WAGNER.
Richard Wagner, who has been sometimes ironically called the musician of the future, and whose music has been relegated to posterity by a considerable number of his contemporaries, was born at Leipsic, May 22, 1813. After his preliminary studies in Dresden and Leipsic, he took his first lessons in music from Cantor Weinlig. In 1836 he was appointed musical director in the theatre at Magdeburg, and later occupied the same position at Königsberg. Thence he went to Riga, where he began his opera “Rienzi.” He then went to Paris by sea, was nearly shipwrecked on his way thither, and landed without money or friends. After two years of hard struggling he returned to Germany. His shipwreck and forlorn condition suggested the theme of “The Flying Dutchman,” and while on his way to Dresden he passed near the castle of Wartburg, in the valley of Thuringia, whose legends inspired his well-known opera of “Tannhäuser.” He next removed to Zurich, and about this time appeared “Lohengrin,” his most popular opera. “Tristan and Isolde” was produced in 1856, and his comic opera, “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” three years later. In 1864 he received the patronage of King Louis of Bavaria, which enabled him to complete and perform his great work, “Der Ring der Nibelungen.” He laid the foundation of the new theatre at Baireuth in 1872, and in 1875 the work was produced, and created a profound sensation all over the musical world. “Parsifal,” his last opera, was first performed in 1882. His works have aroused great opposition, especially among conservative musicians, for the reason that he has set at defiance the conventional operatic forms, and in carrying out his theory of making the musical and dramatic elements of equal importance, and employing the former as the language of the latter in natural ways, has made musical declamation take the place of set melody, and swept away the customary arias, duets, quartets, and concerted numbers of the Italian school, to suit the dramatic exigencies of the situations. Besides his musical compositions, he enjoys almost equal fame as a littérateur, having written not only his own librettos, but four important works,—“Art and the Revolution,” “The Art Work of the Future,” “Opera and Drama,” and “Judaism in Music.” His music has made steady progress through the efforts of such advocates as Liszt, Von Bülow, and Richter in Germany, Pasdeloup in France, Hueffer in England, and Theodore Thomas in the United States. In 1870 he married Frau Cosima von Bülow, the daughter of Liszt,—an event which produced almost as much comment in social circles as his operas have in musical. He died during a visit to Venice, Feb. 13, 1883.
Love Feast of the Apostles.
“Das Liebesmahl der Apostel” (“The Love Feast of the Apostles”), a Biblical scene for male voices and orchestra, dedicated to Frau Charlotte Emilie Weinlig, the widow of the composer’s old teacher, was written in 1843, the year after “Rienzi,” and was first performed in the Frauen-Kirche in Dresden at the Men’s Singing Festival, July 6 of that year.
The work opens with a full chorus of Disciples (“Gegrüsst seid, Brüder, in des Herren Namen”), who have gathered together for mutual help and strength to endure the persecutions with which they are afflicted. The movement flows on quietly, though marked by strong contrasts, for several measures, after which the chorus is divided, a second and third chorus taking up the two subjects, “Uns droht der Mächt’gen Hass,” and “O fasst Vertrau’n,” gradually accelerating and working up to a climax, and closing pianissimo (“Der Mächt’gen Späh’n verfolgt uns überall”).
In the next number the Apostles enter (twelve bass voices) with a sonorous welcome (“Seid uns gegrüsst, ihr lieben Brüder”), reinforced by the Disciples, pianissimo (“Wir sind versammelt im Namen Jesu Christi”), the united voices at last in powerful strains (“Allmächt’ger Vater, der du hast gemacht Himmel und Erd’ und Alles was darin”) imploring divine help and the sending of the Holy Ghost to comfort them. At its close voices on high are heard (“Seid getrost, ich bin euch nah, und mein Geist ist mit euch”). The Disciples reply with increasing vigor (“Welch Brausen erfüllt die Luft”). The Apostles encourage them to steadfast reliance upon the Spirit (“Klein müthige! Hört an was jetzt der Geist zu Künden uns gebeut”), and the work comes to a close with a massive chorale (“Denn ihm ist alle Herrlichkeit von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit”), worked up with overpowering dramatic force, particularly in the instrumentation. Though but a small composition compared with the masterpieces for the stage which followed it, it is peculiarly interesting in its suggestions of the composer’s great dramatic power which was to find its fruition in the later works from his pen.
WEBER.
Carl Maria von Weber was born Dec. 18, 1786, at Eutin, and may almost be said to have been born on the stage, as his father was at the head of a theatrical company, and the young Carl was carried in the train of the wandering troupe all over Germany. His first lessons were given to him by Henschkel, conductor of the orchestra of Duke Friedrich of Meiningen. At the age of fourteen he wrote his first opera, “Das Waldmädchen,” which was performed several times during the year 1800. In 1801 appeared his two-act comic opera, “Peter Schmoll and his Neighbors,” and during these two years he also frequently played in concerts with great success. He then studied with the Abbé Vogler, and in his eighteenth year was engaged for the conductorship of the Breslau opera. About this time appeared his first important opera, “Rubezahl.” At the conclusion of his studies with Vogler he was made director of the opera at Prague. In 1816 he went to Berlin, where he was received with the highest marks of popular esteem, and thence to Dresden as hofcapellmeister. This was the most brilliant period in his career. It was during this time that he married Caroline Brandt, the actress and singer, who had had a marked influence upon his musical progress, and to whom he dedicated his exquisite “Invitation to the Dance.” The first great work of his life, “Der Freischütz,” was written at this period. Three other important operas followed,—“Preciosa,” “Euryanthe,” the first performance of which took place in Vienna in 1823, and “Oberon,” which he finished in London and brought out there. Weber’s last days were spent in the latter city, and it was while making preparations to return to Germany, which he longed to see again, that he was stricken down with his final illness. On the 4th of June, 1826, he was visited by Sir George Smart, Moscheles, and other musicians who were eager to show him attention. He declined to have any one watch by his bedside, thanked them for their kindness, bade them good-by, and then turned to his friend Fürstenau, and said, “Now let me sleep.” These were his last words. The next morning he was found dead in his bed. He has left a rich legacy of works besides his operas,—a large collection of songs, many cantatas (of which the “Jubilee” and “Kampf und Sieg” are the finest), some masses, of which that in E flat is the most beautiful, and several concertos, besides many brilliant rondos, polaccas, and marches for the piano.