Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/321

SCHOOLS OF COMPOSITION. thus affiliated himself to the Imaginative School as closely as to her Romantic sister. There are thoughts in his Concertos, in the Symphony in G Minor, and in many of his pieces of Chamber Music, which neither words, nor pictures, can communicate from mind to mind; thoughts which can only be rendered intelligible through the medium of Music, and which, so communicated, unite the inmost soul of the hearer with that of the Composer. No doubt, this is the highest result that Music can hope to reach—certainly, the most intellectual. But, this view of the case detracts nothing, either from the merit, or the charm, of Romantic pictures, so delicately painted as the Overtures to 'The Naiads,' 'The Woodnymphs,' 'Paradise and the Peri,' or 'Parisina'—in which last sad inspiration the deepest depths of Tragedy are reached as certainly as the perfection of beauty is reached in the others. The 'Three Musical Sketches' stand forth like three little Water Colour Drawings from the pencil of Turner, who himself could have thrown no more poetical expression into the calm ripple on 'The Lake,' the rush of 'The Mill-stream,' or the brilliant sparkle of 'The Fountain,' than Bennett has done by means of the simplest possible form of Tone-Painting. Yet, even from these, the hint of vulgar realism is entirely excluded. The only satisfactory test that can be applied, in such cases, is the question, 'Would the Music sound good, and beautiful, and interesting, to a man who had never seen, or heard of, a Lake, a Millstream, or a Fountain?' And there can be only one answer—of course it would. Bennett never once, during the whole course of his artistic life, descended to anything that was beneath the dignity of his Art. One may read noblesse oblige in every bar he ever wrote. And we, who knew him intimately, can confidently assert, that, though his whole heart was full of gentleness, the kindness of his disposition never tempted him to condone, in others, what he would himself have rejected as unworthy of an Artist. On the other hand, if he could not tolerate bad Part-writing, or vicious Harmony, or hideous malformation disguised under the title of freedom from archaic bondage, he never refused to do justice to a grand idea, because it was new. Indeed, so far removed was his loyal Conservatism from the blindness which can see no good in anything not yet consecrated by the lapse of time, that he himself was always ready to welcome new ideas; to deal with them in such sort, that, in many respects, his Music was very much in advance of its age.

Under such a leader, it would have been shameful if the English School had produced no Instrumental Music. It has produced much. Macfarren's Overtures to 'Chevy Chase,' 'The Merchant of Venice,' 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'Hamlet,' and 'Don Carlos'; John Francis Barnett's 'Symphony in A Minor,' 'Overture Symphonique,' Overture to 'A Winter's Tale,' and 'Concerto in D minor'; Stanford's Symphonies, his Sonata for Pianoforte and Violin, in D (op. 11), his Violoncello Sonata, in A (op. 9), and his other pieces for the Chamber, are all works worthy of recognition. Best's Organ Music, even apart from its Musician-like construction, and pure artistic feeling, shows an intimate acquaintance with the character and capabilities of the Instrument, which cannot but secure for it a long term of favour. Meanwhile, we owe much to a large and daily increasing class of Organists, once led by Drs. Gauntlett and S. S. Wesley, and now well represented by E. J. Hopkins, W. Rea, Drs. Stainer, Bridge, Gladstone, and many talented associates, whose executive power, and knowledge of practical Organ-building, have, for many years past, reacted upon each other, producing, in the end, a School of Organ-playing, the excellence of which is not surpassed in any part of Europe.

Arthur Sullivan, who has done so much for the lighter forms of Opera, and for Vocal Music of almost every class, has not been idle with regard to Instrumental Music, but has produced works such as his Music in 'The Tempest' and the 'Merchant of Venice,' his Symphony in E, his Overtures 'di Ballo,' and 'In Memoriam,' which show that, if he would, he might rival any one in this department of the art. His treatment of the Orchestra shows an intimate acquaintance with the nature of its Instruments, and a genius for their combination, such as few contemporary masters have surpassed; and we sincerely trust that the success of no possible number of Operettas may prevent him from continuing to labour in the more serious field in which he has already won so many honours.

Frederick Cowen is also worthily supplementing his Choral works, and his early and successful Opera, 'Pauline,' by numerous Instrumental Compositions, some of which have received marks of special favour at the Philharmonic Society and elsewhere. Among the most important of these are his 3 Symphonies, his Sinfonietta, and his Orchestral Suite—a series of significant productions, though not all of equal pretension. In close sympathy with the modern system of Tone-painting, Cowen delights in connecting his work by a thread of Romance, which, weaving itself through the entire sequence of Movements, gives a clue to the intention of the whole: but, with a wholesome dread of realism, he usually leaves his audience to fill in the details of the picture for themselves. For instance, in his Orchestral Suite, 'The Language of Flowers'—where distinct imitation of Nature, if not impossible, would have bordered upon the ludicrous—poetical symbolism is used, with excellent and perfectly intelligible effect. The Scandinavian Symphony (No. 3, in C minor), though confessedly a more descriptive work, owes more to the effect of subtle suggestion than to the presentation of a definite picture. It is true that we are introduced, in the Slow Movement, to a merry boating-party; and, in the Scherzo, to the incidents of a sleigh journey: but, in the opening Allegro, we are invited to contemplate the sombre