William Smyth Rockstro

“ That the style we have described was the result of a reaction, neither unhealthy in its nature, nor revolutionary in its tendency, though not altogether free from violence, there can be no doubt. Singers were growing weary of the conundrums which had so long been offered to them as substitutes for the truer Music which alone can reach the heart. In the hands of Josquin, these puzzles had never lacked the impress of true genius. In those of his imitators, they were as dry as dust. ”

“ Weber's strongest sympathies were with the Romantic School. As a rule,—his Instrumental Music excepting, of course, the Overtures to his matchless dramatic inspirations—is brilliant, rather than imaginative; presenting, at every turn, some sparkling passage suggestive, of all that is light, and bright, and beautiful, in Nature, and thus continually hovering around the borders of Romanticism, though rarely descending towards those sombre depths in which Beethoven so frequently delighted to dwell. ”

“ Yet the basis of his style, in all essential particulars, is thoroughly Italian, and thoroughly his own—Italian, in the airy lightness of its Melodies; his own, in its unwonted freshness, even for Italy, and in the passionate expression which adds so much to its dramatic power, without diminishing its brilliancy. What the Romanticism of Weber and Spohr is to the German School, this desperate passion is to the later Schools of Italy. It must always seem extravagant, to those whose taste is formed on Northern models. ”

“ But, side by side with these Italian pieces grew up a collection of English works, in a style which has never yet been fully appreciated, save in the land of its birth. A style more impressive than any that had been conceived, since the decadence of Polyphony; more colossal in its proportions than the grandest combinations of Leo, or Colonna, or the most elaborate productions of the German Polyodic period; and more true to Nature, in its endless varieties of expression, than any form of Dramatic Music previously cultivated. ”

“ If Music is to reach the intellect, it needs the evidence of a preconceived and carefully-considered design. The symmetrical form of the Eroica Symphony is as necessary to its perfection, as a work of Art intended to appeal to the understanding through the medium of the ear, as the curves of the Venus of Milo are, to one intended to speak to it through the medium of the eye. ”

“ From Mozart and Beethoven he learned a system of Instrumentation which, like a wheel within a wheel, enabled him to work out another system, entirely his own. From Seb. Bach he learned that admirable method of Part-writing which raised his Compositions far above the level attained by the best Masters of the period, and entitled him to rank beside men whose position had long been regarded as impregnable. Dowered with this store of technical resources, his natural genius carried everything before it, and, while yet a youth, he was unanimously accepted as the leader of the German Schools. ”

“ It has been said, that genius, capable of producing such works as these, would expire if trammelled by the conventional Rules of Art. We do not believe it. We believe, that, if Berlioz had worked at those Rules, as hard as Beethoven did, he might have taken rank among the greatest writers of the century. Casting them aside, he shines forth as the producer of works which may astonish, and even delight, for the moment, but which cannot last, because, like the caprices of the author himself, they can never be thoroughly understood. ”

“ His genius, breaking down all distinctions of manner, whether popular or scholastic, acknowledged no law but that of Nature. By pure instinct he learned so to blend the brightness of Italian Melody with the sterner combinations suggested by German Thought, that it is impossible either to affiliate him to any recognised family of Composers, or to decide upon the nationality of his style. To say, as critics have said, that he was more Italian than German, is absurd: yet the converse would be no nearer the truth. As a dramatic writer he stands alone. ”

“ The only satisfactory test that can be applied, in such cases, is the question, 'Would the Music sound good, and beautiful, and interesting, to a man who had never seen, or heard of, a Lake, a Millstream, or a Fountain?' And there can be only one answer—of course it would. Bennett never once, during the whole course of his artistic life, descended to anything that was beneath the dignity of his Art. One may read noblesse oblige in every bar he ever wrote. ”

“ Among the successors of Josquin, there were many cold imitators of his mechanism, who, as we have already shown, were totally unable to comprehend the true greatness of his style. By these soulless pedants—more numerous, by far, than their more earnest contemporaries—the Music of the Mass was degraded into a mere learned conundrum; enlivened, constantly, by the introduction, not only of sæcular subjects, but of profane words also. Other practices, equally vicious and equally irreverent, were gradually bringing even the primary intention of Religious Art into disrepute. ”

“ It is difficult to say whether the English School owes most to Purcell's Compositions for the Church or for the Theatre; for he wrote with equal success for both; displaying in his Sacred Music the gravity inseparable from a devout appreciation of its true purpose; and in his Operas a greater amount of dramatic power than had ever before been exhibited by any of his countrymen, and more than had often been heard, even in Venice. In every branch of the Art he practised he was invariably in advance of his age; not by a few short decads, but, by little less than a century. ”

“ Not many English Operas of note have been produced in London since Macfarren's later works; but within the last few years a taste has been developed for a lighter kind of Operetta, the success of which has surpassed anything that the most devoted admirers of playful Music could have anticipated. In nothing does a true Artist declare himself more unmistakeably, than in his power of adapting himself to circumstances. We all know that Opera buffa is a lower form of Art than Opera seria; yet Cimarosa and, Rossini achieved some success in it, to say nothing of Mozart. ”

“ No doubt, this is the highest result that Music can hope to reach—certainly, the most intellectual. But, this view of the case detracts nothing, either from the merit, or the charm, of Romantic pictures, so delicately painted as the Overtures to 'The Naiads,' 'The Woodnymphs,' 'Paradise and the Peri,' or 'Parisina'—in which last sad inspiration the deepest depths of Tragedy are reached as certainly as the perfection of beauty is reached in the others. ”

“ How many know that the original of 'I call and cry' is an 'O sacrum convivium' worthy of any Church Composer in the world short of Palestrina himself? How many have looked into the 'Cantiones Sacræ,' which he wrote in conjunction with his pupil Byrd, and the MS. treasures scored in Burney's 'Extracts,' or the 'Matthias Collection'? Yet it is here that we must look for Tallis, if we wish to form any idea of his true greatness. The world has not seen many more accomplished Contrapuntists than he; nor has he ever been excelled in the exquisite 'surprises' of his Harmony. ”

“ Is the School of Beethoven—which has served, more or less, as the basis of all the best work done during the last fifty years—condemned to suffer with the rest? It must so suffer, or contradict the experience of all past history. The question is, not whether it is doomed to extinction—for of that we are firmly assured—but, whether it has already reached its culminating point. Is room still left for greater work than any that has as yet been accomplished in this direction? If so, we may hope, that, sooner or later, a Master will arise among us, great enough to accomplish it. ”

“ The long line of Bachs handed down their victories over the difficulties of the Organ, from father to son, until Johann Sebastian played as no man had ever played before him, brought the Instrumental Fugue to a degree of perfection which has never since been equalled, and dowered, not only the Organ and Harpsichord, but many a Stringed and Wind Instrument also, to say nothing of the full Orchestra, with a whole library of Compositions, the worth of which has not even yet been fully appreciated. No man then living was able to compete on equal terms with the author of these stupendous works ”

“ The Imaginative Composer's idea is frequently even more 'romantic'—using the word in its every-day sense—than that of his brother Artist. But, it is not treated in the same way. The Romantic Composer paints his picture with the richest colours his orchestral palette can command; horrifies us with the depth of his sombre shadows; enthrals our senses with his most delicious fancies; excites us to delirium with a crash of Trumpets; or drives us to despair with the roll of a muffled Drum. ”

“ One's first impulse is, to pronounce this the highest manifestation of creative genius. Yet, is it the most natural? Surely not. It is true, we recognise, in the material Creation, the expression of a preconceived Idea, infinitely perfect in all its parts, and infinitely consistent in its unbroken unity and ineffable completeness: but, each individual manifestation of that Idea attains perfection, under our very eyes, by slow development from a primordial germ, to all outward appearance more simple in its construction than the slightest of Beethoven's Sketches. ”

“ It is impossible to say which of these methods of Composition is the best; for the greatest of the Great Masters have used them all; each one selecting that which best accorded with the bias of his own individual genius. Let us consider a few examples of each; for, no lessons are so precious as those which the Master permits us to learn, for ourselves, while watching him at work in his atelier.
And, first, let us clearly bear in mind the difference between a Sketch and an unfinished Picture. The analogy, in these matters, between Music and Painting is very striking, and will help us much. ”

“ Their highest aspirations extended no farther than the enrichment of a given Melody with such Harmonies as they were able to improvise at a moment's notice: whereas Composition, properly so called, depends, for its existence, upon the invention—or, at least, the selection—of a definite musical idea, which the genius of the Composer presents, now in one form, and now in another, until the exhaustive discussion of its various aspects produces a work of Art, as consistent, in its integrity, as the conduct of a Scholastic Thesis, or a Dramatic Poem. ”

“ Pelham Humfrey had seen enough of Lulli, in Paris, to understand this position, perfectly; and, no doubt, he imparted much of his experience to his promising pupil: but Purcell, from the very first, took higher ground than either Humfrey, or even Lulli himself. It is not too much to say that the declamatory consistency of his Recitative has never been surpassed. It is so true to Nature, and shows so intimate an acquaintance with the genius of the English language, that no good Singer, resigning himself to its lead, can possibly misconceive his part. Its command of delineation is unlimited. ”

“ If it be not progressing towards greater things, it must be dying out; and the sooner some new manifestation of genius supersedes it, the better. Let us try to cast aside all prejudice, in either direction; and dispassionately weigh our chance of advancement on the old lines against that of the discovery of a new path.
The most sanguine believer in progress will scarcely venture to assert that the labours of the last fifty years have effected any improvement in the Symphony, the Quartet, or the Sonata. ”

“ If evil combinations, and unconnected arguments, and a weary waste of interminable Recitative, be really necessary to the existence of Dramatic Music—so necessary, that genius capable of delighting us with pleasant Harmony, and structural symmetry, and Melodies of acknowledged beauty, must needs deny us these luxuries, in order that the Lyric Drama may rest upon a philosophical basis—there are not a few among us quite ready to vote for the retention of the luxuries, even at the cost of leaving the Lyric Dramain the condition to which Mozart and Weber reduced it. ”

“ Was there ever a period at which the capabilities of the Voice were so contemptuously disregarded, as they are at this moment? The evil began in Germany. We dare hardly write the name of the giant who originated it; but, if Beethoven's disregard of vocal capabilities has materially hindered—as it most certainly has—the performance of two, at least, of his greatest works, how can men of ordinary genius hope to succeed in spite of it? Time was, when Composers regarded the study of the Voice as indispensable to their education ”

“ Not very long ago, this wonderful Mass was supposed to possess certain constructive peculiarities which not only marked it out as the greatest piece of Church Music that ever was conceived—as it undoubtedly is—but which also interposed, between Music written before, and that produced after it, a gulf as unfathomable as that which separates the Polyphony of the 16th century from the Monodia of the 17th. No idea can possibly be more fallacious. ”

“ Anton Rubinstein, first known to the world as a Pianist of altogether exceptional power, and afterwards as a writer of Pianoforte Music of more than ordinary interest, now claims our attention as the Composer of a long succession of works, designed on a scale much grander than that foreshadowed in his earlier efforts, and worthy of much more serious study—as furnishing clearer indications of the principles by which he is guided. ”

“ The simplicity of its outline could scarcely be exceeded; yet it is conceived on the grandest possible scale, and elaborated with an earnestness of purpose which proves its Composer to have been not merely a learned Musician, and a man of real genius, but also a profound thinker. And it is precisely to this earnestness of purpose, this careful thought, this profound intention, that Purcell's Music owes its immeasurable superiority to that of the best of his fellow-labourers. We recognise the influence of a great Ideal in everything he touches ”

“ From the moment in which he first entertained the idea of remodelling the Lyric Drama, until that of his greatest triumph, Gluck had but one end in view—the presentment of pure dramatic truth. To secure this, he was willing to sacrifice symmetry of Form, continuity of Melody, regularity of Rhythm, flexibility of Voice, or any other means of effect which he felt to be unsuited to the situation with which he had to deal. ”