BY ARTHUR HERVEY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON OSGOOD, McILVAINE & CO. 45 ALBEMARLE STREET 1894 THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS BY SPECIAL PERMISSION DEDICATED TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF WALES...

T HE reader who turns to these pages with the idea of finding therein a large and exhaustive account of the composers mentioned, with a technical analysis of their works, will, I fear, be disappointed. My intention has been a far more modest one. The dimensions of this volume would not have allowed me to devote that amount of space to each composer that might be considered due to his merits. The object I have had in view has been to give an account of their lives and to draw attention to the ten

I T has become a trite saying that music is the youngest of the arts. The truth of this is nevertheless indisputable, and the remark is perhaps more applicable to music as represented in the "lyrical drama" than in any other form. What pleases one generation is often distasteful to the next, and a period of twenty or even ten years has sometimes been sufficient to witness a thorough evolution in the methods and general style of dramatic music. The career of the composer whose name heads this cha

T O be the composer of "Faust" is in itself sufficient to establish a claim upon the sympathy and gratitude of many thousands, as well as to enjoy the indisputable right of occupying a niche by the side of the greatest and most original composers of the century. There are but few creative musicians whose individuality is so striking that it leaves its impress, not only upon their own productions, but upon those of their contemporaries. Their genius is reflected, their mode of thought copied, and

T HERE probably does not exist a living composer who is gifted with a musical organisation so complete as that of Camille Saint-Saëns. A perfect master of his craft, the French composer has contributed his quota to every branch of his art, and may truly be said to have distinguished himself in each. An eclectic in the highest sense of the word, Saint-Saëns has attempted every style and form, disseminating his works right and left with seemingly reckless prodigality. Never at a loss for an idea,

I N the year 1842 there lived near St. Etienne, in the department of the Loire, an ironmaster of the name of Massenet, an ex-superior officer of engineers, who had been twice married, and both of whose unions had been blessed in a manner apparently rare in France. In the year in question yet one more offspring was destined to be added to the already crowded quiverful. This child, who was named Jules, was the future composer of "Manon" and "Werther." It is needless to state that, alike to all gre

"N OWADAYS , more than ever, musicians have the leisure to occupy themselves with other things than music." These bitter words, savouring of disappointed expectations, occur in the preface to the volume entitled Notes de Musique , written by Ernest Reyer and published in 1875. Since that time the author of the above lines has received a tardy compensation for a somewhat unaccountable neglect, and his operas "Sigurd" and "Salammbô" have achieved what promises to be a permanent success at the Pari

I N the month of November 1891, there was brought out at Covent Garden Theatre a work that had the effect of setting the musical world of London into a state of ferment. This was "Le Rêve," a musical rendering of Emile Zola's well-known romance, by the composer whose name heads this chapter. The absolute unconventionality of the music, the boldness and the novelty of the composer's method, took the public by surprise and led to many a discussion, at the end of which both antagonists and supporte

I T may with truth be averred that France has never been so well provided with composers of talent as she is at the present time. Every year the far-famed Conservatoire turns out a number of young men whose musical knowledge is undeniable, and who are all of them filled with buoyant hopes of achieving distinction in the arena of fame. The musical progress that has been effected in France during the last thirty years is immense. This may be largely attributed to the initiative of Pasdeloup [29] t

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS COMPOSED BY AMBROISE THOMAS, GOUNOD, SAINT-SAËNS, MASSENET, REYER, AND BRUNEAU AMBROISE THOMAS DRAMATIC WORKS SACRED WORKS MISCELLANEOUS WORKS CHARLES GOUNOD Several Masses, of which the best known is the "Messe de Ste. Cécile," 1855. Amongst the others may be mentioned the "Messe aux Orphéonistes," 1852; "Messe du Sacré Cœur," 1876; "Messe de "Pâques,"1885, and "Messe à la Mémoire de Jeanne d'Arc," 1887. "Tobie," oratorio. 1854. "The Redemption." 1882. "Mors et vita.