The art of music, Vol. 05 (of 14)

by Unknown

III

Of the various song writers whom, for convenience, we are here calling ‘minor,’ there is one who should not be given the epithet without reservation. This is Peter Cornelius (1824-1874), friend and disciple of Liszt and partisan of Wagner. The work of Cornelius has something of the great strain in it. The man had a fine and daring talent, if not positive genius. His work seems somehow unfinished, without quite enough authority to place him among the masters. It is as though he were making sketches for Parnassus, but had died before attempting the giant canvas. Perhaps he took up music too late. He was a mature man with a profession before he felt the influence of Liszt and devoted himself wholly to composition. Though he was by no means deficient in technical ability, one somehow feels that fate had got a head-start of him—that the truly great composer must become such in his cradle. But those who will take the trouble to know him will find him one of the most satisfactory of the less known German composers. He responded to Liszt’s intense and generous interest in music. He had the enthusiasm of the amateur and the energy and thoroughness of the German professional man. He was blessed with the open mind which enabled him to fight for Wagner when the latter was known in Germany only to be despised. He had a keen artistic sense, together with a vigorous and critical mentality which enabled him to use it with much force. And he had what so few composers possess, the breadth of culture and interest which comes from knowing other subjects besides music intimately and well. From his songs one gets the impression that nearly all show originality and creative power, though not many have the final stamp of authority to raise them into a class with the great. From the creative standpoint Cornelius’s songs are far superior to Jensen’s. But, because he was unable to give his work the same finish of style that Jensen gave to his, he is not, like Jensen, a name known to every singer of songs. Let us go to Cornelius chiefly for stimulation, leaving in the background for the time our sense of form and finish.

Many of Cornelius’s published songs are mainly experimental. He seems to have written what he wrote with much difficulty. It is doubtful if he was often altogether satisfied with the work that left his composing desk. The songs of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ cycle, for instance, are extremely interesting and impressive in conception, but they nearly always fail in execution. Out of the group only the ninth, ‘And Deliver Us from Evil,’ is quite satisfactory. But the man’s imagination is shown in what he evidently attempted to do in the sixth, ‘And Forgive Us Our Debts,’ which has a fine fugal bass. The third song of the series, ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’ is probably next in interest. Of the other early songs we may mention the ‘Shepherd’s Night-Song,’ ‘In the Moonlight’ (a charming scherzo), the ‘Slumber Song,’ and ‘Think’st Thou of Me?’ Of much beauty is ‘Come, Let Us Wander,’ which obtains a gently colored ‘atmosphere’ with the simplest of means. And among the later songs there are three fine ones which should be mentioned—‘On Molly’s Death,’ to one of Bürger’s famous poems; Auftrag and Abendgefühl, the last probably Cornelius’s best song.

A good part of his work is contained in song cycles, namely: ‘Sorrow and Consolation,’ the ‘Rhine Songs,’ the ‘Christmas Songs,’ and the ‘Bridal Songs.’ In the first of these, for which the composer wrote his own words (he was a poet of much ability), we find three songs which must rank high. These are: ‘From the Quiet Spot,’ ‘Dreaming,’ and ‘A Tone.’ The second would answer anyone’s doubts as to whether Cornelius had the lyric gift. For he has given us here a song which in its few measures can throw magic over our souls. The best known of all his songs is ‘A Tone,’ in which the voice part is carried entirely on one note, while the accompaniment weaves lovely fabrics of melody around it. This, the only song of its kind which the writer is able to call to mind, might have been a mere trick. We can imagine such a song being written on a bet. But a few measures of ‘A Tone’ will dispel any such notion. For the lyric is a work of art throughout. The water-mark of the second-rate song writer is not to be found in a single measure. Of the ‘Rhine Songs’ the best is the fourth, ‘Fancies.’ The Christmas Songs are interesting for the composer’s attempt to adapt them to children. The melodies, of the utmost simplicity, have an ecclesiastical ring which lends color to the sentiment. Of the six songs the best is ‘Three Kings,’ but the whole group is worth knowing for the peculiar vitality of their modal style. The finest and most beautiful of the song cycles, however, is the group known as ‘Bridal Songs.’ These Brautlieder, the words written by the composer, seek to interpret six various sentiments of a young girl at the season of her marriage. They are wonderfully delicate in sentiment and finished in execution. The opening song, ‘A Myrtle Spray,’ is tender and appealing; the third, Vorabend, is in Cornelius’s fine half declamatory style; and the fourth, the ‘Morning Prayer,’ is a deep and noble expression of religious sentiment, one of the finest things the composer has achieved. In these songs we can scarcely complain of lack of finish and authority. These qualities they have, together with inherent beauty and originality. If Cornelius could have written a greater number of songs like the Brautlieder, the Auftrag, and the Abendgefühl we should surely be obliged to rank him among the ‘great’ song writers. As it is, his work deserves far more general recognition than it has received and we have reason to expect that his fame will spread.

Adolph Jensen (1837-1879) was a much more finished song-writer than Cornelius and a much less vital one. His songs have gained much popularity among singers because of their perfect taste, their fine sense of fitness and perfection of form, and their ‘singability.’ Sometimes he attains sheer beauty of no mean order. But in the actual business of expression Jensen’s songs do not often ring true. The composer is chiefly at home with the lighter sentiments or with nature in her gentler moods. Pierce much beneath the surface and the expression is insincere. Undoubtedly there was in Jensen a sensitive and genuine artistic nature. But it had neither the robustness nor the spontaneity necessary for the creation of a lyric literature. Jensen’s contribution, if he has contributed anything, is a certain refinement of outline. His songs sound much like other good German songs, only rather more timid.

His very first published song, Lehn’ deine Wang an meine Wang, is known wherever there are students of singing. It has been universally admired for its simplicity and touching sentiment. It has been highly praised for its delicacy of workmanship. But, granted that it was a masterpiece according to the standards of its day, its day is past. Nowadays we are demanding a more positive assertion, a more creative musicianship. Jensen did far better than this in later songs. Some of his vigorous lyrics are admirable, notably the Bolero, ‘In the Shadow,’ ‘On the Bank of the River,’ and ‘Old Heidelberg,’ the last an excellent essay in popular counterpoint. The formal often attains charming results in Jensen’s songs, witness, ‘Mother, I Have Two Little Eyes,’ which is a miniature symphony allegretto. But on the whole it is in his nature-songs that he is most at ease. The list of superior ones is rather long—‘Murmuring Breezes,’ ‘Spring Night,’ and ‘Evening Air’ are representative. The Waldesgespräch depends more on pure melody in the voice than does Schumann’s setting of the same words, and is in every way an inferior song. The Scotch songs have their charm, but are so empty of feeling compared with the fine tunes to which the words are set in their native country that their composition seems a sin. But ‘Sleep’st Thou, My Maiden?’ in which the folk-spirit is purely German, is a charming song. The best of all, however, is probably ‘Margarete at the Door.’

Minor Romanticists.
Top: Carl Löwe and Peter Cornelius
Bottom: Eduard Lassen and Adolf Jensen

Eduard Lassen (1830-1904) was even less pretentious than Jensen in his songs, but rather more genuine and satisfactory. Possibly we cannot call him a true interpreter of emotion, but we must credit him with the composition of many a lovely melody. Lassen was Liszt’s successor in the directorship at Weimar and thus lived in a stimulating atmosphere. His songs, which were probably the outcome of moments of play, rather than serious efforts, show both more buoyancy and more elasticity than do those of Jensen. With them we are again breathing the fresh air, albeit a peaceful air. Many of his songs content themselves with being simple strophic melodies, interpretive only in general mood and not in detail. The best loved of his songs, ‘Thine Eyes So Blue and Tender,’ is fairly typical of the simpler ones. Lassen’s setting of Heine’s ‘It Was a Dream’ is more truly an art-song, though its appeal is gained by the simplest of means. ‘Whither’ has an arpeggio accompaniment which adds admirably to the simple freshness of the song. ‘Spring’ is furnished forth with interesting modulations, managed with unfailing taste. In ‘Thou Fairest Vision’ Lassen becomes vigorous and passionate; in ‘The Sun’s Bright Beams’ he attains dignity and breadth within brief space. In considering Lassen’s lyrical and melodic style it should be interesting for the reader to compare his settings of Heine with Schumann’s—as, for instance, in ‘It was a Dream,’ Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam, and Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet. On the whole, though Lassen struck out no new path in song writing, though he enlarged no boundaries and tapped no new fields of expression, he kept his songs on a high plane of artistic genuineness. Among the song composers of the last half of the century who expressed themselves chiefly by means of melody, Lassen is one of the most notable.

Georg Henschel (born Breslau 1850) is a song writer whose present reputation is very far from equalling the high standard of his work. This is perhaps because his songs as a whole show no striking element of novelty. But it is none the less regrettable. For in point of pure merit Henschel must be ranked among the finest song writers of his time. Born and educated in Germany, he has spent most of the working years of his life in America and England, where he has made a notable reputation as singer and conductor. His musicianship is solid and deep, his inspiration fresh and unhackneyed, his method honest and straightforward. He is purely German. In his songs we feel the best traditions of the best song writers, concentrated and amalgamated, but without any element of crass imitation. His songs have the artistic finish which is necessary to give conviction to any lyric work. In mood they vary greatly from that of natural grandeur and religious dignity all the way to the most delicate sentiment and humor. Each of the songs is nicely individualized, both in the musical themes and in the manner of treatment. In them one is often reminded of Schumann, but the solid musicianship of Brahms is equally evident. There are no slipshod songs in his list and few which do not stand on a high artistic level. The accompaniment is rich, but on the whole conservative, acting essentially as a support to the voice, however richly decorated it may be. The general method is strictly lyrical and melodic. Pure declamation enters seldom. The dramatic and the picturesque elements are present, but subordinated to the lyrical. Schumann’s influence is continually evident, but Brahms, too, is there with his solid and careful musicianship. Further, we must place Henschel as one of the great masters of the folk-spirit in art-song. His naïveté is not studied; it springs from a human sympathy with the fundamental things in music. We have repeatedly mentioned in this book the great test of the song writer, namely that he shall be able to express emotional states in a few notes; by this test Henschel is among the most genuine of lyricists.

Henschel’s songs have been published in small groups throughout his period of activity. Many of the groups are in the nature of suites, or at least have some element of unity. We may mention the ‘Forest Flowers of Thuringia,’ opera 22 and 24; the six songs, Im Volkston, opus 29; the Serbisches Liederspiel, opus 32, comprising ten songs in a close cycle; the four songs to poems by Hafiz, opus 34; and the three songs from Kingsley’s ‘Water Babies,’ opus 36. Opera 22, 24, 29, and 32 are all largely in the folk-manner and comprise some of Henschel’s best. In addition to these and numerous independent songs there are a number of ballads, some of them furnished with orchestral accompaniment which are among the best examples of this difficult modern form.

The various songs in folk-manner offer a fine study in musical taste and understanding. In the best of them the peculiarities of each text have been caught with such accuracy that any other musical interpretation seems impossible. Examine, for instance, the two ‘Love Laments of a Maiden’—the long, crawling, saga-like melodic line of the first, the dignified chorale form of the second. Both are impeccable in point of metre and word-accent. But the utter contrast in musical style shows Henschel’s fine discrimination in his treatments of his texts. He catches not merely the external characteristics, but the innermost meaning of each of his poems. Thus when he sets that tiny folk-masterpiece, Wenn du bei meinem Schätzel kommst, he suggests in his music the varying mood of the lines, but he keeps the song far away from the delineative, showing in his folk-like treatment of it that he regarded the poem primarily as a unit—as a single play of wit. Songs like Verstohlen geht der Mond auf and ‘Ladybird’ seem quite perfect examples of delicate and graceful song writing. Mei Schätzerl is a humorous song which is hardly surpassed by Brahms or Wolf. Another song that is in every way a masterpiece is ‘The Miller’s Farewell,’ a melody purely in the folk-character, with a subtle pathos verging on tragedy. Der Holdseligen, one of the best of all his songs, is of a different sort. It is essentially an art-song, though at first glance it seems to bear the cachet of the folk. It is not a whit more difficult or complicated than any of the folk-songs, but there is in it somewhere that element of conscious design that makes the difference. A study of this song and one or two of Henschel’s pure folk-songs, such as Mund und Auge, will reveal much concerning the sensitive deftness of his art. In the more pretentious art-song Henschel is just as much the master. His ‘Morning Hymn,’ perhaps his best known song, is of a grandeur rarely to be met with outside of Hugo Wolf. Indeed, in the deeper emotions Henschel is seldom found wanting. His themes are truthful and convincing; his development clear and strong; his musicianship fertile and resourceful.

Among the minor German song writers Alexander von Fielitz (born 1860) has achieved unusual popularity. He is best known by his cycle, Eliland, which is, by all odds, his best work. The story of the monk’s hopeless love is in itself a groundwork of extraordinary sentimental appeal. Von Fielitz has thrown himself into his task with great sympathy. All the songs are of marked musical value. When sung together, they reveal many lights and shades of rare poetical charm. Here von Fielitz is a convincing interpreter of the emotions. In his other songs he rarely strikes the same level. His themes frequently have no marked character and his technique is lacking in resource. Often a mannerism of another composer—Schumann or Wagner—is introduced in a rather obvious way. In short, von Fielitz has hurt his reputation by writing too much and repeating himself too often. In Das grüne, lustige Waldgezelt he is fresh and spirited and uses with effect his somewhat manneristic contrasting voices in the accompaniment. The Mädchenlieder, to words by Geibel, are delicate and very singable. The Jester Songs, to words by Otto Julius Bierbaum, are fairly interesting; the best being ‘The Melancholy Fool.’ Among the best of his songs are Nachruf, with its stimulating inner voices, and Wehmuth, which is an excellent study in emotional climax. His settings of the Tuscan Popular Poems by Gregorovius and of the Modern Greek Folk-songs by Geibel often show marked grace and charm. But on the whole we search in vain in his songs for the genius-touch that proclaims the master.

An early song writer of Norway, who, because of the character of his work, can properly be named here, is Halfdan Kjerulf (1818-1868). He was not of the line of Schubert. His songs, which are very numerous, content themselves with a vague sentimental charm. But though he did nothing to advance the art-song, the man was an artist. His melodies have had great popularity and are perhaps known better to the man in the street than to the professional singer. His ‘Last Night’ has become a folk-song the world over. From the artistic point of view the ‘Love Sermon’ is perhaps the best. ‘Synnöve’s Song’ and ‘Little Uenevil’ have all the genuineness of the folk-song and all the sureness of the art-song, a combination which many a composer might envy. ‘The Mother at the Cradle’ is a touching melody, with a delicate second melody in the accompaniment. ‘I Journeyed over the Sea’ is a fine ballad, simple and genuine, and Abendstimmung and ‘God Knows where He Wanders’ are songs well worth knowing. In some of these lyrics Kjerulf is no more an art-song composer than Stephen Foster. But throughout he shows that he is a musician and a man of fine taste, and within its narrow limits much of his work is admirable.

Anton Dvořák (1841-1904), the greatest of the Bohemian composers, was known to the world chiefly through his orchestral, operatic, and choral works. He, however, published a few groups of songs which reveal his individual qualities—rich and somewhat Slavic melody, sound musicianship, and captivating resourcefulness in many-colored modulation. The songs have not proved sufficiently numerous or sufficiently strong to hold a permanent place on concert programs. There are, however, a number of charming ones among them, especially the ‘Gypsy Songs,’ which have the dash of the Brahms Zigeunerlieder, and in addition more emotional color and more national characteristics. We should also mention in Germany Eric Meyer-Helmund (born 1861), represented by ‘A Maiden’s Wish’; Joachim Raff (1822-1882) with his charming ‘Serenade’; and Gustav Graben-Hoffmann (1820-1900) with ‘Five Hundred Thousand Devils.’

Worthy of somewhat more detailed notice is August Bungert (born 1846), who has recently become more generally known, in Germany at least, for works of larger calibre, but whose rather over-pretentious ambition in attempting to out-do Wagner in a musico-dramatic tetralogy, Homerische Welt, has made him appear somewhat ridiculous. Many of his songs, which show the hand of the technically proficient musician, are set to words by Carmen Sylva (‘Songs of a Queen,’ etc.). Perhaps his best vein is shown in the simple, folk-like setting of Ich hab’ein kleines Lied erdacht, which combines a genuine naïve feeling with fine workmanship and spontaneous lyric charm.