case of Wagner, as we have already said, is unique in history, and in ordinary circumstances music and poetry in the opera co-exist by means of a compromise; but this compromise ought to proceed from mutual love, not from mere toleration. In other words, the poet should undoubtedly supply opportunities for musical display, both of a vocal and an orchestral kind, but no finale, or march, or wedding chorus, ought to interfere with the economy of the drama. To state such a problem is of course easier than to solve it, but even the mere statement of the difficulty may not be entirely without use.
Before concluding this notice, it is desirable to mention the names of a few of the more celebrated librettists. The most famous amongst them is Metastasio (1698–1782), the author of 'La Semiramide reconnosciuta,' 'Il Re Pastore,' and 'Il Trionfo di Clelia,' amongst whose musical collaborators were the most celebrated masters of the 18th century. [Metastasio.] Calzabigi deserves mention as the author of 'Orfeo,' and other works of Gluck's Viennese period, the French collaborator of the master being Le Bailli du Rollet. Amongst more modern Italian librettists it must suffice to name Felice Romano, the friend and artistic companion of Bellini. The father of French librettists was the Abbé Perrin, who broke the supreme rule of the hexameter by writing what he terms 'paroles de musique ou des vers à chanter,' and who in conjunction with Cambert produced the first French opera properly so called ('La Pastorale,' first performed in 1659). Quinault was the poetic assistant of Lully. In modern France the name of Scribe towers above his rivals; Barbier, Meilhac and Halévy supply the contemporary market. Sardou also has tried his hand at lyrical drama, but without much success. The failure of the English version of 'Piccolino' at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1879 was due at least as much to Sardou's libretto as to Guiraud's music. In Germany, Goethe and Wieland appear amongst aspirants to lyrical honours, but without success. Of the professional librettists in that country none deserves mention. In connection with so-called 'English opera' the names of Gay, the author of the 'Beggar's Opera,' and, in modern times, of Alfred Bunn and of Edward Fitzball, both fertile librettists, ought to be mentioned. To the latter belongs the merit of having by one of his pieces supplied Heine, and through him Wagner, with the idea of a dramatised 'Flying Dutchman.' Mr. Planché, the author of Weber's 'Oberon,' also must not be forgotten. Mr. W. S. Gilbert's witty comediettas, which Mr. Sullivan has fitted to such charming and graceful tunes, can be called libretti only in a modified sense.
A few words should be added with regard to the libretto of the Oratorio and the Cantata. Æsthetic philosophers have called the oratorio a musical epic, and, in spite of its dramatic form, there is a good deal of truth in this definition; for, not only does the narration take the place of the action on the stage, but the descriptive parts, generally assigned to the chorus, allow of greater breadth and variety of treatment than is possible in the opera. A reference to the choruses in 'Israel in Egypt' and other works by Handel will be sufficient to illustrate the point. In accordance with this principle, what has been urged above with regard to the operatic libretto will have to be somewhat modified. But here also terse diction and a rapid development of events should in all cases be insisted upon. The matter is considerably simplified where the words have been selected from Scripture, for here sublimity of subject and of diction is at once secured. Handel's 'Messiah' and 'Israel'—which also contain his finest music—Mendelssohn's 'St. Paul,' 'Elijah,' and 'Hymn of Praise,' owe their libretti to this source. Haydn's 'Creation' is based on the Bible and Milton, though the source is difficult to recognise under the double translation which it has undergone. Gay's 'Acis and Galatea,' Milton's 'Allegro' and 'Penseroso,' Dryden's 'Alexander's Feast,' and Pope's 'St. Cecilia's Ode' have a literary value of their own; but in other cases Handel has been less happy; and some terrible couplets might be quoted from the works of his collaborators Morell and Humphreys. The transition from the oratorio proper to the cantata, or 'Worldly Oratorio' as the Germans quaintly call it, is made by Liszt's 'St. Elizabeth.' The libretto by Otto Roquette, although not without good points, is upon the whole tedious, and cannot be recommended as a model. Better is Schumann's 'Paradise and the Peri,' which may stand as a specimen of the cantata proper. Its libretto is essentially founded on Moore's tale, the ensemble of Peris mocking the heavenly aspirations of their sister was inserted by the composer himself. The story has been skilfully arranged, but there is the drawback that the dramatic battle-scene occurs in the first part, while the quieter, though psychologically more elevated motives, are assigned to the later portions. The impression of an anti-climax is thus inevitable.
[ F. H. ]
LICENSE. (It. Licenzia; Germ. Licenz; Fr. Licence). As long as any art has the capacity for development and expansion, true genius and dogmatism are constantly at war. The inherent disposition of the mind to stereotype into formulas conclusions drawn from the observation of an insufficient number of isolated instances, is probably the result of much bitter experience of the fruits of human carelessness and stupidity; against which the instincts of the race impel them to guard for the future by preparing temporary leading-strings for the unwise, to keep them from falling and dragging others with them into the mire of error. Up to a certain point even genius must have leading-strings, and these must needs be made of the best materials at hand till better be found. The laws cannot be made on principles whose bases are out of the ken of the wisest law-makers; and genius, like ordinary intellect, must needs be amenable at first to such laws as preceding masters have been able to formulate from the sum total of their experience. The trouble begins
