Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/495

E B W E B 469 unreal, that forms the strongest characteristic of the pure " romantic school," as Weber understood and created it. It is true to nature even when dealing with the super natural, for it treats its wildest subjects in earnest, and without a doubt as to the reality of the scenes it ventures to depict, or the truthfulness of their dramatic interpre tation. Weber and Kind sketched the scenario of the new opera in February 1817. On March 1 the poet placed the com plete libretto in the hands of the composer, who wrote the first note of the music on July 2 beginning with the duet which opens the second act. But so numerous were the interruptions caused by Morlacchi s intrigues, the insol ence of unfriendly courtiers, and the attacks of jealous critics that nearly three years elapsed before the piece was completed. In the meantime the performances at the opera-house were no less successfully remodelled at Dresden than they had already been at Prague, though the work of reformation was far more difficult ; for the new kapellmeister was surrounded by enemies who openly subjected him to every possible annoyance, and even the king himself was at one time strongly prejudiced against him. Happily, he no longer stood alone in the world. Having, after much difficulty, broken off his miserable intimacy with Margarethe Lang, he married the well-known vocalist, Carolina Brandt, a noble-minded woman and consummate artiste, whose advice, even on subjects con nected with the new opera, was extremely valuable. The great work was completed May 13, 1820, on which day Weber wrote the last note of the overture, a portion of the design which, for obvious reasons, it was his custom to postpone until the rest of the music was finished. There is abundant evidence to prove that he was well satisfied with the result of his labours ; but he gave him self no rest. He had engaged to compose the music to Wolff s Gipsy drama, Preciosa. Two months later this also was finished, and both pieces ready for the stage. In consequence of the unsatisfactory state of affairs at Dresden, it had been arranged that both Preciosa and Der Freischiitz no longer known by its original title, Des Ja yers Brant should be produced at Berlin. In February 1821 Sir Julius Benedict was accepted by Weber as a pupil ; and to his pen we owe a delightful account of the rehearsals and first performance of his master s chef dueuvre. Preciosa was produced with great success at the old Berlin opera-house on June 14, 1821. On June 18, the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, the opening of the new " Schauspielhaus " was celebrated by the produc tion of Der Freischiitz. Much anxiety was caused by unforeseen difficulties at the rehearsals; yet, so calm was Weber s mind that he devoted his leisure time to the composition of his Conccrtstilclc in F minor one of his finest pianoforte pieces. Until the last moment his friends were anxious; the author was not ; and the result justified his confidence in his own powers. The success of the piece was triumphant. The work was received with equal enthusiasm at Vienna on October 3, and at Dresden on January 2G, 1822. Yet Weber s position as kapellmeister was not much improved by his success, though, in order to remain faithful to his engagements, he had refused tempting offers at Berlin and Cassel, and, at the last- named place, had installed Ludwig Spohr in a position much more advantageous than his own. For his next opera Weber accepted a libretto based, by Frau Wilhelmine von Chexy, on the story of Euryanlhe, as originally told in the 13th century, in Gilbert de Montreuil s Roman de la Violette, and repeated with alter ations in the Decamerone, in Shakespeare s Cymbeline, and in several later forms. In place of the ghostly horrors of Dcr Freischiitz, the romantic element was here supplied by the chivalric pomp of the Middle Ages. The libretto, though soundly abused by shallow critics, is really an exceptionally good one in one respect superior to that of Der Freischiitz, inasmuch as it substitutes elaborate recitative for the spoken dialogue peculiar to the German " Schauspiel " and French " opera comique." It is, in fact, a " grand opera" in every sense of the words, the prototype of the " musical drama " perfected fifty years later by Wagner. The overture as usual, written last presents a feature that has never been imitated. During its performance the curtain temporarily rises, to exhibit, in a tableau vivant, the scene in the sepulchral vault upon which the whole story turns. This episode is now rarely presented ; but Weber himself well knew how much the interest of the piece depended on it. The work was pro duced at the Kiirntnerthor theatre in Vienna, October 25, 1823, and received with enthusiasm. Being of a less popular character than Der Freischiitz, it is not so fre quently performed ; but it still retains its place upon the stage, and ranks among the finest " romantic operas " that have ever been written. Weber s third and last dramatic masterpiece was an English opera, written for Covent Garden theatre, upon a libretto adapted by Blanche from Wieland s Oberon. Destined for the English stage sixty years ago, this was necessarily disfigured by the spoken dialogue abandoned in Euryanihe ; but in musical beauty it is quite equal to it, while its fairies and mermaids are as vividly real as the spectres in Der Freischiitz. Though already far gone in consumption, Weber began to compose the music on January 23, 1825. Charles Kemble had offered him 1000 for the work, and he could not afford to rest. He finished the overture in London, at the house of Sir George Smart, soon after his arrival, in March 182G ; and on April 12 the work was produced with triumphant success. But it cost the composer his life. Wearied out with rehearsals and performances of the opera, and concerts at which he was received with rapturous applause, he grew daily perceptibly weaker ; and, notwithstanding the care of his kind host, Sir George Smart, and his family, he was found dead in his bed on the morning of June 5, 1826. For eighteen years his remains rested in a temporary grave in Moorfields chapel; but in 1844 they were removed and placed in the family vault at Dresden. Besides his three great dramatic masterpieces and the other works already mentioned, Weber wrote two masses, two sym phonies, eight cantatas, and a vast amount of songs, orchestral and pianoforte pieces, and music of other kinds, amounting altogether to more than 250 compositions. (W. S. R.) WEBER S LAW is the principal generalization of that branch of scientific investigation which has come to be known as " psycho-physics. " According to Feclmer, who has done most to prosecute these inquiries and to consolidate them under a separate name, " psycho-physics is an exact doctrine of the relation of function or dependence between body and soul." In other words, it is throughout an attempt to submit to definite measurement the relation of physical stimuli to the resulting psychical or mental facts, and forms an important department of experimental psychology. It deals with the quantitative aspects of mental facts their intensity or quantity proper and their duration. Physical science enables us, at least in the case of some of the senses, to measure with accuracy the objective amount of the stimulus, and introspection enables us to state the nature of the subjective result. Thus we are able to say whether a stimulus produces any psychical result, and can fix in that/way the minimum sensibile or " threshold of consciousness " for each of the senses. In like manner (though with less accuracy, owing to the dis

turbing nature of the conditions) we can fix the sensational