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    bottom of his heaa ? fc h& still had a triumpa left—the girl lad made his accuser faithless . " John , " said Mr . Jarrefet , before he moved to receive bis visitor , "Mr Dntton will call tooaaaarrow , with , his lawyer , if he likes , to dissolve the partnership and wind up the aeootmts . " Dutton took his hat , and went out of the room . 'I remember once , " said Jarrefct , laying- his hand on Smith ' s shoulder , * 'nay > much , oftener than once , stealing money out of my motlier ' s till' —and any mother , John , was ttpoor woman , who pinched herself to educate roe . " " But , sir , ' said Smith in the same low voice , his face showing the respect iie felt for the generosity of the man , —and Jarrett piqued himself on manliaiess in all things— you were a boy , quite a boy . "

    . Not sq very young , either ; but I was a naughty ooy , Jblm . However , some of us , poor devils , never grow to be men . He is my mistake . Never mind ; Mrs- Jarretfc is waiting all this while for your fair Italian and her story . ** Ehitton still lingered in the outermost office , partly braving any desire of Jarrett * s to take summary proceedings , partly eager to learn what he could . He could , however , hear Jarrett going out by the private way ; and . at the door he saw the chief partner hand the young lady into Mrs . Jarrett ' s carriage , and drive off with her * white Smith followed into a cab that stood behind laden with luggage . Dutton hurried off to give the district registrar notice of his awn marriage with Amy as soon as possible .

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    THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL OF MUSIC . USZT OW MEYERBEER WA . GNE 3 S . Weimar , Oct 4 . It lias been , my duty and my pleasure several times in this journal to raise my voice against Meyerbeer and his school ; which may have sooaething to do with the selection , of the subject for the third letter . Tamgladto have Liszt fi g hting in the same ranks , although he fights under another standard . My opinion has always been that Meyerbeer's unmistakable ability and knowledge of theatrical effect have given his works a popularity which fora time maj cast in the shade the music of far deeper and more enduring character , just as the popularity of a Dumas may for a time eclipse Racine ; but whatever we may think , of Meyerbeer ' s theatrical talent , his musical . geniuses of quite a secondary order . Instead of Music he has striven for Situation j instead of Poetry , Effect . To brine stage pomp * splendour .

    dance , and the clang of tumultuous orchestras , as a substitution for passionate and melodic expression , was an innovation indeed , but no real reform . The primary aim of the musical Art was given up In favour of a secondary and accessory aim of ' stage effect . Such briefly , was the point of view taken . In . Liszt ' s criticism I find perfect agreement with these ideas , except that he regards Meyerbeer ' s innovation , as a real reform , a transition from a worn-out form of Art to a newer and grander form , Rossini—il maestro di color clie sonno—the greatest dramatic genius , sis X conceive , who ever used Music as a Ib-rm of expression , Liszt regards as the culmination of that style which aimed at Feeling above all things , careless of dramatic propriety , cureless of character , truth , or couleur locale . Meyerbeer , on the other hand , is regardless of the mere melodic delight , and thinks mainly of Effect . Let us see how Liszt establishes this by an historical survey of the development of modern Opera .

    He very properly brings into its deserved prominence the part which the libretto plays in Opera . Thus , he says , among all the libretto-writers of the last century , the ona who won a lasting celebrity was IMetastasio . lie was the poet par excellence of that Italian opera of which we may take Hasse as the most typical representative . Though not so fertile as some other composers of his time , Has . se produced more than fifty operas , which will not appear surprising if we reflect that in that day every musical author held it quite natural to compose several operas to the same text , and vice versd . This fact is a significant proof of the then existing indifference to effects which are appropriate to specific situations ; for these are not transferable , whereas the same feeling may be expressed in a hundred ways , and it is easy to adapt a new melody to words , or new words to a , melody , if both the one and the other simply express joy , sorrow , or love in general , and if no great weight is laid on declamation and prosody , which are the sole

    indissoluble bond between words and musical expression . Thus , during the first epoch of the Opera , the expression of feeling was the dominant tendency . In the beginning of the present century the socioty whoso favourite poet was Metastasio , and whose favourite musician was llasse , had disappeared . N " ew social conditions demanded a new form of art . Already , in Don Giovanni and II Flauto Magico , new elements are observable ; tragic horror alternates "with comedy , evidently for the sake of avoiding the uniformity of the sentimental fustian and bonibnst which were then inseparable from the opera seria . The signal onco given , everything was sought that could introduce variety into the libretto , and the distinction between the opera seria and the opera bvffa was obliterated in favour of the opera viczzo carattare . Antiquity , the middle sigos , romances , tho poetical incidents of modern history , even anecdotes , were ransacked for themes that adawittod of amplifications , variations , and accessories ; and this was done without any system ,

    as in tho case of transitional works , which , white they depart from the old form , do not fully bear tho stamp of tho new . When Scribo wrote Robert la Diahla it was evident tluvt even in tho lifetime of Rossini , the most illustrious master of the old school , a new period in the conceptions of oporasubjeots Imd thoroughly sot in . Rossini had more than parried the effect of Aubor ' s Masanicllohy producing William Tell , but when Robert sippoarod ho left Paris , conscious tliut tho school , of which ho was the head , had rocoived a blow which soonur or later must be fatal . Tho expression of feeling in arias , duettos , and finulos , which called forth no pregnant dramatic crisis , ccosed to ho the basia of an opera . The demand was for situations . This element was not entirely novel ; mstinctivoly it had already been striven for . Tho inauguration of a now period in the opera through Scribe ' s Robert and Meyerbeera musical conception of it , presented notlurig unheard ^ of , or unprecedented . In ort j aa in nature , no . species stands in isolation—it ia always united by intermediate links with species of u difluront or even

    opposite form . There had been the hell-flames in Don Giovanni , the explosionof thefleet in Cortez , the hammer and anvil chorus xa . Alcidor , the burning Vesuvius and the tumultuous scenes in Masaniello , the popular insurrection and the glowing Alps in William Tell , the terrors of the Wolf Ravine in D > er Freischutz . But Scribe surpassed all , making that a main object which had previously beea only an accessory . Splendour of decoration , profusion of scenic arrangement , marvellous ballets , supernatural machinery , in short , spectacular magnificence , ceased to be adjuncts and became an integral elemerit , an organic part ; of every operatic work , since they were essential to the interest and artistic effect of the situations . Simultaneously- arose the necessity for developing new resources in the orchestra and chorus , if they were not to be annihilated or reduced to the second rank by scenic splendour . From this time it was an absolute requisite in every opera that there should be some grand spectacle in the most thrilling moment , as a sort of climax to the situations . The dance of the phantoms in Robert was succeeded by the erowd of horses in La Juive , and this again by the fabulous wonders of the Juif Errant and L Enfant Prodigue , till at last it seems as if the force of decoration can no further go . Scribe , like a man of talent as he is , did not use half measures ; he laid hold on situations wherever he could find them , and being in no dread of absurdity , he won the game . His name will be . inseparable from the second period of the opera , less fertile than the first , but more important from the intrinsic value of its productions . The school of which Metastasio was the chief poet , was adapted to a period and to courts in which effeminate , insipid refinement reigned ; Scribe , on the contrary , belongs to an epoch in which exasperation ^ ras . the

    order of the day . Romanticism was then in full blooni , and French poetry was still under the influence of Byron and- Hoffman . The public , accustomed to horrors , could hardly be made to shudder by the most startling contrasts . Victor Ilugo created chaste courtesans , devoted mothers , and artistic poisoners , in one and the same person ; Nodier paraded with his Jean Sbogar ; beautiful countesses and duchesses were enamoured of the heroes in Eugene Sue ' s Salamander , and gave their approval to Dorval , in Dumas' Antony . Extravagance was asked for at any price . Hatred and love , terrific dangers and ineffable ' bliss , the brightest light and the darkest shade were placed in juxtaposition . Scribe crowned all in his Robert hy making Satan , himself a tender father . It would be difficult now to bring forward such a sentimental devil % but at the time when Robert appeared it was precisely this extravagance which made its fortune . The different relation

    which the libretto bears to the music in the first and second periods of the opera is strongly indicated- by the fact that though Rossini applied himself to the creation of nearly forty operas , no one cares to know the author on any one of his librettos , whereas the name of Scribe is indissolubly bound to that of Meyerbeer . In that form of the opera which they have jointly brought to its culminating point , they have made love merely an . episode , if order to step out of the narrow circle of simple , individual feeling , and to multiply dramatic motives which may give rise to an abundance of striking situations . Simple melody is superseded by combinations of musical effect , the expression of feeling has given way to situation . These must be had at whatever cost , and it must be admitted that in pursuit of them the interest

    and the truthful presentation of character are often lciffc unregarded , though not so entirely as critics are now wont to allege . Ifc is true enough that the character of Robert has no sort of self-subsistence , that Isabella is but a voice , Bertram falsely drawn , and the Prophet erroneously conceived , Bertha a nullity , and Fides a failure ; but on the other hand ,. Alice- — tlie pure , pious country maiden , who rescues the son of her benefactress from hellish snares , not out of egotistic love , hut out of divine compassion and child-Klce obedience—and Marcel , who presents the same kind of self-devotion in a severer form , are true characters and noble creations . And if Scribe is to be reproached fox his love of situations , he knows how to select impressive ones , witness the fourth act of the Huguenots .

    It is undeniable that Scribe and Meyerbeer have made a great step towards the complete union of musical and poetical requirements on the stage , towards the conversion of the opera into a real musical drama . They havp given a necessary prelude to the position maintained by the new operatic school , namely—that tho moment is come in which the poetry of opera-texts should have more elements of the tragedy and recited drama than hithei'to ; tliat all tho splendours of scenery can bo applied to heighten tho interest of situations without sacrificing the indispunsable poetical features of the , drama . The first period of the opera , of winch Rossini is the greatest representative , had for its aim the expression of feeling ; the second period , represented by Meyerbeer , has striven after situations and musical effects ; the third period , inaugurated by the operas of Wagner , seeks to ally situations with character . Wagner saw that in striving for

    situations tho operatic author was in danger of neglecting tragical requisites and beauties ; wliercaa tho presentation of eharactora and their mutual relations necessarily evolved situations . He doos not , liko Scribe , combine situations ag external events ; he makes tliom spring out of the passions which heave in the bosom of man , out of tho impulses which determine tho nature of his joya and griefs . In tho first scone of TannhaUser , it is tho will of man which , inasmuch sis ho breaks loose from one feeling nnd submits to tho sway of another , suffices to call forth tho mai'vellous situation . Tho school of Wagner is at present too young for nny opinion to be pronounced ou its future destiny , on tho excellences which constitute ita greatness , or tho faults which will ultimately bring about ita decline . For Art never

    stands still , but lives under successive forms as under so many tonta , which are pitched und taken down again on tho path to the ldoul . Jmifcovuu now , at the very rise of this school , thvro is ground for muintuining * tlmfc it has become impossible any longer to cronto and carry out ondurin ;? worJcs on tho model of Scvibo and Meyorbocr . The presunUtiou of character , that first condition of perfection in tragedy , will henceforth bo u necessity for the ? musical drama also . And this element uiiUcoh tho rcj ^ enuraUoJi and creation of a declamatory « tylo indispensable . Chanictor nmHif ' cHts itoolf on tlvo stago by words as well as actions ; hence Wuirnor lays ho much atroaa on tUo intrinsic beauty of tho operatic poom . Gliiok lout to drninutw music all tho lustre , majesty , nnd weicht of the ejoclnnmtory utylu , while liccmi hold to the old fmth , tho main article of which was , that muludic expression sufheed

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    October 28 , 1854 . ] THE L 1 A X ) E R . 1 & 27 11 ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ "¦ _ i . I' mM .,,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 28, 1854, page 1027, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2062/page/19/