FOOTNOTES:[19]See an interesting article by Max Vancsa—Zur Geschichte der Programm-Musik—in Nos. 23 and 24 ofDie Musik(1903).[20]The reader will of course not take this to mean that a piece of programme music should sound just as well when played as absolute music,i.e.should be as interesting to the man who does not know the programme as to the man who does. Against that current fallacy I argue further on.[21]The term "poetic" is used as a kind of verbal shorthand. A piece of music may be suggested by a drama, a novel, a historical event, a poem, a philosophical treatise (likeAlso sprach Zarathustra), or anything else. The one phrase "poetic music" will conveniently cover the æsthetic facts involved in all these modes of suggestion.[22]That is, soundquâsound (music),plussound congealed into definite symbols (words).[23]I am not, of course, putting this forward as the way in which music actually and historically developed. I am simply disengaging from the historical facts, in order to throw it into stronger relief, the psychological element underlying them; just as in economics we try to understand what has actually been the course of events by isolating from the other factors of human nature the factors that concern the desire of gain, and arguing deductively from these.[24]There is emotion, of course, at the back of the notes; the reader will not take me to mean that the pleasure is merely physical, like a taste or an odour. But the emotive wave is relatively small and very vague; it neither comes directly from nor suggests any external existence.[25]I take some of these historical facts from the article of Max Vancsa, already cited.[26]See Strabo'sGeography, Bohn edition, vol. ii. p. 120.[27]The Bible Sonatas, together with Kuhnau's other piano works and his prose writings, may be had in vol. iv. of theDenkmäler Deutscher Tonkunst, carefully edited by Karl Päsler. Mr. Shedlock, in his book onThe Pianoforte Sonata, gives a pretty full account of Kuhnau; but it is a pity he could not have found space for a complete translation of the preface to the Bible Sonatas.[28]"He was and remained," says Wagner, "a prince's musical officer, with the duty of catering for the entertainment of his pomp-struck master.... Docile and devout, the peace of his kind and cheerful temper stayed unruffled till advanced old age; only the eye, that looks upon us from his portrait, is suffused with a gentle melancholy."[29]See Ambros:Die Grenzen der Musik und Poesie(1885), iv. v.[30]It is significant that even the sturdy, independent Gluck too fell a victim to princely patronage in the very middle of his career. After striking out for himself inTelemacco(1749) andLa Clemenza di Tito(1750), and apparently being well on the way to the reform of the opera, he became, in 1754, Kapellmeister at Vienna. From that date to 1762, whenOrfeowas produced, he wrote, not like Gluck, but like a court servant. See a pithy paragraph on the subject in Mr. Hadow's book,The Viennese Period(vol. v. of the Oxford History of Music), p. 90.[31]The development of the opera, too, was an important factor. It was not till men had mastered dramatic musical expression in association with words that they could properly aim at the same kind of expression without words.[32]Even Berlioz, in a weak moment, said he hoped that the music of theSymphonie fantastiquewould itself "have a musical interest, independent of the dramatic intention," though he insisted on the title, at any rate, of each movement being given to the audience. See his Preface to the Symphony.[33]Here, and elsewhere in this article, I venture to make my quotations from Mr. W. Ashton Ellis's translation of Wagner's prose works.[34]I am not, of course, agreeing with Wagner's criticism of Berlioz; it seems to me quite superficial and unilluminative, but to discuss it would be foreign to our present purpose.[35]The reader will understand that I am not founding my case on the actual musical value ofEin Heldenleben; I am only using that work as an illustration of an æsthetic theory. In the actualHeldenlebenthere is rather more grit than I like; but there is no real need for it to have been put there. In the article on Strauss in the present volume I have tried to show how he has needlessly weakened his scheme by not keeping to the one piece of portraiture throughout.[36]i.e.the troublous question as to what the music "means" poetically.[37]Du Vrai, du Beau, et du Bien.I make the quotation from Mr. Basil Worsfold's little book onJudgment in Literature.[38]L'Œuvre dramatique de Berlioz, pp. 30-34, etc.
FOOTNOTES:
[19]See an interesting article by Max Vancsa—Zur Geschichte der Programm-Musik—in Nos. 23 and 24 ofDie Musik(1903).
[19]See an interesting article by Max Vancsa—Zur Geschichte der Programm-Musik—in Nos. 23 and 24 ofDie Musik(1903).
[20]The reader will of course not take this to mean that a piece of programme music should sound just as well when played as absolute music,i.e.should be as interesting to the man who does not know the programme as to the man who does. Against that current fallacy I argue further on.
[20]The reader will of course not take this to mean that a piece of programme music should sound just as well when played as absolute music,i.e.should be as interesting to the man who does not know the programme as to the man who does. Against that current fallacy I argue further on.
[21]The term "poetic" is used as a kind of verbal shorthand. A piece of music may be suggested by a drama, a novel, a historical event, a poem, a philosophical treatise (likeAlso sprach Zarathustra), or anything else. The one phrase "poetic music" will conveniently cover the æsthetic facts involved in all these modes of suggestion.
[21]The term "poetic" is used as a kind of verbal shorthand. A piece of music may be suggested by a drama, a novel, a historical event, a poem, a philosophical treatise (likeAlso sprach Zarathustra), or anything else. The one phrase "poetic music" will conveniently cover the æsthetic facts involved in all these modes of suggestion.
[22]That is, soundquâsound (music),plussound congealed into definite symbols (words).
[22]That is, soundquâsound (music),plussound congealed into definite symbols (words).
[23]I am not, of course, putting this forward as the way in which music actually and historically developed. I am simply disengaging from the historical facts, in order to throw it into stronger relief, the psychological element underlying them; just as in economics we try to understand what has actually been the course of events by isolating from the other factors of human nature the factors that concern the desire of gain, and arguing deductively from these.
[23]I am not, of course, putting this forward as the way in which music actually and historically developed. I am simply disengaging from the historical facts, in order to throw it into stronger relief, the psychological element underlying them; just as in economics we try to understand what has actually been the course of events by isolating from the other factors of human nature the factors that concern the desire of gain, and arguing deductively from these.
[24]There is emotion, of course, at the back of the notes; the reader will not take me to mean that the pleasure is merely physical, like a taste or an odour. But the emotive wave is relatively small and very vague; it neither comes directly from nor suggests any external existence.
[24]There is emotion, of course, at the back of the notes; the reader will not take me to mean that the pleasure is merely physical, like a taste or an odour. But the emotive wave is relatively small and very vague; it neither comes directly from nor suggests any external existence.
[25]I take some of these historical facts from the article of Max Vancsa, already cited.
[25]I take some of these historical facts from the article of Max Vancsa, already cited.
[26]See Strabo'sGeography, Bohn edition, vol. ii. p. 120.
[26]See Strabo'sGeography, Bohn edition, vol. ii. p. 120.
[27]The Bible Sonatas, together with Kuhnau's other piano works and his prose writings, may be had in vol. iv. of theDenkmäler Deutscher Tonkunst, carefully edited by Karl Päsler. Mr. Shedlock, in his book onThe Pianoforte Sonata, gives a pretty full account of Kuhnau; but it is a pity he could not have found space for a complete translation of the preface to the Bible Sonatas.
[27]The Bible Sonatas, together with Kuhnau's other piano works and his prose writings, may be had in vol. iv. of theDenkmäler Deutscher Tonkunst, carefully edited by Karl Päsler. Mr. Shedlock, in his book onThe Pianoforte Sonata, gives a pretty full account of Kuhnau; but it is a pity he could not have found space for a complete translation of the preface to the Bible Sonatas.
[28]"He was and remained," says Wagner, "a prince's musical officer, with the duty of catering for the entertainment of his pomp-struck master.... Docile and devout, the peace of his kind and cheerful temper stayed unruffled till advanced old age; only the eye, that looks upon us from his portrait, is suffused with a gentle melancholy."
[28]"He was and remained," says Wagner, "a prince's musical officer, with the duty of catering for the entertainment of his pomp-struck master.... Docile and devout, the peace of his kind and cheerful temper stayed unruffled till advanced old age; only the eye, that looks upon us from his portrait, is suffused with a gentle melancholy."
[29]See Ambros:Die Grenzen der Musik und Poesie(1885), iv. v.
[29]See Ambros:Die Grenzen der Musik und Poesie(1885), iv. v.
[30]It is significant that even the sturdy, independent Gluck too fell a victim to princely patronage in the very middle of his career. After striking out for himself inTelemacco(1749) andLa Clemenza di Tito(1750), and apparently being well on the way to the reform of the opera, he became, in 1754, Kapellmeister at Vienna. From that date to 1762, whenOrfeowas produced, he wrote, not like Gluck, but like a court servant. See a pithy paragraph on the subject in Mr. Hadow's book,The Viennese Period(vol. v. of the Oxford History of Music), p. 90.
[30]It is significant that even the sturdy, independent Gluck too fell a victim to princely patronage in the very middle of his career. After striking out for himself inTelemacco(1749) andLa Clemenza di Tito(1750), and apparently being well on the way to the reform of the opera, he became, in 1754, Kapellmeister at Vienna. From that date to 1762, whenOrfeowas produced, he wrote, not like Gluck, but like a court servant. See a pithy paragraph on the subject in Mr. Hadow's book,The Viennese Period(vol. v. of the Oxford History of Music), p. 90.
[31]The development of the opera, too, was an important factor. It was not till men had mastered dramatic musical expression in association with words that they could properly aim at the same kind of expression without words.
[31]The development of the opera, too, was an important factor. It was not till men had mastered dramatic musical expression in association with words that they could properly aim at the same kind of expression without words.
[32]Even Berlioz, in a weak moment, said he hoped that the music of theSymphonie fantastiquewould itself "have a musical interest, independent of the dramatic intention," though he insisted on the title, at any rate, of each movement being given to the audience. See his Preface to the Symphony.
[32]Even Berlioz, in a weak moment, said he hoped that the music of theSymphonie fantastiquewould itself "have a musical interest, independent of the dramatic intention," though he insisted on the title, at any rate, of each movement being given to the audience. See his Preface to the Symphony.
[33]Here, and elsewhere in this article, I venture to make my quotations from Mr. W. Ashton Ellis's translation of Wagner's prose works.
[33]Here, and elsewhere in this article, I venture to make my quotations from Mr. W. Ashton Ellis's translation of Wagner's prose works.
[34]I am not, of course, agreeing with Wagner's criticism of Berlioz; it seems to me quite superficial and unilluminative, but to discuss it would be foreign to our present purpose.
[34]I am not, of course, agreeing with Wagner's criticism of Berlioz; it seems to me quite superficial and unilluminative, but to discuss it would be foreign to our present purpose.
[35]The reader will understand that I am not founding my case on the actual musical value ofEin Heldenleben; I am only using that work as an illustration of an æsthetic theory. In the actualHeldenlebenthere is rather more grit than I like; but there is no real need for it to have been put there. In the article on Strauss in the present volume I have tried to show how he has needlessly weakened his scheme by not keeping to the one piece of portraiture throughout.
[35]The reader will understand that I am not founding my case on the actual musical value ofEin Heldenleben; I am only using that work as an illustration of an æsthetic theory. In the actualHeldenlebenthere is rather more grit than I like; but there is no real need for it to have been put there. In the article on Strauss in the present volume I have tried to show how he has needlessly weakened his scheme by not keeping to the one piece of portraiture throughout.
[36]i.e.the troublous question as to what the music "means" poetically.
[36]i.e.the troublous question as to what the music "means" poetically.
[37]Du Vrai, du Beau, et du Bien.I make the quotation from Mr. Basil Worsfold's little book onJudgment in Literature.
[37]Du Vrai, du Beau, et du Bien.I make the quotation from Mr. Basil Worsfold's little book onJudgment in Literature.
[38]L'Œuvre dramatique de Berlioz, pp. 30-34, etc.
[38]L'Œuvre dramatique de Berlioz, pp. 30-34, etc.