Though Gade (1817-1890) stands as the pioneer of Scandinavian composers and as chief representative of Denmark, his works do not present unadulterated indigenous characteristics. The influence of Mendelssohn as well as of Schumann is plainly in evidence; consequently he is classified on [page 77] among the direct followers of romanticism. The substance of Gade's music suggests Northern coloring and surroundings, but the presence of native melody, harmony and rhythm is less conspicuous. He adhered to the symmetry of sonata form, though his thematic development is free and his musical treatment unfettered. Gade first became known through the overture "Nachklänge aus Ossian" and the first symphony in C minor. The "Crusaders" still belongs to the standard cantatas of the present day. He had early been a careful student of representative scores, and developed high efficiency in the art of orchestration. Appreciation of the possibilities as well as of the limitations of each instrument, successful application of "local coloring," and a ready pen stamp the pages of his numerous symphonies and orchestrally accompanied choral works.
Turning to the representatives of Norway belonging to a later generation than Gade's, one naturally recalls the name of Grieg. Nevertheless Svendsen (1840) was born three years before Grieg, and holds a position of eminence only secondary to that of his Danish predecessor or of his Norwegian contemporary. A violinist as well as a composer, he possesses a gift for spontaneous and flowing melody. His music rests on a sound harmonic basis, is cleverly developed and skilfully orchestrated. It reveals national coloring though not to excess, and reflects the mind of a cosmopolitan musician. Svendsen's sphere of creative activity embraces various orchestral works, besides chamber music and smaller pieces. Prominent among these are the four Norwegian rhapsodies, and he has been particularly happy in arranging many Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic melodies for small orchestra.
Grieg (1843) represents one of the few recent composers who have not been conspicuously influenced by ultra-modern tendencies beyond appreciation for the necessary alliance of poetry and music. The exact value of his attainments is not easy to define. D.G. Mason has been rather hard on him in his thoughtful essay entitled "From Grieg to Brahms," and in Germany there is also a disposition to regard much of his music as superficial. None the less, Grieg's style has a charm about it that is irresistible, and this charm goes far to silence the grumblings of critics more scientifically and profoundly trained than he. But it is precisely this naïve spontaneity, this guileless yet poetic touch, this flow of fancy emanating straight from the heart that endears his music to the more appreciative and emotional amateur. Though a pupil of the Leipzig Conservatory, Grieg early took a firm stand against the lukewarm Scandinavianism of Gade, and bestirred himself in a search for musical utterance that should present the indigenous characteristics of his own people in the most favorable light. His solution of this problem brought into existence a distinct Northern school of composition. As previously suggested, many peculiarities of his music are but the adaptation of time-honored Scandinavian characteristics. But though the strength of his works rests upon the development of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Volkslieder, he has imbued these with an element of poetic coloring, of tender melancholy, of mystery, of quaint humor, of grotesqueness even to eccentricity that are all his own. Grieg's style is frequently lacking in breadth, nor does he possess the powers of a great orchestral composer. Nevertheless, his writing for strings alone is of surpassing beauty, with its multiple division of parts, its polyphonic voice-leading, and its impassioned deployment of violas and violoncellos. When at his best, Grieg handles his larger orchestral forces with similar rare skill. The orchestration of Björnsen's unfinished drama "Olaf Trygvason" and that of the music to Ibsen's "Peer Gynt," conceived as a melodramatic scene-painting, is tender, fervent, weird, brilliant, stormy, popular, effective. Notwithstanding all that has been said, Grieg stands as one of the most original and healthy composers of the nineteenth century.[97]
Of the younger Norwegian composers, Sinding (1856) has given evidence of a fertile imagination that finds expression in some pleasing chamber music and other works in small form. To judge from his popular "Frühlingsrauschen," he must be counted among the admirers of Wagner. His Danish contemporary, August Enna (1860), has devoted himself to a more ambitious form of composition. His opera "Heksen" was brought out at Copenhagen in 1892, and at Berlin in the ensuing year. Two further operas of recognized merit have emanated from his pen—"Cleopatra" and "Aucassin og Nicolette."[98] The Scandinavians are not conspicuously dramatic, but Enna's grandfather was an Italian, which may account for the grandson's histrionic talent. There are other names worthy of mention,[99] such as Tor Aulin and Wilhelm Stennhammer[100] of Sweden; up to the present moment, however, none have proved worthy to be ranked with the greatest of Scandinavian composers—Grieg.
VI.
Russia. Among the phenomena of the nineteenth century must be reckoned the wonderful artistic evolutions in Russia and in America. Of the two countries, Russia has thus far forged ahead by reason of her indigenous melodic wealth, whereas America has no similar source to draw from. Again, the melancholy and semi-barbaric coloring of Russian folk-tunes appeals more readily to the world at large than do the assuredly more healthy though somewhat eclectic offerings of the young American school. None the less, the artistic future of the latter country is to be regarded in the most optimistic light, and this certainly will be subsequently enlarged upon under its proper heading.
Russian folk-songs embody certain characteristics that are likewise at the root of Scandinavian folk-songs. In their natural and unadorned state they suggest the rhythmic freedom of Scandinavia, and their dance forms are similarly wild and irresistible. Further characteristics that are more distinctly Russian consist of odd modulations, of plaintive minor cadences, of harmonies resolving abruptly into the unison, and of the frequent recurrence of a principal theme alternating with various reiterated phrases. A possible reminiscence of the Lydian and Dorian modes of ancient Greece might also be suggested. This is the basis upon which an epoch-making school of highly-seasoned dramatic and orchestral music has been reared.
Cultivated Russian music may be properly divided into three distinctive groups. First came the old lyric-school of Glinka, Dargomizski and Seroff, followed by the neo-Russian school which includes Dargomizski in his maturity, together with Borodin, Cesar Cui, Balakireff, Mussorgski, Rimski-Korsakoff, and their associates. A third classification is required for Rubinstein and Tschaikowsky in consequence of their less national than cosmopolitan attributes. It is by no means intended to convey the idea that Tschaikowsky was not intensely Russian, but his broad education and his intellectual classicism distinguish him from his compatriots. Rubinstein, on the other hand, was more a Teutonic classical-romanticist than a Slavonic composer. This exposition will therefore first treat of the typically native composers, leaving Rubinstein and the unrivalled Tschaikowsky for the end.