PROGRAMMATIC ELEMENTS IN THE WORKS OF SCHOENBERG by Walter Boyce Bailey A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Music) August 1982UMI Number: DP29471 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion UMI Dseertation Pubiahing UMI 0P29471 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90007 This dissertation, written by 1ey. under the direction of hi.s.... Dissertation Com- mittee, and approved by all its members, has been presented to and accepted by The Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his gratitude to tne Arnold Scnoenberg Institute, Belmont Music Publisners, and the Schoenberg heirs, Los Angeles, for permission to quote the musical examples and documents incorporated in this work. He wishes, also, to acknowledge with the greatest gratitude the assistance and advice of Professor Bryan R. Simms concerning musicological issues as well as issues of translation, transcription, style, and format. In addition, thanks are due to Professors Richard J. Wingell and Charlotte E. Erwin of the musicology department, Dr. Leonara Stein, Director of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, and tne late Mrs. Clara Steuermann, Archivist of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute. Special thanks are offered to Mr. Jerry McBride, Assistant Archivist of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, for assistance in all matters relating to the materials housed in the Archives. iiCONTENTS MUSICAL EXAMPLES v INTRODUCTION 1 I. TOWARD A DEFINITION OF PROGRAM MUSIC 8 A. Introduction 8 8. Origin, Application, and Justification 9 C. Attempts at Classification 28 II. PROGRAM MUSIC IN SCHOENBERG'S VIENNA 39 III. MISCELLANEOUS DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC 71 IV. TONE POEMS: COMPLETE WORKS AND FRAGMENTS 89 A. Introduction 89 8. Verklarte Nacnt 90 C. Three Fragments 113 D. Pelleas und Melisande 145 —. Ein Stelldichein 175 iiiV. SKETCHES FOR PROGRAM SYMPHONIES A. Introduction B. Symphony for Soli, Mixed Chorus, ana Orchestra, 1914-15 Cc. Symphony in Four Movements, 1937 VI. WORKS INSPIRED BY SECRET PROGRAMS A. Introduction | B. String Quartets Numbers 1, 2, and 3 | C. Five Pieces for Orchestra, Opus 16 D. Suite, Opus 29 E. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra F. String Trio VII. SCHOENBERG'S AESTHETIC VIEW OF PROGRAMMATIC ELEMENTS IN MUSIC | BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX Bz APPENDIX A: CONCERTS SPONSORED BY THE VEREINIGUNG SCHAFFENDER TONKUNSTLER, 1904-U9 FOR THE FIRST TWO ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS OF THE VEREINIGUNG SCHAFFENDER TONKUNSTLER A LIST OF REVIEWS RETAINED BY SCHOENBERG 184) 184 185 256 259 oy 261 205 209 275 306 320 332 339 340] iv|We 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. MUSICAL EXAMPLES (a11 by Schoenberg unless otnerwise noted) Verklarte Nacht, measures 161-62. Small Sketchbook VI, sketches 864b, &64c, ana 865a (The Good Earth). Program Notes to Verklarte Nacht, musical examples. “Konstruktives in der Verklarten Nacnt.” "Toter Winkel." “Hans im Gldck." Formal diagram of Schoenberg's "FrUnlings Toa. "FrUnlings Tod," first theme. “Frihlings Tod," second "movement." “Friinlings Tod," introduction. "Frinlings Tod," third tneme. "Frinlings Tod second theme. “Frinlings Tod," first page of orchestral score. "Friinlings Tod," clarinet “cadenza.” Analysis: Pelleas und Melisande (program notes), musical examples. Symphony 1914-15, scherzo araft. Symphony 1914-15, sketch U380 (excerpt). Sympnony 1914-15, “Freudenruf I* (sketch U385). 88 100 105 118 125 132 134 136 138 139 41 142 144 153] 23d 24 24a)19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24a, 2. 26. 20s 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. Symphony 1914-15, "Freudenruf II" (sketch U386). Symphony 1914-15, sketcn U391. Symphony 1914-15, "Aeonische Stunde" (sketcnes U389-90). (A) Sympnony 1914-15, theme from "Aeoniscne Stunde,” (8) Die Jakobsleiter, theme of "Die Seele," measures Symphony 1914-15, sketch U392. Symphony 1914-15, sketcn U394. Sketchbook IV, sketch 326 (Symphony 1914-15). Sketchbook V, sketch 579 (excerpt) (Suite, opus 29). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, sketch 113. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, sketcn 118. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, sketch 114. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, sketch 121. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, sketch 120. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, sketch 148. 24g 244 247 rz 284 288 290 291 294 295 viINTRODUCTION In tne essay “Heart and Brain in Music," Schoenberg defended tne notion that "poets, artists, musicians, actors, and singers should admit tne influence of a brain upon their emotions."1 he aecried tne standard opinion that music was born eitner of neart, in elements of beauty, or of brain, in elements of construction, and that the two rarely were combined. He then proceeded to list a number of examples from nis own works in wnicn heart and brain contributed togetner to create remarkable effects. He concluded that from the finisned composition, it was impossible to know “whether tne emotional or tne cerebral constituents" had determined the course of the piece. “It is not the heart alone," he wrote, “which creates all that is beautiful, emotional, patnetic, affectionate, and cnarming; nor is it tne brain alone which is able to produce tne well-constructed, tne soundly organized, the logical, and tne complicated."4 1. Arnold Scnoenberg, Style ang Idea: Selected Writings of Arnold Scnoenb. ar ed; Leonard Stein (lew York: St. Martins, 1975) ore d 54. 2. Ibid., p. 75.One of the musical examples that Scnoenberg quoted in this article is a complicated two measure passage from Verklarte Nacnt.3 Example 1. Verklarte Nacht, measures 161-6. Schoenberg explained that tne complexity of this passage resulted from nis desire to “express the idea benind tne poem," and that "the most adequate means to that end seemed a complicated contrapuntal combination: a leitmotiv and its inversion played simultaneously."4 Schoenberg related tnat ne worked a full nour on this Single passage, althougn ne spent only tnree weeks on the | entire work. In Scnoenberg's view, “this combination was not the product of a spontaneous inspiration but of an extra-musical intention, of a cerebral reflection. Tne 3. Arnold Schoenberg, Verklarte Nacnt (Berlin: Dreililien, [19053), p. 20. 4. Schoenberg, Style ana Idea, p. 95.tecnnical labour wnicn required so mucn time was in adding such subordinate voices as woula soften tne narsh frictions of this combination."5 Examples such as this passage illustrate tne complicated way in which extramusical elements function in Schoenberg's works. They are found in works from all periods of Schoenberg's output, and their employment cannot be summarized in a single statement. Extramusical or programmatic elements sometimes influence aspects of | "neart" and sometimes influence aspects of "brain," and | as Schoenberg said about these two elements, it is not always possible to appreciate the influence of programmatic ideas from the final product. Programmatic features are an important aspect of Schoenberg's works and by examining tnem, much can be learned about Schoenberg's compositional process. Schoenberg's programmatic neritage was extensive. Around the year 1900, when Schoenberg was completing nis first important works, program music was a force of great consequence in the musical world. Although it was Prominent only sporadically in the nistory of music before 1800, for most of the nineteenth century program Ibid., p. 56.music was at the forefront of artistic trends, and it became a serious rival of absolute music for the first time. Given this artistic climate, it is not surprising that Schoenberg turned to programmatic genres for some of his first publisnhea works. Most famous among these are his tone poems Verklarte Nacnt, opus 4 (1899), based on a Poem by Richard Denmel, and Pelleas und Melisange, opus § (1902-03), based on Maeterlinck's play. Contemporary with these completed works, however, there are a number of unfinisned programmatic works that are less well-known. Tne unusual combination of tone poem and chamber ensemble found in the string sextet Verklarte Nacht is repeated in tne fragment “Toter Winkel" (c. 1899), also for string sextet, based on a poem by Gustav Falke. The unfinished "Ein Stelldichein™ (c. 1905) is also scored for a cnamber ensemple, and, like Verklarte Nacht, is based on a poem by Richard Denmel. The more usual orchestral conception of Pelleas und Melisande is explored in sketches for a sympnonic poem, “Hans im Glick" (c. 1898), based on a German fairy tale, and in the substantial completed portion of “Frinlings Tod" (1898), a symphonic poem after Lenau.In addition to tnese early works, there are programmatic elements found in a number of Schoenberg's later compositions, written at a time wnen program music had lost all connotations of modernity. Of nis later chamber works, Scnoenberg nintea to nis students that there was a “secret” program for tne String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, opus 7, altnougn ne never specifiea its content. The Second ana Third String Quartets also contain programmatic references, the significance of which Schoenberg did not fully explain. In adaition, tne Suite, opus 29, contains some enigmatic programmatic elements. Schoenberg specified a more detailed program for tne String Trio, opus 45, which ne said documentea the heart attack he suffered in 1946, Schoenberg's later orcnestral music also contains a number of programmatic elements, the titles tnat ne added to the Five Pieces for Orchestra, opus 16, being the most obvious examples. Schoenberg also used a brief program in the composition of his piano concerto, but he never revealed its content to performers. Otner programmatic features are found in sketcnes for two program symphonies. The first of these works, which Schoenberg sketched in 1914-15, was to be scored for vocal soloists, Chorus, and orchestra. Some movements were to have texts, others were given Manleresqueprogrammatic titles. None of tnis work was completed, but the oratorio Die Jakobs1 eiter is descended from portions of it. Scnoenberg approacned tne idea of a Program symphony for a second time in 1937, wnen he made sketches for a four-movement work based on a Judaic Philosopnical program. This work also remained unfinisned. Schoenberg also explored the technique of musical illustration in tne number of nis works, ana in sketcnes for a film score to The Good Eartn, wnicn ne never completed. The existence of programs for these later pieces suggests that, even though Schoenberg moved on from the musical style associated with nis first programmatic works, he never completely abandoned programmatic elements. To this date, no autnor nas studied this Phenomenon completely. Carl Dahihaus, in nis essay "Schoenberg and die Programmusik," examined in a general way the various levels of programmatic content found in Schoenberg's publisned works.6 He specifies, nowever, tnat a work cannot be considered as program music unless the composer declares his program in tne form of a title or synopsis, which ignores completely the role of a 6. Carl Danihaus, "Schénderg und die Programmusik," in Schinberg und Andere: Gesammelte Aufsétze zur neuen WusTe “(Mather Schott, 1578), pp. T25-35-—program in tne compositional process. Kurt List, in an article titled "Scnoenberg ang Strauss," notes that twenty-nine of forty-seven original works by Schoenberg have “some program connotations," but he does not explore this point furtner.7? Other authors report on various aspects of the publisned tone poems, and several books and dissertations include discussions of these works in comparison to other chamber or orchestral works by Schoenberg. None, however, examines them in lignt of tne rich tradition of program music in tne late nineteenth century. This suggests that a more thorougn examination of Schoenberg's programmatic pieces and their relations to nineteenth-century models is in orcer. 7. _Kur t List, "Schoenberg and Strauss," Kenyon Review 7 (194 List, 5), pp. 57-68.I. TOWARD A DEFINITION OF PROGRAM MUSIC Introduction Any discussion of program music must come to grips with the lack of a suitable definition of tne term. It has been applied at one time or another to almost every type of composition connected in any way to extramusical ideas, events, or images. It is usually contrasted witn absolute music," which makes no such reference to anything outside of the musical materials themselves. Beyond tnis basic distinction, tnere is little agreement as to wnat types of compositions can be considered program music. It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that scholarly attempts were made to limit the meaning of the term “program music." In the course of the century, from the time of its first appearance in tne 1830s to tne wave of publications on the subject around 1900, tne term was applied to all matter of descriptive and imitative Music. With the aia of nistorical perspective, it isclear that this widening of the meaning of tne term lea to many misunderstandings about the origins and aesthetic Purpose of the genre. By examining a sampling of the various types of compositions traditionally categorized as program music, by exploring tne aesthetic circumstances wnich caused program music to rise to Prominence in the nineteenth century, and by surveying the arguments raised against program music towards tne end of the century, it is possible to create a workable definition of the genre. B. Origin, Application, and Justification Modern conceptions of the nature and value of program music have been formed largely by tne polemics that surrounded tne rise of tne genre in tne nineteentn century. Program music was the epitome of modernity by the 1850s, became the outmoded and disdained predecessor of contemporary objectivity by the 1920s, and is presently not quite old enough to be appreciated in its Proper historical context.! The nineteenth-century detractors of program music were so vehement in tneir attacks on the genre, despite the inappropriateness of 1. Carl Daninaus, Esthetics of Music, trans. William Austin (Cambridge: Cambriage University Press, 1982), pp.i most of their criticisms, and the formalism and objectivity of most twentieth-century music is so deeply ingrained in the consciousness of knowledgeable musicians, that program music continues to be disparagea today. Nineteentn-century supporters of program music saw tne joining of music and literature in tne form of Program music as the outcome of historical necessity and as part of the logical ana necessary evolution of music.2 Aestheticians, modeling their views on the traditions of eighteentn-century aesthetics, saw “pure” instrumental music as difficult to explain from an aesthetic point of view. Although instrumental music nad existed as a genre independent of vocal music for nearly two hundred years by 1850, the aestnetic question of wnat instrumental music really “meant” was still troubling to most authors writing about music. It nad long been established that instrumental music was capable of exciting emotions and that the emotions were the true subject of instrumental compositions.3 Hegel believed that it was only natural that listeners would desire to 2. Ibid., p. 58. 3. donann Gottfried Herder, Kalligone (Weimar, 1800), ¢ pt in Music and Aestnetics in the Eignteentn ar ano ariy-Nineteentn centuries, ed. Peter le Huray and Tanes-Day-(Canbriager Cambriage University Press, 1981), ay pp. 256-57. lolearn the specifics of the emotions being depicted in the music, concluding that instrumental music represented a | | Stage on the way to poetry, which ne viewed as a mucn more well-defineo art.4 Jt was common practice to explain compositions by means of words or pictures in [Order to make their contents more readily accessible.® jitns trunencet music was viewed as expressive, but somenow mute, and unable to convey its true meaning without tne aid of a text.6 Although tne possibility of creating compositions from the point of view of musical structure alone was recognized, it was believea that tnis procedure could lead to music "devoid of tnougnt or feeling, which Needs no awareness of culture or character."/ Out of this artistic climate, and, pernaps, inspired directly by it, grew tne modern trend of program music. Liszt saw the development of tne symphonic poem as a direct outgrowtn of a general need to "fix in poetic and Philosophical treatments the impressions" that |Beethoven's works excitea.8 To Liszt, however, the music meant more than the text that inspired it. Music 4. Daninaus, Estnetics, pp. 57-58. 5. Ibid., pp. 60-61. 6. Ibid., p. 61. 7. Ibid. 8. Ibid., p. 63. LLwas not a stopping point on the way to poetry, but an elevated art that encompassed all of literature.9 This, too, was a common nineteenth-century idea, that music was a type of language wnicn could speak directly of things that could not be expressed in words. Thus, a1] other means of communication were contained within it.10 As furtner support for program music, authors later in the century cited the existence of many different types of programmatic compositions dating back to tne fourteentn century. To some, the presence of a long tradition of program music proved tne validity of nineteentn-century examples of the genre. Others | rejected this argument, but could not deny tne existence of programmatic elements in many earlier compositions. Most pre-nineteentn-century programmatic compositions | relied on the imitation of nature for their programmatic effects. By 1900 most of tnese pieces were grouped together with the programmatic creations of tne 9. Ibid., p. 61. 10. Arthur Schopennauer, Die Welt als Wille una Vorstellung (1819, revised 1844), excerpt in Music and Resthetics, p. 324. 11. Frederick Niecks, Programme Music in the Last Four Centuries: A Contribution to the History of Musical Expression (1907; rpt. New York: Haskell, 1909); see also | Subsection C of tnis chapter. | 12ineteenth century under the heading of program music. Examples of earlier programmatic pieces, such as the accias of tne Italian Trecento, might be considerea within this broad usage of tne term “program music." Similarly, the word-painting found in sixteentn-century vocal music is related to the programmatic mogel. More specific examples, such as tne programmatic chansons of Jannequin ("Le chant des Oyseaux," “La Chasse," "La Guerre,") and nis imitators, generalize the procedure of jword painting for an entire composition.l2 Independent programmatic instrumental compositions appear for tne [first time in descriptive keyboara compositions by Jonn Munday (d. 1630) and William Byrd (1543-1623). Munday's fantasia, found in tne Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, depicts various meteorological states, including thunder ang |Vigntning.13 Byrd's suite of several movements in My_ |Laaye Nevell's Booke describes a battle.14 12. Niecks, pp. 7-13; Wili Apel, “Program Music," in Harvard Dictionary of Music. 13. Niecks, pp. 14-16; Leslie Orrey, Programme Music: A Brief Survey from the Sixteentn Century to the Present Day (London: Davts--Poynter, 1975), pp. 29-31; J.A. Fuller Maitland and W. Barclay Squire, The Fitzwilliam |Mirginal Book (1891; rpt. New York: Dover, 1963), vol. 1, pp. 2d-20. 14. William Byrd, My Ladye Nevells Booke, ed. Hilda lanarews (1926; rpt. New York: Dover, 1969), pp. 15-42.— a The baroque period saw an increase in tne number of individual programmatic compositions, altnough Programmatic genres remained of secondary importance in | general artistic trends. In vocal works, programmatic Jelements continued to play important parts in the form of |wora painting and in descriptive accompaniments. In |instrumental works, stort descriptive pieces were written [by lutenists sucn as Dennis Gaultier and claveginists |such as Chambonniéres, Francois Couperin, and Rameau.15 Longer descriptive keyboard works were |produced by Johann Kunnau (Bibliscne Historien nebst Auslegung in secns Sonaten auf dem Clavier zu Spielen £17001 CBiblical Stories Interpreted in Six Sonatas for Keyboard})16 and J.S. Bach (Capriccio sopra la lontananza_del suo fratello dilettissimo (17041 |Ucapriccio on tne Departure of a Beloved Brotner]).!7 | prosrammiaste-aegeripcive works for larger ensemble were written by Carlo Farina (c. 1600-c. 1640) (Capriccio stravagante),18 Marco Uccellini (c. 16U3-c. 1680) (Sinfonie boscareccie, opus 8),!9 and Heinrich Biber 15. Niecks, pp. 29-45; Orrey, pp. 40-43. 16. Niecks, pp. 21-27; Orrey pp. 34-35. 17. Niecks, pp. 57-58; Orrey, p. 36. 18. Niecks, p. 185 Orrey, p- 19. Niecks, p. 18; Orrey, p. 33. 14a |\(Mysterien fiir Violin und Klavier nach kupfersticnen biblisches Historien Cc. 1671] [Mysteries for Violin and Keyboard after Copper Plate Representations of Bible Stories]).20 Tne most ambitious programmatic composition of tne period was Vivalai's Tne Four Seasons (c. 1730).21 Eacn of tne four concertos that make up this work is prefaced by a sonnet to wnicn letters in the score refer. There are also extra markings in tne score to distinguish specific imitative effects. As in otner baroque programmatic compositions, the sounds of nature lare favored by Vivaldi. In the classic era, program music was largely tne [property of minor composers. For the most part, Haydn and Mozart were interested in purely musical aspects of design and not in extramusical representation.2@ The very few works with any programmatic content contributed by the composer, for example, Haydn's early symphonies Le Matin, Le Midi, and Le Soir, contain only tne most basic indications of a program. Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-99), nowever, produced large-scale programmatic orks in his twelve Symphonies based on the Ovid 20. Orrey, pp. 33-34. 21. Niecks, pp. 60-62; Orrey, p. 37. 22. Orrey, p. 39.Metamorphoses (c. 1783), of wnich only nine are extant. Each of these works is prefaced witn a quotation from Ovid that explains the content of tne music.23 During Beetnoven's lifetime, it continued to ve tne minor Composers who made the most frequent contributions to programmatic genres. beetnoven's Pastoral Sympnony and nis Battle Symphony were not tne only programmatic pieces written at this time, but tney have outlasted similar works by lesser composers (especially in tne case of the Battle Symphony) by virtue of their composer's fame. Prefiguring tne programmatic content of Beetnoven's Pastoral Symphony (1808) was Le Portrait Musical de la Nature ou Grande Sympnonie (1784) by J.H. Knecht (1752-1817). Knecnt's nature symphony, like Beethoven's, is in five movements, witn superscriptions in Frencn for each movement.24 Beethoven's Battle Sympnony, Wellingtons Sieg oder die Scniacht bei Victoria (1813) was just one of many “battle” pieces written around the turn of the century. Otners by Franz Kotzwara (a. 1791), Daniel Steibelt (1765-1823), Jan Dussek, F.C. 23. Niecks, pp. 88-94; Orrey, p. 44. 24, Niecks, pp. 94-98; Orrey, pp. 49-50. 16Neubauer (c. 1760-95), Louis Jadin (1768-1853), Jonann Wanhal (1739-1813), and Ferdinand Kauer (1751-1831) were known throughout Europe.25 In addition to the Pastoral and Battle sympnonies, Beetnoven wrote several other works witn less definite Programmatic content, sucn as the Eroica Symphony and the “Tempest," “Pathetique," and "Les Adieux" piano sonatas~ His contemporary Carl Maria von Weber also wrote music with vague programs, although he dia not publicize the Programs and spoke or wrote of them only within nis own circle of family and friends. For two important works, the Concertstiick for Piano ana Orchestra (c. 1817) and the Aufforderung zum Tanz (1819), various accounts of Weber's programs have survived. There are two known programs for tne Concertstick, one from Weber's writings and one from reports by his friends and family. When he was planning the work, c. 1815, Weber proposed a program with the following headings: “Allegro, Parting; Adagio, Lament; Finale, Profoundest misery--consolation--reunion-~ jubilitation."26 He tnougnt the use of a program woula be advisable because "concertos in the minor without definite, evocative ideas seldom work with tne 25. Niecks, pp. 104-09; Orrey, pp. 93-55. 26. Orrey, pp. 62-63.public."27 When he played the work in 1821 for his lwife, he recited a program about a lady who sits in a tower, waiting for her lover, a knight, to return from nis battles in the Holy Lana.28 Aufforderung zum Tanze was published with its suggestive title but without a program. Weber explained the significance of tne title with a detailed synopsis of a scene at a ball.29 Descriptive programs, such as those supplied by Weber for his own works, were typical of the early nineteentn century. General interest in this approach to music is attested to by such works as Jonann Jakob Engel's Uber aie musikalische Malerei (1802) and Adolph Bernhara Marx's Uber Malerei_in der Tonkunst (1828), which discuss the aesthetics of descriptive music in general.30 By tne 1830s a new and unprecedented interest in program music was apparent on the part of a large number of ‘composers. In many respects, these composers drew on tne Programmatic genres of the past, but they were also influenced by the great passion of the age for 27. Ibid., p. 63. 28. Niecks, pp. 138-41; Orrey, p. 62. 29. Niecks, pp. 138-39; Orrey, pp. 61-62. 30. Engel, Schriften, vol. 4 (Berlin: Myliussischen Buchhandlung, 1802), pp. 297-342; Marx (Berlin: G. Finkesche, 1828). 18 |fliterature.3l Significantly in this respect, tne young omposers interested in program music were also known for their literary efforts. Of these, Schumann, Berlioz, and Liszt are rigntly most famous. Their works are indicative of larger programmatic trends in tne early Inineteenth century, falling into three new types of compositions: tne character piece for piano, the descriptive sympnony or program symphony, and the descriptive overture or tone poem. Schumann's main contribution to program music lies in nis’cycles of character pieces for piano, sucn as Papillons and Carnaval, altnougn two of nis symphonies |(No. 1: Spring; No. 3: Rnenisn) nave vague programs as well.32 papillons, for example, was meant to represent the masked ball at tne end of Jean Paul Richter's novel (Flegeljanre, and Carnaval is imbued witn botn private and public portrayals of people important in Schumann's life.33\ Schumann was ambivalent in nis attitude towara program music. He realized tne value tnat a well-chosen title could nave for placing a listener in a correct state of mind, but he felt that more detailed programs were counterproductive because they limited the 31. Daninaus, Esthetics, p- 60. 32. Niecks, pp. 206-08. 33. Ibid., pp. 193-96; Orrey, pp. 86-90. 19responses of tne listener. In several instances ne suppressed programmatic titles in nis works, or made them purposefully private and obscure.34 Mendelssohn, by way of comparison, also created many short character pieces for the piano, but witn titles much less rich in associative meanings than those of Schumann (for example, “Songs witnout Words.") On the other hand, Mendelssonn's overtures, such as those to A Midsummer Nignt's Dream and jane Hebrides, nave very suggestive titles but no definite |programs. Tne same it true for the Scottisn and Italian Symphonies, which were inspired by Mendelssonn's travels but carry no detailed programs. Berlioz, conversely, became famous for tne very specific program to his Symphonie fantastique, probably the most renowned piece of program music ever written. In addition, his two other symphonies (Harola in Italy and Romeo and Juliet) are programmatic, as are nis | numerous overtures. Contemporary witn the Symphonie fantastique, Louis Sponr produced a program symphony titled Die Weine aer Téne (The Consecration of Sound) (1832), a “tone-picture in tne form of a symphony after a x, I poem by Carl Pfeiffer," tnat followed its poetic scenario — 34, Thomas Alan Brown, The Aesthetics of Robert Schumann (New York: Pnilosopnical Library, 1968), pp- TeT=oz.— 20)quite closely.35 Spohr probably wrote this work witnout knowledge of Berlioz's symphony, and he indicated lin nis autobiography that ne was creating witn it a new form. 36 c Drawing on the programmatic innovations of Beetnoven, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, and Sponr, and on tne aesthetic and literary fashions of the early nineteenth century, Liszt aeveloped the genre of the sympnonic poem in the 1850s. He wrote thirteen of these single-movement programmatic works, namely Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne (Bergsympnonie) after Victor Hugo, Tasso: Lamento e Triofono after Byron (or Goethe), Les Préludes after Lamartine, Orpneus, Prometheus, Mazeppa after Victor Hugo, Festklange, Heroide Fun&bre, Hungaria, Hamlet, Hunnenscniacht after Kaulbacn's painting, Die Ideale jafter Scniller, and Yon der Wiege bis zum Grabe after a drawing by Michael von Zicny. In addition, he continued the line of the program symphony in his own Faust (Goethe) and Dante (Divine Comedy) sympnonies. Tne programs for Liszt's tone poems are rarely Narrative or descriptive.37 Some works incluae prefaces that outline Liszt's intentions, but the intent 35. Niecks, pp. 148-52; Orrey, pp. 74-76. 36. Orrey, p. 78. 37. Ibid. p. 77. 21of others must be derived from tne titles and from tne specific instances for which they were composed. There is no program attached to Hungaria, for example, but it was intended as a reply to a poem deaicated to Liszt by the Hungarian national poet Minaly Vorasmarty.38 Others, such as Les Préludes ana Heroide Funébre, were originally intended as parts of otner works and nad programs added only when Liszt decided to let tnem stand on their own. Les Préludes, for example, was originally the prelude to a choral work, Les Quatre Elémens, composed in 1848.39 When Liszt later decided to publisn this prelude as an independent work, ne found that Lamartine's "Les Préludes" matched the character of his music, if only loosely. To join music and program More closely, Liszt wrote a preface to be printea in tne score which begins: "Wnat is our life but a series of Preludes to tnat unknown song of which the first solemn note is sounded by death?...."40 Tne pnilosopnical nature of this program is typical of Liszt's approach. For Liszt, the program was a means of placing tne listener in tne correct frame of mind to appreciate fully 38. Humpnrey Searle, Tne Music of Liszt (London: Williams and Norgate, 195%), p. 39. Ibid., p. 71. 40. Ibid., p. 71.his composition.41 He was not, as is frequently claimed, attempting to say again in music what tne poet had alreagy said in the text. Thus, the creation of a |program after the completion of a composition was not at odds with his aesthetic. Led by Liszt's example, tne idea of tne sympnonic | poen spread throughout Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. Composers such as Smetana, Dvo¥ak, Franck, Saint-Saens, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky | contributed to the genre, choosing philosophical, narrative, or descriptive programs. In the last two decades of tne century, Ricnara Strauss put new life into the genre by combining descriptive or narrative programs with applications of classical forms in nis nine sympnonic poems Macbeth (1886-8 3 revised 1890), Don Juan (1887-88), Toa una Verklarung (1888-89), Till Eulenspiegel (1894-95), Also spracn Zarathustra (1895-96), Don Quixote (1897), E Heldenleben (1898), Symphonia Domestica (1902-03), ana Eine Alpensinfonie (1911-15). Don Juan, for example, is related to sonata form, Till Eulenspiegel to a rondo, and Don Quixote to theme and variations, yet eacn depicts a fairly specific sequence of extramusical events. The 4). Franz Liszt, “Berlioz and his ‘Harold' Sympnony," jn Source Readings in Music History, ed. Oliver Strunk (Nei °Yorer Norton; 1950]; pr Bes 23increased harmonic and orchestrational effects available by the late nineteentn century widened the possibilities for the depiction of extramusical events, keeping tne symphonic poem a tenable genre. Strauss was the leading exponent of programmatic composition at the turn of the century, and his attitude toward the genre was very Positive. “There is no such thing as abstract music,” ne is quoted as having said. “If music is good, it means something and then it is programme music."42 The program symphony after Liszt survived in a varied form in the works of Mahler. Manler's conception of program music was all-inclusive. “Beginning witn | Beethoven," he wrote, "there exists no modern music whicn hasn't its inner programme." "But no music is worth anything," he continued, “when the listener has to ve instructed as to what is experienced in it--in other words, wnat he is expected to experience."43 As a result of this opinion, Manler's programs are often quite vague, and he sometimes changed tneir content or completely suppressed tnem after tne completion of a work. His first symphony, for example, was originally presented as a sympnonic poem witn a detailed program, 42. W.P. James, "Musi ¢ Pure and Applied," Music ana Letters 2/4 (October 1921), u p. 373. 43. Sam Morgenstern, ed » Composers On Music (New York: Bonanza, 1956), p. 30 24but the work was shortened by one movement and the Program omitted in later performances.44 In its original form it was divided into two parts. Part I, From the Days of Youth, contained the movements "Spring Without End Blumine" (Andante), ana “Under Full Sail" (Scherzo). Part II, Human Comedy, consisted of "The Hunter's Funeral Procession" and " rom Inferno to Paradiso" (Allegro furioso). In its revised version, only a subtitle Titan, after a novel by Jean Paul Richter, was present.45 Manler provided a detailed program for his Second Symphony, the Resurrection, in a letter to his wife. It examined the contemplation and reality of deatn, remembrance of past joys, loss of faitn, and final resurrection in God.46 The program for the Third Sympnony is contained in the neadings of the six movements of the work, which Mahler said occurred to him while daydreaming on a summer day. These headings, "Pan Awakes--Summer Marches In; What the Wild-Flowers Tell Me; What the Creatures of the Forest Tell Me; What Mankind Tells Me; Wnat the Angels Tell Mes 44. Orrey, p. 137. 45. Egon Gartenberg, Manler: Tne Man and His Music (New York: Schirmer, 1978), pp- 253. 46. Alma Manler, Gustave Mahler: Memories and Letters, ed. Donala Mitchell, trans. Basil Creighton (New York: Viking, 1969), pp. 213-24. 25What Love Tells Me," are evocative in a general way rather than descriptive and leave little chance for descriptive imitation.47 Mahler remedied this linarticulateness by adding texts, sung by soloists or chorus, to a number of his sympnonic movements, a practice whicn ne had initiated in nis Secona Symphony. The Fifth, Sixtn, and Seventh Symphonies are free from precisely stated programmatic content, but programs exist for the Eighth, Ninth, and unfinisned Tenth Sympnonies. The program for the Eighth Symphony, like that for the Second, deals with religious matters and the idea of redemption, including references to Goethe's Faust. The Ninth Sympnony vaguely mirrors Mahler's concern over nis fatal illness, and the Tentn makes references to Dante's Divine Comedy .48 Program music continued to interest the generations | of Mahler, Strauss, and their younger contemporaries until the "non-expressive" trends of tne neo-classical era became dominant in tne 1920s. Sibelius wrote symphonic poems, as dia Elgar, Delius, Dukas, and Respighi. Debussy's Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun was inspired by a text, and a number of nis other works, 47. Orrey, p. 137+ 48. Micnael Kenneay, Manler (London: Dent, 1974), | pp. 150, 157. 26| such as La Mer and the Three Nocturnes, are programmatic in an evocative sense. Scriabin also affixed programs to several of nis works, altnougn these programs are abstrusely philosophical or religious in nature. As the idea of program music spread to a greater number of composers, so the opponents of program music increased in number and vociferousness. Altnougn tne supporters of the genre saw it as nistorically and aesthetically necessary, its opponents saw it as Psychologically impossible.49 Critics continually challenged listeners to "decode" the program of a piece of music about which they knew nothing.50 Of course, this experiment could only nave negative results, out it Proved nothing about the nature of program music. The untutored mind of the common listener was what program Music was designed to remedy. Because music was a Janguage of such infinite expression, a program was needed to focus tne listener's mind and to help him to appreciate tne music in a correct manner.°! Most detractors nad no conception of the original Purpose of program music. They assumed that a “poetic 49. Dahinaus, Esthetics, p. 58+ 50. See also Chapter II of this work for examples of this type of criticism. 51. Danihaus, Esthetics, p. 59.content" would demand tnat the music be subservient to the program, when, in reality, tne music was viewed as jsometning much larger than tne program itself. Tne one criticism tnat was rigntfully leveled against program music, in the sense that the authors of the criticism junderstood tne basic premise of program music, was that @ Program could limit tne listener's interpretation of tne meaning of the work. Some composers ana critics objected to this limiting effect, altnougn others believea it to be necessary. Attempts at Classification Between 1898 and 1910, several substantial articles and books appeared tnat souynt not only to draw tne boundaries of tne genre of program music but to discuss | the aesthetic questions involved witn tnis type of music and to trace its aevelopment through the ages. Thus, scholarly efforts toward limiting tne meaning of the term are relatively recent. These writings snow that tne generic term “program music" nad been applied in tne course of the later nineteenth century to tne complete spectrum of pieces incorporating programmatic elements and not just to those pieces wnich carried a descriptive 28peer = program to guarantee that an audience would approacn a composition from the same point of view as tne composer. Most authors were aware of the dilemma tnat this [all-inclusive definition entailed, and sought to divide the genre in some way. In establishing a workable modern definition of the term, it is nelpful to examine the viewpoints expressed in some of tne late nineteenth-century and early twentietn-century studies of Program music and to consider the various divisions of tne genre they employed. The opinions expressed in tnese writings, additionally, are the established viewpoints of the period when Schoenberg reached his artistic maturity, and, as such, undoubtedly played a part in the | indoctrination of the young composer. William Wallace, for example, writing on “Tne Scope of Program Music” in 1898, summed up many of the arguments typically found in discussions of tne subject at that time.52 Wallace believed, first of all, that the issue was a timely one because "the most advanced school of music togay," i.e., tnat which began “wnere Wagner left off," insisted on “the paramount importance of a literary idea being tne basis of tne 52. Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association 25 (189829975 pps TSB ASSOCcomposition...."53 He assertea further that program |music nad “attained such an importance" that it could no be “passed by as a means of musical expression unworthy of employment."54 Wallace admitted that it was difficult to define tne term because some wanted to limi its application only to music in whicn form was “sacrificed to the portrayal of a definite poetic idea, while others wanted to apply it to all music whicn bore title “other than an opus number or a key signature."55 Wallace's own "philosopnic definition included only music wnich attempted “to excite a mental image by means of an auditory impression. "56 Wallace recognized three subtypes of program music. The most limited of these attempted to imitate sounds occurring in nature, an element wnicn ne believed could be only subsidiary and incidental to musical design. A second type tried to symbolize a visual impression in | music, such as water, fire, or the flignt of a bira. He | represent the emotional result of a physical state. A third type, whicn he recognized as tne least limiting an 53. Ibid., p. 139. 54. Ibid., p. 140. 55. Ibid., pp. 139-40. 56. Ibid., p. 140. t t | believed that this was possible because music was able to a 30of the greatest musical value was music that attempted to symbolize subjective ideas that appealed to the intellect, such as love, revenge, or grief.97 Wallace was aware that in some compositions a program mignt conceal a lack of ideas or craftsmanship, but he jwas willing to state that when a composer attemptea "to jexpress some cefinite idea” he was “in a state nearer salvation" than if he nad "no idea to express" and thus Proclaimed himself “a writer of absolute music."58 The issue of what music is capable of expressing is a central question in all discussions of program music. A discussion following tne original delivery of Wallace's Paper elicited an anecdote about the expressive capabilities of music tnat represents tne level on which the issue was often discussed. A man wno doubted that |music could carry any definite message posed tne question “Can music invite you to dinner?" He was answerea that no, it could not, but that it could tell nim wnat dinner would be, as the respondent illustrated by playing on tne piano: BEEF, CABBAGE. Needless to say, the doubting party was not convinced.59 | 57. Ibid., pp. 141-43. 58. Ibid., p. 144. 59. Ibid., p. 156. 31,Richard Hohenemser, whose “Uber die Programmusik" [appeared in 1899, sougnt to examine tne validity of the genre from a psychological-aestnetic viewpoint. He |rejected tne argument that an historical precedent for Program music gave tne genre validity.61 He concluded that mood-inducing titles were valia applications of programs, but that the use of a program to cover up inadequacies in form or content were not.62 Ernest Newman's article on program music (1905), defined the genre as “purely instrumental (i-e., non-vocal) music that has its raison a'étre in a definite literary or pictorial scneme."63 Newman asserted that, even if its form was determined by a story, program music needed to be interesting as “pure” music.64 In ner article “Uber ein bestimmtes Problem der Programmusik," Elsa Bienenfeld discussed the intersection of absolute form ana extramusical representation in 60. Sammelbinde der Internationalen MusikgeselIschatt TEST-T900), pp. 307-24. 61. Ibid., p. 307. 62. Ibid., p. 324. 63. Ernest Newman, "Programme Music," in Musical Studies, 3rd ed. (London: Lane, 1913), pp. 103-80. —~ 64. Ibid. 32Program music.65 She traced this phenomenon back througn the ages and concluded that the music of the future would exist in some middle ground between tne extremes of absolute form and extramusical representation.66 ™ . Calvocoressi sought to remove the confusion generated by the inexactitude of the term program music by reserving it only for those compositions in whicn tne | form was determined by a program.67 For the other | categories of music previously included witnin tne designation of program music, he proposed three specific terms. The term “imitative” ne assigned only to music modeled on natural sounds. He assigned the term “descriptive” to music whicn only indirectly imitated natural sounds. Music which sought to depict something | but had no corollaries witn natural sounds, he designated 68 | as “representative. | 65. Zeitscnrift der Internationalen Musikgesellscnaft | 8/5 (February 1907), pp- 163-74. ana 66. Ibid. 67. M.-D. Calvocoressi, "Esquisse d'une estnetique ue la musique & programme," Sammelbinde der Internationalen Musikgeseliscnaft 9 (1907-08), pp. 424-38. 68. Ibid., pp. 436-37. 33Other authors, sucn as Hugo Leicntentritt, Wilhelm Klatte, Friedricn Niecks, and Otto Klauwell delved into the nistorical precedents for program music.©9 Of these authors, Niecks employed by far tne vroadest application of the term, proposing that it should encompass all compositions tnat contain any extramusical references.70 He believed that music was capable of depicting not only the audible and visible effects of tne “outer" world, but also the emotions and thougnts of the “inner" world. In Niecks's opinion, program music was “so comprehensive" that its nistory went “far towards being a History of Musical Expression."/1 Therefore he classed word-painting in vocal music as a type of program music.72 He also found “unrevealed" programs to be a possibility, concluding that “the absence of a programme and title Goes not prove the music to be absolute."73 69. Hugo Leichtentritt, “Vorldufer und Anfange der Program Musik," Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung 30 (1903); Wilhelm Klatte, Zur Geschichte der Programm-Musik, Die Musik: Sammlung i1lustrierte Einzeldarstellungen, vol. 7, ed. Richara Strauss (Berlin: Bard, Marquardt, 19055 Niecks, Programme Music in the Last Four Centuries; Otto Klaunei1, Gecchiente der Programm-Nustk (Letpz Tas Breitkopt & Hartel, 5 70. Niecks, p. iii- 71. Ibid., p. ive 72. Ibid., pe 7. 73. Ibid., p. iii. 34These turn-of-tne-century works dealing with program music demonstrate a complete reversal of aestnetic ideas from the positions expressed by aestheticians at the beginning of the century. In the early 1800s, it was commonplace to discuss instrumental music in the terms of vocal music, i.e., in terms of a text. By 1900 it was typical to judge all music from the point of view of absolute instrumental music.74 Thus, program music was permitted only if it made sense as pure music. The extreme position to which tnis point of view could develop is illustrated by Scnoenberg's essay "The Relationship to the Text," in which ne states nis case for tne appreciation of all music on the grounds of instrumental music, using as an example nis own ability to understand a Schubert song solely on tne basis of the music, before ne even read the text.75 Since the turn of the century, several additional studies of program music have appeared, proposing definitions of varying degrees of strictness. At tne opposite end of the spectrum from Niecks, aesthetician Roger Scruton has developed a precise definition wnicn 74. Dahinaus, Esthetics, p. 63. 75. Schoenberg, Style and Idea, p. 144. 35excludes most of Nieck's categories./® According to Scruton the term "program music" properly refers only to instrumental music that attempts to depict extramusical objects and events ana wnicn derives its structural logic from those attempts rather than from purely musical principles.77 In Scruton's view, it is possible for a piece to nave a title and still not be program music if the structural logic of the piece does not derive from the title.78 Scruton is critical of Niecks and other writers because they fail to make tne distinction between representation and expression in music. In nis opinion, only representation in music, i.e., the description or characterization of an object, character, scene, or phenomenon in musical terms, warrants the label of Program music.79 He believes tnat expression, or the expression of emotion, altnougn it may be a component of a1] compositions, in and of itself is not sufficient reason to consider a piece to be program music.80 Scruton further distinguishes between program music and 76. Ruger Scruton, “Programme music," Tne New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6tn ed. 77. Ibid. 78. Ibid. 79. Ibid. 80. Ibid. 36Jincidental music, which, although they share certain ldevices, are pnilosopnically different. To Scruton, true Program music purports to “carry its narrative meaning jwitnin itself," wnile inctaental music, vocal Word-painting, and accompaniments to vocal music are attached to a narrative tnat is indepenaent from tne music.81 Scruton's definition may be appealing because of tne concrete way in which ne describes the genre, but it leaves out so many types of music that are traditionally considered to be programmatic that it is difficult to use. A more practical approach would take into account the different degrees of program music that exist, granting that some might be more pure than others. To tnis end, it is useful to consider tne various types of [Program music as being divided into three large groups: |descriptive, evocative, and prescriptive. Descriptive Program music seeks to imitate some naturally-occurring sound, be it the song of a bird, tne raging of a storm, or the sound of a locomotive, or to describe some type of action in musical terms. Word painting velongs to this group, as does music designed to accompany a stage play ("incidental music"), movie or television snow, or even [the accompaniment to a sung text. Evocative program 81. Ibid. 37music carries a descriptive title, wnether original or in reference to a pre-existent painting, drama, literary work, person, or fictional cnaracter. This type of program seeks to guide tne listener's perception of the work by means of general extramusical associations. Formally prescriptive program music, clearly the most precise, includes a synopsis of events or feeling that |the music is supposed to depict, and through wnicn the |music gains its form. It is also necessary to consicer [the possibility that a composer may employ one of these [Programmatic types in tne composition of a work, but tnen suppress tne program after tne work is completed. If the composer is entirely successful in destroying the program, then it would be of questionable value to speculate on its supposea content. If, nowever, tne composer leaves some record of the program, be it in tne sketcnes for the work or in other verbal or written communications, then tne work can still be considered as | program music.II. PROGRAM MUSIC IN SCHOENBERG'S VIENNA Schoenberg was typical of nis time in his interest in Programmatic genres. But, because ne spent his youtn in rather limited artistic circles, and because Vienna was not supportive of modern trenas, ne was not born into tne Programmatic mold. By his own admission, Schoenberg was at first a follower of Branms, and did not appreciate the lartistic value of Wagner (and by association the “New |German School") until he met Alexander von Zemlinsky in 1893.1 Schoenberg later claimed tnat by 1899 he nag [heard all the Wagner operas twenty or thirty times, wnich | demonstrates the enthusiasm with which ne embraced the new influence.2 Similarly, when ne finally "discovered" modern program music in about 1898, it was a revelation to him, ana it immediately changed nis outlook on composing. In 1950, he looked back on this period of | his career and described its effect: 1. Schoenberg, "My Evolution," in Style and Idea, p. 80. 2. Arnold Schoenberg, “Art and the Moving Pictures," California Arts ang Architecture, April, 1940; quoted in Dika Newlin, Bruckner, ManTer, Schoenberg, rev. ed. (New ork: Nortony WIG ee 39While tnis work CD major String | Quartet (1897)] was strongly under the influence of Branms and Dvorék, an almost sudden turn toward a more “progressive” manner of composing occurred: Mahler and Strauss had appeared on the musical scene and so fascinating was their advent that every musician was immediately forced | to take sides pro or contra. Being then only twenty-three years of age (1897-983 I was to catcn fire easily, and I began composing symphonic poems of one uninterrupted movement, the size of the models given by Mahler and Strauss... The conservative artistic stance prevalent in Vienna during the years surrounding the turn of the century Prevented Schoenberg from being submerged in the latest trends in art at an earlier point in his career. In many other cities, for example, Wagner opera nad been a dominant influence for many years. Vienna, however, nad resisted much of Wagner's impact, especially that of his later works. At the Vienna opera, where Schoenberg mignt nave heard a number of works in his youth, the most popular operas (i.e., tnose receiving the most Performances) between 1885 and 1900 were Cavalleria rusticana, Lonengrin, Carmen, Faust, Der Trompeter von 3. Arnold Schoenberg, “Introauction to My Four Quartets," program notes for performances by the Juilliard Quartet at Times Hall, New York, January-February, 1950; quoted in Ursula Rauchhaupt, ed., Schoenberg, Webern, Berg: Die Streicnquartette: Eine Dokumentation (Hamburg: Deutscne Grammophon Gesellschaft, » P 40Sakkingen (Victor Nessler), Tannnduser, I Paggliacci, Hansel_und Gretel, and Aida, eacn receiving over one nundred performances. 4 The only Wagner operas in this group are works composed at mid-century, and most of the other works were from ten to twenty years old by 1890. Tne more recent additions to tne repertory, such as Hansel _und Gretel, mimicked the style of older composers, or, as in the case of Cavalleria rusticana and 1 Paggliacci, introduced innovations in subject matter ratner than in musical style. This first group of operas was followed in popularity by Der fliegende Hollander, Manon, L'Africaine, Der Freischiitz, Mignon, Ii Trovatore, Le Prophéte, and Die Walkiire, eacn receiving from seventy to one hundred performances.5 Again, this group features little of a musically challenging nature to tne audiences of 13890. Wagner is still represented only by tne early Der_ fliegende Hollander and Die Walkiire, pernaps the most accessible music crama of tne Ring cycle. Operas receiving fifty to seventy nearings included Don_ Giovanni, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Otello, Die justigen Weiben von Windsor, Fidelio, 1] Barbiere di 4, Wilnelm Beetz, Das Wiener Opernnaus: 1869 bis 1945 (Zuricn: Central European Times, 1945), pp. 164-84. 5. Ibid. 4a.|Siviglia, Les Huguenots, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberfléte, Roméo et Juliette, and Wertner.6 All of these works were preferred to Tristan und Isolde, not leven performed in Vienna until 1883, Siegfried, and Gbtterdimmerung, which received only forty to forty-five performances, in the same range as Die Fledermaus, |Guillaume Tell, and Robert le Diable.7 The situation in regard to orchestral music was similarly conservative, as shown by the late performance dates of works by the leading modern composers of the day, Strauss and Mahler. No Strauss tone poem was played in Vienna until 1892, when Don Juan (1888) was performed. Tod und Verkladrung (1889) followed in 1893, Till Eulenspiegel (1895) in 1896, Also sprach Zarathustra (1896) in 1897, Aus Italien (1886) in 1899, and Ein_ Heldenleben (1898) in 1901. Macbetn (1886) was not heard | untit 1903 and Don Quixote (1897) until 1904.8 Performances of Manler's sympnonies were also delayed in Vienna. The Secona Sympnony (1888-94) was not performed in its entirety in Vienna until 1899, followed 6. Ibia. 7. Ibid. 8. Erich Mueller von Asow, ed., Richard Strauss Thematisches Verzeichnis (Vienna and Munich: DobTinger, 42— by a performance of the First Sympnony (1884-88; rev. 1893) in 1900. The Fourth Symphony (1889-1900) received a more prompt Viennese performance (1902), but tne Thirg |Sympnony (1893-96) was not performed until 1904.9 Modern programmatic compositions were not well thought of by the Viennese musical establisnment, as the newspaper reviews of the influential critic Eauara Hanslick snow. His opinions on the Strauss tone poems performed before 1900, for example, demonstrate the Prevailing view of program music in fin-de-si&cle Vienna. Hanslick (1825-1904) began his Viennese career | in 1846-47, when he was employed by the Wiener Musikzeitung. In the following year, he worked for the Wiener Zeitung. After a snort niatus from critical writing, ne was hired by tne Presse (retitlea Neue freie Presse in 1864) in 1855, where he remained until nis retirement at age 70.10 His critical point of view, expressed in his newspaper reviews and in his famous | book, Vom Musikalisch-Schénen (On the Beautiful in Music) 9. Bruno and Eleonore Vondenhoff, ed., Gustav Mahler Dokumentation: Sammlung Eleonore Vondenhoff (Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1978). 10. Eric Sams, "Hanslick, Eduara," New Grove Dictionary, 6tn ed. 43|(1854),11 served as a foil to the tenets of the New German School throughout the second half of tne century. In regard to the Strauss tone poems, Hanslick believed that the composer misunderstood completely the nature of music. He was of the opinion that Strauss nad substituted poetic content for musical content in tne effects tnat were totally lacking in musical | substance.12 In Hanslick's words: The tragedy is that most of our younger composers think in a foreign language (philosophy, poetry, painting) and tnen translate tne thought into the mother tongue (music). People like Ricnard Strauss, moreover, translate badly, unintelligibly, tastelessly, witn exaggeration. 13 11. Eduard Hanslick, The Beautiful in Music, trans. Gustav Cohen (Indianapolis: Bobbs-MerilT, T957). Vienna's Golden Years: 1850-1900, trans. Henry Pleasants (Wew York: Simon and Schuster, 1950), pp. 308-09. 13. Ibid., p- 310. nineteenth century and prepared the way for the objective viewpoint of many composers active in the early twentietn tone poems, whicn resulted in a series of virtuosic sound 12. Eduard llanslick, "Richard Strauss's Don Juan," in 44Hanslick bemoaned tne “tyranny” of Strauss's mentor Hausegger's “Musik als Ausdruck" (Music as Expression) land awaited tne return of "Musik als Musik. "14 One of Hanslick's chief criticisms was reserved for Strauss's choice of programs, whicn he characterized as being particularly unsuited for music.15 He also criticized the detail in whicn tne music followed and depicted these programs.16 He believed that Strauss's selection of Nietzscne's Also spracn Zarathustra as a musical subject, for example, was especially i11 advised.17 He did, nowever, see a model in Wagner's (ices, "Richard the First's") use of Schopennauer's ideas in the Ring for Strauss's (i.e., "Richard the Secona's") [later employment of a philosopnical subject.18 In an earlier article, Hanslick nad voiced nis concern that musical compositions modeled after literary works by 14. Hanslick, "Eulenspiegel von Ricnard Strauss," in |Am Ende des Jahrhunderts 1895-1899, Der Modernen Oper, vol. 8 (Berlin: Allgemeiner Verein fur Deutsche Litteratur, 1899), pp. 199-200. 15. Hanslick, "Richard Strauss's Don Juan," in | Vienna's Golden Years, p. 309. 16. Hanslick, “Richard Strauss's Toa und Verklarung," in Vienna's Golden Years, p. 311. 17. Hanslick, "R. Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra,” in Am Ende des Jahrhunderts, pp. 265-66. 18. Ibid. 45fasnionable authors such as Nietzsche (i.e., Also spracn Zarathustra “frei nacn Nietzsche") mignt induce a rasn of similar settings. One nypothetical title ne foresaw, based on the popularity of tne Norwegian dramatist, was “Also sprach Hedda Gabler: streng nach Ibsen."19 Hanslick believed that the composers of program music [naa followed the wrong patn in limiting their studies to the scores of Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner, whom he recognized as “orchestral geniuses" but apparently as nothing more.20 He found that program music was not "real" music, because it nad its origins in literature rather than solely in musical ideas.2] Hanslick's tirades against program music were not aimed solely at works by Strauss, nor were they limited to composers of Strauss's generation. The same attitudes expressed in the reviews of Strauss's tone poems are found in more complete form in an 1857 essay on Liszt's 19. Hanslick, "Der Wassermann von A. Dvorak," in Am Ende des Jahrhunderts, p- 218. 20. Hanslick, "Ricnard Strauss's Don Juan," in | Vienna's Golden Years, pp. 308-09. 21. Hanslick, "R. Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, in Am Ende des Jahrhunderts, p- 46