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Title: Woman's Work in Music
Author: Arthur Elson
Release Date: February 12, 2007 [EBook #20571]
Language: English
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[Illustration: CLARA (WIECK) SCHUMANN.]
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WOMAN'S WORK IN MUSIC
Being an Account of Her Influence on the Art, in Ancient as well as
Modern Times; A Summary of Her Musical Compositions, in the Different
Countries of the Civilized World; and an Estimate of Their Rank in
Comparison with Those of Men
By
Arthur Elson
_Author of "A Critical History of Opera,"
"Modern Composers of Europe," etc._
Illustrated
L C PAGE & COMPANY
BOSTON PUBLISHERS
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_Copyright, 1903_
By L. C. Page & Company
(INCORPORATED)
_All rights reserved_
Third Impression, April, 1908
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_COLONIAL PRESS_
_Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co._
_Boston, U. S. A._
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TO
Mrs. Louis C. Elson
TRUE TYPE OF
SELF-SACRIFICING WIFE AND MOTHER
IN A MUSICAL FAMILY,
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
BY HER SON
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NOTE
Acknowledgments are due to Mr. Otto Fleishner, of the Boston Public
Library, for his kindness in furnishing lists of periodical articles
bearing on the subject of this book.
The Author.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Ancient and Mythical 11
II. Mediæval 35
III. Wives of the Composers 61
IV. Clara and Robert Schumann 90
V. Other Musical Romances 111
VI. England 132
VII. Germany 154
VIII. France 174
IX. America 195
X. Other Countries 211
XI. Conclusion 234
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Clara (Weick) Schumann Frontispiece
Eleanor of Aquitaine 50
Richard and Cosima Wagner 88
Marie Wieck 91
Marie Antoinette 114
Sybil Sanderson 130
Maggie Okey 144
Louisa Adolpha Lebeau 164
Adele Aus der Ohe 171
Cécile-Louise-Stephanie Chaminade 174
Augusta Mary Ann Holmes 178
Mrs. H. H. A. Beach 196
Julia Rivé-King 204
Ingeborg von Bronsart 220
Teresa Carreño 232
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WOMAN'S WORK IN MUSIC
CHAPTER I.
ANCIENT AND MYTHICAL
The Church of Rome, though admitting no women to a share in performing
its services, has yet made a woman the patron saint of music. The
religions of antiquity have paid even more homage to the weaker sex in
the matter, as the multitude of musical nymphs and fostering goddesses
will show.
Of Saint Cecilia herself little is known accurately. The very apocryphal
legend states that about the year 230 a noble Roman lady of that name,
who had been converted to Christianity, was forced into an unwilling
marriage with a certain Valerian, a pagan. She succeeded in converting
her husband and his brother, but all were martyred because of their
faith. This it is stated, took place under the Prefect Almacus, but
history gives no such name. It is unfortunate, also, that the earliest
writer mentioning her, Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, speaks of her as
having died in Sicily between the years 176 and 180. It is doubtful
whether she would have been known at all, in connection with the art,
but for a passing phrase in her story, which relates that she often
united instrumental music to that of her voice in sounding the praises
of the Lord. Because of these few words, she is famed throughout musical
Christendom, half the musical societies in Europe are named after her,
and Raphael's picture, Dryden's ode, Stefano Maderno's statue, and a
hundred other great art works have come into existence.
The earliest inferences of woman's influence in music are to be drawn
from the Hindoo mythology.[1] According to the tabular schedule of all
knowledge, found in the ancient Brahmin records, music as an art belongs
in the second chief division of lesser sciences, but on its mathematical
and philosophical side it is accorded a much higher position, and is
treated of in the oldest and most sacred Hindoo work, the Veda. This
authority tells us that when Brahma had lain in the original egg some
thousand billion years, he split it by the force of his thought, and
made heaven and earth from the two fragments. After this, Manu brought
into being ten great forces, whence came all the gods, goddesses, good
and evil spirits. Among the lesser deities were the genii of music
(Gandharbas) and those of the dance (Apsarasas), who furnished
entertainment for the gods before man possessed the art.
About this time the female element began to assert itself. At Brahma's
command, his consort, Sarisvati, goddess of speech and oratory, brought
music to man, incidentally giving the Hindoos their finest musical
instrument, the vina. The demigod Nared became the protector of the art,
but Maheda Chrishna performed a more material service by allowing five
keys, or modes, to spring from his head, in the shape of nymphs, while
his wife, Parbuti, produced one more. Then Brahma helped the cause along
by adding thirty lesser keys, or modes, all of them in the form of
nymphs also.
These modes varied in character, some of them being too fiery to be
attempted by mortals. It is related that Akbar, the emperor, once
ordered the famous singer, Naik Gobaul, to sing the Raagni, or
improvisation, of the mode of fire. The poor singer entreated for a less
dangerous task, but in vain. Then he plunged up to his neck in the
waters of the river Jumna, and began. Before he had finished half of the
song, the water around him began to boil. He paused, but, finding the
emperor's curiosity relentless, continued the strain, until at the close
his body burst into flames and was consumed. Another melody caused the
formation of clouds and the fall of rain, and a female singer is said
once to have saved Bengal from drought and famine by means of this lay.
Many other refrains had a similar power over the forces of nature; one
could make the sun disappear and bring on night at midday, while others
could change winter to spring, or rain to sunshine.
In all Indian legends, the charm of music is described as of immense
potency. All animate and inanimate nature is represented as listening
with ecstasy to the singing of Chrishna and Parbuti.[2] When Chrishna
was on earth, in the form of a shepherd, there were sixteen thousand
pastoral nymphs, or shepherdesses, who fell in love with him. They all
tried to win his heart by the power of music, and each one sang to him
in a different manner. Hence arose the sixteen thousand different keys
which were said to have existed at one time in India.
The Hindoo musical system of to-day is likewise ascribed largely to
female sources. The scale consists of seven chief tones, which are
represented by as many heavenly sisters. The names of the tones (sa, ri,
ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, corresponding to our do, re, mi, etc.) are merely
abbreviations of the names of the nymphs who preside over them. The
tones of the scale are divided into quarters, and the number of quarters
in the diatonic scale intervals is four, three, two, four, four, three,
and two. Thus the number of possible modes is vastly greater than in our
own scale, which has only semitones. There are six chief modes,
represented by six genii, while each one is married to five of the
thirty nymphs who typify the lesser modes. Each one of the genii has
eight sons, and these are wedded to a nymph apiece, making forty-eight
in all. Every member of this prolific musical family presides over
something, if it is only one of the quarter tones that form the scale.
To illustrate the method of naming, the four quarters of the fifth scale
tone (pa, or Panchama) belong to the nymphs Malina, Chapala, Lola, and
Serveretna. The next full tone (dha) is owned by Santa and her sisters.
If the higher tone, dha, should be flatted, giving it the same pitch as
the upper quarter of the lower tone, pa, the Hindoo musician would not
speak of dha as being flat, but would say instead, "Serveretna has been
introduced to the family of Santa and her sisters."
The Hindoo music of to-day is not as potent as in mythical times. The
people themselves acknowledge the decline of their art, and admit that
even in the last century or two it has deteriorated. As for the
miracle-working Ragas, or improvised songs, the people in Bengal will
say that they can probably be heard in Cashmere, while the inhabitants
of Cashmere will send the inquirer back to Bengal. Woman, too, has a
less important position than of old. "When the ancient sages made our
musical system," says an eminent Brahmin in an interview at San
Francisco, "there were many women among them; but now not one can
accomplish anything in the art."
In the traditions of ancient Egypt, music is entirely under the
patronage of male gods. Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, invented the lyre by
striking the tendons of a dead tortoise, which had dried and stretched
in the shell. Osiris, too, the chief of the Egyptian gods, protected the
art, although Strabo says music was not allowed in his temple at
Abydos. While travelling in Ethiopia, the story runs, Osiris met a
troupe of revelling satyrs, and, being fond of singing, he admitted them
to his train of musicians. In their midst were nine young maidens,
skilled in music and various sciences, evidently the prototype of the
Grecian Muses. Horus, the son of Osiris (equivalent to the Greek Apollo)
was considered the god of Harmony.
An important mythical character was Maneros, son of the earliest
Egyptian king. He seems to hold the same position as Linus, son of
Apollo, among the Greeks. The first song of Egyptian music was a dirge
for his untimely end, and a lament for the swift passing away of youth,
spring, joy, and so on. Gradually the song itself, instead of the king's
son, began to be called Maneros, and became the well-known banquet song
of the social feasts, calling upon the guests to enjoy life while they
might. In time the song became a symbol of gaiety and merriment instead
of grief.
In most of the ancient civilizations, the songs appear to have been
accompanied by clapping of hands, to mark the rhythm. There were many
actual dances, also, in ancient Egypt, as is fully proven by a number of
the old paintings. Some were like our jigs, break-downs, or clog-dances,
while others consisted of regular figures, such as forward and back,
swing, and so on, the latter kind being restricted to the lower orders.
In all of these, women must have taken a large part, and doubtless they
were responsible for some of the music. They were not allowed to play
the flute, but could indulge in the tabor and other instruments. Some of
the scenes depicted closely resemble the modern stage, and it is more
than probable that, when the audiences of to-day applaud our own ballet
scenes, they are enjoying themselves in the old Egyptian manner.
There can be no doubt that woman played an important part in music,
possibly even in composition, in many civilizations which apparently
allowed her only a restricted field of action. The Empress of Germany
recently defined woman's sphere as consisting of four
subjects,--children, clothes, cooking, and church; yet the German women
have far more influence than this official utterance would indicate. It
is not surprising, then, to find in the folios of Lepsius a reproduction
of something analogous to our conservatories of music. It represents a
course of musical instruction in the school of singers and players of
King Amenhotep IV., of the eighteenth dynasty. There are several large
and small rooms, connected with each other, and containing furniture and
musical instruments. In some are the musicians practising and teaching.
One teacher sits listening to the singing of a young girl, while another
pupil is playing the accompaniment on a harp. Still another girl stands
attentively listening to the teacher's instructions, as in a modern
class. In another place are two girls practising a dance with harp
music. In one room is a young lady having her hair dressed, while in
another a young girl has placed aside her harp and is sitting down to
lunch with a companion. All this goes to show that different
civilizations often resemble one another more than would appear at first
sight, and very probably woman's part in ancient Egyptian music was much
like that which she plays in our own to-day.
The earliest Hebrew music was undoubtedly modelled after that of Egypt.
In later Biblical times, however, there were many national instruments,
and the style of the music must have been characteristic. The Old
Testament, even in its earlier books, contains many examples of the
songs of the people. Their ancient folk-music showed three principal
styles,--the joyous bridal song, the cheerful harvest or vintage song,
and the wailing funeral song; and there are many examples of each in the
Scriptures. As there was no definite notation among the ancient Hebrews,
the actual tunes that were sung with these songs will never be known.
But it may be possible that the melodies have been preserved by rote,
for it is certain that these three schools of singing exist to-day in
Arabia and Syria. Whole villages are known to unite in a seven-day
festival of rejoicing, not unlike the one at the wedding of Samson, as
described in the fourteenth chapter of Judges.
The Song of Solomon presents an entire set of bridal songs in the
popular vein. A good example of the mourning song is found in the
opening chapter of the second book of Samuel, where David laments the
death of Saul and Jonathan. It is somewhat exceptional because of its
being rendered by a man, for in Eastern countries the professional
mourners were always women, hired for the occasion. The men might join
in the chorus of woe if they wished, but the main part of the song was
always given by the women, who were not unlike the "Keeners," heard in
Ireland on similar occasions, even down to recent times. The book of
Lamentations presents a series of funeral songs, written in imitation of
the professional lays of grief, and containing many allusions to the
mourning women. In the fifth chapter of Amos, in Habakkuk, and many
other books, are further illustrations of such folk-songs. The fifth
chapter of Isaiah begins with the cheerful style of the vintage song,
and then suddenly changes to a song of grief, forming an artistic
contrast that must have been highly effective.
In the Hebrew songs, as in the Egyptian, there must have been much
dramatic action united with the vocal work. When the word "dancing"
occurs, it generally means only gesture and pantomime. Its use is made
evident in the song of Moses, in Exodus XV. It requires little
imagination to picture Miriam using a folk-song with which her hearers
were familiar, improvising words to suit the occasion, and illustrating
the whole with successive gestures of pride, contempt, sarcasm, and
triumph, while the assembled multitude joined in the chorus at every
opportunity.
Still more evident does this union of voice and action become in the
song of Deborah and Barak, in Judges V. A possible description of the
performance of this musical comedy is given by Herder, who suggests that
"Probably verses 1-11 were interrupted by the shouts of the populace;
verses 12-27 were a picture of the battle, with a naming of the leaders
with praise or blame, and mimicking each one as named; verses 28-30 were
mockery of the triumph of Sisera, and the last verse was given as a
chorus by the whole people." According to this, the tune must certainly
have been a familiar one. The whole scene, with its extemporized words,
its clapping of hands to mark the rhythm, and its alternation of solo
and chorus, was probably not unlike the singing at some of the negro
camp-meetings on the Southern plantations.
Foremost among the patrons of the art in Grecian mythology are the
Muses. These were not always nine in number. Originally, at Mount
Helicon, in B[oe]otia, three were worshipped,--Melete (meditation),
Mneme (memory), and Aoide (song). Three Muses were also recognized at
Delphi and Sicyon. Four are mentioned as daughters of Jupiter and
Plusia, while some accounts speak of seven Muses, daughters of Pierus.
Eight was the number known in Athens, until finally the Thracian worship
of nine spread over the whole of Greece. The parentage of these
divinities is given with as many variations as their number. Most
commonly they were considered daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory),
born in Pieria at the foot of Mount Olympus. Some call them daughters of
Uranus and Gæa, others of Pierus and Antiope, still others of Apollo or
of Jupiter and Minerva. The analogy between the Muses and the nine
maidens in the Egyptian troupe of Osiris has already been noted.
In Homer's poems, the Muses have already attained their well-known abode
on Olympus, where they sing the festive songs at the banquets of the
immortals. They were supposed to inspire the mind of the bards, and in
early times the poets were perfectly sincere in invoking them and
believing in their inspiration. The Muses, in presiding over the various
branches of Grecian art, appeared unable to brook any rivalry. Thamyris,
an ancient Thracian bard, boldly challenged them to a trial of skill,
and, on being overcome by them in the contest, was deprived by them of
his sight and of the power of singing. He is represented in art as
holding a broken lyre. The nine daughters of King Pierus of Macedonia
fared no better, and after an unsuccessful contest were changed into
birds. The Muses were closely connected with Apollo, who was looked upon
as their leader. Many mountains, as well as grottos, wells, and springs
in various parts of Greece, were sacred to them.
The Sirens were another personification of the marvellous power of music
among primitive peoples. Their parentage also is variously given, though
they are usually mentioned as daughters of the river god, Achelous. They
are generally represented as maidens, with a more or less extensive
equipment of wings and other plumage. These wings were obtained at their
request when Proserpine was carried off, that they might be better able
to hunt for her. But another account says that they refused their
sympathy to Ceres, and were given their feathery coating by her in
punishment. Some writers say it was due to Aphrodite, who was angered at
their virginity. The Sirens, as well as other ambitious performers, were
rash enough to attempt a contest with the Muses, and met with the
customary defeat. The victorious nine then pounced upon the unfortunate
trio, and tore off wings and feathers.
The Sirens' chief occupation consisted in sitting on the rocks by the
sea and singing to passing mariners. According to Homer, their island
lay between Æaea and the rock of Scylla, or near the southwestern coast
of Italy; but the Roman poets place them on the Campanian coast. Their
magic power to charm all hearers was to last only until some one proved
himself able to resist their spell; and here again accounts differ.
Homer gives the credit to Ulysses, who stuffed his mariners' ears with
wax, and had them bind him to the mast. Apollonius Rhodius, however, in
the Argonautica, claims the credit for Orpheus, who saved the expedition
of the Argonauts by singing the Sirens into silence, after which the
musical damsels fell from their heights and were themselves changed into
rocks. If some of our modern musicians were put to the same test, and
condemned to death if they failed to charm their auditors, the results
would be beneficial both to art and to the cemeteries. The power of the
Sirens lasted after their death, and, like their cousins in Egyptian and
Indian lore, they used their music to charm the souls of the blessed
dead.
Leaving the realms of the supernatural, the only great name that the
student will find among the musical women of Greece is that of Sappho.
The story of her life is known only in its general outlines, and even
these have been the subject of many learned disputes. She was born near
the close of the seventh century B.C., either at Mytilene or at Eresos
in the island of Lesbos. She grew to maturity at the former place, and
became one of the two great leaders of the Æolian school of lyric
poetry. From the fragments of her poetry, and those of her great rival,
Alcæus, it is evident that the two were not envious of each other's
fame, but lived in the most friendly intercourse. Of the events of her
life, we have only two. One, referred to in the Parian marble and by
Ovid, is her flight from Mytilene to Sicily, between 604 and 592, to
escape from some unknown danger. The other is the well-known story that,
being in love with Phaon, and finding her love unrequited, she cast
herself from the Leucadian rock. This rock is a promontory on the
island of Leucas, upon which was a temple to Apollo. At the annual
festival of the god, it was the custom to cast down a criminal from this
rock into the sea. To break his fall, birds of all kinds were attached
to him, and, if he reached the sea uninjured, boats were ready to pick
him up. This apparently was a rite of expiation, and as such gave rise
to the well-known story that unfortunate lovers leaped from this rock to
seek relief from their distress. The story of Sappho and Phaon is one of
these, but it has been claimed that its authenticity vanishes at the
first breath of criticism.
It is fair to class Sappho as a musician, for in ancient Greece poetry
and music were inseparable. Of her poems, which filled nine books, only
a few fragments remain, of which the most important is a splendid ode to
Aphrodite. At Mytilene she appears to have gathered about her a large
and elegant circle of young women, who were her pupils in poetry, music,
and personal cultivation. Her influence must have been widespread, for
the list of her disciples includes names from all parts of Greece. Her
work of teaching, in the midst of her fair followers, has been compared
with that of Socrates surrounded by the flower of the Athenian youth.
The power of her poetry is shown by the story of its effect on the
rugged character of Solon, the lawmaker. Hearing for the first time one
of her pieces, sung to him by his nephew, he expressed in the most
impassioned terms the wish that he might not die before having learned
such a beautiful song.
The career of Sappho is made more wonderful by the fact that woman's
work in ancient Greece was supposed to consist only of family duties.
She taught her sons in childhood until they were sent to their regular
masters, and she guided her daughters and set them an example in doing
household duties. According to Pericles, that woman was most to be
prized of whom no one spoke, either in praise or blame. Because of
Sappho's prominence and social activity, but more especially because of
the ardent character of some of her poems, her good name has been
assailed by many modern critics. The majority, however, consider the
accusations as groundless.
Alcman, the great lyric poet of Sparta (Lydian by birth), brought the
so-called Lydian measure to its highest perfection. He was always ready
to praise women in his verses, and wrote some choruses especially for
the--
"Honey-voiced, lovely singing maidens,"
which were sung by female voices only. B[oe]otia could boast of two
great poetesses. Myrtis, a native of Anthedon, is reported to have been
the instructress of Pindar, and is said to have contended with him for
the palm of superiority. She was famous through the whole of Greece, and
many places possessed statues in honour of her. The second poetess was
Corinna, of Tanagra, sometimes called the Theban because of her long
residence at Thebes. She flourished about 490 B.C., and was a
contemporary of Pindar. Like Myrtis, she is said to have instructed him,
and is credited with having gained a victory over him in the public
games at Thebes. Only a few fragments of her work have been preserved to
us. But Pausanias, who states that she defeated Pindar no less than five
times, thinks that her personal charms may have had something to do with
the matter.
While teaching Pindar, Corinna once offered to beautify his earlier
efforts with mythological allusions. The pupil, nettled by this
criticism, soon brought to his instructress a new poem, of which the
first six stanzas touched upon every part of Theban mythology; whereupon
she cooled his enthusiasm by remarking with a smile: "One must sow seed
by the handful, not by the bagful."
Whether the character of these earlier poetesses was above reproach or
not, it is certain that in the later days of Grecian civilization music
was handed over to the most degraded classes. In Egypt the caste of
professional musicians was not held in any respect, and the art was
often merely an added accomplishment to enhance the value of slaves. So,
too, in Greece, the practice of music was given over to the Hetæræ, or
courtesans. That these women were at times able to win a high position
is amply proven by the case of Aspasia. A native of Miletus, she came to
live in Athens, and there gained the affections of the great leader
Pericles, not more by her beauty than by her high mental
accomplishments. The story of her life, and of the literary and
philosophical circle which she drew around her, is too well known to
need repetition. Another famous courtesan, though less well endowed
mentally, and evidently on a much lower plane of character, was the
famous flute-player Lamia. It was her beauty rather than her intellect
that won the great honours which she attained; and a temple dedicated to
her as Venus Lamia, as well as a signet upon which her portrait has been
preserved, bear witness to this fact.
The character of Greek music can only be conjectured. At first simple,
it was regulated on a mathematical basis by Pythagoras, who understood
the laws of vibration. Later on it developed into something more rich
and varied, and, while still devoted to unison, or melodic, effects, it
was undoubtedly full of beauty, as is the old Scotch music. Its great
development, as well as the use of many small instruments (kithara,
flute, etc.), go far to prove that music must have formed a larger part
of woman's domestic life than the actual records show.
Roman civilization borrowed much from Greece, especially in the matter
of art. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the musical status
of Rome, especially in her later days, was a mere replica of that of
Greece. In the instrumental field, we find the lyre of less importance,
but the flute (a term that included reed instruments also) was
constantly used in ceremonial and sacrificial music. Trumpets were in
use at all triumphal processions, while in the days of the empire the
well-known but problematical water-organ became popular. Although the
Roman domestic conditions admitted of more freedom than those of Greece,
it is doubtful if the women took any important part in performance or
composition of music. There are no great poetesses on the Roman roll of
honour, while there are many on that of Greece.
Rome differed from Greece in having its poetry and music written by
different authors, while in Greece both words and notes emanated from
the same brain. But even among men the Romans possessed no important
composers. The names of those who wrote music to the plays of Terence
and Plautus (the plays themselves being imitations of the Greek) are
known to history, but the composers possessed no position of
consequence. If the men received no great homage, there must have been
little incentive for women to strive in the musical field.
As in Greece, female slaves played a large part in the world of
art,--with this difference, that in Rome the masters were usually on a
lower plane of cultivation than their own slaves. Dancing was an adjunct
to music, though often practised as a separate branch of entertainment,
and brought to a high state of perfection in its pantomimic form.
The position of woman in the far East was inferior even to her station
in Greece and Rome. In China, for example, everything feminine was held
in contempt. This had its influence on the musical system of the
Chinese, according to one of their legends. After the invention of
music, the formation of various instruments, and the composition of many
songs, all due to more or less mythical emperors, Hoang-Ti, who reigned
about the year 2600 B. C., decided to have the art scientifically
investigated and its rules formulated. In his day music was practised,
but not understood in its natural elements. The emperor therefore
ordered Ling-Lun to look into the matter.
This dignitary, about whose work many anecdotes exist, travelled to
Northwestern China, and took up his abode on a high mountain, near a
bamboo grove. On cutting a stalk and excavating the pith between two of
the joints, he found that the tube gave the exact pitch of the normal
human voice, and also the sound given by the waters of the Hoang-Ho,
which had its source near the scene. Thus was discovered the fundamental
tone of the scale.
Meanwhile, the Foang-Hoang, or sacred bird of Chinese mythology,
appeared with its mate and perched upon a neighbouring tree. The male
bird sang a scale of several tones, while the female sang another
composed of different tones. The first note of the male bird coincided
in pitch with Ling-Lun's bamboo tube, and by cutting other tubes the
erudite investigator proceeded to reproduce all the tones of both. By
combining these, he was able to form a complete chromatic scale. But,
owing to the prejudice against the weaker sex, the tones of the female
(called feminine tones even to-day) were discarded in favour of those
of the male bird. The latter, the basis of Chinese music, correspond to
the black keys of our piano, while the former were equivalent to the
white, or diatonic, notes of our scale.
That Chinese music, based on this pentatonic scale, need not be at all
displeasing, is proved by many of the old Scotch tunes, which are built
on the same system. An excellent illustration of its rhythmic structure,
frequent iterations, and melodic character may be found in our own
familiar tune, "There is a happy land, far, far away." The harsh quality
that Europeans often find in Chinese performances is undoubtedly not a
necessary adjunct, as the same criticism may be made upon many of our
own street singers or brass bands.
The Chinese, like many other ancient nations, have a great contempt for
the caste of musicians and actors, although enjoying the drama keenly.
Parents have almost unlimited power over their children, and may sell
them as slaves, or even in some cases kill them; but they are not
allowed to sell them to the troupes of strolling comedians or to
magicians. Any one convicted of doing this, or aiding in the
transaction, is punished by one hundred blows of the bamboo. Any person
of free parentage marrying an actor or actress receives the same
punishment. Yet, while musicians connected with the stage are held
under the ban, those who devote themselves to the religious rites
receive the highest esteem. These, however, cannot be women.
The music of Japan, though built on the chromatic scale, was much the
same as that of China. Actors and musicians command hardly more respect
in the island than on the Continent. Women play a negative part in both
countries, if we except the Geishas, who entertain in the tea-houses.
But Japan has made such rapid strides in civilization recently that it
may not be impossible for woman to develop the activity that she has
already shown in Western lands.
CHAPTER II.
MEDIÆVAL
The position of woman among the northern races that overthrew the Roman
power was wholly different from that which she held in the more ancient
epoch, but even under the newer regime it was no enviable one. In many
of the earlier Germanic systems, wives were bought by a definite payment
of goods or of cattle. That this was a recognized practice is shown in
the laws of Ethelbert, which state that if a man carry off a freeman's
wife, he must at his own expense procure another for the injured
husband. Usually women had no rights of inheritance, though in some
cases they could inherit when there were no male children, and in others
they could transmit the right of inheritance to their male descendants.
Sometimes they were allowed to inherit movable property of a certain
sort, probably largely the result of their own handiwork. The evident
idea of the Salic law was to allow woman a marriage portion only, and
as soon as she was safely bestowed upon some neighbouring group of
people, neither she nor her children had any further claim upon the
parent group.
Great cruelty was evident in the treatment of female slaves. According
to the laws of Athelstan, if one of these were convicted of theft, she
should in punishment be burned alive by eighty other such slaves. A
similar example of stern discipline is afforded by the ecclesiastical
provision, occurring no less than three times, that, if a woman scourged
her slave to death, she should do penance. It is little wonder that
under these conditions the female slaves would sing in a rather forced
manner, if at all, and the women themselves would hardly indulge in the
gentle art of composing music.
The early Christian Church, too, afforded no encouragement for women to
exert their musical abilities. When the earliest meetings occurred in
the catacombs, the female members of the congregation took their part in
singing the hymns, but, when organized choirs were formed, they were
allowed no place. The singing-schools founded in Rome by the Popes
Sylvester I. and Hilary, at the end of the fourth century, were devoted
solely to the training of male voices. In describing the earlier music,
St. John Chrysostom says: "The psalms which we sing unite all the voices
in one, and the canticles arise harmoniously in unison. Young and old,
rich and poor, women, men, slaves, and citizens, all of us have formed
but one melody together." But the custom of permitting women to join
with men in the singing was abolished by the Synod of Antioch in the
year 379.
In the music of the Celtic and Gaelic races, also, woman had no place.
Their songs, like their lives, were martial in character. The harpists
of Ireland and Wales, and the bagpipers of Scotland, were all men, and
they made strict rules about the admission of new members to their
guilds. Even among the early English minstrels, who devoted their powers
to the milder art of love-songs and Christmas carols, no women are to be
found. The wandering life of these bards and singers was too rude at
first to admit of participation by the gentler sex, and it was only
under more stable conditions of civilization that woman at last gained
the opportunity of showing and developing her talents.
With the advent of chivalry, she found herself at once in a more exalted
position. In this epoch, when cultivated minds began to devote their
energies to other things besides fighting in war and carousing in peace,
music found new and worthier subjects in nature and love and the beauty
of woman. Under the new system she became the arbiter of all knightly
disputes, the queen to whom all obedience was due. From this extreme
worship arose the schools of the Minnesingers and the Troubadours, who
paid her manifold homage in the shape of poetry and song.
According to the general statements of history, the Minnesingers began
their career in the time of Frederick Barbarossa, of Germany. This would
place their origin in the latter part of the twelfth century. Yet it is
a strange fact that Heinrich of Veldig, usually accounted the pioneer in
this new school of singing, utters a complaint about the loss of the
good old times, and bewails the decay of the true greatness of the art
to which he devoted himself. The original song in which he expresses
this sentiment is still extant, and the particular stanza in question
runs as follows:
"Do man der rehten minne pflag
Da pflag man ouch der ehren;
Nu mag man naht und tag
Die boesen sitte leren;
Swer dis nu siht, und jens do sach,
O we! was der nu clagen mag
Tugende wend sich nu verkehren."
That many of the early songs of the Minnesingers have been preserved is
due to the forethought of Rüdiger of Manesse, a public officer of Zurich
in the fourteenth century. He made a thorough collection of all
specimens of the style of the Minnesingers, and many subsequent works,
such as that of Von Der Hagen, are based upon his researches.
The language ordinarily used by the Minnesingers was that of Suabia,
which was that employed at the imperial and many lesser courts of
Germany. They used it with a skill and delicacy which was generally far
superior to the style of the Troubadours. In performing their works,
they did not, like their western brethren, have recourse to hired
accompanists, or Jongleurs, but supported the vocal part by playing on a
small viol. The Jongleurs were essentially a French institution, and no
class of musicians similar to them existed in Germany. The Minnesingers,
like the Troubadours, were amateurs, and aimed to keep free from the
taint of professionalism. Men of the highest rank were proud to belong
to this order of musicians, and emperors, princes, and famous knights
are found among them.
The love-songs of the Minnesingers, as already intimated, were less
fiery than those of the Troubadours. While the Provençal minstrel
allowed his homage to his chosen lady to proceed to extreme lengths, his
German brother paid a less excessive but far purer tribute to the object
of his affections. Very often, too, the German poets rose to a still
higher level, and sang praises of the ideal qualities of womanhood in
general. Thus the singers of Germany caused far less domestic discord
than those of France.
That there was still some unlicensed gallantry, however, can be seen
from the type of music known as "Wacht-Lieder," or watch-songs. In these
the amorous knight is represented as pleading with the watchman of the
castle for admission to his lady-love. Sometimes the song took the form
of a warning from the watchman, telling that daylight was near and the
knight must depart.
Besides giving the world a host of shorter songs, the period of the
Minnesingers brought forth some really great poets who were successful
in the larger forms. The author, or authors, of the famous
"Nibelungenlied" are unknown; but the work remains to us as the greatest
epic of Germany. Foremost in point of fame stands Wolfram von
Eschenbach, author of the familiar "Parzifal." In depicting his
characters, he strikes a note of idealistic beauty. Another great poet
was Gottfried of Strasburg, almost as famous as Wolfram, and in some
respects his opposite. His characters are endowed with life and vigour,
and eager to seize the pleasures of earth while they last. His best work
was "Tristan and Isolde."
The legend of Tannhäuser, which has crystallized and been handed down to
us in story, has an undoubted basis of fact. The existence of the cave
of Venus, in the Thuringian hill of Hörselburg, may be taken as not
proven; but there certainly was a tournament of song at the castle of
the Wartburg, and many famous knights probably took part in it. Whether
Tannhäuser himself was real is an open question; but there can be no
doubt about Walther von der Vogelweide, who was one of Germany's
greatest masters in the shorter forms.
Examples of still another style in the work of the Minnesingers are
almost surely a direct imitation of the work of the Trouvères of
Northern France. These examples consist of more or less lengthy fables,
or sometimes tales with a pleasing moral attached. Many stories of Roman
history are found among these, and many of the proverbs which we use
without thinking of their authorship date from this time. Among the
latter are, "Set not the wolf to guard the sheep," "Never borrow
trouble,"
"The king must die,
And so must I,"
and many other such gems of wisdom.
In all this the women had some share, if they did not play so important
part as their sisters in France. Their position as hostesses, or as the
objects of poetical tribute, enabled them to comment and criticize, and,
if they did little actual composing, they were allowed to take a
prominent part in the performance of music. We find in the old books of
rules and codes of education that the woman of rank and position was
possessed of many accomplishments, if not exactly those that are
expected to-day. One of these codes, or Essenhamens, as they were
called, gives the four chief duties of women, and, making allowance for
the change in civilization, they correspond fairly well with those
already quoted from the present German Empress. The cooking and sewing
remain the same, but, instead of amusing the children, the women were
expected to care for children of a larger growth, by obtaining a
knowledge of surgery. The chatelaine was supposed to take full charge of
her lord if he returned wounded from tourney or battle. Instead of
church matters, the final accomplishment was the secular game of chess.
Another work of the time gives rules of behaviour for women, inculcating
a submissive demeanour that is hardly practised to-day. The usual
modesty of deportment was prescribed; women were always to direct their
glances discreetly downward, and in the case of a stranger were to
speak only when addressed. If a room were full of women, and a man
should suddenly enter, the rules of decorum compelled them to rise
immediately, and remain standing until he should seat himself.
The extent of knightly devotion to women in the age of chivalry can
hardly be exaggerated. The work of Ulrich von Lichtenstein, for
instance, in his "Frauendienst," is full of the most absurd
performances, which any sensible lady would have been justified in
repudiating. The Troubadours indulged in even greater vagaries, and one
Pierre Vidal, in love with a certain Louve de Penautier, whose first
name meant "she-wolf," adopted the name of Loup, and actually assumed a
wolf skin as his garment. To prove his sincerity even more, he insisted
upon being completely wrapped in this hide and hunted by hounds and
horsemen. After the dogs had caught him, he would not allow them to be
pulled off, but insisted upon enduring their attacks for the glory of
his lady-love. When nearly dead, he was rescued and taken to her castle,
where he recovered health if not mental balance.
More noble than any of these was the tribute paid to women by the
Minnesinger Henry of Meissen. Declining to single out any one fair Muse,
he sang of womankind as a whole, and never ceased to praise their
purity, their gentleness, and their nobility. Through his life he was
honoured by them with the title of "Frauenlob" (praise of women), and at
his death they marched in the funeral procession, and each threw a
flower into his grave, making it overflow with blossoms.
The royal house of Suabia did its best to encourage the art of the
Minnesingers, allowing them a liberty of criticism that would ordinarily
be undreamed of in court life. It is in an epoch little later than this
that we find a singer expressing one of his objections to royalty in the
following verse:
"King Rudolf is a worthy king,
All praise to him be brought;
He likes to hear the masters play and sing,
But after that he gives them naught."
The rise of the Troubadours is due wholly to Oriental influences. There
may have been some native poetry among the pastoral races of the sunny
land of Provence, where the guild flourished, but not a single line of
it remains to us. Moreover, it is certain that the Eastern minstrels
left their impress in Spain, and that the Crusaders brought back from
the Orient, among many other novelties, the custom of encouraging
minstrelsy. The Arabian bards sang chiefly of love, as they well might
in a land where female loveliness received such excessive worship. At
the Saracenic courts, the bards were ever ready to win gratitude, and
even more substantial rewards, by praising the latest favourite at the
expense of former beauties. Provence, with its dazzling sun and glowing
climate, possessed a striking resemblance to the Eastern countries, and
among its inhabitants were many who could boast an Oriental ancestry. No
less than five times did Saracen emirs lead their hosts into the
country, endeavouring to overcome it not only by force of arms, but by
the more peaceful and more certain method of introducing their own
industries and customs. Provence itself was a land of peace and repose,
and could better encourage gentler arts than the warlike nations of
Northern Spain. We may find the Troubadours definitely established there
in the early part of the twelfth century.
The language of their songs is the beautiful "Langue d'oc," so called
from the use of the word "oc" to mean yes, and thus distinguished from
the "Langue d'oil" of Northern France and the "Lingua di si" of Italy.
The "Langue d'oc" was spoken in the entire southern part of France, and
has given its name to a province of the present. So when the nobles of
Provence, in the lordly retirement of their ancestral castles, sought an
entertainment suited to their refined and sympathetic natures, they
were soon imitated by the greater part of the nation.
The songs of the Troubadours were in many cases taken directly from
Eastern models. In early Arabian times it was customary for two
shepherds to converse in music by intoning responsive phrases on their
flutes; and it soon became customary for two minstrels to sing in like
manner. In the early songs of the Bible, too, are many verses whose
second half answers the first, and, in fact, the Hebrew words for
"answer" and "sing" are said to be identical. Among the Troubadours,
this species of musical dialogue took the form of the tenson, or
contention. The use of answering couplets in solo songs is another point
of resemblance. Another favourite Arabian form was the casida, or stanza
constructed with only one rhyme, and the rich and melodious Provençal
tongue lent itself excellently to poems of this structure. So successful
were the Troubadours in using it that sometimes their compositions were
over a hundred lines in length. The short but brilliant Arabian lyrics,
called "Maouchah," or embroidery, were well imitated by dainty and
sparkling lyrics of the Troubadours. The Oriental mourning song became
the Planh, or dirge. The evening tribute of the Arabian minstrels to
their chosen loves became the serenade, while the Troubadours went
still further in this vein by originating the aubade, or morning song.
Among the other forms used, the verse was merely a set of couplets, the
chanson was divided into several stanzas, while the sonnet was much
freer in form than at present. When more than two singers took part in a
tenson, it became a tournament. The sirvente was a song of war or
politics, sometimes satirical, sometimes in praise of the exploits of a
generous patron. The sixtine contained six stanzas of six lines each,
with the rhymes holding over from one stanza to the next, and occurring
in a different order in each stanza. The rhymes in the sirvente differed
from what we consider correct by consisting always of a repetition of
the same word. The discord was a sort of free fantasia, sometimes in
several dialects. The pastorelle was of pastoral character, usually
consisting of short lines and containing a dialogue.
Among the more narrative forms are found the ballad, more especially
favoured by the Trouvères, or minstrels of the "Langue d'oil" regions.
It gave rise to the various metres used in the epics, and sometimes
formed the basis of these longer works. In general, the Trouvères
devoted themselves to fiction and story, while their southern brethren
sang of love. The novel, used largely in the south, was a short poem
containing some brilliant anecdote of gallantry, couched in neat phrase.
The romance, or long narrative, was by reason of its size the most
permanent of all the poetry of this age. Though written by both
Troubadours and Trouvères, the latter were far superior in style and
invention, and it is mostly their work which has survived. These
romances were sometimes in prose, but more often in poetry of extremely
smooth and flowing metre.
The romances grouped themselves in three principal cycles,--first, the
Carlovingian, including the stories of Charlemagne, of Roland and the
twelve peers, of Fierabras, and so on; second, the Arthurian, dealing
with the legends of the Round Table; and third, the Alexandrian,
containing tales of antiquity, chiefly of Alexander the Great. In the
first group, "Brut d'Angleterre" contains the mythical story of all the
early English kings. It was adapted from lower Brittany by Robert Wace.
A Saxon Trouvère continued this to his own time, imbuing his work with
thorough hatred of the Normans. Walter Map, Archdeacon of Oxford under
Henry II., wrote many Arthurian tales, while Chrétien de Troyes wrote
the greater part of "Sir Perceval de Galles" in Norman-French. "Floriant
and Florete" is another Arthurian tale, while "Aucassin and Nicolette,"
of unknown authorship, is a charming romance of love in Southern France
and captivity among the Saracens.
The life of the Troubadour forms a pleasing picture in the book of
mediæval history. He was essentially a gentleman by birth, scorning to
take pay for his songs, and often distributing the gifts he received
among his servants. He had to maintain a large retinue, and give
sumptuous entertainments, with the result that he often used up his
entire patrimony. The usual course in such cases was a trip to Palestine
with the Crusaders, and a gallant death in battle with the infidel. But
before reaching that end, his career must have been decidedly pleasant.
He would pass the winter in his castle, training himself in feats of
arms and in musical composition. At the advent of spring, he would issue
forth, followed by a train of Jongleurs singing his songs, and proceed
through field and wood to the nearest castle. Here in the evening a
great feast would be arranged, with the Jongleurs in a special
minstrels' gallery. Next day there would be music on the ramparts, or in
fair weather brocade carpets would be spread in the meadows, and knights
and ladies would listen to more songs. Here the Troubadour himself at
times deigned to perform, thus affording his hearers an unusual
privilege. Here, too, the women had a chance to show their own skill;
for, if there were no woman Trouvères, there were plenty who were well
able to hold their own in the shorter forms of the Troubadours.
That kings and princes did not disdain to become Troubadours is proved
by the example of Richard of England and the Dauphin of Auvergne. But it
is more unexpected to find a queen among their ranks, and that no less a
queen than Eleanor, wife of Henry II. of England. Her grandfather,
William of Poitou, was one of the earliest patrons of the art, and she
inherited his tastes. Her career, like his, is one of boldness and
adventure. When wife of Louis VII., before her marriage with Henry, she
set an example to chivalry by going to the Crusades with that French
king, and not in the capacity of wife, but rather as an Amazon warrior.
She gathered around her a troupe of kindred spirits, and, equipped in
the most graceful array that armourers and milliners could devise,
started off at the head of her husband's knights. Her campaign was
conducted on principles of pleasure rather than of strategy. In Asia
Minor, where she led the van during the march, she chose her route
according to the beauty of the landscape rather than safety of position,
and more than once brought the army into grave danger. She varied the
monotony of the advance by several romantic love episodes, notably with
a young emir in the train of the Sultan Noureddin. She conducted her
career in much the same style as the light opera heroine of to-day, who
pauses in the midst of the action to sing a song, pursue an amour, or
bask in the favour of all beholders.
[Illustration: ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE]
Chief among her admirers was Bernard de Ventadour, whose verse has
received high praise from the poet Petrarch. Of humble birth, he won the
interest of the viscount of the castle, who gave him a good education.
In those days this training consisted in knowing how to be courteous and
well behaved, and how to compose a song and sing it. Bernard, after
exercising his growing powers on the beauties of spring, the fragrance
of flowers, and the music of the nightingale, turned his attentions to
the charms of the young viscountess, which he sung with such success
that one day the object of his praises, in a fit of rapture, bestowed a
kiss upon him. Enraptured by this, he sang his eulogies with still more
boldness, until he roused the jealousy of the lord of the castle, who
locked up his young spouse, and drove the Troubadour from the district.
He took refuge at the court of Eleanor, for whom he conceived a second
and more passionate adoration, and whom he followed to England. But
Henry was either more indulgent or more indifferent, and no further
quarrels came.
The atmosphere of refinement brought into the rude life of the castle by
the Troubadours is more than offset by the domestic infelicity they
caused. Each of these knight-errants of literature was supposed to
choose a lady-love, and it made no difference if she were already
married. Thus conjugal fidelity was at a very low ebb, while amorous
intrigues were openly encouraged by what amounted to a definite system
of civilization. To settle the many vexed questions arising from this
state of affairs, the Courts of Love were formed, at which noble ladies
decided all disputed points. Most famous of these courts was that of
Queen Eleanor herself, while among the others were those of the ladies
of Gascony, the Viscountess of Narbonne, the Countess of Champagne, and
the Countess of Flanders. Disputes before these courts usually took the
form of the tenson, or contention, already described.
Many are the legendary accounts of the laws upon which these courts
based their decisions. There are fables of knights riding in magic
forests and finding scrolls attached by golden chains to the necks of
fiery dragons, or the feet of fleet birds. These laws, if not applicable
in our present civilization, show in the most interesting fashion how
the subject of love was regarded in the twelfth century. Among them are
found the following startling statements:
"Marriage cannot be pleaded as an excuse for refusing to love."
"A person who cannot keep a secret can never be a lover."
"No one can really love two people at the same time," says one rule; but
another adds, "Nothing prevents one lady being loved by two gentlemen,
or one gentleman by two ladies."
Two years was the required period of mourning for a dead lover. But such
constancy may not have been demanded in the case of the living, for,
according to rule, "A new love-affair banishes the old one completely."
Lovers in those days were expected to show the most definite symptoms of
their malady; for, according to law, "Every lover is accustomed to grow
pale at the sight of his lady-love;" "At the sudden and unexpected
prospect of his lady-love, the heart of the true lover invariably
palpitates;" and "A real lover is always the prey of anxiety and
_malaise_." Also, "A person who is the prey of love eats little and
sleeps little."
There are many maxims on the best way of keeping true love alive, and
many more on the subject of jealousy. That the love of the Troubadours
was none too permanent is indicated by the statement, "A moderate
presumption is sufficient to justify one lover in entertaining grave
suspicions of the other."
Among the celebrated decisions is one given by the Countess of Champagne
upon the question, "Can real love exist between married people?" Basing
her decision on the fact that love implies a free granting of all
favours, while marriage enforces constraint, the fair arbiter decided
for the negative. Another decree, of wider application, was pronounced
by Queen Eleanor. A lover, after entreating his lady's favour in vain,
sent her a number of costly presents, which she accepted with much
delight. Yet even after this tribute to her charms, she remained
obdurate, and would not grant him the slightest encouragement. He
accordingly brought the case before the Court of Love, on the ground
that the lady, by accepting his presents, had inspired him with false
hopes. Eleanor gave the decision wholly in his favour, saying that the
lady must refuse to receive any gifts sent as love-tokens, or must make
compensation for them. The story does not tell whether the lady in
question accepted the suitor or returned the gifts.
The absurdity to which these laws were carried is shown by another
decision of Eleanor's. A gentleman became deeply smitten with a lady who
had given her love to another, but who would have been pleased to return
his devotion if ever deprived of her first lover. Soon after, the
original pair were married. The gentleman, citing the decision that real
love cannot exist between married people, claimed that the lady was now
free to reward his fidelity. The lady declared that she had not lost the
love of her first suitor by marrying him, but Queen Eleanor upheld the
decision cited, and ordered the lady to grant her new lover the favours
he desired.
The Troubadours at times treated subjects far different from the usual
short lyrics or long romances. Many of these minstrels performed the
unusual task of setting the laws in poetic form. It is not unusual to
find lawyers becoming good poets, but in this case the legal minstrels
drew from the codes of their native land enough inspiration for long
effusions. Moral and religious precepts, too, were often put in the form
of lengthy poems. Of even greater interest to the student of old customs
are the so-called "Essenhamens," or collections of rules for behaviour
for young ladies. In one of these, by Amanieus des Escas, called the
god of love, the poet gives his counsel to a young lady in the train of
some great countess. He meets her in one of her walks, whereupon she
addresses him and asks for certain rules to guide her conduct. The poet,
after apologetically insisting that she must know more about it, having
ten times as much common sense as he has, overcomes his scruples, and
proceeds to pour forth much undiluted wisdom.
From his verses we learn to approve of the well-known system of early
rising and early retiring, with many minor points about washing,
dressing, caring for the teeth and nails, and other mysteries of the
toilet. Then follow rules for behaviour in church, with directions to
preserve a quiet demeanour, and avoid improper use of the eyes or the
tongue. From the church the writer conducts his pupil to the
dinner-table, reciting many important details in carving, passing the
dishes properly, and performing the correct ablutions. He closes this
episode with the excellent advice that no harm can come from tempering
wine with water. After this comes the conversation in the drawing-room,
and many naïve methods of raising interesting discussions are suggested.
Less highly gifted than the Troubadours were the Jongleurs, who composed
their retinue. These musical jacks-of-all-trades began as accompanists,
singing the songs of their master at the castles he visited. But soon
they grew numerous and independent, and occupied a station varying from
that of our public entertainers to that of the humblest street musician.
Nothing came amiss to them,--singing, playing all instruments, dancing,
imitating the calls of animals and birds, and even the juggling that has
derived its name from them. In the wandering life that they led, they
were often forced to take their wives and children along, and thus women
grew accustomed to take some part in the performances.
The glee-maidens were essentially an English institution, and no doubt
they were more sure of courtesy and protection in that country than on
the Continent. They were by far the most romantic figures of the
minstrel world. Often they would wander about the country alone and
unguarded, braving or avoiding the dangers of the road. Sometimes their
only escort was a pet dog or a goat. They arrayed themselves in small
garments of bright colours, often adorned with silver, while on their
feet were leather buskins. They were at home in the courtyards of
castles and monasteries no less than in the midst of villages and towns,
and, mounting on some slight knoll, they would entertain gentles and
commoners with voice and violin. They are often introduced into the
romances of early England, and many famous glee-maidens are found on the
pages of history. One of the most celebrated was Adeline, who lived in
the time of William the Conqueror, and was successful enough to be
rewarded by him with an estate.
In the reign of Henry III. we find one really great figure among the
glee-maidens,--Marie de France. She was the _Jongleuse_ of William
Longsword, son of Henry II. and Fair Rosamond, and he certainly deserves
the gratitude of the literary world for discovering and fostering her
wonderful talent. Born probably in Brittany, her life and works
identified her with the English. She was familiar with the Breton
tongue, and also with Latin. Her first production was a set of lays in
French verse, that met with instant popularity throughout England. The
courts of the nobles reëchoed with her praises, and ladies as well as
knights were never weary of listening to her songs. Twelve of them are
now in the British Museum, among them a beautiful one dealing with King
Arthur and the Round Table. These works are of rare charm, no less for
their pleasing style and depth of feeling than for their simplicity of
expression and clearness of narrative. Her second effort was a poetical
rendering of many of Æsop's fables, done either as a favour or a
tribute of love for her protector. This was followed by a translation of
the Purgatory of St. Patrick in Ireland, taken from the Latin.
Few of the glee-maidens were so richly gifted or so highly placed as
Marie. Most of them travelled about, either alone or in the company of
glee-men, and were content with more ordinary compositions. At times
they were accompanied by dancing bears, who went through their figures
with the maidens, while the glee-men played, and tripped a fantastic
toe, if not exactly a light one.
The existence of the Jongleurs gradually undermined that of the
Troubadours, as the former grew more and more proficient. In the
thirteenth century we find Guirant Riquier, often called the last of the
Troubadours, requesting King Alfonso X. of Castile to make a definite
classification of Jongleurs, and title the best, thus preventing the
indiscriminate mixing of high and low musicians in the public mind. The
king made some effort to do so, but met with little success, for the
whole institution was gradually decaying. A more tragic fate awaited the
Troubadours of Provence, the home of the art. Espousing the cause of the
Albigenses, they used their wit with such telling effect that they
brought down upon themselves the deadly hatred of the Papists; and in
the short but bloody war that followed, they were almost wholly
exterminated in the cruel slaughter caused by the forces of religious
intolerance. Don Pedro of Aragon, who came to aid his brother
Troubadours, met with defeat and death, and after his loss the victors
started on a career of cruelty, torture, and indiscriminate murder. The
castles of the minstrel knights, once the home of beauty and song, were
razed to the ground, and the Troubadours were blotted from the page of
history.
CHAPTER III.
WIVES OF THE COMPOSERS
Among the women who have influenced music without actually creating it,
none have had greater chances to use their power than the wives of the
famous composers. Often they have been endowed with no inconsiderable
musical genius themselves, but have sacrificed their claim to renown
upon the altar of domestic duty. Sometimes, in rare instances, they have
had the ability to perform the double task of caring for the household
and continuing their own musical labours. Their story is an interesting
one, and from the time of the great John Sebastian Bach, who stands as a
model of domestic purity, down even to the present day, they have played
a large part in shaping the musical destinies of the world.
From the twelfth to the seventeenth century is a long gap, and music
underwent many changes during this period. After the passing of the
minstrel knights, popular music fades out of sight. That it had an
existence, however, is amply proven. The Jongleurs must have continued
long after their masters were stamped out, for their direct successors
are with us to-day, and our hand-organ is the descendant of their
fearful and wonderful organistrum. The entire school of English national
music saw its palmiest days during this epoch. Even on the Continent,
the great schools of contrapuntists delighted to show their skill by
employing as their cantus firmus, or chief part, some well-known popular
song, such as "L'Homme Armé," for example.
In Germany, the mantle of the Minnesingers fell upon the guilds of
musical amateurs in the growing commercial cities. Less poetic than
their predecessors, these Mastersingers, as they named themselves, often
took refuge in arbitrary rules and set metrical forms that made a poor
substitute for real inspiration. That there was some genuine poetic
feeling and humour among them is shown by the work of Hans Sachs, the
greatest of their number. He wrote many poems and plays, of which the
"Fassnachtspiele" were the most popular and the most mirth-provoking.
Contrary to the version of his life given in Wagner's opera, he
succeeded in making a second marriage late in life; and contrary to the
general experience in such cases, the marriage was a happy one, for his
young wife was exceedingly proud of her famous husband. But in the
actual creative work of the Mastersingers woman played no part.
Sacred music and the science of composition flourished as never before.
There is an appropriate saying that old music was horizontal, while now
it is vertical; and the contrast between the interweaving of parts,
proceeding smoothly together, and our single melodies supported by
massive chords, is aptly illustrated by the remark. This very
interweaving led to a style of music that was extremely complex,
affording chances for intellectual and mathematical skill rather than
emotional fervour. It has been customary to say that this style of
composition was unsuited to women, and to pass over the epoch with the
casual remark that no women composers appear within its limits. But
modern research has shown the futility of this statement.
The records of the Netherland schools are meagre, so it is to Italy that
we must turn for the earliest examples of skilled women composers. The
first great name is that of Maddalena Casulana, who was born at Brescia
about 1540. Her published compositions took the shape of two volumes of
madrigals, issued in 1568 and 1583. Next in point of time comes Vittoria
Aleotti, a native of Argenta. Her _magnum opus_ was published at Venice,
in 1593, under the flowery title, "Ghirlanda dei Madrigali a 4 Voci."
Francesca Baglioncella, born at Perugia in the same century, is another
exponent of the art, while Orsina Vizzani, who first saw the light of
day at Bologna in 1593, not only composed many pieces in this form, but
by playing her own and others'[3] works did much to make it popular with
all music-lovers in Italy.
The year 1600 saw the beginning of opera, due to the work of Peri and
his Florentine compeers in trying to--
"Revive the just designs of Greece."
Among the early operatic composers is found the charming and
accomplished Francesca Caccini, daughter of that Giulio Caccini who was
Peri's friend and most formidable rival. Born at Florence in 1581, and
educated in the most thorough manner, she was for many years the idol of
her native city, not only because of her great talent in singing and
composition, but also on account of the exquisite beauty of her Latin
and Tuscan poetry. Among other musical works by her are two examples of
the new form,--"La Liberazione di Ruggiero" and "Rinaldo
Innamorato,"--both of which are preserved to us. A later composer in the
same field was Barbara Strozzi, whose opera, "Diporti d'Euterpe," was
successfully received at Venice in 1659. In Ricordi's modern collection
of old Italian songs are some charming examples of her skill in other
directions.
In the domain of Italian sacred music, too, the women were not inactive.
Catterina Assandra, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, wrote a
number of religious works, of which "Veni Sancte Spiritus," for two
voices, achieved more than passing fame. Margarita Cozzolani and
Lucrezia Orsina Vezzana, both Catholic sisters, won renown by their
motets and other sacred works. Cornelia Calegari, born at Bergamo in
1644, won the plaudits of her nation by her wonderful singing and
organ-playing, as well as by her many compositions. Her first book of
motets was published in her fifteenth year, and met with universal
success. The highest forms possessed no difficulties for her, and among
her works are several masses for six voices, with instrumental
accompaniment. These names are enough to show that woman was able to
hold her own, even in a period when music had apparently banished those
emotional qualities with which she is said to be most in sympathy.
The women of other countries were not idle in this period of musical
activity. Germany, in spite of her meagre records, can show at least one
great name. Madelka Bariona, who lived during the sixteenth century,
upheld the musical reputation of her country by publishing seven
five-voiced psalms at Altdorf, in 1586. Bernarda Ferreira de Lacerda was
of Portuguese nationality. She won great renown by her writings and her
knowledge of languages. Philip II. of Spain wished to entrust her with
the education of his children, but she declined, alleging as her reason
that she wished to devote all her time to study. Many of her manuscript
compositions and musical writings are preserved in the Royal Library at
Madrid.
France can boast of a real genius in Clementine de Bourges, who was born
at Lyons in the sixteenth century. Such authorities as Mendel and Grove
accord her a rank with the very greatest of her time. She held a high
position among the intellectual leaders of that day, as much by her
great learning as by her musical skill. She shows complete mastery of
many instruments, and her gifts in composition are amply proven by her
four-part chorus, which can be found in J. Paix's organ collection. Her
career was brought to an untimely end by grief. She was engaged to Jean
de Peyrat, a royal officer, who met his death in a skirmish with the
Huguenots in 1560. Her sorrow at this disaster proved incurable, and she
died in the next year.
Although the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, belongs to a more
northern land, the credit of her talents may be fairly accorded to
France, where she received her education. She made no musical attempts
in the more ambitious forms, but wrote many songs, among which "Las! en
mon doux Printemps" and "Monsieur le Provost des Marchands" met with
considerable success in their day.
With the advent of Bach, music was no longer the dry mathematical study
that it had been during the later middle ages, for in his hands it
became imbued with true feeling. Descended from a famous family of
musicians, he was born at the little German town of Eisenach, in 1685.
Receiving his early education at Ohrdruf, he showed himself endowed with
unusual genius. Forced to make his way when fifteen years old, he
supported himself in the Convent School of St. Michael's, at Luneburg,
by means of his musical talents. After a short term as court musician at
Weimar, he became organist of the New Church at Arnstadt, and here he
met the woman who was to be his first wife. Almost the earliest mention
of her is made in a report of the consistory, criticizing the young
organist for certain breaches of discipline. From this report, it
appears that he had asked for four weeks' leave for study, and had
stayed away four months; he had played interludes that the reverend
board considered too long and too intricate; and, on being reproved, he
had made them too short; and once, during the sermon, he had gone forth
and spent these stolen moments in a wine-cellar. The final charge asks
by what authority he has latterly allowed a strange maiden to appear,
and to make music in the choir. This "strange maiden," who made music
with Bach in the solitude of the empty church, was none other than his
cousin, Maria Barbara. A year later (1707) he married her, and took her
to Mühlhausen, where he had found a less troublesome post as organist in
the Church of St. Blasius.
The domestic life of Bach and his wife was a pattern for married couples
of all time. All his friends unite in calling him an especially
excellent "Haus-Vater," a term of commendation applied to those men who
remember their duty to their own families, and do not sacrifice domestic
happiness to fame and fortune. Personally he was pleasant to every one,
mere acquaintances as well as intimate friends, and his house was always
the centre of a lively gathering. With his wife, he took sedulous care
of the education of his children, of whom there were no less than six at
her early death in 1720.
Bach was not the man to remain long a widower, and in the next year the
bereaved composer's fancy lightly turned to thoughts of a second
marriage. His choice fell upon Anna Magdalena Wulken, a Cöthen court
singer of twenty-one years, and the happy consummation occurred on
December 3d. She was a good musician, and did much to enliven the
domestic circle by her beautiful soprano voice. Not content with merely
taking part in her husband's works, she learned from him to play the
clavier and read figured bass, and rendered him valuable aid by copying
music for him.
Soon after the marriage, Bach and his wife started a manuscript music
book, entitled "Clavier Büchlein von Anna Magdalena Bach, Anno 1720." On
the first page was written a playful denunciation of the melancholy and
hostility to art that were so often inculcated by the Calvinism of that
time. This book and another of the kind, which followed it five years
later, are both preserved in the Royal Berlin Library. In them are a
series of clavier pieces, by Bach, Gerhard, and others; a number of
hymns and sacred songs; one of several humourous song's, describing the
reflections of a smoker; and still others, apparently addressed to his
wife, and giving fresh proofs of his devotion to her. Her portrait was
painted by Cristofori, but disappeared after being in the possession of
one of the sons.
As a result of his second marriage, Bach was blessed with thirteen more
children, six sons and seven daughters. All his children loved him, and
his kindness and sincerity enabled him to retain their respect as well
as their affection. In all his activity he was never too busy to save
some time for the family circle, where, in later life, he would take the
viola part in the concerted music that cheered his domestic hearth. It
is sad to think of the poor wife's fate in contrast with so much family
happiness. After Bach's death, in 1750, she struggled bravely to support
her children, but became gradually poorer, and was forced to end her
days in an almshouse, and be buried in a pauper's grave.
Less happy than Bach in his married life was Franz Josef Haydn. After a
boyhood of poverty and struggles, he obtained a position as
Kapellmeister to a Bohemian nobleman, Count Morzin. This post was none
too lucrative, however, for it brought the composer only about one
hundred dollars a year, while his teaching could not have provided him
with much extra wealth, and his compositions brought him nothing. Yet
his financial troubles did not deter him from seeking those of
matrimony, in spite of the fact that Count Morzin never kept married men
in his service. According to the poet Campbell, marriage looks like
madness in nine cases out of ten; and Haydn's venture was certainly no
exception.
The one upon whom the composer's affections lighted was the younger
daughter of a barber named Keller. He had met her while a choir-boy in
the Church of St. Stephen, at Vienna, and she had afterward become one
of his pupils. For some unexplained reason,--let us hope it was not
because of the young composer's love,--she took to the veil, and
renounced the wickedness and the marriages of the world. The barber,
possibly hoping to lighten the suitor's disappointment, and very
probably wishing to have both daughters off his hands, promptly
suggested to the young lover that he take the elder sister instead.
Apparently realizing that marriage at best is but a lottery, Haydn
accepted the proposition.
The wedding took place at St. Stephen's, on November 26, 1760. Whether
Count Morzin would have made an exception in Haydn's case, and retained
him in spite of this event, there is no means of telling, for that
nobleman met with financial reverses, and was forced to give up his
musical establishment. Fortunately for the young genius, some of his
works had been heard and admired by the Prince Paul Esterhazy, who
showed his musical discernment by taking Haydn into his service and
becoming a lifelong patron of the composer.
There was little real affection between Haydn and his wife at the start
of their life journey together. He declared, however, that he really
began to have some feeling for her, and would have come to entertain
still warmer sentiments toward her if she had behaved at all reasonably.
But unfortunately, she did not seem to be capable of behaving
reasonably. The wives of great men are usually proud of the attainments
of their husbands, and take no pains to conceal this fact. But the
barber's daughter of Vienna was totally lacking in any real appreciation
of her gifted consort. As Haydn himself observed once, it would have
made no difference if he had been a shoemaker instead of an artist. She
used his manuscript scores as curl-papers and underlays for the family
pastry; she made continual use of the conjugal privilege of going
through his pockets and abstracting the cash; and once, when he was in
London, her calm selfishness rose to the point of asking him to buy a
certain house, which she admired, so that she might have a home provided
for her widowhood.
Through all his troubles, Haydn preserved a dignified silence about his
domestic unhappiness, and in his letters it is mentioned only twice. For
a long time he bore the trials patiently, but at length was forced to
give up the household and live apart from his domestic tormentor. The
woman who had hoped for a permanent home in her widowhood ended her
lonely existence in 1800, nine years before the close of her husband's
career.
With these facts in view, it is not surprising to find that Haydn at
times sought elsewhere the consolation he was denied at home. He was
fond of feminine companions, especially when they were well endowed with
personal attractions. He must have possessed ingratiating manners, for
he certainly could not boast of great personal attractions, and he
himself admitted that his fair admirers were, "At any rate, not tempted
by his beauty." His natural tenderness showed itself in a passionate
fondness for children,--a blessing denied to his own home.
One of his most violent friendships had for its object a young Italian
singer of nineteen, Luigia Polzelli. Apparently she was not happy with
her husband, and a bond of mutual sympathy drew the composer to her.
After the death of her husband, she persuaded Haydn to sign a promise to
marry her if his wife should die, but the composer afterward repudiated
the agreement, very likely not wishing to repeat his first matrimonial
blunder.
Another romance is found in the love-letters sent to the composer by a
charming London widow named Schroeter. Without overstepping the bounds
of propriety, he was able to draw some profit from this episode, for he
gave lessons to his fair admirer, and allowed her to do manuscript
copying for him. Apparently the friendship was more of her seeking than
of his own, as her letters to him bear witness. These are copied neatly
in one of his note-books, along with various amusing "Anectods," a
description of a London fog, "thick enough to be spread on bread," and
an excellent receipt for making the Prince of Wales's punch.
Mozart was another musical genius who was forced to accept as second
choice the sister of his first love, though in his case the results
were not so disastrous as with Haydn. It was in Mannheim, on the way to
Paris, that Mozart made the acquaintance of the copyist Weber, and
succumbed to the charms of his daughter, Aloysia. But Leopold Mozart,
wisely playing the rôle of stern father, soon sped the susceptible youth
on his way to the French capital. It is a French proverb that tells
us,--
"Nous revenons toujours
À nos premiers amours,"--
and a year later he returned. But Aloysia, now famous by her singing,
soon made it plain that his affection was no longer returned. Mozart
seems to have borne the blow well, and soon after her marriage to the
actor Lange, who proved a jealous husband, he wrote home his decision to
wed her younger sister, Constance. After much opposition from members of
both families, he carried out his intention.
As in Haydn's case, the young couple were forced to live on "bread and
cheese and kisses," with none too much of the first two articles.
Mozart, more than any other composer, met with undeserved hardships. On
every side his music was praised and his genius admired, but nobles and
princes, and even the emperor, would give him no material aid. He made a
devoted husband, and much of the money that disappeared so readily from
his hands was probably used for the benefit of his wife, whose health
was not of the best. Their life (in Vienna at first) was a continual
effort to solve the old vexed problem of making both ends meet, and
Constance must be given high praise for the wonderful skill with which
she managed the small and uncertain income of her husband. Several times
the young couple were brought face to face with the direst need, but
their patience and cheerfulness carried them through the crisis. On one
occasion, when there was no fuel on hand and no money to buy any, a
visitor found the pair busily engaged in waltzing about their bare room
in order to keep warm. At another time they were rescued from their
extremity only by the kindness of their friend, the Baroness
Waldstätten, who intervened just in time to save them from beggary.
After three years, Leopold Mozart relented enough to visit his
daughter-in-law, whom he found far more deserving than he had expected;
but he himself was not well off, and could be of little financial help.
That Constance was of great aid to her husband, in spite of an
easy-going nature, cannot be doubted. She possessed the faculty of
telling interesting stories and novelettes, and with this apparently
inexhaustible fund of invention she would amuse him between his periods
of work. The description that we have of the composition of the great
"Don Giovanni" overture gives a pleasing illustration of this phase of
the family life. Owing to rehearsals and other work, the day before the
performance arrived with no overture yet written. In the evening,
according to his custom, Mozart began the task by sketching out the
themes and a general plan of construction for the work. Near him sat his
wife, ready to entertain him with her pleasing tales when he looked up
from his work. For one or two hours he did indulge in actual repose; but
all through the rest of the night he continued the work, relieving his
mental concentration by listening to the storiettes or occasionally
sipping a glass of his favourite punch. The manuscript was completed and
ready for the copyist the next morning at seven o'clock, and along with
the other numbers scored a complete success in the evening.
Some blame has attached to Constance for the lack of exact knowledge
about Mozart's grave. At the hour of his burial, in the public cemetery,
a violent storm drove away all the mourners. There was a cholera scare
in Vienna at the time, which kept many people away from the graveyard.
Her own neglect of the matter may have been caused by illness, but,
whatever the reason, the fact remains that when public interest was
aroused the exact location of Mozart's grave could no longer be defined.
The life of Carl Maria von Weber was tinged in its earlier years with
the romance that seemed to pervade all phases of life in his native
country. Germany had just passed through one of her rare but regular
periods of national awakening, and every one was full of a keen spirit
of patriotic originality in life, letters, and art, as well as in music.
Gifted with unusual talents, trained in the paternal hope of his
becoming a boy prodigy like Mozart, and urged by the need of making his
own career, he soon made a name for himself by his personal charms as
well as his talents. A welcome guest in the homes of aristocracy and
cultivation, he possessed a roving disposition and a spirit of adventure
that made his life not unlike that of the early Troubadours.
It was in Vienna that he met his future wife. Being given charge of the
opera at Prague, he journeyed to the Austrian capital for the purpose of
engaging singers, and among them brought back the talented Caroline
Brandt. He soon wished to enter into closer relations with this singer,
but found obstacles in the way of marriage. She was unwilling to
sacrifice at once a career that was winning her many laurels, and she
did not wholly approve of the wandering life that the gifted young
manager had led up to the time of their meeting. We find him
discontented with this situation, and travelling about in search of a
better and more important post; and during one of these trips he
received a letter from Caroline, saying that they had better part. This
brought forth the accusation from the embittered Weber that "Her views
of high art were not above the usual pitiful standard, namely, that it
was but a means of procuring soup, meat, and shirts." There can be no
doubt, however, that her influence was of the utmost value in steadying
his efforts.
When Weber was once back in Prague, her real love for him overcame all
scruples, and she showed herself ready to wait until he should attain a
post of sufficient value to permit their marriage. After putting the
Prague opera on a stable basis, he looked about for a long time in vain,
until finally he obtained a life position as conductor in Dresden. At
last he was able to return to Prague and marry his faithful Caroline,
with the certainty of being able to provide her a home. The newly wedded
pair made a triumphant concert tour, and settled down to a life of
domestic felicity in Dresden. It can hardly be said that Weber lived
happily ever afterward, for he found many troubles in connection with
his new post. But his married life was such a constant source of joy to
him that he felt always inspired with fresh energy to overcome all
difficulties. It was during his married career that he won those immense
popular successes, with "Der Freischütz," "Euryanthe," and "Oberon,"
that gave the most brilliant lustre to a name already immortal. The last
opera took him to London, away from his beloved family. Aware of his
failing health, he made every effort to reach home, but that boon was
denied him, and he died without another view of those who would have
been anxious to soothe his last moments.
Ludwig Spohr was another composer who possessed a musical wife. He came
of a musical family, his father being a flutist, while his mother played
the piano and sang. Ludwig took up the violin at five years of age, and
at six was able to take part in concerted music. His compositions began
at about the same time. After a youth of earnest study, long practice,
and successful tours, he finally became leader in the band of the Duke
of Gotha. It was there that he met Dorette Scheidler, the famous
harpist, whom he afterward married. Her influence is seen in his later
compositions, for he wrote for her a number of sonatas for harp and
violin, as well as a good many harp solos. The musical pair went on many
tours, always sharing the honours of the performances.
Still more evident is the influence of woman upon music in the case of
Hector Berlioz. This great genius, born in 1803, was the son of an opium
eater, and the morbid character of most of his works may be traced to
this cause. Berlioz studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but his
sensational style did not win favour with the classical Cherubini, and
the young man was forced to work against many difficulties. He was even
forbidden at one time to compete for the _Prix de Rome_, and came near
giving up his career in dejection.
On the Parisian stage was a beautiful Irish actress, named Harriet
Smithson, who was performing the plays of Shakespeare. Berlioz at once
fell in love with her, but it was some time before his needy
circumstances allowed him to lay his suit before her. When he did so,
his passion found shape and expression in a great musical work,--the
Symphonic Fantastique.
This is a weird and sinister composition, but very effective. It is in
five movements. The first represents a young man seeing his ideal and
falling in love with her, the object of this sudden affection being
depicted by a tender theme on the violin. This theme pervades the entire
work. In the second movement, which represents a ball, it signifies the
entrance of the fair one. The third movement is called "In the Fields,"
and contains a duet between the two lovers in the guise of a shepherd
and shepherdess. They are portrayed by an English horn and an oboe, the
result being one of the great instrumental dialogues that are sometimes
found in-works of the tone masters. An effective touch is the
introduction of a thunder-storm, after which the English horn begins a
plaintive note of inquiry, but meets with no reply. In the fourth
movement, the young man has slain his love in a fit of jealousy, and is
on his way to execution. Very powerful music expresses the fatal march,
interrupted every now and then by the surging footsteps of the crowd. At
its close, the hero ascends the scaffold; amid a hush, the tender love
theme reappears, but is obliterated by a sudden crash of the full
orchestra, and all is still. Berlioz, however, does not let his hero
rest in the grave, but adds a fifth movement to show him in the infernal
regions. Piccolo and other wild instruments depict the fury of the
demons, a parody on the Dies Iræ follows, and even the tender
love-theme is not spared, but is turned into the most vulgar of waltzes.
This musical love-letter was understood, and Miss Smithson afterward
married the great composer. But, unfortunately, the romance stopped at
this point, and they did not "live happily ever afterward." The actress
was forced by an accident to leave the stage permanently. She and her
husband did not agree well, and were continually at odds. Finally she
took to drink, and a separation soon followed. Berlioz married again,
his second wife being the singer, Mlle. Recio. He outlived her, and in
later life was taken care of by her mother.
The symphony, incidentally, was so successful at its first performance
that a strange-looking man rushed to the platform, saluted the composer,
and sent him a more substantial token in the shape of twenty thousand
francs. The stranger proved to be Paganini, but that famous violinist
was such a miser that the story has been doubted. It is said that he
acted in behalf of an unknown benefactor, but his enthusiasm at the
performance seems to disprove this, and the work possesses just the dark
and sinister character that would appeal to Paganini.
Another composition inspired by the same love episode is the "Romeo and
Juliette" Symphony. Berlioz tried to make all his music tell a story,
and he believed in the theory that tones could be made to represent
ideas in a much greater degree than is usually supposed. The result is
shown in many characteristic passages in his works, an excellent example
being the gentle and melancholy theme that typifies Childe Harold in the
symphony of that name. But Berlioz carried his idea to extremes, and
fairly earned the half-reproach of Wagner, who said of him: "He ciphers
with notes." That Berlioz could write with more direct beauty is shown
by his practical joke at the expense of the critics; for he pretended to
unearth an old piece by a certain Pierre Ducré, which they praised
greatly in contrast with his own works, and after they had done their
worst, Berlioz proved that he himself was the mythical Ducré.
Giuseppe Verdi was another great musician who felt the full richness of
domestic happiness, if only for a time. Born in the little hamlet of Le
Roncole in 1813, he proved himself possessed of unusual talent, and
after a time went to Busseto for lessons. There he came to the notice of
M. Barezzi, who became the friend and patron of the young student. The
story of his being refused at the Milan Conservatory, and afterward
amazing the authorities by his speed in composing fugues, is too well
known to need repetition. After his Milan studies, we find him back at
Busseto, in love with Barezzi's daughter Margherita. The father, unlike
the usual stern parent who repels impecunious musicians, gave his
permission for their union, which took place soon after, in 1836.
In a couple of years he settled down in Milan, with his wife and two
children. Success began to crown his efforts, and his career of opera
composer was well begun, when his domestic happiness came to a complete
end. First one child fell sick and died of an unknown malady, then the
second followed it in a few days, and within two months the bereaved
mother was stricken with a fatal inflammation of the brain. In the midst
of all these misfortunes, Verdi was kept at work by a commission for "Un
Giorno di Regno," which was to be a comic opera! Little wonder that the
wit oozed out of the occasion, and the performance proved a failure. The
despondent Verdi resolved to give up his career altogether, and only by
the insistence of the manager, Merelli, was he finally persuaded to
resume his occupation. In later life he married again, passing a placid
existence on his extensive estates.
The domestic career of Richard Wagner has formed the subject for endless
discussions. His birth, his early studies, his university career, and
his start as a professional musician, all took place in Leipsic. There,
too, he met the famous opera singer, Wilhelmine Schroeder-Devrient,
whose gifts made such an impression on the young composer. It was the
excellence of her acting, as well as her singing, that gave the embryo
reformer his first ideas of the intimate union of drama and music that
is one phase of his later operatic greatness. Many of his leading rôles
were written for her, and as late as 1872 he stated that whenever he
conceived a new character he imagined her in the part.
His work as leader took him first to Magdeburg. The failure of his early
opera, "Das Liebesverbot," put an end to this enterprise, and soon
afterward he appeared as concert leader in Koenigsberg. There he met and
married his first wife, Wilhelmina (or Minna) Planer. Their natures were
different in many respects. While he displayed many of the vagaries of
genius, she was patient and practical, and, if not wholly understanding
the highest side of his nature, she gave up her own career to help him
through his days of poverty and struggle.
The first venture of the wedded pair was at Riga, where Wagner was
engaged for a term to conduct in a new theatre. After this, they took
ship for Paris, and the stormy passage gave Wagner many a suggestion
for his "Flying Dutchman." It was in the French capital that Minna's
domestic qualities were given their most severe trial, for the composer
found little or no chance to produce his own works, and was forced to
gain a precarious living by the commonest musical drudgery. Probably her
constant care and economy were all that turned the scale in favour of
success. At length the Dresden authorities became interested in some of
the earlier operas, and Wagner was liberated from his dependent
position.
The stay in Dresden being cut short by the political troubles of 1848
and 1849, Wagner found a home in Zurich, where his wife soon joined him.
There he wrote or sketched the grand works that came to full fruition in
his later life. After years of exile, he came back to Germany, where his
pursuit of fortune was still in vain, and might have ended in suicide
but for the sudden patronage of his royal admirer, the mad King Ludwig
of Bavaria. It was at this time that the differences in character began
to cause domestic infelicity in the Wagnerian household. Finally the
pair separated, and, although he did not leave Minna in want, yet she
was compelled to pass the last few years of her life in seclusion and
loneliness, while he basked in the favour of royalty, and found the
high position that had so long been denied him. It is usually claimed by
Wagner's most rabid partisans that she was unable to hold her place in
the new surroundings, and that his genius needed a helpmate more in
sympathy with his high ideals. Admitting the truth of these assertions,
the fair-minded critic must accept them as an explanation, at least, of
his conjugal ingratitude, but Minna's faithful performance of duty in
the early days will not allow them to stand as a valid excuse.
Wagner's second marriage with Cosima, daughter of Liszt and divorced
wife of Von Bülow, resulted happily. The devotion of the new helpmate to
the Wagnerian cause has survived the master's death by many years, and
is still witnessed by the musical world. The domestic bliss of their
married life is well shown in the beautiful Siegfried Idyll, which
Wagner composed as a surprise for his wife on their son's birthday.
[Illustration: RICHARD AND COSIMA WAGNER.]
Among living composers gifted with musical wives, the most preëminent is
Richard Strauss. As Clara Schumann could perform her husband's works, so
the wife of Strauss, who is an excellent singer, is at her best when
giving her husband's songs. Like Grieg's wife, she is more successful
than all other singers in this rôle of domestic devotion. She usually
appears with him as accompanist, a position in which he excels, and each
modestly tries to make the other respond to the applause that is sure to
follow their performance.
CHAPTER IV.
CLARA AND ROBERT SCHUMANN
History has never witnessed a more perfect union of two similar natures,
both endowed with rich mental gifts, and each filled with a perfect
sympathy for the other, than the marriage of Robert Schumann and Clara
Wieck. It holds a place in the story of music similar to that occupied
by the romance of Abelard and Heloise in poetry. The lives of both
composers afford an example of the most unselfish devotion and depth of
affection, combined with the highest idealism in an art that poets
themselves have admitted to be even nobler than their own.
[Illustration: MARIE WIECK]
The birth of Clara Wieck, on September 13, 1819, took place at Leipsic.
That city had not yet entered upon the period of musical greatness that
it was soon to enjoy. The day of Beethoven and Schubert was apparently
passing, and only the lighter and more trivial styles of composition
held sway. Her father, however, Friedrich Wieck, was a piano teacher of
extensive reputation and most excellent qualities, and did his best to
raise the standard of the place. From him, and from her mother as well,
the young Clara inherited her innate musical taste. But the maternal
influence was not of long duration, for domestic troubles soon caused
the separation of Wieck and his wife, the latter marrying the father of
Woldemar Bargiel, while the former also entered into a second union,
with Clementine Fechner at Leipsic. A daughter of this second marriage,
Marie Wieck, won some fame as a pianist, but was far surpassed by her
elder half-sister.
Clara did not at first show signs of becoming a child prodigy, but in
her fifth year she gave indications of possessing musical talent, and
her careful father proceeded at once to develop her powers. So
successful were his individual methods that in four years she was able
to play Mozart and Hummel concertos by heart, and ready to sustain her
part in public. Her first appearance was in conjunction with Emilie
Reichold, one of her father's older pupils, with whom she played
Kalkbrenner's variations on a march from "Moses." One important paper of
the time spoke of her success as universal and well deserved, and did
not hesitate to predict a great future for her under her honoured
father's wise guidance.
Wieck has been the subject of much criticism on account of his supposed
harshness and severity. In the matter of Clara's musical training,
however, these charges cannot be sustained, as one of her own letters
will show. "My father has come before the world in an entirely false
light," she writes, "because he took art earnestly, and brought me up to
regard it earnestly. People have no idea how utterly different from the
usual standards must be the whole education and career of any one who
wishes to accomplish something worth while in art. In connection with
artistic development, my father kept the physical development especially
in view also. I never studied more than two hours a day in the earliest
times, or three in later years; but I had also to take a daily walk with
him of just as many hours to strengthen my nerves. Moreover, while I was
not yet grown up, he always took me home from every entertainment at ten
o'clock, as he considered sleep before midnight necessary for me. He
never let me go to balls, as he judged I could use my strength for more
important things than dancing; but he always let me go to good operas.
In many free hours I used to grow enthusiastic over piano arrangements
of operas and other music. One cannot do that when one is tired out.
Besides that, I had, even in earliest youth, intercourse with the most
distinguished artists. They, and not dolls, were the friends of my
childhood, though I was not deprived of the latter. Those people who
have no comprehension of such a serious bringing up ascribed it all to
tyranny and severity, and held my accomplishments, which may indeed have
been more than those of a child, to be impossible unless I had been
forced to study day and night. As a matter of fact, it was wholly my
father's genius for teaching that brought me so far, by cultivation of
the intellect and the feelings united with only moderate practice."
"To my pain," she continues, "I must say that my father has never been
recognized as he deserved to be. I shall thank him during my entire
lifetime for the so-called severities. How would I have been able to
live through a career of art, with all the heavy difficulties that were
laid upon me, if my constitution had not been so strong and healthy
because of my father's care?"
About this time there came upon the scene a youth named Robert Schumann.
Born in 1810, of a family that was literary rather than musical, he had
obtained some knowledge of the art with his father's consent. After the
death of the latter, his mother would not hear of his choosing a
musical career, but insisted on his studying law. This he did at
Heidelberg, in a rather original manner,--taking long walks, reading
Jean Paul's works, and practising piano nearly all day. In the summer he
met Wieck, whom he adopted as a teacher, and in this way he came to know
the learned pedagogue's talented daughter.
Her musical education was now beginning to bear fruit. In the concert
tours that she began soon after her first triumph, she never allowed
herself to be carried away by the fondness of the public for mere
display, but always aimed at something higher. Instead of making a show
of her technical attainments, she consecrated her powers to the cause of
true art. It required great courage to uphold her standard, for she came
upon the scene at a time when only phenomenal playing, bristling with
seemingly unconquerable difficulties, won the public homage and the
public wealth. Herein both she and her future husband showed themselves
actuated by the very highest motives.
Unfortunately for the romantic side of the story, theirs was not a case
of love at first sight. No less than five years after their first
meeting, we find Schumann deeply interested in a certain Ernestine von
Fricken, another pupil of Wieck. It is stated that the beautiful
numbers of the "Carneval" were due largely, if not wholly, to her
inspiration, which at that time reached its highest point.[4] The
letters A, S, C, and H (the German way of notating B) represent the
Bohemian town of Asch, where she was born, and are also the only musical
letters in Schumann's own name. He himself noted this coincidence in a
letter to Moscheles, and built the themes of the various numbers almost
wholly upon them.
However this may be, he certainly had a great admiration for Clara even
in her early years. He took piano lessons of her father, and became for
a time an inmate of their house. He owed much to the teaching, but still
more to the stimulating artistic society of the Wieck family.
In 1829 he left his teacher, and made a final effort to prepare for the
legal career that his mother had planned for him. It was of little
avail, however, for in the next year we find him writing home that his
entire life had been "but a twenty years' strife between poetry and
prose,--or music and law,--and it must now cease." So earnestly did he
plead his case that his mother at last yielded to his wishes, though
with fear and trembling, and the final decision was referred to Wieck.
That artist, who had by this time fully recognized Schumann's great
gifts, gave his decision in favour of music, and the young enthusiast,
after having his affairs duly settled, returned to Leipsic and devoted
himself altogether to art.
It is probable that he would have given himself wholly to the career of
a successful pianist, but for an accident. After a year of painstaking
practice, he invented a contrivance by which the weaker fingers were
allowed to gain strength by usage, while the third finger was held back.
This mechanism was altogether too successful, for, after using it some
time, he found his third finger so badly crippled that he was forced to
give up hope of ever winning fame on the concert stage. What seemed a
catastrophe to him has proven a blessing to the world, for, if he had
spent his life in executing the works of others, he would never have had
the leisure to create his own immortal compositions.
Meanwhile Clara was steadily improving her already remarkable powers.
Besides keeping up her playing, she now began regular study in
composition. In later life the two were to labour together in many
pieces, but even at this time Schumann's interest in her work was great,
and in one of his early compositions (Impromptu, Op. 5) we find him
using a theme of hers as the basis of his own piece.
The eleven-year-old girl was now started upon a series of tours by her
father, who wished to give her some idea of the world, and to let the
world gain some knowledge of her attainments. From Dresden he writes
home joyfully to his wife: "It is impossible to describe the sensation
that your two little monkeys from the Leipsic menagerie have made here."
But the fatherly care and wisdom were not lacking, for he continues: "I
am anxious lest the honours and distinctions should have a bad influence
upon Clara. If I notice anything of the sort, then I shall travel
further at once, for I am too proud of her modesty, and would not
exchange it for any decoration in the world." In the next year the
triumphs were continued at Weimar, Cassel, and Frankfurt. After winning
the approval of Spohr and other competent judges who were above all
envy, she proceeded to Paris, where her father had the proud privilege
of exhibiting her talents to Chopin. In Weimar, Goethe took a deep
interest in the wonderful child, and sent his picture to the "Richly
endowed (_Kunstreichen_) Clara Wieck," as a token of the pleasure her
playing had given him.
As the result of her Parisian meeting with Chopin, she became one of
the best interpreters of that master's works, and gave them to the world
in much the same manner that she did those of Schumann soon afterward.
Usually her work in educating the public was successful. But critics are
not all safe guides, and even to-day we find many unmusical men in
responsible newspaper positions, so it is not surprising to find an
occasional misunderstanding occur. In Vienna, for instance, we find the
influential but self-important Rellstab writing that it is "a shame that
she is in the hands of a father who allows such nonsense as Chopin's to
be played." These strictures did not extend to the performance, however,
and the writer does not fail to acknowledge her marked talent. Fétis
bears witness to the "lively sensation" she created on the banks of the
Seine, while along the Danube she won victory on victory. The
aristocracy were eager to admit her to their circle, and the Austrian
Empress named her court virtuoso, an honour never before bestowed on a
foreigner.
Some time before this, she had won the attention and interest of the
young Schumann, if nothing more. He had been at work on a symphony in G
minor (which, by the way, proved a failure and was never published), and
the performance of the first movement in his native Zwickau took place
at a concert given there by Clara, then only thirteen. Even then her
performance was astonishing, and, as Schumann put it, "Zwickau was fired
with enthusiasm for the first time in its life." Schumann was no less
excited than the rest of the town. His letters of that time are full of
expressions that seem to betray a deeper feeling, though he himself did
not become conscious of it until later. "Call her perfection," he writes
to a friend, "and I will agree to it." In a Leipsic tribute, he
inquires: "Is it the gifted child of genius (_Wunderkind_), at whose
stretch of a tenth people shake their heads, but admire? Is it the
hardest of difficulties, which she throws off to the public as if they
were wreaths of flowers? Is it perhaps mere pride, with which the city
looks upon its daughter; or is it because she gives us the most
interesting things of the most recent times with the least delay? I do
not know; but I do feel, simply, that she has the spirit that compels
admiration."
The great poets, too, gave her their tributes of praise. "They
recognized in this inspiring vision," says Liszt, "a true daughter of
their fatherland. They strewed their pearls of song before her, and
glorified this Benjamin of their race, who, gazing about with inspired
glances and wondrous smiles, seemed like a silent Naiad, who felt
herself a stranger in the land of prose."
Meanwhile the love that had been growing in silence between her and
Schumann began to take tangible form. His unspoken passion found
expression in the written rhapsodies addressed to "Chiarina" in his new
music journal, the _Neue Zeitschrift für Musik_. In a more purely
musical manner, his feelings took shape in such works as his
"Daidsbündler" Dances, the "Chiarina" of the Carnival, the F-Sharp Minor
Sonata, the Kreisleriana, the Humoreske, the Novelettes, and the
Nocturnes,--truly an offering of rare beauty, and well worthy to express
the feelings of the inspired lover. They bore witness of his adoration
to all who knew him, and all who were able to listen with understanding
ears. And Clara, too, in spite of high honours and higher friendships,
had already given her heart to the silent man endowed with the deep
spirit of romance and poetry. She was his, in spite of the opposition of
her father, who guarded his treasure with a jealous eye, and would hear
of no marriage unless in the distant future.
It was in 1836 that the two lovers came to an understanding. In the next
summer Schumann made formal mention of his suit to her father. Wieck's
refusal may have been due to his entertaining higher hopes for his now
famous daughter, but at any rate the father found an adequate reason in
the vague and unsubstantial prospects of the young composer. This was a
sad blow, but Schumann tacitly acknowledged its justice, for he soon
began making efforts to better his condition, instead of working only
for the glory of art. Although he tried to resign himself to give Clara
up, he could not do so, and with her consent he left for Vienna in hopes
of giving his music journal a broader field. The effort was not a
success; Schumann found Vienna no less trivial in its tastes than many
other places, and wrote home that people could "gabble and gossip quite
as much as in Zwickau." His sojourn there had one important result in
his discovery of Schubert's beautiful C major Symphony, which he sent to
Mendelssohn for performance at the Leipsic Gewandhaus.
Disappointed in material prospects, he tried to obtain a more honourable
position by getting a Doctor's degree from the University of Jena. "You
know, perhaps, that Clara is my betrothed," he writes to an influential
friend. "Her high rank as an artist has often led me to consider my own
humble position, and, although I know how modest she is, and that she
loves me simply as a man and a musician, still I think it would please
her to have me seek a higher position in the civic sense of the word.
Let me ask you: Is it very hard to get a Doctor's degree at Jena?"
Apparently it was not hard when a man of Schumann's fame applied, for in
another letter he writes: "Everything combined to fill the measure of my
joy. The eulogy is so glorious that I certainly owe you a large share of
thanks for it. It gave me and my friends most sincere pleasure. The
first thing I did was, of course, to send a copy into the north to a
girl who is still a child, and who will dance with glee at the idea that
she is engaged to a Doctor."
But Wieck's refusal to sanction the marriage could not be altered. In
fact, his opposition became even stronger and more determined. Finding
any direct appeal of no avail, Schumann was forced to have recourse to
law, and Wieck was compelled to give reason for his refusal before a
legal tribunal. Although Schumann was not rich, yet he possessed some
income from his paper, and his other work brought him enough reward to
enable him to make a home for Clara. Besides these receipts, he had a
small property that gave him an annual return of 500 thalers, and as he
himself wrote: "We are young, and have hands, strength, and
reputation.... Tell me now if there can be real cause for fear."
Nevertheless the case dragged on, and a nature as sensitive as his must
have been deeply mortified by the legal wrangling and the publicity of
the affair. At last a favourable decision was reached, and after a year
of doubt and suspense the marriage took place on September 12, 1840.
Henceforth their life was one perfect union. There could be no happier
marriage in the world than this one, where a man of creative genius was
mated with a woman gifted with the ability and the wish to interpret his
works earnestly and faithfully. They regarded art from different points,
but with the same ideas and ideals. Both were wholly devoted to all that
was true and noble, and both felt the same antipathy to whatever was
trivial or superficial. Together they moved along the pathway of life;
together they won their laurels. "To admire one or the other was to
admire both," says Liszt, "for, though they sang in different tongues,
their life music made but one noble harmony. The annals of art will
never divide the memory of these two, and their names can never be
spoken separately."
And now Schumann's happiness began to take tangible form and show itself
to the world. Hitherto his compositions had been chiefly for the
pianoforte, but now his genius burst forth in song. Cycle followed cycle
during the next few years, and the fortunate lover sang of his
happiness in strains of such romantic beauty that their charm can never
fade while love and music have power to sway the passions of mankind.
The warm feeling and emotion in the poems of Rückert, of Chamisso, of
Heine, were echoed and intensified by the choicest melodies of the art
that is said to begin its expression where language ends. That Clara had
some direct share in these songs, besides publishing many of her own,
there can be no manner of doubt. She certainly formed their inspiration,
and must have assisted in the task of preparing them.
These works placed Schumann in the foremost rank of song composers, and
he is now held equal to Schubert and Franz in this form, if not actually
the greatest song-writer in the world. Franz is more delicate, Schubert
more simply melodious, but Schumann's songs are endowed with a warm
vigour of strong emotion that has never been equalled. His
contemporaries felt their force, but hardly realized their full power,
for one of the writers on Schumann's own paper accorded them only a
secondary rank. "In your essay on song-writing," the composer replies,
"it has somewhat distressed me that you should have placed me in the
second rank. I do not ask to stand in the first, but I think I have some
pretensions to a place _of my own_." Posterity has been proud to place
him with the foremost.
In other matters besides those relating to art, the marriage was
perfectly happy. Both husband and wife possessed simple domestic tastes,
and both were endowed with the innate modesty that prevented their being
harmed by the continual praise of the world. They lived for each other,
and for their children. He modelled his compositions on lines to suit
her artistic nature, and she threw herself ardently into the task of
giving these works to the world. Her days were spent in winning fame for
him, or in shielding his sensitive and irritable nature from too rude
contact with the world. Now that his life was one of perfect
tranquillity, he withdrew more than ever from intercourse with
strangers, and became wholly absorbed in his domestic felicity and his
creative work. The complete happiness of his married life was bound to
produce its effect on his nature, and not only in the songs, but in the
larger works also, his most beautiful music is due to the inspiring
influences of this part of his life.
After a time his wife was able to entice him from the quiet home (first
in Leipsic, then Dresden, and finally Düsseldorf) that sheltered this
scene of domestic harmony. Sometimes her tours were taken alone, but at
last she was able to draw him with her into the world. In Germany, in
the Netherlands, in Austria, even in Russia, constant triumphs awaited
them. There were a few exceptions, chief among them being Vienna, the
city where Mozart struggled so long in vain, and where Gluck was unable
to produce more than a passing impression by his great operatic reforms.
But nearly all the places they visited offered admiration and incense to
the faithful pair of artists. Through Schumann's genius, that of his
wife was influenced, and Clara Schumann became far greater than Clara
Wieck had ever been. She became a true priestess of art. She did not
rest until she gave the world a clear understanding of the depth of
thought in his great works. She made her fame serve his, and considered
the recognition of his qualities her own reward. Yet it still happened
at times that this recognition came slowly, and in Vienna, as late as
1846, he was spoken of merely as the husband of Clara Wieck, and after
the court concert given by her, some one turned to him with the
question: "Are you musical, too?"
Gradually the perfect happiness was marred by the growing sickness of
Schumann. Always extremely nervous and excitable, he had on one or two
earlier occasions been forced to forego work. In 1851 the disease
became evident again. By degrees his conduct grew more and more
eccentric, and he became a victim of actual delusions. He often insisted
that he heard one particular note, or certain harmonies sounding, or
voices whispering messages of hope or of sorrow. One night the spirits
of Schubert and Mendelssohn seemed to reveal a theme to him, upon which
he tried to complete a set of variations. At times he would work calmly
and sensibly, but one day, in a fit of mental anguish, he left his
house, alone, and threw himself into the Rhine. Rescued by some boatmen,
he went home to experience a few more lucid periods, but insanity
gradually mastered him. His last two years were spent in a private
asylum near Bonn, where he died July 29, 1846. His wife, who had been on
a tour in London, returned just in time to witness his end. He was
buried in Bonn, near the tombs of Beethoven and Schubert.
As widow, Clara Schumann continued faithfully the work of her married
life. Her many tours were still a means of performing her husband's
music, and she was able to know that her life-work was successful in
Germany at least. Soon after his death, the name of Schumann became
immortal, and the very peculiarities of his work were recognized as
essentially national in character. His widow found a home with her
mother in Berlin, where she stayed for four years, and whither she
returned after twelve years in Baden-Baden. In 1878 she became chief
teacher of piano in the school founded by Doctor Hoch at Frankfort, and
there for ten years she lived and worked with the most complete success.
In 1892 she retired from her labours, and on May 19, 1896, her long life
of usefulness came to a quiet end. Five days later she was laid at rest
with her husband in the peaceful little cemetery at Bonn.
In private life, as well as in public performance, her personality
remained one of earnest simplicity and nobility of thought. She was
admired and loved by all who knew her, and when failing health compelled
her to give up her teaching, their affection showed itself in the
substantial form of a large subscription.
Her compositions, according to the foremost critics, are not numerous,
but show the sincerity of purpose that marks all her work. Even her
earliest pieces, chiefly short dance forms for piano, are redeemed from
triviality by interesting rhythms and fresh, almost abrupt, modulations.
They are mostly delicate rather than forceful, with frequent ornaments
and staccato passages that require a light and skilful touch. Among her
later and more serious works, the G minor trio is musicianly and
interesting; the three cadences to Beethoven concertos are charming
examples of their kind, and the preludes and fugues (Op. 16) form an
excellent legato study, and are eminently successful in construction as
well. A piano concerto, Op. 7, dedicated to Spohr, is short and poorly
balanced, the first movement being a single solo leading into the
andante. The later works, especially the songs, show plainly the
influence of her husband's great genius. The list of her published
compositions is as follows:
Op. 1, Quartre Polonaises, piano.
Op. 2, Caprices en Forme de Valses, piano.
Op. 3, Romance Variée, piano.
Op. 4, Valses Romantiques, piano.
Op. 5, Four Piéces Caracteristiques, piano.
Op. 6, Soirées Musicales, 6 pieces, piano.
Op. 7, Piano Concerto in A minor.
Op. 8, Variations de Concert (Pirate de Bellini), piano.
Op. 9, Souvenir de Vienne, Impromptu, piano.
Op. 10, Scherzo for piano.
Op. 11, Three Romances, piano.
Op. 12, Three Songs from Rückert's "Liebesfrühling."
Op. 13, Six Songs.
Op. 14, Second Scherzo, piano.
Op. 15, Four Piéces Fugitives, piano.
Op. 16, Three Preludes and Fugues, piano.
Op. 17, Trio, G minor, for piano, violin, and 'cello.
Op. 18 and 19 did not appear.
Op. 20, Piano variations on a theme of Robert Schumann.
Op. 21, Three Romances, piano.
Op. 22, Three Romances, piano and violin.
Op. 23, Six Songs from Rollet's "Jucunde."
Without opus number, Cadenzas to Beethoven's concertos, Op. 37 and 58;
Song, "Liebeszauber," Geibel; Andante and Allegro for piano; Song, "Am
Strand;" and a march in E flat, composed in 1879 for a golden wedding.
Clara Schumann edited Breitkopf and Härtel's edition of her husband's
works, and issued a volume of his early letters.
CHAPTER V.
OTHER MUSICAL ROMANCES
Although some of the great composers remained unmarried, many of them
were influenced by women, and the effect is frequently visible in their
compositions. Dedications of musical works to women are apparently a
matter of little moment, but often they are surface indications of some
deep feeling underneath, which is expressed in the music. Especially
will this be found true in Beethoven's case, but it applies also to
Schubert and other composers.
If George Frederick Handel never married, it was certainly not from lack
of an opportunity to do so. In 1703, while still in his teens, he
journeyed with his friend Mattheson, who was in search of a post as
organist, from Hamburg to Lübeck. The place was occupied by the renowned
Buxtehude, who was so advanced in age that he was forced to look for a
successor. The two young aspirants tried the organs and clavicembalos,
but did not care to accept the post. It seems that one of the conditions
bound the successful applicant to marry the organist's daughter, and
neither of them showed the slightest inclination to take this decisive
step.
It is said of Handel that during his Italian trip he became engaged to
the singer, Vittoria Tesi. But his biographer, Chrysander, disbelieves
the story, and the historian Burney speaks of an Italian count as her
lover. According to the latter account, she behaved very generously, and
tried to dissuade her noble admirer from a marriage that would disgrace
him and his family. Finding him insistent, she left her house one
morning, and for fifty ducats persuaded a baker's apprentice to marry
her, the pair to live separately, while the step would be used in
dismissing the poor count. If she had really been engaged to Handel, or
had loved him, she might have had a husband at less expense; and
probably a musician is a more valuable article than a baker's
apprentice.
During his long career in England, Handel was twice nearly married. In
one case the mother of the fair charmer objected to her daughter's union
with a "mere fiddler." Handel drew back with becoming pride, and was
probably not much hurt. Certainly he never lost the magnificent appetite
for which he was famous. Soon afterward the mother died, and the
father, apparently put in control of the family by this event, stated to
the composer that there was now no objection to the match. But Handel
declined the offer, saying that it was too late. The situation was
different from that at Lübeck, and his musical career now stood in the
way of matrimonial ventures. At a later time he wished to marry a lady
of wealth and position, but, as she made it a condition that he should
give up his profession, he declined to pursue the match. None of these
women were of especial influence upon him or his music, and he composed
his long series of operas and oratorios in complete bachelor freedom.
Gluck owed much of his musical success to the aid of a woman. While in
Vienna, gaining fame by his earlier works in Italian style, he won the
interest and esteem of the ladies of the imperial court, among them the
Empress Maria Theresa. He was chosen to direct music at court festivals,
and after one of his later Parisian successes, the empress honoured him
with the post of court composer. Gluck's wife had not the position or
influence to help him in the musical side of his career, as Clara Wieck
did Robert Schumann, but in the cultivated atmosphere of the court he
found one woman who afterward aided him with all the force of her rank
and influence,--his pupil, Marie Antoinette, the future Queen of France.
Even at Vienna Gluck was planning the reforms in opera that were to
banish the prevailing vocal inanities from the stage, and make his name
immortal. He did not minimize the beauty of contemporary operatic music,
but claimed that it consisted merely of a set of conventional arias and
scenas, and that the music did not in any way emphasize or illustrate
the meaning of the words. As in the well-known sextet from "Lucia,"
which divides the sheep from the goats in our own day, the character of
the music was often directly at variance with the spirit of the words.
His memorable production of "Orfeo," though not remodelling the world at
a single stroke, won a full triumph, and showed all music lovers the
force of the new theories.
[Illustration: MARIE ANTOINETTE]
It was the French attaché, Du Rollet, actuated by a sincere admiration
of the Vienna master's works, who first proposed to have Gluck come to
Paris. One of the directors of the Royal Academy of Music, to whom Du
Rollet addressed himself, made the matter public in France, but did not
reply. After some time Gluck himself renewed the agitation for a
hearing, with no better results. That his work was understood is shown
by a note from the Academy to Du Rollet, wherein one of the directors
promises to accept Gluck's opera if he will contract to furnish six
more; for one such work would overthrow all the French operas produced
up to that time. Finding the directors unable to come to a decision,
Gluck appealed directly to the Dauphine Marie Antoinette, who gave the
necessary orders, removed all difficulties, and invited Gluck to the
city where she was to be his faithful friend and patroness through all
struggles and trials.
Of the success of Gluck in Paris, this is hardly the place to speak.
Through all the intrigues of his musical enemies, the queen remained a
firm adherent of the new school. The contest was long and fierce.
Singers left or pleaded some excuse at the last moment; rival composers
produced opera after opera in hope of eclipsing him; critics, for and
against, entered into a protracted war of words and wit; and finally
Gluck's opponents, under the lead of Madame Du Barry, brought in the
Italian Piccini, with the avowed intention of obliterating Gluck's fame.
Great as his genius was, he might have had a harder fight for justice
but for his firm friend at court. He always had access to the queen, and
was always accorded more respect at court than his rivals, Piccini or
Sacchini. Realizing the worth of his own works, he often laid himself
open to the charge of conceit, but the queen was ever ready to defend
him warmly.
Marie Antoinette was herself a composer, and no doubt Gluck's early
tuition was responsible for her musical attainments. Hers was not the
rank nor the period in which a woman could attempt to work in the larger
forms, but her songs were eminently successful. One of those, since made
familiar by a more modern setting, is reproduced for the benefit of the
reader. Its grace and charm will speak for themselves.
With Haydn and Mozart ranking among the married men, the next tonal
master who claims attention is the great Beethoven. He was a mental
giant endowed with intense emotional vigour,--hearing inwardly the
beautiful strains that he wrote down, dreaming of the millennium and
human brotherhood, and expressing in the most heartfelt terms his
yearning for the one and only love who would share his lot with him. Yet
when we come to search for this one and only love, we find that her name
is legion. We also find that Beethoven remained single through it all,
and never won a helpmate to guide his destinies and curb his
eccentricities. His love for women was pure and sincere, if not lasting,
and many indications of the strength of his passion are to be found in
the great works that bear his name.
That Beethoven stood in sore need of a wife to regulate his personal
habits may well be assumed. Probably there never was a lodger who was
more constantly in trouble than this irritable and absent-minded genius.
Wholly absorbed in his music, he never seemed to realize that thumping
the piano at all hours of the day and night might prove disagreeable to
his fellow boarders. Even when not playing, he would think out his great
themes, and fall into a fit of abstraction that might last for hours. He
would stand beating the time, or he would pace the room shouting out his
melodies with full voice. As an antidote to this excitement, he would
pour water over his hands at frequent intervals, regardless of the
damage to the floor and the ceiling below. He was fond of taking long
walks, which he would not omit in wet weather, and when he returned on
rainy days the furniture was sure to suffer. He indulged in the habit of
shaving at his window, to the great amusement of the people passing by,
and the intense chagrin of his landladies. As a result of these traits,
he was forced to make frequent changes of base, and at one time he was
paying rent in four different places at once.
The following story of Beethoven's absent-mindedness is vouched for by
Moscheles: "When I came in early to find Beethoven, he was still abed;
but feeling wide-awake and lively, he jumped up and placed himself at
the window just as he was, in order to examine the 'Fidelio' numbers
which I had arranged. Naturally a crowd of boys gathered under the
window, whereupon he roared out, 'Now, what do those ---- boys want?'
Upon my pointing to his own scantily clad figure, he said, 'Yes, yes,
you are quite right,' and immediately put on a dressing-gown."
Beethoven and his servants usually had hard times getting along with
each other. He was utterly careless and untidy, and the utmost confusion
reigned in his room. "Books and music were scattered in all directions,"
says a visitor. "Here the residue of a cold luncheon; there some full,
some half-emptied, bottles. On the desk the hasty sketch of a new
quartette; in another corner the remains of breakfast; on the pianoforte
the scribbled hints for a noble symphony, yet little more than in
embryo; hard by, a proof-sheet waiting to be returned; letters from
friends, and on business, spread all over the floor; between the windows
a goodly Stracchino cheese; on one side of it ample vestiges of a
genuine Verona salami; and notwithstanding all this confusion, he
constantly praised, with Ciceronian eloquence, his own neatness and
love of order!" When something did go astray, he would complain bitterly
that everything was done to annoy him; but, after a few moments of
raving, he recovered his natural good humour.
Though never married, Beethoven was always in love. He had several
attachments during his youthful days in Bonn, though none were really
serious. Meeting again in later life with one of his early flames, the
gifted singer, Magdalena Willman, he begged her to become his wife, but
met with a refusal. "He was very ugly and half crazy," she said
afterward in excuse. Most of the objects of his later affections were
women of rank and position, but in early years he fell a prey to the
charms of damsels in much more humble stations. According to his pupil,
Ries: "Beethoven never visited me more frequently than when I lived in
the house of a tailor, with three very handsome but thoroughly
respectable daughters."
At twenty, he fell in love with Babette, daughter of the proprietress of
a coffee-house that he frequented. That Babette's charms impressed
others may be gathered from the fact that she afterward became the
Countess Belderbusch. Three years later, Eleonora von Breuning was the
recipient of his devotion, and he would no doubt have found a good wife
in her if she, too, had not finally married some one else. The next
important figure on the list was the Countess Babette de Keglevics,
afterward Princess Odeschalchi, to whom Beethoven showed his feelings in
the shape of the Sonata, Opus 7. The Baroness Ertmann he addressed as
"Liebe, werthe, Dorothea Cecilia," while the Countess Erdödy received
the still warmer greeting of "Liebe, liebe, liebe, liebe Gräfin." All of
these women, and many others, were ready to stand almost any liberty
from Beethoven, and they entertained the warmest affection for him. At a
later date, the Countess Erdödy erected a temple in her park to the
memory of Beethoven. That his affections were changeable, if intense,
was admitted by the composer himself. On being teased about his conquest
of a beautiful woman, he admitted that she had interested him longer
than any of the others,--namely, seven whole months.
More serious was his feeling for the lovely young Countess Giulietta
Giucciardi, one of his pupils. "Life has been made a little brighter to
me lately," he writes, adding later, "This change has been brought about
by a dear, fascinating girl, whom I love, and who loves me. After two
years, I bask again in the sunlight of happiness, and now, for the first
time, I feel what a truly happy state marriage might be." But,
unfortunately, she was not of his rank in life, and later on we find
her, too, marrying another. Beethoven would certainly have married her
if he could have done so, and his epistles to her are full of many
fervid expressions of love. At his death, some letters of the most
passionate description were found in his desk, and for a time it was
thought they were addressed to her, but they are now ascribed to the
influence of her successor.
The Countess Therese von Brunswick, who next received Beethoven's
devotion, had been one of his pupils, and had once been rapped over the
knuckles by him for inefficiency. Twelve years later, in 1806, pupil and
teacher were actually engaged,--secretly, to be sure, but with full
knowledge and consent of her brother. Yet after four years of varying
conditions the match was broken off, and the composer again forced to
take refuge in the lonely comfort of his art.
But he found other consolation in the charms and the companionship of
Bettina von Brentano, whom he met at this time. According to his
letters, she was no whit behind any of the others in being his "dearest
friend," "dearest girl," and "dearest, fairest sweetheart." Soon
Beethoven was to see her, too, married to another, and, if he never
succeeded in taking the fatal plunge himself, he could at least have
the melancholy satisfaction of knowing that all the objects of his
adoration had entered safely into the holy state of matrimony.
In 1811 he met Amalia Seebald, and soon afterward inscribed in her album
the sentiment:
"Ludwig von Beethoven,
Whom if you ever would,
Forget you never should."
His feeling for her was not exactly the effervescent feeling of youth,
but the quieter, deeper sentiment of personal esteem and affection,
which comes later in life, and is therefore more lasting. Her influence
is visible in much of his later music, and the seventh and eighth
symphonies were inspired by her.
That Beethoven took a friendly interest in other love-affairs besides
his own is shown by an incident taking place in Töplitz, where the
actor, Ludwig Loewe, was in love with the landlord's daughter of the
"Blue Star," at which Beethoven used to dine. Conversation was usually
impossible because of stern parents and a multitude of diners. "Come at
a later hour," said the girl; "only Beethoven is here, and he cannot
hear." This answered for a time, but at length the parents forbade the
actor the house. Despite Beethoven's serious reserve, Loewe had often
noticed a kindly smile on his face, and now resolved to trust him.
Finding the composer in the park, he begged him to take charge of a
letter for the girl. Satisfied with the honesty of the young man's
intentions, Beethoven did this, and next day brought back the answer,
keeping up his rôle of messenger during the whole of the five weeks that
he remained in the town.
Franz Peter Schubert was a true son of Vienna. Sprung from the lower
classes, he never felt wholly at ease among the aristocracy, and made no
such deep impression upon them as Beethoven did. He was most at home in
the informal society of his few chosen friends, all men of talent in
some direction, whom he drew about him by his own genius and
good-fellowship. His very nickname, "Kanner-was," taken from his usual
question about newcomers, bears witness to the fact that he would have
nothing to do with any one who did not show intellectual ability in some
direction,--poetry or art, if not music.
Schubert's brief schooling, where his natural gifts were left to
flourish by themselves, was succeeded by three years of musical drudgery
in the shape of school-teaching. But his genius was restless, and he
threw up that post. How he existed during the next few years is a
complete mystery. He lived for a while rent-free, and his wants were
never many, but for some time he apparently got along with no income
whatever. His fertility in composing songs showed itself already. His
later feat of writing "Hark, Hark, the Lark" on the back of a bill of
fare, finishing it within half an hour of his first seeing the poem, is
well known. It seems that he could forget as easily as he invented. At
one time he sent a set of songs to his friend Vogl for inspection, but
the latter was unable to look them over for two weeks. On finding one of
especial interest, Vogl had it transposed to suit his voice, and gave it
to Schubert to play. The composer, after trying it, cried in admiration:
"I say, that's not bad; whose is it?"
At last he obtained the post of private teacher in the family of Count
Esterhazy. It was the Countess Caroline, younger of the two daughters,
who was to become the object of Schubert's later adoration. On the first
visit, however, she was only nine, and we find Schubert, with his usual
promiscuous taste, more at home with the servants than in the
drawing-room. "The cook is a pleasant fellow," he writes; "the ladies'
maid is thirty; the housemaid very pretty, and often pays me a visit;
the nurse is somewhat ancient; the butler is my rival; the two grooms
get on better with the horses than with us. The count is a little
rough; the countess proud, but not without heart, and the two young
ladies good children."
Eight years later he spent another period of six months at the château,
and at this time felt the passion for the young countess that has been
so often alluded to in his biographies. According to Bauernfeld, she
inspired an ideal devotion that sustained and comforted him to the end
of his life. There can be no doubt that etiquette and their difference
in position prevented much intercourse between the two, but his devotion
was apparently as lasting as it was unselfish. According to Kreissle, it
found expression once, on her asking him, in jesting reproach, why he
never dedicated anything to her. "Why should I," came the reply;
"everything I ever did is dedicated to you." One of his posthumous works
bears her name, which would hardly have been printed unless found on the
manuscript in the handwriting of this greatest of tone-poets.
Mendelssohn came of a family that boasted an eminent intellectual leader
of Judaism in the shape of Moses Mendelssohn, the composer's
grandfather. Abraham, the father, brought up his two children, Fanny and
Felix, in the Lutheran faith. Between the brother and sister there
existed the most intimate understanding and affection, lasting through
their entire lives. Both were musically gifted, possessing delicate
hands and taper fingers that were often spoken of as if made expressly
for playing Bach fugues.
Growing to maturity in the delightful family atmosphere that
characterizes the better class of Jews and their descendants, Fanny
Mendelssohn met and loved the young painter, Wilhelm Hensel. Her mother
would not hear of an immediate engagement, but, after five years of art
study in Rome, Hensel returned to become Fanny's betrothed. Felix, now
launched on his professional career, produced an organ piece especially
for the wedding. Another work for family use was his cantata, or opera,
"Son and Stranger," composed for the silver wedding of his parents. This
was prepared without their knowledge, and in order that the non-musical
Hensel might take part with the rest of the family, Mendelssohn wrote
for him a number consisting wholly of one note repeated. Even with this
aid the Muses were unpropitious in the performance, and Hensel could not
hit the right pitch for this note, while all his neighbours tried to
prompt him, and the young composer sat at the piano convulsed with
laughter.
Fanny Hensel led a life of happy activity. She and her brother drew
around them a circle of celebrities that included scientific as well as
artistic leaders. Like her brother, she was a composer. At first,
however, he objected to her publishing her works, on account of her sex,
and half a dozen of her songs without words were brought out among his
own. In 1846 she ventured at last to issue some piano melodies and vocal
works, in compliance with flattering offers from Berlin publishers. Then
her famous brother sent his blessing on her becoming "a member of the
craft," and hoped she would taste only the sweets and none of the
bitternesses of authorship. Her greatest work is a piano trio,[5] which
was not published until after her death. Among other compositions, she
wrote several choruses for Goethe's "Faust," and a number of part-songs.
Her life came to an untimely close. In the year 1847, while conducting
the little choir that she led on Sundays, she met an end as sudden as it
was unexplained. Her hands dropped in an instant from the keyboard of
the piano, and fell limp at her side. In spite of medical aid, death
came after a short interval. It is highly probable that the early
exertions of herself and her brother, which made their talents so
wonderful, resulted in lessening their vital strength.
Mendelssohn himself was married. After his father's death he had wedded
Cécile Jeanrenaud, daughter of a French pastor, and with her he passed a
life of happiness. Fanny speaks in admiration of her beautiful eyes and
expression, and praises her constant gentleness, which so often soothed
her brother's nervous and irritable moods. But not even her kindness
could make Mendelssohn forget the death of his sister, who had been a
second self to him. When he first heard of it, he uttered a shriek, and
fell senseless to the ground. His own death came directly from this
fall, for it caused the breaking of a blood-vessel in his head,
according to his physician. A holiday in Switzerland did some good, but
the sight of Fanny's rooms on his return more than neutralized this
effect. He grew weaker and weaker, until he met his death, less than six
months after that of his sister. The bereaved wife, who had given such
bright domestic charm to the home circle, lingered on for six years, but
drooped in her loneliness until at last consumption carried her off.
In direct contrast to the clean and sunny happiness of Mendelssohn is
the passionate and morbid æstheticism of Chopin. Like Beethoven, the
Polish pianist never married, but, unlike Beethoven, he was not
actuated by the highest of ideals. The first object of his devotion was
the young soprano, Constantia Gladkowska, who was just ready to graduate
from the Warsaw Conservatory when he was attracted by her. He became her
champion in criticism, and his letters are full of emotional outpourings
about her. He gave concerts with her, and found some moments of real
bliss in her society, but she finally married another.
A second affair was his love for Marie Wodzinski, whom he had known in
childhood and met at Dresden. She was just nineteen, and endowed with
charming beauty. The pianist-composer spent many an evening with her at
the house of her uncle, and often joined the family in their walks. But
this affair, too, came to no result. The hour for farewell struck, she
gave him a rose, and he improvised a _valse_ for her. This waltz, which
he afterward sent her from Paris, was the one called "L'Adieu."
That Chopin was fickle in his passions is shown by an anecdote of George
Sand's. According to her, he was in love with a young _Parisienne_, who
received him very kindly. All went well until one day he visited her
with another musician, who was at that time better known than Chopin in
Paris. Because the young lady offered this man a chair before thinking
of asking Chopin to be seated, he never called on her again, and
apparently forgot her immediately. George Sand avers that during all
this period he was considering a marriage in Poland, but other
acquaintances do not confirm this part of the story.
During the ten years passed together by Chopin and George Sand, in
Majorca, Genoa, Nohant, and Paris, Chopin produced most of his important
works. How much they were inspired by her, no one can say. But it is
certain that her care of him in his usually ailing condition must have
been of great aid to him. It is certain that she became an integral part
of his life, for he did not survive their separation longer than two
years. This separation at any rate, was responsible for some of the
Polish master's compositions, for he comforted his wounded spirit by
pouring out his emotions in such works as the great A flat Polonaise.
[Illustration: SYBIL SANDERSON]
A figure of lesser though more recent prominence was Sybil Sanderson.
Her fame on the operatic stage is a matter of the present, in spite of
her death. She inspired the composer Jules Massenet to produce many of
his best works, notably the opera, "Esclarmonde," which was written with
her in view as performer. Another tribute to her is found in the song,
"Femme, Immortelle Été." These are but a few of the more important
instances in musical history, which go to show that woman's influence is
responsible for many works in connection with which her name does not
appear at first glance. The actual women composers, however, form a long
and honourable list, and are by no means confined to the present period
of female emancipation.
CHAPTER VI.
ENGLAND
England's period of musical greatness has been said to be the past and
the future. During the contrapuntal epoch her music flourished as never
before or since, and side by side with the Shakespearian period in
literature came an era of musical glory scarcely inferior to it. During
the Restoration, too, music still held its own, thanks to the genius of
Purcell in opera. But no names of women are recorded, and it is only in
the eighteenth century, and the latter half at that, that they begin to
appear on the roll of fame.
The year 1755 witnessed the birth of two women who were gifted enough to
leave worthy works behind them,--Maria Parke and Mary Linwood. The
former was the daughter of a famous oboist, who gave his child an
excellent training. She became well known as a pianist and singer, and
among other works produced songs, piano sonatas, violin pieces, and
even a concerto for piano, or rather harpsichord. Miss Linwood devoted
herself more entirely to vocal compositions, and published a number of
songs and the oratorio, "David's First Victory." Two operas by her were
left in manuscript.
Mrs. Chazal, who flourished at a still earlier date, won reputation as
an orchestral conductor. This work is hardly deemed to come within
woman's sphere, but the many choral and orchestral festivals of England
offered her a better chance in this direction than her sisters in other
lands could obtain. Mrs. Chazal's works included overtures and an organ
concerto, as well as piano and violin music. Organ compositions seem to
have been fairly numerous in England a hundred years ago, and we find
Jeanne Marie Guest, daughter and pupil of a well-known organist, writing
a number of voluntaries and other selections, also some manuscript
concertos and some piano music. Other instruments were not neglected, as
may be seen from Ann Valentine's "Ten Sonatas for Harpsichord and
Violin," published in 1798. Another good organist was Jane Clarke, who
issued a setting of psalms, as sung at Oxford, in 1808.
Coming nearer to our own times, Elizabeth Stirling, who died in 1895,
was considered one of the very best of English organists. Her works for
that instrument include two grand voluntaries, a half-dozen excellent
pedal fugues, eight slow movements, and many other pieces. She has done
much unselfish labour in arranging selections of Bach and the other
great organ masters, besides publishing songs, duets, and piano works of
her own. In 1856 she tried for a musical degree at Oxford, presenting an
orchestral setting of the 130th Psalm; but, although the work won high
praise, no authority existed for granting a degree to a woman. Marian
Millar, a composer of songs and orchestral-choral works, met with more
success in hunting for the coveted "Mus. Bac." and obtained it by
applying to Victoria University. Augusta Amherst Austen, another
organist, has written songs and hymn tunes, while Elizabeth Mounsey,
also a performer, has published songs and piano pieces as well as organ
works.
Ann Shepard Mounsey (1811-91), afterward Mrs. Bartholomew, a sister of
Elizabeth, is mentioned by Spohr as a child prodigy. She was a friend of
Mendelssohn, who wrote his "Hymn of Praise" for her sacred concerts in
London. A set of "Thirty-four Original Tunes and Hymns" may be classed
as organ work, but her greatest effort took the shape of an oratorio,
"The Nativity." She also wrote a sacred cantata, and many lesser vocal
works, including excellent solo and ensemble songs. Emma Mundella
(1858-96) received an education both long and broad, and brought forth
part-songs, piano pieces, church music, and an oratorio, "The Victory of
Song." Elizabeth Annie Nunn (1861-94) also produced religious works,
and, besides songs and various church music, published a Mass in C.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, the mechanical skill of
Sebastian Erard made the harp extremely popular. At that time English
households contained harps much as they do pianos at present.
Excellently adapted as it was for women's performance, it is not
surprising to find women composing for it also. Elizabeth Anne Bisset,
Hannah Binfield, and Olivia Dussek, afterward Mrs. Buckley, were three
famous examples of female skill in writing for the instrument.
Of song composers there have been a multitude. Among the early ones,
Ellen Dickson (1819-78), under the _nom de plume_ of Dolores, won a wide
reputation. Her works are still sung, the most popular being her setting
of Kingsley's brook song, "Clear and cool." Frankly simple in style, but
full of pretty melodies, were the songs of Mrs. Charles Barnard
(1834-69), who became widely known under the pseudonym of "Claribel."
With her may be classed the ballad writers, such as Mrs. Jordan (Dora
Bland), who composed the "Blue Bells of Scotland," or Lady Scott (Alicia
Anne Spottiswoode), the author of "Annie Laurie" and other well-known
songs. Mary Ann Virginia Gabriel (1825-77) was best known by her many
tuneful songs, but wrote also part-songs, piano pieces, and a number of
cantatas and operettas. Charlotte Sainton-Dolby (1821-85), the famous
singer and friend of Mendelssohn, was also most widely appreciated
because of her songs, though her cantatas, "The Legend of St.
Dorothea" and "The Story of the Faithful Soul," were often performed.
Sophia Julia Woolf (1831-93) won fame by her piano pieces and her opera,
"Carina," as well as through her songs.
Kate Fanny Loder, not content with songs and the opera "L'Elisir
d'Amore," has composed an overture for orchestra, two string quartettes,
a piano trio, piano and violin sonatas, minor piano pieces, and some
organ works. Caroline Orger (1818-92) was another talented composer
whose work possessed sincerity and artistic value, and was above the
merely popular vein. Among her productions, which have been often
performed, are tarantellas, a sonata, and other piano pieces, a 'cello
sonata, a piano quartette and trio, and a piano concerto.
Alice Mary Smith (1839-84) seems to have been on the whole the foremost
woman composer that England has yet produced. A pupil of Sterndale
Bennett and Sir George A. Macfarren, she devoted herself wholly to
composition, and made it her life-work. Her music is clear and well
balanced in form, excellent in thematic material, and endowed with an
expressive charm of melodic and harmonic beauty. Among her orchestral
works are two symphonies, one in C minor and the other in G; four
overtures, "Endymion," "Lalla Rookh," "The Masque of Pandora," and
"Jason, or the Argonauts and Sirens;" a concerto for clarinet and
orchestra, and an "Introduction and Allegro" for piano and orchestra.
Her chamber music is also successful. It consists of four quartettes for
piano and strings in B flat, D, E, and G minor, also three string
quartettes. With the orchestral works should go two intermezzi for "The
Masque of Pandora," finished later than the overture. Her published
cantatas include "Rüdesheim," "Ode to the Northeast Wind," a strong
work, "The Passions" (Collins), "Song of the Little Baltung" (Kingsley),
and "The Red King" (Kingsley). Her many part-songs, duets, and solos are
imbued with rare melodic charm, as may be seen from the famous duet,
"Oh, that we two were maying." Her career, though none too long in
years, was one of constant creative activity.
There are a number of English women who have done excellent work in the
large orchestral forms, if we may count festival performances as a
measure of success. Edith Greene has composed a symphony, which was well
received at London in 1895. To her credit may be placed many smaller
works of real merit, among them a worthy violin sonata. Amy Elsie
Horrocks, born in Brazil, brought out her orchestral legend, "Undine,"
in 1897. She has also composed incidental music to "An Idyl of New
Year's Eve," a 'cello sonata, variations for piano and strings, several
dramatic cantatas, a number of songs, and many piano and violin pieces.
Besides doing this, she has won fame as a pianist. Mrs. Julian Marshall,
born at Rome, has produced several orchestral works, as well as several
cantatas, an operetta, a nocturne for clarinet and orchestra, and a
number of songs. Oliveria Louisa Prescott, a native of London and a
pupil of the Royal Academy of Music, is responsible for two symphonies,
several overtures, a piano concerto, and some shorter orchestral pieces,
besides vocal and choral work.
Dora Bright, born at Sheffield in 1863, another student of the Royal
Academy, is one of England's most gifted musicians at the present time.
She became assistant teacher of piano, harmony, and counterpoint, and
won many prizes, being the first woman to obtain the Lucas medal for
composition. Her two piano concertos are praised by critics for their
"bright and original fancy and melodious inspiration of a high order,
coupled with excellent workmanship." The orchestral colouring is said to
be thoroughly exquisite. A fantasia for piano and orchestra was given at
the London Philharmonic Concerts in 1892, the first instance of a
woman's composition being given by that orchestra. Her string quartettes
have won notice, also her piano duos, a violin suite, some flute and
piano pieces, and several piano solos and songs.
Alice Borton has published an "Andante and Rondo" for piano and
orchestra, as well as several piano works (suite in old style) and a
number of songs. Edith A. Chamberlayne has composed two symphonies, as
well as a manuscript opera, a sextette for harp, flute, and strings, and
various harp, organ, and piano music. Edith Swepstone has had some
movements of an unfinished Symphony performed, also an overture, "Les
Tenebres," at London in 1897. She has written a piano quintette and a
string quartette, besides short cantatas and the usual lesser pieces for
violin, piano, and voice. Marie Wurm, born at Southampton in 1860, is a
successful pianist as well as composer. Her concerto in B minor is
highly praised for excellent workmanship, originality, and melodic
strength and charm. Among her other works are a concert overture, a
string quartette, violin and 'cello sonatas, some five-voiced madrigals,
with various piano pieces and songs.
Rosalind Frances Ellicott has won a place of honour among women
composers. She was born in 1857, and is a daughter of the Bishop of
Gloucester. Her music is not especially ecclesiastic in vein, but
includes many notable secular compositions. Among her important works
are dramatic, concert, and festival overtures, and a fantasia for piano
and orchestra, all given at various English festivals. Of her various
cantatas, the "Birth of Song," "Elysium," and "Henry of Navarre" have
met with the most success. She has written two piano trios, a string
quartette, and much music for 'cello, piano, and voice.
Ethel M. Smyth, who recently was brought into notice in America by the
performance of her opera, "Der Wald," is one of England's talented
musical women. In purely orchestral vein she has produced a serenade in
D and the overture "Antony and Cleopatra," both being given at the
Crystal Palace in 1890. She has shown originality in other than
operatic fields, and her greatest work is a Mass in D. This is a
composition of decided merit, and is full of sustained dignity and
breadth of style. It is intensely modern in quality, and its expressive
feeling is somewhat reminiscent of Gounod, but it is not in any sense an
imitation of the great Frenchman. Her string quintette has been
performed at Leipsic. She has written a violin sonata and the usual
number of minor pieces and songs. Her opera has received much praise,
but the final verdict rates it as rather confused and undramatic, in
spite of much good music in the score.
Many women have attempted opera, but none have met with more than
temporary success. In England, owing to the example of Gilbert and
Sullivan, light operas and operettas have flourished to a considerable
degree. Mary Grant Carmichael met with some success through her
operetta, "The Snow Queen," but like Miss Smyth gave the world a more
important work in the shape of a mass. Ethel Harraden, sister of the
novelist, had her opera, "The Taboo," brought out at the Trafalgar
Square Theatre, London, with excellent results. She has composed an
operetta, "His Last Chance," besides vocal, choral, and violin pieces.
Harriet Maitland Young has completed several operettas, of which "An
Artist's Proof" and the "Queen of Hearts" were successfully performed.
Annie Fortescue Harrison witnessed the production of her "Ferry Girl"
and "Lost Husband" at London. Louisa Gray's "Between Two Stools" has
been given at many places. Ida Walter's four-act opera, "Florian,"
received a London performance in 1886. Florence Marian Skinner has made
Italy the scene of her work. Her "Suocera," in serious vein, appeared at
Naples in 1877, while her "Mary, Queen of Scots," after being given at
St. Remo and Turin, received a London hearing.
England is preëminently a land of musical festivals, at which choral
work plays an important part. London and the larger cities have their
regular series of concerts, and the size of the capital attracts outside
artists, but many of the smaller towns have annual occasions, at which
local talent is sure to receive a full appreciation. This accounts for
the prevalence of cantatas in the English musical repertoire. Subjects
of all sorts are used, and dramatic, romantic, or even simple pastoral
themes appear to delight the British ear when set to music and given by
some singing society.
Among the many women who have attempted this form of composition, some
have already been mentioned, but a number have been satisfied with it
for their only efforts in extended style. Lizzie Harland produced her
dramatic cantata, "C[oe]ur de Lion," in 1888, following it with the
"Queen of the Roses" for female voices. Ethel Mary Boyce, winner of
various prizes, has composed "Young Lochinvar," "The Sands of
Corriemie," and other cantatas, as well as a March in E for orchestra.
Miss Heale, another London aspirant, is credited with "Epithalamion,"
"The Water Sprite," and other choral works. Emily M. Lawrence has
produced "Bonny Kilmeny" and "The Ten Virgins," both for female voices,
while Caroline Holland has written the cantata, "Miss Kilmansegg," and
the ballad, "After the Skirmish," for chorus and orchestra. Miss Holland
has won laurels as a conductor, besides being known as a composer. All
of these have done a greater or less amount of work in the small forms,
for piano, voice, or violin.
Still longer is the list of women who have worked wholly in the shorter
forms. Yet the absence of ambitious work must not be taken to indicate a
lack of musical genius, for many of England's best known musical women
rest their fame upon a few short pieces. There is a vast difference
between good music and great music, and a song of real worth often
outlasts an ambitious but overswollen symphony that is laid on the shelf
after one hearing.
In the field of violin music, there are many women deserving mention.
Margaret Gyde, after taking prizes and scholarships, produced two
excellent violin sonatas, besides piano pieces, songs, and some organ
music. Contemporary organists, in passing, are well represented by Kate
Westrop, who has published four short voluntaries for organ. Laura
Wilson Barker, wife of Tom Taylor, has entered the classical arena with
a violin sonata, and has done more ambitious work in the music to "As
You Like It" and the cantata "[OE]none." Caroline Carr Moseley has
produced several pieces for violin and 'cello, and has written one or
two dainty works for toy instruments. Mrs. Beatrice Parkyns, born of
English parents at Bombay, has several charming violin compositions to
her credit, and the same may be said for Kate Ralph, a native of
England. Emily Josephine Troup is another violin composer, who has also
tried her hand at songs and piano pieces. Maggie Okey, at one time wife
of the pianist De Pachmann, and now married to Maître Labori, famous as
the advocate of Dreyfus, has composed a violin sonata, a violin romance,
and several piano pieces. Kate Oliver is responsible for some concerted
music, while Alma Sanders has produced a piano trio, a violin sonata,
and a piano quartette. To-day Ethel Barns heads the list of violin
composers among women.
[Illustration: MAGGIE OKEY]
By far the most important name in this field of woman's work is that of
Agnes Zimmermann. Born in Cologne in 1847, she received her musical
education in London. At the Royal Academy of Music she studied piano
under Pauer and Potter, afterward attaining high rank as a performer. In
composition, her teachers were Steggall and George Macfarren. She won
the silver medal of the Academy, and obtained the king's scholarship
twice, in 1860 and 1862. In the next year she made her London début, and
a year later appeared with the Gewandhaus orchestra at Leipsic. Her fame
as a classical pianist was soon established, and her excellent work in
editing the sonatas of Beethoven and Mozart bore added testimony to her
musical knowledge. Her compositions include a piano trio, three violin
sonatas, a suite and other pieces for piano, and a number of songs. Her
clear style and thorough musicianship have given these works more than a
passing value, and she is reckoned to-day as one of England's leading
women composers.
Still more numerous than the violin composers are the women who have
shown their ability merely in the form of a few piano pieces. Almost
every eminent performer is at some time tempted to express his own
musical thoughts in writing. Such has been the case with Arabella
Goddard, the famous pianist. Born near St. Malo, in 1838, she played in
her native place at the age of four. At six she was studying with
Kalkbrenner at Paris. At eight she played before Queen Victoria, and
published six piano waltzes. Among her maturer works are an excellent
ballade and several other piano selections. Dora Schirmacher, born in
1862, was less precocious, but won the Mendelssohn prize at Leipsic,
where she studied under Wenzel and Reinecke. Her works consist of a
suite, a valse-caprice, a sonata, a serenade, a set of tone pictures,
and so on. Amina Beatrice Goodwin was another child prodigy, first
playing in public at the age of six. She studied with Reinecke and
Jadassohn at Leipsic, Delaborde at Paris, and finally with Liszt and
Clara Schumann. She has published many piano selections, besides
founding a pianoforte college and publishing a good book of practical
hints on technique and touch. She is married to an American, Mr. W.
Ingram-Adams. The list of piano composers might be extended much
further, but these are the most representative names.
Of the long list of song composers, but few have produced anything of
marked artistic value. Foremost among these at present is Liza Lehmann,
who has recently become famous through her song cycle, "In a Persian
Garden." She came of a gifted family, for her father, Rudolph, was an
excellent artist, and her mother a composer of songs, which were
modestly published over the initials "A. L." Her grandfather was Robert
Chambers, famed by his Encyclopædia. Born in London, she studied singing
with Randegger, and composition afterward with Freudenberg, of
Wiesbaden, and the Scottish composer, MacCunn. She expected to make a
career as a singer, but found herself so extremely nervous whenever
appearing that she was forced to abandon the idea. She persevered
awhile, however, and has been frequently heard in Great Britain and
Germany.
In 1894 she retired and married Mr. Herbert Bedford. Only then did she
begin those efforts in composition that have since met with such great
success. She has published a number of songs and some piano and violin
pieces, but is always thought of in connection with her cyclic setting
of the Persian poet, Omar Khayyam. When she composed this, she was
little known, and fortune as well as fame was a stranger to her. Oddly
enough, all the London publishers refused this work, which has since
then charmed two continents. Finally it was sung at her house by a
gathering of musical friends, the performers being Ben Davies, Albani,
Hilda Wilson, and David Bispham. They were so delighted with it that
they brought it out at the Monday "Pops," and after that its success was
assured. There are other song cycles by this composer, notably "In
Memoriam," but none equal the "Persian Garden." It is full of rich
passages of exquisite beauty, moving pathos, and strong expression.
Frances Allitsen passed a lonely childhood in a little English village.
She would improvise warlike ballads for amusement, though her later
works and her character are marked by gentleness of thought. She hoped
to make a name by singing, but unfortunately lost her voice. Her family
were all hostile to a musical career, and regarded her tastes as most
heinous. She describes the scene of her youth as a place "where, if a
girl went out to walk, she was accused of wanting to see the young men
come in on the train; where the chief talk was on the subject of
garments, and the most extravagant excitement consisted of sandwich
parties." Domestic misfortunes and illness left their mark on her, but
could not hinder her musical progress. She finally sent some manuscripts
to Weist Hill, of the Guildhall Music School, and with his approval came
to London. Her days were spent in teaching, to earn money with which to
pay for her studies in the evening, but she braved all difficulties,
and finally won success. She is best known in America by her songs,
which are really beautiful settings of Browning, Shelley, Longfellow,
Heine, and other great poets. But she is a master of orchestral
technique as well. Her overture, "Slavonique," was successfully
performed, and a second one, "Undine," won a prize from the lady
mayoress. Her room is a delightful gallery of photographs of artists and
musicians. She has a picture of Kitchener, whose example, she says,
ought to cure any one of shirking; hence the mistaken anecdote that she
could not work without a picture of Kitchener on her desk.
Mrs. Rhodes, known in the musical world as Guy d'Hardelot, was of French
ancestry and birth. She spent her childhood in a Norman castle, and her
youth in Paris and London, studying music. After marriage she met with
reverses, and was forced to earn a living by teaching. She studied
composition with Clarence Lucas, and gives him great credit for
developing individuality. She has three excellent guiding
maxims,--"Avoid familiar things, choose words so clear that people can
see the picture, and be sure that the climax comes at the end."
Her songs succeed in combining the elegance and lightness of the French
school with the appealing simplicity of the English. Her reputation was
established with her first publication, the melancholy and dramatic
"Sans Toi." Her many succeeding lyrics range from liveliest humour to
deepest pathos, and all are thoroughly artistic. Widely known are "Sans
Toi," "Mignon," "Vos Yeux," "Say Yes," "Chanson de Ma Vie," "La
Fermière," "Valse des Libellules," and many others. Her favourite poets
are Victor Hugo and Ella Wheeler Wilcox, a rather strange mixture. Her
only attempt in larger form is the operetta "Elle et Lui." She is a
great friend of Mme. Calvé, who is especially fond of her songs. She has
accompanied Calvé on an American tour, and has appeared with her before
Queen Victoria at Windsor. She sings herself with a light but attractive
voice and the most perfect diction. Of late she has composed for Calvé
some acting songs, such as "The Fan."
Maude Valerie White takes rank among the very best of England's song
writers. Born at Dieppe in 1855, she entered the Royal Academy at the
usual age, completing her studies at Vienna. During her student days she
produced a mass, and at various times she has composed violin and 'cello
pieces, but she has won most fame, as well as much money, by her songs.
Grove considers the best of these to be the settings of Herrick and
Shelley; he gives high praise to her setting of the latter's "My soul
is an enchanted boat," and considers it one of the finest songs in our
language. Her other lyrics include such gems as "To Mary," "Ophelia's
Song," "Ave Maria," and so forth, besides a number of exquisite German
and French songs. Her careful attention to the metre and accents of the
words, combined with the excellence of the poetry she chooses and the
real worth of her music, have won the admiration of all music lovers.
Florence Gilbert, a sister of the well-known dramatist, has won some
renown as a ballad composer. She studied harmony and composition with
Stainer and Prout, and after this excellent training spent much time in
creative work. For a long time she let her songs remain in manuscript,
out of diffidence as to their value. Finally Mme. Helen Trust, the
singer, came upon them, and obtained permission to bring out the
"Message to Phyllis." Its success was pronounced, and the composer was
easily persuaded to issue her other works.
One of the older group of song composers is Clara Angela Macironi, whose
work has been known many years. Born in 1821, she studied in the
Academy, and became one of its professors. Her suite for violin and
piano is well written, but she is known to the general public chiefly by
her part-songs. Some of these have been sung by three thousand voices
at the Crystal Palace. She has published many songs for solo voice also,
but these are hardly equal in musical worth to the productions of the
more recent geniuses.
Less high in standard, but vastly popular, are the songs of Hope Temple,
of whose works "My Lady's Bower" and "In Sweet September" are probably
familiar in many households. Edith Cooke has found a vein of dainty
playfulness in "Two Marionettes" and other similar songs. The
productions of Kate Lucy Ward are graceful and musicianly, while
Katharine Ramsay has written some admirable children's songs. Without
enumerating more, it may be worth mentioning that the famous Patti has
tried her hand at composing songs, and that Lady Tennyson has set some
of her husband's lyrics, although he is said to have been tone-deaf and
unable to appreciate any music.
The Irish songs of Alicia Adelaide Needham are said to be exceptionally
good, and thoroughly new and local in flavour. Ireland is also
represented among women composers by Christina Morison, who produced a
three-act opera, "The Uhlans," and wrote many songs; Lady Helen Selina
Dufferin, whose songs are widely known, especially the "Lay of the Irish
Emigrant;" and Lady Morgan, born in the eighteenth century at Dublin,
and known through her operetta, "The First Attempt."
Scotland can show no great woman composer. There are a few ballad
writers besides those already mentioned, but they are of little
importance. Wales can boast one musical daughter in Llewela Davies, who
won a large collection of prizes while at the Royal Academy. Her works
include three sketches for orchestra, a string quartette, a number of
songs, and a violin sonata that received a London performance in 1894,
and was highly praised by the critics.[6]
CHAPTER VII.
GERMANY
It is only natural that the country whose composers have led the world
for more than two centuries should produce many musical women. The list
excels not only in point of length, but in merit and priority. It begins
with the nun Roswitha, or Helen von Rossow, who flourished at the end of
the tenth century, and won renown by her poetry, some of which she set
to music. But in modern times many important names are found in Germany
at a time when few or none appear in other countries.
Music was considered a proper relaxation for royalty, and in the
eighteenth century every petty court aimed to keep its orchestra and
performers, while very often the exalted hearers would try their own
hands at playing or composing. Frederick the Great was especially fond
of music, and played the flute with much skill and persistence, and his
sister, the Princess Anna Amalie, was as gifted as her brother in a
musical way. She wrote many compositions, of which an organ trio has
been published in a Leipsic collection, while her cantata, "Der Tod
Jesu," represents a more ambitious vein. Contemporary with her was Maria
Antonia, daughter of the Emperor Charles VII., and pupil of such famous
men as Porpora and Hasse. Her musical aspirations took the form of
operas, of which two, "Il Trionfo della Fedelta" and "Talestri," have
been published recently. Amalia Anna, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, composed
the incidental music for Goethe's melodrama, "Erwin and Elmira," and won
flattering notices, though part of their praise may have been due to her
rank. Maria Charlotte Amalie, Duchess of Saxe-Gotha, published several
songs, and wrote a symphony for an orchestra of ten instruments.
Coming into the nineteenth century, we find the Princess Amalie of
Saxony possessed of considerable talent. Her skill showed itself in the
form of various pieces of church music and no less than fourteen operas,
best among them "Die Siegesfahne" and "Der Kanonenschuss." The Empress
Augusta herself, wife of Kaiser Wilhelm I., besides always fostering the
art of music, was gifted with a talent for composing, even in the larger
forms. Among her works are an overture, the ballet "Die Maskerade," and
several marches, of which one is on the German army lists at present.
Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen, who lived but twenty-four years,
found time to compose several marches and a number of songs and piano
pieces.
Among living composers, Princess Beatrice of Battenberg is the author of
a number of melodious songs, also an orchestral march and some church
responses. Saxe-Meiningen seems to hold its own in the present as well
as the past. Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Emperor Frederick III.,
has composed some military and Turkish marches, also a tuneful "Cradle
Song" for violin and piano. Marie Elizabeth, of the same principality,
counts among her works an "Einzugsmarsch" for orchestra, a Torch Dance
for two pianos, a number of piano pieces, and a Romanze for clarinet and
piano.
One of the most notable female figures in German music was Maria Theresa
von Paradies. Born at Vienna in 1759, she met with an accident when
three years old, and became blind for life. Even with this drawback,
however, her musical aptitude was so great that her parents were
justified in letting her begin regular studies and procuring the best
teachers for her. At the age of eleven she appeared in public, singing
the soprano part of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and playing her own
accompaniment on the organ. This interested the Empress Maria Theresa,
who procured the best of teachers for her. She made such rapid progress
in piano that at her first concert she was able to arouse the utmost
enthusiasm by her expressive and sympathetic performance. She made a
number of concert tours, winning plaudits everywhere. In Paris, where
she stayed six months, she appeared at the Concerts Spirituelles, and
played frequently before Marie Antoinette. After various royal audiences
in England and Germany, she returned to Vienna, where she soon retired
from public life, and devoted herself to teaching and composition.
Her memory was something phenomenal. It is said that she was able to
play no less than sixty concertos with the most absolute accuracy,
besides knowing any number of smaller piano works. Her power of
concentration is also made evident by the fact that she would dictate
her own compositions, note by note, without the slightest alteration.
Very few, even among the great composers, have possessed this faculty.
Wagner and Mendelssohn were perhaps the most gifted. Beethoven's great
works were the result of much careful correction, and in some cases
represent as many as six or eight revisions.
Her compositions have won praise from the greatest musicians, and show
merit of a high order. Among her dramatic works, the most successful in
point of performance are "Rinaldo and Alcina," a fairy opera
(appreciated in its day much as "Hansel and Gretel" is in our own), the
melodrama "Ariadne and Bacchus," and the pastoral operetta "Der
Schulcandidat." Her other works include a piano trio, a number of
sonatas and variations for piano, several songs and other vocal works,
besides a few cantatas. Her remarkable gifts won her the friendship of
the foremost musicians of her time. Among others Mozart admired her
greatly, and dedicated a concerto to her.
Another figure of musical importance was Marianne Martinez. Born at
Vienna in 1744, she began her musical studies while still a child. Her
first efforts at composition were made when she was twelve years old,
and met with a most favourable reception, though of course they cannot
compare with her later productions. She was an excellent pianist, or
what would correspond to a pianist in our day, and among her teachers on
the harpsichord was Haydn himself. She became equally proficient in
singing, under the great teacher, Porpora, and the historian Burney
speaks of her vocal accomplishments with unstinted praise.
Among the works of her maturer period, her church music ranks highest
of all. Her oratorio "Isacco," with words by Metastasio, is her
worthiest production, and met with deserved success when performed at
Vienna in 1788. Besides this work, she composed two other oratorios, a
successful mass, a four-part Miserere, a number of psalms for four and
eight voices, with orchestral accompaniment, several motets, and many
other pieces of a religious character. The list of her works does not
end here, but comprises symphonies, overtures, and other orchestral
numbers, including several piano concertos. Taken as a whole, her works
entitle her to a worthy place among women composers of all time.
Leaving the eighteenth century, the next woman composer of note is
Emilie Zumsteeg. Born at Stuttgart in 1796, she soon showed that she had
inherited the musical taste of her father, himself a well-known
composer. On his death, six years later, the widow supported herself by
keeping a music-store, where the growing daughter absorbed much
knowledge of the art. Soon she began regular study, and won her way into
notice by her singing and piano-playing. Her sight-reading abilities
were something phenomenal, and she could play from full instrumental
scores with ease. Her home became the centre of a brilliant circle,
including Weber, Hummel, Lindpaintner, and poets as well as musicians.
She was much prized as a teacher of piano and singing, and a personal
favourite in her native city. Of her compositions, the most ambitious is
an overture to the play "Die Geister Insel." She wrote also several
piano pieces, among them three polonaises. But according to German
authority,[7] it is her songs that have made her memory honoured. Her
originality and her skill in metrical treatment have won her high
praise, and many of the songs achieved wide popularity.
Leopoldine Blahetka, the Austrian pianist, was one of the most prolific
of women composers. Born near Vienna in 1811, she made such rapid
progress under her mother's tuition that by Beethoven's advice she was
placed under Czerny in her fifth year. She pursued composition as well
as piano, and when twelve years old was able to appear in Vienna and
play a set of variations with her own orchestral accompaniment. Among
her later teachers were Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, and Sechter. She made
frequent tours, and met with universal success. The criticisms of her
work include an extremely favourable notice by Schumann. In 1840 she
settled in Boulogne, where she became renowned as a teacher, and led a
successful career until her death in 1887.
Of her many works, the most ambitious are a piano concerto, the
"Souvenir d'Angleterre" for piano and orchestra, and two sets of piano
variations with orchestral accompaniment. Among her numerous examples of
chamber music are found variations for string quartette and piano, two
piano quartettes, a piano trio, several violin sonatas, a polonaise, and
sets of variations for 'cello, violin, and flute with piano. She has
composed a grand duet and a number of solos for piano, also numerous
vocal duets and songs. Her operetta, "Die Räuber und die Sänger," was
successfully produced at Vienna.
One of Germany's greatest women composers was Emilie Mayer. Hers was a
fortunate position, for she was always well provided for, and could
exercise her powers without the need to think of the financial result.
She was born in Friedland in 1812, her father being "Apotheker," a
position of far more importance in German towns than that held by our
pharmacists. Emilie showed the usual signs of musical talent, and was
given the best of teachers. After advanced work with Carl Loewe, the
great ballad composer, she entered the musical life of the German
capital. Here she gave a concert as her introduction, playing the piano
herself, and making the programme entirely of her own compositions. On
this occasion were given a concert-overture, a string quartette, Psalm
118 for voices and orchestra, and two symphonies, the "Militaire" and
the B minor. This was an imposing array, but it was only a beginning,
and her productive career continued until her death in 1883.
Not all of her works have been published, but all show good thematic
material and an unusual sense of musical form. The list includes many
dances and songs, two string quartettes, two piano quartettes, two
quintettes, ten piano trios, eight violin sonatas, twelve overtures,
Psalm 118 with orchestra, seven symphonies, and an operetta. This is
certainly an extensive catalogue for any composer. Among the printed
works, the best are the "Faust" overture, Op. 46; the violin sonatas,
Op. 17 and 21, also the nocturne, Op. 48, an expressive work; the 'cello
sonata, Op. 47; the piano trio, Op. 13; and for piano solo an allemande,
Op. 29, that is full of masculine power and energy.
Agnes Bernouilly, a native of Berlin, was another woman who devoted
herself to orchestral productions. Her works in the larger forms have
been given often by the Saro orchestra and others, while her songs and
piano works have received much praise from the critics. Another composer
of renown was Aline Hundt, one of Liszt's best pupils, who was born in
1849, and died at the early age of twenty-four. In her short career she
wrote a march for orchestra, a "Champagnerlied" for tenor solo, chorus,
and orchestra, selections for viola and violin with piano, a number of
male choruses, and several songs and piano pieces. Theresa Schaeffer has
composed a festival overture for grand orchestra, besides many piano
pieces and songs. Anna Benfey-Schuppe wrote an overture for "Götz von
Berlichingen," as well as incidental music to other plays and various
chamber works. Nanette von Schaden, a native of Salzburg, composed two
piano concertos, as well as numerous sonatas and rondos for piano.
Constanze von Buttenstein, besides issuing a number of songs and piano
works, has published an "Ave Maria" for alto voice, with an orchestral
accompaniment that is sometimes reduced to organ and string quartette.
Among other symphonic writers, Nina von Stollewerck, a native of
Austria, is credited with two symphonies. She has written other
ambitious works, besides songs and male choruses of some merit. Agnes
Tyrell is another Austrian, having been born at Brunn in 1848. She
pursued her studies at Vienna, where she became an excellent pianist as
well as a composer. Among her works are a symphony, three overtures, and
a number of smaller orchestral selections, as well as some worthy piano
pieces.
Louisa Adolpha Lebeau, born at Rastatt in 1850, is undoubtedly one of
the most gifted of living women composers, not only in her own country,
but in the entire world. Her teachers include such famous names as Clara
Schumann and Kalliwoda for piano, and Rheinberger in composition. She is
an excellent pianist, and has made frequent and successful tours to all
the great cities of Germany. Her appearance at the Gewandhaus concerts
in Leipsic is in itself a proof of her superior attainments in this
direction. She often performs her own works, which are always
successful.
[Illustration: LOUISA ADOLPHA LEBEAU]
With the exception of symphony and opera, her compositions include
practically every form used in modern music. Her Concert Overture, Op.
23, first performed in 1882, has been repeatedly given in Germany. Her
Festival Overture, also, has met with a warm reception. Her piano
concerto, Op. 37, is another work that is frequently heard, while the
Fantasia, Op. 25, for piano and orchestra, practically another concerto,
is rich in musical beauty, and contains a _finale_ of exceptional
strength. Among orchestral works with chorus, her oratorio, "Ruth," Op.
27, is a work of extreme beauty, and one which has been heard in all the
important cities of Germany, Austria, and Holland. The cantata
"Hadumoth" is another valuable work, showing great dramatic strength and
an excellent handling of large choral effects. A concert aria for
baritone and orchestra, "Im Sängersaal," is also worthy of mention.
It is her chamber music, however, that is responsible for her greatest
triumphs. This is marked by the utmost clearness of thought and theme,
and shows a most pleasing originality. It has been highly complimented
by such a great musician as Lachner, and one of her pieces for 'cello
and piano carried off first prize in a competition at Hamburg, in 1882,
in which many noted composers had entered. Of great merit is a
quartette, Op. 28, for piano, violin, 'cello, and viola. Another worthy
work is the string quartette, Op. 34. Her trio, Op. 15, for piano,
violin, and 'cello, the 'cello sonata, Op. 17, and the violin sonata,
Op. 10, have been classed with the very best examples of their kind. Her
other works include a number of piano pieces, among them some excellent
fugues, three solos for the humble and seldom-heard viola, and a lovely
romance for violin and piano.
A number of other German women have attained prominence through their
concerted music. Josephine Kanzler, born at Tolz in 1780, wrote two
string quartettes, besides piano sonatas and songs. She was a pupil of
the famous Abt Vogler. Helene Liebmann, about fifteen years later,
produced several quartettes of the same sort, as well as two piano trios
and a number of violin sonatas, piano pieces, and songs. Clementine
Batta has published a Melodie Religieuse for voice, piano, 'cello, and
organ. Louise Kern has shown a fondness for combining violin, organ, and
piano. Louise Langhans (maiden name Japha), born at Hamburg in 1826, is
usually given an honourable place in the German lists of women
composers. She studied with Robert Schumann, at Düsseldorf, and became
famous as a pianist. Her compositions, not all published, include
several string quartettes, a piano trio, sonatas, choral works,
fragments of an opera, and a number of effective piano pieces. Among
contemporary composers, Mathilde von Kralike has published a piano trio
of some interest.
Of the women who have attempted large choral works, there are several
besides those already mentioned. Baroness Bertha von Bruckenthal has
received high praise for her "Grand Messe Solennelle," and for some
four-voiced numbers with organ accompaniment. She has also written
pieces for violin, 'cello, voice, and piano. Angelica Henn, one of
Kalliwoda's best pupils, is credited with a "Missa Solemnis," also an
opera, "The Rose of Lebanon," and some songs and instrumental works.
Anna Pessiak-Schmerling, born in Vienna, was for many years teacher of
singing at the conservatory there, and won more than a local reputation
through the performance of her masses. Johanna Kinkel is responsible for
a "Bird Cantata," as well as an operetta and many popular songs. Hers
also is the well-known quartette, "The Soldier's Farewell." Agathe
Plitt, a child prodigy in her early years, is still an excellent
pianist, and has entered the lists in composition with a number of
successful cantatas, psalms, motets, and other sacred works. Hermine
Amersfoodt-Dyck won fame by producing the cantata, "Gottes
Allgegenwart."
In the operatic field, Josepha Müller-Gallenhofer, born at Vienna in
1770, seems the pioneer. Besides her opera, "Der Heimliche Bund," she
published a string quartette and many pieces for the harp, upon which
she was an excellent performer. Caroline Wiseneder, of Brunswick,
deserves notice for her aid to the blind, for whom she started a
successful music school. Her two operas and several melodramas were
published after her death. Auguste Goetze, born at Weimar in 1840, grew
up to success as a singer of German _Lieder_, and founded an opera
school at Dresden. Of her operas, "Susanna Monfort," "Magdalena," and
"Eine Heimfahrt," have been frequently performed. Elise Schmezer has
composed the opera "Otto der Schütz," besides a number of songs. Thekla
Griebel has had her opera, "Schön Karen," produced twice within recent
years. Elise Bachmann published a melodrama, "Die Macht der Musik," also
some songs and piano pieces in popular vein. Among less important works,
the Countess of Ahlefeldt issued the ballet, "Telemach und Calypso," in
1794. Julie von Pfeilschifter, born in 1840, is author of the grand
ballet, "Vöglein's Morgengruss" and the dramatic _scena_, "Agneta,"
which have pleased Wiesbaden audiences; also a number of piano
selections and songs.
Among those who have written for the violin, Francesca Lebrun, one of
the earliest, was born at Mannheim in 1756. A remarkably great singer
and accomplished pianist, she won laurels in composition by her
musicianly piano trios and her sonatas with violin accompaniment.
Pauline Fichtner, born in 1847, became one of Liszt's pupils, and won
many public triumphs as a pianist. Her works, mostly piano pieces and
songs, contain two fantasies for violin and piano. Marie Hendrich-Merta,
five years younger, is the author of an excellent piano trio, besides
the usual song and piano selections. Mary Clement has written a violin
sonata and shorter pieces that have won encomiums from no less a man
than Max Bruch. Henrietta Heidenreich has composed a number of violin
pieces, and Mathilde Heim-Brehm has done the same. The Countess
Stephanie Vrabely Wurmbrand wrote a violin sonata, also several piano
works and incidental music to "Die Schöne Melusine."
In the field of piano music, Emilie Belleville-Oury is worthy of
mention. Born at Munich in 1808, she made that city her residence until
her death in 1880. She became extremely proficient as a pianist, and won
many public triumphs. In one of Robert Schumann's criticisms is an
interesting comparison between her work and that of Clara Schumann.
"They should not be compared," says the great critic. "They are
different mistresses of different schools. The playing of Madame
Belleville is technically the finer of the two; Clara's is more
impassionate.... Madame Belleville is a poetess, Clara is poetry
itself." The works of this virtuoso are largely made up of
transcriptions and arrangements, but contain some excellent compositions
of her own.
Though not credited with any composition in larger form than songs or
piano pieces, Josephine Lang won a high artistic rank among the women
composers of Germany. Born at Munich in 1815, she began her piano
studies when five years old, and made progress enough to allow a public
appearance in her eleventh year. Four years later Mendelssohn met her
and became her teacher in counterpoint and thoroughbass. He was charmed
by her gifted and poetic nature, and calls her "one of the loveliest
creatures I have ever seen. She has the gift," he continues, "of
composing songs, and of singing them, in a degree that I have never
known before." To help support her parents, she did some teaching, and
sang in the royal chapel with such success that she was named for the
post of royal court singer. In 1842 she married Christian Köstlin, who
obtained a law professorship at Tübingen, and there she passed fourteen
happy years. The death of her husband was followed by the loss of her
three sons, and she was forced once more to struggle for a living. In
this later period of trial and success, she published most of her
compositions. The songs, amounting to a hundred and fifty in number, are
remarkable for their strong feeling and expressive power, while her
piano works are stamped with originality and depth of conception. Among
the latter are the great "Deutscher Siegesmarsch," two mazurkas, and an
impromptu, "In the Twilight." Her eulogistic biographer calls these
pieces "Real pearls among piano works."
[Illustration: ADELE AUS DER OHE]
Delphine von Schauroth was another brilliant pianist, much praised by
Schumann and excessively admired by Mendelssohn. A Sonata Brilliant and
a Capriccio are among her best works. Minna Brinkmann is a voluminous
writer of pieces in lighter vein. Lina Ramann has won fame by her
literary work, but has published several worthy compositions also.
Constanze Geiger, who appeared at Vienna as an infant prodigy when six
years old, has written several piano pieces, also an Ave Maria for
soprano, chorus, and organ. Marie Wieck, Clara Schumann's younger
sister, has composed a few excellent piano pieces and a number of songs.
Sophie, Countess of Baudissin, has published variations, études,
nocturnes, and other piano works. Josephine Amann is another German
piano composer. More familiar to the American public is Adele Aus Der
Ohe, a pupil of Liszt and Kullak, who has established her reputation as
a pianist. She has composed several piano suites and a concert étude,
besides a number of successful songs. Adele Lewing is another pianist
residing in America who has produced vocal and instrumental pieces.
Among other composers of songs may be mentioned Louise Reichard, whose
father was Chapelmaster to Frederick the Great. Her works are mostly
sacred in character. Marie Börner-Sandrini, who lived at Dresden before
entering on her career as a famous opera singer, wrote a popular Ave
Maria, besides other melodious songs. In the domain of sacred music,
Louise von Vigny has done some good work. Ida Becker has won
well-deserved success with her children's songs, which are inimitable in
their way. Her cantata, "Die Heilige Nacht," for soloists and chorus, is
often heard. Marie Hinrichs Franz, wife of the great composer, was
herself a song-writer of exceptional merit, and deserves more than a
passing mention.
In the field of organ music, Clotilde Kainerstorfer is the leader
to-day. Her works, which are all of a high standard, consist of numerous
hymns and some choral numbers, all with organ accompaniment. Marianne
Stecher is another successful organist and composer, and her many fugues
earn her a high rank for musicianship. Of earlier date was Judith
Bachmann, who flourished at Vienna near the close of the seventeenth
century. She is credited with a number of organ fugues, as well as a
piano sonata.
Coming to the less usual instruments, Ottilie Heinke, who lives in
Berlin, has composed two 'cello romances, besides worthy piano music.
Sophie Seipt, of Cologne, has also published a number of 'cello pieces.
Caroline Krämer became a virtuoso on the clarinet, and wrote a good many
pieces for that instrument. Therese Winkel was a famous harp player of
the early nineteenth century, and published three sonatas for harp and
violin. Nina Eschborn has composed a number of pieces for the harp,
besides songs and duets. Fanny Christ and Ida Zaubiter have become noted
as zither players, and have written many compositions for that
instrument.
CHAPTER VIII.
FRANCE
Famous among women composers of all nations is Cécile-Louise-Stephanie
Chaminade. She was born at Paris in 1861, of a family that was well
endowed with musical taste. In childhood, she made the piano her
favourite companion, and while other girls were devoted to their dolls,
she would try to express in tones the simple emotions that moved her.
There are some gifted mortals who can think in music, whose joys and
sorrows translate themselves naturally into melody. Cécile Chaminade was
one of these.
[Illustration: CÉCILE-LOUISE-STEPHANIE CHAMINADE]
So earnestly did she devote her childish days to music that before the
age of eight she was already able to show some attempts of her own at
composition. These juvenile works, which consisted of sacred pieces,
were of such interest to the composer Bizet that when he heard them he
advised her parents to give her a complete musical training, and
predicted a brilliant future for her. In spite of their fondness for the
art, the parents had no inclination to see their child upon the thorny
and toilsome path of a musical career. Meanwhile the young girl devoted
herself to the piano with utmost ardour, and continued her efforts at
composing. When at last some of her pieces were judged worthy of
performance in the church at Vesinet, her parents were persuaded to let
her follow her inclinations. Her father insisted, however, that her
general education should not be sacrificed, and the result was several
years of hard work.
Her teachers were LeCouppey in piano, Savard in harmony, counterpoint,
and fugue, Marsick in violin, and Benjamin Godard in composition. Under
these she made rapid progress, and, in fact, the latter part of her
education consisted in playing chamber music with Marsick and Delsarte.
Her own début as pianist took place when she was eighteen, and gave a
chance for the performance of a few of her compositions. These were so
effective that they occasioned the often-quoted remark of Ambroise
Thomas,--"This is not a woman who composes, but a composer who happens
to be a woman."
Her career has been one of constant progress and constant triumph. Her
talents as a pianist have won public hearings for her in London,
Berlin, Leipsic, and many other cities besides her native Paris. She has
been especially in demand for the performance of her own concerto, which
has been given in the Gewandhaus and London Philharmonic concerts, as
well as those of Lamoureux and Colonne in Paris. Her works have become
widely known, and her name is now a familiar one, not only in France,
but in England, Continental Europe, and America.
Her most ambitious compositions are "Les Amazones," a lyric symphony
with choruses; a one-act ballet, "La Sevillane," still in manuscript;
and the grand ballet and symphonic _scena_ entitled "Callirrhoe,"
successfully given at Marseilles and Lyons, and now published in many
different arrangements. Her concerto for piano and orchestra has
received high praise from the critics, who seem always ready to laud its
refined melodic charm and graceful delicacy of sentiment. The one defect
seems to be an excess of vigour and virility in certain of the later
movements. Her other orchestral works consist of two suites, one of them
being arranged from "Callirrhoe."
Of lesser instrumental music, she has written two successful trios. Her
piano pieces are many in number, and excellent in quality. Among them
is a group of four and eight-hand works for two pianos, as well as duets
for a single instrument. Among her most important solo works are a
sonata, an _Étude Symphonique_, a Valse Caprice, a Guitarre, an
Arabesque, six Études de Concert, five Airs de Ballet, containing the
well-known Scarf Dance, six Romances Sans Paroles, and six humourous
pieces. She has also written a few selections for violin and piano.
It is undoubtedly her songs that have made her fame so widespread. She
has published over sixty in all, nearly every one endowed with the
delightful charm that is associated with her name. These songs are full
of the rarest and most piquant melodic beauty, and the accompaniments
are rich in colour and originality. A well-known critic writes: "Her
music breathes the true spirit of romance shown in the poems that
inspire it. Her themes are never commonplace or affected, and are
gracefully supported by fluent, appropriate, and finely blended
harmonies." Among her most recent compositions are some choral works,
three of these, for orchestra in old style, being of especial interest.
Her "Pardon Breton," "Noel des Marins," and "Angelus," for orchestra,
are also worthy of mention, as well as her set of six "Poemes
Evangeliques." She is now at work upon a three-act lyric drama.
Augusta Mary Ann Holmes was born at Paris in 1847. Of Irish parentage,
she afterward became naturalized as a Frenchwoman. Her family were much
opposed to a musical career, and insisted on her giving it up. They did
not approve of any artistic pursuit for her, but allowed her to take up
painting as the lesser evil. Her love for music overcame all obstacles,
and she soon began to appear as a child-prodigy in public and private
concerts. Her early compositions took the form of songs, but when only
eleven she conducted a quickstep of her own, played at Versailles by an
artillery band. Her really great works, however, did not appear until
many years later.
[Illustration: AUGUSTA MARY ANN HOLMES]
Her first opera, "Hero et Leandre," was successfully produced in 1874,
and the psalm, "In Exitu," appeared at about the same time. In the next
year she became a pupil of Franck, whom she considers her real master,
and after that great works came thick and fast. An Andante Pastorale
from an unpublished symphony met with a favourable reception. Then came
the symphony "Lutece," which was second only to works of Dubois and
Godard in a Paris competition. This was followed by the symphonic poem,
"Pologne." Meanwhile she made another effort to win a prize with her
lyric drama "Les Argonautes." Out of twenty-four votes, she received
nine, her partisans being the best-known musicians on the jury. Next
came the symphonic poem, "Irlande," the "Vision de Sainte Therese," for
voice and orchestra, the symphonic ode, "Pro Patria Ludus," inspired by
a painting of Puvis de Chavannes, and the great "Ode Triomphale," given
at the Exposition in honour of the centenary of 1789.
The success of the Triumphal Ode was so marked that the composer's fame
reached foreign lands, and the city of Florence ordered from her the
cantata, "Hymne à la Paix," in celebration of the Dante festival. Her
impressions of Italy are recorded in her next suite, "Au Pays Bleu,"
which charmed all hearers by its expressive interest. Her other choral
works include the "Hymne à Apollo," and the allegorical cantata, "La
Vision de la Reine." Her latest symphonic poem, "Andromede," produced a
marked effect. Her last opera, "La Montagne Noire," was not especially
successful, though given with Alvarez, Breval, and other great artists
in the cast. The operas, "Astarte" and "Lancelot du Lac," are in
manuscript.
Mlle. Holmes has composed a number of songs, all endowed with an unusual
share of beauty. She writes her own words in almost all cases, as she is
able while doing this to hear in a vague way the music which she
afterward sets to them. Hers is a virile genius. "These women seem
preoccupied, first of all," says one critic, "to make people forget that
they are women.... Whatever Mlle. Holmes may do, or whatever she may
wish, she belongs to the French school by the vigour of her harmony, her
clearness, and the logic of her conception and exposition." Imbert, who
has written a biographical sketch of her, says: "The talent of Augusta
Holmes is absolutely virile, and nowhere in her works do you find the
little affectations which too often disfigure the works of women. With
her, nobility of thought and sentiment take first place. She worships
the beautiful, and her Muse has sung only subjects that are worthy of
being sung. She is masterly in her ease, and all the resources of
orchestration are known to her."
Maria Felice Clemence de Reiset, Vicomtesse de Grandval, is another name
as famous as it is extensive. Born in 1830, she showed innate taste for
music, and her career was devoted to it. She received instruction from
Flotow at first, doing more valuable work afterward with Saint-Saëns.
For a time she was able to take lessons of Chopin. Her works include
practically all forms of composition, but she has shown especial
aptitude for dramatic work and church compositions.
Of her many dramatic works that have been successfully produced, "Le Sou
de Lise" appeared first, in 1859. Among the operas brought out at a
later date are "Les Fiancés de Rosa," "La Comtesse Eva," "La Penitente,"
"Piccolino," and "Mazeppa." A lyric scene, "La Forêt," for soloists,
chorus, and orchestra, met with a successful production in 1875. Among
her vocal compositions are many songs, some with violin and organ
accompaniments.
Her sacred music takes rank with the very best that modern writers can
show. Her two masses have been frequently given at Paris. Her two
oratorios, "Sainte Agnes" and "La Fille de Jaire," met with a similar
favourable reception. Her Stabat Mater contains an effective "March to
Calvary" and a beautiful "Juxta Crucem," and received the enthusiastic
homage of the critics when first brought out. Several smaller works, for
voices, organ, and piano, are no whit behind the larger compositions in
musical worth. She has also written a grand overture, "Esquisses
Symphoniques," a piano trio, a violin sonata, a suite for flute and
piano, and many other violin and piano pieces. She deserves to rank
among the foremost women composers of our time.
Jeanne Louise Farrenc was another Parisian woman who won fame by
composing. Born in 1804, her career falls in the earlier part of the
nineteenth century. Pursuing the usual studies, harmony with Reicha, and
piano with Hummel and Moscheles, she began to write ambitious works at
an early age. Such merit did some of these works show that Schumann, who
reviewed them, was at first inclined to doubt her ability to write them
unaided. She deserves credit for making a remarkable collection of old
clavichord and piano music, and writing a clear summary of the terms and
abbreviations employed by the early musicians.
Her own compositions have been often performed, even the larger
orchestral numbers. Chief among them are two symphonies and three
overtures. Her chamber music includes a nonette and sextette for
strings, two quintettes, several piano trios, in two of which clarinet
and flute replace the usual violin, a number of sonatas and other pieces
for violin and piano, several 'cello sonatas, some flute and piano
pieces, and numerous piano works and songs. Her daughter, Victorine
Louise, was another gifted musician, but died after a brief career,
leaving a heritage of piano works and songs.
Louise Angelique Bertin, born in 1805, was one of those impatient
creatures who are eager to read books before learning the alphabet. In
taking up painting, she wished to start in at once with canvas and
brush, regardless of preliminary training. In her musical studies the
same tendency showed itself, and immediately on beginning her work in
composition with Fétis, she commenced writing operatic airs and scenes.
Apparently she was able to estimate her own talents justly, for success
crowned her efforts. Her first opera, "Guy Mannering," was performed in
private, but "Le Loup Garou" made a marked public success. Her "Faust,"
a later work, met with a like favourable reception, although
"Masaniello" and "William Tell" had already taught the Paris public to
be exacting. "Esmeralda" was another successful work, but "Notre Dame,"
written to a libretto of Victor Hugo's own arrangement, proved a
failure. Mlle. Bertin won further musical fame by her string quartettes
and trios, as well as her choruses and songs. She was also a poetess of
some renown, and her collection of verse won a prize from the French
Academy.
Pauline Viardot-Garcia was one of a remarkable musical family. Her
father, Manuel Garcia, was a singer and teacher of note, and, like her
elder sister, Mme. Malibran, she received the benefit of his tuition.
One of her earliest memories of his singing was connected with an
unexpected appearance in America, when a band of Mexican robbers, not
content with relieving them of the proceeds of their tour in this
hemisphere, added insult to injury by insisting upon hearing the great
tenor sing. Pauline became renowned in opera, and, after the early death
of her sister, held the foremost place on the European stage. She was
able to impersonate and create rôles of the most diverse nature, ranging
from the lightest of Italian heroines to the most dramatic characters of
Meyerbeer. After a career of fame and honour, she left the stage and
devoted herself to teaching, and it is in that period of her life that
her compositions appear. Her house in Baden-Baden was the centre of
attraction for a circle including not only musicians, but artists,
poets, and nobility of the highest rank. There she produced her
operettas, "Le Dernier Sorcier," "L'Ogre," and "Trop de Femme." At first
arranged for private performance, they succeeded so well that they were
given to the public. Of her other works, twelve romances for piano,
twelve Russian melodies, and six pieces for violin and piano are the
most important. She numbered many famous names among her pupils, and her
singing exercises are of unusual value.
Her sister, Marie Felicitas, at first wife of M. Malibran, and afterward
married to the violinist De Beriot, was one of the world's greatest
singers, and her career is too well known to need description. Her fame
as a composer rests on a number of attractive romances and chansonettes,
of which an extensive collection was published in Paris. Louise Pauline
Marie Viardot, afterward Mme. Heritte, was a daughter of Pauline
Viardot, and possessed all her mother's talent for composition if not
for singing. After a sojourn at the Cape of Good Hope, where her husband
was consul, and a four-years' term as professor in the St. Petersburg
Conservatory, she settled down to teaching and writing in Paris. Among
her many works are the operas, "Lindoro" and "Bacchus Fest," and the
cantatas, "Wonne des Himmels" and "Die Bayadere." Her chamber music
includes four string quartettes and two trios. In the lesser forms she
produced a number of songs, vocal duets, and piano pieces. Another
member of this famous family, Manuel Garcia, is still living. He is a
brother of Malibran and Pauline Viardot.
Gabriella Ferrari is another gifted French composer of orchestral works.
She is a pupil of such men as Dubois and Gounod, and has done much in
the larger forms. Among her works are a number of orchestral suites,
many piano pieces and songs, and the comic opera, "Le Dernier Amour."
Mme. Renaud Maury is another composer who is able to handle large
masses of instruments. She drew attention to herself by carrying off the
prize for fugal work at the Conservatoire, at a time when women were
expected to take a more modest place in composition. Her "Fantasie
Symphonique" and "Jeanne D'Arc" are often given before French audiences.
The Marquise Haenel de Cronenthal, one of the older generation, has
produced several symphonies, a number of sonatas, a string quartette,
numerous piano works, and the opera, "La Nuit d'Epreuve," which won a
gold medal at the Exposition of 1867. Célanie Carissan has produced the
operetta, "La Jeunesse d'Haydn," and the oratorio, "Rebecca," besides
other choral works and many songs and piano pieces.
The roll of operatic composers in France is long and honourable. Just as
England seems the home of cantatas, and Germany of orchestral work, so
France is especially devoted to opera, and her women have held their own
well in this field. As far back as the seventeenth century, Elizabeth
Claude de la Guerre upheld the glory of her sex by playing and
improvising in a masterly fashion. One of her greatest admirers was the
king, Louis XIV., himself. Besides a number of sonatas, she wrote a "Te
Deum" to honour the king's recovery from illness, and a number of
cantatas. Her opera, "Cephale et Procris," was successfully given at
the Academic Royale in 1694. Another composer of the same century was
Mme. Louis, whose operetta, "Fleur d'Epine," met with a good reception.
In the eighteenth century, Henriette de Beaumesnil was one of the
foremost musical women in France. Endowed by nature with a fine voice,
she became one of the leading artists in the Paris Grand Opera Company.
When her voice failed, she took up composition, and succeeded in that
also. Most popular among her many operas were "Anacreon," "Les
Legislatrices," and "Les Saturnales." Emilie Candeille was the daughter
of a dramatic composer, from whom she received a solid musical
education. Her works include piano trios, sonatas, and songs with piano
and harp, besides the operetta, "La Belle Fermière," and the comic
opera, "Ida." Mlle. Duval was another grand opera singer, and author of
the ballet, "Les Genies." Mlle. Kercado, of later date, produced the
operetta, "La Méprise Volontaire." Lucille Grétry, daughter of the
famous composer of that name, produced "Le Mariage d'Antonio" when only
sixteen years, and followed it up with "Toinette et Louis." Her career
was cut short in her twenty-fourth year by an untimely death.
Edme Sophie Gail-Garre, who flourished at the beginning of the
nineteenth century, won some renown by her very popular songs and piano
pieces, but was known chiefly by her successful operas. Among these were
"Les Deux Jaloux," "Mlle. de Launay," "La Méprise," and "La Serenade."
Mlle. Guenin, another youthful aspirant for fame, produced "Daphnis et
Amanthée" in her seventeenth year. Louise Puget wrote romances and
chansons that were remarkably pretty and popular, if not very ambitious,
and produced the operettas, "Le Mauvais Oeil" and "La Veilleuse,"
besides the opera, "Beaucoup de Bruit pour Rien." Helene Santa
Colona-Sourget, author of some beautiful songs and a string trio,
produced a one-act opera, "L'Image," in 1864.
Pauline Thys is a writer who has won considerable dramatic fame. She has
published some songs, but has devoted herself almost wholly to the
stage. Among her successful operettas are "La Pomme de Turquie" and "La
Perruque du Bailli." Her comic operas have been very well received, and
include such favourites in their time as "Le Pays de Cosagne," "Le
Cabaret du Pot-Cassé," "Le Fruit Vert," and "Le Mariage de Tabarin." She
has also composed the lyric drama, "Judith." Comtesse Anais de
Perrière-Pilte (Anais Marcelli) produced several successful operas and
operettas, among them "Le Sorcier" and "Les Vacances de l'Amour." The
Baroness de Maistre wrote a number of worthy religious works, among them
an excellent "Stabat Mater." Of her operas, "Les Roussalkas" met with a
success when produced in Brussels. Marguerite Olagnier is a composer
whose productions show real worth. Her "Sais," performed in 1881,
contained many beautiful numbers. She has written another opera, "Le
Persan."
Marie de Pierpont was a talented writer for the organ, as well as an
excellent performer on that instrument. She entered the operatic field
with a work entitled "Le Triomphe du C[oe]ur," which is reckoned her
best production. The Baroness Durand de Fortmague was successful as an
amateur, and her "Bianco Torello" and "Folies d'Amour" have been
frequently given. Mlle. de Sainte-Croix has written a number of
successful one-act operettas, which have been well received in the Paris
theatres. Mme. Amélie Perronet has won laurels in the same field, and
has written some popular chansonettes. Charlotte Jacques rests her fame
on a single work, "La Veille." Mlle. Gignoux has directed her talents to
the lyric drama, "La Vision de Jeanne d'Arc" being her most notable
work. Hermine Dejazet is another operetta composer. Mme. Gallois is
responsible for several ballets, besides songs and piano works, while
Hedwige Chrétien-Genaro, a professor at the Conservatoire and a musician
of real worth, won much success with her "Ballet Oriental."
In the domain of choral music, Mme. Delaval, a famous harpist of the
eighteenth century, produced a cantata depicting the farewell of the
unfortunate Louis XVI. to his people, which met with much success, but
was naturally not a favourite in revolutionary France. She was also the
author of much good harp music and many songs. Marie Sophie Gay, born at
Paris in 1776, is credited with several cantatas, besides a good deal of
piano music. Marie Anne Quinault was another eighteenth century composer
who devoted her talents to the writing of motets and other church music.
The Comtesse de Saint-Didier, born in 1790, was an amateur whose
cantata, "Il Est Rendu," met with some success at Paris. In later times,
Mme. Helene Robert-Mazel, an excellent pianist, produced the cantata,
"Le Jugement Dernier," besides a number of interesting songs and a
valuable collection of children's vocal music. Cécile Derheimer was
another gifted composer who wrote a number of masses and other religious
music, while Mme. Alphonse de Neuville, widow of the well-known painter,
has composed a worthy mass, besides violin works and songs. These names
are enough to prove that French women could equal their English sisters
in this field, if the national taste demanded it of them.
With those who have written concertos should be classed Rosa La Roche,
who lived in the latter half of the eighteenth century, and published a
number of sonatas besides a successful piece for piano and orchestra.
Mlle. Lechantre, of the same period, composed a work that was only a
concerto by courtesy, for her orchestra consisted of two violins, two
oboes, viola, and double-bass. In the nineteenth century, Mme. Marie
Jaell, born Trautermann in 1846, took a position of some importance. She
became a successful pianist, winning prizes at the Conservatoire, and
publishing a new method of piano teaching that roused widespread
attention and comment. Her compositions include a piano concerto, a
piano quartette, and a number of excellent smaller works, such as an
impromptu, two meditations, six petits morceaux, and some valses for two
pianos.
Among violin writers, Mlle. Brisson, who flourished in the early part of
the last century, produced a number of pieces for that instrument with
piano, as well as some harp and piano music. Virginie du Verger was the
author of three duets for violin and piano, besides a piano sonata and
some études. In the field of piano music, the earliest name is that of
the Marquise de la Misangere, who was born in 1693. Her ability as a
performer on the clavichord was something remarkable, and she left
behind her a number of works for her instrument. At the end of the
eighteenth century, Mme. Helene Montgeroult held a prominent position as
teacher in the conservatory and publisher of sonatas and other piano
pieces.
In the early years of the nineteenth century, Mme. Marie Bigot won a
great reputation by her playing. Her ability to read at sight was
unusually marked, and she played the Sonata Appasionata of Beethoven
from his manuscript in a way that astonished and delighted the composer.
She did much to introduce Beethoven's piano works to Parisian audiences.
Among her own compositions are many excellent piano pieces. Camille
Marie Pleyel was another fine Parisian pianist, and a pupil of Moscheles
and other great masters. Schumann gave high praise to her performances.
She, too, published a number of piano works. Louise Massart, who
succeeded Mme. Farrenc as a Conservatoire professor, was another piano
composer of note. Among contemporary pianist-composers, Berthe Marx
takes high rank. She won prizes and medals at an early age, and became
famous through many concert tours, partly alone and partly in company
with the violinist Sarasate. Her works include a number of excellent
display pieces. She is now Mme. Otto Goldschmidt. Two other brilliant
performers and writers for the piano are Charlotte Tardieu de Malleville
and Helene Collin.
Louise la Hye deserves mention with the organ writers. She was a
grandniece of the great Jean Jacques Rousseau, and flourished in the
first part of last century. She won her laurels early, being cut off by
an untimely death when only twenty-eight. She had already attained a
professorship of harmony in the Conservatoire, and published many
valuable organ works, besides pieces for piano and other instruments.
Several masses by her remained in manuscript.
Among the song composers of the eighteenth century belongs Mme. de
Travenet, whose romances and chansons, with piano or harp, became very
popular. Pauline Duchambge, of later date, won great success in a
similar manner. Hortense, Queen of Holland (1783-1837), published an
album of her own songs at Paris. Mlle. Molinos-Lafitte is credited with
a number of songs, which form another Parisian collection. In connection
with singing, the excellent teaching work of Mme. Marchesi has been
supplemented by the publication of numerous sets of admirable vocalises
from her pen. In the realm of harp playing, the Comtesse de Genlis
became noted in the eighteenth century, and published many compositions
for the instrument. Marie Pollet, somewhat later in point of time, wrote
a number of harp pieces, and played them in her many concert tours.
Theresa Demar was another celebrated harpist and harp composer.
CHAPTER IX.
AMERICA
If the term America be applied, as is often the case, only to the United
States, then the list of its women composers will still be found to
include practically all who have done work in this line in the Western
hemisphere. By far the larger part of these women are living now, for
our musical growth has taken place in recent years. The record is
already a worthy one, and will become still more extensive in the near
future.
At the head of the list stands Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, the one great name
to be found in our country. She was born in Henniker, N. H., on
September 5, 1867, her maiden name being Amy Marcy Cheney. She is
descended from one of the oldest New England families, and her middle
name indicates her relationship to the Marcy line, which includes the
famous cabinet officer, William L. Marcy.
Mrs. Beach's love of music, which she inherited from her mother's
family, began to show itself almost at once. From the time when she was
only a year old, she began to amaze her family and their friends by the
most astonishing musical feats. She proved herself possessed of absolute
pitch; she memorized dozens of tunes; she listened for hours at a time
to violin music, while pieces in minor keys caused her such grief that
they were employed by her parents in place of punishments. At the age of
two she was given a photographic sitting, and at the critical moment she
electrified the group about her by suddenly singing Handel's "See, the
conquering hero comes." The photographer, who had been rehearsing that
work for the first peace jubilee, was astounded to find that she gave it
with the most perfect accuracy. Her power of memory exerted itself in
other fields, and almost as soon as she learned to read she was able to
recite long and difficult selections. She also showed a marked ability
to improvise melodies and sing an accompanying part to any given theme.
Her active mind associated a certain definite colour with each musical
key, a habit which continues to the present time.
[Illustration: MRS. H. H. A. BEACH.]
At the age of four she succeeded in obtaining permission to touch the
piano, although she was so small that she had to improvise a pedestal in
order to reach the keys. She soon learned many pieces, and began to
compose little waltzes of her own. One of these was thought out wholly
without the piano, and played correctly three months afterward. She read
from printed notes before she knew their names, and found no trouble in
making transpositions at will. At six she insisted on having regular
lessons, which were begun by her mother, and continued for two years at
home. During that period she learned many difficult works, including
études by Heller and Czerny, some Chopin valses, and various movements
of the Beethoven sonatas, including the whole of the first one. At this
time also she grew interested in the works of Bach, and learned to
understand and appreciate the beauty of the interweaving voices in a
fugue.
At the age of eight, her parents took her to Boston to pursue her
general education. The musical authorities who heard her play insisted
that she was able to enter any one of the great European conservatories,
but with due regard to her health and her other studies, her parents
wisely decided not to let her go. She was sent to Mr. W. L. Whittemore's
private school, where she manifested all her usual quickness of
attainment. Her piano work was greatly aided by her quick ear and
accurate memory, and she was able, for example, to reproduce a Beethoven
sonata without notes, merely after hearing a fellow pupil practise it.
Another use to which she put this accomplishment was the collection of
bird songs, of which she now possesses a complete volume. Her skill in
this direction was employed by ornithologists in obtaining the notes
sung by the California larks.
Her more serious musical education was pursued under Mr. Ernst Perabo at
first, and afterward under Junius W. Hill, of Wellesley College, and
Carl Baermann. Under Professor Hill she took a single course of harmony,
but in all the important subjects of counterpoint, fugue, musical form,
and instrumentation, she carried on her work entirely alone. Among the
tasks she set for herself was the translation of the books on
orchestration by Berlioz and Gevaert. Another consisted in memorizing
Bach fugues and rewriting them with a voice on each staff.
She made her Boston début as a pianist in 1883, at the age of sixteen,
playing a Moscheles concerto and a Chopin rondo. Her success was
instantaneous, and in the same season she gave several recitals with
similar result. In the next year she played a Chopin concerto with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, and a Mendelssohn work with the Thomas
Orchestra. Since then she has appeared constantly in all of our large
cities, often devoting whole programmes to her own works. At one of the
Symphony concerts she brought out her own concerto. In December, 1885,
she married Doctor Beach, and has since then made Boston her permanent
home.
The first performances of her large works have often been events of
importance. In 1892, when she brought out her mass in E flat at the
Handel and Haydn concerts, she was on the programme for the piano part
of Beethoven's Choral Fantasie, and the ovation she received on her
appearance will not soon be forgotten by those present. Her "Jubilate"
cantata was written for the dedication of the women's building at the
Chicago Exposition, and scored a great success there. During the fair,
she played for the first time her romance for violin and piano, in
conjunction with Miss Maud Powell. A violin sonata, which she composed
later and played with Mr. Franz Kneisel, has become a favourite with the
most famous artists in Paris, Berlin, London, and other great musical
centres. The same popularity and favourable mention have been accorded
to her piano pieces and songs, the Italian audiences especially becoming
enthusiastic over some of the latter.
Her Gaelic Symphony, built on real Gaelic themes, was another ambitious
work. It was first given at Boston in 1896, and since then has gone the
rounds of all the great American cities. Among her other large works are
three cantatas, with orchestral accompaniment that can be reduced to
dimensions suitable for piano. They are "The Rose of Avontown," for
female voices, "The Minstrel and the King," for male chorus and
soloists, and "Sylvania," a wedding cantata recently published. Another
vocal work of great merit is an _a capella_ motet, while among her
earlier compositions is the _scena_ for contralto and orchestra,
entitled "Eilende Wolken," on a text from Schiller's "Maria Stuart."
Mrs. Beach's piano works consist of a cadenza to Beethoven's C minor
concerto, a valse-caprice, a ballade, four sketches, a "Bal Masque"
Waltz, a Children's Carnival and Children's Album, her concerto in C
sharp minor, a transcription of Richard Strauss's "Serenade," five
pieces (Barcarolle, Menuet Italien, Danse des Fleurs, Scottish Legend,
Gavotte Fantastique), and a set of six duets entitled "Summer Dreams."
For violin and piano, besides the two works already mentioned, are three
pieces, "La Captive" (G string), "Berceuse," and "Mazurka," all three
being arranged for 'cello and piano also. Her vocal works include more
than sixty songs, most of which are well known to American music lovers.
Some are provided with violin _obligato_, while others have orchestral
accompaniments. There are a number of part-songs for different
combinations of voices, and several sacred selections for various
occasions. Among her songs the favourites are "Fairy Lullaby,"
"Ecstasy," "Thy Beauty," "Scottish Cradle Song," "Elle et Moi,"
"Spring," "Hymn of Trust," some sets of Shakespeare, Browning, and Burns
poems, and many others,--in fact, practically the entire list.
Margaret Ruthven Lang, another of Boston's gifted musical women, was
born November 27, 1867. The name of her father, Mr. B. J. Lang, is
familiar to all Americans who can claim to know anything of music. Her
mother was an exquisite amateur singer, and in the musical atmosphere of
the family the daughter's talents have had every opportunity to develop.
She commenced her piano study under a pupil of her father's and
continued it under paternal direction. She took up violin with Louis
Schmidt in Boston, and carried it on with Drechsler and Abel in Munich,
where she also began composition with Victor Gluth. After her return she
continued her work for a time with Prof. John K. Paine and J. C. D.
Parker, finishing her orchestration with George W. Chadwick. Her own
persistent study has been of great advantage to her.
She began composing at the age of twelve, numbering among her early
works several songs and a movement of a piano quintette. Her efforts in
larger forms have been unusually well received. Her "Dramatic Overture"
was given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1893, and in the same year
Theodore Thomas performed her overture, "Witichis." Still another
overture, "Totila," is in manuscript. Among other works are three
orchestral arias, "Sappho's Prayer to Aphrodite," for alto; "Armida,"
for soprano; and the yet unperformed "Ph[oe]bus," for baritone. An
orchestral ballade won much success in Baltimore in 1901. She has also
written an orchestral cantata, a string quartette, and several works for
violin and piano.
Miss Lang has published a number of successful part-songs for men's,
women's, and mixed voices. Of her fifty or more songs, all are more or
less widely known. The favourites among them seem to be "My Lady
Jacqueminot," "Meg Merrilies," "Deserted," "Eros," and the well-known
sets, "Five Norman Songs," "Six Scotch Songs," "Three Songs of the
Night," and "Three Songs of the East." Her piano music is also
excellent, among the best examples being the Rhapsody, the Meditation, a
poetic revery, the charming Spring Idyll, and her early suite, entitled
"Petit Roman."
Clara Kathleen Barnett, now Mrs. Rogers, is also a resident of Boston.
Born in England, she received her earliest musical education from her
parents. They were of a talented family, for her grandfather was the
famous song-writer, Robert Lindley. In 1856 she was sent to the Leipsic
Conservatory, studying piano with Moscheles, ensemble playing with David
and Rietz, and harmony with Richter. Her singing, by which she first
became famous, was begun with Goetze and finished at Berlin under Frau
Zimmermann. Under the name of Clara Doria, she appeared with success in
many Italian cities, and finally came to America, where she married and
settled in Boston. Her present work consists of teaching and composing.
In the former field, her book, "The Philosophy of Singing," contains
much new and valuable material. Among her compositions is first of all a
string quartette of excellent workmanship. There are also sonatas for
violin and for 'cello with piano, and a piano _scherzo_. Her songs are
many in number and excellent in quality. Among them are two sets of
Browning Songs, six Folk Songs, and such favourites as "The Rose and the
Lily," "Clover Blossoms," "Confession," "At Break of Day," and many
others.
In the front rank of American pianists is Julia Rivé-King. A native of
Cincinnati, she began her musical education under William Mason and S.
B. Mills, finishing abroad with Reinecke and Liszt. At her début, in
Leipsic, she scored a great success, and since then has been steadily
before the public. Her compositions are mostly for piano, including some
excellent Liszt and Scarlatti transcriptions. Among her own works are a
Polonaise Héroïque, Polka Caprice, Gems of Scotland, and many other
popular numbers.
Another pianist well known to American audiences is Mme. Helen Hopekirk
Wilson. Although her birthplace and home are in England, she has spent
so much time in this country that she may well be regarded as belonging
to it. She, too, was a pupil of the Leipsic Conservatory, finishing with
Leschetizky, and making a successful début with the Leipsic Gewandhaus
orchestra in 1878. She has shown ability in the larger forms, her own
concerto being produced in a Henschel concert at Edinburgh. She has
several orchestral works still in manuscript, as well as a violin
sonata. Her many songs and piano works make a list as long as it is
honourable.
Several of the younger American women are beginning to make efforts in
orchestral work. Clara Korn, a pupil of Bruno Klein, is responsible for
two suites for orchestra, as well as one for violin, and various piano
pieces and songs. Grace Marckwald has also tried her hand in the larger
forms. Edna Rosalind Park, a native of Boston, now residing in New York,
has shown decided talent in the songs she has published, and has several
important works in manuscript. Margaret Williams, a Baltimore student
who was born in Tennessee, produced a concert overture at one of the
Peabody Symphony Concerts, and has also composed the words and music for
a five-act opera, entitled "Columbus." Eliza Woods, another student at
the same place, has written a full manuscript score for an overture, as
well as a double fugue, a sonata, and a number of songs. Edith Noyes
Porter, of Boston, is also at work on some extensive compositions, her
published works to date being chiefly songs.
[Illustration: JULIA RIVÉ-KING]
In the operatic field, Emma Steiner stands at the head. Born at
Baltimore, she showed a taste for music at an early age, and was able to
read and write notes when only seven. Her parents objected to a musical
career for her, but she continued her practice, and earned money for
further study by writing waltzes and other popular dance music. She
became proficient in making orchestral arrangements, and has been
eminently successful as a leader of many large New York organizations.
Among her operettas are "The Alchemist," also a version of the old
French romance, "Fleurette," and an adaptation from Tennyson, called
"Day Dreams." She is also the author of many songs.
Lillie Mahon Siegfried, of Buffalo, has also produced an operetta,
besides the song, "The Beautiful Land of Nod," and several other songs
and lullabies. Miss Estabrook has over forty songs to her credit,
besides the operetta, "The Tournament." Mrs. John Orth has composed a
children's operetta, also a number of simple songs and piano works for
beginners. Laura Sedgwick Collins, who has already won a high rank,
wrote the music to "Pierrot," besides many excellent songs and violin
works.
In chamber music, Marguerite Melville has produced some worthy works.
Among them is a remarkably good piano quintette, while she has also
written a sonata and a romanza for violin and piano, besides several
beautiful songs. Alicia Van Buren, also author of a number of worthy
songs, has published a string quartette with Breitkopf and Härtel. Alice
Locke Pitman, now Mrs. Wesley, has written several violin works, besides
a number of songs. Mary Knight Wood, another gifted member of the new
generation, studied with Arthur Foote and B. J. Lang. She has already
produced a piano trio, and her songs, such as "Ashes of Roses,"
"Heartsease," "Autumn," and so forth, are imbued with the most
exquisite refinement. Marie von Hammer and Laura Danziger have written
pieces for the 'cello, the latter supplementing this work by a number of
piano compositions.
Organ music is well represented by the work of Helen Josephine Andrus,
of Poughkeepsie. She is a graduate of Vassar, where she won a degree by
her musical studies. Her compositions include several organ pieces and a
cantata for organ and strings, also anthems and various church music, as
well as piano works and songs. Clara Rees is another organist who has
produced a number of compositions. Lucina Jewell, a New England
Conservatory graduate, is the author of an introduction and fugue for
organ, besides some effective songs and other works. Faustina Hasse
Hodges was another able organist who wrote church music.
Helen Hood is one of America's few really gifted musical women. Boston
has been her home and the scene of her chief work, although she has
travelled abroad, and studied for two years with Moszkowski. Endowed
with absolute pitch, she has composed from her earliest years, and her
music won for her a medal and diploma at the Chicago Exposition. Her
most important work is a piano trio, while her two violin suites are
also made of excellent material.
Mrs. Jessie L. Gaynor has won an enviable position for herself, chiefly
as a composer of children's songs. Her work is marked by bright and
pleasing rhythms, excellent discretion in the proper choice of harmony,
and a fluent ease that makes her productions unusually singable. It is
not given to many composers to be able to make any real appeal to
younger hearers, but Mrs. Gaynor is possessed of the sympathetic insight
that enables her to win the utmost popularity with them. Her work is not
confined to this vein, but includes some more ambitious songs for older
performers, and even vocal quartettes.
Eleanor Smith is another song writer who believes that children should
be given the best of music, and not allowed to listen wholly to the
popular rag-time tunes of the day. Her position as music teacher in the
Cook County Normal School has enabled her to put her ideas in practice,
and her songs for boys are delightful bits of worthy music. She, too,
has done more ambitious work, such as a Rossetti Christmas Carol, the
contralto solo, "The Quest," eight settings of Stevenson's poems, the
Wedding Music for eight voices, piano, and organ, and a cantata, "The
Golden Asp."
Mrs. C. Merrick, who publishes her works over the name of Edgar Thorn,
is another talented woman who displays great gifts in small forms. Her
"Amourette," for piano, has often figured on concert programmes. In her
two collections, "Forgotten Fairy Tales" and "Six Fancies," many of the
numbers show a rare imaginative charm. The same composer has produced
several effective male choruses, which have been sung by the Mendelssohn
Glee Club and other organizations.
Among other song-writers, Mildred Hill, of Louisville, has been able to
preserve the real Southern flavour in some of her works,--a result that
is seldom attained, in spite of the countless efforts in this direction.
She, too, has insisted in putting good music into her children's songs.
Mrs. Philip Hale, a resident of Boston, has produced a number of songs
and piano works, the latter under the pseudonym of Victor René. Stella
Prince Stocker is another well-known song-writer. Mrs. Theodore Sutro, a
pupil of Dudley Buck, has also composed songs, besides piano works and a
four-voiced fugue. Louise Tunison is another song composer well worthy
of mention, while Adeline Train has produced some solos of remarkable
delicacy. Helen Tretbar, famous as a writer and translator of musical
works, has tried her hand at songs also. Another literary song-composer
is Fanny Raymond Ritter. A prominent figure in the musical world to-day
is Josephine Gro, who writes songs and piano pieces, and is the author
of many popular dances.
CHAPTER X.
OTHER COUNTRIES
Though not as prolific of women composers as its musical reputation
might indicate, Italy has still produced some famous names. The women of
the earlier schools of contrapuntal work have already been mentioned.
Francesca Caccini was an exponent of the first growth of opera. After
her comes a gap, and we find no women at work during the time of
Scarlatti, for example, and few in the era when the early conventional
opera saw its palmy days in the hands of Cimarosa and his compeers. A
number flourished at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and now
that Italy is experiencing a musical regeneration, the women are still
present in the field.
One of the foremost of them to-day is the Countess Gilda Ruta. She was
born at Naples, and was the daughter of a musician of some note, in
fact, he became one of her best teachers. Among others with whom she
studied was the opera composer, Mercadante, whose long career extended
well into the last century. She became a pianist of great renown, but
won her laurels more in the field of composition. Her opera, "The
Fire-Worshippers," is a worthy example of its school. Her orchestral
ability showed itself also in the form of a concerto for piano, while
among her other works are a number of songs and a good deal of
instrumental music.
Eva Dell' Aqua is another Italian woman who has won a high position by
her works. She did not inherit the taste directly, for her father was
not a musician, but a painter. He has made Brussels his home, and there
his talented daughter has brought forth her compositions. Her songs are
widely known, and show sterling merit. In more ambitious vein is her
operetta, "La Bachelette," which was given with unusual success in the
Brussels theatres. Another work for the stage is the comic opera,
"Tambour Battant."
Carlotta Ferrari is undoubtedly the greatest of the Italian women
composers. Born at Lodi in 1837, she soon began her musical studies,
completing them with the best masters of the Milan Conservatory. When
she tried to enter the lists in dramatic work, she found the theatre
managers unwilling to give her any encouragement because of her sex.
Feeling sure of her ability, however, she was brave enough to hire a
theatre, and produce her opera, "Ugo," at her own expense. The result
justified her hopes, for the work scored an entire success. Since that
time she has had no trouble in dealing with the managers, who may well
feel ashamed of their early fears. Her later operas, "Sofia" and
"Eleonora d'Aborea," were as warmly received as her first attempt.
Her work is by no means limited to the stage. She has produced an
excellent mass, which was written for the cathedral of her native town.
The impression made by this work was so favourable that she received two
commissions from the Turin authorities, at later times, one for a
requiem and the other for a cantata. She is said to be an absolute
master of canon, or the imitation of one part by another. Among her
smaller works are two sets of these canons for three voices and piano.
One of the earlier composers was Maria Teresa Agnesi, who flourished in
the eighteenth century. Like many of her sex, she was a pianist as well
as a composer. She worked in the larger forms, and her four operas met
with decided success in many cities of her operatic land. Besides
operas, she produced several cantatas and other choral works, and a
number of concertos, sonatas, and pieces for the piano.
Another eighteenth century celebrity was Maddalena Sirmen, who won fame
as one of the great Italian school of violinists. She was a pupil of the
renowned Tartini, and held her own with the great performers of her
time. Her works contain a number of violin concertos and a set of six
trios for two violins and a 'cello, besides many smaller pieces. Most of
these were wholly successful in performance.
Maria Andreozzi, Marquise de Bottini, lived in the early part of the
nineteenth century. Her works all show great merit, and cover a wide
range in the matter of form. They include an opera, a requiem, a Stabat
Mater, an orchestral Magnificat, the cantata "St. Cecile," another
choral cantata, a number of concertos for piano, several overtures, and
various compositions for voice, harp, and piano.
It is only natural to find opera the most popular form for ambitious
Italian composers to use in striving for public favour. Where each
little town and village had its own opera-house, there was an
opportunity for the public to become accustomed to this form, while
other works stood less chance of production and brought less revenue to
the composer.
As early as 1764 we find the ballet music to the opera "Dario,"
published by Signora Bartalotti. In the next century, Ursula Asperi
leads in point of time, her first opera having been given in 1827. She
was conductor for a year at one of the Florentine theatres, and filled
the post with admirable skill. Carolina Uccelli produced "Saul" in 1830,
following it up with "Emma di Resburgo." Teresa Seneke obtained a Roman
hearing for her opera, "Le Due Amichi," and published also a quantity of
songs and piano music. Adolfa Galloni composed the opera, "Le Quattra
Rustici," besides instrumental and vocal music. Signora Casella was
another operatic composer, her "Cristoforo Colombo" having been produced
at Nice in 1865. Teresa Guidi is the author of numerous operas of our
own day, while the Countess Ida Correr, of Padua, has witnessed frequent
performances of her "Gondoliera."
Of the many women working in the smaller forms, Virginia Mariani has won
prominence at present, not only by her songs and piano music, but by her
cantata, "The Apotheosis of Rossini." Teresa Milanollo, a celebrated
violinist of the past century, published a number of compositions for
her instrument, besides various works for piano. Among other piano
composers in Italy during the nineteenth century may be mentioned
Teresa de Blasis, Natalie Bertini, Eugenia Appiani, Bertha Frugoni,
Clary Zentner, and Adele Branca Mussini.
Onestina Ricotti has tried her hand at songs, as well as publishing
piano works. Teresa Bertinotti, herself a famous singer, was the
composer of many popular songs and arias. Angelica Catalani was another
example of the combination of singer and composer, while Marietta
Brambilla added teaching to her other accomplishments. Maria Rosa Coccia
was a celebrity of the preceding century, and won great fame by her
youthful accomplishments in counterpoint, besides composing much church
music. Mariana Creti gained her renown as a player on the harp and
composer for that instrument.
The Netherlands has also its quota of musical women. In the early part
of the last century, Mlle. Broes, a native of Amsterdam, won an enviable
position as a pianist, and composed a number of pieces for her
instrument, including dances, rondos, and variations. In the next
generation, Madeleine Graever, of the same place, pursued a similar
career. She made many successful tours in the usual European countries,
and spent a year in New York at the beginning of the Civil War. On her
return from this country, she became court pianist to the Queen of
Belgium. Her works include several display pieces for piano. The
Baroness van der Lund has also published a number of piano works.
Among the contemporary composers, one of the best is Catherine van
Rennes. Her work consists chiefly of songs, a form in which she is
eminently successful. Among those she has published are a set of five
two-part songs, entitled "Lentetever," a collection of six two-part
songs for children, and a set of solos for the same performers under the
title of "Jong Holland." She shows a mastery of style, and an ability to
get just the effect that she wishes. Her works are attractive and
singable without ever becoming overswollen or bombastic.
Cornelia van Osterzee has won her way to the highest position by her
work in the larger forms. Among her best productions are two symphonic
poems from the "Idyls of the King," entitled "Elaine's Death" and
"Geraint's Bridal Journey." These were performed with great success at
one of the recent Berlin Philharmonic Concerts. Her cantatas show
unusual breadth of style, and their largeness of spirit wins them great
favour. Mlle. Osterzee has been honoured for her work by receiving the
decoration of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Hendrika van Tussenbroek is another composer who devotes herself chiefly
to songs. Like Mlle. van Rennes, she is a native of Utrecht. Her works
include many songs and vocal duets, of which "Meidoorn," a collection of
children's songs, deserves especial mention. She wrote the words and
music for a child's operetta, "Three Little Lute Players," which was
performed three times and aroused much enthusiasm.
In Belgium, the Countess de Lannoy won her laurels in the eighteenth
century. Her work took the form of ballads and romances, and she wrote
also a sonata and a number of other instrumental pieces. Among the
Belgian musical women of to-day, Juliette Folville stands in the front
rank. Born as late as 1870, at Liege, she became an excellent violinist
as well as composer, and in all probability has a long career still
before her. Most important among her works is a set of several
orchestral suites, while a violin concerto and other pieces are more in
line with her efforts as a performer. Her opera, "Atala," met with
considerable success when given at Lille in 1892.
In Denmark, Emma Dahl flourished as a singer and composer during the
middle of the last century, and published many melodious songs in her
own and the Scandinavian countries. Valborg Aulin is a more recent
writer of songs, of which she has issued a respectable number. Her
choral work is of excellent quality, and has enabled her to carry off
more than one prize in musical competitions. Harriet Cuman, of
Copenhagen, is an excellent pianist, being reckoned as one of the
greatest performers of the present. Her works consist chiefly of pieces
for her instrument. Sophie Dedekam is a composer of songs, of which
several sets have been published. Elizabeth Meyer is another successful
song-writer. She does not confine herself to this form, however, but has
produced many piano works. Her cantata, for soloists, chorus, and piano,
won first prize in a recent Danish competition.
Sweden can boast of several women composers, of whom at least two are
really famous. Among those working in the smaller forms is Caia Aarup,
now residing in America. She is the author of a number of pleasing songs
and piano compositions. Amanda Maier, known also under her married name
of Röntgen, has composed many worthy pieces for the violin, among them
being a sonata and an interesting set of Swedish Dances. Another violin
composer is Miss Lago, who has published songs and piano pieces as well
as violin works, and has won a prize at Copenhagen with a piano cantata.
Helen Munktell has produced songs and piano pieces, and has entered
another field with her one-act opera, "In Florence." Hilda Thegerstrom
is responsible for some very melodious songs and piano pieces,
published in Germany as well as in her native land.
One of Sweden's most gifted women is Elfrida Andrée. Born in 1841, she
soon devoted herself to musical studies, and took up the career of
organist, so often a thankless one. She plays at present in the
cathedral at Gothenburg. Her works include many different forms, even
the symphonic. Her organ symphony is especially noteworthy, and all her
orchestral works show decided talent. Her orchestral cantata,
"Siegfried," is another effective composition. For chamber music she has
written a quintette for piano, two violins, viola, and 'cello, also
another quintette for strings that won a prize in competition. At a
recent Brussels musical congress, she took first prize among no less
than seventy-eight competitors. She is the author of many smaller works
for organ, voice, and piano.
In Ingeborg von Bronsart is found one of the few really great women
composers. Born at St. Petersburg in 1840, she is classed as Swedish
because her parents were not citizens of Russia, but remained subjects
of Sweden. Her mother was a Finn, but her father's native place was
Stockholm. Ingeborg's earliest musical impressions came from the violin
playing of her mother, done wholly by ear, from her father's flute
playing, and from the singing of the touching Swedish folk songs by the
housekeeper. When her elder sister began regular study, Ingeborg was
considered too young for it, but begged so hard that she was allowed to
take lessons too. At the very first one, the teacher noticed her great
talent, and in a few months she was far in advance of her sister. A year
later, at the age of eight, Ingeborg began to compose little melodies
and dances, and her father was moved to seek a good master for her.
[Illustration: INGEBORG VON BRONSART]
He made a fortunate choice in the famous amateur, Nicholas von
Martinoff, for Ingeborg became not only his pupil but a welcome guest at
the house of his family. With them she was able to hear the best of the
operas and other music afforded by the imperial city, and the summers
passed by her at their estate enabled her to grow strong by riding,
swimming, and other outdoor exercise.
When eleven years old, Ingeborg began harmony with the composer Decker.
She progressed quickly, and in her first concert, given a year later,
was able to present creditable work of her own. Her success was
decisive, and critics and public united in foretelling her great future.
From that time on she gave annual concerts with orchestra, meeting
growing favour. Meanwhile her composition was not neglected; beginning
by publishing three études, a tarantelle, and a nocturne for piano, she
continued with sonatas, fugues, and songs. She won the interest of the
musical circles, including Rubinstein, and through Von Martinoff she
became the pet of the Russian aristocracy. When that protector was
called away by the Crimean War, he left her in the care of Adolf
Henselt, and after two years with the new master, she was sent by him to
finish her studies under Liszt, then long famous as leader of the gifted
musical circle of Weimar.
When she came to him, an eighteen-year-old girl, endowed with all the
fair beauty of her northern land, she gave him as proof of her
proficiency some of her piano fugues. The experienced master rather
doubted if the charming apparition before him could produce such an
intricate work as a fugue without receiving aid, so he gave her a new
theme and requested her to write another fugue upon it. Nothing daunted,
she started at once, and, in a short while, she handed him the
manuscript. He played it through, and acknowledged its merit with the
remark, "Well, you don't look at all like it." Instantly came the reply,
"I am very glad I don't look like a fugue." Ingeborg became one of his
few chosen favourites, and soon all Weimar worshipped her as St.
Petersburg had done before.
With Liszt she remained two years, devoting herself chiefly to piano,
and composing a sonata only as a diversion. She speaks warmly in praise
of the great tone-poet's influence. "His guidance," she says, "prevented
me from being one-sided in art, and the example of his wonderful nature
taught me to seek and absorb the beautiful in music everywhere, no
matter what school its composer belonged to." While under Liszt's care,
she appeared at court, and made successful débuts in Dresden, Paris, and
the Leipsic Gewandhaus. Under Liszt also was Hans von Bronsart, who had
known Ingeborg in St. Petersburg, and who now was fortunate enough to
win her love and become her husband.
The next few years were devoted to performing, and numerous tours
brought equally numerous triumphs. Composition was not neglected, and a
piano concerto of fair success was the result of this period. At this
time her dramatic efforts began, and the three-act opera, "Die Göttin
von Sais," was the first result. The music of this work was excellent,
but the libretto lacked action, and no stage performance was ever given.
Composing soon became her life-work, for her husband was appointed
Intendant of the Hanover Court Theatre, and wives of Prussian officials
were forbidden to appear in public, except on especial occasions. Her
works began to multiply; German and Russian songs, piano pieces and
violin works, followed one another in quick succession. The return of
the troops from the Franco-Prussian War, with her husband as officer
among them, brought forth three patriotic songs, two male choruses, and
the Kaiser Wilhelm March for orchestra, performed at a court festival of
rejoicing.
Her second operatic attempt was a setting of Goethe's "Jery und Bately,"
which met with deserved success. The music is of choice quality
throughout, according to the criticism of Richard Pohl, and the dramatic
climax is excellently worked up by the fact that each successive number
is purposely made more effective than the one preceding it. The same
power and beauty of expression shows itself in her later songs, written
mostly for the poems of Bodenstedt. These are in many cases well able to
stand the test of comparison with the best of the German _Lieder_. A
number of pieces for 'cello and piano are of equal value, as are also
her violin works. Her last opera, "Konig Hiarne," suffers again from a
weak libretto, but is made of worthy musical material. It was rated as a
successful work, but some of the wiser critics doubt if its power of
melodic expression can wholly atone for the lack of certain essentially
dramatic qualities.
In 1887 the Hanover post was exchanged for a similar one at Weimar.
There her husband performed excellent service in keeping alive the
traditions of Liszt and his followers. After eight years of work, Von
Bronsart retired from public duty. A short period of travel followed,
after which the musical pair settled down to a life of quiet at Munich.
There, too, lives the daughter of the family, who is said to have
inherited a full share of the musical ability shown by her parents.
Among the composers of Norway, Mme. Betty Holmberg has devoted herself
to the violin, publishing an excellent suite and other compositions for
it. Magda Bugge, who has made America her home, is the author of many
piano pieces and songs. The most famous Norwegian woman composer,
however, is Agathe Backer-Gröndahl. Born in 1847, she received a
thorough musical training, counting among her teachers Kjerulf, Kullak,
Von Bülow, and Liszt. Her work has won her many honours, including the
royal gold medal of Sweden. Her compositions are not many in number, but
all of them show the most delightful freshness and originality. Like her
great fellow countryman, Grieg, she aims to give her music a distinctive
style of its own, and not make it a mere imitation of the usual models.
Her andante for piano and orchestra and her orchestral scherzo are
excellent works, which meet with frequent performance, while her suite
is another example of striking beauty. Her piano works, which include
études, fantasies, sketches, and humoreskes, are full of the same
characteristic charm, while her songs display exquisite poetic feeling.
Bohemia and Hungary, though politically parts of the Germanic nations,
may well be classed as separate from them in matters of art. Their
peoples are different racially, and their national music, especially in
the latter case, has a distinctive character of its own. Smetana and
Dvorak are the most famous types of the German dependency, while the
music of the Austrian province partakes of the wild gipsy flavour that
is so well reflected in some of Schubert's works.
One of the earliest Bohemian women composers was Veronica Cianchettini.
She came of a musical family, for she was one of the sisters of Dussek,
whose wife and daughter have already been mentioned in connection with
England's composers. Like her brother, she became a pianist of high
rank, and settled in London. Her works include a number of piano
concertos, sonatas, and other lesser pieces.
Elise Barth was a famous Bohemian pianist of the last century. She, too,
published many piano compositions. Another celebrated performer was
Auguste Auspitz, one of Smetana's best pupils. She produced many songs
and piano works, and would have done greater work but for her death at
the age of thirty-five. Mathilde Ringelsberg devoted herself to lighter
compositions, and wrote many popular dances. Wilhelmine Clausz, besides
being one of the best women pianists of to-day, has composed a few
pieces for her instrument, and has done much excellent editing and
arranging. Anna Schimon, who studied with Halévy, won renown as a singer
and teacher. She has published many vocal works, and has two operas in
manuscript. Rosa Bleitner, a teacher at the Prague Conservatory, has
published several sets of songs, also a very effective funeral march.
Among Hungarian composers, Ludmilla Gizycka, now living at Vienna, has
published a number of successful songs and piano pieces, among them an
interesting set of Polish melodies. Marie de Kohary, another
pianist-composer, has written a set of sonatas and various other piano
works. Mme. D'Hovorst has published a sonata for two pianos and various
other works. Henrietta Vorwerk has received much praise for her piano
pieces and songs, while Anna Zichy Stubenberg is another prolific worker
in the same field.
Poland, though divided among the nations, can boast a few women
composers. In the eighteenth century, the Countess Clementine Grabowska
wrote a number of piano pieces, among them a set of effective
polonaises. Marie Szymanowska, born in 1790, was a pupil of John Field,
and became one of the leading pianists of her time. Her fame was largely
increased by the poet Goethe, who made her one of the many idols of his
vagrant affections. He spoke of her playing in the highest terms,
placing her above Hummel. But the verdict of Mendelssohn is probably
more accurate: "Those who rate her so high," he says, "think more of her
pretty face than of her not pretty playing." Her works consist chiefly
of display pieces for the piano, a set of twelve concert études
receiving high praise from Schumann.
Julie von Baroni-Cavalcabo, who flourished in the last century, was
another brilliant pianist, numbering among her teachers one of Mozart's
sons. She seems to have won the esteem of Schumann, who dedicated his
humoreske to her, and gave high praise to many of her works. According
to his reviews, her Second Caprice is "fresh and rhythmical, full of
life and vivacity and delicate workmanship;" her fantasie, "Adieu et
Retour," has two movements that are "highly original, characteristic,
and scarcely offering a weak point for attack;" while her waltzes are
spoken of as almost the best that appeared in their time at Vienna.
Besides her many piano pieces, she published some excellent songs.
Adele Kletzinsky has published some violin works and other concerted
music, as well as the usual amount of songs and piano pieces. Nathalie
Janotha has become familiar to American audiences as a pianist. She was
a pupil of Clara Schumann and Woldemar Bargiel, and has won honours and
diplomas in many European cities. Her works consist of piano selections
and songs. Pauline Fechner is another renowned Polish pianist who has
published many pieces for her instrument. The Countess Margit Sztaray
has done some work for voice and organ. Thekla Badarczewska, who lived
and died at Warsaw, is known widely, if not always favourably, by her
"Maiden's Prayer" for piano.
In Russia, the Grand Duchess Alexandra Josephowna has written some
ambitious church music, including several psalms for soloists, chorus,
and orchestra. She has also produced some piano duets. The Grand Duchess
Olga is another royal Russian composer, whose "Parademarsch" for
orchestra has been published at Berlin. Another orchestral composer is
Theodosia de Tschitscherin, whose Grand Festival March was performed at
a coronation anniversary. The Countess Olga Janina, one of Liszt's
pupils, is at present a teacher and pianist at Paris, where she has
published a considerable amount of piano music. Marie Duport is another
Russian piano composer. The Countess Stephanie Komorowska is responsible
for several songs, piano sonatas, and other works. Mme. Rudersdorff,
well known in later life as a teacher in Boston, was the author of
several successful songs. Olga von Radecki is another noted Russian
musician, who has made Boston her home, and also a writer of worthy
vocal music. Mlle. Alexandrowna, of St. Petersburg, became famous as a
singer a few decades ago, and published some excellent songs. Mme. Serov
was another Russian woman of great musical talent.
Among the less extensive countries, Switzerland is represented by Anna
Cerrini de Monte-Varchi, who is the composer of many pretty piano works,
Isabella Angela Colbran, the eminent Spanish contralto, was born at
Madrid in 1785. She became the wife of Rossini, and created some
important rôles in those of his earlier operas which were written for
her. Her own compositions consist of songs and other vocal works. A
Spanish singer of more recent times is Rosaria Zapater, who was born in
1840. She became famous in literature as well as music, her poems being
rated highly, while her libretto to the opera, "Gli Amante di Teruele,"
is ranked as one of the best ever written. She has published a number of
songs, besides an excellent vocal method and piano instruction book.
Teresa Carreño, so well known in Europe and America, is a native of
Venezuela, being born at Caracas in 1853. Her career has been as varied
as it is successful, and her studies, as well as her triumphs, were
witnessed by many countries. Her father, at one time Minister of
Finance, was himself a musician, and when only fourteen composed a mass
that was given in the cathedral. A skilful violinist, he understood the
piano also, and gave his daughter lessons from her seventh year on.
Driven from the country by civil war, he determined to have Teresa turn
her musical talents to account.
As an eight-year-old prodigy, she met with an enthusiastic reception in
New York, where she aroused the interest and became the pupil of Louis
Gottschalk. At twelve she was taken to Paris, where she absorbed the
traditions of Chopin from his pupils. There, too, she played for Liszt,
who grew deeply interested in her, and wished her for a pupil. As her
father's affairs did not permit this, the great teacher left her with
the excellent advice to give her own individuality free play, and not
become a mere imitator of some other performer. This she certainly
followed, for her strong and fiery style of playing has carried away
countless audiences, and in later years her combination of poetic
feeling with impassioned power placed her in the front rank of the
world's pianists.
Soon after this meeting, she began to devote herself to singing, with
such rapid progress that she became able to appear with such an artist
as Tietjens. For many years she made this her chief work, but at last
her innate love for the piano brought her back to it. In 1885 she was
forced to exert her talents in still another direction,--that of
conducting. Being given the task of creating a national opera company in
Caracas, she engaged her artists in America and Italy, and took them to
her native city only to find the revolutionists in the most bitter and
active opposition against all government enterprises. Her undertaking
was no exception, and her leader, being terrorized by physical threats,
gave up his post with a feigned excuse of sickness. Rather than let the
matter drop, Carreño herself took the baton, and carried the season to a
successful close.
[Illustration: TERESA CARREÑO]
Her compositions have given her high rank in still another field. The
best work is perhaps a string quartette, which met with a warm welcome
at the Leipsic Gewandhaus concerts. This, with an unpublished serenade
for strings, gives proof of her ability in fairly large forms. Her hymn
for the Bolivar centennial has become the national song of Venezuela.
Her set of little waltzes, written for her daughter, Teresita, show the
most delicious grace, while her Venezuelan Dances are full of interest.
Among her other works, all for piano, are waltzes, fantasies, caprices,
études, a ballade, a scherzo, a reverie and barcarolle, and a song
without words. Her long career as pianist has made her so familiar in
that light that few think of her as a composer, but her creative work as
well as her ability as a performer must win her respect throughout the
musical world.
CHAPTER XI.
CONCLUSION
The question of allowing women to compose, if they wish to do so, is
hardly one that needs any extended debate. Yet it is only in the last
few decades that woman's inalienable right to compose has been fully
established. The trials of Carlotta Ferrari in getting her first opera
performed are an example in point. The opposition of Mendelssohn to the
publication by his sister of even a few minor works is another instance
of the attitude formerly taken by even the greatest composers. The life
of Chaminade affords still another case of this opposition. When
Rubinstein heard a few of her early compositions, upon which he was
asked to pass an opinion, he could not gainsay their excellence, but
insisted on adding that he thought women ought not to compose. The time
has gone by when men need fear that they will have to do the sewing if
their wives devote themselves to higher pursuits. The cases of Clara
Schumann, Alice Mary Smith (Mrs. Meadows-White), and Ingeborg von
Bronsart afford ample proof, to say nothing of our own Mrs. Beach.
Whether women are in any way handicapped by the constitution of their
sex is a point that is still undecided. It would seem that composition
demanded no great physical strength, and no one will deny that women
often possess the requisite mental breadth. The average sweet girl
graduate of the conservatories, who is made up chiefly of sentiment, and
hates mathematics, will hardly make a very deep mark in any art. But
there are many who do earnest work, and who lead lives of activity and
production that afford them equal rank with the men in this respect.
Augusta Holmes may be cited in illustration.
It is often claimed that women study music merely as an accomplishment,
with the object of pleasing friends and relatives by their performances.
This horrible accusation the writer can attempt neither to palliate nor
to deny. But why should it be denied? If music is to be regarded as one
of the feminine accomplishments, why should this debar the more earnest
students from doing more earnest work? The very fact that all cultivated
women are expected to know something of music ought to result in a
better chance for the discovery of woman's talent in composition.
But there are some, even among the women composers themselves, who admit
that in many cases the matter of sex is a drawback. Liza Lehmann speaks
in very definite terms on this subject. "If I were asked," she says, "in
what form of composition women are best fitted to write, I should say
that I hope they will win in all forms. But there is this important
thing to remember: We have not the muscle and strength that men have to
resist fatigue. We do things, but we pay the penalty of nervous strain.
When people say that women are equal to men, I always feel that
physically they are not fitted to run the same race. If they accomplish
things, they pay up for it. It is sad, but it is true." Yet probably few
of the noted women composers will subscribe to this opinion.
As yet there has been no woman composer of the very first rank,
comparable to the tonal giants among men. But in explanation of this is
the fact that women have not been generally at work in this field until
the last century, while men have had considerably more time. And after
all, there are not so many really great men among the composers. The
tonal giants, the world-famous men, whose music rises above the fashion
of their time, and lives through changing epochs and changing tastes,
may almost be counted on the fingers of the hands. If no woman has yet
become _prima inter pares_, there are many whose work equals that of the
lesser men, whose names are remembered as forming the different schools
of composition.
Whether woman's work will always be distinctive from men's in character,
time alone can decide. The present writer is inclined to believe that
the difference will be a permanent one,--that even in the larger forms,
woman's work in music will always show more of delicate grace and
refinement than man's, and will be to some extent lacking in the broader
effects of strong feeling. As an example we may cite the works of
Chaminade, which hold the very highest rank in their class. Her songs
are among the most delightful in the world to-day, yet they charm by
delicacy rather than strength, and are different from, if not inferior
to, the creations of a Jensen or a Graedener, to say nothing of the more
dramatic works of Schumann or Schubert. Of course there will be cases
where the two sexes will meet on common ground, and the exquisite beauty
of a Franz may some day find its equal in the work of the other sex, but
whether women will excel _naturally_ in the more virile vein of Bruch's
cantatas, for instance, is open to grave doubt.
Taking the work of women as a whole, there are worthy examples of all
the large forms to be found among their compositions. In the field of
orchestral work, including symphonies, symphonic poems, overtures, and
suites, we find such names as Augusta Holmes, Chaminade, Louisa Lebeau,
Emilie Mayer, Mme. Farrenc, Comtesse de Grandval, Elfrida Andrée, Edith
Chamberlayne, Mrs. Meadows-White, Aline Hundt, Oliveria Prescott, and in
our own country Mrs. Beach and Miss Lang; and the list is but a partial
one at that. The recent success of "Der Wald," to mention only one case,
proves that women may safely attempt the highest form of opera. This
work, although it has a drawback in the shape of a confused libretto, is
to be retained permanently on the Covent Garden repertoire in London. In
oratorio, a worthy place must be accorded to the works of Mme. Grandval,
Célanie Carissan, Mrs. Bartholomew, and Rosalind Ellicott. Among women
composers of successful masses may be reckoned Mrs. Beach, Mme.
Grandval, Mary Carmichael, and Maude Valerie White. In other directions
women have more than held their own, and their work shows excellence, in
quality as well as quantity, in cantatas, string quartettes, and other
chamber music, violin sonatas, and even in large concertos. The list of
women who have written piano music and songs extends to ample
proportions.
Who is the greatest woman composer? It is hard to say, for not all have
worked in the same direction. In our own country, Mrs. Beach holds the
foremost position at present, with Miss Lang a good second. In England,
Mrs. Meadows-White is assigned first place,[8] with Ethel Smyth
mentioned next in order. Agnes Zimmermann and Dora Bright receive high
praise for their chamber music, while Rosalind Ellicott, Amy E.
Horrocks, Edith Swepstone, and Ethel Boyce have been chosen to represent
the larger vocal forms. Among song composers are cited Maude Valerie
White, Florence Gilbert, Frances Allitsen, Florence Aylward, Liza
Lehmann, and Katharine Ramsay. Guy d'Hardelot is probably classed with
the French writers. Ethel Barns is included because of her excellent
violin compositions, as well as her admirable performance on that
instrument.
In Germany, the works of Louisa Lebeau would seem to place her in the
front rank, but many musicians consider them somewhat artificial. For
many years Clara Schumann has been cited as the leader among women, but
it is a question if she can hold that position now. Ingeborg von
Bronsart is given the very highest praise by those who know her work
best. In Italy, Eva dell' Aqua and Gilda Ruta seem leaders, while
Carlotta Ferrari must be included in the front rank. In older times,
too, Francesca Caccini must not be forgotten. Elfrida Andrée, of Sweden,
is another composer of high rank. But when all is said and done, it
seems at present as if the palm must be awarded to France, with Augusta
Holmes and Cécile Chaminade as rival claimants.
Bearing in mind the fact that woman's greatest activity has been limited
to the most recent period, it may be well to inquire what the present
tendencies are in the world of music. On this point, Robert Franz, in a
recent letter, speaks with decided conviction. He believes that the art
proceeds in a cycle, and that music began with the smaller forms, and is
destined to end with them. In his own compositions, he gave expression
to this conviction, for he worked wholly in the _Lied_ form. After
Beethoven, he said symphonic form could proceed no higher. While the
world would not willingly dispense with the orchestral works of Schumann
and Mendelssohn (Wagner's efforts being in a separate field), there
seems much truth in the idea thus advanced. Few men of to-day are
successful in the largest forms, and the demand for short works in
literature seems to have aroused a similar feeling in the musical world.
Yet we may only be passing through a period of temporary eclipse, for
already the new note of triumph sounds loud and clear from Russia. It
may well be that in a more inspired epoch than the immediate present,
woman will rise to a higher level than she has already reached.
It would not be fair to take leave of the women without mentioning their
work in still another line,--that of musical literature. The list of
women who have done work in this direction is fairly extensive, but the
number of great names on it is comparatively small. The foremost name is
perhaps that of Lina Ramann. In 1858 she began the most important work
of her life by opening a normal school for teachers. Her writings have
been numerous and valuable. They include several volumes on piano
technique and practice, an important "Life of Liszt," a number of works
on the musical education of children, many essays, and biographies of
Bach and Handel.
Many of the women fall into the bad habit of imbuing all their work with
a romantic tinge of exaggerated sentiment. One example of this fault is
Elise Polko, some of whose sketches are very pretty reading, but almost
wholly misleading to the new student. Even Marie Lipsius, who published
a series of excellent biographical sketches under the pseudonym of La
Mara, is not entirely free from this defect.
In France, Mme. Audley has written some good biographies, notably the
lives of Beethoven and Schubert and some articles on Bellini. Across the
Channel, Constance Bach has done some successful work in editing the
letters of Liszt and Von Bülow. Two English women, Mrs. F. J. Hughes and
Mary Maxwell Campbell, have entered the speculative field by trying to
draw analogies between harmonies and colours, but this theory can never
have any real basis in scientific fact. In America, the work of Helen
Tretbar and Fanny Raymond Ritter is well known. Mrs. Mary Jones has
devoted her energies to a book on the musical education of the blind,
but the best work in this direction is that of Caroline Wiseneder in
Germany.
In closing, it may not be amiss to express the wish that the
compositions of women composers could be heard more frequently than they
are at present. There is no doubt that some of our quartette clubs would
find much to interest themselves and their audiences among the works of
the famous musical women. According to Nero, music unheard is
valueless, and all musicians would rejoice to see the fullest possible
value thus placed, by frequent performance, upon Woman's Work in Music.
THE END.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX
I. BRITISH COMPOSERS
Abrams, Harriet. _Songs_.
Allitsen, Frances. _Songs_.
Ames, Mrs. Henry. _Songs_.
Andrews, Mrs. John H. _Songs_.
Arkwright, Mrs. Robert. _Songs_.
Armstrong, Annie. _Songs_.
Austen, Augusta A. _Songs_.
Aylward, Florence. _Songs_.
Bach, Constance. _Songs_.
Barker, Laura W. _Cantatas_, _Violin_, _Songs_.
Barnard, Mrs. Charles. _Songs_.
Barnett, Emma. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Bartholomew, Ann Shepard. _Oratorio_, _Cantatas_, _Hymns_, _Songs_.
Binfield, Hannah R. _Organ_, _Harp_.
Bisset, Elizabeth Anne. _Harp_.
Borton, Alice. _Orchestra_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Boyce, Ethel Mary. _Orchestra_, _Cantatas_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Bright, Dora. _Concertos_, _Piano_, _Quartet_, _Violin_, _Flute_,
_Songs_.
Broadwood, Lucy E. _Songs_.
Buckley, Mrs. Olivia. _Piano_, _Harp._
Campbell, Mary M. _Songs_.
Cantello, Annie. _Piano_.
Carmichael, Mary G. _Mass_, _Operetta_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Cartwright, Mrs. Robert. _Songs_.
Casson, Miss. _Songs_.
Chamberlayne, Edith A. _Symphonies_, _Opera_, _Sextet_, _Violin_,
_Organ_, _Piano_, _Harp_, _Songs_.
Chazal, Mrs. _Overture_, _Organ_, _Violin_, _Piano_.
Clarke, Jane. _Hymns_.
Cole, Charlotte. _Songs_.
Collett, Sophia D. _Sacred Songs_.
Cook, Eliza. _Songs_.
Cooke, Edith. _Songs_.
Crament, Maude. _Songs_.
Davies, Llewela. _Orchestra_, _String Quartet_, _Violin_, _Songs_.
Davis, Marianne. _Songs_.
Dick, Edith A. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Dickson, Ellen. _Songs_.
Dufferin, Lady Helen Selina. _Songs_.
Dussek, Sophia. _Piano_, _Harp_.
Eaton, Frances. _Cantata_.
Ellicott, Rosalind F. _Overtures_, _Cantatas_, _String Quartet_, _Trios_,
_Piano_, _Songs_.
Fare, Florence. _Dances_.
Flower, Eliza. _Hymns_.
Fortey, Mary C. _Songs_.
Fowles, Margaret F. _Hymns_, _Songs_.
Fricker, Anne. _Songs_.
Gabriel, Mary Ann Virginia. _Cantatas_, _Operettas_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Gade, Margaret. _Songs_.
Gibson, Louisa. _Songs_.
Gilbert, Florence. _Songs_.
Goddard, Arabella. _Piano_.
Goodeve, Mrs. Arthur. _Songs_.
Goodwin, Amina B. _Piano_.
Gray, Louisa. _Operetta_, _Songs_.
Greene, Edith. _Symphony_, _Violin_, _Piano_.
Groom, Mrs. _Songs_.
Guest, Jeanne M. _Concertos_, _Cantata_, _Organ_, _Piano_.
Gyde, Margaret. _Violin_, _Organ_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hardelot, Guy d'. _Songs_.
Harland, Lizzie. _Cantatas_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Harraden, Ethel. _Operettas_, _Cantata_, _Violin_, _Songs_.
Harrison, Annie F. _Operettas_, _Songs_.
Heale, Miss. _Cantatas_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Holland, Caroline. _Cantatas_, _Songs_.
Horrocks, Amy E. _Orchestra_, _Cantatas_, _Violin_, _'Cello_, _Piano_,
_Songs_.
Hudson, Mary. _Hymns_.
Hunter, Mrs. John. _Songs_.
Inverarity, Eliza. _Ballads_.
Jordan, Mrs. _Songs_.
Kemble, Adelaide. _Songs_.
Kerr, Mrs. Alexander. _Songs_.
Lawrence, Emily M. _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Lehmann, Liza. _Songs_.
Lehmann, Mrs. Rudolph. _Songs_.
"Lindsay" (Mrs. Bliss). _Ballads_.
Linwood, Mary., _Oratorio_, _Operas_, _Songs_.
Loder, Kate F. _Opera_, _Overture_, _String Quartets_, _Trio_, _Violin_,
_Organ_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Lowthian, Caroline. _Dances_, _Songs_.
Macironi, Clara A. _Violin_, _Songs_.
MacKinlay, Mrs. _Songs_.
Marshall, Mrs. Julian. _Orchestra_, _Operetta_, _Songs_.
Mary, Queen of Scots. _Songs_.
Masson, Elizabeth. _Songs_.
May, Florence. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Millar, Marian. _Cantata_, _Songs_.
Moncrieff, Mrs. L. _Songs_.
Moody, Marie. _Overtures_, _Piano_.
Morgan, Lady. _Operetta_.
Morison, Christina W. _Opera_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Moseley, Caroline C. _Violin_, _'Cello_, _Songs_.
Mounsey, Elizabeth. _Organ_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Mundella, Emma. _Oratorio_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Needham, Alicia A. _Songs_.
Newcombe, Georgianne. _Songs_.
Newton, Mrs. Alex. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Norton, Mrs. Caroline. _Songs_.
Nunn, Elizabeth. _Mass_, _Songs_.
Ockleston, Kate. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Okey, Maggie. _Violin_, _Piano_.
Oldham, Emily. _Songs_.
O'Leary, Mrs. A. _Songs_.
Oliver, Mary. _Violin_, _Piano_.
Orger, Caroline. _Concerto_, _Trios_, _'Cello_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Ostlere, May. _Dances_, _Songs_.
Parke, Maria H. _Concerto_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Parkyns, Mrs. Beatrice. _Violin_, _Songs_.
Patterson, Annie W. _Cantatas_, _Songs_.
Patti, Adelina. _Songs_.
Philp, Elizabeth. _Songs_.
Prescott, Oliveria L. _Symphonies_, _Overtures_, _String Quartets_,
_Concerto_, _Cantata_, _Songs_.
Radnor, Countess of. _Hymns_, _Songs_.
Ralph, Kate. _Violin_, _Piano_.
Ramsay, Lady. _Cantata_, _Songs_.
Rawlinson, Angela. _Operetta_.
Riego, Teresa del. _Songs_.
Robinson, Mrs. Joseph. _Cantata_, _Songs_.
Roeckel, Jane J. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Saffery, Eliza. _Songs_.
Sainton-Dolby, Charlotte. _Cantatas_, _Songs_.
Sale, Sophia. _Hymns_.
Sanders, Alma. _String Quartet_, _Trio_, _Violin_, _Piano_.
Schirmacher, Dora. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Scott, Lady Jane. _Songs_.
Sherrington, Grace. _Songs_.
Sherrington, Helena L. _Songs_.
Skinner, Florence M. _Operas_.
Smart, Harriet A. _Hymns_.
Smith, Alice M. _Symphonies_, _Overtures_, _Clarinet_, _Concerto_,
_Quartets_, _Cantatas_, _Songs_.
Smyth, Ethel M. _Orchestra_, _Mass_, _Opera_, _Quintet_, _Violin_,
_Songs_.
Stirling, Elizabeth. _Orchestra_, _Organ_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Swepstone, Edith. _Orchestra_, _String Quartet_, _Cantatas_, _Piano_,
_Songs_.
Synge, Mary H. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Taite, Annie. _Trio_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Temple, Hope. _Operetta_, _Songs_.
Tennyson, Lady. _Songs_.
Thomas, Adelaide L. _Hymns_.
Thompson, Alexandra. _Cantata_, _Songs_.
Troup, Emily J. _Violin, Piano_, _Songs_.
Valentine, Ann. _Violin_.
Wainwright, Harriet. _Songs_.
Wakefield, Augusta M. _Songs_.
Walter, Ida. _Opera_, _Songs_.
Ward, Kate L. _Songs_.
Weldon, Georgina. _Songs_.
Wensley, Frances F. _Songs_.
Westrop, Kate. _Organ_, _Songs_.
White, Maude V. _Songs_.
Wilson, Mrs. C. B. _Songs_.
Woolf, Sophia J. _Opera_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Worgan, Marie. _Songs_.
Wright, Ellen. _Songs_.
Wurm, Marie. _Overtures_, _Concerto_, _String Quartet_, _Violin_,
_'Cello_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Young, Harriet M. _Operettas_, _Songs_.
Zimmermann, Agnes. _Violin_, _'Cello_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
II. GERMAN COMPOSERS
Adelung, Olga. _Zither_.
Ahlefeldt, Countess of. _Ballet_.
Amalia, Anna, Duchess. _Melodrama_.
Amalie, Princess. _Operas_.
Amann, Josephine. _Piano_.
Amersfoodt-Dyk, Hermine. _Cantata_.
Anna Amalie, Princess. _Cantata_, _Organ_.
Arnim, Bettina von. _Songs_.
Asmussen, Emma. _Piano_.
Aubigney, Nina d'. _Songs_.
Augusta, Empress. _Ballet_, _Marches_, _Songs_.
Aus der Ohe, Adele. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Bachmann, Elise. _Melodrama_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Bachmann, Judith. _Organ_.
Baer, Louisa. _Songs_.
Batta, Clementine. _Anthem_.
Baudissin, Sophie. _Piano_.
Bauer, Catharina. _Piano_.
Bauer, Charlotte. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Baum, Katharine. _Songs_.
Bayer, A. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Beatrice, Princess. _March_, _Songs_.
Becker, Ida. _Cantata_, _Songs_.
Behr, Louise. _Songs_.
Belleville-Oury, Emelie. _Piano_.
Benfey-Schuppe, Anna. _Overture_, _String Quartets_.
Bernouilly, Agnes. _Orchestra_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Biehler, Ludmilla. _Piano_.
Blahetka, Leopoldine. _Concertos_, _String and Piano Quartets_, _Trios_,
_Violin_, _'Cello_, _Flute_, _Operetta_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Blauhuth, Jenny. _Piano_.
Boerner-Sandrini, Marie. _Songs_.
Boesenhoenig, Josepha. _Piano_.
Botiano, Helene von. _Piano_.
Bovet, Hermine. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Brandenstein, Charlotte von. _Violin_, _Piano_.
Brandhurst, Elise. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Brinkmann, Minna. _Piano_.
Bronsart, Ingeborg von. _Concerto_, _Operas_, _Violin_, _'Cello_,
_Piano_, _Songs_.
Brucken, Emilie. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Bruckenthal, Baroness. _Mass_, _Violin_, _'Cello_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Buelow, Charlotte von. _Songs_.
Buttenstein, Constanze von. _Piano_, _Arias_.
Charlotte, Princess. _Marches_, _Songs_.
Christ, Fanny. _Zither_.
Cibbini, Katherina. _Piano_.
Clement, Mary. _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Damcke, Louise. _Piano_.
Decker, Pauline von. _Songs_.
Dietrich, Amalia. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Dreifuss, Henrietta. _Songs_.
Drieburg, Louise von. _Songs_.
Erdmannsdoerfer, Pauline. _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Eschborn, Nina. _Songs_, _Harp_.
Fahrbach, Henrietta. _Songs_, _Piano_.
Faist, Clara. _Songs_.
Felsenthal, Amalie. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Frankel, Gisela. _Piano_.
Gaschin, Fanny. _Piano_.
Geiger, Constanze. _Opera_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Goerres, Maria V. _Songs_, _Piano_.
Goetze, Auguste. _Operas_, _Songs_.
Gollenhofer, Josepha. _Opera_, _String Quartet_, _Harp_.
Gossler, Clara von. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Grab, Isabella von. _Piano_.
Griebel, Thekla. _Opera_.
Haas, Maria. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hambrock, Mathilde. _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Heidenreich, Henrietta. _Violin_.
Heim-Brehm, Mathilde. _Violin_.
Heinke, Ottilie. _'Cello_, _Piano_.
Heinsius, Clara. _Songs_.
Heitmann, Mathilde. _Songs_.
Heller, Ottilie. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hendrich-Merta, Marie. _Trio_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Henn, Angelica. _Mass_, _Opera_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hensel, Fanny. _Trio_, _Songs_, _Piano_.
Hertz, Hedwig. _Songs_, _Piano_.
Herzogenberg, Elizabeth. _Piano_.
Hinrichs, Marie. _Songs_.
Hundt, Aline. _Symphony_, _Orchestra_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Japha, Louise. _String Quartets_, _Songs_, _Piano_.
Kainerstorfer, Clotilde. _Organ_.
Kalkhöf, Laura von. _Violin_, _Piano_.
Kanzler, Josephine. _Piano Quartets_, _Piano Songs_.
Kauth, Mme. _Concerto_, _Piano_.
Kern, Louise. _Violin and Organ_.
Kinkel, Johanna. _Operetta_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Klenze, Irene von. _Songs_.
König, Marie. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Könneritz, Minna von. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Krähmer, Caroline. _Clarinet_.
Kralike, Mathilde von. _Trio_.
Kurzböck, Magdalene von. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Lang, Josephine. _Songs_, _Piano_.
Laszlo, Anna von. _Violin_, _'Cello_.
Leavitt, Josephina. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Lebeau, Louisa Adolpha. _Overtures_, _Concerto_, _Oratorios_, _Cantata_,
_String Quartets_, _Trios_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Lebrun, Francesca. _Trios_, _Piano_.
Lemcke, Anna. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Lewing, Adele. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Liebmann, Helene. _Piano Quartets_, _Trios_, _Violin_, _'Cello_, _Piano_.
Lilien, Baroness. _Piano_.
Loewe, Augusta. _Songs_.
Ludwig, Rosa. _Piano_.
Mampe, Emma. _Songs_.
Mannkopf, Adolphine. _Songs_.
Maria Antonia, Duchess. _Operas_.
Maria Charlotte Amalia, Duchess. _Symphony_, _Songs_.
Maria Paulowna, Duchess. _Piano_.
Marie Elizabeth, Princess. _Orchestra_, _Violin_, _Clarinet_, _Piano_.
Martinez, Marianne. _Overtures_, _Symphonies_, _Concertos_, _Oratorios_,
_Mass_, _Motets_, _Piano_.
Mayer, Emelie. _Symphonies_, _Overtures_, _String Quartets, etc._,
_Trios_, _Operetta_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Mier, Anna von. _Songs_.
Molique, Caroline. _Violin_, _Songs_.
Molitor, Frederike. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Momy, Valerie. _Piano_.
Müller, Elise. _Songs_.
Naeser, Martha. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Nathusius, Marie. _Songs_.
Neumann, Elizabeth. _Piano_.
Niederstetter, Emilie. _Piano_.
Olivier, Charlotte. _Piano_.
Paradies, Maria Theresa von. _Operas_, _Cantatas_, _Trio_, _Piano_,
_Songs_.
Peschka, Minna. _Songs_.
Pessiak, Anna. _Masses_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Pfeilschifter, Julie von. _Ballet_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Plitt, Agathe. _Cantatas_, _Motets_.
Polko, Elise. _Songs_, _Piano_.
Ramann, Lina. _Piano_.
Reichard, Louise. _Songs_.
Richter, Pauline. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Rossow, Helene von. _Songs_.
Rothschild, Baroness. _Songs_.
Ruttenstein, Baroness. _Songs_.
Sabinin, Martha von. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Saligny, Clara. _Piano_.
Sawath, Caroline. _Piano_.
Schaden, Nanette von. _Concertos_, _Songs_.
Schaeffer, Theresa. _Overture_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Schauroth, Delphine von. _Songs_.
Schlick, Elise. _Songs_.
Schmezer, Elise. _Opera_, _Songs_.
Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Malvina. _Songs_.
Scholl, Amalie. _Songs_.
Schroeter, Corona E. _Songs_.
Schubert, Georgine. _Songs_.
Schumann, Clara. _Concerto_, _Trio_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Schwertzell, Wilhelmine. _Songs_.
Screinzer, Frl. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Seipt, Sophie. '_Cello_.
Sick, Anna. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Sporleder, Charlotte. _Violin_, _Piano_.
Stecher, Marianne. _Organ_.
Stollewerck, Nina von. _Symphonies_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Tschierschky, Wilhelmine. _Songs_.
Tyrell, Agnes. _Symphony_, _Overtures_, _Piano_.
Veltheim, Charlotte. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Vespermann, Marie. _Piano_.
Vigny, Louise von. _Songs_.
Waldburg, Julie von. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Wichern, Caroline. _Songs_.
Wickerhauser, Natalie. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Wieck, Marie. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Winkel, Therese. _Harp and Violin_.
Wiseneder, Caroline. _Operas_, _Songs_.
Wurmbrand, Stephanie. _Concerto_, _Violin_, _Piano_.
Zaubiter, Ida. _Zither_.
Zittelmann, Helene. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Zumsteeg, Emilie. _Overture_.
III. FRENCH COMPOSERS
Arago, Victoria. _Songs_.
Bawr, Comtesse de. _Songs_.
Beaumesnil, Henrietta. _Operas_.
Bertin, Louise A. _Operas_, _String Quartets_, _Trios_, _Songs_.
Bigot, Marie. _Piano_.
Bourges, Clementine de. _Instrumental_.
Brillon de Jouy, Mme. _Piano_.
Brisson, Mlle. _Violin_, _Harp_, _Piano_.
Candeille, Emilie. _Operas_, _Trios_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Carissan, Célanie. _Operas_, _Oratorio_.
Caroline, Mlle. _Opera_.
Chaminade, Cécile. _Suites_, _Concerto_, _Trios_, _Violin_, _Piano_,
_Songs_.
Chouquet, Louise. _Piano._
Chrétien-Genaro, Hedwige, _Ballet_.
Cinti-Damoureau, Laura. _Songs_.
Collin, Helene. _Piano_.
Dejazet, Hermine. _Operetta_.
Delaval, Mme. _Harp_, _Songs_.
Demar, Theresa. _Harp_.
Derheimer, Cécile. _Masses_, _Organ_.
Duchambge, Pauline. _Songs_.
Duhan, Mme. _Piano_.
Durand de Fortmague, Baronne. _Operas_.
Duval, Mlle. _Ballet_.
Fabre, Marie. _Piano_.
Farrenc, Mme. Jeanne. _Symphonies_, _Overtures_, _Chamber Music_,
_Violin_, _'Cello_, _Piano_, _Flute_.
Farrenc, Victorine. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Ferrari, Gabriella. _Orchestra_, _Opera_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Gail-Garre, Edme Sophie. _Operas_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Gallois, Mme. _Ballets_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Gay, Marie S. _Cantatas_, _Piano_.
Genlis, Comtesse. _Harp_.
Gignoux, Mlle. _Opera_.
Gougelet, Mme. _Piano_.
Grandval, Maria de. _Overture_, _Suite_, _Operas_, _Masses_, _Trios_,
_Violin_, _Flute_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Grétry, Lucille. _Operas_.
Guenin, Mlle. _Opera_.
Haenel de Cronenthal, Marquise. _Symphonies_, _String Quartet_, _Opera_,
_Piano_.
Heritte, Mme. Louise. _Operas_, _Cantatas_, _Quartets_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Holmes, Augusta. _Suites_, _Operas_, _Cantatas_, _Songs_.
Hortense, Queen. _Songs_,
Jacques, Charlotte. _Operetta_.
Jaell, Marie. _Concerto_, _Piano Quartet_, _Piano_.
Kercado, Mlle. _Operetta_.
Laguerre, Elizabeth. _Opera_, _Cantatas_, _Piano_.
La Hye, Louise G. _Opera_, _Organ_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
La Roche, Rosa. _Concerto_, _Piano_.
Lechantre, Mlle. _Operetta_, _Songs_.
Louis, Mme. _Operetta_, _Songs_.
Maistre, Baronne. _Operas_, _Stabat Mater_.
Malibran, Maria. _Songs_.
Marchesi, Mathilde. _Vocalises_.
Marx, Berthe. _Piano_.
Massart, Louise. _Piano_.
Maury, Mme. _Orchestra_.
Mizangere, Marquise. _Clavichord_.
Molinos-Lafitte, Mlle. _Songs_.
Montgeroult, Mme. Helene. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Neuville, Mme. Alphonse de. _Mass_, _Violin_, _Songs_.
Papot, Marie. _Vocalises_.
Perrière-Pilte, Comtesse. _Operas_.
Perronet, Amélie. _Operettas_.
Pierpont, Marie de. _Opera_, _Organ_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Pleyel, Camille. _Piano_.
Pollet, Marie. _Harp_.
Pouillau, Mlle. _Piano_.
Puget, Louisa. _Operas_, _Songs_.
Quinault, Marie. _Motets_.
Robert-Mazel, Helene. _Songs_.
Saint-Didier. Comtesse. _Cantata_.
Sainte-Croix, Mlle. _Operas_.
Santa Coloma-Sourget, Eugenie. _Opera_, _Trio_, _Songs_.
Tardieu, Charlotte. _Piano_.
Thys, Pauline. _Operas_, _Songs_.
Tonel, Leonie. _Piano_.
Travenet, Mme. _Songs_.
Verger, Virginie. _Violin_, _Piano_.
Viardot-Garcia, Pauline. _Operettas_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
IV. AMERICAN COMPOSERS
Abbott, Jane B. _Songs_.
Adams, Mrs. C. _Piano_.
Andrus, Helen J. _Cantata_, _Organ_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Atherton, Grace. _Songs_.
Ball, Mrs. I. W. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Barnes, Bertha L. _Piano_.
Beach, Mrs. H. H. A. _Symphony_, _Mass_, _Cantatas_, _Violin_, _Piano_,
_Songs_.
Bernard, Caroline R. _Songs_.
Black, Jennie P. _Songs_.
Bond, Mrs. C. J. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Cammack, Amelia. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Cappiani, Louisa. _Songs_.
Chickering, Mrs. C. F. _Songs_.
Chittenden, Kate. _Piano_.
Coates, Kathleen. _Piano_.
Collinet, Clara. _Songs_.
Collins, Laura S. _Orchestra_, _Violin_, _Songs_.
Coombs, Mary W. _Songs_.
Crane, Helen C. _Piano_.
Crowninshield, Mary B. _Songs_.
Crumb, Berenice. _Songs_.
Danziger, Laura. _Piano_, _'Cello_.
Diller, Angela. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Donalds, Belle. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Draper, Mrs. J. T. _Sacred_, _Songs_.
Estabrook, Miss G. _Operetta_, _Songs_.
Eversole, Rose M. _Songs_.
Gates, Alice A. _Songs_.
Gaynor, Jessie L. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Griswold, Gertrude. _Songs_.
Gro, Josephine. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hale, Mrs. Irene. _Songs_.
Hammer, Marie von. '_Cello_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hardy, Mrs. C. S. _Songs_.
Heckscher, Celeste. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hill, Mildred J. _Songs_.
Hodges, Faustina Hasse. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hood, Helen. _Trio_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Hopekirk, Mrs. Helen. _Concerto_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Jewell, Althea G. _Songs_.
Jewell, Lucina. _Organ_, _Songs_.
Joyce, Florence B. _Songs_.
Knapp, Mrs. J. F. _Songs_.
Knowlton, Fanny S. _Songs_.
Korn, Clara D. _Orchestra_, _Violin_, _Songs_.
Lamson, Georgie. _Songs_.
Lang, Margaret Ruthven. _Overtures_, _Violin_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Lemmel, Helen H. _Songs_.
Mackenzie, Grace. _Songs_.
Maeder, Emily P. _Songs_.
Marckwald, Grace. _Orchestra_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Mayhew, Grace. _Songs_.
Melville, Marguerite. _Piano Quintet_, _Violin_, _Songs_.
Merrick, Mrs. C. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Metzler, Bertha. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Moulton, Mrs. C. _Songs_.
Murio-Celli, Adelina. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Noyes-Porter, Edith R. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Olcott, Grace. _Songs_.
Orth, Mrs. L. E. _Operetta_, _Piano_, _Songs_.
Osgood, Marion. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Owen, Anita. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Parcello, Marie. _Songs_.
Park, Edna R. _Songs_.
Pease, Jessie L. _Songs_.
Pitman, Alice L. _Violin_, _Songs_.
Pitt, Emma. _Songs_.
Porter, Mrs. David. _Songs_.
Powell, Mrs. W. _Songs_.
Ralston, Marion. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Raymond, Emma M. _Songs_.
Rees, Clara H. _Piano, Songs_.
Richardson, Jennie V. _Piano_.
Ring, Claire. _Piano_.
Ritter, Fannie R. _Songs_.
Rivé-King, Julia. _Piano_.
Roberts, Nellie W. _Songs_.
Rogers, Mrs. Clara K. _String Quartet_, _Violin_, _'Cello_, _Piano_,
_Songs_.
Ronalds, Mrs. Belle. _Songs_.
Root, Grace W. _Songs_.
Runcie, Constance L. _Organ_, _Songs_.
Salter, Mary T. _Songs_.
Sargent, Cora D. _Songs_.
Sawyer, Hattie P. _Songs_.
Schuyler, Georgina. _Songs_.
Scott, Clara H. _Songs_.
Siegfried, Lillie M. _Songs_.
Simmons, Kate. _Dances_.
Skelton, Mrs. Nellie B. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Skinner, Mrs. Fanny L. _Songs_.
Smith, Eleanor. _Songs_.
Smith, Mrs. G. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Smith, Gertrude. _Songs_.
Smith, May F. _Songs_.
Smith, Nettie P. _Songs_.
Smith, Rosalie B. _Songs_.
Sneed, Anna. _Songs_.
Spencer, Fanny M. _Songs_, _Hymns_.
St. John, Georgie B. _Songs_.
Stair, Patty. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Steiner, Emma. _Operettas_, _Songs_.
Stewart, Annie M. _Songs_.
Stocker, Mrs. Stella P. _Songs_.
Sutro, Mrs. Theo. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Swift, Mrs. G. H. _Songs_.
Taylor, Mrs. A. H. _Songs_.
Thurber, Nettie C. _Songs_.
Torry, Jane S. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Townsend, Marie. _Songs_.
Train, Adeline. _Songs_.
Tretbar, Helen. _Songs_.
Tunison, Louise. _Songs_.
Van Buren, Alicia. _String Quartet_, _Songs_.
Vanderpoel, Kate. _Songs_.
Vannah, Kate. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Venth, Mrs. L. K. _Piano_.
Walker, Ida. _Piano_, _Songs_.
White, Emma C. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Williams, Margaret. _Overture_.
Wills, Harriet B. _Songs_.
Wood, Mrs. George. _Songs_.
Wood, Mary Knight. _Trio_, _Songs_.
Woodhull, Mary G. _Songs_.
Woods, Eliza. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Woodstock, Mattie. _Songs_.
Worth, Adelaide. _Songs_.
Young, Mrs. Corinne. _Songs_.
Young, Eliza M. _Piano_, _Songs_.
Zeissler, Fanny Bloomfield. _Piano_.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX
A
Aarup, Caia, 219.
Agnesi, Maria, 213.
Ahlefeldt, Countess of, 168.
Alcæus, 25.
Alcman, 27.
Aleotti, Vittoria, 64.
Alexandra, Grand Duchess, 229.
Alexandrian Romances, 48.
Alexandrowna, Mlle., 230.
Alfonso X., 59.
Allitsen, Frances, 148, 239.
Amalia Anna, Duchess, 155.
Amalie, Princess, 155.
Amaneius des Escas, 55.
Amann, Josephine, 171.
Amenhotep IV., 18.
Amersfoodt-Dyk, Hermine, 167.
Amos, 20.
Andrée, Elfrida, 220, 238, 240.
Andreozzi, Maria, 214.
Andrus, Helen J., 207.
Anna Amalie, Princess, 154.
Apollonius Rhodius, 24.
Appiani, Eugenia, 216.
Aqua, Eva dell', 212, 240.
Arthurian Romances, 48.
Asch, 95.
Aspasia, 29.
Asperi, Ursula, 215.
Assandra, Catterina, 65.
Athelstan, 36.
Aubade, 47.
Audley, Mme., 242.
Augusta, Empress, 155.
Aulin, Valborg, 218.
Aus Der Ohe, Adele, 171.
Auspitz, Auguste, 227.
Austen, Augusta, 134.
Aylward, Florence, 239.
B
Bach, Anna Magdalena, 69, 70.
Bach, Constance, 242.
Bach, John Sebastian, 61, 67-71, 241.
Bach, Maria Barbara, 68, 69.
Bachmann, Elise, 168.
Bachmann, Judith, 172.
Backer-Gröndahl, Agathe, 225.
Badarczewska, Thekla, 229.
Baglioncella, Francesca, 64.
Ballad, 47.
Barezzi, Margherita, 85.
Bariona, Madelka, 66.
Barker, Laura Wilson, 144.
Barnard, Mrs. Charles, 135.
Barns, Ethel, 145, 239.
Baroni, Julie von, 228.
Bartalotti, Signora, 215.
Barth, Elise, 226.
Bartholomew, Mrs., 134, 238.
Batta, Clementine, 166.
Baudissin, Countess of, 171.
Beach, Mrs. H. H. A., 195-201, 235, 238, 239.
Beatrice, Princess, 156.
Beaumesnil, Henriette de, 187.
Becker, Ida, 172.
Beethoven, Ludwig von, 107, 111, 116-123, 240.
Belleville-Oury, Emilie, 169.
Benfey-Schuppe, Anna, 162.
Berlioz, Hector, 81-84.
Bernard de Ventadour, 51.
Bernouilly, Agnes, 162.
Bertin, Louise, 182, 183.
Bertini, Natalie, 216.
Bertinotti, Teresa, 216.
Bigot, Marie, 192.
Binfield, Hannah, 135.
Bisset, Elizabeth, 135.
Blahetka, Leopoldine, 160.
Blasis, Teresa di, 216.
Bleitner, Rosa, 227.
Börner-Sandrini, Marie, 172.
Borton, Alice, 139.
Bourges, Clementine de, 66.
Boyce, Ethel Mary, 143, 239.
Brambilla, Marietta, 216.
Brandt, Caroline, 78-80.
Brentano, Bettina von, 121.
Breuning, Eleonora von, 119.
Bright, Dora, 138, 239.
Brinkmann, Minna, 171.
Brisson, Mlle., 191.
Broes, Mlle., 216.
Bronsart, Ingeborg von, 220-225, 234, 240.
Bruch, Max, 237.
Bruckenthal, Baroness von, 166.
Brunswick, Therese von, 121.
Bugge, Magda, 225.
Buttenstein, Constance, 163.
Buxtehude, 111.
C
Caccini, Francesca, 64, 211, 240.
Calegari, Cornelia, 65.
Candeille, Emilie, 187.
Carissan, Célanie, 186, 238.
Carlovingian Romances, 48.
Carmichael, Mary Grant, 141, 238.
Carreño, Teresa, 231-233.
Casella, Signora, 215.
Casida, 46.
Casulana, Maddalena, 63.
Catalani, Angelica, 216.
Cecilia, St., 211.
Celtic Music, 37.
Chamberlayne, Edith A., 139, 238.
Chaminade, Cécile, 174-177, 234, 237, 238, 240.
Chanson, 47.
Charlotte, Princess, 156.
Chazal, Mrs., 133.
Cherubini, 81.
Chinese Music, 31-34.
Chivalry, 37.
Chopin, Frederic, 97, 98, 128-130.
Chrétien de Troyes, 48.
Chrétien-Genaro, Hedwige, 189.
Chrishna, 13, 14.
Christ, Fanny, 173.
Chrysostom, 36.
Cianchettini, Veronica, 226.
Claribel, 135.
Clarke, Jane, 133.
Clausz, Wilhelmine, 227.
Clement, Mary, 169.
Coccia, Maria Rosa, 216.
Colbran, Angela, 230.
Collin, Helene, 193.
Collins, Laura Sedgwick, 206.
Colona-Sourget, Helene Santa, 188.
Contention, 46.
Cooke, Edith, 152.
Corinna, 28.
Correr, Ida, 215.
Courts of Love, 52-55.
Cozzolani, Margarita, 65.
Creti, Mariana, 216.
Cronenthal, Marquise de, 186.
Cuman, Harriet, 219.
D
Dahl, Emma, 218.
Dances, Ancient, 17, 21, 31.
Danziger, Laura, 207.
David, King, 20.
Davies, Llewela, 153.
Deborah, 21.
Dedekam, Sophie, 219.
Dejazet, Hermine, 189.
Delaval, Mme., 190.
Demar, Therese, 194.
Derheimer, Cécile, 190.
D'Hardelot, Guy, 149.
D'Hovorst, Mme., 227.
Dickson, Ellen, 135.
Discord, 47.
Dolores, 135.
Don Pedro, 60.
Doria, Clara, 203.
Duchambge, Pauline, 193.
Ducré, Pierre, 84.
Dufferin, Lady, 152.
Duport, Marie, 230.
Du Rollet, 114, 115.
Dussek, Olivia, 135.
Duval, Mlle., 187.
E
Egyptian Music, 16-19.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, 50, 51, 52.
Ellicott, Rosalind, 140, 238, 239.
Erard, Sebastian, 135.
Erdödy, Countess, 120.
Ertmann, Baroness, 120.
Eschborn, Nina, 173.
Essenhamens, 42, 55.
Estabrook, Miss, 206.
Esterhazy, Caroline von, 124, 125.
Esterhazy, Prince, 72.
Ethelbert, 35.
F
Farrenc, Jeanne Louise, 181, 238.
Farrenc, Victorine, 182.
Fechner, Pauline, 229.
Feminine Tones, 32.
Ferrari, Carlotta, 212, 213, 234, 240.
Ferrari, Gabriella, 185.
Fichtner, Pauline, 168.
Foang-Hoang, 32.
Folville, Juliette, 218.
Fortmague, Baronne de, 189.
Franz, Maria Hinrichs, 172.
Franz, Robert, 104, 237, 240.
Frederick Barbarossa, 38.
Frederick the Great, 154.
Fricken, Ernestine von, 94.
Frugoni, Bertha, 216.
G
Gabriel, Virginia, 136.
Gaelic Music, 37.
Gail-Garre, Edme Sophie, 187.
Gallois, Mme., 189.
Galloni, Adolfa, 215.
Gay, Marie Sophie, 190.
Gaynor, Mrs. Jessie L., 208.
Geiger, Constance, 171.
Geishas, 34.
Genlis, Comtesse de, 194.
Gignoux, Mlle., 189.
Gilbert, Florence, 151, 239.
Giucciardi, Countess, 120.
Gizycka, Ludmilla, 227.
Gladkowska, Constantia, 129.
Glee-Maidens, 57.
Gluck, Christoph W., 113-116.
Goddard, Arabella, 146.
Goetze, Augusta, 167.
Goodwin, Amina Beatrice, 146.
Gottfried von Strassburg, 40.
Grabowska, Countess, 228.
Graever, Madeleine, 216.
Grandval, Vicomtesse de, 180, 181, 238.
Gray, Louisa, 142.
Greek Music, 22-30.
Greene, Edith, 138.
Grétry, Lucille, 187.
Griebel, Thekla, 168.
Grieg, Eduard Hagerup, 88.
Gro, Josephine, 210.
Guenin, Mlle., 188.
Guerre, Elizabeth de la, 186.
Guest, Jeanne Marie, 133.
Guidi, Teresa, 215.
Gyde, Margaret, 144.
H
Habakkuk, 20.
Hale, Mrs. Philip, 209.
Hammer, Marie von, 207.
Handel, Georg F., 111-113, 241.
Harland, Lizzie, 143.
Harraden, Ethel, 141.
Harrison, Annie F., 142.
Haydn, Franz Josef, 71-75.
Haydn, Frau, 71-73.
Heale, Miss, 143.
Hebrew Music, 19-22.
Heidenreich, Henrietta, 169.
Heim-Brehm, Mathilde, 169.
Heinke, Ottilie, 172.
Heinrich von Meissen, 43.
Heinrich von Veldig, 38.
Hendrich-Merta, Marie, 168.
Henn, Angelica, 166.
Hensel, Wilhelm, 126.
Herder, 21.
Héritte-Viardot, Pauline, 185.
Hetæræ, 29.
Hill, Mildred, 209.
Hindoo Music, 12-16.
Hoang-Ti, 31.
Hodges, Faustina Hasse, 207.
Holland, Caroline, 143.
Holmberg, Betty, 225.
Holmes, Augusta, 178-180, 235, 238, 240.
Homer, 22, 24.
Hood, Helen, 207.
Hopekirk-Wilson, Mme., 204.
Horrocks, Amy Elsie, 138, 239.
Hortense, Queen, 193.
Hundt, Aline, 162, 238.
I
Isaiah, 20.
J
Jacques, Charlotte, 189.
Jaell, Mme. Marie, 191.
Janina, Countess Olga, 230.
Janotha, Nathalie, 229.
Japanese Music, 34.
Jeanrenaud, Cécile, 128.
Jewell, Lucina, 207.
Jongleurs, 39, 56, 62.
Jordan, Mrs., 136.
K
Kainerstorfer, Clotilde, 172.
Kanzler, Josephine, 165.
Keeners, 20.
Keglevics, Babette de, 120.
Kercado, Mlle., 187.
Kern, Louise, 166.
Kinkel, Johanna, 167.
Kletzinsky, Adele, 229.
Kohary, Marie de, 227.
Komorowska, Stephanie, 230.
Korn, Clara, 204.
Krämer, Caroline, 173.
Kralike, Mathilde von, 166.
L
Lacerda, Bernarda de, 66.
Lago, Miss, 219.
La Hye, Louise, 193.
Lamia, 29.
Lang, Josephine, 169.
Lang, Margaret Ruthven, 201, 202.
Langhans, Louise, 166.
Lannoy, Comtesse de, 218.
La Roche, Rosa, 191.
Lawrence, Emily, 143.
Lebeau, Louisa Adolpha, 164, 165, 238, 239.
Lebrun, Francesca, 168.
Lechantre, Mlle., 191.
Lehmann, Liza, 146, 147, 236, 239.
Lehmann, Mrs. Rudolph, 147.
Leucadian Rock, 26.
Lewing, Adele, 171.
Ling-Lun, 32.
Linwood, Mary, 132.
Lipsius, Marie, 242.
Liszt, Franz, 103, 241.
Loder, Kate Fanny, 136.
Louis VII., 50.
Louis, Mme., 187.
Ludwig of Bavaria, 87.
Lund, Baroness van der, 216.
M
Macironi, Clara Angela, 151.
Maier, Amanda, 219.
Maistre, Baronne de, 189.
Malibran, Mme., 184.
Malleville, Charlotte de, 193.
Maneros, 17.
Map, Walter, 48.
Marchesi, Mme., 193.
Marckwald, Grace, 204.
Maria Antonia, 155.
Maria Charlotte Amalia, 155.
Maria Theresa, 113.
Mariani, Virginia, 215.
Marie Antoinette, 114-116.
Marie de France, 58.
Marie Elizabeth, Princess, 156.
Marshall, Mrs. Julian, 138.
Martinez, Marianne, 158.
Marx, Berthe, 192.
Mary, Queen of Scots, 67.
Massart, Louise, 192.
Massenet, Jules, 130.
Mastersingers, 62, 63.
Mattheson, 111.
Maury, Mme., 185.
Mayer, Emilie, 161, 238, 239.
Meadows-White, Mrs., 235, 238.
Melville, Marguerite, 206.
Mendelssohn, Fanny, 125-128.
Mendelssohn, Felix, 101, 107, 125, 128, 134, 170, 240.
Merrick, Mrs. C., 208.
Meyer, Elizabeth, 219.
Milanollo, Teresa, 215.
Millar, Marian, 134.
Minnesingers, 38-44, 62.
Miriam, 21.
Misangere, Marquise de la, 192.
Molinos-Lafitte, Mlle., 193.
Monte-Varchi, Anna de, 230.
Montgeroult, Mme., 192.
Morgan, Lady, 152.
Morison, Christina, 152.
Moscheles, Ignaz, 118.
Moseley, Caroline Carr, 144.
Moses, 21.
Mounsey, Elizabeth, 134.
Mozart, W. A., 74-78.
Müller, Josepha, 167.
Mundella, Emma, 135.
Munktell, Helen, 219.
Muses, 22-23.
Mussini, Adele, 216.
Myrtis, 28.
N
Needham, Alicia Adelaide, 152.
Nero, 243.
Neuville, Mme. de, 190.
Novel, 47.
Nunn, Elizabeth, 135.
O
Okey, Maggie, 144.
Olagnier, Marguerite, 189.
Olga, Grand Duchess, 229.
Oliver, Kate, 144.
Orger, Caroline, 136.
Orpheus, 24.
Orth, Mrs. John, 206.
Osiris, 16, 17.
Osterzee, Cornelia van, 217.
P
Paganini, 83.
Paradies, Maria Theresa von, 156-158.
Park, Edna Rosalind, 205.
Parke, Maria, 132.
Parkyns, Mrs. Beatrice, 144
Pastorelle, 47.
Patti, Adelina, 152.
Pericles, 27, 29.
Perrière-Pilte, Comtesse, 188.
Perronet, Amélie, 189.
Pessiak-Schmerling, Anna, 167.
Petrarch, 51.
Pfeilschifter, Julie von, 168.
Phaon, 25.
Piccini, 115.
Pierpont, Marie de, 189.
Pindar, 28.
Pitman, Alice Locke, 206.
Planer, Minna, 86-88.
Planh, 46.
Plautus, 31.
Pleyel, Camille, 192.
Plitt, Agathe, 167.
Polko, Elise, 242.
Pollet, Marie, 194.
Polzelli, Luigia, 74.
Porter, Edith Noyes, 205.
Prescott, Oliveria L., 138, 238.
Provence, 44, 45.
Puget, Louise, 188.
Pythagoras, 29.
Q
Quinault, Marie Anne, 190.
R
Radecki, Olga von, 230.
Ralph, Kate, 144.
Ramann, Lina, 171, 241.
Ramsay, Katharine, 152, 239.
Recio, Mlle., 83.
Rees, Clara, 207.
Reichard, Louise, 171.
René, Victor, 209.
Rennes, Catherine van, 217.
Rhodes, Mrs., 149.
Ricotti, Onestina, 216.
Ringelsberg, Mathilde, 227.
Ritter, Fanny Raymond, 210, 242.
Riquier, Guirant, 59.
Rivé-King, Julia, 203.
Robert-Mazel, Mme., 190.
Rogers, Clara Kathleen, 202, 203.
Roman Music, 30, 31.
Romance, 48.
Rudersdorff, Mme., 230.
Rüdiger of Manesse, 38.
Ruta, Gilda, 211, 240.
S
Sachs, Hans, 62.
Saint-Didier, Comtesse de, 190.
Sainte-Croix, Mlle, de, 189.
Sainton-Dolby, Charlotte, 136.
Salic Law, 35.
Samson, 20.
Sand, George, 129, 130.
Sanders, Alma, 144.
Sanderson, Sibyl, 130.
Sappho, 25, 26, 27.
Saracen Music, 45.
Schaden, Nanette von, 163.
Schaeffer, Theresa, 163.
Schauroth, Delphine von, 171.
Scheidler, Dorette, 80.
Schimon, Anna, 227.
Schirmacher, Dora, 146.
Schmezer, Elise, 168.
Schröter, Mrs., 74.
Schubert, Franz Peter, 101, 104, 107, 111, 123-125, 237.
Schumann, Clara, 90-110, 169, 234, 240.
Schumann, Robert, 90-107, 169, 237, 240.
Scott, Lady, 136.
Seebald, Amalia, 122.
Seipt, Sophie, 173.
Seneke, Teresa, 215.
Serenade, 47.
Serov, Mme., 230.
Siegfried, Lillie Mahon, 206.
Sirens, 23, 24, 25.
Sirmen, Maddalena, 214.
Sirvente, 47.
Sixtine, 47.
Skinner, Florence M., 142.
Smith, Alice Mary, 137, 234.
Smith, Eleanor, 208.
Smithson, Harriet, 81, 83.
Smyth, Ethel M., 140, 239.
Socrates, 26.
Solomon's Song, 20.
Solon, 27.
Sonnet, 47.
Spohr, Ludwig, 80, 97, 109, 134.
Stecher, Marianne, 172.
Steiner, Emma, 205.
Stirling, Elizabeth, 133.
Stocker, Stella Prince, 209.
Stollewerck, Nina von, 163.
Strauss, Mme. Richard, 88.
Strozzi, Barbara, 65.
Stubenberg, Anna, 227.
Sutro, Mrs. Theodore, 209.
Swepstone, Edith, 139, 239.
Symphonie Fantastique, 81-83.
Sztaray, Countess, 229.
Szymanowska, Marie, 228.
T
Tannhäuser, 41.
Temple, Hope, 152.
Tennyson, Lady, 152.
Tenson, 46.
Terence, 31.
Tesi, Vittoria, 112.
Thegerstrom, Hilda, 219.
Thorn, Edgar, 209.
Thys, Pauline, 188.
Tournament, 47.
Train, Adeline, 209.
Travenet, Mme. de, 193.
Tretbar, Helen, 209, 242.
Troubadours, 38, 39, 44-56, 59, 60.
Troup, Emily J., 144.
Trouvères, 47, 48.
Tschitscherin, Theodosia de, 229.
Tunison, Louise, 209.
Tussenbroek, Hendrika van, 217.
Tyrell, Agnes, 163.
U
Uccelli, Caroline, 215.
Ulrich von Lichtenstein, 43.
Ulysses, 24.
V
Valentine, Ann, 133.
Van Buren, Alicia, 206.
Verdi, Giuseppe, 84-85.
Verger, Virginie du, 191.
Verse, 47.
Vezzana, Lucretia, 65.
Viardot-Garcia, Pauline, 183, 184.
Vidal, Pierre, 43.
Vigny, Louise von, 172.
Vizzani, Orsina, 64.
Vorwerk, Henrietta, 227.
W
Wace, Robert, 48.
Wacht-Lieder, 40.
Wagner, Cosima, 88.
Wagner, Richard, 85-88, 240.
Walter, Ida, 142.
Walther von der Vogelweide, 41.
Ward, Kate Lucy, 152.
Wartburg, 41.
Weber, Aloysia, 75.
Weber, Carl Maria von, 78-80.
Weber, Constance, 75, 77.
Westrop, Kate, 144.
White, Maude Valerie, 150, 238, 239.
Wieck, Clara, 90-102, 106.
Wieck, Friedrich, 91, 102.
Wieck, Marie, 91-171.
William of Poitou, 50.
Williams, Margaret, 205.
Willman, Magdalena, 119.
Winkel, Therese, 173.
Wiseneder, Caroline, 167, 242.
Wodzinski, Marie, 129.
Wolfram von Eschenbach, 40.
Wood, Mary Knight, 206.
Woods, Eliza, 205.
Woolf, Sophia, 136.
Wurm, Marie, 140.
Wurmbrand, Countess, 169.
Y
Young, Harriet Maitland, 141.
Z
Zapater, Rosaria, 230.
Zaubiter, Ida, 173.
Zentner, Clary, 216.
Zimmermann, Agnes, 145, 239.
Zumsteeg, Emilie, 159.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For a good account of Hindoo music, see "Curiosities of Music," by
L. C. Elson.
[2] Aside from the supernatural phase, the great power ascribed to music
by all mythologies may well have its foundation in fact. Taking as
illustration the ease with which the ignorant classes of the present,
especially in thinly settled countries, become the prey of various
delusions, it may well be true that whole races have passed through
mental stages in which their emotions, aroused by music, exerted an
almost irresistible power.
[3] Among the early forms of composition, the most important was the
mass, consisting of Kyrie, Sanctus, and other prescribed numbers, much
as at the present day. More free in form was the motet, in which
religious subjects were treated in contrapuntal fashion. The madrigal
differed from this only in dealing with secular subjects. That these old
madrigals, with their flowing parts and melodic imitations, are not
unpleasing to modern ears, has been often proven. Their progressions are
at times strange to us, but on repeated hearing often become imbued with
remarkable delicacy and appropriateness.
[4] La Mara claims that the "Carneval" was inspired wholly by Clara,
while Reissmann gives that honour to Ernestine.
[5] The term piano trio is used to signify a piece for piano, violin,
and 'cello, in full sonata form.
[6] For more extended lists of English and other composers, see
appendix. The student is referred to Otto Ebel's valuable handbook of
women composers.
[7] A. Michaelis, "Frauen als Schaffende Tonkuenstler."
[8] See "Music in the Nineteenth Century," by J. A. Fuller-Maitland.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Woman's Work in Music, by Arthur Elson
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