The art of music, Vol. 02 (of 14) — Themes and Context

I. THE REGENERATION OF THE OPERA 1

The eighteenth century and operatic convention--Porpora and Hasse--Pergolesi and the _opera buffa_--_Jommelli_, Piccini, Cimarosa, etc.--Gluck’s early life; the Metastasio period--The comic opera in France; Gluck’s reform; _Orfeo_ and _Alceste_--The Paris period; Gluck and Piccini; the Iphigénies; Gluck’s mission--Gluck’s influence; the _opéra comique_; Cherubini.

II. THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE CLASSIC PERIOD 45

Classicism and the classic period--Political and literary forces--The conflict of styles; the sonata form--The Berlin school; the sons of Bach--The Mannheim reform: the genesis of the symphony--Followers of the Mannheim school; rise of the string quartet; Vienna and Salzburg as musical centres.

III. THE VIENNESE CLASSICS: HAYDN AND MOZART 75

Social aspects of the classic period; Vienna, its court and its people--Joseph Haydn--Haydn’s work; the symphony; the string quartet--Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Mozart’s style; Haydn and Mozart; the perfection of orchestral style--Mozart and the opera; the Requiem; the mission of Haydn and Mozart.

IV. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 128

Form and formalism--Beethoven’s life--His relations with his family, teachers, friends and other contemporaries--His character--The man and the artist--Determining factors in his development--The three periods in his work and their characteristics--His place in the history of music.

V. OPERATIC DEVELOPMENT IN ITALY AND FRANCE 177

Italian opera at the advent of Rossini--Rossini and the Italian operatic renaissance--_Guillaume Tell_--Donizetti and Bellini--Spontini and the historical opera--Meyerbeer’s life and works--His influence and followers--Development of _opéra comique_; Boieldieu, Auber, Hérold, Adam.

PART II. THE ROMANTIC IDEAL

VI. THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT: ITS CHARACTERISTICS AND ITS GROWTH 213

Modern music and modern history; characteristics of the music of the romantic period--Schubert and the German romantic movement in literature--Weber and the German reawakening--The Paris of 1830: French Romanticism--Franz Liszt--Hector Berlioz--Chopin; Mendelssohn--Leipzig and Robert Schumann--Romanticism and classicism.

VII. SONG LITERATURE OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD 269

Lyric poetry and song--The song before Schubert--Franz Schubert; Carl Löwe--Robert Schumann; Robert Franz; Mendelssohn and Chopin; Franz Liszt as song writer.

VIII. PIANOFORTE AND CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD 293

Development of the modern pianoforte--The pioneers: Schubert and Weber--Schumann and Mendelssohn--Chopin and others--Franz Liszt, virtuoso and poet--Chamber music of the romantic period; Ludwig Spohr and others.

IX. ORCHESTRAL LITERATURE AND ORCHESTRAL DEVELOPMENT 334

The perfection of instruments; emotionalism of the romantic period; enlargement of orchestral resources--The symphony in the romantic period; Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann; Spohr and Raff--The concert overture--The rise of program music; the symphonic _leit-motif_; Berlioz’s _Fantastique_; other Berlioz symphonies; Liszt’s dramatic symphonies--Symphonic poem; _Tasso_; Liszt’s other symphonic poems--The legitimacy of program music.

X. ROMANTIC OPERA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHORAL SONG 372

The rise of German opera; Weber and the romantic opera; Weber’s followers--Berlioz as opera composer--The _drame lyrique_ from Gounod to Bizet--_Opéra comique_ in the romantic period; the _opéra bouffe_--Choral and sacred music of the romantic period.

PART III. THE ERA OF WAGNER

XI. WAGNER AND WAGNERISM 401

Periods of operatic reform; Wagner’s early life and works--Paris: _Rienzi_, “The Flying Dutchman”--Dresden: _Tannhäuser_ and _Lohengrin_; Wagner and Liszt; the revolution of 1848--_Tristan_ and _Meistersinger_--Bayreuth; “The Nibelungen Ring”--_Parsifal_--Wagner’s musico-dramatic reforms; his harmonic revolution; the _leit-motif_ system--The Wagnerian influence.

XII. NEO-ROMANTICISM: JOHANNES BRAHMS AND CÉSAR FRANCK 443

The antecedents of Brahms--The life and personality of Brahms--The idiosyncrasies of his music in rhythm, melody, and harmony as expressions of his character--His works for pianoforte, for voice, and for orchestra; the historical position of Brahms--Franck’s place in the romantic movement--His life, personality, and the characteristics of his style; his works as the expression of religious mysticism.

XIII. VERDI AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES 477

Verdi’s mission in Italian opera--His early life and education--His first operas and their political significance--His second period: the maturing of his style--Crowning achievements of his third period--Verdi’s contemporaries.

A NARRATIVE HISTORY OF MUSIC

CHAPTER I THE REGENERATION OF THE OPERA

The eighteenth century and operatic convention--Porpora and Hasse--Pergolesi and the _opera buffa_--Jommelli, Piccini, Cimarosa, etc.--Gluck’s early life; the Metastasio period--The comic opera in France; Gluck’s reform; _Orfeo_ and _Alceste_--The Paris period; Gluck and Piccini; the Iphigénies; Gluck’s mission--Gluck’s influence; Salieri and Sarti; the development of _opéra comique_; Cherubini.