Richard Wagner and the Music of the Future: History and ÆsteticsChapman and Hall, 1874 - 333 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
accompanied admiration amongst appear artistic attempts beautiful become Beethoven beginning called career character charming close composer compositions connection consequence considered course critical dramatic effect enter entirely existence expression fact favourable feeling Flying Dutchman Franz friends further genius German give going hand harmonious hope human idea important impression individual inspiration interest Italy kind less letter limits Liszt Lohengrin look lyrical master means melody mentioned mind motive musician nature never once opera original passion performance perhaps period piece poem poet poetical poetry popular position present principle progress proved published pure reader received remained remarks rise Schubert Schumann seems sense song soon speak stage style success Symphony things thought tion treated true utterance voice Wagner whole write written young
Popular passages
Page 123 - O fellow, come, the song we had last night: Mark it, Cesario; it is old and plain: The spinsters and the knitters in the sun, And the free maids that weave their thread with bones, Do use to chant it ; it is silly sooth, And dallies with the innocence of love, Like the old age.
Page 17 - If music and sweet poetry agree, As they must needs, the sister and the brother, Then must the love be great "twixt thee and me, Because thou lov'st the one, and I the other. Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch Upon the lute doth ravish human sense ; Spenser to me, whose deep conceit is such As, passing all conceit, needs no defence. Thou lov'st to hear the sweet melodious...
Page 273 - This happened at a time when it became more and more evident that my dramatic works would have no outward success. But just when the case seemed desperate Liszt succeeded by his own energy in opening a hopeful refuge to my art. He ceased his wanderings, settled down...
Page 274 - I wanted to express in writing it down he expressed in making it sound. Strange to say, through the love of this rarest friend, I gained, at the moment of becoming homeless, a real home for my art, which I had hitherto longed for and sought for always in the wrong place.
Page 272 - I am still touched at recollecting the repeated and eager attempts he made to change my opinion of him, even before he knew any of my works. He acted not from any artistic sympathy, but led by the purely human wish of discontinuing a casual disharmony between himself and another being ; perhaps he also felt an infinitely tender misgiving of having really hurt me unconsciously.
Page 274 - Lohengrin", totally forgotten by me. Suddenly I felt something like compassion that this music should never sound from off the death-pale paper. Two words I wrote to Liszt; his answer was the news that preparations for the performance were being made on the largest scale the limited means of Weimar would permit.
Page 132 - Those who hope will not be confounded,' says the Bible, and I firmly believe it. Suppose, for instance, you send me a couple of kreutzer a month ; I don't think you would notice the difference in your own purse, and I should live quite content and happy in my cloister. St. Matthew says also that ' whosoever has two coats shall give one to the poor.' In the meantime I trust you will lend your ear to the voice crying to you incessantly to remember your poor brother Franz, who loves and confides in...
Page 64 - Dutchman, she recognises him at once by the resemblance with his likeness, and heroically deciding to share his fate, accepts the offer of his hand. At this moment Schnabelewopski-Heine is (by an unforeseen and indescribable incident) called away from the house, and when he comes back is just in time to see the Dutchman on board his own ship, which is weighing anchor for another voyage of hopeless despair. He loves his bride, and would save her from the fate that threatens her if she accompanies...
Page 45 - He was the first to condense the vague feelings which were all that music had hitherto expressed into more distinctly intelligible ideas. He even brings the song of birds, the thunder, and the murmuring brook before the ear, not as a portrait of nature, but as at once a suggestion and embodiment of the feelings which would be called up by them : ' Mehr Ausdruck der Empfindung als Malerei,' as he wrote himself at the bead of his