y, 1917.]

THE CORIOLANUS OVERTURE

This dramatic work is of great importance, not only for its emotional
power and eloquence, but because it represents a type of Program
music, _i.e._, music with a suggestive title, which Beethoven was the
first to conceive and to establish. From the inherent connection
between the materials of music (sound and rhythm) and certain natural
phenomena (the sound and rhythm of wind, wave and storm, the call of
birds, etc.) it is evident that the possibility for Program--or
descriptive--music has always existed.[163] That is, the imagination
of musicians has continually been influenced by external sights,
sounds and events; and to their translation into music suggestive
titles have been given, as a guide to the hearer. Thus we find
Jannequin, a French composer of the 16th century, writing two
pieces--for _voices_!--entitled "_Les cris de Paris_" and "_La
Bataille--defaite des Suisses a la journee de Marignan_;" in the
former of which are introduced the varied cries of street venders and
in the latter, imitations of fifes, drums, cannon and all the bustle
and noises of war. In the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book there is a
Fantasie by John Mundy of the English school, in which such natural
phenomena as thunder, lightning and fair weather are delineated. There
is a curious similarity between the musical portrayal of lightning in
this piece[164] of Mundy and that of Wagner in the _Valkyrie_. In the
_Bible Sonatas_ of the German composer Kuhnau (1660-1722) we have a
musical description of the combat between David and Goliath. Anyone at
all familiar with the music of Couperin and Rameau will recall the
variety of fantastic titles assigned to their charming pieces for the
clavecin--almost always drawn from the field of nature: birds, bees,
butterflies, hens, windmills, even an eel! It is but fair to state
that we also find attempts at character drawing, even in those early
days, as is indicated by such titles as _La Prude_, _La Diligente_,
_La Seduisante_.[165] Haydn's portrayal of Chaos, in the Prelude to
the _Creation_, is a remarkable mood-picture and shows a trend in
quite a different direction. All these instances corroborate the
statement that, in general, composers were influenced by external
phenomena and that their program music was of an imitative and often
frankly literal kind. From what we know of Beethoven's nature and
genius, however, we should imagine that he would be far more
inter