ALBERT LORTZING
(See page [595].)
The symphonic poem is a welcome addition to modern music, but it is capable of further development both in form and character. There is no reason why the polythematic principle should not be applied to it, or why the movements should not be extended. In the future the symphonic poem may rival the symphony, but is not likely to supplant it. The symphony has undergone many changes of detail since Beethoven, and in the course of time it is probable that new forms of instrumental music will be invented, but it will be difficult to reach as high an ideal as that attained by the great masters of the symphony. In grandeur, emotional intensity, thematic variety, contrast of movements, the symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and others stand on a higher plane than the symphonic poems of Liszt, Saint-Saëns and many less conspicuous composers who have cultivated this form.
It would much exceed the narrow limits set by this article to attempt to discuss the far-reaching questions connected with the great musical and dramatic reform of Wagner. This forms the subject of an able special article, to which the reader is referred. Wagner’s world-wide influence has not been confined to the dramatic stage. His bold independence of thought and creative originality served to break down the barriers of formalism and conservatism, which held back German music after the death of Mendelssohn and Schumann. The Napoleon of music cleared the way, not only for himself, but other young composers who were struggling for recognition. Since his death no German has yet appeared able to follow in his footsteps, or to strike out a path for himself in dramatic music. At the same time all serious dramatic composers, Italian, French, etc., of the present day, have consciously or unconsciously been affected by Wagner’s musico-dramatic ideas.
Among all the German composers who have gathered inspiration from the theories and music of Wagner, only a single one seems to have produced a musical drama which bears the stamp of real genius and clearly defined individuality.
FRIEDRICH von FLOTOW.
From a steel portrait engraved from a photograph by Weger, of Leipsic.
(See page [596].)
Peter Cornelius (1824–74) first became prominent at the time when Liszt at Weimar was doing so much for the advancement of the so-called “new German school of composition.” Cornelius at once identified himself with this modern movement. It was on account of the indifference of the court and the public toward Cornelius’s “The Barber of Bagdad” that Liszt gave up his directorship of the theatre at Weimar in 1858. In the same year, Cornelius’s opera, “The Cid,” was produced at Weimar. The completion of a third opera, “Gunlöd,” was prevented by his death, which occurred at Mayence in 1874.
His comic opera, “The Barber of Bagdad,” gives Cornelius a unique position among the composers of the new German school. This seems to be the only work of genius which has been produced in Germany as a result of the Wagnerian cult; and it remains the single but the sufficient ground for a denial of the charge made by disbelievers, that the theories of Wagner can lead to nothing beautiful and good in opera. The opera-poem is by Cornelius himself, and is a marvel of bubbling humor and literary ingenuity; and the music is of exceeding complexity and intensely difficult to render. The methods of treatment are distinctly Wagnerian, but there is not a suggestion of Wagner in the character of the melodies or in the instrumentation. All is delightful and individual, in short, the work of a genius. On the other hand, in the “Cid,” a tragic opera founded on Herder’s poem, Cornelius was not so successful. It is certain that “The Barber” will ultimately be appreciated; for its sparkling wit and delightful music are irresistible, matched only among German composers by the “Figaro” of Mozart.
Cornelius was far from being a Wagner, but he has done one thing which Wagner probably could not have done: he has written an opera libretto which is considered superlatively witty and entertaining by other people than Germans, and set it to music which is noble, charming and characteristic.
Anton Bruckner has also been prominently identified with the new German school. In his heavy and massive instrumentation and style of writing he is pronouncedly Wagnerian, but he has not endeared himself to the lovers of sweet sounds.