There
is the masterly writing of a _Foote_; the older _Paine_ has never been
fully valued in the mad race for novelty. It would have been a joy to
include a symphony of rare charm by _Martinus van Gelder_.
A critical work on modern art cannot hope to bestow a crown of laurels
among living masters; it must be content with a view of active
tendencies. The greatest classic has often come into the world amid
least expectation. A critic in the year 1850 must need have omitted the
Unfinished Symphony, which was then buried in a long oblivion.
The present author prefers to treat the main modern lines, considering
the special work mainly as example. After all, throughout the realm of
art the idea is greater than the poet, the whole art more than the
artist,--though the particular enshrinement in enduring design may
reflect a rare personality.
PHILIP H. GOEPP.
NOTE: Especial thanks are owed to the Philadelphia Orchestra for a free
use of its library, and to Messrs. G. Schirmer Company for a like
courtesy.--P.H.G.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.--The Symphony during the Nineteenth Century
CHAPTER II.--Berlioz and Liszt
CHAPTER III.--Berlioz. "Romeo and Juliet." Dramatic Symphony
CHAPTER IV.--A Symphony to Dante's "Divina Commedia"
CHAPTER V.--The Symphonic Poems of Liszt
"Les Preludes"
"Tasso"
"Mazeppa"
"Battle of the Huns"
CHAPTER VI.--The Symphonic Poems of Saint-Saens
"Danse Macabre"
"Phaeton"
"The Youth of Hercules"
"Omphale's Spinning Wheel"
CHAPTER VII.
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