Exoticism in Music in Retrospect

Author(s): D. C. Parker
Source: The Musical Quarterly , Jan., 1917, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jan., 1917), pp. 134-161
Published by: Oxford University Press

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 EXOTICISM IN MUSIC IN RETROSPECT

By D. C. PARKER

T HE dictionary tells us that the word "exotic" signifies

something foreign and that it is the opposite of indigenous.
The definition is important, for the student of the arts
cannot fail to be struck by the strange manner in which customs
and ideas are carried from one scene to another. People who
travel or emigrate take with them not only their worldly goods,
but their habits and religions, and, in many cases, these latter
are preserved more jealously by the exile than by him who moves
among his own folk. But there is another aspect of exoticism
which, if less generally recognised, is equally important. It deals
with the adoption of foreign terms on the part of the artist.
It is difficult to account for the presence of the desire which has
so often manifested itself, to write about people and describe
sights which are far removed from us by time and space; but
it may, I think, be partly attributed to the fact that the mobility
of the imagination far exceeds the mobility of the body, and that,
while outwardly the creator often leads the most uneventful of
lives and spends his years in a study or studio, his mental existence
is full of adventure and surprise, for he fights the battles of his
characters and beholds the landscape towards which his pilgrims
have turned their eyes.' Or it may arise from a consuming desire
to fashion a universe of beauty, an artistic Utopia or El Dorado,
a world in which heroes and heroines possess all the virtues and
graces. And, as the conquistadores came back to the old world
with wonderful tales of the glory and richness of far-off provinces,
the recital of such exploits may possibly have given birth to the
belief that distance lends enchantment, and have tempted artists
to portray the life and manners of semi-legendary states in which
Nature enthralls man by her endless blandishments.
A proper appreciation of the value of exoticism in music
depends upon that artistic cosmopolitanism, upon that urbanity of
mind which alone can give us a perception of striking and unusual
features. The men who were first attracted by new sights and

'Compare the remark of Anatole France's Monsieur Bergeret: "If Napoleon had
been as intelligent as Spinoza, he would have written four books in a garret."
184

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 135

unfamiliar modes of expression were those who inhabited tha

area over which the polyglot life of the Mediterranean, the mother
of a hybrid culture, exercised a deep and abiding influence.
From the East came merchants with their caravans, bringing
along with their silks and spices something of the ancient poetry
and picturesqueness of the Orient. In Greece, from which country
the beautiful myths of Orpheus and Arion emanated, the power
of music over mind and body was early recognized and, as the
love of culture spread westward, great activity manifested itself
in Italy and Spain.
In treating this question it is necessary to say a word about
the South. There is a Capri and Sorrento, a Florence and Athen
in the heart of every artist. Like Goethe's heroine, he sighs for
the land where the orange trees grow and we cannot, therefore,
test the value of exoticism or measure its extent if we do not
carefully examine the influence of the South and Southern char
teristics upon the sensibilities of the poet. The relationsh
between music and the South is more real than apparent.
words orchestra and chorus are of Greek origin, and the ment
of the term opera at once reminds us of Florence. In music
difference between the North and the South is largely the differen
between intensive and extensive culture. In the North men
are by nature introspective and the song of the Norther
comes from within; in the South people are little given t
examination. Where Nature wooes and the sun shines in all its
radiance men sing because they must and with little thought o
the morrow. The song of the South is before all else emotio
it is an expression of the joy which animates man in beaut
surroundings, a contrast to that of the North which so oft
provides a refuge from the tempest which rages without. Wh
Nietzsche declared that it was necessary to "mediterranean
music he meant that it was necessary to restore to it somethin
of the "gay science" of the laughing and volatile South.
It is, perhaps, surprising that the cosmopolitan life to whi
I have referred did not reveal itself to any great extent in
older composers. The Modes are, certainly, of Greek origi
But there exists little music which could be described as exotic
until a comparatively recent date. The reason for this is to be
found in the fact that the vast resources of the orchestra have
been available only in modern times. The music of Bach and
Handel owes nothing to colour, for it has none in the present-day
sense. In Handel we see an example of a man who treated a
wide variety of subjects, sacred and secular, classical and topical,

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136 The Musical Quarterly

elaborate and slight. But there is not, so far as I

which is tinged with exoticism. The influence of
schools of the seventeenth century is discernible, no
apart from the easy flow of the voice parts, the art
which he acquired when studying in Italy, there i
remark in this connection. As a matter of fact, it was better
for music that its grammar and syntax, as it were, should have
been firmly established by Bach and Handel than that these
composers should have indulged in what must have been colour
experiments. For, by constant allegiance to one style, whether
dictated by force of circumstances (e.g., lack of instrumental
means) or not, they did a greater service. In the wide sense they
raised music from a patois to a language, and men from the ends
of the earth who loved the works of these two giants had, at
least, something in common.
Gluck passed from "Le Cinesi" to "Don Juan," from "Ales-
sandro nell' Indie" and "Orfeo ed Euridice" to "Les Pelerins de
la Mecque," but commentators have not found that change of
locality was responsible for the temporary introduction of new
features. There is little difference between his Scythians and his
Greeks. Speaking generally, the composers of the classic age
were restricted to one or two very primitive effects, such as
few strokes of the triangle or of the cymbals, when they wished
to give their works a picturesque touch. We find this in Mozart's
"II Seraglio" and Beethoven's "Ruins of Athens." The music o
"Don Giovanni" and "Figaro" does not differ in its essentials
from that of "La Clemenza di Tito" or "The Magic Flute."
It is interesting to note, however, that Gluck and Mozart showed
a desire to give appropriate piquancy to their scores when they
introduced a fandango into them.
The more one studies this question of exoticism the more one
feels that it is an accretion. When a great composer writes at
the top of his form he reveals himself to us, and he can do us
no greater service. The action of "Fidelio" takes place in Spain,
but it is the playbill, not the music, which tells us so. In this
sense all art is autobiographical. Henry James rightly holds that
the most valuable thing in Balzac is Balzae himself. He has been
called the novel itself as Moliere was called the comedy itself.
Such a view is not inconsistent with a recognition of the value
of an extensive use of local colour. "The style is the man,"
said Buffon in a memorable address to the French Academy, and
the most vital writers have the power of giving us themselves in
copious measure in all their works.

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 137

It is impossible to ignore the fact that an over-indulgence in

local colour, an excessive flirting with exotic effects sometim
leads to curious results. We see a fair example of this in "Samson
and Delilah." Lest I should be misunderstood I hasten to say
that I am an admirer of Saint-Sains's music and that I have on
many occasions had the honour of paying him that homage
which is his due. But what do we find in his dramatic master-
piece? The opening choruses of Hebrews derive their idiom from
Bach and Handel. The entrance of Delilah and her flower-
maidens is full of a grace that is typically Parisian. The celeb
Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix is French in its inspiration.
"Dance of the Priestesses of Dagon" and the "Bacchanale"
carry us off to Palestine. The chorus of aged Hebrews reminds
us of the music of the synagogue. In his art, as in his life, Saint-
Saens has been a great traveller, but despite the cleverness and
beauty of his score, and both are great, the opera as a whole
suffers from a lack of homogeneity. It is unnecessary to dwell
upon the absurdities which abound in the pages of dramatic
music, such as the mazurka in Gounod's "Polyeucte"; suffice
it to say that in men of the first rank we find a consistency of
style which is not destroyed by the introduction of picturesque
traits and lavish colouring. Out of two ingredients, laughter and
tears, must the artist fashion his art.
It may be well to point out at this juncture that local colour
is often confused with characterisation. Reference to the stage
works of Mozart will at once demonstrate the difference between
them. Characterisation is an integral part of a dramatic work.
I hardly imagine that anyone intimate with Mozart's operas
would seriously contend that the composer was deficient in
characterisation, but, as I have tried to show, there is little local
colour in his scores. To take another example, in "Tristan and
Isolde," while the personality of Wagner is evident in every bar,
the characters preserve their individualities throughout. To insist
too emphatically upon the use and value of local colour is to
dislodge characterisation from its legitimate place in the artistic
scheme.
Turning to later masters we find evidence of an increasing
disposition to dabble in the picturesque. There is, perhaps,
little to detain us in the ballet of " William Tell" or the "Bohemian
Dance" of "Les Huguenots," but the point to note is that com-
posers showed a readiness to treat subjects which, in modern
hands, would have given ample opportunity for the introduction
of exquisite shades of orchestral colouring. Cherubini's "Les

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138 The Musical Quarterly

Abencerages" is an example of this. In Boieldieu's

Blanche," described by a critic as "un op&ra tyrolien d
se passe en Ecosse," we meet with the familiar air of "R
the chant ordinaire de la tribu d'Avenal. The melod
is derived from the French chanson, but the comp
Circassienne" and "Le Dieu et la Bayadere," if I mi
introduced a negro dance and creole melody into h

FRANCE

Coming to the French music of the nineteenth century we

meet a remarkable exploitation of the exotic. Those familiar
with the artistic history of the French people will hardly be
astonished at this. In his beautiful story, "Honorine," Balzac
contrasts the English and the French. If the French, he remarks,
have an aversion for travelling and the English a love for it,
both nations have a good excuse. Something better than England
is everywhere to be found, but it is difficult to find the charms
of France elsewhere. If, however, the Frenchman love to live
at home his delight in the good things of the outer world is great.
Seventeenth-century France, for example, was deeply interested
in Chinese ceramics.' The porcelain which Dutch and Portuguese
seamen brought from the Celestial Empire to Europe were more
appreciated in France than elsewhere. In the pages of literature
we discover the same. That typical Balzacian character, the
Marquis d'Espard of "L'Interdiction", worked at "A picturesque
history of China." And did not Gambara become excited at the
mere mention of his great opera "Mahomet"? Voltaire gave us
"Zadig," and the remark that the English were a people with
seventy religions and only one sauce is characteristic of the man
to whom dullness was a great artistic vice. Le Sage started on
his career with two plays in imitation of Lope de Vega. The
influence upon him of Calderon has been noted, but he was,
nevertheless, among the earliest to realize the possibilities of the
picturesque novel. Chateaubriand, Anatole France tells us, "was
the first to infuse exoticism into poetry and make it ferment there."
A sojourn in the East inspired Lamartine to his "Souvenirs
d'Orient." De Musset attracted notice as the author of a volume
of "Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie." "Local colour," Ferdinand
Brunetiere holds, "is a literary acquisition of romanticism."
From the forbidding landscapes of the North Stendhal shrank as
from a ghost. Gautier, who amused himself with the fantastic
'Compare Auber's "Cheval de Bronze" (a Chinese Subject.)

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 139

notion that he was an Oriental, wrote of his travels in Spain

and Russia, Italy and Turkey with immense gusto. The de
Goncourts gave encouragement to Japanese art. Flaubert's
greatest achievement deals with the struggle between Rome and
Carthage. Merimee's debut was made in strange literary disguise.
His first products were supposed to be translations from the
Spanish and Illyrian. "Carmen," the masterwork of the man
who felt at home in an Andalusian venta, is appropriately laid in
Spain, and yet Merim6e was typically French. (The point is
curious. The epigrammatic Nietzsche, student of philology, who
claimed that he and Heine were the only men who could make
the German language dance, recorded the fact that the stylists
of the old and new worlds, the Greeks and the French, opposed
the introduction of foreignisms and guarded the purity of their
tongues.) In Renan the fascination of the East is once more
prominent. Daudet, "the bouillabaisse," prided himself on being
a Southern troubadour. Through the pages of Pierre Loti we
find exquisite word pictures of Japan and Turkey. And Anatole
France, to whom we owe the "Noces Corinthiennes," has shown
in "ThaYs" what a great effect is produced upon the mind of a
Latin artist when he contemplates the life of a far country in a
remote period. Add to all this the vogue enjoyed by Lafcadio
Hearn and you have abundant evidence that the French, while
animated by a deeply rooted love of country, quickly become
willing captives to the powers of the picturesque.
I have made this digression upon the literature of France,
"a country where every man has a natural turn for the part of
a sultan, and every woman is no less minded to become a sultana,"
because one can point to times during which the French regarded
the words of a song as of primary, the music as of secondary
importance-a reflection of the glory to which her literature had
attained while yet her music lagged sadly behind. The music
of France has been mainly dramatic, as that of Italy has been
melodic and that of Germany symphonic, and the influence of
the literary movements is often discernible in the sister art.
Indeed, it is interesting to note that some of the outstanding
characteristics of French literature are to be found in the music
of the country. The wide use of the many adjectives of the
language and the constant employment of its rich vocabulary
find their musical counterpart in picturesque scoring and resource-
ful harmony. The manifestos of freedom, so often launched at
the government of the day, have their equivalent in Berlioz's
music of revolt. The choice of words for their atmospheric value

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140 The Musical Quarterly

reminds us of the methods of the impressionist m

France we behold an artistic phenomenon, namely, a
ciation of exoticism and a widespread exploitation
bilities which are for the most part freely indulged
sacrifice of the traditional merits of conciseness, polis
An untidy mind is an abomination to the Frenchman
For the purposes of this brief survey it is conven
Felicien David's "Le Desert" as a starting point. Dav
his impressions of the Orient in the only work of
now widely known. Something of its success is, doub
the variety which pervades the score. In it we fin
to Allah," a "Call of the Muezzin," and a "Dance of th
The importance of the composition is largely histo
experimental, the music cannot be ignored, for it mu
have been instrumental in encouraging many anoth
to turn his attention to those captivating traits whic
in the East. Passing from David we come to Gouno
the femininity which is so prominent in French music fi
apparent. The heroines of Gounod and Massenet a
of the Latin mind as the heroines of Ibsen and Bjirnson are of
the Scandinavian. They have little in common with the muscular
Brunnhildes and terrifying Valkyries of the wind-swept North.
Unfortunately Gounod put all that he had to say in "Faust,"
which the Germans wisely call "Margarethe," for "Romeo and
Juliet," which tells us nothing new, should be called "Juliet and
Romeo" if not simply "Reminiscences of Faust," and "La Reine
de Saba" was a failure.1 In Ernest Reyer there is more to occupy
the attention. Born in Marseilles, he lived for a time in Algeria.
A prolonged visit to the African province may possibly have been
responsible for his choice of "Le Selam," based on Gautier, as
the subject of his most important work. Following later came
"Sacuntala," a ballet, "Le Statue," and at a distance of some
thirty years a setting of "Salammb6."
Camille Bellaigue speaks of "la France historique et la France
exotique," and both of them are found in full measure in the com-
positions of Saint-Saens. On the one hand he is descended from
the scholars and schoolmen to whom all musicians owe so much;
on the other he is an indefatigable traveller who has expressed
in his art the impressions made upon him by the life and poetry
of many lands. A polymath, he is remarkable alike for the
fecundity of his ideas and the versatility displayed in the gestation
'One can afford to disregard the Moorish-Spanish "Le Tribut de Zamora," which
was a fiasco.

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 141

of them. In all his music there is a great deal of the Voltairean

sauce, a liberal sprinkling of the paprika which Wagner found
in Liszt. He is an extremely cultured man who draws his in-
spiration from the ends of the earth. "Samson and Delilah" I
have already mentioned. "La Princesse Jaune" deals with a
Chinese subject, and he has written Persian Songs, a Suite Al-
gerienne, "A Night in Lisbon," a Jota Aragonaise, a Caprice on
Danish and Russian Folk-themes, a "Souvenir of Italy," a
"Havanaise," "Africa," a fantasia for pianoforte and orchestra,
a "Caprice arabe," and a "Souvenir d'Ismailia." (In connection
with the study of the local characteristics of such places as Algeria,
Morocco, Corsica, Madagascar and China, it may be remarked,
in passing, that many Frenchmen come to an examination of
racial traits untrammelled by those prejudices which exist else-
where. An outstanding instance of this attitude of mind is to be
found, if memory serves, in Jean Finot's volume, "Prejuge des
Races.") Among the songs are some which bear further witness
to the catholicity of his tastes; for example "Alla riva Tebro,"
"Desir de l'Orient," "El Desdichado," "Guitare," and "La
Madonna col Bambino." To the critic this chameleon-like
adaptability so frequently exhibited is, at first, bewilde
which of these pieces do we find the essential Saint-Sains? In
which is he wearing a mask and mystifying us by donning th
costume of a Spanish grandee or that of an Arab chief? Whateve
the answers we give to these questions it cannot be denied th
the personal merits of Saint-Sains are present in practically a
his productions. In the "Suite Algerienne" there are points i
the rhythm and harmony which could have been conceived only
by a man who possessed a great command of technical resourc
And, while the experiments are not all equally successful, th
cleverness shown in the manipulation of external features con
tributes to that variety and freshness which are among the master
most valuable artistic assets. It is not without good reason
that he has made the confession, "Je suis un 6clectique."
The main difference between the exoticism of Saint-Sains
and that of Massenet lies in the fact that, while that of the former
is spread over a large variety of works in almost every conceivable
form, that of the latter is mainly confined to his operas. The
"Scenes Alsaciennes" and "Marche de Szabady" are not among
the most characteristic of his achievements. As in the case of
Saint-Sains we are faced with an apparent problem. Massenet
was French of the French. His song was personal, and other
men have felt the influence of the m6lodie massenetique. This

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142 The Musical Quarterly

Anacreontic musician consecrated his gifts to a praise of the

Eternal Feminine-or, as some hold, that aspect of it which is
represented by modern France; a Gallic trait, surely, for good
critics have observed that the Comedie Humaine is remarkable
chiefly for its women folk. Take away the male characters of
Massenet and you do not lose very much. Take away his heroines
and there is nothing left. We are often conscious of the rose-pink
of the boudoir, of the frou-frou and patchouli of the elegant world.
One cannot repress the feeling that there is some subtle connection
between this femininity and the orientalism so frequently dis-
played by the French. But if Massenet's harp had but one string
it was capable of the sweetness of honey. His is music born in
a land in which the worship of the Virgin is a natural thing, and
it is curious to note how many of his dramatic works are called
after their heroines-"Manon," "Esclarmonde," "Griselidis,"
"La Navarraise," "Sapho," "Thais," "Therese," "Ariane." It
has been urged against him that he was content with the mechani-
cal exploitation of a single idiom, but the interest of all the operas
is heightened by the introduction of passages full of luscious
colouring and seductive charm. In the early "Le Roi de Lahore"
we have the divertissement in the Paradis d'Indra with its quaint
variations on a Hindoo theme. (These are preceded by a waltz-
like measure. "What," you say, "a waltz in such surroundings?"
Have you not learnt that in the operatic Spain and the legendary
India anything is possible?) In "Herodiade" there is the clever
dance of the Eastern girls. Passing "Manon," that captivating
opera of powder and patches, we arrive at "Le Cid" in which we
again have the French composer indulging his love of the pictur-
esque to the full. "Le Cid" is somewhat bombastic and does
not show Massenet at his best, but in the Moorish rhapsody
and the ballet of the Spanish provinces there is much that is
delightful in subject and in treatment. Again, in "ThaTs" there
is subtle fascination in the oriental intermezzo and in the ballet.
"Cendrillon" carries us to the old world of Perrault with its
fairies and Prince Charming, but when we open "Cherubin" we
behold the composer coquetting once more with local colour-
see, especially, the opening of the second act. These examples
might be multiplied, but enough has been said to show that
Massenet's imagination was stimulated by the importation of
phrases and rhythms calculated to lend piquancy and interest to
his works. It is a habit with many to talk of Massenet as though
he were a kind of sous-Gounod. While he was a feminist and
wrote in Paris, the home of Paquin as it was formerly the scene

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 143

of the triumphs of Palmyre, his gift was greater than that of

his predecessor. In him we see proof of the statement that the
local colour, that the exoticism which he loved so much was an
external thing. His personal contribution to his art lies in those
sweet and alluring pages in which he revealed himself. That his
talent was dramatic and not symphonic should not blind us to
the charm of his muse.'
In Edouard Lalo the musician will find much to admire.
Lalo was not a great writer, and yet there is something peculiarly
individual in his methods. The most prominent characteristic
of his music, and they are very prominent, are a strong sense of
colour, great rhythmical diversity, and considerable boldness i
the modulations. I cannot understand why "Namouna" was
not well received when given in Paris in 1881. The valse may b
only a piece of refined dance music, spiced here and there wit
the unconventional touches native to Lalo, but the Scene du
Balcon is a pure joy, full of originality in idea and the employment
of it. The well-known Symphonie Espagnole is fascinating from
the harmonic as well as the rhythmic standpoint. Lalo's harmony
is worthy of serious study, for he obtains many of his best effects
by means of it-a fact which did not escape Tschaikowsky.
It is necessary to dwell briefly upon one or two other com-
posers. Bizet thought of writing an opera on the "Namouna"
of de Musset and his widow informed me that he composed the
music for three acts of "Le Cid" which he had not the time to
write down. He wooed the East in "Les Pecheurs de Perles"
and "Djamileh." The former, an early work, bears traces of
immaturity, but to the latter justice still remains to be done, f
the score, in the words of Victorin Joncieres, "exhales the perfum
of the Orient." The opening chorus is full of an indolence an
beauty such as one expects to meet with in Egypt, and if t
unconventional Ghazel-a word familiar to students of Turkish
and Persian literature-in which Djamileh tells a tale of love be
weird and melancholy, the Almee is wild and fierce, suggesting
the dancing dervishes of the Sahara. "Here," said Reyer, "is
the true music of the East." There are other features in the
little work which deserve attention, but they hardly come with
the scope of this article. The music as a whole, nevertheles
stands as a kind of prophecy of "Carmen." "Djamileh" is th
bud, "Carmen" the flower. Little wonder is it that Saint-Saiens
celebrated its beauties in a sonnet and that Pigot described it
'Perhaps a word ought to be said about Dulcinea's song with guitar accompani
ment in "Don Quichotte."

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144 The Musical Quarterly

"a little masterpiece, a pearl, a jewel." In "Carmen" there is,

of course, much of the sunny South and it is instructive to observe
the different views of critics as to the legitimacy of Bizet's use
of Spanish themes. Some tell us that the central figure is merely
an attractive French heroine masquerading as a manolo, that we
are deceived by the balcony of the inn, the guitars and castanets,
the fans and mantillas, the "costumes bariols" which have so
often formed part of the stock-in-trade of third-rate men; others
write enthusiastically about the manner in which Bizet used his
materials. The opera as an opera is thoroughly satisfying, but
I cannot say whether the author of it ever studied Spanish and
gypsy music seriously. The Habanera, it will be remembered,
was a glorious afterthought, the melody having been suggested,
if not actually derived ("imitge d'une chanson espagnole" is Bizet's
description of the process) from a song of Yradier lent to Bizet
by Madame Bemberg, mother of the composer. The piece
would never have been written had it not been for a dissatisfied
prima donna, a circumstance which calls to mind the origin of
Rossini's Di tanti palpiti, than which no solo was ever received
with more frenzied enthusiasm. A Spanish authority informs me
that, while the merits of the music are recognized by Spanish
musicians, these men do not regard it as really Spanish, as faith-
fully representing the popular idiom of the people. When all is
said, however, one must admit that Bizet showed remarkable
cleverness in handling exotic themes and in lending a dash of
colour to his canvas.
There remains much of interest, but this must be merely
mentioned. Bruneau's "Kerim" owes not a little to the researches
of that tireless student Bourgault-Ducoudray. In Chabrier and
Charpentier, Debussy, Roussel and Ravel there are pages which
yield much to patient examination. And we discover a great
deal that is wonderfully refreshing in the march of Cesar Franck's
camel drivers and the czardas and mazurka to which the corphyees
and nimble rustics of Delibes dance and pose. To Gevaiert, to
Louis Laloy (who has made a profound study of Chinese music)
and to Jaques-Dalcroze (a commentator upon Arabic rhythms)'
the French are deeply indebted. While the reader may protest
that this survey has hardly brought him into contact with the
greater aspects of France, with the society which walked abroad
in the fair fields of Touraine and dined in the chateaux which
flank the Loire, with the rich and bountiful life of the eightee

'See also the Arab influence in Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Antar."

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 145

century, with the thickly populated world of Moliere and Dumas,

he will, perhaps, admit that it has served to show how remarkable
has been the French activity in this direction.

GERMANY

The Germans have not exploited exoticism to any very great

extent. His love of self-culture impelled the Hellenic Goethe to
a serious study of the art of Greece and Italy, a task which bore
fruit in the extraordinary "Gott und die Bajadere," a title which
recalls Auber, and the "Westostliche Divan," wherein the
Olympic figure of the poet is to be observed dressed out in the
loose trousers and fez of a Turkish pasha. Heine, too, had his
Southern aspect, and so it is true to say that there was a Drang
nach Osten in an artistic before a political sense. Apart from
such compositions as Mendelssohn's "Scotch" symphony, Bruch's
"Kol Nidrei" and Scottish Fantasia, the Bohemian Dvorak's
"Nigger" quartet, "New World" symphony, Biblical Songs,
Gypsy Songs (one of which, "Als die alte Mutter," is an exquisite
jewel, and shows what can be done in a small compass) and
Slavonic Dances, and D'Albert's "Tiefland," a curious congery
of styles, all of which can be traced to their sources, there is
little to scrutinise.
The exception which proves the rule, and a brilliant exception
it is, may be found in "The Barber of Bagdad" by Cornelius.
This work has a great historical significance as those who know
the inner history of Liszt's break with Weimar are aware. On
its debut Cornelius's little effort met with a hostility which is
capable of misinterpretation, for it was really directed against
Liszt and did not reflect upon the value of the music. It may be
that the circumstances in which the opera was introduced have
mitigated against its wide popularity. In any case, it is not so
well known as it ought to be. Cornelius was obviously inspired
by his subject. Although he was a prominent member of the
New German School and had sympathies with the Wagnerian
movement, there is much in his music which cannot be traced
to Liszt or Wagner. The Bagdad of the composer is an attractive
place, and the score with its call of the muezzin, comic sallies
and lyrical episodes so deftly handled holds an unique place
among the modern operatic works of Germany.
Paradoxically enough, the first man in whom we find exoticism
freely used is the national Weber. Weber was influenced by the
trend of his time. The literature for which he showed the greatest

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146 The Musical Quarterly

fondness was largely preoccupied with the baroque and the

fantastic, and there is little doubt that, as he possessed a consider-
able literary gift, he was moved to adopt a somewhat similar
attitute towards his own art. For the writings of Tieck he nursed
a profound affection. In "Preciosa," taken from Cervantes, there
are effective passages which portray Spanish and Gypsy life.
He considered Columbus and the Cid as subjects for dramatic
treatment, and sketched some music for "Die drei Pintos."' The
score of the Gozzi-Schiller "Turandot" gives us an interesting
attempt at local colouring in the use to which he puts a Chinese
theme. In "Oberon," Arabic and Turkish melodies are incor-
porated, and there are one or two scenes full of the cachet of the
Orient.
Liszt, by birth a Hungarian, was by nature responsive to
outward impressions. To name the compositions in which he
displayed a sympathy with the poets of the past and an appreciation
of scenery and architecture would be to name practically all his
works. An examination of the music of Liszt in all its aspects
would demand more space than can be allowed here, and this is
not the place to debate the legitimacy, or otherwise, of his in-
cursions into the fascinating realm of Hungarian music. It is
necessary only to point out that no composer has been more
easily touched by the artistic monuments bequeathed by the ages.
The literature of France, the paintings and frescoes of Italy, the
ritual of the church, the music of the German classicists moved
him profoundly and went far to shape that halo of enchantment
which surrounds his works. It is permissible to assume that the
objects of a man's admiration provide an index to his character
and, as is the case with Carlyle, so with Liszt, the heroes whose
praises he sang give us an insight into the man's nature. His
view of life was essentially heroic; to him most human endeavour
was to be fitly expressed in musical terms as a lamento and trionfo,
even when the latter was posthumous. To Dante, Petrarch and
Tasso, great figures born in the cradle of the New Spirit, he
looked with veneration. The famous episode of Mazeppa, which
is variously told by the historians, ends confidently with the
victorious strains of a Cossack march. He passed from one
subject to another with astonishing ease, and in every case there
is evidence of the breadth of his intellect, the bountiful generosity
of his nature, the extraordinary catholicity of his tastes, and the
whole-hearted delight which he took in gorgeous pageantry and

'This was dressed out by Gustav Mahler and produced at Leipzig.

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 147

effective decoration. After him Goldmark, a Hungarian Jew,

has shown the most decided tendency to lay on thick colours.
"Sapho" and "Sakuntala," to mention representative pieces, are
the children of that opulent imagination to which we are indebted
for several notable excerpts in "Die Konigin von Saba"; though
many will agree that the vivid hues are less cunningly handled
here than they are in many French works and in "Aida."
Strauss has a Southern aspect. He has declared that sunshine
is necessary for his inspiration. Early in his career he paid hand-
some tribute to the land of Dante in a suite, and subsequently
devoted two of his most elaborate tone-poems to outstanding
figures of Southern imagination, "Don Juan" and "Don Quixote."
But the exotic Strauss is almost wholly unsatisfactory, as witness
"The Legend of Joseph." Nowhere, I think, has Strauss so
signally failed as in the "Dance of the Seven Veils" in "Salome."
Here was an opportunity at which most of the French composers
would have put all the colour and perfume of the East in their
strains. Strauss's dance is neither Eastern nor particularly dis-
tinguished. The technical ability is squandered, for the effect is
out of all proportion to the means employed. I am not discussing
the value of the opera, which is quite another question. All I
say is that the German master has not taken full advantage of
the situation from the exotic point of view. In this connection
it is instructive to compare the treatment of the subject as shown
here and in Massenet's "Herodiade." But if you wish to realize
the wide divergence between the French and the German methods,
you have only to think what the French would have done with
"Parsifal." To begin with they would probably have called it
"Kundry," and it needs but little effort to imagine how Massenet,
say, would have treated the scene of the flower-maidens. In his
art Wagner maintained a unity of style which was little, if at
all, disturbed by change of locale. Like Balzac, he gave us himself
and we have little reason to complain. But, while the paprika
which he found in Liszt is lacking in his own music, it is possible
to create a picture of Wagner, the Eastern poet, to which Velasquez
or Munkacsy might well have put his signature. Several traits
in the man's character remind us of the life of Bagdad. The
voluptuary, sybarite, hedonist has been dragged into the light
of publicity by painstaking critics. He was the first to write
sex music. He delighted in rich colours and perfumes, and had
a weakness for gorgeous surroundings and fine personal apparel.
There does not exist unanimity of opinion as to the extent of his
absorption in the philosophical pessimism of Schopenhauer, but

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148 The Musical Quarterly
no one can deny his interest in Buddhism, in the works
"the greatest and most sublime philosopher," in the T
and additional light is thrown on this aspect of the m
sketches for "Die Sarazenin" and "Die Sieger." The p
however, can be drawn only from the man's menta
from his prose writings and his speech. His music gives
no hint of this side of him. It was that of one who drew his
strength from Gluck, Beethoven and Weber, and it was made
possible by those brilliant members of the European schools wh
laid the foundations upon which the edifices of the art are buil
Hugo Wolf heard a great deal of Italian music in his youth
was sincerely attracted by the French masters, and encourag
the hope that, perhaps, some Latin blood coursed through hi
veins. He seems, in this respect, to have been one of few. Th
average German intellect often finds it difficult to adopt th
externals of other nations, and to this we must attribute the
comparative want of success in the exotic vein. It lacks the
vivacity and mobility of the French mind; to it caprice is a
stranger. (This difference in outlook and in method has been
remarked by many, but none has analysed it better than Matthew
Arnold.) The strongest link between German and French music
seems to me to be that Southern product, the Viennese waltz,
which Marcel Prevost has aptly designated as having une dme
defemme. But it stands as a thing apart. To how many German
scores could we fitly apply the epithet une partition parfum6e, so
frequently employed to describe French works?

SPAIN.

The music of Spain is a music of the people. In the Middle

Ages there were the trobadores, a name which suggests knight-
errantry and romance. But even more interesting is the story
of the villancicos, or peasants' songs, which, if more vulgar than
the romanceros, were a true interpretation of real life. Music in
Spain has developed slowly, a fact which is, perhaps, largely due
to the limited capacity of the guitar and mandoline.1 And so we
find that, whereas with other nations the perception of music
has become keener, the singing beggars of the streets are to-day
the bards of Spain very much as they were in olden times.
This by no means implies that Spain is at all lacking in
musical interest. The country furnishes many features which are
without parallel in the history of other peoples. That more is
1There seems to be considerable difference of opinion on this point.

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 149

not known about Spanish music must be attributed to the fac

that the country is cut off by the Pyrenees, and that the Basqu
who, like the adjacent Gascons, have jealously preserved the
individuality as a race, are by nature secretive. As will be guesse
by students, Spain is a country where the song is the dance a
the dance is the song. Dr. Riemann holds that when music arrive
at a certain point of development the gulf which separates
from poetry and dancing tends to become wider. This is no
yet the case in Spain. It has always been natural for the Spaniard
to express himself in movement, and the dances of the count
tell us much of the history and temperament of the inhabitants
In the North the predominant influence is Basque; in the Sou
there are traces of the Moorish occupation. Practically all th
music can point to an ancient pedigree. The very names resou
with a fine romanticism which conjures up in the mind the pro
Spain of former days. There is the jota, a dance popular in
Arragon and Navarre; the rondeia, originating at Ronda (compar
the Scottish strathspey which takes its name from that distr
and the Serbian nishevlyanka which is derived from Nish);
jaleo is associated with Xerez; the ole gaditano is danced by t
laughing girls of Cadiz; the pollo at Seville; the malagueia de
torero came from Malaga. The chaconne, a word of uncertai
derivation, and the fandango have now merely an historical
significance. But more widely known than any of these are t
boleros, habaneras, and seguidillas manchegas, the last of whi
are popular all over Spain. Among gypsy dances are the zarandeo
and the zorongo. When we read of these dances, some performe
in the village squares, others in the stifling, ill-lit cafes of Sevil
or Cadiz, we feel that they are far removed from the highly
organised music of middle Europe. And when their attitudes and
accoutrements are added, the accompanying pandero and the
clinking castaietas, the picture is rendered more complete. Spani
dances are of two kinds; the danzas, which are executed by th
legs only, and others (popularly known as bayles, I believe) t
evolutions of which necessitate the use of the entire body. T
voluptuous grace of the danse ensoleillee has been made know
by such artists as La Tortajada, La Guerrero, and La Otero, bu
it is said that a Spanish measure loses a great deal if not set
its natural surroundings. For these dances are often entirely
expression of the emotions, full of badinage and coquetry, th
effect of which it is impossible to convey in a large theatre. He
the dance is a kind of love-motif and, being never far removed
from the odor difama, is invariably the portrayal of endearment

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150 The Musical Quarterly

jealousies and conceits, and is, in fact, a little drama of cloud

and sunshine, frown and smile.
To lay peculiar stress on all this is not to deny that Spain
can lay claim to some distinguished musicians. Several will, no
doubt, be familiar to the reader, among them the blind Cabez6n,
called by some "the Spanish Bach," Santa Maria, Eslava, Morales,
Vittoria and Ribera. We are too prone to imagine that all that
Spanish culture stands for in the musical world is the Argentine
tango and the Brazilian maxixe. The folly of this view is apparent
to those who know that Spanish influence is discernible in Pales-
trina, and that the Spanish composers occupied a dominating
position in the sixteenth century. In recent times there have
been signs of a revival. Leaving out of account that Hoffmann-
like figure, Sarasate, who filled our goblets with the Spanish
vintage, and who, by means of the violin, the minx of the musical
family and an instrument which has direct associations with
vagabondage, won fame as an exponent of his country's music,
there is much to arrest us. The work of Olmeda of Burgos is
well-known. Isaac Albeniz has been faithful to the national
idioms, as admirers of the celebrated "Triana," wherein he dep
this beautiful quarter of Seville, will testify. Granados won fa
mainly with his "Goyescas," but he, like Albeniz, paints t
Spain of the Spaniard in the alluring "Danzas." Pedrell is t
critic of the young coterie, and Manuel de Falla, whose ope
"La Vida Breve," made such a deep impression in Paris and
Nice, shows himself a true poet in those pieces, now languish-
ing, now passionate, which have passed into the repertory of
many pianists. The difference between his "Cubana," "An-
daluza," and "Montanesa" and the "Iberia" of Albeniz lies,
perhaps, in a divergence of personality rather than in any antag-
onism of artistic creed. To Joaquin Turina we are indebted for
a clever suite which portrays the life of his native town, Seville.
Quite as remarkable as the compositions of these Spanish
writers is the foreign music which has been inspired by Spain.
It.was in Arragon that Laparra collected the local colour for his
"La Habanera," and tributes to the charm of Spain have been
paid in Raff's "Rhapsodie espagnole" for the pianoforte, Glinka's
"A Summer night in Madrid" and "La Jota Aragonese," Rimsky-
Korsakoff's "Caprice espagnole," Lalo's "Symphonie espagnole,"
Liszt's "Spanish Rhapsody," Chabrier's "Espafia," Saint-Saens's
"Jota Aragonese," "Caprice andalouse" and "Habanera," Ge-
vairt's "Fantasia sobre motivos espanoles," "Ravel's "Rhapsodie
espagnole," "Debussy's "Une soiree en Grenade" and "Iberia,"

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 151

and Hugo Wolf's "Spanisches Liederbuch." All this makes

plain the irresistible appeal which the song and dance of the
humble peasant of Biscay and Navarre have made to many
men of diverse temperaments.
From Spain to Morocco is no far cry and the permanency of
the Moorish influence on music and ballad are proof of the artist
leanings of the Spanish Moor and may well lend colour to th
belief that the native music of Morocco is not without its merits
as a medium of expression, in spite of the fact that it is performed
in unison with barbaric percussion accompaniment. When the
Mohammedan invaders conquered Spain they brought into that
country a superior civilisation, and, while they were mainly
pre-occupied with science and philosophy, it was not in those
spheres alone that the intellectual qualities of the race made
themselves evident. To the excellence of their handiwork we
owe the Alhambra of Granada and many a mosque of strik
contour. To the care lavished on musical study by the Arab
chiefs in Spain may be traced the African note in the songs an
dances of the Mediterranean provinces. Many of the latter
held to be almost entirely Moorish in origin, and measures sim
to the malaguena have been heard in Fez by travellers. In
South America, so long associated with Spain, there is much
music which lies buried. The Argentine, pundits assure us, possesses
a vast amount of untapped material. Originally Spanish, the
native melodies have gradually taken on a slightly different
complexion due, no doubt, to the influence of the interminable
plains upon the mind. We cannot reproach musicians who are
not conversant with what is unwritten and merely passed from
guitar to guitar in troubadour style. But one cannot contem-
plate the possible loss of this treasure to the world at large without
a profound feeling of regret, especially when so many artificial
pieces which exploit the familiar negroid syncopations are received
with open arms. A South American tells me that when the
Argentine Liszt or Tschaikowsky appears the world will behold
the charm of the new-born song with amazement.
I have often, he says, while in the pampas, itched for the un-
possessed power to seize and chronicle all the beauty of sound that
sprang up spontaneously around me. If the day come when Argentine
music is brought into the realms of art the guitar will have to be incor-
porated into the orchestra. To realise the infinite possibilities of the
guitar one should hear it in the hands of the gaucho minstrels. A few
of them together will give a fuller, richer, more varied effect than a
balalaika orchestra in its most swollen proportions. The vidalitas, or
folk-songs, are among the most haunting things in music.

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152 The Musical Quarterly

To insist further upon the importance of Spanish music in

an historical study would be an impertinence. To the humanist
it is valuable because it is democratic, and thus brings him into
contact with the life and society of a great past. I have spoken
of the effect of the Moorish occupation, but there are apparent
traces of orientalism in the wider sense in the South of the peninsula.
The romance and sensuousness of the East are here blended with
the traditional austerity and latent fire. The old houses of
Toledo and of the villages of Andalusia, with their single windows
overlooking the street, speak of a race which naturally regards
life through the emotions. The furtive glance and passionate
whisper, the cassia set coquettishly in the sefora's hair, the
rapturous strain with which the rustic Romeo serenades his
Juliet-do they not all remind us of the time when the Saracen,
turning his back upon Syrian wastes and Egyptian deserts, rode
across the Sierra, bringing with him some of the mystery of his
native landscape and thereby adding a note of strange enchant-
ment to the Spanish Song?
ITALY

It is not until recent times that exoticism has made its

appearance in Italian music, and this is due to the popular attitud
towards opera. Where music was almost entirely operatic and
opera for so long merely a necklace of arias and duets, composers
in the main, showed little disposition to avail themselves of their
relative proximity to the artistic oases in which the French have
so often sought refreshment. It is a gross error to reproach a
Italian for writing Italian music and, while we may contend
that in Bellini and Donizetti there is to be found an allegiance
to conventions which amounts to weakness, the Southern nature
of their melody cannot be denied. The student eager for the
discovery of exotic traits will not, I fancy, discover anything
particularly worthy of note in Rossini or Spontini. It is not
until we come to Verdi that we meet with a sustained effort to
use exoticism in an Italian opera. Verdi probably took consider-
able pains to paint his Eastern pictures well, for, it will be re-
membered, "Aida" was commissioned by the Khedive. The
composer had an unique opportunity. The action takes place
in the time of the Pharaohs; the scene is laid in Memphis and
Thebes; there is much picturesque pageantry. The chorus in
the Temple of Vulcan, accompanied by the harp, the Dance of
the Priestesses and that of the Moorish Slaves, the curious theme
which interrupts the march of the Egyptians, the tranquil music

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 153

by the Nile-all these are full of a beauty which we find nowhere

else in the master's works. But the orientalism is spasmodic.
The disguise is swiftly thrown aside. In Celeste Aida, Su del
Nilo, in the love-motif and in 0 terra addio the mask is thrown
off and the passionate Italian bursts forth. I must warn the
reader that I am not disputing the value of "Aida," which is a
work of genius. I am merely pointing out that here, once more,
we have confirmation of the view that exoticism, even in the best
of hands, is an accretion.
The later men were not slow to emulate Verdi the experi-
mentalist. Puccini in "Madame Butterfly," Mascagni in "Iris,"
Leoncavallo in "I Zingari," Leoni in "L'Oracolo" have introduced
many clever effects borrowed from distant lands, and, though
the success is variable, the remarks applied to "Aida" hold good
in these cases.
HUNGARY

This is no place in which to deal with the origin of what is

popularly termed Hungarian music, or to examine the arguments
which this subject has called forth. For the present I must
content myself with showing to what extent composers have
plucked the Hungarian blossoms and added them to their garlands.
I have said that exoticism is an accretion, but it seems least so
when the musician is brought into close contact with the idiom
which he adopts; when, in other words, the act of borrowing
racial characteristics or local peculiarities is a spontaneous and
unsophisticated mental process. We find this in Haydn. It is
no disparagement to say that, apart from music, Haydn was a
peasant. And no operation of the mind could have been more
natural to him than that of turning to good account the rustic
material upon which his eye rested. For this reason it is difficult
to detect where the popular themes end and Haydn himself
begins. But it cannot be too strongly urged that Haydn's music
is valuable because the personality of the man permeates it.
By virtue of his merits as a writer not a few of the folk-songs and
dances which he used have come to our notice, which, had he
ignored them, would probably never have travelled beyond their
parochial boundaries. Many a man of third-rate powers might
have fathered them, but it is doubtful if, in such circumstances,
the music would have exhibited any great vitality. Haydn's
borrowings from the store-house of the people's music were many.
In him we find Slavonic characteristics and Croatian melodies,
and there is a Rondo a l'Hongroise. Hungarian features are

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154 The Musical Quarterly

also detectable in Beethoven's "King Stephen," in Schubert's

Divertissement a la Hongroise, in Weber's Adagio and Rondo
Ungarese for bassoon, in Berlioz's Rackoczy March, in Brahms's
Hungarian Dances, in Delibes's "Coppelia," in Johann Strauss's
"Fledermaus," in Massenet's "Scenes Hongroises" and "Marche
de Szabady." The musical history of South Germany and
Austria constantly brings us into touch with that of Hungary,
and I do not doubt that this is due to the unquenchable love of
the art which animates the Hungarian. There is much to be
said against the system of patronage, but good seed was sown
by those eminent patrons the Apponyis, Szap&rys, Erdodys, and
Esterh&zys, whose names we so often find in dedications, and to
whom Liszt and others were frequently indebted.

RUSSIA

In modern times no country has made greater progress than

Russia. That the Russians are only now evincing a sense of
national consciousness is not a matter for astonishment. Indeed,
what has been accomplished is little short of miraculous. In the
time of Catherine II the Italian influence was paramount. Enthu-
siastic applause greeted Paisiello's works, and in so late a writer
as Glinka we find passages which recall the manner of Donizetti.
The charm of French music was felt subsequently-the "Dance
des Mirlitons" of Tschaikowsky's "Casse-Noisette" suite might
have been written by Delibes, and the scoring of "The Sleeping
Beauty" owes something to Saint-Sains and Massenet; in recent
days the German manner penetrated the Tsar's domains. The
emancipation of Russia (so far as that is possible in any country)
is in course of accomplishment; that is to say, Russian musicians
realise the immense resources of their own land and mean to
draw upon them freely. The attention which the rest of Europe
has given to this Eurasian art was kindled by the appearance of
Tschaikowsky, by the tours of the excellent corps de ballet, of
which only travellers had much previous knowledge, and by the
frequent appearance on the concert platform of innumerable
Sachas and Mischas, whose playing assured us that music dwelt
in the very heart of the people. Within the limits which I have
set myself it is impossible to do more than indicate the sources
tapped by the chief representative men. Glinka put Tartar,
Finnish and Persian airs to good use. Rubinstein's "Persian
Songs" (op. 34.) are said to have been inspired by a meeting
with gypsies in the Caucasus. Cui has written Circassian Dances,

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 155

Borodin a remarkable sketch, "In the steppes of Central Asia,"

Balakiref "Islamey," an oriental fantasia for the pianoforte,
(which, if not played superlatively well, is one of the ugliest
pieces of music one could listen to), Rimsky-Korsakoff an Indian
Dance in "Mlada," Rebikov a "Danse des Odalisques" and a
"Danse orientale," Glazounoff, who has a German aspect, an
Arab Melody for the G string. Such quotations might be continued
indefinitely, and other excerpts, for example, Rebikov's "Hindus-
tani Natch" from "Autour du monde," the Dance of the Chinese
Dolls from his "Der Christbaum," the Hindu song from Rimsky-
Korsakoff's "Sadko" and Arensky's ballet "Nuit d'Egypte" deserve
study.
In a place by itself is the ballet music incorporated by Borodin
in his opera "Prince Igor." These Polovtsian Dances are full of
untamed energy and, unlike the ballet airs of the old operas,
form part of the vivid picture which this singular creation presents
to the eye.
When listening to some of these Russian works we realize
that music is often merely a kind of opium in the East. Western
writers seek harmonic variety and kaleidoscopic changes, but the
oriental mind is generally satisfied with the reiteration of one
idea. Sound is here a kind of fakir's mesmerism, a sedative or
opiate which affects the senses but has little or nothing to do
with the intellect. The conflict of Orient and Occident produces
curious effects. In one human organism we have, so to speak, a
struggle between the Russian and the Tartar of the popular
epigram. We are not concerned with the authenticity of the
claim of this or that composer to the title of Eastern singer.
It may be well to point out, however, that it oftens happens that,
even when the Russian has learnt all that the Western schools
can teach him, the result is bewildering. Where elaboration is
superimposed upon nalvety, where themes and rhythms associated
with sistrum and tabrets, with samisen and tam-tam are trans-
planted to the modern orchestra, we stand in the presence of a
new beauty, none the less real because it is so often pagan and
barbaric. That Chinese dream, Stravinsky's "Nightingale," would,
certainly, have delighted Tieck, the dealer in topsy-turveydom,
who loved to laugh with mandarins and watch the pagodas of his
imagination flit through the air. Even in symphonic works
which owe their structure to the West,-and the modern Russians
are much indebted to Berlioz and Liszt-we often happen upon
passages which carry us away from the conservatoire to the
village Kermesse by the banks of the Volga. To those accustomed

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156 The Musical Quarterly

to Beethoven, Schumann and Wagner such music must f

appear very inorganic. The melody is sometimes left
own tale, as it were, where the training of the Western
would have prompted him to cause the inner parts
and thereby strengthen the weak beats of a bar. Whe
these pieces are performed along with more polished ut
we feel as though we were overhearing the halting
moujik in a Rambouillet circle. But, when all the ink
spilt, you are bound to admit that the colossal Janus of
music is an imposing figure. No country has musical po
greater than those of Russia, and to say this is not to im
the achievement is not intrinsically valuable.
A word ought to be said about the orchestration of th
composers, a branch of the art in which they excel, for
that, by their constant striving after richness and brilli
men show that they possess something of the Easter
opulent colouring. Rimsky-Korsakoff's instrumentation
delight. Even when his ideas lack originality he give
charm or character by the manner in which he scores t
mention the works in which the handling of the orches
a masterly knowledge of its infinite resources would be t
nearly all the compositions of the best musicians.

ENGLAND

Whatever we may think of la vie boheme as port

Murger, there is little doubt that the antics indulged
aesthetes of the Victorian age seem a little comical in th
The Bohemianism of the artists who slept in attics an
about the purlieus of Montmartre represented an asp
artistic life of France. Such jolly roisterers, living w
once a comedy and a tragedy, were descendants of th
fascinating Frangois Villon, of the worldly scholars
Rabelais, of those adventurous spirits who provide suitab
for the romantic chronicler, and in whom we find co
wit, love of wine and petticoat hunting. Rapscallion
and tatterdemalion laureates are to be met with at many
in French history. But the only thing which can be said
of the movement anticipated by Pater and represented
is that it was a protest against Philistinism. Being ar
could not last, and before long the drooping sunflo
Such activity would probably have been responsible for the

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 157

creation of several interesting works in France. The only musica

result was "Patience," which derided the modern exquisites i
the same way as Offenbach's "Orphee aux Enfers" held up to
ridicule the pseudo-classical deities of conventional opera.
Britain is united to India and Egypt by close ties, but unti
a few years ago English composers showed little disposition t
leave the beaten track. Their attempts to tickle our palates
were comparatively few and timorous. Not one of them bathe
in the Southern sun as Browning did. "The Mikado" is Japanes
only on the surface. Among contemporary writers, nevertheless
there is much picturesque badinage. Elgar has a well-defined
style of his own, but in "The Apostles" he has been able to forge
the Handel-Mendelssohn tradition so completely as to introdu
the shofar of the Mohammedan world. Delius deserves a whole
chapter to himself, for he is very original, and in him we hav
composer whose style is consistent even when he is gratify
his love of half-tints and creating the atmosphere of twilig
His sojourn in Florida and residence in France probably ha
good deal to do with his mental outlook. A painter of rare cha
he occupies a niche of his own. Here and there, Cyril Scott
impressionist, touches the borderland of the exotic, but fo
profitable subject of analysis I should advise the musician
study the life and work of Coleridge-Taylor. His position
without parallel. The son of a West African native and an
Englishwoman, he received his musical education in London.
As the countless admirers of "Hiawatha" are aware, he struck a
new note. Subsequently he tested the value of African and
North American (indigenous) airs, and to his knowledge of them
we probably owe some of his most arresting pieces. Coleridge-
Taylor is a problem. The famous "Eleanore" is a true inspiration,
but it might have been penned by half a dozen other men so
far as the general style of the music is concerned. On the other
hand, in pieces like "Hiawatha," "A Tale of Old Japan" and the
African dances the African is prominent, and I think it a pity
that he did not give a freer rein to his fancy and let his natural
impulses lead him to the goal. What is conventional in his
output could have been supplied by many men without a tithe
of his imagination; what is African he alone could give. That he
learnt much from the Germans is beyond doubt-his procedure
is, of course, European-and his scoring shows a knowledge of
the Liszt of "Les Preludes." But the plaintive accent is that
which lends distinction to his finer moments, and for this sad,
sweet, yearning song we must be grateful.

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158 The Musical Quarterly

Another composer on whom attention may profitably be

concentrated is Percy Grainger. Grainger is temperamentally
antagonistic to pedagogy. To all that he does he brings a whole-
some freshness which is rare in these days. It is ominous that
this "Siegfried of the piano" is an eloquent advocate for Albeniz,
Delius and Grieg, the cause of whose "Sliitter" he has pleaded
with a persistence which commands respect. In composing he is
not fettered by the shackles of convention, but his unconven-
tionality is that of the musician, not that of the novice. Many a
conservative will, doubtless, regard his harmonic methods with
disgust and frown upon his part-writing. But, ultimately, this
clever musician wins you to his side. A large freedom stalks
across his pages. His vision extends over the whole musical
universe, and in many unfrequented places he discovers objects
which move him to expression. Little escapes him, for he is
quick to perceive the value of music as it is found among primitive
races. The "Colonial Song" was inspired by Australia, his native
country; the "Mock Morris" Dance is a study in the folk style
written round the motto "always merry and bright"; the "Dance
Song from the Faroe Islands" carries us to the far North. But
perhaps his pre-occupation with the possibilities of various in-
struments is that part of his activity which bears most directly
upon the present subject. He is interested in the percussion
department and thinks that its capabilities have not yet been
realised. He has turned his attention to the bass xylophone,
the bass glockenspiel, to gongs and bells and advocates their
use in chamber music. The "Random Round" is scored for
voices, guitars, mandolines, mandola, piano, xylophone, ce
glockenspiel, resonaphone, strings and wind. One version of
popular "Shepherd's Hey" contains a part for the English
certina, and in the "Zanzibar Boat-Song" he employs the cele
glockenspiel and resonaphone. Elsewhere he has utilise
American organ. It is characteristic of him that, when a stud
he thought of going to China in order to study the music of
country; it is equally characteristic of him that he has wr
of the chants of the Maoris with zest. He is continually swee
away the cobwebs of obscurantism and, on account of his sear
for new colour effects and striking harmonic combinatio
entitled to rank as one of the most successful opponents of D
Dry-as-dust.
The most persistent upholder of exoticism which England
ever produced is Granville Bantock who is something of a wild pa
in his art. In all he touches there is much of the grotesqu

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 159

baroque, and he is not afraid of the bizarre. His best-known

work is "Omar Khayyam," which opens with the call of the
muezzin from the minaret, Allahu Akbar! and which, apart from
its exquisite colouring, is remarkable for such unconvention
passages as the passing of the caravan. Here we have the mus
of a modern wizard. A Turkomani melody is sung, at first a boc
chiusa, while the orchestra confines itself to the persistent repetition
of chords. Bantock's reputation rests upon a large number o
works, for he has been prolific and successful. His fondness f
subjects which offer wide scope for his whimsical fancy an
imaginative gifts showed itself early in his career. He planne
a series of symphonic poems on Southey's "Kehama," but of this
huge Egyptian edifice only one part-"Rameses II"-was bui
Then there are "The Fire Worshippers," "The Pearl of Iran,"
Songs of the East in six groups-India, Japan, Persia, Egyp
China and Arabia, and "Christ in the Wilderness," which contain
a page or so of Eastern landscape painting. "Thalaba the Des-
troyer," a tone-poem, occupies an important place among h
compositions, but where the pen of the creator has been so busy
it is difficult to play the cicerone to the curious reader. I mu
refer him to the "Ghazals of Hafiz," "Ferishtah's Fancies," th
Sappho Songs, the "Song of the Genie" (a remarkable fragmen
the "Eastern Love-Song," the two Chinese Songs, "On Himalay
and the Dramatic dances for orchestra. Bantock's success as
an exponent of exotic subjects owes something to his prodigio
technique. He handles the orchestra with great ease; there i
no shade of which it is capable that he cannot obtain if he wish.
In him I seem to discern the inevitable protestant against t
conventional subject and the conventional treatment. In choi
of theme he stands apart from his confreres. He reminds us of
gypsy who, despising the high-roads of commerce, seeks in h
path and rustic lane that freedom which is necessary to h
happiness. Technically and temperamentally he is a man
to-day, or, rather, of to-morrow. And this musical Suleiman the
Magnificent is never so pleased as when walking abroad in th
caftan of a sultan or smoking a chibouk in the fairy palace o
his dreams.
* *

Much more could be

to pardon me if I hav

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160 The Musical Quarterly

through these musical galleries.1 A hundred points here untouched

upon will suggest themselves to the imaginative mind. It is easy
to discover pages which throw fresh light on the topic, or which
threaten the destruction of our theoretical scaffoldings. On Mac-
Dowell's "Indian" suite, Stillman-Kelley's "Aladdin" suite, on
Karg-Elert's "Sonatina exotique," on Georges Hue's "Croquis
d'Orient," on Paderewski's "Manru," on Moszkowski's superficial
Spanish Dances, the foreignism of which is only skin-deep, on
"Les Filles de Cadix" of Delibes, on his "Lakme," wherein we
see the 6cole des flonflons in Hindustani, on Grieg's dance for
Anitra, the Bedouin chief's daughter, so effective after the northern
lament for Ase, the student will have many things to remark.
He might, further, reproach me for not discussing the romantic
and the realistic methods of treating exotic themes, and for having
neglected to mention the music of Albania and Armenia which
such a piece as Ippolitov-Ivanow's "Rhapsodie armenienne" calls
to our attention. But I shall leave the matter with the statement
that the popularity of exotic subjects is to be found in the simpl
explanation that they furnish a legitimate reason for the utilisatio
of all those variegated effects obtainable in the modern orchestra.
While the trait adopted, a peculiar scale or an unusual rhythmic
singularity, may be foreign, the colours in which it is set out
are now an indispensable part of the modernist's equipment,
and they are drawn upon even when the local characteristics are
discarded. It is not enough for the composer that the lines of
the figure are beautiful. He is fastidious as to the hues in which
it is to be clothed. This fact is of vital moment, for we have
arrived at a time in which it is necessary to consider the scoring
of a work not as a thing apart from its harmonic dressing, but as
something intimately related to it. Most present-day writers
think in terms of the orchestra. This makes plain why many a
passage which seems to be little removed from nonsense when
played on the piano is not only significant, but eloquent when
performed on the instruments for which it was written. As has
been shown, the net results vary according to the methods of
the artist. We cannot always say with Taine, "Oriental poetry
has nothing more dazzling or magnificent." The pilgrimages
of this man lead to success, of that to failure. In many cases
the picture is not v6cu, but it is a question whether we should

'For example, one might point to the growing popularity of Muscovite and Oriental
subjects-the latter apparent in the chocolate coloured nudes of the Paris Salon, a re-
minder of the influence of Gaugin. This popularity is responsible for a change in the
conception of beauty, which is always a relative thing.

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 Exoticism in Music in Retrospect 161

expect a composer to be an expert archaeologist and antiquaria

Gautier and others doubtless often offended history and science
while giving us literature, and many painters have depicted
biblical characters arrayed as gentlemen of their own perio
The artistic temperament and the capacity for historical researc
are seldom found in the same man and all we can demand is
that the composer should use his materials with discretio
The study of exoticism transports us to strange scene
new pastures. It shows us the gay science and morbidezza
South. It tempts us to follow the track of the musical Borr
who often shuns the spacious avenues laid out by the Haussm
of the art. It compels us to set sail with Vanderdecken
angry seas, for the man of ideas is never completely at
But such voyages, if fraught with dangers, put us in pos
of a store of knowledge which we may seek in vain elsewhe

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