MT 
 85 
 
 W12uE 
 1897
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 9
 
 ON * ^ * 
 CONDUCTING 
 BY * * .)= 
 RICHARD ^= 
 WAGNER ^!^
 
 STANDARD MUSICAL WORKS. 
 
 How TO Play Chopin. The Works of Chopin and 
 
 their proper Intf-rpretation. By Klecz3iaski. Third 
 
 Edition, Woodcut and Music Illustrations, cloth. 3/6. 
 ■How TO Make a Violin. With many Illustrations. 
 
 By J. Broadhoiise, cloth, 3/6. 
 Richard Wagner's Beethoven. Translated by E. 
 
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 Musical Directory of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 
 400 pages, paper 2/- (cloth 3/6). 
 Franz Liszt's Life of Chopin, new and only full 
 
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 Great Violinists and Great Pianists. By J. T. 
 
 Ferris. (Viotti, Spohr, Paganini, De Beriot, Ole 
 
 Bull, dementi, Moscheles, Schumann (Robert and 
 
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 Life of Cherubini. By E. Bellasis, 6/-. 
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 ^Esthetics of Musical Art ; or, the Beautiful in Music, 
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 Music in England, and Music in America. By F. L, 
 
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 Beethoven, Life oF, By Dr. L. Nohl, translated by 
 
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 W. RICEVES. 185, Fleet Street, Lf)NDON, E.C. 
 
 THK I THE ORGANISTS' 
 
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 ON 
 
 CONDUCTING: 
 
 
 (Ueber das Dirigiren) 
 
 
 A TREATISE ON 
 
 STYLE 
 
 IN THE EXECUTION OF CLASSICAL MUSIC 
 
 
 BY 
 
 
 RICHARD WAGNER 
 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 
 EDWARD DANNBEUTHEB. 
 
 
 Second Edition. 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 WILLIAM REEVES, 185, Fleet Street, E.C. 
 
 Publisher of Musical Works. 
 1897.
 
 London 
 
 printed by the new temple press, 
 
 185, fleet street ex.
 
 
 (1869). 
 MOTTO NACH GOETHE 
 
 " Fliegenschnanz" und Miickennas' 
 Mit euren Anverwandten, 
 Frosch im Lanb und Grill' im Gras, 
 Ihr seid inir Musikanten ! " 
 
 " Flysnout aud Mid','enose, 
 With all your kindred, too, 
 Trecfrog and Meadow-grig, 
 True musicians, you ! " 
 
 (After Goethe. 
 
 The lines travestieri are taken from " Oberon und Titanias goldene Hochzeit.' 
 Intermezzo, Walpurgisnacht. — Faust I. 
 
 •^^12Z3
 
 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. 
 
 Wagner's Ueber das Dirigiren was published 
 simultaneously in the " Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik " 
 and the " New-Yorker Musik-zeitung," 1869. It 
 was immediately issued in book form, Leipzig, 1869, 
 and is now incorporated in the author's collected 
 writings, Vol. VIII. pp. 325 — 410. ("Gesammelte 
 Schriften und Dichtungen von Richard Wagner," ten 
 volumes, Leipzig, 1871 — 1883.) For various reasons, 
 chiefly personal, the book met with much opposition 
 in Germany, but it was extensively read, and has done 
 a great deal of good. It is unique in the literature 
 of music : a Treatise on Style in the Execution of 
 Classical Music, written by a great practical master 
 of the grand style. Certain asperities which pervade 
 it from beginning to end could not well be omitted 
 in the translation ; care has, however, been taken 
 not to exaggerate them. To elucidate some points 
 in the text sundry extracts from other writings of 
 Wagner have been appended. The footnotes, 
 throughout, are the translator's.
 
 The following pages are intended to form a record 
 of my experience in a department of music which 
 has hitherto been left to professional routine and 
 amateur criticism. I shall appeal to professional 
 executants, both instrumentalists and vocalists, 
 rather than to conductors ; since the executants 
 only can tell whether, or not, they have been led 
 by a competent conductor. I do not mean to set up 
 a system, but simply to state certain facts, and 
 record a nmuber of practical observations. 
 
 Composers cannot afford to be indifferent to the 
 manner in which their works are presented to the 
 public ; and the public, naturally, cannot be expected 
 to decide whether the performance of a piece of 
 music is correct or faulty, since there are no data 
 beyond the actual effect of the performance to 
 judge by. 
 
 I shall endeavour to throw some light upon 
 the characteristics of musical performances in Ger- 
 many — with regard to the concert-room, as well as 
 to the theatre. Those who have experience in such 
 matters are aware that, in most cases, the defec- 
 tive constitution of German orchestras and the faults 
 of their performances are due to the shortcom- 
 (1) B
 
 ^Z WAGNER 
 
 ings of the conductors (" Capellmeister," " Musik- 
 directoren," etc.) The demands upon the orchestras 
 have increased greatly of late, their task has become 
 more difficult and more complicated ; yet the 
 directors of our art-institutions, display increasing 
 negligence in their choice of conductors. In the 
 days when Mozart's scores afforded the highest 
 tasks that could be set before an orchestra, the 
 typical German Capellmeister was a formidable per- 
 sonage, who knew how to make himself respected 
 at his post — sure of his business, strict, despotic, 
 and by no means polite. Friedericli Schneider, of 
 Dessau, was the last representative I have met 
 with of this now extinct species. Guhr, of Frank- 
 fort, also may be reckoned as belonging to it. The 
 attitude of these men towards modern music was 
 certainly " old-fashioned " ; but, in their own way, 
 they produced good solid work : as I found not 
 more than eight years ago * at Carlsruhe, when 
 old Capellmeister Strauss conducted " Lohengrin." 
 This vcncral)le and worthy man evidently looked at 
 my score with some little shyness ; but, he took 
 good care of the orchestra, which he led with a 
 degree of precision and firmness impossible to excel. 
 He was, clearly, a man not to be trifled with, and 
 his forces o])eycd him to perfection. Singularly 
 enough, tliis okl gentleman was the only German 
 conductor of repute I had met with, up to that 
 
 Circa, 1861.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 3 
 
 time, who possessed true fire ; his tempi were more 
 often a trifle too quick than too slow ; but they 
 were, invariably firm and well marked. Subse- 
 quently, H. Esser's conducting, at Vienna, im- 
 pressed me in like manner. 
 
 The older conductors of this stamp if they 
 happened to be less gifted than those mentioned, 
 found it difficult to cope with the complications of 
 modern orchestral music — mainly because of their 
 fixed notions concerning the proper constitution of 
 an orchestra. I am not aware that the number of 
 permanent members of an orchestra, has, in any 
 German town, been rectified according to the 
 requirements of modern instrumentation. Now-a- 
 days, as of old, the principal parts in each group 
 of instruments, are alloted to the players according 
 to the rules of seniority* — thus men take first 
 positions when their powers are on the wane, whilst 
 younger and stronger men are relegated to the 
 subordinate parts — a practice, the evil effects of 
 which are particularly noticeable with regard to 
 the wind instruments. Latterly t by discriminating 
 exertions, and particularly, by the good sense of 
 the instrumentalists concerned, these evils have 
 diminished ; another traditional habit, however, 
 regarding the choice of players of stringed instru- 
 
 * Appointments at German Court theatres are usually 
 for life, 
 t 1869.
 
 -4 WAGNEE 
 
 ments, has led to deleterious consequences. With- 
 out the slightest compunction, the second violin 
 parts, and especially the Viola parts, have been 
 sacrificed. The viola is commonly (with rare excep- 
 tions indeed) played by infirm violinists, or by 
 decrepit players of wind instruments who happen 
 to have been acquainted with a stringed instrument 
 once upon a time ; at best a competent viola player 
 occupies a first desk, so that he may play the 
 occasional soli for that instrument ; but, I have 
 even seen this function performed by the leader of 
 the first violins. It was pointed out to me that in a 
 large orchestra, which contained eight violas, there 
 w^as only one player who could deal with the rather 
 difficult passages in one of my later scores ! 
 
 Such a state of things may be excusable from a 
 humane point of view ; it arose from the older 
 methods of instrumentation, where the role of the 
 viola consisted for the most part in filling up the 
 accompaniments ; and it has since found some sort 
 of justification in the meagre method of instru- 
 mentation adopted by the composers of Italian 
 operas, whose works constitute an important ck:^nient 
 in the repertoire of the German opera theatres. 
 
 At the various court theatres, Italian operas have 
 always found favour with the Directors. From this it 
 follows as a matter of course, that works which are 
 not in the good grace of those gentlemen stand a 
 poor chance, urilcgs it should so happen that the 
 conductor is a imui of weight and influence who
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 5 
 
 knows the real requirements of a modern orchestra. 
 But our older Capellmeisters rarely knew as much — 
 they did not choose to recognize the need of a 
 large increase in the number of stringed instruments 
 to balance the augmented number of wind instru- 
 ments and the complicated uses the latter are 
 now put to. 
 
 in this respect the attempts at reform were 
 always insufficient- and our celebrated German 
 orchestras remained far behind those of France in 
 the power and capacity of the- violins^ and par- 
 ticularly of the violoncellos. 
 
 Now, had the conductors of a later generation 
 been men of authority like their predecessors, they 
 might easily have mended matters ; but the Direc- 
 tors of court theatres took good care to engage none 
 but demure and subservient persons. 
 
 It is well worth while to note how the con- 
 ductors, who are now at the head of German music, 
 arrived at the honourable positions they hold. 
 
 We owe our permanent orchestras to the various 
 theatres, particularly the court theatres, small eynd 
 great. The managers of these theatres are theare- 
 fore in a position to select the men who are to 
 represent the spirit and dignity of German music. 
 Perhaps those who have been thus advanced to 
 posts of honour, are themselves cognizant of how 
 they got there — to an unpractised observer it is 
 rather difficult to discern their particular merits. 
 The so-called " good berths" are reached step by
 
 b WAGNER 
 
 step : men move on and push upwards. I believe 
 the Court orchestra at BerHn has got the majority 
 of its conductors in this way. Now and then, 
 however, things come to pass in a more erratic 
 manner ; grand personages, hitherto unknown, sud- 
 denly begin to flourish under the protection of the 
 lady-in-waiting to some princess, etc., etc. It is 
 impossible to estimate the harm done to our leading 
 orchestras and opera theatres by such nonentities. 
 Devoid of real merit they keep their posts by abject 
 cringing to the chief court official, and by polite 
 submission to the indolence of their musical sub- 
 ordinates. Relinquishing the pretence of artistic 
 discipline, which they are unable to enforce, they 
 are always ready to give way, or to obey any absurd 
 orders from head quarters ; and such conductors, 
 under favourable circumstances, have even been 
 known to become popular favourites ! 
 
 At rehearsals all difficulties are got over by 
 means of mutual congratulations and a pious allu- 
 sion to the "old established fame of our Orchestra." 
 Who can venture to say that the performances of 
 that famous institution deteriorate year by year? 
 Where is the true authority ? Certainly not amongst 
 the critics, who only bark when their mouths are 
 not stopped ; and the art of stopping mouths is 
 cultivated to perfection. 
 
 Recently, the post of chief conductor has here 
 and there been filled by a man of practical experi- 
 ence, especially engaged with a view to stimulating
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 7 
 
 the slumbering energy of his colleagues. Such 
 "chiefs" are famed for their skill in "bringing 
 out" a new opera in a fortmight ; for their clever 
 " cuts " ; for the effective " closes " they write to 
 please singers, and for their interpolations in other 
 men's scores. Practical accomplishments of this 
 sort have, for instance, supplied the Dresden Opera 
 with one of its most energetic Capellmeisters. 
 
 Now and again the managers look out for " a 
 conductor of reputation." Generally none such are 
 to be had at the theatres ; but, according to the 
 feuilletons of the political newspapers, the singing 
 societies and concert establishments furnish a steady 
 supply of the article. These are the "music- 
 brokers," as it were, of the present day, who came 
 forth from the school of Mendelssohn, and flourished 
 under his protection and recommendation. They 
 differ widely from the helpless epigonae of our old 
 conductors : they are not musicians brought up 
 in the orchestra or at the theatre, but respectable 
 pupils of the new-fangled conservatories ; composers 
 of Psalms and Oratorios, and devout listeners 
 at rehearsals for the subscription concerts. They 
 have received lessons in conducting too, and are 
 possessed of an elegant "culture" hitherto un- 
 known in the realms of music. Far from shewing 
 any lack of politeness, they managed to transform 
 the timid modesty of our poor native Capellmeister 
 into a sort of cosmopolitan hon ton ; which stood 
 them in good stead with the old-fashioned Philistine
 
 8 WAGNEE 
 
 society of our towns. I believe the influence of 
 these people upon German orchestras has been good 
 in many respects, and has brought about beneficial 
 results ; certainly much that was raw and awkward 
 has disappeared ; and, from a musical point of view, 
 many details of refined phrasing and expression are 
 now more carefully attended to. They feel more at 
 home in the modern orchestra ; which is indebted 
 to their master — Mendelssohn — for a particularly 
 delicate and refined development in the direction 
 opened up by Weber's original genius. 
 
 One thing, however, is wanting to these gentle* 
 men, without which they cannot be expected to 
 achieve the needful reconstruction of the orchestras, 
 lior to enforce the needful reforms in the institu- 
 tions connected with them, viz., energy, self-con- 
 fidence, and personal power. In their case, unfor- 
 tunately, reputation, talent, culture, even faith, love 
 and hope, are artificial. Each of them was, and is, 
 80 busy with his personal affairs, and the difficulty 
 of maintaining his artificial position, that he cannot 
 occupy himself with measures of general import — 
 iheasTU'cs which might bring about a connected and 
 consistent new order of things. As a matter of 
 fact, such an order of things cannot, and does not 
 concern the fraternity at all. They came to occupy 
 the position of those old-fashioned German masters, 
 because the power of the latter had deteriorated 
 and because they had shewn themselves incapable 
 to meet the wants of a new style ; and it would
 
 ON CONDUCTING. y 
 
 appear that they in their turn, regard their position 
 of to-day as merely temporary — fiUing a gap in 
 a period of transition. In the face of the new 
 ideals of German art, towards which all that is 
 noble in the nation begins to turn, they are evidently 
 at a loss, since these ideals are alien to their nature. 
 In the presence of certain teclinical difficulties 
 inseparable from modern music they have recourse 
 to singular expedients. Meyerbeer, for instancy, 
 was very circumspect ; in Paris he engaged a new 
 flutist and paid him out of his own pocket to play a 
 particular bit nicel}'. Fully aware of the value of 
 finished execution, rich and independent, Meyer- 
 beer might have been of great service to the Berlin 
 orchestra when the King of Prussia appointed him 
 ** General Musikdirector." Mendelssohn was called 
 upon to undertake a similar mission about the 
 same- time ; and, assuredly, Mendelssohn was the 
 possessor of the most extraordinary gifts and attain- 
 ments. Both men, doubtless, encountered all the 
 difficulties which had hitherto blocked the way 
 towards improvements ; but they were called upon 
 to overcome these very difficulties, and their in- 
 dependent position and great attainments rendered 
 them exceptionally competent to do so. Why then 
 did their powers desert them. It would seem as if 
 they had no real power. They left matters to take 
 care of themselves and, now, we are confronted by 
 the " celebrated " Berlin orchestra in which the last 
 trace of the traditions of Spontini's strict discipline
 
 10 WAGNEE 
 
 have faded away. Thus fared Meyerbeer and 
 Mendelssohn whilst at Berlin : what are we to 
 expect elsewhere from their neat little shadows ? 
 
 It is clear from this account of the survivals of 
 the earlier and of the latest species of Capellmeisters 
 and Musikdirectors, that neither of them are likely 
 to do much towards the reorganization of our 
 orchestras. On the other hand the initiative has 
 been taken by the orchestral performers themselves ; 
 and the signs of progress are evidently owing to 
 the increasing development of their technical attain- 
 ments. Virtuosi upon the different orchestral in- 
 struments have done excellent service, and they 
 might have done much more in the circumstances 
 had the conductors been competent. 
 
 Exceptionally gifted and accomplished players 
 easily got the upper hand of the decrepit Capell- 
 meisters of the old sort, and of their successors, the 
 parvenus without authority — pianoforte pedagogues 
 patronised by ladies in waiting, etc., etc. Virtuosi 
 soon came to play a role in the orchestra akin to 
 that of the prima donna on the stage. The elegant 
 conductors of the day chose to associate and ally 
 themselves with tho virtuosi, and this arrangement 
 might have acted very satisfactorily if the con- 
 ductors had really understood the true spirit of 
 German music. 
 
 It is important to point out in this connection 
 that conductors arc indol)tod to tlie theatres for 
 their posts, and even for the existence of their
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 11 
 
 orchestra. The greater part of their professional 
 work consists in rehearsing and conducting operas. 
 They ought therefore, to have made it their busi- 
 ness to understand the theatre — the opera — and to 
 make themselves masters of the proper application 
 of music to dramatic art, in something like the 
 manner in which an astronomer applies mathematics 
 to astronom}'. Had they understood dramatic sing- 
 ing and dramatic expression they might have 
 applied such knowlege to the execution of modern 
 instrumental music. 
 
 A long time ago I derived much instruction as to 
 the tempo and the proper execution of Beethoven's 
 music from the clearly accentuated and expressive 
 singing of that great artist, Frau Schroder-Devrient. 
 I have since found it impossible, for example, to 
 permit the touching cadence of the Oboe in the first 
 movement of the C minor Symphony — 
 Adagio. 
 
 
 -^^ ^_^i37^-»— = »: 
 
 
 / 
 
 to be played in the customary timid and embarassed 
 way ; indeed, starting from the insight I had gained 
 into the proper execution of this cadence, I also 
 found and felt the true significance and expression 
 due to the sustained fermata of the first violins 
 
 ?^-— —t— -— • in the corresponding place, and from the 
 
 * Ante, bar 21.
 
 12 WAGNEE 
 
 touching emotional impressions I got by means ot 
 these two seemingly so insignificant details I gained 
 a new point of view, from which the entire rnove^ 
 ment appeared in a clearer and warmer light. 
 
 Leaving this for the present, I am content to 
 point out that a conductor might exercise great 
 influence upon the higher musical culture with 
 regard to execution, if he properly understood |iis 
 position in relation to dramatic art, to which, in 
 fact, he is indebted for his post and his dignity. 
 But our conductors are accustomed to look upon 
 the opera as an irksome daily task (for which, on 
 the other hand, the deplorable condition of that 
 genre of art at German theatres furnishes reason 
 enough) ; they consider that the sole source of 
 honour lies in the concert rooms from which they 
 started and from which they were called ; for, as I 
 have said above, wherever the managers of a theatie 
 happen to covet a musician of reputation for Capell- 
 meister, they think themselves obliged to get him 
 from some place other than a theatre. 
 
 Now to estimate the value of a quondam con- 
 ductor of concerts and of choral societies at a 
 theatre, it is advisable to pay him a visit at home, 
 i.e., in the concert-room, from which he derives his 
 reputation as a " solid " German musician. Let U9 
 observe him as a conductor of orchestral concerts.
 
 Looking back upon my earliest youth I remember 
 to have had unpleasant impressions from per- 
 formances of classical orchestral music. At the 
 piano or whilst reading a score, certain things 
 appeared animated and expressive, whereas, at a 
 performance, they could hardly be recognised, and 
 failed to attract attention. I was puzzled by the 
 apparent flabbiness of Mozartian Melody (Cantilena) 
 which I had been taught to regard as so delicately 
 expressive. Later in life I discovered the reasons 
 for this, and I have discussed them in my report 
 oti a " German music school to be established at 
 Munich," * to which I beg to refer readers who 
 may be interested in the subject. Assuredly, the 
 treasons lie in the want of a proper Conservatorium 
 cd German music — a Conservatory , in the strictest 
 sense of the word, in which the traditions of the 
 classical masters' own style of execution are pre- 
 served in practice — which, of course, would imply 
 that the masters should, once at least, have had a 
 
 * " Bericht ueber eice iu Hiincben zu errichteude 
 deutscbe Musikschule"( 1865). See Appendix A. 
 
 (13)
 
 14 WAGNEE 
 
 chance personally to supervise performances of their 
 works in such a place. Unfortunately German 
 culture has missed all such opportunities ; and if we 
 now wish to become acquainted with the spirit of a 
 classical composer's music, we must rely on this or 
 that conductor, and upon his notion of what may, 
 or may not, be the proper tempo and style of 
 execution. 
 
 In the days of my youth, orchestral pieces at the 
 celebrated Leipzig Gewandhaus Concerts were not 
 conducted at all ; they were simply played through 
 under the leadership of Conzertmeister * Mathai, 
 like overtures and enfracts at a theatre. At least 
 there was no " disturbing individuality," in the 
 shape of a conductor ! The principal classical pieces 
 which presented no particular technical difficulties 
 were regularly given every winter ; the execution 
 was smooth and precise ; and the members of the 
 orchestra evidently enjoyed the annual recurrence 
 of their familiar favourites. 
 
 With Beetlioveii' fi Ninth Sijmphonij alone they 
 could not get on, though it was considered a point 
 of honour to give that work every year. I had 
 copied the score for myself, and made a pianoforte 
 arrangement for two hands ; but I was so much 
 astonished at the utterly confused and bewildering 
 effect of the Gewandhaus performance that I had 
 lost courage, and gave up the study of Beethoven 
 
 * i.e., the leader of the first violins.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 15 
 
 for some time. Later, I found it instructive to note 
 how I came to take true delight in performances of 
 Mozart's instrumental works : it was when I had a 
 chance to conduct them myself, and when I could 
 indulge my feelings as to the expressive rendering 
 of Mozart's cantilena. 
 
 I received a good lesson at Paris in 1839, when I 
 heard the orchestra of the Conservatoire rehearse 
 the enigmatical Ninth Symphony. The scales fell 
 from my eyes ; I came to understand the value of 
 correct execution and the secret of a good per- 
 formance. The orchestra had learnt to look for 
 Beethoven's melody m every bar — that melody which 
 the worthy Leipzig musicians had failed to dis- 
 cover ; and the orchestra sang that melody. This 
 was the secret. 
 
 Habeneck, who sovled the difficulty, and to whom 
 the great credit for this performance is due, was 
 not a conductor of special genius. Whilst rehears- 
 ing the symphony, during an entire winter season, 
 he had felt it to be incomprehensible and ineffec- 
 tive (would German conductors have confessed as 
 much?), but he persisted throughout a second and 
 a third season ! until Beethoven's new melos * was 
 understood, and correctly rendered by each member 
 of the orchestra. Habenek was a conductor of 
 the old stamp ; he was the master — and everyone 
 obeyed him. I cannot attempt to describe the 
 beauty of this performance. However, to give an 
 
 * Melody in all its aspects
 
 16 
 
 WAGNEB 
 
 idea of it, I will select a passage by the aid of 
 which I shall endeavour to shew the reason why 
 Beethoven is so difficult to render as well as the 
 reason for the indifferent success of German orches- 
 tras when confronted by such difficulties. Even 
 with first-class orchestras I have never been able to 
 get the passage in the first movement 
 
 H«= 
 
 zzzuz^zrk^izM^^. 
 
 aemp-e pp 
 
 :^P 
 
 setnpre pp 
 
 performed with such equable perfection as I then 
 (thirty years ago) heard it played by the musicians 
 of the Paris " Orchestre du Conservatoire."* Often 
 in later life have I recalled this passage, and tried 
 by its aid to enumerate the desiderata in the execu- 
 tion of orchestral music ; it comprises movement and 
 sustained tone, with a definite degree of power. \ 
 
 •Wagner, however, subsequently admitted that the passage 
 was rendered to his satisfaction at the memorable per- 
 torinance of tlie Ninth Symphony, given May azad, 1872, to 
 celebrate the laying of the foundation stone of the theatre at 
 Bayrenth. 
 
 (" An dieser Stelle ist es nur, bei oft in meinem spateren 
 Leben erneueter Erianeruog, recht klar geworden, worauf
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 17 
 
 The masterly execution of this passage by the 
 Paris orchestra consisted in the fact that they 
 played it exactly as it is written. Neither at 
 Dresden, nor in London * when, in after years, I 
 had occasion to prepare a performance of the sym- 
 phony, did I succeed in getting rid of the annoying 
 irregularity which arises from the change of bow and 
 change of strings. Still less could I suppress an 
 involuntary accentuation as the passage ascends ; 
 musicians, as a rule, are tempted to play an ascending 
 passage with an increase of tone, and a descending 
 one with a decrease. With the fourth bar of the 
 above passage we invariably got into a crescendo so 
 that the sustained G flat of the fifth bar was given 
 with an involuntary yet vehement accent, enough to 
 spoil the peculiar tonal significance of that note. 
 The composer's intention is clearly indicated ; but 
 it remains difficult to prove to a person whose 
 musical feelings are not of a refined sort, that there 
 is a great gap between a commonplace reading, and 
 the reading meant by the composer : no doubt both 
 readings convey a sense of dissatisfaction, unrest, 
 longing — but the quality of these, the true sense of 
 the passage, cannot be conveyed unless it is played 
 as the master imagined it, and as I have not hitherto 
 heard it given except by the Parisian musicians in 
 
 es beim Orchestervortrag ankommt, weil sie die Bewegung 
 und den gehaltenen Ton, zudleich mit dam Gesetz der 
 Dynamik in sich schliesst.") 
 
 * Concert of the Philharmonic Society, 26th March. 1855, 
 
 B
 
 18 WAGNER 
 
 1839. In connection with this I am conscious that 
 ■ the impression of dynamical monotony * (if I may 
 risk such an apparently senseless expression for a 
 difficult phenomenon) together with the unusually 
 varied and ever irregular movement of intervals in 
 the ascending figure entering on the prolonged G 
 flat to be sung with such infinite delicacy, to which 
 the G natural answers with equal delicacy, initiated 
 me as by magic to the incomparable mystery of the 
 spirit. Keeping my further practical experience in 
 view, I would ask how did the musicians of Paris 
 arrive at so perfect a solution of the difficult problem? 
 By the most conscientious diligence. They were 
 not content with mutual admiration and congratula- 
 tion {sicli gegenseitig Complimente zw machen) nor 
 did they assume that difficulties must disappear 
 before them as a matter of course. French musicians 
 in the main belong to the Italian school ; its influence 
 upon them has been beneficial in as much as they 
 have thus been taught to approach music mainly 
 through the medium of the human voice. The 
 French idea of playing an instrument well is to be 
 able to s'uuj well upon it. And (as already said) that 
 superb orchestra sang the symphony. The possibility 
 of its being well sung implies that the true tempo 
 had been found : and this is the second point which 
 impressed me at the time. Old Habeneck was not 
 the mediiiiu of any al)stract-a}sthetical inspiration — 
 
 * i.e. , a powisr of tone the degree of which remains unchanged.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 19 
 
 he was devoid of " genius : " hut he found the right 
 tempo whilst persistently fixing the attention of his 
 orchestra upon the Melos * of the symphony. 
 
 The right comprehension of the Melos is the sole 
 guide to the right tempo ; these two things are 
 inseparable : the one impHes and quahfies the other. 
 
 As a proof of my assertion that the majority of 
 performances of instrumental music with us are 
 faulty it is sufficient to point out that our conductors 
 so frequently fail to find the true tempo becatise they 
 are ignorant of singing. I have not yet met with a 
 German Capellmeister or Musik-director, who, be it 
 with good or bad voice, can really sing a melody. 
 These people look upon music as a singularly ab- 
 stract sort of thing, an amalgam of grammar, 
 arithmetic, and digital gymnastics ; — to be an adept 
 in which may fit a man for a mastership at a 
 conservatory or musical gymnasium ; but it does not 
 follow from this that he will be able to put life and 
 soul into a musical performance. 
 
 * Melody in all its aspects.
 
 The whole duty of a conductor is comprised in his 
 ability always to indicate the right tempo. His 
 choice of tempi will show whether he understands 
 the piece or not. With good players, again, the true 
 tempo induces correct phrasing and expression and 
 conversely, with a conductor, the idea of appropriate 
 phrasing and expression will induce the conception 
 of the true tempo. 
 
 This, however, is by no means so simple a matter 
 as it appears. Older composers probably felt so, 
 for they are content with the simplest general 
 indications. Haydn and Mozart made use of the 
 term "Andante" as the mean between "Allegro" 
 and "Adagio," and thought it sufficient to indicate a 
 few gradations and modifications of these terms. 
 
 Sebastian Bach, as a rule, does not indicate tempo 
 at all, which in a truly musical sense is perhaps 
 best. He may have said to himself ; whoever does 
 not understand my themes and figures, and does not 
 feel their character and expression, will not be much 
 the wiser for an Italian indication of tempo. 
 
 Let me be porniitted to mention a few facts 
 which concern me personally. In my earlier operas 
 I gave detailed directions as to the tempi, and in- 
 
 (20)
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 21 
 
 dicated them (as I thought) accurately, by means of 
 the Metronome. Subsequently, whenever I had 
 occasion to protest against a particularly absurd 
 tempo, in Tannhauser for instance, I was assured 
 that the Metronome had been consulted and care- 
 fully followed. In my later works I omitted the 
 metronome and merely described the main tempi in 
 general terms, paying, however, particular attention 
 to the various modifications of tempo. It would 
 appear that general directions also tend to vex and 
 confuse Capellmeisters, especially when they are 
 expressed in plain German words. Accustomed to 
 the conventional Italian terms these gentlemen are 
 apt to lose their wits when, for instance, I write 
 " moderate." Not long ago a Capellmeister com- 
 plained of that term (massig) which I employed in 
 the score of "Das Rheingold " ; the music (it was 
 reported) lasted exactly two hours and a half at 
 rehearsals under a conductor whom I had personally 
 instructed : whereas, at the performances and under 
 the beat of the official Capellmeister, it lasted fully 
 three hours ! (according to the report of the 
 Allgemeijie Zeittmg). Wherefore, indeed, did I 
 write " Massig " ? To match this I have been in- 
 formed that the overture to Tannhauser, which, 
 when I conducted it at Dresden, used to last twelve 
 minutes, now lasts twenty. No doubt [I am here 
 alluding to thoroughly incompetent fpersons who 
 are particularly shy of Alia breve time, and who 
 stick to their correct and normal crotchet beats, four
 
 22 WAGNER 
 
 in a bar, merely to show they are present and con- 
 scious of doing something. Heaven knows how 
 such " quadrupeds " find their way from the village 
 church to our opera theatres. But "dragging" is 
 not a characteristic of the elegant conductors of 
 these latter days ; on the contrary they have a fatal 
 tendency to hurry and to run away with the tempi. 
 TJiis tendency to hurry is so characteristic a mark 
 of our entire musical life latterly, that I propose to 
 enter into some details with regard to it. 
 
 Bobert Schumann once complained to me at 
 Dresden that he could not enjoy the Ninth Sym- 
 phony at the Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts because 
 of the quick tempi Mendelssohn chose to take, par- 
 ticularly in the first movement. I have, myself, 
 only once been present at a rehearsal of one of 
 Beethoven's Symphonies, when Mendelssohn con- 
 ducted : the rehearsal took place at Berlin, and the 
 Symphony was No. 8 (in F major). I noticed that 
 he chose a detail here and there — almost at random — 
 and worked at it with a certain obstinacy, until it 
 stood forth clearly. This was so manifestly to the 
 advantage of the detail that I could not but wonder 
 why he did not take similar pains with othev nuances. 
 For the rest, this incomparably bright symphony 
 was rendered in a remarkably smooth and genial 
 manner. Mendelssohn himself once remarked to 
 me, with regard to conducting, that he thought 
 most harm was done by taking a tempo too slow; 
 and that on the contrary, he always recommended
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 23 
 
 quick tempi as being less detrimental. Eeally 
 good execution, he thought, was at all times a rare 
 thing, but short-comings might be disguised if care 
 was taken that they should not appear very 
 prominent ; and the best way to do this was " to get 
 over the ground quickly." This can hardly have 
 been a casual view, accidentally mentioned in 
 conversation. The master's pupils must have 
 received further and more detailed instruction ; for, 
 subsequently, I have, on various occasions, noticed 
 the consequences of that maxim, " take quick 
 tempi," and have I think, discovered the reasons 
 which may have led to its adoption. 
 
 I remembered it well, when I came to lead the 
 orchestra of the Philharmonic Society in London, 
 1855. Mendelssohn had conducted the concerts 
 during several seasons, and the tradition of his 
 readings was carefully preserved. It appears likely 
 that the habits and peculiarities of the Philharmonic 
 Society suggested to Mendelssohn his favourite style 
 of performance (Vortragsweise) — certainly it was 
 adm.irably adapted to meet their wants. An unusual 
 amount of instrumental music is consumed at these 
 concerts ; but as a rule, each piece is rehearsed once 
 only. Thus in many instances, I could not avoid 
 letting the orchestra follow its traditions, and so, I 
 became acquainted with a style of performance 
 which called up a lively recollection of Mendelssohn's 
 remarks. 
 
 The music gushed forth like water from a fountain ;
 
 24 WAGNER 
 
 there was no arresting it, and every Allegro ended 
 as an undeniable Presto. It was troublesome and 
 difficult to interfere; for when correct tempi and 
 proper modifications of these were taken the defects 
 of style which the flood had carried along or con- 
 cealed became painfully apparent. The orchestra 
 generally played mezzoforte ; no real forte, no real 
 piano was attained. Of course in important cases I 
 took care to enforce the reading I thought the true 
 one, and to insist upon the right tempo. The excel- 
 lent musicians did not object to this ; on the contrary 
 they showed themselves sincerely glad of it ; the 
 public also approved, but the critics were annoyed, 
 and continued so to browbeat the directors of the 
 society that the latter actually requested me to 
 permit the second movement of Mozart's Symphony 
 in E flat to be played in 'the flabby and colourless 
 way {ruscJdich herunter spielen) they had been 
 accustomed to — and which, they said, even Men- 
 delssohn himself had sanctioned. 
 
 The fatal maxims came to the front quite clearly 
 when I was about to rehearse a symphony by a very 
 amiable elderly contrapuntist, Mr, Potter,* if I 
 mistake not. The composer approached me in a 
 pleasant way, and asked me to take the Andante 
 rather quickly as he feared it might prove tedious. 
 I assured him that his Andante, no matter how 
 short its duration might be, would inevitably prove 
 
 * Cij)riani Potter, 1792-1871, pianist and composer, author 
 of " ItecollcctiouH of Beethoven," etc.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 2 
 
 tedious if it was played in a vapid and inexpressive 
 manner ; whereas if the orchestra could be got to 
 play the very pretty and ingenious theme, as I felt 
 confident he meant it and as I now sang it to him, 
 it would certainly please. Mr. Potter was touched ; 
 he agreed, and excused himself, saying that latterly 
 he had not been in the habit of reckoning upon this 
 sort of orchestral playing. In the evening, after the 
 Andante he joyfully pressed my hand. 
 
 I have often been astonished at the singularly 
 slight sense for tempo and execution evinced by 
 leading musicians. I found it impossible, for in- 
 stance, to communicate to Mendelssohn what I felt 
 to be a perverse piece of negligence with regard to 
 the tempo of the third movement in Beethoven's 
 Symphony in F major, No. 8. This is one of the 
 instances I have chosen out of many to throw light 
 upon certain dubious aspects of music amongst us. 
 
 We know that Hadyn in his principal later sym- 
 phonies used the form of the Menuet as a pleasant 
 link between the Adagio and the final Allegro, and 
 that he thus was induced to increase the speed of 
 the movement considerably, contrary to the character 
 of the true Menuet. It is clear that he incorporated 
 the "Landler,"* particularly in the "Trio" — so 
 that, with regard to the tempo, the designation 
 " Menuetto " is hardly appropriate, and was retained 
 for conventional reasons only. Nevertheless, I 
 
 * A South German country dance in f time, from which the 
 modern waltz is derived.
 
 26 WAGNER 
 
 believe Haydn's Menuets are generally taken too 
 quick; undoubtedly the Menuets of Mozart's Sjnn- 
 phonies are ; this will be felt very distinctly if, for 
 instance, the Menuetto in Mozart's Symphony in G- 
 minor, and still more that of his Symphony in C 
 major, be played a little slower than at the customary 
 pace. It will be found that the latter Menuet, which 
 is usually hurried, and treated almost as a Presto, 
 will now shew an amiable, firm and festive character ; 
 in contrast with which, the trio, with its delicately 
 
 sustained ^ \ f^-- f — is reduced, as 
 
 usually given, to an empty hurry-skurry (einenichts- 
 sagende Nuschelei). Now Beethoven, as is not un- 
 common with him, meant to write a true Menuet in 
 his F major Symphony; he places it between the 
 two main Allegro movements as a sort of comple- 
 mentary antithesis (ein gewissermassen ergiinzender 
 Gegcnsatz) to an Allegretto scherzcmdo which pre- 
 cedes it, and to remove any doubt as to his inten- 
 tions regarding the Tempo he designates it not as a 
 Menuetto : but as a Tempo di Menuetto. This novel 
 and unconventional characterization of the two 
 middle movements of a symphony was almost 
 entirely overlooked : the A llegretto scherzando was 
 taken to represent the usual Andante, the Tempo di 
 Menuetto, the familiar " Scherzo " and, as the two 
 movements thus interpreted seemed rather paltry,
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 27 
 
 and none of the usual effects could be got with 
 them, our musicians came to regard the entire sym- 
 phony as a sort of accidental hors d'oeuvre of 
 Beethoven's muse — who, after the exertions with 
 the A major symphony had chosen "to take 
 things rather easily." Accordingly after the 
 Allegretto Scherzando, the time of which is 
 invariably "dragged" somewhat, the Tempo di 
 Menuetto is universally served up as a refreshing 
 " Landler," which passes the ear without leaving 
 any distinct impression. Generally, however, one is 
 glad when the tortures of the Trio are over. This 
 loveliest of idylls is turned into a veritable monstrosity 
 by the passage in triplets for the violoncello ; which 
 if taken at the usual quick pace, is the despair of 
 violoncellists, who are worried with the hasty staccato 
 across the strings and back again, and find it im- 
 possible to produce anything but a painful series of 
 scratches. Naturally, this difficulty disappears as 
 soon as the delicate melody of the horns and clarinets 
 is taken at the proper tempo ; these instruments are 
 thus relieved from the special difficulties pertaining 
 to them, and which, particularly with the clarinet, at 
 times render it likely to produce a " quack " * even in 
 the hands of skilful players. I remember an occasion 
 when all the musicians began to breathe at ease on 
 my taking this piece at the true moderate pace : then 
 the humorous sforzato of the basses and bassoons 
 
 * Anglice, " a goose."
 
 28 WAGNER 
 
 I 1 J^ J — : at once produced an intelligible 
 
 effect ; the short crescendi became clear, the delicate 
 pianissimo close was effective, and the gentle gravity 
 of the returning principal movement was properly 
 felt. Now, the late Capellmeister Reissiger, of 
 Dresden, once conducted this symphony there, and 
 I happened to be present at the performance together 
 with Mendelssohn ; we talked about the dilemma 
 just described, and its proper solution ; concerning 
 which I told Mendelssohn that I believed I had 
 convinced Reissiger, who had promised that he would 
 take the tempo slower than usual. Mendelssohn 
 perfectly agreed with me. We listened. The third 
 movement began and I was terrified on hearing 
 precisely the old Liindler tempo ; but before I could 
 give vent to my annoyance Mendelssohn smiled, and 
 pleasantly nodded his head, as if to say " now it's 
 all right ! Bravo ! " So my terror changed to 
 astonishment. Reissiger, for reasons which I shall 
 discuss presently, may not have been so very much 
 to blame for persisting in the old tempo ; but 
 Mendelssohn's indifference, with regard to this queer 
 artistic contretemps, raised doubts in my mind 
 whether he saw any distinction and difference in 
 the case at all. I fancied myself standing before an 
 abyss of superficiality, a veritable void.
 
 Soon after this had happened with Reissiger, the 
 very same thing took place with the same movement 
 of the Eighth Symphony at Leipzig. The con- 
 ductor, in the latter case, was a well-known successor 
 of Mendelssohn at the Gewandhaus concerts.* He 
 also had agreed with my views as to the Tempo di 
 Menuetto, and had invited me to attend a concert at 
 which he promised to take it at the proper moderato 
 pace. He did not keep his word and offered a queer 
 excuse : he laughed, and confessed that he had been 
 disturbed with all manner of administrative busi- 
 ness, and had only remembered his promise after the 
 piece had begun ; naturally he could not then alter 
 the tempo, etc. The explanation was sufficiently 
 annoying. Still I could, at least, flatter myself that 
 I had found somebody to share my views as to the 
 difference between one tempo and another. I doubt, 
 however, whether the conductor could be fairly 
 reproached with a want of forethought and con- 
 sideration ; unconsciously, perhaps, he may have 
 had a very good reason for his " forgetfulness." 
 It would have been very indiscreet to risk a change 
 
 * Ferdinand Hiller. 
 (29)
 
 30 WAGNEK 
 
 of tempo which had not been rehearsed. For the 
 orchestra, accustomed to play the piece in a quick 
 tempo, would have been disturbed by the sudden 
 imposition of a more moderate pace ; which, as 
 a matter of course, demands a totally different style 
 of playing. 
 
 We have now reached an important and decisive 
 point, an appreciation of which is indispensable if we 
 care to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion regarding 
 the execution of classical music. Injudicious tempi 
 might be defended with some show of reason inas- 
 much as a factitious style of delivery has arisen in 
 conformity with them, and to the uninitiated such 
 conformity of style and tempo might appear as 
 a proof that all was right. The evil, however, is 
 apparent enough if only the right tempo is taken, in 
 which case the false style becomes quite unbearable. 
 
 To illustrate this, in the simplest possible way, 
 let us take the opening of the C minor Symphony. 
 
 Usually the fermata of the 
 
 ff 
 
 second bar is left after a slight rest ; our conductors 
 hardly make use of this fermata for anything else 
 than to fix the attention of their men upon the attack 
 of th<! figure in the tbird bar. In most cases the 
 note \\ ilat is not held any longer than a forte 
 produced with a careless stroke of the bow will last 
 u})on the stringed instruments. Now, suppose the
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 31 
 
 voice of Beethoven were heard from the grave 
 admonishing a conductor; "Hold my fermata 
 firmly, terribly ! I did not write fermatas in jest, 
 or because I was at a loss how to proceed ; I indulge 
 in the fullest, the most sustained tone to express 
 emotions in my Adagio ; and I use this full and 
 firm tone when I want it in a passionate Allegro as 
 a rapturous or terrible spasm. Then the very life 
 blood of the tone shall be extracted to the last drop. 
 I arrest the waves of the sea, and the depths shall 
 be visible; or, I stem the clouds, disperse the mist, 
 and show the pure blue ether and the glorious eye 
 ■of the sun. For this I put fermatas, sudden long- 
 sustained notes in my Allegro. And now look at 
 my clear thematic intention with the sustained E 
 flat after the three stormy notes, and understand 
 what I meant to say with other such sustained notes 
 in the sequel."* Suppose a conductor were to 
 
 * In the original this fine passage is : " Nun setzen wir den 
 Fall, die Stimme Beethoven's habe aus den Grabe einem 
 Dirigenten zugerufen ; Halte du meine Fermate lange und 
 furchtbar ! Ich schrieb keine Fermaten zum Spass oder aus 
 Verlegenheit, etwa um mich auf das Weitere zu besinnen ; 
 sondern, was in meinem Adagio der ganz und voll aufzusau- 
 gende Ton fiir den Ausdruck der schwelgenden Empffndung 
 ist, dasselbe werfe ich, wenn ich es brauche, in das heftig und 
 scbnell figurirte Allegro, als wonnig oder schrecklich anhal- 
 tenden Krampf. Dann soil das Leben des Tones bis auf 
 seinen letzten Blutstropfen aufgesogen werden ; dann halte 
 ich die Wellen meines Meeres an, und lasse in seinen Abgrund 
 blicken ; oder hemme ich den Zug der Wolken, zertheile die 
 wirren Nebelstreifen, und lasse einmal in den reinen blauen 
 Aether, in das strahlende Auge der Sonne schauen. Herfiir
 
 32 WAGNER 
 
 attempt to hold the fermata as here directed, what 
 would be the result ? A miserable failure. After 
 the initial power of the bow of the stringed instru- 
 ments had been wasted, their tone would become 
 thin and thinner, ending in a weak and timid piano : 
 for (and here is one of the results of indifferent 
 conducting) our orchestras now-a-days hardly know 
 what is meant by equally sustained tone. Let any 
 conductor ask any orchestral instrument, no matter 
 which, for a full and prolonged forte, and he will 
 find the player puzzled, and will be astonished at 
 the trouble it takes to get what he asks for. 
 
 Yet tone sustained ivith equal power is the basis 
 of all expression,* with the voice as with the orches- 
 tra : the manifold modifications of the power of 
 tone, which constitute one of the principal elements 
 of musical expression, rest upon it. "Without such 
 basis an orchestra will produce much noise but no 
 power. And this is one of the first symptoms of 
 the weakness of most of our orchestral performances. 
 The conductors of the day care little about a sus- 
 tained forte, but they are particularly fond of an 
 exaggerated piano. Now the strings produce the 
 
 aetzc icli Fermaten, d. h. plotzlich eintretende lang auszuhal- 
 tende Noten in meine Allegro's. Und nun beacbte du 
 welclieganz bcstimmte thematischo Absicht icb mit diesem 
 ausgchalteucu Es uacli drei sturmisch kurzen Noten batte, 
 und was icli luit alien dcu im Folgeudcn gloicli auszubaltenden 
 Noteu gosagt baben will." 
 
 * Die Batis aller Dynamik.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 33 
 
 latter with ease, but the wind instruments, particu- 
 larly the wood winds do not. It is almost impossible 
 to get a delicately sustained piano from wind instru- 
 ments. 
 
 The players, flautists particularly, have transformed 
 their formerly delicate instruments into formidable 
 tubes (Gewaltsrohren) . French oboists, who have 
 preserved the pastoral character of "their instrument, 
 and our clarinetists, when they make use of the 
 " Echo effect," are the exceptions. 
 
 This drawback, which exists in our best orchestras, 
 suggests the question : why, at least, do not conduc- 
 tors try to equalise matters by demanding a some, 
 what fuller piano from the strings ? but the conduc- 
 tors do not seem to notice any discrepancy. 
 
 To a considerable extent the fault lies not so much 
 with the wind instruments, as in the character of the 
 piano of the strings ; for we do not possess a true 
 piano, just as we do not possess a true forte; both 
 are wanting in fulness of tone— to attain which our 
 stringed instruments should watch the tone of the 
 winds. Of course it is easy enough to produce a 
 buzzing vibration by gently passing the bow over the 
 strings ; but it requires great artistic command of 
 the breath to produce a delicate and pure tone upon 
 a wind instrument. Players of stringed instruments 
 should copy the full-toned piano of the best winds, 
 and the latter, again, should endeavour to imitate 
 the best vocalists. 
 
 The sustained soft tone here spoken of, and the
 
 34 WAGNEE 
 
 sustained powerful tone mentioned above, are the 
 two poles of orchestral expression.* 
 
 But what about orchestral execution if neither the 
 one nor the other is properly forthcoming ? Where 
 are the modifications of expression to come from if 
 the very means of expression are defective ? Thus 
 the Mendelssohnian rule of "getting over the 
 ground" {des flatten Dariiberhinweggehens) suggested 
 a happy expedient ; conductors gladly adopted the 
 maxim, and turned it into a veritable dogma ; so 
 that, nowadays, attempts to perform classical music 
 correctly are openly denounced as heretical ! 
 
 I am persistently returning to the question of 
 tempo because, as I said above, this is the point at 
 which it becomes evident whether a conductor under- 
 stands his business or not. 
 
 Obviously the proper pace of a piece of music is 
 determined by the particular character of the render- 
 ing it requires ; the question, therefore, comes to 
 this : does the sustained tone, the vocal element, the 
 ca/ii^i^e?ia predominate, or the rhythmical movement? 
 (Figuration). The conductor should lead accord- 
 ingly- 
 
 The Adagio stands to the Allegro as the sustained 
 tone stands to the rhijthmical niovement (figurirte 
 Bewegung) . The sustained tone regulates the Tempo 
 Adagio: here the rhythm is as it were dissolved in 
 pure tone, the tone jyer se suffices for the musical 
 
 ■* Dynaviik den Orchcstcrs.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 35 
 
 expression. In a certain delicate sense it may be 
 said of the pure Adagio that it cannot be taken too 
 slow. A rapt confidence in the sufficiency of pure 
 musical speech should reign here ; the languor of 
 feeling grows to ecstasy ; that which in the Allegro 
 was expressed by changes of figuration, is now con- 
 veyed by means of variously inflected tone. Thus 
 the least change of harmony may call forth a sense 
 of surprise ; and again, the most remote harmonic 
 progressions prove acceptable to our expectant 
 feelings. 
 
 None of our conductors are courageous enough to 
 take an Adagio in this manner ; they always begin 
 by looking for some bit of figuration, and arrange 
 their tempo to match. I am, perhaps, the only 
 conductor who has ventured to take the Adagio 
 section of the third movement of the Ninth Sym- 
 phony at the pace proper to its peculiar character. 
 This character is distinctly contrasted with that of 
 the Alternating Ajidante in triple time ; but our 
 conductors invariably contrive to obliterate the 
 difference, leaving only the rhythmical change 
 between square and triple time. This movement 
 (assuredly one of the most instructive in the present 
 respect), finally, (in the section in twelve-eight 
 time), offers a conspicuous example of the breaking 
 up of the pure Adagio by the more marked rhythms 
 of an independent accompaniment, during which 
 the cantilena is steadily and broadly continued. In 
 this section we may recognise, as it were, a fixed
 
 36 WAGNER 
 
 and consolidated reflex * of the Adagio's tendency 
 towards infinite expansion ; there, Hmitless freedom 
 in the expression of sound, with fluctuating, yet 
 dehcately regulated movement ; here, the firm 
 rhythm of the figurated accompaniments, imposing 
 the new regulation of a steady and distinct pace — 
 in the consequences of which, when fully developed, 
 we have got the law that regulates the movement of 
 the Allegro in general. 
 
 We have seen that sustained tone with its modifi- 
 cation is the basis of all musical execution. Similarly 
 the Adagio developed, as Beethoven has developed 
 it in the third movement of his Ninth Symphony, 
 may be taken as the basis of all regulations as to 
 musical time. In a certain delicate sense, the 
 Allegro may be regarded as the final result of a 
 refraction (Brechung) of the pure Adagio-character 
 by the more restless moving figuration. On careful 
 examination of the principal motives of the Allegro 
 it will be found that the melody (Gesang) derived 
 from the Adagio, predominates. The most important 
 Allegro movements of Beethoven are ruled by a 
 
 * In the original : " Hier erkcnucn wir dasglcichsam fixirte 
 Bild des zuvor uacli unendliclier Ausdclinuug verlaugenden 
 Adagio's, und wie dort eine uneingoscbraukte Freilieit fiir die 
 Befriedigungdes touischen Ausdruckes das zwischcu zartesten 
 Gesetzen schwaukende Maass der Bewegung angab, wird 
 hier durcli die festo Rhyfclimik der figurativ gesclimiickteu 
 Bcglcituug das ucue Gcsctz der Fcstlialtuug ciuer bestimmteu 
 Beweguug gcgcben, ■wolchcH iu seiuon ausgebildeten Konse- 
 qucuzeu uus zum tiosetz fiir das Zeitmaass des Allegro wird."
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 
 
 37 
 
 predominant melody which exhibits some of the 
 characteristics of the Adagio ; and in this wise 
 Beethoven's Allegros receive the emotional senti- 
 mental significance which distinguishes them from 
 the earlier naive species of Allegro. However, 
 Beethoven's* 
 
 
 and Mozart's! 
 
 :t==tziiiit: 
 
 or :- 
 
 P 
 
 '- r-"^ ^— 1 
 
 t^ 
 
 1^^ 
 
 ;22: 
 
 are not far asunder. And with Mozart, as with 
 Beethoven, the exclusive character of the Allegro is 
 only felt when the figuration gets the upper hand of 
 the melody (Gesang) that is, when the reaction of the 
 rhythmical movement against the sustained tone is 
 entirely carried out. This is particularly the case in 
 
 * Symphony III. "Eroica." 
 f Symphony in C major, "Jupiter."
 
 38 WAGNER 
 
 those final movements which have grov^n out of the 
 Rondeau, and of vv^hich the Finales to Mozart's 
 Symphony in E flat, and to Beethoven's in A, are 
 excellent examples. Here the purely rhythmical 
 movement, so to speak, celebrates its orgies ; and it 
 is consequently impossible to take these movements 
 too quick. But whatever lies between these two 
 extremes is subject to the laws of 7nutual relationship 
 and interdependance ; and such laws cannot he too 
 delicately and variously applied, for they are funda- 
 mentally identical with the laws which modify all 
 conceivable nuances of the sustained tone, 
 
 I shall now turn to the question of the modification 
 of Tempo ; a question of which our conductors know 
 nothing, and for which they consequently profess 
 contempt. Whoever has followed me so far with 
 attention will, I trust; understand that this question 
 goes to the root of the matter before us.
 
 In the course of the argument so far, two species 
 of Allegro have been mentioned ; an emotional and 
 sentimental character has been assigned to the latter, 
 the true Beethovenian Allegro, whereas the older 
 Mozartian Allegro was distinguished as showing a 
 naive character. I have adopted the expressions 
 " sentimental " and " naive " from Schiller's well- 
 known essay upon " sentimental and naive poetry." 
 
 It is needless to discuss the aesthetic problems 
 Schiller touches upon. It is enough to state here 
 that I take Mozart's quick Alla-breve movements 
 as representative of the naive Allegro. The Allegros 
 of the overtures to his operas, particularly to 
 " Figaro " and " Don Giovanni " are the most perfect 
 specimens. It is well known that Mozart wished 
 these pieces to be played as fast as possible. Having 
 driven his musicians into a sort of rage, so that to 
 their own surprise they successfully rendered the 
 unheard of Presto of his overture to " Figaro," he 
 commended them, saying : " that was beautiful ! 
 Let us take it still quicker this evening." Quite 
 right. As I have said of the pure Adagio that, in an 
 
 (39)
 
 40 WAGNEE 
 
 ideal sense, it cannot be taken too slowly, so this 
 pure unmixed Allegro cannot be given too quickly. 
 
 The slow emanations of pure tone on the one 
 hand and the most rapid figurated movement on the 
 other, are subject to ideal limits only, and in both 
 directions the law of beauty is the sole measure of 
 what is possible. The law of beauty establishes the 
 point of contact at which the opposite extremes tend 
 to meet and to unite. The order of the movements 
 in the symphonies of our masters — from the opening 
 Allegro, to the Adagio, and thence by means of a 
 stricter dance-form (the Menuet or Scherzo), to 
 the quickest Allegro (Finale) — shows a perfect sense 
 of fitness. To my luind, however, there are signs 
 of a deterioration of the sense of fitness when com- 
 posers exhibit their platitudes in the Suite,* and 
 attempt to bolster up that old form, with its less 
 thoughtfully arranged succession of typical dance 
 tunes ; for these have been fully developed elsewhere, 
 and have already been embodied in far richer, more 
 extensive, and complex forms. 
 
 Mozart's absolute Allegros belong to the naive 
 species. As regards the various degrees of power 
 of tone {Nach der Seite der Dynamik hin) they con- 
 sist of simple changes of piano and forte ; and, as 
 regards structure they show certain fixed and stable 
 rhythmic melodic traits (Formen) which, without 
 much choice or sifting, are placed side by side and 
 juade to chime with the changes of piano and /or^e; 
 • Comparo Franz Lachuer's Suites for Orchestra.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 41 
 
 and which (in the busthng ever-recurring semi- 
 cadences) the master employs with more than sur- 
 prising ease. But such things — even the greatest 
 neghgence (Achtlosigkeit) in the use of common- 
 place phrases and sections — are explicable and ex- 
 cusable from the nature of this sort of Allegro, which 
 is not meant to interest by means of Cantilena, but 
 in which the restless incessant movement is intended 
 to produce a certain excitement. It is a significant 
 trait in the Allegro of the overture to Don Giovanni 
 that this restless movement ends with an unmistak- 
 able turn towards the " sentimental." Here — where 
 the extremes meet, at the point of contact indicated 
 above — it becomes necessary to modify the tempo in 
 the bars leading from the overture to the first tempo 
 of the opera (which is also an alla-breve but a slower 
 one) — and the pace must be slackened accordingly. 
 But our conductors, in their customary crude way, 
 generally miss this point in the overture. We need 
 not, however, now be lead into premature reflec- 
 tions. Let us merely consider it established that 
 the character of the older classical or, as I call it, 
 naive Allegro differs greatly from the new emotional 
 sentimental Allegro, peculiar to Beethoven. Mozart 
 became acquainted with the orchestral crescendo 
 and diminuendo at Mannheim (in 1777), when the 
 orchestra there had acquired it as a novelty : up to 
 that time the instrumentation of the old masters 
 shows that, as a rule, nothing was inserted between 
 the forte and the piano sections of the allegro move-
 
 42 WAGNER 
 
 merits which can have been intended to be played 
 with emotional expression. 
 
 Now, how does the true Beethovian Allegro appear 
 with regard to this ? To take the boldest and most 
 inspired example of Beethoven's unheard-of innova- 
 tion in this direction, the first movement of his 
 Sinfonia ero'ica : how does this movement appear if 
 played in the strict tempo of one of the Allegros of 
 Mozart's overtures? But do our conductors ever 
 dream of taking it otherwise ? Do they not always 
 proceed monotonously from the first bar to the last? 
 With the members of the " elegant " tribe of Capell- 
 meisters the " conception," of the tempo consists of 
 an application of the Mendelssohnian maxim " cJii 
 va presto va sano.'' 
 
 Let the players who happen to have any regard 
 for proper execution make the best of it in passages 
 like :— 
 
 
 « — m \ « ■• • — ^— « <■ ^ m—\—i S'-fci m- 
 
 or the plaintive : — 
 
 the conductors do not trouble their minds about
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 43 
 
 such details; they are on "classic ground," and will 
 not stop for trifles : they prefer to progress rapidly 
 " grande vitesse," " time is money." 
 
 We have now reached the point in our discussion 
 from which we can judge the music of the day. It 
 will have been noticed that I have approached this 
 point with some circumspection. I was anxious to 
 expose the dilemma, and to make everyone see and 
 feel that since Beethoven there has been a very con- 
 siderable change in the treatment and the execution 
 of instrumental music. Things which formerly 
 existed in separate and opposite forms, each complete 
 in itself, are now placed in juxtaposition, and further 
 developed, one from the other, so as to form a whole. 
 It is essential that the style of execution shall agree 
 with the matter set forth — that the tempo shall be 
 imbued with life as delicate as the life of the thematic 
 tissue. We may consider it established that in clas- 
 sical music written in the later style moclification of 
 Tempo is a sine qua non. No doubt very great 
 difficulties will have to be overcome. Summing up 
 my experiences I do not hesitate to assert that, as 
 far as public performances go, Beethoven is still a 
 pure chimera with us.* 
 
 I shall now attempt to describe what I conceive to 
 be the right way of performing Beethoven, and music 
 akin to his. In this respect also the subject seems 
 inexhaustible, and I shall again confine myself to a 
 few salient points. 
 
 * i.e., in 1869.
 
 44 WAGNER 
 
 One of the principal musical forms consists of a 
 series of Variations upon a theme. Haydn, and 
 eventually Beethoven, have improved this form, and 
 rendered it artistically significant, by the originality 
 of their devices, and particularly, by connecting the 
 single variations one vi^ith the other, and establishing 
 relations of mutual dependence between them. This 
 is accomplished with the happiest results in cases 
 where one variation is developed from another — that 
 is to say, when a degree of movement, suggested in 
 the one is carried further in the other, or when a 
 certain satisfactory sense of surprise is occasioned by 
 one variation supplying a complementary form of 
 movement, which was wanting in the one before it. 
 The real weakness of the Variation-form, however, 
 becomes apparent when strongly contrasting parts 
 are placed in juxtaposition, without any link to con- 
 nect them. Beethoven often contrives to convert 
 this same weakness into a source of strength ; and 
 he manages to do so in a manner which excludes all 
 sense of accident or of awkwardness : namely — at 
 the point which I have described above as marking 
 the limits of the laws of beauty with regard to the 
 sustained tone (in the Adagio), and the unfettered 
 movement (in the Allegro) — he contrives to satisfy, 
 in a seemingly al)rupt way, the extreme longing 
 after an antithesis ; which antithesis, by means of a 
 different and contrasting movement, is now made to 
 serve as a relief. This can be observed in the mas- 
 ter's greatest works. The last movement of the
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 45 
 
 Sinfonia ero'ica, for instance, affords excellent instruc- 
 tion in this respect ; it should be understood as a 
 movement consisting of a greatly expanded series 
 of variations ; and accordingly it should be interpreted 
 with as much variety as possible. To do this 
 properly, here as in all similar cases, the above 
 mentioned weakness of the Variation-form, and the 
 disadvantage which is felt to result from it, must be 
 taken into account. Single and sej)arate variations 
 are frequently seen to each have had an independent 
 origin, and to have merely been strung together in a 
 conventional manner. The unpleasant effects of 
 such fortuitous juxtaposition are particularly felt in 
 cases when a quiet, and sustained theme is followed 
 by an exceptionally lively variation. 
 
 The first variation on that most wonderful theme" 
 in Beethoven's grand Sonata in A major for piano 
 and violin (Kreutzer) is an example. Virtuosi always 
 treat this as " a first variation " of the common type 
 — i.e., a mere display of musical gymnastics, which 
 destroys all desire to listen any further. It is curious 
 that, whenever I have mentioned the case of this 
 variation to anyone, my experience with the tempo 
 di minueto of the eighth symphony has been repeated- 
 Everybody agreed with me "on the whole" ; but in 
 particular, people failed to see what I was aiming at. 
 Certainly (to go on with the example) this first 
 variation of that lovely sustained theme is of a con- 
 spicuously lively character ; when the composer 
 invented it he could hardly have thought of it as
 
 46 WAGNER 
 
 immediately following the theme, or as being in 
 direct contact with it. The component parts of the 
 Variation-form are each complete in themselves, and 
 perhaps the composer was unconsciously influenced 
 by this fact. But when the entire piece is played, 
 the parts appear in uninterrupted succession. We 
 know from other movements of the master's (for 
 instance the second movement of the C minor sym- 
 phony, the Adagio of the great quartet in E flat, and 
 above all from the wonderful second movement of 
 the great sonata in C minor. Op. Ill), which are all 
 wT^itten in the form of Variations, but in which the 
 parts are conceived as standing in immediate con- 
 nection, how deftly and delicately the links between 
 the different variations can be contrived. A player 
 who, in a case like that of the so-called " Kreutzer 
 Sonata," claims the honour of representing the 
 master in full, might, at least, attempt to establish 
 some sort of relation and connection between the 
 sentiment of the theme and that of the first variation • 
 he might begin the latter at a more moderate pace, 
 and gradually lead up to the lively movement. 
 Pianoforte and violin players are firmly persuaded 
 that the character of this variation differs consider- 
 ably from that of the theme. Let them then 
 interpret it with artistic discrimination and treat 
 the first part of the variation as a gradual approach 
 to the new tempo ; thus adding a charm to the 
 interest the part already possesses per se. 
 
 A stronger case, of similar import, will be found in
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 47 
 
 the beginning of the first Allegro 6-8 after the long 
 introductory Adagio of the string quartet in C 
 Sharp minor. * This is marked " molto vivace," 
 and the character of the entire movement is thus 
 appropriately indicated. In quite an exceptional 
 way, however, Beethoven has, in this quartet, so 
 arranged the several movements that they are heard 
 in immediate succession, without the customary 
 interval ; indeed they appear to be developed one 
 from the other according to certain delicate laws. 
 Thus the Allegro immediately follows an Adagio 
 full of a dreamy sadness, not to be matched else- 
 where in the master's works. If it were permitted 
 to interpret the Allegro as showing a state of feeling 
 such as could in some sort be reproduced in pictorial 
 language (deutbares Stimmungshild) one might say 
 that it shows a most lovely phenomenon, which 
 arises, as it were, from the depths of memory, and 
 which, as soon as it has been apprehended, is warmly 
 taken up, and cherished. Evidently the question, 
 with regard to execution, here is : how can this 
 phenomenon (the new Allegro theme) be made to 
 arise, naturally, from the sad and sombre close of 
 the Adagio, so that its abrupt appearance shall 
 prove attractive rather than repellant ? Very ap- 
 propriately, the new theme first appears like a 
 delicate, hardly distinguishable dream in unbroken 
 pp., and is then lost in a melting r tardando there- 
 after, by means of a crescendo, it enters its true 
 * Op. 131.
 
 48 WAGNER 
 
 sphere, and proceeds to unfold its real nature. It is 
 obviously the delicate duty of the executants to 
 indicate the character of the new movement with an 
 appropriate modification of tempo — i.e., to take the 
 notes which immediately succeed the Adagio 
 
 $ 
 
 t^ 
 
 =^-^-t 
 
 for a link, and so unobtrusively 
 
 ^ ^3- 
 
 to connect them with the following 
 PP ^ ^— ^ 
 
 i 
 
 fr 
 
 it 
 
 -f— — ff^-H that a change in the 
 
 I ' jg" 
 
 movement is hardly perceptible, and moreover so to 
 manage the rltardando, that the crescendo, which 
 comes after it, will introduce the master's quick 
 tempo, in such wise that the molto vivace now 
 appears as the rhythmical consequence of the in- 
 crease of tone during the crescendo. But the 
 modifications here indicated are usually overlooked ; 
 and the sense of artistic propriety is outraged 
 by a sudden and vulgar vivace, as though the whole 
 piece were meant for a jest, and the gaiety had 
 at last begun ! People seem to think this " classical."* 
 I may have been too circumstantial, but the 
 matter is of incalculable importance. Let us now 
 proceed to look still more closely into the wants 
 and requirements of a proper performance of 
 classical music. 
 
 • For further comments iipou this (Quartet see Appendix B.
 
 In the foregoing investigations I hoped to have 
 elucidated the problem of the modification of tempo, 
 and to have shewn how a discerning mind will 
 recognise and solve the difficulties inherent in modern 
 classical music, Beethoven has furnished the im- 
 mortal type of what I may call emotional, sentimental 
 music — it unites all the separate and peculiar con- 
 stituents of the earlier essentially naive types ; sus- 
 tained and interrupted tone, cantilena and figurations, 
 are no longer kept formally asunder — the manifold 
 changes of a series of variations are not merely strung 
 together, but are now brought into immediate contact, 
 and made to merge one into the other. Assuredly, 
 the novel and infinitely various combinations of a 
 symphonic movement must be set in motion in an 
 adequate and appropriate manner if the whole is not 
 to appear as a monstrosity. I remember in my 
 young days to have heard older musicians make very 
 dubious remarks about the Ero'ica* Dionys Weber, 
 at Prague, simply treated it as a nonentity. The 
 
 * Beethoven's Symphony, No. III. 
 
 (49) D
 
 50 WAGNEE 
 
 man was right in his way ; he chose to recognise 
 nothing but the Mozartian Allegro ; and in the strict 
 tempo peculiar to that Allegro, he taught his pupils 
 at the Conservatorium to play the Ero'ica ! the result 
 was such that one could not help agreeing with him. 
 Yet everywhere else the work was thus played, and 
 it is still so played to this day ! True, the symphony 
 is now received with universal acclamations ; but, if 
 we are not to laugh at the whole thing, the real 
 reasons for its success must be sought in the fact 
 that Beethoven's music is studied apart from the 
 concert-rooms — particularly at the piano — and its 
 irresistible power is thus fully felt, though in rather 
 a round-about way. If fate had not furnished such 
 a path of safety, and if our noblest music depended 
 solely upon the conductors, it would have perished 
 long ago. 
 
 To support so astounding an assertion I will take 
 a popular example : — Has not every German heard 
 the overture to Der Freyschiitz over and over again? 
 I have been told of sundry persons who were surprised 
 to find how frequently they had listened to this 
 wonderful musical poem, without having been shocked 
 when it was rendered in the most trivial manner; 
 these persons were among the audience of a concert 
 given at Vienna in 1864, when I was invited to con- 
 duct the overture. At the rehearsal it came to pass 
 that the orchestra of the imperial opera (certainly one 
 of the finest orchestras in existence), were surprised 
 at my demands regarding the execution of this piece.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 51 
 
 It appeared at once that the Adagio of the intro- 
 duction had habitually been taken as a pleasant 
 Andante in the tempo of the " Alphorn," * or some 
 such comfortable composition. That this was not 
 " Viennese tradition " only, but had come to be the 
 universal practice, I had already learnt at Dresden — 
 where Weber himself had conducted his work. 
 When I had a chance to conduct Der Freyschiitz at 
 Dresden — eighteen years after Weber's death — I 
 ventured to set aside the slovenly manner of execu- 
 tion which had prevailed under Eeissiger, my senior 
 colleague. I simply took the tempo of the intro- 
 duction to the overture as I felt it ; whereupon 
 a veteran member of the orchestra, the old Violon- 
 cellist Dotzauer, turned towards me and said 
 seriously: "Yes, this is the way Weber himself 
 took it ; I now hear it again correctly for the first 
 time." Weber's widow, who still resided at Dresden, 
 became touchingly solicitous for my welfare in the 
 position of Capellmeister. She trusted that my 
 sympathy with her deceased husband's music would 
 bring about correct performances of his works, for 
 which she had no longer dared to hope. The recol- 
 lection of this flattering testimony has frequently 
 cheered and encouraged me. At Vienna I was bold 
 enough to insist upon a proper performance. The 
 orchestra, actually studied the too-well-known over- 
 ture anew. Discreetly led by B. Lewi, the Cornists 
 entirely changed the tone of the soft woodnotes in 
 * A sentimental song by Proch.
 
 52 WAGNER 
 
 the introduction, which they had been accustomed 
 to play as a pompous show piece. The magic per- 
 fume of the melody for the horns was now shed 
 over the Picmissivw indicated in the score for the 
 strings. Once only (also as indicated) the power of 
 their tone rose to a mezzoforte and was then gradu- 
 ally lost again without the customary sforzando, in 
 
 the delicately inflected 
 
 The Violoncellos similarly reduced the usual heavy 
 
 accent 
 
 i: 
 
 ^jg- 
 
 ^Et 
 
 which was now 
 
 heard above the tremolo of the violins like the 
 delicate sigh it is intended to be, and which finally 
 gave to the fortissimo that follows the crescendo 
 that air of desperation which properly belongs to it. 
 Having restored the mysterious dignity of the 
 introductory Adagio, I allowed the wild movement 
 of the Allegro to run its passionate course, without 
 regard to the quieter expression, which the soft 
 second theme demands ; for I know that I should 
 be able sufficientlij to slacken the pace at the right 
 moment, so that the proper movement for this theme 
 might he reached. 
 
 Evidently the greater number, if not all modern 
 Allegro movements, consist of a combination of two
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 5d 
 
 essentially different constituent parts : in contrast 
 with the older naive unmixed Allegro, the construc- 
 tion is enriched by the combination of the pure 
 Allegro with the thematic peculiarities of the vocal 
 Adagio in all its gradations. The second theme of 
 the overture to " Oberon," 
 
 :=l: 
 
 "i*^ 
 
 '-=]- 
 
 ^^==- 
 
 t*- 
 
 ■4^- 
 
 
 which does not in the least partake of the character 
 of the Allegro, very clearly shows this contrasted 
 peculiarity. Technically, the composer has managed 
 to merge the character of this theme into the general 
 character of the piece. That is to say : on the 
 surface, the theme reads smoothly, according to the 
 scheme of an Allegro ; but, as soon as the true 
 character of the theme is brought out, it becomes 
 apparent that a composer must think siich a scheme 
 capable of considerable modijication if it is to combine 
 both principles. (Hauptcharactere). 
 
 To continue the account of the performance of the 
 Freyschiitz overture at Vienna : after the extreme 
 excitement of the tempo Allegro, I made use of the 
 long drawn notes of the clarinet — the character of 
 which is quite that of the Adagio — 

 
 54 
 
 WAGNER 
 
 SO as imperceptibly to ease the tempo in this place, 
 where the figurated movement is dissolved into 
 sustained or tremulous tone ; so that, in spite of 
 the connecting figure : 
 
 which renews the movement, and so beautifully leads 
 to the cantilena in E flat, we had arrived at the very 
 slight nuance of the main tempo, which has been kept 
 up all along. I arranged with the excellent executants 
 that they were to play this theme 
 
 L-z2-^- 
 
 i±2z^izt\ai 
 
 ^21 
 
 it 
 
 :t= 
 
 :?2=^= 
 
 legato, and with an equable piano, i.e., without the 
 customary commonplace accentuation and 7iot as 
 follows : 
 
 P 
 
 ^i-^-n* 
 
 v-^- 
 
 :t= 
 
 -x^r=aL 
 
 '-■piZI^IL 
 
 The good result was at once apparent, so that for 
 the gradual reanimation of the tempo with the 
 pulsating 
 
 mf 
 
 tSE^: 
 
 :*=:W: 
 
 ^^' 
 
 ^^ 
 
 q^Jt 
 

 
 ON CONDUCTING. 
 
 55 
 
 I had only to give the sHghtest indication of the 
 pace to find the orchestra perfectly ready to attack 
 the most energetic nuance of the main tempo to- 
 gether with the following fortissimo. It was not 
 so easy on the return of the conflict of the two 
 strongly contrasted motives, to bring them out 
 clearly without disturbing the proper feeling for 
 the predominant rate of speed. Here, when the 
 despairing energy of the allegro is concentrated in 
 successively shorter periods, and, culminates in 
 
 r ft ^-^-^i — r — I — ! — ^ — ! — ^ — I I I — |— ^ 
 
 the success of the ever-present modification of tempo 
 was perhaps shown best of all. 
 
 After the splendidly sustained C major chords, and 
 the significant long pauses, by which these chords 
 are so well relieved, the musicians were greatly 
 surprised when I asked them to play the second 
 theme, which is now raised to a joyous chant, not 
 as they had been accustomed, in the violently excited 
 nuance of the first allegro theme, but in the milder 
 modification of the main time. 
 
 This worrying and driving to death of theprincipal
 
 66 WAGNER 
 
 theme at the close of a piece is a habit common to 
 all our orchestras — very frequently indeed nothing is 
 wanting but the sound of the great horse-whip to 
 complete the resemblance to the effects at a circus. 
 No doubt increase of speed at the close of an over- 
 ture is frequently demanded by composers ; it ia 
 a matter of course in those cases where the true 
 Allegro theme, as it were, remains in possession of 
 the field, and finally celebrates its apotheosis ; of 
 which Beethoven's great overture to " Leonora " is 
 a celebrated example. In this latter case, however, 
 the effect of the increased speed of the Allegro is 
 frequently spoilt by the fact that the conductor, 
 who does not know how to modify the main tempo 
 to meet the various requirements of the thematic 
 combinations {e.g., at the proper moment to relax 
 the rate of speed), has already permitted the main 
 tempo to grow so quick as to exclude the possibility 
 of any further increase — unless, indeed, the strings 
 choose to risk an abnormal rush and run, such as I 
 remember to have heard with astonishment, though 
 not with satisfaction, from this very Viennese 
 orchestra. The necessity for such an eccentric 
 exertion arose in consequence of the main tempo 
 having been hurried too much during the progress 
 of the piece ; the final result was simply an exag- 
 geration — and moreover, a risk to which no true 
 work of art should be exposed — though, in a rough 
 way, it may ])c able to bear it. 
 
 However, it is difficult to understand why the close
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 57 
 
 of the Freyschiitz overture should be thus hurried 
 and worried by Germans, who are supposed to 
 possess some deHcacy of feehng. Perhaps the blunder 
 will appear less inexplicable, if it is remembered 
 that this second cantilena, which towards the close 
 is treated as a chant of joy, was, already at its very 
 first appearance, made to trot on at the pace of the 
 principal Allegro : like a pretty captive girl tied to 
 the tail of a hussar's charger — and it would seem a 
 case of simple practical justice that she should 
 eventually be raised to the charger's back when the 
 wicked rider has fallen off — whereat, finally, the 
 Capellmeister is delighted, and proceeds to apply the 
 great whip. 
 
 An indescribably repulsive effect is produced by 
 this trivial reading of a passage, by which the 
 composer meant to convey, as it were, a maiden's 
 tender and warm effusions of gratitude.* Truly, 
 certain people who sit and listen again and again to a 
 vulgar effect such as this, whenever and wherever 
 the Freyschiitz overture is performed, and approve 
 of it, and talk of " the wonted excellence of our 
 orchestral performances " — and otherwise indulge in 
 queer notions of their own about music, like the 
 venerable Herr Lobe, t whose jubilee we have 
 recently celebrated — such people, I say, are in the 
 
 * See the close of the Aria in E, known as " Softly sighing" 
 in Der Freyschiitz (No. 8). 
 
 f Author of a " Kompositionslehre," "Briefe einesWohlbe- 
 kannten," etc.
 
 58 WAGNEE 
 
 right position to warn the pubHc against " the 
 absurdities of a mistaken ideaHsm " — and " to point 
 towards that which is artistically genuine, true and 
 eternally valid, as an antidote to all sorts of half-true 
 or half-mad doctrines and maxims."* 
 
 As I have related, a number of Viennese amateurs 
 who attended a performance of this poor maltreated 
 overture, heard it rendered in a very different manner. 
 The effect of that performance is still felt at Vienna. 
 People asserted that they could hardly recognise the 
 piece, and wanted to know what I had done to it. 
 They could not conceive how the novel and surprising 
 effect at the close had been produced, and scarcely 
 credited my assertion that a moderate tempo was the 
 sole cause. The musicians in the orchestra, however, 
 might have divulged a little secret, namely this : — in 
 the fourth bar of the powerful and brilliant entrata 
 
 f- 
 
 -Jz 
 
 
 .<2. 
 
 ^1 
 
 I interpreted the sign -, which in the score might 
 be mistaken for a timid and senseless accent, as a 
 mark of diminuendo IIi:i=^ assuredly in accordance 
 with the composer's intentions — thus we reached a 
 more moderate degree of force, and the opening bars 
 of the theme 
 
 • (See Eduard Bernsdorf in Signale fiir die musicalish 
 Welt, No. 67, 1869).
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 59 
 
 were at once distinguished by a softer inflection, 
 which, I now could easily permit to swell to fortis- 
 simo — thus the warm and tender motive, gorgeously 
 supported by the full orchestra, appeared happy and 
 glorified. 
 
 Our Capellmeisters are not particularly pleased at 
 a success such as this. 
 
 Herr Dessof, however, whose business it was 
 afterwards to conduct " Der Freyschiitz," at the 
 Viennese opera, thought it advisable to leave the 
 members of the orchestra undisturbed in the posses- 
 sion of the new reading. He announced this to 
 them, with a smile, saying : " Well, gentlemen, let 
 us take the overture a la Wagner.'' 
 
 Yes, Yes : — a la Wagner ! I believe there would 
 be no more harm in taking a good many other things, 
 a la Wagner ! * 
 
 At all events this was an entire concession on the 
 part of the Viennese Capellmeister ; whereas in a 
 similar case, my former colleague, the late Eeissiger, 
 would only consent to meet me half way. In the 
 last movement of Beethoven's A major symphony, I 
 discovered a piano which Eeissiger had been pleased 
 
 * " Wagnerisch " — there is a pun here : wagen = to dare : 
 erwagen = to weigh mentally: thus " TFa^nerisch," may be 
 taken as — in a daring well considered manner.
 
 60 WAGNER 
 
 to insert in the parts when he conducted the work. 
 This piano concerned the grand preparation for the 
 close of this final movement, when, after the power- 
 ful reiterated chords on the dominant seventh A 
 (Breitkopf and Haertel's Score, page 86) the figure 
 
 is carried on forte, until with " sempre piu forte," it 
 becomes still more violent. This did not suit 
 Eeissiger ; accordingly, at the bar quoted, he inter- 
 polated a sudden piano, so that he might in time 
 get a perceptible crescendo. Of course, I erased 
 this piano and restored the energetic forte in its 
 integrity. And thus, I presume, I again committed 
 an offence against '* Lobe and Bernsdorf's eternal 
 laws of truth and beauty," which Reissiger, in his 
 day, was so careful to obey. 
 
 After I had left Dresden, when this A major 
 symphony came to be performed again under Reis- 
 siger, he did not feel at case about that passage ; so 
 he stopped the orchestra, and advised that it should 
 be taken mezzo forte ! 
 
 On another occasion (not very long ago, at 
 Munich), I was present at a public performance of 
 the overture to " Egmo?it," which proved instruc- 
 tive — somewhat after the manner of the customary 
 performances of the overture to " Der Freyschiitz."
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 
 
 61 
 
 In the Allegro of the Egmont overture* the 
 powerful and weighty sostenuto of the introduction : 
 
 m 
 
 ^ l?d- 
 
 is used in rhythmical diminution as the first half of 
 the second theme, and is answered in the other half 
 y a soft and smooth countermotive. 
 
 The conductor, t in accordance with "classical" 
 custom, permitted this concise and concentrated 
 theme, a contrast of power and gentle self-content, 
 to be swept away by the rush of the Allegro, like a 
 sere and withered leaf; so that, whenever it caught 
 the ear at all, a sort of dance pace was heard, in 
 which during the two opening bars the dancers 
 stepped forward, and in the two following bars 
 twirled about in " Laendler " I fashion 
 
 When Biiloiu, in the absence of the favourite 
 senior conductor was called upon to lead the music 
 
 *■ Beethoven : Op. 84. 
 
 f Franz Lachner. 
 
 ' I Laendler — an Austrian peasant's dance, in triple time, 
 from which the waltz is derived.
 
 62 . WAGNEE 
 
 to Egmont at Munich, I induced him, amongst 
 other things, to attend to the proper rendering of 
 this passage. It proved at once strikingly effective 
 — concise, laconic — as Beethoven meant it. The 
 tempo, which up to that point had been kept up 
 with passionate animation, was firmly arrested and 
 very slightly modified — just as much, and no more 
 than was necessary to permit the orchestra properly 
 to attack this thematic combination, so full of 
 energetic decision and of a contemplative sense of 
 happinesss. At the end of the f time the combina- 
 tion is treated in a broader and still more determined 
 manner ; and thus these simple, but indispensible, 
 modifications brought about a new reading of the 
 overture — the correct reading. The impression pro- 
 duced by this properly conducted performance was 
 singular, to say the least of it ; I was assured that 
 the manager of the Court theatre w^as persuaded 
 there had been " a breakdown." 
 
 No one among the the audience of the celebrated 
 Odeon Concerts at Munich dreamt of " a break- 
 down " when the above-mentioned senior " classical" 
 conductor led the performance of Mozart's G minor 
 symphony, when I happened to be present. The 
 manner in which the Andante of the symphony was 
 played, and the effect it produced was altogether 
 surprising. Who has not, in his youth, admired 
 this beautiful piece, and tried to realize it in his own 
 way ? In what way ? No matter. If the marks of 
 expression are scanty, the wonderful composition
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 
 
 63 
 
 arouses one's feelings ; and fancy supplies the means 
 to read it in accordance with such feelings. It 
 seems as though Mozart had expected something of 
 the kind, for he has given but few and meagre 
 indications of the expression. So we felt free to 
 indulge ourselves in the delicately increasing swing 
 of the quavers, with the moon-like rise of the 
 violins : 
 
 
 the notes of which we believed to sound softly 
 legato ; the tenderly whispering 
 
 i^^- ^^ 
 
 
 touched us as with wings of angels, and before the 
 solemn admonitions and questionings of 
 
 ii 
 
 / 
 
 jo-^- 
 
 ^^r^ 
 
 -^Sr 
 
 1 
 
 :t=lzfei 
 
 eto. 
 
 (which, however, we heard in a finely sustained 
 crescendo) we imagined ourselves led to a blissful 
 evanescense, which came upon us with the final 
 bars. Fancies of this sort, however, were not per- 
 mitted during the strictly classical performance, 
 under the veteran Capellmeister, at the Munich
 
 64 WAGNEE 
 
 Odeon : the proceedings, there, were carried on with 
 a degree of solemnity, enough to make one's flesh 
 creep with a sensation akin to a foretaste of eternal 
 perdition. 
 
 The lightly floating Andante was converted into a 
 ponderous Largo ; not the hundredth part of the 
 weight of a single quaver was spared us ; stiff and 
 ghastly, like a bronze pigtail, the hattuta of this 
 Andante was swung over our heads ; even the 
 feathers on the angel's wings were turned into 
 corkscrew curls — rigid, like those of the seven years 
 war. Already, I felt myself placed under the staff 
 of a Prussian recruithig officer, a.d. 1740, and 
 longed to be bought off — but ! who can guess my 
 terror, when the veteran turned back the pages, and 
 recommenced his Largo-Andante merely to do 
 " classical" justice to the two little dots before the 
 double bar in the score ! I looked about me for help 
 and succour — and beheld another wondrous thing : 
 the audience listened patiently : quite convinced that 
 everything was in the best possible order, and that 
 they were having a true Mozartian "feast for the 
 ears" in all innocence and safety. — This being 
 so, I acquiesced, and bowed my head in silence. 
 
 Once, however, a Httle later on, my patience 
 failed. At a rehearsal of " Tannhiiuser " I had 
 quietly allowed a good deal to pass by unnoticed — 
 even the clerical tempo, at which my knights had to 
 march up in the second act. But now it became 
 evident that the undoubtedly " veteran " master 
 
 I
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 
 
 65 
 
 could not even make out how | time was to be 
 changed to an equivalent ^ : i.e., two crotchets 
 
 r f 
 
 into a triplet of three crotchets 
 
 The trouble arose during Tannhauser's narrative of 
 his pilgrimage (Act III.), when ^ 
 
 =?=: 
 
 
 :Ust 
 
 It 
 
 iT^: 
 
 •;=?== 
 
 :c; 
 
 is replaced by 'I 
 
 :z^: 
 
 =^=^ 
 
 :tz; 
 
 :t=r 
 
 -f^-i-(:2- 
 
 -(=2. 
 
 
 This was too much for the veteran. He was very 
 properly accustomed to beat | on the square ; but it 
 is also the custom of such conductors to beat 
 I after the manner of ^, that is, with an Alia breve 
 beat — two in the bar. (Only in the Andante of the 
 G minor symphony did I witness six grave quaver 
 beat=l, 2, 3, — 4, 5, 6). But, for my poor narrative 
 about the Pope at Eome, the conductor thought two 
 timid ^^/a^reye beats sufdcient — so that the members 
 of the orchestra might be left at liberty to make out 
 the crotchets as best they could. Thus it came to 
 pass that the tempo was taken at exactly double the 
 proper pace : namely, instead of the equivalents just 
 described, things appeared thus :
 
 66 WAGNER 
 
 ipiif: 
 
 -(2— 
 
 fa2= 
 
 :^=t 
 
 t=t 
 
 etc. 
 
 •■^-^ 
 
 ifirpzuei 
 
 
 -^-P=^- 
 
 — t^- 
 
 No w, this may have been very interesting, musically, 
 but it compelled the poor singer of Tannhauser to relate 
 his painful recollections of Kome to a gay and lively 
 waltz-rhythm (which, again, reminds me of Lohen- 
 grin's narrative about the Holy Grail, at "Wiesbaden, 
 where I heard it recited seller zando, as though it 
 were about Queen Mab). But as I was, in this case, 
 dealing with so excellent a representative of Tann- 
 hauser as Ludivig Schnorr* I was bound to establish 
 the right tempo, and, for once, respectfully to inter- 
 fere. This, I am sorry to say, caused some scandal 
 and annoyance. I fear in course of time, it even 
 caused some little martyrdom, and inspired a cold- 
 blooded Gospel-critic t to celebrate and console the 
 veteran-martyr in a couple of sonnets. Indeed, we 
 have now got sundry " martyrs of classical music " 
 crowned with a halo of poetry. I shall beg leave to 
 examine them still more closely in the sequel. 
 
 * Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld, the first " Tristan," died 
 1865. 
 
 f David Strauss, author of " Das Leben Jesu."
 
 It has repeatedly been pointed out that our conduc- 
 tors dislike attempts at modification of tempo, for 
 the sake of perspicuity in the rendering of Beethoven 
 and other classical music. I have shewn that 
 plausible objections can be urged against such modifi- 
 cations, so long as they are not accompanied by 
 corresponding modifications of tone and expression ; 
 and I have further shewn that such objections have 
 no foundation other than the incompetence of con- 
 ductors, who attempt to perform functions for which 
 they are not fit. In fact, there is but one valid 
 objection which can be urged against the mode of 
 procedure I advocate, namely this : nothing can be 
 more detrimental to a piece of music than arbitrary 
 nuances of tempo, etc., such as are likely to be 
 introduced by this or that self-willed and conceited 
 time-beater, for the sake of what he may deem 
 " effective." In that way, certainly, the very exist- 
 ence of our classical music might, in course of time, 
 be undermined. Now, what is to be said or done in 
 the face of so sad a state of things ? 
 
 A sound public opinion with regard to questions of 
 (67)
 
 68 WAGNER 
 
 art does not exist in Germany ; and there is nothing 
 amongst us that could effectually put a stop to such 
 vagaries. Thus, the above objection, valid as it is 
 (though seldom put forward in good faith), again 
 points towards the conductors ; for, if incompetent 
 persons are not to be permitted to maltreat classical 
 music at their pleasure, how is it that the best and 
 most influential musicians have not taken this matter 
 in hand? why have they themselves led classical 
 music into such a groove of triviality and actual dis- 
 figurement '? In many instances the objection in 
 question is merely put forward as a pretext for 
 opposition to all efforts in the direction I have in- 
 dicated. Indolent and incompetent persons form an 
 immense majority ; and, under certain circumstances, 
 incompetency and sluggishness unite, and grow 
 aggressive. 
 
 The first performances of classical compositions 
 with us have, as a rule, been very imperfect. (One 
 has but to recall the accounts of the circumstances 
 under which Beethoven's most difficult symphonies 
 were first performed !). A good deal also has, from 
 the first, been brought before the German pubhc in 
 an absolutely incorrect manner (compare my essay 
 on " Gluck's Overture to Iphigenia in Aulis " in one 
 of the earlier volumes of the " Neue Zeitschrift fur 
 Musik.") * This being so, how can the current style 
 of execution appear other than it is ? In Germany 
 
 ♦ Wagner " Gesammelte Schriften.'^ Vol. V., p. 143.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 69 
 
 the " conservators " of such works are both ignorant 
 and incompetent. And, on the other hand, suppose 
 one were to take an unprejudiced and impartial view 
 of the manner in which a master Hke Mendelssohn 
 led such works ! How can it be expected that lesser 
 musicians, not to speak of musical mediocrities 
 generally, should really comprehend things which 
 have remained doubtful to their master ? For average 
 people, who are not specially gifted, there is but one 
 good guide to excellence — a good example ; and a 
 guiding example was not to be found in the path 
 chosen by the host of mediocrities. Unfortunately, 
 they entirely occupy this path or pass, at present, — 
 without a guide or leader — and any other person who 
 might, perchance, be capable of setting up a proper 
 example, has no room left. For these reasons I 
 deem it worth while to strip this spirit of reticence 
 and shallow pretence of the halo of sanctity with 
 which it poses as the " chaste spirit of German art." 
 A poor and pretentious pietism at present stifles 
 every effort, and shuts out every breath of fresh air 
 from the musical atmosphere. At this rate we may 
 live to see our glorious music turned into a colourless 
 and ridiculous bug-bear ! 
 
 I therefore think it advisable to take a straight- 
 forward survey of this spirit, to look closely into its 
 eyes, and to openly assert that it has nothing in 
 common with the true spirit of German music. It 
 is not easy to estimate the positive weight and value 
 of modern, Beethovenian, music — but we may
 
 70 WAGNEE 
 
 perhaps hope to get at some negative proof of its 
 worth, by an examination of the pseudo-Beethoven- 
 ian-classicism now in the ascendant. 
 
 It is curious to note how the opposition to the 
 things I advocate finds vent in the press, where un- 
 educated scribblers clamour and create a disturbance, 
 whilst in the ^profession proper, the utterances are 
 far from noisy, though sufficiently bitter. (" You see 
 he cannot express himself," a lady once said to me 
 with a sly glance at one of these reticent musicians). 
 As I have said at the outset this new musical Areo- 
 pagus consists of two distinct species : Germans of 
 the old type, who have managed to hold out in the 
 South of Germany, but are now gradually disappear- 
 ing ; and the elegant Cosmopolites, who have arisen 
 from the school of Mendelssohn in the North, and 
 are now in the ascendant. Formerly the two species 
 did not think much of each other ; but latterly, in 
 the face of certain disturbances which seem to 
 threaten their flourishing business, they have united 
 in mutual admiration ; so that in the South the 
 Mendelssohnian school, with all that pertains to it, 
 is now lauded and protected — whilst, in the North, 
 the prototype of South-German sterility is wel- 
 comed* with sudden and profound respect — an 
 honour which Lindpaintner of blessed memory! 
 did not live to see. Thus to ensure their 
 
 ♦ Franz Lacbner, and his Orchestral Suites, 
 t Peter Josef von Liudpaiututr, 1791-1B56, Capellmeister 
 at Stutt<4art.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 71 
 
 prosperity the two species are shaking hands. 
 Perhaps at the outset such an alHance was 
 rather repugnant to those of the old native type ; 
 but they got over the difficulty by the aid of that 
 not particularly laudable propensity of Germans ; 
 namely, a timid feeling of jealousy which accom- 
 panies a sense of helplessness {die mit der TJnheliol- 
 fenheit verhiindene Scheelsucht), This propensity 
 spoilt the temper of one of the most eminent 
 German musicians of later times,* led him to repu- 
 diate his true nature and to submit to the regulations 
 of the elegant and alien second species. The oppo- 
 sition of the more subordinate musicians signifies 
 nothing beyond this; " we cannot advance, we do 
 want others to advance, and we are annoyed 
 to see them advance in spite of us." This is 
 at least honest Philistinism; dishonest only under 
 provocation. 
 
 In the newly formed camp, however, things are 
 not so simple. Most complicated maxims have 
 there been evolved from the queer ramifications of 
 person, social, and even national interests. Without 
 going into details, I will only touch one prominent 
 point, that here there is a good deal to conceal, a good 
 deal to hide and suppress. The members of the 
 fraternity hardly think it desirable to show that they 
 are " Jimsiciafis" at all; and they have sufficient 
 reason for this. 
 
 Our true German musician was originally a man 
 * Robert Schumann.
 
 72 WAGNEB 
 
 difficult to associate with. In days gone by the social 
 position of musicians in Germany, as in France 
 and England, was far from good. Princes and 
 aristocratical society generally, hardly recognised 
 the social status of musicians { Italians alone 
 excepted). Italians were everywhere preferred to 
 native Germans (witness the treatment Mozart me^ 
 with at the Imperial Court at Vienna) . Musicians 
 remained peculiar half-wild, half-childish beings, and 
 were treated as such by their employers. The edu- 
 cation, even of the most gifted, bore traces of the 
 fact that they had not really come under the influence 
 of refined and intelligent society — (think of Beethoven 
 when he came in contact with Goethe at Teplitz) . 
 It was taken for granted that the mental organisa- 
 tion of professional musicians was such as to render 
 them insusceptible to the influence of culture- 
 When Marschner* in 1848, found me striving to 
 awaken the spirit of the members of the Dresden 
 orchestra, he seriously dissuaded me, saying he 
 thought professional musicians incapable of under- 
 standing what I meant. Certain it is, as I have 
 already said, that the higher and highest professional 
 posts were formerly occupied by men who had 
 gradually risen from the ranks, and in a good jour- 
 neyman-like sense this had brought about many an 
 excellent result. A certain family feeling, not devoid 
 
 * Hoiuricli Marscbner, 1796-1861, operatic composer ; 
 Wcbor'H colloa<^uo at Dresdeu, subsequeutly conductor at 
 Leipzig and Hauover.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 73 
 
 of warmth and depth, was developed in such patri- 
 archal orchestras — and this family feeling was ready 
 to respond to the suggestions of a sympathetic 
 leader. But just as, for instance, the Jews formerly 
 kept aloof from our handicraftsmen, so the new 
 species of conductors did not grow up among the 
 musical guilds — they would have shrunk from the 
 hard work there. They simply took the lead of the 
 guilds — much as the bankers take the lead in our 
 industrial society. To be able to do this creditably 
 conductors had to show themselves possessed of 
 something that was lacking to the musicians from 
 the ranks — something at least very difficult to ac- 
 quire in a sufficient degree, if it was not altogether 
 lacking : namely, a certain varnish of culture (Ge- 
 bildetheit) . As a banker is equipped with capital, so 
 our elegant conductors are the possessors of pseudo- 
 culture. I say pseudo-culture, not culture, for who- 
 ever really possesses the latter is a superior person 
 and above ridicule. But there can be no harm in 
 discussing our varnished and elegant friends. 
 
 I have not met with a case in which the results of 
 true culture, an open mind and a free spirit, have 
 become apparent amongst them. Even Mendels- 
 sohn, whose manifold gifts had been cultivated most 
 assiduously, never got over a certain anxious timidity ; 
 and in spite of all his well-merited successes, he 
 remained outside the pale of German art-life. It 
 seems probable that a feeling of isolation and con- 
 straint was a source of much pain to him, and
 
 74 WAGNEB 
 
 shortened his hfe. The reason for this is to be found 
 in the fact that the motives of a desire for culture, 
 such as his, lack spontaneity — {dass dem Motive eines 
 solchen Blldungsdranges heine Unbefangenheit inne- 
 wolint) — and arise from a desire to cover and conceal 
 some part of a man's individuality, rather than to 
 develop it freely. 
 
 But true culture is not the result of such a pro- 
 cess : a man may grow extremely intelligent in 
 certain ways ; yet the point at which these ways meet 
 may be other than that of " pure intelligence " {rein- 
 sehende Intelligenz) . To watch such an inner process 
 in the case of a particularly gifted and delicately 
 organized individual is sometimes touching ; in the 
 case of lesser and more trivial natures however, the 
 contemplation of the process and its results is simply 
 nauseous. 
 
 Flat and empty pseudo-culture confronts us with 
 a grin, and if we are not inclined to grin in return, as 
 superficial observers of our civilization are wont to 
 do, we may indeed grow seriously indignant. And 
 German musicians now-a-days have good reason to 
 be indignant if this miserable sham culture presumes 
 to judge of the spirit and significance of our glorious 
 music. 
 
 Generally speaking, it is a characteristic trait of 
 pseudo-culture not to insist too much, not to enter 
 deeply into a subject or, as the phrase goes, not to 
 make niucli fuss about anything. Thus, whatever is 
 high, great and deep, is treated as a matter of course.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 75 
 
 a commonplace, naturally at everybody's beck and 
 call ; something that can be readily acquired, and, if 
 need be, imitated. Again, that which is sublime, 
 god-like, demoniac, must not be dwelt upon, simply 
 because it is impossible or difficult to copy. Pseudo- 
 culture accordingly talks of " excrescences," " ex- 
 aggerations," and the like — and sets up a novel 
 system of aesthetics, which professes to rest upon 
 Goethe — since he, too, was averse to prodigious 
 monstrosities, and was good enough to invent 
 " artistic calm and beauty " in lieu thereof. " The 
 guileless innocence of art " becomes an object of 
 laudation ; and Schiller, who now and then was too 
 violent, is treated rather contemptuously ; so, in 
 sage accord with the Philistines of the day, a new 
 conception of classicality is evolved. In other de- 
 partments of art, too, the Greeks are pressed into 
 service, on the ground that Greece was the very 
 home of " clear transparent serenity" and, finally, 
 such shallow meddling with all that is most earnest 
 and terrible in the existence of man, is gathered 
 together in a full and novel philosophical system * — 
 wherein our varnished musical heroes find a com- 
 fortable and undisputed place of honour. 
 
 How the latter heroes treat great musical works I 
 have shewn by the aid of a few representative 
 examples. It remains to explain the serene and 
 cheerful Greek sense of that " getting over the 
 
 * Hanslick's " Vom Musicalish-Schoenen," and particularly 
 Vischer's voluminous " System der ^sthetik."
 
 76 WAGFEE 
 
 ground " which Mendelssohn so earnestly recom- 
 mended. This will be best shown by a reference to 
 his disciples and successors. Mendelssohn wished 
 to hide the inevitable shortcomings of the execution, 
 and also, in case of need, the shortcomings of that 
 which is executed ; to this, his disciples and suc- 
 cessors superadded the specific motive of their 
 " cidtitre" : namely, "to hide and cover up in 
 general," to escape attention, to create no disturb- 
 ance. There is a quasi physiological reason for this 
 which I accidentally discovered once upon a time 
 
 For the performance of Tannhaiiser, at Paris, I 
 re- wrote the scene in the " Venusberg " on a larger 
 scale : at one of the rehearsals I explained to the 
 ballet master that the little tripping ^«s of his 
 Maenads and Bacchantes contrasted miserably with 
 my music, and asked him to arrange something wild 
 and bold for his corps — something akin to the 
 groups of Bacchantes on ancient bas-reliefs. There- 
 upon the man whistled through his fingers, and 
 said, "Ah, I understand perfectly, but to produce 
 anything of the sort I should require a host of 
 liremicrs siijets ; if I were to whisper a word of what 
 you say, and indicate the attitudes you intend to 
 my people here, we should instantly have the 
 'cancan,' and be lost." The very same feeling 
 which induced my Parisian ballet-master to rest 
 content with the most vapid pas of Masnads and 
 Bacchantes, forbids om^ elegant, new-fangled con- 
 ductors to cut the traces of their "culture." They
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 77 
 
 are afraid such a thing might lead to a scandal a la 
 Offenbach. Meyerbeer was a warning to them; the 
 Parisian opera had tempted him into certain ambigu- 
 ous Semitic accentuations in music, which fairly 
 scared the "men of culture." 
 
 A large part of their education has ever since 
 consisted in learning to watch their behaviour, and 
 to suppress any indications of passion ; much as 
 one who naturally lisps and stammers, is careful to 
 keep quiet, lest he should be overcome by a fit of 
 hissing and stuttering. Such continuous watch- 
 fulness has assisted in the removal of much that was 
 unpleasant, and the general human amalgamation 
 has gone on much more smoothly ; which, again, has 
 brought it about that many a stiff and poorly 
 developed element of our home-growth has been 
 refreshed and rejuvenated. I have already men- 
 tioned that amongst musicians roughness of speech 
 and behaviour are going out, that delicate details in 
 musical execution are more carefully attended to, 
 etc. But it is a very different thing to allow the 
 necessity for reticence, and for the suppression of 
 certain personal characteristics, to be converted into 
 a principle for the treatment of our art ! Germans 
 are stiff and awkward when they want to appear 
 mannerly : hut they are nohle and superior ivhen they 
 grow warm. And are we to suppress our fire to 
 please those reticent persons '? In truth, it looks as 
 though they expected us to do so. 
 
 In former days, whenever I met a young musician
 
 78 WAGNER 
 
 who had come in cantact with Mendelssohn, I learnt 
 that the master had admonished him not to think 
 of effect when composing, and to avoid everything 
 that might prove meretriciousl}' impressive. Now, 
 this was very pleasant and soothing advice : and 
 those pupils who adopted it and remained true to 
 the master, have indeed produced neither " impres- 
 sion nor meretricious effect ;" only, the advice 
 seemed to me rather too negative, and I failed to see 
 the value of that which was positively acquired under 
 it. I believe the entire teaching of the Leipzig Con- 
 servatoium was based upon some such negative advice, 
 and I understand that young people there have been 
 positively pestered with warnings of a like kind; 
 whilst their best endeavours met with no encourage- 
 ment from the masters unless their taste in music 
 fully coincided with the tone of the orthodox 
 psalms. The first result of the new doctrine, and 
 the most important for our investigations, came to 
 light in the execution of classical music. Everything 
 here was governed by the fear of exaggeration {etica 
 in das Drastische zu fallen). I have for instance, 
 hitherto not found any traces that those later 
 pianoforte works of Beethoven in which the master's 
 peculiar style is best developed, have actually 
 been studied and played by the converts to that 
 doctrine. 
 
 For a long time I earnestly wished to meet with 
 some one who could play the great sonata in B flat 
 (Op. lOG) as it should be played. At length my
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 79 
 
 wish was gratified — but by a person who came from 
 a camp wherein those doctrines do not prevail- 
 Franz Liszt, also, gratified my longing to hear Bach. 
 No doubt Bach has been assiduously cultivated by 
 Liszt's opponents, they esteem Bach for teaching 
 purposes, since a smooth and mild manner of 
 execution apparently accords better with his music 
 than " modern effect " or Beethovenian strenuous- 
 ness {Drastik). 
 
 I once asked one of the best-reputed older musi- 
 cians, a friend and companion of Mendelssohn (whom 
 I have already mentioned a propos of the tempo di 
 menuetto of the eighth symphony*) , to play the eighth 
 Prelude and Fugue from the first part of "Das 
 Wohltemperirte Clavier" (E flat minor), a piece 
 which has always had a magical attraction for me.f 
 He very kindly complied, and I must confess that I 
 have rarely been so much taken by surprise. Cer- 
 tainly, there was no trace here of sombre German 
 gothicism and all that old-fashioned stuff : under 
 the hands of my friend, the piece ran along the key- 
 board with a degree of " Greek serenity" that left 
 me at a loss whither to turn ; in my innocence I 
 deemed myself transported to a neo-lielenic s5^nagogue, 
 from the musical cultus of which all old testamentary 
 accentuations had been most elegantly eliminated. 
 This singular performance still tingled in my ears, 
 
 * Ferdinand Hiller. 
 
 f i.e., Prelude VIII., from Part I. of Bach's 48 Preludes 
 and Fugues.
 
 80 WAGNEE 
 
 when at length I begged Liszt for once to cleanse 
 my musical soul of the painful impression ; he played 
 the fourth Prelude and Fugue (C sharp minor). 
 Now, I knew what to expect from Liszt at the piano ; 
 but I had not expected anything like what I came to 
 hear from Bach, though I had studied him well ; I 
 saw how study is eclipsed by genius. By his ren- 
 dering of this single fugue of Bach's, Liszt revealed 
 Bach to me ; so that I henceforth knew for certain 
 what to make of Bach, and how to solve all doubts 
 concerning him. I was convinced, also, that tliose 
 people know nothing of Bach ; and if anyone chooses 
 to doubt my assertion, I answer : " request him to 
 play a piece of Bach's."* 
 
 I would like further to question any member of 
 that musical temperance society, and, if it has ever 
 been his lot to hear Liszt play Beethoven's great B 
 flat Sonata, I would ask him to testify honestly 
 whether he had before really known and understood 
 that sonata ? I, at least, am acquainted with a person 
 who was so fortunate ; and who was constrained to 
 confess that he had not before understood it. And 
 to this day, who plays Bach, and the great works of 
 Beethoven, in public, and compels every audience to 
 confess as much ? a member of that " school for 
 temperance"? No! it is Liszt's chosen successor, 
 Hans von Billow. 
 
 So much for the present on this subject. It might 
 prove interesting to observe the attitude these reticent 
 * Sec Appendix C.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 81 
 
 gentlemen take up with regard to performances such 
 as Liszt's and Billow's. 
 
 The successes of their policy, to which they are 
 indebted for the control of public music in Germany, 
 need not detain us ; but we are concerned in an 
 examination of the curious religious development with- 
 in their congregation. In this respect the earlier 
 maxim, "beware of effect" — the result of embarrass- 
 ment and cautious timidity — has now been changed 
 from a delicate rule of prudence and security to a posi- 
 tively aggressive dogma. The adherents of this dogma 
 hypocritically look askance if they happen to meet 
 with a true man in music. They pretend to be 
 shocked, as though they had come across something 
 improper. The spirit of their shyness, which origin- 
 ally served to conceal their own impotence, now 
 attempts the defamation of other people's potence. 
 Defamatory insinuations and calumny find ready 
 acceptance with the representatives of German 
 Philistinism, and appear to be at home in that mean 
 and paltry state of things which, as we have seen, 
 environs our musical affairs. 
 
 The principal ingredient, however, is an apparently 
 judicious caution in presence of that which one 
 happens to be incapable of, together with detraction 
 of that which one would like to accomphsh one's 
 self. It is sad, above all things, to find a man so 
 powerful and capable as Robert Schumann concerned 
 in this confusion, and in the end to see his name 
 inscribed on the banner of the new fraternity. The
 
 82 WAGNEE 
 
 misfortune was that Schumann in his later days 
 attempted certain tasks for which he was not quaHfied. 
 And it is a pity to see that portion of his work, in 
 which he failed to reach the mark he had set himself, 
 raised as the insignia of the latest guild of musicians. 
 A good deal of Schumann's early endeavour was 
 most worthy of admiration and sympathy, and it has 
 been cherished and nurtured by us (I am proud here to 
 rank myself with Liszt's friends) in a more commend- 
 able and commending way than by his immediate 
 adherents.* The latter, well aware that Schumann 
 had herein evinced true productivity, knowingly kept 
 these things in the background,- perhaps because 
 they could not play them in an effective way. On 
 the other hand, certain works of Schumann conceived 
 on a larger and bolder scale, and in which the limits 
 of his gifts become apparent are now carefully brought 
 forward.! The public does not exactly like these 
 works, but their performance offers an opportunity 
 to point out how commendable a thing it is to 
 "make no effect." Finally, a comparison with the 
 works of Beethoven in his third period (played as 
 they play them ) comes in opportunely. 
 
 Certain later, inflated {schwillstig) and dull produc- 
 tions of 11. Schumann, which simply require to be 
 played smoothly ( glatt herunter gespielt ) are con- 
 
 * See Appendix D. 
 
 + Such as the Overtures to Faust, Die Braut vou Messina, 
 Julius Ciosar ; the " Balladon," Das Gliick von Edenhall, Des 
 Sanger Fluch, Vom Pagen und der Kouigstochter, etc.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 83 
 
 founded with Beethoven ; and an attempt is made 
 to show that they agree in spirit with the rarest, 
 boldest and most profound achievements of German 
 music ! Thus Schumann's shallow bombast is made 
 to pass for the equivalent of the inexpressible purport 
 of Beethoven — but always with the reservation that 
 strenuous eccentricity such as Beethoven's is hardly 
 admissible ; whereas, vapid emptiness ( das gleicli- 
 giltig Nichtssagende ) is right and proper : a point at 
 which Schumann properly played, and Beethoven 
 improperly rendered, are perhaps comparable with- 
 out much fear of misunderstanding ! Thus these 
 singular defenders of musical chastity stand towards 
 our great classical music in the position of eunuchs 
 in the Grand-Turk's Harem ; and by the same token 
 German Philistinism is ready to entrust them with 
 the care of music in the family — since it is plain that 
 anything ambiguous is not likely to proceed from 
 that quarter. 
 
 But now what becomes of our great and glorious 
 German music / It is the fate of our music that 
 really concerns us. We have little reason to grieve 
 if, after a century of wondrous productivity, nothing 
 particular happens to come to light for some little 
 time. But there is every reason to beware of sus- 
 picious persons who set themselves up as the trustees 
 and conservators of the " true German spirit " of our 
 inheritance. 
 
 Regarded as individuals, there is not much to 
 blame in these musicians ; most of them compose
 
 84 WAGNEE 
 
 very well. Herr Johannes Brahms once had the 
 kindness to play a composition of his own to me. 
 — a piece with very serious variations — which I 
 thought excellent, and from which I gathered that 
 he was impervious to a joke. His performance of 
 other pianoforte music at a concert gave me less 
 pleasure. I even thought it impertinent that the 
 friends of this gentleman professed themselves 
 unable to attribute anything beyond "extraordinary 
 technical power" to " Liszt and his school," whilst 
 the execution of Herr Brahms appeared so painfully 
 dry, inflexible and wooden. I should have liked to 
 see Herr Brahms' technique annointed with a little 
 of the oil of Lizst's school ; an ointment which does 
 not seem to issue spontaneously from the keyboard, 
 but is evidently got from a more ethereal region 
 than that of mere " technique." To all appearances, 
 however, this was a very respectable phenomenon : 
 only it remains doubtful how such a phenomenon 
 could be set up in a natural way as the Messiah, or 
 at least the Messiah's most beloved disciple ; 
 unless indeed, an affected enthusiasm for mediseval 
 wood-carvings should have induced us to accept 
 those stiff wooden figures for the ideals of eccle- 
 siastical sanctity. In any case we must protest 
 against any presentation of our great warm-hearted 
 Beethoven in the guise of such sanctity. If they 
 cannot Ijring out the difference between Beethoven 
 whom they do not comprehend and therefore pervert, 
 and Scliumann, who, for very simple reasons, is
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 85 
 
 incomprehensible, they shall, at least, not be per- 
 mitted to assume that no difference exists. 
 
 I have already indicated sundry special aspects of 
 this sanctimoniousness. Following its aspirations a 
 little further we shall come upon a new field, across 
 which our investigation on and about conducting, 
 must now lead us.
 
 Some time ago the editor of a South German 
 journal discovered " hypocritical tendencies " {muck- 
 eriscke Tendenzen ) in my artistic theories. The 
 man evidently did not know what he was saying : he 
 merely wished to use an unpleasant word. But my 
 experience has led me to understand that the essence 
 of hypocrisy, and the singular tendency of a repulsive 
 sect of hypocrites (Mucker) , may be known by cer- 
 tain characteristics : — they wish to be tempted, and 
 greedily seek temptation, in order to exercise their 
 power of resistance ! — Actual scandal, however, does 
 not begin until the secret of the adepts and leaders 
 of the sect is disclosed ; — the adepts reverse the 
 object of the resistance — they resist with a view to 
 increasing the ultimate sense of beatitude. Accord- 
 ingly, if this were applied to art, one would perhaps 
 not be saying a senseless thing if one were to attri- 
 bute hypocritical tendencies to the queer " school 
 for chastity " of this Musical Temperance Society. 
 The lower grades of the school may be conceived as 
 vacillating between the orgiastic spirit of musical 
 art and the reticence which their dogmatic maxim 
 
 (86)
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 87 
 
 imposes upon them — whilst it can easily be shewn 
 that the higher grades nourish a deep desire to enjoy 
 that which is forbidden to the lower. The " Liebes- 
 lieder-Walzer " of the blessed Johannes (in spite of 
 the silly title) might be taken as the exercises of the 
 lower grades ; whereas the intense longing after 
 " the Opera," which troubles the sanctimonious 
 devotions of the adepts, may be accepted as the 
 mark of the higher and highest grades. If a single 
 member, for once only, were to achieve a success 
 with an opera, it is more than probable that the 
 entire "school" would explode. But, somehow, 
 no such success has hitherto been achieved, and this 
 keeps the school together ; for, every attempt that 
 happens to fail, can be made to appear as a conscious 
 effort of abstinence, in the sense of the exercises of 
 the lower grades ;* and " the opera," which beckons 
 in the distance like a forlorn bride, can be made to 
 figure as a symbol of the temptation, which is to be 
 finally resisted — so that the authors of operatic 
 failures may be glorified as special saints. 
 
 Seriously speaking, how do these musical gentle- 
 men stand with regard to " the Opera V Having 
 paid them a visit in the concert-room to which they 
 belong, and from which they started, we shall now, 
 for the sake of " conducting," look after them at the 
 theatre. 
 
 ♦ For a curious example of such exercises, see Ferdinand 
 Killer's " 0;per oline Text ;" a set of pianoforte pieces, a quatre 
 mains.
 
 00 WAGNEB 
 
 Herr Eduard Devrient, in his " Erinnerungen," has 
 given us an account of the difficulties his friend 
 Mendelssohn met with in the search for a textbook 
 to an opera. It was to be a truly " German " opera, 
 and the master's friends were to find the materials 
 wherewith to construct it. Unfortunately, they did 
 not succeed in the quest. I suspect there were very 
 simple reasons for this. A good deal can be got at 
 by means of discussion and arrangement ; but a 
 "German" and "nobly-serene" opera, such as 
 Mendelssohn in his delicate ambition dreamt of, is 
 not exactly a thing that can be manufactured — nor 
 old nor new testamentary recipes will serve the 
 purpose. The master did not live to reach the goal : 
 but his companions and apprentices continued their 
 efforts. Herr Hiller believed he could force on a 
 success, simply by dint of cheerful and unflagging 
 perseverance. Everything, he thought depends 
 upon a " a lucky hit," such as others had made in 
 his very presence, and which steady perseverance, 
 as in a game of chance, must, sooner or later, bring 
 round to him. But the " lucky hit," invariably 
 missed. Schumann also did not succeed,* and many 
 other members of the church of abstinence, both 
 adepts and neophytes, have since stretched forth 
 their " chaste and innocent " hands in search of an 
 operatic success — they troubled greatly — but their 
 efforts proved fruitless — the " fortunate grip "failed. 
 
 * Genoveva, " Oper in vier Acteu, nacb Tieck und F. Hebbel, 
 Musik vou Robert Scbumann, Op. 81."
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 89 
 
 Now such experiences are apt to embitter the most 
 harmless persons. All the more so, since Capell- 
 meisters and Musikdirectors are daily occupied at 
 the theatres, and are bound to serve in a sphere in 
 which they are absolutely helpless and impotent, 
 and the causes of their impotence, with regard to 
 the composition of an opera, are also the causes of 
 their inability to conduct an opera properly. Yet 
 such is the fate of our public art, that gentlemen who 
 are not even able to conduct concert music, are the 
 sole leaders in the very complicated business of the 
 opera theatres ! Let a reader of discretion imagine 
 the condition of things there ! 
 
 I have been prolix in showing the weakness of our 
 conductors, in the very field, where, by rights 
 they ought to feel at home. I can be brief now 
 with regard to the opera. Here it simply comes 
 to this : " Father, forgive them ; for they know not 
 what they do." To characterise their disgraceful 
 doings, I should have to show how much that is 
 good and significant might be done at the theatres, 
 and this would lead me too far. Let it be reserved 
 for another occasion. For the present I shall 
 only say a little about their ways as operatic 
 conductors. 
 
 In the concert room these gentlemen go to work 
 with the most serious mein ; at the opera they 
 deem it becoming to put on a nonchalant, sceptical, 
 cleverly-frivolous air. They concede with a smile, 
 that they are not quite at home in the opera,
 
 90 WAGNER 
 
 and do not profess to understand much about 
 things which they do not particularly esteem. 
 Accordingly, they are very accommodating and com- 
 plaisant towards vocalists, female and male, for 
 whom they are glad to make matters comfortable ; 
 they arrange the tempo, introduce fermatas, ritard- 
 andos, accelerandos, transpositions, and, above all, 
 " cuts," whenever and wherever a vocalist chooses 
 to call for such. Whence indeed are they to derive 
 the authority to resist this or that absurd demand ? 
 If, perchance, a pedantically disposed conductor 
 should incline to insist upon this or that detail, he 
 will, as a rule, be found in the wrong. For vocalists 
 are at least at home and, in their own frivolous way, 
 at ease in the opera ; they know well enough what 
 they can do, and how to do it ; so that, if anything 
 worthy of admiration is produced in the operatic 
 world it is generally due to the right instincts of the 
 vocalists, just as in the orchestra the merit lies 
 almost entirely in the good sense of the musicians. 
 One has only to examine an orchestra part of 
 "Norma," for instance, to see what a curious musical 
 changeling ( Wecliselhalg ) such innocent looking 
 sheets of music paper can be turned into ; the mere 
 succession of the transpositions — the Adagio of an 
 Aria in F sharp major, the Allegro in F, and between 
 the two (for the sake of the military band) a transition 
 in E flat — offers a truly horrifying picture of the 
 music to which such an esteemed conductor cheerfully 
 beats time.
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 91 
 
 It was only at a suburban theatre at Turin {i.e., 
 in Italy ) that I witnessed a correct and complete 
 performance of the " Barber of Seville " ; for our 
 conductors grudge the trouble it takes to do justice 
 even to a simple score such as "II Barbiere." They 
 have no notion that a perfectly correct performance, 
 be it of the most insignificant opera can produce an 
 excellent nnpression upon an educated mind, simply 
 by reason of its correctness. Even the shallowest 
 theatrical concoctions, at the smallest Parisian 
 theatres, can produce a pleasant aesthetical effect, 
 since, as a rule, they are carefully rehearsed, and 
 correctly rendered. The power of the artistic principle 
 is, in fact, so great that an aesthetic result is at once 
 attained, if only some part of that principle be 
 properly applied, and its conditions fulfilled : and 
 such is true art, although it may be on a very low 
 level. But we do not get such aesthetic results in 
 Germany, unless it be dX performances of Ballets, in 
 Vienna, or Berlin. Here the whole matter is in the 
 hands of one man — the ballet-master — and that man 
 knows his business. Fortunately, he is in a position 
 to dictate the rate of movement to the orchestra, for 
 the expression as well as for the tempo, and he does 
 so, not according to his individual whim, like an 
 operatic singer, but with a view to the ensemble, the 
 concensus of all the artistic factors ; and now, of a 
 sudden, it comes to pass that the orchestra plays 
 correctly ! A rare sense of satisfaction will be 
 felt by everyone who, after the tortures of an
 
 92 WAGNEE 
 
 opera, witnesses a performance of one of those 
 Ballets. 
 
 In this way the stage manager might lend his aid 
 to the ensemble of the opera. But, singularly enough, 
 the fiction that the opera is a branch of absolute 
 music is everywhere kept up; every vocalist is aware 
 of the musical director's ignorance of the business of 
 an opera ; yet — if it should happen that the right 
 instincts of gifted singers, musicians and executants 
 generally are aroused by a fine work, and bring 
 about a successful performance — are we not accus- 
 tomed to see the Herr Capellmeister called to the 
 front, and otherwise rewarded, as the representative 
 of the total artistic achievement ? Ought he not 
 himself to be surprised at this ? Is he not, in his 
 turn, in a position to pray " Forgive them, they 
 know not what they do ? " 
 
 But as I wished to speak of Conducting proper, 
 and do not want to lose my way in the operatic 
 wilderness, I have only to confess that I have come 
 to the end of this chapter. I cannot dispute about 
 the conducting of our capellmeisters at the theatres. 
 Singers may do so, when they have to complain 
 that this conductor is not accommodating enough, 
 or that the other one does not give them their cues 
 properly ; in short, from the standpoint of vulgar 
 journeymanwork, a discussion may be possible. 
 But from the 2^oint of view of truly artistic work 
 this sort of conducting cannot he tahen into account 
 at all. Among Germans, now living, I am, per-
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 93 
 
 haps, the only person who can venture openly 
 to pronounce so general a condemnation, and I 
 maintain that I am not exceeding the limits of my 
 province when I do so. 
 
 If I try to sum up my experiences, regarding per- 
 formances of my own operas, I am at a loss to 
 distinguish with which of the qualities of our 
 conductors I am concerned. Is it the spirit in 
 which they treat German music in the concert rooms, 
 or the spirit in which they deal with the opera 
 at the theatres"? I believe it to be my particular 
 and personal misfortune that the two spirits meet in 
 my operas, and mutually encourage one another in 
 a rather dubious kind of way. Whenever the former 
 spirit, which practices upon our classical concert 
 music, gets a chance — as in the instrumental intro- 
 ductions to my operas — I have invariably discovered 
 the disastrous consequences of the bad habits 
 already described at such length. I need only speak 
 of the tempo, which is either absurdly hurried (as, 
 for instance, under Mendelssohn, who, once upon a 
 time, at a Leipzig Gewandhaus concert, produced 
 the overture to Tannhauser as an example and a 
 warning), or muddled (like the introduction to 
 Lohengrin at Berlin, and almost everywhere else), 
 or both dragged and muddled (like the introduction 
 to " Die Meistersinger," lately, at Dresden and 
 at other places), yet never with those well-con- 
 sidered modifications of the tempo, upon which 
 I must count as much as upon the correct intonation
 
 94 WAGNER 
 
 of the notes themselves, if an inteUigible rendering 
 is to be obtained. 
 
 To convey some notion of faulty performances of 
 the latter sort it will suffice to point to the way 
 in which the overture to "Die Meistersinger " is 
 usually given. The main tempo of this piece is in- . 
 dicated as " sehr mdssig bewegt " (with very moderate 
 movement) ; according to the older method, it 
 would have been marked Allegro maestoso. Now, 
 when this kind of tempo continues through a long 
 piece, particularly if the themes are treated episodi- 
 cally, it demands modification as much as, or even 
 more than any other kind of tempo ; it is frequently 
 chosen to embody the manifold combinations of dis- 
 tinct motives ; and its broad divisions into regular 
 bars of four beats are found convenient, as these 
 tend to render modifications of movement both easy 
 and simple. This moderate f time can be interpreted 
 in many and various ways ; it may consist of four 
 vigorous crotchet-beats, and thus express a true 
 animated Allegro (this is the main tempo I intend, 
 which becomes most animated in those eight bars of 
 transition 
 
 which lead from the march proper to the theme in 
 E major ) ; or, it may be taken to consist of a demi-
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 
 
 95 
 
 period made up of two f beats ; as when, at the 
 entrance of the shortened theme, 
 
 ^^^- 
 
 0-^-^-»- 
 
 -w^- 
 
 3Ce 
 
 -*-^ 
 
 =t 
 
 i=t 
 
 ^ 
 
 it assumes the character of a Hvely Scherzando ; or, 
 it may even be interpreted as Alia hreve (f time) 
 when it would represent the older, easily moving 
 Tempo andante ( often employed in church music 
 which is to be rendered with two moderately slow 
 beats to a bar. I have used it in the latter sense, 
 beginning from the eighth bar after the return to C 
 major, in a combination of the principal march 
 theme, now allotted to the basses, with the second 
 main theme, now sung broadly and with commodious 
 ease, in rhythmical prolongation, by the violins and 
 violoncellos 
 
 'ig:^ 
 
 This second theme has previously been introduced 
 in diminution, and in common | time :
 
 9 6 WAGNEE 
 
 Together with the greatest dehcacy which the proper 
 execution demands, it here exhibits a passionate, 
 ahnost hasty character ( something Uke a whispered 
 declaration of love ) . Not to disturb the main char- 
 acteristic, delicacy, it is, therefore, necessary slightly 
 to hold back the tempo ( the moving figuration 
 sufficiently expresses passionate haste ), thus the 
 extreme nuance of the main tempo, in the direction 
 of a somewhat grave | time, should be adopted here 
 and, to do this without a wrench {i.e., without really 
 disfiguring the general character of the main tempo), 
 a bar is marked poco rallentando, to introduce the 
 change. Through the more restless nuance of this 
 theme : 
 
 which, eventually, gets the upper hand, and which 
 is indicated with " Icidenschaftlicher" (more pas- 
 sionate) it is easy to lead the tempo back into 
 the original quicker movement, in which, finally, it 
 will be found capable to serve in the above-mentioned 
 sense of an Andante alia hreve, whereby it is only 
 needful to recur to a nuance of the main te7npo, 
 which has already been developed in the exposition 
 of the piece ; namely, I have allowed the final
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 97 
 
 development of the pompous march theme to 
 expand to a lengthy coda of a cantabile character 
 conceived in that tempo Andante alia breve. As 
 this full-toned cantabile 
 
 -•-1 y^ 1 1 1 1 hT ' * 1 :-! 1 > 1 ^— 
 
 is preceded by the weighty crochets of the fanfare 
 
 / 
 
 :^ 
 
 
 etc. 
 
 the modification of the tempo must obviously begin at 
 the end of the crochets, that is to say with the more 
 introduces notes of the chord on the dominant which 
 sustained the cantabile. And, as this broader move- 
 ment in minims continues for some time with an in- 
 crease in power and modulation, I thought conductors 
 could be trusted to attain the proper increase of 
 speed ; the more so, as such passages, when simply 
 left to the natural impulse of the executants always 
 induce a more animated tempo. Being myself an 
 experienced conductor, I counted upon this as a 
 matter of course, and merely indicated the passage 
 at which the tempo returns to the original f time, 
 which any musician will feel, at the return of the 
 crochets and in the changes of harmony. 
 
 At the conclusion of the overture the broader 
 
 G
 
 98 ■ WAGNER 
 
 ^ time, quoted above in the powerfully sustained 
 march-like fanfare, returns again ; the quick figured 
 embellishments are added, and the tempo ends 
 exactly as it began. 
 
 This overture was first performed at a concert 
 at Leipzig, when I conducted it as described above. 
 It was so well played by the orchestra that the small 
 audience, consisting for the most part of non-resident 
 friends, demanded an immediate repetition, which the 
 musicians, who agreed with the audience, gladly 
 accorded. The favourable impression thus created 
 was much talked of, and the directors of the Gewand- 
 haus Concerts decided to give the native Leipzig 
 public a chance to hear the new overture. 
 
 In this instance Herr Capellmeister Beinecke, who 
 had heard the piece under my direction, conducted it, 
 and the very same orchestra played it — in such wise 
 that the audience hissed ! I do not care to investigate 
 how far this result was due to the straightforward 
 honesty of the persons concerned ; let it suffice that 
 competent musicians, who were present at the 
 performance, described to me the sort of time the 
 Herr Capellmeister had thought fit to beat to the 
 overture — and therewith I knew enough. 
 
 If any conductor wishes to prove to his audience 
 or to his directors, etc., what an ambiguous risk they 
 will run with " Die Meistersinger," he need take 
 no further trouble than to beat time to the overture 
 after the fashion in which he is wont to beat it to 
 the works of Jjcethoven, Mozart, and Bach (which
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 99 
 
 fashion suits the works of R. Schumann fairly well); 
 it will then be sufficiently obvious that he is dealing 
 with a very unpleasant kind of music — let anyone 
 imagine so animated, yet so sensitive a thing as the 
 tempo which governs this overture, let this delicately 
 constituted thing suddenly be forced into the Pro- 
 crustus-bed of such a classical time-beater, what will 
 become of it? The doom is: "Herein shalt thou 
 lie, whatsoever is too long with thee shalt be chopped 
 off, and whatsoever is too short shall be stretched ! " 
 Whereupon the band strikes up and overpowers the 
 cries of the victim ! 
 
 Safely bedded in this wise, not only the overture, 
 but, as will sCppear in the sequel, the entire opera of 
 Die Meistersinger, or as much of it as was left after 
 the Capellmeister's cuts, was presented to the public 
 of Dresden. On this occasion, correctly and technic- 
 ally speaking, the merits of the conductor * consisted 
 in this : he made a guess at the main teiupo, chose 
 the broadest nuance of it, and spread this over the 
 whole, beating the steadiest and stiffest square time 
 from beginning to end ! The ultimate results were 
 as follows : I had made use of the combination of 
 the two main themes under an ideal Tempo Andante 
 alia breve ( quoted above from the conclusion of the 
 overture, page 95 ) to form a pleasant and cheerful 
 conclusion to the entire opera, something after the 
 manner of a burden to some old popular song: I 
 had augmented and enlarged the treatment of the 
 * The late Julius Rietz.
 
 100 WAGNEE 
 
 thematic combination for tliis purpose, and now 
 employed it as a sort of accompaniment to Hans 
 Sach's epilogising praise of the " Master-singers," 
 and to his consolatory rhymes upon German art, 
 with which the work ends. Though the words are 
 serious, the closing apostrophe is none the less 
 meant to have a cheering and hopeful effect ; and, 
 to produce this, I counted upon that simple thematic 
 combination, the rhythmical movement of which 
 was intended to proceed smoothly, and was not 
 meant to assume a pompous character, except just 
 before the end, when the chorus enters. Now in the 
 overture, the conductor had failed to see the necessity 
 of a modification of the original march-like tempo in 
 the direction of an Andante alia breve ; and, of 
 course, here — at the close of the opera — he equally 
 failed to feel that the movement was not directly 
 connected with the march tempo — his first mistake 
 was therefore continued, and he proceeded to confine 
 and hold fast the warmly-feeling singer of the part 
 of Hans Sachs in rigid \ time, and to compel liim to 
 deliver his final address in the stiffest and most 
 awkward manner possible. Friends of mine requested 
 me to permit a large "cut" for Dresden, as the effect 
 of the close was so very depressing. I declined ; and 
 the complaints soon ceased At length I came to 
 understand the reason why ; the Capellmeister had 
 acted for the obstinate composer; " solely with a 
 view to the good of the work," he had followed the 
 dictates of liis artistic insight and conscience, had
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 101 
 
 laid his hands on the troublesome apostrophe, and 
 simply " cut " it. 
 
 " Cut ! Cut ! " — this is the ultirno ratio of our 
 conductors ; by its aid they establish a satisfactory 
 equilibrium between their own incompetence, and 
 the proper execution of the artistic tasks before them. 
 They remember the proverb : " What I know not, 
 burns me not ! " ( " was ich nicht iveiss, macht mich 
 nicht heiss " ) and the public cannot object to an 
 arrangement so eminently practical. It only remains 
 for me to consider what I am to say to a performance 
 of my work, which thus appears enclosed between a 
 failure at Alpha, and a failure at Omega ? Outwardly 
 things look very pleasant : An unusually animated 
 audience, and an ovation for the Herr Capellmeister 
 — to join in which the royal father of my country 
 returns to the front of his box. But, subsequently, 
 ominous reports about cuts which had been made, 
 and further changes and abbreviations super-added ; 
 whilst the impression of a perfectly unabbreviated, 
 but perfectly correct performance, at Munich, remains 
 in my mind, and makes it impossible for me to agree 
 with the mutilators. So disgraceful a state of things 
 seems inevitable, since few people understand the 
 gravity of the evil, and fewer still care to assist in 
 any attempts to mend it. 
 
 On the other hand there is some little consolation 
 in the fact that in spite of all ill-treatment the work 
 retains some of its power — that fatal power and 
 " effect " against which the professors of the Leipsic
 
 102 WAGNEE 
 
 Conservatorium so earnestly warn their pupils, and 
 against which all sorts of destructive tactics are 
 applied in vain ! Having made up my mind, not to 
 assist personally at any future performance like the 
 recent ones of "Die Meistersinger " at Dresden, I 
 am content to accept the " success " of the work as 
 a consolatory example illustrating the fate of our 
 classical music in the hands of our conducting 
 musicians. Classical music retains its warmth, and 
 continues to exist in spite of the maltreatment they 
 subject it to. It appears truly indestructible : and 
 the Spirit of German art may accept this indestructi- 
 bility as a consoling fact, and may fearlessly continue 
 its efforts in future. 
 
 It might be asked : but what do the queer con- 
 ductors with celebrated names amount to, considered 
 simply as practical musicians ? Looking at their 
 perfect unanimity in every practical matter one 
 might be led to think that, after all, they understand 
 their business properly, and that, in spite of the 
 protest of pone's feelings, their ways might even 
 be " classical." The general public is so ready to 
 take the excellence of their doings for granted, and to 
 accept it as a matter of course, that the middle-class 
 musical people are not troubled with the slightest 
 doubt as to who is to beat time at their musical 
 festivals, or on any other great occasion when the 
 nation desires to hear some music. No one but 
 Herr Hiller, Ilerr liietz, or Herr Lachner, is thought 
 fit for this. It would l)e simply impossible to
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 103 
 
 celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Beethoven's 
 birth if these three gentlemen should happen sud- 
 denly to sprain their wrists. On the other hand, 
 I am sorry to say, I know of no one to whom I 
 would confidently entrust a single tempo in one of 
 my operas : certainly to no member of the staff of 
 our army of time-beaters. Now and then I have met 
 with some poor devil who showed real skill and 
 talent for conducting : but such rare fellows find it 
 difficult to get on, because they are apt not only to 
 see through the incompetence of these celebrities, 
 but imprudent enough to speak about it. If, for 
 instance, a man happens to discover serious mis- 
 takes in the orchestra parts of " Figaro," from 
 which the opera had been played with special 
 unction — heaven knows how often — under the 
 solemn conductorship of a celebrity, he is not likely 
 to gain the favour of his chief. Such gifted poor 
 fellows are destined to perish like the heretics of old. 
 As everything is thus apparently in good order 
 and seems likely to remain so,'I am again tempted to 
 ask, how can this be ? We entertain lurking doubts 
 whether these gentleman really are musicians ; evi- 
 dently they do not evince the ^W^ite^i musical feeling ;' 
 yet, in fact, they /^ear very accurately (with mathemat- 
 ical, not ideal, accuracy ; contretemps like that of the 
 faulty orchestra parts do not happen to every one) ; they 
 are quick at a 8Core,read and play at sight (many of them, 
 at least, do so) : in short, they prove true professionals; 
 but alongside of this, their general education (Bildung)
 
 104 WAGNEE 
 
 — in spite of all efforts — is such as can pass muster 
 in the case of a musician only ; so that, if music were 
 struck from the list of their attainments, there would 
 be little left — least of all a man of spirit and sense. 
 No, no ! they certainly are musicians and very com- 
 petent musicians, who know and can do everything 
 that pertains to music, Well then ? As soon as 
 they begin to perform music they muddle matters, 
 and feel unsafe all round, unless it be in " Ewig, 
 selig," or at best in " Lord Sabaoth !" 
 
 That which makes our great music great is the 
 very thing which confuses these people; unfor- 
 tunately, this cannot be expressed in words and 
 concepts, nor in arithmetical figures. Yet what is it 
 other than music? and music only! "What, then, 
 can be the reason of this barrenness, dryness- 
 coldness, this complete inability to feel the influence 
 of true music, and, in its presence, to forget any 
 little vexation, any small jealous distress, or any 
 mistaken personal notion '? Could Mozart's as- 
 tonishing gift for arithmetic serve us for a vague 
 explanation ? On the one hand, it seems that with 
 him — whose nervous system was so excessively 
 sensitive to any disturbing sound, whose heart beat 
 with such overflowing sympathy — the ideal elements 
 of music met and united to form a wondrous whole. 
 On the other hand, BeetJioven's naive way of adding 
 up liis accounts is sufflciently well known ; arith- 
 metical problems of any sort or kind assuredly never 
 entered into his social or musical plans. Compared
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 105 
 
 with Mozart he appears as a monstrum per excessum 
 in the direction of sensibility, which, not being 
 checked and balanced by an intellectual counter- 
 weight from the arithmetical side, can hardly be 
 conceived as able to exist or to escape premature 
 destruction, if it had not fortunately been protected 
 by a singularly tough and robust constitution. Nor 
 can anything in Beethoven's music be gauged or 
 measured by figures ; whilst with Mozart a good 
 deal that appears regular — almost too regular (as 
 has already been touched upon) is conceivable, and 
 can be explained as the result of a naive mixture of 
 those two extremes of musical perception. Accord- 
 ingly the professional musicians under examination 
 appear as monstrosities in the direction of musical 
 arithmetic ; and it is not difficult to understand how 
 such musicians, endowed with the very reverse of a 
 Beethovenian temperament, should succeed and 
 flourish with a nervous system of the commonest 
 kind. 
 
 If then our celebrated and uncelebrated conduc- 
 tors happen to be born for music only under the 
 sign of Numbers (im Zeichen der Zahl), it would 
 seem very desirable that some new school might be 
 able to teach them the proper tempo for our music 
 by the rule of three. I doubt whether they will 
 ever acquire it in the simple way of musical feeling ; 
 wherefore, I believe, I have now reached the end of 
 my task. 
 
 Perhaps the new school is already in sight. I
 
 106 WAGNEE 
 
 understand that a "High-School of Music" has 
 been estabhshedat BerHn, under the auspices of the 
 Eoyal Academy of Arts and Sciences, and that the 
 directorship of the school has been entrusted to the 
 celebrated violinist, Herr Joachim. To start such a 
 school without Herr Joachim, if his services are 
 available would be a great mistake. I am inclined 
 to hope for much from him ; because everything I 
 know and have heard concerning his method of play- 
 ing proves that this virtuoso is a complete master of 
 the style of execution I demand for our classical 
 music. By the side of Liszt and his disciples he is 
 the only living musician to whom I can point as a 
 practical proof and example in support of the fore- 
 going assertions. It is immaterial whether or not 
 Herr Joachim likes to see his name mentioned in 
 such connection ; for, with regard to that which a 
 man can do and actually does, it matters little 
 what he chooses to profess. If Herr Joachim 
 thinks it expedient to profess that he has de- 
 veloped his fine style in the company of Herr 
 Hiller, or of E. Schumann, this may rest upon its 
 merits, provided he always plays in such wise that 
 one may recognise the good results of several years 
 intimate intercourse with Liszt. I also think it an 
 advantage that when a "High-School of Music" 
 was first thought of, the promoters at once secured 
 the services of an admirable j^rac^ica^ master of style 
 and execution. If, to-day, I had to put a theatre 
 capellmeistcr in the way of comprehending how he
 
 ON CONDUCTING. 107 
 
 ought to conduct a piece, I would much rather refer 
 him to Frau Lucca, than to the late Cantor Haupt- 
 mann at Leipzig, even if the latter were still alive. 
 In this point I agree with the naive portion of the 
 public, and indeed, with the taste of the aristocratic 
 patrons of the opera, for I prefer to deal with persons 
 who actually bring forth something that appeals to 
 the ear and to the feelings. Yet, I cannot help 
 entertaining some little doubt, when I see Herr 
 Joachim — all alone and solitary — sitting on high in 
 the curule chair of the Academy — with nothing in 
 his hand but a violin : for towards violinists gener- 
 ally I have always felt as Mephistopheles feels 
 towards " the fair," whom he affects " once for all 
 in the plural." The conductor's baton is reported 
 not to have worked well in Herr Joachim's hands ; 
 composition, too, appears rather to have been a 
 source of bitterness to him than of pleasure to others. 
 I fail to see how " the high-school " is to be directed 
 solely from the " high-stool " of the violinist. 
 Socrates, at least, was not of opinion that Themis- 
 tocles, Cimon and Pericles would prove capable of 
 guiding the State by reason of their abilities as 
 commanders and speakers ; for, unfortunately, he 
 could point to the results of their successes, and 
 shew that the administration of State affairs became 
 a source of personal trouble to them. But perhaps 
 the case is different in the realms of music. 
 
 Yet another thing appears dubious. I am told 
 that Herr J, Brahms expects all possible good to
 
 108 WAGNER 
 
 result from a return to the melody of Schubert's 
 songs, and that Herr Joachim, for his own part, 
 expects a new Messiah for music in general. Ought 
 he not to leave such expectations to those who have 
 chosen him " high-schoolmaster ? " I, for my part, 
 say to him " Go in, and win ! " If it should come 
 to pass that he himself is the Messiah, he may, at 
 all events, rest assured that the Jews will not crucify 
 him. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 BEBIGHT an Seine Majestdt den Konig Ludwig 
 II., von Bay em iiber eine in Mimchen zii errichtende 
 Deutche Musik-schule. ( Keport concerning a German 
 music-school to be established at Mmiich) 1865. 
 Eeprinted in Wagner's " GesanmieUe Schriften,'' 
 Vol. VIII., p. 159-219, Leipzig, 1873. 
 
 p. 20. . . " We jyossess classical ivorks, hut ive 
 are not in possession of a classical style for the execu- 
 tion of these ivorks." ..." Does Germany 
 possess a school at which the j)i'oper execution of 
 Mozart's music is taught? Or do our orchestras 
 and their conductors manage to ]play Mozart in 
 accordance with some occult knowledge of their 
 own ? If so, whence do they derive such knowledge? 
 Who taught it them ? Take the simplest examples, 
 Mozart's instrumental pieces (by no means his most 
 important works, for these belong to the operatic 
 stage), two things are at once apparent : the melo- 
 dies must be beautifully sung ; yet there are very 
 few marks in the scores to shew hoiv they are to be 
 sung. It is well known that Mozart wrote the 
 scores of his symphonies hurriedly, in most cases 
 
 (111)
 
 112 APPENDIX A. 
 
 simply for the purpose of performance at some con- 
 cert he was about to give ; on the other hand, it is 
 also well known that he made great demands upon 
 the orchestra in the matter of expression. Obviously 
 he trusted to his personal influence over the musi- 
 cians. In the orchestra parts it was thus sufficient 
 to note the main tempo and piano or forte for entire 
 periods, since the master, who conducted the rehear- 
 sals, could give spoken directions as to details, 
 and, by singing his themes, communicate the proper 
 expression to the players. 
 
 We are, now-a-days, accustomed to mark ail 
 details of expression in the parts ; nevertheless an 
 intelligent conductor frequently finds it expedient to 
 indicate important but very delicate nuances of 
 expression by word of mouth to the particular 
 musicians whom they concern ; and, as a rule, such 
 spoken directions are better understood and attended 
 to than the written signs. It is obvious that in the 
 rendering of Mozart's instrumental music spoken 
 directions played an important part. With Mozart 
 the so-called development sections, and the con- 
 necting links between the main themes are 
 frequently rather slight, whereas his musical 
 originality shows to greatest advantage in the vocal 
 character of the melodies. Compared with Haydn's 
 the significance of Mozart's symphonies lies in the 
 extraordinarily expressive vocal character of his 
 instrumental themes. Now, had Germany been in 
 possession of an authoritative institution, like the
 
 APPENDIX A. lis 
 
 Conservatoire of Paris, and had Mozart been asked 
 to assist in the execution of his works, and to 
 superintend the spirit of the performances at such 
 an institution, we might possibly have something 
 Hke an authoritative tradition amongst us — a tradi- 
 tion such as, in spite of decay and corruption, is 
 still surprisingly vivid at the Paris Conservatoire — 
 for instance, in the case of Gluck's operas. But 
 nothing of the sort exists with us. Mozart, as a 
 rule, wrote a symphony for some special concert, 
 performed it once, with an orchestra casually 
 engaged, at Vienna, Prague, or Leipzig ; and the 
 traditions of such casual performances are completely 
 lost. 
 
 No trace is preserved, except the scantily-marked 
 scores. And these classical relics of a once warmly 
 vibrating work are now accepted, with mistaken 
 trust, as the sole guide towards a new living 
 performance. Now, let us imagine such an ex- 
 pressive theme of Mozart's — Mozart, who was 
 intimately acquainted with the noble style of 
 classical Italian singing, whose musical expression 
 derived its very soul from the delicate vibrations, 
 swellings and accents of that style, and who was 
 the first to reproduce the effects of this vocal style, 
 by means of orchestral instruments — let us imagine 
 such a theme of the Master's played neatly and 
 smoothly, by an instrument in the orchestra, with- 
 out any inflection, or increase or decrease of tone 
 
 and accent, without the slightest touch of that 
 
 H
 
 114 APPENDIX A. 
 
 modification of movement and rhythm so indis- 
 pensable to good singing — but monotonously enun- 
 ciated, just as one might pronounce some arith- 
 mietical number — and then, let us endeavour to 
 form a conclusion as to the vast difference between 
 the master's original intention, and the impression 
 thus produced. The dubious value of the veneration 
 for Mozart, professed by our music-conservators, 
 v^ill then also appear. To shov^ this more dis- 
 tinctly, let us examine a particular case — for ex- 
 ample, the first eight bars of the second movement 
 of Mozart's celebrated symphony in E flat. Take this 
 beautiful theme as it appears on paper, with hardly 
 any marks of expression — fancy it played smoothly 
 and complacently, as the score apparently has it — 
 and compare the result with the manner in which 
 a true musician would feel and sing it ! How much 
 of Mozart does the theme convej^ if played, as 
 in nine cases out of ten it is played, in a perfectly 
 colourless and lifeless way ? " Poor pen and paper 
 music, without a shadow of soul or sense." (Eine 
 Seelenlose Schriftmusik). 
 
 -Hfe^^-^H-
 
 APPENDIX B.
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 See p. 62, et seq. of Wagner's '' BeetJioven," translated by E. 
 Dannreuther, London, 1882. 
 
 " A Beethoven Day:" Beethoven's string quartet 
 in C sharp minor. "If we rest content to recall the 
 tone-poem to memory, an attempt at illustration 
 snch as the following may perhaps prove possible, 
 at least up to a certain degree ; whereas it would 
 hardly be feasible during an actual performance. 
 For, whilst listening to the work, we are. bound to 
 eschew any definite comparisons, being solely con- 
 scious of an immediate revelation from another 
 world. Even then, however, the animation of the 
 picture, in its several details, has to be left to the 
 reader's fancy, and an outline sketch must therefore 
 suffice. The longer introductory Adagio, than which 
 probably nothing more melancholy has been ex- 
 pressed in tones, I would designate as the awakening 
 on the morn of a day that throughout its tardy 
 course shall fulfil not a single desire:* not one. 
 
 * " Den Tag zu sehen, der mir in seinem Lauf 
 
 Nicht einen Wunsch erfullen wird, nicht Einen." 
 
 Faust, 
 
 (117)
 
 118 APPENDIX B. 
 
 None the less it is a penitential prayer, a con- 
 ference with God in the faith of the eternally good. 
 The eye turned inwards here, too, sees the com- 
 forting phenomena it alone can perceive ( Allegrof ), 
 in which the longing becomes a sweet, tender, 
 melancholy disport with itself ;* the inmost hidden 
 dream picture awakens as the loveliest reminiscence. 
 And now in the short transitional A llegro moderato 
 it is as though the Master, conscious of his strength, 
 puts himself in position to work his spells ; with re- 
 newed power he now practices his magic (Andante f ), 
 in banning a lovely figure, the witness of pure, 
 heavenly innocence so that he may incessantly 
 enrapture himself by its ever new and unheard of 
 transformations, induced by the refraction of the 
 rays of light he casts upon it. We may now 
 ( Presto f), fancy him, profoundly happy from 
 within, casting an inexpressibly serene glance upon 
 the outer world ; and again, it stands before him as 
 in the Pastoral Symphony. Everything is luminous, 
 reflecting his inner happiness. It is as though he 
 were listening to the very tones emitted by the 
 phenomena, that move, aerial and again firm, in 
 rhythmical dance before him. He contemplates 
 life, and appears to reflect how he is to play a dance 
 for Life itself ( Short Adagio 4 ) ; a short but troubled 
 meditation — as though he were diving into the soul's 
 deep dream. He has again caught sight of the inner 
 
 • Ein wehmiithig holdes Spiel.
 
 APPENDIX B. 119 
 
 side of the world ; he wakens and strikes the strings 
 for a dance such as the world has never heard 
 (Allegro Finale). It is the World's own dance ; wild 
 delight, cries of anguish, love's ecstasy, highest 
 rapture, misery, rage ; voluptuous now, and sorrow- 
 ful ; lightning's quiver, storm's roll, and high above 
 the gigantic musician ! banning and compelling all 
 things, proudly and firmly wielding them from 
 whirl to whirlpool, to the abyss. — He laughs at him- 
 self ; for the incantation was, after all, but play to 
 him. Thus night beckons. His day is done. 
 
 It is not possible to consider the man, Beethoven, 
 in any sort of light, without at once having 
 recourse to the wonderful musician by way of 
 elucidation.
 
 APPENDIX C.
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 See p. 24 of " Bericht," add " Wagner, Ges. Scliriften," 
 Vol. VIII., p. 186. 
 
 " It is difficult to understand Bach's music with- 
 out a special musical and intellectual training, and it 
 is a mistake to present it to the public in the careless 
 and shallow modern way we have grown accustomed 
 to. Those who so present it show that they do not 
 know what they are about. . . . The proper exe- 
 cution of Bach's music implies the solution of 
 a difficult problem. Tradition, even if it could 
 be shown to exist in a definite form, offers little 
 assistance ; for Bach, like every other German 
 master, never had the means at his command 
 adequately to perform his compositions. We know 
 the embarrassing circumstances under which his 
 most difficult and elaborate works were given — and 
 it is not surprising that in the end he should have 
 grown callous with regard to execution, and have 
 considered his works as existing merely in thought. 
 It is a task reserved for the highest and most 
 comprehensive musical culture, to discover and 
 (123)
 
 124 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 establish a mode of executing the works of this 
 wonderful master, so as to enable his music to 
 appeal to the emotions in a plain direct manner.
 
 APPE NDIX D.
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 See Sir George Grove's " Dictionary of Music and Musicians." 
 Vol. IV., p. 369. Article " Wagner." 
 
 " In earl}' days I thought more would come of 
 Schumann. His Zeitschrift was brilliant and his 
 pianoforte works showed great originality. There 
 was much ferment, but also much real power, and 
 many bits are quite unique and perfect. I think 
 highly, too, of many of his songs, though they are 
 not as great as Schubert's. He took pains with his 
 declamation — no small merit forty years ago. Later 
 on I saw a good deal of him at Dresden ; but then 
 already his head was tired, his powers on the wane. 
 He consulted me about the text to his opera, 
 * Genoveva,' which he was arranging from Tieck's 
 and Hebbel's plays, yet he would not take my advice 
 — he seemed to fear some trick." 
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 12. Story of the Cross, Music by Dr. Geo. Prior, 2d.
 
 W. REEVES, 83, CHARING CUOSS ROAD, W.C. 23 
 
 The Organists Quarterly Journal 
 
 (Bi (f^rigiual Compositions. 
 
 Founded by DR. Wm. SP\RK, I.ato organist, Town Hall. Leeds 
 Non subscribers, s/- each. Subscription, iOj6 for 4 issues 
 
 New Series, Volume, coutaiuiuj> 160 large pages, bound in 
 cloth, lUs. 
 
 Pan 12. New Series 
 
 1. In Mbmoriam - - Rev. Geof. C. Hyly, M.A., Mus. Bac Oxon. 
 
 a- Toccata G. B. Polleri. 
 
 3. OVKRTURB from Epiphany .... Alfred King, M.U. 
 
 Part XI , New Series. 
 
 1. Prelude ANu Fugue wiih Postluue - E. A. Chamberlaynb. 
 
 2. Prelude and Fugue f- Young. 
 
 3. HUGUB Archibald UoNALD. 
 
 4. Fuguk William Hope. 
 
 Part 10, New Series. 
 
 1. Fugue Archibald Donald 
 
 2. Preluiie and Fugue with PosTLUDK - - E. A. Chamberlaynb 
 
 3. Prelude anp Fugub ... - - - F. Young 
 
 Part 9, New Series. 
 
 I. Andante con Moto . . . W. ». Montgomery, L.TC.L. 
 2 Fantasia In E minor - - - - Cuthbert Harris, Mus. B., 
 
 3. PosTLUDB at Ephes. V. v. 19. ."ii libi placeat, Miiil con displicet 
 W.Conradi.(Y.oi B 1816 .Paul'tOr^.St.Ciiiircii.Soliweriii i/niGermany 
 
 4. Harvest March HbnrvJ I'oole, 
 
 Part 8, Mew Series. 
 
 1. Scherzo Minuet W.Mullinkux, Organist of tlie Town Hall, BoHon, 
 
 2. Introduction to the Hyuin on the Passion, O Haupt Voll Blut and 
 
 Wunden " 
 
 W. CoNRADi. Organist Paul s Church, Schwerin, Germany, 
 
 3. Thesis AND Antithesis, or Dispute, Appeasement, Conciliation 
 
 W. CoNRADi, Organist Paul's Church Schwerin, Germany. 
 
 4. Carillon in E - - Cuthbert HARRIS, Mus B., F.R.C O., &c. 
 
 5. Andante" Hope" Inglis Bkrvok. 
 
 6. Orchestral March In C 
 
 James Crapper. L. Mus , Organist of the Parish « h.. KlrUcudbriglit, 
 
 Part 7, New Series. 
 
 1. Andantk Grazioso In G - - (has. R. Mflvii.le, F.RC.O. 
 
 2. Polish Song, Arranged for the organ by Percival Garrett .Chopin. 
 
 3. Introduction, Variations, and Finale on the Hymn Tune ' Rock- 
 
 ingham. ' Ch, R FiSHtR, Mus. B. 
 
 4. Two Soft Movements W. C. Fu.by, I.S.M. 
 
 1. " Esp^rance." 2. "Tendrerse," 
 
 5. Andante in A flat 
 
 W. Griffi-^hs, Mus. B , Org. ol St. Sepulchre Church, Northampton. 
 
 6. FuGi'K, 4 Voice, 3 Subjects Dr. J. C. Tn ly.
 
 24 W. REEVES, 83, CHARING CROSS ROAD, W.C. 
 
 The Organist's Quarterly Journal {cont.). 
 
 Part 6, New Series. 
 
 . Con Moto Moderato in C 
 
 Orlando A. Mansfibld, Mus.B., F.R.C.O. 
 a. TiMPo Di Menuetto Geo. H. Ely, 
 
 3. i>;RGE IN Memoriam, Reginald Adkins - J. E. Adkins, F.R.C.O. 
 
 4. Andante iii H R. H. IIeath. 
 
 5. ABBRYSTWVTH OfFERTOIRE .... J. G. MOUNTFORD. 
 
 6. Andante in i) (Priere) - - - E. Evelyn Barron, M. A. 
 
 Part 8, New Series. 
 
 I. Allegretto Scherzando in A flat - - - W. E. Ashuall. 
 
 8. Andante Relig:oso in G Dr J, Bradford. 
 
 3 March Pomposo in E flat .... Charles Daknton. 
 
 4. Andante Con Moto "Twiliglit" - - Ch. R Fisheb, Mus.B. 
 
 5. Minuet in F W E. Bklchkr, f R.C.O 
 
 Part 4, New Series. 
 
 I. Andante Moderato F. Read. 
 
 a. Pkbludk and FtiGUK in D minor - - - E. A. (^hamberlaynb. 
 
 3. Sketch Arthur Geo. Colborn. 
 
 4. Fugue - James Turpin. 
 
 5 Allegro Charles H. Fisher. 
 
 6. Marchb Mystique 
 
 'iHEME BY Roland, vk I.arsus.— A Kelic of Ancient Times. 
 
 Part S, New Series. 
 I. MiNUEi AND Trio in F - . Ed. J. Bellerby, Mus. B., Oxon. 
 
 a. •' DuNDRK " ("or Fiencli ") .... John P. Attwater. 
 
 3. Adagio. An Klegy In G uilnoi - - Chas. R. Fisher, Mus- B. 
 
 4. Anbante a major ' ^ ' ,.' ^' ^i)?^' 
 
 5. Allegro, D minot -.-.-- - Geo. Minns (Ely). 
 
 Pari a. New Series. 
 
 Toccata Fantasia (.SM/J) in C »ii«Ho>) - - - E T. Driffiel. 
 Andantk Grazioso ...----- \V Faulkes. 
 
 MARCH^ FlNEBRE ..---- A Kl HU R WANDERER. 
 
 Andantk Semi TICK ..... E. A. Chamberlayne 
 Fkstai March A. W. Ketflbev. 
 
 Part t. Hew Series. 
 I. OFFERTOIRE in A minor - - Fred. W Dal (Leipzig), 
 
 a, Seconp Fanta.sia on ScoTf H Airs - - - William Spark. 
 
 3. Adf.s] K FiDKi.Ks Willi Vaiiailonb and Fngue) - Charles Hunt. 
 
 4. iNTKkMKZZO GTOWNSHENDl RIFFIRLD. 
 
 Fart 103, July 1894. 
 
 I. POSTLUDKin G . - - . PkKKERK-.K W. HOLLOWAY.F.C.O 
 
 3. Suite: No. i, Prelude ; No. 2, BtKci use ; No. 3, Toccata 
 
 Laukknt Paroki (Genoa 
 
 3. Nocturne .-.....- Wii-i.iam I.ockbtt. 
 
 4. Andantk Pastorale In B minor Jacob Bradford; Mus. D., Oxon 
 
 5. Introddctohv Voluntary - - - Albkrt W. Krtelbey. 
 
 6. Fugue K. J. Kowe, L.R.A.M. 
 
 LONDON Win lAM REEVES 83 CHARING CROSS ROAD, W
 
 W. EERVES, 83, CHARING CROSS ROAD, W.C. 2$^ 
 
 Note the Price, PENCE not SHILLINGS. 
 
 POPULAR AND COPYRIGHT MUSIC. 
 
 Full Music Size, Well Printed and Critically Coirect. 
 
 2D WILLIAM ^REEVES. QD 
 
 83, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON. W.C. ^ 
 (Postage ^d. each.) (Postage Id. each) 
 
 396. 
 174. 
 105. 
 172. 
 224. 
 181. 
 180. 
 390. 
 391. 
 392. 
 383. 
 389. 
 188. 
 384. 
 226. 
 100. 
 213. 
 227. 
 115. 
 225. 
 
 118. 
 373. 
 122, 
 376. 
 379. 
 142. 
 393. 
 243. 
 377. 
 374. 
 308. 
 It 7. 
 
 206. 
 207. 
 208. 
 209. 
 305. 
 210. 
 306. 
 151. 
 125. 
 
 VOCAL. 
 
 Always do as I do 
 
 Angels at the Casement, A flat 
 
 Banner of the King 
 
 Barney O'Hea ... 
 
 Bay of Biscay ... 
 
 Border Lands (Sacred) 
 
 Borderer't- Cballenge 
 
 Cat in the Chimney 
 
 Child's Good Morning 
 
 Child's Good Night 
 
 Cone into the Garden Maud 
 
 Dawn of Heaven 
 
 Diver. The 
 
 God Save the King 
 
 Hearts of Oak ... 
 
 Honey Are You True to Me (Coon Song) 
 
 Lady Clara Vere de Vere 
 
 Last Rose of Summer ... 
 
 Sharing the Burden 
 
 Tom Bowling 
 
 PIANOFORTE. 
 
 A la Valse 
 Belgium Gale p ... 
 Bercenee 
 Blumenlied 
 
 Bridal Chorus and Weddirg March ... 
 Charming Mazurka 
 Chinete Patrol March ... 
 Cloches du Monabtere ... 
 Edelweiss 
 Emmeline Galop 
 Pille du Regiment 
 
 Flying Dutchman (La VaisEeau Fan- 
 tome) 
 Four Humoresqoes : 
 
 Valse in D, No. 1 ... 
 
 Minuetto in A minor. No. 2 
 
 Allegretto, No. 3 
 
 Allegro Alia Burla, No. 4 
 French Air (easy) 
 Funeral March ... 
 German Air (eaty) 
 Grand March of the Warriors 
 II Corricolo Galop (easily arranged) 
 
 Tin7tey 
 
 W. M. Hutchison 
 H. FortesqKe 
 S. Lover 
 J. I avey 
 Miss Lindsay 
 R.J. Stark 
 L. Kirgsmilt 
 O. Barri 
 0. Barri 
 Balfe 
 Buonetli 
 E. J. Loder 
 Dr. Jno. Bull 
 Dr. W. Boyce 
 Lindsay Lennox 
 Mifs Lindsay 
 Thcs. Moore 
 J. E. Webster 
 
 C. Djbdin 
 
 Roeckel 
 
 Smallwooi 
 
 Roeckel 
 
 Gustav Lavge 
 
 Wagner 
 
 Gungl 
 
 D. Pecorini 
 Lefib -re-Wely 
 Gustav Lange 
 Smallwood 
 Oesten 
 
 Wagner 
 
 Grieg 
 
 Qrieg 
 
 Grieg 
 
 Grieg 
 
 T. Valentine 
 
 Grieg 
 
 T. Valentine 
 
 H. V. Lewis 
 
 L. Mullen
 
 26 W. REEVES, 83, CHARING CROSS ROAD, W.C. 
 
 Cheap Music (oontinued) . — 
 304. Irish Air (easy) 
 303. Italian Air (easy) 
 133. Kaeeala Gavotte 
 171. Khartoum Quick March 
 
 246. Liberty Bell March 
 
 135. Little Dear Gavotie 
 
 162. Lohengrin 
 
 136. Maiden's Prayer 
 
 137. March in E flat 
 
 140. Maj-Day Galopade 
 
 141. Mazurka 
 
 143. Melodie 
 
 247. Melody in F 
 
 211. Minuetto 
 
 163. Mountain Echo March ... 
 
 385. Narcissus 
 
 147. Placid Stre in 
 
 103, Queenie (Intermezzo) ... 
 
 165. Rienzi 
 
 148. Scherzino 
 
 301. Scotch Air (easy) 
 
 375. Seasons Galop ... 
 
 156. Silvery Echoes 
 
 394. Soldiers' Chorus (Faust) 
 
 381. Sonatina in F ... 
 
 380. Sonata in G 
 
 302. Spbiiisli Air (rasy) 
 
 378. Sie^-hanie Gavotte 
 
 168. Taunhauser 
 
 150- Tarantella 
 
 290. Washingt n Post March (easy arrange- 
 
 ment by Edwin La-iSdale) 
 
 291. Woodland Echoes 
 
 DANCE. 
 
 388. Amorosa Mazurka 
 
 387. Blue Bells Sotiottieche 
 
 382. British Army Polka 
 
 161. Cosmopolitan Quadrille 
 
 127. Cyprus Pulka 
 
 101. Electric VValtB 
 
 397. EsmeraWa Waltz 
 
 .395. Fancy Dress Ball Quadrille 
 
 386. Hor e Guards Sohottische 
 
 102. Lucifer i'ulka 
 
 144. j\Iunioh Polka ... 
 
 866, Roselund Waliz 
 
 PIANO DUETS. 
 
 156. March of the Cameron Men 
 
 155. Marche dea Croates 
 
 169. Minnie, or Lilly Dale 
 
 VIOLIN. 
 
 170. March St. OlavB 
 
 T. Valentine 
 T. Valentina 
 H. Wilcock 
 
 F. P. Rahotiini 
 Souia 
 
 I". Astrella 
 
 Warner 
 
 Badarazewska 
 
 L. B. Mallett 
 
 J. Gungl 
 
 Badarazetvska 
 
 Roeckel 
 
 Rubinstein 
 
 Grieg 
 
 G. GaribJdi 
 Nevin 
 Smallwood 
 P. D' Or say 
 Wagner 
 Roeckel 
 
 T. Valentine 
 
 Smalhuood 
 
 Blake 
 
 Gounod 
 
 Beethoven 
 
 Beethoven 
 
 T. Valentine 
 
 A. Czibulka 
 
 Wagner 
 
 L. B. Mallett 
 
 J. P. Sousa 
 
 IV y man 
 
 A. H. Osw.ild 
 S. Leslie 
 
 Alec Carlton 
 L. Gautier 
 i-cotson dark 
 H. Klein 
 S. Osborne 
 Posenberg 
 S. Leslie 
 II. Klein 
 Jos. Gungl 
 Marietta Lena 
 
 A. Mullen 
 A. Mullen 
 A. Mullen 
 
 F, Jamtt
 
 W. REEVES, 83, CHARING CROSS ROAD, W.C. 27 
 
 Books on Freemasonry' l:rr^.r'f^7 
 
 12mo, red cloth, gilt, 323 pp., 3/6. 
 Carlile (R.). Manual of Freemasonry, coutaiuing the First 
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 Druids, The Degrees of Mark Man, Mark Master, Architect, 
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 Ritual and Illustrations of Freemasonry accompanied by 
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 to the Discoveries of Belzoni and Commander Gorringe : 
 also Egyptian Symbols compared with those discovered in 
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 P.D.D.G.M., St. Lawrence, District and Past Inspector 
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 PORTRAITS. 
 
 VOL. 7. 
 W. A. Mozart 
 Miss Kate Lee 
 R. Peckotsch 
 Gordon Tanner 
 Eugene Meier 
 W. V. Fisher 
 Paganini 
 T. B. Parsons 
 Joseph Guarnerius 
 Gesu Violin, 1733 
 
 VOL. 6. 
 Pierre Baillot 
 C. A. de Beriot 
 J. R. Bingley 
 Ole Ball 
 
 Arcangelo Corelli 
 Fer-iinand Divid 
 Klderhorst Quartette 
 H. Wilhelm Hrnst 
 Miss Muriel Handley 
 Miska Hauser 
 N. Paganini 
 Louis Spchr 
 A. Stradivarius 
 
 del 
 
 PORTRAITS (continued.: 
 
 4. Vieuxteinps 
 G. Viotti 
 
 VOL. 5. 
 T. G. Briggs 
 Cologne Gurzenich Q lar 
 
 tette 
 Wm. Henley 
 Miss Leonora faekson 
 J. Koh-Alblis 
 A. 0,ipenheim (violinist) 
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 .\. Simoneiti 
 
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 Marcello Rossi 
 
 FACSIMILES AND 
 PICTURES 
 
 Paganini on his Death-bed 
 Letter of Ch. de Beriot 
 Letter of Camillo Sivori 
 De'easance of a bond by 
 
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 Viola di Gamba by Cailoi 
 
 Bergonzi, 1713 
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