The very expression seems a
contradiction in terms. Wagner frequently asserted that no one could
_understand_ his music unless he admired it; and there is truth in
this, for only enthusiasm can sharpen the mental faculties
sufficiently to enable us to perceive the countless subtle beauties in
Wagner's and Weber's scores. M. Saint-Saens, who is considered the
best living score-reader, compares Wagner's scores to those
master-works of mediaeval architecture which are adorned with
sculptured reliefs that must have required infinite care and labor in
the chiselling. Now, just as a careless observer of such architectural
works hardly notices the lovely figures sculptured on them, so the
average opera-goer does not hear the exquisite harmonic and melodic
miniature-work in Wagner's music-dramas. But if he has once taken the
trouble to study them, he becomes an enthusiast for life; for he
constantly discovers new and beautiful details which had previously
escaped his notice.
The eighth performance of "Siegfried" in New York was one of those
events that will always live in the memory of those who were so
fortunate as to be present.
Pages:
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294