Masters of French Music Part 8

Apropos of Auber's setting, the following story is related:

Auber did not enjoy the reputation of being a great reader. One day he received a visit from a friend, who found him at his writing-table. Upon inquiring what he was working at, Auber replied: "I am busy with the first act of my new opera."--"By whom is the book?"--"By Scribe."--"Might I ask its t.i.tle and subject?"--"Manon Lescaut."--"Manon!

that splendid masterpiece?"--"The romance; do you mean a romance?" asked Auber.--"Yes, certainly."--"Mon Dieu! I have never read that," said Auber.--"What! you write an opera on the subject of Manon, and have not read the story?"--"True; I have not got it in my library, for I have just been looking for it."--"Well, borrow it from Scribe."--"But I don't think Scribe has read it either," said Auber, "he may have glanced at it to get the situations, but Scribe never wastes his time if he can help it."

Ma.s.senet's opera contains an innovation which has a certain importance and deserves to be noted. It is well known that the old-fas.h.i.+oned _opera comique_ comprised spoken dialogue. The tendency of late years has been to abandon this illogical custom, and the ideas of most composers nowadays tend in this direction. Certain ingrained habits are hard to get rid of, and even now there are composers of eminence who either have not the courage or inclination to break with a custom so antagonistic to the principles of the lyrical drama.

Ma.s.senet, a musician of compromise, imagined a method which he doubtless thought would give musical continuity to his work without departing absolutely from the customs of the theatre. This was to retain the spoken dialogue, but to accompany it with an orchestral commentary in keeping with the words. A similar method has been employed with success in dramas for which incidental music has been written. It is not a course that can be recommended for operatic purposes, although the effect in "Manon" is not unpleasing. The a.n.a.logy existing between the stories of "Manon" and "La Traviata," or rather "La Dame aux Camelias,"

is sufficiently striking. Several situations are almost identical. In both cases we have a heroine for whom it is difficult to feel much sympathy, a weak young man, and a heavy father given to singing long-winded _cantilenas_. The subject is essentially French, or rather Parisian, and the music of Ma.s.senet fits it like a glove. The composer's mannerisms seem less out of place in the mouth of Manon than they do in that of Mary Magdalen. Ma.s.senet is essentially a colourist, and even as he had succeeded in imparting an Eastern _cachet_ to his "Roi de Lah.o.r.e," and giving a tinge of the antique to his music for "Les Erinnyes," so in "Manon" he has felicitously caught the spirit of the last century. This delicately perfumed score is in many places suggestive of the boudoir of a _pet.i.te maitresse_. There are plenty of accents of genuine pa.s.sion noticeable in the course of the work, such as those in the great duet between Manon and Des Grieux; also in the fine monologue of the latter. It is in what might be termed operas _de demi caractere_ that Ma.s.senet excels, and he would do well in future to confine himself to this and eschew works of larger calibre, such as "Le Cid" and "Le Mage," the two latest operas that he has produced upon the stage of the Grand Opera.

"Manon" has been successful on the Continent, but curiously enough, does not appear to have taken much in London, despite the superb interpretation of the hero by M. Van Dyck. An English version was produced by the Carl Rosa Company in 1885, and it has remained in the _repertoire_.

The year after the production of "Manon" Ma.s.senet reappeared as the musical delineator of another French cla.s.sic. This time he sought inspiration from Corneille, undeterred by the failure of Gounod over "Polyeucte."

"Le Cid" is one of the great dramatic poet's finest works, and one with which I will not do my readers the injustice to suppose them unacquainted. The music of this opera contains much that is excellent, but fails in many respects to do justice to the heroic subject. In his efforts to be powerful the composer is often merely noisy. The best portions are certain _hors d'uvre_, such as the delightfully characteristic ballet music. "Le Cid" has apparently proved to the taste of the _habitues_ of the Opera, and has been successfully performed on the Continent.

A work which I should from many points of view be disposed to prefer is "Esclarmonde," produced at the Opera Comique in 1889, the year of the International Exhibition. In this opera Ma.s.senet has taken a step in advance as regards the musical form he has adopted. "Esclarmonde" is constructed more according to the lines of the modern "lyrical drama,"

and the composer has made use of "representative themes" to a great extent. One of these indeed bears a certain affinity to a motive in the "Meistersinger." This apparent adherence to the principles of the Bayreuth master caused some waggishly disposed critic to allude to Ma.s.senet as "Mlle. Wagner." "Esclarmonde" is really a remarkable opera, and should be given in London. The story, which is taken from an old romance of chivalry, is a species of fairy tale and has this peculiarity about it that, reversing the ordinary order of things, it is the heroine who falls in love with the hero, who, it must be owned, does not seem inclined to repel her advances. The lady in question being gifted with magic powers, causes the object of her flame to be transported to an enchanted island, where she visits him every night without his being allowed to contemplate her features. The love duet between the two is one of the most pa.s.sionate and voluptuous examples of amorous music that has been heard on the stage. A species of orchestral interlude, played whilst the lovers are gradually surrounded by the trees and boughs of the enchanted island, is remarkably expressive, impregnated as it is with a peculiar sensuousness of utterance and exuberance of pa.s.sionate feeling. This perhaps is the finest page in an opera that must count as one of its author's best works. Mons. Adolphe Jullien, whom I have had occasion to quote more than once in the course of this volume, remarks that Ma.s.senet's great fault is that he alternately attempts every style and perseveres in none. Certain it is that "Le Cid"

was a distinct falling off after "Manon," and that "Le Mage," produced at the Grand Opera in 1891, was absolutely inferior to "Esclarmonde." It is of course impossible for any musician to command inspiration. Certain subjects have the power of appealing to a composer more than others.

With Ma.s.senet, as I have previously remarked, these rather pertain to the _genre intime_.

"Le Mage" is a spectacular opera upon a large scale, the action of which takes place in the time of Zoroaster.

It furnished grand opportunities for the scenic artists to display their skill, but was admittedly a disappointment from a musical point of view.

The composer was destined to take his _revanche_ with "Werther,"

performed for the first time in Vienna on the 16th of February 1892. The composition of this work dates already some years back. It was in 1885, the master relates himself, when he had just terminated "Le Cid," that Mons. Hartmann, his publisher, suggested to him the idea of setting Goethe's story to music. Pleased with the notion, Ma.s.senet entered into communication on the subject with Messrs. Milliet and Blau, the authors of the libretto. The book having been supplied, Ma.s.senet set to work in the spring of 1885, and the opera was completed at the end of the winter of 1886.

When he was asked for a new opera by the director of the Opera Comique, to be played during the International Exhibition of 1889, the composer preferred to let him have "Esclarmonde," deeming this to be more fitted for the occasion.

Having had to go to Vienna to superintend the rehearsals of "Manon," a proposition was made to produce his "Werther" at the Imperial Opera House.

Ma.s.senet, in the course of a conversation published in the _Echo de Paris_, gives some interesting details concerning the administration of the two imperial theatres in Vienna.

"Hierarchically, and in the first rank, Prince Hohenlohe, the direct representative of His Majesty, dominates. After him come first a high official personage bearing the t.i.tle of General Intendant, and then in the third place the director, Mons. Jahn. The artists, including the ballet-dancers, are looked upon as accomplis.h.i.+ng a service of State.

Each day official carriages take them to the rehearsals. These take place from ten o'clock to half-past twelve, in the most absolute _huis clos_. In the evening equally, during the performance, no one is admitted either behind the scenes or in the boxes, and this from the point of view of the strictest morality. They play, sing, and dance without any stranger being allowed to be present. The archdukes themselves are not admitted."

Ma.s.senet also gives an account of the trying ordeal he underwent when playing through his score for the first time before the director and all the artists. He was admitted into an immense and luxuriously furnished room, capable of containing over 200 people. "All the artists," he relates, "were seated there, grouped in a charming but imposing _ensemble_. At my entrance they all got up and bowed. The director approached me and said a few amiable and too flattering words of welcome. All this was a.s.suming the intimidating aspect of an official reception. I felt much moved. With the exception of my two old interpreters, Mdlle. Renard and Vandyck, I knew no one. Meanwhile the director led me to the piano, on the desk of which my yet unpublished score was placed, open at the first page. I sat down on the stool and was about to strike the first chord.... At this moment I must tell you an intense feeling of emotion came over me.... My heart was beating as if it would burst.... In one second, with a really painful intensity, I felt the vivid notion of the artistic responsibility which I was incurring.... What a terrible game I was about to play.... This score of 'Werther' was six years old.... I scarcely had it in my memory.... How many works by me had not been played since.... I was finding myself, alone, far from my country, representing by the force of circ.u.mstances French musical art.... On the other hand, I had full conscience of the undeserved honour that was being conferred on me.... Was I not in Vienna, the guest of the Emperor, invited at the expense of the State, and remembering that alone two masters before me--both above criticism--Verdi and Wagner, had been the objects of such a high and such a precious distinction?... All these thoughts suddenly came into my brain; tears rose to my eyes, and stupidly, like a weak woman, I began to weep. Then what kindness and delicate attention was shown all around me. 'Courage, courage,' was said to me from all sides. I made an immense effort, and still trembling with emotion I played through the entire score. This was in Vienna the first hearing of 'Werther.'"

In Goethe's sadly pathetic story, Ma.s.senet has found a subject eminently suited to the peculiar nature of his talent. The idyllic charm of the sad tale has inspired him to write pages full of poetry and refinement.

"Werther" was a distinct success in Vienna, and this success was repeated when the opera was produced in Paris at the Opera Comique.

Ma.s.senet has seemingly been desirous in this work of writing a "lyrical drama" rather than an ordinary opera. He has kept his music well within the bounds of a subject so simple yet so interesting and so human. We do not find set duets, choruses, or _ensembles_ in this delicate and artistic score, and we need not regret their absence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FACSIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH SCORE OF "WERTHER"]

Long before Ma.s.senet's time, "Werther" had been set to music by Pugnani, musical director to the King of Sardinia. It was played at the Burg Theatre in Vienna in 1796. Pugnani's work was described as a symphony, which the composer sought to make as realistic as possible. On one occasion it was performed at Turin before a party of invited guests.

Pugnani conducted in his s.h.i.+rt sleeves. At the moment when Werther dies, Pugnani pulled a pistol out of his pocket and fired it.

Blangini also wrote a cantata upon the same subject, which he ent.i.tled "Werther's Swan Song, half an hour before his death." At that time Werther's Lotte (Frau von Kestner) was still living in Hanover, and she journeyed to Ca.s.sel on purpose to hear Blangini's work.

A curious thing happened when Ma.s.senet's "Werther" was given at Weimar in 1892. Giessen, the Weimar tenor, was deputed to sing the t.i.tle _role_. His real name happens to be Buff, and he is a grand-nephew of Lotte, whose name was also Buff. When the Weimar performance took place it was therefore discovered that Giessen had to make love to his own great-aunt. In the German version of the opera Goethe's text is faithfully followed. Both Lotte and Werther are drawn from life.

A few days after the first performance of "Werther" at Vienna a ballet, ent.i.tled "Le Carillon," by the same composer, to a _scenario_ furnished by M. Van Dyck, was successfully produced upon the same boards. Ma.s.senet has another opera in readiness, which has not yet been presented to the public--"Thas," a lyrical drama in three acts, words by Louis Gallet.

The composer of "Werther" is an indefatigable worker, and being in the full force of his maturity, may yet be counted upon to further enrich the operatic _repertoire_. Concerning his powers of work the following story is related: The director of one of the French operas, in speaking with the composer, said, "My dear Master, give me the secret of your abnormal creative ability. Every day you listen to a crowd of singers, you attend every rehearsal, and, besides, you are professor at the Conservatoire. When do you find time to work?" "When you are asleep,"

replied Ma.s.senet, quickly. It is true that Ma.s.senet rises every day at five, and works incessantly until midday.

In the Supplement to the "Biographie des Musiciens" of Fetis, edited by M. Arthur Pougin, published in 1880, mention is made of two "lyrical dramas," ent.i.tled "Robert de France" and "Les Girondins," upon which the composer was supposed to be engaged at the time. I am not aware whether these have been finished or not. Recently he has terminated the orchestration of Leo Delibes' "Ka.s.sya," left unfinished.

Whatever the composer's defects may be (and who is free from them?), there can be no doubt that Ma.s.senet has indisputably a style of writing peculiar to himself, which is more than can be said of all of his "confreres." His individuality may not be so marked as that of Gounod, whose influence, by the way, can be traced in some of his compositions, but it is none the less existent, and has been reflected in the works of many of his pupils.

Few musicians can touch him in the art of handling the orchestra. At the time when he was studying at the Conservatoire he astonished every one by the prodigious amount of work he got through, and the ease with which he was able to compose. This facility of production does not seem to have deserted him, and the danger lies, not in his composing too little, but in producing too much.

Ma.s.senet's position is so well established that he can now afford to concentrate his mind upon his work without troubling himself as to whether or not it pleases the superficial portion of the public. What he now requires is a good subject and a well-written libretto. I trust he may find both.

Although necessarily absorbed by his multifarious labours, Ma.s.senet finds time occasionally to attend to his social duties. A story is told of how one evening, when he was dining out, the mistress of the house insisted upon making him listen to her daughter's playing. At the end of the performance, upon being asked his opinion, Ma.s.senet gravely remarked that it was quite evident that the young lady had received a Christian education. "Why?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the surprised parent. "Because she so scrupulously observes the precept of the evangelist--her right hand knoweth not what her left hand doeth."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ernest Reyer portrait, signed]

ERNEST REYER

"Nowadays, more than ever, musicians have the leisure to occupy themselves with other things than music."

These bitter words, savouring of disappointed expectations, occur in the preface to the volume ent.i.tled _Notes de Musique_, written by Ernest Reyer and published in 1875.

Since that time the author of the above lines has received a tardy compensation for a somewhat unaccountable neglect, and his operas "Sigurd" and "Salammbo" have achieved what promises to be a permanent success at the Paris Opera.

Although the composer of these works is but little known in this country, yet he none the less occupies an honourable position in the front rank of modern musicians. His "Sigurd," which was given at Covent Garden some few years since, did not meet with the success due to its unquestionable merits.

A man of strong convictions, imbued with a high ideal and averse to anything approaching the spirit of compromise, Ernest Reyer had to wait longer before receiving due recognition than if he had been disposed to pander to the taste of the public at the cost of his artistic principles. This he has never done but he has been satisfied to work quietly and wait patiently until his hour should arrive, careless of popularity, and content to devote his talents to the sole cause of art.

Born on Dec. 1, 1823, at Ma.r.s.eilles, Ernest Reyer at the age of sixteen went to Algeria, where he spent some time, living with his uncle, who had an appointment in the province of Constantine.

It may be that the early influences of the _milieu_ in which he was thrown may have had something to do with developing a tendency he exhibited later on of setting Oriental subjects to music. His first important work was an eastern symphonic ode, ent.i.tled "Le Selam," the words of which were by Theophile Gautier, produced in 1850. This composition had the misfortune to come a little too late. Felicien David, in his "Desert," had already musically ill.u.s.trated a subject in many ways similar, and the success of his work proved detrimental to that of his younger colleague.

Many years later (in 1876), Ernest Reyer was destined, curiously enough, to succeed Felicien David as a member of the Inst.i.tute.

The _debut_ of Reyer as a dramatic composer dates from the year 1854, when "Maitre Wolfram," a one-act opera, was produced at the Opera Comique. This was followed in 1858 by "Sac.u.n.tala," a ballet, at the Opera; and in 1861 by "La Statue," at the Theatre Lyrique. It was this last work which brought the composer's name in a prominent manner before the public. The distrust that existed at that period against all musicians holding so-called "advanced" ideas naturally affected Ernest Reyer, who was known to be an intimate friend of Berlioz, and to hold unorthodox views with regard to the nature of dramatic music. "Le Selam"

had come too late, "La Statue" arrived too soon. At a time when the beauties of "Tannhauser" were unrecognised and this work had been hissed off the stage, when even Gounod's "Faust" was looked upon with suspicion, it is not surprising that a work exhibiting qualities of so serious a nature as "La Statue" should have met with only a partial success. At the same time the qualities abounding in this work were recognised by the press, and its author was by common consent cla.s.sed among the most rising composers and looked upon as one from whom much was to be expected.

"La Statue," in its original form, included spoken dialogue. On the occasion of its revival at the Opera Comique in 1878, the composer set this to music, to the great advantage of his work, thereby insuring that continuity which nowadays is rightly regarded as essential in operas of serious import.

The music to this work is impregnated with an indefinable Oriental colouring which imparts to it an undoubted measure of charm.

To Felicien David must be accorded the credit of being perhaps the first to employ distinctively Eastern characteristics. It was doubtless this that helped to ensure the prodigious success that attended "Le Desert."

Without in any way laying himself open to the charge of plagiarism, Reyer may be said to have followed in his footsteps with conspicuous success. Since then many composers have treated Oriental subjects, and have endeavoured to invest their music with the peculiar "cachet"

a.s.sociated with the East. Amongst these may be mentioned Bizet, in his "Pecheurs de Perles" and "Djamileh," Rubinstein in "Feramors," Goldmark in "The Queen of Sheba," Saint-Saens in "Samson et Dalila," Ma.s.senet in "Le Roi de Lah.o.r.e," Bruneau in "Kerim," and Villiers Stanford in "The Veiled Prophet."