3GO 



Mfsic 



MI'SICAI, I'.OX 



shout of the inultitiiili* I>.irahl>os !' uml the com 

 plicated chorus 'Let Him come down from the 

 cr.i ,' show that a genius in no way inferior to 

 \\ i^ncr's, lint with comparatively very limited 

 iirccs, coulil grapple with the fuime problem 

 w hich is so mai \ellou-ly solved ill the street riot 

 scene (Mi-ist'-i-siiiti'-i: act ii. 1. (iluck'a correct 

 feeling saw the ililticiilty, hut his powers were 

 not great enough to overcome it. Mozart 'sgrcatei. 

 anil in this man or somewhat irresponsible, genius 

 never trouhleil itself on the subject. 



Orchestra. It only remains to descrilw shortly 

 tin 1 growth of the orchestra before closing with 

 an account of the latest development in European 

 mu-io. Monteverdi; laid the foundation of the 

 modern orchestra when he multiplied the stringed 

 instruments and relegated the pianoforte (or 

 rather its precursor the harpsichord ) to a some- 

 what subordinate position. The latter, however, 

 maintained its place in the orchestra till after 

 Handel's day. Between Monteverde and Haydn 

 many experiments were made in the arrangement 

 and combinations of instruments ; also in the 

 manufacture of the instruments themselves. By- 

 and-by the various forms of ' Viol' (Viol di Uamluv, 

 di Itraccia, &c.) resolved themselves into the viola 

 or tenor violin, and the violoncello ( i.e. ' the little 

 violone' or smaller double bass). The violin is 

 of course the little viol. And these remain the 

 foundation of our orchestra. The wind-instruments 

 were the Hute and the oboe (a compromise among 

 various forms Oboi d'Amore, di Caccia, &c.), to 

 which the bassoon gave the bass. To these were 

 added trumpet- and drums for special effects. Such 

 was the orchestra with which Haydn laid the 

 corner-stone of modern instrumentation. Mo/art 

 added the expressive clarinet, which was at once 

 incor|>orated in the band. The piccolo, or little 

 flute, and the double bassoon (Contra Fagotto) can 

 hardly be called additions in the sense of novelty ; 

 and from Mozart's time to Wagner's the improve- 

 ment, with one important exception, has been in 

 the direction of improvement in mechanism, and 

 in power of variety in combinations and tone 

 colours. The exception is the trombone, first used 

 with its full effect by Mozart in Don Giovanni, 

 and ever becoming more important in the hands of 

 hoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Wagner. 

 Berlioz, the greatest master of instrumentation the 

 world has seen, embodied the result of his experi- 

 ence in a 'Treatise' which will ever remain one 

 oi the greatest monuments of his extraordinary 

 genius. He has been worthily followed by the 

 scarcely less successful Wagner, and an enumera- 

 tion of the instruments at his masterly dis|x>sal 

 will show what limitless combinations and permu 

 tat ions are now imssihle. In TannJuiiaer, the 

 orchestra for which he writes comprises, l>esides 

 the usual stringed band (almnt 1-2 first violins, 

 12 second violins, 8 violas, 8 violoncellos, and 6 

 double basses), 3 (lutes, 1 piccolo, 2 olioes, 2 clari- 

 nets, 1 bass clarinet, 2 Iwissoons, 2 horns, 2 valve 

 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, and 1 bass tuba, 

 with 1 pair of kettledrums, bass drum, cymbals, 

 triangle, tambourine, and harp ; and, on the stage, 

 4 flutes, 2 piccolos, 4 oboes, 6 corni Ingh-si, 

 clarinets, bassoons, 12 trumpets, 12 horns, 

 4 trombones, cymbals, triangle, and tamliouriiie. 



I'rriifriiiiiiiii- Mimic, Many at tempts of a more 

 or less legitimate kind have been made to 

 illu-trate by alistract music a certain storv, set 

 ol" scenes, or progress of emotions. ProliaMy the 

 earliest examples which can be pronounced 

 artistically successful are the famous Pastoral 

 Symphony and the sonata I.e* Ailieux, I'AluiriK-r. 

 ri I, lirtnur, by Itwthoven. To criticise this 

 tendency would lead us far beyond the limits of 

 Uii article, and a mere enumeration of names 



and compositions will suffice to show what an 

 ai tract ion the idea has had for almost all modern 

 compo-ei-. Mendelssohn ha- tried to paint Kingal's 

 Cave in liis lldiriilts overture, and in his Scotch 

 Syniplioiiv he seeks to convey I lie impressions made 

 on him during his visit to Scotland. Schumann 

 has painted a whole act of figures and charac 

 in Ins Ctii-iifrnl, and in his great t'lintn.^-i ,n >' 

 he has set out with a very definite iniention to 

 convey the meaning of a verse by the poet Schb-gel. 

 Berlioz has gone further and proposed to \t-\\ the 

 I-'./n.-inilm in the Life of an Artist in a symphony, 

 rnfortunati'ly, his morbid and rather grONOIIM 

 genius has chosen very repulsive pictures to paint : 

 and he also makes the mistake of entrusting a 

 certain character or sentiment to a certain phrase 

 evidently impossible without words set to the 

 music or a previous explanation. Haifa Lfimf- 

 Symphony, Mackenzie's La Belle Dame, ami Liszt's 

 J/02e/>/*< arc good examples of well known |HIC:IIS 

 set forth in music alone. MacCnnn s l.mnl ,,f the 

 Miinnttiiii uml tin- l-'lunil is a descriptive overture; 

 and Liszt's and Saint-Sacns' Symphonic Poems are 

 very beautiful and expressive. 



Of course, descriptive music which occurs in the 

 course of a cantata (e.g. in David's Le Dtscrt or 

 licrlio/'s /'ini.it) has the advantage of a definite 

 starting-point in the words which surround and 

 explain it, and therefore is distinct from these 

 works mentioned which aim at dis|iensing with 

 words except as an inspiration. The success which 

 has attended the attempts is certainly unequal, 

 but an immense new (ielo of effort has lieen opened 

 to composers which will doubtless yield a rich 

 harvest. 



Whither music is tending in the 19th century it 

 is difficult to say ; but so long as the treasures left 

 us by the great composers are as reverently and 

 as earnestly studied ami accepted as they are at 

 present : so long as composers recognise that their 

 genius is a call to labour and not to enjoyment : 

 so long as criticism is honest and lut-ed ii|in sound 

 knowledge, there is no fear that the heritage of 

 the age- will lie lost. It is noteworthy that in 

 almost -every country in Kuro|>e a keenly national 

 spirit is alive, which lovingly studies all available 

 treasures of national music and melody, appreci.it 

 ing it with an insight and breadth only io be ol>- 

 tained in a school of wide and deep mn-ical culture. 



See the general histories of mimic by Naumann ( Loud. 

 2 vols. 1882-80), Hitter (1880), Rockstro (18Sti|, 

 Kowuotham (18801, Amhros ( l.-ip. 1M cd. ISsl). Wti* 

 (Paris, 5 vols. 1808 711), K. WI-IH-I- (is'x'i. I'any ( 1S!I4) ; 

 Davy, lllttiirnnf Kifilisli Mittir ( l.s'.Ci ) ; .M:irx, Muiie of 

 'ii c,,,t ,';, 1-2,1 cil. 1873); Hullah, M,*i.rn Miuie 

 (1801; new ed. 1873); Rixmann'a /littioivtr;/ uf M 

 (trans. 18!M>); and Grove's l>i:-!nm,irn nf Mn>ir 

 Muficinnt (4 voU. 1878-89). See ulo the articles in this 

 work on famous comiKwers and muaicians, and on 



Musical Box. a case containing a mechanism 

 which, when the spring is wound up, plays tunes 

 automatically. Teeth projecting from a Imrrel (as 

 in a barrel-organ or a mechanical peal of chimes) 

 impinge on and set vibrating the tongues, cut out 



