IV
A very substantial and influential personality in American musical life is that of Ernest R. Kroeger, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., August 10, 1862, and whose activities have ever since been identified with that city. The list of his published compositions is enormous and comprises works in many forms. As is the case with most American composers, his orchestral and chamber music works remain in manuscript, and consist of three 'symphonic overtures,' 'Sardanapalus,' 'Hiawatha,' and 'Atala,' the first Oriental in character, the two latter Indian, overtures on the subjects of 'Thanatopsis' and 'Endymion,' a 'Lalla Rookh' suite, two string quartets, and, for piano with strings, a trio, quartet, and quintet.
Despite Kroeger's scholarly handling of the sonata and fugue forms his tendency is strongly romantic, as is indicated by the subjects not only of his overtures but of the great number of his piano works, which touch a whole world of romance from Greek mythology to Indian and negro folk-lore. Among his more representative piano works are '12 Concert Études' (opus 30), a suite (opus 33), four 'sonnets' (opus 36), Sonata in D flat (opus 40), Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor (opus 41), 'Mythological Scenes' (opus 46), ten 'American Character Sketches' (opus 53), and twenty 'Moods' (opus 60). Widely known as a writer of songs of much poetic charm and appeal, his best works in this form are the 'Persian Love Song' (from opus 43), the famous 'Bend Low, O Dusky Night' (from opus 48), Ten Songs (opus 65), and a song cycle, 'Memory' (opus 66). He has written much for the organ, and there is a sonata for violin and piano (opus 32), also a recent large work for recitation or action, 'The Masque of Dead Florentines' (opus 75), on Maurice Hewlett's poem. In style Kroeger leans strongly upon the German tradition, but is fond of writing in an Oriental vein. He has held many positions of responsibility, among them being the presidency of the Music Teachers' National Association, and the important post of Master of Programs at the St. Louis World's Fair, which service won him an office in the French Academy. His influence has been far-reaching in the musical upbuilding of the Middle West.
Leaning somewhat more heavily upon the classic than the romantic aspects of German tradition, the work of Rubin Goldmark (b. 1872) makes serious claim to a place of high regard in the field of American music. While having had the advantages of European study, Goldmark also reflects a measure of the considerable influence exerted by Dvořák upon composition in America, having been one of those under the guidance of the Bohemian composer during his period of teaching in New York. In so far as this influence is discernible in one of Goldmark's well-defined musical personality, it is to be sought in the general nature of his musical ideals, and only very slightly in the specific Americanism encouraged by Dvořák (1841-1904). A firm emotional texture, gained by warmth of both harmony and melody, and a virility arising from a marked rhythmic sense characterize Goldmark's music. His creative impulse is guided more by emotional sincerity and verity than by the element of charm, though it is not without moments of tender and limpid beauty.
His trio for piano, violin and 'cello is an exceptionally substantial opus 1, and his 'Hiawatha' overture won enthusiastic praise from no less discerning a critic than James Huneker. Among his earlier works are a sonata for piano and violin, a 'Romanza' for 'cello, and a number of piano compositions and songs, the latter especially revealing an imagination of distinctive character. An 'Ode to Colorado' for mixed voices issues from the composer's occasional residence in Colorado Springs, as also four 'Prairie Idylls' for piano. From Goldmark's maturer powers springs the quartet in A major, for piano and strings, which, in its class, won the Paderewski Prize in 1909, the poetic merits of the work being revealed in a subsequent performance by the Kneisel Quartet. The impressive and highly-appraised tone-poem 'Samson' was produced by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in March, 1914.
One of the first of the post-Chadwickian generation of American composers to step into prominence was Howard Brockway (b. 1870), who received a very thorough training under the American O. B. Boise in Berlin. He brought back, among other large works, a symphony which he had composed at the age of twenty-four and which had called much attention to his gifts and potential career when performed at a concert of his works in Berlin. Walter Damrosch once said, 'The trouble with American composers is they write one symphony when they come back from Europe and then do nothing more.' A significant half-truth is contained in the remark. The classical musical education requires, tacitly or otherwise, the symphonic effort. Then come the American environment and the dampening absence of a market for symphonies by Young (and Old) America; then the writing of songs in order to find a way to a hearing; and then, if the composer is to belie the Damroschian dictum, a gradual artistic resurrection harmonious with American institutions, purposes, and ideals.
Brockway did, in fact, give out a quantity of small works, songs and piano compositions, on his return to America, all of which, it may be said, reveal a sensitive and truly poetic musical nature, capable of lifting itself well up through the dense and earthy atmosphere of technique into the realm of poetic perception and expression. The outcome of his return to large forms it is a bit early to predict. The knowledge of a manuscript quintet for strings and piano, and a piano concerto, under his highest opus numbers, 36 and 37, adumbrates an auspicious future for his expression in large forms. Meanwhile a suite for 'cello and piano (opus 35) has been given out, and an admirable cantata, 'Sir Olaf,' has been heard. From his earlier portfolio credit is to be given him for the beautiful violin sonata (opus 9) and the significant 'Ballade' and 'Sylvan Suite' (op. 11 and 19), both for orchestra.
An extraordinarily prolific composer is Homer N. Bartlett (1845-1911), the separation of whose more distinguished works from the mass that he has written will be effected only by the sifting process of time. From the Salonstück period of his 'outrageously' popular 'Grand Polka de Concert' (opus 1), through the ambitious violin concerto (opus 109), which was entirely rewritten in 1908, and the symphonic poem 'Apollo' from the same period, to the works bearing the Himalayan opus numbers 215 and 220, a 'Meditation' and an Air à la Bourrée for violin, is a far cry. In providing a list of his works the composer writes at the end, 'opus numbers here increase to 231, although I am striving to keep them down.' This great output shows a steady increase in distinction, and covers a wide range of tendencies, almost wholly in the direction of romanticism.
'Khamsin,' which Hughes refers to as a fragment of a cantata, was rewritten in 1908 as an extended dramatic aria for tenor solo, in three connected parts. In its earlier form it was heard at a New York Manuscript Society concert, and is regarded as representative of the best and most dramatically inspired of Bartlett's work. Two movements of an ingeniously exotic 'Japanese Suite' for orchestra were heard at the Central Park orchestral concerts in 1910 and revealed a good control of orchestral resource. There are also clever piano compositions on Japanese themes, a Japanese 'Revery' and 'Romance' (opus 221), and 'Kuma Saka' (opus 218) for four hands. There are also an opera, 'La Vallière,' written in 1887, an operetta, 'Magic Hours' (opus 225), and many choruses, songs, piano compositions, including a prize-winning nocturne ('Kranbach' prize), violin compositions, organ works, and songs. Bartlett was born in 1846 at Olive, N. Y., and has been active as a teacher and organist in New York City.
Mr. Rossetter G. Cole is best known as the composer of the melodrama 'King Robert of Sicily' (op. 22), to which David Bispham's stirring interpretation has brought great popularity. This work contains some of Mr. Cole's best inspirations; while adhering to idioms that are conventional, there is an admirable following of the dramatic line and a real atmospheric descriptiveness. It is harmonically conventional, at times markedly Wagnerian, and there are some excellent effects in ecclesiastical harmonies. In an earlier melodrama, 'Hiawatha's Wooing,' op. 20, Indian themes are utilized, though but slightly. Still earlier published works are 'The Passing of Summer,' a 'lyrical idyll' for soli, chorus and orchestra, while still in manuscript there is a sonata for violin and piano (op. 8), works which placed by the side of Mr. Cole's later compositions become comparatively unimportant. Of recent publication a 'Ballade' for cello and orchestra (op. 25) and two organ pieces, 'Fantasie Symphonique' (op. 28) and 'Rhapsody' (op. 30), are written for their respective instruments with a well-calculated effectiveness. One of Mr. Cole's recent compositions is a bit of descriptive piano writing entitled 'Sunset in the Hills.' This shows a considerably more advanced harmonic scheme and one much richer in color, which now fade into the more delicate tints of an idyllic MacDowell-like mood.