The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-09
PROGRAMME MUSIC or OLD.
BACHS LAMENT AT. HIS BROTH.
ERS DEPARTURE.


he started a train OF thought the other
night in Mendelssohn Hall when he played
Bachs "Cappricclo sopra Ia lontananza
del suo fratello dlettissimo,' This, being
interpreted. Ia Caprice on the departure
Of a beloved brother" Fancy Sebastian
Bach composing a sort OF miniature Sym
phonia Domestica' for the clavierl Yet
there the composition stands and Mr.. Wey-
man must be thanked for giving us an
opportunity 10 hear how II sounds In the
concert hall In these parlous times Of saints
walking on the water and other songs
without words.
We are inclined 10 suppose that pro-
gramme music, a. We call IL, il modern
invention, but az a matter Of fact II s a.
old as music itself, or almost no. There
"a a difference, however, and that difference
IA fundamental. The ancients Of the art
were chiefly concerned with eTternals,
while your modern IA nothing II not intro
spective Away back in the fifteenth cent
ury, for example, when composers were
busy building up liturgy for the Roman
Church, they occasionally amused them
selves with secular composition They
penned airy little Rlees and nadrigals in
double counterpart, crab canonE or riddle
rounds. They we're a CHEEKY lot and took
music much as they took life merely as a
preparation for death, But they made
some interesting tunes and their polyphony
will last as long as the seven seas.
One OF these interesting gentlemen was
named Jannequin, and he wrote two COIN
positions. one called The Battle and the
other THE Cries Of Paris They were
both programme pieces in the strictest
sense Of the term. They were however,
purely descriptive They dwelt with things
seen and heard. not with things felt They
were initiative. They were a cdTsHd COM
positions and fashioned in the polyphonic
style, vet they initiated the sounds Of battle
and those Of the streets Of the French
capital
When instrumental music had fairly
started along its path Of progress, Its com
posers we're not long in searching for imita-
tive effects which would justify them in
placing over their works titles indicating
a descriptive purpose. II IL not necessary
TO 90 back further than the excellent Johann
Jakob Froberger, whose useful life eK-
tended through the Osleran period Of 81
years, from 1910 TO 1887
He passed away eighteen years before
the great Bach was born, yet he had his
influence upon that immortal master For
one thing IL should be noted that Froberger
studied for a time in Paris, where he gained
an intimate acquaintance with the old
French clavier ornaments called agremens-
the "tremblement simple, '"autre cadence
"pinoe, Chute ct pinoe, 'coulee,' 'tierce
coulee and all the rest Of them.
The Bach caprice on the departure Of his
brother IL we'll supplied with old fashioned
clavier Agreements. descended to Bach
through Froberger, whose works no studied.
II any one thinks that good old Froberger
did not know the value Of a title, let him
gaze upon this, the appellation Of the first
collection OF this masters compositions,
published In the good city Of MAyenOe:
diverse ouriose rarissime partite di
toooate. rcercate, capHcci, fantaisie per
gil amaton di oembai, organi cd instro-
mend."
That Is good. fat talk. But 1t is not all.
Matheson a tolerably respectable chronicler
Of musical records, informs us that Fro
berger could tell whole histories on the
olavier giving a representation Of the
persons present and taking part in IT, with
al their natural oharacters, Truly, the
Richard Mansfield Of his time.
Matheson. moreover, says that he pos
sessed a suite by this composer in which the
passage across the Rhine Of the Count Won
'ThuFn, and the danger he was exposed TO
from Tho river, IL most clearly set before our
OyOSand ears In twenty six little pieces
The passage Of the Rhine Is a portentoua
feat at any time, when one considers the
I,oTelsi, the Rhine maidens, the Drachenfels
and tho guides, but one cannot help sus-
psoting that Matheson's imagination was
'eIquisitely facile. But the intent Of the
composer is undeniable. He sndeavored
with all the resources Of his art to'desoribs-l
certain eGternals, even to the oversstting
Of the boat and the unceremonioua dump |
ing Of 20 mighty q dignitary as the Count |
Of ThWn into the waters which lave the |
shores Of oberweeel and Bingen.
A more subtle person perhaps was Johann |
Kuhnau, who lived from 1857 to i7z7 He |
had no hesitation in setting out to make |
the piano tell whole Biblical histories, and |
he showed some perception Of the true |
nature Of programme music. For instance,
one Of his works, saul Cured by David by |
Means Of Music, is thus described by DR.. |
Spitta in his great biography Of Bach:
First, Sauls melancholy and madness. |
Second, DaId's refreshing harp playing. |
Third, the Kings mind restored to peace
The composition Is we'll made. The |
themes have character, and they are skill |
fully handled in the development. The |
great point. however il that Kuhnau, while
dealing with simple ideas, seized upon
some that were not merely external, but
yet we're perfectly suited to musical en-
bodiment.
Melancholy can be conveyed in music.
So can refreshing harp playing, which Is
music itself. A return TO peaceful state
Of mind can also be indicated. Kuhnau
appears 10 have had a dim idea that only
broad and fundamental emotions can be
delineated in music, and in this he was,
Of course, right beyond all question.
The plan Of this sonata by Kuhnau may
be confidently commended TO any modern
master. Why should not Richard Strauss
-ecompose the subject-Sauls melancholy
md madness adagio lamentoso allegroagi-
alto. in fat minor, written on "a staye paper
md introducing eight saKophones, -four tenor
,ubas, six bass trumpets and FIVE double bass
,larinets in assorted keys, all playing real
,arts, Davids refreshing harp playing.
,izzioato estimate, in q fat minor. with
welve harps. thirty-two guitars and fifty
liz theOrbos7