Elgar's advantage over the other six members of this group lies, not merely in his comparative youth, but in the fact that he began his serious and prolonged husbandry after the others had done the ploughing. Practically self-educated, he set out with the very noble determination to conquer the world unaided except by his own brains. What this determination means in a densely populated, imperialistic country like England probably very few Americans can realize. From his home in Malvern and later in London he began to issue a series of works, few in number as the men of his generation counted these things, but of unsurpassed poetical quality. His earlier work, such as 'King Olaf' and 'Caractacus,' met with no very wide appreciation; but, with the appearance of his 'Enigma Variations,' his 'Sea Songs,' and his beautiful oratorio, 'The Dream of Gerontius,' came general European recognition. His present unassailable position in England may be gauged from the fact that his oratorios—saturated with the Roman Catholic spirit—are welcomed even in the English cathedrals. Nor are the Deans and Chapters incensed thereby. Of his other works—such as the overtures 'In the South' and 'Cockaigne,' the 'Pomp and Circumstance' marches, the two enormous Symphonies, the Violin Concerto, and the oratorios 'The Kingdom' and 'The Apostles'—it is not possible to speak here in detail. All Elgar's work is characterized by great sincerity and purity of intention. He is an ample master both of harmony and counterpoint; while his sense of orchestral decoration is astonishing. One must in fairness add that he has often been charged with a certain indecision and melodic indefiniteness. These are perhaps national traits; and the gravamen of this charge may be lightened as Teutonic standards of judgment become less and less generally enforced.
Before leaving this group of composers we must mention the fact—already hinted at—that their general education and social level is undoubtedly high as compared with that of their predecessors. This point need not be elaborated. But its effect is seen in the publication of various volumes dealing with the æsthetic and historical sides of music. Of these, Hubert Parry's two great volumes on 'Johann Sebastian Bach' and 'Style in Musical Art' are easily first. Only second to them is the same author's work on 'The Seventeenth Century' contributed to the 'Oxford History of Music.' And he has three or four others to his credit. Stanford has published two delightful books of memoirs and a short treatise on 'Musical Composition.' Frederick Corder, besides a considerable list of compositions, has produced three volumes, of which the best-known is 'The Orchestra and How to Write for It.' The awakening taste for musical study at this period can perhaps be best appreciated by considering the wide popularity of Ebenezer Prout's dry, stubborn volumes on musical technique.
Finally, in order to complete the list of names associated with this movement, one must add John Stainer and George Martin, both of St. Paul's Cathedral; Walter Parratt, the distinguished 'Master of the King's Musick'; and Frederick Bridge of Westminster Abbey. Of the dozen men named above ten received titles from the Sovereign.
III
The members of the second and third groups shared with Elgar the advantages of much improved musical conditions. After twenty-five years' hard work the older generation of composers had educated the country to a wider, deeper, and purer appreciation of music. They had even arrived at a tacit understanding with their countrymen that an Englishman might, under certain conditions, be able to compose. Of this understanding their pupils took immediate advantage. Let us see of what these improved conditions consisted.
In 1880, outside the provincial church festivals, orchestral opportunity for the English composer meant a few concerts conducted by August Manns at the Crystal Palace and a few more given by the London Philharmonic Society. To-day there is a larger number of first-class orchestral players in London than in any other city in the world.
To a large extent this is the result of the insatiable London appetite for musical comedy performed with a beauty and lavishness unknown in America. For the orchestral player who cannot live by symphony work alone can live by symphony and theatre work combined. The number of orchestras both metropolitan and provincial has thus increased enormously. The percentage of English works played has also increased, though there is still room for some improvement in that respect.
In London alone there are, besides the Covent Garden Orchestra—the Royal Philharmonic, the Queen's Hall,[78] the London Symphony, the New Symphony, and the Beecham. All of these can and do tackle successfully the most modern music. A certain number of excellent amateur orchestras, such as the Royal Amateur, the Stock Exchange, and the Strolling Players, testify to a wide interest in this form of music. Outside London there are permanent orchestras at such places as Bournemouth, Brighton, Glasgow, Harrogate, Liverpool, Manchester, and Torquay.
Among conductors who have at one time or other interested themselves in English music may be mentioned Henry J. Wood, Granville Bantock, Godfrey, Thomas Beecham, Balfour Gardiner, Landon Ronald. And this leaves out of account the theatrical conductors, the older musicians most of whom have conducted either at the Royal Philharmonic or at some provincial festival, and the conductors of choral societies, such as George Riseley, Frederick Bridge, Allen Gill, Henry Coward, and Arthur Fagge.
The second point which calls for notice is the folk-song movement, which has forced composers to reconsider some of the fundamentals of their art and at the same time has furnished them with a mass of material on which to work. We must remember that, from the early middle ages until the present day, the traditional music of Europe (folk-song) has continued to flow in a sort of underground stream, while the written or professional music has been the main official waterway. The two have constantly joined their currents, and at times the underground stream has actually been in advance of the river overhead.