1

PRELIMINARY

This book is designed for readers who desire or need some condensed inf~rn: £1-
tion about the more important composers. In partkular, it aims to help the
examination candidate who has to be prepared to answer questions on the composers
whose works he has studied. The list of composers dealt with is of necessity selective,
and excludes those such as Burgmiiller, Duvernoy, etc., who~e only claim to fam ..~ is
that they wrote quantities of purely mechanical studies. * Composers before the 1 ~ th
century have also been largely disregarded, partly to avoid expanding the b(h)k
unduly and partly because those for whom the book is chiefly written are hardly
likely to encounter their work.

Section 1, a skeletonised account of the hietory of music, attempts to provide

some background knowledge, admittedly condensed to the limit, without whic~ any
real understanding of composers' work is not possible. Merely to know, for example,
that Bach lived from 1685 to 1750 and that for many years he was Cantnr at St.
l'homas's Church in Leipzig, is of little value to anybody. One might as well confine
one's knowledge of the 19th century to the fact that Queen Victoria occupied the
throne of England from 1837 to 1901. It is easy enough to memorise the dates of
the births and deaths of composers, or of the kings and queens of England, or for
that matter, of the Holy Roman Emperors; but such an accumulation of dry facts,
in isolation, is of little or no value. We need to know what was happenil1g gei .erally
at any given time, whether our study be music or politics or anything t~!se, and also
why it happened.

Students sometimes wonder why, for example, Bach and his contem~)rarics wrote
so many fugues, and after struggling with some of the "Forty-eight" are inclined to
look upon a fugue as a sort of exercise in advanced contrapuntal writing which
examining bodies find useful to plague their candidates. Even a modest amount of
history reading will show the student that the fugue was an inevitable development
in the growth of music, and that to the composer of Bach's time it was a means of
personal expression, as the sonata and symphony were to Haydn, Muzart and
Beethoven, or the Nocturne to Chopin.

Since section 1 is so compressed, it naturally contains a large number of

generalisations. The intelligent and interested student may well fill in at least a
certain amount of historical detail by studying the present writer's CONCISE
HISTORY OF MUSIC (G. Bell & Sons Ltd., London). An invaluable account of
the conditions under which musicians, not only composers, have worked during the
various periods of history is to be found in AN INTRODUCTION TO MUSICAL
HISTORY by J. A. Westrup (Hutchinsons University Library, London).

Those who wish to study the life and works of composers in greater detail are
referred to the MASTER MUSICIANS series of books published by Dent of
London.

For brief but adequate explanations of the various terms used in what follows
(sonata, fugue, etc., etc.) the reader is referred to the writer's STUDENTS
DICTIONARY OF MUSIC (G. Bell & Sons Ltd., London). Such terms are printed
in heavy type.

* Though Burgmiiller did achieve a Ballet, "La Peri", which had great popularity in
the mid-19th century.

Copyright MCMLXX by Allans Music (Australia) Pty. Ltd., 276 Collins St., Melbourne.
B.9179
2
SECTION I
HISTORY IN OUfiINE
(i)

It is customary, for convenenience, to divide the story of music into periods,

each period being noted for its own particular style of composition. But it must
be realised that there have never been any clearly marked dividing lines. A certain
style of composition emerges, at first in a very elementary manner, develops, reaches
its climax and dies down. The seeds of the succeeding style are sown before its pre-
decessor has reached its peak, s.o that successive styles overlap each other like a
series of waves. For example, the style associated with Bach, Handel and their con-
temporaries reached its highest point of development in the first half of the 18th
century and died, to all intents and purposes, with the deaths of those composers
in the middle of the century. The succeeding style, that of Haydn and Mozart, was
germinating from the second quarter of the 18th century and was fully established,
though by no means fully developed, by about 1760. We find always a kind of
hangover of an older style into the time of the new one.

One thing must be clearly understood. When we speak of the development

and growth, or progress, of music, we do not mean that music is continually getting
better and better (though this view was commonly held until comparatively recent
times). Development and growth are rather in matters of technical resource, not
necessarily in the quality of the music itself. For example, Mozart and Liszt both
wrote piano concertos. Mozart's piano was vastly different from what Liszt had at
his disposal. When Mozart was born, in 1756, the piano was only forty-five years
old, in the early stages of its development. It was lightly built with a correspondingly
light tone. Liszt's concert piano, a century later, was altogether bigger, more strongly
built, able to withstand treatment by the player which would quickly have "killed"
Mozart's more delicate instrument. The compass of Liszt's piano was about two
octaves greater than that of Mozart. Between Mozart and Liszt, piano technique
had advanced enormously, composers, including Liszt himself, having discovered
innumerable possibilities which were unheard-of in Mozart's time and which would
probably have caused him to gasp in amazement had he been able to hear them. In
other words, the purely technical and mechanical resources available to Liszt were
immeasurably in advance of those available to Mozart. Yet, as regards the quality
and musical value of their piano concertos, only an ignoramus would contend that
Liszt's are the greater.

For most people, and certainly for the elementary student, interest in music
begins with the 18th century, but for the sake of completeness, and to make clear
how and why music came to be as it was at that time, a brief sketch of preceding
periods is needed.

(ii)
THE EARLIEST PERIOD
During the so-called Dark Ages, the only repository of any kind of culture
was the Church. Musicians (and artists and writers) were almost all employed by
the Church, many being in Holy Orders, so that by far the greatest and most im-
portant body of music was that provided for the services of the Church. Very little
secular music has survived and that mostly in the form of dance tunes.
 3
Up to about the end of the 9th century music was fundamentally "melody;
harmony of any kind was, as far as is known, unheard-of. In the latter part of
the 9th century, and thereafter, we find writings on how to combine two or more
melodies simultaneously, in other words, on what is called COUNTERPOINT. Up to
this time, pitch-notation had been very vague, but now a system was evolved which
eventually led to the stave and clefs as we have them. An exact notation for time-
values, by means of differently shaped notes (as we have in the semibreve, minim,
etc. ) was also worked out.

This first period of musical development lasted up to the 16th century, though
with a number of "sub-periods". But speaking very broadly, for a matter of about
six hundred years composers were largely concerned with learning how to write
effectively and satisfactorilyhf what is called the POL YPIIONIC style - two, three
or more melodies in combination. This polyphonic style reached its peak of develop-
ment in the 16th century in the works of such men as· the Italian, Palestrina, the
Spaniard, Victoria, the Netherlander, Lassus and the Englishman, Byrd.

Throughout the earlier part of the period music for the church remained pre-
dominant, largely in the form of MASSES and l\fOTETS; but ~ecular vocal music was
not entirely neglected. Indeed, in the early days sacred and secular were quite often
mixed up in a manner which may seem strange to us. We find, for example, a
composer combining three melodies, one a piece of traditional church music
(PLAINSONG), one a fragment of a hynln to the Blessed Virgin, and the third a
distinctly secular love-song.

Secular choral music began to develop strongly in the latter part of the 15th
century and, in the form of the MADRIGAL, reached a climax towards the end of the
16th. But there was no particular difference as regards the basic style of writing
between sacred and secular. There are, for example, many examples of Masses being
concocted by adapting music already written, possibly by another composer, for
madrigals or other secular songs.

Although the terms sacred and secular music have been used, it must be pointed
out that strictly speaking they are not valid. Music itself is neither sacred nor
secular; it is simply music. The alleged sacredness of a piece of music is merely
due to its association, whether with a religious text or the fact that, as with an
organ voluntary, it is intended for performance in a church. Mediaeval composers
had a habit of using the tune of a secular song as the basic theme of a Mass; Bach
and his contemporaries were quite likely to write a movement in a church work
in the style and rhythm of one of the popular dances - SARABANDE, SICILIANO, etc.

It was not until the latter part of the 15th century that composers began to think
seriously about instrumental music as such. Earlier writers had no objection to their
choral works being played on instruments, but apart from pieces for the organ
(mostly of no particular merit) it was vocal music which held the field.

Late in the century we find pieces definitely designed for instruments rather than
for voices, though their style is little different, if at all~ from that of contemporary
choral writing. In the course of the 16th century more and more interest was dis-
played in instrumental music, often in the form of dances such as the PAVAN (slow
and stately) and the GALLIARD (quick and lively). This, together with other factors,
including the Reformation (see below) had a great influence on the development
of music in general and tended to break down the strong hold of polyphonic writing.
One could hardly expect to dance to a complicated piece of contrapuntal music, so
4
that composers were more or less forced to begin to think in terms of a tune with a
chordal accornpaniment. This tendency was reinforced hy the popularity of the
LUTE. Its strings were plucked, as on a guitar, and it was thus quite unsuitable for
a contrapurrta1 style of writing, even though some of the more accomplished com-
posers achieved SOlne very clever "faking". Large numbers of SUITES-sets of dances
-were written for the lute, which was also used to accompany the voice in solo
songs.

Keyboard instruments in the 16th century (and later) were the VIRGINALS, the
SPINET and the HARPSICHORD, in all of which the strings were plucked, not struck
as they are on a piano. There was also the CLAVICIIORD, a small, generally portable
affair whose strings were struck. Bowed instrunlents were VIOLS of various sizes and
pitches, which were the predecessors of our VIOLINS, VIOLAS, etc. Viols were shaped
rather differently from violins, etc. They had six strings and their tone was rather
sombre. A great deal of contrapuntal music was written for them, known in England
as FANCIES, i.e., Fantasias. The last, and greatest of such works were those of Henry
Purcell in the second half of the 17th century. The most popular wind instruments
were the RECORDERS, others being SHA WMS and POMMERS (rudinlentary oboes
and bassoons), CORNETTS (a kind of wooden or ivory trumpet) and SACKBUTS
which were the ancestors of our trombones.

It must be mentioned that dances written by reputable composers of this period,

whether singly or as members of a Suite, were not necessarily intended to be used
as music for actual dancing. They rapidly became "stylised". This means that the
composer conceived them simply as pieces of music in the rhythms of certain
dances, but they were not real "dance music". The idea of the stylised dance has
persisted ever since. Symphonies by Haydn, Mozart and other composers often
include a MINUET as a purely abstract piece of music. Chopin wrote a number of
WALTZES which retain the usual kind of left hand accompaniment; but nobody,
except possibly a ballet dancer, would ever try to waltz to them. (Compare them with
the Waltzes of Johann Strauss, e.g. THE BLlTE DANUBE, which were and still are
used to accompany dancers). A modern example of the stylised dance is Arthur
Benjamin's JAMAICAN RUMBA.

Mention was made above of the Reformation. Apart from questions of religious
doctrine, one thing which the reformers-Luther, Calvin, etc.-had in common was
an insistence that the congregation should take an active part in the worship, including
the singing. But congregations could hardly sing ·complex polyphonic music; what
they needed was a simple tune, with words in their own tongue, and such a tune
needed to be supported by simple chordal harmony. This requirement forced com-
posers to think more and more in terms of chords as such-to "think vertically".
Luther introduced the congregational singing of the CHORALE (the German hymn) ;
Calvin and others brought in "metrical psalms"-the psalms translated into the
vernacular in rhyming verse. All had simple tunes and straightforward harmony.

In the case of some of the Lutheran chorales we find again the lack of distinction
between "sacred" and "secular". Some of the chorale tunes were originally secular
songs, well-known at the time. Luther appropriated the tunes and provided "sacred"
words to them. The well-known "Passion chorale" (0 Sacred Head) was originally
a love-song.

In view of the limited scope of this book, composers before the 16th century
need not detain us. Of those working in that century, the following are included in
section 2: Byrd, Tallis, Gibbons, Palestrina, Victoria, Lassus.
B.9179
 5
(iii)
THE BAROQUE PERIOD

The period from about 1600 up to the middle of the 18th century is often called
BAROQUE. Since the term Baroque really refers to a style of architecture, implying
the use of luxuriant decoration (as seen especially in churches and other buildings
in southern Germany and Austria), its application to music may seem rather odd,
but it serves as a convenient label in the same way as the period before 1600 is
called Polyphonic.
Although, as has already been stated, successive styles of composition have
always overlapped each other, the year 1600 is useful as a dividing line marking,
though only approximately, the end of the Polyphonic period. The 17th century is
remarkable for the number of new developments which arose in music, most of them
originating in Italy. During this century we find the rise of OPERA, ORATORIO, the
SONATA, the CONCERTO, and several other important kinds of composition including
the FUGUE. Fugue's starting point lay in the old polyphonic style and it developed to
the stage when Bach, born near the end of the century, could u~e it as a vehicle for
both contrapuntal complexity and emotional expression. This development was largely
the work of German composers. Germany, too, was mainly responsible for the growth
of organ music, since in that country the instrument was more highly developed
than elsewhere.
The first opera was written in 1597 and was simply a drama set to music. Like
all early works of its kind, it was written in RECITATIVE, a kind of "sung speech",
with a simple chordal accompaniment. (The new school of thought was strongly
opposed to polyphonic writing). ARIAS (songs) were soon introduced, serving to
express the emotions of the character concerned in the particular situation at the
moment. By the end of the 17th century the aria had become all-important, often used
deliberately as a vehicle for vocal display; the action of the plot (in which audience
took but little interest) was carried on in recitative. In Italy, notably in the works of
Alessandro Scc:latti, opera became sadly conventionalised. In France, where the
Italian-born Giovanni Battista Lulli reigned supreme in the operatic world, there
was less conventionalisation, and dancing was an important factor.
Oratorio began as a kind of "sacred opera", including scenery, costumes and
even dancing. These factors, however, rapidly disappeared and the use of the chorus
.became prominent. By 1700, oratorio had become what we find in such works as
Handel's MESSIAH or ISRAEL IN EGYPT - a biblical story set to music with
soloists, choir and orchestra.

Sonatas, which many people think of as for one or possibly two instruments,
e.g. for piano, or violin and piano, were for a group of instruments, most frequently
two violins and a 'cello, plus a harpsichord to provide harmonic background. Such
works were called "Trio Sonatas", i.e. for three instruments, even though
four were actually involved. The harpsichord was so much taken for granted that
it was not even mentioned. In this connection the reader is advised to study the
article on BASSO CONTINUO in the Students Dictionary. It must be mentioned that
towards the end of the century, the violin and its bigger brothers the viola and
the 'cello began to replace the old viols.
\
Early sonatas consisted of a varying number of movements in various styles, but
there was no fixed lay-out. Towards 1700 we find more systematisation, the most
usual scheme being four movements, (i) slow, introductory, ( ii) quick, fugal, ( iii)
slow, reflective, ( iv) quick, fugal or a d8nc~. The first works for harpsichord alone
entitled sonatas were SIX BIBLICAL SONATAS by Johann Kuhnau (1660 to 1722),
in which the composer attempted to illu~trate some Old Testament stories.
6
The basic idea of anything -called a concerto was that of contrast of two bodies
of tone. The first publication called "concertos" was a series of works for voice and
organ. The CONCERTO GROSSO, an important development of the period, was always
for a group of soloists, e.g. two violins and a 'cello contrasting with the full (string)
band. "Solo" concertos, with only one soloist (never a keyboard instrument) also
appeared, but were not designed for the soloist to display his extra ability; he was,
at least in the earlier stages, rather the first among equals.

We see, then, that during the 17th century music became wider in its scope than
ever before, with secular and purely instrumental music developing rapidly. It was
to a large extent a time of experiment, laying the foundations on which the twin
giants Handel and Bach could build their colossal superstructures.

The period from about 1600 up to roughly the time of the French Revolution
is often known as the Age of Patronage. Practically every musician, whether com-
poser or performer or both, was the paid servant of somebody or other. The free-
lance was to all intents unknown. The musician might be in the service of the Church,
in which case he would compose or perform music for that church; or he might be
a member of the Kapelle of some royal court or wealthy nobleman. A KapeUe (Ital.
Capella) was simply a musical establishment, secular or otherwise, consisting of
whatever musicians of all kinds its employer could afford, and was directed by the
Kapellmeister or Maestro di Capella. The Kapellmeister had to compose and supervise
the performance of the kind of music required by his employer, a task which might
leave him little if any time to write anything just to please himself. He was simply
a paid servant like, say, a footman or a gardener, though ranking a good deal
higher. In many ways the patronage system was beneficial. It assured the musician
of a livelihood, however modest. There was no question of trying to build up a
teaching connection or, in the case of a composer, of submitting works to various
people in the hope of getting them performed. The performers, members of the
Kapelle, were always at hand. But there could be disadvantages in the case, for
example, of an employer who was not really interested in music and who maintained
his Kapelle simply because it was the accepted custom - and who might be laggardly
in paying his musicians their salaries.

Opera houses - the first was established in Venice in 1711 - also had their
"'tame composers". Wagner, living in the 19th century, wrote operas because he felt
it was his mission in life to do so and often had great difficulty in getting them
performed. The 17th or 18th century composer only wrote an opera when he had a
definite commission (the "scrittura") to do so, and would also know in advance
th~ singers who would take part, so that he could write to suit their individual
vOIces.

From the end of the 18th century the old patronage system died out. Some
composers still had "patrons" (in his later years, Wagner found one in the person
of Ludwig II of Bavaria). But even though, as in the case of Liszt when he was at
Weimar, he might be salaried and had performing musicians at his disposal, he
yet had the liberty to write and perform what he liked, as he liked. A patron, too,
might provide a composer with money to live on, though not in the sense of a
salary, the composer again being at liberty to write as he chose. Nowadays the
only relic of any kind of patronage is in the case of works specially commissioned
by such institutions as broadcasting systems, or music composed specifically for
films.

By 1700 the new ideas developed during the preceding century were soundly
established; the technique of composition in the style evolved was thoroughly
mastered, and what we can now see was a period of experiment was concluded. There
 7
were, as there always have been, some differences of style between composers of
different nationalities, but the over-all style, and the various kinds of music charac-
teristic of the period were consolidated. So that Handel and Bach, both born in
1685, were in a position to achieve what the lesser men had unconsciously been
striving for. .

Of Handel and Bach all that need be said is that between them they
brought the Baroque style to its highest peak of perfection. Handel is chiefly
associated with the finest flowering of Italian opera (even though he lived most of his
life in England) and the greatest oratorios written before the present century. He
also wrote a large number of instrumental works - concerti grossi, harpsichord
suites, etc.

Bach wrote no operas, nor did he touch orato·rio in the exact sense of the
word; but his settings of the PASSION according to St. John and St. Matthew show
what he could have done had he needed to. His enormous output included over three
hundred church cantatas, a huge number of organ works, concertos, preludes and
fugues, and so on. More than any other composer he showed that the fugue, which
can easily become a more or less mechanical exercise in contrapuntal ingenuity, can
yet be a means of deep personal and emotional expression.

(iv)
THE CLASSICAL PERIOD

Tastes and fashions in music change, as they do in any Art. By the middle of
the 18th century the style of Bach and Handel was going rapidly out of fashion and
new ideas, which had begun to germinate in the second quarter of the century, were
becoming established.

The keynote of these new ideas, especially in their early stages, was simplicity
of style. The early writers of opera decried the complexity of the 16th century
polyphonists; the new men, the "modernists", of the 18th century similarly decried
that of the late Baroque composers. Contrapuntal complexity and ingenuity, though
still a regular part of a composer's training, went largely out of fashion and we
find innumerable instrumental works - sonatas, symphonies, CHAMBER MUSIC of
various kinds - of which the ultimate basis is a melody with a plain chordal back~
ground. This is, perhaps, an over-simplification, but if the reader will take the
trouble to compare, say, a Bach fugue with a Haydn or Mozart piano sonata, he
should be able to grasp the point.

However, despite the simplicity of style of the earlier works of this period, some
degree of complexity later began to appear. We find, for example, fugal writing
(though not necessarily complete fugues as such) appearing in the later works of
Haydn and Mozart. In any case, fugue survives in choral music.

The basic aim of the "classical" composer was to achieve perfection of form
and design. He was not as a rule greatly concerned with music as a medium for
emotional expression. This was due to the current taste of patrons and audiences.
They did not want to be emotionally stirred up; as one writer puts it, the 18th
century audience simply wanted to be "healthily amused". A composer who offered
his audience a piece of hi'ghly-charged emotion, as Mozart occasionally did, knew
that he was taking· a r i s k . ' B. 9179
8
In opera, conventionalisation and the dominance of the singers was gradually
broken down; Cluck's work was important in this direction. OPERA BUFFA-comic
opera-appeared, with "everyday" plots in the vernacular, as distinct from the
traditional operatic plot taken from ancient history or mythology. By the end of
the century, the kind of opera which had reached its peak in the works of Handel,
and which has been described as little more than "a concert in costume", was
practically dead. Its place was taken by something more naturalistic, less formalised
in its plan, and with a far wider variety of plots. At the sanle time, there was still
ample justification (and still is, for that matter!) for Dr. Samuel Johnson' s definition
of opera as "an exotick and irrational entertainment".

In the second half of the 18th century we find the rapid development of the
SYMPHONY, whose origins lay chiefly in what is called the Italian OVERTURE. Operas
were naturally preceded by overtures, and the style established by Alessandro Scarlatti
and which was normally used by Italian opera composers, consisted of three short
movements-quick, slow, quick. The growth of public concerts in the early part of
the century created a demand for orchestral works, and operatic overtures were
often used as concert items. Composers then began to write such pieces as independent
works with no operatic connections, calling them Symphonies. At first just the three
movements were customary, but later on a Minuet was often inserted between the
slow movement and the finale. Of the hundreds of such symphonies written in the
second half of the 18th century, the majority are more or less superficial in character,
but with the later works of Haydn and Mozart. some real emotional depth of mean-
ing appears-for example in Mozart's great G minor symphony. In the symphony,
as in the sonata (see below) is found the development of SONATA FORM, the most
important formal design of the classical period.

With the development of the symphony comes also the development of the
orchestra and methods of writing for it. Mid-century symphonies were written for
the usual strings-1st and 2nd violins, violas, 'cellos and double basses-with simple
parts for some wind instruments. These latter would naturally depend on what the
composer had at his disposal, but would commonly be a flute, two oboes, a bassoon,
two horns, perhaps two trumpets, and drums. Clarinets were less than a century old
and were only just reaching the stage when they were effectively usable. By the end
of the 18th century the basis of the modern orchestra was established, normally two
flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, drums and
strings. Composers learned how to write effectively for the wind section, and ideas
on varying instrumental colours developed.

The sonata now changed its character, being affected by the plan of the symphony.
Sonatas were written for piano solo (among other possibilities) in three movements.
Bach's third son, Karl Philipp Emanuel, had much to do with the development of
the new kind of sonata, his ideas being followed by Haydn and Mozart. The piano
first appeared ~bout 1710 as a not very effective alternative to the harpsichord. Its
improvement was rapid and before the end of the 18th century Mozart was able,
in his concertos, to express himself to the full on it. Sonatas on the same three move-
ment plan were also written for such combinations as violin and piano.

Chamber music, especially in the form of the STRING QUARTET, is a prominent

feature of the classical period. It must be understood that charpber music simply
means "room music", i.e. music written for a group of individual performers, suitahle
for a chamber, or room, as distinct from such works as symphonies which require
more than one player to each part and which are designed for public performance
in a concert hall. Although the term chamber music is most usually associated with
the string quartet, the string trio and similar combinations, the basic idea goes
much father back than the 18th century. Chamber music includes such things as the
 9
already-mentioned Trio Sonata, early CANTATAS and, for that matter, the madrigals
of the 16th century. Chamber music of the classical period was simply a sonata, in
the prevailing style, for a group of solo instruments. (And a symphony, whether
of this or any other period, is a sonata for orchestra) .

. Apart from Haydn and Mozart, the only composers who need to be specially
mentioned (though there are scores of others) are K. P. E. Bach, J. Christian Bach,
Gluck, Boccherini and Paradisi.

(v)
TOWARDS ROMANTICISM

Much of the work of the lesser composers of the classical period was little more
than neatly-organised patterning with notes, the emotional side being kept severely
in check. But in the late 18th century we find, as we have noted before, a gradual
change of musical taste and an increasing tendency towards a free expression of
emotion, leading ultimately to the work of the Romantic composers of the 19th
century. The link between the two outlooks-Classicism and ROMANTICISM-was
Beethoven (h. 1770). His early works naturally lean largely on the style which
prevailed when he was young, i.e. that which we associate with Haydn and Mozart.
But he was not to be confined within the narrow limits which were customary, and
even in his early works there are frequent signs of a desire and intention to give his
music an intense emotional content. By the time he had developed beyond his early
and formative period, we find works fully-charged with emotional meaning, so much
so that he was considered something of a fire-brand. The piano sonata in D minor,
Ope 31 No. 2, is a fine example of his intensity, far beyond anything that Haydn or
Mozart would have dared to write, and the Appassionata sonata, Ope 57, goes still
further.

But despite the stress on emotional expression, Beethoven still remained a

classic in his search for formal perfection. Unlike some of the purely romantic com-
posers who followed him, he did not allow emotion to over-ride design, but rather
showed how a wide range of emotional meaning could be packed into the accepted
formal plans.

(vi)
THE ROMANTIC ERA

The underlying doctrine of the Romantics was expressed by the French com-
poser Berlioz (b. 1803) when he said that "Music should be a direct reaction to
emotion". In other words, the prime function of music is to express emotion, other
matters, including form, being subservient to this. This does not mean, however,
that the Romantics paid no regard to form; indeed, especially in their smaller works
we often find that their forms are more rigid than those of, say, Haydn and Mozart.
But they did not necessarily adhere to the traditional BINARY, TERNARY, RONDO and
sonata forms of their immediate predecessors. The student may, for example, study
such works as the first and third Ballades of Chopin (preferably by listening to
them with the music). He will find unlimited range of emotional expression, and
forms which have little if any resemblance to those listed above, hut they are never-
theless entirely logical and satisfactory. B.9179
10
Despite Berlioz's dictum, traditional forms were not discarded, though there
was often considerable modification of their main outlines. Schubert and Mendelssohn
in the early part of the 19th century, and Brahms in its second half, all found it
possible to express themselves fully within the sonata and allied designs.· Schumann
adhered largely to tradition in his symphonies and chanlber music. Berlioz indulged
in pretty comprehensive modifications at times and Chopin tended to be a law unto
himself. But it remained for Liszt (b. 1811) to apply fully the idea that the form
of a piece of music may arise entirely from what the music is intended to express,
rather than to contain the expression within the limits of a pre-conceived traditional
design. This he did in his SYMPHONIC POEMS.

A symphonic poem (or tone-poem) is by nature a piece of music descriptive,

as far as music can be descriptive, of something non-musical-a story, a picture, a
scene, or what not. In other words, it is PROGRAMME or ILLUSTRATIVE music.

The idea of illustrative music is as old as the 16th century, and mention has
already been made of Kuhnau's Biblical Sonatas. In the Romantic period composers'
minds turned more and more to the possibilities of descriptive music as distinct
from "absolute" music, i.e. music which exists for itself alone, with no outside
influences. One of the earliest and certainly one of the finest pieces of Romantic
illustrative music is Mendelssohn's "Hebrides" Overture, a vivid piece of orchestral
writing which is in a perfectly balanced sonata form.

Liszt decided that if the composer intends to write to a "programme", then the
shape of the work, i.e., its form, must be dictated by that programme. He would not
try to force his programme into, say, sonata or some other traditional form. Thus,
the designs of his symphonic poems are entirely individual. This type of composition
requires, however, some extra work on the part of the listener; he must know the
programme, otherwise the music may not make sense to him. Such pre-knowledge
becomes all the more essential in the works of some later composers. For example,
in one section of Richard Strauss's Don Qllixote, sounds as of the bleating of sheep
issue from the orchestra. Unless one is familiar with the tale of the Don charging
a flock of sheep, the whole episode can sound merely laughable.

In opera in the 19th century there was continual progress to greater freedom
both of plots and in the handling of the music itself. Plots dealt with "romantic"
stories of all kinds, including fairy stories. The orchestra, from being a mere back-
ground accompaniment, came to the fore, illustrating in its own way the stage action.
Singers were kept more in their place, though at least in Italian opera they remained
predominant. The climax was reached in the works of Wagner, whose avowed aim
was that all the factors which go to make up opera, or, as he preferred to call it,
Music Drama, should be of equal importance, with the orchestra providing a kind
of continuous running commentary. Such at least was his theory, but luckily for us
he was a musician first and foremost, so that in the end it is the music-often just
the orchestra ~lone-which matters most. Wagner practically discarded the tradition
of "set pieces'~ so that continuity of action, as well as of music, is unbroken through-
out a whole act.

Mechanical advances in the 19th century were manifold. Instruments were

developed and improved so that the art of writing for the orchestra took .. great strides
forward. Modern ideas on orchestration stem largely from the work of Berlioz, a
man with a singularly inventive mind. The technique of instruments also developed
enormously. Paganini on the violin and Liszt on the piano discovered technical
possibilities which would have staggered a musician of the 18th century. The piano,
partly owing to the demands made in the works of Beethoven, evolved from the light
framework and comparatively small tone which satisfied Mozart, to the concert grand
 11
as we know it today. The organ, too, gradually became less cumbersome to manage,
thanks to mechanical blowing apparatus and the invention of pneumatic and, later,
electrical action.

Patronage in the 18th century sense died out and the social status of the musician
rose steadily. From being generally a paid servant, he often became an "artist",
subject to hero-worship (Liszt is the supreme example) and able to consort on equal
terms with the high-born and wealthy. Mendelssohn, for example, was on friendly
terms with Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.

Romanticism reached its peak towards the end of the 19th century, with a
strong hangover into the 20th. Composers such as Elgar, Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner
and Walton, though living and working into the 20th century, still show a basically
romantic outlook.

The list of composers has once again to be highly selective. The following are
dealt with in the second section of this book: Berlioz,. Schubert, Chopin, Schumann,
Mendelssohn, Wagner, Liszt, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Mahler, Bruckner,
Strauss, Sibelius, Walton.

(vii)
In the 17th century the lead in European music lay largely with Italy; in the
18th and 19th it had passed to Germany. But music was not specifically Italian or
German in style; rather it was Western European. Differences of nationality are
evident to some extent, but there was no deliberate cultivation of a "national idiom'''.

However, in the course of the 19th century, Nationalism developed, the funda-
mental idea being that a composer should base his musical idiom on the folk music
of his own country. Nationalism arose first in Russia, with Glinka, and its influence
spread to Bohemia, Spain, Norway, Hungary and eventually to England.

In some ways the influence of Nationalism was good, since it enabled non-
German composers to break away from working in a purely Teutonic idiom. But it
had its limitations, both harmonically and melodically. It is all too easy to feel that
once one has heard, for example, one piece in a deliberately Spanish idiom, one
has heard them all.

Important nationalist composers are: Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin,

Mussorgsky, BalakirefI, Bart6k, Smetana, Dvor~ik, F alIa, Kodaly, Turina, Granados,
Grieg and Vaughan Williams.

( viii)
IMPRESSIONISM

Impressionism is an offshoot of Romanticism. Its aim is to express in musical

sound the impression made on the composer's mind by something non-musical-a
picture, a scene, a story, etc. Strictly speaking, an impressionist composition should
not be straightforwardly "illustrative", though not infrequently it is. Debussy's
well-known piano piece "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" is pure impressionism and
so also is his orchestral piece "L' Apres-midi d'un Faune". But "La Cathedrale
Engloutie" (The Submerged Cathedral) is purely programmatic in that it follows
the story contained in the legend from which the title originates, while "F eux
d' Artifice" (Fireworks) is plainly and obviously illustrative.
12
Since Impressionism, by definition, cannot be abstract or absolute music, its
scope is of necessity limited. The founder and leader of the movement was Claude
Debussy, followed, though less whole-heartedly, by Maurice Ravel. Debussy's chief
and more lasting influence was through his highly individual and original attitude to
harmony. Frederick Delius also showed impressionistic tendencies in some of his
works.

(ix)
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Although, as has already been noted, Romanticism has persisted in the work of
some composers into the present century, there has in many quarters been a strong
reaction against it, though not necessarily against the traditional materials of
composition.

What may be called anti-Romanticism arose strongly in France in the 1920s in

the work of a group of composers known as "The Six". Their aim, broadly speaking,
was to eliminate or at least to minimise emotional expression, and in some cases
their methods savoured of iconoclasm. Only three names need to be mentioned-
Poulenc, Milhaud and Honegger.

A similar attitude-a kind of musical cold-bloodedness-is found In the work

of the expatriate Russian, Prokofiev.

Generally speaking, 20th century composers can be divided into the

Traditionalists and the non-Traditionalists or, to put it more bluntly, the anti-
Traditionalists. Late Romantics such as Elgar, Strauss, Mahler, Vaughan Williams
and Walton are naturally Traditionalists in that they still work with traditional
materials, however much they may have expanded them. The same applies to the
anti-Romantics mentioned above, and also to the contemporary Russian school of
composers, of whom Shostakovich is the outstanding figure. But Russian composers,
being subject to a degree of political control over artistic thought, are in a special
category.

Non-Traditionalists, all or most of whom began by composing in a traditional

manner, have sought to find new things to express and entirely new method~ of
expressing them. It has been said of Schonberg that he "sought to probe the emotIons
of the subconscious mind to their depths". Beginning as a distinctly lush late
Romantic, he gradually moved more and more towards ATONALISM (absence of key)
and an increasingly intense use of dissonance, leading ultimately to SERIALISM.
Bartok, a Romantic in his early days, experimented widely with new textures
and new methods of chord-construction and, again, with high-powered dissonance.
Stravinsky, 8'- ~'father-figure" to many of the younger generation, remained for m~ny
years a traditionalist in his reliance mainly on traditional materials, though b~comlng
more and more anti-Romantic; but of late years he, too, has adopted what IS called
Serial Technique. Hindemith worked out his own methods and theories of relative
dissonance.

The latest and most advanced developments in music involve not only the use
of traditional instruments and of sounds which are traditionally accepted as "musical",
but also the use of new media, e.g. electronic devices as in the works of Stockhausen
and his followers.

It may be well to clarify the meanings of some commonly-used terms in con-

nection with 20th century music. The use of the word "modernist" for the anti-
 13
traditionalist is not really apt, since there have always been modernists in the sense
of composers who were not content to work within the established style of their time,
but who wanted to explore new paths. The early writers of opera were modernists
in that they rejected the old polyphonic methods; so, also, were such men as K. P. E.
Bach, who discarded the complexities of the Baroque style. But such composers as
these still worked with the traditional basic materials of music, however adventurous
their outlook may have been.

An equally debatable term is "contemporary", which simply means "of the

present time". The term "contemporary music" is often used to mean the work of
the more "advanced" writers, yet to be strictly accurate it should also include that
of living traditionalists.

What are the distinguishing features of the so-called "contemporary" music?

This is a difficult question to answer since there are so many schools of "contem-
porary" composition, each with its own ideas on the direction in which music should
move. The one thing they all seem to have in common is an aversion to what is
traditionally understood as consonance, and an eagerness to explore the possibilities
of methods of composition which discard completely the old bases of major and minor
scales and chords built up in 3rds; an eagerness, too, to explore new possibilities of
musical design and structure. It is not possible here to deal with the various techniques
of "contemporary" schools. The student who is interested is referred to such books
as THE EVOLUTION OF TWENTIETH CENTURY HARMONY by Wilfrid Dunwell
(Novello & Co., London) and A STUDY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY HARMONY
by Mosco Carner (J. Williams, London).

Whether all the present experimentation (and experimentation it is, whatever

the protagonists of contemporary music may say) will eventually lead to a clearly
defined and more or less universal style remains to be seen. If it does, it will then
remain to be seen whether the end-product is acceptable to the musical man-in-the-
street. At the present time the avant garde composers seem to have less and less contact
with the average audience; they seem to write just to satisfy themselves (naturally
enough) and a small admiring clique. But the average audience,. on whom both
performers and composers ultimately depend for their livelihood, obstinately prefers
music which it can understand and enjoy. The Romans had a saying Vox populi, vox
Dei-the voice of the People is the voice of God. Whether or not this be true, there
is no doubt that it is the voice of the people, i.e. of the listeners, which finally decides
whether the work of any particular composer or school of composers will live or die.

Music cannot stand still. The present question is whether the avant garde com-
posers are not trying to force it on at a suicidal pace.

Composers: Stravinsky, Schonberg, Berg, Webern, Boulez, Messaien,

Stockhausen.

(x)
MUSIC IN AUSTRALIA

Since this is an Australian book, published in Australia, it may be well to offer

a few notes on music in Australia. It would hardly be correct to speak of Australian
music since nothing specifically Australian has yet emerged. A possible exception may
be suggested by some of the works of Peter Sculthorpe, e.g. his "Sun Music" pieces,
but although they attempt to express the effects and impression of the sun in this
country, their idiom is a purely personal one, evolved by the composer, and is not
specifically Australian. B. 9179
14
It is only in comparatively recent years that works of any real stature have come
from the pens of Australian composers, beginning with those of Alfred Hill and Percy
Grainger. Both were traditionalists, Grainger being affected to some extent by
nationalistic ideas, though hardly Australian ones. Other traditionalists are Arthur
Benjamin, Robert Hughes, John Antill, Dorian Le Gallienne, George Dreyfus and
Malcolm Williamson.

Within the last few years a somewhat aggressive avant garde school has
developed, including some like Felix Werder who are not Australian-born. Notable
names are Richard Meale, Peter Sculthorpe, Larry Sitsky, Colin Brumby, Keith
Humble and Nigel Butterley.

No opinion can be offered as to the ultimate value of their works. Some lapse
of time is essential before they (or the works of any other living composers) can be
seen in perspective. All that can be said at present is that our avant garde school is
vigorous and energetic.

Allans Music (Australia) Pty. Ltd., 276 Collins St., MeJbourne. B.9179
 15

BRIEF
BIOGRAPHIES
BY
WILLIAM LOVELOCK
D.MUS. (LOND.)

SECTION 2
COMPOSERS

AGNEW, ROY E. b. Sydney 1893, d. there 1944. One of the earlier Australian
composers to break away from purely Germanic influences. His style is apt to be rather
variable and undefined, but shows at times a good deal of poetic feeling.
ALBENIZ, ISAAC. b. Camprod6n 1860, d. Camb6 des Bains 1909. Spanish
composer whose 'early life was adventurous. He appeared as a pianist at four years of
age, ran away at nine, sailed to South America, gave a recital tour and returned
to Europe at thirteen. After this, he settled down to some extent. His style is strongly
nationalistic and his pianoforte writing is idiomatic and brilliant.
ALWYN, WILLIAM. b. Northampton 1905. Studied at the Royal Academy of
Music and was on the teaching staff there for thirty years. He has written four sym-
phonies and a variety of other works, as well as a great deal of successful music for
films. .
ANTILL, JOHN. b. Sydney 1904. Traditionalist Australian composer chiefly
famous for his ballet Corroboree. Among other notable works are the Symphony
jor a City, commissioned for performance in Newcastle, N.S.W. and the ballet
Black. Opal.
ARENSKY, ANTONY STEPANOVICH. b. Novgorod 1861, d. Finland 1906.
Russian composer with romantic style, not noticeably nationalistic. He was on the
staff of the Moscow Conservatorium and is best known for his songs and piano music.
ARNE, THOMAS AUGUSTINE. b. London 1710, d. there 1778. Writer of
operas, oratorios, keyboard works and many well-known songs, e.g. Under the Green-
wood Tree and, in particular, Rule, Britannia. A minor composer whose works often
have great charm.
BACH, JOHANN CHRISTIAN. b. Leipzig 1735, d. London 1782. The
eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian (see below). A "modernist" of his time in that
he discarded the style of composition perfected by his father, preferring to follow
the new ideas which reached their peak in the works of Haydn and Mozart. He
spent the latter part of his life in London, producing symphonies, operas and keyboard
works. Mozart met him at the age of eight and was to some extent influenced by him.
Sometimes known as the "London Bach".
Allans Music (Australia) Pty. Ltd., 216 Collins St., Melbourne. 8.9179
16
BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN. b. Eisenach 1685, d. Leipzig 1750. The
greatest of a long-lasting musical family of whom the first traceable member was
Veit Bach, who died in 1619. lohann Sebastian's parents died before he was ten and
he was brought up by his elder brother Johann Christoph. He was twice married and
had twenty children., Early appointments were organist at Arnstadt in 1703 and at
Miihlhausen in 1707. In 1708 he entered the service of the Duke of Weimar as a
string player and court organist, becoming Konzertmeister (i.e. leader) in 1714.
During this period he wrote much of his organ music and some cantatas. In 1717
he was appointed Kapellmeister at Cothen, where h~ was concerned exclusively with
instrumental music. Compositions of this period include the first book of the "48"
-the Well-Tempered Klavier-a large amount of other klavier music, and the
orchestral overtures. In 1723 Bach was appointed Cantor (i.e. Director of Music)
at St. Thomas's Church, Leipzig, remaining there until his death. In Leipzig, being
concerned mainly with music for the church, he wrote an enormous number of
cantatas and the St. John and St. Matthew Passions.
Other works of this period include the Mass in B minor, written partly to support
his application for appointment as court composer at Dresden, the second book of
the "48", the Musical ODering-a tribute to Frederick the Great of Prussia and based
on a theme by that potentate; and the unfinished Art of Fugue in which he set out to
display every possible way of handling fugue, from the simplest to the most complex.
In his lifetime, Bach was noted all over Germany as a brilliant org~nist" klavierist
and extemporiser. By the end of his life his style of composition was considered out
of date.
BACH, KARL PHILIPP EMANUEL. b. Weimar 1714, d. Hamburg 1788.
Fifth child of J ohann Sebastian. One of the originators of the classical sonata and
symphony and author of an important book called The True Manner 0/ Keyboard
Performance. For some years he was in the 8ervice of Frederick the Great of
Prussia, and during the last twenty-one years of his life was in charge of the music
in no fewer than five churches in Hamburg. Like his young brother Christian, he
was held in high esteem by Mozart and also by Haydn.
BACH, WILHELM FRIEDEMANN. b. Weimar 1710, d. Berlin 1784. Second
child (and eldest son) of J ohann Sebastian. A rather unstable character who never-
theless wrote much music of value.
BALAKIREV, MILY ALEXIEVICH. b. Nijni-Novgorod 1837, d. St. Peters-
hurg 1910. A leader of the nationalist school in Russia, now known chiefly as the
composer of the appallingly difficult piano piece I slamey.

BANTOCK, SIR GRANVILLE. b. London 1868, d. there 1946. A prolific com-

poser of songs, part-songs, orchestral music and large-scale choral works. Some of
his compositions show interest in Eastern thought, e.g. Omar Khayyam. Chairman
of the Corporation of Trinity College, London, from 1934 until his death.
BARBER, SAMUEL. b. West Chester, U.S.A., 1910. Apart from being a com-
poser he is also a pianist and singer. His compositions cover almost every kind of
work - symphonies, operas, choral works, songs and piano music. All of them show
strong romantic feeling allied to a high command of technical resource in a modern
though not violently advanced style. One of his most popular works is the Adagio
for Strings, actually the slow movement of a string quartet.
BARTOK, BELA. b. Nagyszentmikl6s 1881, d. New York 1945. With Kodaly
he undertook research into Hungarian folk music and also that of Roumania. He was
for a time on the staff of the Budapest Academy. He explored many new angles of
composition, especially the possibilities of high-powered dissonance. His compositions
include several piano concertos and string quartets, the one-act opera Blue beard's
Castle, and the widely-known Roumanian Dances.
 17
BAX, SIR ARNOLD. h. London 1883~d. Cork 1953. Hi~ part-Irish descent
shows in many of his works, some of which have been compared with the
poetry of W. R. Yeats. Before the firEt world war he was looked upon 85 a "mod-
ernist", hut he is now seen as a late romantic whose works, incidentally, have largely
gone out of fashion.

BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN. h. Bonn 1770, d. Vienna 1827. Son of a

musician in the court orchestra of the Elector of Cologne. At fourteen he was regular
deputy to the court organist, Neefe. Settled in Vienna in 1792 and remained there
for the rest of his life, huilding up a hig reputation as a pianist-and also for his
rudeness. From 1798 he gradually hecame deaf, almost totally so in his last years.
Beethoven developed the sonata, symphony and allied forms from the point
reached hy Haydn and Mozart, expanding their scale and intensifying their emotional
content. He greatly widened the range of expression of the piano and of the orchestra,
demanding in such works as his 9th Symphony far larger forces than had even heen
used hefore. This symphony also hroke new ground in having a choral finale.
Beethoven's works include 32 sona.tas for piano, 10 for violin, 5 for 'cello, 16
string quartets, 9 symphonies, in all of which can he traced a steady progression from
the style he inherited from his immediate predecessors towards· the romanticism of his
successors. He is, indeed, sometimes considered to he the first of the Romantics.
Mention should also he made of his 5 piano concertos, one for violin, the· one
opera Fidelio and the Missa Solemnise
BENJAMIN, ARTHUR. h. Sydney 1893, d. London 1960. An Australian who
spent most of his composing life in England. He was on the staff of the Royal College
of Music where he had previously studied. His work is always of impeccahle crafts-
manship and generally shows a sense of humour which is apt to be lacking in that
of many later Australian composers. Although his hest-known ~;]d most popular piece
is the Jamaica·n Rum.ha, he is to he noted as a composer of opera, including The
Devil Take Her and Prima Donna.
BERG, ALBAN.. h. Vienna 1885, d. there 1935. An important pupil of Schonberg
(q.v.). Following his master's teaching he adopted, though not exclusively, the "twelve-
tone" system of composition in such works as the operas W ozzeck and Lulu, and the
Lyric Suite for string quartet. Despite his advanced style, Berg was at heart a
romantic, as is evident from his magnificent violin concerto.

BERKELEY, LENNOX. h. Oxford 1903. Had his musical education largely in

Paris (he is of part-French descent). Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy
of Music. Apart from purely instrumental music his two operas, Nelson and A Dinner
Engagement have also hecn heard. His style is mildly modern.

BERLIOZ, HECTOR. h. La COte St. Andre 1803, d. Paris 1869. Son of a doctor
who wanted him to follow the same profession. In 1822 he entered the Medical School
in Paris, but the following year he left and entered the Paris Conservatoire de
Musique; eventually winning the Prix de Rome. For many years he struggled against
financial difficulties (partly hrought ahout hy his own "difficult" nature) and earned
some sort of a living as a music critic. His life was also complicated by sundry
hectic love affairs and two marriages which were not particularly successful. From
ahout 1840 he gradually achieved recognition and success as a composer, undertaking
several fours of Europe, hut his health failed and during his last six years he wrote
nothing.

B.9179
18
Berlioz was the romantic par excellence ("music should be a direct reaction to
emotion") and often showed a fondness for working on a huge scale, as in his Requiem.
At the same time, such a work as his little oratorio The Childhood oJ Christ, and also
some of his songs, show that he could write effectively for small forces. His greatest
claim to fame is, perhaps, his mastery of the orchestra and his flair for inventing new
orchestral effects. His book Traite d'/nstrumentation is still a standard work on
orchestration. \

BIZET, GEORGES. h. Paris 1838, d. near there 1875. Studied at the Paris
Conservatoire and won the Prix de Rome. Chiefly famous for his opera Carmen and
the two orchestral suites from his incidental music to Daudet's L'Arlesienne. His
symphony in C is occasionally performed hut has never had any great popularity.

. BLOCH, ERNEST. b. Geneva 1880, d. Oregon 1959. He lived for many years
In the United States. Of Jewish parentage, his music at times shows strong racial
( not nationalist) influences, as for example in Schelomo for 'cello and orchestra.
His violin concerto is a work of great power, with a highly personal idiom.
BOCCHERINI, LUIGI. h. Lucca 1743, d. Madrid 1805. A minor composer
of the classical period, best known for his rather trite Minuet in A. He was a fine
2cellist, with a large output of chamber music, much of which makes pleasant listening,
though it is generally of no great distinction.

BOELLMANN, LEON. b. Ensisheim 1862, d. Paris 1897. Now known only by

his organ compositions, in particular the Gothic Suite, which has "dated" rather badly.
For many years organist at the church of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris.

BORODIN, ALEXANDER PORPHYRIEVICH. b. St. Petersburg 1833, d.

there 1887. Professionally a scientist (he was assistant professor of chemistry at the
St. Petersburg Academy of Medicine), he devoted his leisure to writing music.
Strongly nationalistic, he was a member of the famous Russian "Five" who devoted
themselves to the propagation of purely Russian music. Compositions include two
symphonies, that in B minor being frequently played, and the opera Prince I gor
with its well-known Polovtsian Dances.

BOWEN, YORK. h. London 1884, d. there 1961. Studied at the Royal Academy
of Music, becoming a fine pianist. His larger compositions had considerahle succe£s
in the past, but he is now chiefly known as a writer of tasteful and original teaching
pieces for the piano.
BOYCE, WILLIAM. b. London 1710, d. there 1779. Master of the orchestra
for George III and wrote much music for church and stage, together with some
pleasant and tuneful symphonies some of which have been recently resurrected. ~is
collection of Cathedral Music brought together many of the finest works of Enghsh
church composers.

BRAHMS, JOHANNES. b. Hamburg 1833, d. Vienna 1897. Son of a double-

bass player. In early life he made a living by playing the piano in cafes and dance
halls. At the age of twenty he toured with the Hungarian violinist Remenyi and met
Joachim and Liszt.
In 1853 he met Schumann, who was immediately impressed by his capabilities
and did much to encourage him. After four years in a court appointment and a
short residence in Switzerland Brahms settled in Vienna in 1862 and remained there
for the rest of his life. His only official appointments, both brief, were as conductor
of the Vienna Singakademie and of the Gesellschaft der MusikJreunde. B.9179
 19
As a composer, Brahms may be described as a "classic-romantic", i.e. his out-
look and expression are romantic, but he adhered to the accepted traditional forms
of his time. He wrote no programme music. Important works are four symphonies,
V ariations on a theme by H aydn (two versions, one for orchestra, one for two
pianos), chamber music, many beautiful songs, the German Requiem for voices and
orchestra. Notable, too, are the late Capricci and Intermezzi for piano, in which he
showed himself able to express intense emotion within the limits of strict form.

BRITTEN, EDWARD BENJAMIN. b. Lowestoft 1913. Studied at the Royal

College of Music under Frank Bridge. He has written a large number of works of
all kinds-choral, orchestral, etc., and is notable as the only English composer since
Purcell who has succeeded in writing operas of real stature. His first opera, Peter
Grimes, received great acclaim. He established the Aldeburgh (Norfolk) Festival-
Britten is a fine pianist and accompanist; he and the tenor Peter Pears are noted for
their sensitive interpretations of Lieder.

BRVCH, MAX. b. Cologne 1838, d. Friedenau 1920. Directed the Liverpool

Philharmonic Society for three years and taught composition in the Hochschule in
Berlin. He is best known for his violin concerto in G minor and Kol Nidrei for 'cello
and orchestra.

BRVCKNER, ANTON. b. Ansfelden 1824, d. Vienna 1896. He began as a

dedicated church musician and was for a time cathedral organist at Linz. In 1868
he became a teacher of theory and organ at the Vienna Conservatorium. He wrote
nine symphonies ( the last unfinished). Opinions vary as to his standing as a
composer. His partisans brush aside his weaknesses, claiming that they are counter-
balanced by the emotional beauty of his work. Those who are less synlpathetic point
to such things as his repetitiveness and his frequent naIvete of manner.

BRUMBY, COLIN JAMES. B. Melbourne 1933. Studied composition in

London with Alexander Goehr. At present a Senior Lecturer in Music at the Univer-
sity of Queensland, his large output includes works in most media, including some
highly successful children's operas (contributed by the composer).

BUTTERLEY, NIGEL. b. Sydney 1935. A leader of the avant garde movement

in Australia. His In the Head the Fire, a "collage for radio", uses devices and
effects which are obtainable only by electronic means. It won an I talia prize. Like
others of his fellow advanced composers, Butterley is not averse to writing, when
necessary, in a more traditional style.

BUXTEHUDE, DIETRICH. b. Helsingborg 1637, d. Liibeck 1707. From 1668

he was organist at the Marienkirche in Liibeck where he carried on the tradition of
sacred recitals called Abendmusiken. He wrote many cantatas and much fine organ
music. He had a strong influence on Bach who, as a young man, walked 200 miles
to hear him.

BYRD, WILLIAM.. b. Lincoln 1543, d. Stondon 1623. The greatest member

of the English school of the 16th century. From 1563 he was organist of Lincoln
cathedral and about 1574 became joint organist of the Chapel Royal with Thomas
Tallis. Despite the English Reformation, Byrd remained a Catholic, though he wrote
music for the English rite, including two "Services". Of his' Latin church music,
there are three Masses, two books of Cradualia and a large number of motets. He
also wrote madrigals, anthems and much music for virginals, some of the last being
in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Byrd was a complete master of every form of the
contrapuntal technique of his time and added to his purely technical ability a keen
appreciation of emotional expression. B.9179
20
CACCINI, GIULIO. h.. Rome about 1558, d. about 1615. One of the earliest
experimenters with opera, best known by the lovely song Amarilli, from his book
called Le Nuove Musiche (literally "The New Musics"). In his day he was a
"modernist. "
CALDARA, ANTONIO. h. Venice 1670, d. Vienna 1736. In Vienna he was
second in charge of music in the Imperial Chapel. A sincere and craftsmanlike com-
poser who wrote over seventy operas and thirty oratorios, among other things.
CAMPIAN (CAMPION), THOl\IAS. h. London 1567, d. there 1620. One of
the greatest of the Elizabethan writers of ayres (i.e. songs) with lute accompaniment.
He was also a poet of charm.
CASELLA, ALFREDO. h. Turin 1883, d. Rome 1947. Studied under Faure at
the Paris Conservatoire. A deliberate anti-romantic who deplored the "predominance
of vocal melodramatic melody". He had wide SUCC6SS as a pianist and an orchestral
conductor.
C-HARPENTIER, GUSTAVE. h. Dieuze 1860, d. Paris 1956. Pupil of Mas-
senet at the Paris Conservatoire and won the Prix de Rome. He is now known almost
exclusively by his opera Louise, in fact almost fiy the one aria Depuis le jour.
CHAUSSON, ERNEST. b. Paris 1855, d. near Mantes-sur-Seine 1899. His
compositions, though individual in style, show some influence from Ccsar Franck.
His songs are well known (and are often of great" beauty), as is also his Poeme for
violin and orchestra.
CHOPIN, FRtDtRIC FRAN(;OIS. h. Zelazowa Wola, Poland, 1810, d. Paris
1849. Son of a Polish teacher of French, he studied composition in the Warsaw
Conservatorium. In 1830 he left Warsaw and toured as a virtuoso pianist, playing
mostly his own works. He settled in Paris, making occasional visits elsewhere, but
from 1835 rarely played in public, devoting himself to composition and teach-
ing. From 1837 began an association with the writer George Sand, but this was
broken abruptly ten years later. After this his health-he had already shown signs of
tuberculosis-declined rapidly.
Chopin is essentially a writer for piano, showing a complete understanding and
mastery of pianistic idiom, possibly more than any other composer. His handling of
the orchestra in his two concertos is frequently inept and his sonata for 'cello and
piano is really more of a sonata for piano with the 'cello playing a minor role.
Compositions include 27 Etudes, 25 Preludes, 3 Sonatas, and collections of Waltzes,
Mazurkas, Polonaises and Nocturnes together with 4 Ballades (among the greatest
of all compositions for the piano) Impromptus, etc. In the Nocturnes he was strongly
influenced by John Field WhOIll he met in Paris in 1832 or 1833.
CLEMENTI, MUZIO. b. Rome 1752, d. Evesham 1832. A prodigy pianist at
14, he attained a European reputation. When in his fifties he established a piano
manufactory in London, employing John Field (q.v.) to demonstrate the instruments.
Chiefly remembered for his set of piano studies Gradus ad Parnassum and some
generally dull sonatinas.

COLERIDGE.TAYLOR, SAMUEL. b. Croydon 1875, d. there 1912. Son of

an English mother and a West African Negro doctor. Studied under Stanford at the
Royal College of Music and first made his mark, thanks to encouragement from Elgar,
with his orchestral Ballad in A minor, at the Three Choirs Festival at Gloucester.
He wrote many works for various mediums including piano pieces and music for
ballet. He is best known for the choral trilogy H iawatha' s Wedding Feast ( 18(8) ,
The Death 0/ Minnehaha (1899) and Hiawatha's Departure (1900) which continue
to hold favour with choral societies . -His music is of comparatively minor importance
but has a distinct flavour of its OWIl.
 21
COPLAND, AARON. b. Brooklyn 1900. An important American composer of
wide sympathies and a wide-ranging style which does not, at times, exclude Jazz
influences. His El Salon Mexico for orchestra is played frequently.

CORELLI, ARCANGELO. b. Fusignano 1653, d. Rome 1713. Little is known

of his life except that he settled in Rome before 1685 and lived under the patronage
of Cardinal Ottoboni. He was a great violinist, at a period when the great violin
makers such as Stradivari and Guarneri were making the finest instruments of all
time. He had considerable influence on the development of violin technique and on
the development and consolidation of the sonata, the suite and the concerto grosso
of his time.
COUPERIN, FRAN(:OIS. b. Paris 1668, d. there 1733. The greatest member
of a musical family which flourished from the mid 17th century to the early 19th.
He was organist of the king's chapel and also at the church of St. Gervais in Paris.
A great performer on the clavecin (i.e. harpsichord), with numerous compositions
for that instrument. Many of these are to some extent programmatic, with titles such
as The Little Windmills, Sister Monica, T he Spinning Woman. He had some influence
on Bach, noticeable in his French Suites.
CRAMER, JOHANN BAPTIST. b. Mannheim 1771, d. London 1858. Studied
under Clementi (q.v.) and wrote a large number of piano studies which are still to
be practised with profit. Like Clementi, he established a business in London, which
still exists, firstly for music publishing and later also for piano manufacture.

CUI, CESAR ANTONOVITCH. b. Vilna 1835, d. St. Petersburg 1918. Son

of a French officer who remained in Moscow after Napoleon's retreat. A member of
the Russian "Five", dedicated to the propagation of a nationalist Russian style. But,
o~dly enough, his own compositions show little if any trace of this. A pleasant but
mInor composer.
CZERNY, CARL. b. Vienna 1791, d. there 1857. A pupil of Beethoven and
teacher of Liszt. Through him, many living pianists, pupils of pupils of Liszt, can
trace their musical ancestry back to Beethoven. Czerny is known only by his
multitudes of piano studies which, though considered old-fashioned by some, are
still invaluable for the building of a sound technique.

DALLAPICCOLA, I~UIGI. b. Pisino (Istria) 1904. Important Italian composer

.of wide sympathies, his style varying from moderately traditional to purely serial
writing. He was on the staff of the Florence Conservatorium and has lectured in
V.S.A. His best-known work is the opera The Prisoner.
DANDRIEU, JEAN FRAN(:OIS. b. Paris about 1684, d. there 1740. A priest
who wrote with great skill for organ and harpsichord.

DAQUIN, LOUIS CLAUDE. b. Paris 1694, d. there 1772. A child prodigy

who played the harpsichord before Louis XIV when only six years old., At one time
organist of the French Chapel Royal. His writing is marked by clarity and economy.
His piece The Cuckoo is popular.

DE BERIOT, CHARLES AUGUSTE. h. Louvain 1802, d. Brussells 1870.

A famous violin virtuoso of his time, for some years on the staff of the Brussels
Conservatoire. Various concertos etc. are still occasionally found in examination
syllabuses, though their musical content is rather slight. His first \vife was the great
contralto Malibran, de B6riot being her second husband.

B.9179
22
DEBUSSY, CLAUDE ACHILLE. b. St. Germain ..en~Laye 1862, d. Paris 1918.
He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1873' and won the Prix de Rome in 1884 with
his cantata L' Enfant Prodigue. Primarily an impressionist composer-though l,iszt,
in some of his late piano pieces, may be said to have anticipated him. He broke
away to a large extent from traditional use of harmony, though without necessarily
discarding traditional harmony itself, and made use, at times, of the whole-tone
scale. Debussy developed a highly personal idiom and was a master of orchestral
colour. Important works are the two books of piano Prelude.~, two sets of Images,
the orchestral pieces L'Apres-midi d'un Faune, Nocturnes, La Mer. His one opera,
Pelleas et M elisande, is an entirely individual work. Chamber music includes an early'
string quartet and late sonatas for violin and piano and 'cello and piano. His numerous
songs are often very beautiful.
DELIUS, FREDERICK. b. Bradford 1862, d. Grez-sur-Loing 1934. Son of a
wealthy German merchant who intended him for a business career. After much
difficulty he was permitted to study music in Leipzig and was influenced by Grieg.
He developed a highly personal and chromatic harmonic idiom (which has, directly
or indirectly, influenced many Jazz composers) and much of his music has an im-
pressionistic or programmatic background. This is seen in such miniatures as On
Hearing the first Cuckoo in Spring and SumTner Night on the River. Larger works
include A Mass of Life and Sea Drift, both for choir and orchestra, and two sets of
variations, Brigg Fair and Appalachia'. His great protagonist in England was Sir
Thomas Beecham.

DOHNANYI, ERNST VON. b. Pozsony (now called Bratislava) 1877, d. New

York 1960. Widely known at one time as a concert pianist, he taught in Berlin and
eventually settled in Budapest, becoming in 1931 Musical Director of the Hungarian
Broadcasting Service. His four Rhapsodies for piano are well known, also his
Variations for piano and orchestra on a folk song (which happens to have the same
tune as Baa, baa, black sheep) .
DONIZETTI, GAETANO. b. Bergamo 1797, d. there 1848. In his short life he
composed sixty operas which, like those of BelHni, often demand tremendous colora-
tura technique. Lucia di Lammermoor is perhaps the best-known, having been -rescued
from neglect by Joan Sutherland. The purely musical value is frequently almost
negligible, but for those who enjoy vocal fireworks, it is unsurpassable.

DREYFUS, GEORGE. b. 1928 in Germany, now resident in Australia. He has

gradually developed an advanced style of writing, as is shown by a comparison of
the Galgenlieder songs of 1957 and From within looking out of 1962.

DUNHILL, THOMAS FREDERICK. h. London 1877, d. Scunthorpe 1946.

For many years associated with the Royal Academy of Music. His book Chamber
Music, a Treatise jor Students is a standard work. Apart from this, he is chiefly
known as a writer of highly polished songs and teaching pieces.
DUPARC, HENRI. b. Paris 1848, d. 1933. Pupil of C'(sar Franck and one
of the founders of the National Music Society in France. He is known only by his
songs which are but few, but of great beauty.
DURANTE, FRANCESCO. b. near Naples 1684, d. there 1755. Composer of
well-wrought church music who tau~ht several composers of the next generation,
including J ommelli, Piccini and PaisieIlo.

B.9179
 23
DVORAK. ANTONIN. b. Nelahozeves 1841, d. Prague 1904. Son of a butcher.
he showed early musical talent. After study at the Organ School in Prague, in 1857
he was attached to the National Theatre but resigned in 1873 to devote himself
entirely to composition. In 1875 he met Brahms who did much to encourage him and
whose influence is sometimes noticeable in his writing. He visited England a number
of times and from 1892 spent three years as Director of the National Conservatory
of Music in New York. From 1901 till his death he was Director of the Prague
Conservatorium.
Dvorak's music shows a good deal of Bohemian nationalistic influence, following
the example of his older fellow-countryman Smetana, and he is considered to be one
of the founders of Czech national music. fie is noted for his brilliant use of the
orchestra. His works include nine symphonies of which No. 8 in G major and No. 9,
the "New World", are the most popular. Also operas, chamber music, and sacred
choral works Requiem and Stabat Mater, and the well-known Slavonic Dances.
ELGAR, EDWARD WILl]AM. b. Broadheath 1857, d. Worcester 1934. One
of the greatest of English musicians, son of an organist who kept a music shop in
Worcester. He had hopes of becoming a professional violinist but lack of means pre-
vented this, and for some years he had to eke out a living as a teacher, taking on
whatever odd jobs came along. Recognition as a composer came slowly, his early
works showing no great distinction. However, the Enigma Variations for orchestra,
produced in 1899, and the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius in 1900 established him
in .a leading position. He received Mus.D. degrees from Yale, Oxford and Cambridge
Universities and was first professor of Music in Birmingham University in 1905-
not a very successful appointment. Knighted in 1904, received the Order of Merit in
1911, Master of the King's Musick in 1924, and made a baronet in 1931.
EIgar was the first British musician of recent times to gain overseas recognition.
His most important works are, apart from the Dream of Gerontius, almost al1
orchestral-two symphonies, the symphonic study FalstafJ, Overtures In the South and
Cockaigne, together with the five Pomp and Circumstance marches. There are two
other large-scale oratorios-The .4postles and The Kingdom-and some chamber
music. EIgar was not a nationalist, in that he never adopted a specifically "English"
idiom, yet his music has an intangible quality which stamps it as the work of an
Englishman and nobody else.

EVANS, LINDLEY. b. Capctown 1895. Australian musician of wide sympathies

and activities, associated for many years with the late Frank Hutchens. llis style is
generally light and at times rather sentimental.

FALLA, MANUEL DE. h. Cadiz 1876, d. Cordoba 1946. Studied composition

with his compatriot Pedrell and established a high reputation as a Spanish nationalist
composer. Notable works are the opera Le Vida Breve, the ballets The Three-Cornered
Hat and El Amor Bruio, and Nights in the Gardens of Spain for piano and orchestra.
FAURE, GABRIEL URBAIN. b. Pamiers 1845, d. Paris 1924. Held many
important church positions and was also professor of composition and Director of
the Paris Conservatoire. He had several famous pupils, including Ravel (q.v.) His
music is distinguished by its polished style and he is especially noted for his chamber
music and songs.

FERGUSON, HOWARD. b. Belfast 1908. Studied at the Royal College of

Music with pianist Harold Samuel and R. O. Morris. Has written a great deal of
piano and chamber music as well as orchestral works.

B.9179
24
FIELD, JOHN. b. Dublin 1782, d. Moscow 1837. Studied with Clementi (q.v.)
and toured as a piano recitalist, finally settling in Russia. He is chiefly notable for
his invention of the Nocturne and his style of writing had influence on Chopin.

FRANCK CESAR AUGUSTE. h. Liege 1822, d. Paris 1890. After study at

the Paris Conservatoire, where he won many prizes, he eventually took up the work
of a church musician, being organi~t at St. Clotilde in Paris for nearly forty years.
He was also organ professor at the Conservatoire. Became a father-figure to a group
of pupils, among them Vincent d'Indy. His early works are often trivial, but the later
ones, in a highly individual style (partly influenced by Wagner) show mastery of
writing on a large scale, as in the symphony, the chamber music and big works for
piano (e.g. Prelude, Chorale and Fugue) and organ (e.g. the Three Chorales).
FRANZ, ROBERT. b. HaIle 1815, d. there 1892. One of the fathers of the lied
or art-song, in which the instrumental part is as important as the vocal one. There
are about 260 songs, lyrical in feeling and highly polished. He has been described
as a " mInor
. poet 0 fmusIc
· b ut a good "
one.

FRESCOBALDI, GIROLAMO. b. Ferrara 1583, d. Rome 1643. Important

organist and composer who did much to establish and develop fugal writing. Organist
of St. Peter's Rome, from 1608.

GADE, NIELS WILHELM. b. Copenhagen 1817, d. there 1890. A minor

composer chiefly known by a few neat and tuneful piano pieces. Any nationalist
tendencies he might have had were overshadowed by his training in Leipzig and by
the influence of Schumann and Mendolssohn.
GARDINER, HENRY BALFOUR. b. London 1877, died Salisbury L950. At
one time music master at Winchester College in England. Wrote a small amount of
tuneful, English-feeling music. Now remembered only by his Shepherd Fennel's Dance.
GERMAN, SIR EDWARD. (Sir Edward German Jones.) b. Whitchurch
1862, d. 1936. Studied at the Royal Academy of Music and undertook a great deal
of theatrical conducting. A composer of light music of great charm and melodiousness,
well k.nown for his Henry VIII Dances and his light opera Jferrie England. Of his
more serious works one of the best is the Theme and Six Diversions jor Orchestra.

GIBBONS, ORLANDO. b. Oxford 1583, d. Canterbury 1625. A distinguished

composer who in 1605 became organist of the Chapel Royal. In his church music
he showed complete mastery of both the polyphonic style, e.g. the anthem Hosanna
to the Son of David, and the newer "verse" style in which there were sections for
solo voice and an independent part for organ. He wrote much for keyboard instru-
ments and for viols. He is especially noted for his "ethical" madrigals, e.g. The Silver
Swan and W hat is our Life, in which the sentiment is moral rather than (as was more
usual) amorous or pastoral.
GLAZUNOV, ALEXANDER KONSTANTINOVICH. b. St. Petersburg 1865,
d. Paris 1936. He was on the staff of the St. Petersburg Conservatorium, later be-
coming its Director. Although he studied with Rimsky-Korsakov (q.v.) he was but
little influenced by nationalist ideas and there is only a rare suggestion of a Russian
idiom in his music. He wrote in all branches except opera, including eight symphonies,
but few of his works are now heard. The Variations in F sharp minor for piano
are well-known, and are ingeniously and effectively written.
GLIERE, REINHOLD. b. Kiev 1875, d. 1957. A pupil of Taneief at the
Moscow Conservatorium, where he became a professor. Although he wrote in most
forms, he is best known now as the composer of a number of pleasant little piano
pieces of medium difficulty.
8.9179
 25
GLINKA, MICHAEL IVANOVICH. b. Novospasskoi 1804, d. Berlin 1857.
The first truly nationalist composer. Studied for a while with 10hn Field (q.v.) and
later, in Berlin, with Siegfried Dehn who urged him to "go home and write Russian
music"; which he did, producing the opera [.life for the Czar. More strongly nationalist
in feeling is his second opera RussIan and Ludmilla, of which the highly attractive
overture is often used as a concert piece.
GLUCK, CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD VON. b. Erasbach 1714, d. Vienna
1787. An opera composer pure and simple, his early works being in the prevailing
Italian style. Residence in Paris brought him in contact with the French-style operas
of Rameau (q.v.) and opened his eyes to the weaknesses of the Italian variety. He
became a reformer of opera-his views were stated in the preface to his opera
Alcestis-aiming to get rid of the conventionality of the Italian style and the
domination of the singers. He gave great importance to the work of the orchestra
and to the overture, and generally gave opera real dramatic vitality and meaning.

GOUNOD, CIIARLES FRAN(:OIS. b. Paris 1818, d. Saint-Cloud 1893.

Wrote a number of operas of which only Faust survives in the repertory. Also a
large amount of sacred music which appealed greatly to Victorian taste. It is, how-
ever marred by sentimentality and a lack of real strength.
GRANADOS, ENRIQUE. b. Lerida 1867, d. at sea 1916. Studied composition
with Pedrell and was a brilliant pianist. His style is nationalistic and he is best
known for his piano pieces Goyescas, based on pictures and tapestries of the great
Spanish artist Goya.

GRAINGER, PERCY ALDRIDGE. b. Melbourne 1882, d. White Plains,

D.S.A. 1961. Studied with Busoni and was friendly with Grieg, whose influence led
him to a keen interest in folk song. The first Australian composer (though he even-
tually became a citizen of the V.S.A.) to make an impact on the wider world. Although
best known for such pieces as Shepherds Hey and MoUy on the Shore, his larger
and more serious works have much substance and show considerable originality of
thought.
GRAUN, CARL HEINRICH. b. in Saxony 1703 or 1704, d. Berlin 1759. For
about twenty years he was musical director for Frederick the Great of Prussia, writing
numerous operas and much church music. Of the latter, the only work which survives
- and that only in history books - is the Passion cantata Der Tod Jesu. A Gigue for
piano is also still used fairly widely.
GRETCHANINOFF, ALEXANDER. b. Moscow 1864, d. New York 1956.
Pupil
, of Rimsky-Korsakov,
. noted as a composer of songs, church music and child-
ren s mUSIC.
GRETRY, ANDRE ERNEST MODESTE. b. Liege 1741, d. Montmorency
1813. After a discouraging start he was enabled to go to Rome to study, returning
to Paris where he immediately made a name with a comic piece called The Speaking
Picture. This was followed by years of unbroken success during which he wrote some
fifty operas. They are slight in texture but tuneful, and in their way attractive.

GRIEG, EDVARD HAGERUP. h. Bergen 1843, d. there 1907. Studied in

Leipzig and Copenhagen. Despite the popularity of his piano concerto, he was more
essentially a miniaturist, as is seen, e.g._. in his Lyric Pieces for piano. Much of his
music shows a marked national idiom-sometimes almost degenerating into cliche-
and he was the founder of a Norwegian national style.
GROVLEZ, GABRIEL. h. Lille 1879, d. Paris 1945. Composer, pianist, teacher
and conductor, for many years on the staff of the Schola Canto rum in Paris. Best
known, outside his own country, for various attractive and slightly "spicy" piano
pieces of medium difficulty.
26
GUILMANT, FELIX ALEXANDRE. b. Boulogne 1837, d. Paris 1911. Famous
organist and recitalist, for thirty years organist at the Church of the Trinity in Paris.
One of the founders of the Schola Cantorum. His organ works are idiomatic and
effective; not perhaps really great music, but having a ready appeal to both player
and audience.
HANDEL, GEORGE FREDERIC. b. Halle 1685, d. London 1759. Son of a
barber-surgeon who intended him for a legal career. Handel completed his law studies
after his father's death in 1696, but thereafter devoted himself to music, firstly in
Hamburg, where he wrote his first four operas, then in Italy where he assimilated
the current style. In 1710 he became Kapellmeister to the Elector George of Hanover
(later George I of England). From 1712 Handel made his home in England, being
naturalised in 1726. Except for his post with the Elector and a short time with the
Duke of Chandos at Edgware, near London, he worked, rather unusually for his
time, as a freelance. For the first part of his career he was chiefly concerned with
writing operas, but public taste gradually turned against his Italian style (partly
owing to the production of The Beggar's Opera in 1728) so he thereafter concentrated
on oratorio, producing some twenty in the last thirty years of his life. The best-
known is Messiah, others occasionally performed are Israel in Egypt and Judas
Maccabeus. His works also include 12 Concerti Grossi, the well-known Water Music
and Fireworks Music, the Chandos anthems and a good deal of music for the
harpsichord.
Handel was an exact contemporary of Bach, but whereas Bach moved and
worked within a limited circle, Handel was, for much of his life, a public figure.
Bach wrote simply to satisfy himself and at times got into hot water because he did
not please his employers. Handel, though equally sincere, gives the impression of
always having his eye on the people in the back row of the gallery. His music thus
tends to make the more immediate appeal to the ordinary listener.
HAYDN, JOSEPH. b. Rohrau 1732, d. Vienna 1809. Son of a wheelwright.
In 1740 he became a member of the choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna,
thereafter settling down to intensive study of composition. In 1761 he entered the
service of Prince Esterhazy, becoming senior Kapellmeister five years latfT. In this
position he was responsible for all the music of the princely court, until he was
pensioned in 1790. He visited England in 1791 and 1794 and received the degree
of D.Mus. from Oxford University.
Haydn is the first of the great "classical" composers. Beginning from the level
of K. P. E. Bach (q.v.) whose work he studied and admired, he developed the sonata
and the symphony and the string quartet to the point from which Beethoven took
over. He is sometimes called the father of the symphony and the string quartet. In
his hands, sonata form became fully organised and established, string texture was
elaborated, and the use of orchestral colour greatly expanded. Much of Haydn's music
is characterised by its cheerfulness, which at times becomes sheer fun. (This is
perhaps rather odd, since he was married to a woman who turned out to be simply
a vixen). His output was enormous, including over 100 symphonies, quantities of
string quartets and piano sonatas, 14 Masses, many operas (written for production
at his employer's residence) and the two big choral works The Creation and The
Seasons.

HELLER, STEPHEN. b. Budapest 1814, d. Paris 1888. A pleasant but minor

composer for the piano, chiefly remembered for his tuneful studies.
HENSCHEL, SIR GEORGE. b. Breslau 1850, d. in Scotland 1934. Studied
at the Leipzig Conservatorium. A man of varied talents, appearing in public at the
age of 12 as a pianist and four years later as a bass. In 1881 he became conductor
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (IT.S.A.) and also conducted in England and
Scotland. At the same time he retained his high reputation as a self-accompanied
singer. His compositions are now out of fashion.
 27
HENS ELT, ADOLF VON. b. in Bavaria 1814, d. in Silesia 1889. A hrilliant
hut retiring pianist who wrote much charming piano music. His Si Oiseaa }'etau
is still played.

HILL, ALFRED. h. Melhourne 1870, d. Sydney 1960. Australian composer who

studied in Leipzig and absorbed strong Teutonic influences. His music, which ranges
from light songs to string quartets (17 of them) and operas, is not marked by any
notable characteristics though it is invariably pleasing and craftsmanlike. It has been
described as "unassuming and non-aggressive".

HINDEMITH, PAUL. b. Hanau 1895, d. Frankfurt 1963. A fine violinist and

viola player, long resident in U.S.A. His compositions cover a wide range, from sonatas
for violin alone to opera, the best-known of the latter being M atkis der M aler.
Hindemith was a "modernist" who wrote and pondered deeply on the theoretical
side of composition, evolving his own theories of relative dissonance and its practical
use.
HOLST, GUSTAV THEODORE. b. Cheltenham 1874, d. London 1934. His
family was of Swedish origin. He studied at the Royal College of Music and began
his professional career as a trombone player in the Carl Rosa Opera Company. In
the 1920's he was considered an "advanced" composer, though later developments
have shown that he was really a late romantic of a distinctly individual cast of mind
and with some (English) national tendencies. He was for many years closely associated
with Vaugh~n Williams (q.v.) His best-known works are The Planets for orchestra,
St. Paul's Suite for strings and The Hymn of Jesus for choir and orchestra.
HONEGGER, ARTHUR. b. Havre 1892, d. Paris 1955. Of Swiss parentage,
he became a member of the French "Six", a group of anti-romantics prominent in
the 1920s. Unlike others of the group, he produced some works which may prove
to have lasting value. Notable are the oratorio (with a part for speaking voice)
King David, the lyric drama Antigone, and the tone-poem Pacific 231.

HOWELLS, HERBERT NORMAN. b. Lydney, Gloucestershire 1892. Studied

at the Royal College of Music under Stanford (of whom he has a stock of amusing
stories), later joining the staff. He was for some years professor of music at London
University. His compositions show an original mind (his early organ Rhapsodies
were almost unique at the time were written) and a passion for self-criticism. Perhaps
his finest work is the intensely moving Hymnus Paradisi for choir and orchestra.

HUGHES, ROBERT. b. 1912. A Scot whose family came to Australia when

he was 18. He is a master of orchestration and his works, mainly orchestral, show
intense driving power and rhythmic urge. Frequently performed works are Xanadu
for orchestra, and the fine Sinfonietta written in 1957 for the Manchester Halle
Orchestra.
HUMBLE, KEITH. B. Geelong 1927. Studied in Melbourne, London and
Paris and is at present on the staff of the Melbourne University Conservatorium of
Music. Has produced a wide range of compositions for various instruments and
combinations as well as some electronic music. A member of the avant garde
movement.

HUMMEL, JOHANN NEPOMUK. h. Pozsony (Bratislava) 1788, d. Weimar

1837. Pupil of Mozart, toured as a child prodigy, taking lessons in London from
Clementi. In Vienna he studied composition with Beethoven's teacher Albrechtsberger,
and also with Haydn. He was an important figure in the development of piano playing,
among his pupils being Czerny, Henselt and Thalberg. His compositions, except for a
rare appearance in an examination syllabus, are practically forgotten.
28
HUTCHENS., FRANK. b. Christchurch, N.Z. 1892, d. Sydney 1965. A long-time
associate of his colleague Lindley Evans as a duo-pianist. His compositions are rarely
of any great substance but are neatly written and with a certain charm.

IBERT., JACQUES. b. Paris 1890. A pupil of Faure' (q.v.) at the Paris

Conservatoire. His work is mildly impressionistic with a (musical) sense of humour,
as is evident in his well-known piano piece The Little White Donkey.
IRELAND., JOHN. b. Bowden 1879, d. Washington, England 1962. Studied at
the Royal College of Music with Sir Charles Stanford. He showed strong romantic
influences and a fondness for "added note" chords. As with all Stanford's pupils, his
craftmanship is impeccable. Well-known are the piano pieces The Island Spell and the
London Pieces, also the' song Sea Fever. His piano concerto receives an occasional
performance.

JENSEN., ADOLF. b. Konigsberg 1837, d. Baden-Baden 1879. Pupil of Liszt

who wrote many songs and some pleasant though hardly distinguished piano music.
He piece The Mill still appears at times in examination syllabuses.

JONGEN, JOSEPH. b. Liege 1873, d. there 1953. Studied at the Liege Con-
servatoire and from 1920 to 1939 was head of the Brussels Conservatoire, being suc-
ceeded there by his brother Leon. Notable especially for his chamber music.
KABALEVSKY, DMITRI. b. St. Petershurg (Leningrad) 1904. Pupil of Mia-
skovsky. He has written in many forms, including several symphonies. Mildly national-
istic in feeling.

KARG.ELERT, SIGFRID. b. Oberndorf-am-Neckar 1877, d. Leipzig 1933. A

highly original and romantic composer for the organ with, at times, impressionistic
leanings. He got away from the traditional "organistic" style of writing, requiring
full use of the instrument's variety of tone colour and writing in a harmonic idiom
which, for its time and for the organ, was distinctly advanced.

KHACHATURIAN, ARAM. b. Tiflis 1903, of Arinenian parentage. He has

written a wide range of instrumental works and a ballet Gayaneh. He is not averse
to writing in a "popular" style, e.g. his well-known Sabre Dance, and his work is at
times not a little vulgar in feeling.

KODALY, ZOLTAN. h. Kecskemat 1882, d. Budapest 1967. Studied at Budapest

Conservatorium and joined the staff as teacher of composition. Associated with Bartok
(q.v.) in research on Hungarian folk song and delved deeply into the musical
education of children. To some extent a nationalist, he is best known by his orchestral
suite Hary lanos and the fine choral work Psalmus Hungaricus.

KREUTZER, RODOLPHE. b. Versailles 1766, d. Geneva 1831. A fine violinist

who although he wrote some forty operas and twenty violin concertos is now best
known for his invaluable technical studies for the violin. Beethoven's sonata Ope 47,
the Kreutzer, is dedicated to him.

LALO, VICTOR ANTOINE EDOUARD. b. I~ille 1823, d. Paris 1892. Of

Spanish descent. He is now hardly known except for his Symphonie Espagnole, which
is actually a five-movement violin concerto. The 'cello concerto in D minor used to be
played fairly frequently.

8.9179
 29
LASSUS, ORLANDUS. b. Mons c. 1532, d. Munich 1594. Also known as
Orlando di Lasso and Roland Delattre. Like many of his contemporaries he moved
around a good deal-Rome, Antwerp, Bavaria, Paris. He was one of the greatest
composers of his time, writing both sacred and secular music in quantity. Some of
his finest work is found in his settings of the Penitential Psalms. He was a master
of the art of expressing emotion, whether serious or light-hearted.

LE CLAIR, JEAN MARIE. b. Lyons 1697, d. Paris 1764. In his early career
he was connected with the ballet, but later developed as a violinist and composer,
advancing the technique of his instrument in works which still give pleasure. For
some unknown reason he was murdered in Paris.
LE GALLIENNE, DORIAN. b Melbourne 1915, d. there 1963. Australian com-
poser whose work was to some extent hampered by ill-health, resulting in his early
death. He was for some time a music critic in Melbourne. Basically a traditionalist,
though showing at times strong leanings to advanced modernity, and with considerable
originality. Possibly his finest work is the Symphony in E.

LEONCAVALLO, RUGGIERO. b. Naples 1858, d. Florence 1919. Began his

musical life as a cafe musician. Known only by his one operatic success, Pagliacci.
LESCHETIZKY, THEODOR. b. Lancut (Poland) 1830, d. Dresden 1915.
Reputedly the greatest of all piano teachers with a long list of brilliant pupils includ-
ing Paderewski, Hambourg and Moiseiwitsch. His compositions, mostly on the light
side, are all super-pianistic. His influence as a teacher still persists into the third
generation.

LISZT, FRANZ. b. Raiding 1811, d. Bayreuth 1886. Son of a steward in the

household of Prince Esterhazy and a pupil of Czerny. He developed into the out-
standing pianist of his time-in fact one of the greatest of all time-touring Europe
as a virtuoso with fantastic success In 1834 he began a ten-year association with
the Comtesse d' Agoult, by whom he had three children. Of these, Cosima became
firstly the wife of the great pianist/conductor von Bi.ilow, and later of Wagner. In
1847 Liszt formed an association with Prin~ess Karolyn zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, which
eventually proved something of a trial to him. For ten years from 1849 he was
musical director to the Prince in Weimar, where he produced many new works,
including Wagner's Lohengrin. (He and Wagner were friends for many years). In
his later years he settled in Rome, receiving minor orders and often being known
as the Abbe Liszt.

Liszt's huge number of compositions range from the merely trivial to works of
outstanding importance such as the piano sonata in B minor, the Symphonic Poems
(a title which he invented) and the Fa:ust Symphony. His ideas on musical structure
influenced many later composers, as did also his exploration of new harmonic
possibilities. (Wagner admitted his debt to Liszt in this). His understanding of the
possibilities of the piano was unique, with regard both to technique and sonorities.
He was famous as a teache~, among his pupils being the legendary Moriz Rosenthal,
and among his "grand-pu.pils", Claudio Arrau. In some of his very late piano works,
Liszt anticipated the impressionism of Debussy.
LOEWE, CARL. b. Halle 1796, d. Kiel 1869. An important name in the develop-
ment of the lied or art-song, especially well known for his descriptive ballads. Of
these, the dramatic Edward is still occasionally heard, and also his setting of the
Erl King.
LOVELOCK, WILLlAM. b. London, 1899. For many years associated with
Trinity College of Music and the University of London. Appointed first Director of
the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 1956. Compositions include a symphony,
concertos for many orchestral instruments, and quantities of teaching material. He
has also written textbooks on most theoretical subjects.
30
LULU, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. b. Florence 1632, d. Paris 1687. Also known
by the French version of his name, Jean Baptiste Lully. Went to Paris at an early
age as a scullion in the Palais d'Orleans. His ability as a violinist came to the
notice of Louis XIV and he also became popular as a composer of music for court
ballets. In 1672 he obtained a practical monopoly of the right to compose operas
for the French court, writing twenty in fourteen years with great success-financial
and otherwise. He is generally considered to be the inventor of "French Overture".
His death was due to an abscess on the foot, which he had struck with the long stick
he used (banging it on the floor) when conducting. The aria Bois epais (Sombre
Woods) remains in the repertoire and is a fine example of his most deeply-felt
writing.
MACDOWELL, EDWARD ALEXANDER. b. New York City 1861, d. there
1908. Studied the piano with Teresa Carrefio, and composition with Raf! at the Frank-
furt Conservatorium. He is the first American composer whose work is generally
considered to be of any real value, though much of it has but little real substance.
His 2nd piano concerto makes an occasional appearance in competitions, but he is
best known to most people for his shorter piano pieces-To a Wild Rose, etc.-which
show some affinity with Grieg's Lyric Pieces.
MAHLER, GUSTAV. b Kalischt 1860, d. Vienna 1911. A "classic-romantic"
composer whose style, as exhibited in his nine symphonies, varies from the impressive
to the merely trivial. For ten years he was in charge of the State Opera in Vienna,
achieving an incredibly high standard of performance and making himself none
too popular in the .process. He also conducted in London and New York. His
symphonies are often characterised by inordinate length and he at times demands
an orchestra which can only be described as monstrous.

MARCELLO, BENEDETTO. b. Venice 1686, d. Brescia 1739. A man of wide

interests, being lawyer, official, singer, violinist and composer. His fifty Psalm Para-
phrases used to be well known, hut little of his music is now used.
MARTIN, FRANK. b. Geneva 1890. Swiss composer whose work first became
known through the International Society for Contemporary l\1usic. He has written
in many forms both vocal and instrumental, in a fairly advanced style, at times
employing serialism.
MARTINU, BOHUSLAV. b. Policka (Czecho-Slovakia) 1890, d. Basle 1959.
Studied with Suk in Prague and with Roussel in Paris. He wrote in a variety of
forms, but the quality of his work is apt to be unequal.
MASCAGNI, PIETRO. b. Leghorn 1863, d. Rome 1945. Son of a baker. His
fame now rests purely on his opera Cavalleria Rusticana.

MASSENET, JULES EMILE FREDERIC. b. Montaud 1842, d. 1912.

Chiefly famous for his operas, especially M anon. His style is never ponderous and
he had a facility for easy-flowing melody of which the influence is felt at times in
the earlier works of Debussy.
MATTHESON, JOHANN. 1681 to 1764. A minor composer of the Bach period.
Chiefly famous as (probably.) the first serious music critic. For some years he
published in Hamburg an occasional periodical called Musica Critica.

MEALE, RICHARD. b. Sydney 1932. Australian exponent of Serialism and

a leader of the Australian avant garde. In 1968 appointed a lecturer in Adelaide
University. His Homage to Garcia Lorca has been described by one of his protagonists
as "a kind of cataclysm". This mayor may not be a fair and accurate description,
according to the taste of the listener.
 31
MEDTNER, NICHOLAS. b. Moscow 1879, d. London 1951. Of German
parentage. Trained at the Moscow Conservatorium, becoming a brilliant piano re-
citalist. His works are chiefly for the piano and are Teutonic rather than Russian
in style.

MENDELSSOHN, JAKOB L'UDWIG FELIX. b. Hamburg 1809, d. Leipzig

1847. His full name was Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Son of a prosperous Jewish banker
whose children were baptised into the Protestant church. Mendelssohn's musical gifts
developed at a very early age and he had tremendous facility in writing, as well
as a fantastically quick memory. The lovely Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream
was written when he was only 17. He spent a good deal of time travelling and was on
personally friendly terms with Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort-a fact which
shows how far the Eocial standing of musicians had advanced since the time of Bach,
a ~entur'y earlier. Of Mendelssohn's symphonies, the Italian, in A major, is deservedly
the most popular and of his oratorios, Elijah. For the piano, the two concertos are
heard occasionally and there is still a market for his Songs without Words, which
supplied the contemporary need for "drawing-room pieces". The violin concerto
remains popular as does also the concert overture Fingal's Ca,ve.
Mendelssohn hardly counts among the really great comp08e~s. He had facility,
a talent for easy-flowing melody, and impeccable craftsmanship in everything he
wrote. But he rarely touches great depths and when he tries to be dramatic he generally
succeeds in being merely melodramatic.

MENOTTI, GIAN CARLO. b. Cadigliano 1911. Studied for five years at the
Curtis Institute, Philadelphia. Has written a nUJnber of operas, notably The M ellium,
The Consul and Amahl and the Night Visitors which tend to maintain the Italian
tradition.
MESSIAEN, OLIVIER EUGitNE PROSP'ER CHARLES. b. Avignon 1908.
Studied at the Paris Con~ervatoire with Dukas and Dupre. A religious mystic with
a highly personal style of composition, 80nle of his works reflecting his interest in
bird-song. Organist of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Paris.

MILHAUD, DARIUS. b. Aix-en-Provence 1892. A member of the French "Six",

anti-romantics who caused a stir in Paris in the 1920s. He experimented with, alnong
other things, polytonality. It is doubtful whether he wrote anything of lasting value.

MOMPOU, FEDERICO. b. Barcelona 1893. Spanish composer who has written

a good deal of piano music, in some of which he dispenses with barlines, time- and
key-signatures. This style he calls "primitivista".

MONTEVERDI, CLAUDIO. h. Cremona, 1567, d. Venice 1643. For many

years he was in the service of the Duke of Mantua and from 1613 was maestro di
capella at St. Mark's, Venice. He made great advances in operatic writing and also
in the organisation and systematisation of the orchestra. He is reputed to have
invented the string tremolo. His madrigals, by no means in the 16th century tradition,
show the influence of the new ideas which developed in the early part of the 17th
century: His famous Lament of Ariadne proves him to have been a master of emotional
expreSSIon.
MOSCHELES, IGNAZ. b. Prague 1794, d. Leipzig 1870. A brilliant pianist,
head of the piano department at the Leipzig Conservatorium. Now remembered only
by his invaluable (and musically interesting") studies for the piano.

B.9179
32
MOSZKOWSKI, MORITZ. b. Breslau 1854, d. Paris 1925. A brillia!Jt pianist
with a flair for writing effectively and tunefully in a manner acceptable to both the
trained musician and the man-in-the-street. Some of his studies are still to be practised
with great profit and his Tarantella, though far from easy, is a masterly example of
maximum effect being obtained with the minimum of notes. He died in poverty.
MOUSSORGSKY, MODESTE PETROVICH. b. Karevo 1839, d. St. Peters-
hurg 1881. A member of the Russian "Five", dedicated to the propagation of
specifically Russian music. In 1857 he gave up a military career to devote himself to
music, with resultant poverty. Best known are his Pictures at an Exhibition for piano
(which are actually more effective in the orchestral version by Ravel) and his great
opera Boris Godounov which, despite some weaknesses in construction, is a work of
tremendous power and imagination.
MOZART, WOLFGANG AMADEUS. b. Salzburg 1756, d. Vienna 1791. Son
of Leopold Mozart who was Vice-Kapellnleister to the Archbishop of Salzburg. Mozart
was fantastically precocious, composing at four years of age and taken, with his
sister Marianne, on a "prodigy" tour by his father, at the age of six. When 12 years
old he was appointed Konzertmeister to the Archbishop, a post which ended in 1781
owing to deplorable treatment by that prelate-though it must be admitted that Mozart
himself may have been partly at fault. From this time, Mozart worked as a
freelance. In 1782 he married, unfortunately, Constanze Weber, cousin of the com-
poser Carl Maria (q.v.). Neither he nor his wife seemed capable of managing their
personal affairs and they were frequently in financial straits which became gradually
worse and worse. Mozart died practically in poverty and it has been suggested that
his death was due to poisoning.
As a composer, Mozart is unique for the purity of his style, his economy of
means-there is never a note too many-and his prodigious facility in writing. He
was to some extent influenced by meetings with Haydn and, in his later years, by
his discovery of Bach, of whom he said: '''Here, at last, is somebody from whom one
can learn". His best-loved operas are The ItJarricge of Figaro~ Cosi Fan Tutle, Don
Giovanni and The Magic Flute. His greatest symphonies are the last three, in E flat
C and G minor. Chamber music includes over twenty string quartets, the great string
quintet in G minor and the equally great clarinet quintet. The 25 piano concertos
show him at his greatest, but the piano sonatas, though popular in examination
syllabuses, are mostly of no great stature. The Masses are typical of the period-
more like small sacred concerts than liturgical music-but the Requiem, completed
by Sussmayer, is a really great work.

MULET, HENRI. b. Paris 1878. He had a high reputation as an improviser

on the organ, for which instrument he wrote much. Little is now heard except his
Tu es Petrus.
NARDINI, PIETRO. b. Leghorn 1722, d. Florence 1793. Fanlous violinist
some of whoEe works are still to be heard.
NIELSEN, eARL AUGUST. b. Funen (Denmark) 1865, d. Copenhagen
1931. Began his musical life as an army bugler and was taken up by Gade who
ensured for him a good musical education. He became a leading figure in the
musical life of Copenhagen. His works cover almost every branch of composition and
show marked individuality of thought, though without being particularly avant garde.

NIN, JOAQUIN. b. Havana (Cuba) 1883 (of Spanish parentage), d. there

1949. Studied in Paris with Moszkowski and d'Indy and was associated with the
Schola Canto rum there. His few compositions have a Spanish nationalist flavour and
he has edited books of Spanish songs.
 33
OFFENBACH, JACQUES. h. Offenbach 1819, d. Paris 1880. His real name
was Wiener. Began his musical career as an orchestral cellist, later becoming a con-
ductor. As a composer he had great facility in writing "catchy" tunes and his popu-
larity has remained undiminished, at least among those who are not averse to some
fun in their music. Notable works are the operettas Orpheus in the Underworld and
Tales of HofJmann.
PACHELBEL, JOHANN. b. Nuremberg 1653, d. there 1706. As important pre-
decessor (in organ music) of J. S. Bach, on whom he had considerable influence.
He is notable among the composers who developed the Chorale Prelude.

PAGANINI, NICOLO. b. Genoa 1782, d. Nice 1840. Famous as one of the

greatest violinists of all time, with a fantastic insight into hitherto unheard-of technical
feats. (His technique was such that it was believed in some quarters that he was in
league with the Devil). His D major concerto and his Caprices for unaccompanied
violin are occasionally performed by brilliant virtuosi, though their musical value is
but slight.
PALESTRINA, GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA. b. Palestrina 1525, d. Rome
1594. His name means, literally, John Peter-Louis from Palestrina. Appointed organist
of the cathedral in his native town in 1544, he moved to Rome in 1551 and remained
there for the rest of his life, occupying various important church positions. He is
associated with the reform of (Catholic) church music, his Missa Papae Marcelli (i.e.
Mass dedicated to Pope Marcellus) being accepted as a model of a suitable style.
Apart from 94 masses, he wrote a great quantity of motets and other liturgical music.
His early madrigals he disowned in later life. Palestrina shows the polyphonic style
at its purest; he was in no way adventurous or experimental. His limitations are
evident from the fact that the rules of academic "16th century counterpoint" are
deduced almost exclusively from his works, whereas other composers of his time,
especially the English school, were less capable of rigid systematisation.

PALMGREN, SELIJ.\I. b. Bj6rneborg (Finland) 1878, d. Helsinki 1951. Studied

at the Helsinki Conservatorium and later with Busoni, becoming a fine pianist. After
the first world war he became teacher of composition at the Eastman School of Music
in Rochester, V.S.A. His compositions are strongly romantic in feeling, with a slight
national flavour at times. He is best known by a number of small but highly-polished
piano pieces .
. PARADISI, PIETRO DOMENICO. b. Naples 1710, d. Venice 1792. Also
known as Paradies. A minor composer who lived for some years in London. Best
known for his effective little Toccata in A major for piano.

PARRY, SIR CHARLES HUBERT HASTINGS. b. Bournemouth 1848, d.

Rustington 1918. Director of the Royal College of Music from 1894 and Professor of
Music at Oxford University from 1900 to 1908. A leader in the renaissance of English
music in the latter part of the 19th century, though overshadowed by his successors.
His Blest Pair of Sirens still holds its place in the choral repertory and he is famous
for his fine tune Jerusalem.

PEERSON, MARTIN. b. Ely about 1572, d. London 1651. OrganiEt of St.

Paul's Cathedral, London. His style, which shows great sensitiveness, lies between
that of the 16th century and that of the 17th which culminated in the work of Henry
Purcell.

B.9179
34
PEETERS, FLOR. b. 1903 at Tielen, province of Antwerp. Belgian organist
and composer. Has written about 200 organ works, including a "method" called
A rs Organi, also various choral and pianoforte works. Director of the Antwerp
Conservatorium. His style is traditional without being academic.

PERGOLESI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. b. lesi 1710, d. Pozzuoli 1736. A

minor composer known only by his comic opera La Serva Padrona and his setting of
the Stabat Mater.

PINTO, OCTAVIO. b. Sao Paulo, Brazil 1890, d. there 1950. Trained as an

architect and built apartment houses in Brazil. Studied piano with Isidor Philipp. Has
published a number of effective piano miniatures, notably ScenalS Infantis and Child-
ren' s Festival.
PISTON, WALTER. b. Rockland, Maine 1894. Studied at Harvard University
and in Paris, returning to l] .S.A. as a member of the staff at Harvard. Well known
as a teacher - his book on Orchestration is a standard work. His composition's show
a highly individual outlook and great craftsmanship, notable among them being the
symphony he wrote for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
PIZZETTI, ILDEBRANDO. b. Parma 1880. During his career he was Director
of the Conservatoriums in both Florence and Milan. He wrote widely and was notable
for his theories on opera, in which he turned away completely from the traditional
Italian style.

POULENC, FRANCIS. b. Paris 1899, d. there 1963. A member of the

French "Six", an anti-romantic group prominent in the 1920's. His music is often
lacking in craftsmanship, at times showing a tendency to flippancy and rarely dis-
playing any depth of meaning. Some small piano pieces, e.g. the Novellette in C major
have a certain charm and are found useful by examining bodies.

PROKOFIEV, SERGEI SERGEIVITCH. b. Solnzevo 1391, d. Moscow

1953. Studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatorium with Liadov and Rimsky-
Korsakov\~ becoming a brilliant pianist. He was an anti-romantic with occasional
satiric tendencies. In his piano music he exploited the purely percussive nature of
the instrument, at times treating it in what may be described as a cold-blooded manner.
His ballet Chout made a considerable impact in the 1920's, also his opera The Love
of the Three Oranges. He wrote several piano sonatas, often of great technical
difficulty, but is perhaps best known by his 3rd piano concerto and his Classical
Symphony. The latter suggests a deliberate return to the more superficial sty le of the
late 18th century, but with a lot of wry twists in the harmony. Such "twi~ts" are
among his marked characteristics.

PUCCINI, GIACOMO. b. Lucca 1858, d. BrusEels 1924. Trained at the Milan

Conservatorium. He was purely and simply an opera composer, in a traditionally
Italian style though adequately individual in manner. I-lis romanticism may at times
be lush, but his instinct for both musical and stage effect was unerring and unsur-
passed. La Boheme, La Tosca" Madam.e Butterfly and Turandot are in the regular
repertoire of practically every opera company. Even such a rarely-performed work as
The Girl of the Golden West, despite some weaknesses, is rarely less than effective.

8.9179
 35
PURCELL, HENRY. b. London 1659, d. there 1695. Member of a musical
family, both his father and his uncle Tho~as being member.s .of the Chapel ~oya.l.
In 1678 Purcell became organist at WestmInster Abbey, retaInIng the post untIl hIS
death. He was undoubtedly the greatest English composer of the 17th century, writi~g
in all the prevailing forms, and was competent in both the older, p~st-p~lyphonIc
style, as exhibited in his string Fantasias (by far the greatest of theIr kIn~), .and
in the newer, lighter and more homophonic style which had developed by hIS tIme.
He wrote much for the theatre and his one opera, Dido and Aeneas (written for an
Academy for Young Ladies in Chelsea), is a masterpiece. Dido's grea~ lament "~en
I am laid in earth" stamps him as one of the greatest masters of emotIonal expressIon
in the whole history of -music.

QUANTZ, JOHANN JOACHIM. b. Gottingen 1697, d. Potsdam 1773. A father

figure to all flautists, who~e book on flute-playing is still invaluable. For thirty-odd
years he was in the service of Frederick the Great and had the uncomfortable privilege
of teaching that monarch to play the flute. His compositions show sincerity and craft.
QUILTER, ROGER. b. Brighton 1877, d. London 1953. A great craftsman
whose songs show an attractive, tuneful and individual style. His orchestral Children's
Overture, a sort of fantasia on some children's songs, retains popularity as do also
many of his songs.

R~~CHMANINOV, SERGEI VASSILIEVICH. b. Novogorod 1873, d.

California 1943. Studied at the Conservatorium at St. Petersburg, becoming one of
the most brilliant pianists of his generation. His compositions,' which include large
scale choral and orchestral works, show no nationalistic traits, but are highly roman-
tic, often with a strongly nostalgic feeling. He is remembered chiefly for his piano
Preludes, the 2nd and 3rd piano concertos and a number of beautiful songs.
RAMEAU, JEAN PHILIPPE. b. Dijon 1683, d. Paris 1764. He was some-
thing of a child prodigy and during his lifetime held various appointments as organist.
He is notable for his operas which carried on and developed the tradition established
by Lully, and also for his researches into Acoustics and the theory of Harmony. This
latter became the foundation of present-day academic theory.
RAVEL, MAURICE. b. Ciboure 1875, d. Paris 1937. Studied at the Paris
Conservatoire with Faure and Gedalge. Although generally classed with Debussy
(q.v.) as an Impressionist, he had an almost classic regard for the importance
of form and design. His well-known piano piece Jeux d' Eau, despite its impressionism,
is actually in sonata form, and the three movements of the piano Sonatine are models
of precise and concise design. Ravel developed a highly individual and highly
effective style of writing for the piano and his handling of the orchestra shows com-
plete mastery. Notable works are Miroirs and Gaspard de la Nuit for piano, the
operas L'H eure Espagnole and L' Enfant et les Sortileges, and the ballet Daphnis et
Chloe.
RA WSTHORNE, ALAN. b. Haslingden 1903. Trained at the Royal Manchester
College of Music and ,vith Egon Petri. He has written in a wide variety of forms, in
a style which is moderately advanced and at times pungent. Several of his works
have been performed at meetings of the International Society for Contemporary Music.
REBIKOV, VLADIMIR. h. Krasnojarsk 1866, d. Crimea 1920. A minor com-
poser of generally tuneful and attractive music, chiefly noted as being the first to
write a piece entirely in the whole-tone scale.
REGER, MAX. h. in Bavaria 1873, d. Leipzig 1916. Held various academic and
official posts in Germany and was at one time in charge of the famous Meiningen
orchestra. A prolific comp08er in many forms with a strong tendency to overload
the texture with "too many notes". Now remembered only by the few organists who
have the courage to tackle some of his complex works.
36
RESPIGHI, OTTORINO. b. Bologna 1879, d. ,Ronle 1931. Apart from study
in Bologna, he worked also with Rimsky-Korsakov and Max Bruch. His style is highly
romantic, with complete mastery of orchestral writing as is sho\vn in such works as
The Fountains of Rome and The Pines of Rome. He has made orchestral arrange-
ments of some early music, and his version of Bach's organ Passacaglia is a master-
piece of its kind (though frowned on by purists) .
RHEINBERGER, JOSEPH GABRIEL. b. Leichtenstein 1839, d. Munch 1901.
A fine teacher, well known for his twenty organ sonatas - solid, meaty works of
which some at least are in the repertoire of every organist. At one time a Toccata
In G minor for piano had considerable popularity.

RIMSKY.KORSAKOV, NICH'OLAS ANDREIEVICH. b. Tikhvin 1844, d.

St. Petersburg 1908. Despite his natural musical gifts, he adopted a naval career
which terminated in 1873, two years after he had joined the teaching staff of the
St. Petersburg Conservatorium. His meeting with Balakirev (q.v.), a leading
nationalist, led to his adherence to the "Five", a group devoted to the propagation of
a purely Russian - style music. His best-known work is the symphonic suite
Scheherazade (based on stories from the Arabian Nights). Rimsky-Korsakov's music
has its limitations, especially a tendency to short-breathed repetitiveness, but his
mastery of the orchestra is complete. His Foundations 01 Instrumentation is a
standard work.

RODE, JACQUES PIERRE JOSEPH. b. Bordeaux 1774, d. there 1830.

Pupil of Viotti and toured as a virtuoso. A distinctly minor composer, but some of
his works still have their uses for the student.

ROSSINI, GIOCCHINO ANTONIO. b. Pesaro 1792, d. Passy 1868. Son

of a trumpet player whose main work was that of a slaughter-house inspector. Both his
parents became connected with the theatre, so that Rossini moved in a theatrical
atmosphere from comparatively early years. In the 19 years from 1810 he wrote
37 operas, the greatest being the comedy The Barber 01 Seville, and W'illiam Tell. In
all his work he shows a great feeling for vocal melody, and in his comedies an
equally great sense of humour.

ROU.SSEL, ALBERT. b. Tourcoing 1869, d. Royan 1937. Began life in the

navy, later studying music under Gigout and d'Indy. Became a teacher at the Schola
Can to rum in Paris. His compositions show some Impressionist influence but are dis-
tinctly individual in style. They are hardly of the at'ant garde school, but are ad-
vanced enough not to sound old-fashioned.

ROZSA, MIKLOS. b. Budapest 1907, studied in Leipzig. In 1945 appointed

professor of composition in the University of Southern California and has appeared
as both pianist and conductor. His compositions show influences from Bartok and
Kodaly, as well as from Hungarian Folk-lore.
RUDBRA, EDMUND DUNCAN. b. Northampton 1901. Studied under Cyril
Scott, and later under HoIst and Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music.
Has written many large-scale works including eight symphonies. His style is austerely
traditional with a markedly contrapuntal outlook.

SAINT.SAENS, CHARLES CAMII~LE. h. Algiers 1835, d. Paris 1921. His

musical ability showed from a very early age. He was a fine pianist and a prolific
composer in all forms, with an unvaryingly high level of craftsmanship. There is
generally, however, a lack of emotional warmth, as in the famous aria Softly Awakes
my Heart from the opera Samson and Delilah. The emotion feels synthetic rather
than genuine. His organ works are moderately popular and some of his concertos
for piano, violin and 'cello are still to be heard occasionally. He was the first French
composer to write a symphonic poem-Le Rouet d'Omphale.
 37
SALZEDO, CARLOS. b. Arcachon 1885, d. Waterville, U.S.A. 1961. A great
harpist who invented many new techniques in harp playing and wrote many interesting
works for his instrument.

SCARLATTI, ALESSANDRO. b. Palermo 1660, d. Naples 1725. From 1672

he spent his life partly in Rome and partly in Naples, in which latter city he achieved
his greatest successes as an opera composer. He was largely responsible for the
conventionalization of Italian opera and was the reputed inventor of the Italian
Overture.

SCARLATTI, DOMENICO. b. Naples 1685, d. there 1757. Son of Alessandro

and like him wrote many operas. In 1715 he was appointed maestro di capella at
St. Peter's, Rome, and from 1729 spent some years in Spain. He was a brilliant and
visionary composer for harpsichord, writing over 500 sonatas and discovering
numerous technical possibilities such as crossing the hands-a trick which increasing
stoutness in old age forced him to forego.
SCHoNBERG, ARNOLD. b. Vienna 1874, d. Los Angeles 1951. A leader of
what is generally known as the avant ga.rde. He began, in such works as Verkliirte
N acht for strings and the huge Gurrelieder for choir and orchestra, as a rather lush
post-Wagnerian romantic, but gradually moved towards a less traditional attitude
which eventually culminated in his evolution of Serialism, a system which involves
what to the ordinary listener is extreme use of dissonance. Notable works are Five
Orchestral Pieces, The Lucky Hand, Pierrot Lunaire and the unfinished opera Moses
and Aaron. Schonberg's methods have had a great effect on the work and outlook
of his successors, notably his pupils Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and many others
who have adopted, more or less whole-heartedly, the doctrine of Serialism and all that
it implies.·
SCHUBERT, FRANZ PETER. b. Vienna 1797, d. there 1828. Son of a school
master, his musical ability showed early in life. At the age of 11 he entered the
court chapel as a chorister, receiving a good education. Thereafter, except for a time
as music teacher for the children of Count Esterhazy, his livelihood was generally
precarious. .
Schubert was a prolific composer with enormous facility-he was once known
to write six songs in one day. He was the inventor of the Lied, a type of song which
is really a duet for voice and instrument, and achieved some of his greatest examples,
e.g. Erlkonig, when little more than a boy. Of his 600 odd songs, despite his speed
of writing and his apparent lack of self-criticism, there are but few without merit,
while the best of them rank among the finest ever written. He wrote nine symphonies,
the most popular being no. 8 (the ~'U nfinished") and no. 9 (the "Great. C ma j or") ;
the earlier ones, however, are far from negligible, e.g. that in B fiat. His chamber
music contains much fine work as do also his piano sonatas.
Schubert is to some extent both a classic and a romantic. His classicism,
deriving from Haydn and Mozart, is seen especially in the early symphonies; his
romanticism in his songs. He was one of the greatest of all masters of melody and
his use of the orchestra is at times visionary. He was also the first composer to make
,systematic use, in his Wanderer Fantasie for piano, of the principle of thematic
METAMORPHOSIS.

SCHUMANN, ROBERT ALEXANDER b. Zwickau 1810, d. Endenich 1856.

Son of a bookseller, he was brought up in a cultured atmosphere. He studied law to
some extent, but in 1830 began to study music seriously under Frederic Wieck,
intending to become a virtuoso pianist. This aim was frustrated by damage to a
finger by a contrivance intended to develop dexterity. lIe thereafter turned to com-
position, studying with Dorn. In 1840 he married Clara Wieck, daughter of his old
teacher, after a long struggle against parental opposition, and in that one year wrote
38
over 100 songs. His appointment in 1850 as director of music in Diisseldorf was not
a success owing to his inefficiency as a conductor. In 1854 he attempted to commit
suicide, having on previous occasions shown some mental instability, and spent the
last two years of his life in a private asylum.
Schumann is the romantic par excellence. This is evident especially in his son~s,
many of which are of extraordinary beauty. He wrote four symphonies of which the
4th (originally no. 2) makes great use of thematic METAMORPHOSIS. Of his large
output of piano works, the Fantasie in C major and the Carnaval are perhaps the most
notable, together with the lovely A minor concerto. His piano quintet is the first-
and finest-of its kind.
Schumann wrote extensively on music and musicians and did much to help and
encourage the younger generation, including Brahms. His chief protagonist after
his death was his widow.

SCHUTT, EDOUARD. b. St. Petersburg (Leningrad) 1856, d. Merano 1933.

A fine pianist who wrote a great deal of light but well-wrought music for the piano.
A melodist of consider,able charm. ..
SCOTT, CYRIL MEIR. b. Birkenhead 1879. In the early years of the present
century he was looked upon as something of a musical firebrand, indulging in what
seemed at the time to be rather startling harmonic and other experiments. He made
great use, especially in his piano sonata, of constantly varying time-signature~, many
years before Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. At one time he was called the "English
Debussy". He is now almost forgotten; the musical substance of his works does not
seem to have stood the test of time.

SCRIABIN, ALEXANDER NICHOLAEVICH. b. Moscow 1872, d. there

1915. His early works reflect strong influences from Chopin, though always with
some degree of a personal style. In his later works, which include several piano
sonatas, he evolved a harmonic system of his own which, despite its strong initial
impact in the early years of this century, proved to have severe limitations. Of his
larger works, only the Poem of Ecstasy for orchestra now receives an occasional
performance, while the later piano works are almost entirely neglected. Scriabin is
an excellent example of a composer who was greatly admired during his lifetime
and immediately afterwards, but whose music has turned out to have no real lasting-
power.
SCULTHORPE, PETER. b. 1929. Born in Tasmania, he is a leader of the
avant garde in Australia, with a highly personal style showing some influences from
South-east Asia, which is apt to produce a curiously static, non-progressive effect.
He shows a fondness for effects which must frankly be called gimmicks and which
mayor may not be worth while. Notable works are the Jrkanda series and Sun Music
I to IV.
SHOSTAKOVICH, DMITRI. b. St. Petersburg (Leningrad) 1906. St.udied
with Glazounov and Steinberg, developing a highly personal sty lc. His opera Lady
Macbeth 01 Mtsensk incurred the disfavour of the dictator Stalin and for a whHe
he was more or less in disgrace, as he was again in 1948. His output is enormous
including no fewer than thirteen symphonies. Inevitably the quality is variable. He
is considered to be the leading composer in the lTSSR.

SIBELIUS, JEAN. b. Tavastehus 1865, d. Jarvenpaa 1957. Of Finnish

nationality but of Swedish descent. Studied in Helsinki, Berlin and Vienna. In 1932
he was given a State grant for life and was thus enabled to devote himself entirely to
composing. His early works show occasional influences from other composers, but
from the 3rd symphony onwards he developed an intensely personal style, quite un-
related to that of any other composer or school. Without the deliberate adoption of
 39
a national idiom, there is yet a distinctly nationalist flavour. He developed his own
ideas on musical structure, often quite outside any traditional forms yet entirely
satisfying. In his handling of the orchestra, too, he is completely individual, at times
giving an initial impression of crudity which, with deeper knowledge of the works,
turns out to be exactly "right". Of the seven symphonies, the 2nd and 5th are the
most immediately popular and the 7th the greatest in every way. Of his tone poems,
Finlandia, an early work and by no means a great one, gained immediate popularity;
Tapiola is a work of pure genius in which he showed that he could, when he wished,
indulge in virtuosic orchestration.
SITSKY, LARRY. b China 1934. Australian composer who studied with
Busoni's pupil Egon Petri. Strongly avant garde style with, in some works, a fond-
ness for "toneclusters". His Concerto for Two Solo Pianos was well received at the
Adelaide Festival in 1967.
SMETANA, BEDRICH. b. Litomysl 1824, d. Prague, 1884. His surname
is accented on its first syllable. Son of a brewer who was also an amateur musician.
He studied in Prague and after moving around for a few years settled th"ere in 1861.
He became completely deaf in 1874 and died in an asylum. Smetana was the founder
of the Bohemian (Czech) nationalist school of composers. He is well known for his
opera The Bartered Bride, which has one of the most popular and sparkling overtures
ever written, and for his set of six symphonic poems called My Country. His piano
pieces, though often far from easy to play, are popular and delightful.

SPOHR, LOUIS. h. Brunswick 1784, d. Cassel 1859. A virtuoso violinist,

successful operatic conductor, and prolific composer, whose works have harmonic
mannerisms which have militated against their survival. His 17 iolin School is a not-
able pedagogic work. He was the first conductor, or one of the first, to use a baton
in the modern manner.

STANFORD, SIR CHARLES VILLIERS. b. Dublin 1852, d. London 1924.

With Parry (q.v.) he is associated with the renaissance of English music in the latter
part of the 19th century. He held various official appointments, including that of
Professor of Music at Cambridge University, and was on the staff of the Royal
College of Music from 1882. His former pupils still speak of him with awe and
respect as a great teacher. Although much of his music is now unknown, he had
a certain wittiness of style and also had the knack of writing songs of great charm
and attractiveness, e.g. A Soft Day. .

STRAUSS, JOHANN. b. Vienna 1804, d. there 1849, and his eldest son, also
JOHANN, b. Vienna 1825, d. there 1899, are famous as the finest writers of waltzes,
the son being the greater and the more prolific. Both father and son proved that
music for dancing-not only waltzes but also polkas, galops, etc.--can be good
music. The son is also famous for his operettas, especially Die Fledermaus (The Bat),
which is possibly the finest of its kind, and certainly the inost enjoyable, ever written.

STRAUSS, RICHARD GEORG. b. Munich 1864, d. Garmisch-Partenkirchen

1949. No relation to the "waltz Strausses", though he could write a Viennese waltz
with the best of them. Son of a fine horn player who was never quite able to agree
with some of his son's forward-looking ideas. Strauss held various official appoint-
ments in opera~ including a term at the Vienna State Opera House. His early works
were strongly Brahmsian in idiom (e.g. the Burlesque for piano and orchestra), but
from his first great symphonic poem, Don Juan, he showed marked individuality. He
picked up the symphonic poem where Liszt left it and developed its descriptive and
illustrative possibilities to the limit. This is seen, e.g. in Till Eztlenspiegel, Ein
\ H eldenleben, and Don Quixote. (He is said to have remarked that he could set a~
cup and saucer ~o music if he wanted to). His operas, some written with Hugo von
40
Hoffmansthal as librettist, have had varying success outside Germany, but Elektra
and Salome, both at times savage and brutal, and Der Rosenkavalier, described as a
comedy with music, have achieved enduring popularity and acclaim all over the
world. Many of his songs are of great beauty, but perhaps his most purely lovely
works are the late M etamorphosen for strings, and the Four Last Songs written shortly
before he died.
Strauss had a great reputation as a conductor, particularly of Mozart.

STRAVINSKY, IGOR. b. Oranienhaum 1882, now resident in V.S.A. Trained

for a career in law, but a meeting with Rimsky-Korsakov when he was 20 led him
to devote himself to music. His early important works (ballets) are due to meetings
with Diaghilev the impressario. The Firebird (1910) is purely romantic; Petrushka
(1912) is more individual with some nationalistic flavour; The Rite of Spring (1913)
is highly original in its flouting of the existing conventions of harmony and rhythm.
Its first performance, in Paris, caused a riot in the theatre. Since then, Stravinsky
has passed through a series of phases, sometimes alleging that music should not have
any "expression" ( or , presumably, meaning) at all-though his own later perform-
ances of his own works have denied this. He has written works of all kinds, often
changing his style from work to work. (He has been described as a master of styles
rather than of style). In his latest works, e.g. Threni-a choral setting of the Lamen-
tations of Jeremiah-he has turned to Serialism with results which, to a normal ear,
are at times alarming and at times downright ugly. His influence on the younger
generation of composers has been considerable-he is, indeed, a "father-figure".

STRAVINSKY, SOULIMA~ b. Lausanne, 1910. Son of Igor. Studied in Paris

with Isidor Philipp and N adia Boulanger. Has given piano recitals in Europe and
America. He is known for, among other things, his effective and original children's
pic'Ces.

SUK, JOSEF. b. Cracow 1874, d. Prague 1935. A fine violinist, one of the
founders of the Bohemian String Quartet. His early compositions were influenced
by Dvorak, with whom he studied, but his later works are more individual and more
generally advanced in style.

SULLIVAN, SIR ARTHUR SEYMOUR. b. London 1842, died there 1900.

Son of an army bandsman. Although he wrote a good deal of "serious" music (in-
cluding the deplorable song The Lost Chord) he is remembered as the composer
of the "Gilbert and Sullivan" operas-HMS Pinajore, The Pirates oj Penzance, etc.
-which, even though their libretti may now seem rather "dated", contain a wealth
of delightful tunes and sparkling orchestration. Many are still in the repertoire and
are likely to remain there indefinitely.

SUTHERLAND, MARGARET. b. Adelaide 1897. Her work., much of which is

for chamber combinations, is inclined to be cool in emotion. It has strength and
individuality without eccentricity, and is a notable contribution to contemporary
Australian music.
SVENDSEN, JOHAN SEVERIN. b. Osld 1840, d. Copenhagen 1911. A minor
composer who wrote two symphonies, and concertos for violin and 'cello. Now known
only by his Romance in G for violin and piano.

SWINSTEAD, FELIX GERALD. b. London 1880, d. Southwold 1950. Wrote

widelv for the piano and is notable for the high quality of his teaching pieces.

8.9179
 41
SZYMANOWSKI, KAROL. b. in Ukraine 1883, d. Warsaw 1937. A Pole by
race, studied at Warsaw Conservatorium of which he eventually became principal.
Wrote in a wide range of forms, his style being polished and idiomatic with, in later
works, a tendency to advanced ideas such as polytonality.

T ALLIS, THOMAS. b. c. 1505, d. Greenwich 1585. Little is known of his early

life, but he seems to have been organist at Waltham Abbey at the time of the
dissolution of the monasteries in 154,0. He turned Protestant and was a gentleman of
the Chapel Royal under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. In 1575 he was, with Byrd
(q.v.) granted a monopoly for the printing of music and music paper. He wrote for
both the Roman and the Reformed rites, his Dorian Service for the latter being
still in use. His style is generally rather severe, but sincere, and his enOrlTIOUS com-
positional technique is shown in his forty-voice motet (eight five-part choirs) Spem
in Alium. 1'his is a monumental work which in itself stamps Tallis as one of the
great masters of the 16th century.
T ARTINI, GIUSEPPE. b. Pirano 1692, d. Padua 1770. A most important
figure in the development of violin playing and a kind of spiritual predecessor of
Paganini (q.v.), though his compositions have far greater musical value than those
of the latter. He also made some investigations into acoustical phenomena and was
in his later years renowned as a teacher and composer.
TCHAIKOVSKY, PETER ILYICH. b. Kamsko-Votinsk 1840, d. St. Peters-
burg 1893. His family was not interested in his love of music and he was put to work
as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice in St. Petersburg. In 1863 he resigned and began
to study music under Anton Rubinstein at the Conservatorium. In 1866 he joined
the staff of the Moscow Conservatorium. His marriage in 1877 was a failure and
lasted only nine weeks. Thereafter he came under the patronage of a wealthy widow
named Nadezhda von Meck and was free of any financial troubles. He toured to
some extent, visiting England and America, otherwise living in the country in Russia.
He was greatly troubled by nervous disorders and died of cholera shortly after the first
performance of his last symphony.
Tchaikovsky was not a deliberate nationalist, even though there is at times a
distinctly Russion flavour in his music. Occasionally h~ uses a folk-tune, e.g. In a Field
there stood a Birch-tree in the last movement of his 4th symphony. The quality of
his work is apt to be unequal and it is customary in some quarters to sneer at his
habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve (though plenty of later composers, including
some of the most "advanced", have done the same thing). Of his six symphonies,
only the last three are regularly played, the 6th-.Pathetique being perhaps the most
popular. The ballets SUJan Lake and T he Sleeping Beauty are in the regular repertoire
and the Casse-N oisette Suite (extracted from the ballet of that name) is one of the
most widely-known of all orchestral works. It is, though not intentionally, probably the
best example of a "young person's guide to the orchestra" in existence. The first piano
'concerto, in B flat minor, is enormously popular, far outshining the other two, and the
violin concerto in D must also be mentioned. Other well-known orchestral works are the
Fantasias Romeo and /uliet, Hamlet and Fra.ncesca da Rimini.
Tchaikovsky is notable for his handling of the orchestra, which is invariably both
masterly and economical.

TCHEREPNINE, ALEXANDER. b. St. Petersburg (Leningrad) 1899. A re-

cital pianist whose compositions, invariably well written for the instrument, show a
slight nationalist tinge.

TELEMANN, GEORG PHILIPP. b. Magdeburg 1681, d. Hamburg 1767.

An enormo.usly prolifi~ contemporary of Bach who, in his day, had a great reputation.
Much of hI.s wo~k, ,":rltten at great speed, was, however, superficial, though pleasant
enough as hght hstenlng. '
42
THOMAS, AMBROISE. b. Metz 1811, d. Paris 1896. An infant prodigy who
carried off high honours, including the Prix de Rome, at the Paris Conservatoire.
All that is now heard of his work is the odd piece from the opera Mignon.
THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING. b. in Sussex 1850, d. London 1892. Studied
in Paris and at the Royal Academy of Music. Like his namesake above, he is remem-
bered by only one work, the opera Nadeshda, from which the aria Oh my Heart is
Weary is fairly frequently sung by contraltos.

TURINA, JOAQUIN. b. Seville 1882, d. Madrid 1949. A Spanish nationalist

composer, best known for his orchestral piece Procesion del Rocio.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, RALPH. b. Down Ampney 1872, d. London 1958.
Founder of the English nationalist school, his ideas being the fruit of his study of
folk song and of English music of the 16th century. Some of his early songs,
retain great popularity, e.g. Linden Lea, Silent Noon and the Songs of Travel, but
his most important works are his symphonies and such choral works as the M ass in
G minor and Sancta Civitas. Although his nationalism is at times strongly marked
as in the Pastoral symphony, his style is apt to vary to some extent, as in the 4th
symphony which employs a very astringent idiom, and in the 6th, in which he toys
with hitonality.
Vaughan Williams taught for many years at the Royal College of Music,
exerting, as Stanford (q.v.) had done a generation earlier, a strong influence on
the style of his pupils. He was closely associated with Hoist (q.v.).

VERACINI ANTONIO. (latter half of 17th century) and FRANCESCO

MARIA (b. Florence 1685, d. Pisa 1750) were uncle and nephew, both violinists
and composers of instrumental music. Francesco, unlike Antonio, moved about Europe
a good deal, spending some time in London. He was considered by some to be the
greatest violinist of his time.

VERDI, GIUSEPPE. b. Le Roncole 1813, d. Milan 1901. Son of an innkeeper,

he showed early musical talent. He was the greatest of Italian composers of opera,
contemporary with Wagner (q.v.) but working generally on entirely different lines.
His first opera, Oberto, was produced when he was 26, his last, FalstafJ, at the age of
80. In his early and middle period works, e.g. Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata,
Don Carlos and AUla (written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal) he followed
to a large extent the prevailing Italian style in which the movement of the plot was
periodically interrupted by arias in which the characters could express their thoughts
and emotions, and which, incidentally, gave the singers every chance to display their
vocal ability. At the age of 74, when it might have been thought that his composing
life was over, Verdi produced Otello, a work of tremendous power and dramatic
impact, in which appears some influence of Wagner's ideas of continuity and
"symphonic" use of the orchestra. This was followed, even more surprisingly, by
FalstaD in 1893, one of the greatest of all comic operas, comparable with Wagner's
M eistersinger.
Of Verdi's non-operatic works may he mentioned the Stabat Mater, the Requiem
M ass and the T e Deum.
VICTORIA, TOMAS LUIS DE. b. Avila c. 1535, d. Madrid 1611. The greatest
Spanish representative of the polyphonic school. He was ordained priest in 1565
and spent much of his life in Rome. His works-masses, motets, etc.-are dis-
tinguished by considerable emotional intensity and beauty, and it may be held that
among his contemporaries only the Englishman Byrd excelled him in these respects.
He is best known by his motet Jesu, dulcis memoria and the mass 0 quam gloriosum.
He wrote no secular music at all.
 43
VIERNE, LOUIS VICTOR JULES. b. Poitiers 1870, d. Paris 1937. Pupil of
Franck and Widor and organist of Notre Dame Cathedral. His organ compositions
are invariably original and interesting, with none of the traditional "organ loft men-
tality", and are sometimes uncommonly difficult. He was blind all his life.
VIEUXTEMPS, HENRI. b. Verviers 1820, d. in Algeria 1881. A child prodigy
of the violin, studied under de Beriot. He finally settled in Brussels as a professor
at the Conservatoire, but his career ended suddenly through an attack of paralysis.
While his works are splendidly written for the violin, his style som~times becomes
Inerely showy. Some of the concertos still have their use.
VIOTTI, JEAN BAPTISTE. b. Fontanetto 1753, d. London 1324. A famed
violinist, trained in the school originally founded by Corelli (q.v.). He is regarded as
the father of modern violin technique and his influence, through his pupils and his
pupils' pupils, still persists.
VITALl, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. b. Cremona c. 1644, d. Modena 1692. A
famous violinist who wrote a large number of suites and sonatas. He is now known
~hiefly by his Chaconne, a work of great power and considerable originality.

VIVALDI, ANTONIO. b. probably Venice c. 1675, d. Vienna 1741. Some-

times known as Il prete rosso-the Red Priest-because of the colour of his hair.
A great violinist and prolific composer, notable chiefly for his violin concertos and
concerti grossi. He had some influence on Bach, who arranged some of his concertos
for organ-not, it must be admitted, always very successfully!
W AGNER, WILHELM RICHARD. h. Leipzig 1813, d. Venice 1883. Son of
a clerk to the city police court who died when Wagner was very young. His earliest
interest was in poetry, but experiences at the Gewandhaus concerts turned his mind
to music. His early musical career consisted of various small theatrical appointments
of no financial value. In 1839 he went to Paris, but had no success. Throughout
much of his life Wagner was dogged by what he considered to be ill-fortune, though
it must be admitted that his troubles were as often as not of his own making. He was
apt to be domineering, far from easy to get on with, even dishonest, and more or less
continually in debt. He was also to some extent involved in revolutionary activities
in 1848 and was for many years exiled from Germany. Friends, especially Liszt in
Weimar, did what they could to help him (he married, as his second wife, Liszt's
daughter Cosima) but it was not until 1869 that his fortunes turned. In this year
King Ludwig 11 of Bavaria invited him to live in Munich and granted him an income
so that he could be free to compose as he wished. The ultimate outcome was the
foundation of the great Festival Theatre at Bayreuth.
Wagner wrote his own libretti. His first produced opera, Rienzi, was in the pre-
vailing "grand opera" style, but from The Flying Dutchman there is a gradual de-
velopment in the use of continuity, of symphonic use of the orchestra, and of the
principle of the LEIT-MOTIF. This development continues through Ta.nnhiiuser and
Lohengrin and finds its full expression in the great music dramas (a title which
Wagner preferred to opera), The Ring of the Nibelungen, Tristan and lsolde, Parsifal,
and the greatest 'of all comic operas, the· Mastersingers of Nuremburg. In these, the
traditional "set piece", in which characters express their thoughts and emotions, is
practically discarded. Action is continuous, the vocal part may vary from simple
recitative to highly developed melody, and the orchestra provides a continuous
"running commentary". Wagner, even more than Gluck (q.v.) a century earlier,
revolutionised opera, aiming for dramatic truth and validity.
WALTON, SIR WILLIAM TURNER. b. Oldham 1902. Although he spent
some time at Oxford University, his formal training was comparatively slight. In the
1920's he came to the fore as a "modernist" with a strong sense of humour and satire,
notably in such works as Fa~ade-a highly original setting of poems by Edith
44
Sitwell-and the Qverture Portsmouth Point. His style is, hQwever, firmly derived frQm
traditiQn, and he has been censured (unwisely) by avant garde critics fQr nQt mQving
with the times. NQtable wQrks are his two. symphQnies, the QratQriQ Belshazzar's
Feast, and the viQlin CQncertQ.
WARLOCK, PETER (Philip Heseltine). b. 1894, d. LondQn 1930. Com-
PQser of many delicately handled SQngs which display influences frQm his clQse
study Qf the 16th century. His Capriol suite fQr strings remains PQPular, and this,
tQQ, shows SQme 16th century influence.
WEBER, CARL MARIA FRIEDRICH ERNST VON. b. Eutin 1786, d. Lon-
dQn 1826. He came Qf a musical family, though his Qwn musical ability develQped
fairly late. He held variQus Qfficial PQsitiQns, kapellmeister at the theatres in Breslau,
Prague and Dresden. He was an early rQmantic and is generally cQnsidered to. be
the father o.f German Qpera. Kno.wn chiefly by his three o.peras, Der Freischiitz,
Euryanthe and Oberon, o.f which the Qvertures are fairly Qften used as co.ncert pieces.
Apart from these, a few Qf his piano. wQrks and SQme wQrks for clarinet and orchestra
are still to. be heard. .
WEBERN, ANTON VON. b. Vienna 1883, d. Mittersill 1945. A pupil Qf
Schonberg (q.v.) and an impQrtant exponent Qf Serialism. His compQsitiQns are
mQstly Qn a small scale, sparse in texture and Qften highly fragmented.
WESLEY, SAMUEL. b. BristQI 1766, d. LQndQn 1837. A great Qrganist and
a fine extempQriser. His eight-part Latin mo.tet In exitu Israel is a notable example
Qf his talent as a co.mpo.ser. He was an early champiQn of Bach in England.
WESLEY, SAMUEL SEBASTIAN. b. LQndon 1810, d. GIQucester 1876.
Natural SQn Qf Samuel. Like his father, he was a fine Qrganist and extemporiser. He
held posts as Qrganist at vario.us impo.rtant churches and cathedrals. His church
music is o.ften Qf high quality and he did much to raise and maintain a standard
which in the VictQrian era might Qtherwise have deteriQrated badly.
WERDER, FELIX. b. 1922 in Berlin. SQn Qf a Jewish CantQr, nQW resident
in Australia. A member Qf the avant garde whQse wQrk seems to. be invariably Qf a
seriQus cast, PQPular within a limited circle.

WIDOR, CHARLES MARIE. b. LyQns 1845, d. Paris 1937. Studied with the
Belgian Lemmens and became organist at the church of St. Sulpice in Paris. His Qrgan
"SymphQnies" are widely played. They are mQre traditiQnal in style than the wQrks
of his organist succeSSQrs Vierne and Dupre, but cQntain much fine music and a great
deal Qf originality.
WIENIAWSKI, HENRI. b. Lublin' 1835, d. MQSCQW 1880. FamQus violinist
who. eventually succeeded Vieuxtemps at the Brussels Conservatoire. His works are
always idiQmatically written fQr the viQlin, but are musically Qf no. great substance.
WILLIAMSON, MALCOLM. b. Sydney 1931. Australian CQmpQser nQW resident
in England. He has enQrmQUS facility in writing and his wQrks CQver a wide range,
including church music in a Jazz idiQm, operas, and a singularly difficult piano. con-
certo. His style varies frQm the mQre Qr less "PQPular" to. the nQn-PQPular displayed
in his Elevamini.
WOLF, HUGO. b. Windisgraz 1860, d. Vienna 1903. SQn Qf a leather
dealer. He spent two years as student in the Vienna CQnservatorium, but was ex-
pelled on a false charge. He eked Qut a living by giving lessons and by work as
music critic Qf a Viennese newspaper. His fame rests entirely on his SQngs, which
shQW perhaps mQre perfectly than thQse Qf any other CQmpQser a cQmplete and
intimate fusiQn Qf wQrds and music. His brain gave way in 1897 and he spent the
rest Qf his life in a mental asylum.
9.9179
PUBLISHING
1001 1083 4U