FOOTNOTES:[17]The reader may need to be reminded that the published score ofMefistofeleis an abbreviation of the opera as it was originally given. The opening scene of the first Act and the Walpurgis Night scene in the second have been cut down (see Mazzucato's article on Boïto in "Grove's Dictionary"). "The grand scene at the Emperor's Palace," says Signor Mazzucato, is "entirely abandoned." "A strikingly originalintermezzo sinfonico... stood between the fourth and fifth Acts; it was meant to illustrate the battle of the Emperor against the pseudo-Emperor, supported by the infernal legions led by Faust and Mephistopheles—the incident which in Goethe's poem leads to the last period of Faust's life. The three themes—that is, theFanfareof the Emperor, theFanfareof the pseudo-Emperor, and theFanfare infernale—were beautiful in conception and interwoven in a masterly manner, and the scene was brought to a close by Mephistopheles leading off with 'Te Deum laudamus' after the victory." As to the beautiful conception and the masterly interweaving I am inclined to be sceptical; but in any case the inclusion of this scene simply puts Boïto in a worse light than ever. The whole episode is practically without significance as far as regards Faust's spiritual evolution. So far as music is concerned, it merely gives the opportunity for a clap-trap battle-piece.[18]Henry Hugh Pearson was born at Oxford in 1815. He settled in Germany, where he found a more congenial musical atmosphere than was to be had at that time in England. After writing for a little while under the pseudonym of "Edgar Mansfeldt," he reverted to his own name, but metamorphosed it into Henri Hugo Pierson. His "Music to the Second Part of Goethe'sFaust" was brought out at Hamburg in 1854. Pierson died in 1873.
FOOTNOTES:
[17]The reader may need to be reminded that the published score ofMefistofeleis an abbreviation of the opera as it was originally given. The opening scene of the first Act and the Walpurgis Night scene in the second have been cut down (see Mazzucato's article on Boïto in "Grove's Dictionary"). "The grand scene at the Emperor's Palace," says Signor Mazzucato, is "entirely abandoned." "A strikingly originalintermezzo sinfonico... stood between the fourth and fifth Acts; it was meant to illustrate the battle of the Emperor against the pseudo-Emperor, supported by the infernal legions led by Faust and Mephistopheles—the incident which in Goethe's poem leads to the last period of Faust's life. The three themes—that is, theFanfareof the Emperor, theFanfareof the pseudo-Emperor, and theFanfare infernale—were beautiful in conception and interwoven in a masterly manner, and the scene was brought to a close by Mephistopheles leading off with 'Te Deum laudamus' after the victory." As to the beautiful conception and the masterly interweaving I am inclined to be sceptical; but in any case the inclusion of this scene simply puts Boïto in a worse light than ever. The whole episode is practically without significance as far as regards Faust's spiritual evolution. So far as music is concerned, it merely gives the opportunity for a clap-trap battle-piece.
[17]The reader may need to be reminded that the published score ofMefistofeleis an abbreviation of the opera as it was originally given. The opening scene of the first Act and the Walpurgis Night scene in the second have been cut down (see Mazzucato's article on Boïto in "Grove's Dictionary"). "The grand scene at the Emperor's Palace," says Signor Mazzucato, is "entirely abandoned." "A strikingly originalintermezzo sinfonico... stood between the fourth and fifth Acts; it was meant to illustrate the battle of the Emperor against the pseudo-Emperor, supported by the infernal legions led by Faust and Mephistopheles—the incident which in Goethe's poem leads to the last period of Faust's life. The three themes—that is, theFanfareof the Emperor, theFanfareof the pseudo-Emperor, and theFanfare infernale—were beautiful in conception and interwoven in a masterly manner, and the scene was brought to a close by Mephistopheles leading off with 'Te Deum laudamus' after the victory." As to the beautiful conception and the masterly interweaving I am inclined to be sceptical; but in any case the inclusion of this scene simply puts Boïto in a worse light than ever. The whole episode is practically without significance as far as regards Faust's spiritual evolution. So far as music is concerned, it merely gives the opportunity for a clap-trap battle-piece.
[18]Henry Hugh Pearson was born at Oxford in 1815. He settled in Germany, where he found a more congenial musical atmosphere than was to be had at that time in England. After writing for a little while under the pseudonym of "Edgar Mansfeldt," he reverted to his own name, but metamorphosed it into Henri Hugo Pierson. His "Music to the Second Part of Goethe'sFaust" was brought out at Hamburg in 1854. Pierson died in 1873.
[18]Henry Hugh Pearson was born at Oxford in 1815. He settled in Germany, where he found a more congenial musical atmosphere than was to be had at that time in England. After writing for a little while under the pseudonym of "Edgar Mansfeldt," he reverted to his own name, but metamorphosed it into Henri Hugo Pierson. His "Music to the Second Part of Goethe'sFaust" was brought out at Hamburg in 1854. Pierson died in 1873.