in words must break down utterly. Artistic music must always have interest and value over and above that which inheres in any text, title or argument—the hearer, however, being free to supply some imaginary interpretation of the tonal formulation of feeling which he hears. But there would seem to be no essential impropriety in the composer's having in his work some definite mental impulse or in his communicating this to the hearer. Hence the use of the 'program' idea seems to be legitimate. It is the abuse of it by the selection of unsuitable topics or by making some extreme statement of it normative of all musical art that is to be resisted.
The one special form of composition that arose in this transitional period was the 'symphonic poem,' the invention of which is usually ascribed to Liszt. This form cannot be precisely defined as can the forms of classical style. It was not governed by what may be called architectonic rules. In essence it was dramatic, and hence its building up was analogous, not to the processes of physical manufacture or formal logic, but to those of free social activity. Its materials were themes symbolizing personages, situations or ideas. These themes, with their pictorial or emotional suggestiveness, were, so to speak, put into action and made to deploy as actors on a stage. The interest, as in a drama, depended on the interplay of contrasted elements, on the transformation of the factors under changing conditions, on the on-go of events toward a dénouement. Of course, the way in which this dramatic unfolding was wrought out varied indefinitely with the nature of the topic chosen and the angle of feeling whence it was approached. Liszt's success with this form was due to his ready absorption of artistic ideas from Berlioz on the one hand and Wagner on the other. Since his day the symphonic poem or something akin to it has been a recognized form of orchestral composition, and its acceptance has enriched the whole field of instrumental art.
Under the influence of these new tendencies the strict regularity of the classical symphony tended to vanish. The number, order and character of movements became somewhat variable, and their internal structure began to show wide freedom. All this was the natural result of the new ideas about form in relation to expression which began with Beethoven.
212. The Work of Berlioz.—The duration of Berlioz' artistic
career falls almost exactly into the period here being discussed.
Its beginning was coincident with the early work of Mendelssohn,
Schumann, Chopin, Liszt and Wagner. But it started amid the
peculiarly academic conditions of Paris, and it proceeded at first
without close connection with the strong German development.
Berlioz was instinctively revolutionary in impulse. His independence
and the severity with which he expressed himself
prevented his holding intimate relations with other musicians.
He was intensely ambitious for recognition and sought eagerly
