Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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612 SONG
runner of Schubert and Schumann. A younger
contemporary, Zelter, also made his reputation
by setting Goethe's words to music. Zelter was
himself a friend of Goethe's, and so great an
admirer was the poet of Zelter's settings that
he preferred them to Beichardt's, and, through
some strange obliquity of taste or judgment,
to those of Beethoven and Schubert. Zelter's
early songs were strophioal, but in later years
he adopted more freely the durchkomponirte
form. Others of this group of writers were
Ludwig Berger and Bernard Klein, albeit, they
differed somewhat in their treatment, both of
the voice and instrumental parts.
If the general results of the period through
which we have just passed be now regarded as
a whole, it will be seen that the various conditions
requisite for the perfection of the Song
had matured. The foundations and all the
main structure had been built ; it required only
to crown the edifice. Starting from the volksthilmliches
lAed, the Berlin composers had
demonstrated the necessity of full attention to
the words. Mozart and Weber had given it a
home in the Opera. Mozart and Beethoven
had developed its instrumental and dramatic
elements ; and had further shown that the
interest of the Song is attenuated by extension
into the larger scena-form. Nothing, therefore,
of precept or example was wanting, by which
genius might be taught how to make the compact
form of the song a perfect vehicle of lyrical
expression. The hour was ripe for the man
and the hour and the' man met when Schubert
arose.
This wonderful man, the greatest of songwriters,
has been so fully and appreciatively
treated in other pages of this Dictionary,' that
it would be superfluous to do more here than
examine the developmentof the Song under him.
So fertile was Schubert's genius that we have
more than 600 of his songs, and their variety
is as remarkable as their number. He was
master of the Song in every stage—whether it
were the Volkslied, or the Ode, or the volksthumliches
Lied, or the pure lyric song, or the Ballade
and Romanze. And the secret of his greatness
was largely due to his complete recognition of
the principle that the balance between the
melodic form and emotional meaning should be
perfectly adjusted. The essence of true Song,
as Schubert clearly saw, is deep, concentrated
emotion, enthralling words and music alike.
Full of poetry himself, he could enter into the
very heart and mind of the poet ; and so wide
was his range of sympathetic intuition that he
tdok songs from all the great German poets,
and as their styles varied, so did his treatment.
His best compositions are lyrical, and it is
scarcely possible to conceive higher excellence
than is displayed in these masterpieces. Beauty
1 The reader should also consult Keiasmann'e Dot deuttcjie Lied in
teitu^ MgtortecJten BntwicJcelunff and his QeicJtiehte dot deutachen
Licdet. Mm Hadow'e vol. v. ol the Oxford BUtory {if ilvMc,
and finish are bestowed with so even a hand,
both on the voice-part and on the accompaniment,
that it would be difficult to say that
either takes precedence of the other. In the
music which he wrote to the more dramatic,
legendary, or ballad-like forms, such as Schiller's
'Der Tauoher,' and 'Gruppe aus dem Tartarus,'
CoUins's 'Der Zwerg,' Mayrhofer'a 'Memnon,'
or Goethe's Ganymed ' ' and Schwager ' Kronos,
the accompaniment is more important than the
voice-part. Schubert's treatment of the songcycle
differed from that of Beethoven, inasmuch
as Schubert did not weld together the music of
the set, but bound them to one another by
community of spirit. They can all be sung
separately, but the MUUerlieder ' ' and Winterreise,'
'
which tell a continuous tale, lose much
'
of their dramatic power if they be executed
otherwise than as a whole. Some of Schubert's
finest songs are strophical in form, and others
have a change of melody or accompaniment, or
both, for every stanza. But whatever treatment
the words might call for, that Schubert gave
them with unerring instinct.
Mendelssohn, although he comes after Schubert,
belongs to an earlier school of song-writers.
His songs exhibit all the best charaicteristics of
the Berlin School ; they are perfect in form,
melodious, and easy of comprehension. But
they lack the marvellous variety we find in
Schubert's songs. This is partly owing to the
fact that Mendelssohn could not surrender himself
completely to the poet whose words he was
setting ^ ; the words to him were only an aid
or incentive to the composition of a song
already preconceived in his own mind. He
also adhered to certain clearly pronounced types
of melody and harmony ;
so that his songs all
bear a strong resemblance to each other. He
preferred the strophic form ; and ranked the
independence of the melody higher than the
variations of expression the words demanded.
Hence the slight influence Mendelssohn has
exercised upon the Song in Germany. Yet
granted these limitations, the joyousness of his
spring-tide songs, the tranquil beauty of such
compositions as ' Scheidend ' and the ' Naohtlied,'
and the true Volkslied tone of 'Es ist bestimmt,'
have rendered his songs popular in the best
sense of the word. (See Mendelssohn.)
Meyerbeer's songs in general are but little
known ; but amongst the 40 ' Melodies ' published
in 1840 by Brandus, Paris, many are
remarkable and well worth reviving ;
as, for
instance, 'Le moine,' 'Le poete mourant,'
'
Sur le balcon, ' 'Duschones Fischermiidchen.'
Still, they are open to Mendelssohn's criticism,
3 It is a strange paradox that Mendelssohn, with all his finished
cultureandliteraiy tastes, never realised hisresponsibilities towards
the poet, and did not hesitate to change the words if it suited his
music better. To give one instance out of many : in Heine's 'Ich
wollt' melne Schmerzen ergSssen sich,' Mendelssohn substitutes
'
'Liebe'for Schmerzen,' thewby wholly altering the sense. Another
strange contradiction is the fact that although Mendelssohn was
steeped in Bach and possessed great contrapuntal skill, .his accompaniments
are never polyphonic.