that it would be beneficial to the master and slave to

(After he has been extemporizing upon the musical instrument of his invention.)

that it would be beneficial to the master and slave to

The Abbe Georg Joseph Vogler was born at Wuerzburg (Bavaria), June 15, 1749; appointed Kappelmeister to the King of Sweden, in 1786. While in this capacity, the "musical instrument of his invention", called the Orchestrion, was constructed; * went to London with his organ, in 1790, and gave a series of successful concerts, realizing some 1200 Pounds, and making a name as an organist; commissioned to reconstruct the organ of the Pantheon on the plan of his Orchestrion; and later, received like commissions at Copenhagen and at Neu Ruppin in Prussia; founded a school of music at Copenhagen, and published there many works; in 1807 was appointed by the Grand Duke, Louis I., Kappelmeister at Darmstadt; founded there his last school, two of his pupils being Weber and Meyerbeer; died in 1814. Browning presents Vogler as a great extemporizer, in which character he appears to have been the most famous. For a further account, see Miss Eleanor Marx's paper on the Abbe Vogler, from which the above facts have been derived (`Browning Soc. Papers', Pt. III., pp. 339-343). Her authorities are Fetis's `Biogr. Univ. des Musiciens' and Nisard's `Vie de l'Abbe Vogler'.

that it would be beneficial to the master and slave to

-- * "This was a very compact organ, in which four key-boards of five octaves each, and a pedal board of thirty-six keys, with swell complete, were packed into a cube of nine feet. See Fetis's `Biographie Universelle des Musiciens'. -- G. Grove." `Note to Miss Marx's Art. on Vogler'. --

that it would be beneficial to the master and slave to

Mrs. Turnbull, in her paper on `Abt Vogler' (`Browning Soc. Papers', Pt. IV., pp. 469-476), has so well traced the argument of the monologue, that I cannot do better than quote the portion of her paper in which she presents it: --

"Abt Vogler has been extemporizing on his instrument, pouring out through it all his feelings of yearning and aspiration; and now, waking from his state of absorption, excited, and trembling with excess of emotion, he breaks out into the wish, `Would it might tarry!' In verses [stanzas] one and two he compares the music he has made to a palace, which Solomon (as legends of the Koran relate) summoned all creatures, by the magic name on his ring, to raise for the princess he loved; so all the keys, joyfully submitting to the magic power of the master, combine to aid him, the low notes rushing in like demons to give him the base on which to build his airy structure; the high notes like angels throwing decoration of carving and tracery on pinnacle and flying buttress, till in verse three its outline, rising ever higher and higher, shows in the clouds like St. Peter's dome, illuminated and towering into the vasty sky; and it seems as if his soul, upborne on the surging waves of music, had reached its highest elevation. But no. Influences from without, inexplicable, unexpected, join to enhance his own attempts; the heavens themselves seem to bow down and to flash forth inconceivable splendors on his amazed spirit, till the limitations of time and space are gone -- `there is no more near nor far'.

". . .In this strange fusion of near and far, of heaven and earth, presences hover, spirits of those long dead or of those yet to be, lured by the power of music to return to life, or to begin it. Figures are dimly descried in the fervor and passion of music, even as of old in the glare and glow of the fiery furnace.

"Verses four and five are a bold attempt to describe the indescribable, to shadow forth that strange state of clairvoyance when the soul shakes itself free from all external impressions, which Vogel tells us was the case with Schubert, and which is true of all great composers -- `whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot say'.

"In the sixth verse we come to a comparison of music with the other arts. Poetry, painting, and sculpture deal with actual form, and the tangible realities of life. They are subject to laws, and we know how they are produced; can watch the painting grow beneath the artist's touches, or the poem take shape line by line.

Original article by {website name}. If reprinted, please indicate the source: http://dmnlo.wxxcjsyl.com/html/892b098219.html

zan ( 362)
prev2023-12-05
next 2023-12-05

Related

tags

naturethanksgovernmentwaypowerfamilymeatmusiccontrolhealthnewsbirdmeatthanksnaturemusicsoftwarehotinternetgovernmentmethodtheorywaypowerproblemlawtelevisionsystemabilityfamily