Nineteenth-Century Song Achievement

He was strongly influenced by the Volkslieder of his country, the words of which he loved to repeat to himself, as they suggested ideas even for his instrumental compositions. His arrangements of Volkslieder, though not uniformly successful, mark an epoch in that field of work. Curiously enough, his love of folk-songs did not involve the sense which distinguishes between the genuine and the sham. Of the 49 Volkslieder published without opus number in 1894 by far the greater number were imitations which are really quite easy to recognize as such. (See Brahms's Lieder by Max Friedlander.) The value of his arrangements may be tested by comparing them with the small volume containing arrangements by R.

Franz, which are ingeniously done but without inspiration, with those of Tappert, which are models of what such things ought not to be, and with the dull, uninviting work of A. Saran. Many of Reimann's arrangements, however, deserve recognition as both sympathetic and scholarly. One fact emerges clearly from the study of folk-song arrangements, in Germany and elsewhere, that complete success depends upon qualities which are as rare as, and seldom dissociated from, the power of original composition. Only a great composer can be a great arranger. When Brahms's songs are considered as a whole, it is difficult to conceive of more complete work on lines that are essentially classical. The sound est traditions find in them their justification and their consumma tion. He has enshrined the best thought and the noblest feeling of his age in forms where elaboration and complexity of detail serve essential purposes of interpretation and are never used as a bril liant artifice to conceal foundations which are insecure.

The above summary of German song, though necessarily incom plete and confined to the most conspicuous names, may yet pro vide some points of view from which the songs of other countries may be regarded, especially those in which German conceptions and German methods of technique have been dominant factors. Actual settings of German lyrics figure largely in the works of many non-German composers and can hardly be judged except by German standards; Rubinstein, Tschaikovsky, Grieg, are cases in point.

It remains now to conclude the survey of German song by touching on the work of a few prominent modern composers, who may be regarded as having enlarged the scope of the Lied without entirely breaking with its past.

Hans Pfitzner (b. 1869), a composer who may be counted among the old romantics, has enriched traditional forms rather than created new ones. His songs are felt to be individual experiences, they are "original but not at the cost of music" (Oscar Bie), poetical and full of beauty. The charm of "Herbstlied," "Sie

haben heut'Abend Gesellschaft," "So fallt ein Stern herunter," does not fade. Others worth quoting are "Das verlass'ne Mag dlein" and "Denk' es, 0 Seele," which may be compared with Hugo Wolf's settings of the same words, and "Du milchjunger Knabe," of which Brahms's setting is the best known.

Max Reger (b. 1873—d. 1916) composed 225 songs; they are worth exploring on account of the originality of his harmonies, and his extraordinary contrapuntal skill, which he used deliberately with more thought for expression than for beauty. Overweighted with much learning, they make no great appeal to the singer's instincts. With the exception of some of the Wiegenlieder, especially "Wiegenlied-Maria," some of the Schlichte Weisen (especially "Waldeinsamkeit") and a few of his later songs, such as "Volkslied," "Sterbendes Kind" and "Unvergessen," the bulk of his work in song is not likely to be remembered.

Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler.

The songs of Richard Strauss (b. 1864) represent a new departure, new, that is to say, to the 19th century, to which the bulk of them belongs. He is after Hugo Wolf, the most interesting of the modern composers who have applied the principles of Wagner to song. Discarding in many cases accepted forms, he has found freer play for his exceptional gifts in the matter of pictorial illustration and emo tional colour. It is not surprising, therefore, that he has originated no great melodies, or indeed, composed many purely melodic songs, such as "Morgen," and "Du meines Herzens Kronelein," the melodies of which, if not highly organized, are graceful and appropriate. More often the phrase with which a song opens does not develop into a melody; we discover at once that the ac companiment with its rhythmical figure and changing harmonies is really in charge; and that the vocal phraseology, as the song pro ceeds, adapts itself to it. Though the plan is derived from Wagner, Strauss's music is both in style and feeling his own. "Rube, meine Seele," "Spatbot," "Traum durch die Dkmmerung," one of his most beautiful creations, "Gefunden" and "Schlechtes Wetter" exhibit his best qualities; among them his power of depicting a given mood or atmosphere and sustaining it to the end. It must be admitted however that many of his songs, apart from their ex ceeding brilliance and effectiveness, both for voice and piano, e.g., the popular "Standchen" and "Heimliche Aufforderung," have no permanent value.