INTRODUCTION To the 12 th Subscription Concert / Dr. Else Lewertoif contrasts, HI The works on to-night’s programme belong ■with one exception to the romantic movement ip music, with which designation the period following the classical era is indicated. This hew movement arose out of the deliberate reaction of the artists of the 19th century against the productions of their predecessors. They replaced the world of rationalism and formalism by that of the supernatural and the fantastic. They no longer limited themselves to a narrow realm in space and time but gave themselves over to MARIA von WEBER (1786—1826) is the most remarkable representative of the early Ro- mantics. Through his opera “Der Freischiitz” he unlocked the door to the exploitation of the supernatural and the macabre in music to a hitherto unheard of degree. Since the idea itself the it is but natural that the development of this form of expression should take various directions. Both the other Romantics who speak to us in to-night’s programme, FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLD Y (1809-1847*) and HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803.^1869) are personalities who also paid homage to another ideal of art. They are characteristic representatives of German and French “high romantic” respectively. They were both men of the widest, education who consciously accepted suggestions from, other forms of art for their music. But it is interesting to ho té that the process of production took different directions with both these musicians. Although the titles• of. many of ■Mendelssohn’s' compositions suggest programme music (one can call to mind the “Italian” and “Scotch” symphonies and most of his overtures) they are actually only hints of the sources from which he drew his inspiration and his compositions remain “pure” music and never go beyond the limits of musical form. With Mendelssohn the main׳ point is always the specifically musical thought, the purely musical impetus from which basic element the music is formed. The poetic or pictorial impressions which dictated the theme are united in a most ingenious way with a completely musical approach. Whereas Berlioz, the French master of the Romantics, is haunted by his visions and experiences and is driven to give these expression in the form of music. In his faust-like struggle for new these, composers the r” ox the literary theme is the point of exit fox their f the music are made subservient to this. A new order !e limits of the classical boundaries. Music becomes the. means of clarifying visions, it becomes the medium of expressing emotions which affect the nerves and go to the verge of hysteria. The ardour and torment, of human feeling are powerfully expressed through the medium of sound. No better example than :the Fantastic Symphony could be given of this development in music. Composed by Berlioz, in 1829, it depicts the strange lovestory of an artist and is in great contrast to the balanced ®nd controlled composition by Mendelssohn which is included in the programme. Though both composers, are Romantics״ each mirrors the spirit of the epoch For Berlioz the:.literary idea is the spring which nourishes his creative imagination and leads him into new paths. Inspired ■by his teacher Lesuettr, he becomes the champion of the new style kt word, letter and in music. Berlioz was the first to ini oduce deliberately a leading theme in his work which was the musical counterpart of a poetic’idea or personal experience. He himself called il "idée fixe”. The employment of a term with which a certain association of ideas is always connected was introduced into music by Berlioz. Waiter’s, famous leitmotifs is nothing but the logical outcome of this principle of composition. In the Fantastic Symphony, a woman is the prototype of the "idee fixe” whom the artist adored without any response. Whenever he thinks of his ■beloved or when he meets her, then this love theme, which has become an “idée fixe";,• returns in various guises. The composition has the character of an autobiography. In its five part-form it exceeds the usual four part scheme of the classical symphony. The first movement “Dreams and Passions", begin with a largo introduction full of feeling, depicting the state of mind of the artist before the beloved appears to him. In the Allegro following after a few bars we hear the “idée fixe', a yearning love melody which softly rises and falls and in which •a hidden passion vibrates. This musical phrase which is executed sometimes tenderly, sometimes passionately, governs the first movement which is built li p i n the form of a classical sonata. Then a regular waltz follows, “The Ball’, a graceful, liltintr theme which prodtices an atmosphere of gaiety. The 3—4 time continues despite th¿, appearance of the “idée fixe” and this, ,al though it flows through the dance rhythm;
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