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CONTRIBUTORS
Jessica Duchen Malcolm Hayes Andrew Stewart Richard Wigmore
studied music at Cambridge and has is a composer and writer. His Violin studied musicology at King’s College is a music writer, lecturer, and
worked in music journalism and Concerto was performed at the 2016 London and has written about classical broadcaster specializing in opera and
criticism for national newspapers and BBC Proms; his books include music as a journalist and author for more Lieder. His books include Schubert: The
specialist magazines for 30 years. Her biographies of Liszt and Webern, and than 30 years. He is an experienced Complete Song Texts, the Faber Pocket
output also includes numerous books, an edition of the Selected Letters of choir trainer and conductor. Guide to Haydn, and many articles for
opera libretti, and stage works. William Walton. music dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Marcus Weeks
R.G. Grant Diana Loxley is a writer and musician. He studied Iain Zaczek
has written extensively in the fields is a freelance editor and writer, music, philosophy, and musical studied French and history at
of history, biography, and culture. His and a former managing editor of instrument technology and worked as a Wadham College, Oxford University.
recent works include Sentinels of the a publishing company in London. teacher before embarking on a career He has written more than 30 books
Sea and contributions to Music: The She has a doctorate in literature. as an author. He has written and on various aspects of culture,
Definitive Visual History and Writers: contributed to many books on history, and art.
Their Lives and Works. philosophy, literature, and the arts.

PAGE 1 GRAND PIANO BY MANUEL PAGE 2 ISABELLA ANGELA COLBRAN, PAGE 3 THE FIVE SENSES: HEARING, ▷ MICHEL DE LA BARRE CONDUCTING,
ANTUNES, LISBON, 1767 JOHANN HEINRICH SCHMIDT, 1817 ABRAHAM BOSSE, c. 1635 ANDRE BOUYS, c. 1710
008 Preface

CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4

Before 17th & Early 19th Late 19th
1600 18th Century Century
Centuries
012 Guido d’Arezzo 036 Claudio Monteverdi 086 Luigi Cherubini 134 Richard Wagner

014 Hildegard of Bingen 040 Francesca Caccini 088 Ludwig van Beethoven 138 Giuseppe Verdi

018 Guillaume Dufay 042 Barbara Strozzi 094 Niccolò Paganini 142 Clara Schumann

020 Thomas Tallis 044 Arcangelo Corelli 096 Gioachino Rossini 144 César Franck

022 Giovanni da Palestrina 046 Henry Purcell 100 Franz Schubert 146 Bedřich Smetana

024 Orlande de Lassus 048 Antonio Vivaldi 104 Gaetano Donizetti 148 Anton Bruckner

026 William Byrd 052 Georg Philipp Telemann 106 Vincenzo Bellini 152 Johann Strauss II

028 Carlo Gesualdo 054 Jean-Philippe Rameau 108 Hector Berlioz 154 Alexander Borodin

030 John Dowland 056 Johann Sebastian Bach 112 Fanny Mendelssohn 156 Johannes Brahms

032 Directory 062 Domenico Scarlatti 114 Felix Mendelssohn 160 Camille Saint-Saëns

064 George Frideric Handel 118 Frédéric Chopin 162 Georges Bizet

068 Christoph Willibald Gluck 122 Robert Schumann 164 Modest Mussorgsky

070 Joseph Haydn 126 Franz Liszt 166 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

074 Muzio Clementi 130 Directory 170 AntonÍn Dvořák

076 Wolfgang Amadeus 174 Edvard Grieg

Mozart
178 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
082 Directory
180 Gabriel Fauré

182 Giacomo Puccini

186 Gustav Mahler

190 Claude Debussy

194 Directory
 CONTENTS
CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6
Early 20th Late 20th
Century & 21st
Centuries
198 Leoš JanáČek 236 Charles Ives 274 JoaquÍn Rodrigo

200 Edward Elgar 238 Maurice Ravel 276 William Walton

204 Ethel Smyth 242 Manuel de Falla 278 Michael Tippett

206 Frederick Delius 244 Béla BartÓk 280 Olivier Messiaen

208 Richard Strauss 248 Igor Stravinsky 284 Benjamin Britten

212 Carl Nielsen 252 Heitor Villa-Lobos 288 Witold Lutosławski

214 Jean Sibelius 254 Sergei Prokofiev 290 Leonard Bernstein

218 Erik Satie 258 Lili Boulanger 292 GyÖrgy Ligeti

222 Ralph Vaughan Williams 260 George Gershwin 294 Karlheinz Stockhausen

226 Sergei Rachmaninoff 262 Francis Poulenc 296 Tōru Takemitsu

230 Gustav Holst 264 Dmitri Shostakovich 298 Alfred Schnittke

232 Arnold Schoenberg 268 Directory 300 Arvo Pärt

302 Philip Glass

304 Judith Weir

306 Directory

310 Glossary

312 Index

319 Acknowledgments
008 PREFACE

Preface

Around the year 600, the great scholar St. Isidore of Seville lamented and Austria seeing a glorious sequence of illustrious composers, from
that “unless sounds are remembered by man, they perish, for they Bach onward, that is unmatched anywhere else, while Vienna emerged
cannot be written down.” In fact, the Babylonians and the Ancient as the undisputed musical capital of the world.
Greeks had independently invented systems of musical notation more During the 19th century, the range of countries producing
than a thousand years earlier, but after the decay of their civilizations outstanding composers expanded greatly, with Russia, eastern Europe,
these methods had been completely forgotten. This meant that for and Scandinavia all coming to the fore; and from the 20th century, the
many centuries, the only way of preserving a musical composition distribution has become truly worldwide, with the US prominent and
was through a continuous tradition of performance, passing it on such diverse places as Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Japan figuring
from generation to generation. among the two dozen countries whose composers are represented
However, a century or so after St. Isidore’s time, monks started in this book.
experimenting with ways of making a written record of the chants Just as the geographical spread of composers has increased
they sang, and in the 11th century the most important of these pioneers, enormously over the centuries, so the type of work they produce has
Guido d’Arezzo, laid the basis of the system of notation we use today. become much more varied. In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was
This gives him such a momentous role in musical history that he the most widespread and influential institution in the Western world;
features as the first subject in this book. There had been composers music—like the visual arts—was dominated by religion, and many
before Guido, but it is only after him that their works and personalities leading composers devoted themselves mainly to settings of the words
really survive. of the Mass, the central church ceremony commemorating the death
Like Guido, several of the early composers included here were and resurrection of Christ. However, the Renaissance brought increasing
Italians, and another concentration of musical genius was found in secularization to the arts, expressed in new forms such as opera, which
France and neighboring Flanders. England, too, had an impressive was born in Italy around 1600, and subsequently the scope of music
musical tradition in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. In the has expanded not only in genre but also in style and in the range of
18th century, the balance of power decisively shifted, with Germany instruments and other sound sources used.
 PREFACE 009

The lives of some of the earlier figures covered in this book are sparsely Some composers have sought solitude, but others have lived their lives
documented, but for many others there is a rich fund of biographical on the public stage—for example, Mendelssohn, the prototype of the
information. The popular “Hollywood” image of the great composer has modern international star musician, who numbered Queen Victoria and
been created largely by a handful of the giants of 19th-century music Prince Albert among his friends. Several have been directly affected by
whose lives are the stuff of legend: Beethoven, the proud, rebellious political events: William Byrd and Thomas Tallis had to steer careful
outsider, increasingly isolated by deafness; Berlioz, pouring his courses through the dangerous waters of the English Reformation, and
unrequited passion for a beautiful actress into one of the most original both Prokofiev and Shostakovich were forced to toe the party line in
of all symphonies; Chopin, the exquisite poet of the piano whose career Stalin’s repressive Soviet Union.
was blighted by debilitating illness; Tchaikovsky, whose turbulent Some of this book’s subjects had lamentably short careers, notably
personal life and puzzling death continue to inspire speculation; and Lili Boulanger, who suffered ill health from infancy and was only 24
Wagner, whose colossal ego was matched by his colossal creative when she died. The deaths of several other composers are known or
energy and originality. believed to have been hastened by syphilis (Delius, Donizetti, Schubert,
Not all composers have been such memorable personalities, of and Smetana among them), and Mussorgsky is perhaps the most
course, but there are nevertheless many remarkable characters among famous example of a composer whose life was cut short by alcoholism.
them—the lesser-known figures as well as the household names. At the opposite extreme are those who ended their days at a ripe age
They include Carlo Gesualdo, the Italian nobleman who brutally and loaded with honors: Rodrigo and Tippett lived well into their
murdered his wife and her lover but escaped punishment for the nineties, and Saint-Saëns, Stravinsky, and Verdi into their late eighties.
crime; Erik Satie, regarded as a kind of patron saint of eccentricity; The varied lives and achievements of these extraordinary men and
and the formidable Ethel Smyth, a feminist heroine not only because women are celebrated in this book and set within wider historical and
she achieved success in a male-dominated world but also because cultural contexts. Their friendships, loves, rivalries, key influences,
she was a prominent figure in the suffragette movement and was and working methods are all part of the stories of how they created
imprisoned for her activism. the masterpieces that speak to us so eloquently across the centuries.
BEFORE
1600
Guido d’Arezzo 012

CHAPTER 1
Hildegard of Bingen 014
Guillaume Dufay 018
Thomas Tallis 020
Giovanni da Palestrina 022
Orlande de Lassus 024
William Byrd 026
Carlo Gesualdo 028
John Dowland 030
Directory 032
012

▷ GUIDO D’AREZZO, FRESCO

This 19th-century fresco in the Chigiana
Music Academy in Tuscany, Italy, shows
the famous Italian monk and music
theorist as an inspirational teacher.

Guido d’Arezzo
c. 991–c. 1033, ITALIAN
While serving as a Benedictine monk, Guido developed innovative
methods for learning the chants of the services, as well as a system
of writing music on which modern Western notation is based.
 GUIDO D’AREZZO 013

Born in the city-state of Arezzo, some

50 miles (80 km) south of Florence, ON TECHNIQUE
in about 990 ce, Guido Monaco became From neumes to staff
known as Guido d’Arezzo as his fame
spread throughout the world of Italian
notation
church music. Little is known about The numerous chants of the Catholic
his family or early life, except that Church were originally learned by
rote by the monks and then passed
he was educated at the Benedictine on orally. However, from around the
abbey of Pomposa on the northeast 9th century, graphic symbols, known
coast of Italy, and served there as a as neumes, began to appear above
monk when he was young. the texts to suggest the shape of the
melody. In time, these were placed
on a horizontal line representing
Solving problems a pitch, such as C or F. Guido is
At Pomposa, Guido showed great credited with the idea of using four
musical talent and, noticing the lines (which were later expanded to
the familiar five-line staff) to identify
difficulties the monks had in learning the precise pitch of each note.
the plainsong melodies, gained a
reputation as an inspirational teacher. 12TH-CENTURY MUSIC NOTATION SHOWING DIASTEMATIC
OR HEIGHTENED NEUMES AND A SINGLE-LINE STAFF
He also studied music theory and
developed ways to improve the
singers’ ability to learn the chants Although these new techniques made invited by the pope to Rome in 1028,
by heart, using a sketchy system learning and performing easier, many but ill health restricted his activities
of notation as a study aid. of the monks at Pomposa disliked until his death some five years later.
Guido realized that this arduous Guido's innovation, and he left the
process could be made considerably abbey in about 1025. He returned to Legacy and influence
simpler by employing mnemonics— Arezzo, where the bishop appointed Guido was not, strictly speaking,
assigning each note of the scale a him as a teacher to the choristers of a significant composer (his only
name (associated with the melody the cathedral, and commissioned him known original work is the hymn
of a hymn to John the Baptist to write a treatise on the principles of that he used as a teaching aid), but
that he composed specially for his musical theories and to compile his principles of musical education
the purpose). He also visualized a collection of antiphons to present and the development of staff notation
these names as if mapped on to Pope John XIX. had profound influence. With a system
the joints of a hand, dramatically Guido completed his Micrologus of precise notation, musicians could ▽ 16TH-CENTURY GUIDONIAN HAND
shortening the time it took to learn de disciplina artis musicae (Treatise perform more complex music, and Guido created his notated-hand system
new chants, and devised a way on the teaching of the art of music) even produce original compositions, so that, in his words, “any intelligent
of writing music as marks on the in about 1026—it soon became the knowing that these could be and diligent person” could learn a chant.
This 16th-century example is complete
staff or stave (a system of parallel standard text for music theory and accurately reproduced. A written
with solmization syllables (re, mi, fa, for
horizontal lines), indicating the education in the Middle Ages. His record of the music meant that it was example)—syllables that are attributed
precise pitch of each note. reputation spread, and he was possible to distribute ideas widely to the notes in a musical scale.
and quickly. It is no exaggeration to
say that Guido ushered in the age
of Western classical composers.

◁ AERIAL VIEW OF POMPOSA ABBEY

The imposing bell tower of Pomposa
Abbey, where Guido spent several years
of his life, dominates the spectacular
Codigoro landscape in northeast Italy.
 HILDEGARD OF BINGEN 015

Hildegard of Bingen
1098–1179, GERMAN
A mystic, composer, scholar, theologian, preacher, and scientist,
Hildegard was an astonishingly gifted woman, whose musical works
are hailed as among the most accomplished of the Middle Ages.

Hildegard of Bingen—also known capital—unlike the Spanheims, lived in small stone cells, isolated
as St. Hildegard and the Sibyl of the who were an extremely wealthy, from the monks. By 1115, Hildegard
Rhine—was born in 1098 in a small influential family in the region. had taken her vows and, on Jutta’s △ MONASTERY OF DISIBODENBERG
village in the Rhineland (now Western The placement helped to secure death in 1136, succeeded Jutta as Hildegard began her life of religious
Germany), possibly Bermersheim, to their daughter’s future stability. abbess. Hildegard spent almost devotion at the Disibodenberg monastery
in the Rhineland when she was just 14
a noble, although not hugely wealthy, In 1112, after living together for six half her life at Disibodenberg. years old. She stayed there for 40 years.
landowning family. She is thought to years, the two young women began a Her assistant there was the learned
have been the last of 10 children. highly reclusive, intensely religious life Volmar, a monk and scribe who, in
Even as a child, Hildegard was at the (male) Benedictine monastery of accordance with standard monastic
exceptional. From the age of five Disibodenberg at Odernheim (see box, practice, became her secretary and
she began to have visions that, many below), which soon after extended to helped to document her visions. He
years later, came to assume great include a small nunnery, or convent, was also her spiritual guide, confessor,
spiritual significance in her life where Jutta became abbess. The nuns and companion. His death in 1173,
(see p.16), and that she eventually
documented via her own striking
illustrations, music, and a series of IN CONTEXT
accomplished theological works. Challenging elite
monasticism
A life of devotion
Monasteries were hugely influential
In 1106, at the age of eight, Hildegard institutions in Europe at the time of
was placed under the guidance of Hildegard’s birth and had exerted
Jutta of Spanheim (1092–1136), a their impact on economic, political,
hugely devout young noblewoman, and spiritual life. Monks and nuns
were often from privileged families
who taught her Latin and the Psalms. and wielded tremendous power in the
The decision to place Hildegard region, which led to corruption and
in Jutta’s care was doubtless as excessive wealth. Challenges to this
much a financial as an educational system emerged in the 12th century
by, for example, the Cistercians—a
or religious decision on the part of religious order that advocated manual
her parents, who did not have great labor for monks and nuns—and by
the religious leader Peter Waldo,
who renounced his wealth, calling
◁ HILDEGARD OF BINGEN for voluntary poverty.
Hildegard challenged patriarchy via
the Church, her music, and her books CISTERCIAN MONKS AND NUNS
on topics from theology and the natural LABORING IN THE FIELDS
world to medicine and sexuality.

“ [Music is] the sacred sound through

which all creation resounds. ”
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
016 BEFORE 1600

six years before her own, would At the age of 60, Hildegard to be inextricably connected: “The
have been a great personal and began a series of preaching tours words symbolize the body, and
professional loss for her. in Germany that focused on her the … music indicates the spirit.”
In 1141 Hildegard recorded a vision visions and spiritual insights— Music was fundamental to life in
of a “… mass of fiery light of the a bold and courageous decision the cloisters and Hildegard would
greatest brightness pouring down for a woman of that period in have been familiar with chant genres,
from the heavens. It enveloped my a ferociously patriarchal world. including Gregorian chant (the
brain and my heart was kindled Among Hildegard’s passions plainsong or liturgical chant of
with a flame that … warmed me and numerous talents was music: medieval church music), and may
as the sun warms the earth.” This paradise, for her, was to be filled have been exposed to some secular
powerful experience, which she with it. She maintained that her music (see box, opposite). She would
claimed to be divine intervention, compositions “completed” her visions. also probably have been aware of the
prompted her to make public Her pieces always combine music work of the 11th-century German
her visions—in part, via her and words—she perceived the two composers and theorists Hermanus
theological texts. The most
acclaimed of these are: Scivias
(Know the Way, 1141–1151), thought
to have been illustrated by Hildegard
△ THE UNIVERSE AND COSMIC MAN herself, which discusses creation,
This 13th-century illustration of a redemption, and salvation; the Book of
human astride the spheres that form Life’s Merits (1158–1163), an exchange
the universe is from Hildegard’s Book of
Divine Works (1163–1174). In this text, she between virtue and vice; and her last
set out, among other things, her theories great visionary text, Book of Divine
of man and the cosmos—all of which Works (1163–1174), which outlines
spring from the basic (early Greek) the author’s theories on cosmology.
premise that humans are composed
of the same elements that form the
world: earth, water, air, and fire. New directions
The revelations about her visions
brought Hildegard considerable
fame and numerous converts,
inspiring her to found her own
convent at Rupertsberg near
Bingen (from where her name is
derived) around 1148. She also
later founded a second monastery,
at Eibingen, on the hillside above
Rüdesheim on the east bank of the
Rhine, but never lived there.

▷ HILDEGARD RECEIVING A VISION

In this medieval illustration, Hildegard
of Bingen is depicted (left), during one
of her visionary experiences, receiving
divine inspiration. She is accompanied
by her assistant, the scribe and prior
Volmar. A shaft of bright light from
Heaven is shown descending on her
head as she documents the extraordinary
experience on a tablet.
 HILDEGARD OF BINGEN 017

“ I am the fiery life of divine substance,

I blaze above… the fields, I shine in the
waters, I burn in the sun, moon, and stars. ”
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN

Contractus and Berno of Reichenau.

However, as Hildegard indicates in her IN CONTEXT
writings, she was largely uneducated Poet-musicians of the
and had never studied music, form,
or composition. Her work, by all
12th century
accounts, was propelled by her As well as her undoubted knowledge
visionary experiences. The literary of Gregorian chant and the religious
music of the day, Hildegard may have
scholar and linguist Mark Atherton
been familiar with the trouvères,
has suggested that Hildegard’s aristocratic poet-composers, who
technique departs substantially from were active in southern Europe
the accepted conventions of Gregorian in the 12th century, and whose
lyrics were sung, often by the poets
plainsong: “Her melody often ranges
themselves, sometimes with an
over two octaves, frequently leaping instrumental accompaniment.
suddenly from a low note to a high, Hildegard would also certainly
varying its short phrases and motifs, have heard of the minnesänger, or
minnesingers, traveling singers of
and lingering on one syllable as it
northern Europe, and of their famous
ascends and descends.” composer-performer Walther von
Hildegard’s compositions extend der Vogelweide (c. 1170–c. 1230), who
from flamboyant early works and wrote poems on politics and love, and
whose delightful and best-known
sensual pieces to the more restrained and humming the songs, or if she’s △ RUPERTSBERG MONASTERY
work, “Under the Linden Tree,”
chants of later years. Rooted in perhaps humming and writing The monastery at Rupertsberg in Bingen, resembles the song of a nightingale.
liturgical practice and dated between them down on a white tablet, with on the junction of the Rhine and Nahe
rivers, was founded by Hildegard in
c. 1140 and c. 1160, they include a final version then being written by c. 1148. It was destroyed in 1632 by the
devotional songs, antiphons, elaborate someone else on slate or parchment … Swedish army in the Thirty Years’ War.
responsories, hymns, and sequences We don’t know if the words come first,
for the Mass. Her most famous or if the words and the music grow
compositions are her version of together in an organic development.” little attention—it is only since the
opera, Ordo virtutum (Order of the 1980s that Hildegard’s pioneering
Virtues, c. 1150)—a morality play A pioneering woman achievements in this field have
set to music, with 82 melodies—and Hildegard of Bingen died in 1179 been recognized. Her legacy also
her 77 liturgical chants, Symphonia at her monastery in Rupertsberg. extends to an impressive body
armonie celestium revelationum She was canonized by Pope Benedict of writing on medicine, science,
(Symphony of the Harmony of XVI in 2012. During her lifetime, cosmology, and the natural world.
Heavenly Revelations, c. 1158). she was revered as a visionary She has acquired almost iconic
According to Christopher Page, prophet, but her extreme seclusion status in some circles, particularly MINSTRELS, FROM THE CODEX OF THE
a scholar of medieval music, “We and the fact that she was a woman within feminism, and is the subject of CANTIGAS DE SANTA MARIA, c. 1280
don’t know if Hildegard is sitting meant that her music received great popular and scholarly interest.

KEY WORKS

1141–51 c. 1150 c. 1158 1158–63 1163–74

Writes Scivias (Know Composes a type of Composes Symphonia Writes the Book of Compiles her
the Way), her first opera, Ordo virtutum armonie celestium Life’s Merits, which masterpiece,
remarkable visionary (Order of the Virtues), revelationum stages a dialogue Book of Divine
and theological a play set to music. (Symphony of the between good Works, the final
manuscript. Harmony of Heavenly and evil. text on her visions.
Revelations).
018 BEFORE 1600

Guillaume Dufay
c.1397–1474, FRENCH
The foremost composer of the Burgundian School in the 15th century,
IN PROFILE
Dufay perfected his craft while working in Italy, developing an elegant Philip the Good
style that bridged the transition from medieval to Renaissance. The court of the dukes of Burgundy
was famous for its patronage of the
arts, in particular during the reign of
Philip III (known as Philip the Good),
The illegitimate son of a priest, music at the cathedral, and also made
from 1419 to his death in 1467.
Guillaume Dufay was probably connections with the court of Philip Under his benevolent and liberal
born in 1397 in Beersel, near the Good of Burgundy (see box, right). rule, Flemish artists such as Jan
Brussels (then in the Burgundian van Eyck flourished, and Franco-
Flemish composers, including Dufay
Netherlands). His father’s identity A new style of music and Gilles Binchois (both almost
remains unknown. Guillaume Dufay was considered to be one of the exact contemporaries of the duke),
was brought up by his mother, finest composers in Europe at that established an influential “school”
and adopted her name of Du Fayt, time, known for both his sacred and of composition, which also attracted
musicians from England and France.
later also spelled Du Fay or Dufay. his secular compositions. He pioneered
While Guillaume was still a the composition of complete Masses
child, he moved with his mother to based on a single chant or melody
Cambrai to live with a relative who (“cyclical” Masses)—often the tune of
was a canon at the cathedral. In 1409, a popular secular song, or one of his
through this connection, he became own chansons. With his colleague
a cathedral chorister and began his Gilles Binchois, he established a
musical education in earnest. He highly distinctive Burgundian early-
rose through the ranks of the clergy Renaissance style, moving away from
to become a subdeacon. the austerity of medieval music and
△ MUSICAL CODEX, 1420s introducing the lyricism of Italian
Travels in Italy An early-15th-century illuminated melodies, as well as the contenance
In 1420, Dufay traveled to Italy to page from a manuscript written angloise, or “English manner”—the
by Dufay that is an important
take up a post in the service of the source for his early works. sweeter harmonies of English
Malatesta family in Rimini. This composers such as John Dunstaple.
allowed him to further his career in Dufay still had hopes of settling
the Church and to broaden his musical chapelle (choirmaster) in the court of in Italy, and in 1449 he went back to
horizons, coming into contact with the Savoy, under Duke Amédée VIII (later Turin and Savoy in search of a post
latest developments of the nascent Antipope Felix V); then at the papal for his retirement years. However, PHILIP III OF BURGUNDY, AFTER ROGIER
Italian Renaissance musical style. chapel in Florence; and finally in the the political situation was still volatile, VAN DER WEYDEN, c. 1445
From Rimini, he moved to Bologna, service of the Este family in Ferrara. so he returned to the Burgundy court
where he was ordained as a priest Throughout the 1430s, political in Cambrai again in 1458 and, thanks
in 1428, and then went on to Rome turmoil between the papacy and the to a degree in canon law conferred
to join the papal choir. By this time, Council of Basel rocked the Catholic on him by the pope while in Turin, he ▷ PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN
This portrait by the Flemish artist
he had made a name for himself as Church, and Dufay’s position in Italy was also made a canon at Cambrai
Jan van Eyck, c. 1432, is generally
a composer and managed to secure a became insecure. In about 1440, he cathedral. Dufay then remained in believed to be of Dufay when he was
series of prestigious posts: maître de returned to Cambrai to supervise Cambrai until his death in 1474. in his thirties.

“ If my face is pale, the cause is love. ”

GUILLAUME DUFAY, IN THE SONG “IF MY FACE IS PALE”
020

▷ THOMAS TALLIS
Tallis, the foremost composer of English
choral music in the 16th century, worked
for both Catholics and Protestants during
the Reformation. As a member of the
Chapel Royal (an institution rather than
a building), he wrote music that met the
changing spiritual needs of the royal
family. Tallis is depicted here in a
stained-glass window at St. Alfege
Church at Greenwich in London.

Thomas Tallis
c. 1505–1585, ENGLISH
Tallis was a leading composer of church music during the Tudor period.
He steered a difficult course through the Reformation, but maintained
his status as a distinguished member of the Chapel Royal.
 THOMAS TALLIS 021

Little is known about Thomas Tallis’s music, this was the absolute pinnacle
early life. There are claims that he of the profession—a secure, well-paid
came from Leicestershire or Kent, job, working with the finest musicians.
but the first known record dates Not surprisingly, Tallis remained
from 1532, when he was an organist with the group until he retired.
at Dover Priory. By 1537, Tallis had
moved to the parish church of Change and adaptation
St. Mary-at-Hill in London. A year The composer’s greatest asset was
later, he transferred to Waltham his adaptability as he negotiated the
Abbey, outside the capital. tumultuous changes during the
This was probably a shrewd move. Reformation: services were held in
Religious houses were already being English rather than Latin; and the
suppressed as part of Henry VIII’s chantries—where “soul-priests” sang
plan to take control of the Church Masses for the dead—were abolished,
of England, but the severance pay along with special services on saints’
was generous. When Waltham was feast-days. There was less music and
dissolved in 1540, Tallis received it was more direct and simple.
20 shillings in back-pay and a Elaborate polyphony was replaced
further 20 shillings “reward.” by greater emphasis on psalms and
anthems. Yet these changes were
The Chapel Royal not permanent. Catholicism was arranged in a circle. The audience △ SCORE OF CANTIONES SACRAE
For many journeyman musicians, revived during the reigns of Edward VI sits in the center, as the voices eddy In 1575, the composers Thomas Tallis
the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1547–1553) and Mary (1553–1558), back and forth around them. There and William Byrd together published,
under special license, Cantiones sacrae
was a disaster (see box, below), before Protestantism returned under was a rumor that Tallis composed (Sacred Songs). The cover of the original
but Tallis’s talent and ambition helped Elizabeth I. this extraordinarily intricate piece in manuscript is shown here.
secure his future. He soon found Tallis switched from one musical response to a challenge from the duke
another job, as one of the “singing idiom to another with assurance. of Norfolk, but this cannot be verified.
men” at Canterbury Cathedral. Two Videte miraculum is a graceful, six-part In his later years, Tallis worked
years later, in 1543, he landed his antiphon for the Virgin Mary, while the with his pupil William Byrd (see
dream job in the Chapel Royal—an anthem If ye love me is a fine example pp.26–27). The pair were granted
elite group of clergy and musicians of his simpler “reformed” style. an exclusive license by Elizabeth I
attached to the royal household, Tallis’s masterpiece, however, to print and sell music, and in 1575
who played wherever the monarch is the monumental Spem in alium, a they produced a book of motets,
required. For a composer of sacred motet sung by eight five-part choirs Cantiones sacrae (Sacred Songs).

IN CONTEXT
The Dissolution of the
Monasteries
By the Act of Supremacy (1534), Henry
VIII became head of the Church of
England, gaining complete authority
over it. Two years later, his chief
minister, Thomas Cromwell, began
the process of suppressing religious
houses—monasteries, convents, and
priories—seizing all their assets for
the Crown. Waltham Abbey was the
last to be suppressed, in March 1540.
This policy had serious consequences
for English musicians—many lost
both their home and their livelihood.
Countless musical manuscripts were △ HENRY VIII
also lost when the monastic libraries England’s Tudor king (reigned 1509–1547)
were sold off or even destroyed. imposed a series of repressive measures
on religious houses that had a grave
impact on the welfare of some musicians.

WALTHAM ABBEY, ESSEX, ENGLAND

022 BEFORE 1600

Giovanni da Palestrina
c. 1525–1594, ITALIAN
Palestrina is best known for his spiritually uplifting vocal music for
church services. He achieved a serene purity of expression through
his mastery of the complex interweaving of voices.

Born Giovanni Pierluigi around ◁ POPE JULIUS III second time, the widow of a Roman
1525, the composer became Julius III (depicted here by the fur trader, and took over running her IN CONTEXT
known as Palestrina after the sculptor Fulvio Signorini) spotted former husband’s business, which he
Palestrina’s talent when the young Palestrina and the
name of the town of his birth, just handled very profitably. Alongside this
outside Rome. As a child, he
composer was director of music
commercial activity he continued to
Counter-Reformation
at Palestrina cathedral.
sang in the choir at Rome’s write a stream of Masses and other In the 16th century, provoked by the
prestigious basilica of sacred music, including settings of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic
Church embarked on a Counter-
Santa Maria Maggiore. Nevertheless, the Song of Solomon published in 1584
Reformation to remedy lax practices
By the age of 20, he had composer’s talent and and the Stabat Mater for eight voices, and reinvigorate the faith. In the
been appointed director reputation ensured him dating from around 1590. By the time 1560s, Catholic divines meeting at the
of music at Palestrina work at other Roman of his death in 1594, his total output Council of Trent discussed banning
music from church services, arguing
cathedral, and six or churches. By the time he amounted to 105 Masses, more than
that it distracted worshippers with
so years later, he was was reinstated as papal 300 motets, and hundreds of other sensual pleasure. There is a legend
invited by Pope Julius III choirmaster in 1571, he works, both religious and secular. that a performance of Palestrina’s
to head the choir at St. had adapted his style to Missa Papae Marcelli so moved the
church dignitaries that they changed
Peter’s Basilica, which the demands of the Music from Heaven their minds. Although the legend
involved writing sacred Counter-Reformation Palestrina was famous in his lifetime itself is not true, Palestrina’s music
music and directing its (see box, right), describing and his reputation remained high did in the long run satisfy the Church
performance. Palestrina’s first book his new works as “music written … through the succeeding centuries. His that chaste spiritual music could
indeed reinforce Catholic faith.
of Masses was published in 1554. in accordance with the views of works were widely studied as perfect
the most serious and religious- technical examples of polyphony
A change of fortune minded persons in high places.” and were admired by composers from
Julius III was not concerned that In the 1570s, plague raged in Rome. Bach (see pp.56–61) to Mendelssohn
Palestrina was married (the holder Palestrina suffered the deaths of (see pp.114–117), who claimed that
of the post was supposed to be his wife and two of his three sons. Palestrina’s music sounded “as if
celibate) or that his religious works In 1581, however, he married a it came direct from Heaven.”
were interspersed with secular
◁ SCORE OF MAGNIFICAT
madrigals. However, after Julius’s
This illuminated 16th-century manuscript
death in 1555 and the brief reign is the first double page of Palestrina’s
of Pope Marcellus II—to whom score of one of his settings for the
Palestrina dedicated his most famous Magnificat, or the hymn of praise by
Mary, as found in the Bible.
Mass, Missa Papae Marcelli—the
more austere Paul IV was installed
in the Vatican. The new pope
dismissed Palestrina.

▷ GIOVANNI DA PALESTRINA
The Italian Renaissance composer is
shown here holding the score of his
famous Mass Missa Papae Marcelli
(1562). According to Palestrina, “Music
should give a zest to divine worship …
delighting in voices blending in harmony.”
 ORLANDE DE LASSUS 025

Orlande de Lassus
c. 1532–1594, FLEMISH
A late-Renaissance composer, Lassus was in his day the most popular
IN PROFILE
songwriter in Europe. Writing exclusively for voices, he was tirelessly Albrecht V of Bavaria
prolific, composing more than 2,000 pieces of secular and sacred music. Duke Albrecht V (1528–1579), ruler
of Bavaria from 1550 until his death,
was a prominent Renaissance patron
of the arts. Also a leading figure in
Orlande de Lassus was born at Mons A Renaissance sensation the Counter-Reformation, he strictly
in the Hapsburg-ruled Netherlands Lassus supplied secular music for the imposed Catholicism in his domain,
(now Belgium), an area renowned court and sacred music for its chapel. but by natural inclination he was
for Renaissance music. Much about Some of his music was reserved for a hedonist and an aesthete. He
amassed a magnificent collection of
his origins is uncertain. His birth the duke’s exclusive enjoyment— Roman and Greek antiquities, books,
may have occurred in 1530 or 1532; Lassus was not allowed to publish jewels, sculptures, and paintings.
nothing is known of his parents. his much-admired Penitential Psalms Employing Lassus enabled him to
His name never achieved a definite until after the duke’s death. But a large make his Munich court the major
center of music in Europe outside
form, with variants ranging from part of the composer’s prodigious Italy. The duke’s lavish expenditure
Orlando di Lasso to Roland de Lattre. output appeared in print. It has been on collections and patronage left
estimated that more than half of all Bavaria heavily in debt.
Early days the music published in Europe in the
As a child, Lassus is said to have second half of the 16th century was
had such a beautiful voice that he by Lassus. Some of his works gained
was kidnapped three times by rival popularity well beyond the restricted
choirs. Around the age of 12, he circle of royal courts. He traveled
joined the entourage of a Hapsburg widely, recruiting singers for the
general, Ferrante Gonzaga, who Munich establishment and supervising
took him to Italy. Lassus is then △ PATROCINIUM MUSICES performances of his work. Lassus’s
thought to have begun composing This is the title page from 1589 for appearance at the court of the French
during his stays in Mantua, Palermo, Lassus’s Masses for Five Voices in king Charles IX in 1571 caused such
his Patrocinium Musices (1573–1580).
Naples, and Milan. By 1553, he was The illustration at the bottom of the
a sensation that he was invited back
director of music at the cathedral of page shows musicians around a table. twice. The Holy Roman Emperor
St. John Lateran in Rome—an elevated elevated him to noble status and,
post for a man in his early twenties. in 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made
In 1555, Lassus returned to the His name came to the attention of him a knight of the Golden Spur.
Netherlands, and his first book, a Albrecht V of Bavaria (see box, right), The death of Albrecht V in 1579 was
collection of his madrigals, motets, who invited him to his court in Munich. followed by cuts in the costly Bavarian
and songs, was published in Antwerp. Lassus’s first official position was as musical establishment. Lassus’s last
a tenor singer, but by 1563 he was the collection of madrigals, the haunting
duke’s head of music, a post he would Lagrime di San Pietro, was completed
◁ ORLANDE DE LASSUS hold for the rest of his life. He married just before his death in 1594. Some of
An anonymous Flemish School portrait
a maid of honor at the court, Regina his most famous works, including the ALBRECHT V OF BAVARIA WITH A LION,
shows Lassus formally dressed and
unsmiling. The composer is said to have Wäckinger; their two sons would both Prophetiae Sibyllarum motets, were HANS MIELICH, 1556
suffered from depression in his later life. grow up to be composers. published posthumously by his sons.

“ All were forced … to respect [Lassus] in his

presence and to praise him in his absence. ”
SAMUEL VAN QUICKELBERG, 1566
026

▷ WILLIAM BYRD, c. 1580

The talented composer, who wrote more
than 500 works, was initially trained,
at London’s Chapel Royal, in singing
by Richard Bower and in keyboard
and composition by Thomas Tallis.
Years later, he was described by the
Chapel Royal as “a Father of Musick.”

William Byrd
c. 1540–1623, ENGLISH
A prolific and versatile composer of vocal and instrumental music,
both sacred and secular, Byrd maintained his popularity despite his
conversion to Catholicism during the English Reformation.
 WILLIAM BYRD 027

William Byrd is thought to have ◁ SCORE OF SING JOYFULLY

been born in London in about 1540, The late work Sing joyfully unto God IN CONTEXT
although this date is disputed. What our strength is a church anthem for
six voices. It is widely hailed as one The English Reformation
can be assumed is that he had a of Byrd’s finest anthems.
thorough musical education, and was
most likely a chorister at London’s
Chapel Royal, where he was a pupil of recusancy—refusing to attend
of Thomas Tallis (see pp.20–21). Anglican services—Byrd continued
In 1563, he was appointed organist to compose for both the Church of
and choirmaster at Lincoln Cathedral, England and the Catholic rites, but
a post that he held for nine years. In rather cynically curried favor with
Lincoln, he married Julian Birley—it overlooked Byrd’s tendency to the the Protestant nobility by dedicating
was a happy marriage that lasted elaborate ritual of high Anglicanism, many of his compositions to them.
from 1568 to her death in the 1580s. granting him and Tallis a patent These included, as well as the two
to print and sell music and ruled collections of motets, known as
A growing reputation manuscript paper—consort music Cantiones sacrae, a large number
During his time in Lincoln, Byrd’s and part-songs were a popular of pieces for instrumental consorts,
reputation as a performer and pastime among the English middle- two English song-books, and My
composer was growing, and in classes, and Byrd received a sizable Lady Nevells Booke for keyboard—
1570 he was honored with the income from the franchise. all of which were written with the
PORTRAIT OF ELIZABETH I BY
title of Gentleman of the Chapel popular market in mind.
NICHOLAS HILLIARD
Royal. There were, however, signs Catholic composer Byrd remarried after his wife’s
of friction between him and the Around this time, he converted to death, and in 1593 or 1594 moved Following Henry VIII’s controversial
rather Puritan Church authorities, Catholicism and, taking advantage of with his family to Stondon Massey in establishment of the Protestant
probably because of his penchant the queen’s endorsement, composed Essex, where he had Catholic friends, Church of England, there was a
long period of sectarian turmoil,
for writing ornate church music. music for the Catholic services as well including his patron, Sir John Petre. which characterized the English
Nevertheless, his compositions as for the Anglican Church. But in the This gave him the opportunity to Reformation. Despite the Church’s
were appreciated by the musical 1580s, attitudes toward Catholics compose the cycles of Catholic renunciation of papal authority,
establishment and by many of the began to harden, and he and his family Masses for three, four, and five many people, including Henry’s
daughter Mary, clung to Catholic
nobility, and in 1575 he began were under suspicion because of their voices, and the two sets of motets, beliefs. As queen of England, Mary
sharing the post of organist with connections with prominent Catholic the Gradualia. These were his last attempted to reverse her father’s
Tallis at the Chapel Royal. Elizabeth I families. Despite repeated accusations major works before his retirement. reforms. When she was succeeded by
the Protestant Elizabeth I, Catholicism
again became a covert religion.
Byrd was about 18 years old and a
Protestant when Elizabeth came to
the throne in 1558, but he converted
to Catholicism in the 1570s, halfway
through her reign. Perhaps because
Elizabeth was more tolerant than
some of her Puritan subjects, and
a music-lover, too, Byrd did not
suffer undue persecution, and
he lived to enjoy the more liberal
attitudes of her successor, James I,
the son of Mary, Queen of Scots.

◁ LINCOLN CATHEDRAL
Byrd was appointed choirmaster and
organist at the magnificent cathedral in
Lincoln in 1563, succeeding the composer
Thomas Appleby. It was during Byrd’s
time there that his reputation as an
outstanding composer and performer
was established. He left Lincoln in 1572.
 CARLO GESUALDO 029

Carlo Gesualdo
1566–1613, ITALIAN
Known as much for the notorious murder of his wife and her lover as for
his richly expressive music, Gesualdo devoted his life to his art. He spent
his final years dogged by depression in isolation on his estate.

Carlo Gesualdo’s highly expressive a gruesome and bloody crime of Over the following few years, he
and personal style of composing, passion, with the lovers being established a similar musical set-up
especially in his madrigals and sacred stabbed, shot, and mutilated. in his castle at Gesualdo in Avellino,
vocal music, reflected the mood of his Gesualdo ordered that the bodies and began composing in earnest.
turbulent life. be displayed outside the palace
He was born into a noble family to make their shame public. Devotion and isolation
that had recently become rulers of Because of the circumstances The first of Gesualdo’s books of
the principality of Venosa in southern of the murder and the aristocratic madrigals was written in Ferrara, and
Italy, and when his elder brother status of the perpetrator, the case was was followed by five further volumes
died in 1584, Carlo became heir to dismissed, and Gesualdo remained a and two sets of Sacrae cantiones.
the principality. It was expected of him free man. But, of course, the incident His devotion to composition led to △ SACRAE CANTIONES
to marry and produce a family to carry had a profound effect on him. He the breakdown of his marriage, with Two volumes of Gesualdo’s collection
on the line of succession. Although succeeded as prince of Venosa when Leonora spending increasingly long of motets, Sacrae cantiones (Sacred
Songs), were published in 1603—the
this ruined his plans to become a his father died the following year, periods with her brother, especially illustrated and tinted title page of one
priest, it did give him the opportunity and in 1594 he arranged a second after the death of their son, Alfonsino, of them is shown here.
to spend even more of his time on marriage, to the noblewoman Leonora in 1600. Gesualdo became ever more
his particular passion for music. d’Este. This was not a love match reclusive, never leaving his estate, and
but a marriage of convenience, and suffered constant depression, which
Dangerous liaisons appears to have been prompted by drove him to acts of self-flagellation.
Carlo married his cousin Maria Gesualdo’s wish to spend time in her The death of his son Emanuele by
d’Avalos in 1586, but within a very home town of Ferrara, which was his first marriage appears to have
short time she became dissatisfied renowned for fostering composers been the final straw, as he died only
with his complete lack of attention and performers of madrigals. three weeks after him, in 1613.
to her, and sought her pleasures
elsewhere. For some years, she
carried on an affair with another ON TECHNIQUE
nobleman, Fabrizio Carafa, and Expressive harmony
although the relationship was Perhaps the most striking aspect of
common knowledge throughout the Gesualdo’s music is his extraordinary
region, Gesualdo seemed unaware use of chromatic harmonies—that
of the betrayal. That is, until one night is, harmonies that are unrelated to
the key in which the piece is written.
in October 1590, when he discovered Gesualdo used such unexpected
the couple in flagrante, and, with the and exotic chords for dramatic effect,
help of his servants, murdered them to express the extremes of emotion
in their bed. It was, by all accounts, and pain in his madrigals and sacred
music. This idiosyncratic and often
unsettling style distinguishes his
compositions as among the most
intensely personal music of the Italian
late Renaissance period.
◁ CARLO GESUALDO
This portrait by Francesco Mancini
depicts the composer-prince wearing
clothes that suggest his aristocratic
status, but gives no hint of Gesualdo’s MADRIGAL SINGERS WITH LUTE AND
unhappy, deeply turbulent life or of SCORE, VENETIAN, 16TH CENTURY
his melancholy temperament.
030

▷ JOHN DOWLAND
Dowland is shown here, lute and
quill in hand, with the sad and doleful
expression for which, by all accounts,
he was well known. Indeed, many of
his darker works tap into the vogue for
melancholy that was characteristic of
his age. This was not considered to be
a negative emotion, but an indicator of
deep and meaningful thought.

John Dowland
1563–1626, ENGLISH
Dowland was an outstanding lutenist and songwriter. His immense talent
was reflected in the plaintive, bittersweet melodies for which he became
famous throughout Renaissance Europe.
 JOHN DOWLAND 031

◁ PAGES FROM THE FIRSTE

BOOKE OF SONGES OR AYRES IN CONTEXT
The original, 1597 edition of John
Dowland’s highly successful Firste A climate of treason
Booke of Songes or Ayres is shown
here, with its innovative “table layout.” In 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated
Elizabeth I, releasing her Catholic
subjects from allegiance to her. This
sparked plots against her life, among
profited from the visit, however, them the Ridolfi Plot (1571) and the
by publishing his groundbreaking Babington Plot (1586). In response,
Elizabeth employed secret agents to
collection, The Firste Booke of Songes
help unearth possible conspirators,
or Ayres. This proved hugely popular, at home and abroad. These activities
in part because of its ingenious “table were supervised by her “spymaster,”
layout,” which enabled musicians or Francis Walsingham, and secretary
of state, Robert Cecil. It was to Cecil
singers to stand around a small table that Dowland wrote when, following
and read their parts from a single text. an incident in Italy, he became fearful
that he would be accused of treason.
A novel combination
The songs themselves were equally
novel. Dowland blended elements
from the madrigal, the consort song,
Nothing is known for certain about Dowland’s travels took him to princely and the broadside ballad to create
John Dowland’s early days. He is first courts in Germany and Italy, where exquisitely plaintive melodies. These
documented in 1580, when he was he was received enthusiastically and display a bittersweet melancholy that
in Paris, serving as a retainer in the showered with expensive gifts to send was then highly fashionable, typified
household of the English ambassador, to his wife—a gold chain and clothing by titles such as “In darkness let me
Sir Henry Cobham. John had probably from the duke of Brunswick; a gold dwell” and “Welcome, black night” (a
already learned to play the lute in ring and cup from the landgrave of wedding song). Dowland published
an aristocratic household of this kind. Hesse. In Italy, though, he ran into three books of his songs, along with
While in France, he took the fateful a group of disaffected Catholics, the extraordinary Lachrimae (Tears,
step of converting to Catholicism— who seemed to be plotting against 1604). The latter features seven
a move that would have a profound Elizabeth I (see box, right). Dowland variations of his most famous
effect on his future career. immediately took fright. He wrote a song, “Flow, my tears.”
long, rambling letter to Robert Cecil, These books helped make Dowland ROBERT CECIL, 1ST EARL OF SALISBURY
Home and abroad the secretary of state, assuring him of one of the most famous musicians
Dowland returned to England in the his loyalty to Elizabeth and offering his in Renaissance Europe. He was
mid-1580s and earned a music degree services as a spy. What the authorities particularly successful as the court
at Oxford University. He also married made of this somewhat paranoid lutenist in Denmark, where Christian ▽ ELSINORE, DENMARK, c. 1600
and had a son. In music circles, his missive is not recorded, but it certainly IV paid him an exorbitant salary. Dowland was in Denmark from 1598 to
reputation was growing. Some of did not help Dowland’s job prospects. Dowland was never valued as highly 1606, when relations between England
and Denmark were tense, especially on
his songs were performed at royal He returned to England in 1597, still in his homeland, although he did
the issue of fishing rights. He was hired
entertainments and, in 1594, he hoping for royal preferment, but once belatedly receive a royal appointment not only as a lutenist, but as a negotiator
felt confident enough to apply for a again he was overlooked. Dowland from James I in 1612. and messenger between the two countries.
vacant post as a court lutenist. He
was rejected, however—apparently
because of his faith. Dowland was
downhearted at this and, leaving his
family behind in England, he decided
to seek his fortune abroad.
032 BEFORE 1600

Directory
and sweetness. He was highly
John Dunstaple regarded in Europe—indeed,
he has been described as “the
c. 1390–1453, ENGLISH
most influential English composer
Little is known about Dunstaple’s life, outside England before the Beatles.”
but in his own time he was recognized
exception is his Mass of Our Lady, the as a major figure, and he is now KEY WORKS: Missa Rex seculorum
Pérotin first surviving complete Mass setting acknowledged as the outstanding (Mass of the King of Ages); Salve
by a single composer). He is most English composer of the 15th century. Regina, mater misericordiae (Hail
ACTIVE c. 1200, FRENCH
famous for his songs, many on the (He is also said to have been skilled in Queen, Mother of Mercy); O crux gloriosa
Pérotin is an extremely obscure figure, theme of courtly love. They introduced astronomy and mathematics.) There (O Glorious Cross); dates unknown
but the vague and scant information a new variety and complexity into the is evidence that he worked for several
that survives about him in late- genre. Machaut traveled a good deal, high-ranking patrons, notably John of
13th-century sources suggests that but he lived mainly in Reims. Lancaster, Duke of Bedford (Henry V’s
he was one of the most significant brother), but the details are obscure. Johannes Ockeghem
musicians of his time. His name KEY WORKS: “Rose, liz, printemps, About 60 musical compositions
c. 1410–1497, FRANCO-FLEMISH
means little Peter or Pierre and he verdure“ (“Rose, Lily, Spring, attributed to him survive, almost all of
is sometimes known by the Latin Greenery”), c. 1340s; Messe de Nostre them religious, including two complete Ockeghem was Flemish but he spent
form, Perotinus. He is thought to have Dame (Mass of Our Lady), c. 1360; “Ma Masses and various other settings most of his long career working for
worked at Notre-Dame Cathedral, fin est mon commencement” (“My of sacred Latin texts. His style is three successive kings at the French
Paris, and all his music is religious. End Is My Beginning”), c. 1370 notable for its melodic freshness court (then based mainly in Tours,
He seems to have been one of the
most important pioneers of polyphony:
that is, music in which several melodic
lines are used simultaneously and
either blend or weave in and out
harmoniously. Earlier sacred works
had sometimes used a plainchant
melody sung against another melodic
line, but Pérotin composed pieces in
three and four parts. This is regarded
as one of the most significant
developments in Western music.

KEY WORKS: Viderunt omnes

(Everyone Saw); Sederunt principes
(The Princes Sat); Alleluia Pascha
nostrum (Alleluia, Our Passover
[Easter hymn]); dates unknown

▷ Guillaume de Machaut
c. 1300–1377, FRENCH

A poet as well as a composer, Machaut

was one of the outstanding cultural
figures of his time, employed by
various royal and noble patrons
and with a reputation that extended
through much of Europe. A large
amount of his music survives (well
over 100 works), much more than
for any other composer of the 14th
century. Although he held various
minor positions in the Church, most
of his music is secular (the main △ GUILLAUME DE MACHAUT, FRANCE, 14TH CENTURY
 DIRECTORY 033

of vocal music, both sacred and Cardinal Wolsey’s magnificent new

secular. His work is varied and highly foundation in Oxford, Cardinal College
inventive—he rarely repeated himself. (now called Christ Church). However,
soon after Wolsey’s downfall in
KEY WORKS: Adieu, mes amours 1529, Taverner returned to his native
(Farewell, My Love Affairs), c. 1480; Lincolnshire and became a member
Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae (Mass of the choir at St. Botolph’s Church,
of Hercules [i.e. Ercole d’Este], Duke of Boston. He seems to have retired from
Ferrara), c. 1505; Missa de Beata Virgine church music by 1537 and then lived
(Mass of the Blessed Virgin), c. 1510 the life of a prosperous gentleman. He
wrote a few songs and instrumental
pieces, but his music consists mainly
of religious works, particularly
◁ Jacob Obrecht Masses. His style has florid elements
that link him to the Middle Ages, but
c. 1457–1505, FRANCO-FLEMISH
also a sweeping sense of melody that
During his own time, Obrecht was is forward-looking.
a celebrated figure, and among the
Franco-Flemish musicians of his KEY WORKS: Western Wynde Mass;
period he now ranks second only Missa Corona spinea (Crown of Thorns
to Josquin des Prez. The son of a Mass); Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas (Glory
city trumpeter in Ghent, he was to You, O Trinity Mass); dates unknown
primarily a religious composer,
holding positions in various churches
and cathedrals in Antwerp, Bruges,
and elsewhere. (Some of these posts Tomás Luis de Victoria
were short-lived and he seems to
1548–1611, SPANISH
have been rather restless in his
movements.) However, he also wrote Victoria was the towering figure of
secular music and he ended his Spanish music of his period. He began
career working at the court of Duke his musical career as a choirboy at
△ JACOB OBRECHT, HANS MEMLING Ercole d’Este in Ferrara, where he Avila Cathedral. After his voice broke,
died of plague. Obrecht excelled he went to Rome, where he spent
rather than Paris). The political chiefly as a composer of Masses— about 20 years (c. 1565–c. 1586). He
geography of the time was complex Josquin des Prez about 30 by him survive, showing was ordained a priest in 1575 and
and places of origin are often a style that is fluid, graceful, and held various church appointments as
c. 1450–1521, FRANCO-FLEMISH
uncertain, so he is one of a number sonorous. His secular works include well as publishing several collections
of composers whose nationality is Josquin was one of the most highly numerous songs in Dutch, ranging of his musical works. After his return
characterized by the broad term acclaimed musicians of his time, from the lighthearted to the serious. to Spain, he served as chaplain to
Franco-Flemish. He was admired for and in the generation after his death Philip II’s sister, the dowager empress
his honesty and generosity as well as he became widely regarded as the KEY WORKS: Missa Fortuna desperata Maria, who lived at the Convent of the
his musical skills and was sometimes supreme composer of the age. His (Desperate Fate Mass), c. 1490; Missa Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Following
employed on diplomatic missions. He fame was spread by the invention of Sub tuum praesidium (Mass Under Thy her death in 1603, Victoria stayed at
composed secular music, including printing: the first collection of printed Protection), c. 1500; Missa Maria zart the convent as organist until his own
songs, but his work is mainly religious: music devoted to a single composer (Mass for Gentle Mary), c. 1500–1505 death. All his music is religious. It is
there are 14 surviving Masses by was a volume of his Masses published remarkable for its emotional intensity,
him, among them the earliest known in Venice in 1502, and two other such with a mystical flavor that is thought
polyphonic Requiem Mass. His style is collections followed in his lifetime. to be quintessentially Spanish. He has
sophisticated, with intricate textures His early career was spent mainly John Taverner been seen as a musical counterpart
and harmonies, and a concentration in Italy, where he worked for two to El Greco, his great contemporary
c. 1490–1545, ENGLISH
on the unfolding of beautiful melody popes and the dukes of Ferrara and among Spanish painters.
rather than dramatic word-setting. Milan. From 1504 until his death Although his career was fairly brief
he was provost of the church of (most of his music was probably KEY WORKS: Officium Hebdomadae
KEY WORKS: Missa pro defunctis (Mass Notre-Dame (famed for its music) written in the 1520s), Taverner is Sanctae (Music for Holy Week), 1585;
for the Dead); Missa cuiusvis toni (Mass at Condé-sur-l’Escaut in northern regarded as the outstanding English Veni, Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit),
in Any Mode); Ma bouche rit (My Lips France. Josquin was a singer, and composer of his time. In 1526, he 1600; Officium defunctorum (Office
Are Smiling); dates unknown virtually all his large output consists became director of the choir at [rite] of the Dead), 1605
17th & 18th
CENTURIES
Claudio Monteverdi 036
Francesca Caccini 040
Barbara Strozzi 042
Arcangelo Corelli 044
Henry Purcell 046
Antonio Vivaldi 048
Georg Philipp Telemann 052

CHAPTER 2
Jean-Philippe Rameau 054
Johann Sebastian Bach 056
Domenico Scarlatti 062
George Frideric Handel 064
Christoph Willibald Gluck 068
Joseph Haydn 070
Muzio Clementi 074
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 076
Directory 082
 CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI 037

Claudio Monteverdi
1567–1643, ITALIAN
Working in Mantua and Venice, Monteverdi wrote the earliest operas still
regularly performed today. He is also admired for the expressiveness of
his many madrigals and the ornate brilliance of his Vespers.

The son of an apothecary, Claudio of secular madrigals. In 1590, he daughter of a fellow court musician,
Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was secured a post at the prestigious with the duke’s blessing. Cattaneo
born in the small city of Cremona in court of the duchy of Mantua. Although may have been one of the duke’s
northern Italy in 1567. There is no he was aware of Monteverdi’s talent mistresses whom he had tired of
evidence whatsoever of music-making for composition, Mantua’s ruler Duke and wished to set up with a suitable
in his family background, although the Vincenzo I Gonzaga (see box, below) husband, but evidence on this is scant.
young Claudio must somehow have took him on as a viol player.
revealed a significant aptitude for The composer had to work his Public controversy
music, for he was taken on as a pupil way up through the court’s musical Through this time, Monteverdi
by Marcantonio Ingegneri, director hierarchy. He was frustrated not to be had continued to publish books of
of music at Cremona cathedral. appointed Mantua’s director of music madrigals that were sufficiently
on the death of the incumbent in 1596 innovative to provoke notable public
Rising through the ranks but he nonetheless received many controversy. In 1600, conservative △ CREMONA CATHEDRAL
Ingegneri was an accomplished signs of ducal favor, as when he music scholar Giovanni Artusi Monteverdi’s long and successful career
composer in the Renaissance tradition was chosen to lead the musicians launched an outspoken attack on in music began when, as a teenager, he
was invited to be a pupil of the director
of polyphony, in which all the parts accompanying Vincenzo to Hungary “the imperfections of modern music,” of music at Cremona cathedral.
in a work are independent and on a military expedition against the accusing Monteverdi in particular of
accorded equal status. By the age Turks in 1595. Monteverdi was joined crude dissonance and violation of the
of 15, Monteverdi had sufficiently at court by his younger brother Giulio proper rules of musical composition.
absorbed Ingegneri’s lessons to be Cesare, also a musician, and in 1599 The supporters of “modern music,”
able to publish his own conventional married a singer, Claudia Cattaneo, including the composer himself,
three-voice compositions. He also
developed into a skilled player of
string instruments such as the viol. IN CONTEXT
Living in Cremona through the Mantua under the
1580s, Monteverdi attracted attention Gonzagas
as a promising young composer, his
Monteverdi’s patrons, the Gonzaga
published works including two books family, ruled the city of Mantua for
almost 400 years. In the 15th and
16th centuries, their palace was a
◁ CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI, c. 163O major center of Renaissance culture,
This portrait by Bernardo Strozzi shows attracting artists such as Andrea
Monteverdi in later life. When in his Mantegna, who depicted the Gonzagas
seventies, the composer produced in the murals of the palace’s Camera
a magnificent final flowering of creativity degli Sposi (1465–1474). Isabella
that crowned his life’s achievement. d’Este, married into the family in
1490, was among the most renowned
patrons of Renaissance art. When
Monteverdi arrived in Mantua in 1591,
the court was still at the height of its
splendor and prestige, but the 17th
century brought rapid decline.
Gonzaga rule ended in 1708.

LUDOVICO GONZAGA (LEFT) WITH HIS

FAMILY, FRESCO BY MANTEGNA, c. 1474
038 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

responded by identifying two equally

valid musical “practices.” The first,
which had predominated in the
previous century, followed strict rules
of polyphony, irrespective of the text
being sung. The new “seconda
pratica,” which Monteverdi had
been criticized for following, gave
precedence to the emotional
implications of the text, using
dissonance and other departures from
traditional musical rules to bring out
the sense and feeling of the words.
Monteverdi was finally accorded the
coveted post of director of music at
Mantua in 1601 and in the following
year he was honored with Mantuan
citizenship. In 1607, the duke’s son choral writing with long recitatives △ ST. MARK’S BASILICA, VENICE
△ FRONTISPIECE OF L’ORFEO Francesco Gonzaga commissioned and arias to powerful effect. His first Monteverdi was appointed director of
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo is one of the world’s Monteverdi to create a theatrical large-scale work, it was an immediate music at the magnificent basilica in
first operas. This frontispiece is from a Venice when he was in his mid-forties
entertainment for the carnival season success. He wrote a second opera, and stayed there for the rest of his life.
1609 edition, published two years after
the work was written. in Mantua. Such works, later called L’Arianna, the following year. The only
operas (see box, below), had been section of this work to have survived
performed in other Italian cities, so is the dramatic recitative known as Monteverdi then turned his focus on
the Gonzagas were keeping up with the “Lamento d’Arianna.” patronage of the Church. In 1610, he
fashion. A variant on the Greek myth published a volume of sacred music,
of Orpheus and Eurydice, Monteverdi’s Troubled times comprising a polyphonic Mass and
L’Orfeo combined orchestral and Although Monteverdi was at the peak the Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, a
of his musical powers, his life had dramatic and complex work in the
entered a difficult phase. The death “modern” style combining solo songs,
IN PROFILE of his wife after a painful illness duets, and instrumental interludes.
Jacopo Peri in September 1607 left him grief- Dedicated to Pope Paul V, this dazzling
Toward the end of the 16th century, stricken and solely responsible for volume was virtually a job application,
Florentine humanists, obsessed three children. Forced into overwork showing how his talents could adapt
with recovering the art and learning on lavish court entertainments the to religious purposes. In 1613, he
of the Ancient world, sought to following year—including the stressful was appointed director of music at
recreate Ancient Greek drama,
which was known to have included production of L’Arianna—he suffered St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice.
music. In 1598, in keeping with the some kind of nervous breakdown and Monteverdi appears to have been
spirit of this pursuit, the composer for a time withdrew from Mantua. His more content in Venice than at the
and singer Jacopo Peri (1561–1633) relations with the Gonzagas never Mantuan court. He conscientiously
produced La Dafne, which is generally
considered to be the first opera. fully recovered. He wrote querulous executed his duties, writing music
He followed this up two years later letters expressing his dissatisfaction for church services and directing the
with Euridice, the first opera whose with his pay and his status at court. basilica choir. He also continued to
score has survived to this day. The When Francesco Gonzaga succeeded write secular music and to explore
new fashion spread rapidly to other
Italian cities, leading to Monteverdi his spendthrift father in 1612, financial fresh ways of expressing emotion
writing L’Orfeo in Mantua in 1607. JACOPO PERI, ALSO KNOWN AS cuts were the order of the day. The and linking music to words. His most
II ZAZZERINO troublesome Monteverdi and his impressive experiment was a setting
brother were fired. of part of Torquato Tasso’s epic poem

“ The end of all good music

is to affect the soul. ”
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Jerusalem Liberated. First performed New horizons characters in emotionally realistic △ L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA
at a private palace in Venice in 1624, Remarkably, in his seventies, situations. Immediately successful, Monteverdi’s last opera, L’incoronazione
Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda a crotchety old man, Monteverdi they undoubtedly did more than di Poppea (1643), tells the story of
Emperor Nero’s love for his mistress.
is considered the first oratorio and produced a late flowering of creativity, any other works to establish opera The production shown here is from a
included the first use of pizzicato— with his last two operas exploring as a major genre of the future. 2017 performance at the Staatsoper
the strings imitating striking swords. new frontiers in musical theater. When Monteverdi died in 1643, in Berlin, Germany. The performance
Monteverdi took holy orders in 1632, They followed from the opening of he was honored with a tomb in was notable for, among other things,
its lavish Baroque-style costumes.
but never ruled out a return to secular the world’s first public opera houses Venice’s splendid Frari church. After
patronage. He seriously considered a in Venice at the end of the 1630s. falling from favor, his music was
post at the royal court of Poland and The operas that Monteverdi wrote rediscovered in the 20th century, along
sought to attract the attention of the to be staged at the Teatro Santi with the techniques and instruments
Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna. Giovanni e Paolo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse that were required to perform it
However, in the end he remained in patria (The Return of Ulysses to authentically. A bridge between the
at St. Mark’s for the rest of his days, his Homeland) and L’incoronazione Renaissance period and the Baroque,
constantly muttering about inadequate di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea), his work is enjoyed by modern
pay and worrying about an unpaid were dramatic masterpieces that listeners for its emotional intensity
pension he was owed from Mantua. exhibited a range of distinctive and sheer beauty of sound.

KEY WORKS

1587 1607 1610 1624 1640 1643

Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, one of the Vespers for the Combattimento, Il ritorno d’Ulisse Writes
first book earliest operas Blessed Virgin, from Tasso’s epic in patria, his first L’incoronazione
of secular and Monteverdi’s Monteverdi’s most poem Jerusalem work written for a di Poppea, his
madrigals is version of the complex work Delivered, public opera house, last opera.
printed—the last Orpheus legend, of sacred music, premieres at is performed in He dies later
book (of eight) is staged at the is published. Venice’s Palazzo Venice. that year.
came in 1638. court in Mantua. Mocenigo. .
040 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Francesca Caccini
1587–AFTER 1641, ITALIAN
A highly paid court musician and the first woman to write an opera,
IN CONTEXT
Caccini was an immensely gifted composer and singer. She wrote The women’s court
numerous works, mainly for voice, only a few of which survive. In 1607, Caccini began work at the
Medici women’s court, which according
to the scholar Suzanne G. Cusick,
was “widely acknowledged as the de
Francesca Caccini was born into a Francesca had been trained in guitar, duets setting both sacred and secular
facto seat of Medicean power.” Here,
musical family in Florence in 1587. lute, harp, keyboard, voice, and texts. However, Caccini is most famous Caccini created music for the elite
Her mother, brother, and younger composition at an early age—to for being the first woman to write an of Tuscany, under Grand Duchess
sister were singers; her father significant effect: in 1605, she was opera: La liberazione di Ruggiero Christina of Lorraine (co-regent with
Maria Maddalena of Austria), a major
Giulio Caccini, a celebrated composer offered lucrative work as a singer by dall’isola d’Alcina (The Liberation of
promoter of the arts. Aside from her
and teacher, was one of the leading the court of Henry IV. However, Grand Ruggiero from Alcina’s Island), which composing, Caccini had perfected the
musicians of his day who had links to Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, keen to was published in 1625 and adapted complex breathing techniques that
influential figures via his employment retain her exceptional talent within the from an episode in Ludovico Ariosto’s produced a form of singing that
symbolized Medicean power and was
at the court of the Medicis, Europe’s Medici court, refused her permission epic poem Orlando furioso (1516),
seen as a product and endorsement
most powerful family. to leave Florence. focuses on a struggle between two of its authority. A hugely respected
Confined in this way, Caccini had sorceresses—one good, one evil— figure, with access to the region’s
A family ensemble little option but to follow the career over the warrior Ruggiero. most powerful people, she was able
to help implement her female patron’s
When Francesca was six, her mother path of her father. In 1607, she started
cultural and political agendas.
died and her father was left with three work at the Medici court, where she Altered landscapes
young children and a teenage son. was to remain for the next 20 years In 1626, Caccini’s husband died and
The following year, 1594, he married as a teacher, singer, and composer of about a year later, after moving to
another singer, 18-year-old Margherita chamber and stage music (see box, Lucca, she married an aristocrat (thus
della Scalain. The women of the right). Within seven years, she had elevating her social standing), with
household (Francesca, her younger become the court’s best-paid whom she had a son, Tommaso. She
sister, Settimia, and her stepmother) musician. In the same year as joining was, however, widowed again by
began singing professionally in a the Medicis, Francesca married 1630. Three years later, now wealthy
family ensemble. Francesca made her Giovanni Battista Signorina, another and a landowner, she returned to
first professional, public appearance court singer. The couple went on to Florence to work once again for
with this group in 1600, at the age of have one child, Margherita, in 1622. the Medici family, but retired from the
13, in Jacopo Peri’s opera Euridice. In 1618, the year of her father’s post around 1637, or possibly later.
A gifted, hugely intelligent child (and death, she published Il primo libro delle Caccini composed hundreds of
with a career as a musician clearly in musiche (The First Book of Madrigals), works throughout her life, including
the sights of her ambitious family), comprising 32 solo songs and four songs and incidental music for the MEDAL SHOWING THE HEAD OF
theater, most of which are now lost. CHRISTINA OF LORRAINE
A poet as well as a composer, she
wrote the lyrics for many of her works.
The reason for and date of her death ▷ FRANCESCA CACCINI
There are very few verified depictions of
are uncertain, although Tommaso is
Caccini, but this portrait by Italian artist
known to have been placed in his Jacopo Palma is often thought to be of
uncle’s care in 1645. the composer as a young woman.

◁ FLORENCE, c. 1650
This painting shows Florence as it would
have looked in Caccini’s day. It was here
that the composer was born, grew up,
and spent many years of her life.
 BARBARA STROZZI 043

Barbara Strozzi
c. 1619–1677, ITALIAN
Born into the male world of 17th-century Venice, Strozzi was the most-
IN CONTEXT
published composer of secular vocal music in her day and a key figure The Unknowns and the
in the rise of the cantata and aria. Like-Minded
Giulio Strozzi (1583–1652), Barbara
Strozzi’s father, was a member of the
Born in Venice around 1619, Barbara ◁ CANTATA BY STROZZI Academia degli Incogniti (Academy of
Strozzi was the illegitimate child and The original piano sheet shown here is the Unknowns), a circle of prominent
in Barbara Strozzi’s own handwriting— Venetian intellectuals who were
adopted daughter of the influential highly influential in political and
the composer was an important figure
poet Giulio Strozzi. Her mother, in the development of the Italian cantata. cultural life in the region and did
Isabella Garzoni, was a servant and much to promote opera in Venice. In
possibly also a courtesan (a high- 1637, Giulio founded the Accademia
degli Unisoni (the Academy of the
class prostitute) of Giulio’s. A member to the private sphere of writing and Like-Minded), a musical offshoot of
of the Accademia degli Incogniti performing, in the very limited genres the Unknowns, where he showcased
(Academy of the Unknowns, see box, of secular vocal and chamber music, his daughter’s vocal and musical
right), Giulio used his elite connections to small, elite circles of men (see box). talent. Barbara was the academy’s
dazzling hostess and would often sing
to promote his daughter’s musical and perform her own compositions.
talents, and sent her off to study Finding a voice Women were seldom permitted into
with the prominent composer and Nonetheless, her work was popular such gatherings—her presence
pioneer of opera Francesco Cavalli. in England, Austria, and Germany, there sparked scandal and satirical
commentary, and contributed to her
as well as Venice. Her success as reputation not only as a notable, and
A woman’s work a prolific female composer was beautiful, composer-performer, but
By 1637, aged 18, Strozzi had made due to her tenacity, shrewdness in also as a courtesan.
a name for herself as a virtuoso business, and scant regard for what
singer, and in 1644 she launched was deemed respectable for women
her career as a female composer Following the death of her father in of her day. Far from concealing her
with the publication of her First Book 1652, Strozzi published numerous identity behind a male pseudonym—
of Madrigals for two to four voices. works (no doubt for financial reasons): a tactic used by many women who
By her early thirties, she had four more than 100 pieces of secular vocal wanted their voices to be heard—
children. Their father was probably music—ariettas; arias; and lengthy, she put her name to all her works.
Giovanni Vidman, patron of the arts complex cantatas—and a book of Strozzi lived most of her life in
and a friend of her father. However, sacred songs. Most of her music is for Venice but died in Padua in 1677. Her
Strozzi was a single mother and never solo soprano and focuses on themes popularity waned after her death and
married. Unsubstantiated accounts of love and desire. Her work is notable the details of her life and work were
suggest she was also a courtesan. for her sensitivity to text and to sound. largely relegated to obscurity until the
Conspicuously absent from Strozzi’s 1990s, when they were recuperated
compositions and performances is by feminist scholars interested in
◁ BARBARA STROZZI opera, despite the fact that it was such understanding her achievements
This portrait of Strozzi with a breast
a fashionable new genre. As scholars in the context of the uncompromisingly GIULIO STROZZI, BARBARA’S FATHER,
exposed has divided critics: for some, it
confirms her status as a courtesan; for Diane Jezic and Elizabeth Wood have patriarchal environment of 17th- c. 1620s
others, it indicates her maternal role. suggested, her gender confined her century Venice.

“ Being a woman I am concerned about

publishing this work. Would that it … not
be endangered by the swords of slander. ”
BARBARA STROZZI, ON THE PUBLICATION OF HER FIRST BOOK OF MADRIGALS IN 1644
044 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Arcangelo Corelli
1653–1713, ITALIAN
Hailed by music theorist Angelo Berardi as “the new Orpheus of our
days,” Corelli helped to define the Italian instrumental sonata and
concerto. Despite a modest output, he was influential throughout Europe.

Among the many notable musicians Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, a great Rome, including Handel, and traveled
who were drawn to Rome in the 17th patron of the arts and a competent beyond the Alps after Corelli signed a
century, Arcangelo Corelli was famed composer himself, lured Corelli to play publishing deal with Estienne Roger of
for his expressive violin-playing and in the Sunday concerts at his palace Amsterdam in 1712. Bach and Tartini
exemplary compositions. Although in Rome, and later appointed him were among those who based original
he was by all accounts a serene and as his music master. “Il Bolognese,” as compositions on themes by Corelli,
modest man, his performances were Corelli was known, also attracted the a trend that was revived in the 20th
said often to be fiery and dynamic. patronage of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, century by Rachmaninoff and Tippett.
Arcangelo was born in Fusignano to whom he dedicated his Op. 4 Corelli’s Op. 6 collection, published
in February 1653 into a family of collection of chamber trios. The young in 1714, a year after his death,
wealthy landowners. His father died Ottoboni, the last in a controversial contains 12 concerti grossi: eight in △ CARDINAL PIETRO OTTOBONI
just before he was born, so he and line of cardinal-nephews appointed by the so-called church style, four in the A musician himself (and also a librettist),
his four siblings were raised solely by the pope, treated Corelli as a friend, as chamber style. Europe’s music-lovers Ottoboni was one of Corelli’s patrons.
This portrait, c. 1689, shows the cardinal
their mother. He probably received his evident in his letters to the composer. were captivated by their ingenuity— in his early twenties.
first music lessons from a priest and, not least the lilting Largo from Op. 6,
in 1666, aged 13, was sent to Bologna Ingenuity and originality No. 8, the “Christmas Concerto”—
to continue his studies. An exceptional The ample orchestras belonging to and by the great economy and ease
violin-player, he was soon accepted the two cardinals served as musical of Corelli’s writing. His six publications ▷ ARCANGELO CORELLI
as a member of Bologna’s recently laboratories for Corelli. He used went through multiple editions and Corelli was born in Fusignano into a
wealthy family who waged an abortive
founded Accademia Filarmonica. them to test his concertos for strings. remained in the repertoire throughout
campaign to rule the town. His success,
These were strikingly inventive works the 18th century, rare in an age that although derived from immense talent,
From strength to strength that influenced other musicians in was hungry for the latest fashions. was certainly aided by family connections.
Corelli flourished after moving to
Rome in the mid-1670s. Propelled
by impressive family connections and ON TECHNIQUE
considerable talent, he moved up the The concerto grosso
ranks of instrumentalists to become Corelli published only six volumes
a chamber musician to the former of works, devoted to solo sonatas, trio
queen of Sweden, Christina, who had sonatas, and concertos for strings. He
lived in the city since her abdication in made significant contributions to each
genre, setting high artistic standards
1654. He dedicated his Op. 1 collection and accommodating a rich variety
of church sonatas to her and, while of moods. Corelli’s concerti grossi,
working for other members of Rome’s conceived for the large ensembles
elite, continued to perform for her until engaged by his rich Roman patrons,
served as models of independent
her death in 1689. instrumental music, set free from
the human voice and poetic texts.
They exploit contrasts of volume and
dramatic intensity between a small
group of instruments, or concertino,
and a larger company of players,
the ripieno or “full” band.

SCORE FROM CONCERTO GROSSO IN

G MINOR, ARCANGELO CORELLI, 1675
046

▷ HENRY PURCELL, c. 1695

This portrait of Henry Purcell was painted
by John Closterman in the year of the
great composer’s tragically early death
in 1695. He was just 36 and at the peak
of his career. The illness that caused
his death is unknown, although there
is speculation that it was tuberculosis.
There is also speculation that he died
from a chill, which he caught when he
came home drunk one night and his
wife locked him out of the house.

Henry Purcell
1659–1695, ENGLISH
Famed, above all, for Dido and Aeneas—the first true English
opera—Purcell was one of the greatest and most versatile
composers of the Baroque period.
 HENRY PURCELL 047

◁ DIDO AND AENEAS, SET DESIGN

Illustration of the set for Purcell’s opera IN CONTEXT
Dido and Aeneas, designed by Francesco
da Bibiena in 1712. Bibiena, an architect, Purcell and Queen Mary
not only built theaters, but was famous
for his spectacular set designs. In 1689, the accession of William III
and Mary II to the throne marked a
crucial point in Purcell’s career. While
the king was something of a philistine,
birthday odes for Queen Mary II (see Queen Mary loved music and was an
box, right). But with the militaristic enthusiastic patron of the arts. For
her, Purcell wrote his finest birthday
William III opposed to elaborate
odes, including the colorful “Come,
church music, he now began to write ye sons of art.” In March 1695, he
for a broader middle-class audience: also provided the music for Mary’s
in the published sets of “choyce ayres funeral in Westminster Abbey. One of
the pieces sung at the burial service,
and songs,” in incidental music for “Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets
plays, and in the “semi-operas” (as of our hearts,” was performed at
the contemporary writer Roger North Purcell’s own funeral later that year.
dubbed them) for the Dorset Garden
Theatre, off Fleet Street. Purcell the
court composer had morphed into a
composer for the commercial stage.
All-sung opera, that dangerously
During his brief yet hectic lifetime, At the age of 18, he was appointed exotic Italian import, was still
Henry Purcell was acknowledged as “composer-in-ordinary for the king’s deemed alien to the “robust” English
unequaled among English composers. violins.” In 1679, he became organist temperament. The recipe for public
After his premature death at the age of Westminster Abbey, and a year or success was to take an existing play,
of 36, he was hailed by contemporary two later he married Frances Peters. fillet it, and stuff it with music, dance,
commentators as “our all-pleasing and spectacular scenic effects. These
Britain’s Orpheus” and “the Delight Building a career multi-media extravaganzas, involving
of the Nation and the Wonder of the For the next decade, Purcell’s career separate casts of actors, dancers,
World.” A century later, he had become centered on court and chapel, with the and singers, present a serious
“our musical Shakespeare.” None of production of verse anthems, royal challenge to today’s producers and
the composers of his day matched odes, royal welcome songs (in which are therefore rarely performed. Yet the SILVER MEDAL FOR THE CORONATION
his melodic genius or his inspired the music repeatedly transcends the four semi-operas—Dioclesian, King OF WILLIAM AND MARY, 1689
eclecticism, which absorbed the sycophantic texts), and, in 1685, Arthur, The Fairy-Queen, and The Indian
fashionable continental styles of coronation anthems for James II. His Queen—from Purcell’s final years
Lully and Corelli (see pp.44–45) sets of viol fantasias and the Italianate contain some of his most atmospheric
without sacrificing a quintessential sonatas in three and four parts reveal and melodically alluring music.
Englishness. His great sensitivity to his genius, not least in their rich
the rhythms of the English language chromatic harmonies. The poignantly
remains unsurpassed. concise Dido and Aeneas (c. 1683–1689)
Yet the biography of the composer tells the story of the love between
who became a national icon remains Aeneas, hero of Virgil’s epic poem the
fragmentary. What is certain is that Aeneid, and the Carthaginian queen
he was born into a family of court Dido, who commits suicide when
musicians in 1659, grew up in the Aeneas is tricked into abandoning her.
shadow of Westminster Abbey, After James II was overthrown in
London, and was one of 12 boy 1688, Purcell’s creative activities
trebles in the Chapel Royal. broadened. From 1689, he provided

▷ SCORE FROM THE FAIRY-QUEEN

This handwritten score is of the aria
“Thrice Happy Lovers” from Act 5 of
Purcell’s semi-opera The Fairy-Queen
of 1692. The piece cautions against
jealousy and the “anxious Care and
Strife,/That attends a married Life.”
 ANTONIO VIVALDI 049

Antonio Vivaldi
1678–1741, ITALIAN
Versatile and highly prolific, Vivaldi was the outstanding Italian composer
of his time as well as a celebrated violinist. However, after his death, he
was virtually forgotten and not rediscovered until the 20th century.

◁ VENICE, FRANCESCO GUARDI

This 18th-century painting of Venice is a
contemporary view of the city so closely
associated with Vivaldi. He was born,
ordained, and fêted there for much of his
life, leaving just a year before his death.

IN CONTEXT
St. Mark’s, Venice
Vivaldi’s first known appearance as a
musician came at the age of 18, when
he performed alongside his father as
a violinist in St. Mark’s, Venice’s most
important church. It was built mainly
in the late 11th century and has a
long tradition in music. The eminent
composers associated with it include
Giovanni Gabrieli, who was principal
organist in 1585–1612, and Claudio
Monteverdi, who was music director
in 1613–1643. Music featured not only
inside the church but also in religious
Vivaldi’s name is inseparable from his own instrument, the violin), he wrote such an good amateur violinist that he processions in St. Mark’s Square.
most famous work, The Four Seasons, 50 or so operas, of which 16 survive was able to turn professional, and in
one of the most frequently performed complete and others in part, a large 1685 he began working as a musician
and recorded pieces in the classical amount of sacred music, numerous at St. Mark’s Church.
repertoire. However, these four violin sonatas for one or two instruments,
concertos represent only a tiny part and various other compositions. Critics Music and religion
of his output. In addition to about 500 have accused him of overproduction Vivaldi inherited his father’s talent
concertos (almost half of them for his and repetition, but his finest creations on the violin, so a musical career
rank among the greatest of their time. beckoned, but religion was also to
Vivaldi was born in Venice and play an important role in his life.
◁ ANTONIO VIVALDI although he traveled a good deal, In 1693, he began training for the
The heavy wig that Vivaldi wears in
within Italy and elsewhere, he spent priesthood, perhaps influenced by
this anonymous contemporary portrait
hides his red hair, which earned him the most of his life in the city. His father, an uncle who was a priest at the
nickname il prete rosso (“the red priest”). who started out as a barber, was family’s parish church.

“ I have heard him boast of composing

a concerto faster than a copyist could
write it down. ” THE NAVE OF ST. MARK’S CHURCH,
VENICE, ITALY
CHARLES DE BROSSES, FRENCH VISITOR TO VENICE, 1739
050 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

KEY WORKS

1711 1713 c.1715 1725 1735

L’estro armonico, a Vivaldi’s first Writes Gloria, his The Four Seasons Griselda, an opera
set of 12 concertos, opera, Ottone in most famous piece is published in in which Vivaldi
is published in villa ([Emperor] Otto of choral music; it is Amsterdam in a set of collaborates with
Amsterdam and has at his Villa), has its lost after his death 12 concertos entitled the playwright Carlo
a wide influence. premiere in Vicenza. and not performed The Contest Between Goldoni, has its
again until 1939. Harmony and Invention. premiere in Venice.

Vivaldi was ordained a priest in March with the home almost until the end of to the Holy Roman Empire—where
1703, at the age of 25. Six months his life. However, his other activities he wrote several works for the
later, he was appointed violin teacher and travels meant that his services court of the music-loving governor,
at the Ospedale della Pietà (Hospital of could not be exclusive, and his Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Mercy), a home for orphaned and character seems at times to have In the early 1720s, he spent much
abandoned girls—one of four such caused conflict with the institution’s of his time in Rome, where several of
△ L’ESTRO ARMONICO institutions in Venice. Music was part administrators. He was notorious his operas were performed (he was
The title page of Vivaldi’s Harmonic of the curriculum at these homes and for his vanity, boastfulness, and the impresario as well as composer).
Inspiration, published in 1711, shows by Vivaldi’s time, the Pietà in particular touchiness about criticism, and From late 1729 to early 1731, he
a dedication to Ferdinand, Grand Prince of
Tuscany, a great patron of the arts, and was famous for the quality of its choir some contemporaries thought that traveled in central Europe with
of music in particular. Ferdinand’s villa at and orchestra. Leading composers his worldliness conflicted with his his elderly father, visiting Vienna
Poggio a Caiano near Florence was the wrote music especially for them and status as a priest. and perhaps also Prague.
venue for many musical performances. their concerts were eagerly attended. Vivaldi’s operas brought him into
In addition to teaching, Vivaldi’s International fame contact with an attractive young
duties at the Pietà came to include Vivaldi’s music was first published in singer called Anna Girò (or Giraud),
composing, conducting, and buying Venice in 1705, but more significantly, who regularly appeared in them,
instruments. He kept his association in 1711 Estienne Roger, a Frenchman usually in a leading role, from 1726
working in Amsterdam, to 1739. Although she was about
published a collection of 12 30 years younger than Vivaldi, there
of his concertos collectively was gossip that they were lovers. The
entitled L’estro armonico rumors were probably groundless,
(Harmonic Inspiration). Roger but they damaged Vivaldi’s career.
was the most important music In particular, in 1738 the archbishop
publisher in Europe, partly of Ferrara forbade him to enter
because of the quality of his the city and this led to canceled
engraving and printing, but performances of his operas there.
mainly because he had a highly
efficient distribution network, A late move to Vienna
with agents in Berlin, London, By this time, Vivaldi’s music had
Paris, and other cities. He played in any case passed the peak of its
a key role in securing Vivaldi’s popularity in Italy and in 1740 he
international reputation. moved to Vienna, hoping to win
▷ SCORE FOR OPUS 9, LA CETRA Vivaldi’s own travels also further patronage from the emperor
Antonio Vivaldi dedicated his set of 12 helped spread his fame. His first Charles VI (the two had first met in
concertos for the violin, entitled La cetra
opera was produced in Vicenza 1728 and Charles—an accomplished
(named after a lyre-like instrument), to
Charles VI and presented the emperor in 1713 and in 1718–1720 he amateur musician—had treated
with a manuscript copy. lived in Mantua—a city subject him generously). However, soon

“ Such playing has not been heard

before and can never be equaled … ”
J.F.A. VON UFFENBACH, ON HEARING VIVALDI PLAYING A SOLO, 1715
 ANTONIO VIVALDI 051

after Vivaldi arrived, Charles died

unexpectedly and the composer’s ON TECHNIQUE
career petered out. He died in The Baroque violin
Vienna the following year and
was given a very modest funeral, The violins used in Vivaldi’s time
are superficially similar to today’s
which suggests that he was short
models, but there are significant
of money. Although he had earned differences in their design. There
a considerable amount throughout is no chin rest on the Baroque violin,
his career, he also spent profusely, because early instrumentalists
played it in a lower position than
not least on producing his operas.
the one familiar today, and the
After his death, Vivaldi’s reputation fingerboard is shorter. Strings
declined and he remained virtually are made of organic materials
forgotten throughout the 19th century. (sheep intestines) rather
than the metal or synthetic
Scholarly interest in the composer
materials that superseded
emerged in the early 20th century them. The sound produced
and in 1926 was given a boost by is typically lighter and more
the discovery of a large collection intimate than that of the
modern violin. Specialist
of his scores, including hundreds of performers of early
previously unknown works. music often use
However, Vivaldi’s popular fame Baroque violins,
did not develop significantly until the either original
instruments
1950s, closely linked with the rise or replicas.
of LP records, which first appeared
in 1948. The Four Seasons seemed
tailor-made for the new format
(with two concertos fitting neatly
on each side) and the work soon
caught the public imagination.

Concerto legacy
Although Vivaldi set great store by
his operas, they are now little known
and his reputation rests mainly on his
concertos. They are full of exuberant,
inventive music and notable for the
three-movement pattern that Vivaldi
established and that was copied by BAROQUE VIOLIN, 1750
countless others: a slow, lyrical middle
movement between two much quicker
ones—the first one typically majestic
and the third more playful. The Four
Seasons is also one of the earliest
and greatest examples of program
music—that is, music expressing a
narrative or pictorial idea: barking
dogs, rustic bagpipes, and icy
landscapes are among the vivid
images that Vivaldi conjures.

◁ CHARLES VI OF AUSTRIA
Vivaldi met Charles VI—depicted here
in a painting by Josef Kiss and Friedrich
Mayrhofer—while the emperor was
visiting Trieste. Charles became a
great admirer of Vivaldi’s work,
conferring on him the title of knight.
052

▷ GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN

The composer and organist helped
transform German music in the first
half of the 18th century. His astonishing
output, which embraced all the main
forms of composition, amounted to
a staggering 3,000 or so works.

Georg P. Telemann
1681–1767, GERMAN
Open to every major style of composition, Telemann was a creative
powerhouse. He produced, among other treasures, some of the world’s
finest late-Baroque instrumental works.
 GEORG P. TELEMANN 053

During his lifetime, Georg Philipp St. Thomas’s, Leipzig’s mayor invited She also racked up heavy gambling
Telemann was Germany’s leading him to write works for St. Thomas’s debts, paid off with help from her
composer. His output was vast: he and for New Church. Telemann formed husband’s friends, before finally
wrote almost 40 operas, more than a student band soon after, became leaving home in 1736.
1,000 church cantatas, around 125 musical director of Leipzig’s opera Telemann’s productivity in Hamburg
overture-suites, at least the same and organist of New Church, and fell alone was superhuman. But he
number of concertos, 50 sonatas, out with the envious Johann Kuhnau, still found time to freelance for the
40 quartets, a mountain of chamber St. Thomas’s overworked cantor. Bayreuth and Eisenach courts; write
music, and about 250 pieces for solo During his Leipzig apprenticeship three autobiographies; maintain
keyboard. He harmonized 500 hymns and later in service to the Count of friendships with Bach and Handel;
and published several dozen songs. Promnitz, Telemann mastered the create the first German-language
Yet Telemann was celebrated not for major European musical styles while music periodical; correspond
the quantity but for the quality of his absorbing Polish and Moravian folk with talented young composers,
work, for his innovation and invention, music. He took jobs in Eisenach, including his godson C.P.E. Bach;
his genius for combining diverse Bach’s hometown, and in Frankfurt, teach composition; write poetry;
musical styles, and his ability to where he made a rich living as broaden the bounds of what a
keep pace with changing tastes. city director of music and church musician could be; and even take
musician. In 1721, he accepted up gardening. He remained active
A secret passion an invitation to become cantor of as a composer into his eighties
Telemann was born in Magdeburg Hamburg’s famous Johanneum and was still exploring the latest
(see box, below) in 1681. His father and the musical director of its musical styles shortly before his
died soon after his birth. Although the five main churches; he increased death in 1767.
young Georg received singing lessons his workload the following year After his death, Telemann was
and basic keyboard training, he was by becoming director of the city’s airbrushed from history, partly △ SCORE, SACRED CANTATA
essentially a self-taught musician and Gänsemarkt Oper, Germany’s first because he was overshadowed This autographed score for Telemann’s
composer. His mother disapproved of public opera house. by Bach and Handel. However, in Sacred Cantata shows the section for
the first violin. It is one of more than
his passion for music, and confiscated recent years, performers have revived 1,000 church cantatas that he wrote.
all his instruments; like Handel, who Marital issues and workload select pieces from his Tafelmusik
was 50 miles (80 km) south in Halle, Telemann’s first wife had died in 1711. (Table Music) of 1733—a vast survey
he practiced and composed in secret. His second wife, his junior by 17 years, of almost every instrumental genre
Family pressure and personal with whom he had eight sons and one of the day—and championed works
ambition nudged Telemann to study daughter, had an affair with a Swedish such as Hamburger Ebb und Fluht
law at Leipzig University. After his military official that was satirized in (known as Water Music) and his
setting of Psalm 6 was performed at a Hamburg marionette play in 1724. heart-rending Brockes-Passion.

IN CONTEXT
The Thirty Years’ War
Magdeburg, devastated during the
Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), was
in ruins when Telemann was a boy.
Memories of bloodshed and famine,
the legacy of the Protestant city’s
destruction by Catholic forces in
1631, haunted its people. The shadow
of civil war focused German minds on
promoting national and international
peace via commerce and the arts.
German composers contributed to
the harmony of nations by creating
what became known as the “mixed
taste,” a union of different styles.
Telemann proved a musical alchemist,
able to transform what he called
“French liveliness … Italian flattery …
and the British and Polish jesting”.

THE FALL OF MAGDEBURG IN 1631,

DURING THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR
 JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU 055

Jean-Philippe Rameau
1683–1764, FRENCH
Having always nursed ambitions to succeed on the stage, Rameau
produced his first opera at the age of 50. He never looked back,
becoming a highly distinguished Baroque composer and music theorist.

Jean-Philippe Rameau was born in financier Le Riche de la ◁ TITLE PAGE, CODE

Dijon to a musical family. His father Pouplinière, who enabled OF MUSIC PRACTICE IN CONTEXT
was a church organist; Jean-Philippe him to stage his opera Rameau’s Code of Music
Practice, published in 1760, War of the Buffoons
took a similar path, holding a series Hippolyte et Aricie in was a leading work of music
of posts as an organist, which he 1733. (The work later theory in the 18th century. In the early 1750s, Rameau became
embroiled in a war of words about the
combined with writing and teaching. divided the critics:
relative merits of Italian comic opera
It was Rameau’s writing that first devotees of the and its more serious counterpart in
drew him to the public’s attention. His operatic composer approach. He expanded France. The controversy was sparked
Treatise on Harmony (1722) caused Jean-Baptiste Lully Lully’s string orchestra— by the success of Giovanni Battista
Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (The
a stir and became highly influential. found it too brash, adding flutes, bassoons,
Servant turned Mistress). Performed
Two years later, a book of harpsichord too “Italian,” but it oboes, trumpets, and by a troupe known as the Bouffons
pieces cemented his reputation. He also won many admirers.) drums—and created complex (Buffoons), this prompted the French
continued to compose, concentrating harmonic interplays between his philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
to produce a pamphlet praising the
mainly on sacred music, but a major Seizing opportunity choruses and his soloists. “Lully
vigor of the Italians. A patriotic
breakthrough still eluded him. In part, Rameau took advantage of this needs actors,” he proclaimed, “but exchange of pamphlets ensued. As
this may have been due to Rameau’s opportunity. During the 1730s, I need singers.” the leading operatic composer of
prickly temperament (the writer he composed a series of operas, the day, Rameau was often branded
a reactionary figure in these texts.
Voltaire was among those with whom including Castor et Pollux and Les Altered perceptions
he had a tempestuous relationship). Indes Galantes, which became two Rameau eventually achieved the
Eventually, he found a patron in the of his most popular productions. He same renown as Lully. Many of his
retained Lully’s varied format, with later productions were staged at the
its mix of spectacles, transformation Paris Opéra or in royal palaces and, in
◁ JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU, c. 1728 scenes, and ballet interludes—Lully’s old age, Louis XV honored him with a
Rameau’s musical career was launched
works comprise lyric tragedy, the title, a pension, and the office of royal
after having taken a trip to Italy as a
young man and playing “as first fiddle” opera-ballet, and the comedy-ballet. composer. With the rise of Italian
with a group of traveling musicians. Rameau favored a more dynamic comic opera, however, there was an
ironic turnaround in his reputation.
In his youth, the critics had dubbed
Rameau too Italian (too ornate), but
during the “War of the Buffoons” (see
box, right), pamphleteers mocked
him for not being Italian enough, for
being a staid representative of the ITALIAN COMPOSER GIOVANNI BATTISTA
old French school. His reputation PERGOLESI (1710–1736)
was restored in the 20th century.

◁ HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE
Rameau’s first opera was the lyric
tragedy Hippolyte et Aricie, shown
here at a performance in Toulouse
in 2009. Although written late in life,
the work propelled him to fame.
056 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Johann Sebastian Bach

1685–1750, GERMAN
Hailed by many as the greatest Baroque composer, Bach created music
ON TECHNIQUE
ranging from oratorios to intimate keyboard pieces. His composition Lutheran church music
combines mathematical complexity with profound humanity. Music was an integral element of
Lutheran church services. By the
18th century, the singing of chorales
(hymns) by the congregation was
◁ BACH HOUSE, EISENACH
accompanied and harmonized by
The half-timbered house in Eisenach,
an organist, who might provide solo
once mistakenly thought to be Bach’s
preludes and interludes. Cantatas—
birthplace, now serves as a museum to
more elaborate performances by solo
his life and work. It contains several of
singers, choir, and instrumentalists—
the instruments he owned and played.
were also integrated into the service.
The musical element of a service
might last an hour or more. Sunday
at the age of 15, his vocal ability services were the main musical
performances available in German
won him a place at the prestigious
cities, although some Lutherans felt
Michaeliskirche school in Lüneburg, that music distracted from worship.
near Hamburg in northern Germany.
There, his interest in the organ grew
under the influence of composer
Georg Böhm, the organist at
Lüneburg’s Johanniskirche.

Disgruntled employee
Bach finished his education at the
age of 17 and set out to earn a
living. After a spell in a minor post
at the court of the duke of Weimar,
The last of eight children, Johann as well as its Lutheran Protestantism. in 1703 he became church organist,
Sebastian Bach was born in the town He was orphaned at the age of nine, first at Arnstadt, then Mühlhausen,
of Eisenach in Thuringia, Germany, in his father dying nine months after both towns in Thuringia. However,
March 1685. Members of his family his mother, and was sent to live with with his exuberant talents harnessed
had been musicians since the 16th his eldest brother, Christoph, at nearby to mundane work, he proved to be a
century: his father, Johann Ambrosius, Ohrdurf. Christoph was an organist troublesome employee. The church
was a talented string player prominent who had been a pupil of the celebrated authorities in Arnstadt were annoyed
in Eisenach’s small-town musical life; composer Johann Pachelbel (see p.83) that he spent a long leave of absence
several uncles were organists; and a and Johann Sebastian’s informal in distant Lübeck, where he had
cousin, Johann Christoph Bach, had musical education was able to traveled to hear performances by
achieved some renown as a composer. continue under his brother’s gaze. Dieterich Buxtehude, then at the
Johann Sebastian learned to play It may have been at Ohrdurf that he cutting edge of German music. They GERMAN BAROQUE ORGAN MADE
and compose early in life, immersed first learned to play the organ, and he also claimed that his accompaniments IN THURINGIA IN AROUND 1650
in his family’s rich musical tradition certainly sang in the church choir as, to chorales were far too elaborate.

“ One can’t fake things in Bach, and if one ▷ JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, 1746

gets all of them to work, the music sings. ” This portrait by the German artist
Elias Gottlob Haussmann depicts Bach
at the age of around 60, holding his
HILARY HAHN, VIOLINIST famous six-voice puzzle canon.
058 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Early recognition
IN PROFILE By this time, the quality of Bach’s
Anna Magdalena Bach organ-playing had begun to attract
attention and some of his noteworthy
Bach’s second wife, born Anna compositions had also emerged. The
Magdalena Wülcken in 1701, was
cantata Gott ist mein König (God is My
the daughter of a trumpeter. Before
they married, she was a singer at King), his first published work, was
the Köthen court. She gave birth printed while he was at Mühlhausen
to the first of 13 children in 1723. in 1707. He may also have composed
Anna Magdalena was a competent
musician who copied scores for her
the Toccata and Fugue in D minor—
husband, but claims she wrote some one of his most celebrated organ
of his music are spurious. The Anna works—around this time.
Magdalena Notebooks, collections of Bach followed a strict Lutheran
music assembled by Bach for his
wife, testify to her role in domestic
code of sexual morality. The only
music-making. After Bach’s death, early evidence of interest in women
Anna Magdalena was left destitute. was a complaint from church
She died a beggar in 1760 and was authorities that he had allowed a
buried in a pauper’s grave.
“strange maiden” into the Arnstadt
organ loft. In 1707, buoyed by a
small inheritance from his
PAGE FROM THE CHACONNE IN BACH’S maternal uncle, he married his △ THE DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR
PARTITA IN D MINOR FOR SOLO VIOLIN, second cousin, Maria Barbara. In 1708, Bach took a position as chamber
HANDWRITTEN BY ANNA MAGDALENA musician in the court of Duke Wilhelm
They had seven children, only four of
Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, who ruled over
whom survived infancy. Most of these the duchy with his brother, Johann Ernst.
Bach in turn grumbled about the births took place at the ducal court at
wide-ranging duties he had been Weimar, where, from 1708, Bach was
given, which distracted him from the an organist and later a concertmaster. notably the work of Italian composer
organ and his composition. He had no Antonio Vivaldi. It also spread Bach’s
patience with the poor quality of local Weimar influences reputation as a virtuoso. He was
musicians, and once engaged in a The wider connections of a dukedom reportedly invited to Dresden to
violent brawl with a young bassoonist brought Bach into contact with current take part in a musical contest with
whose abilities he had insulted. musical trends outside Germany, French organist Louis Marchand; the
Frenchman failed to turn up, implicitly
conceding defeat. Although less
constraining, and considerably better
paid, than being a Thuringian church
organist, Bach’s position as a servant
of the capricious duke of Weimar was
never wholly comfortable. In 1717, he
sought permission to accept the post
of musical director at another German
court, that of Prince Leopold of Köthen.
Outraged by this disloyalty, the duke
imprisoned Bach for a month, before
reluctantly letting him go.
Prince Leopold was a keen amateur
musician who maintained a small
orchestra, and Köthen provided

◁ BACH CHURCH, ARNSTADT

Bach served as the organist in the
Neue Kirche (New Church) in Arnstadt,
Thuringia, in 1703–1707. It was renamed
Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Kirche in his
honor in 1935.
fertile ground for Bach’s lively works based on the Italian concerto fell ill and died. He returned too late △ THE THOMASSCHULE, 1840
imagination. His focus shifted from grosso style in which soloists play for the funeral. A year later, Bach Bach lived in Leipzig at the Thomas
organ music and cantatas to works together with a small orchestra, married the 20-year-old singer Anna School, which was affiliated with
Thomaskirche, the Lutheran church
for harpsichord, violin, and cello, were written in 1721, and the first Magdalena Wülcken (see box, p.58). where he was musical director. This
and for the chamber orchestra. book of the Well-Tempered Clavier— sketch of the school was made by Felix
24 preludes and fugues in the full A decisive move to Leipzig Mendelssohn, who lived in a building
The Köthen years range of major and minor keys— Whether unsettled by these events opposite from 1835 to 1847. It was
Mendelssohn who helped revive interest
Although it is notoriously difficult to was completed the following year. or by changes at court, the prince in Bach’s works in the 19th century.
date many of Bach’s compositions, it The period at the court at Köthen married a woman who was utterly
was probably at Köthen that he wrote was generally a happy time for Bach, uninterested in music, and Bach
such masterpieces as the Concerto for but was marred by family tragedy in started looking for an alternative
Two Violins, the Suites for Solo Cello, 1720. While Bach was accompanying post and a new challenge. In 1723,
and the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo the prince to the spa at Carlsbad, his a vacancy appeared in the Saxon
Violin. The Brandenburg Concertos, six wife Maria Barbara unexpectedly city of Leipzig, a thriving center of

“ The sole end and aim of all music

should be the glory of God and the
recreation of the mind. ”
J.S. BACH
△ BACH AND HIS SONS, 1730 commerce and culture. A “cantor” was as one councilor put it, “when the best Bach’s creative energy in his early
This painting by German portraitist needed, who would be responsible man cannot be obtained, mediocre years in Leipzig was astonishing.
Balthasar Denner is thought to depict for the music in the Thomaskirche ones have to be accepted.” Bach had Responsible for the music at four
Bach, holding a cello, with three of his
sons; some historians, however, dispute and other major churches in the city. to promise that his music would “not churches, he wrote new cantatas at
that it shows the family of Bach. Having failed to recruit their desired last too long,” nor be “operatic” in style. an average rate of one a week, plus
candidate, the prominent composer Despite this unpromising beginning, larger-scale works for the high points
Georg Philipp Telemann, the city Bach had found a post he was to fill of the church year—the Magnificat for
authorities reluctantly took on Bach— for the rest of his life. Christmas 1723, the St. John Passion

KEY WORKS

1721 1722 1724 1727 1734–35 1741 1747 1749

Writes the six The Well-Tempered Bach’s St. John The St. Matthew The Christmas Writes 30 keyboard Writes The Musical Completes his
Brandenburg Clavier, Bach’s Passion is Passion is Oratorio, a work variations—called Offering, elaborate Mass in B Minor,
Concertos for the first book of 24 premiered at performed at in six parts, is the Goldberg fugal variations on a choral work,
Köthen court keyboard preludes Easter in his first Easter at Leipzig’s performed at Variations—for a tune provided by begun in 1733. It
orchestra. They and fugues, is year as director Thomaskirche. Leipzig’s the Russian Prussian King is not performed
are dedicated to published. A of church music Nikolaikirche. ambassador to Frederick II. in his lifetime.
the Margrave of second book in Leipzig. Saxony in Dresden.
Brandenburg. follows.
 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 061

◁ ST. MATTHEW and confused style” that offended

PASSION contemporary tastes for simplicity IN PROFILE
In the St. Matthew and clarity of melody and harmony.
Passion, sung in C.P.E. Bach
German and shown However, Bach’s later music only
here in a handwritten served to reaffirm his old-fashioned Four of Bach’s sons had notable
score from the 1740s, musical careers. The most prominent
commitment to dense counterpoint,
Bach’s music stresses was Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach
or the intertwining of two or more (1714–1788), whose reputation at
the terrible anguish of
the Crucifixion. melodic lines. one time eclipsed that of his father.
In 1747, on a visit to Berlin, he was The second surviving son of Johann
Sebastian by his first wife, C.P.E. was
invited to play in front of the Prussian employed at the Prussian court for 30
king, Frederick the Great, who was years. Famed for his virtuosity on the
for Easter 1724, and the St. Matthew him largely immune to any further employing Bach’s son Carl Philipp harpsichord, he wrote an influential
Passion for Easter 1727. Nor was criticism from the Leipzig authorities. Emmanuel (see box, right) as a court manual on keyboard technique, which
introduced the use of the thumbs into
his output by any means restricted It was at the Dresden court that musician. The king presented Bach keyboard-playing. His emotional and
to sacred music. Some of his best- Bach received a commission from with an original theme on which— dramatic keyboard sonatas were a
loved keyboard pieces, including the the Russian ambassador, Count for the royal amusement—he source of inspiration to Haydn,
Partitas, English Suites, and French Keyserlingk, to write a soothing spontaneously improvised a three- Mozart, and Beethoven.
Suites, date from this period. In 1729, piece of music for harpsichordist part fugue at the pianoforte. Back
he became director of Leipzig’s Gottlieb Goldberg to play to help the in Leipzig, he used the same theme
Collegium Musicum, which staged count sleep at night—the work now to create The Musical Offering, a set
weekly performances of secular known as the Goldberg Variations. of contrapuntal pieces including a
music at the Zimmerman coffeehouse. six-part fugue. Up to his death, he
Travels and troubles was working on his Art of Fugue,
Home life and family Bach did not follow musical fashions. an exhaustive exploration of the
Bach’s home became a center of In 1737, he was strongly attacked by possibilities of contrapuntal writing
music-making, in which the entire the young music critic Johann Adolf that was a monumental tribute to
family participated. The composer Scheibe for his allegedly “bombastic a disappearing musical world.
wrote many works for domestic
performance or as learners’ pieces Final works
for his numerous offspring. Anna In 1749, Bach went blind. He died the
Magdalena gave birth to 13 children following year, possibly of diabetes,
between 1723 and 1742, of whom and was buried in an unmarked grave.
only six survived infancy; however, His work as a composer was soon
the constant round of births and largely forgotten, but interest revived
deaths does not appear to have in the 19th century, especially after
interrupted Bach’s productivity, Mendelssohn’s performance of the TITLE PAGE OF C.P.E. BACH’S TREATISE
nor to have disturbed what was St. Matthew Passion in Berlin in 1829. ON THE HARPSICHORD, 1759
a mutually contented marriage. By the century’s end, Bach had
In contrast, Bach’s relations with become famous enough for his body
his Leipzig employers were always to be dug up and reburied in a stone
difficult. There were endless conflicts sarcophagus. His remains now lie in
over pay and status, and over the Leipzig’s Thomaskirche.
nonmusical teaching duties that
he was supposed to have performed
but often did not. In 1736, he secured ◁ FREDERICK II OF PRUSSIA
Bach dedicated his Musical Offering to
an additional post as court composer
the Prussian king, though the work is
to the elector of Saxony in Dresden, now seen as the composer’s critique of
a prestigious position that made Frederick’s religious and aesthetic values.

“ Bach was the most prodigious

organist and keyboard player
that there has ever been. ”
BACH’S OBITUARY, IN THE MUSIKALISCHE BIBLIOTHEK, 1754
062 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Domenico Scarlatti IN PROFILE

Alessandro Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti’s father,
1685–1757, ITALIAN Alessandro, was the leading Italian
opera composer of his period. Born
in Palermo, Sicily, in 1660, he spent
Italian Scarlatti wrote his most famous works in Spain. His fiery keyboard most of his working life in Naples,
where he was appointed maestro di
sonatas, incorporating elements of Spanish popular music, defied the cappella at the Viceregal Chapel; he
also worked in Rome, Florence, and
rules of composition and extended the range of keyboard technique. Venice. His output was phenomenal,
including more than a hundred operas
as well as a host of oratorios and
cantatas. His most highly regarded
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti ◁ BARBARA OF PORTUGAL reveled in unexpected modulation
work is Il Mitridate Eupatore, first
was born in Naples in Scarlatti wrote pieces for his and harmonic dissonance, exploiting staged in 1707. Heavily in debt, he
1685—an auspicious talented keyboard student, a wide range of innovative techniques died in Naples in 1725.
Princess María Bárbara
year that also saw de Bragança. including the crossing of hands.
the birth of J.S. Bach Many of their original effects were
and Handel. He inspired by Spanish folk music,
was a child of opera with echoes of guitar-strumming,
composer Alessandro In 1719, he accepted castanets, stamping dance
Scarlatti (see box, an invitation to join rhythms, and flamenco song. The
right), who had the royal court of publication of 30 sonatas under the
his son appointed Portuguese King title Exercises in 1638 established
organist at the Joao V in Lisbon. One Scarlatti’s Europe-wide reputation,
Neapolitan royal chapel of his duties was to teach but little more of his music was
at the age of 15. Although music to the king’s nine- published in his lifetime.
Domenico showed exceptional year-old daughter, Princess María Since Scarlatti’s death in Madrid in
ability as a keyboard player, his Bárbara de Bragança. When 1757, the rest of the keyboard works
father insisted he write vocal music, she married the future king of Spain have been gradually rediscovered. SCORE OF ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI’S
and his first opera was performed in in 1729, Scarlatti accompanied her to Although little of his vocal music is LA CADUTA DEL DECEMVIRI (1682–1683)
Naples in 1703. Seville and then to Madrid, where he highly rated today, Scarlatti’s sonatas
In 1709, Scarlatti obtained a post as lived at the court for the rest of his life. have an idiosyncratic “modern” feel
in-house composer for Queen Maria that guarantees their popular place ▷ DOMENICO SCARLATTI
This portrait made by Domingo Antonio
Casimira of Poland, who was living in Keyboard innovation in the repertoire.
Velasco in 1739 commemorates
exile in Rome. Over the following five On a visit to Rome, Scarlatti married Scarlatti’s initiation into the Spanish
years, he wrote seven operas for the 16-year-old Maria Caterina Gentili in Order of Santiago the previous year.
queen’s theater and also established 1728. The couple had six children
a reputation as a harpsichord virtuoso. before she died in 1739. The
composer fathered four more
Royal duties offspring with a second wife,
In 1715, Scarlatti was appointed Anastasia Maxarti Ximenes,
maestro di cappella at St. Peter’s, the the last born when he was 64.
position Palestrina had once held During his years in Spain,
(see p.22), but he was increasingly Scarlatti wrote the 555 single-
frustrated by his subjection to his movement keyboard sonatas
father’s authority and by being for which he is renowned. Mostly
forced to focus on vocal music. intended for the harpsichord, they

▷ HARPSICHORD FROM 1725

Scarlatti was a master of the harpsichord.
In a keyboard competition with Handel
in Rome, judges estimated Handel to be
superior at the organ but Scarlatti the
better harpsichordist. One contemporary
described his playing “as if ten hundred
devils had been at the instrument.”
 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 065

George Frideric Handel

1685–1759, GERMAN-BRITISH
Handel wrote Italian operas, English-language oratorios, and lively
ON TECHNIQUE
orchestral suites in Georgian London. Direct, vigorous, and unsentimental, Castrato singers
his music exemplified the finest qualities of the Baroque era. The castration of males before
puberty to create a high-pitched
singing voice in adulthood was
practiced in Italy from the 16th
◁ ALMIRA, 2014
century. From about 1680, it became
Handel’s first opera, Almira, premiered customary for a castrato to sing the
in Hamburg, Germany, in 1705. The lead male role in Italian opera. Some
production shown here was staged castrati achieved wealth and celebrity
by the Hamburg State Opera in 2014. status, admired for their purity of
sound, breath control, and elaborate
ornamentation of melody. The most
at the city’s opera house, the famous—Senesino (Francesco
Gänsemarkt theater. According to a Bernardi), Caffarelli (Gaetano
Majorano), and Farinelli (Carlo
famous anecdote, his life nearly ended
Broschi)—all sang in Handel’s operas.
there when a quarrel with a colleague The tradition died out around 1790,
led to a duel in which the point of his killed off by changing musical taste
opponent’s sword was parried only by and humanitarian revulsion at the
castration of children.
a button on Handel’s coat.

Italian adventures
Following the success of his first
attempt at opera, Almira, staged at
the Hamburg opera house in 1705
to great acclaim, Handel traveled
Georg Friederich Händel was born in especially pleased when, from an to Italy, Europe’s leading center of
the German town of Halle, near Leipzig, early age, he displayed an exceptional vocal music, in 1707. He mixed in
in 1685. He later anglicized his name gift for music. After his talent on the the fashionable society of Florence,
to George Frideric Handel. His father organ was noticed by a local nobleman, Rome, Venice, and Naples, exciting
served as barber-surgeon to the local the parents were persuaded to pay great admiration with his virtuoso
aristocracy and his mother was the for music lessons with the organist at performances on the organ. He may
daughter of a Lutheran pastor. their parish church, the Marienkirche. have conducted a love affair with a
Prosperous members of the middle Apart from this induction, Handel was Florentine singer, Vittoria Tarquini; if
class, they intended Georg to make self-taught, learning through imitating true, this was his only known liaison.
a career as a lawyer and were not other people’s compositions. Musically, his stay in Italy completed
Handel was a young man of robust his education; he learned to compose
temperament—sociable, energetic, operas in the current Italian style,
◁ GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL enterprising, gifted, with boundless designed to showcase the virtuosity of
This portrait of Handel by Balthasar
self-confidence. At 18, he left Halle for castrati (see box, right) and sopranos. PORTRAIT OF FARINELLI, CORRADO
Denner, c. 1726, shows the composer in
his early forties—prosperous, celebrated, the port city of Hamburg, where he His Agrippina, performed in Venice in GIAQUINTO, c. 1753
and at the height of his career. was employed as an instrumentalist 1709–1710, was a triumphant success.

“ Never has perfection in any art been

combined in the same man with such
fertility of production. ”
ANTOINE PREVOST, ON HANDEL, 1733
066 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

named Royal Academy of Music, at the

IN CONTEXT King’s Theatre in Haymarket, touring
The royal fireworks Europe to recruit the most famous
singers, including castrato Senesino
In 1749, George II decreed that (see box, p.65), soprano Francesca
a firework display be mounted
Cuzzoni, and mezzo-soprano Faustina
in London’s Green Park to
celebrate the end of the War of the Bordoni. Managing these superstars
Austrian Succession. Handel was was never easy. It is said that once,
commissioned to write music to frustrated by her refusal to sing an
accompany the display, the king
aria he had written, Handel threatened
specifying “no fiddles.” A public
rehearsal of the music in Vauxhall to throw Cuzzoni out of a window. But
Pleasure Gardens attracted a paying the performances Handel put on at the
crowd of 12,000 spectators, causing King’s Theatre became, for a time, the
one of London’s first traffic jams.
most fashionable entertainments in
Although the firework display itself
was ruined by rain and by accidents London. His celebrated operas of this
that injured spectators and set fire to period include Ottone (1723), Giulio
a pavilion, Handel’s band resolutely Cesare (1724), and Tamerlano (1724).
delivered a rousing performance.
FIREWORKS IN GREEN PARK, 1749
From operas to oratorios
In the late 1720s, Handel’s operatic
A move to London the earl of Burlington and the duke of enterprise ran into problems. The
In 1710, Handel moved back to Chandos. He also curried favor with popular success of John Gay’s lively
Germany, accepting the post of music Queen Anne, receiving a royal pension English-language music drama
director at the court of Hanover. This after writing music for the celebration The Beggar’s Opera, staged in 1728,
small, ambitious state had a special of the Peace of Utrecht that ended war deflated the vogue for Italian opera.
relationship with Britain, because with France in 1714. Bankrupted by the huge fees paid to
its prince had been designated as Anne’s death in the same year its star singers, the Royal Academy
Protestant heir to the British throne. brought the accession of Handel’s of Music folded. In 1734, Handel
Almost immediately, Handel took a Hanoverian employer as King George I. abandoned the theatrical business,
long leave of absence in London and This was a potentially tricky moment although he continued to write operas,
soon abandoned the Hanoverian court for Handel, since he had abandoned mostly staged at the new Covent
altogether, seduced by the musical Hanover without permission, but the Garden theater, until 1741.
and financial opportunities the British king did not bear a grudge. In 1717, The decline in the fashion for Italian
capital offered. He was to live there Londoners were treated to the opera led Handel to move into writing
for the rest of his life. spectacle of King George drifting oratorios. These large-scale sacred
In London, Italian opera was the down the Thames accompanied by concert pieces for soloists, orchestra,
height of fashion and Handel’s Rinaldo, 50 musicians in a barge playing music and choir proved hugely popular.
staged at the Queen’s Theatre in 1711, specially composed by Handel for the Selecting biblical themes and setting
introduced him to his new country as occasion—the three suites known as English-language texts, he appealed to
a master of the genre. The composer the Water Music. British patriotism and Protestantism.
ingratiated himself with the British Esther, presented as part of the opera
aristocracy, earning the patronage of The Royal Academy of Music season in 1732, was followed by more
Establishing himself in a new town than 20 oratorios over the next two
house in London’s Brook Street, Handel decades. The most famous, Messiah,
◁ FAUSTINA BORDONI set out not just to write operas—15 in was first performed in 1742 in Dublin,
The Venetian mezzo-soprano was known
the decade of the 1720s—but to run where Handel had been invited to
for her perfect intonation. Handel wrote
five roles for her in his opera company an opera company. Backed by wealthy organize a concert season by the
between 1726 and 1728. investors, he set up the pretentiously British Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

“ Go to him to learn how to achieve great

effects, by such simple means. ”
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, ON HANDEL
 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 067

KEY WORKS

1711 1717 1727 1739 1742 1749

Rinaldo, the first Three instrumental Zadok the Priest is Publishes Concerti Messiah, Handel’s Music for the Royal
of Handel’s suites, Water Music, written for and grossi, 12 works most famous Fireworks is
operas performed are played on a performed at for small oratorio, is written for the
in London, is an barge on the the coronation instrumental performed for celebration of the
outstanding Thames to entertain of George II. ensembles. the first time, peace of Aix-la-
success. King George I. in Dublin. Chapelle.

Despite objections from some critics by French sculptor Louis-François Throughout his life, Handel had
and audiences about using such a Roubiliac erected in the Vauxhall desired wealth and fame: he died in
sacred subject as Jesus in a concert Pleasure Gardens in 1738. 1759 having achieved both. His funeral
performance, Messiah was soon well In the early 1750s, Handel lost his in Westminster Abbey was attended
on its way to becoming a British sight. His last oratorio, Jephtha, was by thousands. He had been adopted by
institution, as was Handel himself. performed at Covent Garden in 1752, the British as one of their own; his
Although disliked by some members the composer conducting despite oratorios were idolized, becoming the
of the royal family, Handel served, in being almost blind. He became more focus of a specifically British choral
effect, as the Hanoverian monarchy’s pious and socially concerned in his tradition. Although a revival of interest
official composer, called upon to later years, mounting performances in his operas had to wait until the
write music to celebrate a peace or a of Messiah at the Foundling Hospital second half of the 20th century, he has
victory. His status as a national icon in Bloomsbury to raise money for its always been internationally recognized
was reflected in a statue of Handel work with abandoned children. as one of the great composers.

△ HANDEL’S MESSIAH
This score for the Messiah dates from
1747, five years after its premiere in
Dublin. The composer continued working
on the oratorio until 1754, when he
arrived at the version known today.

◁ THE CORONATION OF GEORGE II

Handel wrote his glorious anthem Zadok
the Priest for the coronation of George II
in 1727. It has been played at every
British coronation since.
068

▷ CHRISTOPH GLUCK, 1775

This portrait of Gluck was made when the
composer was in his early fifties, during
the final years of his career. Despite his
humble beginnings, and opposition from
his family at his choice of career, Gluck
rose to enjoy great wealth and fame.

Christoph W. Gluck
1714–1787, AUSTRIAN
Revered by Mozart, Berlioz, and Wagner, Gluck deserves more credit
than any other composer for purging opera of virtuoso display in
favor of emotional directness and dramatic truth.
 CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK 069

Born in the small town of Erasbach, ◁ IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE

Bavaria, in 1714, Christoph Willibald This is the title page of the first edition IN PROFILE
Gluck was determined to become a of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, arguably
the composer’s finest work, which Ranieri de’ Calzabigi
musician, despite opposition from was published in Paris in May 1779.
his father, who was a forester for Orfeo’s librettist Ranieri de’ Calzabigi
(1714–1795) was a picaresque figure
the Bohemian nobility. At the age of
in the mold of the Italian librettist
13, he ran away to Prague, surviving contrasting the rude, savage nature Lorenzo da Ponte (1749–1838): an
by singing and playing the Jew’s harp. of the one [Sparta] with all that is opportunistic adventurer and, in
In his early twenties, Gluck went delicate and soft in the other.” Casanova’s judgment, “a great lover
of women,” who had fled Italy after
via Vienna to Milan, where he The last years of Gluck’s career
a trial for murder. He was also a
composed his earliest opera, centered on Paris. Beginning with disciple of the French Enlightenment
Artaserse (1741). Its success Iphigénie en Aulide (premiered in and an opponent of the vocal excesses
prompted further works in the then 1774), he applied his revolutionary of Italian opera. His ideas chimed
perfectly with Gluck’s. Calzabigi took
fashionable genre of opera seria. dramatic principles to a series of the archetypal myth of Orpheus’s
After visiting London (where he powerful works for the Parisian descent to Hades to rescue Eurydice
met Handel) in 1745, Gluck settled stage: an expanded version of Orfeo as and pared it down to essentials.
in Vienna in 1752. That year, he Orphée et Eurydice (1774) and a radical Gluck’s music was correspondingly
strong, direct and simple, shorn of
composed his most boldly inventive French reworking of Alceste (1776). Rococo frills and fripperies.
opera seria to date, La clemenza di Tito This was followed by the romantically
(The Clemency of Titus) to a Metastasio opera Orfeo ed Euridice (1762), his first colored Armide (1777) and Iphigénie en
libretto that was later set by Mozart. collaboration with the librettist Ranieri Tauride (1779), arguably his supreme
de’ Calzabigi (see box, right), and a masterpiece, and, like Orfeo, a key
Increasing success milestone in operatic history. influence on Mozart’s Idomeneo.
During the 1750s and early 1760s, Then came two more operas whose Gluck’s final French opera, Echo et
Gluck also wrote on mythological classical plots and integration of solos, Narcisse, was a dismal failure. This
themes for the imperial court, and chorus, and ballet unified Gluck’s was due in part to squabbling claques
composed several French opéras and Calzabigi’s dramatic principles. (the supporters of Gluck versus those
comiques. These culminated in La The aim of Alceste (1767)—according of the Italian Niccolò Piccinni) and
Rencontre imprévue, whose plot and to its foreword—was to achieve because Gluck’s French operas had
Turkish harem setting influenced “simplicity, truth, and naturalness” accustomed his audiences to sterner
Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem in form, plot, and language. In Paride stuff. In poor health, Gluck left Paris
Serail. But the two key events of ed Elena (1770), Gluck avowedly in October 1779 and spent his last
these years were the revolutionary depicted “the different characters of years enjoying his wealth and fame RANIERI DE’ CALZABIGI
ballet Don Juan (1761) and the two nations, Phrygia and Sparta, by in Vienna. He died, aged 73, in 1787.

◁ ORPHEE ET EURYDICE
In this rehearsal of Gluck’s highly
acclaimed opera, the Russian singer
Dmitry Korchak (center), here playing
Orphée, is shown surrounded by dancers
of the ballet ensemble. The production
was staged by US choreographer and
director John Neumeier, under the
musical direction of Alessandro De
Marchi, and premiered in February 2019
at the Hamburg State Opera, Germany.
070 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Joseph Haydn
1732–1809, AUSTRIAN
Highly prolific, Haydn wrote more than a hundred symphonies and a host
IN CONTEXT
of chamber works that founded the Classical era in Western music. His The Esterházy princes
works were a major influence on Mozart and more especially on Beethoven. The Esterházys were a Hungarian
noble family, princes of the Holy
Roman Empire, and among the
largest landowners in Europe. They
Franz Joseph Haydn was born in flogging—visited upon 18th-century scratching a living in Vienna, he taught were loyal subjects of the Hapsburg
1732 in the village of Rohrau, near the choristers, but picked up valuable himself the basics of composition emperors in Vienna, although often
border between Austria and Hungary, practical musical experience. from manuals and the study of other wealthier than the Hapsburgs
the son of a wagonmaker and a cook. people’s music, notably the keyboard themselves. Their Esterháza palace,
begun in the 1760s, was on such a
Neither of his parents was musically From cathedral to street works of C.P.E. Bach. Exploiting a grand scale it was known as the
literate, but an uncle was responsible By the age of 17, Haydn had lost the chance encounter, he made himself “Hungarian Versailles.” It earned
for the music at a church in the nearby pure treble voice required of choirboys. a useful servant to Italian composer Haydn’s main patron, Prince Nikolaus
town of Hainburg. At the age of five, An incident in which he allegedly cut and teacher Nicola Porpora, receiving Esterházy (1714–1790), the sobriquet
“the Magnificent.” Prince Nikolaus II
Haydn was sent to live in this relative’s off the pigtail of a fellow chorister was in return advice on composition and (1765–1833) was also a patron of
house and join in the church music- used as a pretext for his dismissal. contacts with potential patrons among music, commissioning Beethoven’s
making. There he was spotted by Thrown out with only the clothes on the aristocracy. Mass in C in 1807, but the family’s
the choirmaster from Vienna’s St. his back, he survived as a busker, fortunes never recovered from his
profligacy and debauchery.
Stephen’s Cathedral and recruited singing serenades on street corners. Court life
to the cathedral choir. From the From this unpromising start, with Around the age of 27, Haydn secured
age of eight, he endured the casual determination, luck, and irrepressible his first full-time employment as
ill-treatment—poor food, frequent talent, he built a musical career. While musical director at the modest court
of Count Ferdinand Maximilian von
Morzin. It was for Count Morzin’s
small orchestra that he wrote his
first symphonies. At last enjoying
a regular income, he rushed into a
marriage with Maria Anna Keller, the
daughter of a hairdresser. The couple
proved incompatible—Haydn had
really been in love with Maria Anna’s
sister—and endured an acrimonious
childless union, from which both
sought relief with other lovers, until
Maria Anna’s death in 1800.

◁ ST. STEPHEN’S CATHEDRAL

Vienna’s imposing cathedral, one of
the city’s most symbolic buildings, is NIKOLAUS I, WEARING THE UNIFORM OF
where Joseph Haydn and his younger HIS HUNGARIAN INFANTRY REGIMENT
brother Michael served as choristers.

▷ JOSEPH HAYDN
In this 18th-century portrait, Haydn
is shown hard at work and elegantly
dressed in clothes that suggest
his considerable success. From
humble beginnings, he built himself
an impressive and lucrative career.
△ ESTERHAZA PALACE In 1761, Haydn moved his services Classical innovation peppered his works with musical
In 1766–1790, Haydn lived in a four-room to a far grander establishment, the Haydn met the requirements of the jokes and surprises. He knew how
apartment in servant’s quarters near the princely court of the Hungarian court for operas and concerts to to evoke grave sadness, gentle
main Esterháza palace. The remoteness
of the palace led to boredom among his Esterházy family (see box, p.70). By entertain the household and its melancholy, and aching beauty, but his
musicians, but allowed Haydn time to 1766, he was the Esterházy’s director guests, who sometimes included the works always resolved into a bracing
develop his compositions. of music, in control of an orchestra Austrian empress, Maria Theresa. His display of energy and joy in life.
of more than 20 players—large for operas are now largely forgotten, but
its time—and of an opera house at the orchestral and chamber music International reputation
the newly built Esterháza palace. he wrote at this time founded the Haydn labored in relative isolation
Technically he was only a senior Classical style in Western music. at the Esterháza palace, but enjoyed
palace servant, but he in fact He established the four- mounting fame in the wider world
enjoyed an enviable degree of movement symphony as the as his works filtered into print. From
independence. He was in effect standard orchestral work and 1779, the Esterházys allowed him to
permitted to use the court virtually invented the string publish for his own profit and he
musicians as a testbed for his quartet and piano trio. In his began to write for the international
compositions and could, as hands, formal musical structures, market. His Paris symphonies, written
he later said, “be as bold as I such as the sonata and rondo, in 1785–1786, were commissioned for
pleased.” His only significant revealed their rich potential performance in the French capital.
constraint was the need to write for variety of expression He was allowed to spend more time
many pieces for the baryton and dramatic effect. in Vienna, where he met Mozart,
(a now extinct instrument Later critics have forming a relationship of mutual
related to the cello), which identified a Sturm und admiration and influence. Meanwhile
Prince Nikolaus Esterházy Drang (storm and stress) court life was enhanced by a sexual
liked to play. period in his music of the liaison with a young Italian mezzo-
early 1770s, allegedly soprano, Luigia Polzelli, carried on
reflecting a wider cultural with the connivance of her husband.
▷ BARYTON, c. 1720 turn toward troubled In 1790, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy
At the request of his emotion. But Haydn did died and his successor, Prince Anton,
employer, Haydn composed not fit the profile of an was uninterested in maintaining an
around 200 pieces (mostly
trios) for the baryton, an
anguished Romantic; he expensive musical establishment.
instrument that had both was a man of sanguine Although still on the Esterházy
plucked and bowed strings. temperament who payroll, Haydn found himself with

KEY WORKS

1761 1772 1781 1791–95 1796 1798

Writes Writes “Trauer” Begins writing Writes 12 Writes the Trumpet The Creation, the
Symphonies No. Symphony works such as symphonies, Concerto, which first of Haydn’s
6-8—his first trio No. 44, in a more String Quartets the “London” will become his two great
of symphonies for emotional style Op. 33 for a music Symphonies No. most popular oratorios, is
the Esterházy typical of his publisher rather 93–104, for his concerto, for performed in
court. Sturm und than for his two visits to trumpet virtuoso Vienna.
Drang period. employer. Britain. Anton Weidinger.
 JOSEPH HAYDN 073

no orchestra and little to do. Musical went again to England, in 1794–1795, Two oratorios, The Creation (1798) and
impresario Johann Peter Salomon composing six more symphonies for The Seasons (1801), formed the climax IN PROFILE
(see box, right) was eager to engage the occasion. The London concerts of his creative life. Inspired by Handel’s Johann Peter Salomon
a composer whose work was famous were a success financially as well as oratorios that Haydn had seen in
but who had never been seen by the musically. He was now a wealthy man. London, they set libretti by Gottfried Born in Bonn, German musician
Johann Salomon (1745–1815) was the
public. He enlisted Haydn for a series The accession of a new Esterházy van Swieten (based respectively on
son of an oboist. He moved to London
of concerts in London in 1791. prince, Nikolaus II, in 1794 led to a the Book of Genesis and the poetry in 1781, becoming a leading figure in
partial resumption of Haydn’s duties. of James Thomson). The Creation in the city’s musical life as an admired
Triumph in London He produced a series of Masses and particular inspired fervent enthusiasm violinist, composer, and conductor.
He is most remembered, however, as
Haydn’s arrival in music-mad London in 1797 wrote a patriotic anthem for in its audiences. It was given more
the musical impresario who brought
caused “a great sensation.” He was the Austrian Empire, then engaged in than 80 performances in Haydn’s Haydn to Britain in the 1790s. He was
wined and dined, met the king, went desperate warfare against the armies lifetime, both in Vienna and abroad. later one of the founders of the Royal
to the races, received an honorary of the French Revolution. Partly through Aging and ill, Haydn retired in Philharmonic Society, which created
the first permanent orchestra in
doctorate from Oxford University, and the influence of the young Beethoven, 1802. His last appearance was at a
London in 1813. He is buried in
conducted a romance with a widow, Haydn explored new musical territory. performance of The Creation given Westminster Abbey.
Rebecca Schröter. His concerts, for Composed in 1797–1798, his final set in his honor in 1808. He died the
which he wrote six new symphonies, of string quartets, Op. 76, and his last following year in Vienna. His final days
were a triumph. Known today as piano trios exceed any of his previous were not peaceful, coinciding with a
his “London” Symphonies, they are chamber works in intensity and major defeat of his beloved Austria by
among his best-loved works. Haydn expressive range. French forces in the Napoleonic Wars.

JOHANN PETER SALOMON, THOMAS

HARDY, 1790–1792

◁ VIENNA BOMBARDED
During Haydn’s terminal illness in May
1809, French troops besieging Vienna
bombarded the district where he lived
with explosive shells. By the time the
composer died on the last day of the
month, the French had occupied the city.

“ God has bestowed a talent upon

me and I thank him for it. ”
JOSEPH HAYDN, c. 1800
074

▷ MUZIO CLEMENTI
A dazzling composer-performer,
thriving music publisher, and piano and
keyboard manufacturer, as well as a
respected tutor of talented pianists
and author of acclaimed and highly
influential technical and instruction
manuals, Clementi made a remarkable
contribution to the world of music.

Muzio Clementi
1752–1832, ANGLO-ITALIAN
Hailed as the father of the pianoforte, Clementi was one of Europe’s
most influential musicians. He is best known for his sonatas for piano
and was a key figure in the development of the form.
 MUZIO CLEMENTI 075

Born in Rome to a humble family in ◁ GRADUS AD PARNASSUM

1752, Muzio Clementi studied music This is the title page of the Offenbach IN CONTEXT
from an early age. By 1766, aged 14, edition (c. 1870) of Clementi’s Gradus
ad Parnassum, or The Art of Playing The Clementi-Mozart
he was an organist at the church of the Piano (1817–1826). contest
San Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome. Later
that year, his keyboard skills were In 1781, Clementi was invited by
spotted by a wealthy English traveler the year in which his innovative Emperor Joseph II to play at the
imperial court, Vienna. On accepting
to Rome, Sir Peter Beckford, who took Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 25, the invitation, Clementi was unaware
the talented young musician to his No. 5, appeared—introducing, in that he would be in a contest against a
estate in Dorset, England. parts, a slower, more introspective talented local musician, four years his
Here, in rural isolation and under mood into the music of the period. junior, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The
contestants were asked to improvise
Beckford’s sponsorship, Clementi With a shrewd eye to a potentially on a theme, then play one of their
spent the next seven years practicing lucrative market, in 1798 Clementi own works, and also to sight-read
harpsichord and studying music. His invested in a music publishing and a sonata. The duel was declared a
Six Sonatas for the Harpsichord or piano manufacturing company, known draw, the two musicians delighting
distinguished guests. Whereas
Pianoforte, Op. 1, date from this period. as Clementi & Co. from 1800, which Clementi praised his opponent (“I had
many visits to Europe. In Vienna, proved immensely successful. never heard anyone play with such
London and abroad he was honored in 1781 with an spirit”), Mozart (evidently rattled by
In 1774, aged 22 and now free of his invitation from Emperor Joseph II A life dedicated to the piano the Italian’s skill) declared Clementi to
be a “charlatan,” a “mere mechanicus.”
seven-year indenture with Beckford, to play at the imperial court, where Clementi’s practical treatise The
Clementi moved to London, where he met Mozart (see box, right). Introduction to the Art of Playing on
he worked initially as a “keyboard After 1781, on his return to his the Piano Forte was published under
conductor” at the King’s Theatre. In home base in London, Clementi’s his own imprint in 1801 and went on to
1779, he published his Three Sonatas, focus turned from the harpsichord appear in various languages and with
Op. 2, which are widely considered to to a newly invented instrument, several reprints. Clementi was also
have been a major breakthrough in the piano. In 1782, Clementi’s Three famous as a teacher and as cofounder,
keyboard-writing—his reputation as Piano Sonatas, Op. 40, boosted his in 1813, of the Philharmonic Society
a dazzling composer-performer grew. career as a composer-performer. By of London, which, a century later,
Success inspired him to embark on a his early thirties he was famous in became the Royal Philharmonic
promotional tour of France, Germany, Europe, reaching his professional Society. He is, however, probably best
and Austria—this was the first of peak between 1785 and 1790, known for his monumental studies for
piano technique, Gradus ad Parnassum,
which was published in three volumes
between 1817 and 1826.
Clementi wrote more than 50
sonatas and numerous other keyboard
works, six symphonies, and two
overtures, as well as chamber music,
vocal works, and a piano concerto.
With his tremendous originality, his
whirlwind keyboard runs, and the
formidable technical complexity of his
work, he was hailed as the first true
piano virtuoso. Clementi married three
times and is thought to have had four
children. He died in March 1832, after EMPEROR JOSEPH II (DETAIL), ANTON
a brief illness, and was buried at VON MARON, 1775
Westminster Abbey in London.

△ A CLEMENTI SQUARE PIANO

This square piano was made in
1813 by Clementi’s flourishing piano
manufacturing company, Clementi
& Co., which was active until 1830.
Clementi pianos have a reputation
for being a joy to play—highly
responsive and with a light touch.
 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 077

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1756–1791, AUSTRIAN
Mozart is a towering figure in Western classical music. He died at the age
of 35, having composed in his short life more than 600 works, including
22 operas, 23 piano concertos, and 41 symphonies.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born In 1762, the Mozarts set off on the children’s precocious musical skills
in Salzburg on January 27, 1756. His first of a series of show tours that but, whether because of Wolfgang’s
father, Leopold, was employed as a were to continue for more than a inappropriate embrace or Leopold’s
musician at the court of Salzburg’s decade. Leopold took both children upstart pushiness, they did not win
ruling prince-archbishop. Leopold to perform in Munich and then in the empress’s patronage.
was a competent composer who Vienna, where they were exhibited
attained some renown as the author to the formidable Austrian Hapsburg Tours and triumphs
of a manual on violin technique, but empress Maria Theresa at the Returning to Salzburg in 1763,
the family was both short of money Schönbrunn Palace. Showing a Leopold was promoted to deputy
and low in status, living in a rented disregard for social distances that master of the chapel at the prince- △ FIRST VIOLIN
apartment above a grocery shop. was to last through his life, Wolfgang archbishop’s court and immediately Mozart’s first violin was a workmanlike
instrument made in Salzburg in the 1740s
spontaneously kissed the empress. took another, longer leave of absence.
by Andreas Ferdinand Mayr, luthier to the
Musical prodigy Royals, nobles, and ambassadors The family traveled to Paris, where archbishop’s court and a musician
Wolfgang Amadeus was the seventh were suitably impressed by the the children performed in front of the colleague of Leopold Mozart.
and last child in the family, and the
second to survive. His sister Maria
Anna, known as Nannerl, was four IN CONTEXT
years his senior. Taught by their father, Salzburg
both children proved exceptionally In Mozart’s day, the city of Salzburg
gifted, but Wolfgang exceeded his was ruled by its archbishop as an
sister in talent and precocity. He independent state, although it was
could play pieces on the keyboard part of the wider Hapsburg-ruled
Holy Roman Empire, with its capital
at the age of four and created his at Vienna. With a population of less
first simple compositions at age five. than 20,000, the city supported
Realizing that his son was a prodigy, elaborate court and ecclesiastical
Leopold embarked on a campaign to life and was embellished with fine
Baroque architecture. Despite its
exploit the opportunity this presented many splendors, Mozart despised
for immediate financial gain and for Salzburg as a backwater, deriding
the child’s longer-term success in life. its court musicians as “coarse,
slovenly, dissolute.” In 1803, the
city lost its independence and
eventually became part of Austria.
◁ WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
This posthumous portrait was made in
1819 by Viennese painter Barbara Krafft. SALZBURG BENEATH THE GREEN
Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, thought it to be DOMES OF ITS BAROQUE CATHEDRAL
a good likeness of the composer.

“ The poor little fellow plays marvelously,

he is a child of spirit, lively, charming … ”
COUNT KARL VON ZINZENDORF, ON MOZART AT AGE SIX, 1762
△ FAMILY GROUP French king Louis XV, and then on to of elusive imperial patronage. The Mozart’s last tours as a paraded
A 1781 painting by the Austrian artist London, where they stayed for over a family’s constant journeying, mostly prodigy were three circuits of Italy
Johann Nepomuk della Croce shows year in 1764–1765, giving many public by coach on poor quality roads, was with his father between 1770 and
Leopold Mozart holding a violin, with
his children Wolfgang and Nannerl concerts. They were befriended by arduous and hazardous. Both of the 1773. The first was triumphant: he
seated at the piano. A portrait of their composer Johann Christian Bach, a children contracted serious illnesses, was made a member of the musical
deceased mother hangs on the wall. son of Johann Sebastian Bach who Wolfgang coming close to dying of academy in Bologna; in Rome the
was a prominent figure on London’s rheumatic fever in 1767. Moreover, pope created him a knight of the
music scene. J.C. Bach’s lucid but the costs of travel and lodging used Golden Spur; and he wrote an Italian
dramatic and emotional compositional up much of the money gained from opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto, which was
style was to be a major influence on public performances. But Leopold’s staged in Milan just before he turned
Mozart’s development. will and ambition were implacable— 15. However, his second two visits to
Back in Salzburg from late 1766, the the second journey to Vienna had Italy were met with less enthusiasm;
family made another foray to Vienna been undertaken despite a smallpox by 1773, he was simply too old to be
only nine months later, again in search epidemic gripping the city. marketed as a prodigy.

“ Music should never be painful to the

ear but should flatter and charm it. ”
MOZART, LETTER TO HIS FATHER, SEPTEMBER 26, 1781
 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 079

“ [His works] are clear, transparent,

and joyful as a spring ... ”
WANDA LANDOWSKA, ON MOZART

Wolfgang had been accorded the post Mozart’s personality, warped by the
of concert master at the Salzburg adulation he had received as a child,
prince-archbishop’s court at age 13 lacked the balance and elevated
and his stipend—together with that qualities found in his music. He
of his father—enabled the family indulged an earthy taste for young
to move into better accommodations. women and his letters display a
They became celebrities in the scatological sense of humor. He was
town in which many of Mozart’s tactlessly arrogant and never troubled
new compositions were performed. to conceal his sense of superiority.
However, the accession of a new Being treated as a paid servant—the
prince-archbishop, who was less well effective status of a musician at that
disposed toward music, made their time—made him furious. In 1781,
position at court more precarious. after a row with a Salzburg court
official and Mozart’s subsequent
An independent spirit dismissal with an undignified kick
In 1778, at his father’s urging, Mozart in the behind for his insolence, he
again embarked on his travels in decided to try to make his living in
search of wealthy patronage. Leopold Vienna as a freelance composer,
stayed in Salzburg, worried he might piano performer, and music teacher.
lose his post if he went away again,
and Mozart was instead accompanied Marriage and finances the Weber family, who threatened △ MITRIDATE, RE DI PONTO
by his mother. In Paris—a foreign city Having lost his regular income, Mozart him with legal action, in 1782 he This page of sheet music for Mozart’s
in which they were friendless and compounded his financial worries by formalized the liaison. Children soon early opera dates from its first
performance in 1770. The work was a
isolated—disaster struck: Mozart’s marrying a woman without money. followed—Constanze eventually bore huge success at the Milan carnival and
mother died of a sudden illness. His He had been pursuing Aloysia Weber, six offspring, of whom two survived was given a further 21 performances—
father irrationally blamed Wolfgang, a soprano who was the daughter of a infancy. The marriage was a success a powerful endorsement of the
who returned to Salzburg. From this poor bass player. When she jilted him, emotionally but placed demands on composer’s talent.
point, Mozart became set on escaping he turned his attention to her younger Mozart’s finances that were often
from his father’s controlling influence. sister Constanze. Under pressure from hard to meet.

IN CONTEXT
Freemasonry
Freemasonry was fashionable in the
18th century. Aristocrats and royalty
became Masons. Mozart was admitted
to a Masonic lodge in 1784 and his
late opera The Magic Flute allegedly
contains Masonic symbolism and
expresses Masonic ideals of universal
brotherhood. From the late 18th
century, Catholics and monarchists in
Europe came to view the Masons as a
dangerous organization, subversive of
the authority of the Church and kings.
It is not known whether it had such
political significance for Mozart.
△ CONSTANZE MOZART, 1802
A portrait by Danish painter Hans Hansen
MASONIC INITIATION WITH MOZART depicts Mozart’s wife. The composer’s
SEATED ON THE FAR LEFT marriage brought him happiness but
also his father’s strong disapproval.
080 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

KEY WORKS

1778 1782 1784–86 1785 1786 1787 1788 1791

Symphony The German- Writes 12 piano Six Mozart Mozart’s most Don Giovanni, Composes his last His final opera,
No. 31 (“Paris” language opera Die concertos in three string quartets famous comic Mozart’s serio- three major The Magic Flute,
Symphony) is Entführung aus dem years, including dedicated to opera, The comic masterpiece, orchestral works, premieres three
first performed Serail is a major the dramatic Haydn are Marriage is staged for the Symphonies No. months before
in public during success when first Concerto No. 24. published. of Figaro, is first time in 39 to 41, between his death.
Mozart’s second staged in Vienna. performed at Prague. June and August.
visit to Paris. the Burgtheater
in Vienna.

Creative intensity
In the first half of IN PROFILE
the 1780s, Mozart’s Lorenzo da Ponte
compositional output
flourished. After his opera The librettist for three of Mozart’s
finest operas, da Ponte was born
Idomeneo was a success in
of Jewish parents in Venice in 1749.
Munich in 1781, he wrote After converting to Catholicism, he
the German-language was ordained a priest in 1773 and
Singspiel (opera with became a poet. By 1785, when he first
worked with Mozart, he held a post at
dialogue) Die Entführung the imperial court in Vienna. In total,
aus dem Serail for he wrote the libretti for 28 operas by
performance at Vienna’s 11 composers, including Mozart. In
△ IDOMENEO, FIRST PRINT, 1781 Burgtheater, an institution sponsored the 1790s, he migrated first to Britain
Mozart’s Idomeneo, perhaps his greatest and then to the US. Settled in New
by Maria Theresa’s successor, York, he became the first professor of
“serious opera,” tells of King Idomeneo’s Emperor Joseph II. Opening in
promise to Neptune, god of the sea, to Italian literature at Columbia College
sacrifice the first person he sees in return 1782, Die Entführung proved a major and opened the city’s first opera
for safe passage over the ocean. The first triumph. It tells the story of the hero house. He died in New York in 1838.
person Idomeneo sees is his very own Belmonte’s attempt to rescue his
son, Idamante—but in a change of heart, beloved Constanze from a harem.
Neptune agrees to spare him if Idomeneo LORENZO DA PONTE, 1759
gives up his throne to the young man. Mozart’s other works in this fruitful
period include some of his finest
piano concertos, a notable series poet Lorenzo da Ponte (see box, da Ponte, Don Giovanni, was written
of six string quartets dedicated to above). The result was Le nozze di for performance at Prague’s Estates
▽ PRAGUE PIANO Haydn, and two of his best-known Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). First Theatre, where it premiered in
During his visits to Prague, Mozart is symphonies, the “Haffner” (1782) performed in the Burgtheater in 1786, October. Performances in Vienna
believed to have stayed at Bertramka, and the “Linz” (1783). it raised opera to a new level with the followed in 1788, although Emperor
home of the Czech composer František
After a lengthy search for the right realism of its characterization subtly Joseph was again worried by the
Dušek. It is likely that he played this piano
at the house, and may have composed follow-up to Die Entführung, Mozart expressed in music. A tale of class and complexity of the music, which he
parts of Don Giovanni on the instrument. found his ideal librettist in the Italian sexual politics, Le nozze chimed with declared “too difficult for the singers.”
Mozart’s rebellion against aristocratic
arrogance. It was very well received, Late works
but failed to match the success of When Leopold Mozart died in May
Die Entführung in Mozart’s lifetime. 1787, Wolfgang’s compositional
In 1787, Mozart made his first visit powers were at their peak. The three
to Prague, a city that took him to its great symphonies he wrote in the
heart. His second collaboration with summer of 1788 (Nos. 39, 40, and 41)
were the crowning achievement of his Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), unmarked grave and no mourners. △ BURGTHEATER, VIENNA
orchestral writing. The comic opera premiered at a popular suburban Fanciful accounts of Mozart’s death Created in 1741 by the Hapsburg
Così fan tutte, first staged in 1790, Viennese theater in September began appearing soon after the event, empress Maria Theresa, the Burgtheater
was directly connected to her home in the
completed his trio of successful 1791. It was a triumph, drawing but no evidence exists to support such Hofburg Palace. Three of Mozart’s operas
collaborations with da Ponte. La impressive crowds. fantasies as his alleged poisoning premiered at the theater, which moved to
clemenza di Tito, a rapidly written by court musician and jealous rival larger premises in 1888.
opera seria, was performed in Death and legacy Antonio Salieri. His music surged in
Prague in 1791 as part of the official Mozart was at work on a Requiem popularity after his death and was a
celebrations of the coronation of a Mass, commissioned by an Austrian major influence on Beethoven, among
new emperor, Leopold II. aristocrat, when a fever confined him many others. In the Romantic period,
Although sometimes seriously short to bed. He died on December 5, 1791, his music partially fell out of favor
of ready money, Mozart was a star hastened to the tomb by the fatal but his standing revived in the 20th
in the musical firmament and had no attentions of ignorant doctors. His century. On his bicentenary in 1991,
reason to despair of future patronage. burial followed the common custom he was hailed by many commentators
His last completed masterpiece, of his time and place—a shared, as the greatest composer of all time.

“ Death is the key which unlocks

the door to our true happiness. ”
MOZART, LETTER TO HIS FATHER
082 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Directory
influenced by the ornate style of Italian
music, but it became a lot more Isabella Leonarda
austere, probably in part because
1620–1704, ITALIAN
the devastation caused by the Thirty
Years War (1618–1648) discouraged At the age of 16, Isabella Leonarda,
extravagance in the arts. a member of a local aristocratic
elsewhere in Germany and he made family, entered a convent in Novara,
Girolamo Frescobaldi two lengthy visits to Venice and two KEY WORKS: Psalmen Davids (Psalms northwest Italy, where she spent the
to Copenhagen. His large output of David), 1619; Symphoniae sacrae 1 rest of her life. During this period of
1583–1643, ITALIAN
(there are more than 500 surviving (Sacred Symphonies, Book One), 1629; almost 70 years she became head
Frescobaldi was one of the first great works) is highly varied. Most of his Musikalische Exequien (Funeral Music), of the convent and one of the leading
keyboard virtuosos (he played organ music is religious, but he also wrote, 1636; Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi female composers of her time, with
and harpsichord, as well as being for example, the first German opera, (Story of the Birth of Jesus Christ, about 200 works to her credit. They
a fine singer) and the first eminent Dafne (1627), although this does not popularly known as Weihnachtshistorie, are mainly sacred vocal works of
composer to focus on music for survive. His early work was much Christmas Story), 1660 various kinds, but she also wrote
an unaccompanied keyboard. secular instrumental pieces, including
He was born in Ferrara and spent a set of four sonatas that are thought
most of his career in Rome, where to be the first sonatas ever published
he was organist at St. Peter’s for by a woman (the majority of her work
most of the period from 1608 until his was published in handsome editions
death (he had an interlude working at during her lifetime, mainly in Bologna
the Medici court in Florence from but also sometimes in Milan and
1628 to 1634). During his lifetime, Venice). Leonarda confined her
he was internationally famous, and composing to periods allocated to
his music continued to be admired rest so that it did not distract her
and influential for several decades from her normal duties as a nun.
afterward (it was, for example,
studied by the young J.S. Bach some KEY WORKS: Ave suavis dilectio
60 years later). His style was lively (Hail, Sweet Love), 1676; Ave Regina
and inventive, often showing dramatic caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven),
changes of tempo. In addition to 1684; Sonata for Solo Violin and
keyboard works, he wrote sacred and Continuo, 1693
secular vocal music and compositions
for instrumental ensembles.

KEY WORKS: Toccate e partite… Dieterich Buxtehude

libro primo (First Book of Toccatas
c. 1637–1707, DANISH-GERMAN
and Partitas), 1615; Ego sum panis
vivus (I Am the Living Bread [vocal]), The date and exact place of
1621; Fiori musicali (Musical Flowers Buxtehude’s birth are uncertain.
[a collection of sacred organ Reflecting the complex, shifting
music]), 1635 political geography of the time, he
is sometimes described as Danish
and sometimes as German. His early
career was spent in what is now
▷ Heinrich Schütz Denmark, and from 1668 until his
death he held the highly prestigious
1585–1672, GERMAN
post of organist at the Marienkirche
More than anyone else, Schütz put (St. Mary’s Church) in Lübeck (now in
German music on the map, giving Germany), a huge and wealthy church
it an importance that it had never with an outstanding musical tradition.
previously enjoyed and establishing In effect, he was music director for
high intellectual and technical the whole city. He was acclaimed
standards that became characteristic as one of the greatest organists of
of the country’s composers. He spent his time and his compositions for the
most of his long career at the court instrument form the most important
in Dresden, but he also worked △ HEINRICH SCHÜTZ, c. 1650 body of such work before those of
 DIRECTORY 083

J.S. Bach. Buxtehude also wrote achievement at a time of rapidly

a good deal of sacred (and some changing fashions, and a reflection
secular) vocal music and instrumental of his gift for appealing melody. They
music for various combinations also won acclaim outside Italy.
of instruments, mainly strings. Albinoni’s other works include
numerous concertos (notably for oboe)
KEY WORKS: Membra Jesu nostri and sonatas (likewise internationally
(The Limbs of our Jesus [oratorio]), successful in his time) and some
1680; Seven Trio Sonatas (for violin, church music. Curiously, the piece
viola da gamba, and harpsichord), most closely associated with his
1696; Passacaglia in D minor, name—the dreamily mellifluous
c. 1690–1700 “Albinoni’s Adagio”—is not actually
by him. In 1958, the musicologist
Remo Giazotto published an Adagio
in G minor as a work that was
Marc-Antoine Charpentier based on a supposed fragment
of manuscript by Albinoni, but
1643–1704, FRENCH
it is now thought to be almost
Charpentier spent most of his life entirely by Giazotto.
in Paris, where he enjoyed a busy
and varied career. The bulk of his KEY WORKS: 12 Trio Sonatas (his first
large output is devoted to sacred published works), 1694; Pimpinone
music, which he wrote for churches, (opera), 1708; Concerto in D minor
convents, and private patrons, notably for Oboe, 1722
Marie of Lorraine, Duchess of Guise
(known as Mademoiselle de Guise),
who was devoted to both religion and
music. These works include Masses, ◁ Thomas Arne
psalm settings, and various other
1710–1778, BRITISH
types of composition. Charpentier also
wrote chamber music and work for Although he wrote music of various
the stage, sometimes in collaboration types (including Masses—he was
with the great dramatist Molière. His △ THOMAS ARNE, c. 1760 a Catholic), Arne specialized in
most famous composition today is work for the stage (his sister was
the majestic, uplifting instrumental teacher as well as a composer. He KEY WORKS: Canon and Gigue an actress and his wife a singer). He
prelude to his Te Deum. This work was was born and died in Nuremberg, for 3 Violins and Basso Continuo had long associations with two major
lost until 1953, but the year after its but he also worked in a number (Canon in D major), c. 1680–1690; London theaters (Covent Garden and
rediscovery the prelude was adopted of other places in Germany and Musicalische Ergötzung (Musical Drury Lane) and also with Vauxhall
as the theme music of the European Austria, including Erfurt, Stuttgart, Delight [collection of chamber Gardens, a leading center of popular
Broadcasting Union, used to precede and Vienna, and his reputation as music]), c. 1691; Hexachordum entertainment. His large output
programs such as the Eurovision an organist was such that he was Apollinis (Six Strings of Apollo [arias includes operas, oratorios, masques,
Song Contest. offered—but declined—a post for organ or harpsichord]), 1699 and incidental music for plays. Much
in Oxford. In addition to his notable of his work is routine, but at his best
KEY WORKS: Mass for Four Choirs, organ compositions, Pachelbel’s he had a memorable gift for melody,
c. 1670–1675; The Denial of St. Peter large output includes chamber as in his most famous piece, the
(oratorio) c. 1680–1700; Andromeda music, pieces for harpsichord, Tomaso Albinoni stirring song “Rule, Britannia!” It
(music for Pierre Corneille’s play), and vocal works of various kinds. was originally part of Arne’s patriotic
1671–1751, ITALIAN
1682; Te Deum, c. 1692 Following his death in 1706, he masque Alfred (about Alfred the
was little known except to musical Albinoni was Vivaldi’s leading Great), but it was such a success that
scholars, and he did not achieve contemporary among Venetian it quickly achieved an independent
widespread fame until the 1970s, composers and almost as prolific. life. His other famous songs include
Johann Pachelbel when his serene but joyous Canon He is believed to have written about “Where the Bee Sucks,” sung by Ariel
in D major became a surprise hit, 80 operas (although few of them in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
1653–1706, GERMAN
being recorded again and again, have survived in complete form),
One of the leading German musicians featuring as background music in which he successfully staged in KEY WORKS: Comus, 1738; Alfred,
of his time, Johann Pachelbel was film and television, and inspiring Venice over a period of almost 1740; Music for The Tempest, 1740,
distinguished as an organist and adaptations in pop music. half a century—a remarkable Artaxerxes, 1762; Love in a Village, 1762
EARLY 19th
CENTURY
Luigi Cherubini 086
Ludwig van Beethoven 088
NiccolÒ Paganini 094
Gioachino Rossini 096
Franz Schubert 100

CHAPTER 3
Gaetano Donizetti 104
Vincenzo Bellini 106
Hector Berlioz 108
Fanny Mendelssohn 112
Felix Mendelssohn 114
Frédéric Chopin 118
Robert Schumann 122
Franz Liszt 126
Directory 130
 LUIGI CHERUBINI 087

Luigi Cherubini
1760–1842, ITALIAN
A towering composer in his day, Cherubini is best known for his powerful
operas and majestic sacred music. In 1814, he was awarded the Legion
of Honor, France’s highest tribute.

Luigi Cherubini was born in Florence his Lodoïska, a form of opéra comique, Journées (1800)—based on an event
in 1760 and began learning music at premiered at the Théâtre Feydeau during the so-called Reign of Terror,
the age of six; by the time he was 13 in Paris. Mixing comic and serious when revolutionaries took over the
years old, he was composing his own themes, and featuring ordinary people, government—which was popular
works. In 1778, aged 18, Cherubini its depiction of heroism captured the throughout the 19th century.
began a three-year apprenticeship revolutionary spirit and was an early In 1806, after a year-long stay in
with Giuseppe Sarti in Bologna and example of “rescue opera” (here, the Vienna for work, Cherubini fell into
Milan, where he learned counterpoint heroine is rescued from a castle by a deep depression and, turning
and dramatic composition. His first a servant). Outstandingly popular, it away from composition, developed
opera, Quinto Fabio, appeared in became his first international success, an interest in botany and painting.
1780 and led to opera commissions securing more than 200 performances He resumed writing in 1808, but
throughout Italy. Then, in 1784, he was in the first year alone and inspiring from 1816 composed mainly religious △ SCORE OF MEDEA, FIRST EDITION
contracted as a house composer at Beethoven’s opera Fidelio (1805). music, notably Requiem in C minor Cherubini’s opera Medea is a passionate
the King’s Theatre in London, where Following the storming of Paris’s (1816)—praised by other musicians and brutal revenge story based on a
tragedy by Greek dramatist Euripides.
he presented four operas, the first of Tuileries Palace in August 1792, and played at Beethoven’s funeral— The story focuses on Medea’s terrifying
which was Demetrio (premiered 1785). Cherubini moved to Rouen. On his and Requiem in D minor (1836). plot against her husband, who has
return to the French capital in 1794, In 1822, Cherubini became director abandoned her. The first, 1797, edition
A major move he married Anne-Cécile Tourette; the of the Paris Conservatoire. He wrote of Cherubini’s score is shown here.
The following year Cherubini moved couple had three children. Three years his book Cours de contrepoint et de
to Paris, where he was to remain for later, he produced Médée, or Medea, fugue in 1835. The composer died in
the rest of his life. During his first six his most famous work, and in 1880 Paris in 1842, aged 81, and was buried
years in the capital, he shared an another immense success, Les Deux in Père Lachaise cemetery.
apartment with the violinist Giovanni
Battista Viotti, who introduced him
to Queen Marie Antoinette and to IN CONTEXT
leading musicians of the day. His first Political background
commission for the Paris Opéra was During the turbulent revolutionary
Démophon (1788), written the year period, Cherubini was keen to hide his
before the French Revolution brought links with the Ancien Régime, but he
turmoil to the city (see box, right). was adept at navigating allegiances,
seeming to align himself at times with
Cherubini soon became a major revolutionaries, at other times with
figure in Paris—as a conductor and monarchists—in 1797, for example,
teacher as well as a composer. His he wrote a funeral cantata honoring a
works of the revolutionary period were revolutionary hero, only to rework it
in 1820 to honor a royalist. Cherubini
often somber and austere. But in 1791 would have been witness to major
historical events such as the storming
of the Bastille, the execution of Louis
XVI, and the rise of Napoleon (with
◁ LUIGI CHERUBINI AND THE whom he had a rocky relationship).
MUSE OF LYRIC POETRY, 1842 The return of monarchial rule in 1814
In Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’s made his life considerably easier.
allegorical portrait of his friend, a
young muse towers above the weary
octogenarian composer, whose tiny red EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI OF FRANCE
bud of the ribbon of the Legion of Honor IN JANUARY 1793
sings out from his somber black robes.
088 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Ludwig van Beethoven

1770–1827, GERMAN
Although stone deaf for years, Beethoven was a genius of the Classical
era and a pioneer of the new Romantic age—his work, which bridges a
gap between the two, includes nine symphonies and 32 piano sonatas.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart before philosophical ideas of nascent German
1770 in Bonn, Germany, then part of his mother’s death brought him back Romanticism, with its belief in the
the Holy Roman Empire. His family to Bonn to handle the family’s affairs transcendent value of art and the
was of Flemish origin—hence the as his father’s condition deteriorated. artist—a belief he took as his own △ BEETHOVEN HOUSE, BONN
“van” in his name. His father, Johann and applied to the art of music. For The composer’s desk and belongings are
van Beethoven, was a chorister at Romantic influences the first time he experienced failure preserved at the museum now occupying
the house at Bonngasse 20, where
the court of the archbishop elector Working as a musician at the Bonn in love, hopelessly adoring Breuning’s Beethoven was born. Many other court
of Cologne in Bonn, where Ludwig’s court for five more years, Beethoven daughter Lorchen. He also made an musicians lived near the Beethovens.
grandfather had been musical director was drawn into the cultured social important friend in the music-loving
before him. Ludwig’s talent was circle around Helene von Breuning, Viennese aristocrat Count Ferdinand
recognized and encouraged from the widow of a senior official. There von Waldstein, to whom Beethoven
an early age, his father imposing he was introduced to the literary and dedicated many works, including the
a draconian routine of lessons and
practice. The young Ludwig excelled
at the keyboard and performed in ON TECHNIQUE
court music-making, but a half- Beethoven’s pianos BEETHOVEN‘S BROADWOOD
FORTEPIANO
hearted attempt by his father to The pianoforte evolved significantly
promote him as a child prodigy failed. during Beethoven’s lifetime. He began
performing on five-octave pianos
Travels to Vienna (which were different from modern
pianos that span over seven octaves).
Beethoven’s family did not provide These wood-framed instruments
a secure emotional environment. were delicate and lacked power and
His father was an unhappily married durability; they often broke under
alcoholic who presided over failing the stress of Beethoven’s muscular
high-octane playing. In 1803, he
family finances. But Beethoven adopted an Erard piano because
nonetheless received plentiful support he admired the effects achieved by
for his musical ambitions. The court its “una corda” soft pedal. Later in
organist, Christian Neefe, helped him Beethoven’s life, pianos were made
that were closer to his ideal, such as
with composition and arranged for his the six-and-a-half octave Broadwood
first work, Nine Variations for Piano sent to him from England by Thomas
on a March, to be published when he Broadwood, head of the company,
was only 12 years old. The archbishop in 1818. His last works exploited
the full range of tone and pitch
elector sent Beethoven, aged 17, to that such an instrument allows.
Vienna to develop his talents. He
probably took a few lessons with

“ What is in my heart must come ▷ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, 1820

out and so I write it down. ” This work by Joseph Karl Stieler is one
of many portraits of Beethoven, but
reportedly the only one painted from
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN live sittings with the composer.
△ STRING QUARTETS “Waldstein” Piano Sonata. In 1790, However, before the year ended, of the Vienna Philharmonic Society.
The Takács Quartet performs the full Joseph Haydn visited Bonn. A plan Beethoven’s father died and the Listeners were astonished by his
cycle of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets was hatched for Beethoven to make French Revolutionary Wars put Bonn extraordinary skills,
at Alice Tully Hall, New York, in 2005.
Beethoven’s quartets show his mastery another trip to Vienna to take lessons in a war zone (see box, p.92). In 1794,
of the Classical string quartet form. with Haydn in order, in Waldstein’s the French annexed the city and Musical innovation
words, to “receive Mozart’s spirit from the archbishop elector’s court was Beethoven’s early compositions were
Haydn’s hands.” He set off in 1792. abolished. The small world in which predominantly piano works that he
Beethoven grew up had been erased performed himself, but the publication
while he flourished in Vienna. of his Opus 1 Piano Trios in 1795
IN PROFILE The lessons with Haydn did not last proved a commercial success and
Josephine von Brunsvik long but, armed with introductions he was soon responding to a flood
A countess from Hungary, Josephine from Waldstein, Beethoven was of commissions for new works from
von Brunsvik took piano lessons with patronized by some of the city’s music publishers and aristocratic
Beethoven in 1799, shortly before her leading aristocratic music-lovers. patrons. He wrote piano sonatas,
marriage to Count Joseph Deym. After Lodging at the palace of Prince including the famous “Pathétique”
the count’s death in 1804, Beethoven
expressed his love for Josephine Karl Lichnowsky, a patron of the arts published in 1799; began composing
in a series of passionate letters. in Vienna, the composer quickly won string quartets from 1798; and in
In 1810, she married Estonian recognition as an outstanding piano 1800 premiered his First Symphony
nobleman Cristoph von Stackelberg. virtuoso, giving performances in at Vienna’s Burgtheater. His music
The marriage soon broke up in mutual
acrimony. Josephine was probably the private salons and at public concerts of this early period was still rooted
“Immortal Beloved” referred to by
Beethoven in a letter in 1811, and they
may have met for the last time as late
as 1816. After miserable final years of
illness and isolation, Josephine died
in 1821 aged 42.

BRUNSVIK CASTLE NEAR BUDAPEST,

HOME OF JOSEPHINE
 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 091

doctors. It was probably for her that violent quarrel with Prince
he wrote the piano piece confusingly Lichnowsky that ended
known as Für Elise. This infatuation their relationship. Yet, just
also came to nothing. like earlier composers, he
continued to thrive on the
A peak of creativity generosity of the music-
Between 1802 and 1812, Beethoven besotted liberal Viennese
produced a stream of masterpieces aristocracy. In 1808, a group
that revealed his creative ambition. of them clubbed together
He never broke with the established to provide him with a
Classical forms of the late 18th generous annuity—
century—sonatas and rondos, an income for life.
symphonies and string quartets—but
stretched them beyond all previous Empire and revolution △ “MOONLIGHT” SONATA
emotional and formal limits. His Beethoven’s staunchly independent This score of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata
Third Symphony, the “Eroica,” which attitude is often associated with the No. 14 is in the composer’s own hand. It
was later named the “Moonlight” Sonata
premiered in 1805, is often taken as changes that were brought about after the German critic Ludwig Rellstab
the initiation of a new musical era. by the French Revolution of 1789, compared its first movement to the sight
It was far longer than any previous which overthrew aristocratic and of moonlight reflected in Lake Lucerne.
symphony, but also more complex, monarchical power in France.
vigorous, and emotionally draining. The “Eroica” Symphony was initially
His expansion of the possibilities of dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, the
orchestral writing continued with the general of the Revolutionary armies; ▽ THE MALFATTI FAMILY
tragic and triumphant Fifth Symphony Beethoven erased this dedication Therese Malfatti, shown seated at the
piano surrounded by her family, was the
(1808) and the irrepressibly energetic when Napoleon declared himself
object of Beethoven’s affection around
Seventh Symphony (1812). The three emperor of the French in 1804, 1810. Some historians speculate that
“Razumovsky” String Quartets of 1806 presumably because this assumption he proposed marriage to her.
carried his new range and ambition
in the past, showing the influence of into chamber music. For the piano,
both Mozart and Haydn, but it was peaks included the “Waldstein” and
already recognized by contemporaries “Appassionata” Sonatas (1804 and
as daringly innovative. Beethoven was 1807) and the “Emperor” Concerto
also in demand as a music teacher, his (1811). Although initial response
famous pupils including Carl Czerny, to his works varied—his only
who would later premiere two of his opera, Fidelio, was coolly received
master’s piano concertos. He was in 1805—Beethoven benefited from
distressingly prone to falling in love the open-minded enthusiasm of
with his female pupils, including his Viennese public and patrons.
Josephine von Brunsvik (see box,
opposite), whom he taught from 1799, Fame and status
and Giulietta Guicciardi, to whom the The first composer to think of himself
“Moonlight” Sonata was dedicated in as an artistic genius, Beethoven
1802. These were women of high did not accept the lowly place in the
birth, never likely to marry a piano social hierarchy traditionally accorded
teacher, however distinguished. to even the most gifted musicians.
Around 1810, Beethoven courted In his dealings with the upper class,
Therese Malfatti, an Austrian musician he bluntly refused to observe the
and daughter of one of the composer’s usual deference and in 1806 had a

“ You who think or say that I am malevolent,

stubborn, or misanthropic, how greatly
do you wrong me! ”
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, 1802
092 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

IN CONTEXT
Austria’s wars
For much of the period between
1792 and 1815, Austria and its allies
were at war with France, which had
become a dynamic power as a result
of the French Revolution of 1789.
The Austrian emperors maintained
traditional hierarchical authority
against revolutionary egalitarianism.
While Beethoven was in Vienna, the
city was twice occupied by the French
troops of Emperor Napoleon, in 1805
and 1809. The French were defeated
in 1814–1815 and Austria assumed a
dominant role in Europe.

NAPOLEON AT THE BATTLE OF

AUSTERLITZ, FRANCOIS GERARD, 1805

of an imperial throne was a betrayal “Battle Symphony”) to celebrate a deafness led to increasing isolation
of the principles of the Revolution. victory of imperial Austria’s British and unstable behavior. Rooms in
Yet Beethoven was no revolutionary allies over the French in Spain. which he lived or worked degenerated
republican. He also dedicated major into disorderly squalor. He was often
works to Archduke Rudolf, a son of Deafness and isolation described as ill-mannered, unkempt,
the emperor of Austria who was It is a bitter irony that during and bad-tempered. After the death of
both his patron and his friend. In this period of supreme musical his brother Kaspar in 1815, he became
1813, Beethoven wrote the patriotic achievement, Beethoven was losing involved in a vicious dispute with his
Wellington’s Victory (known as the his hearing. The medical reason for sister-in-law Johanna over the fate
this is unknown. As early as 1802, he of his nine-year-old nephew, Karl.
wrote that he was avoiding company A custody battle in the courts lasted
because people might notice his until 1820, with the child suffering
deafness and that he felt “driven to long-term emotional damage.
despair.” A series of quack treatments
failed to alleviate his condition. Late masterpieces
From around 1812, there was a Despite his deafness, Beethoven
sharp, but temporary, falling off in delivered a glorious “late period” of
his creativity and he had to give up innovative, intellectually demanding
performance. By 1818, he could only music. It was heralded by the
converse in writing. The advance of “Hammerklavier” Sonata in 1818,
one of the most technically and
emotionally challenging works in
◁ ARCHDUKE RUDOLF OF AUSTRIA the entire piano repertoire. Other
Rudolf (1788–1831) was a nobleman and
masterpieces followed, including
cardinal. He took lessons from Beethoven
and became his friend and patron. the three last piano sonatas, written
Beethoven dedicated many works to him. between 1820 and 1822, and the

KEY WORKS

1795 1802 1805 1806 1808 1812 1818 1824

Beethoven’s first Writes Piano Symphony String Quartets Symphony No. 5 Writes the final Piano Sonata Beethoven’s
commercially Sonatas No. No. 3, “Eroica,” Op. 59, the is premiered in masterpiece of his No. 29, the mighty choral Symphony
successful work, 16–18, a set of receives its first “Razumovsky” the same concert “middle period,” “Hammerklavier” No. 9 receives its
the Three Op. 1 boldly experimental public performance Quartets, are written as the “Pastorale” Symphony No. 7. Sonata, initiates triumphant first
Piano Trios, are sonatas heralding in Vienna. for the Russian Symphony No. 6. Beethoven’s performance.
published. his fertile “middle ambassador to “late period.”
period.” Vienna.
 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 093

“ I shall hear in heaven. ”

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, REPORTED AS HIS LAST WORDS, MARCH 1827

magnificent choral Missa Solemnis, The reception of the Ninth Symphony ▷ HEARING AIDS
completed in 1823. Part of the Missa showed the considerable status that Beethoven tried to mitigate his failing
Solemnis was performed at the same Beethoven still enjoyed. However, hearing using ear trumpets designed by
his friend Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, also
concert that premiered Beethoven’s he was no longer the composer the inventor of the metronome.
Ninth Symphony in Vienna in May of the moment—rather, a revered
1824. Unprecedented orchestral figure from the past. Even the most
forces had been assembled for advanced connoisseurs were prone After a long illness, Beethoven
the occasion, along with the choir to dismiss his late string quartets, died in Vienna in March 1827.
and soloists for the symphony’s which were composed in the midst His funeral was attended by
last-movement setting of Friedrich of terminal illness in 1825–1826, some 20,000 people. In an oration ▽ BEETHOVEN’S FUNERAL
Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.” The concert as incomprehensible. Nonetheless, at Währing Cemetery, poet Franz Thousands of admirers lined the
streets of Vienna at the composer’s
was a triumph, although Beethoven these quartets would later come to Grillparzer said: “He whom you mourn
funeral. Famous musicians, including
himself could hear neither the music be recognized as prophetic works is now among the greatest men of all Franz Schubert and Carl Czerny,
nor the rapturous applause. of supreme power and invention. time, unassailable for ever.” served as pallbearers.
094

▷ NICCOLO PAGANINI
An anonymous portrait shows Paganini
gaunt and with furrowed brow, wearing
his trademark black suit. Chronic illness,
for which he took lethal doses of mercury
and opium, plagued much of his life. The
composer was said to be a gambler (a
habit learned from his father), on at
least one occasion pawning his violin
to pay off his debts; he was also an
inveterate womanizer who, according
to rumor, had been imprisoned for
murdering one of his conquests.

Niccolò Paganini
1782–1840, ITALIAN
A legendary, thrilling violinist-composer, Paganini was one of the most
popular and radical musicians of his day. His success and increasing
wealth sparked a passion for drinking, gambling, and womanizing.
 NICCOLO PAGANINI 095

◁ THE FIRST TRIUMPH OF PAGANINI

This painting by Annibale Gatti, c. 1890, IN CONTEXT
is thought to show the young composer
at one of his performances at the court The devil myth
in Lucca at the start of the 19th century.
Paganini’s breathtaking, almost
superhuman virtuoso violin-playing
led to the popular belief that he
in 1824, he fell in love with the singer was “the devil’s fiddler.” A slick
Antonia Bianchi and the following showman and astute businessman,
year they had a son, Achille. The the composer was quick to cultivate a
demonic persona. Skeletal, with long
relationship lasted just four years;
hair, pale skin, sinewy hands, and
Antonia was handsomely paid off, sunken cheeks (exaggerated after
and Achille stayed with his father. losing his teeth in 1828), he would
appear on stage dressed from head
to toe in black, often with a single
Success, wealth, and tragedy spotlight accentuating his bizarre
That same year, 1828, aged 46, the appearance. Sometimes, he would
composer set off on a European ride in a black carriage drawn by
tour to Austria, Bohemia, Germany, black horses. The diabolic associations
greatly boosted box-office sales.
France, and England. The shows were However, it has been claimed that
astonishing for the musician’s energy, Paganini’s appearance and dexterity
technical wizardry, and lightning-fast may have been partly due to Marfan
One of six children, Paganini was He left the court appointment in 1809 passages (Berlioz referred to him and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes—
conditions leading to long, thin limbs
born in the port city of Genoa in 1782. to become a traveling solo performer- as a “comet”)—by all accounts, he and joints and ultra-flexibility.
His father, probably a dock worker, composer. His fame spread from the could play 12 notes a second and Whatever the cause, such was the
was an amateur musician who taught early 1800s, along with his reputation never followed sheet music. These power of the myth that the Catholic
his son to play the mandolin and the for womanizing and indulging in drink. sensational performances of his Church refused to bury him.
guitar. By the age of eight, Niccolò In 1820 Paganini developed serious own works thrilled audiences, fueling
was also learning to play the violin health issues, including a persistent speculation that he was in league with
and composing his own work; he cough, for which he was prescribed the devil (see box, right). But in
gave his first concert aged 11 and opium. Around three years later, 1834, ill health brought an end
soon after this went on his first tour. syphilis was diagnosed (probably to his tours. He died in Nice six
contracted when he was just 22), years later from throat cancer.
Pursuit of fame and glory which was treated, according to His fortune was left to Achille.
Niccolò had studied violin briefly him, with “murderous doses” of Paganini revolutionized violin-
in Genoa; in Parma, the celebrated mercury—after which, his teeth playing and was particularly
violinist Alessandro Rolla said the boy loosened and eventually fell out, famous for radical techniques
was so talented that there was little he his eyesight and handwriting such as spiccato and left-hand
could teach him. But Paganini’s desire began to fail, and he suffered pizzicato. Apart from his
for fame was such that he subjected gastrointestinal problems magnificent instrumental
himself to a grueling routine, often as well as a host of other 24 Caprices, his other
practicing his own compositions on horrific maladies that compositions include
the violin for many hours a day. worsened with age. But chamber music (sonatas
In 1801, aged 19, Paganini began and guitar quartets) and
composing his 24 Caprices for Solo orchestral music, with
Violin (not published until 1820)— ▷ THE “CANNON” VIOLIN scores for mandolin and
which became his most celebrated Made by luthier Giuseppe guitar as well as violin.
Guarneri, this powerful violin
work—and four years later accepted Many of Paganini’s works
was one of a magnificent DAGUERREOTYPE, BELIEVED TO BE
the post of music director for the collection of instruments were not published until OF PAGANINI
princess of Lucca, Napoleon’s sister. owned by Niccolò Paganini. after his death in 1840.

“ This Satan who ruled over the

lush dreams of the female sex. ”
KLAUS KINSKI, IN HIS FILM PAGANINI, 1989
 GIOACHINO ROSSINI 097

Gioachino Rossini
1792–1868, ITALIAN
Dominating the first quarter of the 19th century, Rossini’s operas
enjoyed a long run of success, culminating in the magnificent William Tell.
However, at the age of 37, Rossini retired and never wrote another opera.

Gioachino Rossini was born ◁ THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

in Pesaro, on the northeastern The Marriage Contract was the first of ON TECHNIQUE
coast of Italy. His parents were Rossini’s operas to be publicly staged—
it premiered in 1810. The work is more Cutting corners
professional musicians: his usually called La cambiale di matrimonio.
father held the post of town Urged on by impatient theater
promoters, Rossini was constantly
trumpeter and played the horn
pushed to work at a furious pace.
in a local orchestra; his mother complicate matters, Rossini’s career In order to meet their punishing
was a singer. Under their coincided with the Napoleonic Wars, schedules, the composer took a
influence, Gioachino developed when France and Austria were number of shortcuts. He reused some
overtures—the overture to The Barber
musical skills at a very early competing for control of the peninsula.
of Seville, for example, had already
age. He had already started Venice, for example, changed hands featured in two of his earlier operas
composing by the time he entered four times between 1797, when it was (Elizabeth, Queen of England and
the liceo musicale (music college) La cambiale was well received and conquered by Bonaparte, and 1814, Aureliano). Rossini also adopted the
practice of using arie di baule (luggage
in Bologna at the age of just 14. this, coupled with further successes in when it was ceded to the Austrians.
arias)—individual arias borrowed
the following years, convinced Rossini Rossini could not fail to be affected from other operas, even if they were
Early career of his career path. He left the liceo, by some of these issues. His father irrelevant to the plot. Similarly, he
Before his voice broke, Rossini earned even though his tutors urged him to had been imprisoned briefly on two farmed out some less significant
sections to other composers,
some money singing in churches stay, and began churning out operas occasions for political activities and
including Giovanni Tadolini. Rossini
and theaters, although composition in rapid succession. By the age of 21, he himself had come under suspicion outsourced much of the recitative of
remained his chief focus. By 1810, nine of his operas had been staged. from the Austrian police after penning Cinderella, as well as reusing earlier
he had completed his first two-act Rossini moved to Venice, since this a hymn to independence in 1815. arias, in order to get the opera ready
in time for the Christmas season.
operatic score, Demetrio e Polibio was the main operatic center in the More often, though, any patriotic
(premiered 1812). Later in 1810, he northeast. Several of his early operas sentiments were subsumed into the
achieved the first public staging of were performed there but, as his fiction of his compositions. In L’italiana
one of his operas—La cambiale di name became better known, he was in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers),
matrimonio (The Marriage Contract), lured to other cities. This was not just Isabella leads a group of Italian slaves
a one-act farsa comica (blend of a case of provincial rivalry. Italy had
farce and opera), which appeared not yet been unified, so these cities
at a small theater in Venice. belonged to separate states. To

◁ GIOACHINO ROSSINI ▷ THE FRENCH ENTER VENICE

The Italian composer, depicted here by Rossini’s career overlapped with the
G.P. da Fano, retired at the age of just 37, Napoleonic Wars. This painting shows
reducing his workload to live a life of the French takeover of Venice in May
luxury and indulge his passion for food. 1797, headed by Napoleon Bonaparte.

“ Give me a laundry list

and I will set it to music. ”
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
098 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

KEY WORKS

1816 1817 1819 1823 1829

Rossini’s comic La Cenerentola is Adapted from the novel Rossini’s last Italian Composes William Tell,
masterpiece, The Barber Rossini’s version by Sir Walter Scott, opera, Semiramide, is his grandiose tale of
of Seville, receives its of the Cinderella Rossini composes The based on a tragedy by Romantic heroism,
premiere in Rome. story. Although the Lady of the Lake for his Voltaire. It is staged based on a play by
The composer claimed commission was written future wife, Isabella initially in Venice, Schiller. This will be
to have written the at breakneck speed, it Colbran. where it meets with his final opera.
music in just 13 days. was a great success. great acclaim.

to freedom with a famous aria, the need for speed—“nothing spurs for example, was first performed in
IN PROFILE “Pensa alla patria” (“Think of the inspiration more than necessity,” he Rome. It had a stormy opening night,
Domenico Barbaja homeland”), following a sly musical commented—though he also farmed partly because of demonstrations
reference to the French national out the recitative and at least one of from supporters of a rival production
Rossini’s dealings with Barbaja anthem, the Marseillaise. Similarly, the the arias to an unknown assistant. and partly because a stray cat
(1778–1841), the most dynamic
plot of William Tell revolves around the Rossini’s success drew the attention wandered onto the stage. But from
impresario of the age, played a
major part in his career. Described efforts of a heroic Swiss revolutionary of other promoters. Domenico Barbaja the second night onward, The Barber
by contemporaries as disreputable, to free his land from its Austrian (see box, left) was the most influential was a triumph and has since become
Barbaja made his first fortune with a occupiers. of these and, in 1815, he persuaded
gambling empire, which exploited the
the composer to move to Naples,
passion for the new game of roulette. ▽ THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
He subsequently acquired theaters in Breakthrough and success where Rossini became musical
This page from the Introduction, Act I,
Naples, Milan, and Vienna. Barbaja Rossini’s early operas were rather director of the royal theaters.
of Rossini’s most popular opera, The
had a keen eye for talent, but he repetitive, but with Tancredi he came Rossini also found time to write for Barber of Seville (premiered in 1816),
worked his composers ruthlessly.
of age. Set in 11th-century Syracuse, other theaters. The Barber of Seville, shows the composer’s handwriting.
Rossini was contracted to deliver two
operas a year, as well as assisting this opera seria placed a tender
with the staging of other productions. love story against the backdrop of
“If he could, he would have had me a war between Sicily and its Saracen
working in the kitchen as well,”
enemies. Tancredi was a slow starter
Rossini noted ruefully.
at the box office, but Rossini’s
melodies soon caught on. One aria
in particular, “Di tanti palpiti” (“After
such palpitations”), became a favorite
with the gondoliers, who helped to
spread its fame far and wide.
If Tancredi was his breakthrough,
L’italiana in Algeri was his first
runaway success. Written at a furious
pace to help out an impresario
who had an unexpected gap in his
schedule, the opera was premiered
in Venice in 1813. It featured a mix of
drama with madcap comedy, some
of which was clearly inspired by the
DOMENICO BARBAJA IN NAPLES IN clownish antics of the commedia
THE 1820s dell’arte (traditional Italian street
theater). Rossini felt galvanized by

“ Delight must be the basis and aim of this

art. Simple melody – clear rhythm! ”
GIOACHINO ROSSINI, LETTER, 1868
 GIOACHINO ROSSINI 099

Rossini’s most popular creation. It boasted magnificent sets, huge retirement are unclear: he suffered
By this stage, the composer had choruses, graceful ballets, and some from various ailments, so health may
developed many of his most familiar of Rossini’s most stirring melodies. have been a cause; or he may have
trademarks. He dispensed entirely with Opening in 1829, the piece was sensed that his style was going out of
unaccompanied recitative, enabling his enthusiastically received and also fashion. In any event, Rossini spent his
music to flow continuously. He noted frequently revived, clocking up some final years composing some religious
all vocal embellishments in the score, 500 performances in the course of music—including the ironically titled
rather than allowing his singers to the composer’s lifetime. Petite Messe solennelle (1863), which
improvise. Rossini himself excelled at William Tell was also Rossini’s swan was neither “little” nor “solemn”—
dazzling passages of coloratura, as song. Although aged just 37, he never indulging his love of good food, and
well as dramatic crescendos. The wrote another opera in the remaining enjoying the well-earned celebrity
latter were very simple and direct, 39 years of his life. The reasons for his that his music had brought him.
built around relentless chord
progressions, although some critics
found them too predictable. He also
liked employing “patter-songs”—
melodies that are sung at high speed
for purely comic effect. These were
particularly useful in sections where
the narrative was flagging.

Romance and Paris

Rossini composed a number of more
serious operas for the prima donna
Isabella Colbran, among them Othello
and The Lady of the Lake. When the
pair first met, she was Barbaja’s
mistress, but she soon transferred
her affections to Rossini and the
couple were eventually married in
1822. Two years later, they moved to
Paris, where Gioachino reached the
pinnacle of his career. The French
capital was regarded as the center
of the operatic world and Rossini
was greeted there like a conquering
hero. He was appointed director of
the Théâtre-Italien, commissioned
to produce work for the Opéra, and
honored by the French king. Rossini
responded by composing his crowning
masterpiece, William Tell.
With its famous overture (used as
the theme tune for the television
series The Lone Ranger) and its
monumental scale (it lasts over four
hours), William Tell was a landmark
in the development of grand opera.

▷ ISABELLA COLBRAN, c. 1835

The sensational Spanish soprano’s voice
was described as “sweet and mellow,
with a rich middle register able to conjure
touching lyricism.” She and Rossini were
married in 1822. This portrait of her, aged
about 50, is by Johann Baptist Reiter.
 FRANZ SCHUBERT 101

Franz Schubert
1797–1828, AUSTRIAN
A master of melody, Schubert was renowned for his song settings of
German poetry. His genius in symphonies and chamber and piano works
was cut tragically short by his death at the age of just 31.

Franz Peter Schubert was born in songs, including a dramatic setting of His wide group of literary and
Vienna in 1797, the twelfth of a family Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s ballad artistic friends celebrated his gifts
of 14 children, only five of whom “Erlkönig” that was to become one of through private gatherings dubbed
survived beyond infancy. His father his most popular works. Schubertiades, at which selections
was a schoolmaster and a cellist Schubert found an escape from of his music were performed. Schubert
(though a poor one); music was often teaching through his circle of friends. attracted the attention and admiration
played in the household, and Franz’s With the support of young aristocrats, of a famous singer of an older
outstanding talent was soon noticed. including the wealthy literary dilettante generation, Johann Vogl (1768–1840),
In 1808, he won a scholarship to sing Franz von Schober and Joseph von whose performances introduced his
in the Austrian Imperial Court Chapel Spaun, a friend from the Seminary songs to a wider public.
choir, which carried with it the right days, he was able to leave the family Schubert’s extravagant life put
to be educated as a boarder at the home and adopt an artistic bohemian some strains on his finances, but
prestigious Royal Seminary school. lifestyle, devoted to music, café talk, these were largely alleviated by the
and drinking—which he often did to well-paid summers he spent at the △ THE RED CRAB
A society figure excess. A good-natured, gregarious rural estate of the Hungarian aristocrat Schubert was born in a house called Zum
Schubert’s elite education brought him individual, nicknamed Schwammerl Count Esterházy, giving lessons in roten Krebsen (The Red Crab) in the
Viennese suburb Himmelpfortgrund. He
into contact with pupils from a higher (literally “little mushroom”) because singing and piano to the count’s two lived in the family apartment for nearly
social class, some of whom would of his diminutive chubby figure, daughters. Much of the music Schubert five years; the living space was modest,
remain his friends throughout his life. Schubert was soon established as a wrote during this period, such as consisting of one room and a kitchen.
He took lessons in composition from minor celebrity in the tight-knit world the famous “Trout” Quintet of 1819,
the court composer Antonio Salieri of Viennese musical enthusiasts. breathes happiness and tranquillity.
(1750–1825)—notorious for his earlier
rivalry with Mozart (see p.81)—and
composed with extraordinary facility IN CONTEXT
by early adolescence. By the time The Biedermeier period
he left the Seminary in 1813, Schubert In 1814–1815, Schubert’s
had already written songs, dances, native city hosted a conference,
choral works, chamber music, and the Congress of Vienna, that
even his First Symphony. marked the end of the long
Napoleonic Wars. In the years
Following the death of his mother, he that followed, known as the
returned home to become a reluctant Biedermeier period, tastes
assistant teacher at his father’s were dominated by the middle
school, but the flow of compositions classes, who reacted against
the preceding turmoil by
continued. In the space of a single embracing domestic life.
year in 1815 he wrote almost 150 There was a rapid growth in
music-making in the home and
a strong market for sheet music,
especially dances and songs.
This was the form in which
Schubert’s music was mostly
◁ FRANZ PETER SCHUBERT known to the public in his lifetime.
This oil portrait was made by Austrian
painter Wilhelm August Rieder in 1875
from an earlier watercolor. Rieder was MAHOGANY BIEDERMEIER
the son of composer Ambros Rieder, and TABLE PIANO
became a close friend of Schubert.
102 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

KEY WORKS

1814 1821 1822 1823 1824–27 1828

Conducts his Schubert’s Writes the only Schubert’s first Writes his finest Schubert’s second
Mass in F major dramatic song two movements song cycle, Die orchestral piece, song cycle,
at Lichtental “Erlkönig,” which of his “Unfinished” schöne Müllerin, the “Great” C major Winterreise, also
church in Vienna; he composed in Symphony in B is published. It Symphony; it is settings of poems
it is his first 1815, is performed minor, which are consists of 20 not performed in by Müller, is
significant work and hailed by not performed settings of poems public until 1839. published a month
to be performed. critics in Vienna. until 1865. by Wilhelm Müller. after his death.

According to some accounts, in around subversion in the wake of the French of mortality dominate the powerful
1814 Schubert fell in love with a young Revolution, the Austrian authorities “Death and the Maiden” String Quartet
soprano, Therese Grob, a childhood regarded all unconventional groups written in 1824.
friend. Prevented from marrying of young people with suspicion. In
her because of his poverty, he could 1820, Schubert and four of his friends Creative impetus
never love another woman. Yet solid were arrested by Viennese police for Although even Schubert’s admirers
evidence for this relationship, beyond allegedly insulting imperial officials. tended to see him as primarily a
the fact that she performed some of Schubert escaped with a reprimand composer of songs, dances, and
his music, is scant. Lack of evidence for but one of his friends was exiled. charming short piano pieces, his
any romantic attachments to women Meanwhile, other members of his deepest ambition was to emulate
has led to speculation that Schubert group were deserting carefree the monumental achievements of
was gay—and it is certain that close bohemianism for the security of paid Beethoven, the towering musical
male friendships were at the heart jobs. Schubert continued to make a genius of his day. But his efforts
of his way of life. It is clear at least modest living out of music, but despite to assert himself as an orchestral
that he had a sex life, for in 1822 he a growing reputation as a popular composer met with frustration.
contracted syphilis, suffering a severe songwriter he found publishers The true story of his “Unfinished”
bout of the illness which disabled him reluctant to print his work and failed Symphony, written in 1822, has never
△ THERESE GROB for over a year and from which he to break into the lucrative field of been established—it is uncertain
In his teens, Schubert developed an may never have completely recovered. opera. One of his friends, the writer whether he only completed the first
affection for baker’s daughter Therese and dramatist Eduard von Bauernfeld, two movements and the opening bars
Grob. It is thought that he presented her
with a collection of his songs (along Illness and adversity later spoke of “a black-winged demon of the third movement or whether the
with one of her own compositions) on Several other factors, in addition to of sorrow and melancholy” that at rest of the symphony has simply been
her 18th birthday. illness, darkened Schubert’s life in times overshadowed the sunnier side lost. Either way, this innovative work
the 1820s. Paranoid about political of his nature. Somber premonitions was never performed in Schubert’s
lifetime. His “Great” Symphony in
C major, now considered one of
ON TECHNIQUE the supreme pieces in the concert
Song cycles repertoire, was accepted for rehearsal
A song cycle is a group of individual by the orchestra of Vienna’s Society
songs, each capable of standing alone of Friends of Music in 1827, but then
but usually performed together in declared too difficult to perform.
a fixed order, because they make Despite such setbacks, Schubert’s
emotional and dramatic sense as
a sequence. Schubert was not the creative drive was at full strength
first composer to create cycles of in his final years. Works such as his
German art songs (known as Lied, last three piano sonatas, written in
plural Lieder), but his masterpieces 1828, were complex achievements,
Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise
established the genre’s major status.
Their themes include unrequited love,
melancholy, and isolation. Robert
Schumann and Gustav Mahler were
among the composers who continued
the German song-cycle tradition.

AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF “GUTE NACHT”

FROM SCHUBERT’S WINTERREISE, 1827
 FRANZ SCHUBERT 103

harnessing a supreme lyrical gift Death and legacy work received its posthumous first △ SCHUBERTIADE
for melody to an individual handling Schubert died in 1828, possibly from performance, the following decades One of Schubert’s obituaries described
of large-scale musical structure. typhoid, having allegedly requested saw his reputation rise to stellar him as a man who had “lived solely for
art and … [his] circle of friends.” The latter
The late songs of the Winterreise a performance of Beethoven’s String heights. Championed by Romantic hosted gatherings, or Schubertiades, in
cycle and the song collection Quartet No. 14 on his deathbed. His composers Robert Schumann and their homes, where his new works were
Schwanengesang, both also from death was an unexpected shock. Felix Mendelssohn, his “Great” C major staged. This sketch, showing Schubert
1828, have a depth and range of Schubert was buried in Vienna’s Symphony was first performed at the piano, depicts one such evening.
feeling that announce the full onset Währing Cemetery, close to where in 1839 and the rediscovered
of Romanticism. Schubert was only Beethoven had been interred only “Unfinished” Symphony in 1865.
now beginning to receive the degree a year before. There were laudatory Schubert’s total output turned out
of recognition he craved. In March obituaries in the press. His admirers to be vast—about a thousand of his
1828, he gave a public concert of his regretted the loss of the works he works are now cataloged and he
works that was both a critical and a might have created in the future, has taken his place in the pantheon
financial success. His renown at last but none truly realized the scale of great composers alongside
began to spread beyond Vienna. of his achievement. As work after Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart.

“ Whenever I attempted to sing

of love, it turned to pain. ”
FRANZ SCHUBERT, MY DREAM, 1822
104

▷ GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti rose from impoverished, humble
beginnings in Bergamo, northeastern
Italy, to become a successful and
accomplished composer. With initial
guidance and support from Bavarian-
born Italian composer Simon Mayr,
he finally took his place, between
Rossini and Verdi, as one of the
leading lights of Italian opera.

Gaetano Donizetti
1797–1848, ITALIAN
Equally adept at producing comic and serious works, Donizetti succeeded
Rossini to become the leading composer of Italian opera at the beginning
of the 19th century.
 GAETANO DONIZETTI 105

“ Lucia di Lammermoor has been performed,

and kindly permit me to … tell you the
truth. It has … pleased very much. ”
GAETANO DONIZETTI, LETTER TO THE PUBLISHER GIOVANNI RICORDI, 1835

◁ GIUDITTA PASTA appetite for British history and legend.

Donizetti wrote for several prominent L’elisir d’amore, created for Milan in
singers, including Giuditta Pasta
1832; La Fille du régiment; and Don
(née Negri, 1797–1865), for whom he
composed the title role of Anna Bolena. Pasquale, first staged in Paris in
1843 (see box, below), proved
the composer’s mastery of comic
young composer to produce operas opera, while his well-judged blend of
for him in Naples. Donizetti’s first hit Classicism and Romanticism brought
Extreme poverty shaped Gaetano with the Neapolitan public, La zingara, distinction to his tragic drama Lucia
Donizetti’s early childhood. Born enchanted Vincenzo Bellini, a student di Lammermoor and La Favorite, a
in Bergamo in September 1797, the at Naples’ Royal College of Music. A four-act work for the Paris Opéra.
fifth of six children, he was raised in flop at Milan’s La Scala and failures Donizetti completed 65 operas,
the dismal basement of an apartment in Palermo were followed by a run of written for such excellent singers
block. In 1806, the family’s situation successful and well-paid works for as Giuditta Pasta and the tenor
improved somewhat with a move Naples, and commissions elsewhere. Giovanni Rubini, a fellow native
to better lodgings; young Gaetano, With this new-found financial security of Bergamo, known for his high
meanwhile, received a scholarship he married Virginia Vasselli in 1828. notes and expressive voice. While
to attend choir school under Simon many of Donizetti’s operas were
Mayr, the Bavarian-born maestro di Prolific output performed for decades after his
cappella at Bergamo’s cathedral and Between 1822 and 1843, Donizetti death from syphilis on April 8, 1848,
a prolific composer of opera. created three or four operas a year, most fell into obscurity. Yet Don △ ANNA BOLENA, TITLE PAGE
an output that was not rare at the Pasquale, La Fille du régiment, Lucia Title page of the score for Anna Bolena,
Road to success time but was made outstanding by di Lammermoor, La Favorite, and Donizetti’s tragic opera in two acts.
It was this work, which premiered in
Mayr’s lessons set foundations for the high quality of his music. Works Lucrezia Borgia held their place in Milan in 1830, that brought the Italian
Donizetti’s career. He arranged for such as Elisabetta al castello di the international repertoire, and composer international acclaim.
his pupil to attend Bologna’s Liceo Kenilworth, Anna Bolena, and Maria many others have been revived and
Filarmonico Comunale and, after Stuarda satisfied the Italian public’s recorded over the past half century.
completion of his studies in 1817, for
an opera commission in Venice. Mayr
also promoted Donizetti’s cause in IN CONTEXT
Rome, which led, in 1821, to his first The lure of Paris
commission for a major opera house, Rossini had earned enough from Paris
the Teatro Argentina, where Rossini’s to retire in his thirties; Donizetti also
The Barber of Seville had premiered hoped for early retirement. His nine
five years earlier. years in the capital from 1838 met
with success and setbacks. Although
Domenico Barbaja, the impresario he spent six months each year in
of Neapolitan theaters, struck by Vienna, serving the Hapsburg emperor
Donizetti’s Roman debut, invited the as court composer, life in Paris did not
run so smoothly. Soon after his comic
opera Don Pasquale triumphed at the
Théâtre Italien, Donizetti succumbed
to the syphilis he had contracted as
a student. His physical and mental
decline, and fondness for threesomes
with prostitutes, fed the Paris gossip
mill. Donizetti spent his final months
in Bergamo waiting for death in a
specially adapted wing chair. THEATRE ITALIEN, PARIS, WHERE DONIZETTI’S DON PASQUALE PREMIERED IN 1843
 VINCENZO BELLINI 107

Vincenzo Bellini
1801–1835, ITALIAN
With meticulous care for words and music, Bellini brought the
turbulent emotions of Romanticism to Italian opera. He was
the master of bel canto and inspired many composers.

Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania, Bellini was the eldest of seven Opera was the most
Sicily, on November 3, 1801. In the children; his father and grandfather lucrative outlet for the work
summer of that year, his island were musicians. He wrote his first of Italian composers in the early △ WAR HYMN IN NORMA
home had been attacked by Tunisian piece of music at the age of six and 1800s. The peninsula’s assorted This is the musical score in Bellini’s
pirates eager to capture slaves for the became his grandfather’s musical kingdoms and city-states supported own handwriting for the war hymn in
Act II of Norma (1831), one of his 10
lucrative market in north Africa—an apprentice soon after. In 1819, he a great network of opera houses, operas and considered a masterpiece.
event that sparked a three-year war. won a scholarship to the Royal College each serving audiences that were
The theme of sea battles with of Music in Naples, where he honed hungry for new pieces.
pirates was to reemerge in Bellini’s his skills as a composer for the voice.
life many years later in the form of He supplemented his training Success cut short
one of his earliest works, Il pirata. Also in harmony and counterpoint with While many of his contemporaries
among his formative experiences lessons learned during visits to the wrote three or more operas a year,
were the Sicilian and Neapolitan vast San Carlo Theater in Naples to the perfectionist Bellini rarely wrote
folk songs and theater tunes that hear works by Rossini, Mayr, Donizetti, more than one. His painstaking
he had heard as a boy. Mercadante, and Spontini. He crowned approach (he paid as much attention
Bellini’s childhood, like much of his studies with his opera Adelson to the words as to the notes) at its IN PROFILE
his short life, was dressed in myth e Salvini (1825), which led to a best produced La sonnambula (1831), Francesco Florimo
by early biographers (see box, right), commission for San Carlo: Bianca Norma (1831), and I puritani (1835), During his college days, Bellini
who portrayed the boy as a doomed e Fernando, first performed in May masterworks that secured Bellini’s became close to fellow student
genius: “blond as the cornfields, 1826. This launched the composer’s status as one of the highest-earning Francesco Florimo (1800–1888).
sweet as the angels,” in one account. professional career. The following composers of the age. Their relationship was reinforced by
a regular weekly correspondence into
April, Bellini moved north to Milan to In demand in both London and which Bellini off-loaded his irritations
work at the Teatro alla Scala, which Paris, Bellini wrote I puritani for the and projected frequently wild
◁ VINCENZO BELLINI was one of Italy’s finest opera houses. French capital. He died of dysentery thoughts. Florimo’s great affection
Bellini’s bright blue eyes, good looks, for his friend fed his imagination in
His first work for La Scala, Il pirata in the Paris suburbs in September
brief but dazzling career, and death at later years, coloring the biography
the age of just 33 later contributed to the (1827), was a triumph and was 1835, nine months after the opera’s that he wrote of Bellini in the early
creation of his near cult-like status. promptly staged in Naples and Vienna. premiere at the Théâtre Italien. 1880s. He burned many letters
According to Bellini, “opera must written while Bellini had one of
make people weep, feel horrified, several affairs with married women,
and gave others away, choosing to
die through singing.” The observation, invent substitute letters in his
which encapsulates his vision for the biography. Florimo spun the myth
art form, is clear in its commitment of Bellini as a Romantic hero—a
to strong emotions, bold dramatic sensitive, melancholy artist, dead
before his time, like Mozart or Byron.
gestures, and the projection of
tempestuous psychological states.

◁ TEATRO DI SAN CARLO

The spectacular interior of the San Carlo
Theater in Naples—where Bellini’s Bianca
e Fernando premiered in 1826, launching
his career—is represented in this work,
c. 1830, by Cetteo de Stefano. The San
Carlo is Europe’s oldest opera house.
108 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Hector Berlioz
1803–1869, FRENCH
In many ways the archetypal Romantic composer, Berlioz took up music
against his family’s wishes and was undervalued in his country. His most
famous work, Symphonie fantastique, emerged out of an obsessive love.

Born in a village near Grenoble, Hector spite of the distractions of falling in was down to Hector’s genuine distaste
Berlioz was the eldest of six children. love. Throughout his teenage years, for the horrors of the dissection room.
His father, Louis, a highly respected he was obsessed with a girl in the At the same time, his commitment to △ BATON
country doctor, was one of the first neighborhood, Estelle Duboeuf, music grew rapidly, as he enjoyed the This conductor’s baton
Westerners to use acupuncture in his who was seven years his senior. This cultural benefits of living in the capital. belonged to Hector Berlioz.
It is now on display at the
treatments. He took a keen interest could easily have been dismissed He visited the Opéra and the theater museum dedicated to the composer
in his son’s upbringing, educating as an adolescent crush, but Hector and, from 1822, he began to frequent in the house where he was born in
him at home. Under his guidance, never forgot her and renewed their the library of the Conservatoire. La Côte-Saint-André, Isère,
Hector developed an abiding love friendship in the 1860s. Berlioz graduated from medical southeastern France.
for classical literature and culture. In 1821, Berlioz began his studies school in 1824, when he was finally
at the medical school in Paris. He compelled to inform his parents that
Conflicting paths did his best to follow his parents’ he was going to make his career in
Hector’s education was wide-ranging, wishes, but a clash of wills became music. They already suspected this,
but it was geared to preparing him for inevitable. For the most part, this but were still horrified. His father cut
the medical profession, so music had
a minor role. The boy learned to play
his father’s flageolet (a woodwind IN CONTEXT
instrument) and was given some The Romantic movement
lessons on the flute and the guitar. Berlioz’s life coincided with the rise
Unusually for a composer, he had no of the Romantic movement, which
formal training on the piano and was affected literature, painting, and
never particularly proficient on any music. Reacting to the rationalism
of the Enlightenment, there arose a
instrument, although he did become taste for conveying themes that were
a very fine conductor. With typical bizarre, exotic, violent, or macabre.
bullishness, Berlioz chose to put a Berlioz was drawn to such subjects.
positive spin on this. He believed that His winning entry for the Prix de
Rome was a cantata, The Death of
he had been “saved from the tyranny Sardanapalus—a scene of butchery
of keyboard habits, so dangerous made notorious in a painting by
to thought, and from the lure of Eugène Delacroix. Similarly, Berlioz’s
conventional harmonies.” Instead, it Symphonie fantastique climaxes in a
witches’ sabbath, a favorite theme
would be the orchestra that formed of Spanish painter Francisco Goya.
the basis of his compositional outlook.
Hector worked hard, earning the THE DEATH OF SARDANAPALUS, EUGENE
grades he needed for admission to DELACROIX, 1827
medical school. He managed this in

“ … characteristics of my music are passionate

expression, intense ardor, rhythmical
▷ HECTOR BERLIOZ
A portrait by Alexis-Marie Lahaye shows
Berlioz dressed in black, the red ribbon

animation, and unexpected turns. ” of the Legion of Honor, awarded to him in

1839, prominent on his chest. But for
most of his career, he was held in higher
HECTOR BERLIOZ, MEMOIRS, 1865 regard abroad than at home in France.
110 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

“ No one who hears this symphony … played by

Berlioz’s orchestra, can help believing that he
is hearing a marvel without precedent. ”
RICHARD WAGNER, ON BERLIOZ’S SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

his allowance, while his puritanical a musical piece expressing themes Romance blossomed and the couple
IN PROFILE mother even laid a curse on him. and ideas that lie outside the scope were married in 1833. There was,
Harriet Smithson By this stage, Berlioz had already of music itself and that are explained however, no happy ending. Harriet
started composing, supplementing in program notes for the audience. gave birth to their son in 1834, but
Harriet Smithson (1800–1854) was an his meager income with some Berlioz constructed his symphony her own career was on the slide
Irish actress noted for her beauty and
music criticism. His first significant in five movements, conveying the and the marriage soon turned sour.
her interpretation of Shakespearean
roles. She began her career, aged production was his Messe solennelle hopeless, unrequited love of a young She became jealous and resentful
just 14, at the Theatre Royal, Dublin. (Solemn Mass). Written in 1824, it was musician. Plunged into despair, he of Hector’s growing success and
By 1818, she had moved to England, performed the following year. The takes opium, resulting in a series of turned increasingly to drink. They
making her London debut at Drury
score was subsequently lost and outlandish visions, culminating in a eventually parted and Berlioz took
Lane. She performed in comedies
and tragedies, receiving good, though rediscovered only in 1991. march to the scaffold and an orgy at a new mistress, Marie Recio.
not outstanding, reviews. Smithson a witches’ sabbath. The object of the During the course of the 1830s,
arrived in Paris in 1827. Once again, Obsessive love musician’s affections, his idée fixe, Berlioz achieved professional
she acted in a variety of plays, but it
In addition to opera, Berlioz also is represented by a melodic theme, recognition, although lack of money
was her performance as Ophelia in
Hamlet that was really memorable. enjoyed drama, developing a great which recurs in differing forms always remained a problem. In
Berlioz saw the production and was fondness for Shakespeare’s plays. throughout the piece. 1834, at the request of Niccolò
spellbound, despite the fact that his In September 1827, he visited Harriet Smithson eventually heard Paganini, he composed Harold in Italy,
English was limited.
the Odéon, where he witnessed a performance of the Symphonie a symphony with solo viola. Paganini
productions of Hamlet and Romeo in 1832 and, learning that it was never performed the work, but the
and Juliet by an English theatrical about her, agreed to meet Berlioz. composers remained on friendly
company. Berlioz was transfixed,
falling desperately in love with the
leading lady, Harriet Smithson (see
box, left). There was an obsessive
quality about his passion for this
beautiful stranger. Letters to her went
unanswered and he moved into
lodgings across the street from hers,
only for her to promptly move out.
Fortunately, Berlioz found a practical
outlet for this fixation, using it as
inspiration for his most famous
creation, Symphonie fantastique.
Completed in 1830, this masterpiece
is one of the most memorable
PORTRAIT OF IRISH ACTRESS HARRIET landmarks of the Romantic movement.
SMITHSON, c. 1829 It has been hailed as a pioneering
example of “program music”—

▷ A BERLIOZ CONCERT
A caricature of Hector Berlioz published
by Austrian journal Wiener Theaterzeitung
in 1846 shows the composer conducting
a deafening concert with an exploding
cannon, and chaos and panic in the
crowd; formally dressed concert-goers
cover their ears against the terrible din.
terms and Paganini later gave Berlioz performances. Critics have praised to divide it into two separate operas. △ THE TROJANS
20,000 francs to finance one of his the verve and imagination of some The first full staging of the entire work Artists from the Royal Opera, with
other projects. sections, but the composer’s ambition did not take place until a production Eva-Maria Westbroek as Dido (center),
perform Berlioz’s five-act epic opera The
undermined the overall effect. Berlioz at Covent Garden in London in 1957. Trojans, directed by David McVicar and
Challenges and reputation was intent on cramming in so much Berlioz was awarded the Legion of conducted by Antonio Pappano at the
Berlioz also received a state variety, which was often delivered at Honor in 1839 and appointed curator Royal Opera House, London, in 2013.
commission for his Requiem (1837), a frenetic pace and demanded such of the Conservatoire library, but was
which commemorates victims of virtuosity from his musicians, that the passed over for many more important
the 1830 Revolution. This was a vast opera was not only technically difficult official posts. He was generally held ▽ THE DAMNATION OF FAUST
This poster by Gustave Fraipont is for
undertaking, involving more than to perform but also challenging for in higher esteem outside France—his
Berlioz’s epic work The Damnation of
400 performers. A tremendous an audience to process. concert tours as conductor in England, Faust, which was performed at the
success, it was always cited by Similar problems were apparent Germany, and Russia, for example, Monte Carlo theater, Paris, in 1893.
the composer as the achievement in Berlioz’s most celebrated opera, were a triumph. Berlioz’s reputation in
of which he was most proud. Les Troyens (The Trojans, 1856–1858). his home country grew after his death,
The fate of Berlioz’s first opera, Its original running time was well aided greatly by the publication of his
Benvenuto Cellini (1838), was rather over five hours and the many, complex sparkling Memoirs (1865), and he is
less auspicious. The first night was scene changes made it a nightmare now revered as one of the nation’s
a disaster and it closed after four to produce. As a result, he was obliged greatest Romantic composers.

KEY WORKS

1830 1834 1838 1841 1846 1858

Creates the Inspired by a poem Benvenuto Cellini, Composes Described by Completes Les
Symphonie by Lord Byron, inspired by the Les Nuits d’été Berlioz as a Troyens (The
fantastique, his Berlioz composes memoirs of a (Summer Nights), “dramatic legend,” Trojans). It is
hallucinatory Harold in Italy, Florentine sculptor, a song cycle for The Damnation so long that
vision of his love a symphony in premieres in Paris, single voice of Faust is a it is initially
for his future wife, four movements. the first of his three and piano. box-office failure. staged as two
Harriet Smithson. operas. separate operas.
 FANNY MENDELSSOHN 113

Fanny Mendelssohn
1805–1847, GERMAN
Although she has long been overshadowed by her famous brother, Felix,
Fanny Mendelssohn is now recognized as a significant figure in her own
right and her substantial body of work is being rediscovered.

Fanny Mendelssohn was ◁ SCORE FOR to 200. The guests sometimes

born in Hamburg, the FOUR SONGS FOR included members of the Prussian IN PROFILE
PIANOFORTE, 1846
eldest of four children royal family, and among the visiting Wilhelm Hensel
Fanny did not start
of a wealthy, cultivated publishing her music performers were such luminaries
family. She enjoyed until the year before as Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann. Although his work is little known
her death. These four today, Fanny’s husband, Wilhelm
the same privileged
Hensel, had a fairly successful career
upbringing as her works formed her Op. 2. Death and rediscovery as an artist. In 1829, he was appointed
brother Felix, with the In May 1847, while she was rehearsing court painter by Frederick William III
best tutors available in was devoted to his for one of these events, Fanny’s hands of Prussia. He was best known in his
lifetime as a portraitist, but he also
every subject. Like Felix, sister, he thought the went numb and moments later she
produced religious and historical
she was intellectually commercial side of suffered a massive stroke. She died pictures. Hensel had no particular
accomplished and her music was unsuitable the following day, aged only 41. When interest in music, but he was devoted
talent for music seemed on for an upper-class he heard the news, Felix screamed in to Fanny, had great respect for her
talents, and was hugely supportive
par with his. However, the social lady, and for these reasons, Fanny anguish and then fainted. For many
of her career and ambitions. Her
conventions of the time prevented published almost none of her work years, Fanny was little more than a sudden death was a devastating blow
her from giving full expression to her during her lifetime. footnote in musical history, but from from which he never fully recovered.
gifts. She was a superb pianist, but the later 20th century her work has
her father thought a concert career to Home performances been gradually rediscovered. About
be unseemly and she performed only Fanny spent most of her life in Berlin, 500 compositions by her are known,
once in public, at a charity benefit where in 1829 she married the painter including piano music, songs,
concert in 1838. Although Felix Wilhelm Hensel (see box, right). Her chamber works, and choral pieces—
musical life revolved around always beautifully crafted, often lyrical
performances of her own and others’ in mood but sometimes stormy.
◁ FANNY MENDELSSOHN work that she organized in her home. Discoveries continue to be made.
This portrait of Fanny Mendelssohn was
Attendance at these prestigious social The manuscript of a piano piece
painted in 1842 by Moritz Oppenheim, a
long-standing friend of Fanny’s husband, events was by invitation only, but known as the “Easter Sonata,” found
Wilhelm Hensel. audiences reportedly numbered up in a bookstore in France in 1970, is
signed “F. Mendelssohn” and is a
work of such distinction that it was
assumed to be by Felix. However, in
2010, a US musicologist proved that
the manuscript had been cut from
an album of Fanny’s compositions,
and in 2012 it was performed for WILHELM HENSEL, SELF-PORTRAIT,1829
the first time as her work.

◁ THREE SONGS, 2015

To this day, relatively few of Fanny
Mendelssohn’s works have been
presented in public. Here, Anna Lucia
Richter performs her Three Songs with
the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
114 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Felix Mendelssohn
1809–1847, GERMAN
Multi-talented and extraordinarily hardworking, Mendelssohn packed a
huge amount into his short life. Famed as a composer, pianist, organist,
conductor, and administrator, he stood at the forefront of European music.

Felix Mendelssohn was born into a elder sister, Fanny (see pp.112–113), Overture to A Midsummer Night’s
wealthy, loving, culturally enlightened were exceptional in this regard, Dream, which captures the fairy magic
family that unstintingly fostered seeming to master all aspects of the of Shakespeare’s play with gossamer
his talents. He was handsome and subject with ease. Felix gave his first lightness. The history of music is full △ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
graceful, had a magnetic personality, public performance as a pianist at of prodigies, but not even Mozart wrote In 1842, 16 years after he composed his
and was so gifted that he would the age of nine, and he also excelled anything so memorable, original, and youthful Overture to A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Mendelssohn wrote incidental
probably have excelled in any field. on the organ and violin. By his teens, completely mature at this tender age. music for the play. It includes the famous
His happy childhood was followed by he was pouring out compositions in Wedding March, and also a lively scherzo,
a happy married life, with a beautiful various genres, including chamber A star of the podium in this edition arranged for piano.
wife and five children. However, fate music and symphonies; his parents In addition to gaining a reputation as
dealt him cruel blows in later life with even hired an orchestra so he could a composer and pianist, Mendelssohn
the unexpected death of his beloved try out his works. At 16, he wrote his also quickly made a mark as a
sister and, soon afterward, his own first acknowledged masterpiece, the conductor; this specialist role was still
death at the age of 38. String Octet, and at 17 the famous new and Mendelssohn became one of

A precocious talent
Mendelssohn came from a Jewish IN CONTEXT
family whose most notable member The Gewandhaus
was philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, From 1835 to his death, Mendelssohn
his paternal grandfather. His father was musical director of Leipzig’s
was a banker and his mother, an Gewandhaus Orchestra, one of the
excellent amateur pianist, also came oldest and most acclaimed in the
world. It was founded in 1743 and
from a banking family. In 1822, his in 1781 began holding its concerts in
parents converted from Judaism part of the Gewandhaus (“garment
to Protestantism; to show their house”), a building used by cloth
new allegiance, they added the name merchants, from which it takes its
name. A new concert hall, opened in
“Bartholdy” (from a Christian branch 1884, was destroyed during World
of the family) to their own. Thus the War II and the present building, famed
composer is sometimes known as for its fine acoustics, opened in 1981.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. The orchestra also often performs in
Leipzig’s St. Thomas’s Church, which
Felix was born in 1809 in Hamburg, is closely associated with J.S. Bach.
the second of four children, and grew
up in Berlin. All four children were MONUMENT TO MENDELSSOHN OUTSIDE
highly intelligent and had great THE GEWANDHAUS , 1911
musical talent, but Felix and his

“ This year [is] an important segment in our ▷ FELIX MENDELSSOHN, 1834–1835

This portrait by German artist Theodor

family life. Felix, our soul, is going away. ” Hildebrandt conveys the genial character
of Mendelssohn. He is depicted as a
prosperous gentleman but his tousled
FANNY MENDELSSOHN, DIARY ENTRY, JANUARY 1, 1829 hair suggests his artistic nature.
116 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

“ There is one god—Bach—and

Mendelssohn is his prophet. ”
HECTOR BERLIOZ

the first real “stars” of the podium. and made a more extensive tour of only 21, he was offered the position
Most notably, in 1829, aged 20, he Scotland, his sightseeing including of head of the music department at
organized and conducted the first a boat trip to the uninhabited island Berlin University. However, he turned it
performance of Bach’s St. Matthew of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides. This down as he wanted to continue seeing
Passion since the composer’s death, inspired him to write his overture The the world, and he spent much of the
thus inaugurating a major revival of Hebrides, also known—from the most next two years traveling—in Austria,
interest in Bach’s music. remarkable feature of the island—as Italy, Switzerland, France, and England
“Fingal’s Cave.” It is one of the first again. During this time he met several
Travels and meetings notable examples of a “concert famous musicians, including Berlioz in
Soon after this triumph, Mendelssohn overture”: one that is freestanding Rome and Chopin in Paris.
embarked on his first independent rather than used as an introduction to In 1833, Mendelssohn was appointed
journey abroad, to England. He later a ballet, opera, or other performance. municipal music director in Düsseldorf,
▽ FINGAL’S CAVE made nine more visits to the country, A leg injury in a carriage accident then two years later he took up the
The sight of the octagonal basalt columns where he felt at home (he spoke the delayed Mendelssohn’s return to more prestigious post of director of
of Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa in language fluently) and was much Germany and caused him to miss the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig
the Inner Hebrides inspired the famous
acclaimed. During this first stay, Fanny’s wedding, which was held (see box, p.114). This city was to be
opening theme of Mendelssohn’s overture
The Hebrides, a work he dedicated to which lasted from April to November in Berlin on October 3, 1829. The his home for the remainder of his life.
Frederick William IV of Prussia. 1829, he also spent a week in Wales following year, although he was still However, he continued to travel and
 FELIX MENDELSSOHN 117

◁ AM AMALFI MAI, 1831

A talented artist, Mendelssohn made IN PROFILE
many drawings and watercolors on
his travels, including this one of the Prince Albert
Amalfi coast in Italy.
Queen Victoria’s husband (1819–
1861) was passionate about
music and his enthusiasm for
Changing reputations Mendelssohn—a fellow German—
Mendelssohn’s stellar reputation underlined the composer’s success
declined after his death. In the age in Britain. Albert was an accomplished
pianist and organist, a good singer,
of Romanticism, his music was
and an occasional composer (mainly
thought by some to be over-polite of songs but also of religious music).
and sentimental. This mainly applied He expanded Victoria’s court band
to his religious music. His oratorios into a full-size orchestra and made
proposals for a National Training
St. Paul (1836) and Elijah (1846) were School for Music, which was
popular when first performed, but 50 eventually founded in 1873 (replaced
years later Irish writer George Bernard by the Royal College of Music in 1882).
work elsewhere, organizing festivals When Fanny died suddenly in May Shaw referred to Mendelssohn’s
in various German cities and also that year, it was a shattering blow, “despicable oratorio-mongering.”
in Birmingham. He was extremely and he survived her by only a few Mendelssohn had endured anti-
successful as the Gewandhaus’s months, dying—after suffering Semitic attacks in his life, and these
director, raising its standards, a series of strokes—in Leipzig on increased after his death, with the
improving conditions for its November 4, aged 38. His body was banning of his music in Nazi Germany
members, and using innovative taken by train to Berlin where it and the removal of his statue in
programming in which the work of was buried alongside his sister’s. front of the Gewandhaus in 1936 (a
past giants, such as Beethoven and Tragedy struck again six years later replacement was unveiled in 1993).
Mozart, mixed with contemporary when Mendelssohn’s widow, Cécile— Some detractors claim he reached
pieces. In 1843, he also founded a a clergyman’s daughter whom he had his peak as a composer by the age
conservatory in Leipzig; this became married in 1837—died of tuberculosis, of 21 and that his later music lacks
the leading music school in Germany. leaving their orphaned children to be range and depth. But one of his final
brought up by relatives. works, the Violin Concerto, is among
Royal patronage and tragedy his greatest—highly original in form
Mendelssohn’s brilliant career brought and rich in feeling. The celebrated
him into contact with many notable violinist Joseph Joachim described
people, among them King Frederick it as “the heart’s jewel.” And despite MENDELSSOHN PLAYS FOR QUEEN
William IV of Prussia. In 1842, the king Bernard Shaw’s damning indictment, VICTORIA AND PRINCE ALBERT, 1842
gave him a letter to deliver to his Elijah has now risen to become one of
cousin Prince Albert in England and in the composer’s most popular works.
this way Mendelssohn met the British Mendelssohn does not have the near
royal family. Queen Victoria and Prince god-like status he held in his lifetime,
Albert (see box, right) were great but his position as a leading figure
admirers of his work and the three of in 19th-century culture is undoubted.
them became friends, making music
together in Buckingham Palace on
several occasions. ◁ ELIJAH, HANDWRITTEN SCORE, 1846
Mendelssohn wrote this oratorio,
Mendelssohn’s grueling workload
based on the life of the prophet and
took a toll on his health and by the miracle-worker Elijah, for the triennial
beginning of 1847 he was visibly ill. Birmingham Festival.

KEY WORKS

1825 1833 1842 1844 1846

Writes the String Octet, In London, conducts Conducts the premiere Completes his Violin In Birmingham,
his first masterpiece, the premiere of his of his Symphony No. 3, Concerto in E minor; conducts the premiere
at the age of 16. It Symphony No. 4, “Scottish,” in Leipzig. it has its premiere of Elijah, his most
was dedicated to his “Italian.” He dedicates the work the following year famous oratorio.
teacher, Edward Ritz. to Queen Victoria. in Leipzig.
 FREDERIC CHOPIN 119

Frédéric Chopin
1810–1849, POLISH
Chopin was one of the archetypal tragic heroes of Romanticism: his
life embraced exile from his war-torn homeland, a love affair with a
scandalous woman, and an extraordinary talent betrayed by a frail body.

No composer is more intimately ◁ PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1

associated with the piano than Chopin. Chopin composed this concerto in ON TECHNIQUE
All his compositions involve the 1830 and was the soloist at its first
performance on October 11. He was Chopin’s pianos
instrument, on which he was a immediately celebrated as a national
superlative performer. They are hero in his native Poland. For most of his career, Chopin used
pianos by the two leading French
mainly solo pieces, although he also
manufacturers, Erard and Pleyel.
wrote orchestral works (notably two Erard pianos produced a bigger,
sparkling piano concertos), some six, had his first compositions richer sound, but Chopin generally
chamber music, and a few songs. published when he was seven, preferred the bright, silvery tone of
Pleyels: “When I am not in the mood,
His work is deeply personal and full of and made his public debut as a
I play on the Erard piano, where I
heartfelt emotion, but there is never performer when he was eight. Soon find the ready tone easily. But when
any of the exhibitionism sometimes he had a reputation as a boy wonder. I am full of vigor and strong enough
associated with Romanticism. to find my very own tone, I need a
Pleyel.” During his stay in Britain
Instead, it displays exquisite taste Early successes he also enjoyed using the “very
and craftsmanship—an expression From 1826 to 1829, Chopin studied sweet instruments” produced by
of his own fastidious personality. at the Warsaw Academy of Music, the firm of Broadwood.
where his final report described him
A musical prodigy as a “musical genius.” He had indeed
Frédéric François Chopin (Polish: already shown remarkable gifts as
Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen) was an independent country. It had been a composer and pianist. The most
born at Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, fought over for much of the previous important compositions of his youth are
where his French-born father, century and after the Napoleonic Wars his two piano concertos, both written
Nicolas, was tutor to the children of ended in 1815 it effectively became by the time he was 20. He was the
a local aristocrat. Six months later, part of the Russian Empire—a soloist at their first performances, in
the family moved to Warsaw, where situation that fostered a strong Warsaw’s National Theater in March
Nicolas got a job teaching French— movement for national freedom. and October 1830. They won great
the second language of the Polish The young Frédéric had a weak acclaim, but Warsaw was considered
aristocracy—at the recently founded constitution and although he grew provincial in musical terms and
Lyceum. At this time, Poland was not to average height for the time, Chopin was already thinking beyond
he remained very slight in build and Poland. He had briefly visited Berlin
suffered ill health throughout his life. in 1828 and Vienna in 1829, and in
◁ FREDERIC CHOPIN, 1838 From an early age, he showed musical November 1830, following the success
This portrait by Eugène Delacroix was
interests, in which he was encouraged of his piano concertos, he set out to CHOPIN’S PLEYEL PIANO IN HIS
part of an unfinished painting of Chopin
and his lover and muse, George Sand, by his loving, cultured family: he began make a longer stay in Vienna—the APARTMENT IN PARIS
which was later cut into two parts. serious piano lessons when he was musical capital of Europe.

“ Mold the keyboard with a velvet hand

and feel the key rather than striking it. ”
FREDERIC CHOPIN (ADVICE TO HIS PUPILS)
120 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

“ Chopin … made a single instrument

speak a language of infinity. ”
GEORGE SAND

A week after he arrived in Vienna, ▷ GEORGE SAND, 1864

IN PROFILE news came that a rebellion against the Famous for her novels that explored the
Russians had broken out in Warsaw. lives and loves of the rural poor, George
Jane Stirling Sand was also a prodigious dramatist
Chopin was advised by his parents not campaigner, and one of the first modern,
Chopin had many wealthy pupils, of to return home but to stay away from liberated women. She became Chopin’s
whom the most significant in his life lover, muse, and nurse until their
the bloodshed. Lonely and homesick,
was Jane Stirling (1804–1859), who relationship ended in 1847.
came from a Scottish landowning he made little headway in Vienna, so
family. They met in about 1843 and decided to move to Paris, arriving in
it was Stirling who promoted his stay September 1831. On the journey, he lasting only a few minutes each, but
in England and Scotland in 1848. She
heard that Warsaw had been captured they show inexhaustible melodic
had romantic feelings for Chopin, but
they were not returned: he came to by the Russians, an event said to have invention and have a freedom of
find her attentions wearing and wrote inspired one of his most turbulent construction, a feeling for color and
to a friend, “I am closer to the coffin pieces, the “Revolutionary” Etude, texture, and a wealth of expressive
than the marriage bed.” Her devotion
which packs a torrent of emotion into nuance that opened up new paths
continued after his death, when she
paid for his lavish funeral, bought less than three minutes of music. for piano music.
most of his estate, and did much Chopin’s intimate music and his
to preserve his legacy. Life in Paris delicate keyboard style were better
Paris was to be Chopin’s home for the suited to the drawing room than the
rest of his life. He never saw Poland concert hall. He made his living in
again, but his music often reflected Paris mainly by playing in aristocratic It was a lifestyle that brought Chopin
his heritage and his patriotism. He houses and giving lessons to wealthy into contact with many attractive young
wrote more than 20 polonaises, a type pupils. This suited his character, for women. He had various tepid youthful
of composition based on a court dance he was a dandy with impeccable romances (one of which ended with a
of the Polish aristocracy, and more manners and also something of broken engagement), but they were all
than 50 mazurkas, based on a Polish a social climber. He earned well, but overshadowed by his affair with the
peasant dance. Other groups of his spent most of his money maintaining novelist Aurore Dudevant (1804–1876),
works include nocturnes and waltzes. an extravagant lifestyle appropriate better known by her pen name George
These are all essentially miniatures, to the circles in which he moved. Sand. When she met Chopin in 1836,
she was already famous because of
her writings and unconventional life:
separated from her husband, with two
children, she had numerous lovers,
wore men’s clothing, and smoked
cigars. Her affair with Chopin began
in earnest in 1838 and they spent
the winter of 1838–1839 together on
the island of Majorca.
The relationship lasted almost a
▷ THE NOVEMBER UPRISING decade before ending acrimoniously
This painting of the Polish rebellion in 1847. By this time Chopin’s health
against Russian rule is by Polish artist
January Suchodolski, who fought in what
became known as the November Uprising
(1830–1831). The rebellion was brutally
crushed by the superior Russian forces.
For Chopin, this defeat meant that, as
a Polish nationalist, he was prevented
from returning to his native Poland. His
yearning for his homeland, and deep
dismay at the failure of the rebellion,
is reflected in several of his works.
was in decline, he was short of money, his Scottish pupil Jane Stirling; see singer Pauline Viardot) remarked △ PLAYING FOR NOBILITY
and Paris was an uncomfortable place box, p.120). By now he was so ill that cynically that all the great ladies In this scene painted by Henryk Siemiradzki
to be, with revolution in the air after he looked like a walking corpse. He of Paris came to his rooms to faint. in 1887, Chopin plays in the salon of his
patron, Prince Antoni Radziwiłł, at the
King Louis Philippe was deposed in could no longer climb stairs and had After a funeral service attended prince’s palace in Berlin.
February 1848. Chopin escaped to be carried up by his servant, but he by 3,000 people at the church of the
by staying in England and Scotland could still produce magic at the piano. Madeleine, its facade draped in black
from April to November. He gave velvet, Chopin was buried in Père
▽ POLONAISE “HEROIQUE”
public concerts in London, Manchester, A final return Lachaise Cemetery. However, at his
Chopin wrote his Polonaise in A-flat
Edinburgh, and Glasgow, but mainly Back in Paris, Chopin continued to request, his heart was removed major in 1842. This solo piano piece is
performed in aristocratic homes— deteriorate and he died—probably and taken back to Poland, where one of his most acclaimed works.
in London (where Queen Victoria of tuberculosis—on October 17, it rests beneath a
was guest of honor on one occasion) 1849, aged 39. In his final days he monument to him in
and in Scotland (in country houses was visited by a host of friends and the church of the
belonging to friends and relatives of acquaintances, one of whom (the Holy Cross, Warsaw.

KEY WORKS

1830 1833 1839 1846

The premiere of Publishes first Completes Piano Completes the
Piano Concerto set of Nocturnes; Sonata No. 2, the Sonata for Piano
No. 2 is followed seven more sets third movement and Cello, his
by Piano Concerto are published in of which is the most ambitious
No. 1 (the numbers his lifetime, celebrated piece of chamber
indicate the order containing 18 funeral march. music.
of publication). Nocturnes in all.
122 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Robert Schumann
1810–1856, GERMAN
Schumann wrote some of the most intense, innovative music of
IN CONTEXT
the Romantic era, notably in his works for piano and his songs. His German Romanticism
career was cruelly terminated by the onset of severe mental illness. In the first half of the 19th century,
German literature, visual art, and
music were dominated by the
Romantic movement, celebrating
Born in 1810 in Zwickau, Saxony, ◁ CLARA WIECK
emotion, intuition, nature, and
Robert Schumann was encouraged in Wieck met Schumann at the age of 11 visionary genius in reaction to the
his interest in literature and music by and was in love with him throughout her rationalism of the 18th-century
teens. They married after a battle with Enlightenment. Schumann was
his father, a bookseller and publisher. her father, who tried to block the union. inspired by Romantic authors, such
Robert learned the basics of music
as the novelist Jean Paul (1763–
and how to play the piano from one 1825), the poet Heinrich Heine
of his school teachers, soon showing his unique method of teaching piano. (1797–1856), and the Gothic fantasy
an exceptional gift for composition Wieck provided Schumann with writer E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822).
His piano pieces Kinderszenen
and improvisation. an escape from a legal career by
reflected the Romantic belief in
promising Schumann’s mother he childhood innocence and wonder.
Charting a course would turn him into a great piano
Into adolescence he still imagined virtuoso. In 1830, Schumann moved
that his vocation might lie in literature. into Wieck’s house in Leipzig as a
Imitating his heroes, the writers of the live-in pupil, joining a household that
German Romantic movement, he had included Wieck’s 11-year-old daughter
written poetry and a novel by the time Clara, a musical child prodigy.
he was 16 years old—neither of them committed suicide, throwing herself Schumann’s pursuit of a career
showing any great promise. In 1825, into a river. Ten months later his as a piano virtuoso was short-lived.
Schumann’s elder sister Emilie much-loved father died. His mother, Through experimenting with a
who had always disapproved of her mechanical device to strengthen his
son’s interest in music, sent him fingers, he permanently damaged
to study law at university, first in his hand. The accident left him
Leipzig and then Heidelberg. free to focus on composition.
Schumann was not diligent in
his studies, devoting his days to the Building a career
piano and his nights to drinking and The Abegg Variations, published
womanizing. In 1828, he met Friedrich as his Opus 1 in 1831, was the first
Wieck, a Leipzig musician famed for of a series of remarkable works WANDERER ABOVE THE SEA OF FOG,
for solo piano that expressed his CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH, 1817
complex mind and strikingly original
◁ FRONTISPIECE, PAPILLONS musical sensibility, from Papillons
Schumann’s Papillons, Op. 2 for piano, (1832) and Carnaval (1835) to the ▷ ROBERT SCHUMANN, 1839
was an adaptation of the concluding Between 1832 and 1839, Schumann
Davidsbündlertänze (1837) and
chapter of the novel Flegeljahre (The composed almost entirely for piano.
Awkward Age, 1804–1805), by German Kreisleriana (1838). Free in form, But in 1840 he wrote almost 140 songs,
Romantic writer Jean Paul. innovative in harmony, and often including the famous Dichterliebe.

“ To send light into the depths of the human

heart—this is the artist’s calling. ”
ROBERT SCHUMANN
 ◁ ERNESTINE VON FRICKEN and the famous Piano Concerto,
Schumann planned to marry von Fricken completed in 1845. Schumann
and painted her musical portrait in his considered his secular oratorio
Carnaval. He broke off the relationship
after learning that she had no money. Paradise and the Peri, written in 1843
and based on the Irish poet Thomas
Moore’s Lalla-Rookh, to be his finest
Romantic complications work. He also produced much
In Schumann’s personal life, a long, chamber music during this period,
romantic attachment to an older including the exuberant Piano Quintet
woman was followed in 1834 by his of 1842. But his style did not appeal to
betrothal to Ernestine von Fricken, contemporary taste and he failed
whom he believed to be the daughter to attract a popular following.
of a wealthy nobleman. He ended the Mendelssohn found Schumann
engagement after discovering that she a teaching post at the Leipzig
was illegitimate and penniless. This Conservatory to supplement his
left him free to fall in love with Clara income from journalism, but Clara
Wieck. His feelings for her probably was undoubtedly the family’s chief
informed the passionate piano solo breadwinner, her piano performances
Fantasie in C, composed in 1836. attracting large audiences. When the
Schumann proposed marriage couple undertook a concert tour of
in 1837, but Clara’s father refused Russian cities in early 1844, Clara
permission and banned Schumann was the star, not her husband.
from the house. This was hardly
an irrational reaction, given that Mental suffering
Clara was a highly gifted 18-year-old In fall 1844, Schumann moved
with a fine career ahead of her and with his family from Leipzig to
Schumann a man of evident emotional Dresden, abandoning his editorial
instability and uncertain financial role on the New Journal for Music.
literary in inspiration, these suites prospects. There followed a long It was in Dresden that he began to
ON TECHNIQUE expressed a wide range of mercurial period of clandestine meetings and suffer from aural hallucinations,
Musical cryptograms moods, while also abounding in exchange of love letters. The young as well as anxieties, phobias, and
personal references and musical couple’s struggle to marry against the depression. This did not stop him
A musical cryptogram is a theme cryptograms (see box, left). In this father’s veto ended up in the courts, producing a steady stream of new
that uses the letter names for notes
same period, Schumann established where a judge eventually ruled in compositions, including the Manfred
in order to encode a word, most often
a person’s name. Various devices give himself as a leading music journalist, their favor. They married in 1840 Overture, written in 1848, which
letters other than A to G—in German and founded the influential New and the first of their eight children was destined to become his most
the letter “H” indicates B natural Journal for Music in 1834. In his was born the following year. frequently performed orchestral
and E flat can be “Es” or “S”.
writings, he invented contrasting piece. He placed great hopes in his
First used by Baroque composers,
this technique was taken much personae to represent opposed sides The year of song opera Genoveva, but this was poorly
further by Schumann. In his Carnaval, of his personality—the virile and For Schumann the composer, received when premiered in 1850.
for example, a recurrent theme (A, assertive Florestan and the dreamy, 1840 was the “year of song.” He That year, Schumann took up a post
E flat, C, B) spells the word “Asch,”
reflective Eusebius. wrote almost 140 songs, including as musical director in Düsseldorf on
the name of the town in which his
betrothed, Ernestine von Fricken, Schumann was an excellent Dichterliebe, a worthy successor to the the Rhine. The new location provoked
was born. Schumann is represented music critic, being the first in Germany song cycles of his hero Schubert. Clara a burst of creativity, both his “Rhenish”
by the notes E flat, C, B, A—spelling to acknowledge the genius of Chopin encouraged her husband to embark Symphony and his Cello Concerto,
the abbreviation “Scha.”
as well as a key contributor to the on orchestral works, leading to the written in the first few months after
discovery of Schubert’s late works First Symphony, premiered with arrival. However, Schumann’s mental
(see p.103). Felix Mendelssohn conducting in 1841, condition soon began to deteriorate

“ What would I not do for love of you,

my own Clara! ”
ROBERT SCHUMANN, LETTER TO CLARA WIECK, 1838
 ROBERT SCHUMANN 125

KEY WORKS

1831 1838 1840 1845 1851

The early piano suite Touchingly depicts Dichterliebe, The Piano Concerto is Symphony No. 3 in
Papillons is inspired childhood innocence Schumann’s finest premiered in Dresden E-flat major, known
by a masked ball in in Kinderszenen, 13 song cycle, is a with Clara Schumann as the “Rhenish,” has
Jean Paul’s novel short piano pieces. setting of poems as soloist. its first performance
Flegeljahre. by Heinrich Heine. in Düsseldorf.

alarmingly. He was plagued by a A tragic finale Numerous theories have been

cacophony of musical notes and In September of that year, the proposed concerning Schumann’s
voices in his ears and saw visions unknown 20-year-old composer condition, including that he was
of angels and devils. His duties as Johannes Brahms turned up at suffering the long-term effects of
musical director included conducting the Schumanns’ door. Immediately poisoning by mercury, administered
an orchestra and choir. By 1853, adopted as a family friend and hailed as a cure for syphilis. What is more
his eccentric performances on the by Schumann in print as a genius of certain, however, is that there is
podium had caused a storm of local the future, Brahms was a witness clear evidence of mental instability △ NEW JOURNAL FOR MUSIC,1834
criticism and he was forced to resign. to the tragic finale to Schumann’s in his family and that the composer Schumann founded the New Journal for
life. Plagued by hallucinations, on exhibited many of the symptoms of Music in Leipzig in 1834, which positioned
him as a respected music journalist. The
February 27, 1854, Schumann fled schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. first edition of the journal is shown here.
▽ SCHUMANN’S STUDIO his home and threw himself into the Robert Schumann eventually died
In 1852, Schumann moved to DÜsseldorf; Rhine. He was rescued and taken at on July 29, 1856. Championed by
the studio in his house is shown here. his own request to an asylum for the Brahms and performed by Clara,
The move initially sparked creativity in
insane at Endenich, near Bonn. There his oeuvre came to be recognized
him, but by 1853 he was suffering mental
instability and the next year attempted he descended into terminal mental as among the crowning achievements
suicide by hurling himself into the Rhine. and physical decline. of German Romanticism.
126

▷ FRANZ LISZT, 1838

The composer is captured here by
Henri Lehmann in 1838, aged 27. Two
years later, Liszt visited England; The
Birmingham Journal reported: “He is a
very good-looking young man … with
a fine forehead, good nose, and well-
cut mouth, not a little resembling the
portraits of Bonaparte … He is plainly …
a man of great genius and originality.”
The strong resemblance to Napoleon
had not gone unnoticed by the young
(married) women of the Paris salons
who, by all accounts, were equally
enthralled by the young man’s good
looks and his musical genius.

Franz Liszt
1811–1886, HUNGARIAN
One of the greatest composer-pianists of all time, Liszt raised the music
of the Romantic era to a spectacular pinnacle. Retiring at the height of
his fame, he later took minor orders in the Catholic Church.
 FRANZ LISZT 127

Saint-Cricq, came to an abrupt end

after she married someone else. Liszt
turned to religion for consolation.

Coming to life
An uprising in Paris in 1830
against the imperial government
of Charles X jolted Liszt out of his
introspection. He was a republican
supporter and retained these political
sympathies when the rebellion was
suppressed. He also found himself
to be the darling of the elite salon
scene, where much of Paris’s cultural
life took place. And with his tall and
slender figure, long hair, alluring looks,
and astonishing piano-playing, Liszt
Franz Liszt was born in 1811 in the △ LISZT’S BIRTHPLACE soon attracted the attention of bored △ COUNTESS MARIE D’AGOULT
eastern Austrian village of Raiding. Liszt was born in this house in Raiding, young wives with older husbands. Liszt was captivated by the dazzling
His father, Adam Liszt, a manager on a village in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A friendship with Chopin dates from charm of the distinguished Marie when
There was some Hungarian ancestry on introduced to her in 1833. He ran off to
the local aristocratic Esterházy estate, his father’s side. this time, although some sources Switzerland with her two years later.
was a cellist who had played in the suggest that it was later soured by
Esterházy family’s private orchestra professional rivalry.
when Haydn was its director. Adam’s mesmerized concert audiences. His Then, in 1833, Liszt was introduced
only child—named after the monastic newly composed full-length opera, to Countess Marie d’Agoult—a much-
order he had once joined—was Don Sanche, was premiered there admired beauty eight years his senior,
baptized Franciscus, but became when he was just 13 years old. the mother of two small children from
known as Franz. While still a small Father and son were on tour in a loveless marriage, and an aspiring
child, he showed a spellbinding gift Boulogne when, in 1827, Adam Liszt writer. Shared artistic affinities soon
as a pianist—he was remarkable for died of typhoid, leaving his teenage deepened an instant emotional bond,
his ability to improvise at the keyboard son to organize his career for himself. and in 1835 the couple ran away to
with total fluency. Temporarily recoiling from life as a Geneva, Switzerland, where the first
performing celebrity, he set himself of their three children was born.
Prodigy and virtuoso up as a piano teacher. A love affair Encouraged by Marie, Liszt read
Adam Liszt took his son to study with a young pupil, Caroline de widely and began to compose his first
in Vienna, where the famous piano
teacher Carl Czerny put his charge
through a tough technical program IN CONTEXT
designed to channel his natural talent. Romanticism and
For composition, Liszt studied under revolution
Antonio Salieri (see p.81).
A key idea of European Romanticism
In Vienna, Czerny took Liszt to play was the drawing together of different
to Beethoven, who was as impressed art forms into a single work—as
as everyone else by the boy’s amazing in Liszt’s orchestral symphonic
talent. The family then headed for poems, with their portrayals of ideas
and characters from, for example,
Paris, the other great musical center literature (Tasso: Lamento e trionfo
of the day, where Liszt’s pianism and Hamlet). Liszt was also deeply
responsive to the radical political
movements of his era. When the
Hungarian nationalist revolution
of 1849 was brutally put down by
the ruling Hapsburg Empire, Liszt
composed his tumultuous piano work
Funérailles in memory of those who
had died in the nationalist cause.

DEFEAT OF THE HUNGARIAN REBELS

AT VILAGOS, AUGUST 1849
△ PLAYING FOR FRANZ JOSEPH major works; among these was a valley in Hungary; suddenly identifying and Liszt’s relentless performing
In this anonymous painting, Liszt is piano collection, Album d’un voyageur, strongly with his Hungarian ancestry, schedule allowed little time for him
shown, in his later years, playing the inspired by the local Alpine scenery, Liszt gave a fundraising concert in to compose. In 1847, following a
piano for a charitable event. Emperor
Franz Joseph and other members of the later revised as the first “year” of the Vienna, which marked the start of concert in Kiev, he met the Ukrainian
imperial family are seated before him. great cycle Années de pèlerinage (Years his career as a traveling virtuoso. princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein,
of Pilgrimage). a married woman with a young
Next year came an equally fruitful Fame and mastery daughter. Again, an instant attraction
visit to Italy (early versions of the For the next 12 years, Liszt criss- was deepened—this time, by a shared
mighty Dante Sonata date from this crossed Europe with his Erard Catholic faith. Liszt abandoned his
period). The trip was interrupted by grand piano strapped to the roof life as a traveling pianist and moved
news of the flooding of the Danube of a stage-coach—giving concert to Weimar with Carolyne and her
tours that stretched from Ireland daughter, Marie. There he became
to Istanbul, setting sensational Kapellmeister in Extraordinary, a
◁ DANTE SYMPHONY, 1859 new standards of virtuoso pianism, post created for him by Weimar’s
The 1859 frontispiece of the score for and attaining near-adulation. ruler, Grand Duke Carl Alexander.
Liszt’s A Symphony to Dante’s Divine
Marie’s unhappiness at the The couple lived there for the next
Comedy. The symphony consists of
two movements, the first depicting composer’s protracted absences 12 years; Liszt conducted the local
Hell and the second Purgatory. meant that the couple drifted apart; orchestra, taught piano pupils, and at

KEY WORKS

1837–51 1852–53 1854–57 1861 1866–72 1877–82

Liszt’s Etudes The Sonata in B Based on Goethe’s Depicting devilish A huge three- In the final volume
d’exécution minor combines play, the Faust Mephistopheles in part choral and of the piano
transcendante are the piano sonata’s Symphony features Faust, Mephisto orchestral oratorio, cycle Années de
among the most traditionally musical portraits Waltz No. 1 is a Christus is the pèlerinage, the
difficult piano separate of the three leading masterpiece of major statement musical mood is
works ever movements in a characters, plus a whirling keyboard of Liszt’s years sometimes radiant,
composed. single movement. choral finale. virtuosity. in Rome. sometimes dark.
 FRANZ LISZT 129

“ His personal magnetism is immense, and

I can scarcely bear it when he plays. He can
make me cry all he chooses.”
AMY FAY, LISZT’S STUDENT AT A MASTERCLASS IN WEIMAR, 1873

◁ PRINCESS CAROLYNE until he realized that her divorce and

The noblewoman and writer Princess second marriage were inevitable. ON TECHNIQUE
Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein met Liszt in For several years he lived in a cell in
Kiev in 1847. Her attempts to secure an Transcendentalism
annulment of her marriage so that she a local monastery, played at church
could marry Liszt were unsuccessful. services, and composed; in 1865 he Liszt’s operatic paraphrases
took themes from operas past and
took minor orders as a Catholic abbé. present (Mozart’s Don Giovanni,
From 1869, Liszt divided his time among others) and reworked them
piano in public, never for a fee, and between Rome and Weimar (where he for the piano, often in blatantly
usually only to support a charitable gave piano master classes), while also barnstorming style. In the 12
Etudes d’exécution transcendante
cause of his choosing. helping to establish the conservatoire (Studies in Transcendental Execution),
in Budapest (known today as the the emphasis is different: extreme
Abbé Liszt and the last years Liszt Academy). In his later years, technical difficulty is an aspect
In 1860, intending that she and he preferred to use the Hungarian of the music to be absorbed and
then left behind, so that the pianist’s
Liszt should at last marry, Carolyne version of his first name, Ferencz. imagination is free to roam on a
traveled to Rome to try to secure The loneliness and declining health higher plane of artistry. With their
a papal annulment of her Catholic of old age often darkened his music, soaring Romantic inspiration and
marriage to her aristocratic husband. some of which developed a dissonant inventive range, the Etudes can
perhaps be regarded as Liszt’s
last had substantial time to compose. Local intrigue had undermined Liszt’s harmonic language that seems to greatest single achievement.
Brilliant revisions of his earlier position in Weimar, and he resigned gaze ahead toward the 20th-century
piano music from the Swiss and his post to join her in Rome. Then Modernism of Bartók or Schoenberg.
Italian years produced Romantic came a sequence of disasters. When In 1886, Liszt was visiting the Wagner
masterworks in the first two books Carolyne’s annulment was repeatedly Festival at Bayreuth (which was
of Années de pèlerinage, the Etudes blocked, she suffered a breakdown, run by Cosima after Wagner’s death), ▽ LISZT AND THE WAGNERS
d’exécution transcendante, and a and lapsed into eccentricity, seldom when he died, leaving a vast musical Here, Liszt (seated, with gray hair) is
shown with Richard Wagner (standing)
religiously inspired piano cycle, leaving her apartment, where she legacy remarkable for its radicalism,
and Cosima Wagner (Liszt’s daughter and
Harmonies poétiques et religieuses. spent the rest of her life writing much of which remains little known Wagner’s wife), at the Wagners’ house in
New creations included the Sonata in a 24-volume religious tract. Liszt’s or performed, even today. Bayreuth, northern Bavaria, c. 1880.
B minor and an ongoing sequence, son, Daniel, had died of
Hungarian Rhapsodies. And with an tuberculosis in 1859; now his
orchestra now at his disposal, Liszt daughter Blandine died, too,
completed a cycle of 12 symphonic of post-natal complications.
poems, plus his Faust Symphony and His surviving daughter,
Dante Symphony, and a choral Mass Cosima, although already
written for the newly built cathedral married, began a relationship
in the Hungarian city of Esztergom. with Wagner; despite a
Although he gave the premiere longstanding friendship with
of his First Piano Concerto in 1855, his fellow composer, Liszt
by this time he seldom played the at first deeply disapproved,
130 EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Directory
Esterházy from 1804 to 1811. Hummel
Bernhard Crusell married the singer Elisabeth Röckel in
1813. For the last 18 years of his life
1775–1838, FINNISH/SWEDISH
he served as director of music at the
Clarinettist and composer Crusell Weimar court. His own compositions
was born in Uusikaupunki (Nystad) were wide-ranging, including operas,
by Haydn and Mozart. In the early in Finland, then part of the kingdom Masses, and chamber music, but he is
Franz Krommer 1800s, he responded to demand for of Sweden. His parents, impoverished best known for his piano works, which
wind music by producing notable bookbinders, were not interested in exerted a major influence on Chopin
1759–1831, CZECH
clarinet concertos and a series of music, but as a child he learned to and Schumann. Hummel was also a
In his day sometimes ranked with partitas for wind bands. From 1811, play the clarinet and joined a Swedish prominent conductor, piano teacher,
Beethoven, Krommer (also known as he was associated with the Austrian regimental band at the island fortress and campaigner for musical copyright.
František Kramář) is noted for his imperial court, attaining the prestigious of Sveaborg, near Helsinki. In 1792,
writing for wind instruments and his post of court composer in 1818. he was recruited to the Royal Court KEY WORKS: Trumpet Concerto in
numerous string quartets. Born in Krommer was prolific in his output, Orchestra in Stockholm. He played E major, 1803; Fantasy for Piano
Kamenice, Moravia, then a part of the writing 77 string quartets, some of clarinet with the orchestra for the in E-flat major, Op. 18, 1805; Piano
Austrian Empire, now in the Czech them strikingly innovative, as well next 40 years, while also winning Concerto No. 2 in A minor, Op. 85,
Republic, he studied violin and organ as at least nine symphonies. international renown as a soloist. 1816; Piano Sonata in F-sharp major,
with his uncle, who was a choirmaster. After studying composition with the Op. 81, 1819
His talents as an instrumentalist and KEY WORKS: Symphony No. 1 in F German composer Abbé Vogler, he
composer earned him various musical major, Op. 12, 1797; Clarinet Concerto began writing his own works, at first
posts at ducal courts and cathedrals. in E-flat major, Op. 36, 1803; Octet Partita chiefly for clarinet. His output included
His compositions, appearing from the for Winds in F major, Op. 57, 1807; three clarinet concertos, as well as John Field
early 1790s, were chiefly influenced Three String Quartets, Op. 103, 1821 chamber works for wind instruments.
1782–1837, IRISH
He also wrote vocal music, notably
settings of verse by Sweden’s leading A pianist and composer of music for
Romantic poet Esaias Tegnér. His piano, Field was the son and grandson
opera Lilla Slavinnam (The Little Slave of professional musicians. Taught
Girl), first staged in 1824, received music at home, he moved with his
34 performances in his lifetime. family from Dublin to London in 1793.
There he became a pupil of pianist-
KEY WORKS: Sinfonia concertante composer Muzio Clementi and a
in B-flat major, Op. 3, 1804; Clarinet salesman for Clementi pianos. In
Concerto in F minor, Op. 5, 1815; 1802–1803 he traveled with Clementi
Divertimento for Oboe and Strings to Europe, settling in St. Petersburg.
in C major, Op. 9, 1823; Frithiofs Field lived in Russia for the remainder
Saga (songs), 1826 of his life and his music was influenced
by Russian folk songs. As a pianist he
was noted for his intimate style and
singing tone. His compositions
◁ Johann Nepomuk included seven piano concertos and
Hummel 16 “Nocturnes,” a genre that he
invented. His expressive melodies and
1778–1837, AUSTRIAN
chromatic harmonies influenced many
A leading figure in the transition from Romantic composers, most notably
the Classical to the Romantic era in Chopin. In his private life, Field was
European music, Hummel was born slovenly and dissolute. He drank
in Pressburg (Bratislava), then part of heavily and fathered an illegitimate
the Austrian Empire. The son of a child. His marriage to pianist Adelaide
prominent musician, he was a child Percheron did not last. Having suffered
prodigy on piano, embarking on his from cancer for several years, he died
first international concert tour aged in Moscow in 1837.
10. Hummel received lessons from
Mozart and Haydn, and as a piano KEY WORKS: Three Piano Sonatas,
virtuoso in Vienna in the 1790s was 1801; Piano Concerto No. 2 in A-flat
a rival of Beethoven. He succeeded major, 1811; Nocturnes Nos. 1–3,
△ JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL Haydn as director of music for Prince 1812; Nocturnes Nos. 4–5, 1817
Carl Maria von Weber
1786–1826, GERMAN

Renowned as the founder of German

Romantic opera, Weber was born into
a theatrical and musical family—one
of his cousins married Mozart. He was
a sickly child but precociously gifted,
publishing his first composition at
the age of 12 and seeing his first
opera performed at 14. He was an
outstanding pianist; his keyboard
works demand exceptional virtuosity.
Often in financial difficulties, he was
exiled from Württemberg after being
imprisoned for embezzlement in
1810. As a conductor he brought a
fresh perfectionism to performances
at opera houses in Breslau, Prague,
and finally Dresden, where he directed
the German Opera from 1817. His
magical opera Der Freischütz, written
at Dresden, was an international △ MIKHAIL GLINKA, ILYA REPIN, 1887 (PAINTED 30 YEARS AFTER GLINKA’S DEATH)
success and has remained his most
famous work. It was followed by made him an international celebrity. factory at Sandö in Sweden. In his region. In his youth he took piano
Euryanthe, an opera seen as paving In 1842 he returned to Berlin, serving spare time he wrote a large amount lessons from John Field but at first
the way for Wagner. Suffering from for six years as director of music to of ambitious music, including seemed no more than a musical
tuberculosis, Weber died in London, the king of Prussia. Unashamedly symphonies, tone poems, operas, dilettante, writing songs while working
where he had traveled to conduct wealthy and retaining his Jewish and chamber works. Of his seven as a civil servant in St. Petersburg.
the premiere of his Singspiel (music faith, Meyerbeer came under attack symphonies, only the first was In 1830, he went to live in Western
drama) Oberon. He was 39 years old. from jealous anti-Semitic critics, performed in his lifetime. He enjoyed Europe, succumbing to the charm of
but Le Prophète was another popular a belated success when his opera Bellini and Donizetti operas in Italy
KEY WORKS: Invitation to the Dance triumph when staged in Paris in 1849. Estrella de Soria was applauded at and studying composition in Berlin.
(piano solo), 1819; Der Freischütz His final grand opera, L’Africaine, was its premiere in Stockholm in 1862. Returning to Russia in 1834, he
(opera), 1821; Euryanthe (opera), in rehearsal at the time of his death. Two years before his death from embarked upon a patriotic opera,
1823; Oberon (Singspiel), 1826 pneumonia, he became professor A Life for the Czar. Freshening up the
KEY WORKS: Il crociato in Egitto of composition at the Stockholm current operatic conventions with
(opera), 1824; Robert le diable (opera), Conservatory. His posthumous references to Russian folk music,
1831; Les Huguenots (opera), 1836; reputation took many years to the opera was a huge success. His
Giacomo Meyerbeer Le Prophète (opera), 1849 develop, with most of his works second opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila
not premiered until the 20th century. (1842), showed greater originality
1791–1864, GERMAN
but received a cool reception when
The most successful composer of KEY WORKS: Violin Concerto in it premiered in St. Petersburg. Glinka
Romantic grand opera, Meyerbeer was Franz Berwald C-sharp minor, 1820; Estrella de again left for Western Europe, where
born Jakob Liebmann Beer, the son Soria (opera), 1841; Symphony he became interested in Spanish folk
1796–1868, SWEDISH
of wealthy, cultured Jewish parents in No. 3 in C major, “Singulière,” 1845; music. He died in Berlin in 1857.
Berlin. He acquired an early reputation Now considered Sweden’s leading Piano Concerto in D major, 1855 All subsequent Russian composers,
as a piano virtuoso but by age 20 was Romantic composer, Berwald was including the members of the Mighty
set on writing operas. After the failure born into a family of musicians in Handful, or The Five, acknowledged
of his first stage works in Germany, Stockholm. Following in his father’s his influence.
from 1816 he lived in Italy. His Italian footsteps, he became an orchestral △ Mikhail Glinka
operas culminated in success with violinist from the age of 14. His first KEY WORKS: A Life for the Czar
1804–1857, RUSSIAN
Il crociato in Egitto in 1824. Moving known compositions date from 1816, (opera), 1836; Ruslan and Lyudmila
to Paris, he wrote the French grand but success eluded him. He earned a The founder of Russian musical (opera), 1842; Kamarinskya (symphonic
operas Robert le diable and Les living as an orthopedist in Berlin in the nationalism, Glinka was born into poem), 1848; Summer Night in Madrid
Huguenots, lavish spectacles that 1830s, and from 1849 ran a glass a wealthy family in the Smolensk (overture), 1848
LATE 19th
CENTURY
Richard Wagner 134
Giuseppe Verdi 138
Clara Schumann 142
César Franck 144
Bedřich Smetana 146
Anton Bruckner 148
Johann Strauss II 152
Alexander Borodin 154
Johannes Brahms 156
Camille Saint-Saëns 160
Georges Bizet 162
Modest Mussorgsky 164

CHAPTER 4
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 166
AntonÍn Dvořák 170
Edvard Grieg 174
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 178
Gabriel Fauré 180
Giacomo Puccini 182
Gustav Mahler 186
Claude Debussy 190
Directory 194
134 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Richard Wagner
1813–1883, GERMAN
An opera composer and librettist, Wagner was a controversial figure
ON TECHNIQUE
and a radical force in 19th-century culture. His idea of the “total work The leitmotif
of art” found its fullest expression in the four operas of the Ring cycle.

The youngest of nine children, Richard Turmoil and instability Wagner’s breakthrough work was
Wagner was born in Leipzig in 1813. Wagner had completed two Rienzi, a conventional grand opera in
His father died when he was a baby, unsuccessful operas, Die Feen and the style of established composers
after which his mother lived with actor Das Liebesverbot, by 1836, when he such as Vincenzo Bellini and Giacomo
and painter Ludwig Geyer, who may married Minna Planer, an actress. Meyerbeer. It was rejected in Paris but,
have been Richard’s biological father. She left him, briefly, for another man. with Meyerbeer’s backing, accepted
Originally attracted to writing drama, Although they were reconciled, it was for performance at the Dresden opera
around the age of 15 Wagner not an easy marriage. Wagner became house in Wagner’s native Saxony. The
discovered his musical vocation, music director at the opera house in success of this production in 1842,
inspired by hearing Beethoven’s Ninth Riga on the Baltic, but could not live on and of The Flying Dutchman in 1843,
Symphony. Studying composition in the income. In 1839, he and Minna fled led to his appointment as director of
Leipzig, he wrote a juvenile symphony to escape creditors—the stormy sea music at Saxony’s royal court. There
and various keyboard works, but his voyage inspired his ghost-ship opera he wrote Tannhäuser, performed in
ambitions soon focused exclusively The Flying Dutchman. Then came Dresden in 1845, and Lohengrin,
on opera. From the outset he wrote another two years of poverty and completed in 1848. Drawing on
his own libretti, regarding himself overspending in Paris, where he was Germanic myth, these mature works
as a dramatist as well as a composer. again threatened with debtors’ prison. established Wagner’s originality as JEAN DE RESZKE IN THE ROLE OF
SIEGFRIED FROM THE RING CYCLE
an operatic composer.
Richard Wagner sought to create
Revolution and escape operas that were unified dramas,
rather than broken up into arias,
Political upheaval prevented Lohengrin
choruses, and recitatives. Starting
from being premiered in Dresden. In with The Flying Dutchman, which
1848, the German kingdoms, including was composed in the early 1840s,
Saxony, faced uprisings and demands he employed leitmotifs—recurring
musical themes that are associated
for a unified German nation-state.
with specific characters or other
Wagner sided with the revolutionaries, elements of the drama.
advocating a German national theater This technique was fully developed
and embracing republicanism. In May by the time Wagner wrote the first
operas of his Ring cycle in the 1850s.
1849, after street fighting, the rebels
Leitmotifs such as the horn call
representing the heroic Siegfried
constantly recur and transform,
◁ TANNHÄUSER POSTER weaving a continuous musical
This poster announces the premiere of web that underlies the work’s
Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Opéra de dramatic action.
Paris in 1861. The opera touches on the
conflict between sexual and spiritual love.

“ The oldest, truest, most beautiful ▷ RICHARD WAGNER, 1868

Despite a life of profligacy, philandering,

organ of music … is the human voice. ” controversy, and exile, Wagner had a
profound influence on Western music.
This portrait by Franz von Lenbach
RICHARD WAGNER, OPERA AND DRAMA, 1851 shows the composer in his mid-fifties.
136 LATE 19TH CENTURY

KEY WORKS
IN PROFILE
Ludwig II
Born in 1845, “Mad” King Ludwig 1842 1845 1865 1868 1876 1882
inherited the throne of Bavaria in Achieves his first Based on German Wagner’s opera Die Meistersinger The first complete Wagner’s mystical
1864, aged 18. From 1871, Bavaria success with legend, the opera of doomed love, von Nürnberg, performance of last opera, Parsifal,
was subsumed within the German Rienzi, a five-act Tannhäuser Tristan und Isolde, Wagner’s only the Ring cycle premieres at
Empire, but the king retained his title, opera performed contrasts sacred completed in 1859, mature comic is given at the Bayreuth.
limited powers, and a substantial in Dresden. and profane love. belatedly premieres opera, is hugely Bayreuth Festival.
revenue. Ludwig was eccentric and in Munich. popular with
homosexual; his enemies claimed German audiences.
he was mad. He became notorious for
his lavish spending on spectacular
palaces such as Neuschwanstein in Dresden were suppressed. Known By 1853, Wagner had written the text she was the inspiration for Tristan
Castle and on Wagner’s operatic
projects. In 1886, his political
for his revolutionary sympathies, for Der Ring des Nibelungen, a cycle und Isolde, his opera of love and death,
opponents hatched a plot to replace Wagner fled to Switzerland to escape of four operas based on Nordic sagas. completed during spells in Venice
him with a regent. Declared insane by arrest, becoming a political exile The music for the first two, Das and Lucerne in 1858–1859. In Tristan,
a panel of doctors, he was deposed banned from all German states. Rheingold and Die Walküre, was the passionate music dominates the
and drowned himself in a lake.
completed by 1856. These works were drama. Its unresolved yearning
A total work of art aligned with his theoretical writing, harmonies, failing to establish a
He produced a series of polemical which saw music as subordinate to clear tonality, are often seen as the
writings—Art and Revolution, The Art the poetic text. But in the mid-1850s, starting point of musical Modernism.
of the Future, Opera and Drama— he discovered the philosophy of Arthur
that expressed a program for a Schopenhauer—Buddhist-influenced, Desperation and salvation
post-revolutionary culture. With and positing music as the highest of By the 1860s, Wagner’s relationship
capitalism overthrown, a “total work of the arts. He also discovered Otto and with the Wesendoncks had broken up
art,” unifying music, poetry, drama, and Mathilde Wesendonck. Otto was a silk and the ban on his return to German
dance, would provide the focus for the merchant who became another of territories had been lifted. After
German community, the Volk (people). Wagner’s admiring benefactors; his the staging of a revised version of
There was no place for “alien” Jews, wife, a poet, became the composer’s Tannhäuser in Paris in 1861 proved
whose influence on German music he muse and possibly his lover. He played a fiasco, his finances remained in a
decried. While pursuing these ideas, her the singular compliment of setting desperate state, his luxurious tastes
he supported himself by borrowing her verse, rather than his own, in his far outreaching his income. Salvation
large sums from adoring women. Wesendonck-Lieder (1858). Above all, arrived in 1864 in the person of

LUDWIG II (OR LOUIS II), KING OF

BAVARIA, WILHELM TAUBNER, 1864

▷ DIE WALKÜRE
Shown here is a scene in Act III from
an 1899 production of Wagner’s Die
Walküre (The Valkyrie), the second opera
in his Ring cycle, featuring eight female
warriors, or Valkyries (from the old
Norse, meaning “chooser of the slain”).
Ludwig II, the 18-year-old ruler of spirit of the resurgent German people. exclusively at Bayreuth so it would not △ BAYREUTH FESTIVAL, 1892
Bavaria (see box, opposite). A star- He resumed composition of the Ring degenerate into an “entertainment.” Held annually since 1876, and with initial
struck admirer of the composer, cycle, abandoned since the 1850s, His apparent embrace of a mystical funding by Ludwig II, the festival and its
theater (built 1871–1876) are devoted to
Ludwig cleared Wagner’s debts and finishing the third opera, Siegfried, Christianity alienated some of his the showcasing of Wagner’s stage works.
gave him a lavish annual income. At in 1871 and the final work in the previous admirers, including the This late-19th-century painting is entitled
the same time, the composer’s more sequence, Götterdämmerung, in 1874. philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The Arrival of the Guests.
intimate needs were met by Cosima With Ludwig II’s backing, he built Other critics have viewed the opera
von Bülow, Liszt’s daughter and the a theater at Bayreuth in northern as an expression of Wagner’s racial
wife of Hans von Bülow, a conductor Bavaria to stage his masterpiece. theories and anti-Semitism.
who premiered several Wagner The first complete performance Wagner’s habits of a lifetime never
operas. She became Wagner’s of the Ring cycle in 1876 was a changed. He still ran into debt and he
mistress and had three children major cultural event with a celebrity was unfaithful to his wife. It was after
before she obtained a divorce and audience. The cycle has maintained its a marital fight that he died of a heart
married him in 1870 (Wagner’s first fascination ever since, its symbolism attack in Venice in 1883. His body was
wife died in 1866). Wagner wrote attracting diverse interpretations brought back to Bayreuth for burial.
his Siegfried Idyll for Cosima’s first ranging from Marxist anti-capitalism Cosima Wagner became the self-
birthday as his spouse and after to Freudian psychodrama. appointed guardian of the purity of
the birth of their son Siegfried. performances of Wagner’s operas at
Wagner rode the wave of assertive Later years the annual Bayreuth Festival, a role
German nationalism that came with Wagner lived for the rest of his life she maintained into the 20th century.
the creation of the German Empire, at Wahnfried, the villa he had built by
under Prussian rule, between 1866 the Bayreuth theater. His final creative
▷ RICHARD AND COSIMA WAGNER
and 1871. His comic opera Die project was Parsifal, an operatic
Cosima (shown here c. 1875), illegitimate
Meistersinger von Nürnberg was a version of the legend of the Holy Grail, daughter of Liszt, divorced the conductor
triumph from its first performance in completed in 1882. He regarded it Hans von BÜlow to marry Wagner, who
1868, hailed as representing the true as a sacred work, to be performed was not faithful to her.

“ The most terrible thing of all is happy

love, for then there is fear in everything. ”
COSIMA WAGNER
138 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Giuseppe Verdi
1813–1901, ITALIAN
Verdi wrote operas in a popular style that blended high drama and emotion
with memorable melodies. He was celebrated as a cultural hero by his
Italian contemporaries engaged in a struggle for independent nationhood.

The son of an innkeeper, Giuseppe was well received. Accordingly he was The high point of Nabucco for
Verdi was born in 1813 in the village of commissioned to write three more Milanese audiences was the chorus
Le Roncole, near Busseto, in northern operas; the first, Un giorno di regno, “Va, pensiero,” a stirring lament for the
Italy. He picked up the basics of music was a complete flop, pulled after a conquered and enslaved Hebrews. It
from the organist at the village church. single performance. Verdi vowed was adopted as a patriotic anthem by △ MARGHERITA BAREZZI
When he was sent away to school in never to compose another opera, but Italians resentful of the rule exercised This portrait by Augusto Mussini
Busseto at the age of 10, his musical the La Scala management pressed by the Austrian Hapsburgs over depicts Verdi’s first wife, Margherita.
The couple met when Verdi lodged
talent attracted the attention of a upon him a Bible-based libretto northern Italy. Verdi’s next opera, in the house of her father, Antonio,
wealthy local businessman and by Temistocle Solera, relating the I Lombardi, staged in Milan in 1843 a wine merchant and music-lover
amateur musician, Antonio Barezzi, conquest and exile of the Jews by to a similarly enthusiastic reception, who became Verdi’s patron.
who became Verdi’s patron. the king of Babylon. First staged in also had nationalist overtones and,
1842, Nabucco was a sensational like its predecessors, slipped past
The Barezzi family hit, running for 57 performances. the Austrian censors.
When Verdi was 18, Barezzi sent
him to Milan to study music at the
Conservatory, but his untutored skills IN CONTEXT
were inadequate to gain admission. The Risorgimento
Instead he took private lessons, The 19th-century movement called
funded by Barezzi, while learning the Risorgimento (“resurgence”)
about musical drama by attending turned Italy into a united nation state.
performances at Milan’s La Scala In 1815, the Italian peninsula was
politically fragmented, with different
opera house. After two years in Milan, areas ruled by Austria, the pope, and
Verdi returned to Busseto to take up various monarchs. Popular uprisings
the post of director of municipal music in 1848–1849 seeking to create an
and marry his patron’s daughter, Italian republic failed. After a series of
wars, including the invasion of Sicily
Margherita Barezzi. The couple had and the south by the followers of
two children, both of whom died in Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860–1861, the
infancy and were followed to the grave whole of Italy was united in 1870
by their 26-year-old mother in 1840. under King Victor Emmanuel II. As
Italy’s leading composer, Verdi acted
Through this time of personal as a focus for nationalist sentiment
tragedy, Verdi was founding his career throughout the Risorgimento.
as a composer. Using the contacts
he had made in Milan, in 1839 he GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI IS WELCOMED IN
succeeded in having his first opera, VICENZA ON MARCH 7, 1867
Oberto, staged at La Scala, where it

“ I am the least erudite among

▷ GIUSEPPE VERDI, 1886
Verdi commissioned this lively painting
of himself from the fashionable Italian

past and present composers. ” portraitist Giovanni Boldini. The composer

introduced the artist to the milieu of
opera, where he gained a substantial
GIUSEPPE VERDI number of lucrative commissions.
140 LATE 19TH CENTURY

“ In the theater the public will stand

for anything but boredom. ”
GIUSEPPE VERDI, LETTER, 1869

Although Verdi was sympathetic to on the bel canto (literally, “beautiful

IN PROFILE the Italian nationalist cause, he took singing”) tradition of his Italian
Giuseppina Strepponi no part in political plots. After the predecessors Rossini, Bellini, and
success of Ernani, based on a play by Donizetti, but with greater dramatic
Born in 1815, singer Giuseppina Victor Hugo, his growing international power and an element of social and
Strepponi was the daughter of a
reputation led him to spend long political provocation. Rigoletto ran into
cathedral organist. After studying at
the Milan Conservatory, she made her periods abroad and when Italy erupted trouble with the censors because it
stage debut as a soprano in 1834 and in revolution in 1848, he was in Paris depicted a dissolute and wicked ruler,
was soon an international celebrity, enjoying a love affair with the soprano implicitly questioning monarchical
singing lead roles in operas by
Giuseppina Strepponi. authority. La traviata, based on
Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti. She
performed in most of Verdi’s early Verdi did, however, respond to a Alexandre Dumas’ recent novel La △ LA TRAVIATA SCORE, 1853
operas, including Nabucco, before her request for an opera from embattled Dame aux Camélias, was considered In Verdi’s opera about passion and loss,
voice gave way under the strain of an Italian Republicans in Rome. The shocking for its sympathy with a fallen Violetta is forced to give up her lover,
excessive performance schedule. Alfredo, by his father. The work was only
result was La battaglia di Legnano; woman “living in sin” with her lover. successful after Verdi revised it in 1854.
After her retirement, she became
Verdi’s lover in Paris in 1847. Married Verdi visited Rome for its staging The theme of La traviata was of direct
in 1859, they remained together in January 1849. Its clear message relevance to the composer himself,
happily until her death in 1897. of Italian resistance to foreign who was sharing his life, unmarried, Italy’s adoption of Verdi as a hero
oppression was rapturously received, with Strepponi. In 1851, in accordance of the Risorgimento (see box, p.138)
but the subsequent collapse of with his image of himself as a simple gathered momentum as the unification
the Roman Republic temporarily man of the people, he returned to his of the country progressed. In 1859,
dampened enthusiasm for revolution. native countryside, where he began nationalists adopted the slogan “Viva
occupying a villa that he had built Verdi” as shorthand for “Viva Vittorio
Art meets life at Sant’Agata, just outside Busseto. Emanuele Re d’Italia” (“Long Live
Verdi’s drive to fulfill the insatiable The local people perceived Verdi’s Victor Emmanuel King of Italy”).
demand for his musical dramas in any cohabitation with Strepponi as sinful.
case left little time for political activity. Utterly irreligious, he made plain his Fame and fortune
He took a thoroughly businesslike absolute contempt for their narrow- After the declaration of the Kingdom
attitude to composition, seeking to mindedness and when the municipality of Italy in 1861, Verdi was persuaded
maximize his earnings. Down-to-earth sought to profit from his celebrity by to accept election to parliament,
and unintellectual, he accepted that creating a theater named for him, though he rarely attended. He adopted
his job was to provide entertainment Verdi refused to even step inside the the lifestyle of a country landowner,
for audiences that appreciated building. However, he did eventually writing operas at a less frantic pace.
melodrama and strong emotion marry Strepponi in 1859. Works such as Un ballo in maschera
STREPPONI WITH THE MUSIC SCORE OF rather than subtlety. By 1850, he had
NABUCCO, ANONYMOUS ARTIST completed 15 operas, complaining that
he had to work “like a galley slave.”
In the early 1850s, Verdi wrote three
masterpieces that have stood the test
of time: Rigoletto, La traviata, and Il
trovatore. These were works that built

▷ VERDI THEATER, BUSSETO

The theater named after Verdi was
inaugurated on August 15, 1868, with
performances of Un ballo in maschera and
Rigoletto. Verdi himself refused to attend.
(1859) and La forza del destino (1862) the conductor Hans von Bülow as “an earlier operas, they are regarded by △ AIDA, 2011
showed a turn toward large-scale opera in ecclesiastical robes.” He also many critics as his finest creations. Verdi’s Aida—a story of conflict, love,
spectacle that reached its climax with revamped older works and tinkered After the death of his wife in 1897, and betrayal in Ancient Egypt—involves
a love triangle between Aida, an enslaved
Aida. This work was commissioned by with plans, unfulfilled, for an operatic Verdi divided his time between Ethiopian princess; Radamès, a warrior;
Khedive Ismail, ruler of Egypt, who version of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Sant’Agata and a luxury suite at a and Amneris, an Egyptian princess. It
had built the Khedivial Opera House in hotel in Milan. It was while staying has become one of the most famous
Cairo to celebrate the opening of the Shakespearean opera in Milan that he died of a stroke in and widely performed of all operas.
The production shown here was directed
Suez Canal in 1869. First performed It was finally a libretto for an opera January 1901. He was first buried by Charles Roubaud and staged in
in the Khedivial Opera House in 1871, based on Othello, written by poet in the city’s Cimitero Monumentale Orange, France, in 2011.
Aida ensured its enduring popularity Arrigo Boito, that drew Verdi out of and then moved, a month later, to lie
through the sumptuous exploitation retirement. Otello was followed by alongside Giuseppina in the Casa di
of its exotic Ancient Egyptian setting. Falstaff, another Shakespeare-inspired Riposo, a charitable home for aging
Verdi did not compose a new opera opera, in 1893. These works showed musicians that he had funded. Both
for another 16 years. In 1874, he wrote Verdi’s undimmed creative vitality burials drew vast crowds, paying
his Requiem Mass for poet Alessandro and taste for innovation. Less tribute to a man who had become
Manzoni, which was described by straightforwardly tuneful than his a symbol of Italian national identity.

KEY WORKS

1842 1851 1853 1871 1874 1893

Verdi’s third Rigoletto, the Il trovatore and Verdi’s Aida, a The Requiem, The comedy
opera, Nabucco, first of Verdi’s La traviata—two spectacular opera Verdi’s only major Falstaff, Verdi’s
is a popular middle-period of Verdi’s most set in the Egypt of nonoperatic work, last opera, is
success when operas, premieres famous operas— the pharaohs, is performed in staged at La
performed at La at La Fenice in appear in the premieres in Milan Cathedral. Scala in Milan.
Scala in Milan. Venice. same year. Cairo.
 CLARA SCHUMANN 143

Clara Schumann
1819–1896, GERMAN
A leading 19th-century piano virtuoso, Clara Schumann was also a gifted
IN CONTEXT
composer. Her creative output, although impressive, was restricted by Revolution in Europe
the expectations of a woman’s role in a male-dominated society. The Schumann family lived through
a period of great political turmoil. The
upheavals of the French Revolution in
Clara Wieck was born in Leipzig in were a popular and critical triumph. concerns of the household fell on her. 1789 and the Industrial Revolution
in Europe and the US (1760–c. 1840)
1819. Her mother was a singer and Praised for the sensitive musicality of When the family was caught up in a gave rise, in 1848–1849, to a series
her father a music teacher. In 1824, her playing, in contrast to the showy violent revolt in Dresden in 1849 (see of revolts across Europe sparked by
when Clara was five, her parents technical virtuosity then in vogue, she box, right), it was Clara—pregnant as mass social and economic discontent,
divorced, after which she was brought was the first pianist to regularly usual—who braved gunfire to rescue and targeted at monarchical rule.
Revolutionary action began in Sicily
up by her father. Recognizing her perform from memory. three of the children, who had been and extended to France, Germany,
natural musical talent, he subjected left in the care of a maid. Italy, and the Austrian Empire. The
his young daughter to a rigorous Subordination and control Clara’s creative drive was above all 1848 uprising in France was the only
routine of lessons and practice. Clara met her future husband, Robert undermined by a sense of isolation in one to succeed and led to the downfall
of the monarchy. The uprising in
Clara became a child prodigy, Schumann (see pp.122–125), nine a male-dominated sphere. “A woman Dresden in May 1849 that Clara
embarking on her first concert tour as years her senior, in 1828 when she must not desire to compose,” she Schumann and her family became
a solo pianist at the age of 11. She also was still a child. After they fell in love wrote, “there has never yet been one embroiled in was one of the last
composed, publishing her first short in 1835, Clara’s controlling father did able to do it. Should I expect to be the insurrectionary events of 1848–1849.
piano pieces in 1831 and performing his best to block the relationship. The one?” Her last significant composition,
her own Piano Concerto with the couple finally married in 1840 after a the Three Romances for Violin and
Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra at the court ruled that her father’s permission Piano, was written in 1853. She was
age of 16. Her solo piano concerts in was not required. Clara’s marriage then engulfed in the tragic events of
Vienna in the winter of 1837–1838 was loving. Her concert performances her husband’s decline into insanity,
continued, and were the family’s chief which she endured with the support
source of income. Despite bearing of young composer Johannes Brahms.
◁ CLARA SCHUMANN eight children in 13 years, she found
Despite her exceptional talent as both a time to compose works such as her Late performances
pianist and composer, Clara put her own
substantial Piano Trio of 1846. But After Robert’s death in 1856, Clara
creative desires and ambitions to one
side in order to ensure the success and her husband’s creative ambitions threw herself into concert tours, often
well-being of her family and her husband. took precedence, and the practical performing with the violinist Joseph
Joachim (see p.158), but she no longer
composed. Clara is said to have
given at least 1,300 performances
before declining health curtailed her
appearances from the mid-1870s.
She outlived four of her children, her
son Ludwig dying in an insane asylum
like his father. Deaf and wheelchair- POPULAR UPRISING IN DRESDEN’S
bound, she died in 1896 and was ALTMARKT, MAY 1849
buried alongside her husband in Bonn.

◁ HANDWRITTEN SCORE
This handwritten score by Clara
Schumann dates back to 1853. It
is entitled Variations for Pianoforte
on a Theme by Robert Schumann.
144

▷ CESAR FRANCK, 1885

Franck combined his conventional
approach toward composition with a
flair for improvisation and a readiness
to explore new ideas. The composer
is shown in this portrait by Jeanne
Rongier at his organ, at the peak of his
career, aged 63, just five years before he
died. There is some speculation about the
cause of his death, but it is widely thought
to have been from a respiratory infection.

César Franck
1822–1890, BELGIAN
Franck was a skilled public performer in his youth, but his immense
talent for composition only truly blossomed in his final years. He went
on to become an influential organist, composer, and teacher.
 CESAR FRANCK 145

◁ CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

This painting (c. 1885–1890) by Jules- IN PROFILE
Alexandre Grün shows Franck leaning
on the piano (far right), listening to a Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
performance by the artist’s future wife,
Juliette Toutain, and two other musicians. Franck’s contribution to the revival
of organ music owed much to Aristide
Cavaillé-Coll (1811–1899), the
greatest organ builder of his age,
pursued a fresh course—the organ, whose instrument Franck had at
rather than the piano, became his his disposal at St. Clotilde in Paris.
Cavaillé-Coll pioneered a range
principal instrument, as he sought the of mechanical innovations. He
security of a church organist’s post. specialized in making “symphonic
organs,” which could mimic the sound
Interest and acclaim of other instruments, such as the
bassoon, the oboe, and the cor
Success followed rapidly as Franck anglais. He introduced divided
became first the choirmaster (1853) windchests and made refinements to
Born in Liège in 1822, César Auguste composition, a biblical oratorio on and then the organist (1858) at the the swell box and pedal systems, all
Franck spent most of his career in Ruth, was greeted unenthusiastically Basilica of St. Clotilde in Paris. This of which helped the organ player
produce an important new feature—a
France, although his family background at its premiere in January 1846. was extremely timely, as he was able completely seamless crescendo from
was part ly German. His father had a Family tensions increased further to “christen” the church’s brand new pianissimo to fortissimo.
disappointing job as a bank clerk, when he fell in love with Félicité Saillot Cavaillé-Coll organ (see box, right).
sometimes unemployed, and Desmousseaux, the daughter of two Franck soon became a virtuoso on this
transferred all his ambitions onto actors. His father opposed the match, incredible instrument. Congregations
his children. So, when Franck and his but the couple married during the would linger after the service to listen
younger brother showed early musical Paris riots of 1848. Guests clambered to his improvisations. The organ
promise, they were swiftly enrolled over barricades to reach the church: company was so impressed by his
at the Liège Conservatoire. By 1835, an omen, perhaps, of a marriage that skills that it hired him as an artistic
Franck had made sufficient progress was to have its stormy moments. consultant, which meant he could give
to perform at public concerts in But, finally freed from the tyrannical recitals on other Cavaillé-Coll organs.
Brussels and Aachen, and the entire interference of his father, Franck Franck was also a notable teacher,
family moved to Paris to help becoming professor of organ at the
promote the youngster’s career. Paris Conservatoire in 1871, where he
also informally taught composition to
In search of recognition a group of faithful students known as
Critics have questioned the wisdom the bande à Franck. His jobs left him
of this push for success. Always a little time for his own composition, and
quiet lad, Franck was denied part of it was only after retirement that he CAVAILLE-COLL ORGAN, ST. SULPICE
his childhood, and the pressure may saw the celebrity status his father had CHURCH, PARIS
have affected the development of his hoped for. The Six Pièces (1859–1862)
natural talent. He entered the Paris is probably his finest organ work,
Conservatoire in 1837, where he won while the Variations Symphoniques
a number of awards, but the big prize, (1885) and the Violin Sonata (1886) are
the Prix de Rome, eluded him. generally seen as his masterpieces.
Furthermore, Franck’s earliest
compositions met with little acclaim.
His initial work, a set of trios for piano, ◁ EUGENE YSAŸE
Franck’s masterful Violin Sonata
violin, and cello (Op. 1), was published
was written as a wedding gift for
after winning the support of Chopin the Belgian violinist, conductor, and
and Liszt, but his first large-scale composer Eugène Ysaÿe (1858–1931).

“ It was said of Franck that the discovery

of a single new chord was sufficient to
make him happy for a whole day. ”
NORMAN DEMUTH, ENGLISH COMPOSER AND MUSICOLOGIST, 1951
146 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Bedřich Smetana IN CONTEXT

Nineteenth-century
nationalism
1824–1884, CZECH Smetana supported the National
Revival movement that promoted
Smetana sounded a rallying call for Czech independence with Czech identity through language
and art. Its adherents opposed
a series of enchanting operas and his set of symphonic poems the Germanization that had taken
place under the Hapsburgs and
Má vlast, enduring symbols of national pride. Franz Josef I, the Austrian emperor
and overlord of eastern European
principalities and dukedoms. He was
also the German-speaking king of
Bedřich Smetana was born in Despite developing a ◁ DALIBOR Bohemia, center of Czech culture
Litomyšl, Bohemia, on March 2, 1824. successful career as Smetana’s opera since medieval times but a vassal
Dalibor, the title page state since the Hapsburg victory at
His father made a good living as a a pianist and composer, the Battle of White Mountain in 1620.
of which is seen here,
master brewer and played violin Smetana felt vastly was first staged at the King of Jerusalem, grand vaivode of
in his free time. Musically gifted, underappreciated in New Town Theater in the Voivodeship of Serbia, and ruler
young Bedřich took violin lessons Prague, and in 1856 left Prague, in 1868. of more than 40 other cities or
countries—Franz Josef’s diverse
and excelled as a pianist, giving for Gothenburg, Sweden. titles and roles indicate why the move
his first concert at the age of six. to preserve national identity was so
Smetana attended several schools, Return to Prague However, numerous pervasive in Europe at this time.
including one in Bohemia’s capital, The Czech National conservative critics
Prague. In 1843, he continued his Revival (see box, right) disapproved of
musical training with the blind pianist persuaded Smetana, who Smetana’s Wagner-
and composer Josef Proksch, and had remarried after his wife’s death, influenced style and tried to subvert
scraped a living as piano tutor to the to return home in 1862. He became his position. He resisted the campaign
five children of Count Leopold Thun. conductor of Prague’s new Provisional for his dismissal, but was forced to
The brief Prague Revolution that Theater—founded as a home for resign in 1874 after suffering from
took place in June 1848, in which the Czech opera—in 1866, and worked to the onset of syphilis. That fall he
city’s residents rose up unsuccessfully develop its repertoire of Czech operas. became totally deaf.
against Bohemia’s Hapsburg rulers, Having been brought up speaking Over the next few years, Smetana
shaped Smetana’s awareness of German, he now learned the Czech worked on six symphonic poems
Bohemian nationalism. He wrote language, and set it with great intended to embody the spirit of
several patriotic works in response, eloquence in his mature operas. Over Czech nationalism. The cycle, Má vlast
including “Song of Freedom.” That the next 20 years, he completed eight (My Homeland), first performed in
same year, he opened a Piano Institute magnificent works based on national 1882, became an emblem of Czech
in Prague, and in 1849 he married the legend or comic tales, The Bartered resurgence. Professional success
pianist Kateřina Kolářová, whom he Bride (1866), Dalibor (1867), and The countered the composer’s depression
had known since his school days. Kiss (1876) among them. and distracted him from great physical
pain. Smetana’s String Quartet No. 2
in D minor (1882–1883) may reflect his
disturbed state of mind; certainly his
physical and mental decline caused
him to suffer immensely, provoking
hallucinations and paranoia. He was AUSTRIAN EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEF I
admitted to Prague’s asylum for the IN UNIFORM
insane where he died on May 12, 1884.

◁ LITOMYSL CASTLE ▷ BEDRICH SMETANA

This 16th-century Renaissance arcaded Smetana, seen here in a painting by Per
castle was Smetana’s birthplace. Until Sodermark, studied with the Hungarian
1831, his family lived in a ground-floor composer Franz Liszt, whose works
apartment in the castle brewery, where inspired and energized him. He visited
his father was brewer to Count Waldstein. Liszt several times in Weimar, Germany.
148

▷ ANTON BRUCKNER, 1885

The imposing yet stark portrait of Anton
Bruckner by German painter Hermann
von Kaulbach shows the composer in
profile at the age of 61. At this stage in
his career—the year after the triumphant
premiere of his Seventh Symphony—
Bruckner was enjoying notable success.
In 1886, Franz Joseph I of Austria
awarded him the Order of Franz Joseph.

Anton Bruckner
1824–1896, AUSTRIAN
Deeply religious, and during his life known mainly as a church composer
and organist, Bruckner was the creator of nine large-scale symphonies,
a cycle today seen as one of the pinnacles of 19th-century music.
 ANTON BRUCKNER 149

“ They want me to write differently … I could, IN PROFILE

but I must not. God has … given me this Study with Sechter

talent. It is to Him that I must give account.”

Although a fluent composer in his
young adult years, Bruckner became
convinced that he still had much to
learn about musical technique. In
ANTON BRUCKNER 1855, he began a correspondence
course in counterpoint with Simon
Sechter (1788–1867), a Vienna-based
tutor. The course ended in 1861, with
Anton Bruckner was born in the small and extensive cloisters and living principal organist, and developing his Sechter awarding his pupil a glowing
Upper Austrian village of Ansfelden, quarters. For Bruckner, a devout phenomenal skill as an improviser on testimonial; and Sechter was among
near the city of Linz. His father was the Roman Catholic from his earliest the instrument. the judges when Bruckner applied
for a teaching diploma from Vienna
village schoolmaster and a part-time years, St. Florian represented Conservatory—he passed with
musician and organist; his mother spiritual and musical paradise. From Linz to Vienna flying colors. Another panel member,
had sung in the village church choir. His fine treble voice enabled him In 1855, the organist of Linz’s Old the conductor Joseph Herbeck,
He was the oldest of 11 children, to become a chorister there, and he Cathedral died. Diffident and self- commented: “He should have
examined us! If I knew one tenth of
several of whom died in infancy. studied the violin besides the organ. effacing as ever, Bruckner had to be what he knows, I’d be happy.”
When the time came to leave, he persuaded to turn up at an audition for
Early years in rural Austria decided to become a teacher like his the post, and was absorbed in prayer
Bruckner’s father, a good-natured father, and did a year’s training in Linz. until the organ-tuner suggested
man, encouraged his son’s musical His first position was as assistant he try for the job. Bruckner’s mighty
talent: aged only 10, young “Tonerl” schoolmaster in the tiny village of improvisation amazed everyone
would deputize for him as organist Windhaag, where additional chores present, and the position was his.
at the church. There were early signs, included spreading manure in the By this time, he was an experienced
too, of Bruckner’s obsessive streak: fields of his unlikeable superior’s farm church composer of psalm settings,
he was capable of practicing the organ holding. The prior of St. Florian found hymns, choral motets, and a complete
for 12 hours at a stretch. The defining him a happier post in the village of Requiem Mass, mostly written for St.
event in his early life was when his Kronstorf (where Bruckner wrote Florian. Although accomplished, these
parents first took him to the nearby some early choral works), then in works conform to conservative local
Augustinian monastery of St. Florian, 1845 at St. Florian itself as assistant church-music tradition, and show
with its large and ornately decorated teacher. Bruckner stayed there for the little sign of the strikingly individual
Baroque church, impressive organ, next ten years, rising to the position of mastery that was to come.

LITHOGRAPH OF SIMON SECHTER,

AGED 52, 1840

◁ ORGAN AT ST. FLORIAN CHURCH

As a young man in his early twenties,
Bruckner was the principal organist
at the glorious Baroque church of St.
Florian in Upper Austria. He played
this magnificent organ, which has been
known as the Bruckner Organ since the
1930s. The composer’s body is interred
in a tomb below it.
150 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Musical life in Linz was much more

ON TECHNIQUE wide-ranging than at St. Florian,
Melody and harmony and Bruckner now found himself
encountering the concert-hall works
The great purity of the interweaving of Beethoven and the other Classical
melodic lines in the music of the
masters. Deeply impressed and
Renaissance composer Palestrina
was a quality greatly admired by intimidated by Beethoven’s music in
Bruckner. In his Mass in E minor, particular, he enrolled in a musical
commissioned for the inauguration correspondence course run by Simon
of the Votive Chapel of the New
Cathedral in Linz (which remained
Sechter in Vienna (see box, p.149),
unfinished until 1924), the music and worked on its various technical
recalls Palestrina’s spiritual exercises so obsessively that Sechter
polyphony. Yet Bruckner was also warned him to slow down or risk
influenced by the radical harmony
of Wagner—tense, chromatic,
mental problems. Two years after
exploratory, ambiguous, unstable, completing the course, Bruckner heard
complex—which pushed the limits of Wagner’s music for the first time: a
convention. Bruckner found a way performance of Tannhäuser triggered a with the world around him in the style △ SKETCH FOR SYMPHONY NO. 9
of drawing both elements together The last years of Bruckner’s life were
in a style that was entirely his own.
near-idolatrous admiration of the older of an Austrian countryman, retaining
composer and a search to find a way his rural accent and dialect. His desire largely given over to the composition
of his Ninth Symphony, which was
of responding to Wagner’s advanced to marry led him to propose to a unfinished at the time of his death.
harmonic language within Bruckner’s sequence of teenage girls—thanks to
own style. The result, in 1864, was a simple conviction that for marriage
what he regarded as his first “official” to be worthy in the eyes of God, his for example at Paris’s Notre-Dame
▽ BRUCKNER’S HOUSE, BELVEDERE piece, a choral and orchestral Mass in prospective bride should be a virgin, in 1869 and at London’s Royal Albert
The year before Bruckner’s death, the D minor, to be followed by two more in as he himself was. He would be told, Hall two years later, quickly passed
emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph, granted E minor and F minor. often kindly: “But Herr Bruckner, you into legend.
the aging musician rooms in the
Bruckner’s eccentric streak had not are too old!” These rebuffs, although Bruckner was gradually developing
caretaker’s wing of the historic building
complex of Belvedere, Vienna, so that he been modified by years of professional always accepted, made him unhappy; into one of the greatest symphonists
did not have to climb stairs. life in Linz. He continued to engage one of them, combined with overwork, that classical music had ever known;
led in 1867 to a four-month nervous his work introduced new aspects of
collapse. (Sechter’s warning had depth, originality, grandeur, and
been remarkably perceptive.) audaciousness into the symphonic
form. His official First Symphony had
Mastery and misconception been completed in Linz in 1866. (A
When Sechter died in 1867, Bruckner successor, dating from 1869 but then
was asked to apply to replace him as a rejected by him, has—bizarrely—been
professor at the Vienna Conservatory. given the posthumous designation
After chronic indecision, he finally No. 0.) The work was subsequently
accepted the post, and gained a and repeatedly revised, like most of
reputation as a fine teacher whose the great cycle to come—a process
brand of unpretentious eccentricity partly of self-criticism, but also often
was understood and (once they were of Bruckner’s taking on board advice
used to it) generally liked by his pupils. from other musicians, advice that
Bruckner then began to appear was usually well-meaning but often
more widely as an organist: the completely misguided. There was a
magnificence of his improvisations, perception that he was a Wagnerian

KEY WORKS

1851 1863 1865 1872 1884 1886 1894

Receives his first A first encounter with Travels to Munich A performance of Arthur Nikisch Played by the Vienna Completes the Adagio
major musical Wagner’s music, at for the premiere of the Mass in F minor conducts the Philharmonic under third movement of his
appointment, as a performance of Wagner’s Tristan is Bruckner’s first triumphant premiere Hans Richter, the Ninth Symphony.
principal organist Tannhäuser in Linz, und Isolde, meeting Viennese success, of Bruckner’s Seventh Seventh Symphony is
at St. Florian, where radically influences the composer for the impressing Brahms Symphony in Leipzig. again a great success,
he had been a boy Bruckner’s first time. and Liszt, among although some press
chorister. conservative idiom. many others. reviews are vitriolic.
 ANTON BRUCKNER 151

symphonist, with little appreciation

of the engaging spirit of Austrian
country dance that he adopted in his
work. There was also insufficient
understanding of the fact that
Bruckner’s immense, powerful
orchestral climaxes related more to
the layered sonorities of the organ
than to Wagner’s sophisticated
blending. Today, later Wagnerian-
influenced “revisions” of the
symphonies by others are rightly
regarded as spurious.

Legacy and reputation

In speaking of this great originality
and the unorthodox nature of
Bruckner’s work, musicologist Deryck
Cooke, writing in 1980, suggests that,
initially, his “processes seemed so
strange and unprecedented that they
were taken as evidence of sheer
incompetence … [but now] it is
recognized that … Bruckner created
a new and monumental type of
symphonic organism …,” producing
something profoundly different in
music, “something elemental and
metaphysical.”
Although Bruckner’s music was
sometimes dismissed and ridiculed,
it did have wonderful moments of
success in his lifetime. His Fourth and
Seventh Symphonies, his most lyrical
in style, were much acclaimed, and
now feature regularly in performances
across the world. Much less often
played are the monumental, more
austere Fifth and often very beautiful
Sixth. With their huge structures
and exploratory, pre-Modernist
harmony, the Eighth and unfinished
Ninth Symphonies remain major
undertakings. But while the style
and scale of a Bruckner symphony
is not to every concert-goer’s taste,
the stature of his achievement is
today regarded as unassailable.

△ BRUCKNER AT HIS PIANO, c. 1894

The great composer sits beside his

“ The absolute victory of

grand piano in his workroom in Vienna,
a crucifix on the sideboard to the left.
He is pictured here, a frail old man

light over darkness. ” aged 70, shortly before his death.

HUGO WOLF, COMPOSER, ON A PERFORMANCE OF

BRUCKNER’S EIGHTH SYMPHONY, 1892
 JOHANN STRAUSS II 153

Johann Strauss II
1825–1899, AUSTRIAN
Praised by Wagner and admired by Berlioz and Brahms, Strauss
attracted a significant cult following, earning worldwide fame
as Vienna’s “Waltz King.”

Johann Strauss was born in 1825 and quadrilles. His long collaboration In his dances, the
in Ulrich, near Vienna, several years with Vienna Men’s Choral Association commercially astute
before his father (also named Johann), produced such immortal waltzes as composer celebrated
a prominent dance musician, launched The Blue Danube (1867) and Wine, events such as the
his own orchestra. The young Johann Women, and Song! (1869). opening of buildings,
spent much of his childhood at the royal occasions, the
magnificent Sperl ballroom—made Worldwide fame launch of technologies,
famous by the Congress of Vienna Strauss and his orchestra were in and international
(see box, below)—or listening to his great demand overseas and toured exhibitions. Many of his finest pieces △ THE BLUE DANUBE, COVER
father’s band rehearse at home. regularly between 1856 and 1886. (including the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Strauss’s famous waltz was first
Johann’s father wanted his oldest A trip to the US in 1872 secured the Egyptian March, and, with his performed in Vienna in 1867 as
a choral work, but drew far greater
boy to train for a career in banking; his Strauss’s international fame, and brother Josef, the Pizzicato-Polka) acclaim when an orchestral version
mother, however, secretly arranged a significant fortune. were written for the summer seasons premiered in Paris later the same year.
for him to study violin with the leader In addition to writing dance music, that he conducted from 1856 to 1865
of her husband’s orchestra. He also Strauss composed 16 operettas, at the Vauxhall Pavilion at Pavlovsk.
received composition lessons from The Gypsy Baron and Die Fledermaus From 1887, Strauss’s third wife
the future choirmaster of Vienna’s outstanding among them. Although rekindled the composer’s creative fire
St. Stephen’s Cathedral. the latter’s “Champagne Song” drew after his divorce from actress Angelika
criticism after the collapse of Vienna’s Dittrich. In the decade before his
Launching a career stock market, its hugely uplifting party death in 1899, works such as A Night
In 1834, Strauss abandoned spirit and rousing beat guaranteed the in Venice and the Emperor Waltz were
commercial studies at the Polytechnic work’s lasting appeal. added to his list of enduring hits.
Institute in Vienna and applied for
permission to give public concerts.
He launched his career with a ball IN CONTEXT
at Dommayer’s Casino in October The Congress of Vienna
1844, performing several of his own The economic shock of the Napoleonic
works, including the Gunstwerber Wars (1805–1813) and the repressive
waltz and Herzenslust polka. measures imposed to unify Europe
Following his father’s death in 1849, after the Battle of Waterloo (1815)
cast a shadow over the 19th century.
Strauss dominated Vienna’s dance From November 1814 to June 1815,
scene. He amalgamated his father’s Vienna—the seat of the Hapsburg
orchestra with his own, attracting dynasty—hosted a conference of
a cult following as a composer of major European powers. Away from
the negotiating table, delegates at the
brilliant waltzes, polkas, marches, Congress of Vienna displayed their
wealth at a series of parties and balls.
Reports of dancing aristocrats and of
court ladies wrapped in silver cloth
and covered in diamonds fueled a
◁ AN EVENING WITH STRAUSS, 1894 dance craze among the imperial city’s
Franz von Bayros’s work shows Strauss rapidly expanding middle class.
at his piano, flanked by his third wife,
Adele (left), Brahms (right), and other
high-society friends. Bayros married EXTRAVAGANT BALL HELD DURING THE
Strauss’s stepdaughter, Alice, two CONGRESS OF VIENNA, c. 1815
years after painting this work.
154

▷ ALEXANDER BORODIN
Borodin worked on his magnum opus,
the opera Prince Igor—a forceful depiction
of medieval Russia—for almost 18 years.
However, he wrote music only as a hobby:
he was a chemist by training and is said
to have been one of the first scientists
to link high cholesterol to heart disease.

Alexander Borodin
1833–1887, RUSSIAN
A chemist by profession, Borodin rose to fame as one of The Five, a group
of composers eager to establish a uniquely Russian school of music. He
is most famous for his String Quartet No. 2 and his opera Prince Igor.
 ALEXANDER BORODIN 155

The illegitimate son of an aging

Armenian prince, Luka Gedianov, and IN CONTEXT
his mistress, Alexander Borodin was Russian serfdom
born in 1883 and baptized as the son
of one of his father’s serfs. Prince Russia’s peasants had been exploited
for centuries before a system of full
Gedianov stood by the boy and his
serfdom was adopted in the 1600s—
mother, Avdotya Antonova: he lived according to which, landowners took
with them in St. Petersburg during control of those who worked their
Alexander’s childhood. In 1839, he land. Rules were often breached,
but serfs could not be bought or
arranged for Avdotya to marry a
sold independent of the land. They
medic; and, just before his death, freed were bonded to their owners for life
his son from serfdom (see box, right). in return for tenancy of small plots
Alexander’s home education of land. The system delivered social
stability, economic stagnation, and
included flute lessons but his musical
appalling injustice. All Russian serfs
interests expanded after Mikhail were finally emancipated in 1861,
Shchiglev joined the household as following an edict issued by Czar
a boarder: Borodin taught himself Alexander II, which led to a rapid
improvement in the Russian economy.
to play the cello, Shchiglev the violin.

Science and music ABOLITION OF SERFDOM IN RUSSIA,

ALFONS MARIA MUCHA, 1914
In 1849, Borodin published three salon
pieces, and the following year he
entered St. Petersburg’s prestigious for tuberculosis. She introduced him critic Vladimir Stasov based on the
Medical-Surgical Academy to pursue to music by Chopin, Schumann, and 12th-century “Song of the Host of
his passion for chemistry. Despite his other Romantic composers. Back in Igor.” He worked on Prince Igor for the
chemistry professor’s disapproval, he St. Petersburg in 1862, Borodin taught rest of his life, but also found time to
continued to compose and perform at the Medical-Surgical Academy, compose a Second Symphony in B
while working for his PhD, which was succeeding his mentor Nikolay Zinin minor, sketches for a third in A minor,
awarded in 1858 for a dissertation, as professor of chemistry. He also and works such as In Central Asia and
entitled “On the Analogy of Arsenic joined a group of musicians known the final act of the opera-ballet Mlada.
Acid with Phosphoric Acid in Chemical as The Five or the Mighty Handful.
and Toxicological Behavior.” Borodin soon began writing his A new following
After moving to Heidelberg in 1859 First Symphony, completing it during Because his work as a scientist was
for advanced studies in chemistry, term breaks and summer holidays so time-consuming, Borodin’s overall
Borodin immersed himself in the city’s over the next three years. Then, in musical output was small. Apart from
musical life and met his future wife, 1869, after abandoning one opera, operas, he wrote three symphonies,
Ekaterina Protopopova, a pianist who he returned to the genre again, two string quartets, chamber music,
was in Germany to receive treatment having received a scenario from and various songs.
Prince Igor was unfinished at the
time of his death from a heart attack
in February 1887. It was completed by
Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov and
entered the international repertoire.
Borodin reached new audiences in the
early 1950s, when Robert Wright and △ TITLE PAGE, STRING QUARTET
Dedicated to his wife, Borodin’s String
George Forrest recycled several of his
Quartet No. 2 in D major is often said
greatest melodies in their Broadway to convey a sense of serenity, triumph,
musical Kismet. and happiness. It was published in 1894.

◁ MARKET PLACE, SET DESIGN

Created by the Russian artist Konstantin
Alexandrovich Veshchilov (1878–1945)
for Borodin’s magnum opus, the opera
Prince Igor, this atmospheric stage design
depicts a typical marketplace scene.
156 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Johannes Brahms
1833–1897, GERMAN
One of the giants of 19th-century music, Brahms was a perfectionist
who excelled in every major genre except opera. For most of his life,
he was able to devote himself exclusively to composing.

Brahms was so brutally self-critical most popular of all ◁ A GERMAN REQUIEM

that he destroyed many more of his choral pieces; and as Brahms’s longest work IN CONTEXT
works than he published. He discarded a songwriter he had is perhaps his most
poignant. It was inspired The Franco-Prussian
almost all of his juvenilia and even a gift for melody that
in middle age—when he became perhaps ranks second
in part by his grief at War
the death of his mother.
prosperous and famous—he was only to Schubert’s. He Brahms was deeply patriotic and
still known to burn compositions that never wrote an opera. greatly admired the statesman
Otto von Bismarck, the driving force
he considered unsatisfactory.
behind the creation of a unified
One result of this refusal to Youthful talent helping supplement Germany. As part of his expansionist
compromise is that Brahms’s Johannes Brahms was the family income by policies, Bismarck engineered wars
surviving output is almost unfailingly born in Hamburg in playing the piano against Denmark (1864), Austria
(1866), and France (1870–1871). The
high in quality. His four symphonies northern Germany, the in restaurants and
last of these, the Franco-Prussian
and four concertos are mainstays country’s largest port city. theaters, giving War, humiliated France and established
of the orchestral repertoire; his two His father was a jobbing lessons to local Germany as a major power. Brahms
dozen chamber works, for various musician who played several string children, and making arrangements wrote a choral work, Triumphlied
(Song of Triumph), in celebration.
combinations of instruments, and wind instruments, and his mother for brass bands. According to some
are almost all acknowledged (aged 44 at his birth, 17 years older accounts, he also played in sleazy
masterpieces; his solo piano pieces, than her husband) was a seamstress. dockside taverns that were little
ranging from powerful sonatas to The traditional view is that the family better than brothels, and this
exquisite miniatures, are much loved; were wretchedly poor, living in a slum, experience is said to have scarred
his German Requiem is one of the but this is an exaggeration. Although him for life, souring his relationships
their finances were often with women. However, many scholars
precarious, the family were now dismiss this as myth.
respectable and happy, and
Brahms was devoted to his Liszt and Schumann
parents and siblings (an In 1850, Brahms met a young
elder sister and a younger Hungarian violinist, Eduard Reményi,
brother). He was educated whom he accompanied in several
at good schools and his recitals. They made a concert tour of
outstanding talent at the German cities in 1853, and although
piano was nurtured by this was not particularly successful as
skillful and caring teachers. a business venture, it had a profound
Brahms first performed impact on Brahms’s life. During the PRUSSIAN HUSSARS IN THE
in public when he was ten. tour he met another violinist, Joseph FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR, 1871
By his early teens, he was Joachim, who became one of his

◁ BRAHMS’S BIRTHPLACE ▷ JOHANNES BRAHMS, c. 1890

Brahms was born in this In his youth, Brahms had been angelic-
building in the poor Gängeviertel looking, but in later life he developed into
district of Hamburg, close to the portly, heavily bearded, almost Santa
the docks. It was destroyed by Claus-like figure familiar from many
Allied bombs in World War II. paintings and photographs.
158 LATE 19TH CENTURY

closest friends and gave him letters

of introduction to two of the most IN PROFILE
distinguished musicians of the Joseph Joachim
day—Franz Liszt in Weimar and
Robert Schumann in Düsseldorf. Among Brahms’s many musician
friends, one of the most important
Brahms and Liszt did not hit it off
was Joseph Joachim (1831–1907),
(Liszt was the supreme keyboard the leading violinist of the day and
showman, whereas Brahms was a composer of some distinction.
reserved in character), but Brahms Brahms wrote several works with
Joachim in mind, including his Violin
and Schumann (and his wife, Clara)
Concerto. Their friendship was
were kindred spirits: on the day after ruptured in 1883 when Brahms
they met, Schumann recorded in his supported Joachim’s wife in the
diary, “Visit from Brahms. A genius.” couple’s divorce proceedings.
However, Brahms made a successful
Clara was equally enthusiastic: gesture of reconciliation when he
when Brahms played his own wrote his Double Concerto (for violin
compositions, she thought “everything and cello) for Joachim and his string
was brimming over with imagination quartet colleague Robert Hausmann.
and emotional intensity.” Already,
JOSEPH JOACHIM
at the age of 20, he was writing music
that was remarkable for its rugged
△ REMENYI AND BRAHMS strength and pulsating energy, but cut short by tragic circumstances. part-time post as conductor of the
In 1850, Brahms met the talented violinist the Romantic fire was tempered Schumann’s mental health had been choral society of the princely court at
Eduard Reményi (left), a Hungarian by Classical rigor. Brahms’s work fragile for some time and in February Detmold, but he was always able to
refugee who introduced him to the folk
and Roma music that came to inspire grew more subtle over the years, 1854, after attempting suicide, he was devote much of his time to composing.
works such as his Hungarian Dances. but this balance between Romantic confined to an asylum, where he was In 1862, he visited Vienna for the first
passion and Classical dignity did to spend the rest of his life. At this time and he settled there the following
not change throughout his career. time, the Schumanns had six children year when he was made director of
Schumann wrote an ecstatic article and Clara was pregnant with a the Singakademie, a renowned choral
about Brahms in the music magazine seventh child. society; later he was director of
he edited, hailing him as the new Brahms proved a great support to the another of the city’s distinguished
messiah of German music, and he distressed family. He was probably in musical organizations, the
▽ OVAL PIANO arranged for some of his compositions love with Clara and after Robert died Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
This distinctive oval-shaped piano to be published. However, the support in 1856, many people, including Clara (Society of Friends of Music).
belonged to Brahms; it is now preserved of Brahms’s influential champion was herself, expected Brahms to propose.
in Detmold Castle, where the composer However, he hated the idea of being Public success
resided in the winters
tied down, and his ardor turned into a In 1865, Brahms’s mother died, and
of 1857–1860.
devoted lifelong friendship with Clara. he expressed his grief in his German
Later in life, Brahms had dalliances Requiem, which he had begun earlier
with several other women (he was as a tribute to Schumann. It was first
particularly susceptible to beautiful performed in 1868 and established
singers), but he always drew back Brahms in the front rank of living
when marriage seemed likely and composers. He also achieved success
remained a lifelong bachelor. with works in a lighter vein, notably
his Hungarian Dances for piano duet
Move to Vienna (1869). At a time when a piano was
Over the next decade, Brahms moved an essential feature in middle-class
around a good deal. He toured as a homes, this kind of music was hugely
pianist and in 1857–1860 held a popular for domestic performance

“ It is as though he [Brahms]
has been sent by God
himself ! ”
CLARA SCHUMANN, ON BRAHMS PLAYING HIS OWN WORK
and in money-making terms the sometimes crude, behavior and In 1896, Clara Schumann died at △ AT HOME IN VIENNA
Dances were almost the equivalent sarcastic tongue, but he was also the age of 76 and Brahms made an This watercolor shows the interior of
of a hit record today. extremely generous to his family arduous 40-hour journey to attend Brahms’s apartment in Vienna, with a
bust of Beethoven on the wall. Brahms
Free of the financial worries and (including his stepmother after his her funeral in Bonn. On his return to lived comfortably but unostentatiously,
domestic encumbrances that have father remarried), to friends, and to Vienna, he was visibly ill and he died enjoying food, wine, cigars, and the
afflicted many great composers, promising young musicians. Although the following year of liver cancer, company of friends.
Brahms was able to devote himself he had detractors, who thought his mourned by music-lovers the world
to working for his own satisfaction work too conservative, especially over. In Hamburg, his home city, the
and at his own unruffled pace. In spite compared with that of Wagner (see ships in the harbor flew their flags
of his success, he lived modestly in pp.134–137), he was generally revered, at half mast. Brahms was buried in
a rented three-room apartment. He and bracketed by some with Bach and Vienna, near the graves of two of his
became notorious for his brusque, Beethoven as one of the “three Bs.” heroes, Beethoven and Schubert.

KEY WORKS

1853 1859 1868 1876 1887 1891

Meets Robert Premiere of Piano Premiere of A Premiere of Premiere of Meets clarinettist
and Clara Concerto No. 1 German Requiem Symphony No. 1 Double Concerto in Richard Mühlfeld,
Schumann, who in Hanover, with in Bremen in Karlsruhe; Cologne; it was to whose playing
recognize his Brahms himself Cathedral; the Brahms had be Brahms’s last inspires Brahms
genius and as soloist. work establishes labored over the orchestral work. to compose four
promote his Brahms as a major work for 14 years. works for his
career. composer. instrument.
160

▷ CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS
Saint-Saëns was celebrated for his
virtuosity at the organ. When Franz Liszt
heard him play at the Madeleine church in
Paris, he pronounced him the greatest
organist in the world. He wrote numerous
solo compositions for the organ, and his
third and final symphony incorporates the
instrument to thrilling effect.

Camille Saint-Saëns
1835–1921, FRENCH
In his long career, Saint-Saëns progressed from boy wonder to grand old
man. He composed in virtually every genre of music known in his time
and was also one of the outstanding pianists and organists of the age.
 CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS 161

“ I produce music as an apple

tree produces apples. ”
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS

Prolific composer
Saint-Saëns’s vast output included
symphonies, concertos, operas (of
which Samson and Delilah is the best
known), religious and secular choral
music, tone poems (notably Danse
Macabre, which uses a xylophone to
Camille Saint-Saëns was born in △ SAMSON AND DELILAH evoke rattling bones), chamber music,
Paris into a middle-class family. A Saint-Saëns’s most famous opera, songs, solo compositions for piano
piano-playing aunt gave him his first premiered in Weimar in 1877, has many and organ, and even music for the
colorful scenes, including a dance of
music lessons when he was three and priestesses, here depicted by French cinema. Ironically, his most popular
he showed immense precocity. He artist Pierre Carrier-Belleuse. work today is probably the witty
gave private recitals from the age of and satirical Carnival of the Animals
five and made his public debut at age (1886), which was written as a joke
10, offering, as an encore, to play from independently, traveling to perform and not published during his lifetime.
memory any of Beethoven’s 32 piano as a pianist and conductor not just Saint-Saëns’s music is notable
sonatas—an astonishing prospect in Europe, but also in North and for its elegance, refinement, and
at such a young age, especially given South America and the Far East. charm—qualities considered to be △ DANSE MACABRE, 1874
the difficulty of many of Beethoven’s Although he seems to have been quintessentially French—but by Saint-Saëns’s tone poem opens with
sonatas. His talents were not confined predominantly homosexual, Saint- the end of his life his reputation a note repeated 12 times, signaling
midnight. A violin, representing death,
to music: he excelled at Latin and Saëns married in 1875. His 19-year- was in decline in his own country. calls the dead to rise from their graves
mathematics, and developed serious old bride was half his age and the Nevertheless, he was honored with a and dance.
interests in subjects ranging from marriage was a complete disaster. state funeral at the Madeleine church.
archaeology to astronomy. The couple had two children, both Some detractors think his music is
of whom died as infants in 1878, superficial—more about style than
Musical tours and tragedy one after falling from a window. substance—but his best works have
From 1848 to 1853, Saint-Saëns In 1881, Saint-Saëns walked out stood the test of time and remain
studied at the Paris Conservatoire, on his wife and never saw her again. much-loved staples of the repertoire.
then became organist at the church
of St. Merry. His Symphony No. 1 was
successfully premiered in 1855 and IN CONTEXT
by this time he was already winning La Madeleine
golden praise from musicians of the The church of La Madeleine (dedicated
caliber of Berlioz and Rossini. In 1858, to Mary Magdalene) is one of the great
he moved from St. Merry to take up landmarks of Paris. It was conceived
the high-status post of organist at by Napoleon as a memorial to the
glory of the French army and takes
the Madeleine church (see box, right). the form of an enormous Roman
He remained at the Madeleine temple. However, it was transformed
church for almost 20 years, until into a parish church and consecrated
1877, thereafter pursuing his career in 1842. Its magnificent organ was
designed by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll,
the 19th century’s most famous organ
builder. Saint-Saëns held the highly
prestigious post of organist there
from 1858 to 1877. His successors
included his pupil Gabriel Fauré, who
was organist between 1896 and 1905.

THE CHURCH OF THE MADELEINE,

c. 1910, HAND-COLORED PHOTOGRAPH
162 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Georges Bizet
1838–1875, FRENCH
Bizet’s career reads like the libretto of a tragic opera. Precociously gifted,
he struggled to find fame. At the end of his life, he created Carmen, one of
the world’s most popular operas, but died believing it was a failure.

Born in Paris, the son ◁ THE PEARL FISHERS and helping other composers. His own
of a singing teacher, This is the title page of compositions were often rushed or
Georges Bizet a German edition of abandoned for lack of time. Carmen
Bizet’s first major opera,
received his early The Pearl Fishers, which (1875) should have changed all that.
musical training from tells the story of a love Based on Prosper Mérimée’s powerful
his parents and uncle, triangle set in a fishing novella (see box, below), it had
all accomplished village in ancient times. hot-blooded characters, Spanish and
musicians. In 1848, Romany rhythms, and the mercurial
aged nine, he was Célestine Galli-Marié singing the lead.
admitted to the Paris Bizet was a brilliant Yet Bizet’s opera shocked Parisian
Conservatoire and was performer, but he audiences, who were appalled by the △ GALLI-MARIE AS CARMEN
an exceptional student, refused to become rawness of the passions, the on-stage Henri Lucien Doucet here depicts
Célestine Galli-Marié in Spanish attire
winning prizes for piano, a concert pianist. His interest lay in murder of Carmen by her jealous
as the heroine in the title role of Bizet’s
organ, and composition. the theater. In this field, his first opera ex-lover Don José, and scenes in thrilling opera Carmen. Audiences were
of real quality was The Pearl Fishers, which women smoked. Because it had outraged by the work’s passion and
Early breaks and interests which premiered in 1863. The public spoken dialogue rather than recitative, violence when it premiered in 1875.
More importantly, Bizet found favor liked it, as did Berlioz (see pp.108– it was staged at the Opéra-Comique,
with Charles Gounod—20 years his 111), but the critics lambasted it. The which normally hosted more gentle
senior—who became his lifelong show closed after 18 performances. productions. Nonetheless, Bizet’s ▷ GEORGES BIZET
friend and mentor. Inspired by one of masterpiece has become one of the Shown here bearded and bespectacled,
the latter’s works, Bizet produced his Turbulent times world’s most popular operas. With its Bizet died suddenly at the age of just 36,
seemingly from a heart attack. He saw
first major composition, Symphony Bizet’s personal life was in turmoil brutal plot and passionate characters,
minimal success in his lifetime—his
in C (1855), now recognized as one at this time. In 1862, he fathered an it went on to influence the verismo works generated far greater interest
of his finest orchestral scores. It was illegitimate child with the family’s (realism) movement (see p.183). from the 20th century onward.
never performed in his lifetime, only housekeeper, although this was
receiving its first public airing in 1935. hushed up (the mother only revealed
In 1857, he won the Prix de Rome, the secret on her deathbed). Bizet IN PROFILE
which financed his studies in Italy. later married Geneviève Halévy. Their Prosper Mérimée
Here, he soon lapsed into a bohemian union was sometimes rocky, largely Mérimée (1803–1870) was a genuine
lifestyle and his main musical offering due to the interference of Geneviève’s polymath: a government official, man
at that time was the comic opera Don mother, who was mentally unstable. of letters, historian, and translator.
Procopio. This earned him disapproval Meanwhile, his career was stalling. In his work as the inspector-general
of historical monuments, he was
from his teachers who expected a He was burdened with hack work— instrumental in founding the National
recipient of the prestigious Prix to producing piano transcriptions, Museum of the Middle Ages and
produce a more serious work. creating a piano course for children, restoring the citadel of Carcassonne.
The Base Mérimée is the official
database of French monuments.
As a writer, he is best remembered
as a pioneer of the novella. Published

“ [A] beautiful art, but …

in 1845, his Carmen was based on a
story told to him by the Countess of
Montijo on his visit to Spain in 1830.

a wretched profession. ” PORTRAIT OF PROSPER MERIMEE,

SIMON ROCHART, 1852
GEORGES BIZET, ON MUSIC, 1867
164 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Modest Mussorgsky
1839–1881, RUSSIAN
One of Russia’s most inventive and unconventional composers,
Mussorgsky was derailed by family misfortune and his own chaotic
lifestyle. His work was fully appreciated only after his death.

Modest Mussorgsky was born into as the Mighty Handful or The Five. Mussorgsky’s major works date
a world of privilege. His father was a Led by Mily Balakirev (see box, right), from the late 1860s. Night on the
wealthy landowner with aristocratic this included Alexander Borodin, César Bare Mountain, his most important
roots that could be traced back to Cui, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. orchestral piece, was produced in
the 9th century. Unfortunately for his Mussorgsky persuaded Balakirev 1867, and the initial version of Boris
heirs, this wealth was dependent on to give him lessons in composition. Godunov, his only completed opera,
the unpaid labor of the many serfs These were somewhat basic but was finished two years later. Neither △ BORIS GODUNOV, TITLE PAGE, 1874
who ran his estates. When Alexander II fired the young man’s enthusiasm. produced the reaction he had hoped Mussorgsky’s first version of this opera
appeared in 1869 but was rejected by the
freed the serfs in 1861, the family’s He abandoned his army career and for. The committee of the Imperial
committee of the Imperial Theatre. A
fortunes were fatally undermined. began work on a number of projects. Theater, for example, was baffled revised version premiered in 1874 in St
By this stage, Mussorgsky was by the revolutionary structure of his Petersburg. The work is now considered
launched on his haphazard musical A perfect storm opera, which had no prima donna, by many to be a masterpiece
career. Details of his childhood are Progress was disappointingly slow. no ballet elements, no conventional
sketchy, but he was born on the In 1858, Mussorgsky suffered some arias, and a series of tableaux rather
country estate in the Pskov district, form of mental breakdown (which than continuous action.
about 250 miles (400 km) south of St. his family described as nerves). Mussorgsky produced a radically
Petersburg, and showed great musical He recovered gradually, but was revised version of Boris in 1874, IN PROFILE
promise, having taken piano lessons affected increasingly by financial but this, too, met with a lukewarm Mily Balakirev
with his mother. But after studying at worries, which led him to take a response—not just from the critics Balakirev was only two years older
a military academy, he enrolled in the menial post in the civil service. He but also, crucially, from fellow than Mussorgsky, but his influence
Preobrazhensky regiment, and then was also broken-hearted following musicians. Mussorgsky’s limited was crucial. He was the leader of the
seemed destined for an army career. his mother’s death in 1865 and musical training gave his music a Mighty Handful (who were also known
as The Five), the driving force behind
Mussorgsky’s musical ambitions began drinking heavily, sparking rough, unpolished quality that jarred new Russian music. Balakirev agreed
revived after he joined a group of the terrible alcoholism that was with his contemporaries. Greatly to give Mussorgsky lessons and, for a
avant-garde composers now known to darken his later years. discouraged by these setbacks, the while at least, this arrangement ran
composer became a chronic alcoholic, smoothly. At his peak, Balakirev was
a fine composer—best known for
ending his days in a military hospital. Islamey, a showpiece for the piano,
Most of Mussorgsky’s music first based on a Caucasian dance—but his
became known in “smoothed-out” circumstances were as testing as
versions by well-meaning colleagues, those of his pupil. He had a reclusive
and quarrelsome nature, which
including Rimsky-Korsakov. It was alienated many of his friends. He also
only in the 20th century, when these suffered a mental breakdown, which
recensions were stripped away, that cost him his job as a railroad clerk.
audiences were able to appreciate
the raw, earthy genius of his work.

◁ THE MIGHTY HANDFUL, 1871 ▷ MODEST MUSSORGSKY, 1881

This reproduction shows the group Ilya Repin shows the alcoholic composer
of avant-garde composers, the Mighty florid and in his dressing gown. He died
Handful (or The Five), who reignited on the eve of his final sitting, after a bottle
Mussorgsky’s interest in music. of brandy had been smuggled in for him.
 PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY 167

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1840–1893, RUSSIAN
Hailed as Russia’s most popular composer, Tchaikovsky mixed influences
from East and West in his music. His turbulent personal life was reflected
in the passionate intensity of many of his works.

◁ THE RUBINSTEIN BROTHERS its director, Nikolai Rubinstein, brother

The Russian pianist and composer of Anton, who championed his works IN CONTEXT
brothers Anton (left) and Nikolai and introduced him into the city’s
Rubinstein had an important early Russia’s first
musical and intellectual circles.
influence on Tchaikovsky’s career.
In 1868, Rubinstein conducted the
professional composer
premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Tchaikovsky was the first Russian
He also developed close friendships. No. 1 (“Winter Dreams”); by this time, composer to be fully “professional.”
His five leading contemporaries,
Both he and his younger brother, Tchaikovsky was hard at work on known as the Mighty Handful or
Modest, were homosexual. his first opera, The Voyevoda. The Five (see p.164), were mainly
In 1869, the composer Mily Balakirev self-taught and, at best, part-timers,
New horizons suggested Tchaikovsky should create at worst, excellent amateurs when it
came to writing music (for example,
After graduating, Tchaikovsky worked an orchestral work based on Romeo Borodin was a chemist and Rimsky-
for four years as a clerk in the Ministry and Juliet by Shakespeare; the piece Korsakov a naval officer). Tchaikovsky
of Justice; but his studies with Nikolai premiered in 1870, but was then was freer than them—thanks largely
Zaremba at the Russian Musical revised twice, reaching its final form to the 14 years of financial support
he enjoyed from Nadezhda von Meck.
Society confirmed music as his true in 1880 (which premiered in 1886). In
calling. When the St. Petersburg it, Tchaikovsky achieves a synthesis of
Born in Votkinsk in 1840, Pyotr Ilyich Conservatory was founded in 1862, Western structure and Russian idiom:
Tchaikovsky was the son of a mining he enrolled. His teachers included the the theme linked with Friar Laurence
engineer. A sensitive, impressionable institution’s director, Anton Rubinstein, (a monk of Renaissance Verona) is
child, when sent away to school he who became a major influence. unmistakably in the musical language
threw himself out of the carriage to try Among Tchaikovsky’s promising early of the Russian Orthodox Church.
to run home to his mother. Her death works was an overture, The Storm,
from cholera in 1854 devastated him. based on Alexander Ostrovsky’s play,
At the School of Jurisprudence in and a choral setting of Friedrich
St. Petersburg, the young Pyotr sang Schiller’s poem “Ode to Joy.”
in the choir (“My voice was a splendid Tchaikovsky moved to Moscow in
soprano,” he recalled), played the 1866, having been offered a teaching
piano, and began to try composing. post at the Moscow Conservatory by

◁ PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, 1894 ▷ DIPLOMA CERTIFICATE, 1865

This portrait of Tchaikovsky near the Tchaikovsky’s diploma certificate
end of his life captures the composer’s from the St. Petersburg Conservatory,
troubled, melancholic disposition. It was where he enrolled in 1862, under the
completed the year after his death. directorship of Anton Rubinstein.

“ Inspiration is a guest
that does not willingly
visit the lazy. ”
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
168 LATE 19TH CENTURY

KEY WORKS

1866 1876 1878 1880 1892 1893

Symphony No. 1, Completes his Eugene Onegin, Completes his The Nutcracker, Symphony
Op. 13 (“Winter first ballet score, Op. 24, an opera rousing 1812 Op. 71, No. 6, Op. 74,
Dreams”), is a Swan Lake, a highly based on Pushkin’s Overture, Op. 49. Tchaikovsky’s Tchaikovsky’s last
delicate work, dramatic, almost poem, carries last ballet, evokes symphony, seems
imbued with Wagnerian piece. great personal its magical tale laden with tragedy
sorrow and significance for through lyrical and is startlingly
longing. Tchaikovsky. music. original.

Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky’s personal “too Wagnerian.” Swan Lake built she declared her love for him. It is
life was strewn with tragedy. Over substantially on a little ballet that thought that his opera Eugene Onegin,
the years, he had relationships with a Tchaikovsky had devised some years based on Pushkin’s poem in which
number of younger men, sometimes earlier for the children of his sister, Tatyana approaches Onegin with a
his pupils and, later, his own nephew. Alexandra Davydova. At her home, he love letter, was inspired by this event.
While writing Romeo and Juliet, he was could enjoy the family atmosphere Tchaikovsky duly married Antonina.
involved with a Conservatory student, that his own home lacked. The marriage was a disaster. In
Eduard Sack, who committed suicide despair, the composer attempted
in 1873. Tchaikovsky wrote: “It seems A doomed marriage suicide by walking into the Moscow
to me that I have never loved anyone Another crisis arose in Tchaikovsky’s River, intending to contract pneumonia
so strongly as him … and his memory personal life soon after Swan Lake’s so that it would seem he had died by
is sacred to me!” premiere. He decided to marry, partly natural causes. In the end, he did not
New influences awaited Tchaikovsky to protect his family from rumors even catch a cold. He did, however,
in 1876. Visiting Paris, he attended and also because, as he told Modest, experience a severe nervous
Georges Bizet’s new opera Carmen; “Homosexuality and pedagogy cannot breakdown. The pair soon separated,
its Fate motif made an impact, as abide in harmony with one another.” but never actually divorced.
much philosophical as musical. He He had fallen in love with another A more rewarding relationship
then visited Bayreuth, Germany, as a student, violinist Iosif Kotek, for whom arrived in a similarly strange way.
△ ANNA PAVLOVA, 1911 music critic at the inaugural Wagner he later wrote his Violin Concerto In 1876, Nadezhda von Meck, widow
In this detail from a painting by John Festival. His favorite Wagner opera (Kotek would not give its premiere, of a railroad magnate, had begun to
Lavery, the graceful Russian ballerina was Lohengrin; its influence on his for fear of exposing their relationship). commission music from Tchaikovsky;
is depicted in Swan Lake, one of
Tchaikovsky’s most adored works. Swan Lake was immense. On the But in 1877, Tchaikovsky received she went on to provide him with an
ballet’s premiere in 1877, one critic some startling letters from a former annual allowance, enabling him to
deemed Tchaikovsky’s score to be student, Antonina Milyukova, in which devote himself fully to composition.
The couple agreed that they should
never meet; twice, they accidentally
ON TECHNIQUE came face to face, yet passed one
Combining influences another without speaking. Over 14
Tchaikovsky blended, seemingly years, their friendship unfolded in
effortlessly, the European influences more than 1,200 letters. Tchaikovsky
of Mozartian structures, Chopinesque secretly dedicated his Symphony
sensibility, and Wagnerian power No. 4—a work characterized
with distinctive Russian elements:
for example, melodies influenced by by a powerful Fate motif—to her.
the flow of the Russian language and Works as popular today as the Violin
folk song, and by the rich a cappella Concerto, the Piano Concerto No. 1,
harmonies of Orthodox church choirs. Eugene Onegin, and the ballet scores
His music is therefore often seen
to bridge a gap between East and
West. This, combined with his highly
imaginative, colorful orchestration,
creates a musical language that has
virtually universal appeal.

CHORISTERS IN THE CHURCH, VLADIMIR

EGOROVIC MAKOVSKY, 1870
took a long time to be accepted. It was successful concert of his own music in writing the opera Iolanta, the ballet The △ SLEEPING BEAUTY
the 1812 Overture, written in 1880 at Moscow, then undertook a substantial Nutcracker, and the Symphony No. 6 This photograph from 1890 shows the
the suggestion of Nikolai Rubinstein European tour, meeting Brahms, Grieg, (“Pathétique’”), a work he dedicated to cast from the first ever performance
of Sleeping Beauty, one of the greatest
to commemorate Russia’s victory and Dvořák en route. In 1891, he his nephew, Vladimir (“Bob”) Davydov. Tchaikovsky ballets.
over Napoleon, that made Tchaikovsky conducted the first concert at the The young man, who was 30 years
a household name—even though he brand-new Carnegie Hall, New York. Tchaikovsky’s junior, was the subject
had always hated the piece. In Russia, his new compositions of the composer’s obsessive but
included the Fifth Symphony and the ultimately destructive love.
International acclaim ballet Sleeping Beauty—the latter was Within days of the symphony’s
Through the early 1880s, the now developed in close collaboration with premiere in 1893, Tchaikovsky
celebrated Tchaikovsky traveled the choreographer Marius Petipa and contracted cholera during an evening
widely and wrote prolifically. In 1885, premiered at the Mariinsky Ballet, at his favorite restaurant in St.
he bought a house in the countryside St. Petersburg, in 1890. Tchaikovsky Petersburg. The illness proved fatal.
near Klin, outside Moscow, where he was disappointed, though, by the There is speculation that he may have
declared himself “cheerful, contented cooler reception for his opera The drunk unboiled water on purpose in
and at peace.” Works of this period Queen of Spades, which he regarded order to commit suicide. No definitive
included his operas Cherevichki and as one of his finest. conclusion has been reached.
The Enchantress, plus the “Manfred” In his later years, Tchaikovsky
Symphony, based on Byron’s poem. became a national treasure and was
▷ 1812 OVERTURE, FRONTISPIECE
The premiere of Cherevichki was celebrated abroad as one of the
The uncharacteristically bombastic
his first attempt at conducting, which world’s greatest living musicians. In overture—marking Russia’s victory
proved a splendid addition to his the early 1890s, he was still full of over Napoleon—was the work that
career. He conducted a highly ideas and plans, and busied himself placed Tchaikovsky in the spotlight.

“ To regret the past, to hope in the future,

and never to be satisfied with the present:
that is what I spend my life doing. ”
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, IN A LETTER TO HIS BROTHER ANATOLY, 1878
170 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Antonín Dvořák
1841–1904, CZECH
After years of struggle, Dvořák rose to become a towering composer.
IN CONTEXT
Fueled by diverse inspirations, from folk dance to opera, he crystallized Musical nationalism
a Bohemian national musical style, and later also created a US one. Dvořák was powerfully influenced
by the cultural nationalism that was
sweeping through Europe during the
second half of the 19th century. This
Antonín Dvořák’s music strikes a ▷ CERMAKOVA SISTERS The versatile young
was arguably pioneered by Chopin—
unique balance between Classical This portrait shows Josefina Dvořák supplemented his who brought the language of Polish
forms and folk dances, between Cermáková (standing), and income by giving piano folk dances into Parisian salons—
her sister, Anna, later to and by Liszt, who transformed gypsy
grand-scale visions and intimacy, become Dvořák’s wife, lessons—and fell
music into a recognizably Hungarian
and between laughter and tears. sitting at the piano. in love with one of
national style. The trend spread
Inspired by wide-ranging influences, his pupils, Josefina to Russia (via the five composers
wrapped up in a distinctive musical Cermáková. His love known simply as The Five or the
voice, it sometimes conceals real (bringing his son was sadly unrequited. Mighty Handful), Norway (via Grieg),
and Czechoslovakia, where it had
darkness beneath its melodic surface. influence from that This might be the
been championed by Smetana before
musical world), point at which a Dvořák. The legends that Dvořák loved
Early talent and versatility Dvořák senior was sense of heartbreak and turned into symphonic poems and
Born in Nelahozeves, a village near a butcher by trade. began to loom under operas were deeply connected to the
folk music he had heard in childhood,
Prague, Antonín was already a fine For 11 years, Antonín the bright surface of his plus the natural beauty of Bohemia.
musician by the age of 18. His chief played in the viola section in music. Nevertheless, in
instrument was the viola—intriguingly, the orchestra of the Provisional 1873 he married Josefina’s
the instrument of choice for many Theater (later the National Theater), sister, Anna, and the couple soon
leading composers, including Mozart Prague, whose conductor was the started what became a large family.
and Schubert. But he was also a good Czech national composer Dvořák’s financial status, though,
violinist, pianist, and organist, indeed in chief, Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák was perilous at the time. Sending
someone to whom composition would is believed to have taken part in a 15 substantial compositions as
have seemed natural. concert conducted by Wagner in 1863. application for an Austrian State
Studying the organ in Prague, he He later remembered “following Stipendium for impecunious young
evaded pressure to follow his father [Wagner] as he walked along the artists in 1875, he was described as
into the family business: although a streets to get a chance now and again “Anton Dworak of Prague, 33 years
fine folk musician and zither player of seeing the great little man’s face.” old, music teacher, completely without
means.” He won the prize three times,
in 1874, 1876, and 1877. On the jury
were the conductor Johann Herbeck,
the critic Eduard Hanslick, and the

◁ PROVISIONAL THEATER, PRAGUE

The Provisional Theater, where Dvořák
played for several years, was built in TITLE PAGE OF DVORAK’S SLAVIC DANCE
1862. It was an interim theater until the MUSIC DUMKA AND FURIANT, OP. 12
opening of the National Theater in 1881.

▷ ANTONIN DVORAK
During his career, Dvořák developed an
immediately recognizable musical voice.
He was widely honored for his music,
receiving honorary doctorates from
Charles University, Prague, and the
University of Cambridge, UK.
 (1845). But some of Dvořák’s works of
the 1880s have strong similarities to
Brahms. The first and last movements
of his Symphony No. 6, for example,
are evocative of Brahms’s Symphony
No. 2, notably in mood, key, tempo,
orchestration, theme, and motif.

British premieres
The Dvořáks’ marriage, in the
meantime, was happy and fruitful; six
of their nine children survived. Anna
was described by Dvořák’s friend
Tchaikovsky as “a simple, likable
woman and a splendid housewife.” Yet
Dvořák’s affection for his sister-in-law
haunted him. The slow movement of
his Cello Concerto (1894–1895) was a
tribute to her after her death, quoting
from one of his songs of which she
had been fond. “If I had known it was
possible to write such a concerto for
the cello, I would have tried it myself,”
Brahms said after hearing the work.
△ RUSALKA composer Johannes Brahms; the The “conservative” Brahms and the The concerto, like his Symphony
This 2006 production of Antonín Dvořák‘s latter was “visibly overcome” by “progressive” Wagner were at opposite No. 7 (1885) and Requiem (1890),
most notable opera, Rusalka, is from the Dvořák’s “mastery and talent.” ends of the spectrum in Romantic enjoyed its world premiere in Britain,
Prague National Opera House. The work
resembles Hans Christian Andersen’s Much encouraged, Dvořák left music. Dvořák was influenced by both. where Dvořák was extremely popular
fairy tale The Little Mermaid and includes his orchestral job, redoubled his His operas, including Rusalka (1901), and influential. Composers including
rhapsodically poetic music. efforts, and in 1875 finished three are full of Wagnerian references. Edward Elgar and Samuel Coleridge-
chamber works, a song cycle, his Even his early chamber music and Taylor owed him a major debt.
Fifth Symphony, and the Serenade symphonies (notably No. 4) have grand In 1891, Dvořák—by now a composer
for Strings. Brahms befriended him Wagnerian gestures and echoes of his of eight symphonies, recipient of
and introduced him to the publisher favorite Wagner opera, Tannhäuser honorary doctorates, and professor
Fritz Simrock, who commissioned
his first set of Slavonic Dances.
ON TECHNIQUE
Reputation and obstacles Creating a Bohemian style
Soon, Dvořák began to enjoy his It was the atmosphere, rhythms, and Bohemian folk music became part
first taste of real recognition. Even at emotional temperature of Czech folk of his language. His Slavonic Dances
this time, however, his progress was music that seeped into Dvořák’s and “Dumky” Trio (1891) are prime
compositions, rather than actual examples: the latter’s movements
occasionally checkered: in 1879, for
folk songs, which he usually did not are all based on the alternation of
example, he wrote a violin concerto quote directly. The dance forms, lively slow and fast sections found in the
for Brahms’s friend Joseph Joachim rhythms, and incantatory melodies of dumky, a traditional folk dance.
(see p.158), Europe’s most celebrated
violinist. Joachim—who was known
to be hard to please—refused to
play the work.

“ I’d give all my symphonies

if I could have invented the
locomotive! ” CZECH FOLK DANCES, ENGRAVING, 19TH CENTURY
ANTONIN DVORAK
 ANTONIN DVORAK 173

of composition at the Prague KEY WORKS

Conservatory—was offered
the chance to become director of a
new National Conservatory in New
York. Here, his effective employer,
1875 1878–86 1887 1893 1895 1901
Serenade for Slavonic Dances, In the magnificent Symphony No. 9, Dvořák’s Cello Dvořák’s magical
the philanthropist Jeannette Thurber,
Strings, in five Book 1 and Book 2, Piano Quintet No. 2 “From the New Concerto is a opera Rusalka
had another task in mind. Dvořák had movements, is a are colorful in A major, the World,” draws on work on a grand is heavily
created a recognizably Bohemian lyrical work, filled pieces modeled piano and string themes derived scale with hints influenced by
style, a musical national identity with vivacity and on Bohemian quartet create a from traditional of both heroism Wagner’s operatic
folk-dance rhythms. dance forms. symphonic breadth. spirituals. and tragedy. techniques.
comparable to Grieg for Norway or
Liszt for Hungary. Such styles were
fashionable, influential, and a source World.” Upon its 1893 premiere, an
of national pride. Thurber hoped interview with Dvořák in The New York
Dvořák might concoct a US equivalent. Herald quoted the composer: “The
second movement … is in reality a
New and old worlds study or sketch for a longer work,
Soon after he arrived, Thurber gave either a cantata or an opera which I
him a copy of Longfellow’s epic poem propose writing, and which will be
The Song of Hiawatha, suggesting he based upon Longfellow’s Hiawatha …
might create from it a great US opera. The scherzo of the symphony was
Dvořák investigated suitable sources suggested by the scene at the feast
of US musical sounds. It was not in Hiawatha where the Indians dance.”
long before he declared he had found Eventually, the homesick Dvořák
exactly what was required—namely, returned to Prague in 1895, becoming
African-American spirituals (although director of the city’s Conservatory.
Hiawatha is about American Indians). During his last years he focused on
Regrettably, he needed approval for composing operas and symphonic
his libretto from a committee at the poems, among them The Golden
Conservatory, and the submitted texts Spinning-Wheel and The Noonday
failed to please them, for reasons Witch. In 1897, his daughter Otilie, at age 62. Tragically, Otilie died the △ COVER, “FROM THE NEW WORLD”
known best to themselves. Dvořák herself a fine musician, married his following year, at only 27. Suk’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,”
eventually siphoned material for the favorite pupil, the composer Josef “Asrael” Symphony paid tribute to blends Dvořák’s distinctive dramatic style
with the influence of themes from
opera into a different project instead: Suk (see p.269); the family remained both his wife and her father. African-American spirituals.
his Symphony No. 9, “From the New close until Dvořák’s death in 1904, But Dvořák’s legacy is still strong.
His Czech musical heirs were Suk
and Leoš Janáček. He might also have
been proud to see US composers
Copland, Barber, Ives, and Bernstein
bring a truly national style blazing to
fruition in the 20th century.

◁ THE DVORAK FAMILY, 1892

The Dvořáks are pictured here soon
after their arrival in the US. AntonÍn
was appointed director of the National
Conservatory of Music in New York,
which had been established by a patron
of US music, Jeanette Thurber in 1885.
 EDVARD GRIEG 175

Edvard Grieg
1843–1907, NORWEGIAN
Norway’s greatest composer, Grieg trained in the Romantic tradition and
IN CONTEXT
used folk material to foster a national identity for his country’s music. Folk music
He was also a concert pianist of international renown. Grieg’s interest in folk music was
closely aligned to the nationalist
movement that was leading his
country toward independence.
◁ BERGEN, NORWAY
The initial stimulus sprang from
This illustration of a view of the landscape his friendship with the composer
at Bergen, where Grieg was born and Rikard Nordraak and was reinforced
grew up, is from the great composer’s in 1869, when he came across
own sketchbook. Ludvig Lindeman’s collection of folk
melodies. Filled with enthusiasm,
Grieg set about producing his own
At this time, Grieg’s ambition was arrangements of these, publishing
to establish himself as a concert them as 25 Norwegian Folk
Songs and Dances, Op. 17. He
pianist, but he felt dissatisfied with
continued to draw inspiration
his musical training, so, in 1863, he from this type of material
moved to Copenhagen for further for the rest of his career,
instruction. Here, he received culminating in the lively
Slåtter—piano versions of
advice from Niels Gade, leader of peasant fiddle-tunes. In
the Scandinavian Romantic school. these, Grieg mimicked
Gade gave Grieg encouragement, the double-stopping
but also chided him for the meager technique of the traditional
Hardanger fiddle.
amount of his compositions.
On a more positive note, Grieg
Edvard Grieg’s family had Scottish Edvard was encouraged to develop his met and became engaged to his
roots. His great-grandfather, Alexander skills at an early age. Gesine gave him cousin, the singer Nina Hagerup.
Greig, arrived in Norway in the 1760s, piano lessons from the age of six and The couple married in 1867.
when he changed the spelling of he began composing in his teens.
his last name to Grieg. He settled in In 1858, the Griegs received a visit A decisive move
Bergen, on the west coast, where from the violinist Ole Bull, one of Grieg’s decision to move to
his family soon flourished. Edvard’s Norway’s most famous musicians. Copenhagen was significant. The city
father, John, held the post of British After hearing Edvard play, he advised was the cultural hub of both Denmark
consul, while his mother, Gesine, was the boy’s parents to send him to the and Norway. Before 1814, Norway was
the daughter of a provincial governor. prestigious Leipzig Conservatory. part of the Kingdom of Denmark. After
Both parents were highly musical, so Grieg claimed later that he hated the this, it entered into a political union
place, but he nevertheless derived with Sweden that lasted until 1905,
some benefit from the teachings of although the Danish influence still
◁ EDVARD GRIEG, 1891 the composer Ignaz Moscheles; he remained strong. Danish, for example,
Grieg was first influenced by the work of
also developed a love for the music of was the standard written language in HARDANGER FIDDLE: WOOD, EBONY,
Mendelssohn and Schumann, but he was
later inspired by Norwegian folk tunes, Schumann, particularly after hearing Norway for much of the 19th century MOTHER-OF-PEARL, BONE; 1786
which had a huge impact on his music. it performed by his widow, Clara. and even the country’s capital,

“ [Like] eating a pink bonbon

stuffed with snow. ”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY, ON LISTENING TO GRIEG’S MUSIC
176 LATE 19TH CENTURY

▷ EDVARD AND NINA GRIEG

IN PROFILE The couple—shown here in front of one
of Edvard’s pianos—married in 1867.
Henrik Ibsen Nina, a soprano singer, became one of the
main interpreters of her husband’s work.
Ibsen (1828–1906) was Norway’s
greatest playwright, renowned for
groundbreaking prose dramas, such
as Hedda Gabler, A Doll’s House, and Christiania (later Oslo), was named
The Master Builder. Early in his career, after a Danish king. However, attitudes
he also wrote verse plays, inspired were beginning to change. The growth
by his country’s greatness during the
of a Romantic nationalist movement
Viking era, and these attracted the
attention of contemporary opera led many Norwegians to try to
composers. But it was Peer Gynt, formulate a distinctive cultural identity
written in 1867, that provided Ibsen’s for their country. This trend affected
strongest connection with the world
all major branches of the arts—music,
of music. He decided that it would
benefit from some incidental music literature, and art.
and invited Grieg to compose this In music, there were attempts to He eventually published 10 volumes, Literary collaborations
before the play’s stage premiere the rediscover and refine the old folk containing a total of 66 pieces. The In the 1870s, Grieg began working
following decade.
songs and dances that had survived bulk of these compositions were with Norwegian writers. There were
in the countryside. Grieg’s interest in produced in the 1880s and 1890s; abortive attempts to produce an opera
this was sparked by his friendship the final volume appeared in 1901. with Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, but his
with Rikard Nordraak, whose passion Grieg was also engaged in more association with Henrik Ibsen proved
for Norwegian folk music, combined sizeable projects. In 1868, he had far more fruitful (see box, left). Grieg
with his patriotic zeal, made a deep completed the finest of his longer produced incidental music for Ibsen’s
impression on Edvard: “Suddenly, it works, the Piano Concerto in A minor. extraordinary play Peer Gynt, which
seemed as if a mist fell from my eyes This bears similarities to Schumann’s was loosely based on a fairy tale. His
and I knew what I wanted.” Nordraak Piano Concerto of 1845, which Grieg 90-minute score was used when the
died from tuberculosis at age 23— had heard performed by Clara play was successfully staged in 1876.
Grieg composed a funeral march in Schumann in 1858, two years after Grieg subsequently extracted eight
his honor—but his influence lingered. her husband’s death. In addition, movements from it, to form two
to Schumann’s influence, Grieg’s orchestral suites (Op. 46 and Op. 55),
Piano masterworks concerto contained hints of a which were added to his own concert
In 1866, Grieg returned to Norway, growing interest in folk material. repertoire. Including such pieces as
settling in the capital, where he took The third movement carried echoes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the
control of an amateur orchestra, the of the halling, an energetic folk dance Mountain King (both from Suite No. 1),
Christiania Philharmonic. His first from rural Norway. It also featured these delightful compositions rapidly
major compositions date from this imitations of the traditional Hardanger gained popularity and have remained
ILLUSTRATION FROM PEER GYNT OF THE period. In 1867, he published the first fiddle (see box, p.175). Edvard had firm favorites with the public.
TROLLS, BY ARTHUR RACKHAM, 1936. volume of his Lyric Pieces, a collection already learned about this from Ole Grieg used literary sources of a
of eight short pieces for solo piano. Bull, who was something of a virtuoso very different kind in his songs. He
Often described as a miniaturist, on the instrument. The Hardanger composed around 170 of these during
Grieg specialized in brief, melodic fiddle had eight strings—twice as his career, the majority of which were
compositions. Certainly, the Lyric many as a standard violin—which both inspired and interpreted by his
Pieces were—and have remained— made it easier for the violinist to wife, Nina. The most celebrated
one of the most popular, and perform a double stop (to play two examples, however, were contained
profitable, parts of his repertoire. notes simultaneously). in Grieg’s only song cycle, Haugtussa

KEY WORKS

1867 1868 1875 1884 1895

Publishes the first Finishes the best- Writes incidental Commissioned to Begins work on
of his Lyric Pieces. known of his longer music for Ibsen’s Peer celebrate the his only song cycle,
He will eventually works, the Piano Gynt. This will be bicentenary of writer Haugtussa, Op. 67,
complete 10 Concerto in A minor, performed on stage and philosopher Ludvig which is based on
collections of these regarded by many the following year. Holberg, and produces a series of poems
short works for as his finest a remarkable five- by Arne Garborg.
solo piano. composition. movement dance suite.
 EDVARD GRIEG 177

(The Mountain Maid, Op. 67). This was

based on an epic series of poems by “ I am sure my music has a
taste of codfish in it. ”
the Symbolist author Arne Garborg,
whose work Grieg greatly admired.
The composer spent three long
EDVARD GRIEG
years agonizing over exactly how
to communicate the essence of this
mystical love story, before eventually
distilling it into an exquisite cycle they had built for themselves at ▷ LYRIC PIECES
of eight songs for female voice Troldhaugen, on the shores of the Book 1 of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, Op. 12,
and piano. The final work was first picturesque Bergen fjord. There, shown here, was the first of 10 volumes
of short works for the piano, some of
performed by Norway’s celebrated Grieg spent the spring and summer which drew on folk music.
mezzo-soprano singer Eva Nansen. working in his “composer’s hut” at
By this stage, Grieg’s life had settled the water’s edge or walking in the
into a familiar routine. In 1885, he mountains, before setting off with Edvard Grieg died just as he was
and Nina moved into the house that Nina in the fall to undertake lengthy about to embark on a tour of England.
concert tours around Europe. These He had, at least, lived long enough
were great social occasions and to see his beloved Norway gain its
▽ MUSIC ROOM, TROLDHAUGEN highly successful with the public, independence in 1905. His ashes were
The music room and lounge at Grieg’s
but they were also quite grueling buried near his home at Troldhaugen,
final home, now a museum, includes
his Steinway grand piano, made in 1892, and eventually took their toll on now the Edvard Grieg Museum, in a
and is filled with family photographs. the composer’s frail health. cliff-face niche overlooking the fjord.
 NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV 179

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
1844–1908, RUSSIAN
Propelled by Russian nationalist sentiment in the 1860s, Rimsky-
IN PROFILE
Korsakov was an influential teacher as well as a composer, and Savva Mamontov
became a standard-bearer for culture in late Czarist times. Pre-Revolutionary Russia, although
backward by the standards of
Western Europe, was changing fast
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov belonged to Private lessons in music theory and Russia and beyond. The critic Vladimir toward the end of the 19th century.
The economy grew in harness with
the generation of Russia’s “secular composition led to an introduction in Stasov responded with affection by the expansion of the railroads, as
priesthood,” as the philosopher 1861 to the composer Mily Balakirev, dubbing Rimsky-Korsakov and his did the cultural life of the major cities.
Isaiah Berlin described the country’s an ardent champion of nationalism in fellow nationalist composers—namely The railroad tycoon Savva Mamontov
mid-19th-century intelligentsia, Russian music and leader of a select Balakirev, Alexander Borodin, Modest (1841–1918) made a fortune and
spent much of it on his Moscow
that contested and shaped ideas of group of like-minded musicians. Mussorgsky, and César Cui—as Private Opera company. Mamontov’s
Russian national identity. He was born Balakirev became Rimsky-Korsakov’s Moguchaya kuchka, or the Mighty money bankrolled a long run of
on March 18, 1844, in the provincial musical mentor and immediately Handful, a group that was often Rimsky-Korsakov operas, beginning
town of Tikhvin to a noble family. instructed him to write a symphony. known outside Russia as The Five. in 1897 with Sadko and expanding
(even after Mamontov was unjustly
Music played an important part in However, in 1862, midshipman While completing his first opera, imprisoned for embezzlement two
his childhood, helped by his ability Rimsky-Korsakov set sail on the The Maid of Pskov, Rimsky-Korsakov years later) to include such works
to repeat overheard melodies at clipper Almaz for a three-year term of became a professor of composition as The Czar’s Bride, in 1899, and
the piano. The boy’s older brother, service. On his return to St. Petersburg at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He Kashchey the Immortal, in 1902.
however, encouraged him to join the in the summer of 1865, he completed remained on the staff until his death
Imperial Russian Navy, and in 1856 his Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 1, on June 21, 1908. His composition
young Nika enrolled at the College ready for Balakirev to polish its students included Lyadov, Glazunov,
of Naval Cadets in St. Petersburg. contents and conduct its premiere Tcherepnin, and Myaskovsky;
The move introduced him to the at the city’s Free Music School on Stravinsky, meanwhile, was among
capital city’s vibrant musical scene December 31, 1865. Rimsky-Korsakov’s private pupils.
and, above all, to its captivating Stasov’s writings on native Russian
opera productions. Russian-flavored music art and folk traditions encouraged
Rimsky-Korsakov’s light onshore Rimsky-Korsakov to explore the
duties left ample time for composition. legends of Russia’s past. Sadko (1897),
◁ NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV His Fantasia on Serbian Themes, first both as an orchestral work and as
The composer, a master of orchestration
heard at the Moscow Slavonic an opera, and the opera The Tale of
who incorporated Russian folklore into
his music, is portrayed here by the Conference in 1867, reflected its Czar Saltan (1900) grew from ideas
renowned portraitist Valentin Serov. composer’s solidarity with Slavs in suggested by Stasov. The melodies
and harmonies of works such as
the symphonic suite Scheherazade
(1888) and the operas Mlada (1890)
and The Golden Cockerel (1907) were
enhanced by the composer’s genius
for orchestration and ability to reform PORTRAIT OF SAVVA IVANOVICH
his style without smashing the MAMONTOV, 1879
boundaries of convention.

◁ ON THE HIGH SEAS

Rimsky-Korsakov’s (front row, right)
three-year voyage on the clipper Almaz
confirmed in him a love of the sea, which
he expressed in many of his operas and
symphonic works.
180

▷ GABRIEL FAURE
The US painter John Singer Sargent,
who painted this portrait in 1889, was
a great admirer of Gabriel Fauré and
helped promote his music in London.

Gabriel Fauré
1845–1924, FRENCH
Fauré’s mild manners concealed a passionate nature, which surfaced in
his highly original piano pieces. Employed for several years as a church
organist, he is best remembered for his sublime Requiem.
 GABRIEL FAURE 181

“ For me … music exists to elevate us as far

as possible above everyday existence. ”
GABRIEL FAURE, LETTER TO HIS SON, PHILIPPE, 1908

◁ THE OFFERTORY
This sketch of the second movement IN PROFILE
of the Requiem, the Offertory, is written
in Gabriel Fauré’s own hand. Emma Bardac
A talented singer in her own right,
Bardac had close personal ties with
in order to promote modern French
two famous composers. She was
composers, and his music was Fauré’s mistress in the 1890s, but
celebrated in the cultivated salons later became Debussy’s second
of the Princesse de Polignac and wife. Emma’s liaison with Fauré
inspired two of his most delightful
Madame de Saint-Marceaux. Wider
collections of piano pieces.
recognition eluded him, however, Fauré’s song cycle La Bonne
until late in his career. Chanson—with settings of poems
by Paul Verlaine—was mainly written
between 1892 and 1893, with Emma
Tremendous originality singing the songs back to him as he
Fauré’s work was never truly avant- wrote them. More charming still was
garde, but many of his critics found the Dolly Suite, which he produced
it challenging; even his most famous for her daughter Régina (whose
nickname was “Dolly”). One of its
creation, the Requiem, was deemed
movements, Berceuse (Cradle Song),
insufficiently somber, and dubbed became famous in the UK as the
“a lullaby to death.” theme for the BBC children’s radio
Fauré’s style forms a clear bridge program Listen with Mother.
Gabriel Fauré was born in southern Recognition and royalties between the Romanticism of Chopin
France, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. After volunteering for service and Schumann, and the more modern
He showed great musical promise and in the Franco-Prussian War and approach of Impressionist composers
at the age of nine was sent to the fighting in the Siege of Paris, such as Debussy. He specialized
Ecole Niedermeyer in Paris, where he Fauré resumed his musical career, in song cycles, piano pieces, and
initially learned mainly about church eventually becoming the choirmaster chamber music, and many of his
music. However, in 1861, a new piano and chief organist at the Madeleine, compositions are gentle and reflective.
teacher, Camille Saint-Saëns (see a famous Parisian church. Fauré However, in his later years when
pp.160–161), introduced Gabriel to the saw this prestigious post as his he was going deaf, he was
modern composers who would come “mercenary job’” because it left him capable of evoking fierier
to exert a strong influence on his style. so little time to compose. Lack of moods, using mild discords
After leaving school, Fauré worked time and money were perennial and disruptive harmonies.
as a church organist while also taking problems for him. He only rarely Fauré’s tremendous
on pupils. His first official post was received royalties for his music, originality was finally
at St. Sauveur in Rennes, where he had instead selling songs outright recognized when he was
an extremely rocky relationship with for 50 francs apiece. appointed director of the
the local priest, and was finally asked In 1871, Fauré became a Paris Conservatoire and
to leave after showing up for Sunday founder member of the Société honored with a public EMMA BARDAC, MISTRESS OF GABRIEL
service in full evening dress, having Nationale de Musique, a body tribute, which was led FAURE, 1903
been out all night at a ball. that was created by Saint-Saëns by the French president.

▷ CARICATURE OF SAINT-SAËNS
Fauré captured his friend and mentor
in this charming cartoon. Saint-Saëns
encouraged the young Fauré to
compose his own works.
 GIACOMO PUCCINI 183

Giacomo Puccini
1858–1924, ITALIAN
Puccini wrote some of the most enduringly popular works in the operatic
repertoire. A flamboyant, controversial personality, he led a life that, to
some extent, mirrored the melodrama of his operas.

Born in the historic Tuscan town of

Lucca in 1858, Giacomo Puccini was IN CONTEXT
the oldest son of a family of nine. Verismo
The male line in his family had been
musicians through four generations, Verismo (realism) is a term for the
dominant style in Italian opera in the
and his father’s post as organist and
1890s. Puccini’s Tosca was heavily
choirmaster at Lucca’s cathedral was influenced by verismo, as were, to a
regarded as hereditary. Giacomo lesser extent, his Madama Butterfly
was only five years old when his and La fanciulla del West. The genre
was founded by Pietro Mascagni’s
father died, but his family was assured
Cavalleria rusticana (1890) and
he would inherit the job on reaching Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci
adulthood. With this future in view, he (1892), two short operas often
was taught to play the organ and sing performed as a double-bill. The
verismo composers presented
in the choir. But inspired by seeing
dramas that were raw, brutal,
a performance of a Verdi opera, the and even sordid. They required
young Puccini nourished higher singers to adopt an emotional,
ambitions. In 1880, with his family’s declamatory style that sacrificed
beauty to power of expression.
backing, he left Lucca to study
composition at the Milan Conservatory. SCENE FROM CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
BY PIETRO MASCAGNI

Success, failure, and scandal

Puccini was a vain and self-centered the attention of Milan’s musical elite. son back to Lucca. There he fell in love
young man with an undisciplined, lazy In the same year, his one-act opera with Elvira Gemignani (née Bonturi),
streak that was often the despair of Le Villi failed to win a competition a married woman. Their affair was
his teachers. Nevertheless, his talent prize, but his Milanese friends funded kept secret until 1886, when Elvira
proved indisputable. His instrumental a revised two-act version the following became pregnant with Puccini’s child.
composition Capriccio sinfonico, year that won modest acclaim. Puccini Reviled as a disgrace to their town and
performed at his graduation from was signed by the prominent music families, the couple were forced to flee
the Conservatory in 1883, attracted publisher Giulio Ricordi. Despite the to Milan, where their son Antonio was
crushing failure of his second opera born. Payments from Ricordi kept the
Edgar when it premiered at La Scala composer’s illicit ménage alive, but
◁ GIACOMO PUCCINI in 1889, his career was now launched. only just—an experience of poverty
Spoiled by his mother and sisters as
Meanwhile, Puccini’s private life was that Puccini was to draw on when
a child, Puccini was arrogant and self-
absorbed. Wealth and success in later racked by scandal. The death of his writing his opera La Bohème, with its
life brought scandal and controversy. mother in 1884 brought the grieving cast of impoverished would-be artists.

“ I am a mighty hunter of wildfowl, △ ELVIRA BONTURI

beautiful women, and good libretti. ” Puccini’s affair with Elvira caused turmoil
but her marriage was an unhappy one:
her husband was a womanizer who was
GIACOMO PUCCINI murdered in 1903 by his lover’s husband.
184 LATE 19TH CENTURY

KEY WORKS

1893 1896 1900 1904 1910 1924

Manon Lescaut Toscanini conducts Tosca, Puccini’s Destined to rank Toscanini Puccini’s last
premieres in the first performance brutal melodrama, among Puccini’s premieres Puccini’s opera, Turandot,
Turin; Puccini’s of one of Puccini’s is premiered in most popular Wild West opera, La is unfinished at his
third opera is most celebrated Rome, where works, the opera fanciulla del West, death; Toscanini
his first major operas, La Bohème. the action of the Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan conducts the first
popular success. opera is set. has a disastrous Opera in New York. performance in
first performance. 1926.

In 1891, Puccini discovered a rural others that there had been insufficient Around the same time, Elvira’s
IN PROFILE retreat at Torre del Lago on Lake rehearsal time; Puccini himself was husband died. His demise obliged
Arturo Toscanini Massaciuccoli in Tuscany. There he adamant that its poor reception was Puccini to legitimize the relationship,
could work in peace on his third opera, engineered by his rivals. But following although by that time he would
The conductor most associated with Manon Lescaut (based on a novel by substantial revisions, the emotional probably have preferred a separation.
Puccini operas, Toscanini was born in
Abbé Prévost). Adapting Prévost’s warmth and dramatic intensity of Marriage did nothing to lessen
Parma, Italy, in 1867. He was a cellist
before stepping up to conduct Verdi’s work, Puccini ran through five Puccini’s score combined with the Elvira’s wild outbursts of jealousy.
Aida in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 19. librettists in search of the ideal heartbreaking story—of a teenage In 1908, she became obsessed with
Building a reputation as a conductor combination of drama, words, and Japanese bride who is abandoned the idea that a young maid at Torre
of exceptional intensity, he was
appointed musical director of La Scala
music. The effort proved worthwhile. by her US soldier husband and kills del Lago, Doria Manfredi, was having
in Milan in 1898 and of New York’s From its premiere in Turin in 1893, herself—finally met with acclaim. an affair with Puccini. Her pitiless
Metropolitan Opera House in 1908. In conducted by Arturo Toscanini (see harassment and defamation of
1915, he returned to Italy to support box, left), this dark story of a doomed Crisis and tragedy Doria drove the poor girl to suicide. A
his country in World War I. Eventually
settling in the US, he became a
femme fatale was an overwhelming Success brought Puccini wealth postmortem showed that Doria died
popular celebrity, conducting the hit, establishing Puccini as Italy’s and fame. He could indulge his taste a virgin. The maid’s family took legal
NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1937. most promising successor to Verdi. for fast cars—then a rich man’s action against Elvira, before being
Toscanini died in 1957. novelty—and attractive mistresses. bought off. The incident caused
Making operatic history Often left alone at Torre del Lago, an immense scandal in the press,
Always working slowly, plagued by Elvira raged at Puccini’s infidelities, damaging Puccini’s reputation.
quarrels over rights to material and especially his passionate affair In 1910, the composer completed
by struggles with librettists, over with a young woman in Turin, who La fanciulla del West, which was
the next decade Puccini created the is known to history only as “Corinna.” commissioned by the Metropolitan
three works that define his place in In 1903, while he was still working Opera House in New York, where
operatic history: La Bohème, Tosca, and on Madama Butterfly, Puccini was Puccini’s friend Toscanini had become
Madama Butterfly. Of these, La Bohème seriously injured in a car accident. the principal conductor (see box, left).
was the most rapid popular success.
Tosca, first performed in Rome in
1900 before an upper-class audience
unnerved by a threat of anarchist
bombing, was criticized for its violent
scenes of torture and murder, but also
soon achieved international popularity.
However, Puccini’s Japan-set opera
ARTURO TOSCANINI (1867–1957), Madama Butterfly met with a hostile
IN HIS LATER YEARS reception at its premiere in 1904:
some critics said it was a “fiasco,”

▷ PUCCINI’S HOUSE IN TUSCANY

The composer’s house in Lucca, now a
museum, had been in his family since
1815 and is where he spent his childhood.
On display here, among other things, are
family photos and one of his pianos.
Although some people saw Puccini had long been working on an The composer was accorded a state △ PUCCINI AND HIS WIFE, ELVIRA
incongruity in an Italian opera ambitious triptych of one-act operas. funeral in Milan, with the funeral The composer (center) and his wife (left)
that was set in the American West, This came to fruition as Il trittico, first oration delivered by Italy’s new are shown here in a car in Lucca. In 1903,
Puccini’s chauffeur swerved the car off
the work brought Puccini his last performed at the Metropolitan Opera fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. the road; Puccini was discovered trapped
wholehearted artistic and popular House in 1918. Only one of these short Turandot, left unfinished, was beneath it, with a broken leg and almost
triumph during his lifetime. operas, the comic Gianni Schicchi, completed from Puccini’s sketches choked to death by gasoline fumes.
In the US, Puccini was a stellar showed the composer at his best. by Italian composer Franco Alfano.
celebrity; in Italy some felt his music Nevertheless, conducting the opera’s
had become “Germanic.” When Italy Final days first performance in 1926, Toscanini
entered into World War I in 1915 as Ill with diabetes, living in a post-war movingly laid down the baton at the
an enemy of Germany and Austria, Italy where he no longer felt at home, point at which Puccini’s writing had
he was working on a comic opera, Puccini applied himself with fanatical ceased. The great composer’s body
La rondine, and appearing in public determination to writing Turandot, his now lies in an improvised chapel in
with a German mistress. His failure to final work. Diagnosed with cancer of his villa at Torre del Lago.
engage with the Italian war effort was the throat, in 1924 he went to Belgium
shown up by contrast with Toscanini, for radium treatment. Before leaving,
who played music for the troops in he appealed to Toscanini to ensure ▷ POSTER FOR TURANDOT
Puccini was hopeful that his opera
range of enemy artillery fire. The that Turandot would be performed
Turandot would seal his reputation
friendship between the composer after his death. Appallingly painful and for future generations. The work was
and the conductor temporarily lapsed. quite useless, the treatment killed him. unfinished at the time of his death.

“ Don’t let my Turandot die! ”

GIACOMO PUCCINI
186 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Gustav Mahler
1860–1911, AUSTRIAN
Mahler’s large-scale symphonies and song cycles express neurotic
IN CONTEXT
emotion and an elevated spiritual vision in the German Romantic Des Knaben Wunderhorn
tradition. In his lifetime, he was most famous as a conductor. First published in the early 19th
century, Des Knaben Wunderhorn
(The Boy’s Magic Horn) was a
collection of traditional German folk
◁ CONDUCTOR’S BATON
verse and songs edited by Romantic
This ivory, ebony, and tortoiseshell poets Achim von Arnim and Clemens
baton was presented to Mahler in Brentano. Their subjects ranged from
1901 by Archduke Franz Ferdinand. talking fish and donkeys to soldiers
A dedication plaque in the center reads: and angels. Between 1887 and 1901,
“To his beloved composer Gustav Mahler.” Mahler wrote 24 songs based on Des
Knaben Wunderhorn, assembling 12
into a song cycle of that name. He also
Born in 1860, Gustav Mahler grew at the piano, playing an instrument He learned to see music as an epic used the songs in his Second, Third,
and Fourth Symphonies. Mahler
up in the rural town of Iglau (now discovered in a loft, his parents paid spiritual venture, a search for meaning
admired the folk verses as being
Jihlava) on the border between for him to take lessons. He picked in a world of suffering. Hugely critical “more nature and life than art.”
Moravia and Bohemia. Many of his up his wider musical education of his own work, he destroyed most of
early experiences were harsh. His by listening to military bands, barrel his youthful compositions. A single
father, a German-speaking Jewish organs in the street, and folk songs movement of a piano quartet, written
trader who owned a liquor store, was sung by servants—all would find their when he was 16, has survived. At the
a wife-beater. Family deaths were place in his mature compositions. end of his student years, he wrote an
frequent—only 5 of Gustav’s 13 ambitious cantata, Das klagende Lied
siblings survived childhood. But his A spiritual venture (Song of Lamentation), but it failed to
father made money and nurtured Recognized as a prodigy, Mahler was win a composition prize in 1881 and
social and cultural aspirations. When sent to the Vienna Conservatory when went unperformed until 1901.
Gustav displayed precocious talent he was 15. During his three years Needing to earn a living, Mahler
there, and a further three years at embarked on a career as a conductor.
Vienna University, he was inducted A series of appointments carried him
▽ STADTTHEATER, HAMBURG into the most advanced German from the smallest of provincial opera
Mahler was chief conductor at the
culture of his day, absorbing the houses via Kassel, Prague, and Leipzig
Stadttheater in Hamburg between 1891
and 1897. He conducted almost 750 influence of Richard Wagner in music to prestigious appointments at the
performances there over these six years. and Friedrich Nietzsche in philosophy. Royal Opera House in Budapest in
1888 and at Hamburg’s Stadttheater,
where he held the baton from 1891 “IN THE FOREST”, FROM DES KNABEN
to 1897. A fanatical perfectionist with WUNDERHORN, ILLUSTRATION, 1848
poor social skills and no respect for
other people’s feelings, he was often
loathed by the musicians he directed ▷ GUSTAV MAHLER, 1907
Mahler is pictured here, aged 47 (four
and in open conflict with the opera
years before his death), in the year when
management. But the quality of the he was diagnosed with a severe heart
performances he achieved, especially condition and his daughter Maria died.

“ My time will come. ”

GUSTAV MAHLER, AFTER CONDUCTING A STRAUSS OPERA IN 1902
188 LATE 19TH CENTURY

“ Gustav lives his life, and Symphony in 1902, the song cycle
Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death

I, too, must live his life. ”

of Children) in 1904, and the Sixth,
Seventh, and Eighth Symphonies
between 1904 and 1906. Mahler’s
ALMA MAHLER
music was challenging, stretching the
symphonic tradition to its limits. It was
emotionally jarring in its ironic use of
of Wagner and Mozart, made an popular tunes, tonally adventurous,
IN PROFILE overwhelming impression on and formally innovative, employed
Alma Schindler critics and public alike. unusual instruments, and often
included songs and choral elements.
Daughter of an Austrian landscape Loss and renewal But his works were not excessively
painter, Alma Schindler (1879–1964)
Mahler continued to compose in out of step with public taste and were
was a promising composer when she
married Mahler, 19 years her senior, his spare time from conducting. His sometimes received with enthusiasm.
in 1902. Marriage and motherhood character combined an iron will with However, he envied the wider fame
suppressed her creativity. Following a neurotic sensibility that indulged of Richard Strauss, then celebrated
Mahler’s death she married architect
feelings of loss and longing. This side as the hero of German new music.
Walter Gropius, and later, after a
divorce, writer Franz Werfel. Her of his personality fed into his music.
other lovers included the composer Written between 1883 and 1885, his Marriage and tragedy
Alexander von Zemlinsky and the song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden In 1902, Mahler married 22-year-old
artist Oskar Kokoschka. She bore four
Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) set his Alma Schindler. She brought him into
children, three of whom suffered
early deaths. In 1938, when the Nazis own poems inspired by an unhappy contact with the radical artists of the
took over Vienna, she fled with Werfel, love affair with a soprano at the Viennese Secession and the young
first to France and then to the US, Kassel opera house, Johanna Richter. Modernist Viennese composers
becoming a prominent figure among
The original five-movement version △ COVER OF SYMPHONY NO. 2 grouped around Arnold Schoenberg.
the European exiles in Los Angeles.
of his First Symphony, premiered in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Ill suited to a relationship with a
1889, was partly stimulated by his known as the “Resurrection” Symphony, liberated woman, Mahler insisted that
which premiered in 1895, is one of
troubled relationship with a married the composer’s most popular works. Alma, a talented composer, renounce
woman, Marion von Weber, in Leipzig. creative activity to act as a wife and
Death seemed ever present—his mother. His concentration on his
mother, father, and one of his sisters music, and the atmosphere in which work left little time to satisfy her
died in 1889; his brother, Otto, shot it was performed. Although the lively sexual demands. The couple
himself in 1895. Mahler’s Second and response was generally favorable, had two daughters, Maria and Anna.
Third Symphonies, mostly written on performers resented his intolerant The death of Maria in 1907 was a
holidays at Steinbach between 1893 manner, and Vienna’s anti-Semites crushing blow. In the same year,
and 1896, were programmatic pieces mounted a damaging campaign Mahler himself was diagnosed as
expressing his Nietzschean vision of against him on racial grounds. suffering from a life-threatening heart
death overcome by eternal renewal. Masterpieces continued to flow condition. Wearied by harassment
In 1897, aged 37, Mahler took up the from his holidays, now chiefly spent at from the anti-Semitic press in Vienna,
prestigious post of musical director at Wörthersee in southern Austria—the he made a lucrative move to the
the Vienna Hofoper (Court Opera). As Fourth Symphony in 1900, the Fifth Metropolitan Opera in New York.
a condition of the job, which was not
open to members of the Jewish faith,
he converted to Catholicism. Imposing
ALMA MAHLER AND HER DAUGHTERS his will upon singers, orchestra, and
MARIA AND ANNA, 1906 public alike, he transformed the
opera’s stagings, the quality of the

▷ COMPOSER’S HUT, STEINBACH

Mahler often came to write at this cottage
on Lake Attersee in Steinbach. It was
here, on summer holidays between
1893 and 1896, that he composed parts
of his Second and Third Symphonies.
Final years
Mahler was not a success in the
US, failing to ingratiate himself with
a public demanding showmanship.
Elbowed out by Arturo Toscanini
at the Metropolitan Opera House, he
became conductor of the New York
Philharmonic, with no greater success.
He continued to compose on holidays
in Austria, producing the song cycle
Das Lied von der Erde, often considered
his finest work, and commencing his
Tenth Symphony. The premiere of his
Eighth Symphony in Munich in 1910
was a triumph. But his marriage was
breaking down, Alma carrying on an
affair with architect Walter Gropius.
In his distress, Mahler consulted the
psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, to
no obvious benefit. He attempted
a reconciliation with Alma, even
arranging for some of her songs to
be performed. When he fell mortally
ill in New York in spring 1911, she
accompanied him on his final journey
to die in Vienna. He was buried in
Grinzing Cemetery, alongside his
daughter Maria.
Mahler’s music went through a
long period of posthumous neglect.
It was banned by the Nazis as
“decadent” and largely ignored by
everyone else. In the 1960s, however,
Mahler underwent a spectacular
revival, his music attaining iconic
status as part of that radical decade’s
heterodox cultural mix. His works
have since become established as a
fixture in the orchestral repertoire.

▷ “THE SYMPHONY OF A THOUSAND”

Erich Büttner depicts Mahler’s Symphony
No. 8, nicknamed “The Symphony of a
Thousand” because it requires a vast
number of singers and instrumentalists.

KEY WORKS

1880 1885 1895 1904 1909 1910

Completes his Mahler’s first Conducts the Kindertotenlieder, Das Lied von Mahler’s
first major song cycle, Lieder premiere of his Mahler’s song der Erde, his Symphony No. 8,
work, Das eines fahrenden Symphony No. 2, cycle for voice last song cycle, “Symphony of a
klagende Lied, Gesellen, sets the “Resurrection” and orchestra, sets Chinese Thousand,” is
a cantata that is his own poems Symphony. sets poems by poems; it is not acclaimed on its
not performed of failed love. Friedrich Rückert. performed until first performance
until 1901. after his death. in Munich.
190

▷ CLAUDE DEBUSSY, 1903

Precociously gifted, Debussy drew
inspiration for his music from a wide
range of literary and artistic sources.
This portrait, by the French painter
Jacques-Emile Blanche, shows the
pioneering composer in his early forties.

Claude Debussy
1862–1918, FRENCH
Debussy was one of the most important pioneers of modern music,
releasing composers from the straitjacket of traditional forms.
He struggled with health issues and a tempestuous private life.
 CLAUDE DEBUSSY 191

◁ WORLD FAIR, PARIS, 1889

Exciting musical forms and instruments
sparked Debussy’s imagination when he
encountered them at the World Fair in
Paris in 1889. The unfamiliar sounds
suggested new possibilities to him.

Festival in 1888 and 1889 and, for a

time, came under the spell of Richard
Wagner. He was also swept along by
the tide of excitement surrounding the
World Exposition in Paris in 1889, with
the newly erected Eiffel Tower as its
centerpiece.
The eldest of five children, Claude music into a strict mold.” His studies in Debussy was especially fascinated
Debussy was born in a Parisian Italy proved equally depressing. He by the Javanese gamelan music that
suburb. His immediate family had disliked the Villa Medici and his fellow he heard, performed on percussive
no musical links. His father drifted students and was bored by Rome. instruments. The different melodies, △ NADEZHDA VON MECK
through various jobs—shopkeeper, After two years, he returned to Paris. rhythms, and scales of non-Western In the early 1880s, Debussy worked
salesman, soldier—and was briefly music stirred his imagination. Hints as a pianist for the wealthy Russian
businesswoman and art-lover Nadezhda
imprisoned for taking part in the New sounds and influences of its impact can be heard in his von Meck. She became famous as the
Commune (an uprising in Paris). The late 1880s were lean years “Pagodes” (“Pagodas”), the first patron of Tchaikovsky.
Claude’s early musical education financially for Debussy, but it was also movement of Estampes (Prints).
came from an aunt, who sent him a time of discovery, when he absorbed Debussy was to remain open to new
for piano lessons with a woman the diverse influences that came to or exotic influences throughout his
who claimed to have been taught form his style. Thanks to a wealthy career. This even extended to early
by Frédéric Chopin. friend, he attended the Bayreuth forms of jazz. In his Children’s Corner
Claude made rapid progress and,
at the age of 10, was accepted at the
Paris Conservatoire. It soon became ON TECHNIQUE
clear that he would not make the Piano-roll recordings
grade as a virtuoso pianist, but he Debussy was one of the first
performed well enough to win the Prix composers to record himself
de Rome in 1884, which entitled him performing his work. In 1913,
to three years’ study in Italy. Before he recorded 14 pieces on a Welte-
Mignon reproducing piano, in which
this, Claude enjoyed summer jobs an electric suction pump replaces
working for Nadezhda von Meck, the the foot bellow. This was the most
wealthy benefactor of Tchaikovsky. sophisticated device of its kind,
She took him traveling and introduced capturing not just the notes, but
the nuances of the pianist’s style
him to Russian music, most notably for posterity, including phrasing,
Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov. tempo, pedaling, and dynamics.
Debussy’s performance was encoded
A rebellious streak onto six piano rolls, continuous sheets
of paper punched with holes, which
Debussy found many of the professors were copied for use on player pianos.
at the Conservatoire too traditional,
and balked at following orthodox DEBUSSY AT THE PIANO, SURROUNDED
methods of composition, noting: “I BY MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY, 1893
don’t think I shall ever be able to put

“ The century of airplanes deserves its

own music. As there are no precedents,
I must create anew. ”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
△ NOCTURNE, BLUE AND SILVER: (1908), for example, he famously But mostly it was used to denote the paintings called Nocturne, Debussy
BATTERSEA, 1872–1878 included a ragtime piece, the composer’s blurred harmonies or used the same title in a musical series
James McNeill Whistler found fame “Golliwog’s Cakewalk.” This featured his taste for creating sound-pictures of Nocturnes, completed in 1899. He
with his atmospheric scenes of the
Thames River in London—as in this view a syncopated arpeggio that referred of the same kind of natural subjects saw this music as “an experiment in
of Battersea in his Nocturne series. jokily to a chord from Wagner’s that the Impressionist painters used, the different combinations that can be
Debussy, who had met Whistler, also used Tristan und Isolde (1859) and a series such as clouds, mists, or gusts of created from a single color—what a
the word “Nocturne” in his designation for of ingenious banjolike effects. wind. As a rule, Debussy was annoyed study in gray would be in painting.”
a series of musical works and drew
great inspiration from the artist’s when critics described his music as
paintings in the creation of his music. The world of art Impressionist. The movement had, The Symbolist movement
Debussy’s style was also shaped by after all, already passed its heyday Debussy had closer links with the
factors outside the world of music. (the last Impressionist exhibition was literary and artistic movement known
From as early as 1887, his work was held in 1886). as Symbolism than he ever had with
described as Impressionist—a label Debussy’s closest affinity to any Impressionism. Symbolists avoided
that stayed with him. The reference painter was with the US artist James formal structures, such as specific
was initially made by one of his McNeill Whistler, who produced misty subjects or plots. Theirs was an art
assessors at the Conservatoire and scenes of the Thames River in London, of nuance and suggestion, as they
was meant in a pejorative sense. Inspired by a series of Whistler’s created moods, emotions, or ideas.

KEY WORKS

1894 1902 1903 1905 1913

Completes his first The premiere of Debussy’s taste for the One of Debussy’s most Jeux (Games), a ballet
orchestral masterpiece, Debussy’s only opera, exotic is revealed in popular orchestral commissioned by
the Prélude à l’après- Pelléas et Mélisande, Estampes (Prints). The pieces, La Mer (The Sergei Diaghilev for
midi d’un faune. Its finally establishes his title refers to the vogue Sea), is performed his Ballets Russes,
striking originality is reputation. for Japanese prints. in Paris. It consists is performed. The
much admired. of three symphonic choreography
sketches. is by Nijinsky.
 CLAUDE DEBUSSY 193

“ Music is the arithmetic of sounds as

optics is the geometry of light. ”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Debussy had important links with two et Mélisande in 1893 and soon decided to start exploring the vast back-
Symbolist writers—the poet Stéphane that it would make a suitable subject catalog of his music. In Pelléas, IN PROFILE
Mallarmé and the dramatist Maurice for an opera. It took almost a decade he had created a hauntingly beautiful Vaslav Nijinsky
Maeterlinck. He met Mallarmé in 1890 before he was able to turn this into accompaniment to Maeterlinck’s
and regularly attended the famous reality, and the production was almost enigmatic tale. By this stage, he had The greatest choreographer and
dancer of his age, Nijinsky was born
Tuesday salons at which the writer derailed by an argument over one of purged the most obvious Wagnerian
in Kiev to Polish parents. From the
hosted visitors including W.B. Yeats, its stars. Maeterlinck thought that the influences from his style. Instead, his age of nine, he trained at the Imperial
Rainer Maria Rilke, and Paul Verlaine. part of Mélisande would be sung by opera carried echoes of Boris Godunov Ballet School in St. Petersburg and
his mistress, Georgette Leblanc. (1869) by Modest Mussorgsky, whose in 1909 joined Sergei Diaghilev’s
Ballets Russes. The famous dance
Literary influences Debussy, however, preferred the music Debussy had discovered in company took Paris by storm,
Greatly inspired by Mallarmé’s verses, Scottish soprano Mary Garden. He had the mid-1890s. shocking audiences with its daring
Debussy produced Prélude à l’après- already dedicated two songs to her in productions. Nijinsky’s interpretation
midi d’un faune (1894). This highly his Ariettes oubliées (Forgotten Songs, Turbulent relations of Debussy’s L’Après-midi d’un faune
was hugely controversial. Clad in a
sensual symphonic poem, conjuring 1885–1887). The composer had his In contrast to Debussy’s successful
tight body-suit designed to resemble
up the lust-filled dreams of the way, but it created a long-lasting rift career, his personal life was in tatters. an animal’s skin (the mythical
creature on a hot day (see box, right), between the two men. There was talk The main issue concerned his first faun was half-man, half-goat), he
made little impact at the time, but was of legal action and even a duel, but wife, Lily. The couple married in 1899, accentuated the sensual content
of the music in a graphic manner.
hugely influential. Pierre Boulez saw in the end the matter was resolved. but their relationship ran into trouble
it as a cornerstone of modern music. When the first performance of when Debussy fell under the spell
In terms of career development, the opera finally went ahead, its of the bewitching singer Emma
the link with Maeterlinck was more success transformed Debussy’s Bardac. She had already been the
crucial. Debussy saw his play Pelléas reputation and encouraged reviewers mistress of the composer Gabriel
Fauré and, in 1904, Debussy
abandoned his wife to be with her.
Distraught, Lily attempted suicide a
few days before their fifth anniversary.
She survived, but the incident left a
permanent stain on the composer’s
reputation. Many of his friends
disowned him and the press reaction
was universally hostile.
Debussy’s later years were clouded
by illness. From 1909, he began to
suffer from the cancer that would
eventually kill him. As a result of the
illness, he endured one of the earliest
colostomy operations ever performed.
He died in Paris at the end of World LEON BAKST’S DESIGN FOR NIJINSKY
War I, with the sound of German IN L’APRES-MIDI D’UN FAUNE, 1912
shells echoing in the streets nearby.

◁ MARY GARDEN AS MELISANDE

The Scottish operatic soprano Mary
Garden is shown here as Mélisande in
Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande. The
casting of Garden caused a major row
between Debussy and Maeterlinck, author
of the play on which the opera was based.
194 LATE 19TH CENTURY

Directory
followed, from ballet music and
Charles Gounod cantatas to songs and hymns.
His talent for musical comedy
1818–1893, FRENCH
was revealed in the one-act farce
Known primarily as the composer of Cox and Box in 1866. The association
the opera Faust, Gounod was born in with Gilbert, brokered by entrepreneur
Paris, his father a painter, his mother Richard D’Oyly Carte, began with Trial
a piano teacher. After training at the by Jury in 1875. A string of comic hits
Paris Conservatoire he spent three followed, staged at the purpose-built
years in Rome, where he studied Savoy Theatre from 1881. A business
Palestrina and other composers of dispute disrupted the Sullivan-Gilbert
church music. Returning to Paris, relationship in 1890, after which their
he contemplated taking religious collaboration was less successful.
orders, but instead turned to writing Sullivan’s other major successes
opera, producing Sapho in 1851. The included the oratorio The Golden
following year he married pianist Legend and the opera Ivanhoe (1891).
Anna Zimmerman. The success of He was buried with great pomp in
Faust, first staged in 1859, made him St. Paul’s Cathedral.
the most famous composer in France.
He created 12 operas in total, but no KEY WORKS: The Tempest (incidental
other achieved comparable success. music), 1861; HMS Pinafore (operetta),
In the early 1870s, Gounod lived in 1878; The Mikado (operetta), 1885; The
England, founding the amateur choir Golden Legend (oratorio), 1886
that later became the Royal Choral
Society. In his later years he primarily
wrote religious oratorios, including La
Rédemption (1882) and Mors et Vita Jules Massenet
(1885). His setting of Ave Maria (1859),
1842–1912, FRENCH
based on a Bach prelude, has proved
enduringly popular. The most successful French operatic △ ARTHUR SULLIVAN
composer of the Belle Epoque,
KEY WORKS: Faust (opera), 1859; Massenet was admitted to the Paris soprano Sibyl Sanderson and later talent, he followed a traditional
Mireille (opera), 1864; Roméo et Juliette Conservatoire at the age of 11. His with the French mezzo-soprano Lucy path, from schooling at Eton and the
(opera), 1867; La Rédemption (oratorio), winning the Prix de Rome in 1863 Arbell. He continued to write tuneful University of Oxford to a job in the
1882 financed a stay in Italy, where he met operas with supreme fluency up to City of London. Learning composition
Nino de Gressy, whom he married in his death in Paris in 1912. in his spare time, he emerged as a
1866. Working tirelessly, he earned recognized composer in 1880 with
a living in Paris as a piano teacher KEY WORKS: Le Roi de Lahore a piano concerto and the influential
▷ Arthur Sullivan while composing a stream of operas. (opera), 1877; Manon (opera), 1884; cantata Scenes from Prometheus
His first stage work, La Grand’Tante, Werther (opera), 1892; Don Quichotte Unbound. Further large-scale choral
1842–1900, BRITISH
was produced in 1867, but he did (opera), 1910 works graced English music festivals
Most renowned for his operettas not achieve significant commercial through the 1880s and 1890s. Parry
created with dramatist W.S. Gilbert, success until the mid-1870s. In 1878, joined the staff of the Royal College
Sullivan was the son of a bandmaster he was appointed to a teaching post of Music at its foundation in 1883,
and raised as a musician. He studied at the Conservatoire, which he held for Hubert Parry becoming head in 1894. He was
at the Royal Academy of Music from almost 20 years. First staged in 1884, appointed professor of music at the
1848–1918, BRITISH
the age of 14, and later at the Leipzig his opera Manon was the greatest University of Oxford in 1900. Parry
Conservatory. A performance of his success of his career, although many A key figure in the late-19th-century was also a prominent writer on music.
orchestral music for The Tempest critics consider Werther (1892) a finer revival of English music, Parry was Failing health led to his retirement
at London’s Crystal Palace in 1862 work. His marriage was troubled by born into the landowning class. from Oxford in 1908, releasing his
made him famous. A variety of works involvements with the American Despite showing precocious musical creative energies for a late flowering
 DIRECTORY 195

that produced the much celebrated came under the influence of Franck. KEY WORKS: Suite Española opera company. In 1888, he won a
anthem “Jerusalem” and the In 1883, he married Jeanne Escudier, (piano solo), Op. 47, 1887; Cantos prestigious competition for the score
unaccompanied Songs of Farewell. with whom he enjoyed a tranquil de España (piano solo), 1892; of Cavalleria rusticana. Premiered in
domestic life, raising five children. Catalonia (orchestral suite), 1899; 1890, the opera was a sensational hit,
KEY WORKS: Blest Pair of Sirens (ode Secretary of the Société Nationale de Iberia (piano solo), 1906–1908 establishing the earthy, melodramatic
for chorus and orchestra), 1887; Job Musique from 1886, he hosted a salon Italian operatic style known as
(oratorio), 1892; “Jerusalem” (song), frequented by the Parisian cultural verismo. Raised to fame, Mascagni
1916; Songs of Farewell, 1916 elite, including the composers Fauré went on to write 14 more operas. Most
and Debussy and the Impressionist ▽ Pietro Mascagni were high-profile cultural events—
painter Monet. His own compositions notably Parisina, with a libretto by poet
1863–1945, ITALIAN
comprised numerous songs and Gabriele D’Annunzio, premiered at La
Teresa Carreño chamber pieces, as well as the Chiefly remembered as the composer Scala in 1913—but none matched the
opera Le Roi Arthus and a number of of the one-act opera Cavalleria success of his first. Mascagni also had
1853–1917, VENEZUELAN
ambitious orchestral works. By the rusticana, Mascagni was born in a prominent career as a conductor.
Pianist, singer, and composer Carreño 1890s, he had developed a distinctive Livorno, Tuscany, the son of a baker. His last opera, Nerone (1935), was a
was born in Caracas, Venezuela, but personal style, and he was in the full Choosing a musical career against his tribute to Mussolini’s Fascist regime.
left the country with her parents in flow of mature creativity when he was family’s wishes, he began composing
1862, spending most of the remainder killed in a cycling accident, aged 44. in his teenage years. Admitted to KEY WORKS: Cavalleria rusticana
of her life in the US and Europe. the Milan Conservatory in 1882, he (opera), 1890; L’amico Fritz (opera),
A child prodigy at the piano, she KEY WORKS: Viviane (symphonic left without completing his course, 1891; Iris (opera), 1898; Isabeau
performed her first public concert poem), Op. 5, 1882; Symphony in working as conductor with a touring (opera), 1911
in New York City before the age of 10. B-flat major, Op. 20, 1890; Poème
She became a virtuoso of worldwide (violin and orchestra), Op. 25, 1896;
renown, sometimes referred to as Chanson perpétuelle (soprano and
the “Valkyrie of the Piano.” Her career orchestra), Op. 37, 1898
as an operatic soprano began in
Europe in the 1870s but was never
comparable to her pianistic career.
As a composer she wrote chiefly, Isaac Albéniz
but not exclusively, for piano. Most
1860–1909, SPANISH
of her works were written by 1875,
after which she composed only Composer and piano virtuoso Albéniz
sporadically. She used her influence was born in Catalonia, Spain. A child
as a virtuoso to promote the work of prodigy, he gave his first public
the US composer and pianist Edward performance as a pianist at the age
MacDowell, who was her pupil and of five and was toured internationally
friend. Carreño was married four by his parents before settling to a
times and had six children. serious musical education at the
Brussels Conservatory in 1876.
KEY WORKS: Gottschalk Waltz (piano Studying under Spanish nationalist
solo), Op. 1, 1863; Ballade (piano solo), composer Felipe Pedrell in Barcelona
Op. 15, 1867; La Fausse Note (piano in 1883 influenced him to write music
solo), Op. 39, 1872; Serenade for String reflecting regional varieties of Spanish
Orchestra, 1895 folk song. Many of these piano pieces,
published in Suite Española and Cantos
de España, are now better known in
arrangements for classical guitar. Not
Ernest Chausson well received in his own country,
Albéniz spent most of his later years
1855–1899, FRENCH
in England and France. He wrote
Born into an affluent Parisian orchestral pieces, and in the 1890s
bourgeois family, Chausson qualified extended his range into operas and
as a lawyer and toyed with literature operettas, but his finest work resulted
and the visual arts before deciding from a late return to piano solo with
to devote himself to music. In 1879, the four books of the Iberia suite, one
he entered the Paris Conservatoire, of the founding masterpieces of
where he was taught by Massenet and modern Spanish music. △ PIETRO MASCAGNI, ANGIOLO TOMMASI, 1899
EARLY 20th
CENTURY
Leoš JanáČek 198 Charles Ives 236
Edward Elgar 200 Maurice Ravel 238
Ethel Smyth 204 Manuel de Falla 242

CHAPTER 5
Frederick Delius 206 Béla BartÓk 244
Richard Strauss 208 Igor Stravinsky 248
Carl Nielsen 212 Heitor Villa-Lobos 252
Jean Sibelius 214 Sergei Prokofiev 254
Erik Satie 218 Lili Boulanger 258
Ralph Vaughan Williams 222 George Gershwin 260
Sergei Rachmaninoff 226 Francis Poulenc 262
Gustav Holst 230 Dmitri Shostakovich 264
Arnold Schoenberg 232 Directory 268
198

▷ LEOS JANACEK
Janáček was considered by some of his
teachers and, later, students to be a
somewhat difficult personality—defiant,
opinionated, uncompromising. But his
musical genius was undoubted and he
went on to become one of the most
innovative composers of the early 20th
century, whose work drew inspiration
from opera, the concert hall, folk music,
Russian literature, and the patterns and
rhythms of the Czech language.

Leoš Janáček
1854–1928, CZECH
Janáček forged a musical language closely influenced by the speech
patterns of his native Czech, but also by intense personal tragedy.
After a long struggle for recognition, his music remains popular today.
 LEOS JANACEK 199

◁ LEOS AND ZDENKA JANACEK direction, using speech patterns (see

Janáček and his wife and former pupil, box, below). He often based works
Zdenka Schulzová, are shown here in on Russian literature; his first string
1881, the year of their marriage and of
the founding of his organ school in Brno. quartet is modeled on Tolstoy’s
The Kreutzer Sonata, and two of his
operas, Katya Kabanová and From
In 1881, Janáček founded an organ the House of the Dead, on Ostrovsky
school in Brno, and married one of and Dostoyevsky respectively.
his pupils, Zdenka Schulzová. During
the next few years, his interest in folk Tragedy and turmoil
music grew. He began collecting and A turning point came in 1903 with
studying traditional songs and dances the tragic death of his daughter, Olga.
of the region and in the early 1890s Janáček’s grief found some outlet in
he became effectively the leader of his piano music, including the suites
Much like his older compatriot and folklorist activities in Moravia and On an Overgrown Path and In the
friend Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček Silesia, often translating elements Mists. The murder of a young
was an all-around musician. Born in of this musical language into his own political protester in 1905 inspired
Hukvaldy, Bohemia, in 1854, Leoš compositions. From about 1879, too, an intense and agonized piano sonata.
became a choirboy at the Abbey of he started transcribing the intonations Janáček’s marriage was now under △ FOLK DANCES IN MORAVIA
St. Thomas in Brno; later, he studied of speech. In 1909, he acquired an strain, and after he had an affair with Title page of the score for Janáček’s
at the organ school in Prague and Edison phonograph, which he used the opera singer Gabriela Horvátová, Folk Dances in Moravia. The composer
was inspired by Moravian traditions to
then piano, organ, and composition in to record folk song, much as Bartók his wife attempted suicide. The produce a radically new form of music.
Leipzig. His teachers were impressed did in Hungary (see pp. 244–245). married couple remained together,
by his talent, although some regarded Janáček’s influences from opera but were estranged. However, the
him as a problematic personality. At and the concert hall included relationship that made most impact
first, he eked out a living by giving Smetana, Dvořák, and Tchaikovsky— on his music was an infatuated yet
piano lessons and conducting amateur but he detested Wagner. He developed chiefly platonic friendship with a far
choirs, while composing on the side. his own operas in a highly individual younger woman, Kamila Stösslová,
whom he met in 1917. Their letters
provided him with great inspiration
for his work; many of his finest operas ON TECHNIQUE
and chamber works date from these Speech patterns
years, notably Katya Kabanová and the An interest in folklore was shared by
string quartet Intimate Letters. It was many nationalist composers in central
only now, too, that his works began Europe during Janáček’s lifetime,
to achieve the full recognition that but his use of speech patterns was
entirely new. He would notate the
he had craved. pitches and rhythms of the spoken
During an excursion to the Czech language and examine how
countryside with Stösslová and “speech tunes” altered according to
her son, Janáček contracted a chill, context and the speaker’s state of
mind. This enabled him to break
which became pneumonia. He died free from the specter of Wagner and
of the illness on August 28, 1928. develop his music in a different way.
The technique powers his operas such
as The Cunning Little Vixen, but also
◁ HOUSE OF THE DEAD his choral masterpiece, the Glagolitic
The handwritten score for Janáček’s Mass, and even his instrumental
powerful final opera, From the House works, such as the Sinfonietta.
of the Dead, which was published
10 years after the end of World War II.

“ I hear music constantly in the empty

silence, while the intellect is stilled and
all emotional strings are relaxed. ”
LEOS JANACEK
200

▷ EDWARD ELGAR, c. 1900

The British composer, shown here in his
forties, poses for his portrait at the piano.
The year before this photograph was
taken, Elgar stepped into the spotlight,
winning popular national acclaim with
his Enigma Variations—a work that was
to become internationally successful
and establish him as household name.

Edward Elgar
1857–1934, BRITISH
The most prominent English composer of the early 20th century,
Elgar wrote music ranging from the dramatic, brash, and robust
to the tender and lyrical. His work retains universal appeal.
 EDWARD ELGAR 201

Edward Elgar was born in 1857 in

the village of Broadheath, outside IN CONTEXT
Worcester, in the West Midlands. His The Three Choirs
family were of the modest lower-
Festival
middle class. His father ran a music
shop in Worcester, played the organ at Founded in 1715 and still flourishing
a local church, and tuned pianos. His today, the Three Choirs Festival
rotates annually between Hereford,
mother was an ardent Catholic and Gloucester, and Worcester cathedrals.
raised her children in that faith. It has provided great opportunities
Elgar’s musical education consisted for music-making on a scale rarely
of learning to play piano and violin seen in the English provinces.
From 1878 to 1893, the young
from his father. As an adolescent, he Elgar played violin in the orchestra
aspired to study music in Germany, each time the festival was held in
but his family could not afford to send Worcester Cathedral. Many of his
him to Leipzig. Instead, he settled early works were written to be
performed at successive festivals,
into a life as a musician, giving including the Froissart overture (1890)
lessons, playing violin in provincial and the cantatas The Black Knight
orchestras, and even organizing (1893) and The Light of Life (1896).
music at a local lunatic asylum.
WORCESTER CATHEDRAL, NORTHWEST
VIEW, 1836
Early life and influences
Elgar began composing from an early
age. Although often regarded as a engagement to a Worcester girl, profound influence on Elgar’s career.
quintessentially English composer, Helen Weaver, terminated when Alice was intelligent and gifted: she
he had no interest in his nation’s she emigrated to New Zealand. wrote poetry and had published a
folk music and was dismissive of The person who saved Elgar from novel. She gave Elgar emotional
its musical traditions. Instead, the provincial frustration was Alice security and boosted his confidence.
models he sought to emulate were Roberts. Nine years older than the She also taught him to handle
the great Germans such as Brahms, composer, she was the daughter of contacts with a higher social stratum
Schumann, and Wagner, whose a major-general. In 1886, Elgar was and, importantly, had a private income
works he had heard at concerts employed to give her piano lessons. that boosted his slim earnings. His
on day trips to London and later on An unlikely love blossomed and the first successful composition, the
vacations in Bavaria. Two of Elgar’s couple married in 1889, to the disgust tuneful Salut d’amour, written for Alice
early orchestral pieces were given of the haughty Roberts family, who on their engagement, premiered in
public performances in 1883 and were appalled by Elgar’s inappropriate 1889, the year of their marriage.
1884, without making any impact. age, his lowly social status, and his Their only child was born in 1890.
His private life also stalled, his Catholicism. The marriage had a Following a brief sojourn in
London, the couple returned to
rural Worcestershire, settling near
the Malvern Hills. Through the 1890s △ CAROLINE ALICE ELGAR
Elgar had built a reputation as a The accomplished Caroline Alice Roberts,
composer of choral works, from The known as Alice, married Edward Elgar
at London’s Brompton Oratory, a Catholic
Black Knight, premiered in Worcester church, when she was 40 and he was in
in 1893 (see box, above), to Caractacus, his thirties. The marriage met fierce
featured at the Leeds Festival in 1898. opposition from her family.
To the general public, however, he was
a complete unknown when the first
performances of the Enigma Variations

◁ ELGAR’S BIRTHPLACE
Elgar was born in this picturesque yet
simple cottage in Lower Broadheath,
Worcestershire, the heart of the
British countryside, in 1857. It is
now the Elgar Birthplace Museum.
△ THE MALVERN HILLS in 1899 brought him national renown. an unofficial national anthem, the revealed themselves in a spate of
After spending a short period of time Dedicated to “my friends pictured well-known melody of the trio section psychosomatic illnesses. He above
in London soon after their marriage, within,” the conceit of a series of later acquiring lyrics as “Land of Hope all despised the British ruling classes
the Elgars returned to live near the
Malvern Hills in rural Worcestershire, character studies allowed the and Glory.” In 1902, Gerontius was for failing to share his belief in the
where they had both been born and Variations to cover a wide emotional performed to acclaim in Germany, transcendental value of music. Made
brought up. The countryside remained range, by turns grave and humorous, and the English now realized that, for professor of music at Birmingham
a source of immense comfort, joy, and melancholy and exhilarating. The the first time since the 17th century, University—a post created for him
inspiration to Elgar throughout his life.
“enigma” referred to in the title was they had a native-born composer in 1905—he used his lectures to
never explained, but no doubt aided of international stature. deliver an attack on English cultural
the work’s popular success. Elgar was fêted and showered with philistinism that astonished his
honors, culminating in a knighthood patriotic admirers.
Criticism and acclaim in 1904. He bought a large house
Elgar’s finest choral work, The Dream in Hereford and acquired wealthy
of Gerontius, followed, but did not win friends, concealing his neurotic,
easy acceptance. With a setting of sensitive, melancholy nature behind
a long poem by Cardinal John Henry the persona of a bluff, dog-loving,
Newman, the key figure in the Catholic golf-playing English gentleman.
revival in 19th-century England, it Adopted by the British establishment,
provoked criticism from the Protestant he always at heart felt like an outsider,
Church. Its first performance at the because of both his Catholicism
Birmingham Festival in 1900 was and his lowly birth. Inner stresses
a poorly rehearsed shambles that
reduced the composer to despair.
However, the following year his ▷ THE ENIGMA VARIATIONS
stirring Pomp and Circumstance This score from the first page of Elgar’s
Enigma Variations, Op. 36, includes the
marches were greeted with frantic
signatures of the members of the London
enthusiasm by patriotic audiences. Symphony Orchestra who played the
The first of them soon became piece at the Festival of Leeds in 1901.

“ There is music in the air … the world

is full of it and you simply take as
much as you require. ”
EDWARD ELGAR
 EDWARD ELGAR 203

KEY WORKS

1890 1899 1900 1908 1910 1919

Froissart, a Enigma Variations, The Dream of Symphony No. 1, The first The Cello
concert overture Variations on an Gerontius, Elgar’s premiered by the performance of Concerto,
for the Three Original Theme choral work setting Hallé Orchestra Elgar’s technically Elgar’s last
Choirs Festival, are performed a poem by Cardinal in Manchester, demanding and masterpiece,
is Elgar’s first to critical acclaim Newman, is staged is a popular and lyrical Violin is written in
well-received at St. James’s Hall in Birmingham critical triumph. Concerto is given the aftermath
orchestral work. in London. Town Hall. by Fritz Kreisler. of World War I.

pleasures was disappointed. Elgar ▷ COCKAIGNE OVERTURE

said of an unresponsive audience at Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture (“In London
the premiere of his Second Symphony Town”), 1900–1901, written for full
orchestra, offers a lively and humorous
at the Queen’s Hall, London, in 1911, portrait of London and its inhabitants.
“they just sat there like stuffed pigs.” The cover of the score is shown here.
He reacted to the outbreak of World
War I in 1914 with horror, and was
appalled at the jingoistic exploitation Elgar’s appointment as Master of the
Musical inspiration continued to flow. of his “Land of Hope and Glory.” In King’s Music in 1924 only confirmed
Elgar completed two of an intended 1917, he withdrew to an isolated his misplaced reputation as a stuffy
trilogy of oratorios, The Apostles house in Sussex, where he wrote establishment figure. The composer
(1903) and The Kingdom (1906); he his Cello Concerto, a masterpiece remained musically active as a
abandoned the third part. In 1908, of elegiac sadness and piercing conductor of his own works, many
his robust First Symphony repeated nostalgia. It was his last finished of which he recorded for posterity.
and even exceeded the triumph of work. Alice died in 1920; Elgar’s In 1932, a commission from the
Pomp and Circumstance, receiving creative drive died with her. BBC led him belatedly to resume
almost a hundred performances composition, working on a Third
in its first year. The symphony was Later years Symphony, but it was never
also well received internationally, Associated with the lost Edwardian completed. Elgar died of cancer
notably in the US and Germany. prewar world, Elgar’s music was in 1934 and was buried alongside
The Violin Concerto, first performed derided by the young Modernists who his beloved Alice in the village of
by Austrian virtuoso Fritz Kreisler in were the trend-setters of the 1920s. Little Malvern in Worcestershire.
1910, was another enduring success.
One of the most demanding works in
the violin repertoire, it may have owed IN CONTEXT
its emotional lyricism to Elgar’s love Orchestral recording
for Alice Stuart Wortley, daughter of Elgar was a pioneer of recorded
the British artist John Everett Millais music. In the early 20th century,
and wife of an MP. If the romance records of famous singers were
did take place, there is no evidence marketed, but very few recordings
of orchestras had been attempted
that it disturbed Elgar’s marriage. before 1914, when the Gramophone
In 1912, the Elgars moved to London. Company signed Elgar to conduct
They led a life of theater-going and his most popular works. In 1931,
dinner parties. Elgar’s music was as technology began to transform
the quality of recorded sound, Elgar
then developing toward inwardness. was invited to inaugurate EMI’s new
A listening public expecting simpler Abbey Road studio, conducting the
London Symphony Orchestra in
his Falstaff suite. His most famous
recording was a 1932 performance
of his Violin Concerto with violinist
Yehudi Menuhin, who was then
just 16 years old.

GRAMOPHONE AT ELGAR’S BIRTHPLACE

MUSEUM, BROADHEATH
 ETHEL SMYTH 205

Ethel Smyth
1858–1944, BRITISH
Fiercely independent, Smyth defied convention to become one of the
IN CONTEXT
first female composers to achieve international recognition. She gained The Women’s Social
notoriety for her uncompromising support for the suffragette movement. and Political Union
Campaigns to secure votes for British
women gained momentum in the
Ethel Mary Smyth was born in 1868 ◁ “THE MARCH OF THE WOMEN” 19th century, with several suffrage
in Sidcup, Kent, at that time one of The song sheet for Smyth’s inspirational organizations lobbying Parliament
anthem—incorporating the suffragette for change. In 1903, frustrated by
the most conservative of London lack of success, a more militant group
colors of purple, green, and white—
suburbs. Her middle-class upbringing shows women and girls of the WSPU. was founded in Manchester, led by
reflected the Victorian idea that a Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928).
woman’s place was in the home, The Women’s Social and Political
Union (WSPU) advocated direct
but her father’s career as a major campaigner Emmeline Pankhurst, action and civil disobedience, and
general in the army had enabled the founder of the Women’s Social the suffragettes were prepared to
family to travel to India periodically, and Political Union (see box, right). break the law in order to achieve
so Ethel’s horizons were widened. Devoting all her efforts to the cause of their goal. Many of the women were
imprisoned, and force-fed when they
women’s suffrage, Smyth composed continued their protest by means of
Bold early move a stirring march that was used by the hunger strikes. From 1910 to 1912,
At home in England, she had music suffragettes at their rallies in London. Smyth gave up music to focus her
lessons and, in defiance of her father, attention on the WSPU, although
she composed their anthem in 1911.
decided to pursue a career in the Imprisonment and acclaim
subject. She set off, aged 19, to study After addressing a demonstration in
at the Conservatoire in Leipzig, where Trafalgar Square in 1912, Smyth was
she came into contact with leading her composition, but, as a woman, she arrested and imprisoned for breaking
composers such as Dvořák, Grieg, struggled to get her music played, the windows of the home of the
and Tchaikovsky. However, she was until a performance of her Mass in D colonial secretary. While incarcerated
disappointed with the tuition at the at the Albert Hall, London, in 1893 to in Holloway Prison, she was seen by
Conservatoire and left after a year to an enthusiastic audience gave her the Beecham—who was visiting the
study privately under Heinrich von breakthrough she deserved. jail—leaning out of her cell window,
Herzogenberg, who introduced her Smyth then turned her attention to conducting “The March of the Women”
to Brahms and Clara Schumann. opera, beginning with Der Wald, which with her toothbrush.
Her studies with von Herzogenberg was premiered in Berlin in 1902, and During World War I, she trained as
gave her a solid grounding in musical the next year performed at the New a radiographer in France, and on her
theory, enabling her to progress with York Metropolitan Opera. This was return to England, enjoyed modest
followed by perhaps her best-known success from performances of her
work, The Wreckers, a three-act opera work. She was made a Dame of the
◁ ETHEL SMYTH, c. 1925 championed by conductor Thomas British Empire in 1923. In her latter
Although from a staunchly middle-class, Beecham, an admirer of her music. years she wrote little music, but
conservative background, Smyth became
In 1910, Smyth put her musical published several entertaining books EMMELINE PANKHURST, ACTIVIST AND
a prominent suffragette and composed
the rousing anthem of the Women’s Social career on hold after she met, and of memoirs. She died of pneumonia COFOUNDER OF THE WSPU
and Political Union. fell passionately in love with, the after a long illness in 1944, aged 86.

“ The charms of seclusion are seldom combined

with the conveniences of civilization. ”
ETHEL SMYTH, STREAKS OF LIFE, 1921
206 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Frederick Delius
1862–1934, BRITISH
Although Delius studied music in Germany and lived much of his life
abroad, his style was both highly individual and recognizably English,
placing him among the greatest British composers of the 20th century.

Fritz Delius (he adopted the name to support Fritz’s developing career, Nonetheless, in 1907, the conductor
Frederick many years later) was and in 1888 he moved to Paris where, Thomas Beecham heard some of
one of 14 children born to Julius with financial help from his uncle, he Delius’s pieces at a concert in London,
and Elise Delius, who had moved worked full-time as a composer. and became his most ardent
to England from Germany. He was Delius mixed with artists and writers champion. Encouraged by Beecham,
born in Bradford—where Julius in the city, and it was probably here Delius produced some of his best-
was a successful wool merchant— that he caught syphilis, which plagued known music, including Brigg Fair,
and showed an early talent for music. his later years; but it was also where the Mass of Life, In a Summer Garden,
It was, however, assumed that Fritz he began his relationship with German On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring,
would follow in his father’s footsteps. painter Jelka Rosen. She bought a and A Village Romeo and Juliet.
After completing his education house in the village of Grez-sur-Loing, During World War I, he and Jelka
in 1880, he worked for the family just outside Paris, where the couple traveled to Norway and Britain, and △ DELIUS AND HIS WIFE, 1929
business in offices in France, Sweden, lived after their marriage in 1903. visited spas in France for Frederick’s Delius, in a wheelchair, is shown arriving
and Germany. He enjoyed the cultural Despite his German ancestry and health, as the effects of syphilis began at Queen’s Hall, London, with his wife,
Jelka Rosen, to attend rehearsals of his
life of these countries, and also took studies in Leipzig, Delius developed to take hold. During the 1920s, as works conducted by Thomas Beecham.
lessons in music. Still opposed to his a distinctive, eclectic style that owed his reputation peaked, he became
son’s wish to take up a musical career, little to German Romanticism and increasingly incapable of working;
his father then sent him to Florida more to the folk-inspired nostalgia by 1928, he was blind and confined ▷ FREDERICK DELIUS, 1929
to manage an orange plantation. associated with English pastoral to a wheelchair. However, with help This work by Ernest Procter is a sketch
Undaunted, Fritz continued his studies music. Surprisingly, however, his from Eric Fenby (see box, below), he of the composer listening to a rehearsal
for the Delius festival held at the Queen’s
in the US, and after a year moved to music became popular with German was able to complete and revise his
Hall in West London in November 1929.
Danville, Virginia, where he made a conductors and audiences, while unfinished works, and even start new It is a study for a larger painting that
living teaching music, French, and comparatively unknown elsewhere. projects before his death in 1934. shows the composer in his wheelchair.
German and also composed pieces
inspired by US popular songs.
IN PROFILE
The big break Eric Fenby
In 1886, despite his father’s wishes, Delius’s amanuensis, Eric Fenby
Fritz moved to Leipzig to study at (1906–1997), was an organist and
the Conservatoire. This gave him choirmaster, and also accompanied
the grounding in theory he needed, silent films on the piano in his local
cinema. In 1928, he heard Delius’s
but his inspiration came from meeting music and, learning of the composer’s
Edvard Grieg, who encouraged the disabilities, offered his services as
young composer and influenced his an assistant. After Delius’s death,
early style. Grieg persuaded the family he worked with the music publisher
Boosey & Hawkes, and during World
War II served in the Royal Army
Education Corps. He was appointed
artistic director of the 1962 Delius
Centenary Festival, and two years
later became professor of harmony
at the Royal Academy of Music.

ERIC FENBY WITH A GRAMOPHONE ONCE

BELONGING TO DELIUS, LONDON, 1980
 RICHARD STRAUSS 209

Richard Strauss
1864–1949, GERMAN
A prolific writer of songs and tone poems, Strauss is celebrated above all
for his operas. Although he flirted with Modernism in Salome and Elektra,
he remained essentially a (very) late Romantic to the end of his long life.

◁ PAGE FROM TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Strauss described the final bars of IN CONTEXT
Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde as
“the most beautifully orchestrated Treading a thin line
B-major chord in the history of music.”
Strauss’s conduct under the Nazis has
been a subject of controversy. Naively
apolitical, he both loathed the regime
fluent instrumental works modeled and occasionally did their bidding, as
largely on Mozart, Beethoven, when he conducted Wagner’s Parsifal
and Mendelssohn, including two at the 1933 Bayreuth Festival after
Toscanini withdrew in protest at the
symphonies and an ebullient horn
Nazis’ treatment of the Jews. In
concerto. At 21, Strauss published mitigation, Strauss was anxious
his first truly original set of songs, to protect his Jewish daughter-in-law,
including the soaring “Zueignung.” Alice, and her children. He did, though,
court danger with his support of
the Jewish Stefan Zweig, librettist
A growing reputation of the opera Die schweigsame Frau.
Macbeth (1886–1888) was the first
of a series of brilliant orchestral
tone poems that made Strauss’s
international reputation. “I’ve arrived,”
he exclaimed after the 1889 triumph
Richard Georg Strauss was born in allow him to hear anything but the of the sexually explicit Don Juan—
Munich on June 11, 1864, the eldest Austro-German classics. Wagner was in effect a condensed Wagner opera
child of Franz Joseph Strauss, beyond the pale. After composing his minus the voices. There was, by all
principal horn in the city’s court first song at the age of six, Strauss accounts, more than a touch of wish
orchestra, and his second wife, continued to write songs modeled on fulfillment in his identification with
Josephine Pschorr Strauss. The Schubert and Schumann, encouraged the Don’s amorous exploits, as well
boy quickly proved something of a by his father and his flamboyant aunt as in the idealized self-portrait of
child prodigy, though his musically Johanna, a talented mezzo-soprano. Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life).
conservative father would not A crucial moment in Strauss’s teens From the mid-1880s, Strauss
was his discovery of Wagner’s Tristan held a series of conducting posts
und Isolde. Defying his father’s orders, in Munich, Weimar, and Berlin. In
◁ RICHARD STRAUSS he devoured the score “in a trance” 1894, he married a former singing
In Strauss’s long career as conductor
and became a lifelong Wagnerian— pupil, Pauline de Ahna, a general’s A NAZI PARTY POSTER DEPICTING
and composer, he traveled extensively
through Europe and the US, directing though not yet in his own music. daughter (who once said that Strauss ADOLF HITLER, c. 1935
many of the world’s greatest orchestras. Before he was 20 he had composed was “anything but a Don Juan”).

“ I employ cacophony to outrage people. ”

RICHARD STRAUSS TO GUSTAV MAHLER
210 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Pauline was notoriously abrasive, as

ON TECHNIQUE evident in the graphic portrait of her in
Tone poems the autobiographical opera Intermezzo.
However, she was also a gifted singer:
Strauss wrote four of his finest
songs as a wedding present for
Pauline. Published as Op. 27, these
include “Morgen!,” a rapt love duet for
piano and voice, and the operatically
extrovert “Cäcilie.”
Pauline created the leading role
in Strauss’s first opera, Guntram
(a failure on its premiere in 1894),
and inspired his abiding love affair
with the soprano voice. He once
said of her: “She sang my songs
with an expression and a poetry such
as I have never heard since.” She
remained his ideal interpreter even
when her voice grew more fragile
and her platform manner (including
ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA, OP. 30,
FRONTISPIECE shameless applause-seeking antics
during her husband’s piano postludes)
Strauss’s tone poems are the natural increasingly outrageous.
successors to Liszt’s symphonic
poems, though they far surpass them
in vivid characterization and virtuoso
Operatic success
use of a vast orchestra. Yet for all Between 1894 and 1906, Strauss
their late-Romantic opulence, they composed some 70 songs, many △ DER ROSENKAVALIER sophistication. Like Rosenkavalier,
never lose sight of the Classical of which he performed with Pauline. In this 1912 painting by Robert Sterl, it contains three great soprano roles:
tradition in which Strauss was raised. Ernst von Schuch conducts Der
But in the new century, his creative the ardent, idealistic young composer
Ein Heldenleben and Don Juan are cast Rosenkavalier. Schuch conducted the
in sonata form, while Till Eulenspiegel life was dominated by opera. After premieres of many of Strauss’s operas. (apparently modeled on the teenage
is a rondo. Most ambitious is the the satirical Feuersnot (1901), the Mozart), the death-haunted Ariadne,
Nietzsche-inspired Also sprach composer embraced Modernism and the flighty coloratura soprano
Zarathustra, famous for its use in the
with the violently compressed Salome for a very different work, the ever Zerbinetta. Die Frau ohne Schatten
1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Its
ongoing clash between the keys of B (1905), to a play by Oscar Wilde, and popular Der Rosenkavalier (1911). (The Woman Without a Shadow, 1913 ),
and C symbolizes the irreconcilability Elektra (1909). Both operas probed Retreating from Modernist anarchy, a symbolic fairy tale that focuses
of nature and humankind. emotional and sexual extremes by Strauss wrote a bittersweet comedy on themes of human fertility and
taking dissonance to a new level; of manners that mingles Wagnerian marital relationships, is Strauss’s
and both caused a sensation. Strauss techniques (including subtle thematic and Hofmannsthal’s homage to
built a luxurious villa at the resort of transformation) with a Mozartian The Magic Flute. Its orchestration is the
Garmisch in Bavaria on the proceeds lightness and grace. If Figaro has most sumptuous and glittering in all
of Salome. A study in morbid hysteria, a successor, this is it. of Strauss’s oeuvre—which is saying
Elektra contains the most discordantly What might be called the Mozartian something—while the Empress and
“advanced” music that Strauss ever and Wagnerian sides of Strauss’s the dyer Barak sing some of his
composed. The opera was his first musical personality also intermingle most fervently lyrical music.
collaboration with the Viennese in most of his later operas. Ariadne Inspiration burned more fitfully in
author Hugo von Hofmannsthal, auf Naxos (1912, revised 1916), is Strauss’s later operas, of which the
who then also provided the libretto a chamber opera of self-conscious two most successful are Arabella

“ My wife, my child, my music, nature,

and the sun; they are my happiness. ”
RICHARD STRAUSS
 RICHARD STRAUSS 211

KEY WORKS

1889 1905 1911 1933 1945 1948

Don Juan Salome uses an Der Rosenkavalier Strauss’s final Strauss’s Strauss bows out
premieres in often discordant recalls Mozart and collaboration with Metamorphosen, with the autumnal
Weimar: Strauss musical language indulges Strauss’s Hofmannsthal, for 23 solo strings, Vier letzte Lieder,
is seen as the best to explore sexual taste for parody Arabella is a wry is a response to an evocation of
German composer and emotional and pastiche. comedy of the Allied bombing a vanished
since Wagner. extremes. manners. of Dresden. Romanticism.

(1933), a comedy-cum-fairy-tale set in march of Beethoven’s “Eroica” in 1948, and, already ailing, returned
a faintly sleazy 1860s Vienna, and the Symphony, the elegiac Metamorphosen to Germany the following year. He died
urbane “conversation piece” Capriccio is Strauss’s lament for the physical at Garmisch on September 8, 1949.
(1942). Essentially an opera about and cultural devastation of Germany.
opera, this is Strauss’s supreme act of His swan song, the Vier letzte Lieder Fame and modesty
Rococo-Romantic escapism amid the (Four Last Songs, 1948 ), is at once a For all his fame, Strauss never lost
barbarism of war. consummation of his lifelong love the aura of a down-to-earth Bavarian,
affair with the soprano voice and a at his happiest sharing a game of skat
Final creative surge profound valediction, embracing sleep (a card game) with friends. Yet the
After the relatively lean decades of the and oblivion serenely and without outward nonchalance was deceptive.
1920s and 1930s, Strauss experienced sentimentality. Here is the whole A meticulous professional, Strauss
a new surge of creative energy. Having German Romantic tradition in its once remarked wryly: “I may not be
begun with Capriccio, his renewed glorious death agony. a first-rate composer, but I am a
flourishing continued with the second Having used his influence to protect first-rate second-rate composer.”
horn concerto, two wind sonatinas, his Jewish daughter-in-law and Coming from the creator of such ▽ FESTIVAL REHEARSAL
and a delectable oboe concerto. All grandsons from the Nazis (see box, works as Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss plays the piano at a rehearsal for
Ariadne auf Naxos at the Salzburg Festival
these works nostalgically refract the p.209), Strauss went into exile in Metamorphosen, and the Vier letzte
in 1926. The opera was performed by the
spirit of Mozart through a Straussian Switzerland after the war. He was Lieder, this might seem an unduly Vienna State Opera, with Lotte Lehmann
harmonic prism. Quoting the funeral cleared by the denazification tribunal modest self-assessment. in the role of Ariadne.

.
212

▷ CARL NIELSEN, c. 1892

Nielsen’s sporadic education ended
when, at the age of 13, he had a brief
apprenticeship with a grocer. The
following year he joined a military
band, which marked the beginning
of his long and successful career in
music. The composer and conductor
is shown here as a young man, soon
after his marriage and travels in Europe.

Carl Nielsen
1865–1931, DANISH
The greatest of all Danish composers, Nielsen achieved the status of a
national hero. His work was highly varied, but he is chiefly renowned as
one of the most powerful and original symphonists of the 20th century.
 CARL NIELSEN 213

“ Music is life, whereas the other arts only

represent and paraphrase life. ”
CARL NIELSEN

◁ MILITARY MUSICIAN high-spirited comic opera Maskarade,

Nielsen is shown here, instruments which remains popular in Denmark.
in hand, at the age of 14. It was at this His other work includes incidental
time that he joined a military band as a
regimental bugler in Odense, the capital music for the stage, chamber and
of Funen, his homeland. choral works, and numerous songs.

An enduring reputation
Marie Brodersen. The marriage was However, Nielsen’s reputation rests
troubled—Nielsen resented his wife’s mainly on his major orchestral
protracted absences on work trips— works—six symphonies and three
but it produced three children and concertos (for violin, clarinet, and
lasted until Nielsen’s death in 1931. flute). His symphonic output begins
In 1894, the Royal Danish Orchestra in a late-Romantic sound-world that
premiered Nielsen’s exhilarating would have been recognizable to
Symphony No. 1. Danish critic Charles Brahms but becomes increasingly
Kjerulf wrote that it seemed to Modernist, encompassing violent
presage “a coming storm of genius,” conflict and quirky humor as well
and described the work as “wonderfully as melodic richness, all within a
innocent and unknowing, as if seeing a rough-edged, earthy vigor. △ SCORE COVER, STROPHIC SONGS
child playing with dynamite.” Nielsen’s 60th birthday was marked Nielsen’s songs were (and still are) highly
by national celebration in Denmark. popular in Denmark. He wrote about 250,
collecting the best in two volumes
Carl Nielsen was born in Sortelung on Continued success The next year he had a heart attack, (1905–1907) as Strofiske Sange (Strophic
the isle of Funen (see box, below), the Nielsen’s reputation continued to grow but continued to work. In 1931, he was Songs). This is the cover of a German
seventh of 12 children in a poor family. and in 1901 he was awarded a state appointed director of the Copenhagen edition. A strophic song is one in which
His father was a house painter who pension, which gave him more time Conservatory, but he died nine months each verse is sung to the same tune.
supplemented his income by playing for composition. He was able to give later. A monument to him by his wife
the violin and cornet at weddings and up his violin post in 1905 (from this was erected in Copenhagen in 1939.
other events. By the age of six, Carl time, he sometimes conducted the In his lifetime, his reputation was
was learning to play his father’s orchestra, and was its official conductor mainly confined to Denmark and
instruments and he wrote his earliest from 1908 to 1914). In 1906, he had neighboring Sweden, but since the
compositions two or three years later. another resounding success with his 1950s it has spread worldwide.
He joined a military band in Odense
in 1879, playing horn and trombone.
From 1884 to 1886, Nielsen studied IN CONTEXT
at the Copenhagen Conservatory, and Funen
in 1889 he became a violinist in the Funen (known as Fyn in Danish),
Royal Danish Orchestra. A scholarship where Nielsen was born and grew
enabled him to spend nine months in up, is the third largest of Denmark’s
1890–1891 traveling around Europe, many islands. It is renowned for
its fertile farmland and natural
where he met (in Paris) and married beauty, which has given rise to
(in Florence) the Danish sculptor Anne its nomination as “the garden of
Denmark.” Nielsen’s autobiography,
My Childhood on Funen (1927), has an
honored place in Danish literature.
The capital of the island is Odense,
where there is a museum devoted
to Nielsen and his sculptor wife.

WINDMILL IN EGESKOV, FUNEN,

DENMARK
214 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Jean Sibelius IN PROFILE

Robert Kajanus
Sibelius was fortunate that, unlike
1865–1957, FINNISH many composers, he never had to
wait long to hear a new orchestral
work for the first time. In 1882,
The most powerful composer ever produced by the Nordic countries, Robert Kajanus (1856–1933) founded
the Helsinki Orchestral Society,
Sibelius found remarkable ways of renewing the forms of orchestral Finland’s first professional orchestra
(today the Helsinki Philharmonic
music, especially the symphony. Orchestra). A lifelong friend (and
drinking companion), Kajanus often
conducted Sibelius’s music, and also
made his orchestra available for
Johan Sibelius (he took the French In 1885, aged 20, having graduated In 1888, Sibelius had met Aino Sibelius to conduct himself. In the
version of his first name in later life) from high school, Sibelius moved Järnefelt, the 17-year-old daughter of early 1930s, he made the very first
was born in December 1865 in the to Helsinki and studied violin at the an aristocratic family who, unusually commercial recordings of Sibelius’s
small town of Hämeenlinna in Finland, Music Institute. During his time there, for their class, were Finnish-speaking orchestral music; these are still
regarded as unsurpassed classics.
a region that until 1918 was a Grand he adopted his father’s feckless habits nationalists. The couple were married
Duchy of Czarist Russia. The educated and struggled with debt and drinking soon after Kullervo’s premiere, and the
classes—among them Johan’s issues for the next four decades. first of their six daughters (one died in
parents—were generally Swedish- His dream of becoming a virtuoso infancy) was born the following year.
speaking; the broader population violinist was tempered as a result of
spoke Finnish, which was increasingly his friendship with Ferruccio Busoni New directions
associated with a spirit of growing (see p.268), the master-pianist who Sibelius now grappled with the
national unease and restlessness taught at the Institute. Realizing that issues of how to earn a living (part-
at Russian political domination. this level of performance would be time teaching at the Music Institute
beyond him, Sibelius spent a year helped) and what to compose next.
Early struggles and success as a promising student-composer in His first response was the symphonic
Sibelius’s father was a doctor, who Berlin, then another in Vienna. But poem En Saga (1892), commissioned
died in a typhoid epidemic when he could never have envisaged the by the conductor Robert Kajanus (see
Johan was only two, leaving Maria astonishing success of his first major box, right). He also produced the first
Sibelius, his pregnant young widow, work, Kullervo, when he conducted of many unaccompanied choral works,
a mountain of debts. Maria took its premiere in Helsinki in 1892. Rakastava (The Lover), a beautifully
her family to live with her mother In this work, Sibelius tells the story imagined small masterpiece. In 1893,
elsewhere in Hämeenlinna. They of the principal character in the his Karelia—incidental music written
could not afford to give the three Kalevala, the Finnish folk epic, in the for a pageant in the town of Viipuri
children an elite, Swedish-speaking form of a 90-minute, five-movement (now Vyborg)—celebrated the culture
education, so Johan was sent to “symphonic poem” for two soloists, of the northeastern province of
a local Finnish-speaking school. male chorus, and orchestra. Finland (now part of Russia).
The composer’s next major ROBERT KAJANUS
statement was a symphonic suite
that was based on the exploits of
Lemminkäinen, the adventurer-
warrior of the Kalevala. The premiere
in 1896 was a lukewarm success, ▷ JEAN SIBELIUS
This portrait, showing Sibelius brooding
but one of the movements, “The
and with disheveled hair, is by Akseli
Swan of Tuonela,” soon took on Gallen-Kallela, a friend of the composer
an independent life of its own; (see also caption p.216, left).

◁ SCENE FROM THE KALEVALA

A 19th-century watercolor depicts
the character in the Finnish epic the
Kalevala on whom Sibelius based
his symphonic poem, Kullervo. The
music’s surging symphonic command
and ultra-vivid evocation of the Finnish
landscape were instantly acclaimed.
216 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

the music’s long cor anglais solo, ▷ SCORE FOR (the source of
uncoiling against a background of SYMPHONY NO. 2, Debussy’s opera,
muted and divided strings, is one The remains of see p.193, and
Sibelius’s original
of Sibelius’s great feats of imagination. score for Symphony Schoenberg’s
His First Symphony, strongly No. 2 are held symphonic poem,
influenced by Tchaikovsky, premiered in the Sibelius see p.233). Sibelius
in 1899 and was followed by the far Museum in Turku, supplied six musical
southwest Finland.
more individual Second Symphony, numbers, arranging one
with its masterly first movement of them as Valse triste and
that stitches together fragmentary for the occasion; selling it to a music firm. They, in turn,
themes into a central development the last item, Finland Awakes, later sold it to his German publisher, who
section, and then unpicks them again. revised and renamed Finlandia, issued it in multiple arrangements:
Meanwhile, the waves of Finnish secured his international fame. Valse triste was soon being played by
nationalism were rolling high. In hotel and salon bands all over Europe.
1899, a Russian-imposed “February Growing mastery Sibelius never quite forgave himself
▽ LAKE KEITELE, 1905 Manifesto” abolished Finnish freedom Sibelius also began to compose for missing out on a small fortune
This tranquil landscape was painted by of speech and right of assembly. A incidental music for Helsinki’s in royalty payments. His next
Sibelius’s collaborator, Akseli Gallen- pageant was organized in Helsinki to theater scene. Kuolema (Death), by his major works were a virtuosic Violin
Kallela, whom the composer hailed as
protest at the suppression of press brother-in-law Arvid Järnefelt, was a Concerto and a Third Symphony in a
“Finland’s greatest painter.” The scene’s
contemplative mood is evocative of freedom, and Sibelius composed a Symbolist play in the style of Maurice leaner, more Classical style and with
Sibelius’s more meditative works. six-movement orchestral sequence Maeterlinck’s Pelléas et Mélisande a quietly introspective poetic streak.
 JEAN SIBELIUS 217

“ Music begins where

the possibilities of
language end. ”
JEAN SIBELIUS, 1919

his Seventh (which was originally

named Fantasia sinfonica). Then a IN CONTEXT
commission arrived from the New Finnish nationhood
York Philharmonic Orchestra. The
result was Tapiola, named after Although a supporter of Finnish
national independence, Sibelius was
the forest god of Finnish mythology. hostile to the Russia-backed “Red”
It is the wildest and greatest of all militia that took over the Helsinki
Sibelius’s nature evocations and is, area in 1917, following the Russian
In 1903, Sibelius took out a loan to at the same time, a supreme feat of Revolution and the seizure of power
△ “AINOLA,” SIBELIUS’S HOUSE
there by Lenin’s Communist Party. A
build a family home in the village Sibelius is shown here with members closely worked orchestral mastery. vicious civil war broke out between
of Järvenpää, near Lake Tuusula, of his family in the grounds of his house,
the “Reds” and the anti-Communist
“Ainola,” at the picturesque lakeside
north of Helsinki. He financed the village of Järvenpää. A long silence “White” military forces. Sibelius
construction of “Ainola” (Aino’s Home) Sibelius’s famous “creative silence” composed his choral Jäger March
to honor the German battalion that
with help from his annual stipend from then on was never complete; fought alongside the “Whites.” Their
from the Finnish government (first found himself unable to travel abroad, minor works sometimes appeared, victory in 1918 led to the foundation
granted in 1897) and his erratic with royalties cut off from his German and he revised or orchestrated some of the modern Finnish Republic.
earnings from music. The family publishers, where many of his works of his earlier music. Yet between
moved into their new home in 1904. had been placed. Tapiola in 1926 and his death 31 years
Four years later, however, Sibelius Nonetheless, the composer made later, he released no major new work.
was diagnosed with throat cancer. good progress on a Fifth Symphony In the late 1920s, he was busy with an
Painful surgery in Berlin proved for his fiftieth birthday concert in Eighth Symphony, but no manuscript
successful, but the experience 1915. He then withdrew it for revision, existed at his death. It is believed that
influenced the dark, austere mood conducting a new version a year later; Sibelius destroyed it, but the reasons
of his Fourth Symphony in 1911. for this, he spliced the two opening for this are not known—most likely a
movements together, so that the first combination of self-criticism (always
The war years flowed into the second. Still not happy, extreme, in his case) and the
Next came a symphonic poem, The he worked on a final revision while the pressures of international fame.
Oceanides, evoking the sea-nymphs Civil War (see box, right) raged around Following his death, Sibelius’s music
of Greek mythology. The piece was him, and his longed-for independent was increasingly regarded as old-
commissioned by Carl Stoeckel, a Finnish Republic came into being. fashioned, and today is not as widely
wealthy US businessman who ran a Two more symphonies followed in performed in concerts as it once was.
music festival in Norfolk, Connecticut. 1923 and 1924: the Sixth Symphony’s However, a huge recorded catalog
Sibelius arrived home from an quiet, poised tone and four-movement indicates that his work continues to CARL MANNERHEIM, FINNISH “WHITE”
acclaimed US visit just before World design are very different from the be much loved by classical music MILITARY LEADER IN THE CIVIL WAR
War I broke out in 1914 and thereafter grandly glowing single movement of listeners throughout the world.

KEY WORKS

1891–92 1893–95 1899–1900 1901–02 1914–19 1922–24 1926

The wildly successful The orchestral suite Finlandia, at first Marking a big advance The Fifth Symphony, Compressing the In Tapiola, his
first performance of Four Lemminkäinen named Finland on the Tchaikovsky- which needed two symphony’s traditional last major work,
his choral and Legends includes Awakes, becomes influenced First significant revisions four movements Sibelius achieves
orchestral Kullervo “The Swan of Sibelius’s best-known Symphony, Sibelius’s to reach its final form, into one, Sibelius’s a spellbinding
makes Sibelius a Tuonela,” which orchestral work. Second Symphony is recognized as Seventh raises his fusion of the forms
Finnish national draws international establishes him as a a major achievement. mastery of the form of the symphony
celebrity overnight. interest. master of the genre. to a new pinnacle. and tone poem.
218 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Erik Satie
1866–1925, FRENCH
Best known for his hauntingly simple Gymnopédies for piano, Satie was a
pioneer of Modernism in the early 20th century, and an iconoclastic figure
whose music and writings mirrored his eccentric lifestyle.

Often referred to as the “Velvet new stepmother, a piano teacher, to ▷ ROSICRUCIAN SYMBOL
Gentleman,” sporting a dapper gray play and compose. His efforts were Satie allied himself with Rosicrucianism,
frock coat and pince-nez, Erik Satie not altogether successful: he enrolled a set of doctrines derived from “esoteric
truths of the ancient past” that also
was a familiar figure in the cafés and at the Paris Conservatoire in 1879, absorbed elements of other faith systems.
cabarets of Paris at the turn of the but was soon dismissed for lacking
20th century. The image he cultivated the necessary talent and dedication.
was of the quintessential Parisian Rejected but not disheartened, he compositions that were arguably
gentleman, showing little evidence rejoined the Conservatoire in 1885, more significant. In Montmartre, Satie
of his highly unconventional ideas. but met with the same criticism of began frequenting the bars, cafés, and
He was born Eric Alfred Leslie Satie his abilities, and decided to leave cabarets where the artists, writers,
in Honfleur, Normandy, in 1866, the the following year to join the army. and musicians of Paris congregated.
elder son of Alfred Satie, a translator, Among them was Claude Debussy
and his Scottish wife, Jane Leslie. The Parisian life (see pp.190–193), who was making his
family moved to Paris in 1870, but Enlisting with the French infantry, he name as a composer of innovative
when Jane died two years later, Eric discovered that he was not cut out music in an Impressionist style, and ON TECHNIQUE
and his brother Conrad lived with their for military life either. He found the he and Satie struck up a friendship, Modernism and
grandparents in Honfleur until 1878, discipline and conditions unbearable, and a friendly rivalry, that would last medievalism
when they rejoined their father in Paris. and in order to get himself discharged until Debussy’s death in 1918.
Many features of Satie’s musical style
Satie had a conventional middle- found a way of intentionally catching At this time, Satie became involved were a reaction against the overblown
class education, which included music severe bronchitis. Once out of the with the mystical Rosicrucian Order, Romanticism of the 19th century. He
lessons, and was encouraged by his army, Satie returned to live with his joining the Ordre de la Rose-Croix proposed an understated lightness
father until he came of Catholique du Temple et du Graal, and and simplicity, which he achieved by
deliberately avoiding techniques
age in 1887, when he being appointed official composer associated with emotional expression,
moved to the bohemian and chapel-master. He was a devoted such as harmonic progressions and
Montmartre district member of the order, but later fell development of themes. Instead,
of Paris. It was here that out with its leader Joséphin Péladan. he returned to the cool austerity
of medieval music, but with stark
he began composing in The religious and ritual aspects of the modern harmonies. Much of his music
earnest, publishing the Rosicrucians continued to influence has a static, detached quality, with a
first of his Gymnopédies him, inspiring a number of semi- dry wit that became a hallmark of his
for piano. These works mystical works using his own arcane work. Its spare textures and repetition
were an important influence on many
of timeless simplicity, system of composing (see box, right). subsequent composers, up to and
purity, and melancholy He took to walking around in priestly including the Minimalists, such as
would be his main robes, proclaiming himself as founder, Philip Glass (see pp.302–303).
legacy, despite his leader, and sole member of the Eglise
later avant-garde Métropolitaine d’Art de Jésus

◁ MONTMARTRE
The district of Montmartre, ▷ ERIK SATIE, 1891
crowned by the basilica of This portrait of Satie as a young man
the Sacré-Cœur, became a in his studio was made by the Catalan
focus of artistic activity in painter Santiago Rusiñol i Prats, who,
the Belle Epoque, largely like Satie and many other artists,
because of its low rents. established himself in Montmartre.
220 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Conducteur (Metropolitan Art Church In 1895, a small inheritance marked dismissed as lightweight. Still intent
of Jesus the Conductor), for which the beginning of a new phase in Satie’s on making composing his career,
he wrote a Grande Messe that was life. He used some of the money to buy in 1905 he enrolled in the Schola
later known as the Messe des seven identical gray velvet corduroy Cantorum de Paris, a conservatory
pauvres (Mass for the Poor). It is suits, ditching the clerical robes and that stressed plainsong in its teaching,
difficult to judge whether this was his obsession with religious cults. The to study under Vincent d’Indy and
a sincere act of devotion or a prank. money also gave him the opportunity Albert Roussel. This was a great
At the beginning of the 1890s, to publish some of his humorous surprise to those who knew him,
Satie began cultivating his eccentric writings, and the time to compose. because the Schola was steeped in
reputation, referring to himself as a However, funds eventually ran out the 19th-century tradition, and his
“phonometrician”or “gymnopedist” and Satie was forced to move from teachers were protégés of Saint-
rather than as a composer, initiating Paris. He took a room in the suburb Saëns, whose music Satie loathed.
a series of hoaxes, and developing of Arcueil, which was his home for Nevertheless, he studied diligently
an interest in obscure local history, the rest of his life. He lived alone, for five years, paying his way with
rare marine animals, and wholly never received visitors, apart from the earnings from his cabaret work.
impracticable machinery. stray dogs, and to the outside world This period allowed him to mature
△ SUZANNE VALADON, c. 1916 presented himself as a respectable as a composer and to consolidate his
This self-portrait is by Valadon, to whom A change of style gentleman who walked into the city ideas: he moved away from the light,
Satie proposed marriage on the night With funds running low, Satie moved every day to earn a modest living as a evocative piano pieces for which he
they met at the Chat Noir cabaret. During
their brief affair, Valadon painted Satie’s in 1890 to a smaller apartment in pianist. However, behind that exterior was best known, and formulated
portrait; he gave her necklaces that Montmartre. While there, he had a was an extraordinary mind and a what can be regarded as a Modernist
were made of sausages. passionate affair—probably the only wicked sense of humor. musical philosophy, rejecting the
romantic relationship in his life—with overblown self-indulgence and
the painter Suzanne Valadon; his Return to study sentimentality he associated with the
▽ AT THE MOULIN ROUGE, devastation when she left after six For some years, Satie’s musical output late 19th century. Sometimes ironic,
THE DANCE, 1889–1890
months was a factor in the great was limited to making arrangements sometimes satirical or parodistic of
Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting captures the
atmosphere of Montmartre’s decadent changes in both his lifestyle and of popular songs and composing classical ideas, he placed emphasis
cabaret scene, in which Satie thrived. his music that followed. cabaret-style pieces, which he later on clarity and simplicity.
 ERIK SATIE 221

“ I came into the world very young, IN PROFILE

in an age that was very old. ” Creative partners
Through his work as a cabaret pianist,
ERIK SATIE Satie met many artists, writers, and
musicians and from 1910 found
himself at the center of the Parisian
avant-garde. Among his circle of
◁ SATIE AND DEBUSSY, 1910 friends was the writer Jean Cocteau,
with whom he collaborated on a
Satie (right) is pictured with his friend
number of projects. The most famous
and fellow composer Claude Debussy
of these was the ballet Parade, which
in the latter’s home on the Avenue du
incorporated elements of modern
Bois de Boulogne, Paris.
artistic trends, such as Surrealism,
Dadaism, and Futurism. The sets
and costumes were designed by
Auric, Louis Durey, and Arthur Pablo Picasso and the ballet was
Honegger—that he wished to be staged by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets
known as Les Nouveaux Jeunes. Russes. In his later years, Satie mixed
less with musicians and more with
Although members of the group
avant-garde visual artists including
composed in a variety of styles, Man Ray, Constantin Brâncuși, and
they shared an affinity with Satie’s Marcel Duchamp.
rejection of both Romanticism and
Debussy’s Impressionism. When Satie
parted from the Jeunes following the
success of his ballet Parade in 1917,
the other members gathered around
Cocteau and later became known as
Cryptic compositions including Préludes flasques (pour un Les Six. Satie meanwhile continued to
With his studies at the Schola chien) [Flabby preludes (for a dog), develop his own idiosyncratic style,
Cantorum complete, Satie set about 1912] and Embryons desséchés much influenced by the artistic
composing with renewed confidence. (Desiccated embryos, 1913). His aim movements of the time (see box,
He published a set of piano pieces was probably to poke fun at Debussy, right). In 1919, he completed what
bizarrely entitled Trois morceaux en whose impressionistic pieces were many regard as his masterpiece,
forme de poire (Three Pieces in the embellished with descriptive titles Socrate, an enigmatic Modernist
Shape of a Pear). He had written these and detailed expression markings. work scored for chamber orchestra
prior to his studies, building on the and four sopranos who sing
popularity of his early piano music, but Influences and collaborations sections from Plato’s dialogues. The
he also set about writing other works As Satie gradually made his name composition confounded critics (used
for solo piano in a more humorous as a composer, opinions about him to Satie’s whimsical works) with its
and less expressive style. In these, he became divided: the older disciples profundity, sincerity, and intimacy.
continued the habit he had begun in of Debussy, including Ravel, admired Satie died of cirrhosis of the liver
the 1890s of giving cryptic and witty Satie’s early pieces, while those of the in 1925. For the last 27 years of his
instructions to the pianist (such as younger generation latched on to the life, he lived alone in chaos among
“think right,” “wonder about yourself,” Modernism of his more recent work. unopened mail, unsorted writings, FIRST EDITION OF THE SCORE FOR
and play “on the tip of the tongue”); He gathered around him a group of and a collection of umbrellas, all SATIE’S PARADE, 1917
and, again, bizarre titles appeared, young acolytes—including Georges invisible to the outside world.

KEY WORKS

1888 1893 1911 1913 1914 1917 1918

The first of the three Composes Vexations, Publication of Trois Writes the text and Works on the The ballet Parade, a Socrate (a “symphonic
Gymnopédies, works a short piano piece morceaux en forme de incidental music of humorous cycle of collaboration with drama”), scored for
that establish his apparently to be poire (for piano, four Le Piège de Méduse, piano pieces Sports Cocteau and with sets female vocal soloists
reputation, is played 840 times hands), composed a surreal satire of et divertissements, and costumes by and small orchestra,
published. in succession. around the turn of melodrama. which is not published Picasso, is premiered is performed privately
the century. until 1923. by Diaghilev’s Ballets in a version for voice
Russes. and piano.
222

▷ RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

With popular classics such as The Lark
Ascending, The Wasps, Fantasia on a
Theme by Thomas Tallis, and A Pastoral
Symphony, the work of Vaughan Williams
often evokes a unique and deep sense
of Englishness in the listener. His music
fell out of favor following his death in
the late 1950s, but has seen a significant
revival in recent decades.

R. Vaughan Williams
1872–1958, BRITISH
Vaughan Williams created an English national music that blended classical
tradition with two home-grown cultural resources: the great composers of
the Tudor and Elizabethan eras, and the world of English folk song.
 RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 223

“ There is no difference in kind, but only

in degree, between Beethoven and the
humblest singer of a folk song. ”
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, IN NATIONAL MUSIC AND OTHER ESSAYS, 1934

The son of a country vicar, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s work as a Vaughan Williams
Vaughan Williams was brought up church musician soon led to his found himself
in Surrey by his widowed mother exploration of a far older heritage— deeply drawn to
and assorted aunts in a well-to-do, that of Thomas Tallis and William folk music’s sense
progressively minded family related Byrd, which seemed to suggest a of freedom and
to Charles Darwin. Music and a wide possible way forward with the rich naturalness. The
range of reading were encouraged, invention and artistic purity of their challenge was to
and Ralph played the piano and unaccompanied choral works. find a successful
the violin, while also making early A crucial breakthrough came from way of bringing
attempts at composing. He studied at another quite different area of interest. these qualities, and
Cambridge University and the Royal Vaughan Williams, Holst, and their also those of English Tudor and △ VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AND HOLST
College of Music, before settling in fellow composer George Butterworth Elizabethan church music, into the This photograph by composer William
London, where he worked as a church went out into England’s villages sophisticated world of the classical Gillies Whittaker shows Gustav Holst
and Vaughan Williams—lifelong friends—
organist and choral conductor, and as and countryside to collect the local concert hall. The quest lasted for walking in the Malvern Hills in 1921.
music editor of the English Hymnal. folk songs that they heard there, many years, and took in a period of
spurred on by the reality that these study in Paris with Ravel. Although
A quiet revolution were literally dying out: Britain’s Vaughan Williams was the older of
The English musical world into which industrialization during the 19th the two composers, he sensed that
Vaughan Williams was born was century had emptied the countryside the chance to acquire “a little French ON TECHNIQUE
dominated by the cultural values of of much of its population—and with it, polish,” as he put it, from Ravel’s Folk song in classical
another nation, Germany—via the a whole tradition of unaccompanied technical mastery was a useful
influences of Wagner and Brahms.
music
singing. This had sprung up on the counterbalance to the German-
But for Vaughan Williams and Gustav basis that the majority of people dominated side of musical tradition. Consisting of repeated verses of
Holst, two young, Wagner-admiring who were living and working on unaccompanied melody, folk song,
by its nature, operated differently
composers who met in their student the land were much too poor to own A breakthrough from the developmental processes
years and became lifelong friends, an instrument, so that in musical The breakthrough came in 1910, of classical musical tradition, in
English music needed a fresh start. terms, singing was all they had. when Vaughan Williams, now already which the young Vaughan Williams
in his late thirties, conducted the first was highly trained. The same was
true of the masterworks of early
performances of two very different English choral music, whose intricate
masterworks. The first of these was melodic workings were unlike the
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, “symphonic” style that dominated
which premiered in Gloucester 19th-century orchestral writing.
Vaughan Williams was able to bring
Cathedral during the Three Choirs these different resources together,
Festival. It is a single, 20-minute so that a folk-influenced style became
movement written for an orchestra the foundation of his own masterly
of string instruments only—a solo sequence of large-scale symphonies.
quartet, a large main ensemble,
and a distantly deployed smaller

◁ LEITH HILL PLACE

From the age of two until he left home
to study at the University of Cambridge,
Ralph Vaughan Williams lived at this
stunning 18th-century house, Leith Hill
Place, in Surrey. He gave the house to
the National Trust in 1945.
224 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

a folk song, but each sounds as if it

IN CONTEXT might be; and neither could have been
Wartime service written without the example of English
folk music itself.
Aged 42 when World War I broke Army service in World War I then
out, Vaughan Williams would have
halted Vaughan Williams’s composing
been exempt from call-up to the front
line, but he insisted on joining, and for several years. His first major work
was posted to northern France as an afterward was A Pastoral Symphony,
ambulance driver in the Royal Army whose slow second movement
Medical Corps. After further service
features a solo trumpet imitating an
in Greece, he was promoted to
lieutenant and joined the Royal army bugle, as if heard across a wide
Artillery, again in France—probably landscape in a quiet moment between
the underlying cause of increasing relentless shellfire; and the finale is
deafness in his old age. In the months
framed at its beginning and end by a
after the fighting stopped, he eagerly
organized and conducted choral solo soprano voice singing wordlessly,
societies assembled from the troops as if from a peaceful world that has
before they were sent home. managed to survive. Yet there were
also unexpected stages in Vaughan
Williams’s musical journey. The Fourth
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AS AN Symphony’s first audience in 1935
AMBULANCE DRIVER IN WORLD WAR I
was startled by the work’s ferocious
dissonance and frenetic style,
ensemble. The tune is fragmented, Williams’s generation. The composer’s which were later seen as somehow
varied, freely extended in different mastery of his choral and orchestral prophetic of World War II, although
directions, and then eventually forces began a lifelong sequence of the composer always rejected this
reassembled, all in a wholly new nine symphonies, which lie at the core interpretation. But he also stated
sound-world whose outward calm of an enormous musical output. privately—to Adrian Boult, who
conveys great inward power. The essence of Vaughan Williams’s conducted the premiere—that
musical world is crystallized in The the music’s inner fury related to
Poetic inspirations Lark Ascending, based on a poem the situation of his wife, Adeline,
The second masterwork, A Sea by George Meredith; this describes crippled by arthritis from which
Symphony, was first heard at the how the flying bird’s song seems to she would not recover.
Leeds Festival a few weeks after float skyward, until it drifts beyond
Fantasia. It is a large-scale, four- hearing. The music was composed Late love and a new life
movement choral setting of words for violin and piano in 1914, before After this musical outburst came
by the US poet Walt Whitman, whose the composer’s service in World War I, its polar opposite, the Serenade to
soaring yet spiritually agnostic then orchestrated before the first Music. This was written for the 1938
imaginative world was a powerful performance in 1920. The result jubilee concert of the composer’s
liberating influence on Vaughan was another understated musical longstanding supporter, the conductor
revolution. The virtuosity of the solo Sir Henry Wood, who asked for a work
violin part, different from spectacular involving 16 leading solo singers of
◁ LEAVES OF GRASS, 1889 EDITION 19th-century tradition, related back the day; Vaughan Williams took the
In A Sea Symphony, Vaughan Williams set
to the purity of line found in the words from Shakespeare’s play The
verses from poet Walt Whitman’s Leaves
of Grass, first published in 1855 but with concertos of Bach. Neither of the Merchant of Venice. The music’s radiant
several revised editions thereafter. work’s two main themes is actually serenity had an immediate impulse:

KEY WORKS

1910 1920 1922 1925 1938 1951 1958

With the premieres of Completed before A Pastoral Symphony The choral work Composed for the The Pilgrim’s Progress, Partly inspired by
the Tallis Fantasia for World War I, The Lark is a memorial elegy Sancta Civitas (The jubilee concert of an opera based on Thomas Hardy’s
strings and A Sea Ascending for violin to a disappearing Holy City) portrays conductor Sir Henry John Bunyan’s story novel Tess of the
Symphony, Vaughan and small orchestra rural world, and to the apocalyptic Wood, Serenade to about the journey of a d’Urbervilles, Vaughan
Williams becomes his is now performed for those who died in happenings of the Music sets words from Christian soul toward Williams’s Ninth
generation’s leading the first time. World War I. biblical Book of Shakespeare’s The God, is premiered at Symphony is an
English composer. Revelation. Merchant of Venice. Covent Garden. old-age masterwork.
 RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 225

“ Ralph has been dead for over 35

years and every year has seemed
as long as the first. ”
URSULA VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, SPEAKING OF HER HUSBAND IN THE 1990s

a meeting with Ursula Wood, a young final years. The Sixth Symphony of Symphony. The night before Adrian
army wife with a liking for poetry, had 1948 explored a turbulent yet at Boult was due to conduct the new
led to a passionate affair. Before the times also ethereally calm sound- work’s first recording, the composer
deaths of Ursula’s husband during world far removed from anything died—leaving a legacy that is still
World War II and of Adeline in 1951, resembling traditional “Englishness.” sometimes derided as part of the
the lovers kept their relationship The premiere at the Royal Opera so-called “English cowpat,” or pastoral,
secret from almost everyone, except House, Covent Garden, of The Pilgrim’s school of composers, but which ▽ RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Adeline herself. In 1943, Ursula had Progress, subtitled “a morality in a continues to survive the musical AND URSULA WOOD, 1951
a pregnancy terminated. prologue and four acts,” was the world’s fashion changes. Today, the Ralph Vaughan Williams (center) and his
The closeness of this unlikely couple, culmination of nearly half a century range and scale of Vaughan Williams’s future wife Ursula (almost 40 years
his junior) are depicted here rehearsing
followed by their marriage in 1953, of on-off work on the project. The achievement, which reach far beyond A Sea Symphony with conductor and
contributed greatly to the remarkable summer of 1958 saw the first mere pastoralism, are appreciated cellist John Barbirolli at the Hallé
creative energy of Vaughan Williams’s performance of the powerful Ninth more widely than ever before. rehearsal rooms, Manchester.
 SERGEI RACHMANINOFF 227

Sergei Rachmaninoff
1873–1943, RUSSIAN
One of the last great representatives of Romanticism, Rachmaninoff is
best known for his glorious symphonies and concertos. He was also a
superlative pianist and wrote memorable solo music for his instrument.

◁ MUSIC CONSERVATORY, MOSCOW

In 1885, after failing his exams at the St. IN PROFILE
Petersburg Conservatory, Rachmaninoff
transferred to the Moscow Conservatory Nina Koshetz
of Music, where he thrived.
Among the notable musicians with
whom Rachmaninoff collaborated
was the soprano Nina Koshetz
Although gifted, Rachmaninoff was (1891–1965). The couple are said to
lazy and moody, and his progress have had an affair, and he certainly
was hampered by family turmoil—his dedicated a cycle of six love songs
to her in 1916. Koshetz spent her
parents had separated and one of
later career in Europe and the
his sisters died of diphtheria. In 1885, US and had small acting roles in
he failed his exams and transferred several Hollywood films. Numerous
to the Moscow Conservatory. His recordings by her survive, capturing
her rich, expressive voice, but
most important teacher there was
unfortunately Rachmaninoff does not
the renowned piano disciplinarian accompany her in any of them.
Nikolai Zverev, under whose strict but
enlightened guidance he flourished. In
Rachmaninoff’s career has been in his feeling for sweeping, soaring 1892, aged 19, he graduated from the
summarized by the saying that the melody—often loaded with yearning Conservatory with the rarely awarded
Revolution took him out of Russia and melancholy—he was the heir of Great Gold Medal, the highest possible
but nothing could ever take Russia Tchaikovsky, who encouraged and student distinction.
out of him. He ended his days as a inspired him at the start of his career. Later that year, Rachmaninoff gave
US citizen, living in California, but his the premiere of his most famous solo
music remained true to the traditions Achievements and setbacks piano piece, the dramatic and haunting
he had absorbed in his youth. He was Rachmaninoff was born near Novgorod Prelude in C-sharp minor. This work
influenced by his homeland’s folk into an aristocratic landowning family. became so popular he is said to have
songs and by the liturgical chants of His father gambled away his inherited regretted writing it, as he grew weary
the Russian Orthodox Church; and wealth, and in 1882, after extensive of having it requested as an encore
estates had been sold to pay his debts, every time he performed. In 1893, his
the family moved to a modest flat in first opera, Aleko, was successfully
◁ SERGEI RACHMANINOFF, 1925 St. Petersburg. Sergei showed musical premiered at the Bolshoi Theater in
This portrait was made by Konstantin talent, and rather than following Moscow and praised by Tchaikovsky.
Andreyevich Somov in 1925, the year
family tradition by training for the Still only 20, Rachmaninoff seemed NINA KOSHETZ, 1916
Rachmaninoff founded TAIR, a publishing
company specializing in his own works military, in 1883, aged 10, he enrolled to be launched on a brilliant career,
and those of other Russian composers. at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. but in 1897 he suffered a humiliating

“ Rachmaninoff was made of steel and gold:

steel in his arms, gold in his heart. ”
POLISH-AMERICAN PIANIST JOSEPH HOFMANN, 1945
228

▷ THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, 1917

In this painting, revolutionary soldiers
are shown storming a street in Moscow
during the revolution in 1917. It was in
December that year that Rachmaninoff
and his family fled Russia for Sweden.
He never returned to his homeland.

setback when the premiere of (dedicated to Dr. Dahl), which he major pieces, including his Symphony
his Symphony No. 1 was a fiasco. successfully premiered in 1901. With No. 2 (premiered in 1908) and the
According to some accounts, the its achingly beautiful melodies and Piano Concerto No. 3 (premiered in
conductor (the composer Alexander great waves of emotion leading to 1909). He continued to travel and
Glazunov) was drunk; certainly, the an ecstatic finale, it has become perform widely, both in Russia
symphony was poorly rehearsed and his most enduringly popular work. and elsewhere, during this period.
performed, and the critics savaged it. This triumphant resumption of his After World War I began in 1914,
composing career was accompanied Rachmaninoff gave numerous
Brighter days by happiness in love—in 1902, he performances in aid of wounded
Rachmaninoff was badly shaken by married his cousin Natalia Satina. soldiers and other good causes.
the experience and composed almost As a wedding gift, his aristocratic Appropriately, his outstanding
nothing for the next three years, but parents-in-law (who were also his composition of the war years is a
△ PROGRAM FOR ALEKO, 1893 he remained in demand as a pianist aunt and uncle) gave him a house on deeply serious religious work, the
A program for the premiere of and also won plaudits as a conductor. their country estate at Ivanovka, about choral masterpiece All-Night Vigil
Rachmaninoff’s first opera, Aleko, He was helped out of his despondency 300 miles (480 km) from Moscow, (1915), often more loosely called
on May 9, 1893, at the Bolshoi Theater by having hypnotherapy treatment which he had been visiting since 1890. Vespers. By this time, Russia was
in Moscow. The libretto, written by
with the music-loving Dr. Nikolai Dahl. This proved an ideal summer home, slipping into chaos and when
Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, was
an adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s His confidence restored, he began offering him a peaceful retreat for Rachmaninoff visited Ivanovka in April
poem The Gypsies. work on his Piano Concerto No. 2 composing. Here, he worked on some 1917, he found the estate had been

KEY WORKS

1892 1895 1901 1909 1915 1940

In Moscow, Disastrous Successful On Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, his Completes his
premieres the premiere of premiere of Piano first visit to the greatest religious final work, the
Prelude in Symphony No. 1 Concerto No. 2 in US, Piano Concerto work, premieres Symphonic Dances,
C-sharp minor, in St. Petersburg. Moscow. No. 3 premieres in in Moscow. premiered the
his most popular New York. following year
solo piano work. in Philadelphia.
 SERGEI RACHMANINOFF 229

“ I cannot cast out the old way of writing,

and I cannot acquire the new. ”
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF, 1939

hit by looting and vandalism. Later also the warmth and wit he displayed Beverly Hills home a month
that year, the Bolshevik Revolution in private. He was generous, too: after later, a few days before his
broke out and in December his concerts and records made him 70th birthday and a few weeks
Rachmaninoff escaped Russia with wealthy, he regularly sent money after becoming a US citizen.
his wife and two children by taking to Russia to help people in need. In spite of Rachmaninoff’s
up an offer to play in Stockholm. For two decades, Rachmaninoff enormous popularity with the
He never saw his homeland again. divided his time between the US public, contemporary critics
and Europe, but in 1939, with war were often scornful about the
Exile, travel, and legacy imminent, he settled permanently in unabashed emotionalism of his
From Stockholm, Rachmaninoff the US. The life of a touring virtuoso music, dismissing it as gushing
moved to Copenhagen, then in was often exhausting and in 1942 sentimentality. The entry on him in
November 1918 to New York. He and he moved to the warm climate of the 1954 edition of Grove’s Dictionary
his family had left Russia with nothing California for the sake of his faltering of Music and Musicians predicted that △ CLASSIC RECORDINGS
except what they could carry in their health. After a concert in Knoxville, his reputation would not last—a Many recordings with Rachmaninoff at
the piano are considered to be classics.
suitcases, and he realized that he Tennessee, in February 1943 he prophecy that has proved entirely
He played alongside the great violinist
would best be able to support them collapsed and had to cancel the rest misguided, as his place among the Fritz Kreisler on this 1928 recording of
by performing as a concert pianist, of his tour. He died of cancer at his titans of music is now unquestioned. Beethoven’s Sonata in G major.
especially in the lucrative US market.
From this point, composing became
virtually a sideline in his career: IN CONTEXT
although he lived for another quarter Villa Senar
of a century, he wrote only six new In 1930, Rachmaninoff bought land
works during this period. In addition near Hertenstein on Lake Lucerne
to his concerts and recitals (typically in Switzerland, and on it he built
he gave about 70–80 each year), he a substantial house, designed by
the local architects Alfred Möri and
flourished in the recording studio, Karl-Friedrich Krebs. He called the
leaving a rich legacy of disks, including house Villa Senar (from the first
accounts of his four piano concertos. two letters of his and his wife’s
During his lifetime, Rachmaninoff forenames, Sergei and Natalia,
and the first letter of Rachmaninoff).
was regarded as one of the greatest He spent every summer there
pianists who ever lived—a reputation until moving permanently to the US
that endures today. He mesmerized in 1939. The villa and the spectacular
audiences with his stage presence lake on which it was situated gave
Rachmaninoff the tranquility he
and his extraordinary musicianship. needed for composing his music.
Exceptionally tall, with hair cropped It was here that he wrote two of his
almost like a convict and a stone- greatest works: Rhapsody on a Theme
faced demeanor, he was described by of Paganini (1934) and Symphony
No. 3 (1935–1936).
Stravinsky as a “six-and-a-half-foot
scowl.” His severe manner belied the
passion and poetry of his playing and

▷ COMPOSING AT IVANOVKA
The composer is shown here sitting
at a table at his summer retreat within
the family’s estate at Ivanovka, Russia,
working on his Piano Concerto No. 3,
which premiered in 1909.
230

▷ GUSTAV HOLST, 1927

This portrait by John Bernard Munns
shows Holst in his early fifties,
bespectacled, with bags under his
eyes, looking tired and somewhat
despondent. In the 1920s, the composer
was placed under tremendous stress
from overwork and the demands of his
increasing fame—on doctor’s orders,
he retreated to the Essex countryside
and significantly reduced his writing,
teaching, and other work commitments.

Gustav Holst
1874–1934, BRITISH
While the symphonic suite The Planets is Holst’s most popular work, he
wrote others of similar quality, creating a highly individual sound-world
that was conventional in some ways, groundbreaking in others.
 GUSTAV HOLST 231

Gustav Holst was born in Cheltenham at which time he was employed as a

into a musical family of English, teacher at London’s Morley College ON TECHNIQUE
Scandinavian, and German ancestry. and St. Paul’s Girls’ School—positions Harmonic wizardry
Health problems afflicted him all his that enabled him to buy a weekend
life. Neuritis, which made his right home in the Essex village of Thaxted. For its time, Holst’s musical language
was often strikingly advanced and
arm feel like “a jelly overcharged
unfamiliar to audiences. He was the
with electricity,” hampered his early The Planets and world fame first English composer to explore
promise as a pianist; he began playing Holst completed The Planets in 1917. thoroughly the technique of bitonality,
the trombone at the age of 12, hoping Its 1918 premiere in front of a small where two different musical tonalities
(or keys) are deployed together. In
that the activity might improve his audience was conducted by Adrian
“Mercury, the Winged Messenger” in
tendency to asthma. Boult shortly before Holst left to work The Planets, the melodic line flickers
As a student at London’s Royal in Greece for several months; a between two opposite tonalities as
College of Music, Holst met Ralph second incomplete performance in if it belongs to neither, instead
speeding weightlessly through the
Vaughan Williams, who was to 1919 (only five of the seven movements air. In “Neptune, the Mystic,” pairs
become his lifelong friend. Early in were played) was the beginning of the of harmonies (chords) in different
his career, he supported himself by suite’s recognition as a masterpiece tonalities, each in themselves quite
playing the trombone in theater △ THE “VENUS” MOVEMENT of orchestral imagination. Holst was traditional, are played one on top of
This is the first page of the draft score, in the other, creating a sound of strange,
bands; he later joined the Carl Rosa uneasy at its success, however, feeling other-worldly stillness out of the
Opera Company and the Scottish Holst’s own handwriting, of “Venus, the that it drew attention away from his
Bringer of Peace,” the second movement simplest musical components.
Orchestra (now the Royal Scottish in his most famous work, The Planets. other works, such as the choral Hymn
National Orchestra), and worked as a of Jesus of 1917.
church organist. While conducting the Forced by overwork to take a year’s
Hammersmith Socialist Choir, Holst Cotswolds,” followed by A Somerset rest from teaching, in 1924 Holst
fell in love with one of its members, Rhapsody, drew on both areas of completed his Choral Symphony,
the soprano Isobel Harrison. The interest. Holst was also intrigued by based on poems by John Keats. His
couple married in 1901; their Indian mythology, which inspired a output then slowed, although he felt
daughter, Imogen, later become a set of Choral Hymns from the Hindu that Egdon Heath, an orchestral
prominent musician in her own right. sacred text the Rig Veda and the evocation of the bleak landscape of
chamber opera Savitri, based on Thomas Hardy’s novel The Return of ▽ THAXTED
Diverse influences a story from the Sanskrit epic the Native (1878), was his finest single Holst had a country home in the
Holst greatly admired Wagner’s Mahabharata. An interest in astrology achievement. The onset of a duodenal picturesque village of Thaxted in
advanced harmonic style but was also steered him toward the idea of an ulcer eventually led to an operation northwest Essex. In 1916, he started
a music festival at the village’s
attracted to English folk music—twin orchestral work based on seven of that Holst’s weak heart did not
magnificent medieval church of St.
enthusiasms he shared with Vaughan the planets in Earth’s solar system. survive. The Planets has ensured, John, whose elegant spire is visible
Williams. A symphony subtitled “The He began work on The Planets in 1914, though, that his name will live on. here rising above the Essex landscape.
 ARNOLD SCHOENBERG 233

Arnold Schoenberg
1874–1951, AUSTRIAN
One of the most challenging and musically controversial 20th-century
composers, Schoenberg created works of great originality and emotional
power while pioneering major innovations in compositional technique.

Arnold Schoenberg (or Schönberg) His first composition performed in Wagnerian cantata, Gurre-Lieder, and
was born in the Jewish Leopoldstadt public was a string quartet premiered a large-scale orchestral tone poem,
district of Vienna in 1874. He began in Vienna in 1897. This was well Pelleas und Melisande. His efforts
violin lessons at the age of eight and received, but thereafter his work met were privately encouraged by
invented short pieces for himself with incomprehension and abuse. His prominent composers Richard △ COVER OF STRING QUARTET, OP. 7
and friends to play. Arnold learned Verklärte Nacht, originally written for Strauss in Germany and Gustav This is the cover of the score for
the basics of composition by reading a string sextet, appears in retrospect Mahler in Austria, but when Pelleas Schoenberg’s (or, as here, SchÖnberg’s)
String Quartet, Op. 7, completed in
books and imitating other people’s an accessible, ravishing example of was premiered in 1905 it drew 1905, which was the composer’s first
music. After his father died in 1890, late Romanticism, but in 1899 its derision from both critics and public. lengthy work and his first masterpiece.
he worked in a bank for five years to chromaticism puzzled even open- In 1901, Schoenberg married
help support the family. He also played minded Viennese music enthusiasts. Mathilde Zemlinsky, the sister of his
cello in an amateur orchestra set up Hugely ambitious, in the early 1900s friend Alexander. The couple had two
by another young musician, Alexander Schoenberg worked on a vast children. Dividing his time between
Zemlinsky, who gave Schoenberg his
only lessons in composition and
became a lifelong friend. IN CONTEXT
German Expressionism
German cultural traditions Schoenberg’s atonal music formed
Schoenberg aligned himself with the part of the wider cultural movement
great tradition of German music, from of Expressionism that developed in
Brahms and Wagner to Mozart and Germany and Austria in the early
20th century. Expressionist painters
Bach. In 1898, to further identify with such as Emil Nolde, Franz Marc, and
German culture, he gave up his Jewish Egon Schiele depicted tortured inner
faith in favor of Lutheran Christianity. feelings, nightmares, and ecstatic
He adopted a Romantic view of the visions through the use of distorted
lines and lurid colors. The movement
composer as a divinely inspired was loosely associated with the
prophet with spiritual responsibilities, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’s
an attitude that precluded concern exploration of dreams, sexuality,
for music as entertainment. and the unconscious, which was
taking place in Vienna at the same
time. Schoenberg’s most overtly
Expressionist works included
◁ ARNOLD SCHOENBERG, c. 1905 Pierrot Lunaire and Erwartung.
The Austrian-Jewish composer, who
described himself as “a conservative SELF-PORTRAIT WITH CHINESE
who was forced to become a radical,” is LANTERN, EGON SCHIELE, 1912
depicted here by the artist Richard Gerstl.

“ If it is art, it is not for all, and if

it is for all, it is not art. ”
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG, STYLE AND IDEA, 1946
234 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Berlin and Vienna, he supported his the Five Orchestral Pieces, he moved group in 1911—he became friends
family via musical odd jobs, including toward the total abandonment of with a young artist, Richard Gerstl.
teaching composition. Meanwhile, his tonality. With no tonic chord to ground But in 1908, Schoenberg’s wife ran
own compositions developed in an the music, a rootless sound-world off with Gerstl. After a few months,
▽ GERSTL SELF-PORTRAIT, 1907
increasingly radical direction. His emerged, expressive of alienation. she returned to her husband and her
Richard Gerstl’s close relationship with
Schoenberg and his tragic affair with Chamber Symphony of 1906 replaced Schoenberg’s technical innovations children. Devastated, Gerstl committed
the composer’s wife, Mathilde, led to the Romantic large-scale orchestra were fueled by heightened emotion at suicide. These distressing events were
the artist’s suicide in 1908, the year by a spare ensemble of 15 players. In a troubled period in his life. Tempted contemporaneous with Schoenberg’s
after he painted this piece, Self-Portrait,
a series of works between 1907 and to explore painting—at which he development of atonality and inspired
Laughing. Schoenberg made reference
to the disastrous triangular relationship 1909, including the song cycle The proved gifted enough to exhibit with his intense music drama Erwartung,
in a number of his works. Book of the Hanging Gardens and the avant-garde Der Blaue Reiter which he described as an “anxiety
dream.” Written in 17 days of furious
inspiration in 1909, it tells of a woman
in search of her lover who comes
across his corpse.

Drama and disarray

In the face of the hostility of critics and
the public, Schoenberg was supported
by a small circle—notably, the young
composers Alban Berg and Anton
Webern. Both had been taught by
Schoenberg and became valued
colleagues, forming a group known as
the Second Viennese School. The first
performance of Schoenberg’s Pierrot
Lunaire, an Expressionist cabaret for
five instrumentalists and voice, in
1912 was described by Webern as
“an unqualified success.” In 1913, the
belated first performance of Gurre-
Lieder proved a triumph, but the
composer refused to acknowledge
the tumultuous applause, reluctantly
mounting the stage only to stand with
his back to the audience. He was no
doubt more comfortable with what
became known as the Skandalkonzert
(Scandal Concert) later in the same
year, when a performance of his
Chamber Symphony, along with works
by Berg, Webern, and Zemlinsky,
provoked a riot, with fistfights
breaking out in the audience.
These excitements of the Viennese
avant-garde scene were interrupted
by the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
Schoenberg’s first response was a
 ARNOLD SCHOENBERG 235

KEY WORKS

1899 1908 1912 1913 1923 1948

Verklärte Nacht, The innovative Pierrot Lunaire, a Gurre-Lieder Suite for Piano, A Survivor from
Schoenberg’s String Quartet setting of poems receives rapturous Op. 25, a piano Warsaw has its
suite for six string No. 2 includes for instrumental applause at its piece in six first performance;
instruments, is a soprano voice ensemble and premiere in Vienna, movements, the cantata
rejected for part and some singing/speaking 10 years after it is Schoenberg’s memorializes
performance of Schoenberg’s reciter, premieres was written. first work using the the victims of
in Vienna. first atonal music. in Berlin. 12-tone technique. the Holocaust.

◁ PIERROT LUNAIRE,1912 presaged this return to his religious

This is a poster for the Berlin roots with its meditation on the ON TECHNIQUE
premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s relationship between God and man.
melodrama Pierrot Lunaire, which Twelve-tone music
sets verses from the work of Schoenberg did his best to adapt
the same name by the Belgian to life in the US, taking US citizenship In the early 1920s, Schoenberg
Symbolist poet Albert Giraud. invented a wholly original method
in 1941. He taught at California
of composition to replace traditional
universities and socialized with scales and chords. Music was to be
Hollywood movie stars at his house composed using “tone rows” made
such as Gavotte and Gigue off Sunset Boulevard. He also wrote up of all 12 notes of the chromatic
scale, with no note being repeated.
that might have been used by some notable works, including the
These rows could be inverted,
Bach. In 1923, his wife Mathilde Violin Concerto (1936) and the Piano reversed, transposed, or otherwise
died, but he remarried, and Concerto (1942), but nothing could transformed. Schoenberg presented
startling expression of nationalism, had three children with his second bridge the gap between his European this system as a revolutionary
breakthrough, comparable to the
denouncing French composers as wife, Gertrud Kolisch. His financial elitism and US cultural populism.
physicist Albert Einstein’s theory of
“kitschmongers” and welcoming a woes ended in 1926, when he began His declining years were darkened relativity. Avant-garde composers
chance to make them “venerate the teaching composition at the Prussian by knowledge of the fate of the after World War II erected the 12-tone
German spirit.” His brief spells of Academy of Arts in Berlin. European Jews in the Holocaust system into the dogma of “serialism,”
but Schoenberg himself said that
army service disrupted his creativity and by his own failing health. He
there was “still plenty of good music
without contributing to the Austrian Refuge and change died following a heart attack in 1951. to be written in C major.”
war effort. His only major composition This period of tranquility was ended Schoenberg’s influence on
begun during the war, the oratorio by the rise to power of Adolf Hitler’s composers of the second half of the
Jacob’s Ladder, was never completed. anti-Semitic Nazi Party in 1933. Along 20th century was to be immense.
After the war, he participated in a with all other Jewish teaching staff in However, his works have never
musical turn away from the emotional Germany, Schoenberg was dismissed achieved the wide acceptance by
excesses of Expressionism toward from his post. He sought refuge concert audiences that he had always
a more orderly Neo-Classicism. From abroad, settling in Los Angeles in believed would one day come.
1921, his invention of the 12-tone 1934. Persecution triggered his formal
method of composition (see box, right) readoption of the Jewish faith. His
restored structural solidity after the opera Moses und Aron, abandoned
instinctual anarchy of atonal writing: unfinished in 1932, had already
yet the result was music that was
even more impenetrable to the public.
It was typical of his conservative ▷ SCHOENBERG, 1950
The composer is shown here, the
radicalism that the movements of his
year before his death, with his wife
first complete 12-tone work, the Suite Gertrud Kolisch and other members
for Piano, Op. 25, were given titles of his family, in Los Angeles, California.

“ People should know my

tunes and whistle them. ”
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG, LETTER WRITTEN IN LOS ANGELES, 1947
236

▷ CHARLES IVES
Ives came to fame late in life but was
one of the first US composers to be
recognized internationally. His complex
compositions draw on quintessential
elements of US life and culture—
particularly that of New England,
where he was born—and conjure up
everyday sounds and familiar tunes,
from hymns and patriotic songs to
dances and marches.

Charles Ives
1874–1954, AMERICAN
One of the 20th century’s most original composers and a pioneer
of experimental music, Ives was inspired by the US’s democratic
idealism, freedom of thought, and musical diversity.
 CHARLES IVES 237

“ The word ‘beauty’ is as easy to use as the

word ‘degenerate.’ Both come in handy
when one does or does not agree with you. ”
CHARLES IVES, 1920

Charles Ives earned a living ◁ GEORGE IVES their engagement, he composed a

by selling insurance but Charles Ives’s father, seen series of visionary, highly original
he composed music in here c. 1865, was the leader works, The Unanswered Question and
of a brass band in Danbury
his spare time. His and played numerous Central Park in the Dark among them.
liberal politics were instruments. A few years after their marriage, the
inspired by an couple built a house near Danbury,
optimistic faith in where they spent many summers.
“the people,” which Hyperion Theater
was reflected in the Orchestra, creating Pioneering techniques
popular songs that innovative music from Novel combinations of classical forms
are woven into so many hymn tunes, college and US vernacular music appealed
of his compositions. songs, and dances played to Ives, who pioneered techniques of
Charles Edward Ives was simultaneously in different polytonality, polyrhythm, and textural
born on October 20, 1874, in Danbury, keys and at different speeds. layering (see box, below) in works
Connecticut. His father was from a After graduating in 1898, Ives such as Three Places in New England
prosperous local family and had spent a decade in New York working (1908–1914), his Fourth Symphony
served as the youngest bandmaster in in insurance and as a part-time (1916), and A Symphony: New England
the Union Army during the Civil War. church organist. Unrestrained by Holidays (c. 1917–1919). In 1920, he
Young Charlie studied piano and organ the need to make money from published the “Concord Sonata,” a △ CAPTAIN OF BASEBALL
and absorbed Danbury’s rich musical composition, he experimented with piano work inspired by figures in the Ives (left) is pictured in 1894, wearing a
life, from classical concerts to rousing daring harmonies and complex Transcendentalist movement such as baseball shirt with the Hopkins Grammar
School initials. At school he shone on the
congregational hymn-singing. He rhythmic patterns. In 1908, he Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry baseball field and was captain of the
joined his father’s brass band as a married Harmony Twichell, the David Thoreau. Hopkins team.
drummer and, at the age of 14, sister of a Yale roommate. During Ives’s life was hampered by illness,
became a church organist. including diabetes and hand tremors.
This, plus overwork, led to
Experimental works depression, loss of creative
Ives became a student at Yale confidence, and dissatisfaction ON TECHNIQUE
University in 1894. He studied with his compositions. Ill health Complex innovations
with the composer Horatio Parker, forced him to stop composing Charles Ives built his radical
a graduate of Munich’s Royal in 1927 and to retire from compositions on a deep knowledge
Music School, who encouraged business three years later, of European classical music.
his pupil to set German Romantic but he continued to revise his He explored and extended the
possibilities for creative adventure
poems and master advanced scores. Ives also revisited his in techniques used sparingly in the
contrapuntal forms. Ives Universe Symphony, which he past for their shock value or novel
supplemented his formal started in 1915 and pursued as effect. These included polytonality
European-style training by an intellectual experiment until and polyrhythm, respectively the
simultaneous use of two or more
running experiments with the his death from a stroke in 1954. keys and the simultaneous use of
different rhythms; the inclusion of
many different musical styles within
the same piece, from ragtime songs
and camp-meeting hymns to complex
◁ “MAJORITY” SCORE counterpoint and echoes of Bach and
“Majority” is the first song in Ives’s Brahms; harmonic ambiguity; layering
114 Songs (1922). At the beginning of multiple themes, textures, and
of the song, Ives notes that it is timbres; and collages evoking city
“preferably for a unison chorus; it is sounds and public occasions.
almost impossible for a single voice
to hold the part against the score.”
 MAURICE RAVEL 239

Maurice Ravel
1875–1937, FRENCH
Ravel’s life was devoted to the pursuit of musical perfection. A meticulous
ON TECHNIQUE
musical craftsman rather than an innovator, he produced comparatively Master of orchestration
few compositions but nevertheless developed a distinctive personal style. Ravel’s orchestral works are admired
for his skill in handling instrumental
colors, and his extraordinary aural
Maurice Ravel was a French ◁ RAVEL AND VINES, 1905 the young musician to give his imagination. He made a point of
studying the characteristics of all
citizen but his father, an Lifelong friends, Ravel (left) first public performance. Later the orchestral instruments to make
engineer and inventor, and Viñes were both born that year, Ravel was admitted to the the most of the palette of different
in 1875 and first met as
was Swiss, and his Conservatoire to study piano. But it instrumental timbres for expressive
students. The musicians
mother was Spanish- was as a composer rather than a effect, and to give clarity to harmonies
are pictured together
and rhythms. Surprisingly, only a
Basque. He was born here in their thirties. pianist that his real talent lay, and handful of these works were first
in 1875 in Ciboure, while he was at the Conservatoire conceived for orchestra: most were
near Biarritz, in the he began writing music in earnest. written as piano pieces that he later
Basque region of the young Spanish One of the events that inspired this orchestrated, and almost all his
music was composed at the piano.
France, but the family pianist Ricardo Viñes, change of emphasis was the 1889
moved to Paris while who was to become Exposition Universelle in Paris,
Maurice was still a baby. a close friend, as well as where he was exposed to exciting
He and his younger brother, a champion of Ravel’s music. new and unfamiliar music.
Edouard, were initially educated at The year 1889 was eventful for Through the 1890s, Ravel focused ▽ POSTER FOR PARIS EXPOSITION
At the Exposition Universelle in 1889,
home by their father. He gave them Ravel. He started piano lessons with on composition, but at the expense
Ravel was inspired by new Russian
a solid grounding in technology and Émile Decombes, a teacher at the of his studies—his lack of progress in music and the exotic sounds of the
science, but also conveyed his love Paris Conservatoire, who encouraged piano and theory obliged him to leave Javanese gamelan.
of the arts and music. Edouard shared
his father’s interest in engineering,
while Maurice was drawn to his
mother’s love of Basque and Spanish
folk culture, which was later reflected
in many of his compositions.

Emergent talent
Music played a large part in the Ravel
household—both classical and the
folk songs that Maurice’s mother
sang. Maurice showed musical talent
from an early age, began piano
lessons at age seven, then went
on to more serious studies in music
theory, including his first attempts
at composing, when he was 12. In
the course of his studies, he met

◁ MAURICE RAVEL
Shown here in later life at his piano, Ravel
was first introduced to the instrument
when he received lessons as a young
boy. He went on to study piano at the
prestigious Paris Conservatoire.
△ SET DESIGN, DAPHNIS ET CHLOE the Conservatoire in 1895. However, Apaches (the Hooligans), who were prestigious Prix de Rome each year,
This set design was commissioned by he enrolled in a composition course influenced by the composer Claude without success, from 1900 until
Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes’ there two years later. His teacher, Debussy (see pp.190–193). Ravel had 1905, when it became obvious that
production of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé,
which premiered in Paris in 1912. The Gabriel Fauré (see pp.180–181), befriended Debussy, who was known the musical establishment were
set was painted by Russian artist Léon recognized his talent. Under his as an “Impressionist” composer preventing him from winning, even
Bakst, who became famous for his guidance, Ravel gained confidence for the clear textures and subtle though he was probably the most
magnificent costumes and bold, richly to write his first mature works. He colors of his music. Similarly, Ravel’s gifted of the entrants. In the ensuing
colored set designs for Diaghilev.
Diaghilev also commissioned the music was also inspired by Erik Satie (see sensual orchestration led to his own scandal, it was revealed that Théodore
from Ravel for this ballet. pp.218–221), whom he had met, and nomination as an Impressionist. Dubois, director of the Conservatoire,
by his unconventional approach However, Debussy detested the was favoring students of one of his
to composition. Ravel resolved to label, and Ravel also rejected it. colleagues. Dubois was forced to
compose in the way he felt most Ravel had still to make his
comfortable, impervious to criticism. name with the concert-
going public. He entered
Progressive influences the competition for the
But Ravel’s progressive music, and
politics, were still not acceptable at
the Conservatoire and, despite Fauré’s ▷ ALCYONE
support, he was again thrown out. This score is from Ravel’s
Alcyone (1902). The cantata
Undeterred, he continued to compose,
was the entry for one of his
and became associated with a group five unsuccessful attempts
of young musicians known as Les to win the Prix de Rome.

“ I did my work slowly, drop by drop.

I tore it out of me by pieces. ”
MAURICE RAVEL
 MAURICE RAVEL 241

from younger composers such as the

group known as Les Six (see p.263), IN PROFILE
who saw Ravel's music as outdated. Paul Wittgenstein
As always, though, he was oblivious
to criticism and, after completing the Ravel was one of several composers
who was commissioned by Paul
richly Romantic La Valse (The Waltz) Wittgenstein (the older brother of
in 1920, he began a second phase philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein), a
of composing, developing a slightly concert pianist who had lost his right
more modern style influenced by arm in World War I. Ravel responded
with the Piano Concerto for the Left
the atonality of composers such as Hand in D major, composed in 1929–
Arnold Schoenberg (see pp.232–235) 1930, at the same time as he was
and, especially, the harmonies and working on his Piano Concerto in G.
rhythms of jazz (see box, right). Wittgenstein was initially unhappy
with the jazz-inspired piece, and
Ravel was infuriated by his early
Final years interpretation of it, but in time the
The change in musical style was pianist grew to understand and
accompanied by a change in lifestyle. appreciate Ravel’s intentions and
premiered the work in 1932.
△ RAVEL’S PIANO When the war started, his application Ravel’s wartime experiences had
Ravel’s piano is on display in the small to join the French Air Force was aged him, and he found living in Paris
house in which he lived (now the Musée turned down because of his age (he overbearing, so he moved to Montfort-
Maurice Ravel), in Montfort-l’Amaury,
for the last 20 years of his life. was approaching 40 years old) and l’Amaury, west of Paris, where he lived
health. In 1915, however, he was alone for the rest of his life. Although
accepted by the army as a driver, Ravel is thought to have had one
resign. Although Ravel had missed out supplying munitions to the front. or two long-term relationships, he
on the prize, the immense publicity The conditions had a terrible effect never married and by some accounts
won him the attention he deserved. on his already fragile health—he visited brothels from time to time.
suffered dysentery and frostbite, At Montfort-l’Amaury he produced,
New avenues and was deeply affected by the some of his finest and best-known
This new-found celebrity inspired horrors of war. His woes increased music, concluding with Boléro and
Ravel to revisit his earlier piano pieces when his mother died in 1917. But the two piano concertos.
and score them for orchestra to entice he completed the Neo-Baroque piano Ravel’s final years were marred
a wider concert-going audience. These suite Le Tombeau de Couperin (The by illness. In 1932, he suffered a
arrangements showed that he had Tomb of Couperin) during this time, its head injury in a car accident, which
a flair for orchestration, revealed to separate movements each honoring a triggered a brain condition. He began
brilliant effect in his first opera, friend lost in war. The piece evoked to experience symptoms of aphasia, PAUL WITTGENSTEIN
L’Heure espagnole, and later by the the music of the Baroque composer the inability to process language.
ballet Daphnis et Chloé. The period François Couperin (1668–1733). Soon, he was no longer able to
between 1905 and the outbreak of Ravel emerged from war exhausted play the piano, or to compose.
World War I was, by Ravel’s slow and and depressed, and only slowly In 1937, the condition worsened
meticulous standards, a productive resumed work. In contrast to his early and became increasingly painful—
one, and established him as a major career, Ravel was now revered by he was then advised by a Parisian
composer in France and abroad. But the musical establishment as the neurosurgeon to have an operation.
by 1913 his rate of production slowed heir to Debussy, and as the foremost This was initially thought to be
even more: he wrote almost nothing French composer. But this was a very successful, but very soon after Ravel
during the war and its aftermath. different era, dominated by new ideas fell unconscious and died, aged 62.

KEY WORKS

1899 1910 1912 1914–17 1919–20 1928 1929–31

Composes the Publishes the Completes the ballet Each of the six La Valse, originally Probably Ravel’s Influenced by the jazz
Pavane pour une five-movement Daphnis et Chloé, movements of the conceived as a ballet best-known work, he heard on his tour
infante défunte for Ma Mère l’Oye for commissioned by suite for piano Le but performed most Boléro, is premiered of the US, Ravel
piano while still a piano duet, which Diaghilev for the Tombeau de Couperin often as a concert as a ballet at the composes his two
student at the Paris he orchestrated Ballets Russes. commemorates piece, is premiered Paris Opéra. piano concertos.
Conservatoire. and expanded into a a friend killed in in Paris.
ballet in 1911–1912. World War I.
242 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Manuel de Falla
1876–1946, SPANISH
A leading figure in the nationalist revival of Spanish music in the early
20th century, Falla blended traditional folk melodies with modern
harmony and orchestration to create vibrant works of universal appeal.

Manuel María de los Dolores Falla y this piece included the dramatic Lorca, who shared his fascination with
Matheu was born in Cádiz, Andalusia, Ritual Fire Dance, which became the Andalusian wanderer heritage. But
in 1876, and studied at the Royal one of Falla’s most enduringly Falla’s music evolved in a different
Conservatory of Music in Madrid. popular pieces. direction, following the contemporary
Under the influence of composer and trend toward Neoclassicism and the △ EL AMOR BRUJO SCORE
musicologist Felipe Pedrell (1841– International success use of smaller orchestral ensembles. The cover of the score for Falla’s
1922), he began exploring the diversity The sensuous Nights in the Gardens of Works such as the Concerto for work was illustrated by the Russian
avant-garde artist and designer
of Spain’s musical traditions, and in Spain, described by the composer as Harpsichord of 1926 harked back to a Natalia Goncharova, who captured
particular the folk songs and dances “symphonic impressions for piano and Spanish tradition of haughty pride and the vibrant drama of flamenco.
of Andalusia, which formed the basis orchestra,” followed in 1916, blending spiritual austerity of Catholic Castile.
for his first significant work, the French influences with distinctively Falla’s creative energy declined with
one-act opera La vida breve (Life Andalusian rhythms and melodies. age. He struggled for many years with
Is Short), completed in 1904. When his colorful two-act ballet The a score for an oratorio, Atlántida, which
Falla aimed to establish his place Three-Cornered Hat was premiered by he never completed. In the Spanish
in the wider European contemporary Sergei Diaghilev’s prestigious Ballets Civil War (1936–1939) he withdrew to
music scene and in 1907 moved Russes in London in 1919, Falla at Granada, saddened by the carnage ▷ MANUEL DE FALLA, 1932
to Paris, where he associated with last achieved international renown. and unable to commit to either side. Falla was a devout Catholic, meticulous
in his dress, reticent in manner, and
composers such as Claude Debussy In the 1920s, Falla was a hero to After the victory of the Francoists in
fanatically fixed in his habits—qualities
and Maurice Ravel. His output through a generation of Spanish Modernists 1939 he left for Argentina, where he that are reflected in this portrait
his seven years in France was slight such as the poet Federico García lived until his death in 1946. by Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta.
(a handful of songs and short piano
pieces) but his musical impetus was
germinating. When World War I broke IN CONTEXT
out in 1914 he returned to live with Flamenco and el cante
his parents in Madrid, and a period jondo
of rich creativity followed.
Flamenco is a range of flamboyant
singing styles and dances associated
Music of passion primarily with the gitanos, the
Despite his measured manner, Falla wanderers of southern Spain. It exists
began to produce music that was both as folk music and as professional
entertainment. Falla was especially
flamboyant and passionate, as in attracted to el cante jondo (“the deep
El amor brujo (Love, the Magician), a song”), which was often sung without
ballet commissioned by the renowned guitar accompaniment, expressing
flamenco dancer Pastora Imperio (see dark themes of anguish and death.
Falla mounted a festival in Granada
box, right). First performed in 1915, in 1922, in association with the poet
Federico García Lorca, to encourage
amateur singers of el cante jondo and
stimulate public interest in authentic
flamenco, which was increasingly
threatened by the rise of the modern
urbanized world.

PORTRAIT OF PASTORA IMPERIO, JULIO

ROMERO DE TORRES, 1922
244

▷ BELA BARTOK, 1940

Bartók is known as much for his
compositions as for pioneering a new
academic discipline—ethnomusicology—
the social and cultural study of music.

Béla Bartók
1881–1945, HUNGARIAN
Deeply rooted in Hungarian folk music, Bartók’s musical language
was groundbreaking and idiosyncratic. During World War II,
he left Budapest for New York, where he struggled to survive.
 BELA BARTOK 245

“ Competitions are for horses, not artists. ”

BELA BARTOK

◁ LAJOS KOSSUTH optimism of the

The man to whom Bartók dedicated political activist
his tone poem Kossuth advocated for Ferenc Kossuth and
Hungarian independence from Hapsburg
rule and became regent-president of the his Party of Independence. His
short-lived Hungarian Republic in 1849. orchestral tone poem Kossuth
(1903) paid tribute to Ferenc’s father,
the reformer and national hero Lajos
became his great friend; and he was Kossuth. Bartók had already written
taught by János Koessler, a friend prolifically for piano and chamber
of Brahms, and by piano virtuoso ensembles, but it was this work—
István Thoman. After he graduated much influenced by Richard Strauss’s
in 1903, Bartók was already in great tone poems—that truly put him
demand as a pianist (his early on the map. After this, his musical
recordings display his distinctively language developed considerably
clear and beautiful tone) and in under the new influence of Debussy,
1907, he was appointed to a piano whose “great service to music,”
professorship at the Academy, a according to Bartók, “was to reawaken
Béla Bartók was born on March 25, post that he held until 1934. among all musicians an awareness △ EDISON PHONOGRAPH, c.1900
1881, in the town of Nagyszentmiklós, of harmony and its possibilities.” Bartók and Kodály’s research into
Transylvania (then Hungary, now Field studies Around 1904, Bartók and Kodály folk song was made possible by the
invention of sound-recording equipment,
Sînnicolau Mare in Romania). His With the Hapsburg Empire in crisis acquired an Edison phonograph and such as Edison’s phonograph. From 1934
mother was a pianist, his father the after the suicide of Crown Prince set out into the remoter corners of to 1940, Bartók compiled an edition of
headmaster of a local school. When Rudolf in 1889 destabilized the the Hungarian countryside to record 13,000 Hungarian folk songs that he
Béla was seven, his father died monarchy, Hungarian separatism had and catalog the folk songs that they had collected, for the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences.
and his bereaved family moved gained a strong following. Bartók was heard there. From this time on, Bartók
to Nagyszőlős, where Bartók gave part of a generation inspired by the began to adapt traditional Hungarian
his first public concert, aged 11.
Later they settled in Pressburg
(now Bratislava, Slovakia). A fine ON TECHNIQUE
pianist and a composer of growing The value of folk song
confidence and talent, Bartók elected Bartók’s fascination with folk song lay
to study at the Royal Hungarian not in petty nationalism, but in his
Academy of Music in Budapest rather belief in its fundamental importance.
than taking the typical composition In an essay titled “Folk song and Art
Music” in 1921, he argued that
student’s well-worn route to Vienna. folk song had long been part of the
arsenal of the most sophisticated
Influences in Budapest composers, citing examples in the
The move to the Hungarian capital music of Haydn and Beethoven and—
further back—in the use of Lutheran
brought the young Bartók into contact chorales in 17th-century music. He
with people who would profoundly suggested that references to folk
shape his future: he met Zoltán Kodály, music helped listeners relate
a composer and philosopher who better to new works, and that
composers, such as Schoenberg,
who disconnected from such roots
produced music that was difficult to
understand. Exploring folk music, he
wrote, “is a study which will refine
the budding musician’s taste and
considerably enlarge his horizon.”

BARTOK RECORDING FOLK SONGS

DURING A JOURNEY IN TRANSYLVANIA
246 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

“ I cannot conceive of music that

expresses absolutely nothing. ”
BELA BARTOK

songs into works for the concert hall: it searches for impressions from Meanwhile, his field research did not
examples include the Six Romanian that great reality of folk art, which stop at the borders of Hungary. Over
Folk Dances, the Violin Duos, and encompasses everything.” the years, he undertook many trips,
various sets of folk songs with piano visiting Turkey, the Middle East, and
accompaniment. Folk music had a Love and further travel Algeria. The String Quartet No. 2 is one
significant impact on his language— In 1907, Bartók became infatuated example of the results, incorporating
through its rhythms and harmonies with the young violinist Stefi Geyer, elements from the Berber music he
and the use of quarter-tones—and who inspired his Violin Concerto encountered in North Africa.
is evident in all areas of his work, No. 1. Some of its themes represent Bartók’s settings of Hungarian
from string quartets to orchestral Bartók’s idealized image of Geyer, texts reveal much about the influence
▽ STRING QUARTETS, c. 1915 and operatic pieces. He once wrote though she rejected his advances. of language itself upon his music.
Field research into Hungarian folk songs enthusiastically, “Another completely Two years later, he married Márta His opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle
infused Bartók’s string quartets. Here
different factor makes contemporary Ziegler, who was among his piano (1911) was steeped in the world of
Bartók and Kodály (seated, reading)
pose for a photograph with members (20th-century) music realistic: that, students and still a teenager. The Symbolist poetry and set a libretto
of the Waldbauer-Kerpely String Quartet. half consciously, half intentionally, pair soon had a son, also named Béla. by Béla Balázs. The story, based on
 BELA BARTOK 247

◁ STEFI GEYER Divertimento for string orchestra,

The Swiss violinist Geyer (1888–1956) which had been commissioned by IN PROFILE
was Béla Bartók’s muse. Differences in the philanthropist Paul Sacher. The
age and outlook (she was a committed Jelly d’Arányi
Catholic, he an unbeliever) confounded following year, the Bartóks left
Bartók’s romantic intentions. Hungary and emigrated to the US. A great-niece of the famed Hungarian
violinist Joseph Joachim, d’Arányi
There, holding an modest post as (1895–1966) was a legendary violin
a “research assistant” at Columbia virtuoso. She was admired by many
The interwar years saw an upswing University, Bartók faced an uphill musicians including Edward Elgar,
in Bartók’s renown. He established struggle to gain commissions and Pablo Casals, and Maurice Ravel, who
dedicated his Tzigane to her in 1924.
himself on the international scene provide for his family. His health, too, She met and enchanted Bartók in
with such works as his first two piano was suffering. Less than two years 1919, kindling in him a new phase
concertos, the Cantata Profana (1930), after they arrived, he began to develop of creativity. It was for d’Arányi that
Music for Strings, Percussion, and symptoms of a serious illness that Bartók wrote both of his extremely
challenging sonatas for violin and
Celesta (1936) and the Sonata for turned out to be leukemia. piano; however, his passion for the
La Barbe bleu by French writer of fairy Two Pianos and Percussion (1937). He violinist went unrequited.
tales Charles Perrault tells of how also toured Europe, America, and the American experience
Bluebeard’s new wife makes shocking Soviet Union as a pianist. However, as A breakthrough came in 1943, when
discoveries as she opens doors in his right-wing politics began to take hold Serge Koussevitzky, the Russian-born
castle. The atmospheric work shows in Hungary, Bartók’s loathing of fascist director of the Boston Symphony
how closely Bartók’s melodic lines ideology put him at risk of state Orchestra, commissioned Bartók to
follow the cadences of speech. retribution: in Germany, his ballet create a major orchestral work for
The Miraculous Mandarin (written in a fee of $1,000. The result was the
Mature works 1918–1919) was banned for its Concerto for Orchestra, a magnificent
Unable to leave Hungary during sexually explicit content. orchestral showpiece that ranges in
World War I, and disappointed by the Bartók spent a last idyllic summer tone from dark ferocity and despair
Hungarian Fine Arts Commission’s in Switzerland in 1939, working on his to outright satire, mocking the use of a
decision to reject Duke Bluebeard’s sixth and final string quartet and the theme from Lehár’s The Merry Widow
Castle, Bartók devoted himself for in Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony.
several years to ethnomusicological The work was
research until a meeting with another received with acclaim.
alluring violinist Jelly d’Arányi More commissions
(see box, right) drew him back to followed, including a
composition. In 1923, he and Márta violin sonata written
were divorced; only two months for Yehudi Menuhin, VIOLINIST JELLY D’ARANYI
later he proposed to one of his piano and the Viola Concerto.
students, Ditta Pasztory, who was 19 However, this last work
to his 42, and married her 10 days was left incomplete—
afterward. The following year, their Bartók’s illness had
son Péter was born. finally caught up with
him. The composer died
on September 26, 1945,
▷ CANTATA PROFANA SCORE aged 64. On his deathbed,
Bartók’s work for chorus and orchestra,
he told his doctor: “What
inspired by a Romanian folk tale of
hunters who are transformed into I most regret is having to
stags, is rich with natural symbolism. leave with a full trunk.”

KEY WORKS

1911 1915 1918–19 1936 1909–39 1943–45

Bartók’s sole Writes Six Produces the score Writes the Produces some of The Concerto
opera, Duke Romanian Folk for The Miraculous strikingly original his most personal for Orchestra
Bluebeard’s Castle, Dances, displaying Mandarin, a ballet Music for Strings, works in his Six traverses a great
is a powerful how folk songs can so violent and Percussion, and String Quartets. range of emotional
Symbolist inspire music for explicit that it is Celesta. states.
masterpiece the concert hall. later banned by
for two singers. the Nazis.
 IGOR STRAVINSKY 249

Igor Stravinsky
1882–1971, RUSSIAN
Widely considered the 20th century’s paramount composer, Stravinsky
IN CONTEXT
transformed music with his radical approach to rhythm. His compositions Ballet maestro
raised the genre of ballet to an artistic level matched only by Tchaikovsky. Stravinsky’s major contribution to
ballet was about more than seizing
the opportunity offered by Diaghilev
to compose The Firebird as a fairy-tale
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was he always insisted that his early Igor demonstrated a musical ear spectacular, with the dance element
born into a musical household in years had been unhappy and his from an early age, made good grafted on. The tactile and rhythmic
Oranienbaum, on the outskirts of school days hopelessly lonely. Igor’s progress with piano lessons, and qualities in Stravinsky’s music
St. Petersburg, in June 1882. He later father was principal bass singer at was enthralled by what he saw connected naturally with the technical
and physical qualities of dance itself,
said that the Russian imperial capital St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Opera; his and heard at the Mariinsky Theater, as in Petrushka and The Rite of Spring.
was “dearer to my heart than any mother was a pianist who seemed to including the great ballet scores of In 1947, he composed Orpheus for
[city] in the world.” Nonetheless, adopt a severe attitude to young Igor Tchaikovsky. Yet he was far from a choreography by another Russian
and his three brothers. The nearest prodigy: he later admitted that his exile, George Balanchine, who then
became artistic director of New York
he had to a true mother-figure father’s insistence that he should City Ballet. Besides choreographing
◁ IGOR STRAVINSKY, 1927 was his German nurse, Bertha, who study law was not unreasonable, many of Stravinsky’s concert-hall
This portrait of the composer by the
brought him up to speak her language given the absence of exceptional works, Balanchine also commissioned
celebrated Russian-born fashion
fluently, besides the French spoken early talent usually needed to pursue Agon, premiered by NYCB in 1957.
photographer George Hoyningen-Huene
was shot for Vanity Fair magazine. by the Russian upper classes. a musical career. While he was a
reluctant law student, he took private
lessons in composition with Rimsky-
Korsakov, which was crucial for his
development into one of the supreme
composers of his generation.

Meteoric rise
Around 1908, the talk in cultural
circles in Paris was of the exciting
performances of Russian opera being
staged there by the impresario Sergei
Diaghilev, who now planned to start
up a ballet company as well. Diaghilev,
based in St. Petersburg, was in search
of a composer for a new work, The
Firebird. He had been impressed by
Stravinsky’s brilliantly written short
orchestral pieces Scherzo fantastique
and Feux d’artifice (Fireworks),
which he had heard at a concert in ORPHEUS, CHOREOGRAPHED BY GEORGE
St. Petersburg in 1909—he therefore BALANCHINE, IN NEW YORK
took a chance on Stravinsky, tasking

◁ TAMARA KARSAVINA, c. 1910

The sensational Russian prima ballerina
is shown here, in a painting by Jacques-
Emile Blanche, wearing the costume of
the Firebird in Stravinsky’s ballet of the
same name.
250 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

▷ THE RITE OF SPRING

ON TECHNIQUE This is a scene from the premiere of Igor
Stravinsky’s controversial avant-garde
Folk music distilled ballet performed by Vaslav Nijinsky’s
Ballets Russes at the Théâtre des
The young Stravinsky was fascinated Champs-Elysées in Paris in 1913.
by the music sung by the Russian
peasants on the estate of his aunt’s
family, and he could imitate this
accurately by the age of two. A feature him to complete the ballet in just five
of Russian folk music is its way of months—Stravinsky met the deadline.
concentrating on, and obsessively
repeating, small note-cells to build
The Firebird’s spectacularly successful
up a longer musical line, often with premiere in Paris in May 1910 made
a strong rhythmic pulse. Stravinsky him world-famous. The composer
instinctively absorbed these qualities found himself rated as an equal
into his music: they are strongly
audible within the sumptuous late-
by Debussy and Ravel, who were music could do, with its fiercely and an “orchestra” of four pianos
Romantic orchestral coloring of The dazzled by his score’s technical dissonant harmonic idiom and and percussion instruments, which
Firebird, and also (although in a quite panache and orchestral mastery. unprecedented rhythmic firepower. reached its final form in 1923.
different style) in his austere last Immediately recommissioned The famous first-night “riot” (more By then, Stravinsky had settled
masterwork, Requiem Canticles,
composed more than 50 years later.
by Diaghilev, Stravinsky came up a accurately a commotion by outraged in postwar Paris. Moving beyond
year later with Petrushka, a tale of Parisian ballet patrons in the theater’s dissonant Modernism toward a
fairground life, whose main character expensive seats) seems to have been cooler Neo-Classicism, his music
is a puppet with poignantly human sparked as much by Nijinsky’s now increasingly looked to adapt and
feelings. Another success for its unconventional choreography as by transmute earlier styles. The ballet
composer, the ballet also made a star Stravinsky’s music, and was not Pulcinella (staged by Diaghilev’s
of the great dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. repeated in the remaining five revived company in 1920) was based
Two years later, a third Stravinsky performances: Stravinsky’s score met on keyboard works supposedly by the
ballet, The Rite of Spring, totally with increasing, if startled, admiration. Italian composer Pergolesi, though
rewrote the rules of what classical these are now known to be imitations.
Revolution and exile Needing to support his widowed
Stravinsky’s subsequent progress mother, his own exiled family, and the
was directed as much by changes in family of his aunt (Catherine’s mother),
his life as by his talent. The outbreak Stravinsky often appeared as a
of World War I forced Diaghilev’s concert pianist in his own works,
company to close. Stravinsky took among them a piano concerto, and
his wife Catherine and family to live the Capriccio for piano and orchestra.
in neutral Switzerland, which lacked Other major statements were a
Paris’s musical resources; and the ritualized opera, Oedipus Rex, adapted
Russian Revolution in 1917 caused a from Sophocles’ ancient Greek play
lifelong exile from his native country. King Oedipus, and the choral and
Stravinsky found a positive musical orchestral Symphony of Psalms. Both
response to both situations in a works used texts in Latin, whose
sequence of works that could be depersonalized, “dead language”
performed more easily on smaller properties appealed to Stravinsky’s
▷ PETRUSHKA, 1911 budgets. The composer showed a anti-Romantic streak. The Symphony
The second draft of the score deepening awareness of his linguistic of Psalms, written for the Boston
for Stravinsky’s Petrushka and musical roots, particularly Symphony Orchestra, marked the
is shown here. The ballet
Russian folk song—as in the sung composer’s return—after many years
premiered in Paris in 1911; its
principal character is a puppet and danced ballet Les Noces (The of rejection—to the Russian Orthodox
with human sensibilities. Wedding), featuring an onstage chorus faith of his upbringing.

“ Music … [establishes] an order in things

including, and particularly, the coordination
between man and time. ”
IGOR STRAVINSKY, 1935
 IGOR STRAVINSKY 251

KEY WORKS

1910 1911 1913 1920 1917–23 1930 1945 1966

In its first Paris Following The The ultra-radical In a shift of musical Taking six years The statement Symphony in Three Requiem Canticles,
season, Sergei Firebird’s success, dissonance and direction, the to complete, of Stravinsky’s Movements, with his last major
Diaghilev’s Ballets the ballet score earth-stamping ballet Pulcinella Les Noces (The rediscovered prominent solo work, is a
Russes company Petrushka presents rhythms of The combines rhythmic Wedding) builds Russian Orthodox parts for piano concentrated,
gives the first, the crisp rhythms Rite of Spring energy with an entire ballet faith, Symphony of and harp, is pocket-sized
hugely successful, and colors of cause an audience tunefulness and score out of Psalms for chorus Stravinsky’s first version of the
performances of Stravinsky’s “riot” at the roguish humor. fragments of and orchestra, is American-period Latin Mass for
The Firebird. mature style. Paris premiere. Russian folk song. premiered in Paris. masterpiece. the dead.

The year 1939 brought personal Previously hostile to the music of choral and orchestral Requiem
tragedy: Stravinsky’s mother, youngest Schoenberg and Webern, he now Canticles, which was played at the
daughter, and wife Catherine all died found himself increasingly stimulated funeral service before Stravinsky’s
within a few months. For many years, by the possibilities opened up by the burial in the Russian Orthodox
he had been in a relationship with different kinds of “serial” or 12-note cemetery in Venice. The continuing ▽ STRAVINSKY AT THE PIANO, 1934
The composer is shown here at his home
the younger Vera Sudeikina, a painter methods that these composers had popularity of Stravinsky’s great early
at rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris,
and costume designer and, like him, evolved. The result was a sequence ballet scores has tended to deflect where he and his family moved the year
a Russian exile. With World War II of late, tersely concentrated works from wider appreciation of later this photograph was taken. He later said
looming, they moved to the US, filtering his own musical techniques masterpieces like these. No other that the house was the unhappiest he
had ever lived in—in 1939, while he was
married, became US citizens, and through this new one. They include 20th-century composer’s music
residing there, his mother, wife, and
settled in Hollywood, making friends the ballet Agon, the ultra-compressed covered more ground with such daughter all died. He moved to the US
with European fellow emigrants or piano concerto Movements, and the ceaseless brilliance and inventiveness. later the same year.
refugees. Earning the kind of income
that Stravinsky was used to was
difficult: several film-score projects
fell through, but he was able to recycle
music already written into his concert
works. A major achievement of
this kind, completed in 1945, was
Symphony in Three Movements, with
its brassy, US-influenced style and
propulsive rhythmic invention.

Late change of style

Four years of work were taken
up by a full-length opera, The Rake’s
Progress, based on drawings by
William Hogarth, with a libretto by
English and US poets W.H. Auden and
Chester Kallman. Early progress
on another opera, to a projected text
by Dylan Thomas, was ended a few
years later by the Welsh poet’s death.
By now an unexpected change had
taken place in Stravinsky’s style.
252 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Heitor Villa-Lobos IN CONTEXT

Brazilian nationalism

1887–1959, BRAZILIAN
The first Brazilian composer to gain international acclaim, Villa-Lobos
developed a recognizably Brazilian style of composition, integrating into
the classical idiom elements of indigenous folk and popular music.

FLAG OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL

Heitor Villa-Lobos was born in Rio Sadly, his efforts were not appreciated his life. His music, however, continued
de Janeiro, and was introduced to by audiences in Brazil, so he traveled to become more propagandist and Brazil gained independence from
music early in life through music- to Paris, hoping to make his name as a nationalist, and to appeal to a mass Portugal in 1822, but Portuguese
making soirees at his home. With this composer. This marked a turning point audience that rejected any form influence on its culture in the ensuing
Empire of Brazil remained strong.
as his inspiration, he learned to play in his career—he found success there of Modernism. But this did bring him Throughout the 19th century, a
the guitar, cello, and clarinet, but was and met musicians from all over the the recognition he sought in his home nationalist movement flourished,
prevented from taking further training world, among them guitarist Andrés country, and prompted a prolific period asserting a Brazilian identity, as well
by the death of his father in 1899, Segovia, who commissioned a study of creativity, especially after Vargas as true political independence, which
involved the integration of indigenous
leaving him to support the family by for guitar from Villa-Lobos, Chôros, was ousted. Democracy restored, traditions and those brought by
playing in various theater and cinema which featured the musical styles of Villa-Lobos traveled to the US African slaves into the largely
orchestras, and with the chorões, the the Brazilian chorões. Villa-Lobos and Europe, where he gained an European colonial culture. This
itinerant street musicians of Rio. wrote many studies and pieces for international reputation. started to become a reality after the
establishment of the First Republic
Born in 1887, a year before the Segovia over the years. By the mid-1950s, after Vargas’s in 1889, under which creative artists
establishment of the First Republic suicide, demand for Villa-Lobos’s such as Villa-Lobos forged a Brazilian
in Brazil, he grew up in a country that Return to the homeland patriotic populism had waned, and cultural identity no longer shaped
was anxious to shake off European On a visit home in 1930, the outbreak as his health deteriorated, his output solely by European traditions.
influence (see box, right). Aged about of a revolution prevented Villa-Lobos declined until his death in 1959.
18, he began traveling around Brazil, from returning to Paris. By the end of
researching its rich musical heritage. that year, Getúlio Vargas had seized
power, declaring an end to the Old
Striking out Republic. Villa-Lobos was appointed
In 1912, after several years traveling, director of the Superintendência
he married pianist Lucília Guimarães de Educação Musical e Artística in
and settled down in Rio to work as a São Paulo, and until 1945 organized
composer. Living in this cosmopolitan concerts and provided patriotic
city, he came into contact with some compositions for the populist leader.
of the latest music from Europe, and In 1936, he left his wife for Arminda
through his friendship with Darius Neves d’Almeida, who became his
Milhaud, who was working there, muse and partner for the rest of
he was introduced to the work of
Debussy and Satie. This inspired him
to make a complete break with the ▷ ANDRES SEGOVIA
The renowned Spanish classical guitarist
Germanic Romanticism that then
met Villa-Lobos in Paris in the mid-1920s;
dominated South American art Villa-Lobos went on to write a number of
music, and forge his own style. major works for Segovia in later years.

“ Artists live with God—but give their little ▷ HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS

finger to Satan. I sleep with the angels

Tapping into his experience as a street
musician, and the music he heard on
his travels, Villa-Lobos brought the

and dream of the devil. ” rich variety of Brazilian popular and

indigenous music to the concert hall.
He is shown here playing a cuíca, a
HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS native Brazilian friction drum.
 SERGEI PROKOFIEV 255

Sergei Prokofiev
1891–1953, RUSSIAN
One of the most versatile and imaginative composers of the first half
of the 20th century, Prokofiev created masterpieces in many traditional
forms and also in new fields such as film music.

Prokofiev’s career divides into three playmates, and in 1904 he passed soloist on each occasion. Their tense,
distinct phases. In the first phase, the entrance examination for the St. percussive muscularity contrasted
during the period leading up to the Petersburg Conservatory. sharply with the lyricism of much
Russian Revolution in 1917, he was Russian music of the time and they
a provocative firebrand emerging The early years provoked strong reactions—both for
as one of the country’s most exciting Prokofiev studied at the Conservatory and against. At the premiere of the
and progressive composers. In the for the next decade. He had various second concerto, some people are △ SERGEI PROKOFIEV, 1900
second, he left Russia following the distinguished teachers, most notably said to have booed, hissed, or walked Prokofiev is shown here at his piano,
Revolution and spent most of the next Rimsky-Korsakov, but they left no real out, but when Prokofiev played the aged nine. The following year—having
already received piano lessons from
two decades abroad, establishing a mark on him, as he tended to regard first concerto as his graduation piece his mother for six years—the young
worldwide reputation. The third phase them as stuffy traditionalists. The at the Conservatory in 1914, he was musician composed his first opera.
saw his return to spend his later years most important works of his student awarded the coveted Rubinstein Prize.
in his homeland, where he was seen days are his first and second piano In that same year, World War I
as a cultural hero but fell foul of the concertos, premiered in 1912 and began. Prokofiev was excused military
repressive Soviet regime. 1913 respectively, with himself as service because his father was dead
Prokofiev was born in the village of
Sontsovka, Ukraine, into a comfortable
middle-class family. His father was IN PROFILE
manager of an agricultural estate and Sviatoslav Richter
his mother was a talented amateur Prokofiev had close links with some
pianist. Two elder sisters had died leading Soviet musicians, especially
as infants and he was brought up as Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997), widely
an adored only child. He began piano regarded as one of the greatest
pianists of the 20th century. Richter
lessons with his mother when he was gave the first performances of several
four and within a year was writing of Prokofiev’s works, including the
his own pieces for the instrument. Piano Sonata No. 7 in 1943. It is one of
At the age of 10, he composed his first three piano sonatas Prokofiev wrote
during World War II and Richter spoke
opera, performed by relatives and of it reflecting the anxieties of a world
in which “chaos and uncertainty
reign.” However, he also thought it
◁ SERGEI PROKOFIEV, 1930s expressed a “will for victory” and
This portrait was painted when the affirmed “the irrepressible life force.”
composer was at the height of his career.
The painter, Sergei Yurievich Sudeikin, SOVIET MUSICIAN SVIATOSLAV RICHTER
was best known as a designer of theater AT THE PIANO
sets and costumes.

“ … an unrelenting muscular exhibition of a

completely novel kind of piano playing. ”
COMPOSER VERNON DUKE, ON SEEING PROKOFIEV PERFORM IN 1916
256 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

KEY WORKS

1912 1921 1935 1936 1941 1945

Piano Concerto Piano Concerto Prokofiev begins Peter and the Begins War and Symphony No. 5,
No. 1, which No. 3 premieres Romeo and Juliet, Wolf, Prokofiev’s Peace, his most often considered
Prokofiev says in Chicago, with his greatest ballet charming ambitious opera; the greatest of
is his “first more Prokofiev as music, from which “symphonic fairy it is not performed Prokofiev’s seven
or less mature” soloist. he also creates tale for children,” in full until after symphonies,
work, premieres three orchestral premieres in his death. premieres in
in Moscow. suites. Moscow. Moscow.

and he was his mother’s only support. Travel and exile In 1920, Prokofiev visited Paris and
Thus he was able to pursue his career Prokofiev welcomed the Revolution, for the next two years divided his time
and continued to attract attention but the chaos and civil war created between Europe and the US. Two
with his self-assured personality an unfavorable environment for a other Russian émigrés, the conductor
and brashly confident music. His musician. In 1918, he went abroad for Sergei Koussevitzky and the ballet
compositions of this time include the a concert tour, which turned into a impresario Sergei Diaghilev, helped to
△ LINA LLUBERA, EARLY 1920s savagely colorful Scythian Suite long exile. He traveled through Siberia promote his career in Paris where, in
Prokofiev met the Spanish singer Lina (premiered in 1916)—inspired by to Japan, performing in Tokyo and 1921, he scored two major successes:
Llubera when he was living in the US. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Yokohama, then went on to San with the Scythian Suite (conducted by
The couple married in 1923, but Prokofiev
later left his wife for a younger woman. intended to create similar outrage— Francisco and, in September 1918, to Koussevitzky) and the music for the
and Symphony No. 1 (the “Classical” New York, where he was based for two ballet The Buffoon (sometimes known
Symphony, premiered in 1918), years. His explosive pianism attracted as Chout). These helped make him
▽ LENIN ADDRESSES THE WORKERS which has a sprightly melodic charm attention (he was dubbed “the Cossack one of the best-known composers
Although sympathetic to the Revolution that shows a different side to his Chopin”), but reactions were mixed of the day, and in 1922 he moved
of 1917, Prokofiev became frustrated by personality. Prokofiev conducted and he was generally unhappy in the permanently to Europe (although he
the ensuing turmoil and traveled to the
the premieres of both these works US. He did, however, meet a young continued to visit the US). At first
US, where he was based for years. This
painting of the revolutionary leader Lenin (displaying “barbaric abandon” on the Spanish singer called Lina Llubera, he lived at Ettal in southern Germany,
at the Putilov factory is by Isaak Brodsky. podium, according to one reviewer). who was to become his wife in 1923. where he spent much of his time
 257

preparing his works for publication, ◁ ALEXANDER NEVSKY, 2006

giving him a respite from his grueling The New York Philharmonic (bottom)
schedule of touring. Then, in October gives a live performance of Prokofiev’s
Alexander Nevsky, conducted by Xian
1923, he settled in Paris. Zhang, to accompany a screening of
Sergei Eisenstein’s 1938 film of the
Recognition and acclaim same name (top) at Avery Fisher Hall,
In 1927, Prokofiev made a two-month New York, in October 2006.
concert tour of the Soviet Union and
was given VIP treatment. He also
toured widely in Europe and visited
the US in 1925, 1930, and 1933, the
increasing lyricism of his work
appealing to a wider audience than
his earlier aggressiveness. Indeed, his IN CONTEXT
reputation in the US was so high Socialist Realism
that he received prestigious
commissions, including one from The term Socialist Realism is used
to describe the officially sanctioned
the Library of Congress for his first
theory and practice of art in the Soviet
string quartet, premiered in 1931. Union under Stalin’s rule (1924–
As well as performing in the concert 1953). All artists, including painters,
hall, Prokofiev occasionally made writers, and composers, were
expected to glorify the state rather
recordings, most notably one of his
than to express their own ideas and
Third Piano Concerto (the most personalities. This was supposed to
popular of the five he wrote) at educate and inspire the common
London’s Abbey Road Studios in 1932. people through instilling the
principles of Communism, but
typically it resulted in stereotyped
A final return and often bombastic works.
Prokofiev visited the Soviet Union
again in 1928 and 1932, before
moving there permanently with his
wife and two children in 1936. It was
a risky decision: as a world-famous
artist he could expect a privileged pieces extolling the Soviet regime—for Several of Prokofiev’s works were
lifestyle, but no one was entirely safe example, a cantata celebrating Stalin’s officially blacklisted, but he was
under Stalin’s tyranny. Initially, he 60th birthday (1939). During World soon rehabilitated, and in 1951 he
was allowed to keep his passport War II he was evacuated from Moscow won the last of his six Stalin Prizes.
and he made visits to Europe and to keep him out of danger and was However, by this time—following
even another tour of the US in 1938. awarded the title of Honored Artist of a bad fall and a stroke—the composer
However, he was then asked to hand the Soviet Union. However, in 1948, was seriously ill.
in the passport, ostensibly for routine along with other composers, he was Prokofiev died in Moscow on
administrative purposes, and it was accused of showing decadent Western March 5, 1953—the same day as
never returned, meaning that he was influence in his music and had to sign Stalin. Because of this coincidence,
trapped in his homeland. a public apology to “Dear Comrade his death passed almost unremarked.
Prokofiev continued to produce Stalin.” Soon afterward his wife It is said that every florist in Moscow
major works, including the music Lina (whom he had abandoned for was ordered to use their entire stock
for Sergei Eisenstein’s celebrated a younger woman) was arrested for for Stalin’s funeral, Prokofiev’s “STALIN IS OUR BANNER!,” SOVIET
film Alexander Nevsky (1938), but alleged espionage and spent eight mourners consequently had to make AGITPROP POSTER, 1948
he was also obliged to create hollow years in Siberian labor camps. do with paper flowers.

“ I care nothing for politics—I’m

a composer first and last.”
SERGEI PROKOFIEV, 1937
258

▷ LILI BOULANGER, c. 1915

The young composer is pictured here
during World War I, at the age of 21, two
years after having won the Prix de Rome
for her cantata Faust et Hélène and just
three years before her early death.

Lili Boulanger
1893–1918, FRENCH
The tragically short-lived composer and pianist Boulanger was the
first woman to win the coveted Prix de Rome award for composition.
She is considered one of the 20th century’s most talented composers.
 LILI BOULANGER 259

Marie Juliette Olga Boulanger, known

as Lili, was born in Paris in 1893 to IN PROFILE
a musical family: her parents were Nadia Boulanger
notable musicians and her sister,
Nadia, went on to become a famous A towering figure in Lili’s life,
Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979) was
conductor and tutor (see box, right).
a highly distinguished conductor
Lili grew up around leading musicians and organist and one of the 20th
and intellectuals of the age, including century’s most influential teachers
the composer and close family friend, of composition. Like Lili, Nadia
was tutored by Gabriel Fauré at
Gabriel Fauré (see pp.180–181), who the Conservatoire de Paris. She
became her piano tutor and had a came second in the 1908 Prix de
major influence on her career. Rome with her cantata La Sirène.
When her father died in 1903, Nadia's
teaching became a vital source of
Overcoming hardship financial support for the family. She
Lili’s short life was marked by robust went on to instruct numerous eminent
musical genius as well as physical composers, many from the US,
frailty. At the age of two—by which including Aaron Copland and Philip
Glass. After Lili’s death, Nadia was
time she could sing melodies by tireless in her promotion of her
ear—she fell gravely ill with Crohn’s sister’s work.
disease, which triggered pain and
sickness in her life. However, Lili was
precocious in her musical talents: she NADIA BOULANGER CONDUCTING AN
ORCHESTRA IN MANCHESTER, AGED 76
sang and also learned the piano, violin,
cello, harp, and organ. Her studies
were steered by Nadia, Fauré and, at weeks. She was the first woman to brooding, as in Poème symphonique
the Conservatoire National de Paris, receive the award. This marked the (1917) and Psalm 130, Du fond de
other leading musicians, including the turning point in her career, securing l’âbime (Out of the depths, 1917–
composer Georges Caussade and her a scholarship as composer-in- 1918). By contrast, her Vieille prière
the harpist Alphonse Hasselmans. residence at the Villa Medici in Rome bouddhique (1914–1917) and the
The death of her father when she as well as a publishing contract. sprightly D’un matin de printemps
was six is thought to have spurred Lili The influence of Fauré, Debussy, are more uplifting.
to start composing. Her earliest work and Wagner is evident in Boulanger’s By 1918, although at a high point
was the simple and poetic Nocturne work, which also embraces religious in her career, Boulanger was at a
(1911) for violin and piano. At the age themes (as in her psalm settings). personal low, plagued by severe
of 19, she won the prestigious Prix Many of her major pieces were written illness. Pie Jesu (for voice, strings,
de Rome for her cantata Faust et during World War I, when she was harp, and organ)—melancholic,
Hélène (1913), composed in just four often ill. Several of these are dark and sparse, beautiful—was completed on
her deathbed. Her opera La Princesse
Maleine (1916–1918) was unfinished at
the time of her death at the age of 24.

◁ VILLA MEDICI, ROME

As a winner of the Prix de Rome, Lili was
invited to spend five years composing
at this magnificent 16th-century villa. Ill
health and the outbreak of war cut short
her tenure, but it was here that she wrote
her popular Cortège for flute and piano.

“ Superior morally and

spiritually … She became
an example for me. ”
NADIA BOULANGER, ON HER SISTER, LILI
260 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

George Gershwin IN CONTEXT

The Great American
Songbook
1898–1937, AMERICAN In the 1920s, the advent of radio
and improvements in gramophone
A prolific composer of enduring Broadway show tunes, Gershwin recording led to a tremendous boom
in the popular music business, which
attempted to bridge the gap between popular and classical music had previously been dominated by
the sales of sheet music from the
in works such as Rhapsody in Blue and the opera Porgy and Bess. publishers of the now famous Tin Pan
Alley district of New York. Composers
such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter,
Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny
Gershwin was the second of four Here he learned his songwriting craft string of hit shows. One of these, Mercer, and Richard Rodgers learned
sons born to the Gershowitz family, and, as well as demonstrating the Lady Be Good—with the music by their trade in Tin Pan Alley, but now
turned their attention to writing
Ukrainian and Lithuanian Jews who hit tunes of the day, he wrote some Gershwin and lyrics by Ira—marked songs for the Broadway musical
had settled in Brooklyn, New York. By of his own, getting the first of these the beginning of one of the world’s theater and the movies. Reaching
the time his brother Ira was born in published in 1916. He began work great songwriting partnerships, which an unprecedentedly wide audience,
1896, his father had adopted the name at the Aeolian Company, recording continued into the 1930s. Around this these show tunes quickly became
“standards”—favorites that were
Gershwine; George was born Jacob and arranging songs. With the advent time, Gershwin began a lifelong love performed and recorded by a huge
Bruskin Gershwine two years later. of gramophones, radio, and later the affair with the composer Kay Swift, range of artists. The songs became
As a child, he did not show much talking pictures, the music industry but the couple never married. known as “American Standards” and
interest in music until Ira started was on the cusp of great change, and are often referred to collectively as
The Great American Songbook.
music lessons and a piano was Gershwin was well placed to be Serious ambition
brought into the house, and it was not at the forefront of this new golden Despite his successes, Gershwin
until 1911 that George began learning age of popular song (see box, right). yearned to become known as a
the piano, too. He quickly became “serious” composer, first with his
a proficient pianist, with a love of Broadway hits Rhapsody in Blue, a concert piece for
classical music, but within a couple of His breakthrough came in 1919 with piano and orchestra with jazz-inspired
years took up a career in the popular “Swanee,” a song recorded by the themes, and then with a full-blown
music business. He left school in 1913, popular singer Al Jolson—it sold Piano Concerto and the orchestral
aged 15, to become a “song plugger”: hundreds of thousands of copies. An American in Paris, a musical
a pianist that was employed by the On the strength of this, he went on depiction of his trip to Paris in 1926.
publishers and music sellers of Tin to collaborate with William Daly, After the hit shows of the 1920s,
Pan Alley to play the latest tunes to a music director in the Broadway he concentrated on more serious
attract buyers of sheet music. theaters, providing music for a composition, and in particular the
opera Porgy and Bess. It premiered
in 1935, but was a commercial
failure. Gershwin moved to
Hollywood to work on the
songs for the Astaire and
Rogers film Shall We Dance.
In 1937, during an operation
to remove a benign cyst from
his brain, surgeons found
a large malignant tumour. He died GRAMOPHONE PLAYER WITH SIDE
aged 39, hours after the operation, HANDLE, EARLY 1920s
never having regained consciousness.

◁ RUBY ELZY IN PORGY AND BESS ▷ GEORGE GERSHWIN, c. 1925

US soprano Elzy became famous for her The young composer is shown here—
role as Serena in Gershwin’s Porgy and in his mid-twenties and with his career
Bess. She is depicted in this painting of well under way—seated at a piano and
1935 by artist Sergei Yurievich Sudeikin. elegantly dressed in a pinstriped suit.
262

▷ FRANCIS POULENC, 1920

Despite Poulenc’s homosexuality being
an open secret that could have had him
arrested by the Nazis during World War II,
he remained in Paris, performing and
composing patriotic and anti-German
music in support of the French resistance.
He is pictured here in his early twenties.

Francis Poulenc
1899–1963, FRENCH
Poulenc made his name in the 1920s as one of the young composers
known as Les Six, his witty, irreverent music matching his carefree
life; but he later developed a more serious compositional style.
It is tempting to ascribe the two key ▷ LE GROUPE DES SIX
aspects of Francis Poulenc’s music, Five of the musicians who formed Les
the serious and the light, to his Six are shown here, flanking female
pianist Marcelle Meyer (not one of the six).
parents: his father was a successful Left, from the bottom: Tailleferre, Milhaud,
industrialist and a devout Catholic; Honegger; right: Auric (seated) and
his mother a bohemian amateur Poulenc. Also shown (in the background)
pianist with an eclectic taste in music. are composer Jean Wiéner (top left) and
writer Jean Cocteau (top right).
Francis was born in Paris in 1899.
The expectation was that he would
pursue a career in the family's In 1920, at a concert of new music
pharmaceutical business, and so by some of Satie's protégés (Poulenc,
he had little formal musical education. Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud,
However, he did take piano lessons Georges Auric, Germaine Tailleferre,
with Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes. and Louis Durey), the composers were
dubbed by a critic as simply Les Six,
Inspiration and early work a name that stuck, even though they
When Poulenc's parents died in his had little in common. Poulenc was
teenage years, Viñes became a key perhaps the most successful of
figure in his life. Through Viñes, the group in the 1920s, gaining a
he met the eccentric composer Erik reputation as a bon vivant as well
Satie and his young protégés. Poulenc as a composer of urbane and witty
was also introduced to avant-garde music such as the ballet Les Biches,
poets such as Guillaume Apollinaire and a host of songs setting poems
and Paul Eluard, and was inspired by Apollinaire and Eluard.
to try his hand at composing, despite
being largely self-taught. Troubled times
His first pieces, including the well- Privately, however, Poulenc was prone
known Trois mouvements perpétuels to depression, especially as he tried to
for piano, showed a natural talent come to terms with his homosexuality.
for attractive, melodic music with From 1930, in a transition that was
a touch of gentle parody, and perhaps triggered by the death of his
established him as a composer. childhood friend Raymonde Linossier,
his music became more serious and
reflective of a bleaker mental state.
In 1936, Poulenc visited the beautiful
French pilgrimage site of Rocamadour, After World War II, Poulenc found
and rediscovered his Catholic faith. success as a pianist and accompanist, IN PROFILE
This prompted a series of religious but his compositions were thought by Pierre Bernac
works, beginning with the Litanies à the avant-garde to be conventional
la Vierge Noire de Rocamadour and and lightweight; even the profound Poulenc was a hugely accomplished
pianist, and performed and recorded
the Mass in G major. Stabat Mater and dark operas such many of his own works. In the 1920s,
as La Voix humaine and Dialogues des he began a musical partnership with
Carmélites—which tells the story of the young singer Pierre Bernac,
◁ ROCAMADOUR Carmelite nuns who were guillotined who, like Poulenc himself, was
During a troubled time in his life, Poulenc born in Paris in 1899. Bernac’s light
at the end of the French Revolution baritone voice was suited to the
visited the pilgrimage site of Rocamadour
for refusing to renounce their calling— French chanson (song), and early
in southwestern France. It proved a
turning point, reigniting his faith and did not receive the serious attention in his career he began performing
inspiring him to write religious music. they deserved until the 21st century. Poulenc’s songs, including the
premiere of the Chansons gaillardes.
Poulenc was greatly impressed
by Bernac’s interpretation of his
music, and in the 1930s became his
accompanist in a series of recitals,

“ In Poulenc there is something of the tours, and recordings of the many

songs that Poulenc had written for

monk and something of the rascal. ”

him, continuing until Bernac’s
retirement in 1960.

CLAUDE ROSTAND
 DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH 265

Dmitri Shostakovich
1906–1975, RUSSIAN
Regarded as the foremost composer of his generation, Shostakovich
IN CONTEXT
successfully developed an original and sometimes rebellious musical The Great Purge,
style, despite the constraints of the Stalinist establishment. 1936–1938
During the 1930s, Stalin faced
opposition as his policies failed to
◁ PETROGRAD, 1920 deliver prosperity. He began to fear a
The Communist International Congress in coup or even assassination. So began
Shostakovich’s home town (formerly St. the “Great Purge,” in which he sought
Petersburg). The city was named Leningrad to eliminate his opponents and cow
after the death of Lenin (shown left) in 1924. the population into compliance. The
Ministry of Internal Affairs, NKVD,
was given unprecedented powers.
More than 1.5 million people were
Innovation and development arrested, and hundreds of thousands
This was the beginning of his uneasy of them executed. This reign of terror
relationship with the Soviet musical was not restricted to political
establishment, reflected in the dissidents, but extended to any
prominent figures perceived to be
development of his unique style: his critical of the Stalinist regime,
desire to experiment and innovate had including artists and composers.
always to be tempered by accessibility,
a hybrid of several different styles
within an “acceptable,” conventionally
classical framework. As a result,
his music is often ambiguous and
unsettling, sometimes with a touch
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was with his mother at the age of nine— of satire, or even bitter irony in its
born in 1906 in St. Petersburg, a city he soon showed remarkable talent, tone. His first major composition was
whose changing names reflected the and a particular interest in composing. the Symphony No. 1, which he wrote
seismic changes in Russia during his At the age of 13, he was admitted to as his graduation piece in 1926.
lifetime; it was renamed Petrograd the Petrograd Conservatory, whose Despite his perceived lack of
in 1914, and then became known as alumni included Tchaikovsky and commitment to the Soviet aesthetic,
Leningrad in 1924, reverting to its Prokofiev. Since the revolutions of Shostakovich eventually graduated
original name in 1991. His father, of 1917, however, the Conservatory had from the Conservatory that year,
Polish descent, had moved there from become less tolerant of innovation, aged just 19. Intending to make his
Siberia, as had his mother, an amateur and the curriculum was prescribed by name as a concert pianist, he moved
musician. Dmitri began piano lessons Soviet ideology. As a young composer, to Moscow, but in the face of fierce
Shostakovich had little interest in competition decided instead to devote
emulating the great Russian his time and effort to composing.
◁ DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH composers, preferring the exciting Encouraged by the success of his
The composer is pictured here as
new music of Stravinsky and Symphony No. 1, which had been LAVRENTIY PAVLOVICH BERIA, HEAD OF
a young man in his thirties, working
on a score that is believed to be to his Prokofiev, a tendency that was performed in Germany and the US, he THE SOVIET SECRET POLICE, THE NKVD
Symphony No. 7, known as “Leningrad.” frowned on by his teachers. wrote the Second Symphony, which

“ Real music is always revolutionary, for

it cements the ranks of the people; it
arouses them and leads them onward. ”
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH, “THE POWER OF MUSIC,” MUSIC JOURNAL, SEPTEMBER 1965
266 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

“ A creative artist works on his next

composition because he is not
satisfied with his previous one. ”
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH, NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 25, 1959

was enthusiastically received by

audiences as well as the authorities.
But the good times were short-lived. △ LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK
Shostakovich’s marriage to Nina This is the program cover for the
Varzar ended in divorce in 1935, but first concert performance in England
of Shostakovich’s opera. It was held at
they remarried shortly after when Queen’s Hall, London, in March 1935.
Nina discovered she was pregnant
(their daughter, Galina, was born in
1936 and a son, Maxim, in 1938). challenging style. Dubbed by the
In 1936, Shostakovich was advised establishment as “a Soviet artist’s
to attend a performance of Lady creative response to just criticism,” the
Macbeth of the Mtsensk District at symphony was accepted as a gesture
which Stalin would be present. It of good faith, and Shostakovich was
soon became clear to the terrified offered a post at the Leningrad
composer that Stalin disapproved Conservatory to teach composition.
of the opera, which was then slated
in the official newspaper, Pravda. The war years
△ THE NOSE although pro-Soviet in its intent, was Shostakovich was summoned by At the beginning of World War II, he
Based on a satirical short story by too experimental to gain full approval Platon Kerzhentsev, the chairman of tried to enlist in the Soviet Army, but
Nikolai Gogol, Shostakovich’s opera from the musical establishment after the USSR State Committee on Culture was refused because of his very poor
The Nose is performed here in 2016
by London’s Royal Opera, conducted its first performance in 1927. and denounced for “Formalism”—the eyesight. He remained in Leningrad
by Ingo Metzmacher and directed by He was also working on an opera, catch-all criticism aimed at those who as a firefighter, leaving only when
Barrie Kosky, at the Royal Opera House, The Nose, and a Third Symphony; ignored the tastes of the proletariat, the German attack on the city turned
Covent Garden. both premiered in 1930. The Nose in and did not write music that sought to into a lengthy siege (see box, opposite).
particular attracted criticism from the glorify the Soviet state. Shostakovich and his family were
authorities—who misunderstood its Shostakovich thus struggled to find evacuated to Kuibyshev, where he
satirical nature—and stinging reviews work as a composer. He had finished finished his Seventh Symphony, which
condemning its incomprehensible his Fourth Symphony, but withdrew it he had begun in Leningrad. The siege
modernity. This response was a lesson before its first performance, fearing dragged on and the symphony, seen
to Shostakovich in how far he could further sanctions or even worse, as as a symbol of resistance to the
go before incurring the wrath of the Stalin had his political opponents and German oppressors, was given the
establishment, and the dangers he their supporters summarily removed. title “Leningrad.” It was premiered in
faced in his next major project, the In a bid to restore his reputation, Kuibyshev in March 1942, and later
opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk he completed the Fifth Symphony that year given a moving performance
District, completed in 1934. The opera in 1937, which was written in a less in Leningrad by the few surviving

KEY WORKS

1925 1934 1937 1938 1942 1953 1974

Completes First performance Symphony No. 5 in Completes the first of Symphony No. 7 in Symphony No. 10 in Completes his last
Symphony No. 1 of the opera Lady D minor, written in his 15 string quartets, C major, “Leningrad,” E minor restores major work, String
in F minor as a Macbeth of the response to the which are both more is performed in the Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 15 in
graduation piece Mtsensk District, denunciation of his personal and more besieged city. reputation after being E-flat minor.
at the Petrograd based on a novel experimental work, adventurous than his denounced by the
Conservatory. by Nikolai Leskov. is enthusiastically orchestral oeuvre. establishment for
received in Leningrad. a second time.
members of the Leningrad Radio
Orchestra, along with whatever
musicians could be found in the city.
Shostakovich was expected to
produce more patriotic music to boost
morale. In 1943, now living in Moscow,
he completed his Eighth Symphony,
but far from uplifting, it depicted the
dark aspects of war. The government
first saw it as anti-Soviet, but put a
positive spin on it by dubbing it the
“Stalingrad” symphony, as if in honor
of the fallen of the Battle of Stalingrad.
In the immediate postwar years,
Shostakovich’s relationship with the
authorities eased, although he reacted
against the increase in anti-Semitism
in Russia with works incorporating
Jewish themes. But in general, he
adopted a lighter, more conservative
style of composition, and in 1947 was New York in 1949, and paraded before By the mid-1960s, Shostakovich was △ FIREFIGHTING, 1941
rewarded for his services by being the world’s press as a puppet of the becoming increasingly ill. He was Shostakovich is pictured with a hose on
made a deputy to the Supreme Soviet. Soviet state. Only after Stalin’s death diagnosed as suffering from polio, the roof of the Leningrad Conservatoire in
his role as a firefighter in the first year of
in 1953 did he achieve rehabilitation of although it seems more likely that his the siege of Leningrad (1941–1944)
Humiliation and decline his status with the Tenth Symphony, condition was motor neuron disease. during World War II.
However, the following year, in a one of his most popular works. In the final decade of his life, he
reign of terror led by Andrei Zhdanov, Shostakovich’s wife, Nina, died in gradually lost the use of most of his
chairman of the RSFSR Supreme 1954, and although it is rumored limbs and had a number of falls
Soviet, he and a number of his fellow that he had affairs with at least two of resulting in broken bones. His sight
composers were denounced for his students in the 1940s and 1950s, was also severely restricted, and he
Formalism. He was dismissed from when he remarried it was to a Leninist suffered a number of heart attacks,
the Conservatory and forced to make activist, Margarita Kainova, in 1956. not helped by his lifelong heavy
a public apology. His humiliation was The marriage ended in divorce just smoking and drinking. Nevertheless,
compounded when he was selected three years later, and he married his he continued composing for as long
as a representative to the Cultural and third wife, 27-year-old Irina as he was able to wield a pencil. He
Scientific Congress for World Peace in Supinskaya, in 1962. died of lung cancer in 1975.

IN CONTEXT
The Siege of Leningrad
In April 1941, Hitler began the
offensive against Leningrad in
conjunction with the Finnish attack on
the region from the north. Evacuation
of the population began in June that
year, but by September all roads out
of the city were blocked, and the long
siege began. Rather than occupy the
city, Hitler announced that “Leningrad
must die of starvation,” amid continual
bombardment. Hundreds of thousands
of civilians died of cold and starvation,
leading some to classify the campaign
as genocidal. Lasting 872 days, the
siege was one of the longest in history,
and was finally lifted in January 1944.

POSTER OF ANDREI ZHDANOV, HEAD OF

COUNTER-SIEGE OPERATIONS IN RUSSIA
268 EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Directory
opera, Doktor Faust, which was never as a piano virtuoso. His first
completed but which generated successful compositions were the
material for over 20 “satellite” works. charming folk-influenced Danzas
españolas (Spanish Dances) for piano,
KEY WORKS: Piano Concerto in followed by the opera María del
C major, Op. 39, 1904; Berceuse Carmen, premiered in 1898. The
life from an early age and, although élégiaque (orchestra), Op. 42, 1909; Goya-inspired suite of piano pieces
Alexander Glazunov born in Tuscany, was more German Fantasia Contrappuntisca (piano Goyescas is generally considered his
than Italian in culture. His spectacular solo), 1910; Doktor Faust (opera, masterpiece. He developed the work
1865–1936, RUSSIAN
performances as a virtuoso and incomplete), 1924 into an opera of the same name, which
Born in St. Petersburg, Glazunov his transcriptions of Bach for piano premiered at the Metropolitan Opera
began composing at the age of 11 often tended to overshadow his own in New York in 1916. Returning from
and received private lessons from compositions. Innovative and eclectic, the US on board the British liner
Rimsky-Korsakov. The success of his his extensive oeuvre included a piano Enrique Granados Sussex in the middle of World War I,
First Symphony, premiered when he concerto with a choral finale, works he was drowned along with his wife
1867–1916, SPANISH
was 16, won him precocious entry into based on Amerindian folk song, and when the ship was sunk by a German
the circle of composers patronized experiments with atonality. Busoni’s The son of a Spanish army officer, submarine in the English Channel.
by Russian music publisher Mitrofan treatise Entwurf einer neuen Ästhetik Granados grew up in the Catalan
Belyayev. By the 1890s, he had der Tonkunst (Sketch of a New Aesthetic city of Barcelona. He was a pupil of KEY WORKS: Danzas españolas (piano
formed his mature style, blending of Music), written in 1907, was a the composer Felipe Pedrell, who solo), 1888–1890; María del Carmen
Romanticism with Classicism and prophetic manifesto of 20th-century encouraged him to take an interest in (opera), 1898; Goyescas (piano solo),
Russian with Western influences. music, predicting use of microtones Spanish folk music. After two years 1911; Tonadillas en estilo antiguo
A stream of symphonies, concertos, and electronic sounds. His later in France, he returned to Barcelona (voice and piano), 1911–1913
ballets, and chamber works secured years were chiefly devoted to an in 1889 and established a reputation
Glazunov’s place as a composer
of international standing. In 1905,
he was appointed as the director ◁ Amy Beach
of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
1867–1944, AMERICAN
Under pressure of teaching and
administrative duties, his output The first US woman composer to have
declined. He remained at the head major works performed, Beach was
of the Conservatory after the 1917 born Amy Marcy Cheney, descended
Bolshevik Revolution, numbering from a distinguished New England
Shostakovich among his pupils, family. Her outstanding musical ability
but in 1928 moved to the West. was noticed from an early age and she
Dismissive of musical Modernism, gave her first piano recital in Boston
he was sometimes criticized as at the age of 16. After she married in
old-fashioned by the time of his 1885, she curtailed her performing
death in France in 1936. career to focus on composition,
becoming the only female member
KEY WORKS: Symphony No.4 in E-flat of the Boston-based composers
major, Op. 48, 1893; The Seasons known as the Second New England
(ballet), Op. 67, 1900; Violin Concerto School. In a long creative life she
in A minor, Op. 82, 1904; Concerto for wrote a wide range of music, including
Alto Saxophone, Op. 109, 1934 a choral Mass, a symphony, chamber
works, solo piano pieces, and songs,
some of which proved popular and
lucrative. After her husband’s death in
Ferruccio Busoni 1910, she traveled to Europe, where
her work was well received. Returning
1866–1924, ITALIAN
to the US, from the 1920s she wrote
A composer, pianist, and theoretician, most of her music at the MacDowell
Busoni was a major figure in the artists’ colony in New Hampshire.
transition from Romanticism to
Modernism. A son of musicians, he KEY WORKS: Gaelic Symphony in E
was a child prodigy in both piano and major, Op. 32, 1897; Piano Concerto in
composition. He led a cosmopolitan △ AMY BEACH, c. 1895 C-sharp major, Op. 45, 1899; Variations
 DIRECTORY 269

on Balkan Themes (piano solo), Op. 60, and using Rossini melodies for his
1904; The Canticle of the Sun (soloists, 1919 ballet La Boutique fantasque. He
choir and orchestra), Op. 123, 1924 discovered his most successful genre
with the symphonic poem Fountains
of Rome in 1916. Brash, colorful,
and atmospheric, his three works on
Alexander Scriabin Roman themes earned him wealth
and fame. In later life, he was courted
1872–1915, RUSSIA
by Mussolini’s Fascist regime but
Composer, pianist, and mystic Scriabin remained apolitical.
was born in Moscow; his father was
an aristocratic soldier, his mother KEY WORKS: Il tramonto (voice
a concert pianist. He studied piano and strings), 1914; Fountains of
alongside Rachmaninoff under Rome (symphonic poem), 1916;
Nikolai Zverev and attended the Pines of Rome (symphonic poem),
Moscow Conservatory. His early 1924; Roman Festivals (symphonic
piano compositions were influenced poem), 1928
by the Romanticism of Chopin and
Liszt. Marrying Vera Isakovich in
1897, he became a teacher at the
Conservatory. His First Symphony, ◁ Karol Szymanowski
an ambitious work with a choral
1882–1937, POLISH
finale, appeared in 1900. From around
1903, the style of his works became Szymanowski was born into a
increasingly innovative, evolving away Polish landowning family in Ukraine.
from conventional tonality. In 1904, Showing musical talent from an early
he moved to Switzerland where, age, he first attracted attention as a
separated from his wife, he started a member of the radical Young Poland
second family with Tatiana Schloezer. group of composers in Warsaw in
He adopted the mystical ideas of 1905. His music was initially influenced
theosophy and pursued equivalences by German models, notably Richard
between colors and sounds—his △ KAROL SZYMANOWSKI, 1936 Strauss, but journeys to Sicily and
Prometheus, the Poem of Fire (1910), North Africa stimulated a fascination
had color projection as part of the 20. He became the favorite pupil with Mediterranean culture. During
score. He planned a multimedia work, of Antonín Dvořák, and married Ottorino Respighi World War I, isolated on his family’s
Mysterium, which, performed in the Dvořák’s daughter Otilie in 1898. The estate in Ukraine, Szymanowski
1879–1936, ITALIAN
Himalayas, was supposed to end happiness of this period of his life is produced an impressive series of
the world in bliss. After returning to reflected in his incidental music for One of Italy’s most popular works reflecting this exotic interest, as
Russia, he died of blood poisoning. the play Radúz a Mahulena (1898). The composers, Respighi was born in well as the influence of contemporary
deaths of both Dvořák and Otilie in Bologna and studied at the city’s French composers. Caught up by
KEY WORKS: Twelve Etudes (piano 1904–1905 inspired the grief-stricken liceo musicale. As an orchestral nationalist enthusiasm after Poland’s
solo), Op. 8, 1894; Piano Sonata No. 4 symphony Asrael, widely considered viola player he spent time in Russia, declaration of independence in 1918,
in F-sharp major, Op. 30, 1903; Poem his finest work. In his later music, where he was taught composition by he sought inspiration in the folk music
of Ecstasy (orchestra), Op. 54, 1908; including the impressive symphonic Rimsky-Korsakov, whose flamboyant of the Tatra Mountains, attempting to
Five Preludes (piano solo), Op. 47, 1914 poem Ripening, he adopted a more orchestration he adopted. He built create an authentic modern Polish
Modernist style, exploring polytonality. up his early reputation chiefly as a music. He was appointed head of the
He played as a violinist with the composer of operas and concert Warsaw Conservatory in 1927, but his
prestigious Czech Quartet for 40 pieces for voice and orchestra. work was better liked outside Poland
Josef Suk years. Much of his energy later in life From 1913, Respighi was based than within. From 1932, he lived
was devoted to teaching composition in Rome, where he taught at the mostly abroad, dying in a sanatorium
1874–1935, CZECH
at the Prague Conservatory. St. Cecilia Academy and married in Switzerland.
Violinist and composer Josef Suk was the singer and composer Elsa
introduced to music by his father, a KEY WORKS: Serenade for Strings, Olivieri-Sangiacomo in 1919. Largely KEY WORKS: Myths (violin and piano),
village teacher and choirmaster. He Op. 6, 1892; Asrael (symphony), Op. 27, indifferent to Modernism, Respighi Op. 30, 1915; Violin Concerto No. 1,
entered the Prague Conservatory at 1906; Ripening (orchestra and chorus), cultivated an eclectic interest in Op. 35, 1916; Król Roger (opera), Op. 46,
the age of 11 and had written several Op. 34, 1917; Epilog (orchestra, musical history, writing orchestral 1924; Symphony No. 4 (piano and
of his most successful works by age soloists and chorus), Op. 37, 1929 suites based on old Italian lute pieces orchestra), Op. 60, 1932
270

KEY WORKS: Altenberg Lieder

▷ Percy Grainger (soprano and orchestra), Op. 4,
1912; Wozzeck (opera), Op. 7, 1922;
1882–1961, AUSTRALIAN-AMERICAN
Lyric Suite (string quartet), 1926;
A composer, pianist, and folk song Violin Concerto, 1935
collector, Grainger was born in
Melbourne, Australia, and educated
by his mother at home. After attending
the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Bohuslav Martinů
he began a career as a concert pianist
1890–1959, CZECH
in London in 1901. While living in
England, he collected folk songs, Prolific Czech composer Martinů was
touring the countryside with a born to poor parents in a rural town
phonograph. His own compositions in Bohemia. Impressed by his violin-
started to make an impact from 1911, playing, townspeople paid for him
consisting chiefly of short pieces and to attend the Prague Conservatory.
songs, which were often organized His first success as a composer
into suites. His arrangements of folk came with a cantata celebrating
music, such as the suite Country Czechoslovakia’s independence,
Gardens, proved to be particularly premiered in 1919. He played as an
successful for him. In 1914, he moved orchestral violinist and in 1923 moved
to the US, where from 1917 to 1919 to Paris, where he was influenced
he played in a US Army band. Grainger by the current fashions for jazz and
later took US nationality. However, his Neo-Classicism. He survived poverty
creative output waned considerably with the aid of a seamstress, Charlotte
after his mother’s tragic suicide Quennehen, whom he married in
in 1922. In his later years, he argued 1931. He established a growing
for the democratization of music △ PERCY GRAINGER, JACQUES-EMILE BLANCHE, 1906 reputation with his ballets, operas,
and advocated use of an electronic orchestral pieces, and concertos
instrument, the theremin. He died experimentalism. As a member of the emotion-laden music that harked before the Nazi occupation of France
at White Plains, New York. Schoenberg-led Second Viennese back to late Romanticism. Born in 1940 drove him to flee to the US.
School, in the 1920s Webern adopted into a wealthy Viennese family, he Living there until 1953, he produced
KEY WORKS: Hill Song No. 1 (two 12-tone serial technique, but his style had a difficult adolescence, failing numerous works, including six
pianos), 1901; Molly on the Shore was idiosyncratic in its compression, at school and also fathering an symphonies, a violin concerto, and
(strings), 1911; Country Gardens brevity, and elusive beauty. From 1922 illegitimate child by a housemaid. an opera commissioned for television.
(solo piano), 1919 to 1934, he conducted a workers’ He began composing songs at the He returned to Europe for his final
orchestra in Vienna. In his later years, age of 15 but completely lacked any years, dying in Switzerland.
he lived a withdrawn life, loving nature formal training whatsoever until
and devoted to his wife and four Schoenberg took him on as one KEY WORKS: La Revue de cuisine
Anton Webern children. He was shot dead by a US of his pupils in 1904. One of Berg’s (ballet), 1927; Double Concerto for
soldier during the Allied occupation of first major works was the Altenberg Two String Orchestras, Piano and
1883–1945, AUSTRIAN
Austria in 1945. Lieder, which premiered at the Timpani, 1938; Symphony No. 1, 1942;
Modernist composer Webern was “Scandal Concert” in Vienna in 1913. The Greek Passion (opera), 1957.
born into a privileged Austrian family KEY WORKS: Six Pieces for Orchestra, After serving in the Austro-Hungarian
and studied music at the University of Op. 6, 1910; Six Bagatelles (string Army in World War I, he completed the
Vienna. His early compositions, such quartet), Op. 9, 1913; Variations for Expressionist opera Wozzeck in 1922.
as the tone poem Im Sommerwind piano, Op. 27, 1936; Cantata No. 1, Performed by the Berlin State Opera Arthur Honegger
(1904), were in a lush late-Romantic Op. 29, 1939 in 1925, it earned the composer great
1892–1955, SWISS
vein. In 1904, he became a pupil of notoriety. His music was denounced
Schoenberg, who guided his evolution by the Nazi Party as being degenerate A member of the group of Parisian
toward atonal music. Webern’s grief and was virtually banned following composers known as Les Six,
at the death of his mother in 1906 Alban Berg their rise to power in Germany in Honegger was born in France to
found expression in the powerful Six 1933. Berg’s last completed work, Swiss parents. He studied at the
1885–1935, AUSTRIAN
Pieces for Orchestra, first performed the celebrated Violin Concerto, was conservatory in Zurich before moving
at the infamous “Scandal Concert” in A member of the Second Viennese written as an elegy for Alma Mahler’s to the Paris Conservatoire in 1911
Vienna in 1913, in which the audience School, Berg used Modernist daughter. Dying of septicemia, he left and settling in Montmartre, where he
rioted because of the music’s composition techniques to create the opera Lulu unfinished. spent most of his life. He established
 DIRECTORY 271

an early reputation with works such children to play, as well as formal employed in a school founded by concert works, including a first
as the 1918 ballet Le Dit des jeux du works such as a set of fugues for Dorothee Günther in Munich in 1924. symphony. In 1926, he married singer
monde, before his oratorio Le Roi piano. In his later years, he lived Orff belatedly won recognition as a Lotte Lenya and turned to writing
David brought international renown. mostly in Switzerland. composer with the performance of popularly accessible musical drama.
Associated with Les Six by friendship Carmina Burana in Frankfurt in 1937. His collaboration with left-wing poet
rather than compositional style, he KEY WORKS: Kleine Kammermusik His success during the period of the and playwright Bertolt Brecht began
produced a string of thoroughly (wind quintet), 1922; Mathis der Hitler dictatorship in Germany led to with the satirical Mahagonny-Songspiel
individual works, some reflecting his Maler (orchestra), 1934; Der subsequent accusations of complicity in 1927, later expanded into a full
extra-musical interests in sports and Schwanendreher (viola and orchestra), with Nazism. Many of his later works opera. The following year, their Die
locomotives. As well as heavyweight 1935; Symphonic Metamorphosis of reflected his interest in classical Dreigroschenoper, transposing John
orchestral and choral pieces, he wrote Themes by Weber, 1943 antiquity. He wrote books of children’s Gay’s Threepenny Opera to modern
popular operettas and film music, music for his educational method, the Berlin, proved a sensational success.
including the score for Abel Gance’s Schulwerk, in the 1930s and 1950s. Brecht-Weill songs such as Mack
epic Napoléon (1926). In 1931, the Knife and Alabama Song became
he married the pianist Andrée ▽ Carl Orff KEY WORKS: Carmina Burana ubiquitous popular hits. Jewish and
Vaurabourg, although the couple lived (cantata), 1937; Catulli Carmina left-wing, Weill fled Germany when
1895–1982, GERMAN
separately because of Honegger’s (cantata), 1943; Antigonae (opera), 1949 Hitler took power in 1933. He divorced
need for solitude. His later life was Famous for his choral work Carmina Lenya, only to marry her again in
darkened by illness and somber Burana, Orff was born in Munich, 1937. Living in the US, he became
reflections on the state of the world. Bavaria. Precociously talented, he a hugely successful writer of tuneful
had written ambitious works by the Kurt Weill Broadway shows, from the musical
KEY WORKS: Le Roi David (oratorio), age of 20. Conscripted in 1917, he comedy Knickerbocker Glory to the
1900–1950, GERMAN
1921; Pacific 231 (Symphonic was wounded in the trenches during “folk opera” Street Scene.
Movement No 1), 1923; Jeanne d’Arc World War I. After the war, he devoted A composer whose work bridged
au bûcher (oratorio), 1935; Symphony himself to the study of Renaissance the divide between popular and KEY WORKS: Die Dreigroschenoper,
No. 3 (“Symphonie liturgique”), 1946 and Baroque music. He also worked serious music, Weill was born 1928; Aufsteig und Fall der
on an experimental approach to to Jewish parents in Dessau. He Stadt Mahagonny (opera), 1930;
teaching music through drama, studied composition under Busoni Knickerbocker Holiday (operetta),
rhythmic movement, and dance, first in Berlin in the early 1920s and wrote 1938; Street Scene (opera), 1946
Paul Hindemith
1895–1963, GERMAN

Composer and musical thinker

Hindemith was born in Frankfurt
am Main. A gifted string player from
his youth, he studied at the local
conservatory and also played in
several orchestras and string quartets.
Surviving army service in World War I,
he made his name as an avant-garde
composer in the 1920s, writing
chamber music for unusual
instrumental combinations. He
was appointed head of the Berlin
music academy in 1927. Following
the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany
in 1933, his music was banned and
he was forced into exile. He lived in
Turkey, where he reformed musical
education, before moving to the US
in 1940. Hindemith continued to be a
prolific composer, producing larger-
scale works from the 1930s onward.
As a teacher and theoretician, he
proposed an anti-Romantic view
of composition as a practical craft.
He wrote music for amateurs and △ CARL ORFF, c. 1978
 LATE 20th
& 21st
CENTURIES
Joaquín Rodrigo 274
William Walton 276
Michael Tippett 278
Olivier Messiaen 280
Benjamin Britten 284
Witold Lutosławski 288

CHAPTER 6
Leonard Bernstein 290
György Ligeti 292
Karlheinz Stockhausen 294
Tōru Takemitsu 296
Alfred Schnittke 298
Arvo Pärt 300
Philip Glass 302
Judith Weir 304
Directory 306
274

▷ JOAQUIN RODRIGO
The Spanish composer stepped into
the international limelight following the
premiere of his Concierto de Aranjuez in
1940. The work’s melancholy Adagio is
believed to have been prompted by the
tragic stillbirth of his first child.

Joaquín Rodrigo
1901–1999, SPANISH
Blind from childhood, Rodrigo is best known for the enormously popular
Concierto de Aranjuez, which established his international reputation, and
also brought respect for the guitar as a concert instrument.
 JOAQUIN RODRIGO 275

“ In life you can never be first in

anything … I only aspire to be an
improved Joaquín Rodrigo. ”
JOAQUIN RODRIGO

Joaquín Rodrigo was born in Sagunto ◁ CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ

on St. Cecilia’s day, November 22, This is a braille manuscript for Rodrigo’s IN CONTEXT
1901. When he was only three years Concierto de Aranjuez. He wrote all
his music in braille, which was then Commissioned
old, he was one of many children in
the town who contracted diphtheria,
transcribed into standard notation. concertos
which left him permanently blind. The Concierto de Aranjuez was written
Soon after, the family moved to Madrid before World War II began. by Rodrigo for the Spanish guitarist
Regino Sáinz de la Maza. Its success
Valencia, where Joaquín attended Rodrigo took with him the Concierto
prompted other virtuoso soloists to
school for the blind, and took his de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra, approach him with commissions. He
first music lessons on the piano and which he had written in Paris and that also arranged the work for Spanish
violin at the age of eight. secured his international reputation. harpist Nicanor Zabaleta, who later
commissioned the Concierto serenata
As a teenager, he had lessons in
for harp and orchestra from him.
music theory with teachers from the Prominent composer Other of Rodrigo’s commissioned
Valencia Conservatoire, and began Thereafter, he became a prominent works include the Concierto como
to take an interest in composition, member of the musical establishment, un divertimento for cello for Julian
Lloyd Webber; the Concierto pastoral
using the braille system of musical head of music broadcasts for Spanish
for flute for James Galway; the
notation to write his music, which radio, professor of the history of Concierto Andaluz for the Romeros
he then dictated to a copyist, Rafael under the composer Paul Dukas at music at the Complutense University Guitar Quartet; and the popular
Ibáñez. Employed by the family as the Ecole Normale de Musique. Here, of Madrid, and music critic for national Fantasía para un gentilhombre for
the guitarist Andrés Segovia.
Joaquin’s assistant, Ibáñez shared he was also introduced to the vibrant newspapers. He continued to write
Rodrigo’s love of music and literature Parisian literary and musical culture, music, including 11 concertos and
and became his constant companion and met the composer Manuel de orchestral and chamber works, but
as well as amanuensis and secretary. Falla, who became a lifelong friend, none of his subsequent compositions
mentor, and champion of his work. achieved the same degree of popular
A vibrant new world After studying musicology at the acclaim as the Concierto de Aranjuez. ▽ GARDENS, PALACE OF ARANJUEZ
By the mid-1920s, Rodrigo’s music Paris Conservatoire and the Sorbonne, Victoria died in 1997, and Rodrigo The Palace of Aranjuez, near Madrid, was
built by Philip II of Spain in the second
was being performed in Valencia Rodrigo traveled around Europe in the died two years later, aged 97. They
half of 16th century. Its stunning gardens
and Madrid. In 1927, he left Spain 1930s, composing and performing as were buried together in the cemetery were the inspiration for Rodrigo’s
with Ibáñez for Paris, to study a concert pianist. It was then that he at Aranjuez, in the south of Madrid. masterpiece, the Concierto de Aranjuez.
met Turkish pianist Victoria Kamhi,
whom he married in 1933. In 1941,
they had a daughter, Cecilia, named
after the patron saint of musicians.
Rodrigo was absent from Spain
during the Spanish Civil War (1936–
1939); in 1939, he and Victoria were
living in Paris. But, aware of impending
conflict in Europe, they moved to

◁ VICTORIA AND JOAQUIN RODRIGO

Joaquín met Victoria Kamhi during his
European travels; they married in 1933.
She became his indispensable partner,
both emotionally and professionally.
 WILLIAM WALTON 277

William Walton IN PROFILE

The Sitwells
From about 1915 to 1930, the three
1902–1983, BRITISH siblings of the aristocratic Sitwell
family, Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell,
became known in London “society” as
From humble beginnings, Walton rose to fame as the darling of London’s the center of a circle of upper-class,
fashionable young people with literary
musical society between the two world wars, living the life of a playboy and artistic pretensions. Each of the
Sitwells achieved modest success and
before settling into semi-retirement on the Italian island of Ischia. a brief period in the limelight: Edith as
a poet (see main text, left), Osbert as a
writer and art critic, and Sacheverell
as a music and art historian. However,
◁ FACADE, SUITE NO. 1, 1926 of which was with Alice, Viscountess unlike the contemporary and greatly
This is the front cover for Suite No. 1 Wimborne, which began in 1934. He revered Bloomsbury Group (to which
of Walton's Façade, composed for Edith was exempted from military service they are sometimes compared), the
Sitwell's eccentric verses. The work Sitwells’ fame was largely built on
brought him fame and popularity. during World War II so that he could
notoriety and eccentricity rather
provide music for propaganda films than on artistic merit.
such as The First of the Few, and
in London with his siblings, Edith Laurence Olivier’s Henry V, while living
and Osbert. The Sitwells (see box, on Alice’s estate in Northamptonshire.
right) provided Walton with an attic in
Chelsea where he could work, as well Final movements
as an introduction to London society After the war, Walton found it difficult
and its writers, artists, and composers. to return to composition, particularly
after Alice died in 1948. But later that
A different kind of music year, at a conference in Buenos Aires,
Walton’s work at this time, including he met, and soon married, Susana
William Walton was born in Oldham, an early string quartet, was in an Gil Passo, an Argentinian woman.
Lancashire, in 1902. Although not well avant-garde, experimental style. By now, the composer's music was
off, his family was musical and soon But in 1923 he created Façade, a no longer fashionable, and although
recognized William’s talents in this new kind of music—surreal verses he was regarded highly enough to be
field. In 1912, he was accepted into by poet Edith Sitwell (recited by her commissioned to write the coronation
Christ Church Cathedral School at the premiere through a megaphone), march Orb and Sceptre for Elizabeth II, PORTRAIT OF EDITH SITWELL,
in Oxford, where he spent the next accompanied by Walton’s jazzy and his output decreased significantly, ROGER FRY, 1915
six years. It was at this choral school tongue-in-cheek music for small especially after an operation for lung
that he began composing. ensemble. It captured the 1920s cancer in 1966. He and Susana moved
His abilities gained him a place, aged zeitgeist, and although many were permanently to the Mediterranean
only 16, as an undergraduate at Christ outraged, Walton had made his mark. island of Ischia in 1956, where he died
Church, a college of the University of Trading on his reputation, he went on their estate, La Mortella, in 1983.
Oxford. Although he excelled there at on to write more serious orchestral
music, he neglected other academic works, including the massive cantata
subjects, repeatedly failed exams, and Belshazzar’s Feast (1931), his First
left the university without a degree in Symphony (1935), and concertos for
1920. However, at Oxford he had viola and violin. Having drifted away
become close friends with poets such from the Sitwells, whose influence
as Siegfried Sassoon and Sacheverell was on the wane, he embarked on
Sitwell. The latter invited him to lodge a series of affairs, the most lasting

◁ WILLIAM WALTON ▷ THE GARDENS OF LA MORTELLA

The English composer burst into the These magnificent gardens were created
limelight in 1923 with his controversial by Susana Walton, wife of William, at their
work Façade. He went on to become a estate on the island of Ischia, where they
key figure in mid-20th-century British moved to in 1956. The gardens were
music and was knighted in 1951. opened to the public in 1991.
278

▷ MICHAEL TIPPETT, 1973

Tippett is pictured here at his piano in
his late sixties, three years after he split
up with his partner, Karl Hawker. It was
also around this time that he moved
away from an experimental period in
his music to resume the lyricism that
had characterized his earlier work.
Despite the composer’s long-held
antiestablishment beliefs, his significant
contribution to music was honored in
1966 with a knighthood and in 1983
with the prestigious Order of Merit.

Michael Tippett
1905–1998, BRITISH
A slow and meticulous musical craftsman, Tippett achieved recognition
comparatively late in life, but soon came to be regarded as one of the
foremost British composers of the latter half of the 20th century.
 MICHAEL TIPPETT 279

“ Music is a performance However, Tippett’s career was

interrupted by a crisis of confidence. IN CONTEXT
and needs the audience. ”
He was devastated by the end of his Morley College
relationship with Franks in 1938 and
struggling to come to terms with his Founded in the 1880s, Morley
MICHAEL TIPPETT College is a famous adult education
homosexuality. Doubting his worth as
center in Waterloo in central London.
a composer, he embarked on a course It originally occupied the premises of
of Jungian psychoanalysis. This form a music hall, which was taken over by
Born into an upper-middle-class of therapy gave him the confidence, philanthropist Emma Cons to provide
more edifying entertainment and
family, Michael Tippett was brought and the inspiration, to persevere with educational “penny lectures.” Thanks
up in a liberal atmosphere by his his composition free from anxiety over to an endowment from statesman
freethinking parents. Soon after his sexuality. The first work to emerge Samuel Morley (1809–1886), it
his birth, the family moved from from this period was the oratorio formally became the Morley Memorial
College for Working Men and Women,
Middlesex to Suffolk. Michael and A Child of Our Time. in separate premises from the theater,
his brother were privately educated by in 1889. The music department of the
tutors at their home until 1914, when Taking a stand college in particular flourished under
he was sent to a boarding school in After the outbreak of World War II, the directorship of Gustav Holst
between 1907 and 1924, and later
Devon, and later gained a scholarship Tippett was appointed as director Michael Tippett (1940–1951).
to Fettes College in Edinburgh. of music at Morley College, London
This was, however, no place for a (see box, right). A lifelong pacifist, he
sensitive boy like Michael, who in 1920 △ FETTES COLLEGE, EDINBURGH registered as a conscientious objector;
admitted he had formed a romantic Tippett was a boarder at the school from in 1942, after refusing to take on
relationship with another boy, and 1918 to 1920—he was a member of the civilian duties aiding the war effort, he
choir and also studied piano and the pipe
was transferred to Stamford School organ. The school’s grandiose main was taken to court and imprisoned for
in Lincolnshire, which had a reputation building, c. 1870, is shown here. three months. Following the success
for musical education. Here he began of A Child of Our Time at its premiere in
to flourish—but as his confidence 1944, however, his pacifism, socialism,
improved, he became outspoken in music. To support his composing, he and homosexuality were overlooked,
his left-leaning and atheistic views took a job as conductor of the South and his status so established that
and was asked to leave in 1922. London Orchestra, a publicly funded he was invited to present a series
ensemble for unemployed musicians. of talks on BBC radio.
A period of development It was a time of important personal as During the 1950s, Tippett lived
Tippett enrolled at the Royal College of well as musical development: he in Wadhurst, Sussex and in 1960
Music the following year, graduating began a serious relationship with moved with his partner, Karl Hawker,
with a music degree in 1928. His Wilfred Franks, to whom he dedicated to Corsham in Wiltshire, where he
attempts at composing were his first mature composition, the began to write in an experimental and
unsatisfactory, so he returned to take String Quartet No. 1; he also became dissonant style, later influenced by the SAMUEL MORLEY, INDUSTRIALIST AND
a course in counterpoint, after which more politically active, briefly joining jazz and blues he had heard on a trip POLITICIAN, 1882
he felt ready to begin his career in the Communist Party. to the US in 1965. After his breakup
with Hawker in 1970, he returned to
his former lyricism. Despite health
issues in the 1980s and early 1990s,
he traveled widely, absorbing different
musical influences.
Tippett was held in remarkably
high esteem, being awarded several
national honors. He died in London
in 1998, aged 93, following a stroke.

◁ KING PRIAM, 2014

The English Touring Opera company
is shown here in its production of
Michael Tippett’s King Priam, directed
by James Conway and conducted
by Michael Rosewell, at the Linbury
Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House,
London, in 2014.
280 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

Olivier Messiaen
1908–1992, FRENCH
An outstanding organist, composer, and teacher, Messiaen drew on
ON TECHNIQUE
numerous influences in his work, from Asian rhythms to birdsong, but Ondes Martenot
his constant source of inspiration was his unshakable Catholic faith. Messiaen was an important pioneer
of the ondes Martenot (Martenot
“waves”)—an early electronic
instrument invented in 1928 by
Messiaen was born in the French city treasured them, believing some lines
Maurice Martenot, a former radio
of Avignon on December 10, 1908, and to be prophetic, such as: “I suffer from telegrapher and cellist, who was
was baptized on Christmas Day. Both an unknown, distant music” and “All inspired by the radio oscillators that
his parents were highly cultivated. the Orient is singing here within me, were used by the army. Messiaen
first used the instrument’s strange,
His father, Pierre, was an English with its blue birds.”
futuristic, wavering sound (which
teacher and translator of some of resembles the theremin) in a work
Shakespeare’s plays, but Olivier was First steps commissioned for the World Fair in
closer to his mother, Cécile Sauvage, At the outbreak of World War I, Pierre 1937. His future sister-in-law, Jeanne
Loriod, was a highly accomplished
a distinguished poet. While pregnant, was conscripted and Olivier moved
performer on the unusual instrument.
she wrote a collection of poems for with his mother to Grenoble. There, his
her unborn child: L’Ame en bourgeon musical gifts soon became apparent.
(The Budding Soul). Messiaen He taught himself to play the rickety
old piano in his uncle’s house and
began making up music of his own.
Olivier received some private lessons,
but his progress accelerated after the
war, when the family moved to Paris.
In 1919, aged just 10, he entered the
Paris Conservatoire. △ MARCEL DUPRE
Messiaen’s teachers at the An atmospheric depiction by Ambrose
Conservatoire included Paul Dukas McEvoy of organist Marcel Dupré at the
organ of Notre-Dame, Paris. Dupré was
and Marcel Dupré. Regarded as the an important early influence on Messiaen.
finest organist of his generation, the
latter had a particularly important
influence. Under his tutelage, the appointed chief organist at the church
organ superseded the piano as of La Ste-Trinité in Paris, a great
Messiaen’s principal instrument, honor for one so young. He often
which was to play an important part played there over the next 60 years,
in his career. In 1931, Messiaen was although he was careful not to use
it for any of his more extravagant
experiments. Messiaen reassured
◁ BABY OLIVIER his curate in a letter: “In music, one
Messiaen is shown here as a baby, sitting
always has to seek what is new, ONDES MARTENOT, INVENTED BY
on the knees of his mother, poet Cécile
Sauvage. The composer later said she but reserve that for chamber and MAURICE MARTENOT IN 1928
raised her children “in a fairy universe.” orchestral works in which fantasy is

“ It is possible to make sounds on

a piano that are more orchestral ▷ OLIVIER MESSIAEN
One of the most influential figures in

than those of an orchestra. ” modern French music, Messiaen poses

in front of the 2,500 or so pages of the
score for his opera St. Francis of Assisi,
OLIVIER MESSIAEN his last major work before his death.
282 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

alternative modes in his book La

Technique de mon langage musical
(1944). Messiaen worked backward,
from practice to theory. One of his
friends at the Conservatoire, Jean
Langlais, described how he found
the sounds that he liked through
improvisation and then developed
a system to accommodate them:
“he told me later on, he discovered
his system by analyzing his own
works, the scales and everything.
He did not decide before—he
discovered afterward.”
Messiaen was equally radical in his
approach to tempo. He sometimes
lengthened individual notes or played
them very slowly (occasionally, he
marked the tempo as ”infinitely slow”).
Le Banquet céleste, for example,
consists of only 25 bars, but when
Messiaen performed it, the piece
could last for seven or eight minutes.
This helped to endow it with a solemn,
meditative quality.

Changing circumstances
Meanwhile, Messiaen’s personal
circumstances were changing
dramatically. In 1927, his mother
died. She had been suffering from
depression for years, often locking
△ CONCERT OF BIRDS admissible.” Messiaen’s employment If religion was the dominant theme herself away from the family. Shortly
Increasingly obsessed by ornithology, at the church did, however, dovetail of Messiaen’s work, the driving force afterward, Messiaen met his future
Messiaen used birdsong as a model with his chief source of inspiration as behind his creative impulse was a wife Claire Delbos, marrying her in
for some of his music—these innovative
works are some of the most challenging a composer: his faith. A devout tireless search for new forms. While 1932. She was a talented violinist
in the piano repertoire. This 17th-century Catholic, he often claimed that he was still a student, he became intrigued and the pair performed a number of
painting of a concert of birds led by an “born believing.” Not surprisingly, this by the possibility of looking beyond recitals together in the early 1930s.
owl choirmaster (center) is by Flemish was reflected in his choice of material. the traditional modes of Western Their married life did not run entirely
painter Paul de Vos (c. 1591–1678).
His first published work was an music—the major and minor scales. smoothly—Claire suffered a number
ethereal organ piece celebrating the Over the years, he explored the of miscarriages, before finally giving
Eucharist (Le Banquet céleste, or The modes of antiquity, the forms of birth to a son, Pascal, in 1937.
Heavenly Feast, 1928). Similarly, La plainsong, and non-European modes In the same year, Messiaen won a
Nativité du Seigneur (The Nativity of the (from India, in particular). He also prestigious commission to provide
Lord, 1935) was his first truly mature defined a number of new, modern music for the Fêtes des belles eaux
work, in which all the various modes and later codified these as (a combination of fireworks, light,
components of his compositional “modes of limited transposition,” and water effects) at the World Fair
experiments fell neatly into place. writing at length about the seven in Paris. For this, he opted to create

“ I give bird songs to those who

dwell in cities … and paint colors
for those who see none. ”
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
 OLIVIER MESSIAEN 283

KEY WORKS
IN CONTEXT
Stalag VIIIA
1935 1941 1949 1953 1970–74 1975–83 The first performance of the Quartet
Messiaen creates The celebrated The premiere Messiaen’s From the Canyons One of Messiaen’s for the End of Time took place in a
La Nativité du Quartet for the End of Messiaen’s Réveil des oiseaux to the Stars is final works is prisoner-of-war camp, located near
Seigneur, his first of Time is written Turangalîla (Awakening of an expansive his only opera, Görlitz, in the easternmost part of
genuine organ and performed at a Symphony, which the Birds) conjures 12-movement a monumental Germany. Conditions were grim:
cycle, consisting of German prisoner- draws inspiration up the sound of work celebrating tribute to the 30,000 men were crammed into a
nine meditations. of-war camp in from the legend of birdsong between the beauty of Bryce career of St. space that was meant for half that
eastern Silesia. Tristan and Isolde. midnight and noon. Canyon in Utah. Francis of Assisi. number; it was bitterly cold; and food
was scarce—the prisoners survived
on a thin stew of potatoes, cabbages,
a futuristic sound by employing a 20th century. Played on ramshackle compositions. Together with her sister and turnips. Fortunately, though, the
camp commandant was sympathetic,
sextet of ondes Martenot. Messiaen instruments, his Quartet for the End of Jeanne, she was also a soloist in the
allowing Messiaen writing materials.
was certainly not the first composer Time was a startling chamber piece Turangalîla Symphony. The four-man orchestra played
to make use of this unusual electronic for violin, piano, cello, and clarinet— Yvonne’s personal relationship with initially in the washrooms, while the
instrument, but it was to become one the only options that were available Messiaen also grew closer, following Quartet itself was staged in the hut
that was used as a theater.
of his trademarks (see box, p.280). to him. Fittingly, given its wartime a tragedy in his domestic situation.
Messiaen doubtless hoped for context, the theme was drawn from During the 1940s, his wife began
further commissions, but the outbreak the Apocalypse, as described in the to show signs of dementia. Claire’s
of World War II put a brake on his Book of Revelation. condition worsened after an operation,
career. Conscripted, he was sent to as she gradually lost her memory and
the front and was captured by the Repatriation and tragedy most of her physical faculties. She
Germans at Verdun. Like thousands Messiaen was repatriated to France entered a sanatorium in 1953 and
of his fellow prisoners, he was forced in 1941. He returned to work at died there six years later. Yvonne
into a cattle-truck and endured a Trinité and was also given a teaching and Messiaen were married in 1961.
hellish four-day journey to the east job at the Conservatoire. One of his Claire’s illness cast a shadow
with no food, water, or sanitation. pupils there was a brilliant young over the most successful period of
While imprisoned at Stalag VIIIA pianist called Yvonne Loriod. She Messiaen’s career, when his work
in Silesia (see box, right), Messiaen was to become one of the leading gained international recognition.
composed and performed one of interpreters of Messiaen’s music, The Turangalîla Symphony was a
the major musical landmarks of the particularly his innovative birdsong joyous affirmation of the power of
love, and he followed this with an
ever-deepening fascination with
ornithology. Messiaen was by no
means the first composer to evoke A PERFORMANCE OF QUARTET FOR
the sounds of birdsong in his music, THE END OF TIME IN 2010
but no other has explored the theme
so thoroughly. His collections—Le
Réveil des oiseaux, Oiseaux exotiques,
and Catalogue d’oiseaux—were truly
unique, even if they presented an
immense challenge for the pianist
concerned. Messiaen was able to
combine his two great passions—
religion and nature—in his last major
work, St. Francis of Assisi, a five-hour
opera on the life of the saint.

◁ MESSIAEN AND YVONNE LORIOD

Pianist and composer Yvonne Loriod
was Messiaen’s second wife and also
one of the principal interpreters of his
work. The couple are shown here in
1964, three years after their marriage,
examining a score of music.
 BENJAMIN BRITTEN 285

Benjamin Britten
1913–1976, BRITISH
An internationally respected English composer, Britten is best known for
his operas and his War Requiem. He developed his own musical language
that was distinctively modern without abandoning melody or tonality.

Edward Benjamin Britten was born in ◁ POSTER FOR PEACE, 1930s

1913 in Lowestoft, on the east coast An ardent pacifist and member of the IN PROFILE
of England. His father, a dentist, was Peace Pledge Union, Britten was awarded
the status of conscientious objector in Frank Bridge
indifferent to music, but his mother Britain in 1942 and unconditionally
was an amateur musician, delighted exempted from all military service. Britten’s teacher, Frank Bridge
(1879–1941), was a professional
to find in Benjamin a son who shared
viola player before establishing a
her tastes. He was sent to private reputation as a composer with works
schools that did nothing to encourage War and pacifism such as the orchestral tone poem
music, but at home he learned to play The last years of the 1930s were The Sea (1911), which so impressed
Britten as a child. Partly in response
the piano and the viola. At the age of dominated by the approach of World
to the horrors of World War I, Bridge
12, he expressed enthusiasm for an War II. Britten was an adherent of the later adopted an astringent Modernist
orchestral piece by British composer pacifist Peace Pledge Union. In early style that estranged many of his
Frank Bridge, heard at a concert. 1939, he traveled with Pears to North earlier admirers. His powerful work
for cello and orchestra, Oration,
Through personal contacts his mother America and, after the outbreak of war
Concerto Elegiaco (1930), was
arranged for him to have composition in September, stayed there, eventually specifically intended as an anti-war
lessons with Bridge, who became his joining Auden in New York. Self-exiles protest. Bridge’s key advice to the
musical mentor. such as Britten and Auden were young Britten was that “you should
find yourself and be true to what
harshly criticized in Britain for failing
you found.”
Early compositions of documentary filmmaking. This to support the war effort against Nazi
In 1930, Britten won a scholarship to brought him into contact with the Germany. But the British authorities
the Royal College of Music in London. poet W.H. Auden, a leading left-wing had no desire to stir up controversy by
While there, he produced his first intellectual, who was writing verse persecuting prominent conscientious
compositions of note, including the voice-overs for the films. In 1936, poet objectors, and after Britten returned ▽ FIRST IMPRESSIONS
choral work A Boy Was Born, which and composer collaborated on the home in 1942—whiling away the The first draft of the opera Billy Budd is
played to writer Ronald Duncan (center)
premiered on BBC radio in 1934. celebrated documentary Night Mail, journey by writing his choral work
and musician Arthur Oldham. At the
After college, he found employment as well as on Britten’s first song A Ceremony of Carols—he was left piano, Britten accompanies Peter Pears
writing music for the GPO Film Unit, cycle, Our Hunting Fathers. Both men free to continue work as a musician. singing one of the arias.
which was then at the cutting edge were gay at a time when homosexual
acts were illegal. Auden’s influence
helped Britten come to terms with his
◁ BENJAMIN BRITTEN sexuality. In 1937, the composer met
Britten is seen here conducting in Berlin’s the tenor Peter Pears, who was to be
State Opera House (Staatsoper Unter den
his lifelong companion. They would
Linden) in 1968. He was a renowned
conductor and pianist and performed often give recitals together, as Britten
many of his own works. was a first-rate piano accompanist.

“ It is cruel … that music

should be so beautiful. ”
BENJAMIN BRITTEN (ON MAHLER’S THE SONG OF THE EARTH), 1937
286 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

KEY WORKS

1937 1945 1954 1962 1964 1973

Variations on a Based on a poem Britten’s opera A setting of the The first of three Britten completes
Theme of Frank by George Crabbe, based on a Henry Requiem Mass and small-scale his final opera,
Bridge is an Britten’s opera James ghost story, poems by Wilfred operas, Curlew Death in Venice,
international Peter Grimes is The Turn of the Owen, the War River, is premiered despite his
success. a critical and Screw, premieres Requiem boosts at a church in failing health.
popular hit. in Venice. Britten’s renown. Orford, Suffolk.

The war years were a fertile time (1951) and The Turn of the Screw These personal tensions informed
for Britten. His output included three (1954), Britten in effect reestablished some of his best-known works,
notable song cycles—Les Illuminations an English operatic tradition that had notably Billy Budd and The Turn of the
(1940), Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo lapsed since the 17th century. In 1947, Screw, which depict children and
(1942), and the Serenade for Tenor, he set up the English Opera Group as adolescents as symbols of purity
Horn, and Strings (1943)—as well as a touring company performing and innocence menaced by evil and
the Sinfonia da Requiem (1940), one of chamber operas, and the following corrupt forces. Britten also enjoyed
his most successful purely orchestral year founded the Aldeburgh Festival writing music for children, including
works. Above all, he produced the (see box, p.287). His status in British the much-played Young Person’s Guide
score for the opera Peter Grimes. music was reflected by the Royal to the Orchestra (1945) and the one-act
This powerful work brought together Opera House’s staging his Gloriana opera Noye’s Fludde (1958).
two of Britten’s deepest sources of to mark the coronation of Queen
inspiration—his love of the coast in Elizabeth II in 1953, although the opera Cold War composition
the county of Suffolk, where the opera proved too dark and challenging to In the context of the Cold War and the
is set, and his sense of isolation as a satisfy celebratory expectations. nuclear arms race of the 1950s and
homosexual, which he expressed 1960s, Britten’s pacifism took
through the character of Grimes, who Popularity and innovation on a fresh urgency and relevance.
is marginalized and finally driven to Despite his growing fame, Britten’s Premiered in 1962, his emotional and
his death by a repressive society. sexuality kept him nervous of the dramatic War Requiem intermingled
▽ RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP From its first performance in police, who were conducting a virulent the Latin Mass with settings of
The Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich London in 1945, Peter Grimes was campaign against high-placed anti-war poems by Wilfred Owen. It
(left) grasps Britten’s hand, after playing hailed as a masterpiece. In a series homosexuals in the early 1950s. He was commissioned for performance
the composer’s Cello Sonata in his
of operas over the following decade, was rendered vulnerable not only by in Coventry Cathedral, rebuilt after its
Aldeburgh music room. Russian soprano
Galina Vishnevskaya and Swiss conductor from The Rape of Lucretia (1946) and his relationship with Pears but by the destruction by aerial bombing during
Paul Sacher applaud in the background. Albert Herring (1967) to Billy Budd attraction he felt for adolescent boys. World War II. Appearing at a time of
international crisis, when nuclear
war between the Western powers and
the Soviet Union seemed possible or
even imminent, the work had an
astonishing public impact for a piece
of classical music, the first recording
selling more than 200,000 copies in
six months.
It was partly in protest at the Cold
War division of the world that Britten
pursued publicized friendships
with the Soviet composer Dmitri
Shostakovich and Soviet cellist drew inspiration from Japanese △ OPERA BY THE SEA
Mstislav Rostropovich, for whom he Noh theater and Balinese gamelan, Cast members take to the stage during IN CONTEXT
wrote his Cello Symphony in 1963. among other sources. His opera Owen the first performance of “Grimes on the
Beach,” a production of Britten’s opera The Aldeburgh Festival
In the 1960s, Britten was frequently Wingrave, commissioned for television Peter Grimes at the Aldeburgh Festival
denounced as a musical reactionary and broadcast in 1971, was far less on June 17, 2013. Benjamin Britten lived for much of his
life in Aldeburgh, a small town on the
by avant-garde critics and composers successful, failing perhaps because of
Suffolk coast in eastern England. In
committed to the idea that 12-tone his lack of sympathy for the medium 1948, with friends, he staged a music
serialism was the only valid form of (he never owned a television set). Death in Venice. Thomas Mann’s story festival in a local hall. Held annually,
contemporary music. But his work of a dying artist’s obsession with an the festival grew in size and prestige.
In 1965, Britten identified the Maltings,
continued to be innovative in its Final years idealized boy was of obvious personal
a 19th-century industrial building in
own distinctive way, in particular From 1957 to the end of his life, significance to Britten. First performed the nearby village of Snape, as the
integrating influences from non- Britten lived with Pears at the Red in 1973, the work is generally judged potential site for a concert hall.
European musical traditions. His House in Aldeburgh, on the same one his finest achievements. Britten Opened in 1967, the Snape Maltings
became the focus of the annual
exquisite sequence of small-scale bleak Suffolk coast where he had died of heart failure in 1976. He was
music festival, which still attracts top
music dramas written between 1964 been born. In declining health by the buried in a simple churchyard in performers from around the world.
and 1969 (Curlew River, The Burning 1970s, he struggled through illness to Aldeburgh, where Pears would later
Fiery Furnace, and The Prodigal Son) finish his last major work, the opera lie alongside him.

“ My subject is War, and the pity of War. ”

WILFRED OWEN, QUOTED ON THE TITLE PAGE OF BRITTEN’S WAR REQUIEM, 1962
288

▷ WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI, 1992

Lutosławski recalled that, as a boy,
music “always fascinated me, and I
couldn’t imagine any other profession
than musician, and even composer.”
Despite his tremendous creative talent,
the repressive political situation in Poland
for much of his lifetime meant that he
remained virtually unknown outside his
country of birth until he was more than 50
years old. The composer is pictured here
in his garden two years before his death.

Witold Lutosławski
1913–1994, POLISH
The young Lutosławski’s musical creativity was stifled, first by the Nazi
occupation, then by Stalin’s Soviet regime, but in his mature works he
was acclaimed as one of the finest and most original Polish composers.
 WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI 289

“ Polish culture suffered terrible losses …

all cultural activity was banned. ”
WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI, ON THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF POLAND (1939–1945), 1993

Born in Warsaw in 1913, Witold but incorporated them into his own,
Lutosławski was the son of more traditional musical language, IN PROFILE
landowning aristocrats. After the rather than attempting to emulate The Polish School
outbreak of World War I, his father, or adopt them completely.
Józef, active in Polish nationalist His reputation as a highly original Lutosławski was one of a group
of Polish composers who in 1956,
politics, took the family to Moscow composer spread worldwide
after the death of Stalin (who had
to seek safety from German invasion, during the 1960s, but this became imposed restrictions on artistic
but the plan soon turned sour: the overshadowed once again by political innovation), began an international
Bolshevik government made peace unrest in Poland through the 1970s festival of contemporary music, the
Warsaw Autumn Festival, to showcase
with Germany and in 1918 Józef △ FLAG OF SOLIDARNOSC and 1980s. Although Lutosławski had
their work. Now free to experiment
and his brother were executed. Anti-communist feeling in Central long opposed the Soviet regime, with new musical techniques, the
and Eastern Europe in the 1980s his music had never been overtly group, which also included Henryk
led, in Poland, to the creation of the
Hardship and upheaval independent labor union Solidarność political, but it was increasingly seen Górecki, Krzysztof Penderecki, and
Kazimierz Serocki, developed a
The family returned to Poland, where (Solidarity), to which Witold Lutosławski as symbolic of Polish nationalism.
distinctive new Polish approach to
Witold learned the piano and the violin, lent his support. Solidarność’s flag, with With the rise of union organizer Lech composition and, despite stylistic
and went on to earn diplomas in piano its iconic red lettering, is shown here. Wałęsa's Solidarność (Solidarity) differences, became collectively
and composition from the Warsaw movement in 1980, he became more known as “the Polish School.”
Conservatory. By the end of the 1930s, married Maria Danuta Bogusławska, politically involved, lending his support
his reputation was growing, despite and with her assistance started to to Solidarność by refusing any
military service, when Poland was compose in earnest. He had begun engagements in Poland until
invaded simultaneously by Germany work on his first major work, the independence. However, he carried
and Russia. In 1939, while serving as Symphony No. 1, in 1941, but with the on composing, and created many of
a radio operator, he was captured distraction of working as a jobbing his finest works in the last decade
by German troops, but escaped and composer, only completed it in 1947. of his life. He died of cancer in 1994.
returned to Warsaw. Here, he teamed There were additional constraints:
up with pianist and composer Andrzej the Stalinist insistence on socialist
Panufnik to make a living performing realism in music led to Lutosławski
as a piano duo in cafés in the city. The being branded a Formalist composer,
pair made numerous arrangements and he was denied the freedom to
of popular classics, as well as some compose as he wished.
original compositions, but little of
this music survived the war. A temporary freedom
Warsaw became unsafe, and With Stalin’s death in 1953, official
Lutosławski and his mother fled the attitudes became more relaxed, and
city before its complete devastation Lutosławski felt he had the freedom
during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, to explore the new musical idioms that
and did not return until after the war. were being developed in the West. He
The comparative stability of Poland experimented with such techniques
as a Soviet satellite gave him the as serial composition, atonal harmony,
opportunity to settle down. In 1945, he and even aleatoric (chance) elements,

▷ FESTIVAL OF MUSIC
In this photograph, Lutosławski is seen
conducting at the 16th International
Festival of Contemporary Music in Poland
in September 1972.
290 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

Leonard Bernstein
1918–1990, AMERICAN
Known as much for his flamboyant conducting as for his own eclectic
IN PROFILE
compositions, Bernstein was acclaimed worldwide for his contribution The New York
to both “serious” concert music and Broadway musicals. Philharmonic
Founded in 1842, the New York
Philharmonic is the oldest of the
Born in 1918 into a family of Ukrainian Suffering from asthma, Bernstein 1976, when Bernstein “came out” “Big Five” US orchestras (New York
Jewish immigrants in Lawrence, was excused military service during leaving his wife for his young male Philharmonic, Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Chicago Symphony
Massachusetts, Leonard Bernstein World War II, leaving him free to lover. However, the next year, Felicia Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra,
showed a gift for music from an early compose and conduct. In 1943, he was diagnosed with cancer, and and Cleveland Orchestra). Bernstein’s
age. At first, his father let him pursue was appointed assistant conductor Bernstein returned to nurse her connection with the orchestra began
his interest only reluctantly, but later of the New York Philharmonic (see until her death in 1978. in 1943, when he took up the post of
assistant conductor. In 1957, he was
became more supportive, arranging box, right), and two years later appointed musical director jointly
music lessons for his son when the became music director of the newly A household name with Dimitri Mitropoulos, and a year
family acquired a piano. formed New York City Symphony. He During the 1950s, Bernstein became later was made sole musical director.
After attending the Boston Latin was also beginning to make his name a household name in the US, not He was the first US-born conductor
to occupy the post, which he held
School—an institution that prided as a composer, both of “serious” just from his successes on Broadway until 1969. He was then dubbed the
itself on providing a classical concert music and of a string of and appearances with the major orchestra’s “laureate conductor,”
education to Boston’s elite—Bernstein successful Broadway musicals. orchestras, but because he presented and continued working with it until
studied music at Harvard University, a series of lectures on music for the his death.
graduating in 1939. He studied under Married life television arts program Omnibus,
several distinguished academics and As his reputation as a conductor grew, with musical examples played live by
composers, but perhaps the most Bernstein worried that his private life the NBC Symphony Orchestra. This
significant influence was Aaron might damage his chances of taking was a productive time for him as a
Copland, who became a lifelong friend one of the top conducting jobs. He was composer, too, in which he wrote the
and mentor. After Harvard, Bernstein homosexual at a time when it was a operetta Candide, and probably his
spent a year at the Curtis Institute of criminal offense in many places, and best-known musical, West Side Story.
Music in Philadelphia, before settling certainly not something to be made At the same time, he became musical
in New York in 1940. Later that year he public. Perhaps to counter suspicions, director of the New York Philharmonic.
started his studies in conducting with in 1951 he married an actress, Felicia His schedule with the Philharmonic
Serge Koussevitzky at Tanglewood, Cohn Montealegre, with whom he at left him little time for composing in
the summer school of the Boston first lived happily and had three the 1960s, and he did not produce any
Symphony Orchestra. children. The marriage lasted until major work until the Mass in 1971.
He continued tirelessly conducting,
composing, and presenting TV
documentaries throughout the last
two decades of his life, despite the
emphysema he had contracted from
years of heavy smoking. He eventually BERNSTEIN REHEARSES WITH THE NEW
retired in October 1990, aged 72, and YORK PHILHARMONIC, CARNEGIE HALL
five days later died of a heart attack.

◁ WEST SIDE STORY ▷ LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Bernstein’s most famous musical, Bernstein is shown here in February
West Side Story, was made into a 1970 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in
film in 1961, directed by Robert Wise London. After leaving the New York
and Jerome Robbins. The story is an Philharmonic in 1969, he performed
adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and as a guest conductor with numerous
Juliet, transposed to 1950s New York. orchestras around the world.
292

▷ GYÖRGY LIGETI, 1965

During World War II, Ligeti was sent
to a labor camp, his younger brother
to a concentration camp, and his
parents to Auschwitz. Only he and
his mother survived the war. Then, in
1956, after Russia crushed the liberal
government, he was forced to flee
Hungary, hiding under mailbags in a
train that took him close to the Austrian
border. Such nightmarish events are
variously worked through in his music.
Ligeti is shown here in less harrowing
times, in his forties, during his most
productive period when his reputation
as a leading composer was secure.

György Ligeti
1923–2006, HUNGARIAN
One of the most original composers to emerge in the second half of
the 20th century, Ligeti developed an individual style that embraced the
avant-garde while still respecting musical tradition.
 GYÖRGY LIGETI 293

◁ LE GRANDE MACABRE
The English National Opera performs
Ligeti's "anti-anti opera" Le Grand Macabre
at the London Coliseum in 2009. It was his
only opera and his longest work.

films by Stanley Kubrick), including

Atmosphères, the Requiem, Lux
aeterna, Lontano, and the Absurdist
theatrical pieces Aventures and
Nouvelles Aventures, which showed
his darkly humorous side.
He and Vera had a son, Lukas, in
That he was born in Transylvania, divorce three years later, when he 1965, and Ligeti took Austrian
with all its Gothic horror associations, married Veronika (known as Vera) citizenship in 1968. By this time, his
later appealed to György Ligeti’s dark Spitz—not a love match, but to reputation had been secured and
sense of humor. He came from a prevent her deportation due to her his music was being performed
Hungarian Jewish family, and was bourgeois background. After Stalin’s worldwide. After a brief period in
born in 1923, next to a synagogue in death in 1954, they felt it was safe the US, he was appointed professor △ POEME SYMPHONIQUE, 2018
Dicsöszentmárton (now Târnăveni) to divorce, but remained friends. of composition at the Hamburg Members of Alarm Will Sound chamber
in Romania's Transylvania region. Their optimism was short-lived. In University of Music and Theater orchestra with US conductor Alan
Pierson (center) perform Ligeti's Poème
The family later moved to the city of 1956, the Hungarian Revolution was in 1973, where he taught until 1989. symphonique (1962)—written for 100
Cluj, where Ligeti began his studies brutally quashed by Soviet forces, During this period, his style changed metronomes—in the program This
at the local conservatory in 1941. and Ligeti fled with Vera to Vienna. from the textural blocks of sound Music Should Not Exist. In the performance
They then made their way to Cologne, that characterized his early mature at Zankel Hall, New York, Ligeti's music
was interspersed with music by Anton
Dark and fearful times where Ligeti was offered work style, to a more rhythmic and strictly Seifert, Stockhausen, and Charlie Chaplin.
There was a great deal of political with Karlheinz Stockhausen in the structured style, influenced by US
uncertainty in the region at that time: Electronic Music Studio, and he and Minimalism. He also concentrated at
Hungary had annexed Northern Vera remarried, this time in earnest. this time on his grotesque, Absurdist
Transylvania. As Hungarian speakers, In Cologne he had his first real “anti-anti opera” Le Grand Macabre.
the Ligetis were safe, but as Jews, contact with current trends in music, Ligeti spent most of his last years
they faced an increasing threat as the and slowly learned to absorb these working on three books of piano
Nazis spread across Europe. In 1944, into his own compositions. One of his Etudes and concertos for various
Ligeti was arrested and sent to a most productive periods was during instruments and orchestra, but failing
labor camp. the 1960s, when he wrote many of his health affected his output more and
The following year, having survived best-known pieces (and achieving more, and he withdrew into seclusion.
the war, he returned to his studies, some popularity through their use in He died in Vienna in 2006, aged 83.
now at the Franz Liszt Academy of
Music in Budapest, under the aegis
of composer Zoltán Kodály. Following ON TECHNIQUE
in the footsteps of Kodály and Bartók, Micropolyphony
Ligeti adopted a quasi-nationalist, folk- After World War II, a number of
tinged style, largely because he had composers, especially in Central and
very limited access to new music from Eastern Europe, adopted a technique
elsewhere in Europe. He graduated in using massive clusters of notes to
form “blocks” of sound, in which
1949, and went on to teach at the Liszt texture takes precedence over the
Academy. That year he also married traditional parameters of harmony
his first wife, Brigitte, but this ended in and melody. Not satisfied with the
necessarily static nature of these
cluster chords, Ligeti developed
the technique a stage further,
superimposing a large number
of independent melodies (what he
called “micropolyphony”), so that the
individual parts are indiscernible, and
the block is perceived as a dynamic,
constantly changing whole.
LIKE LIGETI'S MICROPOLYPHONY, THESE STARLINGS APPEAR AS A SINGLE ENTITY
 KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN 295

Karlheinz Stockhausen
1928–2007, GERMAN
A towering figure of the post-World War II avant-garde, Stockhausen was
an uncompromising innovator over a period of more than 50 years. His
music was as controversial as it was influential.

Stockhausen was born in Mödrath, ◁ DONNERSTAG AUS LICHT

near Cologne. His early childhood was This is a cover of Stockhausen’s opera ON TECHNIQUE
marred by the fact that his mother Donnerstag aus Licht (Thursday from
Light), one of a cycle of seven operas, Pioneer of electronic
was admitted into a psychiatric one for each day of the week. music
institution in 1932. Another tragedy
befell the Stockhausen family that Stockhausen was particularly noted
year, when Karlheinz’s younger International fame for his groundbreaking work in
electronic music in the 1950s. At that
brother, Hermann, died. By the 1960s, Stockhausen had time, there was a heated debate as to
Matters did not improve when, become virtually a household name, whether the future lay in the purely
in 1938, his father remarried. His as he continued to experiment and electronically synthesized sounds
new wife was the family’s former to develop his highly unconventional produced in the German studios,
or musique concrète, electrically
housekeeper, a situation that compositional techniques, while also modified recorded sounds, favored
the 10-year-old Karlheinz found touring internationally, as both a by the French studios. In Gesang
unbearable. Then, in 1941, his performer and a teacher. His major der Jünglinge (Song of the Youths,
mother died. The official cause project, a massive cycle of seven 1955–1956), Stockhausen found ways
to integrate the techniques, combining
of death was given as leukemia, operas called Licht: Die sieben Tage electronically generated sounds
but it is probable that she had der Woche (Light: The Seven Days of with a recorded human voice and its
been gassed by the Nazis. the Week) was begun in 1977, and electronic transformations, using
and Darius Milhaud, before returning completed in 2003. It was followed by multiple-channel recording to explore
the spatial positioning of sound as an
Continuing turmoil to Cologne to work with Herbert another cycle, Klang (Sound), which integral parameter of the music.
In 1942, Stockhausen left home Eimert in the electronic music studio was based on the hours of the day.
to attend college in Xanten, but of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk. Stockhausen was twice married,
his education was interrupted two During the 1950s, Stockhausen and twice divorced, and several of
years later when he was called up developed a distinctive avant-garde his six children have themselves ▽ STIMMUNG
for military service. For the remainder approach to composition, which become professional musicians, Theatre of Voices ensemble are here
of World War II, he was a stretcher- included a methodical, analytical frequently collaborating in their performing Stockhausen’s Stimmung
(Tuning, 1968) at Zankel Hall in New York
bearer—an experience that had reworking of the serialism invented father’s compositions. He died at
in 2015. In this work, the performers
a deep impact on the unhappy by Schoenberg (see pp.232–235), to his home in Kürten of a heart recite erotic poems written by
teenager. This was compounded which he later introduced some attack in 2007, aged 79. Stockhausen.
when his father went missing in elements of indeterminacy. He also
action, presumed dead, in 1945. explored sound’s position in space
After the war, Stockhausen resumed and electronic music (see box, right).
studies, first at Cologne Conservatory, As his reputation as a composer grew,
then at the University of Cologne. In he became a leading figure of the
1952, he moved to Paris to study Darmstadt School, a group of avant-
composition with Olivier Messiaen garde and experimental composers.

◁ KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN
The innovative composer is pictured
here in a recording studio in 1965,
at the height of his career. By this
time, his name had almost become
a byword for musical modernity.
 TORU TAKEMITSU 297

Tōru Takemitsu
1930–1996, JAPANESE
The first Japanese composer to gain international renown in classical
music, Takemitsu wrote concert pieces and film scores that achieved an
unprecedented integration of Western and Japanese musical traditions.

Throughout his teens, Tōru Takemitsu prolonged periods in hospital, where A turning point came when Stravinsky
had little or no contact with Western he listened to American Forces Radio heard Takemitsu’s 1957 Requiem for ON TECHNIQUE
music, which was outlawed in Japan. and developed a taste for Western string orchestra, and his enthusiasm East meets West
He was born in Tokyo in 1930, but music. Aged just 16, he decided to for it helped publicize Takemitsu in
when he was only a few weeks old his become a musician, even though he the West. Around this time, Takemitsu It was with some shock
that Takemitsu recognized
family moved to Dalian, in Japanese- had no musical training. Apart from a discovered the experimental music
his own Japanese cultural
occupied Manchuria. He returned to few lessons with the composer Yasuji of John Cage. He became interested identity in the 1960s, and
Japan in 1938 to go to school, but was Kiyose in 1948, Takemitsu’s skills as a in Cage’s use of indeterminacy and realized its relationship
unable to complete his studies as he composer were self-taught. chance in composition, and the idea with his essentially
Western aesthetic ideals.
was conscripted at the age of 14 in of silence as a dynamic element.
He began to introduce
anticipation of a US invasion—an Subverting tradition Ironically, it was this US composer’s traditional Japanese
experience he bitterly resented. With such an unorthodox musical work that prompted Takemitsu to instruments into works
Rebelling against the Japanese upbringing, he inevitably gravitated reexamine Japanese traditional music, such as November Steps
(1967), but also found that
establishment, Takemitsu and his toward the unconventional, and which shares many of Cage’s ideals.
modern indeterminate
friends listened clandestinely to a in 1951, he cofounded a group of He began studying Japanese music procedures of composition
gramophone record of the French avant-garde artists, writers, and and its instruments, trying to find a were compatible with
popular song “Parlez-moi d’amour,” musicians known as Jikken Kōbō way of integrating them into his traditional Japanese
performance techniques,
which he cited as a formative (Experimental Workshop), who Western musical style.
allowing for a degree
influence. After World War II, he rejected the traditional academic His first major work in this vein was of improvisation and
worked for the US occupying forces, arts. For Takemitsu, this was a November Steps for biwa (a traditional expressive interpretation.
but his fragile health meant he spent conscious turning away from Japanese lute), shakuhachi (a flute), He also discovered that
the timbres and inflections
Japanese tradition, which for him and orchestra, premiered in 1967.
of the Japanese instruments
had only negative associations. During the 1970s and 1980s, a fitted well with his Debussy-
◁ TORU TAKEMITSU Instead, he found inspiration in catalog of compositions appeared inspired sound-world.
Takemitsu was almost completely
Debussy’s Impressionism, and in which Takemitsu refined his style,
self-taught as a musician, but was
the first Japanese classical composer in the 12-tone serial compositions combining Japanese and Western
to achieve worldwide acclaim. of Webern and later Messiaen. elements to varying degrees. The aim TRADITIONAL JAPANESE
in his later works was to create a “sea BAMBOO FLUTE
of tonality,” a musical link between
East and West, as in his “Waterscape”
and “Dream” cycles of works.
Always physically frail, Takemitsu
was diagnosed with bladder cancer
in the mid-1990s; he also contracted
pneumonia, and died in 1996, aged 65.

◁ JAPANESE GARDEN
According to Takemitsu, “Listening to
my music can be compared with walking
through a garden and experiencing the
changes in light, pattern, and texture.”
298

▷ ALFRED SCHNITTKE
Schnittke gives a masterclass in
Salzburg, Austria, in 1990. From this year,
Schnittke made his home in Hamburg,
West Germany, and despite ill health
enjoyed a period of great creativity.

Alfred Schnittke
1934–1998, RUSSIAN
Schnittke defied the conventions imposed by the state bureaucracy
to develop his own distinctive voice, using a technique he dubbed
“polystylism,” which gained him international recognition.
 ALFRED SCHNITTKE 299

◁ GIDON KREMER
Gidon Kremer, seen here with his ON TECHNIQUE
chamber orchestra, the Kremerata Baltica,
in 2002, performed Schnittke’s work and Polystylism
was influential in raising his profile.
Although other composers, notably
Charles Ives and Luciano Berio, had
adopted similar techniques of
country. Nevertheless, thanks to quotation, allusion, and juxtaposition
friends who championed his work, of different musical styles, it was
including Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Schnittke who explicitly used the term
“polystylism” to describe his music,
and Mstislav Rostropovich, he was
and it became a trademark of almost
gaining an international reputation. all his work from the mid-1960s until
The 1980s were a time of change for around 1985. This extrovert, brash,
Schnittke. He began to take an interest and sometimes chaotic presentation,
combining and contrasting various
in religion, and was baptized in the styles ranging from Gregorian chant
Catholic Church; his music became to electronic experimentalism, and
more contemplative, even mystical, incorporating both classical and
in a more accessible and consonant popular idioms, chimed with the
contemporary postmodernist
Alfred Schnittke was born in Engels, a mold of Dmitri Shostakovich, who style. In 1985, he suffered the first in a movement, especially in its blurring
port in the autonomous Volga-German dominated the Soviet music scene, series of strokes but he continued to of the distinction between high and
Republic of the Soviet Union, a region but through the 1960s he began to compose, even as his writing became low culture, and the fragmentation
that retained the culture and language explore Modernist techniques in his almost illegible. When Soviet president and collage of disparate ideas.
of its original German émigré settlers. work, including the serialism of Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the
His father was a German Jew who Schoenberg and Webern. liberalizing policies of glasnost and
had moved to Engels for work, and perestroika, Schnittke was able to
his mother a Volga German with a Prolific creativity leave Moscow, and moved to Hamburg
Catholic background, but both had Unhappy with both the conventional, with Irina in 1990. His last work, the ▽ SCHNITTKE’S GRAVE
The musical notation on Schnittke’s
embraced communism and Alfred Soviet-approved model and much of Ninth Symphony, was painstakingly
gravestone in Moscow comprises a rest
had a secular upbringing. the avant-garde, Schnittke developed deciphered and performed in 1998, with a pause marked fff, signifying “a
From an early age, Schnittke had a a way of creating a synthesis of these, shortly before his death. long, very loud silence.”
sense of being an outsider, culturally along with other styles of classical
different from the country he was and even jazz and pop music, in what
born into. When his father was posted he called “polystylism.” By 1972, he
to Vienna in 1945, he immediately felt showed his mastery of the technique
at home. He fell in love with Viennese in his Symphony No. 1, which was the
culture, and especially the music first of his mature works and came as
of composers such as Mozart and he left the Conservatory to focus on
Schubert rather than the 19th-century composition. His main income came
Russian nationalist composers who from composing film scores, but he
were revered in the USSR. also embarked on a period of prolific
The family moved to Moscow in creativity, producing concert music in
1948. Schnittke studied composition almost every genre.
at the Moscow Conservatory, and However, as he was making his
completed his postgraduate studies in name in Moscow, especially among
1961. That year, he married the pianist antiestablishment intellectuals, the
Irina Kataieva, and took up a teaching authorities took exception to his
post at the Moscow Conservatory. “un-Soviet” Modernism, and in 1980
His early compositions were in the he was banned from leaving the

“ There are enormous forces lurking

in each person, but many people die
without having discovered this. ”
ALFRED SCHNITTKE
300 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

Arvo Pärt ON TECHNIQUE

Tintinnabuli
Since the mid-1970s, Pärt has used
BORN 1935, ESTONIAN a compositional technique of his own
invention, which he calls “tintinnabuli.”
The method involves setting a simple,
Pärt, whose works are among the most performed of any living slow-moving melody with an equally
simple accompaniment drawing on
composer, achieved international recognition for haunting, contemplative the most basic three-note chord, or
triad. In the short piano solo Für Alina
music written using his distinctive “tintinnabuli” technique. (1976), for example, the melody is
a rising and falling major scale,
accompanied by notes of the triad of
that scale. The combination of notes
When Arvo Pärt was born in 1935, ◁ MUSICAL BEGINNINGS
at any moment creates a single sound
Estonia was an independent nation A piano belonging to the Pärt family, now that Pärt says is “simultaneously
state, but in 1940 it was occupied by at the Arvo Pärt Center in Laulasmaa. The static and in flux.” Like the sound of
composer’s mother liked to start the day a bell (tintinnabulation), the sounds
the Soviet Red Army, and remained by playing music by Bach. are allowed to ring on, letting their
a part of the Soviet Union until it
sonorities gradually unfold.
regained independence in 1991. Pärt
was born in Paide, capital of the central to create an austere and almost static
Järva County; at three years old he sound-world. Although the simplicity
moved with his mother to the northern of this style bore some similarities to
town of Rakvere, where he had his the American minimalist composers,
first music lessons around 1942. in his idiosyncratic technique, which
He showed talent, especially as a he called “tintinnabuli,” he had found
composer, and as a teenager wrote his unique personal voice (see box,
pieces in a Neo-Classical style heavily right). After early works in this style,
influenced by Shostakovich and Soviet authorities. Undeterred, Pärt including perhaps his best-known
Prokofiev. He had little access to continued exploring avant-garde composition, Spiegel im Spiegel (1978),
anything but Soviet-approved music styles throughout the 1960s, and he has written mainly sacred works
on which to model himself, but developed a sort of musical collage inspired by his Orthodox Christian
managed to get hold of some illicit technique, incorporating a variety of faith, or with a spiritual theme.
scores and recordings, from which Modernist ideas. However, he felt that
he learned about modern techniques he had still to find his own musical Exile and return
such as 12-tone serialism. language. The turning point came in Pärt remained a thorn in the side of
1972. That year saw two major the Soviet musical establishment, and
Early works changes in his personal life: he got by 1980 was so pilloried by his critics
Pärt continued his musical education married, and he converted from that he was forced to leave Estonia
at the Tallinn Music Middle School and Lutheranism to the Orthodox Church. with his wife and two sons. They lived
from 1958 at the Tallinn Conservatory, This prompted him to take a break at first in Vienna, moving in 1981 to
at the same time working as a sound from composing, and to study West Berlin, where he was granted
producer for Estonian public radio. medieval and Renaissance music, German citizenship. With the fall of the
While still a student, he wrote his and more importantly the choral Soviet bloc, he renewed his contacts
first major orchestral work, Nekrolog, music of the Orthodox liturgy. with his homeland, and for a while △ ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL, TALLINN
dedicated to victims of the Holocaust. Pärt’s studies elicited a radical divided his time between Germany The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is an
Orthodox church in Tallinn Old Town. After
The first piece by an Estonian change in his musical approach. and Estonia, before moving back
Pärt’s conversion to Orthodox Christianity
composer to use the 12-tone serial He abandoned the complexity and permanently to the coastal village his music underwent a major change in
technique, it was denounced by the intellectualism of his previous music of Laulasmaa, near Tallinn, in 2010. style, often being based on sacred texts.

“ It is enough when a single ▷ ARVO PÄRT, 2014

Pärt’s music, whether orchestral or

note is beautifully played. ” choral, has been described as “holy

minimalism” and seems to strike a chord
with a contemporary audience seeking
ARVO PÄRT spiritual connection.
 PHILIP GLASS 303

Philip Glass
BORN 1937, AMERICAN
Considered a founding father of US Minimalism, Glass is one of the most
ON TECHNIQUE
influential composers of the late 20th century, thanks to his distinctive The Philip Glass
use of repetitive musical structures. Ensemble
After his return to New York in
1967, Glass wrote a large number
Although often associated with the his two-year stay there, he came Having married in 1965, he was now of Minimalist pieces for small
New York arts scene, Philip Glass into contact with the latest European starting a family, so to make ends ensembles, usually featuring
electric keyboards, amplified
was born and brought up in Baltimore. avant-garde music by the likes of meet he also worked as a mover, a
wind instruments, and solo voices.
His father owned a record store in Boulez and Stockhausen; he also plumber, and a cab driver. To perform these works, he gathered
the city, which stocked a wide range of became immersed in Indian music, By the mid-1970s, however, he around him a group of musicians,
classical music. As a boy, Glass played working with Ravi Shankar on a had sufficiently established himself which formally became the Philip
Glass Ensemble in 1968. The number
the flute, and he began composing in film score. This, rather than modern as a composer to concentrate on
and combination of the ensemble’s
his teens. He studied mathematics Western music, was to be his chosen his music full-time. He embarked instruments varied from piece to
and philosophy at the University of path. He was particularly attracted to on a period of change in his musical piece, with a core of around 10
Chicago before moving to the Juilliard the slowly evolving, repetitive nature style. With the series Another Look at performers, including Glass himself.
Several compositions—including the
School of Music in New York where he of Indian classical music, which soon Harmony (1975), he developed a more
opera Einstein on the Beach (1975)—
graduated in composition in 1962. figured prominently in his work. sophisticated brand of Minimalism, were written specifically with the
In the mid-1960s, Glass was which he preferred to call “music with Philip Glass Ensemble in mind.
awarded a Fulbright Scholarship that Inspiration and change repetitive structures.” He also began
enabled him to travel to Paris to study Returning to New York in 1967, Glass to write more large-scale works. The
with the revered composition teacher was inspired by the music of Steve first of these was the opera Einstein
Nadia Boulanger (see p.259). During Reich, which was taking a similar on the Beach (on the life of Albert
Minimalist route, with works for small Einstein), one of the trilogy of “portrait”
ensembles using static harmonies operas along with Satyagraha (about
◁ PHILIP GLASS, 2002 and repetitive rhythmic patterns. Nelson Mandela) and Akhnaten (on the
Glass spent many years studying Indian
Although Glass was performing Egyptian pharaoh of that name).
and experimental music. His work has
influenced musicians such as David his own music regularly in New York, Glass produced a huge volume of
Bowie and Brian Eno. it did not provide him with a living. work in the 1980s, including operas
and film scores. His first marriage had
ended in divorce and was followed by
a brief, unsuccessful second marriage,
and a tragic third, which ended in
1991 when his wife, the artist Candy
Jernigan, died of cancer. During this
turbulent period in his personal life,
Glass began to take an interest in
composing more abstract music,
such as symphonies and concertos, THE PHILIP GLASS ENSEMBLE
as well as more operas—a trend that PERFORMING LIVE
has continued to the present day.

◁ AKHNATEN
A scene from the English National
Opera’s award-winning production of
Glass’s Akhnaten, directed by Phelim
McDermott at the London Coliseum.
304 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

Judith Weir
BORN 1954, BRITISH
Weir is best known for her operas and composition for theater, but she is
also acclaimed for her orchestral and chamber music. Her work draws
on folk tales and the rich cultural traditions of Scotland, India, and China.

Born to Scottish parents in Cambridge Her first work for theater ◁ POSTER FOR
in 1954, Judith Weir spent her came in 1985, with the BLOND ECKBERT IN CONTEXT
childhood near London. While at creepy one-act opera, The Weir’s opera Blond
Eckbert, based on an Weir at the Barbican
school, she played oboe with the Black Spider. But it was
National Youth Orchestra of Great two years later that Weir
18th-century text by Centre
Ludwig Tieck, was first
Britain and studied composition drew widespread attention staged in London in 1994. In 2008, the BBC held a three-day
under John Tavener (see p.309). Her with the premiere of her festival of Weir’s music at London’s
Barbican Centre, the largest multi-
interest in arrangement emerged in three-act opera A Night arts center in Europe. Weir’s choral
these early years, when she would at the Chinese Opera. The The qualities Weir motet Concrete, inspired by the
think up tunes that she and her menacing play-within-a- most admires in works Barbican building itself, premiered
friends could play together in different play was inspired by her of literature are, she at the festival.
Weir describes the piece as an
instrumental combinations—writing reading of 14th-century says, “concision, clarity, archaeological exploration of
music evolved gradually from this. Chinese drama; it became one lightness, and (hidden) wisdom”— the building, “burrowing through
of her most popular works. qualities that are evident in many of 2,500 years of historical rubble.”
Early years her own musical creations. She is Just as concrete is a mixture of
different materials, so, too, does
At the University of Cambridge Expressive power also a composer of great imaginative Concrete combine various elements:
she was tutored by the composer This was followed by The Vanishing power, a tremendous storyteller with fragments of poems, diary entries,
Robin Holloway. Her influences Bridegroom (1990), which draws immense breadth of vision, whose and other disjointed texts are mixed
were wide-ranging and included on, and greatly enlivens, dark folk work is lively, richly expressive, with the names of churches and
river-gods to form the choral work.
Monteverdi, Mozart, Wagner, and tales from the western Highlands of complex, and often understated and
Verdi, whose mastery of form is Scotland. Among Weir’s other most ironic. Her contribution to the field
as enthralling as their storytelling successful works are Blond Eckbert has been recognized in a string of
and sheer musical brilliance. (1994), an operatic reworking of a impressive awards and appointments,
Weir graduated from Cambridge German folk tale about obsessive including posts at Cardiff, Glasgow, ▷ JUDITH WEIR
in 1976. Her entry into opera—which fear; her Piano Concerto (1997) Princeton, and Harvard universities, Weir has composed many operas and
written orchestral pieces for several
now forms the heart of her work— for piano and strings; The Welcome a CBE (1995), the Queen’s Medal for
of the world’s leading orchestras. She
began three years later, when she was Arrival of Rain (2001), for orchestra; Music (2007), and the first female is an important and inspiring role
invited by British singer Jane Manning and her opera Miss Fortune (2012). Master of the Queen’s Music (2014). model for female composers.
(“the patron saint of new vocal music,”
according to Weir) to write a piece for
solo soprano. The result was King
Harald’s Saga (1979), which revealed
her ability to compress a historical
epic into less than 10 minutes and to
represent a huge cast by a lone voice.

▷ MISS FORTUNE , COVENT GARDEN

Miss Fortune was staged at the Royal
Opera House in London in 2012.
Weir’s opera brings a modern context—
including a setting in a laundromat—to
the Sicilian folk tale on which it is based.
306 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

Directory
Summer of 1915 for soprano and
Samuel Barber orchestra is often regarded as
one of his masterpieces.
1910–1981, AMERICAN

Barber came from a musical family KEY WORKS: Adagio for Strings, 1936;
and began composing at the age Violin Concerto,1940; Knoxville: Summer
great contemporaries Prokofiev of seven. Although there are certain of 1915, 1947; Piano Concerto, 1962
Aaron Copland and Shostakovich, he was officially Modernist features in his music,
censured in 1948 for showing essentially he worked in a fairly
1900–1990, AMERICAN
“decadent” Western influence in his conservative, warmly expressive idiom
One of the outstanding figures in work, but generally he managed to that brought him acclaim and honors ▽ John Cage
20th-century American music, negotiate the strictures of the Soviet throughout his career. Toward the
1912–1992, AMERICAN
Copland was a pianist, conductor, regime. Over the years he received end of his life he said, “There’s no
writer, teacher, and concert organizer, many official honors in the USSR as reason music should be difficult for One of the great experimentalists in
as well as the composer of a large, well as international recognition. an audience to understand,” and many musical history, Cage was a prominent
varied, and memorable body of work. Khachaturian’s diverse output of his works have indeed achieved figure in avant-garde circles in New
His training included a period of includes symphonies, concertos, broad and enduring popularity (above York from the early 1940s, and by
study in Paris with French composer instrumental, chamber, and vocal all, the poignant, elegiac Adagio the mid-1960s he had become
and conductor Nadia Boulanger music, and numerous film scores. for Strings, which has often been internationally renowned: he traveled
(1921–1924). Although he was His most famous works are probably played or broadcast to accompany widely, performing his works, and also
sometimes influenced by various his ballets Gayane (which includes the or commemorate solemn events). spread his ideas through writing and
avant-garde elements, he is best famous “Sabre Dance”) and Spartacus, Barber's output was fairly small but lecturing. His music is extremely
known for works of wide popular which reveal his exuberant, richly highly varied, including symphonies, unorthodox, using unconventional
appeal in an accessible, distinctively colorful style. concertos, operas, ballets, chamber sound sources as well as random and
US idiom, sometimes quoting folk and instrumental music, and chance processes. In particular, he is
songs, with lively rhythms and a KEY WORKS: Violin Concerto, 1940; numerous songs—which were one famous for his use of the “prepared
bracing sense of the open air. Gayane, 1942; Spartacus, 1956; of his favorite forms of expression. piano,” in which various small objects
Particularly well known in this vein Concerto-Rhapsody for Cello and He was himself an accomplished (of metal, rubber, or cloth, for example)
are his ballets Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and Orchestra, 1963 singer and his bittersweet Knoxville: are placed on or between the strings
Appalachian Spring. His other work
includes three symphonies, two
concertos (for piano and clarinet),
chamber and instrumental music,
songs, choral pieces, and compositions
for the stage, film, and television.

KEY WORKS: Fanfare for the Common

Man, 1942; Appalachian Spring, 1944;
Clarinet Concerto, 1948; The Tender
Land (opera), 1954

Aram Khachaturian
1903–1978, ARMENIAN

Although his parents were Armenian,

Khachaturian was born in Georgia,
spent most of his life in Moscow, and
throughout his career was regarded
as a Soviet composer (Armenia was
part of the Soviet Union from 1922
to 1991). Nevertheless, his music
was strongly influenced by Armenian
folk traditions and he is now generally
considered to be one of the country’s
leading cultural heroes. With his △ JOHN CAGE, 1982
 DIRECTORY 307

to alter the instrument’s sound. His throughout most of his long career, KEY WORKS: Circles (for female voice,
most controversial piece is 4'33", in and was a fearsomely outspoken Luciano Berio harp, and two percussionists), 1960;
which the performer or performers champion of the avant-garde. Sinfonia (for orchestra and eight
1925–2003, ITALIAN
remain silent for 4 minutes and 33 Originally, he excelled as a amplified voices), 1969; Un re in
seconds, the quiet being punctuated mathematician, and his music is Berio was the leading Italian avant- ascolto (A King Listens, opera), 1984;
only by random environmental complex and intellectual. He took up garde composer of the second half Rendering (for orchestra), 1990
sounds. Late in life, Cage also took conducting as a way of advocating of the 20th century. There had been
up drawing and printmaking. his own and other new music, but he musicians in his family for several
developed into one of the foremost generations and he was composing
KEY WORKS: Sonata for Clarinet, international conductors of his by his early teens. Initially, he was Hans Werner Henze
1933; The Seasons (ballet), 1947; 4'33", generation, performing with some of influenced by Stravinsky, but he soon
1926–2012, GERMAN
1952; Cheap Imitation, 1969 the world’s leading orchestras and became more experimental, and
making many acclaimed recordings in particular he explored electronic Although he worked in various genres,
(mainly of 20th-century music, but music and the use of sounds such Henze was above all a man of the
also, for example, of Wagner’s Ring as street noises. He also wrote in theater—the leading avant-garde
Iannis Xenakis cycle). He was also the founding various genres for a wide range of opera composer of his generation.
director of IRCAM (opened 1978), a conventional instruments and for He spent his early career in Germany,
1922–2001, GREEK-FRENCH
government-sponsored institute in voice (the first of his three wives then moved to Italy in 1963; he also
Born in Romania to Greek parents, Paris for research into music and was the US mezzo-soprano Cathy traveled widely to supervise and
Xenakis grew up mainly in Greece and technology, and for many years he Berberian, a notable interpreter conduct his work and to teach (in
in 1947 settled in Paris, becoming a toured with its instrumental group, of his music). Although his work is Cuba, England, and the US, for
French citizen in 1965. Before and the Ensemble interContemporain. intellectually complex, it has also example). His work was strongly
after World War II (during which been described as compassionately influenced by his socialist political
he lost an eye fighting with the Greek KEY WORKS: Piano Sonata No. 1, human, with strong lyrical and views—he said he always wanted to
Resistance), he trained as an engineer, 1946; Le Marteau sans maître (The dramatic elements, as well as humor. produce “something the masses can
afterward working in Paris for 12 Hammer without a Master), 1955; Berio taught at various institutions understand.” One of his best-known
years (1948–1960) in the practice of Pli selon pli (Fold by Fold), 1962; in Europe and the US and he was compositions, the oratorio The Raft of
the great architect Le Corbusier. He Dialogue de l’ombre double (Dialogue regarded by many of his admirers the Medusa, was written in honor
was largely self-taught in music. His of the Double Shadow), 1985 as a kind of musical guru. of the recently killed revolutionary
engineering background gave him a Che Guevara and provoked a riot at
deep understanding of mathematics its premiere in Hamburg in 1968. In
and his highly original compositions addition to operas, ballets, and other
have been described as mathematical stage works, his output included
processes transformed into music much orchestral music (notably 10
of primitive power. From the early symphonies) and chamber music.
1960s, he often used computers Stylistically his work is varied,
to help create his works. A prolific influenced by jazz and Arabic
writer, he taught at universities in music, among other sources.
Europe and the US, and is widely
regarded as a major figure in the KEY WORKS: Boulevard Solitude,
creation of an experimental climate 1951; The Raft of the Medusa, 1968;
for postwar music. We Come to the River, 1976;
Symphony No. 10, 2000
KEY WORKS: Metastaseis (for
orchestra), 1954; Herma (for piano),
1961; Kraanerg (ballet for orchestra
and tape), 1968; Psappha (for Sofia Gubaidulina
percussion), 1975
BORN 1931, RUSSIAN

The outstanding female composer

to emerge from the Soviet Union,
▷ Pierre Boulez Gubaidulina has lived in Germany
since 1992 and by the turn of
1925–2016, FRENCH
the century had an international
As a composer, conductor, writer, and reputation, winning numerous
founder of musical institutions, Boulez awards and attracting commissions
was a leading figure in classical music △ PIERRE BOULEZ AT THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, LONDON, APRIL 1995 from leading orchestras and soloists.
308 LATE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES

She is deeply spiritual and her works

are often informed by religious and
philosophical ideas and by a sense of
mystical yearning (in 1979, she was
denounced by Soviet authorities for
producing “noisy mud instead of real
musical innovation”). Her output
includes orchestral, choral, chamber,
and instrumental music, stage works,
and film scores. She sometimes uses
unusual combinations of instruments
and blends elements of the Western
classical tradition with influences
from Asiatic music (she was born and
grew up in what is now the Republic of
Tatarstan, a place that has been at the
crossroads of various civilizations).

KEY WORKS: Offertorium (violin

concerto), 1980; Jetzt immer
Schnee (Now Always Snow, cantata
for voices and instruments), 1993;
St. John Passion, 2000; Mary Queen
of Scots (film score), 2013

Henryk Górecki △ KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI IN REHEARSAL AT THE KONZERTHAUS, BERLIN, 1997

1933–2010, POLISH
KEY WORKS: Two Sacred Songs, His work includes symphonies, he gave up playing to concentrate
Until he was almost 60 years old, 1971; Symphony No. 3 (“Symphony concertos, operas, choral and entirely on composing. Birtwistle
Górecki was a respected figure in of Sorrowful Songs”), 1976; chamber music, and compositions is renowned particularly as the
contemporary music but he was Miserere, 1981 for solo instruments. He has often leading British opera composer of his
virtually unknown to the world conducted his own work, and has generation, although it was not until
at large. This situation changed also made a reputation as a conductor Gawain (1991) that he actually titled
dramatically when a recording of his of the work of other composers. a piece “opera”: his first work in the
Symphony No. 3, released in 1992, △ Krzysztof Penderecki field, for example, Punch and Judy
became a massive international hit, KEY WORKS: Threnody for the Victims (1967), was called a “comical tragedy
BORN 1933, POLISH
gaining considerable radio exposure of Hiroshima, 1960; The Devils of or tragical comedy.” In addition to
and selling more than a million copies, Penderecki is one of the most Loudun (opera), 1969; Polish Requiem, works for the stage (often based
an unprecedented figure for a serious acclaimed composers of his time 1984; Clarinet Quartet, 1993 on mythological subjects), he has
modern work. Slow and meditative and is unusual among avant-garde also written orchestral, chamber,
throughout, it features a soprano artists in that his work has appealed and solo instrumental music, as
singing three Polish texts concerned to a large public from virtually the well as choral and solo vocal pieces.
with the themes of suffering and war. beginning of his career—a reflection Harrison Birtwistle
Górecki himself was unable to explain of the powerful way in which he KEY WORKS: Punch and Judy, 1967;
BORN 1934, BRITISH
the symphony’s popularity and was conveys his humanitarian views. Earth Dances, 1986; Gawain, 1991;
rather bewildered by his newfound He came to international attention Born in Accrington, Lancashire, The Minotaur, 2008
fame. He was a devout Catholic and with Threnody for the Victims of Birtwistle grew up in the world of
some critics have linked his work Hiroshima for string orchestra, a military and brass bands, and the
with that of other spiritually minded characteristically somber work in sounds of brass and percussion have
composers of the time (notably Pärt which he creates a highly individual, often been to the fore in his music, Steve Reich
and Tavener) under the heading harshly expressive sound-world. It which is characteristically energetic
BORN 1936, AMERICAN
“holy Minimalism.” The serenity of won him the first of a long list of major and often violent (although it also
their work seems to many listeners prizes and he has also received has moments of humor and lyrical One of the world's leading Minimalist
an antidote to the harshness of much several prestigious composition beauty). Initially, he excelled as a composers, Reich had a rich, varied
modern music. residencies in Europe and the US. clarinettist, but in his mid-twenties musical upbringing and education.
 DIRECTORY 309

His mother was a Broadway lyricist KEY WORKS: Drumming, 1971; (written in tribute to a friend of that Diego, receiving a master’s degree in
and he became an accomplished jazz Different Trains, 1988; The Cave name who died in a road accident) composition. After spending a decade
drummer when he was in his teens, (multimedia opera), 1993; Three was performed at the funeral of in California, where she taught piano,
before studying more conventionally Tales (video opera), 2002 Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. theory, and electronic composition,
at the prestigious Juilliard School Most of Tavener’s work is choral, she finally settled in Toronto in 1980.
in New York and with the composer but The Protecting Veil for cello Her first big success was O magnum
Luciano Berio at Mills College in and strings is one of his most mysterium for string orchestra, written
California. Reich’s work typically John Tavener acclaimed compositions. in memory of the celebrated Canadian
involves the repetition and subtle pianist Glenn Gould who died in 1982.
1944–2013, BRITISH
elaboration of short phrases. Reich KEY WORKS: The Whale, 1966; The piano is her main instrument and
began by working with tape machines Tavener enjoyed great success The Lamb, 1982; The Protecting solo pieces for it figure prominently
playing recorded loops that gradually with spiritual, meditative works that Veil, 1988; Song for Athene, 1993 in her work, but she has written for
moved out of synchronization, and appealed to many people who were a range of forces, including full
progressed to more conventional not generally interested in modern orchestra, chamber groups, and
instruments, sometimes incorporating music. He made an early impact with voice, as well as experimenting with
recorded speech, as in Different Trains, The Whale (admired by The Beatles Alexina Louie synthesizers and computer-based
perhaps his most acclaimed work. and recorded on their Apple label) music. In addition to works for the
BORN 1949, CANADIAN
This three-movement piece features a and his striking appearance (he was concert hall, she has written for dance,
string quartet blended with recordings extremely tall, with long, flowing hair) A Canadian of Chinese descent, film, and television.
of train noises and voices speaking helped keep him in the public eye. In Louie blends Eastern and Western
about trains, including ones that 1977, he was received by the Russian influences in her work, which has KEY WORKS: O magnum mysterium,
carried victims to concentration Orthodox Church. His music was brought her international recognition 1982; I Leap Through the S ky with
camps during the Holocaust (part deeply influenced by its traditions, and a host of prestigious awards. She Stars (piano solo), 1991; The Scarlet
of Reich’s exploration of his Jewish using simple motifs to create a was born in Vancouver, and studied Princess (opera), 2002; Triple Concerto
heritage). He has often collaborated mood of intense contemplation. His at the University of British Columbia for Three Violins and Orchestra, 2017
with his wife, video artist Beryl Korot. fame soared when Song for Athene and the University of California at San

◁ Eric Whitacre
BORN 1970, AMERICAN

Whitacre has achieved huge popular

success, particularly with choral
compositions, which his admirers
find serene and uplifting. His early
musical education was patchy, but
he discovered a love of choral singing
when he participated in a student
performance of Mozart’s Requiem and
subsequently trained at the Juilliard
School, New York. Since the late 1990s,
he has lived mainly in Los Angeles.
Whitacre’s flair as a public speaker
has enhanced his wide appeal,
especially among young people. His
work is much performed by amateur
as well as professional singers, and in
2009 he launched Online Choir, in
which people all over the world post
online videos of themselves singing
his work, which are synchronized into
a composite performance.

KEY WORKS: Water Night, 1995;

Sleep, 2000; Lux Aurumque (Light and
Gold), 2000; Paradise Lost: Shadows
△ ERIC WHITACRE CONDUCTING AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON, 2015 and Wings, 2003; The River Cam, 2011
310 GLOSSARY

Glossary
Words in bold within a definition can be bel canto concerto grosso intermezzo
cross-referenced to their own entry. Meaning “beautiful song” in Italian; an See concerto. A light-hearted interlude performed
18th- and early 19th-century school of between the acts of an opera seria.
12-tone music singing characterized by a concentration consort The intermezzo developed from the
Works in which each note of the on beauty of tone, virtuosic agility, and An instrumental ensemble popular intermedio, a short musical drama
chromatic scale is ascribed the same breath control. during the 16th and 17th centuries in performed between the acts of spoken
amount of importance, eliminating any England; also used to describe the plays in the 15th and 16th centuries.
concept of key or tonality. Developed cantata music played by these ensembles as
by Arnold Schoenberg and others in A programmatic piece, generally for well as the performance itself. inversion
the 1920s. See also serialism. solo voices, choir, and orchestra, A chord or line of music is said to be
designed to tell a story. contralto inverted when its component notes have
a cappella A term describing the lowest of the been reshuffled in a different order.
Unaccompanied singing by a soloist or castrato (pl. castrati) female voices (alto) in an opera context.
a group. Literally “castrated” (Italian); a male key
singer castrated before puberty so as contrapuntal The tonal center of a piece of music,
alto to retain his high alto or soprano voice. Using counterpoint, the simultaneous based on the first note of the scale.
The highest male and lowest female Castrati were especially popular in playing or singing of two or more equally
voice; also a term describing an 17th- and early 18th-century Italian important melodic lines. leitmotif
instrument that is lower in pitch than opera, but castration for the purposes of Literally “leading motif” (German);
a treble instrument. art was banned by the late 18th century. counterpoint a short musical phrase that recurs
See contrapuntal. through a piece to indicate the presence
aria chamber music of a character, emotion, or object.
Literally “air” (Italian), a vocal piece, Pieces composed for small groups of diatonic
usually for one voice, in an opera or two or more instruments, such as Based on a scale in which the octave is libretto (pl. libretti)
oratorio, more formally organized than a duets, trios, and quartets. divided into seven steps, such as major The text of an opera or other vocal
song. Arias written in the 17th and 18th and minor scales. dramatic work.
centuries usually take the form of “da chord
capo arias,” with a three-part structure. A simultaneous combination of notes. dissonance Lied (pl. Lieder)
The most frequently used are called Notes being played together to produce A traditional German song, popularized
arpeggio “triads,” which consist of three distinct discord (sounds unpleasing to the ear). by Schubert.
A chord in which the notes are played notes built on the first, third, and fifth
separately from top to bottom or notes of a scale. For example, in the Formalism madrigal
vice-versa. key of C major the notes of the scale In the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc A secular a cappella song popular in
are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B; the C major countries, a catch-all criticism aimed Renaissance and early Baroque England
atonal, atonality triad consists of the notes C, E, and G. at those who did not write music that and Italy; it was often set to a love poem.
Any music without a recognizable sought to glorify the Soviet state.
tonality or key, such as serial music; chromatic Mass
the opposite of tonality. Literally “of color” (Latin), based on the fugue The main service of the Roman Catholic
scale of all 12 semitones in an octave, From the Italian fuga, “chase” or ”flight”; Church, highly formalized in structure,
Baroque as opposed to diatonic, based on a scale a highly structured contrapuntal piece, comprising specific sections—known
Music composed between 1600 and of seven notes. in two or more parts, popular in the as the “Ordinary”—performed in the
1750; describes pieces from the period Baroque era. The separate voices or following order: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo,
before the Classical. Classical lines enter one by one imitatively. Sanctus with Hosanna and Benedictus,
Music composed between 1750 and and Agnus Dei with Dona nobis pacem.
bass 1830; describes pieces from the period gamelan
The lowest in pitch: describes the lowest after the Baroque. The traditional ensemble music of mezzo-soprano
male voice, the lowest part of a chord or Indonesia, featuring predominantly Literally “half soprano”; the lowest
piece of music, or the lowest instrument concerto percussion instruments such as gongs, soprano voice; between soprano
in a family. A large piece for solo instrument and xylophones, and drums. and contralto.
orchestra, designed to showcase the
basso continuo soloist’s skills; the Baroque concerto grand opera Minimalism
Harmonic accompaniment, usually grosso, however, has a more equal French development of opera, A predominantly American school
by a harpsichord or organ and bass interplay between the smaller characterized by historical plots, large of music, favoring a sound-world
viol or cello, extensively used in the orchestra (ripieno) and a group of choruses, crowd scenes, ornate involving an almost hypnotic texture
Baroque period. soloists (concertino). costumes, and spectacular sets. of repeated short patterns.
 GLOSSARY 311

mode pitch semitone symphonic poem

A type of seven-note scale with distinct The position of one sound in relation The smallest musical interval between An extended single-movement
melodic characteristics; most commonly to the range of tonal sounds—how notes in Western tonal music. There are symphonic work, usually of a
heard in folk music and plainsong. high or low it is—which depends on two semitones in a whole note and 12 programmatic nature, often
the frequency of sound waves. semitones in an octave. describing landscape or literary
motet works. Also known as a tone poem.
A polyphonic choral composition based plainsong serialism, serial music
on a sacred text, usually unaccompanied. Medieval church music also known A system of atonal composition symphony
as plainchant; consists of a unison, developed in the 1920s by Arnold A large-scale work for full orchestra;
nocturne unaccompanied vocal line in free Schoenberg and others, in which fixed Classical and some Romantic
“Night piece.” As a solo, one-movement rhythm, like speech, with no regular sequences of music are used as a symphonies both contain four
piano piece, the nocturne originated with bar lengths. foundation to create a more complex movements—traditionally an allegro,
John Field, but was developed to a great whole work. a slower second movement, a scherzo,
degree by Chopin. pizzicato and a lively finale. The first movement
A style of playing stringed instruments Singspiel is often in sonata form, and the slow
octave that are usually played with a bow, by Literally “song play” (German), generally movement and finale may follow a
The interval between one pitch and plucking the strings with the fingers. refers to a comic opera with spoken similar structure. Later symphonies can
another with double or half its frequency; dialogue in lieu of recitative, as typified contain more or fewer movements.
on a piano there is an octave between polyphony in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
high C and the next-highest C note. Literally “many sounds,” this refers to tenor
a style of writing in which all parts are sonata The highest natural adult male voice;
opera independent and of equal importance, A popular instrumental piece for one or also a term describing an instrument
A drama in which all or most characters and therefore implies contrapuntal more players; originated in the Baroque in this range.
sing and in which music is an important music. Forms that typify this style period, when the term referred to a
element; usually all dialogue is sung. include the fugue and motet. short piece for a solo or small group of timbre
instruments accompanied by a basso The particular quality (literally “stamp”),
opera buffa prelude continuo. The Classical sonata adhered or character, of a sound that enables a
A type of comic opera that became A short piece of music generally to a three- or four-movement structure listener to distinguish one instrument
popular in the 18th century; the opposite intended as the introduction to a longer for one or two instruments (although (or voice) from another; synonymous
of opera seria. composition, although sometimes used the trio sonata was often popular). with “tone color.”
for stand-alone pieces.
opéra comique sonata form tonal, tonality
An exclusively French type of opera that, programmatic, program music A structural form popularized in the A system of major and minor scales and
despite its name, is not always comic, Any music written to describe a Classical period. From this period keys; forms the basis of all Western
nor particularly light; also includes nonmusical theme, such as an event, onwards, the first movements of music from the 17th century until
spoken dialogue. landscape, or literary work. sonatas, symphonies, and concertos Schoenberg in the early 20th century.
were mainly written in this form.
opera seria recitative tone poem
Literally “serious opera,” the direct A style of singing in opera and oratorio song cycle See symphonic poem.
opposite of opera buffa; characterized closely related to the delivery of A group of songs that tells a story or
by heroic or mythological plots, and dramatic speech in pitch and rhythm; shares a common theme; designed treble
formality in both music and action. often used for dialogue and exposition to be performed in a sequence as a The highest unchanged male voice,
of the plot between arias and choruses. single entity. or the highest instrument or part in
operetta a piece of music.
Italian for “little opera,” sometimes known Romantic soprano
as “light opera”; a lighter 19th-century The cultural epoch heralded in music The highest of the four standard singing triad
style including spoken dialogue. by Beethoven, which dominated the voices—above alto, tenor, and bass; See chord.
19th century. term for a female or a young boy singing
oratorio in this vocal range. verismo
A sacred work for vocal soloists and rondo A post-Romantic style of opera with
choir with instrumental accompaniment; A piece of music based on a recurring stave thematic material and presentation
differs from an opera in that an oratorio theme with interspersed material; The grid of five horizontal lines on which rooted firmly in reality.
is a concert piece, not a drama. follows a form such as ABACADAE. music is written; also called a “staff.”
vibrato
overture scale suite The rapid, regular variation of pitch
From the French for “opening”; an A series of notes that define a tune and, A multi-movement work—generally around a single note for expressive
instrumental introduction to an opera usually, the key of the piece. Different instrumental—made up of a series effect.
or ballet, in which some of the main scales give music a different feeling of contrasting dance movements,
musical themes are presented. and “color.” usually all in one key.
312 INDEX

Index
French Suites 61 Für Elise 91 Bernstein, Leonard 173, 290–291 piano, oval 158
Goldberg Variations 60, 61 “Hammerklavier” Sonata 92 Candide 290 and Reményi, Eduard 156, 158
Gott ist mein König (God is My King) influence of 73, 90, 102, 117, 209 Mass 290 Romanticism 158
58 influences 61, 81, 87, 88, 90, 127 New York Philharmonic 290 Symphony No. 2 172
Page numbers in bold refer to influence of 194, 224, 237, 268, and Malfatti, Therese 91 Omnibus arts program 290 Triumphlied (Song of Triumph) 156
main or box entries. 300 Missa Solemnis 93 West Side Story 290 Bridge, Frank 285, 286
influences 22, 58–59, 82 “Moonlight” Sonata 91 Berwald, Franz 131 Britten, Benjamin 284–287
and Lutheranism 56, 58 musical innovation 90–91 Estrella de Soria 131 Boy Was Born, A 285
A Mass in B Minor 60 Nine Variations for Piano on a March Romanticism 131 Albert Herring 286
12-tone system 235, 251, 270, 287, Musical Offering and Frederick the 88 Binchois, Gilles 18 Aldeburgh Festival 286, 287
300 Great 60, 61 Ninth Symphony and “Ode to Joy” birdsong compositions, Messiaen Billy Budd 285, 286
Albéniz, Isaac 195 St. Matthew Passion 60, 61, 116 92, 93, 134 282, 283 Cello Symphony 287
Cantos de España 195 six-voice puzzle canon 57 Opus 1 Piano Trios 90, 92 Birtwistle, Harrison 308 Ceremony of Carols, A 285
folk song influence 195 Sonatas for Solo Violin 59, 61 “Pastoral” Symphony 92 Gawain 308 Curlew River 286, 287
Iberia 195 Suites for Solo Cello 59 “Pathétique” Piano Sonata 90 Punch and Judy 308 Death in Venice 286, 287
Suite Española 19 5 Toccata and Fugue in D minor 58 “Razumovsky” String Quartets 91, bitonality, Holst 231 English Opera Group 286
Albinoni, Tomaso 83 Well-Tempered Clavier, The 59 92 Bizet, Georges 162–163 Gloriana 286
Aldeburgh Festival 286, 287 Balakirev, Mily 164, 167, 179 Romanticism 88 Carmen 162, 168 GPO Film Unit music 285
Alfano, Franco 185 Islamey 164 string quartets 90, 103 and Mérimée, Prosper 162 Night Mail documentary 285
Appleby, Thomas 27 Mighty Handful group see Mighty Vienna Philharmonic Society Pearl Fishers, The 162 Noye’s Fludde 286
Arne, Thomas 83 Handful (The Five) group 90 Prix de Rome 162 Our Hunting Fathers 285
“Rule, Britannia!” 83 Ballets Russes 193, 221, 240, 242 “Waldstein” Piano Sonata 90, 91 Böhm, Georg 56 Owen Wingrave 287
“Where the Bee Sucks” 83 Barber, Samuel 173, 306 Bellini, Vincenzo 105, 106–107, 131, Bonturi, Elvira 183, 184 Peter Grimes 286, 287
atonality development Adagio for Strings 306 134, 140 Bordoni, Faustina 66 Rape of Lucretia, The 286
Busoni 268 Knoxville: Summer of 1915 306 Adelsone Salvini 107 Borodin, Alexander 154–155, 164, Royal College of Music 285
Schoenberg 233, 234, 235, 241, Modernism 306 Bianca e Fernando 107 167, 179, 191 tone poems 285
270 Bardac, Emma 181, 193 I puritani 107 In Central Asia 155 Turn of the Screw, The 286
Auric, Georges 221, 263 Baroque violin 51 Il pirata 107 and Kismet 155 Variations on a Theme of Frank
avant-garde Bartók, Béla 129, 199, 244–247, 293 La sonnambula 107 Mighty Handful group see Mighty Bridge 286
12-tone system 235, 251, 270, and d’Arányi, Jelly 247 Naples Royal College of Music Handful (The Five) group War Requiem 286
287, 300 Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 246–247 107 Mlada 155 Young Person’s Guide to the
Berio 307 folk song influence 245–246, 247 Norma 107 Prince Igor 155, 190 Orchestra, The 286
Boulez 307 and Geyer, Stefi 246, 247 Berg, Alban 234, 270 String Quartet No. 2 in D major Broadwood pianos 88
Cage 306 Kossuth 245 Altenberg Lieder 270 155 see also pianos
Copland 306 Miraculous Mandarin, The 247 Expressionism 270 Symphonies 155 Bruckner, Anton 148–151
Der Blaue Reiter group 234 Royal Hungarian Academy of Lulu 270 Boulanger, Lili 258–259 counterpoint 150
Glass 303 Music 245 Modernism 270 Cortège 259 Linz Old Cathedral organist 149
Henze 307 Six Romanian Folk Dances 246, Second Viennese School 270 Du fond de l’âbime (Out of the Masses 150
Hindemith 271 247 Vienna “Scandal Concert” 270 depths) 259 Sechter, Simon as tutor 149, 150
Mighty Handful see Mighty Handful Six String Quartets 246, 247 Violin Concerto 270 D’un matin de printemps 259 Symphonies 150–151
(The Five) group Symbolism 246–247 Wozzeck 270 Faust et Hélène 259 Brunsvik, Josephine von 90, 91
Pärt 300 tone poems 245 Berio, Luciano 299, 307, 309 La Princesse Maleine 259 Bull, Ole 175
Penderecki 308 Viola Concerto 246, 247 avant-garde 307 Nocturne 259 Busoni, Ferruccio 268, 271
Poulenc 263 Violin Duos 246 electronic music 307 Pie Jesu 259 atonality development 268
Satie 218, 221 baryton compositions, Haydn 72 Berlin, Irving 260 Poème symphonique 259 Doktor Faust 268
Stockhausen 295 Bayreuth Festival 129, 137, 168, 191, Berlioz, Hector 95, 108–111, 116, Prix de Rome 259 Modernism 268
Stravinsky 249, 250, 251, 256 195 153, 161, 162 Vieille prière Bouddhique 259 Butterworth, George 223
Takemitsu 297 BBC, Listen with Mother 181 Benvenuto Cellini 111 Boulanger, Nadia 259, 303, Buxtehude, Dieterich 56, 82–83
see also Modernism Beach, Amy 268–269 Damnation of Faust, The 111 306 Byrd, William 21, 26–27, 223
Second New England School 268 Death of Sardanapalus, The 108 Prix de Rome 259 Cantiones sacrae (Sacred Songs)
Beecham, Thomas 205, 206 Harold in Italy 110, 111 Boulez, Pierre 193, 303, 307 21, 27
B Beethoven, Ludwig van 88–93, 150, Legion of Honor 111 avant-garde 307 Chapel Royal 27
Bach, Anna Magdalena 58, 59, 61 159, 161, 245 Messe solennelle 110 IRCAM founder 307 Gradualia 27
Bach, C.P.E. 53, 61, 70 “Appassionata” Sonata 91 Prix de Rome 108 Boult, Adrian 224, 225, 231 My Lady Nevells Booke 27
Bach, Johann Christian 78 “Battle Symphony” 92 Requiem 111 Brahms, Johannes 125, 150, 152, patent to print and sell music 27
Bach, Johann Christoph 56 Broadwood pianos 88 Romanticism 108, 110 153, 156–159, 169, 245
Bach, Johann Sebastian 53, 56–61, and Brunsvik, Josephine von 90, and Smithson, Harriet 110 and Franco-Prussian War 156
159, 233, 235 91 Summer Nights 111 German Requiem 156, 158, C
Art of Fugue 61 deafness 92, 93 Symphonie fantastique 108, 110, 159 Caccini, Francesca 40–41
Brandenburg Concertos 59, 60 “Emperor” Concerto 91 111 Hungarian Dances 158–159 First Book of Madrigals 40
Concerto for Two Violins 59 “Eroica” Symphony 91, 92, 211 Trojans, The 111 influence of 201, 205, 223, 233, La liberazione di Ruggiero 40
Corelli-themed composition 44 Fidelio 87, 91 Bernac, Pierre 263 237 and Medici court 40
English Suites 61 and French Revolution 91–92 Berno of Reichenau 17 influences 156–158, 159 Caccini, Giulio 40
 INDEX 313

Cage, John 297, 306–307 Crusell, Bernhard 130 Dowland, John 30–31 English Opera Group 286 Frescobaldi, Girolamo 82
4'33" 307 Lilla Slavinnam 130 Elizabeth I and treason plots 31 Esterházy family 70, 72, 73, 101, 130 Fulbright Scholarship, Glass 303
avant-garde influence 306 cryptograms, musical, Schumann The Firste Booke of Songes or Ayres European Broadcasting Union theme
”prepared piano” use 306–307 124 31 music 83
Calzabigi, Ranieri de’ 69 Cui, César 164, 179 Lachrimae (Tears) 31 Expressionism G
Carreño, Teresa 195 Mighty Handful group see Mighty “table layout” 31 Berg 270 Gabrieli, Giovanni 49
Casals, Pablo 247 Handful (The Five) group Dufay, Guillaume 18–19 Schoenberg 233, 234 Gade, Niels 175
castrati 65, 66 Cuzzoni, Francesca 66 Burgundian School 18 Garden, Mary 193
Caussade, Georges 259 cyclical Masses, Dufay 18 contenance angloise 18 Gay, John, The Beggar’s Opera 66,
Cavaillé-Coll, Aristide 145 Czech Quartet 269 cyclical Masses 18 F 271
Cavalli, Francesco 43 Czerny, Carl 91, 127 Dukas, Paul 275, 280 Falla, Manuel de 242–243, 275 Gershwin, George 260–261
Charpentier, Marc-Antoine 83 Dunstaple, John 18, 32 Atlántida 242 American in Paris, An 260
Te Deum and European Dupré, Marcel 280 Concerto for Harpsichord 242 gramophone recording 260
Broadcasting Union 83 D Durey, Louis 221, 263 El amor brujo 242 Great American Songbook 260
Chausson, Ernest 195 Da Ponte, Lorenzo 80, 81 Dvořák, Antonín 169, 170–173, 199, flamenco and el cante jondo 242 Porgy and Bess 260
Le Roi Arthus 195 D’Agoult, Marie 127–128 205, 269 La vida breve 242 Rhapsody in Blue 260
Cherubini, Luigi 86–87 d’Arányi, Jelly 247 Austrian State Stipendium and Neo-Classicism 242 “Swanee” 260
Demetrio 87 Darmstadt School 295 competition 170–172 Three-Cornered Hat, The 242 Gerstl, Richard 234
Démophon 87 Debussy, Claude 181, 190–193, 195, Cello Concerto 172, 173 Fauré, Gabriel 161, 180–181, 193, Gesualdo, Carlo 28–29
French Revolution 87 221, 242, 250 and Cermáková sisters 170, 172 195, 240, 259 chromatic harmonies 29
Legion of Honor 86 Ariettes oubliées (Forgotten Songs) “Dumky” Trio 170, 172 and Bardac, Emma 181, 193 madrigal books 29
Les Deux Journées 87 193 folk music influence 171, 172, 173 Dolly Suite 181 Sacrae cantiones 29
Lodoïska 87 Bayreuth Festival 191 “From the New World” Symphony La Bonne Chanson 181 Geyer, Stefi 246, 247
Médée 87 Children’s Corner 191–192 173 Requiem 181 Giazotto, Remo, “Albinoni’s Adagio”
Quinto Fabio 87 Estampes (Prints) 191, 192 Golden Spinning-Wheel, The 173 and Société Nationale de Musique 83
Requiem in C minor 87 and Garden, Mary 193 Hiawatha 173 181 Gilbert, W.S. 194
Chopin, Frédéric 116, 118–121, 127, “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” 192 Noonday Witch, The 173 song cycles 181 Glass, Philip 218, 259, 302–303
130, 170, 181 Impressionism 192, 240 Piano Quintet No. 2 173 Fenby, Eric, Delius Centenary Festival Akhnaten 303
influence of 124, 145, 155, 168, influence of 218, 240, 245, 252, Prague Conservatory 173 206 Another Look at Harmony 303
191, 269 259, 297 Prague National Theater orchestra Field, John 130, 131 avant-garde influence 303
Piano Concerto in E Minor 119, 121 Javanese gamelan music 170 folk music influence 130 Einstein on the Beach 303
Piano Sonata No. 2 121 influence 191 Requiem 172 The Five (Mighty Handful) group see Fulbright Scholarship 303
pianos 119 jazz influence 191–192 Rusalka 172, 173 Balakirev, Mily; Borodin, and Indian classical music 303
polonaises 120, 121 and Nijinsky, Vaslav 193 Serenade for Strings 172, 173 Alexander; Cui, César; Minimalism 303
“Revolutionary” Etude 120 Nocturne series 192 Slavonic Dances 172, 173 Mussorgsky, Modest; Rimsky- Philip Glass Ensemble 303
and Romanticism 119 “Pagodes” 191 Symphonies 172 Korsakov, Nikolai Satyagraha 303
and Sand, George 119, 120 Pelléas et Mélisande 193, 216 and Thurber, Jeannette 173 Florimo, Francesco 107 Glazunov, Alexander 155, 179, 228,
Sonata for Piano and Cello 121 piano-roll recordings 191 folk music influence 268
and Stirling, Jane 120, 121 Prélude à l’après midi d’un faun e Albéniz 195 Romanticism 268
Warsaw Academy of Music 119 192, 193 E Bartók 245–246, 247 Glinka, Mikhail 131
chromatic harmonies, Gesualdo Prix de Rome 191 Edison phonograph 245 Dvořák 171, 172, 173 Life for the Czar, A 131
29 and Symbolism 192–193 see also recorded music Falla 242 folk music influence 131
Clementi, Muzio 74–75, 130 Delius, Frederick 206–207 electronic music 295, 307 Field 130 Ruslan and Lyudmila 131
Clementi–Mozart contest 75 Brigg Fair 206 ondes Martenot 280, 283 Glinka 131 Gluck, Christoph W. 68–69
London Philharmonic Society 75 Delius Centenary Festival 206 Elgar, Edward 172, 200–203, 247 Grainger 270 Alceste 69
piano technique studies 75 Mass of Life, A 206 Apostles, The 203 Granados 268 Armide 69
Cocteau, Jean 221 On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Black Knight, The 201 Holst 231 Artaserse 69
Colbran, Isabella 99 Spring 206 Caractacus 201 and Janáček 199 and Calzabigi, Ranieri de’ 69
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel 172 Village Romeo and Juliet, A 206 Cockaigne Overture 203 Mahler 186 Don Juan 69
concerti grossi, Corelli 44 Der Blaue Reiter group 234 Dream of Gerontius, The 202, 203 Ravel 239 Echo et Narcisse 69
contenance angloise, Dufay 18 “devil’s fiddler,” Paganini 95 Enigma Variations 201–202, 203 Rimsky-Korsakov 179 Iphigénie en Aulide 69
Copland, Aaron 173, 259, 290, 306 Diaghilev, Sergei 193, 221, 240, 242, Falstaff 203 Scarlatti 62 Iphigénie en Tauride 69
Appalachian Spring 306 249, 250, 251, 256 Froissart overture 201, 203 Stravinsky 250 La Rencontre imprévue 69
avant-garde influence 306 d’Indy, Vincent 220 Kingdom, The 203 Szymanowski 269 Orphée et Eurydice 69
Billy the Kid 306 dissonance practice, Monteverdi 38 knighthood 202 Vaughan Williams 223 Paride ed Elena 69
Rodeo 306 Donizetti, Gaetano 104–105, 107, “Land of Hope and Glory” 202, 203 Formalism accusations Górecki, Henryk 289, 308
Corelli, Arcangelo 44–45, 47 131, 140 Light of Life, The 201 Lutosławski 289 “holy Minimalism” 308
compositions based on themes by Don Pasquale 105 as Master of the King’s Music 203 Shostakovich 267 Symphony No. 3 308
44 La Favorite 105 Pomp and Circumstance 202, 203 Franck, César 144–145, 195 Gounod, Charles 162, 194
concerti grossi 44 La Fille du régiment 105 recorded music pioneer 203 Cavaillé-Coll organs 145 Ave Maria 194
counterpoint, Bruckner 150 Lucia di Lammermoor 105 Salut d’amour 201 Six Pièces 145 Faust 194
Couperin, François 241 Lucrezia Borgia 105 Symphonies 203 Variations Symphoniques 145 Royal Choral Society 194
“creative silence,” Sibelius 217 Romanticism 105 Three Choirs Festival 201 Violin Sonata 145 Sapho 194
314 INDEX

GPO Film Unit music, Britten 285 four-movement symphony J Berlioz 111 M
Grainger, Percy 270 creation 72 Janáček, Leoš 173, 198–199 Cherubini 86 MacDowell, Edward 195
Country Gardens 270 London symphonies 72, 73 Brno organ school 199 Lehár, Franz, The Merry Widow 247 Machaut, Guillaume de 32
folk music influence 270 oratorios 73 Cunning Little Vixen, The 199 Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra 114, Mass of Our Lady 32
Granados, Enrique 268 Oxford University doctorate 73 Folk Dances in Moravia 199 116, 117 madrigals 37, 39, 43
Danzas españolas 268 Paris symphonies 72 and folk music 199 leitmotifs, Wagner 134 Monteverdi 37, 39
folk music influence 268 and Salomon, Johann Peter 73 From the House of the Dead 199 Leonarda, Isabella 82 Strozzi 43
Goyescas 268 Seasons, The 73 Glagolitic Mass 199 Leoncavallo, Ruggero 183 Mahler, Gustav 186–189, 233, 270
María del Carmen 268 string quartets and piano trios 72, In the Mists 199 Les Apaches (The Hooligans) group Das klagende Lied (Song of
Great American Songbook 260 73 Intimate Letters 199 240 Lamentation) 186, 189
Grieg, Edvard 169, 170, 174–177, Trumpet Concerto 72 Katya Kabanová 199 Les Nouveaux Jeunes 221 Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s
205, 206 Hensel, Wilhelm 113 Kreutzer Sonata, The 199 Les Six group see Auric, Georges; Magic Horn) 186
25 Norwegian Folk Songs and Henze, Hans Werner 307 On an Overgrown Path 199 Honegger, Arthur; Milhaud, folk music influence 186
Dances 175 avant-garde 307 Piano Sonata 199 Darius; Poulenc, Francis; Kindertotenlieder song cycle 188,
and folk music 175, 176 jazz influence 307 Sinfonietta 199 Tailleferre, Germaine 189
Funeral March 176 Raft of the Medusa, The 307 speech patterns, use of 199 Ligeti, György 292–293 Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
and Hardanger fiddle 175, Hermanus Contractus 16–17 Japanese culture, Takemitsu 297 Le Grand Macabre 293 (Songs of a Wayfarer) song cycle
176 Hildegard of Bingen 14–17 Javanese gamelan music influence, micropolyphony 293 188, 189
Haugtussa (The Mountain Maid) Book of Divine Works 16 Debussy 191 Poème symphonique 293 Piano Quartet 186
song cycle 176–177 Order of the Virtues 17 jazz influence Liszt, Franz 113, 126–129, 150, 170, “Resurrection” Symphony 188,
Lyric Pieces 176, 177 plainchant 16, 17 Debussy 191–192 173, 210, 269 189
Peer Gynt and Ibsen 176 Symphony of the Harmony of Henze 307 Album d’un voyageur 128 Romanticism 186
Piano Concerto in A minor Heavenly Revelations 17 Martinů 270 Années de pèlerinage (Years of and Schindler, Alma 188, 189
176 Hindemith, Paul 271 Ravel 241 Pilgrimage) 128, 129 song cycles 102, 188, 189
Slåtter 175 avant-garde 271 Tippett 279 and Brahms 158 Symphonies 188, 189
song cycle 176–177 Holloway, Robin 304 Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Budapest, Liszt Academy 129 “Symphony of a Thousand”
Gubaidulina, Sofia 307–308 Holst, Gustav 223, 230–231, Workshop), Takemitsu 297 and Carolyne de Sayn-Wittgenstein 189
Guicciardi, Giulietta 91 279 Joachim, Joseph 143, 158, 172, 247 128, 129 Malfatti, Therese 91
Guido d’Arezzo 12–13 bitonality 231 and Brahms 156–158 Dante Sonata 128 Mamontov, Savva 179
mnemonics use 13 Choral Symphony 231 Josquin des Prez 33 Dante Symphony 129 Martinů, Bohuslav 270
plainchant 13 Cotswolds, The 231 Don Sanche 127 jazz influence 270
staff notation 13 Egdon Heath 231 Études d’exécution transcendante Neo-Classicism 270
folk music influence 231 K 128, 129 Mascagni, Pietro 195
Hymn of Jesus 231 Kajanus, Robert 214 Faust Symphony 128, 129 Cavalleria rusticana 183, 195
H and Indian mythology 231 Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra First Piano Concerto 129 Nerone 195
Handel, George Frideric 44, 53, Planets, The 231 214 Funérailles 127 Parisina 195
64–67, 69 Sāvitri 231 Kamhi, Victoria 275 Hamlet 127 verismo operatic style 195
Agrippina 65 Somerset Rhapsody, A 231 Kern, Jerome 260 Harmonies poétiques et religieuses Massenet, Jules 194, 195
Almira 65 Honegger, Arthur 263, 270–271 Khachaturian, Aram 306 129 La Grand’ Tante 194
and castrati 65, 66 Le Dit des jeux du monde 271 Gayane 306 Hungarian Rhapsodies 129 Manon 194
Esther 66 Les Six group see Les Six group Spartacus 306 influence of 145, 146, 269 Prix de Rome 194
Giulio Cesare 66 Napoléon film score 271 Kiyose, Yasuji 297 Lamento e trionfo 127 Werther 194
Jephtha 67 Hummel, Johann Nepomuk 130 Kodály, Zoltán 245, 246, 293 Romanticism 127, 129 Master of the King’s Music, Elgar
Messiah 66–67 and Esterházy family 130 Koessler, János 245 Sonata in B minor 128, 129 203
Music for the Royal Fireworks 66, Romanticism 130 Koshetz, Nina 227 Symphony to Dante’s Divine Master of the Queen’s Music, Weir
67 Kotek, Iosif 168 Comedy, A 128 304
oratorios 66–67 Koussevitzky, Sergei 247, 256, Tasso 127 Mayr, Andreas Ferdinand 77
Ottone 66 I 290 transcendentalism 129 Mayr, Simon 105, 107
Peace of Utrecht celebratory Ibsen, Henrik 176 Kreisler, Fritz 202 Weimar, Kapellmeister in Meck, Nadezhda von 168, 191
music 66 Impressionism Krommer, Franz 130 Extraordinary 128, 129 Mendelssohn, Fanny 112–113, 114,
Rinaldo 66, 67 Debussy 192, 240 Loriod, Yvonne 283 116, 117
Royal Academy of Music 66 Ravel 240–241 Louie, Alexina 309 “Easter Sonata” 113
statue 67 Indian classical music, Glass L O magnum mysterium 309 Four Songs 113
Tamerlano 66 303 Lassus, Orlande de 24–25 luggage arias, Rossini 97 Three Songs 113
Water Music 66, 67 Ingegneri, Marcantonio 37 and Albrecht V of Bavaria 25 Lully, Jean-Baptiste 47, 55 Mendelssohn, Felix 103, 113,
Zadok the Priest 67 Ives, Charles 173, 236–237, 299 knight of the Golden Spur 25 Lutosławski, Witold 288–289 114–117, 124, 209
Hausmann, Robert 158 Central Park in the Dark 237 Lagrime di San Pietro 25 Formalism accusations 289 and Bach revival 59, 61
Haydn, Joseph 61, 70–73, 80, 90, complex innovations 237 Paris, St. John Lateran director of and “the Polish School” Concerto in E minor 117
127, 130, 245 “Concord Sonata” 237 music 25 289 Elijah 117
baryton compositions 72 Three Places in New England 237 Patrocinium Musices 25 Warsaw Autumn Festival “Fingal’s Cave” (The Hebrides)
Creation, The 72, 73 transcendentalism 237 Penitential Psalms 25 289 116
and Esterházy family 70, 72, 73, Unanswered Question, The 237 Prophetiae Sibyllarum 25 Lyadov, Anatoly 179 Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
126 Universe Symphony 237 Legion of Honor 114, 116, 117
 INDEX 315

Midsummer Night’s Dream, A L’incoronazione di Poppea (The O “Polish School, the” 289 Indian Queen, The 47
Overture 114 Coronation of Poppea) 39 Obrecht, Jacob 33 polyphony 33, 37, 38 King Arthur 47
on Palestrina 22 L’Orfeo 38, 39 Ockeghem, Johannes 32–33 “polystylism”, Schnittke 299 and Queen Mary 47
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert madrigals, books of 37, 39 polyphonic Requiem Mass 33 Porpora, Nicola 70 semi-operas 47
friendship 117 oratorio, first 39 Olivieri-Sangiacomo, Elsa 269 Porter, Cole 260
St. Paul oratorio 117 pizzicato, first use of 39 Omnibus arts program 290 Poulenc, Francis 262–263
Songs without Words 113 polyphony 37, 38 ondes Martenot 280, 283 avant-garde influences 263 R
String Octet 114, 117 Vespers for the Blessed Virgin 36, see also electronic music and Bernac, Pierre 263 Rachmaninoff, Sergei 226–229, 269
Mercadante, Saverio 107 38, 39 Online Choir, Whitacre 309 Chansons gaillardes 263 Aleko 227, 228
Mercer, Johnny 260 Moscheles, Ignaz 175 Orff, Carl 271 Dialogues des Carmélites 263 All-Night Vigil (Vespers) 228
Mérimée, Prosper 162 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 68, Carmina Burana 271 La Voix humaine 263 Corelli theme composition 44
Messiaen, Olivier 280–283, 295, 76–81, 117, 131, 170, 304 Schulwerk method 271 and Les Six see Les Six group and Koshetz, Nina 227
297 Clementi–Mozart contest 75 Litanies à la Vierge Noire de Moscow Conservatory Great Gold
birdsong compositions 282, 283 Così fan tutte 81 Rocamadour 263 Medal 227
La Nativité du Seigneur 282, 283 Die Entführung aus dem Serail P Mass in G major 263 Piano Concertos 228
Le Banquet céleste 282 69, 80 Pachelbel, Johann 56, 83 Stabat Mater 263 Prelude in C-sharp minor 227, 228
and ondes Martenot 280, 283 Don Giovanni 80, 129 Canon in D major 83 Trois mouvements perpétuels 263 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Paris World Fair commission Freemasonry 79 Paganini, Niccolò 94–95, 110–111 ”prepared piano” use, Cage 306–307 229
282–283 “Haffner” Symphony 80 24 Caprices for Solo Violin 95 Prix de Rome Romanticism 227
Quartet for the End of Time 283 Idomeneo 69, 80 as “devil’s fiddler” 95 Berlioz 108 Sonata in G major 229
St. Francis of Assisi 281, 283 influence of 81, 130, 168, 209, 210, violin spiccato and left-hand Bizet 162 Symphonic Dances 228
tempo approach 282 211, 233, 299, 304 pizzicato 95 Boulanger, Lili 259 Symphonies 228, 229
Meyer, Marcelle 263 influences 61, 72, 78, 80, , 88, 90 Palestrina, Giovanni da 22–23, 62, Boulanger, Nadia 259 Rameau, Jean-Philippe 54–55
Meyerbeer, Giacomo 131, 134 La clemenza di Tito 69, 81 150 Debussy 191 Castor et Pollux 55
Il crociato in Egitto 131 “Linz” symphony 80 Magnificat 22 Massenet 194 Hippolyte et Aricie 55
L’Africaine 131 Magic Flute, The 79, 80, 81, 210 Missa Papae Marcelli 22, 23 and Ravel 240–241 Les Indes Galantes 55
Le Prophète 131 Marriage of Figaro, The 80, 210 Song of Solomon Mass 22 Prokofiev, Sergei 254–257, 265, 300, Treatise on Harmony 55
Les Huguenots 131 Mitridate, re di Ponto 78, 79 Stabat Mater 22 306 and War of the Buffoons 55
Robert le diable 131 Requiem 81, 309 Panufnik, Andrzej 289 Alexander Nevsky film music 257 Ravel, Maurice 221, 223, 238–241,
Romanticism 131 Salieri rivalry 81, 101 Parker, Horatio 237 Anton Rubinstein Prize 255 242, 250
micropolyphony, Ligeti 293 and Salzburg 77, 80, 81 Parry, Hubert 194–195 Buffoon, The (Chout) 256 Alcyone 240
Mighty Handful (The Five) group see symphonies 80–81 “Jerusalem” 195 “Classical” Symphony 256 Boléro 241
Balakirev, Mily; Borodin, musical cryptograms, Schumann Scenes from Prometheus Unbound Peter and the Wolf 256 Daphnis et Chloé 240, 241
Alexander; Cui, César; 124 194 Piano Concertos 256, 257 folk music influence 239
Mussorgsky, Modest; Rimsky- Mussorgsky, Modest 164–165, 167, Songs of Farewell 195 Piano Sonata No. 7 255 Impressionism 240–241
Korsakov, Nikolai 179 Pärt, Arvo 300–301, 308 and Richter, Sviatoslav 255 jazz influence 241
Milhaud, Darius 252, 263, 295 avant-garde 164, 167 12-tone serialism 300 Romeo and Juliet 256 La Valse 241
Milyukova, Antonina 168 and Balakirev, Mily 164 avant-garde influence 300 and Russian Socialist Realism Le Tombeau de Couperin 241
Minimalism Boris Godunov 164, 193 Nekrolog 300 257 Les Apaches (The Hooligans)
Glass 303 Mighty Handful group see Mighty Neo-Classicism 300 Scythian Suite 256 group 240
Górecki 308 Handful (The Five) group Spiegel im Spiegel 300 Stalin Prizes 257 L’Heure espagnole 241
Mitropoulos, Dimitri 290 Night on the Bare Mountain 164 “tintinnabuli” 300 Symphony No. 5 256 Ma Mère l’Oye 241
mnemonics use, Guido d’Arezzo 13 Myaskovsky, Nikolai 179 “patter-songs,” Rossini 99 Proksch, Josef 146 orchestration mastery 239, 241
Modernism Pedrell, Felipe 195, 242, 268 Puccini, Giacomo 182–185 and Paris Exposition Universelle
Barber 306 Penderecki, Krzysztof 289, 308 Capriccio sinfonico 183 239
Berg 270 N avant-garde 308 Edgar 183 Piano Concerto in G 241
Busoni 268 Nansen, Eva 177 Threnody for the Victims of Gianni Schicchi 185 Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Nielsen 213 Neefe, Christian 88 Hiroshima 308 Il trittico 185 241
Satie 218, 220, 221 Neo-Classicism Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista 55, 250 La Bohème 183, 184 and Prix de Rome 240–241
Schnittke 299 Falla 242 Peri, Jacopo (Il Zazzerino) 38 La fanciulla del West 184–185 Tzigane 247
Strauss, Richard 210 Martinů 270 Euridice 38, 40 La rondine 185 and Viñes, Ricardo 239
Suk 269 Pärt 300 La Dafne 38 Le Villi 183 and Wittgenstein, Paul 241
Webern 270 Schoenberg 235 Pérotin 32 Madama Butterfly 184 recorded music
see also avant-garde Stravinsky 250 piano technique studies, Clementi 75 Manon Lescaut 184 Edison phonograph 245
Monteverdi, Claudio 36–39, 304 New Journal for Music, Schumann piano-roll recordings, Debussy 191 Tosca 184 folk song research, Bartók
Combattimento di Tancredi e 124, 125, 158 pianos and Toscanini, Arturo 184, 185 245–246
Clorinda 38–39 Nielsen, Carl 212–213 Broadwood 88 Turandot 184, 185 gramophone recording, Gershwin
dissonance practice 38 Maskarade 213 Clementi 75 verismo style 183 260
Gonzaga family as patrons 37, 38 Modernism 213 oval 158 Purcell, Henry 46–47 pioneer, Elgar 203
Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (The Strophic Songs 213 Pleyel 119 Chapel Royal 47 Reich, Steve 303, 308–309
Return of Ulysses to his Symphony No. 1 213 Piccinni, Niccolò 69 Dido and Aeneas 47 Different Trains 309
Homeland) 39 Nijinsky, Vaslav 193 pizzicato 39, 95 Dioclesian 47 Minimalism 308–309
L’Arianna 38 Nordraak, Rikard 175, 176 plainchant 13, 16, 17 Fairy-Queen, The 47 Reményi, Eduard 156, 158
316 INDEX

Respighi, Ottorino 269 Roussel, Albert 220 Gurre-Lieder 233, 234, 235 Paradise and the Peri oratorio 124 Mass in D 205
Fountains of Rome 269 Rubinstein, Anton and Nikolai 167, influence of 241, 251, 299 Piano Concerto 124, 125, 176 and women’s suffrage 205
La Boutique fantasque 269 169, 255 Jacob’s Ladder 235 Piano Quintet 124 Wreckers, The 205
Richter, Sviatoslav 255 Moses und Aron 235 “Rhenish” Symphony 124, 125 Société Nationale de Musique 181
Ricordi, Giulio 183 Neo-Classicism 235 Romanticism 122 song cycles
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai 155, 164, S Pelleas und Melisande tone-poem song cycles 102, 124 Barber 306
167, 178–179 Saint-Saëns, Camille 160–161, 181, 216, 233 Schütz, Heinrich 82 Britten 285, 286
Fantasia on Serbian Themes 179 220 Piano Concerto 235 Dafne 82 Dvořák 172
folk music influence 179 Carnival of the Animals 161 Pierrot Lunaire 233, 234, 235 Scriabin, Alexander 269 Fauré 181
Golden Cockerel, The 179 Danse Macabre 161 Second Viennese School group Mysterium 269 Grieg 176–177
influence of 191, 249, 255, 268, “Organ” Symphony 160 234 Prometheus, the Poem of Fire 269 Mahler 186, 188, 189
269 Samson and Delilah 161 String Quartet 233, 235 Romanticism 269 Schoenberg 234
Kashchey the Immortal 179 Symphony No. 1 161 Survivor from Warsaw, A 235 Sechter, Simon 149, 150 Schubert 102
Maid of Pskov, The 179 tone poems 161 tone poems 233 Second New England School 268 Schumann 124, 125
and Mamontov, Savva 179 Salieri, Antonio 127 Verklärte Nacht 233, 235 Second Viennese School 234, 270 speech patterns, use of, Janáček
Mighty Handful group see Mighty Mozart rivalry 81, 101 Vienna “Scandal Concert” 234 “seconda pratica,” Monteverdi 38 199
Handful (The Five) group Salomon, Johann Peter 73 Violin Concerto 235 Segovia, Andrés 252 Spontini, Gaspare 107
Mlada 179 Royal Philharmonic Society 73 Schubert, Franz 100–103, 170 semi-operas, Purcell 47 staff notation, Guido d’Arezzo 13
Sadko 179 Sand, George 119, 120 and Biedermeier period 101 Serocki, Kazimierz 289 Stalin Prizes, Prokofiev 257
Scheherazade 179 Sarti, Guiseppe 87 “Death and the Maiden” string Shankar, Ravi 303 Stirling, Jane 120, 121
Symphony No. 1 in E minor 179 Satie, Erik 218–221, 240, 252, 263 quartet 102 Shostakovich, Dmitri 264–267, Stockhausen, Karlheinz 293,
Tale of Czar Saltan, The 179 avant-garde 218, 221 Die schöne Müllerin 102 286–287, 299, 300, 306 294–295, 303
Czar’s Bride, The 179 creative artistic collaborations “Erlkönig” 101, 102 Formalism accusation 267 avant-garde 295
Rodgers, Richard 260 221 and Esterházy family 101 Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk Donnerstag aus Licht 295
Rodrigo, Joaquín 274–275 Embryons desséchés 221 First Symphony 101 District 266 and electronic music 295
commissioned concertos 275 Gymnopédies 218, 221 “Great” Symphony in C major 102, Nose, The 266 Gesang der Jünglinge 295
Concierto de Aranjuez 275 Le Piège de Méduse 221 103 Seventh Symphony (“Leningrad”) Klang (Sound) 295
Romanticism and Les Nouveaux Jeunes 221 and Grob, Therese 102 247, 266–267 Licht: Die sieben Tage der Woche
Beethoven 88 Messe des pauvres (Mass for the influence of 124, 209, 299 Siege of Leningrad 267 295
Berlioz 108, 110 Poor) 220 Mass in F major 102 and Stalin’s “Great Purge” 265, Stimmung (Tuning) 295
Berwald 131 Modernism 218, 220, 221 Schwanengesang collection 103 267 Strauss, Johann 152–153
Brahms 158 Parade 221 song cycles 102, 124 Symphonies 265–267 Night in Venice, A 153
Chopin 119 Préludes flasques (pour un chien) “Trout” Quintet 101 Sibelius, Jean 214–217 Blue Danube, The 153
Donizetti 105 221 “Unfinished” Symphony 102, 103 “creative silence” 217 Die Fledermaus 153
Dvořák 172 Socrate 221 Winterreise 102, 103 En Saga 214 Egyptian March 153
Glazunov 268 Sports et divertissements 221 Schulwerk method, Orff 271 Finlandia 216, 217 Emperor Waltz 153
Hummel 130 Trois morceaux en forme de poire Schumann, Clara 113, 122, 124, 125, and Finnish nationhood 217 Gunstwerber waltz 153
Liszt 127, 129 221 142–143, 175, 176, 205 Jäger March 217 Gypsy Baron, The 153
Mahler 186 and Valadon, Suzanne 220 and Brahms 158, 159 and Kajanus, Robert 214 Herzenslust polka 153
Meyerbeer 131 Vexations 221 Piano Concerto 143 Kullervo 214, 217 Pizzicato-Polka 153
Rachmaninoff 227 Scarlatti, Alessandro 62 Piano Trio 143 Kuolema (Death) 216 Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka 153
Schumann 122 Scarlatti, Domenico 62–63 Three Romances for Violin and Oceanides, The 217 Wine, Women, and Song! 153
Scriabin 269 folk music influence 62 Piano 143 Rakastava (The Lover) 214 Strauss, Richard 188, 208–211, 233,
Strauss, Richard 209, 210 single-movement keyboard Schumann, Robert 122–125, 130, Symphonies 216, 217 269
Weber 131 sonatas 62 143, 181 Tapiola 217 Also sprach Zarathustra 210
Webern 270 Schindler, Alma 188, 189 Abegg Variations 122 “Swan of Tuonela, The” 214–216, Arabella 210–211
Rossini, Gioachino 96–99, 107, 140, Schnittke, Alfred 298–299 and Brahms 158 217 Ariadne auf Naxos 210, 211
161, 269 Modernism 299 Carnaval 122–124 Valse triste 216 Bayreuth Festival 195
and Barbaja, Domenico 98, 99 “polystylism” 299 Cello Concerto 124 Sitwell family 277 Capriccio 211
Barber of Seville, The 97, 98, 105 Symphony No. 1 299 Davidsbündlertänze 122–124 six-voice puzzle canon, Bach 57 Der Rosenkavalier 210, 211
Cinderella 97 Schoenberg, Arnold 129, 188, Dichterliebe 124, 125 Smetana, Bedřich 146–147, 170, 199 Die Frau ohne Schatten 210
Demetrio e Polibio 97 232–235, 245 Fantasie in C 124 Bartered Bride, The 146 Don Juan 209, 211
Italian Girl in Algiers, The 97–98 12-tone music 235 First Symphony 124 Czech National Revival effect 146 Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) 209
La Cenerentola 98 atonality development 233, 234, Genoveva 124 Dalibor 146 Elektra 210
Lady of the Lake, The 98, 99 235, 241, 270 influence of 103, 155, 158, 175, Kiss, The 146 Feuersnot 210
luggage arias 97 Book of the Hanging Gardens, The 201, 209 Má vlast (My Homeland) 146 Guntram 210
Marriage Contract, The 97 234 Kinderszenen 125 “Song of Freedom” 146 Intermezzo 210
Othello 99 Chamber Symphony 234 Kreisleriana 122–124 String Quartet No. 2 in D minor Macbeth 209
“patter-songs” 99 Der Blaue Reiter group 234 Manfred Overture 124 146 Modernism 210
Petite Messe solennelle 99 Erwartung 233, 234 musical cryptograms 124 Smithson, Harriet 110 and Nazi regime 209
Semiramide 98 and Expressionism 233, 234 New Journal for Music 124, 125, Smyth, Ethel 204–205 Romanticism 209, 210
Tancredi 98 Five Orchestral Pieces 234 158 Dame of the British Empire 205 Salome 210, 211
William Tell 98, 99 Gerstl, Richard friendship 234 Papillons 122–124, 125 Der Wald 205 tone poems 209, 210, 245
 INDEX 317

Vier letzte Lieder 211 Cantiones sacrae (Sacred Songs) Webern 270 Girò, Anna, friendship 50 Six Pieces for Orchestra 270
“Zueignung” 209 21 Toscanini, Arturo 184, 185, 189 Gloria 50 tone poems 270
Stravinsky, Igor 179, 248–251, 265, Chapel Royal 21 NBC Symphony Orchestra 184 Griselda 50 Vienna, “Scandal Concert” 270
297, 307 If ye love me 21 transcendentalism L’estro armonico (Harmonic Weill, Kurt 271
12-note method 251 Spem in alium 21 Ives 237 Inspiration) 50 Die Dreigroschenoper 271
Agon 249, 251 Videte miraculum 21 Liszt 129 Ottone in villa ([Emperor] Otto at his Mahagonny-Songspiel 271
as ballet maestro 249 Tartini, Giuseppe 44 trouvères (poet-composers) 17 Villa) 50 Weir, Judith 304–305
Firebird, The 249–250, 251 Tavener, John 304, 308, 309 overproduction criticism 49 Black Spider, The 304
folk music influence 250 Protecting Veil, The 309 as violinist 49, 50, 51 Blond Eckbert 304
Movements 251 Song for Athene 309 V Vogl, Johann 101 Concrete at Barbican Centre 304
Neo-Classicism 250 Whale, The 309 Vaughan Williams, Ralph 222–225, Vogler, Abbé 130 King Harald’s Saga 304
Oedipus Rex 250 Taverner, John 33 231 von der Vogelweide, Walther “Under Master of the Queen’s Music 304
Orpheus 249 Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich 166–169, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas the Linden Tree” 17 Miss Fortune 304
Petrushka 249, 250, 251 199, 205, 216, 227, 249 Tallis 223–224 Von Herzogenberg, Heinrich 205 A Night at the Chinese Opera 304
Pulcinella 250, 251 1812 Overture 169 folk music influence 223 Piano Concerto 304
Rake’s Progress, The 251 Cherevichki 169 Lark Ascending, The 224 Queen’s Medal for Music 304
Requiem Canticles 250, 251 Enchantress, The 169 Pastoral Symphony, A 224 W Vanishing Bridegroom, The 304
Rite of Spring, The 249, 250, 251, Eugene Onegin 168–169 Pilgrim’s Progress, The 224, 225 Wagner, Cosima 129, 137 Welcome Arrival of Rain, The 304
256 Fifth Symphony 169 Sea Symphony, A 224, 225 Wagner, Richard 131, 134–137, 153, Whitacre, Eric 309
Symphony of Psalms 250, 251 Iolanta 169 Serenade to Music 224–225 159, 199, 201, 233, 304 Online Choir 309
Symphony in Three Movements “Manfred” Symphony 169 Symphonies 224, 225 Bayreuth Festival 129, 137, 168, Wieck, Clara see Schumann, Clara
251 Nutcracker, The 169 in World War I 224 191, 195 Wieck, Friedrich 122, 124, 143
Wedding, The 250, 251 “Ode to Joy” 167 Verdi, Giuseppe 138–141, 304 Das Liebesverbot 134 Wittgenstein, Paul 241
Strepponi, Giuseppina 140, 141 Piano Concerto No. 1 168–169 Aida 141 Die Feen 134
Strozzi, Barbara 42–43 Queen of Spades, The 169 and Barezzi family 138 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
First Book of Madrigals 43 Romeo and Juliet 167, 168 Busseto, Verdi theater 140 136, 137 X
Venice, Academies of the and Rubinstein, Anton and Nikolai Ernani 140 Flying Dutchman, The 134 Xenakis, Iannis 307
Unknowns and the Like-Minded 167, 169, 255 Falstaff 141 and German nationalism 137 computer use 307
43 Russia’s first professional I Lombardi 138 influence of 146, 150–151, 170, 172,
Suk, Josef 269 composer 167 Il trovatore 140, 141 186, 191, 210, 223, 231, 259, 304
“Asrael” Symphony 173, 269 Sleeping Beauty 169 Italian Risorgimento movement leitmotifs 134 Y
Czech Quartet 269 Storm, The 167 138, 140 Lohengrin 134, 168 Young Poland group 269
Modernism 269 Swan Lake 168 La battaglia di Legnano 140 and Ludwig II 136–137 Ysaÿe, Eugène 145
Radúz a Mahulena 269 Symphony No. 4 168 La forza del destino 141 Parsifal 136, 137, 209
Sullivan, Arthur 194 Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”) La traviata 140, 141 polemical writings 136
Cox and Box 194 169 Nabucco 138, 140, 141 Rienzi 134, 136 Z
Golden Legend, The 194 Violin Concerto 168–169 Oberto 138 Ring cycle 134, 136, 137, 307 Zaremba, Nikolai 167
Ivanhoe 194 Voyevoda, The 167 Otello 141 Siegfried Idyll 137 Zemlinsky, Alexander 188, 233, 234
Tempest, The 194 Tcherepnin, Alexander 179 Requiem 141 Tannhäuser 134, 136, 150, 172 Zverev, Nikolai 227, 269
Trial by Jury 194 Telemann, Georg P. 52–53, 60 Rigoletto 140, 141 Tristan und Isolde 136, 150, 192,
Swift, Kay 260 Brockes-Passion 53 and Strepponi, Giuseppina 140, 209
Symbolism “mixed taste” styles 53 141 Wesendonck-Lieder 136
Bartók 246–247 Sacred Cantata 53 Un ballo in maschera 140–141 Walton, William 276–277
Debussy 192–193 Tafelmusik (Table Music) 53 Un giorno di regno 138 Belshazzar’s Feast 277
Szymanowski, Karol 269 Water Music 53 verismo style Façade 277
folk music influence 269 tempo approach, Messiaen 282 Mascagni 195 Orb and Sceptre 277
Young Poland group 269 three Bs see Bach, Johann Sebastian; Puccini 183 and Sitwell family 277
Beethoven, Ludwig van; Brahms, Victoria, Tomás Luis de 33 World War II propaganda film
Johannes Vienna, “Scandal Concert” 234, 270 music 277
T Three Choirs Festival 201 Villa-Lobos, Heitor 252–253 War of the Buffoons 55
“table layout,” Dowland 31 Thurber, Jeannette 173 and Brazilian nationalism 253 Warsaw Autumn Festival 289
Tadolini, Giovanni 97 “tintinnabuli,” Pärt 300 Chôros 252 Weber, Carl Maria von 131
Tailleferre, Germaine 263 Tippett, Michael 278–279 and Segovia, Andrés 252 Der Freischütz 131
Takemitsu, Tōru 296–297 Child of Our Time, A 279 Viñes, Ricardo 239, 263 Euryanthe 131
avant-garde 297 Corelli theme composition 44 violin Oberon 131
and Japanese culture 297 jazz influence 279 Baroque 51 Romanticism 131
Jikken Kōbō (Experimental String Quartet No. 1 279 spiccato and left-hand pizzicato, Webern, Anton 234, 251, 270, 297,
Workshop) 297 tone poems Paganini 95 299
November Steps 297 Bartók 245 Vivaldi, Antonio 48–51, 58 12-tone serial technique 270
Requiem 297 Britten 285 Charles VI of Austria patronage Im Sommerwind 270
“Waterscape” and “Dream” cycles Saint-Saëns 161 50–51 Modernism 270
297 Schoenberg 233 concerto legacy 51 Romanticism 270
Tallis, Thomas 20–21, 27, 223 Strauss, Richard 209, 210, 245 Four Seasons, The 49, 50, 51 Second Viennese School 270
318 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments
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191 Getty Images: Christophel Fine Art / Contributor (tl). 191 Alamy Stock Photo: Granger Choumoff / Contributor (tr). 263 Alamy Stock Photo: The Picture Art Collection (tr). Brian
Historical Picture Archive (tr). 191 Getty Images: DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI / Contributor (br). 192 Lawrence (bl). 264 Alamy Stock Photo: Lebrecht Music & Arts (c). 265 Getty Images:
Getty Images: Barney Burstein / Contributor (t). 193 Alamy Stock Photo: Granger Historical Heritage Images / Contributor (cla). UniversalImagesGroup / Contributor (br). 266 Getty
Picture Archive (bl). 193 Getty Images: UniversalImagesGroup / Contributor (br). 194 Getty Images: Robbie Jack / Contributor (cla). 266 Alamy Stock Photo: Lebrecht Music & Arts (tr).
Images: Hulton Deutsch / Contributor (tr). 195 Getty Images: DEA / A. DAGLI ORTI / 267 Bridgeman Images: Lebrecht Music Arts (tr). 267 Getty Images: Heritage Images /
Contributor (br). 198 Bridgeman Images: AFC (tr). 199 Bridgeman Images: AFC (tl). 199 Contributor (bc). 268 Alamy Stock Photo: Granger Historical Picture Archive (bc). 269 Getty
Getty Images: DEA / A. DAGLI ORTI / Contributor (tr). DEA / A. DAGLI ORTI / Contributor (bl). Images: Lipnitzki / Contributor (tc). 270 Alamy Stock Photo: The Picture Art Collection (tc).
200 Bridgeman Images: (tr). 201 Alamy Stock Photo: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd (tr). 271 Getty Images: ullstein bild / Contributor (br). 274 Getty Images: Keystone / Staff (tr).
201 Bridgeman Images: Tully Potter (cr). 201 Alamy Stock Photo: David Jones (bl). 202-203 275 akg-images: Album / Oronoz (tc). 275 Bridgeman Images: Rodrigo Foundation (bl). AISA
Getty Images: Laurie Noble (tl). 202 Getty Images: DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY / (br). 276 Alamy Stock Photo: Pictorial Press Ltd (c). 277 Alamy Stock Photo: Lebrecht Music
Contributor (br). 203 Alamy Stock Photo: Lebrecht Music & Arts (cr). travelib history (br). 204 & Arts (tl). The History Collection (cr). Brenda Kean (br). 278 Getty Images: Radio Times /
Getty Images: Sasha / Stringer (c). 205 Getty Images: Heritage Images / Contributor (c). 205 Contributor (tr). 279 Alamy Stock Photo: Stephen Taylor (ca). 279 Getty Images: Print
Alamy Stock Photo: David Cole (br). 206 Bridgeman Images: Lebrecht Music Arts (tr). 206 Collector / Contributor (cr). Robbie Jack / Contributor (bl). 280 Alamy Stock Photo: Art
320 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Collection 4 (c). Lebrecht Music & Arts (bl). 280 Bridgeman Images: Peter Forrest (br). 281 Contributor (br). 300 Alamy Stock Photo: dpa picture alliance (c). Peeter Kalmet (crb). 301
Getty Images: Manuel Litran / Contributor (c). 282 Getty Images: DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI / Getty Images: The Washington Post / Contributor (c). 302 Alamy Stock Photo: Allstar Picture
Contributor (tl). 283 Getty Images: INA / Contributor (bl). Hiroyuki Ito / Contributor (cr). 284 Library (c). 303 Getty Images: Robbie Jack / Contributor (bl). Hiroyuki Ito / Contributor (br).
Getty Images: ullstein bild / Contributor (c). 285 Bridgeman Images: (c). 285 Getty Images: 304 TopFoto: University of Bristol / ArenaPAL (c). 304 Getty Images: Robbie Jack /
Kurt Hutton / Stringer (br). 286 Getty Images: Erich Auerbach / Stringer (bl). 287 Getty Contributor (br). 304 TopFoto: Hanya Chlala / ArenaPAL (c). 306 Getty Images: Peter Noble /
Images: Bethany Clarke / Stringer (t). 288 Alamy Stock Photo: (tr). 289 Alamy Stock Photo: Contributor (br). 307 Getty Images: David Levenson / Contributor (bc). 308 Getty Images:
Peter Probst (tc). 289 Getty Images: Imagno / Contributor (br). 290 Alamy Stock Photo: ullstein bild / Contributor (tr). 309 Bridgeman Images: Chris Christodoulou (bl).
SilverScreen (bl). 290 Getty Images: Alfred Eisenstaedt / Contributor (br). 291 Getty Images:
Fox Photos / Stringer (c). 292 akg-images: Imagno / Otto Breicha (tr). 293 Getty Images: Endpaper images: Front: Alamy Stock Photo: Paul Whitmarsh; Back: Alamy Stock Photo:
Robbie Jack / Contributor (tl). Hiroyuki Ito / Contributor (tr). 293 Alamy Stock Photo: David Paul Whitmarsh
Tipling Photo Library (br). 294 Getty Images: Hulton Deutsch / Contributor (c). 295 akg-
images: Fototeca Gilardi (c). 295 Getty Images: Hiroyuki Ito / Contributor (br). 296 TopFoto:
Clive Barda / ArenaPAL (c). 297 Alamy Stock Photo: Jui-Chi Chan (bl). 298 Bridgeman All other images © Dorling Kindersley. For more information see:
Images: Marion Kalter (tr). 299 Getty Images: Hiroyuki Ito / Contributor (tl). Amy T. Zielinski / www.dkimages.com