the 'Davidsbund' to expose the hollowness of their pretensions. And equally dissatisfied with the shallow and contracted views of the musical critics of that day, he started his 'Neue Zeitschrift für Musik' to vindicate the claims of music to freedom from every limitation, except the laws of reason and of beauty. Even in childhood Schumann was an eager reader of romantic literature, and the writings of Hoffmann and Jean Paul never lost their charm for him. He told a correspondent that if she would rightly understand his 'Papillons,' op. 2, she must read the last chapter of Jean Paul's 'Flegeljahre'; and from Hoffmann he borrowed the title of 'Kreisleriana.' It was not however the imaginary sufferings of Dr. Kreissler, but the real deep sorrows of Schumann's own soul which expressed themselves in these noble fantasias. Though perfect in form, they are thoroughly romantic in thought and spirit. Not less romantic were the names he gave to his pianoforte pieces. These names, he said, were scarcely necessary—'for is not music self-sufficing? does it not speak for itself?'—but he admitted that they were faithful indexes to the character of the pieces. The clearest tokens of the same source of inspiration may be found in his Fantasie, op. 17, which bears as its motto a verse from Schlegel. In the last part a deeply moving effect is produced by the abrupt change of key in the arpeggios from the chords of C to A and then to F. But changes of key were not his only resource for the production of romantic effects. Excepting Beethoven, none have illustrated the power of rhythm so well as Schumann. He often imparts a strange and entirely novel significance to commonplace or familiar phrases by syncopated notes, by putting the emphasis on the weak part of the bar, or by accents so marked as to give the impression of a simultaneous combination of triple and common time. These strong and eccentric rhythms appear in all his works; and the frequent directions Marcato assai or Molto marcato show what stress he laid upon emphasis. The influence of Jean Paul may be traced also in Schumann's sometimes grave and sometimes playful humour. Many of his pianoforte pieces are marked mit Humor or mit vielem Humor. And in this respect he is inferior only to Beethoven, of whose 'romantic humour' he so often speaks in his 'Gesammelte Schriften.' The romantic bias of Schumann's mind was not less evident in his treatment of Oriental subjects. The colouring of his 'Paradise and the Peri,' and of his 'Oriental Pictures' (Bilder aus Osten), is vividly local. And of his songs we may cite the 'Waldesgespräch' (Op. 39, No. 3) as an example of the purest essence of romance. Full as the poem is in itself of romantic feeling and expression, the music interprets the words, rather than the words interpret the music.
The romantic spirit found a less congenial abode in the happy, equable disposition, and carefully disciplined imagination of Mendelssohn; but his genius was too sensitive and delicate to remain unaffected by the main currents of his age.[1] Take, for example, the first four chords in the overture to 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' And could it indeed be possible to illustrate Shakespeare's romantic play in music with fuller success than Mendelssohn has done? The overtures 'The Hebrides,' 'The Lovely Melusine,' and 'Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage,' are likewise full of the brightest qualities of romanticism.
Not unlike Mendelssohn was William Sterndale Bennett; and the points of resemblance between them were strict regard to form, clearness of poetic thought, and cultivated refinement of taste. Romantic too Bennett certainly was; as may at once be seen in his overtures, 'The Naiads' and 'The Wood Nymphs.' So tranquil, clear and perfect in detail are most of Bennett's compositions, so delicate was the touch which fashioned them, that they have been likened to the landscapes of Claude Lorraine: and in illustration of what is meant, we may mention his 'Three Musical Sketches,' op. 10 ('The Lake, the Millstream and the Fountain'). Yet there were rare moments when Bennett's habitual reserve relaxed, and the veil was lifted from his inner nature. To the inspiration of such moments we may ascribe parts of his G minor Symphony, and above all his beautiful 'Paradise and the Peri' overture. His 'Parisina' overture betrays the latent fire which burned beneath a wontedly calm surface, and many romantic passages might be pointed out in it. One such is to be found at the beginning of the working out, where the theme, which before was in F♯ minor and the very soul of melancholy—
is now given in A major, the C♯ of the cadence seeming for the moment to brighten it as with the inspiration of hope—
Notice of the modern German composers on whom the stamp of Schumann is so unmistakeable, would lead us too far. Wagner we pass by, because he can hardly be counted among the followers of the romantic school, and we could not, within the limits of this article, show the points wherein he differs from former romanticists;
- ↑ In describing to Reichardt's daughter the success of her father's 'Morgengesang' at the Rhine Festival, Mendelssohn adds: 'at the words Und schich in dieser Nacht the music becomes so romantic and poetical that erery time I hear it, I am more touched and charmed.'
