Books › Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1927 › scan 167
Scan 167
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1927
48 lines. Read by computer on 5 September 2026. Printed page 131. See the scan on archive.org.
1treatment of the latter's music dramas and his opposition to certain current tendencies in music may be studied in his numerous essays. A volume of them, Vom musikalisches Drama (published 1915), is representative. Futuristengefahr (1917) appeared as a reply to Busoni's Ästhetik, and Die neue Ästhetik der musikalischen Impotenz (1919) pursues the controversy with 'modernism.' Among Pfitzner's later musical compositions a 'romantic cantata,' with the title 'Von deutscher Seele' (1922), is outstanding. It is in the nature of a song cycle for solo voices, choir and orchestra, in which poems of Eichendorff are threaded together to illustrate ideas and aspirations which, for the composer, have a profound significance. An elaborate score in which the orchestral writing is peculiarly intricate, its acceptance depends very much on the capacity of an audience to perceive its inner meaning. It was given in New York by the Society of the Friends of Music, under Bodanzky's direction, in the autumn of 1923, and was there received with only partial sympathy. The difficulty to an audience foreign to 'the German Soul' lay in the fact that what appealed as beautiful in the music seemed too obviously reminiscent of the 19th century romantics, and what was unfamiliar seemed overstrained. It still remains to be seen, therefore, how far the high claims put forward for Pfitzner by his immediate circle can be substantiated before a larger public.
3The following list of works is based on Riemann, from which work many biographical details in the above are taken.
5STAGE WORKS
6Incidental Music to Ibsen's Fest auf Solhang. (1889.)
7'Der arme Heinrich,' opera, libretto by J. Grun. (Mainz, 1895.)
8'Die Rose vom Liebesgarten,' opera, libretto by Grun. (Elberfeld, 1901.)
9'Christelflein,' a Christmas play after Stack's Weihnachtsmärchen. (Munich, 1906; rev. 1917.)
10Music to Kleist's Käthchen von Heilbronn (op. 17). (Berlin, 1908.)
11'Palestrina,' opera, 3 acts, libretto by composer. (Munich, 1917.)
13ORCHESTRA AND VOICES
14Scherzo, orch. (1888.)
15'Der Blumen Rache,' alto, women's ch. and orch. (1888.)
16Piano concerto in E flat.
17Ballades, 'Herr Oluf' (op. 12), baritone and orch.
18" 'Die Heinzelmännchen' (op. 14), bass and orch.
19Romantic cantata, 'Von deutscher Seele' (Eichendorff), scli (4), ch., orch. (1922.)
20Violin concerto (1923).
21Songs with orch. (op. 25), etc.
23CHORAL AND SONGS
24'Columbus' (Schiller), 8 v, unaccompanied.
25Songs in the following op. Nos.: 2-7, 9-11, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 29, 30.
27CHAMBER MUSIC
28Sonata, v'cl. and PF. (op. 1).
29Trio, strings and PF. (op. 8).
30String quartet in D (op. 13).
31Quintet, strings and PF. in C (op. 23)
32Sonata, vln. and PF. in E min. (op. 27).
34BIBLIOGRAPHY
35A. SEIDL: Hans Pfitzner. (1921.)
36C. WANDREY: H. Pfitzner, seine geistl. Persönlichkeit und das ende der Romantik. (1922.)
37Publications of the 'H. Pfitzner Verein für deutsche Tonkunst,' founded Munich, 1918.
39PHAGOTUS (Ital. fagotto, fagoto), a reed instrument invented or, rather, evolved by Afranio Albonese of Pavia (see AFRANIO). A careful examination of his nephew Teseo's description, together with that of a manuscript sheet of instructions for the instrument, discovered in 1893 by Count Valdrighi amongst the state archives at Modena 1 makes it quite evident that the phagotus, whatever its name implied, was but an advanced form of bagpipe.
41Its history is interesting and romantic. Afranio was residing for a time in Pannonia on the borders of the modern Serbia, and, taking the popular bagpipe of the country called 'piva,' with its double chanter and no drones, as his model, he endeavoured to extend and deepen its compass. His efforts failed, as the instrument would not stay in tune; so, when he returned to Italy, he left it behind him. In 1521, some years later, Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, was taken by Sultan Soliman and the district ravaged; but the instrument was rescued and brought as a curiosity to Italy. There it came into the hands of Afranio once more, and he, with the help of a mechanic of Ferrara named Ravilio, at length perfected it. For at a feast given at Mantua by the Duke of Ferrara in 1532 'il Revdo Mess: Affranio [sic]' played a solo upon his 'fagotto' between the fifth and sixth courses.
43Apparently more than one instrument of the kind was made, as the MS. Instructions mentioned above (dated 1565) were given by Teseo to a friend to whom he had also presented 'uno de suoi fagoti,' with strict injunctions, however, that he should not divulge the method of playing it to any except his own sons.
45Two illustrations of the phagotus, as they appear in Teseo's work of the year 1539, are given on PLATE LVIII. It will be seen that the instrument took the form of the letter H, and consisted of two pillars about 22 inches in height joined together by cross-pieces, the shorter central pillar being purely ornamental. Each side pillar was divided into an upper and a lower part: the upper part was bored with two parallel cylindrical tubes united at the top, thus forming one continuous tube, pierced with holes for the fingers and keys. The lower part of each pillar contained the reed similar to that of the piva, viz. a single-beating reed of the clarinet type; but in this perfected instrument the reeds were made of thin metal like those of the regal. The left-hand pillar or tube, with a reed of silver, provided a diatonic scale of 10 notes from tenor C upwards, while the pillar fingered by the right hand was fitted with a reed of brass and also had a compass of 10 notes, from G below the bass stave to bass Bb. By cross-fingering chromatic notes could be obtained and either pillar silenced or sounded at will by a special key. From the back of the instrument, which was rested on the knees during performance, with a cord round the neck, a flexible pipe passed to a bag held under the left arm; this formed an air reservoir, being supplied with wind from bellows fastened under
471 Cf. Musurgiana Series II., No. 2; Modena, 1895.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.