The contemporary British composer, Benjamin Britten, has assembled various melodies by Rossini into two delightful suites for orchestra.Soirées musicales(1936) is made up of five compositions by Rossini—fromWilliam Telland from several pieces from a piano suite entitledPéchés de vieillesse. The five movements are marked; I. March; II. Canzonetta; III. Tyrolese; IV. Bolero; V. Tarantella.Matinées musicales(1941) also gets its material fromWilliam Telland the piano suite. Here the movements are: I. March; II. Nocturne; III. Waltz; IV. Pantomime; V. Moto Perpetuo.
Anton Rubinstein was born in Viakhvatinetz, Russia, on November 28, 1829. He studied the piano with Alexandre Villoing after which, in 1839 he came to Paris with his teacher, deeply impressing Chopin and Liszt with his performances. Between 1841 and 1843 Rubinstein made a concert tour of Europe, but his career as a world-famous virtuoso did not begin until 1854 when his formidable technique and musicianship aroused the enthusiasm of Western Europe. After that he made many tours of the world, his reputation as pianist second only to that of Liszt; his first American appearance took place in 1872-1873 when he gave more than two hundred concerts. He also distinguished himself as conductor of the Russian Musical Society, and as director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory which he helped found in 1862. He was one of the most highly honored musicians in Russia of his generation. He resigned his post as director of the Conservatory in 1891, and on November 20, 1894 he died in St. Petersburg.
Rubinstein was an extraordinarily prolific composer, his works including many operas, symphonies, concertos, overtures, tone poems, chamber music together with a library of music for solo piano. About all that has survived from his larger works is his Fourth Piano Concerto which is flooded with Romantic ardor and is often in the recognizable style of Mendelssohn. Beyond this concerto, only a few of his smallerpieces for piano are still heard, so delightful in their melodic content and so charming in mood and atmosphere that they have lost little of their universal appeal.
Kamenoi-Ostrow, though best known as a composition for orchestra, originated as a piece for the piano. Actually the nameKamenoi-Ostrowbelongs to a suite of twenty-four compositions for solo piano, op. 10. But the twenty-second number has become so popular independent of the suite, and in so many different guises, that its original title (“Rêve angelique”) has virtually been forgotten and it is almost always referred to now by the name of its suite. Kamenoi-Ostrow is a Russian town in which the Grand Duchess Helena maintained a summer palace. Rubinstein was its chamber virtuoso from 1848 on for a few years, and while there he wrote his piano suite, naming it after the Grand Duchess’ residence. The solemn melody and its equally affecting countermelody have an almost religious character, emphasized in orchestral transcription by a background of tolling bells. Victor Herbert made an effective orchestral adaptation.
TheMelody in Fis one of the most popular piano pieces ever written. It is found in the first ofTwo Melodies, for solo piano, op. 3, but is most often heard in orchestral transcription, or adaptations for solo instrument and piano. The vernal freshness of its spontaneous lyricism has made it particularly appropriate describing Springtime; indeed, verses about Spring have been written for this melody.
TheRomance in E-flat majoris almost as well known as theMelody in F. This sentimental melody—filled with Russian pathos, yearning and dark brooding—is the first number in a set of six pieces for solo piano collectively entitledSoirées de St. Petersbourg, op. 44.
Camille Saint-saëns was born in Paris on October 9, 1835. He was extraordinarily precocious. After some piano instruction from his aunt he gave a remarkable concert in Paris in his ninth yearA comprehensive period of study followed at the Paris Conservatory where he won several prizes, though never the Prix de Rome. In 1852 he received a prize forOde à Sainte Cécile, and in 1853 the première of his first symphony attracted considerable praise. From 1858 to 1877 he was the organist of the Madeleine Church in Paris, a position in which he achieved renown as a performer on the organ. From 1861 to 1865 he was an eminent teacher of the piano at the École Niedermeyer, and in 1871 he helped organize the distinguished Société Nationale in Paris devoted to the introduction of new music by French composers. From 1877 his principal activity was composition in which, as in all the other areas in which he had been engaged, he soon became an outstanding figure. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1868; Officer in 1884; Grand Officer in 1900; and in 1913 the highest rank in the Legion of Honor, the Grand-Croix. He became a member of the Institut de France in 1881. Saint-Saëns paid his first visit to the United States in 1906, and made his first tour of South America in 1916 when he was eighty-one. He remained active until the end of his long life, appearing as pianist and conductor in a Saint-Saëns festival in Greece in 1920, and performing a concert of his own music in Dieppe a year later. He was vacationing in Algiers when he died there on December 16, 1921.
Though Saint-Saëns lived well into the 20th century and was witness to the radical departures in musical composition taking place all about him, he remained a conservative to the end of his days. He was, from a technical point of view, a master. There is no field of musical composition which he did not cultivate with the most consummate skill and the best possible taste. He was gifted not merely with a fine lyrical gift but also at other times with passion, intensity, and a sardonic wit. He wrote numerous compositions in a light style, but many of his most serious efforts are readily assimilable at first hearing and readily fall into the category of semi-classics.
The Carnival of Animals(Le Carnaval des animaux), for two pianos and orchestra (1886) finds the composer in a gay mood. This is witty, ironic and at times satiric music. The composer regarded the writing of this work as a lark, thought so little of the composition that he did not permit a public performance or a publication during his lifetime. Nevertheless it is one of the composer’s most infectious compositions, one that never fails to enchant audiences young and old. It was described by the composer as “a grand zoological fantasy,” and its fourteen sections represent pictures of various animals. The suite begins with amarch (“Introduction and Royal March of the Lion,” “L’Introduction et marche royale du lion”). After a brief fanfare, sprightly march music is heard. We can readily guess who is at the head of the parade by the lion’s roar simulated by the orchestra. After this we are given a picture of a hen through the cackle in piano and strings, and of a cock through a clarinet call (“Hens and Cocks,” “Poules et coqs”). This is followed by music for two unaccompanied pianos intended to depict “Mules” (“Hémiones”). Actually this portion was planned by the composer as a satire on pianists who insist on playing everything in a strict rhythm and unchanging dynamics. In the fourth movement, “Tortoises” (“Tortues”), two amusing quotations are interpolated from Offenbach’sOrpheus in the Underworld. A cumbersome melody in a stately rhythm then introduces us to the “Elephant” (“L’Eléphant”). In this part the composer’s fine feeling for paradox and incongruity asserts itself in contrasting a ponderous theme with a graceful waltz tune. In the halting music of the next movement, “Kangaroos” (“Kangourous”), the composer aims his satirical barbs not on these graceless animals but upon concert audiences who insist on talking throughout a performance. “Aquarium” consists of a sensitive melody for flute and violin against piano arpeggio figures. In “Personages With Long Ears” (“Personnages à longues oreilles”) donkeys are represented by a melody with leaping intervals. The “Cuckoo in the Woods” (“Le Coucou au fonds des bois”) consists of a melody for clarinet. “Aviary” (“Volière”) reproduces the flight and singing of birds. “Pianists” (“Pianistes”), the composer feels, belongs to the animal kingdom; the attempt by embryo pianists to master his scales is here described amusingly. “Fossils” (“Fossiles”) quotes four popular themes from the classics: from Rossini’sThe Barber of Seville, Saint-Saëns’Danse macabre, and two French folk songs. Satire and wit are replaced by the most sensitive lyricism and winning sentiment in the thirteenth movement, a section so famous that it is most often heard apart from the rest of the suite, and in many different versions and arrangements. This is the movement of “The Swan” (“Le Cygne”), a beautiful melody for the cello in which the stately movement of the swan in the water is interpreted. A dance inspired by this music was made world famous by Anna Pavlova. The suite ends with the return of all the preceding characters in a section entitled “Finale.” In the present-day concert hall, it is sometimes the practice to presentThe Carnival of Animalswith an appropriate superimposed commentary in verse by Ogden Nash preceding each section.
Danse macabre, tone poem for orchestra, op. 40 (1874) is a musical interpretation of a poem by Henri Cazalis. The composition opens with a brief sequence in the harp suggesting that the hour of midnight has struck. Death tunes his violin and almost at once there begins a demoniac dance, its abandoned theme first presented by the flute. Another equally frenetic dance tune is given by Death, the xylophone simulating the rattle of bones. In the midst of the orgy the solemn refrain of the “Dies Irae” is sounded. Dawn is announced by the crowing of a cock. The wild dance dies down and the dancers disappear in the mist.
The Deluge(Le Déluge), op. 45 (1876), is an orchestral prelude to a Biblical poem, text by Louis Gillet. The inspiration for this music comes from a passage in theGenesis: “And God repented of having created the world.” Solemn chords preface a fugal passage built from a theme in violas. After this a beautiful melody for solo violin unfolds symbolizing humanity in its original state of purity.
TheHavanaise, op. 83 (1887) is a popular composition for violin and piano which makes effective use of a languorous Spanish melody set against the habanera rhythm. “Havanaise” is the French term for “Habanera,” a popular Spanish dance in slow ²/₄ time said to have originated in Cuba.
Henry VIII, an opera, is remembered for its effective ballet music. The opera, with libretto by Leonce Detroyat and Armand Sylvestre was first performed at the Paris Opéra on March 5, 1883. Since its setting is England during the Tudor Period, the popular ballet music is restrained, sensitive and graceful. It is heard in the second act during a festival given by the King of Richmond to honor the Papal Legate. Much of the material for these dances was acquired by the composer from a collection of Scottish and Irish tunes and dances provided him by the wife of one of his librettists. The Ballet Music is made up of five sections. The first is a restrained Introduction. Then comes “The Entry of the Clans.” This music, it is amusing to remark, is English rather than Scottish in style because the composer confused the English Dee with the Scottish river of the same name and decided to use the English melody “The Miller of the Dee.” The third movement is a “Scotch Idyll,” this time a bright Scottish tune in the oboe. The Ballet Music continues with a “Gypsy Dance” in which a Hungarian-type melody for English horn is followed by brisker music whose main subject is offered by the violins. The suite concludes with “Gigue and Finale.”
TheIntroduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op. 28 (1863) is for violin and orchestra. The main theme of the Introduction is found in the solo violin in the second measure, accompanied by the strings. A forceful chord for full orchestra brings on the Rondo Capriccioso section, whose main melody is presented by the solo violin. The solo instrument later on also introduces a contrasting second theme. After some embellishment of both ideas, the orchestra loudly interpolates a third subject which is repeated by the solo violin. All this material is amplified, often with brilliant virtuoso passages in the violin. A climactic point is reached when the first theme of the Rondo Capriccioso is pronounced by the orchestra against broken chords in the violin. This composition concludes with a coda marked by virtuoso passages for the solo instrument.
TheMarche heroïque, for orchestra, op. 34 (1871) was originally written for two solo pianos but later the same year orchestrated by the composer himself. The composition is dedicated to one of Saint-Saëns’ friends, the painter Alexandre Regnault, who served in the French army and was killed during the Franco-Prussian War. This music has a seven-bar introduction following which the principal march subject is given by the woodwind accompanied by plucked strings. In the middle trio section a contrasting theme is offered by the trombone against an accompanying figure taken from the earlier march melody. The march music returns in the closing section, but more vigorously than heretofore. The composition ends with a powerful coda.
Le Rouet d’Omphale(Omphale’s Spinning Wheel), is an orchestral tone poem, op. 31 (1871), based on an old legend. Hercules is the slave of the Lydian queen. He disguises himself as a woman and is put to the task of spinning. The whirr of the spinning wheel is simulated by the violins at the beginning of the composition. The abused Hercules is then represented by a somber subject for the bass. Soon the whirr returns in an increased tempo to point up Hercules’ return to the business of spinning.
The composer’s most famous opera,Samson and Delilah, is represented on semi-classical programs with its colorful, excitingBacchanale. The opera was first performed in Weimar in 1877, its libretto (by Ferdinand Lemaire) based on the famous Biblical story. The Bacchanale comes towards the end of the opera, the second scene of the third act. At the Temple of Dagon, the Philistines are celebrating their victory over Samson and the Hebrews with wild revelry in front of a statue of their god. A part of these festivities consists of a bacchanale to wildmusic Semitic in melodic content, orgiastic in tone colors, and barbaric in rhythms. The most celebrated vocal selection from this opera is Delilah’s seductive song to Samson, “My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice” (“Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix”).
TheSuite algérienne, for orchestra, op. 60, is a set of four “picturesque impressions of a voyage to Algeria,” in the composer’s own description. The opening movement is a prelude. The sea is here depicted in a swelling figure while brief snatches of melody suggest some of the sights of Algiers as seen from aboard ship. “Moorish Rhapsody” (“Rapsodie mauresque”) is made up of three sections. The first and last are brilliant in sonority and tonal colors, while the middle one is an Oriental song. “An Evening Dream at Blidah” (“Rêverie du soir”) is a dreamy nocturne picturing a famous Algerian fortress. The most popular movement of the suite is the last one, a rousing “French Military March” (“Marche militaire française”)—vigorous, at times even majestic, music representing the composer’s delight and sense of security in coming upon a French garrison.
Pablo de Sarasate was born in Pamplona, Spain, on March 10, 1844. As a child prodigy violinist he made his debut in Spain when he was six, and soon thereafter toured the country. In 1859 he completed with honors a three-year period of violin study at the Paris Conservatory. He was only fifteen when he initiated a worldwide career as virtuoso which continued until the end of his life and placed him with the foremost violinists of his generation. In his concerts he featured prominently his own arrangements and fantasias of opera arias as well as his original compositions in all of which he could exhibit his phenomenal technique. Some of his compositions are now staples in the violin repertory. They include theGypsy Airs(Zigeuenerweisen),Caprice Basque,Jota aragonesa,Zapatadeo, and theSpanish Dances.
TheGypsy Airsis a fantasia made up of haunting gypsy tunes and dance rhythms. The heart of the composition comes midway with a sad gypsy song which finds contrast in the electrifying dance melodies and rhythms that follow immediately.
Sarasate produced four sets ofSpanish Dances, opp. 21, 22, 23, and 26, all for violin and piano. The identifiable Spanish melodies and rhythms of folk dances are here exploited most effectively. The most famous of these is theMalagueña, a broad and sensual gypsy melody followed by a rhythmic section in which the clicking of castanets is simulated.
Franz Peter Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria, on January 31, 1797. He was extraordinarily precocious in music and was early trained to play the violin, viola and organ. From 1808 to 1813 he attended the Imperial Chapel School where he received a thorough musical background while preparing to be a chorister in the Chapel Choir. He showed such remarkable and natural gifts for music that one of his teachers, the renowned Antonio Salieri, did not hesitate to call him a “genius.” When the breaking of his voice compelled him to leave the school in 1813, Schubert was encouraged by his father, a schoolmaster, to enter the field of education. For two years, from 1814 on, Schubert taught in the school owned and directed by his father. During this period he demonstrated phenomenal fertility as a composer by producing operas, symphonies, masses, sonatas, string quartets, piano pieces, and almost 150 songs including his first masterpiece,The Erlking(Der Erlkoenig). After 1817, Schubert devoted himself completely to composition. He remained singularly productive even though recognition failed to come. Few of his works were either published or performed—and those that were heard proved dismal failures. He managedto survive these difficult years only through the kindness and generosity of his intimate friends who loved him and were in awe of his genius. Combined with the frustration in failing to attract public notice with his music—and the humiliation of living on the bounty of friends—was the further tragedy of sickness brought on by a venereal disease. A concert of his works in Vienna on March 26, 1828 seemed to promise a turn in his fortunes. But it came too late. He died in Vienna on November 19, 1828—still an unrecognized composer. So completely obscure was his reputation that for many years some of his crowning master works lay forgotten and neglected in closets of friends and associates, none of whom seemed to realize that they were in the possession of treasures.
Schubert was undoubtedly one of the greatest creators of song the world has known. His almost five hundred art songs (Lieder) is an inexhaustible source of some of the most beautiful, most expressive, most poetic melodies ever put down on paper. He created beauty as easily as he breathed. The most inspired musical thoughts came to him so spontaneously that he was always reaching for quill and paper to get them down—whether at his home, or at the houses of his friends, in restaurants, café-houses, and even while walking through the country. “The striking characteristics of Schubert’s best songs,” wrote Philip Hale, “are spontaneous, haunting melody, a natural birthright mastery over modulation, a singular good fortune in finding the one inevitable phrase for the prevailing sentiment of the poem, and in finding the fitting descriptive figure for salient detail. His best songs have an atmosphere which cannot be passed unnoticed, which cannot be misunderstood.” But far and beyond his natural gift at lyricism was his genius in translating the slightest nuances and suggestions of a line of poetry into tones. It is for this very reason that he is often described as the father of theLied, or art song.
Because Schubert’s melodies come from the heart and go to the heart they have been staples in semi-classical literature by way of orchestral transcription. Thus though they are as lofty and as noble a musical expression as can be found anywhere, Schubert’s songs have such universality that they are as popular as they are inspired. These are a few of the Schubert songs that have profited from instrumental adaptations:
“Am Meer” (“By the Sea”), poem by Heinrich Heine. This stately melody seems to catch some of the vastness and mystery of the sea. This is the twelfth song from the song cycleSchwanengesang(1828).
“An die Musik” (“To Music”), poem by Franz von Schober (1817).The glowing melody has caught the composer’s wonder and awe at the magic of music.
“Auf dem Wasser zu singen” (“To Be Sung on the Water”) poem by Stolberg. This gay, heartfelt tune expresses the composer’s delight in floating on the water.
“Ave Maria,” based on a poem by Sir Walter Scott (1825). This is a melody of exalted spiritual character touched with serenity and radiance. August Wilhelmj’s transcription for violin and piano is a staple in the violin repertory.
“Du bist die Ruh’” (“You are Peace”), poem by Rueckert. An atmosphere of serenity is magically created by a melody of wondrous beauty.
“Der Erlkoenig” (“The Erlking”), poem by Goethe (1815). This is one of Schubert’s most dramatic songs, describing the death of a child at the hands of the Erlking, symbol of death.
“Die Forelle” (“The Trout”), poem by Schubert (1817). This gay tune gives a lively picture of a trout leaping happily in and out of the water. Schubert used this melody for a set of variations in his piano quintet in A major, op. 114 (1819).
“Gretchen am Spinnrade” (“Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel”), poem by Goethe (1814). Against an accompaniment suggesting the whirr of the spinning wheel, comes Marguerite’s haunting song as she thinks of her loved one.
“Hark, Hark, the Lark” (“Horch, Horch, die Lerch”), poem by Shakespeare (1826). The melody reflects the light-hearted mood of the famous Shakespeare verse fromCymbeline.
“Der Lindenbaum” (“The Linden Tree”), poem by Mueller is a poignant poem of unhappy love. It is the fifth song in the cycleDie Winterreise(1827).
“Staendchen” (“Serenade”), poem by Rellstab. This is probably one of the most famous love songs ever written. It is the fourth song in the cycleSchwanengesang(1828).
“Der Tod und das Maedchen” (“Death and the Maiden”), poem by Claudius (1817). This dramatic song consists of a dialogue between a young girl and Death, the words of death appearing in a solemn melody while that of the girl in a breathless entreaty. Schubert used this melody for a set of variations in his string quartet in D minor (1824).
Like Beethoven and Mozart Schubert wrote a considerable amount of popular dance music for solo piano, and also for orchestra: German Dances, Laendler, and Waltzes. All have a vigorous peasant rhythm and with melodies reminiscent of Austrian folk music. Schubert’s waltzesare of particular interest since he was one of the first composers to unite several different waltz tunes into a single integrated composition. The Schubert waltzes, each a delight, are found inValses sentimentales, op. 50 (1825) andValses nobles, op. 77 (1827). Liszt adapted nine of the more popular of these waltz melodies inSoirées de Viennefor solo piano. The 20th-century French Impressionist composer, Maurice Ravel, was inspired by these Schubert waltzes to write in 1910 theValses nobles et sentimentalesin two versions, for solo piano, and for orchestra.
Marche militaire(Militaermarsch) is a popular little march in D major originally for piano four hands, the first of a set of three marches gathered in op. 41. This is one of Schubert’s most popular instrumental numbers. Karl Tausig transcribed it for solo piano, and it has received many other adaptations including several for orchestra, in which form it is undoubtedly best known.
Moment Musicalis a brief composition for the piano. It is in song form and of an improvisational character, and is agenreof instrumental composition created and made famous by Schubert. He wrote many such pieces, but the one always considered when this form is designated is No. 3 in F minor, a graceful and lovable melody, the very essence of VienneseGemuetlichkeit, although it is subtitled “Russian Air” (Air Russe). Fritz Kreisler transcribed it for violin and piano and it is, to be sure, familiar in orchestral adaptations including one by Stokowski, as well as versions for cello and piano, string quartet, clarinet quartet, four pianos, and so forth.
The incidental music toRosamunde(1823) includes an often played overture and another of Schubert’s universally loved instrumental numbers, theBallet Music. WhenRosamundewas introduced in Vienna on December 20, 1823 it was a failure, but this was due more to the insipid play of Helmina von Chézy than to Schubert’s music. The overture heard upon that occasion is not the overture now known asRosamunde. The latter is one which Schubert had written for an earlier operetta,Die Zauberharfe. A dignified introduction is dominated by a soaring melody for oboe and clarinet. The tempo changes, and a brisk little melody is given by the violins; a contrast is offered by a lyric subject for the woodwind.
The Entr’acte No. 2 in B-flat major fromRosamundeis one of Schubert’s most inspired melodies, whose beauty tempted H. L. Mencken once to point to it as the proof that God existed. Schubert himself was fond of the melody for he used it twice more, in his StringQuartet in A minor (1824) and for a piano Impromptu in B-flat major (1827).
There are two musical episodes inRosamundedesignated asBallet Music. The famous one is the second in G major, a melody so sparkling, infectious and graceful—and so full of the joy of life—that once again like theMoment Musicalin F minor it embodies the best of what today we characterize as Viennese. Fritz Kreisler’s transcription for violin and piano is famous.
Robert Schumann was born in Zwickau, Germany, on June 8, 1810. Though he demonstrated an unusual gift for music from earliest childhood he was directed by his father to law. While attending the Leipzig Conservatory in 1828 he studied the piano with Friedrich Wieck. In 1829, in Heidelberg, where he had come to continue his law study, he completed the first of his works to get published, theAbegg Variationsfor piano. He returned to Leipzig in 1829, having come to the decision to make music and not law his lifework, and plunged intensively into study. His ambition was to become a great virtuoso of the piano. In his efforts to master his technique he so abused his hands that a slight paralysis set in, putting to rest all hopes of a career as pianist. He now decided on composition. After an additional period of study with Heinrich Dorn, he completed his first major work, thePaganini Etudesfor piano, and started work on his first symphony. He became active in the musical life of Leipzig by helping found and editing theNeue Zeitschrift fuer Musik, which became a powerful medium for fighting for the highest ideals in music. He also formed a musical society called theDavidsbuendlermade up of idealistic young musicians who attacked false values and philistinism in music. All the while his creative life was unfolding richly. He wrote two unqualified masterworksfor piano between 1833 and 1835, theCarnavaland theÉtudes symphoniques. In 1840 Schumann married Clara Wieck, daughter of his one-time piano teacher. Their love affair had been of more than five years’ duration, but Clara’s father was stubbornly opposed to their marriage and put every possible obstacle in their way. Schumann finally had to seek the sanction of the law courts before his marriage could be consummated. He now entered upon his most productive period as composer, completing four symphonies, three string quartets, a piano quartet, numerous songs, a piano concerto among other works. In 1843, he helped found the Leipzig Conservatory where for a while he taught the piano, and between 1850 and 1853 he was municipal music director for the city of Duesseldorf. After 1853 there took place a startling deterioration of his nervous system, bringing on melancholia, lapses of memory, and finally insanity. The last two years of his life were spent in an asylum at Endenich, Germany, where he died on July 29, 1856.
Schumann was a giant in German Romantic music. His works abound with the most captivating lyricism, heartfelt emotion, subtle moods, and an unrestricted imagination. There is not much in this wonderful literature that falls naturally within the category of semi-classics—only three piano pieces familiar in transcriptions, and a song.
Abendlied(Evening Song), a gentle mood picture in the composer’s most rewarding Romantic vein, comes fromTwelve Four-Hand Pieces for Younger and Older Children, op. 85 (1849) where it is the final number.
“Die beiden Grenadiere” (The Two Grenadiers) op. 49, no. 1 (1840) is probably the most familiar of Schumann’s many songs. The poem is by Heine. The music describes with telling effect the reaction of two French grenadiers on learning that their Emperor Napoleon has been captured. The song reaches a powerful climax with a quotation from theMarseillaise.
TheTraeumerei(Dreaming) is the seventh number in a set of thirteen piano pieces collectively entitledScenes from Childhood(Kinderscenen), op. 15, (1838). Like theAbendlied, it is an atmospheric piece, perhaps one of the most popular compositions by Schumann.
Wild Horseman(Wilder Reiter) can be found in theAlbum for the Young(Album fuer die Jugend), op. 68, no. 3 (1848). It was made into an American popular song in the early 1950’s by Johnny Burke.
Cyril Meir Scott was born in Oxton, England, on September 27, 1879. His musical training took place at Hoch’s Conservatory in Frankfort, Germany, and privately with Ivan Knorr. He went to live in Liverpool in 1898 where he taught piano and devoted himself to composition. Performances of several orchestral and chamber-music works at the turn of the century helped establish his reputation. He also distinguished himself as a concert pianist with performances throughout Europe and a tour of America in 1921. Though frequently a composer withavant-gardetendencies—one of the first English composers to use the most advanced techniques of modern music—Scott is most famous for his short pieces for the piano which have been extensively performed in transcription. His writing is mainly impressionistic, with a subtle feeling for sensitive atmosphere and moods. The best of these miniatures, each a delicate tone picture, are:Danse nègre(Negro Dance), op. 58, no. 3 (1908); andLotus Land, op. 47, no. 1 (1905). The latter was transcribed for violin and piano by Kreisler and for orchestra by Kostelanetz.
Jean Sibelius was born in Tavastehus, Finland, on December 8, 1865. Though he early revealed a pronounced gift for music he planned a career in law. After a year at the University of Helsinki he finally decided upon music. From 1886 to 1889 he attended the HelsinkiConservatory where one of his teachers was Ferruccio Busoni, after which he studied in Berlin with Albert Becker and in Vienna with Robert Fuchs and Karl Goldmark. He was back in his native land in 1891, and one year after that conducted in Helsinki the première of his first work in a national style,Kullervo. From then on, he continued producing works with a pronounced national identity with which he became not only one of Finland’s leading creative figures in music but also its prime musical spokesman. In 1897 he was given the first government grant ever bestowed on a musician which enabled him to give up his teaching activities for composition. He now produced some of his greatest music, including most of his symphonies. In 1914 he paid his only visit to the United States, directing a concert of his works in Norfolk, Connecticut. After World War I, he toured Europe several times. Then from 1924 on he lived in comparative seclusion at his home in Järvenpää, which attracted admirers from all parts of the world. Sibelius wrote nothing after 1929, but by then his place in the world’s music was secure as one of the foremost symphonists since Brahms. In Finland he assumed the status of a national hero. He died at his home in Järvenpää on September 20, 1957.
Some of the compositions by Sibelius enjoying popularity as semi-classics are in the post-Romantic German style which he had assumed early in his career; only one or two are in the national idiom for which he is so famous.
In the former category belongs a slight, sentimental piece calledCanzonetta, for string orchestra, op. 62a (1911). As its name implies it is a small and simple instrumental song for muted strings, deeply emotional in feeling, at times with deeply somber colorations.
Finlandia, for symphony orchestra, op. 26 (1900) is one of Sibelius’ earliest national compositions, and to this day it is the most famous. Both in and out of Finland this music is as much an eloquent voice for its country as its national anthem. One can go even further and say that more people in the world know the melodies ofFinlandiathan the Finnish anthem. So stirring are its themes, so identifiably Finnish in personality and color, that for a long time it was believed Sibelius had utilized national folk tunes; but the music is entirely Sibelius’. It opens with a proud exclamation in the brass. After this comes a sensitive melody for the woodwind, and a prayer-like song for the strings. The music now enters a dramatic phase with stormy passages. But there soon arrives the most famous melody in the entire work, a beautiful supplication sounded first by the woodwind and then by the strings.A forceful climax ensues with a strong statement which seems to be speaking in loud and ringing tones of the determination of the people to stay free.
Performances ofFinlandiaplayed a prominent role in the political history of Finland. When performed in its first version, in 1899, it was used to help raise funds for a Press Pension fight against the suppression of free speech and press by the Russians. Within the next two years (following a radical revision of the music in 1900) the work was given under various titles: In France it was first performed asSuomiand then asLa Patrie; in Germany, asVaterland. In Finland the music proved so inflammatory in arousing national ardor that Russia suppressed its performances in that country, while permitting it to be played in the Empire so long as the titleImpromptuwas used. When, in 1905, Russia made far-reaching political concessions to Finland, Sibelius’ tone poem was once again permitted performances. For the next twelve years it became the national expression of a people stubbornly fighting for its independence. Performances kept alive the national fire to such an extent that it has been said that they did more to promote the cause of Finland’s freedom than all the propaganda of speeches and pamphlets.
When the Soviets invaded Finland in the first stages of World War II,Finlandiaonce again acquired political importance. In the free world, particularly in the United States, the music was used to speak for the spirit of a people refusing to accept oppression and defeat.
Another piece of stirring national music that has become a lighter classic comes out of theKarelia Suitefor orchestra, op. 11 (1893), theAlla Marciasection. This work was written for a historical pageant presented by the students of Viborg University and consists of an overture, two melodious sections (IntermezzoandBallade) and theAlla marcia, march music of dramatic surge and sweep, in which effective use is made of abrupt key changes.
Sibelius wrote several delightfulRomancesin the German-Romantic idiom of his earlyCanzonetta. One of these was originally for solo piano, in D-flat major, op. 24, no. 9 (1903); another for violin and piano, F major, op. 78, no. 2 (1915). The former has become popular in transcriptions for salon orchestra; the latter, for violin and orchestra, and cello and piano. Perhaps the most famous of Sibelius’Romancesis that in C major, for string orchestra, Op. 42 (1903). It begins with an unorthodox opening, unusual in harmonic structure and varied in inflections, but its principal melody—a soulful song—is in the traditional idiom of an uninhibited Romanticist.
The best known of Sibelius’ Romantic compositions, a universal favorite with salon orchestras, is theValse Triste, for orchestra, op. 44 (1903). This is a section from the incidental music forKuolema, a play by Sibelius’ brother-in-law, Arvid Jaernefelt; but it is the only one from this score to get published. This slow and lugubrious melody, bathed in sentimentality, is a literal musical interpretation of the following program, translated by Rosa Newmarch: “It is night. The son who has been watching by the bedside of his sick mother has fallen asleep from sheer weariness. Gradually a ruddy light is reflected through the room; there is a sound of distant music; the glow and the music steal nearer until the strains of a valse melody float distinctly to our ears. The sleeping mother awakens, rises from her bed, and, in her long white garment which takes the semblance of a ball dress, begins to move slowly and silently to and fro. She waves her hands and beckons in time to the music, as though she were summoning a crowd of invisible guests. And now they appear, these strange visionary couples, turning and gliding to an unearthly valse rhythm. The dying woman mingles with the dancers, she strives to make them look into her eyes, but the shadowy guests one and all avoid her glance. Then she seems to sink exhausted on her couch, and the music breaks off. But presently she gathers all her strength and invokes the dance once again with more energetic gestures than before. Back come the shadowy dancers, gyrating in a wild, mad rhythm. The weird gaiety reaches a climax; there is a knock at the door, which flies wide open; the mother utters a despairing cry; the spectral guests vanish; the music dies away. Death stands on the threshold.”
Christian Sinding was born in Kongsberg, Norway, on January 11, 1856. After attending the Leipzig Conservatory from 1877 to 1881 he settled in Oslo as a teacher of the piano. His first publishedcomposition was a piano quintet in 1884, and in 1885 he directed a concert of his own music in Oslo. Though he wrote in large forms, including symphonies, concertos, suites, tone poems and various chamber-music compositions, he is best known for his smaller pieces for the piano. In 1890 he received an annual subsidy from his government to enable him to devote himself completely to composition. One of Norway’s most significant composers, he was given a handsome life pension in 1915, and in 1916 an additional government gift of 30,000 crowns. In 1921-1922 he visited the United States when he served for one season as a member of the faculty of the Eastman School of Music. He died in Oslo on December 3, 1941.
His smaller pieces for the piano include etudes, waltzes, caprices, intermezzos and various descriptive compositions. It is by one of the last that he is most often remembered, a favorite of young pianists throughout the world, and of salon and pop orchestras in instrumental adaptations. This is the ever-popularRustle of Spring(Fruehlingsrauschen), probably the most popular piece of music describing the vernal season. This is the second ofSix Pieces, for solo piano, Op. 32 (1896). The rustle can be found in the accompaniment, against which moves a soft, sentimental song filled with all the magic of Nature’s rebirth at springtime. In this same suite, a second number of markedly contrasting nature, has also become familiar—the first number, played in a vigorous and picaresque style, theMarche grotesque.
Leone Sinigaglia was born in Turin, Italy, on August 14, 1868. His preliminary music study took place at the Liceo Musicale of his native city and was completed with Mandyczewski in Vienna and Dvořák in Prague. The latter encouraged him to write music in a national Italian idiom. It was in this style that he created his earliestsignificant compositions, the first beingDanze piemontesi, introduced in Turin in 1905, Toscanini conducting. Later works includedRapsodia piemontesefor violin and orchestra;Piemonte, for orchestra; a violin concerto; and various works for chamber music groups, solo instruments and orchestra. He died in Turin on May 16, 1944.
His best known and most frequently played composition is a gay, infectious little concert overture,Le Baruffe chiozzotte(The Quarrels of the People of Chiozzo), op. 32 (1907). It was inspired by the Goldoni comedy of the same name which offers an amusing picture of life in the little town of Chiozzo. There Lucietto and Tita are in love, quarrel, and become reconciled through the ministrations of the magistrate. A loud theme for full orchestra provides the overture with a boisterous beginning. A passing tender thought then comes as contrast. After some elaboration of these ideas, a delightful folk song is heard first in the oboe, and then in violins. The tempo now quickens, the mood becomes restless, and the music grows sprightly. An amusing little episode now appears in woodwind and violins after which the folk song and the loud opening theme are recalled.
Piemonte, a suite for orchestra, op. 36 is a charming four-movement composition in which the folk melodies and dances of Piedmont are prominently used. The first movement, “Over Woods and Fields,” opens with a folk tune, which the composer repeats in the finale. Two other delightful ideas follow: the first in the horn, repeated by the cellos; the second in muted first violins. In the second movement, “A Rustic Dance,” the principal Piedmont dance tune is heard in solo violin and oboe; a second subject occurs after the development of the first in lower strings and woodwind. The heart of the third movement, “In the Sacred Mountain,” is a folk song first offered by the horns, accompanied by cellos and double basses. The suite ends with a picture of a festival, “Piedmontese Carnival,” its two vigorous ideas heard respectively in full orchestra, and in trumpet and first violins.
Bedřich Smetana was born in Leitomischl, Bohemia, on March 2, 1824. Though he was interested in music from childhood on, he received little training until his nineteenth year when he came to Prague and studied with Josef Proksch. For several years after the completion of his music study he worked as teacher of music for Count Leopold Thun. He soon became active in the musical life of his country; in 1848 he was a significant force in the creation of Prague’s first music school. In 1849, Smetana was appointed pianist to Ferdinand I, the former Emperor of Austria residing in Prague. From 1856 to 1861 Smetana lived in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he was active as conductor, teacher, and pianist. After returning to his native land in 1861 he became one of its dominant musical figures. He served as director of the music school, conducted a chorus, wrote music criticisms, founded and directed a drama school, and organized the Society of Artists. He also wrote a succession of major works in which the cause of Bohemian nationalism was espoused so vigorously and imaginatively that Smetana has since become recognized as the father of Bohemian national music. His most significant works are the folk opera,The Bartered Bride, and a cycle of orchestral tone poems collectively entitledMy Country(Má Vlast). Smetana was stricken by deafness in 1874, despite which he continued creating important works, among them being operas and an autobiographical string quartet calledFrom My Life(Aus meinem Leben). Total deafness was supplemented by insanity in 1883 which necessitated confinement in an asylum in Prague where he died on May 12, 1884.
The rich folk melodies and pulsating folk rhythms of native dance music overflow in Smetana’s music, providing it with much of its vitality and popular interest. Smetana’s gift at writing music in the style, idiom, and techniques of Bohemian folk dances is evident in many of his compositions, but nowhere more successfully than in his delightful folk comic opera,The Bartered Bride(Prodaná nevešta). This little opera, first performed in Prague on May 30, 1866, is thefoundation on which Bohemian national music rests securely. It is a gay, lively picture of life in a small Bohemian village. The principal action involves the efforts of the village matchmaker to get Marie married to Wenzel, a dim-witted, stuttering son of the town’s wealthy landowner. But Marie is in love with Hans who, as it turns out, is also the son of the same landowner, though by a previous marriage. Through trickery, Hans manages to win Marie, though for a while matters become complicated when Marie is led to believe that Hans has deserted her.
In its first version,The Bartered Bridewas presented as a play (by Karel Sabina) with incidental music by Smetana. Realizing that this work had operatic possibilities, Smetana amplified and revised his score, and wrote recitatives for the spoken dialogue. In this new extended form the opera was heard in Vienna in 1892 and was a sensation; from then on, and to the present time, it has remained one of the most lovable comic operas ever written.
There are three colorful and dynamic folk dances in this opera which contribute powerfully to the overall national identity, but whose impact on audiences is by no means lost when heard apart from the stage action. “The Dance of the Comedians” appears in the third act, when a circus troupe appears in the village square and entertains villagers with a spirited dance. The “Furiant”—a fiery type of Bohemian dance with marked cross rhythms—comes in the second act when villagers enter the local inn and perform a Corybantic dance. The “Polka,” a favorite Bohemian dance, comes as an exciting finish to the first act as local residents give vent to their holiday spirits during a festival in the village square.
The effervescent overture which precedes the first act is as popular as the dances. The merry first theme is given by strings and woodwind in unison against strong chords in brasses and timpani. This subject is simplified, at times in a fugal style, and is brought to a climax before a second short subject is stated by the oboe. Still a third charming folk tune appears, in violins and cellos, before the first main subject is recalled and developed. The coda, based on this first theme, carries the overture to a lively conclusion. Gustav Mahler, the eminent music director of the Vienna Royal Opera which gave this opera its first major success outside Bohemia, felt this overture was so much in the spirit of the entire work, and so basic to its overall mood and structure, that he preferred using it before the second act so that latecomers into the opera house might not miss it.