JOHN BRAY: THE INDIAN PRINCESS

John Bray was born in England and would later move to America. He was strongly influenced by the English ballad opera as well as other conventions of his time. His The Indian Princess (1808) is perhaps better known in the field of drama than that of music because of its classification as an “operatic melo-drame.” The musical parts are rather simple in many ways, which adds to the charm of the light-hearted work. A performance of about thirty minutes recorded to CD by the Federal Music Society Opera Company under conductor John Baldon allows the modern listener to hear what may have been the first Indian play by an American and perhaps the first surviving play about Pocahontas’ romance. Other American themes such as a focus on the common man saturate the opera.

The work begins with a cheery overture (in C minor) that does not seem to modulate at all. Little bursts of flute are reminiscent of birds chirping in a Virginia forest, which emphasizes from the beginning of the opera that the subject is not like the typical European aristocracy. While one might have expected an early American work such as this to be in some type of folk style (accompanying the movement to please the common audience rather than the aristocracy), the overture seems very much like a standard classical overture. It is evenly balanced by forte and piano sections and also boasts beautifully arpeggiating strings, features not likely to be offensive to any common listener and familiar in pieces of the Classical Era.

In addition, The Indian Princess was clearly influenced by the ballad opera of the English. Bray had lived in England for twenty-three years before immigrating to America and would have been exposed to the ballad opera, which developed in England in 1728. “Och! Hubbaboo!,” one of the first arias, displays spoken text in the midst of sung text, a trait characteristic of the ballad opera. Despite the European influence, the casual language present in this aria emphasizes the language of the common man. In addition, there is a good deal of unity between songs and acts of the play, as a theme or two was snatched from one place and reinserted for the audience’s recognition later in the action, much like the recapitulation in the developing symphony would work.

Luckily, later pieces of the work become a bit more interesting than this standard overture and typical ballad style singing. Syncopations and mis-accented words create a provoking rhythmic feel to many of the songs. For example, “Without a Penny of Money” features ungainly accents on two syllable words such as “country” and “money.” These syncopations are particularly interesting when one considers the major role it will play in American music over a hundred years later in the music of composers like George Gershwin, who experimented with rhythm in many of his works. Additionally, this song stresses that theme of the common man, as the subject concerns living in poverty.

Another area of this opera that seems to focus on the common person is the fact that none of the main characters are historical characters that an audience would recognize. This might be one of the effects of the humanist movement, as the actions of even the most common people are empowered. Alice, Larry, Walter, Robin, and Katy form the main singing groups for the play. These are all common names, and they sing about ordinary events more often than the actions of Captain Smith and John Rolfe. For example, the “Dialogue Quartetto” focuses upon Robin’s attempt to steal a kiss (and “bliss”) from a married woman. In fact, love stories play a key roll in The Indian Princess, since by the final curtain there are five pairs of happy couples in the cast, reminiscent of opera buffa, which may have also influenced Bray’s writing. Captain Smith, John Rolfe, and Powhaten (the closest characters to aristocracy in the opera) never play a singing roll. In fact, even Pocahontas, the title character only has one aria, which is oddly sung in a very standard operatic style, despite the fact that she is the princess of the Indians.

Bray seemed to have focused intently on making music programmatic and took that standard a step further by publishing his complete instrumental backgrounds, which was uncommon in the period (Grove Music Online S.v. “John Bray”). From the very beginning, the audience gets an idea of the flutes representing some birds twittering about C minor melody line. Although Captain Smith never sings an aria, one is sung about him that seems to be orchestrated so as to emphasize his position and power. A good deal more timpani and trumpet is used in “Captain Smith” than in any other song, highlighting his militaristic association.

With the amount of attention that Bray gave to programmatic music, the Indian sequences are strangely lacking in exoticism. Sequences in which the Indian characters take part are no more rhythmically or melodically complex than anything in the opera. One could interpret this as putting the white and Indian characters on the same ground since a key aspect of the Romantic Movement that is developing at the time is that of the “noble savage.” This development makes it acceptable for the audience to ascribe white qualities to Native Americans, as is evident in writing and art of the period. Native Americans of the period were particularly likely to have these qualities ascribed to them since they readily learned white musical traditions when exposed, though they continued to maintain their own style separate from the white influence (Grove Music Online S.v. “Amerindian music”).

Another instance of emphasizing the nobility of Pocahontas is seen in the incidental music to Act I. In a very short section called “She Supplicated the King for his Pardon,” Bray wrote a particularly plaintive oboe duo. This section is slow, and the oboes play with unison rhythm, rising and falling. The act of Pocahontas saving Captain Smith is characteristic of the “noble savage” theme without the music, but this short (maybe a minute long) excerpt underscores the idea to a degree that is not evident in any of the other songs or orchestral sections.

In sum, The Indian Princess was a pleasant (and brief) opera that was engaging and funny. Its history as the first surviving play about Pocahontas seems to give it good reason to be in the Canon, but the music itself is not as exciting as other operas. This is probably why it does appear in the dramatic canon but not in the musical one. That said, the action of the play would not be nearly so compelling without the programmatic music that Bray wrote. It is fascinating to hear the story of Pocahontas told with her not carrying a lead singing roll. The focus on the common man is striking, as is the role of the “noble savage.” While the music for the opera sounds distinctly Classical, the beginnings of Romantic Style ideas such as this that are included make it a interesting turn of the century piece that is worth a listen.

AMALIE, PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA: FOUR REGIMENTAL MARCHES

Amalie, Princess of Prussia, lived from 1723 to 1787. Youngest sister of King Frederick II (“The Great”), she enjoyed dabbling in composition as well as playing several instruments. Her works make a particularly interesting study since she was a member of the aristocracy (not a musician hired to compose by the aristocracy) and because she is one of a minority of female composers from her era. While her history makes her appealing, her works themselves are nothing out of the ordinary. A recording released by the Musical Heritage Society by the Austrian Tonkuenstler Orchestra and conducted by Dietfried Bernet includes a collection of some of Amalie’s short regimental marches, written for four Berlin regiments. In general, these pieces are in binary form.

The first of these regimental marches was written for Count Lottum in 1767. While other composers of the period would have been writing specifically to the tastes of the general of the regiment in order to obtain commissions, Amalie may have had a bit more artistic freedom since it was an honor to the regiment to have a piece composed by such an elite member of the aristocracy. The dotted rhythms utilized in this piece bring to mind the dotted rhythms utilized in French overtures to represent the aristocracy. Also, this piece is one of two of Amalie’s marches on this record to include an anacrusis, although the use of the anacrusis was standard in most marches of the time (Grove Music Online S.v. “The Military March to the 1820s”).

Amalie relied heavily on reed consorts, as is evident in “Count Lottum,” including parts for two clarinets, which were still in their youth as an instrument. Four years earlier, Frederick II “stipulated that Prussian army bands should consist of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons” (Grove Music Online S.v. “Band”), (adding clarinets to an instrumentation in which they had not been standard) and thus perhaps contributing to Amalie’s vast use of the clarinet timbre. Melodies for pairs of winds are predominant, which is standard for Austrian marches of the period. Her writings for pairs of oboes and clarinets are close to identical, set off from each other only by timbre.

The reed consort dominates the high pitches with clarinet being the prevailing character. Voices in the middle are scarce if present at all, and the low brass and timpani round out the voicing at the bottom. These bottom voices play a limited bass line allowing a great deal of focus on the melody line, which is characteristic of much writing in this period regardless of genre. Also, there is a great deal of contrast in the melody line between legato and staccato, sometimes even alternating between them at every measure. Amalie made limited use of trills in the clarinet voices. She did not use trills on any of the other four marches, but this one for Count Lottum seems a bit more extravagant than the others which were written for “mere” generals.

The second regimental march was dedicated to General Buelow and was also written in 1767. This march utilizes a triangle, which is an interesting choice of percussion instrument as the modern ear expects to “heavier” percussion in a march. This use of the triangle might be attributed to the rise of janissary music, which had been introduced to Europe in the 17^th century and was growing in popularity. In fact, by the 18^th century, composers such as Amalie were adding janissary instruments (bass drum, kettledrums, cymbals, and triangle) to their Western instrumentation for use in the march (Grove Music Online S.v “Janissary music”). The snare drum is also briefly used to add some rhythmic emphasis.

In “General Buelow,” the pairings of reed instruments are even more evident since each pair gets a short two-part soli section. Again, the clarinets play a prominent role in the melodic line, exemplifying the fact that they were becoming more accepted in military music by most composers by mid-century (Grove Music Online S.v. “Band”). The bass line in this march is a bit more active than the bass line from “Count Lottum,” but it does not feature instruments of such a low range. The bass even plays “filler” lines linking cadences to the next phrase. Legato and staccato melodic content reappears. Interestingly, in this melody, the pickup notes to each phrase are legato while the following bar is distinctly articulated, making balanced, contrasting lines as one would expect in the Classical Period.

The third march in this collection was written a year later, in 1768, and was in honor of General von Saldern’s regiment. While the previous march emphasized pairings of reed instruments against each other, this march juxtaposes the double reed instruments with the horns. This pairing of wind and horn had been present in military music as early as 1711, but this is the first example of Amalie utilizing the grouping (Grove Music Online S.v. “Band”). This is the first march of the collection that truly utilized a brass section to carry melodic content. Horns blend well with both reed instruments and other brasses, making them ideal for this use. Again, Amalie used janissary kettledrums to reinforce her bass lines. While her bass lines and cadences were strong in her other marches, these cadences had particular force. In fact, each major cadence put a complete stop on the forward flow of this march, leaving it to restart from silence at each new section.

The final march included on this record was written in 1777, almost ten years later. This piece was dedicated to General von Moellendorf. In it, the cymbals make their appearance as another of those added janissary instruments. The low voices are more present in this piece than in the previous march, and the trumpets are actually given some melodic material. In addition, the lowest voices respond to melodic material in the reeds instead of simply playing a “bass line.” Again, the reeds spend all of their time playing in two-part pairings, although the clarinets briefly hold a chord underneath the melody. This sound is new and exciting as in the other marches, and chords were often just held for a beat in the brass instead of being held for longer periods. In this piece, Amalie finally began to make use of the versatility of the instruments that her brother had stipulated by included in “band music.”

While Amalie’s other marches seemed to draw their main internal contrast from articulation (legato vs. staccato), this one includes clear dynamic contrasts. A phrase may be played the first time at forte and then repeated as an echo at piano, which certainly characteristic of the period. Lastly, the voicings are twenty times fuller in “General von Moellendorf” than in “Count Lottum,” which had been lacking in middle pitches. Because the pitches are evenly spread out in this march, it has a much darker, richer sound than works by the same composer written ten years earlier.

I quite enjoyed listening to this recording. It was fascinating to listen to how a young (aristocratic female!) composer’s technique improved over the span of ten years through increased understanding of contrast and voicing. These marches may also be found interesting to modern listeners who are most familiar with John Phillip Sousa as they depict a good deal of the history of the march in Prussia. There is certainly a strong link to be seen between the military to whom these marches are dedicated and the very function of marching. However, while it is interesting to know that the composer was an aristocratic woman, the actual content of her works is much like what would have been written by most composers in the period. While there may not be anything particularly original or special about these pieces, they may spark a captivating look into music history and provide the basis of an interesting study of the progress of a Classical writer, but their absence from the Canon will probably not be missed.