Rezension: “Der Freischütz” von Carl Maria von Weber

On “The FREYSCHUTZ,” of CARL MARIA von WEBER.

[From a Correspondent.]

THE public complain, and with some appearance of reason, that nothing truly original is offered to them by the dramatists of the present day; every thing produced in the shape of novelty being a translation and amalgamation of two or three French vaudevilles, the incidents of which are thrown together with more or less skill. Without stopping to ascertain whether the paucity of native talent and of original productions be ascribable to the public or to the dramatists themselves, allow me to repeat that of which one of the corps has assured me – that the materials of most of the French pieces are taken from German productions. Every day exhibits some new step of the Germans ¦ to perfection and celebrity in literature, as well as in the arts and sciences; but the Harmonicon having reference to music only, I shall lay aside all other considerations, and introduce to your notice a composer who is not yet sufficiently known, yet whose compositions will, ere long, procure for him a brilliant reputation.

Leaving Rossini aside for a moment, allow me to direct my attention to the almost unknown WEBER, whom the diletanti of this country so much and so shamefully neglect, but whose merits are sufficiently appreciated beyond the Rhine; for his countrymen scarcely speak of any thing but this young composer, who “ravishes all ears.” The | first question put to a foreign amateur on his arrival in Germany is, “Do you know the Freyschutz of Marie de Weber?” “No,” they reply. “Fly then, and get rid of your culpable ignorance, and we promise you pleasure–admiration–delight–enthusiasm!”

“At first sight the music of Freyschutz strikes the amateur by the power of its true and original expression,–he proceeds and forgets that he has only a sheet of paper before him–the harmony sounds in his ears–he is witness of those scenes of which the music is only an accompaniment. The opera presents itself to the mind with a reality which the imagination of a musician only can conceive. No other music has power to produce an impression so profound.”

In these words an admirer of Weber expresses himself, when speaking of his last opera, the subject of which is one of those romantic conceptions so familiar to German genius, and rests entirely upon a popular superstition. It has three titles, Le Franc Archer, ou le Tireur Sorcier, ou les Balles-Magiques. Some Bohemian hunters assemble to fire at a mark *, the rewards of the victor are to be the situation of chief forester, and, according to immemorial custom in such cases, the hand of a beautiful village maiden. At the first attempt the favoured lover misses the mark; he is in despair at it. In the mean time, one of his comrades, who is his rival, had made a bargain with Lucifer, for certain magic balls which shall never miss their object, but the virtue of which is to expire at a certain hour on the morrow. The other high contracting party, (his Satanic majesty,) claims, as is most reasonable, an equivalent–it ¦ is the soul of the wretched hunter, who imagines he can preserve his own by substituting in its place that of his favoured rival; he therefore accepts the terms of the fiend, and consents to the magical operation which is to procure for him the lucky and never-failing balls. He enters the lists against his friend. It is in this scene that the author has placed an aërial chase, (Chasse aerienne,) which delights all the lovers of music on the other side of the Rhine. The party assembles to fire at a bird, but the time stipulated has expired, and, instead of hitting the favoured and innocent lover, as the demon had promised, the magic ball rebounds and pierces the heart of the miserable sorcerer. Justice triumphs, and the lovers are united.

Such a plot could not succeed on our stage; but absurd as it may appear, it furnishes situations the most dramatic, contrasts the most striking, of which Weber has most successfully availed himself.

The style of Weber is strong and extended, his manner free and bold. The effects which he produces are various; his composition careful–none of his intentions are contrary to the sense–none of his expressions vague or misplaced. The French critics say, that he unites the warmth of Spontoni, the pathos of Lesueur, the unaffected artless grace of the author of Aline. In Weber’s composition are found the long and able periods of Cherubini, with all his harmony so new and so pure. The invocation scene is, above all, eminently beautiful. It has in its simplicity a character at once so appalling and eccentric, that it affrights and enchants at the same moment. This quality may be necessary to be known by any person who shall attempt its translation. It is, on the whole, a chef d’œuvre.

TEDESCO.