Aspects of Modern Opera: Estimates and Inquiries — A Closer Reading

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In Category - Opera Performance

Authors: Gilman, Lawrence, 1878-1939 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2011 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Opera Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 22,782

Reading time 100 min

Text sections 3

Aspects of Modern Opera: Estimates and Inquiries — A Closer Reading can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 22,782 words, 1 hr 40 min estimated reading time, and 3 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 33.0 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Opera,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #38268

Lawrence Gilman's 1908 study examines Wagner's influence on later opera, critiques Puccini, analyzes Strauss's 'Salome', and proposes criteria for a perfect music-drama, using detailed musical and dramatic arguments.

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Lawrence Gilman opens Aspects of Modern Opera by challenging the claim that Wagner's influence after his death was negligible. He argues that Wagner's individuality and principles saturated nearly all subsequent music, from opera to chamber works, though he deems this influence largely pernicious. The book's four essays—on Wagner's aftermath, Puccini, Strauss's Salome, and the ideal music-drama—are linked by a consistent critical stance: Gilman measures composers against Wagner's own music-drama ideals, finding them often wanting.

Wagner's Shadow and Its Discontents

Gilman's introductory essay contends that Wagner's legacy was both oppressive and inescapable. He quotes critic William F. Apthorp's assertion that Wagner founded no school, then dismantles it by citing the pervasive imitation of Wagner's orchestral style and harmonic language. Yet Gilman is no mere apologist: he argues that Wagner's influence was 'pernicious and oppressive,' stifling originality. He faults Wagner for subordinating drama to music, particularly through an overbearing orchestra that leaves 'little to suggestion.' The voice parts, he claims, err in excess of lyricism, contradicting Wagner's own declamatory principles. This double critique—Wagner as both tyrant and flawed practitioner—sets the stage for evaluating his successors.

Puccini and the Problem of Lyricism

In the second essay, Gilman turns to Puccini, though the excerpts provide only the chapter title. Based on the book's structure and Gilman's stated concerns, the analysis likely examines Puccini's relationship to Wagnerian ideals. Given Gilman's earlier criticism of excessive lyricism in Wagner, one might expect him to scrutinize Puccini's melodic gift. The catalog subject 'Opera' and Gilman's reference to 'A View of Puccini' suggest a critical appraisal rather than a biography. Without full text, the essay's precise arguments remain inferred, but its placement after the Wagnerian critique implies Puccini is measured against the same music-drama standards.

Strauss's <em>Salome</em>: Art and Morals

The third essay tackles Strauss's Salome, a work that provoked scandal for its subject. Gilman's title promises an examination of both aesthetic and ethical dimensions. He quotes an unnamed 'subtle appreciator' who called a wayward poet 'a superb god of art, so proudly heedless or reckless that he never notices the loss of his winged sandals.' This metaphor likely applies to Strauss, suggesting technical brilliance marred by carelessness. Gilman's method is to assess whether the opera fulfills Wagner's music-drama criteria, particularly the balance of music and drama. The essay probably defends Salome's artistic merit while acknowledging its moral provocations, consistent with Gilman's nuanced critical stance.

Gilman's essays reward readers who attend to his specific musical examples and critical vocabulary. He frequently invokes other critics—Apthorp, Baughan, James—to sharpen his own arguments, making the book a dialogue as much as a monograph. Those interested in early 20th-century opera criticism will find a rigorous, opinionated voice that avoids mere summary. The final essay on 'A Perfect Music-Drama' likely synthesizes his criteria, offering a benchmark against which the preceding works are judged.

I keep thinking about Gilman’s quiet insistence that opera is felt before it’s understood. There’s something tender in that old argument, especially when I revisit the The Complete Opera Book The Stories of the Operas, together with 400 of the Leading Airs and Motives in Musical Notation — A Closer Reading — it holds those melodies like a friend holds a memory, gently, without needing to explain why they matter.