MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
IN THE
HISTORY OF MUSIC
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO DALLAS
ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON * BOMBAY CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
* *
*
HISTORY ^JF MUSIC
BY
O. G. SONNECK
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1921
All rightt moved
COPYRIGHT, 1921,
BY THE MACMJLLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1921.
PREFATORY NOTE
UNLIKE my book "Suum cuique" this collection is de-
voted almost exclusively to historical studies. The one
essay that is not mainly historical has been included for
the purpose of showing why it is still impossible in
America to attempt historical research work of the kind
that attracted me, in any but exceedingly few of our most
famous libraries. This lack of essential study material,
whether antiquarian or modern, whether literature or
scores, has been keenly felt eyen by those students of
musical history who specialize in subjects of a more gen-
eral local, biographical or evolutional interest. It indi-
cates a sad state of affairs and explains why American
contributions to musical history of more than "popular 37
and limited pedagogical value are so scanty ; why, in com-
parison with Europe, those engaged here in scholarly re-
search or codification of research are so few and why these
few men and women have such a disheartening outlet for
their life-work.
Most of the essays in this volume were prepared from
material available at the Library of Congress. Indeed, it
is safe to say that whatever their intrinsic historical value
may be, they could have been written nowhere in America
except in Washington. They owe their origin mostly to
minor historical problems that confronted me in my con-
structive work as Chief of the Music Division of the
Library of Congress from 1902 to 1917.
The essays are reprinted here, by permission, prac-
tically as they appeared in various magazines at the time of
writing. I have not attempted to incorporate the sub-
sequent "finds" of other historians. Happily they were
vi PREFATORY NOTE
so few and affected my views so little as to justify publica-
tion of these essays in their original form without "re-
scoring." The expert will know anyhow where to look
for controversial and more or less supplemental literature.
For instance, those interested in the history of the
pasticcio will turn to the writings of Lionel de la Laurencie
for certain additional data.
As in the case of my books published by G. Schirmer,
Inc., I am indebted to Dr. Theodore Baker for seeing
this volume through the press. I am also indebted to
him for having relieved me of the necessity of translating
the first of the essays into English, and especially am I
under obligations to him for his remarkably able transla-
tion of the rather difficult early Italian text of II Lasca's
Descrizione.
O. G. SojsnsrEOK,
CONTENTS
PAGE
THI NEW MISE EN SCISNE OF MOZART'S DON GIOVANNI
AT MUNICH 1
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 16
LISZT'S HULDIGUNGS-MARSOH AND WEIMARS VOLKSLIED 93
CIAMPI'S "BERTOLDO, BERTOLDINO E CAOASENNO" AND
FAVART>S DINETTE A LA OOUR." A CONTRIBUTION
TO THE HISTORY OP PASTICCIO Ill
THE FIRST EDITION OF "HAIL, COLUMBIA!" ... 180
GUILLAUME LEKEU 190
"CARAOTACUS" NOT ARNE'S CARAOTAOUS .... 241
A DESCRIPTION OF ALESSANDRO STRIGGIO AND FRAN-
CESCO CORTECCIA'S INTERMEDI ^PSYCHE AND AMOR,^
1565 269
Music IN OUR LIBRARIES 287
A PREFACE 296
THE HISTORY OF Music IN AMERICA. A FEW SUG-
GESTIONS 324
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES IN
THE HISTORY OF MUSIC
THE NEW MISE EN SCENE OF MOZART'S DON
GIOVANNI AT MUNICH
(Originally written in German; published in an Italian
translation by Luigi Torchi in the Riwsta Musicale
Italians, 1896.)
WHEN tardy Spring at last arrives in Munich, only to
throw herself with unseemly haste into the arms of Sum-
mer ; when "Secession" and "Glas-Palast" l reopen their
doors; then one may rest assured that Ernst Possart
will also do his part to make the summer season interest-
ing both for natives and foreigners. Nor, in truth, is this
brought about solely for artistic reasons. The position of
Intendant in Munich necessitates an extraordinary heed-
fulness for the main chance, the more so because, since
the death of the genial Ludwig II, conditions less favorable
for art have supervened. But so long as a satisfactory
compromise between the two contrasting points of view
is achieved, there is no need of overexciting oneself. Such
achievement has nearly always been the good fortune,
the secret, the desert, of Possart He began with the
remarkable Wagner Cycles, followed nesxt year by a pro-
duction of The Marriage of Figaro absolutely finished in
style, and this year, as the event of the season, a revival of
Don Qwvanwi,
1 Art exhibitions, the latter being the more conservative.
1
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The tribute of admiration and love which the whole
world now pays to Mozart's masterwork, was by no means
so universal at the outset. During his lifetime Mozart
was more highly esteemed, by many, as a virtuoso than as
a composer, and precisely his most soulfelt work, Don
Giovanni, at first met more than once with inappreciative
opposition. For example, Salieri's showy operas suited
the Viennese far better than works by the German master.
But both were outrivaled in favor by Dittersdorf. It is
a most remarkable fact that the opera Figaro's Hochzeit
by this latter popular master drove Mozart's Don Giovanni
off the boards in Briinn. And again, when Gazzaniga's
Don Giovanni was presented at the Haymarket Theatre
in London in 1794, and the conductor, Federici, interwove
numbers of his own and by Sarti and Guglielmi in the
action, Da Ponte at that time the official poet of that
theatre succeeded in having only the "Catalogo" Aria
from Mozart's opera inserted. Whereas, in 1857, the
Florentines considered his opera to be "worthless, hyper-
borean music/ 3 and hissed it off the stage, Berlinese critical
opinion in 1790 was totally at variance with them : "In
his Don Juan Mozart attempted to write something
extraordinary, inimitably grand; this much is certain
it is something extraordinary, but not inimitably grand!
Caprice, whimsey, pride, but not the he-art, presided over
Don Juan's creation!" and more nonsense of like sort.
This foolish uncomprehension, which Don Giovanni met
with in still other places, would seem to prove how slight
was Mozart's recognition as an opera-composer. And this,
in turn, was not the least factor in determining the fate
of the work.
We do know what arbitrary treatment theatre-directors
accord even to admirable, impeccable operas. They warp
and wrest the dramatic construction wherever and however
they list. Mozart's masterpiece was not spared this or-
deal. On the contrary, it suffered more than any other
at the hands of expert bunglers. The master himself
DON GIOVANNI AT MUNICH
obliged to inaugurate this evil custom. The rivalries sub-
sisting between the Viennese singers of both sexes influ-
enced him as is shown in his diary to insert the so-
called "bookbinder" aria, "Ein Band der Freundschaft,"
for Don Octavio, for Zerlina and Leporello the duet "Bei
diesen kleinen Handchen," and for Elvira the aria "Mich
verlasst der TJndankbare." He did so with a heavy heart;
but what did or do the virtuosos care whether the action
drags, or the characters are ill drawn, or an art-work is
stultified in any way, if only their voices are effectively
shown off ? And liberties were soon taken with the very
name of the opera. The title "II Dissoluto punito," or
"II Don Giovanni/' was quickly turned into "Don Juan,"
"Don Jean," "Der Herr Johann." The first-night play-
bill at Innsbruck announces (1800) "Don Juan oder das
steinerne Gastmahl"; the one at Laibach (Oarniola) has
even (1815) "Don Juan's Abenteuer in Spanien oder das
steinerne Gastmahl." And the title in the translation by
the Dessau Musikdirektor Neefe is equally good: "Der
bestrafte Wolliistling oder der Krug geht solange
zu Wasser bis er bricht." After the custom then
prevailing, Neefe also Germanized the cast of characters;
Don Giovanni becomes "der Herr von Schwankereich,"
Zerlina, "Koschen," Octavio is transformed into "der Herr
von Frischblut," and Leporello into "Pickfack," etc. To
be sure, these are mere trivalities, but they are characr
teristic of the manner in which matters of prime impor-
tance were treated. When, for instance, on the play-
bills and librettos the title read, instead of da Ponte's
"dramma giocoso" (i. e., jovial comedy; Mozart's diary
even calls the work an opera buffa), as years went on,
"tragi-comic," "tragic," then "romantic," and finally
"grand" opera, this arbitrary generic terminology in itself
proves how totally the work was misapprehended. A grand
opera requires, first and foremost, imposing choral masses ;
and so these were actually introduced, like the celebrated
Liberty Chorus in the finale of the first act, the unison
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
stretta, and others. In the original score there is no hiiit
of all this. The stirring "Viva la liberta" is sung by a
solo-quintet, led by Don Giovanni. It would certainly be
tasteless and out of keeping to allow a rout of peasants,
made tipsy in a nobleman's house, to sing a liberty chorus
at the reception of noble guests. The unison chorus is also
a graft, as remarked above, for the entire passage is con-
ceived simply as an ensemble of the seven principal char-
acters. In the original the chorus plays, withal, a very
subordinate part ; there are only two places where it par-
ticipates in the action in Scene 7 of Act I with the re-
frain "la la la la," and in the first finale.
From these disfigurements one may easily imagine how
the whole book gradually became transformed. I do not
so especially refer to the translations themselves; they
were, from the start, inexact and lacking in taste, like
almost all translations of opera-books. Mozart appears
to have had a premonition of this, for, according to trust-
worthy tradition, Mozart's son possessed a free, but
felicitous, translation written by his father's own hand.
But, unfortunately, it is preserved only in fragmentary
form. 'Not the translations are meant, but something dif-
ferent. The moment that the (sung) secco recitatives were
changed, in the German representations, into spoken dia-
logue, the "revisers" and "adapters" had every oppor-
tunity to compress or expand these passages. Eochlitz,
for instance, whose "arrangement" is still. adopted in many
quarters, found it necessary to enliven da Ponte's flow of
ideas. He inserted grandiloquent phrases, gave the char-
acters a different complexion, and even treated portions of
the dialogue in the style of Schiller's "Kaubetr." This
produces a very comical effect in the rococo environment
But the most wildly willful deeds were done by an adapter
probably Spiess when he cold-bloodedly injected three
personages into the action a. constable, a hermit, and a
tradesman. All three according to Fteisauff had
DON GIOVANNI AT MUNICH
scenes together with Don Giovanni. "These scenes, fol-
lowing the taste of the times, remind one forcibly of the
puppet-show and the harlequinades which were in high
favor with the Vienna populace, and whose only aim was
evidently to amuse said populace with coarse and stupid
jokes." The- scene with the tradesman, placed before the
last finale, maintained itself on most stages until about
1830; Don Giovanni, instead of paying his due notes,
burns them up and has the tradesman thrown out by his
lackeys. The scene with the hermit before the scene
in the churchyard was performed seldomer; its dull
point consisted in the twisting of the hermit's words by
Leporello. Don Giovanni asks the hermit, "What do you
live on?" Hermit: "On roots (Wurzeln) and herbs
(Krautern)." Leporello: "What? The fellow eats in-
fantry (Fussvolk) and cavalry (Eeiter) ?" The above^
mentioned writer rightly follows this with the observation,
"These three scenes could have been fathered only by the
grotesquely perverted Viennese taste of that period. They
sufficiently demonstrate how little appreciation was then
to be found of the wonderful beauties contained in Mo-
zart's masterwork."
Foreign countries had less to suffer from such mutila-
tions, for the simple reason that performances in Italian
were commoner there than in Germany. And one may
readily imagine that now, in Germany, earnest protests
against this outrage made themselves heard. The first
step was the rehabilitation of the original score. This
was done here and there already in the first half of the
nineteenth century. For similar reasons a number of
more conscientious and exact translations were made later,
like those by Viol, Bitter, Gugler, Grandaur, Wolzogen,
Kalbeck, Vaupel, and others. In 1883 there was even a
meeting of a committee of German theatre-directors, under
the chairmanship of Intendant-General von Perf all, whose
aim was to reach an agreement concerning the text of
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Don Giovanwi. Their efforts were fruitless, "for today
nearly every considerable theatre has its own arrangement
of Don Giomnwi"
Professional experts, more especially Gugler, gradually
turned their attention to an examination of the musical
side. They compared the modern growths with the parent
stock the altered scores with the original score in the
possession of Mme. Viardot-Garcia and with almost
equally reliable copies from the eighteenth century. The-
atre directors, in so far as they were still possessed of
an artistic conscience, utilized all the results thus arrived
at and organized adequate representations of the mutilated
work. In a word, the last decades finally aroused them-
selves to do justice to Mozart and da Ponte.
Ernst Possart,^ for his part, expressed the views which
guided him in this affair both in a speech and a pamphlet
of similar content. This little essay is well worth reading,
even though not wholly free from errors, and though the
historical material placed at his disposal by professionals
may not always have been rightly understood. It was his
purpose, "to explain how important and desirable it ap-
pears to base the project for a revival of the opera on
the original text and the original score." Furthermore, he
wished^'to convince his readers, that with regard to the
dimensions of the auditorium, the strength of the orchestra,
and the musical and poetical elements in their entirety!
the first representations in Prague, which took place in
October, 1787, under the master's personal direction, ought
to serve as a model; and that the advanced modern tech-
nique of the stage should be employed only in connection
with the external equipment, i. e., the scenic decorations
and the costumes."
This idea is not novel, but it is correct. When Don
Ghovaanm, by Mozart, is set before us, what we want is
Mozart s own, and not an arbitrary substitute concocted
by some stage-manager or conductor. But between theory
and practice there is a long step to be taken.
DON GIOVANNI AT MUNICH
As Don Giovanni was, from the outset, intended for
Prague; as da Ponte wrote the poem in Italian and
the German Mozart composed it for Italian performers,
taking into consideration the constitution of the orchestra
and the size of the theatre, with which he was familiar;
moreover, as the intellectual horizon of present-day audi-
ences, the taste and the whole trend of our time, in brief,
the entire miUeu is fundamentally different from that of
the late eighteenth century, etc., we are confronted by
irreconcilable antagonisms.
Whoever should succeed in suitably combining the great-
est number of the elements originally given in a stylisti-
cally finished representation, would, to be sure, come near-
est to a solution of the problem.
The actors themselves are irrevocably lost to us ; what
is left is only the original Italian libretto, the original
score, and the theatre in Prague. An artistic, con-
scientious production based on these three would assuredly
afford the acme of artistic enjoyment. In fact, this has
already been attempted. By the Prague Conservatory on
May the 12th, 1842, in the Lcmdstandisches Theater and
in the Italian language, the opera Don Giovanni was "pre-
sented precisely as Mozart had composed it, in Prague,,
for the Italian opera of his time." However, the repre-
sentation seems to have been not "precisely" so. For the
play-bill announces "Don Juan," and "grand opera,"
besides other caprices.
After all, Prague is far away; so what shall other cities
do ? They can have recourse only to the libretto and the
score.
Even so, it would be a sheer impossibility to let a
German company sing in Italian. Our throats and ears
would energetically protest against it. Such, indeed, was
the experience of Possart the consistent, when he made
the attempt on beginning rehearsals for the new produc-
tion. So nothing remained but the score and the stage-
directions.
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Now, it is understood that parts of the original score
are missing. Furthermore, there are cuts in it, made by
Mozart from necessity rather than choice. Besides, it is
by no means proved that the employment of trombones
in the Churchyard Duet and the Descent into Hell is
owing to their introduction by an alien hand. It may be
assumed with equal probability that Mozart was induced
to make changes because the trombone players in Prague
found the passages beyond their powers.
So in this particular we also encounter difficulties.
And then, if Mozart had to hear how (with few excep-
tions) our contemporary singers mishandle the Italian
style of the eighteenth century, he would stop his ears.
Contrary opinions are likewise held concerning the
numerical strength of the orchestra. It varies with the
size of the hall in which it plays. A large auditorium
requires a large orchestra, diminishing with the size of
the hall. That Possart chose the cozy Eesidenztheater for
the Don Giovanni evenings this season, is a point deserving
the heartiest praise. The modern circus-halls with their
swollen orchestras spell ruin for all delicate effects. To
squeeze some eighty players into the orchestra of the
Residenztheater would, of course, be a crude and per-
verse procedure. Mozart's orchestra, much more than
that of our time, played the part of an accompaniment,
and only seldom outrivals the voices in importance. But
it does appear overdone and pedantic that Possart should
have copied the strength of the Prague orchestra in 1787
twenty-six pieces, Mozart appreciated the good will
and efficient work of these men to the full ; he even left
a testimonial to the orchestra in his translation, where
he renders Don Giovanni's query, "Che ti par del bel con-
certo?" and the response, "E conforme al vostro merto,"
as follows:
"Don Giovanni: Herrlich spielen diese Leutet
Leporello: Es sind Prager Musikanten."
"These men play finely/' "They are musicians from Prague."
DON GIOVANNI AT MUNICH i
This was certainly an amiable compliment. But it is
evident from his letters that he longed for Vienna and
its more opulent resources ; for the Prague opera orchestra
was, even in contemporary estimation, a very small one*
The characteristic color of Mozart's instrumentation would
not be vitiated in the least if the Munich Intendant chose
to augment his orchestra by eight or ten string-players.
Even then the strings would number only twenty-two,
against twelve wind-instruments and a drummer. The
Introduction, and the Descent into Hell, would gain
decidedly thereby, and the rest would lose nothing.
It follows from the above, that we in Germany have
nothing else to cling to for the institution of stylistically
correct performances but the original musical score and
the stage-directions. Everything beside is subject to
limitations. To begin with, in making a German version
of the libretto we encounter the old difficulty a literal
translation, if we would have it prosodic, is an absolute
impossibility. In such cases, liberties are permitted, but
these, in any event, must conform exactly to the sense
of the original. It cannot be denied that this desideratum
has been attained, on the whole, by the new translation
(founded on Grandaur's) made with solicitous devotion
by Hermann Levi. Yet even in this one, as in all the
rest, we miss the requisite consistency. The so-called
"popular" passages have not been thoroughly revised. We
refer to those passages whose wording, however perverted
or inexact, is held to be sanctioned by tradition. As long
as the "champagne" nonsense is done away with, why not
the following:
* Reich mir die Hand, mein Leben, etc. The La d darem
la mono, etc., of the original bears a different meaning
in connection with the context. And the wording of the
lines at the very beginning, Kerne Ruhf lei Tag und
Nacht, etc. (Notte e giorno faticar, etc.), might be sup-
pressed, although the poetic motif is, at bottom, better
than da Ponte's own.
10 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
It was to be expected that Possart would elaborate the
scenic side of the production with great refinement. In
such matters he is regarded as a master. To be sure, it
did not go off without certain daring details of perform-
ance. Although he, after Don Giovanni's descent into
hell, let the palace crash into peals of thunder (as in
Le Prophete), and thereupon brought on the original
second finale (dragged to light by Possart for the occa-
sion, and so dreadfully conventional and insipid that one
would rather not see it) although Possart^ let this finale
take its course on the ruins of the palace, it shall not be
reckoned among the "daring details." For this specimen
of bad taste was happily discarded after three perform-
ances. The propitiatory and, as observed above, artis-
tically depressing close now proceeds according to the di-
rections in the libretto without change of scene, without
theatrical humbug. What I mean will be found in the
answers to the questions, When and where does the action
take place ? They are exceedingly important, for on them
the choice of costumes and decorations depends.
Both poem and music are conceived in the rococo style.
But where the librettist's work is merely skillful routine,
that of the composer discovers infinite depth. It goes so
deep that the contrasts between the characters and the
situations often seem too abruptly depicted, giving rise
at times to a sense of uneasiness. Contrasted with the
smooth verses, Mozart's music is far too soulfelt, far too
daemonic, to insure an harmonious reaction for his Don
Oiov&nni. In truth, between poem and music there yawns
an unbridgeable chasm. While Mozart, too, is of the
rococo period as regards his means of expression, his
inspiration spurns the environment of a predetermined
epoch. His Don Giovanni fits as admirably into the
fifteenth century as the eighteenth, or any succeeding
time. This aloofness from time and space is the distin-
guishing mark of a genial, immortal work.
Otherwise the poem. In contrast with Mozart's music,
DON GIOVANNI AT MUNICff 11
it may not be transplanted from the rococo soil. Da
Ponte neither intended an excursion into history, nor
sought to create the illusion of some imaginary time.
In his poem lives the spirit of the waning eighteenth
century of the years before the French Revolution.
Loose living prevailed, not because it afforded real
pleasure, but only to deaden the dread of a frightful con-
vulsion. The cry, "Apr&s nous le deluge!" rose ever
louder and more importunately, the nearer it was felt
to approach. There was a revel in refined sensuality for
the same reason that a murderer feels himself irresistibly
drawn to the scene of his deed. In stage-performances a
partiality was shown for reflecting the spirit of the times,
whose weaknesses were parodied or scourged with ironic
and sarcastic scorn, dallied and toyed with. And this
same period was on an equally familiar footing with the
most heedless materialism and with the mysteries of the
spirit-world. A subject-matter like that of Don Giovanni
was capable of producing a tremendous effect. This was
rightly sensed by more than one librettist.
The year 1787 alone beheld the birth of four operas
founded on that fable. (1) The one-act Don Giovanni by
Gazzaniga (Venice) ; (2) the two-act II Nuovo Comitato
di Pietra (The New Guest of Stone) by F, Gardi
(Venice) ; (3) the one-act farce II Comitato di Pietra,
by ITabrizj (Rome) ; and (4) Mozart's Don Giovanni.
In all four lives the spirit of the eighteenth century,
Possart very clearly recognized this spirit, and had
designs for all the characters made in rococo style for
the rehearsals. But then he immediately changed his mind.
"The monstrous, barrel-like hoopskirts of the ladies and
the towering powdered perruques made a grotesque im-
pression even in the sketches, while on the stage they
would materially interfere with grace and plasticity of
motion, and would impose most irksome restraints on
outbursts of passion." He finally decided, like the or-
ganizers of the production at Prague in 1843, on laying
12 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
the scene in seventeenth-century Spain, which had been
left unscathed by the reactionary counters-reformation.
True, this was a liberty, but it afforded an acceptable
means of escape from the difficulty* That century offers,
in some details, an analogy to the eighteenth : "Here, too,
the nobleman is no longer the standard-bearer of the
nation, but only the member of a caste devoted to un-
bridled self-indulgence." And so Possart chose the coa-
tumes of the seventeenth century. "And the magnificent
tableaux furnished by seventeenth-century Seville, provide
an harmonious background for these costumes."
However, Possart had a certain right to lay the scene
in Seville. The libretto itself designates the scene of
the action only as "a city in Spain." Furthermore, Gardi's
Convitako di Pietra likewise plays in Seville. But then,
the specific selection of this city, or the selection of any
specific city, is somewhat hazardous.
By Chrysander's investigations ("Vierteljahrsschrift
fur Musikwissenschaft," Vol. IV) it has been definitely
established that da Ponte and Mozart were acquainted
with the Don Giovanni of the poet Bertati and the com-
poser Gazzaniga, and made use of it. Mozart's borrowings
are negligible, whereas da Ponte's utilization of Bertati
must be branded as a barefaced plagiarism. Of course,
such poetic motives are to be excepted as are part and
parcel of the subject-matter of Don Giovanni, foremostly
the detail of the Guest of Stone. These are self-evidently
the common property of all versions. But most of the
others, and even the smallest and apparently most in-
significant incidents, were similarly employed by da Ponte,
and by them we most clearly perceive the extent of his
borrowings. The fact that certain characters, like that
of Donna Anna, are not delineated like those in the model,
does not redeem da Ponte from the charge of plagiarism.
Much must necessarily be different in the construction of
a one-act play from that of a drama in two acts. Besides,
the happy conceits in this revised version would seem to
DON GIOVANNI AT MUNICH 13
have come from Mozart. Da Ponte himself was mani-
festly troubled by a bad conscience. In his Memoirs he
evades the issue of plagiarism which a moment's com-
parison with Bertati convincingly proves with the slip-
pery facility of an eel; he makes no mention of it what-
ever.
Ernst Possart is thoroughly familiar with these mat-
ters ; he discusses them pertinently in his essay. He also
appears to have familiarized himself with Bertati's book.
For the detail of letting Donna Elvira (a lady of Burgos,
deserted by Don Giovanni, as da Ponte, following the
text of his model, remarks) enter "in a litter, with travel-
ling impedimenta, followed by servants," though not found
in da Ponte's version, is clearly set down in Scenes 4 and 5
of Bertati's. This renders it the more remarkable that
Possart did not adopt the latter poet's stage-direction, first
brought into general notice by da Ponte; the scene is
laid in a small town in Ar&gon. Observe the difference;
Burgos is situated in Old Castile, that is, in northerly
Spain, and Seville and Andalusia in the south, while
Aragon lies next to France. The character of the scenery
would assuredly have been altered, more particularly be-
cause the assertion that the Don-Giovanni legend is indis-
solubly bound up with Seville cannot be regarded as wholly
well founded.
After all, these strictures are of slight moment ; indeed,
they are quite overborne by the praise extorted by the
masterstroke of this season's production the utilization of
Lautenschlager's revolving stage. This invention consists
to employ Possart's own very skillful description in
superimposing on the bare stage floor a gigantic turntable.
Upon the front half (or on a third or a quarter, or less,
according to scenic requirements) is placed the first "set"
of the piece to be played. The second "set," for the time
being invisible from the auditorium, is put in position
back to back with the first, on the rear side of the turn-
table. When tha first scene is over, a motor revolves the
14 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
turntable so that the second "set" or scene replaces the
first. This latter is thereupon replaced by Scene 3, so
that when Scene 2 is finished the revolution of the turn-
table presents Scene 3 to the audience; and so forth.
These changes take place of course with lights down on
the stage and in the auditorium before the eyes of the
spectators. And this change of scene, which was accom-
panied by some noise in the first representations, besides
proceeding slowly, is now accomplished almost noiselessly
and with extreme rapidity. When the scene shifts fre-
quently, as in Don Giovanni, the practical effect of this
clever invention is positively astounding. In theatrical
technics it unquestionably has a great future before it.
Neither is it bereft of artistic advantages : "We are no
longer limited to the four-cornered stage-setting with its
obligatory straight lines of decorations ; diagonal settings
of picturesque effect will be evolved to delight the eye.
The dead uniformity of square rooms and halls will be
suppressed. The street scenes cut short by a flat back
drop will make way for well-composed and original pic-
tures, and where formerly only painted canvases could
be employed, which were swiftly hoisted or lowered, we
can now make use of firmly set, plastic decorative objects
which materially enhance the naturalness of scenic effects."
Furthermore, the work of the Munich artists as a whole,
with their carefully considered and spirited conception,
being far and away beyond the ordinary, one cannot take
it ^ amiss that Herr Possart views the crowning feat of
this season with very peculiar satisfaction his revival of
Don Giovanni with revised book and music and new
scenic decorations.
It was in Munich that Don Giovanni was most despite-
fully used. In 1791 its performance was forbidden by
a narrow-minded .board of censors "als argerlich fur
allezeit" (as scandalous, and for all time), and was per-
mitted only on "most gracious special command." This
year Don Giovanni celebrates its most brilliant representa-
DON GIOVANNI AT MUNICH 15
tion in Munich. Though even now it was not a wholly
finished performance, this was owing less to a lack of
good intention than to the weakness of certain isolated
factors and to the impracticable character of the entire
problem. We could acclaim Possart's success with joyful
hearts likewise the fact that Angelo Neumann has en-
gaged the singers, the conductor, the revolving stage, the
costumes, decorations, etc., i. e., the entire equipment,
for the coming seasons in Paris and London were there
not a menace of serious dangers. Among the amazing
contrasts in the musical life of Munich is the circumstance,
that while Possart succeeds admirably with the revival
of the works of earlier times, he is most unfortunate in
his choice of new works. Not one of the novelties which
he has brought out possesses genuine vitality. If only
the Intendant's ambition is not diverted into an historic
mania ! If he only does not overwork his unrivalled spe-
cialty, the revival of early works in stylistic perfection,
to the disadvantage of struggling and unrecognized
talents ! It is, of a surety, a difficult and honorable task
to organize flawless productions of our classics, but far
more difficult and honorable to recognize rising composers
in their as yet unprinted scores, and to become their cham-
pion. Not until Possart has demonstrated that he com-
bines this latter ability with the former, will he fulfill
the highly responsible dual duty of a Munich Intendant
in a worthy and absolutely commendable manner.
(Translated "by Theodore Baker.)
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS
(Sammelbande der I. M. G., 1904-5)
THIS monograph deals with English operas written dur-
ing the eighteenth century by Americans, native or nat-
uralized, in what are to-day the United States. Though
Italian and French operas were introduced in the United
States previously to the nineteenth century, a fact widely
unknown, they exercised hardly any influence on our early
operatic productions. These were imitations, as was our
entire musical life, of English models.
Generally speaking, the history of English opera is a
history of ballad operas, as in the broad sense of the
term even Stanford's "Shamus O'Brien" belongs to this
category. The efforts at musical dramas in which every
word is sung, remained sporadic in Great Britain, espe-
cially after the tyrannical establishment of Italian opera.
Whether the critical opposition was artificial or whether
such real operas were foreign to the English character,
would be out of place to decide here. At any rate, the
attempts were sporadic and moreover professedly in the
Italian manner, whereas the ballad operas were innumer-
able and professedly English in character. The theory
that they developed out of the masques might be disputed,
but they certainly originated quite independently from
Italian influences, and it is erroneous to date their begin-
nings from the Beggar's Opera.
Whatever might be said to the contrary, the famous
"Newgate pastoral" was among other things a veiled pro-
test against Italian opera, and its novelty consisted mainly
16
EARLY AMERICAN" OPERAS 17
in the employment of popular ballads, new and old, that
is to say, more in appearance than in character. This,
together with its political allusions and its literary clever-
ness, made the Beggar's Opera a formidable rival of the
emasculated Italian operas, and encouraged British com-
posers to continue their struggle for English opera. Very
soon, howeyer, the popular ballads gave way to original
music, a fact which certainly goes far to prove that Dr.
Pepusch's setting was considered a polemical experiment,
if not the caprice of an antiquarian.
The literature of eighteenth-century ballad operas is
abundantly rich, but it shows few stylistic variations.
The differences between the older and newer works result
from changes in literary and musical taste and from the
greater or lesser talents of their authors. The main ob-
jection to the genre ever has been that the ballad operas
are merely plays interspersed with music. The dramatic
development is carried on in the spoken dialogue and the
composer seldom found an opportunity to call the dra-
matic possibilities of his art into action, his collaboration
being limited to lyrical effusions in soli or ensembles. In
fact, a good many ballad operas would gain in interest if
the music, however charming it might be, were not allowed
to interrupt the plot. It is frequently difficult to see when
a play stops to be a play interspersed with music and when
it becomes a ballad opera. The distinction lies more or
less a priori in the title chosen by the authors. For this
reason the body of my essay will contain only works
entitled operas^ musical entertainments, etc., whereas the
plays interspersed with music will be enumerated in an
appendix, as also the "speaking" pantomimes, which often
came nearer being operas than the ballad operas them-
selves. 1
If English composers did not care or did not dare to
1 This Appendix has not here been reprinted from the "Sammelbftnde." I
may add that the whole subject of early American operatic music should be
studied in conjunction with my books, "Early Opera in America/' "Early
Concert-Life in America" and "Bibliography of Early Secular American
Music."
18 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
improve the genre stylistically, very much less the Colo-
nials. They pinned their faith on their models and imi-
tated them without the slightest effort to infuse new blood
into their productions. In America the libretto remained
of vastly greater importance than the music to such an ex-
tent that the composer is hardly ever mentioned, unless in
the theatrical advertisements. Quite in keeping with this
fact is the other, that the librettos were often printed,
whereas the music was not. Exceedingly few detached
pieces were issued and of these I doubt whether more than
a dozen or so have been preserved. This I beg to keep in
mind if the data furnished in the following pages are
more of a literary and chronological character than musical
and if the reader, as would be natural, looks for musical
illustrations.
JAMES EALPH'S "FASHIONABLE LADY," 1730
Among the victims of the "Dunciad" was one James
Ralph, and to this day his literary reputation has fared ill
through Pope's satire. As a member of the "Grub-street"
fraternity Ralph certainly deserved his fate, for he was
as unscrupulous as Pietro Aretino and ever willing to
sell his pen to the highest bidder. But if the politicians
took pains to secure or silence his opinion, the man must
have been possessed of literary abilities. Indeed, Ralph's
writings do not lack ideas, brilliancy, or f orcefulness, and
his "History of England during the Reigns of King
William, Queen Ann and George I." is said to be a re-
markable work. It was Ralph's misfortune that he tried
to say clever things at any cost, and this journalistic ten-
dency renders his writings unreadable to-day.
James Ralph died at Chiswick (England) on January
24, 1762. But where was he born ? Benjamin Franklin
narrates in his autobiography that he made the acquain-
tance of Ralph at Philadelphia, where he was "clerk to a
merchant." The two young men soon became friends
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 19
and in 1724 together sailed for England to try their luck
in London. According to Franklin, Ealph deserted wife
and children. Consequently, he must have been bom
about 1700; but where? To this question there seems
to be no definite answer. The authorities merely claim
that he was born "probably" in Pennsylvania. 1 If they
were more positive, then the honor of being the first opora,
or rather opera libretto, written by an American born
in what are to-day the United States, would undoubtedly
belong to a performance of James Ealph. I allude to
The Fashionable Lady; or Harlequin's Opera. In the Manner
of a Rehearsal. As it is Perfonn'd at the Theatre in Goodman's
Fields. Written by Mr. Ralph. [Ornament.]
London. Printed for J. Watts, at the Printing Office in Wild
Court near Lincolns-Inn Fields. MDCCXXX. [Price 1 s.
6d.] 2
The opera is preceded by an adulatory dedication "To
His Grace the Duke of Manchester," signed "J. Ralph"
(3 pp.), by a table of the songs (2 pp.) and by the dramatis
personce with the original cast (1 p.).
Mr. Ballad Mr. Penkethman
Mr. Meanwell Mr. W. Giflard
Mr. Modely Mr. Bullock
Mr. Drama Mr. Lacey
Mr. Merit Mr. W. Williams
Mir. Smooth Mrs. Thomas
Captain Hackum Mr. Huddy
Mr. Whim Mr. Smith
Mr. Trifle Mr. Collet
Voice, Harlequin's Man Mr. Bardin.
1 For an excellent sketch of Ralph's subsequent career see Stephens'
National Biography, where, however, Ralph's operatic career was over-
3 8.' 94 pp. Library of Congress, Brown University, Peabody Institute,
Baltimore, New York Public Library (3 copies, as the assistant librarian
Mr. Paltsits had the kindness to inform me. He also notified me that one
of the copies has two pages of advertisements following the text. The latest
date mentioned on this list of books published is January 16, 1729/30) . The
wording of the title renders it clear that the publication took place simul-
taneously with the performances of The Fashionable Lady, that is, in April,
1730.
20 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Women
Mrs. Foible Mrs. Mountford
Mrs. Sprightly Mrs. Giffard
Prattle Mrs. Palmer.
Mutes
Harlequin Mr. Burney, jun.
Scaramouch
Pierot
Punch
Pantaloon
Oolombine.
Sir Peevish-Terrible, the Oritick, Poets, Sailors, Gods,
Goddesses, Witches, Dragons, Devils, etc.
That there must be some connection between The Fash-
ionable Lady and the Beggar's Opera is evident; but
though Kalph's work is enumerated in Grove's dictionary
among the imitations of Gay-Pepusch's masterpiece, this
is only partly correct As in the Beggar's Opera, the
dialogue is spoken and the songs are set to popular airs
and ballads. But it certainly was not Kalph's serious
intention to imitate the Beggar's Opera. On the contrary,
he had in view to ridicule ballad operas with an occasional
attack on the stilted Italian operas. He says in the dedi-
cation :
I must confess it appears no great compliment to present
Your Grace with a Play, which has not the Sanction of either
of the established Theatres, to recommend it.
If this is not convincing, the following remarks, I hope,
will prove my theory.
In the first edition of the "Dunciad" Pope did not men-
tion our author by name. Nevertheless Ealph attacked,
in a coarse parody of the Dunciad, entitled "Sawney,"
Pope, Swift and Gay. In the same year, 1728, he pub-
lished under the pseudonym of "A. Primcock"
BABLY AMERICAN OPERAS 21
The Taste of the Town, or a Guide to all publick Diversions.
viz.
I. Of Musick, Operas and Plays. Their Original, Prog-
ress and Improvement . . .
II. Of Poetry, Sacred and Profane.
III. Of Dancing, Keligious and Dramatical.
IY. Of the Mimes, Pantomimes and Choruses of the
Ancients . . .
V. Of Audiences . . .
VI. Of Masquerades . . .
VII. Of the Athletic Sports of the Ancients , . .
i
The Taste of the Town, though somewhat different in
scope, would be a worthy pendant to Marcello's Teatro
alia moda, had not Ralph's ambition to be a "Wit" led
him to caricature his own style. Still, the book is exceed-
ingly interesting. It is a grotesque, almost clownish,
forerunner of "Oper trad Drama" and certainly deserved
not to be overlooked as it has been by the historians of
opera and of English opera in particular. This by the
way; with reference to my theme, Ralph leaves no doubt
as to his aversion to ballad operas, though he does not
fully agree with the champions of Italian opera. Two
characteristic quotations will render this clear. He says
(on p. 11) :
After the Restoration, we had at different Times several
Entertainments, which were then stiled Drammatick Operas;
which were indeed regular Stage plays larded with Pieces of
occasional Musick, vocal and instrumental, proper to the Fable,
and introduced either in the Beginning, Middle or End of an
Act, by single Voices, two or three Part Songs, and Chorus:
These were likewise embellished with Scenes, Machines, French
Dancing Masters, long Trains, and Plumes of Feathers . . .
This I look upon as the second age of Operas, as we then stiled
them; but I absolutely deny them that Title; that Term imply-
ing a regular compleat musical Entertainment, which they never
could arrive at, till they entirely came into a finished Italian
Plan; nor do we bestow the name of Opera on any Dramma, but
those where every Word is sung.
and on p. 16 :
22 MISCELLANEOUS .STUDIES
The Beggars Opera by robbing the Performers at Pye-corner,
Fleet-ditch, Moorfields (and other Stations of this Metropolis,
famed for travelling Sounds) of their undoubted Properties, has
reinstated them in Wealth and Grandeur; and what shock'd
most Ears, and set most Teeth on Edge, at turning the Corner
of a Street, for half a Moment; when thrown into a regular
Entertainment, charms for Hours.
I must own they never appear' d to that Advantage in any
musical Light as this Opera of the Beggars; Their rags of
Poetry and Scraps of Musick joining so naturally, that in what-
ever View we consider it as to Character or Circumstance, its
Title is the most apropos Thought on Earth.
If Ralph entertained hopes of injuring the Beggar's
Opera with his parody, he failed, but he certainly suc-
ceeded in making his Harlequin's Opera* more grotesque
than a "Medley of fools at a Masquerade." Though a real
plot is missing, a thread clearly runs through all the cha-
otic nonsense: Drama versus ballad opera. Mr. Ballad
wants only "Highwaymen and Whores, Beggars and Eus-
ticks . . . they raise the loud laugh"; and Mr. Drama
remarks at the end of the play:
. . . every little Creature now, who has ever scribbled a popu-
lar Ballad, or an amorous Song, thinks himself capable of
writing English Opera and charming the politest Audience.
Harlequin, in the few scenes he appears with his man
"Voice/' has nothing to do but to dance and play the
fooling fool. He takes a special fancy to Captain
Hackum, and is finally imprisoned by Sir Peevish Ter-
rible, the Critic. Mrs. Foible with Mr. Merit and the
rest, too, do not act, but talk fashion and nonsense, and
their eccentricities are exposed by Messrs. Ballad, Modely,
Meanwell and Drama.
At times The Fashionable Lady reads as if three plays
were printed in one. An effect results, as intended by
Ealph, of absolute nonsense. The idea is carried out with
considerable wit. The dialogue is very fluent, even bril-
liant, but at the same time so coarse and obscene that the
play would be impossible on the modern stage. Compared
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 23
with The Fashionable Lady, the Beggar's Opera is a model
of decency.
It was consistent with the fundamental idea of Ealph's
parody that none but popular ballads, such as "A cobbler
there was" or "An old Woman poor and blind," were used
to lard the play. The entire work contains sixty-eight
"Airs," the first act 22, the second 22 and the third 24,
all tunes being notated in the text. Beyond this and the
fact that The Fashionable Lady was "performed at the
Theatre in G-oodman's Fields," I have been unable to col-
lect musical data. In particular, I do not know whom
Ralph engaged to write the accompaniments to the tunes. 1
"The Fashionable Lady" was performed for the first
time on April 2, 1730, and acted nine times. 2 Surely, a
short career if we remember the persistency with which
other harlequinades appealed to the public taste. And
in this connection the opinion might be ventured that
"The Fashionable Lady" was not quite original with
Ralph. Possibly he took the idea, if not from French
and Italian sources, from the anonymous
Harlequin Hydaspes : or, the Greshamite. A Mock Opera As
it is performed at the Theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields.
London: Printed and Sold by J. Eoberts in Warwick Lane.
MDOOXIX (Price one Shilling). 3
THE DISAPPOINTMENT, 1767
On April 6-13, 1767, appeared in the "Pennsylvania
Chronicle," Philadelphia, the following advertisement:
By Authority. By the American Company at the New
Theatre in Southwark on Monday next, being the 20th of April,
will be presented a new Comic Opera called The Disappointment,
or, the Force of Credulity.
*More data probably may be obtained in sources not available at the
Library of Congress.
2 Compare "Some Account of the English Stage/' v. 3, p. 277. I am
indebted to Mr. Paltsits for having directed my attention to this book.
* Copies of this libretto are at the New York Public Library and the
Library of Congress.
24 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
But the play was withdrawn in a hurry, the manager
laconically informing the public in the "Pennsylvania
Gazette" for Wednesday, April 16th, that
The disappointment (that was advertised for Monday) as it
contains personal reflections, is unfit for the stage.
Evidently, the parties reflected on had brought pressure to
bear on Mr. Douglass, who could not afford to lose the
good will of influential people in a city where opposition
to the theatre just then was very strong. However, those
whose curiosity had been aroused by the withdrawal had
ample and speedy opportunity for enjoying the personal
reflections, as the opera was advertised in the "Pennsyl-
vania Chronicle," Monday, April 20-27, as:
Just published and to be sold at Samuel Taylor's Bookbinder,
at the Corner of Market and Water Streets, Price One Shilling
and Sixpence . . .
That the libretto was not issued by 1ihe Philadelphia
press appears from the title-page:
The Disappointment: or, the Force of Credulity. A new
American Comic Opera of two Acts. By Andrew Barton, Esq.
[verses.]
New York: Printed in the Year M,DCC,LXVH. 1
"Until James Ealph is positively proven not to have been
born in America, The Disappointment will have to be con-
sidered the first American opera. If I devote a detailed
description and discussion to the work it is on account of
its unique position in the history of American music.
The preface, important for several reasons, reads:
The Author's Preface To The Public.
The following local piece, intitled The Disappointment, or the
Force of Credulity was originally wrote for my own, and the
1 Collation: 12mo.; t. p. v. bl.; pref. pp. [Ill] -IV; prol.; dramatis
ih" TOI; Tft st 9 ~ 5 ? ; o epilosue Pi errati * 58. Bo "on
Library; Library of Congress; Library Company, Philadelphia;
. Hi8to f ric t 5 1 S A ciet T- According to George* Seilhamer's wmul
rv vS7 ^American Theatre from 1749 to 1797", 3 vols.
New York, 1896, the book recently sold at auction for $13. It should bring
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 25
amusement of a few particular friends, who (unknown to me)
were pleased to signify their approbation of it, in such a man-
ner, that it soon engrossed the chief part of the conversation
of all ranks of people; who expressed their desire to hear it and
have it published. Under these circumstances I was greatly
at a loss how to proceed, I did not choose (as I saw no merit in
it) to expose it to the criticism of criticks, to put it in the
power of gentlemen skill'd in scholastic knowledge, to ridicule
my ignorance, or condescend to the entreaties of those, who I
thought had no more sense than myself, and who might (per-
haps) have made it better than it really is. Conscious therefore
of my own inability, I determined to excuse myself to all, and in
this determination I persisted for some time, but at last, for
my own safety, was obliged to capitulate and surrender on the
following stipulations; First, the infrequency of dramatic com-
positions in America; Secondly, the torrent of solicitations from
all quarters; Thirdly, the necessity of contributing to the enter-
tainment of the city; Fourthly and lastly, to put a stop (if
possible) to the foolish and pernicious practice of searching
after supposed hidden treasure.
These terms, hard as they are, I have with reluctance been
forced to submit to, I am therefore obliged in vindication of my
conduct to assure the public that the story is founded on matter
of fact, transacted near the city, not long since, and recent in
the memory of thousands; for the truth of which assertion I
appeal to numbers of my fellow citizens. But in order to give
strangers, and those unacquainted with the story some idea of
it, the following short history is thought necessary. The scheme
was planned by four humorous gentlemen, Hum, Parchment,
Quadrant, and Rattletrap, to divert themselves and friends,
and try what lengths of credulity and the love of money would
carry men. In order to put their scheme into execution, they
fram'd a plausible, well connected story of hidden treasure; and
to gloss the matter, adapted sundry papers to their purpose, and
pitched upon two suitable old fellows, Washball and Raccoon
(as principal dupes) with others to try the success of their
scheme; which had the desired effect! The moral: the folly of
an over credulity, and desire of money, and how apt men are
(especially old men) to be unwarily drawn into schemes where
there is but the least shadow of gain; and concludes with these
. observations, that mankind ought to be contented with their
respective stations to follow their vocations with honesty and
industry the only sure way to gain riches.
I do not figure to myself the least advantage accruing from it,
but the inward satisfaction of contributing my mite to stop the
26 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
current of such folly. Such as it is, I submit to the public for
their sanction or condemnation, and if any merit should appear
in the performance, I shall not vainly attribute it to myself but
give the credit of it to mere chance.
I am the Public's
most obedient,
most devoted and
most faithful
humble Servant
Andrew Barton.
The prologue flows in vetry much the same vein as the
preface. But if the author claims that in The Disappoint-
ment "Our artless muse hath made her first essay", I
fear modern historians will not agree with him, any more
than Mr. Douglass did with the last lines of the prologue:
The subject's suited to our present times,
No person's touch'd, altho' she lash their crimes.
Nor gall or copp'ras tincture her design,
But gay good humor breathe in ev*ry line;
If you condemn her she for censure stands;
But if applaud then thund'ring clap your hands.
However thinly the personal reflections might have been
veiled, we feel inclined to side with the author and to
admit that his work breathes none but gay good humoi
through the medium of the
Dramatis Personae
Men
Hum Humorists
Parchment u
Quadrant "
Rattletrap, a supposed Conjurer
Raccoon, an old Debauchee
Washball, an avaricious old Baroer Dupes
Trushoop, a Cooper "
M'Snip, a Taylor
Meanwell, a Gentleman, in love with WashbalTs Niece
Topinlift, a Sailor
Spitfire, an Assistant to Eattletrap.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 27
Women
Moll Placket, a Woman of the Town, in keeping by Raccoon
Mrs. Trushoop, Wife to Trushoop
Miss Lucy, Washball's Niece, in love with Meanwell
Collector, Blackboard's Ghost, Taylors, Servants, etc.
If these names are ludicrous, very much more so the
plot. 1 When the curtain rises Hum, Parchment and
Quadrant are discovered seated around a table in a tavern,
where they are drinking and discussing their theme. Rac-
coon, who "if he smells money, as great a coward as they
say he is," will "venture to the gates of hell for it," is
expected. Hum announces that he has contrived matters
so that Eaccoon shall make the discovery himself. Quad-
rant informs the others that he has drawn in both
Trushoop and M'Snip. With Ms share of the treasures,
Quadrant says, Trushoop "talks of building a chapel at
his own expense and employing a score of priests to keep
up a continual rotation of prayers for the repose of tiie
souls of those poor fellows who buried it" As for
M'Snip, he "intends to knock off business., go 'home to
England and purchase a title."
Mr. Parchment prepared the papers, which were duly
enclosed in a letter to Mr. Hum, purporting to come from
his sister in England. One of these papers, that "looks
as if it had been preserved in the temple of Apollo or in
the tower of Babel," contains the "draught of the place
where the treasure lies: together with the memorandum
signed by all present at the time it was deposited." Quad-
rant thinks this droll enough and we are in a comic
opera expresses his sentiments in a Song:
Air I
I am a brisk young lively lass
In all the town there's none like you,
When you're on mischief bent, sirs ;
1 Mr. Seilhamer's analysis of the plot (op. cit. v. I, pp. 180-4) being so
witty and clear, I availed myself of it except where I considered corrections .
and additions necessary.
28 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
With pen and ink, one well can write,
What you do both invent, sirs, etc.
Hattletrap, whom Quadrant found "poreing over the
canto of Hudibras and Sydrophel in order to furnish him-
self with a set of hard words, which added to his knowl-
edge in the mathematicks, will sufficiently gratify him
for a modern conjurer," enters singing
Airll
The Bloom of May
Behold you my magic phiz,
How solemn and grave I look;
Here, here, my -good friends, here is
My brass bound magical book, etc.
His idea is to have a fifth person to act as a "demi-devil
or familiar spirit," and Hum proposes "an old artillery
... a snug dry dog" of his acquaintance.
When Eaccoon enters, Hum steps out for a moment,
dropping the papers. Kaccoon picks them up, looks over
them and crams them into his bosom. Hum returns la-
menting the loss of his papers and declaring that the
drawer must have picked his pocket The poor servant
is roughly handled and searched. At the beginning of
this scene Washball, Trushoop and M'Snip enter. Finally
Eaccoon gives up the papers on condition that Hum lets
him in for a share; Parchment pretends to know noth-
ing of the papers, and declares that if they contain any
scheme, plot, combination, rout, riot or unlawful assembly
in fine anything against his most sacred Majesty,
George II., etc., etc. he'll at once to the Attorney General
and lodge an information against every man in the com-
pany and hang every mother's son of them. Parchment
is finally convinced and then wishes he had been in such
a plot twenty years ago.
Hum pretends to have received a letter from his "loving
sister-in-law in England (who is heir to the famous Oapt.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS
Blackboard) inclosing sundry papers, such as plans,
draughts and memorandums, of a great quantity of treas-
ure, that was buried by the pirates." Parchment reads
the particular account of the treasure :
Imprimis, in golden candlesticks, chalises, and crucifixes;
30000 Portugal pieces; 20000 Spanish pistoles; 470000 pis-
tereens; 73 bars of gold; a small box of diamonds; 60000 pieces
of eight; and 150 pounds of weight of gold dust.
This remarkable instrument is signed by Edward Teach,
alias Blackboard, captain ; Moses Brimstone, first lieuten-
ant; Judas Guzzlefire, gunner, and Jeffery Eatdevil, cook.
"By my saul," cries M'Snip, 'Til away we all me dranken
joorneymen and kick the shapboard oot a the wandow."
"I'll shave no more," exclaims Washball, "no, not I I'll
keep my hands out of the suds."
"Dis will make me cut de figure in life," says Eaccoon, "and
appear in de world de proper importance; and den I'll do some-
ting for my poor ting," alias his mistress Moll Placket.
The conspirators obtain two'pistoles each from the dupes
and the scene ends with a solo by Parchment :
Air in
How blessed has my time been.
Now let us join hands and unite in this cause;
'Tis glorious gold, that shall gain us applause:
How blest now are we, with such treasure in store,
We'll clothe all the naked, and feed all the poor.
We'll clothe, etc.
In the second scene of the first act Trushoop finds him-
self locked out by his wife. The old reprobate, Eaccoon,
in the third carries a spit, pick-axe, and spade into Moll
Placket's home and puts them under the bed. Moll calls
him her "dear cooney" and he not only tells his "pet"
and "dear ting" all about the treasure but promises her
500 a year for pin money when it is obtainable. Both
have a song in this scene.
30 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Kaccoon :
Air IV
Yankee Doodle
O ! how joyful shall I be
When I get de money,
I will bring it all to dee;
! my diddling honey ! etc.
(Exit, singing the chorus, Yankee Doodle, etc.)
Moll:
Air V
Shambuy
Tho' I hate the old wretch, full as bad as Jack-Ketch,
My necessities tell me to please him ;
I will ogle and whine, till I make the gold mine :
For that's the best method to ease him, etc.
The fourth is a street scene where Hum, Eattletrap and
Quadrant agree to assemble their dupes at the town tavern.
In the fifth, M'Snip, after turning his journeymen out
of the shop, sings with a Scotch accent
Air VI
The bonny Broom
Fse cut out political claith,
To patch and mend the state;
My bodkin and my thamble beith,
Combine to make me great, etc.
Follows a love-scene between Lucy and Meanwell. Lucy
tells her lover that her uncle Washball has ordered her
to discard him, and promised her a marriage portion of
10,000 if she marries agreeably to his. wishes. Of course
this scene gives occasion to a duet
Air YII
My fond Shepherds, etc.
Meanwell
My dear Lucy; you ravish my heart,
I am blest with such language as this;
JflAKLY AMERICAN OPERAS 31
To my arms then, oh, come, we'll ne'er part
And let's mutually seal with a kiss.
Lucy
Ten thousand sweet kissss I'd give,
1 be you but contented with me,
Then for you my dear Meanwell I'll live,
And as happy as constant Pll be.
As always in comic opera, Washball makes his appear-
ance at the most inopportune moment and the love-scene
ends like all such love-scenes Meanwell is put out of
the house.
The seventh scene discovers the humorists and dupes
at the tavern discussing the details of their plan. In one
point they all agree, that "the greatest exertion of ...
courage will be necessary," as they "have to engage with
principalities and powers of darkness, with invisibles and
demons, more powerful than the united legions of the
most invincible monarchs on earth." But they become
quite merry in prospect of the treasure and do a good
deal of drinking, singing and boasting.
M'Snip has
Air VIII
Over the hills and far away.
This money makes the coward brave,
And freedom gives to ev'ry slave;
]My gude brod-sword I'll soon display,
And drive those warlocks far away,
And drive those warlocks, etc.
And drive those warlocks, etc.
My gude brod-sword I'll soon display,
And drive those warlocks far away.
After "canoe" has been chosen as watchword, Trushoop
sings :
Air IX
Ohiling o Guirey
By shaint Patrick, dear honeys, no longer let's stay
But take laave together, and bundle away,
To the plashe under ground, where the treasure's expos'd
32 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
And bring that to light, which shall ne'er be disclosed;
And when we have got it, my jewels, o hone!
For keeping it snug, arra! let us alone,
We'll sing whillalew, at the sight of the palf,
And as for the sharing, laave that to myself.
Sing laral lal, etc.
The act ends with a drinking song by Rattletrap:
AirX
The Jolly Toper
The merchant roams from clime to climes
Eegardless of his pleasure;
To hardships and fatigue resigns,
When in pursuit of treasure.
And, a digging, etc. (they drink <md fill.)
The second act opens with a broad, coarse scene that
would be inadmissible nowadays between Topinlift, the
sailor, and Moll Placket, in which Topinlift sings (Air
XI) : "K"o girl with Placket can compare" to the tune of
Nancy Dawson. Shortly afterwards Raccoon comes for
his spit, pick-axe and spade. Topinlift conceals himself
under the bed where the implements were placed, but to
prevent Raccoon from going there Moll pretends that she
is about to raise a familiar spirit, and the sailor makes
his escape as a ghost, knocking Raccoon over as he rushes
out. Raccoon when recovering from his shock thinks "he
look like de sailor/' finds his tools, and walks out with
t
Air XII
The lass of Patie's mill.
Oh! when I get de welt, dat's bury'd by de mill;
Insured long-life and helt, and pleasure at my will.
What store of gold I'll bring my lovely pet to dee,
Den none but my poor ting shall share de same wid me.
Moll, after his departure, adds some peculiar reflections
of her own, partly in a monologue and partly in
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 33
Air XIII
Black joke and band so white
Sure gold is the f ewel, that kindles the fire,
And serves for to fan up a woman's desire,
To a fumbling fool, that's decrepid and old, eta
The next scene is the "Place of Action, near the Stone
Bridge." Eattletrap, dressed in his magic habit, when
all are assembled "draws the magic circle and pronounces
words of incantation: Diapaculum interravo, testicu-
lum stravaganza." The digging proceeds under similar
incantations and astrological reflections of a most gro-
tesque character; the convulsions of nature are rather un-
usual, and finally the ghost of the pirate appears and
spits fire. Trushoop says the spook "looks like no slouch
of a fellow" ; Washball, thoroughly frightened, prays M ea
culpa, and Eaccoon, who now wishes lie had lived a better
life, asks him to pray in English, saying "dese spirits
don't understand de Latin/ The ghost resists the search
for the treasure, but in vain, and when the chest is finally
secured Battietrap jubilantly breaks forth into
Air XIV
Granby
Tho' my art some despise, I appear to your eyes,
For a proof of my magical knowledge;
Tho' the wisdom of schools, damn our art and our tools,
We can laugh at the fools of the college.
Chorus : We can, etc.
The second scene takes place in a room in Washball's
house, where Lucy and Meanwell decide to elope. But
though "the precious moments are swiftly passing" they
find time to sing a duet:
Air XV
Kitty the Nonpareille
Lucy: My throbbing heart must now give way
To love, to honor, and obey.
34 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Lo! Hymen's torch is lighted.
Lo! Hymen's, etc.
My heart! my all! I do resign,
OI Meanwelll Meanwell! I'll be thine^
In wedlock's band united!
In wedlock's, etc.
Meanwell: Of Venus' charms, let poets write!
Diana chaste, or, Juno bright!
Of Kitty, Doll, or, Susey!
Of Kitty, etc.
The charms of all, are centered here,
In Lucy! charming Lucy dear!
Haste! haste! my lovely Lucy!
Haste, etc.
The third scene is a street-scene in front of the collector's
house and begins with a monologue of Washball which
leaves no doubt as to his being "an avaricious old barber."
It begins:
I can't bear the toughts of dividing, not I ... charity begins
at home and he must be the greatest fool on earth that cheats
himself. , . . I'll go and inform the collector; then I shall have
one half to myself, the other will go to the king.
This he does in the fourth scene. The fifth opens in
a room in Washball's house and discovers M'Snip, Trus-
hoop and Kaccoon, sitting on the chest, and old Gabriel,
Washball's servant, standing by. When Washball enters
with the collector, Hum takes the latter aside and tells
him of the "scheme of diversion" whereupon the collector
on some pretense retires. The chest is now opened and,
of course, contains nothing but stones. The dupes look
at one another confused, it dawning upon them that they
have been fooled, and the "humorists" laugh and run off
the stage. Poor Trushoop is the first to remember that
he is the duped hero in a comic opera and he bewails his
fate in
EAELY AMERICAN OPERAS 35
Air XVI
The Milking Pail. (To be sung slow and with an Irish accent.)
Arra what a fool was I; by my showl! I think HI cry.
When I spake of all thish, it encreases my blish;
I will kill me baf are I die, etc.
But on the whole he takes it good-naturedly and begins to
enjoy the joke as much as the humorists.
The piece ought to end with the opening of the chest,
but it cannot, for Lucy and Meanwell have eloped and
are to be forgiven by Washball. They receive his blessing,
after which he takes occasion to sing the doleful
Air XVII
Ah! who is me, poor Walley cry'd.
Ah! who is me, poor wretched I,
With broken heart and downcast eyes;
To ease my mind where shall I fly?
A prey to knaves poor Washball dies.
Let future generations take
Example by my dismal fall.
Nor gods of gold, nor idols make,
To shun the fate of poor Washball.
He is full of resignation, invites the dupes for dinner,
tells old Gabriel to call in the neighbors, to bring his fiddle
and play for a dance. He also requests Lucy and Mean-
well to give them a song, which they do with
Air XVIH
Jolly Bacchanalian.
Meanwell: Banish sorrow, welcome joy
Banish care and be at rest,
Of a bad bargain make the best.
Banish care, etc.
Lucy: Boom for joy, how blest am I
Virgins all, example take;
Virtue love, for virtue's sake,
36 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Constant be as turtle dove,
Let your theme be virtuous love.
Constant be, etc.
Enter Gabriel with his fiddle and the neighbors. They
strike up a country dance called "Excuse me" and the
whole ends with an epilogue in which Hum sings some
popular refrains like : Down Berry Derry down, tantara-
rara, tol de rol, lol de rol loddy and in which all the
characters, including Moll Placket and Topinlift, make
their final bow to the audience.
Mr. Seilhamer claims The Disappointment to be "with-
out merit as a dramatic composition" (op. cit I, 184),
but I disagree with him. I fear the coarseness of the
play prevented him from being just No doubt The Dis-
appointment contains scenes which would to-day be quite
unfit for public performance, but it must be added that
this indecency is that of naive brutality and not of a
morbid suggestiveness, as in so many plays of our fin
de siecle decadents.
Should these scenes undergo a skillful operation, a per-
formance of The Disappointment would prove that it does
contain a good deal of merit as a dramatic composition.
To-day the personal reflections would neither make a per-
formance impossible, nor would they as a species of pub-
lished gossip facilitate a success of the work. It would
have to stand on its intrinsic merits.
The fundamental idea is excellent and well adapted to
dramatic treatment. The characters are cleverly con-
trasted, and the different dialects, not being used to exag-
geration, give a delightful flavor to the whole. The dia-
logue is exceedingly fluent, and the plot is well developed.
It falls short only on account of the conventional finale
of the play, which was caused by the preceding love-scenes
between Lucy and Meanwell, and they, too, conventional.
The author possessed a surprisingly keen eye for what is
effective on the stage. This, .combined with much natural
wit and humor, makes many scenes "irresistibly comic/' as
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 37
even Mr. Seilhamer had to admit. Take, for instance,
the scene in which the poor devil of a waiter is accused of
theft, abused and maltreated, the real culprit, that rascal
Eaccoon, not making the slightest effort to interfere, but
quietly and as if unconcerned waiting for the storm to
pass. Here are unusual opportunities for a clever come-
dian!
But even this scene is surpassed in theatrical clairvoy-
ance, brilliancy and wit by the one at the place of action.
It is masterly with all its fantastic and burlesque drollery.
It is within the limits of dramatic probability and worthy
of the pen of famous playwrights. All in all, The Disap-
pointment deserves more attention than has been paid to
it, and the fate of the farce vividly recalls that of Otto
NiebergalPs brilliant but also unduly neglected "Tat-
tench"
Turning to The Disappointment as a comic opera, we
readily classify it as a ballad opera. Evidently the Beg-
gar's Opera, then immensely enjoyed in the Colonies, was
taken as a model. With this difference, however, that
the American work is not overloaded with ballads, there
being only eighteen of them in the opera. The introduc-
tion of Yankee Doodle is especially noteworthy, being
probably the earliest reference to the tune in American
literature, and liable to overthrow certain theories as to its
history in the Colonies. That the airs have a right of
dramatic existence cannot reasonably be maintained, but
this ever has been and ever will be the weak point in
ballad operas, Singspiele, vaudevilles and the like. The
attempts at ensembles and choruses are exceedingly few
and feebla To improvise or to write "accompaniments"
for "The Disappointment" cannot have been a very inter-
esting task, and we hardly regret not to know the name
of the musician whose duty it was to do so.
Thirty years after the first, a second edition of the opera,
protected by copyright, appeared at Philadelphia under
the title:
38 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The Disappointment, or, the Force of Credulity. A new
comic opera in three acts. By Andrew Barton, Esq. Second
Edition, revised and corrected with large additions by the
Author, [verses.]
Philadelphia. Printed for and sold by Francis Shallus, No.
40, Vinestreet. 1796. 1
The preface and prologue show but unimportant altera-
tions, whereas the expansion of the opera into three acts
called for considerable changes. It is hardly necessary
to dwell on them in detail. A rapid survey will be suf-
ficient.
In the first place the dramatis personae have increased.
Instead of four dupes we notice five, M'Snip having been
superseded by "Buckram, a Taylor" and "Trowell, a
Plaisterer," "Perrance, Servant to Trushoop," is also new.
Furthermore we make the acquaintance of "Mrs. Trowell,
Wife to Trowell" and "Dolly, Servant to Mrs. Trushoop."
The first scene opens as in the edition of 1767, but the
dialogue is now preceded by a drinking song by Parchment :
Song I
Oome now, my boys, let's jovial be,
The cash we'll soon disclose;
And spurn at sneaking poverty,
Tho 7 Gorgons dire! oppose.
In the middle of the scene Trushoop now addresses Wash-
ball with a very lengthy
Song IV
You seem in a flutter
And pray what's the matter, etc.
We further notice that all allusions to the government
in Parchment's monologue have been revised. Instead of
"His most sacred Majesty, George the Second" we now
read "illustrious President of the United States." In the
1 , 12 !' 5. 4 P- B st n Public Library; Brown Univ.; Mass. Hist. Soc. ; New
U ete Ty; Library of Con sr ess : Pennsylvania Hist, SQQ,; British
EARLY AMERICAN OPEEAS 39
third scene we witness Mrs. Trushoop's efforts to starve
her husband into fidelity. Then follows the burlesque and
coarse meeting between Moll Placket, Topinlift and Kac-
coon. In the fifth scene Mrs. Trushoop repents her treat-
ment of Mr. Trushoop and endeavors to reconcile him by
ordering Dolly to
take the two market baskets, and go down into the cellar, and
fetch up everything there for master to eat and drink.
In the following scene Dolly and Ferrance, as servants
probably will do in all eternity, laugh at their master
and mistress, and the scene ends in harmony between Mr.
and Mrs. Trushoop.
The second act discovers Mrs. Trowell at work in her
parlor. Mrs. Trushoop enters and we soon become famil-
iar with her family troubles : that Mr, Trushoop has be-
come a Free Mason, that he spends more time at the
Lodge than at home, that she revenges herself by almost
starving him to death, and that "he ought to be sent to the
Bastille and Burttong-bay in the bargain." The moment
she is at the height of her rage Mrs. Trowell mentions
the "mistery" and how she "wheedled, coaxed, fonded,
huggfd, squeez'd, caress'd and kiss'd her husband" till she
got the whole secret of the buried treasure out of him.
The change that overcomes Mrs. Trushoop's sentiments
for her now "dare Trushoop" is highly comical and she
hastens away to "make it up with him."
What was the seventh scene of the first act in the edition
of 1767 now follows with slight alterations as the second
of the second act, and the play proceeds on the same lines
as the original until the "Place of action" is reached,
which has become the opening scene of the third act. The
last scenes have remained intact as far as the plot is con-
cerned. Finally, instead of an ensemble-epilogue, we no-
tice one in the form of a monologue, without being told
by whom it shall be spoken. It "shews" the moral lessons
contained in the opera and ends rather tmwirHv tTma-
40 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Condemn OP not we satisfaction feel,
In thinking, we have caus'd a reformation,
Amongst the dupes of this our congregation.
Owing to the expansion of the play, of course, the nu-
merical order of the "Songs," as they are now called,
has not remained the same. If I further remark that
the names of the tunes have been dropped, that the lan-
guage is less coarse, that the changes in literary taste,
political and social conditions between 1767 and 1796
were taken into consideration, I believe I have mentioned
all that is necessary to indicate the difference between the
two editions. If the author felt satisfied with his revi-
sion, not so the historian. While The Disappointment in
its original form had been considered unfit for the stage
on account of its personal reflections, it became impossible
for performance in 1796 for very much stronger reasons :
the expansion and revision weakened the plot, diluted the
witty dialogue, and robbed the "opera" of its genuine
and forceful, though brutal, spontaneity.
So far The Disappointment calls not for much critical
acumen. However, the opera comes in for a full share
of the mystery that surrounds the beginnings of art in the
United States. We need but take an interest in the person
of Andrew Barton, Esq., to be confronted with a threat-
ening question mark.
"Evidently," says Mr. Seilhamer, "the name of Andrew
Barton, Esq., on the title page is an assumed one, and in
the Eidgway Library * copy the name of Colonel Thomas
Forrest, of Germantown, is written in ink as the author." 2
A startling statement; the more so as it is not at all self-
evident why the not very uncommon name of Barton
should be a pseudonym. Had Mr. Seilhamer written "be*
cause" instead of "and" he would, at least, not have dis-
missed his readers without a reason for his theory. As
the statement stands, his "evidently" appears merely to
JA branch of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
1 Op. Cit. I, 178.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 41
be an argument a posteriori. The fact is, that Mr. Seil-
hamer, like Messrs. Durang, Ford, Tyler and other his-
torians, based the theory more or less on a few delightful
passages in Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia." Had
they informed us that they failed to find the name of
Andrew Barton either in the Barton genealogies or in the
city directories of Philadelphia and New York published
before 1797, and that "in most of the English chronicles
under the year 1511" the story is to be found of how Lord
Charles Howard captured Sir Andrew Barton, "a Scotish
rover on the sea" we should be prone to abide by their
decision. 1 Under the circumstances, however, a reaxami-
nation of their mutual source is advisable.
Mr. Watson had this to say: 2
Colonel Thomas Forrest, who died in 1828, at the age of 83,
had been in his early days a youth of much frolic and fun,
always well disposed to give time and application toward a
joke. He found much to amuse himself in the credulity of
some of the German families. I have heard him relate some of
his anecdotes of the prestigious kind with much humor. When
he was about 551 years of age, a tailor who was measuring him
for a suit of clothes, happened to say, "Ah, Thomas, if you
and I could only find some of the money of the sea robbers (the
pirates), we might drive our coach for life!" The sincerity
and simplicity with which lie uttered this, caught the attention
of young Forrest, and when he went home he began to devise
some scheme to be amused with his credulity and superstition.
There was a prevailing belief that the pirates had hidden many
sums of money and much of treasure about the banks of the
Delaware. Forrest got an old parchment, on which he wrote
the dying statement of John Hendricks, executed at Tyburn
for piracy, in which he stated that he had deposited a chest
and pot of money at Cooper's Point in the Jerseys. This parch-
ment he smoked and gave it the appearance of antiquity; and
calling on his German tailor, he told him he had found it among
his father's papers, who had got it in England from the prisoner,
whom he visited in prison. This he showed to the tailor as a
precious paper which he could by no means lend out his hands.
This operated the desired effect.
i See the splendid ballad of Sir Andrew Barton in "A select collection of
English songs," London, 1783.
Op. cit. v. I, pp. 268-70.
42 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Soon after the tailor called on Forrest with one Ambruster, a
printer, whom he introduced as capable of "printing any spirit
out of hell," by his knowledge of the black art. He asked to
show him the parchment; he was delighted with it, and confi-
dently said he could conjure Hendricks to give up the money.
A time was appointed to meet in an upper room of a public
house in Philadelphia, by night, and the innkeeper was let into
the secret by Forrest. By the night appointed, they had pre-
pared a closet, a communication with a room above their sitting
room, so as to lower down by a pulley, the invoked ghost, who
was represented by a young man entirely sewed up in a close
white dress on which were printed black-eyed sockets, mouth,
and bare ribs with dashes of black between them, the outside
and inside of the legs and thighs blackened, so as to make white
bones conspicuous there. About twelve persons met in all,
seated around a table. Ambruster shofled and dealt out cards,
on which were inscribed the names of the new Testament saints,
telling them he should bring Hendricks to encompass the table,
visible or invisible he could not tell. At the words "John
Hendricks, du verfluchter, cum heraus," the pulley was heard
to reel, the closet door to fly open, and John Hendricks with
ghastly appearance to stand forth. The whole were dismayed
and fled, save Forrest, the brave. After this, Ambruster, on
whom they all depended, declared that he had by spells got
permission to take up the money. A day was therefore ap-
pointed to visit the Jersey shore and to dig there by night. The
parchment said it lay there between two great stones. Forrest,
therefore, prepared two black men to be entirely naked except
white petticoat breeches, and these were to jump each on the
stone whenever they came to the pot, which had been previously
put there. These frightened off the company for a little. When
they next essayed they were assailed by cats tied two and two,
to^ whose tails were spiral papers of gunpowder, which illu-
minated and whizzed, while the cats whawled. The pot was at
length got up, and brought in great triumph to Philadelphia
wharf: but oh, sad disaster! while helping it out of the boat,
Forrest, who managed it, and was handing it up to the tailor,
trod upon the gunnel and filled the boat, and holding on to the
pot dragged the tailor into the riverit was lost! For years
afterwards they reproached Forrest for that loss, and declared
he had got the chest himself and was enriched thereby. He
favored the conceit, until at last they actually sued him on a
writ of treasure trove; but their lawyer was persuaded to give
it up as idle. Some years afterwards Mr. Forrest wrote a very
EAELY AMERICAN OPERAS 43
Humorous play (which I have seen printed), 1 which contained
many incidents of this kind of superstition. It gave such
offense to the parties represented, that it could not be exhibited
on the stage. I remember some lines in it, for it had much of
broken English and German English verses, to wit:
My dearest wife, in all my life
Ich neber was so frightened,
De spirit come and I did run,
'Twas juste like tunder mit lightning.
A pretty story, but does it go to prove the authorship
of Colonel Thomas Forrest or De Forest, as he is some-
times called, of "The Disappointment" ? 2
If the Colonel wrote the libretto, so full of personal re-
flections as to be unfit for the stage, why should its plot
differ so widely from Mr. Watson's anecdote, particularly
as the incidents of the latter would lend themselves easily
and without many alterations, even as to the name of the
pirate, for the plot of a farce ? Then again, Mr. Watson
says that Thomas Forrest fooled the tailor "when he was
about 21 years of age" and that he wrote the play ''some
years afterwards." How is this? The Colonel died in
1828 at the age of 83. Consequently he was born in
1745. Adding to this date 21 years we gain the year
1766. The Disappointment was published ( ! I) only one
year later, in April, 1767. I confess, a strange contradio
tion! But this is not all. Says Mr. Watson: "I remem-
ber some lines.
My dearest wife, in all my life
Ich neber was so frightened,
De spirit come and I did run,
'Twas juste like tunder mit lightning.
He must have had a peculiar memory, for these lines ap-
pear in neither edition of The Disappointment.
1 A copy is now in the Athenaeum, called "The Disappointment, or Force
of Credulity, 2d edition, 1796." (This is Watson's Footnote.)
* I lay no stress on the suspicious footnote: the second edition is men-
tioned, but not the first !
44 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The inference is plain. It would be incompatible with
historical reasoning to accept Forrest's traditional author-
ship unchallenged. But Mr. Seilhamer claims that "in
the Eidgway Library copy the name of Colonel Thomas
Forrest, of Germantown, is written in ink as the author."
This is a fact. We indeed read, following the verses on
the title-page, the ink memorandum "by Col. Thomas
Forrest of Germantown."
As this gentleman became a colonel in the later part
of the War for Independence, the memorandum cannot
have been added until, let us say, about 1779 twelve
years after the book was published. It might just as well
have been added many years later, perhaps by somebody
who read Watson's Annals! Furthermore, is it not
strange that, though a second edition of the opera ap-
peared after thirty years, no other and more convincing
allusions to Forrest's authorship should have been pre-
served, not to mention the fact that this gentleman did not
himself come forward with such a claim when secrecy
was no longer a virtue ?
But let us examine the Eidgway copy more closely!
It is full of manuscript corrections and additions, such
as only the. author himself can have made. Now the
handwriting of these corrections differs from that of the
memorandum on the 'title-page. Consequently it was not
Thomas Forrest who attributed the book to himself in
after years, and therefore the ink memorandum is by no
means authoritative. Finally, how if the half faded sign,
that follows this ink memorandum, should have been in-
tended as a question mark, as it looked to me when I
examined the copy Mr. Seilhamer mentions ?
This historian ends his chapter on "The Disappoint-
ment" with the words : "there is no reason to doubt, . . .
that the author was Colonel Forrest." We are obliged to
contradict him. It seems to me that there are reasons
enough to doubt that gentleman's authorship. In fact,
Thomas Forrest is not the only competitor for the possible
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 45
pseudonym of Andrew Barton, Esq. ; and Mr. Seilhamer,
like others, though predisposed in favor of the Colonel,
was cautious enough to mention that "by some" (who?)
the authorship of -the opera was attributed to Joseph
Leacock, who was a jeweler and a silversmith in Phila-
delphia at the time, and by others to John Leacock, "who
became Coroner after the Revolution."
We may dispose of Joseph, by saying that he seems to
have been among the dead when, in 1796, the second edi-
tion of The Disappointment, revised and corrected by the
author, was issued. On the other hand, Coroner John
Leacock figures in the Philadelphia directories even later.
If Andrew Barton, Esq., is to be considered a pseu-
donym, it seems to me that John Leacock, claimed also
(by Mr. Hildeburn) to have written the tragi-comedy of
"The Fall of British Tyranny," should not be cast aside
so cheerfully in favor of Thomas Forrest However, the
simplest and most satisfactory theory will be to attribute
The Disappointment to the pen of one Andrew Barton,
Esq., until this name has convincingly been proved to be
a pseudonym.
1780-1790
1781 : The Temple of Minerva. 1782 : The Blockheads, 1787 :
May Day in Town. 1790 : The Reconciliation.
After the publication of The Disappointment in 1767
we do not come across American operas until the war for
Independence drew to its end. 1 In my monograph on
Francis Hopkinson 2 as the first native American poet-
composer I described at some length his Temple of
Minerva, performed in 1781, and it is hardly necessary
to repeat here the history of this curious "Oratorial en-
tertainment," as the newspapers called it. It was a politi-
1 In 1778 was published at Philadelphia the comic opera "The Political
Duenna/' but as this piece was not written by an American, it is unneces-
sary to describe it.
3 Extracts were, published in Sammelbande V, p. 119-154. The book
itself was published in 1905 under the title of "Francis Hopkinson and
James Lyon."
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
cal, allegorical, semi-operatic sketch in two scenes, in which
the Genius of America, the Genius of France, the High-
priest of Minerva and the Goddess herself unite in saying
and singing pleasant things of the French-American alli-
ance. I also stated that it ended with the usual glorifica-
tion of George Washington, that Eopkinson's music is
not extant, and that the Temple of Minerva made part
of a concert given on the llth of December, 1781, by the
minister of France in honor of "his excellency general
Washington and his lady, the lady of general Greene, and
a very polite circle of gentlemen and ladies."
In the following year a mysterious work left the press,
entitled :
The Blockheads, or, Fortunate Contractor. An opera in two
acts. As it was performed at New York.
New York printed. London, reprinted for S. Kearsley, 1782.
I have not seen the libretto and can only say that Mr.
Wegelin * attributes it to the pen of Mrs. Mercy Warren,
the author of two other political plays. The Blockheads is
said to have been written as a counterfarce to General
Burgoyne's Blockade of Boston, performed by his mili-
tary Thespians in January, 1776, at Boston. 2
Somewhat firmer ground is gained with Royall Tyler's
"May Day in Town, or New York in an Uproar," This
"comic opera in 2 acts (never performed), written by the author
of 'The Contrast' . . . The Music compiled from the most
eminent Masters. With an Overture and Accompaniments.
The Songs of the Opera to be sold on the Evening of Per-
formance."
was advertised in the "New York Daily Advertiser," May
17, 1787, for performance on the following evening. It
was given for the benefit of the much admired actor
Thomas Wignell, who in 1793 with Alexander Keinagle
became manager of the "New Theatre" at Philadelphia.
1 Oscar Wegelin: Early American Plays, 1714 1830. Dunlap Society
publications. New series. No. 10. New York, 1900.
* Seilhamer, op. cit. II, 20.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 47
The opera seems not to have been received favorably, for
only one performance is on record. Mr. Seilhamer (II,
215) ably calls it "a skit on what has lasted in New York
to our day the much dreaded May-movings." By whom
the music was compiled from the most eminent masters
I have been unable to ascertain.
A very much more pretentious opera was Peter Har-
koe's '^Reconciliation." The libretto was advertised as
"this day ... published" in the "Federal Gazette,"
Philadelphia, on May 24, 1790. The title reads:
The Reconciliation; or the Triumph of Nature. A comic
opera, in two acts by Peter Markoe. [verses.]
Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Prichard & Hall, in
Market Street between Front and Second streets, MDOOXO. 1
As was the case with Andrew Barton's Disappointment,
Peter Markoe's opera was accepted by the manager of the
American Company but not performed. Of this the au-
thor informs us with some bitterness in the dedication
"To his Excellency Thomas Mifflin, Esq., President of the
State of Pennsylvania ; and to the Honorable Thomas M'Kean,
Esq., Chief Justice of the said State; this Comic Opera ap-
proved of by them in their official Capacity according to Law;
but withdrawn from the Managers of the Theater, after it
had remained in their hands more than four Months; is ...
inscribed . . ."
The author also relieved us of the necessity of investi-
gating the source of his plot. He remarks in the preface:
A revisal and correction of **Erastus, w literally translated by
a native of Germany, lately arrived in Pennsylvania, gave rise
to the following piece.
The happy simplicity of the German original, written in one
act by the celebrated Gesner, [sic] suggested an enlargement
of the plan. A new character is added, songs are introduced,
and the dialogue so modeled, as to be rendered (it is presumed)
pleasing to an American ear. Those who understand the Ger-
* 8vo ',l , pp - , m ded - ; V ~ VI pref ; vm Dram. pers. ; 9-48. Text.
Brown Univ. ; Library of Congress ; Library Company of Philadelphia.
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
man and the English languages will, on comparing the two
pieces, readily perceive the difference between them . . .
Though this task of comparison would be simple, I
prefer to avail myself of the "impartial review" of Mar-
koe's l libretto, as it appeared in the "Universal Asylum,"
Philadelphia, July, 1790 (pp. 46-47). Being practically
the earliest critical analysis of an American opera, a lit-
eral quotation cannot fail to arouse some interest. It
reads:
The Reconciliation: or the Triumph of Nature: a comic
opera, in two Acts. By Peter Markoe. Published in Phila-
delphia.
This little performance is founded on Erastus, a dramatic
piece in one act, written by Gessner. The plan is said to be
enlarged, so as to differ considerably from the German pro-
duction. The plot is perfectly simple. .Wilson by marrying
Amelia has displeased his father. Neglected by him, and for-
saken by his friends, he retired from the world, into an obscure
retreat, with his wife and son, a man and maid-servant. Here
they remained twelve years struggling with all the evils of
poverty, but supporting themselves under their afflictions with
the consciousness of innocence. Old Wilson, during a violent
illness, became sensible of his unjust and cruel treatment of his
children, and determined to find them out. While passing over
the mountains, with this intent he is met by honest Simon,
Wilson's servant, who, not knowing him, obliges him to deliver
him half of his money, conceiving it more consistent with jus-
tice to rob a man of superfluous wealth, than to suffer a family
to starve. The money he offers to Wilson, and tells him that
he received it for him from an unknown friend. But the inco-
herence of his tale leads Wilson to suspect the truth of it and
he at length makes a confession of the robbery. Wilson con-
vinces him of the iniquity of his conduct, and obliges him to
set out to find the man whom he has robbed, and to restore the
money to him. As he is preparing to do this old Wilson enters
to enquire the road, and upon seeing Simon is much alarmed.
But his fears are soon removed by Wilson's assurances. By
means of a letter the old man drops from his pocket, Simon
iv wa r? born in Santa Cruz < st - Croix > ln 17 3 5 and died at
Philadelphia in 1792. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin ; read
^^^ Philadelphia in 1783. Hi! '"Miscellaneous
EABLY AMERICAN OPERAS 49
discovers him to be his master's father; a reconciliation takes
place, and all parties are happy.
Such a story appears calculated for the pathetic, rather than
the humorous. Accordingly we find the former abounding, and
the latter very scantily dispersed. The sentiments are in general
fine. The moral inculcated throughout the whole is a confi-
dence in the ways of Providence, and an adherence to probity
and rectitude.
The characters are unifarmly supported. Wilson is an
amiable virtuous man, who in the midst of his afflictions and
concern for his wife and child, and all the distresses which have
been heaped upon him, suffers not his integrity to be lessened.
Amelia is an admirable pattern of conjugal affection, and firm
reliance upon the justice of Heaven. This gives to her, in the
greatest misfortunes, a tranquillity of soul, with which she
endeavours to inspire her husband; nor are her attempts fruitless.
Their son William, unconnected with the world, talks with the
most childish simplicity, at the same time manifesting a
virtuous charitable disposition. Simon is a faithful, affection-
ate servant, who prefers the service of his old master, to a more
profitable place, and retires with him into the mountains. He
is made sometimes to utter sentiments which seem superior to
the station in which he is placed. Debby is an honest, plain
woman. She and her Simon have some little quarrels, but all
matters are at last composed between them. Old Wilson mani-
fests sincere contrition for his harsh conduct towards his son.
The songs are in general good. Some of them appear to us
to possess real excellence; particularly the 3d, 3d, 6th and 7th.
What effect this piece would have upon the stage we cannot
say. It appears to us, however, that the want of humour, of
variety in the dialogue, and the length of some of the solilo-
quies, render it less fit for the stage than for the closet.
There is no occasion to disagree with the confrere of
olden times except where he touches the musical side of
the Reconciliation. If the impartial reviewer attributes
real excellence to the songs mentioned de gustibus non
est disputandam^. For instance, Wilson sings:
Air H
Tune, The Birks of Indennay.
Why sleeps the thunder in the skies,
When guilty men to grandeur rise?
50 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Or why should innocence bewail
Distress, in bleak misfortune's vale?
Just are the dark decrees of heaven,
Since short the date to either given,
Vice earns unnecessary dread and shame,
While endless joys are virtue's claim.
These may be good ethics but they are poor musical
lyrics. Such stilted poetry may do in the philosophical
abortions of Wagnerian epigones, but certainly not in com-
ic ballad operas. Especially not if they be fashioned after
those of the older type, that is, those in which the songs
are sung to popular tunes. Of the seven "airs" used as
solos or duets and which precede the finale the first is
the least objectionable from the standpoint of ballad opera,
though certainly not from that of poetry. It runs thus to
the tune of "My Jockey is the blythest lad" :
How happy once were Debby's days!
Ah I days of sweet content 1
The hearth rejoiced her with its blaze
The jack alertly went.
Since Simon leaves his love to weep
No comfort can she know;
The jack eternally may sleep;
And Debby's cake is dough, etc.
Still it cannot be denied that Peter Markoe possessed a
faint conception of operatic effect. He concludes his
opera after the reconciliation has taken place with what
we may call a feeble attempt at a finale:
Duet.
Tune, Guardian Angels, etc.
Wilson.
Nature! to thy throne thus bending
Hear a son
Amelia.
A daughter too!
EAELY AMERICAN OPERAS 51
BotL
Grief no more our bosoms rending,
Brighter prospects now we view.
Wilson.
Let him, Heaven! thy favours share.
Amelia.
Make him thy peculiar care!
Both.
And in Death's awful hour
On him the blessings pour,
Who thus preserves a faithful pair.
William.
Tune, The Babes in the Wood.
Dear Grand-papa! indeed, indeed!
I love you passing well.
To you with joy I'll sing and read,
And pretty stories tell.
I mean to copy all your ways,
Instructed by mamma;
That wond'ring crouds the youth may praise
Who loves his Grand-papa.
Deborah.
Tune, Good morning to your Night-cap.
If she may be so bold, Sir,
Poor Debby takes upon her,
Although you are not old, Sir,
To tend and nurse your honor.
With happy art I'll play my part,
With soup and sago cheer your heart;
For you Fll pray,
And bid each day
Good morning to your night-cap.
Simon.
Tune, the same as the last.
Since now our cares are over
I sue for Debby's favor;
52 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Mb more I'll play the rover
But stick to her for ever.
To you and you
My thanks are due;
Your worship claims my service too.
For you I'll pray,
And bid each day,
Good morning to your night-cap.
Wilson, senior.
Tune, How happy a life does a miller possess.
Affection I continue to warm ev'ry breast;
Henceforth I shall hail thee the welcome guest.
To nature if just, we most evils defy;
It charms us on earth and conducts to the sky.
If fond of our friends and our kindred we prove.
Our country may safely depend on our love.
Then may true affection each bosom possess !
'Tis the parent of union; the source of success!
Chorus.
If fond of our friends and kindred we prove, etc.
Evidently Peter Markoe's libretto was considered quite
an achievement in some quarters, for not only did the
Universal Asylum review the opera "impartialy," but it
published in June, 1790, in addition to the words of two
airs both words and music of Air VI to the tune of "In,
Infamy" (Wilson. Act II, Scene 5). This interest taken
by the editor in Peter Markoe should be appreciated,
as it enables us to submit at last, if nothing better, at
least an excerpt from the operatic literature of the United
States during the eighteenth century. 1 It is the following :
Air in the Reconciliation; A Comie Opera, by Peter
Markoe.
*To avoid confusion I remark that the 'Reconsaliation' {sic) The
Words by a .Gentleman of Philadelphia. Music by J.GeSSt f in the first
n ?*? b ?v of Toun ^ B Vocal and Instrumental Miscellany has nothing to do
with the opera as performed. Gehot, the violinist; member of thS "onera
17fil e ' S3 n ?h er IW Lond 2?' did not come to the United States before
1792, and the collection mentioned was published in 1793 uw
EAELT AMERICAN OPEEAS
53
-af -fe/r , j
^
!
=f
3^
-'iff>=n
*. k J*t-
m) 17- j- :j,':,
j Truth, from
* * ' if k- p ' U m< UJ U^ ~L*
thy radiant throne look down On man's be - wil - der'd
fcg'iM,
T*T-
==
-*rr
i
f I
r
w ^
race;
Teach us, how -e'er mis -for -tone frown, That
P IP p f T ir s *=i
r 1 : 1 : h ! -** 1
S* j ~^
-Pte 1 ^ 1^*1 i^ r *
p fl* J zl
<
1 ^J ^.J ->'^ ^.J IL^faJ
Want J s Tlft ^ R crm.r*f.
Tl
mt want is
If 1
==
j' 1 * "r*? 1
f\ '
no
dis - grace. Teach
-r EJ* r i=s=l
us, since guilt a -
-a^B-jP .Bu-
J - JM 1 - - J 1
tane is woe, To smile at weak dis - tress.
=sH
The
P
Pow*r who man af-flicts, be -low, Is prompt a * bove to
1
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
bless,.
is prompt a hove* to bless.
1793-1794.
1793: Oapocchio and Dorinna; Needs must; Old -woman of
eighty-three; 1794 Tammany.
Until the last decade of the eighteenth century Hal-
lam and Hemy's "American Company" controlled
theatrical matters entirely in our country. Being with-
out serious competitors, this company deteriorated about
1790. Finally it was dissolved. This dissolution
marked a new era in our theatrical life. A rivalry sprang
up between Hallam and Henry, and Thomas Wignell
and Alexander Beinagle, to import English actors and
singers of high standing. Henry reorganized his com-
pany under the name of the "Old American Company/ 7
with headquarters at New York; Wignell and Eeinagle
selected Philadelphia, where in 1793 they built the Chest-
nut Street- Theatre, for many years the wonder of the
United States. Though the two companies were about
equally matched as to histrionic and musical talent, they
differed in one respect Without neglecting opera the Old
American Company took more to drama, whereas Wignell
and Eeinagle decided to lay stress on opera. This rivalry
of the two companies filled our operatic life with new
blood. By far the majority of popular English operas
received a hearing in our country and often in a manner
to command respect.
The weak spot in the performances of former years had
been the orchestra. Here, too, a remarkable change took
place after the conclusion of the War for Independence.
To the many adventurous persons who flocked to the new-
born United States musicians contributed a proportionate
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 55
percentage. Though these musical emigrants did not, as
a rule, represent the highest order of their profession, yet
not a few, like Alexander Beinagle, William Brown, Ben-
jamin Carr, Kaynor Taylor, James Hewitt and others,
were able men. Furthermore, when the revolutions in
France and the West Indies broke out, the number of
skillful musicians was increased by many who sought
refuge in the United States. They added to the English
and German a distinctly French element, represented by
such artists as Gehot and Victor Pelissier. While this in-
flux of musical talent was due mostly to political causes,
the above-mentioned progress in theatrical matters con-
tributed towards the improvement of our orchestras, as
the managers of the rival companies took pains to enlarge
and improve their "bands." Eeady to pay good salaries,
they had little difficulty in securing musicians who, with
justifiable pride, would advertise upon their arrival in the
New World that they had played, for instance, under
Haydn.
As a matter of course, all this had its effect on the lit-
erature of American opera. Musicians, even the mean-
est> will insist on reaching for the laurels of composers,
and whether the managers needed new accompaniments to
older works or new settings to accepted operatic novelties,
they could now count upon their own forces to supply the
demand. For a while the activity in these spheres of
"Kapellmeister^Musik" assumed, relatively speaking,
formidable proportions until suddenly checked by various
obstacles.
For the years 1791 to 1793 I am not aware of any
work to be called an American opera as defined in
the introduction. True, Baynor Taylor 1 advertised
1 Taylor, Raynor, born [1747] in England, died at Philadelphia, Aug. 17,
1825. According to John R, Parker (Musical Biography, Boston, 1825,
pp. 179-180) Taylor entered, at an early age, the king's singing school
as one of the boys of the Chapel Royal. After leaving the school, he was
for many years established at Chelmesford, Essex county, as organist and
teacher. From there he was called to be the composer and director of the
music to the Sadler's Wells Theater. Taylor was a ballad composer of
standing before he, in Oct., 1792, appeared in Baltimore as "Music Pro-
66 _ MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES _
for performance at Annapolis on January 20, 1793, 1
his
Mock Italian Opera, called Capocchio and Dormna . .
Dressed in Character . . . Consisting of Kecitative, Airs and
Duets . . . the whole of the music original and composed by
Mr. Taylor.
but this vaudevillei-parody, like his
"comic burletta never performed, called Old Woman- of eighty-
three"
announced for performance ibidem on February 28, 2 can-
not be considered as operas. The nearest approach to this
kind of entertainment in 1793 was a musical trifle, called
"Needs Must, or the Ballad Singers." It had its first
performance at New York on December 23d and served as
a vehicle for the reappearance of the popular Mrs. Pow-
nall who, having broken her leg during the first few weeks
of the season, when she again came before the public
was still on crutches. 8 For "Needs Must" Mrs. Anne
Julia Hatton, a sister of Mrs. Siddons, and wife of Win.
Eatton, a musical instrument maker at New York, fur-
nished the plot, which was slight, and wrote one of the
songs. The whole of the dialogue was the work of Mrs.
Pownall. The only example of the songs in "Needs Must"
that has come down to us is the following:
f!fnSon ? rg l ist and T 1 a ; h l r 4 of * v Music in general, lately arrived from
London.' He was appointed in the same year organist at St Anne's in
P bl receivl f ns no flxed salar r ** Preferred to sSle in Philade"
phia.
f * Preerre o sle in Philade
Here he was for many years organist at St. Peter's and in 1820
V Un ?i ing , the Mu f ica l Fund Society. Hto olfiSitteJ aYe
numerous, and mostly of a secular character. As a specialty he cultivated
burlesque olios or "extravaganzas" which came dangerously near beiSe
* H< L striki ^y illustrates the ftSt'SS* the America!
66111 ?^ 611 ^ T as not ^rrined by secular tendencies to
e of the church walls. Besides Taylor it was B. Carr
E ffSlSf ho worked most fcr tne Progress of music at
His mo?J
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 57
To her enraptured fancy flies
Whose image fills the heart;
Swells on the beam of her dear eyes
Whose smiles ecstatic joy impart, etc.
More important as an attempt at opera was Mrs.
Hatton's "Tammany, or the Indian Chief." 1 A serious
opera, "the music composed by James Hewitt/' 2 and first
performed at the John Street Theatre, New York, on
March 3, 1794. The performance was thus advertised in
the "New York Daily Advertiser" for the same day :
This evening . . . An opera (a new piece) never before per-
formed, written by a lady of this city, called Tammany, or the
Indian Chief.
The Prologue by Mr. Hodgkinson
The Epilogue by Mr. Martin.
The overture and accompaniments composed by Mr. Hewitt
with new scenery, dresses and decorations. 8
In Act 3rd a Procession, by the Company. And an Italian
Dance, by Messrs. Durang and Miller.
Soon after her arrival at New York during the winter
of 179394 Mrs. Hatton began to wield her pen as the
bard of American Democracy. Party spirit ran high in
those years, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists opposing
each other with the same fervor as Republicans and Dem-
ocrats of to-day. Mrs. Hatton catered to the Anti-Federal-
ists, whose "platform" among other political issues strongly
1 Comp. Wegelin, op. cit.
8 Hewitt, James, violinist, composer, music publisher. Came to New
York in 1792 with Gehot, Bergman, Young and Philips as "Professors of
music, from the operahouse, Hanoversquare, and professional concerts
under the direction of Haydn, Pleyel, etc. London." Hewitt managed
excellent "Subscription Concerts" at New York during the following year
and was very active as virtuoso and "leader of the band" of the Old
Americans. He held an undisputed position as leading musician of New
York, and his social standing was excellent. In 1797 or late In 1796 he
seems to have purchased the New York branch of B. Carr's Musical Reposi-
tory. Though he can be traced back to 1794 as publisher it was not until
1798 that he became important in that capacity. Hewitt's career extends
tar into the nineteenth century. He was born in 1770 and died in 1827.
Quite a number of his compositions are extant, scattered in our libraries,
though mostly his less important works.
* The new scenery was painted by Charles Ciceri, and (to use the words
)f Dunlap) "they were gaudy and unnatural, but had a brilliancy of colour-
Ing, red and yellow being abundant."
58 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
favored the French revolution. The Tammany Society,
then almost as powerful as it is now,- belonged to the same
party. Under the circumstances Mrs. Hatton could easily
win the far-reaching protection of the society for an
opera based on the legend of its patron. She hesitated
not to do so, and, as a matter of course, the opera was
praised by the Anti-Federalists and condemned by their
political opponents. For instance, when the work was
revived in the following year, the critic of the "New York
Magazine" indignantly queried on March 13th :
Why is that wretched thing Tammany again brought for-
ward? Messrs. Hallam and Henry, we are told, used to excuse
themselves for getting it up, by saying that it was sent them
by the Tammany Society, and that they were afraid of dis-
obliging so respectable a body of critics, who, having appointed
a committee to report on the merits of this piece, had deter-
mined it to be one of the finest things of its kind ever seen.
The opera actually seems to have been received with "un-
bounded applause" on the first night, but even the report
of this success in the "Daily Advertiser" did not pass un-
challenged, and William Dunlap, he too a Federalist,
with evident satisfaction quotes in his History of the
American Theatre several sarcastic communications to
that paper. He calls Tammany "literally a melange of
bombast" and finally remarks :
... a more severe and well written communication takes
notice of the ruse made use of to collect an audience for the
support of the piece by circulating a report that a party had
been made up to hiss it; and goes on to describe the audience
assembled as made up of "the poorer class of mechanics and
clerks" and of bankrupts who ought to be content with the
mischief they had already done, and who might be much better
employed than in disturbing a theatre.
The disturbance alluded to was an attack upon James Hewitt,
the leader in the orchestra, for not being ready with a popular
air when called upon.
From all this it might be seen that Tammany was not
treated with indifference. However, the interest did not
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 59
last, as is the case with most plays applauded for reasons
not artistic. The opera enjoyed three performances at
New York and two at Philadelphia in 1794, one upon its
revival at New York in 1795, ajad one at Boston in 1796,
where the eminent singer and actor John Hodgkinson se-
lected it for his benefit performance. 1
It would be an easy task for us later-day critics, not
hampered by the political jealousies of yore, to disclose
the real merits of the case by an examination of the book
and the music. But neither seems to have been pub-
lished. Only "books with the words of the songs" were
"sold at the doors" at the second and third performances, 2
and nothing appears to have become of the
Proposals for printing by Subscription, the Overture with the
Songs, Choruses, etc., etc., to Tammany as composed and
adapted to the Pianoforte by Mr. Hewitt.
The price to subscribers 12 s. each copy, 4s. to be paid at the
time of subscribing, and one dollar on delivery of the book, to
non-subscribers it will be two dollars. Subscriptions received
by James Harrison, 3STo, 108 Maiden-lane. 3
By reading the prologue, the cast, and
"The Songs of Tammany, or the Indian Chief. A Serious
Opera. By Ann Julia Hatton. To be had at the Printing
Office of John Harrison, No. 3 Peck Slip and of Mr. Faulkner
at the Box Office of the Theatre (Price One Shilling) 1794." 4
we may, at least, gain a vague idea of the plot.
The prologue was written by a young poet named Rich-
ard Bingham Davis, and published in a volume of his
poems at STew York in 1807. It reads in part as follows :
Secure the Indian roved his native soil,
Secure enjoy'd the produce of his toil,
1 Comp. the lists of productions for these years in Seilhamer and in my
book "Early Opera in America."
3 Comp. "Daily Advertiser" for March 5 and 7. On March 5 the puhlic
was also "respectfully acquainted that two of the Songs will be omitted as
unnecessary to the conduct or interest of the piece."
8 Comp. "New York Daily Advertiser" for March 29, 1794.
4 Collation: 12mo. 16 pp. New York Historical Society; 2 copies, one
lacking title-page.
60 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
"Nor knew, nor feared a haughty master's poVr
To force his labors, or his gains devour.
And when the slaves of Europe here unf urPd
The bloody standard of their servile world,
When heaven, to curse them more, first deign'd to bless
Their base attempts with undeserved success,
He knew the sweets of liberty to prize,
And lost on earth he sought her in the skies;
Scorned life divested of its noblest good,
And seal'd the cause of freedom with his blood.
Manifestly the historically correct tut poetically absurd
lines present the plot in an ethno-ethical nutshell. After
this prelude came the fugue, with the following subjects :
Tammany Mr. Hodgkinson
Oolumbus Mr. Hallam
Perez Mr. King
Ferdinand Mr. Martin
Wegaw Mr. Prigmore
Indian Dancers Mr. Durang, Mr. Miller
Manana Mrs. Hodgkinson
Zulla Mrs. Hamilton 1
Beading between the lines of the "Songs" we observe
this: Tammany and Manana are in love; Ferdinand tries
to separate them and finally carries Manana off by force.
Tammany comes to her rescue, but the Spaniards burn
him tip in his cabin with his beloved squaw. Truly, a
serious opera, but not enough so to exclude the comic
element, which is represented by Wegaw. Beyond this
nothing definite appears between the lines of the songs.
The musical structure is simple and was evidently made
to order for Mrs. Hodgkinson, as Manana sings most of
the airs.
The first act contained four, and all for Manana. There
seems to have followed an ensemble scene in which the
refrain of a chorus of Indians is taken up first by Zulla,
then by Manana, with an additional monologue. The act
ends with the same refrain. The second act contains an
1 Cast copied from Seilhamer, T. Ill, p. 84.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 61
Air for Wegaw, a Song for Ferdinand, two more airs for
Manana and a final chorus. In the third act Tammany
at last, in Air I, shows his power of song. Manana fol-
lows with two airs, and the act ends with a regular oper-
atic finale. It consists of a duet between Tammany and
Manana before they are burned up in their cabin, and a
chorus of "Indian Priests." After the catastrophe is
reached, follows a chorus of "Indians and Spaniards" in
praise of "valiant, good and brave" Tammany, and a
chorus of women in praise of "chaste" Manana. The
whole ends with a chorus drawing the moral facit.
A few examples may show that Mrs. Hatton possessed
some power of characterization and that her songs called
for an operatic setting very much more than those of
Peter Markoe. For instance, after Ferdinand carries
Manana off Tammany sings :
Fury swells my aching soul,
Boils and maddens in my veins;
Fierce contending passions roll
Where Manana's image reigns.
Hark! her shrill cries thro' the dark woods resound 1
She struggles in lust's cruel arms,
My bleeding bosom, my ears how they wound
And fill ev'ry pulse with alarms.
Come, revenge! my spirit inspire,
Breathe on my soul thy frantic fire,
O'er each nerve thy impulse roll,
Breathe thy spirit on my soul, etc.
Quite different from these somewhat bombastic strains
is Wegaw's hymn in praise of the "fire-water:
For deep cups of this liquor I swear,
Have made foolish Wegaw quite wise;
And faith now, I can tell to a hair
What's doing above in the skies.
The sun is a deep thinking fellow,
He drys up the dews of the night,
Lest old father Time should get mellow,
And so become slow in his flight,
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The moon she looks drinking, 'tis plain,
She governs the tides of each flood,
And oft takes a sip from the main;
You may know by her changeable mood.
Thou dear tippling orb give me drink,
Large lakes full of glorious rum.
My head turns, I'm swimming I think,
Sweet Ehema! Why look you so glum?
This is really not bad for a drinking song, and we only
hope that Mrs. Hatton herself enjoyed the charms of
Bacchus in a more womanly manner.
To these specimens, though they are sufficient to illus^
trate Mrs. Hatton's art, I add the duet between Tammany
and Manana for a particular reason :
Tammany. Altered from the old Indian Song.
The sun sets in night and the stars shun the day
But glory unfading can never decay,
You white men deceivers your smiles are in vain;
The son of Alkmoonac, shall ne'er wear your chain.
Manana
To the land where our fathers are gone we will go,
Where grief never enters but pleasures still flow,
Death comes like a friend: he relieves us from pain,
Thy children, AUnnoonac, shall ne'er wear their chain.
Both
Farewell then ye woods which have witness'd our flame,
Let time on his wings bear our record of fame,
Together we die for our spirits disdain,
Ye white children of Europe your rankling chain.
The reason for quoting this certainly not very poetical
duet is this. In Koyall Tyler's comedy, "The Contrast,"
published at Philadelphia in 1790, Maria sings almost
identical words in the second scene of the first act. Had
they been original with Tyler, Mrs. Hatton certainly
would not have remarked "altered from the old Indian
song." This remark of hers was evidently overlooked
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS
by the Dunlap Society when it reprinted "The Contrast" i
1887 together with "Alkmoonok. The Death Song c
the Cherokee Indians" by way of illustration. Th
curious little piece deserves a second reprint in this moi
ograph on early American operas, as there can be n
doubt that the air had also been used in Mrs. Hatton 3
opera.
ALKMOONOK 1
The Death Song of the Cherokee Indians.
New York. Printed & sold by Q. Gilf ert No. 177 Broadway
Likewise to be had at P. A. Yon Hagen, Musicstore No.
Cornhill, Boston.
^sF
=?=
lf- N
t=ffl
WHS r-
4=
=1=
The Sun
B a 1 F
sets
E
at night and the Stars shun the day;
- F F 1 = = =
But
' r r
F
Glo ry re-mains when the light fades
sens = s tff F
J" J ' fSl*
a-way. Be-gi
r hi
DP ye tc
1 * If
*Mr. Thomas McKee says on p. X of the introduction to the reprint
"The illustration to the song of Alkmoonok, is from music published con
temporaneously with the play. This song had long the popularity of t
national air and was familiar in every drawing room in the early part o
the century." But the New York directories render it impossible that th<
song was published contemporaneously with the play (1790), for Gilf ert';
address above given appears only between the years 1798-1801. Further
more, P. A. Von Hagen resided, according to the Boston directories, a
No. 3 Cornhill, Boston, not earlier than 1800 (or possibly 1799, as a
directory for this year was not issued). Therefore, the date of publicatioi
was probably 1800.
64 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
mentors, your threats are in Tain, For the Son of Alkmoo-nok shall
^ T r r =====
ir r - ' 1
* j j .pu Jtycjfij f
nev - er complain.
&r^
1795-1796
1795: Sicflian Eomance; 1796: The Eecruit; The Archers;
Edwin and Angelina. 1
In 1794 Mrs. Siddon's Sicilian Eomance with William
Reeve's music was received with great favor at London.
Always eager to acquaint their public with successful nov-
elties, Messrs. Wignell and Eeinagle introduced the work
to Philadelphians on May 6, 1795. As a rule Alexander
Reinagle 2 contented himself with writing new accompani-
*The "Little Yankee Sailor" of 1795 was a "musical farce" with music
borrowed from Shield, Hook, Dibdin, Taylor, etc.
3 Reinagle, Alexander. Pianist, theatrical manager, composer. Accord-
ing to John R. Parker (Buterpiad, 1822), Reinagle was born [1756] in
Portsmouth, England, and commenced his early career in Scotland, where
he received instruction in both the theory and practice of music from
Raynor Taylor. He came to New York in 1786, calling himself "Member
of the Society of Musicians in London." His proposals to settle in New
York not meeting with sufficient encouragement, he went to Philadelphia
after giving proof of his abilities to the New Yorkers in an excellent con-
cert. In Philadelphia his talents were readily appreciated, and he became
music teacher in the best families. He conducted and performed in numer-
ous concerts, besides presiding at the harpsichord in opera, in several
cities, especially in Baltimore, before he and Wignell founded the New
Theatre at Philadelphia in 1793. This enterprise was in every respect
remarkable, but too great a preference was given to opera, and the com-
mercial success was not in keeping with the artistic. Reinagle developed
an astonishing activity as composer and arranger during these years. He
died at Baltimore on September 21, 1809. "During the latter years of
his life, he was ardently engaged in composing music to parts of Milton's
.. Loat wnicl3l j^ ^ np ^ u to com p leteg jj wafl intentofl to be
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 65
ments and occasionally a new overture to such importa-
tions, but in this case lie reset the entire libretto for rea-
sons unknown to us. The "Daily American Advertiser"
announced on May 5, 1795, that for Mrs. Morris's ben-
efit would be given on the following evening:
... a Musical Dramatic Tale, in 2 acts, called The Sicilian
Romance, or, the Apparition of the Cliffs. Now performing at
Covent Garden in London with unbounded applause. The
music composed by Mr. Reinagle.
Merely alluding to an unimportant "Musical Inter-
lude" called "The Eecruit" and performed .at Charleston,
S. 0., in 1796, the book of which was written by the actor
John D. Turnbull, we now have to concentrate our atten-
tion on two operas, whose librettos were both published
in 1796 : The Archers, frequently but erroneously called
the first American opera, and Edwin and Angelina,.
The book to The Archers was written by William Dun-
lap, 1 and the music by Benjamin Carr. 2 The opera was
advertised for first performance at the John Street Theatre,
performed in the oratorio style, except that instead of recitatives, the best
speakers were to be engaged in reciting the intermediate passages."
[Parker.] The L. of C. possesses some really fine sonatas of his in auto-
1 Diinlap, William, 1766-1839. The well-known painter (pupil of
Benjamin West), playwright (70 original plays and translations), theatrical
manager, historian, founder and vice-president of the National Academy of
Design, etc.
3 Carr, Benjamin, [1769] -1831. This prolific composer was a member
of the London "Concert of Antient Music" before he, in 1793, emigrated to
the United States. He is first mentioned in the Philadelphia papers of the
same year as partner of "B. Carr & Co., music printers and importers."
When opening a branch of his "Musical Repository" at New York in 1794
he probably removed his residence from Philadelphia to New York. Late in
1796 or early in 1797 he seems to have sold the New York branch to
James Hewitt. Carr was a favorite of the American public as a ballad
singer, and tried the operatic stage with some success. But his career as
organist, pianist, concert manager, publisher and composer was of by far
greater importance for the development of musical life in Philadelphia.
In fact, he is equaled by very few in that respect. His compositions, both
sacred and secular, are very numerous, but scattered. The New York
Public Library, for instance, possesses a miscellaneous collection of sacred
music in Carr's handwriting and full of original compositions by him, a
fact that has escaped attention. Carr tried almost every branch of com-
position with success. He was a thoroughly trained musician of the old
school. His works are distinguished by a pleasing softness of lines. He
also wrote a few theoretical treatises. The Musical Fund Society, of
which he was a founder (1820), erected a monument to his memory after
bis death in Philadelphia on May 24, 1831.
66 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
New York, in the "American Daily Advertiser," 1796,
April 16th, as follows :
On Monday Evening the 18th of April will be presented
a new Dramatic Piece, in 3 Acts, called The Archers,
Founded on the story of William Tell. Interspersed with Songs,
Choruses, etc. . . .
The opera was repeated "by particular Desire and the last
time of performing it this Season" on April 22nd, 1 and
revived on November 25th, 1796, for one performance. 2
During the following year it was twice given at Boston,
the second time with an advertisement to the effect that
it had been performed in New York "several nights, with
unbounded applause." 3 The Archers then seems to have
fallen into oblivion.
For want of other contemporaneous criticisms I quote
what Dunlap had to say on his own behalf in the American
Theatre (1832, pp. 147, 149) :
The story of William Tell and the struggle for Helvetic
liberty was . . , moulded into dramatic form . . . and with
songs, choruses, etc., was called an opera . . . Mr. Oarr, for
whom the principal singing part was allotted, composed the
music. Comic parts were introduced with some effect.
Schiller's play on the same subject did not then exist . . . The
writer of the American play gave it a very bad title, "The
Archers." . . .
On the 18th of April, 1796, the opera of The Archers was
performed for the first time, and received with great applause.
The music by Oarr was pleasing and well got up ; Hodgkinson
and Mrs. Melmoth were forcible in Tell and wife. The comic
parts told well with Hallam and Mrs. Hodgkinson, although
Conrad ought to have been given to Jefferson. The piece was
repeatedly played, and was printed immediately.
The title-page reads :
The Archers or Mountaineers of Switzerland; an opera, in
three acts as performed by the Old American Company, in New
1 Comp. "American Daily Advertiser," April 22, 1796.
3 Comp. "American Minerva," November 25, 1796. This third perform-
ance escaped Mr. Seilhamer's attention, and it must be said that his antag-
onism to William Dunlap induced him to treat of The Archers- too super-
ficially.
* Comp. "Columbian Centinel," Boston, October 7, 1797.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 67
York. To which is subjoined a brief historical account of
Switzerland, from the dissolution of the Eoman Empire to the
final establishment of the Helvetic Confederacy by the battle of
Sempach.
New York. Printed by T. & J. Sword, No. 99 Pearl Street
1796*
The history of the libretto is thus given in the preface :
In the summer of the year 1794, a dramatic performance,
published in London, was left with me, called Helvetic Liberty.
I was requested to adapt it to our stage. After several perusals
I gave it up, as incorrigible; but pleased with the subject, I
recurred to the history of Switzerland, and composed the piece
now presented to the public.
Any person, who has the curiosity to compare the two pieces,
will observe that I have adopted three of the imaginary char-
acters, from Helvetic Liberty, the Burgomaster, Lieutenant,
and Ehodolpha: I believe they are, however, strictly my own.
The other similarities are the necessary consequences of being
both founded on the same historic fact. . . .
The principal liberty taken with history is, that I have con-
centrated some of the actions of these heroic mountaineers ;
making time submit to the laws of the Drama. But the reader
will not have that sublime pleasure invaded, which is felt in the
contemplation of virtuous characters; Tell, Furst, Melchthal,
Staffach, and Winkelried, are not the children of poetic
fiction. . . .
New York, April 10th, 1796. W. Dunlap.
After the prologue ("We tell a tale of Liberty to-night
. . .") follow the
Characters*
Wim o a Alri eU ' BUrfflier f AM0 * Cant n } Mr ' Hodgkinson
Walter Furst, of TJri Mr. Johnson
Werner Staffach, of Schwyz Mr. Hallam, jun.
Arnold Melchthal, of TJnterwalden Mr. Tyler
Qesler, Austrian Governor of Uri Mr. Cleveland
Lieutenant to Gesler Mr. Jefferson
Burgomaster of Altdorf Mr. Prigmore
Conrad, a seller of wooden ware in Altdorf Mr. Hallam
Leopold, Duke of Austria Mr. King
Collation : 8vo. pref. pp. (V)-VI ; proL (VII)-VIII ; text 78 pp. ; hist,
account pp. 81 94 (1). Boston Public Library; Brown University;
Library of Congress; Library Company of Philadelphia; New York His-
torical Society; New York Public Library; Pennsylvania Historical Society.
68 _ MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Bowmen Messrs. Lee, Durang, etc.
Pikemen Messrs. Munto, Tpmkins, etc.
Burghers Messrs. Des Moulins, Wools, etc.
Portia, TelPs wife Mrs. Melmoth
Bhodolpha, Walter Furst's V^ Broadlmrst
daughter J
Cecily, a basket woman Mrs. Hodgkinson
Boy, Tell's son Miss Harding
TWo^^o * rr- /Madame Gardie, Madame Val,
Maidens of Uri etc
Scene lies in the City of Altdorf and its Environs. Time,
part of two days.
A fair example of the strength and high standard of
the Old American Company !
Having the right of priority over Schiller's Wilhelm
Tell, The Archers shall be treated here with especial con-
sideration. A synopsis will also help to disclose the dif-
ferences in plot, spirit and genre between the work of the
so-called Father of the American Stage and the German
master-poet.
The first scene of the first act "shows" a Street in
Altdorf. Enter Cecily crying "Baskets for Sale" or
rather soliciting trade with a song. She is met by "Conrad
with a Jackass loaded with Wooden Bowls, Dishes, Ladles,
etc." Conrad is a jolly sort of fellow from beginning to
end of the opera, as may be seen from his entrance-song:
Here are bowls by the dozen, and spoons by the gross,
And a ladle or two in the bargain I'll toss.
Here are ladles for soup and ladles for pap,
To feed little Cob as he lies in your lap.
By, by, by, by,
Come, buy . . . etc.
In the following dialogue we hear of the troubles of the
peasantry and of their preparations for overthrowing Ges-
ler's tyrannical government. But the couple is not very
much interested in politics and prefers to make love in a
duet. Their happiness comes to a sudden end "when
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS
enter Lieutenant and Guard, Drums, etc. Some pressed
men bound Citizens following Conrad attempts to steal
off" but is seized by the guards and made a prisoner.
This calls for a Trio between Conrad, Cecily and the
Lieutenant. The latter, is anything but "honest and sound
at the heart," as Cecily sings of her Conrad, for his en-
treaties are cynically outspoken.
In the second scene we discover William Tell adjusting
his arms, "his little son trying to draw his sword." They
are joined by Portia, and in a highly patriotic dialogue
we are informed in detail of Gesler's violations of char-
tered rights. Finally we are entertained with a song by
Tell, the following lines of which will prove him to have
been a greater marksman than Dunlap a poet.
Forever lives the patriot's fame,
Forever useful is his name,
Inspiring virtuous deeds.
How glorious 'tis in spite of time
In spite of death, to live sublime;
While age to age succeeds.
The scene shifts and "bowmen are discovered preparing
their arms by the Side of a Piece of Water; on the other
Side of which is seen the sublime Hills, hanging Eocks,
and various appropriate Beauties of the Lake of Uri." N
After a chorus by the bowmen, enter Walter Furst and'
Arnold Melchthal. Horns sound at a distance, are rec-
ognized as those of Schwyz and answered by the bow-
men of Uri with the "song of IJri." Enter Werner Staf-
f ach at the head of warriors. They march down the stage
and range opposite (we are in opera) the bowmen of Fri,
singing
To the war horn's loud and solemn blast,
Floating on the affrighted air,
Obedient Schweitzers hither haste,
The fight with Uri's sons to stare.
Of course, the "Euetli Schwur" follows, Dunlap spelling
the word Gruti, and it is here where he "concentrated
70 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
some of the action of these heroic mountaineers" by avail-
ing himself of Arnold Winkelried and the Battle of Sem-
pach an anachronism of eighty years, to make "time
submit to the laws of the Drama."
The operatic illusion becomes complete when "enter
Rhodolpha, equip'd as a Huntress." She requests and
receives her father's permission to fight with the men for
the liberty of her country. The act could end here to
the satisfaction of everybody, but a finale is needed. It
is furnished by Melchthal and Khodolpha in a duet and by
the "Chorus of the whole."
. The second act opens "in front of the castle of Altdorf.
A pole is seen with a Hat on it. Enter Lieutenant with
Guards, among whom is Conrad, armed as a Cuirassier,
his Armour much too large for him and apparently very
heavy." The Lieutenant leads him to a spot near the
castle, with orders to force every passer-by to bow to the
governor's hat. .Exit Lieutenant after a clever duet with
Conrad, who continues his buffooneries. He not even in-
terrupts them when G-esler and Lieutenant enter with deep-
laid plans against the burghers of Altdorf in general and
"saucy Tell" in particular. Having informed the au-
dience of their intention to hang Tell, they leave, where-
upon enters Khodolpha. We are now entertained with a
rather burlesque episode between her and Conrad. The
play again becomes serious for a while after the appear-
ance of the burgomaster, who bows to the hat. A skill-
fully contrasted dialogue follows between him
"traitor ! no, no, . . . one of Switzerland's best friends"
(as he calls himself) and Khodolpha. Finally, aiming at
the burgomaster with her weapon, she forces him to kneel
down and bow to her, "the representative of Liberty."
From a melodramatic standpoint this is very effective and
would please an American audience to-day as much as it
probably did one hundred years ago. The scene, however,
EAELT AMERICAN OPERAS 71
is weakened by a rather tawdry song of Rhodolpha and by
additional buffooneries of Conrad.
The next scene carries us to the town-hall of Altdorf.
Its interest is concentrated in a fine monologue of Tell,
who incites his fellow-citizens to speedy action. He is
surprised and disarmed, whereupon we are carried back
to the castle, the pole, etc., and Conrad in Morpheus'
arms. Enter Burgomaster, Tell, and Lieutenant. Traitor
and patriot are contrasted in a pathetic manner, but the
effect is destroyed by what follows: a low-comedy scene
between Conrad and Cecily. For instance, Cecily sings
a song, tickling at its refrains her sleeping lover's nose.
Finally, Conrad "gets out of the cuirass and dresses up
Cecily."
The fourth scene carries us to the governor's palace,
where Gesler gives orders to execute Tell immediately,
though Portia pathetically cries for mercy. The news
that the Austrians "have stop'd ; amaz'd" and that Leopold
of Austria has taken supreme command, forces Gesler to
defer the execution. He resolves to free Tell under the
condition that "he must somewhat do to please us." Of
course, we now expect to be witnesses of how Tell shoots
the apple from his son's head. Strange to say, Dunlap
contents himself with merely letting Gesler stipulate this
feat as the conditio sine qua non, and with contrasting
Gesler's devilishly cruel designs with Portia's pathetic
outcries.
The next scene shows "the Mountains, a Waterfall and
a distant View of a part of the Lake," Enter Walter,
then Melchthal and bowmen, rejoicing in the news of the
emperor's death. After a rather bombastic song of Melch-
thal, those present are joined by Werner, Ehodolpha, pike-
men, and maidens bringing the belated news that "Gesler
hath seiz'd on Tell, and threatens death." All this occa-
sions a trio' between Rhodolpha, Melchthal and first
bowman "altered from Goldsmith" :
72 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Dear is the homely cot, and dear the shed
To which the soul conforms;
And dear to us the hill, whose snow-crowned head
Uplifts us to the storms, etc.
With the quoted lines as chorus-refrain, the curtain falls,
the interruption of the applet-scene being an obvious techni-
cal blunder.
Its development is taken up in the first scene of the
third act, on lines and at times in words almost literally
the same as in Schiller's drama. The second scene pre-
sents "The mountains. Violent Storm, Wind, Eain and
Thunder." After the storm has abated, enter Melchthal
with this song:
Hark! from the mountain's awful head,
To stranger's hearts inspiring dread,
The genius of our hills in thunder speaks !
Switzers, to arms ! to arms 1 arise!
To arms ! each hollow cave replies
To arms ! to arms ! from every echo breaks.
Then enters Ehodolpha, followed by her female archers.
We listen to a song by her and are then notified by
Werner Staffach how weak is this all compared with the
corresponding scenes in Schiller :
the tyrant Qesler's slain
'Twas Tell that slew him here upon the lake.
Hardly has he narrated how Tell escaped, when the hero
arrives. He is greeted with :
Song
Ehodolpha
He comes ! he comes ! the victor comes,
Who conquers in his country's cause, etc,
Chorus
He comes ! he comes ! etc.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 73
Arnold
Not so the bloodstained hero, he
Who murders but to gain a name, etc.
Chorus
He comes ! etc.
Tell is chosen commander in chief. He distributes his
orders. Exeunt all except Ehodolpha and Arnold, who
remain true to the traditions of opera by singing a duet
before hastening away.
The third scene is of an essentially comic character. It
plays in the Castle of Altdorf, where Conrad is tried as
a deserter. But he seems to know that nothing will hap-
pen to him, for he is extremely merry, though the guards
prepare to shoot him. They are prevented from doing so
by Ehodolpha and her Amazons, who have attacked and
stormed the castle (as Melchthal has the kindness to in-
form the public). After some funny lines by Conrad
and a song by Cecily, the scene closes with a glee between
Ehodolpha, Arnold and Cecily.
Scenes fourth and fifth represent the finale of the work
on "the Field of Battle, surrounded by Mountains." It
is a regular stage skirmish void of dramatic interest Leo-
pold is slain by Tell, Conrad has a few jokes in store,
and with much noise of sounding horns and trumpets "an
almost bloodless victory" is won by the Swiss. Tell ad-
vances and delivers a patriotic speech with a song:
When heaven pours blessings all around
! May mankind be grateful found, etc.
Arnold Melchthal follows with
Ye youths, to Melchthal look and learn;
It's blest reward to see Virtue earn, etc.
Ehodolpha with
If foreign foes our land invade,
Like me, may each undaunted maid
A patriot heart display, etc.
74 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Cecily with
Now war is o'er, and Conrad mine,
Til make my baskets, neat and fine, etc.
Chorus of the whole:
When heaven pours blessings all around, etc.
and curtain.
Necessarily, the American and German plays have
much in common, "being both founded on the same historic
fact," as Dunlap puts it in his preface. That Schiller^
drama surpasses The Archers in dramatic logic, vigor,
purity of style and poetic beauty goes without saying;
for Dunlap was not a masters-poet, but merely a dramati-
cally gifted stag&manager. However, it would be unjust
to deny The Archers some forcible monologues and skill-
fully contrasted scenes in which the mongrel form of opera
is well kept in mind. It would also be unjust to condemn
Dunlap wherever his version differs from Schiller's,
merely because it differs. We generally grow so familiar
with the structure of a masterpiece that a different version
appears to be a failure, though it may possess its inde-
pendent merits. For instance, no esthetic objection can
be raised against Dunlap's endeavors to picture Tell as
an active "politician" or to keep Tell's wife more in the
foreground than Schiller did.
Dunlap falls short less in such details than in his arid
lyrics and in the general aspect of the play. The Tell
story is bound to be the theme for a serious drama, and
no theme is less appropriate for a comic opera, as the
story contains no comic elements whatever. If, there-
fore, an author stoops to make of it a comic opera, he
will be forced to use violence. This Dunlap has done, and
this combination of heterogenous elements has been futile,
the more so as the comic scenes decidedly smack of low
comedy. At times Conrad and not Tell seems to be the
hero. In fact, The Archers could greatly be improved if
,-'..; ?>'i
-^l'".^2f_
v - l^yLViS.' l3f '$$'
^WiA
*^ ; " fe^i; ;*Vr>,^'
**'?$\*?'*3&'
"/v/iTf *'"f,,.^-
. iv--|^<( |'$^.'H,.
"'^^tt-*'x^ >J Sf
-i;leB^|-
^:f|^'- f l:f;l;/
, ,*V S 1 '-* P -1 ; \,.., >
__ EAELY AMERICAN OPERAS _ 75
Conrad and Cecily were omitted. Of course, then the
main reason for calling the work a comic opera -would
disappear and the part which music has in the play would
be ~*ther reduced.
Perhaps it would have been better to omit music entirely,
with the exception of some patriotic choruses and the
storm music between scenes 1 and 2 of the third act,
since nearly all the songs, duets and trios are wholly un-
dramatic. They retard the solution of the problem and
contain but repetitions of the contents of the spoken mono-
logues and dialogues in the form of musical lyrics. Still,
we must not censure Dunlap too severely. Others, and
greater than. he, sinned against good taste by forcing
serious themes into the straitjacket of comic opera.
This had to be pointed out, as the origin of the pecu-
liarly spectacular and nonsensical character of the Ameri-
can (so-called) comic operas of to-dayveritable operet-
tinaccias, to murder the Italian languagemust partly be
traced back to the beginnings of operatic life in America.
The remark will go a good way towards a reasonable ex-
planation of why so far the birth of genuine American
opera has been so tardy, for American comic opera is, at
its best, a deeply rooted national evil.
Of Carres music to Dunlap's Archers hardly anything
can be said, as it seems to be lost. However, I was fortu-
nate enough to discover, in "No. 7 of Carr's Musical Miscel-
lany, the number having been copyrighted in 1813, a
Rondo from the Overture to the opera of the Archers or*
Mountaineers of Switzerland and composed by B. Oarr. Ar-
ranged for the Piano Forte.
A reprint of this extremely scarce piece 1 will be found
in the Sammelbande, 1904-05. That it in no way pre-
1 The only copy I personally knew of at the time of writing this essay was
, . ,
which was first published in my book "Early Opera in America/' G. Schir-
mer, 1915. Both the New York Public Library aa& &e Library of Congress
* Vita *awoi TkioAA
76 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
sents an overture programmatic. of the Tell idea will be
seen at the first glance. It is a simple rondo, the themes
of which may or may not have been used in the opera. If
the songs, etc., were as dainty as this rondo, we surely must
regret their loss.
Edwin and Angelina.
Allusion was made to the prevailing idea that The Arch-
ers was the first American opera. It was not, for at least
Edwin and Angelina, or the Banditti, an opera, in three acts.
New York. Printed by T. & J. Swords, No. 99 Pearlstreet.
1797.
possesses the claim of priority. 1 The libretto was written
by Elihu Hubbard Smith, a physician, graduate of Yale,
who was born at Litchfield, Conn., in 1771 and died of
yellow fever at New York in 1798. The preface, as all
good prefaces should, gives the history of this opera, and
a strange history it is.
. . . The principal scenes of the following Drama were com-
posed in March, 1791, as an exercise to beguile the weariness
of a short period of involuntary leisure; and without any view
to theatrical representation. From that time, till the month
of October, 1793, they lay neglected, and almost forgotten.
An accident then bringing them to recollection, several short
scenes were added, agreeable to my original design; and the
whole adapted to the Stage. The piece was presented to the
then Managers of the Old American Company, for their accept-
ance, the December following; but the peculiar situation of the
theatre prevented any attention to this application, till June,
1794; when on a change in the management, it was accepted.
An interval of six months, and a further acquaintance with the
Stage, had convinced me that the piece might undergo altera-
tions, with advantage. These were undertaken, immediately:
the loss of a comic character, which was now rejected, was sup-
plied by two new additional scenes; additional songs were com-
1 Collation: 8vo. t. p. V. bl.; p. (3) ded. signed E. H. Smith "To Reuben
and Abigail Smith, Connecticut. My Dear Parents . . ." ; pp. (5)-6
pref . ; p. 7 dramatis personae ; pp. 8-72 text. Boston Public Library I
Brown University; Library Company of Philadelphia; Massachusetts His-
torical Society; New York Historical Society.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 77
posed; and a Drama of two acts, in prose, was converted into
the Opera, in its present form, in the course of the succeeding
month. The inherent defects of the plan were such as could
not be remedied, without bestowing on the subject a degree of
attention incompatible with professional engagements; and,
which I, therefore thought myself justified in withholding. But
should this performance meet the same generous indulgence, in
private, with which it was received in public, I shall neither
attempt to disarm Criticism of her severity, nor be ashamed of
this feeble effort to contribute to the rational amusement of my
fellow-citizens.
New York, Feb. 15, 1797.
P.S. It may not be improper to observe (though the reader
can scarcely be supposed uninformed, in this particular) that
the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth songs, in the third act
of the following Drama, are from Goldsmith; and all except
the first, from the Ballad of "Edwin and Angelina." I have
taken the liberty to make a slight alteration in the second, to
accommodate it more perfectly to my purpose; and it will be
obvious that, in the principal scene between Edwin and An-
gelina, I have availed myself of the sentiments, and, as far as
possible, of the very expressions of the Author.
The performance alluded to took place at New York on
December 19, 1796. The work was advertised in the
"American Minerva" for the same day as:
"never performed . . . With songs, partly from Goldsmith,
partly original. Music by Pelissier." *
From the libretto the cast appears to have been this:
Sifrid
Edwin
Ethelbert
Walter
Edred
Houg
Banditti
Angelina
Mr. Hodgkinson
Mr. Tylor
Mr. Martin
Mr. Crosby
Mr. Munto
Mr. Miller
Mrs. Hodgkinson
1 Pelissier, Victor, performer on the French horn and composer. First
mentioned on Philadelpia concert programs in 1792 as "first French, horn
of the Theatre in Cape Francois." After residing in Philadelphia for one
year he moved to New York as principal hornplayer in the orchestra of
the Old American Company. His name is frequently met with on New
York concert programs, and most of the arrangements and compositions
for the Old American Company were written either by him or James
Hewitt. Pelissier resided in New York for many years.
78 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
If Victor Pelissier's music, which seems not to be ex-
tant/ was as defective as Elihu Hubbard Smith's libretto,
the managers were justified in according Edwin and Ange-
lina but one performance.
The "scene lies in a forest, in the northern extremity
of England, and in a Cavern, and the entrance of a
Hermitage, in the Forest Time, that of the Kepresenta-
tion." Earl Ethelbert, wealthy, and reputed generous,
and Sif rid, of noble birth but poor, were born in the same
city.
. . . .* While young,
Distinction proud was neither known nor felt:
But Ethelbert, arrived to manhood,
grew vain, debauch'd,
Selfish and mercenary, false and cruel.
After the death of his father, Ethelbert took possession
of the estate and
... in place exalted, he no more, '
His former friend recognized.
Sifrid, deeply wounded, left him and became tenant to
a neighboring lord. There he saw, loved and was loved
by Emma, the daughter of a simple husbandman like him-
self. Ethelbert strove to gain, betray and corrupt Emma ;
and, as she was constant, finally
with armed force
At night, he bore her captive to his tower.
In vain; she remained "inflexible to faithlessness or
shame." Ethelbert then imprisoned Sifrid and caused a
report to be spread that he had died, hoping "by long
attention to overcome her hate." Several years pass.
Sifrid forces his escape and flees. Convinced that the
worst has happened and that the earl killed Emma, he
1 Since writing this study, I acquired for the Library of Congress Pelis-
sier's "Columbian Melodies. A monthly publication consisting of a variety
of songs and pieces for the pianoforte composed by Victor Pelissier," Phila-
delphia, 1811. This extremely rare collection contains "Few are the joys"
and "The Bird when summer" from his "Edwin and Angelina."
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 79
Becomes an outlaw and finally chieftain of bandits. But
Emma is still alive and still loves Sifrid. In the mean-
time, Ethelbert "sinks a slave" of Angelina's beauty. She
is also loved by Edwin, a poor knight. Angelina loves not
Ethelbert but Edwin, though for a while her affection
is subdued by "arrogance of wealth" and "false pride
of birth." Edwin, "murdered" by her disdain, flees
and becomes a hermit in the same forest where Sifrid
is chieftain of bandits.
Angelina, tortured by remorse, seeks to find Edwin.
Ethelbert follows her to the forest, but again she rejects
his love. In 'this very moment they are attacked by the
bandits. Angelina escapes, but Ethelbert is captured.
On recognizing him, Sifrid at first contemplates cruel ie-
venge. He abandons all bloodthirsty designs after hearing
from Ethelbert that Emma is still living and still true to
his memory. The band then receives orders to scour the
forest through for Angelina, who has found shelter in
Edwin's hermitage. At first the lovers do not recognize
each other. After some tearful scenes they do and em-
brace in perfect harmony.
Alas ! Sifrid, Ethelbert, and the robbers rush into the
hut. Ethelbert is naturally very much surprised and be-
wildered to find Angelina in a hermit's arms, and com-
mands him to release her, which Edwin, of course, refuses
to do. Provoked by his firmness Ethelbert exclaims :
I would not harm that reverend form, or dash,
Against the earth, thy sacred heart;
But, wert thou young, thy life should answer me,
For thy insolence, old man.
Whereupon Edwin throws off his disguise and draws his
sword.
Ethelbert (in great surprise) : Edwin!
Edwin (fiercely advancing): Edwin, Lordl
Ethelbert (with great emotion) : The saviour of my life!
The murderer of my love!
80 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The scene ends in happiness, after an explanation how,
when and where Edwin saved Ethelbert's life. But some
difficulties remain to be removed. Sifrid is anxious to
hasten back to Emma. His words to the bandits
My friends ! Hear all,
To my fond arms, Earl Ethelbert restores
The woman of my love; unto my care
My fields paternal, and my earliest home
are met with an outburst of indignation by these gentle-
men, who are not very anxious to reform. Gradually,
however, their hearts soften, and the finde brings universal
happiness and perfect harmony.
This plot, though simple, is full of improbabilities.
And these improbabilities render the developments com-
plicated, as the author has not carried out the dramatic
idea with sufficient clearness and logic. It is, for instance,
illogical that Ethelbert should recognize Edwin and not
vice versa as well, which would have saved the public a
good deal of guesswork and surprise, greater than that of
Ethelbert on recognizing Edwin. In fact, the main defect
of the play lies in the by far too many surprises that are
sprung on the audience*
The language is "exalted" and "sublime" as in so many
efforts of this era of "Sturm und Drang," Ossian, and
"Die Rauber." The characters with their mixture of
hyper-romantic sentimentality and stage villainry prob-
ably appealed to the public of those days, but they are
woefully schematic. To dwell on Edwin and Angelina
as an "opera" is hardly necessary after the confessions of
the author in his preface. It is sufficient to state that
the leading men and leading ladies all come in for iheir
share of the dozen lyrics which protract the dramatic
agony, and that the whole winds up in an. elaborate but
commonplace finale.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 81
1797-1800
1797: Ariadne Abandoned; The Iron Chest; The Adopted
Child; The Savoyard; The Launch. 1798: The Purse; Ameri-
cania and Elutheria. 1799: Sterne's Maria; Fourth of July;
Rudolph. 1800: Castle of Otranto; Robin Hood; The Spanish
Castle; The Wild-goose Chase.
In 1797 a form of operatic entertainment was intro-
duced in New York for which I believe the Americans to
be peculiarly gifted: the melodrama. On April 22nd,
the much admired Mrs. Melmoth advertised for her benefit
on Wednesday the 26th in the New York Daily Adver-
tiser:
The evening's entertainment Trill conclude with a piece, in
one act, never performed in America, called Ariadne Abandoned
By Theseus, in The Isle of Naxos.
Between the different passages spoken by the actors, will be
Full Orchestra Music, expressive of each situation and passion.
The music composed and managed by Pelissier.
This advertisement is about all I have been able to find
regarding Ariadne Abandoned. It probably was an imi-
tation of Benda's work, but neither this nor how the public
received the melodrama, could I ascertain. At any rate,
when John Hodgkinson invaded Boston during the same
year, Ariadne was performed there on July 31st as a
"Tragic Piece in one act" and again with Pelissier^s
music. 1
The next American opera carries us to Baltimore, where
on June 2, 179 7, 2 was to be performed
... a favorite new play, interspersed with songs, called The
Iron Chest.
Written by George Colman, the younger, founded on the cele-
brated novel of Caleb Williams, and performed at the theatres
in London, with unbounded applause.
The music and accompaniments by Mr. E. Taylor.
Comp. "Columbian Centinel," July 29, 1797.
a Coma. "Federal Gazette," June 2, 1797.
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
In England this Play, interspersed with songs, was styled
an opera. It had its first performance as such with Ste-
phen Storace's music in London in 1796, and it is for this
reason that I included The Iron Chest with Eeinagle's
music in the body of my monograph instead of in the
appendix. 1
Our managers have ever been eager to import the suc-
cessful London novelties. A case in point is Samuel Birch's
Adopted Child. First performed with Thomas Atwood's
music at Drury Lane in 1795, it was introduced to a
New York audience as early as May, 1796, and continued
to meet with the applause of different American audiences.
As a rule it was given with Atwood's music, but in Boston,
for some reason or other, the managers of the Haymarket
Theatre decided to perform "for the last time." on June
5, 1797, 2
"The Musical Drama of the Adopted Child" with 'the music
entirely new and composed by Mr. V. Hagen." *
Though an advertisement to that effect escaped my at-
tention, it is almost safe to say that the preceding perform-
ances, too, were given with Van Eagecn's setting. When
the first took place I do not know; certainly between
January and the middle of March, 1797, since the second
* Jo repeat It, the appendix is not here reprinted from the "Sammel-
Dande.
8 Comp. "Columbian Centlnel," June 3, 1797.
This Mr. V. Hagen probably was P. A. Van Hagen, senior; organist,
violinist, composer. P. A. Van Hagen, jun., came to Charleston, S. C. f in
1774. He called himself in advertisements "Organist and Director of the
City's Concert in Rotterdam. Lately arrived from London," and gave
lessons on the organ, harpsichord, pianoforte, violin, violoncello, and viola.
He was probably identical with the violinist of the same name who
appeared at New York in 1789, having changed the "jun." into "sen." in
distinction from his son P. A. Van Hagen. In the following year he called
himself "Organist. Carilloneur, and Director of the City Concert, at
ySSPy* Durin * the Allowing years he resided in New York, from
1793-1796 as principal arranger of the Old City Concerts. After his
removal to Boston, during the fall of 1796, J. C. Holler became his suc-
cessor. At Boston Van Hagen was for a while leader in the New Theatre
orchestra. In his advertisements as music teacher he did not fail to call
himself "Organist in four of the principal churches in Holland" with an
experience during 27 years as an Instructor." With his son he seems to
have opened a music-store in 1798, but the firm probably was dissolved
late in the same year or early in the next. Of his year of death I am
not certain; possibly he died about 1800.
EABLY AMERICAN OPERAS 83
was advertised for March 15tli. I have still less informa-
tion to offer as regards a musical farce, performed at
Wignell and Reinagle's theatre in Philadelphia on July
12, 1797. I glean from a theatrical advertisement in
Porcupine's Gazette for the same day the following title
and cast:
... a musical farce, in two acts (never performed) called The
Savoyard; or the Eepentant Seducer. (The music composed by
Mr. Beinagle.)
Jacques "Mx. Moreton
Belton Mr. Fox
Front Mr. Harwood
Simond Mr. Warren
Father Bertrand Mr. L'Estrange
Benjamin Master H. Warrell
Banditti Messrs. Francis, Warrell and Blissett
Countess Mrs. Francis
Nanette Mrs. Oldmixon
Claudine Mrs. Warrell
The plays written during the years immediately fol-
lowing the War for Independence frequently had a pa-
triotic or political background. Though their literary
merit was very doubtful, their success with the public was
assured if they employed sufficient bombast, stage-battles
and patriotic tableaux to appeal to the pride of our new-
born nation. To this category belonged John Hodgkin-
son's "The Launch,, or, Huzza for the Constitution."
Again we are indebted to the old newspapers for the few
items relating to this piece. The first was a preliminary
"puff" published in the "Columbian Centinel," Boston, on
Wednesday, September 13, 1797.
Theatrical
We hear that Mr. Hodgkinson has written a musical Drama,
entitled "The Launch," in celebration of the naval fte of
Wednesday next; on which evening it will be performed, con-
cluding with a splendid representation of the frigate Constitu-
tion breasting the curled surge.
The piece is said to contain a great diversity of national
84 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
character, and incidental Song. The idea is novel the occa-
sion happy.
On the day of the first performance the same paper went
into further particulars concerning the
Musical Piece, in one act, never yet performed, called The
Launch; or Huzza for the Constitution. Written hy John
Eodgkinson. The whole will conclude with a striking Eepre-
sentation of Launching the New Frigate Constitution. Boats
passing and repassing on the Water. View of the River of
Charlestown, and the neighboring country taken directly from
Jeffry and KussePs Wharf. The scenery principally executed
by Mr. Jefferson.
Ned Grog Mr. Hodgkinson
Constant Mr. Tyler
Old Lexington Mr. Johnson
Old Bunker Mr. Munto
Jack Hawlyard (with a hornpipe) Mr. Jefferson
Tom Bowling Mr. Lee
Sam Forecastle Mr. Leonard
Irishman Mr. Fawcatt
Scotchman Mr. Miller
and Nathan Mr, Martia
Mrs. Lexington Mr. Brett
and Mary Miss Brett
Headers familiar with American history will notice
patriotic allusions even in the nomenclature of this spec-
tacular piece so generously called a "musical drama" in
the "Columbian Centinel." As far as the music is con-
cerned the "great variety of incidental song" stamped The
Launch an operatic pasticcio, since we read in the adver-
tisement of the fourth performance on November 81.
1797:
The Musick selected from the best Composers, with new
Orchestra parts by Pelisier.
During the years 1798 and 1799 surprisingly few operas
were written in the United States and these few would
hardly deserve more than a passing account even if we were
in a position to offer a minute description of them.
EAELY AMERICAN OPERAS 85
In his monograph on early American plays Mr. Wegelin
mentions :
American Tars (The Purse). Played in the Park Theatre,
New York, January 29, 1798.
Mr. Wegelin has not given the title quite correctly, as it
should be "The Purse, or, American Tars," and a perusal
of the "City Gazette" of Charleston, S. 0., would have con-
vinced him that the piece was given there under that
title a year earlier than in New York, on February 8,
1797. It evidently was an Americanized version of Wil-
liam Eeeve's opera "The Purse, or, the Benevolent Tars"
(libretto by Cross), which was introduced in the United
States in 1795 with great success. But if such versions
in usum delphini were to be enumerated, I fear Mr.
Wegelin's list would have to be considered very incomplete,
as few English plays and operas of the day were not
subjected to similar mutilations to suit the American
public.
On the other hand, a work escaped Mr. Wegelin's at-
tention that certainly should have found a place in his
monograph. It was performed on February, 1798, at
Charleston, S. 0., and called
a new Musical and Allegorical Masque, never yet printed or
performed, entitled Americania and Elutheria; or, a new Tale
of the Genii.
Neither the author nor the composer are mentioned in the
"City Gazette" from which I gleaned the title, but a sketch
of the plot is printed, preceded by the following cast :
Jelemmo and Arianthus, Great
winged Spirits, attendants
on Americania Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Downie
Offa, Chief of the Alleganian
Satyri Mr. Jones
Musidorus, the Alleganian
Hermit, the only Mortal in
the Masque Mr. Whitlock
86
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Horbla, Chief of the Dancing-
Spirits
Damonello, Lucifero, Horren-
dum, and Zulpho, Dancing
Satyrs
Americania, Genius of Amer-
ica, a great Spirit, residing
since the creation on the
summit of the Allegani
Vesperia, a winged Spirit,
chief attendant on Ameri-
cania
Hybla, chief of the Hemma-
driads or Wood Nymphs,
and principal Dancer
Tintoretto, Luciabella, Ju-
beraia, Ariella and Tempe,
dancing Nymphs
Elutheria, Goddess of Liberty,
who flies to the arms of
Americania for protection
Mr. Placide
Messrs. Hughes, Tubbs, J.
Jones and M'Kenzie
Mrs. Cleveland
Mrs. Tubbs
Mrs. Flacide
Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Edgar,
Miss Arnold, etc.
Mrs. Whitlock.
Sketch of the Plot
Hybla, a Mountain Nymph, desirous to see a mortal, implores
Offa, a Satyr, to procure that pleasure. Offa deludes an old
Hermit up to the Summit of the Allegani Mountain, to a
great Bock, inhabited by Genii or Aerial Spirits, the chief of
whom, called Americania, understanding that the old Hermit
is ignorant of the American Revolution, commands her domes-
tics to perform an Allegorical Masque for his Information.
In Act first A grand Dance of Nymphs and Satyrs, who
will form a group of the most whimsical kind.
In Act second A meeting taken place between Elutheria,
the Goddess of Liberty, and Americania, who descend on Clouds
on opposite sides.
A Pas de Deux, between the Satyr Horbla and the Nymph
Hybla. The whole to conclude with a General Dance of the
Nymphs and Satyrs, a Pas de Deux, by a young Master and
Lady; and a Pas de Trois, by Mrs. Placide, Mr. Placide and Mr.
Tubbs.
Turning to tie year 1799, at least three works are on rec-
ord that may be called Ainerican operas. In the first
place:
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS 87
An opera, in 2 acts, never performed here, called Sterne's
Maria, or, the Vintage. In the course of the opera the following
new scenery will be displayed. Opening scene A Sunsetting,
with a representation of the vineyards of France, and the man-
ner of gathering in the Vintage.
Entrance to a French inn. Concluding Scene Landscape
and rising Sun.
This was the advertisement of the first performance on
Jan. 14, 1799, as it appeared in the "New York Daily Ad-
vertiser" for Jan. 12th. 1 The book came from the fertile
pen of William Dunlap, and as the author has a few lines
to say on his play in the History of the American Theatre
(pp. 259-260), they may follow for want of other infoi>
mation:
On the 14th of January, 1799, the manager of the New York
theatre brought out an opera written by himself, founded on
the story of Maris, and called "Sterne's Maria, or the Vintage."
The music was composed by Victor Pelessier, and the piece
pleased and was pleasing, but not sufficiently attractive or
popular to keep the stage after the original performers in it
were removed by those fluctuations common in theatrical estab-
lishments. Sterne's Maria was thus cast: Sir Henry Metland,
Mr. Hallam, junr.; Yorick, Mr. Cooper; Pierre (an old man,
father of Maria), Mr. Hogg; Henry (Maria's lover), Mr. Tyler;
La Fleur, Mr. Jefferson; Landlords, Peasants, etc. Maria, Miss
E. Westray; Nanette, Mrs. Oldmixon; Lilla, Mrs. Seymour.
It is not necessary to observe to those acquainted with any part
of American theatrical history, that the music of the piece was
confined to Messrs. Tyler and Jefferson among the males. The
females were all singers; Mrs. Oldmixon the superior. The
opening chorus in the vineyard at sunset, and preparations for
the peasant's dance.
Sterne's words were kept for Yorick, with little variation, and
the story of Maria told in his language. La Fleur is -the lover
of Nanette, and gives . . . account of taking leave of his drum
and his military life.
Again it was Victor Pelissier who furnished the musie
to a "musical drama," which, by the way, further illus-
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
trates how spectacular theatricals were gradually encroach-
ing upon legitimate drama on the American stage. 1
At the Park Theatre in New York was performed on
July 4, 1799, as appears from the "Daily Advertiser,"
a splendid, allegorical, musical Drama, never exhibited, called:
The Fourth of July; or, Temple of American Independence.
In which will be displayed (among other scenery, professedly
intended to exceed any exhibition yet presented by the Theatre)
a view of the lower part of Broadway, Battery, Harbor, and
Shipping taken on the spot.
After the shipping shall have saluted, a military Procession
in perspective will take place, consisting of all the uniform
Companies of the City, Horse, Artillery and Infantry in their
respective plans, according to the order of the March.
The whole to conclude with an inside view of the Temple of
Independence as exhibited on the Birthday of Gen. Washing-
ton. Scenery and Machinery by Mr. Oiceri Music by Mr.
Pelessier.
In addition, a melodrama should be mentioned for the
year 1799, of which I found neither the date of first
performance nor the name of the composer. It was writ-
ten by the actor John D. Turnbull, and Mr. Wegelin
gives the title of the libretto that appeared, he says, in
several editions as follows:
Rudolph; or the Bobbers of Calabria. A Melodrama in three
Acts, as performed at the Boston Theatre.
18mo., pp. 141. Boston 1799.
If we except the "celebrated Musical Romance" of the
Castle of Atranto. Altered from the Sicilian Eomance.
Music and Accompaniments by Pelissier.
as first performed on November 7, 1800, at New York,
and
The much admired Comic Opera of RoT)in Hood, or Sherwood
Forest. Compressed in two Acts . . The Music composed by
Mr. Hewitt.
*In Pelissier's "Columbian Melodies/' 1811, will be found his settings
of "I laugh, I sing," "Hope, gentle hope," and "Ah! why on Quebec's
bloody plain" for "Sterne's Maria." A copy of this extremely rare col-
lection is in the Library of Congress.
EARLY AMERICAN OPERAS
as performed for the first time, also at New York, on
December 24, 1800, the few novelties at the close of the
eighteenth century were due to William Dunlap's pen.
Says the author in his History of the American Theatre:
On the 5th of December [1800] an opera, the music put to-
gether by James Hewitt, and the dialogue by the manager, was
performed, not approved of, repeated once, and forgotten. It
was called the "Knight of the Guadalquivir''
Dunlap, when compiling his history, undoubtedly relied
to a great extent upon his memory, and it is not surprising
that he should have forgotten the original title of one of
his numerous plays in which he himself did not discover
literary merits. The "ITew York Daily Advertiser" thus
advertised on December 5th the first performance of the
opera with an abundant display of dons and senoritas in
the cast and the inevitable Irishman in their midst:
... a Comic Opera (never performed here), called The
Spanish Castle, or, the Knight of the Guadalquivir. With new
scenery and Dresses never before exhibited.
Characters.
Montalvan Mr. Fennel
Sebastian "MV. Hallam
Algiziras Mr. Martin
Florenzo Mr. Fox
Juan Mr. Hallam, jun.
Anselmo Mr. Tyler
Manuel Mr. Powell
Hugo Mr. Crosby
Pedro Mr. Hogg
Pero Mr. Jefferson
O'Tipple Mr. Hodgkinson
Officers, Soldiers, etc., by Gentlemen of the Company.
Women
Olivia Mrs. Hodgkinson
Henerica Miss Brett
Lisetta Miss Harding
The Music by Mr. Hewitt.
90 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
William Dunlap fared somewhat better with a libretto
that was only to a limited extent his own, being hardly
more than a translation of a farce by Kotzebue, the idol
of the theatre-going public of those days. Again we must
refer to Dunlap's own words (op. oik, pp. 272, 275) :
In August, 1799, the yellow fever again appeared in New
York. The manager of the theatre [Dunlap himself] resided
at Perth Amboy, his native place, and was employed in trans-
lating Kotzebue's comedy of 'Talse Shame" and turning the
farce of "Der Wildfang" into an opera, which he called the
''Wild-goose Chase," a title which some wiseacres thought was
intended as a translation of the German appellation. ... As
translated and metamorphosed into an opera . . . the Wild-
goose Ohase was performed on the 24th of January, and con-
tinued a favorite as long as Hodgkinson continued to play the
young baron.
Strange to say, Dunlap had his version of the "Wild-
fang" printed, not as an opera libretto, but as
The Wild-Goose Chase. A Play in four Acts; with Songs,
from the German of Augustus von Kotzebue; with Notes,
marking the Variations from the Original.
The "play," as preserved (for instance) at the Boston and
New York Public Libraries, informs us that the music
was "composed by Mr. Hewitt" a fact easily to be verified
from otheor sources, and in the notes (pp. 100-104) we
read that
all the songs ... are added by the translator . . .
This was about the only "metamorphosis" to warrant of-
fering The Wild-Goose Ohase to the public as a "comic
opera in four acts," as it was called in a favorable criti-
cism under date of January 24th, 1800, in the February
issue of the Monthly Magazine and American Review.
Notwithstanding public approval of the modified ver-
sion of Kotzebue's play, Dunlap must have altered The
Wild-Goose Chase immediately after the first performance,
for it was advertised in the "New York Daily Advertiser"
EARLY AMERICAN OPEBAS 91
for performance on February 19th as "a comic opera, in
three acts." But Dunlap was still unsatisfied, for when
the next winter season opened, it was given on December
19th, 1800, as "the much admired Comic Opera of the
Wild Goose Chase. Compressed in two Acts . . ."
In the meantime James Hewitt seems to have published
the music (though I have been unable to find a copy),
since Joseph Carr, when announcing in the "!N"ew York
Daily Advertiser," February 3, 1800, his intention to pub-
lish "The Musical Journal," concluded the advertisement
with the notice:
Next week, will be published, by J. Hewitt, the favorite songs
in the Wild Ooose Chase, as performed at the Theatre with
great applause.
#
In this survey of early American operas sit venia
verbo I possibly have omitted a few, owing to the diffi-
culty of access to the sources of information, to which I
reckon in the very first place the scattered files of our
early newspapers. Nothing substantially new, however,
I believe, would be added even under more favorable
conditions.
Early American opera was an offspring of English
ballad opera and hardly contained any promises for a truly
national art. The nineteenth century has by no means
improved the outlook. During its first quarter the melo-
drama thrived simultaneously with the senile ballad op-
eras. Then the definite importation of Italian opera
inspired a few composers to bloodless imitations of Eos-
sini, Donizetti, Verdi, etc. Meyerbeer, Gounod, and
finally Wagner, stood godfathers to the more modern
American attempts at opera, and to-day we are as far from
American opera of artistic importance as we ever have
been. ISTot that our composers lack the power to write
dramatic music, but our operatic life has been trimmed
into a hot-house product. The one Metropolitan Opera
92 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
House of New York supplies the whole country with opera,
if we except the French company at New Orleans, the
heroic struggle of Mr. Henry W. Savage for opera sung
in English, and minor enterprises. Under these circum-
stances there is neither place nor time for the production
of American operas, and our composers have almost
stopped trying their hands at this sadly neglected branch
of our art. The struggle against the apathy of the public,
eternally in love with flimsy operettas, commonly called
here comic operas (shades of Figaro!), and on the other
hand against the commercial cowardice and avarice of
the managers, seems hopeless. Whether or no a change
for the better will take place, cannot be foretold. If not,
then the task of the future historian of American opera
will not be enviable, for he will have very little to say.
LISZT'S HULDIGUNGS-MARSCH AND
WEIMAES VOLKSLIED
(Written 1914; published in The Musical Quarterly,
1918)
RECENTLY I had occasion to consult the following entry
in the thematic catalogue of Franz Liszt's works:
Huldigimgs-Marsch (componirt zur Huldigungsfeier (28.
August 1853) S. 3L H. des Grossherzogs Carl Alexander v.
Sachsen- Weimar.) Berlin, Bote & Bock. TTebertragung: Fiier
Pfte zu 2 Haenden vom Componisten. Berlin, Bote & Bock.
Allegro risoluto
Tromp.
The natural inferences- from this entry would be that
the march was originally composed for orchestra and
that it subsequently was arranged for pianoforte by the
composer.
These inferences seem to be borne out by Lina Eamann
in her Liszt biography (vol. II, p. 229) :
.... (Komp. 1853) Huldigungs-Marsch 1 fuer grosses Or-
chester zur Huldigungsfeier (am 28. Aug. 1853) des Gross-
herzogs Carl Alexander v. Sachsen- Weimar (Komp.
1857) Weimars Yolkslied 2 (gedichtet von Peter Cornelius),
dem feinsinnig ein Motiv aus dem Huldigungs-Marsch zu
Grunde liegt, fuer vierstimmigen Maennerchor in Ausgaben
mit Orchester, mit Klavierbegleitung, fuer gemischten Chor,
fuer Kinderchor zu Schulzwecken, fuer EUavier, etc.
*EdIrt Partitur 1858, Bote & Bock, Berlin. Bdlrt Klavierausgabe vom
Komponisten, 1863.
> Edirt in alien Ausgaben 1858, Bote, T. F. A. Kuehn, Weimar.
93
94 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES '
Why my sudden interest in the "Huldigungs-Marsch,"
one of Liszt's innumerable and forgotten minor composi-
tions, little known even to the faithful of his own genera-
tion ? I am free to confess that I had never heard of it,
until I proceeded to consult the thematic catalogue, Ea-
mann's biography and sundry other books for the purpose
of identifying the manuscript of a "Marsch" scored fo*
military band and bearing, on a fly-leaf preceding the
first page of the score (23 p. fol.), this statement by A. W,
Gottschalg, the distinguished organist and pupil of Liszt:
Festmarsch v. Dr. Franz Liszt (fuer Militaermusik von.Kaff),
N. B. Dieser Marsch wurde spaeter als "Huldigungs-Marsch*
benutzt; dem Grossherzog Carl Alexander gewidmet. Weimars
Volkslied v. Liszt wurde zum Trio benutzt. Das vorliegende
Autograph ist von Joachim Eaff.
Of this unpublished band score l absolutely no mention
is made in either the thematic catalogue of Liszt's works,
or in Ramann's biography of Liszt, or in Schaefer's
"Chronologisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der Werke
Joachim Eaffs."
Comparison between the band score of this "Marsch"
and the orchestra score of the "Huldigungs-Marsch" pub-
lished by Bote & Bock immediately established the fact
that one march must have been derived from the othear.
True, the trios have nothing in common, but both marches
begin (the thematic catalogue quotes merely the intro-
ductory fanfare) :
etc.
After sixteen bars the marches part company struc-
turally, the one for band being still more noisy and less
plastic than the one for orchestra.
1 Now in possession of the Library of Congress.
LISZrS HULDIGPNGS-MARSCH 95
The question arises, to which of the two marches "belongs
the priority ? Gottschalg claims that the manuscript band
march was utilized later for the "Huldigungs-Marsch,"
whereas the thematic catalogue and Lina Ramann would
have us believe that the "Huldigungs-Marsch" was com-
posed in 1853. Furthermore, Gottschalg claims that Liszt
used his "Weimars Volkslied" as Trio for the "Huldi-
gung&-Marsch," whereas Lina Ramann tells us that the
trio of the march was used for "Weimars Volkslied."
Finally, Gottschalg's statement would seem to imply that
Liszt composed the "Festmarsch" for orchestra. This,
then, would mean that the orchestral score of the "Huldi-
gungsJSitarsch" is merely to a large extent a revised version
of the "Festmarsch" with "Weimars Volkslied" as substi-
tute for the original Trio.
In the following pages an attempt is made to reconcile
these statements with the help of Liszt's correspondence,
published by Breitkopf & Hartel. Incidentally, it will
be seen that Ramann's dates of publication, so far as they
concern the "Huldigungs-Marsch," are incorrect. Of
course, Liszt's greatness as a composer is not affected by
these inconsequential chronological notes, but biographical
accuracy is better than biographical inaccuracy and, in-
deed, one never can tell just when or how chronological
facts have a bearing on the history of a great composer's
artistic evolution.
Grand Duke Carl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar, who had
drawn Franz Liszt to his court in 1842 and thus had shed
new glory on Weimar, died on July 8, 1853, and Carl
Alexander ascended the throne. Immediately the prepa-
rations for the "Huldigungs" festivities on August 28
began and Liszt had occasion to write to Princess Witt-
genstein on July 18, 1853, after a reception at court, as
follows :
96 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The company retired at 10 o'clock. Wishing me good-night,
Monseigneur asked me to compose a march for his Installation-
Huldigung on August 28th. I shall begin to-morrow; and,
returning home in the carriage with the Prussian Lieutenant
Colonel Hiller von Gaertringen, I believe I have found a fairly
suitable motive which it is only necessary to develop further.
In his letter o July 22, 1853, to the Princess, Liszt
again refers to the March in these words :
I finished yesterday my March for August 28th. It has more
than 200 measures in 4 time and I seem to have succeeded fairly
well. The leader of the military band will arrange it for his
men and KafF will instrumentate it for the theatre orchestra.
I have written it out merely for piano with but a few indica-
tions for the entry of the instruments. It is twice as long as
Mendelssohn's march in the Sommernachtstraum I believe
that it will produce a fairly good effect.
Shortly afterwards Liszt took the waters at Teplitz,
fully intending to be present at Weimar during the coro-
nation festivities on August 28, for which he had also
composed a "Domine salvnm fac," but on August 25 he
informed the Grand Duke that it would be impossible for
him to return for the solemn occasion.
In the meantime, Liszt had written about the march to
Joachim Raff, whose services from 1849 to 1857 as Liszt's
amanuensis went far beyond suggestions as to "Horn-
verdopplungen und desgl." as Goellerich in his long-dis-
tance reminiscences of Liszt (1908) would have us believe
in a gossipy report of a conversation with Liszt in 1884.
We know from the correspondence between Raff and Liszt
published by Raffs widow in "Die Musik" (1902) that
Raff furnished the original instrumentation of Liszt's
"EQeroide funebre," reinstrumentated as the "Goethe
Marsch," and not only assisted Liszt in the instrumenta-
tion of other works, but occasionally took a hand in the com-
position itself. That Liszt later, when his skill in orches-
tration had become equal to that of Raff, deviated from
the jointly prepared scores, may be mentioned in passing,
because that fact is not so well known.
LISZT'S HULDIGUNGS-MARSCH 97
It is in the correspondence alluded to that we find under
of August 5, 1853 :
Do not forget to give Ludwig the score of the March so that
the parts may be copied in time; and please do not send me a
mere Irouillon of the instrumentation of the "Domine." . . .
I send you herewith a few lines for Count Beust Call on
him either in the afternoon at Ettersburg or, more conveniently,
in Weimar. It would be best to reach an agreement with him
as to the performance of your Te Deum and of my Ilarch
verbally and directly. There can not be the slightest difficulty,
but should one be discovered on purpose, Count Beust has
authority to remove it.
And again on August 24, 1853 :
Several rencontres at Teplitz which might influence my future
forbid my presence at Weimar on August 28th, contrary to my
original plans. I regret that I shall not hear your Te Deum
and I entrust entirely to your friendly care any performance of
my March and Domine Salvum.
Pray recommend me to Montag and his two military band-
corps, which will have to occupy themselves with my things
and please take care that they are not played in sloppy fashion.
Liszt was spared this danger, for the simple reason that
the march was not performed. We know this from the
correspondence between him and Grand Duke Carl Alex-
ander, published by La Mara in 1909. Says the Grand
Duke in his letter from Etteorsburg, September 18, 1853,
after some flattering remarks about "le produit incompa-
rable de votre genie" :
For fear of irritating my grieving mother by music in the
castle I suppressed your march. I am obliged to you just the
same and am still anxious to hear it. I hope and trust that I
may soon have the opportunity.
Did such an occasion present itself ? I find no allusion
to a performance in Liszt's letters. Indeed, this march
of 1853 does not appear to be mentioned again in^his cor-
respondence except in a letter to Hans von Billow of
April 26, 1857:
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
I welcome the opportunity for fulfilling my promise to Mr.
Bods [of the firm of Bote & Bock, Berlin] ; and I thank you for
having pointed it out to me. Until now, I confess, I have not
succeeded in discovering among my manuscripts anything suit-
able for him . . . ; but if Mr. Bock has a little patience I shall
send him in July a March analogous [to the march "Vom
Pels zum Meer"]. I would request him to publish it brilliantly,
for it is a march which I composed for the Huldigungs-Feier of
our Grand Duke. It will figure here on the program of the
jubilee festivities for Charles August (September 3d). I should
appreciate it if the arrangement for piano, about six or seven
pages in print, appeared by then. I gladly make a present of
the little opus to Bock.
What deductions are to be derived from these letters
for our present purpose?. In the first place, that Liszt,
by command of the Grand Duke, composed and finished
a march for the "Huldigungs-Feier" of August 28, 1853.
Secondly, that he composed the march for piano with some
orchestral indications. This, then, was the original ver-
sion of the march, and it is quite clear that Liszt's loosely
used words "arrangement for the piano" in his letter to
Billow are misleading. Not the piano version, but the
version for military band, is to be looked upon as an ar-
rangement. I say on purpose, the version for military
band, because the second letter to Raff and the Grand
Duke's letter to Liszt seem to compel the interpretation
that a change in Liszt's plans had taken place. Apparently
he dispensed with an arrangement for orchestra to be
made by Eaff, in favor of a band arrangement only. If
Gottschalg was at all a judge of Raff's handwriting (and
under the circumstances he must have been quite familiar
with Raff's chirography), it would follow that Raff was
entrusted with this band arrangement.
Furthermore, it is quite clear that this band arrange-
ment was not performed on August 28, 1853, also that
it has remained unpublished. It is equally clear that Liszt
did not bestow a specific title on thisjnarch. He_ simply
calls it "Marsch" and not once
LISZT'S HULDIGUNGS-MARSCH
In other words, the entry under "Huldigungs-Marsch" in
the thematic catalogue is misleading. As to the original
version for piano, that, too, obviously was still unpublished
in April, 1857, when Liszt thought of having it used by
Bote & Bock. Curiously enough, though Liszt was willing
to make a present of the original piano version to the
publishers, nothing came of the affair. No such march,
was published in 1857. Indeed, this particular "Marsch"
does not appear ever to have been published. More than
this, though Liszt told Billow that the "Marsch" would
be performed at Weimar during the Grand Duke Carl
August centenary festivities in September, 1857, it was
not then performed. Or, to be more exact, the march was
performed in the original version of 1853, which was
still the only version in existence in April, 1857. With
this assertion we have reached the second stage of the
genesis of the troublesome "Huldigungs-Marsch." What
had happened to induce Liszt to suddenly abandon hia
plan of April, 1857? Again his correspondence sheds
light on the subject. The following letter from Grand
Duke Carl Alexander to Liszt, written in Wilhelmihal,
July 11, 1857, gives the key to the puzzle:
I wish to inform you of a desire, my very dear, [ !] the realiza-
tion of which I have much at heart, and which I entrust to your
friendship and talent. Neither my country nor my house pos-
sesses a national hymn. On every occasion we find ourselves
thrown back on the eternal God scwe the Queen. I beg of you
to replace it by another hymn to emanate from your talent and
to embody for present and future generations your own cachet
of those elevated qualities with which God has endowed you.
It is my desire that the festivities of September inaugurate
this hymn. It must be something between a prayer and a
Vollcslied, serious rather than gay, neither too long nor too
short perfect. You alone can create it. Hence it is to you
that I address myself.
The Grand Duke, in his somewhat Teutonic French,
was ordering a national hymn for Weimar from his court-
conductor, verv much as he would have ordered a new
100 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
overcoat from his court-tailor. Liszt was too much of a
diplomat to dive into his task without further consulta-
tion of the Grand Duke. Asked to whose poetry he would
give preference. Carl Alexander replied on July 14, 1857,
that he saw no reason for not asking "des accords a la lyre
de M. Hoffmann" (von Fallersleben). At the same time
he suggested unearthing from the theatre archives the
text of the song often used on patriotic occasions during
his father's reign and composed by the then court-conductor
Johann Nepomuk Hummel. The comical side of this
phase of the matter is that Liszt from the beginning had
Hoffmann von Fallersleben in mind as the prospective
poet of Weimar's prospective national hymn, and that in
his subtle diplomatic way he was coaxing the Grand Duke
into uttering a preference exactly for Hoffmann von Fal-
lersleben, who, it will be remembered, was the author
of "Deutschland, Deutschland iiber alles." (By the way,
any one who takes the trouble to read the poem will
see that, contrary to popular belief, "Deutschland, Deutsch-
land iiber alles" is not an "offensive" but a "defensive"
poem, substantially a plea for political German unity
only.) Yet, when Liszt had accomplished his purpose, he
did not compose Hoffmann von Fallersleben's poem after
all, but one by Peter Cornelius. In a letter to his brother
Carl from Weimar, August 3, 1857, Cornelius tells us
how this change of front came about:
Liszt wanted a kind of God save the King for our reigning
house and applied for it to Hoffmann von Fallersleben. But
he delivered unto his hands an icy-cold, official nomenclature of
Goethe, Schiller; Charles August and Liszt were not satisfied
with that sort of thing. He thought that perhaps I could do
better, and so I sent him yesterday the inclosed poem to Aix-la-
Ohapelle, where he is taking the Kur. I wrote the song as
much from my heart as I could without hypocrisy or Loy-
dlitdtschwindel to show Liszt that I complied with his wish
with respect. Well, if he likes it and composes it, I shall have
innumerable opponents, and the whole horde of know-betters
(who have neither heart nor song in their make-up to turn out
LISZT'S HULDIGUNGS-MABSCH 101
a poem of that type) will sail into me. Now please, my dear,
wortliy, erudite boy, roast my poem over the coals so that I may
polish and improve it before venturing before the public, and
can laugh at whatever the envious breed may say.
One begins to suspect that Gottschalg was correct in
stating that "Weimars Volkslied," composed by Liszt
par ordre de Mufti, was used by him for the trio of his
"Huldigungs-Marsch." However, the following excerpts
from Liszt's correspondence will prove that Gottschalg
was mistaken. First we have Liszt's letter written from
Aachen, July 23, 1857, to Princess Wittgenstein, and it
will be noticed that Liszt then still had Hoffmann von
Fallersleben in mind for the poetry of Weimar's national
hymn:
This evening I shall begin to instrumentate the Goethe and
Grand Duke marches which are to serve as entr'actes for
Dingelstedt's Festspiel on September 4th. Magnolet perhaps
can prevail on Hoffmann to send me a text for the hymn. In-
vite Hoffmann for lunch the wine of Champagne will make
his Germanic lyre foam.
One day later he writes to the Princess :
I am very busily at work on my marches, which I hope to
finish in about a week.
And again one day later :
The whole afternoon was spent on retouching my marches,
which have produced a tintamarre in my head. Alas, my good,
my only and adored "Tintamarre" is far away I I advance
more slowly than I anticipated with this business of my
marches, though I am at it tenaciously. Perhaps they will suc-
ceed all the better for it.
On July 29 he informs the Princess:
My marches are almost finished. They take up more than
twenty pages of my score-paper of thirty staves, each more than
200 measures in length. The Goethe march has 250 measures
with the repeat. You will be satisfied, I hope.
102 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
And on July 81, with a sigh of relief :
This march business is practically transacted and Sunday
I shall begin to instrumentate the Test prelude.
Without comment I pass on to his letter of August 5,
1857, to the Princess:
Gortfelius* verses [he means, of course, "Weimars Volkslied"]
are to me what March is in Lent or rather the sun in summer.
The choral melody of my march adapts itself to them miracu-
lously well. Two birds with one stone ... I am about to put
my hymn on paper and I shall make a gift of the manuscript
to Cornelius. In the meantime thank him for having re-
sponded to my wishes so well. The stanza
Mo'sge Segen dir entsprossen
Aus vereinten Sarkophagen,
Wo unsterbliche Genossen
Diadem und Lorbeer tragen!
is admirable*
From his next letter, that of August 8, 1857, we learn
nothing new, but its contents will help to flavor an other-
wise dry narrative:
All day yesterday Cornelius' verses laid siege to me. Impos-
sible to rid myself of them either at dinner or at the theatre.
Magnolet and Miss Anderson . . . would have died laughing,
had they seen me light my cigar etui instead of the cigar and
put claret into my coffee instead of sugar. But at last I have
cleared my mind as to what to do, and I fancy that it will be
something magnificent. To-day and to-morrow will be devoted
to the task, for while preserving the popular character of the
melody (to be sung unisono without alterations throughout the
five stanzas), I shall vary noticeably the orchestral accompani-
ment which will call for 8 or 9 pages of orchestral score.
However, the prospect of seeing you again in a few days stimu-
lates me, and I hope to finish the hymn by to-morrow evening
or the day after.
Finally, we have Liszt's letter of August 10, 1857, to
the Princess, still from Aix-la-Chapelle :
LISZT'S HULDIGUNftS-MARSCH 103
I required twelve pages of full orchestral score for the
Volkslied of Cornelius but I hope that the poet will be just as
pleased with the composer as he is with the poet, and they will
hug each other joyfully. I worked at it all day yesterday, from
7 o'clock in the morning until 9 o'clock in the evening, and
again this morning. I shall now arrange it for performance
either by a chorus or a male quartet with accompaniment of
some brass instruments work enough for four or five hours
more.
At least one deduction from all these letters is self-
evident; Liszt approached the task of giving to Weimar
a national hymn through the medium of Peter Cornelius 7
verses with sincere enthusiasm. But also this further
deduction is self-evident, that he did not compose new
music for "Weimars Volkslied." He killed two birds
with one stone by utilizing as Lina Eamann correctly
stated the trio of the festival march composed in honor
of the Grand Duke. This fact finds its corroboration in
a letter written on August 12, 1857, to another friend.
Says Liszt:
I believe I have succeeded well with the composition, and the
motif choral of my march for the Grand Duke has done excellent
service as support ("point d'appui") for this Volkslied.
With considerable satisfaction he reported to the same
friend from Weimar on August 31, 1857, when writing
of the rehearsals of the approaching festivities :
The Volkslied of Cornelius met with a complete success at
court and in town.
It must have been quite a shock to Liszt that the final
reception of "Weimars Volkslied," on which he had spent
so much energy and enthusiasm, was followed by some
severe criticism. The nature of this criticism appears
from a curious letter written by Liszt to the Grand Duke
on December 30, 1857 :
You know that this Volkslied has been reproached for not
being volkstuemlich enough. Without doubt I might reply that
104 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
the appeal of both poetry and music is to a cultured nation and
that the object of this VolMied is precisely to glorify the
culture of Weimar traditions ; nevertheless, I shall not allow my
unpopularity to seek shelter behind an act of respectful loyalty
to your august house, unless . . . your Koyal Highness finds
that I was somewhat justified in raising the tone of my song
and that it should be heard in public, though some persons
might not see their habitual taste reflected in it.
In fairness to the critics of "Weimars Volkslied" I
add that in after-years Liszt himself took a calmer and
more critical view of the merits of this composition as a
national hymn.
Do not let us modulate too much into minor, not even in
Weimar's Volkslied. As for you, remain what you are, an
exemplar of nollesse, very major.
he writes self-ironically -from Budapest on January 25,
1881, in one of his touching, friendly, and fatherly letters
to Billow.
Every reader of the letters quoted above must gain
the impression that Liszt, under considerable difficulties,
had given birth to an absolutely new march for the Grand
Duke ! Without further knowledge of the real facts one
could easily reach, the conclusion that the "Huldigungs-
Marsch" (incorrectly dated 1853 in the Thematic Cata-
logue) is totally different from the march alluded to in
Liszt's letters of August, 1857. Liszt helped to pave the
way for this possible confusion, by not once mentioning
the title he was about to bestow on the march for the fes-
tivities in September, 1857. Yet, as was pointed out
at the beginning of this article, the march for August
28, 1853, and the march for September 4, 1857, represent
merely two different versions of the same piece. Liszt,
with, all his show of white fever-heat of creation, simply
retouched and orchestrated his untitied and unpublished
pianoforte march of 1853, suppressed the original trio
and substituted a new trio with "motif choral." There
LISZT'S HULDIGUNGS-MABSCH
105
was nothing either thematically or constructively really
new about this inarch of 1857, later published and known
as the "HuldigimgSrMarsch," except its trio, and Liszt
killed two birds with one stone by utilizing this trio for
"Weimars Volkslied."
In the published version this trio is repeated for the
final climax of the "Huldigungs-Marsch." Whether or
no this was an afterthought, I cannot tell. Just how
Liszt used the melody of the trio as "point d'appui" for
"Weimars Volkslied" may be seen by comparing the beau-
tifully harmonized melody as here quoted with the melody
in the first edition of "Weimars Volkslied" in the version
for a cappella male chorus:
J'J JL
1. Strophe
Frisch und kraftig
TcnSre.
Basse.
Von der Wart-burg Zin-nen nie der wehtein
106
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
"i " ' y '-y w i r
wie- der hell in fro - henFest-ge - san - gen. Undvom
J J h ^ J . J I g J ' J
Land, wo sie er - schallten tont's in al - le Welt hin-aus:
I I J J I i 1 ! J J i
And these slight alterations not only weakened the mel-
ody but caused Liszt inadvertently to smoke leather in-
stead of tobacco.
This is the genesis of the "Huldigunigs-Marsch," so far
as I was able to discover. In passing, it may be mentioned
that it attracted little or no attention in the musical press
of the time. Not even Franz Brendel thought it worth
while to devote a few words to it in his report of the
September, 1857, festivities at Weimar in the "Neue
Zeitschrift fiir Musik," the only organ on which Liszt
could count for a half-way decent and fair consideration of
his importance as a composer.
Incredible as it may seem, in those days even Liszt's
LISZT'S HULDIGUNGS-MABSCH 107
publishers did not devote nearly as much space to adver-
tisements of his works, as they did to a lot of worse than
mediocre rubbish. Perhaps Liszt's hostility to the boost-
ing of his works by commercial means had something to
do with this attitude. Liszt was so busy championing
the prospects of a host of other composers, that he neglected
his own. His proud motto was, "Ich kann warten."
Perhaps he would still be waiting for recognition of his
greatness as a composer in his best works he certainly did
attain greatness had it not been for Billow and the band
of the faithful who proclaimed and preached the art of
their idol, with a good deal of fanatic noise, it is true,
but also with that intuitive enthusiasm and willingness
of sacrifice against which the counter-currents of radical
opposition and even silent indifference became powerless
in the long run.
But back to the "Huldigungs-Marsch" ! If its history
as a composition is now tolerably clear, not so its biblio-
graphic history. Lina Ramann, it will be remembered,
claims that the "Partitur" was published by Bote & Bock
in 1858 and the "Klavierausgabe vom Komponisten" by
the same publishers in 1863. Both dates are wrong,
Ramann committing a bibliographic salto mortale. The
facts are that Bote & Bock announced the publication of
the "HuldigungsrMarsch" "pour piano" in their "Neue
Berliner Musik-Zeitung" on February 17, 1858 of course,
in its revised- and final version of 1857, not in the original
version of 1853 and the publication of the "Orchester-
Partitur" not until April 18, 1860! Thereby hangs a
ludricous episode, the humor of which the reader will
enjoy without unnecessary comment
Hardly had the publication of the march been announced
by the publishers, when Hans v. Billow, who was looking
after Liszt's interests, wrote to him from Berlin on Feb-
ruary 28, 1858:
Are you very much displeased with the physiognomy of the
108 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
"Huldigungs-Marsch" as published by Bock ? This is the second
issue. The first was so disgraceful that I protested energetically.
I am at daggers point with him as with Schlesinger. Double
profit, as you once remarked.
No further allusion of consequence to the "Huldigungs-
Marsch" transpired in the correspondence between Billow
and Liszt until October 16, 1859, when Billow, commentr
ing on the publishers' "hesitation to publish anything ex-
cept profitable compositions by Meyerbeer and Offenbach 1"
wrote,
Here is a copy of the letter which I saw myself obliged to send
him in the matter of the Huldigungs-Marsch.
Fortunately for posterity this letter' has been included
in the fascinating collection of Billow's letters published
by his widow (Vol. Ill, p. 269-270) and though rather
long I quote it here in full as an illustration of the spirit
in which Billow was fighting the battle of his revered
father-in-law and master. The letter is addressed to Gus-
tav Bock, and reads:
It is a very irksome task to have to write the following lines,
since possibly their contents may discommode you and since,
in view of your personal friendliness toward me, it would
have been very desirable to spare me the regret at annoying
you. About a year ago you applied to me for a manuscript of
my dear father-in-law Dr. Franz Liszt I sent you a manu-
script, called ''Huldigungs-Marsch," in orchestral score and in
a version for piano, and you accepted it. An honorarium was
not stipulated, but the condition was attached to the right of
publication that simultaneously with the piano version (play-
able as a solo piece for piano) the orchestra score should be
engraved and published.
The piano piece was issued, but circumstances of various
kinds taken into reasonable consideration both by me, Dr.
Lisztf s agent, and the composer himself prevented you from
carrying out your plan to fulfill the above condition.
Perhaps your admirably versatile activity caused the little
matter to be forgotten; perhaps I have to censure myself for
not having always pressed the demand of my father-in-law for
publication of the score; perhaps, indeed, there is a misunder-
LISZT'S HULDIGUNflS-MARSCH 109
standing that I at the time failed to make said condition
absolutely clear to you. I am led to this last explanation by
the answer reported to me by Musikdirektor Truhn, who con-
veyed to you my query about the date of publication of said
score. You rejected the friendly suggestion for pecuniary rea-
sons and declared your refusal to publish at all the score of the
Huldigungs-Marsch by Liszt.
Far be it from me to address to you, my very dear Sir and
friend, any reproach; I assume the burden of the matter and
complete responsibility to the extent of formulating for myself
this obligation: to have said Huldigungs-Marsch by Franz Liszt
engraved immediately in orchestral score at my own expense.
Inasmuch as the piano score of said work was published by
your house, I have now the honor to solicit your assistance in
my effort to live up to my obligations and to spare me humilia-
tion by my father-in-law. I adjoin the request that you inform
me at your earliest convenience of the probable cost of publica-
tion an advance inquiry to be pardoned on the grounds that
I do not belong to the class of rentiers.
Characteristic as is this letter of Billow's razor-like
sarcasm concealed in a mouchoir of aristocratic politeness,
Liszt's reply of October 19, 1859, is equally characteristic
of this truly wonderful man, a gentleman born if there
ever was one:
While regretting that I occasioned your disagreeable task of
writing an explanatory letter to Mr. B., I could not help enjoy-
ing the reading of this little epistolary masterpiece, which would
merit being printed at the head of the score of the Huldigungs-
Marsch. However the little affair may end, please, I insist,
avoid a falling out with B. on account of his editorial proceed-
ings. Tell me simply his answer, and we shall take counsel for
the best.
On the same day Billow could report progress, which
was to be foreseen either pro or contra after a letter such
as his to Mr. Bock. Just what the latter replied, I am
not in a position to know, but Billow wrote to Liszt:
Here is Bock's reply to my recent letter. It was followed
immediately by the engraver's visit, who wished to consult me
about size, etc., of the plates. I have accepted the Leipzig
110 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
edition of Glinka's works as the model. In three weeks the
whole thing will be a matter of the past.
This prophecy was premature, for, as I said above,
the orchestral score of the "HuldigungsJ&arsch" did not
appear on the market until April, 1860.
OIAMPrS "BERTOLDO, BERTOLDINO E CACA-
SENNO" AND FAVART'S "NINETTE 1 LA COUR"
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF PASTICCIO
(Sammelbande der I. M. G., 1911)
THE late W. S. Rockstro contributed a two-column
article on "pasticcio" to Grove's Dictionary which is a
curious mixture of fact and fancy. Still, the article,
though, necessarily brief, is about the most comprehensive
we possess on a musical genre which flourishes, as the edi-
tor of the New Grove happily adds, through the medium of
the "ephemeral musical comedies of our own day," at
least in England and America. It is surely not a survival
of the fittest, but at any rate the survival of a practice
once universal, indeed so universal that further histories
of opera are in danger of being inadequate, unless some
historian imposes on himself the task of first giving us
an adequate history of pasticcio. This task will be dif-
ficult and laborious, but it will also be intensely interesting
to him as a mere piece of research, and by the very oddity
of the subject a refreshing incident to historical literature.
Rockstro defines "pasticcio, literally a pie" as "a species
of Lyric Drama composed of airs, duets and other move-
ments, selected from different operas and grouped together
not in accordance with their original intention, but in
such a manner as to provide a mixed audience with the
greatest possible number of favorite airs in succession,"
and his definition is satisfactory for ordinary purposes,
though any one who has occupied himself with pasticcios
will miss the finer lines of distinction which so often
compel us not to dispose of an apparently very simple
111
112 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
matter by such a sweepingly one-sided definition. How-
ever, it is easily seen that a pasticcio may be made tip
either from different works by one composer only, or from
the works by two or more composers, and the more com-
posers involved, the more pronounced the pasticcio char-
acter becomes. The first kind is not of much consequence
in the history of pasticcio as a genre, and furthermore
Rockstro's definition would not pass muster very long
if every opera in which a composer deliberately used ma-
terial from earlier operas, were called a pasticcio. For
the history of opera the second kind of pasticcio offers
hardly any historical nuts to crack, if the juxtaposition
of two or more composers in one and the same opera was
contemplated from the beginning as a mere matter of
collaboration. Rockstro, citing the case of Mattei (first
act), Bononcini (second act), and Haendel (third act),
of Muzio Scevola 1721, as "perhaps the most notable
pasticcio on record," bestows altogether too much attention
on such collaborations, which one would almost be justified
in not calling pasticcios at all. At any rate, such col-
laborations have never been very frequent, comparatively
speaking, and in the history of pasticcio as a genre affect 1
ing the history of operatic life, they will be found to be
more or less a negligible quantity. Really characteristic
of the genre and puzzling are only those pasticcios which
were an opportunistic afterthought, a mixture of heteroge-
neous ingredients, an operatic pie, made up of airs from
different works by different composers, composed at dif-
ferent times for different cities; and most pasticcios are
of this description. If one now considers that such con-
coctions, more frequently than not, retained the title of
one of the operas which contributed to the mixture, that
no reference was made to the other culinary ingredients,
and that gradually the practice of thus mixing operas
grew to extraordinary proportions, it is clear that a his-
tory of pasticcio is inevitable for an absolutely dear his-
tory of opera and operatic life in olden times.
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUE" 113
This study is intended as a concrete illustration of the
thesis, and an opera has been selected which in its day
was second to none in popularity and which gave birth to
i respectable number of imitations, such as Favart's
"Ninette a la Cour," 1755, and Siller's "Lottchen am
Eofe," 1767 namely, Oiampi's "Bertoldo, Bertoldino e
Oacasenno," or, as subsequently better known, "Bertoldo
in (alia) corte." The lexicographers have been quite pro-
fuse in recording performances of this opera. Thus we
find Venice 1747, Piacenza 1750, Paris 1753, Milan 1750,
Venice 1749, Verona 1750, Piacenza 1747, Brunswick
1750, Bologna 1750, etc. It would be sheer waste of time
to prove or disprove the correctness of these dates, some
of which are simply impossible. They merely serve here
to show what an area Ciampi's opera is reputed to have
covered, and fpr a biographical notice of Vincenzo Le-
grenzio Oiampi (born at Piacenza in 1719) I simply
refer to the short article in Grove, which is decidedly the
best, whereas that in Eitner is about the worst imaginable.
Ciampi is not of sufficient importance to the history of
opera as an art-form that men with the tastes of Dent,
Abert or Heuss should devote themselves to an investiga-
tion of his career or art (nor is he statistically interesting
enough to arouse the bee-like industry of men like Piovano
or Wotquenne) ; and perhaps for my purposes it is quite
sufficient to quote Burney's several remarks on Oiampi
in order to reach an adequate estimate of the merits of the
man whom recent research (by William Barclay Squire)
has almost with certainty established as the composer of at
least one musical gem, "Tre giorni son che Nina," usually
attributed to Pergolesi. Ciampi, in the course of his
wanderings, came to London with a company of Italian
singers and is said to have produced his operas there in
person until at least 1762. So Burney, if anybody, had
ample occasion to become familiar with Ciampi as a
composer. He says in his History (TV ? 477) undr 1762 :
114 MSCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The comic operas this spring were Bertoldo by Ciampi, with
Le nozze di Dorina, and La famiglia by Oocchi. Beortoldo had
been performed in 1751 or 1752, when Laschi, Pertici and
Guadagni were here. The two first airs in the second collection
that were now sung by Paganini, are gay and pleasing. Fel-
ton's ground was introduced, at this time, in the opera of
Bertoldo, by Eberardi, but was become too common and vulgar
for an opera audience, though sung by a favorite performer.
And on p. 459 :
The productions of Oiampi strike me now as they did near
forty years ago. They are not without merit; he had fire and
abilities, but there seems something wanting, or redundant
in all his compositions. I never saw one that quite satisfied
me, and yet there are good passages in many of them.
And finally on p. 463 :
The Didone of Oiampi [1754] is the most agreeable of all
this composer's serious operas that were performed on our stage,
here he is more frequently new, as well as graceful, than
formerly.
As stated above, it is not worth while to attempt an
elaborate analysis of such dates on the history of Ciampi's
Bertoldo as are to be found in the many books of refer-
ence, more or less inbred. Only this much deserves to
be stated here, that not one of them, except Towers in
his opera dictionary, mentions the original title of Oiampi's
libretto correctly, and Towers, when mentioning it, does
not connect Ciampi's name with it. This original title
was "Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Cacasenno" and not "Ber-
toldo" or "Bertoldo in corte" or "Bertoldo alia corte."
The oversight is easily explained by a reference to Wiel's
"I teatri nrasicali Veneziani," 1897, who enters under
1749:
Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Oacasenno. Drama comico per musica,
in 3 atti. Poesia Carlo Qoldoni. Musica ( ?)
or again by a reference to Spinelli's Bibliographia Gol-
doniana, 1884:
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COW 115
Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Cacasexmo di Polisseno Fegejo [Ar-
cadian name of Goldoni] da rappresentarsi nel Teatro Giu-
stiniani di S. Moise il carnovale dell'anno 1749. Venezia.
Fenzo, 1749. p. 60.
or finally to Salvioli's Bibliografia universale del Teatro
drammatico Italiano, 1903:
Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Cacasenno. Dramma giocoso per
musica. Poesia di Polisseno Fegejo (Carlo Goldoni). Musica
di diversi autori. Da rappresentarsi nel Teatro Giustiniani di
S. Moise il carnovale dell' anno 1749. Venezia, Fenzo, 1749,
Questa e probabilmente la prima rappresentazione del melo-
dramina goldoniano. ...
Lo stesso. Musica di Francesco Ciampi. Bapp, nel Teatro
Ducale di Milano 1'anno 1750.
fi noto che i Ciampi, maestri di musica, sono due : Francesco
e Vincenzo Legrenzio, per di piu contemporanei. Musicarono
ambidue lo stesso dramma del Goldoni? Non avendo sotfocchio
i libretti, non possiamo dirlo. Certo, nelle varie bibliografie e
nei cataloghi troviamo riportati Tuno e Paltro nome. Musica
di Francesco, dice il Eicci, la rappresentazione di Bologna (T.
Formagliari) del 1750. Musica di Vincenzo, dice il Die.
Lyrique, una rappresentazione di Piacenza verso il 1750 ( ?), e
nel catalogo IT. 39 del Liepmannssphn e indicate un libretto
con questo titolo e con musica di Vincenzo Ciampi stampato a
Brunswick nel 1750 (testo italiano e tedesco). S"on sappiamo
poi comprendere da dove il Eiemann (Opern Handbuch, 759)
abbia tratto Tindicazione di una musica di Vincenzo Legrenzio
Ciampi sul Bertoldo fatta a Venezia nel 1747! A Verona nel
Nuovo Teatro dietro alia Bena fu data una rappresentazione
del Bertoldo di Goldoni ma ignoriamo con quale musica.
This naive accumulation of data is rather badly digested.
Not that I deny that Francesco Ciampi, too, may have
composed Goldoni's libretto, but there is absolutely no
evidence for it and this particular setting of Goldoni's
libretto which puzzled Salvioli is so certainly not by Fran-
cesco as anything can be certain in this world. "Musi-
carono ambidue lo stesso dramma del Goldoni V 9 Salvioli's
own answer is of some importance for the present purpose:
avendo sott'occhio i libretti." Consequently his
rvP n.n.1rlsvni'a 1i'klOiHv\ Tiroci Tlrtf.
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
serration, but was derived from some unmentioned source
or, as it looks to me, was compiled from several and more
or less inaccurate sources. On the other hand, Wiel com-
piled his great work generally with the librettos before
him; and the cast, which he mentions according to his
industrious rule, corresponds with that in the Venice, 1749
libretto in the Albert Schatz collection at the Library of
Congress, and since his entry in no detail conflicts with
this libretto, it follows that he used a copy of the same
edition. This agrees with Spinelli's entry except as to
the words "di Polisseno Fegejo," which do not appear on
our title-page ; but Spinelli does not claim to have actually
copied his title from a libretto which contains these words,
and they may or may not be an editorial addition by him-
self or his source. This is more than probable, since his
collation (Venezia, Fenzo, 1749, 60 p.) agrees with that
of our libretto. Therefore, in the absence of further proof
to the contrary, it is fairly safe to assume that the follow-
ing represents the original edition of Goldoni's famous
libretto, which the poet, to anticipate, does not mention
at all in his memoirs :
Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Oacasenno, dramma comico per musica
da rappresentarsi nel Teatro Giustiniano di S. Moise il carno-
vale delPanno 1749. (Venezia, Modesto Fenzo, 1749. 60 p.
14.5 cm.)
The libretto is in three acts, contains a preface and the
cast, but neither Goldoni nor the composer is mentioned by
name, hence, of course, Wiel's query "Musica V 9
In the absence o* any composer's name in the Venice,
1749 libretto a practice of omission so exasperatingly
frequent in old librettos we would presumably be forced
to concede that perhaps Oiampi did not compose the music
for "Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Oacasenno," Venice, 1749,
but shortly afterwards composed an opera really called
from the beginning "Bertoldo in (or alia) corte." For-
tunately, such methodical skepticism is out of place. The
"BERTOLDO" AflP "NINETTE A LA COUB"i 117
Library of Congress happens to possess the following
librettos, all, regardless of minor differences (two of them
even down to the preface), identical with the "Bertoldo,
Bertoldino e Cacasenno" libretto of 1749 and all mention-
ing T\mcenzo Legrenzio Ciampi as the composer of the
These are:
Bertoldo, Dramma comico per musica da rappresentarsi nel
Teatro Nuovo di Argentina (Argentina [Strassburg] Heitz,
1751). 46 p. 15 cm.
Then
Bertoldo in corte. Dramma giocoso per musica da rap-
presentarsi nel Teatro Bonacossi da S. Stefano il camovale del-
1'anno 1755 . . . (Ferrara, Gius. Einaldi, n. d. 48 p. 14.5 emu).
And
Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Oacasenno. Dramma giocosa [1] per
musica da rappresentarsi nel Nuovo Teatro dell'Opera-ranto-
mima di Bronsevico (n. i., [1750?] 147 p. 18.5 cm.).
In the last the German title "Bertoldus, Bertoldinus
und Cacasennus" and text face the Italian and the libretto
is clearly identical with the one mentioned by Salvioli
as having been listed in Liepmannssohn's catalogue No. 39 ;
indeed, Mr. Schatz may have bought this very copy. At
any rate, it is a rather peculiar coincidence that one of
the librettos which caused Salvioli to be puzzled, should
turn out to be the very one which proves beyond doubt
that Vincenzo Legrenzio Oiampi was actually known about
1750 as the composer of Goldoni's "Bertoldo, Bertoldino
e Cacasenno." Hereafter, therefore^ his opera should be
entered in histories and opera dictionaries under its origi-
nal title with cross reference to its later and better known
title!
Whether or not Salvioli's "musica di diversi autori" is
correct leaving it still open to what extent it is correct
will depend entirely on the interpretation of the perti-
nent last paragraph in Goldoni's preface, which is now
quoted in full:
118 mSCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Amico Lettore.
Bertoldo, Bertoldino, e Cacasenno, sono tre personaggi, che
hanno meritate le rime de' piu celebri poeti italiani, gli quali in
20 bellissimi Oanti lianno di quest! tre successivi eroi formato
si puo dire, un poema. Cid m'indusse a considerarli degni di
comparir sulle scene, por far mostra, se non dei loro f ati, almeno
dei loro respettivi caratteri; cioS Bertoldo vecchio astuto,
malizioso, e mordace: Bertoldino sciocco e goffo, ma fornito
pero di contadinesca malizia, f acendolo io vedere, non ragazzo,
come andd la prima volta alia corte, ma in eta virile, ed am-
mogliato, dicendo di lui 1'autore del Canto decimo nono alia
trigesima settima ottava.
Da che moglie si prese e fatto accorte;
e Cacasenno in aria affatto di semplice, e bacellone. Per unir
insieme questi tre soggetti, mi conviene fare una spezie di
anacronismo, rispetto a Bertoldo, che non era vivo al tempo
di Cacasenno per quello si leggi nel testo di Giulio Cesare Croce,
ma spero mi sara perdonato dal benigno lettore, come fu
tollerato quello di Enea con Didone inventato con felicitS, da
Virgilio, e seguitato con tanto applause dal celebre Metastasio.
Io ho concepito il desiderio di porre in Teatro tutta la
f amiglia delli Bertoldi, onde ho con essi introdotta la Menghina,
moglie di Bertoldino, avendo lasciata in pace la veneranda
Marcolfa, perchS niuna delle signore donne avrebbe avuto
piacere di avere un si fatto nome, e di far la parte della nonna
di Cacasenno.
Per salvar 1'unita del luogo, fingesi che il re Alboino colla
regina Ipsicratea sua consorte sia passato a villeggiare sul suo
real palazzo di Bertagnana, territorio Veronese, e patria delli
Bertoldi, come si legge nel Canto primo, ottava 19 ddPopera
riferita ;
L'unita del tempo ^ osservata, mentre nel giro di 24 ore pud
succedere quanto nella f avola si rappresenta.
L'azione consiste nelParrivo delH Bertoldi al Palazzo del Ee,
e nel retorno all'albergo loro.
L'amore del re per Menghina 1 1'episodio, che li fa andare alia
corte; le gelosie della regina e di Aurelia sua cognata, e
1'episodio, che li fa tornare alia campagna.
Le burle, i travestimenti, e le scioccherie di Cacasenno sono
invenzioni per far ridere, che e 1'unico oggetto di simili com-
ponimenti. I^on mi sono perd servito delle inezie, e puerilita
descritte di Bertoldino, dal Croce, e di Cacasenno dal Scaligeri,
sembrandomi quelle poco addattate alia propriety del Teatro,
ma ne ho ritrovate dell'altre, ricavate dal testo della mia testa,
"BERTOLPO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUB" 119
le quali se non piaceranno non saril colpa degli eroici protago-
nisti, ma del poeta.
A proposjto del poeta, fa egli sua protesta, che le frasi, e le
parole poetiche non hanno a che fare col cuore Oristiano; e
che, se ha f atto un cattivo libro, in dieci giorni, non 1'ha saputo
far meglio.
Circa le arie, alcune sono figlie legitime, e natural! del libro,
alcune addottate, altre spurie, ed altre adulterine per commodo,
e compiacimento de virtuosi, onde ec.
In this preface, Goldoni has not mentioned his whole
list of characters. It follows here with the original cast
as performed at Venice in 1749.
Ipsicratea Eegina
Alboino Ee suo marito
Aurelia Sorella del Re
Erminio suo Sposo
Lisa-lira figlia del Ee e della
Eegina
Menghina moglie di Bertol-
dino
Bertoldo . .
Bertoldino
Gacasenno
La Sig. Livia Segantini
La Sig. Anna Bastiglia
La Sig. Eedegonda Travaglia
La Sig. Oattarina Baratti
La Sig. Bassani d'anni 8
La Sig. Maria Angiola Paga-
nini
II Sig. Carlo Paganini
II Sig. Francesco Carrattoli
II Sig. Giuseppe Cosmi.
If at Brunswick the king Alboino has become "II Oonte
della Eocea, ricco gentil uomo/' and the queen Ipsicratea
"la contessa Albina, sua moglie," these are, as will be
shown, comparatively insignificant modifications, but with
all the liberties taken in the replicas treated in this essay,
the Brunswick, Strassburg and Ferrara librettos are with*
out any doubt based on Goldoni's libretto of 1749, and
though many changes were made in detail, the dramatic
motive remained absolutely and most of the plot practically
the same. Does the same remark apply to the replica
performed at Paris at the Acad&nie royale de musique on
November 9, 1753, with partly the same singers (Anna
,Tonelli, Pietro Manelli, Giuseppe Cosmi, Francesco Guer-
n'ftri^ one of them, indeed, having participated in the
120 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
original Venetian production, as at Strassburg in 1751 ?
Though the Paris libretto is not accessible to me, the ques-
tion is easily answered, because Durey de Noinville in his
"Histoire du Theatre de 1'Academie royale de musique en
France" (2 me ed. 1757, v. 1, pp. 316-318) practically al-
lows us to dispense with the libretto by saying:
Bertoldo in corte. Bertolde a la Oour. Intermede en deux
actes, represent^ le vendredi 9 novembre 1753.
Acteurs.
Armire, veuve du roi Alboin,
amante d'Emile
Emile, successeur d' Alboin. . .
Bertolde
Bertolin, fils de Bertolde
Babet, femme de Bertolin
Sans-souci, fils de Bertolin &
de Babet
la demoiselle LeprL
le sieur Guerrieri.
le sieur Manelli.
le sieur Cosimi.
la Dlle Anne Tonelli.
la demoiselle Catherine To-
nelli.
La musique est du sieur Vincent Oiampi, a laquelle on a
ajout6 plusieurs ariettes de differens maitres.
La scene est dans un village du territoire de Yerona oil etoit
un chateau du Eoi Alboin.
Bertolde est un paysan qu'Emile fait venir a la cour avec
sa famille; ce prince aime Armire, & il en est tendrement aime;
mais lorsqu'il a vu la charmante Babet il en devient 6perdue-
ment amoureux; quelque attention qu'il ait de cacher son amour
a la princesse, elle s'en aperoit & lui en fait de tendres re-
proches, il s'en defend le mieux qu'il peut, mais les yeux d'une
amante p^n^trent ais&nent les sentiments du cceur de 1'objet
qu'elle aime. Bertolin est aussi jaloux de sa femme, & il trouve
trfes-mauvais que le prince veuille lui en couter, il a beau lui
faire donner de meme qu'a Bertolde de riches habits & de
Pargent, & leur procurer toutes sortes d'agr^ments, ils pref&ent
le sejpur tranquille de leur hameau a toute la pompe & a k
magnificence de la cour d'Emile & ils le prient de les renvoyer
dans leur cabanner, ce prince faisant un effort sur lui-mme,
renonce & son amour, renvoye Bertolde & sa famille dans leur
village, & epouse Armire.
Le poeme est assez bien 6crit, mais on n'a pii en suivre le
style, scene per scne : Faction offre d'ailleurs beaucoup de jeu
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 121
de theatre; presque toutes les ariettes spnt d'une grande
beaute, & 1'intennede en g&neral a ete tr&s-bien execute, & bien
suivi jusqu'au 12 fSvrier 1754 que les musiciens Italiens ont
donn6 les Voyageurs dont nous aliens rapporter I'extrait.
If we substitute "Bertoldino" for "Bertolin," "Mem-
ghina" for "Babet," "Cacasenno" for "Sans-Souci,"
"Ipsicratea" for "Armire," if we give Emile and Bertholde
their Italian equivalents, and if we bring Alboino back
to life, we have a synopsis of the original Goldoni libretto,
which fits it like a glove. But how strange a version
wherein the "Bouffons" killed off Alboino and made
Emilio, his erstwhile brother-in-law and rather shameless
purveyor of amorous pleasures, successor, not only to his
throne but to the love of his faithful wife. Verily,
habent fata sua libeZli. However, the probabilities are,
that not one in a thousand knew what odd change of
worldly conditions and relationship had befallen the char-
acters in Goldoni's libretto, and even had this been known,
it certainly would not have affected the fortunes of
Ciampi's opera at Paris, of which Clement and de Laporte
in their "Anecdotes Dramatiques," 1755, say, thus corrobo-
rating Durey de Noinville's estimate:
La musique de cet intermSde est peut-etre la plus brillante,
en ce genre, qu'on ait encore entendue & theatre.
Bertholde a la Cour, dans sa nouveaute, attiroit a TOpIra un
trls-grand concours. Les Bouffons, dont le depart Stoit arretl,
donnoient cette piece pour leurs adieus; comme elle plut presque
egalement aux amateurs des deux genres de musique, la ville
jugea a propos de les retenir encore jusqu'a Paques . . .
It will have been noticed, that both, the king Alboino
and Erminia, are in Q-oldoni's original Bertoldo, Bertol-
dino e Cacasenno what the Germans call "Hosenrollen."
Such a proceeding was not at all original with Goldoni,
but perhaps the idea is not too farfetched that he, whose
fund of fun was inexhaustible, wished to administer a
witty rebuke to the castrati nuisance of heroic opera.
Be this as it may, it certainly must have been ludicrous
122 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
to hear a petticoat king make violent love to a peasant
woman, and a queen indulge in fits of jealousy towards a
king whose voice alone was sufficient to betray the equality
of his sex with her own. This grotesque effect was height-
ened by the fact that Erminio, too, the king's confidential
aide de camp in his amorous escapades, was a woman, and
still more whimsical was the idea of making this royal
couple the parents of an eight year old child.
Goldoni had obviously introduced Lisaura for a funny
scene between her and Cacasenno. Neither she nor
"Aurelia" contribute anything substantial to the plot and
it is therefore not surprising that other theatres simply
dropped these characters. At any rate, this is true of
the performances at Brunswick, Strassburg and Ferrara
as represented by the librettos here discussed. The elimi-
nation of these characters helped to concentrate the interest
on the main dramatic motive: The futile attempt of the
amorous king to replace Bertoldino in the affections of
Menghina. Of course, the whole idea is farcical and far-
cically treated, but then, G-oldoni's farces are not intended
as problem plays which respect the brutal logic of daily
life. I do not believe anybody in the audience thought
that Menghina, in real life, would have returned from
such a court in her status qua. Everybody, I presume,
went home perfectly satisfied as long as the poet did not
carry his reckless flirtation with "the unpardonable sin"
too far. He could, with impunity, build his first two acts
dangerously near the slippery edge of gross suggestiveness,
provided he frustrated the design of the "villain" and in
the third act returned to the accepted standards of pro-
priety. He could, with impunity, play havoc with the
most sacred sentiments of his audience, provided he did
so with genius, did not expect the audience to take his
poetic escapades too seriously and, as it were, made them
.see themselves in the mirror held up to their own frailties
and weaknesses, their faces beaming with innocent pleas-
ure and laughter. This was true not only of Goldoni
"BERTOLPO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUB" 123
and tlie Venetians of hi& time, it is true of playwrights
and audiences of our own time, though perhaps with this
difference, that nowadays the suggestiveness of low comedy
partakes too much of the raffinement of drapery and is
not naively frank enough to be harmless. A meagre plot
without much psychological development, like that of Gol-
doni's "Bertoldo, Bertoldino and Cacasenno," would to-day
be considered too primitively silly with its gay-hearted,
unveiled attempt to amuse the audience at any cost, in
fact unfit for the stage everywhere except perhaps in Italy
and especially in Venice, where the Goldonian spirit is
still tenaciously alive in the people.
If, as was stated above, other theatres dropped the char-
acters of "Lisaura" and "Aurelia" for the obvious purpose
of dramatic concentration, they somewhat spoiled Goldoni's
libretto, because the slender plot really required much
embroidery in order at least to look substantial. The
annihilation of two members of the dramatic family prob-
ably was defended on the practical grounds of overpopu-
lation, but this argument cannot apply to the alterations
which a detailed comparison of the four librettos discloses.
These alterations, or differences, between the four
librettos, will catch the eye best in tabular form. The
first lines of each scene are given with the first line of
each aria in italics on a separate line, the words of scenes
which are identical with those in the 1749 libretto are
not repeated. Where only one line without italics ap-
pears, it means that the scene in question contains no aria.
Of course, where the line reserved for the opening of a
scene is occupied by a word in italics, it means that the
scene begins with an aria.
124
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
h
.9-
*
ll
a-a-
H
^ tei
PH
"S| "-6S
rt ^*>^
csg ^ii
" -> i
a<
o
SMSpsa'
1
I 1 !-*
w AH
CO
8
03
'S
m
o o g
<x>
OQ
O
a'js-9S'3 .fcMS
Kl6cfC| M O-
CO
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 126
eo
II 5 SIS'* 8 '!'*
g8.*.2M -o~g
PH 0-ts fi pq >5
^ *
-I
O
i
n
00
O oa
OS
126
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Hi*
"^ 5 o
i I
n n
II II-
4> 00
s
O
TH
tf
s a
IS
ft O
TH
tf
O H
g
o o
T"r
O,
II
^ 10
Q-g ft
VM/GU w
TH
tf
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COW. 127
48
a 1 ^ -
a*-
YJ
sv
CO
e
128
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
S
l>
tH
I
i.* 3
Hi
00
8 8
1! II
O -H
j
ll
aV
00
a
$
.,H
d fe
a ^
o
00
a
a
j
g 3 ^
d
5
I
O O
p a
11
2 P^
CJ GQ O
a a
H
o
TH
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COTJR", 129
<*?
TH O-
II
^
&5V
a
S . 5^
I g/3
o h S **
vi OQ 5
fl-
^^
*<.5l fi-
* S
jr-C)
;
OQ
e,
o
O
a
fe^a '11 si
USH ^ u'-d S cs ^
o^/- 35 W)*g
I g -a --a * .
83 ^g*5t
^ a x-v 8jW -$**
z* 1 W*
1 3T
t:
*
ill
3?- e 2 S " ?l
u
JS* s
QQ eg
130
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
H
> s
CO
I
II
-*
I
> 5
s
CO
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 131
i
n
06
o
*i
oo
132 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
So many librettos, so many versions! The alterations
evidently go far beyond condensations necessitated by the
elimination of "Lisaura" and "Aurelia." Granted that
the plot has practically remained the same in all four
librettos, yet the changes by way of omission or substi-
tution of arias are so numerous that the Strassburg,
Brunswick and Ferrara librettos must be called adultera-
tions of Goldoni's original "Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Oaca-
senno." And these are only three out of many that
were published for performance of Ciampi's popular op-
era ! I should have liked to add an analysis of the libretto
as used at London, but unfortunately, it is not available
at the Library of Congress. Still, the conjecture is per-
fectly sound that the liberties taken with Goldoni's origi-
nal were very considerable. I base this conjecture on
an analysis of
The Favourite Songs in the Opera calPd
Bertoldo by Sign. Oiampi.
London. Printed for L Walsh (n. d. 1. p. L, 20 p. fol.).
The volume contains six arias (incl. duets) in skeleton
score, all bearing Ciampi's name and the names of the
singers, viz. : Nos. 2 and 6 sung by Guadagni, No. 3 by
IsTinetta de Eoserman, Nos. 4 and 5 by Signora Mellini
and No. 1 as duet by her and Guadagni. Each aria is
headed "Aria nel Bertoldo," meaning of course, Bertoldo
as performed at London, but only the first.
Ca-ra, sei tu il mio be-ne
appears in the original Bertoldo libretto in act II, sc, 16.
As to the*other five:
"BEKTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COTTR" 133
Jfetl
p * l \gl-
Fe li - ce, f e - li - ce io so - no
m
Un vol-to a-ma - bi-le for-zaa d'a - mar
Gm-rail guer-rier tal vol-ta, il guer-rier tal vol-ta
Al por-to bra -ma -to del ven-to a ae - con-da
^
Le va - ghe tu - e pu - pil - le, DeH
they do not even appear listed and certainly not tinder
G-oldoni in Wotqueone's most useful though not exhaustive
"Zeno, Metastasio and Goldoni, Alphabetisches Verzeichnis
der Stiicke in Versen aus ihren dramatischen Werken."
Nor are they to be found in the Strassburg, Brunswick
and Ferrara librettos. Here then are five versions of the
same opera and all five distinctly and remarkably dif-
ferent!!
In the "Favourite Songs" the five arias which are neither
in the four librettos here analyzed nor listed in Wotquenne,
all bear Ciampi's name as composer, and we may therefore
take it for granted that they were really composed by him.
Immediately the question arises, were they interpolated
in the London "Bertoldo" from his other operas, or were
they composed for the occasion? I leave the question
open, as an exhaustive answer is neither possible for me
nor within the scope of this essay. The probabilities are
that the correct answer will lie half-way between the two
134 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
possibilities. On the other hand, it is possible, without
much effort, to trace with the help of Wotquenne's Ver-
zeichnis, at least a few of the arias of the Strassburg,
Brunswick and Ferrara librettos which do not appear in
Goldoni's "Bertoldo, Bertoldino and Cacasenno" libretto
of 1749. Thus
"La donna onorata" (Brunswick, Strassburg) is from Gol-
doni's 'Taese Cuccagna"
"Se vi guardo ben" (Strassburg) is from Goldoni's "I tre
"Contro il destin che freme" (Ferrara) is from Metastasio's
"Antigono" ^ __
"Se al labbro suo non crede" (Ferrara) is from Goldoni's
"Talismano" ., ,, ,
"Una donna come me" (Ferrara) is from Goldoni's "Mondo
della luna"
"Semplicetta Tortorella" (Ferrara) is from Metastasio's
"Demetrio."
Again the question arises, were these interpolations in
the Strassburg, Brunswick and Ferrara librettos se-
lected from operas by Oiampi, or were they selected from
the works of other composers ? The bibliographical sources
for Ciampi'a activity, at least so far as accessible to me,
are so hopelessly inadequate that I can only state that
Oiampi is known to have composed, of the librettos alluded
to, Goldoni's "I tre Gobbi" and Metastasio's "Antigono."
Therefore the conjecture is at least permissible that in
Strassburg "Se vi guardo ben" was selected from Ciampi's
"I tre Gobbi" and in Ferrara "Contro il destin che freme"
from his setting of Metastasio's "Antigono."
Incidentally Wotquenne's Verzeichnis reveals the fact
that "Ai che nel dirli addio" in Goldoni's "Bertoldo,
Bertoldino e Cacasenno" libretto of 1749 is a parody of
"Ah che nel dirti addio" in Metastasio's "Issipile." Im-
mediately now the final paragraph in Goldoni's preface is
remembered.
Circa le arie, alcune sono figlie legitime, e natural! del libro,
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 135
alcune addotate, altre spnrie, ed altre adulterine per commodo,
e compiacimento de' virtuosi, onde ec.
Clearly, Goldoni meant what he said, and though perhaps
at this late date the exact percentage of the "alcune"
may not be determined, there can be no doubt that Goldoni
borrowed freely "dal testo della testa" of other poets,
otherwise he would hardly have considered it advisable to
take the reader into his confidence. Did Qiampi, one is
now justified in asking, compose these borrowings anew,
or did he utilize for them the original settings of other com-
posers ? The question, I fear, will have to remain open,
since Ciampi's score of 1749 is not known to have been
preserved. At any rate, not even the original "Bertoldo"
libretto was wholly original, and it partook noticeably of
the character of a "parody" as well as of a "pasticcio."
Presumably the "parody" feature did not grow in the
replicas, whereas it was shown above that the "pasticcio"
feature of both text and music in their lyrical parts ex-
panded considerably. For instance, of the twenty-five
arias sung at Ferrara, only eight appear among the thirty-
three sung at Venice in 1749 ! How utterly misleading
therefore would the statement in the Ferrara libretto of
1755 "La musica e del Sig. Vincenzo Ciampi" be to him,
who would attempt a study of Ciampi's opera from the
Ferrara libretto alone (or score, if preserved) !
This concrete example surely illustrates the necessity
of caution in basing historical estimates of old Italian
operas on one libretto .or on one score. Just as likely as
not the historian will be criticizing pro or contra a com-
poser who is not at all responsible for the aria examined.
But, it might be said, Ciampi's "Bertoldo" is an excep-
tional example of the mania of interpolation ; and though
perhaps the practice was in force as regards lesser lights,
the warning to be cautious does not apply to the men of
genius who pushed the art-form of opera forward, and
whose master-works surely were not subjected to mutila-
tion. Against all arguments of this kind I simply refer
136 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
to the preface of Fortunate Chelleri's "Teonistocle" (Pa-
dova, 1721), libretto by Apostolo Zeno:
H presente Temistocle e un' azzione scenica fatta in Vienna
. . . 1'anno 1701 [music by Ziani] . . . Questo adunque essen-
dpsi dovuto accommodarsi rappresentabile nel Teatro Obizzi
di Padova, e stato soggetto alia dura necessita di aggiunte di
nuove scene, cambiamenti di arie, ed acrescimenti di mutazioni.
Destino al quote pgni Drama vien sottoposto, dopo la sua prima
comparso che egli fa su i Teatri. . . .
[This particular Temistocle is a scenic play written in Vienna
in the year 1Y01 (music by Ziani). Consequently, this piece
having to be adapted for successful representation at the Obizzi
theatre in Padua, was constrained by stern necessity to submit
to the addition of new scenes, changes in the arias, and new
developments in the changes of scene. A fate to which every
drama is subjected after the first appearance it makes on the
stage."]
Though by no means the only one I found in my libretto
studies^ this is perhaps the most explicit admission of a
pernicious practice which had grown into a deliberate sys-
tem since the beginning of opera, for all students of the
origin of opera will remember, how even in "La Dafnefe"
in "Euridice" and in "II Rapimento di Cefalo" traces of
the "pasticcio" tendency are recorded. I do not mean
the more or less legitimate practice of composers of bor-
rowing, as for instance Handel so often did, from their
own, older works material for new works, but the practice
of tearing one composer's opera asunder and patching it
together again with substitute arias from other operas,
either by the same composer, or more often from operas of
other composers, thereby causing an incongruity of style
which throws a very peculiar side-light on the operatic life
of olden times. I know very well that this is still done
occasionally to-day, especially in ephemeral musical farces,
and just as in former times as a matter of expediency;
but that this expediency still has the force of a system, may
fairly be doubted.
Granted that the system eodsted, what is its explana-
"BERTQLPO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 1 137
tion ? If we except the quite excusable desire of managers
to replace weak or unsuccessful arias of the original score
by better or more successful substitutes, purely (as Gol-
doni so nicely puts it) the "commodo e compiacimento
de' virtuosi."
Of late years (see for instance Wiel) there have been
efforts to minimize the importance of this subserviency
to the singers, and the object of this historical flank-
movement has been to defeat by all possible means the
doctrine that Italian opera of the eighteenth century was
fast losing its right to be called dramma per musica, I
have never taken much stock in this doctrine, because con-
temporary evidence overwhelmingly proves that the poets
and the composers were in deadly earnest about the es-
thetic necessity that opera should be dramatic, notwith-
standing the often indifferent attitude of (at least the
fashionable part of) the public. One need but refer to
Burney to notice that mere voice and vocal technique were
not considered sufficient in a singer to fill his part, unless
merely a lyric part, by those who frequented opera not
only as a social function. Emphasis is laid time and again
in contemporary sources on the singer's ability or nonabil-
ity to act his part in accordance with its dramatic contents
and to underscore them by "divisions" of his own inven-
tion. Whether or not the modern conception of how the
dramatic unity between words and music best be observed
and into what form the whole should be cast in order to
make of opera truly a musical drama, tallies with the
dramaturgic ideas of by-gone times, is a totally different
question. We have seen Meyerbeer vilified beyond the
bounds of propriety, yet I believe that even he was sincerely
striving after musical drama, and his contemporaries be-
lieved him to have accomplished his purpose. From the
beginning of opera the watch-word has been dramma per
musica, and I do not believe that Wagner was one particle
more in earnest about this knotty problem than his prede-
cessors who left their mark on lie history of opera in the
138 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
|
seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The
difference of opinion has never resulted from the "what
to do/' but from the "how to do it." Then as now, many
composers had no business writing operas, because they
lacked the dramatic instinct; and then as now such com-
posers were in the majority. Furthermore, then as now,
many composers would compose into the hands of an ap-
plauding multitude and place the gratitude of singers for
"thankful" parts above the esthetic demands of opera as
an art-form. Then as now, many composers were simply
not able to avoid the beaten path and to evade what had
become inevitably stale by unimproved repetition; but,
I believe, it is foolish to judge the constructive minority
by the inert and, to a certain extent, destructive majority.
Having thus expressed my firm conviction that opera
was never intended by real opera composers otherwise than
as a sincere effort at the solution of the perplexing problem
of musical drama, and that it is therefore eo ipso a psy-
chological absurdity to think that Italian opera of the
eighteenth century was not intended to be dramatic, I
nevertheless take issue with what I called above a recent
historical flank-movement. The history of opera and the
history of operatic life are, if not absolutely, at any rate
largely, two totally different things* A composer might
set out with the best and clearest of intentions to write a
perfect opera, and yet his efforts might come to grief
through the conditions under which his work was to be
performed. In Italy very much more than in any other
country the system of scrittum eixists and existed. Under
this system the impresario wielded an influence, against
the possible evil result of which the composer was powerless.
He was simply a cog in the complicated wheel of conditions*
Impresarios ever have been essentially men of business!
It is their business to fill the house, by pleasing the public.
If they can do so by upholding strictly the pure interests
of art, they will surely do so, but if the preservation of
artistic ideals means the depletion of their purse, they will
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUB" 139
surely let the artistic ideal go to the wall, unless they are
fascinated by tlie prospect of bankruptcy. At the bottom
of the history of operatic life is this purely commercial
problem, and at every turn one will find that it has affected
the history of opera as an art-form. No false esthetic
sentimentality, no hypocritical contempt for the plain facts
of daily life should blind even an historian against actual
conditions, against the fact that opera is not merely a mat-
ter of art, but, as part of the history of operatic life, largely
a matter of artreconomics, and I venture to say that with-
out this admission, perhaps mortifying for the lover of art,
the history of opera will never be properly understood.
These remarks seem distant from the main theme.
They are not so by any means. Under the system of
scritturd the composer was engaged to compose a certain
libretto for performance at a certain theatre. Maybe,
as sometimes occurred, he had the choice between several
librettos, yet, unless he declined to compose any of them,
one he had to compose, whether he liked the libretto or
not Even if it suited his temperament and his individ-
uality immensely, he was not at liberty to compose freely
without further practical considerations. The public
taste, the public demands at Venice differed from those
at Naples, those at Naples from those at Turin, those at
Turin from those at Rome, and so on. The composer
was supposed to adjust himself to the taste of the city
for which he received the scriHura, and as ample experi-
ence of many years had taught impresarios and composers
just where the dividing lines of taste lay (generally a mat-
ter of traditional usage more than any real difference in
ability to appreciate inspired music), this task was perhaps
not difficult and not even irksome, since the librettos were
modeled on the basis of these experiences. But this mat-
ter of local taste brought with it perplexing problems,
when operas that had been successful, for instance, at
Florence were imported to Naples. Immediately the im-
presario became, as it were, a tailor who, as best he could
140 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
with the help of the accredited theatre poet and composer,
endeavored to give to a garment of Florentine style a more
Neapolitan cut. Frequently the impresario makes no
mention in the libretto of this procedure; but frequently
he does, either in those curious, longwinded, adulatory
dedications to some potentate or person of rank, or in a
notice to his "amico lettore." In every such ease, of
course, the people amongst whom the impresario has cast
his lot are made to feel that they, and they only, possess
the key to the secrets of beauty. I have come across more
than one libretto in which some impudent flatterer of an
impresario would justify his amputations of the original
with the remark that the "barbarous" taste of Florence
necessitated a thorough revision of the opera before he
could bring himself to inflict it on the so highly cultivated
and perfect taste of Neapolitans; and vice versa.
Perusing, as I have done lately, many hundreds of old
librettos, one comes to the conclusion that the more insis-
tent an impresario is on the demands of local taste, the
more he has deviated from the original. The differences
of local taste surely existed, and had their basis partly in
a difference of climatic temperament, partly in traditions
of local usage, like the indifference towards choruses or a
fondness for incidental ballets or the craze for sensational
scenic effects, and so on; but, just as certainly, the in-
sistence on the demands of superior local taste was merely
a cloak to hide the state of the impresario's purse. And
exactly here enter the singers who, in the complicated
structure of opera, stood just as much above the impresario
as he stood above the composer and tibe librettist in mould-
ing^ the destinies of opera. If a composer received the
scrittum, he generally knew exactly what the cast, as en-
gaged by the impresario, could accomplish. In a way this
knowledge strengthened his hand, because he would skill-
fully remain within the vocal or emotional limitations of
the singers for whom he composed the parts, and he would
not risk flights of fancy on which the singers could not
"BERTOLDO" AND "KQTETTE A LA COUR" 141
accompany him without inviting fiasco, due to an all too
obvious contrast between intention and results. If it so
happened that the composer had at his disposal a great
cast, he would naturally be stirred to supreme efforts and,
if it was in him, could attempt extraordinary things, thus
carrying opera a little further in its development. On the
other hand, the system weakened the composer's position,
because it frequently prevented him from giving his abso-
lutely best. Furthermore, tradition had rigidly fixed the
relative importance of the several parts that were sup-
posed to make up a well constructed libretto. It was,
for instance, part of his business to observe strictly the rule
that the part of the "seconda donna" should not be more
effective than that of the "prima donna assoluta." To
cope beforehand with the problem of rivalry and jealousy
amongst the singers, was by no means the least difficult
part of an opera composer's technique, a problem which a
modern composer need fear not nearly as much. Marcello
in his "Teatro alia moda" has so cleverly and convincingly
shed the brilliant light of his satire on this whole rigid
system with its many channels of corruption, silliness,
laziness and stagnation, that I need not dwell on it here
at all. The composer simply had to wind his tortuous
way to success, handicapped at every turn by a code of
conduct set up before him by those on whom, in the last
analysis, the success of every opera depends namely, the
singers. In brief, he lived in an atmosphere of compro-
mise, in which only the mere routiniers could breathe
freely. And if this atmosphere of compromise hung like
a cloud over a scrittura,, how much more over a replica,
over which the composer as a rule had no control what-
ever ! The modern composer, as a rule, writes for a nor-
mal but imaginary cast, i. e., endows the characters of
his opera with music that primarily fits the characters
and is not beyond the capabilities of the forces of not a
particular, but any theatre, that might accept the opera
for performance. The composers of Ciampi's time very
142 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
often worked for a concrete cast, winch might or might not
be normal. Hence, they wrote music primarily to fit the
personal vocal or other characteristics of certain singers
who were to interpret certain parts. If the composer SUG-
ceeded in this to the singer's satisfaction, quite naturally
the singer would consider such parts as a kind of personal
artistic property, hut quite as naturally singers who were
merely called upon to interpret such parts in a replica,
felt that the part was not really their own, that they wore,
as it were, second-hand clothes, and that they were placed
at a great disadvantage unless the music happened to fit
their own vocal and other characteristics. Since the scrit-
tw& system, so to speak, conceded a part-ownership in an
opera to the singers, it was one of the logical consequences
of the system that in replicas, too, the music had to be ad-
justed to the cast. An impresario, therefore, would not
and could not under this system, with its many ramifica-
tions into the whole "Opern-Betrieb," have any scruples
against modifying and altering a score and its libretto in
order either to cover up the defects of his company or to
display its strength to full advantage. The easiest way
to do this was exactly to substitute for unsuitable numbers
such that either had already made a reputation for his
singers or, being newly composed for them, in the same
manner as a theatre-tailor would take their measure for cos-
tumes, were likely to fit them and thereby please not only
the singers but the public. Inevitably, therefore, the
whole system led to pasticcio, and the more frankly a theat-
rical enterprise based its appeal to the public on the draw-
ing power of "stars" rather than on the operas themselves,
the more openly the pasticcio feature would be developed
in all its phases. Nor does it require much acuteness
to see that an impresario will have to lean heavily on the
sensational excellence of voices per se beyond the artistic
virtuosity of the happy possessors of these voices, where
the language of opera is not that of the audience.
In our own times, New York has been the paramount
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 143
example for this axiom ; in Ciampi's time, and long after,
it was London, and London in this respect still forms a
twin-city with New York. It is therefore not at all sur-
prising that in Ciampi's time the principle of pasticcio
was in fullest bloom at London and there flourished with
all the exuberance of an exotic plant. There its last
consequences were reached by constructing whole operas
around some particularly showy pieces in which the great
operatic stars of the time took a personal interest It was
at London that Walsh flooded the market with "Le delizie
delle opere." His, Bremner's and the "Favourite Songs"
published by others run into the hundreds of volumes, and
it is perfectly safe to say that they were not less the
"favourite songs" of the singers than they were of the
opera-going public. To say that every opera then given
at London was a pasticcio, would be entirely too sweeping
a statement, but how powerful a feature of operatic life
at London the pasticcio had become Burney's history
alone would prove abundantly. Very few Italian operas
of the time and London heard a great variety of the best
of them and, of course, practically all in Italian were
given there, just as in Italy, Germany, Spain, or Portugal,
without some more or less apparent modifications of the
original score, or of the libretto; and, if we may trust
the innumerable "Favourite Songs" publications, their
majority partook remarkably of the pasticcio practice. The
title and the dramatic body of the original would gen-
erally be retained, but, "per compiacimento de* virtuosi,"
the arias would be taken from anywhere and everywhere,
and to such a degree as to make retrospective analysis
impossible. Thus, in a standard libretto by Metastasio,
he might have to share honors with Zeno, Goldoni, Stam-
piglia, Eossi and other librettists and Gluck, Oiampi,
Galuppi, Cocchi, Jononelli, Latilla, Handel and several
more might be pasted together for one and the same opera.
It is easy for us to condemn such a barbarous practice,
but condemnation does not explain the cause, and it is the
144 .MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
historian's business to find the cause before he condemns,
lest he place the blame where it does not belong. A
history of the pasticcio has yet to be written, and until
it is written the history of eighteenth-century opera can
never be made sufficiently clear in some of its most baf-
fling aspects. The task will not be an easy one, but it
will be a fascinating study in manners and customs, and
once written, I believe, we shall find that Peri's bitter-
sweet complaint in his "Euridice" preface,
Won dimeno Giulio Caccini (detto Eomano) il cui sommo
valore fc noto al mondo, fece Tarie d'Euridice, & alcune del
Pastor . . ., [etc.] E questo, perche dovevano esser cantate da
persone dependenti da lui, le quali Arie si leggono nella sua
composta . . .
leads in a fairly straight direction and on a gradually
broadening path to the foot-note of sweeping condemnation
in Goldoni's Memoirs (I quote from the French ed. of
1787, v. 3, p. 363) :
Les opera-comiques de M. Goldoni ont parcouru plusieurs
endroits de 1'Italie. L'on y a fait partout des changements au
gre des acteurs & des compositeurs de musique. Les imprimeurs
les ont pris oil ils ont pu les trouver, & il en a tres peu qui
ressemblent airs originaux.
If Ciampi^s "Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Oacasenno" is con-
spicuous in the history of the Italian pasticcio, it also
holds a prominent place in the history of that peculiarly
French type of pasticcio, the parodie^ and therewith be-
comes closely connected with the formative period of
operarcomique.
^ The history of serious what an English-speaking pub-
lic delights in labeling "grand" French opera cannot
exactly be called fascinating. The evolutional route is
too straight and the subservience to the ballet too obvious.
"BEBTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUB". 145
Quite different the evolution of French operarcomique
(and comic opera), than which there is no more fascinat-
ing chapter in the history of music, fascinating because it
developed so intermittently by way of curious obstacles,
inoculations and odd evolutional phases. To go into de-
tails here cannot be my purpose. It will be sufficient
to recall to the reader's mind just a few of the points of
interest that make up the historical landscape. Thus he
will remember how Moliere at the "Comedie frangaise"
came pretty near finding his way from "Comedies-ballets"
to "comedies-operas" ; how Lully, jealous of the privileges
of the Academie royale de Musique, interfered, and how
thus French opera-comique received a first check. Then
the Comediens Italiens for the first time lost their oppor-
tunity, and instead of profiting by Moliere's formative
suggestions, they ran more and more to Harlequinades
and burlesques with a strong leaning towards real
"parodies en vaudevilles" (Font), filled with a curious
mixture of vaudevilles, parodies, airs from "grand" operas
by Lully and others, and airs made to order. They were
suppressed in 1697 on account of the "salete" of their
productions. Enters, after a series of complications, "Le
Theatre de la Foire," with the ludicrous historical ecrir
teaux episode. In his "Histoire du Theatre de I'OpSra-
Comique," Paris, 1769 (t. I., p. 5-7) Desboulmiers has
so successfully and neatly described the share of the
"Theatre de la Foire" in the subsequent development, that
it will be better to quote than to parody him. He says:
. . . je me contenterai de dire que le Theatre de la Poire a
commence 1 par des farces que les danseurs de corde melaient
a leurs exercices, ainsi que le pratiquent encore Mcolet & les
autres qui, avec plus de gout & d'intelligence, viendraient a
bout de la ressusciter. On joua ensuite des fragments^ de
vieilles pieces italiennes au grand mecontement des ComSdiens
Frangais qui firent d&fendre aux Forains de donner aucune
Oomedie par dialogue ni par monologue : ceux-ci eurent recours
aux teiteaux que chaque acteur presentait d'abord aux yeux
des spectateurs; mais comme la grosseur qu'fl fallait nScessaire-
146 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES '
ment donner aux caract&res, les rendait embarrassans sur la
scene, ont prit le parti de les faire descendre du ceintre.
L'orquestre jouait Fair, & le spectateur chantait lui-meme les
couplets qui etaient presented. Les acteurs imaginerent avec
raison qu'ils acquereraient plus de grace, chantes par eux-
memes; ils traiterent avec 1' Opera |T Academic royale de
musique] qui, en vertu de ses privileges, leur accorda la per-
mission de chanter. Le Sage, Fuzelier & d'Orneval com-
poserent aussitot des pieces purement en vaudevilles, & le
spectacle prit de ce moment le nom d'0pe*ra comique. On
mele peu-a pres de la prose ou des vers avec les couplets pour
mieux les Her ensemble ou pour se dispenser d'en faire de trop
commens; car alors il n'en Stait pas ainsi qu'gl present, on
pensait qu'il ^tait necessaire de mettre dans chaque de Tesprit
ou du sentiment. Telles furent toujours les pieces de I'0p6ra
comique, jusqu'a ce qu'il ait succombe sous Teffort de ses
ennemis, apres en avoir toujour e*te persecute.
The last sentence refers to Monnet's reformatory but
ill-fated management, 1743-1745. He was too successful
for the Comedie FranQaise, ever watchful of her own
prerogatives and interests. The Comedie obtained an
injunction against the Theatre de la Poire to the effect
that the spoken work in whatever form was there forbid-
den. This forced the management and its playwright
collaborators, principally Favart, to fall back in 1744 and
1745 on the older form of "comedie tout en vaudevilles"
and finally, though the manager of the Academie de mu-
sique used his influence to save the undertaking with
Favart as accredited playwright and regisseur, it was
suppressed in 1745.
Parf aict took his preface almost verbatim from the
preface of Le Sage & d'Orneval's famous libretto collection
"Le Theatre de la Foire, ou TOpera-Comique," 1737, and a
foot-note to the first ecrite&ux libretto tells us how the
amusing subterfuge was accomplished:
Les Scriteaux Stoient une espece de cartouche de toile roulee
sur un baton, & dans lequel Itait 6crit en gros caractere le
couplet, avec le nom du personnage qui aurait du le chanter.
"BERTOLDO" AM) "NINETTE A LA CQUB" 147
L'&sriteau descendoit du ceintre, & etoit port6 par deux enfans
habillez en amours, qui le tenoient en support. Les enfans
suspendus en Pair par le moyen des contrepoids, derouloient
Pecriteau; 1'orchestre joiioit aussitot Tair du couplet, & donnoit
le ton aux spectateurs, qui chantoient eux-memes ce qu'ils
voyoient ecrit, pendant que les acteurs y accommodoient leurs
Le Sage and d'OrnevaPs collection is arranged chrono-
logically, so that it is easy to study the structural and
other developments of the librettos. They themselves have
divided this development into three stages, by first giving,
as they put it, "trois par 6criteaux," then "celles qui sont
en purs vaudevilles chantez par les acteurs & enfin les
pieces qui sont melees de prose." For chronological
reasons two men did not receive in the "Theatre de la
Foire" collection of 1737 the credit which is due to them
historically as the heirs and successors of Le Sage, Fuzelier
and d'Orneval. The one was Pannard, who brought a
little more morality into the plays and that had become
quite necessary; the other, young Favart, whose refined
esprit became necessary to keep the whole genre from
degeneration* What went without saying in Le Sage and
d'Orneval's time, at least requires an explanatory hint in
our own and that is, that many of the works performed
at the Theatres Forains were 'bond fide parodies not merely
of the plays given at the Comedie Franchise, but of the
operas and ballets at the Academie royale de musique.
Thus, for instance, Favart's "Harmonide" 1739 (one act
in vaudevilles varied with prose dialogue) is a parodie
of Eoyer's heroic ballet Zaide; and Favart, Laujon and
Parvi's "Thesee" (1745, one act entirely "en vaudevilles")
a parody of Lully's opera These*e, which had just been
revived. As to the music, for a long time Gilliers was the
accredited composer and arranger of the company, whose
duly it was to arrange and instrumentate the vaudevilles,
to compose not only the ballet airs, but generally also the
last vaudeville, a function in which no less a master than
148 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Rameau at times participated, who indeed at one time was
the conductor!
In the meantime (since 1716) the Comediens Italiens
had again appeared on the field. We possess an excellent
collection of their repertory in the "Nouveau Theatre
Italien," 1753 (a pendant to Gherardi's collection of the .
old Comediens Italiens), and the preface to the first vol-
ume contains a fairly satisfactory historical survey of the
new company's accomplishments. Then, we are told, they
at first performed only Italian pieces in Italian, "but, as
might have been expected, the public gradually ceased to
encourage the undertaking exactly for this reason. To
regain their patronage the Comediens adopted the plan
of distributing the argument of the plots together with the
cast. This plan they followed up with "le canevas italien
& frangais" scene by scene, so that "il n'y manquoit que
la f orme du dialogue/ 5 and then by the complete comedies
of which the French translations were printed facing the
original Italian, a practice, by the way, necessarily in
vogue wherever Italian operas were or are sung in lan-
guages other than that of the audience. At last, having
learned the French language, the Comediens Italiens began
to add performances in French, either translations of
Italian works or French works written for them. Wot
being able to subsist on pure comedy, and not being al-
lowed to compete with the Comedie frangaise, much less
with the Academie royale de musique, quite automatically
the Comediens Italiens were forced to intersperse their
comedies with ballet divertissements and the inevitable
vaudevilles, but towards 1750 the musical features become
quite noticeably less prominent. Even with these musical
admixtures, their comedies would not have kept the Oome-
diens Italiens above water, and they were even prudent
enough to lay special stress on parodies with or without
music. Says the "Calendrier des Theatres," 1751:
L'usage oft Ton etait autrefois de faire les parodies de toutes
. "BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COTJR" 149
les tragedies ou des opearas nouveaux etait encore pour eux
d'une grande ressource: le public qui avait verse des larmes i
Ines de Castro venait en foule les essuyer chez Affnes de
Chaillot, et Ton venait rire au Mauvais menage de ce qu'on
avait pleurS chez Herode et Mariannine.
After all, the parodies were only more or less clever
arrangements and travesties without much opportunity
for composers of operatic talent to do original work, and
therefore sterile, so far as the art-form of opera is con-
cerned; and the comedies en vaudevilles, either entirely
so or in prose mixed with such, were but a species of ballad
opera. Consequently, though perhaps they were cleverer
and more developed than the English ballad operas, their
possibilities would very soon have been exhausted after
so many years of inbreeding. However, it is futile to
discuss what might have happened. The fact is that
the somewhat barren field was irrigated from a different
source, and it is therefore impossible to separate this in-
flux of fresh, suggestions from the problem. On October
4, 1746, the Oomedie italienne produced Pergolesi's "La
Serva Padrona," of course in Italian; the reception,
though warm, was not such as to encourage the Oomediens
to familiarize Paris with a genre of which the city was
just as ignorant as of serious Italian opera. The novelty
wore off without causing much comment and it was not
until Grimm's "Lettre sur Omphale" on the revival of
Destouches' Omphale in 1752 at the Academie that the
clouds of esthetic discussion began to gather on the musical
horizon of Paris. The storm broke when the Academie
engaged Bambini's opera buffa troupe for performance
of comic Italian operas as intermedes or after-pieces.
Strange to say, now the very same "Serva Padrona" with
which Bambini opened his season on August 1, 1752, and
which in 1746 had caused no excitement whatever, led
to the famous Guerre des Bouffons with its avalanche of
pamphlets written either for Italian against French music
150 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
or for French music against Italian, and the fury of
excitement had not quite spent itself when the Bouffons
found it advisable to quit Paris in March, 1754.
Font has neatly summed up (p. 263 of his book on
Favart) the results of this storm in a teapot by saying:
Elle avait jete une semence qui allait germer dans un sol
bien prepare a la recevoir; le fruit devait etre une renaissance
qui transfigure le genre de la comedie musicale et cr6a 1'opSra
comique. Oette renovation se fit par degrSs, d'abprd on
traduisit en frangais les intermedes italiens, puis on imita leur
musique, enfin, on rivalisa avec I'&tranger par des qualitis
originates et frangaises.
And speaking of Favart's share in this development,
Font states that he started out on March 6, 1753, with a
translation of Doletti's "Giocatore" ; then, on August 14,
1754, he tried Bauran's translation of "La Serva Padrona"
on a public which by this time was in the midst of the
ludicrous esthetic battle. "On avait," says he, "une nou-
velle preuve que la langue frangaise pouvait se marier
aux chants italiens." Be this as it may, Favart finally
got away from mere translations and, continues Font
(p. 265) :
D'abord il employa la musique de tel d'entre eux a des paroles
nouvelles et pour une comedie originale: telle est "Ninette a
la cour on Le Caprice amowreuaf . . . puis il cessa de leurs
emprunter des airs, chargea des musiciens d'en composer dans
le gout italien, et mela aux ariettes a Fitalienne les meilleurs
de vaudevilles: dans ce genre est Scrite la petite piece
if'Awnette et Lubin" melee d'ariettes et de vaudevilles (5
fevrier 1762).
From this last quotation it becomes quite clear that
Favart was not an innovator or even capable of grasping
the point at issue without compromises between the inevi-
tably new and the inevitably antiquated. Favart, at his
best, was an opportunist, and Dauvergne and Vade, whom
Monnet in 1753 engaged to compose and write "Les troc-
queurs" in French (though still with due respect for
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 151
their Italian models), were far in advance of him as
fathers of the French opera-comique. This Font neither
affirms nor denies, but at least he is impartial enough to
attribute Favart's "Ninette a la cour" to "ces curieuses
pieces de transition."
On the other hand, Petit de Julleville in the appendix
"La comedie-vaudeville on opera-comique" to the vast
"Histoire de la langue et de la litterature franaise" (v.
6) exaggerates considerably when he calls Favart
le premier, qui mele aux vaudevilles des ariettes parodiSes,
c'est-a-dire des airs nouveaux empmntes aux pieces italiennes.
but we may gladly accept his authoritative estimate that
Le modele du genre est le Caprice amoureux ou Ninette a la
cour: le ton s'y eleye, Pesprit abonde avec la satire piquante de
la cour, et une aimable fantaisie, et les couplets legers et
frltillants.
With this estimate and with Font's "tel d'entre eux"
we are brought back again to Ciampi, who perhaps was
not gifted enough to compose a masterpiece himself, but
who at least was destined to stimulate the writing of a
literary masterpiece. However, before it is shown just
how he stood sponsor to Favart, it is necessary to gain the
proper distance from that double-headed term parodie
so often used in these pages.
Though a fine line of distinction divides the two, we,
of this age, ordinarily treat parody and travesty as equiva-
lents, and for all ordinary purposes we are justified in
so doing. At any rate, we should not hesitate to accept
the definition of "La Grande Encyclopedic" :
Parodie; Imitation burlesque d'tme ceuvre serieuse.
Not so simple and not so emphatic about the burlesque
characteristics is the definition in Diderot's Encyclopedie
(1774) :
On peut reduire toutes les especes de parodies a deux espSces
152 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
g&arales, Pune qu'on peut appeller parodie simple & narra-
tive; Tautre parodie dramatique. . . Quant H, ^la manure de
parodier, il faut que limitation soit fidele, la plaisanterie bonne,
vive & courte, & Ton y doit eviter Pesprit d'aigreur, la bassesse
d'expression & 1'obscenite.
Of musical parodies not a word in Diderot, and yet the
operatic woods were full of them in his time, before his
time, and ever after. Still, the musical parodies which
most readily come to one's mind, generally were or are
parodies in the sense of burlesque imitations of both the
teart and the music of an opera, and such reminiscences
would lead us widely astray should we apply them to the
musical parodies of Favart's time. Undoubtedly most of
the parodies given at the Theatre de la Foire and at the
ComMie italienne were burlesque imitations of serious
works, but they generally were real parodies only with
reference to their texts. In other words, it was not so
customary, as the term parodie would lead us to suspect,
also to make a travesty of the music. Very much more
often than not, the original music was transplanted more
or less notatim into the parody of the text without an
attempt to imitate, for instance, Lully's musical character-
istics and mannerisms in a burlesque manner. It is for
this reason that I have called the team parodie a double-
headed term. To-day it is generally used, if applied to
music, in the strict sense of burlesque imitation, but in
Favart's time it was generally used in a totally different
sense, indeed, without burlesque tendencies, in a merely
derived sense, as defined in the "Nouveau Larousse,"
Parodier un air. Composer sur cet air des paroles autres
que les paroles connues.
and in this sense the term is still used in France side by
side with foe other, original sense, thus occasionally caus-
ing confusion in a foreigner's mind.
Pointed as is the definition in the Nouveau Larousse,
it lacks all the esthetic and historical suggestiveness and
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COTJR" 153
surprising inclusiveness of older definitions. For in-
stance, of that in Framery, Ginguene and de Momigny's
"Encyclopedia methodique," Paris, 1818:
Parodier. C'est faire des paroles sur un air donne, ou sur
un morceau de musique quel qu'il soit. La parodie demande
un poete qui sente bien la musique, ou qui soit guide par un
musicien.
IL faut de la flexibility dans le talent du poete qui parodie,
ce qui tient a une abondance d'idees et de mots dont il peut
disposer a son gre.
On devrpit avoir un certain nombre de poetes distingues pour
cet emploi, qui, comme Fa tres-bien dit le celSbre Gretry,
seroient d'une tres grande utilite pour embellir de Fexpression
de la poesie les meilleurs compositions instrumental^ qui
peuvent se preter a ce perfectionnement. La parodie serviroit
a les faire comprendre a ceux auxquels il faut une traduction,
dans leur langue, pour connoitre la vraie expression d'un
morceau de musique. (De Momigny.)
Equally interesting is Oastil-Blaze's attitude towards
the practice of parody. He says in his "De 1'apera en
France" (1820), in the chapter "Des traductions, parodies
et centons" (the latter the equivalent of pasticcios) :
Parodier, c'est ajuster au chant de nouvelles paroles dont le
sens n ? a souvent pas le moindre rapport avec celles qu'il avait
d'abord; il suffit que le parodiste se conforme au caractere des
morceaux de musique, & s'applique surtout a calquer son dessin
sur celui du musicien, pour qu'il y ait une parfaite concordance
dans les images.
Castil-Blaze adds some really keen esthetic remarks
on the practice and then plunges against the parodies into
a propaganda for translations. Of course, being respon-
sible for translations (?) of operas by Mozart, Rossini
and others, he is arguing for himself and, needless to say,
carries his point to his own satisfaction, but it is quite
significant that a Frenchman should find it necessary to
champion the cause of translations significant, because
to this day France prefers to limit herself more or less
to the French operatic repertory rather than to build up,
154 _ MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES _
after the German fashion, a wide cosmopolitan repertory
by way of translations.
Both de Momigny and Castil-Blaze expressed their views
of parodies at a time when this genre had become less and
less of an esthetic actuality. Quite different at the time
of the "Guerre des Bouffons." . Then the genre, already
indispensable to theatrical life, seemed to open itself to
future possibilities full of esthetic vitality and educational
values, sucli as de Momigny alludes to in the definition
just quoted. But exactly because the genre was then or
had become a problematic actuality, it is not surprising
that about 1750 the partisans of parody were carried away
by its assumed possibilities as a characteristically French
contribution to the esthetics, not only of opera, but of
music in general. Of course, Eousseau with his bull-
headed contention in the "Lettre sur la musique f rancoise "
1753, that
Lea Francois n'ont point de musique et n'en peuvent avoir;
ou que si jamais ils en ont une, ce sera tant pis pour eux
far from showing the optimism of the parodists, attacks
them savagely in the footnote that closes his "Lettre" :
Je n'appelle pas avoir une musique que d'emprunter celle
d'une antre langue pour tacher de Tappliquer a la sienne, &
j'aimerois mieux que nous gardassions notre maussade & ridi-
cule chant, que d'associer encore plus ridiculement la melodie
italienne a la langue frangoise. Oe degoutant assemblage, qui
peut-etre fera desormais Petude de nos musiciens, est trop
monstrueux pour etre admis & le caract^re de notre langue ne
sy pr^tera jamais.
Undoubtedly Eousseau's position would have been un-
assailable if the problem merely turned on the issue
whether ornot the parody with its mixture of heterogeneous
elements could be esthetically as satisfactory as Italian
music set to Italian texts; but that was not the problem,
and others saw more clearly where Eousseau, blinded by
his preconceived theories against French music^ was fighfr
"BERTOLPO" AND "NINETTE A LA COPE" 1S5
ing windmills. As I see it, what really interested those
who gave differentiating thought to the matter was the
same question that interested Castil-Blaze, namely: is it
more satisfactory to produce an opera written in a foreign
tongue in a more or less literal translation which only
rarely will preserve the racial or national flavor and the
poetic charm of the original, or is it more satisfactory
to use a parody, i. e., a text which, while expressing the
sentiments of the music faithfully, is written anew around
the music in a language whose spirit and characteristics
will immediately appeal to the audience?
Seen in this light, the problem of parody is by no means
disposed of by ill-tempered or hasty epithets lite monstros-
ity, hybrid form, etc., and these epithets gain force only
from the fact that the parodists, not having their problem
quite in hand or being unduly and irresistibly under the in-
fluences of the tendencies of their time, undermined the es-
thetic possibilities of pure parodie by an adulteration with
the esthetic impossibilities of pasticcio, as will presently be
seen in the case of "Ninette a la cour." For us it is easy
to see the source of their error, but it should be kept in
mind that they had grown up with the comedies en vaude-
villes, a genre which, in the last analysis, just like that of
the ballad opera, is a species of pasticcio, and it is but
logical that they could not of a sudden outgrow the genre.
How differently some of Rousseau's contemporaries felt
from him on the subject of parody cannot be better illus-
trated than by the article on "Ninette a la cour" in Par-
faict's "Dictionnaire des theatres de Paris," 1756 (t. 7,
p. 425-42):
C'est une nouveaute veritablement digne de ce titre qu'on
prodigue tous les jours a des ouvrages dont la forme meme
n'est pas nouvelle. Si 1'auteur du grossier Bertolde de I'Opera
[Goldoni!] avoit eu plus de delicatesse, il auroit imaging
qudque chose d'approchant de Ninette a la cour; si Pergolesi
vivoit encore, il feroit expres de la musique sur des paroles
Francoises plus dignes de Fexercer que les paroles italiennes de
la Serva padrona, & ne soffriroit pas qu'elles fussent dehonorees
156 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
par de la musique bien inf erieure 5. la sienne & qui enmayeroit
souvent, si elle n'6toit dans la bouche de Madame Favart & du
Sieur Kochard . . .
A Tegard de la manure dont le Caprice Amourews est rep-
r&entS, ce MoliSre, ce juge severe & attentif, a qui le defaut
de v&rite deplaisoit autant dans les acteurs que dans les auteurs
de son temps ne trouveroit pas Ninette indigne de ses 61oges.
De tous ceux qu'a obtenus dans cette occasion-ci 3. Favart;
le plus flatteur pour lui-meme & pour notre nation, c'est celui
qu'on n'a pii lui refuser d'avoir prouve que la musique italienne
peut s'allier a des paroles Frangoises, puis qu'il a reussi a alHer
des paroles frangoises, aussi inggnieusement que naturellement
Sorites, avec de la musique italienne. II r^sulte de IS, que les
sons n'ayent point de patrie, & 1'idiome faisant la seule dis-
tinction reelle entre les deux musiques, celle de musique fran-
goise & de musique italienne tombe absoluement, & que quand
m&ne on voudroit supposer plus de talens aux compositeurs
italiens qu'aux notres, supposition de la verite de laquelle nous
sommes^bien eloignes de convenir, rien n'empecheroit que
rSmulation de nos musiciens ne nous mit en etat dans peu
d'annees, d'enlever la palme aux Italiens en ce genre, comme
en presque tous les autres.
Favart's "Le Caprice amonreux ou Ninette & la cour"
was not the first parody which Ciampi's "Bertoldo in
corte^ 3 brought to life at Paris. His opera with the inter-
polation of ariettes by other masters, as was said at the
beginning of this study, was first performed at the
Academie royale de musique in 1753. Parfaict, stating
that it was given as after-piece to Konsseau's "Le Devin
du village," dates the performance November 22, 1753,
but Durey de Noinville, it will be remembered, has No-
vember 9, and our modern historians still disagree on the
exact date, Ohouquet siding with Parfaict and Castil-
Blaze with Durey de Noinville. However, all sources
agree that the opera scored an emphatic success and that
it was largely instrumental in keeping the Bouffons at
Paris until Easter, 1754.
Just previous to their departure appeared at the Opera-
Oomique (the Theatre de la Poire) :
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 157
Beortholde a 1? viUe. Opera-comique, en un acte. KeprS-
sentl pour la premiere fois sur le Theatre de la Foire S.
Germain le 9 mars 1754.
These data are taken from the anonymous libretto (55 p.)
as published by the widow Duchesne in 1766 with the
"Airs de Bertholde" on p. 31-55 of the libretto. The
score, as published by De la Chevardier without date
(1 p, L, 39 p.), adds no further clew. Indeed, it omits
the date of performance, and on this as on the authorship
of the libretto the authorities disagree. Parf aict, for in-
stance, says "par Messieurs ***** Vade, Anseaume
& Hautemer, represente le samedi 9 mars 1754" and adds
"Paris Duchesne." (Since the 7th vol. of his "Diction-
naire" was published in 1756, clearly the libretto men-
tioned by him is much earlier than that at the Library
of Congress.) Clement et de Laporte in their "Anec-
dotes dramatiques," 1775 agree with Parfaict as to
the year of performance but do not specify the date and
mention "1'abbe de Lattaignan & Anseaume, & le M. de S.
pour les ariettes," as the literary and musical authors.
De Leris in his "Dictionnaire portatif des Theatres" also
names de Lattaignan and Anseaume as authors and the
marquis Lasalle d'Offemont (the "M. de S." of OL & de
Lap.), but he dates the first performance as March 8, 1754.
If we turn to modern books of reference, we find inter
alia that Clement & Larousse's opera dictionary attributes
the text to Anseaume alone, whereas Wotquenne in the
Brussels catalogue (I, 382) follows de Leris, or Clement
and de Laporte, but both authorities fix the date of first
performance as March 9, 1754. It is therefore presum-
ably safe to accept this date, an.d unsafe to attribute the
text definitely either to Anseaume alone or to the teams
de Lattaignan and Anseaume, or Vade, Anseaume and
Hautemer. By a more satisfactory consensus of opinion
the marquis Lasalle d'Offemont is credited with the ar-
rangement of the music for this, it seems, only slightly
158 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
successful first French parody of Ciampi's once so popular
opera, and those interested in the career of this titled
amateur will find half a column under Lasalle d'Offemont
(1734-1818) in Fetis.
Of "Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Cacasenno" nothing was
left in this parody except the essence of the plot, and the
whole is carried on by only four characters :
Bertholde, paysan des environs de Paris.
M. Dorimon, traitant,
Mile. Oatin,
Lisette, jeune paysanne.
Of course, Dorimon has designs on Lisette, who inno-
cently accepts his invitation to reside at his hotel on con-
dition that Bertholde, her sweetheart, be made secretary
to Dorimon. Inasmuch as Dorimon is made to believe
that Bertholde is her brother, he accedes to this ludicrous
stipulation, but the trio overlooked Mile. Catin. The
result of it all is, that Lisette turns in disgust from Dori-
mon, and Mile. Catin, wounded in her pride as mistress,
casts Dorimon out of her sphere of interest, quite satisfied
that at least half a dozen noblemen will be only too glad
to take Dorimon's place.
This harmless yet not too insipid story is constructed
on the lines of the older comedie taute en vaudevilles,
that is, the dialogue is not spoken, but carried on by means
of the music of vaudevilles, and it is easily seen how this
procedure, by the incongruity of airs and words and the
resulting associations in the mind of the audience, could
be made quite witty. For instance, Mile. Oatin in her
rage sings to the air "L'amour n'est pas un jeu" some
lines which end
Vous le savez, pour une actrice,
Changement n'est qu'un jeu.
It goes without saying that the vaudevilles were not
used merely for the argumentative part of the libretto,
"BJERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUB" 159
but also for the lyrical, and, in addition, this contained
six Ariettes. 1 Lasalle d'Offemont's share in the parody
was therefore twofold; first, he had to select a sufficient
number of familiar vaudevilles called airs and to arrange
their accompaniment, and secondly to select and arrange
the music of suitable arias (a-riettes) from popular operas.
Just how he did this and how, in fact, a comedie toute
en vaudevilles looked, will best be understood from a first-
line or thematic analysis of his operatic trifle. The words
in italics represent the titles of the vaudevilles. To the
musical themes lias been added the source of selection,
which is not given in the libretto or in the score, but was
traced for the Brussels Catalogue by Mr. Wotquenne. His
statement, however, that the parody contains "sept mor-
ceaux" is slightly misleading. At any rate, the libretto
contains only six ariett.es and Wotquenne's fifth "Les
grandeurs, les honneurs-Adapte sur le menuet d'Exaudet"
while appearing in the printed score as
M*
Les grandeurs, les honneurs, la for - tu - ne
figures in the libretto not as an ariette, but as the vaude-
ville "Nous sommes precepteurs d'amour."
BERTHOLDE A LA VILLE
Air*
Scene 1. Ros$ignol 9 ton ckaaii est leau: Morbleu que voilfc
que c'est beau.
Du h&ut en bos: Qu'on est heureux.
Eelasl la pauvre fille: Ah, ma pauvre Lisette.
Pekamlleu Monsieur le cure: Eli oui-da Monsieur
le Galant.
2. Mon pere aussi ma mere: Mais j'appergois Lisette.
Non, non, Colette riest point trompeuse: Non, non,
Lisette n^est pas legere.
De la coupe enchantee: Quand tu me fis de si ten-
dies promesses.
It may be mentioned that Rousseau in his "Lettre" waxes quite sar-
castic over the custom of dubbing vaudevilles "Airs," and real Airs
(Arias) ariettes.
160 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Aiiette premiere.
L@% J ^ ' h C f g r |E' gi
Quand le ha- sard en-sem-ble, les ras-sem-ble
( "Quando s'incontrano, Ciampi's B., B. e 0.)
Si des galans de la mile: Des beaux messieurs de la
ville.
Ton petit minois sans defaut: Ma chere enfant, la
clef des cceurs.
Des sdbotiers italiens: Ke suis-je done pas fille
d'honneur?
Ariette seconde.
i C g * FT=
Tel qu'un pe - tit oi - seau
Amore e 'f atto come un uccellatore, from Cocchi's
La Mascherata.)
Des f raises: Jure done que Ton rompra.
3. N'y a pas de mal a $a : Ah le temeraire.
Laire la^ laire lanlaire: Quoi! c^est ton frSre, mon
enfant?
Des billets doux: Pour Secretaire je le prends.
Dans le fond ffune ecwrie: Plutot, si c'est votre
envie.
Ma raison s'en va beau train: Soit, par ce moyen.
Pour la larorwie: Avec mon frere j'y peux rester
avec plaisir*
Paris est au Boi: Mon clier, en ce cas.
4. Ah qu*& y va gaiment: Pour son rival il est galant.
C'est une excuse: De le tromper, j'ai du regret.
5. Ton humeur est Catherine: Parlez done, Mademoi-
selle.
Du cap de Bonne-Esperance: Ma fureur est sans
egale.
Sans le savoir: Faites-vous done au moins connoitre.
Menuet de Grandval: Voyez-vous la sainte mitouche.
(This was used as early as 1716 in the so-called
ppera-comique of "Arlequin traitant.")
Mariez^mariez-moi: Je n'ai point Pesprit jaloux.
On n'aime point dans nos forets: Moi me marier!
Ah vraiment.
"BEBTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COTJB" 161
Vous m'entendez lien: Comment, lea filles parmi
vous.
Est-ce que go, ce demande: D'un engagement serieux
nous evitons la gene.
Nous youissons dans nos hameaux: Pour aortir de
Fobscurite\
Ariette troisi&me.
I
rap l!
Vo - tre cceur en vain mur-mu- re
(not found by Wotquenne.)
Lison, ne craignez rien: Je reconnois Totre
candeur.
6. De I 1 'amour tout subit les loix: Que de gens on.voit
a Paris.
Nous autres Ions villageois: Je puis done en liberte.
Ah mon Dieu! que de jolies fittes: Mais quelle est
cette jolie femme.
Madame, en verite: Votre habit est du dernier beau.
Comm* *la qu'est fait: Monsieur sans paroitre in-
civile.
Tout route aujourd'hui dans le monde: O'est que
j'ai vu certaine Belle.
7. Jupin de grand matin: Mon frere, des ce jour.
Entre V amour et la raison: II se declare mon amant.
Petits moutons, gardez la plaine: Est-ce pas interet
qu'on aime.
Je me ris de qui fait le Irave: Si Ton in'aimoit,
conone on vous aime.
Non, je ne serai pas: Lison, vous me fuyez.
8. Babet, que Ves gentille: Oui, je t'offre ma main.
Ah, Phaeton: Ah Dorimon, est-il possible.
Ariette quatri^me.
A tant de charmes, Ren- dez les ar - mes
(not found by Wotquenne.)
La fontaine de jouvence: Les beaux sentiments
qu'elle etale.
Je n'saurois: Oui, c'est vous seule que j'aime.
Les filles de Montpellier: Et toi, mon cher 6cuyer.
162 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Nous sommes precepteurs (F amour: Les grandeurs,
Les honneurs, La fortune. (See above.)
Vous qui vous mocquez par vos ris: Osez a mes
yeux la prier.
De la bisogne: Allons done mon bel 6cuyer.
Laire la,, laire lanlaire: Je ferois volontiers cela.
J'entends, le souper qui m f attend: Comment?
Demandez a Lisette.
Ma raison s'en va "beau train: Ton amant! ah, qu'as-
tu dit?
Axiette dnqui^me.
HI
Dieux! quelpaix de ma ten-dres -se
(=Maledetti quanti siete, from Oiampi's B., B. e 0.)
If amour n'est pas un jeu: H6 bien, done, Monsieur
Dorimon.
Bouchez, Najades: L'un d'un cotS, Fautre de 1'autre.
Ariette sizi^me.
Le del va rendre & mes vceux
(= A rireder ritorno, from Oiampi's B., B. e 0.)
Decidedly more developed, more pretentious and in
every respect mare important was Favart's parody, com-
monly known since early times as "Ninette a la cour."
But this is really a sub-title, an alternative title, as appears
conclusively from Clement et de Laporte, Parfaict, and
other contemporary sources. The real title appears on
the title-page of the libretto with cast by Duchesne of
Paris in 1759 (86 p. ; in the Library of Congress) :
Le caprice amoureux ou Ninette a la cour, comedie en deux
actes^ metee d'ariettes, parodies de Bertolde a la cour par
Monsieur Ifavart. Eepresentee pour la premilre fois par les
Comediens italiens ordinaires du Eoi, le mercredi 12 mars
"BEBTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COTJB" 163
1756 et ci-devant en trois actes le 12 fevrier 1755. Nouvelle
edition corrigee & confonne a la representation.
Besides containing the correct title, the libretto gives
practically all the chronological, etc., data that one cares
to have. A copy of the original three-act version has not
come to my notice, but at least I can refer those interested
to Parfaictfs statement in 1756 that a libretto of the
three-act version had been published at Paris by Delormel
& Prault fils, and Parf aictfc enthusiastic review of "Ninette
a la cour" quoted above serves the purpose sufficiently
of showing with what delight Favart's exceedingly clever
parody had been acclaimed upon its appearance at the
Oomedie italienne. Yet Favart reduced the piece from
three to two acts, and the current theory (not shared by
me) is, that he felt the comedy to be too long.
As will be seen, Ciampi's music was allowed to grace
Favart's Ninette only to an almost negligible degree.
Quite different Goldoni's text. Favart parodied it as
closely as one possibly could without furnishing a trans-
lation. The term which one so often meets on German
librettos, "f rei bearbeitet," would here be fully applicable,
so much so indeed, that a synopsis of Favart's plot becomes
unnecessary. This will appear without further proof by
quoting the list of characters with the cast' of 1756 :
Astolphe, roi de Lombardie M. Bochard.
Fabrice, confident d'Astolphe iM. Desbrosses.
iSmilie, comtesse, amante d'Astolphe Mile. Catinon.
Ninette, Tillageoisa Mme. Favart
Colas, villageois M. Ohanville.
Dbrine, Suivante Mile. Astrandi.
Clarice, " MUe. Desglands.
Obviously, all the essential characters in Goldoni's
libretto, at least so far as they deal with Menghina's and
Bertoldino's career at court, are here represented. Not
only this, but Favart parodied closely the construction of
104 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
the plat and did not forget to utilize that farcical scene
in Goldoni where the ever-serviceable trick of extinguish-
ing the candles serves to introduce a number of (easily
imagined) ludicrous quid fro quos. However, in my opin-
ion, Favart turned here the harmless though frank drollery
of Goldoni into a scene which would to-day hurt the sen-
sibilities of many. Ninette extinguishes lie candles and
pushes the neglected countess fimilie towards her faithless
lover Astolphe, who, believing her to be his intended prey,
Ninette, makes violent love to her, a proceeding which
Ninette encourages by guiding him on over the shoulders
of fimilie. Nothing new in opera, of course, and perhaps
very funny, but somewhat disgusting, because fimilie is
made a tool and an object of charity in a manner mortify-
ing to every refined and faithful woman. Ninette re-
lights the candles, she and Colas fairly burst with laughter,
Astolphe changes from disappointed rage to an unconvinc-
ingly sudden repentance, and the hapless fimilie, as
faithful women so often do in mediocre French comedies
and comedies in the French taste, by order of the play-
wright meekly subdues her pride and practically accepts
Astolphe out of the hands of Ninette, as if a lover had a
perfect right to maltreat his bride in whatsoever manner
he pleases. Font, in his book on Favart, calls this a
"situation plaisante," and brushes aside all objection with
the glib remark, "Astolphe, en homme d'esprit, obtient son
pardon d'fimilie."
Still, I suppose, such things should be interpreted histor-
ically or racially; and there can be no doubt that "Ninette
a la cour," aside from such matters of racial or changed
taste, is a very clever piece of play-writing and fully de-
serves its literary reputation. Certainly, Favart's parody
is so typically French that it simply could not fail to
please the public and presumably very much more so than
if, as would have happened in the case of a translation,
even a free translation, the peculiarly Italian flavor of
Qoldonf s original had been preserved. Menghina above
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUE w i 165
all, this naive and somewhat primitive but shrewd and
quick-witted Italian peasant woman, has become in Fa-
vart's hands a typically Parisian villdgeoise, equally quick-
witted but no longer naive or primitive. Far from it,
she has been turned into a very dexterous type of stage
coquette, and if all ends well, I wonder if there did not
pass through Favart's mind, nevertheless, those slightly
similar interviews between Mme. Favart and the Marechal
de Saxe which form such a sad chapter in the life of the
Favarts and which, so Font claims, did not end so happily
for the then "Ninette." However, if Gounod's Marguerite
is a strikingly French edition of Goethe's Gretchen, not
less so is Favart's Ninette of Goldoni's Menghina, and
for exactly the same reasons.
Just how the three-act version of "Ninette a la cour"
differed from the two-act version (title quoted above) only
the comparison of the respective librettos could disclose.
Unfortunately, the Library of Congress does not possess
the libretto of the three-act version, which appears to be
exceedingly rare, and whose title perhaps reads as entered
in Parfaict:
Caprice (le) Amoureux, ou, Ninette a la cour, comedie fran-
Qoise au theatre Italien, parodiee de 1'intermede Italien intitu!6
Bertholde a la cour, trois actes en vers libres, meles d'ariettes,
aussi parodiees de celles de cet intermede, & autres represented
au theatre de POpera. Le Caprice amoureux est de M. Favart
& a 6te donnS pour la premiere fois le mercredi 12 fevrier
1755. Paris, Delormel & Prault fils.
The same comparison might be made from the score,
but the three-act version is not known to exist in score.
Mr. Wotquenne, under No. 2025 of the Brussels catalogue,
is inclined to suspect that such a score was printed. He
says:
n'ayant pu rencontrer un exemplaire de la partition de la
parodie en trois actes, nous ne pouvons affirmer qu'elle ait etc
publiee, mais il y a grande apparence que cette. question doit
166 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Stre tranchee affirmativenient, car 1'editeur Desceur, de LiSge,
tonjours & 1'affut des nouveautes du jour, a fait paraitre vers
1755 Tin recueil des airs detaches de Bertholde a la ville [$io] en
tr ois actes.
Wotquenne then proceeds to analyze the publication.
I fear that the eminent Belgian bibliographer will not suc-
ceed in proving the existence of the three-act score in this
direction, because the Library of Congress acquired from
the Weckerlin collection a publication with Parisian im-
print so identical in all other respects with Descends that
his gives the impression of a pirated edition, or, to put
it more mildly, of a mere reprint. The three volumes
(44, 42, 44 p.) are bound in with a copy of the "L'annee
musicale," 1755-1756, and the title-page reads:
Ariettes de Ninette S, la cour. Parodie de Bertholde, acte
premier [ acte 3* me ] A Paris, Aux spectacles et aux adxesses
ordinaires. GravS par M^ 16 Vendome,
If one compares this publication, or that of Desoeur,
with the libretto of the two-act version and with the score
of the two-act version, one is led to believe that the con-
traction into two acts did not change the body of the
dialogue substantially, but was brought about more or
less by a mere rearrangement of the scenes into two instead
of three acts and the suppression and also the addition
of several ariettes. Of this score the Library of Congress
possesses two copies, both alike as to contents, but slightly
different bibliographically, inasmuch as the second lacks
the words "Imprime par Tournelle" on the title-page and
on its verso contains a very much more extensive catalogue
of De la Chevardiere's publications, thus proving its later
date. The title-page of the score reads :
Ninette a la cour. Parodie de Bertholde a la viUe, comedie en
deux actes, m&es d'ariettes par M r Favart BeprSsentg sur le
theatre de la Comedie itafienne (Paris, De la Chevardiere
[n. d.], 1 p. L, 73, 76 p. foL)
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 167
The title-page describes adequately the genre of the
score. It is indeed a mere comedy with incidental arias
(the embryo of operarcomique) and structurally calls for
no further comment than that all the arias begin without
recitatives. The orchestration, just like that of Lasalle
d'Offemont's parody, is not clearly indicated. 'Nor was
this customary in such skeleton or compressed scores; but
from occasional hints, at least flutes, horns and oboes must
have been employed in "Ninette a la cour" besides the
strings. Still, these hints are not sufficient to throw full
light on the question of how the Italian originals fared at
the hands of the parodists an interesting question, but
not within the scope of this essay.
At the end of the libretto of the two-act version, 1756,
Duchesne printed a "Table des ariettes de Ninette 8, la
cour, gravees en quatre [!] parties." Duchesne did not
print the music, but refers to the engraved score (De la
Chevardiere's publication?) by a foot-note:
Les ariettes marquees dans la table par une S, ne se chantent
point a la representation, mais se trouvent gravies dans la
musique.
The table is here reprinted, substituting * for the S :
Premiere partie.
page
1. Travaillons de bon courage 2
2. Fillettes, n'allez jamais seulettes 3
3. Que le nom de Ninon 4
4. Oui, je Taime pour jamais 5
5. Agite par la fiert6 8
6. Tin doux penchant 11
7. Tout va voua rendre aimable 13
8. Tu nous perdras, Colas 18
*9. En tourbillon, tin papillon * 23
10. Ahi, ahi, il m'a fait grand mal 30
11. Je renonce au village. .*..*.* 33
12. Auroit-on cru cela d'elle. 39
168 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Seconde partie.
13. Ahl quelle gesne. 2
14. Ah! comme me voila 4
15. Donnez-moi deux cceurs 6
16. Viens, espoir enchanteur 9
17. Dans nos prairies 12
*18. Au sein des allarmes 15
19. Le nocher loin du viflage 20
20. Maudite race 24
*21. Qu'il a de gentfflesse 28
22. "One dame vous enflame 33
Troisieme partie.
*23. Je veux tirer vengeance 2
*24. Assise sur le bord d'une onde 5
*25. Non, non, je n'ai peur 9
26. Oii Ninette est-elle? 13
*27. Quatuor 14
28. Je sens, par la morguenne 33
29. La cour n'est qu^un esclavage 38
30. Ariette oubliee du premier acte 42
(He means : "Je vois du plus beau jour," which,
should hare been printed as the sixth ariette.)
Quatrieme partie.
31. Comme la cloche du village 1
32. Contente je chante 8
33. Quelle aisance! ,.., 10
34. Ariette de l'6cho ["Oe cceur qu'il possede"] ... 14
35. Qnatuor : Toute mon ame IT
How does this table agree mth the "Ariettes de Ninette
& la Cour. Parodie de Bertholde. Acte premier
[ 3**]," as printed at Paris and reprinted by Desoeur
of Liege?
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 169
Act 1.
*y)M g g P n nr r n pigs^
Tra-vaillons, tra-vail-lons de boncou-ra - ge
page
2
*b a dtp|r r cir r cir-g-^^r-r a
a- F'a r 1 1
Ell-let - tea fol-let - tes n'al-les ja-mais seu-let-tei
m
Que le nom de Ni-non -da-te
^Baftr fc-EJ"i< ^ urr
w
Oui, . . je 1'ai - me pour ja mais
fi _ -f.
'Q_T Qj ILU ' L
I 1 ^ E C 8
par lafier-tt
Undonx pen- chant ra'en - trat - ne
Tout va vous ren-dre hom-ma-ge
Tu nous per-dras, Co -las, ne aouf -fle pas
11
13
18
En tour-bil - Ion un pa -pil-lon
Alii! AH! 3 m'a fait grandma!
80
170
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
11-E
Co - las, je re - non-ce au vil - la - ge
Au-roit-on cru ce - la d'el le
14.
Ah com -me me voi-li
Don-nez-moi deux coeurs
16. E
Sfg
_ =g u
Viens, ea -poir en-chan teur
Dans nos prai - ri - es tou-jours fleu - ri - es
12
(Not mentioned by Wotquenne as in Desoeur, presumably over-
looked.)
Au sein des al-lar-mes
2(
Le no - cher loin da ri - va -
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COTJR" 171
Man - di - te ra - ce. lais - sis de grl, - ce
24
21.
Qu'il a de gen - til - les - se
U - ne da - me vous in flam-mc j
Act in.
83
2
Je veux ti - rer ven - geance
(According to Wotqiienne this melody is the same as "Qttdle
est cette tristesse" in Body's parody of Einaldo da Capua's
donna superba," Paris, 1752.)
*24.|
m
fflr
c je r g if
As- si- se sur les bordsd*u-neon-de pu-re
r r
Non, non, je n'ai point pear
t
11.
Oil Ninette est-d-le? en Taia je 1'ap-peMe
27.
is-je en- core un-e trai-tres - ae?
Je sens par la mor - guen - ne
13
14
33
172 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
La cour n'estqu'unes-da-va -ge
3Q.t
Je vois du plus beau jour
(Printed in v. 3, p. 42-44 as omitted by mistake in its proper
place as sixth ariette of the first act.)
To facilitate comparison, asterisks (needless to say, no
such marks appear in the three-act "Ariettes") have been
prefixed in this thematic list to those themes which in the
two-act libretto were designated as suppressed in the per-
formance. This comparison proves that Duchesne's table
and the contents of the three volumes of detached ariettes,
even down to the pagination and the omission of what
should have been the sixth ariette from its proper place,
tally throughout, Duchesne's quatrieme partie excepted.
This does not appear at all in our (clearly complete and
perfect) copy of tie "Ariettas," nor evidently in Descends
publication of these ariettes as analyzed by Wotquenne.
The pagination given by Duchesne makes it -unmistak-
ably cleai* that he refers to the Paris edition of the "Ari-
ettes" and not to a published score, and thereby a biblio-
graphical fact, perhaps hitherto unnoticed, comes to light,
namely, that a fourth part was issued as a supplement
and this supplement must have been issued aft er the reduc-
tion of "Ninette a la cour" by Favart into two acts, be-
cause the ariettes of the quatrieme partie are to be found in
this two-act version only. Nos. 31, 32 there appear as
belonging to act I, sc. 1 ; No, 33 to act II, 8, No. 34 to act
II, 18, and No. 35 to act II, 19. Just why No. 32 ("Con-
tente je chante") should have been printed as a separate
ariette is puzzling, since it is identical with the second ari-
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 173
ette, "Fillettes, n'allez," and indeed the words "Contente
je chante" form the second couplet of the so-called No. 32.
By referring to the score of the two-act version we are
enabled to supply the themes of the other supplementary
ariettes:
u u
Com'la clo-che du vil-la-ge
8iga|
QueQe ai - san - ce t quel - le gr - ce
r ^
Ce cceur qu'il po - & - de cfc - de, cfc - de t
35-^
^^^
Tou - te mon a - me pour toi s'en - fla - me
Further comparison proves that musically tibe indications
in the two-act libretto agree absolutely with the two-act
score, even down to the fact that No. 19 of the thematic
list of the three-act version "Le nocher loin du rivage"
appears, both in the libretto and in the score, not in the
middle of the second act as in the "Ariettes" but as the
last ariette in this act. Consequently, Nos. 20 to 29
helped originally to form the third act. Furthermore,
since Nos. 31 to 35 do not seem to have belonged to the
third-act version, but were added, and, as, therefore, the rer
duction to two acts resulted in a net reduction of two
ariettes only, the current theory that Favart reduced his
parody because it was too long, is weakened consider-
ably. It now appears more likely that the alteration was
made simply because Favart believed two acts, arranged as
indicated, to be more effective than three.
174 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
The impression will have been gained that the libretto
and the score coincide. This impression is generally cor-
rect, yet differences between the texts are noticeable that
deserve to be pointed out to those who might have occasion
to study "Ninette a la cour" for one reason or another.
Disregarding such slight verbal differences as in act I, 4
(Astolphe), "Jen'oseTaborder" (libretto) as against "Elle
se parle" (score), the omission from the score in the same
scene (Astolphe) of "Helas! quelqu'un qui vous adore," the
words of Colas ending the seventh scene of the score
"J~e suis petrifie" are the opening words of the ninth scene
of the libretto, and in the latter the ariette No. 11 forms
the eighth scene, whereas in the score it belongs to the
seventh, a different numbering of the scenes thereby re-
sulting. In the second act, the dialogue of seen 3 is,
towards the end, very much shorter in the score than in
the libretto; the fourth scene opens slightly differently,
and the ariette No. 16 of the libretto forms scene 6, where-
as in the score it forms part of scene 5, with corresponding
differences in the continuation of the act. It should also
be noticed that the score does not contain the music of the
"Divertissement" which in the libretto is announced to
follow the final quartet "Toute mon ame" ; but to omit
suet ballet music from the scores was then more or less
customary. , It contained, as appears from the indications
in the libretto, the ariette numbered 29 in the thematic
list.
In the Brussels catalogue M. Wotquenne set himself
the task of tracing the musical sources of several parodies
which resulted from the Guerre des Bouffons. That he
was not able completely to excavate their musical founda-
tions is not at all surprising, and it certainly required ex-
traordinary patience and true bibliographical instinct to
accomplish what he did. As to "Nanette & la cour" he
traced the following:
"BEBTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 175
Act I.
Comme la cloche du village = Quando senti la campagna, from
Latilla's "La finta cameriera."
Oui, je 1'aime pour jamais = Zerbinetti d' bggidi, from Selletti's
"Oinese rimpatriatro," Paris, June 19, 1753.
Je vois du plus beau jour = Amore e fatto come un uccelletto,
from Oocchi's "La mascherata."
Tin doux penchant m'entraine = Per pieta, bell'idol mio, from
Vinci's "L'Artaserse."
Tout va vous rendre hommage == lo sono una donzella, from
Selletti's "Oinese rimpatriato."
Tu nous perdras, Colas = Quando s'incontrano, from Oiampi's
"Bertoldo alia corte."
Ahi! ahi! il m'a fait grand mal = AMI AMI no'l faro piu,
from Ciampi's "Bertoldo alia corte."
Aurait-on cru cela d'elle = "Maledetti quanto siete," from
Oiampi's "Bertoldo alia corte."
Act H.
Ah! quelle gene! = Mi sta d'incanto, from Selletti's "Oinese
rimpatriato." ^
Viens, espoir enchanteur = Spera forse anch'un di, from Do-
letti's "Giocatore," Paris, 1752. .
Quelle aisance, quelle grace I = Con occhiate e con inchim,
from JommeUi's "II Paratajo."
Tine dame vous enflamme = Sei compito e sei bellino, from
Selletti's "Oinese rimpatriato."
Le nocher loin du rivage = Y6 solcando un mar crudele, from
Vinci's "L'Artaserse."
Oapua's "La Zingara" ; the same as and probably borrowed
from "Dea delle selve"; Act I, Ho. 3, Hasse's "Leucippo."
Since those ariettes which Wotquenne csould not trace
were also parodied from Italian operas, "Ninette il la
cour" presented itself as a neat little anthology from the
repertory of the Bouffons, and if there ever was a pasticcio,
Favart's "Ninette a la cour" certainly is a shining example
of the genre as practised in France. Ciampi, however, did
176 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
not fare very well in this anthology, and if it should de-
velop that neither the three ariettes traced to "Bertoldo alia
corte," gvo&n at Paris as a pasticcio* nor any of the ariettes
not yet traced, were by Ciampi, we should have the curi-
ous spectacle that a parodie-pasticcio could sail under
a composer's colors without being at all recruited from
his opera ! Wotquenne does not inform us of his method
of tracing the ariettes, and, to be frank, it is a mystery
to me how he traced the three ariettes to Ciampi's "Ber-
toldo alia corte," since the score of this opera does not
exist, and since the three ariettes do not appear among
the six arias bearing Ciampi's name in Walsh's "Favourite
songs in ... Bertoldo." However, Wotquenne is not in
the habit of making claims without substance, and we
are therefore justified in accepting his statements. What
then is the net result ? Five of the arias in Walsh were
interpolations for London and, as was shown, did not
belong to the original version of Goldoni's "Bertoldo,
Berixddino e Cacasenno." Only the first, the duet "Oara
sei tu," can be traced with certainty to the original libretto.
In addition, we have the three ariettes "Quando s'incon-
trano," "Ahi! Ahilno'l far& piu," and "Maledetti quanto
siete," parodied according to Wotquenne from Ciampi's
opera and therefore, probably, though not necessarily, by
Ciampi himself. To these must be added the ariette
sixieme in Lasalle d'Offemont's operatic skit, parodied
from "A riveder ritorno" in the original Bertoldo libretto.
At best, then, five arias out of the original thirty-three have
so far been traced to Ciampi. Surely a very meagre crop
for any attempt to reconstruct the score of an opera once
so popular as Ciampi's "Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Caca-
senno" !
It remains to fix, if possible, the responsibility for the
musical arrangement of "Ninette a la cour." Favart pos-
sessed a keen ear for music. He is even known to have
composed some airs. That he and his equally musical
wife supervised the selection of ariett.es for "Ninette"
"BERTOLDO" Atf D "NINETTE A LA COUR" 177
and made suggestions, goes without comment, but Favaxt
hardly possessed the necessary technical training to put
these selections into orchestral shape, etc., for performance.
One naturally turns to Font's book on Favart for explicit
information on this poin^ and finds:
(p. 270.) Le napolitain Duni, Fami de Pergolese, retoucha
cette partition de Ciampi ; il ecrivait pendant longtemps des airs
a Titalienne pour les paroles franaises des livrets de Favart et
d'Anseaume. Par la simplicite, par la naivete de ses melodies,
il travailla a Feducation du public. H habitua les oreilles a
gouter^et a exiger la sinc&rite de Inspiration. Ses airs, si peu
frangais, prlpar&rent les voies aux partitions si frangaises de
Gretry.
In the "Chronologic des pieces de Favart" Font adds to
this or rather modifies it by saying (p. 346) :
Mime. Favart a choisi les airs de 1'original, Duni a retouchS et
arrange la musique.
Font does not mention his authority for these claims,
which are not corroborated by any of the contemporary
sources mentioned in these pages! As far as Duni is
concerned, it looks to me as if Font in turn merely re^
touched the current statements of lexicographers. Says,
for instance, Fetis in the Biographic universelle under
Duni:
Aprfcs avoir visits Genes, il fut chargS [no date given]
d'enseigner la musique a la fille de Finf ant de Panne. La cour
de ce prince etant presque toute frangaise, Duni se hasarda a
ecrire quelques petits operas dans cette langue. Son coup
d'essai fut la Ninette a la cour de Favart; le sucds fut si
grand, qu'on lui envoya la Ohercheuse cf esprit et le Peintre
amoureux de son modele. En 1757 il revint a Paris . . .
Of course, Fetis* article on Duni was used, copied and
parodied by all subsequent lexicographers, and thus we find
Duni as composer of "Ninette a la cour" in Riemann,
Mendel-Eeissmann, Towers, Eitneor, Grovei, Clement et
Larousse, etc. Such a claim is absurd on the face of it
and should be expurgated from all future reference books.
178 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Font was more careful, and merely insists that Duni
retouched and arranged the score of this parodie-pasticcio,
but even this claim calls for close scrutiny.
Unfortunately, Duni's biography is not at all clear, and
even Fetis' short article is subject to revision* The point
at issue simply depends on the year of Duni's arrival at
Parma. Fetis does not mention the date. Mendel-Reiss-
mann give the impossible 1746, and Grove 1755, but no
variance of opinion appears on the year 1757 as that of
Duni's arrival at Paris, when his "Le Peintre amoureux"
was performed, presumably translated from his "Pittore
inamorato." If Grove is correct, then Duni's collaboration
with Favart is hardly credible, since "Ninette a la cour"
was performed as early as February 12, 1755, and Duni
is not known to have been in Paris late in 1754. Riemann
says that "Ninette a la cour" was performed at Parma and
Paris in 1755. If this is correct, then the Parma per-
formance of necessity was merely a replica of the one at
Paris, and in that case, of course, Duni may have ren
touched the score for Parma; but our last court of appeal
is Paolo Emilio Ferrari's "Spettacoli Drammatico-
musicali e coreografici in Parma," 1884, and in this vo-
luminous work Duni is first mentioned as in Parma for the
winter of 1754-55 with his "Olimpiade" and for 1756-57
with a "La buona figliuola." Of other operas by Duni in
1755 and particularly of "Ninette a la cour" not a word,
and moreover the supposedly predominant French taste
at Parma about 1755 is a myth, since only two or three
French works appear to have been performed then under
Du Tillet's management.
The conclusion, it seems to me, is practically safe that
Duni had nothing whatsoever to do with Favart's "Ninette
a la cour" of 1755, and a collaboration of his with Favart
is possible only for the two-act version of the parody, if,
as Font claims in one place, the revival took place in
1758, a supposition which is promptly confuted by the
"BERTOLDO" AND "NINETTE A LA COUR" 179
solid fact that the two-act version was first performed in
1756. If therefore Duni drops out, it still remains an
open question, who assisted Favart and his wife in keeping
Ciampi's name, though, only fragments of his opera, before
the public.
THE FIRST EDITION OF "HAIL, COLUMBIA!"
(The "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,"
19160
IK the April, 1910, number of the "Pennsylvania Mag-
azine of History and Biography," Mr. Charles Henry
Hart had an article called "Hail Columbia and its First
Publication. A critical inquiry." It was followed in
the January, 1912, number by a supplemental note, headed
"The First Edition of Hail Columbia."
Mr. Hart's critical inquiry was prompted by the state-
ment in my essay on the history of "Hail Columbia" that
"no copy of this original edition of 'Hail Columbia' has
come to light," i. e., of the edition advertised in "Porcu-
pine's Gazette," Philadelphia, Friday, April 27, 1798, as
to be published on the following Monday, April 30, at
B. Carr's Musical Repository, "ornamented with a very
elegant Portrait of the President."
John Adams was then President and quite naturally
I inferred that Carr was to publish the "New Federal
Song," as Joseph Hopkinson's text of "Hail Columbia"
adapted to Philip Phile's President's March originally was
called, with the portrait of John Adams. Mr. Hart,
however, adduced strong evidence that it was Carr who,
though without his imprint, published "The Favorite Few
Federal Song Adapted to the President's March" not with
the portrait of John Adams but with an oval, profile to
left, bust portrait by an unknown etcher after Joseph
Wright, with inscription on ribbon beneath bust, "G.
Washington." The portrait is not engraved on the plate,
but is a separate print mounted in the blank centra-space
180
FIRST EDITION OF "HAIL, COLUMBIA" 181,
of the title and above the curved and engraved quotation
of the first line of fourth stanza in Joseph Hopkinson's
poem, "Behold the Chief who now Commands." Mr. Hart
also drew attention to the fact that the same portrait (of
course, without the quotation) had been used in December,
1797, for "The Battle of Trenton, A Sonata," and was used
again in 1798 for the song "New Yankee Doodle," both
pieces issued with the joint imprint of J. Hewitt, New
York, and B. Carr, Philadelphia. Mr. Hart held that the
edition of the "New Federal Song" with the Washington
portrait and the quotation was the first and earlier than
one with engraved American eagle in place of mounted
portrait and quotation, which edition Mr. Louis C. Elson,
the owner of a supposedly unique copy, in turn had claimed
to be the first edition of "Hail Columbia."
To Mr. Hart's findings I wish to add some remarks
which occurred to me after the Library of Congress, too,
had acquired a copy of the American eagle issue.
Mr. Hart identified the oval portrait used as number
157 in his Catalogue of the Engraved Portraits of Wash-
ington. Inasmuch as this number 157 shows "overhead,
to left, a female Victory. ... On extreme left, a whole-
length figure of Goddess of Liberty. ... At base, drum
with Eagle . . ." the oval portrait must have been secured
by utilizing the whole print number 157 only in part.
That this was the procedure appears from the same por-
trait as mounted on our copy of "New Yankee Doodle" :
it plainly shows traces of the paraphernalia enumerated
above.
Comparison of our American eagle issue with the prac-
tically exact-size facsimile of the portrait issue of "The
Favorite New Federal Song" in Mr. Hart's article dis-
closes further facts.
1. The music plates used in loth issues are identical
in every respect, inclusive of distance-measurements of the
lettering in the title, but exclusive of course of the Ameri-
can eagle. With this exception, the copies of the song
132 MISCELLANEUUS STUDIES
extant represent impressions from the same plates.
2. When mounting the oval portrait in the blank space
left between the words "New/Song" and "Adapted/Presi-
dent's" and above the words "Behold the Chief," etc., in
the title it became necessary to let the portrait protrude
as much as one centimeter on the music sheet beyond the
impression of the upper margin of the music plate. (This
is the simple explanation of a puzzle which will mystify
all who fail as I did for some time to notice that the
impression of the upper plate margin is visible even in Mr,
Hart's facsimile. Unless one notices this marginal im-
pression one may easily be led to argue that the distance-
measurements in the title in both issues of the song are
different, that two different plates were used and that
therefore the two issues represent two different editions.)
3. Examination of our copy of the issue of "The Favor-
ite New Federal Song," with the engraved American
eagle with clouds broken by sunrays in the background,
by Prot Eich. A. Eice of the Prints Division of the
Library of Congress, convinced him that the American
eagle, etc., was engraved after the surrounding words had
been engraved, principally for the reason that a few of
the cloud lines clearly run through the line of flourish
of the word "Adapted" in the title. This in itself, of
course, does not argue that the American eagle was added
to the plate later for a second issue of the song, but it does
argue this: if the American eagle had been engraved on
the plate at the time the song was first published thereby
establishing the issue with the American eagle as the first
and earlier than the one with the Washington portrait
then its later erasure from the plate to make place in a
later issue for a substituted mounted portrait of George
Washington would have left visible traces even in a fac-
simile* Since no such traces appear, Prof. Eice agrees
with me that the American eagle did not originally form
part of the plate, that the space was left vacant, and that
the American eagle was added noticeably later, carefully
FIRST EDITION OF "HAIL, COLUMBIA" 183
utilizing the available space for the design, but with the
lapsus stili noted above.
Against all this might be adduced the fact that Carr
advertised the piece in "Porcupine's Gazette" for Friday,
April 27, 1798, as "On Monday afternoon will be pub-
lished," and in "Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser"
for Wednesday, May 2, 1798, as "just published" ". . .
ornamented with a very elegant portrait of the President"
The President was then John Adams. This fact would
call for his portrait, not that of George Washington. Mb
copy of "The Favorite New Federal Song" with the por-
trait of John Adams has come to light, whereas Mr. Hart
has shown that the song exists with the portrait of George
Washington mounted above the engraved words "Behold
the chief who now commands." This is a quotation from
the fourth and last stanza of Joseph Hopkinson's poem, and
the stanza runs:
Behold the Chief who now commands
Once more to serve his country stands
The rock on which the storm will beat
The rock on which the storm will beat
But ann'd in virtue firm and true
His hopes are fix'd on HeaVn and you
When hope was sinking in dismay
And clouds obscured Columbia's day
His steady mind from changes free
Eesolved on Death or Liberty
Firm, United, let us be, etc.
Lines second to end would have no meaning unless they
refer to George Washington. They would seem to imply
that also the first line refers to George Washington. Now,
in April and May, 1798, President John Adams was e&
officio the Oommander-in-Ohief of the American forces,
not George Washington. The latter was not nominated
Oommander-in-Chief hy John Adams until July 2, 1798.
(The nomination was confirmed by the Senate on July 3.)
Consequently, so the argument would probably continue,
184 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
July 2 or 3, 1798, would be the earliest possible date of
issue of "The Favorite 'New Federal Song" with the words
"Behold the Chief who now commands" joined to a por-
trait of George Washington.
And this is about as far as an attempted argument in
favor of the priority of the American eagle issue as the
first issue of "Hail Columbia" would get in this direction.
It is blocked by the fact that Joseph Hopkinson wrote the
line "Behold the Chief," etc., in April, 1798, when it
could have applied only to John Adams; and by the
counter-argument that, for the reasons stated above, the
issue without the American eagle is prior to one with the
eagle. Therefore, the argument would prove only that
the issue with the portrait of George Washington was not
published before July 3, 1798, that the issue with the
American eagle instead of the portrait was published still
later, and that inasmuch as the song was published by
May 2, 1798, with "a very elegant portrait of the Presi-
dent" loth these issues were preceded ly one with the
portrait of John Adams, of which issue no copy has come
to light!
Into this curious dilemma those are driven who, like
Mr. Hart, interpret the line "Behold the Chief who now
commands" as addressed by Joseph Hopkinson to George
Washington. By this anachronistic interpretation Mr.
Hart and others are ungracious enough to credit Judge
Hopkinson with a rather poor knowledge of the Constitu-
tional prerogatives of the Presidents of the United States.
However, Mr. Hart is mistaken if he seems to think that
the first two lines of the fourth stanza are applicable to
George Washington only. His quotation
Behold the Chief, who now Commands
Once more to serve his country stands
without the third ("The rock on which the storm will
beat") is f aulty and forced ; it leaves the third line dropped
off in mid-air. Furthermore, we know from contemporary
FIRST EDITION OP "HAIL, COLUMBIA.^ 18
evidence "Aurora," April 27, 1798 that the Anti-Fed-
eralists looked on the song (which Joseph Hopknison had
intended as a non-partisan song) as "the vilest adulation
to the angle-monarchical party and the two Presidents,"
i. e., the only two our country had so far had, George
Washington and John Adams. Now Hopkinson's first
two stanzas ("Hail Columbia happy land" and "Im-
mortal patriots, rise once more") are wholly impersonal.
The third ("Sound, sound the trump of Fame / Let
Washington's great name") deals with the first President.
That leaves only the fourth stanza for John Adams, if the
impression of vilest adulation of two -Presidents could be
created. It is but necessary to read this extract from an
editorial report in "Porcupine's Gazette," April 28, 1798,
on the political enthusiasm created by Mr. Fox's singing of
"Hail Columbia" on April 27, at the New Theatre as it
had been on occasion of the premiere of the song on April
25, and to combine with it the editorial political remarks
about the President's recent letter to Congress, to know
that indeed at least the first line of the fourth stanza was
considered a direct reference to John Adams: "but no
sooner were the words
Behold the Chief who now commands
pronounced, than the house shook to its veay centre; the
song and the whole were drowned in the enthusiastic
i .". *, , i M
and again, in order to gain a hearing."
That Joseph Hopkinson referred with that line to the
only "Chief" of whom he could possibly say in April,
1798, "who now commands," namely John Adams, must
be clear from all this internal and external evidence. But
Gilbert Pox, to whose lot it fell to "create" (as the French
would say) "Hail Columbia" 1 on April 25, 1798, must
also have been the first interpreter to query the address
of all the other lines in the last stanza. Did they, too,
refer to John Adams, or do they, with the second line,
18(5 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
"Once more to serve his Country stands," suddenly turn
back to George Washington, just as if the author in his
flights o fancy had tried in vain to emerge for more than
a few seconds from under the shadow of the first Presi-
dent?
Hopkinson's commas in his autograph text at the Penn-
sylvania Historical Society afford us little help:
Behold the Chief, who now commands,
Once more to serve his country stands,
The rock on which the Storm will beat.
"Porcupine's Gazette," the first newspaper to print the
poem (in the issue for April 28, 1798) improved on this
feeble interpunctuation, though not settling the case of
Adams versus Washington :
Behold the Chief who now commands,
Once more to serve his country, stands
The Bock on which the Storm will beat.
I realize that the normal interpretation of lines sec-
ond and third, especially with Porcupine's interpunctua-
tion, would be "George Washington, who stands ready once
more to serve his country as the rock," etc. Yet I believe
that it is not the interpretation desired by Joseph Hop-
kinson. I suspect that it is merely the case of a very
minor poet endeavoring to cram too much historical and
patriotic symbolism into a few lines without the power
of unequivocal, contrasting statement
It is inconceivable that a man like Joseph Hopkinson
can have referred to any but the actual President as
"the Chief who now commands." It is equally inconceiv-
able that, after having devoted one whole stanza, the third,
to G-eorge Washington, he should have turned by way of
poetic contrast to John Adams only to the extent of one
line and have succumbed to "Washington's great name"
again for the rest of the poem. Hence, we may feel
morally certain that the plan of his whole last stanza was
FIRST EDITION OF "HAIL, COLUMBIA" 187
a reference to President John Adams. This conclusion
in nowise interferes with the fact that the plan miscarried
by way of misleading phraseology, mixed metaphors, eta,
with the result that without further analysis and with-
out remembering the constitutional prerogatives of a
President, in matters military, almost any reader would
see in the fourth stanza a direct reference to George Wash-
ington. Perhaps Hopkinson's idea was (with a modi-
cum of that poetic license which disregards chronology)
to symbolize in the abstract and impersonally the Presi-
dent of the United States as ready to serve his country
again as the rock, etc. Perhaps unconsciously he voiced
an anticipation that John Adams would step aside in
favor of George Washington as the Commander-in-Chief
of our military forces. Perhaps the association of "The
President's March" with its memories of George Wash-
ington exercised too much pressure on his mind. What-
ever the cause, the threads of our poet's imagination be-
came twisted, and by using the words "once more to serve
his country" he inevitably switched the attention of the
reader from the de facto "Chief John Adams to George
Washington.
And Benjamin Carr, the first publisher of "The Favor-
ite New Federal Song" that within a few days became
known as "Hail Columbia" ? Who can tell why a music
publisher (of the eighteenth century, of course) did this
or that? When he advertised the song with a portrait
of the President, he knew full well that John Adams was
the President and not George Washington. But perhaps
no suitable engraved portrait of John Adams was avail-
able for his purposes; perhaps he really held the erroneous
belief (pardonable enough in a music publisher compara-
tively "lately from London") that George Washington
was still the Commander-in-Chief of the American forces
and ready to serve his country against France as he had
against England; perhaps it was a better business, propo-
sition after all to twist the facts a little and to sell the
188 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
song with a picture of George Washington rather than that
of John Adams; perhaps but enough of conjectures.
The unalterable fact is, whatever its explanation, that B.
Carr published "The Favorite New Federal Song" with
a portrait of George Washington and the quotation, "Ben
hold the Chief who now commands."
To sum up, the history of the first edition of "Hail
Columbia" would appear to be this: Joseph Hopkinson
wrote it in April, 1798, as a non-partisan song for the
benefit of Gilbert Fox, who sang it at the New Theatre,
Philadelphia, for the first time on April 25, 1798. It
was advertised as to be published on April 30, 1798,
and- on May 2, 1798, was advertised as published in Phil-
adelphia, at the Musical Repository of B. Carr. It was
published, though without Carres imprint, as "The favorite
new Federal Song Adapted to the President's March,"
composed by Philip Phile. The engraver of the music
plates so spaced the title as to leave space in the centre
for the insertion of "a very elegant portrait of the Presi-
dent" as advertised by Carr. Instead of John Adams'
portrait, however, a profile to left, bust portrait of George
Washington engraved after Joseph Wright appears to
have been used. It was mounted above the engraved
quotation from Hopkinson's text, "Behold the Chief who
now commands." Either because his supply of prints was
not equal to the demand for the "favorite" song or because
he wished to rectify his mistake in calling Washington
the "Chief" or because of some other reason B. Carr ap-
pears to have substituted some time later (probably in
1798) on the same plate, for the mounted portrait of
George Washington and the quotation from Hopkinson's
text, the design of an American eagle with American
shield in beak and clouds in the background broken by
sunrays neatly engraved in the available space in the cen-
tre of the title. This, then, would be the second issue
of the first edition; whereas the issue with the Wash-
ington portrait would be the first issue of the first edition,
FIRST EDITION OF "HAIL, COLUMBIA" 189
s, after 0$, a genuine copy of "The fa/oorite new
Federal Song" should be discovered not with George
Washington's portrait but with that of John Adams, as
Carp's advertisements would imply. In that case the issue
with Adams' portrait would be the first and its date
would be April 30 or May 1, 1798. The issue with
George Washington's portrait would then be the second
and the line "Behold the Chief who now commands"
would point to July 3, 1798, the date of Washington's
appointment as Commander-in-Ohief in the threatened
war with France, as the earliest date of publication and
the issue with the substituted American eagle would be
the third, though probably still of the year 1798.
GUILLATJME LEKETT
(1870-1894)
(Written 1916: published in the "Musical Quarterly,"
1919)
Enfin, ce pauvre OuUlaume LeJceu, temperament quasi genial,
mais mort a vingt-quatre ans avant d'avoir pu se manif ester
d'une maniere complete. (Vincent d'Indy in his chapter on the
"artistic family" of "pere Franck.")
To die at the age of twenty-four and to leave a perma-
nent mark in the Book of Art, of itself bespeaks genius.
That is precisely the sad but proud record of Guillaume
Lekeu. His case is more tragic than that of Schubert
or PergolesL They, too, died young, but ^ not before
Nature permitted them to shower on us the fruit of ripened
genius. Fate treated Lekeu more cruelly: his life^thread
was cut before he could possibly refine all the crudities
of youth in the crucible of a mature mind. It would
be futile to deny this, and no friend of Lekeu's art has
yet failed to acknowledge that occasional "ecriture inegale"
in his music on which Henri Maubel in his "Prefaces
pour des musiciens" dwells feelingly and understandingly.
Yet no friend of Lekeu's art and my own efforts in his
behalf first took concrete form about as long ago as 1905
need apologize for his public espousal of an artist admit-
tedly immature, for Lekeu's immaturity is more acceptable
by far than the maturity of those unfortunate artists
who long outlive their over-ripe productions. If Guil-
laume Lekeu did not live long enough to earn the full title
of genius and master, his are at least the credentials of
one almost a genius and almost a master. They have
190
GUILLAUME LEKBU 191
been honored as such by more critics than any other artist
of so premature a death, I believe, has ever inspired to
encomia, not to mention exponents of his art among con-
ductors and performers. If men like d'Indy, Olosson,
Maubel, Pujo, Sere, de Stoecklin, Destranges, Tissier,
Gauthier-Villars, Dukas, Vallas, Lyr, Debussy, Hale did
not disdain to lay wreaths of laurel on the tomb of Guil-
laume Lekeu, the humble music-lover, if thrilled by Lekeu's
music as those men were, need not take seriously pro-
fessional myopes whom Lekeu's youth misleads into dis-
respectful remarks about his music.
Claude Debussy, who had introduced Lekeu's "Unfin-
ished Quartet for piano and strings" to a Parisian public
on February 1, 1896, under the auspices of the Societe
nationcde (since 1871 so valiant a herald of new talent),
in his contribution to Landonny's enquete on the present
state of music in France ("Revue bleue," 1904) wrote:
"Cesar Franck is not French, he is a Belgian. Yes, there is
a Belgian school. Next to Franck, Lekeu is one of its most
remarkable representatives, this Lekeu, the only musician to my
knowledge whom Beethoven really inspired."
The same year that Debussy made this startling state-
ment to be more specific, on Nov. 16, 1904 the Hoff-
mann Quartet with Miss Alice Oummings introduced the
"Unfinished Quartet" to Boston. It elicited from the
critic of the "Boston Journal" the terse comment:
Everywhere it breathes genius and causes regret fop the un-
timely death of its creator at 24.
This was as close a replica of the usual French com-
ment on Lekeu's art as one could desire. Philip Hale, so
brilliant and able a champion of modern French music
in those and earlier years and ever since, shared, of course,
192 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
his colleague's opinion. He remarked in the "Boston
Herald":
Lekeu's Toice was his own. His music is not like that of
other men; he thought in his own way and his emotional elo-
quence in this quartet is genuine and convincing. . . . Such
music does not suffer when played after a noble work by
Beethoven, but it makes a work like that of Dvorak's which fol-
lowed unendurable.
In f act> if I am not very much mistaken, it was Philip
Hale whose voice was first raised in America in "behalf
of Lekeu with, that authority and power which, compels
lazy ears to listen attentively. At any rate, as early as
the year 1900, when Lekeu. was still practically unknown
in America, Philip Hale in his and L. C. Elson's remark-
ably up-to-date new series of "Famous Composers and
Their Works," included this striking critical estimate of
Lekeu based on Ernest Olosson's biographical sketch in
"Le Guide Musical," 1895:
Lekeu was distinctively of the young French school, and his
music shows all the good qualities and all the faults of that
school: independence of form, predominance of the idea, a gift
of perhaps too refined tone color, fastidiousness in style, exces-
sive boldness in harmony. But it should not be forgotten that
the young composer was intoxicated with his freedom from
pedagogism and fixed and fired with a ferocious hate of all
applauded commonplaces and vulgarity. Chiefly remarkable in
his writing are inexhaustible richness of invention, the very
melodic character of his inspiration, and the fiery spontaneity
and the peculiar intensity of individual feeling. His musical
sentiment is characterized by tenderness, compassion and a
premonition of death.
Still more critically concentrated, I think, is the opin-
ion of Marcel Orban, who edited a few of Lekeu's letters
for the "Courrier Musical" in 1910 :
If sometimes the tumultuous current of his ideas interferes
with the neatness < of the total ensemble, an extremely rare, a
unique quality the power to move makes us forget imperf ec-
GUILLAUME LEKEU 193
tions which result from a magnificent superabundance of ideas,
and silences criticism.
Curiously enough, while Mr. Hale in 1904 so emphati-
cally favored Lekeu's unfinished Quartet, the Boston
correspondent of the German musical magazine "Die
itusik," himself a German, was utterly nonplussed. So
were most of the German critics when Stavenhagen and
Berber played Lekeu's Violin Sonata about that time at
Munich, Berlin, Leipzig. "Unclear," "vague," "amateur-
ish," "sterile," these were some of the unfriendly epithets
hurled at the sonata in addition to "immature." In good
f aith, of course, and without any intentional chauvinism.
However, it would lead entirely too far, though it would
be easy, to account for this strange exhibition of a mis-
applied nationalism which appraises the intrinsic value
of a foreign work of art according to the presence or ab-
sence of the influence of one's own national art thereon
and is responsible for the frequent undervaluation of
Cesar Franck in Germany just as much as for that of
Johannes Brahms in France.
Other quotations might have been adduced as testi-
monials to Lekeu's talent or genius, whatever term one
prefers; the above owe their selection in part to special
reasons. They embody both a misconception and a con-
tradiction which, unchallenged, might confuse the stu-
dent of Lekeu and obscure the appreciation of his racial
individuality. The contradiction lies in this that Philip
Hale (and others) unreservedly group him with "the
young French school," whereas Debussy (seconded by
Jean Hur6 and other French nationalists) emphatically
considers him a Belgian, not a Frenchman, and sees in
him one of the most remarkable representatives of the
Belgian school, next to Cesar Franck. Debussy's sharp
distinction will startle those whom wisdom or convenience
has led to affix the same national label to Franck, Lekeu,
d'Indy, Ohausson, Debussy, Ravel, e tutti quanti. It will
not 'startle those whose ears never quite could accept the
194 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
doctrine that Franck's music sounds wholly Latin, much
less wholly French. Now Debussy, whom no one will ae-
cuse of underestimating Franck's greatness as composer as
he did that of Wagner, though he really owes very much
more to Wagner than to Franck, cannot very well be ac-
cused of establishing a difference between tweedledum and
tweedledee, inasmuch as the Belgians themselves will have
none of the customary critical melting-pot and take a
similar separatist view. The very fact that Lekeu, after
the disappointing study of certain cantatas by Paul Gil-
son and Edgar Tinel, could exclaim in one of his letters:
"Is a Belgian school of composers merely an illusion and
a snare?" proves that the Belgians take the existence
of a distinctively Belgian school for granted. Now
Lekeu confesses his inability quite to follow Tinel be-
cause the text of his cantata is in Flemish, of which lan-
guage he understands not a word ! Wherewith the geneal-
ogists of music face the discomforting fact that the Bel-
gian nation is a combination but not an amalgamation of
two racial groups, different in language, temperament and
consequently in art. Paradoxical as it may appear, if
there is one Belgian school of music, there must of racial
necessity be two. The whole matter has been summed up
very neatly for those who are at all capable of reforming
their opinions, by Mr. Eene Lyr in his chapter on Belgian
music in Lavignac's remarkable "Encyclopedic de la mu-
sique du Conservatoire" (1914). Without the contribu-
tions of our musicians, surely French music would not le
what it is, he avers (quite correctly) and on this claim in
behalf of Belgian music in general he superimposes the
clear-cut distinction between a Flemish-Belgian school
(Germanic) and a Walloon-Belgian school (Gallic-Latin),
the one differing essentially from the modern French, the
other from the modern German. Thus he presents Blocks
and Benoit as Belgian composers of Flemish characteris-
tics, Cesar Franck and Lekeu as Belgian composers of
Walloon characteristics. (In Franck's case, moreover,
GUILLATJME LEKEU 195
he records a German substratum, by reason of descent.
Hence, a recent American program annotator was wiser
than his smiling readers suspected when he compounded
Cesar Franck into "a French composer, Belgian by birth,
but of German stock"). Only if one takes into due ac-
count this belief and pride of Belgians in a dual Belgian
school, can one fully comprehend the significance of the
comment of Lekeu's biographer Tissier on the impression
created by his premature death: "The blow was crush-
ingly cruel to all, for in Lekeu the qualities of heart and
character reached up to his genius as an artist." The
personality of their young friend endeared him to men
like Ysaye, . Orickboom, Voncken, Kef er, but their jubi-
lation over every new sign of progress in his art, their
love and admiration for him and their public espousal
of his works, struck a deeper source than his sympathetic
qualities of heart and character; they had seen in Guil-
laume Lekeu a young compatriot so richly endowed with
promise that their fervent hope for an eventual successor
to Cesar Franck had come to be centered in him.
Premonition of death was at one time supposed to have
inspired Brahms* u Vier ernste Gesange" as well as Tschai-
kowsky*s "Symphonie pathetique." It did in neither case,
and it did not in the case of Lekeu's "Unfinished Quartet
for piano and strings." Mr. Hale simply voices a cur-
rent tradition which Alexandra Tissier in his authorita-
tive pamphlet on Guillaume Lekeu (Verviers, 1906) took
pains to shatter by declaring that "contrary to what often
has been said, Lekeu never ceased to be of a gay, jolly,
exuberant, enthusiastic disposition and never at any time
had a premonition of his premature death." Indeed, such
a premonition of death would have been a rather protracted
affair, of several years' standing, since the same element
of sombreness, if not of piercing lament, pervades all of
196 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Lekeu's works and not only his "Unfinished Quartet." *
Apparently Lekeu's frequent and characteristic "wail"
was a matter of temperament with him. For that reason
he might have developed into a kind of Leopardi of musical
art without in the slightest letting this very same "wail"
disturb or perturb his daily life as a mere human being.
And if Tissier's statement is not accepted as binding,
then we possess in ite support a long series of letters
written by Lekeu to his parents and Louis Kefer during
the years 1889-1893 and published with a prefatory note
by Paul de Stoecklin in the "Oourrier Musical" of 1906.
There is in these letters not the slightest trace of an
abnormally gloomy disposition or view of life, much less
of a premonition of death. They are the. letters of a
"serious young gentleman" of extraordinary mental equip-
ment, who enjoyed life, held his chosen art sacred and
sought to live up to his motto, "Everybody works, and that
is decidedly the only way to arrive at happiness." I
quite agree with Marcel Orban, who ridicules the presenti-
ment of death idea which people love to ascribe to great
men, and says that Lekeu was thinking of life only, with
the gayety and exuberance of his age, with enthusiasm,
with an ardent desire for instruction and the creation of
beautiful things. His mental evolution was simply more
rapid than in ordinary mortals, and that accounts for a
seriousness of mind not often met with in artists so young.
It accounts also, I think, for that remarkable self-critical
attitude assumed by Lekeu toward his works as soon as the
first flush of satisfaction with a piece of work well done
had passed. Pride in his own accomplishment is notice-
able, of course, but it seldom partook of that youthful
naive, overweening self-esteem on which most of us have
reason to look back with amusement and which most of us
coupled with (in retrospect) amusing annihilation <tf
composers against whom we conceived for this or that
a Lekeu's art reminds me of Dante's lines in the "Purgatory": A place
there is below not sad with torments. But darkness only, where the lamen-
tations Have not the sound of wailing, but of sighs.
GUILLATJMB LEKETJ 197
reason an esthetic grudge. Lekeu had his antipathies,
too for example, he took an impulsive dislike to Ma-
gnard, sneered at the "nullities" of Ambroise Thomas, ex-
pressed disgust -with Bruneau after he had succumbed
to the pernicious influence of Zola, waxed sarcastic over
the preferment of Massenet and his "Esclarmonde" to
Cesar Franck, felt his heart "frozen and bleeding" over
a situation such as retarded the publication of Franck's
scores, and elicited from the great master at sixty this
pathetic excuse for his publishers: "If I perchance should
become celebrated" ; but his remarks on younger contem-
porary composers reveal a decided aptitude for benevolent
critical neutrality and a judgment as well-balanced and
clairvoyant as if it had been written to-day, not more
than twenty years ago. But more important for the pres-
ent purpose than Lekeu's characterization of certain works
by d'Indy, Faure, Charpentier, Chausson, Bordes and
others is his artistic credo on the one hand and his con-
ception of the essence of music on the other, since they
open for us the road to a readier appreciation and easier
grasp of Lekeu's art and aims. The pertinent observa-
tions to be culled from his letters to Louis Kefer will
speak for themselves, I think, without further comment
on my part:
To Louis Kefer, December 16, 1889.
[Cesar Franck's Eedemption.] This is absolutely a colossal
masterwork. ... It is for me (Wagner's works always aside,
it goes without saying) the work of purest genius in sacred
music since the D minor mass of the God Beethoven. ...
[When reading a trio by Kef er] I have observed there again
a psychological phenomenon which I often felt: revery pro-
ceeding from mild and serene joy leads to melancholy and
thence irresistibly to the idea of God.
To Louis Kefer, January 18, 1890.
. . . Later I may be able to answer your recent question:
What does Franck think of program music f I have not yet
discussed this matter with him; yet, on the basis of his habitual
attitude, I consider myself safe in telling you that his opinion
198 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
of this problem (at bottom easier than it looks) coincides with
that of Beethoven. . . . Mehr Ausdruck der Empfindung dls
TonmdLerei.
To Louis Kefer, February 1, 1890.
I have asked Franck at last for his opinion on program music
and here is his answer :
Whether music be descriptive, that is, busies itself with
awakening the idea of something material, or whether music
confines itself simply to a translation of a purely internal and
exclusively psychological state of mind, matters not! It is
merely necessary that a work be musical and above everything
else emotional
I do not know what you think of this opinion, which I con-
sider reasonable enough; but to be perfectly candid, I do not
believe that master Franck has weighed this problem often or
carefully, a problem which to my way of thinking led Berlioz
astray, though its solution presents no forbidding difficulties.
However, I should always prefer the last page of the Quintet,
the first Trio, the Symphony, the Quatuor of Franck to his
Djinns, notwithstanding the fact that the expressiveness of that
piece, within its limits, is wonderfully musical.
To his mother, March 1, 1890.
[On hearing "le 15 e quatuor du Dieu" Beethoven (Op. 132)
on which he subsequently wrote a brief expository essay, re-
printed in the "Courrier Musical,'* 1906.] I am still trembling
with the fever produced in me by that work; my impression
certainly was the same as that of a blind man cured of cataract
by a skillful operation.
To his musical deities Beethoven, Wagner, Franck, here
revealed, we must not fail to add Bach, an hour with
whose "Well-tempered Clavichord," for instance, he did
not hesitate at Bayreuth. to prefer to a reception at "Wahn-
fried"!
Guillaume Lekeu was torn at Heusy near Verviers on
January 20, 1870. His parents moved to Poitiers (France)
in 1879. There he entered the Lycee. Always one of
the first in his class, lie developed an aptitude for scientific
GUILLAUME LEKEU 199
knowledge so pronounced and an interest in literature
ancient and modern and tlie plastic arts so keen tliat lie
could not fail to impress his friends with his remarkable
intellectual endowment. He graduated in 1888, entered
the university at Paris and in due course took his bache-
lor's degree in philosophy before switching entirely to
music as a profession.
We have Tissier's testimony that Lekeu's musical talent
hardly revealed itself before his fourteenth year. He
played violin a little and amused himself with the banali-
ties of the day when some pieces of Beethoven accom-
panied by a friend gave the first real impetus to his musical
evolution. This was in 1885. On the strength of a few
pianoforte and solfeggio lessons he then spent four years
in assiduous study of Beethoven, Bach, Wagner, particu-
larly of Beethoven, whose quartets he is said to have car-
ried with him constantly. At Paris he had the good
fortune to be thrown together with the many intellectual
notables who gathered at Stephane Mallanne's receptions.
Equally stimulating was his friendship with Gabriel
Seailles and Theodore de Wyzewa. It was the latter who
dissuaded Lekeu from entering the Paris Conservatoire
and induced him to begin his professional musical studies
under Gaston Vallin, a former prix de Rome.
When Lekeu finished his harmony course under Vallin
in less than three months, his friends bethought themselves
of Cesar Franck as the only master capable of controlling
effectively Lekeu's incredibly rapid development They
effected an introduction through the good offices of M.
Read, a mutual friend. At first Franck is said to have
demurred, but from the moment that he accepted Lekeu
as pupil he appears to have taken a fatherly interest in his
musical welfare. Tissier and with him de Stoecklin
claim that Lekeu had only about twenty lessons from
Franck at the rate of two lessons a week I doubt that
even a CSsar Franck could have imparted to so talented
a pupil the mysteries of the most complicated types of
200 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
counterpoint in twenty lessons. Lekeu's letters prove that
to be a legend, for he began his studies under Franck
some time in 1889 (probably in early fall) and continued
them until a very few days before Franck's death on
Nov. 8, 1890. His progress, as under Vallin, was ex-
ceedingly rapid, and Franck apparently did not believe
in applying the professional speed-limit. Lekeu, in his
letters to Louis Kefer, the director of the conservatory at
Yerviers, has given us a vivid description of Franck's
method. He taught him counterpoint orally, without the
aid of a text-book, for the simple reason that he consid-
ered all text-books deplorable. Basing the counterpoint
studies principally on themes of sacred music such as the
.Stabat Mater, or the Dies ir&e, he demanded that the
contrapuntal embroidery
1. sound well (i.e., be musical),
2. above all else be expressive.
He believed that only in this way could the studies be in-
fused with life, and that otherwise they would be mere
documents of extreme dryness. His principal aim (as
throughout his career as teacher) was to stimulate the
productive imagination of the pupil, first by guiding him
into every nook of the workshop of a Bach or Beethoven
and secondly by urging him on to unconventional musical
utterance of his own. "That marches as on wheels,"
he would exclaim, and would encourage Lekeu to write
from lesson to lesson as much as he possibly could, with
the result that three or four days later the fascinated
pupil would submit ten or twelve pages of music for ex-
amination by a master than whom there was no greater
teacher in all Europe! Franck wished to reach the study
of fugue as rapidly as possible, so that it might run parallel
to a study of counterpoint in its more complicated aspects.
And Lekeu perceived the rationale of his procedure as
early as Nov. 19, 1889, when he wrote to Kefer :
GUILLAUMB LEKETT 201
I have finished my studies in three-part counterpoint
This kind of thing is not exactly amusing, but I feel that it
gives to my musical pen an incredible fluency, and I attend to
it seriously.
And as Lekeu descended deeper and deeper into the in-
tricacies of counterpoint the more affectionate the rela-
tions between the two grew, the master spending with open
hand in valuable advice from the treasure-house of his
experience as a composer, the pupil seeking it with open
heart and reverential respect for his teacher's genius.
Then Cesar Franck died in November, 1890. We know
from Lekeu's letter to Kefer on April 15, 1891, how com-
pletely Franck's death stunned him:
In December [sic/i] the death of my "cher Maitre." When,
at the beginning of the new year, I saw myself freed from my
extravagant occupation [he had substituted in the fall of 1890
as a teacher of Greek], when I could set myself to work again,
I succeeded only in writing horrors without name, which I have
grouped under the title of a Trio for piano, violin and violon-
cello.
I was completely bewildered; I passed four or five days a
week smoking and watching the implacable rain pour down
and telling myself how wise it would be to jump out of the
window. But, since verily there are other things to do than
to watch the doTmpour, I forced myself, as best I could, to do
regular work. I plunged back into counterpoint, double chorus
and fugue, and that sort of thing now marches cahincdha,. . . .
Also, Vincent d'Indy, whose acquaintance I was fortunate
enough to make, urges me in the friendliest spirit to work a
lot. At every meeting he asks me if I have something new to
show him. Thus I do not despair of being seized again by that
fever for work which held me captive all last year.
It was indeed fortunate for Lekeu (and for us) that
Vincent d'Indy, artistically pere Franck's greatest son,
stepped into the breach to act, as it were, as step-father to
the orphan and as the pilot without whom, perhaps, after
all, Lekeu would have drifted on the rocks. Needless to
say, Lekeu fully appreciated at their true value the emi-
202 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
nent qualities of Vincent d'Indy as a teacher of compo-
sition. And when the time had come to put his talents and
his technique to an actual concrete test, he followed Vincent
d'lnd/s advice to compete, notwithstanding his extreme
youth, for the Belgian Rome prize in 1891, though it pre-
vented him, very much to his regret, from journeying
to Bayreuth. Victor in the preliminary test for admission
(counterpoint and fugue) his cantata received but the
second-second prize. Utterly disgusted with the verdict
of the jury, Lekeu forthwith renounced all ambition for
further trial of strength in similar competitions, without,
however, decrying the benefit of self-assurance to be de-
rived from such contests. The next two years and a half
were devoted to work incessant and fruitful, with no bio-
graphical incidents worth recording here, except perhaps
his trip to Aix-la-Ohapelle in October, 1892, to hear Schu-
mann's Parodies und Peri. "A sublime work of incom-
parable poetry" as he calls it in a letter of October 28,
1892, from Heusy to his mother, which contains this ob-
servation:
But what an astonishing thing the German public isl
While fully appreciating and loving this or that interpreter, it
does not tender them a personal ovation; all appkuse is delayed
until after the last note of the work and then is intended for
everybody, for choristers, orchestra, conductor, soloists, but above
all for the memory of Kobert Schumann. Prom the start it is
not a question of the singer, but of the work and its beauty.
Just the reverse of the French and Belgian practice. It explains
in good measure the depth of thought in German musical -works ;
the composer knows that he will always have a "listening"
audience. What perpetual encouragement! To know that one
will be judged on the merit of one's case!
In the fall of 1893, just when he began to enjoy full
control of his powers and shortly after the first performance
of his Fanfaisie symphomque on two folk-songs of Anjou
at Verviers under his own direction, he showed the initial
signs of his lingering illness, contracted, it was diagnosed,
from contaminated sherbet. Surrounded by his family
GTHJoLAUME LEKEU 203
G-uillaume Lekeu died of typhoid fever on January 21,
1894, at Angers. On April 29 His friends organized a
concert in honor of his memory so that the public might
share their conviction of the great loss sustained "by the
world of music. The concert took place at Paris, at
the Salle d'Harcourt, under the direction of Vincent
d'Indy and with the cooperation of Mme. Deschamps-
Jehin, Eugene Ysaye and A. Pierret. The program con-
sisted of Lekeu's song "Sur une tombe," a scene from his
ill-starred cantata "Andromede," his Violin sonata and
his F&ntaisie symplionigue just mentioned.
Lekeu's best-known works found their way into the
concert-hall rapidly, but only gradually to the printing-
press after Vincent d'Indy had sifted the manuscripts
and prepared them for publication. Presumably tha,t ex-
plains tibe surprise expressed by some critics at the light
bagage left by the young composer. This impression was
faulty. A glance over the list of his works printed by his
principal publisher, E. Baudoux & O ie (now Eouart,
Lerolle & C ie ) of Paris on the cover of Lekeu's Violin
Sonata, or into the bibliography appended by Octave Sere
to his chapter on Lekeu in his valuable book on "Musiciens
franais d'aujourd'hui" (1911), leads to a totally different
conclusion. Here it is, with a few added or corrected
dates:
Pianoforte: Tempo di Mazurka (comp. about 1887, Poitiers,
Alb. AHiauine).
Trois pieces: 1. Ohansonnette sans paroles. 2. Valse oublie.
3. Danse joyeuse (comp. 1891; Liege, Veuve L. Muraille, 189-}.
Sonata (comp. April, 1891; Baudoux, 1900).
Songs: La fenetre de la maison paternelle (A. de Lamartine;
comp. 1887. Unpublished).
Chanson de Mai (comp. 1891; Jean Lekeu; Baudoux, 1900).
Trois poemes (Guillaume Lekeu): 1. Sur une tombe. 2.
204 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Rondo. 3. Nocturne (comp. 1892; Baudoux, 1894. The "Noc-
turne" exists also with string orchestra accompaniment by
Lekeu himself).
MelodieL'ombre plus dense (G. Lekeu; comp. 1S93, Liege,
Veuve L. Muraille).
Les Pavots (A. de Lamartine; Rouart-Lerolle, 1909).
Chamber music: Adagio pour deux violons et piano (1888;
unpublished).
Sonate pour piano et violon (comp. 1892; Baudoux, 1894
or 1895; * a transcription for piano and violoncello by Konchini
published by Rouart, Lerolle et &*, 1912).
Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle (1891; Rouart-Lerolle,
1908).
Sonate pour piano et violoncelle (unfinished; prepared by V.
d'Indy for publication by Rouart-Lerolle, 1910, but apparently
not yet published).
Quatuor pour piano, violon, alto et violoncelle (comp. 1893,
unfinished; prepared by V. d'Indy for publication by Baudoux,
1896).
Orchestra: Premiere etude symphonique: Chant de triom-
phale delivrance (1889), Rouart-Lerolle, 190- ; score en location.
Deuxieme etude symphonique: 1. Sur Hamlet (unpublished).
2. Swr le second Faust (Goethe; comp. 1890; Rouart-Lerolle,
190- ; score en location).
Adagio pour quatuor d'orchestre, Op. 3 (comp. 1891?; Rouart-
Lerolle, 1908).
Poeme pour violon et orchestre (unfinished and unpublished).
ifipithalame Pou* quintette a cordes, trois trombones et orgue
(about 1891; unpublished).
Introduction et Adagio pour orchestre d'harmonie avec tuba
solo oblige (1891; unpublished). Probably identical with:
Concerto for tuba and orchestra. Manuscript said to be lost;
unpublished.
Fantaisie symphonique sur deux airs populaires anjevins
(comp. 1891-1892, Rouart-Lerolle, 1909; also 4 hd. arr. publ.).
Operas and choral works: Barberine (A. de Musset; 1889;
sketches; unpublished).
Les Burgraves (V. Hugo; fragments; unpublished).
Chant l^ndque pour chceur et orchestre (1891; unpublished).
l Se"re" gives 1899, but that is impossible, since E. Closson in the Guide
Musical, April 12, 1895, mentions among the works so far published by
Baudoux Lekeu's Violin Sonata, with allegorical title-page figure by Carlos
Schwabe, "a la xnemoire de notre GuUlaume."
(HJILLATJME LEKEU 205
Andromede, poeme lyrique et symphonique pour soli, choBuis
et orchestre (Jules Sauveniere; comp. 1891; vocal score, Liege,
Veuve L. Muraille).
Baudoux's list is even more extensive than this as re-
gards unpublished songs, pianoforte and chamber-music;
it reaches the formidable total of about sixty compositions
finished or unfinished or existing merely in the form of
sketches. And all this in less than seven years; and his
weighty works in barely four and a half ! What renders
this record of industry still more amazing is the fact that
sickness and other circumstances would force upon Lekeu
a cessation or retardation of work for weeks and even
months at a time, or when, during the last three months
of 1890, he substituted for a friend as teacher of Greek,
Latin, etc. Furthermore, it appears from his letters that
he was not or at least dad not consider himself a rapid
worker. An amusing illustration of this fact he has re-
corded for us in a letter to Kefer, June 15, 1891. Com-
menting on his diffidence to enter the pri& de Rome con-
test because of the short time (three days) allotted to the
candidates for the fugue in four parts and chorus with
orchestra in the preliminary test, he writes:
I have never been able to write a fugue in less than six days.
As for the chorus with orchestra, I have tried to compose one in
as short a time as possible, with the result that it took me eight
days.
* #
Brief as was Guillaume Lekeu's career and restricted the
number of his works available for performance, his posi-
tion in the history of modern music music of yesterday
if confronted with Schonberg or Scriabin, but modern nev-
ertheless is prominent enough to warrant as comprehen-
sive a presentation of biographical data as is possible or
as space will permit. For that purpose Lekeu's letters
published by Mr. de Stoecklin in the "Courrier Musical"
(1906) and repeatedly quoted in the preceding pages, are
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
biographical documents of prime importance. So far as
I know, these letters have not been accessible heretofore
in English, and to students and admirers of Lekeu the
translated extracts forming the major part of this essay
will therefore, I hope, be welcome, grouped somewhat
. differently from the original publication in order to accord
with chronology as nearly as possible. They not only af-
ford a clear view of Lekeu's character and of biographi-
cal episodes, but they disclose the genesis of some of his
best and most ambitious works, whether actually completed
or not. Mr, de Stoecklin published the letters with numer-
ous elisions. This perhaps accounts for the absence of
reference or for the meagreness of reference to certain
works, as for instance the Violoncello sonata, the Piano-
forte sonata, the Fantaisie symphonique on two folk-songs
of Anjou. It is more than probable that these gaps would
be filled by a publication of Lekeu's other correspondence
not yet accessible in print. One would wish to know
more about the genesis of these works, as also of the
Chant lyrique for chorus and orchestra (the score has
been permitted to rest unpublished in the archives of the
Societe royale d'fimulation of Venders after the first
and last performance of the work at a concert of this so-
ciety on December 3, 1891, had met with an. "enormous
success" according to Marcel Orban) or of the Concerto
for t*uba and orchestra. This odd concerto, according to
the same authority, has remained absolutely unknown to
the public, though it contains "wonderful things." To
make matters worse, a certain Mr. Faniel, for whom it was
composed, claims to have lost the precious manuscript.
That the letters do not mention Lekeu's pianoforte
pieces need not be regretted: few critics would hesitate
to throw them out of court. Division of opinion about
Lekeu's songs is more probable, yet again few critics
would care to go as far as Destranges and Closson in their
praise. My own estimate is this: Lekeu, like Beethoven,
does not appear always to have been quite at ease when
GUILLAUME LEKEU 207
writing for the voice. I doubt that he would have become
a great master of the Lied. For instance, his "Chanson
de Mai" (June 23, 1891) to words by his brother Jean
is not very valuable; a certain youthful swing and ten-
derness cannot be denied to this spring-song, but it is not
original and its profile is marred by the excessive employ-
ment of pot-boiler chords of the ninth. The simple, not*
turnesque "Melodie" to Lekeu's own words stands higher.
If the poet perhaps was inspired in his apostrophe to
"this night of December" by memories of Poe's "Ulalume,"
the musician vividly, at least in the middle section, recalls
Beethoven. On the title-page this song is called "(Euvre
posthume, 1893," whereas Lekeu's most important songs,
the cycle of his own "Po&nes : Sur une tombe Rondo
Nocturne," are dated 1892. (They were actually finished
in December of that year* Without these dates every one
would claim for these songs a wide step forward!) Fa-
mous as these songs are said to have become in France
and Belgium, they do not impress me as deeply as does
Lekeu's chamber music, mainly because they are not es-
sentially vocal in style. The voice-part is not treated
badly, on the contrary, but it is not independent enough
of the piano-part. Indeed, the songs almost gain if ar-
ranged as pieces for the piano with Lekeu's own poems
as mottos instead of the lines by Lamartine, Verlaine,
Hugo, that are prefixed as such. When the voice does
not travel unisono with the piano, the separation follows
declamatory more than stylistic reasons.
Apart from such more or less technical objections, the
Poemes in all fairness demand serious interest and respect.
They strive toward that freedom of musical speech which
is so characteristic of latter-day songs and which will con-
jure the censure of incoherence the moment the voice-
part is severed and studied away from its twin, the piano-
part. Though the "Rondo" is full of esprit, almost
catchy, "Sur une tombe" and the "Nocturne" lent them-
selves best to Lekeu's introspective, brooding manner, a
208
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
conclusion verified by the fact that the young composer
took pains to provide his favorite, the "Nocturne," also
with an accompaniment transcribed for orchestra, which
is said to be impressively beautiful. The three songs are
very difficult of interpretation, and this difficulty will al-
ways stand between them, the singer and the public. But
thoughtfully interpreted they must conquer every sensitive
connoisseur of song. Yet he would find that the impres-
sion created does not result wholly from the music: Lekeu,
the poet, deserves his share of approval, since his exqui-
sitely impressionistic free verse leads the composer with-
out effort to interesting rhythmical experiments and to
melodic curves of extraordinary breadth. A& a specimen
of Lekeu's poetic gifts, his "Nocturne" (a landscape seen
with the eyes of the soul, as it has been called) may follow
here:
Des prSs lontains d'azur
sombre ou fleurissent les
Stoiles, descend, lente et pr6-
cieuse, la caresse d'un long
voile d'argent pali dans le
velours de Tombre.
Anx branches des bouleaux,
des sorbiers et des pins, la
tenture suspend ses long plis
de mystSre on dort le sommeil
des chemins et 1'oublieuse paix
de reve et de la terre.
L'air frais et pur, dans les
feuilles,
Laisse mourir un lent soupir
Si doux qu'il semble le desire
Des defuntes vierges aimees
Cherchant Finvisible joyau
Que vabergant pres du ruisseau
La chanson murmurante et
douce
De Fonde rieuse en la mousse
From distant meadows of
sombre blue, where the stars
flower, descends slowly and ex-
quisitely the caress of a long
silvery veil, pale in velvet
shadows.
Prom the branches of
birches, sorbs, and pines the
drapery suspends its long mys-
terious folds, where rest in
slumbeor the paths and the for-
getful peace of dreams and of
the earth.
The fresh and pure air lets
die in the leaves a slow sigh
so sweet that it resembles the
desires of maidens once loved,
now dead, but still in search
of the invisible jewel that lulls
asleep in the moss near the
rivulet the murmuring, lovely
song of its smiling ripples.
GUILLAUME LEKBU 209
La lune resplendit comine The moon is resplendent
une agraffe d'or ! et parfumant like a golden locket; and waft-
la plaine heureuse, la bruyere ing delicious odors tbjoiigli
s'endort dans Pombre lumi- the happy plains, the heath
neuse. is lulled asleep in the il-
lumined shadows.
In July and August, 1889, Lekeu, in company with his
friends de Wyzewa and Guery, made a musical pilgrim-
age to Germany, visiting Munich, Frankfort, Nuremberg
and especially Bayreuth. Even to-day his letters home
make good Wagnerian reading and will revive memories
of similar Wagnerian impressions in those of us who in
those days, too, had their first full taste of the magician
of Bayreuth. For instance, on August 1 he wrote from
Munich:
The day before yesterday I saw at the Munich opera an im-
mense masterpiece : The Flying Dutchman of Wagner. Simply
prodigious 1 And the performance 1 Yes, Germany is a country
in every way more than extraordinary. ... It is a powerful
and admirable work proceeding without intermission from
Fidelio. What will it be at Bayreuth!
And on August 12 from Bayreuth, after having heard
Tristan, the Meistersinger and Parsifal:
. . . Wagner can absolutely not be understood from the
piano ; to hear or rather to see one of his dramas is to enter an
entirely new world of which until now I had no conception.
One cries almost all the time: Parsifal has made me passion-
ately religious and I fed a smothering longing to go to Mass
(for that is the only thing resembling Wagner's superhuman
revery). And to think that I am to hear again Tristan and
after that the Heist ersinger.
From these quotations one might infer that Lekeu did
not begin to sketch his opera "Barberine" until after he
had come under the spell of Bayreuth. Tet his letter to
Kefer of November 19, 1889, undermines this inference:
210 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
My humble felicitations [on the success of Kefer's symphony]
may appeal to you like mustard after supper, and yet, my dear
Sir, I beg of you to accept them and to believe in their sin-
cerity.
My uncle recently informed me of the kind interest with
which you spoke of me. I hardly know how to thank you for
this new sign of affection and I cannot find suitable words to
thank you for your request of a musical work through my uncle.
I should very much like to be at your service, but I really cannot
as yet. Please listen instead, my dear Sir, to this recital of
events.
. . . Since May I am working on a scenic study in three
characters (I omit three others, as they are of no importance
for the sense of the work) : a study after Alfred de Musset's
charming comedy, Barberme. My score will have two acts; I
hope to finish in one or two months (let us say by January 1)
the first act. Though not completely. I sketch the music on
three, four, five or even eight and ten staves, multiplying the
instrumental indications, but the orchestral score has not even
been started, very much less the arrangement for piano, the
very thought of which makes my hair stand on end. So you see
that I have at least a year of work ahead of me, and serious
work at that, before I shall reach the end of my little drama.
So far I need not complain about myself. Indeed, I confess
quite frankly that I have realized my intentions fairly welL
Without false illusions, however, about the value of this first
work for the stage, since I feel only too well how the master of
Bayreuth rests with all his formidable weight on my thoughts;
after all, I merely sought to follow him, to be straightforward
and accurate in the declamation, expressive and musical in the
instrumentation, and furthermore scenic. KTow to-day a friend
of mine, an actor at the Odeon, asures me that Mme. Lardin,
sister of de Musset, would never permit the performance of the
work (if by some lucky chance that opportunity should arise)
nor the performance of excerpts at a concert. It would seem
that ^ she rejects absolutely all the numerous requests for per-
mission to adapt musically her brother's dramas and comedies.
... At any rate, if an orchestra is willing, I can always at my
expense and unhindered by Mme. Lardin have the purely sym-
phonic parts of my work played. But I find only two excerpts
fit for concert performance and the first will lose much, I fear,
away from the stage: a fragment of the second scene of the first
act and the prelude for the second.
My first act will have no prelude; I thought this best, since
the principal character does not appear until the second act.
GUILLAUME LEKETJ 211
The prelude, then, is reserved for this entry in the second
act; it will depict the loveliness of Barberine, her goodness of
heart, her love and her devotion to her husband. This is a fine
program, to be sure, but ... I have not yet written a note of
it. Without doubt (since four fifths of the first act are finished)
I may avail myself of several of the motives as a foundation
for this symphonic piece.
Still, I shall require two or three other motives. Because
useless for the first act, I have reserved them exclusively for
the second; the business, then, remains of putting all these
themes in order for a concise piece of orchestral music.
I propose to put my hand to this prelude the moment the end
of the second act is in sight. As soon as it is finished I shall
show it to my master Franck and it will give me a real pleasure
to send you the score. . . I have also an introduction to La
Coupe et les levres in my head, but that is practically only in
the state of a mere project.
To Kefer, Paris, Dec. 16, 1889.
. . . Eecently I wrote to you about my "future" scenic essay,
Barberine. I have abandoned it. For this very intime drama
I composed a Prelude. I showed it to Franck; it pleased him
very much and he did not withhold his compliments (far from
it!). Yet he advised me against writing for orchestra too soon.
I shall follow his advice. Nevertheless, the orchestration of this
Prelude is entirely sketched; nothing remains to be done except
to transcribe it in score. The same applies to a symphonic study
in form of a Chant de triomphale delivrance which I finished
about a month ago on four or five staves surcharged with instru-
mental indications. These two pieces and my fugue, there you
have a list of my works since October.
The above reference to his "first symphonic study"
called Chant de triomphale delivrance disposes of the as-
sertion by Tissier, de Stoecklin (who edited the letters!)
and others that the work was first performed under Kefer
in 1889, before Lekeu "had received a single lesson in
composition." That is at best a doubtful compliment
We must not forget that in November Lekeu had already
developed the habit of taking his oracle in counterpoint,
Cesar Franck, into his compositional confidence, and cer-
tainly not without profit As a matter of fact, the Chant
de triomphale delivrance was not performed by Kefer, to
212 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
whom it is dedicated, at a concert of the Verviers conserva-
tory until April 13, 1890. The history of this perform-
ance is sufficiently outlined for biographical purposes in
the following three letters:
To Kefer, Paris, January 18, 1890.
. . . You will receive with this mail a manuscript which with-
out doubt will impress you as being unreasonably long. Excuse
me, its length and my boldness in dedicating to you my first
work for orchestra. But I believed that this dedication was
yours of right because of all the kindness you have shown me
and because, of all the things that I have concocted so far, it is
the only one that satisfies me. I have worked oil it since
November. The last five or six pages of the score I attacked
six or seven times. I finally saved only the version which
appeared to me to be the most concise and precise. . .
Tell me frankly what you think of it, for I am very young,
and at twenty one hardly ever has the good fortune to meet so
devoted a friend as you : in other words, it would not pain me
in the slightest, not even after the happy news from you, if I
had to wait some time, even some years, before appearing in
public. Above all I must ripen.
March, 1890, to his mother.
I heard yesterday the first rehearsal of my fitude sym-phonique.
On the whole, I was satisfied. It sounds well; it is an orchestra
a la Beethoven and KSfer has again told me, warmly pressing
my hands, that the fugue is ''prodigieusement charpentiee."
However, I shall make a few little changes, not melodic or
harmonic, but orchestral. Yesterday's rehearsal took place
under particularly disadvantageous conditions. For an hour
and three quarters Kefer had kept the musicians busy rehears-
ing his symphony; tired, they were about to leave the hall,
when Kefer called them back and requested them to try over
a work by one of their compatriots. They went about it sawing
and blowing as best they knew how, but the horns and trom-
bones, not knowing the work at aU, missed many entries. When
tihey had finished they began to applaud and I had to rise (I
was seated hidden in a corner of the hall) and bow my acknowl-
edgments right and left; after which I had to shake hands for
five or six minutes. All that will make you laugh, and yesterday
I felt like doing likewise. The main point, however, is, it is
good music and feasible.
GUILLAUME LEKEU 213
At the next concert a piece (Again!) by Voss* efant will be
performed. This little piece (which you will certainly hear) is
a "bonne Hague invented by me and Massau [violoncellist, pro-
fessor at the Conservatory of Verviers].
First a violin and violoncello take their place at their desks,
all others remaining vacant. They wait a little while for the
others, who do not appear, and then play a motive of "Oram-
pignon" (first the violin ; then the violoncello takes it up, accom-
panied by the violin in imitative counterpoint).
While they are playing, an alto arrives, sits down and takes
up the motive. And during all the ^succeeding entries (in a
goose-march, as it were) of the string instruments, a little
fugue is rolled off without interruption.
Then comes an oboe: he wants to take up the theme, but
bizarre chords impose silence on him after two futile attempts.
In the meantime a clarinet has entered and chants a melody,
calm and interpretative of the-pleasure one feels wlien making
music with friends. This melody is treated in an adagio of
five or six lines. Then the horn and bassoons take part in the
sport; the volume of sound increases; finally the violins intone
victoriously the chant of the clarinet and at the same time the
basses, doubled by the bassoon, take up the theme of crampignon
which served as subject for the fugue. (Just as in the Master"
singers.)
You see, my dear Mother, one can write "blagues [hoaxes] in
music as well as in literature. But I have tried to make this
caprice amusing and yet very musical. I believe it will sound
marvelously well. Almost all the successive entries are amus-
ing and unexpected; especially a fortissimo entry of the double-
bass solo.
I have not been able to identify this reversed shadow of
Haydn's "Abschieds-Symphonie" in 35audou3?s list of
Lekeu's works. Perhaps the score has disappeared. That
would be regrettable, for an opportunity to hear Lekeu's
whimsical piece ought to prove most entertaining on a suit-
able occasion. Indeed, just for the fun of it and we
need a little more fun in music one might wish, to see
Lekeu's blague and Haydn's Hague put in juxtaposition
on a program.
Again it is a letter to Kef er which acquaints us with
the conception and genesis of one of Lekeu's "serious"
214 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
/
and ambitious works, nothing less than a triptych, however
incongruous. He writes from Paris, on May 22, 1890 :
, . . I have undertaken une grosse machine in three parts
for orchestra (and male chorus in the third). I shall tell you
below of the subject and the plan. Here, first of all, my reasons
for hoping to hear this work at an early date. 1C. Yoncken
[violinist, professor at the Verviers conservatory] has requested
of me for the annual concert de I'ifimulation a work for or-
chestra and chorus. Furthermore, recently I was introduced to
M. Louis de Eomain, who with Jules Bordier is in charge of
the artistic enterprise of the concerts at Angers. This gentle-
man treated me charmingly and asked me to let him have in
August, when he next visits Paris, the score of a symphonic
piece. I have set myself the task of finishing for his purpose
and by that date the first part of my Poeme.
Here is the point of this heavy job : I should like to make
a Musical Study after Shakespeare's Hamlet. The first part
has for a motto "To die to sleep; To sleep! perchance to
dream. . . M You see that this is precisely Hamlet's character.
But this character, I feel neither old nor strong enough to
adequately depict: that task requires a Beethoven! But at
least I can attempt to illustrate musically some principal traits
of the character: the thirst of death, the march of his mind
toward this idea: seeing first in Death a deliverance and then
fear of finding beyond the grave painful surprises; his hatred,
thereupon, of all the rank evil which surrounds him (his coun-
selors, his mother, his step-father). Thus I am also led to
reveal the honesty of this extraordinary soul, his profound love
of the good, his eternal attachment to his father. Tou see that
this is not a small affair. Many things will still have to be
considered and translated, for the complexity of this character
(so astonishingly one, after all) is truly crushing.
Well! I have resolutely set my hand to the task! Even
before leaving for Verviers I was spending much thought on it.
I have finished the first part. Now I must prepare the en-
trance of the themes of hate and combine them symphonicaHy
with the motives of the Invocation of Death.
The second part will have as epigraph: "Das Ewig-weibliche
zieht uns hinan" (the last words of the second Faust) : the con-
solation that Death will not perhaps procure and which the
troubled soul asks for Love. But there again, complete decep-
tion; and the themes of grief return still more certain of their
victory.
Q-UILLAUMB LEKEU 215
The third part will have as epigraph: "0 proud Death!
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell, That thou so many
princes, at a shot f 80 bloodily hast strucW This is the definitive
triumph of Grief. There is one thing against which I must
guard myself: to want to narrate in music concrete facts (pro-
gram music), for instance, the apparition of the ghost and other
betises. Under no circumstances do I wish to attempt rewriting
in music Shakespeare's drama. My desire is merely to essay
a translation into music of some of my impressions gained from
the frequent reading of Hamlet. For example, the third part
will not be a funeral march (Berlioz has made one on this sub-
ject), but a piece of music (in very moderate tempo) into which
I shall try to put utmost sorrow, deriving it nominally from
the Invocation of Death and the heinous imprecations of the
first part.
Was "Hamlet" performed at Angers in 1890 ? Prob-
ably letters of Lekeu not yet published would answer that
question. Those edited by Stoecklin (with elisions) do
not Yet one feels inclined to deduce an affirmative answer
from the tenor of Lekeu's letter to Kefer on April 15,
1891, the one informing his friend of the depressed state
of mind in which the death of his "eher maitre" Franck
had left him :
"At Angers [the letter was written in Paris, apparently after
a return from Angers] I heard a good rehearsal of a little
orchestral piece which I composed last summer (the second part
of an Mude symphonique in three parts) [obviously the 'Taust"
movement], and as it did not sound disagreeable, I took a little
courage. . . I shall revise completely, I might say re-compose,
the first part of this my second symphonic study, for when I
set about writing the third part, the first impressed me as being
more nuLle than the collected works of Axnbroise Thomas.
That he did not carry out this plan, is a further deduc-
tion from his letter to Kefer. At any rate, it would offer
a plausible explanation of the fact that the "Hamlet"
(and also the third) movement remained unpublished,
whereas the score of the second, the Faust movement,
seems to have been printed, though, in keeping with that
216 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
regrettable practice of French and Italian publishers, en
location only.
"Horrors without name, which I have grouped under
the title of a Trio for piano, violin and violoncello."
With these not very flattering remarks Lekeu in his letter
to Kefer of April 15, 1891, would seem to refer to the
least known (and least coherent) of his chamber music
works, finished early in 1891 after he had recovered from
the blow dealt him by Franck's death, but commenced
early in 1890, and apparently, after the completion of
the first movement, laid aside in favor of his grosse ma-
chine in three parts. I say on purpose "would seem to
refer," because the letters quoted below in which other
references to the Trio occur contain a contradiction. In
one of them he mentions a trio for piano, violin and alto
(underscoring the word aKo), which leads us almost to
suspect that Lekeu at that time was actually working on
two different trios, one for the customary combination of
piano, violin and violoncello, the other for the rather un-
usual combination just mentioned! The earliest allusion
to a trio I find in Lekeu's letter to Kefer from Paris,
February 1, 1890 :
I just left my admired master, Franck, who for half an hour
bombarded me with compliments on the first four pages (all I
have written in a month) of a Trio for piano, violin and violon-
cello. But enough of this.
On April 26, 1890, Lekeu then informs Kefer that
Cesar Franck is
quite satisfied with what I have shown him of the Trio on which
I am busy. He warmly encouraged me to persevere in this
heavy and irksome task. Hence, I have thrown myself into it
with refreshed strength.
It is in his letter to KSfer of May 22, 1890, tiiat tiie
olio is mentioned instead of the violoncello. In these
words:
aUILLAUME LBKEU 217
I work much, I do not mean counterpoint; one has to submit
to these annoying but indispensable scholasticisms! I have
finished the first movement of a Trio for piano, violin and alto.
The adagio will have been written (at least I hope so) in one
or two months. I showed the work to father Franck, who is
very much satisfied with it. In fact, I expect to dedicate it to
him (which is but natural).
Between these letters falls one written from Heusy on
March 1, 1890, to his mother, which affords a further
valuable clew to Lekeu's. type of mind as a composer.
(After all, he was a "programmatic" composer and not a
formalist. ) The letter runs :
The last piece of my Trio is definitely attacked: two pages
are written. The rest simmers feverishly in my head. Here
is what I should like to express in this first movement. I have
all the themes:
1. Introduction: Grief, a ray of hope, fugitive, too short,
brusquely driven off by the sombre reverie which, alone, expands
and prevails.
2. Allegro molto : The sorrow of melancholy ; always to be
in battle with matter and with the memories of victory over
matter! temporary and torturing. Grief reappears; cries of
hate resound and the malediction has plain sailing. The violin
issues an appeal of despair : who will deliver me from this tor-
ture? The hellish ritornelle answers; the violoncelle [sic!]
unites with the violin to proclaim anew the supplication; once
more the ritornelle replies. A contest ensues, desperate, between
the two ideas. (Here is where I have stopped.) The plan of the
rest is as follows:
The contest seems to come to an end. Is it to be the end
of the suffering?
The melody of Hope of the Introduction reappears. But
brusquely Grief, as if irritated by this consoling calm, takes
possession of her empire. The cries of hate become more
numerous, the fugue in its winding course sweeps them away.
Melancholy, too, in an attempt to rend the clouds, is driven off;
expelled also all hope; and in impotent lassitude the first section
ends as if proclaiming in darkest silence the triumph of Evil
But, dear Mother, rest assured that the other sections correct
the first, and the finale will be the luminous development of
Goodness, if I am at all able to cope with that task worthily.
I am satisfied with what I have done so far. With patient
218 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
travail I tope to reach the end of this work, which I feel to be
so beautiful, above all so expressive, and I compel myself to
put my whole being into it. Let us hope that you may hear it
within a year.
On April 15, 1891, Lekeu had occasion to thank Kefer
for his willingness to lend the string section of his or-
chestra for the performance of a little piece composed for
the approaching marriage of his friend, A. Guignard. It
was his unpublished fipithalame: "This ensemble of
strings, trombone and organ ought not, I think, to sound
full of holes." April, 1891, is also the date affixed to
the printed score of his "Sonate pour piano/' yet I can
find no mention of this work in the letters published by de
Stoecklin. Unfortunately so, for it might have helped
to check up Marcel Orban's statement:
A Suite for piano was published after his death under the title
of Sonata. He did not consider it more than a study in com-
position; but it is a study of real beauty. The fugue remains
a monumental example of the genre.
That Lekeu in letters not yet published speaks of this
sonata is clear, since Orban quotes a line from one of
these (without further data) to the effect that "This pas-
sage L should not to-day write again, but the fugue is
lien."
Ln the absence of documentary evidence, I hesitate to
accept Orban's story. The reverse process would have
been more plausible : to change the title of sonata to that of
suite, as the following little expose will illustrate.
Lekeu prefixed these verses by George Vanor to the
work as a motto (serviceable for a suite as much as for a
sonata) :
Oomme une mdre veille auprSs de son enfant,
Elle a berce de ses chansons ma male fievre.
La bonne fee, elle a ranime de sa levre
Ma levre, et rafralchi pour moi, Pair etouffant.
The music is in keeping with these verses, although it is
GTJILLAUME LEKEU 219
music with, a motto rather than "programmatic" music
in the routine sense. The "male fievre" and the "air etouf-
fant" predominate, but since one has to live up to one's
motto, the "bonne fee" ultimately comes into her own.
It is music as from another world, undisturbed by market
noise or by witty fashionable gossip. Immature and
youthfully crude in spots, to be sure, but like MacDowell's
first suite, an astonishing example of adolescent genius.
It is unlike MacDowell's suite, however, in its almost
ascetic avoidance of brilliant hues, albeit full of color other-
wise. The sonata inherited its gait from Bach, its mys-
ticism from Franck and its profile (as seen through a veil)
from Wagner.
Academicians among critics will deny to the work its
title of sonata. Not without cause, for at best Lekeu
wrote a sonata in the original sense of a piece to be played
on an instrument, and certainly not a sonata in the modern
sense of the term : the first and last of the five movements
excepted practically a prelude and an epilogue the
composer revels in a series of strictly contrapuntal fugal
movements with just a trace of the so-called sonata-form !
Combine this fact with the fin de siecle harmonic boldness
of the work and its somewhat morbid program, and an im-
pression is produced as if Sweelinck or some other fore-
runner of Bach had returned to earth, had listened to our
modern ways of making music, and had retired to some
organ-loft to improvise an organ phantasy in the "modern"
style. Not without clinging to the idea of thematic unity
(so characteristic of archaic suites and sonatas), for Lekeu
in this "study in composition," too, as in his other chamber-
music and in the footsteps of his master, Cesar Franck,
dedicated himself wholeheartedly to a revival of that
maxim of composition.
The nobly harmonized prelude gives the mood of the
entire sonata: climaxes interrupted by mystic echoes from
the beyond, produced by the simple device of a change in
pedals, and at the end a simple motif obviously announc-
220 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
ing the chanson of the good fairy. With slight altera-
tions the main theme of the prelude reappears immediately
after the prelude as a fugue theme. A bona fide four-
part fugue seems to follow, hut the movement impresses
me more like a f ugato variation of the prelude, the prelude
theme, the chanson motif, with the mystic harmonic in-
terruptions and syncopations playing the same role here
as there. In working all this out as if in a choral phan-
tasy for organ, the chanson motif is used partly in canonic
imitation for the preparation of a mighty climax, after
which the main theme reenters majestically with a kind
of basso ostinato leading to the end in almost literal repe-
tition of the closing bars of the prelude. To the student
of composition this movement is particularly interesting,
for the apparent experiment in utilizing fugato as a tech-
nical contrivance, while adhering sub rosa, to the sonata-
form. The third movement, with the chanson motif again
as ethereal thematic adjunct, is also a fugato movement in
which the first theme seems to have germinated from the
basso ostinato of the second movement. The fourth move-
ment in very much slower tempo shows the same contrapun-
tal style and the same thematic material, though it is varied
to fit the story of the movement: a feverish starting up as
if haunted by tender calls, a sinking back into despair
after a tremendous struggle, yet now with rays of hope
breaking through darkness. Obviously, the composer is
preparing us for the poetic essence of his motto; and in-
deed, from the last movement, the epilogue, the "suffocating
atmosphere" has been dispelled. The thematic material
is the same as in the fourth movement, but the underlying
mood is more joyful, and, though passionate, calm with
the calmness of the soul after a conflagration. Unfor-
tunately, the idea of this epilogue is better than the music,
which is somewhat banal.
Whatever one chooses to call Lekeu's "Sonate pour
piano" a sonata, a suite, a theme with variations, an
orgaa feygr-phantasy transcribed for the pianoforte it
GUILLAUME LEKEtJ 221
is on the whole a noble work o youthf ul genijis reaching
with outstretched arms for ideals peculiarly his own.
But like so much of Schumann's music, it seems to have
been sung to the composer's own soul or to a few intimates,
and not to a listening crowd. With all its thundering
climaxes the sonata is music for the chamber, not for the
concert-hall, and it is perhaps impressive rather than ef-
fective. For that reason all but a few independent con-
cert-pianists will naturally hesitate to introduce Lekeu's
sonata to our audiences, so accustomed to the sterility of
"effective" pianists' programs.
In the middle of June, 1891, Lekeu informed his friend
Kefer that he had accepted Vincent d'Indy's advice to
embark on the adventure of trying to capture the Belgian
prix de Rome:
I obey him and so also satisfy my parents, who at present
dream of nothing but to see one of these days this supreme and
governmental prize allotted to me.
However, I must confess candidly how disagreeable it would
be not to be admitted to the final test; and yet from a strictly
materialistic standpoint (I mean the time for jotting down the
notes) I dread the preliminary more than the final competition.
For the latter they accord us 27 days en loge, whereas for the
preliminary test we have but 72 hours 3 days for the composi-
tion of the four-part fugue and the complete score of the chorus
with orchestra.
I have never been able to make a fugue in less than six days
and, as regards the chorus with orchestra, -when I tried to com-
pose one in as short a time as possible, it took me 8 days. . .
However, if I can finish these two affairs in three days and the
jury then pronounces them too bad for my admission to the
final competition, I shall be vexed indeed. . .
This letter was followed by one en loge to his mother in
the first flush of victory, half an hour after Gevaert on
July 25, 1891, had pronounced him "premier admissible"
for the final test. As Lekeu was the youngest competitor,
it had fallen to his lot to draw a fugue theine from the
urn. The theme drawn was of the poorest, and so unfit
222 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
for vocal treatment that Gevaert immediately charged the
competitors to use it for organ and string quartet accom-
paniment. Lekeu felt satisfied with his "sane, sonorous"
chorus and attributed his preliminary victory to his care-
ful instrumentation ("one is not a pupil of d'Indy just
for nothing"). His fugue horrified him as "raw as iron
and void of all musical interest." He did not hesitate
to say so afterwards to fimile Matthieu of the jury, who
replied with Gallic esprit: "Well, Monsieur Lekeu, you
see that our opinion was quite different from yours,"
The letter continued :
I might now perhaps by sawing wood like a deaf man unhook
a second honorable mention, but I hope that my two old friends
[his parents] will not get a swollen head and figure out that
the premier admissible thereby becomes first in the real compe-
tition. To write and finish such a complicated cantata as
demanded here one needs an experience and a flow of ideas
which one cannot hare at 21 years. Perhaps in two years I
could win the second prize and in four the first. However, that
is a beautiful dream and nothing else.
In his letter to Kefer of July 30 he voiced similar senti-
ments:
You appear to think that I shall split the drum with the first
blow. At 21 one does not triumph so easily, particularly not in
competition with chaps of 26, 28, and 29 years, of whom one, M.
Paul Lebrun, harmony professor at the conservatory of Gand,
already twice has carried off the first second prize. . . The
prize will go to him who is the first to complete the sketch of
his cantata and who has more time than the others to instru-
mentate with care. This rapidity of workmanship I am far
from possessing. Shall I ever have it? ... To be perfectly
frank, I attach little importance to that bizarre faculty of
completing a work of art in quick-step, and I consider it rather
strange that precisely that faculty is asked of the future
musician.
All this in order to tell you that perhaps by sawing wood
conscientiously I may gather in the Rome prize in four years.
Here I play the role of an amateur rather than of a competitor,
and though I am not lying exactly on a bed of roses, my life
OUILLAUME LEKEU 223
is not altogether disagreeable. Our subject is Andromede [the
text was by Jules Sauveniere] and is burdened with three
situations :
1. Ethiopia is devastated by a monster: religious scene for
the purpose of asking Ammon if a sacrifice can free the country.
The god answers that it is necessary to sacrifice the princess
Andromeda by chaining her to a rock. Object: to reduce the
affront to the Nereides whom Andromeda conquered in a beauty
contest. The people seize the virgin without listening to her
supplications.
2. Andromeda alone, her grief; the Nereides, playing on the
waves, taunt her without pity.
3. Perseus (who, without doubt, was promenading in those
parts) frees Andromeda; they marry, the people (who have
turned their coat , . . why?) yell to Hymen. . . Hopes that
they will have lots of children. Harps, etc. . *
My work progresses without foolish haste or exasperating
slowness. To-morrow I shall have finished the first scene (the
longest of the three by far). It comprises a good old religious
march. Scene of invocation, the Devil incarnate and his en-
tourage.
I see clearly that in 21 days, when I shall leave here, I shall
be completely wiped out physically. Also, I have abandoned
entirely my original intention of forcing a hearing of my
cantata on the jury at the piano, with chorus and soloists. . .
To Eefer, August 10, 1891.
. . . my cantata is completely composed and even the orches-
tration is well advanced: the seventy-fifth page of score begins
to look black. To-morrow at noon without doubt, I shall be
through with the first half of the text. The second, I hope, will
progress with the same rapidity. ^
In other words, my cantata will be finished on time between
now and August twentieth unless I fall sick. But that is im-
possible, because I have felt marvelously well since my entry
en loge. Of the result of this contest I have not the slightest
idea. Yet I can promise you that the orchestration will be good
from the first to the last note. I have worked a lot during the
last year and a half; I had the good luck of hearing music of
mine at Angers and I begin to feel a sure hand in the poly-
phonic treatment of the orchestra.
Having finished the composition of the cantata in advance of
the date I had fixed for myself, I shall be able to devote more
time to the instrumentation. . ,
224 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Is it good? Or is it not? Who knows? It is done and
settled: voila the main point, finish the job at whatever cost.
Such a cantata never is good from beginning to end; even the
best show numerous defects. Now one lacks the time to retouch
these dark spots, and for that reason this competition business
is diametrically opposed to artistic work, sincere and comfort-
ing. On certain days (yesterday for example) I feel satisfied
with my work. Everything looks solidly constructed ; of a good,
expressive musical cohesion of parts, the whole ensemble
dramatic and above all sincere. In brief, I am satisfied with
myself. On other days (this afternoon for example) everything
looks like a failure and then I pass hours not exactly gay.
This evening my spirits are higher again. I heard fragments
of cantatas of two of my competitors. Verily, without wishing
to be conceited, I may affirm that my own work is better than
what they played to me; for truly and without doubt their
productions are but vast exercises. . . powdered over with
Wagnerian reminiscences; not one cry of expression, not one
gripping chord, nothing of those things that come from and
go to the heart.
Of such things, possibly only one or two occur in my own
cantata, but at least I have the certain consolation to have felt
and written in spots something sane, honest and human. But
this certainty perhaps (indeed probably) will be but a doubt in
the minds of the jury, and I have not much hope of getting any-
thing out of this business. Possibly the extreme care bestowed
on the orchestration will gain me a second honorable mention.
But I had better not count on that. . .
But when this clairvoyant auto-prophecy actually caine
true, did Lekeu break forth into a chant de triomphale
delivrance? Far from it! He proved that after all he
could not only be a "serious young gentleman/' but also
at times a foolish young gentleman like the rest of us.
The contrast in tone between the last letter quoted and the
following to Kefer, end of August, is really amusing:
Since Sunday I have passed horrible days, and still more
horrible nights. And this because of a foolish, senseless, wild
and perhaps unpardonable step.
But you know me and you can see me when I heard the name
of S ... come before mine. A foolish rage seized me, my
teeth chattered and (so I was told afterwards) I had the expres-
sion of a maniac. Without realizing what I was doing, I re-
GUILLAUME LEKETT 225
fused to enter the jury's room. The next day I was still so
much in the grip of this atrocious impression that I wrote a
note of protest to the Independance Beige which had published
the verdict without mentioning my refusal.
He then felt utterly crushed by his acts of "childish
folly," but by the middle of September, it appears from
a letter to Vincent d'Indy, he had calmed himself suf-
ficiently to reach the conclusion that, everything consid-
ered, he had acted wisely ! Commenting on the fact that
Oscar Koels' cantata, "a very interesting composition, of
exquisite charm and of absolutely extraordinary formal
perfection," was thrown out of court, lie leaves no doubt
that his dream of winning the coveted Rome prize in four
years had completely vanished and that he had thrown
behind him any design of further competition:
The Eome competition is not at all what I believed it to be
and I do not even feel justified in feeling proud of my victory
in the preliminary contest. With one exception I had to do
only with old conservatory pillars, who do not know even the
most elementary part of their craft and have absolutely no ideas
in their heads. However, the contest was not between them
personally, but between the Belgian conservatories.
I have seen the six works submitted to the jury. Four of
them do not exist by reason of absence of every emotion and
because of poverty of harmonic invention. As for polyphony, a
dead letter for these people; thsy hardly know it by name. . .
As for myself, I had the rare good chance of being moved by
my subject and of having felt during the 25 days en loge better
disposed for work than ever. I have composed the first work
with which I really have felt satisfied. Most certainly I shall
have to concede numerous weak spots, but I may say to you as
to my best and most sincere friend, that I have written pages
of music worthy of a pupil of Franck and in which an impartial
musician must recognize immediately that I have listened to
your counsel with attention.
I had not a single vote for the first prize. Without hesitation
the jury disregarded me, and M. Lebrun of Gand received the
prize with four against three votes for M. Smalders of LiSge,
who received five votes against two for the second prize.
Eoels received nothing; he was put out of court without cere-
mony* And without doubt the same fate would have been in
226 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
store for me, had I not studied your scores (the ScSne Cevenole
and Wallenstein) ; but the jury apparently feared that I might
get my work performed, and therefore offered me the second-
second prize.
The cause of my and Roels' downfall is the same old jealousy
of musical academies of modern music; but for me the case
became more complicated on account of the fact that my whole
education was received at Paris and outside of any conservatory.
Parts of Lekeu's luckless "Andromede" were performed
a few months after his refusal of the second-second prize
at a "Concert des XX" at Brussels ; the whole work then
on March 27, 1892, at the conservatory of Verviers under
the ever loyal Louis Kefer. The reception accorded was
indeed different from that by the prize jury, and this
difference it goes without saying is strikingly reflected
by the following letters written to his father.
February 27, 1892.
I must tell you about the concert of the XX at which a part
of my Andromede was played. To put it briefly, it had a big
success. In the first place, the performance was ideal. All the
instrumentalists had become passionately fond of this music
and reproduced it down to my very last intentions. After the
last note, the applause exploded in the whole large hall. Mile,
de Haene stepped forward to bow to the public, but when she
left the stage, the applause continued to increase; all the
musicians tapped on their instruments and from every part of
the hall came shouts "composer, composer." I had to show my-
self and the tapping became louder. When I sought to retire,
the musicians would not let me and I had to bow my acknowl-
edgments again to the public. And when at last I could reach
the foyer, while Orickboom, Gillet, etc., were surrounding and
hugging me, I still heard the audience applaud. To be perfectly
candid, that number on the program interested the public most;
I am immensely pleased with the reception, since I was just a
little nervous about a public so different from that at Verviers.
But what filled me with more joy than anything else, beside
d'Indy's praise, was Ysaye's conduct toward me. At the end of
the concert he mounted the platform and took me, figuratively
speaking, into his arms by saying aloud that my Andromede
was the work of an artist and of a great musician and that he
had never before listened to a work by so young a man wise and
GUILLATJME LEKEU 227
impassioned at the same time. . . An tour later I was at the
Conservatory. . . Tsaye when introducing me to his pupils
began by bombarding me with compliments, for instance:
'Here is a pupil of Father Franck; alone of composers of to-
day, he composes music which is not an imitation of Wagner
whom he knows by heart."
Then he asked me if I had composed chamber-music. When
I answered in the negative, he asked me to let him have all
the chamber-music which I might write in the future. He
assured me of a performance on every suitable occasion, and
more particularly he asked me to start off with a Sonata for
violin and pianoforte. Well, I call that a soft snap, to hear
one's self played by Ysaye! . . .
To-day at 11 o'clock (from 11 to 2) the first general rehearsal.
Last Thursday evening I had heard the orchestra rehearsal with
chorus and soloists. I had been quite satisfied from beginning
to end; without any weak spots it sounded excellent, but to-day
still better. The horribly difficult choruses go as if sewed to-
gether, the attacks are firm and all nuances' duly carried out.
They sound splendidly; in the first part as if smitten with
affliction, lugubrious, then tragic and wild; in the second part
they overflow with life, with abandon, triumphant sonority; one
really feels that the world has been saved for ever; "that radi-
ates," as Kef er said.
The orchestra, on the other hand, inarches like one man,
disclosing the most secret sentiments of Andromeda, of Perseus,
and the crowd surrounding them. Above all, it sounds intense.
Throughout one feels the influence of the old man Cesar Franck
more than that of Wagner; hardly at all, or not at all, that of
d'Indy: his orchestra has an entirely different sound.
I am happy beyond words, because I appear to be able to
adore the work of my master and most loyal friend without
imitating him in the slightest. Perhaps one day I shall be
able to do as well as he, though in a totally different genre of
sonority.
Without humbug, this work is very much more solid than the
Chant lyrique. That work still gave me somewhat the impres-
sion of a very lucky accident. But Andromede is the work of
a manipulator of orchestra and chorus very sure of his craft.
One feels that I can draw adequate effects from the orchestra
whenever I shall wish. I feel myself in possession of a solid
brain I know my business. Now back to work!
In 1904 Andromede was again performed at Brussels,
conducted toy Hubert!, a member of the prix de Borne
228 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
jury. According to Marcel Orban, the public gave it a
demonstrative reception, thus flaying the stupidity or par-
tiality of the jury in 1891. This may be true, but if
Orban. sees in Lekeu's Andromede "melodic invention of
incredible richness, the whole work astonishing in mastery
of craft and expression," I feel inclined to argue that the
success was not wholly due to esthetic but partly to the
political reasons advanced by Orban, and that he greatly
exaggerates the merits of the work. Of course, I have not
heard it in its orchestral garb, on which Lekeu bestowed
such care, and I realize that it is easy to do an injustice
to modern works seen through the medium of a vocal score
only, but even a vocal score will show "incredible rich-
ness of melodic invention, etc." provided it really is to be
found. Exactly that I am inclined to deny. AndromSde
is in Lekeu's typical manner, but notwithstanding this
transparent individuality, the cantata lacks a convincing
character. Mainly because the two principals, Andromeda
and Perseus, do not stand out in proper musical relief,
though Andromeda's lament is impressive enough. On
the whole, they betray that lifeless stiffness and strained
vitality in their utterances which one would be surprised
not to find in prix de Rome cantatas or in similar prize-
bouquets of artificial flowers* The first part of the Can-
tata is decidedly better than the seconcL It is logical,
organic, full of vigor and color; in short, it illustrates again
the curious fact that composers often bestow more inspira-
tion and sympathy on monsters, ghosts, goblins than on
their victims. Had the second part maintained the level
of the first, Andromede might be called an effective work
in spite of Andromeda, but unfortunately it is incoherent,
bombastic, and runs from bad to worse, ending with a
rather empty and insipid outburst of joy. This weakness
of the second part in my opinion will defeat further
attempts to win a permanent place for Lekeu's cantata
in the concert-hall. With all its undeniable merits, Lekeu's
Andromede is not a great work of art, though, of couise,
GUILLAUME LEKETT 229
very much, better than many a choral work which con-
ductors persist in inflicting upon the dear public's ears.
There is in these letters but the one brief allusion to
the Fantaisie symphonique sur deux airs populaires an-
gevins quoted below under date of November 2, 1892.
Yet, with the violin sonata and the unfinished quartet, it
forms the trio of Lekeu's works that has carried his name
and fame farthest. The last page of the original score
reproduced in facsimile, in Octave Sere's book, shows
the dates "Mai, 1891, 28 Mai, 1892." In other words,
Lekeu began work on this phantasy before his painful ex-
perience en loge, and did not finish it until shortly before
the violin sonata occupied his mind. The first perform-
ance of the work with orchestra appears to have been
delayed until October 21, 1893, at Verviers under Lekeu's
own direction. After that Vincent d'Indy, Ohevillard,
Colonne and other French and Belgian conductors stood
sponsors for the work, until, so we are told by several
French authors, it has become fairly fixed in the French
and Belgian repertoires. One handicap to a more rapid
circulation must be seen in the tardy publication of the
full score not until 1909. In America the Fantaisie
appears not to have attracted the attention it deserves.
Properly placed on a program, the score cannot fail to
release that spontaneous applause with which it has been
greeted elsewhere. Nor is that hard to explain. As
Lekeu justly remarked after the Verviers performance in
a letter quoted by Orban, "the orchestra purls with enthu-
siasm and sonority. There are in the piece certain trom-
bones fairly Jerichotiens." Furthermore, by virtue of
the fact that he based the Fantaisie on two captivating
folk-songs of Anjou (the first of an infecting jollity), the
work is bathed in sunshine far more than any of his
other works. Unfortunately, Lekeu's programmatic note
prefaced to Samazeuilh's not very happy arrangement
of the score for four hands has been omitted from the
published full score. This omission places conductor and
230 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
audience at a decided disadvantage, since it robs them
of the key to the structure of the work. Until I discov-
ered that discrepancy between full score and arrangement,
I was puzzled by the hesitation of a very distinguished
American conductor (who estimates Lekeu's talent at its
true value and considers Lekeu's Adagio pour quatuor
d'orchestre on Georges Vanor's line, "Les fleurs pales du
souvenir," very beautiful and it is a gem, as Vincent
d'Indy first proved to Parisians), to perform the F&ntaisie
on the ground that "it is good in spots, but is very detached
and to my mind ill-formed."
I cannot but question the soundness of this stricture if
the score be examined and tested in public with the indisr
pensable aid of Lekeu's programmatic key :
Note de I'auteur.
A la tombfe du soir, les couples enlaces bondissent et tour-
billonnent; c*est le bal de P"Assemblee" et la danse toujours
s'accelfcre aux crix joyeux des gars, aux rires eperdus des filles
rougea de plaisir, pendant qu'eclat, dominant la fete et sa folie,
la voix souveraine de TEternel Amour. ,
Yers la plaine, ou 1'ombre s'approfondit, paisible et mys-
terieuse, PAmant a entraini 1'Amante. . .
II resiste a la voix aimee qui lui demande de retourner a la
danse, et, rieuse, par les champs silencieux, va repitant les
rondes toujours plus lointaines; il sait implorer et dire sa
tendresse.
Dans le decor d'une nuit d ? ^te lumineuse, 6toilee et pleine du
parfum de la terre endormie, la scene amoureuse d6roule sa
passion grandissante, et les amants s'&oignent au frais murmure
de la riviere qu'argente le clair de tone.
For one thing we should feel thankful to the jury of
1891: their verdict aroused a storm of protest among
Lekeu's friends, of whom Eugene Ysaye was the greatest,
and so indirectly gave birth to Lekeu's violin sonata, "a
masterwork which for breadth of ideas and melodic inspi-
ration need not fear comparison with pere Franck's vio-
lin sonata." Praise higher than this is impossible.
Whether or not he indorses fully these words of Destranges
Q-UILLAUME LEKETJ 231
in his "Consonances et Dissonances" (1906), every un-
biased critic will have to admit that of violin sonatas
composed since Brahms and Franck, Lekeu's is inferior
to none. Since Eugene Ysaye, to whom, of course, it is
dedicated, launched the work, it has steered a triumphal
course throughout the musical world and is to-day, or
ought to be, in the repertoire of every violinist capable of
playing and understanding it and not addicted to atrophy
of taste and ambition.
Commissioned, we have seen, by Ysaye in February,
1892, the Violin sonata was not finished until some time
in the fall of 1892, as appears from the context of the
following two letters, the first written by Lekeu to his
mother, the second to his father:
\FaU 18921
... I shall see Kefer at Verviers and I shall acquaint him
with my Sonata for piano and violin which I (in parenthesis)
finished copying to-day. I merely have to extract the violin part
and shall then definitely be rid of that big job. I now commence
to bother my head with new things: simultaneously germs of
themes for Paysages d f Ardennes [where he had been with
K6fer] and the Conquete du "bonheur. . . and bits of verse,
rimed or not, for this last-mentioned work. Let us hope that
something good will come of all this. Fortunately I have
advanced since July last, for I already see how I could have
improved upon what I did in my sonata (this is a sure and
mathematic means for observing progress in one's ideas: to
feel the weakness of what one has done and to reason it out).
This does not mean that I shall rewrite this or that passage
in my sonata; no, the true way of correcting a work is to write
one better.
To his father, Eeusy, November 2, 1892.
At Brussels yesterday morning I was put into a cheerful
mood by the exhibition of enthusiasm and friendship which
Ysaye, etc., have shown me.
If I arrive at composing the Quartet which Tsaye demands
of me, Maus is fully inclined to give at Brussels (at the XX)
what he calls (be it understood 1) a Seance LeJceu ! 1 1 1 1 ! 1
at which one shall hear the Sonata for violin and piano, the
Quartet, and my three songs impatiently awaited by two or
three singers of Brussels.
232 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Perhaps even my Fantasy on two Angevin airs will receive
a hearing in the transcription for piano 4 hands which Monday
morning at Sethe's excited unbelievable transports of en-
thusiasm.
Saturday evening, Ysaye played my sonata at his home.
According to all present (pupils and friends who hear him con-
stantly) Ysaye surpassed himself.
In Orickboom's opinion, it is this sonata which Ysaye inter-
prets with a maximum of style, either of passionate abandon or
of absolute calm, as is, for example, so necessary in the second
movement.
Lekeu's violin sonata (in G minor) was first played in
public by Eugene Ysaye, to whom it is dedicated, but the
exact date is unknown to me. At Paria it was brought out
by Paul Viardot and Bertha Demanton in 1899 ; at Boston
in 1902 by Karel Ondricek and Alice Cimunings. Essen-
tially different from the pianoforte sonata, the violin
sonata, too, cannot deny its descent (for instance melodi-
cally) from Cesar Franck. Though much maturer than
the pianoforte sonata, it does not lack the flavor of a study
in composition, since certain experiments in thematic de-
velopments and form seem to have occupied Lekeu's mind
when composing the sonata. Instead of dissecting, doub-
ling, telescoping, breaking up his themes and juggling
with their component parts a procedure so unendurable
in the imitators of Beethoven and Brahms Lekeu pre-
ferred to leave his themes more or less intact and sought
to make the thematic narrative more convincing by repe-
tition of important phrases at different pitches. We
know this procedure of sequence from Liszt's symphonic
poems. Those who criticize Liszt for following it will
also condemn Lekeu. Yet the principle of sequence as a
lever for development of motive power is perfectly sound
in itself. The^artistic test lies' merely in its application.
If Liszt, the pioneer, applied the principle of sequential
leverage still somewhat crudely and primitively, that does
not necessarily bar later composers from succeeding where
he at times failed. If then Lekeu in his violin sonata as
GTJILLAUME LEKEU 233
also in his unfinished quartet, is seen after a few bars
to have no intention to indulge in the traditional thematic
contortion and anatomical dissection, he has a divine
right as an artist to choose his own method of expression.
If we are anxious for critical battle, the only fair thing
to do is to follow the artist, meet him on his own ground
and challenge the solution of his self-imposed problem.
Hence, it is one thing to criticize Lekeu for having adopted
in his violin sonata the principle of sequence at all, quite
another to insist and correctly so that he failed to solve
his problem completely, since there still adheres to the re-
sult an element of experiment : unfortunately, Lekeu's the-
matic blocks are not so skillfully cemented as always to hide
the crevices, which is the main danger a composer faces in
that process. However, between this admission and the
verdict of incoherence occasionally rendered against
Lekeu's sonata there lies a wide gulf. Moreover, the
charge of incoherence will be put across the path of every
artist who dares to break with formal traditions, and need
not be taken seriously.
While the Lekeu "sigh," or "wail," is not wholly absent
from the sonata, it bubbles over with the freshness and
joyousness of youth, though of youth meditative, not flip-
pant. In the second of the three movements, by way of
contrast, sadder chords are touched; and also by way of
contrast to the second movement, which the composer
wished played with utmost calm, the two outer move-
ments revel in bold, biting dissonances. No poetic pro-
gram or motto prefaces the score. This fact at least per-
mits the inference that the composer had no underlying
poetic idea in mind when he composed his violin sonata
as a modern of moderns and not as a student of archaic
forms, as in the pianoforte sonata. Furthermore, the
themes of the violin sonata show a remarkable lung ca-
pacity. They possess a breadth which is just as char-
acteristic of Lekeu as are for instance choppy themes of
the later violin sonatas of Emil Sjogren. On the other
234 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
hand, Lekeu's themes in this sonata cannot be claimed to
be very original; but what they lack in this respect is
atoned for by their clear, bold curve, their intensity, their
driving power and their inherent fitness for application
of the ideas of thematic unity. The dullest ear cannot
fail to notice that the opening theme of the sonata domi-
nates the whole work Indeed, even the secondary themes
of the first movement seem to render homage to the main
theme, and we notice how a phrase of merely incidental
appearance, that helps to build the bridge for the second
theme, assumes vital importance in the third movement.
In this last movement Lekeu either blends with surpassing
contrapuntal skill the several themes of the sonata or he
increases the rhythmical interest by their bold juxtapo-
sition. To these devices Lekeu obviously owes the irresis-
tible swing and the necessary accumulation of expansive
force for the almost spectacular end of the last movement.
In my opinion, however, its artistic beauty is somewhat
marred by the amalgamation into one theme of a distinctly
Eussian dance motif and an upstarting chromatic phrase
somewhat in the style of the later Wagner or Kichard
Strauss. The second movement is a revery. It opens
in the usual % rhythm, is written in the simple ABA
form with section B in the "character of a folk-song,"
and gains additional charm by having reminiscences of the
first movement dreamily interwoven in its texture.
The Quatuor m&cheve for piano and strings was first
performed at Brussels, Salle Eavenstein, on October 23,
1894, by the quartet of Crickhoom, Angenot, P. Miry and
Q-illet, with the assistance of Miss Louisa Merck at the
piano. Inasmuch as its composition was not prompted
by a premonition of death, but was lestellte Arbeit by
Eugene Ysaye, it goes without saying that it was dedicated
to him. Presumably and precisely because this work was
commissioned by his great compatriot, Lekeu took such
infinite pains with it : in little less than a year he finished
but little more than the first movement.
GUILLAUME LEKEU 235
One studies this priceless torso of what probably would
have become the longest quartet on record and marvels
at Lekeu's wealth of inspiration, his emotional intensity
and ^ the ingenuity and madness of his methods. No es-
tablished pattern seems to fit the first movement; at any
rate, the classic quartet form is adhered to only as if in
a frame. To be sure, we hear two predominant themes,
they change place in the tonal structure and all that sort
of thing, but Lekeu does not stop there. At times his
bridge-work assumes prime thematic importance, or he
gives free flight to his fancy in improvising on his main
theme before he rushes into the working-out section. Fur-
thermore, we have not one peroration only, but several, and
all this thematic strife is repeatedly interrupted, as it were,
by an armistice. It follows readily that by thus interrupt-
ing the climax and the working-out idea is inherently the
embodiment of climaxes Lekeu obtains a cragged, hence
bolder and more effective curve. One begins to suspect
that formal considerations alone did not prompt these
interruptions. The whole movement is to be played
throughout "Dans un emportement douloureux. (Trs
anime)." This indication is prefixed to a short intro-
duction full of Lekeu "sighs," and this introduction re-
appears in the thematic woof toward the end of the move-
ment. Furthermore, this phrase "lent et passione" played
by the first violin solo precedes the second movement. It
will not be found in the first movement, nor does it reap-
pear in the second movement so far as completed. Yet
this phrase must have had some function. And this phrase
was not a new one! Lekeu simply quoted himself: it is
the chanson motif of the bonne fee that pla7s so important
and poetic a role in his pianoforte sonata.
236 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Studying the movement minutely many years ago, I
reached the conclusion, as would every other student, that
all these curious details of form could be understood and
appreciated only (with corresponding profit for performer
and audience) on the assumption that the structure of
the movement followed an underlying poetic idea which
was withheld from the published score or was not known.
It is with a certain satisfaction, therefore, that I later
found Lekeu's letters quoted below to bear out my as-
sumption fully. I do not mean so much his letter to
Crickboom, in which he says, "I have essayed a translation
into music of the last eruption of Mount JStna" that may
or may not have been a jocular remark not to be interpreted
literally, but the letter of February 7, 1893, to his mother,
in which he calls the first part of his quartet an "expres-
sive chaos" and the "frame of an entire poem of the heart,
where a thousand sentiments clash, where cries of suffering
yield to long appeals to happiness, where there is strife
and insinuation of caresses, seeking to calm sombre
thoughts, where cries of love follow blackest despair in
the effort to conquer it, and on the other hand eternal grief
endeavors to crush the joy of life."
What role the second and third movements were to
play in this poem of the heart, unfortunately we are not
told. Hence, I must content myself with the dry state-
ment that the second movement is not as nervous, impetu-
ous or despairing as the first, but like most slow move-
ments of sonatas and symphonies presents itself as a song
without words written in simple ABA form. In its
first part, perhaps influenced by Tschaikowsky, it soon
develops into a genuine Lekeu. But, alas, just when the
young master in a beautiful interlude for the pianoforte
was preparing to pour out his very soul in adoration of
Beauty, death checked his hand and the movement comes
to a sudden halt with a painful anti-climax. Vincent
d'Indy, when he revised and prepared the manuscript for
publication, reverently contented himself with bringing
QUILLAUME LEKEU 237
this stump of a severed piece of music to a playable emd.
!N"o doubt there are those who -will decry in Lekeu's
quartet the absence of a "true" chambers-music style, will
denounce it as "too orchestral," and so forth, but such
pedantic or shallow objections really ought to be muttered
under the breath, if at all, in view of the amazing con-
trapuntal resourcefulness and display of tone-color with
which Lekeu gave life to the ensemble of the individual
instruments. That does not mean that the quartet is so
perfect as to defy criticism, but I think that legitimate
criticism will have to steer clear of such cliches as "too
orchestral" and will have to content itself with observing,
for instance, that Lekeu might better have avoided a too
frequent unison of the violoncello with the piano bass and,
on the other hand, a too frequent display of the violoncello
in its upper registers.
Lekeu's letters to Mathieu Orickboom record for us the
time of practically the last stroke of his. pen given by
Lekeu to his marvelously beautiful swan-song. He wrote
in August, 1893 :
. . . The first movement of my first Quatupr for piano and
strings not an indication that a second one will emerge later
is finished since July 16, 1893, six P. M. The peroration, in
which I have essayed a translation into music of the last erup-
tion of Mount JStna, is just barely playable.
Nevertheless, it appears very logical to me. I am now
ruminating the second movement, which, I feel, will be very
superior to the first, while I am recopying conscientiously what
I have done since December.
I have become scared, in recopying my infernal Quartet, at
the quantity of sharps and flats with which it is bristling. How,
if I suppressed them altogether?
And in a letter from Angers, September 20, 1893 :
The first half* of the second movement of my first Quatuor
for piano and strings is confectionnee : weight 1463 grains.
We are equally well informed of the inception of the
work and its slow progress from letters written, the first
238 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
to ELefer, the others to his "chre petite maman/' with
which this essay fittingly may end without further com-
ment:
[To Kefer.] Angers, December 81, 1892.
Since I left you I put the finishing touches to my Trois
poemes pour chant (Soprano and piano), and I have begun work
on my quartet for piano and strings.
The first movement is started, but gives me a dog's pain. ^ I
tremble when the idea forces itself upon me that if I wish
to adhere strictly to my plan, the second and third movements
will be still more difficult to write. I do not believe that I can
possibly get through by March and so satisfy Tsaye and Maus.
[To his mother.'] February 1, 1898.
My brain is in a turmoil; my work progresses extraordinarily.
I have a thousand things to write, I am actually loaded down
and I walk the streets as one with hallucinations. After a good
many days of reflection, of criticism, of despair even, I saw
day before yesterday a long passage of the first part of my
quartet sketch itself, and since then an incredible fever of work
has seized me.
Unfortunately, for there is an unfortunately, I am just as
full of distress as of happiness. For the reason that what I am
doing is so distant from what has become customary in chamber-
music that I fear to appear to my friends and interpreters (for
the public, of course, I care not) as one tainted with the most
extraordinary madness.
And yet, everything duly considered, I must walk a straight
path and write what I feel without paying attention to others.
Instead of having, as is the sacred habit, a piece rolling on a
single sentiment, mood, color, line, the first part of my quartet
is for me the frame of an entire poem of the heart, where a
thousand sentiments clash, where cries of suffering yield to
long appeals to happiness, where there is strife and insinuation
of caresses, seeking to calm sombre thoughts, where cries of love
follow blackest despair in the effort to conquer it, and, on the
other hand, eternal grief endeavors to crush the joy of Life.
Joys of childhood, visions of dawn and of Spring, the melan-
choly of fall and tears; and I do not shrink from piercing cries
of pain, put into my music with all my might, with my whole
soul.
But this expressive chaos must also be harmonious, and at
GUILLAUME LEKETJ 239
the moment when I write the loveliest phrase, I must foresee
the development of grief which is to follow. Hence, this is not
merely a terribly difficult work to write on account of the transi-
tions of mood, but murderous for any attempt to grasp its total
structure.
However, come what may, I labor and want to carry this
"work" to a successful end. Already I can affirm that in com-
parison with what I am now writing, my violin sonata is a
mere trifle, worth two sous. And that makes me fear a little
the day when Tsaye and his friends will read my Quartet for
the first time. But what's the difference! If they do not
understand it, so much the worse for me. Above all, I want
to write down what passes in me without ulterior thoughts.
February 22, 1898.
. . . You can hear me, from morning to evening, making an
infernal noise on my unfortunate Erard, for I strive with all
my might to finish at Angers the first movement of the Quartet.
Let us hope that it is not a crazy dream. What in this business
supports me and at the same time fills me with despair is that I
feel clearly how with my plan of moods a true artist could
compose a masterwork: one of those unforgettable machines
which send shivers up and down the spine, which grip you
amidst tremblings of admiration, leave you breathless, ex-
hausted, ravished, enchanted, all in one.
I am playing for a big stake. If what I am doing is good,
if my interpreters (for I work only for them and myself), if
Tsaye, Van Hout, Jacob and my dear Mathieu Orickboom com-
prehend my work, that will give me courage vertiginous and as
soon as possible I shall install myself in the Paysage d' Ardennes
or the Legende eternelle, or take up any other of a dozen or
fifteen projected works (yes, Lord, not less than that; I drew
up a list just for the sake of curiosity), and I can say that I
wrote a beautiful work, unless . . . cr& nom de chien, my pro-
fession is after all not a soft snap! However, just at present,
I have the courage of a devil and I could apply the admirable
verses of Baudelaire to Thgodore de Banville, then at the be-
ginning of his career, to myself. You do not know them, these
verses. Bead and re-read this magical French:
Vous avez empoigng les crins de la Deesse
Avec un td poignet, qu'on vous eut pris a voir
Et cet air de maitrise et ce beau nonchaloir
Four un ruffian terrassant sa maitresse.
240 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
April SO, 1898.
. . . Last evening I recommenced work on my Quartet, which
slumbered for almost three weeks. Good news! So far every-
thing in it appears to me to sound well and full of expression.
It is, I believe, of much more solid workmanship than the
violin sonata. ^ Verily, if I can carry to a successful end this
big, very big job, it ought to become a beautiful work. All my
melodies are laid out. To-morrow I shall embark on the perora-
tion section, which will bring about the return of the principal
theme, enlarged, stronger, and still more beautiful. For a piece
of music should grow while expanding. All this, of course, with
regard to the first movement. The second and third will give
me less trouble, I hope . . .
More and more clearly I see and feel that I need your presence
for my complete happiness. The future absolutely must reunite
us and I wish that my life might end as it began, in the cradle
of your love.
See how tender I become; it is the best proof that I am well
prepared to resume my work. Allans, dear, adored mother;
courage, perfect health and then tell yourself often, always, that
your Sidoiim is and always will be he whom you so well know.
That is my pledge for life. To you I owe everything.
"CARAOTACTJS" ETOT AENE'S CARAOTACTJS
(Sammelbande der L M, G., 1911)
SEVERAL years ago the Library of Congress acquired an
anonymous score entitled "Caractacus," which I, as others
had done before me, attributed to Thomas Augustine Arne.
Later we instructed our agent to locate for us, if possible,
a copy of Bishop's "Caractacus." A few months ago he
reported a copy at a reasonable figure, and we promptly
ordered it. Of course, I was delighted, but my amusement
and disappointment may be imagined whetn this long 1 -
looked-for copy turned out to be merely another copy of
the anonymous "Caractacus." The dealer himself must
have had his misgivings, because (with the slang motto in
mind, "pay your money and take your choice"), he had
written in pencil on a fly-leaf this legend: "Bishop
(H. R) London (1806) Bach ( J. Ohr.) London 1T67."
Now Bach's "Carattaco" was a bond fide Italian opera
and has as much to do with this anonymous English
"Caractacus" as Bishop's "Grand ballet of Caractacus,"
performed at Drury Lane on April 22, 1808 in other
words, absolutely nothing. I could but meekly put this
canard down as a second copy of "Garactacus." In so
doing I examined the volume more closely than I had
done before, and my observations developed into rather
unexpected conclusions.
The anonymous "Caractacus" contains 2 p. L, 4, 76 p,
foL, no imprint and no real title-page, merely Hie orna-
mental, calligraphical title. On the second preliminary
leaf appears an undated and unsigned dedication. Then
241
242 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
come four pages of "General instructions for the perform-
ance of the music of Caractacus." After these follows the
score, paged 2-76, the first page being Hank.
The collation of the second copy 2 p. L, 6, 76, 3,
1 p. fol. showed that it was not really a duplicate. Nor
could it belong to a later edition or issue, because the
pages common to loth (i. e., everything that appears in
the first copy) bear the watermark 1794. The two addi-
tional pages of the preface and the three additional pages,
or the one page mentioned in the collation of the second
copy, are merely supplements, and the whole simply repre-
sents a copy of the original issue of "Caractacus" with sup-
plements for insertion ! As these supplements are printed
on the same kind of paper, on plates of the same size as
those of the body of the volume, and are printed or
engraved in the same style, it stands to reason that the
supplements cannot have been issued long after the body
of the volume.
That the supplements were really intended for inser-
tion into copies of the original and only edition, and that
a separate issue of the body of the work did not accompany
these additions, appears further from the facts that the
bindings and the leather title labels on the front cover are
absolutely the same in both our copies, that the uncut
margins of the supplements protrude beyond the margin
of the binding and that, as stated above, the watermark
throughout the two bound volumes is 1794. On the othecr
hand, the watermark of the first two supplements is 1796,
thai of the third 1797.
As pp. 5-6 of the preface have been added "General
instructions for the performance of this music with respect
to quickness and slowness," with "Additional general
instructions for the instrumental music." The second
supplement, headed "Corrections," contains three num-
bered pages of score marked "No. 5." as substitute for
the original No. 5 and (with the watermark 1797), headed
"Corrections," the (one-page) third /supplement contains
"CARAtJTAUUBT JMUJL AJCL1NJCJ O
a substitute for the original No. 14. That this third sup-
plement was in turn an afterthought, appears conclusively
from the remark engraved on the lower margin of the
plate of p. 3 of the substituted No, 5, "At the beginning
of the symphony No. 26 ... "
Nor did the unlooked-for attractions of this second
copy, a veritable bargain, stop here. It contains numerous
manuscript corrections, not only of obvious misprints,
but significant changes of rhythm, harmony, accompani-
ment, time-signatures, expression-marks, instrumentation,
words and even punctuation in the dedication. For
instance, in the substituted number 14, "Andantino" ia
changed to "Spiritoso" ; Nos. 5 and 14 are crossed out
in the original with the remark "see the correction" ; and
as to the instrumentation of No. 29 it is remarked: "This
Symphony had perhaps better be performed by the Clari-
nets, Bassoons, and Serpent only; one of the Bassoons to
play the Tenor part." All corrections and changes are
accompanied by marginal cross marks and the great major-
ity of the numbers is preceded by the indication "This."
Finally, the anonymous dedication is; headed "To the
Eev. W. Mason."
All these corrections and revisions are of such a nature
as to force the conjecture on us that they were made by the
person most concerned, namely, the composer, with the
object either simply to dedicate to the Eev, W. Mason,
the undisputed author of the "libretto" an absolutely
correct and final copy of the anonymous volume with its
supplements, or to prepare the score for performance or
for the printer for a new edition, The gecond possibility
is improbable, because even the composer, preparing the
score for performance, would hardly have troubled him-
self with the correction of the punctuation in the dedica-
tion; and the third possibility is not very much more
probable, as the composer had just gone to the trouble of
issuing supplements. This much, I believe, may be con-
ceded: nobody except the composer would have dedicated
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
this particular and peculiar copy to the poet durmg the
lifetime of the composer.
With such a minute examination the bibliographer's
interest in the volume would ordinarily stop, but now the
musical historian's interest is awakened. Upon turning
the leaves of this curious work he reads this engraved
dedication:
Sir:
As the contents of the following pages took their rise from
your work, it is but just that I should dedicate to you what you
are in some measure the Author of. I have in them endeavoured
to restore to Music its ancient and long neglected office of hand-
maid to Poetry. Poetry is the language of enthusiasm and
passion. Music the suitable enunciation of that language:
while therefore the latter subordinately cooperates with the
former, it acts in its proper sphere; but when, quitting this
dependent situation, it arrogates to itself independence of, nay
dominion over, its powerful directress ; it loses sight of the end
of its nature and becomes justly reprehensible.
"Whether this offspring of my labours may be considered alto-
gether as a suitable enunciation of the lyric poetry of Caract&-
cus, I know not: perhaps it does not entirely correspond to
what might be produced by a continually spontaneous exertion
of energetic Fancy: but not being always able to do what we
would, we must sometimes be satisfied with doing what we can:
such as it is, however, I hope it will be found not entirely un-
worthy of the original: whatever are its merits or its faults, to
a considerable share of the former I consider you to be justly
mtitled, the latter I must as justly take entirely upon myself.
I am Sir
with the respect
due to your age and character
the Author.
The esthetic creed of our anonymous can hardly be
called sound, but it surely is radical and, though by no
means absolutely new, this doctrine of music as the
"handmaid to poetry" had not often been expressed with
such one-sided matter of fact boldness* One begins to
suspect that the author had been infected by the melo-
"CABACTACUS" NOT ABNE'S CABACTACUS 245
dramati^programmatic bacillus of Kousseau's and Benda's
era, and is no longer taken by surprise when reading under
the head of "General instructions for the performance of
the music of Caractacus" :
The design of this Music is to represent, by corresponding
Sounds and Bhythms, the Ideas expressed, and those alluded to,
in the Drama, principally in its lyric parts: the former is
attempted to be done by the Vocal; the latter by the Instru-
mental Music.
The Vocal Music professes to represent the Expressions and
the Metre of the Lyric Poetry: for the former purpose I have
endeavoured to accommodate the Melody and Harmony to the
general sense of the phrase, yet so as to express also particular
emphatical words: for the latter I have, 1st. in general
measured every syllable by one note of nearly corresponding
length 2dly. I have marked the accented syllable by the Down-
strike, leaving the unaccented ones to the TJpstrike 3dly.
I have marked the end of every line with a short rest, unless
where the sense requires a longer one.
The Instrumental Music professes to represent that to which
the Drama in different parts refers, viz. Symphonies, or that
which may be expressed by Symphonies: the words therefore
which precede or follow will often sufficiently point out the
nature of each: but as there is no such guide for the Overture
and some others, and as several of the rest are very generally
referred to, I shall subjoin a particular explanation of such as
I think require it.
The Overture consists of two parts : the first (No. 1) is in-
tended to represent the Spirits of Snowdon lamenting the
approaching fall of Nona: the second, (No. la) the souls of the
departed Druids, personified by the Harp, interceding to avert
the impending danger; the first continuation of No. 1 a re-
luctant denial of their request: the continuation of No. la. a
second attempt of the Druids to avert the danger: the second
continuation of No. 1 which concludes the Overture, a reluctant
but final denial.
The Symphony, No. 2 is intended as an introduction of the
Druids in a manner suitable to their character: the first four
Bars are more particularly meant to regulate their steps : each
interval between note and note in the Base Cliff to be one step.
The remainder of the Symphony may either mark the progress
of the procession, (in which case there will be two steps for
every Bar), or it may be played the Druids standing still
246 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Then follow brief explanations of the other thirty-four
numbers of the score. Their quotation would serve no
useful purpose, except the instructions for No. 26, which
are amazingly pretentious:
From the bar where the Bassoons enter, to the end of No. 26
I have endeavoured to represent by the notes allotted to that
instrument, the act of dying of a man such as alluded to in the
words; the upper part, which may be considered as a continua-
tion of the Symphony, being intended to soothe him in his last
moments. Having now, at the end of 26. breathed his last, his
Spirit is endeavoured to be represented, in the first 26a. as
"stealing from the earth," and beginning to approach a Chorus
of blessed Spirits, represented as at a distance by the first 26b.
The Spirit continuing to raise itself from the Earth in the
second 26a. The Chorus is heard a little nearer in the second
26b. the Spirit continuing to raise itself in the third 26a. at
length approaches the Chorus, which now breaks out in full
Symphony in the third 26b. the fourth 26a. is intended as a
still nearer approach to, and final junction with, the chorus in
the fourth 26b. which is then supposed gradually to recede
from the audience, until lost "in the bright fount of day."
All this sounds promising, once one has become accus-
tomed to the antiquated phraseology, and one certainly
feels the presence of an ambitious man. He seems to
stand above his subject, he seems to have calculated nicely
the exact effect of his ideas and to be unwilling to leave
the desired results to mere chance. One wonders by what-
novel or at least unusual and bold means he accomplishes
his purpose. Turning to his "General instructions for the
performance of the instrumental music," the first disap-
pointment awaits us. He simply says: "The band should
be large" and "There must be three Trombones for the
symphonies of the last act." Two more instructions fol-
low, but they are 30 insignificant as not to deserve quota-
tion. Nor are the two "additional general instructions" of
much consequence, though the remark "By loses in the
symphonies I mean Double Bases and Violoncellos; by
lose Double Bases alone," at least is a helpful clew to the
user of the score.
"CABACTACUS" NOT ABNE'S CARACTACUS 247
The author calls for a large band. This is the instru-
mental apparatus which he employs: String quintet, 2
flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones,
serpent, harp, organ, kettles-drum. Save for the absence
of oboes and horns, such an orchestra would, historically
speaking, be quite capable of uncommonly expressive
effects, but this rather modem, apparatus is never employed
in toto in "Caractacus." Generally the string quintet
only bears the burden of the message. In several numbers
the harp only is active, in a few it is combined with the
string quintet or, as in No. 7, it forms part of this odd
combination, flutes, "bassoons and harp. In Ho. 8 the
author even perpetrates the combination bassoons and harp
without any further support. As to the organ, where it
is employed, it meekly plays in unison with the basses.
In Ha 31 the instrumentation is clarinets, trumpets and
bassoons; in the final symphonies, where the composer's
insistance on three trombones leads us to expect massive
orchestration, we are greeted by trombones and harp only
and, indeed, the nearest approach to a band, much less a
large band, is in the (original) No. 29 with, its clarinets,
violins, tenors (violas), bassoons, violoncellos, double
basses and serpent.
At the very best one can concede that "the composer
deliberately discarded the orchestra of his time and sought
to replace it by unusual instrumental combinations.
Whether or no he succeeded with his esthetic experiments,
will appear later; but first we must quote from the "Gen-
eral instructions for the performance of vocal music" so
much as is necessary for the purpose of this article :
The voices for which the above music is composed are Base
and Tenor; either single, in Unison, or in parts: it is single
only in the Arch-Druid's musical part, in the answers of Oad-
waU and Brennus, and in the words, "Mona on Snowdon calls/'
to be pronounced by one of the Chorus : The rest is sometimes
in Unison, sometimes in two, three, or four parts; all equally
intended for the whole Chorus. To ascertain, with certainly,
the exact proportion of each kind of Voice, is, at present, impos-
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
sible; but I -flunk tliat six Bases and six Tenors, or, if it be
thought worth while, twelve Bases and twelve Tenors . . . will
sufficiently produce the effect intended . . .
From the Composer's "General instructions . . . with
respect to quickness and slowness" I shall quote only two
as typical:
No. 1, which is in common Time and marked Largo, may be
played at the rate of one bar to five seconds . . . To. 9, which is
likewise in % marked "Spiritoso" may be played at the rate of
one bar and one third of a bar to three seconds . . .
This, then, is the literary preface to a score which is
commonly attributed to Thomas Augustine Arne. For
instance, such an eminent authority as William Barclay
Squire had this to gay of the anonymous "Caractacus" in
his Arne article, written many years ago for the "National
Biography 5 ' :
The latter work [Caractacus] was published in 1775, with a
preface and introduction in which Arne shows a curious insight
into the relationship between dramatic poetry and music. He
expresses opinions on the subject, the truth of which, though
couched in the stilted language of the period, is only beginning
to be recognized at the present day. The overture to the same
work is a singular attempt at program music, and the minute
directions as to the constitution of the orchestra and manner of
performance almost forestall the similar annotations to be found
in the works of Hector Berlioz. During the latter years of
Arne's life he achieved but few successes,
Another authority, Mr. J. S. Shedlock, holds practically
the same view in an attractive article on "Dr. Arne's
Oaractacus" in the "Musical Times," February, 1899, pp.
8889 ; and, of course, the new Grove follows suit. It may
seem foolhardy to question the authority of these two
scholars in such purely English matters, and yet I have
come to have the gravest doubts about Arne's authorship,
doubts that for me amount to the certainty that Arne is
not the author. It might be suggested that a comparison
between this "Oaractacus" and Arne's autograph score
"CARACTACUS" NOT ABNE'S CABACTACTTS 249
would immediately settle the question of his authorship,
but unfortunately the score is believed to have been
destroyed in the conflagration of Covent Garden in 1808
(see "National Biography").
The title of the first edition of William Mason's "Carao-
tacus" reads:
Caractacus, a dramatic poem: written on the model of the
ancient Greek tragedy. By the author of Elfrida. London, J.
Knapton , . . and B. and J. Dodsley, 1759.
The poem met with such success that a second edition
was published in the same year, a third at Dublin in 1764,
a fourth at York in 1774; and it was translated into
Trench, Italian, even Latin and Greek. Such was the
popularity of a poet of whom a little more than a hundred
years later the "National Biography" remarks :
Mason was a man of considerable abilities and cultivated
taste, who naturally mistook himself for a poet. He accepted
the critical canons of his day, taking Gray and Hurd for his
authorities, and his serious attempts at poetry are rather vapid
performances, to which his attempt to assimilate Gray's style
gives an air of affectation.
Mason's "Caractacus" is, as the title says, a dramatic
poem, not a dramatic play. It is written on the model of
the ancient Greek tragedy in so far only as the poet has
indulged in "Odes," and introduces the "Chorus" as one
of the
Persons of the Drama
Aulus Didius, The Boman General
of Gartismandua
Chorus of Druids and Bards
Evelina, Daughter to Caractacus
Arviragus, Son to Oaractacus
250 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Scene, Mona
The dramatic part of the Chorus is supposed to be spoken by
the Chief Druid, the lyrical part sung by the Bards
Beyond this, music had no voice in "Caractacus,"^nor
did the poet consider it necessary to tell us where in a
"Chorus" or a "Semichorus" the "dramatic," i. e., the
spoken part, ends and the "lyrical," the sung part, begins.
The Chief Druid is never introduced by name or rather
by title, and even the "Odes" are anonymous their lines
are given to nobody in particular, so far as I can see, but
that they were to be spoken, not sung, is obvious. Thus,
without acts and scenes or clearly defined stage business,
the poem in its original form could not possibly have been
performed as a play, nor, to be just, was this the intention
of the author; but he, too, aspired to theatrical laurels,
and the result was a dramatized version of "Caractacus."
In 1772 Colman had dramatized, without the poet's con-
sent, Mason's "Elfrida," constructed on similar lines to
"Caractacus," and Colman performed it at Covent Gar-
den. Presumably this high-handed procedure opened
Mason's eyes to the theatrical possibilities of "Caracta-
cus," and he set himself the task in 1776 of altering his
dramatic poem for the stage. He fully realized the diffi-
culties of this task and particularly of a proper union of
poetry and music.
Quite accidentally, I ran across contemporary testimony
to this effect. Antonio Peretti in his libretto for Angelo
Catelani's "Carattaco" (1841) speaks of a letter from
Algarotti to Agostino Paradisi, in which Algarotti says
that Mason informed him how he found
una difficolta insormontabile a potersi mettere il suo Carat-
taco sulle scene per Pabbondanza dei cori che di necessita
esigono di essere accompagnati della musica, la quale a' suoi
tempi non la credevi egli capace di rivertire degnamente una
poesia grave e dignitosa.
Furthermore, in a letter to Thomas Hams, manager of
"CARACTACUS" NOT ABNE'S CABACTACUa 251
Covent Garden, partly quoted by Mr. Shedlock in the
"Musical Times" article, Mason, though having curtailed
his dramatic poem, fancied "it may still be too long for rep-
resentation." "If therefore," he continues, "upon rehearsal
with the music, you should find this to be the case, I will
send you a second copy, in which several other lines and
passages shall be marked with inverted commas, which
you may either omit, or retain, as shall then seem expe-
dient." Mr. Shedlock, always believing Arne to be the
anonymous composer of "Oaractacus," adds:
The. poet, therefore, looked upon the musician as an ally, as
one who was trying to strengthen his drama.
Quite naturally so; but that Mason's letter, at least
so far as quoted by Mr. Shedlock, contains any allusion to
melodramatic, programmatic music, I, at least, fail to see.
Whatever Mason may have thought of Cohnan's drama-
tization of "Elfrida" presumably not overly much, as
he himself redramatized it in 1779 he cannot have had
serious scruples about collaborating with the composer who
had set the "Elfrida" choruses in 1772, namely, Thomas
Augustine Arne, one of whose very last musical works for
the stage was exactly the incidental music to Mason's
"Oaractacus." The first performance took place at
Covent Garden on December 6, 1776 (not Dec. 1, 1776,
as in the "National Biography" under Mason), and Genest
("Some Account of the English Stage") records fourteen
performances of the play, as. also a revival on Oct. 22,
1778. The "National Biography" (under Mason) says
that the success of both "Elfrida" and "Oaractacus" was
"very moderate," but this statement is not quite in har-
mony with contemporary criticism. At any rate, the
editor of "Oaractacus" in Bell's "British Theatre" (v. 31,
1796) remarks:
The commendation bestowed on Elfrida and Oaractacus in
their original form, have been seconded by an equal degree of
252 mSCELLANEOUS STUDIES
applause since they were adapted to the stage. The first is per-
haps the most finished, the second the most striking perform-
ance,
and Mr, Shedlock's quotation from the New Morning Post,
or General Advertizer, December 7, 1776, further shows
that Mason and Arne's joint labors had been appreciated.
The town is congratulated "on the acquisition of so fine
an entertainment" as "Caractacus," "where poetry and
music unite their fascinating powers."
Quite an extensive review, with synopsis of the plot and
compliments to the cast, I found in the London Chronicle,
Dee. 7-10, 1776, wherein is said:
The performers did great justice to their respective charac-
ters . . . Dr. Arne's music is certainly good, and the choruses
are correct in point of harmony, and fine through all the
accompanyments.
The three following Airs gave great satisfaction to the
Audience:
Air. Mr. Leoni and Mrs. FarrelL
Welcome! welcome! gentle train
Mona hails ye to her plain!
Here your genial dews dispense,
Dews of peace and innocence I
Air. Mr. Leoni.
Change! my harp, change thy measures!
Cull, from thy mellifluous treasures,
Notes that steal on even feet;
Ever slow, yet never pausing,
Mixt with many a warble sweet,
In a lingering cadence closing.
Air. Mr. Leoni.
Eadiant ruler of the day,
Pause upon thy orb sublime!
Bid this awful moment stay,
Bind it on the brow of time!
While Mona's trembling echoes sigh
To strains that thrill when heroes diet
"CABACTACUS" NOT ARNE'S CABACTACUS 253
The British Museum possesses "The lyrical part of the
drama of Caractacus, etc., 1776"; but the fact that its
"Caractacus, a dramatic poem . . . altered for theatrical
representation," bears the date of imprint 1777, might
lead to a belief that the whole play was actually not pub-
lished before 1777. That the publication really took place
simultaneously with the production, appears from the
following advertisement in the London Chronicle, Dec.
7-10,1776:
This Day was published, price 6d.
The lyrical part of the drama of Oaractacus, as altered by
the author, and as spoken and sung at the Theatre Boyal,
Covent Garden. The music by Dr. Arne.
Printed for B. Horsfield . . . and J. Dodsley . . . and sold
by J. Wilkie . . . Where may be had, price Is. 6d. the whole
dramatic Poem, as altered by the Author.
Curiously enough, the dramatized version of "Carao-
tacus" was not incorporated in Mason's collected works,
which every library possesses in one edition or another.
As the publications of 1776 are extremely rare, a compari-
son between the dramatic poem and the drama "Carac-
tacus" would have been attended by unusual obstacles,
but, fortunately, John Bell included in his most useful
collection "The British Theatre," in v. 31 (London,
Printed for George Cawthorn 1796. front, 106 p.), not
the dramatic poem, but the five-act drama, though it is
still called "Caractacus. A dramatic Poem. Adapted
for theatrical Representation, as performed at the Theatre-
Eoyal, Covent Garden . , ." The speaking characters
have remained the same as in the original poem, but we
now notice
Persons of the Chorus
Modred, the Chief Druid. . . .Mr. Aickin
Mador, the Chief Bard Mr, Hull
Second Bard Mr. Leoni
Third Bard Mrs. Kennedy
Fourth Bard Mr. Eeinhold
254 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Scene, the consecrated Grove in the Island of Mona, now
Those parts of the Odes which are distinguished by double
inverted commas are meant to be performed musically ; the rest
to be recited by the Chief Bard. The parts omitted in the Rep-
resentation are distinguished by single inverted commas only*
Since Modred and Mador appear among "the persons
of the Chorus," it might be surmised that they are singing
characters. Such is not the case. Both are speaking char-
acters; indeed, Modred ha's become one of the main con-
stituents of the plot. The music is entrusted entirely
to a Chorus, which still occasionally has a collective voice
in the proceedings, and to the second, third and fourth
bards as soloists. Mason's main difficulty in adapting
"Caractacus" for the stage had not been the "breaking up
of the monologues and dialogues of Oaractacus, Evelina,
etc., into acts and scenes, which was easy enough, but to
vitalize for theatrical purpose his "Chorus" and "Semi-
chorus," modeled, though poorly enough, after the
"ancient Greek tragedy." Genest quite correctly summed
up the difference between the dramatic poem of 1759
and the play of 1776 by aaying:
Modred spoke a great deal of what in the first edition is
attributed to the Chorus.
To my knowledge, Arne's actual cooperation with Mason
has not heretofore been the subject of an article, and it
will therefore be interesting to see just to what extent and
in what manner Arne was called upon to exercise his
powers as composer. That incidentally the following
remarks will strengthen the object of this essay, goes, of
course, without saying.
Eepeatedly the direction "Symphony" is printed, but
never except in. scenes when the "Persons of the Chorus"
appear and only at the end of the play was Arne invited
to employ an independent piece of music, where ,he fur-
"CARACTACUS" NOT ARNE'S CARACTACUS 255
nished "A Dead March : during which Oaractacus, Evelina
and Elidurus are led off by Komans." Nor did the
Chorus, though present in almost every scene, assume other
functions than those of a silent mob, except in the six
scenes planned entirely or in part for musical treatment
In these scenes Modred or Mador, or both, speak more
or less, -whereas the three other Bards sing Airs, and the
generally silent mob joins in choruses. Of ensembles
there are only two, a "Duet by the second and third Bard"
("Welcome, welcome, gentle train") scene 6, act I, and a
trio of Bards second, third and fourth ("Kadiant Euler:
hear us call") in scene 6, act V. Thus, Arne's collabora-
tion was neither very extensive nor difficult On the whole,
it must be said, this dramatized version of "Caractacus,"
far from being modeled after the Greek drama, is a strange
and hybrid mixture of spoken drama and opera.
Quotations from three of the six musical scenes will
render this perfectly clear, if the note following the
"Persons of the Chorus" be kept in mind that the parts
distinguished by double inverted commas were to be "per-
formed musically," the rest to be "recited." I select first
the fourth scene from the first act
The Chorus, preceded by Modred, the chief Druid,
descend to a solemn Symphony.
Modred
Sleep and silence reign around;
Not a night breeze wakes to blow;
Circle, sons, this holy ground;
Girde dose, in triple row:
Chorus
'Druid, at thy dread command,
When thou waVst thy potent wand,
See, -we pace this holy ground
With solemn footsteps soft and slow,
While sleep and silence reign around,
And not a night breeze wakes to blow.
256 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Modred
'Tis well. And now, if xnask'd in vapours drear,
Any malign or earth-born spirit dare
To hover round this sacred space,
Haste with light spells the murky foe to chace.
Chorus
Lift your boughs of vervain blue,
Dipt in cold September dew;
And dash the moisture, chaste and clear,
O'er the ground, and thro' the air.
Modred
Now the place is purged and pure.
(A short Symphony)
Brethren! say, for this high hour
Are the milk white steers prepared?
Whose necks the rude yoke never scar'd,
To the furrow yet unbroke?
For such must bleed beneath yon oak.
Chorus
Druid, these, in order meet,
Are all prepared.
Modred
But tell me yet,
Oadwall! did thy step profound
Dive into the cavern deep, etc., etc.
Second Bard
Druid, these, in order meet,
Are all prepared.
Modred
But tell me yet,
From the grot of charms and spells,
Where our matron sister dwells, etc., etc.
"CABACTACUS" NOT ARNE'S CABACTACUS 257
Third Bard
Druid, these, in order meet,
Are all prepared.
Modred
Then all's complete.
(Symphony repeated)
And now let nine of the selected band,
Whose greener years befit such station best,
With wary circuit pace around the grove, etc., etc.
The Ode in scene 4, act TV, shows this disposition:
Mador
Hark! (Symphony "behind the scenes)
Hark! (Symphony louder)
Hark! (Full symphony)
Hark! heard ye not yon footsteps dread,
That shook the earth with thund'ring tread?
J Twas Death, etc., etc.
I mount, your Champion and your God, etc.
Full Chorus
He mounts, our Champion and our God.
His proud steeds neigh beneath the thong;
Hark! to his wheels of brass, that rattle loud!
Hark! to his clarion shrill, that brays the woods
among.
(Here one of the Druids "blows the sacred trumpet.)
Mador
Tear not now the fever's fire,
Fear not now the death-bed groan, etc., etc.
(Four nine-line stanzas!)
Swiftly the soul of British flame, etc., etc.
Full Chorus
The godlike soul of British flame
Animates some kindred frame,
258 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
Swiftly to life and light triumphant flies,
Exults again in martial ecstasies,
Again for freedom fights, again for freedom dies!
While this is practically a Chorus Ode, the Ode in scene
4, act II (after a monologue by Modred) is one for the
soloists only.
Air
Second Bard
'Hail! thou harp of Phrygian frame!
In years of yore that Camber bore
From Troy's sepulchral flame:
With ancient Brute, to Britain's shore
The mighty minstrel came.
Recitative Accompanied
Fourth Bard
Sublime upon thy burnish'd prow,
He bade thy manly words to flow:
Air
Britain heard the descant bold,
She flung her white arms o'er the sea;
Proud in her leafy bosom to enfold
The freight of harmony.
Mador
Mute 'till then was eVry plain,
Save where the flood o'er mountains rude
Tumbled his tide amain; etc., etc.
Second Bard
Change! my harp, oh change thy measures,
Cull, from thy mellifluous treasures
Notes that steal on even feet,
Ever slow, yet never pausing,
Mist with many a warble sweet,
In a lingering cadence closing.
"CABACTACTJS" NOT ABNE'S CARACTACUS 259
Mador
Now the pleased poVr sinks gently down the skies,
And seals with hand of down the Druids' slumb'ring
eyes, etc., etc.
After this long monologue, which is interrupted three
times by a "symphony," the Third Bard sings:
Wake, my lire! thy softest numbers,
Such as nurse ecstatic slumbers,
Sweet as tranquil virtue feels
When the toil of life is ending,
While from the earth the spirit steals
And on new-born plumes ascending,
Hastens to lave in the bright fount of day,
Till Destiny prepare a shrine of purer clay.
Modred (waking, speaks). It may not be. Avaunt,
terrific axe! etc., etc.
It will be admitted that the construction of such simple
scenes did not even require considerable constructive tech-
nical skill, much less involve the solution of difficult
esthetic problems such as really might induce once in fifty
years an experienced composer to put on paper such elabo-
rate instructions as are found in the anonymous "Oaracta-
cus" score. Be this as it may, this much is clear, if the
anonymous "Caractacus" was by Arne and was used at
Oovent Garden on December 6, 1776, it must agree abso-
lutely with the "libretto" and its demands.
Accordingly, I now return to the anonymous (corrected)
"Caractacus" score. It so happens that I open the score
at the end, where one expects to find the "Dead March"
called for by the libretto. Instead, one finds a four-part
chorus without even an instrumental postlude! We turn
to the first of the musical scenes quoted above, and the eye
is greeted by this:
260
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
No. 2. Grace.
Tvtti forte.
1st.
Tutti un poco piano.
Harp in unison with all the parts.
ir r ir r
"CABACTACUS" NOT ARNE'S CABACTACUS 261
Grave.
Sleep and si* lence reign around Not a night breeze wakes to blow.
r c
sir n [j
Cir - cle, sons, this ho ly ground. Cir - cle dose in trip - le row.
Druid, at thy dread command,Whenthouwav'st thy potent wand,
i t i i I 1 I ill) J J J
fefei
2^^
l> Tglp r M
See, we pace this holy ground With solemn fwrtsteps soft and slow, While
j.j. J..J J
J
*
~T~f
sleep and si-lence reign a-round. And not a night breeze wakes to blow.
262
MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
'Tis well! And now, if mask'd in va- pours drear,
A - ny ma-lign or earth-born spi -ritdare To ho -ver round this
con-se-cra-tedspace,Hastewithlightspelistheinurky foe tochace.
No. 6. Andantino. Usual pitch.
Bases and
Organ in
|
Tutti piano. Dim
inuendo.
y>f-f^
Snowdon
J I
them. x "^ "^ '^ =*"
mark
.J Piano.
1 1:
Crescendo un pc
l
co.
=1
4U j ^ t-
1 1 Ju L =
"Tisma-gic\hoiir!
Diminuendo. [* j ! J Piano.
Crescendo un poco.
'
1^ _^ 1^_ ^L_ ^^^ .X *__ V *
W^ _^<: ^1^ . _^^
"CABACTACUS" NOT ARNE'S CARACTACUS 263
Hrt
i
Diminuendo.
Now the mutter'd spell hath pow'r!
and so forth. The "solemn symphony" of the libretto
indeed opens the scene, and the choruses are in their
proper places, but note the discrepancy between Modred's
lines in the libretto and in the score. There they are
"recited," here they are "performed musically" ; in fact,
repeatedly in the course of the score Modred sings f though
his part in tlie libretto is plainly a speaking part. Still,
Arne may have had a special dispensation from the poet
to treat music thus as the handmaid to poetry. I therefore
proceed to the second scene quoted, the Ode in scene 4,
act II. After twenty-five bars of preluding by the harp
the chorus falls in with
Andantino.
J. J
^r 1 r irnsir^^
Hail ! thou harp of Phrygian frame !
and after a short instrumental interlude the chorus con-
tinues with
u. .. J J .J
fefrrfrr
irTTr^i
Sub-lime u-pon thy burn-ished prow
264 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
and the chorus still continues with
Mute till then was e - very plain
J.J
Such discrepancies cannot be explained away by any argu-
ment of musical expediency. Mador is supposed to speak
the words "Mute 'till then was ev'ry plain," and here they
appear in a four-part chorus which also comprises the texts
which in the libretto distinctly figure as "Airs" for two
different soloists, one, moreover, preceded by a "Recita-
tive accompanied." And that there be no misunderstand-
ing of the anonymous Caractacus composer in this connecr
tion, I again quote from p. 3 of his General Instructions:
The Voices for which the above Music is composed are Base
and Tenor; either single, in Unison, or in parts: it is single
only in the Arch-Druid's musical part, in the answers of Oad-
wall and Brennus, and in the words, "Mona on Snowdon calls,"
to be pronounced by one of the Chorus : The rest is sometimes
in Unison, sometimes in two, three, or four parts; all equally
intended for the whole Chorus.
If we finally compare the Ode in scene 4, act IV, with
the music of STo. 29 in the score, the discrepancies crowd
each other so, that one does not know where to begin.
The Ode is supposed to begin with a "Symphony behind
the Scenes" becoming louder until we have a "full" sym-
phony. In the score, "Clarinets, Violins, Viola, Bassoons,
Bases and Serpent" start in "tutti forte" and remain so
without modification, and this notwithstanding the fact
that the composer was elsewhere profuse in the demand
for "piano," "forte," "un poco forte," "diminuendo,"
"crescendo un poco," "fortissimo," "tutti diminuendo al
pianissimo," and other such dynamic shadings indeed,
"CABACTACUS" NOT ABNE'S CARACTACUS 266
so profuse, that the score might well attract the attention
of a historian of musical dynamics. Furthermore,
Mador's spoken words are again sung in four-part chorus,
which mates it utterly impossible for a full chorus, as
demanded by the libretto, to take up his words as a chorus
refrain; and finally, where one of the Druids is to blow
the sacred trumpet, the clarinets, trumpets and bassoons
perform this pleasant duty !
A comparison of the play with the score still further
strengthens the inevitable conclusion: The music of this
anonymous "Caractacus" cannot possibly have been used
for the production of Masons play at Covent Garden on
December 6, 1776 ', and after. Consequently, the score
cannot possibly be identical with Arne's score as then
played and sung.
Only one possibility remains, in view of the claim that
this anonymous "Caractacus" is by Arne and that it was
published in 1775: perhaps Arne composed the score as
published, but utterly revised it for theatrical production.
I shall now proceed to show how very improbable such a
possibility is. In the first place, why such a futile and
useless attempt at mystery at the end of a distinguished
career I futile and useless, because a composer of Arne's
talent and individuality could not, for any length of time,
have hidden his authorship. And what sense would there
have been in keeping "Caractacus" anonymous in view of
the fact that the music for Mason's pendant to this work,
"Elfrida," had been published with Arne's name as com-
poser! Furthermore, the anonymous author 1 ends his
dedication with the phrase "with the respect due to your
age & character." Even a broad-minded Catholic might
avail himself of a polite reference to the clerical "charac-
ter' 7 of the Protestant clergyman Mason, but I doubt very
much that Arne (1710-1778) would address a phrase like
"with due respect due to your age" to Mason (1724-
1797), who was by fourteen years his junior and in 1775
surely was not yet an aged man. It stands to reason that
266 rnSCELLANEOUS STUDIES
the phrase would more likely have been addressed by a com-
paratively young man to Mason in Ms old age. Moreover,
the anonymous author, on p. 3 of his instructions, says in
italics: "If this should ever be performed." What an
absurd doubt in the mind of a man of Arne's calibre and
fame! Granted that towards the end of his career his
successes became fewer, Arne never found much difficulty
in obtaining performances, and he surely never was per-
sona* non grata to the extent of being justified in using
such an ominous "if."
All this is circumstantial, external evidence against
Arne's authorship. We have more direct internal evidence
in the fact that the composer of "Artaxerxes," of "Rule
Britannia," of the "As you like it" music, of so many
charming songs and pieces, cannot possibly have composed
such poor music as has been quoted above, even in his weak-
est moments. Imagine the man who, almost alone of
English composers of that age, withstood the aggression
of Handel's hypnotizing influence, guilty of such dry, stiff
and uninspired stuff, which is by no means the worst in
the anonymous "Oaractacus." Dr. Oummings has
recently told us (in the "Sammelbande") that Arne, too,
rarely employed the full orchestra of his time and pre-
ferred unconventional instrumental combinations, with an
apparent predilection for the horns; but imagine Arne
experimenting, absolutely without horns, so childishly and
unskillfully with the bassoon and harp, etc., as was shown
above of the composer of the anonymous "Oaractacus."
If this score cannot possibly be Arne's work, what
remains of the tradition? The unsupported statement
that the score was published in 1775 ! Just when this
date was introduced into historical literature, I am unable
to say. At any rate, it does not yet appear in the Arne
article by Mr. William H. Husk in the first edition of
Grove, 1879. On the other hand, Busby, whose "Anec-
dotes" (1825) the "National Biography" enumerates
among the sources for Arne's life, distinctly says (v. 2,
"CARACTACUS" NOT ARNE'S CABACTACUS 267
62) that the "music of Caractacus was never printed."
o modern historian will rely blindly on statements by
Busby, but his denial of publication becomes significant
in this connection. I may add that I have looked in vain
for contemporary evidence for the date 1775 in the form of
newspaper advertisements in the London Daily Advertiser
and in the London Chronicle.
The absence of documentary evidence of any kind will
force us to rely on conjecture, if we wish to date the anony-
mous "Caractacus." One point is clear: The text of the
score, as comparison will prove, contains nothing slight
verbal changes excepted that does not appear in the dram-
atized version; whereas it contains lines which will not
be found in Mason's "Caractacus" as originally published.
Furthermore, the instructions on pp. 1-2 of the "General
Instructions" on how "to regulate the steps of the Druids
circling the holy ground," the reference on p. 3 to
"Modred's speech" (also not mentioned at all in the origi-
nal version), and the reference on p. 4 to "the fourth
Scene of the Second Act," leave no doubt that our author,
no matter how unskillful he was and how readily he dis-
obeyed the libretto (four-part choruses, when Airs should
have come from his pen!), composed his music with the
dramatized version of the poem at hand. This dramatized
version did not appear in print until December, 1776.
Consequently, if our anonymous published, and (let us
assume) composed this score in 1775, he cannot have done
so without having had access to or a copy of Mason's
manuscript in 1775 at the latest. This, however, is
practically impossible, for the simple reason that, as we
have seen, Mason, when corresponding with the Covent
Garden manager about the performance of his "Carao-
tacus," had not yet put the finishing touches to the manu-
script, and he is not known by any of his biographers to
have undertaken the dramatization of his "dramatic poem"
before 1776. And now the watermarks 1794, 1796, 1797
in the paper of the score and its supplements which caused
268 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
me to investigate this whole matter of "Caractacus,"
assume the importance of clews in a positive and safe direc-
tion 1 In the absence of any evidence for an earlier date,
the only plausible explanation of these watermarks would
be, that the score was published not earlier than 1794,
and two of the supplements not earlier than 1796. That
the third supplement was published not later than about
April 7, 1797, may be surmised from the fact that Mason
died on this day and that the author of the anonymous
"Oaractacus" must naturally have believed Mason to be
still alive when he dedicated to him that peculiar revised
and annotated copy of his work which is now in the
Library of Congress.
In closing, I may be permitted to quote a few lines of a
letter which I received, after completion of this article,
from Mr. Squire under date of October 17, 1910, in
answer to my request for information on the date 1775.
Just having recovered from a severe operation, Mr.
Squire was unable to comply with my request, but he
wrote:
Ctunmings had already drawn my attention to the probability
that the anonymous music was not Arne's, but he did not know
about the watermarks, which are certainly strong evidence
against Arntfs authorship. The music, too, seems hardly pos-
sible by himbut whose can it be!
Well, I think that the employment of the organ and the
serpent point in the direction of some English organist,
whose skill, experience and talent as a composer did not
measure up to his ambition, his interest in esthetics, and
his unbalanced doctrine of music as the handmaid to
poetry.
A DESCRIPTION OF ALESSANDRO STRIGGIO
AND FRANCESCO^ CORTECOIA'S
INTERMEDI "PSYCHE AND
AMOR," 1565
(The "Musical Antiquary/' October, 1911)
THE origin of opera remained an open problem for
many years, because historical attention was concentrated
too exclusively on the experiments of Count Bardi's Neo-
Hellenic laboratory. Gradually historians persuaded
themselves that the whole chromatic movement, the long
established practice of interspersing plays with music, the
revival of lyric monody, the well-developed intermedi,
the various ballet entertainments, and so forth, might have
an evolutional bearing on the origin of opera. More and
more information of this kind accumulated, and an ava-
lanche of essays was heaped on us when Angelo Solerti,
coming from literary history, diverted part of his energy
into the channels of musical history. This whole move-
ment may be summed up in the paradoxical title which
Romain Rolland gave to a brilliant essay in his Musiciens
d'autrefois (1909): 'L'Opera avant I'op&a.' There is
some danger at the present time that we may be led to an
underestimation of the efforts of the Florentine Camerata.
They sought Greek drama and found opera. And whether
or not they, consciously or unconsciously, utilized the tra-
ditional or progressive elements of their time, no historical
subtleties will ever succeed in proving that opera really
existed before the Florentine Camerata stumbled on it.
All the undercurrents of their time might have been con-
verging towards opera, yet of themselves they would not
270 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
have led to opera without the new and distinguishing
ment of dramatic musical speech.
If that be clearly kept in mind, then a conclusion which
Solerti reached in his essay "Precedent! del melodramma"
(R. M. It., 1903, p. 470) still retains its proper signifi-
cance: "dalla tragedia, dalla favola pastorale e dagli inter-
medi proviene 1'opera seria; dalla commedia dell'arte
1'opera buffa; dalle mascherate e dagli intermedi le veglie
e i balletti."
It will be noticed that here the intermedia contributes
to two kinds of theatrical performances with music, but
it will also be noticed that one kind is not mentioned: the
pantomime. Perhaps Solerti, following our rather loose
terminology in such matters, includes pantomime in ballet,
but, as a matter of historical and esthetic fact, ballet and
pantomime are no more synonymous than are opera and
ballet. True, from the beginning the various species of
musical theatrical performances had certain features in
common, but it will not do to throw them all into a com-
mon historical melting-pot. An opera may contain a
ballet, and a ballet operatic arias; still, the lines of dis-
tinction are easily discernible. On the other hand, I
admit, the distinction between a ballet and a pantomime
is difficult of definition for us moderns, but it exists, as
everybody will testify who has waded through thousands
of old-time librettos. 'A pantomime may contain a good
deal of dancing and a good deal of singing (the "speaking
pantomime"), and still the pantomime, if representative
of its genre, is not a ballet, much less an opera. It may be
likened, notwithstanding such ingredients, to living pic-
tures, moving or not, the appreciation and understanding
of which depend on ready symbolical association and ready
solution of allegorical puzzles. Exactly because the ballet,
from mere danced symbolical action, developed almost into
a danced pantomime, it becomes difficult to keep the two
apart for historical purposes.
We have been so much fascinated by the history of
THE INTEEMEDI "PSYCHE 1 AND AMOR" 271
opera, that we have quite overlooked the possibilities of
evolutional histories of the other genres, the ballet and
the pantomime. Existing books notwithstanding, they
remain to be -written, and it is imperative also for problems
connected with the history of opera that they be written,
^soon with acumen and patient research: particularly a
history of musical pantomime during the latter part of the
sixteenth century. !Nbt until then, perhaps, will the
obscure points in the origin of opera proper quite disap-
pear, so far, at least, a$ the relationship between the
intermedi and the first opera is concerned. The first
operas dealt, like most of the intermedi, with mythological
subjects, but they dealt with them as plays and as such
bore their message to the audience through the words of
the libretto and a more or less developed psychological
plot. While a familiarity with Greek mythology wajs help-
ful for the appreciation of the first operas and increased
their enjoyment, it was, strictly speaking, not necessary.
The intermedi, on. the other hand, dealt with mythological
episodes not as vehicles for dramas, but for allegories.
Their puzzles were not dramatic. In other words, for a
ready understanding of the innumerable and often
involved allegorical and external symbolical allusions to
Greek mythology in the wt ermedi an intimate familiarity
with the details of Qxeek mythology was absolutely indis-
pensable a familiarity, indeed, which would be quite
beyond our mixed modern audiences, but for which the
aristocratic audiences of the Eenaissance period were
abundantly trained.
To come to the real point of these introductory remarks,
the intermedi were pantomimes. While they had some
features in common with the first operas and perhaps even
affected their origin, their real importance, beyond their
own historical significance, attaches not so much to the
history of opera as to that of pantomime. Indeed, it
looks to me as if Oaccini's II Rapimento di Oefalo was
muck more closely related to the intermedi than his or
272 inSCELLANEOTJS STUDIES
Peri's Ewridice or their respective settings of Dafne.
This is, of course, a thesis, not necessarily a new thesis,
yet one not generally accepted and not acceptable until a
discriminating, exhaustive history of Renaissance panto-
mime has proved its correctness.
However, whether this thesis be correct or not, the
problem of the origin of opera will not find a perfect solu-
tion until, on the basis of literary history, the musical his-
tory of the intermedi has Advanced far beyond its present,
more statistical and chronological than evolutional stage.
Solerti and others have repeatedly referred to Ubaldo
Angeli's Notizie per la storia del Teatro a Firenze nel
secolo XVI, specidmente circa gli intermezzi (lEodena,
1891), in which, with one exception, all important inter-
medi down to 1569 are mentioned. Unfortunately, this
boot has not been accessible to me, but if it enumerates
not less than fifty .works before 1569, and if we consider
that the genre continued to flourish for decades, surely
Angeli's book offers food for thought to us musical his-
torians. The conclusion is inevitable and how inevitable
even a rapid glance into Orekenach's history of the drama
will prove that the intermedia with its musical ingre-
dients was a fully developed form of art, long before opera
came into existence. That it was largely pantomimical,
allegorical, and that it was undermining the interest in
drama, for this we have abundant esthetic contemporary-
testimony. It is not surprising that reference is made in
recent historical literature to this encroachment s upon
comedy and tragedy, and a quotation of the poet Antonio
Francesco Gr&zzini's (called II 'Lasca) madrigal, "La
Commedia che si duol degli Intermezzi," is made to do
useful service, but it is amazing how very little compara-
tive research has been centered on the intermedia for
purposes of musical history. Certainly, only such com-
parative research can fully establish the extent and scope
of the participation of musical art in these entertainments.
THE INTEEMEBI "PSYCHE ND AMOE" 273
In what the intermedia technique of a Oorteccia or a
Striggio consisted cannot surely be fully revealed except
by exhaustive comparison. In other words, a history of
the musical form of the intermedia is badly needed, a
history which would treat methodically of monody as
employed therein, of the part the chorus played, of how
solo voices and chorus alternated or were combined, how
their numerical proportions were balanced, how instru-
mental music was employed either for purely instrumen-
tal purposes or for those of accompaniment, how this
accompaniment differed if used for solo voices or for
ensemble scene, how the composers utilized their orches-
tral resources for purposes of variety, of color, of deliber-
ate grouping and differentiation. That much information
of this kind is to be found in our books, I know very well,
but it is more or less disconnected, not methodical, and
it is based principally on the later mtermedi, particularly
Malvezzfs and others' celebrated mtermedi of 1589 at
Florence, published 1591. And even they were not pene-
tratingly treated before Goldschmidt in his splendid essays
on early opera brought some analytical-synthetic order out
of chaos. For the earlier period, we have practically not
got beyond Kiesewetter, who in his Schicksale und Be-
schaffenheit des weltlichen Ges&nges (1841) dealt in a
cursory way with the mtermedi composed in 1539 by
Oorteccia, Festa and others for the marriage of Oosimo de ?
Medici and Leonora of Toledo, those composed (1565)
by Corteccia and Striggio for the marriage of Francesco
de ? Medici and Giovanna of Austria, and finally those of
1589'. !Not even Kolland, in his book on opera before
Lully and Scarlatti, considered it worth while to let an
investigation of his own supersede that of Kiesewetter.
Indeed, if we add Leichtentritt'g translation, in his revised
edition of Ambroses fourth volume! (1909), of Baldinucci's
description of the festivities of 1569 (correctly as on p.
245, not 1565, as inoxrrectly on p. 265) with Striggiq's
274 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES
unfortunately lost intermedia music for the comedy of
IS arnica fido, we tare nearly reacted the end of accessible
historical resources.
It may be that not many descriptions of th!e numerous
intermedia entertainments exist which would enlighten us
musical historians as to the part music played, thereby
consoling us somewhat for the loss of most of the music;
but that would be the vetry reason why the few should be
made fully available. Of what earthly use, for instance,
can it haye been to those who followed Kiesewetter with-
out retracing his steps, that he, in commenting on the (first
only of the) intermedi of 1565, naively gives this inven-
tory:
Die Instrumeate, welche veracHedentlich zur Begleitung der
Gesange, oder zu ZwischenspieLea verwendet mirden, sind bei
jeder Nummer genannt. Sie waren schon damals sekr zahlreich :
2 Gravicembali, 4 yioloni, 1 leuto mezzano, 1 cornetto muto ( ?),
4 Tromboni, 2 JFlauti diritti, 4 Traversi, 1 Lento grosso, 1 Sotto
Basso di Viola, 1 Soparan di Viola, 4 Leuti, 1 Viola d'arco, 1
Lirone, 1 Traverse Contralto, 1 Mauto grande Tenore, 1 Trom-
bone Basso, 5 Storte, 1 Stortina, 2 Oornetti ordinarii, 1 Oornetto
grosso, 1 Dolzaina, 1 Lira, 1 Eibecchino, 2 Tamburi.
Probably because of Kiesewetter^s hurried and slight-
ing comment, later historians did not consider it worth
while to bestow attention on the intermedi of 1565 which
drew their inspiration from Apuleius's tale of Cupid and
Psyche, yet their published description turns out to be,
at least musically, one of the most instructive we possess.
The complete reprint as it follows here will surely further
a more correct understanding of the art-form of the inter-
media in all its aspects, and, if nothing else, at least prove
that we may yet hope to rediscover tlie music, generally
considered not published, since the remark on p. 18 of the
Description makes it clear that Oorteccia's and Striggio's
music was in press in 156. Kiesewetter quoted Qiunti^s
fourth [5tc] edition, of 1566, entitled:
THE INTERMEPI "PSYCHE AND AMOR? 275
Descrizione delPApparato della Oommedia ed Intennedii
d'essa, fatta in Firenze il Gio 
