Chapter 32

CHAPTER XV

BERLIOZ AND LISZT.

PROGRAMME MUSIC

There is no doubt that Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), however var-
ied the appeal of his music to different temperaments, is an artis-
tic personality to be reckoned with; one not to be ticketed and
laid on the shelf. Although a century and more has elapsed since
his birth the permanent value of his music is still debated, often
amusingly enough, by those who seem unaware that, whatever
the theoretical rights of the case, in practice his principles are
the reigning ones in modern music. As Berlioz stands as the fore-
most representative of program music and never wrote anything
without a title, it is certain that before his music or influence can
be appreciated, the mind must be cleared of prejudice and we
must recognize that modern program music is a condition—an
artistic fact, not a theory—and that the tendency towards spe-
cific, subjective expression (whether manifested in song, opera
or symphonic poem) is a dominant one among present day com-
posers. It is true that all music is the expression in tones of the
imagination of the composer; true, also, that music must ful-
fil certain conditions of its own being. But imaginations differ.
That of Berlioz, for example, was quite a new phenomenon; and
as for the working principles of musical composition, they are
as much subject to modification as any other form of human
experimentation. Berlioz, himself, says that he never intended