Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/46

34  Extempore Fantasia on the PF. on an air by Paisiello; encored, when Mozart again extemporised on an air by Gluck (10 variations). Scena and Aria, 'Mia speranza adorata.' Mad. Lange. The Hafner Symphony (Minuet and Finale).

Beethoven indulged in long programmes when his own compositions were concerned. At the concert, in March 1807, at which his B♭ Symphony was first performed, the new work was preceded by all the three foregoing ones! Later, on Nov. 29, 1813, he gave the Symphony in A, the 'Glorreiche Augenblick' (7 nos.), and the 'Battle of Vittoria,' in the same programme. But then, these were his own music, and orchestral concerts were rare. That his judgment on this subject, when unbiassed, was as sound as it was elsewhere, is evident from the note prefixed to the score of the Eroica Symphony, in which he requests that it may be played near the beginning of the programme, and be accompanied only by an Overture, an Air and a Concerto, that it may not fail to produce its 'own intended effect.' If this was his sober judgment we may doubt whether he would have approved such a programme as that in which a great artist lately played the whole of the five last Sonatas (op. 101, 106, 109, 110, 111) consecutively, without any relief—magnificent interpretations, but surely an undue strain on both player and hearer. A recent performance of the Choral Symphony twice in one programme, with an interval of half an hour, is more excusable, for who ever heard that magnificent work without wishing to hear it all over again? The arrangement of a programme is not without its difficulties, as the effect of the pieces may be much improved by judicious contrast of the keys, the style, and the nature of the composition. We have elsewhere mentioned Mendelssohn's fastidious care on these points, and all are agreed that his Programmes when he conducted at the Gewandhaus were models. [See vol. ii. 297b.] He is said to have proposed to write the music for an entire Programme, in which he would no doubt have completely satisfied his canons of taste.

Of Benefit Concerts we say nothing. They have been known in this country (1840–50) to contain 40 pieces, played or sung by nearly as many solo artists, and to last more than 5 hours!

It was once the custom in France, and even in Germany, occasionally to divide the pièce de résistance of the programme into two, and play half a symphony at the beginning of the concert and half at the end. Mozart himself gives an example in the programme quoted above. But now-a-days such an attempt would be treated by any good audience with merited displeasure.

When Beethoven's Violin Concerto was first played (Dec. 23, 1806) by Clement, to whom it is dedicated, the selection was as follows:—

But the curiosities of programmes are endless. [ G. ]

PROGRAMME-MUSIC is an epithet originally intended to apply to that small but interesting class of music which, while unaccompanied by words, seeks to pourtray, or at least suggest to the mind, a certain definite series of objects or events. But the term is also applied, with deplorable vagueness of meaning, to all dramatic, characteristic, or imitative music whatever. It must always remain an open question how far music is able of itself to influence the mind's eye, for the simple reason that some imaginations are vastly more susceptible than others, and can therefore find vivid pictures where others see and hear nothing. Also, in programme-music of all kinds, the imagination is always turned in the required direction by the title of the piece, if by nothing else. It is held by some that music should never seek to convey anything beyond the 'concourse of sweet sounds,' or at least should only pourtray states of feeling. But what is the opinion of the bulk of audiences, who, though artistically ignorant, are not of necessity vulgar-minded? To the uninitiated a symphony is a chaos of sound, relieved by scanty bits of 'tune'; great then is their delight when they can find a reason and a meaning in what is to them like a poem in a foreign tongue. A cuckoo or a thunderstorm assists the mind which is endeavouring to conjure up the required images. And two other facts should be borne in mind: one is that there is a growing tendency amongst critics and educated musicians to invent imaginary 'programmes' where composers have mentioned none as in the case of Weber's Concertstück [App. p.751 "omit the mention of Weber's Concertstück, as that is a specimen of intentional 'Programme-music.' The authority for Weber's intention is handed down by Sir Julius Benedict, in his life of Weber"] and Schubert's C major Symphony, for instance and another, that music, when accompanied by words, can never be too descriptive or dramatic, as in Wagner's music-dramas and the 'Faust' of Berlioz.

May it not at least be conceded that though it is a degradation of art to employ music in imitating the sounds of nature—illustrious examples to the contrary notwithstanding—it is a legitimate function of music to assist the mind, by every means in its power, to conjure up thoughts of a poetic and idealistic kind? If this be granted, programme-music becomes a legitimate branch of art, in fact the noblest, the nature of the programme being the vital point.

The 'Leit-motif' is an ingenious device to overcome the objection that music cannot paint actualities. If a striking phrase once accompany a character or an event in an opera, such a phrase will surely be ever afterwards identified with what it first accompanied. The 'Zamiel motive' in 'Der Freischütz' is a striking and early example of this association of phrase with character. [For a full consideration of this subject see .]

But admirable as this plan may be in opera, where the eye assists the ear, it cannot be said that the attempts of Liszt and Berlioz to apply it to orchestral music have been wholly successful. It is not enough for the composer to label his themes in the score and tell us, as in the 'Dante' Symphony for instance, that a monotone phrase for Brass instruments represents 'All hope abandon, ye who enter here,' or that a melodious phrase typifies Francesca da Rimini.