WOMAN AS THE INTERPRETER OF MUSIC.
WOMAN AS THE INTERPRETER OF MUSIC.
It only remains, in tracing the influence of woman upon music, to consider her as its interpreter, mainly through the medium of the voice, though there are not wanting many female artists who have excelled in instrumental music. This branch of the subject needs but brief consideration, since its facts are conceded, and it is almost an axiom that without interpreters there would be no composers. All the elements which woman has in her nature—love, pathos, passion, poetry, and religion—combine to perfect her song, and give fitting expression to the ideas of the masters. Woman’s song is the first sound the child hears. May we not fancy that when the child has grown to old age, it is still the song of woman which, though inaudible to those standing around, kindles a smile upon the dying face, and brings a look of recognition to the eyes, as if they beheld once more the old familiar face of the mother, and heard the familiar voice which sung to the old man when all his world was contained in the hollow of a cradle? And between these extremes of birth and death in every age, what an endless procession of singers memory will summon! How they approach, pass before us, and disappear, crowned with their laurels of victory! The last two centuries have been prolific in great artists, though the present time is poorer than any other. To name only a few of them will suffice for the purposes of this essay; and they may readily and conveniently be divided into eras, as follows: From 1700 to 1750, the four great artists were Faustina Bordoni, Caterina Mingotti, Caterina Gabrielli, and Francesca Cuzzoni. Bordoni was from Venice, and Cuzzoni from Parma; and their names will always be associated in consequence of their bitter rivalry. Händel brought Bordoni to London to sing in his operas, in which Cuzzoni had already performed with success. Their simultaneous appearance was a signal for the most extraordinary popular demonstrations. The city was divided against itself; and the partisanship at last extended even to families, as we find Sir Robert Walpole declaring for Bordoni, while Lady Walpole was an enthusiastic advocate of Cuzzoni. The press was filled with stinging epigrams and atrocious libels. Duels were fought. The wrangling of audiences at times was riotous. One night, when the two queens of song appeared on the same stage, they came to blows. At last Bordoni drove her rival from the field, and the latter ended her days in a charity hospital. Bordoni continued her victorious career with great brilliancy for thirty years, winning in her last years the plaudits even of the captious critic, Frederick the Great. Her successor was Mingotti, a Neapolitan, who was educated by Porpora, and patronized by Metastasio. She eclipsed the fame of Bordoni, though her stage life was briefer. The last of the four, Gabrielli, who was educated by a cardinal of the same name, with the additional help of Metastasio, excelled all the others in natural talent, and aroused a frenzy of enthusiasm whenever she sang, with the brilliant execution and exquisite quality of her voice.
From 1750 to 1800 there were six representative singers: Gertrude Elizabeth Mara, Sophie Arnould, Nancy Storace, Elizabeth Billington, and Angelica Catalani. Mara’s name is inseparably connected with Händel’s music. Insignificant in appearance and indifferent as an actress, her sweet and powerful voice and her unrivalled skill in bravura music more than atoned for her other deficiencies. When Frederick the Great first heard her sing, he testily declared he would rather hear his horse neigh; but she soon conquered the royal grumbler, and he speedily became her enthusiastic champion. In Paris she made a warm friend of Marie Antoinette. She brought all London to her feet by the manner in which she sang at the great Händel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey, in May, 1784. Burney, the musical historian and critic, who was present on that occasion, has left his impression of her singing, in the elegant volume he published, describing the various days’ performances of that festival, which excelled all others held up to that time. Of her singing in the solo from Händel’s anthem, “Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song,” he says:—
“Madame Mara’s voice and manner of singing in this plain and solemn air, so admirably accompanied on the hautbois by Fisher, had a sudden effect on myself, which I never before experienced, even from her performance of more pathetic music. I have long admired her voice and abilities in various styles of singing; but never imagined tenderness the peculiar characteristic of her performance; however, here, though she had but a few simple notes to deliver, they made me shiver, and I found it extremely difficult to avoid bursting into tears on hearing them. Indeed, she had not only the power of conveying to the remotest corner of this immense building the softest and most artificial inflections of her sweet and brilliant voice, but articulated every syllable of the words with such neatness, precision, and purity that it was rendered as audible and intelligible as it could possibly have been, in a small theatre, by mere declamation.”
As an interpreter of sacred music this great artist stood almost peerless. Her triumphant career was continued to the extreme age of seventy-three; and on her eighty-second birthday Goethe dedicated a poetical tribute to her. Sophie Arnould was brought to Paris by Gluck, and sang in his operas under the patronage of Marie Antoinette with the most brilliant success. Nancy Storace was among the first who made successes in English opera. She had previously made a brilliant reputation in Italy, and carried Vienna by storm, including the Emperor Joseph, with whom she was a great pet. Elizabeth Billington, as beautiful in person as she was brilliant in song, captivated Haydn, during his London visit, with her beautiful voice. Sir Joshua Reynolds painted her as St. Cecilia, as a companion to his portrait of Siddons as the Tragic Muse. Haydn, contemplating the picture, exclaimed to the artist, “You have made a great mistake.” “How! what!” said the startled painter. “Why,” replied Haydn, “you have represented Mrs. Billington listening to the angels; you should have made the angels listening to her.” Salomon, Haydn’s manager, used to say, “She sings with her fingers,” for she was a marvellous pianist as well as singer. Catalani had a career of almost unexampled success and good fortune, though a cold singer, carrying her audiences by storm with the tremendous volume and wonderful richness of her tone, as well as with the marvellous facility and rapidity of her execution. She had so powerful a voice that Queen Charlotte, after hearing her and being asked her opinion, declared: “I was wishing for a little cotton in my ears all the time.” A wag, being asked if he would go to York to hear her, replied: “I shall hear her better where I am.” A critic, describing her singing of Luther’s Hymn, says:—
“The majesty of her sustained tones,—so rich, so ample as not only to fill but overflow the cathedral where I heard her,—the solemnity of her manner, and the St. Cecilia-like expression of her raised eyes and rapt countenance, produced a thrilling effect through the united medium of sight and hearing. Whoever has heard Catalani sing this, accompanied by Schmidt on the trumpet, has heard the utmost that music can do. Then in the succeeding chorus, when the same awful words, ‘the trumpet sounds, the graves restore the dead which they contained before,’ are repeated by the whole choral strength, her voice, piercing through the clang of instruments and the burst of other voices, is heard as distinctly as if it were alone! During the encore I found my way to the top of a tower on the outside of the cathedral, and could still distinguish her wonderful voice.”
The half-century from 1800 to 1850 was rich in great artists; and to this period belong Pisaroni, Pasta, Schröder-Devrient, Anna Milder, Sontag, Malibran, Grisi, Falcon, Clara Novello, Pauline Viardot, Dorus-Gras, Persiani, Catharine Hayes, Alboni, and Jenny Lind,—a galaxy of singers unexcelled in all the annals of song. Meyerbeer and Rossini kept their pens busy for Pisaroni. Pasta, with her wonderful dramatic power, founded a new school of lyric art, and astonished the world with her personation of _Norma_, which Bellini wrote for her. Beethoven’s _Leonora_ in “Fidelio” will ever be associated with Milder, the creator of the part,—a singer of whom the aged Haydn said, when he heard her sing to her teacher, “The best way to form an idea of her voice is to hear a full, well-tuned organ register;” and of whom Napoleon more briefly said, “Voilà une voix!” Schröder-Devrient, the daughter of Sophie Schröder, described as “the Siddons of Germany,” was also associated with this magnificent rôle, in which her success was extraordinary. Where have the great artists gone, that there are no longer any _Leonoras_ or _Normas_ of the heroic stamp? Of Malibran and Sontag, Théophile Gautier writes:—
“In 1827 Mlle. Sontag was attracted to Paris, the art-centre whither all celebrities tend. She made her _début_ in the rôle of _Desdemona_. Her success was incredible; and it was no slight matter to occupy the _prima donna’s_ golden throne with Malibran, who was the most wonderful incarnation of music. Malibran, as great a tragedienne as a vocalist,—grace, self-possession, originality, poetry, and genius combined in one impassioned organization,—was reproduced by one of those rare miracles of which Nature is unfortunately too sparing. Their loyal rivalry was profitable to art; passion reigned on the stage and among the audience; thunders of applause were evoked by both performers, for the two camps ended in uniting in a reciprocal enthusiasm; Sontag’s partisans applauded Malibran, and Malibran’s partisans applauded Sontag. To gain access to the Italians, even by paying three times the usual price for a seat, was a rare favor; and the _queue_ often included Meyerbeer, Halévy, Auber, Rossini. O happy days, when art engrossed all minds, and absorbed all political passions!”
Grisi was a peerless _diva_ in personal beauty; a great actress, especially in the rôles of _Norma_ and _Lucrezia Borgia_; and a singer who could act, as well as an actress who could sing,—a rare combination now-a-days. Chorley says of her:—
“A quarter of a century is a fair length of reign for any queen,—a brilliant one for an opera queen of these modern times, when wear and tear are so infinitely greater than they used to be. The supremacy of Madame Grisi has been prolonged by a combination of qualities rare at any period. In our day there has been no woman so beautiful, so liberally endowed with voice and with dramatic impulse as herself, Catalani excepted.”
Mlle. Falcon, of the Grand Opera, achieved wonderful success as _Rachel_ in Halévy’s “Jewess.” Says one who heard her:—
“Who does not know the power, the soul, which she threw into this glorious personation? Who does not retain the strong recollection of her brilliant tragic and lyric qualities? She was the genuine type of Hebrew beauty,—the real daughter of the Mounts of Sinai and of Bethlehem. The eagle eye sparkles with liquid flame; the form of steel is pliant in its strength; the complexion is brown and warm; the long hair of raven black floats in the breeze, free from that pale and sickly shade which the climates of the north give to the skins and locks of their daughters. It is ebony bathed in sunlight. When M. Scribe saw Mlle. Falcon, he perceived at once, with his usual penetration, that he had Judith before him, and that he had a glorious representative of a well-devised drama. That drama he wrote, and created for his heroine a world of tragic pomp, thrilling situations, and deep emotions.”
Clara Novello, one of the noblest of women, commenced her career as an operatic singer, and closed it, with wonderful success, as the grandest oratorio singer England has yet produced, and the principal vocalist at the great English festivals. When Rossini first produced his “Stabat Mater,” with Donizetti for conductor, she had the rare honor of being selected as the principal soloist. Persiani was one of the finest singers in the school of light operas, like “Lucia” and “Somnambula,” and her _Rosina_ in the “Barber of Seville” was always a triumph of enthusiasm. Pauline Viardot, second daughter of the famous singer and musician, Garcia, is still remembered for her wonderful personation of _Valentine_ in “The Huguenots,” and as one of those great dramatic singers of the grand school whose mantles are still waiting for successors. Schumann sang her praises; and M. Escudier, the great French critic, says of her:—
“Her singing is expressive, descriptive, thrilling, full, equal and just, brilliant and vibrating, especially in the medium and in the lower chords. Capable of every style of art, it is adapted to all the feelings of nature, but particularly to outbursts of grief, joy, or despair. The dramatic coloring which her voice imparts to the slightest shades of feeling and passion is a real phenomenon of vocalization which cannot be analyzed.”
Madame Dorus-Gras, another great singer of this time, made almost as deep an impression in her personation of _Marguerite de Valois_ in “The Huguenots,” as Viardot in that of the principal rôle. Catharine Hayes, the lovely Irish singer; Bosio; D’Angri; Alboni, the greatest alto of the present century, whose sonorous and yet mellow liquid voice embraced fully two octaves, every note pure and beautiful; and Jenny Lind, whose fame is world-wide,—may almost be said to belong to the present day, so near are their victories to us. But who are their successors? The catalogue of singers in our own day is a long one; but, as compared with the list from 1800 to 1850, it does not contain equally great names. Two of the greatest singers of the present period, Tietjens and Parepa, are forever silent. Of all these artists, Tietjens was incomparably the greatest. One of the best of critics a few years ago wrote:—
“We presume it is useless to say a single word upon the extraordinary gifts and accomplishments of this truly extraordinary singer. A voice so rich in quality, so extensive and so flexible, combined with a temperament so passionate, and a dramatic perception so exact, carries us back to the highest standards of lyric excellence in our memory. The great line that commenced with Pasta, and was sustained in all its honors by Schröder, Malibran, and Grisi, finds no feeble vindication in the genius of Tietjens.”
And with her the line stops. Madame Parepa-Rosa, “the stainless lady of the matchless voice,” was a great vocalist, not a great _prima donna_; for she lacked the intense dramatic quality to make her personations complete and rounded. As a singer of exceptional power and beauty of voice, and as a versatile vocalist, she has rarely been excelled; for she shone with equal brilliancy in the opera, the oratorio, and in the ballad school, while in the beauty, sweetness, grace, and dignity of her noble womanhood, she commended herself to the public so intimately that her death was almost universally regarded as a personal loss. Zucchi, Lagrange, Gazzaniga, and Parodi were types of the old school, when great singers were great actors, and great actors were great singers; but they have retired, and we have left a list of beautiful, brilliant singers, nearly all of whom, however, have made their successes in the light works of the lyric stage,—Adelina Patti, Pauline Lucca, Marie Roze, Madame Torriani, Zelda Seguin, Emma Nevada, Emma Abbot, Alwina Valleria, Anna de Belocca, Minnie Hauck, Emma Albani, Christine Nilsson, Clara Louise Kellogg, Anne Louise Cary (lately retired from the stage), Etelka Gerster, Marie Marimon, and others; and on the concert stage Carlotta Patti, fast losing her brilliant powers, Miss Emma Thursby, Antoinette Sterling, Mrs. Osgood, who has taken a leading position as an oratorio and ballad singer, Anna Drasdil, the veteran Anna Bishop, come down from a former generation, and a long list of others whom it is not necessary to mention. Will the Wagner school develop a second line of the heroic artists? It is not improbable; for already one has appeared, Frau Materna, the majestic _Brünnhilde_ of the Nibelungen cyclus.
It is almost superfluous to emphasize the fact that the interpretation of vocal music is specially the province of woman, or that she is destined to achieve triumphs in the future as brilliant as those in the past. It is a realm where her sway will always be undisputed; and so long as there are artists to sing, they will inspire composers to write. It does not follow, however, that every singer will be a _prima donna_, though she may achieve a great name as an artist, and figure upon the bills and programmes by that appellation. Singers are plenty: _prime donne_ are few. The late Richard Grant White, in one of his brilliant essays, “The Musical Monster,” referring to Gabrielli, says:—
“No woman can be a great _prima donna_ who has not to a certain degree her three principal qualifications,—a grand voice, the grand style which comes of fine and highly cultivated musical intelligence, and beauty, or, if not beauty, at least an attractive person and a pleasing manner.”
Some exception might be taken to the last qualification, at least so far as he claims it to be an essential condition. Unquestionably personal beauty goes a great ways in making an artist a favorite with the public; but many artists with beautiful persons have been favorites with the public, who were not great _prime donne_, while many artists have been great _prime donne_ to whom Nature had been unkind in the way of physical charm. Another qualification, and almost an indispensable one, should be added to his category; and that is repose, which is one of the foundation principles of true art. Still, while a given age may produce but few great _prime donne_, this should not be a discouragement, for it may produce many great singers who may give real pleasure to audiences. All composers cannot be Beethovens, any more than all painters Raphaels: but there are degrees of culture and service worth striving for by woman, that will command great success and ample reward; and no time was ever more advantageous for these results than the present. The conditions, however, are exacting. Any one can recall singers with exceptionally fine voices, who have failed, not because they had fine voices, but because they never had the patience, perseverance, and intelligence to learn how to use them. Duprez used to say, “Nothing injures a singer so much as a fine voice.” Perhaps his aphorism would have been less exaggerated had he said, “Nothing is so fatal to a singer as to rely upon a naturally fine voice for success.” The greatest singers have reached their positions by persevering study, resolute courage, patient endurance, and the constant habit of doing even the most unimportant thing well. A really great artist employs the resources of her art as conscientiously in a ballad as she would in a grand dramatic aria. With the proper study and a rightly directed culture, there is no reason why American women should not take leading places in the musical world, as they have exceptionally fine voices. Surely there is every impulse and incentive for study in the experiences of Adelina Patti, Emma Albani, Minnie Hauck, Marie Litta, Antoinette Sterling, Emma Osgood, Anne Louise Cary, Clara Louise Kellogg, and other American women who have made themselves famous all over Europe.
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In instrumental music woman has not taken as high a position as in vocal music, mainly because her advantages have not been improved wisely. It has become the fashion to educate all girls, indiscriminately, to play the piano, without reference to their ability or musical taste. The result is that Clara Schumanns, Essépoffs, Mehligs, Goddards, and Krebbses do not abound, and that out of fifty young ladies who go through the conventional piano course, one may become a good amateur player. The gradus of the piano in our time seldom leads to Parnassus. There are other instruments which might be studied with great advantage by woman, especially the violin and harp. Camilla Urso, the sisters Milanollo, and Madame Neruda have shown what woman can accomplish with the violin. The instrument is admirably adapted to her delicacy of taste and sensibility, and nothing but a silly prejudice keeps her from its study. There is no reason why she should not learn to play, except it may be the awkwardness of the admixture of women in orchestras. This may militate against its study for such a purpose; but there is no reason why she should not strive to be a solo-player. The harp has gone out of fashion; but it should be speedily reinstated, not only as a beautiful medium of accompaniment and an elegant ornament for the drawing-room, but as the instrument above all others best calculated to display woman’s taste and sweetness, and most happily adapted to her native grace of person and elegance of movement. The organ also should be more generally studied by woman, as a guide to a higher musical knowledge and the gateway to the truest and noblest forms of musical literature. Two women of this country—Miss Carrie T. Kingman of Chicago, and Mrs. Frohock of Boston—have shown that its most extreme difficulties can be mastered. The latter now devotes herself to the piano, but at one time took a high position as an organist; while the former, by constant practice and study, has mastered even the colossal difficulties of Thiele, and played the works of Bach, and the sonatas of Merkel, Haupt, and other modern German organ-writers, in a manner few male players can equal.
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The instances which have been given in these pages are only a few out of the many, showing the influence of woman upon musical composers and in the field of vocal and instrumental music, which belongs of right to her, but which has not yet been cultivated with the earnestness and intelligence it deserves. Although not the creator, she has inspired the creations, and then interpreted them to the world. Man may be the intellect of music: she is its heart and soul. What she has not done _with_ music matters little compared with the great glory and beauty she has given _to_ music. By the side of the great composers, in equal glory and fame, should be placed such women as Constance Weber, Fanny Mendelssohn, Bettina von Arnim, Madame Voigt, the friend of Schumann, Cosima Wagner, Delphine Potocka, Clara Schumann, Pasta, Malibran, Grisi, and those others who have elevated music to greater heights by inspiring its creation, and giving it to the world through the medium of the voice.
No grander work can occupy woman’s attention. Music was the first sound heard in the creation, when the morning stars sang together. It was the first sound heard at the birth of Christ, when the angels sang together above the plains of Bethlehem. It is the universal language, which appeals to the universal heart of mankind. It greets our entrance into this world, and solemnizes our departure. Its thrill pervades all Nature,—in the hum of the tiniest insect, in the tops of the wind-smitten pines, in the solemn diapason of the ocean. And there must come a time when it will be the only suggestion left of our human nature and the creation, since it alone, of all things on earth, is known in heaven. The human soul and music are alone eternal.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
To make this essay complete, the writer appends, first, a list of the prominent female composers during the past three centuries: and, second, a list of the dedications made to women by the composers mentioned in the body of the work, so far as it has been possible to obtain them.
FEMALE COMPOSERS.
=Seventeenth Century.=
CACCINI, FRANCESCA. _Italy._ Songs. CALEGARI, CORNELIA. _Italy._ Songs. GUERRE, ELIZABETH CLAUDE. _France._ Operas. STROZZI, BARBARA. _Italy._ Songs.
=Eighteenth Century.=
LEBRUN, FRANCESCA. _Germany._ Sonata for piano. DUSSEK, SOPHIA. _Scotland._ Piano and harp music. CIANCHETTINI, VERONICA. _Bohemia._ Concertos and sonatas. AGNESI, MARIA TERESA. _Italy._ Operas. ANNA AMALIA, _Duchess of Saxe Weimar_. Dramatic music. ANNA AMALIA, _Princess of Prussia_. Cantatas. PARADIES, MARIA THERESA. _Austria._ Operettas. POUILLAU, Mlle. _France._ Three sonatas. REICHARDT, JULIA. _Germany._ Songs. SCHROETER, CORONA ELIZABETH. _Poland._ Songs. SERNIEN, MADDALENA. _Italy._ Violin music. WENSLEY, FRANCES FOSTER. _England._ Songs. ABRAMS, Miss. _England._ Songs. BAYER, Mlle. _Austria._ Songs. BLANGINI, Mlle. _Italy._ Violin music. BRANDENSTEIN, CHARLOTTE DE. _Germany._ Sonatas. BRANDES, CHARLOTTE WILHELMINA. _Germany._ Songs and piano music. BRESSON, Mlle. _France._ Songs. GRETRY, LUCILE. _France._ Dramatic music. GUENIN, Mlle. _France._ Operas. LANNOY, LA COMTESSE. _Italy._ Romances and sonatas. LILIEN, ANTOINETTE DE. _Austria._ Piano music. LOUIS, Mme. _France._ Sonatas. MARTINEZ, MARIANE. _Austria._ Masses. MONTGERAULT, Mme. _France._ Sonatas. TRAVANET, Mme. DE. _France._ Romances. BLAHETKA, LEOPOLDINE. _Austria._ Songs.
=Nineteenth Century.=
MOUNSEY, ANN SHEPARD. _England._ Oratorio of “The Nativity.” MOUNSEY, ELIZABETH. _England._ Pieces for organ and piano. LODER, KATE FANNY. _England._ One opera, one overture, and three sonatas. LANG, JOSEPHINE. _Germany._ Songs. HENSEL, FANNY CECILE. _Germany._ Songs and piano music. GABRIEL, MARY ANN VIRGINIA. _England._ Operettas and songs. BLAHETKA, LEOPOLDINE. _Austria._ Concert pieces for piano. BONNE, D’ALPY. _France._ Songs. CARADORI, ALLAN. _Italy._ Songs. GAIL, SOPHIE. _France._ Dramatic music. MILES, Mrs. _England._ Concertos. BEARDSMORE, Mrs. _England._ Sonatas and songs. SCHUMANN, CLARA. _Germany._ Songs and piano music. DUFFERIN, COUNTESS OF. _England._ Songs. POLKO, ÉLISE. _Germany._ Songs. PUGET, LOUISE. _France._ Songs. SAINTON-DOLBY, Mme. _England._ Songs.
DEDICATIONS.
MOZART.
Two sonatas for piano and violin, to Princess Victoire of France. Two sonatas for piano and violin, to Countess de Tessè. Six sonatas for piano and violin, to Queen Charlotte of England. Six sonatas for piano and violin, to Princess Caroline of Nassau. Aria, “Fra cento affanni,” to Countess Firmian of Milan. Two-act serenade, “Ascanio in Alba,” to Maria Theresa. Concerto for three pianos, to Countess Lodron and her daughters Aloysia and Giuseppa. Concerto, to Countess Lützow. Serenade, to Elizabeth Haffner. Aria, “Ah! t’invola agli,” to Josephine Duschek. Aria, “Non so donde vienes,” to Aloysia Weber. Sonata for piano and violin, to Thérèse Pierron. Six sonatas for piano and violin, to Princess Marie Elizabeth. Song, “Oiseaux si tous,” to Mlle. Wendling. Aria, “Io non chiedo,” to Aloysia Weber. Aria, “Ah, non sò io,” to Countess Baumgarten. Aria, “Nehmt meinen Dank,” to Aloysia Weber. Solfeggien, to Constance Mozart. Sonata for piano to Constance and Sophie. Sonata for piano, to Constance Mozart. Aria, “Ah! non sai, qual pena,” to Aloysia Weber. Aria, “Vorrei spiegar-vi,” to Aloysia Weber. Aria, “No, no, che non sei capace,” to Aloysia Weber. Mass (comp. 1783), to Constance Mozart. Concerto, to Barbara Plöyer. Sonata for piano and violin, to Regina Strinassacchi. Trio, to Francisca von Jacquin. Rondo, to Nancy Storace. Aria, “Resta, O caras,” to Josephine Duschek. Aria, “Ah se in Ciel,” to Aloysia Weber. Aria, “Schon lacht der holde Frühling,” to Mme. Hofer. Aria, “Chi sa, chi sa, qual sia,” to Mlle. Villeneuve. Aria, “Vado ma Dove?” to Mlle. Villeneuve.
BEETHOVEN.
Sonata, op. 7, to Countess von Keglevics. Three sonatas, op. 10, to Countess von Browne. Trio in B major, op. 11, to Countess von Thun. Two sonatas, op. 14, to Baroness de Braun. First concerto, op. 15, to Princess Odescalchi. Sonata in F major, op. 17, to Baroness de Braun. Septet in E major, op. 20, to Empress Maria Theresa. Sonata, op. 27, No. 1, to Princess Lichtenstein. Sonata, op. 27, No. 2, to Countess Guicciardi. Variations in F major, op. 34, to Princess Odescalchi. Marches, op. 45, to Princess Esterhazy. Rondo in G major, op. 51, No. 2, to Princess von Lichnowsky. Aria, “Ah! perfido,” op. 65, to Countess von Clary. Trios in D and E major, op. 70, to Countess von Erdödy. Six songs, op. 75, to Princess Kinsky. Sonata, op. 78, to Countess Therese von Brunswick. Three songs, op. 83, to Princess Kinsky. Polonaise, op. 89, to Empress Elizabeth of Russia. Song, “An die Hoffnung,” to Princess Kinsky. Sonata, op. 101, to Dorothea Ertmann. Sonatas, op. 102, Nos. 1 and 2, to Countess von Erdödy. Sonata, op. 109, to Fraulein Brentano. Thirty-three variations, op. 120, to Frau Brentano. Twelve variations in F major, to Eleanore von Breuning. Trio in B major (one movement), to Fraulein Brentano. Twelve variations in G major, to Princess von Lichnowsky. Six variations in D major, to Princesses Deym and Brunswick. Lichte sonata in C major, to Eleanore von Breuning. Nine variations in C minor, to Countess von Wolf-Metternich. Twenty-four variations in D major, to Countess von Hatzfeld. Twelve variations in A major, to Countess von Browne. Ten variations in B major, to Countess Keglevich. Eight variations in F major, to Countess von Browne. Song, “An die Geliebte,” to Regina Lang. March in F major, to Empress of Austria.
SCHUBERT.
Three songs, op. 20, to Justina von Bruchmann. Zuleika’s Second Song, op. 31, to Anna Milder. “Der zürnenden Diana,” to Katharina von Lacsny. “Nachtstück,” to Katharina von Lacsny. Seven songs from Scott’s “Lady of the Lake,” op. 52, to Countess of Wessenwolf. “Divertissement à la Hongroise,” to Katharina von Lacsny. Overture to “Alphonso and Estrella,” to Anne Honig. Three songs, op. 92, to Josephine von Frank. Four songs, op. 96, to Princess von Kinsky. Fantasie, op. 103, to Countess Caroline Esterhazy. Four songs, op. 106, to Marie Pachler. “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen,” op. 129, to Anna Milder. Sonata in C major, op. 140, to Clara Wieck.
SCHUMANN.
Variations on name “Abegg,” op. 1, to Countess d’Abegg. “Papillons,” op. 2, to Thérèse, Rosalie, and Émélie. Impromptus, op. 5, to Clara Wieck. Allegro, op. 8, to Baroness de Fricken. Sonata No. 1, op. 11, to Clara Wieck. “Fantasie Stücke,” op. 12, to Anna R. Laidlav. “Arabeske,” op. 18, to Majorin Serre. “Blumenstück,” op. 19, to Majorin Serre. “Humoreske,” op. 20, to Julie von Webenau. Sonata No. 1, op. 22, to Henrietta Voigt. “Liederkreis,” op. 24, to Pauline Garcia. “Myrthen,” op. 28, to Clara Wieck. Three songs, op. 30, to Josephine B. Cavalcabo. Three songs, op. 31, to Countess von Zedtwitz. Scherzo, gigue, romance and fugue, op. 32, to Amalie Rieffel. Six songs, op. 36, to Livia Frege. Quintet, op. 44, to Clara Schumann. Andante and variations, op. 46, to Harriet Parish. “Dichterliebe,” op. 48, to Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient. “Bilder aus Osten,” op. 66, to Lida Bendemann. “Waldscenen,” op. 82, to Annette Preusser. “Fantasie Stücke,” op. 88, to Sophie Peterson. Six songs, op. 89, to Jenny Lind. Three songs, op. 95, to Constanze Jacobi. “Bunte Blätter,” op. 99, to Mary Poltz. Six songs, op. 104, to Elizabeth Rutmann. Six songs, op. 107, to Sophie Schloss. “Jugend Album,” op. 109, to Henrietta Reichmann. Three “Fantasie Stücke,” op. 111, to Princess Reuss-Kostritz. Three sonatas, op. 118, to Julie, Élise, and Marie. Three songs, op. 119, to Mathilde Hartmann. “Albumblätter,” op. 124, to Alma von Wasielewski. Seven piano pieces, op. 126, to Rosalie Leser. Five piano pieces, op. 133, to Bettina. Overture to “Hermann and Dorothea,” op. 136, to “Seiner lieben Clara.” Four songs, op. 142, to Livia Frege.
MENDELSSOHN.
Six vocal quartets, op. 59, to Henriette Bennecke. Songs, op. 57, to Livia Frege. Motets, op. 39, to the nuns of Trinita da Monti Rome. Songs without words, op. 53, to Sophie Horsley. Songs, op. 34, to Julie Jeanrenaud. Songs without words, op. 67, to Sophie Rosen. Concerto, op. 25, to Delphine von Schaurotte. Songs, op. 47, to Constanze Schleinitz. Songs without words, op. 62, to Clara Schumann. Symphony (Third), to Queen Victoria. Songs without words, op. 30, to Elisa von Worringen. Songs without words, op. 38, to Rosa von Worringen.
CHOPIN.
Études, op. 25, to Countess d’Agoult. Nocturnes, op. 27, to Countess d’Appony. Polonaise, op. 44, to Princess de Beauvan. Nocturnes, op. 32, to Baroness de Billing. Valse, op. 64, No. 3, to Baroness Bronicka. Rondo, op. 14, to Princess Czartoryska. Scherzo, op. 54, to Mlle. Caraman. Prelude, op. 45, to Princess Czernicheff. Mazurkas, op. 63, to Countess Czosnowska. Nocturnes, op. 48, to Mlle. Duperré. Grande Polonaise, op. 22, to Baroness Est. Allegro, op. 51, to Countess Esterhazy. Bolero, op. 19, to Countess de Flahault. Mazurkas, op. 17, to Mme. Freppa. Scherzo, op. 31, to Countess Fürstenstein. Berceuse, op. 57, to Mlle. Gavard. Rondo, op. 16, to Mlle. Hartmann. Valse, op. 18, to Mlle. Horsford. Variations, op. 12, to Mlle. Horsford. Nocturnes, op. 62, to Mlle. Köuneritz. Rondo, op. 1, to Mme. de Linde. Impromptu, op. 29, to Countess Loban. Mazurkas, op. 56, to Mlle. Maberly. Rondo, op. 5, to Countess Moriolles. Mazurkas, op. 33, to Countess Mostowska. Allegro de Concert, op. 46, to Mlle. Müller. Ballade, op. 47, to Mlle. Noailles. Sonata, op. 58, to Countess Perthius. Nocturnes, op. 9, to Mme. Camille Pleyel. Mazurkas, op. 6, to Countess Plater. Concerto, op. 21, to Countess Potocka. Valse, op. 64, No. 1, to Countess Potocka. Valse, op. 64, No. 2, to Baroness Rothschild. Ballad, op. 52, to Baroness Rothschild. Fantasie, op. 49, to Princess Souzzo. Nocturnes, op. 55, to Mlle. Stirling. Barcarole, op. 60, to Baroness Stockhausen. Polonaise Fantasie, op. 61, to Mme. Veyret. Mazurkas, op. 30, to Princess of Würtemberg.
WEBER.
Two allemandes for piano, op. 4, to Mlle. Lisette d’Arnhard. Variations for piano, op. 5, to the Empress Maria Theresa. Variations for piano, op. 7, to the Queen of Westphalia. Polonaise for piano, op. 21, to Margaret Lang. Six pieces for piano, op. 10, to the Princesses Marie and Amélie of Würtemberg. Recitative and rondo, op. 16, to Luise Frank. Vocal duett, op. 31, to Queen Caroline of Bavaria. Canzonet, op. 29, to Queen Caroline of Bavaria. Six-voice song, to Madame Schröck. Grand sonata for piano, op. 24, to the Grand Duchess Marie Paulowna. Seven variations for piano, op. 28, to Fanny von Wiebeking. Six waltzes, to the Empress Marie Louise. Scene and aria, op. 52, to Therese Grünbaum. Air Russe, op. 40, to the Grand Duchess Marie Paulowna. Scene and aria, op. 51, to Hélène Harlas. Cavatina for soprano, to Madame Weixelbaum. Cantata “L’Accoglienza,” to Maria Anna Carlina of Saxony. Scene and aria, op. 56, to Mme. Milder-Hauptmann. Mass in G, op. 76, to Queen Maria Amalia Augusta of Saxony. “Invitation to the Dance,” op. 65, to “his Caroline.” Concert-Stück, op. 79, to the Princess Marie August of Saxony. Cantata, to the Duchess Marie Amalia of Saxony. Cantata, to the Princess Therese of Saxony. Song, “Nourmahal,” to Miss Stevens.
INDEX.
Abbott, Emma, 199, 202.
Adelaide, 17, 61.
Albani, Emma, 199, 202.
Alboni, Mme., 193, 197, 198.
Arnim, Bettina von, 72, 205.
Arnould, Sophie, 190, 191.
Auber, 29, 195.
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 20, 129, 204; his ancestry, 35; youth and manhood, 37; his first wife, 38; her marriage and death, 39; his second wife, 41; their domestic life, 42; her musical influence, 43; Bach’s death, 44.
Bach, Maria Barbara, 38.
Bartolozzi, Mme., 94.
Beethoven, 17, 20, 26, 28, 45, 60, 113, 118, 119–121, 135, 194, 201; domestic conditions, 62; the Breunings, 64–67; a flirtation, 67; Barbara Koch, 68; Mlle. de Gerardi, 69; Baroness von Drossdich, 69; Amelia de Sebald, 71; Bettina von Arnim, 72–78; Dorothea van Ertmann, 72; Magdalena Willmann, 73; Marie Koschak, 73–75; Countess Guicciardi, 78–81.
Belocca, Anna de, 199.
Berlioz, 20.
Billington, Elizabeth, 190–192.
Bishop, Anna, 200.
Bonheur, Rosa, 19.
Bordoni, Faustina, 188–189.
Brandt, Caroline, 165, 166, 168–176.
Breuning family, 64–68.
Bronté, Charlotte, 19.
Browning, Mrs., 19.
Brunetti, Thérèse, 167–171.
Cannabich, Rose, 97.
Caroline, Queen, 54.
Cary, Anne Louise, 199, 202.
Catalani, Angelica, 190, 192, 193.
Cherubini, 28.
Chopin, 17, 113, 128, 132, 179; a Polish attachment, 151; in Warsaw, 152; at Nice, 152; relations with George Sand, 153–159; his death, 159, 160.
Choral Symphony, 63, 83.
Cimarosa, 28.
Cuzzoni, Francesca, 188, 189.
Devrient, Edouard, 141.
Dorus-Gras, Mme., 193, 197.
Drasdil, Anna, 200.
Drossdich, Baroness von, 69.
Eliot, George, 19.
Erdödy, Countess, 81.
Eroica Symphony, 83.
Ertmann, Dorothea van, 72.
Essépoff, Mme., 203.
Esterhazy, 89, 91, 121–124.
Falcon, Mlle., 193, 195, 196.
Fidelio, 60, 118, 194.
Frohock, Mrs., 204.
Gabrielli, Caterina, 188, 189, 200.
Gazzaniga, Mme., 199.
Genzinger, Mme., 91–93, 95.
Gerster, Etelka, 199.
Glück, 28, 191.
Goddard, Arabella, 203.
Goethe, 72, 75, 76, 77, 119, 191.
Grisi, Giulietta, 193, 195, 205.
Grob, Theresa, 118.
Guiccardi, Countess, 78–81.
Händel, 20, 26, 28, 48, 110, 144, 188, 190; childhood, 49; his mother, 50; her death, 51; royal patronage, 52; queer matrimonial conditions, 53; Händel at court, 54; temper with singers, 55; social habits, 56; relations with Vittoria, 57; anecdotes, 58.
Hauck, Minnie, 199, 202.
Haydn, Joseph, 17, 20, 28, 47, 84, 192, 194; his first love, 85, 86; courtship and marriage, 87; service with Prince Esterhazy, 89; an Italian liaison, 91; friendship with Mme. Genzinger, 92, 93; visit to London, 94; the English widow, 95.
Haydn, Michael, 85.
Hayes, Catharine, 193, 197.
Hensel, Fanny, 21, 140–143, 205.
Herschel, Caroline, 19.
Honrath, Jeannette de, 67.
Hosmer, Harriet, 19.
Hummel, 28.
Jeanrenaud, Cecilia, 144–147.
Keiserin, Mlle., 96.
Kellogg, Clara Louise, 199, 202.
Kingman, Carrie T., 204.
Koch, Barbara, 68.
Koschak, Marie, 73.
Krebbs, Marie, 203.
Lagrange, Mme., 199.
Lang, Gretchen, 164, 165.
Lind, Jenny, 193, 198.
Liszt, Franz, 20, 128, 149, 151, 153, 155, 159, 179.
Litta, Marie, 202.
Lucca, Pauline, 199.
Lulli, 28.
Malibran, Mme., 193–195, 205.
Mara, Gertrude Elizabeth, 189–191.
Marimon, Marie, 199.
Materna, Frau, 200.
Mehlig, Anna, 203.
Mehul, 28.
Mendelssohn, 20, 29, 132; his sister, 140–143; descriptions of his wife, 144–147; his death, 147.
Meyerbeer, 29, 193, 195.
Milder, Anna, 118, 193, 194.
Mingotti, Caterina, 188, 189.
Moonlight Sonata, 17, 81.
Mozart, 17, 20, 26, 28, 65, 96, 162; his early fancies, 97; Aloysia Weber, 98; her sister Constance, 101; letter to his father, 104; a marriage contract, 105; love quarrels, 107; the marriage, 108.
Müller, Max, 24.
Neruda, Mme., 203.
Nevada, Emma, 199.
Nilsson, Christine, 199.
Novello, Clara, 193, 196.
Osgood, Emma A., 200, 202.
Pachler, Marie, 73–75, 119.
Parepa, Euphrosyne, 198, 199.
Parodi, Mme., 199.
Pasta, Mme., 193, 194, 205.
Patti, Adelina, 199, 202.
Patti, Carlotta, 199.
Persiani, Mme., 193.
Pisaroni, Mme., 193.
Potocka, Delphine, 152, 159, 160, 205.
Requiem, Mozart’s, 17, 109, 110.
Rossini, 28, 193, 195, 196.
Roze, Marie, 199.
Sand, George, 17, 19, 149, 151, 153–159, 179.
Schubert, 20, 26, 28, 75, 112, 132; extracts from diary and letters, 114, 115; Theresa Grob, 118; songs for Anna Milder, 119; visit to the Pachlers, 120; the Esterhazy family, 121; relations to the daughters, 121–124.
Schumann, 20, 26, 28, 150, 195, 203; Clara Wieck, 126–137; other attachments, 136; marriage, 135.
Schumann, Clara, 21, 126–137, 143, 150, 203, 205.
Schröder-Devrient, Mme., 119, 176, 193, 194.
Schrolter, Mme., 94, 95.
Sebald, Amelia de, 71.
Seguin, Zelda, 199.
Somerville, Mary, 19.
Sontag, Henrietta, 193–195.
Sophie Charlotte, Electress, 52.
Staël, Mme. de, 19.
Sterling, Antoinette, 200, 202.
Storace, Nancy, 190, 191.
Thursby, Emma, 199.
Tietjens, Theresa, 198.
Torriani, Mme., 199.
Trouveresses, 21.
Urso, Camilla, 203.
Valleria, Alwina, 199.
Verdi, 28.
Viardot, Pauline, 193, 197.
Vittoria, 57.
Vogler, 105.
Voigt, Henrietta, 136, 205.
Von Bülow, 178, 182.
Wagner, 20, 26, 28, 176, 200; his youth, 177; his first wife, 178; meeting with Cosima von Bülow, 178; the second marriage, 180; his death, 182.
Wagner, Cosima, 178, 180–183, 205.
Weber, 17, 28; his ancestry, 162; meeting with Gretchen Lang, 164; Caroline Brandt, 165; troubles with Brunetti, 167; engagement to Caroline Brandt, 173; marriage, 174; his death, 176.
Weber, Aloysia, 96, 98–102, 109.
Weber, Constance, 101–110, 162, 205.
Wegeler, 63, 64, 68, 78, 82, 121.
Willmann, Magdalena, 73.
Wülkens, Anna Magdalena, 41.
Zucchi, Mme., 199.
THE STANDARD OPERAS. Their Plots, their Music, and their Composers. By GEORGE P. UPTON, author of “Woman in Music,” etc., etc.
=12mo, flexible cloth, yellow edges= =$1.50= =The same, extra gilt, gilt edges= =2.00=
“Mr. Upton has performed a service that can hardly be too highly appreciated, in collecting the plots, music, and the composers of the standard operas, to the number of sixty-four, and bringing them together in one perfectly arranged volume.... His work is one simply invaluable to the general reading public. Technicalities are avoided, the aim being to give to musically uneducated lovers of the opera a clear understanding of the works they hear. It is description, not criticism, and calculated to greatly increase the intelligent enjoyment of music.”—_Boston Traveller._
“Among the multitude of handbooks which are published every year, and are described by easy-going writers of book-notices as supplying a long-felt want, we know of none which so completely carries out the intention of the writer as ‘The Standard Operas,’ by Mr. George P. Upton, whose object is to present to his readers a comprehensive sketch of each of the operas contained in the modern repertory.... There are thousands of music-loving people who will be glad to have the kind of knowledge which Mr. Upton has collected for their benefit, and has cast in a clear and compact form.”—_R. H. Stoddard, in “Evening Mail and Express” (New York)._
“The summaries of the plots are so clear, logical, and well written, that one can read them with real pleasure, which cannot be said of the ordinary operatic synopses. But the most important circumstance is that Mr. Upton’s book is fully abreast of the times.”—_The Nation (New York)._
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MUSIC-STUDY IN GERMANY. By AMY FAY. Eighth edition. 12mo, 352 pages. Price, $1.25.
“One of the brightest small books we have seen is Amy Fay’s ‘Music-Study in Germany.’ These letters were written home by a young lady who went to Germany to perfect her piano-playing. They are full of simple, artless, yet sharp and intelligent sayings concerning the ways and tastes of the fatherland.... Her observation is close and accurate, and the sketches of Tausig, Liszt, and other musical celebrities are capitally done.”—_Christian Advocate (New York)._
“It is bright and entertaining, being filled with descriptions, opinions, and facts in regard to the many distinguished musicians and artists of the present day. A little insight into the home life of the German people is presented to the reader, and the atmosphere of art seems to give a brightness and worth to the picture, which imparts pleasure with the interest it creates.”—_Dwight’s Journal of Music._
“The intrinsic value of the work is great; its simplicity, its minute details, its freedom from every kind of affectation, constitute in themselves most admirable qualities. The remarkably intimate and open picture we get of Liszt surpasses any picture of him heretofore afforded. It is a charming picture, strong, simple, gracious, noble, and sincere.”—_Times (Chicago)._
“In delicacy of touch, vivacity and ease of expression, and general charm of style, these letters are models in their way. The pictures which she gives of the various masters under whom she studied have the value that all such representations possess when they are drawn from life and with fidelity.”—_Graphic (New York)._
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Page 11. Dedications page “210” corrected to “211”.