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Musical Education Of Amateurs: The later 5th century saw the beginning of musical theory and the growth of a sophisticated virtuosity that Plato deplored but that continued into the 4th century and later. In the Hellenistic period (reckoned from 323 B. c. onward), though the musical education of amateurs went on, the emphasis was on professionalism: musicians, along with actors, were organized in guilds and toured the Greek world, which had been extended by the conquests of Alexander the Great; successful artists were honored and rewarded by communities.
There is, assuredly, a royal road to Drawing, and one of these days, when more known and better explored, it will probably be much frequented. Already sundry amateurs have laid down the pencil and armed themselves with chemical solutions and with camerae obscurae. These amateurs especially, and they are not a few, who find the rules of perspective difficult to learn and to apply—and who moreover, have the misfortune to be lazy—prefer to use a method which dispenses with all that trouble.
These so-called German operas were actually Singspiele similar in structure to the earlier church plays, school dramas, and other perfunctory pieces embellished with musical numbers. The new type attributed more importance to the music, but avoided the recitative in the belief that the German language did not lend itself to conversationalized singing. As these earlier German operas were often performed by ordinary actors or amateurs, the music was simple and the texts frequently were trivial. Such musical plays fought a losing battle against Italian, and later against French opera with their especially trained personnel and variety of attractions. Beginning with Johann Kaspar von Kerll, prominent German composers actively endorsed foreign opera, and this tendency continued far into the 19th century. Among the early projects undertaken to counterbalance this foreign influence, the most nearly successful was that of Hamburg. |
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