Eighteenth Period.—From Mozart until Beethoven and Rossini (a.d. 1780-1820). Great improvement of the Orchestra, and of Instrumental Music in general. Development of the German Operatic Style. Tone-artists of the Vienna School. Beginning of the popularity of the Pianoforte. Beethoven brings Instrumental Music to the highest degree of perfection. Flourishing state of the French Opera. With Rossini commences a new and effective epoch in Italian Operatic Music. Numerous Virtuosos on instruments. In the Opera, amalgamation of different styles. In the most recent time, an undecided direction.
Thus much about the Eighteen Periods noticed in Section I. of Czerny's work. Only the first seven periods are fully treated in this Section; the others form the subject of Section II., which is divided into Three Principal Epochs, thus:—
First Principal Epoch.—From the establishment of our Theory of Harmony until the commencement of the Opera (a.d. 1400-1600). Separation of the four chief nations: 1, France (with the Netherlands); 2, Italy (with Spain and Portugal); 3, England; 4, Germany (with Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Denmark).
Second Principal Epoch.—From the commencement of the Opera until the development of Instrumental Music and Chamber Music (a.d. 1600-1700). Division of the Art of Music into Church Music and Operatic Music. First appearance of some distinguished performers on instruments. 1, Italy (with Spain and Portugal); 2, France (with the Netherlands); 3, England; 4, Germany (with Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Denmark).
Third Principal Epoch.—From the development of Instrumental Music until the end of the Eighteenth Century (a.d. 1700-1800). Division of Church Music, Operatic Music, and Instrumental Music. 1, Italy (with Spain and Portugal); 2, France (with the Netherlands); 3, England; 4, Germany (with Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Denmark).
After these Divisions and Sub-divisions follows an alphabetically-arranged Register of the names of the musicians who are mentioned in the different Periods and Epochs. But also here we have Divisions and Sub-divisions, so that the Register, in fact, consists of six Indices, each containing the musicians of a certain epoch or a certain country, from A to Z. The author says that the plan of the work renders this arrangement necessary; but, as he does not prove his assertion, students using the work for reference will probably arrive at the conviction that one general Index, containing all the names in alphabetical order, would be more convenient. Another disadvantage is that the Indices are entirely restricted to the names of musicians, no reference being made to important events relating to the history of music. In fact, the chief aim of the work is to notice a great many musicians. The number of composers, theorists, and performers entered amounts to 1713, of whom 236 belong to the ancient Greeks and Romans, 132 to the Middle Ages, and 1345 to European nations from a.d. 1400 to 1800. Many of these musicians have left no mark upon the history of their art, and their names have justly fallen into oblivion. These might better have been omitted. Of what use, for instance, can it be to the student to be supplied with the names of the musicians who played before Alexander the Great on the occasion of his marriage with Roxanen, at Samarkand, in the year b.c. 328? Especially among the 1345 composers who distinguished themselves during the four centuries from a.d. 1400 to 1800 are many who might now as well have been left at rest. What possible advantage can the student derive from a record of mediocre pianoforte composers whose productions were not held in much esteem even during their lifetime? On the other hand, it was prudent in the author not to extend his list beyond the year 1800. The distinguished musicians of the present century are known to readers who take an interest in the history of the art, and who are most likely to use the book. Anyhow, it would be a delicate task to admit the names of living musicians, some of whom may still become more celebrated than they are, while others may show that they really are not so clever as they at first appeared to be. It is impossible to assign his proper place in the history of his art to an artist before he is dead.
Czerny has had the happy thought of placing in a column before each chronological table short memoranda of the events in general history of the time when the composers lived. Nothing can be more advisable to a professional musician than to make himself familiar with this column of facts bearing directly upon his art. There can hardly be a doubt that other artists,—especially painters and sculptors,—generally possess more historical knowledge than musicians. Perhaps their occupation suggests to them more forcibly the value of such information. Be this as it may, the music of an intelligent musician is better than that of an ignorant, narrow-minded one; even for this reason, musicians ought to study universal history, were it not on account of the intimate connection of the cultivation of the arts with the progress of civilization.
Moreover, if we are exactly acquainted with the political and social conditions of the time in which a distinguished artist lived, we are the better able to appreciate his merits. Unfortunately, Czerny records the musicians under the date of their birth. Thus, many are mentioned in the century previous to that in which they flourished. Take for instance Handel and Sebastian Bach: both were born in the year 1685, and produced their great works during the first half of the eighteenth century. Now, if the plan of recording the musicians under the date of their birth had been throughout adhered to, the student might, as a general rule, surmise the time of their activity to have been about half a century later. But, of several celebrities the date of whose birth is unknown, Czerny gives some year in which they are known to have distinguished themselves, and this deviation from the plan leads to confusion in the chronological arrangement. True, it is impossible to determine exactly the year in which the musician in his lifetime exercised the greatest influence upon his art; but, this can be done as nearly as possible by adopting his fortieth or fiftieth year as that of his best period. Those who did not attain that age might be noticed under a date referring to the period when they most distinguished themselves, which was generally the case during the last few years of their life.
Again, the mention of the musicians of each country separately has too little advantage to justify the inconvenience thereby occasioned to the student. Cherubini, like Bellini and Donizetti, is classed with the Italian composers; he would, however, have been more properly placed with the German composers. Rossini, when he wrote 'Guillaume Tell,' was more German than some musicians born in Germany. Lulli, the founder of the old French opera is certainly more properly mentioned with the French musicians than with the Italian. Other examples could be pointed out which evoke the question whether such a complicated classification really serves a scientific purpose.
In the 'Chronology of the History of Music' offered in the following pages, in which Czerny's tables have been of great assistance, the aim has been to avoid the defects just noticed. It will be seen that only a brief survey of the most important events in the history of music has been attempted. When the student has ascertained these, he will probably choose to refer to some treatise on the history of music instead of a more extensive chronological table. But the latter may afterwards be of use to him inasmuch as it will assist him in recalling to his memory in proper order those facts with which he has become more minutely acquainted by reading the treatise.