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THE: MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
Jane opens the second act of 'Patience'; that won-
derful lyric in which she explains that there will be
Eugene Cowles Chats in an Interesting Way too much of her in the coming by and by. Who
About the Genuine Humor to Be Found in else would have thought of having a solo sung
by a contralto accompanying herself on a bass viol?
the Gilbert and Sullivan Operas.
The lyric, which is excruciatingly funny, and the
The revival in popularity of the Gilbert and Sul- idea of having her sing a solo, of course, probably
belonged to Gilbert, but the bass viol idea probably
livan operas has started a fund of reminiscences
belonged to the musician.
which are appearing in leading papers throughout
"Yet one other instance may be taken from 'Pina-
the country, and all of which makes interesting
reading. In a chat the other day in the Tribune fore,' which is full of joyous things of this sort.
The trio sung by the three sailors is written as a
Eugene Cowles, who sang bass roles in the recent
Gilbert & Sullivan revivals in New York City, fugue, and they have difficulty in remembering their
words and their music. Now, this music is so
said: "The Gilbert and Sullivan operas are just as
funny as the words and lyrics. Of course, Sullivan written that one man is always behind the others,
must have taken the inspiration for his music from which seems accidental, and yet is, of course, ab-
the words, which is the way it always should be, solutely arranged in that manner. In this way th«
but in his musical setting he illumined and ab- one man is still singing when the rest are through,
solutely interpreted the ideas of the author. Any- and in spite of that fact there is never a single dis-
body who studies the orchestrations, which were cord. The ingenuity of such musicianship is mar-
made by Sullivan himself, can see how many funny velous.
"It must positively be understood that I am not
points were introduced in almost all of the dif-
ferent pieces. When the chopping off of heads be- trying to detract from Gilbert, but simply to point
comes the subject under discussion in 'The Mikado' out that Sullivan was a humorist, too, and an ex-
you can literally hear the swish of the axe in the tremely keen one. This is perhaps the more
orchestration. Another instance of this musical notable, as a really fine sense of wit seems to be
rarer with musicians than with authors.
fun is Ruth's first song in 'The Pirates of Pen-
"Speaking of funny music, I have often won-
zance.' Ruth narrates in this song how it came to
pass that, being somewhat hard of hearing, she ap- dered how and why it is that composers, when they
prenticed Frederick to a pirate instead of a pilot.
While she is singing this song she believes herself
conscientiously to be the most important person in
the whole universe. The music which accompanies
this narrative lyric is of the most tremendously
pompous and ponderous variety. Without that
music the narrative would not have any more
humor than the ludicrous idea that such a mistake
should have occurred.
"Then, again, consider the song with which Lady
OPERAS THAT ARE REALLY COMIC.
want to be funny, generally resort to the bassoon,
and that it generally makes people laugh, and then
again a man might spend hours wondering how and
why it is that a man might choose the bassoon for
his life's instrument. The facts remain that the
bassoon does make people laugh and that people do
play it."
PLAN SEASON OF_OPERA COMIQUE.
Negotiations Under Way to Secure the Use of
the Century Theater for That Purpose.
Negotiations are under way between the De
Koven Opera Co. and Liebler & Co. for a spring
season of opera comique at the Century Theater,
following the run there of "The Daughter of
Heaven." The season, under the personal direc-
tion of Reginald De Koven, will be given with the
co-operation of the Metropolitan Opera House,
and will consist of the production of new works
and the revival of standard pieces.
The singing organization will be headed by
Bessie Abbott, who now has the prima donna role
in the revival of "Robin Hood." Mr. De Koven
is now in Europe completing arrangements for the
American rights to several works of importance.
Details of the plan for the Century Theater will
be completed after his return.
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