed at the first moment when the light of musical history shines upon him. It was in 1853, when the Hungarian violinist, Edouard Remenyi, found him at Hamburgh and engaged him as accompanist and having ascertained his astonishing talents, brought him, a young man of twenty, to Liszt at Weimar, with his first trio and certain other compositions in manuscript. The new talent made a prodigious effect upon Liszt, who needed not that any one should certify to him whether a composer had genius or merely talent. The Liszt circle took up the Brahms cult in earnest, played the trio at the chamber concerts, and the members when they departed to their homes generally carried with them their admiration of this new personality which had appeared in music.

Johannes Brahms was born at Hamburgh, May 7, 1833, the son of a fine musician who was player upon the double bass in the orchestra there. The boy was always intended for a musician, and his instruction was taken in hand with so much success that at the age of fourteen he played in public pieces by Bach and Beethoven, and a set of original variations. At the age of twenty he was a master, and it was in this year that he accompanied Remenyi, made the acquaintance of Joachim and Liszt, and had a rarely appreciative notice from a master no less than Robert Schumann himself, who in his _New Journal of Music_ said:

"He has come, a youth at whose cradle graces and heroes kept watch. Sitting at the piano he began to unveil wonderful regions. We were drawn into more and more magical circles by his playing, full of genius, which made of the piano an orchestra of lamenting and jubilant voices. There were sonatas, or rather veiled symphonies; songs whose poetry might be understood without words; piano pieces both of a demoniac nature and of the most graceful form; sonatas for piano and violin; string quartettes, each so different from every other that they seemed to flow from many different springs. Whenever he bends his magic wand, there, when the powers of the orchestra and chorus lend him their aid, further glimpses of the magic world will be revealed to us. May the highest genius strengthen him! Meanwhile the spirit of modesty dwells within him. His comrades greet him at his first entrance into the world of art, where wounds may perhaps await him, but bay and laurel also; we welcome him as a valiant warrior."

The next few years were spent by Brahms in directing orchestra and chorus at Detmold and elsewhere, and in Switzerland, which has always had great attraction for him. In 1859 he played in Leipsic his first great pianoforte concerto; most of the criticisms thereon were, however, such as now excite mirth. Lately he has played in Leipsic again, conducted several of his works, and was greeted with the reverence and enthusiasm due the greatest living representative of the art of music. In 1862 Brahms located in Vienna, where he has almost ever since resided. Mr. Louis Kestelborn, in "Famous Composers and Their Works," says: "About thirty years ago the writer first saw Brahms in his Swiss home; at that time he was of a rather delicate, slim-looking figure, with a beardless face of ideal expression. Since then he has changed in appearance, until now he looks the very image of health, being stout and muscular, the noble manly face surrounded by a full gray beard. The writer well remembers singing under his direction, watching him conduct orchestra rehearsals, hearing him play alone or with orchestra, listening to an after-dinner speech or private conversation, observing him when attentively listening to other works, and seeing the modest smile with which he accepted, or rather declined, expressions of admiration."

The most important works of Brahms, aside from his "German Requiem," are four symphonies for orchestra, two concertos for pianoforte, a concerto for violin and 'cello with orchestra, a violin concerto, many songs, a variety of compositions for chamber, embracing a number for unusual combinations of instruments (such as clarinet and horn with piano), sonatas for piano solo, etc. In the songs he attains a simple and direct expression, not surpassed in musical quality since Schubert and Schumann; in the concertos he is more for music than for display, which is merely to say that in conceiving the display of his solo instrument, he has sought rather to display it at its best in a musical sense than to exhibit its peculiar tricks of dexterity. As a symphonist he follows classic form, and is more successful than any other writer in the slow movements, a department in which most of the later writers are distinctly weak, since in an idealized folk song (which is the essential ideal of the symphonic slow movement) poverty of imagination cannot be concealed by dexterity of thematic treatment and modulation. As a writer for the pianoforte he has made important enlargements of the technique, not alone in his arrangement of easier compositions by earlier writers, but still more by original demands upon the fingers, as illustrated in his great sets of variations.

Distinguished among German composers is Max Bruch (1838- ) who was born at Cologne, and educated there and almost everywhere else in Germany. Bruch is best known by his works for chorus with orchestra, of which "Frithjof," "A Roman Song of Triumph," "The Song of the Three Kings," "Odysseus," "Arminius" are best known. His concerto for violin is also played in all parts of the world, but his opera of "Hermione" made but a moderate success at Berlin in 1872. Riemann considers his greatest works for mixed chorus to be "Odysseus," "Arminius," "The Song of the Bell," and for male chorus "Frithjof," "Salamis" and "The Normans." His style is closely wrought, musical, full of deep and natural musical expression, and well colored instrumentation.

Anton Bruckner (1824- ) a highly gifted organist and composer, has written seven symphonies, in which the style is very modern, and shows the influence of the theatrical style of Wagner. He is a composer of considerable vigor.

II. MUSIC IN RUSSIA.

The awakening of musical art has been remarkable in all parts of the civilized world, and in many countries not previously distinguished in music composers have arisen who have embodied the rhythms and spirit of the national songs in their works, composed dramatic works upon national subjects, and so have created a national school of music. In some cases the works of these men have proven of world-wide acceptance; in others they have set in operation musical life in their own country, and have been followed quickly by younger composers working in a more cosmopolitan vein, who have created works which have been taken into the current of the world's music and bid fair to hold an honorable position in the pantheon.

One of the most brilliant cases of this kind is Russia, that country so vast, so powerful, so mysterious. The first composer in Russia to distinguish himself and to create a national opera was Michail Ivanovitch Glinka (1803-1877), born near Selna. His first schooling was at the Adelsinstitute in St. Petersburg, where he distinguished himself in languages. But presently, under the teaching of Bohme upon the violin and Carl Mayer in pianoforte and theory, he showed the musical stuff which was in him. Leaving Russia for his health, he resided four years in Italy, constantly studying and incessantly composing. On his way back to Russia he placed himself for a time under the teaching of the distinguished S. Dehn in Berlin, in theory. Dehn recognized his originality and encouraged him to write "Russian" music. His first opera, "A Life for the Czar" (December 9, 1836), was a great triumph. The subject was national, the contrast between Polish and Russian subjects in the music was brilliant, and actual or simulated folk songs gave a local coloring highly grateful to the Russian audience. The work received innumerable repetitions and still remains one of the most popular operatic works upon the Russian stage. His next work, "Ruslan and Ludmilla," was also successful, and Liszt, who happened to be in Russia at the moment of its production, accorded the young composer distinguished praise. Berlioz took up the pen in honor of Glinka and of his new Russian school of music, and so the composer's powers were widely celebrated. During the remainder of his life Glinka made long residences in the south, especially in Spain, and several orchestral works, with Spanish coloring, represent this portion of his creative career. His last years were spent in rural life near St. Petersburgh, busy with new opera projects, and especially seeking some rational manner of harmonizing the Russian popular songs. Riemann calls Glinka "the Berlioz of Russia," in the originality of his invention and his clever technique; and something more, namely, that he created a national school of music for his country. The list of his works is very long, embracing compositions in almost every province. There are two symphonies, both unfinished, several dances for orchestra, a number of chamber compositions of various combinations of instruments, a tarantella for orchestra, with song and dance ("_La Kamarinskaia_"), etc. His operas, however, are his lasting monument.

The next great name in the roll of Russian music is that of the pianist, Anton von Rubinstein (1830-1895), who was born at Wechwotynez, in Bessarabia. His father presently removed to Moscow, where he carried on a manufactory of lead pencils. The boy Anton showed such talent for music under the skillful and affectionate teaching of his mother, that at the age of ten he was brought before various musical authorities in Paris for opinions concerning his talent. His concert life began almost immediately from this period. His mother went with him, and wherever there were pauses of a few days the studies were resumed, exactly as had been the case with Mozart, long before. In 1848 he found a friend and appreciative companion in the Princess Helene, and then he wrote several operas upon Russian subjects, of which two were published--"Dimitri Donskoi" and "Toms der Narr." The success of these works was such that in 1854 the composer was given a subvention for further foreign study by the Princess Helene and Count Wielhorski, upon which followed four brilliant years of incessant activity as virtuoso pianist and composer, extending as far as London and Paris. Rubinstein had already lived some years in Berlin, where he was as well known as at home. Returning to Russia in 1859, he received important appointments as musical director, founded the St. Petersburg musical conservatory, of which he remained the director until 1867, when ensued a new series of concert journeys covering Europe, and in 1872-1873 extending to America, where he had a wonderful success, carrying back to Russia as proceeds of the American tour the at that time unprecedented sum of $54,000.

As pianist, Rubinstein was distinguished for his grand style, broad and noble mastery of the instrument, and his consummate sympathy and innate musical quality. He was a player of moods, at times playing like a god, at other times his work disfigured by many errors, but always interesting, commanding and noble. He played best the compositions of Beethoven and Schumann, their innate depth and intense musical expression appealing to his richly gifted musical nature irresistibly. His personality was commanding and attractive. Saint-Saëns relates how Rubinstein played in Paris the concertos of Beethoven and of Rubinstein, while Saint-Saëns conducted the orchestra. At the close of the concerts Rubinstein desired to give yet another in which he himself would direct the orchestra, while Saint-Saëns should play. It was for this occasion that the Saint-Saëns second concerto was written. In his later life Rubinstein lived like a prince in a beautiful estate near St. Petersburgh. The list of his works is something enormous. Of operas and dramatic works there are twelve, several of which, such as "The Tower of Babel," "Paradise Lost" and "Moses," are biblical operas, a type of dramatico mystical work created by Rubinstein. It contains the gravity and depth of oratorio combined with the intense realism of the stage. There are six symphonies, of which the famous and several times enlarged "Ocean" symphony is perhaps best known, a "Heroic Fantasia" for orchestra, three character pieces for orchestra, "Faust," "Don Quixote" and "Ivan"; three concert overtures, a quantity of chamber music, compositions for piano, songs, and the like. In everything of Rubinstein beautiful melodies are found; his weakness lies in the development, which occasionally is carried too far, and with insufficient vitality of thematic work.

Even greater than Rubinstein as composer was the brilliant Peter Ilitsch Tschaikowsky (1840-1893). Tschaikowsky was intended for the profession of the law, in which he took his degree. But his love for music asserted itself, and after a short career as pupil in the St. Petersburgh conservatory, he was appointed teacher of harmony in that institution, and entered upon his career as composer. Here he remained but a short time, resigning in 1877, after which he lived by turns at St. Petersburgh, in Italy and in Switzerland. Tschaikowsky was of a lyric musical nature, and in his early life his taste was entirely for Italian music. This shows to a remarkable degree in all his earlier productions, even if he had not himself published the fact so often and unmistakably. In 1869 he produced his first Russian opera, "Der Woiwode" which was followed by eight others, of which the best known are "Eugene Onegin" and "Makula, the Smith." Several of these are now played throughout Europe. It was in his orchestral compositions, however, that Tschaikowsky most illustrated his unexampled powers. Besides a number of brilliant and highly sensational overtures, he composed six symphonies, of unexampled sonority, rich coloring and strange musical expression. The fifth symphony of Tschaikowsky met with almost universal recognition at the hands of the leading orchestral conductors of the world; and the last, the so-called "Tragic," only deepened the impression of the composer's powers. Several points are unusual. The themes themselves are original, forceful and lend themselves easily to elaboration. The harmonic treatment is highly original, as if the author had found, as Bülow said, "new harmonic paths." The instrumentation is richly colored and the climaxes are of vast power and effect. The whole is a grandly composed tone poem which even if regarded as surpassing the proper reserve of symphonic form must nevertheless be counted as one of the most valuable enrichments of the world's orchestral repertory. In several places in his works Tschaikowsky introduces peculiarities of Russian folk music, as for example in the movement in 5-4 measure in the fifth measure symphony. Nevertheless, the works belong to the world's music, being in no sense provincial, narrow or limited. Æsthetically considered, they illustrate the quick technique and over-mastering energy of the race to which the composer belonged.

III. MUSIC IN BOHEMIA.

Another country in which a notable musical revival has taken place during the latter part of the present century is Bohemia, where two names are to be mentioned. Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), is to be remembered as the creator, or at least the awakener, of Bohemian music. After a short education at the Prague university Smetana entered diligently upon the study of music, becoming a brilliant pianist, and as such forming one of the circle of enthusiastic and advancing souls surrounding Liszt at Weimar, between 1850 and 1860. His first position as musical director was at Gothenberg, 1856. Here he lost his wife, the brilliant pianist Katharina Kolar. In 1861 he made a long concert tour to Sweden. In 1866 he was appointed director of the music at the national theater in Prague, a position which he held until obliged to give it up on account of loss of hearing in 1874. Smetana wrote eight operas upon Bohemian subjects, with music in the Bohemian spirit; one best known is "The Bartered Bride," which was the last composed. He also wrote about ten symphonies or symphonic poems, and a great variety of chamber music. Of his symphonic poems those most often played are: "In Wallenstein's Camp," "Moldau," "Sarka" and "Visegrad." In all these the titles are mainly suggestive, although in "Sarka" a programme is quite closely followed. Smetana was a brilliant composer, but his value lies in his awakening of the Bohemians to musical creation.

The most brilliant name in Bohemian music, and the one most valued by the world in general, is that of Anton Dvorak (1841- ), who was the son of a butcher at Mulhausen. The boy early applied himself to the violin, and after some years' playing in small orchestras, found a place as violinist in the orchestra of the National theater at Prague. This was at the age of nineteen. About ten years later he first attracted attention as composer, by means of a hymn for mixed chorus and orchestra. The attention of his countrymen, thus gained, Dvorak fastened still more by a succession of compositions of varied scope, ranging from the Slavic dances and Slavic rhapsodies to symphonies, chamber music and choral works of great brilliancy. In 1892 Dr. Dvorak was called to New York as director of the so-called National Conservatory of Music. In 1895 he returned to Bohemia. The choral works of Dvorak were generally first written for English musical festivals. "The Specter's Bride," "Stabat Mater," "Saint Ludmilla." The list of his works includes five symphonies for full orchestra, several concert overtures, a very beautiful air and variations for orchestra, and seven operas upon Bohemian subjects. Dvorak is one of the most gifted composers of the present time, especially in the matter of technique. His thematic treatment is always clever, his orchestral coloring rich and varied, and his style elegant. If deficiency is to be recorded concerning him it is in invention or innate weight of ideas. During his residence in America he promulgated the idea that an American school of music was to be created by developing the themes and rhythms of the negro melodies, and he wrote a symphony, "From the New World," in order to illustrate his meaning. The second or slow movement of this work attained a distinguished success almost everywhere; but the themes of the first and last movement are not sufficient for the treatment they receive. This work has been more successful in Europe than in this country. Perhaps the most notable quality of Dr. Dvorak's personality is his naiveté, which shows well in his music. He is quite like a modern Haydn, who has learned and remembered everything of musical coloration which has been discovered, but who applies his knowledge in a simple and direct manner without straining after effect.

IV. MUSIC IN SCANDINAVIA.

Foremost of Scandinavian composers is Edvard Hagerup Grieg (1843- ), who was born at Bergen, Norway, and received his early musical education from his mother, who was an excellent pianist, and very musical. By the advice of the celebrated violinist, Ole Bull, Grieg was sent in 1858 to Leipsic for further instruction, where he became a pupil of Moscheles, Hauptmann, Reinecke, Richter and Wenzel. In 1863 he pursued further studies under Gade at Copenhagen. In companionship with a talented young composer, Ricard Nordraak, Grieg set himself, as he says, "against the faded Scandinavianism of Gade and Mendelssohn intermingled, and undertook to put into tones the real beauty, strength and inner spirit of the northern folks-life." He composed in many varieties of work, and in 1879 attained German recognition by playing his own piano concerto at the Gewandhaus in Leipsic. Grieg's works are full of poetry, easy and natural expression, and are pervaded by northern coloring, so decided as in some cases to approach what in speech is called dialect. Nevertheless, it is indubitable that his music has distinctly enriched the world's stream of tone-poetry, and introduced a new accent and voice. He has distinguished himself in almost every department, in songs, choral work, chamber music, symphonies, sonatas for piano and piano and violin, and orchestral suites, of which perhaps his two "Peer Gynt" are the most celebrated. In person Grieg is slight, fair-haired, with lovely deep blue eyes and a charming manner. He is subject to pulmonary weakness, and is compelled to reside much of his time in warmer climates than those of his native land.

An older composer than Grieg is Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890), of Copenhagen, who after a thorough musical education received in his native city, attracted wider attention in 1841 by taking the prize for his concert overture, "Night Sounds from Ossian," the judges being Fr. Schneider and Spohr, the violinist. This gave Gade a royal stipendium, with which he immediately betook himself to study at Leipsic, where he came under the personal influence of Mendelssohn, an influence which he never outgrew. At the death of Mendelssohn he was appointed director of the Gewandhaus, but not proving in all respects satisfactory he held the position only a part of one season. After the death of Gläser in 1861, Gade was made royal music director at Copenhagen, a position which he filled many years. He was active as composer in every direction, his published works embracing eight symphonies, five overtures, two concertos for violin and orchestra, three violin sonatas, several cantatas for mixed voices, soli and orchestra, and many other works. The ultimate judgment of Gade as a tone-poet is likely to be that while distinctly talented, he never attained imagination of the first order.

Among the younger composers Christian Sinding (1856- ) is to be mentioned. Besides many works for chamber, he has written one symphony, which while not very original gives promise of better productions later.

V. MUSIC IN ENGLAND.

The relation of England to the higher art of music has been peculiar. In the sixteenth century and earlier it was one of the most musical countries in Europe; but from the appearance of Händel, about 1720, German music and German composers absorbed public attention to the exclusion of the natives--no one of whom, it may be added, evinced creative powers of any high order. England was a liberal patron of all the leading German masters, from Haydn, who wrote twelve symphonies for the London Philharmonic, to Beethoven, whose ninth symphony was written for the same society; Mendelssohn, whose "Elijah," was written for the Birmingham festival, and Wagner, who received handsome compensation for conducting a series of concerts in London. A little past the middle of the present century, however, more creative activity began to show itself among English composers, until at the present time there are excellent English composers in all the leading departments of musical production. The more celebrated names follow.

One of the most graceful and talented of English composers was Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875), who came of a musical stock, and was duly trained as a choir boy in King's Chapel, and at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1836 he went to Leipsic, in order to profit by the Gewandhaus concerts there and the friendship of Mendelssohn. Here he produced a number of orchestral compositions which were so highly esteemed that in 1853 the directorship of the Gewandhaus concerts was offered him. After a short sojourn at Leipsic he returned to London, where he ever after lived, highly honored as composer, pianist, teacher and man. In 1856 he became the conductor of the London Philharmonic concerts, and in 1866 principal of the Royal Academy of Music. He was knighted in 1871, having previously been honored by degrees from Cambridge and Oxford. He was professor of music in Cambridge University from 1856 until his death. As a composer Bennett was influenced by Mendelssohn, but he had much delicacy of fancy and a certain originality of his own. His compositions embrace four concertos for piano and orchestra, several concert overtures for orchestra, one symphony, much chamber music, a cantata, "The May Queen" (1858), "The Woman of Samaria" (1867), and a number of occasional odes, anthems and part songs.

The successor of Sterndale Bennett as principal of the Royal Academy of Music was Sir George A. Macfarren (1813-1887), who although totally blind for many years before his death, produced a greater number of important compositions than any other English composer of the century. He was educated in London, and in 1834 became one of the professors in the Royal Academy of Music. His first opera was produced in 1838, "Devil's Opera," "Don Quixote" (1836), "Jessy Lea" (1863) and "Helvellyn" (1864). He wrote a number of cantatas for chorus and orchestra, oratorios, "St. John the Baptist" (1873), "The Resurrection" (1876), "Joseph" (1877), and other works of less importance. There are also many anthems, several overtures and other pieces for chamber. Personally he was kind-hearted, intelligent, helpful and public spirited. The amount of work that he accomplished under the greatest of disadvantages is wonderful, as well as its generally superior quality. As a lecturer and teacher he was the foremost musical Englishman of his time. His compositions are strong and respectable, but not especially inspired.

The successor of Sir Geo. Macfarren in the principalship of the Royal Academy of Music was Alexander Campbell Mackenzie (1847- ), the youngest eminent English composer, but also the most successful and promising. He was educated as a violinist, and resided at Edinburgh as a teacher of the pianoforte and violin until his compositions attracted the attention of his countrymen and induced his being called to London. The most important compositions of Dr. Mackenzie up to the present time are the operas "Colomba" (1883), "The Troubadour" (1886) and the oratorio "The Rose of Sharon" (1884). There are several cantatas, "Jason," "The Bride," "The Story of Sayid" (1886) and a considerable number of orchestral pieces, of which two Scotch rhapsodies and the overture to "Twelfth Night" are the best known. He has also produced a violin concerto (played by Mr. Sarasate), and much chamber music and songs. On the whole, Dr. Mackenzie seems the most gifted English composer who has yet appeared.

INDEX.

"Abel", 351

"Abou Hassan", 408

Académie de Musique, 238

Adam, 491

Adam de la Halle, 122

Æschylus, 55

"Africaine", 414

"Agnes von Hohenstaufen", 479

"Aida", 485

"Alceste", 333

"Alcidor", 479

"Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung", 464

Amati, 201

Ambrosian Scales, 131

Anglo-Saxon Harp, 104

Anglo-Saxons, Music among, 96

"Anna Bolena", 482

Antiquity, Music in, 23

Apprentice Periods of Music, 22

Arabs and Saracens, 109

"Arianna", 224

Aristophanes, 57

Aristotle, 58, 65

Aristoxenus, 58

Arkadelt, 165

Art, Conditions of Its Development, 18

Art Forms, Qualities of, 20

"Ascanio", 494

Assyrian Harps, 45

Assyrians, Music among, 46

Auber, 488

Aurelian, 139

Bach, 265, 468

Bach as Melodist, 272

Bach, Emanuel, 282

Banjo, Ancient, 46

Bar in Vocal Music, 186

Bardi, Count of, 221

Bards, 89

Barytone, 196

"Basilius", 242

Bayreuth, 425

"Beatrice and Benedict", 435

Bede, 139

Beethoven, 305, 316, 319, 320, 355, 499

Bellini, 482

Bellows Bags in Old Organs, 206

Bennett, 501

Berger, 361

Berlioz, 432

Berlioz and Mendelssohn, 434

Bizet, 495

Blondel, 123

Blow, Dr. John, 354

Boethius, 135

Boieldieu, 343

Boito, 486

Bologna, Mozart at, 295

Books Published, 220

Boscherville Sculptures, 208

Brahms, 498

Braithwaite's Musicians for an Earl's Household, 213

Breton Song, 88

Bruce's Harpers, 30

Bruch, 500

Bülow, 423, 507

Buxtehude, 254

"Caliph de Bagdad", 344

"Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage", 457

Calzabigi, 333

Cambert, 236

"Cantilena of St. Eulalie", 116

Canzone, 249

Carissimi, 245

Cassiodorus, 137

Cavalli, 226, 231

"Caverne, La", 342

Celts, 87

Centers of Music, 17th Century, 220

Cesti, 226

Chansons de Geste, 115

"Cheval de Bronze, Le", 490

China, 73

Chitarrone, 193

Chopin, 441

Choral Song, 53

Choral Works of Bach, 268

Chromatic Keyboards, 205

Church Influence, 128

Cithara, 64

Clementi, 355, 357

Concerto, 249

"Concertstück", 411

Corelli, 255

"Corpse Fantasia", 383

Council of Trent, 174

Cramer, 360

Cremona, 198

"Crociato, Il", 141

"Crown Diamonds", 490

Crwth, 24, 106

Cypriano de Rore, 172

"Dafne", 222

"Damnation of Faust", 434

Délibes, 494

"Devil's Trill", 366

"Devin du Village", 339

Didactic of Music, 134

"Dido and Æneas", 349

"Dinorah", 415

"Don Giovanni", 300

Donizetti, 482

"Don Sanché", 446

Drama, Ancient, 54, 55

Druids, 89

Dufay, 158

Dussek, 357

Düsseldorf, Mendelssohn, 459

Dvorak, 503

Egyptians, Early, 25

Elements of Music, 15

"Elijah", 461

English Round, 100

"Entführung aus dem Serail", 297

"Esther," Händel, 277

Eoud, 113

Epics, French Mediæval, 115

"Erl King, The", 384

"Ernani", 485

"Euryanthe", 409

"Eve", 493

"Faust," Berlioz, 434

"Faust," Gounod, 491

"Faust," Schumann, 474

"Faust," Spohr, 369

"Fernand Cortez", 478

Fétis, on the Celts, 90

Field, 356

Fleurettes, 157

Flute, Egyptian, 28

Flute, Greek, 64

Flute, Hebrew, 42

Form, Principles of, 20

"Fra Diavolo", 490

Franco of Cologne, 146, 156, 186

Franco of Paris, 147, 157

Frauenlob, 125

French Opera, Origin of, 225

French Tenacity of Vernacular, 239

Frescobaldi, 252

Fugue, 151, 262, 263, 270

Fugue, Chromatic, 271

Gade, 497

"Gioconda, La", 487

"God and Nature", 413

Grieg, 500

"Harmony and Meter", 460

"Harold in Italy", 434

Heller, 504

Henselt, 504

Hérold, 490

Hiller, 505

"Huron, Le", 341

India, Music in, 70

India, Musical Drama in, 73

Individualism, 374

Instrumental Music, 249

Instruments, Relation to Progress, 20

"Iphigenie", 335

Ireland, Music in, 95

Irish Harp, 97

Iron Frame, 401

Iron Tension Bar, 399

Isidore, of Seville, 138

"Ismene", 242

Italian School of Singing, 228

Japanese, 77

"Jean de Paris", 344

"Jephthah," Carissimi, 245

"Jessonda", 369

Jomelli, 346

Josquin, 163

Jubal, 43

"Judith", 351

Kerl, 253

Kindergarten, Egyptian, 39

King Arthur, 98

King David Playing, 24

Kinnor, 42

Klauser, "Septonnate", 17

Ko-ko, 77

"Kreisleriana", 471

Kuhnau, 354

"Lakmé", 494

Lalo, 495

Landseer Portrait of Paganini, 431

Lassus, 167

Leading Motive, 410

"L'Elisir d'Amore", 482

Léonin, 153

Liszt, 446, 447

Liszt and "Lohengrin", 418

Liszt and the Later Sonatas of Beethoven, 323

Liszt, Pupils of, 451

Liszt's Appearance, 454

Litolff, 504

"Lucia", 482

Lulli, 236

Luther, 175

Lyre, Egyptian, 33

Lyre, Greek, 64

Lyric Element in Music, 263

Macfarren, 501

Mackenzie, 503

Macrobus, 134

Madrigal, 215

Madrigal in Opera, 217

Magadis, 64

"Marion Delorme", 487

Martinus Capella, 135

"Marriage of Jeannette", 493

Mask, 225

Mason's Enthusiasm for Schumann, 475

"Masaniello", 489

Massé, 492

Massenet, 493

Mediæval Violins, 195

Méhul, 342

"Mefistofele", 486

"Meistersinger, Die", 423

Mendelssohn, 455

Mendelssohn on Berlioz, 434

Mendelssohn's Relation to Schubert, 377

"Messe Solennelle," Rossini, 481

Metastasio, 333

Meyerbeer, 411

"Mignon", 495

Minnesingers, 123

Minstrels of the North, 87

Miracle Plays, 244

"Mireille", 491

Mixtures in Old Organs, 207

Modes, Greek, 61

"Moise", 481

Monody and Homophony, 198

Monsigny, 339

Monteverde, 224

"Mors et Vita", 492

Moscheles, 362

Moscheles with Mendelssohn, 455

Moszkowsky, 503

Motette, 154

Mozart, 299

Mozart as an Operatic Force, 336

Mozart on Jomelli, 346

Naples Schools, 169

"Nero", 486

Neumæ, 181

Nicodé, 503

"Nibelung's Ring", 420

"Norma", 483

Notation, 179

Notation, Roman, 189

"Nurmahal," 1822, 479

"Oberon", 409

Odon, 143

Okeghem, 162

Old French School, 153

Opera, 223

Opera in Germany and France, 235

Opera in 16th Century, 327

Opera and Drama, 427

Opera, Future of, 427

Oratorio, 223, 244

Oratorio in Costume, 280

Orchestic, Greek, 56

Orchestra at End of 17th Century, 256

Orchestra, Corelli's, 255

Orchestra, Monteverde's, 224

Organ, Early Form, 202

Organ, Portable, 204

Organ at Winchester, 98

Organ Music Notation, 251

Organum, 142

Orlando di Lassus, 166

"Orpheus," Gluck's, 333

"Otello", 485

"Otello," 1816, 479

Pachelbel, 253

Paganini, 428

Paisiello, 347

Palestrina, 173

Parish-Alvars, 439

"Parsifal", 426

Passions, Bach, 269

Patriotic Use of Music, 52

Pentatonic Scales, 74

People's Song, 263

Perceptions of Tone, 85

Pergolesi, 345

Pérotin, 153

Perrin, the Abbé, 326

Petrucci, 217

Phantasiestücke, Schumann, 469

Philippe de Vitry, 157

Phillidor, 339

Piccini, 347

Pindar, Ode of, 69

Pizzicati, 224

Plato, 67

Pollini, 439

"Polliodoro," Graun, 328

"Polyeucte", 491

Ponchielli, 487

Popular Taste for Music, 213

Popularity in 19th Century, 373, 379

Polyphonic Schools of Italy, 168

Polyphony as an Art Form, 151

Porpora, 228

"Postillon de Lonjumeau, Le", 491

"Pré aux Clercs, Le", 490

"Promessi Sposi, I", 487

"Prophète", 414

Ptolemy, 61

Pupils of Liszt, 452

Purcell, 349

"Puritani, I", 483

"Pygmalion", 339

Pythagoras, 59

Rameau, 336

Ratios, Greek Tetrachord, 61

Ravanastron, 72

Rebec, 196

"Redemption, The", 492

Reinecke, 508

Reinken, 254

Reinmar, 127

Rémi, 139

"Representative Style", 223

"Requiem," Berlioz, 434

"Requiem," Mozart, 303

"Rheingold, Das", 420

Rhythm of Bach, 271

Rhythmic Development, 188

Ricerari, 249

"Rienzi", 416

Rinuccini, 222

"Robert le Diable", 414

"Robin and Marian", 236

Roman Notation, 180

Romantic, The, 373

"Romilda e Constanza", 413

Rondo, 155

Rossini, 479

Rota, 150

Rousseau, 338

"Rubezahl", 408

Rubinstein, 505

Saint-Saëns, 493

Santir, 114

Saracens, 109

Saracens, Instruments of, 112

"Sardanapolis", 433

Scales, Greek, 60

Scales, Ambrosian, 129, 130

Scandinavians, Music among, 99

Scarlatti, A., 227, 232

Scarlatti, D., 275, 353

Scheidt, 250

Schein, 251

School of Munich, 166

Schools of the Netherlands, 160

Schubert, 376, 381

Schulhoff, 504

Schumann, 464-477

Schütz and "Dafne", 239

Scotch Melody, 108

"Septonnate", 17

"Serva Padrona, La", 344

"Siegfried", 421

Socrates, 56

Sonata Form, 264

Sonatas, Bach, 265

Sonatas, Beethoven, 309, 319, 322

Sonatas, Corelli, 255

Sonatas, Haydn, 288, 317

Sonatas, Weber, 410

"Song of Roland", 118

"Song of the Harper", 36

Songs of Schubert, 384

Songs of Schumann, 468

Songs of Troubadours, 121

"Songs without Words", 458

"Sonnambula, La", 482

Spinet, 393, 396

Spohr, 366

Spontini, 478

Staff, 185

Steinway, 402

St. Ambrose, 129

St. Mark's, 133

"St. Paul", 459

"Sumer is Icumen in", 101

Svensden, 500

Swelinck, 250

"Symphoniæ Sacræ", 247

Symphonies, Beethoven, 319

Symphonies, Haydn, 288

Symphonies, Mendelssohn, 464

Symphonies, Schumann, 474

Symphony, 316

"Tancredi", 479

"Tannhäuser", 418

Tartini, 364

Tausig, 505

Technique, Modern, 436, 446

Terpander, 52

Thalberg, 438

Thales, 52

Theaters in Venice, 226

Thematic Work, Schumann, 473

Theory, India, 70

Theory, Mediæval, 134, 147

Thomas, Ambroise, 495

Tinctor, 163

Thomaschek, 359

"Tom Jones", 339

Tonality, 84

Tone Perceptions, 17, 55

"Traviata, La", 485

"Triads of Britain", 93

"Tristan and Isolde", 423

Troubadours, 121

"Trovatore, Il", 485

Tschaikowsky, 499

Verdi, 483

"Vestale, La", 478

Vina, 71

Viol da Gamba, 164

Violin Making, 195

Violin, Stradivarius, 199

Virtuosity, 378

Virtuoso Element, 19th Century, 428

Vitry, Philippe de, 157

Wagner, 416

Wagner and Berlioz, 434

Wagner, "Die Walküre", 420

Weber, 406

Weber as Pianist, 410, 437

Weber's Influence on Piano Playing, 410

Weimar, Liszt at, 449

Welsh, Music of, 93

Wieck, 467

Wilhelm, Count, Troubadour, 121

Willaert, Adrien, 171

Winchester, Organ at, 98

"Zampa", 490

Zarlino, 171, 257

Zelter, 457

Zingarelli, 348