THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 M'SIB
 
 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited 
 
 LONDON UOMI1AY CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 
 ATLANTA SAN KRANCISCO 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 
 
 TORON 1 O
 
 MUSIC 
 AND NATIONALISM 
 
 A STUDY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 BY 
 
 CECIL FORSYTH 
 
 MAC MILL AN AND CO., LIMITED 
 ST. MARTINS STREET, LONDON
 
 MUSIC 
 LIBRARY
 
 Music 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 To those who are familiar with the broad paths of 
 Musical History, and more particularly with that 
 narrow byway, English Opera, this book may seem 
 to call, perhaps not for an apology, but at any rate 
 for an explanation. So far as I am aware, no book 
 has been wholly devoted either to giving an 
 account of the forces which have influenced the 
 Musical Stage in England, or even to drawing 
 up that catalogue of Operatic names, dates, and 
 places which, with a few personal likes and dis- 
 likes, generally does duty in this country for a 
 serious aesthetic. 
 
 It is as a first attempt to fill the former gap that 
 this book has been written. My original intention 
 was merely to mark what I may call the high and 
 low-water marks of our English Operatic activity. 
 But, in trying to bring them into some sort of 
 co-ordination with our other national activities, so 
 many difficulties arose, so many perplexing and 
 apparently inexplicable phenomena came to light, 
 that I was compelled to go outside the narrow 
 limits which I had set myself and to study the 
 more general relationships of National life and 
 Musical Productivity. 
 
 I must, therefore, offer my readers this explan- 
 ation for presenting to them what is really two 
 
 I 61
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 books in one ; first, a study of the relationship 
 between Nationalism and Music that is to say, a 
 study of the deterring and fostering influences 
 which a nation is able to exert on its composers 
 and next, a more particularized account of the 
 manner in which the deterrent forces have affected 
 the production of Opera in England. To these I 
 have added chapters dealing with the artistic and 
 social conditions of our native composers and 
 executants. These conditions, which are matters 
 of painful daily experience to English musicians, 
 are, I think, little known to the public, and even 
 among musicians the consciousness of their pressure 
 has onlv come in recent years. I make no apology 
 for the frank discussion of these topics, as it is 
 prompted only bv a sincere belief in my fellow- 
 composers and a very earnest hope for the future 
 of English Opera. 
 
 On one point I take pride in laying claim to some 
 originality, for I suppose I may say, without fear 
 of contradiction, that I am one of the few living 
 beings who have not onlv talked of but actually 
 read the works of the poet Burnt. 
 
 I cannot end this preface without expressing my 
 thanks to my friend, Mr. Allevne Ireland, whose 
 life-long study of colonial expansion and adminis- 
 tration gives him a unique authority on many 
 questions to which I have alluded in my first three 
 chapters. The suggestion that the key of Musical 
 History might be found in Sea-Power came origin- 
 alb' from him, and, though 1 think that ex- 
 planation can only be maintained with regard to 
 the Modern Period, it nevertheless gave me a 
 hint. The key, so to speak, only needed filing 
 down to a skeleton m order to run smoothly in
 
 PREFACE 
 
 vn 
 
 the lock. I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness on 
 this point. 
 
 To Mr. Arthur I. Ellis, of the British Museum, 
 I also wish to offer my thanks for much kind help 
 extended to me when trudging along the dusty 
 roads of eighteenth century theatrical-pamphlet 
 literature. 
 
 CECIL FORSYTH. 
 London, September, 191 1.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Historical Questions - i 
 
 II. National and Artistic Comparisons - 21 
 
 III. The Influence of World-Power on Music 46 
 
 IV. The Eighteenth Century and After - 91 
 V. To-day in London - - 124 
 
 VI. Opera Books - - - - - 152 
 
 VII. The English Language and Operatic 
 
 Singing - - - - - - 185 
 
 VIII. Operatic Translation - - - 212 
 
 IX. The Compose:* and his Public 
 
 (1) The Public- - 236 
 
 (2) The Composer's Conditions - - 253 
 
 (3) Foreign Influences - - - 260 
 
 (4) Material Necessities - 274 
 
 Bibliography - 
 Index 
 
 302 
 3 2 2
 
 Mr. Chadband : " Can we fly, my friends ? 
 We cannot. Why can we not fly, my 
 friends ? " Mr. Snagsby ventures to observe 
 in a cheerful and rather knowing tone, "No 
 wings. ' but is immediately frowned down by 
 Mrs. Snagsby. 
 
 Charles Dickhns, Bleak House.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 
 
 The history of English Opera begins nearly 250 
 years ago. 
 
 It is a history of which we have no great reason to 
 be proud, for its most permanent characteristic is an 
 inability to express either the strength or the purpose 
 of our race. It is, in fact, a history of hesitation, 
 of intermittent effort, and of acknowledged failure: 
 and it is therefore well worth study, because failure 
 demands a philosophy by which to explain itself, 
 while success calls only for a chronology of praise. 
 We must, however, remember that neither music in 
 general nor the special form of music which we are 
 discussing Opera can be profitably studied as an 
 isolated mental activity detached from every other 
 form of human endeavour. The attempt to regard 
 composers as writing, so to speak, in a hermetically 
 sealed vacuum free from outside pressure must result, 
 and actually does result, in a history whose details 
 may themselves be accurate, but which are none the 
 less inexplicable in their relationships to each other. 
 In order to construct a philosophy which will explain 
 and harmonize these details it is therefore necessary 
 to contrast our activity in this one direction with all 
 those other activities, artistic, social, commercial, and 
 
 A
 
 2 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 political, which make up the sum of our national 
 inheritance. 
 
 Beginning, then, with the days of the Second 
 Charles, we find that in 250 years England has pro- 
 duced a countless and glorious host of great men. 
 There has been scarcely any emergency in her history 
 in which she has not been able, by an almost in- 
 credible magic, to embody in some one or other 
 of her sons that quality of noble persistency which 
 characterizes the race. Great poets and painters : 
 scholars and divines : soldiers, engineers, and students 
 of nature : the greatest sailor of all time : pioneers, 
 administrators, and statesmen : they pass in a long 
 and illustrious line, and, in passing, have exalted the 
 English name and changed their tiny island-home 
 into a World-Power greater than any since the days 
 of the Roman Empire. 
 
 In music alone, and especially in Operatic music, 
 England has failed. A scholar may, indeed, count 
 to her credit a solitary artistic figure 1 whose genius 
 illuminated the first days of her Operatic history, but 
 his name and his works are now almost as little in 
 her memory as that of the builder of Stonehenge. 
 Nor, of all the works written since his death, can we 
 reckon more than two which she still hears with 
 pleasure ; and, when we qualify our reckoning by the 
 consideration that these two works,' 2 in their thread- 
 bare poverty, now excite only her languid attention, 
 we may safely say that no single English Opera 
 exists in which the English people recognize any full 
 expression of themselves, of their aspirations, or of 
 their national genius. 
 
 1 Henry Burcell. 
 
 2 The British Museum catalogue has \\\ entries under the title 
 "Bohemian Girl" and 12: under that ol " Maritana."
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 3 
 
 The contrast between this enormous and many- 
 sided output of energy on the one hand and apparent 
 barrenness on the other seems, at first sight, inex- 
 plicable ; but it is essential to a proper understanding 
 of the question that we should view it as a contrast 
 of results only. For, if we compare the amount of 
 activity expended in any one field of national en- 
 deavour with that expended on Opera we shall be 
 forced to the conclusion that the difference is not 
 very great. It is true that such a country as Italv 
 has produced a much greater quantity of Opera than 
 England, but, as 1 shail show, this was due to the 
 tact that Opera was sustained in Italy by the whole 
 consciousness ot the people. In England the national 
 mind was split up, under the stress of adverse 
 exterior conditions, into three distinct currents, and 
 of these only one flowed perhaps I should say 
 trickled in the direction of national Opera. Only 
 one third ot the national energy available tor music 
 and that the poorest in point of material wealth- 
 was, therefore, tree to exercise itselt in the production 
 of national Opera ; and, as we shall see, that third 
 attempted again and again the most difficult of all tasks 
 the overthrow ot a foreign art-form supported by a 
 native caste, and the substitution of another which 
 should be truly national, and therefore satisfactory. 
 
 Making this allowance, then, we may return to 
 our comparison and admit the expenditure in England 
 of considerable energy on both sides. If, however, 
 we turn to the results of this energy, we see at once 
 a striking difference, and it is therefore all the more 
 important for us to enquire into the conditions under 
 which the energy was applied, for without such an 
 enquiry our history must remain a mere catalogue of 
 dates and personal preferences. Into these con-
 
 4 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 ditions I intend to go somewhat closely in the follow- 
 ing pages, but for my present purpose I only wish to 
 draw attention to two points in which the purely 
 musical differ from all the other national activities. 
 
 In the first place, we find a violent contrast in the 
 actual quality of brain- and will-power employed in 
 the two cases. It needs no more than a moment's 
 effort to recall the names of the most distinguished 
 Englishmen other than musicians of any genera- 
 tion, and then to contrast their personality, and 
 consequently their achievements, with the personality 
 and achievements of the contemporary English com- 
 posers. This melancholy comparison may be pro- 
 fitably extended to the labours of those undistinguished 
 gentlemen who, for the first 200 years of our Operatic 
 history, were unfortunately always at hand to supply 
 our composers with their necessary literary material 
 and the comparison will inevitably lead to the same 
 result. On the one hand, among the English poets, 
 painters, statesmen, sailors, explorers, administrators, 
 and so on, we find men whose iron will, far-seeing 
 wisdom, and incarnate imagination, place them above 
 and in front of their European contemporaries : on 
 the other, we see the ranks of the Operatic composers 
 and Dramatic poets filled by a strange flabby-minded 
 race of dummies, whose almost unearthly want of 
 courage and imagination condemns them irrevocably 
 to a place behind and beneath their own generation. 
 The dismal details of their lives at present do duty for 
 English Operatic History, but they are really only of 
 interest when, massed together, they give us a clue 
 by which to explain that history. 
 
 There is a second point in which we can note a 
 difference between the working of the musical and 
 the national mind. If we take any long-continued
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 5 
 
 line of activity other than music we have no diffi- 
 culty in tracing through that line a distinct connected- 
 ness of effort. One generation takes up the burden 
 laid down by a former generation, but takes it up 
 strengthened and inspired by the ideals and successes 
 of its predecessors. In the material operations of 
 manu-facture and machinery-facture this connectedness 
 is, of course, the first essential to progress. But it 
 is by no means confined, as an intrinsic factor of 
 success, to material things. We can trace it in the 
 gradual, slow process by which we have built up a 
 complex and varying system of colonial and Asiatic 
 administration. We can trace it in the evolution of 
 our naval methods. We can trace it in our language 
 and its forms as developed by our poets and prose- 
 writers. Finally, lest it should be suggested that 
 music alone is outside the pale of natural law, we 
 can trace it in all the great continental schools of 
 Operatic composition. 
 
 In English music, and especially in English Opera, 
 we can find no trace of this " connectedness of 
 thought." We have indeed our purple or at any 
 rate our dull mauve patches, but on examination 
 these prove to be, not the well-chosen ornaments of 
 a beautiful garment, but only the decorations of Tom 
 Fool his jacket. Purcell, Arne, Bishop, Wallace, 
 Barnett, to name only a few, wrote successful operas. 
 But these men do not form a school, and no one of 
 them had an artistic successor in any but a purely 
 chronological sense. Each man, labouring under 
 impossible artistic conditions, started afresh, often in 
 the hope of founding a national school. But the 
 conditions in every case forbade progress, and the 
 consequence is that the groups of Operas, which form 
 the so-called "English School," are as isolated and
 
 6 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 inexplicable to a layman as the rows of specimens in 
 a geological museum. 
 
 Before leaving this aspect of the historical problem 
 I must point out that this disconnectedness cannot 
 possibly be a negligible "chance" or "sport" in our 
 artistic record. It is too persistent and unvarying to 
 leave us that easy explanation. As a matter of fact, 
 it is bound up with the national history, and is at 
 once an illustration and a result of our national 
 conditions. To these matters I shall presently make 
 fuller reference, but meanwhile, it the reader has a 
 clear idea of the strange differences that lie between 
 our musical and our other national activities, he may 
 be expected to turn to our Operatic History and ask 
 the question "Why ?" x Unfortunately, the Muse 
 of Operatic History has very little of solid to answer 
 to this question, she being for the most part engaged 
 in politely discreet descriptions of Opera-plots which 
 
 1 There is no difficulty in gathering from our histories the 
 causes of individual Operatic failures. Among such causes we find 
 "the interference of a certain class of critics," "the unfortunate 
 conditions of English Opera," and even " the size of the stage" ; 
 but all such reasons arc merely "proximate," and help us very 
 little when we come to stud}' the question why the nation at large 
 has not been able to develop a national school of Opera. See the 
 very inconclusive reasoning on this point in Grove's Dictionary 
 (ist ed. vol. in. p. 291), where it is assumed that it was possible 
 for Handel to found an English School by producing Italian and 
 German works before an English audience, and that the School 
 died out partly because Arnc and his contemporaries were not 
 such great men as Handel, and partly because Storace, Dibdin, 
 Hook, and Shield, showed an "almost total absence of dramatic 
 power"! Elsewhere the English failure to build on Purccll's 
 foundation is merely chronicled almost as if it were self-explanatory 
 (Purccll's work "was not successfully followed up," Grove, ii. 
 p. 523), or the trouble is put down to that well-known musical 
 whipping-horse "Handel's powerful personality" (Markham Lee, 
 The St cry of Opera, p. 91).
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 7 
 
 she occasionally condescends to embellish with por- 
 traits of stout, middle-aged sopranos and wiggy- 
 looking tenors. 
 
 On this point I think we have a fair grievance 
 against her, for, if not actually careless, she is without 
 doubt lazy and superficial. Indeed, her frivolous 
 manner of answering our question "Why ?" would 
 not be tolerated were it applied to the solution of any 
 other important problem. There are a thousand and 
 one such questions to which men expect (and receive) 
 reasonable philosophical answers. If they ask why there 
 are alkali works at Widnes and none at Dorking, it is 
 not sufficient to reply that the people of Dorking 
 have no enthusiasm for soap. They must be shown 
 that Widnes lies midwav between two areas of coal 
 and salt, and that therefore, unlike Dorking, she has 
 a plentiful and cheap supply of the two special raw- 
 stuffs which are essential to alkali manufacture. If, 
 again, they ask why the Isle of Wight apparently fits 
 into the mainland and yet is not joined to it, they will 
 not be satisfied unless they are taken to Lulworth 
 Cove and there shown the same physical causes produc- 
 ing the same results to-day in Dorsetshire as they 
 produced ages ago in Hampshire, the water eating 
 out the band of soft stone to the north and isolating: 
 
 o 
 
 the southern band of hard rock. These are but two 
 examples taken at random, and I have purposely 
 refrained from citing; instances of cause and effect in 
 art ; but it must be remembered that all artistic ques- 
 tions depend, in the long run, for their answers on 
 exactly similar factors, racial, climatic, and geographical; 
 and indeed receive their answers in every department 
 but that of music, not bv an unintelligible string of 
 dates, but by a deduction from these very factors. 
 The special question, then, which I wish to ask is
 
 8 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 this" Why have the English people never been able 
 to develop a school of National Opera ?" Now, it is 
 quite obvious that, in answering this question, we are 
 not merely faced by the necessity of explaining a 
 natural or acquired distaste for the theatre. The 
 Englishman, and especially the Londoner, has always 
 been an enthusiastic theatre-goer, and, in the course 
 of his enthusiasm, has managed to produce the greatest 
 of all tragic poets. Nor can we charge him with any 
 particular distaste for Opera. He has indeed shown 
 a deep-rooted and healthy dislike of Opera as evolved 
 abroad, but, as I have already remarked, that has 
 not prevented him making continual efforts to pro- 
 duce a type of Opera better suited to his own 
 tastes. We can, then, admit no general or particular 
 dislike of the theatre, and it is therefore necessary 
 for us to go behind this question altogether and, 
 leaving Opera out of account for the time, endeavour 
 to obtain a view of the reasons which have prevented 
 or furthered the rise of the European " Schools of 
 Music." 
 
 But it is just when we come to study this question 
 from the general musical point of view, as opposed to 
 the purely Operatic, that we find the Muse almost as 
 helpless as she was before. For, if we call on her to 
 justify her existence by her philosophy, we find her 
 only too ready it is true to take up her scroll and 
 recite to us, but her recitation is not what we hoped 
 for : is indeed no more than a bewildering catalogue 
 of " Schools of Composition," each one of which 
 seems to pop up in its place like a conjurer's puppet, 
 utter its weird little screech, and then disappear into 
 the basket without apparent rhyme or reason. 
 
 These " Polyphonic, Monodic, Dramatic, and 
 Instrumental" Schools of Composition are arranged
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 9 
 
 by Mr. W. S. Rockstro 1 under 35 "leading divisions," 
 of which 29 occupy the years from 1370 to 1800, 5 
 the nineteenth century, and 1 " the future." Missing 
 out the last-named, then, we have 34 small circles 
 of activity, so to speak, whose existence calls for 
 explanation. 
 
 Now, if we separate any one of these " circles " for 
 examination, we shall have no difficulty in tracing 
 within its limits a regular organic process of develop- 
 ment. One composer produces his work and dies. 
 A second succeeds him under similar, but possibly 
 more advanced, conditions. He builds up a structure 
 on the foundations laid by his predecessor and leaves 
 behind him either an unfinished fabric which his 
 successors complete, or a fabric so perfect 2 that any 
 additions are mechanically impossible : new plans 
 have then to be drawn, and a new foundation laid. 
 Occasionally, though not often, we find that two or 
 more of the circles intersect : the schools of one 
 country or of one age influence the schools of a 
 neighbouring country or of another age. None of 
 these questions, however, offers the student any 
 points of serious difficulty or perplexity. They are 
 indeed no more than the hackwork of history, and 
 their problems are to be solved by a compilation of 
 dates and a perusal of composers' works. 
 
 It is only when we step back and place ourselves, 
 as it were, outside the complete pattern of circles that 
 the difficulty begins : for the question is no longer 
 How a certain school developed within its own limits, 
 but Why it suddenly sprang into existence, Why it 
 
 l " Schools of Composition," in Grove's Dictionary, isted. vol. iii. 
 
 p. 258. 
 
 - E.g. The sixteenth century polyphonic school and the developed 
 contrapuntal school of Bach.
 
 io MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 continued to exist, and Why it suddenly ceased to 
 exist ? The reader will easily be able to put such 
 questions as these into concrete form. He may ask 
 and probably often has asked why it is that from 
 1370 to 1520 the music of Europe was developed 
 solely by the inconsiderable people of an incon- 
 siderable state, Flanders, and why its composers 
 (almost without exception) recognized it as an 
 essential preliminary to their artistic life that they 
 should leave their native country and, after 
 a perilous journey, take up their resilience many 
 hundreds of miles away in Rome : he may ask why 
 it is that the English, with their immense reserve of 
 material, mental, and moral energy, have achieved so 
 little in the past 250 years ; while the Germans, with 
 a very similar national " stock-in-trade" have achieved 
 so much ; he may ask why it was that the Spaniard 
 conquered the Italian in art until he happened to 
 conquer him politically, and why, at that precise 
 moment, he ceased to be his artistic superior. 
 
 The reader may well employ half an hour in 
 considering the possibility of a satisfactory answer to 
 these questions. Meanwhile let us at least pay the 
 Muse of History the courtesy of an interrogatory visit 
 to her shrine ; she may have something to tell us. 
 Indeed she has ; unhappily, however, her mental 
 equipment, long devoted to answering the question, 
 " I low ?" works somewhat rustily when we pose her 
 the more difficult question " Why r " 
 
 Her answer, as nearly as I can piece it together 
 from many scattered utterances, generally takes one 
 of three tonus. 
 
 (1) We may be informed that at such and such a 
 time, and in such and such a country there was " a 
 great artistic awakening." This answer- a favourite
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS n 
 
 one with her, as it lends itself to florid detail seems, 
 however, on consideration to be no more than an 
 affirmative re-statement ot our question. It is as if 
 we had enquired why many herrings are to be found 
 on the " Dogger Bank " and none in the " Norway 
 Deep," and were told that it is because quantities of 
 these fish exist in the former place and none in the 
 latter. 
 
 (2) Next we may be answered by the statement of 
 some trivial circumstance or "cause," such as the 
 existence of a certain amount of wealth or leisure in 
 such and such a place, or of a certain fine church or 
 theatre adapted to the singing of masses or operas. 
 But here again on a close examination we shall always 
 be forced to conclude either that the cause is merely 
 " proximate " or that perhaps it is not even a " proxi- 
 mate cause," but only a circumstance. It may indeed 
 as in the case of material prosperity partially 
 govern the development ot the artistic impulse, or it 
 may as in the case of opera houses, orchestras, and 
 so on be the direct result of that impulse ; but in 
 neither case does it explain the impulse ; and we 
 have only to lorm an easy parallel to each case a 
 parallel in which the same material circumstances did 
 not produce any artistic development, to see the fallacy 
 of the logic. 
 
 With the limited space at my disposal for this 
 preliminary study I must leave it to the reader to 
 frame these parallels tor himself, only assuring him 
 that he will find no case in which it is impossible. 
 As an example of the (apparently) ideal material 
 conditions for the production of a National School 
 he may study the position of Rome down to the 
 early part of the sixteenth century, and notice that, 
 despite these conditions, her music was the creation
 
 12 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of resident foreigners. It would be difficult to make 
 a complete list of all the " proximate causes " which 
 have been suggested to account for the development 
 or non-development of Music, but I cannot omit to 
 mention the commonest of all, the personal predi- 
 lections of Kings and Princes. For when we ask 
 our question, "Why?" we often receive some such 
 answer as that " Philip of Burgundy was a great 
 patron of the arts," that " King Charles the Second 
 liked French Music," or that " the Dukes of 
 Chandos and Devonshire joined Georp-e the First 
 in his appreciation of Handel." 1 These answers, 
 of course, tell us nothing, for, though a Prince 
 may be a great and patriotic ruler, or the reverse, 
 he has no more power to change the hearts and 
 minds of his subjects than the colour of their skins 
 or the shape of their heads. If they beget the 
 activity he may help or retard its birth and develop- 
 ment; but that is all he can do. Indeed, the wisdom 
 or unwisdom of Princes interests us only in the 
 individual biographies of artists. In the general 
 philosophy of races and of the men whom these 
 races produce to illustrate themselves, only those 
 few Princes count who sum up in themselves the 
 expression of their people. Even then the Prince is 
 no more than the picture or symbol of his people's 
 aspirations: one cannot explain Pheidias In' Pericles, 
 
 1 " It has been the mi-fortune of English music to suffer more 
 than once from political event-. The violent interruptions caused 
 by the Reformation and the Great Rebellion were a- disastrous 
 in their effects upon later schools of English music as were the 
 Wars of the Roses upon the School of Dunstable. More peaceably, 
 but no less unfortunately, the advent of the 1 lanoverian dynasty, 
 with its German court and Italian opera, crushed the school of 
 English opera which Purccll founded" (Grove's Di< /:</:.;/;, ist ed. 
 vol. iv. p. 620, ;///; " Dun tabic").
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 13 
 
 Shakespeare by Elizabeth Tudor, or Wagner by 
 Ludwig of Bavaria. 
 
 (3) The third answer which we are liable to get 
 to our query generally takes a form with which we 
 are painfully familiar in this country. It is that 
 such and such a race is or is not " musical." Now 
 this answer, involving as it does a charge of deficient 
 mentality against large numbers of people, is of 
 much greater interest than either of the other 
 answers and calls for closer examination. To the 
 Englishman who has had to face this charge time 
 out of mind the point assumes an exaggerated 
 importance : indeed, it is almost ludicrous to ob- 
 serve his dumbfoundedness when found guilty on 
 the sworn statement that he does not (often) pro- 
 duce composers. He is too much of a simpleton 
 to protest that this evidence is inadmissible : he is 
 sentenced, and has nothing with which to console 
 himself but the knowledge of his own innocence. 
 Sohitur ridendo. 
 
 We may, however, without holding any brief for 
 the Englishman, ask ourselves these questions : 
 First, is it possible to prove the charge of " not 
 being musical" against a nation? Again, is it 
 possible to assert that one nation is " more musical " 
 than another ? In both cases the answer is a plain 
 " No." The folk-song of the Russian moujik is 
 no better and no worse than that of the Greek 
 fisherman : the Italian wine-presser has his tune, 
 and it stands on equal terms with that of the 
 Somerset farmer : the Irishman may put into his 
 song the wild poetry of his rocky north-west coast, 
 the tenderness of his purple hillsides, and the sudden 
 awe of a glimpse across his lakes into the unseen 
 world that lies beyond, but it is neither greater
 
 i 4 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 nor less great than the uplifting religious song of 
 the German peasant. Add to these what names you 
 will, Scandinavian, Spanish, Scottish, even Persian 
 and Hindu ; mix and compare them as you like ; 
 and the utmost of difference will be this, that in 
 some cases the gleaners have come late into the 
 field, and consequently their gatherings are scanty; 
 and this, too, that there may be some difference of 
 the thing expressed, some difference of mountain and 
 plain, of sea-coast and upland, of vine and heather, of 
 sun-baked or waterlogged atmosphere. But we cannot 
 (without blasphemy to the Giver of all things) place 
 in a scale either these differences of nature or the 
 corresponding differences which they produce in man. 
 
 In a word, wherever there is a ray of sunlight to 
 strike the ground and a human being to look for his 
 existence to these two things, we shall find the same 
 force at work and the same deep-seated want crying 
 out for satisfaction, and the result of both is Song. 
 
 But, this being so, does it not follow that all 
 nations are equally musical ? There can be only 
 one answer to this question. They are all equally 
 musical. How, then, are we to explain the un- 
 doubted fact that they are not all equally productive 
 and equally- developed: Why is it that one nation 
 suddenly flares up into artistic brilliance, and then 
 flickers back into darkness, while its neighbour is 
 all the time moving in a twilight that seems to grow 
 neither darker nor brighter ? Mere material pros- 
 perity cannot explain this contrast, nor can the 
 advance of national art correspond alone with the 
 advance of national prosperity. 1 If it did, we should 
 
 1 It must be remembered that music, unlike some other arts, 
 does not depend in the last resort on any very expensive or 
 exceptional material processes. A shilling's worth of wood can
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 15 
 
 expect to find a national musical awakening in Italy 
 of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, in England 
 of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in the 
 United States of America of the nineteenth centurv, 
 and these are just the cases where we do not find it. 
 
 There must surely be some factor or factors here 
 which we have not hitherto observed. Before we 
 search for this factor we must ask ourselves whether 
 the difference between a nation's " musicality " and 
 its " musical productiveness " is a difference, not of 
 degree, but ot kind. Can it be that the two do not, 
 as it were, march arm in arm, but that the one lies 
 deeper and prior to the other ? Can it be that the 
 former is always present as a fundamental charac- 
 teristic of humanity, and that it depends tor its 
 transmutation into the latter, not on the petty 
 chances of exterior circumstance, not on the likes 
 and dislikes of Princes, not on the size and suit- 
 ability of houses, not on the tastes and distastes of 
 critics, but on some force which governs a nation's 
 activity, and which itself depends tor its existence 
 or non-existence (as all other national forces depend) 
 on simple differences of race, of climate, and of 
 geographical position ? 
 
 Let us see. Our main object is to obtain an 
 answer to the question, " Why have the English 
 people never been able to develop a school of 
 national opera ? " In order to do that we have had 
 to go outside the question and indicate a still larger 
 question, " Why does one nation develop musically, 
 
 be made up into a playable violin ; and even in the case ot a 
 complex instrument, such as the modern piano, the material is 
 easily come by in almost every country in the world, and is used 
 in quantities which would be regarded by many other workers in 
 wood and metal as minute.
 
 1 6 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 while another remains musically undeveloped ? " A 
 solution of the latter question will probably give us 
 a key to the former. 
 
 Let us then turn to our bewildering list of " Schools 
 of Composition," and endeavour, in the fewest 
 possible words, to describe what has actually happened 
 in Europe since the days of William the Conqueror. 
 In doing this we may perhaps discover the nature of 
 the factor which has at any time prevented a nation 
 that is to say, a normally musical nation from 
 developing into an artistically productive nation. 
 In tabulating these facts I, of course, confine myself 
 solely to what is matter of undisputed history. The 
 reader must remember, however, that I am dealing 
 only with the broadest and most comprehensive phases 
 of national activity. In such cases the effect of a 
 force does not become visible until long after its 
 first application ; l and the same force seems to 
 persist perhaps for years after its vitality has ceased. ~ 
 The precise dates of individual art-works, and even 
 the lives of those isolated composers 3 who do not 
 exist as links in a school, are therefore almost value- 
 less as the basis for an argument 
 
 that, from the beginning of the eleventh 
 to the beginning of the fifteenth century the 
 most advanced and technically perfect music 
 in Europe was English.' 1 
 
 1 E.g. German Opera as based on Italian. 
 
 'E.g. The "Polyphonic" school of Italy, which continued 
 to decay in public long alter 1600. 
 
 3 E.g. Purcell. 
 
 1 E.g. the Winchester "Troparium" now in the Bodleian at 
 Oxford (date, circa 1000) ; the MS. in the Harleian collection at 
 the British Museum containing two 3-part Antiphons, one 4-part 
 
 ^1) There is good manuscript evidence to show
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 17 
 
 (2) About the end of the fourteenth century the 
 
 Flemings took up the development of music, 
 and continued it unaided to the last half of 
 the sixteenth. These Flemings advanced and 
 perfected their school principally in Rome. 
 Only one great Italian figures in this move- 
 ment, and he appears almost as an accidental, 
 if culminating, force at the extreme end of 
 the period. 
 
 (Elsewhere in Europe the influence of the 
 Flemings is felt. Under their direct inspira- 
 tion, music is produced in such places as 
 Venice, Florence, Naples, Bologna, France, 
 and England. In the latter place alone is 
 there any even imperfect approach to the 
 foundation of a national school.) 
 
 (3) Spain is the only other nation to join with 
 
 Italy in perfecting the Flemish School. The 
 Spanish composers work not in Spain but in 
 Rome. 
 
 (4) The northern (sea-board) Dutch and the 
 Portuguese produce nothing. 
 
 In 1600 the character of musical composi- 
 tion is suddenly changed by the Italians. 
 From that time forward 
 
 (5) The English and Spanish peoples join the 
 
 Dutch and Portuguese in producing no 
 musical development. (In all these countries 
 
 Antiphon, and the celebrated "Rota," " Sumer is icumen in" 
 (the last probably written in the Abbey of Reading, Berkshire, 
 between 1200 and 1250); the so-called "Chaucer" MS. in the 
 Arundel Collection at the British Museum, containing the hymn 
 " Ouen of euene for y e blisse," and "Salve virgo virginum"; the 
 (thirteenth century) MS. of "Secular Songs" in the Vatican 
 Library and the MS. at Bologna, each containing vocal works by 
 Dunstable and his English contemporaries (early fifteenth century). 
 
 B
 
 1 8 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 foreign music continues to be performed and 
 admired.) 
 
 (6) Florence, Venice, Mantua, and Naples, become 
 
 the "live-axle" of the musical world. 
 
 (7) A number of (often small and isolated) towns 
 
 and states of the (present) German and 
 Austrian Empires produce in Central and 
 Eastern Europe a purely Teutonic school of 
 music. (This school has its first momentum 
 from Italy, but, when once it is started, it owes 
 its development solely to German energies.) 
 
 (8) A French school is built up on similar Italian 
 
 foundations. Unlike the German school, 
 however, it is centred in one town Paris 
 and is developed and guided at its critical 
 moments not only by Frenchmen, but bv 
 acclimatized Germans and Italians. 1 
 
 (9) A number of peoples (Russian, Scandinavian, 
 
 and Finnish) begin to produce national music, 
 generallv under the initial influence of Ger- 
 many. (This music is. especially in the case of 
 Russia, so minute in quantity when compared 
 with size of population as to be negligible.) 
 In these few sentences I have stated, in the 
 broadest way possible, the ficts of European musical 
 history. If the reader is inclined to wonder at the 
 breadth either of statement or of omission, he should 
 reflect that some persons in every nation are at almost 
 all times writing music, but that this universal 
 activitv is (more often than not) only a formality that 
 exists as a kind of sub-conscious protest which a 
 nation makes against its own prohibitive artistic 
 conditions. A rigorous selection has therefore to be 
 made, and the criterion by which we must make such 
 
 1 E.g. Lulli, Gluck, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Offenbach, etc.
 
 i HISTORICAL QUESTIONS 19 
 
 a selection can only be that of national mental pro- 
 gress. This is the sole way in which we can arrive 
 at a satisfactory record of artistic development ; but 
 it must not be overlooked that individual art-works 
 may have a value to the nation which produces them 
 quite different from that which they have to the world 
 at large. On this point, as it affects the special case 
 of Opera in England, I shall dwell in a later chapter. 
 
 Now, if we take the above record of musical 
 development and consider it as wholly detached from 
 everv other form of national and international activity, 
 there is nothing that calls tor explanation. Historians 
 have gathered tor us an enormous mass of easily- 
 available material in which the flow of musical 
 development is as plain as the course of the Thames 
 trom Battersea Bridge to Chelsea Hospital. It is 
 only when we attempt to correlate the high and low 
 tides of musical art with the ebb and flow ot the other 
 arts and of our o-eneral national life that we find 
 ourselves faced by serious difficulties and contra- 
 dictions. Music, however, is a faculty of the human 
 mind whose exercise is governed by exactly the same 
 conditions as the exercise of any other faculty that is 
 to say, that the outward conditions (of race, of 
 geographical and political environment) bring the 
 same pressure to bear on the exercise of the one 
 faculty as on the exercise of the others. The question, 
 then, remains to be asked whether the mind itself 
 responds in the same way when working in a musical 
 as in any other medium. In other words, we must 
 ask ourselves whether, even with identical conditions, 
 there is not some fundamental difference between 
 musical and any other mental activitv. 
 
 Our obiect must therefore be to examine the 
 broad frets of musical historv, as given above, in the
 
 20 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. i. 
 
 light of the equally broad facts of national history, 
 so that we may be able to discover the " least- 
 common-denominator " whose presence is the pre- 
 ventive factor in national musical productivity. 
 We shall then be able to apply this knowledge 
 to the special case ot arrested musical development 
 in England. 
 
 Now, it is quite plain that any such discovery is 
 impossible unless we first ascertain whether an 
 argument based on such an examination is equally 
 applicable to music and to the other arts ; for, if 
 we find that musical activities proceed together, step 
 by step, with the other activities, we can claim that 
 identical causes and conditions have produced identical 
 results. If, on the other hand, we find that the 
 flowing tide and the high-water mark of development 
 invariably differ as between music and the other 
 arts, we shall be forced to explain this discrepancy by 
 some fundamental difference in the mental processes 
 required. In the latter case we should probablv 
 obtain a clue to help us in our search tor what I have 
 called " the least-common-denominator," and we 
 should expect to find the perplexing and apparently 
 causeless phenomena ot musical history tailing into 
 their places as ordered parts ot a logical development. 
 1 must, however, make it clear that, as I wish to 
 apply the results of this investigation specially to 
 English musical history, 1 am limiting mvself more 
 particularly to a study of the factor which prevents 
 musical development, and am only incidentally con- 
 sidering those other factors which further its advance. 
 It would. I think, be no more difficult to discover 
 the latter than the former, but its full discussion is 
 not possible outside the limits ot a volume devoted to 
 that purpose.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 NATIONAL AND ARTISTIC COMPARISONS 
 
 Let us begin by imagining a chronological chart 
 of European history from the year iooo to the 
 present day. 1 On it we place three distinct sets of 
 entries : 
 
 (i) Names of men, places, or events which serve 
 as symbols of great national movements. 
 
 (2) Names which stand in a similar relationship to 
 
 science, to manufacture, to literature, and to 
 all the arts except music. 
 
 (3) The great representative names of music. 
 From such a chart two conclusions can be drawn 
 
 without difficulty : 
 
 (1) The development of music has been late com- 
 
 pared with every other sort of development, 
 whether scientific, artistic, or political. 
 
 (2) National development has always marched 
 
 with development in every form of art but 
 
 music. 
 
 In the first conclusion I am not interested at the 
 
 present moment, though it offers a tempting subject 
 
 for speculation. Its proof can be seen in the enormous 
 
 list of painters, sculptors, poets, explorers, statesmen, 
 
 'A chart of this sort, but confined to the contrast of "Music" 
 with "Science, Literature, and the other Arts," is to be found at 
 page 264 of Mr. Wallace's The Threshold of Music.
 
 22 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 and so on, whose activities were developed and 
 perfected before Haydn was born. 
 
 It is with the second conclusion that I wish to 
 deal more explicitly here, and the most striking way 
 in which we can enforce its lesson is to imagine what 
 our history would be if music did actually coincide in 
 its progress with the advance of nations and of their 
 arts. To do this we must first la} r aside our historical 
 knowledge, and endeavour to fit music into the place 
 which, a priori^ we should suppose it ought to occupy. 
 In this way we shall see how grotesquely false is our 
 assumption. 
 
 Suppose, then, that we secure the services of some 
 imaginary and detached being from Mars. We 
 presuppose in him the power of reasoning, but not of 
 distinguishing tongues ; we hand over to him our 
 chronological chart, having first erased from it all the 
 musical names ; we provide him with undated lists of 
 the musical activities of PZurope, and ask him to enter 
 them in the chart on the supposition that musical 
 development has always proceeded hand in hand with 
 the development of the nation and of the other arts. 
 We shall first have to inform him that, for some 
 unknown reason, he must not begin his entries before 
 iooo a.d. ; that, at the outset, all the European 
 nations are equally musical and equally undeveloped ; 
 that the folk-song exists everywhere, but nothing else 
 except perhaps here and there an echo in the Church 
 of bygone days ; that we must not attempt to enter 
 anything against the great international outpouring of 
 the CrusaJ.es, because, though on our hypothesis this 
 must have produced a similar (and perhaps inter- 
 national) musical awakening, no such general European 
 renaissance appears in his list of musical activities, 
 and that, therefore, he must fill in the chart in this
 
 n NATIONAL COMPARISONS 23 
 
 place with a " ? ". What sort of history will he com- 
 pile under these fantastic conditions ? I take it that 
 it might read something as follows : 
 
 (1) Between 1000 and 1300 the world-power is to 
 
 the Papacy. It is in Rome, therefore, and 
 not in England that the first feeble signs of 
 musical life begin to show themselves. 
 Honest John of Fornsete becomes an early 
 Italian monk, and " Sumer is icumen in " an 
 early Italian madrigal. 
 
 (2) Between 1265 and 1325 the great political and 
 
 artistic awakening in Italy produces Dante, 
 Giotto, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. She has, 
 therefore, to take her opportunity of building 
 up the first developed school of artistic music, 
 and in doing this she produces Palestrina who 
 dies about 200 years before he was born. 
 
 (3) The third period (from 1380 to 1500) is again 
 
 in the hands of Italy, for it is between those 
 dates that all the greatest Italian thinkers and 
 artists were born. The list begins with 
 Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Fra Angelico, 
 and goes on through Botticelli and Leonardo 
 da Vinci to Machiavelli, Michael Angelo, 
 Ariosto, Titian, Raphael, and Benvenuto 
 Cellini. This is, therefore, also the great 
 period of Italian musical art. She founds 
 Opera with Peri and Caccini, elaborates it with 
 Monteverde, Cesti, and Cavalli, systematizes 
 it with Scarlatti, and perhaps brings it to a 
 culminating point with Lulli. Thus Opera 
 reaches its first great climax about 100 years 
 before its (actual) invention. 
 
 (The English, the Spanish, the Portuguese, 
 the Flemings, the Dutch, and the inhabitants
 
 24 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of the present German Empire take no part 
 in either of these movements.) 
 (4) In 1492 America is discovered. The Medi- 
 terranean ceases to be the ocean and becomes 
 an inland sea. Slowly but irresistibly the 
 face of European civilization is altered. The 
 eyes of the world begin to turn westward, 
 and, as they turn, the relative importance of 
 European nations begins to assume new and 
 strange shapes. At once the burden of dis- 
 covery and empire is taken up and controlled 
 by the two most inconsiderable of western 
 nations. Among the Latin peoples it is the 
 most westerly onlv, the Spanish and the 
 Portuguese, that join in the race for empire. 
 The effect of the discovery does not begin to 
 be felt till the last half of the sixteenth 
 century. From that time onwards we can 
 see its results in an enormous out-reaching 
 both east and west, an awakening of dis- 
 covery, of conquest, ot trade, and ot empire. 
 
 From about 1550, then, to the present day 
 the musical activities ot the world must be 
 apportioned, not to the Germans, the French, 
 and the Italians, to whom thev rightfully 
 belong, but to the Dutch, the Spanish, the 
 Portuguese, and pre-eminently the English. 
 
 How exactly our " Man from Mars " 
 would divide up these activities is matter 
 rather of chance than of logic. Suffice it to 
 say that every great name of modern 
 European music must appear to the credit 
 of one of the four countries which 1 have 
 named, and that England's share in this, as 
 in other things, must be the lion's share.
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 25 
 
 To the Portuguese perhaps would be given 
 the honour or producing the first great com- 
 poser of the modern world, I suppose they 
 would have called him Joao Bach : to the 
 Dutch might fall his great contemporary 
 Handel, with the whole or the early German 
 school ; while to the Spanish, who have set 
 their mark on halt a continent, would be 
 allotted the whole of the modern Operatic 
 school either ot France or Italy. But it is 
 England who, above all other nations, has 
 profited by the discovery ot 1492, and it is 
 England who, since Elizabethan days, has 
 most devoted herself to the aim of World- 
 Empire. It is therefore England who must 
 hand over her Sullivan to the Viennese, and 
 take in exchange their Haydn, Mozart, 
 Schubert, and Beethoven. Nor would these 
 names offer a sufficiently brilliant illustration 
 of her vast world-activity. She must lay hands 
 on Weber, Wagner, Schumann, Mendelssohn, 
 and Brahms. 
 
 Germany and Austria (poor countries until 
 recently far removed from the world-move- 
 ment) have nothing left to them unless, 
 indeed, the former claims some small musical 
 expression of her recent, and not very profit- 
 able, national extension in Africa. In that 
 case the United Teutonic nations might be 
 credited with " Maritana " and the musical 
 accompaniments to " Peter Pan." 
 
 France, despite her brilliance, undoubtedly 
 the least successful of empire-builders, would 
 receive an almost exact illustration of her 
 timid, vacillating colonial policy in our own
 
 26 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Operatic history from Arne to the present 
 day. 
 
 Italy, for so long a confused jumble of 
 warring states, could have nothing till her 
 sudden political union in the nineteenth 
 century a union that might be symbolized 
 by some such isolated genius as Henrico 
 Purcell. 
 
 The modern Flemings the Belgians 
 might be punished for their deeds in the 
 Congo by the present of Balfe and the poet 
 Bunn. 
 Here, then, we have a sketch of musical history 
 drawn up on the assumption that national and musical 
 activities coincide. I must lav stress on the fact that, 
 however grotesque and ridiculous this sketch may 
 appear to a reader with any historical knowledge, there 
 is nothing a priori improbable about it. On the 
 contrary it offers a fair statement of what, on our 
 assumption, musical history ought to be, but actually 
 is not. We must also remember that, if we had 
 erased from our chart not only the musical names but 
 all the entries except those ot the great national world- 
 movements, and had then handed to our " Man from 
 Mars" undated lists of poets, painters, sculptors, 
 students of nature, merchants, soldiers, sailors, ex- 
 plorers, administrators, and so on, he would have had 
 no difficulty in entering these names on the chart so 
 that they corresponded roughly with the actualities of 
 history. I do not say, of course, that (under the 
 fanciful conditions which I am imagining) he would 
 have entered the correct names, but I do say that he 
 would have been able to allot to each era of national 
 movement its quota ot great representative men in 
 every form of activity except music, and that these
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 27 
 
 entries would, in a broad sense, tally with known 
 historical personages. 
 
 Our own history, which has been a continual record 
 of extension since the days of Elizabeth Tudor, offers 
 us as good an example as any other. 
 
 First we have the great national awakening at the 
 time of the Armada, and a corresponding over-seas 
 activity in America and the East Indies. 1 At home 
 this movement finds its counterpart in the sudden 
 and unexpected blaze of the Elizabethan drama. 
 
 In the succeeding century the national vitality, not 
 content with its dreams of Western Empire, turns 
 towards the East, and finds an outlet for its trade in 
 India and Northern Africa. 2 At home we have the 
 long list of Jacobean scholars, philosophers, and 
 divines, at least two great poets, many great prose 
 writers, sculptors, medallists and builders of the first 
 rank, as well as the names that represent the founding 
 of modern science in Charles the Second's reign. 
 
 In the next century the eighteenth the national 
 appetite for exploration and conquest seems to be not 
 sated but sharpened. India, Canada, the South Seas 
 are all visited and brought wholly or partly under the 
 sway of England, and this despite the fact that a large 
 part of the national resources has to be continually 
 employed in European warfare. 3 At home we find 
 such representative names as Pope, Addison, Gray, 
 
 1 Drake's voyage round the World, 1577 ; Raleigh in Virginia, 
 1584; Patent granted to the East India Company, 1600 ; Hawkins 
 at the Court of the Great Mogul, 1609. 
 
 '-Jamaica taken, 1656 ; S. Carolina settled, 1669 ; Darien ex- 
 pedition, 1 698- 1 700 ; Tangier passed into English hands as the 
 dowry of Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles the Second ; Second 
 East India Company, 1698. 
 
 3 Gibraltar taken, 1704; S. Sea Bubble, 1720-1721 ; Georgia 
 colonized, 1732 ; Anson's Voyages, 1740-1744; Clive in India,
 
 28 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Goldsmith, Steele, Sheridan, Eentley, Porson, John- 
 son, Newton, Romney, Gainsborough, Reynolds, and 
 Constable. 
 
 In the nineteenth century we can only make a hasty 
 reference to the long catalogue of England's over-seas 
 activity. It includes the complete subjugation and 
 consolidation or the Indian Empire, the conquest of 
 Burma, the domination of the Federated Malay States 
 and Sarawak, an enormous extension of territory in 
 all parts of Africa, and the acquisition of a large num- 
 ber of small stations whose geographical position 
 makes them integral factors in our Empire. All the 
 time that England is carrying out these enterprises 
 she is faced with long and expensive Continental wars 
 and with a continual drain of her children to the 
 Colonies. Thus she loses in two ways : First, the 
 productive energies of a large number of her people 
 who either perish in actual warfare or are compelled 
 to devote their lives to providing the necessary funds 
 for that warfare ; and, Second, the energies of her 
 emigrants, who either devote themselves to their own 
 well-being in one of her Colonies, leaving her to 
 face the problems of Empire unaided, or else take 
 themselves and their productive powers into a foreign 
 country. The total of national vitality which is 
 presupposed by this short summary is, of course, 
 enormous, and the wonder remains that she is able to 
 mirror its size and complexity in her home-activities. 1 
 
 1750-1760; War with France in N. America, 1 75-f ; Plassey, 
 1757; Wolfe at Quebec, 1759 ; Conquest of Canada completed, 
 1769; Cook's voyages, 1770-1779; Warren Hastings in India, 
 1772-17S5; American War, 1775-178^; Elliot at Gibraltar, 
 1779-1782 ; Wars with Tippoo Saib, 1783-1799; Cape of Good 
 Hope taken, 1795 ; Spice Islands taken, 1796. 
 
 1 Malta taken, 1S00; Mahratta war, As aye, 1803; Madeira 
 taken, 1807; Ionian Islands (Collingwood), 1809; Algiers bom-
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 29 
 
 There is no difficult)', however, in proving that, so far 
 from showing signs of fatigue, the output of over-seas 
 energy only increases her productivity at home ; and 
 to realize this we need only glance at a list of such 
 names as Wordsworth, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Tenny- 
 son, Browning, Turner, Millais, Rossetti, Burne- 
 Jones, Darwin, Lister, Dickens and Thackeray. 1 
 
 From this hasty sketch the reader will be able to 
 judge how uniform has been our activity in every 
 department of public life but music ; and, if he wishes 
 to enforce the argument, he can take any nation 
 which has shown an over-seas activity similar to our 
 own, and mark how (as in the case of Holland) it is 
 accompanied by a similar productiveness in painters, 
 carvers, metal-workers, engineers, statesmen, soldiers 
 and sailors but not in musicians. He will also be able 
 to see that, when we return to our original question, 
 why the English people have not been able to produce a 
 National School of Opera, we shall not be able to find 
 an easy answer in the often-repeated statement " that 
 they have always been too busy doing something 
 else." 2 For it is quite plain that, however busy they 
 
 barded, 1816; Parry's voyages, 18 19; Burmese war, 1824; 
 Chinese opium war, 1S39-1842; Afghan war, 1838-1842; War 
 in Scinde, 1843 ; Sikh wars, 1845-1849; Kaffir wars, 1 847-1848; 
 Burmese war, 1852; Annexation oi Oude, 1856; Abyssinian ex- 
 pedition, 1808; as well as more recent acquisitions, by war or 
 otherwise, in almost ever} 7 part oi Africa. 
 
 1 From these lists oi well-known names, taken almost at haphazard, 
 1 have purposelv excluded all sailors, soldiers, explorers, adminis- 
 trators and engineers, because they may be considered to be 
 more exactly the actual, and, as it were, proximate makers of 
 Kmpire. It would not, therefore, be germane to my argument to 
 include their names in a list of the other activities which accompany 
 national movements. 
 
 ' J In his lecture "About Music" delivered at Birmingham in 
 i 8S8, Sir Arthur Sullivan said : " I will not 20 into the causes
 
 30 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 have been, they have always found time to produce a 
 multitude of great men and great artists, who may, 
 perhaps, find their cause in the World-Empire, but 
 who cannot be said to be directly useful to that 
 Empire except as an illustration. 
 
 But there is another, and still more important 
 conclusion to be drawn from our comparison of 
 musical and national activities, for, if we contrast the 
 original historical chart with the chart as filled in by 
 our imaginary " Man from Mars," we cannot help 
 noticing that not only do the musical entries fail to 
 tally with the other entries in a general wav, but that 
 they are in every case precisely opposed to each other. 
 Where we might have expected music, there is none ; 
 where we might have expected no music, there it is. 
 In other words, as soon as a nation begins to extend 
 and exteriorize itsell it ceases to develop its musical, 
 though not necessarily its other artistic, faculties. In 
 
 which for nearly 200 years made us lose that high position, and 
 threw us into the hands of the illustrious foreigners, Handel, Haydn, 
 Spohr, Mendelssohn (so long the favourite composers of the Eng- 
 lish) and of the Italian Opera, which exclusively occupied the 
 attention of the fashionable classes, and, like a great car of jugger- 
 naut, overrode and crushed all eilorts made on behalf of native 
 music. My belief Is that tins was largely due to the enthusiasm with 
 which commerce was pursued, and the extraordinary :cav in which religious 
 and political struggles, and, Liter still, practical science, have absorbed our 
 energies." but this belief seems to have no great value as a basis for 
 deduction, for, quite apart from the fact that (m England, at any 
 rate) the most commercial places (e.g. South bancs, Birmingham, 
 and Yorkshire) are also the most musical, it is obvious that none of 
 the pursuits named can possibly preclude groups of individuals from 
 maintaining a truly national art by means of native professional 
 mush ians. Neither France nor ( Jermany shows any lack of com- 
 mercial, religious, political, or scientific energy, but the fact remains 
 that they have been able to combine these activities with a purely 
 national musical development. This argument is, therefore, useless, 
 and we are forced to look for the differentiating factor elsewhere.
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 31 
 
 a broad sense, and with some very slight modifications 
 of place and occasion, this is a historical fact. It is 
 therefore in this one fact world-power, which is at 
 the present day very much the same thing as sea- 
 power that we can find an explanation of the 
 perplexing phenomena of musical history. 
 
 " But," the reader may well ask, " why is it that 
 these vast semi-conscious national movements should 
 not have the same effect on the production of music 
 as they have on the production of any other art, 
 such as that of the painter, the sculptor, or the poet ? " 
 This is a reasonable question and, since we must accept 
 the difference of effect as matter of undoubted history, 
 we must endeavour to find a satisfactory answer by 
 contrasting the arts of poetry, painting, and sculpture 
 with that ot music, and so arriving at some funda- 
 mental difference between the two. 
 
 That some such fundamental difference exists we 
 might be led to guess by merely looking at the faces 
 of half a dozen representatives of each of the arts 
 which I have named, for while it would be mere 
 matter of guesswork to tell the painter from the 
 sculptor, or either from the literary man, no one 
 would have any difficulty in picking out the musician. 
 This indeed is matter ot common speech, for even in 
 this country, where such physical marks as long hair 
 are almost unknown, a man is spoken of as "looking 
 like a musician," whereas no one ever makes a similar 
 guess at a sculptor's or a painter's identity, unless 
 it be that he judges from his white smock or paintbox. 
 
 Now, this superficial difference of aspect is an effect 
 caused by a simple but fundamental difference of 
 mental process. It cannot, indeed, be doubted that 
 the actual technical problems presented to the indi- 
 vidual poet, painter, sculptor, and musician are to be
 
 32 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 solved by an application of the same mental processes 
 in all four cases, and that the same mental process 
 applied in the same way produces identical results in 
 all the four arts ; but, on the other hand, it is equally 
 beyond doubt that, in its inception, the musical 
 activity differs from the other activities not in degree 
 but in kind. 
 
 The poet, the painter, and the sculptor depend, in 
 the first place, solely on external stimuli. In the case of 
 the sculptor the stimulus is the form, which appears 
 to him as an actually existent object approximately 
 reproducible in whatever material he may have to 
 hand : in the case of the painter the stimulus is the 
 variation of colour-mass which he can partially repro- 
 duce by means of paint. The poet, for his part, 
 depends on a to him less stationary, but no 
 less external, series of stimuli, tor (unless he is 
 merely a rhyming philosopher) he must first receive 
 through his senses the impressions of men, places, 
 and events. 
 
 Now, the art of the composer differs fundamentally 
 from all these. It is, of course, like the other three 
 arts, an expression of the emotions interpreted in 
 terms of the intellect, but, unlike them, it depends 
 for its inception on no external stimulus whatever ; 
 and this tact is of far-reaching importance when we 
 come to consider the larger question of national in 
 relation to musical development. 1 do not say that 
 the actual cunning of the musician differs from that of 
 the painter, the sculptor, or the poet. They all make 
 the same use ot historical forms of expression, of idea- 
 associations, and of emotional experiences. In all 
 four cases the art-work ought to represent to us a 
 sum of the artist's emotional experiences, though 
 sometimes in artists of a low emotional index it
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 33 
 
 represents no more than a collection of associated 
 ideas. But, whatever the mental process in building 
 up the art-work, we must recognize the fact that the 
 actual inception of musical creation differs from that 
 of any other form of artistic creation. 
 
 The painter, the sculptor, and the poet gather in 
 the things which they can see and touch and hear. 
 They pass these sense-impressions through their 
 minds, and bring forth a " version " of them coloured 
 and modified by their own personalities. The musician, 
 wholly self-centred, passes through the same process, 
 but the creative act begins in a quite different manner 
 in that he looks for his stimulus to nothing outside 
 his own personality. In pure music he can no more 
 express definitely the emotion of " anger " than he 
 can the idea of an "apple-tree." In both cases, of 
 course, a singer may make the meaning of the music 
 clear by means of words ; and in the former case it 
 would be easy, even in pure instrumental music, to 
 write passages which would " sound angry." But 
 this means no more than that the musical sounds 
 recall (by association) the sounds which people utter 
 when angry, and no listener would be surprised to 
 hear that the composer had a different intention in 
 his mind. 
 
 Lock the painter, the poet, and the sculptor up 
 within four bare walls : give them light, paint, canvas, 
 pen, ink, paper, clay and in ten years they will pro- 
 duce nothing but from memory. Lock the musician 
 up with his pens and paper : rob him of every external 
 impression possible : take away even sight and hear- 
 ing, and he will continue his artistic development 
 unchecked by his surroundings. The reason is that, 
 in his case, the balance between the interior and the 
 exterior tilts deeply in favour of the former, whereas 
 
 c
 
 34 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 in the arts of the other three, the two arms of the 
 scale are almost in equipoise. 
 
 The mind of the composer, though strangely com- 
 plex when demanding the instrumental realization of 
 his conceptions, moves, at their creation, almost un- 
 hampered by physical conditions. The simple mathe- 
 matical facts with regard to a yard of catgut and an 
 open pipe are his only postulates. It is the more 
 necessary to insist on this contrast because many 
 people, in comparing the activities of the musician 
 with those of other artists, are led into the fallacy of 
 supposing that his vast array of instruments and 
 voices are analogues, in his art, to the much vaster 
 external system which stimulates the imagination of 
 the poet, the sculptor, and the painter. But such an 
 analogy is based wholly on a confusion between the 
 act of creating and the act of exhibiting the creation. 1 
 
 If, indeed, we wished to attempt the (impossible) 
 task of finding an analogy to musical creation in the 
 other arts, we should have to invite the painter to 
 produce a picture of the law of gravity, or the 
 sculptor to express in clay the tact that two parts of 
 hydrogen and one of oxygen combine together to 
 make water, or the poet to write a drama on the 
 subject of "Twice two is four." Or, if we wished to 
 turn the analogy round the other way we should have 
 to ask the musician to write instrumental music which 
 would be understood as representing Battersea Bridge, 
 or Shelley's bodv at Via Reggio, or the Death of 
 Tybalt : not merely the emotions called up in his 
 
 1 The reader may note in passing that, though the creation of 
 music is a very simple and inexpensive affair when compared with 
 the creation of pictures or statuary, the two latter turn the tables 
 very much in their own favour when it comes to exhibiting the 
 finished creation.
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 35 
 
 mind by these subjects, that is common to all four 
 arts nor the reproductions of any physical sounds 
 which he may associate with them (such as the even 
 flow of the river, the beating of waves, or the angry 
 sounds of quarrel and murder) ; but music-pictures 
 which, including perhaps the emotions and the associ- 
 ated ideas, at the same time contain recognizable 
 statements of these exterior objects. 
 
 We need not enter into the question of programme 
 music to see that all these things are impossible. 
 The painter can draw Newton watching the apple 
 fall : the sculptor can model the form of the chemist, 
 the test-tube, and even the drop of water : the poet 
 can write his drama if you give him two men and 
 two women to make his four. They can all put into 
 their art whatever emotion they are capable of, but 
 they also begin and end with the actual thing as they 
 think it exists outside themselves. The musician, 
 on the other hand, though he can depict the emotions 
 called up in his mind by an idea or object, cannot 
 include that idea or object in his musical statement. 
 
 The others make the wine, as it were, and pour 
 it into bottles, while the composer presses out his 
 grapes only on the stringent and seemingly unearthly 
 condition that the wine can never be viewed through 
 the dark glass of humanity. That his wine is the 
 purer, the more elevated, and the more spiritual, for 
 this deep and abiding condition of its making cannot 
 be denied, but nevertheless it pays the penalty of its 
 removal from all exterior relationships in that the 
 art-work itself becomes separated from the general 
 trend of national thought, 1 while the artist is forced 
 
 1 In this connection it is interesting to note the extreme diffi- 
 culty that composers have always felt in "rising" to any national 
 occasion. Such opportunities occur to them in common with
 
 36 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 into a position which either exalts him unduly above 
 his more quiescent countrymen or else depresses him 
 below the general imaginative level of his age. 
 
 Now, it is this simple but important difference be- 
 tween musical and all other forms of artistic creation 
 that furnishes us with a clue to what I have called 
 the " least-common-denominator " of musical and 
 national activity. 
 
 We must remember that this one overmastering 
 condition the necessity of external stimuli to every 
 art except music governs the creative impulse of 
 all other artists and exercises a steady pressure on 
 their energies. The result of this condition is that 
 music, as compared with the other arts, follows a 
 path of its own that begins in a different place, runs 
 between its own hedges, and makes for a totally 
 different spot. It is not, however, with this contrast 
 that we are specially concerned here, for our object 
 is the larger one of bringing musical history into 
 some sort of harmony with national history. 
 
 If we now go back to our original historical chart, 
 
 painters, sculptors, poets, and builders ; but while the latter 
 recognize them as part and parcel of their business, and are 
 ordinarily successful in dealing with them, the attempt of the 
 composer to work to order invariably ends in failure. This 
 indicates an accurate, if unconscious, knowledge of the conditions 
 under which alone he can produce original work. The history of 
 the world, from Troy to Paardeberg, can very well be read in its 
 poetry and sculpture, but every historical analogy teaches us that, 
 if we could recover the music of the past 5000 years and examine 
 it in the light of historical events, we should gain nothing but a 
 feeling of confusion and surprise at its misleading and inadequate 
 character. The reader may very well examine, from the historical 
 and not the strictly musical standpoint, the composition and 
 contents of such works as "The Dcttingen Te Deum," "The 
 Reformation Symphony," Wagner's forgotten occasional pieces, 
 and even the " Eroica Symphony."
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 37 
 
 we shall at once be struck by the fact that, as there 
 is a fundamental difference between the two forms of 
 artistic activity, so there is a similar difference which 
 divides all national activity into two broad fields. 
 This difference, which is itself caused by race and 
 geographical position, is not easily expressible in a 
 single English word. Perhaps the difference between 
 the Saxon words "outwardness" and "inwardness," 
 or the Latin " exteriorization " and " interiorization," 
 will give some idea of the thing which I propose to 
 explain. 
 
 We must first attempt to take a broad, general 
 view of European history, leaving out entirely 
 the interminable petty squabbles which have been 
 fomented by princes for their own ends, leaving 
 out also all the bitter and useless bloodshed of 
 the Churches, and the inconclusive marchings and 
 counter-marchings of armed men to and from 
 foreign territories. In doing this we shall be forced 
 to recognize the existence in Europe of two distinct 
 attitudes of mind which differentiate one nation from 
 another just as music is differentiated from the other 
 arts. 
 
 On the one hand we have nations (of which Ger- 
 many down to the latter end of the nineteenth century 
 is a type) sitting within their own borders, their 
 backs, as it were, turned to their frontiers, and their 
 eyes turned inwards. In such a nation there is no 
 national projection of energy outwards, but there is 
 an intense and cherishing spirit of national pride 
 inwards a spirit which often produces a sturdy 
 defensive militarism and which ties up the whole 
 nation into a band of brotherhood. The common 
 impulse, however, which unites such a band of 
 brothers, is not (as in the case of the Vikings, the
 
 38 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Norman pirates, and the Elizabethan buccaneers) an 
 impulse of adventure, of acquisition, and of national 
 exteriorization, but an impulse of common sympathy 
 in defence, of tenacity to ideals at home, and of 
 conservation of the national energy. 
 
 Of the second and precisely opposite type of 
 national mind the best examples (in two very 
 different ways) are Rome down to about the time 
 of the discovery of America, and England from 
 Elizabeth's day till now. In a nation of this type 
 we find its citizens perpetually standing, as it were, 
 in a state of eagerness and tension, their eyes strained 
 outwards to and beyond their frontiers. The whole 
 nation seems ready to spring and, wherever possible, 
 does spring beyond its borders. This impulse 
 towards national projection may become, as in the 
 case of England, the one absorbing passion of 
 centuries, and may result, as it has with her, in the 
 acquisition of a great World-Empire. I have, how- 
 ever, specially mentioned Rome as an instance of 
 this mental attitude because I wish to make it clear 
 that, though the term " world-power " may be con- 
 veniently used to describe the (possible) results of 
 such a process of exteriorization, it is not the actual 
 gain or possession ot territory, or even the power 
 springing from these gains, which is of importance in 
 this connection, but the continual projection of the 
 national mind outwards which lies behind and 
 perhaps causes these gains. 
 
 This can be seen plainly in the unique case of 
 Rome, who in her long tenure of world-power 
 gained almost nothing in the way of actual terri- 
 torial possessions. Yet she remains the great living 
 example of a State whose energies were wholly 
 devoted to exteriorization, for, though it is a
 
 n NATIONAL COMPARISONS 39 
 
 common saying that " all roads lead to Rome," 
 we must (if we are to understand the mental attitude 
 o r the mediaeval Roman churchman) put ourselves 
 in his place in Rome from which all roads lead. We 
 can then see him like a spider I say it without 
 meaning anv offence sitting in the middle of a vast 
 network of international activities, with his gaze 
 alwavs running outwards along some line or other of 
 his web. His object is the extension of the Roman 
 power and the Roman ideals, just as the present-day 
 Englishman's object is the extension of his own 
 power and his own ideals. The object aimed at and 
 the habit 01 mind which gives the aim its possibility 
 of success are the same in both cases : the method 
 of execution and the results are, of course, quite 
 different. 
 
 Now, if we compare any two nations of these 
 opposing types the exteriorizing and the interior- 
 izing we can see that, though they both offer in 
 diverse ways an outlet for the imaginative energy of 
 their people, the conditions built up within each State 
 must be exactly contrary to each other. On the one 
 hand there is an atmosphere ot contentment, of 
 peaceful contemplation and reflection, of leisure, and 
 of concentration : on the other, of (necessary) dis- 
 content, of nervous anxiety, of continual motion, and 
 of expansion. It is only when we realize the gulf 
 that divides these two types of society that we can 
 bring their dependent musical activities into historical 
 focus. For no nation has ever been hindered in its 
 musical development by the fact that it was " busy 
 doing something else" ; and to prove that one has 
 only to select any developed national school of music 
 at random, German, Viennese, Florentine, Venetian, 
 Flemish, French, or Italian, and set down against its
 
 4 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 history its national record of contemporary wars, 
 invasions, expeditions, political and dynastic turmoils, 
 its buildings, pictures, and statuary, its poetry and 
 prose, its engineering and its commerce. 
 
 Outside chronic poverty there is, indeed, only one 
 factor which can have any deterrent effect on national 
 musical development, and that is the acquisition of 
 world-power. Consider for one moment what is the 
 pressure on art of this continual attitude of exterior- 
 ization. To the poet, the painter, and the sculptor, 
 who all rely on external stimuli for their creative 
 impulses, this attitude is not only not a hindrance, it 
 is an advantage. The world of new sights, of new 
 sounds, and of strange conceptions, which comes to 
 them from over the seas, stirs their minds and fires 
 their imaginations. An epoch of great national out- 
 reaching, or a moment when some mighty outburst 
 of energy occurs, always finds its intellectual and 
 artistic counterpart at home in art. The form taken 
 by this art is, of course, a matter of circumstance 
 often a matter of mere physical circumstance : it mav 
 be sculptured marble, as at Athens : it mav be paint 
 and architecture, as in Italy : or it may be drama, as 
 in Elizabethan England ; but the one torm which it 
 will not take and never has taken is developed music. 
 
 There may be an accession of wealth sufficiently 
 great to make the founding or development of a 
 music school perfectly easy on its material side, as 
 was the case in mid-Victorian days : there may be 
 foreign musicians of the greatest distinction resident 
 in the State, as was the case in George the First's 
 days; but all these things avail the nation nothing, 
 the musical faculty will remain sterile, or will produce, 
 at most, a still-born offspring. And the reason is the 
 very simple one that the musician depends tor his
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 41 
 
 creative impulse on his inner self, and all these vast 
 projections and exteriorizations of the national mind 
 do not only not help him, but actually prevent him 
 producing music. 
 
 The fundamental difference, then, between music 
 and the other arts calls for a difference of mental 
 atmosphere. It may be quite true that where reflec- 
 tive poetry and art flourish, there music may flourish ; 
 but it is also true that, where the main energies of a 
 nation are devoted to exteriorization and perhaps 
 incidentally to its exemplification by means of the 
 other arts there no music can flourish. 
 
 Composers, in fact, have to work under one of 
 two sets of conditions, favourable or adverse, and if 
 we wish to present the violence of these contrasting 
 conditions in the form of a miniature and, as it were, 
 individualized picture, we should have to imagine two 
 composers at work one in a quiet secluded room, 
 moderately furnished and moderately lit ; the other 
 in an over-lit and over-furnished room, filled with an 
 eager, bustling, crowd of people who continually 
 gather in animated groups round the open windows 
 and pass, chattering, in and out of the open doors. 
 These two pictures give a fair idea of the two sets of 
 conditions which have existed alongside one another 
 in Germany and England from 1600 to the present 
 day. The result is seen in the difference between 
 the musical histories of the two countries. In each 
 case there is constant musical activity, and, at the 
 outset, it is an activity of equally capable men ; but 
 the German, working quietly, unaffected by the calls 
 of Empire, has been able to build up, brick by brick, 
 an immense and noble artistic structure, while the 
 Englishman has been running about trying first one 
 style of foundation, then a second, which he abandons
 
 4 2 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 distractedly for a third. Even in spite of himself, 
 the Englishman has been able to produce one or two 
 men of first-class ability, but the disheartening record 
 of their isolation has had its natural result and, as we 
 near the nineteenth century, we rind that, though 
 England can enter two such "writers" as Robert 
 Clive and Warren Hastings to her East Indian Ser- 
 vice, in her Musical Service she can only match 
 Beethoven with Balfe and Bishop. 
 
 It must not be imagined that this terrible weight 
 of externality, which has checked the development 
 of music in England for 300 years, is felt less by 
 musicians in the aggregate than by the individual 
 musician. Indeed, it is felt more, and its effects are 
 to be seen much more clearly in a broad study of 
 history than in the records of separate composers 
 struggling against its overpowering influence. This 
 is only what we might expect, unless we were willing 
 to degrade the art to the level of a trivial amusement 
 unrelated to any form of national endeavour. 
 
 Our object, then, must be to take the kev which 
 has been forged for us bv the art of music itself, and 
 attempt to open with it the complex lock of historv. 
 So far from this being a difficult task, we shall find 
 with surprise that every ward of the key, so to speak, 
 fits in perfectly with the delicate mechanism of the 
 lock. All the perplexing facts of musical historv, 
 which have hitherto been matter of mere bewilder- 
 ment, at once fall into their expected places, and the 
 seemingly contradictory mental attitude, which pro- 
 duces in a nation every form of energy but music, 
 not only ceases to perplex us, but explains itself 
 almost automatically. 
 
 But before I deal in outline with the influence of 
 world-power on music, I must guard the reader
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 43 
 
 against two false deductions. My object in these 
 chapters is to find out the nature of the factor which 
 has always prevented the development of music in 
 nations whose conditions were otherwise well suited 
 to its production, and then, in my subsequent chap- 
 ters, to apply this knowledge to the special case of 
 England. We must not, however, suppose that the 
 mere absence of the national outstretching towards 
 world-power is sufficient to make the production of 
 music a certainty. Its presence, so to speak, always 
 sterilizes, though its absence does not necessarily 
 fertilize the musical faculty. This is only what 
 might be expected, for there are many other positive 
 factors and circumstances of material and geographi- 
 cal condition which must be in a sort of equipoise 
 before we can get a " nest" sufficiently warm and 
 well protected for the laying of the musical eggs. 
 These factors and circumstances connote, not what is 
 commonly called a " musical atmosphere," meaning 
 developed musical conditions, but the much simpler 
 and more elementary factors ot earth, air, and water. 
 It is quite obvious that (though all peoples are 
 equal originally as much for song as for speech) if a 
 nation is placed so that for half the year its popula- 
 tion is either frozen (as in Scandinavia), or parched 
 (as in Spain), or in tiny compartments separated by 
 mountain barriers (as in Switzerland and Greece), or 
 on land so barren that its population is never far 
 above the starvation line (as in northern Scotland and 
 parts of Russia), or in towns such as London, 1 where 
 there is an absence of sunlight and pure air, it cannot 
 develop the physical necessities for musical culture. 
 It may even be that the national index of well-being 
 
 1 London seems to have been almost the only spot in which 
 Wagner was unable to work with ease.
 
 44 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 is so low that a sufficiently large number of persons 
 cannot be relieved from physical toil to form a pro- 
 fessional musical class. 
 
 There must be, as I have said, an equipoise of 
 natural conditions before musical development can 
 begin, but, in studying these (positive) factors, it is 
 interesting to note how rigorous and invariable is the 
 action of the (negative) law of exteriorization. We 
 find, indeed, nations and powers, such as mediaeval 
 Rome, ideally situated, on the material side, tor the 
 production of music, and actually supporting numbers 
 of musicians, and yet unable to produce national 
 music. We find other nations, such as the Portu- 
 guese, the seaboard Dutch, and the English, sud- 
 denly profiting by the changed conditions of the 
 modern world, so as to acquire enormous wealth, 
 yet, like mediaeval Rome, unable to produce national 
 music. On the other hand, we have small com- 
 munities, such as those in the various German and 
 Austrian States of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 centuries, whose people, neither "blessed" with 
 great wealth, nor overwhelmed by the distractions of 
 Empire, were therefore able to found and perfect a 
 national school of music. 
 
 The second false deduction against which I wish 
 to warn the reader is that the actual material pos- 
 session of world-power can retard or prevent musical 
 development. That this is a fallacy can be seen from 
 a consideration of the fact that music is the result of 
 an emotional and a mental process, and therefore its 
 natural development cannot be hindered except by a 
 hard-set, antagonistic national habit either of the 
 mind or of the emotions. It is not, then, the mere 
 holding in fee of so many square miles of territory, 
 or the subjection of so many million aliens, but the
 
 ii NATIONAL COMPARISONS 45 
 
 national grasping outwards in the direction of these 
 objects which constitutes the bar to musical progress. 1 
 With these two provisions in our minds to guard 
 us against hasty generalizations, we may take up our 
 chart for the third time, and endeavour, with the aid 
 of this new factor, to bring the facts of musical and 
 of national history into their true relationship. 
 
 1 In this connection it is an interesting speculation as to what 
 will be the course of musical history in an Empire like that of 
 England. By the mere exhaustion of possibilities the time cannot 
 be far off when the Empire will reach a point where there can be 
 no further expansion. Given such a case, where the nation has at 
 once great wealth and the opportunity of peaceful reflection, the 
 musical results should be on a scale of strangeness and immensity 
 hitherto unknown. One must, however, confess that, though it 
 may be possible for the nation to come to some such period of 
 mental contentment and concentration as far as its white Empire 
 is concerned, such a state of mind seems fundamentally impossible 
 so long as the anxieties involved in its domination over alien races 
 remain.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER ON MUSIC 
 Preliminary 
 
 The reader must first of all remember that, however 
 fragmentary is our knowledge or musical develop- 
 ment before the time of Christ, we know this fact, 
 that the Greeks perhaps invented and certainly 
 elaborated a minute system of theoretical music. 
 This system possibly, though not probably, may have 
 been a mere " paper " system which differed from 
 ours in preceding, not following, actual musical 
 practice. 
 
 At any rate the whole of Greek music, theory and 
 practice, passed with the rest of Greek culture into 
 the hands of the Romans about the middle of the 
 second century B.C. We are, therefore, apparently 
 faced by two different problems ; for, in addition to 
 enquiring why such and such nations have been un- 
 able to develop themselves musically in comparatively 
 modern times, we are forced to ask how it is that no 
 practical or theoretical advance took place during the 
 first i coo years or so of our era. But, however widely 
 different these two problems appear to be at first sight, 
 they must be essentially the same problem, for the 
 very simple reason that the factors in the two cases 
 cannot alter ; and, therefore, unless we are willing to
 
 chap, in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 47 
 
 invent the wild explanation of a changed psychology 
 or physique in the modern world, it is in some one 
 or other of these common factors that we must seek 
 a solution of the problem. 
 
 In order to discuss this question from the point of 
 view which I have already indicated that is to say 
 by means of a comparison between the national and 
 the musical activities of any given time we may 
 conveniently divide the Christian era into four 
 periods. The limits of these periods cannot, of 
 course, be stated arbitrarily in dates, but it is impor- 
 tant to notice that, though they are in a sense merely 
 artificial lines of separation, yet in each period we 
 have a perfectly distinct type of society based on an 
 equally distinct type of national interiorization or 
 exteriorization. The dates selected are neither 
 musical dates nor (except in one case) purely historical 
 dates, but what I may call Musico-national dates : 
 that is to sav, they mark the times at about which 
 the characteristic forces of the period in question first 
 begin to show themselves. 
 
 These four periods are as follows : 
 
 (1) The period of the Roman Settlement, from 1 
 
 tO 4OO A.D. 
 
 (2) The period of the Dark Ages, from 400 to 
 1000. 
 
 (3) The Mediaeval Period, from 1000 to 1500. 
 
 (4) The Modern Period, from 1500 to the present 
 
 day. 
 
 (1) The Period of the Roman Settlement 
 (1 to 400 A.D.). 
 
 From the earliest days of the Christian era down 
 to the beginning of the Dark Ages Europe pre- 
 sented the appearance of a single, large, armed camp,
 
 48 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of which the headquarters-tent was the city of 
 Rome. Its walls, which, 750 years before Christ, 
 were only a simple palisade enclosing the seven hills 
 of Rome itself, had been continually pushed out- 
 wards until now they occupied a long, irregular line 
 drawn, on the south by the coast of Africa, on the 
 west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east and 
 north by an enormous army permanently encamped 
 in a huge chain of forts. 1 
 
 Inside the vast circumference of this frontier the 
 Empire enjoyed that fair measure of prosperity which 
 Rome always assured to her subject races by her 
 even-handed and comprehensive system of justice. 
 
 1 This military disposition known as the " hard shell and soft 
 kernel " was modified, at the moment of conflict with the 
 barbarians in the fifth century a.d., in favour of a system by which 
 large striking forces of crack troops were held in readiness within 
 the external circle of defence. This change mirrored the new 
 type of national outlook. When it was effected the old frontier 
 stations became nothing but (weak) outposts of Empire, and they 
 were garrisoned by the worst-paid and least cared-for troops in 
 the army. The great difficulty of identifying place-names in Asia 
 and Africa makes it impossible to ascertain how many of these 
 armed posts were in existence at any one time, but the number 
 must have been very large, as we know that, on the Danubian 
 frontier alone (from Lake Constance to the Black Sea) there were, 
 besides smaller and less easily recognized outposts, at least 115 
 important military stations. Similar information is accessible with 
 regard to the disposition of troops in Africa, but of the two great 
 military provinces of "Germania" on the Rhine frontier we 
 have no knowledge beyond a list of troops serving under the 
 commanding-officer ("dux") at Mainz. These administrative 
 details have been preserved to us in the ~Notitia Dignitatum, a fifth 
 century official document giving an account of the great Officers of 
 State, their insignia, entourage, and provinces, as well as the names 
 of Civil Servants and of Officers commanding Cavalry and Infantry. 
 The whole document has been edited by Hocking (1834) : there 
 is an important mss. copy in the Bodleian which has been collated 
 and published by a German, Otto Sccck, in Berlin.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 49 
 
 Furthermore, the Roman arms, which by turns re- 
 pressed and protected its subjects, secured a condition 
 of deep tranquillity unexampled before or since in 
 the history of the world. One might be tempted to 
 think that, at such a period, no condition was wanting 
 for the sudden and brilliant development of the 
 musical art. 
 
 Unfortunately, in addition to the Empire inside 
 this frontier line, there was also a something outside : 
 and it was in the active, conscious knowledge of this 
 something that the Roman had always existed and 
 organized his system. It had never mattered to him 
 whether his border was a single furrow in the plough- 
 land, a village stockade, a little line of military posts 
 almost within sight of his own hills, or the great sea- 
 and land-line which was now the rampart of his 
 Empire : in every case his one compelling and over- 
 mastering impulse had been to push that border further 
 outwards. And now, in the process of continual 
 extension, he had come to a place where the border 
 would go no further and where the something outside 
 really mattered. 
 
 He had already been warned of its existence as a 
 gloomy shadow overhanging his Empire when he had 
 seen his city sacked and burnt, in its early days, by 
 the barbarians. 1 This warning had always haunted 
 his consciousness as a dreadful, unhappy nightmare : 
 had had, indeed, to be hushed up and converted into 
 an old wife's tale for the sake ot his nerves. Now 
 he was compelled to wake up, to see the awful 
 phantom gathering itself together into material shape, 
 and to wait its coming in frantic despair. 
 
 Hence, if we wish to understand the mental attitude 
 ot Europe down to about 4C0 a.d. we must regard it 
 
 1 Invasion of Rome hy the Gauls, 390 r.c. 
 D
 
 So MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 as a culminating moment of painful exteriorization. 
 On each side of the frontier sits an anxious, waiting 
 multitude : the Roman watching the Barbarian, at 
 first from a continual hope of " frontier rectification " 
 in his own favour, and later on with the ever-present 
 fear of invasion : the Barbarian gazing back at the 
 Roman, with a blind, reckless determination to break 
 through the cordon and plunder his way to the centre 
 of the world: on the one side, the bloodthirsty and 
 lustful hope of gain : on the other, the nervous 
 apprehension that comes to a self-centred State 
 swollen by its domination over alien races, and so 
 diseased beyond hope of recovery. 
 
 Thus we arrive at a time when the sword is, as it 
 were, poised in the air. Rome is still Rome with 
 the prosperity and wealth that she has heaped up as 
 an incident of her millennium or conquest ; but, when 
 she arrives at the culminating point of Empire, we 
 find her, not (as England may perhaps be found) 
 with a great army of settlers peacefully developing 
 her traditions and consolidating her power in all 
 parts of the world, but with an actual military army 
 engaged in repressing her halt-tamed subjects, and 
 with a political system so inelastic as to be unable to 
 satisfy even the most elementary aspirations of her 
 subjects. 
 
 The consequence of this unimaginative rigidity of 
 system was that, though in the fulness ot time 
 Europe had come to a long period of repose, it was 
 only a sort ot anaesthetized and unnatural sleep. 
 The Roman was, indeed, freed for the first time 
 in a thousand years from the necessity ot draining 
 away his best energies on foreign conquest ; but 
 he exchanged his former slavery for a worse servi- 
 tude. For, exhausted as he was, he found himself
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 51 
 
 compelled, not only to guard his Empire from 
 external assault, but at the same time to keep a 
 heavy and sleepless watch over his own widely- 
 separated subjects. 
 
 Thus to one long period of simple exteriorization 
 from Rome outwards succeeded a second and more 
 complex period in which the Empire as a whole 
 looked anxiously at the Barbarian beyond her frontiers, 
 while she herself was watched as anxiously by the 
 masters-minds in Rome. This latter period was, as 
 I have said, a time of deep tranquillity within the 
 Empire, and, if music itself had not given us the 
 clue to the one preventive factor in its development, 
 we should have imagined that there was no period in 
 the world's history in which we could so confidently 
 look for a great development of the art. Without 
 that clue we might have expected to find some one 
 or other of the mediaeval discoveries in music, which 
 we could set off against the many illustrious names in 
 literature. 1 As a matter of fact, no period was ever 
 less adapted for musical development, and, with the 
 
 1 The writers of this period are generally compared very un- 
 favourably with those of the Augustan age. We must not, how- 
 ever, overlook the fact that, whatever the merits of individual 
 artists, the post-Augustan writers as a whole exhibit an activity, a 
 breadth of outlook, and a variety of topic which represent their 
 own times just as completely as the poetry of Vergil and Horace 
 exemplifies the great days of Augustus. The list of post-Augustan 
 writers down to 400 a.d. includes, not only such well-known 
 poets, historians, satirists, philosophers, churchmen, biographers, 
 jurists, and grammarians, as Juvenal, the Plinies, Seneca, Martial, 
 Tacitus, Persius, Suetonius, Silius Italicus, Ausonius, Lucan, 
 Priscian, Quintilian, Tertullian, Ulpian, Gains, Macrobius, 
 Claudian, Ammianus, St. Augustine ; but also the names of less- 
 known writers dealing with such topics as Surveying (Halbus, 
 Hyginus, Siculus Flaccus), Engineering (Frontinus), Military 
 Tactics (V r egetius), Geography (Pomp. Mela), Husbandry (Palladius 
 Rutilius Taurus and Aggenus Urbicus), and Medicine (Celsus,
 
 52 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 exception of a few vague, doubtful rumours con- 
 nected with the name of St. Ambrose, 1 we have 
 nothing. 
 
 To expect any one of these discoveries to have 
 occurred in the days of the Empire may seem a 
 fantastic dream to the student of historical facts; 
 but there was nothing a priori to have prevented 
 music marching forward in step with the other 
 Roman activities in literature, architecture, engineer- 
 ing, statuary, and warfare, 2 nothing, that is to say, 
 
 Scribonius, and Th. Priscian). It seems that the national attitude 
 of exteriorization assumed in Augustus's day an intensely concen- 
 trated picturesqueness which afforded (as in the days of our own 
 Elizabeth) an ideal soil for the propagation of those arts which 
 are primarily dependent on external impressions. In the 400 
 years that followed, the mental attitude of exteriorization offered a 
 less suitable field, because it was extended over a wider area and 
 was therefore less vivid. The result was a certain harassed, 
 fatigued, and sometimes despondent condition of mind within the 
 Empire, which, together with the much larger spread of the 
 Roman energies, is reflected in the catalogue of writers given 
 above. 
 
 1 In the last quarter of the fourth century a.d. 
 
 '-' It is common knowledge that the Roman culture was an 
 offshoot from that of the Greeks, and it is therefore constantly 
 referred to as being on a distinctly lower plane. Whether this 
 is so or not, the Romans actuall}' managed to express their 
 national genius satisfactorily in various ways in poetry, prose, 
 sculpture, architecture, science, and all the technical crafts which 
 were necessitated by their great Empire. In their poetry it is 
 true that they adhered somewhat closely to Greek models, but 
 this was chiefly in matters of detail, and nothing can be more 
 unmistakeable than its strong Roman tang. This is evident, not 
 only in the poetry of the Augustan and pre-Augustan periods, 
 but also m that of the "silver age," whose writers were very 
 often not even Italians. In the other arts that 1 have mentioned 
 the activity of the Romans has been less often challenged, and, 
 as a matter of fact, in their prose and their sculpture they invented 
 or adapted a consistent and highly vigorous national style; while 
 in architecture, science, and engineering they were, of course,
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 53 
 
 but the one factor that the whole world was facing, 
 not inwards, but outwards ; and it is only when we 
 take this factor into account that we can understand 
 why this period was so little adapted for musical 
 development, and why, as a matter of fact, no 
 musical development of any sort took place. 
 
 (2) The Period of the Dark Ages (400 to 
 
 IOOO A.D.). 
 
 To this first period succeeds a second of infinite 
 complexity historically, but, from our point of view, 
 of extreme simplicity. The sword, poised so long 
 in the air, has at length fallen, and the first bar- 
 barians have made their way into Italy. 1 
 
 Then follows an era of turmoil so extraordinary 
 as to be unparalleled in history. 2 The whole world 
 
 the pioneers of Europe. In music alone, judging from the little 
 we know of the state of Greek music about 400 B.C., and its state 
 at Rome in St. Ambrose's time (400 a.d.), we can say that they 
 did next to nothing. Their general attitude towards it seems to 
 have coincided, at any rate to some degree, with that of the average 
 nineteenth century Englishman ; and the respectable individual 
 who deplored the degenerate musical tendencies of his time appears 
 to have existed even in those far-off days. See Horace's complaint 
 in the -Jrs Poetica of what we should call "noisy modern orches- 
 tration," " Tibia non ut nunc," etc. 
 
 1 A.n. 405. 
 
 2 This period of world-movement, or, as the Germans call it, 
 "folk-wandering," lasted for some 500 or 600 years. It included 
 
 (1) the march of the Huns (Mongols) into Europe by a south- 
 westerly route from Asia (Attila defeated at Chalons 451); their 
 invasion of the Byzantine Empire (repelled by Belisarius 558). 
 
 (2) The movements of the Ostrogoths from South Russia (a) 
 along the line of the Danube and then in a southerly direction 
 into Italy, and {b) southward across the Black Sea to Constan- 
 tinople, and so into Asia Minor (Odoacer defeated by Theodore 
 493, his successors compelled by Belisarius to leave Italy). (3) 
 The conflict of the Huns with the Ostrogoths in South Russia ;
 
 54 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 moves uneasily, like a heavy sleeper gradually 
 awakened. Nations and tribes suddenly start up 
 to march, sword in hand, across two continents. 
 From the uttermost parts of the earth they come 
 in a never-ending stream, Vandal and Ostrogoth, 
 Saracen and Mongol, all driven forward in frantic 
 confusion by the blind whips of destiny. Some 
 make for Rome or Constantinople in long marches 
 that last for nearly a century : others, feeling only 
 the goad and having neither cunning to plan nor 
 strength to achieve, rise up and fight their way 
 aimlessly from one part of Europe to another. 
 
 In this way whole nations spring up, remain for 
 a moment in sight as sinister and bloody apparitions, 
 and then suddenly disappear. Such nations are 
 
 the subsequent union of the two peoples and their attack on the 
 Visigoths in Eastern Hungary and Rumania. (4) The irruption 
 of" the Visigoths and Vandals into Italy (Alaric enters Rome 410). 
 (5) The westward wanderings of the (Christianized) Visigoths 
 into Gaul and Spain beginning in 415 and ending in 621 with 
 the complete absorption of Spain except its north-west corner 
 (the Suevi). (6) The overthrow of their Empire by the Saracens, 
 who move from Arabia proper (about 640) through southern 
 Asia Minor, Egypt, northern Africa, into Sicily, Spain, and the 
 south of France (defeated at the battle of Tours, 732, by Charles 
 Martel, the Prankish leader). (7) The irregular movements of 
 the Vandals over an area bounded by the Danube, the Elbe, the 
 Guadalquiver, and Roman Carthage (in North Africa) (Genseric 
 sacks Rome 455). (8) The invasions of the Lombards, first in a 
 southerly direction to the Danube, then due west and south into 
 Italy (sixth century; defeated and their kingdom ended in the 
 eighth century by Pepin and Charlemagne). (9) The wanderings 
 and conquests of the Normans over an area bounded on the north 
 by the Shetlands and Norway and Sweden, on the cast by the 
 Dnciper, on the west by England and Normandy, on the south 
 by Sicily (ninth and tenth centuries). (10) The smaller southerly 
 movements of Franks and Burgundian- in the fifth century. (11) 
 The incursions of the Angles and Saxons westward into England 
 in the fifth century.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER SS 
 
 perhaps the more interesting to us, because in them 
 we can see how completely the idea of purposeless 
 exteriorization had seized the imagination of man- 
 kind. In a word, the era of the dark ages was the 
 great illustrative era of all those forces which hinder 
 musical art. The history of the earlier (Aryan) 
 migrations is known to us only by ethnological and 
 philological guesswork ; but in this, the second 
 known, migratory period of the world we have the 
 detailed history, not merely of an idea lashed into 
 passion, but of the passion itself taking actual 
 physical shape in vast national movements and 
 wanderings. 1 
 
 The result is a confused and pitiable welter of 
 conquest and re-conquest, incursion and retreat, 
 massacre and retaliation which centres round, not 
 one city as in the great days of Rome, nor round 
 a dozen nations as in our own time, but round 
 a multitude of detached points, each one of which 
 exists by virtue of some advantageous physical 
 endowment of defence or offence. 
 
 Thus, eventually, emerges the idea of the city- 
 state led and ruled (for his own good) by prince, 
 bishop, or nobleman. Thus, too, under the com- 
 pelling might or wisdom of some one superman, 
 a number of these city-states are easily united into 
 loose groups, and as easily disunited when the 
 masterful guidance is withdrawn. To such groups 
 we of to-day conveniently apply the word " nation," 
 but it must be remembered that the word, in their 
 case, does not carry its present meaning of identity 
 
 1 The earliest irruption of Scythians into India seems to have 
 taken place just before the Christian era. Northern India was 
 first over-run by the Huns at about the time when the} - began to 
 press on the boundaries of European civilization. (See Bampiylde 
 Fuller. Studies of Indian life and sentiment, chapter iv.)
 
 56 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 in language, traditions, and ideals. Their equilibrium 
 is, in fact, unstable ; their frontiers vary continually, 
 and, in common with the rest of Europe, they are in 
 a state of flux. 
 
 The point that concerns us most is that there 
 are now, not one or two, but some hundreds of 
 small cities, each watching its neighbour and keenly 
 aware of its own possibilities in the way of future 
 empire. The idea of a single city voluntarily 
 subordinating its interests to those of another for 
 the sake of their joint welfare has scarcely dawned. 
 Cities whose distance from the central point of 
 Christianity is only that of a few days' march 
 continue to exist, perhaps for centuries, within sight 
 of each other's walls, and yet unable to come to 
 any nearer terms of friendship than those which 
 bind the Red Indian to the white settler the fear 
 of cold steel. 
 
 Every little captain who has hacked out his right 
 to the title of " Comrade " or " Leader " sits behind 
 his walls eyeing the hill-fort opposite him in the 
 hope that some lucky murder or wholesale burglary 
 may change his rank to that of " First Man " or 
 " Ruler." l To us, far removed from the cares and 
 preoccupations of the time, the situation seems 
 deplorable and preventable, but, in judging their 
 standards, we must not forget that we are, as it 
 were, looking back across the centuries through the 
 wrong end of the telescope, and that the only real 
 difference between us and them is that we have 
 been able to scramble up physically to a slightly 
 higher point of view, and that therefore we have a 
 larger field of vision. To the tenth century Euro- 
 pean the fortified city, with its five or ten thousand 
 1 "Comes," "Dux," " Princeps," "Rex."
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 57 
 
 inhabitants, was what the nation of many millions is 
 to us ; and, if we are inclined to wonder at the endless 
 turmoil of blood and revenge that followed every 
 chance plot or assassination in those days, we must 
 reflect that the acts which seem to us the mere 
 ebullitions of petty personal spite bore to the con- 
 sciousness of that time exactly the same relationship 
 as Cawnpore and Majuba bore to the consciousness 
 of nineteenth century England. 
 
 Nor must we allow the historical complexity of 
 this period to lead us away from its essential 
 simplicity with regard to our enquiry. Through the 
 whole of this terrifying history one unifying principle 
 alone can be discerned, the principle of a ravenous 
 lust for expansion and conquest, and it is the exist- 
 ence of this universal principle that forbids any hope 
 of musical development. 
 
 It must be allowed that, in the overwhelming con- 
 fusion of such a period, the material anxieties alone 
 would be sufficient to prevent artistic advance of any 
 kind. This is true both as theory and history ; but 
 we must safeguard ourselves from the easy deduc- 
 tion that the factors which prevented progress in 
 music were the same as those which prevented pro- 
 gress in the other arts. Historical speculation is not 
 of much value ; but I think every analogy points 
 to the probability that if the Romans, emerging 
 strengthened and victorious from their struggle with 
 the barbarians, had been able to keep their Empire 
 intact, they would have won some corresponding 
 victories in the field of art, literature, and science, but 
 certainly none in that of music. 
 
 Before we leave this period it is necessary to 
 glance, not at the long series of events which took 
 place in Rome itself a terrible and lengthy catalogue
 
 58 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of blood and fire, but at the altered conditions 
 produced by the sum of these events. Long before 
 the end of the Dark Ages, Rome had learnt the 
 lesson that the strong right arm, so far from being a 
 necessity, was often a hindrance to Empire. We 
 accordingly find her still throned on the Medi- 
 terranean, but throned, in comparison with her former 
 state, almost unarmed, yet stronger by the power of 
 her brain than any Caesar had been able to make her 
 by the might of his legions. How marvellously she 
 employed this brain-power in order to keep close her 
 grasp on the destinies of the world ; how narrowly 
 she watched Europe for her own, and for Europe's, 
 good ; l what infinite cunning and caution she showed 
 in attack ; what patience and determination in defeat ; 
 how every possibility and every circumstance was 
 provided for ; how, in a word, having exchanged 
 an unsuccessful Caesar for a successful Pope, 2 she 
 prepared, by sheer subtlety of brain and finger, to 
 regain and remould to apparent permanence an empire 
 which she had not been able to hold by blood and 
 iron, can not be more than hinted here. It is 
 enough to say that, by the end of this period, she 
 
 i This can be seen in the published extracts from the Papal 
 Rcgrsta, a series of ledgers and day-books (numbering 2016 
 volumes) in which were posted up the whole of the diplomatic- 
 correspondence, records of appointments, indults, and dispensa- 
 tions, as well as the minutes of the Papal Court. The earliest 
 volumes of these Rrgcsta Pontificum Ronianorum, dealing with the 
 period under discussion, are lost ; but those still in existence date 
 from the time of I'ope Innocent III. (a.d. 1198), and continue to 
 the end of the sixteenth century. Prom them we get an amazing 
 idea of the " weekly, almost daily " communication that took place 
 between Rome and her vassal-states. 
 
 2 It was the founding of Constantinople on the site of the 
 ancient Byzantium (a.d. 330) that first gave the bishops of Rome 
 the possibility of greatly increased power, but already (in 350)
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 59 
 
 was in her old, unique position in Europe, putting 
 into practice the lessons which she had learnt during 
 600 years of intrigue and bloodshed. 
 
 (3) The Mediaeval Period (iooo to 1500 a.d.). 
 
 The line of division between the second and third 
 periods is much less clearly marked than that between 
 either the first and second or the third and fourth. 
 We cannot label the moment ot change with the 
 name of any catastrophe or discovery whose far- 
 reaching effects as in the case of the barbarian 
 inroads and the voyage of Columbus mould the 
 history of the succeeding centuries. 
 
 Nevertheless we are able to trace in this period the 
 growth of a new national outlook, brought about by 
 the continual slow ascendancy of the one type of 
 force, the interiorizing, over the other, the exterior- 
 izing. Such a profound change in the mental attitude 
 of Europe could not be begun, much less carried out, 
 in a few years. Indeed, the conflict between the two 
 types of force the music-forbidding and the music- 
 fostering begins well on the other side of the line, 
 and continues far into the Middle Ages. 
 
 The fact that is of importance to us, however, is 
 that Europe is gradually cooling off after 600 years 
 of volcanic activity, and that, in this process of cooling 
 off, she fuses together race with race, and leaves in 
 her still fluid mass little hard knots or cores which 
 will later on grow into what we now call " nations." 
 The process is, as I have said, very slow, and the 
 mass is still fluid ; even the great Powers ot the 
 
 they were in a position to vie with the imperial household in 
 magnificence of retinue and appointments (Ammianus xxvii. 3 ; 
 Jerome, torn. i. p. 13). The restrictive laws of Valentinian 
 disallowed bequests to the clergy, a privilege enjoyed by " sacer -dotes 
 idoloruiv , miml, et aurigr.e et scorta."
 
 6o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 early Middle Ages such as the Carlovingian and 
 Holy Roman Empires are little more than loose, 
 unstable groupings of subordinate States. 
 
 We must, however, note two important points. 
 First, the whole character of national exteriorization 
 has changed. It is no longer 1 an actual physical 
 marching-out of a complete people determined to 
 force its way to a new settling-ground. It is now 
 nothing but a series of forays conducted on a small 
 or a large scale, and extending over either a short or 
 a long period. In any case the radical difference is 
 the acknowledged existence of a centre or nucleus 
 from which every little armed band sets out, and to 
 which it intends to withdraw. But it is not only 
 the invaders who feel the existence of this central 
 nucleus ; it is also the invaded. Here we get a 
 second important fact the first feeble beginnings of 
 an actual process of interiorization, that is to say, of a 
 nation turning inwards on itself and commencing to 
 develop itself socially and politically without reference 
 to external factors. 
 
 It is somewhere in this vague time -perhaps 
 between 900 and 1000 that the first and greatest of 
 all developments in musical history takes place the 
 discovery of two-part singing. This discovery, which 
 precedes and comprehends within itself the possibility 
 of all later inventions and developments, is too often 
 made the subject of idle jest and comparison ; but, in 
 order to realize its fundamental importance, we must 
 not view it from the standpoint of our own century, 
 but from that of the century before which it occurred. 
 
 It is true that then, as now, the accidental coinci- 
 dence of voices singing or shouting must have been 
 common ; but there was absolutely nothing a priori 
 1 I omit the question of Rome for the moment.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 61 
 
 to show that these chance intersections of speech or 
 song could be made the basis of a new and complex 
 form of human expression, or, indeed, that they could 
 be utilized at all in any sort of art. To a European 
 of the Dark Ages such an idea must have appeared 
 as fantastic a dream as it would be to us if we were 
 required to foresee the development of a new art from 
 the simultaneous recitation of two poems, or from the 
 haphazard combination of perfumes, or from the 
 shifting movements of the kaleidoscope, or from our 
 sense of the varying relationships between the planets. 
 
 The discovery, then, of " Dis-cant " x is one of the 
 greatest steps forward ever taken by the human mind. 
 It is not to be compared with such a mechanical 
 invention as that of the locomotive, but rather if 
 comparison is possible with some such fundamental 
 discovery as that of the wheel. In both cases the 
 discovery was probably not the work of one man, of 
 one group of men, or even of one age, but was 
 achieved by the slow effort of many men and many 
 ages after a desperation of painful thought. But 
 though we cannot either actually date this discovery 
 with a definite vear, or ascribe it to an individual, it 
 presents itself to us as the subject of three broad 
 historical connections ( i ) the discovery was not made 
 during the preceding iooo years of Christian and bar- 
 barian conflict ; (2) it was made as soon as the first 
 beginnings of national settlement and stabilitv appeared 
 in Europe ; (3) our earliest knowledge of its history 
 comes, characteristically enough, from a Fleming. - 
 
 We have then got so fir in our musical history as 
 the sowing of the seed. But it is not to be supposed 
 
 1 Which was developed later into the recognized science of 
 " Organum." 
 
 2 Hucbald, fl. circa 900.
 
 62 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 that such a tender flower as music was to burst forth 
 luxuriantly in the chilling atmosphere of the early 
 Middle Ages. It was, however, no longer governed 
 by merely negative conditions, and the peculiar interest 
 of this period is that in it we first find the inexorable 
 workings of the exteriorizing (and therefore musically 
 undeveloping) habit of mind side by side with the 
 interiorizing (and therefore musically developing) 
 attitude. That the former was the general European 
 habit of mind during this period is an undoubted 
 fact, but it was now only general not universal, and 
 it adds piquancy to our study when we observe that 
 the nations who first devoted their national energies 
 inwards, and who appeared the least likely (on other 
 grounds) to develop the art, vet actually did so ; 
 while the world-power who alone (from material 
 circumstances) seemed capable of a great artistic 
 advance remained sterile for nearly 600 years. 
 
 I must here somewhat modify, or rather add to, 
 mv former statement that in this period " the whole 
 character of national European exteriorization had 
 changed," for, in viewing the history of this period, 
 we can see two streams, as it were, flowing parallel to 
 each other, but in opposite directions. The first of 
 these two currents is the Papacy, the second the rest 
 of Europe. 
 
 Several hundred years before this period began, the 
 Papacy had seen the possibility of a world-wide 
 exteriorization founded, not upon arms, 1 but upon 
 
 1 The question of the temporal power, whatever its historical 
 importance, need not detain us here. The Papacy undoubtedly 
 exercised very complete [lowers of government throughout Europe 
 at the beginning of the Middle Ages. At the time of the fourth 
 Crusade (1204) the actual Church-States ran right across central 
 Italy in an irregular oblong, and then reached as far north on the 
 Adriatic coa^t as the Gull of Venice.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 63 
 
 brains ; and long before the rest of Europe had passed 
 out of the elemental state of savagery she had laid her 
 plans for the dominion of Europe. Thus we see her 
 going from strength to strength, swiftly and con- 
 sciously adopting an attitude of exteriorization which 
 the rest of Europe was slowly and unconsciously dis- 
 carding. In this comparison, however, it must not 
 be overlooked that the two types of exteriorization 
 are distinct. On the one hand it was a purely mental 
 type which Rome was adopting ; on the other it was 
 a purely physical type which the rest of Europe was 
 discarding. It was as if Rome and the rest of the 
 world were running a race, starting from the same 
 point and moving in opposite directions. How much 
 greater was the ground covered bv Rome in the earlier 
 stages may be gathered from the fact that she had 
 reached her great culminating point of power at a 
 time 1 when Europe as a whole had progressed so 
 little in the direction of interiorization that the only 
 principle which could be made internationally intel- 
 ligible to her was a principle based solely on the 
 contrary idea of exteriorization. 2 
 
 We have then the spectacle of two contrary tvpes 
 of evolution : on the one hand, Rome, quick to adapt 
 
 1 In the time of Pope Innocent III., I 198. 
 
 -The first Crusade was preached by Urban in 1095, but it was 
 not till after the second (11 38) that the movement received the 
 official support of Rome. The whole movement was really a series 
 of belated national exteriorizations which had their beginnings 
 outside Rome, and which were largely based, not on religion or 
 morality, but on ideas of world-power. The official patronage 
 which Rome extended to the movement implied an attitude of 
 mind out oi which she had long since grown, and which was, as a 
 matter of fact, only forced on her by the rest of Europe as a con- 
 dition without which she could not have retained her supremacy. 
 As a result the Crusades were unified and their objects made parti- 
 allv moral and religious, but we must not overlook the fact that
 
 64 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 bygone forces to her changed possibilities, recon- 
 structing (with apparent success) the old world in the 
 new : on the other, the rest of Europe, scarcely yet 
 aware that any change is in progress, endeavouring 
 with infinite difficulty (and apparent want of success) 
 to throw off the nightmare of the Dark Ages and rise 
 to the light of a new conception. In these two 
 opposing attitudes of mind we see the reasons (i) 
 why Rome, of all places in Europe the most ideally 
 circumstanced in point of wealth for the develop- 
 ment of music, produced nothing ; and (2) why the 
 seed of music, blown hither and thither all over 
 Europe, could yet only find germinating ground in 
 two tiny patches of soil, England and Flanders. 
 
 To England was reserved the honour of making 
 the first feeble steps in musical progress, and it is to 
 England that we should naturally look for the (now 
 almost effaced) traces of these footsteps, for it was 
 within the narrow boundaries of her grev seas that 
 men first learnt to dwell together in security and to 
 build up a national system of freedom and justice for 
 all. It was in her isolation that the minds of men 
 first began to turn inwards on the many obstinate 
 questionings that arise in man's dealings with man, 
 and it was from her shores that Europe first heard 
 the voice of a nation crying out, not tor blood and 
 plunder, but tor a knowledge of the rights, and an 
 alleviation ot the sufferings, common to mankind. 
 
 The history ot England at this time is open to all 
 and its actual details are ot no importance except 
 in so far as they show the existence ot the changed 
 
 the mere offer of a religious basis would not have beer, sufficient to 
 "universalize any international movement unless the separate 
 activities and modes-of-thought on which it depended had already 
 been in existence.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 65 
 
 condition ot national mind which we are studying. In 
 barest outline we may say that, from the accession of 
 Alfred in 871 to the beginning of the eleventh century, 
 it is a history of premature attempts at social develop- 
 ment made by a peace-loving people, and a history 
 of continual failure owing to the stern necessities of 
 defence against the Danes. With the easy conquest 
 of William I. in 1066 we enter though not immedi- 
 ately upon a period during which the country finds 
 strength against external assault in the fusion of its 
 races, and the possibility of social development in its 
 isolated position. Indeed, we may put it broadly 
 that, from the accession of Henrv II. in 1 154 till the 
 beginning of the Hundred Years' War in 1337, Eng- 
 land enjoyed a period of mixed strength, isolation, and 
 tranquillity, which were the most favourable conditions, 
 not only for the founding of her present social system, 
 but also for the development of music. 
 
 Of the music, unfortunately, almost everything is 
 lost, but where in the rest of Europe there is nothing 
 left, the something left in England is quite enough to 
 show without a shadow of doubt that it was within 
 her borders that the seed of art was first cultivated. 
 The other documents those which proved her deter- 
 mination to look inwards for the development of her 
 social system were, in a later age, more valued, and 
 therefore less lightlv destroyed ; but, even it we had 
 before us every English musical manuscript side by 
 side with the contemporary historical documents 1 
 
 1 The main historical facts are, The settlement of peace and 
 order by Henry II., I 154; the reform in judicial administra- 
 tion, 1 166; Magna Carta, 121 5; the Great Council formally 
 known as " Parliament," 1244 ; knights first summoned to Parlia- 
 ment, 1254; Simon de Montfort's Parliament in which the 
 boroughs were represented, 1265 ; first fully representative 
 Parliament, 1295. 
 
 K
 
 66 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 that mark the progress of her people, we should not 
 be able to draw more than our present deduction : 
 that the two things occurred at about the same time, 
 and that it was inevitable, music being what it is, that 
 they should so occur. 
 
 But though it was given to England to advance 
 the art in its earliest and most primitive stages, farther 
 she was forbidden to go. The outbreak of the 
 Hundred Years' War in 1337 marked for her the 
 beginning of an era in which the whole national 
 energy was absorbed in a new and strangely useless 
 field of exteriorization. Like the rest of Europe she 
 was in a condition of " world-atavism." On the one 
 hand, the motives which, in the previous thousand 
 years, had impelled whole peoples to march out to 
 new settling-grounds existed no longer ; on the other, 
 the motives which were to cause wholesale emigration 
 in the future had not yet come into play. Instead 
 of these we find a third and intermediate type of 
 exteriorization in which the nation supports the 
 ambitions and intrigues of princes and dynasties, not 
 from any pressing necessity of its own existence, but 
 from a sort of " throwing-back " of the national 
 consciousness. 
 
 Hence come endless wars and expeditions, under- 
 taken for no reason that the people can understand, 
 waged at the expense of much blood and treasure 
 which belong to the people, and resulting in no gain 
 which the people can set off against their losses. 
 This type of national exteriorization, which is common 
 throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, is well repre- 
 sented by the history of our French wars. To sum 
 these up we may say that at the beginning of this 
 history the English owned England and the French 
 owned France ; that then a great number of F'.nglish-
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 67 
 
 men and Frenchmen shot and hacked each other to 
 pieces : that the glorious names of Crecy, Poitiers, 
 and Aoincourt were added to the brilliant roll of 
 English victories, while the no less glorious names of 
 Pontvallain, Formigny, and Castillon were added to 
 the equally brilliant roll of French victories ; and that 
 the end of the whole matter was that the English still 
 owned England and the French still owned France. 
 
 But this was not all ; for a century of wasted 
 national life was accompanied and succeeded by an 
 era of deep popular discontent, and out of this grew 
 a confused and miserable series of events murders, 
 insurrections, and so on of which we may take Jack 
 Cade's Rebellion and the Wars of the Roses, in 
 England, and the Jacquerie, in France, as types. At 
 such a time as this there is, of course, little hope of 
 considered musical development in England. Her 
 moment of poise has gone by, and the national mind 
 has to work under external conditions antipathetic to 
 music. We must therefore turn elsewhere for the 
 next developments in the art. It is to Rome that we 
 should naturally turn if mere wealth were the only 
 essential factor for this development. But, as I have 
 already pointed out, though we find in Rome all the 
 material conditions of prosperity, they are accompanied 
 and indeed caused by a mental exteriorization which 
 tends to increase just as the physical exteriorization 
 of the rest of Europe tends to decrease. We must, 
 then, look to Europe outside Rome for the next 
 development in music, and we must therefore 
 endeavour to reconstruct, in its barest possible form, 
 the history of Europe from about 1000 to the early 
 years of the sixteenth century. 
 
 As I write I have before me a complete history of 
 the external national activities in Europe during the
 
 68 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 500 years under discussion. This list which can be 
 dug out of any general history is far too long to 
 print here. Its main characteristic is the shedding of 
 blood by means of an interminable series of blind and 
 senseless forays, civil wars, feuds, quarrels, sea and 
 land expeditions, invasions, counter-invasions, attacks 
 and repulses, accompanied by every imaginable and 
 unimaginable form of deceit, intrigue, coalition, lying, 
 treachery, and murder. Besides the Crusades there 
 are civil wars in Spain, England, Denmark, and the 
 Netherlands ; invasions of France and Spain by 
 England, and of Italy by France, Spain, Germany, 
 Switzerland, and the Holy Roman Empire ; wars and 
 battles between Spain and France, between Spain and 
 the Moors, between France and England, between 
 Austrians and Swiss, between Venetians and Turks, 
 between Genoese and Venetians, between Germans and 
 Danes ; wars of the Holy Roman Empire with Poles, 
 Burgundians, Bohemians, Hungarians, Turks, Saxons, 
 and with the Lombard League ; coalitions and quarrels 
 between Popes and Emperors ; glorious entries of allied 
 forces into various towns (about which entries history 
 savs much) and their subsequent inglorious exit 
 (about which history savs very little) ; endless, hope- 
 less tangle of internal warfare in Italy ; sackings, 
 plunderings, pillagings and burnings of cities ; in a 
 word, an almost complete and generally useless 
 abandonment to the idea of blood, tire, and iron. 
 
 1 say " generally useless." because of all these 
 expenditures of national energy not one in fifty had 
 any lasting national effect. Their type is to be seen 
 in the fourteenth century English interference with 
 Prance and Spain interferences that bled all three 
 countries of men and treasure and left them at the end 
 precisely as the)' were at the beginning. We can only
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 69 
 
 account for these activities as a kind of atavistic desire 
 to move outwards, a desire which, in the Dark Ages, 
 was prompted bv the growing pressure of population, 
 by the need of a larger food supply or by the threaten- 
 ings of foreign invasion, and which had now, in the 
 Middle Ages, ingrained itself in the consciousness of 
 nations as a useless and pernicious habit. 
 
 In all this long history of aimless national out- 
 reaching only three moments of national pause can 
 be found sufficiently long to allow of musical develop- 
 ment. These three moments are, in the main, 
 ail subsequent to the earliest period of English 
 productivity, and thev occur in as many countries 
 Spain, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. 
 
 (a) In Spain, towards the end of the thirteenth 
 century, there was such a moment of tranquillity in 
 which a great advancement of learning took place. 
 But, it we wish to find the reason why no music was 
 developed there at that time, we must remember that 
 the musical thought-processes are verv slow and that 
 they demand, for their incubation and development, 
 long periods of comparative rest. I do not mean to 
 say that the culture of music calls for a complete 
 cessation of external national activities for, if that 
 were so, no national music could ever be developed ; 
 nor do I mean to say that single exteriorizations of 
 the national mind can affect, except in a very slight 
 degree, the progress of the art ; but I think we may 
 say, viewing history in its broadest aspect, that the art 
 demands for its successful exercise long periods in 
 which the general average trend of the national mind 
 is inwards. In Spain, at the period which we are 
 considering, there was a moment of pause, long as the 
 lifetime of man counts, but very short in the lifetime 
 of art. This momentary pause, too, was preceded by
 
 70 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 a long era of Mohammedan warfare, and succeeded 
 by the civil wars of the fourteenth century which 
 ended with the expulsion of the English (under John 
 of Gaunt) in 1387. The following century was, in 
 Spain, a period of continual national expansion and 
 glory, which culminated in two events one, of 
 great importance to Spain ; the other, of equal 
 importance to the whole world the end of the 
 Moorish dominion in 149 1 , and the discovery of 
 America in 1492. 
 
 Spain's period of tranquillity was, then, far too short 
 to admit the possibility of musical advance. Through- 
 out the fourteenth century she was continually dis- 
 tracted by wars, and in the fifteenth we can observe in 
 her the first faint beginnings of that new type of ex- 
 teriorization which was to mark the difference between 
 the modern and the mediaeval world and to govern the 
 whole progress of modern music. With this new 
 attitude of mind I shall deal more fully in the fourth 
 period, contenting myselt now with saying that it was 
 the dawning consciousness of a possible new something 
 outside Europe altogether. 
 
 (^) A similar period of pause may be found in 
 Scandinavia following on the Union of Kalmar which 
 united Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under Mar- 
 garet in 1397. Of this period I shall have less to say, 
 partly because its extreme shortness about half a 
 century made any musical development unlikely, 
 but principally because then, as now, the inhabitants 
 of the Scandinavian peninsula were prevented by the 
 mere force of geographical position from acquiring 
 the wealth and leisure necessary to musical progress. 
 This comparative poverty is, of course, a con- 
 stant negative factor in artistic development. That 
 the possession of wealth is not the positive factor
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 71 
 
 determining musical advance I have already shown, 
 but without explanation the proof of this fact can 
 be seen by a simple comparison of a nation's activities 
 in music and commerce. The music cannot, indeed, 
 exist unless the general mass of the people enjoys a 
 certain measure of material prosperity ; but the mere 
 accumulation of wealth does not ensure its pro- 
 duction. 1 
 
 (/) It was to the Netherlands that the golden oppor- 
 tunity was vouchsafed of watching over the childhood 
 ot music, the latest born of the arts, and, as (from 
 every other point of view but that ot the balance of 
 national forces) it would have seemed wildly improb- 
 able that so great a development could take place in 
 so small a country,' 2 it is well to look somewhat closely 
 into its history. Fortunately this is an extremely 
 simple matter. 
 
 The Netherlands, as we loosely use the term, con- 
 tains within its boundaries two distinct types of 
 country. The first (modern Holland) is a narrow 
 strip of sea-board, made up of endless indentations, 
 bays, outlets, river-mouths, and islands ; the second 
 (modern Belgium) is an inland country, about equal 
 in actual area to the first, but having only one short 
 strip of sea-coast unprovided with any natural con- 
 veniences for shipping. The boundaries of these two 
 
 1 We may note, in passing, how strong is the tendency of a 
 wealthy and musically unproductive nation to devote a part of its 
 wealth to the support of some sort even when it is not its own 
 sort of music. This can be seen in the foreign (Flemish) schools 
 at Rome (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries), and in the continual 
 pressure of foreign (generally, but not invariably, German) 
 musicians in England since the seventeenth century. 
 
 -The area of modern Belgium (i 1,373 st l- m >l es ) ' s about equal 
 to that of Herttordshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire : 
 (modern) Holland is about one-tenth larger (12,582 sq. miles).
 
 72 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 countries have been continually joined and disjoined, 
 and their political history has included union, dis- 
 union, and foreign domination. It is important to 
 note that these unions have been purely artificial, and 
 that, throughout them all, the two distinct types of 
 country have always been, and are still, inhabited by 
 two distinct types of people the one to the north 
 sprung from an ancient Germanic tribe (the Batavi) ; 
 the one to the south from an ancient Gothic tribe 
 (the Burgundi). 
 
 This difference of race, accentuated by centuries of 
 differing environment, shows itself as plainly to-day 
 as it did in the fourteenth century. In physique, in 
 religion, and in art the two peoples differ totally. In 
 the north we have a race (the Hollanders) whose 
 activities are conditioned by their sea-line. Their 
 national habit-of-mind is always from within outwards. 
 The consequence is that their imaginative energies are 
 absorbed in producing (first) a race of sailors, over- 
 seas explorers and administrators, (second) a long line 
 of engineers and scientists, and (third) a school ot 
 workers in those arts which depend for their primary 
 impulses on the external stimuli of the senses, that is 
 to say, painters, carvers, litterateurs, and so on. In 
 the south we have a race which exhibits precisely 
 opposite national characteristics. The primary differ- 
 ence is, as 1 have said, one of race, but it is a difference 
 which is continually widened by a geographical en- 
 vironment ; for, though the two peoples, the Dutch and 
 the Flemings, both live on a flat surface without 
 mountains, in the case of the latter there is no all 
 pervading water access. The result is a people of a 
 more reflective type of mind ; not less religious, but 
 with a different type ot religion ; not less active, but 
 much less active externally ; a people, in short, inclined,
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 73 
 
 whenever the turmoil of international conflict permits 
 it, to turn its mind inwards, and consequently a 
 people incapable of many sorts of greatness, but 
 capable of this one sort of greatness music. 
 
 To a people of this contemplative nature it was a 
 congenial task to take music as it stood in 1300 and 
 substitute for its haphazard empiricism an ordered 
 and well-considered system. We must not, however, 
 overlook the point that other nations existed then, as 
 they exist now, with a similar national tendency towards 
 the reflective, but that in their case it was not possible 
 for them to cultivate and enforce this habit of mind 
 in face of the generally contrary tendency of Europe 
 unless they were prepared to lose their existence 
 as a nation. 
 
 On the other hand, it is easy to recognize in 
 mediaeval Flanders the first occurrence in history of 
 that combination of circumstances necessary for the 
 development of music sufficient wealth with a pro- 
 longed and complete absence of external activities. 
 Indeed, from the rise of the Communes in the twelfth 
 century down to the early years ot the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, Flanders is happy in having no external history of 
 European importance, and an internal history of quiet, 
 peaceful industry, and of improving social and 
 political conditions that presume the existence of the 
 very type of mind most likely to foster music. 
 There is some record during this period of internal 
 commotion, of a town revolting here, 1 of a political 
 separation there 2 (Holland going one way, Hainault 
 another), but, except for two alliances, both made tor 
 reasons of defence, 3 we may say that, on the few 
 occasions during this period when her history touches 
 
 1 E.g. Ghent in 138 1. 2 In 1354. 
 
 3 In both cases (1337 and 146s) with England.
 
 74 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 the general history of Europe, it is not caused by her 
 external activity, but by intrusion into her dominions. 
 
 We are now in a position to understand how it 
 was that Flanders was able to produce so long and 
 distinguished a line ot musicians, and it is noteworthy 
 that, though the majority of them lived and worked 
 in Rome, the supply was not recruited from the sons 
 of Romanized Flemings, but directly from Flanders 
 itself. This is an interesting point, especially to 
 Englishmen and Americans, in whose countries the 
 process can still be seen under their own eyes. A 
 foreign musician comes to either of these countries 
 and exercises his abilities there as executant or 
 composer with a complete detachment from his 
 surroundings. His whole life-work presumes for 
 its basis the existence of a (foreign) developed 
 musical culture elsewhere. But, if such a man 
 actually settles in the country his son becomes, as 
 a rule, a purely English (or American) citizen, 
 perhaps with some slight Platonic attachment to 
 the art of his forefathers, but on the whole taking 
 his artistic level from the culture around him. 
 
 There is, indeed, a striking analogy between the 
 cases of fourteenth and fifteenth century Rome and 
 eighteenth and nineteenth century England. In 
 each case we see a people whose energies are devoted 
 to some form or other ot exteriorization, groaning 
 under the imposition ot a foreign culture. In each 
 case, too, we see the home nation making desperate 
 attempts to throw off the burden and to substitute a 
 truly national culture. Of the great world-changes 
 which accompanied (and made possible) the Roman 
 success in this field 1 shall have more to say in dealing 
 with the next (the modern) period, but meanwhile 
 I may point out that, as the factors remain unaltered,
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 75 
 
 we may be quite sure that the methods employed to 
 support the Flemish School in Rome must have been 
 very much the methods employed by the Frenchman, 
 the German, and the Italian in present-day England. 
 In each case we must perhaps allow something for 
 the momentum of an established school which is 
 making headway, and for the inertia of its rival which 
 is at a stand-still. 
 
 These points are, however, rather matters of detail 
 that serve to explain the failures and vindicate the 
 successes of a nation. In the long run it will be 
 found that it is the national habit of mind and 
 that alone which makes a school of music possible or 
 impossible. 
 
 Before leaving this topic I must dwell for a 
 moment on the fact that it was Rome, in particular, 
 that was selected as the scene of the Flemish activity. 
 This is true in a large sense, though a few dis- 
 tinguished Flemings seem to have passed at any rate 
 a portion of their active lives in Flanders and 
 elsewhere. The importance of the point does not, 
 however, lie in the fact that the Flemings wrote in 
 Rome for that is explained by the fact that Rome 
 was the wealthiest and, ecclesiastically, the best 
 equipped city in mediaeval Europe, and therefore 
 attracted foreigners to her service, just as London, 
 Paris, and New York have in modern times but in 
 the fact that the Romans did not write in Rome. 
 
 It is not possible in a sketch such as I am giving 
 to detail the services which Flanders rendered to the 
 cause of music in general. Briefly, they served to 
 co-ordinate into a scientific system the vague and 
 aimless wanderings which had till then robbed music 
 of all character. The Flemings, so to speak, begot 
 music as we know it now. They gave it a back-bone.
 
 76 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 And, if from our present standpoint the back-bone 
 seems a trifle stiff, we must remember that, before 
 their time, music was in the least organic state 
 possible, a mere collection of cells without apparent 
 connection or seeming possibility of development. 
 
 (4) The Modern Period (1500 to the 
 Present Day). 
 
 In 1492 occurred an event which changed the 
 history ot the world the discovery of America by 
 Christopher Columbus. This discovery introduced 
 into Europe a new and unexpected factor which had 
 the effect, not only of altering the outlook of certain 
 nations, but also ot rearranging the international 
 relationships of the Old World. Hitherto the eyes of 
 Europe had been continually turned towards one or 
 other of the great Continental centres, and the 
 external activities of nations since the early days of 
 the Roman Empire had been a series of marches 
 and counter-marches by land. 
 
 In a developed position such as this, England was 
 nothing but a speck in the ocean, a speck practically 
 unapproachable, and so isolated from any real com- 
 munion with the general interests of Europe. The 
 other nations, whose borders looked westward across 
 the sea- -Holland, Spain, and (modern) Portugal- 
 were, indeed, more in touch with the common 
 activities of their times, but their actual water 
 frontiers, so far from being a source of wealth or 
 a means of energv, were merely so many miles of 
 useless and dangerous coast-line. But, with the 
 discoverv ot America, the balance of world-power 
 changes. The long history of national exteriorization 
 within Europe has now ceased, and the new era is an 
 era of expansion by sea.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 77 
 
 The nations which I have named sprang, almost at 
 once, into an unlooked-for prominence. Their coasts, 
 no longer the debateable ground of fishermen and 
 pirates, became bases for that long catalogue of 
 adventure and discovery which makes up the history 
 of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. To 
 England in especial, placed as she was in the very 
 gateway of the setting sun, and looking both towards 
 the Old World and the New, the changed circum- 
 stances brought a changed national life. No longer 
 isolated except in an etymological sense each of 
 her children could find, within a few miles of his 
 home, those broad sea-paths which were now not the 
 dividing but the connecting lines of Empire. The 
 Mediterranean was now no longer the sea but only a 
 sea, and this fact, broadening on the consciousness of 
 Europe, made the new age an era, not of land-power, 
 but of sea-power. 
 
 With the general political effects of this new factor, 
 and with the details of discovery and overseas expan- 
 sion I shall, of course, not deal here ; but the sudden 
 discoverv of a large and unsuspected area for national 
 exteriorization had so strong an effect on the musical 
 productivity of Europe that I must endeavour to 
 show the relationship of the one with the other. 
 
 Before doing this, however, it is necessary to say a 
 word as to the date which I have chosen for the 
 beginning of the modern period. The reader may 
 have noticed that, in placing the line of division 
 between the mediaeval and the modern periods as 
 1500, I have anticipated musical history by exactly 
 100 years. It might be thought that the year 1600 
 
 the year of the great musical disruption which was 
 to overthrow the old polyphony and establish in time 
 the modern melodic school should have been chosen
 
 78 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 as a more accurate date. We must, however, 
 remember that the vear 1600 is a purely artificial 
 dividing line selected by musicians solely on technical 
 grounds which, though of great interest to com- 
 posers, are by no means integral to a comparative 
 study of music and nationalism. 
 
 In addition to this I think it is plain that, if we 
 attempt to reconstruct musical history only from 
 a study of its technicalities and without reference to 
 the real factors which condition its existence, we 
 are bound to be faced at every turn with artistic 
 phenomena which are practically inexplicable. Such 
 enigmas occur in the inability of England to 
 follow Italy's lead after the later years of the 
 sixteenth century, and in the puzzling appearance 
 of Palestrina, who takes up a position at the summit 
 of a developed foreign school and, at the same time, 
 bars the path of progress to his countrymen. Viewed 
 from a merely technical standpoint the latter puzzle 
 would seem to be so hopeless that it has never pro- 
 voked even a guess from musical historians. It is, 
 then, better and more scientific to take the year 1500 
 as our starting-point, because it was at that date (or 
 thereabouts) that the new force first came into play. 
 We must not, however, forget that a force of this 
 kind exerts at first only a very slight pressure, and, 
 even when the existence of the force is consciously 
 recognized -as it was in the case of the discovery 
 of America-its effect at the outset on politics and 
 society appears to be small, and on music nil. 
 
 Hence it comes that, in 1500, we find Europe 
 standing at the parting of the ways. From that time 
 forward the new factor assumes a continually in- 
 creasing importance. Its effect on Spain, Portugal, 
 1 lolland, and England is to place them irrevocably in
 
 rii INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 79 
 
 the class of musically sterile nations. Its effect on 
 such a country as Italy is to throw her hopelessly out 
 of the running for world-power, and, in the process 
 of doing this, to bring into play her other activities 
 as a musically fertile nation. It is as if a mischievous 
 fate were playing pranks with a magic lantern, 
 focussing on to the screen a new set of people 
 suitable for the new possibilities of Empire, and, at 
 the same time, inscrutably taking care that to those 
 who had just been dissolved into darkness should be 
 entrusted the duty of expressing (in art) the new 
 conditions of the world. 
 
 In length of time this process may be said to have 
 occupied the greater part of the sixteenth century, 
 and its history may be seen most strikingly in Italy. 1 
 Throughout the greater portion of the fifteenth 
 century that country had been the scene of a five- 
 cornered fight for power Milan, Venice, Florence, 
 and Naples contending impartially with each other 
 and with the Papal States. With the turn of the 
 century the political situation changed. The position 
 of the Pope as a European power had waned con- 
 tinually since the great days of the early thirteenth 
 century, and now he was to feel the shock of a storm 
 which had been gathering for 200 years. 2 
 
 At this moment two enemies appeared on the 
 threshold of Italy France 3 and Spain. A long 
 
 1 Even up to the time of Palestrina's middle-life (i 5 50 or there- 
 abouts) the work of his Roman contemporaries was practically 
 indistinguishable from that of the Flemish School. At the same 
 date the Schools of Lombardy and Venice were just beginning to 
 break away from the leading-strings of Flemish tradition. 
 
 - The immediate cause of the Reformation was the authorization 
 of the "Sale of Indulgences " in 15 17. 
 
 3 French enter Italy, 1494. Formation of the " Holy League" 
 against France, 1571.
 
 80 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 record of bloodshed followed, during which the 
 Pope formed alliances and cross-alliances, at one 
 time with the Emperor 1 against France and Spain, 
 and at another with France 2 in order to detach her 
 from the Spanish Alliance. The outcome of the 
 whole bitter struggle was that, though Prance was 
 often successful from the mere military point of view, 
 bv the middle ot the century she had been forced to 
 retire within her own borders, and Spain had subju- 
 gated, and was ruling Italy. :i Under her iron heel 
 the dissonant elements of Italian politics were ground 
 into silence. The city-states, which had been jump- 
 ing-off grounds for the ambitions of this or that 
 petty tyrant Visconti, Scala, Este, Sforza, and 
 Medici- were now, in the sixteenth century, forced 
 to learn the lessons in civility which, in such a 
 country as England, had been mastered 500 years 
 before. Even the Papacy, sapped by the approach 
 of forces which it did not understand, and threatened 
 from within by the accumulated hatred and distrust 
 of four centuries, could effect nothing by its frantic 
 outburst of political activity, and was compelled to 
 see the victorious Spaniard enter Rome. 4 
 
 We may, then, say that Italy first felt the impact 
 ot the new ideas in the shape ot a back-handed blow 
 delivered by that very nation which was the pioneer 
 ot those ideas. The blow soon took effect, not only 
 in the field of politics, but in that of musical art. 
 For ^00 years her mental attitude had been one of 
 nervous, jealous exteriorization petty as we regard 
 
 1 Charles V., 1521. -Temp. Henry II., 1555. 
 
 3 Peace of Cateau-Cambrcsis, 1^9. The dominion of Spam 
 continued, in one form or another, down to about 1650. The 
 French were excluded from Italy by the Treaty of Lyons, 1601. 
 
 1 1: ; 2 -.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 81 
 
 such things now, and infinitely subdivided in its 
 activity but still fierce, determined, and vivid. In 
 these 300 years she had produced all that was greatest 
 in architecture, carving, poetry, and painting. Now, 
 when the whole national life was depressed to a much 
 lower plane of external activity, when the heat of her 
 many contending cities and the red-hot glow of her 
 one master-city were brought down below fusing- 
 point, she was to produce the first great musician of 
 her long line of great musicians. 
 
 We must not then regard Palestrina as a freak- 
 figure appearing strangely and incomprehensibly at 
 the topmost point of a foreign-developed art form, 
 and crying to his children for an immediate denial of 
 his life-work, but as a figure of flesh and blood whose 
 production was made inevitable by the organic changes 
 of his time in world-power. We must rid our minds 
 of any artificial obsession on this point brought about 
 by the accident that it was necessary for his successors 
 to change the technical character of music. If music 
 could be detached from the circumstances of national 
 life we might be compelled to view Palestrina as an 
 inexplicable figure coming from nowhere and leading 
 nowhither. Such a view has neither logic nor reason. 
 Indeed, the less we trouble with the technicalities of 
 music the better. The all-important point is the 
 national condition under which the artist works, and, 
 if we keep this point steadily before us, we shall 
 recognize in Palestrina the strictly logical outcome of 
 his century the first Italian, not, indeed, to work in 
 the field of music, but to work in the field of music 
 under the new settlement and with the new interior- 
 izing power of the national mind ; the first Italian, 
 therefore, to express the Italian genius in music, and 
 to pass on to his successors, not his mere technique.
 
 82 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 but the possibility of continued musical expression in 
 the future. 
 
 I have already pointed out that, however quickly 
 conscious of impending change were the western 
 nations of Europe, this change could not, by any 
 human means, take effect in art except after the lapse 
 of many years. The actual length of this period 
 would be of no importance were it not that in the 
 sixteenth century the musical history of Europe pre- 
 sents certain puzzling characteristics which appear, 
 at first sight, to deny the connection between musical 
 development and world-power. I may state at once 
 that the two apparent difficulties are (i) the existence 
 in Rome, during the first half of the sixteenth century, 
 of a school of Spanish musicians ; and (2) the exist- 
 ence, in the same century, of a partially national 
 school of music in England. 
 
 These two apparent " sports of nature " may very 
 well be considered together in a comparison with 
 each other and with the rest of sixteenth century 
 European music, for, though thev have little likeness 
 to each other artistically, thev exhibit in their origin 
 and in their historical surroundings so strange an 
 identity that, atter considering their circumstances, 
 we shall be forced to acknowledge them, not as a 
 contradiction to our proposition, but as a strong 
 testimony in its favour. 
 
 In dealing with this question we must not forget 
 that, apart trom the one great exteriorizing factor 
 which had been introduced in 1492, the sixteenth 
 century was a century favourable and not antagonistic 
 to musical progress. Within Europe the exterioriz- 
 ing tendencies ot the secular nations had sunk almost 
 to vanishing point, and the Papacy itself, enfeebled 
 by the loss, or the impending loss, ot the Protestant
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 83 
 
 countries, was compelled, in its struggle for life, to 
 search out some means by which these tendencies 
 could be goaded into action. The times had indeed 
 changed since the days of the Crusades when a 
 religious basis for external action was a mere pretext 
 offered to a half-savage world bent only on adventure 
 and slaughter. Europe had become educated ; for, 
 while Rome was still endeavouring to stay up her 
 trembling hands in a last weak defence of an empire 
 which had been founded on ideas of exteriorization, 
 and which was now decaying away from inability to 
 keep touch with the altered mind of the modern 
 world, Europe found herself unable to accept the 
 Roman exhortation to action except when it was 
 based- by a bitter contradiction on the one most 
 intimate and subjective activity of the mind, religion. 
 
 The century was, then, within Europe, an era of 
 partial exteriorization based on a newly acquired 
 national habit of interiorization. It was, in short, a 
 century of religious wars, a century of the most 
 horrible cruelty and bloodshed, of exterminations, 
 pillagings, burnings, and tortures, instigated by Rome 
 and carried out through her approved agents. The 
 result of these religious wars was like that of the 
 Anglo-French wars in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries precisely nil ; the people who had dis- 
 agreed with Rome before the wars and persecutions 
 began still disagreed with her when they had ended. 
 But, though these wars are for us only a detestable 
 catalogue of crime, we must not overlook the tact 
 that their existence, as based on religion, is evidence of 
 a changed condition of mind in Europe, and it was this 
 very change of mental attitude that made the century 
 favourable, on the whole, to musical production. 
 
 This musical production actually took place, as we
 
 84 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 know ; but it is curious that, in a small degree, there 
 was a musical development in two ot the nations 
 which were to benefit most largely by the conditions 
 of the new era Spain and England. The important 
 thing to note here is that, it we were placed as 
 spectators on the dividing line of 1492 and asked to 
 deduce, from their national circumstances, the names 
 of the nations most likely to develop the art during 
 the succeeding 300 vears, we should undoubtedly, 
 from general considerations of national prosperity 
 and security, name England, Holland, and Spain. 
 The fact, however, remains that, of these three 
 nations one (the Dutch) made no development at 
 all ; that the Spanish, already favourably established 
 at Rome, after making a partial attempt to develop 
 the Flemish music there, suddenly and completely 
 ceased all musical activity ; and that the English, 
 with more time and leisure at their disposal, suc- 
 ceeded in a slightly higher degree in establishing the 
 beginnings of a national school, and then ceased their 
 musical development as suddenly and mysteriously 
 as the Spanish. Of these three countries England 
 (the most musically productive) is also the most 
 removed from religious conflict ; Spain (the less 
 musically productive) is also the more involved in 
 religious wars ; while Holland (musically unproduc- 
 tive) is the country most completely overwhelmed 
 by them. It is also worthy of remark that, of these 
 three nations, the two least productive (Holland and 
 Spain) were the two who earliest grasped the possi- 
 bility ot sea-power ; 1 the English, who were in future 
 
 'Already, in 1 54 1 , the Dutch were able to equip a large and 
 powerful fleet for Charles's expedition against Tunis and .Algiers. 
 The Spanish and Portuguese naval establishments dale from nearly 
 
 fifty years earlier.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 85 
 
 ages to carry this possibility to its furthest limits, 
 were much slower in coming to this understanding. 1 
 
 It would, of course, be wholly alien to my inten- 
 tion in these chapters, and, indeed, a ludicrous per- 
 version of history, to attempt to cite individual 
 historical events as conditioning or causing individual 
 artistic movements, and we may therefore take the 
 broad, and I think true, view of the circumstances, 
 and, regarding this century as a transitional period, 
 see, in the partial development of the Spanish and 
 English schools, an "overthrow" from the preceding 
 century. Such an " overthrow " is nothing more 
 than the persistence of a national habit of mind 
 unable to accommodate itself at once to changing 
 circumstances, and therefore demanding an expres- 
 sion or itself in music which (when judged in the 
 light of strict historical data) appears to be an 
 anachronism. 
 
 Of these c> overthrows," which sometimes persist 
 for the greater part of a century, we can cite 
 examples which may serve to illustrate the posi- 
 tion. The continuance of the (decadent) poly- 
 phonic school in Italy (seventeenth century) after 
 its vitality had been sapped by the new monodic 
 school (in 1600) is a case in point. The musical 
 mind, by a sort of inertia, seemed unable to recognize 
 the existence of its new conditions, and therefore 
 continued to offer the world a semi-mediaeval type 
 of music which was as much an anachronism in the 
 seventeenth century as the Spanish and English 
 schools were in the sixteenth. It is important, 
 however, that we should not distinguish between 
 these two curious historical situations as being (in 
 
 1 Drake's voyage round the world, 1577. Date of the Armada, 
 1588.
 
 86 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 the earlier case) a " throwing forward " and (in the 
 later case) a " throwing back " of the mind. Each 
 of these is a case of "overthrow" or "persistence," 
 and the difference between them is only that in the 
 one case (the sixteenth century) it is the active or 
 exteriorizing faculty of mind which cannot at once 
 give up its momentum ; while in the other case (the 
 seventeenth century) it is the interiorizing or music- 
 producing faculty which shows the same inertia. 
 
 The broad fact of the matter is that England and 
 Spain were able to take artistic advantage of their 
 (temporary) impenetrability to the new ideas of 
 world-power, and to produce an amount ot music 
 in strict proportion to this and to their material 
 opportunities. These ideas were naturally slow to 
 filter into the national consciousness, but the im- 
 portant point is that the more they did filter the 
 more difficult became the production of music. 
 When they had actually soaked down as deep as 
 the musical mind of Europe, and when that mind 
 had begun to attempt an expression of the great 
 world-changes, it was found that the nations whose 
 imaginations and energies were devoted to the ex- 
 ternal activities of the new era were unable to invent 
 or even adopt the new technique by which alone it 
 could be symbolized in music ; and so by the com- 
 pensation of fate the nations who were forbidden to 
 share in the new dominion of the world were granted 
 the privilege ot expressing that dominion in art. 
 
 We may then summarize our facts with regard to 
 the fourth period as follows : 
 
 (i) The static condition of nations within Europe, 
 that is to say, the absence of any large national ex- 
 teriorization involving new arrangements of physical 
 boundaries or of ideas.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 87 
 
 (2) The consequence of this as seen in the 
 general cultivation of music throughout the period 
 (with the exception of the Spanish, Portuguese, 
 Dutch, and English, practically every nation, Italian, 
 German, French, Austrian, Bohemian, Hungarian, 
 Russian, and Finnish, takes some part in this culture, 
 varying partly with their material circumstances, but 
 especially with the opportunities which they enjoy 
 for quiet reflection). 
 
 (3) The discovery of a new field for national 
 exteriorization outside Europe. 1 
 
 (4) The consequence of this as seen in the emer- 
 gence of Spain, Portugal, Holland, and England as 
 exteriorizing, and therefore, despite their wealth, 
 musically-unproductive nations. 
 
 (5) The substitution of sea-power for land-power, 2 
 which is so axiomatic ot the period down to the 
 present time that it may almost be said that national 
 musical productivity is in inverse ratio to sea-power. 
 
 The above are the general conditions governing 
 the development of music during the modern period. 
 
 1 I have not dwelt on the discoveries and conquests in Asia 
 only because they are unimportant from our (musical) point of 
 view as being contained in the other type, that of western 
 exteriorization. 
 
 -This statement needs no argumentative support, but, if the 
 reader wishes to contrast the conditions of the modern world 
 with those of the ancient, he may take two such decisive land- 
 battles as those of " Chalons " and " Tours" and compare their 
 vitality with that of any sea-fight which he may select in the Dark 
 or the Middle Ages. In the modern period he will find the 
 conditions exactly reversed. All the blood spilled in the wars 
 of Marlborough and Napoleon, in the Crimean and Franco- 
 Prussian wars, means less to Europe than the victory of the 
 Christians over the Turks at Lepanto in 1 57 1 , than Nelson's 
 victories, or than the British naval supremacy at the time of the 
 Boer war.
 
 88 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 There are many points which it would be interesting 
 to pursue in detail. Such are, the weakness of the 
 Italian mind (about 1600) in all that held of aesthetic 
 activity which depends for its inception on external 
 stimuli, and the consequent ease with which she was 
 able to shoulder the burden of modern musical 
 development : the segregation of Central Europe 
 (1600-1870) and her complete ignorance during that 
 time of the change which was taking place from land- 
 to sea-power : the striking effect of this as seen in 
 the development of the Teutonic School of music : * 
 the possible effect in Germany of her more recent 
 leanings towards Colonial expansion : the curiously 
 balanced and seemingly chronic state of mental ex- 
 teriorization combined with physical interiorization 
 in France which has made her the most unsuccessful 
 colonizer 2 in the world, and has enabled her to 
 maintain a continuous school of music always charac- 
 teristically French, but often the work of foreigners : 
 the reasons (of climate and soil r) which have caused 
 Russia's music to be so minute in quantity compared 
 with the number of her inhabitants : the recent 
 musical activity in Finland at a moment when her 
 big, silent neighbour is watching her so closely : and 
 finally, the question, of great interest to England, 
 whether, when no further physical possibilities of 
 exteriorization remain, her Empire and its inhabi- 
 tants will ever assume the static condition which 
 makes musical development possible. 
 
 All these are questions or great interest, but I 
 
 1 Wagner said of Bach, " He is the history of the German 
 spirit's inmost life throughout the gruesome century of the 
 German folk's complete extinction." 
 
 2 Like Spain, Holland, and Portugal, she is an nlder colonizing 
 power than England.
 
 in INFLUENCE OF WORLD-POWER 89 
 
 shall deal with none of them here for two reasons : 
 first, because the advances in music, however vast 
 they may seem to us who are near at hand, are only 
 developments of and additions to the musical struc- 
 ture as it existed before 1500. They do not (as far 
 as we yet know) include any fundamentally new 
 discovery on which a new method of expression may 
 possibly be based. There has been no musical in- 
 vention since the early Middle Ages to compare, in 
 importance, with the discovered possibility of two 
 simultaneous melodies. It is still only matter for 
 interesting speculation whether a time will not come 
 when the cup of scientific harmony and counterpoint, 
 as we now know them, will not be filled to over- 
 flowing, and when the need will arise of some new 
 basis for development. Of this grasping out towards 
 a musical " fourth dimension " there may be, even 
 now, some faint signs ; but, if we can be certain 
 of anything from historical analogy, we may be 
 sure that any such departure will be the work of 
 generations. 1 
 
 The second reason why I am not discussing the 
 detailed interaction of world-power and music is its 
 simplicity and uniformity during the whole period. 
 Europe divides itself into two sets of nations those 
 
 1 It must not be overlooked that, though it is about iooo years 
 =ince discant was invented, there is no real sign (even in the most 
 elaborate modern orchestral music) that Europe is prepared to 
 accept a system of composition based on any other principle than 
 that of the prominence at any given moment of a single 
 "voice" or "part." There are some few and very doubtful 
 instances to the contrary (as, for instance in Strauss's later works), 
 but, even if we allow these, they are rarely of more than momen- 
 tary occurrence, and, so far as one knows, there is no complete 
 musical work at the present time written on such a basis. " Music 
 and melody " are still, in Wagner's words " inseparable, it being 
 impossible to conceive the one without the other."
 
 9 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. hi. 
 
 who are musically unproductive because they are 
 devoted to the exteriorization of their energies, and 
 those who are productive when (not because) this 
 factor is absent from their national life. Speaking 
 broadly, we may say that there are two opposite con- 
 ditions under which a nation may attempt to develop 
 music. In the first the negative condition there 
 is a distinct " pull " against the music-producing 
 faculties ; in the second the positive condition 
 we have no more than the absence of the negative 
 "pull," and this does not in every case ensure the 
 production of music, because there are a great 
 number of local circumstances which must offer a 
 fair average of possibility before the art can progress. 
 If we grant the absence of this negative " pull," we 
 mav put it that every nation tends to produce a music 
 of its own, and that this music, developed according 
 to the varying possibilities of different peoples, bears 
 to the developed international consciousness of Europe 
 a relation similar to that which the folk-song bore to 
 the undeveloped consciousness of mediaeval Europe. 
 We have, then, a sort of musically-positive condition, 
 as represented by the folk-song stage of musical 
 culture, and this condition has been normal and 
 universal. The production from it of a developed 
 art is also normal, but not universal. Under the 
 abnormal musical condition of exteriorization it ceases 
 to take place, and under the restrictive influence of 
 adverse physical circumstances it becomes something 
 less than universal.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER 
 
 In the foregoing chapters I have endeavoured to 
 arrive at an explanation of the conditions governing 
 the development of music. The production of music 
 has too often been regarded both by historians and 
 students as a wholly detached form of artistic activity. 
 This attitude on their part based perhaps upon a 
 true, if unconscious, realization of the psychological, 
 and therefore historical, differences between music and 
 the other arts has resulted in our present musical 
 history a history careful and precise in its dates and 
 details, but so perplexing in its relation to the other 
 national activities as apparently to forbid even a guess 
 as to the " why " and " wherefore " of its existence. 
 
 Even in the most modern histories one can find no 
 recognition of the vital necessity for some such 
 explanation. Within the particular circle of technical 
 musical history the events are all duly chronicled as 
 they occur ; but when the necessity arises, as it must 
 constantly arise, of explaining some strange case of 
 arrested development, the historian, unwilling to 
 move outside his own particular field of enquiry, 
 either leaves us with no explanation or else bolsters 
 up for us some one or other of the " proximate 
 causes " which have been the lying commonplaces of 
 musical history since first it was written.
 
 92 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 This is the more to be regretted in English musical 
 history, and especially in English operatic history, 
 where, if anywhere, there is striking need of a real 
 explanation of this arrested development, and it is 
 with the intention of offering a first suggestion, in the 
 broadest manner possible, that I have made the above 
 long but necessary digression from my main topic. 
 
 It must, then, be understood that the chief reason 
 why England has, in general, been appreciative and 
 not productive of a developing musical school during 
 the past 300 years is not that she has been less 
 " musical " than any other nation, or that she has 
 been engaged in doing other things, in commerce, 
 industry, poetry, painting, and so on, but that she 
 has been expending her energy during that time in 
 the one special form of national exteriorization which 
 is fundamentally and psychologically opposed to the 
 production of music. 1 
 
 The application of this principle in England has, 
 
 1 The personal application of this antagonistic environment to 
 the individual composer has been made by many writers. Dr. 
 Ernest Walker, in his History of Musk in England, refers (p. 26) to 
 Dunstable's lack of influence on his own countrymen ; he com- 
 ments (p. 183) on the "curious partiality" of the English for 
 "foreign traditions" ; see also his note on Pierson, that "isolated 
 figure of ineffectual revolt" (pp. 270 and 282), and his criticism 
 of Bennett (p. 26S) as "the great instance in music of a man who 
 might have reached real greatness being slowly but very effectually 
 killed by his environment." One may note that this environment 
 is largely made up of the conscious (and often belated) appreciation 
 of foreign music, and that this appreciation has shifted from class 
 to class in uniformity with the shitting ot political power. Thus, 
 when the initiative on external matters was wholly in the hands of 
 the Court circle, we find a ridiculous devotion to French ideals 
 {temp. Charles II.) ; later on we get the aristocratic cult of Handel 
 and J. C. Bach, and later still the democratic worship of many 
 strange gods, good and bad Clementi, Dussek, Cramer, Moscheles, 
 Mendeb : ohn, V/.igner, Tschaikowsky.
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 93 
 
 except as an example, no bearing on the general 
 history of European music. To us, however, as 
 students of our own country, it is interesting to see 
 the actual form which the struggle took, and to note 
 how musical and national philosophy is justified by 
 the two widely differing types of culture in Italv and 
 England. For, as soon as the former country felt 
 the power of her great central fire waning ; as soon 
 as her jarring States were reconciled to the impossi- 
 bility of their own aggrandisement ; as soon as she 
 learnt, in the face of the French and Spanish invaders, 
 the hopelessness of mere external empire, she entered 
 into another and greater kingdom, where she has 
 held sway for 300 years. In England, on the other 
 hand, the same set of world-causes operated to pro- 
 duce a precisely opposite effect ; for, as the Italian 
 fell asleep to the possibilities of external empire, so the 
 Englishman awoke, and from that day to this his 
 musical history has been the history of a struggle 
 against foreign domination. 
 
 We have now to turn from these general con- 
 siderations to the more special study of Opera, and 
 particularly of Opera as it affected the national 
 consciousness of England. As is well known, Opera 
 was invented in Italv about the year 1600 as a 
 conscious attempt on the part of a few " classicists " 
 to revive the Greek drama. Its subjects, wholly 
 taken from antiquity, called for and received a new 
 mode of expression distinct from, and opposed to, 
 anything which had gone before. 1 The view of the 
 earliest Operatic composers was that, in a Greek 
 
 1 This was the " Monodic School," a (successful) artificial crea- 
 tion which can only find an analogy in the (unsuccessful) attempts 
 made in Queen Elizabeth's reign to found a school of English 
 poetry on the basis of Greek and Latin rhythms.
 
 94 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 drama, the whole of the play, even the iambic 
 speeches and dialogue, was sung. They were, there- 
 fore, compelled to invent a new method of expression, 
 which would not only suit the lyrical and reflective 
 moments in the drama, but also the necessary 
 " connecting links " that is to say, the purely 
 intellectual explanations (of physical and psycho- 
 logical facts) which lead up to the lyrical situations, 
 and without which the reason for these situations 
 cannot be made apparent to the audience. 
 
 In doing this they invented the Lyrical Drama. 
 
 We must particularly note the "duality" of this 
 musical art-form, because it is just in its inability to 
 face the musical necessities of these " connecting 
 links" that we shall find the English mind differing 
 from the Italian. To this point I shall return later, 
 mentioning meanwhile that during the whole of the 
 seventeenth century Italy was engaged in elaborating 
 and transforming the art-form which she had invented. 
 In England during the first halt of the century there 
 was practically no recognition of the fundamental 
 idea which formed the basis of Italian Opera that is 
 to say, the necessity of declamatory -recitative or song- 
 speech. Music was, indeed, written to many dramas ; 
 but this music evaded the problem by ignoring 
 its existence. It was, in fact, either dragged into a 
 masque as an additional attraction to the gorgeous 
 "costuming" and " properties," or, if it rose to any 
 higher level, it merely served as an illustration of the 
 central situations or as an apology for their absence. 
 
 There can be no doubt that this stvle of entertain- 
 ment, then as now, was well suited to the English 
 temperament. Nor was it possible for even the 
 most gifted musician of his age to effect any perma- 
 nent change in this peculiarly national habit of mind.
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 95 
 
 Between 1670 and 1695 Henry Purcell had faced the 
 problem of lyrical drama and found a solution of its 
 difficulties perhaps more satisfactory and artistic than 
 any which had been offered by his contemporaries or 
 predecessors. In addition, he had approached his 
 task from a purely English point of view, and had 
 attained to a purely English mode of expression 
 which, in melodic charm, in vivacity of word-painting, 
 and in the general firm handling of situations, was 
 more mature and masterly than any other then 
 existing in Europe. 
 
 At his death 1 the position was full of possibilities 
 for the English people. They had produced an 
 isolated master and had received from him, as a legacy, 
 a sword tempered to their use bv his own cunning. 
 Within ten years of his death the invader was to come 
 from Italy. The question, as we can now see it in 
 all its vividness, was this : would the Englishman 
 draw the sword that had been bequeathed to him, 
 re-sharpen it to his own needs, and use it to repel the 
 invader? 
 
 Let us see what happened. 
 
 The first Italian Opera was produced in London in 
 1705. Its effect was striking and immediate. The 
 public and the professional musical classes were at once 
 broken up into three distinct sets whose intrigues and 
 counter-intrigues, squabbles and reconciliations, still 
 echo in their literature and even their advertise- 
 ments, across two centuries. Of these three sets 
 one was friendly and two were hostile to the 
 new form of art. All three, however, are of the 
 greatest interest to us both from the philosophical 
 and the historical standpoint, because they mirror for 
 us, not only the diversity ot national outlook with 
 1 In 1695.
 
 96 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 which the English greeted the first appearance of 
 Italian Opera in their midst, but also the three types 
 of mind which have existed here all through the 
 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and which are 
 now in the twentieth persistent factors in our 
 artistic life. 
 
 i. 
 
 First of all comes the aristocratic class, negligible 
 from the standpoint of musical philosophy but im- 
 portant from that of musical history, because its 
 members had, as they still have, the money and the 
 power to maintain in exotic and ridiculous pre- 
 eminence any foreign culture of which they approved. 
 They were, it must be remembered, not only the 
 richest, but also the most travelled aristocracy in 
 Europe, and they brought home from their travels a 
 cosmopolitan veneer and a species of intellectual 
 snobbery which was the one deforming characteristic 
 of their mixed breed. These people, the most vital- 
 ized in all that concerns our national history were, as 
 they still are, artistically the most de-nationalized. 
 They wished to be amused pleasantly and lazily, and 
 if in doing so thev could at the same time hall-mark 
 their amusement with the stamp ot exclusiveness, thev 
 counted it so much to the good. They received 
 Italian Opera, therefore, not with understanding 
 minds, but with open arms and --what was ot still 
 greater importance to the Italian artist open purses. 
 
 Their fathers had been glad to sit behind His 
 Olive-complexioned Majestv and watch his two dozen 
 fiddlers scraping through the English Church service 
 under the direction of Mons. Humfrey : thev had 
 been more than glad to present themselves at White- 
 hall in the hope of hearing the " French page-boy"
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 97 
 
 sinking his love-songs at one of those pleasantly un- 
 calvinistic after-dinner-sociables in which His Majesty 
 seems to have been peculiarly accessible to all and 
 sundry. Their sons therefore only needed to bring 
 into artistic action the heavy pieces of heredity with 
 which they had been accustomed to fortify their 
 political strongholds. The position was the more 
 easily defensible by them, because they were able at 
 any time to strengthen their convictions by the sight 
 of their monarch, George I., audibly humming with 
 his lips, visibly wagging his head, and both audibly 
 and visibly beating time in public to the music of his 
 favourite foreign composer. A consideration of this 
 sort backed up perhaps by the knowledge that their 
 Graces of Chandos and Devonshire might at any time 
 be found doing in private what onlv his august 
 Majesty dared to do in public worked then, as 
 now, like magic. In a word, the aristocracy picked 
 up the exotic, Italian Opera, put it in their hot- 
 houses, and watered its roots with gold, knowing 
 all the time that it had no better chance of flourishing 
 in the ground outside than a pepper-tree has in 
 Nova Zembla. 
 
 So far, so bad. But outside the aristocratic patrons 
 of Italian Opera there was a much larger theatre- 
 going public, a public which, not being able to pay 
 the (foreign) piper, of course could not call the tune. 
 Still a tune the public wanted, and more particularly 
 an English tune. Unfortunately, the members of 
 this public were only united by this desire and by 
 their common ignorance of the steps necessary to 
 attain their object. On this latter point they were 
 divided into two parties who, in their efforts to 
 found a school of National Opera adopted distinct 
 and opposing methods.
 
 98 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 To us, at the distance of two centuries, the course 
 which these parties should have taken seems clear. 
 They had an artistic heritage bequeathed them by 
 Purcell, and they should have used this as a basis for 
 development, just as Beethoven used Mozart, and 
 Wagner used Weber. This continuity, however, was 
 the last thing possible in face of the national circum- 
 stances. From our distant standpoint the great 
 opportunity of the situation looms large, while its 
 many difficulties tend, perhaps, to fide out of sight. 
 We must, however, try to get a nearer view of the 
 circumstances, and that is the easier for us to do 
 because the two types of opposition to foreign Opera 
 have exactly the same persistence at the present day 
 as the aristocratic cult of that art-form. 
 
 II. 
 
 The first of the two methods by which Italian 
 Opera was opposed in England was based, not on 
 any genuine musical considerations, but on a sort ot 
 ineffectual patriotism. It was a timid and foolish 
 movement to steal the intellectual results of a 
 century's development (in Italy) and to apply those 
 results without thought ot the widely differing 
 circumstances in England. The movement was 
 timid because its authors had not the courage to face 
 these differences honestlv : it was foolish, because 
 with two other parties in the field, one of which was 
 openly patronizing, and the other as openly defying, 
 the Italian methods thev could not hope to succeed 
 by means ot a half-way policy. Their way was 
 ingenious and not much above that of the luckv 
 tramp who finds a new coat by the road-side, puts it 
 on, and wonders at the poor figure he cuts in it. It 
 was in tact nothing less than to adopt the Italian
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 99 
 
 methods wholesale ; to trick up English drama with 
 recitative a F Italienne : and to pass off the whole 
 ridiculous masquerade on their fellow-countrymen as 
 " English Opera." In short, having stumbled across 
 Opera bv the wayside they appropriated it without 
 asking questions. Nay, more, they expected that 
 no questions would be asked. In this, as we shall 
 see, they were disappointed, for the national conscience 
 of their time was peculiarly tender on theft, and their 
 special " pickpocket " form of art carried with it, had 
 they but known it, a capital sentence. 
 
 The record ot the movement to build up " English 
 Opera " either on these lines or on the basis of trans- 
 lations from the original Italian is to be found scattered 
 up and down the eighteenth century newspapers, 
 pamphlets, and dedicatory epistles. On their futile 
 protests we need not waste a single regret, nor need 
 we be surprised to find that the patriotism behind 
 which the movement sheltered itself was no more 
 than a dummy-patriotism with the stuffing knocked 
 out. Many of the arguments adduced in its favour 
 are of the kind with which the public has been made 
 quite familiar in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries 
 that is to say, they are quite sincere statements of 
 the opinion that it would be nice if Opera flourished 
 here as it does in Italy. A second resemblance to 
 our own times is that, in both cases, the causes of 
 difference between the English and the Continental 
 publics are quietly ignored, and the underlying fallacy 
 of the whole position is that, if only the English can 
 be made to accept the foreign standpoint and the 
 foreign methods, they can (by taking the mere 
 mechanical precaution of writing in England and in 
 English) produce a satisfactory School of English 
 Opera.
 
 ioo MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 The following quotation illustrates one of these 
 eighteenth century attempts to found a National 
 School of Opera. It is taken from " Ernelinda," an 
 opera which was produced at the King's Theatre, 
 Haymarket, in 1716. The work is dedicated in a 
 preliminary epistle to Richard, Viscount Lonsdale, 
 Baron Lowther of Lowther, and his protection is 
 desired "at a time when we labour under so many 
 unhappy circumstances." The author then expresses 
 the hope that there may be 
 
 " many who will concur with your Lordship's 
 sentiments, and think themselves concern'd 
 to promote so noble a diversion which most 
 foreign States think it their interest to sup- 
 port. By these means we may retrieve the 
 reputation of our affairs and in a short time 
 rival the stage of Italy." * 
 A similar design is discussed in the preface to 
 "Camilla" 2 (171 7). This opera contains a dedication 
 to Lady Wharton and an address to the " Nobility 
 and Gentry," in which proposals are made for the 
 transplantation of Italian Opera to England. A 
 great feature is made of the necessity of replacing 
 Italian singers by English, and in this the author 
 
 1 T 1 1 i s reference to an attempt made to establish English Opera 
 is subscribed by Joint James Heidegger, who was afterwards 
 Handel's partner. I am unable to trace the authorship ol the 
 opera. It is not mentioned by Dassori, and the entry in 
 Riemann's Opein Handbuch is a mere translation from an 
 eighteenth century play-house guide. If the date, 1716, is correct 
 it cannot of course be the "Ernelinda" ol Leonardo Vinci (pro- 
 duced at Florence, 1 726) or the " Ernelinda " of Galuppi (produced 
 at Venice, 1752); still less that of Philidor (produced at Paris, 
 1767). The excerpt given above is not from the original, but 
 from the mss. transcription in the Ha-lcwood collection (vol. li. 
 p. 174), British Museum. (See Bibliography at end.) 
 
 - By Marc .Antonio Bononcini, brother of Handel':- rival.
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 101 
 
 anticipates some of Mr. Beecham's utterances 1 by 
 about two centuries. The whole scheme is summed 
 up, somewhat guilelessly, as depending for its success 
 on three conditions, 
 
 k '(i) The general encouragement from the town 
 
 to what has been proposed ; 
 " (2) The Reasonableness of the Performers in 
 
 their demands; 
 " (3) The good Oeconomy and sincere Design of 
 
 Pleasing in those who have undertaken it." 
 Projects of this sort, mixed up with poetical 
 lamentations 2 on the public preference for Italian 
 vocalists, are common all through the century, and 
 even Sir Charles Stanford's recent suggestion that 
 Opera should be united with spoken drama in a 
 national institution is forestalled by an exactly 
 similar plan outlined in the Public Advertiser of 
 March 1 6th, 1790. 3 At most of the English 
 Operatic productions of this age there was a calling 
 together of the clans bv means of a carefully-worded 
 " puff preliminary." Such an advertisement as the 
 following is constantly met with, 
 
 " The highest expectations are formed from so 
 
 capital a piece, 4 especially as it is wrote by 
 
 that Person who first attempted to introduce 
 
 English Operas upon our Theatres." 
 
 But we find continual evidence, then as now, that the 
 
 promoters of these enterprises were keenly aware of 
 
 their peril as between the devil of Fashionable Opera 
 
 1 See interview in the Observer, March 20th, 19 10. 
 
 2 E.g. in the Universal Journal, July 11th, 1724. 
 
 3 Where the writer, after pointing out the exotic and unthriving 
 nature ot Opera in this countrv, suggests that we should take 
 example from Vienna. 
 
 4 " Almena," by Rolt, Arne, and Battishall.
 
 io2 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 and the deep sea ot Popular Musical Entertainment. 
 A writer, discussing the question of a National 
 Theatre in the Public Advertiser of April 14th, 1790, 
 contrasts the great financial loss of Italian Opera 
 with the success of such pieces as " The Beggar's 
 Opera," "Love in a Village," and "The Haunted 
 Tower." He continues : 
 
 " The primary object should be the establishment 
 of a National Theatre, under the best regula- 
 tions, and the first patronage, as it is in 
 France." 1 
 Naturally no success was to be expected from an 
 artistic rivalry in which a clumsy pupil was challeng- 
 ing a master at his own weapons. Indeed, the 
 nearer he came to success the more remote became 
 his chances of popular appreciation. He was thus 
 bound to fall between two stools, and it would 
 almost seem necessary to institute an enquiry " de 
 lunatico " into the mental state of these Anglo- 
 Continental composers. They took themselves very 
 seriously, no doubt, allowing their audiences an 
 intolerable deal of music to a miserable ha'penny 
 worth of words, and scribbling down their musical 
 prescriptions and commentaries here, there, and 
 everywhere." Their earnest desire seems to have 
 been the foundation of a National Operatic School 
 which would be recognized as satisfactory by their 
 
 1 The wording of this appeal is in tone strangely and deliciously 
 like a much later appeal for a National Opera House. The author 
 of "Singing" (in Grove's Dictionary, 1st ed. vol. iii. p. 513) sug- 
 gests the foundation of such a theatre to be conducted " upon the 
 strictest rules ot order, propriety, and morality" as an annexe to 
 the Royal College of Music ! 
 
 - Sec Arnc's comments on his " Caractacus," and especially on 
 his curious succession of trills (for the bassoon !), written to rcpre- 
 cnt "the act of dvine of a man."
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 103 
 
 fellow-countrymen. The one step, however, which 
 would have carried them in this direction the 
 deference to their countrymen's wishes and pre- 
 judices they refused to take. They were, so to 
 speak, constantly torn between a strong desire to 
 swim and an equally strong dislike of cold water. 
 
 So began the long line of operas for whose failure 
 all the old familiar excuses have been, and still are, 
 solemnly trotted out. The injustice and ignorance 
 of the critics : the squabbles ot the singers : the 
 badness of the Opera books : the wickedness of the 
 lower classes, who were too stupid to know anything 
 (except perhaps what they did not want) : the equal 
 wickedness of the upper classes, who were so clever 
 that they knew exactly what they did want: and the 
 combination of these two types of wickedness, which 
 threw its victims into a dreadful state of coma with 
 respect to x\nglo-Continental Opera ; all these and a 
 dozen similar excuses have been paraded in English 
 journals and in English literature from the first years 
 of the eighteenth century till the year of grace, 191 1 ; 
 and the operas on whose behalf thev have been 
 coaxed out to make their awkward, unconvincing, 
 little bows before the public have all been Brum- 
 magen stuff, made in imitation of to-day in Italy, 
 or of last-week in France, or of yesterday-fortnight 
 in Germanv. Can anything good, worthy, or noble 
 come of such ideals ? At any rate nothing ever has. 
 
 in. 
 
 The second of the two methods by which Italian 
 Opera was opposed in England namely, by the 
 creation of " Ballad-Opera " is more interesting to 
 us, because we are able to perceive in it an expression 
 of the real differences which existed then, as they
 
 104 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 exist now, in the consciousness of the two peoples. 
 This is the more important, because the nearer we 
 approach our own days of democratic emancipation 
 the more forcibly are we taught the lesson that any 
 art which is not open to the people and understood 
 by them is, by its nature, based upon some more 
 restricted and less permanent characteristics of 
 emotion and intellect, and that when these sands, 
 so to speak, shift with the flight of years the next 
 generation is unable to find a firm foundation for 
 its own building. A new foundation has then to be 
 laid, and the whole work begun again. It is just 
 this monkey-like disconnectedness of effort which is 
 one of the most permanent and distressing features 
 in the history of English secular music. 1 The 
 
 1 Dr. Walker touches on the reverse side of this argument in 
 his History of Music in England. In speaking of our early eighteenth 
 century composers, lie says (p. 214) : " We cannot help noticing, 
 all through this period, a great extension of the artistic evils, the 
 beginning of which we have already seen in Purcell's day. Com- 
 posers were all too rapidly adopting the idea that they were the 
 servants of a public that had to be pleased on the spot." We 
 must, however, remember that the appearance and persistence of 
 this idea in the minds of English composers calls, not merely for 
 regret, but for explanation. And the explanation is to be found 
 in their (possibly unconscious) recognition of the fact that the 
 emotional developments of art can never be based, or at any rate 
 have never been based, on alien intellectual achievements. To 
 this truth our musical history bears painful witness. The writing 
 of works calculated to please only those few persons who have 
 substituted a knowledge of these achievements for personal ex- 
 perience oi their own is evidence, not of artistic development, 
 but of artistic impotence and selfishness. It seems to me nothing 
 less than monstrous to represent those composers who descend, as 
 it were, into the market-place, as descending there only for evil 
 purposes. Man}" have gone there, and man}- more will go, in the 
 knowledge that the people will not be called to from the hills 
 and in the unselfish desire to make some personal sacrifice if, by 
 doing so, the}' can lead their fellow-countrymen even a little
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 105 
 
 composer of every age is compelled to draw his 
 vitality from the largest section of mankind accessible 
 to him, and to look primarily to that section for his 
 justification. Now, the largest section of mankind 
 accessible to him as things are at present is not the 
 inhabitants of Europe, far less those of the world, 
 but those of his own nation ; and, if musical history 
 teaches any one lesson more clearly than another, 
 it is that no great composer has ever emerged into 
 world-speech except through the perfect utterance of 
 his own dialect. 1 
 
 way towards the heights. Even Plato, in his most hard-shell 
 antagonism to the artistic and political efficiency of "the many," 
 only makes the much qualified statement that a man cannot, 
 except in so far as is necessary, rrepa ruJv dvayxaiuji', make the 
 people his arbiters of taste unless at the same time he faces the 
 necessity of doing what they approve. But, after all, his " big, 
 strong brute" the public is teachable, and it is only on that 
 assumption that art progresses. 
 
 1 It would be more correct to say "cultivated European 
 speech," for, after all, it is only a small proportion of the inhabi- 
 tants of the earth who either understand or tolerate our musical 
 system. The analogy with speech is, of course, not quite accurate. 
 To make it so we should have to imagine all European speech 
 to consist of a number of words common to all nations, but used 
 by them with differences of arrangement connoting differences of 
 meaning and (incidentally) expressing differences of racial type. 
 We are far too prone in this country to allow our musical sub- 
 servience to Germany to distort our general artistic judgment on 
 this question. Sir Hubert Parry's much-discussed statement (in 
 his Art of Music, p. 292), that " Composers of different nations 
 impart the flavours of Slav, English, Norwegian, and French to 
 their songs, but make them, if they have any sense, on the same 
 general terms as the great Germans," is, I think, not correct as 
 history. And we can see this by noting how invariably this 
 artistic canon lias been rejected by men of first-class ability, and 
 by comparing tiie devitalized product of such men as Anton 
 Rubinstein, Gade, and Sterndalc Bennett, or Hugo Pierson, with 
 the vitalized utterance of such purely national composers as 
 Tschaikowsky, Grieg, and Purccll. Again, as advice, the state-
 
 106 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 The first appearance, then, of Italian Opera in 
 England gave the signal to the English public, not 
 for surrender, but for defiance ; and this defiance, 
 though it was unsupported by any artistic strength 
 or continuity of purpose, has persisted to the present 
 day. It must not be imagined that the English of the 
 early eighteenth century were a set of artistic barbarians 
 on whom the use of music in the theatre came as a 
 wonder-striking innovation. On the contrary, they 
 had for long delighted in its employment, and their 
 delight had resulted in the composition of more than 
 one masterpiece. In the Italian Opera, however, 
 which was now presented to them, they were suddenly 
 faced by a new art-form which had been invented 
 more than one hundred years earlier, and developed 
 during that time to express ideals and aspirations in 
 which they had no part. The game had, as it were, 
 been played for a century, and its rules elaborated to 
 suit a strange climate and a strange temperament, and 
 consequently, when it was shipped over to be played 
 on English turf and under English skies, the public 
 viewed it with indifference or even exasperation. 
 The same attitude of mind might be expected if a 
 little aristocratic coterie of Italian sportsmen were to 
 attempt the sudden introduction of cricket into Italy. 
 It is not that the Italians do not know what a ball and 
 
 mcnt seems to me to confuse the question as to which nation has 
 travelled farthest along one of the many parallel paths that lead 
 to the temple of artistic perfection with the very different question 
 as to the best track by which another nation, setting out from 
 another starting-place, should attempt to reach and enter its wide 
 gates. Perhaps the best answer to this latter question can be 
 given in Sir Hubert Parry's own words [Studies of Great Composers, 
 p. 224): "A genuine song requires a well-developed national 
 stvlc, and a treatment of melody which is perfectly adapted to the 
 language."
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 107 
 
 even a bat are, but that their ways are quite different. 
 Now, we have ample literary and musical evidence 
 ot the difference between the ways of the operatic 
 Englishman and the operatic Italian from the begin- 
 ning of the eighteenth century to the present day, and 
 as these differences seem to have changed scarcely at 
 all in that time it is interesting to look into them a 
 little more closely. 
 
 As I understand it, there were two principal points 
 on which the Englishman refused to accept the 
 Italian's experience as authoritative. These were the 
 points of "Subject" and "Method," in each of which 
 he saw what I may call an " incongruity " which 
 aroused his antagonism. The first of these " operatic 
 incongruities" is not of any great philosophical interest, 
 but is worth consideration, because it has had a constant 
 bearing on the failure or success of individual operas 
 in this country. I must, however, before describing 
 these " operatic incongruities," point out that I am 
 not discussing their philosophy as a detached artistic 
 question, but merely trying to explain the spirit in 
 which this artistic question was received by the English 
 people. It is the more necessary to say this because 
 it is too often assumed that the English have no view 
 at all in the matter are really little more than brute- 
 beasts in their artistic judgments, and this lying 
 assumption is based on a consideration of their 
 indifference to art of which they do not approve, a 
 consideration which should rightly lead to a precisely 
 opposite deduction. 
 
 (a) Incongruity of Subject. 1 
 
 As I have already mentioned, the invention of Opera 
 was a conscious attempt to reconstitute the ancient 
 
 1 I do not, of course, refer to the difficulty in justifying Opera
 
 108 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Greek drama. Its subjects were, therefore, exclusively 
 drawn from antiquity. At first the mythology, 
 especially the later neo-classical mythology of Greece 
 and Rome, was used to provide subjects for musical 
 illustration. Later still, the hackneved topics of 
 (antique) history were commandeered for stage use. 
 The first type ot opera is to be seen in the long list 
 of seventeenth century works which sprang from their 
 prototypes " Dafne " and " Euridice," and if we ask 
 for examples of both these types, we have only to turn 
 over, at random, any file of eighteenth century English 
 newspapers and read the advertisements of forth- 
 coming operas, such as"Admetus," "Porus," "Julius 
 Caesar," "Aetius," " Coriolanus," "Sosarmes." 1 
 
 Now, it is difficult enough to rouse the interest of 
 the average theatre-goer in any historical or mytho- 
 logical subject; but, to the Italian, there is even now 
 a trickle of blood in the veins bv means of which 
 he can claim kinship with some at any rate of these 
 worthies. To a Londoner they have exactly the 
 same interest as the doings ot Thomas the Rhymer 
 or King Alfred have to an Italian nil. The 
 important point for us is the existence of this 
 indifference, not our opinion as to its rightness or 
 wrongness. To a generation of such Londoners, 
 accustomed to associate Opera with the lengthy bore- 
 doms of " Demetrius," " Pyrrhus," and " Hvdaspes," 
 the appearance ot Captain Macheath and his friends 
 in " The Beggar's Opera " seemed almost too good 
 
 itself as an art-form-- a difficulty which seems to beset even the 
 professional writers on Opera, and winch rests on a misconception, 
 winch is equally applicable to all stage-plays, and indeed to all 
 forms of art (see Kuller-Maitland in his preface to Streatficld's 
 The Opera, p. ix.). 
 
 1 From advertisements of i~^2.
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 109 
 
 to be true. It was not that they considered thiev- 
 ing and beggary ideal subjects for Opera, but 
 that they recognized, under this flimsy disguise, a 
 satire on people and things with which they were 
 acquainted. 
 
 In an opera of this sort their sense of humour was 
 no longer outraged at every turn, nor were they called 
 on to make continual mental concessions in accepting 
 sham-heroics in place of tragedy. In a word, they 
 were (for the first time) allowed to participate in the 
 opera as well as to hear its music. For this reason 
 alone, it for no other, the new " Ballad Opera," 
 however awkward and primitive its form, was bound 
 to succeed. 
 
 Before passing on to deal with the second " incon- 
 gruity," that of " Method," I must point out that the 
 constant choice of heroic antiquity as the subject for 
 Italian Opera necessitated a corresponding heaviness of 
 treatment, which was then, as now, quite opposed to 
 English ideas. The English temperament allows the 
 acceptance of tragedy which is real tragedy and not 
 mere heroics, but it also demands the relief either of 
 fancy or humour. Now, some of the subjects with 
 which Italian Opera dealt were, it is true, capable of 
 fanciful, poetical treatment, but these were subjects 
 whose genuine appeal was to the Greek mind, or to 
 the Latin mind as it had been influenced by the Greek. 
 To the Anglo-Saxon mind these subjects meant little 
 or nothing, and they were in a minority. The greater 
 number of these topics were capable of receiving 
 only heroic or profoundly gloomy treatment, and, 
 as a matter of fact, the words " heroics and gloom " 
 fairly well describe the eighteenth century Italian 
 Opera. 
 
 The object of music, however, is the heightening
 
 no MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of emotion, and we must, therefore, not overlook the 
 fact that if we reject the most emotional topics we are, 
 so to speak, taking the sword out of the Muse's hand. 
 This the eighteenth century Englishman did con- 
 sciously, but we may plead in extenuation that the only 
 emotional topics which were presented for his approval 
 were topics which he could not approve. He chose, 
 therefore, what was to him the lesser of two evils, the 
 maintenance of a type of Opera thin and scrappy, no 
 doubt, but free from what he regarded as fundamental 
 absurdities. He remembered, perhaps, that neither 
 tragedy, fancv, nor poetry is the perquisite of 
 classical history and mythology, and, if his national 
 circumstances had permitted it, he might have 
 developed all these elements as the Continental 
 nations have developed them in an Opera based 
 on his own familiar history and on those intimate 
 topics which were most congenial to his national 
 temperament. 
 
 I may touch on the fact in parenthesis that this 
 dislike of an English audience for theatrical gloom is 
 still a factor which we must take into account. We 
 have only to drop into Covent Garden about half-past 
 eleven any evening during the grand season to witness 
 some two or three healthy-looking aliens dying slowly 
 (sometimes very slowly) by cold steel, hot lead, poison, 
 asphyxiation, phthisis, burial-alive, or, in default of all 
 these, bv that curious form of disease the "morbus 
 operaticus " which attacks and instantly kills tenors 
 and sopranos just before the last act curtain. 1 If we 
 drop in a little earlier in the evening to ascertain the 
 causes which lead up to these melancholy occur- 
 rences we shall find them ranging, in a variety of 
 
 1 " An opera must end happily," says The Player in "The 
 Beggar's Opera."
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER in 
 
 circumstances downwards, from seduction and bigamy 
 to adultery and incest. 1 
 
 Now, it is true that these things exist just as 
 forgery, petty larceny, and burglary exist. A man 
 does not, however, applaud or deplore a murder the 
 more or, for that matter, determine the more to 
 commit murder or to refrain from doing so 
 because he has read of it in his newspaper or seen 
 " Othello." 2 The fact is merely brought before his 
 consciousness that, in certain circumstances, murder 
 has been committed. As far as the theatre-goer is 
 concerned there is no moral question at all. 3 Nor is 
 it possible to deny sureness ot judgment to a people 
 who have produced Shakespeare. But, on this point, 
 both they and Shakespeare are quite clear, for while 
 they admit " pity and fear," they refuse "disgust and 
 loathing " as cleansers of the soul. And more than 
 that, they claim that the gloomy and sordid aspects 
 of life shall not be forced into an (artistically false) 
 prominence at the expense of the other brighter as- 
 pects which are more poetical and no less permanent. 
 
 1 Sullivan, in his address "About Music," delivered at Birming- 
 ham in 1888, made the curiously incomplete and inaccurate state- 
 ment that " Music ... is absolutely free from the power of suggesting 
 anything immoral. ... It can convey every meaning except one 
 an impure one." There are, of course, many meanings other than 
 impure meanings that music cannot convey, and the only reason 
 why it cannot "suggest anything immoral" is because it is an art 
 and therefore non-moral. Music cannot suggest the time of day, 
 or the degrees of longitude and latitude, and if its function was to 
 do either of these things or to inculcate the practice of virtue it 
 would cease to be an art. 
 
 2 On this point, in connection with "The Beggar's Opera," see 
 Johnson's and Gibbon's remarks in Boswell's Life, under date 
 1775- 
 
 3 See Mr. Lawrence Gilman's criticism of Mr. Ernest Newman 
 in Aspects of Modern Opera, p. 95.
 
 ii2 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 This trend of thought, which is sometimes wrongly 
 called " idealistic," has always been a characteristic 
 of the English outlook, and no good purpose is 
 to be served by pretending that it does not exist. 
 We must, therefore, face fully and squarely the fact 
 that it involves some sacrifice on the part of music. 
 It is, however, only a sacrifice which will have to be 
 made at the beginning of an operatic culture, for the 
 English public is always eager to brush away the 
 antiquarian obstacles that are too frequently strewn 
 in its path, and to welcome free-heartedly the emo- 
 tional mission of operatic music: only one cannot 
 think that it is ever likely to tolerate the unrelieved 
 gloom which has been passed off on it more than 
 once as "English Opera." Tragedy that ennobles and 
 purifies Yes : Comedy that brightens and charms 
 Yes : even Tragedy and Comedy mixed : but mud 
 masquerading as fiesh and blood No, no, no. 
 
 () Incongruity of Method. 
 
 The second, and much more important, point in 
 which the English found cause for dissatisfaction 
 with the Italian Opera I have named roughly " In- 
 congruity of Method." In a word, it was the 
 presence of " declamatory recitative," that is to say, 
 of successions of notes written, as was the fashion 
 then, not to enhance the emotional strength of the 
 words, but merely to prevent the singer dropping 
 awkwardly into actual speech. The original idea of 
 the early seventeenth century Italians had been to 
 provide an Opera in which the music emphasized the 
 emotional contents of the drama while remaining 
 subsidiary to the drama itself, and the efforts of all 
 reformers have really been directed towards this one
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 113 
 
 goal. Gluck sums up this philosophy in a simple 
 and straightforward manner. He says : l 
 
 " When I undertook to set the opera of Alceste to 
 music, I resolved to avoid all those abuses 
 which had crept into Italian Opera through 
 the mistaken vanity of singers and the un- 
 wise compliance of composers, and which had 
 rendered it wearisome and ridiculous instead 
 of being, as it once was, the grandest and 
 most important stage of modern times. I 
 endeavoured to reduce music to its proper 
 function, that of seconding poetry by enforc- 
 ing the expression of the sentiment and the 
 interest of the situations without interrupting 
 the action or weakening it by superfluous 
 ornament." 
 Again, Purcell's phrase, " Musick is the exaltation 
 of poetry," 2 is only a more general expression of the 
 same idea. Wagner's insistence that the true end of 
 "Opera" that is to say the drama itself had been 
 obscured by its means of expression music is well 
 known to all : while, in our own day, M. Debussy 
 has restated the creed almost in Gluck's words. 
 Writing of his opera " Pelleas and Melisande" he 
 says : 
 
 " I wished intended, in fact, that the action 
 should never be arrested : that it should be 
 continuous, uninterrupted. I wanted to 
 dispense with parasitic musical phrases." 
 
 1 In his preface to "Alceste." 
 
 -In the dedication of " Dioclesian." He adds "Both of them 
 may excel! apart, but surely they are most excellent when they are 
 joyn'd, because nothing is then wanting to either of their pro- 
 portions ; for thus they appear like wit and beauty in the same 
 person." 
 
 H
 
 1 1 4 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 This was essentially the aim of the inventors of 
 Opera ; but, before the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century endless abuses had crept into the form. 
 Mr. Ernest Newman, in one of his penetrating criti- 
 cisms, 1 has pointed out the dangers which Europe 
 ran at the time of the Renaissance a movement 
 which was based, like Opera, on a passionate study 
 of Greek antiquity. The danger was lest this new 
 cult, coming as it did on an aesthetically weakened 
 civilization, should, by its virility, keep back the 
 growth of the very spirit which it had called into 
 existence. 
 
 With Opera the peril was all the greater, because 
 it was a conscious attempt to reproduce the Greek 
 drama. It was, then, in danger of being driven into 
 a position of seclusion where it could only exist as an 
 antiquarian curiosity. From this it was saved partlv 
 by the reformers and partly by the singers. 2 In the 
 course of this salvation, however, the functions of the 
 music had become split up into two distinct parts, 
 and the music itself was written in two totally dif- 
 ferent styles those in which the composer wished 
 to amplify the emotional moments of the play, and 
 those in which he wished to explain and justify these 
 moments. Unfortunately, the influence ot the singers 
 was directed, not only towards glorifying the central 
 "situations" of the play, but more particularly 
 towards the personal glorification of himself, herself, 
 and (at that time) itself. The result was a deformed 
 species of Opera in which the characters were always 
 
 1 In Gluck and the Opera, part ii. chapter i. 
 
 - For the influence ol the singers on eighteenth century Opera, 
 see Mr. A. J. Balfour's essay on "Handel" (No. 3 in his Essays 
 and Addresses).
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 115 
 
 singing arias of a fixed conventional pattern, 1 or else 
 discussing 1 their own and each other's woes in a strange 
 chatter which had neither the interest of speech nor 
 of song. 
 
 It was against this chatter that the early eighteenth 
 century Englishman rebelled. 
 
 He was willing enough to accept the Purcellian 
 definition of music as "the exaltation of poetry," but 
 when the singers stopped exalting poetry and began 
 a maddening " recitative " which was as unlike music 
 as the sound of a jerky sewing-machine, his patience 
 gave out. Recalling the masques in which he had 
 delighted fifty or sixty years before, he invented for 
 himself " Ballad Opera," a flimsy, artless thing made 
 up of any scraps of folk-tune and of old and modern 
 songs on which he could lay hands. Into such an 
 opera he would pitchfork any musical " number " 
 which he thought would " go," and he shared with the 
 modern musical-comedy manager the art of" cutting " 
 his numbers down to the fewest bars possible. 
 
 On one principle alone he was inflexible, and 
 consciously inflexible, and that principle was " no 
 recitative." Here he openly defied the Italians, and 
 indeed throughout the whole of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury we find the words "the Italian stvle " and " the 
 Italian manner " used regularly for " recitative." The 
 introduction to the first and best of all Ballad Operas 
 states the author's intention in a sentence. He says : 
 
 "I have not made my Opera throughout unnatural, 
 like those in vogue ; tor I have no recita- 
 tive." - 
 
 1 E.g. The "Aria cantabile," the "Aria di portamento," 
 the "Aria di mezzo carattere," the "Aria parlante," the "Aria 
 di bravura'' (Grove). 
 
 2 " The Beggar's Opera,'' 1727.
 
 n6 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 For the rest, his method was to ignore the whole 
 problem of operatic construction and to break off 
 into spoken dialogue at the end of each song; and 
 this has remained the cowardly English method, or 
 rather want of method, for more than 150 years. 
 The inclusion of concerted pieces and of a few odd 
 tags of recitative here and there has given it a 
 certain appearance of development, but, in its diffi- 
 dence to face and solve (in its own way) the essential 
 difficulties of the problem, practically every success- 
 ful English work has been true to the timid type of 
 " The Beggar's Opera." I need scarcely mention 
 that all these "Ballad Operas" were written and 
 performed in English, and this fact alone, if there 
 were no other, would be sufficient to prove the 
 inaccuracy of the often-repeated statement 1 that 
 English, in the eighteenth century, was not looked 
 upon as a suitable medium for music. This was, no 
 doubt, the view of the dense-headed aristocratic 
 classes, who preferred (as they still prefer) mental fog 
 in Italian to sunshine in English ; but the people 
 artistically undeveloped as they were and are have 
 always shown a very lively recognition of the fact that 
 it is necessary to understand before one can enjoy. 
 
 We must pause here to reflect that the composers, 
 or rather the compilers, of these Ballad Operas could 
 not look for support to an artistically united nation. 
 One portion of that nation the aristocracy was 
 amusing itself with Italian Opera much as it might 
 
 '/-,'.:;. "It was strangely believed that no other language " [i.e. 
 than Italian) "was admissible for artistic opera'' (Walker, History 
 of Mi/sir in Knglaih.). "There was so much said against the 
 unfortunate English language as a medium of vocal expression 
 that native talent had little or no chance <>1 distinguishing itself" 
 (Markham Lee, The Story of Opera).
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 117 
 
 amuse itself with the lions at the Tower: another 
 portion the professional musicians and their fol- 
 lowers was attempting, almost without thought, 
 a mechanical and unsuccessful imitation of foreign 
 Opera. Thus the money and the brains which 
 should have been employed in the development of 
 English Opera were both wasted. The position of 
 affairs has not greatly changed to-day. At the top 
 of the tree we have our Grand Opera Season devoted 
 to the pursuit of fashion and the foreigner, while at 
 the bottom we have an enormous expenditure of 
 wealth and energy on Comic Opera and Musical 
 Comedy a relatively low form of art. In between 
 these come the haphazard operatic ventures of our 
 "serious" composers ventures based, as a rule, 
 not on any genuine desire to offer the nation a 
 sympathetic expression of its own ideas, but on 
 a somewhat too close familiarity with the prejudices 
 of Paris, Bayreuth, and Milan. 
 
 The reader may verv well ask what hope there 
 can be of English Opera under such adverse con- 
 ditions. On that question I shall have something 
 to say in a future chapter, but meanwhile I may 
 perhaps point out that, as far as one can judge, the 
 last-named type of operatic energy the Anglo- 
 Continental seems to be useless as a foundation 
 for building, because it is itself based on a self- 
 destructive mental perversity. The men, however, 
 who have been writing these dull and dignified 
 operas possess just the brains and culture which 
 are necessary in the work of raising the popular 
 taste ; and this is just the work which they should 
 be doing from artistic, patriotic, and personal 
 motives. Indeed, it is difficult to see what other 
 line of fruitful activity is open to them. They
 
 n8 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 cannot hope to place themselves at the head of 
 the foreign culture in London, when the foreigner 
 himself is here in hundreds: they might, however, 
 captain a great national artistic movement. To that 
 course, it seems to me, their artistic honour compels 
 them. It is a course that requires some sacrifice 
 and much sympathy, but it is also a course of 
 infinite hopefulness. Yet they appear to be in- 
 capable of either the needful sympathy or the 
 sacrifice. One might almost say that they have 
 not vet passed out of their "eighteenth century" 
 of mental aloofness. The more's the pity. They 
 are all as polished as Pope and as gentlemanly as 
 George IV.; and they are quite content to sit up 
 aloft in their prettily terraced Palace of Art (built 
 by alien labour) and discuss the maxims of Con- 
 fucius with an easy mandarinesque elegance, while 
 all the time they should be down in the garden, 
 coats off and spade in hand. 
 
 To sum up then, we have in our operatic history 
 the spectacle of a large mass of (comparatively) poor 
 people producing certain relatively low art-forms 
 satisfactory to themselves, and a small number of 
 rich people supporting certain foreign art-forms 
 equally satisfactory to themselves. Each in turn 
 is able to exert, and does exert, a negative and 
 stultifying influence on the other : and this facing- 
 both-ways position of the nation is reflected in the 
 mental attitude of the class between the composers 
 some of whom have always been engaged in 
 developing popular music, while the rest have been 
 producing works, as it were, in vacuo works that 
 were above and unrelated to the popular standards, 
 but below the aristocratic standards, and only related 
 to them in the way that to-day in England is related
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 119 
 
 to yesterday in Germany. From this latter type of 
 music I can gather no hope. We have, unfortunately, 
 always had the imitator with us, and he has pro- 
 duced for us endless imitations of Handel, Haydn, 
 Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Wagner, and Tschaikowsky. 
 Now he is beginning to turn his attention to Richard 
 Strauss and Claude Debussy; but, however clever his 
 imitations may be and they are often diabolically 
 clever there is in them all a seed of death. 1 It is 
 dishonest music; or worse, it is traitorous. 
 
 But in the former type of music I can see some 
 hope, though its realization may be far off. We 
 must remember that, though its development has 
 been small, the limit has been set by the limit of our 
 national artistic unity. The producers of this music 
 have had to say to themselves: "Thus far, and no 
 further," not because the possibilities of new artistic 
 development were exhausted, but because they found 
 themselves faced by insuperable social, and therefore 
 commercial, obstacles. Every lover of English 
 Opera should, therefore, fix firmly in his mind the 
 hope that the pernicious cult of the foreigner, which 
 makes London the (very profitable) laughing-stock 
 of Europe, should be ended. On some of the 
 difficulties connected with this I shall touch in a 
 later chapter. Meanwhile I may point out that, 
 however small the development of popular English 
 Opera has been, there is a development ; and that can 
 be seen by reading through the scores of, say, "The 
 Beggar's Opera," " Rosina," 2 " The Knight of 
 
 1 In the year 191 1 one hears a perfectly sane musician speaking 
 of a young English composer with admiration on the ground that 
 he has learnt by heart a certain beautiful but extremely alien 
 French opera, and believes in every note of it! 
 
 2 Shield.
 
 120 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Snowdoun," x "The Night Dancers," 2 "The 
 Mountain Sylph," 3 and "The Mikado" 4 or 
 "Shamus O'Brien." 5 
 
 To develop it still further our composers must, 
 once for all, put off their high-and-dry, detached 
 attitude of mind and determine, at whatever sacrifice 
 to themselves, to write Opera which is " accessible 
 and intelligible" to the people. I do not say that 
 it would ever be possible or desirable for a composer 
 who is merely a " foreign music expert " to make 
 this attempt ; but there are many men who are at 
 once sufficiently "in compact with their times," 6 
 and sufficiently alert to the possibilities of improve- 
 ment. It is to these men, and not to the antiquaries, 
 that one must look for that earnest and sympathetic 
 recognition of present-day actualities without which 
 no forward step can be taken. When this has been 
 done, the unfortunate gap which divides the two 
 sides of the profession may be bridged, and we shall 
 get rid of that taint which has too often of late years 
 associated artistic worth with social respectability. I 
 need say no more on this topic. 
 
 The question may, however, be asked whether 
 the very strong anti-operatic prejudices of the 
 Englishman can ever be overcome. In answer to 
 that I would call the reader's attention to the fact 
 that the prejudices of the Englishman are not 
 prejudices against Opera as a form, but against what 
 he considers the incongruities of Opera as elaborated 
 abroad. It is true that he alternately laughs and 
 sulks when (in his own language) he hears stage 
 people discussing their food 7 and their psychology 
 'Bishop. 2 Loder. 3 Barnett. 4 Sullivan. 5 Stanford. 
 
 6 Mr. Vernon Blackburn's criticism of Puccini. 
 
 7 So much has been said, in this country, about Pinkerton's
 
 IV 
 
 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 121 
 
 in song. But this is a sign of grace not of dis- 
 grace. Opera should be simple and austere in its 
 outlines. The function of its music should be, as 
 Gluck said, "to second Poetrv," and it is just this 
 function of which the English most heartily approve. 
 But, the reader may say, surely this will result 
 in a type of Opera quite different from anything 
 which has present existence ? Indeed it will : and, if 
 it did not result in such a type, it would not be 
 either artistic or healthv. But again the reader 
 may urge surely Opera is by its nature dual? it 
 needs both the emotional situations and the intellec- 
 tual explanations of these situations. This also is 
 quite true ; but the English people do not like these 
 
 unfortunate "Milk-punch or Whisky?" that one may perhaps 
 cite it as a locus classicus of operatic absurdity to an Englishman. It 
 must be remembered, however, that, if we put aside the names 
 of the characters, these are the only words in the opera which 
 an Englishman understands at Covent Garden. The annoyed 
 titter that generally goes round the house when the tuneful 
 bigamist suggests a drink, seems to me to be caused in one of 
 two ways. First, there is the oddness to the hearer of suddenly 
 distinguishing two trivial words with which he is familiar. This 
 is no more than the oddness which is felt if one is compelled to 
 li-ten to a speech or a play in an unknown language. Occasion- 
 ally a couple of syllables will occur which seem to sound like 
 common English words often grotesquely inappropriate to the 
 speaker's action. In such a case a smile is bound to come, the 
 more so because (as in listening to Opera in a foreign tongue) 
 one is at the moment intellectually detached. As an example 
 of this grotesqueness in Opera, I may perhaps be allowed to 
 quote a remark made to me by a distinguished English Com- 
 poser who is only moderately acquainted with the German 
 language. He said that, in listening to Fidelio, he could never 
 wholly rid his mind of the idea that the Chorus was making 
 its exit, not on the German words " Leise ! leise ! ", but on 
 the English words "'Liza! 'Liza!" Next there is the sudden 
 chagrin at sliding or rather being slid from a high emotional 
 to a low intellectual plane. It is quite obvious that tiie mere
 
 122 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 intellectual "connecting links," especially if they 
 deal, as they often must deal, with external topics. 
 They will, then, insist on an Opera free from these 
 "connecting links"? Certainly: and that Opera 
 will, therefore, be different in its nature from our 
 present Opera. It will be an Opera such as Purcell 
 imagined an Opera in which the Drama is poetry, 
 and the Music is employed to " exalt the poetry." 
 The artistic difficulties in the way of elaborating 
 such an Opera are, for an English composer, trifling. 
 There are numbers of beautiful stories with which 
 the public is familiar, and, even it the topic chosen 
 is unfamiliar, the procession of the Drama itself can 
 be and indeed ought to be restricted to such 
 
 calling for "wine" or "drink" on the stage cannot be matter 
 either of humour or of offence. An English singer, singing in 
 English before an English audience, might (with his hand on the 
 bottle) say, "Give me a draught of Asti Spumante" without 
 raising a smile, because the words "Asti Spumante" have no 
 meaning to an English audience, which merely sees, by the 
 actor's gestures, that he means "wine"; but the connotation of 
 the word " whisky " is specialized to the Englishman, and that 
 is why he regrets it as unsuitable to Opera. It is not, as Mr. 
 Lawrence Oilman says, because Pinkerton is " a man of our own 
 time." He is or ought to be a man, and that is enough ; his 
 "time" is of no consequence. But it is essential that he should 
 say and do things applicable to any time. Men and women 
 drink wine and wear garments at all times; they also love and 
 desert each other. But if we specialize any of these things as, 
 for imtance, by saying that he drank bottled beer, or wore Jaeger 
 underclothing, or deserted her by taking the 2.20 from Charing 
 Cross we rob the character of its generality, and therefore 
 detract from its emotional appeal. It follows that the less funda- 
 mental to human nature the action ia with which the author is 
 dealing, the greater the necessity of attaching that action as a 
 "ceremonial movement" or "observance" to the drama as an 
 integral part of its structure. Thus such simple movements as 
 the opening of a door or the raising of a cup of wine to the 
 lips become sanctified to their proper ends in Music-Drama.
 
 iv EIGHTEENTH CENTURY & AFTER 123 
 
 broad developments as we see in " Tristan and 
 Isolde," while the movements of the actual charac- 
 ters oil the stage can be, and ought to be, confined 
 to those expressive " ceremonial movements," each 
 one of which has a definite bearing on the Drama. 
 In an Opera of this sort we stretch hands, as it 
 were, across two centuries to Henry Purcell. The 
 k> emotion of the character " and the " emotion of 
 the music " l become blended into a single concep- 
 tion, in which the two parts are presented simul- 
 taneously to the audience. All the petty Operatic 
 incongruities which have scandalized Englishmen for 
 so long disappear at once, and leave us with an 
 Opera that is musically flexible but dramatically 
 simple. 
 
 1 Debussy's phrase.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 TO-DAY IN LONDON 
 
 In the first chapter of this book I drew attention to 
 the tact that, though many operas have been written 
 in England by and tor Englishmen, we cannot be 
 said to have any organic Operatic History. The 
 history which we have is, when considered socially, 
 the history of a continual struggle between a foreign 
 culture imposed on us by our own upper classes and 
 a national popular culture which was at once more 
 elementary in its nature, less self-conscious, and 
 (artistically) almost completely undeveloped. 
 
 In this struggle it is noteworthy that, though the 
 foreign composer always won, the Englishman was 
 beaten but never killed : he rose to his teet again 
 and, with a certain doggedness of purpose, renewed 
 the contest, righting in his old way and with his old 
 weapons. There was something laughable almost 
 pathetic in this tenacity. Always defeated, he 
 refused, with a curiously sure instinct, to get himself 
 the rapier and light suit ot foreign armour with 
 which alone, it might have been supposed, he could 
 right successtully. Homespun and leather with a 
 good English broadsword were, he knew, the only 
 implements with which he could ultimately win ; 
 but what amazes us is his stupidity in not seeing that 
 the condition ot his success was that his leather and
 
 chap. v. TO-DAY IN LONDON 125 
 
 homespun should be made good and sound and his 
 rusty blade resharpened. From the disjointed 
 record of this disheartening combat we have to 
 manufacture a history out of which, indeed, almost 
 no fact emerges except that, through all his defeats, 
 he kept before his eyes certain ideals towards the 
 attainment of which he made scarcely one efficient 
 step. 
 
 Now, ot all artists, the Operatic composer is most 
 dependent on a public. The writer of songs, and 
 even of symphonies, the painter, and the sculptor 
 may all develop themselves and their art supported 
 only by the sympathy and encouragement of a few 
 chosen spirits. They not only may do this, but they 
 have done it and are doing it to-day. With the 
 Operatic composer it is different. It he does not 
 secure the sense of touch both of the " stage " and of 
 the "house" he is working in a vacuum. The 
 painter or the sculptor mav find one or two intelli- 
 gent and artistic patrons who are willing to buy his 
 works and so enable him to develop : he has the 
 exterior world before his eyes, and, when he has 
 painted his picture or carved his statue, the work 
 exists as he intends it to exist. In a somewhat 
 different manner the writer of songs and symphonies 
 has no serious barrier to surmount before he can get 
 in touch with his public. The expenses attending 
 song-publication and symphony-performance are 
 comparatively small, and even if he finds them 
 beyond any means which mav be under his control, 
 he can at a pinch- though I do not say it is a good 
 thing to do write, as Schubert wrote, for his shelf. 
 But when the Operatic composer has written his work 
 it has not, for him, the absolute existence of the 
 painted picture or the carved statue. Nor can it be
 
 126 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 performed, as the song and the symphony can, 
 except at very great expense. Yet its composer 
 stands more in need of this realization of his work 
 than either the song-writer or the symphonist. In 
 both the latter cases it is possible to judge fairly 
 exactly how the work will "come out" in perfor- 
 mance. I do not deny that a fine symphonic work 
 may be stultified by a bad performance, but such 
 performances are rare. The composer can, as a rule, 
 count on a certain average size of concert hall, a 
 capable conductor, and a known number of musicians 
 who have been trained to consider obedience and 
 precision as an eleventh commandment. 
 
 To the Operatic composer there are no such 
 stereotyped conditions. His " house " mav hold 
 500 people or 3000 : his orchestra may vary from 
 45 to 100 : it may be sunk so deep that all his 
 quiet effects are thrown away : it may be raised so 
 high as to make anything beyond the Mozart 
 Orchestra unbearable to the audience: in addition 
 to that he may have to contend with a dozen 
 inartistic and mutually jealous persons on the stage : 
 an electric button touched at the wrong moment in 
 the prompt-box may ruin his most carefully planned 
 scene : a yard of flapping carpet thrown down care- 
 lessly on to the stage may exasperate and has 
 exasperated an audience so completely that atten- 
 tion to the tragedy becomes impossible : the British 
 workman a humorous and not highly artistic being 
 co-operates with him on the east and on the west, 
 in the heavens above and in the deep places under 
 his stage. Out of all these factors his opera has to 
 emerge, and, however it emerges, the public (which 
 has a baby-like inability to distinguish between a 
 work and its presentation) will think that "that was
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 127 
 
 what the composer intended." Yet it is only by 
 public performance that the composer can find out 
 what are his own possibilities and limitations and what 
 is the line of least resistance on the part of the 
 audience. 
 
 But in England he has to face a much more 
 serious difficulty, his operas may not be performed at 
 all. We must therefore dwell tor a moment on the 
 situation as it affects him, that is to say, on his 
 chances of performance. Speaking generally, we may 
 put it that these chances are microscopically small 
 so small, indeed, that it is almost matter of wonder 
 why any sane man should waste his time in Operatic 
 composition. There are, it is true, a number of 
 houses in London which deal successfully with 
 " Musical Comedy," but there is only one house 
 Covent Garden which deals, even for a few weeks 
 in the year, with the other side of the picture, 
 " Musical Tragedy," and from this house the 
 Englishman is practically excluded. In addition to 
 these two very different types which reproduce for 
 us, in the twentieth century, the pleasant times when 
 a Saxon composer was imported to write Italian 
 Opera for an English audience, and when little 
 children were hanged for stealing a loaf of bread, we 
 have two other sorts of Operatic activity the 
 sporadic attempts of casual impresarios to run 
 " English Opera " in London and the all-the-year- 
 round activities of the travelling Opera companies. 
 These latter organizations, which are mainly connected 
 nowadays with the names of Carl Rosa and Moody- 
 Manners, deal not so much with English Opera as 
 with foreign Opera translated into English, though it 
 is true that they have genuine English operas in 
 their repertoire and have also done excellent work in
 
 128 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 the production of new English operas. The chief 
 interest of the work done by the travelling Opera 
 companies and the light opera-houses in London lies, 
 however, as far as we are concerned, in the state 
 of receptivity or preparedness to which they have 
 brought the public, and I shall therefore make further 
 mention of their work when I come to discuss that 
 question in a later chapter. 
 
 In the first place, then, we have the annually 
 recurring Foreign Opera Season at Covent Garden on 
 which the epithet "Grand" is usually bestowed; 
 though it is difficult to surmise of what exactly its 
 grandeur consists whether we applv that term to the 
 "Season" or to the "Opera." It is probable that 
 no English composer could be found who would 
 speak very lovingly of this institution, nor could we 
 expect to find a patriotically minded layman extolling 
 methods which have either failed to interpret or have 
 run directly contrary to the wishes of all but a small 
 and aristocratic section of the community. On the 
 other hand, nothing could be more unfair than the 
 sneers with which its performances, are usually held up 
 to execration as a sort of glorified dressmakers' 
 parade or snobs' carnival. It is true that on this 
 side of the proscenium arch there is generally a 
 cosmopolitan display of that wealth and fashion 
 which has now for over sixty years been welcomed 
 within the walls of the " Royal Italian Opera " ; but, 
 if the management is responsible for the class of its 
 patrons, it is no less responsible for the class of its 
 performances, and of these performances, as they are 
 at the present da}', it is not possible to speak except 
 in terms of sincere praise. 
 
 All the details of lighting and costuming are on 
 the whole carefully thought out : the stage-sets
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 129 
 
 themselves are sometimes models of imaginative 
 design and exquisite taste : the whole apparatus and 
 mechanical technique of the stage have been modern- 
 ized and perfected in order to permit the solution of 
 the most difficult stage problems : the singers, the 
 orchestra, and even the ensemble are, as a rule, 
 beyond reproach ; and, if the general level of stage 
 management is sometimes a trifle below that to which 
 we are accustomed in the best London theatres, we 
 must remember, on the one hand, the difficulties of a 
 constantly changing play-bill, and, on the other, the 
 peculiar conditions of London, where the demands of 
 an enormous population have created a supply of 
 talent, energy, and artistic taste which makes its 
 stage in point of mere material the first in the 
 world. 
 
 All this agglomeration of stage-material can, 
 however, be purchased with money in just the same 
 way that a butcher can purchase a big plate-glass 
 shop in the west-end. The question remains, how is 
 he going to stock his shop ? I need not say that the 
 Covent Garden syndicate is, so to speak, in the 
 foreign meat or cold-storage business, and we shall 
 be disappointed if we expect to find any British beef 
 in its windows. Like the fashionable tradesmen, 
 however, it does a big turnover in the season, and 
 here again, if we can shut our eyes to the (artistic) 
 ethics of a policy which displays only foreign goods 
 to its customers the most energetically patriotic 
 aristocracy in the world we can only praise. 
 
 This praise we may reduce to a few words by 
 saying that practically every foreign masterpiece has 
 been heard at Covent Garden generally for the first 
 time in England. There are, of course, a certain 
 number of foreign works in whose local interest it
 
 i 3 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 would be impossible to find an international " least- 
 common-denominator " such as would, in ordinary 
 circumstances, justify their production here. Some 
 even of these operas have been tried at Covent 
 Garden in the " Grand " season : others have been 
 mounted and have failed elsewhere. This is 
 Covent Garden's record, a record which, if not 
 " great " is at any rate " grand," and not made the 
 less so by the reiterated charge that the Royal 
 Italian Opera is always half a generation or so behind 
 the Continent. This is not now actually true, but 
 even if it were, one would feel inclined to make 
 one's compliments to the management on their 
 instinctive, if incomplete, intuition as to the national 
 character. 
 
 The reader may perhaps be tempted to ask why, 
 if this theatre has so grand and glorious a record, 
 do the masses of the people rarely or never enter 
 its grand and glorious portals ? Again, why is it 
 that the professional musician's visits are so rare ? 
 Why does he go there at most once or twice in a 
 year, and then prompted only by curiosity, or by the 
 desire to maintain his professional position by hearing 
 another foreign work ? Why do his visits grow 
 rarer and rarer as his years increase ? And why does 
 each successive visit make him feel more like a lost 
 wanderer who has strayed from earth to another and 
 less familiar planet ? Why is it that the people 
 whom one sees in the cheaper parts of the house 
 look so different from those who are to be seen in the 
 same parts of many other houses at the same time ? 
 Why is it that in those other houses one can see, as 
 it were, a microcosm of the country, while here are 
 only a crowd of untidy, anaemic girls whose heads 
 are being stuffed with foreign music at our music
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 131 
 
 schools, a few clerks of the high-browed and spec- 
 tacled variety, a singer or two still in a state of 
 pupillage, and the rest Soho ? 
 
 Now, the answer to this question is that the Covent 
 Garden " Grand " Season bears the same relationship 
 to our national lite and character as a nobleman's 
 orchid-house bears to a cottager's flower-garden, or 
 as the tiger-house at the Zoo bears to a Royal 
 Agricultural Society's Show. Both the orchid-house 
 and the tiger-house like the Royal Italian Opera 
 are interesting and expensive curiosities. To the 
 Javanese or to the Indian they are neither exotic nor 
 abnormal : to the Englishman they are both. He 
 knows that neither his hedgerows nor his ploughed 
 fields can ever benefit by the rearing of equatorial 
 orchids in hot-houses : he also knows that no breed 
 ot animals under his northern skies is ever likely to 
 be improved by the most careful and constant 
 watching of caged tigers. He therefore wisely 
 ordains that his board of agriculture shall not expend 
 its energies (and his money) on experimental orchid 
 farms or on menageries. 
 
 But this is exactly what Covent Garden does for 
 us. 
 
 The charge against it is not that its record is not 
 grand and glorious, but that it has achieved a record 
 in which we have no part and from which we can 
 draw as a nation neither present benefit nor hope for 
 the future. Its grandeur and its glory are to us as 
 the grandeur and glory of one foreign country which 
 defeats another. The dusty laurels may be brought 
 here for exhibition, but they do not move us either 
 to joy or to sorrow because neither the suffering nor 
 the elation of the combat was ours. The accusation 
 of the Englishman against Covent Garden under its
 
 i 3 2 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 present conditions is not that it has not done good 
 work, but that it has not done his good work. Its 
 sympathies and its feeling are not for the nation, but 
 for the smallest and least productive section of the 
 nation and for the foreigner. Its password is 
 fashion ; its hall-mark, alienage ; its sign-manual, 
 the diamond tiara. Of the native composer who 
 wishes to free his art from its scented atmosphere, 
 its big, flashy foreign women, and its babel of every- 
 tongue - in - the - world - but - his - mother-English, it 
 knows nothing and cares nothing. If he wants to 
 appeal to his fellow-countrymen he is at liberty to 
 do so outside in the street. 
 
 " But," a friend of the Covent Garden management 
 may say, " why should the English composer 
 grumble ? Have not A and B and C had their 
 works produced there ? " 
 
 " Indeed they have A and B and C, but scarcely 
 even D." 
 
 " Granted ! And their success ? " 
 
 " was nil. I allow it." 
 
 " And these were the best works you Englishmen 
 could produce ? " 
 
 " On the contrary, they were the best works we 
 could produce when working to your foreign 
 patterns." 
 
 And so the ludicrous interchange goes on, the 
 foreign opera-house opening its doors to the semi- 
 foreign Englishman, and growling at his failures ; 
 the Englishman, whose sole daily delight it is to 
 exalt the horn of the fatherland before his students, 
 orowlinir in his turn because they have learnt their 
 lesson too well and will not accept his Anglo- 
 Continental milk-and-water in place of the " pure, 
 rich, thick" cream made in Germany.
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 133 
 
 Well might those, who had the artistic welfare of 
 their country most at heart, have lifted their hands 
 in despair. And, indeed, they were on the point of 
 despair when the announcement was made that the 
 resources of a great commercial undertaking were, 
 in part at least, to be put at the service of Operatic 
 it was at first thought of English Operatic art. 
 On the extreme interest of this announcement to all 
 students ot social science I shall not dwell. No 
 more striking example of the responsibilities and 
 opportunities of wealth could be found than this case 
 where the productive labour ot many was to be 
 passed, like the sands in an hour-glass, through one 
 man's hands for distribution. 
 
 Mr. Beecham brought to his task an engaging 
 personality, unbounded enthusiasm for his art, and 
 a complete detachment from all those cliques and 
 coteries whose distressing antagonisms disfigure the 
 musical lite of the Metropolis. To these qualifica- 
 tions he added the energy ot youth and the momen- 
 tum of money. With patience and discrimination he 
 managed, in face of some difficulties, to form an 
 operatic orchestra not only as good as but better than 
 any similar combination hitherto heard in London. 
 For his singers he ransacked the world. Continental 
 Europe, the United States ot America, Canada, and 
 Australia were all put under contribution ; while, at 
 home, he laid hands on the church, the concert-room, 
 and even the musical -comedy stage. 
 
 Now, to the English composer, sitting at home in 
 his arm-chair with a single eye on his one great 
 objective the elaboration of operas composed by 
 Englishmen, sung by English artists, and listened to 
 by English audiences - -the problem of their produc- 
 tion appears simple. To the impresario who has to
 
 134 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 face and master the complex conditions, artistic, 
 financial, and social, which govern the direction of an 
 opera-house, the problem, even when it is freed from 
 all financial anxieties, may well appear much less 
 simple. It is interesting, then, to know the views 
 of so enthusiastic and experienced an impresario as 
 Mr. Beecham. 
 
 In the first place he considers the idea of a National 
 Opera House " preposterous, futile and idiotic." He 
 believes "absolutely in the individual, Opera should 
 be international." These words, which I copy from an 
 interview with him in the Observer of March 20th, 
 1 9 10, show a distinct and strong intention. I 
 understand them to mean that the actual direction 
 and production of Opera is unlike many other 
 forms of literarv, artistic, educational, and social 
 activity not a matter in which the State can meddle 
 with advantage. We must, however, ask ourselves 
 the question, "With advantage to whom ? ' Obvi- 
 ously it cannot mean "To Mr. Beecham," for his aims 
 are understood to be of a disinterested and artistic 
 nature, and therefore we must, in fairness, assume 
 that he approaches the question without personal 
 bias. It must, then, be either to the artists who 
 take part in the performances, to the composers 
 who originate them, or to the public which, in 
 the long run, pays for them. These are the three 
 parties interested in the question of State-aided 
 Opera. 
 
 Now, it is quite obvious that, granted the exist- 
 ence of English Opera, whether under the guidance 
 of the State or of an individual, it is matter of 
 commercial indifference to the singer whether he 
 sings under the one set of conditions or the other. 
 There may be some few differences between the two,
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 135 
 
 such as a lowering of his fees accompanied by a 
 corresponding pension when he is under State 
 control; but on the whole he will be able to exercise 
 his art as well and profitably in the one case as in the 
 other. 1 
 
 The English composer himself, who should be at 
 least as much interested in this question as the 
 singer or the impresario, seems to me curiously 
 apathetic in his views on national Opera. The reason 
 may perhaps be found in the fact that to him the 
 possibility of an Operatic production at a central 
 London theatre is surrounded by much the same 
 dazzling haze as that which obscures the fleld- 
 marshal's baton from the corporal's sight. It is 
 undoubtedly there, but not worth considering. If 
 his despondency allows him to take any view of the 
 question at all he generally turns his eyes hopefully 
 to some one or other of the suo-o-ested schemes of 
 
 1 I may mention in parenthesis that whoever undertakes the 
 future control of English Opera will, at the same time, have to 
 undertake a reform of its singers. Recent performances have made 
 it abundantly clear that our singers arc, with few exceptions, very 
 far from possessing a declamatory or articulator}' method suited to 
 the requirements of the opera-house. The difficulties in the way 
 of building up an adequate school of English Operatic singing are 
 not, I think, great, provided the fundamental principle is always 
 kept in sight, that this can only be done by means of the produc- 
 tion of original English operas. Air. Beecham is understood to 
 hold views that are sympathetic to our English singers, and it is 
 only to be hoped that a too close familiarity with some of their 
 methods will not lead him to abandon any plans which he may 
 have for their encouragement. In the interview quoted above 
 he says : " But where I differ very much from some of my pre- 
 decessors is in the belief that the services of a very large number 
 of English artists of as great ability as many on the Continent, and 
 possessing, for the most part, superior voices, can be utilised . . . 
 We have, as I have said, excellent singers, who, if they want to 
 get on, have to go abroad to make a success."
 
 136 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 State-aided Opera. 1 He feels that, at any rate during 
 the past twenty years, the individual impresario and 
 the groups ot associated impresarios have been very 
 loath to mount his works, and as he can draw from 
 his personal experience little hope or belief for the 
 future, he is inclined to welcome any change what- 
 ever. I cannot help thinking that the responsibility 
 for this unsatisfactory state ot affairs is divided. 
 The composer, on his part, has not, as a rule, made 
 any serious attempt to produce the class of work 
 which English audiences want : and the Opera 
 manager, on the other hand, has generally been 
 guided by a striking want of sympathy with the 
 composer, and a corresponding want of faith in the 
 public. These discrepancies all perhaps inevitable 
 during a transition period such as the present, but 
 none the less worthy of consideration lend a more 
 pointed interest to the situation now that Mr. 
 Beecham has entered the Operatic field. 
 
 With the more general question of State-aided 
 Opera I shall deal later, but I may point out that 
 there seems to be a consensus of lay opinion that 
 the genius ot the English people lies, as a rule, in 
 the direction of, and is best expressed by, the freedom 
 of individual activity. The State and the municipali- 
 ties have, indeed, under pressure of public sentiment, 
 assumed a partial control in such matters as the 
 collection and distribution of books, the acquisition 
 of pictures, and the sustenance ot necessitous 
 literary and scientific men. We are, however, led to 
 believe that in these matters they are less efficient 
 than m the case of the making of roads, the 
 
 1 'I he ra-c for sulnentioned Opera ha< been ably summarized in 
 
 the \^ chapter ot Sir Charles Stanford's Studies and Memories,
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 137 
 
 supervision of shipping, and the control of such 
 things as education, means of communication, and 
 industry in general. It is therefore argued that the 
 State would be an inefficient director of a National 
 Opera House. This is, of course, no argument that 
 it would not give us a better system than any we 
 have managed to evolve hitherto. Furthermore, it 
 would be " National," that is to say, that it would 
 justify its existence by the production of English 
 works. Here we have the kernel of the argu- 
 ment, but it must be remembered that there is 
 no general law of the universe to prevent an 
 individual impresario especially an impresario who 
 is unhampered by monetary considerations from 
 founding and directing a genuine school of English 
 Opera. The accomplishment of this task may be 
 difficult, and may require an extreme degree of 
 sympathy, foresight, and financial courage ; but it is 
 only hindered by the same set of causes which at 
 present deters the State from assuming what are 
 asserted to be its responsibilities. 
 
 On all these complicated questions of national 
 Opera I must confess that 1 find it difficult to 
 reconcile Mr. Beecham's man)' printed utterances. 
 Prior to his Covent Garden season of Pebruary- 
 March, 1 9 10, he set forth his views in a preliminary 
 brochure. This interesting booklet contains an 
 exposition of the reasons which led him to in- 
 augurate the season in question, and these reasons, 
 contained in his first two paragraphs, are as 
 follows : 
 
 "The question as to the amount of interest in 
 Opera that exists, whether latent or other- 
 wise, in this country is an open one. Here, 
 as elsewhere, certain singers of established
 
 138 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 reputation never fail to attract large audi- 
 ences, but crowds such as nightly fill the 
 countless opera-houses on the Continent are 
 drawn from a tar more serious section of 
 art-lovers. Does there, or does there not, 
 exist in England a public ready to take 
 intelligent and continuous interest in music- 
 drama per se if it had the chance ? 
 
 It is in order to find out what is the true 
 answer to this question that the present 
 enterprise the Thomas Beecham Opera 
 Season has been inaugurated, for unless 
 there is a real demand for opera, anv 
 attempt to found a permanent National 
 Opera House in which the best works, new 
 and old, native and foreign, shall be regu- 
 larly and adequately performed, is at least 
 premature." 
 These two paragraphs, read in the light of the 
 interview with the Observer representative, leave one 
 a little in doubt as to what Mr. Eeecham's real 
 views if any are. The statement in the inter- 
 view is very definite as to the undesirability of a 
 National Opera House : on the other hand, the two 
 paragraphs quoted above appear to place the estab- 
 lishment of this " preposterous, futile and idiotic " 
 institution as the ultimate goal which he has in 
 mind. 
 
 These questions, however, have at the present 
 moment no more than an academic interest, and 
 perhaps, without injustice to Mr. Beecham, we may 
 interpret his statement, " I believe absolutely in the 
 individual, opera should be international," as re- 
 ferring, the first part, to the financial magnates 
 who control our Operatic enterprises; the second,
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 139 
 
 to the unfortunate composers who have to supply 
 the operas. This is, of course, capable of discussion 
 from many points of view, artistic, commercial, and 
 even moral ; but I am only concerned now with that 
 aspect of the situation which looks towards the 
 English composer, and I think a moment's con- 
 sideration will show that it places him in his old 
 position of disadvantage when he is competing with 
 his foreign rival. The French, the German, and 
 the Italian composer has each his protected market 
 at home, where he is ensured a hearing both by the 
 wishes ot his compatriots and by the actual legisla- 
 tion ot his country. The English composer, on the 
 other hand, has no such home institution on whose 
 sense of patriotism and fairplay he can rely. Indeed, 
 no two words could be found which would more 
 accurately n?is-descr\bc the Englishman's attitude 
 towards his own composers than the words 
 "patriotism" and "fair-play." I do not say that 
 "fair-play" in the sense of "free trade" exists 
 abroad. It does not; for no countries are more 
 completely insular and protectionist in art and 
 rightly so than France and Germany. But there 
 is in both these countries and in Italy a strong 
 determination that the first chance shall be at the 
 disposal of the native musician, while here the 
 public seems to glory in maintaining a long string 
 of foreigners who, with their parasites and go- 
 betweens, are all bound together by their mutual 
 desire for English gold and their ill-concealed con- 
 tempt for the people who supply it. 
 
 But it is not merely that there is a national and 
 patriotically subventioned Opera abroad and none 
 here ; for when the foreign composer has produced 
 a successful, or a partially successful, or even a
 
 i 4 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 wholly unsuccessful work abroad, he can often (and 
 does actually, especially in the lighter forms of 
 Opera) rely on an " individual " manager to take 
 the "international" view of the case and to import 
 his goods into England. On the other hand, the 
 possibility of the English composer gaining entry to 
 
 the perched roosts 
 And nests in order ranged 
 
 of Operatic Europe is about equal to the probable 
 success of the " tame villatic fowl " if he tried to 
 turn the tables on the "evening dragon." In a 
 word, it is nil, and English composers would 
 probably have more sympathy with Mr. Beecham's 
 broad views on " individualism " and " international- 
 ism " if he could broaden them still further and 
 persuade the Continental nations to adopt them. 
 Free trade and an open market may possibly in 
 the future give us the best and healthiest conditions 
 under which musical art can flourish (though it is 
 not to these conditions that Europe owes its present 
 state of artistic development), but our conditions 
 give us neither the one nor the other. At home 
 we have free trade and a market open to all : 
 abroad there is a closed market and a subsidized 
 manufacturer. 
 
 In discussing this question we must remember 
 that, though the artistic interests of the composer 
 and the impresario are sometimes identical, their 
 commercial interests are generally opposed to each 
 other ; and it is the more necessary to concentrate 
 attention on this point, because in England, where 
 we have practically no School ot Opera, the prime 
 necessity tor such a school is the production of 
 English operas in the theatre. The impresario can
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 141 
 
 help in this, but only as a middleman, whose business 
 it is to keep his finger close to the public pulse. 
 He can do no more than this, and, if he neglect to 
 do it, he is merely loading his ship with unsaleable 
 wares, and is bound for Port Disaster. It is to the 
 composer, not to the impresario, that we have to 
 look in the long run for the foundation of such a 
 school, and it is the composer who has to make his 
 painful headway in the face of these baffling " inter- 
 national" conditions. The "individual" impresario 
 feels their force, it is true, but it is the force of a 
 wind which he can pick up in most European waters, 
 and which he will always find blowing in his favour. 
 With regard to the " first production " of English 
 operas Mr. Beecham's record is public property. 
 Besides reviving such works as " Ivanhoe," "The 
 Wreckers," x and " Shamus O'Brien," he has 
 produced one new English work " for the first 
 time," Mr. George Clutsam's charming one-act 
 opera, "A Summer's Night." 2 This is not a 
 very great record when we compare it with his 
 multifarious activities in the realms of foreign and 
 " boom " Opera ; but still one is better than none, 
 and in English Opera we must be humbly thankful 
 for even the smallest mercies. Mr. Beecham has 
 also presented "for the first time in England" M. 
 Delius's " A Village Romeo and Juliet," a work 
 which had already "achieved the greatest popular 
 success in Germany." 3 It is unfortunate that on 
 the latter occasion, when Mr. Beecham had devoted 
 
 1 Miss Smyth's work was translated into English by herself - . 
 
 2 ] omit all reference to Herr D'Albert's "Tiefland," as it 
 seems doubtful, for many reason^, whether it can be properly 
 spoken of as an " English opera." 
 
 3 Preliminary Brochure, Beecham Opera Season, Feb. -March, 1910.
 
 i 4 2 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 his great artistic resources to the production of a 
 work by a British-born composer, his efforts did not 
 meet with the public appreciation which he expected ; 
 and it appears that in this matter he considers the 
 public at fault. A representative of the St. James's 
 Gazette, who had been privileged to hear his views 
 on this topic, stated in that paper 1 that ''Mr. 
 Beecham had been a good friend to British music, 
 and he was naturally disappointed at the response 
 his attempts to arouse interest in the works of 
 native Opera-makers had met with during his recent 
 season." 
 
 The reference is undoubtedly to M. Delius's 
 iil-tated work, a work winch Mr. Beecham is under- 
 stood to have mounted from sincere feelings of 
 artistic admiration and friendship. But, leaving out 
 of the question entirely the point as to whether M. 
 Delius really answers except in a purely technical 
 and legal sense to the description, " a native 
 Opera-maker,"- one may ask, is not Mr. Beecnam 
 a little unreasonable in blaming the London public 
 for its chilling reception ot this work ? Both at the 
 dress rehearsal and at the first performance the 
 opinion seemed to be unanimous that, despite a 
 certain poetical charm and an undoubtedly high 
 level ot musicianship, the work made little impres- 
 sion owing to its want ot characterization and 
 theatrical vitality. The peculiar inanity ot a plot 
 which might have collapsed at anv moment atter 
 
 1 May 
 
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 191 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Mr. Keei 
 
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 twenty yea: 
 
 "; in 
 
 rural 
 
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 I\irU." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 143 
 
 the first act (if the hero and heroine had seen the 
 obvious and easy solution of their troubles in 
 marriage instead of suicide) introduced into the 
 performance what appeared to an English audience 
 to be an element or irritation, and even of laughter. 
 Naturally under these circumstances Mr. Beecham's 
 quaint prediction that this opera " would make the 
 strongest appeal to the musical laity as well as to the 
 academical professor" 1 could not be justified by the 
 event. 
 
 Indeed, it would seem that we nave not yet made 
 good the defect to which a musical critic has latelv 
 called attention the defect of all recent " operatic 
 undertakings in this country, that the public has 
 had to put up with what was given it instead of 
 having placed before it what it wants." 2 This, of 
 course, takes us back to the very large question 
 of popular approval, on which I have already laid 
 emphasis in a previous chapter. From the stand- 
 point of English Operatic interests I may, however, 
 point out the fundamental fact which governs 
 the whole situation. It is that the order of 
 nature can no more be reversed in this form of 
 mental activity than in anv other, and that the 
 essential preliminary to the foundation of a School 
 or English Opera is the production of English 
 
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 i 4 4 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 works written, not with the object of outraging 
 the English prejudices in the matter, but in the 
 frank and healthy determination to accept these 
 prejudices, and to offer the public an art-form 
 satisfactory both to itself and to the composer. 
 This is really the lesson in history which we can 
 learn from France, Italy, and Germany, and until 
 we have learnt that lesson English Opera will con- 
 tinue to be the unsatisfactory and ridiculous make- 
 believe which nine people out of every ten regard 
 as its divinely appointed lot. 
 
 On all these essential points as opposed to the 
 ephemeral questions of immediate success Mr. 
 Beecham's views are, as far as the public goes, 
 something of a mystery. He began his Operatic 
 career in London as the I will not say " avowed " 
 but " acclaimed " champion ot the English com- 
 poser. At His Majesty's Theatre his performances 
 of Miss Smyth's "The Wreckers" were recognized 
 in the press as a landmark in the history of English 
 art, and the happy forecasts which were then made 
 received a royal cachet when, on the last night of 
 the season, he was presented to King Edward VII. 
 A general feeling at once arose both in public and 
 private circles that in Mr. Beecham the English 
 composer had at length secured a friend whose 
 material resources enabled him to give effect to his 
 (supposed) artistic sympathies. Musical London had 
 many times before found Operatic enthusiasts with 
 an artistic equipment perhaps as great as Mr. 
 Beecham ; but in each case the necessary financial 
 weight was wanting- Here at last was the com- 
 bination ot the two things brains and money. 
 
 It is only fair to say that, however often these 
 statements have been repeated in the press and
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 145 
 
 elsewhere, Mr. Beecham himself has never (as far 
 as I am aware) made any such claim. On the 
 contrary, he has distinctly repudiated any idea ot 
 "embarking on a course of propaganda in the in- 
 terests of this or that school for which he may have a 
 personal predilection," and has, indeed, foreshadowed 
 a policy " when the tastes of the opera-going public 
 will have been more completely ascertained " of 
 reviving " more of the glorious works of the classic 
 past." x The inglorious works of the unclassic 
 present do not, of course, appear to any great 
 advantage in this statement, but its English cham- 
 pions must remember that it is they themselves who 
 have made out Mr. Beecham's patent of " Comes 
 Saxonici Littoris," and, however earnestly they may 
 have hailed him as the saviour of his country, they 
 have no right to charge him with inconsistency 
 because he has only seen fit to expend a certain 
 amount of his energies in the production of new 
 English works. 
 
 On the other hand, it would be affectation to 
 deny that apart from the mere question of incon- 
 sistencythere is some dissatisfaction with Mr. 
 Beecham's methods, and this dissatisfaction is by 
 no means confined to the (at present very small) 
 class of English Opera enthusiasts. The immense 
 area covered by his activities is witness to his re- 
 markable personal qualities and the strength of his 
 financial position ; but to an onlooker these energies 
 have seemed to manifest themselves in a somewhat 
 ill-arranged, almost chaotic, manner. One would 
 have preferred even in opposition to one's own 
 most cherished convictions some simpler and more 
 
 1 Preliminary Brochure, Beecham Opera Ccmique Season, May-July, 
 1910. 
 
 K
 
 146 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 direct scheme of activity, provided it bore evidence 
 within itself of careful plan and determined pre- 
 arrangement. In these matters Mr. Beecham had 
 more than one ready-made public to whom he might 
 have appealed : he might have taken the strait path 
 and made himself a new public; but, apart from a 
 vague desire to do as many astonishing things as 
 possible in the shortest time at his disposal, he seems 
 to have been unable to make up his mind to any 
 definite course of action. It is almost impossible 
 to suppose that he has not considered deeply the 
 fundamental difficulties of the Operatic position in 
 London, or that he imagines that he can solve any 
 of these difficulties by such material pressure as the 
 promiscuous, polyglot, huddling-on of one opera 
 after another ; and yet that is the conclusion to 
 which one is driven. 
 
 It would, of course, be wholly unfair to judge 
 Mr. Beecham's achievements when he has not yet 
 got beyond the stage of feeling his way at the outset 
 ot his career; and we must not overlook the fact 
 that his activities have probably been moulded to a 
 large extent by the exceptionally difficult circum- 
 stances in which he has been placed. He has had 
 to take the held with such forces and armaments as 
 were waiting the word of command, and in some 
 directions such as the encouragement which he has 
 offered our native conductors and singers, and the 
 delightfully buoyant spirit which he has infused into 
 some ot his revivals he has earned everyone's grati- 
 tude. 
 
 But, even when we make allowance for all his 
 embarrassments of circumstance and his counter- 
 balancing advantages of financial weight, we are 
 compelled to acknowledge a certain distractedness
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 147 
 
 of attack as if from all points at once, a want of 
 concentration, a sort of " hen-wittedness " of effort 
 for which it is difficult to account. On one of the 
 cardinal points alone that of the employment of 
 English in the theatre which, in great measure, 
 should have governed his attempt to find out if 
 there is " a public ready to take intelligent and 
 continuous interest in music-drama, per se"- he 
 seems to have taken no decided line. It is not 
 that one would dictate to him what line was the 
 most advisable, but that one is chagrined to find 
 him taking all the lines at the same time. This 
 may in part be due to the pressure of circum- 
 stances, but it is a question whether it would not 
 have been better to omit some part of his fevered 
 activities and, by adequate provision, to master these 
 circumstances. 
 
 Mr. Beecham has given us original English in the 
 theatre : he has himself provided, and used, transla- 
 tions : he has also provided, and omitted to use, 
 translations: he has engaged foreigners to sing in 
 their own languages to English audiences : he has even 
 affronted his audience by permitting a return to the 
 "barbarous manner" 1 of Handel's time when 
 bilingual performances were tolerated: 2 he has pre- 
 sented us with the spectacle of a company of 
 nervous Anglo-Saxons, of whom perhaps only a 
 couple were on more than nodding terms with the 
 German language, struggling through a German opera 
 in the original ; and this has found its ludicrous 
 
 1 Sec "Handel" (Grove, p. 64S). 
 
 2 It is interesting to note that a recent bilingual performance ot 
 the duet from Act II. of "Tristan und Isolde" at a London 
 Symphony Orchestra concert provoked an immediate protest from 
 the Warner Association.
 
 148 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 counterpart in a performance before a London 
 audience of an Italian version of a French opera 
 based upon the English of William Shakespeare. 1 
 
 These are indeed strange doings, and, at the end 
 of them, Mr. Beecham opened the New Year by- 
 stating 2 in big capitals that he was "profoundly dis- 
 satisfied " with the result of his year's work. With 
 this dissatisfaction there is, I think, a general agree- 
 ment, but it is impossible that anyone with a clear 
 idea of the amount of energy and money expended 
 in this year's work can fail to sympathize with him 
 in his disappointment, more especially when he gives, 
 as the reason for his dissatisfaction, that " nobody 
 ever comes to see his productions"; but when he 
 goes on to say that " a year ago people cherished 
 the fond delusion that it was only necessary for 
 opera to be given on a large scale for everyone 
 to take it up, especially opera in English," one can 
 only open one's eyes in astonishment, and enquire 
 who on earth the people can have been whom Mr. 
 Beecham found " cherishing this fond delusion." 
 Surely if one thing can be more certain than another 
 it is that the "scale" has nothing at all to do with 
 the question. At that game there are plenty of firms 
 in the world who can beat the Operatic Impresario 
 every time, and yet who do not compete with him. 
 
 But it is not a question of "scale": it is, as 
 Mr. Beecham ought to know, a question of public 
 likes and dislikes in fact, a psychological question; 
 and it is just in meeting that question with a wise 
 and deliberate prevision and in answering it once for 
 all that lie might have rendered the country a great 
 
 '"A public ready to take intelligent ... interest in music- 
 drama " ! 
 
 -In the Observer, Jan. i, 191 1.
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 149 
 
 service. If he had selected only six new representa- 
 tive English operas, even if he had had to commission 
 these works and wait quietly for their completion : 
 if he had mounted them with the utmost finish 
 possible and performed them often enough to give 
 them an adequate chance of success : if he had been 
 prepared to stake his money and his artistic con- 
 science on this experiment, he would have secured 
 a definite answer to a question which has been con- 
 stantly asked, but to which no satisfactory reply has 
 ever been forthcoming, simply because the questioners 
 have never had the necessary means to secure it. 
 
 But I do not mean to narrow mv argument 
 to the interests of English Opera. He might 
 have done this with German, French, or Italian 
 Opera, new or old : he might have done it with 
 Chinese, Hindu, or Esquimaux Opera (if such 
 things exist), with anything, in fact, that bespoke 
 plan and premeditation ; and we should have been 
 so much farther forward in our elimination of the 
 " impossible." But, as things are, we are no farther 
 forward, or, to quote his own words, " the position 
 is just the same as it was a vear ago." l 
 
 One is glad to say that Mr. Beecham " cherishes no 
 fond delusions" on the question of his much-adver- 
 tized productions of " Elektra " and "Salome." He 
 gives it as his opinion that " if you get an elephant 
 to stand on one foot on the top of the Nelson 
 Column vou will draw a much larger crowd than 
 twenty-five Salomes";" but what is amazing and 
 
 1 Ibid. 
 
 -That is to say, "a much larger crowd than twenty-five 
 Salomes would draw in the theatre," not the other meaning 
 though, of course, a crowd of twenty-live Salomes in Trafalgar 
 Square might compete with the elephant.
 
 150 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 profoundly disturbing is that, knowing this fact, he 
 should have attempted to solve the very serious 
 problems of Opera in England by giving perfor- 
 mances that may be normal to the developed German 
 mind, but which are wholly abnormal to the un- 
 developed Operatic Englishman. Indeed the condition 
 into which the London public was inflamed before 
 the production of " Elcktra " was with all respect 
 neither healthy nor musical, and the methods 
 adopted to secure this inflammatory condition did 
 not differ greatly from the methods which Barnum 
 might have adopted had he been the proprietor of 
 Mr. Beecham's hypothetical elephant. On this 
 subject I need say no more, nor shall I touch on the 
 delicate ethical and social points to which I alluded 
 when I first referred to Mr. Beecham's name. 
 
 I have devoted considerable space to his record, 
 not only because he himself is an undoubted force 
 in our musical life, but also because it seems to 
 me to be characteristic of a certain type of Operatic 
 energy which has been recurrent in this country, a 
 type which approaches the solution ot grave national 
 problems with an easy detachment from its surround- 
 ings. In these cases success and failure I do not 
 mean monetary or personal success and failure are 
 almost matters of chance. The role of propagandist 
 is as in Mr. Beecham's case definitely and publicly 
 repudiated. Unfortunately, nothing satisfactory has 
 ever been achieved in the world of art except by 
 means of the driving force of a sincere and enthusi- 
 astic propaganda. Without that one can no more 
 attempt to thread a line through the tangled skein of 
 our English Operatic conditions than one could hope 
 to reform our army organization by presenting the 
 nation with a dealer's collection ot bows and arrows,
 
 v TO-DAY IN LONDON 151 
 
 flintlocks and blunderbusses, garnished with a Lee- 
 Metford and a couple of heavy pieces from Krupp's. 
 Energy and momentum are good. But as in 
 physics there must also be direction, and this direc- 
 tion must come in artistic matters -from the heart 
 that feels and the mind that foresees. The qualities 
 indeed that enable an impresario to stage revivals of 
 old and well-tried operas, or to ship some huge 
 Continental success and bring it up the Thames on 
 the big flood-tide of advertisement, are far different 
 from those other qualities of mind by whose aid alone 
 he can penetrate and reveal the deep spaces of the 
 national consciousness. That these deep, silent 
 spaces exist (still unvisited) no student of our history 
 can well doubt, and it is their very silence and depth 
 that should fascinate the explorer. If he undertakes 
 the journey he may have to suffer the darkness and 
 the difficulties of a tangled forest-path, but this is as 
 nothing to the hope that, with the next turning, the 
 forest will end, and he will break through into the 
 open to find the sunlight and the enchanted castle.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 OPERA BOOKS 
 
 The history of English Opera Books is, to say the 
 best of it, dismal ; and it begins with the dismal name 
 ot Nahum Tate. 1 It is true that amongst its earliest 
 writers there are two names of distinction Dryden 
 and Gay, but for the most part English Opera 
 Books have, until lately, been written by a set of 
 literary mongrels more careless and incompetent than 
 any that has ever disgraced the literary annals of a 
 country. It is difficult to attempt a comparison 
 between them and any other class of dramatists or 
 poets, because they stand alone, sui generis, unlike 
 anything that has ever existed in heaven, on earth, 
 or in the waters underneath the earth. Intel- 
 lectually we cannot call them mere literary hacks, 
 whilst we certainly cannot dignity them with the title 
 " Sons ot Poetry " : socially they rank somewhere 
 between the penniless poetaster and the wealthy 
 amateur : artistically there is only one word which, 
 in its Elizabethan sense, accurately describes them 
 the word '' naughty," and they count in their ranks 
 the only man to whom the word " Poet " has ever 
 been applied as a term of reproach. 
 
 1 Who collaborated with 1'urccll in " Dido and Aeneas."
 
 chap, vi OPERA BOOKS 153 
 
 This curious race of men asserts, as I have hinted, 
 a certain social superiority. They guard us (in their 
 work) from forgetting that their real business in life 
 is something quite different from the writing of 
 lyrical dramas. All ot them prosperous actors, 
 critics, theatrical managers, and so on " drop into 
 poetry," one guesses, from an amiable condescension, 
 perhaps even from some form of personal eccentricity; 
 but our feelings of gratitude to them for this conde- 
 scension are largely tempered by the reflection that, 
 in their unpremeditated strains, they rarely bestow 
 on us a single line of real poetry, and that their 
 " unpremeditation " is often carried so far as to include 
 a disregard for even the elementary decencies of 
 English grammar. This gentry is united by two 
 bonds of brotherhood : first, their common know- 
 ledge of tricky, theatrical clap-trap ; and, second, the 
 tie of common gentility the big copper-plate "Esq." 
 on their title-pages. Like another "Squyer," who rode 
 out long ago from Southwark to Canterbury, they are 
 
 " Syngynge ... or flowtynge al the clay," 
 
 but their songs are not the songs ot an early world, 
 " fressh as is the moneth of May," but the dull, 
 sophisticated lays of a people unconscious of anything 
 outside the four brick wails of the theatre. So 
 anxious, indeed, are they that their poetry shall never 
 rise beyond the meanest and most trivial subjects 
 that, if we had to sum up their aims, their aspirations, 
 and their tears, we should be tempted to quote (with 
 a difference of meaning) two glowing lines by their 
 hierarch "Alfred Bunn Esq." : 
 
 " If you but raise your tone, 
 You number at once your days." ' 
 
 1 "The Maid of Artois," by Balfe and Bunn.
 
 154 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Their beginning was not so bad. In the last quarter 
 of the seventeenth century we find that those opera- 
 lyrics which were not mere distortions of existing 
 poetry, were written in a sort of good, strong, up- 
 standing English. There were plenty of Anglo-Saxon 
 words mixed with sudden, and often happily chosen 
 Latinisms. With both of these Purcell showed his 
 matchless power of combining English words and 
 musical sounds ; but even in his day there were signs 
 of that slovenliness which was, a century later, to 
 infect the whole brood of Operatic poets, and result in 
 a literary style diseased and feeble beyond all belief. 
 
 To a poet the problem of Operatic composition 
 should not have been difficult, for none of his primi- 
 tive devices of prosody had, even then, the smallest 
 value in the presence of the highly developed 
 rhythmic devices of music. Plain, strong, simple 
 English was the onlv necessity, but it almost seems 
 that when a poet even a great poet was called on 
 to provide " words for music " he was at the same 
 time attacked by a sort of mental palsy which destroyed 
 the freedom and sometimes even the sanity of his 
 utterance. So began the long catalogue ot verbal 
 
 o do 
 
 inversions and distortions that has made the Operatic 
 poet a by-word in our history. 
 
 It is, unhappilv, only too easy to select very bad 
 instances of these faults even in the seventeenth 
 century, but, as a fair example, I may quote a lyric 
 written by Dryden for Purcell's " King Arthur," 
 
 " Shepherd, shepherd, leave decoying, 
 Pipes are sweet a summer's day, 
 Let us music be enjoying 
 Thus to beauty tribute pay. 
 
 Here with leaves and flow'rs entwining 
 Trip we nimbly o'er the ground,
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 155 
 
 For the past have no repining, 
 Play and dance a merry round." l 
 
 where, in two short stanzas, we have only one 
 satisfactory line (" Pipes are sweet a summer's 
 day"). The other seven have, it is true, a certain 
 level of quiet, pleasant sound which is in keeping 
 with the subject, but, of these seven, at least four 
 contain deplorable inversions of language, one a 
 slipshod mistake in grammar, and one is mere 
 padding. In the two unutterably bad third lines 
 of each stanza " Let us music be enjoying " and 
 "For the past have no repining" the reader may 
 see concentrated the virus that has afflicted English 
 Opera books and translations since first they were 
 written. I do not, of course, cite this lyric as 
 more than a type of the verse which a great 
 poet and a great musician considered " good 
 enough for music." But it must be remembered 
 that, except in the case of a lew ballad-operas of 
 the early eighteenth century, this species of distorted 
 and slovenly lyric has remained a constant feature 
 in our Operatic history from Purcell's day almost to 
 our own. In the late seventeenth century there are 
 some " Lyrics specially designed for music " which 
 are of a much better quality. Such is the admirable 
 song in "King Arthur," "Come if you dare"; 
 but, on the whole, they contain little that is inspir- 
 ing, and the wonder really is at the greatness of 
 Purcell's genius and his aptitude for word-painting 
 which enabled him to carry off with ease the 
 
 1 This lyric appears quite differently in Mr. Fuller-Maitland's 
 edition of " King Arthur," where it is set down as "altered from 
 Dryden." Dr. Ernest Walker happily sums up the Operatic 
 lyrics of Purcell's period as " Scanty blossoms of poetry among 
 acres of bombast " [A History of Mush in England, p. i 66).
 
 i 5 6 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 dead-weight of his lyrics. The average merit of these 
 may be fairly judged from the following lines, which, 
 in their mixed childishness and bluff rudeness, appear 
 to me characteristic of the time : 
 
 " Let the Soldiers rejoyce with a gene rail voice 
 And the Senate new honours decree 'cm 
 Who, at his Armies head, struck the fell Monster Dead 
 And so boldly and bravely did free 'em. 
 
 To Mars let 'em raise and their Emperors praise 
 
 A Trophy of the armies own making 
 To Maximian too some Honours are due 
 
 Who joyn'd in the brave undertaking." 1 
 
 I have already explained how, in the early eigh- 
 teenth century, Italian Opera came into England 
 and found there a society where it was adopted by 
 the upper classes as a purely foreign culture, but 
 rejected by the general mass of the people chiefly 
 on the score of its artificiality. This artificiality 
 for so it appeared to them consisted of the lyrical 
 declamation and recitative, and it was in conscious 
 opposition to this new musical system that the Eng- 
 lish Ballad-Opera was called into existence. Opera 
 of this sort was really not a musician's affair at all. 
 The ordinary way was for a litterateur to take existing 
 and generally well-known folk tunes and to write 
 new words to fit the old music. The musician was 
 a secondary person, concerned only with the technical 
 details of harmony and orchestration. 
 
 As an example of this method I may instance the 
 old tune " Greenwich Park," and quote the lyric, as 
 given in Chappell's Old English Popular Music, side by 
 side with the lyric (to the same music) in Gay's 
 
 1 From Purccll's " Dioclcsian," written and adapted by Bettcrton 
 from Beaumont and Fletcher.
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 157 
 
 " Beggar's Opera," where it appears as a drinking 
 song : 
 
 Popular Version. Gays Version. 
 
 Come sweet lass Come sweet lass 
 
 This bonny weather Let's banish sorrow 
 
 Let's together 'Till tomorrow 
 
 Come sweet lass Come sweet lass 
 
 Let's trip it on the grass; Let's take a chirping Glass; 
 
 Ev'rywhere Wine can clear 
 
 Poor Jockey seeks his dear The vapours of Despair 
 
 And unless you appear And make us light as air 
 
 He sees no beauty here. Then drink, and banish care. 
 
 This is one of the poorest lyrics in " The Beggar's 
 Opera," and is only quoted as an example of the 
 early eighteenth century method. It might have 
 been thought that in this class of opera the poet, 
 fettered as he was by the unusual necessity of setting 
 music to v/ords, would have produced something 
 specially vapid and meaningless. On the contrary, 
 we find in all these ballad-operas, and especially in 
 "The Beggar's Opera," a certain lightness, vivacity, 
 and ease which are as charming as they are unex- 
 pected. Such numbers as " Cease your funning " 
 and "How happy could I be with either" are too 
 well known to need quotation, but the following 
 less-known lyric, also from " The Beggar's Opera," 
 will give a capital idea of Gay's bright, pleasant 
 style : 
 
 " If the Heart of a Man is deprest with Cares, 
 
 The Mist is dispelled when a Woman appears : 
 Like the Notes of a Fiddle she sweetly, sweetly 
 Raises the Spirits, and charms oar Lars. 
 Roses and Lillies her cheeks disclose, 
 But her ripe lips are more sweeter than those. 
 
 Press her, 
 
 Caress her.
 
 158 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 With blisses 
 Her kisses 
 Dissolve us in Pleasure and soft Repose." 
 
 One only needs to read these lines aloud to feel 
 how trippingly they come off the tongue. This is, 
 of course, Ballad-opera at its best, and it does not 
 always keep this high level. Still in most of the 
 numbers there is some figure or turn of thought 
 which holds the thing together and gives it a force 
 which is not often present in the lyrics written for 
 our present-day entertainments. It is easy to quote 
 many such lyrics, but, as an example neither better 
 nor worse than the average, this little song (from 
 "Silvia, or The Country Burial" 1 ) will serve: 
 
 " A Maid, tho' beautiful and chaste 
 Like a Cypher stands alone ; 
 Man, like a Figure by her placed, 
 
 Makes her Worth and Value known. 
 
 The Tyrant, Man, fast bound for Life, 
 
 To rule she takes upon her ; 
 Whene'er a Maid is made a wife 
 
 She becomes a Dame of Honour." 
 
 It must be remembered that many of these 
 "operas" were really not much more than im- 
 provised " side-shows " performed at so-and-so's 
 "Great Theatrical Booth in Bartholomew Fair." 2 
 There is consequently in some of them, a vein of 
 whining morality which is as characteristic of early 
 eighteenth century popular ideals as it is repugnant 
 to our own. In others such as "Mora's Opera, 
 or, Hob in the Country-Wake," "The Devil to 
 
 1 By George Lillo, published 1 ~ 3 1 . 
 
 2 E.g. "The Quaker's Opera," 172S.
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 159 
 
 Pay," and " The Mock Doctor " there is an almost 
 incredible naivete of expression. 1 How nearly a 
 lyric can go to saying nothing at all can be seen in 
 the following song which I suppose we may look on 
 as an early English prototype of Leporello's " Cata- 
 logue Song" in "Don Giovanni" : 
 
 "All the Women who saw him were fond of the Squire, 
 He was Love's Remedy, he their desire ; 
 In Venice, in Turkey, in Paris and Rome, 
 He was the Nosegay, the pleasing perfume." 2 
 
 The last of these ballad-operas " Galligantus " 
 appeared in 1758, and within four years of that time 
 the artificial Arne was endeavouring to express the 
 first syllable of the words "Fly soft ideas" 3 by 
 means of 107 consecutive notes of music, and even 
 inviting his soprano (after she had sung these 107 
 notes) to begin her request over again with a fresh 
 note, thereby giving one the impression that her 
 trapeze-work was not the beginning of a song, but 
 only the end of a private gymnastic exhibition which 
 she had absent-mindedly transferred from her dress- 
 ing-room to the stage. In music of this sort the 
 words were of no consequence. The most an author 
 could do was to supply a smoothly flowing text ; 
 and even this did not matter, for, however uncouth 
 and angular the words might be, the singers, trained 
 to sing English by the study of Italian, would very 
 
 1 These were the days of such advertisements as the following : 
 -"At the Upper end of St. Martin's Lane . . . will be presented 
 a new opera . . . call'd Jephtha's Rash Vow, or The Virgin 
 Sacrificed. With several comical entertainments of Punch." 
 (From The Post-Boy, Feb. 28 and March 2, 1709-17 10). 
 
 2 From "The Village Opera," published 1729. 
 
 3 One of Mandane's airs in " Artaxerxes."
 
 i6o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 soon claim their prescriptive right to lop off the 
 consonants, smudge out the vowels, and, in a word, 
 to translate the English into their own favourite 
 frog-language. 
 
 As a specimen lyric of this period, which it must 
 be remembered was the period not only of Dr. Arne 
 but also of Dr. Johnson, I append the words of a 
 song sung by Mandane in " Artaxerxes " : 
 
 " Monster away ! 
 From chearful day 
 To the barren desart fly ! 
 Paths explore 
 Where Lyons roar 
 And devouring Tygers lie." 1 
 
 The traitorous Italianisms with which one English 
 doctor was entertaining his audiences at Covent Gar- 
 den had, of course, no more permanent effect on 
 the national style than the ponderous Latinisms which 
 the other English doctor was pouring out from Bolt 
 Court. In both cases the artificiality of the medium 
 provoked a reaction, and in the last quarter of the 
 eighteenth century we find a type of opera midway 
 between that of the ballad-opera and the more de- 
 veloped school of the early nineteenth century. The 
 names associated with this intermediate type of opera 
 are Dibdin, Storace, Hook, Shield, Michael Kelly, 
 and some few others. On its music I need not 
 dwell. Much of it is of a quietly pleasing character 
 which, in the nature of things, is in exact contradic- 
 tion to the national spirit of the times. In the lyrics, 
 however, many of which, it must be remembered, 
 were written during the lifetime of Wordsworth, 
 
 1 The composer himself translated the " Artaserse '' of Meta- 
 stasio into English.
 
 VI 
 
 OPERA BOOKS 161 
 
 Byron, and Burns, there is a quality perhaps lower 
 than any that has ever existed in English literature. 
 At this period one cannot quote the following 
 stanza, 
 
 "I hung my Lyre on a tree 
 
 And cry'd with aching heart 
 ' Ye Gods ! How cruel your decree ! 
 Must I and Julia part?'" 1 
 
 as a specimen of bad but of good Operatic poetry. 
 A similar criticism may be made of most of Dibdin's 
 nautical effusions, which present, as a rule, not a 
 summary of our national glory but only a particular- 
 ized and not very pleasant picture of the sea-port 
 manners of his time. The following " Requiem," 
 from his " Trip to Portsmouth," is a ludicrous, 
 almost sickening, example of mental agility. The 
 author proposes his subject in three miserable thread- 
 bare lines, scoops up the whole of English history 
 in one more, and then makes a wild, awkward dash 
 at his real topic a compliment to King George 
 the Third : 
 
 " Ye sovereigns of wide Ocean's waves 
 To heroes long enshrin'd in graves 
 
 A requiem let us sing : 
 I Alfred, Henry, Edward name : 
 Then William our deliv'rer came ; 
 May future ages Brunswick own, 
 Perpetual heir to Britain's throne"; 
 So here's God save the King." 2 
 
 Let us hope that the " heroes long enshrin'd in 
 graves " did not turn in them when this son"- was 
 
 1 From "The Padlock," by Dibdin ; Words by the author of 
 "'Idie Maid of the Mill." 1768. 
 
 2 Dibdin wrote only the songs in this opera. The orchestral 
 portion and the dances were by Arne. 1773. The above 
 quotation is the third of three verses. 
 
 L
 
 1 62 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 written. Many of the lyrics of this age are so 
 indelicate as to be unprintable nowadays, but plenty 
 remain which, quite harmless even to our taste, yet 
 show a complete absence of " point." They seem 
 to be of about the order of lyric which any stage- 
 manager might scribble on his cuff during a 
 stage-wait at rehearsal. If the reader wishes to 
 see how close the art of the Operatic poet can come 
 to the aimless gabble of the "certified lunatic," he 
 should read the lyrics in such works as "The Grand 
 Dramatic Romance of Blue Beard or Female Curi- 
 osity," by " George Coleman the Younger Esq. 
 and Michael Kelly." I shall quote only one of these, 
 with the observation that, as 1 do not pretend to 
 understand it, I merely copy it from the original 
 edition, "Printed for Dussek and Co : Music Sellers 
 to the Royal Family " : 
 
 He. Yes Beda 
 
 Thus Beda 
 
 When I melancholy grow 
 
 This melancholy heart unking soon can drive away. 
 She. When hearing 
 
 Sounds chearing 
 
 Then we bligthe and jolly grow 
 
 How do you while to you Shaccabac I play. 
 
 Tink a tank. 
 
 The first departures from this intermediate type of 
 opera were made by Sir Henry Bishop, whose musical 
 activity lasted, roughly, from 1810 to 1 84O. He 
 undoubtedly made some improvements in English 
 Opera, and handed it on to his successors (Balfe, 
 Wallace, Mactarren, and Benedict), 1 both sweetened 
 
 ' Harnett stands rather apart from and above the other English 
 Operatic composer- who flourished in the first seventy years of the 
 century. His principal work, "The Mountain Sylph" (1834)
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 163 
 
 and purified. Nor did the improvement cease with 
 his death, for if we judge Wallace's best work, not 
 by our own standards, but by the standards of his 
 English predecessors, we shall be forced to allow it 
 a certain elementary vigour and dramatic spontaneity 
 which were unknown till his day. I do not mean 
 to say that this judgment can be upheld if we apply 
 the standards of contemporary French and German 
 Opera or of English Opera as Purcell wrote it. We 
 must judge Wallace's work as we would that of an 
 early Italian painter, not by the freedom and ease of 
 his successors, but by the stiffness and awkwardness 
 of his predecessors. 
 
 It is, however, the literary, not the musical, side of 
 the Operatic movement that engages our attention at 
 the moment. Unfortunately, most of the popular 
 impressions of "English Opera" are connotations 
 founded on the literary material of this time. I must 
 therefore attempt the necessary but difficult task of 
 giving the reader some idea of its strange unreality 
 and its remoteness from all human experience. It is, 
 then, an Opera of no-where and no-time : of men and 
 women who never have existed and never can exist: 
 an Opera of sham sentiment and sham motive, of 
 artificiality and bunkum. Its dwelling-place is a 
 fantastic Nightmare-land, peopled, not by human 
 beings, but by dismal theatrical ghosts and corpses, 
 each one of whom seems to have borrowed a moral 
 rig-out second-hand from Pecksniff. In this doleful 
 country dense black shadow alternates with the dim 
 light of guttering candles, and over all hangs the 
 dingy fog of Wardour Street. 
 
 is superior in charm and imaginative power to anything of 
 his time, and is undoubtedly a landmark in our Operatic 
 history.
 
 1 64 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 If we peer through the fog we can half discern 
 fierce crowds of Banditti (belted and bewigged), with 
 Moslems, Crusaders, Robbers, and Villains, figures 
 of paint and pasteboard, all clutching their daggers 
 and pistols as they tip-toe on to the 1-2-3-4 of the 
 music. Every one of these terrible fellows "stands 
 in peril dire," 1 and is ready to shed his last drop of 
 grease-paint in defence or defiance. Perhaps, after a 
 preliminary (and mirthless) drinking-song, they all go 
 into ambush, nodding their explanations and inten- 
 tions at each other in some such words as these: 
 
 "The Tyger couches in the wood 
 And waits to shed the trav'ler's blood, 
 
 And so couch we ! 
 We spring upon him to supply 
 What men to our wants deny, 
 
 And so springs he !" 2 
 
 Presently, that is to say if the "trav'ler" escapes them, 
 they will pass the gloomy word : 
 
 "Some myst'ry dark lies here conceal'd, 
 But soon the truth will he reveal'd " :i 
 
 and will steal out again in single file, to creep on all 
 fours up and down mountains and search for treasure 
 in caves and ruined graveyards. Nothing; ever shakes 
 their bloodthirsty unanimity. The soldiers may be 
 already drawn up in two thin (and short) red lines 
 from the Prompt: side to the O.P. wings, either con- 
 gratulating each other on their apparent safety, 
 
 '"The Amber Witch," by Wallace and Chorley. 
 
 -'The Maniac," by Bishop and S. J. Arnold. 
 
 "' ' Fair Rosamond," by Harriett. Hook by Z. C. Harnett and F. 
 
 Shannon.
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 165 
 
 "Comrades and friends, from war ami strife, 
 Hither we come for a calmer life" 1 
 
 r shouting- their mutual encouragements : 
 
 & 
 
 " To arms ! To arms ! Prepare ! 
 Upon the invaders rush ! 
 To arms ! To arms ! Prepare ! 
 At once the robbers crush ! " 2 
 
 but their martial chants will avail them nothing when 
 thev come to grips with their morose and murderous 
 adversaries, for the only human weakness that besets 
 this band of Operatic desperadoes is one which makes 
 cold steel and poison the very bread and cheese of 
 their existence. This weakness, amounting, I regret 
 to say, almost to a chronic physical ailment, is their 
 continual and pressing desire for "revenge." Indeed, 
 in those far-off days when stage pirates and buccaneers 
 were objects, not of amusement, but of terror, every 
 respectable half-dozen of tenors and basses kept 
 (somewhere handy) a dirtv and inexplicable past 
 which could only be cleansed by convenient 4-part 
 references to blood and iron. 
 
 These musical cries for vengeance occur over and 
 over again, and the following lines will show their 
 average literary expression : 
 
 " Revenge ! 
 
 The daring crew 
 Shall soon their treason rue ! 
 Revenge ! " ;i 
 
 1 "The Enchantress," by Balfe, Bunn, and M. de St. Georges. 
 
 2 Chorus of Soldiers in "The Maniac." The last line, "At 
 once the robbers crush," is, of course, the usual Operatic English 
 for "At once crush the robbers." 
 
 3 These ten words make up the whole of the second act Finale 
 in Bishop's "Maid Marian," "The poetry by J. R. Blanche Esq."
 
 1 66 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 We must, however, turn from the contemplation 
 of these sombre and terrifying stage-crowds to the 
 principal characters in the drama, and here we shall 
 find a greater variety of sentiment but no greater 
 likeness to real life. 
 
 Let us consider the men first, not from any want 
 of politeness, but in order to save the more attractive 
 features of the ladies for a later part of the chapter. 
 
 In appearance they are all very much as we see 
 them on the outside covers of the songs straight- 
 nosed and pale-faced, sleek and whiskery, with dark 
 romantic eyes, fat calves and oily hair, a mixture of 
 Apollo and a German hair-dresser. 1 Their main 
 preoccupation is the pursuit of "Glory," and especially 
 of" Glory" achieved at the expense of" The Moslem," 
 "The Saracen," or "The Moor." In this pursuit they 
 exhibit a gentlemanly indifference to all forms of 
 danger. Indeed, the unconcern with which they con- 
 tinually refer, in parenthesis, to the most disturbing 
 events in their personal history, is as genteel as it is 
 surprising : 
 
 " As in her smile, where beauty play'd 
 She bade me place my trust, 
 A ball from yonder coppice laid 
 My courser in the dust." 2 
 
 A cavalier of this sort usually begins life as 
 
 "A youthful Knight whose hopes are bent 
 On Glory's bright career." :{ 
 
 It may be that he adopts this career in the same 
 way that ordinary mortals adopt ordinary professions, 
 
 1 Lumley's portrait, prefixed to his Reminiscences, gives one a 
 very fair idea of the average Operatic hero of these days. 
 '-'"The Enchantress" (I>unn). 
 3 "The Enchantress" (Bunn).
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 167 
 
 "But for no idle passion form'd 
 His high heroic mood ; 
 Glory's sublimer charms alone 
 With lover's ardour woo'd," 1 
 
 or perhaps there may be a lady in the case and 
 
 " His rank and station are 
 To all such prospects an eternal bar : " 2 
 
 he may have found the impossibility in the 
 passionate phrase of the poet Bunn of 
 
 "calming rooted grief by all the mines of gold," :! 
 
 and may have adopted that sickly, broken-hearted 
 pose which we now associate only with some of 
 Dickens's minor characters : 
 
 "Jules de Montangon is my name 
 My home I have no home 
 The brokenness of heart and fame 
 Pursues me where I roam." 4 
 
 At any rate, the result is pretty sure to be the 
 same : 
 
 "The only privilege can be 
 To worship and to die." 
 
 It, however, he does not "worship and die" he 
 levants, and we find him in Eastern parts uttering 
 a great variety of defiant couplets and sentiments 
 derogatory to all Moors, Saracens, and Moslems : 
 
 "This cursed Moor mars ev'ry pleasant plan, 
 And I must stop his mischief if I can!" 6 
 
 1 "Guy Mannering," by Bishop and D. Terrv. 
 -"The Enchantress" (Bunn). 
 s "The Maid of Artois" (bunn). 
 i "The Maid of Artois" (Bunn). 
 '"The Bondman," by Balfe and Bunn. 
 ''"The Bondman" (Bunn).
 
 1 68 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 The consequence of these incautious speeches and 
 of his generally uncompromising attitude on the 
 subject of "Glory" is, of course, a good deal of 
 bloodshed, 
 
 " The foemen press, the gleaming brands blaze out " l 
 
 with the very unsatisfactory result for our poor 
 friend that he is usually compelled, tor reasons of 
 sympathy not unconnected with the Pit and Gallery, 
 to take the second place in the combat. Even on 
 the rare occasions when he is victorious he is not 
 at all likely to survive : 
 
 " The conquered foe is flying 
 
 But we are sadly dying" 2 
 
 but, as a rule we may say that it is his fate 
 to be both defeated and slaughtered by " The 
 Moslem." 
 
 " From ev'ry wound rush'd forth a life 
 On the Moslem's crimson'd field." 3 
 
 His death usually receives only a passing and 
 vague reference : 
 
 " On hostile plains far, far away, 
 The Moorish Squadron braving, 
 He died a Hero's deatli they say 
 The Christian banner saving," 4 
 
 while his epitaph ("written by E. Fitzball, Esq.") 
 
 is such as he himself would have wished it to be, 
 
 '"The Talisman," by Balfc and Matthison. 
 -"The Amber Witch," by Wallace and Chorlcy. 
 3 "Fair Rosamond" (Z. C. Harnett and F. Shannon). 
 '"The Heir (>i Vironi," by Bishop and |. l'ocock. The word 
 ''died'' i- marked " I'ians'cvole."
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 169 
 
 "With Glory's wreath entwine the brave." 1 
 
 It is refreshing; to turn to the other side of the 
 picture and to be able to say that, when our hero 
 is master of the situation, there is no doubt at 
 all about that fact. In Palestine and Morocco he 
 generally seems to feel that his early demise is a 
 matter of tearful expectation on the part of the 
 audience ; but when he is, so to speak, on his 
 own ground that is to say in any other than 
 those two countries he has a mysterious but ad- 
 mirable manner in dealing with the most over- 
 whelming odds. On the occasion of such encounters 
 he assumes a " haughty mien " and addresses his 
 opponents as " miscreants," " varlets," " minions," 
 and " traitors," but it must be owned that his own 
 descriptions of these affairs, after the event, are 
 always models of that genteel circumspection which 
 insists on the recognition of valour without con- 
 descending to its petty details. We have only to 
 refresh our minds with his picture (on the cover) 
 to know how he would describe his prowess to 
 a lady : 
 
 " But the blade of my sword looked sharp and bright 
 As I flashed it forth in the dim twilight ; 
 And the miscreants fled with a coward wail 
 My pretty maiden why turn pale 
 When we are safe to tell the tale ? " 2 
 
 lu The Siege of Rochelle," by Balfe, "Poetry by E. Fitzball 
 Esq." This symbolism of the unknown by means of vague Eastern, 
 and especially Moorish, images is a curious and persistent 
 feature in the early ninetenth century Opera. Even the " Harp 
 in the air " 
 
 " hangs on the walls 
 Of the old Moorish halls." 
 
 2 "The Amber Witch" (Chorley).
 
 170 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 The last two lines of this lyric remind us that, 
 beside the pursuit of " Glory's bright career," 
 our hero has a second occupation love-making. 
 This, the immemorial privilege of handsome tenors 
 and baritones, would be scarcely worth mentioning 
 were it not that, in this period, we come across 
 a type of passion so namby-pamby and almost 
 sexless as to repay description. As a rule the 
 gentleman addresses his lady-love in amatory 
 couplets whose warmth does not exceed that which 
 we should consider appropriate as between an aged 
 Sunday school teacher and a promising pupil : 
 
 u Stay, stay ! I have heard your story told 
 And would with you some converse hold. 
 
 The form I see doth my fancy strike ; 
 
 Yes ! and each feature such as a King might like I" 1 
 
 and often his " frozen heart " is selected lor special 
 applause, as in the following lyric: 
 
 "In ancient times in Britain's isle 
 Lord Henry was well known, 
 No knight in all the land more famed 
 Or more deserv'd renown. 
 
 His heart was all on honour bent, 
 He ne'er could stoop to Love ; 
 
 No Lady in the land had power 
 His frozen heart to move ; 
 
 Yet in that bosom dcem'd so stern 
 
 The kindest feelings dwelt ; 
 Her tender tale, when Pity told, 
 
 It never tail'd to melt. 
 
 But for no idle passion form'd 
 His high heroic mood 
 
 1 "The Maid of Artuis " (Hunn).
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 171 
 
 Glory's sublimer charms alone 
 With Lover's ardour woo'd " 1 
 
 and even when his heart is not represented as 
 " frozen," he thaws into such a mournful, bread-and- 
 butter lover that his plaintive lyrics can only be read 
 nowadays as a skit 0:1 themselves. The following 
 song, written apparently in " dead earnest," was sung 
 in Bishop's " The Maniac, or The Swiss Banditti," by 
 the most distinguished English baritone of his age : 2 
 
 "Edmund left his Ella dear, 
 To roam upon the dang'rous wave ; 
 She was the fairest of the fair, 
 And he the bravest of the brave. 
 
 Why from the maid did Edmund go ? 
 And why did Ella drop the tear ? 
 'Twas that he flew to meet the foe, 
 'Twas that her heart was chilled by fear. 
 
 But short the time fair Ella mourn'd 
 Her lover absent on the wave, 
 For soon he to her arms return'd, 
 And still the bravest of the brave." 3 
 
 1 " Guy Mannering" (D. Terry). 
 
 2 Phillips. The date of this opera is 1S10, that of Beethoven's 
 " Fidelio " is 1805. 
 
 3 Absurd as this ballad may seem, it is a characteristic and average 
 specimen of its class. Such "gluey" lyrics were introduced into 
 all the Operatic entertainments ot the time. They were set either 
 to simple and sometimes quite charming music, or else to music 
 which demanded a very high degree of vocal skill. The reader 
 may look at Isoline's song, "Here take my life" (in "The Maid 
 of Artois") if he wishes to see how far a composer can go in setting 
 words against their sense. In general, however, the words arc at a 
 lower level than the music. Many ballads, such as that in Bishop's 
 " Maid Marian," beginning, 
 
 " 'O let not' he said ' while yet I live 
 The cruel foe me take
 
 172 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Let us now turn from Edmund's raptures to see of 
 what sort was the lady for whose sake he was willing to 
 be " absent on the wave." On the outside covers of 
 the music it must be allowed Ella has a certain trim- 
 ankled, smooth-haired, and charming simplicity. She 
 could not be mistaken for a tragedy queen or, be it 
 said, for a ballet-girl. Her indoor " demi-toilette " 
 is equally effective among Alpine cliffs, Italian 
 lagoons, and Peruvian palaces, in all which situations 
 she appears to be blissfully unconscious of the fearful 
 geographical and human dangers by which she is 
 surrounded. Like her Edmund, whose "high heroic 
 mood " plunges him into such continual peril, she has 
 a favourite (and much less dangerous) occupation 
 the pleasing and picturesque habit of reclining in 
 grottoes. 
 
 This is Ella on the outside of the cover, but, when 
 we turn the page, we are chagrined to find the real 
 Ella not much more like life than Edmund. To 
 begin with, she is always weeping or simpering, or 
 doing both at once. From her standpoint this is 
 perhaps inevitable, for she spends a great deal of her 
 time in endeavouring to escape the wiles of bold, bad 
 baritones : 
 
 " And I must keep another secret too 
 For sake of peace, nor tell my father how 
 That hold, had, man pursues me with his love" 1 
 
 and the result is that she is in a constant state of 
 Mutter and agitation. If Edmund is with her and has 
 
 But with those lips one sweet kiss give 
 And cast me in the lake'" 
 
 are really not much above Dr. Johnson's parody, "I put my hat 
 upon my head. 
 
 1 "The Amber Witch " (Chorley).
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 173 
 
 dropped the faintest hint of his (very correct) inten- 
 tions, she is at once all dismay and confusion : 
 
 "What means this flutt'ring in my heart ? 
 These tears of joy too quick to start r " l 
 
 And even if she merely thinks he is at hand she 
 goes off into her peculiar and characteristic form 
 of heroics, whose essence is the unnatural arrange- 
 ment of words : 
 
 "But hark ! A distant sound ! He comes ! My heart, he still ! 
 . . . Ah no ! that well-known step salutes not yet mine ear."' 2 
 
 Then again, Ella has a distressing and tearful way 
 of continually asking for our sympathy, not for 
 "Ella," but for "Ella in distress." She has three 
 stock topics. These are, first, the loss of her pro- 
 perty ; second, the absence of her lover ; and third, 
 her strong but illogical preference tor "humble love" 
 to "gilded splendour." Her first card she plays in 
 most of Bishop's operas, and she plays it in a 
 very conventional manner. She usually begins by 
 describing her early life, which, we are led to believe, 
 was passed in narrow, but yet somehow extremely 
 prosperous, circumstances. Her home was generally 
 in one of those pastoral localities whose complete 
 lack of houses renders them so effective on " back- 
 cloths." Her father is represented to have been 
 (one is compelled to say " to have been," for he 
 invariably perishes in the second stanza) a sort of 
 rural Uriah Heep, very 'umble, but very well able to 
 look after the main chance. 
 
 1 " The Brides of Venice," by Benedict and Bunn. 
 
 2 " Fair Rosamond " (Z. C. Barnett and F. Shannon).
 
 174 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 " My father's flocks adorn'd the plain, 
 
 Retirement's joys possessing " : 
 
 and to the description of these joys she usually 
 devotes the first verse. In the second she refers 
 vaguely to " ruthless war " or " th' invader's host," 
 and in the third she comes down-stage and appeals 
 for our pity as a sentimental but ruined orphan. 
 Orynthia puts this appeal in a nut-shell : 
 
 "Fenced round by brake and lawn and wood 
 The Cottage of my Father stood ; 
 A decent plenty once bis share 
 And I was born a prosp'rous heir 
 
 But ruthless war soon marr'd our lot 
 
 In ruin lies that native cot ; 
 
 That Sire too where shall sorrow end ? 
 
 Ah who shall prove the orphan's friend?" 2 
 
 Of her second stock-topic her absent lover I 
 have already given a masculine example in "Edmund 
 and Ella." The feminine variant of this theme 
 occurs frequently, for instance : 
 
 "At noon upon the beach I stood 
 And saw the waves depart, 
 Which bore upon their briny flood 
 'Fhe treasure of my heart " s 
 
 and no less frequent are her fallacious comparisons 
 between "humble love" and "gilded splendour." 
 She asks : 
 
 1 " The Virgin of the Sun," by Bishop; "the poetry by F. 
 Reynolds." 
 
 ""The Noble Outlaw,'' by Bishop and Mrs. Opie. 
 
 '"The Brides of Venice" (Bunn).
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 175 
 
 " Hath gilded splendour such rewards 
 As the pleasure which humble love accords?" 1 
 
 and even puts up an unnecessarily plebeian appeal to 
 be spared the privilege of high birth : 
 
 "From high birth and all its fetters 
 My kind stars my lot remove ! 
 I shall envy not my betters, 
 Give me but the youth I love." 2 
 
 It must be owned, however, that, in spite of her 
 somewhat violent protestations of democratic feeling, 
 Ella often shows a truly Pecksniffian delight in vague 
 references to the "gilded thronp-s" of fashionable life. 
 
 O O 
 
 She is not above calling the attention of the " gilded 
 throngs" themselves to their own social superiority : 
 
 " I bid ye welcome ! 
 It calls forth thanks 
 To see around me 
 Fashion's chosen ranks" 3 
 
 and, in whatever dreadful predicament she may be, 
 she can always find time to drop in a gentle re- 
 minder that her proper sphere is the " hupper 
 suckles " : 
 
 "In vain with timid glance I try to pierce the dazzling 
 crowd to see the noble form of him I love." 4 
 
 The reader cannot fail to notice that in whatever 
 Ella says, she always adopts a mode of expression 
 just sufficiently removed from the expected to be 
 uncomfortable. In her father's presence she may 
 
 K'The Siege of Rochclle" (Fitzball). 
 
 2 "The Haunted Tower," by Storace. 
 
 3 "The Bondman" (Bunn). 
 
 4 " Fair Rosamond " (X. C. Barnett and F. Shannon).
 
 176 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 make some concessions to the commonplace and 
 address him thus : 
 
 " Good-eve, my gentle father" 
 
 to which he will reply : 
 
 "Good-eve, my merry daughter." 1 
 
 But, behind his back, she always refers to him as 
 "My sire," or "that sire." 2 She will say: 
 
 " What joy to see my sire again." :! 
 
 And it is not only in this particular connection that 
 she adopts this curious phraseology, for both she 
 and Edmund and, indeed, the whole dramatis persons 
 are naturally so mentally anaemic that they only call 
 a spade a spade under the direst necessities of rhyme. 
 I do not allude to their mere Latinisms or their 
 belated imitations of the eighteenth century allegorical 
 muse. Both these are common enough. They 
 speak of a lamb who is attacked by a wolf 
 
 " conceal'd beneath a sheep's attire" 4 
 
 and of an " eager charger " who 
 
 "spurns th' indented ground' 1 ;"' 
 
 they say " Belgia's fertile plain," meaning Belgium, 
 and " Gallia's sword," meaning the French army. 6 
 
 '"The Amber Witch' 1 (Chorley). 
 -Sec above, ''The Orphan's Friend." 
 ' '" Fair Rosamond " (/. C. Barnctt and F. Shannon). 
 * "The Siege of Rochcllc" (Fitzball). 
 
 '"Robin Hood," bv Shield. Hook by L. Macnallv (and E. 
 Ly<aht ?). 
 
 6 "Thc Slave," by Bishop. ''The poetry by T. Morton."
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 177 
 
 But it is when they are talking about themselves as 
 men and women that we are made to feel most 
 strongly their remoteness from humanity. To begin 
 with, we never hear of them doing anything so 
 vulgar as merely " being born." At most they 
 allude, in a stock phrase, to the days, when their 
 feet "lightly pressed" their "native heather," "turf," 
 "sod," "sand," or whatever other soil their parents 
 may have been located on at the time. Then, in the 
 third or fourth act, when thev are perhaps wander- 
 ing round the ruined homestead, they again refer 
 to themselves as "heavily pressing" the same 
 "heather," "turf," "sod," "sand," or what not. 
 By the time they have grown up this method of 
 speech has, of course, become an obsession. They 
 seem to have lost all power of direct expression, 
 and common words like " I," " me," " you," " man," 
 " woman," and " love " have dropped completely out 
 of their vocabulary. If they wish to say that two 
 people love one another, they get no nearer the 
 idea of "love" than an implication. The two people 
 are said to "stray" through the world "like two 
 ring doves." J If, again, they wish to express the 
 idea of a man and a woman singing together, they 
 are compelled, by the exigencies of their poetical code, 
 to refer to them, not as a man and a woman, but as 
 " hearts." This has sometimes a ludicrous effect : 
 
 " Upon the banks of Bosphorus, at eve, and dawn of day, 
 Two hearts, who lov'd with tenderness, were heard to 
 trill this lay." 2 
 
 This symbolical use of the word " heart " is a 
 constant and wearying feature of the early nineteenth 
 
 1 " The Siege of Rochelle " (Fitzball). 
 
 -"The Enchantress" (Bunn and M. de St. Georges). 
 
 M
 
 178 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 century lyrics. Even Richard Cceur de Lion and 
 Berengaria 1 (who, we have reason to believe, were not 
 sentimentalists) are unable to say outright plain " I " 
 and " me." The latter historical personage, for 
 instance, says that her "fond suffering heart" wishes 
 to retire to a cave in Palestine for peace ! 
 
 In this Operatic period there are, I need not say, 
 other equally lifeless types besides those of the hero 
 and heroine. The confidant who exists only to 
 receive confidences, the aged and tottering father and 
 mother, and especially the beetle-browed heavy villain 
 are all stock features of these entertainments. The 
 thundering rhodomontade of the last-named character 
 contains many lines which would have delighted 
 perhaps sometimes did delight the soul of Charles 
 Lamb. An exquisite anthology might be culled 
 from these heavily scented flowers-of-rhetoric, but 
 their type is too familiar to call for more than 
 passing mention. I cannot, however, resist the 
 temptation of quoting a phrase which, I think, sums 
 up in a single masterly couplet the whole Trans- 
 pontine Drama. It is this : 
 
 "Clara Montalban ! Name rcviTd ! 
 Assassin of De Valmour's child!" 2 
 
 With the production of Burnett's " Mountain 
 Svlph " in 1834 English Opera made a distinct step 
 forward in the direction of naturalness and ease. 
 The actual text :; of this opera is above, though not 
 greatly above, the average form of contemporary 
 
 1 In B .life's "Talisman." The whale of this "book" is worth 
 reading if only as an example of the strange dummy characteristics 
 which historical personages can he made to a-ume in (had) Opera. 
 
 2 "The Siege of Rochelle" (Fitzhall). 
 :1 " Bv T. J. Thackerav, Hsu."
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 179 
 
 theatrical literature. It is, however, not so much in 
 the words as in the general material of the drama, 
 and the happy (if somewhat superficial) charm of 
 its musical treatment that we find a new and 
 unexpected return to life. The characters are no 
 longer mere pasteboard figures which like the scimi- 
 tars and turbans, the gilt crowns and drinking cups 
 could be drawn wholesale from the property-room. 
 There is less talk about " the heart," and more heart 
 in it. In fact, one feels that the composer, almost 
 for the first time since the days of Purcell, really 
 loved his characters, and that, therefore, drawing as 
 he did from that central light of all art, he was able 
 to suffuse them with a certain mild tenderness. 
 
 The English opera-books written in the last half of 
 the nineteenth century are a complete contrast to 
 those of the preceding period. A double reaction 
 has set in. First we find a continually increasing 
 contempt for the old theatrical trickery which had 
 robbed the earlier stage of its vitality. This con- 
 tempt, in itself a symptom of health, was, however, 
 allowed to unduly dominate the whole drama. On 
 looking at these operas we feel instinctively that their 
 authors were as a rule amateurs, and amateurs with 
 little sense of the theatre. The result is that it is 
 extremely difficult to cite a single opera whose con- 
 tents were sufficiently dramatic one might almost 
 say sufficiently theatrical to make success possible. 
 Where the older composer had been busy setting to 
 music theatrical trash which had no relation to litera- 
 ture or to life, his younger, and more earnest, rival 
 was wasting his time in a futile attempt to illustrate 
 dramatic texts which (though often happy as mere 
 literature) could not by the very terms of their exis- 
 tence be galvanized into theatrical life. These texts
 
 iso 
 
 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 frequently contained broad and clearly expressed 
 views on life as seen through the spectacles of a 
 comfortable literary Londoner. Their expression was 
 sometimes admirable, not "too good" for the theatre, 
 but of a kind different from that which the theatre 
 requires. Thev were, however, all foredoomed to 
 failure on the operatic stage where a single " Ha, 
 ha!" aside (and in the right place) has more value 
 than the finest string of poetical images and philo- 
 sophical reflections (in the wrong place). Thus the 
 ungrammatical Bunn and all his tribe are, in a way, 
 avenged on their less practical, if more widely accom- 
 plished, successors. 
 
 It must not be supposed that, with the coming of 
 the English Musical Renaissance, all forms ot literary 
 distortion and inversion disappeared at once from our 
 opera-books. Even as late as 1883 the most success- 
 ful critic of his day found it possible to put on paper 
 such a phrase as : 
 
 " To answer a question is a task 
 Which greatly depends on who does ask." 1 
 
 To make use of such commonplaces as " lily white 
 hand" 1 and "speaking in sorrow and not in anger," 1 
 and to write such curiously belated blank-verse as this : 
 
 " Even as we learn 
 The latent root and sap of yonder tree 
 By breaking one of its impending branches." 2 
 
 But these lapses are not typical of the period, and we 
 have only to read the complete texts of, say, 
 " Colomba," "The Troubadour," "Pauline," "The 
 Veiled Prophet," and "The Beauty-Stone," side by 
 side with any texts we may choose by George Cole- 
 
 1 "Colomba," by Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Francis HucrTer. 
 -"The Troubadour,'' by the same authors.
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 181 
 
 man the younger, Planche, Kitzball, or Bunn, to see 
 the gulf which lies between them. 
 
 Before closing this chapter I may perhaps be 
 allowed to make passing reference to a special disease 
 which has afflicted our opera-books during the past 
 thirty years. This disease, which is rather a source 
 of discomfort than of actual danger, may be called 
 Wardour-Streetism, and its cause is a sort of mental 
 diffidence and cowardice on the part of the dramatist. 
 The attitude of the earlier dramatist was quite 
 different. He wrote his plays frankly in the paint- 
 and property-rooms without any consciousness of the 
 real life outside. The thing was bad, but he believed 
 in it, and because of his belief he was able to build 
 up on his own unnatural premises an emotional 
 structure unreal, it is true but yet possessing a 
 certain vivacity and a large measure of theatrical 
 earnestness. Now when, in more recent years, the 
 dramatist was required to furnish plays suitable for 
 music, he found himself in a predicament. His con- 
 sciousness of the real world outside the theatre 
 forbade any resort to the old stage hocus-pocus, while 
 the poverty of his artistic culture gave him no means 
 of reconciling this consciousness to the necessary 
 theatrical conventions. His topics were all of a day 
 not his own, and therefore, being unable to force his 
 own emotional experiences within the four walls of 
 the theatre, he substituted, for the underlying 
 humanity common to all ages, a poor and inaccurate 
 version of their superficial differences. 
 
 In a word, he took refuge in the fake-antique trade 
 which is supposed to flourish in Wardour Street. 1 
 
 1 It is curious to notice how this dialect pervades the whole 
 domain of Opera. Even shrewd critics insensibly drop into "'tis," 
 "'twill be," and "fain," when describing opera plots.
 
 1 82 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 A melancholy jargon was invented, a jargon com- 
 pounded of sixteenth and seventeenth century collo- 
 quialisms, artificialities of the eighteenth century, and 
 odd scraps from our ballad and song literature. 1 This 
 sham dialect did duty, even now does duty, as the 
 language ot English Opera. There are, however, signs 
 that its reign is coming to an end. Audiences are 
 growing impatient with its mannerisms, and are be- 
 ginning to recognize that opera-books can only be 
 written on historical subjects in one of two ways. 
 Authors must either use only words and expressions of 
 the historical period with which they are dealing, or 
 they must write in the language of their own times. 
 The former method is, of course, generally impossible 
 for many reasons, one of which is that any English of 
 an earlier date than about 1550 is practically unintellig- 
 ible to a modern audience. If we adopt the latter 
 method we are merely following the example of 
 Shakespeare, and we must remember that we are not 
 forced by it to employ only the transient and col- 
 loquial forms of our every-day speech. There is 
 nothing to prevent authors exercising the utmost 
 care in the selection of words, and the composite 
 character of the English language gives them a wide 
 field tor this selection. 
 
 With this aspect of the question 1 shall deal more 
 fully in a later chapter, but, before concluding, I may 
 draw attention to a point about which very little is 
 said by those musicians who discuss the relationship 
 
 1 l'.vcn so charming a work as "The Canterbury Pilgrims" 
 suffers from this defect. In manv oi the scenes (such as that 
 between II.il o' the Chepe's hirelings and Sir Christopher) the 
 composer, Sir Charles Stanford, shows a l'urcellian facility in 
 word-painting, but the brightness and ease of the music is often 
 marred by the artificiality ot the text.
 
 vi OPERA BOOKS 183 
 
 between composer and dramatist I mean their artistic 
 equality. It is generally assumed that, because a great 
 many men of low intelligence have written opera- 
 books, therefore their art is on a lower level than that 
 of the musician. But, though we may (unfortunately) 
 draw deductions from operatic history favourable to 
 this view, there is nothing in the nature of their work 
 to prove it. Indeed, the task of constructing a fine 
 tragedy or comedy with the added restrictions of 
 languafje and the added limitations of movement 
 which are imposed by the operatic form, must be 
 difficult even to the most able and earnest-minded. 
 Neither the music nor the text of an opera is the 
 opera. The two things are, like the two halves of a 
 pair of scissors, each useless without the other. The 
 two artists, therefore if there be two concerned in 
 its creation share the responsibility and should there- 
 fore share the dignity. It is only by a recognition of 
 this fact that we shall ever put an end to the waste 
 of composers' labours on bad opera-books. When 
 we have done that and have placed the dramatist and 
 the musician on their proper level of artistic and, be 
 it said, commercial equality, we shall find an improve- 
 ment in the quality of our operatic texts. The 
 dramatist will then recognize that the mere " suc- 
 cession of events " is no longer sufficient for operatic 
 success. It will then be worth his while to study the 
 integral differences between operatic and other forms 
 of dramatic construction, to admit the necessities in 
 Opera of extended and developed " situations," and to 
 fill these u situations," not with padding, but with 
 poetry. He will not then grudge the infinite pains 
 which must be spent both in the invention of his 
 declamatory sentences and in the elaboration of those 
 intimate alliances between intellectual and emotional
 
 184 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap, vi 
 
 thought the pivotal word -and -music- phrases of 
 Opera. To do this is no easy task, and it demands a 
 many-sided mind for its accomplishment. The 
 dramatist must also be something ot a musician and 
 a good deal of a singer. Above all, he must have the 
 heart and imagination of a poet.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND OPERATIC 
 SINGING 
 
 In the first chapter of his Studies and Memories Sir 
 Charles Stanford remarks that 
 
 " No language is more perfect in its way for 
 musical expression than that of the English 
 Bible." 
 
 He then points out that a language which " has 
 proved itself unapproached in English Oratorio 
 cannot be quite devoid of capabilities for the stage." 
 With these words I think no unprejudiced person 
 can disagree. Indeed, I would go farther and remove 
 the qualification " in its way," because the special 
 " way " of the English language is one that differen- 
 tiates it from other languages, and, at the same time, 
 makes it better adapted than they for dramatic ex- 
 pression. As a medium for the precise statement 
 of fact, or for the intricate and subtle distinctions 
 of philosophy, it gives place respectively to French 
 and German. To the ear it has neither the strength 
 and glitter of Spanish nor the vowelled sweetness of 
 Italian ; but, as the language of the passions that 
 is to say, as the utterance of drama it is in force, 
 vivacity, charm, and in its mingling of lightness 
 and dignity, unsurpassable. The tongue in which
 
 1 86 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 " A Midsummer-Night's Dream," " Othello," and 
 " Lycidas " were written must be a tongue of 
 infinite variety and power. Nor is there any other 
 speech which man has found equally satisfactory for 
 the expression of exquisite fancy, tragic intensity, 
 and the quiet solemnity of deep personal feeling. 
 
 Now if, instead of discussing the academic ques- 
 tion of the suitability of the language for music- 
 drama, we take an intelligent English opera-goer, 
 and ask him whether he likes to listen to English 
 in the theatre, we shall nine times out ot ten 
 be answered by an emphatic " No." It will help 
 us to swallow our indignation at this reply if we 
 remember two points. First, the playgoer visits the 
 opera-house solely for what we may call selfish 
 reasons. He wishes to get the greatest possible 
 amount of personal enjoyment out of it, and there 
 his interest ends. As a rule, he is unwilling to enter 
 even into an academic discussion on the merits of 
 the question which is before us, and he invariably 
 refuses to take any part in a national propaganda, 
 however praiseworthy its object. Furthermore, he 
 generally takes to himself, not blame but credit for 
 the acceptance of our national inferiority in Opera, 
 and he is the more willing to make this concession 
 as his whole life is organized on the precisely oppo- 
 site hypothesis of our national superiority in every 
 other sphere of human activity. The second point 
 which we must bear in mind is, that if we press him 
 for his reasons, we are pretty sure to find that he 
 confuses two distinct questions : 
 
 (i) The advisability of translating purely foreign 
 works for use before an English audience; 
 
 (2) The possibility of evolving a system of 
 dramatic song-speech in English.
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 187 
 
 The first of these questions involves some dis- 
 cussion of the essential characteristics of modern 
 Opera, that is to say, of the alliance between word- 
 ami music-phrases, to which I shall allude more 
 fully when I come to deal with the subject of 
 " translations." Of the second I would say in 
 some justification of the playgoer's "No"- that, 
 however possible the evolution of such a system 
 may be in the future, it has not been evolved yet. 
 The language is there and the music is there, but 
 the two things have not been brought together 
 at any rate they have not been brought together so 
 as to fulfil their prime object in the theatre intelli- 
 gibility. I say this with confidence, because I have 
 made continual enquiry and experiment to ascertain 
 exactly what proportion of an opera text can actually 
 be understood under the present conditions of per- 
 formance. For this purpose my seat has been varied 
 from the stalls to the gallery, and I have always made 
 a special point of attending first-nights unprimed, 
 when possible, with any preliminary knowledge of 
 the plot. My general conclusion is that, though 
 there are one or two singers (but not more) who 
 are fairly articulate and intelligible in the theatre, 
 with the rest one is lucky if one can catch a single 
 word in half a dozen sentences. In short, their 
 intelligibility is about one per cent. 
 
 I may cite an average experience. At one of 
 Mr. Beecham's first-nights in 1910, "W" (one of 
 the principals) was partially intelligible throughout : 
 of " X " I could only gather, during the whole 
 evening, the first three words of a catch-phrase, 
 which was repeated several times. The plot, as I 
 afterwards learnt, really turned on the psychology 
 of "Y" and " Z." Of the former's lines 1 only
 
 1 88 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 caught, in an orchestral pause, one phrase, some- 
 thing to this effect, " I will tell you how it 
 happened," then came a long, long narrative, which, 
 for all 1 knew, might have been in Chinese. Of 
 " Z's " part I can honestly say that 1 understood 
 no syllable from the first act to the last. At this 
 particular first-night I was in the front of the 
 amphitheatre at Covent Garden. At His Majesty's 
 Theatre I heard a similar first performance from the 
 dress-circle, and here my experience, as on many 
 other occasions, was just the same at most one 
 or two singers whose words one could partially hear, 
 and the rest a mere " fog-in-the-throat." In the 
 choruses, where the utmost vivacity is attainable by 
 the simultaneous utterance of a simple syllable, 
 nothing was ever distinguishable. The consonantal 
 attack was continually weak and hesitating, the 
 colour of the vowel-sound so varied and grotesquely 
 inaccurate as to be misleading, and the final conso- 
 nants either half inaudible (and therefore ineffective) 
 or else pronounced without unanimity by different 
 singers in different parts of the bar. 
 
 Now, the ordinary opera-goer " on pleasure bent " 
 may not know enough about French, German, or 
 Italian to be able to say whether they are being 
 sung properly or not, but his knowledge of his own 
 language teaches him that there is something radi- 
 cally wrong when that language is unintelligible. 
 He obtains a certain amount of sensuous pleasure 
 from hearing fine vocalists singing, say, in Italian ; 
 and therefore he savs outright that he prefers that 
 language to English for operatic purposes. We can 
 scarcely blame him for this, and, as he is no pro- 
 pagandist, we need not be surprised if he merely 
 shrugs his shoulders when we point out that his
 
 vir ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 189 
 
 preference of Italian to English is really a preference 
 of Italian words finely chosen and finely sung to 
 English words ill chosen and ill sung a preference 
 which we all share. 
 
 Now, I do not need to labour the point that 
 Opera is a mixed form of art. It relies for its 
 complete intelligibility not only on the emotional 
 appeal of its central scenes, but also on the intellec- 
 tual perception of those circumstantial and explana- 
 tory "connecting-links" which justify the existence 
 of the emotional scenes. 1 The attitude, then, of our 
 hypothetical opera-goer, who is forced by the 
 badness of English texts and English singers into 
 a preference for Italian, is wrong, because it robs 
 him of a large portion of the pleasure which he 
 might otherwise obtain. In the first place, he loses 
 all those delicious alliances of word-thought and 
 music-thought which are found in every fine work 
 of art, and which he himself fully appreciates when 
 they are presented to him in such light and un- 
 emotional forms as the " Gilbert and Sullivan " 
 operas. In the second place, he only acquires a 
 knowledge of the actual drama either by reading 
 or by a tiresome attention to the stage gestures. 
 
 1 Wagner's well-known words that "Music should begin where 
 words end" really sum up the psychology of Opera. It might be 
 matter of interesting speculation what form, if an}', Opera will 
 take in England. The prejudices of the Anglo-Saxon races have 
 always been so strongly in favour of the emotional scenes and so 
 strongly opposed to the musical illustration of the intellectual 
 "connecting-links," that they would probably be satisfied only 
 with an operatic form in which the former predominated, and 
 the latter either disappeared altogether or (more probably) were 
 expressed melodically, but at a lower level of melodic organiza- 
 tion than that of the central situations. An opera of this type 
 seems to me to be both conceivable and rational, and it is practi- 
 cally only a return to Purcell's method.
 
 i 9 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 And the more he persists in this attitude the more 
 hard-set and wrong-headed he becomes in his con- 
 victions, for, after a few years of Covent Garden, 
 he always comes to regard an opera as a sort of 
 glorified symphony with vocal embellishments, in 
 which his pleasure is continually discounted by the 
 irritating intrusion of " stage-pantomime." l 
 
 I must confess that the refusal of such a man to 
 attend English operatic performances under their 
 present conditions is not unnatural. On the one 
 hand he has the pleasure of hearing French and 
 Italian artists whose training has been based on a 
 close analysis of their own linguistic sounds and of 
 the special adaptability of these sounds to music. 
 In both these languages, be it said, the singer has 
 to face grave difficulties before he can become wholly 
 intelligible in the theatre ; but these difficulties (to 
 which I will allude later) are faced and overcome by 
 every artist worthy of the name. The result is an 
 accuracy and precision of vowel-colour and a con- 
 sonantal neatness and finish which, never leave the 
 audience in doubt as to the actual word which is 
 being spoken. On the other hand, he has the pain 
 of listening to English singers whose training has 
 been based on a useless, and often slovenly, exami- 
 nation, not of English, but of Italian or even French. 
 The English-speaking singer, unlike his French or 
 Italian rival, starts unhandicapped by any declama- 
 tory disadvantages. He should be the first decla- 
 matory artist in Europe. As a matter of fact, long 
 before lie ends his student days he has been taught to 
 
 1 I have actually heard an Englishman of wide general culture 
 and discernment (and a great lover of music) declare seriously 
 that "if he understood every language in the world but one, he 
 would like to hear his Opera in that one."
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 191 
 
 convert all his vowels into an unrecognizable smudge 
 and to avoid his consonants as he would the devil. 
 
 Now, on the rare occasions when a singer from 
 anv of our musical seminaries ventures on to the 
 comic opera (or, as it is now called, " The Musical 
 Comedv ") stage, the first lesson that he receives is 
 that it is necessary for him to be understood by the 
 people on the other side of the footlights. He finds 
 out that no personal or social weight will maintain 
 him in his position there if he persists in regarding 
 the English language as a low-class dialect whose 
 methods should be "elevated" to those of the Italian 
 wherever possible. He becomes aware of the fact 
 that many English words end in consonants, and 
 that (it he is both to sing and to live) he must 
 pronounce them audibly in order to distinguish, say, 
 between " food " and " fool." He also, in some 
 cases, becomes aware of a second fact, that the English 
 language is more varied in subtle vowel-combina- 
 tions than anv other language of which he is ever 
 likely to hear, and that therefore (if he is to please 
 and not to irritate his audience) he must, when he 
 wishes to say the word " ten," actually say the word 
 "ten" and not "tan" or "ta'." Finally he learns that 
 a good manv years ago a system of speech-in-song, 
 or song-speech, was elaborated and adapted to the 
 needs of the comic opera stage at the Savoy Theatre : 
 that this charming intimacy of words and melody, 
 based as it was on a purely English foundation, was 
 at once received with delight and appreciation, and 
 that it still persists as a recognized factor in the 
 success of every light opera. 1 
 
 1 Gilbert and Sullivan "transformed the style of speech on 
 tin: musical stage, assimilating it to that of the non-musical 
 theatres" ("Comic Opera" in Grove's Dictionary, ed. 2, vol.
 
 1 92 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 The question, however, remains if this has been 
 done for comic opera and is being done for musical 
 comedy, why has it not been done for serious opera ? 
 
 The answer to this is that it has been done for 
 serious opera in every country where Opera has been 
 developed in harmony with national ideals. Indeed, 
 without this close association of words with music 
 Opera cannot exist except in the state in which it 
 exists here as an unpleasant foreign hireling. But 
 that is no reason why, if the opportunity were given, 
 the same condition should not produce a similar 
 result in this country, and the desired development 
 has, as I have just pointed out, occurred here in 
 the case of comic opera. This is the more inter- 
 esting to us because, if we examine the matter without 
 bias, we shall be forced to admit that the pleasure 
 which we derive from any one of the gav or plaintive 
 little songs of the Savoy opera is precisely the same 
 psychologically as that which we obtain from the 
 union of the words 
 
 " Mir erkoren 
 Mir verlorcn," 
 
 i.). This is true in as far as Gilbert substituted clear and plain 
 English for the make-believe stage dialect which existed before 
 his day, but musicians owe a lasting debt to Sir Arthur Sullivan 
 for his recognition of the fact that it was not only necessary 
 to set his text to music which was pleasing in itself, but to invent 
 melodies in such close alliance with the words that the two things 
 became (to the hearer) indistinguishable. In this respect Sullivan 
 did more for the English stage than any musician of his time, 
 and his services are not at all on a par with those of such a merely 
 glittering trifler as Offenbach. It is true that Sullivan was nick- 
 named "The English Offenbach," but that nickname was no more 
 than a piece of personal malice and ignorance. The two men 
 cannot really be compared, but, if one were compelled to attempt 
 a comparison, one might say that (in their way) both Sullivan 
 ami Offenbach were diamonds, but that the latter was of the kind 
 known m Regent Street as a "Parisian Diamond."
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 193 
 
 with the rising semitones in " Tristan and Isolde." 
 In each case it is the heightening of the speech and 
 the unerring symbolism of the words by the music 
 that satisfy us. The two things expressed are, of 
 course, miles apart. One is either transitory and 
 unimportant in its nature or a transitory aspect of a 
 really important thing, while the other is a topic 
 whose interest and importance are as lasting as the 
 human race. In this mutual interaction of word- 
 phrase and music-phrase lies the whole problem of 
 operatic composition, and the history of its growth is 
 the history of Opera especially of German Opera. 
 
 It may be well, then, in a country where national 
 Opera has no present existence, to study the whole 
 question a little more closely in order that we may 
 arrive at an idea of its conditions and necessities. 
 
 The question is, how are we to develop a true 
 national school of declamation or song-speech, and 
 the two groups of persons most interested in this 
 question are the composers and the singers. I need 
 not point out that it is the latter who are always 
 unjustly blamed for our present lamentable state of 
 inferiority. It would, however, be just as fair to 
 blame an unsharpened sword or a misdirected bullet 
 for its failure. The composer and not the singer is 
 primarily responsible, and I wish to say with all 
 the strength of which I am capable that no school of 
 declamatory or intelligible singing has ever been 
 founded or ever can be founded except by the exertions 
 of the composer. He precedes the singer as surely as 
 day precedes night, and it is not until he has provided 
 the necessary material on which the singer can work 
 that the production of a satisfactory school of dramatic 
 singing becomes possible. The history of the great 
 Italian, French, and German opera singers and even
 
 i 9 4 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 the sounds of their voices (if they could have been 
 preserved to us) would tell us nothing of importance, 
 while the history of such men as Gluck, Verdi, Weber, 
 and Wagner tells us everything. 
 
 Hence it is that, in this country, behind all the 
 more superficial questions of vocal technique, lies 
 the one vital question of the composer's opportunity; 
 for until he has the possibility of exercising his art 
 before the public, he can bring no pressure to bear 
 upon the singer. He may demand reform and even 
 know how to secure it, but the singer remains in 
 unconscious ignorance of his own shortcomings a 
 sword, perhaps of the finest steel, but unsharpened 
 and useless. The only man who can sharpen it is 
 the swordsman himself in this case the composer 
 and at present he is compelled to leave it rusting 
 in its sheath. I wish, therefore, to make it par- 
 ticularly clear that, whatever I may have to say 
 with regard to the training (and the mistraining) of 
 English singers, the question is only a "proximate" 
 one, and that the problem of producing a school of 
 intelligible dramatic singing is not, primarily, a 
 singer's question at all. When once the English 
 composer is granted the opportunity in England 
 which is denied to none of his colleagues abroad, his 
 demand will create a supply of adequate vocalists. 
 This supply will, of course, not be brought about by 
 the wave ot a fairy's wand ; the composer will have to 
 do the teachinc and the unteaching ; but there is 
 no difficulty in that ; it has occurred in the history 
 ot every operatic movement on the Continent and 
 it is not at all likely that history will be contra- 
 dicted here. 
 
 The dramatic singers of the present day are, as 
 I have said, often blamed for their shortcomings.
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 195 
 
 We must, however, plead in their defence that, as 
 there is a very restricted market for their talents in 
 English Opera, many of them are compelled to gather 
 their experience abroad, and even to study their 
 technique in a foreign language in order to sing 
 to English people. Nothing could be more disas- 
 trous. Every time such a singer vocalizes a foreign 
 vowel or forms correctly a foreign consonant with 
 his lips, tongue, teeth, and palate, he is accustoming 
 his muscles to acquire a method ot utterance which 
 is, from the English point of view, incorrect. The 
 more, therefore, he sings abroad the greater becomes 
 his difficulty in singing at home. 
 
 Even if he is trained in his own country, his 
 training will probably be by the "old Italian method" 
 "as advertized"; but it does not really matter 
 whether it is bv the "old" or the "new" Italian method 
 or, if it comes to that, by the Dutch, Hindu, or 
 Chinese because such a language as Italian differs in 
 every essential particular (in genealogy, in sound, in 
 structure, in rhythm, in accent, in pitch, in length and 
 quality of vowel, and in consonantal attack) from 
 English, and therefore any singing method based on 
 the one cannot, by its very nature, be of service in the 
 other. When such a method is transplanted from 
 Italy to England by the ignorant vanity of voice- 
 producers and this is generally made possible by 
 the humble-minded diffidence of the English public 
 in all artistic matters the result is a crop of singers 
 who really are better entitled than their masters to 
 the name of "voice-producers," for all they do is 
 to " produce the voice" in a hermaphroditic language 
 that would disgust a monkey. There is an " old 
 Italian method," which is also a " new Italian 
 method," and that method is for Italian singing-
 
 196 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 masters to study the sounds of the Italian language 
 and teach them to Italians tor use in Italian Opera ; 
 and the only lesson which we can learn from the 
 Italian success in this walk of art is that we must 
 follow, not the details of their practice in circum- 
 stances which differ widely from ours, but their 
 rigid principles ; and these principles are, when 
 applied to this country, the study of the sounds 
 of the English language by English singing-masters 
 and the teaching of these sounds to Englishmen 
 for use in English Opera. 1 
 
 In order to see how inapplicable are Italian 
 methods and Italian standards to the training: of 
 English vocalists we must glance for a moment 
 at the chief differences between the two languages. 
 
 (i) Italian is in its stock comparatively a " pure" 
 tongue. It springs ' from the language Latin 
 which was spoken in the Italian peninsula both 
 before and after the time of Christ. Its words differ 
 from those of Latin mainly in that they have 
 modified the elaborate system of suffixes which, in 
 that tongue, fix the relationships of words with one 
 another in a sentence. In addition to that, there 
 has been a general detrition, or rubbing-down, of all 
 angular consonantal sounds, and, where this has been 
 impossible, new and easily spoken words (which had 
 probably been in vulgar use even in classical times) 
 have often thrust themselves up above the surface, 
 where they now appear as a recognized part of the 
 
 1 As an example of cosmopolitan wrong-hcadedness the following 
 quotation deserves study: "Wherever singing has been cultivated 
 well, it has been cultivated on Italian principles. With a regard 
 for truth rather than for the amour proprc of other nations, we can 
 take the best Italian singing as the standard norm " {The Opera, 
 Past and Present, by \V. F. Apthorp).
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 197 
 
 vocabulary. 1 The admixture of purely foreign (non- 
 Latin) words is, relative to that in our language, 
 small. With the exception of a tew colloquialisms, 
 practically every word in Italian now ends in a vowel. 
 The actual vowels in the language are few, simple 
 and extremely pure in quality, while the consonants 
 appear as single consonants between vowels, or, at 
 most, as combinations of easily pronounced con- 
 sonants. The characteristic of the language is the 
 constant recurrence of pure, broad vowel-sounds 
 separated from each other by simple consonants. 
 The length of the vowels is not fixed, but is generally 
 midway between our shortest and longest. Their 
 force, on the other hand, is fixed, and it is from this 
 force that the rhythms of Italian poetry are derived. 
 
 (2) English is a "composite" language. The 
 stock is mainly Anglo-Saxon, but there has been a 
 large admixture of other elements. The names of 
 many places and of some common objects are Celtic. 
 It also has taken a fair number of words from Danish 
 before the Norman Conquest. A few Latin words 
 have come into it straight from Rome, while a very 
 large number have come by way of Italy and 
 (especially) France. These are the chief sources 
 from which it draws its vocabulary. Its words 
 generally end either in a consonant or in a "surd," 
 sometimes in a "voice-glide." Its grammar is 
 simpler than that of any other European language in 
 that it has, wherever possible, dropped all gram- 
 matical differences in the structure of its words and 
 adopted a simple and " generalized " system in which 
 the relationships between words are to be recognized 
 only by their position in a sentence. The big Italian 
 
 1 An exactly similar process has taken place in modern (Romaic) 
 Greek.
 
 198 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 vowel-sounds occur less frequently in English, but they 
 occur principally in words that express strong ideas, and 
 which therefore demand a large utterance. But, 
 besides these " big vowels," the language possesses 
 a subtly graded system of vowel combinations 
 quite different from those of any Romance language. 
 The total number of these vowel-sounds (pure and 
 impure) is 61, of which 9 are used only in foreign, 
 semi-foreign, and Early English words. Besides 
 these 61 sounds there are the " voice-glide," as used 
 in the words " able " and " eaten," and 1 doubtful 
 diphthongs. 1 Its consonants are 23 in number, of 
 which 7 are used only in foreign, semi-foreign, and 
 Early English words. In the structure of its words 
 it differs widely from Italian ; for, not only is almost 
 every consonantal combination possible, but as 
 these consonants occur not only in the middle, but 
 at each end of its words these beginnings and 
 endings are liable to be brought unpleasantly close 
 together in a sentence. 2 The tendency, in common 
 speech, is to rub out these awkward combinations, 
 but, if this is done in song, the words become 
 unintelligible. The process ol "rubbing-out" the 
 difficult consonants has not gone so far in England 
 as in Italy. The Englishman may have ceased to 
 pronounce the " gh " in "thought" as he did in 
 
 J (i) The imperfect diphthong heard in the word ''fate," and 
 (2) the " non-recognued vowel-element " which is developed 
 before the two forms of " R." These two forms of "R" are 
 the sounds heard in u heR " and "Ran" respectively, and the 
 " vowel-element " which is developed before them may be heard 
 in such words as " pier,'' "pare," "pore," "poor,'' and "weary." 
 (These details are taken from the Preface to Murray's Dictionary.) 
 
 2 As an example the reader may say the two words "most 
 strange," not as they are generally pronounced " mo' strange," but 
 distinctly, thus, " mo-//x/ , /-ange."
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 199 
 
 Shakespeare's day, but he is still able to say " emp/oy " 
 where the Italian substitutes " imp/egare." Speak- 
 ing generally we may say that there is a strong 
 tendency in English to obscure all the weak syllables 
 and to group all the elements of a sentence according 
 to what I may call the " Drama " of the sentence, 
 that is to say, round its central idea, which thus 
 acquires an intensity expressed to the ear by the 
 " length," "pitch," and " force" of a syllable or a 
 group of syllables. To this point, which is of the 
 greatest importance in the question of declamation, I 
 shall allude later. 
 
 Let us now see what the objects of the singing- 
 master should be and what they actually are. His 
 main object should be, as I have said, the elaboration 
 of an English singing technique founded on the 
 study of the English language as it exists at the 
 present day. This needs no demonstration or proof 
 beyond the fact that the object of the pupil's study is 
 that he should be able to sing intelligibly in English 
 to English people. The technique must give his 
 pupils the power of producing, in all musical circum- 
 stances, vocal tone accurately coloured with the 
 existing vowel-sounds of the English language. It 
 must, furthermore, give him the power of so pro- 
 nouncing the consonants that these sounds become 
 intelligible to the audience as words. 
 
 Now, the singing-master usually approaches his 
 task from a precisely opposite standpoint. His 
 object is solely the production of sensuous beauty, 
 and this he achieves at the (heavy) expense of 
 dramatic truth. 1 He degrades the voice from what 
 
 '"Thus characterization, dramatic effect, variety of tonal and 
 emotional colouring arc all bartered away for sensuous beauty of 
 tone" (H. T. Finck, Wagner and his Works).
 
 200 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 should be its distinguishing position of superiority 
 to the level of any other instrument, such as the 
 clarinet or violin. All the inherent force and the 
 gathered vitality which have come to the language in 
 its Ion"; centuries of evolution are ignored, and the 
 " Word " which has been happily christened " The 
 Sword of Man's Spirit" becomes as unrecognizable 
 as a lump of clay. In order to attain this lamentable 
 ideal the singing-master first of all " blacklists " the 
 endless vowel-combinations of the language as unfor- 
 tunate lapses, on the part of the English people, from 
 the way of truth and virtue, lapses to which he 
 considers it polite to quietly close his eves. His 
 method is to bastardize his own speech by the 
 substitution (for these vowel-combinations) either of 
 the Italian vowel-system pure and simple, or of a 
 ridiculous foggy vowel-system that exists nowhere on 
 earth outside the singing-studios of the West-End. 
 In fact, he exercises his pupils, either half-heartedly 
 or whole-heartedly, as if they were going to sing 
 Italian, not English, and his invariable method is to 
 train them on a very few, sometimes on only one, of 
 the big Italian vowel-sounds. 
 
 Naturally pupils who have received this sort of 
 training are quite incapable of singing in their own 
 tongue. Indeed, they are not capable of doing 
 anything much except singing slow Ci vocalises " on 
 some such syllable as "a." Very few of them can 
 be made to undertake the serious analytical study of 
 sound without which they cannot possibly give the 
 correct colour and meaning to their words. Thev 
 do not see that, it our language is poorer than 
 Italian in the big vowel-sounds, it is therefore the 
 more necessary that they should study its intricacies 
 and obscurities. The substitution of incorrect for
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 201 
 
 correct vowel-sound has been part of their curriculum, 
 and this has the natural effect on their minds that 
 they come to regard the production of beautiful tone 
 as a thing quite opposed to accuracy of articulation 
 and pronunciation ; and the worst of it is that, 
 when one does draw their attention to the fact that 
 the English word " hand," for instance, is not pro- 
 nounced " hahnd " any more than it is pronounced 
 " hoond " or " hind " or " heend," they are quite 
 satisfied to fortify themselves behind the magisterial 
 answer that they regard " hahnd " as a better and 
 more singable word than " hand." l 
 
 In a word, the singing-master, having made the 
 false postulate that the sole object of his art is the 
 production of the most pleasing sounds, is compelled 
 to justify it in practice; and this he does with a per- 
 versity which is as painstaking as it is ingenious. 
 
 The consequence is that, when his pupils begin to 
 appear in public, they too are often quite unconscious 
 of the fact that their art exists, not for the production 
 of detached emotional sounds, but for the purpose 
 of heightening the effect of the words. Many of 
 them exhibit what are called " beautiful voices," that 
 is to say, " beautiful " in exactly the sense in which we 
 say the call of the Australian " mynah-bird " is 
 beautiful. They stand up at concerts and utter 
 limpid sounds, all of one colour, in any and every 
 part of their compass. Meanwhile the audience sits 
 down and endeavours (by poring over concert-books) 
 
 1 Ducrow, the equestrian performer (we are told), used to make 
 a highly effective entrance into the ring at Astley's, where in reply 
 to the question, " And who art thou : " he was accustomed to 
 growl, in sepulchral tones " Thahnahnamy. " Entrances of this 
 sort into "The Ring" have not been unknown even in our own 
 day.
 
 202 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 to ascertain what they are talking about. By the 
 time the song is ended all opportunity for pleasure 
 is gone, and the audience now that it has mastered 
 the translation, and put itself on equal terms, so to 
 speak, with the singer asserts its British love of fair- 
 play by demanding an encore, an unhappy experi- 
 ment which is bound to fall flat, as this time it has 
 no intellectual employment to fall back on during 
 the warbling. 
 
 In the theatre it is not possible to encore a 
 declamatory phrase so that one may hear what it 
 sounds like when one knows its meaning, and it is 
 an everyday occurrence for a prima donna to " hang 
 on by the eye-lids " to some indeterminate vowel 
 sound while the audience listens with a sort of 
 agonized suspense in the hope that it may obtain 
 some clue to her meaning from the final consonant. 
 If it comes the audience is, of course, at liberty to 
 associate it with any one of 50 possible vowel-sounds, 
 and it therefore opens up a wide field for instan- 
 taneous speculation. But more probably it does not 
 come, for the singing-master, besides tampering with 
 the vowels, is always advising his pupils to weaken 
 and destroy such letters as " R," " G," " GH," and 
 "S" to eliminate, in short, what are called the 
 <l buzzings and hissings." These he regards, not as 
 a means of intelligibility, but as the natural enemies 
 of the correct voice-producer. 
 
 "The Singer must be very careful to shorten the 
 S as much as possible." 
 
 " It must indeed be heard, but it must be very 
 unobtrusive." 1 
 
 1 Pronunciation f or Singers (Ellis).
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 203 
 
 But what docs this mean ? The simple point is 
 that the consonant must be so heard that it conveys 
 its sense to the audience : and if it is to be 
 so heard, it must be pronounced distinctly ; and this, 
 in a large theatre, involves its strengthening, not 
 its weakening. To the singer the consonants may 
 appear to be over-obtrusive, but he must, like the 
 instrumentalist, the preacher, and the public speaker, 
 adjust his method to his surroundings. Even such 
 advice as that 
 
 " The Singer's business is to make the most of the 
 musical characters of his vowels and cut the 
 buzzes and hisses down to the shortest intelli- 
 gible duration " l 
 
 can only be called good if we emphasize the word 
 " intelligible," for it is precisely in the (unvocal) con- 
 sonantal separations, including the " buzzes and 
 hisses," that the intelligibility of the words resides. 
 The reader has only to remove the consonants and 
 the vowels in turn from a line and then attempt to 
 read both versions either with the ear or with the 
 eye ; there can be no doubt as to which group of 
 letters he will rely on for the meaning of the sen- 
 tence. As an example : 
 
 " -0-0--0- -o --c-- -00 a-- -a--u-e- -e-." 
 
 "T-m-rr-w t- fr-sh w ds -nd p-st-r-s n-w." 
 
 It must not be supposed that I have laid stress on 
 this point the necessity of accurate vowel-colour 
 and consonantal distinction as a mere unattainable 
 "counsel of perfection." It is attainable by intelli- 
 gent practice, provided the singer devotes that 
 practice to the English language and accepts it for 
 
 1 Ibid.
 
 2o 4 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 what it is, not what it might be. Indeed, it is not 
 only attainable but attained by some few singers. 
 These are mostly men, though it is a curious fact 
 that the onlv English artist who, in my experience, 
 is completely intelligible from all parts of the theatre 
 is a ladv. We must remember, too, in favour ot 
 our singing-masters and our vocalists, that they 
 have been terribly handicapped in the past by the 
 slovenliness of our composers, and that a great part 
 of their method is really directed towards overcoming 
 difficulties which they should never be asked to over- 
 come. One continually meets with complaints that 
 singers must be prepared to sing long, heavy syllables 
 to short notes, and short, light syllables to long 
 notes. 1 It is, of course, monstrous that singing- 
 masters should be set the task ot inventing a method 
 to cope with these perversions ot language, but it is 
 unfortunately true that they are compelled to do this 
 by the ignorance of English composers. It would 
 be easy to rill a hundred pages ot print with evi- 
 dences of this ignorance, and, even among the most 
 brilliant of our younger musicians, their insensibility 
 to the rhythm of the language seems to be so marked 
 as to be almost a conscious affectation. 
 
 For this there is no excuse. The English com- 
 poser has a language which, both in the variety ot 
 its vowel-sounds and in the dramatic groupings of 
 its rhythms is a far more tractable instrument ot 
 musical thought than either French or Italian, in- 
 
 o 
 
 1 For instance, in Ellis's Speech and Song. The author of this work 
 says very justly (in his Pronunciation 'or Singers) : "It is a great 
 misfortune that both authors and composers in general treat and 
 have apparently always treated language as a vehicle ot music with 
 such little regard to it- natural laws, as to lay themselves open to 
 the imputation of ignorance."
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 205 
 
 deed, in both these points the English language may 
 be said to be "ready-made" for declamatory and 
 melodic treatment. 
 
 In the first place, it has a much wider range of 
 vowel-colour than either of the two languages which 
 I have named. Its vowel-combinations are more 
 varied, more subtle, more delicate, and every one of 
 these subtleties is (or should be) an instrument of 
 greater intelligibility in the hands of the musician. 
 If he needs vocal beauty or emphasis he has plenty 
 of broad, weighty words, both Anglo-Saxon and 
 Romance. Many of these never figure in opera- 
 books at all, partly from a mistaken idea that poetry 
 is opposed to naturalness, and partly because, in the 
 past, English melodic forms have tamely followed 
 the curves of music-phrases which had beemspecially 
 designed to amplify the word-phrases of foreign 
 languages. Outside this class of word he has a 
 delicious and practically endless series, whose charac- 
 teristic is the nimbleness which comes from the 
 alternation of a light vowel with an easily spoken 
 consonant. The language is largely made up of 
 such words, and the consequent rapidity of utterance 
 which foreigners regard as a striking feature of our 
 spoken tongue should also be an essential part of 
 our musical declamation. 
 
 I need scarcely mention how much the composite 
 nature of our tongue widens the composer's field of 
 choice as between vowel and vowel. The word 
 " big " may occur to him, and immediately such 
 other words as "great," "grand," "large," "gross," 
 "huge" each with a different vowel-colour and a 
 subtle difference of meaning spring into his mind. 
 He may even find synonyms (such as "return " for 
 " come back " or " go back ") where the difference of
 
 2o6 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 meaning is almost imperceptible ; and in that case 
 his choice is to be made solely by ear and by the 
 requirements ot his vocal phrase. 
 
 But that is not all; for, when he has selected the 
 most appropriate word for his use, he will find that, 
 in general, its long vowels are longer and its short 
 vowels are shorter than the similar vowels in such 
 a language as Italian. Consequently, when these 
 vowels undergo further artificial lengthening or 
 shortening in music, the resultant word-and-music 
 phrase comes with a greater ease and natural- 
 ness than is possible in any other language. Every 
 sung-phrase thus treated by the composer has on its 
 face the hall-mark which characterizes it as a higher 
 development of a spoken-phrase. Again, the accentua- 
 tion of individual words in English is fixed and rigid, 
 and this accentuation is, of course, the common 
 property of an English audience. An English com- 
 poser, therefore, it he wishes to be understood, has 
 merely to transfer his own speech into musical nota- 
 tion. In some other languages both the composer 
 and his audience are faced by fundamental difficulties 
 on this point. In French especially there is no 
 system at all of syllabic force or stress. The accent 
 is purely an artificial creation on the part of the com- 
 poser. A French dissyllable which an Englishman 
 would probably pronounce as a strong vowel followed 
 by a weak may be set by a French composer to a 
 " down-beat " followed by an " up," while in the 
 very next musical phrase he may (and often does) 
 set the same word in a precisely opposite manner. 
 From this arise : (first) great difference of opinion 
 and practice on the part of various composers ; 
 (second) an unnatural type of vocal phrase ; and 
 (third) a degree of consonantal distinction and of
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 207 
 
 vowel accuracy on the part of the singer without 
 which he could not possibly be understood even by 
 his own countrymen. 
 
 For dramatic expression, however, the chief 
 advantage of the English language does not lie 
 in its fixed system of accents or in its variety of 
 vowel- and consonant-combinations, but in the 
 rhythm of its sentences. The reader must re- 
 member that the division of language into syllables 
 and words is only an artificial and comparatively 
 modern invention. In actual speech these words 
 exist vitally to our intelligence as Groups, and these 
 word-groups are arranged round some central syllable 
 or syllables, which are to the complete sentence what 
 the " high-light " is to a picture, Furthermore, the 
 method by which this " high-light " is obtained is the 
 same in speech and in song by a difference of either 
 (1) "length," (2) " pitch," (3) " force," or by a com- 
 bination of two or more of these differences. Now, 
 it is just in this very fact, the existence of word- 
 groupings round a central idea, that our language 
 shows a natural superiority to any other for dramatic 
 purposes ; for it has a much stronger tendency than 
 any other to force these central syllables into promi- 
 nence, and to obscure the (less-important) surround- 
 ing syllables. 1 This feature, which often procures it a 
 bad name on the Continent as a " hammering " 
 language, is really an attempt to omit everything but 
 the "drama" of the sentence, and so to force it 
 
 1 This difference strikes one very plainly if one listens, a few 
 yards off, to the conversation of a group of road labourers, say in 
 Italy and England. In the former case the talk, however hot and 
 excited it may be, always sounds to English ears like "prattle," 
 while in the latter case a quiet conversation that is really totally 
 devoid of emotion has a sort of dramatic earnestness, even solemnity 
 if one is far enough away not to catch the sense of the words.
 
 208 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 more vividly on the hearer's attention. 1 It is, in fact, 
 an endeavour to heighten the effect of speech by 
 going outside its natural limits ; in other words, to 
 approximate speech to song. But this " heightening 
 of effect" is, as I have pointed out, achieved by 
 exactly the same means in both cases. The only dis- 
 tinction is that, in the case of speech, the possible 
 limit of these differences is small, while in the case of 
 song it is large. 
 
 Herein lies what should be the great strength of 
 the English composer; for, if he will only discard 
 the artificialities and inanities which he has too often 
 regarded as " suitable for music," and choose instead 
 English that is simple, nervous, and racy: and if he 
 will then give his musical-phrase the same outline as 
 his word-phrase, he will find his audience meeting 
 him, as it were, half-way, and understanding his com- 
 bined word-and-music phrase almost before it is 
 uttered. The singer then only needs to pronounce 
 the words correctly and his utterance becomes "song" 
 in its true sense "a higher development of speak- 
 ing."" This method of expression, in which we have 
 a completely natural spoken-phrase joined to and 
 governing a completely natural musical-phrase, is 
 
 1 Of course the "high-lights" of speech are made to differ, even 
 in the same sentence, according to the precise shade of meaning 
 which the speaker wishes to convey, and the subtle differences of 
 grouping which accompany and illustrate the corresponding differ- 
 ences of idea arc continually being added to and varied. It is 
 striking to note both the rapidity with which these variations and 
 additions are, when useful, incorporated into the language and the 
 unanimity of method which is employed in forcing the " high- 
 light " into prominence and throwing the unimportant syllables 
 out of focus. 
 
 - Voice, Song, and Speech, by I, en mix Browne and Emil 
 Behnke.
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 209 
 
 the true "song-speech" of which Richard Wagner 
 was the supreme master. The detail of his practice, 
 whether on the musical or the verbal side, is by no 
 means applicable to our circumstances ; but from the 
 broad technical reformation, by which he placed 
 speech first in drama, we have everything to learn. 
 
 In order to apply his lessons the English composer 
 needs to studv the English language with the same 
 care as that which Wagner gave to the study of the 
 German language. He must recognize that, in 
 English, as in all other languages, every word is not 
 fitted for musical treatment. In France, Germany, 
 and Italy there is a complete consciousness of this 
 necessary specialization. The English composer must 
 therefore adopt the same methods of close analysis if 
 he is to make as happy a selection of words. It is 
 not sufficient for him to "set" the first jumble of 
 words that comes into his head, or into the head of 
 the author who is supplying him with a text; and 
 there is the less necessity for him to do so because 
 his language almost always gives him the enviable 
 choice of alternative phrases and the advantage of 
 varving and complex rhythms, whose idea-associations 
 are stereotyped, and therefore easily intelligible to his 
 audience. 
 
 But this close attention to the refinements of lan- 
 guage is only one portion of his art. He must also 
 recognize that the two things the word-phrase and 
 the music-phrase should be for his audience only 
 one thing, and therefore he must exercise the same 
 patience and care in the adjustment of the music to 
 the speech. The result can and must be both vivid 
 and beautiful, appealing with equal sincerity to the 
 minds and the hearts of his hearers. This goal can 
 be achieved only by the abandonment of foreign 
 
 o
 
 210 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 standards and by the evolution of a new song-speech 
 modelled to the requirements of our own language. 
 When that is done, all the mere singing-master's 
 difficulties, based as they are either on an attempt 
 to "improve" the singing qualities of the English 
 language, or to "fake" the careless craftsmanship of 
 the English composer, will vanish, and we shall have 
 the possibility of an art in England divided from 
 that of France or Germany by the same gulf that 
 divides Corneille and Schiller from Shakespeare. 
 
 The English composer need not imagine that he 
 will find an obstacle in the stubbornness of his native 
 tongue. He has. indeed, inherited a language more 
 potent than any in the modern world : so infinite in 
 its variety that it creeps, like molten gold, into every 
 fold and crevice of thought. In its history it is like 
 a river whose many head-waters flow through many 
 countries till they join the main-stream. There each 
 one blends with the others, but blends so as to give 
 the river some new thread of colour, which, on its 
 way to the sea, keeps within itself a remembrance of 
 the soil over which it has passed. 
 
 Note. The reader may perhaps care to see a couple of extracts 
 from a quaint old defence of the English language. They were 
 printed in 164.4. and reprinted (in the Harkian Miscellany, vol. ii. 
 page 3}, London, 1744) un der the title " Vindex Anglicus, or The 
 perfection of the English language defended and asserted." The 
 author, after pointing out the facility with which the language is 
 learnt by foreigner.-, the copiousness of i ts vocabulary as compared 
 with that of Latin or French, its variety, and the great opportunity 
 which it oilers for saying things either plainly, or by metaphor, or 
 by implied metaphor, proceeds, "The Italian is so full of Vowels 
 that he is cumbered with Elisions; the Dutch with Consonants, 
 that his Verse is sick of the Sciatica ; the French cannot afford you 
 four Words whose Accents are in the Antcpcnultitna, and therefore 
 unfit for Dactyls, which the Accent and the Metre do naturally 
 square with us, that in both we deservedly bear the Prize from all
 
 vii ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN OPERA 211 
 
 the rest. The Spanish and the Italian want our Cesura in the midst 
 of the Verses ; the Italian cannot afford you a masculine Rhyme : nor 
 the French make Metre of the Antepenultima, and yet there is not 
 any of the three Syllables, whereunto our Ability extendeth not." 
 Later on he speaks of Italian as " an excellent, princely, and 
 pleasant Language upon which the best Judgments look with 
 great Respect; yet it wants Sinews and passes as a silent Water. 
 The French arc truly delicate, but too affected and effeminate. 
 The Spanish majestical, but terrible and boisterous. The Dutch 
 manly, but very harsh. Now we, in borrowing from each of them, 
 give the Strength of Consonants to the Italian, the full sound of 
 Syllables to the French, the Variety of Termination with milder 
 Accents to the Spaniard, and dissolve with more facility the Dutch 
 Vowels; like Bees, gathering their Perfections, leave their Dross to 
 themselves ; So when Substance combineth with Delight, Plenty 
 with Delicacy, Beauty with Majesty, and Expedition with Gravity 
 what can want to the Perfection of such a Language ? . . . The 
 Mixture of our Extractions from others, joined with our own 
 Monosyllables, make up such a perfect Harmony, that so you may 
 frame your speech majestical, pleasant, delicate, or manly according 
 to your Subject, and exactly represent, in ours, whatsoever graces 
 any other Language carrieth."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 OPERATIC TRANSLATION 
 
 In the beginning of the last chapter I pointed out 
 that many persons, when discussing the topic of 
 " English " in the opera-house, are apt to confuse 
 two widely different questions : (i) Is it possible to 
 evolve a system of dramatic song-speech in English ? 
 and (2) Is it advisable to translate foreign works for 
 use before an English audience? 
 
 The latter question, to which the ordinary layman 
 would probably answer "yes" offhand, is still matter 
 of controversy among those few educated people who 
 take any interest in the subject. 
 
 Whichever view we may take, we shall, I think, be 
 forced to grant that translation is only a makeshift. 
 It is, however, a makeshift which has been adopted 
 on the Continent in every country which possesses a 
 national Opera ; and this adoption has been brought 
 about by the cultured recognition of one fact that 
 art cannot exist and develop healthily unless it is both 
 "accessible and intelligible" 1 to the people. Here 
 this fact is still, as far as Opera is concerned, almost 
 unrecognized. 
 
 The history of Opera in this country has, for many 
 vears past, been merely the history of a foreign culture 
 
 1 Leo Tolstoi.
 
 chap, viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 213 
 
 imported for the enjoyment of a leisured, wealthy, 
 and artistically sterile class. It is, or course, impos- 
 sible to say how far this class actually understands its 
 season of "Grand" Opera. As a nation we are, I 
 suppose, the worst linguists in the world, 1 but 
 among the frequenters of Covent Garden there are a 
 certain number of foreign cosmopolitans to whom 
 differences of language are of no account. These 
 people, who are " great supporters " of any art (except 
 that of the country in which they are kind enough to 
 live), probably understand the singers,and look on their 
 spent guineas partly as a " little flutter " in personal 
 enjoyment, and partly as "an expensive and not 
 unprofitable way of demonstrating financial pros- 
 perity." 2 
 
 But, though we have only to pay a visit to Covent 
 Garden in " the season " to see that these people 
 form a considerable part of the audience, they are 
 not, I think, in the majority there. The greater part 
 of the house is filled by what I may call " English 
 specialists in foreign art." This class generally shows 
 a genuine enthusiasm for foreign music and foreign 
 artists, and, either by repeated visits to the theatre, 
 or by the study of newspaper critiques and vocal 
 scores, acquires a rough idea of the opera plots. 
 
 But modern Opera is not to be understood by any 
 such means as this. As I have already shown, it 
 is built up as an intimate alliance between word- and 
 
 1 Perhaps easily explained by the violently exteriorizing tendencies 
 of the English upper classes. This makes them the greatest 
 travellers in the world, but also causes them to look, as it were, 
 over and beyond Europe, of which Continent they merely select 
 and Anglicize two or three congenial spots as playgrounds. 
 
 -J. A. Euller-Maitland in his introduction to The Opera, by 
 R. A. Streatfield.
 
 2i 4 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 music-phrases intensified emotionally by the orchestra. 
 Every declamatory and nearly every melodic phrase 
 plays an integral part in the building-up of the 
 complete fabric, and, it the audience is unable to 
 apprehend the form at the moment of hearing, the 
 whole thing becomes either unintelligible or at most 
 a thing of the study and not of the theatre. If, 
 therefore, we are to expect an English audience to 
 reallv understand an opera as its (French, German, 
 or Italian) composer intended it to be understood, 
 we must presume on its part a fairly comprehensive 
 and accurate acquaintance with these three languages. 
 On this point it is not possible to give more than 
 a personal opinion, but I do not think that I shall be 
 misjudging a Covent Garden audience if I suggest 
 that its knowledge of Italian is not brought to the 
 theatre as an accomplishment necessary to the under- 
 standing of the opera, but carried away from it as 
 a result of the " damnable iteration " of operatic 
 commonplaces. Here and there, it is true, we may 
 find an Englishman with enough Italian to get him 
 through the (execrable) customs-house at Venti- 
 miglia, but as a rule his Italian words have been 
 picked up between the turnips and the tube station 
 at Covent Garden, and they could be written, without 
 crowding, on the back ot an international postage 
 coupon. Of French, and especially of Boulogne 
 pier French, there is of course a greater knowledge 
 but even here the French that enables one to call a 
 taxi at the Gare St. Lazare is not exactly sufficient for 
 the comprehension of " Louise" or "Le Chemineau." 
 Even smaller is the general knowledge of German, 
 though we must remember that a great many of our 
 musicians, and especially ot our elder musicians, are, 
 owing to their education, fluent speakers. On the
 
 vni OPERATIC TRANSLATION 215 
 
 whole I think we may safely say that, however much 
 the Englishman and the Englishwoman may enjoy 
 the orchestral and vocal sounds in the opera-house, 
 they do not understand the opera itself. 1 
 
 It might, therefore, be thought that the very 
 simple and logical necessity of understanding the 
 opera would lead to an immediate demand, not 
 only for adequate translations, but for their use in 
 the theatre. This is, however, far from being the 
 case. Many objections to this course are advanced, 
 but, though we must concede their weight, it is 
 possible on the whole to doubt their validity in 
 face of the overwhelming necessity for " operatic 
 intelligibility." 
 
 In summing up these objections we must, of 
 course, put out of our minds all the merely material 
 objections the vested interests ot unpatriotic finan- 
 ciers and aristocrats, the mutual support which foreign 
 artists afford each other, their common anxiety to see 
 the colour of English gold, and their iron deter- 
 mination to keep brother John and cousin Jonathan 
 
 1 I have often made pointed, and sometimes uncomfortable, 
 enquire after foreign operatic performances in order to ascertain 
 exactly how much or how little has been understood. The result 
 has always been the same. With the exception of the few people 
 who have actually lived abroad for a considerable time, practically 
 nobody understands a single phrase of the song-speech as it is 
 meant to be understood. During the entr'actes at a first-night 
 the audience tries, in a series of whispered discussions, to come to 
 some conclusion on points that would appear to be as integral to 
 the understanding of the opera as are the relationships between 
 the Montagues and the Capulets to the understanding of" Romeo 
 and Juliet." In the stalls at Covcnt Garden I once heard two 
 bejewelled ladies discussing the first act of " Rigoletto," which 
 they had just heard, under the impression that it was " Carmen." 
 It was evidently their first visit to this particular opera, and the 
 bill had been changed.
 
 2i 6 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 outside the doors except on the contract terms that 
 they accept foreign standards, foreign ideals, foreign 
 languages, and foreign art. These are of no account, 
 because if the public wished to understand Opera 
 (and therefore determined to hear it in English) 
 such material obstacles would vanish, and the public 
 would get what it wanted. The fact, however, 
 remains that the public does not so wish. 
 
 We must, therefore, before dealing with the matter 
 on general lines, try to adjust our viewpoint to that 
 of the average Opera-goer. We must endeavour to 
 see the question, not with the eyes of the composer 
 or the critic, but with the eyes of the man who has 
 been long accustomed to hearing and enjoying Opera 
 in a foreign tongue. 
 
 I need not discuss again the type of opera-goer to 
 whom 1 have alluded in a previous chapter the man 
 who is always fatally conscious that Opera is a mixed 
 form of art, who therefore demands it in any foreign 
 language which he can not understand, and who 
 would probably prefer it in the concert room with 
 the dramatic parts neatly vocalized on the open 
 Italian " a." Fanatics of this type are fortunately 
 rare, but akin to them is a second and very large 
 class of opera-goers whose opposition to the use of 
 the English language is no less determined. These 
 are the people who, after repeated visits to the opera- 
 house under the deplorable conditions which have 
 now existed in London for so many years, at last 
 arrive at a hard-bitten and ludicrously muddled state 
 of mind, made up, in equal parts, of enthusiasm for 
 the music and complete ignorance of the intellectual 
 ideas which the music is endeavouring to illustrate. 
 
 To such people an accidental visit to one of their 
 favourite operas when sung in English comes as a
 
 vni OPERATIC TRANSLATION 217 
 
 shocking disillusionment. They have already created 
 for themselves a fictitious Opera of a sentiment exalted 
 beyond the reach of human understanding, when 
 they are suddenly faced by some such horrible fact 
 as that a few delicious soprano notes which they 
 have always associated with the infinite and the 
 eternal are nothing more than a request for a hair- 
 comb. 1 They find, to their chagrin, that familiar 
 emotional music-phrases were actually written for the 
 purpose of intensifying emotional ideas ; they also 
 find, to their greater chagrin, that very often, in bad 
 operas, highly emotional music-phrases are attached 
 to quite z^emotional ideas. 
 
 It must be allowed that, if one has been beguiled 
 into shedding tears by the statement of some trivial 
 or banal circumstance of everyday life, one needs 
 some bold stroke by which to regain one's self- 
 respect ; and the bold stroke (in their case) generally 
 takes the form of a curse on their own language. 
 Such people as these are, at present, the very worst 
 enemies of both " Opera in English " and " English 
 Opera." Thev combine with a low degree of general 
 education, first, a strong musical receptivity which 
 they have acquired from the continual contemplation 
 of foreign, that is to say at anyrate partially unnatural, 
 art-works, and second, an innate idealism which is 
 impervious to any argumentative challenge. It is 
 difficult to see how this very large class of emotional 
 purists can be moved from their obstructive opposition. 
 They cannot be educated out of it, for the simple 
 reason that they will not go to school. Even if they 
 can be cajoled as far as the playground it is useless to 
 attempt their education by means of translated works 
 
 1 Last act of Verdi's " Otello." Many other instances might 
 be cited.
 
 2i 8 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 with whose music they are already familiar, for the 
 difficulties of translation are great, and the result, 
 especially to the hard-shell idealist, unsatisfactory. 1 
 
 Nor must we overlook the fact that, though from 
 their experience they make an absolutely false deduc- 
 tion namely, the unsuitability of English for Opera 
 yet they are influenced in making this deduction 
 by an idealism and a hatred of operatic incongruity 
 which is, both historically and as a matter of present- 
 day fact, an integral part of the English character. 
 Their unconscious endeavour is to recognize Opera 
 as a purely musical statement of emotion. This, of 
 course, it has never been, and is not at present. 
 There is, however, something to be said on both 
 sides from our national standpoint, and we need not 
 jump to the hasty conclusion that this idealistic 
 attitude, by its very nature, forbids any true appre- 
 ciation of Opera as an art- form. Nor can we ignore 
 the existence of this mental attitude except at our 
 peril. 
 
 We should rather adopt the view that the English- 
 man's dissatisfaction with his own speech as a medium 
 for music-drama is only a rational dissatisfaction with 
 an art-form developed solely in harmony with foreign 
 ideals. The revolt in his mind against this specially 
 
 1 I should mention that these objections to the use of English in 
 Opera arc merely objections which I have actually heard raised by 
 opera-goers a very minute fraction of the community. On one 
 or two occasions 1 have been able to observe the different effect of 
 two operatic performances one in Italian, the other in English 
 on an unbiassed person quite unacquainted with the conventions 
 of the lyric stage. In every such case the Italian performance, 
 despite its vocal and instrumental glories, merely puzzled the 
 listener, while the English performance, handicapped by a poverty- 
 stricken mise-en-sccne and a ragged orchestra, aroused the same 
 listener to enthusiasm.
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 219 
 
 developed form begins as soon as he has the oppor- 
 tunity of really understanding its contents by means 
 of a performance in his own language. And this is 
 a most hopeful sign, because it indicates on his part 
 an acute consciousness of an artistic difference between 
 himself and the foreigner. We must hope for the 
 day when English composers will have the means of 
 developing a school of National Opera free from 
 references to those material and external things which 
 so much disturb the English mind. 
 
 When these banalities have been cut down to their 
 smallest dimensions we shall have a simple type of 
 Opera conditioned only by some few, easily under- 
 stood physical and psychological relationships. In 
 no other way will the public consent to meet the 
 composer half-way, and to acquire that gradual 
 familiarity which alone can teach them the inherent 
 beauties of emotional music joined to emotional 
 English speech. 
 
 From this point of view the translator, labouring 
 under difficult and unsatisfactory conditions, is rather 
 a hindrance than a help. In the past his work has 
 often been so bad that many opera-goers, whose 
 discernment naturally guided them in the direc- 
 tion of " Opera in English," have been forced, 
 after a few melancholy experiences of its slip- 
 shod methods, to sacrifice their patriotism and 
 intelligence in order to avoid such an infliction in 
 the future. 
 
 In recent years, it is true, more than one notably 
 fine operatic translation has appeared. 1 It is, however, 
 
 1 Ot which Mr. Jameson's monumental translation of " The 
 Ring," Mr. Wallace's vivacious rendering ot Berlioz's "Faust," and 
 the workmanlike version of "Tristan and Isolde" by H. and F. 
 Corder are only a few examples. Mr. Claude Aveling has made
 
 220 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 obvious that, the more highly developed the foreign 
 song-speech from which the translation has to be 
 made, the greater will be the specialization of its 
 words, and the closer their union with the music. 
 It therefore follows that the greater the care and 
 refinement of the original idiom (whether musical or 
 verbal) the greater will be the difficulty of translating 
 one half of it (the verbal), and, at the same time, 
 leaving the other half (the musical) unaltered. A 
 set of verses on a common topic written and set to a 
 simple rhythm naturally offers no great difficulty to 
 the translator, but if the topic and its expression in 
 words and music are developed and specialized in 
 harmony with some particular national ideal, the 
 translator is at once faced by all the differences of 
 national outlook and of linguistic and musical method. 
 These differences also continually tend to become 
 wider as art develops, and therefore his task of finding 
 a " least-common-denominator " becomes increasingly 
 difficult and sometimes impossible. Indeed, this is 
 so true that one may almost say that the better the 
 original song-speech the worse the translation must 
 be. 
 
 Now, it is just on this point that those cultured 
 people who object to translations are most emphatic. 
 For they have no difficulty in proving that, even in 
 the best translations, a satisfactory transference of the 
 complete thought from one medium to another is 
 impossible. It should, thev say, not be attempted. 
 It is not denied that a capable operatic translator can 
 partially reproduce his original, but it is contended 
 that, since modern Opera is founded on a close 
 
 sonic excellent translations (such as those of " Tcss " and " Ger- 
 mania") into rhythmic prose, hut these are, of course, not for use 
 
 on the stage.
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 221 
 
 alliance of word- and music-phrases, and since this 
 alliance is itself derived from national temperament 
 and language, therefore (when a reproduction is 
 attempted under widely different conditions of 
 temperament and language, but under identical 
 musical conditions) the result is something wholly 
 different from and inferior to the original. The 
 argument, as one sees, is derived from the nature of 
 Opera itself. But this is no reason for ignoring the 
 fact that the translation of foreign works and their 
 performance in English is solely a matter of expedi- 
 ency. Let us grant that all translation is a makeshift. 
 The question remains, Is it better that foreign Opera 
 should be made " accessible and intelligible " to the 
 public at large or reserved for the enjoyment of the 
 very few who can either understand or pretend to 
 understand it ? 
 
 Before leaving this phase of the question I wish 
 to point out that it is everywhere assumed that the 
 more the English public is familiarized with the 
 sound of (translated) foreign Opera the more ready 
 it will be to support a school of genuine English 
 Opera when such a school begins to appear. This 
 statement goes unchallenged almost day by day in 
 the press, but it appears to me to be very far from 
 axiomatic. It seems to imply that the public is in a 
 condition both of impatience and ignorance, out of 
 which it can be educated by performances of trans- 
 lated foreign Opera. As a matter of fact, the public 
 throughout England is accustomed to hear carefully 
 chosen English well and distinctly sung in " Musical 
 Comedy," and it would not tolerate there the 
 iniquitous translations to which it has to submit in 
 " Grand Opera." The impatience of the public is 
 not with its own language, but with a travesty of
 
 222 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 its own language, and if translated Opera is ever to 
 become popular in this country, the average standard 
 of nineteenth century translation will have to be 
 materially altered. Again, the ignorance of foreign 
 Opera which is shown by the public is an ignorance 
 founded on self-knowledge, that is to say, on a 
 conscious dislike to certain aspects and incongruities 
 of foreign operatic forms. This is a sign, not of 
 despair, but of hope, and even our London operatic 
 impresarios (who are, I suppose, as detached as any 
 set of men can be from a knowledge of public 
 opinion) may one day awake to the fact that there 
 are some millions of people in London alone who 
 will pay all the year round to hear music of which 
 they approve, but who are not willing to sacrifice their 
 money and their sincerity for the doubtful privilege 
 of echoing the sentiments of the Frenchman, the 
 German, and the Italian. 
 
 Finally, I must ask the reader to take a broad- 
 minded view of the question as it affects the future, 
 and to realize how utterly impossible it is for 
 composers (and therefore for singers) to found any 
 English declamatory style on translations. It would 
 be as reasonable to expect the formation of a great 
 school of painting from the contemplation, not of 
 nature, but of line engravings " after the Italian 
 masters." 
 
 To the composer this question is of the greatest 
 moment, for he will have to convince the public that 
 " English Opera " (that is to say, Opera written and 
 sung in English) is the essential, while "Opera in 
 English " (that is to say, foreign Opera translated 
 into English) is only a makeshift. The recognition, 
 not of this distinction, but of the importance to art 
 of this distinction, is still imperfect, and we may be
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 223 
 
 pretty sure that, if ever the foreign opera-mongers 
 here become aware of a national movement in the 
 direction of National Opera, they will take care to 
 make the confusion worse confounded. 
 
 The singers are perhaps more immediately concerned 
 in this question than either the composers or the 
 public, for the more they are compelled to sing 
 translations the less likely they are to approach 
 their art from the proper standpoint. By their very 
 nature even the best translations must be, to some 
 extent, stunted and distorted in their vocabulary : 
 they must contain a certain number of unnatural 
 expressions and odd, awkward turns of thought. 
 The compulsions of rhyme, the necessity of making 
 the English follow a melodic curve or the ending of 
 a music sentence specially designed to amplify a 
 foreign word-phrase, the laxity of French and Italian 
 word-rhythms (which permits their junction with 
 almost any musical-rhythm), the extreme stringency 
 of the English word-rhythm (which calls aloud for one 
 particular form of musical expression) all these and 
 many other factors combine to increase the artificiality 
 of the translator's work. The singer, therefore, who 
 is condemned to along term of translated Opera will 
 be able to make his existence tolerable only by a 
 series of "fakes" and subterfuges ; and, even if he 
 is occasionally allowed to emerge from his fettered 
 state, he will probably find that his past experiences 
 preclude him from earning an (artistically) honest 
 living in the world outside. 
 
 From the above considerations the reader will see 
 that the question of accustoming the public to the 
 performance of translated foreign Opera is by no 
 means simple. Nor is it more possible on this 
 question than on that of national-subvention to
 
 224 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 draw conclusions applicable to England from the 
 history of France, Italy, or Germany. In these 
 countries there is a developed home product by 
 whose side the semi-useless foreign Opera is welcome 
 to exist for the same reason that we can afford to 
 maintain a quantity of scrap iron at the tail-end of 
 our navy list, because of the Dreadnoughts at the 
 other end. 
 
 If we look at it from the standpoint of the 
 English composer, whose one object is the establish- 
 ment of an English Operatic School I do not, of 
 course, mean from his merely personal or selfish 
 standpoint it is not desirable, because, unless the 
 translations are of the very highest standard, his own 
 case is likely to be prejudiced with the public. 
 
 Again, from the standpoint of the singer, his art 
 cannot be said to begin till it is founded on original 
 
 to to 
 
 English works : it is really impossible to adopt the 
 common view that translated opera, that is to say 
 " Opera in English," is a sort of bridge between 
 " Opera in a foreign language " and " English 
 Opera." 
 
 From the standpoint of the public there would be 
 an undoubted gain provided and it is a provision 
 very difficult of fulfilment that only such works 
 were presented to it as might be reasonably expected 
 not to clash with its strong operatic prejudices. 
 There would also be an undoubted risk that the 
 unavoidable failings of translation would change the 
 attitude of the public from its present apathy to one 
 of open hostility. 
 
 Before leaving this topic we may glance for a 
 moment at the purely linguistic as opposed to the 
 larger operatic difficulties of translation. 
 
 Every language, of course, differs in structure and
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 225 
 
 texture from every other language it may be in a 
 large, it may be in a small degree. These differences 
 are the product of race combinations and divisions 
 which are themselves caused and emphasized by a 
 variety of factors, economic, political, religious, and 
 dynastic. In addition to these factors there is the 
 continual pressure of geographical and climatic 
 condition. I need not burden the reader with any 
 details of the first-named factors. It is enough to 
 say that their influence is audible in practically every 
 language of modern Europe. The effect of climate 
 and of geographical position is, however, to be seen 
 in a verv simple comparison between our own country 
 and the United States of America. 
 
 In England (which has an area of 52,000 square 
 miles and a population of 31 millions) we have a 
 small country with a much indented coast-line and 
 a surface broken up by a multitude of rivers and 
 low hills. The whole country is, so to speak, in 
 small compartments. The climate is equable, but 
 misty. From these conditions two results follow. 
 In the first place, though England has enjoyed for 
 hundreds of years a civilization and a written litera- 
 ture, her people, even at the present day, preserve 
 such a diversity of dialect and delivery that a Cornish 
 miner or a Sussex ploughman, after half a day's 
 train-journey north, will find himself among people 
 (say in Durham or Shropshire) to whom his speech 
 is almost unintelligible. Again, the influence of 
 England's water-laden atmosphere is seen in a sort 
 of national "tiredness" of speech, "a muscular 
 effeminacy," as it is called. There is a strong 
 tendency to deprive the unimportant words of their 
 strict, logical, and, as it were, hereditary values in 
 order to express more vividly the larger poetic 
 
 p
 
 226 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 ideas. It is as if the English attempted, by their 
 word-groupings, to reproduce the events of an actual 
 drama as seen through a veil of mist. The central 
 idea is made to loom up into sudden, overwhelming 
 size, while the subsidiary ideas remain scarcely recog- 
 nizable figures of phantom and shadow. In unison 
 with this tendency we find a continual rubbing-down 
 and rubbing-out, not so much of single consonants 
 as of complete syllables, and even groups of syllables. 
 With this goes a persistent mingling and degeneracy 
 of vowel-sound which would long ago have pro- 
 duced uniformity of speech (even in such a mixed 
 race as the English) were it not for the surface 
 conditions of the country. 
 
 Now, in the United States we have the exactly 
 opposite conditions. With an area of over 3^- 
 million square miles and a population of 76 millions 
 the country has an unindented coast-line and a 
 surface that is a mere flat plain, with mountains 
 running down each coast. The result is that no 
 group of Americans is, in general, secluded from any 
 other group. Wherever a citizen of that country 
 is located an easy way is open to him to any other 
 part of his vast plain. We find him, therefore (with 
 a much greater admixture of blood than the English- 
 man, and living in a country seventy times the size 
 of England), yet with differences of dialect that are 
 unappreciable when compared with those in England. 
 Again, the dryness, brightness, and exhilaration of 
 his atmosphere produce an exactly similar effect on 
 his delivery. To an Englishman he seems to be 
 continual] v accentuating words that are of no im- 
 portance whatever to the sentence, though actually 
 he is not giving these words any greater prominence 
 than they would receive in French or Italian. His
 
 vin OPERATIC TRANSLATION 227 
 
 vowel-sounds he dwells on rather than avoids, while 
 their colour has a certain precision and sonority 
 which appear to an Englishman to be not new and 
 "up-to-date" like his ideas but old-fashioned and 
 slightly prosy. It is as if he had taken his vowel- 
 system from England to America about a couple of 
 hundred years ago, and had then and there stopped 
 tampering with it. 
 
 Now, these distinctions between English and 
 American are only the slight, superficial differences 
 which have crept into a language under the altered 
 conditions of a (comparatively) few years. The 
 differences which the translator has to face are of a 
 much more deep-seated character, for they spring 
 either from difference of original stock, from differ- 
 ence of environment during long lapses of time, or 
 from a combination of these two differences. 
 
 They comprise every conceivable variety of accent 
 and delivery, of word- and sentence-structure. His 
 original may be distinguished by a complete gram- 
 matical apparatus of word prefixes or suffixes, none 
 of which is perhaps used in his own tongue. He 
 may have to rhyme a translation in a language which 
 has only one-fourth the number of rhyme-endings 
 possessed by his original. If he is an Englishman he 
 may even have to translate back into his own speech 
 a poem which was born in an Englishman's brain, 
 and then translated into a foreign tongue and fitted 
 out with musical rhythms appropriate to that 
 translation. 1 
 
 All these difficulties he has to overcome, but a 
 worse problem remains; for, under the varying 
 influences of race and of geographical and climatic 
 condition, the declamatory rhythms of the two 
 
 . l E.g. Verdi's "Otello" and Debussy's "Blessed Damozel."
 
 228 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 languages in which he is working have been de- 
 veloped along lines so different that they bear no 
 resemblance at all to each other. In one language 
 he may feel the cold glitter of an alert, polished, 
 logical nation : in another the " vowell'd undersong" 
 of a passionate and world-weary people : or he may 
 have to take the heavy thud, the hoarse martial 
 shouts of a nation marching under arms, and express 
 them in a language whose deep rhythmic utterance 
 is that of the greatest of all tragic poets and of the 
 solemn majesty of the Bible. 1 
 
 Now, if we set a litterateur to make a prose 
 translation of a metrical original, it is quite plain 
 that his task is by no means easy. He has to 
 express to his readers foreign ideas in words whose 
 connotation is different from that of his original. 
 He is, indeed, unfettered by any considerations of 
 metre, rhyme, or rhythm; yet one has only to turn 
 to the best English prose translations of foreign 
 poetry to see how immeasurably they fall below our 
 ordinary artistic and literary standards. 
 
 But, now, suppose the translator compelled to work 
 both from and into verse. The difficulty of his task, 
 except by the merest accident, is at once increased, 
 
 1 The reader who wishes to see how baffling these difficulties 
 can be, even under the conditions of translation between two 
 allied languages and of extreme simplicity of vocal phrase, may 
 look at the first six words of Brunhilde's awakening in " Siegfried," 
 " Hcil dir Sonne ; Heil dir Licht." In these two phrases there 
 are only seven notes of music, and yet it is impossible to obtain a 
 satisfactory transference of the original song-speech. Mr. Jameson's 
 rendering, "Sun, I hail thee; Hail C) light," is, I suppose, as 
 good as it can be, yet in each phrase he is forced to effect a 
 junction or carrying-over of the thought {i.e. between "I" anc ] 
 " Hail " and between "O" and "light") which is quite absent 
 from the original, and which subtly alters the song-speech in a 
 way not intended by the composer.
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 229 
 
 because his possibilities in the selection of words and 
 ideas with which to express his original are more 
 restricted. Still, even here he is not completely 
 fettered ; he has a certain amount of " play," a 
 certain freedom of movement. 
 
 But now go one step further and imagine every 
 syllable of the original fitted with a note of music 
 carefully designed, by means of pitch, length, and 
 force, to intensify its intellectual idea : imagine all 
 the music-groupings so skilfully arranged that they 
 everywhere mirror the exact shape, and even the 
 spirit, of the original language : suppose also that 
 the composer has taken advantage of every possible 
 nicety in the way of vowel-colour and consonantal- 
 separation : suppose the text to have been written 
 and re-written (either by the composer or by the 
 dramatist in collaboration with the composer) till 
 the whole song-speech has been welded into an 
 apparently single conception ; then hand the whole 
 conception over to the translator, instructing him 
 that, without changing the music, 1 he is to reproduce 
 the thought in a language whose methods and struc- 
 ture are perhaps in violent contrast with those of the 
 original. Obviously the translator is now almost 
 completely fettered. His task is more: severe than 
 
 1 It is generally assumed to be the highest form of virtue in a 
 translator that he should never alter a single note of the original 
 music. In purely melodic phrases this may be a good rule, but the 
 gain is doubtful in isolated declamatory phrases. Of course, if the 
 translated word-phrase can be made to fit the actual notes of the 
 music it is better to preserve the latter; but if their preservation 
 can only be effected at the expense of naturalness and intelligi- 
 bility- which, after all, arc the prime objects of the original 
 song-speech it would be better to make some alterations, as 
 slight as possible, in the music. To this course'; I do not see 
 how any composer could legitimately object, provided he were 
 willing to run the initial risks of translation.
 
 2 3 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 any with which an ordinary litterateur is accustomed 
 to deal. Indeed, the only purely literary problem 
 which resembles it at all and the two are not com- 
 parable in point of difficulty is the problem of 
 translating some such exquisite and highly finished 
 original as Horace's Odes, a problem often attempted 
 and never solved. 1 
 
 It is plain that we need not expect, and we 
 certainly shall not get, literary or dramatic perfection 
 in an operatic translation. It was my original inten- 
 tion to show the reader, by means of quotation, what 
 we have received in this way ; but, after wading 
 through the many waters of nineteenth century 
 operatic translation, I have come to the conclusion 
 that the mere sight of them would be more than 
 enough to quench any love of Opera which he may 
 possess. 
 
 Whatever I have said with regard to the verbal 
 distortions and inversions of the early nineteenth 
 century school of English Opera applies as specifically 
 and with greater force to all the English translations 
 down to the last quarter of the century. The reader 
 need only select an opera at random from the more 
 popular works of Rossini, Verdi, or Gounod to see 
 how badly mauled they all were in translation. The 
 first twenty pages of " 11 Trovatore " will teach him 
 all the wickedness (in this kind) that he can possibly 
 wish to know. He must remember, however, that 
 it is not fair to criticize these efforts of the Muse 
 
 1 Perhaps also the mediaeval accomplishment of writing poems 
 whose words all began with the same letter. Hucbald, the Flemish 
 theorist, addressed a poem of this sort on the subject of " Bald- 
 ness " (" Carmina Clarisonac Calvis Cantatc Camocnac") to the 
 Emperor Charles the bald ; but it is not known what form the 
 monarch's retaliation took.
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 231 
 
 from any other than a literary standpoint. They 
 were often made, not for use by singers in the 
 theatre, but with the object not always achieved 
 of helping students to understand the meaning of 
 the original. From the artistic point of view the 
 translator's aim was not much above that of a player 
 in the classical game of "Aunt Sally." He merely 
 wanted to knock the pipe out of her mouth. In 
 front of him so many musical notes were stuck up, 
 and he had to "chuck" a syllable at each. The 
 game was really not very difficult, and the player 
 was, of course, paid for it, whether he won or not. 
 
 It must not be supposed that this race of translators 
 came (as they deserved) to a sudden and unpleasant 
 end about the third quarter of the nineteenth century. 
 There was at that time an undoubted improvement 
 in the quality of our English translations, but the 
 tradition of carelessness died hard. Even within the 
 past twenty-live years or so translations have been 
 published by whose side such an execrable work as 
 Pittman's " Rienzi " 1 appears as a miracle of clear- 
 ness and distinction. It is difficult to apportion 
 the blame in many of these works. Foreign music 
 engravers and perhaps foreign translators may have 
 innocently conspired together to produce the sad 
 wreckage of the English language which we see in 
 some of these publications. The fact, however, that 
 such words were ever allowed to be engraved under 
 the music, shows strikingly the contempt with which 
 the publisher was accustomed to view the average 
 intelligence of a musical Englishman. 
 
 My copy of " Cavalleria Rusticana " bears, on its 
 outside cover, the names of three distinguished 
 publishers, one Italian, one German, and one 
 1 Published by Fiirstner, Berlin.
 
 2 3 2 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 English, as well as the legend, "Price 7s. 6d. net." 
 Let us see what Italy, Germany, and England offer 
 us in return for our 7s. 6d. 
 
 All through this work the word-phrases seem to 
 have been set to the music with the sole object of 
 outraging their natural accent and rhythm. There 
 are so many examples of this that full quotation is 
 impossible, but, as an instance, I mav cite (from p. 
 81) the phrase where the singer, after two bars rest, 
 begins the sentence " of her own husband forgetful," 
 with the word "of" set on the down-beat. 
 
 No attempt is made to distinguish between the 
 English letters " I " and " J," "I " and " Y," or 
 "V" and "W"; and consequently we get such 
 expressions as "And jou " (p. 99), "love mi once 
 more" (p. 104), and " Ioys of Heaven" (pp. 
 57-62). Some of these mistakes in a tragedy, 
 remember read like conscious " Sam Wellerisms." 
 For instance : 
 
 " Me Lola is avaiting 
 
 All other lowers hating" (p. 39). 
 
 "I vill now go in" (p. 102). 
 
 "I have wainly promised to conducto the altar" (p. 169). 
 
 "To hus it has been told" (p. 89). 
 
 Then, again, the translator, or perhaps the 
 engraver, seems to have experienced great difficulty 
 in deciding into how many syllables an English 
 word would cut up. The word "injured" is set 
 as a trisyllable to three quavers (p. 90), and 
 the word "entrance" (in the sense of "a place 
 of entry") is set in a similar wav with the 
 second of its three syllables tailing on the down- 
 beat ot a bar (pp. 105 and 106). The word
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 233 
 
 " home " is written to a crotchet and a quaver as if 
 it rhymed with " foamy " (p. 33), while " more " and 
 "late" are regarded as rhyming respectively with 
 "Tory" and "Katie" (pp. 106 and 118). Even 
 such a common word as " love " is exalted to rhyme 
 with "Tovey" (p. 78). 
 
 I need not dwell on such curious English ex- 
 pressions as 
 
 " Whitgreut vehemence" (p. 115) 
 
 " Condemned am I, ah ! an out cash nothing hat an out 
 cash " (p. 34) 
 
 "I care on naught, ehi la ! " (p. 36) 
 
 "We weary while from labors are holden, 
 To thee o light of keaven " (p. 19) 
 
 " Robtd of my youthful honor, robdt of my honor" (p. 82) 
 
 or on Turridu's remark, which he is directed to 
 make " whit sorrow" : 
 
 " If should I returnot " 
 
 or on his passionate dialogue with Santuzza : 
 
 T. " What have you spoken " ? 
 
 S. " What you wanted and I am glok " 
 
 T. " Ah ! by Heaven ! " 
 
 S. " Strike in may bosom " 
 
 T. (drawiny back). "No" (p. 103). 
 
 Well may the translator wind up the opera (p. 175) 
 with the romantic stage direction, 
 
 " The sound of confuses voices comes nearen." 
 
 This translation is, of course, not an average 
 specimen of its class, but, I hope, a unique example 
 of the depths to which the collaboration of a (pre- 
 sumably) foreign translator and music engraver can
 
 234 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 drag down our language. 1 Since the production of 
 Mascagni's first opera, several excellent English 
 operatic translations have been issued, and we may 
 say that, whenever in recent years the task has been 
 entrusted to men possessing the necessary combina- 
 tion of literary skill and musical knowledge, there 
 has been a very evident and encouraging desire on 
 their part to produce good artistic work. By its 
 very nature this work is, as I have said, a makeshift, 
 and a makeshift whose expediency is still matter of 
 discussion. Everyone will, however, agree that, if 
 Opera is to be translated, the work must be done, 
 not as it was in the first half of the nineteenth 
 century by literary and musical hacks, but by men 
 Englishmen of wide culture. Mere literary facility 
 is useless unless it is supported by musical ability, 
 and especially by an intimate knowledge of the 
 human voice. 
 
 Above all, it is necessary that the translator 
 should keep clearly before his mind the harm 
 that will certainly result from bad and careless 
 work. The public is very quick to detect, not 
 so much inaccuracies of translation and literary 
 faults, as discrepancies between the translation 
 itself and the speech which is their most prized 
 heritage. At the first suspicion of any unnatural- 
 ness it either laughs or takes fright, and these 
 are the two things which everv lover of English 
 Opera most wishes to avoid. 
 
 The reader may think such a warning as I have 
 given above quite uncalled tor at the present day, 
 
 1 There is a difterent (and much better) translation by F. E. 
 Weather!)' prefixed to this opera, but the word.*, as I have quoted 
 them above, are the actual words as they are engraved underneath 
 the music, nresumablv for the u-e of our unhappy vocalists.
 
 viii OPERATIC TRANSLATION 235 
 
 but, as a matter of fact, though the consciousness of 
 this risk is growing, there is still need of continual 
 watchfulness. Even the sumptuous vocal score of 
 M. Delius's " A Village Romeo and Juliet" a work 
 that was specially produced by Mr. Beecham to 
 further the interests of " British " Opera contains 
 on its very first page (in the "list of characters") 
 such grotesque mistranslations as these: 
 
 Bauer in ------ Twoman 
 
 Der arme Hornist - The poor hornist player 
 
 Erster \ First 'j 
 
 Zweiter ,- SchifFer - Second -Barge 
 
 Dritter J Third J 
 
 Ort der Handlung - Place ofaction 
 
 Schmuckwarenfrau - Nick-nack ven dor-woman 
 
 These things are not of great importance, but they 
 are quite enough to make an Englishman rub his 
 eyes and wonder whether the word " British " does 
 not contain some meaning with which he is not at 
 present acquainted.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 
 
 Before closing this short study of the relationship 
 between Nationalism and Opera I wish to draw the 
 historical threads, as it were, to a point, and to show 
 how the early eighteenth century conditions are 
 as a necessary result of our long-continued attitude 
 of national exteriorization reproduced in England 
 at the present day. More especially I wish to dwell 
 on these deterrent conditions as they affect the com- 
 poser, and, in order to do this, it will be convenient 
 to group the discussion under four headings, 
 (i) The Public ; (2) The Composer's Conditions ; 
 (3) Foreign Influences ; (4) Material Necessities. 
 Within the limits which I have set myself it is not 
 possible to more than hint at the many aspects 
 presented by these four topics. On the last alone 
 the material necessities of the case involving, as it 
 does, the question of State-aided Opera, a volume 
 might, and ought to, be written. 1 1 shall, however, 
 content mvselt with pointing out some of the factors 
 which must be taken into consideration when one is 
 studying the question. 
 
 (1) The Public. 
 
 No change, however sudden and startling its mani- 
 festation, occurs spontaneously in the realm ot art. 
 1 Sec Bibliography at end.
 
 ch.ix COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 237 
 
 The appearance of such a change may be there, but, 
 if we search narrowly into the surroundings of the 
 change itself, we shall always find that it is really as 
 natural, as organic, and as inevitable as the procession 
 of changes which brings to the tree its leaf, its blossom, 
 and its fruit. Among these strange and seemingly 
 causeless offsettings of the human intellect we may 
 place the first flowering of Opera in Italy ; but this 
 flowering, which, if it is considered without attention, 
 appears to be merely the " sport " of a few young 
 Florentine noblemen, has its roots deep down in the 
 preceding century of Greek culture, and is indeed no 
 more than the last and most beautiful blossom on 
 the tree of the Italian Renaissance. 
 
 So with the cutting when it is transplanted : the 
 soil is new and the climate is new: both have their 
 effect, and if they are not suitable the cutting must 
 die. Hence it comes that, in estimating the possi- 
 bilities of the future here in England, we must first 
 of all estimate the possibilities of our soil and climate : 
 for the composer and the impresario, however skil- 
 fully they may do their planting, can go no whit 
 in the way of honest, healthy, gardening under the 
 sun beyond that soil and climate, the English 
 people. I say " in the way of honest, healthy, 
 gardening," because I firmly believe that all our 
 operatic history shows that when once its purveyors 
 turn, as they have generally turned, to the sickly heat 
 of the forcing house, they produce, it may be a 
 beautiful foreign flower, but a flower which cannot 
 thrive and never has thrived when it has once felt 
 the winds and rains and the uncertain suns of our 
 climate. 
 
 I have already pointed out in an earlier chapter 
 the reasons why music has never been developed
 
 2 3 8 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 here into a mode of national expression, and, in 
 especial, the methods by which English operatic 
 activity never high in relation to that of Italy, 
 France, and Germany was stunted and twisted 
 into other forms by a foreign culture introduced 
 and maintained for social reasons. That this culture 
 has never penetrated downwards very far is both 
 natural and gratifying, for it is very certain that, 
 whatever form the English Opera may take m the 
 future, it must claim its legitimacy, not as an ex- 
 pression of the acquired tastes of the aristocracy, 
 but of the dramatic instincts of the people. When 
 once we have set within it this core of hope we 
 can rest assured of its healthy development, nor need 
 we have any anxiety that the dramatic genius of the 
 nation will ever find itself faced by any deep and 
 abiding law of nature which will prevent that genius 
 expressing itself in terms of music. 
 
 But, to ensure the future possibility of this ex- 
 pression, we need two conditions at the present time 
 what I may call a good soil and good gardeners ; 
 that is to say, we need, on the one hand, a sufficient 
 number of people who are willing and ready to hear 
 and pay for English Opera, and, on the other, a 
 sufficient number of composers who have enough 
 sympathy with the public to enable them to supply 
 the operas that are wanted. 
 
 In this connection the first question which is 
 generally asked is, " To what state of receptivity 
 has the Public of the present day been brought ?" 
 In other words, " How far can the Composer look 
 to the Public as a motive power ?" The actual 
 forces which have been at work on the public for 
 the past tvventv or thirty years are, ot course, well 
 known to all, and though they are in England, at
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 239 
 
 any rate historically interesting, their enumeration 
 need not occupy our attention tor long. The result 
 of these forces is, however, still matter of I am 
 afraid not very disinterested controversy. 
 
 In the provinces, then, we have a number of 
 travelling; opera companies, such as those associated 
 with the names of Carl Rosa and Moody-Manners, 
 which from their earliest beginnings have based their 
 efforts on one of the two principles which govern the 
 production of National Opera performance in the 
 vernacular. One tact alone has made this principle 
 possible, and indeed inevitable to them, the fact that, 
 in our provincial towns, they have had to appeal, not 
 to a small cosmopolitan aristocracy, but directly to 
 the masses of the people. These opera companies 
 have also partially grasped the second principle 
 the necessitv for the production of works by English 
 composers. I use the word "partially," because I 
 feel that, though they can show an extremely honour- 
 able list of such productions, they have also, in a 
 measure, neglected to face the actual musical con- 
 ditions of the country. The fact that we have a 
 population of some millions anxious to support the 
 lighter forms of English Opera is a very serious one, 
 and it is not the less so because it is generally made 
 the subject of a single contemptuous sentence in 
 books of operatic criticism. As far as I know 
 practically every opera company decided at the 
 outset of its career to ignore, without further 
 thought, the weight of this popular tendency. 
 
 The situation, however, created by this craving 
 was and is charged with possibilities. The accu- 
 mulated mass of talent and material only needed 
 direction, not to turn it out of its channel, but to 
 broaden and purify that channel. But, instead of
 
 2 4 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 boldly seizing the situation and endeavouring to 
 develop from it a genuine, perhaps more complex 
 and highly organized type of National Opera, the 
 opera companies were content to adopt the some- 
 what rigid criteria of "Grand Opera" as evolved 
 on the Continent, and to attempt, not always too 
 successfully, to impose these on their audiences. 
 Naturally this has forced them, as far as the large 
 mass of the theatre-going public is concerned, into 
 a position of some seclusion which may be roughly, 
 and I think not unfairly, estimated by comparing 
 their combined activities with those of the many 
 successful travelling companies of "Comic Opera" 
 and " Musical Comedy." In addition to that, it has 
 left them artistically in a sort of high-and-dry de- 
 tachment : they have no National Opera to draw 
 on, no source from which they can continually 
 vitalize their activities : their original productions 
 are few, and they run the risk of sinking to the 
 position held by Covent Garden as mere purveyors 
 of second-hand goods, repeaters to-day of what was 
 said on the Continent yesterday. 
 
 In studying this question it is not sufficient for 
 us to dismiss or evade the problem merely because 
 the two forms of activity a highly complex foreign 
 art-form and a simple, almost primitive, home art- 
 form appear to us to be so widely divided from 
 each other. Nor is it advisable tor us to lay down, 
 for our own use, the dividing-line between the higher 
 and the lower types of Opera, which has been estab- 
 lished on the Continent by and for Continental use. 
 The position of that dividing-line varies very strik- 
 ingly even among those two or three nations which 
 have evolved the more complex forms of Opera. 
 Kor us who are only now attempting to found a
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 241 
 
 school it is better to keep in mind how small and 
 apparently trifling were our own early gropings to- 
 wards comedy and tragedy : nor should we forget 
 that, in Italy itself, it is only 300 years since Opera 
 came to Rome literally and physically on a cart. 
 
 We cannot, then, arrive at any knowledge of 
 present-day public appreciation unless we have the 
 whole of the facts before us and then weigh them 
 without prejudice. This method, however, of deal- 
 ing with the actual, as opposed to the possible, 
 facts which make up the stream of our musical life, 
 has never much commended itself to our musical 
 students, who show a gentlemanly knowledge of the 
 ripples on the surface-water, but a very decided and 
 clean-handed ignorance of the river-bed. What 
 should we think of a government department which 
 issued a blue-book on emigration and compiled its 
 tables only from lists of first-class passengers ? Or 
 of a scientific investigator who, discussing the question 
 of infant mortality, were to confine himself to the 
 peerage ? In each case we should see the underlying 
 fallacy and refuse to be hoodwinked by the deduc- 
 tions. But it is on such fallacies as these that our 
 musical students and antiquaries usually base their 
 estimates of the present and their forecasts of the 
 future. They revolve, as a rule, in a circle whose 
 circumference is very small when compared with the 
 vast outside circle of the national life, and this end- 
 less agitation to-and-fro within a small space acts on 
 them in much the same way as the ice in a freezing 
 machine ; but with a difference, for the custard does 
 eventually fulfil its destiny and come out to see the 
 world and be eaten, whereas they do not : and the 
 longer they stay inside the more hard-set their ideas 
 become and the more frozen their conviction that 
 
 Q
 
 242 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 (though all their whirlings and twirlings have never 
 resulted in anything but a lowering of their own 
 temperature) yet they represent the highest and most 
 perfect type of existence, and that all the world out- 
 side their little box is clamouring for entrance and 
 for the privilege of being turned into a pretty little 
 Neapolitan ice. 
 
 Of course with critics of a certain mental bias this 
 cold and narrow logic soon hardens into a fixed 
 habit-of-mind which has a twofold effect. First, 
 it prevents them from seeing the existence, outside 
 their own immediate circle, of a genuine admiration 
 for the higher types of music combined with an 
 equally genuine belief that these higher types, as 
 evolved abroad, cannot be made the basis in this 
 country for any artistic advance ; and second, when 
 it is pointed out to them that, historically, these 
 higher types, when transplanted from abroad, have 
 never been known to develop here, the same habit- 
 of-mind prevents them from making an excursion of 
 enquiry into the possible existence of other bases for 
 development. Instead of doing this they prefer to 
 turn their heads away and lift their eyes to the stars 
 a praiseworthy position for an artist, provided his 
 feet are on firm ground. 
 
 If we turn now from the position in the provinces 
 to that in London we see the same small casual 
 opera-seasons which, until Mr. Beecham's advent, 
 gave us our only opportunities of hearing Opera in 
 English. These seasons, whether given by one of 
 the provincial travelling opera companies, by a 
 private speculator, or by a syndicate, have occurred 
 at no fixed intervals, and, with few exceptions, have 
 concerned themselves solely with Foreign Opera in 
 English. On the other hand, the striking taste of
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 243 
 
 the London public for all forms of light Opera has 
 
 evolved a curiously complete apparatus for displaying 
 
 this form of entertainment. Managers and syndi- 
 cs i 
 
 cates, relying on this taste, have been able to invest 
 with profit large sums of monev and to educate 
 Londoners to a point where their eyes and ears 
 demand something more complete and perfect in 
 its presentation than can be found in any other capital 
 in the world. I do not say, of course, that the 
 actual presentation has anything to do with the value 
 of a musical work. All we can say is that it is a 
 fair index of the popular esteem in which the musical 
 work is held. It is not, however, solely in the 
 presentation of light Opera that London has advanced 
 beyond the rest of Europe, for, almost unobserved, 
 and certainly despised by most of our orthodox 
 musicians, a characteristically English school of 
 comic opera has grown up in our midst. The 
 works of this school, unlike those of our orthodox 
 musicians, are by no means either unobserved or 
 despised on the Continent. It is a matter of in- 
 difference under what title we know this school; it 
 is sufficient to say that it exists and ranges from the 
 polished and refined melody of the " Savoy Operas " 
 through the musical gaiety and tenderness of Mr. 
 Sidney Jones to the mellow charm and humour of 
 Sir Charles Stanford's " Shamus O'Brien." Further- 
 more, it always has existed (under one name or 
 another) from the earliest days of Opera till now, 
 and we must be content to put up with, the hard 
 things 1 that are said about it in its present stage, 
 
 1 Dr. Walker (in his History of Music in England) characterizes 
 musical comedy as having " enthroned on a very solid cash basis 
 ideals of verbal and musical vulgarity." Later on he speaks of 
 Sullivan as having no "steadiness of artistic purpose ... and
 
 244 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 simply because it has popular appreciation behind it, 
 and is therefore a possible basis for development 
 and improvement. 
 
 The really vital point in the situation thus created 
 is that on two or three occasions timid attempts 
 have actually been made to develop from this popular 
 form of Opera a higher and more complex type. 
 None of these attempts has been fully successful, 
 but I need not point out that this does not affect 
 their interest. It is to Sir Arthur Sullivan, whose 
 early opera, " The Sapphire Necklace," was never 
 produced owing to the unsuitability of its " book," 
 that we have to look for the first leanings towards 
 this new development. In " Haddon Hall " and 
 "The Beauty Stone" we find indubitable evidence 
 of a desire to enlarge the scope of his outlook and 
 to inform his musical ideas with a greater share of 
 poetry. But it was not till the production of 
 " Ivanhoe " l that we find him quite consciously 
 endeavouring to begin that work of development 
 which he felt was the only solution of our national 
 operatic problem. There is a certain pathos in the 
 reflection that the man who had so much refined 
 the art of comic opera, and in doing so had 
 endeared himself to his whole generation, was for- 
 bidden by the very qualities of his success to move 
 with freedom outside those limits. "Ivanhoe" did 
 not succeed. It is, indeed, nothing but a confused 
 succession of events to which the composer's strong 
 sense of the theatre could not give even the appearance 
 of unity. The closing of the English Opera House 
 
 without that, a composer, whatever his technical ability may be, 
 is easily liable to degenerate into a mere popularity-hunting 
 triflcr." 
 
 1 Written at the suggestion of Queen \ ictoria.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 245 
 
 in Cambridge Circus is matter of painful history, on 
 which we need dwell no farther than to point out 
 that, if its promoters had made the same substantial 
 provision for a supply of English operas that they 
 made for a supply of bricks and mortar, the former 
 would have run no more risk of collapsing than the 
 latter. 1 
 
 Shortly after Sir Arthur Sullivan's death a second 
 and carefully premeditated attempt was made to 
 extend the boundaries of light Opera. The work 
 chosen for production was " lb and little Christina," 
 by Captain Hood and Mr. Leoni, and it was fully 
 understood at the time by its promoters that its 
 success would mean the turning of a new page in 
 the history of operatic development in England. 
 That page, unfortunately, still remains unturned, 
 but on it we may read some valuable lessons. We 
 may notice that while " Ivanhoe " calls for a much 
 larger physical equipment in the way of singers, 
 orchestra, and stage-setting than any of its com- 
 poser's Savoy operas, "lb and little Christina" 
 was actually produced at the Savoy Theatre with 
 the same staff of artists which had, just before, been 
 performing one of Sullivan's comic operas. This 
 difference, however, which seems so great to anyone 
 engaged in theatrical work, is to the public a matter 
 of the smallest account. It is to the material of the 
 play itself that the audience addresses itself, and in 
 this we observe a curious reversal of the two com- 
 posers' positions ; for, while the Englishman weaves 
 into the large texture of his work many of those 
 fanciful colours and delightful half-tones which had 
 
 o 
 
 1 There was an equally unsuccessful scheme of English Opera at 
 the Lyceum Theatre in 1809. In 1838 Barnett conducted a 
 
 season that only ran for a week.
 
 246 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 come to be associated with the words " Savoy 
 Opera," the Italian gives us a smaller fabric, appa- 
 rently nearer in actual scale to the old Savoy pattern, 
 but really farther removed from it by reason of a 
 warmth of tint and a strangeness of design which 
 were completely unfamiliar to his audience. Under 
 the circumstances this was inevitable, and it was 
 equally inevitable that neither Mr. Leoni's charming 
 melancholy nor his exquisite prettiness of orchestra- 
 tion could so far prevail with his audiences as to 
 make them forget the things which had been. 
 
 Here we come back to the old deep-rooted 
 objection which we have studied in the eighteenth 
 century, the natural objection of the Englishman, 
 not to a good thing, but to a good thing in which 
 he has no part. And it is on this very point that 
 one has the greatest hope of English theatrical audi- 
 ences. As concert-goers, it is true, they have little 
 experience, and will applaud both good and bad 
 alike furiously and whole-heartedly. 1 They will, 
 indeed, hear out, with a resigned and patient in- 
 attention, any long, dull work which has been 
 recommended to them as "good," and, at the end 
 of their glum sitting, will brighten up and offer 
 their applause as a nervous apologv for their lack of 
 interest. But as soon as they enter the theatre all 
 this attitude of humble-minded self-sacrifice vanishes, 
 and its place is taken by a sort of hereditary self- 
 assurance. Each man has put down his money 
 and knows what he wants. He may not get it, but 
 in that case no amount ot superior advice will per- 
 suade him that he has. 
 
 1 Perhaps explained by the fact that to the masses concert-going, 
 and especially foreign concert-going, is a much more modern 
 institution than the play.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 247 
 
 Our concert audiences are perhaps being educated 
 into a state of greater artistic discrimination, but this 
 education cannot proceed very quickly, because it is 
 only an infinitesimally small proportion of our whole 
 population that attends concerts. On the other 
 hand, theatrical performances have been popular ever 
 since such things came into existence, and conse- 
 quently theatrical audiences have by now acquired a 
 very clear idea as to what they want and what they 
 do not want. It is just this fact that lends so 
 piquant an interest to the situation when a composer 
 or an impresario pits his brains against those of the 
 public on the production of a new work, for though 
 it is constantly asserted that audiences need to be 
 educated up to a certain level of receptivity before 
 they will applaud (and pay for) an opera which an 
 impresario desires them to applaud (and pay for), it 
 must be remembered that in ninety-nine cases out 
 of a hundred this education is really not a process of 
 ^-ducation at all that is to say, a drawing-out of 
 what is good and worthy in them but a process 
 of rt^-ducation that is to say, a leading up to them 
 of new and strange conceptions by which they are 
 required to readjust their previous artistic ideals. 
 But these ideals, however easily criticized in the light 
 ot foreign achievements, are the result of a long 
 course of genuine artistic self-education, and it is 
 found that in practice the English people are very 
 slow to abandon any mental position which they 
 have gained : the more so because it seems the surer 
 to them from the difficulty which they have experi- 
 enced in reaching it. 
 
 The result of this continual struggle is the existence 
 of a problem which is continually referred to and dis- 
 cussed in our journals, and which generally takes the
 
 248 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 form of a question as to whether sufficient " spade- 
 work " has yet been done to give our impresarios 
 and composers a proper field in which to exercise 
 their talents as musical gardeners. But though it 
 would seem to be the province of a good gardener 
 first to ascertain the nature of the soil and then to 
 plant therein some such native root as may naturally 
 have a chance of life rather than to select a foreign 
 plant and to stick it, an inch or so deep, in any patch 
 that happens to show a little top-dressing, yet this 
 plan has never been greatly in favour with our 
 operatic gardeners. 
 
 Hence the question of " spade-work " becomes a 
 never-failing subject for their discussions, and one 
 might suppose that, with all this burning interest in 
 the topic, they would by now have arrived at very 
 definite conclusions, at any rate as to the exact 
 amount of "spade-work" already done and the 
 amount still to do. But this is far from being the 
 case, for the man who wishes (for reasons of his 
 own) to go on performing " Maritana " and "The 
 Bohemian Girl " considers that practically no " spade- 
 work " has been done at all, and that it is essential 
 that these two operas should, as it were, be used for 
 a great many years to break the ground. On the 
 other hand, the enthusiast who wishes to enjov such 
 humble delights as "Salome" and " Elektra " afford 
 considers that no " spade-work " at all is left to do, 
 and that it is only necessary to spread a good thick 
 layer of advertisement on the heavy English soil to 
 procure a satisfactory artistic crop. 
 
 liven those men whose business it is to stand aside 
 and gauge with accuracy the contending forces of our 
 contemporary musical life seem to be puzzled at 
 times by this question. I will content myself with
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 249 
 
 citing some words from an excellent article on the 
 " Possible Developments " of Opera in England 
 which appeared in the Morning Post of Jan. 17th, 
 1 9 10. In that article the critic, in speaking of Mr. 
 Beecham's (then) forthcoming season of " Grand " 
 Opera, says : 
 
 " By constituting the trial season of the details 
 already announced, it is taken for granted 
 that the public is already sufficiently educated 
 in the rudiments of Opera to be able to 
 proceed to the higher stages as represented 
 by works which tor the most part are written 
 by the light of modern development of the 
 form. The only difficulty that arises is the 
 question whether the public has had the full 
 opportunity of making the acquaintance of 
 the more involved operatic shape, and whether 
 it will not be advisable to give several seasons 
 of an experimental character before deciding 
 as to whether or not a public ready to take 
 intelligent and continuous interest in music- 
 drama exists. . . . Mr. Beecham would be 
 well advised to make his plans for giving two 
 seasons of opera a year for at least three years 
 before arriving at the definite conclusion that 
 a public for opera does not exist. These 
 seasons should be of a special character, bear- 
 ing in mind the fact that, compared with other 
 nations, we in England know nothing about 
 Opera. It has as yet to be made as much part 
 of our lives as is the oratorio. Therefore, 
 though much educational work has already 
 been done, there is much more to do. Mr. 
 Beecham must c coach ' his public in opera 
 before he attempts to examine them, and the
 
 250 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 process should, as it is hoped it will, be 
 extended over more than one season before 
 the pupil, willing as he undoubtedly is, can 
 be considered as fit for examination in his 
 readiness to take intelligent and continuous 
 interest in music-drama." 
 
 Yet in the same journal, six months later, 1 we read 
 the following criticism of the " Opera-Comique " 
 season which Mr. Beecham had just announced : 
 
 " There is no reason why the British temperament, 
 which has already shown the readiest apprecia- 
 tion of the form of Musical expression known 
 as Grand Opera, after due study should not 
 take readily to it" {i.e. to Opera-Comique). 
 " The present degree of appreciation of grand 
 opera, however, has been only arrived at 
 after a long course of education, in which the 
 representations in English have taken an 
 active part. The hearing of grand opera in 
 English has done much to foster a genuine 
 love for the form which otherwise would have 
 been of much slower growth." 
 
 1 do not quote these two extracts for any other 
 reason than to show that, under our present system 
 of leaving the great majority of the people out of 
 account, there is a genuine doubt in the minds of 
 even our best-informed observers as to the extent to 
 which an impresario can rely on his public ; for it is, 
 of course, quite impossible that Mr. Beecham's short 
 spring season of Opera (which had intervened between 
 the writing ot these two criticisms) could have 
 effected this startling change. 
 
 1 May 2nd, 19 10.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 251 
 
 As a matter of fact, Mr. Beecham's vague question as 
 to whether " there does, or does not, exist in England a 
 public ready to take intelligent and continuous interest 
 in music-drama per se if it had the chance ? " is unreal. 
 It also implies a species of fallacy, because it pre- 
 supposes, first, a detachment of art from the art- 
 producer, and, second, a non-existent artificiality of 
 social condition. On the first of these points I need 
 say little, as it obviously degrades art to the level of 
 a toy, and no argument based on it is worth a 
 moment's consideration. The second is equally 
 ignoble and equally fatal to the claims of true art, 
 for it assumes that a great mass of vigorous and 
 intelligent people can exist so totally devoid of per- 
 sonality that the mere exhibition to them of the 
 artistic expression of alien personalities will satisfy 
 their ideals. If this were so, our operatic history 
 would, of course, be very different from what it 
 actually is. We should long ago have put the 
 national mind to what would have been its proper 
 use, that of a sponge to soak up the intellectual and 
 emotional achievements of Italy, and to produce (by 
 some mysterious alchemy unknown to nature) new 
 developments of our own. It is not so, however; and 
 the history of our long operatic struggle shows that 
 it is not so. Indeed, in any other walk of art but in 
 that of Opera this zany-logic would not be tolerated 
 for a minute. What we have in England is not a 
 coherent, artistically united nation, but a nation split 
 up, as far as music goes, into mutually opposed parties. 
 In Italy, France, and Germany we have precisely 
 opposite conditions : in each case a nation homo- 
 geneous and artistically united. Speaking broadly, 
 we may say with truth that the effect of any musical 
 work, native or foreign, on the national consciousness
 
 252 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 is much the same within any one of these countries, 
 though naturally it differs greatly as between one 
 country and another. In England, on the other hand, 
 we are psychologically in much the same position as 
 we were when Italian Opera first came to our shores 
 two hundred years ago. Artistically we may be a 
 little more advanced, but we must be careful to note 
 that the three factions which existed in the early 
 eighteenth century the aristocratic patrons of purely 
 foreign Opera, the semi-denationalized professional 
 musicians who attempted to cultivate English Opera 
 by a mechanical repetition of foreign formulae, and 
 the adherents of popular entertainment are still 
 with us in the twentieth. It cannot be said that the 
 aristocratic patronage of foreign Opera has altered in 
 character or method one jot in those two hundred 
 years, nor can we well say that Wagner is imitated 
 any better to-dav than Mendelssohn was yesterday 
 and Handel last week. Any living change, then, will 
 have to be looked for in a comparison between the 
 purely native activities in the simple forms of Opera 
 then and now. To sum the matter up, the reader 
 will see that the whole question of " public recep- 
 tivity " is illusory, and its discussion, therefore, never- 
 ending. It is, in short, a red-herring drawn across 
 the track of the important question, "On what can 
 we found a National School of Opera ?" and to that 
 question our present lowly and undeveloped state 
 need not prevent us giving the only answer possible, 
 "On similar foundations to those which served Italy, 
 France, and Germany the national temperament 
 and the national convictions."
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 253 
 
 (2) The Composer's Conditions. 
 
 Now, the one person on whom the weight of these 
 actualities presses most heavily, and who has, at the 
 same time, to look most anxiously to the lifting force 
 of their possibilities, is the composer. For, while the 
 actualities exist for him as the ever-present condition 
 on which his daily life depends, he is forced, as it 
 were, continually to strengthen the raising power of 
 its ropes, and yet at the same time to draw from 
 them some strand or other which may serve for his 
 future use. These are the inevitable conditions of 
 his work, and if he is to do that work he must, like 
 any other worker, accept them. 
 
 The head of a great German publishing firm is 
 reported to have said: "The worst of you English 
 composers is that nobody wants you," and in that 
 nut-shell lies the kernel that explains the composer's 
 conditions. For, while the soldier, the sailor, the 
 scientist, the manufacturer, and the foreign musician, 
 each comes to his work supported by the knowledge 
 that he is only the last in a long line of able and 
 illustrious men to whose lives he can look up and bv 
 whose ideals he may expect acceptance, the English 
 composer comes to his work, so to speak, out of the 
 void. He has no forbears, or, at any rate, only a few 
 the soundness of whose musicianship has left behind 
 it no sound at all but the dismal echo of its own 
 inefficiency : he has no traditions, for, if he has any 
 knowledge of his country's other achievements, he 
 knows that his musical traditions no more express his 
 country's greatness than a Kaffir fiddle represents 
 the greatness of Cremona. So, without traditions, 
 without forefathers, unarmed and unprotected, he 
 must stand up to the buffeting of winds and waves, a
 
 254 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 tiny pinnacle of live rock, whose only certainty is that 
 when it has fallen someone may pick it up from the 
 sea-shore where it is lying and place it, unlabelled, 
 in the dust of a geological museum. 
 
 Let us endeavour to catch a glance of him at his 
 work. The word "work," unfortunately, has a 
 connotation for him very different from that which it 
 has for the litterateur, the painter, or the concert 
 composer. We only need to look at the huge 
 annual volume of publishers' lists and the catalogues 
 of our picture exhibitions to see that no litterateur or 
 painter need occupy more than a small part of his 
 time in the actual " placing" of his work. In each 
 of these cases the general public demand for new 
 work of all classes is large, and it may fairly be said 
 that every man who is producing good sound work 
 can find an outlet for it without excessive difficulty. 
 The concert composer is, indeed, in not so good a 
 position : the new books and pictures placed before 
 the public each year number many thousands, while 
 the number of new works performed at orchestral 
 and chamber concerts in this country is comparatively 
 small. Still, even here there are, and have been for 
 many years, recognized centres such as those at the 
 Crystal Palace under the late Sir Augustus Manns, 
 the concerts of the Philharmonic Societv, the festi- 
 vals, and the performances at Queen's Hall under 
 Sir Henrv J. Wood where English composers have 
 continually received, and still receive, the benefit of 
 a careful and artistic presentation of their works. 
 
 But for the serious operatic composer, unless he 
 be a millionaire or the friend of a millionaire, the 
 outlook is quite different. When he enters the 
 market he finds it filled with foreign wares which a 
 certain portion of the public wishes to buy. Owing
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 255 
 
 to this fact, and to the disproportion between the 
 expense of theatrical production and the number of 
 persons willing to support this special form Opera, 
 it is not more than once in several years that any 
 work of his has a chance of performance. The 
 consequence of this is, as one can see by reading 
 almost any operatic biography, that his time is only 
 occupied very slightly in actually writing music : the 
 rest of it is spent in a continual and heart-breaking 
 search for a market a search which necessitates for 
 its success the cultivation of every quality of cunning 
 and intrigue most likely to break his self-respect and 
 dam the flow of his artistic lite. 
 
 These conditions, which are not familiar to the 
 public mind, may be made plainer by a parallel. To 
 put the English painter in the same position as the 
 English operatic composer we should have to imagine 
 that his only possible opportunity occurs, say, once a 
 year, when a few extra feet of wall-space are reserved 
 at a public gallery for the possible exhibition of a 
 single modern English picture. This extra wall- 
 space has to be fought for by every painter in the 
 country, and its extra rent, we must imagine, has to 
 be paid by the proprietors of the gallery. Thev, of 
 course, are quite indifferent whether they hang an 
 English or a Chinese painting, so long as thev can 
 take the gate money, and, as they know by experience 
 that thev can always rely on a certain section of the 
 public to support a dead Chinaman instead of a live 
 Englishman, they show a good deal of reluctance to 
 hang the English picture. This is not unnatural from 
 their strictly commercial point of view. But worse 
 is to come, for it is found necessary that a painter, 
 in order to paint a picture, must be alive at the time, 
 and this makes it necessary (in most, though not all
 
 256 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 instances) that they should pay him a fee for the 
 temporary exhibition of his picture. This fee they 
 very naturally grudge when they know that their 
 attic is filled with a dusty array of old (and dead) 
 masters who at any rate have, in Mr. Beecham's words, 
 a " glorious and classic " inability to extract fees. 
 Finally we must imagine that, whenever the public is 
 admitted to see this picture, an army of jealous- 
 minded artists has to be engaged at great expense, of 
 whom a few inoffensive souls are employed to give 
 the wall a suitable coat of paint, others to see that the 
 picture hangs fair and square on its nail, but the vast 
 majority to paint out as much of the picture as 
 possible and to repaint it to suit their own complex- 
 ions. Should we wonder if, in these circumstances, 
 our country tailed to produce a school of painters ? 
 Should we not rather have cause to marvel if she 
 ever progressed beyond the stage of chalk and 
 paving-stones ? 
 
 Yet these are precisely and without exaggeration 
 the primary difficulties that surround the composer 
 who is struggling to express himself in this form of 
 music. The painter is often happy in finding 
 among the owners of great, and even small, houses 
 a tradition that they should have a few modern 
 pictures on their walls. These they can touch and 
 handle if thev wish to assure themselves that they 
 are still in their frames : they can also (after one 
 preliminary payment) look at them whenever they so 
 desire without any charge : furthermore, they can 
 reflect that, in common with the settees and over- 
 mantels, the pictures are always sure of a certain 
 welcome at the auctioneer's. But an operatic score 
 is a much more impalpable thing. It cannot be hung 
 upon a wall, or enjoyed without expense, or even put
 
 tx THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 257 
 
 into a sale with the tables and chairs. To the 
 wealthy amateur it is as uneducative and unintelli- 
 gible as a cuneiform inscription. So he leaves it 
 alone, or, if it does happen to stray into his house, it 
 meets with much the same chilling hospitality as that 
 which the Archbishop extended to Mozart a seat at 
 the kitchen table. 
 
 These are the terms on which the operatic 
 composer starts his race, but long before he has done 
 his first lap he will have found out from the con- 
 temptuous indifference of publisher and impresario 
 that it is not to be a clean race run " in strings," but 
 a race in which he is privately disqualified before 
 he starts. For the public, having been tricked and 
 swindled once and twice and many times by its 
 own countrymen's work, has grown cunning and 
 resentful. It calls him a failure, and it is with 
 that word ringing in his ears that he begins his 
 work. 
 
 Now, no man who has his finger on the trigger 
 likes to hear a bystander prophesying a certain miss. 
 The composer certainly does not, and it generally 
 throws him into a state of irritation and indignation 
 with the public. This chronic indignation, after a 
 few years, begins to show, first in his manner, then 
 in his face, and last in his music, which, however 
 well it may have begun, eventually becomes what 
 the public said it would be a failure. But whenever 
 one finds two brothers, whose interests are fundamen- 
 tally the same, continually on bad terms with each 
 other, one may expect to hear most of the rights and 
 wrongs of the case from the poorer brother. And 
 this we do find. The public sits by comfortable and 
 taciturn : the composer, allowing his grievance to 
 prevade his\vhole mind, falls into an unhealthy state 
 
 R
 
 258 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of altercation with the person who should be his 
 best friend. 
 
 " A failure ! " we may imagine him saying to the 
 public. " It is not I that am the failure. It 
 is you ! 
 
 "I ! " says the astonished public. " Why, what do 
 you mean ? I don't write operas." 
 
 " No, but you listen to them ; and it's your 
 listening or not listening that makes me 
 possible or impossible. I'm trying to do my 
 job honestly. Why don't you do yours ? " 
 
 " Well, so I do ; but, you know, there's a limit, 
 my friend ; and after all your, shall I say, 
 ' non-successes '...?" 
 
 " Excuse me ! " says the Composer, " Tour non- 
 successes, not mine. Why, you are as bad 
 over your Music as a Frenchman is over his 
 jockeys. He does give his Composers a 
 chance, but as soon as he sees a Frenchman 
 in the saddle, he says ' Oh, he can't ride ! 
 He's not English.'" 
 
 " Well, but perhaps he cant ride. . . ." 
 
 "Very probable! Think of the French cavalry! 
 No, it won't do. It's simply a fad and a 
 fashion. The English jockey is in possession 
 there and the Foreign Musician is in posses- 
 sion here, and you're far too lazy and stupid 
 to lift a finger." 
 
 " Many thanks, my friend, but I wish to ask you 
 a question Why is the English jockey in 
 possession abroad and the Foreign Musician 
 in possession here ? " 
 
 "The reason is simple, and holds good in both 
 cases. In your case it is because, while I have 
 been doing my part (very well at times as you
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 259 
 
 know), you've been sulking in the corner 
 with your pockets buttoned up tight. How 
 do you think I'm going to eat and drink and 
 sleep and write Music if you never give me a 
 thought or a penny-piece ? You make a 
 great show with your horses and jockeys, 
 your fat cattle, your prize sheep and your 
 other household paraphernalia ; but what 
 about all the care and patience and time and 
 money that you have spent on them ? You 
 made them, and they exist because you wish 
 them to exist." 
 
 " Well, and why not r" 
 
 " Certainly ! Why not ? The Foreigner says the 
 same thing about his household goods. But 
 he says it also about his Music. And, when 
 he says it, he acts up to it. You won't, of 
 course. Yet you've got enough sense to 
 know that if you don't put time and money 
 into your cattle-breeding and horse-rearing 
 industries you'll have neither cattle nor horses 
 by and by, but you are far too dense to see 
 that what applies to them applies just as 
 plainlv to Music. Do vou think you could 
 run any of your other National affairs with 
 this shabby indifference ? Of course vou 
 don't ! And I know, by the look on your 
 face, that vou are going to say that Music is 
 not a National affair at all. Well, whose 
 fault is that ? " 
 
 " I don't know, but at any rate not mine," says 
 the exasperated Public. " I do my best to 
 encourage the sort of thing I like in my own 
 house. It isn't perfect bv any means, 1 know, 
 but I'm willing to learn, and you ought to be
 
 260 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 teaching me. Only you won't. That's where 
 the trouble is. And look here, my lad ! I 
 see one thing pretty clear in this discussion of 
 ours, and that is that I mean to be master in 
 my own house. You can come there when- 
 ever you like and as often as you like, and 
 very welcome you'll be, only leave your 
 foreign airs outside, for I don't like 'em any 
 more than I like the foreign cattle and the 
 foreign horses and the foreign sheep." 
 
 (3) Foreign Influences. 
 
 And so we come round to the old deadlock : the 
 public, which is rich and vigorous and strongly 
 national, asks for one thing, and the composer, who 
 is poor and weak and slightly cosmopolitan, offers it 
 another. And the result is always disastrous for the 
 composer. Often by some chance influence of money 
 or friends, or by a combination of both, he staves off 
 the disaster for a time. He may perhaps, by con- 
 stant and laborious imitation of some one foreign 
 model, narrow his circle to the limits of a few 
 thoughtful souls whose careful breeding has elimi- 
 nated from their natures all delight in man's 
 work save only in one man's and these circles 
 unhappily still exist in England but in the end, be 
 he clumsy worker, clever, serious-minded artist, even 
 a genius, he is beaten, and beaten not in foreign 
 
 fc> ' o 
 
 battle nor in downright civil war, but by his own 
 people in secret and murderous league with their 
 own enemies. 
 
 How long will it be before we realize the fact that 
 where the foreign musician is there is the enemy ? 
 He may come to this island in shoals, but he comes
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 261 
 
 for one purpose only the money he can take back 
 across the water, and well he knows that the surest 
 way to make his position firm here is to denationalize 
 our music. 
 
 I have just said that the English composer is 
 beaten every time, and the pitiful proof of that 
 assertion can be found in any book of general 
 musical history. Open it and make yourself a list 
 of all the great Continental musicians who have 
 flourished during the past three hundred years : 
 marshal the dates of their greatest activity and of 
 their deaths : then turn to the names of the English 
 composers of the same and of succeeding times : see 
 what they have been doing. Almost without excep- 
 tion they have been gazing in cow-like astonishment 
 at the building of the House of Rimmon, gazing at 
 it and walking through it, not as the German, the 
 Frenchman, and the Italian walked, with stiff knees 
 and unbent head, but with weak knees and head 
 bowed down. 
 
 Sometimes the foreign composer has exercised his 
 influence only as a passing craze. He has been 
 caught up, fondled, exalted to the skies, and then 
 dropped as Mendelssohn was dropped. At other 
 times as in the case of Handel he has exercised a 
 sort of prolonged hypnotic spell which has lain so 
 heavily on the tongues of Englishmen that for gene- 
 rations their only possible speech has been in his 
 obsolete dialect. But observe here that, whether the 
 foreign composer has been merely the idol of a 
 generation or the repressing force of two centuries, 
 the Englishman has always imitated him, and imitated 
 him badly, like a clumsy parrot who will say to- 
 morrow what he is taught to-day. His attempt has 
 never been to do for his country what Mozart did
 
 262 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 for Germany to seize the highest achievements and 
 ideals of a strange race, to pass them, as it were, 
 through the fire of his own spirit, and then, when 
 they had been purged of all strangeness, to bring 
 them forth again in his own glorious utterance as a 
 homage and a glory to his own country. 
 
 Nor was there ever any honest use or hope in the 
 Englishman's process of imitation, for his successor 
 never attempted to build up on his predecessor's 
 work in the noble way that Beethoven built upon 
 Mozart or Wagner upon Weber. Instead of that 
 he was content to stand by in idleness while others 
 were suffering in order that they might learn. He 
 was content, with a guileless yet monstrous folly, to 
 accept this vicarious toil and suffering in the vain 
 hope that he might profit by its wisdom. But the 
 wisdom never came to his heart nor the palm to his 
 dustless hands. And his reproach was the reproach 
 which the great Italian set against the names of all 
 those who think to compass the victory without 
 enduring the heat ot the battle that he and all his 
 race had made themselves " not the sons, but the 
 grandsons of Nature." 
 
 Let it not be thought for an instant that, in 
 speaking of the foreign composers, one should bate 
 any jot of honour or respect for that mighty phalanx 
 of heroes who have interwoven their Jives into a 
 chaplet of glory for their country. Bach, Haydn, 
 Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Weber, 
 Wagner they all gave themselves with a simple and 
 perfect sincerity to the service of German art, and, in 
 doing so, made Germany august. But what have 
 they done for us ? Thev have done nothing, and, 
 but for our own blind stupidity, they might have 
 done much, Lor the lesson which we have had
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 263 
 
 many opportunities of learning from them, but 
 which we have never yet learnt, is the lesson that 
 every nation, whatever its ideal, must itself pass 
 through the fire to achieve that ideal. 
 
 We may stand by, as we have always stood by, 
 passively sympathizing with the sufferings, the dis- 
 appointments and the heartburnings of a nation 
 struggling towards its destiny, but if thev are not 
 our own sufferings they count as nothing. And less 
 than nothing is our cheap attempt to step in when 
 the victory is won, to take from a nation its mere 
 intellectual trophies, the hall-mark, as it were, and 
 nothing but the hall-mark of its passage through the 
 fire. When once struck, this intellectual hall-mark 
 is at the disposal of the whole world. We may, 
 indeed, take it ; we may adopt it familiarly ; we may 
 place it on our own wares as soon as it has no mean- 
 ing abroad ; we may study and imitate and contrive 
 till we produce wares that, on the surface, have the 
 same or even a better gloss than that of the foreign 
 article ; but when we have done all this we have not 
 yet begun to learn the lesson which we ought to 
 have learnt long ago from Germany. To learn that 
 we must learn to revere and respect, not the German 
 music, but the spirit which produced that music, the 
 moving spirit which was in the hearts of all the great 
 German composers, strengthening them in their 
 determination to give themselves wholly in service 
 to their country or not at all. 
 
 To tread in this way-of-life is not easy : especially 
 is ;t not easy for a professional man in this country. 
 There are many obstacles in the path the influences 
 of early education, the personal attachments to parti- 
 cular works of art, the ties of friendship. All these 
 are forces which hinder us when we try to approach
 
 264 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 nearer to the consciousness of a national existence in 
 art. 
 
 With regard to the lasting impression which early 
 education makes on a musician's mind 1 need only 
 say that, if the education were only given with its 
 true object that of drawing-out what is good in the 
 pupil and not merely of imposing on him certain 
 artistic conclusions drawn haphazard as far as he knows 
 from premises which possibly he might not admit then 
 it could only be of benefit to him and to the 
 community. To enforce this ideal of education is 
 difficult, almost impossible, as every one will agree 
 who has anv knowledge of the present system, in 
 which many individuals, often representing the highest 
 executive types of many foreign countries, are let 
 loose, sometimes in a single institution, and encour- 
 aged to nght out their mutual national antipathies. 
 These personal (and international) conflicts are 
 generally witnessed with sympathetic encouragement 
 by the crowd of students which surrounds the ring ; 
 but it is probable that their parents, being further 
 removed from the smoke and heat of the contest, 
 take less interest in the sport when they begin to 
 notice the mental paralysis which gradually sets in, 
 not on the combatants, but on the bystanders. 
 
 The worst of it is that, among these combatants, 
 there are many able and devoted foreign artists; but, 
 if one may put it without offence, their ability is, 
 naturally, an ability to interpret the art of their special 
 country, and their devotion is a devotion of them- 
 selves to that one object. How strangely topsy- 
 turvy our own ideas are on this subject may be seen 
 by examining the criticisms passed on the life-work 
 of some resident foreign artist or other. Such a man 
 may have been engaged in a strenuous and life-long
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 265 
 
 propaganda on behalf of his own national ideals, but 
 if, in the midst of this propaganda, he has shown 
 the faintest suspicion of an interest in our national 
 development as opposed to our national acceptance 
 of his country's ideals he is immediately hailed as 
 the saviour and protector not of his but of our 
 country. Nor does the public voice in any way 
 condemn a foreign artist who settles here, either 
 because he regards himself as an artistic missioner, or 
 with the (often avowed) object of trading on the 
 public ignorance and apathy till such time as he has 
 filled his pockets and can shake the English dust 
 from his feet. 
 
 It is pleasant to be able to turn from these types 
 and to acknowledge the presence among us ot one or 
 two foreign artists rare birds of a happy migration 
 whose names are well known to all. They are the 
 few who have been able to understand that, if they 
 are to fulfil their task of sympathy and encouragement 
 here, they must first alight, as it were, from the upper 
 air, and take our own standpoint on the lower branches. 
 Such a sacrifice deserves both honour and gratitude. 
 
 But, in addition to the foreign artist, we have also 
 a large band of foreign-trained English artists, who 
 exert a continual educational pressure on our musicians. 
 Ot the two sorts of foreign-trained artists, those who 
 have actually been trained abroad and those who have 
 picked up their foreign ideas at home, as one might 
 pick up a second-hand German piano, the former is 
 much less harmful. I do not think, indeed, that a 
 man ever quite gets over that queer feeling which he 
 connects with the Harwich boat ; but when he is abroad 
 he sees things that make him wonder, and, when he 
 comes back, he often makes partial readjustment of 
 his ideas. It is true that, if he is a composer, he
 
 266 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 often spends the rest of his life in an absurd hesita- 
 tion between doing what he wants to do and 
 what he thinks he ought to do, like a schoolboy 
 surreptitiously cracking nuts and at the same time 
 keeping a wary eye on the schoolmaster. When the 
 composer is in this ludicrous position he naturally 
 gets very little light or leading from his personal 
 circle or from his critics, for, so divergent are their 
 viewpoints that, in the one case, they rub their hands 
 together and chuckle, telling each other that at last 
 they have got the real English, or Scotch, or Irish 
 (which pleases him very much) ; while, in the other 
 case, they whisper sagely to each other that he is 
 carrying on the glorious traditions of Brahms, or 
 Palestrina, or Okeghem (which, in a way, also pleases 
 him very much). This sort of composer is perhaps 
 inevitable under our present transitional conditions, 
 but it is only rair to say that in those moments when 
 his worship of the Fatherland is brought to an 
 awkward standstill by the intrusion of his own person- 
 ality, he does a great deal of good. As a type he 
 stands midway between the two extremes. He has 
 not, like GoringThomas, wholly given in his allegiance 
 to the foreigner, nor, like Sullivan, has he been able 
 to throw off the foreign influence completely. 
 
 With the other type of teacher whom I mentioned 
 above, the Englishman who has picked up his anti- 
 English ideas in England, 1 must confess I have less 
 patience. He often she, by the way is usually a 
 person who has taken up music either as a hereditary 
 way of making a living or as a pleasant accomplish- 
 ment. A man of this sort is generally destitute of 
 any real artistic impulse, and, in most cases, has a 
 mind which is widened neither bv reading nor travel. 
 Unfortunately, this is exactly the sort of nature which,
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 267 
 
 in its student days, is willing to accept, and indeed 
 craves most eagerly tor, a purely intellectual provender. 
 In dealing with such a case the aim of the teacher 
 should be directed almost completely towards a devel- 
 opment of character, but it too otten happens that he 
 adopts the much easier method of merely satisfying 
 the pupil's appetite for musical facts. 
 
 This form of nutriment is swallowed, though not 
 digested, in an almost miraculous manner by most 
 English students, and after a few years the result 
 shows very plainly in their musical constitutions. 
 Both men and women soon learn to appreciate the 
 advantages which come to them, intellectually, socially, 
 and commercially, when once they have been comfort- 
 ably placed in one or other of the little hollow circles 
 whose semi-foreign culture is so pernicious in London. 
 On the other hand, they fail to understand the heavy 
 price which has to be paid for these advantages. In 
 the case of the women we see a horde of eager, 
 enthusiastic young girls crowding into our music- 
 schools full of life and promise. The mill-handle 
 goes round, and then, somehow or other, though a 
 grain or two fit for the baker may emerge here and 
 there, the greater part comes out, perhaps intellectually 
 the finest flour of the fine, but not exactly the sort of 
 which bread can be made. In the case of the men 
 the process is much the same but the result is different, 
 for, while the machine generally seems to produce on 
 the feminine mind only a listless disregard and distrust 
 of all musical expression, on the masculine mind it 
 calls into existence an extreme pugnacity, even 
 fanaticism, always on behalf of some small outcrop 
 of foreign culture a fanaticism whose too defiant 
 expression generally leaves on one's mind a suspicion 
 as to its genuineness. The effect of both these
 
 268 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 denationalized types on our present state of artistic 
 development is, of course, disastrous, and they repre- 
 sent forces with which we shall have to reckon 
 increasingly in the future, for while the Amazon 
 squadron of this foreign legion brings into the field 
 a continually ascending degree of social prestige, 
 the Centaur brigade, knowing that the battle must end 
 when once its barbarian standard is pulled down, 
 comes into the conflict determined to fight, tooth and 
 hoof, in defence of that standard and its cabalistic 
 symbols. 
 
 With regard to the second of the three obstacles 
 which I instanced above as standing in the way of our 
 complete realization of a national artistic conscious- 
 ness I mean the affection which we feel individually 
 for certain art-works and certain art-types as actually 
 offering us an expression of ourselves I should like 
 to point out that this is a difficulty which faces every 
 nation whose art is still in making, and it is a difficulty 
 that has been faced and overcome by every nation which 
 has evolved a national form ot expression. We can 
 see this in the struggle which the German operatic 
 composers waged with the Italian invaders, who, coming 
 not once but many times, often appeared to have 
 justified their raids by a permanent settlement in 
 German territory. This was indeed not to be ; tor, as 
 the Italian was continually weakened by his defeats in 
 a foreign country, the German was strengthened to 
 greater and more decisive victories. It is proper for 
 us in reading the lesson of this long struggle to take 
 courage from the German example, and to remember 
 how doubtful was the tilt of the scales for generations. 
 Indeed, it was not till well into Wagner's middle life 
 that the German arm of the balance dipped slowly and 
 fell into its present stable position.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 269 
 
 Nor is it only from the Germans that we can learn 
 those methods of national tenacity which, in every 
 walk of life hut music, are regarded as peculiarly 
 British attributes. It is the usual easy custom for 
 our cosmopolitan musicians to sneer at the exclusive- 
 ness of the French and to confound this exclusiveness 
 with narrowness of intellect. " Such and such an 
 Opera (which we know to be a masterpiece) took," 
 it is said, " so many years travel to Paris " : " So and 
 so's symphony (which we also know to be a master- 
 piece) only arrived there yesterday and has already 
 received its decree of banishment." But surely the 
 question here is not what zve think of this or that 
 work, but what the Parisians themselves think will be 
 the effect of that work on their own national forms 
 of art. The French, whatever else they may be, are 
 certainly not an unintelligent people, and we mav rest 
 assured that they know much better than we do what 
 is good for them. Indeed, one finds their attitude of 
 strict self-knowledge, their cognizance of their own 
 limitations, and their determination not to allow 
 themselves to stray beyond these boundaries, admir- 
 able and praiseworthy. Great in so many other 
 things, the French nation is not less great in having 
 endowed Paris with a soul, and in having understood 
 that, if she is to preserve that soul of simple elegance, 
 of brilliance, of rhythmic charm and grace, she must 
 not be made the howling-ground of the Goth, 
 
 (DO ' 
 
 the Saxon, and the Teuton. Nor can it be justly 
 charged to her that she has been niggardly to the 
 stranger or slow to invite him, whether to serve or to 
 eat, at her table. In this point, indeed, London has 
 not been behind her ; but while London, to her shame, 
 allows what might be a stately banquet to degenerate 
 into an ill-ordered scramble of pickpockets, Paris more
 
 270 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 wisely ordains that her guests shall feast with her 
 onlv on her own severe conditions of respect and 
 propriety. 
 
 In a word, we must begin to realize, as the French, 
 the Germans, and the Italians have already realized, 
 that all foreign art-products come to a nation, not 
 only as the parents of possible new ideas, but also as 
 the children of an organism that has been moulded 
 to its present complexity and perfection onlv after 
 centuries of intellectual and emotional struggle. In 
 this struggle we have had almost no share, and it is 
 therefore merely prudent (if nothing else) that we 
 should examine its results narrowly in order to 
 ascertain how much or how little can be of use to 
 us. To do this we must first rid ourselves of our 
 national habit of musical acquiescence : we must 
 guard ourselves against the error of supposing that 
 an art-work can have any absolute or detached 
 existence apart from the nation which produced it : 
 we must therefore be quick to weigh and careful to 
 consider from our own national standpoint any such 
 work that comes to us. In doing this it will be 
 better for us in the long run if we incline to a certain 
 reserve before we offer any such work a complete 
 acceptance. Indeed, I do not hesitate to say that 
 every man, English or otherwise, it he fully realizes 
 his nationality, should find must rind in every 
 foreign art-work something in some part repellent to 
 his own individuality. Nor should tear of tradition 
 or of authority prevent him making that feeling an 
 emphatic part of his nature. This persistence and 
 tenacity of national ideal has, as a matter of history, 
 been the foundation on which all the Continental 
 schools have been set up, and it will only be when we 
 abandon the shifting sands of a foreign culture and
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 271 
 
 begin to build on the same sure rock that we shall be 
 welcomed with respect into the artistic commonwealth 
 of Europe. 
 
 I now come to the third of the three obstacles which 
 I instanced above as probable hindrances to us when 
 we are on the way to our desired end, the personal 
 influence ot foreigners. In order to remove the 
 possibility of even the smallest misapprehension, I 
 should say that when I spoke of the " enemies " of 
 English art I used that word solely in an artistic sense 
 and without any intention of attaching a personal or 
 offensive meaning to it. Even the artistic use of the 
 word I should have avoided if it could be shown 
 historically that we have ever been able to assimilate 
 and profit by the foreign culture which necessitates 
 the settlement in our midst of a large number of alien 
 musicians. 
 
 In other fields of activity we have shown more 
 than once a marked ability to grasp the principles and 
 even to improve on the technique of foreign craftsmen 
 who have settled here. Such an occasion occurred 
 in the seventeenth century when the French Govern- 
 ment revoked the Edict of Nantes and so exiled some 
 ofits most industrious citizens. These Huguenots 
 came to England as the foreign musician comes to 
 search for a livelihood. But there the parallel ends, 
 for while the Englishman has never been able to 
 seize the imported musical methods and turn them 
 to his own use, the Londoner and the man of Kent 
 rapidly learnt and perfected the imported principles 
 of silk and cloth weaving and managed to create from 
 them a bulwark, as it were, of a higher level for their 
 own defence against foreign industrial invasion in the 
 next generation. 
 
 This marks a distinct difference in the two sorts
 
 272 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of national receptivity and assists us in our study of 
 the actual method by which the blood is kept 
 circulating in the veins of our foreign culture. We 
 have only to walk through a village churchyard in 
 Kent and note the sudden appearance (on the tomb- 
 stones) of the French names in the seventeenth 
 century and their gradual Anglicizing during the 
 succeeding centuries to realize how completely the 
 Huguenots were absorbed by the people under whose 
 laws they had sheltered. But in the case of foreign 
 musicians we find no such total absorption. It is 
 true that there are, principally in London, a certain 
 (small) number of English-born musicians with 
 strangely foreign names ; but it is noteworthy that, 
 though they are often the children of two purely 
 foreign parents, or at most a single generation 
 removed from a purely foreign stock, yet they are, as 
 a rule, more characteristically English in their artistic 
 outlook than their genuinely Anglo-Saxon colleagues. 
 
 This striking fact, which is, I believe, a common- 
 place of sociology to students of immigration in 
 America, shows at once the Englishman's national 
 vigour and his artistic weakness, for while large 
 numbers of foreign musicians who visit this island 
 return eventually to their own countries, the children 
 of those that stay behind as settlers are at once 
 absorbed personally if I may so put it -by their 
 English surroundings, but the culture which they 
 represent remains unabsorbed by the nation. The 
 consequence of the Englishman's inability to do this 
 is that in the next generation he has no barrier of a 
 higher Anglicized culture behind which he can proceed 
 to develop his own art, and that the cycle of foreign 
 invasion begins all over again. 
 
 These conditions are of interest at the present
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 273 
 
 moment because they imply in our midst the 
 continual presence of a large number of individuals 
 who rely for their existence on their ability to main- 
 tain their (superior) foreign culture unabsorbed by 
 us. It is for this reason and no other that I call 
 them our "artistic enemies." They are our enemies 
 in the sense that they fully realize that if once a 
 purely national culture is permitted to develop here, 
 thev will be in danger of losing one of their most 
 prized possessions a market of forty million people. 
 It is, therefore, of the greatest moment to them that 
 no such development should be encouraged or allowed, 
 and to combat this possibility they throw into the 
 scales the weight of very great financial power and 
 large vested interests. It is unnecessary for me to 
 detail the method by which publishers and others 
 bring this pressure into play : it is sufficient to say 
 that its weight, already keenly felt by English 
 musicians in their daily life, will have to be thrown 
 off as soon as the real struggle for national artistic 
 
 DO 
 
 existence begins. 
 
 o 
 
 It is, of course, very difficult to coerce an English- 
 man into any impartial view on this topic. His 
 hereditary peculiarities of temperament forbid it. 
 Every day he feels the pressure of those many 
 points of foreign power which give him a direction 
 in the way of small present personal advantage. 
 Then there is the undoubted fact that the foreigner 
 who finds himself most welcome here is the very man 
 against whose charm of manner and undeniable 
 good-fellowship the Englishman is defenceless. The 
 foreigner soon becomes aware of these two character- 
 istics of the Englishman's temperament his liking for 
 a little present gain and for a " good fellow," and 
 skilfully uses his knowledge to attack him in his 
 
 s
 
 274 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 weakest places. The assault is not unpleasant to the 
 individual Englishman. He is even a little flattered 
 by the easy good-fellowship which is offered him by 
 the distinguished foreign artist or publisher. It is, 
 indeed, almost a religion with him to prefer this 
 good-fellowship to the highest intellectual and moral 
 attainments. We must, therefore, not be surprised 
 if we find him unwilling either to apply a too close 
 logic to the system under which he has to work, or 
 to attempt to get behind its ephemeral conditions and 
 to ascertain the more permanent principles on which 
 it is based. 
 
 (4) Material Necessities. 
 
 The reader must accept the foregoing paragraphs as 
 a by no means exhaustive account of the difficulties 
 which have to be overcome if ever we are to struggle 
 up to the heights of a national artistic life. I have 
 only indicated three of these difficulties, because I 
 wished to select types of the forces which at present 
 exert a constant and steady pull against us. Nor 
 would it be possible, outside the limits of a volume, 
 to show in detail how these forces act, and how, by 
 persistence and tenacity, we may turn them to our 
 own account. That this can be done and must be 
 done I have not the slightest doubt, and signs are 
 not wanting of a conscience slowly awakening to 
 new possibilities. How long this awakening will take 
 no one can say, but we may take courage from our 
 knowledge that, when once the good seed is sown in 
 the magic garden of art, the flower often appears 
 with incredible swiftness. The years that separate 
 Haydn's first svmphony from the ninth of Beethoven 
 are fewer than the three score years and ten allotted
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 275 
 
 by the Psalmist as the span of man's life. But it is 
 not for those who go afield, as it were, with the 
 plough, to more than dream of the glorv of the 
 harvest. 
 
 In other words, the lesson which we in England 
 need to-day is not the lesson of Beethoven but of 
 Haydn. The former was indeed happy in his inheri- 
 tance and glorious in the riches which he added to 
 it ; but to the latter is the eternal happiness and 
 glorv which come to the man who finds the treasure- 
 house empty, and sets his steadfast heart to fill it 
 with the wealth of his art. The parallel between the 
 state of German music in Haydn's vouth and the 
 state of music in England to-day is instructive. Bach 
 was not actuallv dead when Havdn was born, but 
 he was nearing his end, and was recognized as the 
 one great original genius who had given himself 
 solely to the service of German art. We, too, can 
 look back across the centuries to an Englishman 
 whose achievements raise him to a height as exalted 
 in the seventeenth century as Bach was in the 
 eighteenth. 
 
 Nor does the parallel end there, for we find here 
 in twentieth century England the same confused 
 turnings, twistings, and gropings of the national 
 mind towards a fuller expression of itself as we find 
 in the German states of the eighteenth century. On 
 all sides there is an earnestness to hear and a quick- 
 ness to judge; a strange mixture of hopes and 
 disappointments which tells of a dumb nation 
 seeking anxiously, almost feverishly, for some means 
 of speech. This anxiety and fever is often carelessly 
 misinterpreted. "In England," it is said, "there is 
 a market for anything-." But it England is waiting 
 for someone who will be to her what Haydn was to
 
 276 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Germany she must first pass through, perhaps is now 
 passing through, a period of intellectuality similar to 
 that which prepared the way for Haydn. In litera- 
 ture she passed unscathed and strengthened through 
 her eighteenth century of pure reason and formalism, 
 and emerged from it to crown herself with the laurels 
 of her nineteenth century poetry. 
 
 Is not the same thing possible in music ? If it is, 
 that is to say if the national habit of mind permits it, 
 the nation itself must take its music in hand. It is 
 not enough that there is a ''market for everything in 
 England." There was a market for everything in 
 Austria when Haydn began his brick-making, but he 
 would never have laid those bricks into the true and 
 enduring foundations of a national palace of art, if 
 there had not been a nation waiting and dreaming of 
 the day when it could enter into that palace. 
 
 Haydn died, but Mozart lived ; Purcell died, but 
 who lived ? In those ten words is the whole differ- 
 ence in nationalism between the Germans and the 
 English. For the responsibility is not to the actual 
 craftsman ; it is to the nation which employs the 
 craftsman and enjoins the conditions under which he 
 must work. It is useless to compile lists of com- 
 posers, good, bad, and indifferent, and to palm their 
 names off on a people as their musical history. We 
 must dig deeper and cut down to the root of the 
 matter. Then we shall recognize that composers do 
 not spring up here and there without cause; we shall 
 see that they are only the expression and interpreta- 
 tion of the national will, and that, when they group 
 themselves into a gradually developing "school," the 
 development is not a merely personal and musical 
 development, but a development in certain fixed 
 directions of the nation itself.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 277 
 
 No more lamentable example of this want of fixed 
 national tendency can be found than England, for, 
 if we ask ourselves what men the nation could pro- 
 vide to carry on the torch which had been lit by 
 Purcell, the answer is silence. That composer's 
 " Dido and Aeneas" and Arne's "Artaxerxes" were, 
 in different ways, brilliant and successful works. The 
 former, at any rate, meant as much to England as 
 the " Zauberflote " or " Don Giovanni " meant to 
 Germany. But where are we to look for the English 
 " Fidelio " and " Freischiitz " ? Of first-class work 
 there is almost none : of the steady persistence and 
 labour directed generation after generation to one 
 end we have nothing : of the honourable tradition 
 which comes from this intelligent application of 
 labour we have nothing : of the self-sacrificing love 
 of country which makes both this labour and its 
 results possible we have nothing. The church 
 musician alone among all our workers has managed 
 to preserve a sort of tradition, which in an un- 
 emotional and inoffensive manner fairly reflects the 
 quiet solemnity and ease of the church. 
 
 This is the more interesting to us when we reflect 
 on the isolation of the church from all the other 
 religious forces of the world, and on her indifference 
 for the greater part of the past 250 years to the 
 external objects of England's world-policy. On the 
 other hand, with regard to music in general, it is just 
 that world-policy which has prevented the nation 
 developing along the one line of music, and the 
 proximate cause of that stunted growth can be seen 
 in our inability to assimilate any foreign culture, and 
 to develop from it a national school, for the reason 
 that the very existence of that culture prevents the 
 nation passing through the intellectual and emotional
 
 278 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 experiences which it presupposes. In other words, 
 since it is only as a mode of national expression that 
 music can exist, we must, if we wish for a National 
 School of Music, allow the people themselves to pass 
 through these experiences in music of their own 
 choice, and, in doing so, permit them, unhampered 
 by any existent art-products, to fix their own 
 postulates, develop their own methods, and arrive at 
 their own canons of expression. 
 
 But in the production of music there are two 
 parties responsible for its perfection or imperfection, 
 the public which demands it and the composer who 
 supplies the demand. Each of them, useless without 
 the other, must be in a certain harmonious relation- 
 ship before any good result can be looked for. The 
 composer, on his part, must be sufficiently in sympathy 
 with the needs and aspirations of the people to enable 
 him to genuinely express them when he is endeavour- 
 ing only to express himself: the public, on the other 
 hand, must be not only passively receptive of his 
 music when it is presented to them, but anxious that 
 such an expression of themselves should exist. This 
 seems to me to be an essential part of the musical 
 contract. 
 
 We must remember that no living school of 
 music has ever existed in which there was not an 
 essential unity between the public and its interpreter, 
 the composer. In the past it lias often been the 
 practice, and is even now the practice, of English 
 composers to waste their lives vainly beating their 
 wings in the void. The consequence of this is seen 
 when their compositions are thrown down from the 
 heights to an audience which is waiting and craving, 
 not for the rarefied and intellectual ditties of the 
 upper air, but tor some song which is racy of its
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 279 
 
 mother, the earth. 1 In such a case the result is 
 exasperation for the composer and a fit of the sulks 
 for the public, and the reason is the same in both 
 cases neither understands the other. 
 
 It is, however, when we come to deal with the 
 practical side of the question that we rind it con- 
 venient to view the production of music as being 
 the result of two forces, the public and the composer, 
 for by looking at it in this light we can trace their 
 separate lines of activity and endeavour to suggest 
 methods of employing this force to its greatest 
 advantage. Let us, then, first of all, ask ourselves 
 the question, What is the minimum demand that 
 the operatic composer makes of the public ? He 
 demands two things, or rather only one thing 
 sympathy, that is to say, money. Let us explain 
 this apparent contradiction. It is, of course, obvious 
 that, when a composer is writing his opera, it is on 
 the hypothesis that there are a certain number of 
 people anxious to hear it any other assumption is 
 pure affectation. As a matter of history, we can see 
 that every operatic composer has always made this 
 assumption, and we must not overlook the fact that, 
 whatever struggles and trials the great German 
 operatic composers had to face, and however small 
 this minimum ot public interest had at times been 
 for them, it has actually been there. In other words, 
 they were always able, though often only with great 
 difficulty, to study and perfect their technique by the 
 
 J " The greatest works which the world has seen have not been 
 dedicated to an unknown posterity, hut have been produced to 
 satisfy the daily needs of their age, and have, therefore, of neces- 
 sity conformed to the tastes, and usually to the fashion and 
 the prejudices, of the period which gave them birth" (Mr. A. J. 
 Balfour's essay on Handel).
 
 280 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 only method which could give life and reality to their 
 art, that is to say, by its exercise before theatrical 
 audiences. 
 
 There is a general idea among laymen that the art 
 of writing operas which, as the history of its many 
 failures shows, is a most difficult form of mental 
 activity can be practised almost at haphazard. It 
 is forgotten that the composer must be as much 
 in touch with the living realities of his art as 
 the naval commander is with his divisions at 
 sea : it is forgotten that an opera is not the book 
 of an opera or even the music of an opera, but 
 a distinct something made up of these two and other 
 things, that its existence is justified only by its success 
 in the theatre, and that its educational value for the 
 composer and for the public cannot exist except 
 through the medium of actual physical representation. 
 
 We may then say that the first necessity of the 
 composer is that his works shall have a chance of 
 existence according to the conditions which he has 
 designed for them. It is in this sense that we may 
 say that the composer's demand for sympathy is also 
 a demand for money. If he presupposes a public 
 willing to hear his work, he also presupposes a public 
 willing to pass the box-office. I have already said 
 enough with regard to the necessity both of a 
 " spiritual union " between the composer and his 
 audience and of the "accessibility and intelligibility" 
 in the art-work itself. I must, however, point out 
 that the much-derided "logic of the box-office" pro- 
 vides us with our only possible method of making 
 present deductions as to the relative state of the 
 composer and his public, and though into this 
 dialectic many fallacies can be and are introduced, 
 fallacies of boom and advertisement, fallacies of social
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 281 
 
 prestige and gilt-edged personal ambition, yet in the 
 end these fallacies though often employed for years 
 to dupe the public are detected, and the arguments 
 based upon them are refuted by the public itself. 
 
 We then have to return to the fact that, putting 
 aside these cruel and iniquitous fallacies, we can only 
 gauge the strength of the " spiritual union " between 
 the composer and his audience from the inside of 
 the box-ofRce. But this presupposes that the doors 
 of the opera-house are open and that the public has 
 an opportunity of showing its approval or disapproval 
 of the composer. It is just at this point that the 
 English composer intervenes. " The doors," he says, 
 " are indeed open wide to the public, but it is non- 
 sense to speak of a public judgment on me y for the 
 simple reason that I am never allowed to put my 
 nose inside the stage-door." It is evident that there 
 is an essential something which the composer needs 
 before he can find out whether the public wants him 
 or not. That essential something is Money. 
 
 The question for him is, How is this money to be 
 obtained ? It is prettv obvious that not one com- 
 poser in a hundred " has," as the phrase goes, 
 " money of his own," that is to say, not one in a 
 hundred enjoys his legal right of utilizing the labour 
 of others to supply himself with the means of life 
 while he is supplying the world with music. Some 
 few composers have enjoyed this right in the past, 
 and some living composers still enjoy it. But 
 it is very certain that if we restrict the field of 
 musical creation to those who accidentally enjoy this 
 right we are narrowing the area in an artificial and 
 pernicious manner ; and that even in this country, 
 where most questions are solved by processes of 
 finance and caste, we shall have to pay the price of
 
 282 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 our negligence in a lowered standard and a decreased 
 output. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the general total want of 
 opportunity for making money and the correspond- 
 ing ignorance of the stern necessity of getting it for 
 the sake of his art are the two things most charac- 
 teristic of the composer in this country. There is 
 almost a humorous side to this, for no one can have 
 failed to hear tales told with bated breath of some 
 successful composer of serious music, who, after 
 perhaps months or even years of strenuous work, 
 followed by weeks of anxious correspondence, has 
 made a sum which any respectable city man would 
 snap up, as a matter of routine, any day before lunch. 
 On the whole, we may say that to the composer 
 money is not. But money is the essential some- 
 thing which he needs before the public can enjoy 
 the opportunity of paying for his operas at the 
 box-office. Some further mechanism is therefore 
 necessary. 
 
 The question is as to what form that mechanism 
 is to take and how it is to be utilized. We may 
 safelv put out of our calculations any idea of a return 
 to the eighteenth century system of private patronage 
 as opposed to the spirit of our times. In the past it 
 may have produced beneficial results: it existed in 
 the cases of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Wagner, 
 and it even exists in certain cases here in England 
 to-day. But it has grave drawbacks, especially in a 
 country where caste-feeling is strong. It presupposes 
 in our aristocracy a higher degree of culture than 
 we have reason to suppose they possess ; it also 
 presupposes a patriotic direction to this culture. 
 No one can doubt that some such enthusiasm tor 
 national art did flourish in the aristocratic circles of
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 283 
 
 eighteenth century Vienna, and again at the nine- 
 teenth century Royal Court of Bavaria ; but our 
 own aristocracy in general consecrates its patriotism 
 to strictly material ends connected with self-aggran- 
 dizement, and, indeed, in matters of art, has always 
 prided itself on a week-kneed and consumptive 
 cosmopolitanism. On the other hand, our plutocracy 
 that is to say, our aristocracy of to-morrow- is 
 made up of semi-foreign elements and of that type 
 of Anglo-Saxon whose special developments of com- 
 mercial activity leave him neither time nor inclination 
 to befriend the artist. 
 
 Besides these general objections to a system of 
 private patronage there is also the excessive difficulty 
 of its personal application. The two persons who 
 are to benefit by it he who provides the money 7 and 
 he who utilizes the money naturally move in circles 
 that are widely removed from each other, and it 
 requires a great effort and some personal sacrifice 
 on the part of the patron if he is to seek out the 
 artist and put his means at his disposal. And this 
 he must do, for it is very unlikely that the artist, 
 especially the English artist, will be able to face the 
 continual misunderstandings to which he would be 
 exposed if he had to approach the patron. We 
 cannot very 7 well blame a man of spirit for refusing 
 to go round cap in hand, /or the sake of Jus art, when 
 once experience has taught him that he will be 
 understood to be holding it out for himself. Even 
 when the relationship of patron and patronized has 
 been established it bespeaks on the part of both 
 an unattainable degree of mutual regard and self- 
 forgetfulness. The patron must be endowed with 
 the utmost sympathy and delicacy of mind, and 
 must be always on his guard to keep the index-hand
 
 284 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 of benefits-received pointing, as it were, in his own 
 favour, while the artist must be able to save his self- 
 respect by looking only towards the ultimate objects 
 which furnish the reason for their compact. 
 
 We have only to reflect on Beethoven's ludicrous 
 and flamboyant attitude of defiance towards his 
 patrons to see how distressing such relationships 
 are apt to become. Indeed, the very fact that private 
 patronage of the eighteenth-century type has almost 
 ceased to exist points the moral that, with the rise 
 of the democracy and the alteration in the social 
 status of the composer, 1 it no longer provides a 
 workable and beneficial scheme. 
 
 We must then turn to other sources if we are to 
 find the mechanism necessary for the presentation 
 of operatic works. I have already outlined some ot 
 the arguments for and against the expedient of State- 
 aid. In all these arguments it is presumed that a 
 National Opera House would, by its constitution, 
 make adequate provision for the regular performance 
 of English operas, new and old. With regard to the 
 new works this is, however, no more than a pious 
 hope, nor is there any clear evidence to be derived 
 from other examples of State activity in artistic matters 
 that this hope would be fulfilled. Indeed, in some 
 other departments of State control, on which the 
 epithet " National " is bestowed, it has been found 
 necessary to redress the parsimony ot the richest 
 nation in the world by the generosity ot its private 
 citizens. It must, however, be candidly admitted 
 that difficulties of this sort tend to disappear if we 
 suppose the possibility ot a genuine public desire 
 for an adequate National Opera House, and ot a 
 sustained public interest which would tocus itself 
 1 Sec Wallace's The Threshold r,f Musk, p. 166.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 285 
 
 on the board of management. We must also sup- 
 pose an initial constitution for our opera-house, 
 drawn up by musicians who are far-seeing enough 
 to postpone any considerations of immediate personal 
 gain to the vast national benefits which might result 
 from their wise provisions. Such men exist among 
 us, and therefore it is possible for the nation to utilize 
 the mellow wisdom which they unite to an enthusiasm 
 for national art and an unquestioned ability for prac- 
 tical affairs. 
 
 With such men as these to lay the foundations of 
 the edifice we need not fear even the professiona 
 politician through whose hands the architectural 
 details would have to pass, for though it is true 
 that one of the most eminent of these politicians has 
 not hesitated to say before an English audience that 
 " when we say music we mean German music," we 
 can at least claim his forbearance on the plea that 
 though " music " mav be the same thing to him as 
 " German music," we must make provision for a time 
 when his successors will view the idea of German 
 Opera in possession at Covent Garden in much the 
 same light as he now views the idea of the " Nassau " 
 or the " Westphalen " in dry dock at Portsmouth. 
 
 Into the many mutually contradictory deductions 
 that have been made from the Continental custom of 
 subsidizing opera houses I do not intend to go at any 
 length. I mav, however, remind the reader of the 
 main argument which is based on this custom. 
 " Wherever there is a School of Opera, there you 
 will find a subsidized Opera House, and therefore," 
 it is contended, " history and the practice of the world 
 show that you cannot have a School of Opera without 
 a subsidized Opera House." The question is then 
 often asked whether France, Italy, and Germany
 
 286 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 have produced their schools because they happen to 
 have founded national opera houses or whether they 
 founded the opera houses because they happened to 
 have produced Schools of Opera. 
 
 This question, which one has heard gravely 
 debated more than once, can, ot course, be easily 
 reduced to the level of that other ingenious question 
 as to which came first, the hen or the agg. 1 For, 
 though it is true that we find subsidized opera 
 houses in all those countries (such as France, Italv, 
 and Germany) which possess National Schools of 
 Opera, vet it is equally true that we rind subsidized 
 opera houses in many places (such as Portugal, 
 Servia, and Switzerland) which do not possess 
 National Schools of Opera. We are therefore 
 asked to take one of two views : either that the 
 subsidizing of opera houses in France, Italv, and 
 Germanv produced the operas that are played in 
 them (in which case we may shortly expect Portu- 
 guese, Servian, and Swiss Schools ot Opera), or that 
 the writing of the operas by French, German, and 
 Italian composers produced the necessitv of sub- 
 sidized opera houses in which to play them (in which 
 case we may expect that a more minute examination 
 would reveal to us the actual existence of Portuguese, 
 Servian, and Swiss Schools ot Opera !)- 
 
 Of course this Gilbertian Ionic contains within 
 itselt at least two fatal fallacies. It we grant, on the 
 
 1 Or that unfathomable musico-national mystery whether Welsh- 
 men engage in the milk trade because they have line voices or 
 have tine voices because the\' engage in the milk trade. 
 
 -The municipality of Saigon (Cochin-China) subsidizes an 
 
 opera house. The performances arc -aid to be excellent, and 
 often attended by ttie natives, but it is unlikely that we shall 
 ever hear of a Cochin-Chinese School ot Opera.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 287 
 
 one hand, that the mere subsidizing of opera houses 
 is a necessary preliminary to the writing of operas, it 
 is plain that there must be in every case many other 
 necessary preliminaries, such as those of race, climate, 
 geographical and political condition which may be 
 absent in the cases of Portugal, Servia, or Switzer- 
 land. Again, if we grant that the writing of operas 
 produces the necessity of subsidized houses in which 
 to play them, it is equally plain that this artistic 
 activity is not the only cause which can call into 
 existence such houses, for we know, as a matter of 
 fact, that Portugal, Servia, and Switzerland have no 
 Schools of Opera and yet possess subsidized houses. 
 
 With this question of the connection that exists 
 between the production of the opera and the sub- 
 sidizing of the opera house we shall perhaps deal 
 fairly if we quote it as an example of what is called 
 in logic an "inseparable accident," like the blackness 
 of crows. Unfortunately, as we can see at South 
 Kensington, crows are occasionally white, and it is 
 just on this point that some difficulty arises when we 
 come to apply the Continental logic to our English 
 conditions. For, as a reference to any musical 
 dictionary will show, England has produced Opera 
 continually. On the other hand, though to any 
 wealthy nation the subsidizing of a National Opera 
 House is a matter of comparative ease, she alone 
 among such nations has not done so. It is when we 
 consider this tact and the fact that all our activities 
 social, political, intellectual, and emotional- have 
 differed widely from similar Continental activities 
 that we feel the necessity of considering whether we 
 may not be the "white crow" in this international 
 argument. 
 
 On this point I offer an opinion only with the
 
 288 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 utmost diffidence and with the verv full conscious- 
 ness that, in the present state of utter stagnation, any 
 change which gives our composers a chance of doing 
 good work is a change for the better. In that sense 
 my view is that the meanest house of wood and 
 wattles, provided it were set up with the conscious 
 determination that it should benefit English art, 
 would be an advance on Covent Garden and all the 
 money that supports it. 
 
 This is, however, a financial matter which may 
 easily be taken too deep. In the chapter which Sir 
 Charles Stanford 1 has devoted to the study of State 
 aid, he says, " The principle is either good or bad, 
 and if it is bad for our countrv it is equally bad for 
 other countries"; but laying aside the possibility 
 that in a nest of black crows there may be one white 
 crow who wants a different diet, we may fairly ask, is 
 it a " principle " at all ? Surely it is a mere matter 
 of expediency, and if there is any "principle" about 
 it, the principle is that money 'must be supplied 
 somehow to support Opera. This does not, of course, 
 get us verv much further forward, though we must 
 remember that almost no efforts have been made to 
 procure this money from sources other than those of 
 the State or of the Municipality 
 
 Many other sources exist, and the generosity of 
 the British public in supporting all tonus of social 
 enterprise has come to be regarded as a proverb. To 
 describe one-tenth of the objects good, bad, and 
 indifferent to which wealthy people dedicate their 
 wealth by subscription or bequest would take a 
 larger volume than 1 am now writing. Either as 
 individuals or as societies they maintain our hospitals 
 and our missions, and in great part our church ; they 
 'In his Studies and Memories, p. 10.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 289 
 
 provide funds for the " unsuccessful " of many pro- 
 fessions ; thev educate orphans ; thev organize our 
 charitv ; they make life pleasanter for us by provid- 
 ing us with additional curates and by suppressing the 
 trade in opium ; they distribute Bibles, trusses, and 
 cattle-troughs ; they aid the blind, the deaf, the 
 dumb, and the halt ; they show us how to emigrate, 
 if we wish to ; they look after our birds, our lost 
 dogs, our historical beautv spots, and our Asiatic 
 strangers ; they prevent cruelty to children and to 
 animals ; they promote Christian knowledge for our- 
 selves and for the Jews ; they discourage inebriety ; 
 they encourage the observance of the Lord's Day 
 both by the opening and the shutting of museums ; 
 they give our poor (and rich) the opportunity of 
 being educated in the principles of the Established 
 Church and many other churches ; they protect and 
 help young girls, sea fishermen, spooks, and epilep- 
 tics ; they control abuses in advertizing and in the 
 burning of coal ; they help us not to gamble or to be 
 slaves or to be vaccinated. 
 
 When we consider that this formidable list might 
 easily be made five times as long, and that most 
 "Societies for the Encouragement of" X, Y, and Z 
 presuppose the existence of other " Societies for the 
 Abolition or Suppression " of the same X, Y, Z, we 
 get an idea of the sincere and whole-hearted generosity 
 with which the British public backs its enthusiasms. 
 But the point that interests us is that in all this vast 
 scheme of national generosity the word " Opera " is 
 not once mentioned. Considering the infinite variety 
 of the channels through which the stream of public 
 munificence flows, we might well have indulged our- 
 selves with the hope that some individual or Society 
 existed to " propagate " or " encourage " national 
 
 T
 
 2 9 o MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 Opera. We might, indeed, in our chagrin at this 
 total indifference, have almost welcomed a society 
 for its " prevention," " suppression," or " total aboli- 
 tion." But we are denied even this tepid pleasure, 
 and we have to face the solid fact that, in spite of 
 the talk and surface enthusiasm of years, no single 
 living soul of all the many rich and super-rich pro- 
 duced by our social system is now ready to put 
 down a shilling-piece for national English Opera. 
 
 I do not doubt for a moment that if anv of the 
 rich amateurs whose pleasure it is to control the 
 destinies of music in London were to devote an hour 
 to the subject they would see its urgent necessities. 
 Let them attempt to reconstitute in their own 
 businesses the conditions which the English operatic 
 composer has to face in his. Let them consider 
 before they blame the English composer as I have 
 heard him blamed what their own prosperity would 
 be if they attempted to start a new and hazardous 
 commercial enterprise without capital, without credit, 
 without even an office. What would they think if 
 they were required to conceive and execute great 
 plans when the only great plan possible was the plan 
 to keep alive. Approach any one of these gentle- 
 men, whose dilettante views as to the severance 
 between capital and energy only begin to assert them- 
 selves after four o'clock, with a " proposition," be it 
 oil in California, timber in Oregon, or fish in British 
 Columbia. Does he not know at once that there are 
 two questions to be answered first, is the " proposi- 
 tion " a good one ? and, second, where is the money 
 to come from ? 
 
 And these are exactly the two questions which are 
 contained in the English operatic problem, for the 
 answer to the query as to which came first, the hen
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 291 
 
 or the egg, is, in this case, Both. That it is useless 
 to put up so many thousand pounds' worth of bricks 
 and mortar the music-hall performance to-night in 
 Cambridge Circus testifies ; that it is just as useless to 
 expect English composers to found a School of Opera 
 by wandering about the slums of Covent Garden with 
 their scores under their arms the " Grand " season 
 bears undeniable witness. 
 
 In studying this question we must make up our 
 mind to disregard all those fatuous prophecies which 
 are regularly croaked out as soon as the words 
 "English Opera" are mentioned, and for this very 
 simple reason, that the matter has never been put 
 fairly to the test. No one has ever yet come for- 
 ward equipped with both the money and the single- 
 eyed determination to offer the Englishman a 
 material basis on which he can erect his artistic 
 structures. It is true that, at long intervals, indi- 
 vidual composers have secured isolated performances 
 of their operas ; it is true that publishers have occa- 
 sionally and, be it said, with the greatest generosity 
 offered sums of money and performances as prizes 
 to English composers ; it is true that singers, im- 
 presarios, conductors, and others have from time to 
 time mounted English operas and operas in English, 
 either from a genuine desire to further the cause of 
 English music or from mere motives of personal 
 gain and ambition ; but in all the vast mass of 
 private beneficence to which I have alluded above, 
 and in all the infinite searchings after good ends 
 which this beneficence presupposes, there is not one 
 instance of money devoted with a single eye to this 
 object. 
 
 From this, indeed, we mav, in a manner, take 
 courage, for the battle cannot be said to be lost
 
 292 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 before it is begun. In other departments of music 
 the battle has begun, and we can note very evident 
 signs that those who are able to help the composer 
 are not ignorant of his wants. The institution of 
 the Patron's Fund by Mr. Ernest Palmer is a land- 
 mark in private musical philanthropy. By the terms 
 of this fund he placed at the disposal of the patron 
 His Majesty the King a large sum of money to be 
 devoted in various ways to the encouragement of 
 young British musicians, and it is satisfactory to note 
 a general agreement as to the far-seeing wisdom and 
 nobility of purpose which inspired the founder's 
 generosity. 
 
 Of Mr. Joseph Beecham's larger (but more cosmo- 
 politan) enterprises 1 have little to say here, as the 
 energies of his wealth are not primarily devoted to 
 the object which I am discussing. The method 
 which he has adopted of placing his resources at the 
 disposal of one man in this case his son seems to 
 me to be peculiarly sound and admirable. It recog- 
 nizes the cardinal truth that, in this country at any 
 rate, a Board of Management depends in the long 
 run on one man for its momentum, and, by doing 
 away with the other members of the Board, it utilizes 
 to the full the initiative, the resource, and the business 
 capacity of this one man, and, at the same time, gets 
 rid of the uncertainty ot purpose which is usually 
 inseparable from artistic committees. Thus the 
 objects of his enterprise whatever they may be 
 are probably attained with a minimum ot confusion. 
 
 Indeed, I can imagine no scheme better fitted to 
 cope with the stringent necessities of English Opera 
 than the one-man-and-one-financier scheme of Mr. 
 Joseph Beecham, and it is to be hoped that some one 
 ot our very rich men may be inspired by his example
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 293 
 
 to grasp the possibilities of the situation, and to 
 " acquire merit " by assisting to realize these possi- 
 bilities. Such a man must come into the field armed 
 not only with money, but with the belief without 
 which the mountains cannot be removed. He must 
 have a single eye to the one great object, and the 
 achievement of that object must be his reward ; he 
 must have no ulterior ends of title or advertisement ; 
 he must hope for neither present gratitude nor mone- 
 tary profit ; he must leave out of his plans all ideas 
 of advancing, except incidentally, the interests of 
 individual singers and composers ; he must expect to 
 start, not with the tidal wave of a boom, but with 
 the quiet persistence of effort which, like the lapping 
 of water, wears away the live rock. 
 
 The actual amount of money which he would have 
 to find would be large, but, compared with some of 
 our present-day operatic enterprises, or with any 
 modern commercial undertaking, very small. Sup- 
 pose the money found, there would be no idea of 
 running a huge succession of operas pell-mell, night 
 after night. The first thing to do would be to find 
 the operas. Perhaps they are not written. In that 
 case nothing is to be gained by sitting down and 
 lamenting the fact, for the men must be found who 
 can write them, and it must be made possible for 
 them to do so. The difficulties in the way of doing 
 this may seem overwhelming to the layman un- 
 acquainted with the personnel of our artistic life. As 
 a matter of fact, though it has never been attempted, 
 nothing could be simpler. We have plenty of fine 
 musicians, some of them men of high ideals, who 
 have been familiar with the theatre from childhood. 
 Such men would be a glory to our stage if they were 
 given the opportunity of producing good work. At
 
 294 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 present they are engaged in doing verv different and 
 less important things, and the sum of money which, 
 wisely and sympathetically expended, would put an 
 end to this state of affairs would be a very small one, 
 for composers, unlike jockeys, publicans, and some 
 other really useful members of the community, have 
 no wide-stretched ideas on the subject of personal 
 gain. Indeed, the amount of money that is paid 
 away in six months, not to the singers, but to the 
 stage-hands of a large opera house, would, if applied 
 in the way that I have suggested, do more good to 
 English Opera than all the casual performances of 
 the last twenty-rive years. 
 
 The preliminary expenditure of money may, of 
 course, be made in many ways, but in no way more 
 profitably than in the provision of " books," whose 
 level of dramatic and poetical interest will be high 
 enough to attract the attention of the most promising 
 composers. There are a dozen such men in London 
 alone, who are " on the look-out for a good book," 
 which, needless to say, will not, except by the merest 
 accident, drop from the clouds into their field of vision. 
 
 This universal difficulty in finding a subject to 
 write on is a commonplace in the lamentations of the 
 musical Jeremiah, and on this topic the composers 
 themselves are generally divided up into three groups. 
 We have, first, the large majority of composers who, 
 concentrating their attention solelv on the musical 
 side of their art, allow their eagerness for musical 
 expression to trip up their dramatic judgment. This 
 culpable neglect of one half of their art partly explains 
 the existence of that vast wreckage whose fragments 
 are strewn tar and wide along the shores of Operatic 
 history. A composer of this type is generally gifted 
 with a genuine but indiscriminate craving for thea-
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 295 
 
 trical expression, and this want of discrimination has 
 resulted, abroad, in the production of such works of 
 mingled genius and idiocy as the " Zauberflote " and 
 " Euryanthe." 
 
 A second type is found in those few composers 
 whose inflexibility of mind prevents them seeing that 
 the end of playing is to hold the mirror up to nature. 
 This aloofness of mind, perhaps caused in part by an 
 over-sensibility to the actual physical associations of 
 the stage, invariably produces an obliquity of artistic 
 vision. The composer forgets that these associations 
 are neither integral nor peculiar to the stage, and he 
 is liable to be forced into an attitude which, as a close 
 examination will show, itself contributes to a degrada- 
 tion worse than the one against which it protest-. 
 For the artist, refusing to the stage what he grants to 
 literature and painting, degrades it from the high place 
 which it should occupy as the universal expression of 
 human nature to the level of a tub on which he can 
 stand to preach whatever moral doctrine he wishes. 
 Of this diabolically well-intentioned perversity, no 
 better examples can be given than Beethoven and 
 Mendelssohn, of whom the former could only per- 
 suade his genius to illustrate one topic on the stage 
 that of wifely devotion while the latter, though 
 full of earnest intentions, was prevented by the ultra- 
 refinement of his nature from ever galvanizing them 
 into life. 1 
 
 Of the third type of composer him who wishes, 
 like Wagner, to take up the burden as it was laid 
 
 1 For the extraordinary persistence with which Mendelssohn 
 clung to the idea of "getting an Opera book," and the accom- 
 panying fastidiousness of mind that always made him reject what 
 was offered, see Grove's article " Mendelssohn " in the Dictionary. 
 Schumann had much the same difficulty.
 
 296 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 down in ancient Greece, and to be himself the maker 
 of the whole artistic structure drama, words, and 
 music I need say little. In his hands is undoubtedly 
 the music-drama of the future, but the accidental 
 conjunction of so many abilities in one mind can 
 occur but rarely, and the processes of such a mind 
 cannot receive much help from any external organ- 
 ization. 
 
 It is rather to the first of these classes of operatic 
 composers that I wish to draw attention, for it is just 
 this class of intellect that can be benefited and saved 
 from disappointment by sympathetic direction. We 
 must remember that, though the difficulty of securing 
 a good opera-book has become a hackneyed bye- 
 word, almost no attempt has been made to solve this 
 difficulty in the composer's interest. In the seven- 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries, composers inherited 
 opera-books in exactly the same way as their fore- 
 fathers, in the sixteenth, inherited Canti Fermi, and 
 in consequence the drama itselt that is to say, the 
 principal part of the opera ran on lines as stereo- 
 typed as that of a chess-board. From this, among 
 other causes, came the tendency to deny the "drama" 
 its proper share in the opera, and one of its worst 
 effects is seen in the unjustly low status which the 
 " librettist " has come to occupy in comparison with 
 that of the composer. 
 
 The result ot this can be seen in all our early nine- 
 teenth century Opera. At that time it was the custom 
 for a composer of distinction to approach a litterateur 
 of no distinction and to invite him to supply a 
 "book." 1 The terms offered generally left him in 
 
 1 Even at the present day Verdi's collaboration with Boito (late 
 in the nineteenth century) is always referred to as an almost 
 divinely ordained inspiration on the part of the composer.
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 297 
 
 no doubt as to his status in the bargain and, of 
 course, deprived him of any interest in the work as a 
 whole. The consequences of this sort of collabora- 
 tion can be gauged by merely checking off on one's 
 fingers the operas of acknowleged musical merit which 
 have failed because of their dramatic incoherence, and 
 even in some successful operas one feels that they 
 have succeeded in spite of their books. Of our own 
 English opera-books I have already said something 
 in an earlier chapter. At the beginning of the nine- 
 teenth century their artistic level fell inconceivably 
 low, and it is mere flattery to say that their relation- 
 ship to poetry was that of a third-form boy's 
 hexameters to the " Georgics" : and to drama that of a 
 nigger-minstrel's patter to "Othello." To be believed 
 they must be read, and it is only by reading them 
 that one can gain an idea of the benefits which will 
 result when composers are given access to work of a 
 different calibre. 
 
 There are already signs that musicians are beginning 
 to realize their grave disadvantages in this respect. 
 Some are making use of their literary talent and 
 experience of the stage to produce operas of their 
 own complete making: 1 others are applying an 
 increased power of dramatic and poetical criticism to 
 the books which are submitted to them. But, while 
 it is easy for a musician of taste to criticize, it is 
 certain that this alone will not suffice to link up his 
 energies with those of the dramatist. The problem, 
 then, is to effect this union, and its solution only 
 appears difficult because, up to the present, it has been 
 left to the mere accident of personal acquaintance. 
 The success of such an experiment will naturally 
 depend on the care with which the composers 
 1 E.g. Mr. Clutsam's "A Summer Night."
 
 298 MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 are selected and the sincerity of the efforts that 
 are made to provide them with inspiring material. 
 The qualities of tact, patience, and perseverance are 
 put into play as a matter of routine in engaging 
 singers, in fitting them with congenial parts, and in 
 the elaboration of all the orchestral and scenic details 
 of an opera house. There can be no reason why they 
 should not have the same good effect when they are 
 applied to the solution of a problem of at least equal 
 importance. 
 
 It is impossible for me to more than hint at the 
 many questions of detail which arise, when we 
 imagine our operas completed. On this point I 
 presuppose that a composer who had been selected 
 to furnish an opera would be relieved from, at any 
 rate, a portion of his normal it should be abnormal 
 musical activities, so that he could bring to his 
 work a mind unhampered by daily financial worries. 
 Without such relief his work will only show, as it 
 invariably now shows, that it is a mere nervous 
 interlude hurriedly interpolated into his more pressing 
 engagements as executant, conductor, teacher, or 
 arranger. A composer who is thus freed from 
 mental anxiety and heartened by the prospect of a 
 public performance would give of his best. We 
 should, indeed, have to be patient in waiting for 
 results, perhaps tor a year or two, but the good 
 results would come in time to justify our patience. 
 
 The question of the selection ot composers and 
 operas offers great difficulty, especially in view of the 
 lamentable results shown in the selection of some 
 prize operas. I think we may take it tor granted 
 that the man to judge the merits of a music drama 
 is not the man who is solely a musician. More 
 especially he should not be a man whose activities
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 299 
 
 remove him, however slightly, from popular sym- 
 pathies. After all, it is the public who has to say 
 "Yes" or "No" to an opera in the long run. 
 And, therefore, it is better to leave the selection to 
 some specialist who if he cannot in every case 
 say "The public wants this"- can in most cases say 
 with confidence "The public does not want that." 
 
 I suppose that nine persons out of every ten will 
 say that this involves a disastrous " lowering of the 
 standard." But, apart from the fact that no standard 
 can exist except that set by popular appreciation, I 
 must point out that we have at present no standard at 
 a//, and that, therefore, even the smallest possible 
 standard is, for us, an advance. And it is not only 
 an advance, it is a foundation for us to build on in 
 the future, and, provided the foundation is laid, not 
 with envy and malice, but with hope and strength, it 
 does not matter one jot or tittle how it is laid. We 
 may be for the moment lowering our standard in 
 comparison with the standards of foreign architecture, 
 but we are raising actual buildings by which we can 
 form and perfect our standards in the future. 
 
 Before closing this very hasty and imperfect sketch 
 I must say a few words on the much debated question 
 of " the run." In this matter London, owing to 
 its size, is scarcely comparable to any Continental 
 city, and it is therefore impossible to deduce from 
 Continental practice any rules which would be of 
 service here. The question has been asked, 1 u Who 
 would want to hear even Don Giovanni every night 
 for three months?" Of course no individual person 
 would want to do so, but arithmetic tells us that three 
 months of " Don Giovanni " bears much the same 
 relationship to London's population as half a dozen 
 1 Studies and Memories, Sir Charles V. Stanford.
 
 3 oo MUSIC AND NATIONALISM chap. 
 
 performances does to that of a little German town of 
 half a million inhabitants. Indeed, if London ever 
 wants to hear an opera, in the way that it wanted 
 to hear " Hansel and Gretel " on its first production, 
 I do not see how the " fatal principle of the run " is 
 to be avoided, unless one is prepared to draw an 
 artificial line and to restrict the right of seeing the 
 opera to a minority. At present, however, this has 
 only an academic interest. 
 
 There are many other points of selection, finance, 
 and production which offer themselves as tempting 
 subjects for study. I have, however, rigidly excluded 
 from these paragraphs all questions of detail because 
 all such questions can be answered by an application 
 of the ordinary methods of organization. The 
 desiderata that lie behind and must precede them are, 
 first, the consciousness of our failure in the past, and 
 second, the sturdy belief that it is onlv by abandoning 
 our old sterile methods and by searching out some 
 " spiritual union " with our countrymen that we can 
 hope to found a true School of National Opera. 
 These two convictions must be fixed in our minds 
 and hearts before we can proceed to put into fruitful 
 service any mechanism which may be devised to help 
 us towards our goal. 
 
 The mechanism itself calls, first, tor patriotism and 
 generositv in supplying the necessary money, and 
 second, for the knowledge and sympathy without 
 which its proper application is impossible. Neither 
 the money nor the good-will to apply it can be of the 
 least use without the other. The benefit to our art 
 of a wise prevision in the application of such funds 
 would be incalculable, and in a country where every 
 form of good and hopeful work and not a few forms 
 of the most extravagant faddism meet with support
 
 ix THE COMPOSER AND HIS PUBLIC 301 
 
 from poor and rich alike, it is surelv not too much 
 to look forward to the day when Opera will no 
 longer be allowed to stand alone in its present isolated 
 pre-eminence as a matter of national unconcern. 
 
 Till that day arrives the English operatic composer 
 must remain silent. He cannot turn for inspiration, 
 as he should turn, to the magic of his atmosphere, 
 the infinite variety of his scenery, his woodland- 
 ways and sweetly running waters, the noble silent 
 spaces of his great downs, his countryside and its 
 cottages that hold his folk-lore, the little happinesses 
 of his home, the drawn curtains and the blazing 
 fire ; the heavy magnificence that glows through 
 his slowly moving dreams of Eastern Empire, the 
 august procession of his saints and heroes passing 
 through his imagination like an army of torchmen ; 
 even the sea itself that is at his feet winter and 
 summer calling aloud for an expression which it has 
 never yet known. All this noble inheritance which 
 he should be able to join, in his drama, to the passions 
 of men and women, must remain for him a thing 
 only to be remembered, not revealed.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Note. As far as I am aware there is no complete English 
 bibliography of European Opera, nor is there any English 
 bibliography of the more restricted topic, English Opera. 
 The two subjects naturally intersect, and the former is to 
 be studied, first, in the published writings of composers such 
 as Gluck, Berlioz, Wagner, and so on ; second, in the 
 criticisms on these composers' musical works and on their 
 theories. Of these criticisms I may instance Mr. Ernest 
 Newman's elaborate studies of "Gluck "and "Wagner"; 
 third, in the biographies of particular composers ; and fourth, 
 in the general histories and dictionaries of music and of 
 the stage. For "Musicians as Writers on Music" see 
 "The Oxford History of Music," Vol. VI., Chap. XV., by 
 Edward Dannreuther, and for general literature C. F. 
 Becker's catalogue and J. E. Matthew's "The Literature 
 of Music." 
 
 The more particular topic of English Opera and English 
 Operatic conditions has, of course, a much less extensive litera- 
 ture, and the following is, I believe, a first attempt to furnish a 
 bibliography. English Operatic history and the general litera- 
 ture of the English stage are, especially in the eighteenth 
 century, mixed up witli one another, and in many cases the 
 dates and details of operatic productions have to be sought in 
 contemporary newspaper advertisements and criticisms, in 
 playhouse guides, and in collections of" play-bills, such as that 
 of the Hon. Sidney Carr Glyn in the British Museum. 
 I have only indicated one or two of the best-known sources 
 of information on the subject of our early masques.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 303 
 
 Addison, Joseph : in The Spectator. 
 
 (His well-known humorous references to Italian Opera in 
 his time.) 
 
 Algarotti, Count : An essay on the Opera. London, 
 
 1767. 
 
 (On such subjects as the Composition of Opera, Singing, 
 and The Structure of Theatres.) 
 
 Apthorp, W. F. : The Opera, Past and Present. London, 
 1 90 1. With portraits. 
 
 (A general History of Opera. Chapter I. ("Beginnings"), 
 Chapter IX. (" The Development of the art of the Opera 
 Singer"), and Chapter X. ("The Present") are of universal 
 application. Peri's Preface to " Euridice " and Gluck's 
 Preface to " Alceste " are printed at the end of the book.) 
 
 Arditi, Luigi : My Reminiscences. Edited and compiled by 
 the Baroness von Zedlitz. London, 1896. 
 
 (Recollections of French, Italian, and English Opera and 
 Artists mostly in England.) 
 
 Baker, D. E. : The Companion to the Play-House. London, 
 1764. 
 
 (A brief view of the rise and progress of the English Stage. 
 Two copies of this work with MSS. notes and additions are 
 in the British Museum Library.) 
 
 Balfe, M. W. : English Opera House. London, 184 1. 
 
 (Balfe's account of his quarrel with the singer Phillips.) 
 
 Balfour, Right Hon. A. J. : Essays and Addresses. 3rd 
 Ed. Edinburgh, 1905. 
 (No. 3 on " Handel ".) 
 
 Barker, J. : See Oulton, W. C. 
 
 Barker, John E. : The new Opera glass, containing the Plots 
 of the Popular Operas and a short biography of the composers. 
 Leipzig, 1887. 
 
 Baughan, E. A. : Music and Musicians, London, 1906. 
 (Chapter XIX. " Is Opera Doomed ? ")
 
 3 o 4 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Bennett, Joseph: Forty Tears of Music, 1865-1905. 
 London, 1908. 
 
 (Chapter XIV. "Opera and Operatic People"; Chapter 
 XVIII. " Libretti ".) 
 
 Blackburn, Vernon : Bayreuth and Munich, a travelling 
 record of German Operatic Art. London, 1899. 
 
 (Contains some pages on Operatic Singing and a com- 
 parison of operatic conditions in England and Germany.) 
 
 Bourdon, Georges : Les Theatres Anglais. Paris, 1903. 
 
 (An interesting appreciation of the " materiel " of the 
 London theatres. There is a preface by Mr. E. O. Sachs.) 
 
 Brotanek, R. : Die englischen Maskenspiele. Vienna and 
 Leipzig, 1902. 
 
 Brown, John : Letters on the Italian Opera addressed to the 
 Hon. Lord Monboddo. 2nd Ed. London, 1 791 . 
 
 (An essay on the taste and methods of 1 8th century Opera.) 
 
 Bunn, Alfred : The case of Bunn versus Lind . . . with a 
 series of letters . . . to which are added Notes Explanatory 
 and Critical. London, 1848. 
 
 (Bunn's action to force Jenny Lind to fulfil her contract 
 with him. She lost her case, and the jury assessed Bunn's 
 damages at ^2500. The Attorney-General afterwards moved 
 for a new trial on the ground of excessive damages, but the 
 Bench refused the application, the Chief-Justice intimating 
 that the verdict of the jury was a very proper one.) 
 
 Bunn, Alfred : The Stage, both before and behind the curtain. 
 3 vols. London, 1840. 
 
 (Contains, apart from its frivolities, a good deal of sound 
 sense with regard to operatic conditions here and on the 
 Continent.) 
 
 Burney, Charles : A general History of Music, front the 
 earliest ages to the present period. To which is prefixed a 
 dissertation on the Music of the Ancients. London, 
 1 776-1 789 (and later editions).
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 305 
 
 Busby, Thomas : See Hawkins and Burney. 
 
 Case of the Opera- House disputes fairly stated. The. London, 
 1784. 
 
 (An attack on the financial methods of the Opera-House 
 Trustees. Contains addresses from the "suffering creditors" 
 to His Most Gracious Majesty and to the Earl of Salisbury 
 (in quality of the Chamberlain).) 
 
 Chesnev, Major-General F. R. : Operatic Tales. London, 
 1889. 
 
 (Twenty-three opera plots with the tales on which they 
 are founded.) 
 
 Chesney, Major-General F. R. : Stories of the Operas. 
 London, 1891. 
 
 (A smaller-sized issue of the same Author's " Operatic 
 Tales ".) 
 
 Clayton, Miss E. C. (Mrs. Needham) : $hieem of Song . . . 
 to which is added a chronological list of all Operas that have 
 been produced in Europe. London, 1853 and 1876. 
 
 (Contains also an "alphabetical list of dramatic composers 
 not pre-eminent as operatic writers." In this list are in- 
 cluded the names of Peri, Monteverde, Boieldieu, Offenbach, 
 Glinka and Wagner.) 
 
 Clement et Larousse : Dictionnaire des Operas. (Revu ct 
 mis a jour par Arthur Pougin), Paris. 
 
 (A general dictionary of Operas, " Operas-Comiques," 
 Operettas, and Lyrical Dramas, arranged alphabetically under 
 their titles. Composers' names, dates and place of first 
 production are given, as well as criticisms and details of the 
 more important plots. Pp. 1293.) 
 
 Clericus, M. A. : A few more words on the introduction of the 
 Italian Opera into Edinburgh, or " Robert the Devil &c 
 versus Lazarus." Edinburgh, 1855. 
 
 (See below the same Author's "Remarks on the Italian 
 Opera 3cc." The Rev. Richard Hibbs, having been answered in 
 the columns of the Scotsman writes a second amusingly in- 
 tolerant pamphlet specially directed against "Don Giovanni" 
 
 17
 
 3 o6 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 and "Robert lc Diable," but a good deal confused in logic by 
 his anti-Popery leanings.) 
 
 Clericus, M.A. : Remarks on the Italian Opera in Edinburgh 
 with reference to Dr. Guthrie' 's proposed "placard," 
 Edinburgh, 1 854. 
 
 (An interesting pamphlet as showing the opposition to 
 Italian Opera in the Scottish capital sixty years ago. Dr. 
 Guthrie had proposed placarding the "Apprentice Insti- 
 tution " there, with a notice that it was closed " because the 
 people of Edinburgh preferred spending their money in 
 hearing an Italian sing and seeing a Frenchman dance." 
 The author (Clericus M.A., i.e. the Rev. Richard Hibbs) 
 comes to his aid with a violent attack on " that polluted 
 and polluting thing the Italian Opera." He examines 
 Leporello's Catalogue Song in the original, preferring that 
 his argument should "appear to lose something in weight" 
 rather than that he should " incur the risk of exciting 
 impure desires by exhibiting aught so vicious and corrupting 
 in its natural deformity." He draws the deduction from 
 this song that his brother Scots, seeing that these are "the 
 trophies of a single rake, will infer that female virtue is a name, 
 a nullity," and, after discussing the dancers and the frequenters 
 of the Opera House, Edinburgh, he concludes that "pleasure, 
 ay guilty pleasure is the object of the frequenters of the Opera 
 for the most part.") 
 
 Companion to the Play-House, The. London, 1764. 
 
 (A 2-vol. Dictionary of the Stage. Vol. I. contains the 
 titles as well as a critical and historical account (with date 
 and place of production and publication) of many Stage- 
 Plays and Operas in the English language. Vol. II. gives 
 lists of Dramatic Authors and their lives, together with 
 names and anecdotes of Actors. Mention is made of many 
 early 1 8th century Operas which were produced in the 
 "attempts made at that time for the revival of English 
 Operas after the manner of the Italian") 
 
 Companion to the Theatre, A. 2nd Ed. London, 1740. 
 (Gives details of 45 stage-pieces. Pp. 2S6.) 
 
 Companion to the Theatre, A. Dublin, I 75 I. 
 
 (Gives plots of 61 stage-pieces in detail. Pp. 272.)
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 307 
 
 Considerations on the Past and Present State of the Stage, with 
 reference to the late contests at Covent Garden. London, 
 1809. 
 
 (Contains among other things a vigorous defence of English 
 Drama and a plea for its cultivation in opposition to Italian 
 Opera. The author calls the former " a moral recreation " 
 and the latter a " mere quackery of sound." He appeals 
 to his countrymen to banish " the host of spies, incendiaries, 
 and parasites, who flock from the continent, to make a 
 market of our credulity.") 
 
 Covent-Garden Theatre, A narrative of the rise and progress of 
 the disputes subsisting between the patentees of London, 
 1768. 
 
 (An 1 8th century theatrical squabble in which George 
 Colman was the leading figure. The correspondence is 
 given.) 
 
 Cox, J. E. : Musical Recollections of the last Half-Century. 
 2 vols. London, 1872. 
 
 (Includes many reminiscences of both English and foreign 
 Opera.) 
 
 Crouch, Mrs. See Young, M. J. 
 
 Crowest, F. J. : Verdi : Man and Musician. His biography, 
 with especial reference to his English experiences. 
 London, 1897. 
 
 (Chapters X. and XI. of special interest from the English 
 point of view.) 
 
 Dassori, Carlo : Opere e Operisti. Dizionario Lirico 
 (1 541-1902). Genoa, 1903. 
 
 (A general European dictionary of serious, semi-serious 
 and bufta Operas, with indication of date and place of first 
 production, with special regard to the Italian Repertory. 
 The names of 3628 Operatic Composers and of 15,406 
 Operas are given. Part I. contains an alphabetical index of 
 Composers' Names with a complete chronological list of the 
 Operas against them. Part II. contains a similar alphabetical 
 list of the Operas with their Composers' names and the dates 
 of production opposite. N.B. The English portion is in- 
 complete and inaccurate. The titles are, wherever possible,
 
 308 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 translated (e.g. " Stregone " for " The Sorcerer " and 
 "Pietra Della Bellezza " for "The Beauty Stone "), and 
 even the Composers' names appear in a rather un-English 
 form (e.g. "Arturo Sullivan" and "Carlo Stanford").) 
 
 Dennis : An Essay on the Opera s after the Italian Manner 
 Which are about to be Established on the English Stage : 
 with some Reflections on the Damage which they may bring 
 to the Public}. London, 1706. 
 
 (A very interesting and vigorous attack on Italian Opera 
 as unsuitable for use in this country. The principal argu- 
 ments are drawn from a comparison between the " Pleasure 
 of Sense" and the " Delight of Reason." Many strong and 
 sensible arguments on national characteristics.) 
 
 Dibdin, Thomas : Reminiscences. 2 vols. London, 1827. 
 (Theatrical and Operatic Reminiscences from the time 
 of Dibdin's birth (1771), principally in connection with 
 Covent Garden, Drury Lane, The Surrey, and Sadler's Wells 
 Theatres.) 
 
 Ebers, John : Seven Tears of the King's Theatre. London, 
 1828. 
 
 Edwards, H. Sutherland : History of the Opera from its 
 Origin in Italy to the present time. With Anecdotes of 
 the most celebrated Composers and Vocalists of Europe. 
 2 vols. London, 1862. 
 
 (Chap. III. is "On the Nature of the Opera, and its Merits 
 as compared with other forms of the Drama." Chap. V. 
 deals with the "Introduction of the Italian Opera into 
 England"; and Chap. XV. with "Manners and Customs 
 at the London Opera half a century since." There are 
 man)' scattered references to English operatic conditions.) 
 
 Edwards, H. Sutherland : The Lyrical Drama. Essays 
 on Subjects, Composers, and Executants of Modern 
 Opera. 2 vols. London, 1881. 
 
 (General sketch of Opera and of many matters connected 
 therewith, e.g. " Shakespcrian Operas," "Operatic Manage- 
 ment," "Libretti," "Operatic and Theatrical Anomalies," 
 "The Reasonableness of Opera," "The literary Maltreatment 
 of Music")
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 309 
 
 Edwards, H. Sutherland : The Prima Donna, her History 
 and Surroundings from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth 
 Century. 2 vols. London, 1888. 
 
 (Operatic history grouped round the names of celebrated 
 singers. Chapter IX., Vol. II. deals with " Operatic Con- 
 ventions.") 
 
 Elson, Arthur : A critical History of Opera, London, 
 1905. 
 
 (Gives an account of the " rise and progress of the different 
 schools, with a description of the master works in each." 
 An appendix of five pages is devoted to the History of 
 Opera in England and America from 1762 to the present 
 day.) 
 
 English Stage, Some account of the, from the Restoration in 1 660 
 to 1830. 10 vols. Bath, 1832. 
 
 (A chronological account of the Stage, with lists of pro- 
 ductions, names of actors, anecdotes and much miscellaneous 
 information.) 
 
 Evans, H. A. : English Masques. London, 1897. 
 
 Explanation of the differences existing between the manager of 
 the Italian Opera and the non-conforming members of 
 the late orchestra, An. Written among themselves. 
 London, 1829. 
 
 Fagan, L. A. : See Louis, Alexander. 
 
 Findon, B. W. : Sir Arthur Sullivan. London, 1904. 
 
 (Contains interesting discussions on English Opera.) 
 
 Fitzgerald, Percy : The Savoy Opera and the Savoyards. 
 London, 1 899. 
 
 (A chatty record of the Savoy comic operas down to 
 1894.) 
 
 Ford, Ernest : See Wyndham, Henry Saxe, " Arthur 
 
 Sullivan." 
 
 Fuller-Maitland, J. A. : English Music in the Nineteenth 
 Century. London, 1902. 
 (Chapters U. y III., VIII., X.)
 
 310 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Fuller-Maitland, J. A. : " Henry Puree!/" in the " Rivista 
 Musieale Italiana" Vol. II., Part i. 1895. 
 (An appreciation and criticism of Purcell.) 
 
 Galloway, M.P., W. J. : The Operatic Problem. London, 
 1902. 
 
 (Contains a statement of the problem and studies of its 
 solution in Italy, France, and Germany. There are two 
 important chapters, one on " The English National Opera 
 House" and the other on "Opera for the People." The 
 book is largely concerned with the commercial and financial 
 sides of the question.) 
 
 Galloway, Lord : See Stewart, John. 
 
 Gilliland, Thomas : Elbow Room. A Pamphlet containing 
 remarks on the shameful increase of the private boxes of 
 Covent Garden, with a variety of original observations 
 relating to the Management of that Theatre. Also a 
 comparative View of the Two Houses, shewing the 
 puerility of a great mans Prophecy, who was to have 
 turned Drury Lane Theatre into a " Splendid Desert," 
 &c, &c. London, 1804. 
 
 (A protest against Kemble's restriction of the seating 
 accommodation in the cheaper parts of the house and his 
 introduction of an extra tier of private boxes.) 
 
 Gilman, Lawrence ; Aspects of Modern Opera. London 
 and New York, 1909. 
 
 (A discussion of Operatic History and Principles grouped 
 round the names of Wagner, Puccini, Strauss, and Debussy. 
 Partly new, partly reprinted from " Harper's," " The North 
 American Review," and "The Musician.") 
 
 Greg, W. W. : A list of English Plays written before 1643 
 and printed before 1700. London, 1900 for 1909. 
 (Gives lists of early Masques, etc.) 
 
 Greg, W. W. : A list of Masques, Pageants, etc. London, 
 1902. 
 
 GREVILLE, H. F. : A letter to the Subscribers to the Opera. 
 London, 1 81 1. 
 
 (A squabble with Taylor, the manager, with regard to
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 311 
 
 Operatic Monopoly and finance, e.g. the rise of prices to 
 subscribers, at a time when it was "generally known there 
 was to be a new English Opera-House built under my 
 licence.") 
 
 Greville, H. F. : Mr. Greville' s Statement of Mr. Naldi's 
 Case. London, 1 8 1 1 . 
 
 (Naldi, after being refused an engagement at the Opera 
 by Taylor, had gone to Greville and with his aid set up a 
 " Burletta Theatre" which was a disastrous failure. This 
 gives the history of the quarrel that resulted. For the 
 other side of the question see Naldi, "The Alien " &c.) 
 
 Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd Ed. 
 Edited by J. A. Fuller-Maitland. London, 1904-1910. 
 (See sub " Opera " and " English Opera.") 
 
 Gruneisen, F.RG.S., C. L. : The Opera and the Press. 
 London, 1869. 
 
 (On Opera management, and especially on the author's 
 quarrels with Gye. The correspondence is given.) 
 
 Guerber, Helene Adeline : Stories of Famous Operas. 
 With illustrations. New York, 1897. 
 
 (Sketches of 1 5 Italian, French, and German opera-plots.) 
 
 Halliwell, James O. : A Dictionary of old English Plays 
 existing either in print or in manuscript from the earliest 
 times to the close of the seventeenth century. . . . London, 
 i860. 
 
 Handel et son Temps. Published by "La France musicale." 
 Paris, 1862. 
 
 (Chaps. I. -IV. and the beginning of Chap. V. only 
 published. See Schcelcher, Collection.) 
 
 Haslewood, Joseph : Of Plays, Players, and Playhouses, with 
 other incidental matter. 
 
 (The well-known unpublished collection of cuttings from 
 newspapers and magazines, with plates, MSS. notes and 
 transcriptions made by J. H. Continued from 1820 till 
 the end of 1837 by J. R. Smith. The earliest entry refers 
 to 1 521. In 9 vols. British Museum, 11 791, dd. 18.)
 
 3 i2 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Hawkins, Sir John : J general History of the Science and 
 Practice of Music. 
 
 (Book XII., Chapter CVIII. and onwards.) 
 
 Hawkins and Burney : A general History oj Music . . . and 
 a continuation by Thomas Busby. London, 1819. 
 
 Heath, Charles : Beauties of the Opera and Ballet. London. 
 (An account of nine well-known works with their plots. 
 Embellished with steel engravings of dancers and singers in 
 costume and with many wood-cuts.) 
 
 Henderson, W. J. : How Music developed. New York, 
 1898. 
 
 (Chapter XVIII. onwards gives a general description of 
 the development of Opera.) 
 
 Hibbs, Rev. Richard : See Clericus, M.A. 
 
 Hogarth, George : Memoirs of the Musical Drama. 2 
 vols. London, 1838. 
 
 (See " Memoirs of the Opera" by the same author.) 
 
 Hogarth, George : Memoirs of the Opera in Italy, France, 
 Germany, and England. 2 vols. London, 1851. 
 
 (A revised version of the same author's " Memoirs of the 
 Musical Drama." Chapters I., II., IX., X. and XI. in Vol. 
 II. deal specially with English Opera and with Opera in 
 England.) 
 
 Kelly, Michael : Reminiscences of, of the King's Theatre 
 and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, including a period of 
 nearly half a century, etc. London, 1826. 
 
 (General operatic reminiscences of many parts of Europe, 
 with anecdotes "political, literary and musical." Written by 
 Theodore Hook from materials furnished by Kelly.) 
 
 Krehbiel, H. E. : Chapters of Opera. 2nd Ed. New 
 York, 1909. 
 
 (An illustrated account of the New York operatic stage 
 " from the earliest days down to the present time." Many 
 operatic questions of general application are discussed in their 
 relationship to the American stage. The works dealt with 
 are all European.)
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 313 
 
 Lahee, Henry C. : Grand Opera in America. Boston, 
 1902. 
 
 (Chap. I. deals with " Ballad Opera," Chap. II. with 
 "English Opera," i.e. "English versions of Italian and 
 German Operas" in America. Chap. IX. has a full discussion 
 and a historical sketch of " Opera in English," i.e. in 
 America.) 
 
 Langbaine, Gerard : An Account of the English Dramatick 
 Poets. Oxford, 1691. 
 
 (Includes "Comedies, Tragedies, Pastorals, Masques, Farces, 
 and Operas in the English tongue." Pp. 556.) 
 
 Lawrence, Arthur : Sir Arthur Sullivan. With critique 
 by B. W. Findon and Bibliography by Wilfrid Bendall. 
 London, 1899. 
 
 (Contains interesting discussions on English Opera.) 
 
 Lee, E. Markham : The Story of Opera. London, 1909. 
 
 (A general sketch of European Opera with musical and 
 other illustrations. Chapters X. and XV. are more parti- 
 cularly devoted to English Opera. There are five appendices, 
 of which three give lists of operatic terms, composers, singers, 
 conductors and orchestras of various periods. Appendix B 
 has a valuable table of " Financial Aid granted to Operatic 
 Schemes from State or Municipal Funds," while Appendix 
 E contains an incomplete English Bibliography of Opera 
 (22 entries).) 
 
 Le Texier : Ideas on the Opera. London, 1790. 
 
 (Short essays on all that concerned Opera at that time. The 
 headings are "The Choice of Subject The Composition 
 The Singing and Declamation The Ballets The Deco- 
 rations The Dresses The Administration." The question 
 of finance is dealt with.) 
 
 Lockman, John : A Discourse on Operas. London, 1747. 
 
 (Prefixed to F. Vanneschi's drama " Fetonte " (Phaethon), 
 for which Lockman had provided an English translation. 
 A careful essay dealing with the general topic of the Union 
 of Music and Poetry in Drama, and especially with the 
 History of Opera in England.)
 
 3 H BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Lockman, John : An Enquiry into the Rise and Progress 
 of Operas and Oratorios, with some Refections on Lyric 
 Poetry and Music. London, 1740. 
 
 (Prefixed to " Rodelinde, a Musical Drama, As it is 
 performed at Hickford's Great Room, in Brewer's Street. 
 ... Set to Music by Mr. John Christopher Smith." An able 
 and important discussion of the History of Opera and its 
 Psychology as affecting the 1 8th century Englishman.) 
 
 Louis, Alexander, (i.e. Fagan) : The Opera Glass. London, 
 1881. 
 
 (Contains an introductory sketch of Opera and Ballet and 
 an alphabetical list of 100 Operas with their plots. At the 
 ends are a short list of singers' first appearances (place and 
 date) and an index of 329 Operas (French, German, Italian, 
 and English), with composers' names and date and place of 
 first production.) 
 
 Lumley, Benjamin : Reminiscences of the Opera. London, 
 1864. 
 
 (Gives an account of mid-Victorian operatic conditions 
 in London.) 
 
 Lumley, Benjamin : The Earl of Dudley, Mr. Lumley and 
 His Majesty'' s Theatre. A Narrative of Facts addressed 
 to the Patrons of the Opera, His friends, and the Public 
 generally by their faithful Servant. 2nd Ed. London, 
 1863. 
 
 (Lumley's account of his quarrel with his former patron, 
 " Lord Ward," afterwards Earl of Dudley.) 
 
 Lyric Muse revived in Europe, The, or a critical display of the 
 Opera in all its revolutions. London, 1768. 
 
 ("An historical and critical elucidation of the Opera" 
 written as a supplement to Count Algarotti's essay, q.v. 
 Chapters XII. and XIII. are devoted to a comparison between 
 operatic conditions in Italy and England and to a description 
 of the " introduction and progress of Italian Operas in 
 England.") 
 
 Magazine Articles. For a list of the most important magazine 
 articles on Opera, sec sub "Opera," Pcabody Institute 
 Library Catalogue, page 3243.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 315 
 
 Man of Honour, But not of his word, The ; Inscribed to Mr. 
 Sheridan. Dublin, 1750. 
 
 {See below, " State of the case in regard to the Point 
 of Dispute, A.") 
 
 Mapleson, J. H. : The Mapleson Memoirs, 1848-1888. 
 London, 1888. 
 
 (Vol. I. Chap. XII. "The National Opera House," an 
 
 account of Mapleson's unsuccessful attempt to found an 
 Opera-house on the Victoria Embankment in 1875.) 
 
 Mathias, T. J. : See Stewart, John, 7th Earl of Galloway. 
 
 Matthew, James E. : A handbook of Musical History and 
 Bibliography. London, 1898. 
 
 (A further enlarged and revised version of the same 
 author's " Popular History of Music " and " Manual of 
 Musical History." Chapter VI. "The origin of the Opera 
 and Oratorio " ; Chapter X. " The rise of Opera and Ora- 
 torio in England.") 
 
 Matthew, James E. : A popular History of Music, Musical 
 instruments, Ballet and Opera, from St. Ambrose to 
 Mozart. London, il 
 
 Matthew, James E. : Manual of Musical History. 
 London, 1892. 
 
 (A revised and enlarged version of the same author's 
 " Popular History of Music," q.v.) 
 
 Mount Edgcumbe, Richard, Second Earl of : Musicai 
 Reminiscences of an Old Amateur chiefly respecting the 
 Italian Opera in England for fifty years from 1773 to 
 1823. London, 1827. (3rd Ed. 1828.) 
 
 (Section VIII. "Observations on English Music etc.") 
 
 Naldi, Giuseppe : The Alien, or, An answer to Mr. 
 Greville's statement with respect to Mr. Naldi'' s action for 
 arrears of salary including a short history of the Argyle 
 Theatre. London, 181 1. 
 
 (Naldi's account of his quarrel with Greville. Written 
 " under the disagreeable necessity of shewing the Public that 
 it is not boasted birth and... high family connexion ... that
 
 316 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 always constitutes the gentleman and man of honour, but 
 a beauty and perfection of principle, familiar to all... under the 
 common name of honesty." See Greville, H. F.) 
 
 Nagel, Wilibald : Geschichte der Musik in England. In 
 two parts. Strassburg, 1894 and 1897. 
 (Nothing later than Purcell.) 
 
 Needham, Mrs. : See Clayton, Miss . C. 
 
 O' Keefe, Recollections of The life of. 2 vols. London, 1826. 
 (Contains many scattered references to performances of 
 English Opera in England and Ireland.) 
 
 Opera-Rumpus, The, or, The Ladies in the wrong box. 
 London, 1783. 
 
 (A burlesque poem on a squabble between Mr. B d d 
 and Lady Jersey for an opera box. Gives a highly-coloured 
 picture of the Italian Opera in the days of Allegranti and 
 Pacchierotti.) 
 
 Oulton, W. C. : A history of the Theatres of London &c. &c. 
 A continuation of Victor and Oulton's histories from 
 1795 to 181 7 inclusive. London, 1818. 
 
 Oulton, W. C. : Barker s Complete list of Plays . . . to 
 1803. London, 1803. 
 
 Oulton, W. C. : Barker s continuation of Egcrton s Theatrical 
 Remembrancer, Barker's Biographia Dramatica &c. : con- 
 taining a complete list of all the dramatic performances 
 
 from 1788 to 1 801 . . . also a continuation of the Notitia 
 Dramatica . . . To which is added, a Complete List of 
 Plays, the earliest date, size, and author's name, the 
 whole arranged &c. by W. C. O. London, 1 80 1. 
 
 Oulton, W. C. : History of the English Theatres in London : 
 containing an annual register of all the new and revised 
 Tragedies, Comedies, Operas, Farces, Pantomimes etc. 
 that have been performed at the Theatres-Royal in 
 London from the years 1 771-1795. With occasional 
 notes and anecdotes. London, 1796. 
 
 Oulton, W. C. : The Drama recorded ; or, Barker s List of 
 Plays ... from the earliest period to 1814, to which are
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 317 
 
 added Notitia Dramatica : or a chronological account of 
 events relative to the English Stage. London, 18 14. 
 (The latest of Barker's lists of plays.) 
 Oxford History of Music, The. 
 
 (Vol. III. "The Seventeenth Century," by Sir Hubert 
 Parry, especially Chaps. I. to VI. ; Vol. IV. "The Age of 
 Bach and Handel," by J. A. Fuller-Maitland, especially Chap. 
 X. "The Progress of Operatic Convention," and Chap. XIV. 
 "The State of Music in England"; Vol. V. "The Viennese 
 Period," W. H. Hadow, especially Chap. IV. "Gluck and 
 the Opera," and Chap. V. " The Opera from Mozart to 
 Weber.") 
 
 Pandolpho attonito. See Stewart, John, 7th Earl of Galloway. 
 
 Parke, W. T. : Musical Memoirs. 2 vols. London, 1830. 
 (Gives a general view of musical and stage life from " the 
 first commemoration of Handel in 1784 to the year 1830.") 
 
 Phillips, Henry : Musical and Personal Recollections during 
 Half a Century. 2 vols. London, 1864. 
 
 (By the well-known operatic baritone. Contains many 
 scattered anecdotes, criticisms, etc., of English Opera in the 
 first half of the 19th century.) 
 
 Play-House Scuffle, The ; or, Passive Obedience Kickt off the 
 Stage. Being a true Relation of a New Tragi-Comedy, 
 As it was acted last week at the Play-House in Drury- 
 Lane ; by several Notorious Actors, frequently call'd 
 Her Majesties Servants, but of late Turn'd Their Own 
 Masters. In Two Cantos. London, 17 10. 
 
 (A rhymed account " of ye Quarrel between Mr. Rich ye 
 
 Master and ye Players.") 
 
 Pougin, Arthur : See Clement et Larousse. 
 
 Raguf.net, The Abbe : A Comparison between the French 
 and Italian Music k and Opera's . . . to which is added J 
 Critical Discourse upon Operas in England, and a Means 
 proposed for their i?nprove?nent. London, 1709. 
 
 (By a vivacious and enthusiastic lover of Italian Opera. 
 Gives some startling information as to methods of operatic 
 composition at that time.)
 
 3 i 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Remarkable Trial of the )uecn of Quavers, The. London, 
 1777-1778. 
 
 (A satire on the Opera.) 
 
 Riem ann, Hugo : Opern-Handbuch. Leipzig, 1887. 
 
 (A dictionary of European Opera under both titles and 
 composers' names. Dates and places of first productions and 
 of some revivals are given. Pp. 743. N.B. Pages 747- 
 862 are devoted to a " Repcrtorium der dramatisch-musi- 
 kalischen Litteratur (Opern, Operetten, Balette, Mclodramen, 
 Pantomimen, Oratorien, dramatische Kantaten, u.s.w.) " by 
 Riemann in collaboration with Franz Stieger.) 
 
 Roscius Anglicanus, or, an Historical review of the Stage 
 after it had been suppressed by means of the late Unhappy 
 Civil War, begun in 1 64 1, 'till the time of Charles lid's 
 Restoration in May 1 660. With additions by the late 
 Mr. Thomas Davies, Author of the life of Garrick. 
 London, 1789. 
 
 (Contains a few references to English Operas, especially to 
 Court-productions of Purcell's works, such as "King Arthur," 
 " Dioclesian," "The Fairy Queen.") 
 
 Sachs, E. O., and Woodrow, A. E. : Modern Opera Houses 
 and Theatres. 3 vols. London, 1896-1898. 
 
 (Examples selected from playhouses recently erected in 
 Europe, with descriptive text, a treatise on theatre planning 
 and construction, and supplements on stage machinery, theatre 
 fires, and protective legislation, etc.) 
 
 Schcelcher : Collection. 
 
 (A collection of books, MSS., etc., made by Schcelcher 
 with special reference to Handel and 18th century music in 
 England. Has been in the library of the Conservatoire at 
 Paris since 1 873.) 
 
 Simcoe, H. Augustine : Sullivan v. Critic. London, 1906. 
 
 Squire, W. Barclay : Purcell's Dramatic Music. 
 
 (In Vol. V. of " Sammeibandc der Internationalen Musik- 
 gesellschaft.")
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 319 
 
 Stafford, W. C. : A History of Music. Edinburgh, 1830. 
 (Chapters XX. to XXIII. are devoted to England, and 
 Chapters XXI. and XXII. deal with the establishment and 
 progress of Opera in England.) 
 
 Stanford, Sir Charles Villiers : Studies and Memories. 
 London, 1 908. 
 
 (Chapter I. is devoted to "The case for National Opera." 
 The text of the Memorial to the London County Council 
 on this topic is reprinted at the end of the volume.) 
 
 State of the case in regard to the Point in Dispute between Mr. 
 Mosse and Mr. Sheridan, A. With Appendix. Dublin, 
 
 1750. 
 
 (This pamphlet and the pamphlet " The Man of Honour, 
 but not of his word" (see above) make up 61 pages of 
 printed squabble as to whether a theatre band should be 
 lent to perform at "The New Garden, Great Britain Street 
 ...for the benefit of the Lying-in Hospital" ! The Sheridan 
 is Thomas Sheridan.) 
 
 Stewart, John, 7TH Earl of Galloway. Pandolfo 
 Attonito ! or Lord Galloway's Poetical Lamentation on 
 the Removal of the Arm-Chairs from the Pit at the Opera 
 House. With a preface and some remarks by the 
 Editor. London, 1800. 
 
 (By T. J. Mathias. Printed originally in the Morning 
 Herald of May 1, 1800. A burlesque poem accompanied and 
 illustrated by a good deal of faded " 1 8th Century" topical 
 humour in English and Italian. The Argument is as follows : 
 " A month or two ago, Lord Galloway came to the Opera, 
 and on the Pit-door near the Orchestra being opened, he per- 
 ceived, to his confusion and astonishment, that a long Bench 
 was substituted in the place of the row of arm-chairs at the 
 bottom of the Pit, the principal or central of which he had 
 filled for so many nights with discernment and dignity, and 
 to the general satisfaction of every person present. His 
 Lordship, conceiving, rather hastily, that this measure was 
 intended as a personal slight to himself, retired disconcerted, 
 without taking his seat ; and, as he is a votary of the Muses, 
 penned the following Lamentation which he sent to Lord 
 Salisbury the next day, and recovered his wonted good 
 humour, cheerfulness and, gayety.")
 
 3 2o BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Stieger, Franz : See Riemann, Hugo. 
 
 Streatfield, R. A. : Modern Music and Musicians. 
 London, 1906. 
 
 (Chap. III. "The Secularisation of Music"; Chap. IV. 
 " Purcell " ; and scattered references throughout.) 
 
 Streatfield, R. A. : The Opera. A sketch of the Develop- 
 ment of Opera. With full descriptions of all works in 
 the Modern Repertory. New Edition. London and 
 
 Philadelphia, 1902. 
 
 (Contains also a valuable introduction by J. A. Fuller- 
 Maitland and an index of 400 Operas, of which 42 are 
 English.) 
 
 Sullivan : See Wyndham, Henry Saxe ; Lawrence, Arthur ; 
 Findon, B. W. 
 
 Taylor, W. : A concise statement of transactions and circum- 
 stances respecting The Kings Theatre in the Haymarht by 
 Mr. Taylor the proprietor together with the official 
 correspondence upon the same subject between the Rt. Hon. 
 The Lord Chamberlain and Earl Cholmondeley &c. 
 London, 1 79 1 . 
 
 Towers, John : Dictionary-Catalogue of 28,015 Operas and 
 Operettas which have been performed on the Public Stage. 
 Morgantown, W. Va. Copyrighted 1 9 10. 
 
 (Contains for the first time (?) names of American composers 
 and lists of their Operas.) 
 
 Upton, George P. : The Standard Operas, Their Plots, 
 Their Musk, and Their Composers. London, 1907. 
 
 (Ciives plots and criticisms of 137 Operas of all countries 
 in alphabetical order. There is an appendix which mentions 
 one or two little-known iSth century American Operas and 
 which gives the names of 135 American Operas of all periods 
 down to the present day.) 
 
 Victor, Benjamin: The history of the theatres of London 
 and Dublin from the year 1 730 to the present time. 
 To which is added an annual register of all the Plays 
 performed at the Theatres Royal in London from 
 the year 17 12, with occasional notes and anecdotes. 
 3 vols. London, 1761-1771.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 321 
 
 Voice of discord, The ; or The Battle of the fiddles. London, 
 
 J753- 
 
 ("A history of a seditious and unnatural attempt (contained 
 in a pamphlet entitled "A scheme for having in London an 
 Italian Opera of a new taste ") upon the lives and properties 
 of fifty singers and fiddlers." This is the history of an 
 intrigue resulting from the proposal of " Van-schi " to give 
 a winter season of Opera at the Haymarket "with all the 
 most celebrated Eunuchs Italy could boast of." For this 
 purpose he had raised 2000 guineas from "The English 
 Nobility whose peculiar character it is to be blindly generous." 
 The history of this squabble is given in French and English, 
 and there is a humorous Italian dedication.) 
 
 Walker, Ernest : A History of Music in England. 
 Oxford, 1907. 
 
 (Contains scattered references to English Opera. See 
 General Index, sub "Operas" and "Stage Music") 
 
 Waters, E. : A Statement of Matters relative to The King's 
 Theatre. 2nd Ed. London, 181 8. 
 
 (Correspondence and particulars relating to a " noble 
 Committee" of enquiry into Waters's management, his en- 
 gaging and paying of singers and dancers.) 
 
 Waters, E. : The Opera Glass, by E. Waters Esq. Sole 
 executor of Mr. Francis Goold, and principal Mortgagee 
 of Mr. Taylor's Share in the King's Theatre. London, 
 1808. 
 
 (One hundred and fifty pages of an operatic manager's 
 correspondence, quarrels, and finance. He estimates Madame 
 Catalani to have received "last year" the sum of ^16,700 
 "besides presents.") 
 
 Wyndham, Henry Saxe : Arthur Sullivan. London, 
 1903. 
 
 (A short illustrated account of Sullivan's life and work. 
 There is a chapter on "Sullivan as Composer" by Ernest 
 Ford.) 
 
 Wyndham, Henry Saxe : The Annals of Covent Garden 
 Theatre from 1 732 to 1897. London, 1906. 
 x
 
 322 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH OPERA 
 
 Woodrow, A. E. : See Sachs, E. O. 
 
 Young, M. J. : Memoirs of Mrs. Crouch. Including a 
 Retrospect of the stage during the years she performed. 
 London, 1806. 
 
 (Theatrical and operatic reminiscences of the late 18th 
 century.) 
 
 Zedlitz, Baroness von : See Arditi, Luigi.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Note. In this index operatic titles which begin with the word 
 the appear under T. 
 
 Abyssinian expedition, 29 (note) 
 Accessibility (of* Opera), 104, 
 105, 120, 212, 221, 280. 
 [See Intelligibility. Public] 
 Addison, 27 
 Admetus, 108 
 Adriatic sea, a boundary of the 
 
 Papal States, 62 (note) 
 vEtius, 108 
 Africa 
 
 extension of territory in, 28 
 northern, a boundary of the 
 Vandal movements, 54. 
 (note) 
 Roman Empire in, 48 
 Saracens move through 
 
 northern, 54 (note) 
 trade in northern, 27 
 Aggenus Urbicus, 51 (note) 
 Agincourt, 67 
 Alaric, 54 (note) 
 Alceste, preface to, quoted, 113. 
 
 [See Gluck] 
 Alfred, King, 65, 108 
 Algiers, bombarded, 28 and 29 
 (note) 
 expedition against, 84 (note) 
 Altnena, 10 1 (note) 
 Ambrose, St., 52, 53 (note) 
 
 America 
 
 discovery of, 24, 38, 70, 78 
 importance and effect of dis- 
 covery, 76-79, 84, 86, 87 
 America, United States of 
 comparison of modern musi- 
 cal conditions in the, with 
 those in mediaeval Rome, 
 
 74' 75 
 comparison with England, 
 
 225-227 
 
 foreign culture in the, 74, 272 
 
 in the nineteenth century, 1 5 
 
 language in the, dependent on 
 
 natural factors, 226, 227 
 
 A Midsummer-Night's Dream, 
 
 186 
 
 Ammianus, 51 (note), 59 (note) 
 
 Anachronisms in Spain and 
 
 England, 84-86 
 
 Angles and Saxons, wanderings 
 
 of the, 54 (note) 
 
 Anglo-Continental 
 
 composers, 102, 252 
 
 composers of the eighteenth 
 
 century, their position, 
 
 102, 103 
 
 opera, at Covent Garden, 132 
 
 opera, excuses for, 103
 
 3 2 4 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Anglo-Continental 
 
 opera, in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury and now, 117. 
 opera, its worthlessness, 103, 
 
 117 
 Anson, 27 (note) 
 Antiphons, English, 16 and 17 
 
 (note) 
 Apthorp, W. F., quoted, 196 
 
 (note) 
 Arabia, Saracens move from, 54 
 
 (note) 
 Aria, the Italian, 1 1 5 
 Ariosto, 23 
 
 Armada, the, 27, 85 (note) 
 Arne, 5, 6 (note), 26, 1 o 1 (note), 
 
 102 (note), 159, 160, 161 
 
 (note), 277 
 Arnold, S. J., quoted, 164, 
 
 165 
 Ars Poetica, reference to, 53 
 
 (note) 
 Artaxerxes, 159, 277 
 
 quoted, 160 
 Art-works, their importance 
 
 when national, 19 
 foreign, value of, 270 
 Aryans, migrations of, 55 
 Asia, barbarian inroads from, 
 
 into Europe, 53 and 54 
 
 (note) 
 boundaries of Roman Empire 
 
 in, 48 (note) 
 Asia Minor, irruption of Ostro- 
 goths into, 53 (note) 
 Saracens move through 
 
 southern, 54 (note) 
 Assaye, 28 (note) 
 A Summer s Night, 297 (note) 
 
 produced, 141 
 Athens, sculpture at, 40 
 Atlantic Ocean, 48 
 Attila, 53 (note) 
 
 Augustan and Post-Augustan 
 writers compared, 51 and 
 52 (note) 
 Augustine, St., 51 (note) 
 Ausonius, 5 1 (note) 
 Austria. [Sec Europe, central. 
 Vienna] 
 cultivation of music in, 18, 
 
 25, 44, 87 
 mediaeval wars of, 68 
 Aveling, Claude, 219 and 220 
 
 (note) 
 A Village Romeo and Juliet 
 a popular success in Germany, 
 
 . H. 1 
 
 criticism of, 142, 143 
 
 produced in England, 141 
 public inattention to, 142 
 translation of, 235 
 
 Bach, J. C, aristocratic apprecia- 
 tion of, 92 (note) 
 Bach, J. S.,9 (note), 2 5, 262, 275 
 
 Wagner on, 88 (note) 
 Balbus, 5 I (note) 
 Balfe, 26, 42, 153 (note), 162, 
 165 (note), 167 (note), 
 1 68 (note) 
 Balfour, A. J., 114 (note) 
 
 quoted, 279 (note) 
 Ballad Opera. [See English 
 Opera. The Beggar's 
 Opera] 
 eighteenth century views on, 
 
 109, 1 10 
 features of, 1 57-1 59 
 invented in opposition to 
 Italian Opera, 103, 109, 
 1 10, 115, 156 
 its flimsy nature, 1 I 5 
 mcthodofcompiling, 1 1 5, 156 
 reasons for success of, 108, 
 109
 
 INDEX 
 
 325 
 
 Barbarian inroads, 53-55 
 
 chronology of, 53 and 54 
 
 (note) 
 Barnett, ]., 5, 120 (note) 
 
 his improvements in English 
 
 Opera, 178, 179 
 his position in the nineteenth 
 
 century, 162 and 163 
 
 (note) 
 his scheme of English Opera, 
 
 2 +5 ( note ) 
 Barnett, Z. O, quoted, 164, 
 
 168, 173, 175, 176 
 
 Batavi, 72 
 
 Battishall, 101 (note) 
 
 Bavaria, 283 
 
 Bayreuth, 1 1 7 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, 156 
 
 Becker, C. F., 302 
 
 Beccham, Joseph, 133, 292 
 
 Beecham, Thomas 
 
 and English Opera, 144., 145 
 and English Opera Singers, 
 
 135 (note), 187, 188 
 and ' international ' opera, 
 
 i34> 138-H 
 
 and M. Delius, 141, 142, 235 
 
 and the language question in 
 
 Opera, 147, 148 
 and the public, 249, 250 
 anticipated, 10 1 
 a type of operatic energy, 1 50 
 criticism of, 146, 147 
 enters field of operatic manage- 
 
 _ men _t, 133 
 
 his activities, 145, 146 
 
 his dissatisfaction with the 
 
 public, 148 
 his performances of Elektra 
 
 and Salome, 149, 1 50 
 his productions, 141 
 his views on National Opera 
 
 House, 134 
 
 quoted, 137, 138, 141, 142, 
 143, 145, 148, 149 
 Beethoven, 25, 36 (note), 42, 
 1 7 1 (note) 
 and Haydn, 274, 275 
 and Mozart, 98, 262 
 and Opera, 295 
 and private patronage, 282, 
 
 284 
 imitations of, in England, 1 19 
 Behnke, Emil. [See Browne, 
 
 Lennox] 
 Belgians, the, 26 
 Belgium (Modern). [See Flan- 
 ders. Flemings. Holland. 
 Netherlands] 
 colonial expansion of, 26 
 geographical description of, 
 
 7\> 7 2 
 
 race inhabiting, 72, 73 
 
 Belisarius 53 (note) 
 Benedict, 1 62, 173 (note) 
 Bennett, Sterndale, 
 
 his environment, 92 (note) 
 a denationalized Englishman 
 105 (note) 
 Bentley, 28 
 
 Berengaria, in Opera, 178 
 Berlioz, 219 (note), 302 
 Betterton, 156 
 Birmingham, 30 (note) 
 Bishop, 5, 42, 12c (note), 164 
 (note), 167 (note), 168 
 (note), 171 (note), 176 
 (note) 
 his improvements in English 
 Opera, 162 
 Blackburn, Vernon, quoted, 120 
 Black Sea 
 
 a boundary of the Roman 
 
 Empire, 48 (note) 
 passage of Ostrogoths across 
 the, 53 (note)
 
 326 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Boccaccio, 23 
 
 BScking, 48 (note) 
 
 Boer war and British naval 
 
 supremacy, 87 (note) 
 Bohemia 
 
 cult of Music in, 87 
 
 mediaeval wars of, 68 
 Bologna 
 
 English MSS. at, 17 (note) 
 
 music produced at, 17 
 Bononcini, 100 (note) 
 Boswell's Life, 1 1 1 (note) 
 Botticelli, 23 
 Brahms, 25, 266 
 Browne, Lennox, quoted, 208 
 Browning, 29 
 Brunelleschi, 23 
 Bunn, the poet, 26, 152, 180, 
 181 
 
 quoted, 153, 165, 166, 167, 
 
 I/O; i73 174, 175. 177 
 Burgundians (Burgundi), 72 
 mediasval wars of the, 68 
 wanderings of the, 54 (note) 
 Burma, conquest of, 28 
 Burne-Jones, 29 
 Burns, 161 
 Byron, 29, 161 
 Byzantine Empire, invasion of, 
 
 53 (note) 
 Byzantium 
 
 attacked by Ostrogoths, 53 
 
 (note) 
 Constantinople founded on 
 site of, 58 and 59 (note) 
 
 Caccini, 23 
 
 Camilla, quoted, 100 
 
 Canada, conquest of, 27, 28 
 
 (note) 
 Cape of Good Hope, 28 (note) 
 Caractacus, 102 (note) 
 Carlovingian Empire, 60 
 
 Carl Rosa, 127, 239 
 
 Carolina, South, 27 (note) 
 
 Carthage (Roman), 54. (note) 
 
 Castillon, 67 
 
 Cateau Cambresis, 80 (note) 
 
 Catherine of Braganza, 27 (note) 
 
 Cavalleria Rustlcana, its transla- 
 tion, 231-233 
 
 Cavalli, 23 
 
 Cawnpore, 57 
 
 Cellini, 23 
 
 Celsus, 51 (note) 
 
 Cesti, 23 
 
 Chalons, battle of, 53 (note), 
 87 (note) 
 
 Chandos, Duke of, 12, 97 
 
 Chappell, Old English Popular 
 Music, quoted, 156, 157 
 
 Charlemagne, 54 (note) 
 
 Charles II.. 2, 12, 27, 92 (note), 
 96 
 
 Charles V., 80 (note) 
 
 Chaucer MS., 17 (note) 
 
 Chaucer, quoted, 153 
 
 Chorley, quoted, 164, 168, 1 69, 
 172, 176 
 
 Chronological chart, 21-26, 30, 
 
 Chronology of Musical History, 
 
 16-18 
 Church States. [See Papacy] 
 City-States 
 
 as points of exteriorization, 
 
 56,57 
 
 emergence of the, 55 
 
 in mediaeval Europe, 80 
 Classical topics (in Opera) 
 
 congenial to the Greek and 
 1 atin mind, 109 
 
 familiarity of, to Italian audi- 
 ences, 108 
 
 repugnance of English audi- 
 ences to, 108, 1 09
 
 INDEX 
 
 327 
 
 Claudian, 5 1 (note) 
 
 Clementi, popular cult of, 92 
 (note) 
 
 Clive, 27 (note), 42 
 
 Clutsam, George, 141, 297 
 (note) 
 
 Cochin-Chinese Opera, 286 
 (note) 
 
 Coleman, George, the Younger, 
 180, 181 
 quoted, 162 
 
 Collingwood, 28 (note) 
 
 Colomba, quoted, 180 
 
 Colonial Expansion. \_See Ex- 
 teriorization, Sea-Power. 
 World-Power] 
 of Belgium, 26 
 of England, 25-29, 39-42, 
 
 4+> 77> 87. 88 
 of France, 25, 26, 88 
 of Germany, 25,88 
 of Holland, 88 (note) 
 of Portugal, 88 (note) 
 of Spain, 88 (note) 
 Columbus, 59, 76 
 Comic-Opera. [See Musical- 
 Comedy] 
 and Song-speech, 191, 192 
 and the travelling opera- 
 companies, 239, 240 
 a possible basis for advance, 
 ^ 243, 244 
 English attempts to develop, 
 
 244-246 
 English school of, 243 
 public appreciation of, 240, 
 
 2 43 
 wealth and energy devoted 
 to, 117, 243 
 Communes, rise of the, 73 
 Composer, the. [See Public. 
 Receptivity] 
 compared with the painter, 
 
 the sculptor and the poet, 
 
 31.-36 
 conditions favourable and 
 
 adverse to, 41 
 dependent on the nation, 
 
 104, 105, 276 
 national and denationalized 
 
 105 (note) 
 only partly responsible for 
 
 Musical-productivity, 278, 
 
 279 
 protected abroad, 139, 140 
 ' spiritual union ' of, with the 
 
 nation, 104, 105, 117, 1 18, 
 
 120, 143, 144, 238, 278- 
 
 281,300. [See Accessibility. 
 
 Intelligibility] 
 Composer, the English. [See 
 
 Anglo continental. English 
 
 Opera. Public] 
 and English Opera, 293, 294 
 and environment, 92 (note), 
 and foreign models, 119, 
 
 252, 261, 262. [See 
 
 Foreign] 
 and the foreign, 124, 125 
 foreign-trained abroad, 265, 
 
 266 
 foreign-trained at home, 266, 
 
 267 
 his attitude towards the 
 
 resident foreigner, 273, 
 
 274 
 his detachment, 253, 260. 
 
 [^Disconnectedness. Na- 
 tional occasions] 
 Composer, the English Operatic. 
 
 [See National Opera House. 
 
 Public. Receptivity. State- 
 aid] 
 and finance, 280-282, 298, 
 
 300 
 and his inheritance, 301
 
 328 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Composer, the English Operatic 
 and ' international ' opera, 
 
 *3 8 > J 39 
 and song-speech, 194, 204, 
 
 209, 210, 222 
 and state-aid, 135, 136 
 and the Impresario, 140, 141 
 and the painter compared, 
 
 255. 2 56-_ 
 and the public, 247, 257-260, 
 
 280, 281 
 and translated opera, 222-224 
 disadvantageous position of, 
 
 139, 140, 253-257 
 double attitude of, 1 18. [See 
 
 also 97 et seq.~\ 
 his chances of public per- 
 formance, 127 
 his want of opportunities, 127 
 national indifference to, 
 
 256-260 
 necessity of studying English, 
 
 208, 209 
 small demand for his work, 
 
 254, 255 
 Composer, the Operatic 
 
 and private patronage, 282- 
 
 284 
 and the concert composer 
 
 compared, 125, 126, 254, 
 
 2 5.5. 
 conditions of, compared with 
 
 the Painter, 255, 256. [See 
 
 Music] 
 
 his dependence on the public, 
 
 . I2 5 . . 
 
 his difficulties in the eigh- 
 teenth century, 1 1 6, 117 
 
 his relationships with libret- 
 tists, 182-184, 294-298 
 
 his varying conditions, 126 
 
 necessity of public perfor- 
 mances, 125,1 26, 279, 280 
 
 primarily responsible for song- 
 speech, 193, 194 
 
 selection of, 298, 299 
 
 the three types, 294-298 
 Concert-goers, the English as, 
 
 201, 202, 246, 247 
 Connectedness. [See Discon- 
 nectedness] 
 
 of English Church music, 
 277 
 
 of German music, 41, 98, 
 26 1, 262, 276, 277 
 
 of national activities com- 
 pared with disconnected- 
 ness of English Opera, 5 
 
 of the continental schools, 
 270, 271 
 Connecting links in Opera 
 [See Emotional situations. 
 Duality. Recitative], 94, 
 114, 115, 116, 121, 122, 
 189 
 Consonants. [See Singers. Sing- 
 ing Masters] 
 
 in English and Italian, 196- 
 
 intelligibility of, and vowels 
 
 compared, 203 
 pronunciation of, by singers, 
 1 88, 190, 202-204 
 Constable, 28 
 
 Constance, lake, a boundary of 
 the Roman Empire, 48 
 (note) 
 Constantinople 
 
 attacked by Ostrogoths, 53 
 
 (note) 
 barbarian inroads into, 53-55 
 founding of, its effect, 58 and 
 
 59 ( n()tc ) 
 Cook, 28 (note) 
 Colder, H. and F., 219 (note) 
 Coriolanus, 108
 
 INDEX 
 
 329 
 
 Covent Garden 
 and A me, 160 
 and German Opera, 285 
 audiences at, 128, 213, 214, 
 
 215 (note) 
 exclusion of the English com- 
 poser from, 1 27 
 " grand opera " season at, 1 1 7, 
 
 12S, 213 
 its record, 1 29, 1 30 
 its relationship to the nation, 
 130, 131, 240, 285, 2S8, 
 291 
 language at, 213, 214, 215 
 
 (note) 
 morality at, 1 10 
 mortality at, 1 1 1 
 ''musical tragedy" at, 127 
 opera at, 1 88 
 
 questions with regard to, 130 
 stage material at, 128, 129 
 Cramer, popular cult of, 92 
 
 (note) 
 Crecy, 67 
 Crusades, the, 22, 68, 83 
 
 character of, 63 and 64 (note) 
 
 Daftte, 10S 
 D'Albert, 141 (note) 
 Danes, the, 65 
 Dannreuther, E., 302 
 Dante, 23 
 Danube 
 
 a boundary of the Vandal 
 movements, 54 (note) 
 
 Lombards reach the, 54 (note) 
 
 Ostrogoths march along the, 
 53 (note) 
 
 Roman frontier on the, 48 
 (note) 
 Darien expedition, 27 (note) 
 Darwin, 29 
 Dassori, 100 (note) 
 
 Debussy, Claude 
 
 Blessed Damozel, 227 (note) 
 imitations of, in England, I 19 
 quoted, 113, 123 
 
 Debus, Frederik, 141, 142, 143, 
 
 23 5 
 
 Demetrius, 108 
 
 Denmark. [See Scandinavia] 
 
 civil war in, 68 
 
 mediaeval wars of, 68 
 
 united to Sweden and Nor- 
 way, 70 
 de St. Georges, 165 (note), 177 
 
 (note) 
 Dettingen Te Deum, 36 (note) 
 Devonshire, Duke of, 12, 97 
 Dibdin, 6 (note), 160 
 
 his nautical pieces, 161 
 
 quoted, 161 
 Dickens, 29, 1 67 
 Dido and JEneas, 152 (note), 277 
 Dioclesian, dedication of, quoted, 
 
 113 
 
 quoted, 113 
 Discant, discovery of, 60 
 
 first description of, 61 
 
 its importance, 61, 89 
 Disconnectedness. [See Con- 
 nectedness] 
 
 of English music, 5, 6, 41, 
 42, 98, 104, 124,276, 277 
 Dnieper, a boundary of the 
 Norman wanderings, 54 
 (note) 
 Dogger Bank, 1 1 
 Donatello, 23 
 Don Giovanni, 277, 299 
 Dorking, 7 
 Dorsetshire, 7 
 
 Drake, 27 (note), 85 (note) 
 Dryden, 152 
 
 criticized, 1 5 5 
 
 quoted, 154
 
 33 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Duality (of Opera), 94, 114- 
 116, 121, 122, 1 89, 2 1 3, 
 214, 216-218. [See Con- 
 necting links. Emotional 
 situation-] 
 Ducrow, Andrew, a type of the 
 English Operatic vocalist, 
 201 (note) 
 Dunstable, his lack of influence, 
 92 (note) 
 school of, 1 2 (note) 
 vocal works of, 1 7 (note) 
 Dussck, popular cult of, 92 
 
 (note) 
 Dussek & Co., 162 
 Dutch [See Belgium. Flanders. 
 Flemings. Holland. Ne- 
 therlands], 17, 23-25, 44 
 geographical conditions of 
 
 the, 71, 72 
 sea-power of the, 84 (note) 
 social and political conditions 
 of the, 72, 73 
 
 East India Companies, 27 (note) 
 
 Fast India Service, 42 
 
 East Indies, overseas activity in 
 
 the, 27 
 " Edmund," 166-1 7 1 
 Education, musical 
 and adducation, 247 
 and foreign teachers in Eng- 
 land, 264, 265 
 foreign, of English composers 
 
 abroad, 265, 266 
 foreign, of English composers 
 
 at home, 266, 267 
 its true end, 264 
 result oi our present, 267 
 Edward VII., King, his recog- 
 nition of English Opera, 
 
 144 
 
 the fir-t ' patron,' 292 
 
 Egypt, Saracens move through, 
 
 54 ( n ote) 
 Elbe, a boundary of the Vandal 
 
 movements, 54 (note) 
 Elektra, 248 
 
 production of, in London, 
 149, 150 
 Elizabethan 
 
 buccaneers as a type of ex- 
 teriorization, 38 
 drama, 27, 40 
 England and Augustan Rome, 
 
 52 (note) 
 poetry and the classicists, 93 
 (note) 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 13, 27, 93 
 
 (note) 
 "Ella," 172-176 
 Ellis, quoted, 202, 203, 204 
 Emotional situations in Opera, 
 94, 114, 115, 121,183, 189 
 Emotional topics in Opera, 109, 
 
 1 10 
 Environment and composers, 
 92 (note) 
 difference of, and of language, 
 225-228 
 England. [5<?^ English. National. 
 Nationalism] 
 a boundarv of the Norman 
 
 wanderings, 54 (note) 
 an artistically disunited nation, 
 3, 95, 96, 1 1 6- 1 1 8, 251. 
 [See Disconnectedness] 
 and Italy, 78, So, 93, 98, 99, 
 
 106-108 
 and religious conflict, 84 
 as a colonizing power, 88 
 
 (note) 
 as a type of exteriorization, 
 
 38, 39 
 
 as a World-power, 2, 25. 
 [See Colonial Expansion]
 
 INDEX 
 
 33 1 
 
 England 
 
 civil war in, 6S 
 comparison of, with Germany, 
 41, 119, 261, 262, 275- 
 
 277 _ 
 
 comparison of, with the 
 Roman Empire, 50 
 
 comparison of, with the 
 U.S.A., 225-227 
 
 comparison of musical con- 
 ditions in modern, with 
 those in mediaeval Rome, 
 
 74> 75 
 
 development of World-power 
 in, compared with her 
 mental and artistic develop- 
 ment, 27-29 
 
 discovery of America changes 
 national and musical con- 
 ditions of, 44, 76-79 
 
 early social and musical de- 
 velopments in, 64-66 
 
 foreign craftsmen in, 271, 
 
 2.7 2 
 foreign exploitation of, 74, 
 75, 264, 265, 271, 273, 
 274 
 foreign helpers in, 265 
 foreign musicians in, 40, 74, 
 
 75, 264, 265, 272-274 
 in the seventeenth and eigh- 
 teenth centuries, 1 5 
 isolation of, before the dis- 
 covery of America, 76 
 Jack Cade's Rebellion in, 67 
 limits of, 66 
 
 material conditions in, 40 
 mediaeval wars of, 66-69 
 musical development in, 84 
 musical sterility of, 10, 87 
 music produced in, 17 
 national awakening in, 274- 
 276 
 
 national vitality of, 2, 28 
 
 partiality of, for foreign 
 musical traditions and lan- 
 guages, 92 (note), 116 
 
 partially national school of 
 music in, 82, 84-86 
 
 possibility of further exteriori- 
 zation, 88 
 
 private patronage in, 282-284 
 
 public charity in, 288-290 
 
 temporary impenetrability of, 
 to new ideas of World- 
 power, 86 
 
 the Pioneer cf Music, 64 
 
 treaties of, 73 (note) 
 
 unmusical conditions in, 41 
 
 wars of Roses in, 67 
 English. [St^England. National. 
 Nationalism] 
 
 ability to absorb foreign in- 
 dustrial technique, 271, 
 272 
 
 antagonism to Italian methods, 
 107 
 
 approval of Opera, 121 
 
 aristocratic cult of foreign 
 Opera, 96-98, 116-118, 
 212, 213 
 
 aristocracy, characteristics of 
 the, 96, 116, 213 (note) 
 
 as concert-goers, 201, 202, 
 246, 247 
 
 as linguists, 213, 214 
 
 as theatre-goers, 8, 97, 246, 
 247 
 
 attitude towards music, 53 
 (note) 
 
 attitude towards the operatic 
 form, 1 89, 216-219, 222 
 
 Church-music, its connected- 
 ness, 277 
 
 defiance of Italian Opera, 
 106
 
 33 2 
 
 INDEX 
 
 English 
 
 dislike of foreign Opera, 218, 
 
 219, 222 
 dislike of recitative, 112, 
 
 dislike of theatrical gloom, 
 
 109, 1 10, 112 
 expulsion of the, from Spain, 
 
 70 
 exteriorizing tendencies of 
 
 the, 213 (note) 
 inability to absorb foreign 
 
 musical culture, 272, 273, 
 
 musical position of the, in the 
 early eighteenth century, 
 106 
 
 national and operatic activi- 
 ties compared, 5 
 
 refusal of Italian methods, 
 
 107 
 
 secular music, its discon- 
 nectedness, 104. [See Dis- 
 connectedness] 
 
 want of interest in classical 
 operatic topics, 108 
 English language. [See Singers. 
 Song-speech] 
 
 and Mr. Beecham's operatic 
 productions, 147, 148 
 
 and seventeenth century 
 musical expression, 154 
 
 and singing masters, 159, 160, 
 195, 196, 199, 200 
 
 and vowel-combinations, 205 
 
 as a suitable medium lor 
 Opera, 116, 1 S6 
 
 as understood by singers, 159, 
 160 
 
 Ballad-Opera written and per- 
 formed m the, 1 1 6 
 
 choice of, 111 writing Opera, 
 1S2 
 
 compared with Italian and 
 
 French, 206, 207 
 composite character of the, 
 
 182, 205, 206, 209 
 democratic preference for the, 
 
 in Opera, 1 16 
 dependent on natural factors, 
 
 225, 226 
 distortions and inversions of 
 
 the, in Opera, 154, 155, 
 
 l6 5> i73> l lS' l l^ l8o > 
 230 
 
 "drama" of the, 199, 204, 
 207 
 
 generally ill-chosen and ill- 
 sung, 187-189 
 
 in eighteenth century Opera, 
 116 
 
 in nineteenth century Opera, 
 1 75-1 80 
 
 in seventeenth century Opera, 
 
 its general composition and 
 
 character, 197-199, 210 
 "Milk-punch or Whisky?" 
 
 120 and 121 and 122 
 
 (note) 
 objections advanced to use of 
 
 the, in Opera, 216-218 
 rhythms of the, 199, 204, 
 
 207, 223, 228 
 specially adapted for Opera, 
 
 185, 204-2 10 
 unimportance of the, under 
 
 eighteenth century condi- 
 tions, 1 59, 160 
 variety of the, 186 
 Wardour-Streetism, 181, 182 
 English Musical Renaissance, 
 
 1S0 
 English Music from the eleventh 
 
 to the fifteenth centuries, 
 
 16
 
 INDEX 
 
 333 
 
 English Opera. [See Anglo-Con- 
 tinental. Ballad Opera. 
 England. English. Italian 
 Opera] 
 
 a history of failure, I, 2, 124, 
 125, 1S6 
 
 a l'ltalienne, 99 
 
 analysis of forces in, 118 
 
 and English musicians, 293, 
 294 _ 
 
 and nationalism, 251, 252 
 
 and Furcell, 2, 95. [See 
 Purcell] 
 
 and the English Musical 
 Renaissance, 1 80 
 
 and the other national activi- 
 ties, 1-4, 186. [See National] 
 
 and Wardour- Streetism, 181, 
 182 
 
 chances of, under adverse 
 conditions, 117, 118, 254- 
 
 257 
 
 class-opposition to, 95, 96, 
 1 16-118, 124 
 
 democratic cult of, 97, 98, 
 106, 1 10, 116, 117. [See 
 Composer. Public. Re- 
 ceptivity] 
 
 development in, 119, 120, 
 244-246 
 
 developments of, in the seven- 
 teenth century, 94, 95 
 
 disconnectedness of, 5, 6, 
 1 24 
 
 early nineteenth century type 
 of, 162-178 
 
 eighteenth century types of, 
 1 10, 156, 1 59, 160 
 
 energy expended in, 3 
 
 fallacious reasons for non- 
 development of, 6 (note). 
 [See Musical development. 
 Musical productivity] 
 
 financial indifference to, 289, 
 290 
 
 financial necessities of, 279 
 et seq. 
 
 inability of England to pro- 
 duce, 8 
 
 intermediate type of, 160 
 
 its disconnectedness, 4-6. [See 
 Disconnectedness] 
 
 its relation to " Opera in 
 English," 221-224 
 
 mid-nineteenth century, 178- 
 180 
 
 national inferiority in, 186 
 
 national obstacles to cultiva- 
 tion of, 1 1 7, 263 et seq. 
 
 necessity of purely English 
 productions, 143, 144. 
 [See Composer. Public. 
 Spiritual union] 
 
 never fairly tested, 291 
 
 opponents of, 216-218 
 
 popular demand for, in the 
 eighteenth century, 97 
 
 quality of brain-power em- 
 ployed in, 4 
 
 question with regard to, 6, 8, 
 
 selection of, 298, 299 
 the three types of national 
 mind in, 3, 95, 96, 116, 
 117, 252 
 unrepresentative of the Eng- 
 lish genius, 2 
 unsuccessful attempts to 
 found, on basis of Italian 
 Opera, 98-103 
 English Opera House, The, 
 
 244, 245, 291 
 Ernelinda, preface to, quoted, 
 
 100 
 Eroica symphony, 36 (note) 
 Este, 80
 
 334 
 
 INDEX 
 
 E undue, 108 
 Europe 
 
 and the city-states, 55-57, 80 
 ascendancy of interiorizing 
 over exteriorizing force 
 during the Mediaeval 
 Period, 59 
 balance of interiorization and 
 exteriorization in mediaeval, 
 
 6 7 . 
 barbarian incursions into, 53 
 
 and 54 (note), 55 (note) 
 dual character of exterioriza- 
 tion in mediaeval, 62-64 
 education of secular, 83 
 exteriorization a character- 
 istic of, during the Roman 
 Period and the Period of 
 the Dark Ages, 47-59 
 general cultivation of music 
 
 in, 89, 90 
 gradual pressure of new ex- 
 teriorizing forces in, 78, 82 
 national division in, 89, 90 
 rearrangement of national 
 
 relationships in, 76-79 
 sixteenth century interioriz- 
 ing and exteriorizing ten- 
 dencies in, 82, 83 
 static condition within, 86 
 useless type of national ex- 
 teriorization in mediaeval, 
 66-69 
 Europe, central, segregation of, 
 
 88 
 Euryanthe, 295 
 
 Exteriorization, 37. \Sce In- 
 teriorization. Sea- Power. 
 World-Power] 
 absence of, does not ensure 
 
 musical-productivity, 43 
 absence of, in mediaeval 
 Flanders, 73 
 
 absence of, necessary for 
 musical development, 69 
 
 absence of, within Europe in 
 the Modern Period, 86 
 
 and the English Church, 277 
 
 an explanation of musical 
 history, 42 
 
 Asiatic and Western, 87 
 (note) 
 
 a uniformly negative condi- 
 tion in the Modern Period, 
 89, 90 
 
 changed character of, in the 
 Modern Period, 76 
 
 compared with interioriza- 
 tion, 39, 41, 90 
 
 complete absence of, not 
 necessary for musical de- 
 velopment, 69 
 
 Dark Ages, the great illustra- 
 tive era of, 54, 55 
 
 decrease of, tendencies in the 
 sixteenth century, 82, 83 
 
 devotion of Mediaeval Rome 
 and Modern England to, 
 
 . 7 . 4 ' 7 .5 
 distinction between the two 
 
 types of, 63 
 
 double process of, in the 
 Roman Empire, 5 1 
 
 dual character of, in Mediae- 
 val Europe, 62-64 
 
 England and, 92, 98, 213 
 (note) 
 
 general aspect of mediaeval, 
 68 
 
 gradual ascendancy of in- 
 teriorizing over exterioriz- 
 ing forceduring the Mediae- 
 val Period, 59, 60 
 
 identity of modern and 
 ancient, 56, 57 
 
 in musical creation, 31 et seq.
 
 INDEX 
 
 335 
 
 Exteriorization 
 
 mental, in France, 88 
 
 motives for, 66 
 
 new area for, in the Modern 
 
 Period, 76, 87 
 new forces of, exert only a 
 
 gradual pressure, 78, S 2 
 new form of, its difference of 
 
 effect in various nations, 
 
 78, 79 
 
 opposed to musical develop- 
 ment, 30, 90, 92 
 
 " overthrow " of faculty for, 
 86 
 
 partial, in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, 83 
 
 physical, tends to decrease in 
 secular mediaeval Europe, 
 
 6 7 
 points of, multiplied in the 
 
 Dark Ages, 55, 56 
 possibility of further, in Eng- 
 land, 88 
 pressure of, on composers, 42 
 religion as a basis for, 82, 
 
 rigorous application of, 44, 62 
 Rome and England as types 
 
 of, 3 8 > 39 
 
 social and musical effects of, 
 in Italy, 80, 81 
 
 social results of mediaeval, 6j 
 
 the basis of the Roman Em- 
 pire, 51 
 
 the deterrent factor in musical 
 development, 40, 41 
 
 the mediaeval type of, 66-69 
 
 the three moments of national 
 pause from, 69-76 
 
 uselessness of mediaeval, 68, 69 
 
 Fair Rosamond, quoted, 164, 168, 
 i73 175- *7 6 
 
 Federated Malay States, 28 
 
 Festivals, the, 254 
 
 Fidelia, 171 (note), 277 
 
 " Leise ! leise ! " in, 121 
 (note) 
 
 Finck, H. T., quoted, 199 
 (note) 
 
 Finland, cultivation of music 
 in, 18, 87, 88 
 
 Fitzball, E., 181 
 
 quoted, 169, 175, 176, 177, 
 178 
 
 Flanders. [See Belgium. Flan- 
 ders. Flemings. Holland. 
 Netherlands] 
 absence of external history 
 
 In ' 73 
 earliest musical developments 
 
 in, 64 
 
 Flemings, 26. [See Flanders. 
 
 Flemish School] 
 
 geographical conditionsof the, 
 
 7}> 7 2 
 services of the, to music, 75, 
 
 social and political conditions 
 
 of the, 72, 73 
 the, and discant, 61 
 Flemish School, 39. [See 
 Flanders] 
 development and influence of 
 
 the, 17 
 in Rome, 10, 74, 75, 79 
 (note), 84 
 Flora's Opera, 1 5 8 
 Florence, in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, 79 
 music produced at, 17, 18, 
 Florentine School, 39 
 Fly Soft ideas, 1 5 9 
 Folk-song, 13, 14 
 Folk-wandering, chronology of, 
 5 3 and 54 (note)
 
 33 6 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Foreign. [See Composer] 
 
 and English standpoints in 
 
 Opera, 99 
 artistic enemies, 260, 261, 
 
 271 
 composers and protection, 1 39, 
 
 140 
 craftsmen in England, 271, 
 
 272 
 cult of, music and artists, 
 
 213 
 English dislike of, operatic 
 
 ideals, 218, 219 
 English inability to absorb, 
 
 musical culture, 272, 273, 
 
 English partiality for, musical 
 
 traditions, 92 (note) 
 exploitation of England, 264, 
 
 265, 271, 273, 274 
 helpers in England, 265 
 ideals in Opera, 215, 
 
 216 
 models in music, 119, 252, 
 
 261, 262 
 musical education at home 
 
 and abroad, 265-267 
 Opera, cult of, in England, 
 
 96-9 S, 116, 1 1 7-128, 212, 
 
 213, 252 
 Opera season at Covent Gar- 
 den, 128-132 
 standards in song -speech, 
 
 209, 210. [See English 
 
 Language. Song -speech. 
 
 Translation] 
 the,composerand the English, 
 
 124, 125 
 Foreigners 
 
 cult of, an obstacle to English 
 
 Opera, 1 19, 260 et seq. 
 resident in America, 74, 75, 
 
 272 
 
 resident in England, 40, 74, 
 
 75, 264, 265, 271-274 
 resident in Rome, 10, 74, 75, 
 79 (note), 84 
 Formigny, 67 
 
 " Fourth dimension," the musi- 
 cal, 89 
 Fra Angelico, 23 
 France. [See French] 
 
 an artistically united nation, 
 
 251, 252 
 and Nationalism, 269, 270 
 as a colonizing power, 25, 26, 
 
 88 
 combination of activities in, 
 
 30 (note) 
 cultivation of music in, 17, 
 
 87 
 Holy League against, 79 (note) 
 Italian wars of, 79, 80 
 lessons from, 144, 269, 
 
 270 
 mediaeval wars of, 66-68 
 protection of native composers 
 
 in, 139 
 Saracens enter south of, 54 
 
 (note) 
 The Jacquerie in, 67 
 Franks, wanderings of the, 54 
 
 (note) 
 Free-trade in music, 139, 140 
 Freischiitz, 277 
 French 
 
 craftsmen in England, 271, 
 
 272 
 exteriorization and interiori- 
 
 zation of the, 88 
 music and musicians in Eng- 
 land, 12, 75, 92 (note), 
 96 
 the, excluded from Italy, 80 
 
 (note) 
 the, in Italy, 79, 80
 
 INDEX 
 
 337 
 
 French language 
 
 accentuation of the, 206, 207 
 as training for English singers, 
 
 195 
 knowledge of the, in England, 
 
 2, +. 
 specialization of the, to 
 
 operatic purposes, 209 
 
 word-rhythms in the, 223 
 
 French School, the, 18, 24, 39 
 
 Frontinus, 5 I (note) 
 
 Fuller, Bampfylde, 55 (note) 
 
 Fuller-Maitland, 108 (note), 
 
 155 (note) 
 
 quoted, 2 I 3 
 
 Gadc, a denationalized Scandi- 
 navian, 105 (note) 
 Gainsborough, 28 
 Gaius, 5 1 (note) 
 Galligantus, 1 59 
 Galuppi, 100 (note) 
 Gaul, entered by the Visigoths, 
 
 54 (note) 
 Gay, 152 
 
 quoted, 156, 157, 158 
 Genoese, mediaeval wars of the, 
 
 68 
 Genseric, 54 (note) 
 George 1., I 2, 40, 97 
 George III., 161 
 George IV., 1 1 8 
 Georgia, 27 (note) 
 German. [See Germans. Ger- 
 many] 
 language, knowledge of, in 
 
 England, 2 14 
 language, specialization of, to 
 
 operatic purposes, 209 
 Opera, 1 6 (note) 
 Opera and song-speech, 193 
 Opera and the German public, 
 279 
 
 Opera and the Italians, 268 
 
 school, 18, 25, 39 
 
 states, 44, 275, 276 
 Germans, the, 23, 24, 44 
 
 in England, 75 
 
 lessons from, 144, 261-263, 
 275-277 
 Germany 
 
 an artistically united nation, 
 251, 252 
 
 and England, 41, 119 
 
 and German musical develop- 
 ment, 261, 262 
 
 and nationalism, 144, 261- 
 263, 268 
 
 as a type of interiorization, 
 
 37,. 38 
 colonial expansion of, 25, 88 
 combination of activities in, 
 
 30 (note) 
 cult of music in, 87 
 English subservience to, 105 
 
 (note) 
 mediaeval wars of, 68 
 musical conditions in, 41 
 musical productivity in, 10 
 protection of native composers 
 
 in, 139 
 
 Ghent, 73 (note) 
 
 Gibbon, 1 l 1 (note) 
 
 Gibraltar, 27 (note), 28 (note) 
 
 Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. 
 [See Savoy Theatre. Sulli- 
 van] 
 song-speech in the, 189, 191- 
 
 '93 
 
 Gilman, Lawrence, 1 I I (note), 
 
 1 22 (note) 
 Giotto, 23 
 Gluck, 18 (note), 302 
 
 quoted, 113, 121 
 Glyn, Hon. S. Carr, 302 
 Goldsmith, 28
 
 338 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Gounod, translations of, 230 
 
 Gray, 27 
 
 Greece 
 
 conditions in, 43 
 drama in ancient, 296 
 musical system in ancient, 46 
 Greek 
 
 modern (Romaic), 197 (note) 
 mythology and history as the 
 subject of Italian Opera, 108 
 Opera an attempted revival 
 of, drama, 93, 94, 107, 
 108, 114, 237 
 Greenwich Park, 156, 157 
 Grieg, a national composer, 105 
 Grove's Dictionary, 6 (note), 9 
 (note), 12 (note),- 102 
 (note), 147 (note), 191 
 (note) 
 Guadalquiver, a boundary of 
 the Vandal movements, 54 
 (note) 
 Guy Mannering, quoted, 167, 
 170, 171 
 
 H addon Hall, 244 
 Hainauk, 73 
 Hampshire, 7 
 
 Handel, 25, 30 (note), 36 (note), 
 100 (note) 
 and bilingual performances, 
 
 147 
 cult of, 12, 92 (note), 261 
 fallacy connected with, 6 
 
 (note) 
 " powerful personality " of, 
 6 (note) 
 Hanoverian Dynasty, 1 2 (note) 
 Hansel and Gretel, in London, 
 
 300 
 Harlcian Miscellany. [See Vin- 
 
 dex Anglicus] 
 llaslewood collection, 100 (note) 
 
 Hastings, Warren, 28 (note), 42 
 Hawkins, 27 (note) 
 Haydn, 22, 25, 30 (note), 262 
 and Beethoven, 274, 275 
 and private patronage, 282 
 imitations of, in England, 1 19 
 lesson from, 275, 276 
 Heidegger, J. J., 100 (note) 
 Henry II. (of England), 65 
 Henry II. (of France), 80 (note) 
 Here take my life, 1 7 1 (note) 
 "High lights" in speech, 208 
 
 (note) 
 His Majesty's Theatre, 144, 188 
 Hob in the Country Wake. [See 
 
 Flora 's Opera] 
 Holland. [See Dutch. Belgium. 
 Flanders. Flemings. Neth- 
 erlands] 
 and religious conflict, 84 
 as a colonizing power, 88 
 
 (note) 
 discovery of America changes 
 the national and musical 
 conditions of, 76-79 
 geographical conditions of, 
 
 71)72 
 musical sterility of, 87 
 
 national productivity of, 29 
 political conditions in, 73 
 probability of musical develop- 
 ment in, 84 
 race inhabiting, 72 
 Holy League, 79 (note) 
 Holy Roman Empire, 60 
 
 mediaeval wars of t tie, 68 
 Hood, Capt. Basil, 245 
 Hook, 6 (note), 160 
 Horace, ^ I (note), 5 3 (note), 230 
 Hucbald, describes the science 
 of Distant, 61 (note) 
 his poetical effusion, 230 
 (note)
 
 INDEX 
 
 339 
 
 HuefFer, Francis, quoted, 180 
 
 Huguenots, in England, 271, 
 272 
 
 Humfrey, Pelham, 96 
 
 Hundred Years War, The, 65, 
 66 
 
 Hungarians, mediaeval wars of 
 the, 68 
 
 Hungary, conflict of Huns and 
 Ostrogoths with Visigoths 
 in Eastern, 54 (note) 
 cultivation of music in, 87 
 
 Huns (Mongols), overrun North- 
 ern India, 55 (note) 
 wanderings of the, into 
 Europe, 53 (note) 
 
 Hydaspes, 108 
 
 Hyginus, 5 1 (note) 
 
 lb and little Christina, 245, 24.6 
 
 // Trovatore, translation of, 230 
 
 Impresario, the. [See Beecham] 
 
 and operatic conditions, 133, 
 
 134 
 
 and the composer, 140 
 
 and the public, 136, 143, 
 
 2+7. 
 as a middleman, 141 
 his true task, 1 5 1 
 want of sympathy of, with 
 
 the composer, 1 36 
 India 
 
 consolidation of, 28 
 irruption of Scythians into, 
 
 5 5 ( niJte ) 
 northern, overrun by Huns, 
 
 5 5 ( note ) 
 trade in, 27 
 
 Warren Hastings in, 28 (note) 
 Indulgences, sale of. [See Re- 
 formation] 
 Innocent III., 58 (note), 63 
 (note) 
 
 Intelligibility, in Comic Opera, 
 191 
 
 of Opera, 104, 105, 120, 
 187, 1S9, 212-215, 22I i 
 229 (note), 280. [See 
 Accessibility. Public] 
 
 of singers, 187, 188, 191, 
 193-196, 201-204 
 Interiorization, 37. [See Ex- 
 teriorization. Sea-Power. 
 World-Power] 
 
 a basis for partial exterioriza- 
 tion, 83 
 
 a characteristic of the six- 
 teenth century, 82, 83 
 
 as a national habit of mind, 
 
 75? 9 
 
 a uniformly positive condi- 
 tion in the Modern Period, 
 89, 90 
 
 compared with exterioriza- 
 tion, 39, 41, 90 
 
 Germany as a type of, 37, 
 
 38 
 gradual ascendancy of secular, 
 in the mediaeval Period, 
 59, 60, 62, 64 
 in musical creation, 33 
 mental, its tendency to in- 
 crease in Rome, 67 
 "overthrow" of faculty for, 
 
 86 
 physical, in France, 88 
 progress of, in England, 64- 
 66 
 "Inwardness," 37. [See In- 
 teriorization] 
 Ionian Islands, 28 (note) 
 Isle of Wight, 7 
 Isoline, 171 (note) 
 Italian language 
 
 and English for operatic pur- 
 poses, 188, 189, 204
 
 34 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Italian language 
 
 as training for English singers, 
 
 190, 195, 196, 200 
 its composition and character, 
 
 196, 197, 206 
 knowledge of the, in England, 
 
 2 14 
 sound of the spoken, com- 
 pared with English, 207 
 
 (note) 
 specialization of, to Operatic 
 
 purposes, 209 
 word-rhythms of the, 223 
 Italian Opera [See Lyrical 
 
 Drama. Music Drama. 
 
 Opera], 16 (note), 30 
 
 (note) 
 an exotic in England, 96, 97 
 aristocratic cult of, 96-98, 
 
 116, 117, 128, 238 
 a strange art-form to the 
 
 eighteenth century Eng- 
 lishman, 106, 107 
 attempted transplantation of, 
 
 to England, 98-100 
 English antagonism to, 107 
 English dissatisfaction with, 
 
 112, 115 
 "heroics and gloom," 109 
 methods of popular opposition 
 
 to, 98-1 16 
 subjects and treatment of, 
 
 108, 109 
 Italian School, 26, 39 
 Italian Style, 115. [See Con- 
 necting-links. Recitative] 
 Italians, 24 
 
 in England, 75, 96 
 Italy. [See Papacy. Rome] 
 an artistically united nation, 
 
 251, 252 
 and England, 78, 80, 93, 98, 
 
 99, 106-108 
 
 and Palestrina, 81, 82. [See 
 
 Palestrina] 
 architecture in, 40 
 artistic awakening in, 40 
 cultivation of music in, 87 
 discovery of America changes 
 
 the musical conditions of, 
 
 7 ? 
 domination of, by Spain, 79, 
 
 80 
 
 French excluded from, 80 
 (note) 
 
 her great period, 23 
 
 history of, 79-8 I 
 
 in the fourteenth and fif- 
 teenth centuries, I 5 
 
 invention of Opera in, 93 
 
 lesson from, 144 
 
 Lom bards enter, 54 (note) 
 
 mediaeval wars in, 68 
 
 operatic school of, 25 
 
 Ostrogoths march into and 
 are expelled from, 53 (note) 
 
 polyphonic school of, 16 
 (note), 85, 86 
 
 protection of native com- 
 posers in, 139 
 
 social and musical effect of 
 new exteriorizing forces in, 
 80, 81 
 
 Vandals and Visigoths enter, 
 54 (note) 
 Ivanhoe, compared with lb and 
 little Christina, 245 
 
 production of, 244 
 
 revived, 141, 143 (note) 
 
 suggested by Queen Victoria, 
 244 (note) 
 
 jack Cade's Rebellion, 67 
 Jacobean activities, 27 
 Jacquerie, the, 67 
 Jamaica, 27 (note)
 
 INDEX 
 
 34i 
 
 Jameson, Frederick, 219 (note), 
 228 (note) 
 
 Jephtha's Rash Vow, 159 (note) 
 
 Jerome, St., 59 (note) 
 
 John of Fornsete, 23 
 
 John of Gaunt, 70 
 
 Johnson, Samuel, 28, 1 1 I (note), 
 160, 172 (note) 
 
 Jones, Sidney, 243 
 
 Journals 
 
 Eighteenth Century English, 108 
 Morning Post, 143, 249, 250 
 Observer, 10 1, 134, 135, 148, 
 
 '49 
 
 Post-vex, 1 59 
 
 Public Advertiser, 101, 102 
 St. James's Gazette, 142 
 Universal Journal, 1 o 1 
 
 Julius Ctfsar, 108 
 
 Juvenal, 5 1 (note) 
 
 Kalmar, Union of, 70 
 
 Keats, 29 
 
 Kelly, Michael, 160 
 
 King Arthur, quoted, 154, 155 
 
 King's Theatre, Haymarket, 100 
 
 Lanes, South, 30 (note) 
 
 " Least-common-denominator " 
 in music, 20, 36, 220 
 
 Lee, Mark ham, quoted, 6 (note), 
 1 16 (note) 
 
 Length, pitch, and force, 199, 
 206-208 
 
 Leoni, Franco, 245, 246 
 
 Lepanto, 87 (note) 
 
 Librettists. [See English lan- 
 guage. Lyrics. Opera 
 books. Song-speech] 
 changed conditions of, in 
 later nineteenth century, 
 179-182 
 described, 152, 153 
 
 relationships of, with com- 
 posers, 182-184 
 their low mental status, 4 
 their statu?, 152, 153, 296 
 Wardour-Streetism, 181, 182 
 Lister, 29 
 
 Lillo, George, 158 (note) 
 Loder, 1 20 (note) 
 Lombard League, mediaeval wars 
 
 of the, 68 
 Lombards, wanderings of the, 
 54 (note) 
 destruction of their kingdom, 
 54 (note) 
 Lombardy, School of, 79 (note) 
 London. [See Chap. V.] 
 
 and Paris compared, 269, 270 
 and " the run," 299, 300 
 English Operatic necessities 
 
 in, 290 
 first appearance 
 
 Opera in, 95 
 foreign cult in, 
 [See Foreigners 
 light opera in, 
 
 [See Comic Opera. Musi- 
 cal Comedy] 
 musical antagonisms in, 133 
 musical houses in, 127 
 operatic position in, 242 
 physical conditions in, 43 
 Londoners 
 
 and Italian Opera, 108 
 as theatre-goers, 8, 97. 
 
 Concert-goers] 
 their indifference to 
 
 classical topics of Italian 
 Opera, 108, 109 
 London Symphony Orchestra, 
 
 protest to, 147 (note) 
 Lonsdale, Richard Viscount, 100 
 Love in a Village, 102 
 Lucan, 5 I (note) 
 
 of Italian 
 119, 267. 
 243- 
 
 [See 
 the
 
 342 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Ludwig of Bavaria, 13, 283 
 
 Lulli, 18 (note), 23 
 
 Lulworth Cove, 7 
 
 Lumley, 166 (note) 
 
 Lyceum Theatre, English Opera 
 
 at the, 245 (note) 
 Lycidas, 186, 203 
 Lyons, treaty of, 80 (note) 
 Lyrical Drama. [See Italian 
 
 Opera. Music Drama. 
 
 Opera] 
 an attempt to revive Greek 
 
 Drama, 93, 94, 107, 108, 
 
 U4> 2 37 
 
 and Debussy, 113, 123 
 
 and Purcell, 95, 113. [See 
 Purcell] 
 
 and Wagner, 113. [See 
 Wagner] 
 
 duality of, 94, 1 1 4- 1 1 6, 121, 
 122, 1 89, 21 3, 214, 216- 
 218. [See Connecting- 
 links. Emotionalsituations] 
 
 invention of, 94 
 
 the place of Music in, 112- 
 114, 121- 1 23 
 Lyrics. [See English language. 
 Librettists. Opera Hooks] 
 
 features of eighteenth century 
 Ballad-, 157, 158 
 
 in the late seventeenth 
 century, 155 
 
 low quality of, in the late 
 eighteenth century, 153, 
 160-162 
 
 problem of composing Oper- 
 atic, 154 
 
 their distorted, slovenly char- 
 acter, 154, 155. [See 
 English Language] 
 
 unimportance of, under 
 eighteenth century con- 
 ditions, 1 59, 160 
 
 written to music in Ballad- 
 Opera, 156, 157 
 Lysaght, E., 176 (note) 
 
 Macfarren, 162 
 
 Macheath, Captain, 10S. [See 
 The Beggar's Opera] 
 
 Machiavelli, 23 
 
 Mackenzie, Sir A., 180 
 
 Macnally, L., quoted, 176 
 
 Macrobius, 5 1 (note) 
 
 Madeira taken, 28 (note) 
 
 Magna Carta, 65 (note) 
 
 Maid Marian, quoted, 165 
 ballad in, 171 and 172 (note) 
 
 Mainz, Roman military head- 
 quarters at, 48 (note) 
 
 Majuba, 57 
 
 Millais, 29 
 
 Milton, quoted, 140, 203 
 
 " Mir crkoren," 192 
 
 Malta taken, 28 (note) 
 
 " Man from Mars," 22-26, 30 
 
 Manns, Sir A., 254 
 
 Mantua, 1 8 
 
 Margaret unites Norway,Sweden 
 and Denmark, 70 
 
 Maritana, 2, 25, 248 
 
 Marlborough, wars of, 87 (note) 
 
 Martel, Charles, 54 (note) 
 
 Martial, 5 I (note) 
 
 Masques, 94, 1 1 5 
 
 Matthew, J. E., 302 
 
 Matthison, quoted, 16S, 17S 
 
 Medici, 80 
 
 Mediterranean, the, 24, 77 
 
 Mendelssohn, 25, 30 (note), 36 
 (note), 262 
 and Opera, 295 
 imitations of, in England, 
 
 119, 252 
 popular cult of, 92 (note), 
 261
 
 INDEX 
 
 343 
 
 Metastasio, 160 (note) 
 Meyerbeer, i 8 (note) 
 Michael Angelo, 23 
 Milan, 1 1 7 
 
 in the fifteenth century, 79 
 "Milk-punch or Whisky?" 
 I 20 and I 2 I and 1 22 (note) 
 Mongols. [See Huns] 
 Monodic School, 8, 85, 93 
 Monteverde, 23 
 Moody-Manners, 127, 239 
 Moors, the, in Spain, 70 
 Morbus operaticus, 1 10 
 Moscheles, popular cult of, 92 
 
 (note) 
 Mozart, ? 5, 257 
 
 and Beethoven, 98, 262 
 and Haydn, 276 
 and private patronage, 282 
 lesson from, 261, 262 
 Music. [See National. National- 
 ism. Musical development. 
 Musical productivity] 
 an art, therefore non-moral, 
 
 1 1 1 (note) 
 and nationalism, 1 et seq. 
 as a human faculty, 19 
 associations in, 33, 35 
 attitude of ancient Romans 
 and English towards, 53 
 (note) 
 comparison of, with the other 
 arts, 31-36. [Si? Composer, 
 the Operatic] 
 creation of, fundamentally 
 
 simple, 34 
 creation of, materially inex- 
 pensive, 14 and 15 (note), 
 34 (note). [See Painting] 
 creative act in, 32, t,t, 
 difference between, and the 
 other mental activities, 19, 
 20 
 
 emotional object of, 109, lie, 
 
 112 
 emotions in, 34, 35 
 exhibition of, expensive, 34 
 
 (note) 
 function of, in Lyric Drama, 
 
 112-114, 121-123 
 general cultivation of, in 
 
 Europe, 87 
 inseparable from nationalism, 
 
 104, 105, 270, 276-278. 
 
 [See Musical Development. 
 
 National foundations. Na- 
 tionalism] 
 not an isolated mental activ- 
 ity, 1 
 questions of, compared with 
 
 questions of industry and 
 
 nature, 7 
 separated from trend of 
 
 national thought, 35 and 
 
 36 (note), 36 
 services of the Flemings to, 
 
 75> 76 
 
 tendency of musically unpro- 
 ductive nations to support, 
 71 (note) 
 Musical Comedy. [See Comic 
 Opera] 
 
 and song-speech, 191, 192 
 
 and the travelling opera- 
 companies, 239, 240 
 
 intelligibility of singers in, 
 221. [See Intelligibility. 
 Singers. Song-speech] 
 
 its popularity in London, 127 
 
 translations in, 221 
 
 wealth and energy devoted 
 to, 117, 243 
 Musical Development. [See 
 National. Nationalism. 
 
 Music. Musical Produc- 
 tivity]
 
 344 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Musical Development 
 
 absence of exteriorization does 
 not ensure, 43 
 
 and Germany, 30 (note), 98, 
 261, 262. [See German, 
 Germans, Germany] 
 
 and non-development, 9-15. 
 [See Exteriorization. In- 
 teriorization] 
 
 and religion, 83, 84 
 
 apparently favourable condi- 
 tions under the Roman 
 Empire for, 48, 49, 51 
 
 combination of, with other 
 developments in France 
 and Germany, 30 (note), 
 261, 262 
 
 compared with national de- 
 velopment, 21,22 
 
 conditions favourable and 
 adverse for, 41 
 
 deterred by World-Power, 40, 
 
 _ 42-44, 277 _ 
 discovery of Discant, 60, 61. 
 
 [See Discant] 
 early social and, in England, 
 
 64-66 
 effect of discovery of America 
 
 on, 77. [See America] 
 fallacy of circumstances pro- 
 ducing, 1 1 
 " great artistic awakening " as 
 
 an explanation of, I o, 1 1 
 impossibility of, under the 
 
 Roman Empire, 51-53 
 impossible without favourable 
 
 natural conditions, 4 3, 44, 90 
 in England, Flanders and 
 
 Rome, 62 
 its difference from musicality, 
 
 late in comparison with other 
 activities, 21 
 
 material prosperity as an ex- 
 planation of, 14, 15, 40, 
 70, 71, 87 
 
 musicality as an explanation 
 of, 13, 14 
 
 National foundations a neces- 
 sity for, 104, 105, 270, 
 276-278 
 
 necessities for national, 69 
 
 not coincident with other 
 developments, 2 1 
 
 not governed only by negative 
 conditions in the Mediaeval 
 Period, 62 
 
 possible future, in England, 
 
 45 ( notc ) 
 possible only under definite 
 
 conditions of the national 
 
 mind, 75 
 
 poverty a negative factor in, 
 
 7, 1} 
 
 preventive factors in, 20, 57, 
 90 
 
 proximate causes suggested 
 for, 12, 91. [See Proxi- 
 mate Causes] 
 
 question with regard to 
 national, 14, 15 
 
 services of the Flemings to, 
 
 . 75, 76 
 
 simple, when detached from 
 other activities, 1 9 
 
 suggested comparison be- 
 tween, and other national 
 activities, 20 
 
 temporary, in Spain and 
 England, 82, 84-86 
 
 under the Roman Empire, 
 
 + 6 ' + 7 
 undeterred by other activities, 
 
 unequal in various nations, 
 '4, 15
 
 INDEX 
 
 345 
 
 Musical History. [See Chrono- 
 logical. Chronology. Na- 
 tional. " Man from Mars." 
 Music. Musical] 
 
 and National History, 21-31 
 
 as it might have been, 23- 
 26 
 
 English, 6, 10, 92 
 
 European, 93 
 
 need of explanation in, 16- 
 20, 31, 42, 44, 45, 91 
 Musicality, a fundamental char- 
 acteristic of humanity, 15 
 
 as an explanation of musical 
 development, 13, 14 
 
 compared with musical de- 
 velopment, 14 
 
 equality of, 13, 14 
 Musical productivity. [See 
 National. Nationalism. 
 
 Music. Musical Develop- 
 ment] 
 
 and religion, 83, 84 
 
 and sea-power, 87 
 
 effect of discovery of 
 America on, 77. [See 
 America] 
 
 its difference from musi- 
 cality, 1 5 
 
 negative and positive "pull" 
 in, 90 
 
 not a detached form of 
 activity, 91 
 
 not solely dependent on lei- 
 sure, 29, 30 
 
 often existing only as a 
 national protest, 18 
 
 the result of two forces, 278, 
 
 2/9 
 
 "Musical Tragedy," 127 
 
 Music Drama. [See Italian 
 Opera. Lyrical Drama. 
 Opera] 
 
 ceremonial movements in, 
 122 (note), 1 23 
 
 Nantes, edict of, 271 
 Naples, music produced at, 17, 
 18 
 
 in the fifteenth century, 79 
 Napoleon, wars of, 87 (note) 
 National. 1 [See England. Eng- 
 lish Opera. Foreign. 
 Music] 
 
 artistic disunion in England, 
 3, 95, 96, 116-T18, 251. 
 [See Disconnectedness] 
 
 awakenings in England, 64- 
 66, 274-276 
 
 division in Europe, 89-90 
 
 epochs and Art, 40 
 
 foundations necessary for 
 musical development, 1 04, 
 105, 270, 276-278 
 
 inferiority in Opera, 1, 2, 
 124, 125, 186. [See 
 English. English Opera] 
 
 instability in the Dark. Ages, 
 
 55 . . 
 
 instability in the Mediaeval 
 
 Period, 59, 60 
 
 life, separation of musicians 
 from the, 35, 36 
 
 occasions, composers' diffi- 
 culties in connection with, 
 35 and 36 (note) 
 
 opera house and the English 
 people, 134-140. [See 
 Composer. Public. Re- 
 ceptivity. State-aid] 
 
 opera house, question of, 284, 
 285, 300. [See National 
 Opera. State-aid] 
 
 1 Only the principal headings of 
 this entry and of Nationalism are 
 given.
 
 346 
 
 INDEX 
 
 National 
 
 opera-house, suggestions for a, 
 in the eighteenth century, 
 
 IOI, 102 
 
 opera, Mr. Beecham and, 134. 
 
 opera, singers and, 134., 135 
 
 opera, steps towards, in 
 eighteenth century, 100, 
 102 
 
 opera, the English language 
 and, 222,223. [See Eng- 
 lish Language] 
 
 opera, the two principles of, 
 
 239 
 
 opera, want of, in England, 
 240 
 
 outlook on Opera in England, 
 diversity of, 3, 95-123, 252 
 
 value of art-works, 19 
 
 value of foreign art-works, 
 270 
 Nationalism 
 
 and artistic expression, 251 
 
 and France, 269, 270 
 
 and Germany, 144, 261-263, 
 268 
 
 and Musical Development, 
 262, 263. [See Musical 
 Development. National 
 foundations] 
 
 and the history of English 
 ^ Opera, 251, 252 
 
 English, and Opera, 1-3, I 5 I , 
 186, 218, 219, 222, 224, 
 251, 252, 260. [See Eng- 
 lish. Opera] 
 Nelson's victories, importance 
 
 of, 87 (note) 
 Netherlands, the. [See Bel- 
 gium. Dutch. Flanders. 
 Flemings. Holland] 
 
 civil war in, 68 
 
 geographical features of, 71,72 
 
 moment of pause in, 69, 71- 
 
 7 6 . 
 
 races inhabiting, 72, 73 
 
 social equipoise in, 73, 74 
 treaties of, with England, 73 
 (note) 
 
 Newman, Ernest, 1 1 1 (note), 
 114, 302 
 
 Newton, 28, 35 
 
 Normandy, a boundary of the 
 Norman wanderings, 54 
 (note) 
 
 Norman pirates, a type of ex- 
 teriorization, 38 
 
 Normans, wanderings of the, 
 
 54 ( note ) 
 Norway. [See Scandinavia] 
 
 a boundary of the Norman 
 
 wanderings, 54 (note) 
 united to Sweden and Den- 
 mark, 70 
 Norway Deep, the, 1 1 
 Notitia Dignitatum, 48 (note) 
 
 Odoacer, 53 (note) 
 Offenbach, 18 (note), 192 (note) 
 Okeghem, 266 
 
 Opera. [See Composer. Eng- 
 lish Opera. Italian Opera. 
 Lyrical Drama. Music 
 Drama] 
 a fictitious, 2 l 7 
 an attempted revival of Greek 
 Drama, 93, 94, 107, 108, 
 M> 237 
 aristocratic cult of foreign, 
 212, 213, 238, 252. [See 
 Foreign Opera, cult of. 
 Italian Opera] 
 as a purely musical statement 
 
 oi emotion, 218 
 dangers of seventeenth cen- 
 tury, 1 14
 
 INDEX 
 
 347 
 
 Opera 
 
 dual nature of, 121, 189, 213, 
 
 214, 216, 21S 
 eighteenth century, abuses in, 
 
 114 
 eighteenth century, type of, 
 
 in England, 1 10 
 eighteenth century, written 
 
 in two fixed styles, 114, 
 
 emotional object of, 109, 1 10, 
 
 1 12 
 English approval of, 121 
 English dislike of foreign, 
 
 215, 219, 222 
 
 expenses and uncertainties of, 
 
 125-127 
 function of musicin, 1 12-1 14, 
 
 121-123 
 influence of singers on, in 
 
 the eighteenth century, 
 
 114, 115 
 
 melody in, 189 (note) 
 
 necessity of simplicity in, 
 122, 123, 219 
 
 not an isolated mental 
 activity, 1 
 
 seventeenth century, in Eng- 
 land, 94 
 Opera Book?. [See English 
 Language. English Opera. 
 Librettists. Lyrics] 
 
 a dismal history, 152 
 
 badness of, blamed, 103, 
 294 
 
 changed character of, in late 
 nineteenth century, 179, 
 180 
 
 composers' attitudes towards, 
 294-296 
 
 difficulty of finding, 294 
 
 in the early nineteenth cen- 
 tury, 163, 296, 297 
 
 in the eighteenth century, 
 156-160, 296 
 
 in the eighteenth century 
 (intermediate type), 160- 
 1 62 
 
 in the seventeenth century, 
 154, 296 
 
 necessity of providing, 294 
 
 problem of securing, 296-298 
 
 symbolism in early nineteenth 
 century, 179, 180 
 
 their heroes (early nine- 
 teenth century), 166-171, 
 176, 177 
 
 their heroines (early nine- 
 teenth century), 172-177 
 
 their stage-crowds (early 
 nineteenth century), 164, 
 
 l6 5 
 their stage-types (early nine- 
 teenth century), 178 
 " Opera in English." [See Eng- 
 lish Language. English 
 Opera. Public. Recep- 
 tivity. Song-speech. Tra- 
 velling] 
 difficulties in connection 
 
 with, 219, 223, 224 
 in London, 242 
 its relation to English Opera, 
 
 22 1, 222, 224 
 opponents to, 217 
 Operatic Incongruities, 107 
 of Method, 11 2- 116, 156 
 of Subject, 1 07- 1 1 2 
 English dislike of, 120, 121, 
 123, 156, 21 8 
 Opie, Mrs., quoted, 174, 176 
 Organum, 61 (note) 
 Orynthia, 174 
 Ostrogoths, 53 (note) 
 Otcllo, 217 (note), 227 (note) 
 Othello, ill, 186, 297
 
 348 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Oude, annexation of, 29 (note) 
 "Outwardness," 37. [See Ex- 
 teriorization] 
 Overthrows, Musico-national, 
 85, 86 
 
 Paardeberg, 36 (note) 
 Painting, 26 
 
 and music compared, 31-36 
 and Opera compared, 125, 
 
 255, 256 
 English, 27-29 
 exhibition of, inexpensive, 34 
 (note) 
 Palestrina, 23, 266 
 
 and Flemish influences, 79 
 
 (note) 
 puzzling position of, in musi- 
 cal history, 78 
 true historical position of, 81, 
 82 
 Palladius Rutilius Taurus, 51 
 
 (note) 
 Palmer, S. Ernest. [See Patron's 
 
 Fund] 
 Papacy, the. [See Exterioriza- 
 tion. Rome] 
 alliances of, 80 
 character of its exteriorization 
 in the Mediaeval Period as 
 opposed to that of Secular 
 Europe, 62-64 
 impotence of the, 80 
 instigator of religious warfare, 
 
 82, 83 
 in the fifteenth century, 79 
 mediaeval wars of, 68 
 rise of, 57-59 
 sixteenth century policy of, 
 
 82, 83 
 temporal power of, 62 (note) 
 Papal states, 62 (note), 79 
 Pari, 1 1 7, 269 
 
 Parliaments, English, 65 (note) 
 
 Parry, Sir Hubert, quoted, 105 
 (note), 106 (note) 
 
 Parry's voyages, 29 (note) 
 
 Patronage, private, 282, 283 
 difficulties of, 283, 284 
 
 Patron's Fund, the, 292 
 
 Pauline, 1 80 
 
 Pelieas and Melisande, 1 1 3 
 
 Pepin, 54 (note) 
 
 Peri, 23 
 
 Pericles, 1 2 
 
 Periods, the four musico-na- 
 tional, 47 
 
 Period, the Mediaeval, 59 
 
 birth and gradual ascendancy 
 of the interiorizing force, 
 59, 60, 62 
 conditions in Scandinavia for 
 Musical development, 70, 7 I 
 conditions in Spain for musi- 
 cal development, 69, 70 
 comparison between musical 
 conditions in mediaeval 
 Rome and those in modern 
 England and America, 74, 
 
 75 
 Discovery of Discant, 60, 61 
 
 distinction between the two 
 types of exteriorizing force 
 in, 63 
 
 dual character of exterioriza- 
 tion in mediaeval Europe, 
 62-64 
 
 foundation of nations, 59, 60 
 
 geographical conditions in the 
 Netherlands, 71,72 
 
 general aspect of exterioriza- 
 tion in, 68 
 
 moments of national pause A. 
 in Spain, 69, 70 ; B. in 
 Scandinavia, 70, 71 ; C. in 
 the Netherlands, 71-76
 
 INDEX 
 
 349 
 
 Period, the Medixval 
 
 musical and social develop- 
 ments in England, 64-66 
 
 positions of the Flemings in 
 Musical History, 75, 76 
 
 racial conditions in the Nether- 
 lands, 72, 73 
 
 Rome and the rest of Europe, 
 65, 6+_ 
 
 social equipoise in the Nether- 
 lands, 73, 74 
 
 the Flemings in Rome, 74, 
 
 75 
 
 useless type of national ex- 
 teriorization in, 66-69 
 
 vague line of division in, 
 
 wars and insurrections in, 66- 
 
 6 9 
 
 world-atavism in, 66 
 
 Period, the modern, 76 
 
 a period of development only, 
 not discovery, 89 
 
 artistic puzzles in, 78 
 
 change from land- to sea- 
 power, 76 
 
 discovery of America, its im- 
 portance and effect, 76-79, 
 84, 86, 87 
 
 English and Spanish Schools, 
 82, 84-86 
 
 Interiorizing and Exterioriz- 
 ing tendencies in the 
 sixteenth century, 82, 83 
 
 its simplicity, 89, 90 
 
 national conditions in, 88 
 
 negative and positive condi- 
 tions in, 90 
 
 Palestrina, 81,82 
 
 political conditions in Italy, 
 79, 80 
 
 reasons for choice of date, 77, 
 78 
 
 religious wars instigated by 
 Rome, their uselessness, 
 
 social and musical effects of 
 new exteriorizing forces in 
 Italy, 80, 81 
 
 Summary, 86, 87 
 Period of the Dark Ages, the, 
 
 53 
 emergence of the city-states 
 
 and the "nation," 55, 56 
 identity of ancient and mod- 
 ern exteriorizing forces, 
 
 5 6 ' 57. 
 
 its confusion, 54, 55, 57 
 
 material anxieties in, 57 
 
 multiplication of points of 
 exteriorization, 55, 56 
 
 simplicity of, with regard to 
 musical history, 57 
 
 the great illustrative era of 
 exteriorizing force, 54, 55 
 
 the Papacy, 57-59 
 Period of the Roman Settle- 
 ment, the, 47 
 
 early warnings, 49 
 
 impossibility of musical de- 
 velopment, 52,53 
 
 military disposition, 48 (note) 
 
 national attitude of complex 
 exteriorization, 5 t 
 
 national attitude of simple 
 exteriorization, 49, 50 
 
 rigidity of system, 50 
 
 Roman empire an armed 
 camp, 47, 48 
 
 the " Something " outside, 49 
 
 tranquillity and apparent suit- 
 ability for musical develop- 
 ment, 48, 49, 5 1 
 
 writers, 51 and 52 (note) 
 Persius, 5 1 (note) 
 Peter Pan, 2 5
 
 3 So 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Petrarch, 23 
 Pheidias, 12 
 
 Philharmonic Society, 254 
 Philidor, 100 (note) 
 Philip of Burgundv, I 2 
 Phillips, Henry, 171 (note) 
 Pierson, Hugo, a denationalized 
 Englishman, 105 (note) 
 
 his isolation, 92 (note) 
 Pinkerton, in Madame Butterfly, 
 1 20 and 12 1 and 1 22 (note) 
 Planche, 1 8 1 
 
 quoted, 165 
 Plassey, 28 (note) 
 Plato, 105 (note) 
 Plinies, the, 51 (note) 
 Pocock, J., quoted, 168 
 Poetry, 26, 40 
 
 and drama, 109, 111, 113, 
 115, 122, 153, 154, 183 
 
 comparison of, with music, 
 
 Elizabethan, and the classi- 
 cists, 93 (note) 
 
 English, 27-29 
 
 Roman, 51,52 
 Poitiers, 67 
 
 Poles, mediaeval wars of the, 
 Polyphonic school, 8, 9 (note), 
 
 6, 17, 77, 8 5 
 Pomp, Mela, 5 I (note) 
 Pontvallain, 67 
 Pope, Alexander, 27, I I 8 
 Porson, 28 
 Portugal 
 
 as a colonizing power, 8 8 
 
 (note) 
 discovery ot America changes 
 the national and musical 
 conditions of, 76-79 
 naval establishment of, 84 
 
 (note) 
 musical sterility of, 87 
 
 " Portuguese school of Opera," 
 
 286 
 Portuguese, the, 17, 23, 24, 25, 
 
 4+ 
 Porus, 108 
 Priscian, 5 I (note) 
 Priscian, Th., 52 (note) 
 Proximate causes (of Operatic 
 
 failures), 6 (note), 10-12, 
 
 ?! 
 
 Puccini, 120. [See Pinkerton] 
 
 Public. [See Accessibility. Com- 
 poser. England. English. 
 
 Foreign. Intelligibility. 
 
 Spiritual-union] 
 education of the, 247 
 excitement at production of 
 
 Elektra and Salome, 149, 
 
 150 
 German, and German Opera, 
 
 279 
 managerial detachment from, 
 
 opinion, l 36, 143 
 Mr. Beecham's dissatisfaction 
 
 with the, 148 
 munificence in Gt. Britain, 
 
 288, 289 
 Opera necessarily based on, 
 
 appreciation, 2 3 7, 238,278- 
 
 281, 299. [See under 
 
 Composer] 
 the, and English language in 
 
 Opera, 22 1-224, 234. [$ ee 
 
 English language] 
 the, and new Operas, 247 
 the, partly responsible for 
 
 musical-productivity, 278, 
 
 279 
 Purcell, 26, 104, 123, 154, 156 
 
 (note), 163, 179, 275 
 a national composer, 1 05 (note) 
 and lyrical drama, 95, 189 
 
 (note)
 
 INDEX 
 
 35i 
 
 Purcell 
 
 and Song-speech, 154-156 
 an isolated composer, 2, 5, 
 
 6 (note), 12 (note), 16 
 
 (note), 276, 277 
 collaboration with Nahum 
 
 Tate, 1 52 
 quoted, 113, 115 
 situation of English Opera 
 
 at death of, 95, 98 
 Pytrhus, 108 
 
 Quebec, Wolfe at, 28 
 
 Ouen of euene for y e bl'use, 1 7 
 
 (note) 
 Quintilian, 5 1 (note) 
 
 Raleigh, 27 (note) 
 
 Raphael, 23 
 
 Reading, Abbey of, 17 
 
 Rebellion, the Great, 12 (note) 
 
 Receptivity (public) 
 
 and recent Operatic under- 
 takings, 143 
 and the travelling Opera- 
 companies, 128 
 level of, 247 
 question with regard to, 
 
 238 
 "spade-work," varying opin- 
 ions thereon, 247-250 
 study of facts necessary, 241, 
 242 
 Recitative. [See Connecting 
 links. Duality. Italian 
 Opera. Opera] 
 a cause of dissatisfaction in 
 eighteenth century Eng- 
 land, 1 1 2 
 an integral part of eighteenth 
 century Italian Opera, 1 14, 
 
 1 1 5 
 
 attempt to transplant, 99 
 
 English rebellion against, in 
 the eighteenthcentury, 1 1 5 
 invention of, 94 
 Reformation Symphony, the, 36 
 
 (note) 
 Reformation, the, 12 (note), 79 
 
 (note) 
 Regesta, Papal, 58 (note) 
 Religion. [See Crusades. Papacy. 
 Rome] 
 as a basis for exteriorization, 
 _ 63, 64, 82, 83 
 Religious warfare and musical 
 
 development, 84 
 Reynolds, E., quoted, 1 74 
 Reynolds, Joshua, 28 
 Richard I., in Opera, 17S 
 Rienzi, 23 1 
 
 Robin Hood, quoted, 1 76 
 Rockstro, W. S., 9 
 Rolt, 1 01 (note) 
 Roman Empire. [See Rome] 
 an armed camp, 47 
 barbarian inroads into the, 
 
 53-55 
 
 before the barbarian inroads, 
 
 +7-53 
 
 chronology of barbarian in- 
 roads into the, 53 and 54 
 (note) 
 
 culture under the, compared 
 with Greek culture, 52 and 
 
 53 ( note ) 
 
 double process of exterioriza- 
 tion in the, 5 1 
 
 founded and maintained on 
 ideas of exteriorization, 49- 
 
 .51. 
 
 historical speculation with 
 
 regard to, 57 
 limits of the, 48, 49 
 material prosperity of the, 48, 
 
 49> 5
 
 35 2 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Roman Empire 
 
 military system of the, 48 
 
 (note) 
 music under the, 46, 47 
 rigidity of system in the, 50, 5 I 
 Rome. [See Papacy. Roman 
 Empire] 
 and Greek musical culture, 46 
 as a type of exteriorization, 
 
 38, 39 
 
 bishops of, their aggrandise- 
 ment, 58 and 59 (note) 
 
 communication between, and 
 her vassal states, 58 (note) 
 
 comparison of musical condi- 
 tions in mediaeval, with 
 those in modern England 
 and America, 74, 75 
 
 entered by Alaric, 54 (note) 
 
 Flemish school in, 10, 74, 
 75, 79 (note), 84 
 
 in the sixteenth century, 82, 
 
 invaded by the Gauls, 49 
 
 its beginning, 48 
 
 material conditions in, II, 
 
 44> 6 7 
 mythology and history of, 
 
 as the subject of Italian 
 
 Opera, 108 
 rise of the Papacy, 57-59. 
 
 [Sec Papacy] 
 reasons for musical unproduc- 
 
 tivity, 64, 67 
 sacked by Genseric, 54 (note) 
 Spanish school in, 82 
 ' Sumcr is icumen in ' as a 
 
 Roman madrigal, 23 
 taken by the Spaniards, 
 the instigator of religious 
 
 warfare, 82, 83 
 Romncy, 28 
 Rosina, 1 1 9 
 
 Rossetti, 29 
 
 Rossini, 18 (note) 
 translations of, 230 
 
 Royal Italian Opera, 128. [See 
 Covent Garden. Italian 
 Opera] 
 
 Royal College of Music, and 
 National Opera House, 
 102 (note) 
 
 Rubinstein, Anton, a denationa- 
 lized Slav, 105 (note) 
 
 Rumania, conflict of Huns 
 and Ostrogoths with Visi- 
 goths in, 54 (note) 
 
 "Run," question of the, 299, 
 3 co 
 
 Russia 
 
 conditions in, 43 
 
 conflict in south, 53 
 
 cult of music in, 18, 87, 88 
 
 Salome, 248 
 
 production of, in London, 
 149, 150 
 
 Salve virgo virginum, 17 (note) 
 
 " Sam Wellerisms " in tragedy, 
 232 
 
 Saracens. [See Moors] 
 
 wanderings and conquests of 
 the, 54 (note) 
 
 Sarawak, 28 
 
 Savoy Theatre 
 
 associations of the, 245, 246 
 Operas at the, 243 
 production at the, 245 
 song-speech at the, 189, 191- 
 
 193 
 
 Saxons, mediaeval wars of the, 
 68. [S^Anglesand Saxons] 
 
 Scala, 80 
 
 Scandinavia 
 
 comparative poverty of medi- 
 eval, 70, 71
 
 INDEX 
 
 353 
 
 Scandinavia 
 
 moment of pause in, 69-71 
 physical conditions in, 43 
 shortness of her musical oppor- 
 tunity, 70 
 
 Scandinavian School, 18 
 
 Scarlatti, 23 
 
 Schools of Composition, 8 
 and the nation, 276 
 as they might be, 23-26 
 difficulties connected with, 9, 
 
 10 
 outlined, 1 6- 1 8 
 regular development of in- 
 dividual, 9 
 usual explanation of the, use- 
 less, 9-14 
 
 Schubert, 25, 1 2 5 
 
 Schumann, 25, 262 
 
 and Opera, 295 (note) 
 
 Scotland, 43 
 
 Scribonius, 52 (note) 
 
 Sculpture, 26, 40 
 at Athens, 40 
 comparison of, with music, 
 
 3I-3 6 
 
 comparison of, with Operatic 
 composition, 125 
 
 English, 27-29 
 
 exhibition of, inexpensive, 34 
 (note) 
 
 Roman, 52 (note) 
 Scythians, invade India, 55 
 
 (note) 
 Sea-power. [See America. 
 
 Exteriorization. World- 
 power] 
 
 and national musical produc- 
 tivity, 87 
 
 in England, Spain and Hol- 
 land, 84, 85 
 
 segregation of central Europe 
 from ideas of, 88 
 
 substitution of, for land-power, 
 
 7&> 77> 87, 88 
 Secular songs, English, 1 7 (note) 
 Seeck, Otto, 48 (note) 
 Seneca, 5 1 (note) 
 " Servian school of Opera," 
 
 286 
 Sforza, 80 
 
 Shakespeare, 13, 111, 148 
 Shamus O'Brien, 120, 243 
 
 revived, 141 
 Shannon, F., quoted, 164, 168, 
 
 173, 175, 176 
 Shelley, 29, 34 
 Sheridan, 28 
 Shetlands, a boundary of the 
 
 Norman wanderings, 54 
 
 (note) 
 Shield, 6 (note), 119 (note), 
 
 1 60, 1 76 (note) 
 Sicily, a boundary of the Nor- 
 man wanderings, 54 (note) 
 Saracens pass into, 54 (note) 
 Silius Italicus, 5 1 (note) 
 Siegfried, example of translated 
 
 song-speech from, 228 
 
 (note) 
 Siculus Flaccus, 51 (note) 
 Silvia, quoted, 1 58 
 Singers 
 
 and song-speech, 222. [See 
 
 Song-speech] 
 and state-aided Opera, 1 34, 
 
 135 
 
 and translated Opera, 234, 
 
 235 
 badness of English Operatic, 
 
 ^ 135 (note), 189, 195 
 
 French, Italian, and English, 
 
 compared, 190 
 
 inarticulate and unintelligible, 
 
 '9 1 
 in Comic Opera, 191, 192
 
 354 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Singers 
 
 influence of, on eighteenth 
 century Opera, 114, 115 
 
 necessity of intelligibility in, 
 
 191 
 
 not primarily responsible for 
 song-speech, 1 3 5 (note), 
 
 \9h J 94 
 
 position of, under present 
 
 operatic conditions, 223 
 
 their " beautiful voices," 201, 
 202 
 
 their elaborate vocalises (eigh- 
 teenth century), 159 
 
 trained in foreign methods, 
 190, 195, 196, 199-201 
 
 trained in Italian methods 
 (eighteenth century), 1 59, 
 160 
 Singing masters, English, their 
 Italian methods, 159, 160, 
 195, 196, 199, 200 
 
 objects of the English, 199, 
 200, 2 10 
 Smyth, Miss, 141, 144 
 " Something," the, outside 
 Europe, 70 
 
 the, outside the Roman Em- 
 pire, 49 
 Song, 14, 20S 
 
 Song-speech. [See English lan- 
 guage. Translation] 
 
 and Comic Opera, 191, 
 192 
 
 and Purcell, 154. [See Pur- 
 cell] 
 
 at the Savoy Theatre. [See 
 Gilbert and Sullivan. 
 Savoy. Sullivan] 
 
 difficulties in translating, 219, 
 220, 22S, 229 
 
 example of, translated, from 
 Siegfried, 228 (note) 
 
 foreign standards in, 209, 
 
 210 
 impossible in translatedOpera, 
 
 222 
 in Opera, 213, 214 
 necessity for elaboration of, 
 
 183, 184 
 not yet evolved, 187 
 pleasure derived from, 192, 
 
 193. 
 
 primarily a composer's matter, 
 
 135 (note), 193, 194 
 question with regard to, in 
 
 English, 186, 193, 212 
 suitability of English for, 204, 
 
 205, 20S 
 Sosarmes, 1 08 
 
 South Sea Bubble, 27 (note) 
 South Seas, 27 
 Spain 
 
 and religious conflict, 84 
 
 as a colonizing power, 88 
 
 (note) 
 civil wars in, 68, 69 
 discovery of America changes 
 
 the national and musical 
 
 conditions of, 76-79 
 domination of Italy by, 79, 
 
 80 
 entered by Saracens, 54 (note) 
 entered by Visigoths, 54 
 
 (note) 
 first beginnings of modern 
 
 type ot exteriorization in, 
 
 70 
 mediaeval wars of, 68, 69 
 Mohammedan warfare in, 70 
 moment of pause in, 69 
 musical development in, 84 
 musical sterility of, 87 
 music produced in, 17 
 naval establishment of, 84 
 
 (note)
 
 INDEX 
 
 3SS 
 
 Spain 
 
 physical conditions in, 43 
 shortness of her musical op- 
 portunity, 70 
 social and political conditions 
 in, 70 
 Spanish, school in Rome, six- 
 teenth century, 82, 84-86 
 the, 23-25 
 Spice Islands, 28 (note) 
 Spiritual-Union. [See under 
 
 Composer] 
 Spohr, 30 (note) 
 Stanford, Sir C. V., 120 (note), 
 136 (note), 182 (note), 
 
 2 43 
 and state-aid, quoted, 288 
 and the English language, 
 
 quoted, 185 
 and the " run," quoted, 299 
 anticipated, 10 1 
 State-Aid, 284. [See Composer, 
 the English Operatic, and 
 finance. National Opera. 
 National Opera House] 
 a continental custom, 2S5- 
 
 287 
 and Mr. Bec-cham, 134-140 
 and Sir C. Stanford, 101, 
 
 288 
 as a principle, 28S 
 eighteenth century suggestions 
 for, 10 1, 102 
 Steele, 28 
 Storace, 6 (note), 160, 175 
 
 (note) 
 Strauss, Richard, 89 (note) 
 imitations of, in England, 
 119 
 Streatfteld, R. A., 108 (note), 
 
 2 1 3 (note) 
 Suetonius, 5 1 (note) 
 Suevi, 54 (note) 
 
 Sullivan, Sir A., 25, 120 (note), 
 
 2+5 . 
 
 and Ofrenbach, 192 (note) 
 a purely English composer, 
 
 266 
 criticism of, 243 and 244 
 
 (note) 
 his attempts to develop Opera, 
 
 244, 245 
 his Birmingham lecture 
 
 quoted, 29 and 30 (note), 
 
 1 1 1 (note) 
 services of, to the Comic Opera 
 
 Stage, 192 (note) 
 " Sumer is icumen in," 17 
 
 (note), 23 
 Sweden. [See Scandinavia] 
 a boundary of the Norman 
 
 wanderings, 54 (note) 
 united to Norway and Den- 
 mark, 70 
 " Swiss school of Opera," 
 
 286 
 Switzerland, mediaeval wars of, 
 
 68 
 physical conditions in, 43 
 
 Tacitus, 5 1 (note) 
 
 Tangier, 27 (note) 
 
 Tate, Nahum, 152 
 
 Tennyson, 29 
 
 Terry, D., quoted, 167, 171 
 
 Tertuliian, 51 (note) 
 
 Teutonic nations, 25 
 
 School, and national exteriori- 
 zation, 88. [See German 
 school. German}'] 
 
 Thackeray, W. M., 29 
 
 Thackeray, T. J., 178 (note) 
 
 The Amber Witch, quoted, 164, 
 168, 169, 172, 176 
 
 Theatre-goers. [See Concert- 
 goers. Public. Receptivity]
 
 356 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Theatre-goers 
 
 and English language in Opera, 
 186-190, 202, 206, 213- 
 217 
 and theatrical morality, ill, 
 
 1 1 2 
 the English as, 8, 97, 202, 
 
 246, 247 
 types of, 216, 217 
 The Beauty Stone, 180, 244 
 The Beggar's Opera, 102, 119. 
 [See Ballad Opera] 
 as a type of English Opera, 
 
 116 
 familiarity of its topic, 108, 
 
 109 
 features of, 157 
 introduction to, quoted, 1 15 
 quoted, 110 (note), 157, 158 
 reference to, in Boswell's Life, 
 
 1 I 1 (note) 
 "The Player" in, quoted, 
 1 10 (note) 
 The Bohemian Girl, 2, 2 48 
 The Bondman, quoted, 167, 175 
 The Brides of Venice, quoted, 
 
 173. 174 
 The Canterbury Pilgrims, 1 8 2 
 
 (note) 
 The Country Burial. [See Silvia] 
 The Devil to pay, 1 58 
 The Enchantress, quoted, 165, 
 
 166, 167, 177 
 The Grand Dramatic Romance of 
 
 Blue Beard, quoted, 162 
 The Haunted Totver, 102 
 
 quoted, 175 
 The Heir of Vironi, quoted, 168 
 The Knight of Snozvdoun, 1 1 9 
 The Maid of Artois, 171 (note) 
 
 quoted, 153, 167, 1 70 
 'The Maniac, quoted, 164, 165, 
 
 I 7 I 
 
 The Mikado, 1 20 
 
 The Mock Doctor, 1 5 9 
 
 The Mountain Sylph, 120, 162 
 
 and 163 (note), 178. [See 
 
 Barnctt, J.] 
 The Night Dancers, 1 20 
 The Noble Outlaw, quoted, 
 
 17+ 
 
 Theodore, 53 (note) 
 
 The Orphan's Friend, quoted, 
 
 174, 176 
 
 The Padlock, quoted, 161 
 
 The Quaker's Opera, 158 (note) 
 
 The Sapphire Necklace, 244 
 
 The Siege ofRochelle, quoted, 1 69, 
 
 175, 176, 177, 178 
 The Slave, quoted, 176 
 
 The Swiss Banditti. [See The 
 
 Maniac] 
 The Talisman, quoted, 168, 178 
 The Trip to Portsmouth, quoted, 
 
 161 
 The Troubadour, quoted, 1S0 
 'The Veiled Prophet, 1 80 
 The Village Opera, quoted, 
 
 159 . 
 The Virgin of the Sun, quoted, 
 
 173; 1/4 
 
 The Virgin Sacrificed. [See 
 Jephtha's Rash Vow] 
 
 The Wreckers, 141, 1 44 
 
 Thomas, Goring, a denation- 
 alized Englishman, 266 
 
 Thomas the Rhymer, 108 
 
 lief and, 141 (note) 
 
 Tippoo Saib, 28 (note) 
 
 Titian, 2 3 
 
 Tours, Battle of, 54 (note), 87 
 (note) 
 
 Tolstoi, Leo, 212 (note). [See 
 Accessibility, Composer, 
 the, 'spiritual union' of. 
 Intelligibility]
 
 INDEX 
 
 357 
 
 Translations 
 
 advisability of, 1 86, 212 
 alteration of music in, 229 
 
 (note) 
 a makeshift, 212, 221, 234 
 badness of, 219, 230, 231 
 Cavalier ta Rustic ana, 231-233 
 demand for, 215 
 difficulties in translating song- 
 speech. 219, 220, 228, 
 
 229. 
 
 early nineteenth century, 230, 
 
 234 
 foreign, and music-engravers, 
 
 2 3 l > 2 33 
 improvements in, 219, 231, 
 
 2 3 + . 
 in Musical Corned}', 221 
 
 into prose, 220 (note), 228 
 
 into verse, 228, 229 
 
 linguistic difficulties, 224-230 
 
 objections to, 220, 221 
 Travelling Opera Companies 
 
 and light Opera, 239, 24.0 
 
 and nationalism, 240 
 
 in London, 242 
 
 mainly concerned with foreign 
 Opera in English, 127 
 
 principles of, 239 
 
 their present position, 239, 
 240 
 Tristan und Isolde, 123 
 
 bilingual performance of, 147 
 (note) 
 
 song-speech in, 192, 193 
 Troparium, the Winchester, 16 
 
 (note) 
 Troy, 36 (note) 
 Tschaikovvsky 
 
 a national composer, 105 
 (note) 
 
 imitations of, in England, 1 19 
 
 popular cult of, 92 (note) 
 
 Tunis, 84 (note) 
 
 Turks 
 
 defeated at Lepanto, 87 (note) 
 mediaeval wars of the, 68 
 
 Turner, 29 
 
 Ulpian, 5 I (note) 
 Urban, 63 (note) 
 
 Valentinian, restrictive laws of, 
 
 59 ( note ) 
 Vandals, movements of the, 54 
 
 (note) 
 
 Yegetius Renatus, 51 (note) 
 
 Venice 
 
 gulf of, 62 (note) 
 in the fifteenth century, 79 
 mediaeval wars of, 68 
 music produced at, 17, 18 
 school of, 39, 79 (note) 
 
 Verdi, 217 (note), 227 (note), 
 230 
 
 Vergil, 5 1 (note) 
 
 Victoria, Queen, and Ivanl/oe, 
 
 Vienna, 283 
 
 example from, 10 1 (note) 
 
 Viennese school, 39 
 
 Viennese, the, 25 
 
 Vikings, the, a type of national 
 exteriorization, 37, 38 
 
 Vinci, Leonardo (Operatic Com- 
 poser), 100 (note) 
 
 Vinci, Leonardo da, 23, 262 
 
 " Vindex Anglicus," quoted, 
 2 10 and 2 1 1 (note) 
 
 Visconti, 80 
 
 Visigoths, their wanderings and 
 conquests, 54 (note) 
 
 Vowels. [See Singers. Singing 
 Masters] 
 as understood by singers, 188, 
 190, 202-204
 
 35* 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Vowels 
 
 disregard of, by singing- 
 masters, 200, 201 
 
 in English and Italian, 196- 
 199, 206 
 
 intelligibility of, and con- 
 sonants compared, 203 
 
 of the English language, 191, 
 197, 198, 205 
 
 of the Italian language, 197 
 
 Wagner, 13, 25, 36 (note), 295, 
 
 3 2 _ 
 and private patronage, 282 
 and song-speech, 209 
 and the true end of Opera, 
 
 113 
 and Weber, 98, 262 
 association, protest of the, 147 
 
 (note) 
 imitations of, in England, I 19, 
 
 252 
 in London, 43 (note) 
 popular cult of, 92 (note) 
 quoted, 88 (note), 89 (note), 
 
 189 (note) 
 Walker, Ernest, quoted, 92 
 
 (note), 1 04 and 105 (note), 
 
 116 (note), 155 (note), 
 
 243 and 244 (note) 
 Wallace, Vincent, 5, 162, 164 
 
 (note), 168 (note) 
 criticism of, 1 63 
 Wallace, William, 2 1 (note), 219 
 
 (note), 284 (note) 
 Wardour-Strectism, 163, 181, 
 
 182 
 Wars 
 
 Afghan, 29 (note) 
 American, 28 (note) 
 Anglo-Erench (fourteenth and 
 
 fifteenth centuries), 83 
 Burmese, 29 (note) 
 
 Chinese opium, 29 (note) 
 civil, in Spain, 70 
 Crimean, 87 (note) 
 European mediaeval, 66-69 
 Franco-Prussian, 87 (note) 
 in N. America, with France, 
 
 28 (note) 
 in Scinde, 29 (note) 
 Kaffir, 29 (note) 
 Mahratta, 28 (note) 
 Mohammedan, in Spain, 
 
 70 
 of Marlborough and Napo- 
 leon, 87 (note) 
 of the Roses, 12 (note), 67 
 Sikh, 29 (note) 
 with Tippoo Saib, 28 (note) 
 Weatherley, F. E., 234 (note) 
 Weber, 25, 262 
 
 and Wagner, 98, 262 
 Welshmen and the milk-trade, 
 
 286 (note) 
 Wharton, Lady, 100 
 Widnes, 7 
 William I., 16, 65 
 Wolfe, 28 (note) 
 Wood, Sir Henry J., 254 
 Wordsworth, 29, 160 
 World-atavism, 66 
 World- Power. \See England. 
 Exteriorization. Papacy. 
 Rome. Sea- Power] 
 absence of, does not ensure 
 
 musical productivity, 43 
 ancient Rome as a, 47-5 1 
 and future musical history of 
 
 England, 45 (note) 
 an explanation of musical 
 
 history, 31, 42 
 development of English, com- 
 pared with her mental and 
 artistic development, 27- 
 29
 
 INDEX 
 
 359 
 
 World-Power 
 
 England and Rome as types 
 
 ^ of, 38, 39 
 
 England and, 25 
 
 material possession of, negli- 
 gible, 44, 4.5 
 
 pressure of, on composers, 
 42 
 
 temporary impenetrability of 
 Spain and England to new 
 ideas of, 86 
 
 the deterrent factor in musi- 
 cal development, 40, 277 
 
 Yorkshire, 30 (note) 
 
 Zauberflotc, 277, 295 
 
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