Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

248 SCENARIO SCHARWENKA
place of pure recitative is supplied by the
introduction of short strains of melody, with
strongly-marked variations of tempo. But,
in all oases, it is de rigueur that the character
of the composition should be essentially and
unmistakably dramatic throughout. The Scena,
thus defined, is as old as the opera itself ; for
the name might very well be given to the scene
from ' Euridioe,' already alluded to ; or to the
'
Lameuto ' in Monteverde's ' Ariana. ' A very
fine example, much in advance of its age, will
be found in 'Ah rendimi quel core,' from
Francesco Rossi's 'Mitrane,' 1689. Mozart's
peculiar aptitude for this kind of composition
is well exemplified in his wonderful scena for
two voices, 'Die Weiselehre dieser Knaben,' in
'
Die Zauberflote '
; in innumerable delightful
instances in his other operas ; and in a large
collection of detached pieces, such as ' Ch'io mi
scordi,' Bella mia fiamma,' Ahi, ' ' lo previdi,'
' Misera, dove son
? ' and others, too numerous
to mention, most of them written for the stage,
though some are clearly intended for the concertroom,
notwithstanding their powerful dramatic
expression. To this latter class of Scenas must
be referred Beethoven's magnificent Ah, ' perfido
! ' which ranks, with the Scenas for Leonore
and Florestan, in 'Fidelio,' among his most
passionate compositions for voice and orchestra.
The Scena was unquestionably Weber's
strongest point—witness his three magnificent
examples, Duroh ' die Walder,' Wie nahte mir
'
die Schlummer,' and 'Ocean, du Ungeheuer,'
and his six Concert ' Arien.' The grand Scena,
in Bb, for Kunegunde in 'Faust,' is one of
Spohr's most notable masterpieces ; and the
same composer's impassioned instrumental
'
Scena Cantante ' for violin and orchestra
stands quite alone, as an inspiration of the
highest order. He also wrote a very fine Scena
for the concert-room—
' Tu m'abbandoni' (op.
71)
; and Mendelssohn has left us a priceless
treasure of this class in his 'Infelice,' which
embodies an amount of scenic power no less
remarkable than that thrown into the numerous
similar movements in his oratorios. The secret
of success, in all these cases, lies in the intensity
of dramatic expression embodied in the
work. w. s. R.
SCENARIO. An Italian term, meaning a
sketch of the scenes and main points of an
opera libretto, drawn up and settled preliminary
to filling in the detail. G.
SCHABLONE. The German term for a
stencil or pattern, and thence in musical criticism
often applied to music written with too much
adherence to mechanical form or manner,
whether the composer's own or some one else's
—made on a cut-and-dried pattern. The term
capeHmeister-mitsilc is used by the German
critics for a similar thing. With a slightly
different metaphor we should say, ' cast in the
same mould.' 6.
SCHACK (properly GZIAK), Benedict, the
first Tamino, and one of the party ' who stood
round Mozart's bed the night before his death,
and at liis request sang the completed portions
of the Requiem ' ' as far as the first bars of the
'
Lacrimosa,' when he broke into violent weeping
at the thought that he should never finish it.
Schaok, who was bom at Mirowitz, in Bohemia,
in 1758, was a man of general cultivation, a
thorough musician, and a good flute-player. He
composed several operas for Schikanedei's theatre.
Mozart was on intimate terms with him, and
would often come and fetch him for a walk,
and, while waiting for Schack to dress, would
sit down at his desk and touch up his scores.
Schack's voice was a fine tenor, flexible and
sonorous, and his execution thoroughly artistic,
but he was a poor actor.^ In 1787 he was
taking second parts only ; in 1792 he sang
Tamino, Count Almaviva, and Don Ottavio
(Don Gonsalvo in the German translation), after
which we hear no more of him as a singer. [In
1780 he was Capellmeister to a nobleman, and
in 1805 retired on a pension. A mass by him
was finished by Mozart. (See the Harmonicon,
vol. ix. p. 298.)] His operas or Singspiele came
between 1789 and 1793 ;
some were written
with Gerl.3 c. r. p.
SCHALE (German). A cymbal, used of the
halves of a pair, which together are called Becken.
'
Beide Schalen ' is a direction found after one
of the cymbals has been directed to be struck
with a drum-stick.
SCHALMEI. See Shawm.
SCHARWENKA, Ludwig Philipp, bom
Feb. 16, 1847, at Samter, near Posen, in East
Prussia, where his father was an architect.
His taste for music showed itself early, but he
was unable to cultivate it seriously till the removal
of his family to Berlin in 1865, when he
entered KuUak's 'New Academy,' studying
under Wiierst and Heinrich Dorn, having previously
completed his studies at the Gymnasium
in Posen, where his parents settled in 1859.
On completing his course at the Academy he
remained on the staff as a teacher of theory till
1881, when he became teacher of composition
at his brother's newly opened Conservatorium,
the direction of which he undertook with Hugo
Goldschmidt on his brother's emigration to
America in 1891. In 1880 he married the
well-known violinist Marianne Stresow, who is
at present a violin teacher in the Klindworth-
Scharwenka Conservatorium. Besides having
made a good name for himself with a long list of
interesting compositions, Professor Scharwenka
is an accomplished caricaturist.
The compositions of Philipp Scharwenka in-
1 The others were Mozart's brother-in-law, Hofer, the violiniBt,
and Franz Xaver Gerl, a basa-ainger. and the first Sarastro. Mozart
himself sang the alto,
2 Jahn's Mozart, U. p, 510.
9 Oerl sang
*
Osmin ' In 179? at the same theatre in the Freihans,
where was produced in 179? his comic opera in three acts, 'Die
Maskerade,' by ' a former member of this theatre.'