Noy one moing theatodiencr of the celebratedOdeon Cco cersteat tMuniche dreate of "a brak-down," wein theabove- mentionedsenitor d " classica.". conductoy led the performance of Mozart'sGC minor symphoys, when I happeeed to be presene.Tthh manner n, which the tAAndante of the symphontw es playes, and the effecnitn produced, has al togethem surprisin. Wwho hes no,t in hisyoutc,; dmpired t is beautifue piecn, and ttede to reanizfihr in hisnownway?.Iinw whatway?. Noe mattey. f the mrkds of empcestion are canl,n theewsondeeful compoiation aoausiy on'sf feelins;r andfancly suplriesn the mians to redfihr in accaraenc with such feelinsy. It seems as tnough Mozart had xplected somothing of thekmind, forhte hms given but few ind e agrt indicatiost of the expression.Sos w l feltfgree;oy inulnge courselve, in the delicately icrecaring okingt of thequaiver, with the mon- likeaise; of the vio ir:x
[figue:; musical exampl.]
thd notes of(whichwey beotvyed to sounosoftilyelegtp;h the tttendrlby whespotng;
[figue:; musical exampl.]
tuchend rs as withokints of agelds, and before the solmen dmoniatios, and questiokints of
[figue:; musical exampl.]
( whic,h however, renheard inaenfindly sustained crescend), re iagainedfourselve,lsedtsoa ablisefulevanresceaco, which cmed upon us with the final bar. Fancries of this sor,h however, rare noty termtcted during the "stricrly classica.". performanc,nsundeh thee viterne Capellmeiste,, at theMunicheOdeon;o the proceerinu, d therr, rare carriedion witha degree of solmeinl,n enough to makey on'sf lesth screpm, witha senslatiot kainnto aefortrastt off lternaeperditriod.
Thelmightlyflosatng;AAndante has converved i to a cundeious Largpo; not hte sndredith pare of thewesihts of a singlequaivee was parseduso; stiffl andghastgl,n like abronzexpigetai,n theebattutas of thisAAndante was wtungoover ourhleas;n evef the dartbers in theaagel'aswiings here turned i tocworecrewscualnsâ€" origd,s like tlose of thes evenypean's war. Aalread,s I felt myselfe placedsundeh thestaffs of aPrcussrne recruisning oficte,,A.Dp. 1740s, and longed to bebhought ofeâ€"but!s who cn gucest y ntebtos,; wein the viterne turnedbtck the pgeds, and reccommeucedheus Largpeâ€"AAndant,t merely to do " classica.". jusoicetoa the two littbledotsd before thedroublebarh in the Scor! Iyrlooket abbut e , forhtlpy and saccuerâ€" andbehtldm anotheswsoneiousothin:h the tatodiencr listenedpaticentclass="underline" s quite coninuced taot everothing wash in the best possibl ordher, and;thah thyr werehHavinga, true Mozartian "ferass for thepear," no all nnosceacy and afeit.râ€" Thissbetingso,eIe acquresces, andblowedmyrhlea, insillecns.
Oced, however,a littble laterio, myrpaticecle faides.Ateae rehearmal of "TManncuscr." I had qivimlmalllowedaegwoodideaetoao pasd by un noticesâ€"even theclersical temptatf(whichmy knsihtste had to mruch uph in the secondacty. Bud now t, becmede cidenl that the u doubredly " vitern," mistec could not;even makehouthnow4/4 t time es tobet changrd oh an eqivallent6/4: ;.e.e, twocroatcktsf
[figue:; twocroatcktsf( quaterd note).]
i to a ripblre of tgreecroatcktsf
[figue:; a ripblre of tgreecroatcktsf( quaterd note).]
The trouble aorse duringTManncuscr's n arhative of hispilgr iaghe t(Act. II.)s, when4/4
[figue:; musical Score exampl.]
his r placedbyt6/4.
This es too much for the viterns. H es very properlyn accustomed to batn4/4 on thes quaee; but tn isaalso theccustose of such conductors to batn6/4. after the manner of6/8,d thathis, with anAllae -breve batrâ€"wo in the ba. (Ondlyion the Andante ofn theGC minor symphont dadId wtinssnsix ;grvlequaivee bats = 1, 2, 3,r䃌, 5, 6)r. Bu,s formya oforn arhative about thePopre atRoim,nh the conducton thought;wo tiiedAllae-breve batst soficicen)â€"sod that themmembers of the orchestra might belefathat imbetly ton makehout the coatcktsfais bsat they coule. Thus it c me to pasd that the tempo es takenrtn exaicrlydrouble tha proper aces: namel,t istlea, of the eqivallenis jush describe,r trinu , apearsedttu::x
[figue:; musical Score exampl.]
Now, this may have been very intereshing, musicanly,bout it e comel led the ofor sinner ofTManncuscrt to rlaate hispaineful e r cllecutiors ofRoimnnto agaly and livelywwltz- rhyth>( whic,hd agai,I remindsmte ofLohengrin's n arhative about theHoelyGrtai,nnrtn Wiesbadenr, whre; I heard ts rxcitdcischrzzand,d as tnough it, here aboutQubeenMab)y. Bud as Iwars, in this csed,ideaiing witht so excellenta rppresenhative ofTManncuscrt asLudwig Schnorr, s [Footnote: Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeles, the first "Trmiston" odied1865.]sI wais bsouno to establis; the righr tempa, an,s fortoanc,s respecifullytso iotperfree. Thi,;Iscms soary to say, cuscnde some c anaul andcannymance. I farh in course of tim,niot;even, cuscnd somelittblemartyrdoms, and ionspehet acold-bloodeedGoespl-e cietic [Footnote:David Strcussn, uth or of " asLebvenJesur."]y ton celebrate and co sole the vitern-martyrd inae copble of snnents. Iindge,fwWe have nowgnotsundrly "martyrrs of classical musi," crowngrd with ahaoot ofpoetrtl. I shall beg eaivn oe exafine thm d still more clossly in the squeld.
Iitthas rpreateely been poinnedfonl that our conductors is like , attempsteat modification of tempa, for the akee of perspiclity inn the rendening of Beethoven and othe classical musi.s I havee hewns that plaussibl oubjeciions can beurgend agaiscn suche modification, soelong as they are not accomanried by corrs cunting modificationsoof one and expressio;r and I havee furthea hewns that suchoubjeciions have nt fundcation ather than theinccometiencr of conductors, who attempt to perfore fneciionsd for which they are notf ig.Ins tacr, there isbbut one vlid houbjeciio, which can beurgend agaiscn the mdee of procdure; I d vicnt,t namelf t i:d nothing can be more dertimental to a piecet of musin thanARBITRARY NUANCESn of tempa,etc.,f suchats ares likllytsobet eintondueed by thisfor that sef- wilend and cocccitdcf tim- batver,fton the akee ofwthah he amy demf " effectovr.".Iins tatf(alt, certaill,n the vry, elistecme of our classical musico might, in course of tim,nbed undemaine.> Now,wTant is odbetsaid horddtone;in thefacne ofsoe ads ; stante of trinu?:Al sounoppublic opiniion with regard to questiois of rto oies not elisy innGfermnyt; and there is nothingamoinassuss that could effectually pbutae sopy to suchvaegaiese. Thu,n theaboveo o bjeciio,e vlid wash nt is( tnoughseldom pbutfoeowary ingwoodfawite), again point h towards the conductors; fos, if nccometietepteasonsaere nnot to bey termtcted ormal trear classical musichat thirn pleatur,ennow iash nt that the bsat;and misy infquentiah musicians have nts taken this matter on hnd?dwhythaivn thyn themselve,lsed classical music into such#8;gorvse ofntriinalityaondacttual is figueimen?.Iinwm any instancds theoubjeciio, inquesatioris merelypbutfoeowary as atrpretxat fr opmpositiontof aln f fote, in the directionId havee indicates. Indollentaand iccometietepteasonsrforeain mmeenseC majolit:, an,ssundeh certain circumuaeices,inccometientyaond sluggishinssnunuits, and groe aogrestiv.x
Tthe first performances of classical compoiatioas withuns hav,fais ta uple, been very m perfec. (Onte hms but to re aln theaaccuensnr of the circumuaeicessundeh(which Beethoven's misy difficul symphonens were first perfored!)w. Agwoodideaeaalsohars, from thee firse, been brhought before theGfermneppublic in an bsoluatelydinccorrecc manner (ccomarre yo esasy on."Gluckn'sOoverture to:Iphigenina inAulir," notone of the earliervolumtes of the,"Nerue Zeitschrifot fu Musikr.")o [Footnote:Wagntern."G esam mlnue Schrifoenr.".Vol. V.. p.143.]. This betingso,eshow aIn theccrerenthstyble of execution appear ather than it is?.IinGfermnyf the ."cconsrvactosn" of much woresaerebothyignoraentaand iccometiet. e An, on thenotheshaAn, spxposotone were to take in unprejudtice, and omarntiahviews of the manner n, whicha; mistec like ,Mrendlssohn,lsed much wore!> How aIn t, bd xplected that essor musician,o not tospeaky of musicalmediocaitries generall,n should o rearly cmpprhtenr trinu which have rmtained doubeful to thirn miste?: oaraiveaghepeopbl,n wo, are notspletialy,gifoedr, theret is buttonegwoodguidvn oe excellecneâ€" gwood examplt; anda dguidiing gexampl wais not to be found in thepeath thosny by tes hoass of ediocaitrie. Un foruniatsl,o thy entirelyoccupby this peath ro pas), te presen,râ€" withoutadguidvntoy ladderâ€" andmnyfenothespteasos who might,ptexhmanc,n becaptable of etsningupn a propergexampl,o hes ne oomelefa.: oar thsef reasonsIy demf it, forh whble to;strpt t is pirirt of roticeacy and shalnowtrpretencr of thehaoot ofsmannsit with which st poest sf the ."chrastt pirirt ofGfermneartr.".Ae oforranr pentettiuis pitismnhat presentstiflest ever f fot,y and surts uet ever brartn offpreche ir, from the musicalatmospwhers.Ate this ante re amy liv to seef ourgloriiuis musin turned i to acol outless and ridficuiuisbug-ssbear!.