MENDELSSOHN-THE MAN AND THE MUSICIAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14447, 13 February 1909, Page 13

MENDELSSOHN-THE MAN AND THE MUSICIAN

A CKXTKNAIIY SKETCH. His is oiio of the ravo characters thai cwir.ot 1)3 known to intimately. Of him there is nothing to tell Hist is not iiouon-ab-lo to his memory, consoling lo his friends, jirefitr,l,!o lo all men. . . . .Much as j admiral him as an artist, 1 was no less olrucl; by his childlike simplicity ami sportiveness, liis deference to sgo, his rc.diuess to hand his genius to give pleasure to tho Immb'.o and ignorant, lie vivacity and fervour of Iris admiration for every filing i;ocd and great, hia cultivated intellect, refed tastes and r,oi>!o amtimenH-llrn Austin, in Frac-sr's Magazine, April, ISiB. 1.-MIWDIiLSSOHN-THK MAN, (Continued). "A youth so glowing Has succeeded by a maiikud thai- scintillated with musical achievement, social and artistic triumphs, and pleasurable happenings which fall but seldom to gifted humanity." Thus aptly does L>r Annie Patterson in her "(Lent .Minds in Music" summarise Mendelssohn's subsequent career. And having in mind the limits of our space we can hardly do better than quoto the same writer's succinct account of the musician's " ideal existence": The opinions of Moscho.les, Chovubini, and others being brought, lo hear upon the elder Mendelssohn in giving his consent that Felix should follow musio as a profession, a university career completed, tlio young composer travelled to England, having his t aiu'mor Symphony performed by the Philharmonic Sixiicty in. London. He toured subsequently in Scotland and Walts, obtaining rapturous receptions everywhere ami making hosts of friends. Later, wo find him an honoured guest ill several Continentul "towns, Italy bcin'.reached in 1830. ] u 1837 he married the gentle and beautiful Cecile Jeanrenaud, an amiable and charming woman who mado Lis domestic life so blissful. Of this marriage there were five chihl.ren, (hrec sons aild two daughters, Mendelsohn's home circle being described as an ideal one. Begarding professional appointments, the composer had no lack of oilers, his independent position enabling him to pick ii,;id cluxwi wlmt plea.-ed him best. Thus we find him, for some time, musical director at DimseUiiri, and, later, conducting Cologne and Brunswick festivals. His duties at Leipzig, both as conductor of the Gmvatidliaus concerts and in connection with the conservatoire, seem to havo pleased him best. His temporary removal to Berlin lo iullil the desire of the King of Prussia fo establish there an Academy of Art* does not. appear to have been so conwnial to Mendelssohn's t,-isk>, and the negotiations caused him much worry. In Ijimbn, which he visited no fewer than ten times, he received the most gratifying of receptions, the late Prime Consort and Quell Victoria being among his sheerest admirers. That death should havo cut short f yj happy a career when Mendelssohn was but 38 is one of these mysterious happonings aLnif which it is futile to speculate. A year previously "E]ij:il|" had taken Birmingham aild, subsequently, 1/mdon by storm. ]> ut n, n drain of public life and axial demands winch his fame entailed told severe.lv

on Mm nwwiis tcmpcraHioiit of the ma-ii himself, an returning in his homo after his bust, memorable sojourn in JCnglaml, the news of the sudden death of his beloved si-der (Fanny Jloimrl) caused tho rupture of a bloodvessel in j,l, u ] jC3{ ] i which undoubtedly hastened Mendelsohn's own end. The "Nnchllicd" (op. 71) was not, only his last song. h-.;t almost, his farewell to musical performuncc: for it was whilst accompanying ■ma friend, Mine. Frege, in trying it over that a shivering fit. seized hiin,'t,ho precursor of tint, fata! illness which saw tllejeleaso of his spirit on November A, IEI 7. After an impressive funeral service „i Leipzig f,h c morlal remain «,f Mendelssohn were taken to Berlin, whciv; llll'y wore CDiiiiniLliMl to the family valut

amid general mourning. ir.-MK>iDKI,SSOHN-TIIKJIUSICrAN.

Wo an- not. pcrh'.ips, prone to ho verv dcnion?lnviive over artists, especially over musicians, but this was 11 wiiii who had wound himself into our feelings :-s no otls-r musician hud done since Handel. Whtl Handel* ,:un K s. Harmonious Blacksmith, n-ud other harpsichord pieces had dune tot the English public in 17-1(1, that Holm's "!.iim;;s Without Words" tint, part soii!:s hsd dene in 18-10, and lluv had nlre.-ulv made his inline ft beloved household word in muiiy a taiuily circle both in town and country, lie had for long been looked upon us 'all an KngHihmim. He spoke English well, he wrclj letters and fnniHiar notes in o-.ir tongue freely, he showed himself in the provinces. His first important work was .'minded on Shakespeare; his last was broach; out in Knj/lajid, at so peeuliiirly <u !-'T:i'!isli town 115 Birmingham; and his ''Scotch Syninhonv" u-ud " Hebrides Overture" showed bow deeply the scenery of |3r,'..jin hud influenced him. And perhaps nwti, th:;n this there were in the singular pu.-'-y of his life, in his known devotion to his wife mid family, and his general high and icscifish character the things most cseutkil to procure him bath Hie esteem and affection of the Em-dish peoolc—Sir (leoigo Grove.

'I'lii' inevitable reaction, following the Mendelssohn fever which inflamed Hurope and notably the Kng'ish musical public during tl:t> composer': life time, ivimc speedily after (.lie doat.li (if Mende'ssohn. As Stephen Stratum writes: —

iu England the composer was looked upon as the direct sueeewor of Handel and Ucofhoven—Bach was only known

to a select few—and quite their equal. Then came the reaction. The voice of (tetradion was heaul in k'ip/.ig almost from the moment nf Mendelssohn's

death ; other idols were worshipped, and

the inllueiice of the composer of "Elijah" began to wane. The English remained truer to the man they so long idolised i but here, also, in time were

found those who disparaged him ; and

so. as the adulation was overdone in former years, now the depreciation was equally unjust. After the lapse of SO years it is possible to form a truer intimate of his genius. Even now his music

is to be found in every home: hie oratorios and enntaUs form nart of every festival seliome; and if his symphonies are not so often heard, it is not from want- of merit- in those works, but Uvause the public palate- at the present time has become jaded, if not vitiated, bv the pungent harmonies and gorgeous giittn- „[ (| lt , i; lto( . orthesiral school. lJi s overtures stand among tie.- lirst of their order, and upon them p litis not yel plae-d its withering hand. Then the violin concerto has no r'viil in popular favour save that- bv lieethoven. Mendelssohn was indeed 'a gr.-it couipofcr. and if he did not reach tlio altitude of those i;iants of art Kiwh, lieethoven. and Mozart, he came verv near to them in gom,, respects. It has ken remarked that Mendelssohn's very yersatuty was a hindrance to his attaining the topmost pinnacle of bus art All hi- achievements were crowded into the brief span of 38 years, and his life, was ono of continual excitement and ceaseloss action. Groat, as is his fanio as a oconogscr, liq-two-alsp celebrated as...pr»

ganist, pianist, and conductor. As a, teacher lie cannot be regarded as successfill, and, indeed, the work was dktastelul to liiin. An amount of wrong has been done to Mendelssohn in comparing liim with other composers with whom lie hud nothing in common. Berlioz was introduced to London by the. Now Philharmonic Society in 1852 and Wagner in 185'1, liis "Tamihnuscr" overture finding a place in the piograinuie of April 26, and being described a.-i "such queer stnll that criticism would be thrown away on it." It whs in 1853 that Schumann was represented for the first time by an orchestral work at the Philharmonic concert of April 1. Did, as Stephen St'ratton points out:

The new school was bound to make its way in time, and even to flutter tho dovecotes of conservative Kneinndi

There, was strength and puipos.e in it, but was it. necessary to exalKit at the expense of Mendelssohn? The stage holds the mirror up to Nature; music mirrors the man who creates it. The rugged, lofty-soulcd Beethoven portrays it in his music. The boundless imagination, the princely splendour of tlmught and habit of Wagner are reflected in his vast designs and the piodiga] display of means in his scores. The cultivated, relincd, precise, and orderly disposition of Mendeli-flolm found expression in music, polished, beautifully bal-

anced iu harmony and plnase, and worked out with consummate skill and address. Nothing vague, no redundant bars, but everything in correct form, symmetry being, as if were, a law of his nature. If his themes were trivia!, as they were occasionally, so deftly were they handled that the defoct escaped observation. Mendelsohn could not have belonged to the new school, because ho was -Mendelssohn, and nono oilier; moreover, his work was done before thai, new school had obtained a linn footing, or even anything like general recognition. bnf'.fiiunali'ly, however, owing to the attraction of ilendekrohn's stvle, tho musical world for a while, was inundated with diluted Mendolssohns, and this imitation did much to bring the, original compter into temporary disrepute. But whatever criticism bo levelled against the works which Mendebvoim had handed down to posterity it. must, not be forgotten that a.j the discoverer of Bach the musical world owes him a debt which can never be redeemed.

As a song-writer Mendeksiilin's work is characterised by grace and charm. There is an exquisite finish in many of his songs and the expression is pure and unforced; but tho deeper note is lacking, and they have not (.ho distinctive charader of the liicdnr of Schubert, Schumann, or .Brahms. As an orchestral writer Mendelssohn ranks with the highest; he had the technique of the art at hi? finger ends. He came into 'the rich heritage left by P.cefhoven and Weber, a heritage he handed on still richer to his successors. Mendelssohn enriched the stores of Clismbor music without creating any epoch-making work in that branch of art.

Stephen Stralton cites the opinion held by some authorities tli.it as an exoeulaiit Mendelssohn was "renter than as a composer, and declares that the accounts of his ])layii]|; indicated genius of no common order. Elaborating this 1 point, ho proceeds : — It is, of course, a matter of difficulty to assess at their true, value, pcrform.'tnces on the organ or pianoforte of 60 or YO years ago. The u>"trum«its ha.vo undergone considerate change, and in particular the organ Lii-day, with its light touch and varied accessories, is a ven- dili'eieni thing from any that .Mendelssohn ever jilayed upon. . . . As a pianist -Mendelssohn was equally great. Clara Schumann, Ferdinand llillw, Joachim, and maJiy others have spoken enthu.-iastically of his playing. W. S. Rockstro, Otto CiokkJmrkl, an<l Charles Kdwaid Horslcy, his pupils, hear eloipitnt witness to the same. The last-named, indeed, goes so far as to say that Iris mastery over the instrument was little short of miraculous. "His powers of execution were quite as great as those of Rubinstein and Liszt; his delicacy of touch ami tone was not exceeded by Tliaiheiv or Chopin." As a conductor MendolsFolm was among the first of Iris time. lie brought discipline iut> the orchestra. There was;

a personal magnetism about- him when at tho conductor's desk that secured tine results-!. And yet judged by modern standards his conducting would leave something to be desired. It was like himself, bright and sunny; but not penetrating deeply below the surface of

musical expression.

AlcmH-solm is credited with a phenomenal musical memory, and many striking instances are given oi its exercise in emergencies. After the first performance in London of tho overture to the "Midsummer Nifflit's Dreaiu," the .tore was left by Attwocd in a cab, and it was lost. "Never mind," cried Mendelssohn, " I will make another"; and he did, ar/1 it corresponded with the several parts in every particular. At Dusseklorf, when licefhoveu's Pastoral Symphony was being performed, the score not being forthcoming, -Mendelsohn cor.duUecl liom memory, and not a single point escaped him. Jakla- Wallace Mis the story that at a Court concert in Dresden in 1846 sho Has requested by the King of Sasmy to suggest a tliemo from w!iie.h Mendelssohn could extemporise. She selected Cluck's

" Iphigenie." "■ Mendelssohn had not heard tho work for seven years, nevertheless he introduced every important air in his improvisation, lie is said to have kinwn the classics by heart, while as to his own compositions they had become so much ji part of his being that- he could not forget a single note if he would.

A.s fit-ting conclusion to this imperfect centenary sketch wo venture to quote, the words in which Vernon Blackburn endeavours to assign Mendelssohn his true position in the world of art: —

-Mwlcrnity has chosen somewhat to relievo itself of Mendelssohn. The new critic has chosen also to set- him on 0110 side; he has been despised for tho cheapness of his melodies and flic thinness of his harmonics. Wagner has reminded 11s that ho was a Jew. Later writers havo reminded us that his principal attempt was to write beautiful melody. In a word, Mendelssohn has been a sort of racquet, ball, tossed about from net to net. But in summing up the facts of his life, it- is necessary to forgot all these controversies, all these quarrels between critic and critic, and to lvnu'inber that in tho long nm (he world has accepted him and his work, and has proclaimed its essential determination not- to let that work disappear from its desire for that which is highest in musical art. The world is right; the majority invariably prevails. Much of that which is best' in our thoughts, iu our feelings, in our emotions, in our desires was represented by Mendelssohn, though he assuredly cannot- he described

as one of those p.roplicts who run ahead of our time, and who -have to wait in the great meadows of inuwrtalitv for humanity to catch up to them. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, took humanity in both arms, and gave it an embrace which filled its heart with joy at the time, hut which since his death has been described as being among the cheap things of life. 15ut the equipoise of art and life in the end rights all things; injustice is always equally balanced by justice; the balance becomes adjusted, and finally the position of the .ere.it man of any time becomes as assured as the position of any singular star which mils round t-bo system of the universe to which we -mortals, despite of pride, must, confess ourselves to submit. .Such a star was MemHssohn, whatever the significance of bis life may have bean, and lie bclbi'-jod to that planetary system which with its suns and with its minor Mtollites "evolves about the artistic cejrt-ro of all this uain-tdligiblo .ivorl<l-pi futilt-.'le?iiT ioi Mriess jarfri-

tion, of great art, ■ and of eternal oblivion.