W J Henderson

Modern Musical Drift W J Henderson

The central question of music to-day to Mr. Henderson is, "How far can music go in the direction of depicting things which lie outside itself?" Programme music is no new thing-the question is, how far can it go? Can we accept Strauss's attempt "to put into music the sensuality of a libertine, his final satiety, his utter coldness of heart," as in Don Juan, or his effort to "portray with an orchestra the horrors of dissolution, the gasps, the struggles, the death-rattle, the tremor mortis," as in "Death and Apotheosis"? Are these things legitimate in music? Mr. Henderson thinks not, but that in them Strauss displayed a talent which makes Strauss one of the forces to be reckoned with, and that in "Heldenleben" he entered upon a clearer vision. Mr. Henderson feels convinced.