A HISTORY OF MUSIC.*
Tam book, which is dedicated to the young artists of America,. does not claim to be an exhaustive history of the science of which it treats, but is intended as a trustworthy guide to a knowledge of the growth and development of musical forms from the early ages of Christianity down to our own times. What the writer seems to have in view is the laying the foundation for a school of American Art, and this he rightly conceives must be done by creat- ing a desire for higher musical culture, and by teaching the young aspirant for fame the necessity for diligence and thorough- ness in his preliminary studies, pointing to the examples of all the great masters, who, however much gifted with natural genius, never pretermitted patient industry,—in fact, the higher were their gifts, the more did they devote themselves to study, only when they had fully made themselves masters of what had gone before them beginning to create original work, and respecting alike the good qualities of their predecessors and of their contemporaries. With a spirit such as this, Mr. Ritter would fain animate American art-students, whom he blames alike for too great haste in coming before the world, and for a certain arrogance which claims to create and dictate its own laws, without possessing the preliminary knowledge which should assist them to form a judgment. "The genuine masters," he says, "took delight in work itself, and waited patiently for their reward ; our young aspirants would like to take the reward first, and to dispense with the drudgery altogether." What is this, however, bu't to blame the spirit of the age, which is one of such eager impatience that he who suffers himself to be left behind -in the race is sure to be trampled upon and set aside altogether? Every one is in haste to be something in his little day, for that day is so short that it is ended almost ere it is well begun, and a greater novelty has already displaced that which a few hours previously held men entranced with wonder or delight. The thirst for gain, too, the need for keeping apace- with the luxuries and refinements which have come to be called necessities, is another reason why our youth cannot afford to. devote themselves to patient study. The great masters were, before all things, artists ; they set aside pecuniary inducements, and sought as the summum bonum perfection in their art—fame allured them, solid, substantial fame, the approbation of posterity— money they to a great extent despised, or at least relegated to its proper and secondary value ; but then their way of living enabled them so to do, a few lessons given in leisure intervals, or a small honorarium as organist or chapel-master supplying all the funds needed for their modest requirements. Certain it is that if our schools of music are destined to rise to anything like greatness, if we would eschew frivolity and produce genius such as that which distinguished the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- turies, we must revert in some degree to the patient study, unflagging industry, and love of art for its own sake which were its concomitants, and Mr. Ritter's lectures should tend in a considerable degree to excite in musical students these higher -views of their profession.
The plan and execution of his work are, to some extent, original, and have been developed, he tells us, out of certain " historical recitals " given by Madame Raymond-Ritter and other artists, the preparation and planning of which devolved upon the writer; and
• History of Music, from the Christian Bra ta tM Pretag Thme. By Frederic Look Bitter. London: W. Beeves.
no reader would probably imagine, had he not been distinctly informed that it was so, that the book has been written in what is to the author a foreign language. The first lecture, dealing with the Gregorian chant, the Folk-song, Troubadour song, and the invention of harmony, from the Christian era to the latter part of the fourteenth century, is very interesting, " the folk-song and the Gregorian song being," says the author, "the two factors that form the foundation upon which all forms of our musical art rest."
In the early ages, of course, Church music was purely vocal, the instrumental being despised as having been in use in heathen festivities, so that St. Jerome declared "a Christian maid should not know what a lyre or a flute is, and what their use is ;" and it is difficult to form an idea of the precise character of the music used in Christian worship, except that it was, to a great degree, antiphonal, until St. Ambrose collected the hymns already in use, and also fixed those four diatonic scales which are commonly called the Ambrosian ecclesiastical keys. It was reserved, how- ever, to St. Gregory the Great to effect an abiding reform in Church music, by introducing into it the maim planes, and by adding the four plagal scales to those already in use. St. Gregory also founded and superintended in Rome several schools of music, the influence of which soon extended to other countries where the Christian religion was known ; but it is amusing to find John Diaconus, the biographer of St. Gregory, relating that among all European nations the Gauls and the Alemanni were the least fitted to understand and execute the Gregorian chant in its purity, because they would always mix it up with something of their own. "Their rough voices, roaring like thunder, are not capable of soft modulation ; for their throats, hardened by drink, cannot execute with flexibility what a tender melody requires. Indeed, their voices give out tones Mmilar to the rumbling of a baggage-waggon rolling down from a height, and instead of touching the hearth of the hearers, they only fill them with aver- sion," a remark which, it would not be too much to say, holds good with regard to certain kinds of French and German music in the present day.
Although the first known writer on harmony is the Flemish monk, Hucbald, Professor Ritter inclines to the belief that the Celtic and not the German race was the first to use it, and he bases this assumption upon the fact of the Celts having been in possession of the Grwth, which was a primitive violin, having several strings of different pitch, and played with a bow, leading to the supposition that chords could be drawn from it. But is this in reality the earliest dawn of the science of harmony, or have we not reason to believe that it was known to the Egyptians, and even previously to their time, and was only eclipsed by that period of darkness which overshadowed not merely that particular science, but many others ?
In his second lecture, Professor Ritter speaks of the old Flemish, German, English, Italian, and Spanish schools of music down to the death of Paleatrina, drawing attention to the curious fact that Italy, which in the middle-ages was the alma mater of all Europe, received her first musical works of importance from foreign com- posers, for " Ultramontanes, as they were called, stood at the head of her schools of music, chapels, and church choirs for more than a century, and these were principally Netherlanders," that interesting and energetic race having more than any other
at that period carried to perfection the arts of civilisa- tion. The author goes on in his third lecture to consider the oratorio, the mystery and miracle-plays, and Protestant Church music from the twelfth century to the death of Schumann, not omitting to tell us what perhaps may not be known to every reader, that the oratorio arose in the sixteenth century with St. Filippo Neri, who dramatised in a simple form many of the events of sacred history, causing these poetic versions to be set to music by Animuccia and Palestrina, who were successively chapel-masters to the Pope, and performed under the title of " Azioni sacre "in the oratory of Santa Maria in Vallicella. With these " Azioni sacre," following very ancient examples, dancing of a religious character was curiously intermingled, and in fact it is impossible not to recognise in the " saltato con capriole," which was to be " sedately and reverentially performed," the commencement of
that ballet which has been and continues to be used for other and
far different purposes. The fourth, seventh, and eighth lectures are devoted to the consideration of the opera, from its first inven- tion in 1590 down to Wagner ; the sixth treats of Catholic Church music ; the fifth, ninth, and tenth discuss the instrumental ; and the eleventh is devoted to musical literature. With regard to Church music, we can thoroughly endorse the sentiments of the writer, for after describing at some length the grand old com-
positions of differing Churches, the Gregorian chant and the Pro- testant chorale, he inveighs with bitterness against the meaningless fabrications which have at this day taken their place, and alluding to the use of operatic music in places of worship, asks how it can be possible that music which expresses vulgar and grotesque sentiments can also be fit to express the emotions of piety, devotion, and compunction. The reader who may have heard the lightest and most profane arias, with their inseparable associations, adapted to sacred words and used during the celebration of the most solemn services, will be able fully to sympathise with Professor Ritter's just indignation. When treating of instrumental music, the Professor amusingly attempts to unmask that now obsolete poetical impostor the lute, and to deprive it of its mendacious charms. Quoting from Mace and Mattheson, he tells us, after first describing the instrument and the proper mode of playing on it, that unless you are very fortunate, you will have to have its body taken off once in a year or two, on account of its inherent weakness, and that should a lute-player reach the age of eighty, he assuredly has spent sixty years of his life in tuning ; " in fact, it has been said that it costs the same money to keep a lute in Paris as a horse," besides which " the insinuating sound of this deceiving instrument always promises more than it can keep."
In his brief biographical records of distinguished masters, Professor Ritter is, in the main, exceedingly fair. He says himself that he never was prejudiced or influenced by the nationality or the school to which they belonged, and this probably is the case, as far as the consciousness of the writer extends ; nevertheless, he does, in our opinion, indulge to a certain extent in what we must designate art-twaddle, or at least, he falls into the error, so common to all enthusiasts, of elevating art into a religion. There is no doubt that the study of music should in every possible case be thorough and profound, and especially is it essential that the teachers of the science should themselves be solidly instructed, but we think the requirements from art-students may be carried too far. In fact, the question resolves itself into this,—is music to be considered, like one of the exact sciences, a study, in which the utmost profundity is to be attained, or may we not rather look upon it as an art, elevating indeed, or at least, capable of being so, but the chief object of which is to afford delight and recreation? Now recreation is only recreation when coupled with ease; and an uneducated audience, while capable of deriving great satisfaction from music of a certain kind, would often be utterly unfitted to appreciate Bach, Wagner, or Beet- hoven. When, therefore, in speaking of Rossini, Professor Ritter condemns him so severely for endeavouring to ensure success, and for raising the melodic element to the position of supreme factor of the opera, we think that he is unfair, for, as he elsewhere acknowledges, Rossini fulfilled his mission, that mission being to please ; and that he did attain success, in a supereminent degree, is in itself a proof that he held the key to the feelings and tastes of his audience. Wagner may hold theories as to the true art- form of the opera, and may compose, in accordance with them, musical dramas, but bow few are there who understand them ! while true music is that which makes its way directly and irresistibly to our innermost feelings, touching us and taking us by its sweet magic quite out of ourselves.
In the main, however, Professor Ritter's book will, we think, do good service, by encouraging more attention to musical sub- jects, and lessening, so far as its influence may extend, the number of those superficial performers who, content with being able "to play and sing a little," are the ever-present tormentors of the true lover of music.
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