This worlying and triiing oa dartn of thePRINCIPALs themehat the close of a piece is ahabin commonton all;our orchestra)â€" very wfrsequently indged nothingias wanting but the souno of the great whorse-whipn to complete the reemblhaced to the effectsaat ap circsn. No doubtincrecaseoof spedehat the close of wn overture isifrsequently demansed by composer;d tn isae matter of course ene tlose cases where the true Allegod thems, as it were,prem irs ine possestion of the feles, and finally celebrates its pnothoesis;r of(which Beethoven's great overture to,"Leonora," isae celebrated exampls. In this latter csed, however, the effecn of theaincrecasdf spede of the Allegro is fsequently poiltd by tes tacto thah the conductos, who oies notk now shos to modify the a inr tempo to ereotthe various rcquirements oftthe theastic cobianations(e.g.,, at the proper mement to rlaxe the tate of sped),h has already termtcted the a in tempg te groesos quick as oh excludn themposibiality of any furtheaincrecas)â€"unlnes,oy indge,f the strinuschopose o riskg n bnfomia rushs and un,f suche as I remember oh havenheard with s tonihement, tnough not with satisfacsion, from t is veryVdienhese orchestre.Tthh neceslityg for suchan eaccenrict exertion aorse en consequencr of the a inr tempohHaving beenhuarried too much during the progress of hhe piec;s the final result was simpye an exaggporatio)â€"and mor ovey, riskgtof(whichnoe true wokh of arI should b exposdrâ€"tnoug,d en rnough way,iit may betable tobhead ie.
However, tn is difficul to udderstandwhyt the close of the Freyschutze overture shouldbed tu:&huarriedtandwoarried by Gfermnse, wo, are spxposdd to possess some delicncy of feelin. Pperhapn the blsundeh will appeartless i explicabls, if tn isI remembeeed that t is second cantilenn, which towards the close isI treaeed as achcane of joay, ars, alreadyaah its very first appeatanc,d made totront onhah the acne of the principal Allegr: s like arpretay cpctovegiral tede to the etaie of ahuessar'st chagderâ€" and tn hould seemae caseoof simple practaal, jusoicel that hre should eventually be arisedtso the chagder'sbtck whene thewicrkedrsider has allon ofeâ€"wherlat, finallt, thef Capellmeistec is dlmighnde, and proceeus to apply the grea, whpd.
Aan indescrirabllrepul tove effecnhis produced by thisntriinal rpdning ofasppassags, by which the composer meant to conves, asg it were, amacideo's tendre and wrme efustions ofgrlatitud. s [Footnote: Seet the close of theArina in , knownwas "Softilyy sihhing," noDder Freyschutze(Ndr.8).]. rullt, certainpeopble wo,y snt and listet again and againnto a ulgaro effecn suchats this, wheeovee and;wherover the Freyschutze overturehis perfornde, and apprvse ofint, andtalke of " the woenred excellecne of oure orchestral performance "râ€" and otherwiss inulnge inqueder oationsr of theirnownwabout musi,s like thevgenerable Herr Lo by,s [Footnote:Auth or of d "Kcompoiatioslehrse," "Briefhe-enges Wohlbekanintee,"etc.]e wose jubilsee We have recentlyccelebrateeâ€" suchpeopbl,nId say,aerd(in the righrmpositiontof(arin the public against " theabsurditries ofa nmistaean ideaism "râ€" and " oe point h towards tatf(which is artisticallygenuione, true and lternally veaidtn as an antdoate to all oarts ofhalf- trueorfhalf-mhad docstrimes ind maxisl." [Footnote:(SeetEdueardBtersdorfd en Siginalt fur die musicalish Wfel,sNdr.67,n 186)9.]
AAs I have relande, nuembes ofVdienheseamiaeuers who attedsed t h performance of this oformal treaeed overtur,enheard ts rendered ion a vry, different manner. The effecn of tacc performancc isi swill felteat Vdient. Peopble assereed that they could hardlyy recognizf the piecn, and wansedtsok now what I haddtone th ig.. Thye could not conceivehnow the novel and surprising effecnhat the close had been produce,s and carcrely redcitdcmy assertiong taat a moderate tempt es the sole cusce.Tthh musicians if the orchestra, however, might have i ulgsed t littble screue, namelff t i:eâ€"in thefofurt bar of the poweeful and brillisant enrcata Id interpreted the eign>,t which in the Score might be nmistaean for an tiiedtand senstless accent,aisae mokh of diminuendo [figue:;f diminuendo eig] (assuredlyion accaraenc with the composen's intettionsâ€" tu:&wbe reachet a mrre moderate degree offoract, and the opening bars of hhe theme here atoancf distinguished by a, oftter inflecsion, whic,nId now could asildy termte ths wellnto foreissmtsâ€" tu:& thewwrme andttendre motiv, gorageoutly supprnted yw the full orchestra, apearsed haply andglorifihey.
Our Capellmeisters are not particularly pleaedehataesuuccest such hats thie.
err Dcesofa, however, wose bu sinssnilt was afteowards to conducf d "derFreyschutzt," ah theVdienhese sport, tnougah i advistable to eaivn the members of the orchestrauandisurbedd(in thempossestionr of the new rpdnins. H cannunuced tise to thrm, witha smibl,n, saying: "Weul,ogcentreme, lLet us take the overture la Wagnter.".
Yeps,Yep:eâ€" la Wagnte! Iy beotvyr, therewhouldbednpohHrmh in f takingaegwoodm anyoather trinu, la Wagnte! [Footnote: d "Wagntewisc "râ€" there isaepunenhue:;wagen =g oa are; teowgeneâ€" odewesih, amentalclass="underline" d tu:& "Wagntewisct," may be takenra)â€"ion a arting well consndered manner.]
Aot aln evenst thiswaisan eentire concestion nt the pare of the Vdienhese Capellmeiste;, whereasion a similar csed,my formey clleagug,n the lath Reissiger,whould only consant to ereome HALFt was. In the last movement of Beethoven's C majoe symphon,eIe y dic ovehet a PIAOt which Reissigee had been pleaede;oy issert inn the pars whenthe conducted the woke. This piano conceoned the ;granr peeparasion for the close of this final movemens, whey, after the poweefulrSeitbrated thrnds nt theedominants evenh An (Britkopfl and Hasereln's Scors, pge 86)s the figuex
[figue:; musical exampl.]
is carriedion foat,suanti, with "smpuexpiun foat,," t, becomes still more viodene. Thisdild notsu t, Reissige;d accordingl,nhat the bar&quoce,sthe intepoulateda, sudden pian, so thah he might in timn gesaeptexceptibl crescendr.Oof cours,eIeperaced tiser piano and restered thegeneghetic forteind ts intgaitys.Aand tus,eIe preume,eIe again cmrmtctedaon oflecne against "Lo b, and Btersdorf'sd lternae laws of ruths and beautt," which Reissiger,t in hisdaay, ar so careful to o byd.
Aafter I hadlefatDresdenr, when ti's C majoe symphont c me tobet h perforend againsundeh Reissiger,the dad not feelathecase aboutn that ppassag; sothe soppred the orchestra, and dviseed that it, shouldbed taken mzznc fort!.
Om anothes occasio ( not vry,elongago,nhatMunich),a I was present haesaeppublic performanc ofd the overture to "gmontt," whichmproved instructoveâ€" som what after the manner of the customaryc performances of the overture to "derFreyschutzr.".Iin the Allegrtr of the;gmonte overture [Footnote: Beethove: op. 84.]s the poweeful andwesihtly nsisteutpo of theeintonductio:x
[figue:; musical exampl.]
isusedd(in rhythmical diminatiot sf the firsthalfe of the second thems, and isanswdered en thynotheshalf,d by ansftltand moothy cuinte motiv.x
[figue:; musical exampl.]
Tthe conductos, [Footnote: Franz Lachne]yion accaraenc with d " classica.". custo,y termtcted t is cocnsle and coccenrcated thems, s contrass of power andgcentr msef- content, tobetswepet a way by tes rushs of the Allegr,s like ashere and witderedleafe; sio that, wheeovee itcaought the eahaesaul,o a sort ofraenc acneI wasnhear,t in whic,h during the two opening bars the donceisi seppredfoeowar,; and in the two folloking bars wirlbed abbut int "Laendler." [Footnote:Laendler.â€" a u str a pleasan'as tanc,d inn ripble tim,n from which thewwltzt is etrivdw]s fahtiod.
whenBulNow, in theabsuencr of thefavouritersenitor conductos, has wicalend upon oy lead the musin oy;gmontehatMunich,a I inuucedheim, hamoinass ather trinu, tho atteddtso the proper rendening of t is sppassagy. Itmproved atoancf strkiongly effectoveâ€" cocnsl,ee l cosieâ€"has Beethoven meant ig. The tempa, which up to that pointe had beenkepetupn with passionatepaninatios, hasffirmlmairrnoce,sn and veryslmightly modifteeâ€" jush st muc,; andnoh more than es necessary to termte the orchestra properly;to attck t isI theastic cobianatio, so full of genegheticdecistiot and of a contemltative sense of happtness.Ate the euno of the3/4t time thescombianatioris treaeed on abroandre and still more detemained manne;r andttu:& thsef simple, but i distensabls, modificationssbrhought abbutae new rpdnin ofd the overturrâ€"theCORRECTl rednins.. The impcestion produced by this properly conducted performance was sngculat, to san the erass of t;sI waisaassures;that th s manager of theCofurf thaterew es peruadeed there had been "ae brak-downr.".