Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-04-02
THE CRITIC TALKS
TO MUSIC LOVERS

TO MUSIC LOVERS
NliEltE is general feeling among
L musicians and music lovers that Il
great musical composition cannot be
written ITO order" but like many an
other popular conception. the facts do not |
always bear out the assertion. Not that |
every great composer has always mclodic |
and harmonic fund waiting to be written |
down when an "order" comes along, |
but at any rate. u sufficient number of |
ordered compositions have proved TO
be masterpieces thoroughly TO disprove |
the idea that great work cannot be
produced under such conditions,
The ordering of musical compost
tions has virtually gone out of existence |
now, put there was time when IL was |
quite the usual thing for wealthy |
dilcttanti to direct composer to write |
ono or more works in certain form.
for which the composer was to be paid
and the dedication of which was to go to
the person ordering the work. Haydn. |
Mozart and Beethoven as we'll as many
lesser composers, wrote many compost
tions to order and some of them are now
rated among the very greatest of their
works. This was also q favorite device
for noblemen who wished to assist com
posers whom they thought worthy of
encouragement and who were struggling
with poverty. as was the unfortunate
experience of most of them.
1t is q singular commentary that
Schubert. the most prolific of all the
really great composers and the one,
therefore, best able to do work of this
kind successfully, never received a
single order, although the custom had
| by no means died out in his day. But
the reason Is that Schubert. during his
| life, was so little known as n composer
| that none Of the wealthy patrons of
music paid any attention to him.
| DROBABLY the most successful ex-
l. ample of ordered" music in the his
| tory of the tonal art is Ncrdi's opera
"Aida," the opera which probably rep
rcscnts Verdi al his very greatest, rs
| it is musically ages ahead Of all his
! earlier works and yet IL iarC more ap-
pcaling to the general musical taste than
"Otello" or "Fastaifo," which came
later.
As is we'll known, "Aida" was com
posed to the order OF the khcdivc Of
| Egypt and all the details of the trans
action, including the price to be paid,
were arranged in advance between the
great composer and the representatives
of the Egyptian monarch.
Whether aida would have been
composed without this stimulus from the
khcdvc IS questionable, although it il
well known that Verdi had wanted an
Egyptian subject for an opera for some
years. This desire was not taken very
seriously. however. on account of his
nge. for he was sixty eight years old at
the time of the composition of the opera.
| T., 10 nnptntp fhnt In
of the khedive. ncccssitating the i'm
mediate preparation of the libretto, Mt
least hastencd the production Of the
opera. and it is entirely probable that
this fastening made it possible for him
to compose his two later masterpieces,
'Otelo" and ''Falstatro," before his
death.
DUT If there was a chance that Verdi
- might have written "Aida" without
on "ordcr." there can be no doubt that
Mozart. without a commission to do
the work, would never have composed
his mighty requiem. the greatest of all
his religious works. The story of the
requiem is so well known as to require
little more than reference. It was or
dercd by the Count Won Walsegg, an
amateur who wished to be known as a
composer. and who actually had the
work produced as his own. The count
was good picker. but Mozart died
before the requiem was completed, and
the remaining parts Of the orchestra =
tion were finished by Sussmaycr, who
received instructions about II from Mo :
zart on his deathbcd.
Mozart had clearly no thoughts of
requiem until the commission from
the count reached him through the
counts steward, Lcutgeb, who con
Quoted all the negotiations. Mozart, 50
far as Is known, never saw the count
in person. Hence, here would seem to
be one great masterpiece which would
never have been written except for the
order. After Mozart got we'll into the
composition of the work, it absorbed
him to the extinction of all else. ana
he declared that he was writing 1t for
himself This intensity of feeling, cou-
pied with the fact tnal nc knew him
self to be near death, naturally added
to the greatness of the composition.
1t is interesting to speculate upon
what would have been the consequences
If Mozart had been able to fulfill the
conditions Of his agreement and deliver
the requiem to the count and the latter
thus have been able to pass the work
off as his own Probably. II this had
been the case, latter day critics would
HUNt NfNbltl many ''lhIlIlN w
tations as to why a man who could COM
pose II work like the requiem should
never have been able to produce another
!; work Of note. The count simply played
In hard luck.
A MOTHER instance Of great master
"A pieces being written to order was
tho case of three of the last six quar-
tots Of Beethoven. In this instance
however, there was to he no question
of authorship; the Russian noblemar
ordering the quartCtS simply desired
the dedication. But hc, too, played il
hard luck. because he never paid fol
the compositions and Beethoven dcdi
, Gated the works to other persons. the
Ilussian noblcman thereby losing prob
ably his only chance for eternal fame
But in this instance II Is probable
that these quartets would have beer
composed under any circumstances
The first of the immortal group of thu
= last six quartcts had already beer
composed. and Bcethoven'S mind wa'
apparently fixed upon the others. Sc