Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

'
, thoroughly
;
ballad-form, and as they considered the voicepart
to be their paramount consideration, they
attempted nothing more than the simplest harmonies
and accompaniments, and disregarded
alike the accent and meaning of the poem for
the sake of repeating the same commonplace
tune again and again. Yet within these narrow
limits there are songs of various degrees of
merit ; some composers have raised their songs
by force of natural gifts and instinctive taste
to a high level.
For a considerable period it seemed as if
England knew not how to speak her own
language in music. It is an open question
whether the effects produced by the Italian
opera in Handel's time, and succeeded later by
the strong influence of Mendelssohn, were
baneful or beneficial to English music. But it
is certain that during the first two-thirds of
the last centmy, very few genuine English
songs—that is, purely English in idiom and
turn of expression, as well as in thought and
feeling— could be met with. Of these few
exceptions we may name J. L. Hatton's To
'
Anthea,' and 'Simon the Cellarer,' J. Hullah's
'Three Fishers," F. Clay's 'The Sands of Dee,'
A. S. Sullivan's ' Orpheus ' and his other songs
from Shakespeare and Tennyson. In excellence
of workmanship many of the above songs
cannot compete with those of a perfectly distinct
class of writers, among whom W. Sterndale
Bennett stands pre-eminent. Of the refinement,
delicacy, and perfect symmetry of his songs,
such as May Dew ' ' and Dawn, ' gentle flower
there could be no question ; and had he not
shared in common with Mendelssohn a tiresome
mannerism of frequent repetition of the same
phrase, his songs would have been more fully
recognised and appreciated. To much the same
period belong the songs of E. J. Loder, whose
graceful ' Brooklet ' is one of the best of English
songs, W. Davison, G, A. Maofarren, Henry
Hugo Pierson, and Edward Bache. The last
died very young, but not before he haA given
promise of high merit in the clearness of his
ideas. Pierson's songs displayed strength and
originality, but wholly neglected the rules of
form. The true English ring of Arthur
Sullivan's songs has already been noticed, but
there was some other undefined quality, which
contributed to secure his great successes. It
was not his brilliant humour, for that quality
hardly appears in his songs. Possibly the
charm lay in some veiled touch of emotion.
He wrote various kinds of songs : some nearly
descended to the drawing-room ballad, while
others rose to a far higher level, such as his
Shakespeare songs and the setting of Tennyson's
'The Window, or the Loves of the Wrens.'*
1 These words were written by Tennyson expressly for Sullivan
at Sir George Grove's request. The latter had proposed in October
1866 to Tennyson, to write a 'Liederkreis'for Millaia to illusti-ate,
and Sullivan to set to music I4fii and Letters of Sir George
Grove, by C. L. Graves, p. 133.
SONG 599
In this last beautiful little cycle there are a
tenderness and grace combined with fine
workmanship which are enduring qualities.
The last word of the ballad-type of song seems
to have been said by Sullivan ;
since his time,
this class of song has not been considered worthy
of notice by musicians. Popular taste may not
yet have changed, but the aims and work of
serious musicians have perceptibly done so.
During the last thirty or forty years Song
in England has once more been regarded as
one of the most important forms of art, and
men have approached it in a different spirit.
Once more the importance of the words has
been fully recognised, and it is now established
that there is no insuperable barrier to the
setting of English poetry to music. Some
difficulties may no doubt arise from the irregular
occurrence of the accents in English poetry
but accent is a study which has at last received
attention, and much is owed to the care and
thought which Sir Hubert Parry has bestowed
on the due correspondence of the accents of the
verse with the rhythm of his music. In his
several books of ' English Lyrics ' the respect
with which he treats the meaning of the words,
is also plainly shown, and his influence on this
point is evident in the works of the younger
generation of English composers. Parry,
Stanford, Mackenzie, Elgar, and Goring Thomas
have adhered, more or less, to the high standard
of song-writing ; but though their names are
grouped together as the modern leaders of music
in England, each composer has his own
individuality. No two composers, indeed, stand
farther apart in their songs than Parry and
Goring Thomas. The latter's songs, with their
long-drawn-out phrases and peculiar romantic
atmosphere, are more French in feeling, while
Parry's songs, with their elaborate polyphonic
accompaniments, incline more to the German
school, though throughout, his melodies have a
English ring. Sir Charles Stanford
has written striking and manly ballads, and a
vein of true melody traceable to his Irish
descent pervades his lyrics. In Elgar's works
an exceptionally poetic imagination and gi-eat
technical skill are manifest, which encourage
the hope that he may turn his attention more
frequently to song-writing. Feminine songwriters
are abundant now, but none have
reached the position attained by Maude V.
White, whose ever-effective songs are full of
expression and refinement ; and a conspicuous
merit with her is her choice of good words.
It is interesting to note among the band of
earnest young song-writers, the pains and skill
bestowed upon the accompaniments of their
songs. The accompaniment is now rightly
held to be an integral part of the whole composition,
and as instrumental skill has reached
a very high level, technical difficulties can be
ignored. Whether the voice - part is always