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10
last-named, of which seven performances
have been arranged for, that the festival
will end on Sunday, August 20th.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
it contains, and conversely. Mere num-
bers will never make a good band. Vol-
ume of sound may be had, but the quali-
ties of tone, tune and time such as charac-
A NEW YORK branch of the National terize the good band, can be found only
**- Operatic School, which has its col- where the motive power is of a high order
leges in all the musical centres of Europe, of musicianship. A band of twentj'-four
may be an important result of the visit first-class musicians, adequately recom-
abroad from which Henry W. Savage, pro- pensed, can produce much better musical
prietor of the American Theatre, returned results, than one of forty consisting of a
recently.
few good musicians fairly paid, with a ma-
The National Operatic School has no jority of indifferent and disgruntled mem-
exact, counterpart in this country. Its bers, devoid of ambition and without the
purpose is to furnish instruction to singers stimulus of hope, of promotion to arouse
on the operatic stage. Mr. Savage's inves- them from the lethargic condition into
tigations satisfy him that it is feasible for which men whose services are unrecognized
New York, and within a few days he will and poorly requited, invariably sink."
take the first steps toward founding a
*
branch in the building adjacent to his DROMINENT French composers and
theatre. His primary object will be to *
directors have expressed the greatest
train singers for his own operatic company. pleasure at the possible visit to Paris of
" I have visited England, France and Theodore Thomas' Chicago Orchestra dur-
Germany," said Mr. Savage, "and heard ing the Exposition season. Of course the
several new operas, two or three of which matter is largely in statu quo; it is how-
I am negotiating to bring to this country. ever pleasing to know that cmr Gallic con-
In London I signed a contract by which freres are broadminded enough to recog-
Yvonne de Treville will be the prima nize the standing and merits of the Thom-
Qonna of the Castle Square Opera Company as organization.
next season. I have also engaged William
*
Mertens, the American singer who has IWIISS LEONORA JACKSON, whose
been appearing in opera in Leipsic."
' * *• remarkable talent as a violinist has
*
won for her this season perhaps the high-
\17"ALTER DAMROSCH'S setting of est place in European estimation ever at-
"* the "Scarlet Letter" to music was tained by any American musician, played
not, it now appears, the first. Philip Hale two weeks since before Queen Victoria at
has unearthed the fact that an opera on Windsor Castle. She gave Mendelssohn's
the "Scarlet Letter," presumably by L. H. Concerto, with an orchestral accompani-
Southard, was written about 1855. At any ment, and other selections. Her Majesty
rate, in Hawthorne's "English Notes" is was so pleased that she invited Miss Jack-
this paragraph, dated Liverpool, 1855: "1 son to play for her again at Osborne
saw in an American paper yesterday that House, Isle of Wight, this month. Miss
an opera, still unfinished, has been written Jackson, who is an American by-the-way,
on the story of 'The Scarlet Letter,' and will be heard in concert in this country the
that several scenes of it had been per- coming fall.
*
formed successfully in New York. I
should think it might succeed as an opera, T H E days of Italian supremacy in music
* had at least this advantage, that mu-
though it would certainly fail as a play."
The limited life of both efforts does not sical compositions had musical names.
afford enccmragement to others to try and The Scandinavian and Russian invasions
give this classic popularity in operatic have changed all that. At his last London
concert, for instance, Hans Richter had on
form.
his programme two novelties by Svendsen
*
A FTER years of agitation the U. S. and Rimsky-Korsakoff, entitled "Zora-
* * Military Band at West Point has hayda" and " Snegourotchka."
*
been increased in membership from twenty- C R N E S T REYER, the composer of
four to forty. During Arthur A. Clappe's *~^ "Sigurd" and "Salammbo," has
leadership of the organization he labored
long and earnestly to bring about the re-
Casb, j£ydbange, IRentefc, also
sult now accomplished. He also advocated
5 R on £
fl>t
that the ranking and pay of teacher and
men should be advanced. These recom-
mendations have not yet been granted,
but they should without delay. It will be
impossible to secure the class of men com-
petent to make a strong musical organiza-
tion at the present rates paid by the Gov-
ernment to bandsmen. As Mr. Clappe pro-
perly says, "it is too much to expect the U.
S. M. A. Band of forty members will com-
pare favorably with one of similar pro-
portions in civil life the members of which
are professional musicians. Senators and
Congressmen cannot too quickly recog-
No. 21 East 14th Street,
nize the fact that a band is good pro-
portionately with the first-class musicians
NEW YORK.
been elevated to the dignity of Grand Offi-
cer of the Legion of Honor. This is the
crowning of a career which has not been
exempt from struggle, for the composer
had to wait many years before the works
just mentioned were produced at the
Opera. M. Reyer is musical critic of the
Debats, being successor to Berlioz.
*
DEROSI had a great disappointment
*
when some of his works were pro-
duced in Vienna recently, for in spite of
the fact that his friends and powerful men
in the Church made a great personal effort,
the experiment cost him nearly 16,000
florins. His admirers presented him with
a handsome baton, which probably would
have made an unpleasant sound if knocked
against his empty treasury box. He re-
turned to Rome utterly discouraged. The
Austrian papers say "The Perosi Bubble
Has Burst."
*
A T a recent performance of "Elijah" at
^"*- the Crystal Palace, London, there
was an audience of i3,ooo present. Eng-
land continues loyal in its admiration for
the standard oratorios.
*
/ G I U S E P P E PUCCINI'S " L a Tosca,"
^—* which will be sung at Rome in Octo-
ber, is awaited with greater interest than
any other Italian novelty, although new
works will be presented by other com-
posers. Ruggiero Leoncavallo is finishing
" Roland of Berlin," ordered by the Ger-
man Emperor. It will be sung first in
Germany. Much is expected from a new
work entitled "Sirenetta," by Enrico de
Leva, and "Mater Dolorosa," by Guiseppe
Orsini. Sonzogno is to have a new opera
by Ettore Panizza, who is the composer of
"The Heart's Choice," lately sung with
success in an Italian city. Mascagni is
said to be at work on his musical setting
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