A Popular History of the Art of Music

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Of the Schumann works as a whole the most striking characteristic is
the spontaneous, improvistic effect. Every Schumann piece--that is to
say, every _successful_ Schumann piece--has the character of an
improvisation, in which the power and fancy of the composer are as
marked as his deep tenderness and sentiment, fine instinct for poetic
effect and a delicate ear for tone-color. For this reason the popular
appreciation of the Schumann works upon a large scale is only a
question of an educated generation. There are many indications of
progress in this direction on the part of musical amateurs the world
over. In Schumann's lifetime, and immediately after his death, the
neglect of his compositions was extreme. Dr. Wm. Mason narrates that
when he visited Leipsic in 1850, one of the first symphonies he heard
was Schumann's in B flat, the first composition of this writer he had
ever heard. The beauty and force of the work took complete possession
of him. A new world of tone was opened to him. He dreamed of the
Schumann symphony all night, and at early morning went down to
Breitkopf & Haertel's to inquire whether this man Schumann had written
anything for the piano. The salesman laid before him a few dusty
compositions off the shelves. The young American asked, "Is that all?"
More were produced. "Is that all?" he asked again, whereupon the
salesman, discovering that he had a Schumann enthusiast to deal with,
took advantage of the moment and in the cellar showed him whole
editions of Schumann pianoforte pieces tied up in bundles, exactly as
they had come from the printers. Liszt in some of his earlier concerts
attempted to patronize the Schumann compositions. Their style,
however, was so different from the sensationalism of his own pieces or
the sentiment of Chopin, that the public failed to appreciate them,
and the pianist dropped them. Nevertheless, there were reasons why
Liszt ought to have played these works. The Schumann technique is not
sensational, like that of Liszt, but it has with it one element in
common, already referred to--the pedal legato--and no pianist of that
time was so well prepared to recognize and interpret this element as
Liszt if he had realized his opportunity.

[Illustration: Fig. 87.

ROBERT SCHUMANN.]

In person Schumann was of medium height, inclining to corpulency, with
a very soft and gentle walk and a most invincible habit of silence.
Old residents of Leipsic remember his visits to the rehearsals at the
_Gewandhaus_, where for a whole evening he would sit with his
handkerchief held over his mouth, never speaking a word to any one
from the beginning to the end, and going away as silently as he came.
Nevertheless, it was universally recognized that upon these occasions
Schumann heartily enjoyed himself, and to use his own words again, he
and the music "perfectly understood one another." His mind was
intensely active and fanciful. This is seen in all his pieces. The
rapidity of the musical thought, the strong contrasts of mood, the
proximity of remote chords and modulations, are all indications of
this mental trait. It was this, also, which finally destroyed him. His
mind became unbalanced, and after intermittent attacks of melancholy
his life ended with two years' almost entire oblivion of reason. In
spite of his comparative unpopularity in his own day, no one of the
romantic masters has left so strong an impression upon the composers
who came after him. In my opinion, the four great names which have
been most operative in establishing forms of musical thought and in
creating wholly original and highly poetic and masterly tone-poems by
means of those forms, are Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and Wagner, and
each one of the earlier masters has in his work the prophecy of most
of the qualities of those who come after, while each of the later
reflects the characteristic traits of his predecessors.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

ITALIAN OPERA DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

The strongest personality of the Italian composers (though by no means
the loveliest), at the beginning of the nineteenth century, was that
of Gasparo Spontini (1774-1851). He was born of peasant stock in the
Roman states and educated at Naples, where his boyish successes were
made. In 1803 he went to Paris, where he composed several operas with
very poor success. Nevertheless, having full confidence in his own
powers, he was not discouraged, and in 1804 his one-act opera of
"Milton" was performed successfully at the _Theatre Feydeau_. He had
already begun his "_La Vestale_," which was brought out in 1807, and
immediately achieved a remarkable success. Spontini was appointed
"_Compositeur Particulaire_" to the Empress Josephine, in spite of
which an oratorio of his was hissed from the stage in Holy Week of the
same year that his "_Vestale_" had been so favorably received. The
popularity of "The Vestal" continued to grow, so that it had been
performed more than 200 times in Paris before 1824. In Italy and
Germany, where its career began, in 1811, its popularity was similar.
His next opera was "_Fernand Cortez_," (1809), afterward materially
improved. These two works mark the highest point reached by Spontini.
They are brilliant, martial, vigorous and spectacular, and the
legitimate predecessors of the Meyerbeer grand operas. Spontini's
smaller works failed, and in 1819 negotiations were concluded with
King William III, who had been impressed with "_La Vestale_" when he
had visited Paris, whereby for twenty years Spontini was made
"director general" of the opera in Berlin. In this position he
produced a number of other works, the best being "_Nurmahal_" (1822),
"_Alcidor_" (1825) and "_Agnes von Hohenstaufen_" (1829). Spontini was
a vigorous director, but unprincipled, vain and narrow. Nevertheless,
at his concerts he produced the fifth and seventh symphonies of
Beethoven for the first time in Berlin, as well as parts of the great
Bach mass in B minor, and much other great music. Opposition to his
tyranny culminated in 1842 by his dismission from the directorship,
Meyerbeer being his successor. His popularity paled from the
production of Weber's "_Der Freischuetz_" in 1821. Spontini died in his
native town of Majolitat.

[Illustration: Fig. 88.

ROSSINI.]

The Italian composer most famous in the earlier part of the century
was Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868), a native of Pesaro, a
small town on the Adriatic. After a short course at the Conservatory
of Verona, the boy commenced to compose, and no less than thirteen
short pieces preceded his first really popular opera, "_Tancredi_,"
which was produced at _La Fenice_, in Venice, in 1813. The success of
this work led to many others, among which the best known are "The
Italian in Algiers," "The Turk in Italy," and (in 1816) no less than
five operas in one year--"_Torvaldo e Dorliska_," "The Barber of
Seville," "_La Gazetta_" and "_Otello_," his first serious opera. He
composed with the utmost facility. "The Barber," one of the most
successful operas ever performed, and the one of Rossini's works which
bids fair to outlast the rest, was composed and mounted within a
month. For this work he received eighty pounds sterling. It was not at
first successful. In 1823 he brought out "_Semiramide_," which was
only moderately successful at first. The next turn in Rossini's
fortune found him in London, where he had accepted an engagement with
the manager of King's Theater, and here he produced a number of his
former works with moderate success. Rossini himself appeared upon the
stage and sang the solos in a cantata which he had composed in honor
of the King, George IV. He turned many honest pennies during his
London engagement by acting as accompanist at private _soirees_ for a
fee of L50. At the end of five months he found himself in possession
of L7,000, with which he made a graceful retreat to Paris, where he
accepted the musical direction of the _Theatre Italienne_, at the
salary of L800 per year. This was in 1826. After the expiration of his
engagement at this theater several of his works were produced at the
Grand Opera, among which were the "Siege of Corinth" and "_Moise_"
(March 27, 1827). This work, which is given in England as an oratorio,
was a revised edition of his opera of "Mose," which he had written for
Naples five years before. The most taking number in it is the famous
prayer, which has been played and sung in every form possible for a
popular melody. The operatic career of Rossini ended in 1829 with the
production of his opera of "William Tell," at the Paris _Academie_,
with a brilliant cast. In this work he forswears florid writing, and
makes a serious effort at dramatic characterization. The opera is
extremely melodious, and a very great advance over any of his former
productions. Having now accumulated a fortune, he retired from the
stage and lived the remainder of his life near Paris in elegant
leisure, composing a solemn mass and a few other sacred works, but no
other operas.

In reviewing the career of this singularly gifted Italian melodist, it
is impossible to resist the conclusion that his talents were worthy of
a nobler development. Among his sacred works the "_Stabat Mater_" is
the most popular. It contains some very beautiful chromatic writing,
and is really an art work of distinguished merit. His latest work was
the "_Messe Solennelle_" (1864). Rossini was fond of good living, very
witty in conversation, and his house was frequented by the most
brilliant wits and the best artists of the thirty years between
"William Tell" and his death.

Upon the whole, the most brilliant master of Italian opera during this
period was Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), who was born at Bergamo and
educated at Naples. His first opera was produced in Vienna in 1818,
but his first complete success was "_Anna Bolena_," which was written
for Milan in 1830, the principal parts having been taken by Pasta and
Rubini. Soon after this followed "_L'Elisir d'Amore_" (1832), "_Lucia
di Lammermoor_" (Naples, 1835), "_Lucrezia Borgia_" (1834),
"_Belisario_" (1836), "_Poliuto_" (1838), "_La Fille du Regiment_"
(1840), "_La Favorita_," "_Linda di Chamounix_" (1842), "_Don
Pasquale_" (1843). Besides these well known works there were many
others, the total number reaching sixty-three, brought out in various
Italian theaters and in Paris. Donizetti's traits as a composer are
pleasant melody, effective concerted pieces (as, for instance, the
sextette in "_Lucia_," which is perhaps the best concerted piece in
Italian opera), and a good constructive ability. Like Rossini he was a
writer of florid music, and "_Lucia_" remains one of the favorite
numbers of _coloratura_ singers to the present day, which, considering
that more than fifty years have intervened since it was composed, is a
great compliment.

Vincenzo Bellini (1802-1835) was born at Catania, in Switzerland, the
son of an organist. He was educated at Naples under Zingarelli, his
first opera having been composed in 1826, while he was still a member
of the Conservatory. It was "_Bianca e Fernando_," produced at San
Carlos. His next work, "_Il Pirata_," was written for _La Scala_ in
Milan, the tenor part having been especially designed for the
celebrated Rubini. Among the other successful operas of this composer
were "_I Capuletti e i Montecchi_" (in 1830), "_La Sonnambula_" (1831,
at _La Scala_), "_Norma_" and "_I Puritani_." It was this latter work
which contains a brilliant duet for two basses, "_Suona la Tromba_,"
of which Rossini wrote from Paris to a friend at Milan, "It is
unnecessary for me to write of the duet for two basses. You must have
heard it." Bellini was essentially a melodist, a lyric composer of
ideallic _naivete_. Of dramatic power he had very little. His
orchestration is simple, although frequently very sonorous. If he had
lived to the age of Donizetti or of Rossini it is not impossible that
much greater works would have emanated from his pen, for in his next
great successor we have an example of such a growth under conditions
less favorable than those promised in Bellini's case.

[Illustration: Fig. 89.

GIUSEPPE VERDI.]

The most vigorous of all the Italian composers of this epoch is
Giuseppe Verdi, who was born at Roncole, October 9, 1813, his father
having been a small inn keeper. The boy was of a quiet, melancholy
character, with one passion--music; and when he was seven years of age
his father purchased a spinet for his practice. When he was ten years
old he was appointed organist of the Church in his native town. At
this time his necessary expenditures amounted to about $22 per year,
and his salary as organist $7.20, which after many urgent appeals was
increased to $8. In addition he had certain perquisites from weddings
and funerals, amounting to about $10 per year. In this way he
continued until he was sixteen, having by this time become conductor
of a philharmonic society, and the composer of quite a number of
works, at the little town of Dusseto. He went to Milan, where he was
refused admission to the Conservatory on the ground of his showing no
special aptitude for music. Nevertheless, he persevered in his chosen
vocation, receiving lessons of Rolla, the conductor of _La Scala_. He
studied diligently for two years, Mozart's "_Don Giovanni_" being a
part of his daily exercise. After this he returned for five years to
his country life, and by the time he was twenty-five he was back again
in Milan, in the hope of securing the performance of his opera,
"_Oberto_." This for quite a long time he was unable to do, but at
length in 1839 it was performed at _La Scala_. The moderate success of
this work secured him an engagement to produce an opera every eight
months for Milan or Vienna. But his first work, a comic opera which
the managers demanded, "_Un Giorno di Regno_," was a dead failure, and
disgusted the composer to such a point that he declared that he would
never write again. At this time Verdi was the victim of most severe
affliction. In addition to poverty, within the space of about two
months he experienced the loss of his two children and of his wife, to
whom he was devotedly attached. After living some time in Milan, he
received a copy of the libretto, "_Il Proscritto_," and in 1842 it was
performed. It was well staged, and achieved an unqualified success.
Then followed "_I Lombardi_" (1843), "_Ernani_" (1844), "_I Due
Foscari_" (1844), "_Attila_" (1846), "Macbeth" (1847), "_Rigoletto_"
(1851), "_Il Trovatore_" (1853), "_La Traviata_" (1853), "_Les Vepres
Siciliennes_" (1855), "_Un Ballo in Maschera_" (1859), "_La Forza del
Destino_" (1862), "_Don Carlos_" (1867), "_Aida_" (1871), "_Otello_"
(1887). In addition to these works he has written a great "Requiem
Mass," and many smaller works. Besides the operas above mentioned
there were several others now mostly forgotten, the total number being
twenty-nine; and there is not one of them that does not contain more
or less of striking melody, with effective concerted pieces and
choruses. Verdi's melody was much more vigorous than that of either of
his predecessors. In "_Trovatore_" there are ten or twelve numbers
which have become famous in the barrel-organ repertory. His
instrumentation was very full and sonorous, and his dramatic instinct
excellent. We do not find the long roulades and ornamental passages
according to the taste of his predecessors, but instead of them,
clear, sharp, concise, manly melodies--unfortunately, however, they
are so near the line of the vulgar that only a refined treatment on
the part of the singer can save them for poetry and beauty.

Beginning with "_Aida_," a very important change can be seen in
Verdi's style. By the time this work was undertaken the Wagnerian
theories were attracting general attention, and it was impossible that
a man of Verdi's intellectual force should have failed to be affected
by them. "_Aida_" is much more refined and dramatically truthful than
any of those before it. As the composer was now an old man nothing
farther was expected from his pen. Nevertheless, in "_Otello_," he has
given the world a masterpiece of a still higher order, the music
throughout being subservient to the story, while the dramatic handling
of the work is masterly in the extreme. For this he was in part
indebted to his librettist, the distinguished poet and composer,
Signor Arrigo Boito. The strangest thing in regard to Verdi is that at
the present writing (1891) he is engaged upon a comic opera,
"Falstaff," a subject which he says has interested him for about forty
years, but which until now he has never had time to undertake. As a
man and a patriot Verdi is held in the highest possible honor in
Italy; and for his own original genius, as displayed in his works, and
especially in his aptitude for progress, no less than for his
dignified and simple private life, he deserves to be admired as the
foremost Italian master of the present century.

One of the most earnest among Italian composers and musicians is
Arrigo Boito (1842), who, from an origin which is German from his
mother's side, possesses an earnestness and force in music not usual
in southern lands. After composing two cantatas, which had a good
success, his grand opera of "_Mefistofele_" was produced at Milan in
1868, and later in other leading cities. Two more operas "Hero and
Leander" and "Nero" are not yet published. M. Boito is equally
celebrated in his own country as musician and as poet. In the latter
capacity he prepared his own librettos, besides furnishing that of
"_Otello_" to Verdi and "_La Gioconda_" to Ponchielli. He has
published several books of poems, and other operatic books. As
composer he partakes much of the spirit of Wagner. He has yet another
opera nearly completed, but in 1891 little is known of it. It is
called "_Orestiade_."

Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1866) is generally regarded in Italy as
having been the most distinguished Italian composer after Verdi. He
was educated at Milan, but his early triumphs were made elsewhere, his
famous "_I Promessi Sposi_" having been performed there only in 1872.
His principal works are the preceding, which was composed in 1856,
"_La Savojarda_" (1861), "_Roderico_" (1864), "_La Stella del Monte_"
(1867), "_La Gioconda_," his master work, produced at _La Scala_,
1876, and "_Marion Delorme_" (1885). His music occupies a middle
ground between the melodiousness of the Italian composers of the early
part of the century and the seriousness of later German opera.

In spite of the few examples reaching foreign countries, there is a
continuous and rather abundant production of light and serious operas
in Italy, every principal theater making it a point to bring out one
or more new works every season. The best of these, after a long
interval, become known abroad. It is a great mistake to suppose that
the few Italian operas of recent date performed in England and America
adequately represent the present state of Italian art.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

FRENCH OPERATIC COMPOSERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

In the earlier part of the nineteenth century the operatic stage of
Paris shared with those of Berlin and Dresden the honor of producing
brilliant novelties by the best composers. In France there had been a
persistent cultivation of this province of musical creation, and many
talented composers have appeared upon the scene of the Grand Opera and
that of the _Opera Comique_. French opera has developed into a genre
of its own, rhythmically well regulated, instrumented in a pleasing
and attractive manner, and staged with considerable reference to
spectacular display.

[Illustration: Fig. 90.

AUBER.]

The oldest of these masters to achieve distinction, and the one most
successful in gaining the ear of other countries than France, was
Daniel Francois Esprit Auber (1782-1870). He was born in Caen, in
Normandy, of a family highly gifted and artistic in temperament.
Nevertheless, his father intended him for a merchant, and sent him to
England in 1804, in the hope that the study of commercial success
there might wean him from his love of music. But the boy came back
more musical than ever. After composing several pieces, a little
opera, a mass, etc., his first opera to be publicly performed was
"_Le Sejour Militaire_." During the fifteen years next following he
wrote a succession of light operas for the smaller theaters of Paris,
most of them with librettos by Scribe. No one of these works had more
than a temporary success, and the names are not sufficiently important
to be given here. At length, in 1828, he produced his master work,
"_La Muette di Portici_," otherwise known as "_Masaniello_," which at
once placed its author upon the pinnacle of fame. This was an opera
upon the largest scale, and was the first in order of the three great
master works which adorned the Paris stage during this and the three
years following. The others were Rossini's "Tell" in 1829, and
Meyerbeer's "Robert" in 1831. The subject was fortunately related to
the spirit of the times, Masaniello having been leader of the
insurgents in Naples. The work well deserved its success, since for
melody and pleasing effects it has rarely been surpassed. The overture
is still much played as a concert number, but the opera itself has
nearly left the stage, excepting in Germany, where it still has a
distinguished place. All his later works were lighter than
"_Masaniello_." They were "_La Fiancee_" (1829), the extremely
melodious and popular "_Fra Diavolo_" (1830) and many others, for more
than twenty years still. Among them were "The Bronze Horse" (in 1835),
"_Le Domino Noir_" (in 1837), and "The Crown Diamonds" (1831). Auber
was elected member of the Institute in 1829, and in 1842 succeeded
Cherubini as director of the Conservatory. He was an extremely witty
and charming man, beloved by all.

Contemporaneous with Auber, but more allied to the genius of
Boieldieu, was Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold, (1791-1833). After
studying at the Conservatory and composing a number of operas which
failed, or had but moderate success, he brought out "_Zampa_," in
1831. This work had an extraordinary success, and its overture is
still often heard. Another work "_Le Pre aux Clercs_," (1832), is
generally esteemed in France more highly than "_Zampa_," but outside
of his native country public opinion universally regards the latter as
his best work. Herold's operas are extremely well conceived from a
dramatic point of view, and his melody has much of the sweet and
flowing quality of the best Italian. His concerted numbers also are
well made, and in all respects he is to be regarded as a master of
high rank within the province of light opera, verging indeed upon the
confines of the romantic type, like that of Weber.

The true successor of Boieldieu, with perhaps somewhat less of
originality, was Adolphe Charles Adam, (1803-1856), son of a piano
teacher in the Conservatory at Paris. His most lasting work was "_Le
Postillon de Lonjumeau_" (1836), in which the German tenor Wachtel
made himself so famous. Most of the other productions of this clever,
but not deep, composer, are now forgotten. In their day they pleased.

The most important work of the last half century of French opera was
the "_Faust_" of Charles Francois Gounod (1818- ), produced in 1859.
Gounod was born and educated at Paris, took the prize of Rome in 1837,
after composing quite a number of works of a semi-religious character,
in which direction he has always had a strong bias. His first opera
was produced in 1854, "_La Nonne Sanglante_." In 1852 he was made
director of the Orpheonists, the male part singers of Paris, numbering
many thousands, somewhat answering to the organization of the Tonic
Sol-fa in England. "_Faust_" made an epoch in French opera. Its rich
and sensuous music, its love melodies of melting tenderness, and the
cleverness of the instrumentation, as well as its pleasing character,
combine to place it in a category by itself. This was the beginning
and the end of Gounod, for in his other works, while there is much
cleverness and melodiousness, there is also much reminder of
"_Faust_." Perhaps the best of his later operas are "_Romeo et
Juliette_" (1867), and "_Mireille_" (1864). Among the others were
"_Cinq-Mars_," "_Polyeucte_," "_Le Tribute de Zamora_." He has also
written an oratorio, "The Redemption," produced at Birmingham in 1882,
many numbers in which are truly imposing. As a whole the work is
mystical and sensuous, rather than strong or inspired. A continuation
of this work "_Mors et Vita_" was given at Birmingham in 1885, and the
following year several times in America, under the direction of Mr.
Theodore Thomas. In this work, a part of the text of which consists of
the Latin hymn "_Dies Irae_," Gounod contrives to repeat certain of the
sensational effects of Berlioz's work. Both these oratorios belong to
an intermediate category in oratorio, sensational effects possible
only in the concert room intervening with others planned entirely in a
devotional and mystic spirit. As a composer, Gounod has two elements
of strength.

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