New-York tribune., 1901-01-06
CYCLES MUSICIANS.
THEIR PREDICTIONS MAINLY IN.
STRUHENTAL AND SECULAR.

THEIR PRODUCTIONS MAINLY IN.
STRUHENTAL AND SECULAR.
AS distinguished from the art Of the thr..
centuries which Immediately preceded IT, tha
music OF the nineteenth century was predonj
nantIy instrumental and secular. The influences
which made it so were at work several decades
before the eighteenth century came to a close
but of the three masters who exercised tha
most puissant force upon the new art twa were
alive when the nineteenth century came H.
The apostolic succession passed from Haydn 70
Mozart: from Mozart to Beethoven. Mozart has
been dead ten years when Haydn. at the ase
of sixty-nine produced his Seasons" in 1851.
Haydn had rounded out the instrumental forms
which Beethoven was destined greatly to widen.
and ne lived tosee that inpetuOus heaven-storme~
strike out paths that neither he nor Mozart
had ever dreamed of. BeethOven's first SYM
phony appeared In 1900. his second in 1902 In
these he trod Teverently in the footsteps Of
his great predecessors In 1s03-'04 he wrote the
"Eroica" and In 1907 the minor. and a new
world Of expression was open TO music Now
the vessel had to be changed to enable il 10
contain the new contents. So the illustrative
portion OF the symphony. the free fantasia"
greatly extended. as was also the cOnclEd-
ing portion. the coda. and out OF the minuet
grew the Seherzo. which. instead Of remaining
the playful thing implied by it's name. was
made the vehicle of the most varied sentiments
and feelings With the Pastoral symphony
came a highly idealized form of descriptive
or programme music which with a loss in
idealty. gave the impulse to the movement that
has eliminated in the mad extravasanees OF
Richard Strauss's "Heldenleben-" Berlioz
Spohr. Raft and Liszt We're the chief promotes
OF this tendency. one result OF which was the
prncinIs of fbsmafic variatio, snn1csSss -
Beethoven's fifth symphony, and the abolition
OF the cyclical form. The introduction Of voices
accomplished by Beethoven IN MS last sy11-
phony has also been initiated and varied CSar-
liOz. Romeo and Juliet; MendslSs0hn. Hymn
of Praise: MahIsr's symphony, with alto solo
Nicode. %Das Meer." etc1.
STEPS TOWARD RoMANTICIsM
All these things are but successive stages or
phases of that striving for definiteness OF ex-
preston which is called Roulanticism. The
earlier followers of Beethovea-Schubert. Men
delssohn. Schumann-as the later Brahms. did
less violence 10 the established forms than the
radicals of the Berlioz-Liszt school, an interest
ing ofTshoot OF which is the yoURss Russian
cpterie. RinsSy KOrsakOw. Cui, BOrOaiR~ .Cslaz-
Ounow. Tschaikowsky and others The works Of
these men are also continuing the national
movement based on the use OF fOlRsOns tdiOrls
introduced into the symphony by Gsde and eul-
tivated by such orchestral composers as Grieg.
Svendsen. Sinding. Smetana and Dvorak
France has made an honorable record in the
instrumental field with such Reriioz,
Saint-Saens. Msssenet Cesar Franeks' "a INDY.
GODDARD aud SiZet, though the chief inplEtance
OF the last is operate. italy can point Go but
one symphonist. Sgambati. and Great Britain
70 but few. those most FREQUENTLY named being
elsewhere have been and are RUbinstein. KlUs-
harat Rheinberger. Weingartner. Gernshein.
Bruckner. VolkmsEn and Draesske-
Composition for the pianofOrte has reflected
most of the influences illustrated in orchestral
and chamber music plus those which went out
from the development OF the instrument itself
and the growth of virtuosity- The pianoforse
Is practically a product OF the nineteenth cen
tury. and Americas record in connection with
It's Improvement is the BRIGHTEST page which
she has in the account OF the century's music.
To Chopin and Liszt Is due the creation Of q
idiOmatie OF the instrument. in the first place.
and the product of the perfecIins of its manipu-
lation In the second. The cultivation Of the
smaller forms, best illustrated In the music o.
Chopin. may be said 20 have begun with Sehu-
bert. though there was a hint In the basateies
OF Beethoven. Schumann and MendelsSohn
made the instrument a vehicle for soulful poet-
izing and were followed by Rubinsten. who.
however. was a greater performer than conf
poser. The century's list OF great players BE-
gins with ClementEthe brightest names being
Czerny, Hummel. Dussek, Herr. Cramer, Field.
Thalherg, Tausig Liszt. Hensslt, Ruhinstsln.
Heller. Won BUl0w. d'Alhert. Rosenthal ard
Paderewski-
MEN WHO DOMINATED OPERA
In the first decade OF the nineteenth century
the dominant influence in opera IN France and
Germany was Mozart. In the former country
there were Gretry Lesueur Isouard. MehUl.
Bo,eldieu. cultivatins the serious and comic
forms. combining melOdic purity with correct
defamation. Cheruhini SpOntini. Auber and
RoSsini Gin William TelT"p continued the move
ment, which was checked and turned into a
striving for ssnsationalism and garishnesS By
Meyerbeer. Foreigners had controlling voices
in the French school from the establishment Of
the Academy down TO the latter end OF the nine
teenth century, but the new century opens with
Frenchmen Tegnant- In Halsvy. GOunOd, AM
hrOiss Thomas, Delines.. Bizet. Masseuet and
though Gil We're eclectics The young school Of
to-day, led by Bruneau and Charpentier, IL rad
ical and seeking new paths under the inspira-
tiOn of Wagner, but not in imitation OF him.
This refOriner is the erOwninS operatic nsure
of the century-one whose influence has gone
out like galvanic currents in every direction.
through all lands and into every department or
the musical art. He has had imitatOrs but 10
OF Gluck, Beethoven and Won Weber. The pro-
duction of "Tannhauser'' CS45l "LOhensrtn
-QSiD. Tristan und Isolde" die Meistersins-
er." the establishment Of the Bayreuth festival
for the production Of Der Ring Ges Nibalunsen
In 1876. and the creation OF "ParSifaL" have
beyond question been the most significant occur
rences IN the century's operatic history Won
Weber, Spohr and Alarschner paved the way tor
Wagner With their romantic works. while tne
Mozart spirit informing the ''Sings7iel' OF the
eighteenth century was perpetuated in the tune
tul works or krcutZer, lsortZinS. Nic0lai ara
Flotow. Rubinstein. Goldmark. Goetz. bru.h
Cornelius. Schtlinss. Bungert and HumperdineS
have been among the leaders OF the two score
or more Of opera writer's who have kept the
German stage supplied with works without
pointing the way to new worlds.
wAGNER'S ONE WORTHY RIVAL
Singular the juxtaposition may sound 20
careless ears. Wagner has had but one rival