Dubensky had written many works for orchestra, whose sound technique and fresh approaches command respect. One or two of these are of popular appeal without sacrificing sound musical values. Of particular interest is theStephen Foster Suitefor orchestra (1940), in which Dubensky quotes five Stephen Foster songs: “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair,” “Some Folks,” “I See Her Still in My Dreams,” and “Camptown Races.” The composer goes on to explain: “The first part represents to me a beautiful summer evening in the country. From far away I hear a choir, coming gradually closer and then fading into the distance. It sings to me the wonder song, ‘My Old Kentucky Home.’ The second part is built around ‘Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair.’ Here the melody is given to a tenor solo, with a soft, gentle orchestral accompaniment beginning with a short introduction. The last two parts are for orchestra. The fourth part centers around the song ‘I See Her Still In My Dreams.’ It is a dreamy song, and I have given it the character of an intermezzo played by string orchestra, muted. If this movement is played in slow tempo, and pianissimo, it sounds not at all realistic but like the dream it portrays. The fifth part, ‘Camptown Races’ is the focal point of the suite. The theme is treated in a number of different keys and always in a different character. Sometimes it is delicate and graceful, and sometimes rude and robust, but always it is gay.”
Paul Dukas was born in Paris, France, on October 1, 1865. After attending the Paris Conservatory, where he won prizes in counterpoint and fugue as well as the second Prix de Rome, he served as music critic for several Parisian journals. From 1910 to 1912 he was professor of orchestration at the Paris Conservatory, and from 1927 until his death its professor of composition. His first successful work was a concertoverture,Polyecute, introduced in Paris in 1892. His Symphony in C major, first heard in 1897, enhanced his reputation while his orchestral scherzo,The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, also introduced in 1897, made him famous. Being exceptionally fastidious and self-critical, Dukas did not produce many compositions, but the best of these are works so aristocratic in technique and subtle in musical content that they make a direct appeal only to sophisticated music lovers. These works include the operaAriane et Barbe-bleue, first performed in Paris on May 10, 1907; the ballet,La Péri, introduced in Paris on April 22, 1912; and some piano music. Towards the end of his life, Dukas destroyed several of his earlier works deeming them unsuitable for survival. He was one of France’s most revered musicians. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1906, and in 1918 elected a member of theConseil de l’enseignement supérieurat the Paris Conservatory. He died in Paris on May 17, 1935.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice(L’Apprenti sorcier), scherzo for orchestra (1897), is Dukas’ most famous composition, the one that made him known throughout the world of music. It is so witty, so vivid in its pictorial writing that it has become a favorite of both the very young and the mature. The program, which the music follows with amazing literalness, comes from Goethe’s balladDer Zauberlehrlingwhich, in turn, was adapted from a famous folk tale. The story goes something like this: An apprentice to a magician has come upon his master’s secret formula for turning a broom into a human being and making it perform human tasks. The apprentice decides to try out this incantation for himself while the master is away, and watches with amazement as the broom acquires human powers. He orders the broom to fetch water, a command meekly obeyed. Pail after pail of water is carried into the magician’s shop by the broom until the place is rapidly being inundated. The apprentice now tries to arrest the water-fetching activity of the broom, but he does not know the proper incantation to achieve this, or to strip the broom of its human powers. In terror, the apprentice attacks the broom with a hatchet. The broom, split into two brooms, now becomes two humans performing the ritual of bringing water into the den. In despair, the apprentice cries out for his master who arrives in time to bring the broom back to its former inanimate state, and to restore order.
The atmosphere of mystery and peace prevailing in the magician’s den is created in the opening measures with a descending theme for muted violins, while different woodwinds give a hint of the principalsubject, a roguish tune describing the sorcerer’s apprentice; this subject finally appears in the double bassoon, and is then repeated by the full orchestra. The call of trumpets suggests the incantation pronounced by the apprentice; a brisk theme for bassoons against plucked strings describes the parade of the broom back and forth as it brings the water; and arpeggio figures in the orchestra depict the water itself. The music then portrays the mounting terror of the apprentice as he is unable to arrest the march of the broom. After an overwhelming climax, at which point the apprentice splits the broom into two with a hatchet, the saucy march tune is doubled to inform us that two brooms are now at work. A shriek in the orchestra simulates the panic-stricken call of the apprentice. After the master arrives and sets things in order, the music of the opening measures is repeated to suggest that once again the magician’s den is pervaded by peace and mystery.
The Sorcerer’s Apprenticewas made into an animated motion picture by Walt Disney, the Dukas music performed on the sound track by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski; it was part of a program collectively entitledFantasiawhich came to New York on November 13, 1940.
Antonin Dvořák was born in Muehlhausen, Bohemia, on September 8, 1841. As a boy he studied the violin with the village schoolmaster. He subsequently attended the Organ School in Prague. After completing his studies, he played in various orchestras in Prague, including that of the National Theater from 1861 to 1871 where he came under the influence of Smetana, father of Bohemian national music. Dvořák first attracted interest as a composer withHymnus, a choral work introduced in 1873. Two years later he won the Austrian State Prize for a symphony, and in 1878 he became famous throughoutEurope with theSlavonic Dances. In 1883 he was appointed organist of the St. Adalbert Church in Prague. From 1892 to 1895 he was the director of the National Conservatory in New York. During this period he was influenced in his compositions by the folk music of the American Negro and Indian. From 1901 until his death he was director of the Prague Conservatory. He died in Prague on May 1, 1904.
A prolific composer of operas, symphonies, chamber and piano music, and songs, Dvořák stood in the forefront of the Romantic composers of the late 19th century and among the leading exponents of Bohemian national music. He was gifted with an expressive melodic gift, a strong and subtle rhythmic pulse, and an inventive harmonic language. Whatever he wrote was charged with strong emotional impulses, whether he used the style of Bohemian folk music or those of the American Negro and American Indian.
TheCarnival Overture(Carneval), written in 1891, is one of three overtures planned by the composer as a cycle to portray “three great creative forces of the Universe—Nature, Life, and Love.” A unifying element among them was a melody intended to describe the “unchangeable laws of Nature.” Eventually, Dvořák abandoned this plan and published the three overtures separately, calling themIn Nature(In der Natur), op. 91,Carnival, op. 92, andOthello, op. 93.
Dvořák himself provided a description of the music ofCarnival Overture. He aimed to describe “a lonely, contemplative wanderer reaching the city at nightfall where a carnival of pleasure reigns supreme. On every side is heard the clangor of instruments, mingled with shouts of joy and the unrestrained hilarity of the people giving vent to their feelings in songs and dances.” The overture begins with a lively section portraying the gayety of the carnival. A subdued melody in the violins brings relaxation, but the hubbub soon returns. Another gentle episode depicts a pair of lovers in a secluded corner; the principal melodic material in this part is offered by the solo violin, and by the English horns and flutes. The brilliant opening material returns. It is with this spirit of revelry that the overture ends.
TheHumoresquein G-flat major is the seventh in a set of eightHumoresquesfor piano (1894). This delightful, elegant piece of music in three-part song form has been transcribed not only for orchestra but for every possible instrument or combinations of instruments, and is undoubtedly the most popular composition by the composer. It was Fritz Kreisler, the famous violin virtuoso, who helped make the work so famous. Kreisler visited Dvořák in 1903 and asked him for somemusic. Dvořák showed him a pile of compositions, most of it completely unknown. Among these was the G-flat majorHumoresque. Kreisler transcribed it for violin and piano, introduced it at his concerts, later recorded it, and made it universally popular. As we know it today theHumoresqueis not the way Dvořák intended it to sound. Dvořák wanted it to be a light, whimsical piece of music, a “humoresque,” in fast tempo. Kreisler transcribed it in a slower tempo and more sentimental mood; and it is in this style thatHumoresqueis now known and loved.
TheIndian Lamentis one of several compositions by Dvořák influenced by the idioms of American-Indian music. While serving as director of the National Conservatory in New York, he paid a visit to the town of Spillville, Iowa. There three Iroquois Indians visited him and entertained him with authentic Indian music. Dvořák was so taken with this strange and haunting lyricism, and the primitive rhythms, that he wrote several major works incorporating these idioms. One was a Sonatina in G major for violin and piano, op. 100 (1893). Its slow movement is a delicate song embodying the intervallic peculiarities of authentic American-Indian music. Fritz Kreisler edited this movement and named itIndian Lament, the version in which it has become famous. Gaspar Cassadó transcribed this movement for cello and piano.
Dvořák’sLargois the second movement of his Symphony No. 5 in E minor better known as theSymphony from the New World(1893). This is the symphony written by Dvořák during his visit to the United States as director of the National Conservatory. One of his students was Harry T. Burleigh, who brought to his attention the music of the Negro Spiritual. These melodies moved Dvořák so profoundly that he urged American composers to use the style, technique and personality of these Negro songs as the basis for national American music. As if to set an example, Dvořák wrote several compositions in which his own melodic writing was strongly influenced by the Negro Spiritual. The most significant of these was his symphony, which received its world première in the United States (at a concert of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on December 15, 1893, Anton Seidl conducting). The main spacious, poignant melody of the Largo movement—given by English horn over string harmonies after a few preliminary chords—so strongly simulates the personality of a Negro Spiritual that it was long thought that Dvořák was indulging in quotation. This is not true; the melody is Dvořák’s own. Many transcriptions of this melody exist. One is the familiar song, “Goin’ Home,” lyrics by William Arms Fisher (alsoone of Dvořák’s pupils); another is a composition for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler calledNegro Spiritual Melody; a third is an adaptation for salon orchestra by Sigmund Romberg.
This Largo movement has two other melodies besides the basic one in the Negro-Spiritual style. One is heard in flute and oboe, and the second in the oboe.
TheScherzo Capriccioso, in D-flat major, op. 66 (1883) is one of the composer’s liveliest and most dynamic larger works for orchestra, but in an idiom that is neither Bohemian nor American. It is in two sections. The first is the Scherzo, opening with an energetic subject for horns that is a kind of a motto theme for the entire work. The principal melody that follows is stated by full orchestra; after that comes a waltz-like tune for violins. The second part of the composition, a trio, is introduced by an expressive melody for English horn. A secondary theme then comes in the strings and wind. The principal idea of the first section now receives extended treatment before the second theme of the second part returns in a modified form. The work ends with a coda in which effective use is made of the opening motto subject.
Dvořák achieved international fame for the first time with the first set of eightSlavonic Dances, op. 46, published in 1878. He had been recommended to the publisher Simrock by Brahms; it was the publisher who suggested to Dvořák that he write Slavonic dances similar to the Hungarian dances which Brahms had made so popular. Dvořák wrote his first set for piano four-hands; but these instantly proved so successful that Simrock prevailed on Dvořák to orchestrate them. In 1886, Dvořák wrote a second set of eightSlavonic Dances, op. 72, once again both for four-hand piano and for orchestra. Though the melodies and harmonic schemes in all these dances are Dvořák’s, they have caught the essence of the Slavonic folk song and dance, and to such a degree that their authentic national character has never been questioned. Karel Hoffmeister wrote: “Something of the Slavic character speaks in every phrase of them—the stormy high-spirited mood of the Furiants; the whimsical merriment, the charm, the touch of coquettry, the ardent tenderness of the lyrical passages.”
The following are among the best known of these dances:
C major, op. 46, no. 1. A chord sustained through one measure is followed by a whirlwind presto passage. After a sudden pianissimo we hear a second rhythmic melody. Music of a more serene character appears in flute and strings after a change of key. A force climax is evolved to set the stage for the return of the opening whirlwind subject.
E minor, op. 46, no. 2. A poignant melody is here contrasted with a dynamic rhythmic section. Fritz Kreisler transcribed this dance for violin and piano.
A-flat major, op. 46, no. 6. A dance melody with a strong rhythmic impulse is the opening subject. Pianissimo chords lead to a new virile subject, but there soon comes a decisive change of mood with two expressive melodies. This dance, however, ends dynamically.
G minor, op. 46, no. 8. This is one of the gayest of the Slavonic dances, alive in its electrifying changes of dynamics and tonality.
E minor, op. 72, no. 2. This is one of the best loved of all these dances, a song of rare sensitivity and sadness, only temporarily alleviated by the more optimistic music of the middle section. Fritz Kreisler transcribed it for violin and piano.
A-flat major, op. 72, no. 8. Here, as in the preceding E minor dance, the emphasis is on tender, elegiac song in strings. A dramatic middle section provides some relief, but the gentle moodiness of the opening section soon returns. Fritz Kreisler transcribed it for violin and piano.
Songs My Mother Taught Meis one of Dvořák’s most celebrated songs. It is one of seven gypsy songs, based on Slavonic-gypsy folk idioms, gathered in op. 55 (1880); the lyrics are by Adolf Heyduk. This nostalgic, delicate melody has enjoyed numerous transcriptions, including one for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler, and another for cello and piano by Alfred Gruenfeld.
Sir Edward Elgar was born in Broadheath, near Worcester, England on June 2, 1857. He studied the organ with his father, and the violin with Adolf Pollitzer in London. In 1885 he succeeded his father as organist of St. George’s Church in Worcester. Two years after his marriage to Alice Roberts, which had taken place in 1889, he withdrewto Malvern where he lived the next thirteen years, devoted completely to serious composition. Several choral works were performed at various English festivals before Elgar achieved outstanding success, first with theEnigma Variationsfor symphony orchestra, introduced in London in 1899, and then with his oratorio,The Dream of Gerontius, whose première took place in Birmingham in 1900. From then on Elgar assumed a position of first importance in English music by virtue of his two symphonies, vast amount of orchestral, choral and chamber music, and songs. He was generally regarded one of the most significant English composers since Purcell in the 17th century. Elgar was knighted in 1904, appointed Master of the King’s Music in 1924, and made a baronet in 1931. He died in Worcester, England, on February 23, 1934.
It is not difficult to understand Elgar’s enormous popularity. Together with an elegant sense of structure and style, and a consummate musicianship, he had a virtually inexhaustible fund of ingratiating lyricism. His best works are conceived along traditional lines. They are Romantic in concept, and poetic in content. These qualities—and with them a most ingratiating sentiment—are also found in his semi-classical pieces.
TheBavarian Dances, for orchestra, come fromThe Bavarian Highlands, a set of choral songs based on Bavarian folk songs adapted by Elgar’s wife, Alice, and set for chorus with piano and orchestra, op. 27 (1895). Three folk tunes were subsequently adapted by the composer for orchestra. Collectively calledBavarian Dances, the individual dances were subtitled by the composer “The Dance,” “Lullaby,” and “The Marksman.” These dances were first introduced in London in 1897 and have since enjoyed universal acceptance in some cases for their peasant rhythmic vigor, and in others for their atmospheric charm.
TheCockaigne Overture(In London Town), for orchestra, op. 40 (1901) describes London “as represented by its parks and open spaces, the bands marching from Knightsbridge to Buckingham Palace, Westminster with its dignified associations of Church and State,” in the words of Sir George Grove. The composer himself revealed he wanted to portray in his music the sights witnessed by a pair of lovers as they stroll through the city. The hubbub of the city is depicted in the opening measures, following by an intensely romantic section highlighted by a broad melody for strings, reflecting the feelings of the lovers as they stop off momentarily to rest in a public park. They continue their walk, hear the approaching music of a brass band, then enter a church where organ music is being played. The lovers continue their walk. The animatedlife of the city streets once again is reproduced, and the earlier romantic melody telling of their emotional ardor for each other is repeated.
In the South(Alassio), a concert overture for orchestra, op. 50 (1904) was written one Spring while the composer was vacationing in southern Europe. This work reflects Elgar’s intense love of Nature. The following quotation appears in the published score: “A land whichwasthe mightiest in its old command andisthe loveliest; wherein were cast the men of Rome. Thou are the garden of the world.” The overture opens with a gay tune for clarinets, horns, violins and cellos. It receives vigorous treatment and enlargement before a pastoral section is given by the woodwind and muted strings, a description of a shepherd and his flock. The overture then alternates between stress and tranquillity, with great prominence being given to the shepherd’s melody. A viola solo then leads to the recapitulation section.
Pomp and Circumstanceis a set of five marches for symphony orchestra, op. 39. The composers wanted these marches to provide such music with symphonic dimensions in the same way that dance music (polonaise or waltz, etc.) acquired artistic stature at the hands of Chopin, among others. The phrase “pomp and circumstance” comes from Shakespeare’sOthello. The five marches are in the keys of D major, A minor, C minor, G major, and C Major. The first two were written in 1901; the third, in 1905; the fourth in 1907; and the fifth in 1930. The most famous of these is the second in A minor, one of Elgar’s most frequently performed compositions, and music as often identified with the British Empire as “God Save the King.” It opens in a restless, vigorous vein and erupts into a spacious melody for strings which Laurence Housman subsequently set to lyrics (“Land of Hope and Glory”). Elgar once again used this same melody in hisCoronation Odefor King Edward VII in 1902. The opening brisk, restless music is recalled after a full statement of the melody.
The first in D major has a vigorous introduction after which unison strings come forth with a robust march tune. The opening introduction is subsequently used as a transition to the trio in which a soaring melody is set against a uniform rhythmic beat.
The fourth in G major, known as “Song of Liberty,” is also familiar. Once again the opening consists of spirited march music, and once again the heart of the composition is a broad and stately melody for the strings. This melody receives extended treatment which culminates with a rousing statement by the full orchestra.
Salut d’amour, for chamber orchestra, op. 12 (1889) is a nostalgic and sentimental piece of music in three-part song form that has become a salon favorite. It is also famous in a transcription for violin and piano.
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1899. His career as a popular musician began in his adolescence when he performed jazz pieces on the piano in an ice-cream parlor in Washington, and after that formed his own jazz group. In 1923 he came to New York where he soon thereafter formed a jazz band which performed at the Kentucky Club in Harlem. Discovered by Irving Mills, the publisher, Ellington was booked for the Cotton Club where he remained several years and established his fame as an outstanding exponent of real jazz—as pianist, conductor of his orchestra, composer, and arranger. He has since joined the all-time greats of jazz music, acclaimed in night clubs, on the Broadway stage and Hollywood screen, over the radio, on records, and in triumphant tours throughout the music world.
As a composer Ellington is famous for his popular songs (“Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady” and so forth) and short instrumental jazz pieces (Black and Tan Fantasy,Creole Rhapsody,East St. Louis Toodle-oo, etc.) All this falls within the province of either popular music or jazz, and for this reason cannot be considered here.
Ellington has also produced a rich repertory of larger works for orchestra which have a place in the permanent library of semi-classical music in the same way that Gershwin’s larger works do. Skilfully utilizing the fullest resources of jazz techniques, styles, and idioms, Ellington has created in these larger works an authentically American music. He himself prefers to consider many of these works as “Negro music” rather than jazz; nevertheless, in their blues harmonies, jazz colorations,and melodic and rhythmic techniques these works represented jazz music at its very best.
Perhaps the most distinguished of these symphonic-jazz works isBlack, Brown and Beige, an extended work which Ellington introduced with his orchestra in Carnegie Hall, New York, in 1943, and which he described as a “tonal parallel of the Negro in America.” The first movement, “Black,” is a musical picture of the Negro at work, singing at his labors on the docks and levees in the slavery period before the Civil War. An alto saxophone solo brings on a plangent Spiritual, “Come Sunday.” The second movement, “Brown,” represents the wars in which Negroes have participated. A tenor solo sings an eloquent blues of the unsettled condition of the Negro after the Civil War. The contemporary Negro is the inspiration for the finale, “Beige,” utilizing jazz idioms and styles in portraying the period of the Twenties, Thirties and Forties. Many facets of Negro life are drawn in brief musical episodes, including the Negro church and school, and the Negro’s aspiration towards sophistication. The work ends on a patriotic note, prophesying that the Negro’s place in the American way of life is secure.
Georges Enesco was born in Liveni, Rumania, on August 19, 1881. He studied the violin at the Conservatories of Vienna and Paris, winning highest honors in both places. Following the completion of his studies in 1899, he launched a successful career both as concert violinist and as composer. For several years he was the court violinist to the Queen of Rumania, besides making outstandingly successful appearances on the concert stage throughout Europe. His debut as composer took place in Paris before his sixteenth birthday, with a concert devoted entirely to his own works. Success came in 1901 with hisRumanian Rhapsody No. 1. Enesco also distinguished himself as aconductor. When he made his American debut—on January 2, 1923 with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York City—it was in the triple role of violinist, conductor, and composer. After World War I, Enesco divided his residence between Paris and his native Rumania while touring the music world. He made his last American appearance in 1950 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his debut as violinist; once again he appeared in the triple role of violinist, conductor and composer. He suffered a stroke in Paris in July 1954 and died there on May 4, 1955. After his death, his native village, and a street in Bucharest, were named after him.
Enesco was Rumania’s foremost twentieth-century composer. His major compositions range freely over several different styles from nationalism, to neo-classicism, to ultra-modernism. But the works with which he first gained world fame, and which have since had the widest circulation, are those in a national Rumanian style, with Oriental-like melodies and propulsive rhythms all modeled after the exotic folk songs and dances of the Rumanian gypsies.
In such a style are his two Rumanian rhapsodies for orchestra: No. 1 in A major, op. 11, no. 1 (1901); No. 2 in D major, op. 11, no. 2 (1902). The first rhapsody is the one played more often. It opens with a languorous subject for clarinet which is soon assumed by other woodwind, then by the strings and after that (in a quickened tempo) by the full orchestra. A passionate gypsy tune follows in the strings; and this is succeeded by an abandoned dance melody in first violins and the woodwind, and an Oriental-type improvisation in solo flute. Now the mood becomes more frenetic, with a rapid succession of whirling folk-dance tunes and rhythms that are carried to a breathtaking climax. Relaxation finally comes with a gentle Oriental melody in clarinet, but this is only a passing phase. The rhapsody ends in a renewed outburst of vitality.
In comparison to the first, the second rhapsody is an emotionally reserved piece of music. After a solemn declaration by the strings, there comes an equally sober and restrained folk song in the strings. The dark mood thus projected becomes further intensified with a theme for English horn against tremolo strings and continues throughout most of the rhapsody, except for a brief interpolation of a vigorous dance melody by the solo viola.
Leo Fall was born in Olmuetz, Austria, on February 2, 1873. The son of a military bandmaster, he early received music instruction from his father. Then, after attending the Vienna Conservatory, he conducted theater orchestras in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne. An opera,Paroli, was unsuccessfully produced in Berlin before Fall settled permanently in Vienna to devote himself to the writing of those charming operettas in an abundantly lyric vein and graceful, sophisticated manner which the Austrian capital favored. His greatest successes wereThe Dollar Princessin 1907,The Rose of Stamboul(Die Rose von Stambul) in 1916, andMadame Pompadourin 1923. He died in Vienna on September 15, 1925.
Fall’s most famous operetta isThe Dollar Princess(Die Dollarprinzessin), selections from which are often given on salon programs.The Dollar Princess—book by A. M. Willner and F. Gruenbaum based upon a comedy by Gatti-Trotha—was introduced in Vienna on November 2, 1907. Its first American performance took place on September 6, 1909 at the Knickerbocker Theater in an adaptation by George Grossmith, Jr. Some songs by Jerome Kern were interpolated into the New York production. The “dollar princess” is the heroine of the operetta: Alice Couder, pampered daughter of a New York coal magnate who goes in pursuit of Freddy. When at a lavish party at the Couder mansion she brazenly announces her intention of marrying Freddy without previously consulting him, he leaves her in disgust, and goes off to Canada where he becomes a successful business man. He cannot forget Alice, however. He brings the Couders to Canada on a pretext of discussing with the father a business deal, when he confesses his love to Alice, who no longer is brazen or arrogant.
A Viennese operetta must by necessity have a major waltz number, andThe Dollar Princessis no exception; “Will sie dann lieben treu und heiss” from Act 1, is the most important melody of the operetta. When other selections from this operetta are given they invariably include also the lilting title song from Act 2, and the seductive little duet “Wir tanzen Ringelreih’n hin einmal und her.”
Manuel de Falla, Spain’s most significant twentieth-century composer, was born in Cádiz on November 23, 1876. After studying music with private teachers in his native city, and with J. Tragó and Felipe Pedrell in Madrid, he completed in 1905La Vida breve, a one-act opera that received first prize in a competition for native Spanish operas sponsored by the Academia de Bellas Artes. From 1907 to 1914 he lived in Paris where he absorbed French musical influences and became a friend of Debussy and Ravel. In 1914 he was back in his native land; from 1921 to 1939 he lived a retiring existence in Granada, devoting himself to serious composition. He left his native land in 1939 because of his disenchantment with the Franco regime which he had originally favored. Until his death on November 14, 1946, he lived in seclusion in Alta Gracia, in the province of Córdoba, in Argentina.
Falla’s art is deeply embedded in the soil of Spanish folk songs and dance. His major works, which number a mere handful, are all evocations of the spirit of Spain in music which, though never a direct quotation from Spanish sources, is nevertheless Spanish to the core in details of melody, harmony, and rhythm. His principal works include a harpsichord concerto,Nights in the Gardens of Spain(Noches en los jardines de España) for piano and orchestra, the balletEl Amor brujo, and the operaThe Three-Cornered Hat(El sombrero de tres picos).
In Falla’s most effective national idiom are two popular Spanish dances. TheRitual Fire Dance(Danza ritual del fuego) is the seventh section from the ballet,El Amor brujo(1915). Trills with the searing intensity of hot flame lead into a languorous Spanish melody for the oboe, behind which moves an irresistible rhythm. This is followed by a second subject more intense in mood, loudly proclaimed by unison horns and after that repeated quietly by muted trumpets. Throughout, this dance has an almost savage ferocity, the music continually punctuated by piercing chords; the dance is finally brought to a frenetic conclusion. The composer himself made a highly effective transcription of this dance for solo piano, and Gregor Piatigorsky for cello and piano.
TheSpanish Dance No. 1comes from the second act of the opera,La Vida breve, with which Falla first achieved recognition. An impulsive rhythmic opening serves as the background for a bold and sensual gypsy melody for horns and strings. The piece ends with rich chords for full orchestra. Fritz Kreisler made a fine transcription of this dance for violin and piano.
Gabriel-Urbain Fauré was born in Pamiers, France, on May 12, 1845. His music study took place in Paris with Niedermeyer and Saint-Saëns. After that he served as organist in Rennes and Paris, and held the important post of organist at the Madeleine Church in Paris from 1896 on. In 1896 he also became professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory where, from 1905 until 1920, he was director. In 1909 he was elected member of the Académie des Beaux Arts, and in 1910 made Commander of the Legion of Honor. In the last years of his life he suffered from deafness. He died in Paris on November 4, 1924.
Fauré was one of France’s major composers, creator of a considerable library of piano and chamber music as well as works for symphony orchestra which includedPelleas and Melisande, a suite (1898) and theBalladefor piano and orchestra (1881). His music is filled with classic beauty, serenity, and a most delicate sensibility and thus makes an appeal only to a highly cultivated music lover. But a few of his works have such melodic charm and appealing moods that they cannot fail to cast a spell even on the untrained listener.
Après un rêveis a song, the first in a set of three published as op. 7 (1885), lyrics by Romain Bussine. Exquisite in its sensitive lyricism, this melody has become popular in many transcriptions, some for orchestra, one for violin and piano by Mischa Elman, and another for cello and piano by Pablo Casals.
Dolly(1893-1896) is a suite of six pieces for children which the composeroriginally wrote as a piano duet for Dolly Bardac, daughter of a woman who later became Debussy’s wife. Henri Rabaud orchestrated this suite in 1906, and it was first performed in connection with a ballet staged at the Théâtre des Arts in Paris. In this music the composer looks back on childhood and the world of the child with poetic insight and occasionally a gentle sense of humor; in this respect this suite is not unlikeChildren’s Cornerof Debussy. It opens with “Berceuse,” a gentle melody for the woodwind, which Jacques Thibaud arranged for violin and piano. This is followed by “Mi-a-ou,” a little quartet for muted trumpets. A flute solo dominates “Le Jardin de Dolly,” while “Kitty Valse” is a light and vivacious waltz tune. In “Tendresse” the melody is first heard in strings. A tranquil middle section presents the solo oboe above a harp accompaniment. The closing movement, “Le Pas espagnol” is gay and brilliant music that pays homage to Chabrier, composer ofEspaña.
ThePavane, for orchestra, op. 50 (1887) is music of stately, classic beauty over which hovers the Hellenic spirit so often found in Fauré’s most significant works. Against an insistent rhythm, the flute offers the haunting refrain of the Pavane. This dance melody is soon shared by the other woodwind, after which it unfolds completely in violins and the woodwind, other strings providing a rhythmic pizzicato accompaniment. A transition in the strings then leads us back to the graceful mood and the gentle lyricism of the Pavane melody.
The same subdued and classic repose we find in thePavanedistinguishes another of Fauré’s popular compositions, theSicilienne, for cello and piano, op. 78 (1898). Transcriptions for orchestra of this composition are even more famous than the original version.
Friedrich Freiherr von Flotow was born in Teutendorf, Mecklenburg, on April 26, 1812. He was descended from a family that traced its nobility back several centuries. After studyingmusic in Paris with Anton Reicha and Johann Pixis between 1828 and 1830, he wrote his first opera,Peter und Katharina. Success came first withAlessandro Stradellaintroduced in Hamburg in 1844, and was solidified in 1847 with the opera by which he is still remembered,Martha. From 1856 to 1863 he was Intendant of the Schwerin Court Theater. He went into retirement in 1880 and died in Darmstadt, Germany, on January 24, 1883.
The ebullient melodies with which Flotow flooded his operas made him extremely popular in his day. This same joyous lyricism keeps the overtures toAlessandro StradellaandMarthafresh in the orchestral repertory.
Alessandro Stradella—introduced in Hamburg on December 30, 1844—was based on a romantic episode in the life of a 17th century opera composer; the libretto was by Wilhelm Friedrich. Stradella elopes with Leonora, whose guardian hires assassins to kill the composer. But Stradella’s singing has such an effect on the assassins that they are incapable of murdering him. They let him go, and in the end the guardian himself is moved to forgive the composer and sanction his union with Leonora.
The overture opens with a solemn chant for the brass (Stradella’s song in the last act). Vigorous transitional material leads to a robust song for full orchestra which is soon repeated expressively by the strings. A sprightly tune for strings (the bell chorus of the second act) is given prominent treatment and developed climactically. The mood now alternates between lightness and gaiety with an occasional intrusion of a strong dramatic effect.
Marthareceived its première in Vienna on November 25, 1847. The libretto, by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese was based on a ballet-pantomime by Vernoy de Saint-Georges. “Martha” is Lady Harriet in disguise as a servant girl for the sake of an amusing escapade; and the opera is concerned with her amatory adventures with Lionel, and that of her maid with Plunkett, at the Richmond fair. The complications that ensue when the men discover this deception are eventually happily resolved.
The overture begins with a slow introduction which leads into aLarghettosection where considerable attention is paid to the main melody of the quintet at the close of the third act, “Mag der Himmel euch vergeben.” The tempo quickens as the lively country dances of the opera are presented. A crescendo reaches towards a fortissimo restatement of the main theme of the third-act quintet, and the overture ends with a brief and energetic coda.
Salon orchestras often present potpourris of this opera’s main melodies. Two are always dominant in such potpourris. “The Last Rose of Summer” (“Qui sola, vergin rosa”)—an aria sung by the heroine in the second act—is a melody familiar to all; it is not by Flotow, but from an old Irish song, “The Groves of Blarney,” set to a poem by Thomas Moore. The second famous melody fromMarthais the beautiful tenor aria from the third act, “M’Appari,” in which Lionel expresses his grief when he feels he has lost Martha for good.
Stephen Collins Foster, America’s foremost song composer, was born in Lawrenceville, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1826. He received no formal musical training.Tioga Waltz, in 1841, was his first piece of music to get performed. About a year after that, Foster published his first song, “Open Thy Lattice, Love.” His initial success came with “Oh, Susanna!” for which he received only $100. But “Oh, Susanna!” became so popular soon after its publication in 1848 that it became the theme song (with improvised lyrics) of the Forty Niners on their way to California. Beginning with 1848 he wrote songs for Ed Christy’s Minstrels—at first allowing some of them to appear as Christy’s own creations. It was within the context of the minstrel show that such permanent Foster favorites as “Camptown Races” and “Old Folks at Home” were first performed. Both songs were outstandingly successful and, because of a favorable contractual arrangement with a New York publisher, Foster was earning handsome royalties. Now feeling financially secure, Foster married Jane Denny McDowell in 1850, a relationship that was unhappy almost from the beginning. In 1860 Foster came to New York with the hope of furthering his career as a composer. But by now he was virtually forgotten by the public, and publishers paid him only a pittance for his last songs, many of them mostly hack pieces. Always disposed towards alcohol,Foster now became a habitual drunkard, living in the most abject poverty in a miserable room on the Bowery. He died at Bellevue Hospital on January 13, 1864.
Foster was the composer of numerous songs which in various orchestral arrangements are basic to the repertory of every salon or pop orchestra. His greatest songs were inspired by the Negro; they are the eloquent expressions of Northern sentiment about slavery in the South. Foster’s most famous Negro songs are: “Old Folks at Home” (or “Swanee River”), “Massa’s in de Cold, Cold Ground,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and “Ol’ Black Joe.”
When Foster first wrote “Old Folks at Home” his inspiration was an obscure Florida River by the name of “Pedee.” But while writing his song he thought “Pedee” not sufficiently euphonious for his purpose. He went to a map of Florida to find another river, came upon “Suwanee” which he contracted to “Swanee.”
Foster was also successful in the writing of sentimental ballads. Here his most important songs were “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair” (written for and about his wife), and “Beautiful Dreamer.”
Besides orchestral adaptations of individual songs, Foster’s music is represented on orchestral programs by skilful suites, or ingenious symphonic transcriptions of individual songs, by other composers. Arcady Dubensky’sStephen Foster Suiteis discussed in the section on Dubensky, and Lucien Caillet’sFantasia and Fugue on “Oh, Susanna!”in the Caillet section. Other composers to make symphonic use of Foster’s melodies are: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Humoresques on Foster Themes); Morton Guild (Foster Gallery); and Alan Shulman (Oh, Susanna!).
Rudolf Friml was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on December 7, 1879. He received his musical training at the Prague Conservatory, after which he toured Europe and America as assisting artistand accompanist for Jan Kubelik, the noted violin virtuoso. In 1906, Friml established permanent residence in the United States, making several appearances as concert pianist, twice in the performance of his own Concerto in B-flat. He now published piano pieces, instrumental numbers, and songs which attracted the interest of two publishers, Gus Schirmer and Max Dreyfus. When, in 1912, Victor Herbert stepped out of an assignment to write the music for the operettaThe Firefly, both Schirmer and Dreyfus recommended Friml as his replacement.The Fireflymade Friml famous. Until 1934 he continued writing music for the Broadway stage, achieving further triumphs withRose Mariein 1924,The Vagabond Kingin 1925, andThe Three Musketeersin 1928. After 1934, Friml concentrated his activity on motion pictures in Hollywood.
Friml belongs with those Broadway composers of the early 20th century whose domain was the operetta modelled after German and Austrian patterns. As long as the operetta was popular on the Broadway stage, Friml remained a favorite, for his ingratiating melodies, pleasing sentimentality, winning charm, and strong romantic flair were in the best traditions of the operetta theater. But when the vogue for operettas died down and the call came for American musicals with native settings and characterizations, realistic approaches, and a greater cohesion between text and music, Friml’s day was over. He has produced nothing of significance since the middle 1930’s, and very little of anything else. But the music he wrote for his best operettas has never lost its appeal.
The Firefly, book and lyrics by Otto Harbach, was introduced in New York on December 2, 1912. The plot concerned a little Italian street singer by the name of Nina (enchantingly played by Emma Trentini). She disguises herself as a boy to get a job aboard a yacht bound for Bermuda, and is first accused and then cleared of the charge of being a pickpocket. Many years later she reappears as a famous prima donna when she is finally able to win the wealthy young man with whom she had fallen in love while working on the yacht.
Orchestral potpourris fromThe Fireflyalways include three of the songs Emma Trentini helped to make famous: “Giannina Mia,” “The Dawn of Love” and “Love is Like a Firefly.” The melodious duet, “Sympathy,” is also popular.
The Donkey Serenade, now regarded as one of the favorites fromThe Fireflyscore, was not in the original operetta when it was produced on Broadway. Friml wrote it in collaboration with HerbertStothart for the motion picture adaptation of the operetta released in 1937 and starring Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones. This appealing Spanish-type melody is set against an intriguing rhythm suggesting the jogging movement of a donkey; this rhythm precedes and closes the number, which has become as celebrated in an instrumental version as it is as a song with lyrics by Chet Forrest and Bob White.
Rose Marie, book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II, came to Broadway on September 2, 1924 where it remained for more than a year. The rest of the country became acquainted with this lovable operetta at that time by means of four road companies. The setting is the Canadian Rockies, and the love interest involves Rose Marie and Jim, the latter falsely accused of murder. The Canadian Mounted Police, headed by Sergeant Malone, help to clear Jim and to bring the love affair of Rose Marie and Jim to a happy resolution. Selections in orchestral adaptations most often heard from this operetta include two of Friml’s most famous songs, the title number and “Indian Love Call”; a third delightful song was found in “Totem Tom Tom.”Rose Mariewas adapted for motion pictures three times, once in a silent version.
The Vagabond Kinghad for its central character the French vagabond poet of the 15th century, François Villon, who is made king for a day. This musical was based on the romance of J. H. McCarthy,If I Were King, adapted by Brian Hooker.The Vagabond King, which opened on September 21, 1925, was one of Friml’s greatest successes, mainly because of such rousing numbers as “The Song of the Vagabonds,” the caressing waltz melody “Waltz Huguette,” and the love song “Only a Rose,” all often heard in orchestral adaptations.The Vagabond Kingwas made into motion pictures twice, most recently in 1956 starring Kathryn Grayson and Oreste.