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Scan 160
Musical instruments, 1925
13 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 146. See the scan on archive.org.
1Macabre, one of the most picturesque symphonic poems ever conceived. Wagner calls for the same effect in Act II of Siegfried, where Mime is brewing the poison with which he hopes to destroy Siegfried, and again he requests its aid in a more cheerful scene in Act III of Die Meistersinger, at the entry of the various Guilds. Here all the strings col legno furnish the harmonies, while stopped Trumpets (described in the next chapter) suggest the little toys, the manufacture of which have helped make Nuremberg famous for centuries.
3No 38. Die Meistersinger, Act III
4Piccolo
5Glockenspiel
6Oboe
7Trumpet I con sord.
8Strings col legno
9WAGNER
10etc.
12Here attention should be called to the very sparing use by truly great masters of this and kindred highly spiced effects. In the above excerpt the col legno is employed for only four measures. Its appearance in the Danse Macabre is just as restricted. On the other hand, in the works of the mediocrities, where laboured external effects must take the place of ideas, piquant passages are prolonged till satiety ensues.
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