Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/533

OPERA. chronology of these two great works. As early as 1806 Weber had given good promise of what was to come, in a decidedly Romantic Opera, "Rübezahl,' written for the theatre at Breslau, but never publicly performed. The only portions of this Opera now known to be in existence are, a Scena, a Quintet, and a Chorus of Spirits, in MS., and the Overture—published, with extensive alterations, under the title of 'Der Beherrscher der Geister' ('The Ruler of the Spirits'). It is sad indeed to feel that the remainder is hopelessly lost; but the Overture alone affords us all the evidence we need. Not only is it the first example we meet with, in modern times, of a grand Orchestral Prelude written in 6-4 time; but its Subjects, its Instrumentation, and its general design, establish its 'Romantic' character beyond all controversy, and, taken in connection with the date of its production, remove the necessity for bringing forward any farther testimony in the Composer's favour. Priority of invention, therefore, unquestionably rests with him; while those who judge the question on æsthetic grounds have never hesitated to accept 'Der Freischütz' as an embodiment of the highest Ideal the School is capable of realising, its truest prototype as well as its brightest ornament. To Weber, therefore, the full honour must be accorded; and it is in his works that the characteristics of the School may be most profitably studied.

It is by no means indispensable that the Libretto of the Romantic Opera should deal with the Supernatural. Though it certainly finds a congenial habitat in the realm of Ghosts, Daemons, Faeries, Gnomes, Witches, Mermaids, and Sprites of all sorts and conditions, it is equally at home among the splendours of Chivalric Pageantry, in the solitude of the Black Forest, or under the arches of a Cloister. Its Dramatis personæ may be Queens and Princes, a troop of Spectres, or a company of Peasants with hearts as innocent as their dresses are homely. Only, whoever they are, they must speak in their real character, natural or imaginary. The Scene cannot very well be laid in the streets of a modern City, nor must the incidents be such as one would be likely to encounter in ordinary domestic life; but the domestic affections, and all other passions which form the common inheritance of every age and country alike, may, and necessarily must, be represented in their fullest integrity. The only condition laid upon the Composer is, that when he is called upon to deal with natural things, he must be truly and unaffectedly natural. When he soars into the regions of Fancy, he must trust entirely to the power of his Imagination; and, in proportion to the extent of that power will be the measure of his success. Let us see how these conditions are fulfilled in Weber's masterpiece.

The plot of 'Der Freischütz' consists of the simplest possible love story, surrounded by an atmosphere of horror, which, though having no real connection with it, influences its progress from beginning to end. It is by his clever recognition of this fact that Weber has proved himself the greatest Master of the style that ever lived. He presents his heroine to us as a high-souled maiden, faithful and true, and above all, earnestly and unaffectedly God-fearing. We learn all this, not from anything she says or does, but simply from the style of the Music he has given her to sing. In like manner, and by the same means of expression, he depicts his hero as an honest fellow, very much in love, but very weak and vacillating when his best affections are used as temptations to draw him into evil. We see this last-named trait in his character very clearly exemplified in the grand concerted piece, 'O! diese Sonne,' and the Terzetto, 'Wie? was? entsetzen!' and the first, in 'Durch die Wälder': but, when the shadow of Samiel appears behind him, he entirely loses his individuality. He is no longer one of ourselves. His cry of despair, 'O dringt kein Strahl durch diese Nächte,' reaches us like a wail from the other world; and we are instantly transported from the realms of human passion into those of pure imagination. Caspar, on the other hand, is never natural. He has consorted with Daemons until he has himself become a Fiend; and he betrays this fact as clearly in his rollicking Trinklied, as in his Death-Song. The same just discrimination of styles is exhibited in the Music allotted to the Peasants, the Bridesmaids, and the grisly Followers of 'The Wild Huntsman,' who are all made to sing passages so well suited to their several characters, whether real or imaginary, that no spoken words could illustrate them with equal plainness. In the famous 'Incantation Scene,' the Art of Tone-painting is used with a power which needs the aid of no scenic horrors to impress its meaning upon the most unimaginative comprehension, and which is, indeed, only too frequently distracted by the noise and confusion inseparable from a too exuberant 'Spectacle': while the Overture, a triumph of descriptive Instrumentation, furnishes us, by means of its leading themes, with an epitome of the entire story. The constant use of the Leitmotif, throughout the whole of this remarkable Opera, seems indeed to entitle Weber to the honour of its invention, notwithstanding the suggestive notes sung by the Statue in 'Il Don Giovanni.' His skill in making the Overture serve as an argument to the piece to which it is prefixed, in accordance with the principles laid down many years previously by Gluck, is, at all times, very conspicuous. In 'Euryanthe' (1823), for instance, the spirited 'First Subject' prepares us at once for the knightly pomp of the coming Drama; while the weird episode for Violini, con sordini, tells the secret of the plot with a ghastly fidelity to which the shuddering tremoli of the Viola—played senza sordini—lends an intensity truly wonderful, when we remember the extreme simplicity of the means employed. The raison d'être of this extraordinary episode—to which no one seems ever to give a thought in England—is, the temporary rising of the Curtain, for the purpose of displaying the Vault containing the Sarcophagus of Adolar's sister