Mrs. Beach is rightfully looked upon as an eminent leader among the women composers of America and is fully entitled to equal rank with her fair contemporaries in France, Cécile Chaminade and Augusta Holmès. Her "Gaelic Symphony" has been performed not only by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and by Theodore Thomas, but has been granted numerous performances by other representative organizations as well. Mrs. Beach's scores are exceedingly elaborate—possibly too much so. Nevertheless, her command of orchestral resources is remarkable, and in her Mass in E flat, op. 5, she has obtained impressive effects, rich colors and dramatic climaxes.
The scores of Bonvin and Lewis have already been referred to. The former evolves his conceptions by means of the most intricate polyphony and with an opulence of orchestral effects. Lewis has branched out into lines distinctly his own. A Brahms background of grayish orchestration is in evidence, but his rhythm is absolutely unfettered, his harmonies are bold, and his mastery of thematic treatment is unusual.
Of the younger composers born after 1860, much may be expected from F.S. Converse of Harvard,[111] who is in close touch with the ultra-modern school of composition with all its attending freedom of form and emancipation from stereotyped pattern, for he has already excited attention both in this country and in England.[112] A promising pupil of Rheinberger is Henry Holden Huss, who is essentially a dramatic and lyric composer. The healthy and above all optimistic tendencies of Henry K. Hadley's compositions, as exemplified by his symphony "Youth and Life," stand out in sharp contrast against the morbidness and pessimism that have apparently won the upper hand in musical art during the last fifteen years. Rubin Goldmark was born in New York and is living at present in that city. He is possessed of a thoroughly artistic nature and has inherited much of his eminent uncle's originality and ability to impart luscious tone-colors to his orchestral tableaux.
Before concluding this classification of orchestral composers it is desired to remind the reader of the vast significance attached to the labors of Dvořák and X. Scharwenka during their sojourn in the United States. Again, other foreigners who have cast in their lot with us, such as Loeffler[113] and Victor Herbert, are now practically regarded as loyal American composers. Both these men are possessed of sovereign command of orchestration. The one uses his art for portraying vivid realism, the other for the purpose of clothing his pleasing conceptions as evolved in daintier vein.
There are undoubtedly a number of important American composers whose names have been omitted from these pages. The present writer desires to apologize for any such unintentional omission under the plea that it has not been his good fortune to have his attention called either directly or indirectly to their compositions in larger forms.
XIII.
(3) Orchestral and Choral Conductors. The progress of a country's musical art rests largely in the hands of its orchestral and choral conductors. America has been exceptionally fortunate in this respect, for her history presents an army of luminaries who are unexcelled the world over. The concert and operatic stage of New York owes its very existence to such indefatigable workers as Carl Bergmann (1821), Dr. Leopold Damrosch (1832), Theodore Thomas (1835), Anton Seidl (1850), all four of whom were Germans. And at the present day, there are a number of eminent conductors in New York.
To Theodore Thomas more than to anyone else is due the present high standard of musical taste in America. At the head of an excellent virtuoso orchestra, he traversed the country in his earlier years, and revealed for the first time the value and meaning of the thoughts of the great masters, while toward Wagner, Tschaikowsky, Dvořák, etc., he performed the same mission. These were the days when the New York Philharmonic Society and the Harvard Musical Association in Boston were the only permanent institutions devoted to orchestral music. Theodore Thomas not only established a new standard of interpretation in this country, but so catholic was his taste and so far reaching his purpose that the debt to him can never be paid. During his entire career, his attitude toward the American composer was that of a helpful ally and friend. It was as conductor of the Philharmonic Society of New York for a term of years and particularly as conductor of the Cincinnati May Music Festivals and of the Chicago Orchestra that Thomas' maturer and later years were passed; and it is especially in these cities that his memory and influence will remain ineradicable.
In Boston prior to the establishment of a permanent symphony orchestra in 1881, Lowell Mason's initiative was zealously fostered by the two foreigners, Carl Zerrahn (1826), Bernhard Listemann (1839), and by B.J. Lang (1839), together with other tireless enthusiasts. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has since attracted the best the world can afford—Henschel, Gericke, Nikisch, Paur.[114] Inland, public-spirited citizens have made it possible to establish local symphony orchestras and have almost invariably been exceedingly fortunate in their choice of conductors. Theodore Thomas migrated to Chicago. Franz van der Stucken was called to Cincinnati, Frederic Archer, Victor Herbert, Emil Paur to Pittsburgh, Fritz Scheel to Philadelphia. Perhaps one of the greatest services to the education of the country has been rendered by that vast brotherhood of German Singing Societies which flourish from shore to shore. The high standard of their performances has been constantly sustained by men of splendid attainments such as, for instance, van der Stucken while in New York, John Lund while in Buffalo, Franz Bellinger in Indianapolis. In recent years American Choral Societies have forged to the front. Chicago owes much to Tomlins. Frank Damrosch and his colleagues are doing good work in New York; Mollenhauer, J. Wallace Goodrich and others in Boston. Similar conditions prevail in almost every large city in the Union. Neither may the beneficent influence of our military bandmasters upon the masses be overlooked. Considering the conditions that have existed in the past, no one can censure them for catering to the demands of the public. Nevertheless, they have little by little managed to interpolate numerous transcriptions from works of recognized merit. Such men as Gilmore, Sousa and Innes have done more for the cause of good music than is popularly supposed.
(4) Songs and Smaller Forms. One of the most favorable opportunities open to modern composers in their struggle for recognition is found in the field of songs and salon music. This is particularly the case in America. Consequently, all of our representatives produce such offerings, and that with success. A few composers, however, have made a special study of song writing and pianoforte pieces in lighter genre. Conspicuous among these are G. Templeton Strong, J.H. Rogers, Clayton Johns, Neidlinger, Ethelbert Nevin, Margaret Ruthven Lang, Fred Field Bullard, and Percy L. Atherton. Especial mention is due to Clayton Johns for the charming lyric quality of his songs; to Nevin for the fascination of his lighter pianoforte pieces, that nevertheless avoid triviality; to Miss Lang for the fairy-like daintiness of many of her conceptions; to Bullard, whose promising career was prematurely cut off at the very moment when the rugged simplicity of his inspiring songs and choruses had won the hearts of his countrymen; to Atherton, who is, perhaps, the most talented of contemporary song writers in the realm of subtle psychological reasoning.