THE RELATION OF THE COMPOSER TO MUSICAL FORM 23 
posers from Bach to Brahms and even later, but is it the purpose of this 
article merely to call the attention of the reader to general principles; 
to speak of the relation of the composer to his particular historical period, 
and above all of that relation existing between the soul of the composer 
and his art. To comprehend this last relation would be to comprehend 
one of the profoundest problems—a problem which the philosophers 
themselves approached with grave questionings. Wagner himself felt 
that Schopenhauer arrived nearest the truth in his great work, “Die 
Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,”’ in which he recognizes as Wagner says, 
in music itself an 1dea of the world, since whosoever could completely elucidate music, 
or rather translate it into rational concepts, would at the same time have produced a 
philosophy explaining the world. 
In referring to Beethoven’s dedication of his ‘Sinfonia Eroica” to 
Bonaparte (a dedication which he afterward destroyed when Bonaparte 
declared himself Emperor) Wagner says: 
None of our poets has ever designated the tendency connected with one of his princi- 
pal works in so marked a manner: yet what aid can such a plain indication give us in 
judging of one of the most wonderful of musical creations? Can it explain a single bar 
of that score? Is it not sheer folly to think seriously of making such an attempt? I 
believe the most positive information we may get about the man Beethoven will, at best, 
stand in the same relation to the musician Beethoven as General Bonaparte stands to 
the “Sinfonia Eroica.”” From this point of view the great musician must ever remain 
a perfect mystery. 
That deep relation of the genius of Shakespeare, Goethe or Beethoven 
to art and to the world can only be revealed in its full sense to a few of 
the greatest souls; but to all there come partial visions of it as their lives 
become enriched by study, experience, sacrifice—and sorrow. 
In conclusion I feel it a privilege to quote the following from The 
Symphony since Beethoven, a masterly work by one of the greatest living 
orchestral conductors, Felix Weingartner. 
I have now spoken of the modern composers also, chiefly of Strauss and Mahler, 
who, standing still in the middle of their creative work, lead our thoughts on from the 
present to the future. Whether there will come an artist, who in his own way can carry 
on further the work of Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner, and worthily bring to a close the ranks, 
of our great geniuses, no one today can tell. 
But we need not hinder our imaginations from picturing him as he would appear 
in our day. I-think of him first as independent of all parties, and not meddling with 
them because he is above them. I think of him, not narrow-mindedly German nor yet 
