The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-30

IL he had been suddenly transported ous
| Of the studious retirement OF those yeare
into the manifold experiences OF London.
the court ~spectacles. the art Of Reynolds,
the alteration Of Mrs. BiIlington, the love
OF excellent Mistress Schroeder. the
thousand other elements. that went to
weld his spiritual life 10 that OF q wicked.
wise. world metropolis, he might have
missed that. publication of technical
knowledge which the secluded yesrs
brought him.
Wanting that mastery Of his materials.
into general fame. for he would have
stumbled and perhaps oven fallen.
Haydn never rose in his symphonies to
great heights Of oppression simply be-
cause the art OF symphonic expression
had not yet gained sufficient certainty.
He himself was busy in preparing the
path for Others. Consciously or uncon-
sciously. he was working out the pro-
blems Of how to deliver messs ges without
words through instrumental song.
Mr.. Runicman makes much of the fact
! that Haydn's music brilliantly reflects
his personality. 1t contains his gentle
ness. his simplicity. his humor, his home
illness, his n~eatness. To say this 10 to say
that there is a real artistic individuality
in IL; it is to tell US that the life Of the
man ID woven into the product Of his
mind. This indeed ia as 1t should be, but
the musical state OF the period 10 equally
embodied in the compositions Of Haydn.
and We cannot expect him to spring far
forward into the future. The comstlike
career Of a Beethoven or a Wagner was
not for this patient tiller Of the musical
soil.
Mr.. Runciman in another place ian
article in the Wesfmtnster Reriew) has
shown that he fully appreciated Haydn's
place In the history OF music and that he
was well aware that the art Of music
could not be what 1t is to-day without
the fundamentally Of this simple minded
master; but he adds that to many Of US
it must seem wonderful that such music
as this should 90 get the start Of majestic
| Europe. He might have added. had he
known It. that it also penetrated the
barbarian wilderness OF the United States.
for Haydn's compositions were introduced
here moro than o century ago.
Oscar g. Sonneok. chief OF. the depart
ment Of music in the Library Of Congress
and delegate Of the United States to the
Haydn celebration in Vienna, il the au-
| thor Of some priceless works on the be-
| ginnings Of music Of this country, and in
his Early Concert Life in America" may
be found programmes OF entertainments
given in 1893 In Charleston and con-
tanning the titles of several instrument
tai compositions by Haydn. Doubtless
the incursion OF tho master into the West
ern world was due to his first visit to
London. which occupied all the year
1901 and part Of 1872. Thus Is Mr.. Rund-
mans remark on the importance Of
London fame justified.
1t is true that his wide fame wal
European and that he wal for many
years intensely popular. Mr.. Runciman
finds the cause Of this popularity in his
embodiment Of the spirit and style Of the
peoples music In his instrumental COM
positions. With this view there need be
no disagreement. European music lovers
were feeding their taste on the artificial
! tiles OF the Italian opera Tho struggles
Of a lew masters to simplify the style Of
opera were brave, but not altogether sue
oessful. The pomp and circumstance in
troduced into the lyric drama by Lulti.
itself a survival Of the methods OF the
Italian dramatists who Immediately ore
ceded him, did not yield readily to the
more rational creations Of Metastasio and
Chuck. Even Chuck himself failed to e.
cape the thralldon OF the pecudo-ciaseic-
ism which retained the stories OF the Greek
ira gedians as subjects for modern operas.
I UY-..I lE~---k r.>s-~AI -1r~A 49, a-nA
ment OF musical art his marvellous Don
Giovanni" and his bewitching -Nozze di
Figaro the lyric stage continued to re-
sound win the buskined strut. to frame
the ira gic stare.
How much Of genuine joy, then, must
Europe have experienced in making the
acquaintance OF instrumental compo-
sitions which echoed the songs and dances
OF the soil and which breathed forth a
gentle ~amiability. a tender sentiment
and a kindly humor! The realization Of
the supreme truth that music was capable
Of embodying moods and passions and
might therefore be rasied to the summit
Of potent dramatic expression could not
arrive hand in hand with the, discovery
that this art had the power TO do some
thing better than spout and declaim the
rhetorical verses OF the Scientist.
In the same manner. II not in tho Same
measure, we find pleasure to-day in occa-
sional hearings Of the instrumental COM
positions Of Haydn. They serve - a
corrective to the overdoses Of Strauss.
Roger, Schillings and others which we
are obliged to swallow. They help us to
endure contemporanous essays at drama
tizing the fugue or infusing into its dia-
tonic veins the heated liquor OF the chro-
matte scale. They strengthen us against
the attempts to discuss philosophical
doctrines or v economic dogmas in
movements Of symphonic character.
We are all human and 1t does US good to
come down from the chill vapors Of the
clouds UP near the stars to set our feet
in the green valleys and to dance to the
happy piping Of Haydn. We are too ad.
yanced to dwell always by his side. but
We need him from time to time. He does
not fire our souls any more than he did
those OF his contemporaries, but he
~arouses In US pleasure like theirs. We
can get our souls fred any time by going
to hear Puccini or Tschaikowsky. but
we have only the one Hadyn. and it 10
very we'll indeed that We cherish him
and that after a hundred years We stop q
moment to honor his memory.
w. J. HKND KRsoN.