Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/634

622 French music generally of that date (and even earlier), the influence of Haydn is distinctly apparent; his symphonies and quartets had met with immediate acceptance in Paris, one of the former indeed, entitled 'La Chasse,' having been composed 17 years before Méhul's opera. Cherubini, although Italian by birth, belongs to France; for all his great works were produced at Paris, and most of his life was passed there. This composer must be specially mentioned as having been one of the first to depart from the pattern of the Overture as fixed by Mozart. Cherubini indeed marks the transition point between the regular symmetry of the style of Mozart, and the coming disturbance of form effected by Beethoven. In the dramatic effect gained by the gradual and prolonged crescendo, both he and Méhul seem to have anticipated one of Rossini's favourite resources. This is specially observable in the overture to his opera 'Anacreon' (1803). Another feature is the abandonment of the Mozartian rule of giving the second subject (or episode) first in the dominant, and afterwards in the original key, as in the symphonies, quartets, and sonatas of the period. The next step in the development of the Overture was taken by Beethoven, who began by following the model left by Mozart, and carrying it to its highest development, as in the overture to the ballet of Prometheus (1800). In his other dramatic overtures, including those to von Collin's 'Coriolan' (1807) and to Goethe's 'Egmont' (1810), the great composer fully asserts his independence of form and precedent. But he had done so still earlier in the overture known as 'No. 3' of the four which he wrote for his opera 'Fidelio.' In this wonderful prelude (composed in 1806), Beethoven has apparently reached the highest possible point of dramatic expression, by foreshadowing the sublime heroism of Leonora's devoted affection for her husband, and indicating, as he does, the various phases of her grief at his disappearance, her search for him, his rescue by her from a dungeon and assassination, and their ultimate reunion and happiness. Here the stereotyped form of overture entirely disappears: the commencing scale passage, in descending octaves, suggesting the utterance of a wail of despairing grief, leads to the exquisite phrases of the 'Adagio' of Florestan's scena in the dungeon, followed by the passionate 'Allegro' which indicates the heroic purpose of Leonora; this movement including the spirit-stirring trumpet-call that proclaims the rescue of the imprisoned husband, and the whole winding up with a grandly exultant burst of joy; these leading features, and the grand development of the whole, constitute a dramatic prelude that is still unapproached. In 'No. 1' of these Fidelio Overtures (composed 1807) he has gone still further in the use of themes from the opera itself, and has employed a phrase which occurs in Florestan's Allegro to the words 'An angel Leonora,' in the coda of the overture, with very fine effect.

While in the magnificent work just described we must concede to Beethoven undivided pre-eminence in majesty and elevation of style, the palm, as to romanticism, and that powerful element of dramatic effect, 'local colour,' must be awarded to Weber. No subjects could well be more distinct than those of the Spanish drama 'Preciosa'(1820), the wild forest legend of North Germany, 'Der Freischütz' (1821), the chivalric subject of the book of 'Euryanthe' (1823), and the bright orientalism of 'Oberon' (1826). The overtures to these are too familiar to need specific reference; nor is it necessary to point out how vividly each is impressed with the character and tone of the opera to which it belongs. In each of them Weber has anticipated themes from the following stage music, while he has adhered to the Mozart model in the regular recurrence of the principal subject and the episode. His admirable use of the orchestra is specially evidenced in the 'Freischütz' overture, in which the tremolando passages for strings, the use of the chalumeau of the clarinet, and the employment of the drums, never fail to raise thrilling impressions of the supernatural. The incorporation of portions of the opera in the overture is so skilfully effected by Weber, that there is no impression of patchiness or want of spontaneous creation, as in the case of some other composers—Auber for instance and Rossini (excepting the latter's 'Tell'), whose overtures are too often like pot-pourris of the leading themes of the operas, loosely strung together, intrinsically charming and brilliantly scored, but seldom, if ever, especially dramatic. Most musical readers will remember Schubert's clever travestie of the last-named composer, in the 'Overture in the Italian style,' written off-hand by the former in 1817, during the rage for Rossini's music in Vienna.

Berlioz left two overtures to his opera of 'Benvenuto Cellini,' one bearing the name of the drama, the other called the 'Carnaval Romain,' and usually played as an entracte. The themes of both are derived more or less from the opera itself. Both are extraordinarily forcible and effective, abounding with the gorgeous instrumentation and bizarre treatment which are associated with the name of Berlioz.

Since Weber there has been no such fine example of the operatic overture—suggestive of and identified with the subsequent dramatic action—as that to Wagner's 'Tannhäuser,' in which, as in Weber's overtures, movements from the opera itself are amalgamated into a consistent whole, set off with every artifice of contrast and with the most splendid orchestration. A noticeable novelty in the construction of the operatic overture is to be found in Meyerbeer's incorporation of the choral 'Ave Maria' into his Overture to 'Dinorah' (Le Pardon de Ploermel).

In some of the modern operas, Italian and French (even of the grand and heroic class), the work is heralded merely by a trite and meagre introduction, of little more value or significance than the feeble Sinfonia of the earliest musical drama. Considering the extended development of modern opera, the absence of an overture of