Chopin and Other Musical Essays by Henry Theophilus Finck
page 49 of 195 (25%)
page 49 of 195 (25%)
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harmonies for these texts. Experience shows conclusively that the most
powerful stimulant of the composer's brain is _the possession of a really poetic and dramatic text_. To take only one instance--it surely cannot be a mere coincidence that the best works of four great composers--Spohr, Berlioz, Gounod, and Schumann, are based on the story of "Faust." And Schumann, in one of his private letters, indicates very clearly why his "Faust" is such an inspired composition. Speaking of a performance of this work he says: "It appeared to make a good impression--better than my 'Paradise and Peri'--no doubt in consequence of the superior grandeur of the poem which aroused _my_ powers also to a greater effort." More significant still are the words which Weber wrote to Fran von Chezy when she was writing the libretto for "Euryanthe;" which he intended to make better than all his previous works. "When you begin to elaborate the text," he wrote; "I entreat you by all that is sacred to task me with the most difficult kinds of metre, unexpected rhythms, etc., which will force my thoughts into new paths and draw them out of their hiding-places." In one of his theoretical essays, Wagner emphasizes the value of a good poem in kindling the spark of inspiration in a composer's mind by exclaiming: "Oh, how I adore and honor Mozart because he found it impossible to compose for his 'Titus' as good music as for his 'Don Juan,' or for his 'Così fan Tutte' as good music as for 'Figaro.'" Mozart, he adds, always wrote music, but _good_ music he could only write when he was inspired, and when this inspiration was supplied by a subject worthy of being wedded to his muse. No doubt Wagner was right in maintaining that Mozart's operas contain |
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