Luigi Cherubini

“ Many circumstances have thus far combined to prevent the forming of a decisive judgment in the public mind as to the position which should be assigned to Cherubini in the musical world. The path which leads to the proper understanding of an artist's personality, through a study of the character of the nation to which he belongs, seems in this instance to be effectually blocked, for in the subject of our essay we behold the phenomenon especially rare among the Italians—an international musician. ”

“ If the importance of an artist's personality is to be estimated by the influence he has exercised upon his contemporaries and upon posterity, then Cherubini towers immeasurably above all the musicians of his day. The French opera of the nineteenth century would not be worthy of mention without him, and he has given to the country of his adoption in every way far more than he ever received from it. His position with respect to Germany is an analogous one, and Italy alone has remained almost entirely unaffected by his music. ”

“ Once, indeed, his having learned the violin as a child was the means of saving his life. Independently venturing out at night, he was arrested by a roving band of drunken Sansculottes, who were seeking musicians to conduct their street chants. Somebody recognised Cherubini as a favourite of court circles, and, when he refused to [Pg 243] lead their obscene music, the fatal cry, “The Royalist, the Royalist!” buzzed through the crowd. At this critical moment another kidnapped player thrust a violin in Cherubini’s hands and persuaded him to yield. ”

“ Afterward a reconciliation was effected and Cherubini was prevailed upon to point out those points in the opera that caused him to make such a severe, though such a silent, criticism. Cherubini might, in this respect, serve for a model for the numerous musical critics who afflict their friends and the public with their uneducated inanities. He was silent because he knew so much. They are verbose because they know so little. ”

“ As an instance of Cherubini's curt wit, the following little conversation is cited:—
One day a friend handed a score to Cherubini, saying it was by Mehul. After looking it over he exclaimed:—
"It is not Mehul's; it is too bad to be his."
"Then will you believe me if I tell you it is mine?" said the visitor, and Cherubini replied:—
"No! It is too good to be yours." ”

“ Cherubini, a celebrated musical composer, born at Florence; naturalised in France; settled in Paris, the scene of his greatest triumphs; composed operas, of which the chief were “Iphigenia in Aulis,” and “Les deux Journeés; or, The Water-Carrier,” his masterpiece; also a number of sacred pieces and requiems, all of the highest merit; there is a portrait of him by Ingres (1842) in the Louvre, representing the Muse of his art extending her protecting hand over his head (1760-1842) .
Chéruel, Adolphe, French historian, born at Rouen; author of “History of France during the Minority of Louis XIV.” ”

“ But besides grounding Cherubini in the church music for which he had early shown so special a bent, Sarti also trained him in dramatic composition; sometimes, like the great masters of painting, entrusting his pupil with minor parts of his own works. From 1780 onwards for the next fourteen years dramatic music occupied Cherubini almost entirely. His first complete opera, Quinto Fabio, was produced in 1780, and was followed in 1782 by Armida, Adriano in Siria, and other works. ”

“ The house of Cherubini [writes Veron in his "Memoires d'un Bourgeois de Paris"] was open to artists, amateurs, and people of good society; and every Monday a numerous assembly thronged his salons. All foreign artists wished to be presented to Cherubini. During these last years one met often at his house Hummel, Liszt, Chopin, Moscheles, Madame Grassini, and Mademoiselle Falcon, then young and brilliant in talent and beauty; Auber and Halevy, the favourite pupils of the master; and Meyerbeer and Rossini. ”

“ He was obliged to wander about all day with the rioters, and when they halted in a desolate spot, the musicians took their places upon some barrels and played down to their vile audience. It was amid all the terrors and excitement of this wild period that Cherubini composed his opera "Lodoiska," the work which decided his position in the artistic world. Within a short time a company of French singers had been performing in alternation with an Italian troupe at the Théâtre Feydeau, and here the opera was produced for the first time. ”

“ The success of this sombre classical tragedy, which shows Cherubini’s genius in its full power, is an honour to the Paris public. If Cherubini had known how to combine his high ideals with an urbane tolerance of the opinions of persons of inferior taste, the severity of his music would not have prevented his attaining the height of prosperity. But Napoleon Bonaparte irritated him by an enthusiasm for the kind of Italian music against which his whole career, from the time he became Sarti’s pupil, was a protest. ”

“ Above some city, flaming fast to death.”
The poem which Chorley quotes from was inspired by the performance of the great Pasta in Simone Mayer’s weak musical setting of the fable of the Colchian sorceress, which crowded the opera-houses of Europe. The life of the French classical tragedy, too, was powerfully assisted by Rachel. Though the poem on which Cherubini worked was unworthy of his genius, it could not be from this or from lack of interest in the theme alone that this great work is so rarely performed ”

“ It is impossible to separate the powerful masses of Cherubini, with their pomp and majesty of movement, their reserved and pathetic melody, their grandiose dimensions and their sumptuous orchestration, from those contemporary tendencies in dramatic art which issued in the “historic school” of grand opera as exemplified in the pretentious works of Spontini and Meyerbeer. They may be said to be the reflection in church art of the hollow splendor of French imperialism. Such an expression, however, may be accused of failing in justice to the undeniable merits of Cherubini’s masses. ”

“ The desire of forming an acquaintance with this great master whom he had been brought up to admire, was one of the motives which, when he left Vienna in 1831 to go to London, induced him, without foreseeing that his destiny would fix him there, to pass through Paris. Chopin now sleeps between Bellini and Cherubini, men of very dissimilar genius, and yet to both of whom he was in an equal degree allied, as he attached as much value to the respect he felt for the science of the one, as to the sympathy he acknowledged for the creations of the other. ”

“ Beautiful as the production of "Fidelio" was, it did not escape criticism from an eminent source. Cherubini was present at the first performance at the Karnthnerthor Theatre in Vienna, and when asked how he liked the overture (Leonora in C) he replied:
"To be honest, I must confess that I could not tell what key it was in from beginning to end." ”

“ I would therefore much prefer that you repeated the quartet you have just played!” I was very much astonished at this remark, and did not understand it until I afterwards ascertained that Cherubini was quite unacquainted with the German masterpieces of this kind of Mozart and Beethoven—and at the utmost had once heard a quartet by Haydn at Baillot’s soirées. As the other persons present coincided with Cherubini’s wish, I consented the more readily, as in the first execution of it, some things had not gone altogether well. ”

“ In 1770 he obtained a post in Venice as music master at the Conservatorio dell' Ospedaletto. In 1779 he was elected maestro di cappella at the cathedral of Milan, where he remained until 1784. Here he exercised his true vocation—composing, in addition to at least twenty of his most successful operas, a vast quantity of sacred music for the cathedral, and educating a number of clever pupils, the most distinguished of whom was Cherubini. ”

“ With Cherubini, however, the execution is always more careful, the melody more noble and earnest, so that the careful observer finds in his compositions sufficient indication of an independent mind to understand why it was that from the beginning the Italian public was more startled than pleased with his music. The transition to a new style was not gradual, but sudden and surprising; in this respect he reminds one very strikingly of his younger compatriot, Spontini, in whose opera, "La Vestale," is seen an equally violent change of manner. ”

“ I shall put him under my pupil Halévy, to work at counterpoint and fugue."
Cherubini's view was that the Italian school followed the only orthodox system of music, as laid down by Palestrina, whereas the Germans look upon Sebastian Bach as the high priest of harmony.
Far from being discouraged by this decision, I was only too delighted.
"All the better," said I to myself; and to my mother, later on, "It will be great advantage to me. I can choose the best points of both the great schools. It is all for the best." ”

“ Although the harp in ancient times was the favorite instrument of a pious king, it should for all that be banished from the church, because it is wholly unfit for the severe style which is the only one suitable for that edifice.
But will you believe it, when I assure you that even the worthy master Cherubini himself, has allowed himself to be led away by this bad example, and his masses exhibit in many places a theatrical style. It is true that he makes amends for it in those places with superior music, full of effect ”

“ You cannot have seen and heard Pauline Lucca, or you would not ask this question.
Cherubino is by no means the most important person in the plot of the Nozze. But he strikes the keynote of the opera. His love is the standard by which we measure the sad, retrospective, stately love of the Countess, who tries to win back an alienated husband. By Cherubino we measure the libertine love of the Count, who is a kind of Don Juan without cruelty, and the humorous love of Figaro and his sprightly bride Susanna. ”

“ My own preference would be for the "Iphigenia," if the libretto of that work were not so inferior. In writing "Lodoiska," Cherubini entered upon the domain of the French opéra comique, which, through its simplicity of action and its direct appeal to human emotions, affords great opportunities for dramatic effect in the hands of a skilful artist. The composer's activity in the operatic line was henceforth almost wholly confined to works of this class, among which three of the most prominent are "Elisa," "Les Deux Journées," and "Faniska." ”

“ I likewise produced Cherubini's tragic opera, Medea; a work considered by musical amateurs one of the finest dramatic compositions ever written. No musician ever exercised more influence on his art than Cherubini. His compositions are of the first authority, so that no musical library, whether of the professor or the amateur, can claim to be considered complete without them. The part of "Medea" was represented by Mdlle. Titiens. In assuming this rôle Mdlle. Titiens certainly added the final touch of lustre to her lyric crown. ”

“ In 1788 he produced in Venice 'Pigmalione,' an interlude, with which, notwithstanding its success, he was so dissatisfied as to burn the score and renounce composition for the future. Cherubini used the words of several scenes from this interlude for his opera of 'Pimmalione.' About 1791 Cimador settled in London as a teacher of singing. Hearing that the orchestra of the King's Theatre, in the Haymarket, had refused to play Mozart's symphonies on account of their difficulty, he arranged six of them as sestets for strings and flute. ”

“ Pasta's Medea, created by herself musically and dramatically out of the faded and correct commonplace of Simon Mayer's opera, was fitted with consummate skill to that eminent artist's idiosyncrasies, and will ever remain one of the grand traditions of the musical world. To perform such a work as that of Cherubini required Pasta's tragic genius united with the voice of a Catalani, made, as it were, of adamant and gold. To such an ideal equipment of powers, Titiens approached more nearly than any other singer who had ever assayed the rôle in more recent times. ”

“ In 1780 Viotti, having already made himself a name, travelled through Germany and Poland to Russia, where the empress Catherine honoured him with marks of extraordinary favour. He next appeared in London, in company with Pugnani, and at once achieved a brilliant and lasting reputation. In 1782 he was equally successful in Paris. Two years later he was appointed leader of the prince de Soubise's private orchestra; and in 1788 he undertook the direction of the opera, raising the performances, with Cherubini's assistance, to a very high level. ”

“ He was by no means free from envy and jealousy, but, taking for granted that he allowed himself to be swayed by his passions, foreign composers suffered just as much at his hands as German ones. Cherubini he thought very highly of (he mounted 'Les Abencerrages' and sent the composer a considerable sum from the proceeds) , but Auber's 'Muette de Portici.' and Halévy's 'Juive' he thoroughly disliked, took no trouble about their production, and was much annoyed at their pleasing the public. ”

“ Méhul was Gluck’s greatest disciple—he was directly encouraged and aided by Gluck—and even surpassed his master in musical science.
Cherubini’s Médé and Les deux journées were produced in 1797 and 1800, respectively. The latter ‘shows a conciseness of expression and a warmth of feeling unusual to Cherubini,’ says Mr. Hadow; at any rate it is better known to-day than any of the other works, and not infrequently produced both in France and Germany. It is opéra comique only in form, for it mixes spoken dialogue with music—its plot is serious. ”