Part 14 (1/2)
[Footnote 162: For suggestive comments by the noted critic ETA
Hoffenius of Beethoven, and for a complete translation of his essay on the Fifth Symphony see the article by AW Locke in the Musical Quarterly for January, 1917]
THE CORIOLanus OVERTURE
This drareat importance, not only for its emotional power and eloquence, but because it represents a type of Prograestive title, which Beethoven was the first to conceive and to establish From the inherent connection between the materials of music (sound and rhythm) and certain natural phenomena (the sound and rhythm of wind, wave and storm, the call of birds, etc) it is evident that the possibility for Program--or descriptive--ination of hts, sounds and events; and to their translation into uide to the hearer Thus we find Jannequin, a French co two pieces--for _voices_!--entitled ”_Les cris de Paris_” and ”_La Bataille--defaite des Suisses a la journee de Marignan_;” in the former of which are introduced the varied cries of street venders and in the latter, imitations of fifes, drums, cannon and all the bustle and noises of war In the Fitzwillialish school, in which such natural pheno and fair weather are delineated There is a curious si in this piece[164] of Mundy and that of Wagner in the _Valkyrie_ In the _Bible Sonatas_ of the German composer Kuhnau (1660-1722) we have a musical description of the combat between David and Goliath Anyone at all familiar with the music of Couperin and Raned to their char pieces for the clavecin--almost always drawn from the field of nature: birds, bees, butterflies, hens, windmills, even an eel! It is but fair to state that we also find atte, even in those early days, as is indicated by such titles as _La Prude_, _La Diligente_, _La Seduisante_[165] Haydn's portrayal of Chaos, in the Prelude to the _Creation_, is a remarkable mood-picture and shows a trend in quite a different direction All these instances corroborate the stateeneral, composers were influenced by external phenoram music was of an imitative and often frankly literal kind Froenius, however, we should iine that he would be far les of the soul and we find that such indeed is the case With the exception of the _Pastoral Sy victorious arram music invariably aims at the description of character and the manner in which it is influenced by events--_not_, be it understood, at a musical portrayal of the events theenerally indicated by the terram music is subjective, when it deals with the emotions and moods of real or historical persons; objective, when it is based upon incidents or objects of the actual world It is evident that in subjective program music an adjustment must be made, for the dramatic needs of the subject are to be considered as well as the inherent laws ofof the conception of form, so marked in modern music, has been caused by the need of such an adjustment; for as composers became more cultivated, ination, the arbitrary conventions of strict form had perforce to yield to the deram music is without a definite structure, only that the _form_ is _different_--modified by the needs of the subject As there is no other point in aesthetics which has caused , a few further coo so far as to deny the right of existence to all prograram music, but to condemn it _per se_ is sie proportion of the music since Beethoven is on a poetic basis and has descriptive titles Others claim that they cannot understand it But that is their loss, not the fault of the music; the composer writes it and it is for us to acquire the state of ation, often heard, is that a piece of program music should be so clear and self-sufficient that the hearer needs to know nothing of the title to derive the fullest enjoys the question As well say that in listening to a song we need to know nothing of theto Beethoven's _Coriolanus_, for example, any sensitive hearer will be impressed by the vitality of the rhythm and the sheer beauty of orchestral sound But to hold that such a hearer gets asdrama and can follow sympathetically the correspondence between the characters and their e in reckless assertion The true relationshi+p between composer and hearer is this: orks are entitled _Coriolanus_, _Melpomene_, _Francesca da Rimini_, _Sakuntala_, _L'apres-midi d'un Faune_, _The Mystic Trumpeter_, _L'apprenti Sorcier_, and the composers reveal therein the influence such subjects have had upon their i a tacit coence and cultivation they expect to be on a par with their own If such be not the case, the fault is not the composer's; the burden of proof is on the listener[167] Let us now trace certain relationshi+ps between the drama of _Coriolanus_ and the musical characterization of Beethoven The Overture was coht von Collin, but as the play is obsolete and as both von Collin and Shakespeare went to Plutarch for their sources, a faranted[168]--with the English draround for an appreciation of the ates is evidently that in which Voluilia plead with the victorious warrior to refrain from his fell purpose of destruction The work is in Sonata-forreat Sonata principle of _duality_ of _theme_ exactly harmonizes with the two main influences of the drama--the masculine and the feminine It is of particular interest to observe how the usual methods of Sonata-foric of the subject The work begins Allegro con brio, with three sustained Cs--as if so with heavy foot--followed by a series of assertive _ff_ chords for full orchestra (note the piercing dissonance in the 7th measure), which at once establishes an at in measure 15 with its restless rhythm, is not meant to be beautiful in the ordinary sense of the term--”a concourse of sweet sounds”; rather is it a dramatic characterization, a picture in tery and the fierce threats which we naturally associate with Coriolanus The theme is repeated and then the transition develops this masculine mood in an impassioned manner--observe the frequency of _sf_ accents and the crashi+ng dissonances[169]--until a sustained note on the violins, followed by a descending cantabile phrase, brings us to the second the_
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[Footnote 163: A complete account of this developramme Music_]
[Footnote 164: For an excellent description of this piece, as well as others of the period, see the volume by Krehbiel _The Pianoforte and Its Music_]
[Footnote 165: A comprehensive and invaluable description of the works and style of Couperin and Rameau may be found in the _History of the Pianoforte and its Players_ by Oscar Bie For an early example of what is now called ”poetic atmosphere” everyone should know Couperin's piece _Les Barricades Mysterieuses_ which is estive when played on the clavecin with its delicate tone]
[Footnote 166: A favorite terram is a ”crutch”]
[Footnote 167: There are several essays which will help the student toward clear thinking on this iram Music_ in Newman's _Musical Studies_, the article on the subject in Grove's Dictionary, and the exhaustive volume by Niecks; some of his views, however, are extreme and ner's interpretation of Coriolanus in his essay on the Overture (English translation by WA
Ellis)]
[Footnote 168: Twenty-five years' experience as a college teacher, however, has proved that _too ranted!]
[Footnote 169: It is unfortunate that the diminished seventh chord does not sound so fierce to our modern ears as it undoubtedly did in Beethoven's time, but that is simply because we have become accustomed to more strident effects]
This theme, in distinction from the first, typifies the appeal for mercy er than that between these two thee, and in the ato, restrained and in the ination was impressed by the subject After an eloquent expansion of the second theme there follow several stormy measures (the deprecations of the woh a crescendo to a closing theme, at ly marked The exposition closes in thisDeveloph several successions of restless, crescendo passages until a _ff_ descent sweeps us back to the Recapitulation, in measure 151 It is now evident that the furious intentions of the warrior have raged themselves out, for not only is the theme which represents him much shortened but it loses somewhat of its former fiery intensity Froely modified by the dramatic deinning to prevail is evident froives its le appearance which we should expect in the usual Recapitulation The third appeal, inexpressed in the minor mode In the Coda there are fitful flare-ups of the relentless purpose, but that the stubborn will has been softened is evident fro down of the rhyth passage, we have a picture of broken resolves and ruined hopes The theh much of the structure in this overture is identical with that which prevails in absolute music--for, after all, the composer must be true to the laws of his h _purely dra analysis Beethoven, at any rate, called the overture Coriolanus, and we may be sure hemore than a skillful combination of sounds and rhythms
We now add a few last words on the quality of Beethoven's themes in his moments of supreme inspiration The unshaken hold which his music has upon the affections ofcharacteristics: first, the way in which he drale_ notes, _ie_, treating them as actual factors in life itself rather than as artistic abstractions; second, the spirituality and sublie The first quality is exees, notably in the first hth Sy le note D-sharp, and the entry _pp_ of the F natural in the following passage--in each case, entirely disconnected fro_
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At the e it would see over our shoulder
In the Finale of the Eighth Sy than the sudden explosive entrance of the unrelated C-sharp--before the orchestra continues its hter of Rabelais hi_
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There are nu his dramatic use of such orchestral instruments as the bassoons, horns, kettle-dru[170] is the Slow Moveue, as it has been eloquently called, ”between Destiny and the hu appeals of the solo instrus and forebodings of the strings Observe especially the closing _
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[Footnote 170: See, however, the octave leaps of the kettle-drums in the Scherzo of the Ninth Symphony]
A spiritual quality escapes verbal definition; but just as we can feel it in certain characters, and just as we recognize the sublime in nature and in such works of art as a cathedral or a Shakespearian Dra specific examples from his works: the Trio of the second movement of the Seventh Symphony; the Slow Movement theme of the B-flat major Trio and the Slow Movement of the Sonata op 109 (See Supplement Nos 47, 48, 49) Anyone who allows these themes to sink into his consciousness is carried into a realnize the truth that ”the things which are unseen are eternal” Music of this transporting power is far above that which merely excites, amuses or even fascinates; and of such music Beethoven is the poet for all time
We have referred above to the volu Beethoven Several scholars, in fact--notably Alexander Thayer and Sir George Grove--have devoted a large part of their lives to finding out all there is to be known about his life and works Obviously the layman cannot be expected to become familiar with this entirebooks, however, may be considered indispensable aids to those ould become cultivated appreciators of Beethoven's reat glory to American scholarshi+p; the life in Grove's Dictionary; the illulish); _Beethoven and his Nine Symphonies_ by Grove; the _Oxford History of Music_, Vol V; and the essay by Mason in his _Beethoven and his Forerunners_[171] We cite, in closing, a eulogy[172] by Dannreuther--in our opinion the enius: