For the comprehension of Beethoven and his great predecessors9, little more than a trained ear is necessary; but, for the comprehension of our latest composers, one must habituate himself to abstruse10 metaphysical thinking. To endorse11 Wagner, both wholly and understandingly, one should assent12 to Schopenhauer's theory of music. To endorse in like manner the attitude of Strauss, one should assent to the ?Super Man? of Nietzsche, and his crowning qualities ?evolved good and evolved evil.?
If, as Whitman says, perfect sanity characterizes the master among philosophers, how can more than a cult13 accept that topsy-turvy of ethical14 values, that quack15 mixture of Scientific Materialism16 and Comtism run mad, the system of Nietzsche? It is probably that but for his ?Beyond Good and Evil,? Strauss, the foremost exponent17 of musical ultraism, would have hesitated at more than half-way measures.
In the morning, ere he attempted creative work, Wagner was wont18 to say, ?If we could keep our hearts pure this day, untainted and untempted by the false values of the world, what visions of Infinity19 itself were possible to us!?
Surely the heart, indispensable to the creation of a masterpiece of art, cannot be stimulated20 by a philosophy brutal21 because without pity; a philosophy shallow because ignorant of the essential nature and ultimate end of what it deems mere22 weakness; a philosophy which would crush that symbol of weakness, the falling sparrow, and quench23 all love for the neighbor if in him appear no promise of ?Super Man.? Now who is this ?Super Man,? this ideal of Nietzsche and his tonal interpreter? Is he not a being fashioned much after the model of what the race no more desires, to wit, the outworn gods of Greece and Rome? Is he not an ideal compounded of mutually destructive qualities?
Because of the serious shortcomings we have indicated, and because of others which will be pointed24 out, the art of Strauss may never reach the highest levels; his chief office as composer, like that of Whitman as poet, may be to explore a domain25 wherein the superlative genius of the future is to expand his ample powers. That genius, and in our opinion he only, can reveal the legitimate26 possibilities of sound. In his tonal creations the cacophonious, as well as the euphonious27, must be employed in such way that every mood of man and every shade of human feeling shall be faithfully portrayed28, and the world itself epitomized. His must be a sane29 equipoise, an unfailing sense of fitness, the consummate30 ability to adjust to a nicety, so that always the end justifies31 the means. Already his predecessors in the great acknowledged schools have developed the art of euphony32. It will be his even more difficult and exacting33 task to develop the art of cacophony34, and fuse the two in such way that they over-picture not the totality of man and nature.
Notwithstanding Wagner's belief that instrumental music could not further develop unless fused with the sister arts of poetry, painting and dramatic action, the modern outlook discovers in the art of sound almost limitless possibilities as yet unrealized; but, judging from the past, the stupendous tonal edifice35 created by the coming master will not overshadow the erections of composers from Bach to Wagner.
Still the divine Mozart will turn us to the never-to-be despised beauty of form chaste36 and classic. Still Beethoven's temple of music will reveal that form's complete and glorious development and crowning. Still at heaven's very gate will Schubert, spontaneous and impassional lark37, outpour the melody he learned beneath that temple's overhanging roof, or else in the sacred limits of its inmost court.
Always we shall have with us those who in the name of progress turn the back on whatever is behind. Ignoring Aristotle's profound dictum that the real test of art is not originality38, but its truth to the universal, these no doubt will ridicule39 as immature40 attempts, necessary to the adolescence41 of art, all that is greatest in German and Italian music. In addition to these we shall have that class of temperamental individuals who, from the extravagant43 and bizarre, derive44 that thrill of rapture45 which they mistake for appreciation46: however, these fickle47 followers48 of fads49 and fashions cannot be reckoned among the adherents50 of legitimate art. Now as to the public, the great overwhelming body of the people; can they be educated to enjoy the new art of sound? Will they not refuse, aye, obstinately51 refuse to appreciate cacophony however judiciously52 employed? A difficult question this unless one remembers that, as the race advances, the foremost, coming into new vistas53 of Truth, bequeath to those next in line, and so on to the very rear, their own rare and high discovery.
In the comprehensive art of sound, the euphonious epitomizes the major, better half of man and nature. From this it appears that the cacophonious must epitomize the minor54, baser half. Why, heretofore, was this half well-nigh denied tonal utterance55? Was it not largely from the old and inadequate56 theological conception which made the existence of evil an abortion57 of the Divine plan?
Conceding the answer implied, and granting that the attitude of the time is one of invitation, let us consider certain factors necessary to the realization58 of the art of sound.
Orchestral music and orchestral accompaniment, as understood by Bach and Handel, betray a paucity59 of resource and a lack of color then inevitable60. Since that era of small beginnings, and in late years especially, orchestral instruments both numerous and valuable have been invented, and the capacity of brass61 and wood-wind much enlarged and their quality greatly improved. Desirous of utilizing62 to the utmost all additions and improvements, orchestral composers sought effects the most novel both in solo and in symphony. As result the orchestra grew from infantile to gigantic proportions and capabilities63. Thus was produced a full, flexible and characteristic means of expression, one peculiarly suited to the speculating and philosophizing musician who, already due and now appearing, added his contributions to those productive of a rounded art.
In examining the factors which make for Strauss and his works, we shall find that his native originality could never have raised him to what he is, and that the art of sound would still be an undiscovered one, had not Chopin already exemplified, most eloquently64, the flexibility65 of the laws of chromatic66 progression, and had not Wagner, that great emancipator67, stricken from musical form the cramping68 bonds of a narrow convention.
If, as we contend, the minor half of dual42 man and nature has legitimate place in all art, then let the musician beware lest, as final impression, he make evil seductive, and so identify himself with decadence69 as have those who denounce in every form of art any purpose consciously moral; those in fact who announce as their dictum, ?Art for art's sake.? When for specific ends the musician weaves around evil a flowery spell, he somehow should make us feel that death and corruption70 lurk71 in every petal72 of those all-too-enticing blooms.
Moreover, when by means of cacophony he lays bare the true nature of evil, he should avoid an excess which would identify him with the moral pervert73 whose delight is in the abnormal. Let him understand that in this world's great school where, only amidst the lure74 of opposites, character can be formed and wisdom gained, the true office of evil and the secret of its permission is that eventually its inner hideousness75 will turn from itself, forever, those who, through ignorance of the essential nature of evil, have yielded to its manifold seductions.
Of all arts, music is accredited76 to be the highest and purest. The supreme77 art of the beautiful, it rests on a mathematical basis. Its notes and intervals78 and chords progress in compliance79 with defined, or at least definable laws corresponding to the great laws which, moving with mathematical precision, brought order from chaos80 and so created the world. Concerning the art of sound, this problem confronts us; what are the laws if any which govern the ugly? Or, to put it differently, to what extent does the ugliness of evil correspond to chaotic81 conditions?
If what the composer would depict82 is not governed by mathematical law, then is he warranted in the use of unresolved and unresolvable dissonances. Judged by this rule, Debussy has perhaps so transgressed83 that a wiser generation will pronounce his efforts to be a passing phase of ?stheticism. But the difficulty of determining just what is, or is not governed by mathematical law, must lead to a deal of error ere we attain84 the true art of sound.
To illustrate85 the vast unlikeness of method in the descriptive instrumental works of the classical and those of the ultra-modern school, two examples will suffice. The representation of Chaos in Haydn's ?Creation,? gave to the composer full opportunity for every liberty of harmony and form tolerated in his time. Now, while a rather frequent use of the diminished seventh chord lends to this composition somewhat of needed vagueness, still there are no modulations to distant keys, no abrupt86 transitions, no unresolved or unresolvable discords87, no consecutive88 perfect fifths, and, in fact, there is nothing in the chord progression which the critic of to-day would deem daring or even unusual for, always and wholly, the harmonic scheme conforms to conventional rules. Here and there is somewhat of concession89 to established musical form, for, in this picture of Chaos, the employment of anything radical90 either in form or harmony, would have provoked censure91 the very harshest and even have proved the author guilty of the unpardonable sin of producing what could never be called music.
With this attempted realism of Haydn, compare now that portion of ?Don Quixote? wherein Strauss delineates the gradual and complete disordering of the mind of Cervantes' hero. Wholly sure of his novel method, one, by the way, peculiarly adapted to the subject, Strauss avails himself of every conceivable liberty of tone and form. Euphony and cacophony mix in an astounding92 realism, while the rational sequence of sanctioned form gives way to the illogical and wholly fantastic, in fact the chaos of dethroned reason.
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1
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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inflames
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| v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的第三人称单数 ) | |
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sanity
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| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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abstruse
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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endorse
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| vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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materialism
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| n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上 | |
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exponent
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| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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euphonious
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| adj.好听的，悦耳的，和谐的 | |
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portrayed
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| v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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justifies
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| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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32
euphony
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| n.悦耳的语音 | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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cacophony
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| n.刺耳的声音 | |
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35
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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originality
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| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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immature
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| adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的 | |
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adolescence
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| n.青春期，青少年 | |
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42
dual
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| adj.双的；二重的，二元的 | |
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43
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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49
fads
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| n.一时的流行，一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 ) | |
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adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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51
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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52
judiciously
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| adv.明断地，明智而审慎地 | |
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53
vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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54
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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56
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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abortion
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| n.流产，堕胎 | |
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58
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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59
paucity
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| n.小量，缺乏 | |
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60
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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61
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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62
utilizing
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 ) | |
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capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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64
eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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66
chromatic
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| adj.色彩的，颜色的 | |
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67
emancipator
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| n.释放者；救星 | |
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cramping
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| 图像压缩 | |
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decadence
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| n.衰落，颓废 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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71
lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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petal
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| n.花瓣 | |
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pervert
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| n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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75
hideousness
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76
accredited
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| adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于 | |
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77
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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79
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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80
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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chaotic
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| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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82
depict
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| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
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transgressed
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| v.超越( transgress的过去式和过去分词 )；越过；违反；违背 | |
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84
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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85
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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86
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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discords
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| 不和（discord的复数形式） | |
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88
consecutive
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| adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的 | |
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89
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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90
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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91
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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92
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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