Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/148

reise' and the 'Schwanen-Gesang,' have not got the special title. Schumann has left several Liederkreis—by Heine (op. 24); by Eichendorff (op. 39); 'Dichterliebe, Liedercyklus' (op. 48); Liederreihe von J. Kerner (op. 35); 'Frauenliebe und Leben' (op. 42). Of all these Beethoven's most faithfully answers to the name. The songs change their tempo, but there is no break, and the motif of the first reappears in the last, and closes the circle. Thayer's conjecture (iii. 401) that in writing it Beethoven was inspired by Amalie von Sebald, whom he had met at Linz in 1811, is not improbably correct. He was then 45 years old, an age at which love is apt to be dangerously permanent.

[ G. ]

LIEDERSPIEL, a play with songs introduced into it, such songs being either well-known and favourite airs—Lieder—or, if original, cast in that form. It is the German equivalent of the French Vaudeville, and of such English pieces as the 'Beggar's Opera,' the 'Waterman,' etc. The thing and the name are both due to J. F. Reichardt, whose 'Lieb' und Treue' was the first Liederspiel. It was an attempt to bring back the musical stage of Germany from artifice to natural sentiment. Reichardt's interesting account of his experiment and the reasons which led to it, will be found in the Allg. mus. Zeitung, 1801 (79–717). Strange and anomalous as such a thrusting of music into the midst of declamation may seem, the attempt was successful in Germany, as it had been in England fifty years before. The tunes could be recognised and enjoyed without effort, and the Liederspiel had a long popularity. After Reichardt, Himmel, Lortzing, Eberwein, and a number of other second-class writers composed Liederspiel which were very popular, and they even still are to be heard.—Mendelssohn often speaks of his 'Heimkehr' ('Son and Stranger') as a Liederspiel, but that can only be by an extension of the phrase beyond its original meaning.

[ G. ]

LIEDERTAFEL, originally a society of men, who met together on fixed evenings for the practice of vocal music in four parts, drinking forming part of the entertainment. They arose during the political depression caused by Napoleon's rule in Germany; and the first, consisting of 24 members only, was founded by Zelter in Berlin, Dec. 28, 1808. Others soon followed at Frankfort and Leipzig, gradually relaxing the rules as to numbers. Bernhard Klein founded the 'Jüngeren Berliner Liedertafel,' which aimed at a higher standard of art. These societies gave an immense impetus to men's part-singing throughout Germany. Since the establishment of the Männergesangvereine proper (male singing societies), the word Liedertafel has come to mean a social gathering of the 'Verein,' i.e. a gathering of invited ladies and gentlemen, at which the members perform pieces previously learned. They are in fact informal concerts, where the guests move about, eat, drink, and talk as they please, provided they keep silence during the singing. The Liedertafeln of the large male singing societies of Vienna, Munich, and Cologne, are pleasant and refined entertainments, not without a musical significance of their own.

[ F. G. ]

LIGATOSTIL (Ital. Stile ligato), also called gebundener Stil, is the German term for what is called the strict style, as distinguished from the free style of musical composition. Its chief characteristic lies not so much in the fact that the notes are seldom or never detached, as that all dissonances are strictly prepared by means of tied notes.

[ F. T. ]

LIGATURE (Lat. Ligatura; Ital. Legatura; Fr. Liaison). A passage of two or more notes, sung to a single syllable. [See Notation.]

In antient music-books, Ligatures are not indicated, as now, by slurs: but the form of the notes themselves is changed—sometimes, in a very puzzling manner.

Three kinds of Ligatures are used in Plain Chaunt. In the first, and simplest, the notes are merely placed very close to each other, so as almost to touch, thus—

In the second, used only for two notes, ascending, they are 'bonded'—that is to say, written one over the other; the lowest being always sung first—

In the third, used for two notes descending, they are joined together, so as to form an oblique figure, descending towards the right; the upper end resting on the line or space denoting the first and highest of the two notes, and the lower, on that denoting the second, and lowest, thus—

In early times, the notes of Plain Chaunt were all of equal length. When, after the invention of Measured Music (Cantus mensurabilis), the Large, Long, Breve, and Semibreve, were brought into general use, a considerable modification of the form and scope of the Ligature became necessary. Hence, we find Franco of Cologne, in the 11th century, calling Ligatures beginning with a Breve, Ligaturæ cum proprietate; those beginning with a Long, sine proprietate; those beginning with a Semibreve, cum opposita proprieiate; those in which the last note is a Long, Ligaturæ perfectæ; those in which the last note is a Breve, imperfectæ.

In the Polyphonic Music of the 15th and 16th centuries, the form of the Ligatures varies greatly; and is, necessarily, very complex, since it concerns the relative duration of the notes, as well as their difference in pitch. A catalogue of the strange figures found in antient MSS. would be interesting only to the antiquary: but, as an intimate acquaintance with the more usual forms is absolutely indispensable