Music Trade Review
Issue: 1897 Vol. 24 N. 10 - Page 8
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
OPERA IN THE VERNACULAR.
For many years there has been a cry for
a national opera. Successive managers
have come forward with splendid schemes,
on paper, for the permanent establishment
of a theatre in which native singers
should sing the works of native com-
posers in our native tongue.
Yet each scheme in turn tumbles from
the lofty pedestal on which its propounders
place it, and crumbles into very ordinary
materials. A distaste for English opera
cannot be charged upon the public, who are
quite ready to appreciate and reward
good opera of any kind, and who flock to
the theatre when any piece but slightly
above the usual feeble run of English opera
is produced.
There is, moreover, a strong wish among
the lovers of music for the development of
a school of dramatic composition; yet with
all this demand, with all the increased at-
tention which music has lately received,
and with all the improvement in the
national musical taste,-the hopes of a na-
tional opera are as small as ever.
The cause must surely be found in our
composers and our managers. The former
allow their pens to be guided, not by their
musical and dramatic feelings, but by the
wishes of their publishers; and, in place of
composing for the stage, write what will
suit the atmosphere of the drawing room
MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
or the street. This is the crying vice of
our operatic writers.
If they have by them a pretty ballad or a
sparkling song, they care nothing for dram-
atic situations, but bring it in head and
shoulders, that they may get good terms
from the publishers, which thus obtains
the best possible advertisement of the mor-
ceau by its being sung by the pet singer in
the new opera, with which it has perhaps
no more in common than Achilles with the
distaff. The best opera-writers are guided
by different principles.
Take " Fidelio " or " Der Freyschutz "—
there are but one or two pieces in each of
these operas bearable off the stage; and
one can count upon one's ten fingers all
that Meyerbeer's operas yield for drawing-
room consumption. The same is true of
Auber in a less degree; and although
Mozart's music, and that of the great Italian
composers, can be listened to with pleasure
apart from the story, containing as it does so
much pure melody, yet the effect is tenfold
greater "when the passages are heard in the
situations for which they were composed.
This happens because these composers,
being really operatic composers as well as
great musicians, clothe the situations and
the characters of their dramas with music
which tells the story and paints the passions
they wish to express.
This is to write an opera; but to string
together a series of isolated songs, uncon-
nected by any unity of purpose, gives a re-
sult like the necklace of a savage, in which
each stone may be intrinsically valuable,
but the whole is tawdry and barbaric, ex-
citing no pleasure in its contemplation.
Yet this is the course of the average com-
poser. He lays out his book so as to have
the greatest number of ballads for his pub-
lisher; and as they are generally written
to show to advantage the execution of Mrs.
A, the sentiment of Miss B, or the volume
and upper notes of Mr. C, they ensure a
large demand from the young ladies and
young gentlemen who attend the opera to
find out what they fancy will suit their re-
spective voices, and immediately reproduce
such pieces for the benefit (or infliction) of
the circles in which they move as musical
:
lights.
So long as this system lasts, so long is
a national opera impossible, says a contem-
porary, with which sentiment we entirely
agree; and our composers had better busy
themselves with single songs than go on
choosing a story and putting into it half a
dozen of their best ballads, taken at ran-
dom from their desks, filling up with a
noisy chorus of two, bestowing some pains,
perhaps, upon a solitary concerted piece,
fitting the prima donna with a sufficiently
difficult rondo finale, and imagining they
have written an opera.
SPECIAL
NOTICE.
We respect-
fully c a l l
t h e atten-
tion of our
agents, and
the music-
loving pub-
lic in gen-
'eral, to the
fact t h a t
' c e r t a in
parties are
manufac t-
uring and
have placed
upon the
" C ^ FIRM TO *°"t»
market a
'HADE MAR*
cheap Piano, bearing a name so similar to our
own (with a slight difference in spelling) that the
purchaser may be led to believe that he is pur-
chasing a genuine " Sohmer Piano."
We deem it our duty to those who have been
favorably impressed with the fine quality and
high reputation of the "Sohmer Piano" to warn
them against the possibility of an imposition by
unscrupulous dealers or agents. Every genuine
"Sohmer Piano" has the above Trade Mark
stamped upon the sounding board.
SOHMER &CO.,
149-155 East 14th St.,
NEW YORK.
All our instruments contain the full iron frame and
patent tuning pin. The greatest invention in the history
of piano making. Any radical changes in the climate, heat
or dampness, cannot affect the standing in tone of our in-
struments, and therefore challenge the world that ourt
will excel any other
The very best way to know whether ©
Dobbins' Electric Soap is as good as it
is said to be, is to try it yourself. It Q
can't deceive you. Only be careful not
to get an imitation. There are a great ©
many E.lectrics and Magnetics, all in-
tended to deceive the public into sup- 0
posing that they are Dobbins' Electric
or just as good. We have made this ©
since 1869. It is the original Electric
and is guaranteed to be worth four 0
times as much as any other soap ever
made. For washing anything, from the 0
finest lace to the heaviest blanket, it is
without a peer. Only follow directions. ©
Grand, Square and Upright
PIANOFORTES
These instruments have been before the pub
(ic for fifty years, and upon their excellence
alone have attained an
Unpurchased Pre-Eminence.
Which establishes them as UN EQUALED
in Tone, Touch, W o r k m a n s h i p and
Durability.
Every Piano Fully Warranted for Five Years
WM. KNABE & CO.
WAREROOMS
48 5th Ave., near 20th St., New York
83 & 24 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore
READ CAREFULLY
all that we say on the two wrappers
around the soap, and then see for
yourself whether or not you can af-
ford to ever use any other soap than
this, after having heard its own
story, told you by your own test of it.
Fl 60.
Successors to I. L. CRAQIN &. CO.
NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA
MEDICATED
ARSENIC
f i r -*7>J
(OMPiEXION$OAP
The constant use of FOULD'S MEDICATED ARSENIC
COMPLEXION M)AP realizes the f'AIREST CO.U.
PLEXION. It is admirably adapted to preserve the health
of the SKIN and SCALP of INFANTS and t HILDREN
and to prevent minor blemishes or inherited skin diseases
becoming chronic. As a shaving soap it is far superior to
any now on the market.
FOULD'S MEDICATED ARSENIC SOAP purifies and
invigorates the pores of the skin and imparts activity to the
oil glands and tubes, thus furnishing an outlet for unwhole-
some matter, which, if retained, would create PIMPLES,
HLAl KHEAD*, RASHES, and other complexional blem-
ishes. The gentle and continuous action on these natural
lubricators of the skin keeps the latter TRANSPARENT,
SOFT, FLEXIBLE and HKALTHY , and cures or pre-
vents ROU4-H, CRACKED, or SCALY SKIN, and
speedily lessens TAN, SUNBURN, PIMPLEf, FRECK-
LES, MOTH, LIVER SPOTS, KhDNESS, and all
blemishes known to science, whether on the FACE, NECK,
ARMS, or BODY.
THERE IS NO OTHER SOAP LIKE IT ON EARTH FOR
A LIKE PURPOSE.
TRY IT AND BE CONVINCED OF ITS WONDER-
FUL MEK1TS.
WE GUARANTEE EVERY CAKE WE SELL TO
GIVE ENTIRE SATISFACTION OR REFUND THE
MONEY,
FOULD'S MEDICATED ARSENIC COMPLEXION
SOAP is sold by druggists in every city in the world. We
also send it by mail securely sealed on receict of price, 50c.
When ordering by mail address
H. B. FOULD,
Room 3.
214 6th Ave., NEW YORK.
THE
OPERA IN THE VERNACULAR.
For many years there has been a cry for
a national opera. Successive managers
have come forward with splendid schemes,
on paper, for the permanent establishment
of a theatre in which native singers
should sing the works of native com-
posers in our native tongue.
Yet each scheme in turn tumbles from
the lofty pedestal on which its propounders
place it, and crumbles into very ordinary
materials. A distaste for English opera
cannot be charged upon the public, who are
quite ready to appreciate and reward
good opera of any kind, and who flock to
the theatre when any piece but slightly
above the usual feeble run of English opera
is produced.
There is, moreover, a strong wish among
the lovers of music for the development of
a school of dramatic composition; yet with
all this demand, with all the increased at-
tention which music has lately received,
and with all the improvement in the
national musical taste,-the hopes of a na-
tional opera are as small as ever.
The cause must surely be found in our
composers and our managers. The former
allow their pens to be guided, not by their
musical and dramatic feelings, but by the
wishes of their publishers; and, in place of
composing for the stage, write what will
suit the atmosphere of the drawing room
MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
or the street. This is the crying vice of
our operatic writers.
If they have by them a pretty ballad or a
sparkling song, they care nothing for dram-
atic situations, but bring it in head and
shoulders, that they may get good terms
from the publishers, which thus obtains
the best possible advertisement of the mor-
ceau by its being sung by the pet singer in
the new opera, with which it has perhaps
no more in common than Achilles with the
distaff. The best opera-writers are guided
by different principles.
Take " Fidelio " or " Der Freyschutz "—
there are but one or two pieces in each of
these operas bearable off the stage; and
one can count upon one's ten fingers all
that Meyerbeer's operas yield for drawing-
room consumption. The same is true of
Auber in a less degree; and although
Mozart's music, and that of the great Italian
composers, can be listened to with pleasure
apart from the story, containing as it does so
much pure melody, yet the effect is tenfold
greater "when the passages are heard in the
situations for which they were composed.
This happens because these composers,
being really operatic composers as well as
great musicians, clothe the situations and
the characters of their dramas with music
which tells the story and paints the passions
they wish to express.
This is to write an opera; but to string
together a series of isolated songs, uncon-
nected by any unity of purpose, gives a re-
sult like the necklace of a savage, in which
each stone may be intrinsically valuable,
but the whole is tawdry and barbaric, ex-
citing no pleasure in its contemplation.
Yet this is the course of the average com-
poser. He lays out his book so as to have
the greatest number of ballads for his pub-
lisher; and as they are generally written
to show to advantage the execution of Mrs.
A, the sentiment of Miss B, or the volume
and upper notes of Mr. C, they ensure a
large demand from the young ladies and
young gentlemen who attend the opera to
find out what they fancy will suit their re-
spective voices, and immediately reproduce
such pieces for the benefit (or infliction) of
the circles in which they move as musical
:
lights.
So long as this system lasts, so long is
a national opera impossible, says a contem-
porary, with which sentiment we entirely
agree; and our composers had better busy
themselves with single songs than go on
choosing a story and putting into it half a
dozen of their best ballads, taken at ran-
dom from their desks, filling up with a
noisy chorus of two, bestowing some pains,
perhaps, upon a solitary concerted piece,
fitting the prima donna with a sufficiently
difficult rondo finale, and imagining they
have written an opera.
SPECIAL
NOTICE.
We respect-
fully c a l l
t h e atten-
tion of our
agents, and
the music-
loving pub-
lic in gen-
'eral, to the
fact t h a t
' c e r t a in
parties are
manufac t-
uring and
have placed
upon the
" C ^ FIRM TO *°"t»
market a
'HADE MAR*
cheap Piano, bearing a name so similar to our
own (with a slight difference in spelling) that the
purchaser may be led to believe that he is pur-
chasing a genuine " Sohmer Piano."
We deem it our duty to those who have been
favorably impressed with the fine quality and
high reputation of the "Sohmer Piano" to warn
them against the possibility of an imposition by
unscrupulous dealers or agents. Every genuine
"Sohmer Piano" has the above Trade Mark
stamped upon the sounding board.
SOHMER &CO.,
149-155 East 14th St.,
NEW YORK.
All our instruments contain the full iron frame and
patent tuning pin. The greatest invention in the history
of piano making. Any radical changes in the climate, heat
or dampness, cannot affect the standing in tone of our in-
struments, and therefore challenge the world that ourt
will excel any other
The very best way to know whether ©
Dobbins' Electric Soap is as good as it
is said to be, is to try it yourself. It Q
can't deceive you. Only be careful not
to get an imitation. There are a great ©
many E.lectrics and Magnetics, all in-
tended to deceive the public into sup- 0
posing that they are Dobbins' Electric
or just as good. We have made this ©
since 1869. It is the original Electric
and is guaranteed to be worth four 0
times as much as any other soap ever
made. For washing anything, from the 0
finest lace to the heaviest blanket, it is
without a peer. Only follow directions. ©
Grand, Square and Upright
PIANOFORTES
These instruments have been before the pub
(ic for fifty years, and upon their excellence
alone have attained an
Unpurchased Pre-Eminence.
Which establishes them as UN EQUALED
in Tone, Touch, W o r k m a n s h i p and
Durability.
Every Piano Fully Warranted for Five Years
WM. KNABE & CO.
WAREROOMS
48 5th Ave., near 20th St., New York
83 & 24 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore
READ CAREFULLY
all that we say on the two wrappers
around the soap, and then see for
yourself whether or not you can af-
ford to ever use any other soap than
this, after having heard its own
story, told you by your own test of it.
Fl 60.
Successors to I. L. CRAQIN &. CO.
NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA
MEDICATED
ARSENIC
f i r -*7>J
(OMPiEXION$OAP
The constant use of FOULD'S MEDICATED ARSENIC
COMPLEXION M)AP realizes the f'AIREST CO.U.
PLEXION. It is admirably adapted to preserve the health
of the SKIN and SCALP of INFANTS and t HILDREN
and to prevent minor blemishes or inherited skin diseases
becoming chronic. As a shaving soap it is far superior to
any now on the market.
FOULD'S MEDICATED ARSENIC SOAP purifies and
invigorates the pores of the skin and imparts activity to the
oil glands and tubes, thus furnishing an outlet for unwhole-
some matter, which, if retained, would create PIMPLES,
HLAl KHEAD*, RASHES, and other complexional blem-
ishes. The gentle and continuous action on these natural
lubricators of the skin keeps the latter TRANSPARENT,
SOFT, FLEXIBLE and HKALTHY , and cures or pre-
vents ROU4-H, CRACKED, or SCALY SKIN, and
speedily lessens TAN, SUNBURN, PIMPLEf, FRECK-
LES, MOTH, LIVER SPOTS, KhDNESS, and all
blemishes known to science, whether on the FACE, NECK,
ARMS, or BODY.
THERE IS NO OTHER SOAP LIKE IT ON EARTH FOR
A LIKE PURPOSE.
TRY IT AND BE CONVINCED OF ITS WONDER-
FUL MEK1TS.
WE GUARANTEE EVERY CAKE WE SELL TO
GIVE ENTIRE SATISFACTION OR REFUND THE
MONEY,
FOULD'S MEDICATED ARSENIC COMPLEXION
SOAP is sold by druggists in every city in the world. We
also send it by mail securely sealed on receict of price, 50c.
When ordering by mail address
H. B. FOULD,
Room 3.
214 6th Ave., NEW YORK.
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