The Prelude to Act II is constructed from a motive of an off-stage unaccompanied little song by Don José in the same act praising the dragoons of Alcala. The Prelude to Act III is actually an entr’acte, a gentle little intermezzo which Bizet originally wrote forL’Arlésienne. The Prelude to Act IV is also an entr’acte, this time of dramatic personality. The brilliant and forceful music is based upon an actual Andalusian folk song and dance; it sets the mood for the gay festivities in a public square on the day of a gala bull-fight with which the fourth act opens.
It is sometimes a practice at concerts of semi-classical or pop music to present not merely one of the four orchestral Preludes but also at other times salient musical episodes from the opera, arranged and assembled into fantasias or suites. These potpourris or suites are generally made up of varied combinations of the following excerpts. From Act I: the “Changing of the Guard”; Carmen’s seductive and extremely popular aria, the Habanera (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”), which was not by Bizet but borrowed by him from a song by Sebastian Yradier (seeYradier); the duet of Micaëla and Don José, “Qui sait de quel démon”; and Carmen’s Séguidille, “Près des ramparts de Séville.” From Act II: “The March of the Smugglers,”; Carmen’s “Chanson bohème”; the rousing Toreador Song of Escamillo; and Don José’s poignant “Flower Song” to Carmen, “La fleur que tu m’avais jetée.” From Act III: Carmen’s Card Song, “En vain pour éviter”; and Micaëla’s celebrated Air, “Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante”. From Act IV: the Chorus, March, and Finale.
Utilizing many of these selections, Ferruccio Busoni and Vladimir Horowitz each prepared striking concert fantasias for solo piano; Pablo de Sarasate, for violin and piano; and Franz Waxman for violin and orchestra for the motion picture,Humoresque, starring John Garfield.
Children’s Games(Jeux d’enfants) is a delightful suite of twelve pieces for piano (four hands) for and about children. Bizet wrote it in 1871, but shortly afterwards orchestrated five of these numbers and assembled them into a suite, op. 22. The first movement is a march entitled “Trumpeter and Drummer” (“Trompette et tambour”) music punctuated by trumpet calls and drum rolls, accompanying a troop of soldiers as it approaches and then disappears into the distance. This is followed by a tender berceuse for muted strings, “The Doll” (“La Poupée”). The third movement is “The Top” (“La Toupie”), an impromptu in which the violins simulate the whirr of a spinning top while the woodwinds introduce a jolly dance tune. The fourth movement,“Little Husband, Little Wife” (“Petit mari, petite femme”) is a quiet little dialogue between husband and wife, the former represented by first violins, and the latter by the cellos. The suite ends with “The Ball” (“Le Bal”), a galop for full orchestra.
TheDanse bohèmienneis a popular orchestral episode that comes from a comparatively unknown (and early) Bizet opera,La jolie fille de Perth, introduced in Paris in 1867. This vital dance music appears in the second act, but it is also often borrowed by many opera companies for the fourth act ballet ofCarmen. The harp leads into, and then accompanies, a soft, sinuous dance melody for the flute. The tempo rapidly quickens, and the mood grows febrile; the strings take over the dance melody in quick time, and other sections of the orchestra participate vigorously.
La PatrieOverture, op. 19 (1873) is music in a martial manner. A robust, strongly rhythmed march tune is immediately presented by the full orchestra. After some amplification it is repeated softly by the orchestra. The second main theme is a stately folk melody first given by the violins, clarinets and bassoons, accompanied by the double basses. This new subject receives resounding treatment in full orchestra and is carried to a powerful climax. After a momentary pause, a third tune is heard, this time in violas and cellos accompanied by brasses and double basses, and a fourth, in violas, clarinets and English horn with the muted violins providing an arpeggio accompaniment. Then the stirring opening march music is recalled and dramatized. The overture ends in a blaze of color after some of the other themes are brought back with enriched harmonies and orchestration.
This music was written for a play of the same name by Sardou.
Luigi Boccherini was born in Lucca, Italy, on February 19, 1743. After studying music with various private teachers in Rome, he gained recognition as a cellist both as a member of theater orchestrasin Lucca and later on tour throughout Europe in joint concerts with Filippo Manfredi, violinist. He served as court composer in Madrid from 1785 to 1787, and from 1787 until 1797 for Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. His last years were spent in Madrid in poverty and poor health, and he died in that city on May 28, 1805.
Boccherini, a contemporary of Haydn, was a prolific composer of symphonies, concertos, and a considerable amount of chamber music which were all-important in helping to develop and crystallize a classical style of instrumental writing and in establishing the classic forms of instrumental music.
Despite the abundance of his creation in virtually every branch of instrumental music, and despite the significance of his finest works, Boccherini is remembered today by many music lovers mainly for a comparatively minor piece of music: the sedateMinuetwhich originated as the third movement of the String Quintet in E major, op. 13, no. 5. Transcribed for orchestra, and for various solo instruments and piano, (even for solo harpsichord) this light and airy Minuet has become one of the most celebrated musical examples of this classic dance form.
Several of Boccherini’s little known melodies from various quintets and from his Sinfonia No. 2 in B-flat were used by the contemporary French composer, Jean Françaix, for a ballet score, from which comes an enchanting little orchestral suite. The ballet wasThe School of Dancing(Scuola di Ballo), with book and choreography by Leonide Massine; it was introduced by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in Monte Carlo in 1933. The book was set in the dancing school of Professor Rigadon. The professor tries to palm off one of his backward pupils on an impresario, while withholding his star; in the end all pupils leave him in disgust. The suite is in four parts. The first consists of “Leçon” and “Menuet”; the second, “Larghetto,” “Rondo,” and “Dispute”; the third, “Presto,” “Pastorale,” and “Danse allemande”; the last, “Scène du notaire” and “Finale.” An unidentified program annotator goes on to explain: “An occasional stern note in the ‘Leçon’ and strong chords in the ‘Menuet’ suggest the teacher. The violin and bassoon play a duet which very clearly pictures the inept pupil. Further atmosphere is furnished by a guitar-like accompaniment heard on the harp from time to time. One is soon acquainted with the characters who reappear in the various sections. The ‘Larghetto’ closely resembles a movement in one of Haydn’s symphonies, which suggests a tempting line of speculation. The orchestration of the ‘Rondo’ and the syncopation of the ‘Danse allemande’ are noteworthy.”
François-Adrien Boieldieu, genius of opéra-comique, was born in Rouen, France, on December 16, 1775. After studying music with Charles Broche, Boieldieu became a church organist in Rouen in his fifteenth year. Two years later his first opera,La fille coupable, was successfully given in the same city. In 1796 he came to Paris where from 1797 on his operas began appearing in various theaters, climaxed by his first major success,Le Calife de Bagdadin 1801. In 1798 he was appointed professor of the piano at the Paris Conservatory. From 1803 until 1811 he lived in Russia writing operas for the Imperial theaters and supervising musical performances at court. After returning to Paris in 1811, he reassumed his significant position in French music. From 1817 to 1826 he was professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory, and in 1821 he was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. All the while he kept on writing operas and enjoying considerable popularity. His most significant work was the opéra-comique,La Dame blanche, a sensation when introduced in Paris in 1825. Ill health compelled him to abandon his various professional activities in 1832. Supported by an annual government grant, he withdrew to Jarcy where he spent the last years of his life devoting himself mainly to painting. He died there on October 8, 1834. Boieldieu, with Adam and Auber, was one of the founders of French comic opera, and his best works are still among the finest achieved in thisgenre.
The Overture toThe Caliph of Bagdad(Le Calife de Bagdad) is Boieldieu’s most famous piece of music. The opera was a triumph when introduced at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on September 16, 1801. The libretto, by Saint-Just, is set in Bagdad where Isaaum is a benevolent Caliph, but given to mischievous pranks and tricks, including parading around the city in various disguises. Once, as an army officer, he meets and makes love to Zeltube. Her mother, suspicious of him, orders his arrest. When the Caliph reveals himself, he also discloses his intentions were honorable and that he intends making Zeltube his bride.
The overture opens with a mellow song for strings. When the tempo changes, a sprightlier tune is heard in strings and brought to a forcefulclimactic point. The music now assumes a dramatic character after which a new subject, again in a sensitive lyrical vein, is offered by the strings.
The Overture toLa Dame blanche(The White Lady) is also popular.La Dame blancheis the composer’s greatest work in the opéra-comique form. It was received with such sensational acclaim when introduced in Paris on December 10, 1825 that, temporarily at any rate, the sparkling comic operas of Rossini (then very much in vogue) were thrown into a shade. In time,La Dame blanchereceived universal acceptance as a classic in the world of opéra-comique. Between 1825 and 1862 it enjoyed over a thousand performances in Paris; by World War I, the total passed beyond the fifteen hundred mark. The libretto, by Eugène Scribe, is based on two novels by Sir Walter Scott,The MonasteryandGuy Mannering. The setting is Scotland, and the “white lady” is a statue believed to be the protector of a castle belonging to the Laird of Avenel. The castle is being administered by Gaveston who tries to use the legend of the white lady for his own selfish purposes, to gain possession of the family treasures. Anna, Gaveston’s ward, impersonates the white lady to help save the castle and its jewels for the rightful owner.
The vivacious overture is made up of several of the opera’s principal melodies. The introduction begins with a motive from the first-act finale, and is followed by the melodious and expressive “Ballad of the White Lady.” The Allegro section that follows includes the drinking song and several other popular arias, among these being the ballad of “Robin Adair” which appears during the hero’s first-act revery and as a concert piece in the third act.
Giovanni Bolzoni was born in Parma, Italy, on May 14, 1841. He attended the Parma Conservatory, then achieved recognition as a conductor of operas in Perugia and Turin. In 1887 he became directorof the Liceo Musicale in Turin. Bolzoni wrote five operas, a symphony, overtures, and chamber music, but all are now in discard. He died in Turin on February 21, 1919.
About the only piece of music by Bolzoni to survive is a beguiling little Minuet which comes from an unidentified string quartet and which has achieved outstanding popularity in various transcriptions, including many for salon orchestras with which it is a perennial favorite.
Carrie Jacobs Bond, whose art songs are among the most popular by an American, was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, on August 11, 1862. Coming from a musical family, she was given music instruction early, and made appearances as a child-prodigy pianist. After marrying Dr. Frank L. Bond, a physician, she went to live in Chicago where her husband died suddenly, leaving her destitute. For a while she earned a living by renting rooms, taking in sewing, and doing other menial jobs. Then she began thinking of supplementing this meager income with the writing of songs. To issue these compositions, she formed a modest publishing firm in New York with funds acquired from her New York song recital; for a long time her office was in a hall bedroom. Her first publication, just before the end of the century, wasSeven Songs, which included “I Love You Truly” and “Just a Wearyin’ For You,” each of which she subsequently published as separate pieces. In 1909 she achieved a formidable success with the famous ballad, “The End of a Perfect Day,” of which more than five million copies of sheet music were sold within a few years. Her later songs added further both to her financial security and her reputation. She was invited to give concerts at the White House, received awards for achievement in music from various organizations, and was singledout in 1941 by the Federation of Music Clubs as one of the two outstanding women in the field of music. She died in Hollywood, California, on December 28, 1946.
Carrie Jacobs Bond knew how to write a song that was filled with sentiment without becoming cloying, that was simple without becoming ingenuous, and which struck a sympathetic universal chord by virtue of its mobile and expressive lyricism. Besides “I Love You Truly,” “Just a Wearyin’ for You” and “The End of a Perfect Day,” her most famous songs included “His Lullaby,” “Life’s Garden,” “I’ve Done My Work,” and “Roses Are in Bloom.” Her songs are so popular that they have been often heard in various transcriptions for salon orchestras and band.
Alexander Borodin was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 11, 1833. He was trained in the sciences, having attended the Academy of Medicine in St. Petersburg and in 1858 receiving his doctorate in chemistry. He continued after that to devote himself to scientific activities, both in and out of Russia. He produced several significant papers and, from 1859 to 1862, served on an important scientific mission.
He had also received some musical training in his boyhood. In 1862 he began to direct his energies with equal vigor to music as well as to science. He soon joined four colleagues (Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Cui, and Rimsky-Korsakov) in forming a national school of composition henceforth identified as “The Mighty Five” or “The Russian Five.” Like the other members of this group, Borodin concerned himself with the creation of a national Russian musical art, well grounded in Russian folk song and dance, Russian culture and history. In this style he produced three symphonies, the folk operaPrince Igor, two string quartets,and various operas and instrumental compositions. He differed from the other members of the “Russian Five” by his partiality to Oriental melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and instrumental colors, and by his preference for exotic subjects. Borodin died in St. Petersburg on February 27, 1887.
In the Steppes of Central Asia(1880) is a popular tone poem for orchestra, one of severaltableaux vivants(“living pictures”) commissioned from various composers to honor the 25th anniversary of the reign of Czar Alexander II. Eachtableau vivantwas intended to portray an incident from the Russian past, or a picture of a Russian scene. Borodin prepared his own programmatic note to explain his music; it appears in the published score. “Over the uniformly sandy steppes of Central Asia come sounds of a peaceful Russian song. Along with them are heard the melancholy strains of Oriental melodies, then the stamping of approaching horses and camels. A caravan, accompanied by Russian soldiers, traverses the measureless waste. With full trust in its protective escort, it continues its long journey in a carefree mood. Onward the caravan moves. The songs of the Russians and those of the Asiatic natives mingle in common harmony. The refrains curl over the desert and then die away in the distance.”
The peaceful Russian song is given by the clarinet, while the “melancholy strains of Oriental melodies” is an expressive song for English horn. These two melodies are the core of a composition that is free in form.
TheNocturne(Notturno) is a haunting, poetic song for strings, the third movement of the composer’s String Quartet No. 2 in D major (1885). It is often heard apart from the rest of the work, particularly in various transcriptions for orchestra, or for violin and piano. In 1953, furnished with lyrics and adapted into a popular song by Robert Wright and George “Chet” Forrest, it was heard in the Broadway musicalKismetas “This Is My Beloved” and became an outstanding hit.
ThePolovtsian Dancescome fromPrince Igor, a folk opera with libretto by Vladimir Stassov based on an old Russian chronicle. It was introduced at the Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg in 1890. The setting is 12th-century Central Asia where a Tartar race, known as the Polovtzi, capture Prince Igor and his son, Vladimir. Though captives, Prince Igor and his son are regaled by the leader of the Tartars with a lavish feast and Oriental dances. It is at this point in the opera (Act 2) that the popularPolovtsian Dancesappear. They are exciting aural experiencesbecause of their primitive rhythms, exotic Oriental melodies, and flaming instrumental colors. One of the dances is a poignant melody for flute and oboe; another is a dance of savage men in which the main melody in clarinet is set against a sharply accented phrase of four descending notes; a third is barbaric, a syncopated melody for strings accompanied by crash of cymbals; a fourth is a haunting Oriental song divided by violins and cellos. This last melody was used by Robert Wright and George “Chet” Forrest for their popular song hit of 1953, “Stranger in Paradise,” in their Broadway musical,Kismet. The concluding dance is again in a savage manner. A passionate melody is begun by the woodwind and carried on by the strings, while receiving a vigorous horn accompaniment.
Felix Borowski was born in Burton, England, on March 10, 1872. He received his musical training at the Cologne Conservatory and with private teachers in England. In 1897 he settled in the United States where he later became a citizen. From 1897 to 1916 he was professor of harmony and counterpoint at Chicago Musical College, and from 1916 to 1925 its president. His career in music criticism began in 1905. From 1907 to 1917 he was music critic of the ChicagoRecord-Heraldand from 1942 until his death, of the ChicagoSun. He was also program annotator for the concerts of the Chicago Symphony from 1908 on, some of these annotations being published in the books,Standard Concert GuideandEncyclopedia of the Symphony. Borowski died in Chicago, Illinois, on September 6, 1956.
As a composer, Borowski produced three symphonies, three string quartets, several ballet-pantomimes, various tone poems and other instrumental compositions. His major works are now rarely given, but his smaller salon pieces have retained their popularity through the years.The best of these are theAdoration, for violin and piano, theLa CoquetteandValsettefor piano, all transcribed for orchestra. All three pieces are in simple song structure and unashamedly Romantic in their lyricism and emotional content. The uninhibited sentimentality ofAdorationhas made that piece a particular favorite.
Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany, on May 7, 1833. He received instruction in music from his father, Otto Cossel, and Eduard Marxsen. At fourteen he gave his first public concert as pianist, in which he introduced one of his own compositions. In 1853 he toured with the Hungarian violinist, Eduard Reményi, as his accompanist. During this period he met and aroused the interest of such notable musicians as Joachim, Liszt, and Schumann. The last of these was one of the first to give Brahms public recognition, through a glowing article in theNeue Zeitschrift fuer Musik. After a considerable amount of travel in Germany and Austria, and after holding various musical positions, Brahms established himself permanently in Vienna in 1863. The promise he had shown in his early piano and chamber music became fully realized with his first piano concerto in 1857, theGerman Requiemwritten between 1857 and 1868, and the first symphony completed in 1876. In his later orchestral, piano, and chamber music he assumed a position of first importance in the German Romantic movement, the spokesman for absolute music, the genius who succeeded in combining respect for classical discipline and tradition with the Romanticist’s bent for emotion, poetry, and flexible thought. Brahms died in Vienna on April 3, 1897.
The supreme craftsmanship, mature thought, and profound feelings of Brahms’ music do not lend themselves to popular consumption. Occasionally, though not frequently, he chose to give voice to a lightermood, as he did in his ever-popularHungarian Dances. In such music, as in his more ambitious works, he is always the master of form and style, and a powerful and inventive creator.
TheCradle Song(Wiegenlied) is Brahms’ universally loved art song, one of the most famous lullabies ever written. It is the fourth in a collection of five songs, op. 49 (1868). Its lyric is a folk poem (“Guten Abend, Gute Nacht”). In its many and varied transcriptions, this lullaby has become an instrumental favorite.
TheHungarian Danceswas originally published in 1869 in two volumes for four-hand piano. The first book contained dances Nos. 1 through 5, while the second book had Nos. 6 through 10. Brahms took special pains to point out that these melodies were not his own, but were adaptations. On the title page there appeared the phrase “arranged for the piano.” Brahms further refused to place an opus number to his publication as another indication that this was not original music; and in a letter to his publisher, Simrock, he explained he was offering this music “as genuine gypsy children which I did not beget but merely brought up with bread and milk.”
Despite Brahms’ open candor about the origin of these melodies, a storm of protest was sounded by many newspapers and musicians accusing Brahms of plagiarism. Fortunately, the general public refused to be influenced by this unjust accusation. The two volumes ofHungarian Danceswere a formidable success, the greatest enjoyed by Brahms up to that time.
In 1880, Brahms issued two more volumes ofHungarian Dances, still for four-hand piano. Book 3 had dances Nos. 11 through 16, and Book 4, Nos. 17 through 21. This time many of the melodies were original with Brahms, even if modeled after the style and idiosyncrasies of actual Hungarian folk dances and gypsy melodies.
TheHungarian Dancesare most popular in transcriptions for orchestra. Brahms himself transcribed Dances Nos. 1, 3, and 10; Andreas Hellen, Nos. 2, 4, and 7; Dvořák, Nos. 7 through 21; and Albert Parlow, the rest. Walter Goehr and Leopold Stokowski also made transcriptions of several of these dances for orchestra. In addition, Brahms adapted Book 1 for piano solo, and Joachim all the dances for violin and piano.
The dances range from sentimental to passionate moods. They abound with abrupt contrasts of feeling and dynamics; they are often vital with vertiginous rhythms and changing meters. These gypsy melodies, both the gay and the sad, warm the heart like Tokay wine; the pulse of the rhythm is similarly intoxicating. As Walter Niemann wroteof these dances: “They are pure nature music, full of unfettered, vagrant, roving spirit, and a chaotic ferment, drawn straight from the deepest well springs of music by children of Nature. It seems impossible to imprison them in the bonds of measure, time, and rhythm, to convert their enchantingly refreshing uncivilized character, their wild freedom, their audacious contempt for all order into a civilized moderation and order.”
Yet Brahms was able to discipline this music with modern techniques without robbing it either of its personality or popular appeal. “He has maintained,” continues Niemann, “and preserved the essential, individual genuine features of gypsy music in his musical idiom: the dances sound like original Hungarian folk music ... and for this reason they delight and enchant everybody: the amateur by their natural quality, the specialist by their art.”
The most famous of these dances is the fifth in F-sharp minor, its passionate, uninhibited dance melody released at once by the strings against a strong rhythm.
The following are some other popular dances.
No. 1, in G minor. A slow and languorous dance unfolds in strings, and then is contrasted by a slight, tripping theme in woodwind; a second languorous dance melody follows in the strings.
No. 6 in D-flat major. A slow syncopated melody begins sensually but soon gains in tempo and volume; a second arresting dance tune is then offered by strings against strong chords in the rest of the orchestra.
No. 7 in A major. This dance opens with a vivacious melody in strings, but through most of the piece a comparatively restrained mood is maintained.
No. 12 in D minor. The first dance melody is presented in a halting rhythm by the woodwind against decorative figures in the strings. This is followed by two other dance tunes, the first in strings with trimmings in the woodwind, and the second in full orchestra.
No. 19 in B minor and No. 21 in E minor. Both are fleet and graceful both in melody and rhythm.
TheWaltz in A-flat major, a graceful dance which is given without any introduction or coda, originated as a piece for piano duet: the fifteenth of a set of sixteen such waltzes op. 39 (1865). All of Brahms’ waltzes reveal their Viennese identity in their charm and lightness of heart. Some are derivative from the waltzes of Johann Strauss II, but the one in A-major is more in the character of a Schubert Laendler than a Strauss waltz, though it does boast more delicacy and refinementthan we usually find in peasant dances. David Hochstein’s transcription for violin and piano is in the concert violin repertory.
Charles Wakefield Cadman was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1881. As a boy he played the organ in a church near Pittsburgh, and wrote a march that was published. His main music study took place with private teachers: Leo Oehmler, Luigi von Kunits, and Emil Paur. From 1908 to 1910 he was the music critic of the PittsburghDispatch. Meanwhile, a meeting in 1902 with the lyric writer Nellie Richmond Eberhart, turned him to the writing of songs in which he achieved his initial outstanding successes as composer. Some of these were inspired by the American Indian. Later researches in the field of American-Indian ceremonials and music led him to write his operaShanewis, produced by the Metropolitan Opera in 1918, as well as several significant instrumental works including theThunderbird SuiteandTo a Vanishing Race. From 1917 until his death he lived in California where he wrote several major orchestral and chamber-music works, but none in the American-Indian idiom with which he became famous. He died in Los Angeles on December 30, 1946.
TheAmerican Suite, for strings (1938), is an engaging piece of music in which Cadman makes use of several different American folk idioms. In the first movement he borrows his melodies from the tribal music of Omaha Indians. In the second movement we hear Negro folk tunes indigenous to South Carolina. And in the third movement, two old fiddle tunes are effectively employed, “Sugar in the Gourd,” and “Hoop-de-den-do.”
“At Dawning” is one of Cadman’s two most famous songs. It sold millions of copies of sheet music and records, and has been translatedinto many languages. Though originally published in 1906, it reposed forgotten and unknown on the shelves of the publisher (Oliver Ditson) until John McCormack sang it at one of his recitals in 1909 and was given an ovation. “At Dawning” was transcribed for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler.
Dark Dancers of Mardi Gras, for orchestra with piano, (1933), is one of Cadman’s most popular symphonic compositions. The composer explains: “The work takes its name from the Negro side of the Mardi Gras, though no Negro themes are used. The Negroes of New Orleans have a Mardi Gras of their own. The fantasy is supposed to reflect the fantastic, the grotesque, the bizarre spirit of the carnival. The original theme goes into a major key in the central section, and might represent the romantic feeling of the King and Queen, and the Court in carnival fashion.”
“From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water” is the second of Cadman’s two outstandingly successful songs. It is one of four songs with lyrics by Nellie Richmond Eberhart appearing inAmerican-Indian Songs, op. 45, a cycle which was published in Boston in 1909 and in the same year received a prize in a contest sponsored by the Carnegie Institute. This song was first swept to national fame by the prima donna, Lillian Nordica, in her song recitals. It soon entered the repertory of virtually every leading concert singer in America. Fritz Kreisler transcribed it for violin and piano.
Lucien Caillet was born in Dijon, France on May 22, 1891. After attending the Dijon Conservatory he came to the United States in 1918 and settled first in Pennsylvania, and later in California. He has distinguished himself by his skilful symphonic transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Mussorgsky, and others. In hisown works he frequently makes skilful use, and astute adaptations, of some famous pieces of popular music.
TheFantasia and Fugue on Oh, Susanna!(1942) for orchestra has for its point of departure the famous song of Stephen Foster, “Oh, Susanna!” Caillet’s composition begins with a preface: a tutti for orchestra which quotes the melody only partly. This leads into a fantasia section featuring the solo string quartet and presenting a quiet version of the melody. A fugue follows, the germ of the “Susanna” melody found in first and second violins in unison.
InPop Goes the Weaselfor orchestra (1938) Caillet brings the full resources of his harmonic and instrumental skill to a famous American folk tune. “Pop Goes the Weasel” is a Western two-part melody, long a favorite of country fiddlers since before the Civil War. After presenting this melody, Caillet subjects it to intriguing variations, sometimes with comic effect.
Alfredo Catalani was born in Lucca, Italy, on June 19, 1854. After receiving preliminary instruction in music from his father he was allowed to enter the Paris Conservatory without examinations. He concluded his music study at the Milan Conservatory, where in 1886 he succeeded Ponchielli as professor of composition. In 1880 he had his first opera,Elda, produced in Turin. He continued to confine himself to the stage, his most successful operas beingLoreleyin 1890, andLa Wallyin 1892. In his own time, and shortly thereafter, his operas were outstandingly successful in Italy. Today they are remembered almost exclusively because of some orchestral excerpts. Catalani died in Milan on August 7, 1893.
The most popular episodes from Catalini’s two most famous operas are dances often performed by salon orchestras. “The Dance of the Waves” (Danza delle ondine) and “The Waltz of the Flowers” (Valzerdei fiori) appear inLoreley, an opera introduced in Turin in 1890. In this opera the action takes place on the banks of the Rhine. Walter, about to marry Anna, is loved by the orphan girl, Loreley. When Loreley learns she is about to lose her beloved, she calls upon the nymphs and the sprites of the Rhine to help her; throwing herself into the river, she becomes one of them. During the wedding ceremonies, Loreley appears and entices Walter away from his bride. Anna dies of grief; and Walter meets his doom in the Rhine, to which he is helplessly drawn through enticements by the sprites and by Loreley.
“The Dance of the Waves” takes place in the last act. After Anna’s funeral procession passes by, Walter comes to the edge of the Rhine, grief-stricken. Out of the waters come the sprites to dance seductively before Walter and to beckon him on into the river. “The Waltz of the Flowers” is a graceful, even gentle, dance performed in the second act, during the wedding ceremonies of Walter and Anna.
“The Waltz of the Kiss” (Valzer del bacio) is a segment fromLa Wally, Catalani’s most famous opera, which was such a particular favorite of Arturo Toscanini that not only did he conduct it frequently in Italy but he also named his son after its heroine.La Wallywas introduced at La Scala in Milan in 1892. The text, by Luigi Illica, was based on a novel by Wilhelmine von Hillern. The setting is 19th century Switzerland where Wally and Hagenbach are in love, and meet their death in an avalanche; all the while Wally is being sought after by Gellner, whom she detests. The “Waltz of the Kiss” is a caressing piece of music from the second act which accompanies a dance by Wally and Hagenbach, in which they first discover they are in love and yield to passionate kissing while the hateful Gellner watches.
Otto Cesana was born in Brescia, Italy, on July 7, 1899. He came to the United States in boyhood and studied music with private teachers. After working in Hollywood, where he wrote a considerableamount of music for motion pictures, he came to New York to become arranger for Radio City Music Hall, and for several important radio programs. In his own music he has been particularly successful in using within large forms popular American elements, at times folk idioms. In a more serious attitude he has produced half a dozen symphonies and various concertos for solo instruments and orchestra.
Negro Heavenfor orchestra is one of his more popular attempts to use an American folk idiom within a symphonic mold. He explains: “Here follows a musical interpretation of the fluctuating moods that seize the colored man—now gay, now sad, always, however migrating towards carefreeness and abandon, as exemplified in the return of the first subject, which is soon followed by one of those superlative moods, a Negro in the throes of nostalgia.”
Swing Septet(1942), for string orchestra, guitar and percussion is in three short movements, the first in sonata form, and the last two in three-part song form. “The chief purpose,” says the composer, “is to give the string players an opportunity to compete with the ad lib boys who, while they improvise the wildest phrases imaginable, are ‘floored’ whenever an approximation of that material is set down on paper.”
Emmanuel Chabrier was born in Ambert, France, on January 18, 1841. He was trained as a lawyer; from 1862 to 1880 he was employed at the Ministry of the Interior in Paris. But he had also received a sound musical training with private teachers. Composition began for him in earnest in the 1870’s, with two of his operettas receiving performances in Paris between 1877 and 1879. In 1879 he made a pilgrimage to Germany to hear Wagner’s music dramas whose impact upon him proved so overwhelming that he finally decided to give up his government work and concentrate on music. Returning to Paris in1880 he published thePièces pittoresquesfor piano. Following a visit to Spain he produced in 1883 his first major work for orchestra and realized with it his first major success as a composer—the rhapsodyEspaña. He also wrote two operas,Gwendolineproduced in 1886, andLe Roi malgré luiintroduced one year later. Some of his best writing was for the piano and included such distinguished works as theHabanera,Bourrée fantasque, andTrois valses romantiques. Chabrier became a victim of paralysis in the last two years of his life, and just before his death he began losing his sanity. He died in Paris on September 13, 1894.
While in his operas he revealed his profound indebtedness to the Wagnerian idiom, Chabrier was at his best either in music that interpreted Spain or to which he brought a natural bent for laughter, gaiety, and the grotesque.
España, an orchestral rhapsody, is his most famous composition, as popular in the semi-classical literature as it is in the symphonic repertory. Chabrier wrote it in 1883 after a Spanish holiday, and its première in Paris on November 4 of that year was a sensation. This rhapsody is built from three principal subjects, two borrowed from Spanish folk melodies, and one Chabrier’s own. A nervous rhythm in plucked strings leads to a strongly accented malagueña, first heard in the wind instrument. Different sections take it over before soaring strings arrive with a lyrical jota melody. Chabrier’s own theme, a stately subject for trombones, is then heard, set against the background of the malagueña melody. The French waltz-king, Waldteufel, used Chabrier’s themes fromEspañafor one of his most famous waltzes, also entitledEspaña.
TheJoyeuse marche(1888) reveals the composer in one of his satirical moods. Chabrier wrote it at first as a piano composition to be used for a sight-reading class at the Bordeaux Conservatory. It proved too difficult to fulfil this function, and Chabrier decided to orchestrate it, calling itJoyeuse marcheand presenting it as one of his more serious endeavors. The music is in a burlesque style, believed to be a musical description of drunken musicians staggering home after a festive evening. The work opens with an orchestral flourish, following which the oboe offers a capricious subject. This gaiety is maintained in the lively second theme for the violins.
TheSuite pastorale(1880) is an orchestral adaptation of four of the ten piano pieces inPièces pittoresques. In the first, “Idylle,” a beautiful melody is accompanied by plucked strings. The second, “Danse villageoise” is a country dance in which the lively dance tune is first heardin clarinets. The third piece, “Sous bois” has a pastoral character, while the concluding number, “Scherzo-Valse” is a protracted piece of pulsating music.
George Whitefield Chadwick was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on November 13, 1854. Most of his music study took place in Germany. When he was being graduated from the Leipzig Conservatory in 1879, his overtureRip Van Winklereceived its première performance. He then studied organ and composition with Rheinberger in Munich. After returning to the United States in 1880, he became a teacher of harmony and composition at the New England Conservatory, rising to the post of director in 1897. He was also active for several years as director of the Worcester Music Festival. He died in Boston on April 4, 1931.
Chadwick was a prolific composer of symphonies, concertos, and various other orchestral and choral works. He never freed himself from the influence of German Romanticism, with which he had been infected during his student days. He wrote with a sure craftsmanship, usually filling his classical structures with winning melodies and often lush harmonies and orchestration.
Two compositions for orchestra are of particular popular appeal:JubileeandNoël. Both are movements from theSymphonic Sketches(1895) which received its world première in Boston in 1908. (The other two movements, the third and fourth, are “Hobgoblin” and “A Vagrom Ballad.”)Jubileeis a vigorous tonal picture of a carnival. A spirited melody is loudly presented by the full orchestra and is elaborated upon. A second virile subject is then presented by bass clarinet, bassoons, violas and cellos. Following a lively return of the opening carnival theme, the woodwind and horns appear with a lyrical subject. Themusic then gains in vitality until it comes to a rousing conclusion with a coda built from the carnival motive.
Noëlhas been described as “a little Christmas song.” It is a haunting orchestral nocturne in which a serene Yuletide melody is offered by the English horn.
Cécile Chaminade was born in Paris on August 8, 1857. Music study took place in Paris with Marsick and Godard among others. In 1875 she launched her career as concert pianist by touring Europe in programs that often included her own compositions. At her American debut, on November 7, 1908, she appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of her ownConcerstueck. She wrote many other ambitious works including a symphony, two orchestral suites, and ballets. She died in Monte Carlo on April 18, 1944.
Though Chaminade staked her future as composer on her larger, serious works for orchestra and the ballet stage, she is today remembered almost exclusively for her slight morsels of the salon variety. Most of these originated as compositions for the piano; her piano music numbers about two hundred works including arabesques, etudes, impromptus, valse-caprices, and so forth.Automne, a sentimental melody, andSérénade espagnole, in a pseudo-Spanish style, come from her piano music:Automnefrom theConcert Etudes, op. 35. It has been transcribed for popular orchestra by Melachrino.Sérénade espagnolehas been adapted for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler. Chaminade’s most popular piece,Scarf Dance, comes from a ballet,Callirhoë, produced in Marseilles in 1888. It is often heard in its original orchestral version and in various transcriptions for solo piano, and solo instrument and piano.
Gustave Charpentier was born in Dieuze, France, on June 25, 1860. He received his musical training in the Conservatories in Lille and Paris, winning the Prix de Rome in 1881. During his stay in Rome he wroteImpressions of Italyfor orchestra, with which he realized his first success upon its première performance in Paris in 1892. Charpentier’s fame, however, rests securely on a single opera,Louise, a triumph when introduced in Paris on February 2, 1900, and since become recognized as one of the major achievements of the French lyric theater. A sequel,Julien(1913), was a failure. From 1913 on, Charpentier wrote almost nothing more, living a Bohemian existence in the Montmartre section of Paris where he died on February 18, 1956.
Impressions of Italy, a suite for orchestra (1890) is a nostalgic picture of five Italian scenes. The first movement is “Serenade,” in which is described a picture of young men emerging from a bistro at midnight, singing love songs under the windows of their girl friends. “At the Fountain” depicts girls parading with dignified steps near a waterfall by a ravine; from the distance come the sounds of a shepherd’s tune. “On Muleback” tells of evening as it descends on the Sabine Mountains. The mules trot along, and there rises the song of the muleteer followed by the sweet love song of girls riding in their carts to the village. “On the Heights” presents noontime on the heights overlooking Sorrento. All is peace, though the toll of bells can be heard from a distance. The finale is a musical tribute to a great city, “Naples.” In this music we see the crowds of the city, the parading bands. A tarantella is being danced in the streets. The strains of a sentimental folk song drift in from the quay. Evening falls, and fireworks electrify the sky.