WMWi CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MUSIC Corneir University Library ML 270.4.H57 French music in the XlXth century / 3 1924 022 358 018 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022358018 Music in the XlXth Century Edited by Robin H. Legge II French Music in the XlXth Century Music in the XlXth Century Series Edited by ROBIN H. LEGGE Small crown 8vo, cloth 5/- liet each English Music in the XlXth Century BY J. A. Fuller Maitland M.A,, F.S.A. II French Music in the XlXth Century BY Arthur Hervey LONDON: GRANT RICHARDS 48 Leicester Square, W.C^ French Music in the XlXth Century By Arthur Hervey- London: Grant Richards New York : E, P. Button Gf Co. 1903 PREFACE It is not the fashion nowadays to write long pre- faces, any more than it is for composers to prefix long overtures to their operas. In the latter case, a short prelude is usually deemed sufficient, and some musicians even dispense altogether with an introduction and plunge at once in medias res. My sole purpose in making a few introductory remarks is to explain what my object in writing this volume has been, and so avoid possible mis- conception. Briefly, then, I have endeavoured to lake a bird's-eye view of the musical movement in France during the past century, dwelling chiefly on those composers whose influence has been most marked, those who have brought something new into their music and have contributed to the evolution of the art. Music in France really means music in Paris, for although the great towns of the Departments Preface have of late shown signs of an increasing interest in the art, yet the capital has been, and is still, the musical centre of the country. France has no provincial musical Festivals similar to ours. Long-winded oratorios do not appeal to Frenchmen. The theatre is more to their taste, and thus it is that music in France chiefly relates to music connected with the drama. From Mehul and Boieldieu to Bruneau and Charpentier is a far cry, yet these composers have this much in common, that their music is eminently national and characteristic of their country. Joseph and La Davie Blanche are as essentially French in style as are L'Attague du Mmdin and Louise. Paris has been the birthplace of some of the most famous operas. It has ever been a recog- nised centre of art. Many celebrated composers of other lands have been attracted by its splendours and have brought thither the fruits of their genius, notably LuUi, Gluck, Piccinni, Sacchini, Salieri, Cherubini, Spontini, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Donizetti. Wagner himself endeavoured in his early days to win jthe favour of Paris, vi Preface In the meanwhile, French composers have man- fully held their own, and in late years there has sprung up a school of musicians, admirably equipped for the fray, ready to do honour to their country. The growth of musical intelligence has indeed been recently everywhere apparent. The Russian school, now so important, is only of comparatively recent birth. In England the outlook is much brighter than it was. Since the early days of what Mr. Fuller Maitland terms the Renaissance, great progress has been made, and we have many talented composers who are only waiting for opportunities to show what they are capable of doing. The concert-rooms are open to them. Unfortunately, so far, they are practically debaired from competing with their foreign colleagues in the field of opera, as London is still devoid of a national opera-house. Signs are happily not lacking that this want may some day be met. In Paris it is difFei-ent. The opera there forms part of the people's existence, and no Government would ever think of refusing to subsidise the two principal theatres where it is cultivated. The magnificent operatic harvest that has been gathered in Paris during the past century is eloquent of vii Preface the good that accrues from State intervention and speaks volumes in favour of Government subven- tions. It also points triumphantly to the great part taken by the French in the musical movement of the age. During the first decade of the century, when Napoleon was autocrat, the muse was clad in a severe, classical garb and had as her spokesmen in Paris, Mehul with his Joseph, a masterpiece of classic beauty, Lesueur, with his long since for- gotten Les Bardes, Spontini with La Vestale. Boieldieu and Nicolo followed during the next decade with some of their operas comiques, the former writing Jean de Paris, the latter Joconde. A formidable advance was made during the twenties. Rossini, who had conquered in Italy, arrived in Paris and surpassed his former works with his Guillaume Tell, a supreme effort, after which he felt justified in laying down his pen. Auber's La Muette de Portici created as great a sensation as Guillaume Tell, which it preceded by a year ; and Boieldieu produced his best work, the classic Dame Blanche. On the other hand Berlioz, young, ardent and armed from head to foot, sprang wildly into the arena, and with his Preface " Symphonic Fantastique " struck dismay into the hearts of the older musicians, and revolutionised the orchestra. Milk huit cent trente brought with it anotiier change of regime, witnessed the development of the romantic movement, and inaugurated what has been termed the golden era of the Opera. During the next ten years were brought out at the Grand Opera, Meyerbeer's Robert le Diahle and Les Hiiguenots, Halevy's La Juive and Guido e Ginevra, Auber's Le Philtre and Gustave III. ; while at the Opera Comique were produced several of the best works of Auber, Le Domino Noir, Fra Diavolo, and of Herold, Zampa, Le Pr6 auic Clercs. Donizetti's La Favorite, Halevy's La Seine de Chypre, Charles VI., Les Moiisquetaires de la Reine, Le Val d'Andorre, Meyerbeer's Le Prophete belong to the forties, and it was before the abdication of the citizen king that Berlioz produced his Dam- nation de Faust with scant success, and that Fe'licien David leapt into fame with Le Desert Cesar Franck's Ruth also dates from this time. The second half of the century was signalled by the appearance of Gounod, who in the course of the fifties brought out his Sapho, La Nonne vs. Preface Sanglante, Le Medec'm malgre lid, and, finally, Faust. Meyerbeer in the meanwhile made an incursion into the domain of the Opera Comique with VEtoile du Nwd and Le Pardon de Ploermel (Dinorah). Gounod was again greatly to the fore during the sixties with his PhiUmon et Baucis, La Reine de Saba, Mireille, and Rondo et Juliette ; Meyer- beer's posthumous opera UAfricaine was brought out ; Ambroise Thomas triumphed with Mignon and Hamlet, while Berlioz obtained but a succes d'estime with Les Troyens ; Mermefs Roland A Roncevaux, a spectacular opera, obtained a passing vogue ; Verdi's Don Carlos was produced, and Bizet made his debut with Les Pecheurs de Perles and La Jolie Fille de Perth. This was also the period of Offenbachian ojjera bouffe. Then came the Franco-German War, and after it the Renais- sance of French music. The seventies witnessed the production of Bizet's Carmen, of Massenet's Le Roi de Lahore, of Leo Delibes's ballet " Sylvia " ; Saint- SaSns wrote his symphonic poems, obtained many successes in the concert-room, and produced his Samson et Dalila at Weimar ; Cesar Franck, Lalo, Benjamin Godard Preface began to be heard. During the eighties were pro- duced the last operas by Gounod and Ambroise Thomas, neither the former with Le Tribut de Zamora, nor the latter with Frcmgoise de Rimini increasing his reputation. The successes of this decade were Saint-Saens's Henry VIII., Reyer's Sigurd, Paladilhe's Patrie, Massenet's Manon, Le Cid, and Esclarmonde, Leo Delibes's Lakme, Lalo's Le Roi (FYs. The last ten years of the century have brought about many changes. Wagner's music-dramas have at last been heard in Paris. A new type of " lyric drama " has been created by Alfred Bruneau with Le Rive, L''Attaque du Moulin, Messidor, and the way has thus been prepared for Charpentier and his Louise. Saint- Sagns in his Phryni has returned to the opira comique genre, and Massenet has written Werther, La Navarraise, Sapho, Cendrillon, while Reyer's Sahmmbo has worthily crowned the composer's career. In thus cursorily running through the chief musical events that have occurred in Paris during the century, I have only mentioned some of the principal works at random, but these will be xi Preface sufficient, I think, to give an idea of what has been achieved in the French capital. This volume has been divided into chapters, at the head of which has been placed the name of a composer whose individuality has reacted upon his contemporaries, or who has launched fresh ideas into circulation. The musical outlook in Fi-ance at the present moment is particularly bright. The younger French composers are mostly imbued with the desire to tread new paths and they are careful to avoid the well-beaten roads. The tardy triumph of Wagnerism in Paris has produced its effect and has disclosed fresh horizons. The period of transi- tion and the half-hearted attempts to abandon the old operatic conventionalities seem ended, and an eminently national form of "lyric drama" has gradually been adopted. Not only on the stage but in the concert-room French composers are holding their own. In the comparatively small space at my disposal it has been manifestly impossible to do full justice to the subject, and several composers who deserve more attention have had to be rather summarily dismissed. I trust, though, that in these pages there xii Preface will be found sufficient to convey a general idea of the characteristics of the chief composei-s whose works constitute the history of French music during the past century. ARTHUR HERVEY. Xlll CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. MiHUL AND THE LaST OF THE CLASSICS . 1 II. The Advent of Rossini ... 29 III. Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera . 41 IV. Auber and the " Op^ra Comique " . 69 V. Berlioz and the Romantic Movement. 84 VI. Gounod and his Influence . . .108 VII. Wagner in France . . . .132 VIII. Offenbach and the Op£ra Bouffe . 151 IX. Bizet and the Renaissance . . .163 X. Saint-Safins and some of his Contem- poraries . . . . . .179 XI. Massenet and the Modern French Opera 203 XII. CisAR Franck and his Followers . 217 XIII. Alfred Bruneau and the Modern Lyrical Drama 231 XIV. Fin de Si^cle 247 XY CHAPTER I MEHUL AND THE LAST OF THE CLASSICS Music is the most progr§ssiv«-of the arts. Un- like painting and sculpture, it is ever on the move. If the ideal is the same, the means employed to attain it vary with, every generation. Can even the greatest of musicians flatter himself with the idea that he has reached the goal beyond which there is no further progress ? If so, he is only the victim of an illusion. However great his genius, however striking his innovations, his life work will be treated by succeeding generations as the starting-point for fresh departures, for further incursions into the limitless regions constituting the domain of sound. Music in its manifestations has ever been and always will be connected with the period of its conception. Its essence may be eternal, but its 1 A Music in the XlXth Century forms are ephemeral. It is from disregarding this fact that many men of high intelligence have fallen into the strange error of supposing that music could reach a point beyond which it was impossible to go. The rules of former generations, which were once considered to bear the authority of dogmas, have gradually lost their prestige, and nowadays these bugbears are a terror to no one. There cer- tainly still exist musicians whose minds are cast in a mould which renders them rebellious against any fresh departures from recognised forms, but these, like the poor, will always be with us. Let us be thankful that their number is growing smaller and their influence less powerful. The evolution of the art of music in France during the XlXth century offers much food for thought. Alien influences have been fi-equent. Sometimes these have proved beneficial and some- times the reverse. It can however with truth be said that they have never succeeded in obliterating the unmistakable ' characteristics of the French race. Those foreign masters who have at different times settled in Paris and brought out their works on Fi-ench soil have themselves been influenced by 2 Mehul and the Last of the Classics their surroundings. It has been a question of give and take. At the present moment nationalism in music is ver}- much to the fore, and, in so far as it tends to develop the internal resources of a nation and to bring out its marked characteristics, it deserves all encouragement. At the same time it must not be exaggerated to the extent of causing one to under- value all extraneous influence. It is certain that not one of the great nations has succeeded in building up its music without some aid from outside. This does not by any means imply weakness in its own powers of pro- duction. To take a recent example, the influence of Wagner may be said to be univei-sal. It has made itself felt everywhere, in France and Italy as well as in Germany. Yet although modern French composers have all profited more or less by the wondrous innovations of the German master, they have not on that account overlooked their own national characteristics. The styles peculiar to the three nations may be said to be as markedly different now as they ever were. The same influence filtering through different channels has produced different results, 3 Music in the XlXth Century Certain of the principles and innovations of Wagner had indeed been anticipated many years previously by two composers — a Viennese and a Belgian, both domiciled in Paris — Gluck and Gretry. Gliick, in his famous preface to Alceste, had firmly established the principles that should guide the dramatic composer. This preface is too i well known to need quoting in extenso. The gist of it is contained in the following extracts : " I have sought to reduce music to its true function, that of seconding poetry in strengthening the expression of the sentiments and the interest of the situations without interpipting the action or chilling it by thcTntrodtiction of useless and super- fluous ornamentation. ... I have taken care not to stop an actor in the midst of his discourse upon a favourable vowel either to allow him to show off the agility of his fine voice in a long roulade, or to wait for the orchestra to give him time to take breath for a point cCorgue."" This is enough to show how Gluck had anticipated ideas which are now universally accepted, although it is not so very long ago that they were still discussed. The composer of Alceste, however, soon found that his principles did not meet with universal 4 Mehul and the Last of the Classics acquiescence and he opened his mind again in the preface to Paris et Hdene, thus bitterly expressing himself : " I had dared to flatter myself that in following the road which I have opened people would endeavour to destroy the abuses which have been introduced into Italian opera, and which dis- honour it : I own with pain that I have made a mistake. The pedants, doctors in taste, a species unfortunately too numerous, which in all periods has been a thousand times more pernicious to the progress of the fine arts than that of the ignorants, virulently attacked a method which if once established would annihilate their pretensions. . . . One of those delicate amateurs who have put ail their souls into their ears will have found an air too harsh, a passage too strong or badly prepared, without thinking that in the situation these were sublime in expression and formed the happiest contrast. A pedantic harmonist will have remarked an ingenious negligence or a mis- print and will have hastened to denounce oue and the other as unpardonable sins against the mysteries of harmony ; soon afterwards, voices will have united to condemn this music as barbarous, savage and extravagant. . . . Similar obstacles 5 Music in the XlXth Century will exist as long as one meets in the world those men who, because they possess a pair of eyes and ears, no matter of what kind, consider they have a right to j udge the fine arts." The above words might have been written yester- day. Their truth is eternal, for the race of Beck- messers is not likely to die out. With Gluck the drama was the first considera- tion, and he is reported to have said : " When composing I endeavour before all things to forget that I am a musician," words which must not be interpreted too literally, but which denote the trend of his thoughts. It is curious to read the views expressed by Mozart on the subject and to note that they are diametrically opposed to those of Gluck, for he declares that " even in the most horrible situations the music must satisfy the ear ; that, in fact, music must always remain music." Also that " the poetry in an opera must always be the obedient daughter of music," that " the Italian operas, notwithstanding the mediocrity of their libretti, please because music reigns there like a sovereign and makes the rest go down." Did Mozart always adhere to this theory ? Assuredly not, any more than Gluck or Wagner adhered to 6 Mehul and the Last of the Classics theirs. Theories are very good in the abstract, but they often have to be modified in practice. The composer of the Nozze di Figaro proved in many instances that strict interpretation of a dramatic situation was his chief preoccupation, witness inter alia the final scene of Don Giovanni. Nowadays it is universally recognised that the music in an opera must be as closely as possible in accord with the words and situations of the drama. Even in Italy this has at last been acknowledged, and the composer who interrupted the action in order to allow a singer to indulge in vocal acro- batics would not stand a chance of success. It is true, however, that the point cPorgue still flourishes, and of this the vocalist takes all the advantages he can. In a very curious article upon Gluck's Alceste, Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote that " it is a great and fine problem to solve, to determine how far it is possible to make speech sing and music speak. The entire theory of dramatic music rests upon a good solution of this problem." In the same article he gives as his opinion that truth of ex- pression must occasionally be sacrificed to that 7 Music in the XlXth Century which pleases the ear— " for music could only touch the heart by the charm of melody, and if it was only a question of reproducing the accent of passion, the art of declamation would suffice by itself, and music, become useless, would be rather in the way than otherwise." Here we have the two opposing theories of dramatic music which have caused so many endless discus- sions. It will be seen that Rousseau''s views coincide with those of Mozart. Let us, however, turn to his definition of the term Opera occurring in his " Dictionnaire de Musique." It reads thus : " A dramatic and lyrical spectacle, where the object is to unite all the charms of the fine arts in the representation of a passionate action, in order to excite by the aid of agreeable sensations, interest and illusions." He continues : " The constituent parts of an opera are the poem, the music, and the decorations. The poetry speaks to the mind, the music to the ear, the painting to the eyes ; and all should combine to move the heart and convey to it simultaneously the same impressions through different organs." Decidedly it would seem that Rousseau's ideal 8 Mehul and the Last of the Classics of the music-drama was, after all, not so very different from that of Wagner ! The two paths along which dramatic music was to proceed were, it will be seen, already well out- lined before the close of the XVIIIth century. Gretry,* one of the most prolific operatic com- posers of his time, seems to have had transient visions of future possibilities. His opinions, as recorded in his memoirs, were considerably in advance of his music. " Woe to the artist," he declared, " who, too much controlled by rule, does not dare to follow the flight of his genius." He also predicted that " one day everything that is not strictly in accordance with the poem will be rejected by the educated public ; singers who add vocal ornamen- tation to their parts will be sent from the theatre to the concert-room ; roulades will seem so absurd that they will only be employed to imitate the nightingale." It is interesting also to remember that Gretry, who certainly cannot claim to have been musically a precursor of Wagner, actually forestalled the idea of Bayreuth, and traced the plan of an ideal theatre in these words : " I * Gretry (1741-1813). 9 Music in the XlXth Century should like the auditorium to be small and capable of holding at most one thousand persons ; that there should be only one sort of seat every- where — no boxes. I should like the orchestra to be hidden, and that neither the musicians nor the lights on the desks on the side of the spectators should be visible. The effect of this would be magical, and one knows that in any case the orchestra is never supposed to be there. I should like a circular auditorium, in tiers which would form a single amphitheatre, always ascending, and with nothing above save a few trophies painted in frescoes.'" Gretry, however, belongs essentially to the XVIIIth century, although he lived into the XlXth, and it cannot be said that his works were of sufficient importance to exercise any weight over the development of music. He wrote many operas, several of which achieved popularity. Two may be said to have survived, for Richard Cceur de Lion and UEpreuve Villageoise have not alto- gether disappeared from the repertoire of French theatres. His musicianship was poor, and it was remarked that a coach and four could pass between the bass and treble in certain of his airs. Instru- 10 Mehul and the Last of the Classics mentation he looked upon with contempt, and it is averred that some thirty of his works were scored by another hand. In this manner, and when we remember that his operas were con- structed upon the simplest lines, his productivity need cause no surprise. At the same time, there is no denying to his themes a distinct charm, due to the fact that, whatever his shortcomings, Gretry was always sincere. He wrote as he felt and did not strive to grasp more than he could readily compass. In other words, he never went out of his depth, but avoided deep waters, where he would assuredly have been submerged. The above observations will show the amount of interest evinced in the aesthetics of the musical drama at the period immediately preceding that which now concerns us. Before going further it will be well to say a word respecting Gossec,* a composer long since forgotten, who died at a patriarchal age in 1829, and who wrote both operas and symphonies. To him wei-e due many innovations in the composition of the orchestra. Among his works is a Requiem, the Tuba Mirum in which contains, in germ, * Gossec (1734-1829). 11 Music in the XlXth Century certain instrumental combinations employed later by Cherubini and Berlioz. It is for baritone solo accompanied by two orchestras, the second con- sisting of clarinets, trumpets or horns and three trombones, which sound the doom of the Day of Judgment. Purely instrumental works had until this time occupied a meagre place in French music, and to Gossec must be accorded the honour of introducing the symphony into France. His efforts in this direction have long since vanished owing to the superiority of the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart — his contemporaries. Still, the good he achieved in furthering the progress of instrumental art, and his labours in helping to found the famous Paris Conservatoire, where for years he laboured as a professor, must not be overlooked. One of his symphonies, entitled Symphonie de la Chasse, is said to have served as a model to Mehul for his overture to Le Jeune Henri, which to this day remains an admirable piece of pro- gramme music and one of its composer's best works. Among the French musicians who were to the fore at the commencement of the XIX th century 12 Mehul and the Last of the Classics Mehul * undoubtedly occupies the first place. His operas Stratonke (1792), Phrosine et Melidor (1794), Le Jeune Henri (1797), 3.-aAAriodant (1799), had already brought him fame. During the troublous days that followed the Revolution, he had in a way been the musician of the people, had celebrated their triumphs and sung their aspira- tions. He had composed a quantity of music for public occasions and had popularised his name by writing the Chant du Depart, one of the most famous of French patriotic songs. He was destined to achieve yet greater things. During the first decade of the century he pro- duced four operas — Ulrato (1801), in which he amusingly satirised the prevailing style of Italian opera buffa ; Uthal (1804), the setting of a subject taken from Ossian where, in order to obtain a peculiar colouring in the orchestra, he dispensed entirely with violins ; Les Aveugles de Tolede (1806) ; and finally Joseph (1807), which remains his masterpiece. Before speaking of this work it would be well to see how matters stood at the time with regard to the construction of musical stage works, * Mehul (1763-1817). 13 Music in the XlXth Century Broadly speaking, these could be divided into two categories, the tragedie lyrique and the opera comique, the main difference between the two being that in the former the musical numbers were connected bv recitatives and in the latter by spoken dialogue. Traditions often die hai'd, and these distinctions of form survived well into the latter half of the XlXth century. Joseph be- longed to the second category, and was therefore styled an opera comique. It is scarcely necessary to add that there was nothing comic about it except its denomination. The disciple and fol- lower of Grluck, Mehul endeavoured in this work to tread in his master's footsteps. A libretto of extraordinary simplicity, founded upon the Bible narrative, which offers this peculiarity, that it does not contain a single female character, enabled hiijn to compose one of the most remarkable operas of the time. Joseph, it may be stated, had origi- nally been intended for the Academie de Musique, as the Grand Opera was then termed, and had it been represented there the composer would have been obliged to connect the various numbers of his score with recitatives. Eighty-two years after the death of Mehul, at the close of the XlXth 14 Mehul and the Last of the Classics century, Joseph was revived in Paris at the Grand Opera as well as at the Opera Comique. At the first of these theatres, recitatives had been added by M. Bourgault-Ducoudray, while at the second the work was performed according to the intentions of the composer, who had styled it "drame en trois actes, en prose, mele de chant." It was in the original form that the work pleased best, which proves that it is safer not to meddle with or attempt to improve the masterpieces of past generations, even if the form in which these were conceived has become antiquated. In the matter of construction it cannot be said that Joseph offered any striking difference from works that had preceded it. The music achieved its aim through the simplest of means. Always clear in design, its melodies appeared to be wondrously appropriate to the words and to the situation. The music was absolutely sincere. Even nowadays the very naivete of its strains invests them with a rare and peculiar charm. Like all really great artists, Mehul took infinite pains with his work, and a melody which seemed to be spontaneously conceived had possibly given him an endless amount of trouble. For instance, 15 Miisic in the XlXth Century the well-known romance from Joseph, "A peine au sortir de T'enfance,'''' a melodic gem of the purest water, was remodelled no fewer than four times. How little does the public imagine the inner workings of a composer's mind, or realise the amount of thought involved in what often appears so simple ! Whether the subject of Joseph was not stimu- lating enough or the music too serious, the opera did not achieve the immediate success it deserved. The composer, who was a man of simple tastes and never so happy as when cultivating flowers in his own garden, determined to leave the operatic field to his rivals and devote himself to the peaceful and doubtless gratifying pursuit of horticulture. After five years absence his name reappeared again on the bills, but his later compositions have not survived and he remains known to posterity as the author of Joseph. The only composers living in Paris who could be considered as his rivals at that time were Cherubini,* Spontini,f and Lesueur.J The greatest musician of the four was undoubtedly Cherubini. * Cherubini (1760-1842). t Spontini (1774-1851). I Lesueur (1764-1837). 16 Mehul and the Last of the Classics A Florentine by birth, Cherabini was tempera- mentally the very reverse of the Southerner. In some ways he might perhaps be considered as a descendant of the older Italian contrapuntists, but he had little in common with the free and easy Italian operatic composers of the day whose works, then all the rage, have long since dis- appeared into oblivion. Neither, one might imagine, could his severe and rigid style have been particularly in accord with the light buoyant French nature. There was ever something of the schoolmaster about Cherubini, the stern dis- ciplinarian ready to pulverise the unfortunate youngster who transgressed the sacred rules of which he was the guardian. Such a man was destined to be named director of the Conservatoire, where for several years he reigned supreme, re- spected, but feared, by all with whom he came into contact. Berlioz, in his memoirs, has given some amusing descriptions of the cantankerous old master. That Cherubini should not have been able to appreciate Berlioz need scarcely cause any surprise. To the upholder of the strictest classical forms, the music of the young Frenchman must have 17 li Music in the XlXth Century sounded like the divagations of a maniac, and the idea of this revolutionist aspiring to teach harmony at the Conservatoire was naturally too staggering for words. At the same time, Berlioz in his indignation against Cherubini has perhaps scarcely done justice to the memory of one whose reputation was so great that Beethoven deigned to submit to him the score of his Mass in D for approval. The only opera by Cherubini which has not altogether disappeared from ken is Les deux Journies, produced in 1800. It was given in London in the seventies under the title of The Water Carrier, and is known in Germany as Der Wassertrdger. Conceived in the form of the old French op^ra comique, it is musically far superior to anything of the kind that had preceded it. Compared to the operas of Gretry it stands very high. It is an attempt to raise the style above the ordinary opira comique of the period which was really but little superior to the vaudeville in musical importance. Thus Cherubini may be considered as one of the pioneers of the French opera, although his stage works are with the above exception now forgotten. 18 Mehul and the Last of the Classics His sacred compositions, however, have survived and are still frequently heard in the Mass. Concerning these it is scarcely necessary to speak, as they did not appreciably influence the development of music in France. It is, however, important to note that Cherubini counted among his pupils Boieldieu, Auber, Halevy, and Adam — that is, four of the most popular French composers of the first half of the century. Adam has described Cherubini's character as a strange mixture of irritability and childlike simplicity. To the outer world he appeared brusque, but he was essentially kind-hearted and was adored by his pupils. Napoleon never could bear him, and lost no opportunity of letting him know his feelings. On one occasion he is said to have remarked to him that his music was too loud and that be prefeiTed that of Paisiello which was soft and quiet. "I understand," replied the composer, "you prefer music which does not prevent you from thinking of State affairs ! " The retort was witty, but Napoleon never forgave it. A composer whose fame shone with radiant brilliancy during the first decade of the century and whose works have survived even less than 19 Music in the XlXth Century those of Cherubini or Mehul, yet who was well worthy of occupying a place by their side, was Spontini. There are certain points of similarity between Cherubini and Spontini. Both were Italians who found in France a soil appropriate to the growth of their genius. Both were influenced by Gluck and expressed themselves in a language different from that employed by their compatriots. Both met with appreciation in Germany, and it may be added that each master, while animated by absolute sincerity of purpose, was also not devoid of a certain rigidity of style which indeed seemed to accord with the Napoleonic period of pseudo- classicism. Spontini's works contain many innovations which have proved profitable to his successors. His method of treating the orchestra was novel. Abandoning the old plan of dividing the instru- ments into separate groups, he obtained new effects of tone colour by blending the strings and the wind instruments. He also gave greater importance to the finales, and in this direction prepared the way for Rossini, Meyerbeer, and Halevy. The finale to the second act of La Vestale 20 Mehul and the Last of the Classics is a masterpiece of its kind which has often been performed at the famous concerts of the Con- servatoire, where I have been privileged to hear it. Spontini lived well into the XlXth century, and survived the popularity of his works by many a long year. In his own estimation, however, he had said the last word in music. Wagner, who took great trouble in mounting La VestaJe, has recorded the following words spoken to him by the old master : " In La Vestale I treated a Koman subject, in Fernand Cortez a Spanish-Mexican subject, in Olymjne a Greek-Macedonian subject, and in Agnes von Hohenstaufen a German subject — all the rest is worth nothing ! " and he added, " How do you imagine that any one can invent anything new, when I, Spontini, declare myself unable to surpass my own works ? " Among those whom I have named the last of the classics, one must still be mentioned who, although long since completely forgotten, may be said to have exerted a certain influence over the development of French music — Lesueur, an artist who has, at any rate, a claim to be remembered, inasmuch as he was the teacher of Berlioz and of Gounod. 21 Music in the XlXth Century It is possible still to hear works by Mehul and Cherubini, and even by Spontini, but Lesueur has entirely disappeared, not only from the theatre, but also almost from the concert-room, where very occasionally one meets with extracts from obsolete works. And yet at the commencement of the century Lesueur occupied a very high place in the opinion of Parisian connoisseurs. His opera Les Bardes vied in popularity with Spontini's La Vestale. The success of its first per- formance in 1804 was immense. Napoleon was present, and at the end of the third act sent for the composer, and after congratulating him, in- sisted upon giving him his own seat in the box. The enthusiasm was universal, and every token of admiration was bestowed upon the fortunate composer, the celebrated painter, David, writing ; " When my brush and my soul begin to freeze, I will go and warm them both at the burning and passionate accents of your lyre." Not only in France, but in Germany, was Lesueur held in high esteem, notably by such masters as Beethoven and Weber. Does not the complete disappearance of a com- 22 Mehul and the Last of the Classics poser of such universally recognised worth seem strange ? Reactionary movements, nevertheless, often take place, and if Lesueur's operas have had their day and are never likely to be revived, his sacred works, which are remarkable for a noble sim- plicity of style, may some time or other possibly bs restored to favour. Like Gluck and Gretry, Lesueur was a theorist. He held that music should be imitative arid descriptive, and that the composer's intentions should be previously ex- plained to the audience. Clearly, therefore, he may be considered as one of the precursors of Berlioz and of modern programme music. In his desire to innovate he imagined that music might be enriched by the employment of old Greek modes. What is more cuiious is to note the peculiar ideas he entertained with regard to description in music. In his capacity of maitre de chapelle it was his duty to compose masses destined to be performed on the four great feast days of the year. He insisted that the music should be imitative and peculiar to the occasion. That is, that the music should be in accord with the event com- memorated on any special day. Each mass thus became a species of sacred drama. 23 Music in the XlXth Century On Christmas day, for instance, his Gloria in Excelsis commenced in march form, to suggest the idea of the shepherds advancing towards the manger, and in order to accentuate his intention he introduced into the accompaniment an old popular Christmas tune. " If a composer," he wrote, "in a mass destined to be performed at Easter were to compose to the ' Kyrie ' music which would be appropriate (as is often the case) to people groaning under the weight of their woes, would he be fulfilling the proper conditions? Would this painting be suitable to describe Easter Sunday, the day when the Redeemer has risen r It will be seen that Lesueur's ideas were con- siderably in advance of his time. Whenever a work of his was produced he insisted on publish- ing a long explanatory programme of his inten- tions. Theoretically he may in a measure be regarded as the spiritual father of the modern French school. His music, however, as far as it is possible to judge it nowadays, scarcely seems to explain the enthusiasm it aroused at the time of its pro- duction. ^4 Mehul and the Last of the Classics Ossian, ou Les Bardes strikes me in reading the pianoforte score as formally constructed, cold and lifeless. Doubtless its effectiveness must have been largely due to the scoring and the excellence of the performance. The partiality shown by Lesueur for subjects of the remotest antiquity was further exemplified in his next opera — La Mort d'Adam. Oddly enough, a work entitled La Mort d'Abel by Rudolph Kreutzer, a composer whose music has long been forgotten but whose name has been immortalised by Beethoven, had been accepted for production at the Opera. Eventually Lesueur's work gained the prece- dence, and its first performance was humorously announced to the press in the following terms : V(yus etes priis d'assister au service 4" enterrement du sieur Adam, ancien propriStaire, qui se feront demain Mardi, 21 Mars^ 1809, en TAcademie Im- periale de musique, sa paroisse oii il decedera. De prqfuiidis ! A curious point may be noticed in the fact that whereas the composers of the early part of the century sought for inspiration in subjects taken from biblical, legendary, or classical lore, their 25 Music in the XlXth Century successors of to-day have in many instances gone to the opposite extreme by musically illustrating stones of modern life. The ancient Greeks and Romans have been handed over to the mercy of purveyors of opira houffe, while Joseph and his brethren have had to make way for Louise and her companions'^ in the atelier de couture. What has been said concerning the masters who flourished during the early days of the century will suffice to show that whatever their shortcomings, they were all animated by the noblest intentions and imbued with high artistic ideals. If the results of their labours fell somewhat short of their desires, the fault cannot altogether be ascribed to them, but may in part be attributed to the epoch. Not one of the operas produced in Paris during the Napoleonic period can be said to have survived. The occasional resuscitation of Joseph, La Vestale, or Les Deux JourtiSes means nothing. These and other works by the same composers have practically vanished from the operatic repertoire. A German author once fixed the average longevity of a popular opera at forty years. This may be a rather short estimate, but experience has proved that of all forms of musical art the 26 Mehul and the Last of the Classics dramatic is the most evanescent. The concert room happily preserves for us that which is most worthy, and certain famous dramatic composers of the past live in the present through the overtures to their operas. Unfortunately the overture seems nowadays to be falling into neglect, and it may pertinently be wondered what will remain in the future of certain modern operas, or rather "lyric dramas," when these have vanished from the stage ! What killed the operas of the Napoleonic period was the arrival of Rossini and the substi- tution of the florid style of vocalisation for the declamation of the Gluck epoch, of which Spon- tini and Lesueur were the last representatives. Already in 1801 an Italian opera company had settled in Paris, and had obtained an enormous popular success. The light florid vapid music of the Italian composers was in strong contrast to the serious and sober strains of the followers of Gluck. It was in order to prove a Frenchman's capability of writing in this style that Mehul had composed Ulrato, which was applauded in the belief that the author was an Italian. Under the nefarious influence of the decadent 27 Music in the XlXth Century Italianism which flourished at that time, French music gradually lost much that was essentially characteristic and typical of the soil, gaining an artificial brilliancy at the expense of sincerity and simplicity. The composer who hastened the downward descent was Rossini, concerning whom a French writer * has said : " In imitating Rossini our artists learned to give more supple- ness and a more elegant form to their thoughts ; but they also learned the art of false brilliancy, of false gvace, of melodic jingle, in fact of musical chatter." * liUvoixfiU. 28 CHAPl'ER II THE ADVENT OF BOSSINl Nowadays it seems difficult to realise the enthu- siasm generated all over Europe during the second and third decades of the century by the operas of Rossini.* In Paris the popularity of the brilliant maestro soon extended everywhere except to the Conser- vatoire, where the professors, trained in the rigid principles of the Gluck school, regarded the new- comer with marked disfavour. The younge)' com- posers, however, soon fell under the Rossinian spell, scenting the chances of success obtainable through the adoption of the methods employed by the idol of the day and eager to gain the applause of the multitude. An explanation of Rossini's extraordinary suc- cess is perhaps not so very difficult to find. * Rossini (1792-1868). 29 Music in the XlXth Century The public had become wearied of the pompous dulness of the stilted operas brought out at the Acaddmie. They craved for something new, more vital and inspiriting. Rossini gave them this. His operas, extem- porised in haste, brimming over with the exube- rance of youth, full of catchy tunes, overcharged with vocal ornamentation, drove every one wild. The aesthetics of the operatic drama were for- gotten, the appropriateness of the musical phrase to the situation became a matter of secondary importance ; the vocalist reigned supreme with the composer as his humble servant. No wonder that the excellent professors of the Conservatoire were scandalised by the state of affairs. Jealousy, of course, was assigned as the motive of their opposition to the deity of the hour. Among the younger musicians, one alone protested against the invader, Hector Berlioz, who, bui-ning with indignation, felt disposed to blow up the Italian Theatre and all its occupants on the nights when La Gazza Ladra or some other work by Rossini was being played. Boieldieu, one of the most typical of French composers, had in the meantime gradually fallen under the fatal 30 The Advent of Rossini Rossinian influence, and was wont to gather his pupils together and with them go carefully through every new score published by the maestro. Rossini's success had gained him access to the Academie Royale de Musique, where three of his Italian operas, altered and improved, were suc- cessively performed — Le Siege de Corinthe, Mo'ise, and Le Comte Ory. These were succeeded by the composer's last and greatest work, Guillaume Tell, which seemed to be the starting-point of a new departure, the promise of a rich musical harvest. Although not entirely free from the laxity of his early style, Guillaume Tell evidenced a veritably astonishing transfor- mation and revealed a hitherto unsuspected power. Until then, Rossini had certainly shown genius as a composer of op&ra buffa — his admirable Barbiere di Seviglia is a' sufficient proof of this — but he had not proved that he possessed the depth of thought requisite to give adequate musical life to a truly pathetic theme. There are doubtless passages in the operas be- longing to his Italian period where he seemed to rise above himself, notably the prayer in Mo'ise, 31 Music in the XlXth Century the touching aria, '■^ Assisa al pie d'un Salice,'" in - Otello. As a rule, however, he appeared to trouble himself but little about such matters as expressive- ness and pathos, satisfied to provide his singers with the means of showing off their voices, aiming essentially at effect, and revelling in a veritable debauch of vocal ornamentation. If he by chance imagined a suave cantilena, he must needs spoil its simplicity by covering it with all the tinsel of vocal embroidery. Thus it was that Rossini dazzled by the brilliancy of his undoubted genius, but he rarely touched the heart. In this respect, be it said, he differed greatly from his compatriots Bellini and Donizetti, who were each for a time to hold the sceptre he had resigned. Bellini,* the melodist par excellence, wrote from his heart. La ^onnambula and Norma may be old-fashioned, their construction may be of the simplest, but they contain' really beautiful melodies, they appeal to the emotions, and one feels that they were written not solely for effect, but to express the composer's innermost thoughts. Donizettif again, in Lucrezia Borgia and Lima * Bellini (1802-1835). t Donizetti (1797-1848). 32 The Advent of Rossini di Lammermoor, had his inspired moments when he found la note juste and touched the heart. Rossini, on the other hand, seems to have been too much of a sceptic, and his music pursued its course brilliantly alert in very much the same manner whatever the subject he was treating. Gluck and Mozart had shown how they could put tears into their music. This did not seem possible to Rossini, whose device appeared to be that of Figaro — Je m'empresse de rire de tout de peur d'etre obliffS d'en pleurer ! In GuUlaume Tell it must be admitted that Rossini showed himself in an altogether diiferent light, and disclosed undreamed-of capabilities. Before going further, however, it becomes necessary to mention an opera which preceded GuUlaume Tell on the same boards, the work of a Frenchman who, imbued with the Rossinian ideas, yet remained typically national in his style — the MuMte de Portici of Auber,* known in England as Masaniello. Here indeed was a fresh departure both in text and in music. The rather stilted figures of the Napoleonic opera had disappeared, the classical * Auber (1782-1871). Music in the XlXth Century subjects of old had been discarded. In place of these, here were simple fisher folk and a tale of the Revolution teeming with the spirit of the hour. The music again was absolutely in accord with the text. Previously, Auber had only written for the Opera Comique, the theatre where he was ulti- mately to triumph. Rising to the occasion and putting forward all his skill, he surpassed his previous efforts and produced a work of wondrous brilliancy, replete with melody, admirably cha- racteristic, and effectively scored. The diminished seventh with which the overture commences sounds as a defiance hurled against conventionality. In form Auber had adhered to consecrated models and he had adopted some of the vocal acrobatics of Rossini. But he had also displayed a pronounced individuality of his own, an extraordinary gift of tune, and distinct qualities of musical characterisa- tion. It must be admitted that, in his subse- quently well filled career at the Opera Comique, Auber never approached the heights he had here attained. Nowadays the score of La Muette naturally seems very old-fashioned. It is however of course not fair to judge it according to modern The Advent of Rossini ideas. Auber had nothing about him of the reformer. He simply wrote as he felt, and in the present instance he was undoubtedly well inspired. There is a sparkle and a dash about the music of La Muette which strikes one even now. Wagner fully recognised these qualities and always expressed the greatest admiration for Auber's masterpiece. La Muette had been represented in 1828 ; Guillaume Tell followed the next year. In France the enthusiasm kindled by Rossini's last and greatest opera passed all bounds. In England, where, of course, the overture has re- mained popular, it has perhaps scarcely met with the appreciation it deserves. Certainly in Guillaume Tell Rossini had in a measure changed his style. On the other hand, it may be noted that already in Le Siege de Corinthe and in Mdise he had given proof of his capability to rise above the ordinary cavatinas and cabalettas which had brought him success. In Guillaume Tell he displayed a sense of the picturesque which hitherto might have been vainly sought in his works, and he evinced real dramatic feeling. The hyperbolic language of praise called forth by this supreme effort of Rossini passes 35 Music in the XlXth Century imagination. Just as Spontini fondly imagined that he had attained the limits of operatic art, just as a famous English critic was at the time of the death of Mendelssohn to exclaim despairingly that music was dead, just as on every occasion when some great composer has enlarged the boundaries of his art and opened out fresh horizons there will be similar predictions, so did Guillaume Tell seem to the Parisians to exemplify the last possible stage in the development of the musical drama. Already a cry of alarm had been raised, mirahile dictu, apropos of Le Siege de Corinthe, a well- known critic of the time, while expressing his admiration for this work, accusing the composer " of having pushed his effects of harmony to such a degree of complication that it was permissible to wonder whether he had not rendered all further innovation impossible." Human imbecility is eternal, and identical senti- ments have since been expressed concerning many of Rossini's successors. To one writer Guillaume Tell represents the ideal of French grand opera, and its appearance remains " the greatest event of the XlXth century and the date of a new era." 36 The Advent of Rossini That Guillaume Tell inaugurated a new era in French opera is saying too much. Rossini's work and Auber's La Muette may rather be considered as brilliant precursors of a genre which was to be illustrated in a far completer manner by Meyerbeer. Spontini had already shown the way in La Vestale and in Fenuxnd Cortez by introducing martial pomp and piling up massive effects, besides, in the last of these works, making a sort of attempt to introduce local colour into his music. The Rossini cult had, however, now reached a stage that bordered upon fanaticism. Adolphe Adam, the composer, did not hesitate to give it as his matured opinion that Rossini was the most complete musical genius the world had ever seen, placing him above Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. The incense was kept burning before the master for the remainder of his life. In the meanwhile the composer of Gtdllaume Tell, considering that he had done enough for his fanie, settled down quietly to a bourgeois exist- ence, content to idle away the remainder of his life, only emerging from his retirement on rare 37 Music in the XlXth Century occasions, to produce his Stabat Mater and some years later, his Messe Solennelle. The causes of Rossini's retirement from the ac- tive exercise of his profession before he had reached his prime, have been vai'iously discussed and ex- plained. Laziness on the one hand and jealousy of Meyerbeer's success on the other have been ascribed as the causes which induced him to lay down his pen. The first reason is probably more likely to be the true one. Of a naturally indolent disposition, Rossini had been in his early days obliged to work for his living. Fame and fortune having arrived, what could be more natural than that he should prefer to take his ease ? For Rossini was not one of those artists who are im- pelled by an inward force to produce. This wonderfully gifted child of nature required incen- tives from without. The desire to concentrate his powers on a work of enduring value does not seem to have existed for him. At least — who can tell, after all .'' Is it not possible that having waited some time after the production of Guillaume Tell, Rossini may have thought of resuming work and found that his pen had grown rusty from want of use and that his 38 The Advent of Rossini ideas had lost their freshness ? Let it be remem- bered that during the early days of his career he deliberately frittered away his ideas in such pro- fusion that he may in reality have exhausted his stock. In the meanwhile the world had progressed. A formidable rival had appeared in Meyerbeer, one whose musicianship he could not aspire to equal. An opera written in his early Italian style would not have gone down, dne like Guillaume Tell would have demanded too great an effort. Rossini was not a man to risk failure. " One more success," he is reported to have said, " would add nothing to my glory, whilst a failure might tarnish it." Guillaume Tell was the culminating work of his career. It effectually closed an epoch and fore- shadowed the next. Spontini, Auber and Rossini had prepared the way, and the man who was to profit by their innovations was not far off. The first of these masters was now practically out of the running. His style was already antiquated, and he had abandoned the field to others. Auber was destined to achieve his successes on the boards of the Opera Comique. The subsequent works he wrote for the Academie — Oustave, Le Philtre, Le 39 Music in the XlXth Century Lac des Fees — could not dompare with La Muette ,• Rossini had given up writing ; Meyerbeer now appeared and had no difficulty in asserting his supremacy. The golden age of the Grand Opera was at hand. 40 CHAPTER III MEYERBEER AND THE GRAND OPERA Every great composer has had his antagonists, ..and Meyerbeer* has had more than his fair share of them. The idol of the Parisian public, the monarch of the Grand Opera, where he reigned practically supreme for over thirty years, Meyerbeer exercised an immense influence over music in France, an influence which may be said to have prevailed until comparatively recently. Clearly a composer of such standing is not to be passed by with a shrug of the shoulders, and if he was over-praised during his lifetime there is no doubt that he has since been considerably underrated. A calm, dispassionate survey of the case is neces- sary in order to enable one to arrive at a just estimate of Meyerbeer's genius. In his " Primer * Meyerbeer (1791-1864). 41 Music in the XlXth Century of Musical History," Sir Hubert Parry treats Meyerbeer unnecessarily severely. In this he but follows the example of Schumann, who had gone still further in his dislike of Meyerbeer, whose Propkete he had, as a critic, significantly dismissed with a cross, >}<, inferring that burial was all that the work deserved. Of course this was no criti- cism at all, and it was even worse, for it conveyed the idea that there was not one redeeming feature in Le Prophete. The feeblest Italian opera of the period would surely have deserved more than this. If Schumann disliked Le Prophete, he was quite at liberty to give his reasons for so doing, as, indeed, he had already done apropos of Les Huguenots. What he published was at once too much and too little. The antagonism of Mendelssohn and Schumann towards Meyerbeer can, however, to a certain extent be understood. The ideals of these two composers were different from those of Meyerbeer, and they considered the latter in the light of a renegade who had abandoned the cultivation of high art in order to sacrifice to Mammon and obtain popularity at any price. These two honest workers in music thus felt no compunction in 42 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera expressing their indignation at what they looked upon as the triumph of a false art. In so doing they were manifestly unjust, and they wilfully closed their ears to the many undeniable beauties of Meyerbeer's music. With Wagner the case was rather different. At the commencement of his career the master de- clared himself an enthusiastic admirer of Meyer- beer. Subsequently, his views on the music drama caused him to adopt another attitude. It must, however, not be forgotten that he retained an immense admiration for the fourth act of Les Huguenots, which he considered one of the most beautiful works in existence. This does not accord well with Sir Hubert Parry's verdict.* With the example before them of the above illustrious com- posers, all the musical small fry have followed suit, and Meyerbeer's name and fame have been ruthlessly dragged through the mire, the composer of Robert le Diahle hemg rendered responsible for all the artificiality and meretriciousness of the mid-century Grand Opera style. * It may be remarked that Professor Ebenezer Prout in his primer on Instrnmentation, included in the same series as Sir Hubert Parry's, mentions Meyerbeer as one of the greatest masters of Instrumentation. 43 Music in the XlXth Century It will be worth while to look a little more closely into the matter. Berlioz's remark, Meyer- beer a le bonheur d'avoir du talent et le talent cfavoir du bonheur, hits the nail pretty well on the head. With the instincts of his race, Meyer- beer sought to employ his great gifts so that these should yield an immediate return in popularity. The desire to achieve success had developed with him into a veritable craze. There is something pathetic in the spectacle afforded by this richly endowed man seeking to curry favour first with one then with the other, fearing to impose his ideas on the public, timorous of the opinion ex- pressed by the obscurest journalist, ready to be the humble servant of the vocalist and to gratify the whims of any prima donna by supplying her with vocal acrobatics. This unfortunate susceptibility to public opinion was Meyerbeer's bane. The point has been noted over and over again by writers on music, and has prevented many from rendering due justice to the master's qualities. With more strength of charac- ter Meyerbeer would have done yet greater things. He had at his command the genius and the oppor- tunities, besides which his financial circumstances 44 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera were such as to ensure him perfect indepen- dence. It must, however, be admitted that some of the accusations levelled at his head are manifestly unjust. He has been blamed for leaving his country in order to wi-ite for Paris. The same thing may be said of Gluck, Piccinni, Sacchini, Cherubini, Spontini, Rossini and others, while Wagner himself would be open to reproach owing to his early attempts to obtain a hearing in the French capital. It may be noted also that Handel and Mendels- sohn composed some of their best works in England, a fact which has not to my knowledge been con- sidered detrimental to the fame of these masters. Again, rather too much has, I think, been made of Meyerbeer's search after effect, his fondness for sumptuous mounting. The desire to produce effect is after all the objective of every dramatic composer. Let me not be misunderstood. What is it that rouses the enthusiasm of an audi- ence at Bajreuth ? It is the effect produced by a wonderful combination of means employed by a master hand. Everything here conduces to effect, even the darkness of the auditorium. The 45 Music in the XlXth Century composer who has succeeded in stirring the pulses of his hearers, in touching the chord of human sensibiJity, has achieved his object. He has pro- duced his eifect. It is this particular sort of effect, this legitimate effect that I mean, and which I claim has in several instances been attained by Meyerbeer, on account of which many obvious shortcomings may assuredly be pardoned. Then, again, the confident manner in which some writers have denied unto Meyerbeer all semblance of sincerity has always surprised me. Sincerity is a word too often misapplied. A sincere composer would, I take it, be one who wrote as he felt, without paying any attention to exterior considerations, but solely desirous of giving the best that was in him. In order, therefore, properly to apply the test of sincerity to a composer it would become necessary to know him well and to be able to penetrate into all the recesses of his mind, which amounts to a practical impossibility. What is simpler, and, indeed, absolutely essential in any attempt to form an estimate of a composer is to take into consideration the nature of his talent, which can with a fair amount of accuracy 46 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera be gauged, and the character of the epoch during which he lived. Now Meyerbeer's peculiar temperament was essentially dramatic, this much may be taken for granted. He was an eclectic, ajid his sojourn in Italy had considerably vitiated his taste. There he had, by adopting the Rossinian methods, been able to gain the ear of the public and obtain successes which scandalised and pained his old fellow-student Weber, who did his utmost to induce him to return to more legitimate ways. Then Paris claimed him for her own, and there he found the soil best suited for the growth of his talent. What may be regretted is that he should not then have shaken off all vestiges of Rossinian influence. On the other hand, however, he brought certain elements to bear in the construction of his operas which were new at the time and fully entitle him to be considered one of the reformers of the lyric drama. That he did not go further is scarcely the point. The question is not so much what a man might have done, but what he actually achieved. The operatic situation in 1830 was complicated 47 Music in the XlXth Century in the extreme. The stern classicism of the fol- lowers of Gluck was gradually losing its hold over a public intoxicated by the brilliant Rossinian strains. The wind of romanticism was in the meanwhile blowing from Germany. Weber's Frei^chiitz had been performed in Paris and the symphonies of Beethoven were not unknown. Berlioz, young and ardent, was scandalising the worthy professors of the Conservatoire with his Sym/phaiue Fantastique, indulging in the wildest flights of imagination, and revolutionising the orchestra. Meyerbeer, the eclectic par excellence, the musician of compromise, now came forward and succeeded in amalgamating the apparently antago- nistic elements of all these schools, while at the same time displaying in his works a remarkable originality of his own. This eclecticism, which at the time was blamed in some quarters, undoubtedly conduced towards his success with the masses. It has been sufficiently criticised since. Before proceeding further, I may remark that the accusation which has very justly been levelled at Meyerbeer of making too great a use, or rather 48 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera abuse, of vocal ornamentation, is one which may be made against many others, and it is scarcely fair that the composer of Robert le Diable should be perpetually singled out as the worst offender. The roulade and the^oriture have now almost disappeared, even in Italy, but it is not so very long ago that these excrescences could ^ be found in the majority of operas, and even at the present -time there are people who delight in vocal acro- batics. As a rule, however, music written for the mere purpose of displaying the agility of the voice is kept for the concert-room ; the older operas in which such music occurs may remain, but the newer operas are constructed on a different plan. Is Mozart wholly guiltless of employing vocal ornamentation for no better purpose than that of pleasing a singer ? What about the air of the Queen of the Night in the Zauberfliite ? To go back further, there can be little doubt that Handel was one of the greatest culprits in this way. Yet crowds nowadays listen open- mouthed to the interminable runs which abound in all his oratorios, and do not seem shocked by Music in the XlXth Century any sense of incongruity. Did not Wagner him- self employ vocal ornamentation in Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman, and Berlioz in Benvemito Cellini ? Are not all Verdi's early operas full of vocal embroideries ? To come to later times, did not Gounod « embellish the waltz song in Romeo with runs and shakes to please a singer ? Did not Bizet in La Jolie Fille de Perth, Ambroise Thomas in Hamlet, more recently Leo Delibes in Lakme, and Saint- Saens in Phryne, write florid music ? If composers nowadays are more sparing than formerly in this respect, the reason cannot altogether be ascribed to a higher outlook, but rather to the fact that the public taste has changed. Roulades and fiwitwre are no longer the fashion. Verdi had abandoned them in his later works, and it is more than probable that Meyerbeer would have done the same had he lived at a different period. There are instances also, it must be admitted, where vocal ornamentation is not altogether out of place and where it may be utilised in a perfectly 50 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera legitimate fashion. Meyerbeer in several instances may be said to have dramatised the roulade, that is, to have employed it not merely for the sake of gratifying the vanity of the singer but as a means of expression. He had got so much into the habit in the operas he wrote for Italy of considering this as part of the operatic composer's stock-in-trade that he evidently saw no objection to its employment. In the Crociato in Egitto, the last of the Italian operas written by Meyerbeer, slight traces may be discovered of the individuality that was later on to assert itself. It was, however, in Robert le Diable that Meyerbeer really showed what he was capable of doing. This work pro- duced a sort of artistic revolution in Paris. It seemed in a measure to combine all that was best in the various schools of music. Let it be re- membered that in 1831 the Parisians were more or less ignorant of symphonic music, that Rossini was their god, and the extraordinary sensation produced by Robert le Diable need cause no sur- prise. Meyerbeer was gradually initiating the public in the understanding of a better class of music. Instead of frightening the masses away, he 51 Music in the XlXth Century- attracted them. Now here is a point which I do not think has been sufficiently taken into con- sideration by the detractors of Meyerbeer. In their anxiety to cast ridicule upon the operatic style of the period, which is at present akin to flogging a dead hprse, they overlook the fact that Meyerbeer was an innovator, that his operas con- tain great beauties, that he showed extraordinary dramatic perception and marked originality, that he devised new instrumental effects, and that he helped to prepare the way for the modern music- drama. Is it nothing to be the composer of the fourth act of Les Huguenots P See how many imitators Meyerbeer has had and what they have achieved. This is a true test. Robert le Dlable, Les Huguenots, he Prophete, UEtoile du Nord, Le Pardon de Ploermel, {Dinorah), UAJricaine — these are the works which for a considerable length of time practically rendered Meyerbeer the autocrat of the operatic stage. These operas indeed still maintain a certain hold over the public in Germany, France and Italy. In London they have, with the exception of Les Hiiguenots, gradually dropped out of the 52 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera repertoire, which is a pity, as the best works of every style and epoch should be preserved. It may also be added that it is impossible to form an adequate opinion of the true value of Les Hugiienots from the mutilated version played in London. Never probably has any opera been so cruelly maltreated. Some of the finest scenes have been shorn of their best attributes.- Whole passages have been lopped off apparently without rhyme or reason. The first, second and third acts especially have suffered ; as to the fifth act, it has disappeared altogether. It may therefore be said that the Englishman who never crosses the Channel, if such an indi- vidual exists, is scarcely competent to form an opinion as to the worth of Meyerbeer's operas. If a new version of Les Huguenots were to be prepared, the probability is that an entirely different plan would be adopted. Many portions which have been cut out would be replaced while certain concessions to the fashion of the epoch would be excised. In Robert le Diable the Italianisms are more frequent than in Les Huguenots. The part of Isabelle is overloaded with fioriture and runs. For 53 Music in the XlXth Century this reason the second act appears terribly old- fashioned. In the dramatic portions of this opera Meyerbeer has, however, achieved great things. The manner in which he has succeeded in characterising his dramatis personce is admirable. Let us, again, remember the date of the produc- tion of Robert, and marvel how in this, as in his subsequent works, he succeeded in creating a special musical atmosphere, and in typifying his characters. We will find this still more exemplified in Les Huguenots, but in Robert the intention is already canied out with considerable success. Bertram, the spirit of evil, is personified in the orchestra by the deeper-toned instruments, bhe trombones, the ophicleide and the bassoons. In the famous evoca- tion of the nuns, the trombones, trumpets and horns are employed with striking effect, accentuat- ing the sombreness of the situation. The wood- wind instruments, on the other hand, are reserved to describe the sympathetic character of Alice. How graceful and charming is the prelude to the air sung by Alice, " Quand je quittais la Nor- mandie," scored for flutes, oboes and clarinets ! Wagner, in Lohengrin, has in a similar fashion 54 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera delineated the character of Elsa. The score of Robert le Diable is indeed full of the most ingenious instrumental devices. More than this, however, it reveals genuine melodic invention and extra- ordinary dramatic power, always taking into con- sideration the genre, Bertram is a creation worthy to be placed by the side of Weber's Caspar. Listen to the Valse Infernale and try to imagine how new it must have sounded in 1831. Classically con- structed, it is in its essence intensely emotional. Bertram is the evil one, but he is a fallen angel, and it may be presumed that he retains some of his former self. Meyerbeer's treatment of the character would lead one to suppose that he re- garded it in this light. There is a fund of tender- ness in the expressive phrase of the first act addressed by Bertram to his son Robert, " Tu ne sauras jamais a quel exces je t'aime ! " The Satanic element, however, of course predomi- nates, and it is in effective contrast to the purity and sweetness of Alice. From a psychological point of view there is a great deal to be said about Robert le Diable, and those are mistaken who speak of it disdainfully as a work of little artistic import. The admiration 55 Music in the XlXth Century- it aroused at the time was not by any means con- fined to the masses, but was shaved by the elite of thought and culture. Balzac, in his " Gambarra," waxed enthusiastic over its beauties and read in the music many things which nowadays people might be puzzled to discover. Les Huguenots, the most generally popular of Meyerbeer's operas, dates from the year 1836. Notwithstanding the changes in taste brought about by time, it must be admitted that the work still survives, and that in spite of antiquated forms and concessions to vocalists, it possesses the power of stirring the imagination and of moving the heart. The entire fourth act remains a master- piece, open to criticism perhaps as regards a few details, but admirable as a whole, a conception of the highest import. Those who deny all sincerity to Meyerbeer should listen attentively to this act. Wagner's opinion of the great love duet is already known. Berlioz was roused to so high a pitch of enthusiasm by the Benediction des Poig- nards that he was moved to express himself in these terms : " The effervescence of the emotions excited by this masterpiece makes one desire to be 56 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera a great man in order to place one's glory and one's genius at the feet of Meyerbeer." It is curious to note the manner in which Meyerbeer has succeeded in characterising his types, hewing them as it were in marble. When Raoul de Nangis first makes his appearance, his arrival is heralded by a short orchestral intro- duction which suggests the chivalrous nature of the young Protestant nobleman. This scene has been cut from the version of the opera used at Covent Garden. See again how Meyerbeer punctu- ates the arrival of Marcel, Raoul's rough but sympathetic soldier servant, with a gruff theme allotted to the bassoons, violoncellos and basses. The courtly Nevers, the noble-minded, impulsive Valentine, the sinister St. Bris, even the joyous page, all these are types, they stand out on the canvas. Then again in the matter of musical colouring Meyerbeer has done wonders. The gay insouciance of the court of the Valois seems reflected in the bright strains of the first act, with its brilliant chain of choruses. In the third act, the contrast between the two opposing religious parties is delineated with a master hand. The Huguenot soldiers troll their 57 Music in the XlXth Century- lusty drinking songs ; the Catholic women drone their litanies (note here the peculiar effect obtained by the chord of Q minor with the third left out). The soldiers endeavour to drown the voices of the women with their drinking song, and the two themes are combined with admirable skiU. Later on, the rival factions are again at loggerheads, and here Meyerbeer has succeeded wonderfully in de- picting the agitation of the mob. This quarrelling chorus, again, cannot be judged by the Covent Garden version, where, in order either to save a minute or two or to simplify the piece, the scene has been mutilated in a shameful manner. This chorus, by the way, must have been in Gounod's mind when he wrote the quarrelling scene between the Capulets and Montagues in the third act of Romeo. There can be little doubt also that it must have served as a model to Bizet, when, in the first act of Carmen, the cigarette girls surround the officer Zuniga and denounce the offending heroine of this admirable opera. It is easy enough to reproach Meyerbeer with having been influenced by his predecessors and contemporaries. At any rate he showed that he possessed a strong personality. 58 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera If he adopted certain forms and characteristics from others, he gave them the unmistakable impress of his own individuality. Other composers have since done their best to equal him on his own ground ; they have helped themselves liberally to his devices, without, however, bringing forth anything of their own. Leu Huguenots had proved the consecration of Meyer- beer's reputation. Meyerbeer now stood in a unique position, and was in a measure the arbiter of the operatic destiny. Weber was dead, Cheru- bini was old, Spontini had given up writing, Rossini had retired, Mendelssohn had, substan- tially, not attempted operas, Wagner, Verdi and Gounod were as yet unknown, Marschner's repu- tation was almost exclusively confined to Germany, while Auber, Halevy and Donizetti were scarcely formidable rivals, and Berlioz was altogether too thorough in his ideas to count seriously. Such was the situation in 1836. Meyerbeer could then have done pretty much as he chose, and the lines to be pursued were clearly indicated to him by a woman of genius, George Sand, who in a long letter to the com- poser, after expressing all the admiration she felt 59 Music in the XlXth Century for Les Huguenots had the courage to make the following observations : " Allow me," she wrote, " to express a wish ! Why this consecrated form, why this coda, species of uniform and cumbersome framework ? Why this trait, equi- valent to the pirouette of a dancer? Why this habit of making the voice pass, towards the end of each piece, from the highest to the lowest notes of the voice ? Why these used-up and monotonous forms which destroy the eiFect of the most beautiful phrases ? " Then later on she boldly apostrophised the composer in these words : " You have not yet altogether disburdened yourself from the ignorance of the vulgar public and from the demands of unintelligent vocalists. You could not do it, I suppose ! Perhaps even you have only succeeded in making your most beautiful ideas acceptable by employing obligatory formulas. But, at present, are you not in a position to form your own audi- ences, to impose on them your wishes, to reveal to them a purity of taste which they ignore, and which no one ha^ as yet been able frankly to pro- claim ? ITiese immense successes, these brilliant victories won over the public give you certain rights ; tliey possibly also impose upon you certain 60 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera duties ; for above popular favour and human glory, there is the cult of art and the faith of the artist. You are the man of the present ; master, be also the man of the future. . . . And if my idea is extravagant, my wish indiscreet, forget that I have said anything ! " What Meyerbeer may have thought of this letter is not recorded. That he did not profit by the advice it contained is unfortunately but too true. Le Prophete, Meyerbeer's next opera, did not see the light until several years later", in 1849. In the meanwhile the composer had spent a good deal of time in Germany as Hof-Kapelhneister to the King of Prussia. It is to this period that belongs the composition of the incidental music to Struensee, which is from a purely artistic point of view one of Meyerbeer's most remarkable compositions. He was working simultaneously at Le Prophete and at VA/ricaine, and is said to have written two complete versions of the latter, the last differing entirely from the first. M. Johannes Weber, who for some years was Meyerbeer's secretary, has stated in a volume of reminiscences that of all the composer's operas Le Prophete is the one which he 61 Music in the XlXth Century- wrote with the greatest amount of liberty. And yet he gives us at the same time examples of how even in this work Meyerbeer allowed himself to be dictated to by his interpreters. It appears that Mme. Castellan, who was to take the part of Bertha, insisted upon having an air to sing when she first came on. There was nothing in the situation to justify this, yet Meyerbeer at once wrote two airs, of which Mme. Castellan selected the more brilliant, although the master preferred the other. All that Meyerbeer did was to forbid the insertion of this air into the pub- lished score. This lamentable weakness on the part of the composer was further exemplified in a rather amusing manner. Roger, who was to create the title role had, it appears, a light tenor voice, one scarcely robust enough for the exact- ing music. " Meyerbeer,"" writes M. Weber, " had sent me to Roger to accompany him on the piano and run through his part. Jean first appears in the second act ; this act went without trouble ; but in the third act the massacre commenced. Mme. Roger invariably assisted at the rehearsals. She was neither artistic nor musical, and she looked after her husband with an incessant motherly solici- 62 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera tude, rarely brooking contradiction. Roger had sung a great deal in the second act ; Mme. Roger settled that in the third act he should sing but little ! In the third act Jean had a very original and expressive air to sing. Hardly was this tried over than Mme. Roger declared it to be super- fluous and said that it would have to be suppressed. Roger at first would not consent, as the air pleased him, but resistance was useless and the next day he told me that the air had been taken out ! I ex- pressed my regi-ets to Meyerbeer ; he shrugged his shoulders : ' I will employ it elsewhere,' he said. He never did employ it, however, the air being abso- lutely in keeping with the situation." Meyerbeer had also composed an overture to Le PropJiete. At the rehearsals this was stated to be too purely symphonic, and it was put aside. Such subser- vience on the part of one so richly gifted, and occupying a position so lofty, is absolutely in- comprehensible. It is easy to imagine the sort of attitude Wagner would have adopted under similar circumstances. The part of Fides, it may be remarked, was not tampered with in any way. But Meyerbeer had as his interpreter Mme. Viardot, who was a great 63 Music in the XlXth Century artist as well as a great singer. Le Prophete ranks in the opinion of many as Meyerbeer's master- piece. Gounod, among others, was of this way of thinking. Certainly in the Cathedral scene the composer has attained great heights of emotional feeling. Here he seems to have concerned him- self with nought else but the strict interpre- tation of the text, and his music, inspired by a wonderfully pathetic situation, has arisen to lofty altitudes. Meyerbeer's method of endeavouring subtly to suggest a train of thought by repeating a melody previously heard is employed in Le Prophete. In the second act, where Jean relates his dream, the theme of the triumphal march which will be heard later on is softly played by the orchestra. The instrumentation of Le Prophete is rich and sonorous, and abounds in admirable combinations. It is, of course, not my intention to enter into detail concerning this, which some might consider the purely technical portion of the work. I should, however, like to mention the wonderfully ethereal effect realised in the fourth act, when Jean utters the words : " Que la sainte lumiere descende sur ton front," by the combination of the violins divided 64 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera into three parts allied to three flutes and a cor anglais. The various instrumental effects dis- covered by Meyerbeer are so plentiful that I cannot here attempt to deal with them. Meyerbeer had been working at UAfricaine for years, but the opera was only produced after his death. It is, however, certain that the work in its present form belongs to the later period of his career. The exact time of its composition has, indeed, been fixed by Meyerbeer himself. On the manuscript score the master wrote down the dates, and we find that, with the exception of the romance sung by Ines, the first two acts were composed in 1857 and 1858, and the others from 1860 to 1863. The story of L'Africaine is very silly, and the work has all the obvious shortcomings of the "grand opera" genre. At the same time, the music is often in Meyerbeer's best vein. It is ex- tremely picturesque, invariably ingenious, and occasionally, as in the finale of the first act, un- deniably powerful. jEsthetically, it can scarcely be said to offer any advance upon the composer's former grand operas. Meyerbeer had, between whiles, made an excur- 65 E Music in the XlXth Century sion to the Opera Comique, the home of the typi- cally French composer. It can scarcely be said that he adapted himself altogether satisfactorily to his new sun-oundings. Accustomed to paint on a large canvas, he found himself hampered by the size of the framework. His labours were, howevex", not by any means un- productive of good results. UEtoile du Nord is a veritable musical kaleido- scope. Some of the music therein had already figured in Ein Feldlager in Schlesien, an opera written for Jenny Lind some years previously. The complica- tion of means so often to be found in Meyerbeer's scores is here exemplified in the finale to the second act, where no fewer than three distinct bands are employed. To the ordinary orchestra are added a fife band and a brass band, both on the stage. The effect of these heard in combina- tion, ea6h playing a different theme, is certainly imposing. ' Le Pardon de Ploermel (Dmorah) occupies a special place among Meyerbeer's works. In some respects it is the most human of his con- ceptions. All the cumbersome paraphernalia of the " grand opera " has here been laid aside. A 66 Meyerbeer and the Grand Opera simple and pathetic Breton tale has inspired the composer often happily, although the music allotted to the heroine is overloaded with vocal ornamentation. Meyerbeer's sole rival at the G-rand Opera was Halevy,* who was certainly not strong enough to prove a serious competitor. A conscientious, hard-working musician, Halevy was one of the most prolific composers of his day. La Juive, Guido et Ginevra, La Reine de Chypre, Charles VL., Le Juif Errant, and L.a Mofficienne, were some of the works he contributed to the Academic. Of these La Juive alone may be said to have survived. It contains some fine dramatic passages, and in the Scene de la Paque the composer has been really inspired. Guido et Ginevra (1838), La Reine de Chypre (1841), Charles VI. (1843) are long and ponderous works in wiiich may be found some pleasing numbers, for Halevy possessed a certain melodic facility. They do not, however, reveal any par- ticular individuality. Donizetti's La Favorite (1841) was originally * HaWvy (1799-1862). 67 Music in the XlXth Century brought out at the Grand Opera, and has perhaps worn better than the composer's other serious operas. Verdi's Jerusalem, an adaptation from / Lom- bardi, and his Les Vepres Siciliennes (1856) did not achieve a permanent success. The fact remains that for some thirty years, from 1831 to 1861, Meyerbeer towered far above every other composer at the Grand Opera. He was placed by French opinion on the highest pinnacle and was accepted as the incarnation of all that is greatest and best in the dramatic musician. Naturally the point of view has altered in France as it has everywhere else, and Meyerbeer has long ceased to be the model placed before the budding French com- poser. People are generally apt to fall into extremes, and if Meyerbeer has been unduly exalted, he has also been unjustly reviled. It has been my aim to steer a middle course and at the same time to lay stress on some of the master's great qualities, which are apt to be forgotten. 68 CHAPTER IV AUBER AND THE " OPERA COMIQUE " To many people French music in its most typi- cally national form is represented by the " opera comique." It would be more correct to say tea* represented, for the old landmarks have been gradually oblite- rated, the operetta on the one hand and the lyrical drama on the other having usurped the place of the genuine article, and the theatre asso- ciated with the genre, while keeping in its reper- toire the most famous examples of the past, now opens its doors to the boldest of the younger composers and welcomes the most unconventional manifestations of lyrical art. The older " opera comique " was indeed but the French equivalent of the German " Singspiel " and of our own ballad opera. Originally a mere comedie a ariettes, of which 69 Music in the XlXth Century- many examples may be found in the works of XVIIIth century composers, it gradually enlarged its scope, became more dramatic and approached nearer to the style of the " grand opera," the presence of spoken dialogue being at last its only distinguishing feature. As the public has become more musical the spoken dialogue has been curtailed until it may be said almost to have disappeared. Massenet in his Manon adopted a curious method in endeavouring to effect a compromise. He kept the spoken dialogue, although he reduced it to a minimum, but accompanied it with an orchestral com- mentary, a plan which has not met with much success. Carmen was of course written according to the traditional method, in this respect at least, and the recitatives employed on the Italian stage do not figure in the original version. Bruneau, in Le Reve, was the first who practi- cally revolutionised the ideas prevalent at the Opera Comique and prepared the way for Char- pentier and his Louise. But of these composers I shall have something to say later on. Only recently the subject of spoken dialogue 70 Auber and the "Opera Comique" has been discussed by no less a musician than Saint-Saens, who curiously enough tries to find excuses for the mingling of speech and song in opera. In the article entitled " The defence of the Opera Comique,"* the French master thus expresses himself : "In order that this system of scenes alternately spoken and sung, so little rational in appearance, so displeasing to the judg- ment, should have lasted so long, should have had so much success, it must have had its use. It is indeed useful for several reasons. It affords repose to those hearers, more numerous than one is apt to imagine, whose nerves cannot well support several hours of iminterrupted music, whose sense of hearing becomes deadened after a certain time and renders them incapable of appreciating any sound. It permits one to adapt to the lyrical stage amusing and complicated comedies, the intrigues of which could not be developed without many words, and would be incomprehensible if these words did not reach the ears of the public without obstacle. The music intervenes when sentiment predominates over action, or action assumes a greater interest ; certain scenes thus * " Portraits et Souvenirs.' 71 Music in the XlXth Century- placed in relief come out strongly in the en- semble.'"'' That a musician like Saint-Saens should take this view may indeed cause surprise. It is, after all, surely not the business of the composer to think of people's nerves when he is writing an opera, or to calculate how much music certain spectators are likely to be able to endiure ! That the French public nowadays shows a preference for consecutive musical treatment in opera scarcely needs demonstration ; it is proved by the success in Paris of Die Meistermiger, Falstqff, Hansel und Gretel, and Louise. Is it not possible that Saint-Saens, eager to react against the subversive tendencies of the outranciers, has for this reason broken a lance in defence of a now obsolete custom ? Theophile Gautier showed himself more severe in his judgment of the " opera comique " : " We have no tender feelings for the opera comique," he wrote, " that bastard and mean genre, a mix- ture of two incompatible means of expression, where the actors act badly under the pretext that they are singers, and sing out of tune under the pretext that they are comedians." Here it may assuredly be said that the witty 72 Auber and the ''Opera Comique" author rather overshot the mark. Assuredly the form of the older " opera comique " is now out of date. It must, however, not be forgotten that many delightful works have thus been conceived, and it is well to remember that masterpieces such as Fidelia and Der Freischiitz also contain spoken dialogue. Genius, as it has often been proved, asserts itself under all conditions. To the untravelled Englishman the French Opera Comique is almost a terra incognita. The names of those who have illustrated the genre are household words in France. Bo'ieldieu, Nicolo, Herold, Auber, Adam, Halevy, Masse, Maillart, Ambroise Thomas, to name the most famous, have provided arepertoire which is dear to all Frenchmen. The classical example par excellence of the " opera comique " is Boieldieu''s * La Dame Blanche, which since its production in 1825 has never ceased to at- tract. Once disdainfully alluded to by a well-known French composer as un opera tyrolien dont Vaction se passe en Ecosse, it has nevertheless succeeded in surviving the caprices of fashion, and its simple and placid strains have soothed the feelings of many generations of Parisians. BoTeldieu was * Boieldieu (1775-1834). Music in the XlXth Century undoubtedly one of the most typically national composers of France. His melodies have a true popular ring, a naive and often touching sim- plicity. The enthusiasm he has aroused in his countrymen, it must be admitted, occasionally seems somewhat exaggerated. Is it not a fact, however, that one of his operas, Jean de Paris, was considered by Schumann to be one of the first three " operas comiques " of the world, and placed by him side by side with Mozart's Figaro and Rossini's Barbiere P Boieldieu, the direct descendant of Monsigny and Gretry, seems to have inherited from his pre- decessors the gift of tune and the art of expressing his idea's in the simplest manner. La Dame Blanche deserves to live as a charac- teristic example of the national music of the time. It was about the last offshoot of the classical period of the Opera Comique. Nicolo Isouard,* a composer of lesser talent than Boieldieu, was the author of two " operas comiques,"' which for a long while remained popular — Joconde and Les Rendez- vous bourgeois. Herold,"f" whose premature death occurred in 1 833, is known by two operas, the last * Nicolo Isouard (1775-1818). f Herold (1791-1833). 74 Auber and the "Opera Comique" he wrote, Zampa, and Le Pre aux Clercs. His music is a curious combination of varied influences. In its essence it belongs to the French school of the period. It is evident, however, that Herold had studied Weber with profit, and the romantic- ism of the time had not left him unmoved. He had also fallen under the sway of Rossini, and his operas testify to his admiration of this master's methods. Herold's style, composed as it was of such different elements, was naturally lacking in homogeneity ; yet, despite its hybrid character, it was not altogether devoid of individuality. Zampa reveals a decided dramatic temperament, and Le Pre aux Clercs contains many pleasing pages. In certain instances Herold evidenced a dispo- sition to enlarge the ge)ire and to approach the grand opera style. After his death the history of the Opera Comique was for some time bound up in the works of Auber, Halevy, Adam * and Ambroise Thomas,t who, during the succeeding twenty years, were the accredited purveyors to the estab- lishment. The object of these composers was to * Adam (1802-1856). t Ambroi?e Thomas (1811-1896). 75 Music in the XlXth Century- write music of a popular kind. They do not appear to have been actuated by any other desire than to turn out as many operas as possible on the accepted pattern. That they achieved their aim and gained the suffrages of the public is undeni- able. In one sense, this period may be accounted a brilliant one. From an artistic point of view, however, there is little to be said in its favour. A set form had seemingly been accepted, and any departure from this would have been resented. The above-named composers either had not the strength or the inclination to combat the tenden- cies of the age, so they simply followed the current and found it profitable so to do. Ambroise Thomas's best works, Mignon and Hamlet, of course belong to his later career, and _wilUbe dealt with in another chapter. The king of the Opera Comique at this period was undoubtedly Auber. The lightheartedness and gaiety of the French character seemed to be reflected in his music. In this respect he may claim to have been one of the most typically national of composers. Let it not, though, be forgotten that the]"e are several sides to the French character, and that of these Auber only 76 Auber and the "Opera Comique" represented one. He was in all respects essen- tially a Parisian, and his literary counterpart may be found in Paul de Kock. The composer and the novelist may be taken as exemplifying the bourgeois spirit of the time. Nowadays their works are looked down upon, but possibly their merits are undervalued. An inexhaustible fund of melody, such as Auber undoubtedly possessed, is, after all, something which ought to count. The following appreciation of Auber by M. Henri Lavoix* is remarkably just: "One must expect from Auber neither a profound dramatic sentiment, nor poetical outbursts, nor powerful effects, nor sensibility, nor tenderness, nor — espe- cially — passion. Wit in the melody, wit in the general style, wit in the harmony, which is in- genious and distinguished, wit in the orchestra, notwithstanding more brio than brilliancy, more sound than sonority, wit in the rhythms, although these are sometimes vulgar, wit especially in the disposition of the scenes, wit ever and always, even when the heart should be moved — this is the pre- dominating character of his talent." Nothing can be truer than these words. * "Histoire de la Musiqne Frangaise." 77 Music in the XlXth Century Vet another appreciation of Auber may be quoted, this time the opinion of no less a musician than Richard Wagner, who wrote thus in 1842 : " His music, at once elegant and popular, fluent and precise, graceful and bold, bending with marvellous facility to every turn of his caprice, had all the qualities to win and dominate the public taste. He mastered vocal music, with a keen vivacity, multiplied its rhythms to infinity, and gave the ensemble-'pieces an entrain, a charac- teristic briskness scarcely known before his time." * Among the many scores written by Auber for the Opera Comique, two may be singled out as particularly representative of his talent, Fra Diavolo and Le Dommo Noir. Light, graceful, pleasing and piquant, they give the best idea of Auber's abilities. With gay insouciance this gifted musician produced work after work, seem- ingly without effort, to the very end of his long life. There was no attempt on his part to partici- pate in the great musical movement of the day. His operas were all cast in the same mould, and he was content to allow his ideas to flow * "Richard Wagner's Prose Works." Translated by William Ashton Ellis. Vol. VIII. Kegan Paul. 78 Auber and the "Opera Comique" naturally without disturbing their course in any way. Halevy did not possess his lightness of touch, his espit or his individuality. Consequently the works he wrote for the Opera Comique, such as VEclair and Les Mousqiietaires de la Reine, although they obtained success at the time of their production and are still occasionally heard in France, have never acquired anything approach- ing the universal popularity which has accrued to the operas of Auber. Just as at the Grand Opera Halevy was over- shadowed by Meyerbeer, so at the Opera Comique he was not able to compete against his brilliant compatriot. An honest musical artisan, an inde- fatigable producer, Halevy wrote an immense deal in the current musical language of the day, with- out apparently endeavouring to emerge from the ruts of routine. Occasionally, it must be admitted, he hit upon graceful themes, and displayed dramatic feeling and even showed a certain amount of individuality. These instances were, howevei", but flashes in the pan which have not been able to ensure vitality to his works. Adolphe Adam was a rather vulgarised edition 79 Music in the XlXth Century of Auber. If the latter was essentially the com- poser of the bourgeoisie, Adam was the musician of the proletariat, the provider of refrains to be whistled by the man in the street. Le Chalet, Le Postillion de Loryumeau,LeBrasseii,r de Preston, Giralda, and numberless other scores proved the delight of the uncritical audiences during the reign of Louis Philippe. Many of Adam's " operas comiques " would pass muster nowadays as better-class operettas. They do not offer any special features of interest or novelty of structure. Ambroise Thomas's early efforts at the Opera Comique are not of much value. The best of these was Le Ca'id, an amusing pasticcio of the Italian opera style then in vogue. This work, which was produced in 1849, has a certain im- portance inasmuch as it seems in a measure to have foreshadowed the appearance of the Offen- bachian " opera bouffe." Ambroise Thomas was, however, a very different musician from Offenbach. Of an elegiac tempera- ment, he had none of the extraordinary animal spirits, or, indeed, of the strong sense of humour that characterised the works of the Cologne com- 80 Auber and the "Opera Comique" poser, although he of course far surpassed him as a musician. In later years he was to produce his best works in Mignon and Hamlet, and indeed it may be said that until these operas were brought out, Arabroise Thomas's position was but a subor- dinate one. It was, in fact, very much on a par with that of Victor Masse,* whose Noces de Jeannette, GalatMe, and other works were successful examples of the opera comiqve of the time ; or of Aime Maillart,f the composer of Les Dragons de Villars, which had a brilliant vogue, and of Lara. Neither Masse nor Maillart possessed any great indivi- duality, and their works were constructed on the ordinary pattern. At the end of his career Masse certainly made an attempt to enlarge his style, and his Paid et Virginie and Une Nuit de Cleopatre are conceived on a more ambitious scale. He was, however, more at his ease when musically painting a small tableau de genre like Les Noces de Jeannette. Clapisson's operas have long since been forgotten, as have those of Monpou, Grisar, and Bazin. Meyerbeer with his VEtoile du Nord and Le Pardon dePloermel undoubtedly raised the standard * Masse (1822-1884). f MaiUart (1817-1871). 81 F Music in the XlXth Century of the opera comigue, and prepared the way for the modern school. It is impossible, however, to regard these works as typically French. As time has progressed the opera comiqite genre has neces- sarily undergone certain modifications. It is only, however, within the last decade of the XlXth century that the spoken dialogue, which formerly was de rigueur, has disappeared, two of the latest works in which it has been retained being Messager's La Basoche and Saint-Saens's Phryne. In the meanwhile the opera bouffe of the Offen- bach period has made way for the opere^fe, illustrated by composers such as Lecocq, Vasseur, Audran, Varney, Planquette, a genre which may be said to have taken the place of the lighter operas of the beginning of the century. The growth of musical taste has asserted itself at the Opera Coraique as well as elsewhere. The best operas of Boieldieu, Auber, Herold are still performed there, but the new works include those of the more advanced members of the young French school. The ideal is no longer the same. Formerly any attempt at innovation was sternly repressed. Now it is' encouraged. 82 Auber and the "Opera Comique " Thus has it come to pass that those composers who have something new to say are precisely those who find a ready welcome at the Opera Comique. " Quantum mutatus ab illo ! " 83 CHAPTER V BERLIOZ AND THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT The reign of Louis Philippe, so prosaic in some ways, witnessed the victory of romanticism over the pseudo-classicism which flom'ished during the First Empire. What a galaxy of brilliant thinkers, artists, poets, writers, and musicians did this period contain ! The spirit of the first revolution, curbed and diverted into a saner channel by the stringent Napoleonic rule, purified through disasters at home and abroad, reasserted itself in another guise. The liberty of thought and emancipation from authority claimed by the jeunes France of Theophile Gautier was intellectual in its nature, and had nothing in common with the unbridled license of an uneducated mob. The romantics of the epoch were aristocratic in their nature. Theirs was the aristocracy of the mind. Victor Hugo, Berlioz Alfred de Musset, Alfred de Vigny, Lamartine, Lacordaire, Theophile Gautier, Georges Sand, Alexandre Dumas, Balzac, Delacroix, Horace Vernet, Chopin, Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Felicien David were some of those who rendered the reign of the citizen king memorable. If among the French composers of the XlXth century one deserves a place entirely to himself, it is surely Berlioz.* Everything about this extra- ordinary man was abnormal, and yet he was truly a child of his own generation, reproducing in his strains the feelings of a people intoxicated by its lately acquired liberty, and eager to assert its freedom. The great, the sublime, the horrible, the grotesque, the poetical, the idyllic, the fantastic, all may be found in his music, which occasionally brings to the mind the nightmarish hori'ors of the Wiertz Museum in Brussels, while at others it evokes the spirit of Shakespeare or Goethe. Born in an obscure country town, with practi- cally no opportunity of hearing any music during his childhood and early youth, then learning later on, at the Paris Conservatoire, the rudiments of * Berlioz (1803-1869). 85 Music in the XlXth Century his art under the tuition of honest but pedantic masters, Berlioz asserted his originality at the very outset of his career in a series of instrumental works which to the worthy professors of the period must have appeared absolutely anarchical. It is easy to imagine the amazement of the gentle Bo'ieldieu, fresh from writing La Dame Blanche, in listening to the " Symphonie Fantastique,'" or the dismay a work of this kind must have pro- duced in the mind of Lesueur, who considered Beethoven's C Minor Symphony a dangerous model for a young composer to follow. Berlioz was altogether too thorough in his ideas to meet with appreciation at this time, and his early reputation indeed clung to him through life. It is only since his death that his compatriots have endeavoured to make tardy amends for past neglect by apotheosising the master. In so doing they have possibly been stimulated by the growing popularity of a still greater musician, and eager to show that if Germany could boast of a Wagner, France was the native land of a Berlioz. It is difficult to realise what the conditions of music must have been in the French provinces at the beginning of the century, when Berlioz was a child. 86 Berlioz Towards 1810, the piano was still in an imperfect state, and its price was very high. It is said that General de la Valette possessed one of these instru- ments at Grenoble, and that this was the only piano in the entire department. The harp and the guitar, on the other hand, were both in great favour. Until his arrival in Paris, at the age of nine- teen, Berlioz had scarcely had the opportunity of hearing any music at all. Once in Paris, he was able to witness the operas of Gluck and Spontini, and from that hour dates the unbounded ad- miration he entertained for these masters during the whole of his life. Strange, indeed, this enthusiasm for the ultra- classicism of the Gluckian opera on the part of one who was to prove so subversive in his own musical creations. But then Berlioz was, as Saint- Saens has justly and quaintly said, "a paradox made man." With him everthing was pushed to extremes. In his enthusiasms and dislikes he was equally violent. A few bars by Gluck would cause him to faint with emotion, whilst his hatred of Rossini made him wish to blow up the theatre during the 87 Music in the XlXth Century performance of one of the popular maestrd'g operas. This exuberance of feeling, this enthusiasm, found vent in the " Symphonie Fantastique," with which he burst upon the world in 1828, after having already produced a few orchestral compositions of extraordinary daring. That a young man of twenty -five, who at the age of nine- teen knew next to nothing of music, should have been able to conceive a work of such originality and absolute unconventionality seems wonderful. In the " Symphonie Fantastique " Berlioz laid bare his soul, cried out his anguish, laughed with the bitter irony of one who already had experienced no little disillusionment. Not only did he express the feelings and aspirations of his own nature in his music, but he suc- ceeded in evoking the spirit of the epoch and pointed the way to composers of the future by disclosing fresh horizons and foreshadowing the developments of the modern school. " This young musician," Alfred Bruneau has written, " impres- sionable to excess, who, in the five parts of this symphony, in the five changing scenes of this work, passes through the thousand alternatives of 88 Berlioz sadness and of joy, of laughter and of tears, of happiness and of grief, of confidence and ol jealousy, of light and darkness, of admiration and execration, of silence and of tumult, of the grotesque and the sublime, of earth and of hell, he is himself, and better still, he is the artist of his own time." The " Symphonic Fantastique " may be crude in parts, unduly eccentric, even vulgar, in others, yet it bears the stamp in every bar of the composer's sincerity and enthusiasm. It is these qualities of sincerity and enthusiasm which helped to make Berlioz the great artist he was. Unlike so many of his contemporaries, he never bartered his talent for the sake of ac- quiring popularity. As he felt, so he wrote. It is regrettable that Berlioz should not have passed his early years in a more musical milieu. Fresh impressions count for so much, and his musical genius by being fostered more gradually would doubtless have produced yet better results. For it must be admitted that if his works contain much that is admirable they also reveal many weaknesses. Berlioz was not gifted with a very rich vein of melody. His themes are often poor and trivial. Neither can it be said that he shone 89 Music in the XlXth Century appreciably either as a harmonist or contrapuntist. It was in the domain of the orchestra that he reigned supreme. The most commonplace ideas were elevated by the wonderful treatment to which they were subjected. Berlioz indeed may be said to have inaugurated a new epoch in the art of instrumentation. Play his works on the piano and you cannot fail to be profoundly disappointed. Hear them performed by an orchestra, and you will be entranced. It may be said that this is scarcely a fair test, that it is not to be expected that a work written for the orchestra should sound well transci'ibed for the piano. Yet this test may be applied with success to some of the greatest masterpieces. The instrumentation is after all only the colouring of the musical picture. If the subject is not interesting in itself, or the drawing is imperfect, the most beautiful colouring will not serve to atone for these defects. Now with Berlioz it may be said without fear of contradiction that the interest lies almost entirely in the instrumental colouring which he knew how to apply in so wonderful a manner. This may be one of the reasons why none of his operas has obtained a real success, recent efforts 90 Berlioz to galvanise them into life having signally failed. Curiously enough, in his operas Berlioz did not seem imbued with the same progressive spirit which appeared in his works destined for the concert-room. Neither Benvenuto Cellini, produced at the Paris Opera in 1838, where may be found pieces cut out on the ordinary pattern, and even airs em- bellished by runs and shakes, nor Beatrice et Benedict, a musical comedy written for the im- presario of the Kursaal at Baden Baden in 1862, nor La Prise de Troie, nor Les Troyens, shows us Berlioz at his greatest. The two last-named works, which belong to the end of his career, prove that Berlioz remained to the last a faithful disciple of Gluck. Certain scenes of these works in their simplicity, nobility, and expressiveness bring to the mind the style of the old master. It is not on the stage, however, that one must seek Berlioz, notwithstand- ing the fact thab he was eminently endowed with a dramatic instinct which he showed in well-nigh all his concert and even In his sacred works. The " Symphonic Fantastique " and its sequel, " Lelio, ou le retour a la Vie," the " Romeo and 91 Music in the XlXth Century Juliet" symphony, with its beautiful love scene and its extraordinarily original Queen Mab scherzo, the " Harold in Italy " symphony, the colossal Requiem, the splendid Te Deum, and last, but not least, the dramatic legend La Damnation de Faust are his greatest creations. It is this last work which has endeared the name of Berlioz to the English public, and it is in its pages that may be found some of the choicest of his inspirations. Also in UEnfance du Christ Berlioz, although an absolute religious sceptic, has produced one of his most attractive scores. However, notwith- standing the beauties that abound in the two above-named works, notwithstanding the splen- dours of the Requiem and the Te Deum, with its stupendous " Judex crederis,'" compositions such as the " Symphonie Fantastique," " Romeo et Juliette," " Harold," and the brilliant overture " Le Carnaval Remain " seem to be the most typical examples of the composer's genius. Berlioz himself, in a letter addressed to his friend Ferrand in 1868, wrote that if all his works were to be burned save one, he would wish to save the Requiem. In his Memoirs, however, 92 Berlioz he owns to preferring the Love Scene from " Romeo et Juliette " to all his compositions. Unlike most musicians, Berlioz developed rapidly, and his style reached its maturity almost im- mediately. The scarcely fledged pupil of the Conservatoire asserted himself without delay as one who had something new to say. He spoke his strongest when still a young man. During his later years it would seem as if a reactionary spirit had come over him. A broken-hearted, disappointed man, he was, alas ! not destined to taste the sweets of success, at any rate in his own country, but in Germany and Russia he was acclaimed as a great master. It must be admitted that his caustic disposition did not tend to render him popular. His criticisms were also sometimes unduly trenchant, although often remarkably just, invariably interesting, and generally witty. There are certain points of affinity between Berlioz and another celebrated Frenchman, Vol- taire, in the sense that the one equalled the other in causticity of spirit. Both were masters in the art of employing the shafts of ridicule. Berlioz was as great a critic as he was a com- poser and, be it added, equally paradoxical in each Music in the XlXth Century capacity. Yet he lacked certain qualities that are considered indispensable to a good critic. Entirely guided by his own feelings and impressions, he could work himself up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm when writing about the music which appealed to him, witness the admirable pages he has left on Gluck's operas and Beethoven's symphonies. On the other hand, he showed a strong bias against those composers with whom he was out of sym- pathy. In many cases, indeed, he condemned without knowledge and in obedience to an intuitive feeling. He seems, for instance, to have harboured a prejudice against Bach, whose music he scarcely knew. An instance of this is given by Saint-Saens, who writes : " I always recollect his (Berlioz's) delight at hearing a chorus of Sebastian Bach which I brought to his notice one day ; he could not get over it that the great Sebastian should have written such things ; and he owned to me that he had always looked upon him as a sort of colossal contrapuntist, a constructor of very clever fugues, but devoid of charm and poetry. In point of fact he did jipt know him." If he was ignorant of Bach 94 Berlioz he had, on the other hand, thoroughly penetrated Beethoven and commented upon his symphonies, sonatas, and other works with love and enthusiasm. Among his best articles is the one consecrated to Fidelia. Berlioz met Mendelssohn in Rome, and these two composers, so entirely different in every re- spect, seem to have become warm friends. The French composer appears indeed to have sincerely admired the talent of his German colleague, a compliment which the latter was unable to return. " His is one of those candid minds one so seldom comes across," Berlioz wrote of Mendelssohn ; " he firmly believes in the Lutheran religion, and I sometimes scandalised him very much in laughing at the Bible." Rossini and his Italian contemporaries were thoroughly distasteful to Berlioz, who, -however, wrote a laudatory notice of Ouillawme Tell. The Italian composer having published three choruses entitled "LaFoi," «KEsperance"and"LaCharite," Berlioz thus wittily dismissed them : " His Faith will not move mountains ! His Hope has de- ceived ours ; as to his Charity, it will not ruin him." 95 Music in the XlXth Century His admiration for Meyerbeer was very great, and he wrote enthusiastically about Les Huguenots. If he was not able to appreciate Wagner, this may have been in some measure due to professional jealousy. He saw his German rival gradually coming to the fore. Tannhduser had been accepted at the Opera while his La Prise de Troie and Les Troyens were still unperformed When Wagner conducted a concert of his works, Berlioz wrote a notice in which he praised the prelude to Lohengrin as a masterpiece, but declared that he could not make head or tail out of the prelude to Tristan. In 1859 three new operas wei'e performed in Paris, Gounod's Faust, Felicien David's Hercu- lanum, and Meyerbeer's Le Pardon de Ploermel. He thus summed up his impressions of these works in a letter to his friend Ferrand: "The Faust of Gounod contains some extremely fine as well as some very mediocre parts ; they have destroyed, in the libretto, certain admirable musical situations which would have had to be found if Goethe had not already found them himself. The music of Herculanum is desperately feeble and colourless ; that of Le Pardon is, on the contrary, 96 Berlioz written in a masterly, ingenious, piquant and often poetical manner. There is an abyss between Meyerbeer and these young men ; one sees that he is not a Parisian, one sees the contrary with Gounod and David." It is impossible to avoid thinking that personal feeling must have had something to do with an appreciation like this. Gounod and David were compatriots of Berlioz. They were his juniors and his successful rivals. Gounod had triumphed in his setting of the same subject which had inspired Berlioz with one of his most characteristic creations. He was destined, oddly enough, by choosing Romeo and Juliet for the ground-work of an opera, once more to enter into rivalry with Berlioz. As to David, whose music is now but seldom heard, he had a few years previously conquered in the concert-room with his cantata Le Disert, when La da/mnation de Faust had obtained a bare succes d'estime. Berlioz was undoubtedly soured by want of appreciation. Possibly he expected too much. Anyhow, the triumph that awaited him was un- fortunately destined to be posthumous. Disillusion- ment, intensified by a bad digestion, embittered the 97 G Music in the XlXth Century last years of his life. Saint-Saens, who knew him well, states that he possessed qualities in direct opposition to his reputation. " . . .he was good, good to the verge of. weakness, grateful for the least marks of interest one showed him, and of an admirable simplicity. . . . With a superior nature such as his, he could not like the vulgarity, the grossness, the ferocity, the egoism which play so considerable a part in this world, and of which he had been so often a victim." The battle which at one time raged over the merits of Berlioz's music has long ceased. The master has now had full justice done to him. He occupies an unchallenged place in the musical Pantheon by the side of the most famous artists of his time. If weaknesses are to be found in his works, these are more than balanced by many admirable qualities, by the Titanic power which everywhere reveals itself. In listening to his mighty compositions, the words attributed to Wagner unconsciously come to the mind : "Berlioz is a pupil, but so great a one that none of the great composers could have been his master." The following remark of Ehlert is also worthy 98 Berlioz of note : " Even when Berlioz makes a mistake, his errors are those of a giant, and the errors of a giant have always had for me a superior interest to those of dwarfs." A curious and singularly just appreciation of Berlioz is found in an article written by Adolphe Adam, of all composers, whose ideals were of course diametrically opposed to those of' Berlioz. The composer of Le Postilion de Lonjumeau and of so many other operas comiques could scarcely have been expected to appreciate the genius of his formidable colleague. While professing a sincere friendship for Berlioz, he confessed that their musical principles were utterly at variance. This, indeed, makes his opinion all the more interesting. " Berlioz," he writes, " has, from the outset, broken with all the traditions of the past. People have talked of modifications in his manner: there are none. Since his first symphony, 'La Vie d'un Artiste,' until the Te Deum, it is the same system, the same will, the same power in the great effects of sonority, the same poetry in the conception, the same grandeur in the ensemble ; but, let it be said, alas ! the same weakness in the melodic production, and the same absence of clear- 99 Music in the XlXth Century ness, chann and suavity. If his compositions are better understood nowadays, it is not that he has changed ; it is that we make light of the defects we are pretty certain to find there, and only seek for those fine qualities which we are almost sure to meet with, qualities which I have already mentioned in speaking of the elevation of his thought, the breadth and poetry of conception, and the magnificent effects of sonority he is able to produce by the combination of the masses." The influence exercised by Berlioz has been very great ; in some ways he may be regarded as the precursor of the entire modern school. It has, however, been rather indirect in its nature. Every musician has more or less profited by his innova- tions in instrumentation. He has emancipated music from the thraldom of obsolete rules, while upholding the fundamental principles of art, truth and beauty. In a general way he has, therefore, had many followers. It cannot be said, though, that his influence has been direct, like, for instance, that of Mendelssohn, of Wagner, of Gounod. The many composers who have derived advantages thi'ough studying his scores cannot in any case be termed his imitators. They may have borrowed 100 Berlioz certain instrumental devices from him, but they have rarely gone further. And yet Berlioz has an unmistakable style of his own. But it is a style which is not easy to assimilate, one which is a curious mixture of the simple and the com- plex. He is not a great inventor of themes, while his harmonies are often thin and crude. One is, indeed, constantly reminded in his works of the absence of swvoir faire, a seeming want of talent, but never for an instant is one able to deny the presence of that which is rarer and more precious, genius. Had Berlioz any special system, principle or doctrine to guide him in his life-work .? The following profession of faith abridged from the famous manifesto he published at the time of the concerts given by Wagner inTaris, in 1860, may be taken as a resume of his ideas. " Music, to-day in the force of its youth, is emancipated, free. Many old rules have no more value. New demands of the spirit, of the heart and sense of hearing impose in certain cases the infraction of ancient laws. Divers forms are too old to be admitted any longer. Everything is 101 Music in the XlXth Century good or bad according to the manner in which it is used. In its union with the drama, music must always be connected with the sentiments expressed by the words, with the character of the dramatis personcE, the accent and vocal inflection. Operas should not be written for singers ; singers, on the contrary, should be formed for operas ; those operas which are destined for vocal virtuosos are of a secondary order. The master remains the master, it is for him to command. Sound and sonority rank below the musical idea. The musical idea ranks below sentiment and passion. Runs, vocal ornaments, trills and rhythm cannot express a serious and profound sentiment." These ideas are full of what must seem to every one nowadays ordinary common sense. In enunciating them Berlioz was but echoing the opinions of Gluck, Gretry and Mehul. Berlioz may be said to have widened the boun- daries of symphonic music, but he did not create a new form of musical art. This was reserved for Liszt, who by his admirable creation of the Symphonic Poem opened new paths for the com- posers of the future. Whilst Bei'lioz was piling Ossa upon Pelion in his 103 Berlioz search for big orchestral effects, another composer was quietly contributing his quota to music and enriching the art with choice treasures. Chopin,* although partly French by his parent- age, cannot, of course, be numbered among French composers. So much of his short life, however, was spent in Paris, and his career is so intimately connected with one of France's most celebrated novelists, that he cannot be omitted from a book purporting to treat of music in France. Although Chopin in his music was essentially the interpreter of his country's woes, the musical personification of Poland, yet he may be said also to have exercised in a way a considerable influence in France. No two contemporary artists probably ever pre- sented so absolute a dissimilarity as Berlioz and Chopin. The one requiring vast executive means to realise his gigantic conceptions, dreaming of monster orchestras consisting of many hundreds of executants, even on occasions calling into requisi- tion the sounds of artillery ; the other, content with a mere p jjano as a medium of expression, Chopin (1810-1849). 103 Music in the XlXth Century leaving to the world a large number of works which in spite of their comparative unpreten- tiousness are nevertheless worthy to be placed by the side of the greatest masterpieces of the art. While Berlioz thunders with his orchestras and compels attention, Chopin speaks to the heart with his peerless melodies, entwines himself round the affections with his soul-stirring harmonies. One is foi'ced to admire Berlioz, but one cannot help loving Chopin. If Berlioz opened a vast field of possibilities to the composer by combating inane prejudices and clearing the atmosphere of false ideas, Chopin in his way achieved at least as much, for he quietly and unobtrusively intro- duced into his music new and entrancingly beauti- ful harmonies. The Polish master has had no direct imitators, and yet his influence has perhaps been deeper than one might imagine, even more so than that of Berlioz, for if the latter showed musicians how to deck their ideas in the most brilliant instrumental colours, the former brought into the general cir- culation novel harmonies and striking modulations which have been a source of profit to many of his successors. 104 Berlioz The name of Felicien David* is nowadays almost forgotten. His place in the history of French music is, however, marked. Of a romantic and mystical disposition, David embraced the doctrines of the Saint Simoniens with fervour, and being expelled from his country journeyed to the East. On his return to France he recorded his impressions in a musical work entitled Le Desert, wherein he essayed to evoke the silence of the desert, its calm and its storms, and, inspiring himself with Eastern rhythms, he introduced various songs and dances of an exotic and captivating kind. Le D6sert obtained an enormous success, and the composer, previously unknown, at once became famous. The musical Orientalism so deftly exploited in the score irresistibly fascinated the public. The great charm of Le Disert, however, lies in the poetry of its conception, the picturesqueness of the music. David was rather a tone painter than a sym- phonist ; he made little or no attempt to develop his ideas, satisfied to record his impressions as they occurred to him. The musical tableau of sunrise in the desert is really wonderfully descriptive and quite modern in style. David never repeated the * Felicien David (1810-1876). 105 Music in the XlXth Century- success of Le Desert. He tried a similar experi- ment in other cantatas and wrote several operas, La Perle du Bresil, Herculanum, Lalla-Roukh, without obtaining, save perhaps in the case of the latter work, more than a siicces d'estime. Although he cannot be termed a great musician, David was not devoid of individuality, even if this may, paradoxically, be said to have been borrowed. Still, it must be recorded of him that he introduced a new element into French music, that Orientahsm which since his time has attracted so many com- posers. Henri Reber * was scarcely a romanticist, but he deserves to be remembered as having been one of the only French composers of his generation who attempted to write symphonies. During the latter quarter of the last century matters have changed considerably and some remarkable symphonies have been produced by lYench composers, as we shall see later on. The symphony had not, however, been looked upon in France with the same amount of serious- ness as in Germany. Although Mehul, Herold, Onslow, a Franco- * Eeber (1807-1880-). 106 Berlioz Englishman, and others, had written symphonies, yet these did not count for much, while Gouvy, who was a very prolific composer, was more German than French. Neither were the worthy Henri Reber's efforts of a nature to cause their composer to be accepted as a successor of Beethoven. Simple in style and essentially classical in form, they seemed to have been modelled upon those of Haydn, and they earned with them an old-world flavour which may certainly have had its charm. It can, however, well be said that from 1830 to 1860, about the period when the establishment in Paris of the Concerts Populaires by Pasdeloup began to kindle an interest in symphonic music, there existed out- side the theatre practically but one French com- poser, and his name was Hector Berlioz. 10- CHAPTER VI GOUNOD AND HIS INFLUENCE Among all the composers of the XlXth century, probably not one has appealed so much to the heart of woman as Gounod. The tone poet par excellence of the tender passion, Gounod created a musical language of his own, one of extraordinary sweetness, of wondrous fascination, the soft elo- quence of which seemed to penetrate into the innermost recesses of the heart. No asperities of style, no startling outbursts of ill-repressed passion were there to mar the exquisite suavity of melodies floating in a troublous atmosphere of intoxicating harmonies. The love expressed in Gounod's music is not that which conquers through sheer force, or the expression of a violent masculine spirit. It in- sinuates itself softly, and gradually asserts its 108 Gounod and his Influence sway without needing to have recourse to the tearing of a passion into tatters. Certainly, it is often averred that in singing of love Gounod did not vary his accents to a very appreciable extent, that the different lovers whose stories he illustrated expressed themselves in very much the same sort of musical language. There is ' possibly a certain amount of truth in this, but at any rate it must be admitted that Gounod throughout his career remained essentially himself, that he never consciously imitated any other com- poser, that in all he wrote could be detected the unmistakable mark of his own individuality. There were two sides to his genius, the religious and the secular. At .the outset of his career he had seriously thought of becoming a priest, and throughout his life he retained a firm belief in the mysteries of the Christian Faith. The sensuous side of religion seemed most to appeal to him. He had about him nothing of the ascetic. A religion of love, of mystic splendours, was more in accord with his ideas, and in all his works, whether sacred or secular, can be detected an amorous note — the keynote of his nature. Very much the same remark might be applied 109 Music in the XlXth Century to Massenet, who in many respects seems to pro- ceed artistically from Gounod. Music is probably the most disheartening of all the arts, and this owing partly to its evanescence. The master-work of a great painter appeals with equal force to other generations as well as to that which witnessed its Jbirth. Its worth is immedi- ately recognised, and any discussion concerning its technical achievement is generally confined to the geTis du metier, the public only following its own instinct and not taking the slightest interest in knowing whether the combination of certain shades employed to produce a particular effect of colouring be legitimate or not. In music the case is very different. A composer who has something new to say finds at first that he is misunderstood. He has to work hard before he is able to vanquish the indifference of the public. Perhaps he may then produce his masterpiece and awake to find himself famous. Alas ! to how many composers has this been denied ? Having reached the top of the ladder, he experiences great difficulty in remaining there. Everything he writes is com- pared, and generally unfavourably, with the work which has brought him renown. Still, he is able 110 Gounod and his Influence to live for some time on his reputation and to taste the sweets of success. He is now universally recognised as a master, but his work which has become popular is spoken of by some with that familiarity which often is the precursor of contempt ; he is no longer so young, he has given forth that which was best within him and he shows a tendency to repeat himself. In the meanwhile a new generation has sprung up, fresh ideas have been put into circula- tion, the composer's mannerisms have been imitated ad nauseam by those who, having no originality of their own, trade upon that of others. The master perhaps lags behind, and is nob able to keep pace with the times, either through disinclination or incapacity to employ new methods. Thus, in his old age he becomes more and more reactionary in his ideas, and forgetting the difficulties that beset him at the outset of his own career, the incompre- hension he once had to combat, is inclined to dogmatise and to disapprove of the efforts of the younger men to strike out new paths. Every year his works appear older. They may still arouse enthusiasm, but the form in which they are cast is, in obedience to the inexorable 111 Music in the XlXth Century- laws of evolution, gradually becoming modi- fied. We have seen how this has happened in the case of the dramatic composers mentioned in the previous chapters, for, be it said, the above remarks apply mainly to musicians who write for the stage — how Spontini, Cherubini, Mehul, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Auber, have, after reaching the apex of glory, gradually descended from this lustrous position. What they have lost is not general esteem, but popularity, and this is not owing to want of genius, but to the relentless progress of time. By popularity I mean of course popularity equal to that which the above- named masters enjoyed during their lifetime. In one sense this is very sad ; on the other hand, it is also decidedly stimulating, for it shows that music is a living art, ever on the move, absolutely unfettered, possessing limitless powers of expan- sion. A masterpiece remains a masterpiece, even if its form has become obsolete and the public has forsaken it. Had music been incapable of progress or de- velopment it would not exist as an art. What is strange is the rapidity with which old forms 112 Gounod and his Influence give place to new, or rather are transformed into new. Gounod's operas have not yet lost their hold over the public. Two of them, at any rate, Faust and Romeo and Juliet, remain popular, more especially the first, which occupies a unique place in the operatic repertoire. There is no denying, however, that Gounod's influence, once so powerful, has for some time been on the wane. Wagner's theories, so long combated, have at last taken root, and the tardy triumph of the German master in Paris has produced far-reaching results. Very much the same revulsion of feeling has occurred in France with regard to Gounod as in England respecting Mendelssohn. The cases are, indeed, not unlike. The in- fluence exercised by each master has been so great that it has permeated an entire generation, and the satiety engendered by the constant repro- duction of special mannerisms on the part of imitators has reacted upon the original creators. Just as in England musicians are apt on occasions to allude disdainfully to Mendelssohn, so in France some of the younger men are inclined to adopt a contemptuous attitude towards Gounod. In the meanwhile, the English public remains 113 H Music in the XlXth Century staunch in its admiration of Elijah, while Faust is still in the ripertoire of every opera-house. Faust indeed is generally accepted as the composer's representative work, and the one which contains the essence of his genius. This may be so, but if in his operatic version of Goethe's masterpiece Gounod appears at his best, he has also written many other works of diiFerent kinds which in their way are equally original. The bulk of Gounod's work is indeed insufficiently known, and many people would doubtless be sur- prised at the vast amount of music the French composer found time to write. I have already alluded to the dominant note of love which resounds throughout his works, also to the strong religious bias of his mind, which im- parts a peculiar mysticism to so much of his music. The sentiment of nature was also one of his strong characteristics. Instances of this can be found in Sapho, his first opera, in the choruses he wrote for Ponsard's tragedy Uh/sse, in Faust (think of the Reapers' chorus in the first act), in Mireille, where his music produces the effect of a warm sunny day. Many other instances might be adduced. 114. Gounod and his Influence When Gounod first settled in Paris, after a sojourn in Rome and in Vienna, he had to fight with the difficulties that beset all musicians at the commencement of their career. It was at this epoch that he wrote some of his most beautiful songs, such as " Le Vallon " and " Le Soir.'' Thanks to the recommendation of a great artist, Mme. Viardot, he succeeded in obtaining a hearing at the Grand Opera, where his Sapho was pro- duced in 1851. Although this work has not maintained its place in the repertoire, yet it marks a date in the history of French music, not only because it served to intro- duce Gounod to the operatic public, but because it contained certain modifications of the then pre- vailing dramatic style. We have seen how the system of Gluck aimed at securing an alliance as perfect as possible be- tween words and music, also how this system had been corrupted by the adoption of the loose Italian methods of the early Rossinian epoch, when everything was sacrificed at the altar of vocal art, and common sense went to the wall. In Sapho Gounod made an attempt to return 115 Music in the XlXth Century to saner ways and to restore unto the opera its ancient simple dignity. The following extract from an article on Sapho, written by Adolphe Adam, explains very clearly the different ideas concerning operatic construc- tion existing at the time : " We consider nowadays," he wrote, "as a quality that which the masters formerly looked upon as a fault. Music for them consisted in the choruses, the airs, in everything which prepared a dramatic situation. But as soon as the situation aiTived, the music ceased in order to give way to vocal declamation. To-day we do precisely the contrary. When a dramatic situation arrives, we begin our set musical piece. It is rather the first of these systems which M. Gounod has followed." In other words, the system then in vogue, the one followed by Adolphe Adam in his operas, prescribed that when the dramatic situation was becoming particularly thrilling, then was the time for the vocalists to turn the theatre into a concert- room and sing a set piece, although by so doing all continuity of action was destroyed. There was nothing violently revolutionary in Sapho. In its style the music is refined, and 116 Gounod and his Influence contained indications of the individuality which soon was to mahifest itself. It differed, however, from any of the popular operas of the period, and by its affinity with works of a distant past it seemed to point the way to the future. The date of the production of Sapho is an important one in the annals of music. Whilst the French composer was making his operatic dehut with a work in which he in some ways departed from the ordinary conventions of the period, Verdi with his Rigoletto was introducing a more dramatic style into Italy, and Wagner, although an exile from his own country, was closing his early period and foreshadowing the next by the production of Lohengrin at Weimar. New ideas were in the air, and the wave of emancipation which periodi- cally appears, no one knows why, was at hand. With his next dramatic work. La Nonne Sang- lante, Gounod did not make a step in advance ; and Le M&decin malgre lui, a delightful opera comique full of delicate touches, was appreciated by musicians but failed to captivate the public. His next work was Faust, and although this was not successful at the outset, yet its many beauties gradually conquered the apathy of the public, and 117 Music in the XlXth Century soon the name of Gounod became famous all the world over. The master had now reached his goal. The only thing remaining for him to do was to be careful not to go too far below the standard of his own work, which certainly was not so very easy a task to accomplish. I am not, of course, attempting in these pages to write a biography of Gounod, but the position occupied in the history of French music by the composer of Faust is so important that it is necessary to take his operas chronologically in order to be able to express an opinion upon his music as a whole. Faust had been produced in 1859. During the following ten years Gounod, if he did not greatly improve his position, at any rate maintained it with PhiUmon et Baucis (1860), La Reine de Saba (1862), Mireille (1864), and Romeo et Juliette (1867). His subsequent operas, Cinq-Mars (1877), Polyeu£te (1878), and Le Tribut de Zamora (1881), on the other hand, showed a marked falling off. Gounod seemingly did not realise that the movement he had helped to start had sensibly progressed, that what was new twenty- 118 Gounod and his Influence five years before was now old and hackneyed, that it was worse than useless to try to gal- vanise obsolete forms into life, forms that had been called into existence through erroneous conceptions of operatic art. Unlike Verdi, who in his old age resolutely turned his back on the past and wrote Otello and Fcdstaff, Gounod attempted the impossible by endeavouring to stem the current of the times, and deliberately courted failure while seeking success. Le Tribut de Zamora was planned upon so old-fashioned a model and contained so little that the composer had not said, and better said, before, that it failed completely. It was Gounod's last composition for the stage. The remainder of his life was devoted to sacred music, two of his most important works, The Redemption and Mors et Vita, being written for England. By the above summary it will be seen that the years intervening between 1850 and 1870 constitute the most fruitful period of Gounod's productivity. During the first of these decades he displayed the freshness of his early inspiration in Sapho, Ulysse, the Messe de Ste Cecile, Le 119 Music in the XlXth Century MSdecin malgre lui, his genius finding its highest expression in Faust. The compositions of the second decade include at least two works which are eminently charac- teristic of their author — Mireille and Romio et Juliette. During the last years of his life Gounod cannot be said to have greatly improved his reputation, notwithstanding the undoubted merit of The Re- demption and Mors et Vita, and the charm of many of his minor vocal compositions. It is doubtful whether people altogether realise the important part played by Gounod in the musical movement of the century. Of late years it has been so much the fashion to look upon him as representing a reactionary element in music, that an altogether false idea of his position has been engendered. There was nothing revolutionary in Gounod's methods. His nature was far too deeply imbued with reverence. To restore rather than to destroy was his aim. Sensitive and impressionable to an abnormal extent, he instinctively shrank from employing violent means in the expression of his ideas. The study of Palestrina and other ancient 120 Gounod and his Influence Italians he had assiduously pursued in Rome, com- bined with the admiration he experienced for Bach, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, had reacted on his nature and helped to form his style. Individuality is the privilege of genius. The same theme may be treated by several masters and in each case it will present a different appearance. Who would accuse Wagner of plagiarism because a theme in the Walkilre bears a strong resemblance to one in Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony ? Or Mendelssohn for having unconsciously in his Midsummer Nighfs Dream overture reminded one of Weber's Oberon ? Gounod's works are not free fi'om similar reminiscences. For instance, in Faust there are passages that recall Beethoven, Mendels- sohn and Meyerbeer. But what does this matter ? The few passing suggestions that occur do not in any way detract from the extraordinary indi- viduality which pei'meates the opera from the first bar to the last. Whatever may be said against Gounod's music, it is impossible to deny its originality. The composer of Fau^t spoke a new language to his countrymen, one of alluring softness and pene- trating charm. He did not tickle their ears with 121 Music in the XlXth Century trivial tunes like those of Auber and Adam, or startle their senses with violent outbursts like Berlioz startled them, but he found the way to their hearts by sincerely expressing his own feel- ings. It would be easy enough to pick holes in his works, to point to instances where he manifestly made concessions to vocalists by introducing airs of a florid description, to find flaws in his style, to lay stress upon its want of virility, its cloying sweetness, the repetition of fatiguing mannerisms. But what would be the use of this ? Is it not better to dwell upon the master's qualities than to magnify his defects ? Gounod's music is impregnated with sensuous- ness, and he may be said at once to have ethereal- ised and materialised the tender passion. What indeed can be more poetical and at the same time more suggestive than the garden scene in Faust ? I know that some will at once reply the second act of Tristan und Isolde. Far be it from me to attempt to institute any comparison between two love scenes so different in character and so admirable in their respective ways. The words I have used with regard to Gounod Gounod and his Influence could be equally employed in connection with Wagner's peerless love scene. There is, however, this difference, that Gounod's music being easier of comprehension necessarily has appealed to a larger circle. Any one who is fairly musical and possesses an emotional nature cannot fail to be thrilled by the soul -stirring melodies with which Gounod sings of the tender passion. The Faust garden scene has possibly been responsible for a large number of lapses from the path of virtue. In the second act of Romeo the love is more idealised. Nothing can be suaver or more refined. In Mireille, again, Gounod becomes rather idyllic. But in how many detached songs has he not celebrated the power of love and spoken to the heart in irresistible tones.? "Medje," "Le Prin- temps,'' "Ce que je suis sans toi," "Maid of Athens," "O, that we two were maying!", and many other gems of the first water, if not the most ambitious of his works, are not by any means the least remarkable. Even in Gounod's most unsuccessful operas may be found melodies of rare beautv. Those who are insensible to their charm are much to be pitied. In the realm of music there 123 Music in the XlXth Century are many mansions, and the smallest of these are often the pleasantest to inhabit on occasions. " When, owing to the fatal march of time, in a distant future, the operas of Gounod will have entered for ever the dusty sanctuary of libraries, known only to students, the Messe de Ste Cecile, Redemption and Mors et Vita will remain alive, and will teach future generations what a great musician France could boast of in the XlXth century.'" Thus writes Saint-Saens, than whom no one is better entitled to utter an opinion. It is generally unsafe to prophesy, although it is perhaps as likely as not that the French master's words may turn out to be true. Certainly Gounod has imprinted his individuality as much upon his religious as upon his secular writings. The Redemption is a work quite sui generis. It differs entirely from the older oratorios in its style. A curious compound of mysticism allied to realism, in which a noble simplicity predominates, but occasionally gives way to sentiment of a theatrical kind, often touching in its accents, rarely powerful — in short, a work which exemplifies the com- poser's qualities as well as his defects, and the greatest fault of which is a certain purposely- 124 Gounod and his Influence employed monotony of colour which engenders fatigue. In England The Redemption has, as every one knows, met with an immense success, and, since its production at Birmingham in 1882, has been repeatedly heard in London and at our great provincial Festivals. Mors et Vita, although con- taining much that is worthy of attention, has not been so fortunate in obtaining public recognition. Let us, however, return to Faust, which is, after all, the most typical example of the composer's genius, and see in what way it differs from the operas then in vogue. Let it be remembered that in 1859 Wagner was known in France only by name, and that the most extravagant ideas were current respecting what was satirically termed the " music of the future," that there were as yet no popular concerts of instrumental music in Paris, and that the public had not had the opportunity of becoming familiarised with the symphonic works of the great masters, that Meyerbeer still reigned supreme at the Grand Opera, and that the cult of Italian music still prevailed. The production of Faiist may well be taken as heralding the dawn of a new era, 12§ Music in the XlXth Century Many self-constituted aristarchs of taste are prone to grumble at what they consider a desecra- tion of Goethe''s tragedy. At any rate, the countrymen of Goethe have shown in a practical way the admiration they feel for the French composer's opera. The fact is that people are often apt to judge a work from a wrong point of view. They seek to find in it that which the author never intended should be there. The Faust legend had already in- spired several other composers, notably Schumann, Wagner, Liszt, Berlioz. Gounod and his libret- tists, Michel Carre and Jules Barbier, saw in it the material for a good opera, nothing more, nothing less. And what a subj ect they chose ! One full of human interest, to which the supernatural element serves to impart a touch of colour. The immense popularity which has accrued to Faust has in some respects done it harm, for it has vulgarised it, and has caused it to run the risk of declining to the level of a typical prima donna opera of the old school. This, of course, is not the fault of the work, but of the way in wbich it is often interpreted. for instance, what can be more ridiculous than 126 Gounod and his Influence the manner in which the meeting between Faust and Marguerite in the second act is usually per- formed ? The market-place is crowded, and Marguerite is quietly passing through it on her way home. Faust comes forward and ofPers to accompany her. She modestly declines his arm and passes on. It is a mere episode, and ordinary common sense would lead one to conclude that it would create no sensation whatever in a crowd, but would be absolutely unnoticed. And how, after all that has been said concern- ing stage realism, is this scene enacted at the commencement of the twentieth century ? The moment that Marguerite appears, the crowd forms a semi-circle, and listens mute and attentive to the conversation between the two, only showing signs of life when the young girl has crossed the stage ; all this in order to pander to the vanity of a prima doiina and draw attention to her entrance. Gounod would appear to have written Faust with a considerable amount of freedom, that is, without troubling himself much about following precedents. The opening bars of the prelude, appropriately vague, strike a new note. They seem to convey a 127 Music in the XlXth Century sense of longing, of yearning for some unattainable object. Then, mysteriously, a serpentine theme rises from out of the depths and seems to be searching for something round which to wind its chromatic coils. Suddenly its course is arrested, a curtain of clouds is apparently drawn back, the harps slowly and softly playing a scale passage, and one of Gounod's most entrancing melodies is disclosed, rising pure and serene to the loftier regions. How many people who go to hear Faust, possibly many of them attracted by the desire of hearing some famous " diva " sing the jewel song, listen attentively to this beautiful prelude, or pay much attention to the first scene, or, indeed, the entire first act, of the opera ? Yet it is here and also in other less appreciated pages that Gounod has shown the most genius. It is here that he has left the beaten operatic track and struck out new paths. The detachable songs that abound in Faust are admirable enough in their way, I grant, but those portions of the opera where the composer has had to carry on the thread of the story or where the dramatic element prevails are, to my mind, of still 128 Gounod and his Influence greater interest. Now, although Faust contains a number of pieces complete in themselves, yet these pieces succeed one another without producing the sensation of dSamsu one experiences in listening to many of the older operas ; the tedious recitatives of yore have entirely disappeared; a great step has here been taken towards the realisation of the modern music drama, and it is well that the fact should be recognised. With Faust Gounod practically created a new and special form of French opera, one composed of various seemingly conflicting elements, but eminently suited to meet the re- quirements of the time. It was not long before the influence of Gounod began to make itself felt. We find it permeating the works of the entire succeeding generation of French composers. Bizet, Saint-Saens, Massenet, Joncieres, to ' mention some of the more famous, are, to a certain extent, all indebted to Gounod. In England his influence has also been very power- ful, notably in the case of Goring Thomas. What is more curious is that Ambroise Thomas, Gounod's senior by some years, should have fallen under the latter's sway. But for this it is doubt- ful whether we should have had Mignon and 129 I Music in the XlXth Century Hamlet. The earlier operas of Ambroise Thomas were altogether of a different type. Auber had hitherto seemed to be his model, although it is possible to detect in all his works a tenuous senti- mental note and a measure of innate refinement. Of a timid, sensitive nature, Ambroise Thomas was not one of those to lead a new movement, but he discreetly followed the current of the times, taking care, however, not to break altogether with tradition. Thus, if in Mignon and Hamlet we are able to trace the influence of Gounod, we also find charac- teristics of the older operatic style, and, be it said, a little of the composer's own individuality, recog- nisable in certain dreamy melodies. I confess myself to a fondness for both these operas. How far this may be attributable to early recollections I cannot say, neither do I con- sider it necessary to apologise for the fact. Mignon, heard in its proper place, at the Paris Opera Comique, is a charming work of its kind. As to Hamlet, of course, it cannot be accepted as an adequate musical interpretation of the Shake- spearian tragedy. Yet it has a fascination of its own, a certain colour which is pot altogether in 130 Gounod and his Influence disaccord with the subject. At any rate, thus it seems to me, and I do not, therefore, feel disposed to analyse my impressions too closely or apply the scalpel to a work from which I have derived enjoy- ment. Ambroise Thomas was not a reformer, but, as Alfred Bruneau has truly remarked : " Certain portions of his last works are impregnated with a poetry which is occasionally touching and elegiac." After the death of Auber, Ambroise Thomas had been appointed to succeed him as director of the Paris Consei-vatoire. His duties naturally absorbed a great deal of his time. Nevertheless, in his old age he again entered the lists, and Fran^olse de Rimini, a work conceived on a large scale, was produced at the Opera in 1882, without, however, obtaining more than a sttcces cU'estime. A ballet on the subject of Shakespeare's The Tempest, given at the same theatre seven years later, did not prove more fortunate, and it is as the composer oiMignon and Hamlet that Ambroise Thomas will be known to a limited posterity. VAX CHAPTER VII WAGNER IN FRANCE The foreign influences which have asserted them- selves in the music of France have been many, as we have already had occasion to see. Not one of these, however, not even Rossini's, has been so powerful as that of Wagner. " The more French music learns to adapt itself to the actual needs of the dme modeme, the more will it ' Wagnerise ' ; one can safely predict that beforehand — it is already taking place sufficiently.'" Thus wrote Nietzsche, and the truth of the German philo- sopher's words cannot be denied. France began intuitively to Wagnerise even before she knew the meaning of the word, or rather I should say, imagined that she was " Wagnerising." Berlioz had long ago held up the banner of musical emancipation, and now came rumours from over the frontier of a composer whose revolutionary 132 Wagner in France theories were even more subversive of the recog- nised order of things. The orthodox, the gens Men pensants in musical matters, showed themselves hostile at the outset, before they had had the opportunity even of hearing a single note by the much-talked-of musician. Wagner became a suspect — musical no less than political. Was he not an outcast, an exile from his country ? Had he not abused all the great composers of the past? Was he not reported to have the most exaggerate ideas of his own importance ? Did he not contend that melody was an antiquated relic of the past, one that should forthwith be abrogated from all music worthy of the name ? It would have been needless to argue that this was wrong and that Wagner had never said any of the things attributed to him ; the mud had been thrown broadcast at the master, and it is but natural that some of it should have stuck. Thus when Wagner appeared in Paris to conduct con- certs of his own works in 1860, he was already branded in the opinion of many as a megalomaniac who considered himself the alpha and omega of music, a clever manipulator of notes, but one 133 Music in the XlXth Century devoid of real inspiration and originality, who emitted crude theories because grapes were sour and in order to hide his own impotence. Injustice to France it must be added that these ideas were prevalent in other countries as well, and nowhere more so than in the composer's native land. Every one knows the history of Wagner's first sojoiuTi in Paris in 1839. How the young com- poser, armed with a letter of introduction from Meyerbeer, vainly attempted to gain a hearing at the Opera ; how he wrote his Rienzi with that theatre in view ; how he was forced to descend to the position of a musical hack, to make arrange- ments of other people's operas in order to live ; how he was obliged to sell the book of the Flyinq Dutchman for another musician to set to music. All these things have been told over and over again by Wagner himself and by his numerous biographers with a prolixity worthy of Wotan when retailing his family history. Wagner's next stay in Paris, some twenty years later, took place under other circumstandes. The young musician had developed into a famous and much-discussed composer. He had come to "make his works known and to explain his theories. In 134 Wagner in France February 1860 he gave a concert at the Theatre des Itahens. The programme included the over- ture to the Flying Dutchman, extracts from Tann- hcvuser and Lohengrin, and the prelude to Tristan und Isolde. The criticisms called forth by this concert are very strange reading. Abuse and an imcomprehension which nowadays may well seem extraordinary were the keynotes of the press notices. There were, of course, exceptions, for Wagner had his partisans, and in some cases an endeavour might be traced of an attempt to observe an impartial attitude. It would be profitless to reproduce the ephemeral expressions of opinion uttered at the time. The account of the concert given by Berlioz is, however, worth mentioning, because of the author's position. That Berlioz was sincere in what he wrote admits of no doubt. He was enthusiastic over the prelude to Lohengrin, which he dubbed a masterpiece. On the other hand, he declared himself completely nonplussed by the prelude to Tristan und Isolde. " I have read and re-read this strange page," he wrote, " 1 have listened to it with the deepest attention and a strong desire to discover any sense in it ; well, I must own, I have not the slightest 135 Music in the XlXth Century idea what the author is aiming at ! " This at any rate was frank, however surprising it may seem to us that the composer of the Romeo et Juliette sym- phony should, of all musicians, have displayed so singular a want of comprehension. Composers are, however, proverbially bad judges of each other's works. The concerts given by Wagner had been much talked about and the master's music acridly discussed, but even the most violent enemies of the composer realised that here was a new and powerful force, one which for good or for evil was bound to be felt. Then came the memor- able production of TannhoMser at the Grand Opera. Assuredly never did a fiasco create so profound a sensation. If the antagonists of Wagner had wished to do him a good turn they could hardly have acted more surely. The Parisian public never had a chance of pronouncing a verdict. Armed with whistles, the members of the Jockey Club mustered in force, determined to nip every chance of success in the bud. These thoughtless young men, Mhs fine Jkur of Parisian society, went with a light heart to heap insults on a man of genius and to prevent his work from obtaining even a fair hearing. Some of them, I believe, have since 136 Wagner in France repented and may be seen expiating this crime of their youth ensconced in theirjhuteuils at the Opera listening to Die WaJkure and Siegfried in religious silence. May their sin sit lightly upon them ! They certainly retarded the production of the Wagner operas in Paris, but on the other hand they gave a tremendous stimulus to the Wagnerian movement. From that time may be said to date the extra- ordinary Wagnerophobia which prevailed for so many years in the French capital and which was fomented by the ill-advised publication of the silly satirical comedy, entitled "A Capitulation," written by Wagner after the disasters of the siege of Paris. Saint-Saens once wrote with truth that La Wagneromanie est un ridicule excusable ; la Wagnhrophobie est une maladie. During the 'sixties there were very many people in Paris who had contracted this maladie. The Wagnerian spectre haunted them incessantly. Every new composer who expressed himself in an unconventional manner was charged with having fallen under the malignant influence of the en- chanter. 137 Music in the XlXth Century " Sont-ils droles vos confreres avec leur rengaine Wagner," said Bizet one day to a well-known critic, for the composer of Carmen had not escaped the accusation of being an admirer of the German master, and he had even been dubbed a farouche Wagnhrien. Strange, indeed, is the irony of fate, for was it not Bizet's Carmen which several years later was to be specially singled out by Nietzsche as the most antithetical example of the Wagnerian di"ama ! During the 'sixties, however, and even during the 'seventies, people did not take the trouble to sift the matter very closely. The old dilettanti saw with terror that a gradual change was taking place in the taste of the public and that the older Italian operas were losing their hold. The conventional absurdities of the operatic stage had not only been denounced by Wagner, they had been held up to ridicule by Offenbach in his " operas bouffes," and as nothing kills so quickly as ridicule, the prestige of the maestri of the past had suffered a great blow. The next attempt to produce a Wagner opera in Paris took place in 1869, when Pasdeloup, the worthy founder of the Concerts Populaires, brought out Rienzi at the Theatre Lyrique, thinking 138 Wagner in France doubtless that, as this work had been written with a view to its production in Paris and as it was modelled on the Grand Opera style, it would be more likely to attract than one of the master's later works. Here he made a great mistake, for Rienzi, with its crudities and heterogeneous mix- ture of styles, was calculated to give the falsest impression of Wagner's music. Bizet in an amusing letter thus recorded his impressions : Un milange de rnotifs italiens ; bizarre et mauvais style ; rrmsique de decadence plutdt que de Tavenir. Des morceaux detestables ! Des morceaux admirables ! Au total : une aeuvre etonnante, vivant prodigieusement ; une grandeur, un souffle olympien ! The production of Rienzi did not in any way advance Wagner's cause in Paris. Then came the war of 1870, after which Wagner not only celebrated the victory of Germany by composing the magnificent " Kaisermarsch," but descended to the pettiness of " A Capitulation," the wretched political lampoon to which allusion has already been made. Wagner's chances of suc- cess in Paris were now indefinitely postponed. It was no longer a question of art alone but of patriotism, a point upon which a Frenchman 139 Music in the XlXth Century might well be excused for being over-sensitive after the days of Fannie terrible. So it came to pass that when the name ot Wagner, which could not for ever be ignored, first made its re-appearance on the programmes of the Concerts Populaires, the strangest scenes were witnessed. The wonderful Death-march from Gotterdammervng was mercilessly hissed, and Pasdeloup found himself obliged to adopt an expedient in order to satisfy the Wagnerian section of his audiences. Addressing the spectators, he informed them that he would repeat the work at the conclusion of the concert, so that those who did not wish to hear it again could leave if they chose. By adopting means such as these, the valiant con- ductor was able to bring forward at intervals different extracts from the German master's operas. He thus laid the seed which was destined to yield so copious a crop and prove so valuable to his successors,- Charles Lamoureux and Edouard Colonne. The first of these conductors took up the Wagnerian cause with enthusiasm, and not con- tent with bringing forward isolated pieces by Wagner, went a step farther and performed entire 140 Wagner in France acts from the music-dramas at his concerts. Thinking at last that the time was ripe for another attempt at presenting a Wagner work on the French stage, Lamoureux took the Eden Theatre and at his own cost mounted Lohengrin. Alas, there came another hitch, and the final triumph of the Wagnerian opera was yet to be delayed ! This time the blame could not, as in the case of Tannhduser, be ascribed to the spec- tators. The beautiful story of the Knight of the Grail produced a deep impression upon the audience. Outside the theatre, however, were crowds of loafers who, in the name of an outraged patriotism, indulged in hostile manifestations. The government then in power feared further disturbances, and Lohengrin was withdrawn after having been played once. It is but fair to add that all sensible educated Frenchmen were dis- gusted at so outrageous a proceeding. A short time before the production of Loheiigrin at the Eden Theatre,' it occurred to the director of the Gaulois to ask some of the best known French composers their opinion on Lamoureux's venture. Some of the replies he received are curious. 141 Music in the XlXth Century Gounod was appropriately vague in his answer and declined to commit himself to a decided opinion, saying : " We all know that Wagner is an im- portant personality, whom many people have committed the error of wishing to imitate, as it is always on one's personal side that one remains inimitable and incommunicable. In addition, I consider that one shoiild not judge the genius of the artist in connection with the repugnance one may feel for the man. The glory of the intelli- gence is not of the heart, and the insults of our national enemy have nothing to do with the hom- age due to his works." Leo Delibes was not much more explicit, saying that his opinion was of no interest to anybody, but adding that it seemed ridiculous that, under the pretext of patriotism, Paris should remain the only capital of the civilised world where Lohengrin should not be in the repertoire, like Le Domino Noir, Les Huguenots, or II Barbiere di Seviglia. Ernest Reyer's reply was altogether more in- teresting than either of the above, and deserves to be quoted in extenso. The composer of Sigurd wrote thus : " The hatred that Berlioz felt towards him, and my affectionate admi- 142 Wagner in France ration for Berlioz have not prevented me from going to him. His powerful genius has subjugated me, without, however, blinding me. I have felt, like so many others, the influence of his doctrines ; but I do not dare to call myself his disciple, having been so careful not to be his imitator. And, while following him from afar in the luminous furrow he has traced, I have not renounced any of the delights that come to me from his glorious ancestors, from the masters to whom I owe, doubtless more than to him, the little that I have achieved. But no great musician will have excited more youthful imaginations and troubled more brains. His life work is immense, colossal. In France it will never adapt itself entirely to our temperament, and will never cause us to forget our fidelity to ancient recollections. He will have endowed his country with a new art, it is true. But his country is not ours ! " Paladilhe, the composer of Patrie, in his reply welcomed Lamoureux's attempt, which he con- sidered ought to have been made long before. Lalo's reply was short and characteristic : " Lohen- grin is a superb work ; it is sad that Paris should be the only capital that does not know it, Wagner 143 Music in the XlXth Century is a genius whom it is absolutely necessary to study, and we ought all to be thankful to M. Charles Lamoureirx for his valiant initiation." Victorin Joncieres went into the subject at greater length, and stated that, qualified as a Wagnerian more than twenty-five years previously, when it required a certain courage to proclaim aloud one's admiration for the author oi Lohengrin, he now passed as rather lukewarm, not having con- sented to enroll himself in the confraternity which would turn Wagnerism into a religion, excluding all criticism. Later on he pronounced himself thus : " If my admiration has remained as enthusi- astic as ever for the early works of Wagner, I must own that while bowing before the sublime pages of the Trilogy, I make with regard to this last conception some rather serious reservations. Wagner is always for me the greatest musician who has appeared since Beethoven, but I should scarcely be prepared to admit his system in all its rigour. His legendary subjects appear to me puerile, and his genius, imprisoned in the narrow bonds of the leitmotiv, seems to me less brilliant than when, without any attempt at system, he wrote Lohengrin, which in my opinion will remain 144 Wagner in France his masterpiece before posterity." The Wagner cause had now really been won, and every one knew that it was only a question of time before the master's works would be formally admitted to the Grand Opera, the jealously guarded stronghold of French music, the sanctum sanctorimn into which so few were ever allowed to enter, and these not invariably the most worthy. The reaction came perhaps sooner than might have been expected. Four years later, Lohengrin was produced at the Grand Opera. Disturbances were feared, but they did not take place. What had become of the manifestants of four years ago ? They had disappeared altogether. The stupid agitation which for so many years had prevented Parisians from having a chance of hearing Wagjier''s works on the stage was at an end. Lohengrin was but the harbinger of the master's other music-dramas. Die Walkiire, Die Meister- singer, Tannhduser, and Siegfried being suc- cessively mounted on the same boards ; while Der Fliegende Hollander was given at the Opera Comique, and Lamonreux had the satisfaction of conducting performances of Tristan und Isolde not long before his death. Since then the entire 145 K Music in the XlXth Century Rmg des Nibelungen has been heard in the French capital. It is curious, in the face of the enormous suc- cesses in Paris of the Wagner music-dramas, suc- cesses all the greater for having been so long delayed, to read the following words which end the notice on Wagner included in Felix Clement's book, " Les Musiciens Celebres," published in 1868, " Whatever may happen to M. Richard Wagner, whether his career ends in honours or in exile, his attempt is judged and the music of thejviure will not recover from the verdict passed against it on the memorable evening of March 13, 1861." The date in question is that of the production of Tannhciuser in Paris. Clement, unfortunately, did not live to witness the triumph of Wagner in France, although he may possibly have noticed signs of its approach, or he would doubtless have realised the fact that it is a dangerous thing to prophesy. The same Clement published a " Dictionary of Operas," in which may be found recorded the strangest opinions concerning Wagner and any composers who rightly or wrongly seemed to the writer to show Wagnerian tendencies. A few years ago a 146 Wagner in France new edition of this work was brought out under the auspices of M. Arthur Pougin, who re- wrote the notices of the Wagner operas. This was really a pity, for Clement's opinions of Wagner deserve to be immortalised, if only to show how far crass ignorance and rabid animosity were allied in the minds of some of the anti-Wagnerites of those days. To give but one example, Clement declares himself unable to discover " a shadow of an idea " in the prelude to Lohengrin, which he considers " an audacious challenge against every- thing which up to the present has been known as music." Ab uno disce omnes. In his new edition of the " Dictionnaire Lyrique," published in 1897, M. Arthur Pougin has, however, not deprived the world of some choice specimens of element's critical faculties and his prophetic instinct. We may read in the article on Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet that this composer has beaten his adversaries on their own ground, and that Tannhivuser, Lohengrin, and Rienzi will never attam as many representations as the above-named operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy. Ambroise TTiomas pitted against Wagner is not a little comical, but when later on our author 147 Music in the XlXth Century declares that he doubts whether in the matter of " bold, distant modulations, learned and audacious constructions," any one will ever surpass the ability of Rossini, he fairly takes one's breath away. After an enormity like this it is scarcely sur- prising to find that Djamileh, the exquisite little Oriental opera by Bizet, should have aroused the ire of this grotesque musical scribe, who accused the composer of having surpassed Wagner in eccentricity, and of having written music full of dissonances and cacophonous harmonies in com- parison with which the bold attempts of Berlioz were but child's play. But enough of Clement, whose opinions were, after all, not more incon- ceivable than those of some of his contemporaries. Wagnerophobia raged in other countries as well as in France, for did not an English critic once write that Wagner was " not a musician at all .'' " It is not my purpose to rake up all the absurdities that have been written about Wagner, but to try to convey an idea of the state of feeling existing in Paris during the early days of the Wagnerian propaganda. Scudo, the oracle of the Revue des deux Mondes, was as hostile to Wagner as he had 148 Wagner in France always shown himself to Berlioz. His successor, Blaze de Bury, suffered badly from Wagnerophobia, and even discovered the influence of the German master in Gounod's Mireille ! From that time on, every composer who strove to say something in a new way had to run the risk of being accused of Wagnerism, which implied lack of melody. Even Verdi, with his Don Carlos, did not escape the charge of following in the footsteps of the much-abused German master. As to the younger French composers, they were all supposed to be more or less tainted, the fact of their liaving obtained successes in the con cert- room and being proficient in the art of writing for the orchestra rendering them all the more objects of suspicion. Thus, at the outset of their career Saint-Saens, Massenet, Joncieres, Paladilhe, Lalo, amongst others, had to fight against the pre- judices of those who saw or fancied they saw in their works traces of the much-feared and much- hated influence. The following is a curious instance of this. An operatic competition was instituted by the French Government in 1867, those who took part in it having to set a " libretto," entitled La Coupe du 149 Music in the XlXth Century Roi de ThuU. It is stated that Massenet was one of the competitors. Among the jurors was Victor Masse, the composer of Les Noces de Jeannette and other comic operas. On being asked by a friend if he thought that Massenet had a chance of winning the prize, Masse replied in the negative, adding that there was in his work so great an abuse of Wagnerian formulas that it engendered nothing but weariness and fatigue. The above story has been related by the well- known French critic,. M. Adolphe Jullien. I may add that Massenet later on utilised several important portions of his opera in other works, notably in Le Roi de Lahore. As the music of Wagner has become better known, so has his influence extended and become more real, as we shall be able to see. For the present, therefore, we may take leave of the master, with the knowledge that he will assert himself again before long, and turn our attention to another German composer who, in a totally different sphere, proved an important factor in the musical life of Paris during the Second Empire. I mean, of course, Jacques Offenbach, the creator of the " opera bouffe." 150 CHAPTER VIII OFFENBACH AND THE OPERA BOUFFE During the 'forties, a young native of Cologne played the violoncello in the orchestra of the Paris Opera Comique. Later on he became chef cTorchestre at the Theatre Fran^ais, where he re- mained five years. The name of the young musician was Jacques Offenbach,* a name which was soon to be famous all the world over. It was in the year 1855 that Offenbach became director of a small theatre in the Champs Elysees and seriously commenced his career as a purveyor of light operatic music. The word seriously is not altogether out of place, as at that time Offenbach held very exalted views as regards the art of music. These views he put into print, for it may not be generally known that the composer of OrpMe aux Enfers and La Belle Helene having ' Offenbach (1819-1880). 151 Music in the XlXth Century first been an instrumentalist, then a conductor, for a time turned his attention to musical criticism. His articles read very well and the opinions expressed therein would command unqualified approval at the present day. He shows himself in these uncompromisingly hostile towards those composers who write down to the level of the public, and severely condemns what he terms " mercantile music." He lauds Mozart and Weber to the skies, and, what is more curious, he writes enthusiastically about Berlioz. Offenbach the champion of Berlioz ! These articles were written just before he assumed the direction of his little theatre in the Champs Elysees, when he necessarily had to lay down the pen of the critic. The pieces performed here were mostly short operettas, and it may serve to give an idea of Offenbach's activity to state that in the space of twelve months he had pro- duced twenty-nine pieces in one act, thirteen of which were by himself. He now migrated to another theati-e, the Bouffes Parisiens, and it was here that his first really great success was obtained with OrpMe aux Enfers in 1868. 152 Offenbach and the Opera Bouffe From that time until his death, Offenbach never ceased writing, multiplying his scores with won- drous rapidity. Many of these awake pleasant memories: La Belle Helene, Barbe Bleue, La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, La Perichole, Les Brigands, Genevieve de Brabant, Im Princesse de Tribizonde, La Jolie Farfuumeuse, Madame Favart — to name some of the best at random. Offenbach not only contributed to the gaiety of the world, for which he deserves eternal gratitude, but he also played an important part in the history of music as I will endeavour to show. Befoi-e doing so, however, it is well to point out that Offenbach was not altogether satisfied with his position a^ the accredited purveyor of music for the masses. The influences of his childhood spent at Cologne, the aspirations of his youth, exem- plified in the writings alluded to above, were destined to assert themselves and to haunt the mind of the much-adulated musician, who might well have been intoxicated by the triumphs he obtained with such apparent ease. He however cherished the ambition of proving that he was able to write something better, and he wished to be taken au serieux, at any rate occasionally. 153 Music in the XlXth Century Thus did his name appear at intervals on the bills of the Opera Comique, with Barkouf, then with Robinson Crusoe, and Vert-Vert, and finally with Les Contes cTHoffmarvn, his swan song. In the above works he appears not as the musical humorist of OrpMe, but rather as a follower of Auber, Adam, and those composers who for so many years illustrated this peculiarly Gallic form of operatic art. It was, however, rather too late to attempt to I'ejuvenate a style which was already passe, and Offenbach by creating the " opera bouffe " had himself dealt a hard blow at the operatic forms of the period. Henceforth there were to be only two ways open to dramatic composers, the one leading to the " lyrical drama," the other to the " operette." For some years afterwards many musicians of talent attempted a compromise, but gi-adually it has been proved that their efforts were vain. " Happy is the man who is born excellent in the pursuit in vogue, and whose genius seems adapted to the time he lives in." These words of Oliver Goldsmith are applicable to Offenbach who, by chance or ingenuity, suc- ceeded in turning his talents to the best account, 154 Offenbach and the Opera Bouffe in this way resembling his countryman, the com- poser of Les Huguenots. By a curious irony of fate, however, Offfenbach was one of those who were destined actively to discredit the forms of the Grand Opera, of which Meyerbeer was the high priest. The Voltairean spirit of satire finds a ready appre- ciation in France, where ridicule kills more quickly than anything, and Offenbach's collaborators are evidently entitled to share with the composer a goodly part of the success achieved, just as in the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas the author and the musician are inseparably connected. Yet who thinks of Offenbach's librettists ? Hector Cremieux and Ludovic Halevy are the authors of OrpMe. The latter afterwards col- laborated with Meilhac in La Belle Helene, Barbe Bleue, and La Grande Duchesse amongst others. Mr. Augustine Birrell, in one of his essays, talks of our passion for generalisation, saying that " we all of us have long ago endowed each one of the Christian centuries (to wander back no further) with its own characteristics^ and attri- butes. These arbitrary divisions of time have thus become sober realities ; they stalk majestically 155 Music in the XlXth Century across the stage of memory, they tread the boards each in its own garb, making appropriate gestures and uttering familiar catch words." Certainly each century has its peculiar characteristics. Time can even be subdivided into yet smaller sections, for each decade differs from another in its main attributes. If this is applicable to things in general, it is particularly so to art, music and literature. What, for instance, can be more characteristic of the period of the Second Empire than the light, witty and cynical " opera bouffe " which Offenbach set to such effervescing strains ? That period of transition when a spirit of easy- going scepticism, a reflex of the Voltaireanism of the preceding century, seemed to permeate society ! When everything was approached with a light heart, possibly in order to hide any feel- ings of disquietude caused by the instability of the regime. It was a moment, when great changes were evolving in the world of .thought. Old ideas were giving place to new ones. The orthodox were scandalised at the boldness of a Renan and, with- out having read his works, anathematised his opinions, for the prevailing scepticism was cloaked 156 Offenbach and the Opera Bouffe in the garb of I'eligion. The Csesarism of the day, based on a democratic foundation, fostered freedom of opinion and encouraged a spirit of levity. The moment was ripe for the parodist to look around for subjects on which to exercise the shafts of his wit. The Olympian gods lent themselves readily to the purpose, and thus in OrpMe aux Enfers the mighty Jove figured as " Papa 'piter," and Pluto in a disguise made love to Eurydice, who had another suitor in the person of one John Styx, de- scribed, for the sake of an atrocious pun, as domestyx to the deity of the nether world. In La Belle Helene it was the turn of Homeric heroes, Paris, Menelaus, Agamemnon and Achilles. Later on the vivacious Cologne musician and his librettists poked their fun at the small German courts with their old-fashioned etiquette, and La Grande Duchesse de GSrolstein drew all the royal notabilities present in Paris for the Exhibi- tion of 1867 to the Theatre des Varietes, where Mme. Hortense Schneider reigned supreme. It is said that one day this favourite actress was about to enter some enclosure reserved for the Imperial circle when she was stopped by a zealous func- 157 Music in the XlXth Century tionary. "Mais je suis la Grande Uuchesse de Gerolstein," was her prompt remark, to which the reply came, " C'est bien, passez, Madame." These were bright, joyous days when there was no foreboding of the debacle and the sorrows of Vannee terrible. Offenbach gave the public what they wanted and, with a rapidity which seems veritably prodigious, produced work after work in quick succession. If the public showered favours on Offenbach, the musicians on the contrary loaded him with abuse. Wagner and Offenbach were at this time the two most decried composers, for diametrically opposite reasons. Those who clung to the past noted with terror the approaching decline and fall of the older operatic style. They vaguely feared the revolutionary theories of Wagner, and when Offen- bach proceeded to turn everything they held sacred into ridicule, they became still more alarmed. Writers like the fatuous Clement cloaked them- selves in the garb of outraged virtue, and posing as the guardians of classical art, uttered solemn warnings. There exist individuals who are incapable of appreciating any but the most serious music. 158 Offenbach and the Opera Bouffe These are terribly aggravating people, the Peck- sniffs of the art, who assume irritating airs of superiority and remain perched on their imaginary pedestals, posing as musical Simeon Stylites doing penance to atone for the errors of those benighted ones who are capable of enjoying music of every description provided it be good of its kind. Brahms is about the only modern composer who is recog- nised by these sham aristarchs of taste. It is not to such as these, therefore, that the following remarks will appeal. They would be incapable of appreciating the talent that pervades the works of Offenbach. To take one of the most famous of the composer's scores. La Belle Helene, as an example, one is astonished at the extraordinary tunefulness, the wonderful entrain which never flags, the peculiar sense of humour, the real originality displayed in its pages. Surely qualities such as these are not to be discovered at every street corner. About the tunefulness and entrain of Offenbach''s music there has never been any question. His originality is also patent to most. For his humorous effects he often adopted curious devices, such as repeating and accentu- ating the last syllable of a word. 159 Music in the XlXth Century A well-known instance of this occurs in the first act of La Belle HBene, when the kings of Greece make their appearance : Ces rois remplis de vaillanoe, 'plis de vaillanoe, 'plis de vaillance, C'est les deux Ajax, les deux, les deux Ajax, Etalant avec jaotance, t'aveo jactanoe, t'avec jactance, Lear double thorax, lenr dou double thorax. La Belle H^lene abounds in the most amusing skits on the old Italian and the Grand Opera styles. The patriotic trio in the last act is a parody of the famous trio in GuUlaume Tell. Considering the great esteem in which Rossini's opera was held at the time in Paris, the musician's daring may well seem remarkable. Nowhere has Offenbach shown his talent as a melodist to greater advan- tage than in La Belle Helene. Such airs as " Au mont Ida," and " Amour divin " possess real charm. Offenbach was, of course, destined to have followers in the path he had traced, and of these Herve, the composer of UCEil creve, Chilperk and similar musical buffooneries, was the most successful. After the war of 1870 the taste of the public appeared to undergo a change, and the " operette," which seemed to combine certain characteristics of 160 Oftenbach and the Opera Bouffe the " opera bouiFe " and of the older " opera comique '' came into vogue. Lecocq's La Fille de Mme. Aiig'ot, a charm- ing work in its way, accentuated the new de- parture. Then came LitolfF, a musician of very superior gifts, with Heldise et Abelard, and later on Planquette with Les Cloches de. Comeville. Offenbach himself followed suit with La Jolie Parfumeiwe and Madame Favart. The vogue enjoyed by Offenbach's works in Vienna possibly stimulated Franz von Suppe to write some of his merry operettas, and Johann Strauss to compete with him in the same field. In England the typically national Savoy operas may be said to owe something to Offenbach and his collaborators. Was not Sullivan once dubbed the "English Offenbach" by an indignant musician of the old school ? The epithet was not applied in a flattering sense, and yet it was, in a way, a compliment, for after all Sullivan in his light works was doing for London precisely what Offenbach had done for Paris. The methods might differ in many ways, but the objects were identical. Both composers possessed a rare sense 161 L Music in the XlXth Century of humour, and employed it for the glorification of topsy-turvydom. Offenbach was not by any means the consummate musical mountebank he is depicted. His works often disclose gi-eat delicacy of touch, and some of his melodies, like the lovely Chanson de Fortunio, reveal true sensibility. Of late years many operettas have been brought out in Paris, but these need not detain us further. The genre is too unimportant to justify a lengthy disquisition in these pages. It would have been impossible, however, to pass over in silence the composer concerning whom Victorin Joncieres once wrote : " Oft'enbach a pu ecrire de la petite musique, mais c'etait un grand artiste.'" 162 CHAPTER IX BIZET AND THE RENAISSANCE What name can be more appropriately mentioned in connection with the Renaissance of French music than that of Bizet,* the gifted composer whose Carmen is a landmark in the history of opera, and who was stricken down practically on the eve of what would, without doubt, have been an exceptionally brilliant career ? Who can tell what the world has lost by the untimely death of Bizet, which took place on June 2, 1875, three months exactly after the pro- duction of Carmen, before this richly endowed musician had completed his thirty-seventh year ? Mozart, Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Bellini, Bizet, all taken in the full maturity of their powers, consumed in all proba- bility by the fire of the genius which burnt within " G. Bizet (b. 1838 ; d. 1875). 163 Music in the XlXth Century them. Had they produced their best work ? Who can tell ? If Rossini had died after Guillaume Tell the world would have been scarcely any the poorer, and yet this opera seemed to foreshadow great things. On the other hand, if anything had happened to Wagner or to Verdi at the age of thirty-seven, the loss would have been incalculable. None of the later Wagjierian music-dramas would be in exist- ence, and the most famous of the Verdi operas would ne\'er have been written. It is profitless, however, to indulge in speculations as to what might have happened had circumstances been different. Bizet during his short life achieved a gi-eat deal, and, judging by his last works, was on the high road to achieve a great deal more, for the barrier of prejudice that had impeded his progress at the outset of his career had gradually been removed, the horizon was clear, and the prospects of the younger French composers appeared particularly bright and hopeful. At the commencement of the 'sixties, when Bizet had returned to Paris after his compulsory sojourn in Rome as winner of the Grand Prize, the musical movement which was to reach its 164 Bizet and the Renaissance florescence a few years later had been already started. The establishment of the " Concerts Populaires '' by Pasdeloup had aroused an interest in the sym- phonic works of the gi-eat German masters. Occasionally some young French composer was able to find favour with the energetic chef (Torchsstre. Bizet was one of the first to profit by Pasdeloup's enterprise, and a Scherzo of his composition figured on one of the programmes in 1863, not long before the production of his first opera, Les Pecheurs de Perles, at the Theatre Lyrique. It was about this time that certain critics imagined they discovered traces of Wagnerian influence in his music, notably in the above- mentioned opera. Les Pecheurs de Perks may be unequal as a whole, but it was a remarkable achievement for a young man of t« enty-five. The Oriental colouring so vividly imparted to the music constitutes an undeniable charm. The languidly enervating melodies, full of luscious sweetness, are redolent of Eastern climes. The score is imbued with poetical sentiment, besides which it reveals a strong dramatic tem))erament. 166 Music ill the XlXth Century Bizet's next opera, La Jolie Fille de Perth (1867), cannot be considered an advance, the style of the work being altogether too mixed. It would seem as if Bizet had wished to protest against the accusation of favouring Wagnerian theories, as his score abounds in concessions to vocalists. It stands to reason that there are some portions worthy of the composer. Among these may be men- tioned the irresistibly fascinating Bohemian dance, so wildly inspiriting and original in conception, suggestive of a frenzied dance of dervishes, which is now introduced into the fourth act of Carmen. A well-known critic in his notice of this opera, having drawn attention to certain concessions to the bad taste of the public, received a letter from Bizet, whom he did not know personally, thanking him for his remarks, and in the following words, which I will not spoil by translating, expressing his feelings on the subject: " J'ai fait cette fois encore des concessions quejeregrette, jeTavoue. J'aurais bien des choses a dire pour ma defense Devinez les ! L'Ecole des flonflons, des roulades, du mensonge, est morte, bien morte ! Enterrons la sans larmes, sans regret, sans emotion et . . . . en avant ! " 16C Bizet and the Renaissance Do not these words typify the man ? Do they not show him to us as he then was, young, ardent, fearless, enthusiastic, eager to fight the battle of true art, accepting in the best spirit the just observations of the critic, seeking no excuse for what was after all a pardonable weakness in a beginner, due probably to the exigencies of vocalists ? When Bizet again came before the public, he was in the fuU possession of his powers. His country had undergone a terrible ordeal and was barely recover- ing from the horrors of a foreign invasion and civil war. In a modest one-act work, Djamileh, he again evoked the splendours of the East, and this time expressed himself in a more personal manner. The delicate beauties of this exquisite little score were not grasped by the public. Yet in Djamileh and in the incidental music to Alphonse Daudefs UArUsienne Bizet far surpassed his previous efforts. These works reveal an extraordinary sense of musical characterisation, an indefinable poetical feeling, and the possession of a rich vein of original melody. If in Djamileh Bizet enables us to inhale the fragrant perfumes of the East, in U ArUsienne he 167 Music in the XlXth Century carries us into the heart of Provence and allows us to bask in the genial warmth of the Southern sun. Later on, in Carmen he will take us to Spain and vividly bring before us the picturesqueness of the country which gave birth to a Cervantes and a Murillo. What further delightful excursions might have been made in the fascinating company of Bizet had not death ruthlessly intervened, we can but imagine ! Several works were sketched out by him, but these were left in so unfinished a state that they could not be completed. Carmen, however, remains to us. Its influence has not only made itself felt in France but has extended to Italy and may be noted in the melo- dramatic productions that have for some years found favour in the land of song. In this musical drama, for so it may in truth be termed, Bizet asserts his independence in a surpris- ing manner. Although hampered to a certain extent by the forms of the Opera Comique genre, he contrived to rise above them. Carmen appeals to the heart, it is intensely human. The characters are not artificial, they live and carry conviction. We have to do here with no mere operatic puppets but 168 Bizet and the Renaissance with men and women, creatures of flesh and blood. The admirable book constructed by Meilhac and Halevv on Merimee's story is palpitating with interest,. As a drama it would in itself enchain attention. With Bizet's music its power is inten- sified a hundred times. Carmen, c'' est une belle pa^e d'art sous une vraie tranche de vie : — thus has a French writer* summed up Bizet's masterpiece. It is very difficult to define precisely what con- stitutes the quality known as originality. In music such a thing as absolute originality does not and cannot exist, for reasons upon it which is un- necessary to insist, but which are perfectly obvious. Every composer must inevitably at the outset of his career be subjected to different influences. These will react upon his musical temperament in many varied ways. They will colour his thoughts, take possession of him in a manner, and possibly, how- ever paradoxical it may sound, help him to strike out a path of his own. The spirit of eclecticism pervades the age, and there can be little doubt but that this is a good thing. Thus does German music find ready appreciation in Paris, while a reciprocal feeling exists in Berlin with regard to * E. de Soleni^re. 169 Music in the XlXth Century French music. In Italy, composers eagerly study the works of German and French masters, while England has of late not been uninfluenced by the music of Russia, which may possibly prove an effective antidote to the dull imitations of Brahms. Through all this free trade in art music has unquestionably proved a gainer. It is no longer strictly encompassed by geographical boundaryT lines. The cry for nationalism in art certainly still resounds, and it is right that it should do so, for no artist should wilfully seek to imitate the characteristics of an alien land. Rather should he study them, and if they are adaptable to his own nature, there is no reason why he should not profit by them. That a musician can do this while remaining absolutely national in his style has been already shown in the case of Gounod. With Bizet the extraneous musical influences were at least as varied, with Saint-Saens we will see later on that they have proved even more so. The above three composers are, nevertheless, thoroughly typical of their country. By sending the winners of the Prix de Rome to spend three years in the Eternal City, it would 170 Bizet and the Renaissance seem as if the intention were to induce young French composers to interest themselves in the music of Italy. Bizet's first operas certainly show that he was to some extent an admirer of Verdi, if the harmonic texture of these works suggests the refining influence of Gounod. Many of his com- positions also divulge his fondness for masters such as Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin. Yet Bizet remains essentially personal and essentially national. Explain this how you will. The composer's musical profession of faith was set forth in an article he contributed to the Revue Nationcde in 1867. In this he declared himself opposed to the spirit of system in art and to divisions, sub-divisions, classifications, " these definitions, sometimes ob- scure, always useless or dangerous." " For me," he writes, " there only exist two sorts of music — the good and the bad ! " This is all very well, but when will musicians agree among themselves as to what is good and what is bad .? Certain masters are universally recognised and placed beyond the pale of discussion. But when it comes to contemporary musicians, opinions vary 171 Music in the XlXth Century considerably. The battle of words has raged over many composers. As it was formerly with regard to Wagner and Berlioz, so it is to-day with regard to Richard Strauss and Brimeau, and so it will be to-morrow with some other musician who expresses himself unconventionally. The following passage, taken from the same article, conveys an idea of the enthusiastic, warm- hearted nature of the artist who wrote Carmen : " No, beauty does not age ! Faith does not die ! . . . The artist has no name, no nationality ; he is inspired or he is not ; he has genius, talent, or he has none ; if he has some, he should be adopted, loved, acclaimed ; if he has none he should be respected, pitied, forgotten." In writing this Bizet did not, however, take into consideration the fact that genius is not invaiiably understood at once. He was, unfortunately, him- self destined to be a victim of public incompre- hension. In his case the fact is the more surpris- ing for the reason that his music is so clear in design, so utterly devoid of needless complications. Of course, it must be i-emembered that as he died so young, the public had not, in his lifetime, suf- ficient time to know his works. Had he but lived 172 Bizet and the Renaissance he would have found fame and fortune awaiting him, for the world did not take very long to discover the merits of Carmen. Saint-Saens, in writing about his great friendship for Bizet, alludes to the trait of out-spokenness which they possessed in common, and adds the following remark: "Otherwise, we differed in every respect, each pursuing a different ideal ; he, seeking passion and life above all ; I, pursuing the chimera of purity of style and perfection of form." Passion and life indeed overflow in Carmen, a,nd cause one to forget the artificiality of the operatic form. The story unfolds itself to the accompani- ment of music alternately light, strenuous, or pathetic as the situations demand it. Nietzsche has seen in Carmeri the antithesis of Wagnerism ; it is difficult to perceive why. The intimate connection bet^\'een words and music is one of the great points insisted upon by Wagner, and this is precisely one of the prominent features of Carmen. Does not also the leitmotiv appear, somewhat tentatively, it must be admitted, in this work .'' That strangely alluring theme which is heard at the end of the prelude is identified throughout with the character of the heroine, \T6 Music in the XlXth Century and conveys an impression of impending doom. Saint-Saens had also toyed with the leit- motiv in his Samson et Dalila, a work which was written before the production of Carmen, although its first performance did not take place until two years later. As I have before remarked, Carmen is con- structed according to the usual operatic pattern, and it is all the more extraordinary that Bizet should have been able to vivify and enlarge the consecrated forms held in such honour at the Opera Comique. In leaving this work as a legacy to the world, Bizet effectively pointed to the road which his successors were to follow in their search aftei- dramatic truth. ITie ideas concerning operatic reform, which had been germinating for some years, were gradually acquiring a hold in all countries. Tristan mid Isolde and Die Meistersinger had been produced in Germany, and had evoked the strangest com- ments from those ^^■ho had not heard them. In Italy the lead had been given by Verdi, who had practically turned his back upon the past by writ- ing A'ida. The appearance of Boito's Mefistqfele 174 Bizet and the Renaissance had also caused a commotion, and the musical world has been waiting in vain ever since for a successor to this remarkable work. Ponchielli, a composer who is not sufficiently kno\vn in England, was following the movement of the day. In France, as we have already seen, Gounod had gained a bloodless victory and cleared the way for eager followers. During the period which preceded the produc- tion of Carmen several musicians who have since come to the fore were actively working, but they had not yet succeeded in obtaining any great celebrity as dramatic composers. Saint-Saens had triumphed in the concert-room, and Massenet's sacred cantatas, Marie-Magdeleine and Eve, had brought his name prominently before the public. Joncieres's two early operas, Sardanapale and Le dernier jour de Porwpel, had proved failures. Ernest Reyer had, on the other hand, as far back as in 1861, drawn attention to himself by La Statue, an opera on an Oriental subject, but since then, excepting Erostrate, a work which, after having been brought out originally at Baden, had been accorded two performances at 176 Music in the XlXth Century the Grand Opera, soon after the Franco-German War, he had produced nothing. Victor Masse had endeavoured to enlarge his style and adapt it to more modern requirements. His Paul et Virginie at the time of its production obtained more success than Carmen, but is now forgotten. Paladilhe, whose " Mandolinata'" was sung every- where, had penetrated to the Opera Comique with a little one-act piece, Le Passant, and UAmour Africain, a charming and refined work in which some critics fancied they discovered the inevitable Wagnerian influences, though where these could be detected it is difficult to see. UAmour A/ricain has the lightness of touch discernible in all Paladilhe's works. It belongs essentially to the time of its production, the 'seventies, and betokens its author's admiration for Gounod and Bizet. Cesar Franck and Lalo were little known, although they were both considerably the seniors of the composer of Carmen. Leo Delibes had written the ballet of Coppelia, and was shortly to produce Sylvia, one of the most delightful examples of its kind. He had, 176 Bizet and the Renaissance after writing a number of operettas, penetrated into the Opera Comique stronghold with Le Roi Fa dit, in which he had proved himself a worthy successor of Auber. In the meanwhile the excellent Pasdeloup, whose fame as a conductor was shortly to be eclipsed by that of his successors, Lamoureux and Colonne, was continuing his Wagnerian propaganda. Every Sunday afternoon his concerts at the Cirque d'Hiver were crowded. It became the correct thing to go either to the Conservatoire or to Pasdeloup's on Sunday afternoons, and as admit- tance to the former temple of art was extremely difficult to obtain, the latter profited thereby. Society was beginning to show some interest in serious music, and when Colonne, in 1874, started his series of concerts at the Chatelet Theatre, he did not lack patronage. With great astuteness, this conductor realised that the time was ripe for bringing forward the works of Berlioz. Wagner was triumphing in Germany, why not attempt to make Berlioz triumph in his own country ? The intention was a laudable one, and M. Colonne's venture was crowned with every success. La Dam- nation de Faust, which had landed poor Berlioz 177 M Music in the XlXth Century into pecuniary difficulties when he first produced it at his own risk, now proved a powerful attrac- tion. The Berlioz cult progressed rapidly, and with it followed an inci'eased interest in the pro- ductions of the rising French composers of the day. The subsequent chapters of this volume will show to what this has ledi 178 CHAPTER X SAINT-SAENS AND SOME OF HIS C ONTEMPORARIES Camille Saint-Saens* is the Proteus of modern music. He can assume at will all manner of disguises, but through each of these may be recog- nised the sharp outlines of his own strongly marked personality. It is this extraordinary faculty of employing all the forms of the art, this facility of expression in the most varied musical idioms, this thorough- going eclecticism and versatility of taste, which often has puzzled the master's commentators and prevented them from appreciating the individuality which pervades his works. The wonderful mastery of technique possessed by Saint-Saens has, of course, won universal recogni- tion. It asserts itself in aU his compositions, yet * Saint-Saens, b. 1835. 17-9 Music in the XlXth Century never obtrusively. In other words, he does not make a parade of his erudition but studiously cultivates lucidity of style. Saint-Saens is an independent. He brooks no control and refuses to be bound by rules or to commit himself to the adoption of any definite system. Thus has he fallen foul of the reactionaries on the one hand and the advanced party on the other. The J'ond of his nature is strictly classical. Yet his predilection for Bach, Mozart and Beethoven have not prevented him from ardently upholding the cause of Liszt and modem pro- gramme music. He may say, like the bat in Lafontaine's fable : " Je snis oiseau ; voyez mes ailes ! Je suis souris : vivent les rats ! " Of all musicians, he is perhaps the most para- doxical, and the expression he applied to Berlioz is really far more applicable to himself. Saint-Saens has been intimately connected with the musical movement of the age, and his name is everywhere known and honoured. It seems to have been his object to prove that he could shine in all styles. Thus has he entered the various 180 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries domains of the art, in all of which he has succeeded in leaving permanent marks of his sojourn. Saint- Saens is the only modern master who may justly claim to have achieved success in all the great branches of music. Other composers may equal or surpass him in this or that genre, but by the universality of his productivity, the marvellous power of adapta- bility which reveals itself in all he does, he stands absolutely alone. A glance through the catalogue of his works will make this clear. With wonderful ease, Saint- Saens has produced specimens of every kind ol music, and if he has not in all instances been equally successful, he has rarely failed to be interesting. He may not have the rugged power of a Berlioz, the emotional feeling of a Gounod, the mystic fervour of a Cesar Franck, the insinuat- ing charm of a Massenet, but he possesses an extraordinary faculty for assimilation, and certain characteristics peculiarly his own. He has been taxed with di-yness, with lacking that warmth of feeling which vivifies a work and establishes a communication between the composer and his audience. The fact is that of all composers, Saint- 181 Music in the XlXth Century Saens is the most difficult to describe. He eludes you at every moment, — the elements constituting his musical personality are so varied in their natiu:e, yet they seem to blend in so remarkable a fashion ! Whatever his shortcomings, Saint-Saens occupies a place to himself in the history of music, and he exemplifies to a peculiar degi-ee the argu- ment I have put forward in an earlier chapter to the effect that alien influences are beneficial to a composer and do not prevent him from remaining essentially national in his style. Certainly no one has exhibited alien influences to a greater extent, and yet no one is entitled to be considered more representative of his country's music than Saint-Saens. Brought up on Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, he has nevertheless absorbed all the musical tendencies of the age and proved himself a thorough enfant du siecle, his early training and his classical proclivities prevent- ing him from ever losing his self-control and falling into the excesses of what might be termed musical licence. Saint-Saens is a typical Frenchman, particularly, one might add, a Parisian. He is pre-eminently witty, and has what his countrymen would term ime nature primesautiere. It is this 182 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries quality which has enabled him to attack the driest forms of the art and render them bearable. There is nothing ponderous about him. As he is in his person vivacious and alert, quick at repartee and somewhat caustic in retort, brilliant in conversa- tion and thoroughly independent in thought, so he is in his music. The man and his works are thoroughly in accord. There is no discrepancy. Saint-Saens was a wonder-child. His first appearance in public as a pianist took place in 1848, when he was ten years of age, and he per- formed pieces by Handel, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Nourished on such solid musical fare, it is not surprising that his first important work should have been a symphony, produced when he was a lad of seventeen, written in strictly classical form and imbued with the Mendelssohnian spirit. His second symphony, composed in 1859 and published some twenty years later, also follows classical models and does not display any very decided individuality. It is otherwise with the third symphony, in the redoubtable and compari- son-suggesting key of C Minor, Op. 78. This work, dedicated to the memory of Franz Liszt, 183 Music in the XlXth Century which was originally produced in 1886 by the London Philharmonic Society, is one of the master's most remarkable compositions — more than that, it is one of the greatest of modem symphonies. We have seen how, more than a hundred years previously, Gossec introduced the symphonic form into France. It must be admitted that for many years it languished there. Although the symphonies of Beethoven obtained the most perfect perform- ances at the Conservatoire (was it not here that Wagner received his first adequate impression of the immortal Ninth ?), yet French genius seemed more adapted to dramatic than to symphonic music, and Berlioz invested his great tone-creations with a dramatic sentiment. ITie symphony proper was only cultivated in a modest, unobtru- sive fashion. The two early symphonies of Saint-Saens were pleasing works written in a somewhat archaic form, nothing more. ITbe years that had passed since their composition had, however, been finiitful. Saint-Saens had added to his love for the classics an enthusiastic admiration for Liszt. Following in this master's footsteps he had written four Sym- phonic Poems, and he was now at the zenith of his 184 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries fame and in the fullest possession of his powers. This was the moment when he turned his thoughts once more to the Symphony. Now, however, it was not to follow recognised models but to show that he was able in this most difficult form of composition to strike out a line for himself. In this symphony, Saint-Saens adopted a plan he had already followed in his 4!th piano Concerto, also in C Minor, and in one of his Sonatas for piano and violin, of dividing his work into two parts instead of adhering to the conventional four movements. An innovation in the instrumentation of the Symphony consisted in the introduction of the organ and of the piano. This was, I believe, the first time that the instrument of the household had been introduced into a symphony. Since then, Vincent d'Indy has employed a piano in his " Symphonic sur un Chant Montagnard." It also figures in Cesar Franck's Les Djinns. The organ is another unwonted participator in symphonies, and its introduction caused some comment at the time. In no other work has Saint-Saens displayed to greater advantage his mastery of technique. His themes are altered and transformed in many 185 Music in the XlXth Century different ways, yet there is never any undue com- plexity. Everything is clear and limpid. A French writer and composer, M. Guy Ropartz, has written : " We must praise above all and without any restriction the perfectly beautiful orchestra- tion of the work which now occupies us. M. Saint- Saens nearly always employs means of great sim- plicity. The effects obtained are, however, of a surprising variety." A German critic, Herr Otto Neitzel, also a well- known pianist and composer, wrote in 1898 that in his opinion this symphony of Saint-Saens and Tschaikowsky's Pathetic Symphony constituted the best that had been achieved in the field of pure instrumental music during the twelve pre- ceding years. Saint-Saens had long before the production of this symphony given to the world the four Sym- phonic Poems, which are undoubtedly his most characteristic orchestral works. Though following in the footsteps of Liszt he cannot be said to have imitated him, for the above compositions are absolutely typical of his own nature. Programme music thus understood surely ought to appeal to all. 186 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries Le Rouet d'Omphale with its delicate gossamer- like instrumentation, is intended by the composer to represent " the triumphant struggle of weak- ness over strength." Omphale sits at her spinning- wheel with Hercules at her feet. The hero's theme of entreaty is first expressed by the lower stringed instruments. Later on this same theme will be heard rhythmically transformed into a mocking phrase intended to suggest the idea of Omphale's coquettish bantering. In his opera Samson et Dalila the composer has intentions of a similarly subtle kind. The second Symphonic Poem, Phceton, is also founded on a classical subject and graphically describes the erratic drive of the Sun's chariot by the offspring of Phoebus, and its fatal termination. The Dame Macabre, the most popular of the four works, is an admirable specimen of fantastic music. At the stroke of midnight a skeleton seizes a violin and gives the signal for a weird dance which grows gradually wilder until the crowing of the cock is heard and silence is restored. In La Jeuiiesse d'Hercule, the most elaborate of the Symphonic Poems, the composer returns to 187 Music in the XlXth Century mythology. The connection of the music with the subject is here scarcely so easy to follow as it is in the three other Symphonic Poems. The woi-k, nevertheless, is extremely interesting and original. Saint-Saens's opinion on the value of so-called " programme music " is well known. " Is the music in itself good or bad ? " he writes. " Every- thing lies there. Whether it be or not accom- panied by a programme it will neither be better nor worse." In the case of his own Symphonic Poems he has taken care that the music should be good. Let others do the same, if they can. Since I am not writing a biography of Saint- Saens, but merely endeavouring to give an idea of his position in connection with the music of his country, I must perforce be brief and pass by many works by this richly endowed musician, over which I would gladly linger. Saint-Saens is the first Frenchman who may be said to have success- fully competed with German composers on their own ground, that is, in the domain of symphonic and chamber music. I have ah-eady alluded to his Symphony in C Minor. His contributions to what is known as 188 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries chamber music are very numerous and are fre- quently performed. The Trio in F, the piano Quartet in B flat, the violoncello Sonata, to name only three of his best-known works, are almost classics. The same may be said of two of his piano Concertos, the second and the fourth, of his third violin Concei-to, and of his violoncello Concerto. Saint-Saens, who besides being a remarkable pianist, particularly admirable as an interpreter of Bach, is also a famous oi-ganist, has of course written many sacred works. These and miscel- laneous compositions, such as the oratorio, Le Deluge, the cantata La Lyre et la Harpe, numerous songs and various pieces for the piano and other instruments, I have no space to discuss. His position as a dramatic composer, however, still remains to be considered. Like all his com- patriots Saint-Saens desired to write for the stage. His successes gained in the concert-room curiously enough seem to have rendered access to the theatre particularly difficult for him. The reputation he had acquired of being a learned musician, coupled with the fact that he was suspected of harbouring Wagnerian tendencies, 189 Music in the XlXth Century- engendered a feeling of distrust. What could a man who wrote Symphonies and Concertos and who played the organ know about the stage ? " As they will not have anything to say to us at the theatre," he used to remark to Bizet, " let us take refuge in the concert-room ! " To which the future composer of Carmen was wont to reply, " It is easy for you to speak : I am not made for the Symphony ; the theatre is necessary for me, I can do nothing without it ! " Saint-Saens's operatic debut did not take place until after the Franco-German War, and then with a modest one-act work, LaPrincesse Jaune, which the egregious Clement has in his Dictionary of Operas condemned as vehemently as he has the Djamileh of Bizet. Saint-Saens had previously written a fantastic opera, Le Timbre d' Argent, which was only to be produced some years later. The overture to this work is very brilliant, and it is strange that it should not be better known. He had also begun his Samson et Dalila, of all his operas the one which has acquired the most fame. It was at Weimar, through the recommendation of Liszt, in 1877, that this work was represented 190 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries for the first time. A long while after, it reached the Paris Opera, where it has since remained in the repertoire. According to the general verdict of the world, this Biblical opera remains the composer's dramatic masterpiece. Owing to the absurd survival of the old Puri- tanical spirit, which clings to us with such persistency, Samson et Ddlila has not been given on the London stage, although it has repeatedly been heard in the concert-room. The subsequent operas of Saint-Saens contain many beauties, but they seem to lack the element of vitality. Their names are Etienne Marcel, Henry VIII., Proserpine, Ascanio, Phryne, Les Barbares. The spirit of eclecticism which prevails over the music of Saint-Saens and in a measure helps to give it its character, is responsible for certain weaknesses in the composer's dramatic methods. Desirous of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, Saint-Saens has in his operas en- deavoured to eflFect a compromise between the old and the new schools, and his efforts to reconcile con- flicting elements have not been altogether happy. 191 Music in the XlXth Century In Henry VIII. he adhered strongly to the recog- nised forms of the Grand Opera, but adopted the leitmotiv system with considerable tact and skill. In Phryne he deliberately reverted to the style of the older Opera Comique. A musician so thoroughly equipped in every- thing that pertains to his art, one who is so versed in all the aesthetic ideas of the age, naturally sets to work in no tentative fashion. The seeming contradictions in style that pervade the operas of Saint-Saens are really perfectly in accord with his nature. The wide range of his musical vision embraces every style. He is on familiar terms with the old and the modern masters, he can — as Gounod once remarked — write an opera in any genre. Why therefore should he not do so ? Of course this implies, as some might say with a show of truth, an absence of conviction. Here again it would not do to be too certain. For what do we know of this ? Minds and tempera- ments differ so widely ! So thoroughly independent an artist as Saint- Saens is precisely one who will never brook dicta- tion, he will consent to be the slave neither of the 192 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries partisans of obsolete operatic methods nor of thorough-going adherents of the modern musical drama. If it please him one day to write in one style and the next in another, who should seek to prevent him ? Of course the public has the right to express approval or disapproval of the results of his laboiu-s, and this right is invariably exercised. His theory of dramatic art he himself defined when he said that he believed the drama to be "progressing towards a synthesis of different elements, song, declamation, and symphony, blending in an equilibrium which leaves the com- poser free to avail himself of all the resources of art, while it affords the spectator the gratification of every legitimate desire." This opinion is not unliiie that expressed by Jean Jacques Rousseau in his definition of the term opera, which I have quoted in the first chapter of this volume. The composer who allows himself to be bound by certain hard-and-fast rules is apt to become narrow-minded. There is something to be said in favour of all forms of art, and I am not going to 193 N Music in the XlXth Century imitate those who affect an air of superiority and venture to dictate to a master like Saint-Saens the course he should pursue. While retaining a secret preference for Samson et Dalila, one of the most beautiful music-dramas of modern times, I gladly record the great satisfaction I have experienced in listening to operas such as Henry VIII., Etienne Marcel, and Phri/ne, which, in spite of certain weaknesses, contain much that is beautiful. The versatility of Saint-Saens has shown itself in other ways besides musical composition. His two volumes entitled " Harmonie et Melodie " and "Portraits et Souvenirs'" are admirable examples of witty, trenchant criticism, which cannot fail to interest, whether or not one is able invariably to agree with the opinions expressed therein. In " Problemes et Mysteres " Saint-Saens approaches metaphysics, and, as in his music, displays thorough independence in the expression of his views. The great problems of life, over which so much ink has been spilt, are tersely and lucidly discussed therein. Saint-Saens has also published a book of poems entitled " Rimes 194 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries Familieres." And now I must leave the master and mention some of his contemporaries. Of these Massenet and Ce'sar Franck deserve special chapters to themselves. After them the first name which presents itself is that of Lalo.* The vicissitudes attending a musical career have rarely been exemplified to a greater extent than in the case of this composer. His life was a per- petual struggle in search of recognition. An opera entitled Fiesque, written in the sixties, was offered to one manager, then to another, and was at one time actually in rehearsal, but some- thing invariably occurred to prevent its produc- tion ; and to this day Fiesque, the score of which has been published, has never been heard. The composer subsequently utilised a great deal of the music in other works. Lalo was one of the composers who profited by the musical renaissance of the 'seventies, and his name often figured on the programmes of Pasde- loup's and Colonne's concerts. He was then, how- ever, no longer a young man , Just as in the case of Saint-Saens, his reputation as a serious musician seemed to stand in his way * E. Lalo, b. 1823, d. 1892. 195 Music in the XlXth Century with operatic managers. Finally he was offered the " scenario " of a ballet for the Grand Opera. He would doubtless have preferred something better, but was perforce obliged to accept, and the ballet Namouna was produced in 1881 with scant success. A suite taken from this work has often been heard in the concert-room. It abounds in piquant effects, and is very picturesquely scored. Success came to Lalo at the end of his career with the production of his opera, Le Rot (TYs, at the Opera Comique in 1888, the composer being then sixty-five years of age. Lalo can scarcely be termed a very prolific writer. His best known works are the Violin Concerto, Op. 20, the Symphonie Espagnole, Op. 21, for violin and orchestra, the Rapsodie Norve- gienne for orchestra, and the opera Le Roi cCYs. He is also the author of an interesting symphony in G minor. Although not possessing a very decided musical personality, Lalo was not devoid of originality. Like many of his compatriots, he knew how to mix the colours of his orchestral palette to the best advantage. His harmonies are always refined, 196 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries and he exhibits a partiality for uncommon rhythms. Le Roi (TYs, which is one of the most interest- ing of modern French operas, is constructed more or less on the old pattern, yet it is not by any means commonplace, but reveals both sincerity of purpose and knowledge of effect. It may be men- tioned that Lalo had set the libretto of Le Roi d'Ys to music some years before his opera was produced. He appears to have practically re- written his work, for at the time of its production in 1888 he wrote a letter to M. Adolphe Jullien, a portion of which appeared later on in the French papers. The following is a translation of this curious fragment : " When, two years ago, I destroyed the first score of Le Roi d''Ys I had the desire of making it a lyrical drama in the modern acceptation of the term ; but, after some months of reflection, I drew back, frightened at this task which seemed so much too heavy for my strength. Until now the Colossus Wagner, the inventor of the real lyrical drama, has alone been strong enough to carry such a weight ; all those who have had the ambition to walk in his footsteps have failed, some piteously, 197 Music in the XlXth Century- others honourably, but always as copyists ; I know them all. It will be necessary to surpass Wagner in order to fight on his own ground with advan- tage, and the fighter capable of so doing has not yet revealed himself. As for myself I have realised in time my impotence, and I have written a simple opera, as the title of my score indicates ; this elastic form still permits one to write music without imitating one's predecessors, just as Brahms writes symphonies and chamber-music in the old form, without imitating Beethoven." In preferring to adhere to the older operatic forms Lalo was perfectly in his right. It is diffi- cult, though, to follow his reasoning. Certainly it would be worse than foolish for a composer wil- fully to imitate Wagner, although many have done so, but there is no reason why he should not profit by the master's innovations. Individuality will assert itself, whether the form chosen by the musician for the expression of his thoughts be that of the old opera or of the modern lyrical drama. It has, however, been proved that all attempts to stem the tide of progress are doomed to failure. Composers will be wise if they bear this in mind> and look to the future rather than to the past. 198 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries Another contemporary of Saint-Saens is Theo- dore Dubois,* the successor of Ambroise Thomas in the direction of the Conservatoire. A very prolific composer, Dubois has attempted many styles of music, including the opera (Aben Harriet, Xaviere, etc.), and the oratorio {Paradise Lost). He has also written instrumental works, notably the fine Frithjqf overture, and in every- thing he has done has proved himself to be a worthy, conscientious musician in the best sense of the term. It is not given to every one to scale the loftiest heights, and there is plenty of room for the honest worker in the field of art. Like his friend Saint-Saens, Theodore Dubois has also distinguished himself as an organist, and he succeeded the composer of Samson et Dcdila in that capacity at the Church of the Madeleine, a post which has since been filled by Gabriel Faure.f Between the last-named composer and Saint- Saens there exist certain points of resemblance, one might say even certain affinities. i?aure was, I believe, one of the rare pupils of Saint-Saens, and he has remained his devoted friend. He is one of the few French composers of note * T. Dubois, b. 1837. t G- Faure, b. 1845. 199 Music in the XlXth Century who have not written operas. Faure's talent is very exceptional and very individual. His music is characterised by ultra-refinement. He loves to wander through a labyrinth of uncommon har- monies, in which, however, he never loses himself. A song of his entitled " Perfume " exemplifies this tendency to a remarkable degree. Faure has written some of the most exquisite songs of recent years, and has distinguished himself in the domain of chamber music, witness his two quartets and violin sonata. He is also the author of a sym- phony. Another composer and organist may here be mentioned, Charles Marie Widor,* who is the author of an opera, Mattre Ambros, a charming ballet, "La Korrigane," organ and instrumental music. Guilmant and Gigoux are two organists of note who have confined themselves to writing music for their instrument. The works of the former are known all over the world. How many composers of real worth are com- pelled by the force of circumstances to work in comparative obscurity, and how many are debarred * C. M. Widor, b. 1845. 200 Saint-Saens and Contemporaries from ever tasting the fruits of success ? One who was both, was Louis Lacombe, the author of several works of large dimensions, notably Winkelriede, an opera which was only performed after his death. He must not be confounded with Paul Lacombe, who studied with Bizet and has written orchestral and chamber music. A musician who may fittingly find a place in this chapter is Benjamin Godard.* The career of this distinguished musician affords another in- stance, as in the case of Lalo, of the many tribula- tions and disappointments that too often form the accompaniment of a composer's existence. And yet Godard cannot be said to have been alto- gether unsuccessful during his life. Gifted with a prodigious facility of production, he rather abused it and, partly in order to provide for the means of livelihood, he wrote incessantly at all hours and in every style, multiplying his works and passing from song to opera, from sonata to cantata with extraordinary ease. During the seventies, Godard was looked upon as an exceptionally promising composer. His " Concerto Romantique " for the violin, his violin sonatas, his songs and piano * B. Godard, b. 1849, d. 1895. 201 Music in the XlXth Century- pieces revealed great talent and individuality. With his cantata " Le Tasse," produced in 1878, he at once leapt into fame, and at the age of thirty seemed to have acquired a sufficiently stable position. His subsequent works were many, but they do not appear to have greatly enhanced his reputation. Of his operas, neither PecLro de Zalamea, Jocelyn, Dante nor La Vivandiere achieved more than a siccces d'estime. Among his larger compositions, the " Symphonic Legendaire" and the "Symphonic Gothique" deserve special mention. His violin sonatas, which are rather suites than sonatas, and certain mood-pictures such as the "Fragments Poetiques," and "Etudes Artistiques," are exceedingly fascinating. Godard's music has a distinct character of its own, it is often full of charm and breathes a gentle spirit of melancholy. The musician of the autumn, of the twilight hours, he can conjure up visions of the past, stir up memories of forgotten days. He was essentially a sentimentalist, something of a musical Alfred de Musset, and the best that was in him was perhaps expressed in works of small calibre, songs and pianoforte pieces. 202 CHAPTER XI MASSENET AND THE MODEKN FRENCH OPERA The composer whose name heads this chapter, is undoubtedly the most popular representative of modern French opera. His influence over his contemporaries has been very great, almost as great as that of Gounod, from whom he may in a measure be said to proceed. Massenet * is essentially typical of his epoch and of his nation. In some ways an eclectic, who at times coquets with Wagnerism and at others shows some inclination to adopt modern Italian methods, Massenet remains heart and soul a Frenchman. ITie affinity existing between him and Gounod does not reveal itself only in certain exterior details of musical form. Massenet, in a sense, continues * Jules Massenet, b. 1842. 203 Music in the XlXth Century the line of the composer oi Faust, whose style he has assimilated and transformed into one of his own. The tender language of love employed by Gounod has been remodelled by Massenet, who has sub- tilised and refined it in its essence, thus practically renewing it ; and, by the introduction of personal elements, he has created a new and fascinating form of musical expression. Saint-Saens has said that Massenet is to Gounod what Schumann was to Mendelssohn. Like Gounod, Massenet has ever been at his best when delineating the tender passion. His female types certainly bear a strong family re- semblance. This may be attributed to the fact that whether his heroine is called Eve, Mary Magdalen, Herodias, Manon, Esclarmonde, Thais, Sapho, she is always to him the personification of woman exemplified at her frailest. What matters the name or the epoch ? Is not love eternally the same ? Are not the passions more or less identical throughout the ages ? Massenet does not seem to have set himself so much the task of specially individualising certain women as of celebrating the eternal feminine exemplified in one particular type. 204 The Modern French Opera " Das ewig Weibliche zieht uns hinan : " Goethe's words might serve as a motto to some of the French composer's works. His female characters have all something of the modern Parisienne, and this is where Massenet shows himself so essentially a man of his time. His first successes in the con- cert-room were gained with the oratorios Marie Magdeleine and Eve. To the surprised delight of some and the scandal of others, the music of these works proved the very reverse of that which is usually associated with the term oratorio. Instead of dry fugues, arid recitatives, formally constructed choruses, Massenet provided strains of luscious sweetness and tender melodies of alluring charm. The young master conquered at least the feminine portion of Parisian society. This was in the early 'seventies, when he laid the foundation-stone of his reputation. The rest was speedily to follow. Massenet's oratorios are devoid of anything approaching to Biblical grandeur. The composer has seemingly avoided any attempt to rise to the heights of his subject. He makes Adam and Eve sing love duets very much as he would any pair of lovers. There is no doubt, however, that in the above oratoriettes Massenet proved that he had a 205 Music in the XlXth Century style peculiarly his own, one which it was impossible to mistake. Like Gounod, he has his special mannerisms, and this is the reason why he has been so much imitated. The sensuous charm of his melodies is undeniable, and even in his least successful compositions his touch is unmistakable. In considering his operas, we may pass over La Grand'' Tante and Don Char de Bazan, early works of no great import, to come to Le Roi de Lahore, produced at the Opera in 1877. This opera achieved much success at the time, and was heard in other countries besides France. As the name implies, the story is laid in the East, and affords opportunities for gorgeous scenic display. It is an excellent example of the modern French opera, and its comparative neglect of late years is surprising. Every baritone has sung, or tried to sing, the famous " arioso " which Lassalle used to interpret so inimitably. H^rodiade, Massenet's next opera, was produced in Brussels in 1881. The composer had returned to the Bible for inspiration, and this is probably the only reason why this work has not been heard in London, although two of its melodies have constantly been sung in our concert-rooms. 206 The Modern French Opera Herodiade was followed some three years later by Manon, the composer's most popular opera. Massenet's treatment of the Abbe Prevost's romance is wholly delightful. The subject was particularly suited to his muse. Nothing here is forced or unnatural, but music and text are intimately allied. Massenet is indeed much more at home in a work of this description, an opera de demi-caractere, than when he is treating a heroic subject like that of Le Cid, which, how- ever, met with success in Paris at the time of its production in 1885. Esclamwnde, given in Paris during the Exhi- bition year of 1889, is not known in England at all, yet it is unquestionably one of Massenet's best works. The composer, while retaining his personal methods of expression, has here made a curious incursion into the domains of Bayreuth. There can be no doubt that in writing it he must have been haunted by Wagnerian phantoms. Guiding themes are employed in this work with much skill, one of these being singularly like a motive in Die Meistersinger. Yet the score bears the imprint of its composer's individuality in every bar. 207 Music in the XlXth Century Werther seems to have been composed at about the. same period as Esclarmonde, either just before or just after, though its first performance only took place in 1892, in Vienna. Goethe's book scarcely strikes one as particularly suitable for operatic treatment. The incidents are too few and the action is too restricted. At the same time, the romantic nature of the subject and the sentimental character of the hero were well calcu- lated to captivate the composer, whose musical temperament particularly fits him to express emotions of a concentrated kind and who excels in imparting a soft mystic colouring to scenes of love and sentiment. Massenet seems here to have been actuated by the desire to produce a lyrical drama rather than an opera, and the construc- tion of this work is remarkable in point of unity. He has not yielded to the temptation of writing any set pieces, duets or choruses, of the conven- tional pattern, and his music is expressive and emotional. Le Mage, a five-act opera, produced at the Paris Grand Opera in 1891, must count as one of the composer's failures. Otherwise is it with Thais, given at the same 208 The Modern French Opera theatre three years later, which has remained in the repertoire. Yet this woi'k scarcely represents the composer at his best, for it cannot be com- pared to Le Roi de Lahore, Manon, Esclarmonde, or Werther, which are perhaps the composer's most remarkable operas. In La Navarraise, the first production of which took place at Covent Garden in 1894, Massenet appears to have been actuated by the desire to rival Mascagni on his own ground, this work being of the same type as Cavalleria Rusticana, although here again the individuality of the composer asserts itself in a marked fashion. Sapho, an operatic adaptation of Alphonse Daudefs novel, Cendrillon, a musical fairy tale (was Massenet thinking of Humperdinck and his Hansel und Gretel ?) Griselidis and Le Jongleur de Notre Dame are the latest operatic scores of this gifted and wonderfully prolific composer. The above cursory survey will suffice to show that in his operas Massenet has not followed any special dramatic plan or been guided by any fixed ideal ; yet his own individuality pierces through everything he writes, and is discernible in his operas as well as in his suites for orchestra, and other works. 209 o Music in the XlXth Century Among the younger French composers who have already distinguished themselves are several who were pupils of Massenet at the Con- servatoire, where the master taught for some years. Their names are Alfred Bruneau, Georges Marty, Hillemacher, Paul Vidal, Missa, Pierne, Xavier Leroux, Savard, Kayser, Gustave Char- pentier, Carraud, Silver, Bloch, Habaud, Max d'Ollone. In Ernest Reyer* we find a Composer of a different type from Massenet. The friend and follower of Berlioz, Ernest Reyer has not acquired a gi'eat popularity outside his own country. He is nevertheless one of France's most gifted operatic composers, a musician of sincerity and courage, who has never gone out of his way to court popu- larity, but having nailed his colours to the mast has not retreated from his position, and, instead of making advances to the public, has waited with calm indifference until the public should come to him. For this he has had to exercise patience, but he has conquei'ed at last. His early success with La Statue, in 1861, had been forgotten, and Erostrate had not brought him any further fame. * Ernest Eejer, b. 1823. 210 The Modern French Opera It was only in 1884 that his true worth was re- cognised, with the production of Sigurd, in which he entered into formidable «ompetition with Wagner, the subject of his opera being identical with that of Gotterddmmerwng. Although not uninfluenced by the German master in his style, Reyer cannot be classed among his imitators. He employs representative themes in a modified way, but in form his operas are more of the early Wagner {Tannhduser and Lohengrin), type, with suggestions of Weber, Meyerbeer, and Berlioz. Scdammbo, an operatic version of Flau- bert's novel, contains some very beautiful music and is instinct with dramatic feeling. It has met with much favour in Paris, and is up to the present the composer's last dramatic work. Reyer succeeded Berlioz as musical critic to the Journal des Dthats, to which paper he remained a con- tributor for many years. Certain operatic composers now forgotten have had their hour of celebrity and deserve a passing mention : Mermet, whose opera Roland a Ronce- vaux created a great sensation in the sixties : Membree, composer of VEsclave ; Duprato, Semet, Ferdinand Poise, who all cultivated the opera 211 Music in the XlXth Century comique genre with more or less success. Lenepveu , who is an esteemed professor at the Conservatoire, is the author of Velleda, an opera performed at Covent Garden in 1882 with Miiie. Patti in the principal part. Paladilhe, whose name has been mentioned previously, took Paris by storm in 1887 with his Patrie, a work constructed more or less on Meyerbeerian lines. Victorin Joncieres has made several attempts in opera. One of the first adherents of Wagner in Paris, he has not followed the master's lead too closely, although his music shows signs of his early admiration. His operas possess sterling musicianly qualities, but are not very individual in character. They are essentially works of transition. The varied influences of Wagner, Gounod, Meyerbeer, may be detected in his Dmitri, which created a certain stir in the seventies, in La Reine Berihe, and in Le Chevalier Jean. The composer's most recent opera, Lancelot du Lac, shows no change in his methods. Salvayre is the author of several operas, Le Bravo, Richard III., Egmont, La Dame de Mont- soreau, which have not remained in the repertoire. Emanuel Chabrier, a composer with an exube- 212 The Modern French Opera rant personality, wrote two operas, Gwendoline, a work in which may be detected Wagnerian in- fluences, and Le Roi malgrS lui, a brilliant specimen of the modernised opera comique. His premature death was a real loss. Ernest Guiraud,* the intimate friend of Bizet, was an honest, hard-working musician. His ballet " Gretna Green," his operas Piccolino and Galante Aventure, contain many pleasing and graceful pages, and he was an adept in the art of instrumentation. An unfinished opera of his, Fredegonde, was completed by Saint-Saens and played a few times with moderate success at the Grand Opera. Guiraud lacked the individuality which stamps the man of genius. Leo Delibes,f on the other hand, had a decided personality of his own. No one has written more beautiful ballet- music. " Sylvia,'' produced at the Opera in 1876, is a veritable masterpiece of the genre. In his operas Jean de Nivelle and Lakmi he adhered to the conventional forms of the Opera Comique. Melodious, graceful, poetical, refined, Delibes was very typically French in his music, and a more * E. Guiraud, b. 1837, d. 1892. t L. Delibes, b. 1836, d. 1891. ^13 Music in the XlXth Century delightful composer in his own particular line never existed. All the operas produced in Paris between 1870 and 1890 show the serious efforts of French composers to keep abreast of the times without abandoning certain consecrated forms of the past. The leitmotiv is timidly employed here and there, while Wagnerian harmonies and instrumental effects are largely drawn upon. Meyerbeer, Wagner, Berlioz, and Gounod are the prevailing influences of this period. The French, so go-ahead in some ways, are curiously conserva- tive in others. The conventional forms of the Grand Opera style, for instance, seemed to have acquired the fixity of the laws of the Medes and Persians, until the Wagnerian music-dramas were played in Paris. The introduction of a ballet into every grand opera, whether or not the situa- tion demanded it, has led to curious incongruities, such as the presence of a valse and a mazurka in Gounod's Polyeucte, an opera dealing with the early Christians, and a Scotch ballet danced at Richmond in Saint-Saens's Henry VIII. At the Opera Qomique, as I have already pointed out, the spoken dialogue rernained de rigueur for many years. ^14 The Modern French Opera The institution of the claque is another remnant of the past which must assuredly soon disappear. It was bad enough in the days of the old Italian operas, when it was customary for singers to bow their thanks, and for the performance to be inter- rupted by " encores " ; but nawadays, when people are supposed to take an interest in the plot of an opera, this obsolete custom has no raison d'etre, unless it be to gratify the vanity of vocalists. Paul Lindau, the well-known German writer, once wrote an amusing account of this system, from which I extract the following : " The claque, let it be known, is organised in a thoroughly military manner. In the centre of the house sit the staff; around, at regular distances, the twenty to thirty captains, having each under their orders a company of ten or twelve soldiers. This army corps, therefore, consists of about three hundred old guards. The captains require to be very intelligent, and to have great experience, in order to be able to seize immediately the intentions of their general, and to guess by his look the nuances of the applause." Whether the system is still carried out in this fashion I am unable to say. 215 Music in the XlXth Century I have yet to deal with the latest phase of the modern French " lyrical drama," but before doing so there is an artist who claims attention, one who, a Belgian by birth, elected to become a naturalised Frenchman, whose fame during his lifetime was not widespread, although his great worth has now been recognised, but who has exer- cised a great and lasting influence over the present generation of French composers — I mean Cesar Franck. 216 CHAPTER XII CESAR FEANCK AND HIS FOLLOWERS Cesaii Fbanck* occupies a unique place in the history of music. During his lifetime he was practically ignored. The public knew not his name. •With a sublime indifference to worldly matters, careless of adopting any means to gain popular suffrage, Cesar Franck spent his existence partly in the organ-loft of the church of Ste. Clotilde, partly in teaching and in composing. Living in Paris, yet untroubled by the turmoil of the busy city, this sincere and good man, who was also a very great artist, worked incessantly and with no other desire than to produce the best that was in him. M. Guy de Ropartz has written of him : " He stands out from among his contemporaries like a man of some other age ; they are sceptics, he was a believer ; they are self-advertising, he worked in * Cesar Franck, b. 1822, d. 1890. 217 Music in the XlXth Century silence ; they seek glory, he was content to await it ; they aim at an easily acquired reputation by daring improvisations, he built enduring monu- ments amid the calm of a retired life ; they shrink from nothing if only they may attain — concession, compromise, meannesses even, to all those they consent ; he unhesitatingly performed his mission without yielding, without counting the cost, leaving us, indeed, the very finest possible example of artistic uprightness.'" In the midst of a prosaic age Franck stands out a magnificent figure of disinterestedness, alike to some of those wonderful artists of the Middle Ages. A naturalised Frenchman, he was born in Belgium and came of German stock, which may serve in a measure to explain the contemplative nature of his genius. His first important work Ruth, a short oratorio, was performed in 1846 and attracted some atten- tion. Twenty-five years were, however, destined to elapse before it was heard again. In the mean- while Franck had become absorbed in his various duties of organist and teacher, also composing church music on occasions. Ruth is a simple ai8 Cesar Franck and His Followers work full of delicacy and charm. Its revival after a quarter of a century seemed to fire the composer with enthusiasm, for he took up his pen with renewed vigour and produced in succession all the works which have procured him fame, and which therefore belong to the latter portion of his life. The oratorios or sacred cantatas. Redemption, Rebecca, Les Beatitudes; the Symphonic Poems, "Le Chasseur Maudit," "Les Eolides"; the Symphonic Variations, the Symphony in D ; the piano Quintet, string Quartet, violin Sonata; these are the works which have consecrated the reputation of Cesar Franck. As a young man the master wrote a comic opera, Le Valet de Ferme, which was never heard, and he left two operas, Hulda and Ghiselle, both of which have been performed since his death, at Monte Carlo. The latter, being unfinished, was completed by several of his pupils. Les Biatitudes will probably be considered by posterity as Franck's masterpiece. Begun in 1870, it occupied him about ten years. It is inexpressibly sad to think that the composer should have died without having heard a com- plete performance of his work. Les Beatitudes 819 Music in the XlXth Century- may be described as a species of musical para- phrase on a large scale of the Sermon on the Mount. To a man so profoundly religious and so unquestionably believing as Cesar Franck the subject must necessarily have appealed with par- ticular force. Madame Colomb, the author of the book, took the eight Beatitudes as the ground- work of a poem sufficiently varied in form, and well suited to allow the composer to display all the resources of his art. The eternal conflict between good and evil furnishes the keynote of the work. The poor, the weak, and the suffering cry out their anguish, and the voice of Christ breathes words of consolation and peace. Satan exhorts to hatred, revenge and warfare. Again the divine voice replies : " Blessed are the peace- makers," and the spirit of evil is silenced. It is difficult to find words to describe the wonderful manner in which Franck has treated the sublime theme. The profound humanity, the depth of feeling, the transcendental beauty of the music, all combine to render Les Biatitudes one of the greatest masterpieces of the art. The consummate mastery of technique reveals itself everywhere, but one forgets to think of this Cesar Franck and His Followers in listening to the music, which is at one moment exquisitely tender and plaintive, at another crush- ingly powerful. A short prologue of bewitching sweetness introduces the theme associated with Christ, and the angelic choir softly enters with an effect as simple as it is entrancing. In the first Beatitude, a vigorous chorus describes the search after wealth and pleasure, the straining after worldly and material joys, which bring but sadness in their wake, and the Voice of Christ softly speaks of the true wishes of the heart. The third Beatitude, with the sad wailing of the bereaved, is profoundly touching. In the fourth Beatitude, Franck has surpassed himself and attained the sublime. " Blessed are they that thirst after righteousness.'" Ernest Chausson, a composer of great talent, whose career was unfortunately prematurely cut short and who was a pupil of Franck, has written as follows about this ; " The fourth Beatitude certainly surpasses all other French music in sublimity. One would be obliged indeed to go back to the very first classical masters to find so powerful an ex- pression of the soul's despair, its appeal to 221 Music in the XlXth Century Divine justice, its striving after the ideal, after holiness.'" After a calm expressive opening, a melody of sm-passing loveliness gradually arises, and at the words, " Come Truth, oh come ! " it burets forth in all its splendour. The music then gradually dies away, and again are heard the consoling words of Christ. The appearance of Satan is described in a vividly dramatic fashion. The last section, which depicts the triumph of Christ, is also one of the most beautiful in the work. Here we again have the " Christ motive,'" now in the radiance of its fullest development. The work concludes with a magnificent choral outburst, the angels and the redeemed singing their Hosannahs of praise. M. Georges Servieres speaks with justice of Les Beatitudes as " this grand musical work, where the severity of the oratorio form is tem- pered by the tenderest inspii'ation ; where Christian mysticism expresses itself with a wonderful suavity, without the melodic grace ever degeneratfng into mawkishness or insipidity ; where is revealed a sincere compassion for the humble, the suffering and the afflicted ; where the depth of feeling is Cesar Franck and His Followers only equalled by the most consummate contra- puntal science, the purity of style, the elegance and boldness of the harmony ; where the employment of scholastic forms and polyphonic complexity blend in a stream of exquisite melodies." If Cesar Franck brings to the mind some of the older masters, particularly John Sebastian Bach, by the wonderful ease with which he employs polyphonic methods, he is also a modem of modems in the boldness of his modulations and what might be termed the chromatic nature of much of his music. His learning is not expended in a mere barren show of knowledge, but is the handmaiden of his inspiration. He can at times be vague in the expression of his thoughts, obscui'e in his meaning, but the innate roman- ticism of his nature prevents him from ever being dry. In his Symphonic Poems he has followed the tendency of the age and written several highly interesting examples of descriptive or programme music, while his admirable Symphony in D is one of the finest modem works of its kind. His chamber compositions are imbued with the same romantic spirit, and are wonderfully bold 223 Music in the XlXth Century and new in conception. The Violin Sonata is one of the most characteristic of Franck's compositions. It combines a beautiful melodic simplicity with a restlessness of spirit, a feeling of yearning sug- gested by an ever shifting tonality. Cesar Franck's two posthumous operas, Hulda and Ghiselle, ha,\e so far only been performed at Monte Carlo, of all places. Concerning the first of these, M. Georges Servieres says : " As regards the dramatic system Hulda presents no innovation. The form of the scenes is judicious, the dialogue is reduced to the strictest limits, the ensembles are the logical outcome of the situations, but the musician, without binding himself to the old operatic forms, does not noticeably avoid them. As to the leitmotiv, Franck, who has made use of it in his oratorios, his symphonies, and even in his chamber music, does not employ it in Hulda. It has, however, seemed to me that there is a Vengeance theme, heard first at the end of the fifth act, which re-appears whenever this feeling inspires Hulda. Ghiselle, Franck's second post- humous opera, was left in so unfinished a state that it can scarcely be accepted as representative of the composer. 224 Cesar Franck and His Followers The influence of Cesar Franck has been twofold. In the first place, by his example, by his noble character, his absolute integrity of purpose, his lofty ideals, his vast erudition, he has contributed largely to raise the standard of musical thought, he has turned the ideas of many of the younger French composers into more serious channels, and has upheld the banner of true art against the ever existing philistinism of the masses. On the other hand, some of his followers have occasionally wandered into tortuous paths, and in endeavouring to be transcendental have often only succeeded in becoming incomprehensible. In their praiseworthy desire to avoid the commonplace, they have lost some of the qualities of their race, clearness of design, and straightforwardness of expression. Not in France alone indeed, but in all countries, have musicians at the close of the XlXth century developed a tendency to be obscure and to avoid directness of utterance, forgetful of the fact that very few are fitted to wear the mantle of Elijah and that ambition is apt to o''erleap itself. The influence of Cesar Franck has however, on the whole, been beneficial, even if it has brought a 225 p Music in the XlXth Century little mist into the clear atmosphere of the fair land of France. Many French musicians have studied their art under Cesar Franck. Among these, Vincent d'lndy* is perhaps the best known. A musician of very high ability, he has followed his master's lead in refusing to lend his talent to any but the worthiest ends. Wallenstein, a symphonic trilogy ; Savffe Jleuri, La Foret enchantee, Istar, are some of his best- known orchestral works. He is also the com- poser of Le Chant de la Cloche, a cantata which won for him the prize given by the City of Paris ; Attendez-moi sous FOrme, a one-act opera ; and Fervaal, a musical drama produced in 1897. Few composers have acquired so great a mastery of the art of writing for the orchestra, and it may be added that d'lndy's music is invariably cleverly constructed, if occasionally rather nebulous and lacking in spontaneity. La Foret enchantee is a romantic and poetical composition redolent of the spirit of the woods. Istar is the title of a set of Symphonic Variations, the form of which is extremely curious, probably unique ; a species * Vincent d'lndy, b. 1851. 226 Cesar Franck and His Followers of Symphonic Poem, it is intended to illustrate a story taken from the Babylonian " Epic of Izdubar." Istar's lover is dead, and she goes to the Dread Abode to seek him. She has to pass through seven doors, and at each of them the keeper takes from her some article of attire. When she arrives at the seventh door, she passes through it entirely denuded of all garments. In order to illustrate this curious story, the composer has adopted the course of reversing the usual order of things, and instead of a theme followed by variations, he has written variations followed by a theme. This last is ultimately played in unison, and is presumably intended to depict the venturesome Istar when she has reached the last stage of her journey. In his Fervaal, Vincent d'lndy follows the lead of Wagner, too much so it may be said, for nob only does he rigorously adopt the leitmotiv system, but the subject of his work, which by the way is styled action musicale, bears an aflfinity to both Parsifal and to Tristan. The influence of Wagner in France, as I have before had occasion to remark, has been immense. 227 Music in the XlXth Century It has also been beneficial so long as the composers have been content to profit by the master''s inno- vations without competing with him on his own ground, and without abandoning the character- istics of their own race. Alfred Bruneau,* the composer whose works and tendencies I intend to discuss later, lays stress upon this point in an article on Fervaal, where he thus expresses himself: — "The day is near when Wagnerian music and poems, I mean those imitated from Wagner, will become impossible, on account of their frequency and the triumph of their models ; on account also of the incessant evolu- tion of snobbism. Every one has a right to follow the prodigious German poet in his glorious flight towards the infinite and to adopt the plan of reforms which he has so magnificently traced, but on the express condition of opening roads on one's own ground, of applying to the national genius the ideas that are on the march ; in a word, of creating, of advancing, guided by the young inspiration which flows from the inexhaustible springs of the race." In the instrumentation of Fervaal, Vincent * Alfred Bruneau, b. 1857. 228 Cesar Franck and His Followers d'Indy has employed an orchestra of unusually large proportions, in which figure certain instru- ments not in general use. A set of chromatic kettledrums enables the composer to obtain a complete chromatic scale. A double-bass clarinet figures in the score, which also contains four saxophones and eight bugles or saxhorns, in addi- tion to the instruments constituting the usual full orchestra. Though the vast amount of talent revealed in Fervaal is indisputable, the work can scarcely be accepted as typically representative of French music. Alexis de Castillon,* another pupil of Cesar Franck, died young, and from all accounts appears to have been a singularly gifted composer. His works include a Quintet, a string Quartet, a piano Quartet, a Violin Sonata, and a Symphony. A tragic fate befell Ernest Chausson, one of Franck's best pupils. The author of a Symphony, a Poem for violin and orchestra, and other works, Chausson possessed a thoroughly artistic nature. A bicycle accident unhappily J)ut an end to his promising career. * De CastiUon, b. 1838, d. 1873. 289 Music in the XlXth Century- Guy de Ropartz and Pierre de Breville have both distinguished themselves, and have followed the example of their master, Cesar Franck, by cultivating the more serious forms of the art and devoting themselves to music of the best kind. Silvio Lazzari, though not a Frenchman, spent some years in Paris and studied under Franck. A composer of high and noble talent, he has written orchestral works and chamber music, while his opera Armor has been produced at Hamburg with success. There are many others who doubtless might be mentioned did space permit. The name of Cesar Franck is, however, destined to be handed down to posterity not only as that of an admirable teacher, but, what is better, as that of one of the great composei's of the past century. 230 CHAPTER XIII ALFRED BRUNEAU AND THE MODERN LYRICAL DRAMA M0SIC in its alliance with the drama is ever in a transitory condition, and we have seen how evanescent are its forms. The Wagnerian theories have haunted the minds of numberless composers, who have tried to apply them in a modified manner while not altogether breaking away from tradition. Soyez de voire temps et de voire pays are words which I believe Saint-Saens once addressed to the yoimger musicians of France. If there is a composer who has realised this, he is assuredly Alfred Bruneau, for he is essentially up-to-date in his ideas and methods. Indeed he is rather in advance of his epoch, which is all in his favour, and at the same tipe he is typically representative of his country. ^31 Music in the XlXth Century Coming at a moment when all sorts of attempts were being made to shirk the recognised operatic forms without abandoning them altogether, Bruneau resolutely put his shoulder to the wheel, and adopting the system of representative themes in its entirety proceeded to employ it in his own way. He has proved that it is quite possible to follow the example of Wagner without in any way becoming an imitator of the German master. He has fuUy recognised that the old operatic forms have had their day, that to attempt to revive them is worse than useless, and that " each epoch lives in its art," to quote his own words. Although an enthusiastic admirer of Wagner, he has realised the folly of attempting to write legendary music-dramas of the Bayreuth type. With Emile Zola as his collaborator, he has inaugurated practically a new departure in opera and created a fresh type of lyrical drama. The ideal aimed at by the author and musician had best be told in their own words. Emile Zola has related how comparatively late in life he began to take interest in music through having met Alfred Bruneau, whom he describes as — une des intelligences les plus vives, un des The Modern Lyrical Drama passionnes et des tendres les plus penetrants qiie fai connus. "The French lyrical drama" — he writes — " haunts me. When a despotic and all-powerful genius like Wagner appears in an art it is certain that he weighs terribly over the succeeding generations. We have seen this in our poetry ; after Hugo, Lamartine and Musset, it would seem to-day that lyricism is for ever exhausted. Our young poets torture themselves desperately in order to conquer originality. Likewise, in music, the Wagnerian formula, so logical, so complete, so exhaustive, has imposed itself in a sovereign fashion, to that extent that outside it, already for a long time, one may believe that nothing excellent and new will be created. . . . Since my friend Bruneau has made me care for music, I sometimes reflect on these things. To neglect Wagner would be childish. . . . All his conquest must be acquired. He has renewed the formula, it is no longer allowable to turn back and to accept another. Only instead of remaining stationary with him, one can start from him ; and the solution is certainly not elsewhere, for our French musicians. ... I see a drama more 233 Music in the XlXth Century directly human, not in the vagueness of the Northern mythologies, but taking place amongst us, poor men, in the reality of our miseries and our joys. . . . " I should like the poem to be interesting in itself, like an engrossing story that might be told one. , . . " I conceive that the lyrical drama should be human, without repudiating either fancy or caprice, or mystery. All our race is there, I repeat it, in this quivering humanity of which 1 desire that music should express the passions, the sorrows, the joys." Alfred Bruneau has been animated by this spirit in composing his works. " A fervent admirer of Richard Wagner," he writes, " I have never ceased in my works and in my criticisms to defend the cause of French art. In composing Le Reve, UAttaque du Moulin, Messidor, not legendary, but contemporary dramas, very French in. action and sentiments, I have had the constant and firm desire— singing the tenderness of mystic love, the abomination of unjust wars, the necessity of glorious labour, of acting as a Frenchman, and I am proud to have been helped in this task and to be so still by the master of our literature, by my dear and great 234 The Modern Lyrical Drama friend Emile Zola, who is not only for me a collaborator, but a veritable inspirer." The above extracts will show how entirely of one mind were Emile Zola and Alfred Bruneau, and how well fitted to work together for ths regeneration of the musical drama in France. Briefly, their theory amounts to this. The old- fashioned opera, with its airs, duets, trios, and concerted pieces, has had its day ; the Wagnerian system of representative themes must be accepted in its entirety ; a fresh departure must be made, starting from Wagner, and Zola says : " The races are there, which differentiate the works when the same creative breath has passed over the world." Germany is essentially the land of legends. Has not Wagner exclaimed : "How much must I not love the German people, who even to-day be- lieve in the marvels of the most naive legend ! " Bruneau would paraphrase this, and make a French composer exclaim : " How much must I not love the French people, who even to-day believe in the sun and in life ! " — in other words, no legends for French composers, but subjects taken from the life of to-day. There is another important innovation made by 835 Music in the XlXth Century Zola and Bruneau which has raised a considerable amount of discussion — ^the substitution of prose for verse in the " lyrical drama " of the future. This question had been mooted many years ago. Berlioz and Gounod both seemed to think that a libretto written in prose would be an advantage to a composer, and the latter even began to set one ■ of Moliere's comedies to music in order to test his theories. It was reserved, however, for Zola and Bruneau to make the first real attempt in this direction with Messidor. A great deal of ink was used at the time in the discussion of verse v. prose, Saint-Saens writing an article in which he strongly condemned the aban- donment of the former in favour of the latter. Bruneau has explained what he considers the advantage of prose in the following words : " It is the liberty which prose brings to the composer in the large folds of its ample and generous phrases. Liberty of the dialogue establishing itself, develop- ing itself without any sort of constraint or trouble over the instrumental texture, becoming intimately allied with it : liberty of the never interrupted symphony, singing, roaring, calming itself accord- ing to the fancy of the musician, according to the 836 The Modern Lyrical Drama necessities of the drama; liberty of expression — this is more precious still than the others — offered by the precision of the word ; illimitable liberty of the infinite melody coursing alert, grave, superb, tender or powerful, certainly joyful to be able to escape from the imprisonment of the cadence and the rhyme ; liberty of the phrase, liberty of inspi- ration, liberty of art, liberty of forms, liberty complete, magnificent, and definite." The literary weakness of the typical operatic " libretto " of the past has often been a matter of comment. Only the future will be able to decide whether prose is more suitable than verse for opera. One thing, however, seems certain, that under present conditions, now that an absolutely consecutive musical treatment is de rigueur in an opera, pi-ose gives more latitude to the composer, leaving him free and unfettered in the expression of his ideas. Alfred Bruneau''s first opera, Kerkn, founded on an Oriental subject, was produced at the Theatre du Chateau d'Eau in 1887. Already in this work the composer displayed considerable originality and independence. The system of representative themes is consistently employed in Khim. We 237 Music in the XlXth Century have seen how, in Carmen, Bizet intensified the dramatic situation by the occasional repetition of the pregnant theme associated with the heroine of his beautiful opera, how Saint-Saens in Samson et Dalila and Henry VIII., Reyer in Sigvird, had gone a little farther end shown a disposition to recognise the value of the leitmotiv {Henry VIII. affords a particularly interesting study on this point). In Kirim, however, Bruneau went farther than his predecessors. Without any attempt at compromise, he constructed his opera on a sym- phonic basis of representative themes. Consider- ing that Wagner's works had at that time not been admitted into the repertoire of the Paris Opera, and that Bruneau was only a beginner, the fact deserves notice. Kirim is a very interesting score in many ways, but as space is limited I must perforce pass on to the composer's later and more representative works. I shall never forget the deep impression made upon me the first time I heard Le R^ve, which was performed at Covent Garden in the rigime of the late Sir Augustus Harris during an autumn season in 1891, the same year as its production in Paris. It was a revelation. The originality of .^38 The Modern Lyrical Drama the music, the departure from recognised conven- tionalities, the deep sincerity of the work, its emotional feeling, its peculiar mystic charm, com- bined in an irresistible appeal. Every one was not of the same opinion. Like all original works, Le Reve provoked many discussions. It had its enthusiastic admirers and its violent detractors. Emile Zola's beautiful novel upon which Bru- neau's opera is founded occupies a special place in the great French writer's works. It is full of mystic charm, and it is precisely this which is so admirably reflected in the music. Realistic if you will, in the sense that the impression conveyed is one of reality, that the story and music combine together and impart a sense of truth and sincerity. Exquisitely poetical in the idealisation of the characters ; deeply touching in the tenderness of its accents ; profoundly moving in its heart- stirring strains, Le Reve is a work of quite ex- ceptional fascination, and it is high time that it should be revived. When it was first given in London, the style of the music seemed so unconventional, and the har- monic treatment so bold, that many people doubt- less did not realise the value and beauty of the 239 Music in the XlXth Century work. It was different on the occasion of the pro- duction of VAttaque du Moulin in 1894. This admirable musical drama, in which author and composer have evoked the horrors of the Franco- German War, was received with a chorus of ap- proval and hailed on every side as a masterpiece. Here was a work which seemed destined to be incorporated into the repertoire side by side with the best known operas. Although Bruneau had adhered to his system, yet his music was so melo- dious and its appeal so wide that great popularity might have been predicted for it. This will prob- ably come to it yet. Matters move slowly in music, and the real masterpieces are generally those that have taken the longest time to acquire recognition. In Le Reve the action takes place in an old cathedral town, and the musician had to depict scenes of dreamy mysticism, to suggest the internal conflict of contending sentiments. In VAttaque du Moulin the subject is in direct contrast to that of the former work. Here the conflict is external, the contending forces the French and German armies. " Oh, la guerre ! heroique legon et fleau de la terre." These words, declaimed by MarceUine, furnish 240 The Modern Lyrical Drama the keynote of the work, or rather point its moral. In LeReve and in L'Attaque du tJ/cimZmi Brunenu was able to create a special atmosphere. The two works are totally dissimilar, and yet there is no mistaking their authorship, for Bruneau has a distinct style of his own. Messidor, the next work due to the collabora- tion of Zola and Bruneau, which was brought out at the Grand Opera in 1897, marks a new depar- ture. We have not to do here with a libretto taken from a novel and arranged for operatic purposes by an outsider, but with an absolutely new work. Messidor is entirely written in prose. It is partly realistic, partly symbolical — its theme being the glorification of labour, and its four acts typifying the four seasons of the year. Zola described his intention in the following words : — " To give the poem of labour, the neces- sity and beauty of effort, faith in life, in the fruit- fulness of the earth, hope in the rich harvests of to-morrow. To imagine in our land of France a village, mountains, where the streams bear gold and the inhabitants of which have up to the present lived in collecting this gold ; and then to 241 Q Music in the XlXth Century make one of these seize the gold, by turning the streams from their course, and thus ruin the entire village ; then, in a catastrophe, destroy the gold, restore the water to the stony uncultivated land from which will rise the August harvest of corn, when from seekers of gold the men will become labourers." This represents the fundamental idea of the prose-poem, round which of course is entwined a story of life and love. It must be admitted that the groundwork of Messidor has something of the legend about it, a fact which is accentuated by the introduction of an allegorical ballet symbolising the power of gold, for which Bruneau has written marvellous music. The characters of the work are also rather symbolical. Guillaume, the hero, the honest labourer, sowing the fertilising grain, personifies labour ; Mathias, the dishonest work- man, may be accepted as typifying Anarchy ; then there is a shepherd, a delightful creation, whom we may take as the type of a contemplative nature ; Maitre Gaspard is the employer of labour ; Veronique represents superstitious feeling, and 242 The Modern Lyrical Drama Helene, the bride, destined to become the type of womanhood. Although the dramatis persoiicB in Messidor are peasants, they are refined and idealised, and, it is needless to say, do not express themselves in the language adopted by the sons of the soil described by Zola in " La Terre " and " Germinal." Bruneau has in his turn stated his intentions in composing Messidor thus : — " On a symphonic ground I have wished to leave in its true place, that is to say in the first, the human drama of which I have only been the servant. I have endeavoured to translate in as simple, as faithful a manner as possible the sentiments of the characters, and I have desired that the public should not miss any of the words." Bruneau has done this and more, for he has produced a work of high and lofty inspiration, in which the originality of conception is equalled by its successful realisation. His score is a veritable masterpiece, alternately powerful, tender, fantastic, the work of a great musician, who is also a poet, and as sincere an artist as ever lived. That Messidor did not achieve the success it 243 Music in the XlXth Century deserved is not surprising. A work so entirely novel, so thoroughly out of the ordinary operatic track, could scarcely be expected to appeal to the habitues of the Grand Opera who were dis- concerted by the unconventionality of book and music exactly as their predecessors had been scared by Tannhduser. Messidor, however, was warmly discussed, and, as in the case of Le Rive, had its enthusiasts and its detractors. That it will be revived is more than probable, and its great worth cannot then fail to be recognised.* The last " lyrical drama " written by Bruneau in collaboration with Zola is entitled VOuragan, which was produced at the Opera Comique during the first year of the present century. Here, again, the subject is an entirely original one, and perhaps more purely human than that of Messidor, although it also has a symbol- ical signification. A passionate drama of love, the scene is laid by the seaside on the coast of an imaginary island. The storm rages without, and seems to accord with the inward feelings of the characters. A simple and beautiful undulating * As I write these words comes the news of the successful production of Messidor at Munich. 244 The Modern Lyrical Drama theme is associated with the sea, and is in a measure the leitmotiv of the work. Bruneau's score teems with passionate exuberance, and con- tains a love scene of quite extraordinary power. Here, again, he has been able thoroughly to realise the atmosphere of the play and to create types. Le Rive, UAttaque du Moulin, Messidor, nOuragan, these four admirable works, so ori- ginal yet so dissimilar, are sufficient to stamp Bruneau as one of the most gifted musicians of the age. His great collaborator Zola, snatched away in so tragic a manner, has left him the book of a " lyrical comedy " entitled U Enfant Roi, the production of which will be awaited with the greatest interest. Among Bruneau's other com- positions, I would mention the fine Requiem performed by the Bach Society a few years ago, the Symphonic Poem " Penthesilee,'" for voice and orchestra, a bold and highly-coloured work, the quaint and charming Lieds de France and Chansons it, danser. Bruneau is also an admirable critic, and has published two volumes in which his views are expressed in language of great beauty, and where he discusses the various manifestations of 245 Music in the XlXth Century- musical art with enthusiasm tempered by invariable common sense. In the full force of his creative ability, Bruneau is not likely to rest upon his laurels. He has already produced four masterpieces, and he may be counted upon to add to these. I have not been able to enter as much into detail as I should have wished concerning works I admire so much, the dimensions of this volume imposing limits that had to be respected. I hope though to have said enough to give an idea of the important place occupied by Bruneau in the operatic evolution of the century. 246 CHAPTER XIV FIX DE SIECLE It was unlikely that the road traced 'by Zola and Bruneau would not be followed, and the very last year of the XlXth Century witnessed the production of a work which was based upon the theoretical ideas alluded to in the preceding chapter, the Louise of Gustave Charpentier. The success which has attended this opera, or rather roman rmmcal as the author terms it, has been veritably prodigious. In an enthusiastic article on his colleague's work, Alfred Bruneau welcomes this as " one of the most curious, most significant, most beautiful artistic manifestations that have been produced at the theatre for a long time." Wibh characteristic modesty, however, Bruneau omits to mention how he had himself prepared the way for Charpentier by writing Le Reve and creating what might be termed the 247 Music in the XlXth Century musical drama of contemporary life. Louise is certainly a work of great interest and unquestion- able fascination. Its production came precisely at the right moment. Ten years previously it would probably not have been understood. The system followed is practically the same as that inaugurated by Zola and Bruneau. The mixture of realism and idealism here is very curious and perhaps a little disconcerting, for Charpentier has not only chosen the present time for the period of his work, but he has laid the scene at Montmartre, and introduced rag-pickers, policemen, cab-drivers, work-girls, street-vendors and pursuers of various popular industries clad in the garb of the present day. Louise is the daughter of a worthy working man, and is engaged during the day at a dress- maker's establishment. Father and mother have refused the hand of a young artist for their daughter, who thereupon determines to leave hearth and home and fly to her lover. The young couple are lodged in a charming little house on the heights of Montmartre commanding a beautiful view over Psu-is. The father having fallen ill, the mother induces her daughter to return home. In a highly dramatic scene, the 248 Fin de Si^cle father entreats Louise to leave her lover and remain with him. Finally, seeing that she is still of the same mind, he turns her out of the house in a fit of ungovernable fury, but as soon as she has left, he runs after her and vainly calls her back, finally shaking his fist menacingly and despairingly in the direction of Paris. This simple tale, so full of true human feeling, has been treated by Charpentier with extraordinary skill. The drama unrols itself on a symphonic groundwork of representative themes, while in the orchestration the composer has achieved wonders and imagined many new effects. The street cries of Paris are brought in with great ingenuity, and altogether the work is extremely interesting and unconventional. Charpentier has here, as well as in his Impressions (Tltalie and La Vie du Poete, asserted his claim as one of the most talented composers of the day. Certainly the success obtained by Louise would appear to show that Paris is decided to be in the forefront of the modern musical move- ment. TTie attitude adopted by the younger French composers proves indeed that they are anxious to be dans le mouvement, not to lag behind 2i9 Music in the XlXth Century or to spend themselves in vain efforts to renew obsolete forms. They evince a wholesome dread of writing anything that may be considered vieux jeu. Some are bolder than others, and perhaps in their search for novel effects may lay themselves open to the accusation of cultivating eccentricity at the expense of simplicity, but at any rate they rarely allow themselves to be banal. The last decade of the XlXth Century has seen many prejudices die away, it has witnessed the triumph of Wagner at the Grand Opera, and an immense spurt of activity on the part of French composers. The musical situation in France has probably never been so promising. In all branches of the art there is evidence of progress and an absence of stagnation. I have in the course of this volume already mentioned many composers who have illustrated the musical history of the past century. Several of these are happily still on the active list, and may be counted upon to increase yet further their reputation. Some names, however, still remain to be mentioned. Among these is that of Andre Messager, who is equally well known in London and in Paris. A very prolific composer, a 250 Fin de Siecle musician of a graceful and refined talent, Messager has written a number of light operas. His two best works, however, are La Basoche, which has obtained a great success in London, and Mad/me. Chrysantlieme, a charming " lyrical comedy " after Loti's novel. In La Basoche, which was written for the Paris Opera Comique, Messager did not sensibly depart from the style of music associated with that theatre. His work is brilliant, melodious, effective, and may count as one of the best modem examples of the genre. Raoul Pugno is another musician whose name is familiar in London. One of the greatest of modern pianists, he is also a highly gifted com- poser. Pugno has written an oratorio La Mort de Lazare, an admirable mlmodrame entitled Pour le Drapeau, several light operas, besides much music for the piano, including a sonata of great beauty. Camille Erlanger is one of the rising composers of France. He is already known by his dramatic legend Saint Jidien rHospitalier, and his operas Kermaria and Le Juif Polonais. The first of these operas obtained only a succes d'estime, owing mainly to the fact of the story upon which it is 251 Music in the XlXth Century- founded lacking dramatic interest. It was diiferent with Le Ju\f Polooiais, an operatic version of The Bells, which was one of the successes of the Exhi- bition year of 1900 at the Opera Comique, M. Maurel playing the part associated here with Sir Henry Irving. In this work Camille Erlanger has displayed real talent. The music and the drama are closely allied, and the impression con- veyed is one of ti'uth and sincerity. This inter- esting work has not yet been heard in England. The same, unfortunately, may be said of many of the best French operas of recent years, of Reyer's Salammbo, of Massenet's Esclarmonde, of Bruneau's Messidor and UOuragan, of D'lndy's Fervaal, of Charpentier's Louise, of Debussy's Pelleas et M^lisande, a work which has only recently been produced in Paris, and has created a great sensation owing to the originality of the music. Debussy is certainly a coming man, a composer of individual talent, an impressionist whose ideas are spread out on a moving canvas of varying tonalities, who wanders dreamily through a maze of ever changing harmonies, the fitting inter- preter of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and of Maeter- 252 Fin de Siecle linck. His Prelude de Vapres midi d^un Faune is one of the most curious of modern orchestral works. La Demoiselle Elue, the " Nocturnes," respectively entitled Nuages and Files, are also exquisitely poetical and suffice to stamp Debussy as a musician of very uncommon • gifts. Andre Wormser, the author of UEnfant Prodigue, the delightful musical play without words which has met with so much success, must not be forgotten. Neither must Paul Vidal and Xavier Leroux, two talented composers who studied under Massenet, and have not been uninfluenced by their master's style. They have both written for the Grand Opera, the former La Burgonde and the latter AstartL Samuel Rousseau, with La Cloche du Rhin, and Georges Hue, with Le Roi de Paris, have also had the honour of being performed on the same boards. The erudite Bourgault-Ducoudray, Charles Le- febvre, Henri Marechal, Hector Pessard, Rene de BoisdefFre, are musicians of talent who have dis- tinguished themselves in various ways. The brothers Hillemacher offer this peculiarity that they always compose their works together. How they manage it I do not profess to know. They both obtained the " Grand Prix de Rome," and are 253 Music in the XlXth Century . the joint authors of several operas. Francois Thome's works have obtained a great vogue. His piano pieces, so graceful and refined, are every- where played. Gabriel Pieme is a prolific com- poser who has already made his mark. Alexandre Georges, the author of the beautiful Chansons de Miarka, Arthur Coquard, Paul Pujet, Lucien Lambert, Veronge de la Nux, Chapuis, Rabaud, Max d'Ollonne, Carraud, Silver, Blisser, Paul Dukas, a symphonist of rare ability, and several more might be cited among the active members of the French musical army. Then there are the ladies, the Vicomtesse de Grandval, author of two operas, Madame Augusta Holmes,* who is of Irish extraction and has distinguished herself by the production of many orchestral works of large dimensions, and an opera La Montague Noire, and Madame Cecile Chaminade, whose songs and piano pieces are so popular in England. I have doubtless left out many deserving names, but if all the above-mentioned composers have an opera or two in readiness, the lyrical theatres of Paris need not lack novelties for many a year. * As I write these words, the news comes from Paris of the death of this gifted lady. 254 Fin de Siecle From 1.800 to 1900 the distance is iiamense, and we have been able to see how, gi-adually, music has progressed in France, and how the simplest operatic forms have in the course of time slowly been metamorphosed, and the old opera of the past has become the musical drama of the present. We have also been able to see that the genius of French music has asserted itself rather in the direction of the drama than of the symphony. There can be no denying the fact that pro- gramme music has everywhere practically taken the place of purely abstract music. Few com- posers nowadays write symphonies. In Germany Brahms seems to have no successor, Richard Strauss having followed the road traced by Liszt. Everywhere the tendency has been the same. The symphonic forms of the past are not likely to disappear altogether, but it is curious to note an ever increasing disposition to discover some meaning or veiled intention in all orchestral works. A strong dramatic tendency asserts itself in most French music, and to this must be added a marked feeling for the picturesque. Berlioz, by the choice of his subjects and in his methods, has 255 Music in the XlXth Century accentuated these characteristics to a remarkable extent, and his successors have followed suit. It is natural, therefore, that the peculiar genius of the race should have displayed itself in two other branches of the art besides that of the opera — the ballet, and the mimodrame. The ballet in France has long occupied an important place, and the best composers have not disdained to apply their talents in this direction. We have already seen how the ballet is even now considered an essential factor of every opera written for the first lyrical theatre of Paris. More than this, however, the ballet is often an entirely independent work, a terpsichorean drama, the apotheosis of the poetry of motion. As long ago as in 1646, the Abbe MarolJes thus defined the ballet: "A dance consisting of several persons, masked and clad in rich garments, composed of divers entries or parts, which can be distributed into several acts and which are agree- ably connected to form one whole, with different airs, to represent a subject where laughter and the marvellous are not forgotten." The modern ballet is but a development of this old ballet de la cour. It is in reality a play in 256 Fin de Siecle dumb show in which dancing occupies the place of honour. The French have proved past masters in the art of writing ballet music, and they have also excelled in the mimodrame. Some of the best examples of the latter are UEnfant Prodtgue, by Andre Wormser; Pour le Drapeau, by Raoul Pugno; Pierrot Assassin, Colombine Abandonnee, La Reverence, all by Paul Vidal. I have in these pages endeavoured to show that France is at present particularly rich in musical talent. What the future may bring forth no one of course can tell. The editor of a French musical paper * not long ago asked several French composers their opinion as to what was likely to be the music of to-morrow. Alfred Bruneau iu his reply welcomed the independence of thought now existing and considei-ed that an era of absolute liberty was being approached. Andre Messager expressed the hope that French com- posers might regain the qualities they seemed to have lost, clearness, gaiety, grace and tender- ness. Camille Erlanger suggested that a composer should follow his own ideal and develop his own personality. * Mimca. 257 K Music in the XlXth Century Everything cei-tainly seems to show that thie French composers of the present intend to profit by the freedom they have acquired, each one pursuing his own way, and without forsaking the typical qualities of their race, they will doubtless in their operas devote their best efforts to realise the intimate union of words and music. They will probably also follow the symphonic move- ment of the times and enrich the concert-room repertoire with brilliant and fanciful works, pro- fiting by the examples of masters such as Berlioz, Cesar Franck, Lalo and Saint-Saens. The future of music, indeed, seems everywhere to be promising. What is required is the develop- ment of a reciprocal feeling in art. Let each country develop her own resources to the best of her ability, let her encourage the national senti- ment as much as possible ; but let her not show herself indifferent to what goes on beyond her frontiei-s, let her take interest in the music of other lands as well as of her own. There should exist a species of freemasonry amongst musicians, a feeling of brotherhood that should bind them together in the worship of true art. The petty quarrels of schools, the wrangles 258 Fin de Siecle over insignificant musical details, the jealousies, the hasty and ill-considered expressions of opinion, all these do an incalculable amount of harm. Instead of bringing harmony in its train, music thus often produces nothing but discord. What is required is a larger outlook upon things in general, a wider and more comprehensive survey. The present century is yet in its infancy. Let us hope that as it proceeds towards maturity it will ■witness a growing interest on the part of all nations in each other's music, that England will be more recognised on the continent as a musical nation than she has hitherto been, and, I may add, that we in our turn may become more and better acquainted with the music of France, con- cerning which it has been my privilege to write. 259 INDEX Adam, 19, 73, 75, 79, 80, 99, 116, 122, 154 ; Le Chdlet, 80; Le Postillion de Lonjwmeau, 80, 99 ; Le Brasseur de Preston, 80 ; Gwaida, 80 Auber, 19, 33, 34, 37, 39, 59, 69-83, 112, 122, 131, 154, 177, VIII., IX. ; LaMuelte, 33, 34, 35, 37, 40, VIII. ; Gustave, 39, IX. ; Le Philtre, 39, IX. ; Le Lao des Fiet, 40 ; Tra Diavolo, 78, IX. ; Le Domino Noir, 78, 142. IX. Audran, 82 Bach, J. S., 94, 121, 180, 182, 183 Balzac, 56, 35 BarbJer, Jules, 126 Bazin, 81 BeUinl, 32, 163 ; La Sormambula, 32 ; Norma, 82 Berlioz, 12, 17, 21, 30, 44, 48, 50, 56, 59, 84-107, 122, 126, 132, 135, 142, 148, 149, 152, 172, 177, 178, 180, 181, 184, 210, 211, 214, 237, 255, 258 ; Damnation de Faust, 92, 97, 177, IX. ; Enfamee du Christ, 92 ; CamavaZ Romain, 92 ; Symphonie Fant, 48, 86, 88, 89, 91, 99, IX. ; 5en- venvio, 50, 91 ; Beatrice et Btnediet, 91 ; La Prise de Troie, 91, 96 ; Let Troyens, 91, 96, X. ; Ldio, 91 ; Romeo, 91 ; Harold, 92 ; Requiem, 92 ; Te Devm, 92, 99 Beethoven, 18, 22, 37, 48, 94, 95, 107, 121, 144, 180, 182, 183, 184, 198 ; Fidelio, 73, 95 ; Minor Symphony, 86 Birrell, A., 165 2ol Index Bizet, 50, 58, 129, 138, 139, 163-178, 190, 213, 238, X. ; Jolie Fille, 50, 166 ; Carmen, 58, 138, 163, 168, 169, 170, 174, 176, 190, X. ; DjamUeh, 148, 167, 190 ; Lcs FUheurs de Perles, 165, X. ; L'ArUskrme, 167 Blaze de Bnry, 149 Blooh, 210 Boieldieu, 19, 30, 73, 74, 82, 86, VI., VIII. ; La Damie Blamche, 73, 74, 86, VI., VIII. ; Jewn de Paris, 74, VIII. Boisdeffre, de, 253 Boito, 174 ; MefittofeU, 174 Bourganlt-Dncoudray, 15, 253 Brahms, 159, 198, 255 BreyUle, de, 230 Bruneau, 70, 88, 131, 172, 210, 228, 231-246, 247, 252, 257, VI., XI. ; Le Bive, 70, 234, 238, 239, 240, 241, 244, 245, XI. L'AUaque dv, Moulin, 234, 240, 241, 245, VI., XI. Mesddor, 234, 236, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 262, XI. Kirim, 237, 238, 252 ; L'Ouragan, 244, 245 ; Requiem, 245 ; PenthisiUe, 245 Busser, 254 Caebaud, 210, 254 Carre, Michel, 126 Castellan, ilme., 62 Castillon, 229 Cervantes, 168 Chabrier, 213 , Qwendoline, 212 ; Le Rm malgre lui, 212 Chaminade, Mme., 254 Chapais, 254 Charpentier, 70, 210, 247, 248, 249, 252, VI., XI. ; Lmiise, 72, 247,248, 249, 252, VI., XI.; Impressions d'ltalie, 249; La Vie du PoSte, 249 Chausson, 221, 229 Oherabini, 12, 16-20, 22, 45, 59, 112, VI. ; Les deux Jaurnies, 18,26 Chopin, 85, 103, 104, 163, 171 Clapisson, 81 Clement, 146, 147, 148, 158, 190 268 Index Colomb Mme., 220 Colonpe, 140, 177, 195 Coquard, 254 Cremienx, 155 Daudet, 167, 209 David, 22 F^loien, 85, 96, 97, 105, IX. ; SercuLanwin, 96, 106 ; Lt DiseH, 97, 105, IX. ; La Perle du Brhil, 106 ; LaUa, Rouhh, 106 Debussy, 252, 253 ; Pdleas ei Mdisande, 252 ; Prilude de I'apres midi d'mi Paune, 253 ; La Demoiselle Eltte, 253 ; Nocturnes, 253 Delacroix, 85 Delibes, Leo, 60, 142, 176, 213, X., XI. ; Laltmi, 50, 213, XI. ; Coppelia, 176 j Sylvia, 176, 213, X.; Le Rai I'a dit, 176 ; Jean de Nivelle, 213 Donizetti, 32, 59, 67 ; Lucrezia Borgia, 32 ; Lucia di Lam- mermoor, 32 ; La Favorite, 67, IX. Dubois, 199 ; Ahen ffamct, 199 ; Xaviire, 199 ; Paradise Lost, 199 Dukas, 254 Damas, A., 85 Duprato, 211 Ehlebt, 98 Erlanger, Camille, 251, 252, 257 ; Saimi Jvlien I'Hospitalier, 251 ; Kermaria, 251 ; Le Juif Polonais, 251, 252 Faube, 199, 200 Ferrand, 92 Franck, Cesar, 176, 181, 185, 195, 216, 217-230, 258, IX., X. ; Les Djitms, 185 ; Ruth, 218, IX. ; Ridemption, 210 ; Les Biatitudes, 219, 220, 221, 222 ; Le Chasseur Maudit, 219 ; Les Bolides, 219 ; Le Valet de Perme, 219 ; Hulda, 219, 224 ; GhiseUe, 219, 224 ; RAecca, 219 263 Index Gautieb, Theofhile, 72, 84, 85 Georges, A. , 254 Gigouz, 200 GUbert, 155 Gluok, 4, 6, 7, 14, 23, 27, 29, 33, 44, 87, 91, 94, 102, 115, VI. ; Alceste, 4, 7 ; Paris et Hdine, 5 Godard, 201, 202 ; Le Tasse, 201 ; Concerto Somantique, 201 ; Pedro de ZcUmnea, 202 ; Jocelyn, 202 ; Dante, 202 ; La Vivandiere, 202 Goethe, 85, 126, 205, 208 Goldsmith, 0., 154 Gossec, 11, 12, 184 Gounod, 21. 50, 59, 64, 96-97, 100, 108-131, 142, 149, 170, 175, 181, 192, 203, 204, 206, 212, 214, 237, IX., X., XI. ; Moineo, 50, 56, 113, 118, 120, 123, X. ; Faust, 96, 113, 114, 118, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 204, X. ; iSapAo, 114, 115, 116, 117, 119, IX. ; Ulysse, 114, 119 ; MireiUe, 114, 118, 120, 123, 149, X. ; La Norme Sanglamte, 117, IX. ; Le Mideeim, malgri lui, 117, 120, IX. ; PhUdmon et Baucis, 113, X. ; La Seine de Saba, 118, X. ; ' Omq-Mari, 118 ; Polyeuete, 118, 214 ; Le Tribut de Zamora, 118, 119, XI. ; Redemption, 119, 120, 124, 125 ; Mors et Vita, 119, 120, 124, 125 ; Messe de Ste. GicHe, 119, 124 Grandval, Vicomtesse de, 254 Gretry, 4, 9, 10, 11, 23, 74, 102 ; Richard Caur de Lion, 10 ; L'Epreuve ViUageoise, 10 Grisar, 81 Guilmant, 200 Gairand, 213 ; Gretna Oreen, 213 ; Piccolino, 213 ; Oalante Aventure, 213 ; Fridigonde, 213 Halevy, LuDOVic, 19, 20, 59, 67, 73, 75, 79, 155, 169, IX, ; La Juive, 67, IX. ; Guido, 67, IX- ; LaRevne de Chypre, 67, IX. ; Charles VI., 67. IX. ; Le Juif ErraM, 67 ; La Magicienme, 67 ; L' Eclair, 79 ; Les Mousquetaires de la Reine, 79, IX. ; Le Vol d'Andorre, IX. 264 Index Handel, 45, 49, 183 Harris, Sir A., 238 Haydn, 12, 107 Herold, 73, 74, 75, 82,106 ; Zwmpa, 75, IX. ; Le Preaux acres, 75, IX. Herve, 160 ; VCEU ereve, 160 ; Chilpirie, 160 Hillemacher, 210, 253 Holmte, Mme. A., 254 ; La Montagne Noire, 254 Hue, 253 ; Le Roide Paris, 253 Hugo, Victor, 84, 233 Humperdinck, 209 ; Hansel u. Gretel, 72, 209 Indy, V. D", 185, 226, 227, 252 ; Symphanie tur un Chan Montagnard, 185 ; WaUenstein, 226 ; SaugejUuri, 226 ; La Forlt enchamUe, 226 ; Le Chant de la Cloche, 226 ; Attendes-moi sous I'Orme, 226; Fervaal, 226, 227, 228, 229 ; Istar, 226, 227, 252 Irving, Sir H., 252 JONCIEEBS, 129, 144, 149, 162, 175, 212 ; Sardanapale, 175 ; Le dernier Jour de PompSi, 175 ; Dimitri, 212 ; La Seine Berthe, 212 ; Le Chevalier Jean, 212 ; Lancelot du Lac, 212 JuUien, 150, 197 K^YSEB, 210 Kock, Paul de, 77 Kreutzer, R., 25 ; La Mart d'Abd, 25 Lacombe, Louis, 200 ; WinMriede, 201 Paul, 201 Lacordaire, 85 Lafontaine, 180 265 Index LaJo, 143, 149, 176, 195, 196, 197, 198, 258, X., XI. ; Fieiqwi, 195 ; Nammma, 196 ; Le Roi d'Ys, 195, 196 Lamartine, 85, 233 Lambert, 254 Lamonrenx, 140, 141, 143, 144, 145, 177 Lassalle, 206 Lavoix, fils, 28, 77 Lazzari, 230 ; A rmor, 230 Lecocq, 82, 161 ; La Fille de Mme. Angot, 161 Lefebvre, 253 Lenepveu, 212 ; VdUdM, 212 Leroux, 210, 253 ; Aslxurti, 253 Lesaeur, 16, 21-25, 27, 86, VIII. ; Les Bardes, 22, 25, VIII. ; La Mart, d'Adam, 25 Lind, Jenny, 66 Lindan, 215 Liszt, 102, 126, 180, 183, 184, 186, 190, 255 LltolfE, 161 ; ffOoise et Aboard, 161 Loti. 251 Louis Philippe, 80, 84 Lnlli, V. Maetbblinck, 252 Maillart, 73, 81 ; Les Dragons de VUlari, 81 ; Lara, 81 Maitland, J. A. Fuller, VII. Marechal, 253 MaioUes, Abbe, 256 Maisohner, 59 Marty, 210 Masoagni, 209 ; CavaUeria, 209 Mass6, 73, 81, 150, 176 ; Noces de Jeannette, 81, 150 ; QalatMe, 81 ; Paid et Virgmie, 81, 176 ; Une Nuit de CUopdtre, 81 Massenet, 70, 129, 149, 150, 175, 181, 195, 203-216, 252, X., XI. ; Mamon, 70, 207 ; Sapho, XI. ; Le Soi de Lafiore, 150, 206, 209, X. ; Werther, 208, 209, XI. ; Marie Magddeine, 174, 175, 205 ; JEve, 174, 175, 205 ; Thaii, 208 ; Grisdidis, 209 ; Le Jongleur de Notre Dame, 209 ; 266 Index La Gramd' Tante, 206 ; Don C4sar de Bazan, 206 ; Le Mage, 208 ; CmidriUon, XI., 209 ; Sirodiade, 206, 207 ; le Old, 207, XI. ; Esdarmonde, 207, 208, 209, 252, XI. ; La Navarraise, 209 Maurel, 252 Mehul, 1-28, 102, 106, 112, VI., VIII. ; Stratmice, 13 ; Phrosine et Melidor, 13 ; Le jeime Henri, 13 ; Ariodamt, 13 ; L'Irato, 13, 27 ; Uthal, 13 ; Les Aveugles de ToUde, 13 ; Joseph, 13, 14, 15, 16, 26, VI., VIII. Meilhac, 155, 169 Membree, 211 ; L'Esclave, 211 Mendelssohn, 36, 42, 45-59, 95, 108, 113, 121, 163, 171, 204 ; Elijah, 114 ; Midswrmner Night's Dream, 121 Merimee, 169 Mermet, 211, X. ; Roland d Roncevaux, 211, X. Messager, 82, 260, 251, 257 ; La Basoche, 82, 251 ; Mme. Ohrysantheme, 251 Meyerbeer, 20, 88, 39, 40, 41-68, 79, 8], 85, 96, 97, 112, 121, 125, 132, 155, 211, 212, 214, VI., IX., XI. ; Le Prophete, 42, 52, 61, 63, 64, IX. ; Les Huguenots, 42, 43, 52, 53, 54, 56, 59, 60, 96, 142, 155, IX. ; Robert le Diatile, 43,49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, IX. ; Crociato, 51 ; LEtoile du Nord, 52, 66, 81, X. ; Pardon de Ploermd, 52, 56, 81, 96, X. ; L'Africaine, 52, 61, 65, X. ; Struensee, 61 ; Feldlager, 66 Missa, 210 Moli^re, 236 Monpon, 81 Monsigny, 74 Mozart, 6, 33, 37, 49, 74, 152, 163, 180, 182, 183 ; Don Gio- vanni, 7 ; Nosse di Figaro, 7, 74 ; Zauherfiote, 49 Murillo, 168 Musset, A. de, 85, 202, 233 Napoleon I., 19, 22, VIII. Neitzel, 186 Nicolo, 73, 74, VIII. ; Joconde, 74, VIII. ; Les Rendezvous bourgeois, 74 g67 Index Nietzsche, 132, 138 Nux, V. de la, 264 Offenbach, 80, 82, 132, 150, 151-162 ;. OrpMe aux Enfers, 151, 152, 155, 167 ; La BeOe HOene, 151, 153, 155, 157, 169, 160 ; La Orande Duchesse de Oirolstein, 153, 155, 157 ; JSa/rie Bleue, 153, 155 ; La PirvshoU, 153 ; Les Brigands, 153 ; Genevieve de Brabami, 153 ; La Princesse de TrSisonde, 163 ; La Jolie Pwrfwmeuse, 163, 161 ; Madame Favwrt, 153, 161 ; Ba/rhmf, 154 ; Bolmson Crusoe, 154; Vert-Vert, 154; Les Contes d'Hoffmann, 154 Ollonne, d', 210, 254 Onslow, 106 Paisikllo, 19 Paladilhe, 143, 149, 176, 212, XI. ; Patrie, 143, 212, XI. ; Le Passant, 176 ; L' Amour Africaim,, 176 Falestrina, 120 Parry, Sir H., 42, 43 Pasdeloup, 107, 132, 140, 165, 177, 195 Patti, Mme., 212 Fessard, 253 Piocinni, 45, VI. Pierne, 210, 254 Planquette, 82, 161 ; Les ClocJies de Cornevil'e, 161 Poise, 211 Fonchielli, 175 Fonsard, 114 Fougin, 147 Prevost, Abbe, 207 Frout, B., 43 Fugno, 251, 257 ; La Mart de Lazare, 251 ; Pour le Drapecm, 251, 257 Pnjet, 254 268 Index KABAUD. 210, 254 Reber, 106 Benan, 156 Keyer, 142, 17S, 210, 211, 238, 252, XI. ; La Statue, 175, 210 ; Erostrate, 175, 210 ; Sigurd, 211, 238, XI. ; Salammbo, 211, 252, XI. Roger, 62, 63 Eopaitz, Guy de, 186, 217, 230 Rossetti, 252 Rossini, 20, 27, 28, 29-40, 45, 69, 74, 87, 95, 112, 132, 148, 160, 164, VI., VIII. ; La Gazza Ladra, 30 ; Le Siege de Corinthe, 31, 35, 36 ; M(Ase, 31, 35 ; Le Comte Ory, 31 ; GuUlaime Tdl, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 95, 160, 164, VIII. ; OteUo, Z2;.ll Barbiere di Seviglia, 31, 74 ; Stabat Mater, 38 ; Messe SolenneUe, 38 Rousseau, Samuel, 253 ; La Cloche du Bhin, 250 J. J., 7, 8, 193 Sacchini, 45, VI. ^aint-Saens, 50, 71, 72, 82, 87, 94, 98, 124, 129, 137, 149, 170, >- "" 173, 174, 175, 179-202, 204, 214, 231, 236, 238, 258, X., XI. ; Phryni, 50, 81, 191, 192, 194, XI. ; Samson et Dalila, 174, 187, 190, 191, 194, 199, 238, X. ; Symphonies, 183, 184, 185 ; Etienne Marcel, 191, 194 ; Eenry YIJL, 191, 192, 194, 214, 238, XI. ; Proserpine, 191 ; Ascanio, 191 ; Problimes et Mystires, 194 ; Mimes Familieres, 194 ; Le Rouet d'Omtphale, 187 ; Phaeton, 187 ; Danse Macabre, 187 ; La Jeunesse d'Hercule, 187 ; Le Dduge, 189 ; La I/yre et la Harpe, 189 ; La Princesse Jaune, 190 ; Le Timbre d' Argent, 190 ; Les Barbares 191 ; Harmonie et Mdodie, 194 ; Portraits et Souvenirs, 194 Salieri, VI. Salvayre, 212 ; Le Bravo, 212 ; Egmont, 212 ; Richard III., 212 ; La Dwnie de Montsorcau, 212 Sand, Georges, 59-61, 85 Savard, 210 269 Index Schneider, Hortense, 157 Schubert, 163 Schumann, 42, 74, 126, 163, 171, 204 Scudo, 148 Semet, 211 Servieres, 222, 224 Shakespeaje, 85 Silver, 210, 254 Soleniere, 169 Spontini, 16, 20-22, 27, 39, 45, 59, 87, 112, VI., VIII. ; La Vestale, 20, 21, 22, 26, 37, VIII. ; Pemand Cortez, 20, 37 ; Olympie, 20 ; Agnes von Hohenstaufen, 20 Strauss, Johann, 161 Richard, 172, 255 Sullivan, 155, 161 Suppe, 161 Thomas, Ambkoisb, 50, 73, 75, 76, 80, 81, 129, 130, 131, 147, 199, X., XI. ; JIamlet, 50, 76, 81, 130, 131, 147, X. ; Mignon, 76, 81, 129, 130, 131, X. ; Ze Caid, 80 ; Frangoise de Rvinmi, 131 ; The Tempest, 131 Goring, 129 » Thome, 254 Tschaikowsky, 186 ; Pathetic Symphony, 186 Valettb, General db la, 87 Varney, 82 Vasseur, 82 Verdi, 50, 59, 68, 117, 119, 149, 164, 171, 174, X. ; Jerusalem, 68 ; Les VSpres Siciliemnes, 68 ; FaZstaff, 72, 119 ; Eigo- letto, 117 ; OtMo, 119 ; Don Carlos, 149, X. ; Aida, 174 Vernet, Horace, 85 Viardot, Mme., 63, 115 Vidal, 210, 253, 257 ; LaBurgonde, 253 ; Pierrot Assassin, 257; Colomivne Abamdormie, 257 ; La Reverence, 257 Vigny, A. de, 86 Voltaire, 93 270 Index Wagner, 3, 35, 43, 45, 50, 54, 59, 78, 86, 96, 98, 100, 101, 117, 123, 125, 126, 132-150, 158, 164, 172, 177, 197, 198, 211, 212, 214, 227, 228, 232, 233, 234, 235, 238, 250, VI., XI. ; Rienzi, 50, 134, 138, 139, 140; Flyiry Dutchman, 50, 134, 135, 145 ; Zohengrin, 54, 96, 117, 135, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147; Meistersinger, 72, 145, 174, 207; TannMuser, 96, 135, 136, 141, 145, 147, 244 ; Tristan, 96, 122, 135, 145, 174; Walkilre, 121, 136, 145; Siegfried, 136, 145 ; A Capitulation, 137, 140 ; Kaiser- marsch, 140 ; GStterddmmerung, 140 Weber, 22, 37, 47, 48, 55, 59, 152, 163, 211 ; Ber Freischutz, 48, 73 ; Oberon, 121 Johannes, 61, 62 Widor, 200; Ma'itre Ambros, 200 Wiertz, 85 Wormser, 253, 257 ; V Enfant I^odigue, 253, 257 Zola, 232, 235, 236, 239, 241, 243, 247 Printed by Ballantvne, Hanson &» Co. 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