(DK) The Classical Music Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained

ROMANTIC 1810–1920 149


MUSIC IS TRULY



LOVE ITSELF





DER FREISCHÜTZ (1821),
CARL MARIA VON WEBER








The magic bullets used in the
IN CONTEXT shooting contest in Der Freischütz
are fired in the spooky Wolf’s Glen,
FOCUS depicted here in an aquatint of the
German Romantic opera opera scene.
BEFORE
1791 Mozart’s The Magic Premiered in Berlin in 1821, Der
Flute, the supreme example Freischütz propelled its composer
of the Singspiel tradition, is to stardom. Its success was partly
performed in Vienna. because it was grounded firmly
in German culture, using easily
1816 The premiere of E.T.A. recognizable characters, settings,
Hoffmann’s Romantic opera folklore, and folk music. Weber had
Undine, about a water spirit envisaged a great new German
who marries a human, takes opera tradition.
place in Berlin. The combination of national
pride, emotional content, and the
AFTER n example of a Viennese depiction of the supernatural
1833 Heinrich Marschner’s Singspiel (“play in song”), impressed the young Richard
opera Hans Heiling, like his A which links songs with Wagner, who saw Der Freischütz at
earlier success Der Vampyr, spoken dialogue, Carl Maria the age of nine. At the same time,
contrasts the real and von Weber’s Der Freischütz (The Weber’s innovative orchestration,
supernatural worlds. Freeshooter) tells the story of Max, especially the evocative use of
a young huntsman from Bohemia woodwinds and horns, influenced
1834 Richard Wagner who is persuaded by the wicked Berlioz, Mahler, and Debussy.
completes his opera Die Caspar to take part in a shooting Weber wrote two more operas.
Feen (The Fairies), which is contest that will win Max the He was in London to conduct the
heavily influenced by Weber’s hand of Agathe. To ensure victory, premiere of his last work, Oberon,
Der Freischütz. Caspar gives him magic bullets in 1826, when he died of
forged in the Wolf’s Glen. tuberculosis, aged 39. ■

See also: The Magic Flute 134–137 ■ The Barber of Seville 148 ■
La traviata 174–175 ■ The Ring Cycle 180–187 ■ Tosca 194–197







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NO ONE FEELS ANOTHER’S
GRIEF,

























NO ONE UNDERSTANDS




ANOTHER’S JOY










DIE SCHÖNE MÜLLERIN (1824),

FRANZ SCHUBERT
























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152 LIEDER AND SONG CYCLES


he composer Franz Beethoven were introduced to the
IN CONTEXT Schubert is most often medium when commissioned to
T linked to the German art produce arrangements of folk songs,
FOCUS song (or Lied; plural, Lieder). He did while the songs of Mozart, who
Lieder and song cycles
not invent the genre. Several major reserved his most sophisticated
BEFORE composers had written songs word setting for opera, are small-
1816 Beethoven composes before him, such as Beethoven, scale and modest in their scope.
An die ferne Geliebte (“To the Mozart, and Haydn, as well as Writing songs was a sideline rather
distant beloved”), considered lesser-known figures. It is not than a central part of any of these
to be the first song cycle. even true to say that Schubert composers’ activities.
produced the first “song cycle,”
1821 Wilhelm Müller the term used later for a set of Piano and song
publishes his poems of Die songs with an overarching Schubert came of age in a world
schöne Müllerin (including narrative or theme. Beethoven’s of increased poetic sensibility, of
six not set by Schubert) as An die ferne Geliebte, composed emphasis on subjective experience.
part of an anthology. in 1816, was the first important The piano, still a relatively recent
work to fit such a description. invention, had grown both in
AFTER Schubert, however, transformed technical capacity and availability.
1840 Robert Schumann the genre. Before Schubert, Lieder Domestic performances were on
composes several major song were predominantly naïve or the rise, especially in Vienna,
cycles, including Frauenliebe straightforwardly lyrical. The form whose middle class, held back in
und Leben and Dichterliebe. tended to be strophic, the same many ways by a strictly controlled
melody repeated for each verse society, sought private outlets
1856 Baritone Julius of the poem; the music engaged
Stockhausen gives the first with the text only as far as
complete public performance capturing its general mood, and Schubert’s art songs, or Lieder, were
of Die schöne Müllerin the keyboard accompaniment usually played in the private homes of
in Vienna. was often formulaic, functional, his friends. Large-scale public concerts
were typically reserved for more
and without expression. Haydn and sweeping orchestral works.





































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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 153

See also: Symphonie fantastique 162–163 ■ Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 166–169 ■
Faust Symphony 176–177 ■ Also sprach Zarathustra 192–193


whose dilemma is summed up
in the song’s final line: “There,
where you are not, is happiness!”
Schubert would also compose
songs that espoused folkish
My compositions spring simplicity, and throughout his
from my sorrows. Those short but intensely creative life, he
that give the world would alternate between complex
the greatest delight were and more straightforward forms.
born of my deepest griefs. His output for voice is remarkable
Franz Schubert for the variety and richness of his Franz Schubert
melodic inspiration, but the role
of the piano accompaniment also Born in a poor district of
developed greatly in Schubert’s Vienna in 1797, Schubert
hands. It grew from offering was the son of a well-known
straightforward support to include schoolmaster and music
sophisticated reflections of, and teacher who taught him to
for their artistic impulses. This reactions to, the content of the play the piano and violin. He
amateur form of music making, poem he was setting. composed from an early age
away from the formal courts and and soon found favor with
concert societies, was reaching Song cycles prominent figures in Vienna,
new levels of sophistication. The complete array of Schubert’s such as Antonio Salieri.
In his all too brief life, Schubert art is evident in his first song cycle, Despite this, success in
composed some 600 songs. The Die schöne Müllerin (“The beautiful large-scale “public”
composition eluded him.
first to be published, “Erlkönig” miller’s maid”), published in 1824. Schubert managed to
and “Gretchen am Spinnrade” For the cycle’s 20 songs, Schubert make a respectable living with
(“Gretchen at the spinning wheel”), selected poems from a collection works aimed at the amateur
composed when Schubert was just by Wilhelm Müller, a contemporary market, such as compositions
17, remain among his most popular. poet whose verses Schubert also and songs for piano. Although
Set to texts by Johann Wolfgang used for Winterreise (“Winter a few of his chamber pieces
von Goethe, they offered a new sort journey”), his second song cycle, were performed in public,
of song: both are “through-composed” three years later. Die schöne many of his best works—piano
(without strictly repeated verses) Müllerin loosely follows the story sonatas and symphonies
and present powerful miniature of a young miller boy’s infatuation among them—were only
dramas moving inexorably toward with the beautiful daughter of rediscovered years after his
their climaxes. a mill owner, from his early death in 1828, at 31. This led
“Erlkönig” features a narrating obsession, through jealousy to a reappraisal that cemented
voice as well as the voices of a and resignation to, listeners his reputation as a master
composer of instrumental
father, his son, and the titular are left to assume, suicide. music as well as song.
Erlking—a malevolent goblinlike The narrative is presented
creature who inhabits the dark largely through suggestion, with
forest of the Romantic imagination. the poems giving snapshots in Other key works
Gretchen, meanwhile, is the tragic time, presented primarily in the
heroine of Goethe’s masterpiece, voice of the miller boy himself. 1822 Symphony in B minor
(“Unfinished”), D759
Faust. In 1816, Schubert composed Together the songs encapsulate 1822 Mass No. 2 in G major,
“Der Wanderer,” one of many songs many of the quintessential themes D167
focusing on another quintessential of Romantic poetry, not least the 1828 String Quintet in C, D956
figure of German Romanticism, solitude of the outsider and the ❯❯





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154 LIEDER AND SONG CYCLES


Lied and Song Cycles

Written for voice and piano for performance in homes or
concert halls, sometimes as a cycle of three or more songs
linked by a story or theme.





They appear in three major forms





Strophic: Modified strophic: Through-composed:
all verses are sung to the music varies each verse has different
the same music, as in in some verses, such as music to match the words.
Schubert’s “Der Fischer” “Der Lindenbaum” in Schubert’s “Erlkönig” is
and “Heidenröslein.” Schubert’s Winterreise. through-composed.




desire, in the face of rejection, cycle, push the genre even further Schubert would give with his
to find solace in nature. These and can be shocking in their friends, known as Schubertiads,
ideas would be explored with an expressionistic power. and they were not initially
even greater level of intensity in published together as a cycle.
Winterreise, in which the poems Private to public The first public performance
chart the progress of a lovelorn, The songs of Die schöne Müllerin of the cycle as a whole was not
solitary wanderer through a bleak were, like so much of the music by until 1856. As the 20th century
wintry landscape. The songs of Schubert that was disseminated approached, the Lied also became
Schwanengesang (“Swan song”), during his lifetime, originally an increasingly public form, even
published together after Schubert’s designed primarily for private if many composers continued
death but never conceived as a performances, such as those to use it for some of their most
personal works.

Romantic vehicle
Schubert’s influence, in terms of
the later development of the Lied, is
difficult to overestimate. What had
been a peripheral activity for earlier
composers became a major area of
activity for several composers who
came after him. The genre’s unique
mix of music and poetry proved
particularly attractive to the


Schubert set several of Goethe’s
poems to music, including his tragic
1778 work “An den Mond” (“To the
moon”). This handwritten manuscript
of Schubert’s dates from 1815.





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 155


and beyond. The songs of such
French Romantic chanson composers as Antonín Dvorˇák
and Modest Mussorgsky often
The story of the art song in following works by composers have a nationalistic coloring.
France was largely colored such as Hector Berlioz, whose At the turn of the 20th century,
by the cultural landscape in Les Nuits d’été (Summer Nights,
Paris, where song—mélodie or 1841), a setting for six poems Gustav Mahler firmly put the
chanson—designed primarily for by Théophile Gautier, count genre in the public sphere, not
performance in private salons, among the first songs for voice least because he was one of the
existed in the shadows of opera. and orchestra in the repertoire, first composers to orchestrate his
French song faced an additional although they were written songs himself, as would Richard
problem: the irregular emphases for piano accompaniment Strauss. Several of Mahler’s songs
and rhythms of the language originally. While subsequently also found their way into his
made it difficult to set words influenced by German composer early symphonies, either complete
to music with naturalness. Richard Wagner, a uniquely or reworked as instrumental
Nevertheless, the genre in French branch of art song movements. Strauss, meanwhile,
France became more ambitious developed in the hands of composed songs throughout
and sophisticated toward Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, his long life and wrote his
the end of the 19th century, and Francis Poulenc.
valedictory masterpiece, The
Four Last Songs, for soprano
Romantics. Subsequent song the scene for his songs, as well as voice and orchestra, in 1948.
cycles often represented attempts postludes to summarize the mood. The art song also flourished
to build on Schubert’s legacy. Although Johannes Brahms wrote in France, Great Britain, and the
Robert Schumann was greatly two song cycles, both he and United States, especially in the
influenced by Schubert. His the Austrian composer Hugo 20th century, with such composers
own song cycles, many of them Wolf concentrated on grouping as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gerald
composed in a burst of inspiration their songs into combinations Finzi, Charles Ives, and Benjamin
in 1840, the year of his marriage that were suitable for publication, Britten, who, as a fine pianist,
to pianist and composer Clara which did not necessarily imply made a speciality of performing
Wieck, tend to be on a smaller that they should be performed Schubert’s song cycles. ■
scale, offering a series of poetic together. Wolf, in particular, was
impressions or, in the case of remarkable for composing Lieder
Frauenliebe und Leben (“A woman’s almost exclusively. In his works,
love and life”), a broad picture of he successfully incorporated
a relationship. Schumann often Wagnerian harmonic complexity
wrote short piano preludes to set and psychological insight into the
form on the most intimate scale.

Song legacy
Schubert’s wider influence was
enormous, too, and a greater desire
to raise song to a higher artistic
There is no song plane coincided, in the second half
of Schubert’s of the 19th century, with attempts
from which one cannot to assert and define nationhood,
learn something. both in the German-speaking world
Johannes Brahms

Hugo Wolf wrote several hundred art
songs, often with deeply romantic and
personal themes, as captured on this
postcard depicting a song from his
Spanish Songbook of 1891.





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MUSIC IS LIKE A


DREAM.




















ONE THAT I













CANNOT HEAR









STRING QUARTET NO. 14 IN C-SHARP


MINOR, OP. 131 (1826), BEETHOVEN

















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MUSIC IS LIKE A


DREAM.




















ONE THAT I













CANNOT HEAR









STRING QUARTET NO. 14 IN C-SHARP


MINOR, OP. 131 (1826), BEETHOVEN

















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158 LATE BEETHOVEN



IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Proto-Romanticism
BEFORE
1781 Haydn, the inventor of
the string quartet, publishes
his Op. 33 quartets.
1782–1785 Mozart writes six
quartets, which he dedicates eethoven’s music divides Increasing deafness from the age
to composer Joseph Haydn. into three stylistic periods: of 30 led Beethoven to commission
B the early (up to 1802), the hearing devices from Johann Nepomuk
1824 Franz Schubert writes middle (1803–1813), and the late Maelzel, inventor of the metronome,
String Quartet No. 14, known (1817–1827). He was born in 1770, including this “ear trumpet.”
as “Death and the Maiden.” and by the age of 27, he had written
AFTER a variety of works. However, for Beethoven’s middle period included
1827–1829 Felix Mendelssohn much of this period, he avoided the his “Heroic Phase” of 1803–1808,
composes his string quartets territory dominated by Haydn and during which he wrote the “Eroica”
Op. 12 and Op. 13. The Op. 13 Mozart—the string quartet. It was Symphony for and about Napoleon
quartet in particular has not until the end of the 1790s, by Bonaparte. The middle period was
a time of energy and positive
which time he was no longer being
echoes of Beethoven’s Op. 95 compared to Mozart, that Beethoven commitment to Beethoven’s
and Op. 132.
wrote his first quartets, the Op. 18. humanistic and political beliefs.
1828 Schubert’s last wish These six works show such energy The period is often considered to
on his deathbed is to hear and technical mastery that had have begun in the wake of his
Beethoven’s Op. 131 quartet. his life been cut short at this point, “Heiligenstadt Testament” of 1802—
he would still be placed among a letter he had written to his two
1873 Johannes Brahms the world’s great composers. The brothers describing his despair
publishes String Quartet shadow of Mozart mixes with the at his profound loss of hearing.
No. 1 in C minor and String spirit of Haydn through his first five Only his music, Beethoven wrote,
Quartet No. 2 in A minor, quartets, but in the sixth Beethoven held him back from suicide.
comprising his Op. 51. These sowed the seeds of his later work. Beethoven’s violin concerto
are Brahms’s 20th attempt at (Op. 61) is an outstanding example
writing quartets. of the productive middle period, in
which he began to turn away from
1934 Michael Tippett classical conventions—developing
composes the first of his five a bolder individual style and
quartets, all inspired by producing many of his most famous
specific Beethoven works. No composer before compositions. The beginnings of
Beethoven ever disregarded Romantic music can be found in
the capacities of both his the slow movements of Beethoven’s
performers and his audience middle quartets. These five quartets
with such ruthlessness. stretched the boundaries of the
Charles Rosen form, first by extending the length,
in his Op. 59 and Op. 74, and then
by compressing it in the concise
Quartetto Serioso, Op. 95. In all five,
four players evolve into soloists,
each with virtuoso passages





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 159

See also: Haydn’s String Quartet in C major, Op. 54 122–125 ■ “Eroica” Symphony 138–141 ■ Brahms’s Symphony
No. 1 188–189 ■ Pierrot lunaire 240–245 ■ Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony 274–279


worthy of a concerto, while Op. 74, Variations on a theme in the fourth movement
known as the “Harp” quartet, has
movements in both the heroic and Violin 1 Violin 1
classical moods.

The late period
Between 1813–1816, Beethoven
experienced major emotional Violin 2 Violin 2
upheavals, from financial troubles
to the struggle to gain custody Violins Cello
of his nephew. These years saw
a decline in his production, with The theme is In the second
first played in a
variation, the
those works Beethoven did produce dialogue between tempo is faster,
showing him to be struggling to the first and and the melody
develop his style further. However, second violins. alternates between
In the first
he emerged from these years of variation, the the high phrases
of the first
refinement with unparalleled ability theme is played violin and the
to imagine melodies, forms, and by the lowest low phrases in
three instruments.
harmonies that would serve him the cello.
well during his late period.
Beethoven’s indifference to Subsequent variations share the developing
contemporary social conventions theme between the different instruments, in
varying time signatures.
and his passionate belief in his
own ideas created a unique set
of circumstances that would lead forms in concerti, symphonies, 14 minutes to less than one minute,
to the composition of his five late sonatas, and chamber works, he totaling around 40 minutes and
quartets. He was determined to was ready to experiment further. performed without a break, are in
push the boundaries of composition Opus 131 (1826) is the most an unconventional sequence that
to new limits; having successfully unorthodox of Beethoven’s five late at the time seemed unlikely to
extended the length and developed quartets, all written in 1825–1826. succeed as a major work.
the structure of the conventional Its seven movements, ranging from Conventional quartets follow a
four-movement formula: they begin
Music as self-expression with an allegro in sonata form, in
the tonic key; they slow down in
The cultural and literary world and placed a high value on the second movement; they employ
of Germany and the small states personal freedom and heroic a minuet and trio as the third
that surrounded it at the time resistance to oppressors. It movement; and they end in rondo
of Beethoven’s birth were advocated a synthesis of form. In Op. 131, however, the first
strongly influenced by the Sturm Romantic, Classical, and movement—a sombre, extended
und Drang (Storm and Stress) Enlightenment ideas. fugue (a piece in which a melody is
movement. Led by the poet and Like literature and art, the strictly imitated by the other
philosopher Johann Gottfried musical world began to reflect voices)—is followed by a very short
von Herder, it was expounded these ideals, giving them dance in the second movement.
by writers and artists, such as expression in symphonies and The third movement (just 11
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe vocal music, with Beethoven measures) concludes with a florid
and Friedrich Schiller. The himself later setting Schiller’s solo harking back to an earlier
movement emphasized national poem An die Freude (“Ode to
identities, language, and arts, Joy”) in his Ninth Symphony. musical period, while the fourth
presents a powerful theme and ❯❯





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160 LATE BEETHOVEN


Differences between the Classical quartet the theme has undergone several
and Beethoven’s Op. 131 transformations of rhythm as well
as texture. The second variation
Typical Classical quartet begins as a gentle dance in which
Beethoven’s Op. 131 melodic eighth-note phrases pass
VERY QUICK from one instrument to another,
accompanied by detached chords,
but as the variation progresses,
QUICK the running eighth notes take over
SPEED and build to a climax with all four
MODERATE instruments playing in octaves—
a different sound world altogether
from the variation’s opening. The
SLOW variations continue, punctuated by
a couple of cadenzalike first violin
1 2 3 4 5 6 flourishes recalling the “archaic”
MOVEMENTS third movement.
Thematic development also
Classical quartets generally had four movements. After takes place on a large scale. As in
Beethoven, some Romantic quartets had more (or fewer) many of Beethoven’s works (most
movements and abandoned the usual pattern of development.
famously the Fifth Symphony of
1807–1808), the quartet begins with
variations. The fifth jumps in with Beethoven’s output; it cemented his a short four-note motif, which also
an extensive scherzo (a fast dance). great legacy and ensured praise for preoccupied Beethoven in his
A 28-measure adagio (leisurely) his late quartets. Op. 132 quartet, although the
sixth movement leads to an intense pitches are presented here in a
and energetic seventh movement of Natural variations slightly different order, to unsettling
the kind that is generally placed A good example of Beethoven’s effect. This motif forms the first half
first in more conventional works. structural ingenuity can be seen of the opening fugue subject,
Building a structure with such in his handling of the theme and which, in turn, provides many of
unconventional foundations was a variations in the fourth movement the motivic ideas from which the
challenge that Beethoven set for (which builds on techniques other movements are developed.
himself. Some consider Op. 131 to developed in his Diabelli variations,
be the greatest composition of Op. 120). The traditional problem Rousing ending
faced by composers in this form The fifth movement’s key of E major is
was how to create a feeling of the optimistic sister to the sad home
natural continuity instead of the key of C-sharp minor, and, following
formulaic repetition of a set theme. convention, a light-hearted scherzo
Beethoven’s approach is to allow alternates with a contrasting trio.
constant evolution of the music, Unusually, however, Beethoven not
[Beethoven’s quartets] even from the very outset of the only extends the conventional “A-B-A”
stand … on the extreme theme. It begins at the top of the form with a further repeat of the trio
boundary of all that has texture, as a dialogue between the and scherzo (as he does in several
hitherto been attained by first and second violin; it is then other works) but finishes with a
human art and imagination. doubled in 10ths, before moving curtailed repeat of each theme.
Robert Schumann down toward the middle of the This repetition allows him
texture. When the first variation to explore various moods and
begins with the theme in the three techniques, not least in a passage
lower strings, it feels like a natural played sul ponticello (with the bow
continuation of this development, near the bridge of the instrument),
but by the end of this variation, creating a glassy, delicate sound.





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 161


A powerful crescendo then leads before one of Beethoven’s most
to two sets of three chords, each Romantic themes appears, free in
followed by a dramatic silence its pacing and encompassing
heralding the sixth movement. In expressive leaps. After the theme
this short adagio, led by the viola, reaches its culmination, a “ghost”
the four-note motif from the first appears, recalling the melody first To play a wrong note is
movement is transformed by heard at the very start of the work. insignificant. To play without
denying the use of its fourth and After this, the music begins to passion is inexcusable.
most expressive note. An optimistic reflect the drained physical state of Ludwig van Beethoven
upward motion is always repelled by the players after continuous playing
a sad, descending answer. for almost 40 minutes. The music
In the seventh movement, the dissipates as the tempo gets slower,
previous ideas come to a satisfying yet the expected soft ending to the
musical conclusion. As the music piece does not appear. In one last,
progresses, fragments of the first defiant gesture, the energies of the
movement begin to surface until players are revived for a last push were his final gift to the world
the four-note motif reappears. Many to end on three affirmative chords. before his death in 1827. With
dark and menacing sounds follow them, Beethoven transformed
Lasting influence the string quartet—influencing
Beethoven’s late quartets—which Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms,
A statue of Beethoven was erected, start and end with four movement Bartók, Schoenberg, Shostakovich,
in 1880, on the Beethovenplatz in
Vienna, Austria. The figures sitting structures (Op. 127 and Op. 135) and Tippett—and became an
below the composer are allegorical but experiment with five, six, and imposing mentor and inspiration
representations of his symphonies. seven movements (Op. 130–132)— to all those who came after. ■












































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162


INSTRUMENTATION


IS AT THE HEAD OF



THE MARCH



SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE (1830),
HECTOR BERLIOZ






hroughout his career, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
IN CONTEXT French composer Hector starring the Irish actress Harriet
T Berlioz explored the format Smithson as Juliet. It proved to be
FOCUS of the programmatic symphony— a fateful encounter, because Berlioz
The programmatic a mood-evoking work influenced fell in love with Smithson and
symphony
by subjects outside of music, such would expend much energy over
BEFORE as literature and art. It was his the next few years pursuing her.
1808 Beethoven premieres Symphonie fantastique, however, During the course of this
his Sixth Symphony, the composed early in his career, that infatuation, he felt compelled to
“Pastoral,” which the composer proved to be his most successful write a piece that would describe
insists is “more expression of and enduring work in the genre. his heightened passion and its
feeling than tone-painting.” attendant joys and sorrows. He
Berlioz’s inspiraton intended its performance to launch
1824 Beethoven’s Ninth In 1827, as a 23-year-old music his career with a bold stroke and
Symphony ends with a choral student, Berlioz went to see at the same time dazzle Smithson.
setting of a text taken from a performance in Paris of The resulting piece Symphonie
German poet Friedrich fantastique premiered at the Paris
Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.” Conservatoire on December 5, 1830,
and a printed synopsis of the “plot”
AFTER was supplied.
1848–1849 Liszt composes
Ce qu’on entend sur la Love and death
montagne, the first symphonic No one who hears this The title suggests a symphony
poem, based on a poem by symphony here in Paris, of the imagination, while its
Victor Hugo. played by Berlioz’s orchestra, subtitle—“Episode in the life of
can help believing that an artist”—hints at the work’s
1857 First performance he is hearing a marvel autobiographical element, although
of Liszt’s Faust Symphony, without precedent. its descriptive program (which
which he dedicated to Berlioz. Richard Wagner Berlioz provided to audiences)
focuses more on fantasy than
reality. In the first movement, a
young musician awakens to find
love in the shape of an unknown
beautiful woman. Her image





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 163

See also: The Four Seasons 92–97 ■ Faust Symphony 176–177 ■ The Ring
Cycle 180–187 ■ Also sprach Zarathustra 192–193 ■ Das Lied von der Erde 198–201


(represented by a recurring melody Scaffold,” he is executed. In the
Berlioz called the idée fixe) imposes second nightmare, he dreams
itself upon his vision everywhere that he is at a Witches’ Sabbath
he goes, such as at a ball and even and sees his beloved joining in
in the country, where the sound of the grisly spectacle.
thunder seems to symbolize his
gloomy state of mind. Lasting influence
Determined to poison himself Other composers emulated Berlioz’s
with opium, he finds instead combination of music and story-
that the dose merely induces telling, notably Franz Liszt in A
nightmares. In the first of these, he Faust Symphony and 12 symphonic Hector Berlioz
imagines he has been condemned poems (one-movement pieces in
to death for murdering his beloved: the programmatic genre), including The son of a doctor, Berlioz
at the end of the “March to the Mazeppa and Hamlet. Although was born at La Côte-Saint-
some major composers, including André, in southeastern
Bruckner and Brahms, avoided the France, in 1803. At 12, he
Hector Berlioz conducts a deafening form, others such as Tchaikovsky, began studying music, and
orchestra in a caricature published
by the French newspaper L’Illustration, César Franck, Elgar, and Richard at 17, he moved to Paris to
in 1845. Behind him, members of the Strauss mined its possibilities study at the Conservatoire.
audience hold their ears. inventively and exhaustively. ■ In 1833, on his fifth attempt,
Berlioz won the Prix de Rome
(a prestigious scholarship).
By then, he had produced his
Symphonie fantastique to
impress the actress Harriet
Smithson, whom he later
married. In Paris, he enjoyed
limited success as a composer
and so also worked as a
journalist. From 1842, he
toured abroad, finding
audiences in Russia, England,
and Germany more receptive.
He longed for success in the
opera house, but his opera
Benvenuto Cellini (1838)
failed, and his masterpiece
Les Troyens (1858) had only
a partial production during
his lifetime. Suffering
from Crohn’s disease and
depression, he died in 1869.

Other key works
1837 Grande Messe des morts
(Requiem)
1839 Roméo et Juliette
1856–1858 Les Troyens







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164


SIMPLICITY



IS THE FINAL




ACHIEVEMENT





PRÉLUDES (1839), FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN




hile Chopin was one of evocation of moods. Every one
IN CONTEXT the supreme composers of his compositions includes the
W of the early Romantic piano, and the vast majority are
FOCUS period, he was in some respects for piano alone, yet within this
Solo piano music
untypical of the age he has come precisely defined area the breadth
BEFORE to embody. Unlike fellow musicians of his musical thought is vast.
1812 John Field, an Irish Robert Schumann and Franz Chopin created an unparalleled
composer based in Liszt, Chopin had little interest in intensity of melody, harmony, and
St. Petersburg, publishes using music to express narratives expression. Writing in a style that
the first Romantic piano piece inspired by Romantic art and seemed to represent the soul of
to be called a “nocturne.” literature, or in producing grandiose
works with huge orchestras in
1833 In Paris, Chopin’s the manner of Hector Berlioz. Chopin plays for Prince Radziwiłł
during a trip to Berlin, in 1829. The
Nocturnes, Op. 9, are the Instead, Chopin perfected his art same year, he composed the Polonaise
composer’s first nocturnes within circumscribed confines, brillante for the prince (a cellist) and his
to be published. tending toward brevity and the daughter (a pianist) to practice.
1834–1835 Robert Schumann
composes Carnaval, a collection
of 21 piano movements, one of
which is titled Chopin.

AFTER
1892–1893 Brahms publishes
four collections of small piano
pieces, including intermezzos,
fantasias, and capriccios.
1910–1913 Debussy, who
described Chopin as “the
greatest of us all,” writes his
two books of Préludes.









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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 165

See also: Pièces de clavecin 82–83 ■ Die schöne Müllerin 150–155 ■
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune 228–231 ■ Ravel’s Piano Concerto in D for
the left hand 266–267

rain at Valldemossa, on the island
Preludes, nocturnes, of Majorca, where she and Chopin,
and études who was then her lover, spent the
winter of 1838–1839 together.


Short introductory Polish dance
Preludes movement often Chopin’s interest in dance was
preceding a partly a conscious homage to his
larger piece.
Polish heritage. The polonaise
(meaning “Polish” in French)
Expressive and was used by many composers Frédéric Chopin
Nocturnes tranquil compositions across Europe, and Chopin wrote
inspired by the night, more than a dozen examples,
following no set form. Born near Warsaw in 1810,
his first when he was just seven Chopin studied the piano
years old. Like the polonaise, in the Polish capital and
the mazurka was a traditional performed at musical soirées
Pieces designed for
Études practice, to perfect dance form to which Chopin in its greatest houses. He
musical skills. returned regularly on no fewer visited Paris at the age of 20
than 50 occasions. and settled there, making a
Chopin mainly used the waltz living by teaching, publishing
the instrument itself, Chopin had a dance form for lighter salon music. his music, and appearing at
profound effect on piano technique The so-called “Minute Waltz” salons. Chopin disliked
and helped push the instrument and the Waltz in E-flat, Op. 18 concerts, and performed in
to the forefront of 19th-century (Grande valse brillante) are rapid few, yet his influence was
huge, founded on works that
music. Preferring to compose in pieces. In contrast to the showy embraced the folk music of his
miniature rather than on a large waltzes, Chopin’s 20 nocturnes native land, as well as other,
scale, he produced three four- are predominantly intimate and more conceptual forms that
movement piano sonatas and many introverted in mood, slow and lifted piano technique to new
short “character” pieces, especially dreamy, as their title suggests. levels. Initially composing in
preludes, nocturnes, études, and The nocturnes enjoy an enduring a style that favored virtuosity
dances, such as the mazurka, legacy as some of the most popular in the tradition of composers
polonaise, and waltz. solo works ever written for piano. Johann Nepomuk Hummel,
The term “nocturne” and its style Friedrich Kalkbrenner, and
Mood and style were the invention of the Irish Carl Maria von Weber, he later
Between 1835 and 1839, Chopin composer and celebrated pianist absorbed within his piano
composed a set of 24 preludes— John Field, whose work Chopin textures the influence of Bach.
one in each of the major and minor knew and admired. His most durable personal
keys—using J.S. Bach’s Preludes Like Field, Chopin was a relationship, with the novelist
George Sand, ended in 1847.
from the Well-Tempered Clavier virtuoso pianist, and his interest He died of tuberculosis two
(1722) as his model. For Chopin, the in the extension of piano technique years later in Paris.
prelude was essentially an abstract is demonstrated in his 27 études
form, although some of his pieces (“studies”), which he began writing
were prescribed titles by his in his teens. In these pieces, Chopin Other key works
publishers that suggested specific managed to combine technical 1830 Piano Concerto No. 1
influences. The “Raindrop” Prelude, advances with great expressive 1835 Ballade No. 1 in G minor
for example, earned its (inauthentic) and musical quality. They have 1844 Sonata No. 3 in B minor
nickname from the French novelist remained both a challenge and 1846 Barcarolle in F-sharp
George Sand’s account of incessant a joy to pianists ever since. ■





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166

IN CONTEXT
MY SYMPHONIES FOCUS

The Romantic symphony
WOULD HAVE REACHED BEFORE

1824 First performance of
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
OPUS 100 IF I HAD in Vienna.

1838 Schumann “discovers”
WRITTEN THEM DOWN Schubert’s “Great” C major
Symphony in Vienna.

SYMPHONY NO. 1, THE “SPRING” SYMPHONY (1841), AFTER
1876 Premiere of Brahms’s
ROBERT SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1, which
Hans von Bulow dubs
“Beethoven’s Tenth.”
1889 Mahler’s Symphony
No. 1 premieres in Budapest.
It marks the beginning of
a cycle that redefines the
symphony as a form.







t the end of the Classical
age, Beethoven’s Ninth
A Symphony, with its
revolutionary message, inclusion
of a choir and soloists, and many
narrative musical features, offered a
bold new vision of what a symphony
might be. Yet many other Romantic
composers, such as Chopin and
Wagner, felt that Beethoven had
taken the symphony to such
heights with his Ninth that they
could go no further with developing
its form, and they turned to other
genres instead. This led to a dearth
of symphonic writing until the
second half of the 19th century.
Nonetheless, the symphonies
that were produced by the most
successful Romantic composers
were among the greatest music
written in the 19th century. These





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 167

See also: “Eroica” Symphony 136–139 ■ Die schöne Müllerin 148–153 ■
Symphonie fantastique 162–163 ■ Faust Symphony 176–177


a visit to Vienna after Schubert’s
death. Schumann took a copy of the
manuscript back to Leipzig, where
Felix Mendelssohn conducted its
premiere in 1839.
Nothing right in art can While Beethoven’s works
be accomplished focused on an intense musical
without enthusiasm. argument and inner drive, Schubert
Robert Schumann approached the form as a more
gentle and discursive structure,
reminiscent of the romantic novels Robert Schumann
of the period. In Schubert’s Ninth
Symphony, unexpected and Born in the Saxon city of
nontraditional keys are used to Zwickau (now part of
produce a greater range of moods. Germany) in 1810, Schumann
works include Hector Berlioz’s Taking some 55 minutes to began composing music as a
Symphonie fantastique, Franz perform, a long work for the period, young boy. No less interested
Liszt’s Faust Symphony, and Robert the piece extends many traditional in literature, he wrote a
Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, features of the symphony, such as number of youthful novels
known as the “Spring” Symphony. the introduction to the first before heading to Leipzig to
movement (almost a complete study law. Schumann gave up
Schubert’s influence sonata in itself) and the numerous his studies in order to become
At the same time that Beethoven thematic elements in the last. a concert pianist, but a hand
was writing his last symphony, injury prevented him from
achieving his goal. Instead,
Schubert was also working on his Taking up the baton he focused on composition and
mature works in the genre. In 1822, It was only after hearing Schubert’s musical criticism, becoming
he started on his Ninth Symphony, Ninth Symphony that Robert editor of the New Journal for
now known as the “Great C Major” Schumann was inspired to begin Music, through which he
Symphony. Unperformed in his working on his own first symphony, introduced the world to the
lifetime, it was discovered by in 1841. Until then, he had mainly music of Chopin and Brahms.
Schubert’s friend Schumann, on been known as a composer of His novel piano works, often
piano pieces. For the most part inspired by literature, quickly
eschewing large-scale works, he became popular. After
had concentrated on collections or marrying Clara Wieck, a
cycles of smaller pieces, cementing famous pianist herself, he
his reputation as a miniaturist. began to concentrate on other
As such, writing a symphony was musical genres. His last years
a new challenge for Schumann. were plagued with mental
illness, and he died in an
Extraordinarily, he sketched the asylum in 1856.
whole work in just four days.
Five weeks later, the fully
Other key works
orchestrated work premiered in ❯❯
1838 Kreisleriana, Op. 16
Schumann’s wife, Clara, was the 1840 Dichterliebe, Op. 48
daughter of his first piano instructor, 1845 Piano Concerto in
Friedrich Wieck. Both Clara and her A minor, Op. 54
father were celebrated for their skills 1850 Symphony No. 3, Op. 97
on the keyboard.





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168 THE ROMANTIC SYMPHONY


New era, new aesthetics


Classical Romantic

Inspired by the Inspired by nature,
Enlightenment and the poetry, and myth.
Age of Reason.


Emphasis is on
Emphasis is on elegance emotional expression.
and structure.


New styles of melody,
Era of the symphony,
instrumental sonata, harmony, and
and string quartet. rhythm emerge.



Music is largely the Growing audiences
preserve of the court and expand to include the
the wealthy. middle classes.




Leipzig, with Mendelssohn as its score for the symphony, he gave a symphony of the Romantic period.
conductor, and was well recieved each of his movements titles: Full of contrast and surprise, its
by its audience. “Beginning of Spring,” “Evening,” quickly shifting moods keep
“Jolly Playmates,” and “Spring listeners in suspense. Avoiding
A Romantic symphony Replete.” However, by the time the both the musical arguments of
The title of the “Spring” Symphony symphony was published, he had Beethoven and the discursive
was taken from a poem by Adolf removed them. approach of Schubert, Schumann
Böttger that ends with the lines, It is clear from the opening found a way to direct the music’s
“Oh turn and turn and change your brass fanfare, with its intense energy through juxtaposition and
course, In the valley Spring blooms feeling of expectation, that this is repetition, while still conveying
forth,” which inspired the opening subtle emotions. He also avoids
of the symphony. The poem is using traditional key structures
about a melancholy lover whose so that the second subject—or
pain is heightened by the arrival of melodic theme—is in a minor key,
spring, but Schumann claimed that adding a note of melancholy.
a longing for spring in general The symphony’s second
inspired the work. In a letter to the To send light into the movement often seems as if it were
conductor William Taubert in 1843, darkness of men’s hearts— originally written for the piano—
he wrote, “I should like the very first such is the duty of the artist. a criticism frequently leveled at
trumpet call to sound as though Robert Schumann Schumann’s orchestral works—
proceeding from on high and like a but this brings an original, almost
summons to awaken. … It might be improvisatory quality to the piece
possible to feel the world turning that marked a departure from
green; perhaps … a butterfly classical strictures. Meanwhile,
fluttering.” In Schumann’s first in choosing to write the third





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 169


considerable acclaim. In using Form gives way
programmatic titles and literary to expression
references, as well as in the very
sounds of the music he produced, The music composed by the
Schumann helped to define the Romantic generation strove to
I feel so entirely in my element early Romantic ethos. reflect the importance of the
individual. Taking their cue in
with a full orchestra; even if The early Romantic symphony part from Beethoven—whose
my mortal enemies were … paid more attention to orchestration Ninth Symphony had broken
before me, I could lead them, than the classical symphony had; the mold—composers sought
master them, surround it used a wider palette of orchestral to create music free from
them, or repulse them. timbres and combined instrumental well-established structures,
Robert Schumann forces in new ways. Instruments such as the minuet and trio
that had previously been less and the rondo, and develop
popular—such as the harp, tuba, other forms, such as the
and trombone, as well as a number sonata principle and fugue.
of percussion instruments—also Their innovations gave
became standard features. the music of the Romantic
Composers of this period seldom composers an immediacy that
movement as a scherzo and trio, thought of themselves as markedly enabled it to be more easily
Schumann was influenced by different from their classical understood by middle-class
Beethoven, who had created this forebears and were essentially audiences, who were generally
untrained in music but wished
structure out of the older minuet trying to bring the new “Romantic” to enjoy it as entertainment.
and trio, but here, too, Schumann’s spirit of revolutionary politics to In the same vein, Romantic
composition contains further life, using quite traditional means. works were often given titles
innovation: there are two trios However, as the wider Romantic to help new listeners grasp
instead of the usual one, and they movement gained traction, some the mood and story of the
are in different time signatures. innovative composers—such as music. Some musicians, such
The last movement of the “Spring” Berlioz and Liszt—experimented, as Berlioz and Liszt, would
Symphony is traditional in its not always successfully, with new even provide a written
structure but full of a humor that approaches to harmony, rhythm, program to explain the
seems to anticipate Tchaikovsky and structure. It was this spirit of intended narrative of the
in his lighter moments. Toward experimentation that paved the music to their audience.
the end, Schumann has one last way for late Romanticism. ■
surprise in store—a theme from his
piano piece Kreisleriana suddenly
appears in a slightly altered form.
Although it is not known why he
did this, such self-quotation was
not unusual for Schumann.

New approach
Almost entirely self-taught as
a composer, Schumann brought
an originality and freshness to
the symphony that earned him


The German city of Leipzig became
Schumann’s home from 1828. He wrote
many works at the house he shared
with his wife, Clara Wieck. Situated on
Inselstrasse 18, this is now a museum.





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170

IN CONTEXT
THE LAST NOTE FOCUS

19th-century sacred
WAS DROWNED … choral music

BEFORE
1741 Handel composes his
IN A UNANIMOUS oratorio, Messiah.

1829 Felix Mendelssohn
VOLLEY OF PLAUDITS conducts Bach’s St. Matthew
Passion for the first time since

ELIJAH (1846), FELIX MENDELSSOHN the composer’s death in 1750.
AFTER
1857 The Handel Festival at
the Crystal Palace in London
includes a performance of
Messiah with a choir of 2,000
people and an orchestra of
500, creating a vogue for very
large choral performances
in England.

1900 Edward Elgar composes
The Dream of Gerontius—a
setting of an 1866 poem by
Cardinal Newman—for the
Birmingham Music Festival.




horal music had started
to wane in popularity by
C the 19th century. The
Classical period had heralded a
new philosophy that deemed
music to be at its purest when it
was self-contained and referenced
nothing outside itself. Instrumental
music—especially the symphony—
had become the most important
genre. While church musicians kept
the choral tradition alive to some
extent, they were increasingly
amateurs. Secular choirs began to
flourish, but because they were not
professional musicians, the prestige
of choral music suffered, compared
to other types of music. In the
absence of a market for choral





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 171

See also: Magnus Liber organi 28–31 ■ Canticum Canticorum 46–51 ■
Monteverdi’s Vespers 64–69 ■ St. Matthew Passion 98–105


Oratorios, such as Elijah, were
regularly performed with huge choirs
and crowd-drawing soloists at the
Crystal Palace, London, and elsewhere
in England during the Victorian era.


professional conductor and defray
concert expenses. It started as an
educational venture for wealthy
ladies, then went on to include men
in 1791, and thereafter gave regular Felix Mendelssohn
concerts. It was here that the young
Felix Mendelssohn, whose father Born into a wealthy German-
was a member of the choir, first Jewish family in 1809, the
came across the works of J.S. Bach young Mendelssohn was a
and was inspired to conduct a child prodigy. He excelled
performance of the St. Matthew not only at the piano, violin,
Passion, which helped to establish conducting, and composition
the Bach revival in Germany. but also at painting, fencing,
Further choral societies sprang up and riding. At the age of 20,
throughout Europe and America, he conducted a performance
and publishing choral music of the St. Matthew Passion—
sacred music, there was also little became a lucrative concern, as the first since Bach’s death.
Mendelssohn’s visit to
incentive for composers to write some choirs needed in excess of England in 1829 was well
new choral works. As a result, the 300 copies of a vocal score for a received and made a great
choral music performed tended to single performance. impression on him, resulting
draw on works from the past. It was almost certainly through in nine further extended trips
attending performances of Handel’s and invitations to Buckingham
An appetite for oratorios oratorios in London in the 1790s Palace. As well as composing
In England, regular renditions that Haydn was inspired to create and performing, Mendelssohn
of Handel’s oratorios in the late a similar work in the Classical style. conducted the Leipzig
1700s marked the start of a trend The Creation, based on the Book of Gewandhaus Orchestra and
that continued through the 19th Genesis, was published in 1800, also founded the Leipzig
century. Among the first works and curiously in a bilingual edition Conservatoire. Following
to be revived after the composer’s in both German and English— ill-health, possibly due to
death, they were often updated probably because Haydn had an overwork and the death of
for large, grandiose performances. eye on the British market, in which his beloved sister, he suffered
At later music events, such as the he was very successful. The Creation a series of strokes and died in
1847, at the age of 38.
Three Choirs Festival (instituted was an instant success and was
by the cathedrals of Hereford, performed throughout the Western
Worcester, and Gloucester), world in Haydn’s lifetime. Even as Other key works
choirs could number more than his other music dropped out of the
a thousand singers—a far cry from standard repertoire, this oratorio 1826 Overture “A Midsummer
the composer’s original intentions. remained one of the core works Night’s Dream,” Op. 21
1833 Symphony No. 4 in
The Berlin Singakademie was for choral societies and festivals. A major (“Italian”), Op. 90
one of the first choral societies to be It was within this cultural 1844 Violin Concerto in
established, with amateurs paying climate that Mendelssohn E minor, Op. 64
a regular subscription to engage a composed his oratorio St. Paul in ❯❯





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172 19TH-CENTURY SACRED CHORAL MUSIC


1836. Its subsequent performance it still reflects the Early Romantic
(in an English translation) in period in its colorful orchestration
Liverpool, England, and later in and subtle lyricism. The chorales
the US gained him a reputation as mark structural divisions in the
a composer who was sympathetic music, as found in the Bach
to the possibilities of amateurs Never before was anything Passions. Also, unlike other works
performing his works. like this season … I got of the period, a surprisingly wide
Mendelssohn had conducted through more music in variety of styles and textures can
St. Paul for the Birmingham two months than in all be heard, which is reminiscent of
Triennial Music Festival in 1837, the rest of the year. Handel. However, Mendelssohn
and its organizers requested a new Felix Mendelssohn also uses innovative forms, such
oratorio for 1846, the year before he as including the choir in certain
died. The composer at first declined recitatives for dramatic effect, and
the invitation but was persuaded to he attempts to bring a sense of
write Elijah when told that the unity to the whole work by linking
festival could provide as many movements and using recurring
performers as he requested. Its motifs, both of which were musical
premiere featured an orchestra of Eventually, she sang the soprano devices of his own era. Of special
125 players and a chorus of 271 role of Elijah in London in 1848, interest are the fugues in the
singers. The organizers even tried after Mendelssohn’s death, in a overture and finale, which clearly
to engage the famous Swedish charity concert that funded the demonstrated to the Romantic
opera singer Jenny Lind, for whom Mendelssohn Scholarship, which generation that this Baroque form
Mendelssohn had tailored the still exists today. could be revived to great effect.
soprano part. However, because Elijah itself has a curious hybrid Elijah was immediately
this would have been her British quality. Although clearly influenced successful, especially in its English
debut, she declined, preferring an by the Baroque and modeled on version, and became a mainstay
opera to showcase her vocal skills. the oratorios of Bach and Handel, of choral concerts throughout the
19th century. Later commentators,
however, often found it too
conventional and considered it a
product of mid-Victorian values.

Grand sacred works
While many composers of the
period were not very interested in
choral music, Hector Berlioz created
two of the grandest choral works
in the repertoire. With their
extraordinarily large forces, his
Requiem of 1837 and his Te Deum,
first performed in 1855, are vivid
examples of the excesses of
High Romanticism; the Requiem
requires four off-stage brass
ensembles while the score of


The prophet summons the Israelites
in the bass recitative “Draw near all ye
people” from the oratorio Elijah. This
page, handwritten by Mendelssohn, is
from an original 1846 score of the work.





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 173


since, opinion has been divided
as to whether it is a religious work
Elijah’s curse Somber
Four strong or an outpouring of rather more
woodwind and
chords introduce brass are used. The drama than sacrament.
drama and brighter strings
foreboding. A “human” requiem
are silent.
Brahms’s German Requiem was
perhaps the most singular sacred
choral work of the period. It was his
first major composition and brought
him international acclaim. He
Descending avoided the traditional requiem
tritones, A final drum roll Mass text, instead creating his
signaling danger, imparts a sense own from the Lutheran Bible. There
are capped by a of doom.
trombone blast. is a focus in the work on comforting
the living, no reference to the Day
of Judgment, and no mention of
Jesus. Brahms thought of it as a
Mendelssohn’s Elijah begins with the prophet’s curse on King “human requiem” rather than
Ahab and the Israelites. Their punishment for corrupt governance belonging to any particular
and the worship of false idols will be a terrible drought.
theological outlook, which is
perhaps why it is still so frequently
the Te Deum specifies 12 harps. As between secular operatic and performed. Written in seven large
a result, performances were—and sacred choral works. Verdi sections, the musical material
still are—rare and impractical, and composed it in the operatic style, is tightly organized around the
so this music had little opportunity with immense drama, especially opening notes sung to Selig sind
to affect the genre. Composers in the powerful “Dies Irae,” and (“Blessed are”). This creates a very
such as Rossini wrote a number wrote parts for female voices at unified whole, in which Brahms
of cantatas, but these tended to a time when the Catholic Church seems to have avoided using any
be overshadowed by their more used only men in its choirs. The previous models. A work of subtle
popular operas and are seldom Requiem’s first performance was majesty, the German Requiem
heard. It was Verdi’s Requiem at St. Mark’s in Milan, but its stands in sharp relief to most
that managed to bridge the gap second was at La Scala. Ever choral music of the 19th century. ■

Music in Victorian Britain

Between industrial innovation wealthy background, and even
and empire building, the arts— feted by the Queen, became
especially music—were rather ubiquitous. Meanwhile, the brass
marginalized in early Victorian band movement in northern
Britain. Although there was a England and music halls in the
thriving concert culture, it was cities were both thriving musical
predominated by foreign artists. outlets for the working classes.
Yet, with a rapidly expanding, Later in the century, the search
wealthy middle class, there for a cultural identity inspired
were many amateurs—young British classical musicians, which
women especially—who needed also led to the creation of British
socially acceptable music to conservatoires. Figures as diverse Prince Albert plays the organ for
play. In this climate, Songs as Sullivan and Elgar emerged Mendelssohn as Queen Victoria looks
Without Words by Mendelssohn, from this new, so-called “English on. The composer enjoyed several
a “respectable” composer from a Musical Renaissance.” visits to Buckingham Palace in 1842.







US_170-173_Mendelssohn.indd 173 26/03/18 1:01 PM

174


I LOVE ITALIAN



OPERA—IT’S




SO RECKLESS





LA TRAVIATA (1853), GIUSEPPE VERDI





IN CONTEXT

FOCUS
Italian opera
BEFORE
1829 Rossini shocks the
musical world by retiring
from opera after his final
stage work, William Tell,
premieres in Paris.
1848 Composer Gaetano
Donizetti dies, 13 years after
his compatriot Vincenzo
Bellini, leaving Verdi as the
leading light of Italian opera.

AFTER
1887 Milan hosts the premiere t was usual in the first decades Italian tenor Francesco Meli
of Verdi’s Otello, his first opera of the 19th century for Italian performs as Violetta’s lover, Alfredo,
since Aida in 1871. I opera to be concerned with in the brindisi drinking song in a 2016
the tragedies of the great and production of La traviata. His love for
1890 Italian composer Pietro noble. Giuseppe Verdi challenged Violetta brings shame upon his family.
Mascagni’s masterpiece this and produced operas about
Cavalleria rusticana premieres ordinary people as well. However, it wasn’t until well into
in Rome and ushers in the Verdi enjoyed notable early Verdi’s creative life that he fulfilled
naturalistic, melodramatic successes, such as Nabucco (1842), his democratic ambitions with
“verismo” style of opera. based on the biblical story of three masterpieces composed in
Nebuchadnezzar II. Its chorus quick succession—Rigoletto (1851),
“Va pensiero,” in which the Hebrew Il trovatore (1853), and La traviata
slaves lament the loss of their (1853). Rigoletto focuses on the
homeland, would later become an eponymous character—a hunchback
anthem for Italian independence. who, in trying to protect his





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 175

See also: The Magic Flute 134–137 ■ The Barber of Seville 148 ■ Der Freischütz 149 ■ Tosca 194–197 ■
The Wreckers 232–239 ■ Peter Grimes 288–293


daughter, unwittingly brings about censors, so the opera was set in the
her undoing; Il trovatore tells the 1700s for the premiere. La traviata
melodramatic tale of the beautiful was nonetheless unique as it boldly
Leonora who is caught between confronted society’s hypocritical
two men and a gypsy woman’s treatment of women.
vengeance; and in La traviata (“The Although some of La traviata’s To copy the truth can
fallen woman”), a courtesan named most famous numbers—especially be a good thing, but to
Violetta sacrifices her love and, the brindisi drinking song in Act invent the truth is better,
ultimately, herself, for the sake of One—feature crowd scenes, La much better.
the patriarchal society that seeks traviata is an opera remarkable for Giuseppe Verdi
to control her. These three operas its moments of intimacy. Verdi
confirmed Verdi’s break away from draws us into the world of his
what he described as his galley heroine, and this groundbreaking
years: time spent producing works focus on a female protagonist paved
to order for the “opera industry.” the way for others, such as the
gypsy heroine of Georges Bizet’s
Bending the rules Carmen (1875)—a character from written for the opening of the new
Verdi managed to manipulate and French opera, who is similarly opera house in Cairo in 1871, marked
subvert operatic conventions to drawn from the literary world (from a break for Verdi, who was unhappy
achieve a synthesis of tradition and a story by Prosper Mérimée) and with the importation of French and
innovation. With La traviata, he similarly exposed the hypocrisy German opera to Italy. Verdi began
took a subject drawn from a well- of 19th-century sexual mores. to focus on other aspects of his
known novel, La Dame aux camélias life and composed little after the
(The Lady of the Camellias) by Final masterpieces Missa da Requiem of 1874, written
Alexandre Dumas, and, in a step Verdi’s many subsequent works in memory of the nationalist poet,
unprecedented then, set the saw the composer tackle the Alessandro Manzoni, until his
drama at the time of composition. different conventions of grand final two pieces, which were both
Ultimately, the portrayal of a fallen opéra in such masterpieces as based on works by his beloved
woman in modern society was Don Carlos, composed for the Paris Shakespeare: Otello (1887) and
rejected as too risqué by the Italian opera in 1867. However, Aida, Falstaff (1893). ■

Giuseppe Verdi Verdi was born in Busseto, become the most successful
northern Italy, in 1813. His father, opera composer of his day, and
an innkeeper of modest social from the 1850s his music was
standing, encouraged his son’s embraced by the nationalist
early education, and a wealthy Risorgimento movement.
merchant in the town, Antonio In 1859, Verdi married the
Barezzi, paid for the young Verdi operatic soprano Giuseppina
to study in Milan. Strepponi, staying with her until
In 1836, Verdi married Barezzi’s her death in 1897. Verdi himself
daughter, but both she and their died four years later, in 1901.
two young children died four
years later. In spite of this tragedy, Other key works
Verdi’s career began to take off.
His breakthrough came with 1842 Nabucco
Nabucco in 1841. Over the 1867 Don Carlos
following decade, he produced 1874 Missa da Requiem
13 operas. The 1850s saw him 1887 Otello







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176


WHO HOLDS THE


DEVIL, LET HIM



HOLD HIM WELL



FAUST SYMPHONY (1854–1857), FRANZ LISZT








he central myths of
IN CONTEXT European art can often
T be traced back to sources
FOCUS thousands of years old. Unusually,
The Faust legend and the Faust legend is a more recent
German Romanticism
phenomenon, based on a real
BEFORE person. The original Johann
1830 The premiere of Berlioz’s Faustus was a late 15th-century
Symphonie fantastique, with magician-illusionist, who claimed
the young Liszt in the Paris to be in league with the devil. His
audience, sees the debut of the dubious career traveling through
Romantic symphony orchestra, the southeast German region
much more colorful than those of Thuringia even secured him
a doctorate from Heidelberg
that came before.
University. The Faust story had
1846 Berlioz conducts already become part of folklore
the first performances of The when the literary doyen of the
Damnation of Faust, based on German Romantic movement,
Goethe’s Faust Part I. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
began to explore the character
AFTER in the 1770s.
1861 Liszt arranges a piano
version of his Mephisto-Waltz Powerful appeal
No. 1, which was originally Romanticism had multiple roots in
written for orchestra. the political and social upheavals of
its time. With industrialism came
1906 Mahler composes his the rise of a middle-class less
Eighth Symphony; its main beholden to the Church and the
movement is a huge setting of aristocracy, and in this more
the closing “Chorus mysticus” liberated climate, Goethe’s verse-
scene of Goethe’s Faust Part II. play Faust developed a potent
Mephistopheles holds a mirror up
to Faust in a poster created by Richard appeal. Faust concerns the
Roland Holst for a 1918 Dutch National corruption of a secular, rational
Theatre production of Goethe’s play. mind. Goethe’s hero is a brilliant





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 177

See also: Stamitz’s Symphony in E-flat major 116–117 ■ Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor 128–131 ■ “Eroica” 138–141 ■
Symphonie fantastique 162–163 ■ Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 166–169 ■ Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 188–189


agnostic philosopher, whose A frontispiece of sheet music for
intellectual disillusionment leads Lizst’s Faust Symphony, published
him to be waylaid by the demon in Leipzig, Germany, lists the main
Mephistopheles’s offer of a world characters of the symphony and the
type of orchestral arrangement.
of sensual and sexual satisfaction.
In the poem’s first part
(published in 1808), Faust is added the finale, with its tenor
introduced to the trusting young soloist and male-voice choir, for the
Gretchen, whom he seduces, first performance three years later.
impregnates, and abandons to Rather than following Goethe’s
madness and death. The second complex narrative, each of the
part (completed in 1831) finds the symphony’s first three movements
remorseful Faust applying his presents a portrait of one of the
powers to the cause of human main characters. The long first
good; as Faust’s death approaches, movement portrays the multiple
Gretchen’s soul intercedes for him, layers of Faust’s restless nature
and angels carry Faust aloft to a in a complex, chromatic musical
higher world. The legend was taken language (based on all 12
up in Charles Gounod’s grand opera semitones in an octave). While
Faust, Robert Schumann’s oratorio Gretchen’s movement is Faust’s
Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, and by Berlioz. Enthralled, he sketched out opposite in its sweet winsomeness,
Wagner in his Faust Overture. The some ideas first for an opera, then a Mephistopheles has a diabolic
most significant musical version, symphony, but the idea remained Scherzo, in which each theme is
however, is the one by Hungarian on hold until he had settled in a distortion of one already used
virtuoso Franz Lizst. Goethe’s adopted hometown of to portray Faust. The finale is a
Weimar. In 1854, over a period radiant choral setting of the poem’s
Liszt’s Faust of two months, he composed concluding “Chorus mysticus,” as
The young Liszt was introduced to and orchestrated the first three Gretchen’s theme leads Faust’s
Faust Part I (in Gérard de Nerval’s movements of his Faust Symphony. soul, much like in Goethe’s version,
French translation) by his friend Dedicating the work to Berlioz, he into a transfigured musical world. ■

Franz Liszt In 1848, Liszt moved with the
Ukrainian Princess Carolyne
Born in Raiding, eastern Sayn-Wittgenstein to Weimar,
Austria, in 1811, Liszt showed where he composed principal
early talent as a pianist. He works of the Romantic era. Later,
studied in Vienna, where he he took minor Catholic orders
played to an amazed Beethoven, in Rome. In 1886, Liszt died of
and his subsequent teenage pneumonia in Bayreuth, Germany.
years in Paris consolidated his
standing as the supreme pianist Other key works
of his time. At 24 years old, he
eloped to Switzerland with 1842 Années de pèlerinage
Countess Marie d’Agoult; later, (Years of Pilgrimage)
in Italy, they had three children 1853 Piano Sonata in B minor
but drifted apart as Liszt 1856 Dante Symphony (choir
pursued a relentless concert and orchestra)
schedule throughout Europe. 1868 Christus (choral oratorio)






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178


AND THE DANCERS


WHIRL AROUND GAILY



IN THE WALTZ’S


GIDDY MAZES



THE BLUE DANUBE (1867), JOHANN STRAUSS II




ne of the most instantly Europe’s ballrooms. Couples held
IN CONTEXT recognizable waltzes ever one another face to face as they
O written, An der schönen, twirled around the floor, in contrast
FOCUS blauen Donau (By the Beautiful to the stately minuets and other
19th-century waltz music
Blue Danube) was first performed in French-style court dances that
BEFORE Vienna in February 1867 as a choral the waltz was starting to replace.
1819 Carl Maria von Weber’s piece, conducted by its Austrian By the early 1800s, the waltz had
Invitation to the Dance is composer, Johann Strauss II. spread throughout Europe, with
the first waltz written for Comprising five interlinked waltz Vienna as its capital. Invigorated
concert performance rather themes, it was designed to lift the first by Johann Strauss I, then his
than dancing. spirit of the Austrian nation after son, it became the signature
its defeat by Prussia in the Seven dance of the 19th century. ■
1823 Schubert writes Valses Weeks’ War. It was, however, the
sentimentales, a collection of purely orchestral version, premiered
34 waltzes for solo piano. in Paris later that year, that took
off. The lilting beauty of Strauss’s
1834 Chopin’s Grande valse melodies made the piece beloved
brillante is the first of his solo the world over.
piano waltzes to be published. Waltzes have their roots in
AFTER the country dances of southern
1877 Tchaikovsky’s Swan Germany, Bohemia, and Austria.
Lake is one of many late From the mid-1700s, more refined
19th-century ballets and versions, with a distinctive triple
beat, started to become popular in
operas that feature waltzes.
1911 Maurice Ravel publishes A statue of “The Waltz King”
a suite of waltzes, Valses playing the violin stands in Stadtpark,
nobles et sentimentales. Vienna. As a child, Strauss practiced
the violin secretly, as his musician
1919–1920 Ravel composes La father wanted him to become a banker.
valse, about the rise and fall of
the waltz as a musical genre. See also: Le bourgeois gentilhomme 70–71 ■ Water Music 84–89 ■ Symphonie
fantastique 162–163 ■ The Nutcracker 190–191







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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 179


I LIVE IN MUSIC


LIKE A FISH



IN WATER



PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN G MINOR (1868),
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS






he French composer replaced the usual fast-slow-fast
IN CONTEXT Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano sequence of movements with a
T Concerto No. 2 premiered in slow-fast-faster progression, giving
FOCUS Paris in May 1868. It had taken him rise to the quip that it “begins with
19th-century solo 17 days of flat-out labor to finish it Bach and ends with Offenbach.”
concertos
in time for the concert, which his Lack of rehearsal time resulted
BEFORE friend, the Russian musician Anton in a disappointing premiere, but the
1830 Chopin’s Piano Concerto Rubinstein, conducted. Saint-Saëns concerto won admirers and remains
No. 1 in E minor is premiered played the solo part. a staple of the concert repertoire.
in Warsaw, Poland. Saint-Saëns wrote another three
Exploring the form concertos for the piano, three for
1836 Clara Schumann writes Solo concertos had evolved over the the violin, and two for the cello. ■
her Piano Concerto in A minor, course of the 19th century. Dazzling
nine years before her husband, displays by virtuoso performer-
Robert Schumann, writes his composers, notably violinist
Piano Concerto in A minor. Paganini and pianists Chopin and
Liszt, dominated the years after
1849 Liszt completes the final 1810, with the orchestra providing
version of his Piano Concerto little more than a backdrop. Later He who does not get
No. 1 in E-flat major. figures, such as Robert Schumann, absolute pleasure from
a simple series of well-
AFTER called for a better balance. constructed chords, beautiful
1868 Grieg composes one Most major composers of the only in their arrangement,
of the most popular piano time, including Mendelssohn, is not really fond of music.
Brahms, Grieg, and Dvorˇák, wrote
concertos ever written, his concertos and experimented Camille Saint-Saëns
Piano Concerto in A minor.
widely with the form. In his Piano
1881 Johannes Brahms Concerto No. 2, Saint-Saëns ignored
completes his Piano Concerto convention by opening not with
No. 2 in B-flat major. the orchestra but with a solo piano
prelude in the style of Bach, and he

See also: Pièces de clavecin 82–83 ■ Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K.9,
“Pastorale” 90–91 ■ Clementi’s Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor 132–133







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WEEP,
OPERA MUST MAKE PEOPLE

























FEEL HORRIFIED, DIE







THE RING CYCLE (1848–1874),


RICHARD WAGNER
































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182 COMPLETE ART WORK



IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Complete art work
BEFORE
1821 Weber’s Der Freischütz,
considered to be the first
German Romantic opera,
premieres in Berlin.
1824 Beethoven completes
his Ninth Symphony. In a form
that was traditionally wordless,
Beethoven’s use of words in
the symphony’s finale greatly
influenced Wagner.
1849 After being forced into
exile, Wagner begins a series
of essays setting out a plan for
reforming opera. The first step
later becomes The Ring.
wo things changed beyond The valkyrie Brünnhilde meets the
1862 Wagner conducts recognition in Wagner’s lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde to warn
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony T lifetime: German opera and Siegmund of his imminent death. This
in Bayreuth to celebrate the Germany itself. The country that he scene from Wagner’s Die Walküre was
laying of the corner stone of grew up in was little more than a painted by Gaston Bussière (1893).
the Festspielhaus. group of loosely linked principalities

AFTER and kingdoms, while German opera for even a fraction of the quasi-
1883 Wagner’s widow Cosima before Wagner was fighting a losing religious devotion that Wagner’s
takes over the running of the battle against imports from France vast musical dramas inspired.
Bayreuth Festival, exercising and Italy—apart from a few notable
iron control until her death exceptions. Beethoven’s Fidelio, The road to Revolution
Mozart’s Don Giovanni (performed
More than any other composer
in 1930.
in German in the German-speaking before him, Wagner’s own life
1933 Hitler comes to power lands), and the Romantic operas of and art were intertwined with the
in Germany and, as an ardent Carl Maria von Weber represented developments—political, historical,
Wagnerian, involves himself the only resistance against the and philosophical—of the world
intimately with the running prevailing taste for foreign operatic around him. From an early age,
of the festival. imports, often poorly performed in he was fascinated with how to
the various court theatres that were combine drama and music, and
1976 Bayreuth’s centenary dotted around Germany. increasingly, with how a new sort
staging of The Ring, later By the time of Wagner’s death in of opera could help revitalize the art
widely televised, presents 1883, Germany was a nation-state. form in Germany, as well as inspire
the work as a critique of German opera—or, more correctly, and unite the country itself. He was
19th-century industrialization. Wagnerian opera—had conquered unusual among opera composers
France, Italy, and beyond. Other in that he always wrote his own
composers rushed to emulate his librettos (the words that were set to
harmonic adventurousness and his music) and did so even in his early
richly symphonic style and longed operas. His first opera, Die Feen





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 183

See also: The Magic Flute 134–137 ■ The Barber of Seville 148 ■ Der Freischütz 149 ■ La traviata 174–175 ■ Tosca 194–197 ■
The Wreckers 232–239 ■ Peter Grimes 288–293


(“The fairies,” 1834) delved deep Wagner founded at Bayreuth. They
into Romanticism, while his second, show the composer increasingly
Das Liebesverbot (“The ban on love,” breaking down the traditional
1836), loosely based on Shakespeare’s structures of opera—blurring the
Measure for Measure, was closer to lines between individual arias,
Italian comic opera. duets, and choruses, and focusing With one bound I became
A largely unsuccessful period in on the psychological development a revolutionist, and acquired
Paris in the late 1830s exposed the of characters of unprecedented the conviction that every
young composer to the bel canto of complexity. The operas addressed decently active being ought
Vincenzo Bellini (whom he much subjects that would concern him to occupy himself with
admired) as well as to grand opéra, for the rest of his creative life: politics exclusively.
a local genre whose extravagant redemption, the nature of desire, Richard Wagner
scenic features would broaden his and, in Tannhäuser, how religion
theatrical horizons. The German- can and should temper this desire.
born composer Giacomo Meyerbeer
was among the most successful Theory and practice
exponents of this type of operatic Wagner’s involvement in the
spectacle. Wagner’s next work, uprising in Dresden in 1849—part
Rienzi (1840), was modeled closely of a series of republican revolts came up with the idea of the
on Meyerbeer’s style and proved to that swept through Germany Gesamtkunstwerk (literally
be his first breakthrough, leading and other parts of Europe—led “complete art work”), which would
to Wagner’s appointment as to a warrant being issued for his combine all the elements of stage
Kapellmeister (director of music) arrest, forcing him into exile in performance in one. His new works
at the Dresden Court Theatre. Switzerland. During the first five would amalgamate the genius of
Wagner’s subsequent works in years in exile, he did not compose a Beethoven and Shakespeare and
the 1840s, Der fliegende Holländer single note of music, concentrating be modeled on ancient Greek
(The Flying Dutchman), Tannhäuser, instead on setting out the drama, which, as far as Wagner
and Lohengrin, are the earliest foundations for his operatic reforms understood it, not only combined
operas included in the canon of in a series of long essays. It was all the arts but did so in a way
works performed at the festival that during this period that Wagner that was essential for uniting a ❯❯

Richard Wagner Wagner was born in Leipzig most ambitiously in The Ring. In
in 1813 and was drawn to the the 1860s, his fortunes improved
theatre at an early age, also thanks to the financial aid of
developing an obsession with King Ludwig II of Bavaria, which
music—particularly Beethoven. gave him new artistic freedom.
His early years were dominated Wagner died in Venice in 1883,
by instability, exacerbated by his the year after Parsifal premiered
irresponsible attitude toward in Bayreuth.
money. His operas began to see
success in the 1840s, and a job as Other key works
Kapellmeister in Dresden followed,
but both were jeopardized by his 1841 The Flying Dutchman
political activism. 1848 Lohengrin
Forced into exile in Switzerland 1859 Tristan und Isolde
in the 1850s, he set about a 1867 Die Meistersinger
wholesale reform of opera: first in von Nürnberg
theoretical essays, then in practice, 1882 Parsifal







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184 COMPLETE ART WORK


population. Wagner sought to originally called Siegfrieds Tod
create an artistic experience with (“Siegfried’s death”), led to him
religious, social, and ethical aspects. expanding it backward, adding
Such an artwork would gain more and more prehistory in each
yet further resonance with its additional work.
audience, he argued, by being This process also necessitated I shall never write an
based on subjects rooted deep in the development of “leitmotif”—a Opera more. As I have no
their unconscious, ideally myth. technique latent in his works of the wish to invent an arbitrary
In his new “music dramas,” as his 1840s but raised in The Ring to a title for my works, I will
works became known, he would be level of extraordinary complexity call them Dramas.
able to harness the power of music and sophistication. This method Richard Wagner
to explore the inner workings of allowed Wagner to weave together
his characters. Unlike with the continuous acts over large spans
predominant forms of opera, in but also meant that the orchestra
which musical concerns and, in the could begin to offer “commentary”
worst cases, the vanity of singers, on the action, much as the chorus
were primary considerations, here had done in ancient Greek drama.
it would be the drama that would Wagner finally completed his with conversation-like directness
define the form of the music. text for the cycle by 1852, and he (using punchy alliterative verse
began composing the music shortly called Stabreim), while the
Composing the world afterward, without any realistic orchestra provides commentary.
The work that came closest to this prospect of the works ever being For the “first day” of the cycle,
aim was a cycle of operas, Der Ring performed. Das Rheingold, which Die Walküre (“The Valkyrie,” 1856),
des Nibelungen (“The ring of the Wagner called a “preliminary Wagner created music of far greater
Nibelung”), based on a mixture of evening” to the main drama, came sensuality and warmth, in part
Norse and Germanic mythology. first and was the nearest Wagner because this installment added
It was not initially conceived as a came to realizing the theoretical humans into the tale, specifically
tetralogy (a cycle of four works), but ideal laid out in his essays. the long-lost twins Siegmund and
Wagner’s inability to progress with The opera’s cast of Norse gods, Sieglinde, who fall in love during
the subject as a single opera, dwarves, and giants communicate the course of the first act. (The


Timeline for the production of The Ring
The Ring was made up of four operas, Key
which Wagner worked on in two distinct Text written Tristan und Isolde First performance
phases during his lifetime, beginning
and ending with Götterdämmerung. Music composed Die Meistersinger


Das Rheingold
Munich
Die Walküre
Bayreuth

Siegfried


Götterdämmerung


1845 1850 1855 1860 1865 1870 1875 1880 1885





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 185

Tristan and its chord

Inspired by his discovery
of Arthur Schopenhauer's
philosophies and a romantic
obsession with Mathilde von
Wesendonck—the wife of his
Swiss patron—Wagner began
composing Tristan und Isolde
in 1857, finishing it less than
two years later. The work,
which explores the adulterous
romance and subsequent
death of the legendary lovers,
arguably laid the foundations
for the breakdown of tonality.
In it, Wagner creates a
disorientating, intoxicating
world built on harmonic
tension that—reflecting
the drama’s obsession with the
impossibility of perfect love—
remains unresolved until the
very end. Emblematic of this
work is the so-called “Tristan
chord”—the first chord in the
Prelude—whose apparently
unrelated notes of F, B, D-sharp,
and G-sharp form the basis
for the work’s harmonic
instability. The Tristan chord,
as used by Wagner, was
hugely influential on composers
seeking to push—and break—
the boundaries of harmony.







Wagner’s style was not popular with creative output. Not only did
everyone, as seen in this American Schopenhauer present a philosophy
cartoon (1877), which criticized the of pessimism incompatible with
dense noise of Götterdämmerung, the revolutionary zeal that inspired
the last opera of the Ring Cycle.
The Ring, but he viewed music as
the most profoundly expressive of
promotion of incest was just one of any of the arts—turning Wagner’s
many sins the composer would be drama-first conviction on its head.
accused of during his career.) By Tristan und Isolde (1859) first
1856, however, Wagner had also Breaking the cycle premiered in Munich in 1865,
discovered the philosopher Arthur In practical terms, Wagner’s starring Ludwig Schnorr von
Carolsfeld and his wife Malwina
Schopenhauer, who would prove discovery of Schopenhauer brought Garrigues as the doomed lovers.
to be a powerful influence on his about a break in his composition ❯❯





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186 COMPLETE ART WORK


of The Ring: he stopped composing
Siegfried (the “second day” of the
cycle) after completing a draft score
of the second act in 1857. He did
not return to it for seven years.
During the interim, Wagner
completed two very different works,
both of which were deeply inspired
by Schopenhauer’s philosophy—
specifically, its idea that relative
fulfillment could be achieved only
through renunciation. The first of
these new works was Tristan und
Isolde (completed in 1859, though
not performed in its entirety until
1865), an overtly philosophical and
sensuous work in which Wagner
pushed traditional harmony to cycle, bringing an even greater The English National Opera
its limits. The second work, Die harmonic richness to the third act performs “The Ride of the Valkyries”
Meistersinger von Nürnberg (“The of Siegfried and to the fourth opera, at Glastonbury Festival in 2004. The
master-singers of Nuremberg,” 1867), Götterdämmerung (“The twilight well-known piece comes at the start
of Act Three of Die Walküre.
was a comedy of unprecedented of the Gods”)—in which the Ring
dimensions—the final act alone is is finally returned to the Rhine
more than two hours long when Maidens, and Valhalla, home of the The theatre that Wagner built in
staged—that dealt with profound gods, collapses. Wagner completed the Franconian town of Bayreuth
issues, such as the place of art his final installment in November to stage The Ring in 1876 is in
within society, art’s relationship 1874, 25 years after first starting many ways as revolutionary as
with national identity, and the work on the project. the works it was built to stage.
balance to be struck between rule- It has a broad auditorium, with
based tradition and innovation. Festival theatre long rows of seats laid out to
When Wagner finally returned Upon completion of The Ring, resemble an ancient amphitheatre.
to his composition of The Ring, he Wagner decided that no existing The orchestra and conductor are
immediately applied the musical theatre would do to stage it and not visible to the audience, as
and philosophical lessons learned set about raising funds for a new their pit is sunk beneath the stage.
from his interim projects to the Festspielhaus (festival theatre). In an unprecedented step for the


Leitmotif musical fabric—specifically in
the orchestra—of the work was
The leitmotif (or “leading motif”) built from melodic fragments
technique is related to Berlioz’s that become associated with
idée fixe, a fixed idea or theme different characters, ideas,
I laid my plans on so important in a work, which he used in his or states of mind. From the
a scale, that it would be Symphonie fantastique. It is very first performances of The
impossible to produce this also related to other earlier Ring, attempts were made to
opera … at any lesser theatre. forms of “reminiscence motif,” a “decode” these leitmotifs and
Richard Wagner recurring set of notes signifying to interpret the orchestral
a character or their memories. writing as a commentary on
Motifs were utilized to a greater the drama. The technique
extent, and with unprecedented went on to be widely adopted—
sophistication, in Wagner’s The including, in the 20th century,
Ring, however, where the whole by film composers.






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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 187


time, the lights in the auditorium wife, Cosima, famously complained conventional symphonies and
would be extinguished during the that the costumes, painstakingly those who were fully under the
performance, and comings and researched, made everyone look Wagnerian spell.
goings were forbidden. like Native American chiefs. The Leitmotif became a standard
dragon Wagner had ordered from technique for a generation of
Operatic pilgrimage Manchester, UK, for Siegfried, never younger composers, many of whom
From the very first festival in 1876, arrived in full—the neck section, attempted, after Wagner’s death,
the great and the good flocked the story goes, ended up not in to create earnest facsimiles of his
to Bayreuth, and with Wagner’s Bayreuth but Beirut. operatic works. Italy, traditionally
final opera, Parsifal (1882), the the home of opera, had a crisis
unmistakable allure of the festival A new beginning of musical identity, torn between
only grew. Things were not The legacy of The Ring, Wagner’s embracing Wagner’s innovations
straightforward, however, and the Bayreuth project, and the composer and preserving its own revered
unprecedented scenic demands himself cannot be overestimated. traditions. Thanks to Wagner,
of The Ring were only imperfectly Wagnérisme was fashionable in opera—which he once criticized
met at its first production. One of Paris at the end of the 19th century for being too susceptible to
Wagner’s most vocal critics, Eduard as artists were inspired by the frivolousness—was now an art
Hanslick, said that the rainbow heady mix of religion and sex in form that dealt with the grandest
bridge that leads to Valhalla at the Parsifal. Meanwhile, in Vienna, philosophical questions and
end of Das Rheingold resembled a debate raged between those who demanded a new revolutionary
“seven-colored sausage”; Wagner’s supported Brahms and his more sort of music to do so. ■


Bayreuth Festspielhaus
The opera house Wagner had
built in Bayreuth was designed
by Gottfried Semper, with
continental seating (no central
aisle) that allowed all patrons Dressing rooms beside
an equal view of the stage. the stage for the opera's
principal singers.



Wings providing
access to the stage
from the dressing rooms.
Deep stage to allow
action in the foreground,
middle ground, and
background.

Sunken orchestra pit
to give the illusion that
the sound is coming
from the stage.
Wooden interior to
provide greater resonance.
No boxes or galleries,
in line with Wagner’s
democratic principles.

Fantailed seating
instead of traditional
Darkened auditorium to horseshoe shape to focus
create a “mystic chasm.” attention on the stage.





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188


HE … COMES AS


IF SENT STRAIGHT



FROM GOD



SYMPHONY NO. 1 (1876),
JOHANNES BRAHMS






n the first decades of the Franz Liszt. Brahms believed in
IN CONTEXT 19th century, Beethoven took producing “pure” music, which was
I the symphony to new heights, abstract, rather than associated
FOCUS making it the most important with a plot line.
Fall and rise of genre in the Austro-German In 1853, Brahms met Robert
the symphony
tradition. In the wake of his death, Schumann and his pianist wife,
BEFORE a handful of composers stepped Clara. Schumann, who was the
1824 Beethoven completes in to assume Beethoven’s mantle. composer of four symphonies,
his Symphony No. 9. Among them was German hailed Brahms as the great hope
composer Johannes Brahms, who
1853 Robert Schumann hails deplored program music—music
Brahms as the hope of German that sought to follow or describe Brahms and Adele Strauss, wife
music in an influential essay, a narrative line—and openly of Johann Strauss II, sit down to
breakfast in his villa in the summer
Neue Bahnen (“New Paths”). criticized the New German School of 1894. Brahms often visited their
represented by Richard Wagner and villa in Bad Ischl, Austria.
1858 Brahms completes his
First Piano Concerto, which
at one point was conceived
as a symphony, and his
First Serenade.
AFTER
1877 In a review, the
conductor Hans von Bülow
hails Brahms’s First Symphony
as “Beethoven’s 10th.”

1889 Mahler conducts the
premiere of his Symphony
No. 1 in Budapest, the first of
his nine completed symphonies.











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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 189

See also: Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 128–131 ■ “Eroica” Symphony 138–141 ■ Symphonie fantastique 162–163 ■
Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 166–169 ■ Faust Symphony 176–177 ■ Dvorˇák’s Symphony No. 9 212–215



Johannes Brahms The son of a struggling musician, particularly close to his widow,
Brahms was born in Hamburg, Clara, and would be a friend of
northern Germany, in 1833. He hers for life.
received his first music lessons In later life, Brahms focused
from his father, and as a teenager on instrumental music, but in
he helped support his family 1896, the year before his death,
by playing piano in the inns of he wrote Vier ernste Gesänge
Hamburg, before finding work (“Four Serious Songs”), reflecting
as a choral conductor. on the transience of life.
In 1863, Brahms settled in
Vienna, marking the start of a Other key works
highly successful period in which
he composed A German Requiem, 1853 Piano Sonata No. 3 in
the First Symphony, and his F minor, Op. 5
Hungarian Dances. In the years 1868 A German Requiem
following Robert Schumann’s 1869 Hungarian Dances (for
death in 1856, Brahms became piano duet)

of German music, describing the A German Requiem (1868), Brahms Brahms’s First Symphony, like
20-year-old composer as a “man of set Lutheran texts in a manner that Beethoven’s Ninth, moves from
destiny,” placing on Brahms the looked back to the earliest German darkness to light, with a stormy
weight of public expectation. choral music, while his so-called opening from bass and timpani
Haydn Variations (1873) explored an that subsides into a dreamy
First Symphony array of compositional devices old Andante before bringing in
Brahms started sketching his First and new in an orchestral context. urgent pizzicato strings. The third
Symphony soon after Schumann’s This synthesis of tradition movement, the Allegretto, captures
endorsement but did not complete and innovation distinguished the a joyful atmosphere while at the
it until the mid-1870s—more than First Symphony, whose themes same time showcasing Brahms’s
20 years later. In the interim, fused folk song and chorale, as close attention to symmetry.
Brahms tried his hand at other well as allusions to Bach and to
symphonies, but none reached Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Further works
fruition. Meanwhile, he composed Following the success of his First
many orchestral and chamber Symphony, Brahms composed
works, including sonatas for violin, three more, choosing to conclude
cello, and piano. He destroyed the his Fourth Symphony (1885) with a
works he was unhappy with, but thrilling passacaglia—a Baroque
parts of his attempts at symphonic form that develops its material over
writing were recast in other pieces, [Brahms is] someone a constantly repeating bass line.
such as the opening of his First destined to give ideal Brahms’s symphonies may seem
Piano Concerto. presentment to the conservative in comparison to
The intensely self-critical highest expression those who succeeded him—such
composer published his first string of the times. as Gustav Mahler, whose First
quartets—another Beethovenian Robert Schumann Symphony heralded a new direction
genre par excellence—only in when it burst onto the scene in
1873, and they, as well as two other 1889—but Brahms’s development
important works rooted in different of earlier forms and processes
traditions, arguably paved the way would prove influential for a whole
for the symphonic breakthrough. In generation of modernists. ■





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190


THE NOTES DANCE UP


THERE ON THE STAGE




THE NUTCRACKER (1892)
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY










he 19th century brought a for dancers to explore “floating
IN CONTEXT revolution in the world of motion” and pointe work (dancing
T ballet. Earlier ballet music on tiptoe), with ever-shorter dresses
FOCUS had been largely made up of well- to allow the dancers’ feet and legs
Ballet music
known opera songs linked by to be seen. The music for these
BEFORE melodies written by a theatre earlier ballets was very much
1832 La Sylphide, the first musician. Few original scores for at the service of the dance, and
Romantic ballet, opens ballet were composed before 1820. usually written by “specialists”—
in Paris, choreographed by At this time, light Romantic composers prepared to produce
Filippo Taglioni to music ballets began to appear, dominated light, rhythmic music that would
composed by Jean-Madeleine in Europe by dancers such as Marie not upstage the dance.
Schneitzhoeffer. Taglioni, whose father Filippo
choreographed La Sylphide to Ballet moves east
1870 Léo Delibes’s ballet showcase her skills. Its central From about 1850, ballet’s center
Coppélia, about a dancing doll themes of enchantment and an began to shift from Paris to Russia,
that comes to life, is staged at ethereal female lead were a vehicle where tsarist patronage facilitated
the Paris Opéra. lavish productions. Tchaikovsky
received the commission for his
1876 Delibes’s ballet Sylvia first ballet, Swan Lake, in 1875.
opens in Paris. Tchaikovsky Approaching the commission
praises his score for Sylvia with symphonic ambition, he
above Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The heart of the created melodies associated with
AFTER classical repertory is the characters in the story. The critics,
however, were not ready for a ballet
1911 Stravinsky’s ballet Tchaikovsky–Petipa score worthy of the concert hall,
Petrushka premieres in Paris. Sleeping Beauty, and and in spite of a warm audience
no ballet is harder
1920 The Paris Opéra stages to get right. reception, critical incomprehension
the premiere of Stravinsky’s Robert Gottlieb saw the work shelved.
Pulcinella, with choreography American writer and dance critic While the choreographer on
by Leonid Massine. The Swan Lake, Julius Reisinger, had
libretto is inspired by a allowed Tchaikovsky quite a lot of
folk tale. freedom, the choreographer Marius
Petipa was more specific about
what he required of the music when





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 191

See also: Le bourgeois gentilhomme 70–71 ■ The Magic Flute 134–137 ■
Le Sacre du printemps 246–251 ■ Romeo and Juliet 272 ■ Appalachian
Spring 286–287

he collaborated with Tchaikovsky defeat a vicious Mouse King, the
on Sleeping Beauty (1890). The work Nutcracker turns into a prince, who
was well received by the critics, takes her to the Land of Sweets,
and the two men joined forces again ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy.
for The Nutcracker two years later, The charm of Tchaikovsky’s
although illness compelled Petipa score is in large part due to his
to delegate much of the work to his creative use of the orchestra,
assistant Lev Ivanov. from the sinuous woodwind of the
Arabian Dance and the trilling
Fairytale ending flutes’ and piccolos’ contrast with
Composition of The Nutcracker the low bassoons in the Chinese Pyotr Ilyich
had a difficult start. Tchaikovsky felt Dance, to the novelty of the celesta, Tchaikovsky
constrained by the unimaginative a newly invented keyboard
libretto Petipa had created from instrument with bars like a Born in Votkinsk, Russia, in
Alexandre Dumas’s adaptation of glockenspiel, to introduce the Sugar 1840, Tchaikovsky received
German author E.T.A. Hoffman’s Plum Fairy. While the music gave piano lessons from an early
darker tale. The composer finally Petipa and his dancers the lead age. He enrolled at the newly
found inspiration in the death of his they required, Tchaikovsky’s unique opened St. Petersburg
sister, his childhood playmate. He sonority raises the music far above Conservatory in 1861 and
poured his memories of her into the the old music of the “specialists.” ■ wrote his First Symphony in
music, particularly into the central 1866. His Romeo and Juliet
character, the young girl Clara, overture (1869) was his first
who creeps down on Christmas Columbine and Harlequin evoke international success.
The Nutcracker’s fantasy world in
Eve to play with her favorite gift, a costumes designed by Denmark’s Despite recognizing
nutcracker figure, which magically Queen Margrethe II for a production his own homosexuality,
comes to life. After she helps it to in Copenhagen in 2016. Tchaikovsky entered a
doomed marriage in 1877.
A year earlier, the wealthy
widow and arts lover
Nadezhda von Meck had
become his patroness,
enabling him to devote his
time to composing. Von Meck
declared herself bankrupt
in 1890, causing a rift with
Tchaikovsky. The fatalism
that often tinged his music is
clearly present in last works,
such as his Sixth Symphony
(“Pathétique,” 1893). He died
nine days after its premiere.

Other key works

1876 Swan Lake
1878 Eugene Onegin
1889 Sleeping Beauty
1893 Symphony No. 6
(“Pathétique”)







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192


A SYMPHONY MUST BE


LIKE THE WORLD. IT MUST

CONTAIN EVERYTHING


ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA (1896)
RICHARD STRAUSS









he period after Richard traditional symphonic form. Gustav
IN CONTEXT Wagner’s death in 1883 Mahler expanded the form even
T was a time of uncertainty further, employing an orchestra of
FOCUS for German music. Some composers unprecedented size in symphonies
From Romanticism sought to emulate Wagner in their that incorporated programmatic
to modernism
own operas; others avoided opera elements and vocal parts.
BEFORE altogether and applied Wagner’s
1849 Franz Liszt completes innovations to music composed for New forms
his first tone poem, Ce qu’on the concert hall. Anton Bruckner, Richard Strauss, Mahler’s great
entend sur la montagne for example, brought Wagnerian contemporary, took a different
(“What one hears on the grandeur, dimensions, and route with the tone poem—a
mountain”), after the poem harmonic adventurousness to the musical form that seeks to capture
by Victor Hugo. the story or atmosphere of a
nonmusical work, such as a
1865 Richard Strauss’s father, poem or painting. The genre
Franz, plays the horn in the was pioneered by Franz Liszt
premiere of Wagner’s Tristan and formed the basis for Strauss’s
und Isolde in Munich. early reputation as a firebrand.
Strauss’s breakthrough was the
AFTER daringly erotic Don Juan (1888), and
1903 Gustav Mahler conducts in the next decade he produced a
the first full performance of his series of works that combined his
100-minute Third Symphony, virtuosity as an orchestrator with
which he completed in 1896. formal innovation—eschewing,
for example, the need for a piece
1917 The premiere is held of to end in the key it begins in.
Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Controversial at the time, Strauss’s
A Florentine Tragedy, an opera works were not written to be
based, like Strauss’s Salome,
on a work by Oscar Wilde.
The prophet Zarathustra’s
(or Zoroaster’s) writings about Ahura
Mazda (god) form the basis of the
Zoroastrian faith. This portrait of him
hangs at a fire temple in Yazd, Iran.





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 193

See also: The Four Seasons 92–97 ■ Faust Symphony 176–177 ■ The Ring
Cycle 180–187 ■ Symphonie fantastique 162–163 ■ Das Lied von der Erde 198–201


the way for his brand of amoral
modernism, epitomized in his
scandalous breakthrough opera
Salome (1905)—based on a play by
Oscar Wilde that featured incest,
I would only believe necrophilia, and blasphemy.
in a God that knows
how to dance. Age of uncertainty
Friedrich Nietzsche Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra
Also sprach Zarathustra (1883–1891) depicts a conflict between nature,
which is represented by the Richard Georg Strauss
trumpet’s simple opening C-G-C
motif, and humanity, whose The son of a famous horn
complex passions and intellectual player, Richard Strauss was
struggles are conveyed by more born in Munich in 1864.
harmonically adventurous writing. After early success with
edifying or morally empowering, as The tone poem includes nine his tone poems and songs
demanded by 19th-century musical sections, named from Nietzsche’s (many composed for his wife),
aesthetics. This aligned him with book, with music that includes a he finally found the operatic
other “modernist” composers, mocking fugue and a light-hearted success he longed for with
whose defining feature was their waltz. Man and nature remain Salome (1905), followed by
emphasis on innovation and unreconciled at the work’s daring Elektra (1909). The latter
progress—redefining composition conclusion, which vacillates marked the start of a 20-year
by challenging formal conventions. uncertainly between the keys collaboration with the writer
and librettist Hugo von
of C major and B major. ■ Hofmannsthal—one of the
Role of the artist greatest partnerships in
Also sprach Zarathustra (“Thus operatic history.
spake Zarathustra,” 1896) was Strauss’s prestige suffered
arguably Strauss’s boldest tone in the 1920s and especially in
poem. The 35-minute work took the 1930s, as his relations
its title from the book by Friedrich with the Nazi Party tarnished
Nietzsche, in which the philosopher his reputation in the English-
used the character of the ancient speaking world. In the 1940s,
Persian prophet to present his however, the elderly Strauss,
philosophy. In Strauss’s own words, heartbroken by the national
he set out “to convey in music an catastrophe, produced a series
idea of the evolution of the human of late works, including the
race from its origin, through the Four Last Songs, composed
just months before his death
various phases of development … in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
up to Nietzsche’s idea of the Germany, in 1949.
Übermensch” through his tone
poem. This idea of the Übermensch
(superman), a figure unburdened by Other key works
conventional morality or religion, 1888 Don Juan
resonated well with Strauss’s own Also sprach Zarathustra was 1905 Salome
completed in 1896. This frontispiece
vision of the role of the independent from that year, printed in Munich by 1911 Der Rosenkavalier
artist at the dawn of the 20th Joseph Aibl, prefaced the original 1949 Four Last Songs
century. It also helped to pave orchestral score.





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194 IN CONTEXT

EMOTIONAL FOCUS


Verismo

BEFORE
ART IS A KIND 1890 Winner of a competition
for a new one-act opera,
Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria
rusticana launches the
“verismo” (realism) music
OF ILLNESS movement in Rome.

1892 Modeled on Cavalleria,
Ruggero Leoncavallo’s opera

consolidating verismo style.
TOSCA (1900), GIACOMO PUCCINI Pagliacci is a hit in Milan,
AFTER
1904 Puccini suffers a setback
when Madama Butterfly is
booed at its premiere in Milan,
although it bounces back three
months later in Brescia.

1926 Two years after Puccini’s
death, his Turandot, completed
by his younger colleague
Franco Alfano, is premiered
at La Scala in Milan.




ith the first performance
of Cavalleria rusticana
W in 1890, a new kind
of opera was born. Rather than
being based on romanticized
historical or legendary subjects,
it strove for realism (or verismo, in
Italian), embracing down-to-earth,
sometimes sordid events, lived by
believably ordinary people in often
contemporary settings.
At this time, Puccini, a former
flatmate of Cavalleria’s composer
Pietro Mascagni, was six years into
an opera career. This had begun in
1884 with Le villi, a picturesque
leggenda drammatica (dramatic
legend) based on the same story of
dead spirits as the romantic ballet





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 195

See also: Orfeo ed Euridice 118–119 ■ The Barber of Seville 148 ■
Der Freischütz 149 ■ La traviata 174 ■ The Wreckers 232–239 ■
Peter Grimes 288–293

Giselle (1841). It was followed five Although Manon Lescaut was not
years later by Edgar (1889), an opera truly a “realist” work, it contained
set in a 14th-century world of two scenes in particular that sat
medieval knights. Although not squarely in the new style. In Act III,
the strictest follower of verismo, the poignant spectacle of the
Puccini, once the new style became embarkation of the prostitutes
established, took its passionate, condemned to transportation and,
heartrending, and cruel elements in Act IV, the heroine’s lengthy
and clothed them in daring music death scene in an American desert
that reached a breathtaking climax both provided a focus for some of
in the tragic opera Tosca. the most emotionally powerful Giacomo Puccini
writing in the score, delivered in
Embracing the realistic a style that epitomized the essence Born into a family of church
Puccini’s first response to verismo of musical verismo. musicians in Lucca in 1858,
was the opera Manon Lescaut Puccini’s next opera, La Bohème Puccini claimed to have
(1893), based on an 18th-century (1896), set among down-at-the-heels decided on an operatic career
French novel by the Abbé Prévost. artists and their girlfriends in after watching a performance
This had already been turned into Paris around 1830, was closer to of Verdi’s Aida in Pisa in 1876.
several operas, notably Manon the true subject matter of verismo. After studying at the Milan
(1884) by the opera specialist, Jules It also crystallized the intense Conservatory, he entered his
Massenet. He was one of a number sentiment, characterization, and one-act opera-ballet Le Villi in
of French composers whose operas craftsmanship of the musical a competition. Although it was
had been gaining ground in Italian language of verismo that was ❯❯ rejected for being illegible, it
theatres. These included Faust (1859) was staged by the publisher
Giulio Ricordi.
by Charles Gounod and Carmen Puccini’s breakthrough
(1875), the final masterpiece of Carmen talks to the smuggler came in 1893 with Manon
Le Dancaïre in a scene from Carmen
Georges Bizet, which shocked by Georges Bizet. The opera, with Lescaut, which put him at the
critics of the time with its earthy its themes of passion, jealousy, and forefront of Italian composers.
realism and amoral heroine. violence, was an influence on verismo. Thereafter, he produced his
three greatest successes—La
Bohème, Tosca, and Madama
Butterfly. His productivity
slowed in later years, but the
operas La fanciulla del West
(1910), La rondine (1917), Il
trittico (1918), and the
posthumously produced
Turandot displayed increasing
refinement. He died of a heart
attack in Brussels in 1924
following an operation for
throat cancer.

Other key works

1896 La Bohème
1904 Madama Butterfly
1918 Il trittico







US_194-197_Giacomo_puccini.indd 195 26/03/18 1:01 PM

196 VERISMO
































widely apparent in Puccini’s work. works of fellow composers, such as News of Napoleon’s victory at
This he handled with a greater Debussy, Strauss, Stravinsky, and Marengo, pictured here by the
degree of flexibility and far more even Schoenberg, but also made French artist Louis-François Lejeune
technical variety and finesse than modernist musical initiatives of his (1775–1848), reaches Rome in Act II
of Tosca, three days after the battle.
most of his contemporaries. There own, many of which came to the
was also in Puccini’s scores a fore in Tosca.
persistent interest in new musical by this time), seems to prefigure
developments from beyond Italy’s Using music for menace innumerable individuals who,
(or even opera’s) borders, which Puccini premiered Tosca, his fifth over the next century, served
added heightened expressive color opera, in Rome in 1900, a time of cruel, dictatorial regimes,
and richness to his music. He made great uncertainty and instability in including Fascist Italy.
use of the harmonies, rhythms, and Italian politics. Though clothed in Scarpia is introduced in the
orchestral effects displayed in the the theatrical dress of a period 100 concise motif of two chords on
years prior to its opening, the opera lower woodwind, brass, and
dealt with issues and characters strings, followed by an unrelated
that seemed contemporary to its and clashing third chord by the
first audience but would become higher strings and woodwind, and
even more starkly relevant as the a lurid gleam from the cymbals.
20th century progressed. In Every note in this chord sequence
particular, the figure of Scarpia, is accented and marked “fff”
the sadistic police chief, who is a (“extremely loud”). Long before
presence in the opera musically we see him, here stands Scarpia
from its opening bars right through in all his power and brutality.
to the final act (although dead Musically, this tiny (yet
sonically huge) motif also throws
our expectations of standard
At the premiere of Tosca, the lead harmonic progression out of kilter
role was played by the Romanian-born
39-year-old soprano Hariclea Darclée, by landing not only in a key
seen here in Act II holding the knife (E major) unrelated to the first
she will use to kill Scarpia. chord (B-flat) but in a diminished





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ROMANTIC 1810–1920 197


fifth (a semitone less than a fifth) which, at first, is loud, violent, and of lyrical reflection, not simply as
below it, resulting in a tritone (an consistently moving off the beat. opportunities for aria or duet but
interval of three tones). Medieval gradually diminishes into a to voice the hopes, desires, and
musical theorists regarded this downward slither that ends up, memories that motivate them and
interval as highly disruptive and with a feeling of exhaustion, on drive the plot. The drama’s final
forbade its use, calling it diabolus another tritone. This image of impression is of individuals hurtled
in musica (“the devil in music”). disheveled flight and collapse along by events over which they
Puccini, who came from a long line serves as a second harbinger have little control, and certainly far
of distinguished church musicians, of what is to come in the opera. less than they believe they have.
would certainly have been familiar The opera’s action is based Its emotional and musical power
with the nickname. on the play La Tosca (1887) by the helped to redefine the English
In a clear break with harmonic Frenchman Victorien Sardou, tradition of choral music. ■
orthodoxies, Puccini not only which was criticized at the time for
uses the motif to characterize his its dizzying tempo of unrelenting
secular devil-figure in the opera but action and reaction. Puccini’s Verismo
also employs the theme throughout librettists despaired of making a
the opera as an emblem of Scarpia’s viable libretto from it, but the Puccini’s Verismo creates a
influence on events that take place composer was able to use daring musical naturalism that
when he is not present, or even harmonic instability not only to reflects real life.
alive. The impact of this is to place contain but also to hold together,
harmonic instability at the center and even magnify, the play’s helter-
of the musical action. skelter ride of swiftly changing
events as part of his overall
Real drama musical strategy. He places the emphasis on
Immediately after the Scarpia Tosca’s three central characters psychological reality, with
theme, the curtain rises on the all begin the drama with their lives emotionally charged arias.
church of Sant’Andrea della Valle, apparently secure, yet through an
and we see the fleeing figure of unpredictable and unstoppable
Cesare Angelotti, a political sequence of cause and effect, all
prisoner on the run. Beginning in three are dead by the curtain, in
another unrelated key (G minor), less than 24 hours. Yet Puccini He uses atmospheric music to
the harmonic movement here is still manages to give all three of suggest a sense of character
much faster. The chord sequence, his chief characters their moments and inner conflict.

Opera and the rise of the new reality

Verismo owed its philosophical often allied to a corresponding He uses familiar sounds,
basis to a literary movement focus on the social evils of such as church bells, to mimic
begun in France by the novelists poverty, crime, and violence. everyday reality.
Émile Zola (1840–1902) and In opera, the new style’s
Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). emotional extremities were
It was represented in Italy by realized in taxing vocal writing,
the Sicilian Giovanni Verga, which threw away the remnants
whose short story and play of the display and niceties of bel
Cavalleria rusticana inspired canto (“beautiful singing”) in
Mascagni’s opera of the same favor of hard-hitting directness. The ultimate effect is
name. The premise of verismo Musical continuity was to make the music
lay in a scrutiny of the lives of increased with the dissolution and drama more
“ordinary people”—usually of the old divisions between personal, immediate,
urban or rural workers—in a recitative (speechlike singing), and effective.
local and everyday setting and arias, and other set pieces.







US_194-197_Giacomo_puccini.indd 197 26/03/18 1:01 PM

198

IN CONTEXT
IF A COMPOSER COULD FOCUS

Exotic worlds in music
SAY WHAT HE HAD BEFORE

1863 Set in Ceylon, The Pearl
Fishers, by rising opera-
TO SAY IN WORDS, HE composer Georges Bizet, is a

success at its Paris premiere.
WOULD NOT BOTHER 1882 Wagner’s final opera,
Parsifal, blending elements
of Buddhist spirituality with
SAYING IT IN MUSIC Christian ideas and imagery,
is first performed at Bayreuth’s
DAS LIED VON DER ERDE (1908–1909), Festival Theatre.
AFTER
GUSTAV MAHLER 1926 Maurice Ravel composes
Chansons madécasses (Songs
from Madagascar), based on
three prose-poems written in
1787 by Évariste de Parny.

1957 Benjamin Britten
conducts the premiere of
his ballet The Prince of the
Pagodas in London. The score
is influenced by Indonesian
gamelan music, which Britten
heard in Bali in 1956.






hen Gustav Mahler
began work on the six
W settings of Chinese
poems that make up Das Lied von
der Erde (The Song of the Earth),
he was exploring what was for him
new territory. But exotic oriental
subject matter was already a
familiar theme in European art and
culture, reflecting the yearning of
the popular imagination for more
colorful and intriguing worlds.
This sense of longing had come
into sharper focus in the 15th and
16th centuries, when long-distance
sea voyages had led to the discovery





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