The
romantic school is principally associated with the sombre dramas, in
which the taste of that time delighted; but there was another side to
the movement which must not be neglected. The Singspiel, established by
Hiller and perfected by Mozart, had languished during the early years
of the century, or rather had fallen into the hands of composers who
were entirely unable to do justice to its possibilities. The romantic
movement touched it into new life, and a school arose which contrived by
dint of graceful melody and ingenious orchestral device to invest with
real musical interest the simple stories in which the German
middle-class delights. The most successful of these composers were
Kreutzer and Lortzing.
Conradin Kreutzer (1782-1849) was a prolific composer, but the only one
of his operas which can honestly be said to have survived to our times
is 'Das Nachtlager von Granada.' This tells the tale of an adventure
which befell the Prince Regent of Spain. While hunting in the mountains
he falls in with Gabriela, a pretty peasant maiden who is in deep
distress. She confides to him that her affairs of the heart have gone
awry. Her lover, Gomez the shepherd, is too poor to marry, and her
father wishes her to accept the Croesus of the village, a man whom she
detests. The handsome huntsman--for such she supposes him to
be--promises to intercede for her with his patron the Prince, and when
her friends and relations, a band of arrant smugglers and thieves,
appear, he tries to buy their consent to her union with Gomez by means
of a gold chain which he happens to be wearing.
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