Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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upon the hearer ; while his vivid dramatic perception
goes very far to supply the place of
the intrinsically musical development which
characterises the works of the greatest masters
of abstract music. But on the other hand, as
is inevitable from the position he adopted, he
was forced at times to assume a theatrical
manner, and a style which savours ratlier of
the stage than of the true dramatic essence of
the situations he deals with. In the Symphonie
' Fantastique, ' for instance, which ' he
also called 'Episode de la Vie d'un Artiste,'
his management of the programme principle is
thorough and well-devised. The notion of the
ideal object of the artist's atfections being
represented by a definite musical figure, called
the 'idee fixe,' unifying the work throughout
by its constant reappearance in various aspects
and surroundings, is very happy ; and the way
in which he treats it in several parts of the
first movement has some of the characteristic
qualities of the best kind of development of
ideas and figures, in the purely musical sense ;
while at the same time he has obtained most
successfully the expression of the implied
sequence of emotions, and the absorption consequent
upon the contemplation of the beloved
object. In the general laying out of the work
he maintains certain vague resemblances to the
usual symphonic type. The slow introduction,
and the succeeding Allegro agitato—representing
his passion, and therefore based to a very
great extent on the id& ' fixe '—are equivalent
to the familiar opening movements of the
classical symphonies ; and moreover there is
even a vague resemblance in the inner structure
of the Allegro to the binary form. The second
movement, called 'Un bal,' corresponds in position
to the time-honoured minuet and trio ;
and though tlie broad outlines are very free
there is a certain suggestion of the old inner
form in the relative disposition of the valse
section and that devoted to the 'idee fixe.'
In the same way the 'Scene aux Champs'
corresponds to the usual slow movement. In
the remaining movements the programme
element is more conspicuous. A 'Marche au
supplice and a Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat
" '
are both of them as fit as possible to excite the
composer's love of picturesque and terrible
effects, and to lead him to attempt realistic
presentation, or even a sort of musical scenepainting,
in which some of the characteristics
of instrumental music are present, though they
are submerged in the general impression by
characteristics of the opera. The eflect produced
is of much the same nature as of that of
passages selected from operas played without
-
action in the concert room. In fact, m his
little preface, Berlioz seems to imply that this
would be a just way to consider the work, and
the condensed statement of his view of programme
music there given is worth quoting
SYMPHONY 793
Le compositeur a eu pour but de developper,
'
dans ce qu'elles out de musical, difl&entes
situations de la vie d'un artiste. Le plan du
drame instrumental, priv6 du secours de la
parole, a besoin d'etre expos^ d'avance. Le
programme (qui est indispensable k I'iutelligence
complete du plan dramatique de I'onvrage) doit
done etre considere comme le texte parl^ d'un
Op6ra, servant a amener des morceaux de
musique, dont il motive le caractfce et I'expression.
' ' This is a very important and clear
statement of the position, and marks sufliciently
the essential difference between the principles
of the most advanced writers of programme
music and those adopted by Beethoven. The
results are in fact different forms of art. An
instrumental drama is a fascinating idea, and
might be carried out perfectly within the limits
used even by Mozart and Haydn ; but if the
programme is indispensable to its comprehension
those limits have been passed. This does not
necessarily make the form of art an illegitimate
one ; but it is most important to realise that it
is on quite a diff'erent basis from the type of
the instrumental symphony ; and this will be
better understood by comparing Berlioz's statement
with those Symphonies of Beethoven and
Mendelssohn, or even of Raff' and Eubinstein,
where the adoption of a general and vague title
gives the semblance of a similar use of programme.
Beethoven liked to have a picture or
scene or circumstance in his mind ^ ; but it
makes all the difference to the form of art
whether the picture or story is the guiding
principle in the development of the piece, or
whether the development follows the natural
implication of the positively musical idea. The
mere occurrence, in one of these forms, of a
feature which is characteristic of the other, is
not suflicient to bridge over the distance between
them ; and hence the instrumental drama ' ' or
poem, of which Berlioz has given the world its
finest examples, must be regarded as distinct
from the regular type of the pure instrumental
symphony. It might perhaps be fairly regarded
as the Celtic counterpart of the essentially
Teutonic form of art, and as an expression of
the Italo-Gallic ideas of instrumental music on
lines parallel to the German symphony ; but in
reality it is scarcely even an off'shoot of the old
symphonic stem ; and it will be far better for
the understanding of the subject if the two
forms of art are kept as distinct in name as
they are in principle.
'The earliest and most eminent follower of Berlioz,
working on similar lines to his in modern
1 '
The composer lias aimed at developlnf; various situations in the
life of an artist, so for as seemed muaicall; possible. The plan of
an instrumental drama, being without words, requires to be
explained beforehand. The programme (which is indispensable to
the perfect comprehension of the dramatic plan of the worii) ought
therefore to be considered In the light of the spoken text of an
Operu, serving to lead up to the pieces of music, and indicate the
character and expression.'
3 This important admission was made by Beethoven to Neate;
1 have always a picture in my thoughts when 1 am composing,
and work to it.' (Thayer, iii. S43 )
3e