CHAPTER III.
HAYDN, P.E. BACH, DITTERSDORF, HANDEL.
J.S. Bach — Joseph Haydn — Philipp E. Bach — Dittersdorf — Early quartetts of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven — Silence as an effect in music — Haydn’s quartetts — Haydn’s Kaiser Quartett — Haydn’s other chamber music — Handel.
Haydn (1732-1809) has been called the “Father of the Symphony,” and by some the origin of the Quartett (meaning, of course, that for strings) has been ascribed to him.
How far this is accurate can only be determined by an examination of what was being done by others about the same time; but it may be safely said that, in the absolute sense, no enduring art form has been the creation of one man. There has always been a growth, although it is no doubt true that at a certain stage of the process some one with genius has, as it were, put the top stone on the edifice. Robert Schumann, writing on this topic, uses the following characteristic words:—“The world is large. Be modest! You have not yet discovered and contrived what others before you have not already imagined and found out;” the meaning of which doubtless is that of absolute originality there is very little at any time, and what stands in its place (and this will seem more or less according to our knowledge or ignorance of what has already been done) is really the fruition of many past influences, plus the genius of the man who assimilates and gives them fresh shape.
J.S. Bach
John Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was probably the most original genius the art of music has known, but it would be idle to deny that he was deeply indebted to his predecessors, Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, Klemme, and Pachelbel.
Take, for example, the history of what now goes under the name of Programme Music. What Liszt aimed at in his Symphonic Poems, and what Richard Strauss’s remarkable creations—“Don Juan,” “Till Eulenspiegel,” “Ein Heldenleben,” and the rest, attempt to express, was already in the minds of composers a very long while ago.
Mr. Corder, in his article on this subject in Grove’s Dictionary, states that W. Byrd (1560) wrote a battle-piece for Virginals, and John Mundy, another English composer of that period, published a so-called “Fantasia on the Weather,” professing to depict fair weather, lightning, thunder, etc. Krieger (1667) gives us a four-part vocal fugue entirely made up of an imitation of the mewing of cats! There is also the fairly well-known Cat’s Fugue by Domenico Scarlatti, suggested of course by his cat accidentally walking over the keys of his harpsichord. Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Beethoven are also among the great ones whose works occasionally tended in a like direction.
It is the same with any other distinctive feature in music, and therefore, while undoubtedly Haydn did very much for its expansion, the truth is that the form of the String Quartett was a gradual development, and not the creation of any single mind.
As to the vitality of the music of different composers, which is another matter, Boccherini, a contemporary of Haydn, wrote more quartetts than that master, and they were highly esteemed during his life-time; but, save the musical student, who knows or plays them to-day?
Joseph Haydn
Haydn is known to have studied, early in life, the works of Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-88), and there can be little doubt that he was thereby strongly influenced. Beethoven is said to have been quite familiar with the greater (John Sebastian) Bach’s compositions, even as a child, and an argument has been based on this that Haydn’s artistic position would to-day have been different had he, too, studied the greater and not the lesser Bach.
Philipp E. Bach
The following extracts from a String Quartett by this composer, P.E. Bach, which was found in the Library of the Thomas-Schule in Leipzig, will convey, perhaps better than any mere words, an idea of the style in which he wrote, and we will thereby see what it was that influenced Haydn.
The Finale Presto may specially be noted, presenting as it does features remarkably like many such movements in Haydn’s Quartetts.
From the 1st Movement of a String Quartett by Philipp Emanuel Bach.
The first movement of this work, which has also been called a Sinfonia, is connected with the second by modulation.
2nd Movement.
(The commencement.)
(The last 10 bars, leading to the Presto.)
The orchestral tendencies of this work and its symphonic feeling are, of course, quite evident; but Dr. Hugo Riemann, in his recently published edition, entitles it a String Quartett.
3rd Movement.
Dittersdorf
Dittersdorf (1739-99) is another chamber music composer of this period. His name is little known in England, but during his life-time he was regarded as a rival of Haydn, and although the verdict of time is against him, yet his compositions go far to justify the popular feeling in his favour. An opera of his, The Doctor and the Apothecary, still holds the stage in Germany, and his String Quartetts are yet occasionally heard. His twelve Orchestral Symphonies (most of them written to a programme), oratorios, and some twenty to thirty other operas are, however, now practically dead. The scores of six of his Quartetts, which are published in the Payne miniature edition, are worthy of attention, especially that in E♭, from which the following quotations are made. Special attention may be directed to the minuet, which is followed by a trio or alternativo of a very charming and dainty character. The lively finale too reminds one of Haydn, and the effect of silence, which is mentioned elsewhere, is introduced in several places in this movement. While, however, the music is spontaneous and sincere in feeling, the absence of strong ideas and of contrapuntal skill soon shows itself, and the effect tends to become insipid.
From a String Quartett by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf.
A noteworthy feature in the development portion of this movement is a sudden but effective modulation from E♭ to C major.
Minuetto.
Leading into the Alternativo.
Alternativo.
Some editions of this quartett have three bars of the note G for the ’cello, after the double bar, instead of two, as here printed.
Finale.
Early Quartetts of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven
Haydn wrote his first String Quartett about the year 1755. Mozart’s first appeared fifteen years later, in 1770. That of Beethoven (No. 1 in F, op. 18) in 1800; so that a period of about forty-five years includes all three. A comparison of the three works can therefore hardly fail to be of interest. Haydn’s consists of five movements—viz., presto, minuet and trio, adagio, another minuet and trio, and presto. All the movements are in the key of B♭, except the adagio, which is in E♭. They are short and undeveloped, and there is little extraneous modulation. The music is fresh and spontaneous, but simple and of little importance—indeed, as compared with many of his other seventy-six Quartetts, it is trivial.
Mozart’s work is in G major. It has four movements—viz., adagio, allegro, minuet and trio, and rondo. Originally it had only three movements, the rondo being added later. All are, in accordance with the custom which prevailed up to about this time, in one key. The general character of the composition is stronger than that of Haydn, there is more counterpoint and independence in the parts, but not much modulation. It is an interesting, but by no means great work.
Silence as an Effect in Music
Beethoven’s is the well-known No. 1, op. 18, and has four movements—viz., allegro, adagio, scherzo and trio, and allegro. The introduction of the scherzo form will be observed here. Humour and jest had no doubt been attempted before in music, but Beethoven made much more use of it than his predecessors, and in some of his works, notably the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, employed it in a remarkable manner. In the C minor, the grim humour, with the strange touch of mysticism which occurs near to where the scherzo blends into the finale, are among the very great effects which Beethoven has left for us. All the movements of the quartett are in the key of F, save the adagio, which is in D minor. Both as to contrapuntal skill, modulation, individual use of each instrument, especially of the viola, and above all in poetic feeling, this work shows a great advance on the two of Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven no doubt had the great advantage of what Haydn and Mozart had already written, but for all this the gap between this first Quartett and theirs is remarkable. Unquestionably the best of Haydn’s and Mozart’s Quartetts are works of the highest genius, but in Beethoven the restraint of conventional form is less felt, and there is a richer and fuller poetic expression. Nor has Beethoven overlooked (we find it in bars 59 to 62 of the adagio) the use of a certain negative means which as a factor in musical expression is of great importance. Just as it is well not to write continually in full four-part harmony, but to relieve what is apt to become monotonous, by reducing the score to three, two, or even at times one instrument, so the introduction of absolute silence may occasionally produce an excellent effect. Handel recognised this, and we find examples in “He rebuked the Red Sea” (Israel in Egypt), “Wretched Lovers” (Acis and Galatea), and at the close of the Amen Chorus (Messiah). Brahms makes use of the device in the allegretto of his Second Symphony, as does another master, Wagner, at the close of the prelude, Act 2 of Parsifal. The scherzo of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony also contains several examples, and Sir C. Villiers Stanford in the andante of his String Quartett, op. 45, produces a strikingly artistic effect, where after a full bar’s silence, the viola enters alone on a note unrelated to the previous tonality. Of course the use of a means of this kind obviously depends upon the character and feeling of the music, and its absence in no way implies imperfection, but it is curious to note that neither Schumann, Mendelssohn, nor Brahms introduces it into any of their String Quartetts.[13]
Haydn’s Quartetts
The bulk of Haydn’s Quartetts are so well known that any detailed reference to them would be superfluous. Op. 33, No. 3, in C major; op. 74, No. 1, in the same key; and op. 77, No. 2, in F major, may however be named as among the most interesting, and not perhaps so often played as, say, the so-called “Kaiser,” op. 76, No. 3, the op. 64, No. 5, and the op. 76, No. 1, which with some others are so justly held in high esteem wherever this style of music is cultivated.
With regard to the slow movement of the “Kaiser,” a set of variations on the Austrian National Anthem, which Haydn is said to have composed because he envied the English their “God Save the King,” Mr. W.H. Hadow, in his book A Croatian Composer (which work may well be read, containing as it does a report of some very interesting investigations), gives a number of instances wherein the germ of symphonic and other of Haydn’s musical themes are traceable to Croatian folk-songs, and among them is this Austrian National Anthem. What Handel did with the works of Steffani and others is pretty well known by musicians, but this less known case is an equally interesting one.
Haydn’s Kaiser Quartett
Here is the familiar melody as it now stands in the Quartett (op. 76, No. 3) referred to. The five versions of this melody which by the praiseworthy investigations of Mr. Hadow are now brought to light are quoted below. Each one presents the tune as it is found to-day in a certain district of Croatia. It will, as Mr. Hadow points out, be seen that in all these versions there is “apparent the same touch of inspiration, and the same weakness of development.” Haydn took advantage of the inspiration and dignified the tune by a continuation worthy to make it take rank among the best national anthems of the world.
From Haydn’s Kaiser Quartett, Op. 76, No. 3.
No. 1
No. 2.
No. 3.
These three are of course very much alike, but the next two differ considerably from the others, and No. 5 has two bars more than No. 4.
No. 4.
No. 5.
Haydn’s Other Chamber Music
Haydn’s compositions in the chamber music style embrace a large number of pieces which are now forgotten. Many of these were probably written to order for his patrons, and have little permanent value. Among them are some 32 Trios for strings and other combinations, 2 for 2 flutes and ’cello, 3 for piano, flute, and ’cello, and some 35 for piano, violin, and ’cello. As regards the last-named, some of which are still occasionally played, an examination of the twelve published in the Peters Edition, which may be regarded as favourable specimens, shows that many of them are hardly trios at all in the modern sense of that word. The ’cello part, generally speaking, either doubles the actual notes, or strengthens the harmony, of the left-hand piano part, and in some movements (e.g. the slow movement of No. 1 in G major) has not a single independent passage. There would, indeed, be little loss of effect if the music were played by the piano and violin.
There is more interest and vitality in No. 6 in D major, but even in this the continual doubling of the parts, and want of independence between the instruments, becomes at last somewhat wearisome. It ought, however, to be remembered that some of these Trios were published as Sonatas for the piano with an accompaniment for violin and ’cello, and that this kind of composition was common during the period of which we speak. It has also been stated that Haydn wrote these Trios for a wealthy and enthusiastic patron, who unfortunately was a poor ’cello player, and hence that part was written in the simplest form.
Haydn also wrote about 175 works for an instrument called the baryton, a kind of viol da gamba. They were written for Prince Esterhazy, who played that instrument, but they are now practically forgotten. Some unpublished MSS. of Haydn’s are to be found in the library of the British Museum.[14] There are also, among his published works, four Sonatas for violin and clavier, and six Duets for violin and viola, as well as a number of other chamber music compositions, which, however, have no great musical value.
Handel
The following is a list of the chief chamber music works of Handel (1685-1759):—
- 15 Sonatas for violin, flute, or oboe, with harpsichord, or bass violin.
- 6 Trio Sonatas for two oboes and harpsichord.
- 9 Trio Sonatas for two violins, flutes, or oboes, and harpsichord, or violoncello.
- 7 Trio Sonatas for two violins, or German flutes, with harpsichord, or violoncello.
- 1 Sonata in C major for viola da gamba, and cembalo.
- 1 Sonata in B♭ for two violins, bass, and organ.
- 3 Sonatas for flute and continuo.
The Sonata in A major for violin and piano (harpsichord) is of course familiar, as are others of the fifteen named above. The Trios are also of high interest, some of the slow movements being distinguished by that fine pathos which is associated with the best work of the composer of The Messiah. This music deserves more attention than has hitherto been accorded to it.