 Angels Making Music. Around 1510 Matthias Grünewald from the Isenheim Altar (Colmar, Alsace, France: Unterlinden Museum) |
ALLGEMEINE
MUSIKALISCHE ZEITUNG
The 16th of June. No. 24. 1813
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R E V I E W
Messa a quattro voci coll'accompagnamento dell' Orchestra, composta da Luigi van Beethoven. Three Hymns for four voices with orchestra accompaniment, set to music and dedicated to His Serenity, Prince v. Kinsky, by L. van Beethoven. Score. 86th work. Leipzig, by Breitkopf und Härtel. (Price 4 Rthlr.)
No earlier Mass by B. is known to the reviewer: All the greater was his expectation as to how the genius of the master would treat the simple, wonderful words of High Mass.--- Prayer and devotion affect mind and soul in their peculiar or also momentary mood, as they might be influenced by physical or emotional well-being or by suffering. Therefore, sometimes, there is devotion, inner remorse up to self-contempt and ignominy, sinking into the dust before the destructive ray of lightning of the angry world ruler, sometimes a strong uplifting to the eternal, child-like trust in divine mercy, a premonition of the promised bliss. In a cycle, the words of High Mass only provide inducement, only a guide for devotion, and in every mood, they will strike the right chord in the soul. In the Kyrie, God's mercy is called upon; the Gloria praises his omnipotence and splendor; the Credo pronounces the faith upon which the pious soul firmly relies, and, after God's sanctity is has been uplifted in the Sanctus and Benedictus and blessings have been promised to those who approach Him in full confidence, in the Agnus and in the Dona, the mediator is called upon to bring peace and calm to the pious, believing and hopeful soul. On the basis of this generality alone that does not anticipate the more profound relationship, the inner meaning that everyone puts into it, based on his individual emotional and mental state, the text lends itself to manifold musical renditions, and due to this very reason, there exist different Kyrie, Gloria etc. renditions that are quite different in character, by one and the same master. One only has to compare the two Kyries in the Masses in C-major and d-minor by Joseph Haydn, and also his different Benedictus renditions.---From this alone follows that the composer who (is), as it should always be, filled with true devotion when he embarks on composing High Mass, and who will ensure that the individual religious outlook of his mind and soul will predominate and that he thus will not be misguided into accompanying the Miserere, Gloria, Qui tollis etc., in all their heart-rending expressions of the despair of the human soul, with jubilant tintinnabulation. All works of this latter kind, as they have been rendered in newer times in a most frivolous manner, since it has become fashionable to compose masses, the reviewer disapproves of as abominations, brought forth by impure minds; however, before he pays homage to and admires the wonderful works of Michael and Joseph Haydn and of Naumann, he can not help but consider the old works of the pious Italians (Leo, Durante, Benevoli, Petri etc.), whose sublime, dignified simplicity, whose wonderful art, without any colorful deviations, modulate into the innermost, and which, in our times, seems to almost have been lost. That--without wanting to hold on to the original, pure, church style merely for the fact that the sacred disdains the garish decorations of earthly embellishment--in church, simple music has more effect, is not to be doubted, since the tones, the faster they follow each other, the easier they fade away in the high vault and make everything unclear. That is, in part, the great effect of good chorales in church. A genius of a poet (Tieck, in the second part of the 'Phantastus'), disapproves of all newer church music and exclusively favors the old Italians. The reviewer, as much as he prefers the old church music for the sake of its sacred, solid style alone, is, however, still of the opinion that with the wealth that music, mainly with respect to instruments, has acquired in our times, one should certainly not introduce grandiosity or even gaudiness, but one could apply it in a noble, dignified manner. The daring analogy that the older church music of the Italians can be compared to the newer German church music in the same way as one could compare the St. Peter's Basilica to the Strasburg Cathedral, might be quite fitting. The grandiose dimensions of that church uplift the spirit by remaining incommensurable: however, with a curious, inner anxiety, the viewer gazes at the Strasburg Cathedral that soars up into the highest heights with its most daring curves, the most peculiar entanglement(s) of fantastic figures and decorations; alone even this unrest evokes a feeling of the unknown, of the wonderful, and the mind willingly succumbs to the dream, by believing to recognize the unearthly, the infinite. Well, this is the very impression of the purely romantic as it lives in Mozart's and Haydn's fantastic compositions!--That now, a composer will not very likely and easily embark on composing High Mass in the sublime, simple style of the old Italians, is easily explicable: in most cases, this does not happen due to lack of ability, for it is in this very sublime simplicity that the profound genius spreads its strongest wings; however, often it is also not embarked upon due to a lack of self-denial. Who does not like to shine in the eyes of all with the wealth that is at his disposal and is satisfied with the applause of the single connoisseur to whom the solid music, without adornment, is still the most treasured, nay, the only treasured music? Due to the fact that one began to use the same means of expression, everywhere, we have almost arrived at the situation that no style exists, anymore. In the comical opera, one often hears solemn, slow movements, in the opera seria, one hears frivolous little songs, and in the church oratorios and masses in an operatic style. However, it requires a rare profoundness of mind, a lofty genius, to remain dignified, in short, within the church style if one applies figured voice composition and the entire wealth of instrumental music! Mozart, as gallant as he is in his two more well-known masses in C-major, has solved this task splendidly in his Requiem: this is truly a romantic and sacred music that has sprung from his innermost. How splendidly Haydn, too, expresses himself in his Masses with respect to the most sacred and most sublime, in wonderful music, the reviewer does not have to mention, although some would want to accuse him of frivolity, here and there. That Beethoven, with respect to style and comportment, Beethoven would want to line himself up next to this master is what the reviewer surmises without even having read one single note of the work to be discussed here, although he was wrong with respect to the musical expression and with respect to his understanding of the words of High Mass. Usually, Beethoven's genius likes to use means of awe and horror. Therefore, the reviewer thought that the contemplation of the supernatural, unearthly would fill his mind with inner awe and that he would thus express himself in music. To the contrary, the entire Mass exudes the impression of a childlike, serene mind that, relying on purity, faithfully trusts in God's grace and prays to Him like to a father who wants the best for his children and who fulfills their wishes. In addition to this general character of the composition, the inner structure, as well as the sensible instrumentation are, if one disregards the tendency that the reviewer postulated with respect to the use of musical wealth in church, entirely worthy of the great master.-- In the entire work, there is no movement that would not contain some imitation and contrapuntal devices, although one can not find one strictly worked-out fugue, and old masters who are used to the most pure church music, would complain of many a digression against the same, as, for example, false progressions of fifths (namely of a false fifth after a pure fifth), octave endings, unharmonious false relations etc. that the reviewer does not wish to mention, any further, since he, if the subject of discussion is not a chorale in which every chord rings heavily in one's ear, admits to being a musically free spirit, himself, and, in admitting as much, relying on that which the old Haydn said when Albrechtsberger wanted to banish all fourths from the purest phrase.--The reviewer may now, after he has discussed the character and structure of the work, in general, still discuss details as far as it is necessary to justify his viewpoint, and to point out many a truly splendid musical moment which lets the genius of the composer shine through wonderfully.
Without any ritornello, the bass signers alone intone Kyrie, whose lovely theme is entirely held in the style of the prayer of a child who is convinced of receiving God's grace. The reviewer shows the first eleven bars in the score:
[Note Sample]
The violin motion that is peculiar to Haydn runs through the entire movement, nay, almost through the entire work. In the fifteenth bar, the soprano begins a figure with which the movement modulates in e-minor and which bass, tenor and alto imitate canonically in the movement of a beat. Without any further accompaniment in e-major, soprano, alto and tenor first sing solos in chorale-style, then the choir, also the Christe eleison which is of an incredible effect. The imitating phrase only reappears once as a soprano solo before the end and is treated in an unusual manner in that all singing voices remain on the dominant G-major, while the instruments repeat the first bar of the theme. Moreover, this movement has a quite unique modulation, since it only moves from C-major to e-minor, and then, in E-major--in which key there follow four complete ends--and then, after the theme has been repeated in E-major, once more, it quickly moves back to C-major:
[Note Sample]
The reviewer can not recommend this modulation for imitation.--The Gloria also begins without a Ritornello with the C-major chord that is held by the singers and wind instruments, to which violins move up in eighths. Fiery, splendidly, the music moves along to the seventeenth bar, where, suddenly, singers and instruments fall silent, while only the first violin descends in fourths. It is the preparation for the: Et in terra pax, and this passage is of a too profound effect, has been conceived too splendidly in its simplicity for the reviewer not to present it here to the readers:
[Note Sample]
The canonic imitation in the octave that sets in at this point will, after it is lead through the four voices, be broken off, and the movement is led through many a modulation, with tutti and solos alternating, up to the f-minor to the Qui tollis that is performed by the alto solo with a moving melody. With the Miserere, the tutti sets in, and the bass solo leads the movement in A-flat major. The Suscipe is full of profound feeling,
[Note Sample]
as is the imitation that sets in, soon, in which four voices appear in the Miserere in true church style. The Quoniam is a very jubilant unisono and with the Cum sancto spitiru, a strong fugue-style theme in C-major sets in.
[Note Sample]
However, after this theme has, in the usual manner, been led through the four voices, the phrase is broken off, quickly, again, and the bass repeats the theme of the Quoniam; the other voices take up the first bar of the theme, al rovescio, and the movement passes through: [Note Sample] in G-major, wherein a completely foreign, unrelated episode, the motif of which is not contained, in the fugue, at all, occurs. Then the tenor, in a new contrast to the bass, takes up the fugue theme, anew, and, after it is led to a-minor through the four voices, the tenor begins a stretto that, however, is not strictly held according to the original theme, but that is arranged very sensibly:
[Note Sample]
With the canonic imitation of the second and third bar, the movement returns in C-major and renders a complete end, from which the voices immediately move on to a new phrase in half-notes, in the Amen. Now, the Quoniam returns, once more, with the earlier theme, followed by the fugue theme in thirds; soprano, alto, bass and tenor also follow in thirds, and then, again, a complete end in C-major. The first violin continues with the fugue theme, and the soprano enters, imitating solo. The tutti sing the Amen in whole notes, and, at that, the theme of the fugue, in the first bar [Note Sample]. This is followed by a kind of pedal point on the dominant, that, however, only lasts for three bars, while after, the bass continues in in the imitation of the theme. Now, the Amen returns in the tutti, in whole notes, with which the entire movement concludes. This Cum sancto is the only movement that is closest to the unique fugue. Therefore, the reviewer remains with it, longer, in order to justify the opinion he voiced above, and just adds that he does not want to criticize some digression against the pure phrase since one, on the one hand, grants to the genius who otherwise delights us to such a great degree, does not tolerate any restraint and since the free movement in the feeling of his own strength obviously can not be judged by a sin against this or that, perhaps even all too conventional law. This remark is made in order to appease also the all-too strict art critics who could, shaking their heads, not have helped but wondering how one could have overlooked this or that, etc.---
(To be concluded.)
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ALLGEMEINE
MUSIKALISCHE ZEITUNG
The 23rd of June. No. 25. 1813
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R E V I E W
Missa --- --- Three Hymns for four voices with orchestra accompaniment, by L. van Beethoven. Score.
(Conclusion of the Review from No. 24.)
The Credo, in 3/4 time, C-major, is a lively, fiery movement, whose manifold intonations, well ordered, emerge wonderfully. After the Et incarnatus, in E-flat major, finished numbly with the Sepultus est, in the entire bar, accompanied in unison by the strings, the bass solo intones the Et resurrexit, and this phrase, to, is powerfully executed, inventive, with alternating tutti and solos, as well as with manifold intonations, the bear witness to the lively fantasy of the master. With theEt vitam, there enters again a jubilant fugue theme:
[Note Sample]
One grows curious with respect to the further execution and gladly wants to submit oneself to the waves of the forward-moving Sonus: however, also here, the phrase breaks off, after it has been led through the four voices, and, except in a stretto and an imitation of the second bar by three voices, the wonderful theme is not used, any further.--Most composers hold the Sanctus in a grandiose, full-sounding style, full of pathos: however, here, true to the character of the whole, it is written in a soft, moving style in A-major. The ritornello, that is four bars long, is performed by the violas, oboes, the A-clarinet, bassoons and violoncellos, and then voices set in and continue without any instrumental accompaniment. The reviewer only points out the original enharmonic temporary modulation in the seventh bar as well as the artful modulation and the wonderful effect of the timpani accompaniment to the voices in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth bar in order to alert the listener to the great variety of means that the master has at his disposal in order to have an unusual effect on our inner perception(s). The Pleni sunt coeli is a jubilant Allegro, and the Osanna in excelsis a small, figured phrase, again with a beautifully invented theme:
[Note Sample]
One does not want to leave this fast-moving phrase behind, so soon: after the execution in all four voices, and after the soprano alone has repeated one-and-a-half bar from the beginning, i