112.—STUBBORN COMPOSERS.
Had more of the most famous composers catered to the taste of the people of their time, they would have been in receipt of larger incomes and would have held positions that were closed to them on account of what was called their stubbornness. Undoubtedly there was a good deal of the stubborn element in some of them, and a great deal of admiration for self and the works of self. That is right. A fair amount of self-appreciation is a good thing.
Many times these men did right in refusing to grant the demands of critics or of a public that was unappreciative of their artistic strivings. A great composer is always ahead of the times in which he lives. As Lowell says, success is posthumous. They were right in refusing to descend to the level of the commonplace, and, in the majority of cases, were right in refusing to alter their standard and their written works to suit a taste that was temporary or vitiated in character.
But there was occasionally a middle ground that might have been occupied without harm to the artistic interests involved, and with great advantage to the composer's financial welfare. When they refused to see this, or seeing it, refused to act as good judgment dictated, then we can only assign stubbornness as the reason. One instance will serve to illustrate our meaning.
Schubert once had an opportunity to obtain the conductorship at a certain opera house. He was sadly in need of such an appointment, as his income, despite his many compositions, was next to nothing. But before the position was awarded, he was to compose and conduct certain music to the satisfaction of the officials. But the composition he presented contained difficulties that were evidently insurmountable, and Schubert was asked to alter it somewhat to make it suitable to the singers and the circumstances. He gruffly refused. After two rehearsals the trouble only seemed to grow worse and at the final full rehearsal an attempt to sing the obnoxious part only resulted in a grand failure.
The manager then announced that the presentation would be postponed and asked Herr Schubert in the meanwhile to make such changes as would insure the performance, especially in the part assigned to one of the soloists. At this Schubert's wrath got the upper hand of his good judgment and shutting up his score with a bang he shouted, "I alter nothing," and left the house, That ended his prospects as an opera director.