The sinister
passages seem but developments of moments in "Der Freischuetz"; the grand
melodic style, the romantic orchestra with its sighing horns and
chivalry and flourishes, seem to come directly out of "Euryanthe"; the
orchestral scene-painting from the sunrise and other original effects in
"Oberon."
Even Meyerbeer taught Wagner something more than the use of certain
instruments, the bass-clarinet, for instance. The old operatic
speculator indubitably was responsible for Wagner's grand demands upon
the scene-painter and the stage-carpenter. His pompous spectacles fired
the younger man not only with "Rienzi." They indubitably gave him the
courage to create an operatic art that celebrated the new gold and power
and magnificence, and was Grand Opera indeed. If the works of the one
were sham, and those of the other poetry, it was only that Wagner
realized what the other sought vainly all his life to attain, and was
prevented by the stock-broker within.
And Chopin's harmonic feeling as well as Berlioz's orchestral wizardry
played a role in Wagner's artistic education. But for all his
incalculable indebtednesses, Wagner is the great initiator, the
compeller of the modern period. It is not only because he summarized the
old. It is because he began with force a revolution.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25