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Page 13
Spiritual darkness, the insecurity of ignorance and fear pervade
the world in which they move. Maeterlinck is perhaps one of the
first prophets, one of the first artistic reformers and seers to
herald the end of the decadence just described. The gloom of the
spiritual atmosphere, the terrible, but all-guiding hand, the
sense of utter fear, the feeling of having strayed from the path,
the confusion among the guides, all these are clearly felt in his
works.[Footnote: To the front tank of such seers of the decadence
belongs also Alfred Kubin. With irresistible force both Kubin's
drawings and also his novel "Die Andere Seite" seem to engulf us
in the terrible atmosphere of empty desolation.]
This atmosphere Maeterlinck creates principally by purely
artistic means. His material machinery (gloomy mountains,
moonlight, marshes, wind, the cries of owls, etc.) plays really a
symbolic role and helps to give the inner note. [Footnote: When
one of Maeterlinck's plays was produced in St. Petersburg under
his own guidance, he himself at one of the rehearsals had a tower
represented by a plain piece of hanging linen. It was of no
importance to him to have elaborate scenery prepared. He did as
children, the greatest imaginers of all time, always do in their
games; for they use a stick for a horse or create entire
regiments of cavalry out of chalks. And in the same way a chalk
with a notch in it is changed from a knight into a horse. On
similar lines the imagination of the spectator plays in the
modern theatre, and especially in that of Russia, an important
part. And this is a notable element in the transition from the
material to the spiritual in the theatre of the future.]
Maeterlinck's principal technical weapon is his use of words. The
word may express an inner harmony. This inner harmony springs
partly, perhaps principally, from the object which it names. But
if the object is not itself seen, but only its name heard, the
mind of the hearer receives an abstract impression only, that is
to say as of the object dematerialized, and a corresponding
vibration is immediately set up in the HEART.
The apt use of a word (in its poetical meaning), repetition of
this word, twice, three times or even more frequently, according
to the need of the poem, will not only tend to intensify the
inner harmony but also bring to light unsuspected spiritual
properties of the word itself. Further than that, frequent
repetition of a word (again a favourite game of children, which
is forgotten in after life) deprives the word of its original
external meaning. Similarly, in drawing, the abstract message of
the object drawn tends to be forgotten and its meaning lost.
Sometimes perhaps we unconsciously hear this real harmony
sounding together with the material or later on with the non-
material sense of the object. But in the latter case the true
harmony exercises a direct impression on the soul. The soul
undergoes an emotion which has no relation to any definite
object, an emotion more complicated, I might say more super-
sensuous than the emotion caused by the sound of a bell or of a
stringed instrument. This line of development offers great
possibilities to the literature of the future. In an embryonic
form this word-power-has already been used in SERRES CHAUDES.
[Footnote: SERRES CHAUDES, SUIVIES DE QUINZE CHANSONS, par
Maurice Maeterlinck. Brussels. Lacomblez.] As Maeterlinck uses
them, words which seem at first to create only a neutral
impression have really a more subtle value. Even a familiar word
like "hair," if used in a certain way can intensify an atmosphere
of sorrow or despair. And this is Maeterlinck's method. He shows
that thunder, lightning and a moon behind driving clouds, in
themselves material means, can be used in the theatre to create a
greater sense of terror than they do in nature.
The true inner forces do not lose their strength and effect so
easily. [Footnote: A comparison between the work of Poe and
Maeterlinck shows the course of artistic transition from the
material to the abstract.] An the word which has two meanings,
the first direct, the second indirect, is the pure material of
poetry and of literature, the material which these arts alone can
manipulate and through which they speak to the spirit.
Something similar may be noticed in the music of Wagner. His
famous leitmotiv is an attempt to give personality to his
characters by something beyond theatrical expedients and light
effect. His method of using a definite motiv is a purely musical
method. It creates a spiritual atmosphere by means of a musical
phrase which precedes the hero, which he seems to radiate forth
from any distance. [Footnote: Frequent attempts have shown that
such a spiritual atmosphere can belong not only to heroes but to
any human being. Sensitives cannot, for example, remain in a room
in which a person has been who is spiritually antagonistic to
them, even though they know nothing of his existence.] The most
modern musicians like Debussy create a spiritual impression,
often taken from nature, but embodied in purely musical form. For
this reason Debussy is often classed with the Impressionist
painters on the ground that he resembles these painters in using
natural phenomena for the purposes of his art. Whatever truth
there may be in this comparison merely accentuates the fact that
the various arts of today learn from each other and often
resemble each other. But it would be rash to say that this
definition is an exhaustive statement of Debussy's significance.
Despite his similarity with the Impressionists this musician is
deeply concerned with spiritual harmony, for in his works one
hears the suffering and tortured nerves of the present time. And
further Debussy never uses the wholly material note so
characteristic of programme music, but trusts mainly in the
creation of a more abstract impression. Debussy has been greatly
influenced by Russian music, notably by Mussorgsky. So it is not
surprising that he stands in close relation to the young Russian
composers, the chief of whom is Scriabin. The experience of the
hearer is frequently the same during the performance of the works
of these two musicians. He is often snatched quite suddenly from
a series of modern discords into the charm of more or less
conventional beauty. He feels himself often insulted, tossed
about like a tennis ball over the net between the two parties of
the outer and the inner beauty. To those who are not accustomed
to it the inner beauty appears as ugliness because humanity in
general inclines to the outer and knows nothing of the inner.
Almost alone in severing himself from conventional beauty is the
Austrian composer, Arnold Schonberg. He says in his
Harmonielehre: "Every combination of notes, every advance is
possible, but I am beginning to feel that there are also definite
rules and conditions which incline me to the use of this or that
dissonance." [Footnote: "Die Musik," p. 104, from the
Harmonielehre (Verlag der Universal Edition).] This means that
Schonberg realizes that the greatest freedom of all, the freedom
of an unfettered art, can never be absolute. Every age achieves a
certain measure of this freedom, but beyond the boundaries of its
freedom the mightiest genius can never go. But the measure of
freedom of each age must be constantly enlarged. Schonberg is
endeavouring to make complete use of his freedom and has already
discovered gold mines of new beauty in his search for spiritual
harmony. His music leads us into a realm where musical experience
is a matter not of the ear but of the soul alone--and from this
point begins the music of the future.
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