Symphonies and Their Meaning Part 29

[Footnote A: Symphony in A flat. Edward Elgar, born in 1857.]

There is a rare n.o.bility in the simple melody, the vein of primal hymn, that marks the invocation,--in solemn wood against stately stride of

[Music: (_Andante n.o.bilmente e semplice_) (Woodwind) (Ba.s.ses of strings, _staccato_)]

lower strings. A true ancient charm is in the tune, with a fervor at the high point and a lilt almost of lullaby,--till the whole chorus begins anew as though the song of marching hosts. Solemnity is the essence here, not of artificial ceremony nor of rhymeless chant,--rather of prehistoric hymn.

In pa.s.sionate recoil is the upward storming song (Allegro) where a group of horns aid the surging crest of strings and wood,--a resistless motion of ma.s.sed melody. Most thrilling after the first climax is the sonorous, vibrant stroke of the ba.s.s in the

[Music: _Allegro appa.s.sionato_ (Strings, wood and horns) (See page 308, line 10.)]

recurring melody. As it proceeds, a new line of bold tune is stirred above, till the song ends at the highest in a few ringing, challenging leaps of chord,--ends or, rather merges in a relentless, concluding descent. Here, in a striking phrase of double

[Music: (Violins and clarinets in succession) (Harp) (Strings, the upper 3d doubled in higher reed)]

song, is a touch of plaint that, hushing, heralds the coming gentle figure. We are sunk in a sweet romance, still of ancientest lore, with a sense of lost bliss in the wistful cadence. Or do these entrancing strains lead merely to the broader melody that moves with queenly tread (of descending violins) above a soft murmuring of lower figures? It is taken up

[Music: (Violins) (Harp and wood doubled above)]

in a lower voice and rises to a height of inner throb rather than of outer stress. The song departs as it came, through the tearful plaint of double phrase. Bolder accents merge suddenly into the former impa.s.sioned song. Here is the real sting of warrior call, with shaking bra.s.s and rolling drum, in lengthened swing against other faster sounds,--a revel of heroics, that at the end breaks afresh into the regular song.

Yet it is all more than mere battle-music. For here is a new pa.s.sionate vehemence, with loudest force of vibrant bra.s.s, of those dulcet strains that preceded the queenly melody. An epic it is, at the least, of ancient flavor, and the sweeter romance here rises to a tempest more overpowering than martial tumult.

It is in the harking back to primal lore that we seem to feel true pa.s.sion at its best and purest, as somehow all truth of legend, proverb and fable has come from those misty ages of the earth. The drooping harmonies merge in the returning swing of the first solemn hymn,--a mere line that is broken by a new tender appeal, that, rising to a moving height,

[Music: (Strings) _teneramente_]

yields to the former plaint (of throbbing thirds).

A longer elegy sings, with a fine poignancy, bold and new in the very delicacy of texture, in the sharp impinging of these gentlest sounds. In the depths of the dirge suddenly, though quietly, sounds the herald melody high in the wood, with ever firmer cheer, soon in golden horns, at last in impa.s.sioned strings, followed by the wistful motive.

A phase here begins as of dull foreboding, with a new figure stalking in the depths and, above, a brief sigh in the wind. In the growing stress these figures sing from opposite quarters, the sobbing phrase below, when suddenly the queenly melody stills the tumult. It is answered by a dim, slow line of the ominous motive. Quicker echoes of the earlier despond still flit here and there, with gleams of joyous light. The plaintive (dual) song returns and too the tender appeal, which with its sweetness at last wakens the buoyant spirit of the virile theme.

And so pa.s.s again the earlier phases of resolution with the masterful conclusion; the tearful accents; the brief verse of romance, and the sweep of queenly figure, rising again to almost exultation. But here, instead of tears and recoil, is the brief sigh over sombre harmonies, rising insistent in growing volume that somehow conquers its own mood. A return of the virile motive is followed at the height by the throbbing dual song with vehement stress of grief, falling to lowest echoes.

Here begins the epilogue with the original solemn hymn. Only it is now entwined with shreds and memories of romance, flowing tranquilly on through gusts of pa.s.sion. And there is the dull sob with the sudden gleam of joyous light. But the hymn returns like a sombre solace of oblivion,--though there is a final strain of the wistful romance, ending in sad harmony.

_II.--Allegro molto._ The Scherzo (as we may venture to call it) begins with a breath of new harmony, or is it a blended magic of rhythm, tune and chord? Far more than merely bizarre, it calls up a vision of Celtic warriors, the wild, free spirit of Northern races. The rushing jig or reel is halted

[Music: _Allegro molto_ (Strings with kettle-drum)]

anon by longer notes in a drop of the tune and instantly returns to the quicker run. Below plays a kind of drum-roll of rumbling strings. Other revelling pranks appear, of skipping wood, rushing harp and dancing strings, till at last sounds a clearer tune, a restrained war-march with touch of terror in the soft subdued chords, suddenly growing to expressive

[Music: (Violas and clarinets) (Wood, ba.s.ses and strings)]

volume as it sounds all about, in treble and in ba.s.s.

At last the war-song rings in full triumphant blast, where trumpets and the shrill fife lead, and the lower bra.s.s, with cymbals and drums (big and little) mark the march. Then to the returning pranks the tune roars in low ba.s.ses and reeds, and at last a big conclusive phrase descends from the height to meet the rising figure of the ba.s.ses.

Now the reel dances in furious tumult (instead of the first whisper) and dies down through the slower cadence.

An entirely new scene is here. To a blended tinkle of harp, reeds and high strings sounds a delicate air, quick and light, yet with a tinge of plaint that may be a part of all Celtic song. It were rude to spoil

[Music: (Woodwind, with a triplet pulse of harp and rhythmic strings)]

its fine fragrance with some rough t.i.tle of meaning; nor do we feel a strong sense of romance, rather a whim of Northern fantasy.

Over a single note of ba.s.s sings a new strain of elegy, taken up by other voices, varying with the

[Music: (Clarinets)]

tinkling air. Suddenly in rushes the first reel, softly as at first; but over it sings still the new sad tune, then yields to the wild whims and pranks that lead to the war-song in resonant chorus, joined at the height by the reel below. They change places, the tune ringing in the ba.s.s. In the martial tumult the tinkling air is likewise infected with saucy vigor, but suddenly retires abashed into its sh.e.l.l of fairy sound, and over it sings the elegy in various choirs. The tinkling melody falls suddenly into a new flow of moving song, rising to pure lyric fervor.

The soft air has somehow the main say, has reached the high point, has touched the heart of the movement. Expressively it slowly sinks away amid echoing phrases and yields to the duet of elegy and the first reel.

But a new spirit has appeared. The sting of war-song is gone. And here is the reel in slow reluctant pace. After another verse of the fairy tune, the jig plays still slower, while above sings a new melody. Still slower the jig has fallen almost to funeral pace, has grown to a new song of its own, though, to be sure, brief reminders of the first dance jingle softly here and there. And now the (hushed) shadow of the war-song in quite slower gait strides in lowest ba.s.ses and pa.s.ses quietly straight into the Adagio.

[Music: (Strings with lower reeds and horns) _Adagio_ _cantabile_]

_III._--a.s.sured peace is in the simple sincere melody, rising to a glow of pa.s.sion. But--is this a jest of our poet? Or rather now we see why there was no halt at the end of the Scherzo. For the soothing melody is in the very notes of the impish reel,--is the same tune.[A] Suddenly hushing, the song hangs on high over delicate minor harmonies.

[Footnote A: There seems to be shown in this feat at once the versatility of music as well as the musician in expressing opposite moods by the same theme. The author does not feel bound to trace all such a.n.a.logies, as in the too close pursuit we may lose the forest in the jungle.]

In exquisite hues an intimate dialogue ensues, almost too personal for the epic vein, a discourse or madrigal of finest fibre that breaks (like rays of setting sun) into a melting cadence of regret. We are doubly thrilled in harking back to the sweet, wistful romance, the strain of the first movement.

[Music: (Harp, wood and strings)]

Across the gauzy play, horns and wood blow a slow phrase, like a motto of Fate in the sombre harmony, with one ardent burst of pleading.

In clearer articulation sings a dual song, still softly o'ercast with sweet sadness, ever richer in the harmonies of multiple strings, tipped with the light mood,--and again the wistful cadence. Siren figures of entrancing grace that move amid the other melody, bring enchantment that has no cheer, nor escape the insistent sighing phrase. Once more come the ominous call and the pa.s.sionate plea, then a.s.surance with the returning main melody in renewed fervor. Phases of dual melody end again with the wistful cadence. The tranquil close is like one sustained fatal farewell, where the fairy figures but stress the sad burden.

_IV._--The beginning is in lowest depths (Largo). First is the stalking figure of earliest movement, from the moment of despond. It is answered by a steadily striding theme, almost martial, save for the

[Music: _Lento_ (_Pizz._ cellos with _stacc._ ba.s.soons)]

slowness of pace. Not unlike the hymn of the first prologue in line of tune, it bears a mood of dark resignation that breaks presently into the touching plea of the wistful cadence.

The whole is a reflective prologue to the Finale: a deep meditation from which the song may roll forth on new spring. The hymn has suddenly entered with a subtly new guise; for the moment it seems part of the poignant sigh; it is as yet submerged in a flood of gloom and regret; and the former phrases still stride and stalk below. In a wild climax of gloom we hear the former sob, earlier companion of the stalking figure.

Hymnal strains return,--flashes of heavenly light in the depths of h.e.l.l, and one pa.s.sionate sigh of the melting cadence.

_Allegro_,--we are carried hack to the resolute vigor of the earlier symphony, lacking the full fiery charm, but ever striving and stirring, like t.i.tans rearing mountain piles, not without the cheer of toil itself. At the height comes a burst of the erst yearning cadence, but there is a new masterful accent; the wistful edge does not return till the echoing phrases sink away in the depths.

A new melody starts soaring on the same wing of

[Music: (Strings and clarinets) _Allegro_ _cantabile_ (_Staccato_ strings _con 8ve._)]

blended striving and yearning of which all this song is fraught. In its broader sweep and brighter cheer it is like the queenly melody of the first movement.

The t.i.tan toil stirs strongly below the soft cadence; the full, fierce ardor mounts heavenward. Phases now alternate of insistent rearing on the strenuous motive and of fateful submission in the marching strain, that is ma.s.sed in higher and bigger chorus. As gathers the stress of climax, the bra.s.s blowing a defiant blast, the very vehemence brings a new resolution that is uttered in the returning strenuous phrase.