



Produced by Al Haines










[Frontispiece: W. S. B. MATHEWS.]





THE

MASTERS AND THEIR MUSIC



  A SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIVE PROGRAMS, WITH
  BIOGRAPHICAL, ESTHETICAL, AND
  CRITICAL ANNOTATIONS



  DESIGNED AS AN INTRODUCTION TO
  MUSIC AS LITERATURE



  FOR THE USE OF CLUBS, CLASSES, AND
  PRIVATE STUDY



BY

W. S. B. MATHEWS


Author of "How to Understand Music," "A Popular History of Music,"
"Music: Its Ideals and Methods," "Studies in Phrasing," "Standard
Grades," Etc., Etc.




Philadelphia

Theodore Presser

1708 Chestnut Str.




COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY THEO. PRESSER




PREFACE.

When a musical student begins to think of music as a literature and to
inquire about individualities of style and musical expression, it is
necessary for him to come as soon as possible to the fountainheads of
this literature in the works of a few great masters who have set the
pace and established the limits for all the rest.  In the line of
purely instrumental music this has been done by Bach, Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, and Wagner.  The
latter, who exercised a vast influence upon the manner of developing a
musical thought and in the selection of the orchestral colors in which
it can be expressed advantageously, powerfully stimulated all composers
later than himself, nevertheless exerted this influence at second-hand,
so to say, never having written purely instrumental movements, but
merely dramatic accompaniments of one intensity or another.  Hence, for
our present purposes we may leave Wagner out altogether.  Practically,
down to about the year 1875, everything in instrumental music is
original with the masters already mentioned, or was derived from them
or suggested by them.  Hence, in order to understand instrumental music
we have, first of all, to make a beginning with the peculiarities,
individualities, beauty, and mastership of these great writers.  Such
is the design of the following programs and explanatory matter.

My first intention has been to provide for the regular study of a
musical club, in which the playing is to be contributed by active
members designated in advance, the accessory explanations to be read
from these pages.  I have thought that the playing might be divided
between several members, through which means the labor for each would
be reduced, and, on the whole, an intimate familiarity with the music
be more widely extended in the club.  This method will have the
disadvantage of leaving a part of every program less well interpreted
than the others, whereby it will sometimes happen that valuable parts
will not be properly appreciated.  The advantages of this method,
however, will outweigh the defects, since the awakening influence of a
course of study of this character will greatly depend upon having as
many members as possible practically interested in it.

While designed primarily for the use of a club, this course is equally
well adapted to serve as a manual for individual study, in which case
the individual himself will necessarily study every composition upon
the list, and advance to a new program only after having completely
mastered each and understood its relation to the remainder of the
course.  The only exception to this rule will be in the case where
several programs of increasing difficulty are given.  In this case the
player should take the easiest; after mastering this, let him go on to
the next most difficult, and, having succeeded with this, if possible
let him attack the most difficult given.  In case the latter should be
impracticable for his technical resources, let him at least familiarize
himself with the general features of all of the pieces mentioned, and
get into their meaning and beauty as much as he can.

The course is also well adapted for use as a text-book in female
seminaries and the like.  In this case the forms of a musical club or
definite musical organization had better be observed, and the meetings
conducted weekly or bi-weekly.  The teacher should remember that all
the most important works, in which the maturity and mastership of the
composer come to their fullest expression, should be studied by the
most advanced members of the class, according to their ability, and
afterward played by the teacher himself, should he happen to possess
the necessary technical qualifications.  When the maturity of the
teacher comes in to supplement the immaturity of the pupil, after the
latter has done his best, the best results will be produced.

It will be noticed, and with disappointment to some, that the analyses
and comments are free from so-called "poetry," and gush of every kind.
Particularly are they free from attempts to connect each piece with a
story or poetic idea.  In the opinion of the writer, the first step
toward musical growth lies in learning to appreciate music, as music.
In instrumental music the development of a musical idea, the creation
of musical symmetries, figures, and arabesques, and the legitimate
building up of musical climaxes upon purely harmonic and rhythmic
grounds are the phases of thought