Part 11
Hand in hand with the development of orchestral accompaniment, the seventeenth century witnessed a wonderful development of organ and clavier playing. In this also Italy took the lead. The first great artists in organ playing were Italians; the most prominent of whom were Claudio Merulo and Giovanni Gabrieli, appointed organists at St. Mark’s in Venice in 1551 and 1557. A noted disciple of this Venetian organ school was the Netherlander, Jan Pieters Sweelinck, who studied under Zarlino and Cyprian de Rore. Later he was the teacher of various German organists, among whom was Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654). The “father of true organ playing,” Girolamo Frescobaldi (1587–1640), organist of St. Peter’s in Rome, wielded even greater influence on Germany through his famous pupils, Caspar Kerl and Jacob Froberger. Various forms of composition, whose names suggest their Italian origin, became common in Germany at this time; such as the capriccio, the canzona, the toccata and the ricercata. In all these forms fugal imitation is predominant, and the modern fugue begins to take determined shape. Pachelbel (1653–1706), a pupil of Kerl, was the first to combine the various advantages of both the German and Italian schools, and his works also mark the establishment of the modern tonal system. He made important advances in fugal art. We of to-day recognize the wonderful artistic consistency of Bach’s master-works in the fugue form. We note that they are composed of various sections which include separate developments of a principal theme, and that these sections are connected by episodical passages of a character similar to that of the rest of the composition. But we are apt to lose sight of the fact that this perfection of form was of very gradual growth. Pachelbel was the first to feel the necessity of attaining such artistic unity by careful attention to these details of construction. His successful endeavors to individualize and to group his ideas give a hitherto unknown clearness of form to his organ fantasias and toccatas. In his fantasias especially he employs rich figurations, but always with the evident purpose of making such ornamentation naturally grow out of the thematic material of the work, and all is carefully designed with reference to the nature of the instrument. His contemporary, Johann Adam Reinken, who died in 1732, at the age of ninety-nine, was, as composer and player, a veritable virtuoso. Sebastian Bach made two journeys to Hamburg for the purpose of hearing this master play. But, among all the predecessors of Bach in this branch, the most prominent was Dietrich Buxtehude, organist at Lübeck from 1669 to 1707. In all respects he elevated the art of organ composition and organ playing. The structure of his themes shows the greatest appreciation of the peculiar character of the instrument. Two years before Buxtehude’s death Bach became his pupil, and the influence of Buxtehude[23] is seen in the earlier organ compositions of Bach.
Clavier, or clavichord, composition was of later growth. At first, indeed, the same principles were applied to both instruments. The earlier English and Italian clavier masters used the various forms of organ composition with little regard for the different construction of the instruments. But as time went on the less ponderous of the two instruments became the exponent of the gayer moods, as represented by various forms of the dance. Under French masters, especially, the clavier began to have a style of its own. The clavier suite, or _partita_, was the favorite form, and consisted of a succession of dance movements. The name sonata, now of such definite meaning in connection with chamber music, was at first represented by short Venetian organ pieces. Subsequently, in the seventeenth century, the sonata was a composition for one or more violins with clavier. This originated in Italy under Corelli and others, and was imitated in England by Purcell, and in Germany by Biber and others. The first application of the name sonata to a solo for clavier was made by Johann Kuhnau, Bach’s predecessor as cantor of the St. Thomas School at Leipzig. His “Fresh Clavier Fruits; or, Seven Sonatas of good Invention and adapted to the Clavier,” shows by its title that this branch of composition was receiving some attention at a time which has been wholly eclipsed by the splendor of the succeeding period.
From this rapid sketch of the progress of organ and clavier music during this period, which produced but few works that have survived, we see how steady was the development of the art which became grand and ultimate in the works of Sebastian Bach, and how intimate was this master’s connection with the musical activity of his time. A similar review of the course of the opera and the oratorio will enable us to trace the growth of certain other art forms which took definite shape before the dawn of Germany’s musical greatness.
We have already spoken of the important influence exerted by the folk-song on the German church music of the sixteenth century. Hassler was the first to attain a blending of the folk-song style with that of older counterpoint. He was aided in his striving by a study of the Italian madrigals and villanelle. His dance-songs are especially rich in melodic feeling, and show that in the art of melodic phrasing he followed closely in the footsteps of the Italians. With the development of the instrumental accompaniment early in the seventeenth century there came certain changes of style. The ever-increasing tendency of the time to allow the melody to stand forth more prominently began to modify the nature of the harmonic setting. The songs of Jeep (1582–1650), and of his rival, Valentin Hausmann, show degeneracy, while the songs of Adam Krieger (1634–66) and Johann Krieger (1652–1736) are noble examples of the new style. The melodies of Johann Krieger are particularly charming, and show strong rhythmical character and real artistic power. He employs simple harmonies, yet shows more freedom and naturalness in modulation than any of his predecessors.
We perceive in the music of these German masters the universal sway which Italian opera already began to exercise. The opera—as the special article on Italian music fully describes—had its beginning in Italy just at the dawn of the seventeenth century. “Mysteries” and “liturgical dramas”—both of them crude stage representations of episodes in biblical history—had been common in Germany long before this time; and the church musicians—Isaak, Senfl, Walther, Lasso and others—had worked to some extent in this field. But it was not until the great Monteverde (1568–1643) had embodied in his operatic works the results obtained by the Bardi society of connoisseurs, and not until Carissimi had done similar service for the oratorio, that the new principles began to take root and develop in Germany. Johann Kapsberger, a composer, who resided at Rome from 1610 to 1630, was the first German to adopt, to a considerable extent, the new ideas concerning vocal composition. But there soon arose in Germany a number of composers who cultivated the new style, especially the oratorio, without losing their German characteristics. Johann Gottlieb Staden (1581–1636), for instance, was a Nuremberg composer of operettas. He had for his motto in art, “Italians know not all, for Germans, too, have thoughts.” The works of Staden show that the Germans from the outset had a tendency to characterize the personages of the drama by the accompanying music. Unfortunately the music of the first serious opera, “Dafne,” by Heinrich Schütz, the words of which were translated from the text of Rinuccini, has been lost. Although a considerable amount of creative energy was bestowed on “Singspiele” and operas, especially by amateurs, it was not until theatres were established in Germany that the opera enjoyed a cultivation equal to that of the oratorio and church music.
The experiment of a permanent theatre was first made at Hamburg in 1678. The determined zeal of Gerhard Schott, an influential jurist of that city, made the attempt successful, and as long as he lived the opera did not lack encouragement. This period embraces over sixty years. The first performance at this theatre was a musical play by Johann Theile (1646–1724), who had been under the instruction of Schütz in Weissenfels and a former choir-master in Gottorp. This sacred, allegorical work was succeeded by a number of similar pieces by the same composer. Other successful masters of the same period were Franck, Strungk, the celebrated violinist; also Förtsche, Conradi and Kusser. The last-mentioned composer was appointed conductor in 1693, and was a worthy forerunner of Keiser.
[Illustration:
HEINRICH SCHÜTZ ]
Reinhard Keiser was twenty-one years old when, in 1694, he was appointed director of the Hamburg opera. He was a man of undoubted genius. His productivity as a composer was immense. His works number about one hundred and twenty operas, many of which contain, in addition to choruses, recitatives, etc., no less than forty airs. In all his serious operas there was no spoken dialogue. His works were very popular throughout Germany. His activity was not confined to the stage, for he composed church music, passion music and cantatas. He had a rare and seemingly inexhaustible gift of melody, and his recitatives are masterly, but his music lacks the breadth and massive strength of his successor, Handel. “All that Keiser wrote,” says Mattheson, “was uncommonly easy to sing, and was so easily caught by the ear that one enjoys it without feeling any respect or intense admiration for it.” Keiser lacked earnestness, and did not exert an enduring influence for good on the Hamburg opera. He was willing to lend his art to the most trivial and nonsensical farce, in order to afford amusement to the rough and common people. Mattheson compares him with his more earnest contemporary, Rosenmüller, whose sonatas were “like the fresh blue salmon of the Elbe,” while Keiser’s light music was “like the smoked golden herrings of the North Sea, which tickle the palate, but awake a thirst for drink.” In place of the sacred spectacles and plays which at the outset had formed the subject of the drama on the Hamburg stage, in the course of time the gods and heroes of mythology, and vulgar farces, began to divide the attention of the public. The stage spectacle grew more and more sensational. Fireworks, devils, serpents, dragons, battle scenes and all kinds of noises and sights were introduced. Not content with mere humanity on the stage, various animals became personages in the drama, and mingled their outcries with the music of the orchestra. Then again, in some operas, no less than four different languages were spoken and sung indiscriminately; yet in spite of all these absurdities, the Hamburg opera remained worthy of the services of a Handel or a Mattheson.
[Illustration:
FIRST SCENE IN KEISER’S OPERA OF “HANNIBAL.” ]
John Mattheson was a Hamburger by birth, and began his musical career as a singer at the opera. He made his last appearance in that capacity in Handel’s “Nero” in 1705. Mattheson was a man of remarkable versatility of talent. He was a very prolific composer, but did not possess great originality nor depth of conception. He was a good actor, singer, and a finished performer on the harpsichord. As a literary musician he still holds an eminent place. He used his facile pen in the composition of an opera, or passion, or in the preparation of a musical essay; also in the translation of some such pamphlet as that on “The Properties and Virtues of Noble Tobacco.” His music, which once found so many enthusiastic admirers, is no longer performed, but his writings are still of value to students of musical literature. His most famous books are “The Complete Art of Conducting,” “The Newly Opened Orchestra,” and the “Triumphal Arch.” The last is especially valuable as a source of information concerning the lives of musical artists. These works have a place in every complete musical library.
A more gifted musician was Georg Philipp Telemann, who was born four years earlier than Handel and Bach. Telemann was the last famous composer for the Hamburg theatre. His works are more distinctly German than the majority of those of the period, which was thoroughly under the influence of Italy in all matters pertaining to opera Telemann’s name marks the decline of the Hamburg stage. The time was not yet ripe for a distinctively national style of opera. It was destined for Gluck and Mozart, half a century later, to reform and develop German opera.
It has already been said that the oratorio enjoyed at first a steadier and more constant development in Germany than the opera. Heinrich Schütz, whom we have mentioned as the author of the first opera given in Germany, was also the first prominent oratorio composer. He was born in 1585. By frequent visits to Venice, where he studied with Gabrieli, he kept himself in touch with the musical life of Italy. Although Dresden was the scene of his principal labors, the last twenty-five years of his life were spent in Weissenfels, where he died in 1672. His larger works are “The Passion” according to the four Evangelists, the “Story of the Resurrection,” and the “Seven Last Words.” In the second of these works, produced in Dresden in 1623, the form of the modern oratorio is clearly defined. The customary “Introitus” is for six-part chorus, and the words of the Evangelist are intoned. The more significant passages of the text are selected for characteristic music. The _dramatis personæ_—the Saviour, the Angel, Mary Magdelene, and some of the disciples—are given prominence and individuality in various _cantilene_ movements, sometimes for one or two voices. This distinguishes the new form of oratorio from the older, in which everything was performed by choral masses. In Schütz’s sacred symphonies and concertos he attained far greater finish and variety in the solo numbers, and greater mastery in general. By his attempts to tell the story in dramatic form, without the aid of scenery or action, Schütz became the real founder of the modern German oratorio. We cannot suppose, however, that Handel was acquainted with the music of Schütz, for before the end of the seventeenth century his works were generally forgotten; but his greater freedom of treatment, and dramatic interest, established ideals in Germany which prevented the oratorio from yielding in that country to the degenerating theatrical influence which had such baneful effect on all forms of sacred music in Italy at this period.
Contemporary with Schütz was J. H. Schein, who was noted for his sacred concertos. Johannes Rosenmüller, who died in 1680, effected a more regular construction of the concerto. His works in this form consist of a series of separate movements, which show unity of character by the repeated presence of some principal thought. Thus the form of the cantata was established, in which Bach afterwards displayed such wonderful activity. The immediate predecessors of Bach were Johann Rudolph Ahle (1625–73), and his son Georg Ahle (1650–1706). In the oratorios of the latter the form of the aria is clearly defined.
The account that has been given of the development of Protestant Church music, and organ and clavier music, previous to Handel and Bach, may serve to show the foundations on which their monumental works were built. It was Handel’s mission to reconcile the church and secular styles in his great oratorios. His long career as a dramatic composer served as an admirable school for his talents; and when in middle life he abandoned the field of Italian opera for the oratorio, he was so well equipped that his triumphs were but as the natural result of his former discipline. His forty operas shared the fate of all operas of that time; not one holds a place on the modern stage. The operas of Handel are not musical dramas in the sense of the present day. They consist chiefly of a string of airs, with little or no dramatic action. His stage heroes are generally trivial and insipid. It was destined for Gluck and Mozart to reform the traditional Italian opera. Handel was content to avail himself of the conditions of the opera as they then existed. His opera airs are the best of his time; they are lyric, but not dramatic.
The dramatic talent of Handel did not find expression in his operas but in his oratorios. The great heroes of Jewish history, like Samson, Saul and Judas Maccabæus, are represented in a combined narrative and dramatic form. Many of his oratorio solos are more dramatic than his opera airs.
In the oratorio of “Samson,” for instance, the characters of Samson, Delila, Minoah and Micah naturally suggest the dramatic scene. But it is especially in the conflicting ideas and emotions of the people—the chorus of Israelites, in opposition to the chorus of Philistines, the heathen priests of Dagon, and the chorus of Virgins of Delila—that the dramatic conflict is sharply defined with sublime choral effects. His choruses are elemental in their irresistible and overwhelming power when sung by large masses of voices. In this respect his choruses are unique and have never been equalled. While Handel’s oratorios in general hold the middle ground between the secular and church style of his time, Bach’s great choral works belong more distinctly to the older church style of Schütz and others.
As Palestrina marks the culmination of the unaccompanied (_a capella_) church music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, so Bach is the highest representative of Protestant Church music. Yet he is more than this, for in his sacred cantatas and passions he reveals a nature more profoundly religious than even Handel or Palestrina. His Passion music to St. Matthew has no rival in its special form. It is the sublimest conception in music of the trials and death of Jesus. Among similar works before and during Bach’s time, his passions are the only ones that have lived. The oratorio has replaced the passion; but the older form as perfected by Bach possesses a certain reality and intensity of religious fervor that not even the grandest oratorios of Handel can match, except possibly the “Messiah.” Notwithstanding the sublimity, variety and vocal effectiveness of the latter work, the St. Matthew Passion surpasses it in lyric pathos and dramatic fire. Handel’s long experience with the public, his Italian vocal training, the example of Purcell and other masters of the English anthem, were important factors in his artistic development, and enabled him to carry the art of solo and chorus composition to the highest perfection. On the other hand, Bach’s difficult choral style suggests the organ, and his airs, though full of religious pathos, are often stiff and archaic in style.
Great as Bach is in his vocal works, he is still greater in his instrumental music. Through him, for the first time in history, instrumental music reaches a point of influence where it predominates. He is justly considered as the true progenitor of modern instrumental music, and largely to his influence we owe the subsequent wonderful development of this youngest branch of art. Handel, on the other hand, had little influence on instrumental music. His counterpoint is more vocal than instrumental; he makes a more limited use of dissonances and modulation. Bach stood far in advance of his time in these respects, and anticipated many of the effects of the present day. His remarkable use of chromatic and enharmonic modulation is exhibited in all his principal works, especially in such movements as the great organ Fantasia in G minor. (Volume II., Peters’ Edition.)
As a master of the fugue, nay, of all polyphonic writing, Bach stands pre-eminent, a model for all time. We are overcome by the inexhaustible wealth of his ideas, that seem as boundless as the forces of nature, and we constantly feel the emotional depth and romantic sentiment of this wonderful artist.
He not only perfected the stricter forms of counterpoint, but the older, lighter forms found their ideal in his charming clavier suites, violin sonatas, etc. His “Well-Tempered Clavichord” is a unique work, one of the corner-stones of modern music.
Above all, his organ works are the very central point and acme of his achievement. The great Prelude and Fugue in A minor, the Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, the Toccata in F, the Passacaglia, and other organ compositions are to be classed with Beethoven’s symphonies as among the greatest works of art.
Notwithstanding the attempt to establish German opera at Hamburg, Italian opera held full sway in Germany until the influence of Gluck and Mozart was felt.
At the time when the great achievements of Sebastian Bach were almost entirely unrecognized and unappreciated by his countrymen, his contemporaries, Hasse and Graun, were lauded to the skies, and the operas of the Neapolitan school, with their singer-triumphs, held all Europe in subjection.
The Italians Steffani, Cimarosa, and Jomelli lived in Germany, and their works were often given in the principal opera houses. It was then only natural that Germans should seek public favor by adopting the prevailing musical style. Chief among the writers in the Italian style were Johann Adolf Hasse (1699–1783), Karl Heinrich Graun, and Johann Gottlieb Naumann. The number of Hasse’s compositions is extremely great. They include operas, oratorios, masses, cantatas, and instrumental movements of every kind. The florid style of Italian vocal composition predominated in his music. The harmonic structure is of the simplest nature, and his instrumentation is without individuality. He had better taste than most Italians of his time, and showed greater dramatic instinct. On the whole it may be said that he represents the highest attainment of the Italian opera of the school of Scarlatti. The music of Graun, who was born in 1701, is not so purely Italian in style, and certain of his sacred works, notably his passion music, entitled “Tod Jesu” (Death of Jesus), are known at the present time. His recitatives, like those of Hasse, are dry and insignificant. On the contrary, his arias are more pleasing, and show the influence of Keiser. The songs of Graun deserve mention. The compositions of Naumann (1741–1801) display perfect facility in the Italian style; his career, however, was interrupted by the appearance of Gluck and Mozart in the operatic field.
Gluck had a long experience as a dramatic composer before he entered on the path which has rendered his name illustrious in the annals of music. He was already advanced in years when he turned his back on the Italian opera, and disclosed his plan of reform. His principles applied only in their full force to the degenerate _opera seria_ of that period. These ideas were by no means original with him; they had previously been accepted, and realized by other musicians. They were, however, first brought into the foreground by the production of his “Alcestis,” “Orpheus,” “Iphigenia,” and other mature works, and divided the musical world of that time into opposite parties.
[Illustration:
R. Bong. X.A.
KARL HEINRICH GRAUN. ]
It is remarkable that Gluck, who fought against the musical inconsistencies and defects of his time, should not have felt the necessity of reforming the dramatic construction of the opera, for he showed a much keener insight and appreciation of dramatic effect than the poets whose librettos he composed. He knew how to give characteristic expression to the personalities of the play. His characters may be read like an open book. In simplicity and dignity of style he approached the Greek ideal.