Part 27 (1/2)
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[Footnote 314: By double counterpoint isof the voices that theythe lower and vice versa) and sound equally well For further coether with illustrative exa's _Tonal Counterpoint_]
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This is developed with more and more animation until the announcement, in measure 71, of the second theanic relationshi+p for which the movement is noted; for this theme
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is evidently derived by rhyth slow movement It is brilliantly expanded and leads directly--there being no double bar and repeat--to the development in measure 115 This part of the houtIn ! With amente) an impressive treatment in the bass of the second theme, answered shortly after in the upper voice This is developed to a cli periods of ”cooling dohich prepare us for the Recapitulation in measure 239 This corresponds exactly with the Exposition, ending with two passages (poco meno mosso and molto vivace),--based upon the rhyth, elaborate Coda This begins, maestoso, with an impressive statement of thefigures in the ind instruments
It seems to portray so and banners flying A still ico, con tutta forza) leads to the Presobsed on the subsidiary thee 312), which fairly carries us off our feet The last portion of the Coda (nified proclamation of thewith an unmistakable effect of unity
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The subject of Russian music[315] is too vast for any adequate treatle book, but there are several other composers in addition to Tchaikowsky of such individuality and remarkable achievement as to warrant some notice These sky, have done for the free expression of the Russian teol and Dostoyevsky represent in literature ”To understand fully the tendencies of Neo-Russian music, and above all to sympathize with the spirit in which this music is written, the incredible history of Holy Russia, the history of its rulers and people--the mad caprices and horrid deeds of the Roone by, surpassed in restless melancholy and atrocity the insane Caesars, and were more to be pitied, as well as detested, than Tiberius or Nero--the nature of the landscape, the waste of steppes, the dreariness of winter, and the loneliness of suance of aristocratic life--the red tape, extortion, and cruelty of officers--the subli, starving multitude to the Tsar--all this should be as fae of Russian literature, froenieff's tales of life a the serfs, and the novels of Tolstoi, in which ely blended Inass of that country, one should know first of all the conditions that s possible, and one should breathe the ats have worked”[316]
[Footnote 315: The lish is the _History of Russian Music_ by Montagu-Nathan; in French there are the Essays _Musiques de Russie_ by Bruneau]
[Footnote 316: Quoted from the chapter on Russian music in _Famous Composers and Their Works_ (2d series)]
The first real leader after the wholesos made by Glinka (with his operas, _A Life for the Czar_ and _Lud his country almost entirely under the dominion of Italian and German music, proclais and its undoubted emotional power should create its own music Like many of the Russians Balakireff was an amateur, but in the true sense of that term, _ie_, he loved orously to coinal works a spirit true to his own genius and to the tendencies of his native land Though educated as a lawyer he had acquired through a study of Mozart, Berlioz and Liszt a thorough technique and so was equipped to put into practise his hich was individual liberty ”I believe in the subjective, not in the objective power of music,” he said to his pupils ”Objective music may strike us with its brilliancy, but its achievement remains the handiwork of a er to produce effects, but the ideal of a genius is to reproduce his very self, in unison with the object of his art There is no doubt that art requires technique, but it reatest pieces of art are rather rude technically, but they grip the soul and command attention for intrinsic values This is apparent in the works of Michelangelo, of Shakespeare, of Turgenieff, and of Mozart The beauty that fascinates us ard technique as a necessary but subservient eleerous and kill individuality as it has done with those favorites of our public, whose virtuosity I despise more than mere crudities” Balakireff's actual works are few in nu schools ofothers; but in those works which we have[317] there is a strong note of freedom not to be missed His Symphonic Poem _Tamara_ and his fantasy for pianoforte _Islamey_ are remarkable for that semi-oriental exotic spirit so prevalent in Russian enuine beauty
[Footnote 317: Towards the end of his life he destroyed many of his compositions]
Borodin (1834-1887) is the ne plus ultra example of that versatility in which the eon and doctor he enjoyed a high position; as a cheinal researches and wrote treatises which were recognized as distinct contributions to science; he was one of the earliest scholars in the world to advocate that women should have the same education as men and was one of the founders (about 1870) of a rad So tireless was he in these varied activities, it seems a miracle that he could also become one of the best pianists of his time (he played well also the violin and the flute) and according to Liszt,[318] one of the most able orchestral masters of the nineteenth century But as evidence of this a two symphonies (the second in Bquartets, the first strikingly original, thematically, harmonically and in idiomatic use of the instruments; a small Suite for pianoforte, of which the Serenade is cited in the Suppleor_--re, of which the coor is essentially a national opera, which can be of interest only to us Russians who love to refresh our patriotisins of our nationality live again upon the stage;” a symphonic poe some of his most characteristic work--the _Paraphrases_ written in collaboration with Korsakoff, Liadoff and Cui as a kind of musical joke This composition,[319] a set of twenty-four variations founded on the tune popularly known as ”chop-sticks” is dedicated ”to little pianists capable of executing the theer of each hand” For the paraphrases themselves a player of considerable technique is required In Borodin's style ays find a glowing color-scheme of Slavic and Oriental elements As a modern Russian composer says, ”It is individually descriptive and extremely modern--so rasp all its intrinsic beauties”
[Footnote 318: For a delightful account of the friendshi+p of these two composers consult the volume _Borodin and Liszt_ by Alfred Habets (translated by Rosa New to Liszt ”a compendium of musical science in the form of a jest”]
The ifted of the Neo-Russian group is Rimsky-Korsakoff (1844-1908) He has been aptly characterized as the Degas or Whistler of music, and for his marvellous powers of description, especially of the sea, and for his co he is considered the storyteller par excellence in modern music As in the case of Borodin we are filled with amazement at the power of work and the versatility in Korsakoff's nature For hout his life was involved with official duties Yet he found tiinality and finished workmanshi+p These comprise the symphonic poems _Antar_, _Sadko_ and _Scheherazade_;[320] a _Spanish Caprice_ for full orchestra; twelve operas of which the best known in this country is the fascinating _Le Coq d'Or_; a concerto for pianoforte and orchestra; a large nus and many choruses for men's and women's voices His treatises on har the authority in modern treatment of the orchestra His _Scheherazade_ is undoubtedly the most brilliant descriptive work in modern literature, for an account of which we quote the eloquent words of Philip Hale
[Footnote 320: This work in structure is a Suite, _ie_, there are four distinct, separated movements]
”_Scheherazade_ (Op 35) is a suite inspired by the Arabian Nights
The Sultan, persuaded of the falseness and faithlessness of woman, had sworn to put every one of his wives to death in turn after the first night But Scheherazade saved her life by interesting hihts Many marvels were told by her in Rimsky-Korsakoff's fantastic poem,--marvels and tales of adventure: 'The Sea and Sinbad's shi+p'; 'The Story of the Three Kalandars'; 'The Young Prince and the Young Princess'; 'The Festival at Bagdad'; 'The shi+p that went to pieces against a rock surmounted by a bronze warrior' As in Berlioz's _Fantastic Symphony_, so in this suite, there is a the in all four iven to a solo violin It is a freein a free cadenza There is no develope work There is constant repetition in different tonalities; there is an exceedingly skillful blending of timbres; there is a keen sense of possible orchestral effects A glance at the score sho sadly the pedagogueof it, and furtherination of the hearer ination of the composer, if he would know full enjoyhts, such as come to the partakers of leaves and flowers of he perfurated sandal-root The music comes to the listener of western birth and lish mountains at De Quincey's door You learn of Sinbad, the explorer, who is nearer to us than Nansen; of the Kalandar Prince who spent a dad, and told of his incredible adventures; and Scheherazade, the narrator, she too is merely a shape in a dreah note exhaled by the wondering violin
”Thesuch as falls froarrulous in the sun; and then again, there is the reckless chatter of the babbler in the market-place, heated with unmixed wine”
The sky[321] (1831-1881) Although of intense inspiration and of unco ideals his musical education was so incomplete that his technique was inadequate for the expression of his in well says, ”His works bizarre though they be, formless as they often are, have in them a force of expression and a dramatic accent of which no one can deny the intensity It would be unjust to pretend that he spoke for the purpose of saying nothing; unfortunately he is too often satisfied with sky hi withwith the principle that human speech is subject to musical laws, I see in music, not only the expression of sentiment by e”
In fact the do it into closer relation with actual life
[Footnote 321: For biographical inforu-Nathan]
”In order to understand Moussorgsky's work and his attitude towards art, it is necessary to realise the social conditions under which he lived He was a true child of the sixties, of that period of moral and intellectual ferment which followed the accession of Alexander II and the eroup of coive musical expression to their neakened nationality, none was so entirely carried away by the literary and politicalhimself and his comrades the question posed by the most popular novel of the day: 'What shall we do?' The ansas: 'Throw aside social and artistic conventions Make art the hand-maiden of humanity Seek not for beauty but for truth Go to the people Hold out the hand of fellowshi+p to the liberated masses and learn from them the true purpose of life' To this democratic and utilitarian spirit, to this deep compassion for the people, to this conteeneration Moussorgsky strove to give expression in his , as Tchernichevsky, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoi expressed it in fiction We ree with his aesthetic principles, but we ical sequence and conviction a considerable portion of his prograreat ends he undoubtedly overlooked the has Tchaikowsky and Riinality intact, but at a heavy cost The weakness of his technique has been exaggerated by those who put down all his peculiarities to ignorance; but in soards orchestration--his craftsmanshi+p was certainly unequal to the demands of his inspiration, for his aisky's name would have been more closely linked with those of Berlioz and Richard Strauss”[322]