Number 9 ‘Breathes there the man’ and Number 10 ‘O Caledonia! Stern and wild’

Number 9 is a short recitative-like passage, declaimed by Cranston, which develops the idea of patriotism, first voiced in Part 2 Number 6: ‘Where is a champion in his stead whose heart beats for his native land?’ It begins in fairly sedate manner, with chordal accompaniment, but the pace and tension are intensified by the use of descending semiquaver scalic passages, perhaps illustrating the excitement of the wanderer returning from a foreign shore. The most notable feature o f this short number

i^napier ^ — m e l,amaias — n

is that it introduces the finale’s closing phrase, set with the words: ‘This is my own, my native land!’(Example 4.60).

Example 4.60 - ‘This is my own, my native land!’ (Patriotic theme)

14 {i . «. # ---p-| This is my own,____ my -i y-\~ na - tive h+--- L— I land!

This melody is immediately echoed and reinforced by the accompaniment.

Number 10 is a rousing hymn to Scotland, an expression of patriotism and devotion to the homeland, set in ternary form. Throughout it there is a feeling of strength and constancy, achieved by a steady crotchet beat in the lower strings, above which, in the opening bars, the homs and trumpets add fanfares. The text is set homophonically, again adding to the strength of the number. The patriotic theme, introduced in Number 9 is now used for the words ‘Land o f the mountain and the flood’ (Example 4.61). The impression of strength is reinforced by the fact that the phrase starts on a downbeat, unlike its precursor in the previous number.

Example 4.61 - ‘Land of the mountain and the flood’

[Allegro moderate]

-A-&

xm~A

- r —

u

Land of the moun - tain and the flood!

First performance and reception

The first performance of The Lay o f the Last Minstrel was given by the Glasgow Choral Union at a concert on 18th December 1888 in the St. Andrew’s Hall, Glasgow. The programme included MacCunn’s orchestral ballad The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow which he himself conducted, but the new cantata was conducted by Joseph Bradley, the Choral Union’s chorus master. The soloists were Lillian Nordica, Grace Damian, Iver Mackay and Andrew Black. The new work was awaited with anticipation by the Glasgow press and public. Prior to the performance the musical critic of Quiz noted in his regular column:

On next Tuesday next, there will be produced for the first time, a large and important work for chorus and orchestra, dealing with a thoroughly Scottish subject, composed by a Scottish musician. The history, poetry, and fiction of Scotland have been illustrated in music by several

y^napier h — m e i^amaias — u able composers of other countries, and the peculiar characteristics of Scottish music have been appreciated and imitated by many distinguished musicians, but Hamish Maccunn [sic] - whose new cantata “The Lay of the Last Minstrel”, we refer to - is the first Scotch composer who has treated the legendary history of Scotland in music on a large scale, in the attempt to give adequate expression and illustration to wild grandeur, the picturesque beauty and warm feeling of Scottish character and poetry.31

His counterpart in the Bailie also devoted column space to a pre-performance review of

the just published work. Two week later, this was followed by a more detailed

analysis, quoting four musical themes which had caught his attention - The Scottish Knights, Supernatural, True love and the Battle hymn o f the Scottish borderers.

The performance was widely noted, and the Scottish press, while pointing out the weakness of the libretto and the relative absence of ‘a good tune’, was enthusiastic, particularly in respect of the work’s Scottish nature and o f MacCunn’s use o f Scottish material. The Scotsman's critic noted: ‘Mr MacCunn’s merit does not consist in merely imitating Scottish music. It is a much higher task he essays. He is endeavouring to adapt for artistic purposes the musical ideas and peculiarities that are contained in our folk­ songs,34 and the Glasgow Herald's critic concurred with the comment: ‘The

-if

distinctively Scottish nature of Mr MacCunn’s music is something new in art’. The

review in the Musical Times which reached a much wider musical audience was brief, but fulsome:

The new musical illustration of the stirring and interesting tale is, as a whole, eminently successful, rising in some places to a point of absolute genius. There is indeed a strong infusion of local colour all through, with much graceful writing of a general character, and little of what may be considered the conventional.36

The work made such an impression on Quiz's critic that a brief notice which appeared three days after the performance was followed up by a more substantial and very positive review a week later, in which The Lay o f the Last Minstrel was described as: ‘A complete work of art, in which the words are necessary to the music, while the music

31 ‘Hamish MacCunn’ Quiz 16, 1888, 145. 32 ‘Quavers’ Bailie 33, 5 Dec 1888, 7.

33 Ibid

34 ‘Glasgow Choral Union Concert: Mr Hamish MacCunn’s New Works’ Scotsman 19 Dec 1888, 7. 35 ‘Choral-Orchestral Concerts: "Lay of the Last Minstrel"’ Glasgow Herald 19 Dec 1888, 7. 36 ‘Music in Glasgow and the West of Scotland’ MT 30, 1889, 28.

s ^ n u p i e r h — m e s ^ u r u u iu s — u 'xn

enriches and expresses the poetic and emotional suggestiveness o f the text’. The same article, however, was highly critical of the performance of the chorus and soloists and ended:

We feel it to be our duty, however, in the interests of the Choral Union and its patrons, to draw attention to those weaknesses, as they will require careful consideration if artistic performances of modem works are to be attained at their choral concerts.38

The Scottish premiere was soon followed by a performance at Crystal Palace conducted by August Manns on 16 February 1889 with three of the four original soloists, Grace Damian being replaced by Marie Curran. This concert was widely reviewed and Novello, the work’s publisher, was quick to print a fiill-page advertisement in the March issue of the Musical Times featuring extracts o f reviews of

the English press. In the years after publication, The Lay o f the Last Minstrel was

performed widely throughout the United Kingdom. MacCunn conducted performances in two significant English musical centres - Liverpool (24 October 1889) and Birmingham (27 March 1890) - both of which were well received.40 There were also performances abroad - New York (1891) and Melbourne (1900) - and the cantata remained in the repertoire until World War I, since when there has been only the occasional revival, the most recent noted being in Melrose in 2004.41

While Scottish audiences and critics welcomed and focussed on The Lay o f the Last Minstrel's Scottishness, in the wider world it was acclaimed as a piece of British,42 not Scottish music, full of freshness and vigour. A major and justifiable criticism made by most reviewers was that the libretto was scrappy and that the final recitative and chorus were totally unnecessary. Perhaps the most telling contemporary criticism was that made by the reviewer of the Musical Times after hearing the Crystal Palace performance:

37 ‘Musical Moments’ Quiz 16, 1888, 169.

38 The Choral Union retaliated by withdrawing their advertising from Quiz. (‘Musical Moments’ Quiz 16, 1889, 209).

39 ‘ The Lay o f the Last MinstreV MT 30, 1889, 190. Newspapers quoted were: Times, Daily Chronicle,

Daily News, Daily Telegraph, Globe, St. James’s Gazette, Standard, Sunday Times, Weekly Dispatch.

40 ‘Music in Liverpool and District’ MT 30, 1889, 675; ‘Festival Choral Society’ Birmingham Daily Post 28 Mar 1890, 4.

41 See Appendix 2.

K^napier h — m e ^amuius — u

He [Dvof&k] gives us plenty of development, is not afraid to repeat words, and writes some very fine long movements. Mr MacCunn on the other hand, goes to the extreme of saying his say once (and very well sometimes), but before his hearers have time to feel and interest in the movement it is over; the full close comes and we are started in a fresh number.43

This reference to Dvorak serves as a reminder that earlier in this chapter, mention was made of the possibility that MacCunn may have looked to Dvorak’s The Spectre’s Bride to provide a model for success. A more detailed comparison of the two works (Table 4.7) shows the extent to which there are parallels in Dvorak’s and MacCunn’s libretti.

Subject Dvorak

The Spectre's Bride

MacCunn

The Lay o f the Last Minstrel Treatment of a national folk

tale

Involvement of the macabre/ supernatural

Love story Wild night journey Invocation of religion Plot

Repetition of text Structure

Bohemian folk tale made into a ballad by Erben, a national poet; incorporates elements of Czech folk melody and dance

Ghost of dead lover is the mainspring of the story

Central to the plot On foot

Religion is an important aspect of the tale

One central plot, straightforward narration; unity of action.

Prominent feature, used to excess The maiden’s opening and closing prayers frame the text, moving the action into and away from the supernatural world

Scottish border tale told by Walter Scott, a national poet; no musical references to Scottish folk melodies or dances

The grave of a dead wizard is opened to retrieve the Mighty Book for its magic powers to overcome enemies - i.e. it is the instrument of the final outcome Love story is sub-plot

On horse

Religion is less central. The Monk’s prayer ends Part 1.

Central plot with sub-plot;

omissions in libretto make plot difficult to follow

Avoided

Through-composed, and very loosely structured

Table 4.7 - Comparison between the libretti of The Spectre's Bride and The Lay o f the Last Minstrel

The unity of action and the small number of characters in The Spectre’s Bride allow Dvorak to present a much more cohesive and coherent tale, using the soprano and tenor soloists to represent the two protagonists, and the baritone soloist and the chorus as narrators. As MacCunn’s libretto involves more central characters, and the plot is more complicated, the narration is more fragmented and structurally diffuse. Dvorak’s cantata is better constructed with the soprano’s opening and closing solos (Numbers 2 and 17) acting as a framework, moving the action into and out of the supernatural. While MacCunn avoids textual repetition, Dvorak goes to the other extreme by

y^nupier h — m e ^umuius — 11

repeating text excessively. These differences in the libretti will obviously result in a different musical treatment, but there are some similarities worth mentioning. Both composers use recurring motifs, but whereas Dvorak employs a vague ‘Spectre’s m otif (based on a falling fifth) in the orchestral introduction which is later repeated, and repeated musical themes (the natural result of the textual repetition) to give unity to his work, MacCunn relies on a combination o f leitmotifs, recurring motifs and themes to give his work cohesion. Both composers’ orchestration is rich and colourful, but MacCunn’s treatment of the dramatic and of terror is much better handled. Dvorak's appeal to nationalism is both textual (use of folk tale) and musical (use o f folk dances and imitation of folk melody outlines) but MacCunn’s expression of national feeling is confined to the text of the final scene with its patriotic text ‘O Caledonia! stem and wild’.

This comparison would seem to confirm that while The Spectre’s Bride may have provided a starting point for MacCunn, his musical treatment was not influenced by Dvorak. Both works have their strengths - MacCunn’s treatment of the dramatic possibilities of his libretto is excellent, but it is to the detriment o f lyrical writing. Conversely Dvorak’s cantata contains beautiful arioso writing for the soloists, but his dramatic pacing and expression of drama and terror is much less well essayed.

Assessment

The Lay o f the Last Minstrel is the longest of MacCunn’s choral works and the one which displays his youthful abilities to the full. His full appreciation and respect for his text is reflected in the mainly syllabic word setting and the inventive harmony and tonality contribute to the telling of the tale. The orchestration shows a deep understanding of colouring and timbre, and also sympathy for accompanying voices. The vocal writing is dramatic, expressive or lyrical as required by the libretto and the melodic line always fits the voice or voices well. The outstanding feature is MacCunn’s skilful use of leitmotifs, recurring motifs, and recurring themes and melodies, to inform and elaborate on the action.

In terms of expressing national elements, an aspect which appears to have excited Scottish critics and audiences, the only overt expression o f Scottishness, as stated above, is textual rather than musical and is to be found in the final two numbers,

\~,rnA]Jic>r — i r i v v ^ u r t t u t u j — 11

which do not sit well with the rest of the work. There are some musical features which could be termed ‘Scottish’ -

• melodic contours reminiscent of folksong e.g. Example 4.3 - the pentatonic Chieftain theme, in which there is an upward move from the sixth degree o f the scale to the tonic at the cadence and Example 4.8 - the hexatonic True Love melody

• plagal harmony arising from the use of pentatonic and hexatonic melody • use of dotted rhythms e.g. Example 4.51

• mimicking of the ‘double tonic’ e.g. in Part 1 Number 4 (bars 29-39)

MacCunn integrates these features into the work so well that they never obtrude, but their contribution to the work overall is far less than that of standard Western art music techniques, in particular the extensive use of leitmotif and recurring motifs and themes.

The importance of The Lay o f the Last Minstrel in terms o f MacCunn’s development is that it was extremely successful. In terms of his future career, it may be viewed as his first tentative step away from choral music and the concert platform towards the stage and opera. His next cantata Queen Hynde o f Caledon would take him one step further along this path.