Part 2

In "Alceste" his overture assumed a new significance. It had no formal end but was broken into by the chorus. In "Armide" each character had music personally distinctive. "Iphigenie en Tauride" combined dramatic sincerity, superb use of recitative, natural and telling though simple choruses, throbbing height of passion, unification of parts of soloists, chorus and orchestra. He is termed a "creator of dramatic music". Orchestration was his specialty although he introduced it subservient to action. However, Gluck never employed trill passages or cadenzas, for he wanted to accentuate nature and strengthen declamation. His choruses are treated as "an additional acting character", and his recitative is true to the dramatic import. Rameau's and Lulli's operas were crabbed and rigid in comparison. Gluck alone gives each personage a style that is proper. The musicians who would not, or could not sing, except from the wings, were ignored by Gluck, and he refused the undramatic demands of the manager. In "Iphigenia en Tauris" the chorus works into a background which appropriately and dramatically supports the singer. The two tendencies in Gluck are, to neglect all sensuous aesthetic pleasure for attainment of dramatic intensity through declamation, and to realize his purpose through emotional pleasure, harmony of color, greater unity of scenes, the carrying out of one dramatic idea from the beginning to the end, making each individual part stronger.

Piccini was the innovator of the dramatic treatment of the duet and extended development of the finale. He was the first to turn choral masses to account on the stage. He used "Recitative instrumento" in pale of the ordinary "Recitative secco." Mozart enlarged on his ideas, for his command of the orchestra was unrivalled as a dramatic factor. Cimarosa placed a statue on the stage, with a pedestal in the orchestra, while Mozart placed the staue in the orchestra, using the work of the stage as the pedestal. Cimarosa uses the accompaniment for the support while Mozart intensifies the voice. Cimarosa was the first to introduce quartets and other concerted pieces in the midst of dramatic action, and not as an ornament at the end of the act, but he was outdistanced by Mozart. Before this, opera was merely a recitative, with a chorus at the end of each act, and then occasional airs were introduced, but not before the middle of the 18th century do we find trios, etc.

Beethoven and Weber followed Gluck. Beethoven gave to the orchestra the explanatory character of the chorus. He employs twenty phrases for a single character in "Fidelio". Weber used spoken dialogue and recitative sparingly but when neccessary composed with originality and dramatic vividness. He tried to construct drama by means of melody and failed. The first example of a grand orchestral prelude is written in six-fourth time to "Der Beberrscher der Geister." The overture to "Der Freischutz", by the use of leading themes, relates the entire story.

In the Italian and French school, "a la Sopontini" the orchestra lifted and balanced the words and the spirit of the orchestra reveals the innermost emotions of the dramatic personae. The Mythical manner is chosen, and a use of alliterative verse with a peculiar use of the orchestra as preparing, supporting, commenting upon, enforcing and recalling the various situations of the text.

III. ROSSINI AND HIS SCHOOL UP TO WAGNER.

In 1814 the operatic conditions were deplorable. Vocalists were masters over the composers. They accepted the mere skeleton of a tune, and so adorned it with their own trills and flourishes that the poor composer could scarcely recognize it. The solos were placed to suit their convenience, whether or not they were suited dramatically. The tenor singers were very prominent and the bass singers had not as yet emerged from the background.

Rossini expelled the male soprani from the stage, directed and controlled his own operas. His music was sensuous and, as shown in "William Tell", of a simple dramatic style. The operas were of two acts and scarcely conducive to the maintenance of dramatic action, separated by a ballet. His "Elizabetha" contained an overture, a duet and the finale had involved motives in the orchestra. There were two tenors, for the bass was still in the background. This was the first opera in which the recitative was accompanied by a stringed quartet and double bass. He supported the declamation by brilliant themes for the orchestra. "The Barber of Seville" is a series of melodies, continuous, and the characters only ceased to sing for strains executed by the instrumentalists. The transfer of the current of the melody from the voices to the orchestra was an entirely new idea. He also introduced new instruments into the orchestra.

Mozart was indebted to the Italians for the sweetness of his melodies and gave to Italy, through Rossini, new instrumental combinations, new dramatic methods and new operatic forms. The horn, eighty years ago, was not very important in Italy and the orchestration played in the operatic band probably had a part in developing the taste for wind instruments and especially for horns. Rossini was a student of Haydn's symphonies and quartets.

In the opera-buffo "L'Equivaco Stravagante" the concerted pieces are good, and the final rondo a type of final airs. "L'Inganno Felice" was the first to make an impression. "Ciro in Babilonia" was given to accomodate a woman, who sustained one tone while the orchetra played the melody. With "Tancredi" came the commencement of reforms and the character of the easily comprehended melodies was fascinating. Rossini substituted singing for declamation, for monologues supported by chords, and concerted pieces connected with and supported by a brilliant orchestral accompaniment. In "Tancredi" the bass was given prominence, in fact he was as prominent as the tenor. In "Semiramide" the principal is a bass. The action is sustained, the number of formal airs decreased, the number of characters increased and a free use made of the chorus, which previous to this time had been merely a subordinate part with no dramatic functions. In "Otello" the recitative is used more sparingly and accompanied by a full band, from which the piano was banished. This had been expelled before in Germany, and by Gluck in France. The two leading parts are assigned to bass voices, and the interminable recitative accompanied by double piano or piano and double bass, is done away with. The most beautiful airs for the prima donna are in "La Cenercatola".

Rossini was now bringing his operas to a brilliant termination, and beginning to emphasize the alto and mezzo voice. It was only toward the end of his Italian career in "Matilda di Shubrun" that he assigned the leading part to a soprano. We find now that there are no leading parts written for contralto and whether this is due the fact that the soprano has bean forced into activity to suit new tastes, or because contraltos are rare, we can not say. Of course Meyerbeer's "L'Africaine" and Donnizetti's "La Favorita" are exceptions. The orchestration of "La Gazza Ladrone" is more brilliant and sonorous than that of its predecessors and introduces new instruments, new combinations, a new distribution of voice parts, and of orchestral melodies with declamatory phrases for the singers instead of the endless recitative accompanied only by chords for the cellos or piano.

He introduced cornets and ophicleides in the overture to "William Tell", as the nearest approach to the actual instruments used by the cowherders of Switzerland. In "Semiramide" he brought an entire band onto the stage and wrote beautifully harmonized music which suggests the chase. He began the overture to "La Gazza Ladrona" with a duet for the drums, and did away with the extemporaneous attempts at orchestration by solo instrumentalists in the accompaniment, who were every bit as disagreeable and authoritative os the vocal soloists.

Berlioz charged that Rossini's music was heartless, unemotional and written entirely for the singer, utterly disregarding the vocal effect. His particular attention to orchestral and choral effects may be traced to the Parisian influence of his fine experience in hearing their choruses and orchestras. His music changed from the soft voluptuous melodies of "Semiramide" to simple emotional dramatic ones in "William Tell".

Rossini, as mentioned before, was the first Italian to accompany recitative with a full band, assign leading parts to the bass, make each dramatic scene one continuous piece of music, and bring to perfection the highly varied, amply developed, concerted finales.

Donizetti wrote from sixty to seventy operas, but his "Don Pasquale" is in a light style as compared to the "Barber of Seville" and does not approach "Semeramide" for melody, nor "William Tell" for dramatic value. Stendhal foretold that the florid music of Rossini would be followed by a master of simple melodies and we find Bellini to be the one. Donizetti's work is not well balanced and he sways from one extreme to the other. His tenor air in "Anne Bolena" is attractive for it possesses more dramatic significance than most of his. He counted on the pure musical effect, which is naturally more effective in spoken drama than in opera, which is sung through out. For instance, the horn of "Hermani" is terrifying when heard in the play, but merely ordinary when heard in the opera. He seldom wrote a tune, or scored a half dozen measures of simple accompaniment, without burying the voice under ponderous chords for the wood winds. "Lucrezia Borgia" contains less recitative than was customary with Rossini. Notice must be taken of the brilliancy of the introduction, the series of dramatic scenes and the large number of tuneful themes distributed judiciously for the four leading personages. "Lucia" is broadly conceived, well constructed and highly dramatic, especially where the chorus informs Lucia of the end of Edgar. In "La Favorita" there is passionate impulsiveness in the final duet, the choruses are impressive, and the music appropriate to the various personages and situations of the piece.

Bellini had true melody and his creative power was more effective than Donizetti's, as was his use of the orchestra. He abandoned trills and for ornamentation delivered simple phrases. "La Somnambula" is an endless flow of melodies full of true emotion and thoroughly dramatic, for he gave attention to the orchestration and concerted melodies. Rossini emphasized the necessity of introducing choruses, which he maintained were indispensable for dramatic effect, and we find his ideas developed by these men. However, these, and Paisiello's form of long scenes of recitative are old now.

Mozart's introduction to "Figaro" first introduces the air by the orchestra, then transcribed for the solo voice and finally sung by the chorus. The melody of his "Zitti Zitti" trio was take I from Hayden's "Seasons". He has adapted also an air from a Russian dance to aid in the dramatic effect. He reached the highest perfection of expression of melody with the strings, woodwinds and voice. His librettos are weak, however, although he rewrote the less important ones himself. His recitative is barren, for in his operas one had only to sing beautifully, while in Wagner one must declaim beautifully. Mozart knew music as the art of expression and gave this in its fullest sense to airs, duets and ensemble pieces, yet he left opera forms as he found them. He spoke of and depicted scenes, animals, etc. in his music. "Magic Flute" is a primma donna opera. Mozart considered first music, then the book and lastly the performance. In "Figaro" the psychological handling of the characters is unconvincing. He has applied one invariable musical formula to every character. He repeats one or two chords ad infinitum in the orchestra. The voice trips along on top of these in semi speed. He sanctioned formulas for cadences used in every situation. Even in "Don Giovanni" the formulas for the cadences are used in this manner. He uses the same method for light scenes as well as tragic situations, depicting indignant heroines and chorus in the same manner. He was more musical but he did not realize the dramatic situations.

Bellini was a pure melodist, but his instrumentation was faulty, and he objected to ornamentation.

The French opera helps to develop the tendency of individual expression while the German crushes it in striving for a whole general effect. Rameau's "Hyppolyte et Aricie" is the most highly developed study of character. Lulli's work is an amplification of Ramean's work. He combined simplicity, natural melody and dramatic intentions. He developed his attention to the orchestra, and employed the chorus as an integral factor in the situation. He invented the overture using a slow movement, followed by a quick fugal style with the third division, a short dance. He developed the style of the French ballet. Both he and Ramean considered accompanied recitative a matter of more importance than a continuous flow of melodies. He reduced music to a minimum in this and did not dominate it in time, rythm nor musical feeling. He characterized it by accentuating the metrical and prosodial elements of the words themselves, and followed closely the accent of the words, changing rapidly from four-four rythm to three-four, and back again.

There is no feeling in his arias for he was restricted to conventional forms, and his melodies are characterless. In his "Comique de la Rayne", arranged by Baltazan de Beaujoyeaux, with dance, tunes, chorus, musical dialogues and ritornelli he exhibits a bold and highly cultivated taste for instrumental music which led him to mold the overture into a more perfect form.

The serious opera, however, was becoming a mass of absurdities, emphasizing the spectacle as superior to the music, with bad libretti, degenerating under aristocratic patronage. The overture was to anticipate the opera and a better recitative was wanted. Gluck wished to minimize the disparity between opera and recitative and protested against the frequent use of the de capo and repetition of words, maintaining that the words should only be repeated where required by circumstances of passion.

Meyerbeer was feeble in harmonic invention with no psychological grip but with a talent for manipulating broad contrasts and climaxes of sound. He is a creator of modern stage technique, merging scenes and music into unity, a school of dramatic effects closely studied by Berlioz and Wagner.

Bizet's "Carmen" is the most brilliant and best to convey the romance of the nomadic desire in the gypsy. The ballets and operas of Delibes are like the fashioning of a piece of Sevres china. Cesar Franck's veil of harmonies envelops a multitude of themes so that the tragic ending almost gives one a sense of peace. Auber was the last to represent the Opera Comique and is noted for his simple melodies, and the rythm and brilliancy of his orchestral effects. Bizet's operas are notable for their abundance of local color, but Meyerbeer was the most influential except Wagner. He opened up a new epoch in French opera.

IV. WAGNER.

Wagner objected to the sentimental Italian music. He considered Gluck only a musician of airs, and himself insisted on absolute equality of words and music. His "Trilogy" is the longest musical work in the world, containing 984,033 notes. He discarded formal arias, finales, separate movements, to a great extent choruses, whereever histrionic delineation did not demand them. He considered a full close or final cadence quaint and for usual formal melodies substituted declamatory recitative or speech song.

Gluck and Wagner brought back undying principles of dramatic worth. In the days of Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti, melody was supreme. The dramatic truth was lost sight of and the melody was not appropriate. In "William Tell" and "Der Freischutz" there was a step onwards towards the Wagner reform and a return to the first principles of dramatic art as applied to opera by the Bardi coterie. There was recitative, declamation and melody. Individualism was the prevailing tendency, and the success depends on the forcibleness of character development by means of the leitmotiv. Operatic art was here swaying between Wagnerism and the ancient Greek drama. This union of drama and music does away with the old absurd Italian form, in which the libretto was a mere skeleton, the situations unnatural and the music inappropriate and undramatic.

The Wagner texts were better and abolished concerted music which was unnatural, and he demanded distinctness in ennunciation, musical embodiment of emotional speech, melodic independence of the orchestra and rapid and natural action. The Italian libretto was merely an excuse for musical adornment, but the Wagnerian opera was a source of inspiration. Wagner translated every character, emotion, dramatic action, symbolic idea by a series of characteristic phrases. He joined motive to motive, developed with artistic skill a musical current rolling along in the orchestral accompaniment and ample in every word.

In his earlier works Wagner adhered to the lyrical conception of the opera. Speech was raised by stress of emotion into song with the orchestra used only as an accompaniment and, under this new system, effected an organization of instrumental and vocal forces. In "Das Rheingold" the orchestra is exalted to symphonic dignity with the traditional alternations of the formal song and recitative merged into free declamation. The symphonic treatment of the orchestra led to increased developmentt of leading motives. As symphonic music presupposes the use of musical themes, Wagner drew his themes not from the words sung by the characters but from the characters themselves, their thoughts, feelings and aspirations. In the love duet in "Die Walküre" the most delicious harmony is expressed.

Wagner was both a poet and a musician and combined poetry, music and pantomine painting. He is called the "reformer of opera", a "regenerator of modern drama". Wagner's great work aside from the leitmotiv was his work with recitative. Up to this time the recitative and the arias were dry, weak, barren and hampered every composer and poet. Up to his time the recitative aria and the ballet had undergone no organic change, though the aria had suffered many changes of fashion. He did not mean to sacrifice the beauty of sound in the Italian operas, but this had so far usurped the first place, while the dramatic motive which had inspired the invention of the opera. His works are not conspicuous for pure melody, for he considered the dramatic effect of chords and discords. He paid deference to the language employed and the vocal peculiarities of the people, for the German words were unintelligible when sung to the florid Italian tunes. He wrote the vocal parts of his lyric dramas to bring out the force of his poetry.

He gave new expression to new ideas. Peri, in "Eurydice", concealed an orchestra behind the scenes. In Monteverde's "Orfeo", thirty-six different instruments were relegated to each personage. Wagner assigned an instrument or set of instruments to each person. His typical phrases are most interesting. He pictures the giants, in "Das Rheingold", with loud heavy octaves, the Nibelung, tricksters and schemers, with music of a descending figure, twothirds the interval of a seventh, the melodies of the Rhine with characteristic figures depicting slow undulation of water in its depths, flux and reflux of element, ripples on the surface and the motion of the swimmers.

His "Rheingold" music is truly scenic. It begins with a single deep tone and then introduces instruments of a lighter color. The graduated augmentation of the wavy accompaniment and the doubly delineative spirit reflects the sinless quiet of the Golden Age. There are themes for mental states and the evil Alberich is represented by abrupt jerky music. The orchestra discourses mournfully of the renunciation of love. Loga is depicted by fitful chromatic phrases which crackle and flash thru the orchestra. The sword phrase consists of major harmonies over sustained pedal point, and the thunderstorm of rushing figures in bass, and staccato lightning in short rapid figures in lighter instruments, crashing of the wind in chromatic phrases, a hammering rythm for the Nibelung. Siegfried's boyhood is pictured as a wild forest lad with a hunting call, and when he gathers pieces of the spear the music accompaniment is in broken rythm.

In "Parsifal" the music depicts little of external things. In "Tannhaüser" there are fancies which Wagner wished to float thru the minds of the audience and the Pilgrim's Chant swells and disappears. In "Tristan and Isolde" the prelude represents the spiritual progress of the tragedy. The suffering of the wounded Tristan is shown by a theme of descending half steps and a closing cadence of short phrases which stand for the love glance is a downward leap of the seventh. The symbol of death is expressed with a sudden and unprepared change from A flat to A. The music consists of a few phrases which unfold themselves over and over again in a variety of combinations with continually changing instrumental color. "Die Meistersinger" prelude delineates the characteristic traits of the personages, and the symphonic introduction indicates the elements of the plot, the progress in its developement and the outcome. The two classes of melodies are broadly distinguished in external physiognomy and emotional essence, at first consecutively, then in conflict and finally in harmonious and contented union. The solid old burghers of Nuremburg, a little vain, are pictured by strong simple tunes with sequences of the intervals of the simple diatonic scale, strongly and simply harmonized, a trifle pompous in opposition to the passion of the lovers displayed. These themes differ in every respect, melodic, rythmic, and harmonic, and also in their treatment. The lover's theme is chromatic, the rythme are less regular and more eager by syncopation. This is harmonized with greater warmth and set for the instruments with greater passion.

Wagner's orchestra acquired gradually the functions of the Greek chorus, in that it takes part in the action to publish that which is beyond the capacity of the personages alone to utter. He unfolds thoughts, emotions, motives and passions by means of mode, harmony, rythm, time and the orchestration. By applying the principles of augmentation to a phrase in the three phases of melodic, harmonic and instrumental structure, he illustrates the tragic growth of Siegfried. He wrote his own librettos so that his works would be consistent. "Tristan and Isolde", "Die Meistersinger", "Der Ring des Nibelunger" and "Parsifal" realized his conception of what a poet composer should be. Music had usurped the place in lyric drama and music is a medium only and not an end of dramatic expression. His leitmotiv, infinite melody and symbolical themes gave his orchestra color. He used musical declamation for recitative secco, employed choruses with intelligent regard, and originated arias from the situations. Wagner lived for pure singing and did not make abnormal demands upon the voice like those of Strauss' "Electra". He has long solo passages and orderly development of orchestral themes, as different from Debussy whose sounds are not connected. Wagner elevated the orchestra from a mere accompanying force to an essential factor. He maintained that formal song should be abolished, that the dialogue should be musical and that the orchestra should have an orderly development of melodic material save when the climaxes justify an apparently disconnected dramatic melodramatic method. Damrosch criticizes Wagner because he says everything in his orchestra, and his singer is too little considered.