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Stories Of Symphonic Music

Lawrence Gilman

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Stories of SYMPHONIC MUSIC

Stories of SYMPHONIC MUSIC

A GUIDE TO THE MEANING OF IMPORTANT SYMPHONIES, OVERTURES, AND TONE-POEMS FROM BEETHOVEN TO THE PRESENT DAY BY LAWRENCE GILMAN AUTHOR OF "PHASES OF MODERN MUSIC" "THE MUSIC OF TO-MORROW" ETC. NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS MCMVII...

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PREFACE

PREFACE

Most concert-goers have observed, at performances of modern orchestral works of a descriptive character, the efforts of many persons in the audience to extract from programme notes and analyses information as to the dramatic or pictorial or poetic meaning of the music to which they were listening. A search for enlightenment under such conditions necessarily leads to disappointment, since it is either pursued distractedly while the music is actually in progress, or during the brief and unpropitio

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THE ORCHESTRA AS POET, PAINTER, AND DRAMATIST

THE ORCHESTRA AS POET, PAINTER, AND DRAMATIST

"How can an orchestra, without the aid of voices or pantomime or scenery, tell the story of Don Quixote, paint a picture of the sea, or describe the visions of a dying man?" asks an intelligent but somewhat puzzled layman. "I have always thought of instrumental music," he goes on to say, "as the art of arranging tones according to more or less binding laws of design and effect; and yet I hear constant talk nowadays of the 'expressive capacity' of music, its ability to paint pictures, tell storie

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TONE-POEM, "THE WITCH OF ATLAS" [3]

TONE-POEM, "THE WITCH OF ATLAS" [3]

This tone-poem is noteworthy, aside from its intrinsic quality, for the completeness with which it fulfils the obligations imposed by logic and consistency upon the writer of programme-music. Here is an orchestral work inspired by certain portions of Shelley's poem—a musical illustration of various passages which in themselves contain the imaginative essence of that extraordinary fantasy. But the composer has not been content merely to tell us that his music is a tone-poem "after Shelley"; he ha

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PRELUDE, "SAPPHO"[7]

PRELUDE, "SAPPHO"[7]

This is an orchestral preface to nine fragments from Sappho set to music for contralto and orchestra, and "indicating," says the composer, "emotional moods of the Greek poetess as an introduction to her songs." The verses set to music by Mr. Bantock are (1) the famous Hymn to Aphrodite, and the fragments beginning as follows: (2) "I loved thee once, Atthis, long ago"; [8] (3) "Evening, thou bringest all"; (4) "Stand face to face, friend"; (5) "The moon has set"; (6) "Peer of Gods he seems"; (7)

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SYMPHONY No. 3. "EROICA": Op. 55

SYMPHONY No. 3. "EROICA": Op. 55

On the score of the MS. of Beethoven's "Eroica Symphony" in the Bibliothek at Vienna appear these words: "Sinfonia grande Napoleon Bonaparte...." and thereby hang many tales. Anton Schindler, [11] the close friend and biographer of Beethoven, wrote at length in his famous Life of the symphonist concerning the origin of the Eroica . In the autumn of 1802, says Schindler, Beethoven resumed a plan which he had formed of doing homage to Napoleon, the hero of the day, "in a grand instrumental work,"

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OVERTURE TO "CORIOLANUS": Op. 62

OVERTURE TO "CORIOLANUS": Op. 62

This overture, composed in 1807, was published in the following year. The original manuscript is inscribed: " Overtura (Zum Trauerspiel Coriolan), composta da L. v. Beethoven ." The "tragedy" here indicated for which it was written is not the "Coriolanus" of Shakespeare, but the "Coriolan" of Heinrich Joseph von Collin, a contemporary of Beethoven, who filled the post of Secretary at the Austrian Court. In their main outlines, the plays of Collin and of Shakespeare are alike, with, however, this

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SYMPHONY No. 6, "PASTORAL": Op. 68

SYMPHONY No. 6, "PASTORAL": Op. 68

The "Pastoral" symphony, composed in the summer of 1808, is the first example of symphonic programme-music by a great master. Its illustrative purpose is frankly proclaimed by the descriptive titles which head the separate movements as follows: 1. AWAKENING OF JOYFUL IMPRESSIONS ON ARRIVING IN THE COUNTRY ( Allegro ma non troppo ) 2. SCENE BY THE BROOK ( Andante molto moto ) 3. MERRY GATHERING OF COUNTRY-FOLK ( Allegro ) 4. THUNDER-STORM 5. SHEPHERD'S SONG; GLAD AND THANKFUL FEELINGS AFTER THE S

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OVERTURE TO "EGMONT": Op. 84

OVERTURE TO "EGMONT": Op. 84

Beethoven's incidental music to Goethe's "Egmont" was commissioned by Hartl, manager of the court theatres at Vienna. The overture, composed in 1810, was performed for the first time, together with the rest of the incidental music, at a performance of the play at the Hofburg Theatre, on May 24, 1810. The overture was published in the following year. The dramatic significance of this music has been pithily summarized by Mr. Philip Hale: "The overture is at first a mighty lamentation. There are th

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OVERTURE TO "KING LEAR": Op. 4

OVERTURE TO "KING LEAR": Op. 4

Berlioz, a sincere and ardent admirer of the genius of Shakespeare, wrote his overture to "King Lear" at Nice and at Rome in the spring of 1831. Although the work bears an early opus number, it stands, in order of composition, between the Symphonie fantastique (Op. 14-a, 1830) and Lélio (Op. 14-b, 1831-1832). Berlioz had seen his innamorata , Henrietta Smithson, [14] play Shakespearian rôles at the Odéon , Paris, in 1827. He was profoundly impressed. "Shakespeare," he wrote afterwards, with char

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FANTASTIC SYMPHONY: Op. 14-a

FANTASTIC SYMPHONY: Op. 14-a

1. DREAMS, PASSIONS ( Largo ) ( Allegro agitato e appassionato assai ) 2. A BALL ( Waltz: Allegro non troppo ) 3. SCENE IN THE FIELDS ( Adagio ) 4. MARCH TO THE SCAFFOLD ( Allegretto non troppo ) 5. WALPURGIS NIGHT'S DREAM ( Larghetto ) ( Allegro ) This Symphonie fantastique , in five movements, constitutes the first part of a work entitled by Berlioz "Episode in the Life of an Artist." The second part, a "lyric monodrama," is entitled "Lélio; or, The Return to Life." The Symphonie fantastique w

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"HAROLD IN ITALY"

"HAROLD IN ITALY"

SYMPHONY IN FOUR MOVEMENTS, WITH VIOLA SOLO: Op. 16 1. HAROLD IN THE MOUNTAINS; SCENES OF MELANCHOLY, HAPPINESS, AND JOY ( Adagio ) ( Allegro ) 2. MARCH OF PILGRIMS SINGING THEIR EVENING HYMN ( Allegretto ) 3. SERENADE OF A MOUNTAINEER OF THE ABRUZZI TO HIS MISTRESS ( Allegro assai ) ( Allegretto ) 4. ORGY OF BRIGANDS; RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRECEDING SCENES ( Allegro frenetico ) Upon the romanticists in France—"the heroic boys of 1830," as William Ernest Henley called them—the influence of Byron

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SUITE FROM "L'ARLÉSIENNE," No. 1[19]

SUITE FROM "L'ARLÉSIENNE," No. 1[19]

Bizet was commissioned to write incidental music for the performance at the Vaudeville Theatre , Paris, of Alphonse Daudet's three-act play "L'Arlésienne." The play and Bizet's music were given at the Vaudeville on October 1, 1872, and withdrawn after fifteen performances. Bizet's music comprised twenty-seven numbers. After the failure of the Vaudeville production, the composer arranged various numbers out of the twenty-seven in the form of a suite, and these were performed at a Pasdeloup concer

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DRAMATIC OVERTURE, "MELPOMENE"[22]

DRAMATIC OVERTURE, "MELPOMENE"[22]

Chadwick's three principal overtures, "Melpomene," "Adonais," and "Euterpe," belong to that somewhat anomalous class of modern works which occupy a place on the border-line between programme music and "absolute" music—music which, while constructed according to the classic rules of design rather than in conformity with a poetic or dramatic scheme, is yet devoted to the expression of some mood or idea more definite than that which one looks for in music that is admittedly "absolute." In the "Melp

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ELEGIAC OVERTURE, "ADONAIS" [24]

ELEGIAC OVERTURE, "ADONAIS" [24]

The score of this overture, completed in 1899, bears the following inscription: "In memoriam Frank Fay Marshall, obiit July 26, 1897." Its emotional kinship with the great threnody of Shelley is indicated in the title and in the character of the music. It might fittingly bear as motto these incomparable lines from Shelley's poem, which voice in words the precise emotion which has seemed to shape the utterances of the musician: "Oh, weep for Adonais—he is dead! Wake, melancholy Mother, wake and w

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CONCERT OVERTURE, "EUTERPE" [25]

CONCERT OVERTURE, "EUTERPE" [25]

It has been said authoritatively that this overture (composed in 1903) follows no definite programmatic plan; that the spirit which animates it is adequately suggested by the title. Euterpe, it will be recalled, was the fourth daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Her province among the Muses has been admirably stated by Thomas Heywood, that seventeenth-century Englishman of amazing literary fecundity and erudition. [26] "Euterpe," he wrote in 1624, "is called the goddess of pleasantness and jollities

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SYMPHONIC POEM, "CLEOPATRA" [28]

SYMPHONIC POEM, "CLEOPATRA" [28]

The narrative of Plutarch, rather than the play of Shakespeare, has served as the dramatic and poetic basis of this musical embodiment of the tragic history of Antony and Cleopatra. The composer has gone for his basic material to Plutarch's Life of Antony, from which, according to an authorized exposition, "those situations having the most direct reference to Cleopatra have been chosen for musical suggestion, although the action of the tragedy is not literally followed." Those phases of the tale

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SUITE, "IMPRESSIONS OF ITALY"[29]

SUITE, "IMPRESSIONS OF ITALY"[29]

1. SERENADE ( Assez vite ) 2. AT THE FOUNTAIN ( Tranquille, assez lent ) 3. ON MULEBACK ( Allegretto; andantino ) 4. ON THE SUMMITS ( Moderato ) 5. NAPLES ( Allegro non troppo ) Charpentier, a pupil of the Paris Conservatoire, won the Prix de Rome of 1887, and while at the Villa Medici, Rome, composed the suite Impressions d'Italie . The following explanatory programme, written by Alfred Ernst, the late French music-critic, translator, and historian, is illuminating and trustworthy: "I. SERENADE

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SYMPHONIC POEM, "VIVIANE": Op. 5

SYMPHONIC POEM, "VIVIANE": Op. 5

The subject of Chausson's symphonic poem is not the familiarly known Vivien of Tennyson—"treacherous, malignant, wanton"—but the vastly different Viviane of the old French legends. This delectable creature, the legendary woman who fired the imagination of Chausson, was a fairy who inhabited the forest of Brocéliande. [31] "More beautiful than the snow-necked swan," she typified the beneficence of nature. Merlin, "the old seer that knew the future as well as the past"—Merlin, who was, at various

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"THE FESTIVAL OF PAN," ROMANCE FOR ORCHESTRA: Op. 9

"THE FESTIVAL OF PAN," ROMANCE FOR ORCHESTRA: Op. 9

This symphonic poem, composed in 1899, is the first of a series of "romances" suggested to the composer by scenes in Keats's "Endymion." What portions of the poem inspired this particular work Mr. Converse has not avowed; yet the statement is responsibly made that "emphasis is thrown upon the contrast between Endymion's melancholy and the joyous pomp of the festival of Pan"; it may not, therefore, be inapt to quote those portions of Keats' poem which set forth this situation: "Now while the sile

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"ENDYMION'S NARRATIVE," ROMANCE FOR ORCHESTRA: Op. 10

"ENDYMION'S NARRATIVE," ROMANCE FOR ORCHESTRA: Op. 10

This is the second of Mr. Converse's symphonic poems, or "romances," based upon scenes in the "Endymion" of Keats (the first, "The Festival of Pan," is described in the preceding pages). "Endymion's Narrative" was composed in 1901. The following explanation of the purpose of the music was given by the composer at the time of the first performance of the work by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1903: "... As I have remarked on the title-pages of these works, they were suggested by certain scenes

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"NIGHT" AND "DAY," TWO POEMS FOR PIANOFORTE[33] AND ORCHESTRA: Op. 11

"NIGHT" AND "DAY," TWO POEMS FOR PIANOFORTE[33] AND ORCHESTRA: Op. 11

These tone-poems, composed in 1904, derive their inspiration from lines by Walt Whitman, which serve as mottoes for the music. For the first of the two, "Night," he has chosen this line from "A Clear Midnight" (in the section, "From Noon to Starry Night"): "This is thy hour, O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless." "This," wrote Mr. Converse to the compiler of the Boston Symphony programme-books at the time of the first performance of the two poems, [34] "expresses quite completely the mood w

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CONCERT OVERTURE, "EUPHROSYNE" [36]: Op. 15

CONCERT OVERTURE, "EUPHROSYNE" [36]: Op. 15

This overture, composed in 1903, is prefaced in the score with these lines from Milton's "L'Allegro": "But come thou goddess fair and free, In Heaven ycleped Euphrosyne, And by men, heart-easing Mirth." It has no other programme....

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FANTASY, "THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER": Op. 19

FANTASY, "THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER": Op. 19

This work was composed in 1903-04. The poem by Whitman which has served the composer as his poetic point of departure is contained in the section of Leaves of Grass called "From Noon to Starry Night." The music is intended as an expression of the emotional and poetic substance of the poem. "I wished," the composer has said, "to use the elemental phases of the poem: mystery and peace; love; war or struggle; humiliation; and finally joy. So I divided the poem into five parts, and my music follows

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PRELUDE TO "THE AFTERNOON OF A FAUN"[37]

PRELUDE TO "THE AFTERNOON OF A FAUN"[37]

Debussy's prelude, composed in 1892, was the first of his representative works for orchestra. It was inspired, as he indicates in a sub-title, by the singular poem of the French symbolist, Stéphane Mallarmé, L'Après-Midi d'un Faune . This "eclogue," published in 1876, aroused fierce contention because of its obscurity and the uncompromising manner in which it exemplified Mallarmé's novel poetic method; which was, as Mr. Edmund Gosse has lucidly stated it, "to use words in such harmonious combina

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THREE NOCTURNES

THREE NOCTURNES

This suite was written in 1897-99. In date of composition it stands, so far as Debussy's more important works are concerned, between the opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1893-95) and the "symphonic sketches" La Mer (1903-05). The score bears no explanatory note or elucidation; but the following "programme" (which, it has been remarked, would itself seem to require elucidation) is said to have been supplied by the composer: "The title 'Nocturnes' is intended to have here a more general and, above all,

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"THE SEA," THREE SYMPHONIC SKETCHES

"THE SEA," THREE SYMPHONIC SKETCHES

1. FROM DAWN TILL NOON ON THE SEA ( De l'aube à midi sur la mer ) 2. FROLICS OF WAVES ( Jeux de vagues ) 3. DIALOGUE OF THE WIND AND THE SEA ( Dialogue du vent et de la mer ) La Mer ( trois esquisses symphoniques ) was composed in 1903-05. Debussy has supplied no programme other than that contained in the titles of the different movements. The music is broadly impressionistic, a tonal rendering of colors and odors, of voices imagined or perceived, no less than of moods and reveries. The comment

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"THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE" [42]

"THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE" [42]

L'Apprenti Sorcier , an "orchestral scherzo," is a paraphrase of Goethe's ballad, Der Zauberlehrling , beginning: "Hat der alte Hexenmeister Sich doch einmal wegbegeben! Und nun sollen seine Geister Auch nach meinem Willen leben!" The story upon which the poem is based is contained in a dialogue of Lucian's, "The Lie-fancier." Eucrates, so runs the story, became the disciple of the wizard Pancrates, whom Isis had educated in the art of magic. "When we came to an inn," relates Eucrates, "he would

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OVERTURE, "NATURE" [44]: Op. 91

OVERTURE, "NATURE" [44]: Op. 91

This overture is the first section of a tripartite work entitled "Nature, Life, Love," which was originally intended by Dvořák to be performed as a whole. The second division of this triple overture is known to-day as "Carnival" (Op. 92), the third as "Othello" (Op. 93). The three overtures were first performed at Prague, under the composer's direction, on April 28, 1892. Dvořák is said to be responsible for the ideas embodied in the following description of the poetic scheme of the "Triple Over

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OVERTURE, "CARNIVAL": Op. 92

OVERTURE, "CARNIVAL": Op. 92

This overture is Part II. ("Life") of Dvořák's "Triple Overture," "Nature, Life, Love" (see page 85). Its poetic significance has been set forth as follows, with, it is said, the authority of the composer: "If the first part of the overture ['Nature'] suggested 'Il Penseroso,' the second, with its sudden revulsion to wild mirth, cannot but call up the same poet's 'L'Allegro,' with its lines to 'Jest and youthful jollity.' The dreamer of the afternoon and evening has returned to scenes of human l

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OVERTURE, "OTHELLO": Op. 93

OVERTURE, "OTHELLO": Op. 93

"Othello" is Part III. ("Love") of Dvořák's "Triple Overture," "Nature, Life, Love" (see page 85). The official commentator who has been quoted in the preceding pages concerning the poetic content of the tripartite work wrote as follows of "Othello": "If the first two parts represented the impressions of Nature and Life as gay and stirring in general, the third overture lets Love appear as a serious and burning passion. The composer has tried to express some of the emotions engendered in him by

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SYMPHONIC POEM, "THE WOOD DOVE": Op. 110

SYMPHONIC POEM, "THE WOOD DOVE": Op. 110

This symphonic poem, composed after Dvořák's return to Bohemia from the United States in 1895, was published four years later. It is based upon "the like-named [47] ballad of C. J. Erben." Erben's ballad is founded on the Bohemian superstition that the souls of those who, while mortal, have lived godly lives, reappear on earth after death as white doves. The ballad tells a story which is a variant upon the ancient tale of the widow who found prompt solace in the soldier delegated to keep guard o

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VARIATIONS ON AN ORIGINAL THEME ("ENIGMA"): Op. 36

VARIATIONS ON AN ORIGINAL THEME ("ENIGMA"): Op. 36

These Variations have an inner history, or, rather, fourteen inner histories; but precisely what they are is a secret which is locked within the breast of Sir Edward Elgar and certain of his friends. The Variations are fourteen in number, and their purpose has been publicly avowed by the composer. In them, he says: "I have sketched ... the idiosyncrasies of fourteen of my friends; ... but this is a personal matter, and need not have been mentioned." The score bears the sub-title "Enigma," and is

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OVERTURE, "COCKAIGNE" ("IN LONDON TOWN"): Op. 40

OVERTURE, "COCKAIGNE" ("IN LONDON TOWN"): Op. 40

At the time of the first performance of this overture (at a London Philharmonic concert, June 20, 1901), the following outline of the dramatic significance of successive episodes in the music was put forth by Mr. Joseph Bennet, presumably with the authority of the composer: When the overture was first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (in November, 1901), Mr. Philip Hale included in his programme-notes this more detailed exposition: "The overture is a succession of scenes: it may be cal

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"DREAM CHILDREN," TWO PIECES FOR SMALL ORCHESTRA: Op. 43

"DREAM CHILDREN," TWO PIECES FOR SMALL ORCHESTRA: Op. 43

These pieces, published in 1902, are prefaced with the following quotation from the paper in Charles Lamb's Essays of Elia entitled "Dream Children; A Revery": "... And while I stood gazing, both the children gradually grew fainter to my view, receding, and still receding, till nothing at last but two mournful features were seen in the uttermost distance, which, without speech, strangely impressed upon me the effects of speech: 'We are not of Alice, [48] nor of thee, nor are we children at all..

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OVERTURE, "IN THE SOUTH" ("ALASSIO" [52]): Op. 50

OVERTURE, "IN THE SOUTH" ("ALASSIO" [52]): Op. 50

This overture was completed in 1904. These lines from Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" are quoted in the score: "Thou art the garden of the world." (Cantos IV., XXV., XXVI.) The music is said to have been "conceived on a glorious spring day in the Valley of Andora," and is meant "to suggest the Joy of Living in a balmy climate, under sunny skies, and amid surroundings in which the beauties of nature vie in interest with the remains and recollections of the great past of an enchanting country

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"LES ÉOLIDES," [53] SYMPHONIC POEM [54]

"LES ÉOLIDES," [53] SYMPHONIC POEM [54]

This symphonic poem, composed in 1876, was suggested by the opening lines of a poem by Leconte de Lisle, though the derivation is not avowed in the score. A prose translation of these lines may be given as follows: "O floating breezes of the skies, sweet breaths of lovely spring, that with capricious kisses caress the hills and the plains! "Virgins, daughters of Æolus, lovers of peace, eternal Nature wakens to your songs!" [55] Æolus was conceived by the Greeks to be a companion of the gods and

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"THE WILD HUNTSMAN," SYMPHONIC POEM [57]

"THE WILD HUNTSMAN," SYMPHONIC POEM [57]

Le Chasseur Maudit , composed in 1883, tells the story of Bürger's ballad, Der Wilde Jäger . This argument, in prose, is prefaced to the score: "'Twas a Sunday morning; far away resounded the joyous sound of bells and the joyous chants of the crowd.... Sacrilege! The savage Count of the Rhine has winded his horn. "Halloo! Halloo! The chase rushes over corn-fields, moors, and meadows.—'Stop, Count, I entreat you; hear the pious chants!'—No! Halloo! Halloo!—'Stop, Count, I implore you; take care!'

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SUITE, "PSYCHE" [59]

SUITE, "PSYCHE" [59]

Franck composed in 1887-88 a symphony for chorus and orchestra entitled "Psyché," the text of which is credited to Messrs. Sicard and Fourchard. In 1900 four parts of the work, written for orchestra alone, were extracted and published in the form of a suite, with the titles quoted above. The tale of Cupid and Psyche, as told by Apuleius in "The Golden Ass," has been thus admirably paraphrased by Mr. H. E. Krehbiel: "Psyche was a mortal, the daughter of a king, whose beauty was so great that she

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"THE DJINNS," SYMPHONIC POEM FOR ORCHESTRA AND PIANO [60]

"THE DJINNS," SYMPHONIC POEM FOR ORCHESTRA AND PIANO [60]

Les Djinns was written in illustration of lines from Victor Hugo's Les Orientales , which, translated into prose, are as follows: "In the plain is born a sound; 'tis the breathing of the night. "The sound draws near. It grows louder! Heavens! It is the galloping of the Djinns. "It is their funeral plaint. Hark to them! Cries of Hell! Voices that howl and weep! "They depart, ... but the air groans again. Then silence. "All passes away, and space swallows up the sound." The Djinns (or Jinns, from

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"STENKA RÂZINE," SYMPHONIC POEM: Op. 13

"STENKA RÂZINE," SYMPHONIC POEM: Op. 13

Stenka Râzine (or Râzin), the subject of Glazounoff's symphonic poem, was a Cossack rebel and outlaw who flourished in the seventeenth century. In 1667 he was elected leader of the insurgent Cossacks, and, after a tumultuous career of plunder and devastation, was finally executed at Moscow in 1671. He is the hero of numerous Russian ballads, and Nikolai Kostomaroff, in 1859, made him the subject of one of his famous historical monographs. In the legend selected by Glazounoff for musical treatmen

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"THE KREMLIN," SYMPHONIC PICTURE IN THREE PARTS: Op. 30

"THE KREMLIN," SYMPHONIC PICTURE IN THREE PARTS: Op. 30

This "symphonic picture" (composed in 1890) is a delineation, in three sections, of scenes associated in the imagination of the composer with the historic and picturesque citadel at Moscow. They are arranged and titled as follows: I. POPULAR FEAST (Scenes of festivity, the music based on or suggested by Russian folk-songs.) II. IN THE MONASTERY (There are, first, passages of religious character; then a section of contrasted quality, with a suggestion of temple gongs and Oriental color.) III. ENT

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OVERTURE, "SAKUNTALA": Op. 13

OVERTURE, "SAKUNTALA": Op. 13

This overture, which made its composer famous, has been in the European concert repertory since 1865 (in December of which year it was performed for the first time in Vienna), and in that of America since 1877. The music is conceived as a commentary on Kalidassa's famous Indian drama, "Sakuntala," the story of which is outlined as follows in a preface printed in the score: "Sakuntala, the daughter of a nymph, is brought up in a penitentiary grove by the chief of a sacred caste of priests as his

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"RUSTIC WEDDING" SYMPHONY (No. 1): Op. 26

"RUSTIC WEDDING" SYMPHONY (No. 1): Op. 26

1. WEDDING MARCH, WITH VARIATIONS ( Moderato molto ) 2. BRIDAL SONG ( Allegretto ) 3. SERENADE ( Allegretto moderato, scherzando ) 4. IN THE GARDEN ( Andante ) 5. DANCE: FINALE ( Allegretto molto ) Goldmark's Ländliche Hochzeit symphony, first performed at a Philharmonic concert in Vienna under Hans Richter in March, 1876, is rather a suite than a symphony. The picturesque significance of the various movements, which bear an obvious relationship to the central idea expressed in the title, may be

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SUITE (No. 1), "PEER GYNT" [62]

SUITE (No. 1), "PEER GYNT" [62]

1. MORNING MOOD ( Allegretto pastorale ) 2. THE DEATH OF AASE ( Andante doloroso ) 3. ANITRA'S DANCE ( Tempo di Mazurka ) 4. IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING ( Marcia e molto marcato ) This is the first, as it is the more famous and frequently played, of the two orchestral suites arranged by Grieg from the incidental music which he wrote, at Ibsen's suggestion, for the latter's singular drama, "Peer Gynt." The story of the play, in the form in which it was given by Ibsen to Grieg for musical acc

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TONE-POEM, "SALOME": Op. 55

TONE-POEM, "SALOME": Op. 55

This tone-poem, "after Oscar Wilde's tragedy," is said to have been completed before the production of Richard Strauss's music-drama on the same subject. [64] It is alleged that when Mr. Hadley's music was composed (it was published at Berlin in the latter part of 1906), the "Salome" of Strauss was unknown to him. The score contains the following programme, printed in German and English: "Oscar Wilde's tragedy, 'Salome,' presents first a moonlight scene of Oriental beauty. Without the palace the

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SYMPHONY No. 2, in E MINOR: Op. 115

SYMPHONY No. 2, in E MINOR: Op. 115

This symphony was written in eulogy of the Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin (born in Bâle, October 16, 1827; died in San Domenico, near Florence, January 16, 1901), and in glorification of his highly imaginative and individual art. The original intention of the composer, it is said, was to name his score a "Böcklin" symphony, and to give to various portions of the music the titles of certain of Böcklin's best-known canvases. This plan was, however, not adhered to, and now only the last movement—the

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ORCHESTRAL LEGEND, "THE ENCHANTED FOREST": Op. 8

ORCHESTRAL LEGEND, "THE ENCHANTED FOREST": Op. 8

This work, which the composer calls a Legende-symphonie , is based on a ballad by Uhland entitled "Harald." It was composed in 1878. On a fly-leaf of the score is printed, in French, this paraphrase of Uhland's ballad: "Harald, the brave hero, rides at the head of his warriors. They go by the light of the moon through the wild forest, singing many a song of war. "Who rustle in ambush in the thickets? Who come down from the clouds and start from the torrent's foam? Who murmur in such harmonious t

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"SAUGEFLEURIE" ["WILD SAGE"], LEGEND FOR ORCHESTRA: Op. 21

"SAUGEFLEURIE" ["WILD SAGE"], LEGEND FOR ORCHESTRA: Op. 21

Saugefleurie, Legende d'après un conte de Robert de Bonnière , was composed in 1884. The tale upon which it is based is from the Contes des Fées of de Bonnière, excerpts from which are prefaced to the score. The story has been retold in English prose as follows: "Once upon a time a young and beautiful fairy, Saugefleurie, lived humbly and alone by the edge of a lake. The bank was covered with jonquils. She lived quietly in the trunk of a willow, and stirred from it no more than a pearl from its

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"ISTAR," SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS: Op. 42

"ISTAR," SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS: Op. 42

"Istar" was first performed in Brussels, under the direction of Eugène Ysaye, January 10, 1897. The music illustrates a French version of an ancient Babylonian poem, "Istar's Descent into Hades," the original of which is believed to have been in the library of Sardanapalus. The French version of the poem, which is printed as a preface to the score, has been translated as follows by Mr. W. F. Apthorp: "Towards the immutable land Istar, daughter of Sin, bent her steps, towards the abode of the dea

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"SUMMER DAY ON THE MOUNTAIN": Op. 61

"SUMMER DAY ON THE MOUNTAIN": Op. 61

Jour d'été à la montagne , a tone-poem in three parts (dated 1905, published in 1906, first performed in Paris, February 18, 1906), is based on a prose poem by Roger de Pampelonne. These quotations, in French, are prefaced to the score: "I. DAWN "Awake, dark phantoms! smile to heaven, majestically, for a ray in the Infinite rises and strikes your brow. One by one the folds of your great mantle are unrolled, and the first gleams, caressing the proud furrows [on your brow], spread over them an ins

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"TASSO: LAMENT AND TRIUMPH," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 2) [70]

"TASSO: LAMENT AND TRIUMPH," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 2) [70]

Tasso: Lamento e Trionfo , was conceived as a "symphonic prelude" to Goethe's drama "Tasso," and performed during the celebration at Weimar in 1849 of the centenary of the poet's birth. It was revised by Liszt in 1854, and published, in its present form, two years later. The score contains this preface by the composer: "In 1849 all Germany celebrated brilliantly the one-hundredth anniversary of Goethe's birth. At Weimar, where we then happened to dwell, the programme of the festival included a p

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"THE PRELUDES," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 3) [71]

"THE PRELUDES," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 3) [71]

Les Préludes , composed in 1854, is a tonal commentary on the thoughts contained in a passage from Lamartine's Méditations poetiques . The score bears as a preface an excerpt from the Méditations , which may be translated as follows: "What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown song of which the first solemn note is sounded by death? Love is the morning radiance of every heart; but in what human life have not the first ecstasies of awakening bliss been broken in upon by some s

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"ORPHEUS," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 4) [72]

"ORPHEUS," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 4) [72]

Orphée , composed in 1854, was conceived by Liszt at a time when he was engaged in conducting rehearsals of Gluck's opera "Orpheus" for performance at Weimar, and the completed symphonic poem was first played there, as a prelude to the opera of Gluck, on February 16,1854. The score contains a preface by Liszt which forms an admirable commentary on the spirit and temper of the music: "One day I had to conduct Gluck's 'Orpheus.' During the rehearsals it was well-nigh impossible for me to refrain f

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"MAZEPPA," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 6) [74]

"MAZEPPA," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 6) [74]

This symphonic poem, composed, in the early thirties, as a piano piece (it was published as No. 4 of the famous Études d'exécution transcendante ), was made over by Liszt for orchestra in 1850. Both originally and in its final shape the music is an illustration, not of the familiar poem of Byron, but of verses in Victor Hugo's Les Orientales . Hugo's lines, in French and German, preface the score. The following prose translation is by Mr. W. F. Apthorp: I "So, when Mazeppa, roaring and weeping,

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"FESTKLÄNGE," [75] SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 7) [76]

"FESTKLÄNGE," [75] SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 7) [76]

Liszt has supplied no programme of any kind to this symphonic poem (composed in 1851). The music has been variously interpreted. It has been said to be a "portrayal of scenes that illustrate some great national festival"—"a coronation, something surely of a royal character"; others have believed that it was composed to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary (occurring November 9, 1854) of the arrival in Weimar of Liszt's patroness and friend, the Grand-Duchess Marcia Paulowna, sister of the Tsar Nic

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"THE BATTLE OF THE HUNS," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 11) [78]

"THE BATTLE OF THE HUNS," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 11) [78]

In the summer of 1885 Liszt conceived the idea of setting music to a picture by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1855-1874), one of the set of six frescos on a wall of the Raczynski Gallery in the New Museum at Berlin. The subject of this picture "The Battle of the Huns" ( Hunnenschlacht ), is the legend which tells of the terrific aërial battle between the ghosts of the slain Huns and Romans after the struggle outside the walls of Rome, in 451, which engaged the forces of Attila and of Theodoric the Visig

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"THE IDEAL," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 12) [80]

"THE IDEAL," SYMPHONIC POEM (No. 12) [80]

Die Ideale , conceived in 1856, completed in 1857, is based on Schiller's poem of that title. The burden of the poem—which, to Lord Lytton, seemed "an elegy on departed youth"—has been set forth as follows: "The sweet belief in the dream-created beings of youth passes away; what once was divine and beautiful, after which we strove ardently, and which we embraced lovingly with heart and mind, becomes the prey of hard reality; already midway the boon companions—love, fortune, fame, and truth—leave

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"A FAUST SYMPHONY" [83]

"A FAUST SYMPHONY" [83]

1. FAUST ( Lento assai. Allegro impetuoso ) ( Allegro agitato ed appassionato assai ) 2. GRETCHEN ( Andante soave ) 3. MEPHISTOPHELES ( Allegro vivace ironico ) The full title of this "symphony" (composed in 1853-54, revised in 1857), which has been said to be "really a concatenation of three symphonic poems rather than a symphony, properly so-called," is (in translation), "A Faust Symphony; in Three Character-Pictures (after Goethe), for Grand Orchestra and Men's Chorus." The names of the "thre

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SYMPHONY AFTER DANTE'S "DIVINA COMMEDIA" [85]

SYMPHONY AFTER DANTE'S "DIVINA COMMEDIA" [85]

This symphony, begun in 1847-48, completed in 1855, is in two parts, the first wholly instrumental, the last having a choral ending. Prefixed to the published score is an introduction, interpretative and analytical, by Richard Pohl, which there is every reason to believe was inspired, as it was evidently sanctioned, by Liszt. Omitting certain not altogether essential passages of philosophic and æsthetic speculation, Pohl's elucidation is as follows: "When Liszt sought to mirror in music so gigan

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TWO EPISODES FROM LENAU'S "FAUST"

TWO EPISODES FROM LENAU'S "FAUST"

In 1858-59 Liszt composed two orchestral paraphrases of episodes from the "Faust" of Nicolaus Lenau (1802-1850)— Der nachtliche Zug ("The Nocturnal Procession") and Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke ("The Dance in the Village Tavern"). These two pieces he desired should be played together; there was, he admitted, "no thematic connection" between the two; "but, nevertheless, they belong together , owing to the contrast of ideas." In spite of Liszt's wish, however, the two pieces are seldom heard togeth

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"THE DEATH OF TINTAGILES" SYMPHONIC POEM: Op. 6

"THE DEATH OF TINTAGILES" SYMPHONIC POEM: Op. 6

La Mort de Tintagiles: Poème Dramatique (d'après le drame de M. Maeterlinck), [90] pour grand orchestre et viole d'amour , was composed in 1897. It was written originally for orchestra and two violas d'amore [91] obbligato, and was played in this form, for the first time, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, on January 8, 1898. The score was subsequently remodelled, the second viola-d'amore part being eliminated and the prominence of the remaining solo part reduced; the instrumentation throughout w

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"POEM" ["LA BONNE CHANSON"]: Op. 8

"POEM" ["LA BONNE CHANSON"]: Op. 8

In 1901 Loeffler wrote, as a companion piece to his Villanelle du Diable (see the following pages), an "aubade" for orchestra inspired by Paul Verlaine's ecstatic lines addressed to his bride, Mathilde Mauté, and printed in the volume of poems entitled La Bonne Chanson . [94] Loeffler's paraphrase was originally entitled Avant que tu ne t'en ailles , after the opening line of the poem; later this was changed to La Bonne Chanson ; the title finally chosen by the composer is the French of that giv

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"THE DEVIL'S VILLANELLE," SYMPHONIC FANTASIA: Op. 9

"THE DEVIL'S VILLANELLE," SYMPHONIC FANTASIA: Op. 9

La Villanelle du Diable, d'après un poème de M. Rollinat, Fantasie symphonique, pour grand orchestre et orgue , was composed in 1901. Its subject is Maurice Rollinat's [98] strange poem, La Villanelle du Diable . A "villanelle" (in the sense in which the term is used by Rollinat) is an old verse-form in which a couplet is followed by a refrain. In Rollinat's poem there are two alternating refrains, or burdens, which are united at the end. The first is: "Hell's a-burning, burning, burning." ( L'e

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"A PAGAN POEM," FOR ORCHESTRA AND PIANO: Op. 14

"A PAGAN POEM," FOR ORCHESTRA AND PIANO: Op. 14

This tone-poem was written originally (in 1901) for a small combination of instruments, [99] and was intended for performance as chamber-music. It was afterwards arranged for two pianos and three trumpets, and was performed in private in this form. In 1905-6 the work was recast in its present shape—for orchestra with piano. Its inspiration is derived from the Eighth Eclogue of Virgil, the subject of which consists of two love-songs, placed in the mouths of Damon and Alphesibœus. The poetic basis

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"LANCELOT AND ELAINE," SYMPHONIC POEM: Op. 25

"LANCELOT AND ELAINE," SYMPHONIC POEM: Op. 25

This symphonic poem was composed at Wiesbaden in 1886. The published score contains no indication of the specific moods, scenes, or incidents which gave rise to the music; there is merely the brief line: "After Tennyson," printed beneath the title. Yet it is known that MacDowell conceived his music to correspond, point by point, with certain definite happenings in the story of Lancelot and the Lily Maid of Astolat, as narrated by Tennyson; and this correspondence between the poem and the music i

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TWO FRAGMENTS (AFTER THE "SONG OF ROLAND"): Op. 30

TWO FRAGMENTS (AFTER THE "SONG OF ROLAND"): Op. 30

MacDowell, while living in Wiesbaden, Germany (from 1885 to 1888), projected a symphony on the subject of the Song of Roland, and a portion of it was composed; but the plan was afterwards abandoned, and the music which was to have formed part of the symphony was published, in 1891, in the form of two short tone-poems founded upon episodes in the poem, and entitled: Die Sarazenen ; Die schöne Aldâ: Zwei Fragmente (nach dem Rolandslied) für grosses Orchester . MacDowell has quoted on the fly-leaf

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SUITE (No. 2), "INDIAN": Op. 48

SUITE (No. 2), "INDIAN": Op. 48

This suite, in five movements, was composed in 1891-92. It is MacDowell's last and most important orchestral work. Its thematic material, as he acknowledges in a prefatory note to the score, is based upon melodies of the North American Indians, with the exception of a few subsidiary themes of his own invention. "If separate titles for the different movements are desired," he says in his note, "they should be arranged as follows [I give them here together with the expression marks at the head of

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OVERTURE, "A MIDSUMMER-NIGHTS DREAM": Op. 21

OVERTURE, "A MIDSUMMER-NIGHTS DREAM": Op. 21

Mendelssohn, knowing Shakespeare through German translations by Schlegel and Tieck, wrote in 1826 (he was then seventeen years old) his overture to "A Midsummer-Night's Dream." The music was begun July 7th, and finished August 6th. It was first written as a piano duet, and afterwards scored for orchestra. Mendelssohn's incidental music to Shakespeare's play was not composed until seventeen years later. The following comments by Mr. Frederick Niecks furnish an excellent indication of the signific

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OVERTURE, "FINGAL'S CAVE" [OR, "THE HEBRIDES"] [106]: Op. 26

OVERTURE, "FINGAL'S CAVE" [OR, "THE HEBRIDES"] [106]: Op. 26

Mendelssohn, visiting the Hebrides in 1829, was deeply impressed with what he saw. "In order to make you realize," he says in a letter written August 7, 1829, "how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me, the following came into my mind there"—then follows, in notation, a passage from the overture. Later in the month he wrote from Glasgow: "How much lies between then and now! ... Staffa—scenery, travels, people: Klingerman [the friend who accompanied him] has described it all, and you will excu

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OVERTURE, "BECALMED AT SEA AND PROSPEROUS VOYAGE": Op. 27

OVERTURE, "BECALMED AT SEA AND PROSPEROUS VOYAGE": Op. 27

Mendelssohn's Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt [107] was written in illustration of two short and contrasted poems by Goethe, entitled Meeres Stille and Glückliche Fahrt (published in 1796). They have been translated into English prose as follows: "BECALMED AT SEA" "A profound stillness rules in the water; the ocean rests motionless; and the anxious mariner looks on a smooth sea round about him. No breeze in any quarter! Fearful quiet of death! Over the monstrous waste no billow stirs." "PROSPE

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OVERTURE TO THE LEGEND OF THE LOVELY MELUSINA: Op. 32

OVERTURE TO THE LEGEND OF THE LOVELY MELUSINA: Op. 32

We know, on the testimony of Mendelssohn himself, that this overture, based on the ancient legend of the fair being who was part woman and part fish, was suggested to the composer by an opera on the subject which he saw at Berlin in 1833. Under date of April 7, 1834, he wrote to his sister Fanny: "You ask me which legend you are to read. How many, then, are there? And how many, then, do I know? And do you not know the story of the lovely Melusina?... Or have you really never heard of the beautif

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SYMPHONY No. 3 ("SCOTCH"): Op. 56

SYMPHONY No. 3 ("SCOTCH"): Op. 56

1. Andante con moto Allegro un poco agitato 2. Vivace non troppo 3. Adagio 4. Allegro vivacissimo Allegro maestoso assai To Mendelssohn's Scotch visit in the summer of 1829 may be traced this third symphony in A minor, as well as the "Fingal's Cave" ["Hebrides"] overture (see page 200-202). In a letter dated July 30, 1829, he wrote from Edinburgh: "We went, in the deep twilight, to the Palace of Holyrood, where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a little room to be seen there, with a winding s

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SYMPHONY No. 4 ("ITALIAN"): Op. 90

SYMPHONY No. 4 ("ITALIAN"): Op. 90

This symphony was begun during Mendelssohn's sojourn in Italy (1830-31); it was finished in March, 1833. The following commentary by Ambros on the characteristics of the different movements is as sound and as interesting as any: "... That Italian clearness of outline, that cheerful, ingenuous enjoyment of abounding life without dream-like reflection, is a fundamental feature of the A major symphony. If it were not too hazardous, one might say ... [that] there sounds in Mendelssohn's symphony, no

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SYMPHONY No. 3, "IN THE WOODS": Op. 153

SYMPHONY No. 3, "IN THE WOODS": Op. 153

1. In the Daytime IMPRESSIONS AND SENSATIONS ( Allegro ) 2. At Twilight ( a ) REVERY ( Largo ) ( b ) DANCE OF DRYADS ( Allegro assai ) ( Poco meno mosso ) 3. At Night SILENT RUSTLING OF THE WOODS AT NIGHT. ENTRANCE AND EXIT OF THE WILD HUNT WITH FRAU HOLLE (HULDA) AND WOTAN. DAYBREAK ( Allegro ) Raff, an astonishingly prolific composer, wrote twelve symphonies, [115] of which "In the Woods" ( Im Walde ) is one of the two that have most conspicuously survived the winnowing processes of time. Im W

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SYMPHONY No. 5, "LENORE": Op. 177

SYMPHONY No. 5, "LENORE": Op. 177

PART I. HAPPINESS IN LOVE 1. Allegro 2. Andante quasi larghetto PART II. PARTING 3. MARCH TEMPO ; Agitato PART III. REUNION IN DEATH (Introduction and Ballad After Bürger's "LENORE" ) 4. Allegro Of this symphony in three divisions (composed at Wiesbaden in 1872) only the last part, strictly speaking, is based on Bürger's [118] celebrated ballad "Lenore." The first two parts illustrate phases of the experience of the two lovers which antedate the beginning of the story told by the poem. In Bürger

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"SADKO," A MUSICAL PICTURE: Op. 5

"SADKO," A MUSICAL PICTURE: Op. 5

Rimsky-Korsakoff, who as a young man served as an officer in the Russian navy, has in his music shown a peculiar aptitude for delineating the moods and aspects of the sea. "Sadko," composed in 1867, and sometimes spoken of as "the first Russian symphonic poem," is music of the sea. It has this programme, which is prefaced to the score: "The ship bearing Sadko [a hero of Russian legend, or, according to some, a historical character], a famous gusli [122] player, is becalmed on the high sea. He is

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"ANTAR," SYMPHONY No. 2: Op. 15

"ANTAR," SYMPHONY No. 2: Op. 15

1. Largo Allegro vivace 2. Allegro 3. Allegro risoluto alla Marcia 4. Allegretto vivace Andante amoroso Antar was a famous Arabian warrior-poet of pre-Mohammedan times. He lived in the sixth century, and his eloquence and inspiration as a poet were so revered that one of his poems, inscribed upon deerskin, was hung up among the idols in the Kaaba [124] at Mecca for the adoration of worshippers. Rimsky-Korsakoff's symphony (first performed at Magdeburg in 1881) is based on a tale by Sennkowsky of

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"SCHEHERAZADE," SYMPHONIC SUITE AFTER "A THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT": Op. 35

"SCHEHERAZADE," SYMPHONIC SUITE AFTER "A THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT": Op. 35

Prefixed to the score of this suite (published in 1889) is the following programme, printed in French and Russian: "The Sultan Schahriar, convinced of the faithlessness of women, had sworn to put to death each of his wives after the first night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by diverting him with stories which she told him during a thousand and one nights. The Sultan, conquered by his curiosity, put off from day to day the execution of his wife, and at last renounced entirely his b

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"A NIGHT ON MOUNT TRIGLAV": THIRD ACT OF THE OPERA-BALLET "MLADA" (CONCERT ARRANGEMENT FOR ORCHESTRA) [128]

"A NIGHT ON MOUNT TRIGLAV": THIRD ACT OF THE OPERA-BALLET "MLADA" (CONCERT ARRANGEMENT FOR ORCHESTRA) [128]

In 1872 Rimsky-Korsakoff, César Cui, Modest Moussorgsky, and Alexander Borodine (who, with Mily Balakireff, were the famous coterie who founded the "neo-Russian" school forty years ago) [129] wrote each the music of an act to an opera libretto by Gedeonoff, their chief of the Imperial Theatres, who had ordered the work. This composite opera was never produced, but Rimsky-Korsakoff made use of his share of the music for the third act of his opera-ballet "Mlada" (produced in 1893). The composer af

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SUITE, "CHRISTMAS EVE"

SUITE, "CHRISTMAS EVE"

TABLEAU 1. INTRODUCTION: CHRISTMAS EVE TABLEAU 2. IN SPACE TABLEAU 3. BRILLIANT BALL IN THE IMPERIAL PALACE TABLEAU 4. NIGHT, IN SPACE Rimsky-Korsakoff composed, in 1895, an opera, "Christmas Eve," based on a story by Gogol. [130] It was produced at St. Petersburg December 10, 1895. Excerpts from it were afterwards made into a suite by the composer. Mr. H. E. Krehbiel has paraphrased Gogol's tale, as it has been utilized by Rimsky-Korsakoff, with a clearness and concision which could not well be

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"OMPHALE'S SPINNING-WHEEL," SYMPHONIC POEM No. 1: Op. 31

"OMPHALE'S SPINNING-WHEEL," SYMPHONIC POEM No. 1: Op. 31

Le Rouet d'Omphale , composed in 1871, was first a piano piece; it was afterwards made over for orchestra and performed in Paris at a Concert Populaire on April 14, 1872. The following note, in French, prefaces the score: "The subject of this symphonic poem is feminine seductiveness, the triumphant contest of weakness against strength. The spinning-wheel is merely a pretext; it is chosen simply for the sake of its rhythmical suggestion and from the viewpoint of the general form of the piece." Th

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"PHAËTON," SYMPHONIC POEM No. 2: Op. 39

"PHAËTON," SYMPHONIC POEM No. 2: Op. 39

Phaëton was produced in Paris, under Eduard Colonne, at a concert at the Théâtre du Châtelet , December 7, 1873. The score has this preface: "Phaëton has obtained leave to drive his father's, the Sun's, chariot through the heavens. But his unskilful hands lead the steeds astray. The flaming chariot, thrown out of its course, approaches the terrestrial regions. The whole universe is about to perish in flames, when Jupiter strikes the rash Phaëton with his thunderbolt." [131] The portentous drive

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"DANCE OF DEATH" ["DANSE MACABRE"], SYMPHONIC POEM No. 3: Op. 40

"DANCE OF DEATH" ["DANSE MACABRE"], SYMPHONIC POEM No. 3: Op. 40

This symphonic poem illustrates a fantastic poem by Henri Cazalis, lines from which are prefixed to the score. They are as follows (in a prose translation made by Mr. W. F. Apthorp): "Zig and Zig and Zig, Death plays in cadence, Beating time with his heel upon a tombstone; Death plays a dance-tune, Zig and Zig and Zig, on his fiddle. The winter wind blows, and the night is dark; Groans come from under the lindens; White skeletons flit across the gloom, Running and skipping in their capacious shr

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"THE YOUTH OF HERCULES," SYMPHONIC POEM No. 4: Op. 50

"THE YOUTH OF HERCULES," SYMPHONIC POEM No. 4: Op. 50

La Jeunesse d'Hercule , first performed in Paris, at a concert in the Théâtre du Châtelet , January 28, 1877, bears as a preface to the score the following note (in French): "LEGEND "Mythology relates that Hercules, upon entering life, saw two paths opening before him, the path of pleasure and the path of virtue. "Indifferent to the seductions of Nymphs and Bacchantes, the hero chooses the path of struggles and combats, at the end of which he perceives, through the flames of the funeral pyre, th

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SYMPHONY No. 1, IN B-FLAT MAJOR ["SPRING"]: Op. 38

SYMPHONY No. 1, IN B-FLAT MAJOR ["SPRING"]: Op. 38

Although Schumann never publicly avowed it, the inspiration for this symphony sprang from a poem by Adolph Böttger (1815-1870), O Geist der Wolke . The music was composed early in 1841. In October of the following year Schumann sent a portrait of himself to his friend Böttger, accompanied by an inscription consisting of the opening phrase of the symphony in notation, and the words: "Beginning of a symphony inspired by a poem of Adolph Böttger. To the poet, in remembrance of Robert Schumann." The

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OVERTURE TO BYRON'S "MANFRED": Op. 115

OVERTURE TO BYRON'S "MANFRED": Op. 115

For Byron's dramatic poem, "Manfred," Schumann, in 1848, wrote incidental music, which was first performed at Weimar under the direction of Liszt on June 13, 1852, in connection with a version of Byron's work prepared by Schumann for the stage. The overture has, not unnaturally, survived the rest of the music to the poem, and has long been a familiar number in the concert-room. It is, of all Schumann's works, says Mr. H. E. Krehbiel, "the most profoundly introspective. It is, as consistently as

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"LEMMINKAINEN," SYMPHONIC POEM IN FOUR PARTS: Op. 22

"LEMMINKAINEN," SYMPHONIC POEM IN FOUR PARTS: Op. 22

"THE SWAN OF TUONELA" "LEMMINKAINEN'S HOME-FARING" Sibelius, sometime prior to February, 1906, informed Mrs. Rosa Newmarch, the author of the first authoritative study in English of the Finnish composer, that he was writing a symphonic poem in four parts under the general title "Lemminkainen," based on episodes in "The Kalevala." [134] Two of these parts have been produced—"The Swan of Tuonela" and "Lemminkainen's Home-Faring"; the others are said to be still (1907) incomplete. Of the two comple

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"MY FATHERLAND," A CYCLE OF SIX SYMPHONIC POEMS [138]

"MY FATHERLAND," A CYCLE OF SIX SYMPHONIC POEMS [138]

Smetana, an ardent nationalist and incorrigible patriot, composed for the glorification of his country a cycle of six symphonic poems under the general title, "My Fatherland" ( Má Vlast ), dedicated to the city of Prague. The titles and the programmes (in outline) of the six parts of the cycle are as follows: I. "VYSEHRAD" [1874] A famous and historic Bohemian citadel at Prague. The splendid life there in its past day of glory and renown. The poet, at the sight of the fortress, beholds visions o

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SYMPHONY No. 4, "THE CONSECRATION OF SOUND":[140] Op. 86

SYMPHONY No. 4, "THE CONSECRATION OF SOUND":[140] Op. 86

1. RIGID SILENCE OF NATURE BEFORE THE CREATION OF TONE ( Largo ) ACTIVE LIFE AFTER THE SAME. SOUNDS OF NATURE. TURMOIL OF THE ELEMENTS ( Allegro ) 2. CRADLE SONG. DANCE. SERENADE ( Andantino ) 3. WAR MUSIC. GOING OFF TO BATTLE. FEELINGS OF THOSE LEFT BEHIND. RETURN OF THE VICTORS. PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING ( Tempo di marcia ) 4. FUNERAL MUSIC ( Larghetto ) CONSOLATION IN TEARS ( Allegretto ) Die Weihe der Töne , composed in 1832, is founded on a poem of the same title by Karl Pfeiffer. In a letter

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"FROM ITALY," SYMPHONIC FANTASIA: Op. 16

"FROM ITALY," SYMPHONIC FANTASIA: Op. 16

1. ON THE CAMPAGNA ( Andante ) 2. AMID ROME'S RUINS ( Allegro molto con brio ) 3. ON THE SHORE OF SORRENTO ( Andantino ) 4. NEAPOLITAN FOLK-LIFE ( Allegro molto ) " Aus Italia ," the first of Strauss's descriptive works for orchestra, was composed in 1886, a year in which the composer visited Rome and Naples. The score is avowedly programmatic, however, only to the extent of the titling of the different movements, except that the second, "Amid Rome's Ruins," bears this additional superscription:

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"DON JUAN," TONE-POEM: Op. 20

"DON JUAN," TONE-POEM: Op. 20

This work is usually placed first on the list of Strauss's remarkable series of tone-poems; yet, though it bears an earlier opus number, it was actually preceded, in point of composition, by "Macbeth," op. 23, which was written in 1887, a year earlier than "Don Juan." The subject of this tone-poem is the "Don Juan" of Nicolaus Lenau (1802-1850), and quotations from Lenau's poem are prefixed to the score. They are as follows: DON JUAN [ to Diego, his brother ] "O magic realm, illimited, eternal,

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"MACBETH," TONE-POEM: Op. 23

"MACBETH," TONE-POEM: Op. 23

Macbeth, Tondichtung für grosses Orchestrer (nach Shakespeare's drama) , was composed in 1887. It is actually, in date of composition, the first of Strauss's orchestral tone-poems, though "Don Juan" (see the preceding pages), composed in 1888, bears an earlier opus number—20. Beyond the title and the acknowledgment—"after Shakespeare's drama"—the score bears no programme or explanation save the word "Macbeth" printed over an imperious phrase for violins, horn, and wood-wind near the beginning, a

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"DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION," TONE-POEM: Op. 24

"DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION," TONE-POEM: Op. 24

Prefaced to the published score of Tod und Verklärung (composed in 1889) is a poem by the German musician Alexander Ritter, [145] which was written after the author had become acquainted with Strauss's music, and under its inspiration. That the verses were included by Strauss in the printed score is sufficient evidence that he regards them as an adequate interpretation of the emotional plan underlying his music. The subject of this tone-poem is the human soul at grip with death, fronting imminen

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"TILL EULENSPIEGEL'S MERRY PRANKS": Op. 28

"TILL EULENSPIEGEL'S MERRY PRANKS": Op. 28

The full title of this work is: Till Eulenspiegel's lustige Streiche, nach alter Schelmenweise—in Rondoform—für grosses Orchester gesetzt von Richard Strauss . Translated according to the most reasonable authority, this means: "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Set in the Old-Fashioned, Roughish Manner—in the Form of a Rondo [146] —for Grand Orchestra, by Richard Strauss." This sufficiently formidable announcement introduced to the world in 1895 (the year of its completion and publication) a wor

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"THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA," TONE-POEM: Op. 30

"THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA," TONE-POEM: Op. 30

Also sprach Zarathustra, Tondichtung (frei nach Friedr. Nietzsche) für grosses Orchester , was begun in February, finished in August, 1896. It is, as the title implies, a tonal rendering of impressions derived from Also sprach Zarathustra ("Thus Spake Zarathustra"), the remarkable philosophico-romantic fantasy of Friedrich Nietzsche. [149] Strauss's music is, he says, frei nach Nietzsche ; that is to say, treated "freely" after Nietzsche. "I did not," he has declared, "intend to write philosophi

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"DON QUIXOTE," FANTASTIC VARIATIONS ON A THEME OF KNIGHTLY CHARACTER: Op. 35

"DON QUIXOTE," FANTASTIC VARIATIONS ON A THEME OF KNIGHTLY CHARACTER: Op. 35

The full title of this work (composed in 1897) is: Don Quixote (Introduzione, Tema con Variazioni, e Finale): Fantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Characters . That is to say, it is in the form of a theme with variations, the theme is of "knightly character," and the variations are "fantastic." From the programmatic point of view, it is a series of tone-pictures in which are set forth, upon a musical canvas of singular vividness, the figures of Cervantes' Knight of the Rueful Cou

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"A HERO'S LIFE" ["EIN HELDENLEBEN"], TONE-POEM: Op. 40

"A HERO'S LIFE" ["EIN HELDENLEBEN"], TONE-POEM: Op. 40

Ein Heldenleben was completed in December, 1898. The score bears absolutely no indication of its purport or significance save the title: we are left to guess whether the "hero" whose life is celebrated therein is an ideal hero or a figure of history, of myth, of romance, or of private life. Strauss is said to have observed, in response to a question: "There is no need of a programme. It is enough to know there is a hero fighting his enemies." Yet the analysts have been busy with this score, as w

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"DOMESTIC SYMPHONY": Op. 53

"DOMESTIC SYMPHONY": Op. 53

In the course of an interview published in London in 1902, Strauss made this announcement: "My next tone-poem will illustrate 'a day in my family life.' It will be partly lyrical, partly humorous—a triple fugue, the three subjects representing papa, mamma, and the baby." The Symphonia Domestica , composed in 1903, was published in 1904. The first performance anywhere was at Carnegie Hall, New York, March 21, 1904. The symphony, which bears this dedication: Meiner lieben Frau und unserm Jungen ge

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"ROMEO AND JULIET," OVERTURE-FANTASIE[163]

"ROMEO AND JULIET," OVERTURE-FANTASIE[163]

"Romeo and Juliet" ("overture-fantasie after Shakespeare"), composed in 1869-70, is the second of Tschaikowsky's programmatic works for orchestra. [164] There is no note of any kind attached to the score; but according to responsible interpreters the music is concerned with definite aspects of Shakespeare's tragedy. At the start is presented the figure of Friar Laurence (churchly harmonies in the clarinets and bassoons); later, the conflict of the opposing houses, expressed in a tumultuous passa

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FANTASIA, "THE TEMPEST": Op. 18

FANTASIA, "THE TEMPEST": Op. 18

During a visit to St. Petersburg in the winter of 1872-73, Tschaikowsky begged his friend Vladimir Stassov to suggest to him a subject for a symphonic fantasia—something, he preferred, Shakespearian. Stassov responded by sending Tschaikowsky a letter proposing "The Tempest" as a theme, and outlining, in elaborate and enthusiastic detail, the poetic and dramatic plan which, he conceived, should underlie the music. This scheme so appealed to Tschaikowsky that he announced his determination "to car

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FANTASIA, "FRANCESCA DA RIMINI": Op. 32

FANTASIA, "FRANCESCA DA RIMINI": Op. 32

Tschaikowsky visited Paris in the summer of 1876, and while there sketched the plan of a symphonic poem after Dante—"Francesca da Rimini." He had intended to write an opera based on this theme, and had considered a libretto on the subject prepared by one Zvantsieff. But the project was abandoned. In July of that year he wrote from Paris to his brother Modeste: "Early this morning I read through the fifth canto of the 'Inferno,' and was beset by the wish to compose a symphonic poem, 'Francesca da

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SYMPHONY No. 4, IN F MINOR: Op. 36

SYMPHONY No. 4, IN F MINOR: Op. 36

1. Andante sostenuto Moderato con anima in movimento di valse 2. Andantino in modo di canzona 3. Scherzo, "Pizzicato ostinato": Allegro 4. Finale: Allegro con fuoco Tschaikowsky began this symphony in 1876, and completed it in the winter of 1877-78. The score bears the dedication: "To my Best Friend"; and behind the phrase lies a singular history, too long to be told here in full. The "best friend" was Nadeshda Filaretowna von Meck, [173] a widow living in Moscow. Exceedingly wealthy, she deeply

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"MANFRED," SYMPHONY IN FOUR TABLEAUX: Op. 58

"MANFRED," SYMPHONY IN FOUR TABLEAUX: Op. 58

This symphony is frankly programme-music. It is not listed among Tschaikowsky's symphonies—where, in order of composition and opus number, it would stand between the Fourth (Op. 36, 1876-78) and the Fifth (Op. 64, 1888). "Manfred, Symphony in Four Tableaux, after the Dramatic Poem by Byron," was composed in 1885. The score contains the following preface, printed in French and Russian: "I. Manfred wanders in the Alps. Tortured by the fatal anguish of doubt, racked by remorse and despair, his soul

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SYMPHONY No. 6, "PATHETIC": Op. 74

SYMPHONY No. 6, "PATHETIC": Op. 74

Tschaikowsky wrote to Vladimir Davidoff on February 23, 1893: "Just as I was starting on my journey [the visit to Paris in December, 1892] the idea came to me for a new symphony. This time with a programme; but a programme which should be a riddle to all—let them guess it who can! The work will be entitled 'A Programme Symphony' (No. 6). This programme is penetrated by subjective sentiment. During my journey, while composing it in my mind, I have often wept bitterly. Now that I am home again I h

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"THE VOYVODE,"[178] ORCHESTRAL BALLAD (Posthumous): Op. 78

"THE VOYVODE,"[178] ORCHESTRAL BALLAD (Posthumous): Op. 78

Tschaikowsky composed Le Voyvode at Tiflis in 1890, under the inspiration of a poem by the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855). It is said that after the first performance of the work at Moscow in November, 1891, Tschaikowsky, disheartened over the cool reception of his music by the audience, and by the adverse criticism of his friends, "tore his score in pieces, exclaiming, 'Such rubbish should never have been written!'" [179] The orchestral parts are alleged to have been preserved, and the

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"A 'FAUST' OVERTURE" [181]

"A 'FAUST' OVERTURE" [181]

Wagner, during his sojourn in Paris in 1840, wrote an orchestral piece which, as he relates, he called an "overture to Goethe's 'Faust,' but which was in reality intended for the first section of a grand 'Faust' symphony." The curious and interesting history of this work may best be told in excerpts from Wagner's correspondence with his devoted friend and benefactor, Franz Liszt. Liszt, to whom Wagner had sent the manuscript of the overture in 1848, wrote in 1852 (October 7th), some months after

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"A SIEGFRIED IDYL" [185]

"A SIEGFRIED IDYL" [185]

In the summer of 1870 (August 25th) Wagner was married at Lucerne, Switzerland, to Cosima, daughter of Franz Liszt and the Comtesse d'Agoult, and the divorced wife of Hans von Bülow. [186] Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard and Cosima, was born at Triebschen, near Lucerne, June 6, 1869. In a letter dated June 25, 1870, two months before his marriage to Cosima, Wagner wrote to a friend: "She [Cosima] has defied every disapprobation and taken upon herself every condemnation. She has borne to me

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"PENTHESILEA," SYMPHONIC POEM [189]

"PENTHESILEA," SYMPHONIC POEM [189]

This symphonic poem is based on the tragedy of like name by Heinrich von Kleist. [190] The action of Von Kleist's drama is, in outline, as follows: The Amazons, under the leadership of their queen, Penthesilea, go forth to attack the Greeks besieging Troy, hoping that they may celebrate at Themiscyra, with the young men whom they shall capture, the Feast of Roses. The law of the Amazons requires that only those whom they have overcome in conquest may celebrate with them at the festival; therefor

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