Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/635

SONG. have been of this school, in so far as they were song-writers; and its tendencies reappeared in our own day in Reissiger and Abt. On the other hand, Schulz's followers were real musicians; and if they became too stiff and formal, their defects were a fruit of their virtues. Their stiffness and formality were the outcome of a strict regard to form and symmetry, and of a praiseworthy contempt for false sentiment. Most of them could write at will in more than one style. Whenever they chose the volksthümliches Lied, they proved their mastery of it; and in other kinds of composition they were equally at home. Their names must, therefore, be mentioned in connection with more than one class of song. The first and best of Schulz's school was Mendelssohn's favourite, J. F. Reichardt. He was singularly happy in his 'Kinderlieder,' but his most valuable services to the Song were given on other ground, as will appear later. Next to him came Anselm Weber, and Nägeli. Zelter, Klein, Ludwig Berger, and Friedrich Schneider, are entitled, by their songs for male chorus, to be counted among the followers of Schulz.

It would be wrong to leave the volksthümliches Lied without mentioning the names of Conradin Kreutzer and Heinrich Marschner, whose operatic songs proved themselves to be truly volksthümlich by their firm hold on the hearts of the people, and of Carl Krebs and Kücken, who have also set an honourable mark on this kind of song. It is, likewise, proper to add the titles of a few typical songs which are found in every modern collection of so-called Volkslieder, though really volksthümliche Lieder converted into Volkslieder. Some of them are by celebrated composers whose fame was chiefly won in other fields; some by men, like Silcher, Gersbach, and Gust. Reichardt, who wrote nothing but volksthümliche Lieder; of some the authorship is wholly unknown; and of others it is disputed.

Worthy to be mentioned as representative songs of this class are 'Es ist bestimmt in Gottes Rath'; 'Ach, wie ists möglich dann'; 'Prinz Eugenius'; 'Zu Mantua in Banden'; 'Wir hatten gebaut ein stattliches Haus'; 'Es zogen drei Burschen'; 'Was klinget und singet die Strasse herauf'; 'Der Mai ist gekommen'; 'Bekränzt mit Laub'; 'Gaudeamus'; 'Es ging ein Frosch spazieren'; 'O Tannebaum, O Tannebaum'; 'Morgenroth, Morgenroth'; 'Ich hatt' einen Kameraden'; 'Was blasen die Trompeten'; 'Es geht bei gedämpftem Trommelklang'; 'Morgen müssen wir verreisen'; 'Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten'; 'In einem kühlen Grunde'; 'So viel Stern am Himmel stehen'; 'Es kann ja nicht immer so bleiben'; 'Nach Sevilla, nach Sevilla'; 'Es ist ein Schnitter der heisst Tod'; 'Der alte Barbarossa'; 'Die Fahnenwacht'; 'Mädele ruck, ruck, ruck'; 'Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland,' etc. None of these songs are vulgar, nor even commonplace. They are familiar to all classes, young and old; and the heartiness with which they are everywhere sung attests their vitality. Singing in unison is comparatively rare among Gennans; their universal love and knowledge of music naturally predispose them to singing in parts. A regiment on the march, a party of students on a tour, or even labourers returning from work, all alike sing these favourite songs in parts with remarkable accuracy and precision. And the natural aptitude of the nation for this practice is perpetually fostered by the 'Singvereine' or singing-clubs which exist even in the most obscure and secluded corners of Germany.

If it be asked by what qualities the volksthümliches Lied can be recognised, the answer would be, that it is strophical in form, and has an agreeable melody, easy to sing, a pure and simple harmony, an unpretending accompaniment, a regular rhythm, a correct accentuation, and words inspired by natural sentiment. The mere enumeration of these qualities explains its popularity. But it lacked the poetic and thoughtful treatment both of words and music, which subsequently raised the lyric song to the level of true art.

It is now time to inquire in what ways the Song was treated by some of the greatest composers of the 18th and 19th centuries—by Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr and Weber. Gluck was the contemporary of Graun, Agricola, and Kirnberger; and like them he called most of his songs odes. But the standpoint from which he regarded the Song was very different from theirs. Applying his theories about the Opera [see and ] to the Song, he steadfastly aimed at a correct accentuation of the words in the music, and the extinction of the Italian form of melody, which required the complete subordination, if not the entire sacrifice to itself, of every other element of composition. 'The union,' wrote Gluck to La Harpe in 1777, 'between the air and the words should be so close, that the poem should seem made for the music no less than the music for the poem'; and he conscientiously strove to be true to this ideal in all his work. But though he revolutionised the Opera, he left no deep mark on the Song; for indeed he never devoted to it the best of his genius. His few songs, chiefly Klopstock's odes, have no spontaneity about them, but are dry and pedantic, and with all his superiority to his contemporaries in aims and principles of composition, his odes are scarcely better than theirs. Here is an example:—