Berlioz, Hector. a Critical Study of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies

8/3/2019 Berlioz, Hector. a Critical Study of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies

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A CHITICAL STUDYOFBEETHOVEN'S NINE SYMPHONIES

PLEASE NOTEIt has been necessary to replace some of the originalpages in this book with photocopy reproductionsbecause of damage or mistreatment by a previous user.Replacement of damaged materials is both expensiveand time-consuming. Please handle this volume withcare so that information will not be lost to future readers.Thank you for helping to preserve the University's


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A CRITICAL STUDYOF

BEETHOVEN'SNINE SYMPHONIES

WITHA few words on His Trios and Sonatas, a criticism of

"Fidelio" and an Introductory Essay on Music

BYHECTOR BERLIOZTRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BYEDWI N EVANS, senr.

Author of "Handbook to the Works of Brahms," "The Relation of Tchaikovskyto Art Questions of the Day," " How to Compose," etc. Translator of

Wiiffner's " Oper unci Drama," etc.

LONDON

:

WM. REEVES, S3 CHARING CROSS ROAD. W.C


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Printed by The New Temple Press, 17 Grant Road, Croydon.


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PUBLISHER'S NOTE.

THESE essa)^s and criticisms are taken from thevolume published in the French under the

title "A Travers Chants, Etudes Musicales, Adora-tions, Boutades et Critiques." It is proposed in afurther two volumes to issue the remainder of "ATravers Chants" ("Mid Realms of Song"), one con-taining Berlioz's critical essays upon Gluck and hisoperas, and the other the miscellaneous essays uponWagner, Gounod and Weber, besides other questionsof absorbing musical interest.


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CONTENTS.

I. MusicII. A Critical Stidy of Beethoven's Symphonies

Symphony Xo. 1, in C majorSymphony Xo. 2, in DSj^mphony Xo. 3, in E flat (the " Eroica ")Symphony Xo. 4, in B flat ...Symphony Xo. -3, in C minorSymphony Xo. G, in F (the "Pastoral") ...Symphony Xo. 7, in ASymphony Xo. 8, in FSymphony Xo. 9, in D minor

1

232935415361718395

103III. A Few Words on the Trios and Sonatas of Beet-

hoven 121ly. ' FiDELio," ITS Production at the Tiieatre-

Lyrique 131V. Beethoven in the Ring of Saturn (The Mediums) 159


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TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTORYNOTE.IT was in 1828, and therefore at the age of twenty-

five, that Eerlioz began to take up the positionof a writer upon musical subjects for several Parisjournals; but from first to last the occupation was dis-tasteful to him and never undertaken otherwise thanfrom necessity. The principal satisfaction attendingthis phase of his career may probably be fixed at aboutthe year 1834, when he became a recognised andimportant contributor to the " Gazette musicale deParis," then recently founded. But even this literaryconnection was soon afterwards thrown into the shadeby his appointment to the "Journal des Debats";which we may fairly assume him to have found atleast tolerable, since it was not until the year 1864 thathe finally gave it up. It was a position which, inde-pendently of the financial help it afforded, gave Berliozthe opportunity of expatiating upon his artistic ideas;besides being probably also one of some indirect valuein furthering his compositions, as a consequence of the

'' id


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X translator's introductory note.respect in which the critic of so important a newspaperwotild naturally be held.

Berlioz is therefore one of the few great composerswho, without pretending to eminence, have neverthe-less cut a very respectable figure m the literary world.His writings, however, differ materially from these ofthe other two celebrated musicians whose dissertationshave proved of such immense value to artists gener-ally. While no less penetrating than those of eitherSchumann or Wagner the criticisms of Berlioz are char-acterised by a more pungent wit ; and the happiness ofhis mode of expression very often goes far to atonefor the severity of his views. ^Moreover, though prob-ably without actually standing for any greater earnest-ness on that account, his vv'armth of temperament isgreatly reflected m his writings, their utility to thereader being thereby greatly increased. This takesthe form that whatever he desires to express is sovividly pictured, so graphically illustrated and so pas-sionately set forth, that, not only is a conviction in itsfavour rendered an almost foregone conclusion, but theperusal of his page is coupled with an am^ount of enter-tainment which dispenses the memory from all effort.The leading items of Berlioz's literary output are

comprised in the following list

:

"Voyage Musical en Allemagne et en Italic." (Paris,1845.)^"Les Soirees de I'Orchestre." (Paris, 1853-4.)"Les grotesques de la Musique." (Paris, 1859.)


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translator's introductory note. XI"A travers Chants." (Paris, 1862.)

in addition to which volumes are extant entitled,respectively, " La musique et les musiciens," " Corres-pondance inedite," " Lettres intimes " and " Memoires."There is also the treatise on instrumentation; which, inspite of the many changes in constitution of the orches-tra since the date of its production, still retains a highdegree of authority. Of the musical merit of Berlioz,however, we have no purpose at present to speak; butentirely of his criticisms and specially, of course, ofthose contained in the present work.The first part now introduced is comprised princi-

pally of the review of Beethoven's symphonies and thatof "Fidelio"; with regard to the former of which itmay be doubted whether, in spite of the vast amount ofliterature to which those masterworks have given rise,any have yet appeared to depict so vividly their lead-ing features. It is quite safe to aver that the merit ofother literature devoted to the subject can never placethese descriptions out of date; for they can be readwith an intense pleasure even by those unacquaintedwith the scores to which they refera singular meritin analyses which are at the same time musicianly inthe very highest degree. When we further reflect thatthey were written at a time when Beethoven's famewas in its infancy, comparatively, and that no subse-quent criticism of the same works has revealed any flawin the views expressed, it is impossible not to accord toBerlioz's judgment our very highest esteem.


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xn TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTORY NOTE.The same general terms apply equally to the descrip-

tion of "Fidelio"; the study of Berlioz's essay beingalmost a necessity for any student desirous of becom-ing intelligently familiar with that opera. Theremarks upon the smaller works of Eeethoven are reallyin sequel to those upon the symphonies ; but in " Beet-hoven in the Ring of Saturn " we have an excellentsample of Berlioz's wit, and one which will greatlyhelp the reader to realise the distinction alluded to asexisting between Berlioz and other literary musicians.The remaining papers are all conceived in Berlioz'slighter style; notwithstanding that there is no diminu-tion of earnestness in the treatment of the serious sub-jects involved. The only one in which Berlioz can besaid to allow us to forget his natural v,armth of tem-perament is the introductory essay on "Music"; thedifference in style of which is partly accounted for bythe author himself, who tells us that it has been rescuedfrom a work no longer existing, and which had beenpublished twenty years before.With regard to the translation the endeavour has

been to enable the reader to imagine himself engagedin the perusal of an original. The utmost fidelity tothought and spirit has been preserved, but liberty istaken in favour of occasional collocations more suitedto the English idiom than might have resulted fromtoo close an adherence to orieinal constructions.


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MID REALMS OF SONG(A TRAVERS CHANTS)

I._MUSIC.*MUSIC is the art of producing emotion, by means

of combinations of sound, upon men both in-telligent and gifted with special and cultivatedsenses. To define music ni this way is equivalent toadmitting that we do not believe it to be, as some sa}",made for everybody. Whatever may, in fact, be theconditions of its existencewhatever may have been atany time its means of action, whether simple or com-plex, gentle or energeticit has always appeared evi-

* This chapter was published some twenty years ago in abook which no longer exists, and of which sundry fragmentsare reproduced in this volume. The reader may probably notbe displeased to meet with it before proceeding to follow us inthe analytical studies we are about to undertake of some cele-brated c/icfs iVoeuvrc of musical art. (Author's note.)


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2 iMID REALMS Ul SOKG.dent lu the inij)artial observer tluit a large number ofpersons remained mcapable of either feeling or under-standing its power. Such people ivere not made forit ; and it follows that it was not made for them.

j\Iusic IS, at one and the same time, both a sentimentand a science. It exacts from anyone who cultivates it,whether as executant or composer, both a natural in-spiration and a range of knowledge only to be acquiredby long study and profound meditation. It is thisunion of knowledge with inspiration which constitutesthe art. Outside these condition.s, therefore, the musi-cian can only be an incomplete artist; even if he meritsto be called an artist at all. The grand question as towhich is pre-eminent, whether a natural organisationwithout study, or study without natural organisationa question, moreover, which Horace did not ventureto decide positively in the case of poetsseems to usequally difficult to settle in the case of musicians. \\'ehave seen some men, perfectly unacquainted withscience, instinctively produce airs not only graceful, buteven sublime; as, for example, Rouget de I'lsle and hisimmortal "Marseillaise"; but such flashes of inspira-tion illumine only part of art's domain, whilst otherportions, equally important, remain obscure. From thisit follows, due regard being had to the complex natureof our music, that these men could not be definitivelyclassified as musiciansTHEY LACK THE NECESSARYKNOWLEDGE. 11

It is even more common to meet with methodical


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MUSIC A i\E\V ART. 3natures who arc calm and cold; and who, after havingmade patient theoretical studies, after having accumu-lated observations, by bringing their mind to bear uponthe subject for a long time succeed in drawing all thatis possible from their incomplete faculties. Such asthese manage to write things which seem, in appear-ance, to fulfil the conditions usually expected frommusic; but they satisfy the ear without charming it,and impart nothing cither to the heart or to the imagina-tion. Now, the mere satisfaction of the ear is very farremoved from the delicious sensations wdiich that organis capable of experiencing; besides which the delightsboth of heart and imagination do not belong to thecategory of those which may be held lightly in account.And, as these are both united to a sensual pleasure ofthe most lively kind in all true musical works of anyschool, such incapable producers should also, in ouropinion, be excluded from the class of those whom weestimate as musicians : THEY LACK THE NECESSARYEEELING.What we call music is a new art; in the sense that

it resembles in all probability but very slightly whatthe civilised nations of antiquity designated by thatname. Moreover, we must hasten to mention that theword music anciently bore an acceptation of such ex-tent that, far from merely signifying, as nowadays,the art of combining sounds, it was equally appliedto dance, gesture, poetry and eloquenceeven thewhole collection of sciences being included within its


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4 MID REALMS OF SONG.range of meaning. If we suppose the word musicetymological ly traceable to mtisc, the wide meaningassigned to it by the ancients is at once explained.It expressed, and was evidently intended to express,ivhatever ivas presided over by the Muses. This ac-counts for the mistakes of interpretation into whichmany commentators of ancient times have fallen.There exists, however, in our current speech an estab-lished expression with a sense almost as general. Inspeaking of the union of works of intelligence, whetheralone or aided by certain organs, as well as thoseexercises of the body which our intellect has poetised,we say : Art. It thus may happen that the readerwho, in two thousand years, may come across titles socommonly applied in our books to rambling disser-tations, such as" On the state of Art in Europeduring the nineteenth century," may have to interpretit thus: "On the state of poetry, eloquence, music,painting, engraving, sculpture, architecture, dramaticaction, pantomime and dance during the nineteenthcentury." Evidently with the exception of the exactsciences, to which it is not applied, our word art cor-responds very closely to the word music as used bythe ancients.What musical art, properly so called, was among

them, we know but most imperfectly. Some isolatedfacts, related perhaps with an exaggeration similar tothat of which we have every day analogous examples;the ideas, either bombastic or altogether absurd, of


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MUSIC OF THE GREEKS. 5certain philosophers; besides, in some instances, thefalse interpretation of their writings; all these tendedto attribute to their music an immense power and suchan influence upon manners that legislators wereobliged, in the interest of their people, to determineits progress and regulate its use. Without taking anyaccount of causes which may have contributed to adul-teration of the truth m this respect, and admittingthat the music of the Greeks may really have producedon some individuals extraordinary impressionsim-pressions neither due to the ideas expressed by thepoetry nor to either the facial expression or acting ofthe singer, but really to music and to music alone

this fact would not in any way prove that the art hadattained amongst them to any high degree of perfec-tion. Who does not know the violent action of musi-cal sounds, combined in the most ordinary fashion,upon nervous temperaments in certain circumstances ?After a splendid feast, for instance, when, excited bythe intoxicating acclamations of a crowd of adorers

;

by the remembrance of a recent triumph; by the hopeof new victories; by the aspect of arms as well as bythat of beautiful slaves surrounding him ; by ideas ofvoluptuousness of love, glory, power, immortalitythe whole enhanced by the powerful effects both ofgood fare and wine; Alexander (whose organisationmoreover was so impressionable that he could fall intoecstasy at the accents of Timothy) can easily be im-agined moved somewhat powerfully, his state of


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6 MID REALMS OF SONG.sensibility at the time being one almost amounting toill-health, without its requiring any great efforts onthe part of the singer to produce such an effect.Rousseau, in quoting the more modern example ofEric, King of Denmark, who killed his best servantswhilst in a state of frenzy caused by certain songs,calls attention, it is true, to the fact that these unfor-tunates must have been far less susceptible to musicthan their master; or the danger would have beenmuch reduced. Rut the paradoxical instinct of thephilosopher again reveals itself in this witty pieceof irony. Of course the servants of the Danish kingwere not so susceptible to music as their master.Would it not, on the contrary, be very strange had itbeen otherwise ? Do we not know that the musicalsense becomes developed by exercise ? That certainaffections of the soul, very active in some persons, aremuch less so in others ? That nervous sensibility is,in some degree, the heritage of the upper classes ofsociety; and that the lower classes, whether it be onaccount of the manual labour to which they are sub-ject or for an}^ other reason, are comparatively de-prived of it? It is because this inequality of organ-isation is both incontestable and incontested, therefore,that we have been obliged to limit, in our definitionof music, the number of those upon whom it produceseffect.

Nevertheless, Rousseau, though he sometimes ridi-culed in this wav the accounts of marvels effected hv


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EFFECT OF MUSIC. 7ancient music, seems to have been at other times sofar inclined to believe them as to place ancient artmuch above modern : ancient art being one which weknow very little about, but respecting which Rousseauwas no better informed than ourselves. He ought tohave been the last to depreciate the effects of ourpresent music, for the enthusiasm with which he speaksof them everywhere else shows that their intensity inhis own case was quite out of the common. Rut, how-ever that may be, it remains a fact that, from merelyordinary observation, it would be easy to quote, infavour of the pov.er of our music, certain facts which,to say the least, are of an authority equal to that ofdoubtful anecdotes by ancient historians. How oftenwe have seen, at the performance of the chefs (Tantvreof our great masters, listeners agitated with dreadfulspasms; crying and laughing at the same time, andmanifesting all the symptoms of delirium and fever!One young provincial musician, under the influence ofpassionate sentiments engendered by the "Vestale" ofSpontini, could not endure the idea of returning to ourprosaic world after the poetic paradise which had justbeen opened to him; so, after writing to inform hisfriends of his intention and again hearing the workwhich was the object of his ecstatic admiration, rightlythinking that he had attained the maximum sum ofhappiness reserxed to man on earth, one day, at thedoor of the Opera he blew out his brains.The celebrated singer, Mme. Malibran, hearing for


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8 MID REALMS OF SONG.the first time, at the Conservatoire, the C minor Sym-phony of Beethoven, was seized with convulsions tosuch a degree that she had to be carried from the room.Twenty times have we seen, in similar cases, grave menobliged to withdraw, in order to conceal from thepublic the violence of their emotions. As to thosewhich the author of this essay owes personally tomusic, he may at once affirm that no terms could conveyan exact idea of them to those who have never made asimilar experience. Without speaking of moral effectsproduced in him, and alluding only to impressionsreceived and results experienced at the very moment ofthe execution of works which he admires, he canadvance the following in all sincerity :On hearing certain works my vital strength seems

first of all doubled; I feel a delicious pleasure withwhich the reason has no connection; the habit of ana-lysis then unbidden as it were to engender admiration.Emotion, increasing in direct proportion to the energyor grandeur of the composer's ideas then soon pro-duces a strange agitation in the circulation of theblood; my arteries throb violently; tears which, in ageneral way, indicate the end of the paroxysm, markin this case only a progressive stage which is liable tobe much exceeded. In the latter case, spasmodic con-tractions of the muscles supervene; the limbs tremble;there is a total niimhness of the feet and hands ; apartial paralysis of the nerves of sight and hearing; inshort I no longer see or hear perfectly, am seized with


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THE author's experiences. Qgiddiness and am half swooning. No doubt, sensa-tions carried to such a degree of violence are somewhatrare; besides which there is a vigorous contrast to beplaced against themthat of bad jmtsical effect pro-ducing the contrary of admiration and pleasure. Nomusic acts more strongly in this direction than thatwhich appears to me to present the principal defects ofplatitude and false expression. I then blush as if forshame; a veritable indignation seizes me; and onemight think, to observe me, that I had just sufferedsome outrage for which pardon seemed impossible. Inorder to eliminate the impression thus received there isa general rising or effort of rejection by the entireorganism, similar to the effort of vomiting when thestomach seeks to relieve itself of some nauseous liquor.This may be disgust and hatred carried to extremelimits; but such music exasperates ine, and I seem tovomit it from every pore.Of course, the habit of disguising and controlling

my feelings results in their being rarely fully dis-played; and, if it has sometimes happened to me, evensince youth, to give full scope to them, this has onlyarisen for want of proper time for reflection, andbecause I was taken unawares.Modern music has, accordingly, in respect of the

power which it is capable of exercising, no cause toenvy that of the ancients. At the present time let usask, therefore: "What are the prevalent modes ofaction in musical art?" The following comprises all


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10 MID REALMS OF SONG.those with which we are familiar; and, although theyare very numerous, it is by no means proved that thefuture has not the discovery of some others in store.

(i) Melody.Musical effect produced by different sounds heard

successively ; and formed into phrases, more or lesssymmetrical. The art of arranging" such series ofdifferent notes in an agreeable manner and of givingthem an expressive signification is one which cannot i:)elearned. It is a gift of nature; which observation ofpre-existing melodies and the separate character ofindividuals and nations modifies in a thousand ways.

(2) Harmony.Musical effect produced by different sounds heard

simtiltaneoiisly. Natural dispositions can alone, nodoubt, make a truly great harmonist; nevertheless,knowledge of the groups of sounds forming chords(generally recognised as agreeable and beautiful) aswell as the art of regulating their succession, is every-where taught with success.

(3) Rhythm.Symmetrical division of time by sounds. The musi-

cian cannot be taught to find beautiful rhythmic forms;and the particular faculty which leads to their discoveryis one of the most rare. Of all elements of music that


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MODES OF MUSICAL ACTION. I Iof rhythm appears to us at the present day to be theleast advanced.

(4) Expression.Quality by which music is brought into direct rela-

tion, in point of character, with the sentiments desiredto be rendered, or the emotions to be excited. An ac-curate perception of this relation is far from common;and it IS not unusual to see the entire audience at theopera, who would be disgusted at a false note, listen notonh' contentedl}', but even with pleasure to pieces rle-livered with an expression entirely false.

(5) Modulation.By this term we indicate, nowadays, the passage or

transition from one key, or n:ode, to another. Studyis capable of very greatly contributing to the musi-cian's art in thus effectively replacing the key andmodifx'ing its constitution appropriatelw Popularsong generally modulates but slightlw

(6) L\STRUMENT.\TIOX.This consists in allotting to each instrument what

is both suited to its peculiar nature and best calculatedto aid the effect intended to be produced. It also in-cludes the art of so grouping the instruments as tocause the tone of some to be modified b\' that of others;and of thus causing the general effect to l^e of a char-acter which no one instrument could have evolved.


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12 MID REALMS OF SONG.even if added to others of its own class. This aspectof instrumentation is, in music, the exact equivalentof colour in painting. Though powerful, gorgeous andoften exaggerated at present, it was scarcely knownbefore the close of the eighteenth century. Preciselyas in the case of rhythm, melody and expression, webelieve that the study of models is capable of startingthe musician on the road to its full acquirement ; butthat success is impossible without a special naturaldisposition.

(7) Situation in Regard to the Listener.By placing the listener at a greater or less distance

from the executants, or Vjy separating, for certain oc-casions, sonorous instruments from others, we obtainmodifications of musical effect which have not yet re-ceived a due attention.

(8) Accumulation of Sound.This is one of the most powerful principles of musi-

cal emotion. When instruments or voices are extremelynumerous and cover a great space the mass of air setin vibration becomes enormous; and its undulationsassume a character of which, in the ordinary way, theyare deprived. This takes place to such a degree that,in a church where there are many singers, if one ofthem is heard alone, whatever may be the strength orbeauty of his voice, as exhibited in the delivery, of atheme of simple and slow character though uninter-


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HARMONY. 13csting in itself, he will produce but an indifferent effect.On the other hand, let the same theme be repeated,even without much art by all the voices in unison; andit will, at once, assume an inconceivable majesty.Of the several constituent parts of music which we

have just mentioned nearly all seem to have been em-ployed by the ancients. The only one, their posses-sion of which is disputed, is that of Jiariuony. hlearned composer, our contemporary \i. Lesueur, as-sumed, some forty years ago, the position of an in-trepid antagonist of this opinion ; and the views ofthose to whom he was opposed are set forth in thefollowing.They say that " hanjwny was imknown to the

ancients because different passages in their historiansand a croivd of documents testify to the fact. Theyemployed nothing but the unison and octave. More-over, it is known that harmony is an invention whichdoes not date back further than the eighth century.The scale and tonal constitution of the ancients werenot the same as ours; the latter, invented by Guidod'Arezzo, very much resembling those of plain-chant,which in its turn, is but a remnant of Greek music. Itis therefore evident, for any man versed in the scienceof chords, that this kind of song, which does not lenditself to a harmonised accompaniment, is suited onlyto the unison and octave."To this one might reply that the invention of har-

mony in the Middle Ages by no means proves that it


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14 MID REALMS OF SONG.was unknown in the preceding centuries. Several utheritems of human knowledge have been lost and redis-covered ; and one of the most important which Europeattributes to itself, that of gunpowder, had been madein China long previous^.)-. It is, moreover, to say theleast doubtful, with regard to the inventions of Guidod'Arezzo, whether they are really his own; for severalof them are quoted by himself as universally adnnttedbefore his time. As to the difficulty of adaptmgplain chant to our harmony, without dcn}ing that thelatter allies itself more naturally into modern melodicforms, the fact of church song being executed in coun-terpoint of several parts as well as accompanied byorgan-chords m all churches is a sufficient reply. Letus now see upon what the opinion of M. Lesueur wasbased."Harmony was known to the ancients," he said,

"because the works of their poets, philosophers andhistorians prove it in many places, and in peremptoryfashion. These historical fragments, quite clear inthemselves, have nevertheless been subject to contra-dictory interpretations. Thanks to the knowledge wehave of Greek notation, entire pieces of their music,written for several voices, and accompanied by variousinstruments, are there to testify to this truth. Duets,trios and choruses of Sapho, Olympe, Terpandre, Aris-toxene,* etc., faithfully reproduced by our musical

* Classical proper names as in the original French.


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HAKMUXY OF THE ANCIENTS. I5be published later un. In iheni, a simple

and clear harmony will be discovered; consisting en-tirely of the most concordant combinations, and inprecisely the same style as that of certain fragmentsof religious music composed in our own day. Boththeir scale and tonal system are entirely identical withour own. It is a most serious mistake to recognise inplain-chan^, which is simply a monstrous tradition ofbarbarous hymns howled by the Druids whilst stand-ing round the statue of Odin during the progress ofhorrible sacrifices, a remnant of Greek music. Thereare some hynms ni use in the ritual of the CatholicChurch which are Greek, it is true; and these we findconceived in the same system as our modern music.Moreover, even if proof by an appeal to fact shouldfail, would not the appeal to reason suffice to demon-strate the mcorrectness of the opinion which denies tothe ancients the knowledge and employment of har-mony ? What ! the Greeksthose ingenious andpolished sons of the country which gave birth toHomere, Sophocle. Pindare, Phidias, Appeles andZeuxis*that artistic people by whom those marvelloustemples were reared which time has even yet not beenable to destroy, and whose chisel carved from themarble such human forms as might worthily representthe godsthe nation whose monumental works serveas models to poets, statuaries, architects and painters

* Classical proper names as in the original French.


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10 MID REALMS OF SONG.of our own da)-this people possess only a kind ofmusic as incomplete and coarse as that of barbarians ?What ! those thousands of singers of both sexes main-tained at great expense m the temples, the crowd ofinstruments of different nature which they mention

''Lyra, Psaltermm^ Trigonium, Sambuca, Cithara,Pedis, Maga, Barbiton, Jestticlo, Epigoniuni, Siniini-ciitniy Epandoron, etc., as stringed instruments ; andTuba, Fistula, Tibia, Cornii, Lituus, etc., as wind in-struments; besides Tynipanuni, Cymbalnm, Crepitacu-liini^ Tintinnabuliun, Crotalum, etc., as instruments ofpercussion; all these we are to suppose only to havebeen employed to produce cold and sterile unisons ormiserable octaves ! vSo, they must have given the samepart to both harp and trumpethave chained togetherby sheer force and for the production of a grotesqueunison two instruments the bearing, character andeffect of which are so enormously different ! This isan unmerited insult to the intelligence and musicalsense of a great people; an accusation of barbarismagainst the whole of Greece."

Such was the basis of M. Lesueur's opinion. As tothe facts to which he alludes in proof, nothing canbe urged against them. If the illustrious master hadpublished his great work on ancient music witJi thefragments alluded to above; if he had indicated thesources of his information and thn .. -^nuscripts whichhe had brought into requisition; if the incredulous hadbeen enabled to convince themselves with their own


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FOLK-MUSIC. 1/eyes that the Jiarmonics eittributcd to the Greeks havereally and visibly been bequeathed to us by them, thenindeed M. Lesueur would have gained the case in ad-vocacy of which he has worked so long with an inex-haustible perseverance and conviction. Unfortunately,he has not done so; and, as doubt is still very per-missible upon this question, we shall proceed to ex-amine the proofs of reasoning" advanced by M. Lesueur;and this with the same impartialit}- as that brought tobear in testing the notions of his antagonists.We shall therefore answer him as follows :The plain chants which \-ou call barbarous are not

all so severely regarded by the generality of present-day musicians ; to whom several of them appear, on thecontrary, imbued with a rare character of severity andgrandeur. The tonal system in which these hymns arcwritten, and which you condemn, is susceptible ofmany admirable applications. Popular songs, oftenfull of expression and simplicity, are deprived of theleading note; and are consequently written in the sametonal system as plain-chant; others, such as Scotchmelodies, belong to a musical scale even still morestrange; since both the fourth and seventh degrees ofour scale are absent from it. What can be more fresh,how^ever, or sometimes more energetic than these moun-tain airs ? To pronounce all forms to be barbarouswhich are contrai / '^o our habits is not to prove thatan education different from the one wt have receivedmight not singularly modify our ideas in regard to

3


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1 MID REALMS OF SONG.them. Moreover, without going so far as to tax Greecewith barbarism, we need only admit that its music, incomparison with our own was in a state of infancy;and to contrast the imperfect state of one art in par-ticular with the splendour of other arts not presentingany point of contact with it, or possessing in regardto it any kind of relation, is not at all admissible. Theform of reasoning which seeks to pronounce thisanomaly impossible is far from new; and it is knownthat, in many cases, it has led to conclusions whichthe facts have subsequently disproved with a destruc-tive ruthlessness.The argument drawn from the musical absurdity of

allowing instruments so dissimilar in their nature asthe harp, trumpet and tympanum to go together inthe octave or unison is without any real force, forAve have only to ask whether such an instrumental dis-position is practicable? Of course it is; and musi-cians of the present day are open to use it, wheneverthey please. It is therefore not very extraordinarythat it should have been admitted by nations the veryconstitution of whose art did not permit of the em-ployment of any other.Now, as to the superiority of our musi"^ uver that of

ancient times, this certainly appears more than pro-bable. Whether, in point of fact, the ancients under-stood harmony or not, by grouping together the ideasthat the partisans of the two contrary opinions havegiven us of the nature and resources of their art, suffi-


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SUPERIORITY OF MODERN MUSIC. IQcient evidence results to come to the following con-clusion :Our music includes that of the ancients; but theirsdoes not include ours. That is to say, we can easily

reproduce the effects of the music of antiquity; and, inaddition to them, an infinite number of other effectswhich they never knew; and which it was impossiblefor them to render.We have said nothincr respecting Oriental music ; and

for this reason. All that we have so far gatheredfrom travellers respectmg this subject is confined toinformal puerilities; lacking all relation to the ideaswhich we attach to the term "music." In default ofinformation both new and opposed on all points tothat which we have acquired, we must regard musicamong the Oriental peoples as merely a grotesquenoise, analogous to that of children at play.*

* Since these lines were written we have had occasion, inFrance and England to hear Arabian. Chinese and Persianmusicians; and every experience which it has been permittedto US to make of their songs and their instruments, as well asthe questions we have addressed to such of them as couldspeak French all has combined to confirm us in the view ex-pressed. (Author's note.)


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A CRITICAL STUDY OF BEETIIOX^EXSSYMPHONIES.


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II.x'X CRITICAL STUDY OF BEETHOVEN'SSYMPHONIES.IT IS thirty-six or thirty-seven years ago, that, at the"Concerts Spirituels" of the Opera, the trial wasmade of the works of Beethoven, then completelyunknown in France. No one could imagine at thepresent day the reprobation at once heaped upon thisadmirable music b)- the majority of artists. It wasstrange, incoherent, diffuse; studded with crude modu-lations and wild harmonies, bereft of melody, of anexaggerated expression, and too noisy ; besides beinghorribly difficult. In order to meet the conditions setdown by the men of taste who then controlled theRoyal Academy of Music ^I. Habeneck found himselfobliged to make, in the very same symphonies the exe-cution of which he organised and directed with somuch care later on at the Conservatoire, monstrous cuts;such as, at the very most, might be permissible in aballet by Gallemberg, or an opera by Gaveaux. With-out these corrections Beethoven would not have beenadmitted to the honour of figuring in the programmeof the " Concerts Spirituels " between a bassoon solo

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24 MID KEALM5 OF SOXG.and a flute concerto. At a first hearing of the pas-sages marked with red pencil Kreutzer ran off, stoppinghis cars; and it reqinred all his courage to make uphis mind to listen to the remaining portion of theSymphony m D, at other rehearsals. Let us not for-get that the opinion of M. ICreutzer was, at that time,also that of ninety-nine out of every hundred musi-cians in Paris ; and that, without sustained effort onthe part of the insignificant fraction who held a con-trary view, the greatest composer of modern timeswould most likely be scarcely known to us, e\en yet.The mere fact, therefore, of the execution even of frag-ments of Beethoven at the Opera was one of great im-portance; to judge of which we have onl)' to reflectthat, without it, the vSociety of the Conservatoire wouldnot have been constituted. It is to this small bodyof intelligent men, and to the public, that the honourof calling such an excellent institution into existencemust be accorded. The publicthat is to say llic"real" public, in the sense of that which docs notbelong to any coterie and which judges by sentimentand not according to the narrow ideas and ridiculoustheories which it has formed upon the subject of artthis public which, m spite of itself, makes mistakes,as is proved by the fact of its frequentl\^ having toalter its decisions, was, at the very onset, struck bysome of the eminent qualities of Beethoven. It doesnot ask whether such and such a modulation bears adue relation to some other one; whether certain har-


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FIRST niPRESSIOXS OF DEETHOVEX. 25monies are eidmitted b\- the niagisters\ or whether itIS permitted to employ certain rhythms previously un-known. It simpl}- perceives that these rhythms, theseharmionies and these modulations, set off by a nobleand passionate melody, and clothed ni powerful in-strumentation, make a strong impression upon it, andin an entirel)' new wa}'. Could anything further benecessary to excite its applause?" Our French publicexperiences only at rare intervals the lively and ardentemotion of which musical art is capable; but, when itfalls to its lot to become thoroughly agitated therebv',nothing can equal its gratitude to the artist, whoeverhe may be, to whom this is due. From the momentof its first appearance, the celebrated allegretto in Aminor of the Seventh S\'mphony, which had been in-serted in the Second in order to help to pass off theremainder, was appreciated at its value by the publicof the "Concerts Spirituels." The pit rose in a bod}'with vociferous cries for its repetition; and, at a secondperformance, the first movement and tiie scherzo oftiie Symphony in D, which had not been much enjoyedon the occasion of the first trial, met with an almostequal success. The manifest interest which from thattime the public began to evince with regard to Beet-hoven doubled the strength of his defenders; and re-duced, if not to silence, at least to inaction, the major-ity of his detractors. Thus, little b\- little, thanks tothose twilight rays which revealed to the far-seeingthe direction in which the sun was about to rise, the


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26 MID REALMS OF SONG.seed developed and resulted in the foundation, almostexpressly for Beethoven, of the magnificent Society ofthe Conservatoire, at the present day with scarcely arival in the world.We are about to attempt the analysis of the sym-phonies of this great master; beginning with the firstof them, which the Conservatoire so rarely performs.


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SYMPllUiNY iNU. I, L\ C MAJOR.


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SYMPHONY NO. i, IN C MAJOR.rHIS work, by its form, by its melodic style, and

by its sobriety of harmony and instrumentation,IS altogether distinct from the other compositionsof Beethoven by which it was succeeded. The composerevidently remained in course of writing it, under theinfluence of Mozart's ideas; which he sometimes en-larges, and everywhere imitates with ingenuity. Inthe first and second parts, however, we note the occa-sional appearance of rhythms which are sometimes em-ployed, it is true, by the author of "Don Giovanni";but with great rarity, and in a much less strikingfashion. < /The principal subject of the first allegro isa phrase of six bars; which, without presenting any-thing very characteristic in itself, acquires a subsequentinterest by the skill with which it is treated. It is suc-ceeded by an episodial melody in a style but slightlydistinguished; when, by means of a half-cadence re-


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30 MID REALMS OF SONG.peated three or four times, we arrive at an instrumentaldesign in imitations at a fourth; our astonishment atfinding which in such a place is increased by the factthat the same design has been often employed in theovertures of several French operas.The andante contains an accompaniment for kettle-

drums, piano^ which appears nowadays as somethingvery ordinary; but which we may nevertheless recog-nise as the forerunner of the startling effects whichBeethoven produced later on by means of this instru-ment; one which had been, in general, either sparinglyor badly used by his predecessors. This movement isfull of charm; its theme being graceful and lendingitself well to developments in fugato, by means ofwhich the composer has been enabled to evolve bothpiquant and ingenious results.The scherzo is the first-born of that family of

charming humorous pieces of which Beethoven inventedthe form, and determined the movement; and which hesubstituted in nearly all his instrumental works forthe minuet of Mozart and Haydn, the speed of whichis but half, and the character altogether different. Theone in question has an exquisite freshness, agility andgrace. It is the only real novelty of the symphony;in which the poetic idea is completely absent, notwith-standing its being so grand and rich in the greater partof the works which followed. It is music admirablyframed; clear, imbued with life, though but slightly


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THE SCHERZO.accentuated; cold and sometimes mean; as for exam-ple in the final rondo^-a genuine instance of musicalchildishness. In a word this is not Beethoven ; but weare shortly to discover him.


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SYMPITOXY NO. 2, TX D.


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SYMPHONY NO. 2, IN D.IN this work everything is noble, energetic and stately ;the introductory largo being a chef-cVoeirure. Themost beautiful effects succeed one another withoutconfusion and always in an unexpected manner; thesong being of a touching solemnity, which, from thevery first bars imposes respect and prepares us for emo-tion. Already the rhythm becomes more bold, theorchestration richer, more sonorous and varied.Linked with this admirable adagio is an allegro conbrio of irresistible spirit. The gnipetto met with inthe first bar of the opening theme, and which is givenout by vio^.as and violoncellos in unison, is afterwardsresumed in isolated form; in order to establish eitherprogressions in crescendo or imitations between thewind and string instruments, which are invariably ofa character as new as it is full of life. In the midstof these a melody is met with, the first half of whichis given out by clarinets, horns and bassoons, but whichconcludes "tutti" by the rest of the orchestra; thevirile energy of which is further enhanced by a happy


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36 MID REALINIS OF SONG.choice of accompanying chords. The andante is nottreated in the same way as that of the first symphonyit is not composed of a subject worked out in canonicimitations, but of a theme pure and simple, stated inthe first instance by the strings, and afterwardsembroidered with rare elegance by means of lighttouches, the character of which is always strictly inkeeping with the sentiment of tenderness which formsthe distinctive trait of the principal idea. It is thedelineation of innocent happiness hardly cloudedby a few accents of melanchoh' occurrmg at rareintervals.The scherzo is just as frankly gay in its capricious

fantasy as the andante was completely happy andcalm; for everything in this symphony is genial, eventhe warlike sallies of the first allegro being exemptfrom violence, so that one can trace in them no morethan the youthful ardour of a noble heart whichretains intact the most beautiful illusions of life. Thecomposer still has faith in immortal glory, in love andself-sacrifice. Hence the degree to which he abandonshimself to his gaiety, and the felicity of his sallies ofwit. To hear the different instruments disputing thepossession of some portion of a motive, which no oneof them executes entirely, but of which each fragmentbecomes in this way coloured with a thousand differenttints in passing from one to the other, one might easilyindulge the fancy of being present at the fairy gambols


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SYMPHONY NO. 2. 37of the graceful spirits of Oberon. The finale is ofthe same nature; it is a .second scherzo in duplemeasure; the playfulness of which is perhaps, to someextent, even more refined and piquant.


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I


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SYMPHONY NO. 3. fX E FLAT.(THE *'ER01CA.")


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SYxMPIlOXY NO. 3, IX E FLAT.(THE "EROICA.')

IT IS extremely wrong to tamper with the descriptionplaced at the head of this work by the composerhimself. The inscription runs: "Heroic Symphonyto celebrate the memory of a great man." In this wesee that there is no question of battles or triumphalmarches such as many people, deceived by mutilationsof the title naturally expect; but much m the way ofgrave and profound thought, of melancholy souvenirsand of ceremonies imposing b\' their grandeur andsadnessm a word, it is the hero's funeral riles. 1know few examples m music of a style in which griefhas been so consistently able to retain such pure formand such nobleness of expression.The first movement is in triple time and at a degree

of speed nearly equal to that of the waltz. But, never-theless, what can be more serious or more dramaticthan this allegro ? The energetic theme which formsits foundation does not at first present itself in itsentirety. Contrary to custom the composer, in com-mencing, has only allowed us a glimpse of his melodic

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42 MID REALMS OF SONG.idea; it does not present itself in its full effect untilLifter an exordium of some bars. The rhythm is par-ticularly remarkable by the frequency of syncopationand by combinations of duple measure; thrown, byaccentuation of the weak beat, into the triple bar.When, with this disjointed rhythm, rude dissonancescome to present themselves in combination, like thosewe find near the middle of the second repeat, wherethe first violins strike F natural against E (the fifthin the chord of A minor) it is inipossi1)lc to repress asensation of fear at such a picture of ungovernablefury. It is the voice of despair, ahnost of rage.

Still, it may be askedwhy this despair? Whythis rage? The motive of it does not appear. Theorchestra becomes calm at the following bar; as if,exhausted by the excess to which it had given way,its strength began suddenly to fail. Moreover, thephrases are now gentle; and we find in them all thatremembrance is capable of suggesting to the soul ofthe nature of sad regrets. It is impossible to describeor even to indicate, the multitude of melodic andharmonic aspects in which Beethoven reproduces histheme; we will confine ourselves to the mention ofone which is extremely strange, which has formed thetext of many discussions, and which the French editorcorrected in the score, imagining it to be a mistake ofthe engraver; but which was, later on, re-instatedasthe result of more ample information.The first and second violins alone hold, in tremolo,


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PECULIARITIES OF INSTRUMENTATION. 43the major second B flat, A flat (part of the chord ofthe dominant seventh in E flat); when a horn, havingquite the appearance of being at fault and of comingin four bars too soon, starts timidly with the com-mencement of the principal theme; running exclusivelyon the notesE flat, G, E flat, B flat. One may im-agine the strange effect produced by this melody,formed of the three notes of the tonic chord, againstthe two dissonant notes of the chord of the dominant

;

notwithstanding the harshness being much reduced byseparation of the parts. But, at the moment when theear is inclined to revolt against such an anomaly, avigorous tutti interrupts the horn; and, concludingpiano on the tonic chord, allows the violoncellos toreturn ; who then state the entire theme with its naturalharmony. Looking at things broadly it is difficult tofind a serious justification for this musical caprice.*They say, however, that the composer was very strenu-ous upon the point ; and it is even related that, at thefirst rehearsal of this symphony, M. Ries being presentstopped the orchestra by calling out"Too soon! toosoon !The horn is wrong !' and that the only rewardfor his zeal was that he received from Beethoven,who was furious, a sharp lecture.

* Whichever way we look at it, if the above is really anintention of Beethoven, and if there is any truth in theanecdotes which are current upon the subject, it must beadmitted to be a whim amounting to absurdity. (Author'snote.)


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44 MID REALMS OF SONG.Xo other eccentricity of this nature is to be found in

the rest of the score; and the Funeral March is adrama in itself. We seem to trace in it the transla-tion of those beautiful lines of Virgil on the funeralprocession of the young Pallas

Multa que prseterea Laiiientis prseinia pii^noeAdgerat, et longo prsedam jiibet ordiiie diici,Po&t bellator eqiiiis, iiositis insignibiis, ^^^^tlioiiIt lacrymans, giittis que liumectat giandibus ora.

The end, especially, is profoundly moving. Ihcmarch-theme reappears; but in fragments, interspersedby silence, and without any other accompaniment thanthree notes pizzicato by the double bass. When theseshreds of the lugubrious melody thus alone, bare,broken and effaced, have one by one passed on to thetonic, the \\ind instruments raise a cry which is thelast adieu of the warriors to their companion in arms;and the entire orchestra dies away on an organ-point,pianissimo.The third movement is entitled Scherzo, according

to custom. In Italian the word signifies "play," or"humorous frolic." At first sight it does not appearobvious how such a style of music can figure in anepic composition. To realise this it must be heard.The rhythm and the movement of the scherzo are, in-deed, there. There is also pla}' ; but it is pla}- offunereal kind, at every instant clouded b\- thoughtsof mourning a kind of phi)', in fact, recalling that


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VARIETIES OF TONE-COLOUR. 45which the warriors of the Iliad celebrated round thetombs of their chiefs.Even in the most capricious evolutions of his or-

chestra Beethoven knew how to preserve the grave andsombre tint, as well as the profound sadness whichought naturally to dominate in such a case. Thefinale is nothing but a development of the same poeticidea. One very curious passage of instrumentation isto be remarked at the commencement; showing whateffect can be drawn from the opposition of differenttimbres. It is a B flat taken by the violins, and re-peated immediately by the flutes and oboes ; in thestyle of an echo. Although the repercussion takesplace on the same note of the scale, at the same move-ment and with equal force, so great a difference resultsfrom this dialogue that the nuance which distinguishesthe instruments from one another might be comparedto that between blue and violet. Such refinements oftone-colour were altogether unknown before Beet-hoven ; and it is to him that we owe them.The finale, though so varied, consists entirely of a

very simple fugato theme ; upon which the composerafterwards builds, in addition to numerous ingeniousdetails, two other themes ; one of the latter being ofextreme beaut\-. The outline of this melody does notenable one to perceive that it has, so to speak, beenextracted from another one. Its expression, on thecontrary, is much more touching ; and it is incompara-bly more graceful than the first theme, the character


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46 MID REALMS OF SONG.of which is rather that of a bassa function which itfulfils extremely well. This melody reappears shortlybefore the close, in a slower degree of movement, andwith new harmonies, by which the effect of its sadnessis increased. The hero causes many tears; but, afterthe last regrets paid to his memory, the poet turnsaside from elegy ; in order to intone with transport hishymn of glory. It may be somewhat laconic, but thisperoration rises to a high effect and worthily crownsthe musical monument. Beethoven has written worksmxore striking perhaps that this symphony ; and severalof his other compositions impress the public in a morelively way. But it must be allowed, notwithstanding,that the "Sinfonia Eroica" possesses such strength ofthought and execution, that its style is so emotionaland consistently elevated besides its form being sopoetical, that it is entitled to rank as equal to thehighest conceptions of its composer.A sentiment of sadness not only grave but, so to

speak, antique takes possession of me whenever I hearthis symphony although the public seem indifferentlytouched by it. We must certainly deplore the mis-fortune of an artist who, consumed by such enthusi-asm, fails to make himself sufficiently well understood,even by a refined audience, to ensure the raising of hishearers up to the level of his own inspiration. It is allthe more sad as the same audience, on other occasions,becomes ardent, excited or sorrowful along with him.It becomes seized with a real and lively passion for


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PUBLIC INAPPRECIATION. 4/some of his compositions; equally admirable, it maybe admitted, but nevertheless not more beautiful thanthe present work. It appreciates at their just valuethe allegretto in A minor of the seventh symphonythe allegretto scherzando of the eighth; the finale ofthe fifth and the scherzo of the ninth. It even appearsto experience emotion at the funeral march of the sym-phony of which we are now speaking (the "Eroica");but, ni respect of the first movement, it is impossibleto indulge in any illusion; for twenty years of observa-tion tend to assure me that the public listen to it witha feeling approaching coldness, and appear to recog-nise in it a learned and energetic composition, butnothing beyond that. No philosophy is applicable tothis case; for it is useless to say that it has alwaysbeen so, and that everywhere the same fate has befallenall high productions of the human mind. Also, thatthe causes of poetic emotion are secret and inappreci-able, that the conception of certain beauties with whichparticular individuals are gifted is absolutely lackingin the multitude, or that it is even impossible that itshould be otherwise. All that is of no consolation.It does not calm the indignation with which one'sheart is filledan indignation instinctive, involuntary,and, it may even be, absurdat the aspect of a marvelwhich is misunderstood; of a composition so noblewhich is regarded by the crowd without being per-ceived ; listened to without being understood ; andallowed to pass by without courting any attention;


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48 MID REALMS OF SONG.precisely as if it were a mere case of something medi-ocre or indifferent. Oh ! it is frightful to be obligedto acknowledge with a pitiless conviction that what Ifind beautiful may constitute beauty for me, but that itmay not do so for my best friend ; that he, whose sym-pathy generally corresponds with my own, may beaffected in a totally different way ; and that even thework which affords me a transport of pleasurewhichexcites me to the utmost, and which moves me to tears,may leave him cold ; and may even cause him dis-pleasure and annoyance.The majority of great poets have little feeling for

music, and enjoy only trivial and childish melodies.Many highly intellectual people who think they loveit have little idea of the emotion it is able to raise.These are sad truths; but they are so palpable andevident that nothing but the illusion caused by certainsystems can stand in the way of their recognition. Ihave observed a dog bark with pleasure on hearing amajor third, executed sostennto by double-stoppingupon the violin; but the offspring of the same animalwere not in the least affected, either by the third, fifth,sixth or octaveor, in fact, by any chord whatever,whether consonant or dissonant. The public, howeverit may be composed, is always, in respect of greatmusical conceptions, in a similar position. It hascertain nerves which vibrate in sympathy with certainforms of resonance. But this organisation, incompleteas it is, is unequally distributed; as well as subject to


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OPINIONS OF THE "CHORAL" SYMPHONY. 49MO end of niodificcitions. It follows that it would bealmost foolish to count upon such and such artisticmeans in preference to others for the purpose of actingupon it. Thus the composer is best advised to followblindly his own individual sentiment; resigning him-self beforehand to the results which chance may havein store.

One day I was coming out of the conservatoire withthree or four amateurs ; the occasion being a perform-ance of the " Choral "' S)mphony."What do \ou think of that work .^ ' said one of

them to me." Immense ! Magnificent ! Overpowering !""That is singular. For my part, 1 found it cruelly

tiresome. And \ou?" added the speaker addressingan Italian."Oh! as for mc, I find it obscure; or rather un-

pleasant, for there is no melod}."But. besides that, note the different \ie\\ s which

several journals express about it :" The Choral S}'mphony of Beetho\ en represents

the culminating point of modern music. Art hashitherto produced nothing to be compared with it inrespect of nob^.eness of style, grandeur of plan andrehnement of detail."

(AnotJicr journal)"The Choral Symphon)' ofBeethoxen is a monstrosity."(Anoihcr)"This work is not altogether lacking in

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so MID REALMS 01" SUXG.ideas; but they are badly disposed and the generaleffect IS incoherent and devoid of charm."

(Another)''The Choral Symphony of Beethovencontains some admirable passages; though it is evi-dent that the composer lacked ideas and that, his ex-hausted imagination no longer sustaining him, he madeconsiderable effort, and often with some success, inorder to replace inspiration by artistic resources. Thefew phrases which we meet with in it are handled in asuperior manner and disposed in a perfectly clear andlogical order. On the whole, it is the highly interest-ing work of a used-up genius."Where shall we find the truth or where the error ?

Everywhere, and yet in no particular place. Each oneIS right; for what is beautiful for one is not so foranother. This naturally follows, if only from thefact that one has experienced emotion whilst the otherhas remained unaffected ; that the first has received alively enjoyment, whilst the second has suffered anintense fatigue. What can be done in such a case ?Nothing. But it is distressing, and makes me feel in-clined to prefer the foolish view of beauty beingabsolute.


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SYMPHONY XO. 4. IX B FLx\T


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SYMPHONY NO. 4. IN B FLAT.HERE BcethcAcn entirely abandons ode and clcg\'

;

in order to return to the less elevated and less-. sombre, but not less difficult st\'le of the secondsymphony. The general chareicter of this score is eitherlively, alert and gay or of a celestial sweetness. W'itlithe exception of the meditative adagio, which ser\es asits introduction, the first movement is almost entirel)'given over to joy. The motive in detached notes, withwhich the allegro opens, is only a background uponwhich the composer is afterwards enabled to displayother melodies of more real character; the effect of thelatter being to impart a secondary character to whatwas apparently the principal idea of the commence-ment.

This artifice, although fertile in curious and inter-esting results, had already been employed by Mozartand Haydn with equal success. But we find in thesecond part of the same allegro, a really new idea, thefirst few bars of which arrest attention ; and whichalso, after interesting the listener by its mysterious

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54 MID REALMS OF SONG.developments, strikes him with astonishment by its un-expected conclusion. It is composed as follows :

After a fairly vigorous tittti the first violins parcelout the original theme, by forming a dialogue inf'lanissuno with their seconds. This terminates withholding notes of the dominant chord of the key of Bnatural ; each instance of such holding notes beingfollowed by two bars of silence interrupted only by alight tremolo of the kettledrum; which, being tuned toR flat, plays enharmonically the part of third to thefundamental F sharp. After two such appearances thekettledrum ceases; in order to allow the string instru-ments an opportunity of sweetly murmuring otherfragments of the theme, and of arriving by a new en-harmonic modulation to the chord of six-four; secondinversion of that of B flat. The kettledrum nowreturns upon the same sound ; which, instead of beinga leading note, as upon the first occasion, is now averitable tonic; and, as such, continues the iremolo forsome twenty bars. The force of tonality possessed bythis B flat, only slightly perceptible at first, becomesgreater in the same degree as the tremolo proceeds.Afterwards, the other instruments, bestrewing theonward march with slight and unfinished traits, pre-pare us for a continuous roll of the kettledrum on ageneral forte, in which the perfect chord of B flat isfinally stated by the full orchestra in all its majesty.This remarkable crescendo is one of the best conceivedeffects which we know of in all music; and its counter-


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SYMPHONY NO. 4. 55part can scarcely be found elsewhere than in the simi-lar feature by which the celebrated scherzo of the Cminor Symphony is concluded. The latter, however,notwithstanding its immense effect, is conceived upona scale less vast, starting from piano in order to arriveat the final explosion, without departing from the ori-ginal key. On the other hand, the episode we are nowdescribing starts from ynezzo forte ; and is afterwardslost for a moment in a pianissimo, whilst harmonisedin a manner constantly vague and undecided. Then,it reappears with chords of a somewhat more settledtonality; and bursts forth only at the moment whenthe cloud which enshrouded the modulation has com-pletely disappeared. It might be compared to a river,the peaceful waters of which suddenly disappear andonly emerge from their subterranean bed to form afurious and foaming waterfall.As for the adagio, it seems to elude analysis. Its

form is so pure and the expression of its melody soangelic and of such irresistible tenderness that theprodigious art by which this perfection is attained dis-appears completely. From the very first bars we areovertaken by an emotion which, towards the close,becomes so overpowering in its intensity that onl\'amongst the giants of poetic art can we find anythingto compare with this sublime page of the giant ofmusic. Nothing in fact more resembles the impressionproduced by this adagio than that experienced whenreading the touching episode of Francesca di Ripiini


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56 MID' REALMS OF SONG.in the "Divina Comedia"; the recital of which Virgilcould not hear without sobbing bitterly ; and which,at the last line, causes Dante to fall like a dead body.This movement seems as if it had been sadly mur-mured by the Archangel Michael on some day when,overcome by a feeHng of melancholy, he contemplatedtlie universe from the threshold of the Empyrean.The scherzo consists almost exclusively of phrases

in duple rhythm, forcibly forming part of combina-tions in triple time. This means, which Beethovenuses frequentl)', imparts verve to the style; the melodicoutlines become sharper and more surprising, besideswhich these rhythms, running counter to the orclinar)'beat, present an independent charm which is very real,although difficult to explain. A pleasure results fromthis disturbance of the normal accent, which regainsits position at the end of each period; the sense of themusical discourse, which had been for a time sus-pended, then arriving at a satisfactory conclusion andcomplete solution.The melody of the trio, confided to the wind instru-

ments, is of a delicious freshness; its movement beingslower than that of the rest of the scherzo, and its ele-gant simplicity being enhanced by encountering theopposition of short phrases emanating from the vio-lins, which seem cast upon the surface of the harmonylike charming traits of innocent miscliief. The finale,which is both gay and sprightly, returns to ordinaryrhythmic forms. It is one animated swarm of spark-


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BEAUTIES OF THE SCHERZO AND FINALE. ^Jling notes, presenting a continual babble; interrupted,however, by occasional rough and uncouth chords, inwhich the angr\' interspersions, which we have alreadyliad occasion to mention as peculiar to this composer,are aeain manifest.


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SVALPITOXY XO^ ,. TX C MTXOR,


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SYMPHONY NO. 5, IN C MINOR.THE most celebrated of all is also, without question,

in our opinion, the one in which Beethoven givesfree scope to his vast imagination ; without electing to beeither guided or supported by any outside thought.In the first, second and fourth symphonies he more orless extended forms which were already known; in-vesting them with the poetry of a brilliant and pas-sionate inspiration due to his vigorous youth. In thethird (the "Eroica") the form tends to a greaterbreadth, it is true; the thought also reaching to agreater height. Notwithstanding all this, however, wecannot fail to recognise therein the influence of one orother of those divine poets to whom, for so long, thegreat artist had erected a temple in his heart. Beet-hoven, faithful to the precept of Horace :

Noctuina versate manu, versate diurna,used to read Homer habitually; and, in his magnifi-cent musical epic which, rightly or wrongly, is said tohave been inspired by a modern hero, remembrances

61


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6?. MID REALMS OF SONG.of the antique "Iliad'' play an admirable and beauti-ful, but no less evident part.The Symphony in C minor, on the other hand,appears to us to emanate directly and solely from thegenius of Beethoven. It is his own intimate thoughtwhich is there developed; and his secret sorrows, hispent-up rage, his dreams so full of melancholy oppres-sion, his nocturnal visions and his bursts of enthusiasmfurnish its entire subject; whilst the melodic, harmonic,rhythmic and orchestral forms are there delineatedwith an essential novelty and individuality, endowingthem also with considerable power and nobleness.The first movement is devoted to the expression of

the disordered sentiments which pervade a great soulwhen a prey to despair. It is not that calm and con-centrated despair which bears the outward appearanceof resignation; or the grief, so sombre and silent,which Romeo evinces on hearing of the death of Juliet.Rather is it the terrible fury of Othello, when receiv-ing from the mouth of lago the empoisoned calumnieswhich persuade him of Desdemona's crime. Somc-tmies it is a frenzied delirium, bursting forth in fear-ful cries. Sometimes it is an excessive depression, ex-pressing itself only in accents of regret and seemingto hold itself in pity. Listen to those orchestralgasps; to those chords m dialogue between wind andstrings, which come and go whilst gradually growingweaker, like the painful respiration of a dying man.'These at last give place to a phrase full of violence;


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SYMPHONY NO. 5. 63in which the urchcstra scciiis to rise a;^ciin reaiiiinatcdby a spark of fury. See that quivering- mass; whichiiesitates for an instant, and then precipitates itself,bodily divided, into two ardent unisons, resemblingtwo streams of lava. And then, having done this, saywhether this passionate style is not both beyond andabove anything which had been yet produced' in instru-mental music.

This movement presents a striking example of theeffect produced by the excessive doubling of partsunder certain circumstances, and of the wild aspect ofthe chord of the fourth on the second note of thescale; otherwise described as the second inversion ofthe chord of the dominant. It is met with frequentlywithout either preparation or resolution, and it evenoccurs once without the leading note and on an organpoint; the D forming the bass of the strings, whilstthe G forms the discordant summit of a few partsassigned to the wind.The adagio presents some characteristic relation

with the allegretto m A minor of the Seventh S}iii-phony ; and w^ith that in E flat of the fourth. Itoffers equally the melancholy gravity of the first andthe touching grace of the second. The theme, firststated by the violoncellos and violas, together with asimple pizzicato double-bass accompaniment, is fol-lowed by a certain phrase for wind instruments whichrecurs continually in the same form and in the samekey from one end to the other of the movement, what-


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64 MID REALMS OF SONG.ever may be the successive modifications towhich theoriginal theme is subject. This persistence of one andthe same phrase, in a^dhering always to its originalsimplicity, is so profoundly sad that it produces, littleby little, upon the soul of the listener an impressionimpossible to describe, but which is certainly the mostpowerful of its kind which we have ever experienced.Among the boldest harmonic effects of this sublime

elegy may be quoted :(i). The sostenuto of an upper part on the dominant

B flat whilst the strings move rapidly below ; passingby the chord of the sixth (D flat, F, B flat), to whichthe said upper part does not belong.

(2). The incidental phrase executed by flute, oboeand two clarinets, proceeding in contrary motion andgiving rise, from time to time, to unprepared discordsof the second between G, the leading note, and F, asmajor sixth in the key of A flat. This third inversionof the chord of the seventh on the leading note is for-bidden by most theorists, precisely as the upper pedaljust mentioned; though it does not, on that account,present any less delightful effect. There is also, at thelast entry of the original theme, a canoji hi the unisonat one bar distance between violins and flutes, clarinetsand bassoons. This would gne to the melody thustreated a new- interest, were it possible to hear theimitation of the wind instruments ; but, unfortunatel}%just then the entire orchestra is playing so loud as torender it inaudible.


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CHARACTERISTICS OF IHE ADAGIO. 65The scherzo is a strange composition, the hrst bars

of which, though presenting nothing terrible, cause thatstrange emotion we are accustomed to experience underthe magnetic glance of certain individuals. Every-thing in it is mysterious and sombre; the orchestraldevices, with more or less sinister aspect, seeming tobelong to the same order of ideas which created thefamous Eloksberg scene in Goethe's "Faust." Tintsof piano and mezzo-forte prevail throughout. Themiddle part, or trio, is remarkable for a bass passageexecuted with all the force of the bow; the uncouthweight of which shakes the very feet of the players'desks and resembles somewhat the gambols of adelighted elephant. But the monster departs, and thenoise of his mad careering gradually dies away. Themotive of the scherzo now reappears in pizzicato;peace is gradually regained ; until nothing more isheard than a few notes, daintily plucked b}' the violins,and the faintly strange clucking produced by the bas-soons, giving their high A flat, closely opposed by G,as octave in the chord of the dominant minor ninth.Then, interrupting the cadence, the stringed instru-ments col arco softly take the chord of A flat, uponwhich they repose for a length of time. The rhythmis entirely dependent upon the kettledrums, by whichit is sustained in the form of light strokes given bysponge-covered sticks; its design thus appearing indull form against the general stagnation of the rest ofthe orchestra.

6


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65 MID REALMS OF SONG.The kettledrum note is C, and the key of the move-

ment that of C minor; but the chord of A flat, longsustained by the other instruments, seems, on the onehand, to introduce a different tonality, whilst, on theother, the isolated martellato of the kettledrum on Ctends to preserve the sentiment of the original key.The ear hesitates, uncertain as to the way in which thisharmonic mystery is about to issue; when the dullpulsations of the kettledrum, becoming more and moreintense, meet the violins who have now rejoined therhythmic movement and changed the harmony. Thechord is now that of the dominant seventh (G, B,D, F),throughout which the kettledrums obstinately continuetheir roll upon C tonic. And then it is that the entireorchestra, reinforced by the; trombones which havehitherto not appeared, bursts forth in the major modeupon a triumphal march-theme, and the finale begins.Everybody knows the effect of this thunder stroke;and it is, therefore, useless to detain the reader withany account of it.The critics have nevertheless tried to detract from

the merit of the composer by declaring that, in theabove, he had resorted to a mere vulgar procedure;the brightness of the major mode pompously succeed-ing the obscurity of the minor pianissimo. Also, thatthe triumphal theme was lacking in originality, andthat the interest grew less as the end was approached,instead of following a contrary order.


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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE P^INALE. 6/To this we may reply by asking :Was less genius necessary to create such a work because the

passage from piano to forte and that from minor to majorwere means already known?How many other composers have resorted to the

same means, and how far can the results which theyhave obtained be compared to this gigantic song ofvictory ; in which the soul of the poet-musician, hence-forth free from all hindrance and earthly suffering,seems to rise beaming towards the very heavens ? Thefirst four bars of the theme are, it is true, not of greatoriginality; but the forms of the fanfare are naturallyrestricted; and we do not believe it would be possibleto discover new ones without altogether emerging fromthe simple, grand and pompous character which isproper to it. Beethoven, therefore, required only afanfare entrance for his hnale ; and, throughout therest of the movement, and even in the part succeedingthe principal phrase, he retains the elevation andnovelty of style which never abandons him. As to thereproach of not having proceeded with an increasinginterest to the conclusion the following may bereplied :Music cannot, at all events in the state in which we know

it, produce a more violent effect than that of the transitionfrom the scherzo to the triumphal march. It was, therefore,quite impossible to proceed v,ith any augmentation of it.To sustain such a height of effect is, in fact, already

a prodigious effort. Notwithstanding the amplitude


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68 MID REALMS OF SONG.of the developments in which Beethoven has indulged,he has succeeded in accomplishing this. But this veryequality between the commencement and conclusionsuffices to cause a suspicion of decrease, on account ofthe terrible shock which the nerves of the listener ex-perience at the opening. Nervous emotion, thus raisedto its most violent paroxysm, becomes immediatelyafterwards so much the more difficult to effect. In along row of columns of similar height an optical illu-sion causes those which are most removed to appearsmaller than the rest. Possibly our feeble organisa-tion would be better suited to a laconic perorationsuch as

:

Notre general vous rappelle,

by Gluck. The audience would, in this way, not havetime to grow cold ; and the symphony would finishbefore fatigue had intervened to prevent the possi-bility of accompanying the author in his advance.This observation, however, only applies, so to speak,to the mise-en-scene of the work ; and by no meansprevents this finale from being in itself of a magnifi-cence and richness in comparison with which there arefew pieces which could appear without being com-pletely crushed.


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SYMPHONY NO. 6, IN F.(THE "PASTORAL.")


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SYMPHONY NO. 6, IN F.(THE "PASTORAL.")

THIS astonishing landscape seems as if it were thejoint work of Poussin and Michael Angelo. A

desire to depict the cahii of the country-side and theshepherd's gentle ways now actuates the composer of"Fidelio" and of the " Eroica." But let us under-stand one another ; for here is no question of the gailybedecked shepherds of M. de Florian, and still less ofthose of M. Lebrun, author of "Rossignol," or ofthose of J. -J. Rousseau, author of the " Devin deVillage." The question is of Nature, in all its simpletruth.The composer entitles his first movement

:

" Erwachen lieiterer Empfindungen bei cler Aukunft auf demLande."*

The herdsmen begin to appear in the fields. Theyhave their usual careless manner, and the sound of* Berlioz's rendering of this original title is" Sensations deuces qu inspire

I'aspect dun riant pay sage '; or" The awakening of cheerful feelings at firstaspect o; the country. ' (Translators note.)


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MID REALMS OF SO^G.their pipes proceeds from far arxd near. Delightfulphrases greet you, like the perfumed morning breeze;and swarms of chattering birds in flight pass rustlingoverhead. From time to time the atmosphere seemscharged with vapour ; great clouds appear and hide thesun; then, all at once, they disappear; and there sud-denly falls upon both tree and wood the torrent of adazzling light. That is the effect, as it appears to me,on hearing this movement; and I believe that, notwith-standing the vagueness of instrumental expression,many listeners have been impve:-sed by it in the same way.

Farther on, there is the "Scene am Fach";* devotedto contemplation. No doubt the author created thisadmirable adagio whilst reclining on the grass; gazingupwards, listening to the wind, and fascinated by thesurrounding soft reflections of both light and sound

;

at one and the same time looking at, and listening to,the tiny white w-aves as they sparkled along ; and, witha slight murmur, broke upon the pebbles of the brink.It is indeed beautiful.There are some persons who strongly reproach Beet-

hoven with having, at the end of the adagio, endeav-oured to reproduce the song of three birds. As, in myopinion, it is success or non-success which decides aboutthe absurdity or otherwise of such attempts, I may tell

* Berlioz's translation of this original title is: "Scene aubold de la riviere"or, "Scene at the brook." (Translator'snote.)


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SYMFHOXY XO. 0. 73the adverse critics m this instance that their strictureappears justifiable, so far as the nightingale is con-cerned; as the song of this bird is scarcely better imi-tated here than in the famous flute solo of M. Lebrun;for the simple reason that the nightingale emits onlysounds which are inappreciable and variab^.c, andwhich cannot, therefore, be rendered by instrumentswith fixed tones playing in a certain key. It seems tome, however, that this does not apply either to the quailor to the cuckoo; the respective cries of which aretwonotes in one case, and one in the othernotes true anddetermined, and admitting therefore of an imitationexact and complete.Now, if the musician is to be accused of puerility

because he renders exactly the song of birds in a scenewhere all the calm voices alike of heaven, earth andwaterfall hnd naturally their p^ace, I may answer thatthe snme objection could also be addressed to himwhen, in a storm, he applies a similar treatir.ent to thewinds, the claps of thunder, or the bellowing of cattle.Providence, however, can only tell whether it has everentered the head of one of these critics to blame thestorm of the "Pastoral" Synnphony

But let us continue. The poet now leads us into themidst of a

" Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute."** Berlioz's rendering of this original title is: "Reunion

joyoiise de paysans," or: "Joyous meeting of country folk."(Translator's note.)


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74 MID REALMS OF SONG.They laugh and dance with moderation at first

;

whilst, from the Musette, there issues

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Berlioz, Hector. a Critical Study of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies

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