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FOR SCHOOLS, CLUBS, AND PRIVATE READING By W. J. BALTZELL Contributions by H. A. CLARKE, Mus. Doc.; ARTHUR ELSON, CLARENCE G. HAMILTON, A.M., EDWARD BURLINGAME HILL, A.B., ARTHUR L. JUDSON, FREDERIC S. LAW, AND PRESTON WARE OREM, Mus. Bac. With Portraits, Reproductions of Instruments and Musical Examples PHILADELPHIA, PA. THEODORE PRESSER 1908 Copyright, 1905, by THEO. PRESSER. British Copyright Secured ....
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The plan of arrangement used in this book has in view a combination of the recitation and lecture systems, and affords an opportunity for teachers to apply the best principles of both. The paragraph headings should be thoroughly fixed in mind and close attention should be given to the words in heavy type and Italics that occur in the body of a paragraph; together they form a convenient outline for the lesson. The questions at the end of each lesson are to be used to test the pupils’ mastery of the lesson material; all available works of reference should be consulted for fuller information than the limited space of one book will admit of, each member of the class preparing one or more abstracts to be read before the class. The review outlines and suggestions are to be used in the same way, special attention being given to written answers...
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Purpose of the Study of the History of Music .—The purpose of the study of the history of music is to trace the development of the many phases which make up modern music which we cannot but regard as a great social force, an intellectual, an uplifting force. If we consider it from the material side, it is one of magnitude; we need but think of the money invested in buildings, opera houses, schools, concert halls, publishing plants, factories, the sums spent on musical instruments, instruction, concerts, opera, etc., to recognize the commercial side. When we think of the great army of persons whose livelihood is conditioned upon musical work, upon the great audiences that support musical enterprises, we recognize the magnitude of music in a social sense, and that it offers a large field for study. These conditions, interesting as they are, represent only phases of musical work, not...
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Sources of Our Knowledge .—When we study the music of the early period of the human race, we find no records such as we are storing today in our libraries. We must depend upon the discoveries of archæologists in the buried cities of early civilizations. Of contemporaneous books, properly speaking, tablets of music explaining the construction and methods of playing the musical instruments then in use we have few; if they exist they are in dead languages to which scholars are but slowly finding the key. It is true that some instruments have been found, but we can have no certainty that they are in perfect condition. The principal sources of the information we possess have been the paintings, decorations and sculptures on monuments and on the walls of buildings and tombs that have been unearthed. Early languages were largely pictorial, and records kept in this manner furnish us representations...
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History a Record of Change .—History is a record of changing conditions. Nations rise into prominence and fall again; cities are built to be torn down by conquerors; even the face of the earth has changed since the days when the scions of the Aryan race began to leave their home in Central Asia. Arms of the sea have shrunk to rivers, rivers to shallow streams, the desert sands have encroached on the once fertile valleys, and choked the springs and brooks of the meadows. Geologists tell us that the great valleys were made by the alluvial deposit washed down from the hills and mountains by the streams. The Chinese followed the course of the great rivers that made toward the eastern seas, the Hindoos toward the southern ocean, and still another “swarm” followed the great rivers Euphrates and Tigris, which came from the mountains of Western Asia. The great...
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When we think of Greece, it is Athens, the centre of Greek art and culture, that comes to mind. An ancient city, Athens, as history teaches us. The record is that it was founded by Cecrops, who brought a colony from Egypt, in 1556 B. C., a period when Egypt was a centre of power, wealth, education and science. Therefore we infer that these colonists brought with them to Greece the ordinary, popular music and instruments to which they had become accustomed in their home. But there was an older Greece; for late discoveries show that there were five cities, each built upon the ruins of an older city, the first one going back to 2500 B. C. These earlier inhabitants, themselves an offshoot of the great Aryan race, were absorbed by the colonists. Music and Myth in Greece .—The beginnings of music in Greece are mingled with myths: Pan,...
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The Greek Octave System .—So far, everything is clear enough; but the next step is not quite so sure. The Greeks spoke of the Dorian Octave, the Phrygian Octave, and so on; and the word Octave, used in this way, has been thought to be synonymous with Scale, which is doubtful, for the following reasons: The standard instrument of the Greeks was the octave lyre. The lowest and highest strings were tuned respectively A, fifth line bass staff, and A, second space, treble. [Dorian Octave. Signature B♭] [Phrygian Octave. Signature F♯] [Lydian Octave. Signature F♯, C♯ & G♯.] [Mizo-Lydian Octave. Signature B♭ & E♭.] [Hypo-Dorian Octave.] [Hypo-Phrygian Octave. Signature F♯ & C♯.] [Hypo-Lydian Octave. Signature F♯, C♯, G♯ & D♯.] These were fixed sounds, but the tuning of the remaining six strings might be changed at will; therefore, a series of sounds belonging to any one...
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Rome the New Centre .—The Power that rules in the affairs of men seems to have made provision for the elevation of the whole race by diffusing at intervals of centuries, the treasures of art, science and thought accumulated by a nation of unusual power and energy. Egypt dominated the northern part of Africa, the shores of the Mediterranean and the western slopes of Asia Minor, and in course of time yielded to the advance of the Greeks, but leaving behind, as a legacy, much that has had enduring value. What had once been centred in one nation, under the control of one caste, the priests, was spread through much of the known world. Greece, in turn, shaped the destinies of expanding civilization. In the Greek social life free art played a great part; wherever the Greeks went as merchants and colonists, they carried with them the principles of Greek...
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System of Notation by Letters .—The earliest system of Notation, attributed to Boethius , the Roman philosopher, seems to have been the placing of letters over the syllables, thus: C C D B C D My country ’tis of thee. Boethius’ Notation [Listen.] During the period of history dominated by Pope Gregory the Great, a change was made in this system by which capital letters, small letters and double letters were used, an improvement, since only the first seven letters of the alphabet were employed, thus: [Listen.] This system seems to have been used chiefly for theoretic demonstration. These two methods indicated the pitch sufficiently, but not the duration of the sounds. Neumes .—The next attempt was somewhat of a retrogression instead of an improvement. Signs called Neumes were placed over the words. These signs consisted of points, lines, accents, hooks, curves, angles and a number of other characters...
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Up to this, our study of music in the Christian Era has traced the development of the art as fostered by the Christian Church, and mainly among the people of Southern Europe, in whom there was a strong admixture of the Latin blood and spirit. Before going farther on this line we will look into the record of music among the races of Northern Europe. Music of the Gauls .—Roman writers give us some account of the character of the music of the Gauls, which differed much from the Greco-Latin songs. Roman historians make mention of the songs of the Gallic bards, who were poets and musicians as well, composing both religious hymns and songs in honor of their heroes. According to Diodorus of Sicily, the Gauls practiced the musical art long before the Christian Era, having regular schools for the instruction of the younger bards. The instrument used in...
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In the Introduction attention was called to the fact that the labors of musicians to develop an art of music varied between the effort to make artistic use of the material of music, that is, to give it definite form, and to make it express the feelings of mankind; the first is in the line of construction, the second, content. The period we now take up was concerned most deeply, in its earlier stages, as we shall see, with finding adequate and logical principles of construction by which a musical composition of more or less length could be made from a simple musical idea and in which more than one voice could be used. This period should be studied with the greatest thoroughness, and all possible examples of music of the composers representative of the period should be examined that one may gather a clear idea of the beginnings of...
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Influence of Art on Music .—All of the fine arts, with the exception of Music had, by the year 1100, reached a fairly high stage of development due, no doubt, to the fact that they are to a great extent composed of concrete materials. Music, owing to its lack of the concrete and the inability of men literally to place their hands upon its material, had lagged behind, so that in 1100 we find only a small amount of material, and that in a most chaotic condition. This material was, however, sufficient to produce definite musical forms if united into a homogeneous whole; such a state, however, could be produced only as the result of some great influence which would galvanize the component parts into action. Fortunately, there was just such an influence, one which had passed through an evolution similar to that needed in music, though because of its...
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A New Art Centre .—The development of any art, and more especially Music, requires the dominance of wealth, learning and general civilizing forces, to form an epoch-marking school. Paris for a time satisfactorily filled these conditions, and then gave place to a school, stronger and better equipped: that of the Netherlands. There were several reasons for this change in the centre of musical activity. So long as Paris was dominant in wealth and civilization, and so long as she maintained her supremacy in the intellectual fields of the Church and university, so long did she retain the centre of culture; but when her wealth became such as to produce degeneracy in the taste for pure art, and love of show rather than real worth became predominant, then her native pupils began to lose their intellectual strength, and the pupils from foreign countries began to furnish the real culture. The establishment...
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The English Polyphonic School is at once the least important and the most peculiar of all the schools of the Polyphonic Period. It is usually ignored by the writers on early music, not because there was no musical culture, but because there was not continuous and original development. English writers on this phase of musical development are too apt, through a pardonable pride of nationality, to exaggerate the value of British music, and in consulting such authorities, one should be careful to examine thoroughly all proofs of a dominant national school and discard such statements as are not perfectly authenticated. It is hardly the Englishman’s fault that he has had no definite culture which he may call genuinely English, for native composers have had more encouragement in England than usually falls to the lot of a creative musician. Indeed, England has always been a patron of the best in music,...
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The Dominance of the Netherlands .—The most important asset of a nation is its commercial activity, for upon that depends its art life. The fine arts are to an extent luxuries, and until a nation has, by commercial activity, acquired wealth, they cannot be earnestly cultivated, for all arts require from the artist his entire time and life, and until there is money and inclination enough among the people to support an artist in his commercially non-productive state, there can be no art; hence we see a shifting of art centres in the Middle Ages, just as the commercial centres changed. The Netherlands were preëminently fitted to carry on great commercial pursuits by virtue of their geographical situation and long combat and association with the sea. Possessing the natural outlet to a great part of Europe, it was reasonable that the Netherlands should play an important part in the Hanseatic...
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Italy the New Centre .—Music developed in the Netherlands because of commercial supremacy and the consequent world association. We shall now see it pass to Italy, but because of a very different reason. From the earliest Christian days Italy was the centre of religious influence; it is only necessary to examine history to observe the ramifications of that power in England, France, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries. This influence, often more political than religious in character, gave to the Italian Church (then the Italian State), a predominance of authority, which was a great power in religious and secular thought. This influence spread to music for various reasons. We must remember that the school at Paris was controlled by the Church, that the Gallo-Belgic school owed its foundation to the same cause, and that the men of all three schools were employed as organists by the Church. It is true...
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Palestrina . A Church Composer .—But one master of the Italian Polyphonic schools is worthy of lengthy notice, more because of his influence on the music of the Church than his contribution to the new instrumental school then only in its infancy. Palestrina, while acquainted with Galilei, the reformer of Opera, and Neri, the originator of Oratorio, and with many of the men identified with the new style of vocal and instrumental music, gave his entire life to the composing of Church music, though in his poverty-stricken condition musical work under wealthy patronage must have often appealed to him. At any rate, the farthest he ever strayed from the Church was in the composing of many madrigals, in which he excelled; it is almost certain that in these he unintentionally influenced the development of instrumental music. For the present, however, a consideration of his life and influence on Church music...
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Classification of Instruments .—The means for the production of musical sound are few in number, and of such universality and antiquity that we cannot say when, how, or by whom they were invented. Modern skill has not added one new means, but has simply improved the contrivances by which musical sound is produced. We can, however, trace the evolution and growth of the various instruments with considerable accuracy, and to this end it is of the utmost importance to have a clear understanding of the principles upon which musical instruments are constructed, in order to avoid bewilderment among the endless variety that have been and are yet made. All instruments may be divided into three general classes: Percussion Instruments, Wind Instruments, Stringed Instruments. The Percussion Instruments are the instruments of rhythm. In this class are included all instruments used for this purpose. It is universally admitted that rhythm is the...
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In the book of Genesis it is written: “Jubal, he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.” It is not to be understood that the word organ in this passage meant an instrument anything like that heard in our churches at the present day. In fact, as St. Augustine tells us, there was a time when all musical instruments were called organs. The Germ of the Organ .—The invention of the organ is veiled in deepest darkness. Its development from its earliest forms to its present state has occupied a period of almost two thousand years. Doubtless, the first idea of a wind instrument was suggested by the breeze blowing across the open ends of broken reeds, the discovery naturally following that reeds of different lengths gave forth sounds of varying pitch. In course of time, reeds or pipes, differing in length, began to be...
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The Renaissance .—The Opera, in its inception, was literary rather than musical in nature. It was a result of what is known as the Renaissance, so-called because its most prominent manifestation in Italy was a revival of the learning of the ancients. This phase of the movement was initiated by Petrarch (1304-1370), who devoted his life to the study of the classical past of Italy. The Latin classics had never been entirely lost, but those of the Greeks had become practically extinct during the dark ages which followed the conquest of the Roman Empire by the barbarians of the North, in the 5th century. The arts had been kept alive only through the fostering care of the Church, and all had taken on a conventionally ecclesiastical character. Education had declined; it was practically confined to churchmen—even kings and rulers could barely sign their names, while the people at large were...
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The First Oratorio .—The novelty of the new style, which was called the stilo rappresentativo (representative style), the vigor and freedom it gave to an impressive delivery of the text, aroused universal attention. Among the composers who essayed it was Emilio del Cavaliere (1550-1599). By applying it to a sacred subject, he originated the Oratorio. Roman by birth, he had passed part of his life in Florence, and though not a member of the Camerata , was familiar with its aims and practice. The germ both of the Opera and Oratorio is to be found in the Miracle Plays or so-called Mysteries of the Middle Ages. These were dramatic representations of Bible scenes or religious allegories by means of which a populace unable to read was taught the great truths of sacred history. Cavaliere’s oratorio, La Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo (The Representation of Soul and Body), was given...
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The Neapolitan School .—What in the Venetian school had been a reaction in favor of form and melody became the established practice of the Neapolitan school. Political disturbances had hindered the spread of the Opera in southern Italy, particularly in Naples, but at the end of the 17th century it assumed the position formerly occupied by Florence and Venice. Before this, however, a strong influence had been exerted by certain composers in Rome, of whom Carissimi was first in importance. Had it not been for the disapproval of the Church, a definite Roman school might have arisen. Such a school would doubtless have been advantageous to the artistic growth of the Opera, since the public taste at Rome in matters of art was more serious in nature than at Naples. In 1697, public performances of opera were forbidden by the ecclesiastical authorities, and thus the seat of further development was...
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Early Methods of Singing .—As has been noted by the reader, music, up to this time, developed principally along vocal lines. We have no details as to the character of the training of singers among the Chaldeans, Egyptians and Greeks except such as indicate that their idea of singing was a sort of musical declamation. Such seems also to have been the idea of the nations in the north of Europe. We have seen that the Welsh bards were required to undergo a very thorough and exacting course of study, but the practical side of singing and the rules laid down for the training of the young minstrels is not a part of our knowledge. The songs of the early Church, sung by masses of worshipers, were of necessity simple in every way, requiring no art. It was not until the use of Discant became popular, and the Polyphonic school...
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Spread of Italian Opera .—The fame of Italian opera soon spread to other countries. Princes and kings, eager to hear the new style of music, held out golden inducements to Italian composers and singers to come to their courts; it was generally thought that none but an Italian could compose an opera or sing an aria. The consequence was that in almost all countries during the 18th century the prevailing musical influence was Italian; native composers and singers were obliged to study Italian models if they wished to attain to popular favor. In France, however, this influence was only sufficient to modify without obscuring the features of an essentially national school. Independence in matters of art has always been a marked characteristic of the French; they have led rather than followed. The most distinguished names in the history of French opera have been those of foreign birth, but whatever their...
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Opera in Germany .—The introduction of the opera into Germany dates from 1627. In that year a German translation of Rinuccini’s Dafne , which, it will be remembered, was the text of Peri’s first opera, was set to music by Heinrich Schuetz (1585-1672) and performed on the occasion of the wedding of the Landgraf of Hesse. Schütz, who also composed the first German oratorio, Die Auferstehung Christi (The Resurrection of Christ), had been sent by the Landgraf to study in Italy in 1609, only two years after the production of Monteverde’s Orfeo . The score of his Dafne has been lost, but it was doubtless in accordance with the principles of the Florentine school. The Thirty Years’ War and its lamentable consequences prevented any immediate development of the new form. Occasional productions of Italian opera were given in several German cities, but it was not until the establishment of the...
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The Opera after Gluck .—After Gluck the first great name is that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Haydn had indeed written a number of operas, but they were, in the main, light in character and exercised no influence whatever on the development of the form. At the age of twelve, Mozart had composed two operas, but the first to receive public performance was Mitridate, Re di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus), which was produced at Milan two years later under his own direction. This was followed by others, but these early works do not call for any extended mention. Though they abound in melody and show a maturity remarkable in so young a composer, they were frankly written to please the taste of the time and do not in any essentials depart from the accepted Italian style then in favor, as fixed by Scarlatti and his contemporaries. Gluck and Mozart...
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Oratorio in Italy after Carissimi .—After the beginning made by Carissimi, the next work of importance in Oratorio is that of Alessandro Scarlatti , who established the Aria form as explained in the study of the Opera. The composers of the Italian school of the last part of the 17th and the early part of the 18th century used practically the same methods in Opera and Oratorio, the difference being mainly in the character of the text, and in the earnestness or religious feeling of the composer. Scarlatti is also signalized by his improvements in the Recitative, which resulted in several forms made use of by his successors, Recitativo Secco and Accompanied Recitative. He wrote ten oratorios. Contemporaries whose work should be mentioned are Antonio Caldara (1678-1763) and Leonardo Leo (1694-1746), a pupil of Scarlatti, who wrote nearly a hundred works for the church, the chief one being the oratorio,...
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While the violin, on account of the simplicity of its construction, arrived early at a stage of perfection, the complicated mechanism of the pianoforte required many generations and many scores of more or less successful experiments to attain anything like a corresponding plane. Indeed, such experiments are still constantly in progress; so that the pianoforte of the future may conceivably realize possibilities as far ahead of the present piano as that is ahead of its predecessors. The first attempts at piano manufacture, however, had little in common with our modern pianos, save the principle of the combination of the keyboard with strings; since in construction and resulting tone few points of similarity exist. Clavier a Substitute for the Organ .—We are probably indebted to the extensive use of the organ for the earliest combinations of keys and strings. As the demand arose for a more conveniently-keyed instrument than the large...
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Early Instrumental Music .—The history of pianoforte composition and playing really begins with that of the preceding keyed instruments with strings, to all of which the convenient name of “Claviers” will be given. As these early instruments were at first merely substitutes for the organ, which in turn was used simply to reduplicate voice parts, the music first played on them was in no wise different from the vocal and organ music of the day. When, moreover, music written for the organ had some features distinct from purely vocal music, it was frequently inscribed to be played on the organ or clavier , without discrimination. Influence of the Renaissance .—As most of the patterns of musical form have proceeded from Italy, so it was there, in Venice, that instrumental music seems to have emerged from its union with vocal music, and to have assumed the elements of a style of...
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English Schools to Henry VIII .—Popular music, both vocal and instrumental, was an early English institution. The many Folk-songs which have come down from a very early period bear witness to the English love of conviviality. Dance tunes, sometimes based on these Folk-songs, were played on the instruments of the minstrels, which, as early as 1484, included the clavichord; and the fact that such instruments were cultivated by people of higher rank is shown by the record that James IV of Scotland and his queen purchased clavichords to play upon, in 1503, while the queen of Henry VII of England bought a clavichord for her private use in 1502. The virginal is spoken of in the reign of Henry VII; Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547), who was an accomplished musician, played upon both these instruments, and also wrote music for them. To Queen Elizabeth’s Time .—Edward VI (r. 1547-1553) had three...
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German Mastery of Polyphonic Music .—The Italians, with their quick perception of structural beauty, have been the pioneers in the invention and use of most art forms. So it happened, in the history of instrumental music, that they were the ones to invent and give to other nations the vehicle of expression, while it remained for their pupils, notably, in this case, the composers of Germany, to fill these forms out with the expression of real and deep feeling. The German tendency toward serious and philosophical thought found the intricacies of polyphonic music, or the simultaneous flow of independent melodies, admirably adapted to their need of expression; and when this style of voice writing was applied to instrumental compositions, German musicians found a branch of art in which they were admirably qualified to excel. So, from being mere pupils of the Italians, they advanced to the production of works of...
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Formation of Harmonic Design .—Side by side with the ultimate development of polyphonic music in its perfected instrumental form, the forms of the new harmonic style were being worked out, by long processes of development. Finally, just as the Fugue came to be adopted as the highest form of the old school, so the Sonata was chosen as the most dignified exponent of the new art. But, while the old school arrived at a high state of perfection at the hands of Handel and Bach, the necessity for inventing and experimenting with the possibilities of the new forms made the first attempts in this direction seem childish and crude beside Bach’s work; so that it was several generations after him before the harmonic style was brought to the stage at which it could be made to express ideas of equal magnitude, and do it successfully. Development of the Sonata .—The...
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The Three Great Sonata Writers .—In the year of C. P. E. Bach’s death, 1788, three men had already entered the arena as champions of that Sonata Form to which he contributed so much. Haydn was then fifty-six, Mozart thirty-two and Beethoven eighteen years of age. All three added to the glory of Vienna by making it their dwelling-place in their later years; and the three formed a triumvirate which not only gave to the Sonata a permanent and complete form, but also brought this form into absolute subservience to the expression of every variety of emotional thought. Haydn’s Childhood .—Franz Joseph Haydn, a native of Rohrau, in lower Austria, was born on March 31, 1732, the second of a family of twelve children. His father, an humble wheelwright, was accustomed to bring his family together in the evenings and holidays, as was the German custom, to unite in song;...
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While Haydn’s genius was shining steadily as a fixed star, Mozart flashed across the musical heaven, meteorlike, throwing a flood of light over the music world. The knowledge which others spent years in acquiring seemed his by birthright; and thus, although the years of his life were few, the period of his artistic activity was proportionately long. Mozart’s Early Musical Training .—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born at Salzburg, January 27, 1756. His father, himself of some reputation as a composer and as the author of the first German violin method, was quick to perceive the child’s sensitiveness toward music; and began instruction in clavier playing when Wolfgang was but four years old, teaching also his daughter, Maria Anna, five years older. Wolfgang was an exceedingly delicate and receptive child; and at the age of six he had not only acquired remarkable proficiency on the instrument, but had composed a number...
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Formalism of Haydn and Mozart .—It has been seen that the forms of harmonic music, growing out of numerous and sometimes crude experiments, were brought to a high state of perfection through the genius of Haydn and Mozart; and that they left a definite structure, nicely balanced, capable of expressing definite thoughts in a unified form, and at the same time of allowing free rein to the composer’s fancy. Of their instrumental works, the definition of the musician-philosopher J. J. Rousseau (d. 1778), that “music is the art of combining sounds in a manner agreeable to the ear,” gave a fitting characterization; for while a tinge of melancholy is occasionally perceptible, and there are passages of some dramatic intensity, nevertheless such elements are introduced mainly to give a pleasing contrast from the even flow of polished and idealized sound. Their Gift to Beethoven .—In other words, neither Haydn nor Mozart...
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Bach and Beethoven Contrasted .—We now consider the exact nature of the work which Beethoven did, in distinction from that of Haydn and Mozart. It has been said that Bach gave the Old Testament in music, while Beethoven gave the New; that is, that Bach consummated the old polyphonic school, while Beethoven did an equal work for the new harmonic school. Yet this is only a half truth; for Bach, besides perfecting former styles, gave glimpses of modern chromatic modulation and free expression; while Beethoven, a student of the old masters, employed polyphonic forms as well as harmonic, making all work together to translate his thought, and so moulding them into a means of portraying every emotion as to open the door forever to the untrammelled presentment of thought, through the medium of music. Beethoven’s Gradual Development .—But Beethoven did not arrive at this result in an instant. It is...
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Change from the Viol to the Violin .—The reader who has studied the principles of construction and playing of the old string instruments, as explained in Lesson XV, or examined them in museums, will not have failed to note that they were complicated and limited in technic. The members of this family were large and cumbersome, troublesome to handle and not particularly graceful or pleasing to the eye; the position in which the player was forced to hold them was difficult to maintain and not conducive to a rapid, facile technic. Now, the direction of a perfected art is always toward simplicity; the various members of the viol family were to yield place to a new instrument, a modification of the original type, and one that possessed some striking and valuable advantages over the viol. Another element that aided in the change from the viol was the efforts of composers...
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Reciprocal Influences of Instruments and Composition .—The development of the violin, of violin playing and violin music, in a certain sense shows reciprocal influences, and went hand in hand. This was the more certain because the composers who wrote for the instrument were also players, in almost every instance the virtuosi of their times. During the polyphonic period, composers were singers or organists; during the period when the violin dominated instrumental composition, composers in that form were usually violinists. In the next period, when the pianoforte was coming to the front, the representative composers were clavier composers. And since then with but few exceptions the great composers have also been pianists. Earliest Violin Compositions .—In the music of the viol period no demands were made upon the instrumental player except that he should double the voice part, which was simple, viewed from the standpoint of modern violin playing. Even later...
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The Orchestra as a Means of Expression .—The most perfect means for expression in music is presented by the orchestra, which, in its complete form as shown today, is the result of a long development in many directions. To give us this magnificent mass-instrument required a sifting of the various instruments and the choice of those that offered the best possibilities, a perfecting of these instruments, a shaping of systems of playing them, of technic that should draw out all possible effects, and an understanding, on the part of composers, of the nature and demands of absolute music and how best to shape their conceptions in accordance with these demands. The orchestra and its music, therefore, represents the extreme height of man’s work in music, for even when choral forces are joined to the orchestra, the instrumental idea dominates, as, for example, in the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, in which...
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The Romantic Movement .—The revolutionary spirit which arose in Europe toward the end of the 18th century had its counterpart in a similar intellectual and artistic reaction, commonly known as the Romantic Movement. In Literature, this movement was led by France; in Music, by Germany. Briefly described, it consisted in casting aside the classical traditions which the Renaissance had imposed upon art in general and in a substitution of themes and a treatment more in consonance with the atmosphere of freedom which had inspired such momentous social and political changes. Its Effect on Music .—The musician also felt the influence of the general unrest. In seeking new modes of expression, he rose to a consciousness of independence both as man and artist; he refused longer to occupy the position of an upper servant which had been decreed him by court and nobility. Mozart marked the passing of the old order...
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French Schools of Opéra .—As already explained, French opera is divided into two styles, known as Opéra Comique and Grand Opéra, according to the use of dialogue or recitative. Not that this is the only difference. The Grand Opéra is naturally adapted to subjects of a large or heroic scope; the Opéra Comique, like the Spieloper in Germany, to lighter episodes of a romantic or humorous nature. As will be seen, however, it not infrequently happens that the latter form is adopted for serious subjects, owing to the fact that it is generally easier for a composer to find acceptance at the Opéra Comique than at the Grand Opéra. The youthful composer or the one who has not yet acquired a name for himself is expected to win his spurs in the former before attempting to enter the latter. Hence, even if his work is somber or tragic in character...
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Later Italian School .—While Meyerbeer was dominating the French stage and through it exerting a powerful influence on serious opera in all countries, the Italian school was recovering in part from the impulse given it by Rossini. The highly ornamented style which he brought into vogue was modified in the works of several composers who also gave more consideration to truth of expression. With these, melody still reigned supreme, but it was shorn of the excessive ornamentation which overloaded Rossini’s music; in character and rhythm it was also more generally in accord with sentiment and situation. The florid element was by no means suppressed; it had been an integral factor in Italian music for two centuries and was too strongly entrenched in public favor to be banished so completely as it had been in the German romantic opera, but it was kept in subordination and in the main not allowed...
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Wagner’s Theory of the Music Drama .— Lohengrin , like The Flying Dutchman , was transitional in character and led into Wagner’s third manner. It was his last opera; all his later works were known as music dramas. In these he pursued unhesitatingly the logical conclusions of the theories which he expounded at great length in his controversial writings, though he was far from being always consistent with himself. Thus he reasoned that since in the spoken drama but one speaker is heard at a time, the same practice should prevail in the music drama, which would naturally do away with all concerted music, choruses, etc. This rule he observed in The Ring of the Nibelungen , but he wisely abandoned it in his later works. In Die Meistersinger he also failed to follow his theory that mythical and legendary subjects were the only suitable material for the music drama....
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During the period after Mozart to the beginning of the Romantic movement, one name alone attains the first rank—that of Beethoven. At the same time there are several epoch-making pianists, whose compositions display talent rather than genius, but who have each rendered indisputable service in accomplishing the transition from the classic to the romantic composers. The landmarks, so to speak, of this period are Clementi, Cramer, Hummel, Czerny, Moscheles and Field. Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) was born at Rome. His father was quick to perceive his son’s gift for music, and strove to develop it by the best teaching available. While he was still a lad, an Englishman, Bedford or Beckford, took young Clementi with him to England where he lived with his benefactor until 1770, perfecting himself in piano playing and composition. At his first appearances in London he created a furore, and from 1777-1780 he conducted at the piano...
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The rise of the Romantic school involves a greater freedom in form, a fuller play of poetry and imagination, a general artistic evolution and independence in comparison with the formality of the Classic period. The struggle to establish these principles was long and obstinate, but the outcome was as inevitable as the victory won by Beethoven’s sonata and symphonic forms over the more primitive types of Haydn and Mozart. The first departures from the classic attitude were made by Schubert, whose influence has been permanent in the development of romanticism. Schubert’s Early Life (1797-1816).—Franz Peter Schubert was born in a suburb of Vienna, January 31, 1797. At an early age he had lessons on the violin from his father, who was a school teacher, and on the piano, from his elder brother. He so quickly outstripped both teachers that he was sent to Michael Holzer, choir-master of the parish, who...
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The influence which Mendelssohn exercised during two-thirds of the 19th century among the more conservative German musicians and in England was nothing short of extraordinary. He undoubtedly gave great impetus to the study of the classic masters, especially Bach, and his romantic tendencies were so balanced and controlled as to gain a speedy recognition for his music. Today, Mendelssohn the classicist is less admired, and his music will live chiefly for its romantic qualities. Mendelssohn’s Life .—Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy [15] was born at Hamburg, February 3, 1809. His father, a prosperous banker, moved to Berlin in 1811. His first lessons in music were given him by his mother, but he soon began to study the piano with Ludwig Berger, a pupil of Clementi, and composition with Zelter. In 1820, he began to compose systematically. In 1821, he made the acquaintance of Weber, and his enthusiasm for the romantic composer...
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The Romantic Movement before Schumann .—Schubert gave a decided impetus to the Romantic movement through his spontaneous melody and deep fund of imagination. He infused poetry into the classic forms, his piano works in the small forms showed the way to future achievement in these lines, but especially he founded German song, which had scarcely been hinted at by Mozart and Beethoven. Although Weber extended the province of piano technic, and exhibited further possibilities of romantic feeling in combination with the rondo and sonata forms, his chief work was the realization of German opera, elsewhere described. But still another German was destined to contribute richly to romantic piano literature, to prove no mean successor to Schubert in the province of song, and to add further proofs of his genius in chamber-music, choral works and the symphony. Schumann’s Early life .—Robert Alexander Schumann was born at Zwickau, in Saxony, June 8,...
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Schumann and Chopin .—Among Schumann’s many able reviews of new music, showing the keenest critical insight, none exhibit a more just appreciation of an original talent than his article on some variations by a young composer who was destined to exert so deep and widespread an influence on piano style and piano composition. Chopin’s romanticism, somewhat affected at first by both Hummel and Field, is one of the most individual developments of the entire period. Chopin’s Early life .—Frederic Chopin was born at Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw, in Poland, on March 1, 1809. His father, who had served in various positions as a teacher, finally established a boarding-school in Warsaw. Chopin showed great sensitiveness towards music at an early age. His first lessons on the piano were given him by a Polish teacher of some celebrity, Adalbert Zwyny. He soon became famous as a pianist, and from the age of nine,...
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The piano music of Chopin and Schumann reached the highest level attained during the Romantic period, in subtle originality of style and deep human sentiment, respectively. Notwithstanding their preëminence in these particulars, a master was destined to come who summed up the entire development of piano technic in his achievements, the greatest virtuoso of the century, to whose influence all piano playing since has been obliged to acknowledge its indebtedness. In addition, his services in breaking away from symphonic tradition, in achieving propaganda for various composers of epoch-making works, including Wagner, in giving up himself as teacher without remuneration, are equally significant. Liszt’s Early Life .—Franz Liszt was born October 22, 1811, at Raiding, Hungary. His mother was of Austrian birth; his father, a Hungarian, occupying an official position on the estates of Prince Esterhazy, was devoted to music. Liszt was a somewhat delicate child of acute sensibilities, especially in...
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Liszt was undoubtedly the greatest revealer of the secrets of piano playing in the 19th century, and his pupils and those who have assimilated his teachings occupy a large part of the pianistic activity of today. Among the first of Liszt’s pupils to become famous were Tausig and von Bülow. Carl Tausig , born in 1841, died in 1871, was trained by his father, and later studied with Liszt, under whose guidance he achieved a phenomenal accuracy of technic, and a commanding power of interpretation. His short life was spent mainly in concert tours. He established a school of music in Berlin for advanced piano playing. His untimely death cut short a brilliant career. His edition of Clementi’s Gradus and a collection of finger exercises are invaluable to teachers and to students. Hans von Bülow , born in 1830, died 1894, was intended for the law, although he studied the...
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Of a somewhat independent development from Liszt, although much influenced by his personality and his method, was Anton Rubinstein , born in 1829, died in 1894. He studied the piano at Moscow with Villoing, who gave him so thorough a training that he had no other teacher. From 1840, after concerts in Paris, he had universal recognition as a pianist. Further European tours increased his fame. He lived successively in Berlin and Vienna, and later returned to St. Petersburg. In 1872-73, he made a remarkable tour through America, arousing an enthusiasm only equalled in later years by Paderewski. Although he passed most of his life in constant activity as a composer, he directed the Russian Symphony Concerts in St. Petersburg. As early as 1862 he founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory, which has had a prominent place in Russian music. He was a complete master of the piano, his technic was...
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In presenting the famous French pianists, Charles Henri Valentine Alkan , born 1813, died 1888, must not be forgotten. A brilliant pianist, he claims our attention chiefly on account of his etudes, introducing novel and extremely difficult problems of technic. Musically his studies cannot be compared with those of Chopin or Liszt, but they merit attention, particularly in the modern editions. Although Camille Saint-Saëns is known chiefly as a composer, he was, during his early years, a remarkable pianist. His contributions to piano literature, five concertos, etudes and smaller pieces, are all valuable. A group of Paris Conservatory professors constitute the most distinguishing teaching talent in France today. Further than that, Paris is one of the great centres of piano playing in Europe. Its teachers follow their own traditions, yet have assimilated from Liszt. The oldest of these is Georges Mathias (b. 1826), pupil of Chopin, Kalkbrenner and the Paris...
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The rapid progress of music in America renders it impossible to do justice to piano playing in this country. However, the pioneer work of William Mason , a pupil of Moscheles, Dreyschock and Liszt, active as pianist and teacher, the author of “Touch and Technic” and other technical treatises; of B. J. Lang, a pupil of his father, F. C. Hill, Salter and Alfred Jaell, an active pianist, teacher, and conductor, of W. S. B. Mathews, Otto Dresel, Ernst Perabo, and others, was of great importance. Later Carl Baermann , a Liszt pupil, Carl Faelten, William Sherwood , also a Liszt pupil, Carl Stasny, Arthur Whiting, Edward MacDowell and many others have continued the work so ably begun. Edward MacDowell is easily the most noted American composer-pianist. His technical equipment, personality, and interpretative gifts justly entitle him to this distinction. A pupil of Mme. Carreño, Marmontel and Carl Heymann, he...
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Of the many distinguished women pianists since Liszt, the most eminent was Mme. Clara Schumann , a pupil of her father, Friedrich Wieck. She played in public from the age of thirteen, winning instant recognition. Her marriage to Schumann diminished her public activity, but after his death in 1856, she resumed her career. She taught at the Hoch Conservatory at Frankfort, besides playing in public in Europe and England. Among other famous women pianists were Madame Clauss-Szavardy, Mme. Arabella Goddard Davidson , and Mme. Sophie Menter. Mme. Teresa Carreño , a pupil of L. M. Gottschalk and G. Mathias, has had a remarkable career as concert-pianist. Mme. Essipoff , a pupil of Wielhorski and Leschetizky, taught for many years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, after brilliant concert tours. Miss Fanny Davies, a pupil of Reinecke and Mme. Schumann, Mme. Roger-Miclos and Mlle. Clotilde Kleeberg, pupils of the Paris Conservatory, are...
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Development of the Art-Song Idea .—A most significant phase of musical activity is that centred around the art-song for solo voice. In the period before the opera, choral singing was the principal medium for vocal music. With the Opera came a style of composition from which was developed the principle of the Aria, the latter dominating both Opera and Oratorio for many years, as the form for an art-song for a solo voice. In this form, as we have seen, the production of vocal effects, the making of attractive melody, and the opportunity for virtuosic display were sought first of all. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century, when Schubert’s peculiar genius asserted itself, that we meet what can be truly called the art-song, a form of composition without the artificiality of the operatic aria and with higher musicianly and artistic qualities than those that mark the...
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Wagner’s Influence .—The genius of Wagner produced and applied to Opera a far richer and more complicated orchestration than had existed before his day. Since then, in many periods and in many countries, composers have tried to adopt his style, and apply it to the symphonic as well as to the operatic stage. In the field of purely orchestral music, Liszt and Berlioz had already formulated a free style, and their symphonic poems, departing from the set form of the symphony, have also served as models for later composers. Almost the only recent exponent of the strict form was Johannes Brahms, for Anton Bruckner, working on similar lines, did not achieve great success with the public. Richard Strauss .—For many years it was thought that Wagner’s orchestration would remain unrivalled in the field of music. But Richard Strauss (born at Munich, Germany, 1864) has made a further advance in this...
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Goldmark .—Among those opera composers who are not direct imitators of Wagner, Carl Goldmark (Keszthely, Hungary, 1830) is the most noted. Son of a cantor in a synagogue, he showed decided musical taste while still a child, and at twelve played the violin in public. After a few conservatory lessons at Vienna, he was forced to make his own way, and live on the small salary obtained in theatre orchestras. He taught himself piano and singing, and was soon able to teach others also. He trained himself by reading the scores of the great master-works. In purely orchestral composition, his first success came with the “Sakuntala” overture, inspired by the story of the Oriental nymph of that name, who is wooed, forgotten, and found again by the Indian king, Dushianta. Later overtures are “Penthesilea,” “Spring,” “Prometheus Bound,” and “Italy.” Goldmark wrote two symphonies, the first (“Rustic Wedding”) resembling a suite...
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Saint-Saëns .—The end of the 19th century in France has been marked by a decided contrast between the old and the new, Saint-Saëns and Massenet writing in the older style, while the pupils of Franck have striven after novelty in effect. Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (Paris, France, 1835) witnessed the rise and fall of Meyerbeer, and the triumphs of Gounod, and was himself famous before the influence of Wagner reached France. His style is marked by great diversity, and displays equal skill in many different veins; but his music always shows the utmost facility of expression, a mastery of the technic of composing, and a remarkable ease and fluency. His has been a true musical development, founded on rational lines. He was always a warm admirer of Bach, Beethoven, and the Classical school, and while he appreciated Liszt, Wagner and other modern masters, he did not abandon the old ideas of form...
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Musical Decadence .—When a nation clings to its own musical ideas, and persistently disregards the growth and progress of other nations, it usually enters upon a period of decay. This is what took place in Italy during the 19th century, and the country that produced Palestrina and the Scarlattis seemed for a time to understand nothing but the trivial operatic melodies of Rossini’s successors. In 1850, there were scarcely any concert halls in the country, and even the churches were content with operatic airs set to sacred words. Soon after this, Pinelli tried to give an orchestral concert, with sixty musicians; and the box-office receipts left only fourteen francs with which to pay them. Sgambati produced a Beethoven symphony, but had to do it at his own expense. As late as 1879, Saint-Saëns, who gave an organ recital at Milan, found the organ scarcely fit for an artist to play...
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Music in England .—In the Middle Ages, the much-used art of Counterpoint was developed by the people of England and the Netherlands. In the Elizabethan age, the music of England was scarcely less important than her literature. Under Charles II, she could boast of Henry Purcell, one of the few great names in music. But in the 19th century her musical glory had faded, and sentimental songs and popular ballad-operas seemed all that she could produce. Her musical leaders went bravely to work, importing such composers as Mendelssohn and Wagner, and building up great music schools. There was, however, no high standard of taste in the country, so the task proceeded slowly. A race that is gifted with real love of music, and possesses worthy Folk-songs, can easily develop great composers; but England, like the United States, is too commercial for the best results. Dvořák once said of the English...
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The Influence of Folk-Music .—Some races are endowed with a better musical taste than others. Among these favored peoples the Folk-song, the music that appeals directly to the popular heart, needs only the touch of a gifted composer to fashion it into a great national school. In the case of England and Belgium, we have seen that even the most thorough musical education cannot wholly atone for a lack of real public taste in music. Scotland, possessing a wealth of beautiful Folk-songs, has not yet given birth to a composer who can employ its style in larger forms. But in Bohemia and the countries of Northern Europe, the Folk-music has not only been worthy in itself, but has been properly developed and amplified by gifted composers. Smetana .—František Škroup (1801-1862) composed many popular Bohemian Volkslieder , and wrote the first national opera, but the real founder of the Bohemian school...
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Folk-Music in Russia .—The Slav nature differs greatly from that of the races of Western Europe, and this difference appears also in the Slavonic music. For a proper understanding of the Russian Folk-songs, the student should be familiar with the country and its history, its vast steppes, its lonely summers and dreary winters, and the patient poverty of its long-suffering peasants. It is rich in legendary lore, and the poetry of Pushkin and Gogol has wrought the wild beauty of these tales into permanent form. The popular melodies trace their origin back to pagan times, and show infinite variety. There are epic chants, songs of weddings and funerals, and weirdly beautiful cradle-songs, Their delicate, capricious rhythm, and their strangeness of harmony and cadence, possess the utmost attraction. At times the songs are strong and savage, at times tranquil and majestic, or brisk and graceful; but usually they are tinged with...
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The Cavaliers and the Puritans .—The English settlers who came to this country and located at Jamestown, and their successors, brought with them from their home the songs they sang there—gay songs, cavalier songs, love-ditties and the countryside tunes; but they left them at this, making no attempt to adapt them to their new surroundings. Indeed, it was as much a matter of fashion to be able to play or to sing some new ballad just brought from London as it was to have the latest fashion in dress. The Cavaliers were not the people to give a distinctive tone to music in their adopted home. The stern, severe, religious atmosphere of the New England Colonies did more for the beginnings of American music, although the first efforts were unpromising enough, since the Puritans discountenanced all music except that of Psalm tunes, which were probably sung in unison, since at...
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American Music Still Young .—Musical composition in the United States is still too young in comparison with the work of European composers to have made marked impress on history. American composers owe their training largely to European teachers, the models upon which they have based their work come from European art, and the principles of construction were developed by the European masters. Hence the disposition to view American composition as still in a state of pupilage. Yet the record shows a number of men who have done worthy work, many of them winning far more than a local reputation, and not a few enjoying international fame. And this work, especially such as is cast in the large forms, for orchestra, chamber-music or chorus with orchestra, is the product of the years since the close of the Civil War, a very short period, indeed, when compared with the story of composition...
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Cantata Composers .—A number of American composers have turned their attention to composition in opera and cantata forms. Some of the composers already mentioned have written works of this character. The first of American composers to work in the field of the cantata was J. C. D. Parker , born in Boston, in 1828, a graduate of Harvard, and a teacher with many years of splendid work to his credit. His musical education was received at Leipzig. In 1854, he located in Boston and took up a varied career as organist, conductor, and teacher of piano and harmony, at the New England Conservatory. His large works include a cantata, “Redemption Hymn,” a secular cantata, “The Blind King,” and two works in oratorio form “St. John” and “The Life of Man,” the latter showing him at his strongest. Dudley Buck , organist, composer and teacher, is also one of the veterans...
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Early Musical Education .—The training of students in music has been the special care of the greatest men connected with the art, a subject close to the heart of men of rank and of means, and the object of Governmental and municipal subvention. In most of the countries and many of the larger cities of Europe, Art is considered a legitimate object for public aid and fostering, and music receives a fair share of funds set aside for that purpose. In the period before the Christian Era, musical education was carried on to prepare singers and players either for the religious service, and in the hands of the priests, or for entertainment and by slaves. Pope Sylvester founded a school for singers, at Rome, in the 4th century, and the Church all through its history has laid stress on means for training executants for its musical services. Guido of Arezzo,...