New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
SCUUMANN AS A CRITIC.


Three years ago Mrs. Ritter published. partly as
nv oxrorin,en4 q selection of translations from the
fou, volunes of Robert Schumaun's musical essays
md criticisms collected by his own hand from TIE
files of Die Ncue ZcitsckrJn fir Musk. The venture
was so we'll received that she has been encouraged
10 present a second series of excerpts. The book Is
Uniform in STYLE with the first, but, being thicker
il contaius considerably moro matter. The same
praise which was so literally bestowed upon MIS-.
RtteF's work al the outset Is equally deserved now
Unlike too maay trans,ators of musical writings
she understands musjc We have an assurance IVA.
she gives us the exact meaning Of her author on all
the nice points Of art, and that she renders all Tue
German technical terms by their true EnGlSn
eouyaleus The con tents of the present volume olHer
little In character from the previous s'iec"ohS'
There are no articles in the strict essay lorh' put
we find instead multitude 81 criticisms upon par
tcular compositions Of every sort vocal ana lnstfu-
mental from piaUOiorte variations TO symphonies
and grand operas. Many of the works here DIS
eussed have long been buried IN oblivion; bat the
criticisms deserve to 1--we, although the tex has
pershcd They may be accepted. as Mrs Ritter has
well sad in her preface guides of the highest
practical value TO professional and amateur must
clans. They abound also IN rules aud suggestions
which will aid u in listening nteliEently to must
cal performances; and they furnish an excellent and
uuch-uccdcd model or or tbs.
The establishment of Die Veae ZcitecNrin by Schu.
mann and few OF his friends al Loipsic IN 1881
marked q new era in musical criticism Oar gene
ration which explores 50 well the treasures OF mod
etn music can hardly realize how uncertain were
the position aud the tendencies OF the art hau a
century ago even in the most cultivated ana en-
hqhtened cities OF the Continent. MANY OF Bee'ho-
VEINS greatest works were never heard and moS' OF
them were unappreciatcd. The older masters, Ike
Handel and Bach, were lar less studied and under
STOOD than they are today. Tho model Of opera
makers was Rossnj then at the summit of his pop
MARTY; and Rossni was best known not by bis
finer dr.,natic ouoras Ike "GuIllaume Tell" and
The E rbcr" has by weak and superficial works
winch are already forgotten. Mendessohn was IN
md-caree4. excrtiug wholesome influence within
certain bounds but he had not yet deeply Affected
the taste Of his generation. Probably the foremost
musician Of the time-we mean OF course the fore
most in tle estimation OF ms contcmporares-W&s
Spohr: and Spohr believed that Beethoven lacked
asthoticll feeling aad sense of the beautiful ~;
ne declared that the symphony in { minor had some
iudividual beauties, but # did not constitute
classical whole" -: the famous Introduction seemed
to him wanting in dignity ana the conclusion OF
the THO "an unmcauiug nOi,e' the first three
movements Of the Ninth symphony were worse
than all the eight previous symphonies" and the
choral movement WAS "mOustrouS, taSteleSs. aud
trivial" For the most part the world Of art was
divided between dry and barren Journalists VINO
manufactured what the Germans call "hapellmeiStcr
music" Just as undergraduates construct Greek
verses or solve mathematical problems; and the
brilliant musical shOWmcn who occupied themselves
with the establishment of tribes ana the deyiSlng
OF difficulties which were not worth overcoming.
Schumann attacked both schools with vIgor all The
more effective because his manner was not severe.
-, Z n, /..fo oi,,n r-.ra
written under different pseudonyms, for he felt, "a
MrsRlrter explained in her Biographical introduction
70 her frs. volume OF the transatIOn, that differ
eut works and mdIyiduaht'e5 appealed 10 different
sides Of his nature and he expressed the varied SYM
pathies thus awakened by the invention of opposite
personalities" The impulslve Florestan, the dreamy
Eusebius the philosophical Master RaIo, were the
imaginary COMPANIONS into whose mouths he put
the expression If his own faucics. These aud the
equally fictitious Jonathan, Serpentnus, and Wedcl
the Village 5 xton (names assumed by his assOci-
ates, were the principal members of the famous
"ptVjdsbiindleTN who waged such memorable
war in The Soc Journal Of HWsic against the Phlhs
tines. The contest Of the DIydites with pedautIy
and stupidity was even set to music by Schumann.
The la of the little panoforte pieces to which he
gave the name Of Carnival" is entitled, "Jhe
March of the Davidites against the Phillstines'
puip and ant Guated air Of the seventeenth century
known as the Or4 dIClblbtI-OdnCt IL iHllOtuCeu
rs a symbol of he mechanical musicians who com
pose by the yard and with great deal of humOr
it is gradually overpOwered by the free and fresh
strains of the young reformers. Wagner, it will be
remembered, has made striking use OF the same idea
in THE Mastersingers of Nuremberg"
The underlying principle of Schumanns criticism
was substantially. what has since been termed, by
the more advanced school of composers represented
by Last and Wagner the necessity of " poetlcal
bass" for music. Ii by no means bis belief
that the composer ought to illustrate an explicit
text or that programme muslc' then just coming
into vogue. was legitimate development OF art
though he affixed suggestive and descriptive titles
to many Of his works, he used TO be at pains TO
explain that the music was wnttcn first and
labelled afterward. But if he did not carry his
theories to their logical conclusion, it is neverthe
less true that the romantic school TO which he be-
longed was the noble and benehcent forcrunner of
the poetic school which embodles the ideas of
musical progress. Schumann set no value upon
music wiNch was not vivited and elevated by
inward impulse. He strove always to get at the
heart of n composition tie treated the fashionable
brayura pieces of the day and the irreproachable
mathematical exercises of tho pedantS with equal
contempt, because when lie had penetrated tue
specious outward form he found nothing inside
either of theiI D." When have in mind the highest
description OF UinSlC, ne says IN one OF the papers
translated in the volume now before us lp. PIG,
such as Bach end Beethoven have bestowed on us
in some of their creations-when | speak OF those
rare moods of mind. such the artist should
spire in us-I demand that each of his works shall
lead me a step forward IN the spiritual dominion of
art and demand poetic depth and novelty every
where in detail as well as in the whole but have
long TO seek for this" lie severely condemned
many of the popular pieces Of Thalberg because he
recognized in the great viruoso O decided talent
for composition that threatened =" to be ruined by