American Opera

_ 68344

AMERICAN OPERA

and

Its Composers

by
Edward Ellsworth Hipshcr

Mus.Doc., A. R. A. M.

A Complete History of Serious

American Opera, with a

Summary of the lighter

forms 'which led

up to its

birth

THEODORE PRESSER CO.

PHILADELPHIA. PA.

Copyright 1927 by Theodore Pregser Oo.

British Copyright Secured
Copyright 1934 by Theodore Presse/Ob.

Printed in U.S.A.

DEDICATED

to
The Cause

of
American Musical Art for the Stage

TO THOSE WHO READ

To make the best Musical Art in America is to make one
of the best things in America. And the hope of adding some-
thing to the knowledge of what has been accomplished toward
this end has been the preeminent inspiration for the creation
of this volume. Withal there have been a deal of pleasure
and not a few of thrills in the tracing, through measureless
pages, of the threads that finally were to be laid one by the
other to produce a tapestry that would picture for the future
the annals of those worthy and dauntless pioneers who have
laid so well the foundations of a great and glorious artistic
achievement. And a faith that this may serve in some small
way to make more brilliant our future accomplishments in
the creation of serious works for the musical stage has made
the long and arduous labors of producing this work not only
worth the while but also a labor of love achieved in joy.

The volume goes to the press with regrets that certain data
are not more complete. A considerable number of composers
are worthy of more detailed notice than is given; but dif-
ficulties of communication, and other exigencies, have made
the securing of the desired information so precarious that
to await this would have meant indefinite postponement of
the appearance of this book so long needed and for which
calls have been insistent. Especially would another course
have seemed unwise since the items involved are not in-
dispensable to coherence and may be easily incorporated in
addenda to a future edition.

In this connection most grateful recognition must be made
of the gratuitous and enthusiastic services of many friends.

VI TO THOSE WHO READ

To Eleanor Everest Freer, of Chicago, especial acknowledg-
ment is due; for, without the use of data which she had
collected by years of research and at a considerable
outlay from her private fortune, the book, in any-
thing like its present completeness, would have been quite
impossible without years of further delay. Another valuable
contributor has been Edwin A. Stringham, of the Denver
College of Music and Denver Post staff, an enthusiast
in all matters pertaining to early American opera. The
Library of Congress, the Public Libraries of Boston, Chicago,
Denver, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia,
Portland (Oregon), Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle,
as well as the Pennsylvania Historical Society, have been more
than courteous, even to the extent of furnishing translations
from the foreign press. Thanks are due also to Oliver
Ditson & Company, Novello & Company, G. Schirmer, Inc.,
and to White- Smith & Company, for their generous permis-
sion to quote from scores on which they hold the copyright
privileges.

Throughout the work, an asterisk (*) following the name
of an opera indicates that it has been published in vocal score
with piano accompaniment. The omission of this distinguish-
ing mark may be taken to mean that the work is yet in
manuscript form. The orchestral scores of but three Ameri-
can operas have been published ; but for purposes of presen-
tation these usually can be rented from the composer or the
publisher of the vocal score. The enormous expense incident
to the publication of an opera; the great odds against a
return, from sales, of even this initial cost; the thought of
commercial profit practically inconceivable; all have made
our publishers hesitant before the venture. Great credit is
due to those who have at such risk given encouragement to
the American creator for the musical stage.

TO THOSE WHO READ Vll

Up to the very last there have been discoveries of the most
valuable information which had become pigeonholed in these
aeroplane days. Consequently, though years and large sums
of money have been expended on the assembling of data,
human fallibility makes it inevitable that omissions and
possibly discrepancies have occurred in this first edition
gleaned largely from an untilled field of investigation.

The early decades of our national history were so filled
with a struggle to convert a primeval stretch of valley and
forest into an inhabitable space, that the annals of its meagre
art, if kept at all, must be sought mostly in rare copies of
early newspapers. And in these sometimes the references
are so vague as to leave a "reasonable doubt" as to their exact
meaning. Even in late decades important events have been
found with widely differing dates assigned, so that the most
minute investigation has been required. If, after this, any
reader should discover an inaccuracy of statement, or happen
upon information that would add to the value of the book,
the sending of this to the Author, in care of the Publisher,
so that it may be inserted in a future edition, would be doing
an invaluable service to the annals of American Musical Art.

With grateful appreciation for every encouragement and
assistance received toward the completion of a work which
has been an unending source of inspiration; and with the
hope that the product may be of service to the cause of
American Musical Art for the Stage, which is more and
more approaching its hour of triumph,

Very cordially yours,

EDWARD ELLSWORTH HIPSHER.

CONTENTS

I A Prologue 13

II American Opera 16

III XVIIIth Century Opera 19

IV XlXth Century Opera 28

V Early Opera in English 33

VI XXth Century Opera in English 43

VII Opera in English Its Advocates 55

VIII Paul Allen, George Antheil, Adeline Car-
ola Appleton, Maurice Arnold, Ira B.

Arnstein 65

IX Alberto Bimboni, Homer N. Bartlett, John
Beach, Johann Heinrich Beck, F. Beck-
tel, Eugene Bonner, William B. Brad-
bury, Carl Brandorf, Noah Brandt 72

X George Frederick Bristow, Joseph Carl
Breil, John Lewis Browne, Simon

Bucharoff, Dudley Buck 83

XI Charles Wakefield Cadman 99

XII Gerard Carbonara, Charles Frederick Carl-
son, Ernest Carter, Henry Lincoln Case 1 1 1

XIII George Whitefield Chadwick, Joseph W.

Clokey, Louis Adolphe Coerne 118

XIV Frederick S. Converse 129

XV Walter Damrosch, William Albert Deal,

James Monroe Deems 139

XVI Reginald deKoven 150

XVII Francesco B. DeLeone, Earl R. Drake. . . 158
XVIII Henry Purmort Eames, Julian Edwards,

Peter J. Engels, Ralph Errolle 165

XIX James Remington Fairlamb, Francesco
Fanciulli, Eugene Adrian Farner, Carl
flick-Steger 170

ix

CONTENTS

XX Pietro Floridia, Caryl Florio, Hamilton

Forrest 175

XXI Aldo Franchetti, Harry Lawrence Freeman 185
XXII Eleanor Everest Freer 1%

XXIII William Henry Fry 205

XXIV Henry F. Gilbert, Frederick Grant Glea-

son, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Jack
Graham, Shirley Graham, Edith Noyes-
Greene, Leslie Grossmith, Louis Gruen-
berg, Hermann Frederick Gruendler. . . 213
XXV Henry Hadley, Richard Hageman, How-
ard Hanson, William F. Hanson 228

XXVI W. Franke Hading, S. H. Harwill, Celeste

de Longpre Heckscher 250

XXVII Victor Herbert 259

XXVIII Edward Jerome Hopkins, Henry House-
ley, Legrand Howland, John Adam
Hugo, F. S. Hyde 267

XXIX Abbie Gerrish-Jones, Jules Jordan 275

XXX Davenport Kerrison, Howard Kirkpatrick,
Bruno Oscar Klein, Walter St. Clare
Knodle, E. Bruce Knowlton 282

XXXI Wassili Leps, Joseph La Monaca, Calixa
Lavallee, Wesley LaViolette, William
Lester, Clarence Loomis, Harvey Wor-
thington Loomis, Otto Luening, Ralph

Lyford 290

XXXII Edward Manning, Kathleen Lockhart
Manning, Max Maretzek, Lucille Crews
Marsh, William J. Marsh, Edward
Maryon 309

XXXIII William J. McCoy, J. G. Meader, Albert

Mildenberg, Harrison Millard, Carlo
Minetti 317

XXXIV John Mokrejs, Homer Moore, Mary Carr

Moore, Antonio Luigi Mora 325

XXXV Arthur Nevin, Guido Negri, Marx E.

Oberndorfer 337

CONTENTS

XI

XXXVI Horatio Parker, John Knowles Paine,

Henry Bickford Pasmore 346

XXXVII Frank Patterson, Willard Patton, Christian
Louis Phillipus, lone Pickhardt, Edward

C. Potter, Silas G. Pratt 355

XXXVIII G. Aldo Randegger, Joseph D. Redding,
Carl Ruggles, Constance Faunt le Roy

Runcie 364

XXXIX Karl Schmidt, Henry Schoenefeld, Conrad
Bryant Schaefer, William Schroeder,
Buren Schryock, John Laurence Sey-
mour 372

XL Harry Rowe Shelley, Charles Sanford
Skilton, Walter L. Slater, David Stan-
ley Smith, Edward de Sobolewski, Tim-
othy Mather Spelman 378

XLI Theodore Stearns, Humphrey J. Stewart,

Reginald Sweet / . . . 387

XLII Deems Taylor 395

XLIII Gerard Tonning, Virgil Thomson 404

XLIV Jane Van Etten, Isaac Van Grove, Carl

Venth, John A. van Broekhoven 412

XLV Max Wald, Harriet Ware, Richard Henry
Warren, Clarence Cameron White,
George E. Whiting, T. Carl Whitmer,
Guy Bevier Williams, Frederick Zech . . 420

XLVI Ballet and Masque 432

XLVII Late Gestures to Success 439

XLVIII The Dawning 446

XLIX Necrology 450

L Bibliography 451

LI Index 455

A PROLOGUE

For the roots of our present achievements in opera we
must search those picturesque days of the eighteenth century.
In their social centers comparatively small though they
were opera was cultivated and produced very much as the
traveler of today finds it in the smaller cities of England,
France, Germany and Italy, which have not the encourage-
ment of a subsidy from a national, municipal or princely
exchequer. Thus this art was straining toward the sun
whilst the scattered colonists were struggling toward a
national life; and, as in that greater political cause, if this
book shall begin with "The short and simple annals of the
poor/' it shall close with a promise of the discovery of the
end of our operatic rainbow.

Brander Matthews has justly ridiculed "The weakness
or uneasy desire for a strange and portentous work" which
might be hailed as "The Great American Opera." However,
to whatever irrational realms of aspiration this illogical
illusion may have led, and whatever may have been or are
our shortcomings in the art, there is comfort in the feeling
that this stupid demand that we scale the firmament, which
prevailed when our composers for the stage were frail and
few, has dwindled desirably, now that we have a small
phalanx of creators for the musical stage who have proven
their mettle.

Consideration is here to be given only to the serious opera ;
that is, to Grand Opera and to Opera Comique, as classified

13

14 AMERICAN OPERA

by French Standards, in which Grand Opera may be either
tragic, romantic or humorous but must have no spoken
dialogue; while Opera Comique adapts itself to a libretto
of literary merit, to which music of real artistic worth is
set, but still admits of some spoken dialogue, a type in which
Mozart has been unexcelled. The lighter forms will be
noticed only when having served as a preparation for, or as
an adjunct to, the creation of serious operatic works. And
this is not saying that some of these works in the simpler
forms are not just as good art as many noticed in these
pages. Certainly the lighter scores of such geniuses, in their
line, as deKoven, Herbert and Sousa, are of more historic
and artistic significance. They, unfortunately, do not hap-
pen to fall into the category of present investigations.

At their best, art values are tenuous immaterialities. To
sense them, even lightly, the mind must fare far into the
realms by fancy bred. If this is to be done, even imperfectly,
it will be not enough to know that somewhere in America
someone has written some kind of an opera. If these studies
are to benefit the reader and the investigator, they must know
something of what manner of man the composer has been,
what influences have molded his career and thought-life,
what he has accomplished, and the nature of the fruits of
all these. So far as space will allow, the reader must know
the influences and environments which gave life to a work,
if he is to be able properly or justly to begin the formation
of a judgment of its historical and artistic merits.

Not every work mentioned in this volume is worthy of a
place in the repertoire of our standard opera companies.
To judge the art values of a work is not the premise of the
historian. He may record its existence; but the musical
public must be the arbiter of its merits. Everything which
has marked a pace of our upward climb in an art for the

A PROLOGUE 15

musical stage must be recorded. Even though sometimes
the sophisticated may feel that there has been weirdness in
the gropings, still the effort was often none the less earnest
and sincere. The biographer of a great master does not
undertake to sift his products. All are recorded, regardless
of value. And so in the biography of national opera of
America all must have their place so that the future reader
may know from whence and of what his art has grown.

II

AMERICAN OPERA

When our earlier composers made their occasional ex-
cursions into the realms of opera they sometimes attempted
American themes as a medium, and to these they undertook
to set music in the popular Italian style. Not till the first
decades of the nineteenth century did there begin to dawn
in their works a faint odor of fields or a tint of a mood
that could be sensed as something dimly American, an in-
tangible spirit which gradually has become more and more
obvious and at the same time more indigenous. And be-
cause this elusive mood is so difficult to define, it becomes
necessary to be quite liberal in our delimitations, so that to
the query, "What is an American Opera ?" it only can be said
that, for the present purpose, this shall be measured by the
rather flexible rule that it may be any opera written in
America, by one who is either a native or who has been long
enough resident to have absorbed something of American
life. Or, it might be written by an American composer
temporarily abroad.

There yet remains a very open question as to what is the
most fitting matter and manner for an American music-
drama. American composers for the stage are still quite
considerably pioneers. There is as yet no definitely American
operatic tradition. However, there are signs of promise in
the musical skies. Already some composers have created
some works that are distinctly national in their message;
and these will multiply till finally they predominate and
create a style that will be generally identifiable, just as there

16

AMERICAN OPERA 17

has been developed by our architects a type of structure
adaptable to modern domestic and commercial life, and
that the world has recognized as American.

Till such a plane in our musical art is reached, let us
welcome, among our own, the musical art creator, from
whatever race or clime, so long as he comes willing to fuse
his identity with our national life. Let him bring his art,
his education, his traditions, and then let him cast these and
his lot, whole-souled, with the rest of us, and grow into as
good an American as he can.

That there may be American Opera it is not necessary
desirable as it may be that the subjects treated be indigenous
to our country. Many a master opera is on a theme foreign
to the nationality of its composer. Is "Tristan and Isolde"
any the less German opera because its story is borrowed from
Irish lore? Is "Faust'* less of French art because the plot
is German? Is "La Boheme" less Italian because the tale
is Parisian? Is "Figaro" less Viennese because the plot is
Spanish? But why more? To use our language and to
interpret this in music which is the natural idiom of a
composer imbued with the American spirit and ideals and
not a sycophant of some exotic school of composition, these
are the real essentials.

Naturally our most distinctively American works must
come from our composers of American ancestry and tradi-
tions. And these have produced works that are well to be
regarded. Neither need they to be labelled, to be recognized.
They are frankly individual.

Americanism finds expression in our native music, not
through the conscious efforts of our composers, by any
device, be that Indian themes, Negro spirituals, or attempted
local color, but when a talented musician gives his imagina-
tion a free rein and allows it to interpret from within himself

18 AMERICAN OPERA

the accustomed phase of thought and emotional life which
has germinated from the spiritual, intellectual and physical
environment in which he has been nurtured. "Art is the
true expression of the life thoughts of the people." To be
art at all, it must be sincere.

History is an indisputable teacher. In our efforts toward
the creation of an American School of Opera it is well to
look into the annals of the past. There it will be found that
the composers of Italy, the land and home of opera and song,
have written for the stage persistently in a vein and idiom
which the people (not the musically cultured alone) could
understand and appreciate. "Shanewis" and "Natoma,"
among American operas, are guiding lights in* this direction.
Then, if in these pages there is to be another lesson dis-
covered, it is that not the work built on an allegorical or
problem plot but that which is patterned after the melo-
drama is the one which the public takes unto its heart.

Ill

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY OPERA

In the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris the largest of
the world's great libraries are the scores of twenty-eight
thousand operas; yet, of this prodigious number, less than
two hundred are today found in the standard repertoire of
the great opera houses of the world. Of these, Gluck's
"Orpheus," first performed at Vienna in 1762, is the oldest
serious opera to retain favor; and to it belongs also the
double honor of having introduced the chorus in action and
of having been the first foreign opera to be printed in Italy.
Perhaps the recently reawakened interest in Handel's works
for the musical stage is but an omen that we are on the
eve of a revival of some of those even earlier operas.

One thing, too, must not be forgotten : in their day many
of these works were as popular as those now most acclaimed.
For two years no opera other than Gluck's "Alceste" was
permitted at the court theater of Vienna. In fact,
it would be hard to name a work in such present favor
as were some of the Italian operas when Bellini, Donizetti
and Rossini were in their heyday. Even the works of
the great master of Bayreuth, which in easy memory of many
had all musical works for the stage at least in penumbra if
not in eclipse, already themselves have fallen under a shadow.
"Thus passeth earthly glory" seems to have been written
especially for the opera and its composer. The art of each
era has risen from the dead bones of the past.

19

2O AMERICAN OPERA

With these thoughts in mind, in order to evaluate justly
the accomplishments of the composers who have striven
bravely to establish American Opera, we first must peruse
the book of the past, to learn from whence they started and
have grown. Nor are apologies necessary for reviving
memories of those inadequate works ; for who would under-
take a comprehensive history of our most complicated and
modernistic musico-dramatic masterpiece without harking
back to Peri's primitive "Euridice"? Just so, we find that
back in those romantic, if rigorous, colonial days was written
"The Fashionable Lady" by James Ralph, born in Phila-
delphia about 1698. This was produced, simultaneously with
publication, in 1730, on April second, at Goodman's Fields
Theater of London. It is recorded that it was "acted nine
times;" and it certainly established a precedent which has
hounded later composers and made it too often incumbent
that they take their operatic wares to a foreign market.

"The Fashionable Lady" resembled in many ways "The
Beggar's Opera" which was heard for the first time, in
London, on January 29, 1728, but did not itself reach
America till it was performed in New York on December 3,
1750, after many of its prototypes were quite familiar.
Following "The Fashionable Lady" its author published an-
other, "The Taste of the Town," a pantomime with a title
that smacks of a modern "Follies." Franklin had taken
Ralph to London and praised him as being "ingenious" and
"extremely eloquent."

"The Beggar's Opera" was in part a satire on the musical
foibles of Italian opera which, in a degenerate form, had
temporarily crowded all other types of related entertainment
near the wall. It and its multiple progeny really were plays
with incidental songs of a topical nature, which served either
as expositions of the varying emotional states of the

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY OPERA 21

personages as the story progressed, or as reflections, often
more or less satirical, on social customs of the times. Thus
in the Pennsylvania Chronicle (Philadelphia) of March 30,
1767, appeared the advertisement:

JUST PUBLISHED, and to be sold tt
SAMUEL TAYLOR's

BOOK-BINDER, at the corner of Market and
Water Streets, price One Shilling and Sixpence,
a new American COMIC OPERA, of two
Acts, called

The DISAPPOINTMENT:

or, the

FORCE of CREDULITY

By ANDREW BARTON, Eq$

The price quoted will serve as surprise till it is understood
that in those days only the libretto was published with none
whatever of the musical text. Also, the title of this opera
was all too prophetic ; for, on investigation, the city authori-
ties forbade public performance of the work, because it
contained "personal reflections," not mentioning none too
mild indecencies. "The Disappointment" required eighteen
songs, among which was Yankee Doodle apparently the
first literary allusion to this melody. Andrew Barton has
been unidentified in history, and the name was probably a
pseudonym.

As a commentary on the musical culture of those times it
is well to notice that by the middle of the eighteenth century
there were English ballad operas a-plenty, not only in Phila-
delphia and New York but also in smaller communities that
in these many years have not dreamed of tempting an opera

22 AMERICAN OPERA

company on tour to risk its fortunes within their gates. Thus
wealthy and gay Williamsburg, Virginia, had opera heard by
George Washington, as is verified by his ledger where he
entered on June 2, 1752, "By cash at the playhouse, l/3d."
as a loan to his younger brother Samuel so that they might
enjoy the performance together. Then, strangely enough,
it is to Upper Maryborough, Maryland, that we must look
for the first employment of an orchestra with opera in
America. In the Maryland Gazette of August 27, 1752, is
notice that, at the request of the Ancient and Honourable
Society of Free and Accepted Masons, there would be on
September 14, 1752, a performance of

"THE BEGGAR'S OPERA"

With Instrumental Music to Each Air
Given by a Set of Private Gentlemen.

Imagine a performance of modern opera with "Private
Gentlemen" in the orchestra pit! Perhaps the gentlemen
preferred to protect their "private" standing, as might be
inferred from a card, signed Philadelphus, which was ad-
dressed to the Pennsylvania Gazette as late as November 10,
1773, in which are these interesting lines :

"It is a matter of real sorrow and distress to many
sober inhabitants of different denominations to hear of
the return of those strolling Comedians, who are travel-
ling thro* America, propagating vice and immorality.
And it is much to the disreputation of this City that more
encouragement is given here than in any other place
on the continent."

Then Cleopatra of Charleston, South Carolina, surely was
not acquainted with the nature of the original of her

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY OPERA 2$

pseudonym, when she set herself as a censor of public morals,
in the South Carolina Gazette of November 1, 1773, by
amiably dubbing the theater "The Devil's Synagogue."
Something of the theatrical splendor of those days may be
imagined by reverting to 1762, in which year a new theater
was erected in Chapel Street, New York, at an estimated
cost of sixteen hundred and twenty-five dollars.

It is not easy to determine just which was the first real
opera created in America. In the earlier operas many or
most of the songs had been fitted to melodies already popular
as folk tunes. Not infrequently the work was a genuine
pasticcio, the musical numbers having been borrowed from
various composers. But there now had been for some years
a tendency toward works by individual composers and of a
better mold. In these there was an almost imperceptible
emerging from the play with incidental music into the opera
in which the music became of prime importance. Perhaps
the evolution was consummated about the time that these
United States were in the travail of a national birth.

"The Temple of Minerva, an Oratorial Entertainment,"
by Francis Hopkinson, was performed on December 11,
1781, at the hotel of the Minister of France in Philadelphia,
before His Excellency General Washington and his lady,
and a select company. ("Oratorial/' in the usage of that
day, was derived from "oratory" and not from "oratorio.")
Research has failed to discover aught of the musical score,
so that it cannot be affirmed that this was entirely by
Mr. Hopkinson. However, his libretto gives every struc-
tural evidence of having been intended to be sung entire;
and so "The Temple of Minerva" may be said to have been
our first sincere attempt at "Grand Opera."

August of 1787 is memorable as the month in which the
term "opera-house" was first used in America. The new title

24 AMERICAN OPERA

became attached to the former Southwark Theater (Phila-
delphia) in an effort to forestall the opprobrium linked to
the professional name under which it and its entertainments
had been theretofore known. "Reconciliation," a comic
opera by Peter Markoe, was accepted in 1790 by the Old
American Company, but never performed (a managerial
habit not yet extinct).

"Tammany ; or, The Indian Chief," a serious opera with
its libretto by Mrs. Anne Julia Hatton and music by James
Hewitt, was probably the most earnest effort of its time. In
fact it came near qualifying as our first native real opera;
and it certainly was the earliest of American operas on
Indian subjects. Hewitt seems to have been a musician of
some parts, as he was leader of the orchestra of the "Old
American Company," the leading troupe of its day, and
later made some success as a leader of orchestras in New
York. The surviving lyrics indicate a libretto characterized
by "impossible flights of poetic imagination." The opera
was first produced in the John Street Theater, New York,
March 3, 1794, and was heard but three times in New York,
twice in Philadelphia and once in Boston.

"Tammany" contained true Indian themes and was one of
the first instances of such use of our native Indian melodies.
The story has certain dramatic possibilities, even though
playing rather freely with history.

Tammany, a noble chieftain, loves the fair Indian maiden,
Manana. Ferdinand, an unprincipled member of Columbus' band
of explorers, attempts to steal this daughter of the forest; but
when "Her shrill cries through the woods resound" Tammany
comes to her rescue. However, Ferdinand plans a brutish re-
venge by which Tammany and his devoted Manana are burned
in their wigwam by the Spaniards, while the Indians intone a
dirge for their honored leader and his squaw. Musically, the

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY OPERA 2$

most interesting number is "The sun sets in night," which is an
adaptation of the Alkmoonok, or Death Song of the Cherokee
Indians.

"The Sicilian Romance/ 1 with music by Alexander
Reinagle, one of the most learned of our colonial musicians,
came before the public on May 6, 1795. C. P. E. Bach
esteemed Reinagle enough to ask for his silhouette for his
cabinet of friends and celebrities. The libretto of "The
Recruit," performed in Charleston in 1796, was by the
popular actor, John D. Turnbull. More important, on April
16 of this same year, and in New York, was "The Archers ;
or, The Mountaineers of Switzerland," of which the play
was by William Dunlap and the music by Benjamin Carr, a
well-cultured English musician who had come to America
in 1793. Its hero was the same William Tell who a genera-
tion later was to inspire Rossini's most dramatic opera.
Reinagle's "Slaves in Algiers" was first performed in Phila-
delphia, December 22, 1794.

"Edwin and Angelina," with the book of Elihu Hubbard
Smith (a native of Connecticut) and the music by Victor
Pelissier, composer, horn virtuoso and band leader, was
first heard in New York, on December 19, 1796. Pelissier
was of French birth, had been educated at the Paris Con-
servatoire, migrated to America from Cape of France, and
was probably the best trained musician of our colonial period.
With certain data incapable of complete authentication,
"Edwin and Angelina" is the first opera of which all parts
are known to have been created in America, and which then
came to public production. Originally written in 1791, it
was revised in 1793 and 1794. "The Archers," by Dunlap
and Carr, was written later, but performed earlier and
oftener. A song, The Bird When Summer Charms No More,
from "Edwin and Angelina," has been recently revived by

26 AMERICAN OPERA

Harold Vincent Milligan and Miss Olive Nevin, in their
"Three Centuries of American Opera" historical programs.
"The Purse; or, American Tar," which was first heard in
New York on February 23, 1795, seems to have been a none
too conscientious adaptation, with "alterations and additions"
by John Hodgkinson,, of Mr. Cross's "The Purse; or,
Benevolent Tar" with music by William Reeve.

A fruitful year was 1797. New York, on January 16,
saw the first production of "Bourville Castle" by Carr and
Pelissier. Philadelphia first saw, on February 1, Alexander
Reinagle's "Columbus," based on a play by Morton, and
which had ten performances within the year; while his
"The Savoyard" was produced in the same place on July 12.
"The Adopted Child," with music "entirely new and com-
posed by P. A. Van Hagen," leader of the band of the
Haymarket Theater, Boston, was first heard in that city on
April 3. "Ariadne Abandoned," another opera by Pelissier,
with the librettist unknown, was first heard in New York
on April 26; and October 11 saw the premiere of "The
Iron Chest," with its text by George Colman and the music
by Raynor Taylor.

"The Launch ; or, Huzza for the Constitution !" a patriotic
trifle with no particular merit, in honor of "The Frigate
Constitution breasting the curled surf," with its book by
John Hodgkinson and the music a pasticcio by Pelissier, was
first heard in New York on May 21, 1798. "Stern's Maria,"
by Pelissier, was heard there on January 14, 1799; and in that
same year and place was brought out "The Vintage," with
the libretto by Dunlap, the music by Pelissier, and Mrs.
Oldmixon in the leading role. Perhaps the most ambitious
effort of this closing year of the century was "The Fourth
of July; or, Temple of American Independence/ 1 produced

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY OPERA 27

in New York on July 4. In it the Battery was shown and
there was a "military procession in perspective."

This does not purport to be a comprehensive compendium
of the operas produced in this period, but only enough of
them to give an insight into the richness of the field for
investigation. It is but a preparation for better things to
come. For a more exhaustive study of this almost antiqua-
rian phase of the subject, "Early American Operas" and
"Early Operas in America," by Oscar G. Sonneck, the
inveterate investigator, will be found marvels of interest
and of intricate research.

IV
NINETEENTH CENTURY OPERA

With the dawn of the nineteenth century there began to
stir in the people a feeling for a better musical art for the
stage. Pantomimes and Masques, which had claimed a lion's
share of public patronage, began to lose their hold ; and more
serious spectacles, both musical and dramatic, entered upon
a period of livelier support. Even the Ballad Operas were
soon to lose their charm.

Alexander Reinagle's "The Castle Specter," to the libretto
of a Mr. Kelly, had its first performance in Philadelphia,
on April 2, 1800. The same year saw the first American
version of the story of "Robin Hood," on the operatic stage
of New York, though with less success than was to favor a
later effort, as is evidenced by an inconsiderate historian
who writes : "On the 5th of December an opera, the music
by James Hewitt and the dialogue by the manager, was
performed, not approved of, repeated once, and forgotten."

The dusky denizens of the forest again lived behind the
footlights when Nelson Barker's "The Indian Princess; or,
La Belle Sauvage" was produced in Philadelphia in 1808.
Raynor Taylor's "The American Tar; or, The Press Gang
Defeated" appeared in the period of the War of 1812; and
of this the song Independent and Free had a rather notable
success. The Ballad Opera was now at a low tide of
popularity; and no other was yet familiar to the colonial
public. Then in the season of 1817-1818 these English
operas entered upon a respite of favor. Half -play and

28

NINETEENTH CENTURY OPERA 2$

half-music as they were, these served an excellent purpose,
adding to the importance of theatrical music, employing
actors with singing voices, and preparing the theater-going
public for the imminent pure opera with its continuous
musical speech.

Perhaps the most significant event of this rather arid
period was the New York premiere, on November 12, 1823,
of "Clari, the Maid of Milan," with its libretto by our own
John Howard Payne, though the music was by Henry Bishop
(later, "Sir") the eminent English composer. In this was
heard, for the first time in America, the world's best loved
song, "Home, Sweet Home," which was to become a part
of the life of every civilized nation and which has properly
been said to be "the greatest song man ever wrote," a jewel
that "sparkles forever on the forefinger of time."

Micah Hawkins, born at Stony Point, Long Island, in
1777, was a gifted amateur with a mild streak of genius,
who wrote both libretto and music of a comic opera in two
acts, "The Saw Mill ; or, A Yankee Trick," which, in 1824,
was produced at the Chatham Theater of New York. It
made such a success that it has been often mentioned as
"the first genuine American opera." The next spring saw in
New York the production of "The Forest Rose; or, The
American Farmers," a ballad opera by Samuel Woodworth
whose name has been enshrined in literary history by "The
Old Oaken Bucket." Then, in the autumn, Italian Opera,
sponsored by the gifted Garcia family, appeared in America ;
and for some years there was a struggle between Opera in
Italian and Opera in English, in which, with the gradual
ascendency of the Italian, the feeble flame of American
operatic composition seems to have flickered low.

In an effort to quicken the native music, the following
notice appeared in the July, 1830, issue of the Euterpiad:

30 AMERICAN OPERA

"PRIZE OPERA"

"In order to inspire genius and encourage talent the
proprietors of this work offer a premium of $500 for
the best opera; the music as well as the words to be
original, and to contain three acts, an overture, and a
variety of songs, duets, trios, choruses, etc., with instru-
mental accompaniments. The operas must be forwarded
to the proprietors before the first of January, 1831.
Arrangements will be made to have it brought out at
once at one of the theatres in this city. The premium
shall be awarded by a committee of seven gentlemen,
to be hereafter nominated for that purpose; and, that no
partiality or personal predilection may influence the de-
cision, every piece offered for the prize must be accom-
panied by a sealed paper containing the name and resi-
dence of the author, none of which seals will be broken
except that belonging to its successful piece/'

There is extant no record of this first offer of its kind
bringing forth any response ; but the protection against doubts
of fairness in the decision, if adopted, might have saved
from suspicions some awards in later similar contests.

For a series of years there is now but little worth the
recording, except for the purpose of linking past achieve-
ments with those of a more promising era to follow. Thus,
"Rokeby," an operatic piece with music selected and arranged
by F. H. F. Berkeley, was first performed at the Park
Theater of New York, on May 17, 1830. As an index
to passing taste of the time, it is worth the noting that in
1840 the Woods troupe gave "Fidelio" and 'The Beggar's
Opera/' and the audiences were apparently as well pleased
with the one as with the other. In fact, when the celebrated
Braham attempted a short season of "real English operas/' he
had but small success because the people evidently preferred

NINETEENTH CENTURY OPERA 3 1

"arrangements" of the more famous works of the
Italian, French and German masters.

Many of these arrangements were done by C. E. Horn,
born in London, June 21, 1786, and died in Boston, October
21, 1849, who was a well-schooled practical musician, who
had led the music in English and American theaters and
who became the first regular conductor of the Handel and
Haydn Society of Boston. Practical experience with the
orchestra gave him skill in so arranging the larger works
that they were within the capabilities of the then incompetent
American orchestras; and, had he not made some radical
adjustments, America could not at that time have heard the
greater works at all. Of his own rather numerous operas,
two deserve special mention. "Ahmed al Kamel; or, The
Pilgrim of Love," with a libretto by Henry J. Finn, founded
on Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra, was first
heard at the New National Opera House of New York,
October 12, 1840. "The Maid of Saxony," an opera in
three acts, with its libretto by George Pope Morris and
founded on Maria Edgeworth's story. The Prussian Vase,
and incidents in the life of Frederick II of Prussia, was first
performed at the Park Theater, May 23, 1842. Both were
sung in English ; and, with the first, real American literature
began to find a place in our opera. Then 1844 witnessed a
happy turn in the tide when on November 25 the Seguin
company gave in New York the first performance in Amer-
ica of Balfe's "Bohemian Girl," a work which, with its re-
fined melodies, its musicianly harmonies and score, its skill-
ful plot and a libretto of some real literary merit, was to
have no small influence on the trend of American musical
taste and creative activities.

About the middle of the nineteenth century a consciousness
awoke that our national instincts and characteristics should

32 AMERICAN OPERA

be represented in a school of American opera, as is the con-
dition more especially in Italy, and to only a lesser degree
in France and Germany. George F. Bristow was already a
somewhat fiery propagandist in the cause; and to his efforts
the younger William Henry Fry gave cordial cooperation
as well as lent his ardent voice and pen. Our first tangible
achievements in the way of grand opera came from these
two composers. Perhaps it was their propaganda which
inspired Ole Bull, as manager of opera at The Academy of
Music of New York, to issue, in January, 1855, an official
announcement "To American Composers." Too long for
reproduction here, it contained this significant clause:

'The manager takes pleasure in announcing that it has
been decided to offer for honorable competition a prize
of one thousand dollars for the best original grand
opera, by an American composer, and upon a strictly
American subject."

The unfortunate part of the venture was that, with all
Ole Bull's evidently good intentions, it became necessary to
issue, on March 5, 1855, a statement that "In consequence
of insuperable difficulties the Academy of Music is closed/'
If any native American opera came to the point of being
entered in the competition, it seems to have been lost to
sight and certainly never came to public notice.

Then, whether directly responsible or not, the great national
upheaval in the first half of the eighteen-sixties bluntly
punctuated achievements in native opera creation, until "The
Scarlet Letter" of Walter Damrosch, in 1896, shone serenely
as the morning star of a new cycle in the history of this art.
And from this date the accomplishments of the period will
be discerned in the pages devoted to its composers.

EARLY OPERA IN ENGLISH

From that eventful February 8, 1735, when the opera of
"Flora; or, Hob in the Well" was produced at Charleston,
South Carolina (the earliest authenticated date of such a
performance in America), till the end of that century, Opera
in English held undisputed sway. Then about the year 1800
came the invasion of French opera. However, our un-
sophisticated progenitors were so primitively ingenuous as
to prefer opera in a language which they understood; the
French company had to retreat; and from that time, with
varying success, there has been battle for Opera in English.

"The Beggar's Opera," which had been creating such a
furore in England, entered the New World by way of New
York, on the evening of December 3, 1750. With its wealth
of traditional folk tunes, it started a tide of imitations with
a better quality of musical numbers than had been in vogue,
and with this a consequent improvement in public taste.
Then, in these later days when a performance in English
at either the Metropolitan or the Auditorium is an occasion
for a torch-light procession and a Gloria, there is food for
reflection when we read that "In the period before and
following the Revolution there was an American Opera
Company which had in its repertoire over two hundred
operas and musical plays with English ballads sung during
their performance. This company was directed by the
Hallam family who were very active in America from
1753 to the end of the century." In 1793 New York had its

33

34 AMERICAN OPERA

own organization singing operas in English, with Mrs. Old-
mixon, Miss Broadhurst and Miss Brett as leading members.

Then fell the blow from which opera in the vernacular
never has quite recovered, when on the evening of November
29, 1825, the celebrated Garcia troupe appeared for the first
time in America, in 'The Barber of Seville/' This set the
best operatic art of the Latins against the best operatic art
of the Anglo-Saxons; and war was on. Italian singing,
as a pure vocal art, was in its heyday; and with the great
Manuel Garcia and his talented daughter, the famous
Malibran to be, at the head of a company, it was sure of
notice, and sure of a following.

However, the "Tournament of the Songbirds" was not
to be a festival of a day. Quoting from an 1830 issue of
the Euterpiad: "If the English opera docs not succeed, the
Italian cannot, possessed, as the former is, of all the familiar
avenues of the mind and the passions of an audience speaking
the English tongue." And considering the present crusade
in the cause of our own language and musical stage art, there
is something almost prophetic when the writer continues:
"Should the English opera now be forced from the cisatlantic
shores, one thing is certain the attempt could not be ration-
ally revived before 1930; viz., translated into words, a
century hence!'

In the early 1830's Opera in English was still in vogue to
such a degree that the translator and adaptor went deep into
the operatic jungle for the largest of game on which to try
their skill. Even Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable" was given
in English, with an ordinary theater orchestra. Neverthe-
less, eyebrows must be raised not too high at this "sacrilege."
All operatic conditions in America were at this period in a
very primitive state. One author remarks ; "The wretchedness

EARLY OPERA IN ENGLISH 35

of the orchestral work of New York, about 1830, cannot
be exaggerated."

New York, which by this time was beginning to over-
shadow Philadelphia, musically, in these years was hearing
something of Rossini but more of Boieldieu, a condition
which followed naturally when most of the artists were
French residents of the metropolis. Boieldieu's "Caliph of
Bagdad," translated into English, was produced in 1830 with
great success; and it was the first opera to have favor in
America without the London stamp of approval. This and
"Jean de Paris" divided honors with the English ballad
operas which were having a revival of interest. More im-
portant were the productions of Auber's "Masaniello,"
Boieldieu's "La Dame Blanche" and Mozart's "Magic Flute."
All of these were given in a more or less "arranged" state,
which meant the omitting of everything too difficult, in-
terpolating whatever was apt to catch public fancy, and
leaving great and hideous gaps in the orchestral score.

On November 18, 1833, the Italian Opera House, the first
really fine opera house in America, was inaugurated in New
York, chiefly through the efforts of Lorenzo da Ponte, the
eminent librettist of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and of other
master works. It was a magnificent auditorium with nu-
merous private boxes; and it was supported by a list of
subscribers, which started a custom that has promoted the
success of all later grand opera in New York. Though the
Italian works were presented by a good troupe, the enterprise
had the active rivalry of English opera with Mrs. Woods as
its prima donna. This contest went on for two years, at the
end of which Opera in English had triumphed.

"Opera in English" is not our problem alone ; and so we
halt to admit a bit of significant British history. Serious
opera in English made its initial curtsey to the world on

36 AMERICAN OPERA

the evening of August 25, 1834, when, at the New Theater
Royal, Lyceum and English Opera House, was produced for
the first time the new grand opera called "The Mountain
Sylph/' the overture and music entirely by Mr. John
Barnett. Our struggling American composers will be par-
doned a moderate envy when they read that the Queen was
good enough to encourage Mr. Barnett by her presence on
the first night of his work and also on the one hundredth
night of its phenomenal run. No authentic record exists of
the number of performances beyond this century mark;
but even this accomplishment is notable in the annals of
grand opera.

To revert to our main theme, a merry bout between Opera
in English and Opera in Foreign Tongues was kept up for
some years. More and more the songbirds were imported
for exotic opera, while gradually the English language and
its singers were crowded off the boards. In the last decade
before the Civil War some slight advantage was gained by
the Opera in Foreign Tongues cohorts, when those frightful
years of carnage put a stop to all movements artistic. Then
almost immediately on the close of the war the inimitable
Patti flashed into the operatic constellation, paling all other
aspirants, and, in fact, ushering in the era of the "star system"
which not only submerged opera in our own tongue but also
has left a trail of perverted art through three-quarters of a
century of operatic history.

In the meantime, and in the middle west, a new center
of culture had come into being. Dealing historically with its
home city, The Chicago Tribune some years ago gave her
operatic annals in a manner so typical of all cities, for the
period covered, that quotation is warranted:

EARLY OPERA IN ENGLISH 37

"There were various seasons of English opera in this city
during the '50s, but it was not till 1866 that it obtained a firm
foothold through the efforts of Caroline Richings. That pains-
taking woman, who had great executive as well as artistic ability,
developed its possibilities with the aid of an exceptionally strong
troupe. Her leading (assisting) artists were Zelda Seguin,
William Castle and S. C. Campbell. This vocal quartet was as
finished in its way as the present-day Kneisel String Quartet and
challenged for superiority any quartet in Italian or German
opera.

"In 1870 the Richings and Parepa-Rosa troupes were consoli-
dated, making an organization of exceptional strength which
presented not only English operas but also Italian and German
operas in English. Old-timers will recall "Norma" and "The
Marriage of Figaro" as well-nigh perfect performances. This
consolidation was followed by another company, organized by
Clara Louise Kellogg, which was composed in part of the lead-
ing members of the consolidation, excepting Parepa and
Richings.

"These three troupes demonstrated that English opera could
be given in a manner worthy of comparison with the Italian and
German traditions. They were welcomed as enthusiastically as
the troupes headed by Patti, Lucca, Nilsson, or Sembrich. Their
repertoires were sufficiently varied to include operas of the Ger-
man, French and Italian schools, as well as English. These were
put on the stage with careful attention to details. The per-
formances were in every way as interesting as those under the
management of Grau, Maretzek and Mapleson. In short, they
were meritorious, popular, and successful. Why then should
we not have an English opera renaissance?"

Excepting "The Bohemian Girl," the later "Maritana"
and "Lily of Killarney," and a few others in their style, all
the English Grand Opera Companies have drawn their
repertoires from translated works. Hans Balatka, the
musical pioneer of the West, is believed to have made the
first translation done in America, of an important opera.
Born at Hoffnungsthal, Moravia, Austria, on March 5, 1825,

38 AMERICAN OPERA

and educated at Olmutz and Vienna, he was driven from
Europe by the revolution of 1848 and landed in New York
on June 4, 1849. He soon located in Milwaukee where, in
1850, he became violoncellist in the first string quartet or-
ganized in America. In that same year he founded the Mil-
waukee Musical Society, which is still in existence, and with
which, in the ten years following, he produced a series of
classic German operas. In 1860 he moved to Chicago, and
there, at McVicker's Theater, and with the young Adelina
Patti in the audience, he produced in 1862 Lortzing's "Czar
und Zimmermann (Czar and Carpenter)" with his own
translation into English. The cast was announced as all-
American, which at that time probably meant all American
citizens, not necessarily by birth.

Never since about 1850 has English Opera, or Opera in
English, found favor with "Society," nor has it been able
to vie with the Italian or German, according to which type
happened to be in vogue which last phrase stamps indelibly
opera in America as having been throughout this period an
exotic social function. And yet we never have been quite
without opera in the vernacular. Some notable organizations
have followed in the wake of the pioneers; so that even to
our day a form of more or less indigenous art has been
cultivated with success and merit which have varied mostly
according to the publicity acumen of a producer or the per-
sonal popularity of a prima donna.

Clara Louise Kellogg laid America under triple obligation :
to her ability, her artistry, and her accomplishments. Miss
Kellogg not only was our first native singer to acquire inter-
national renown but also showed the American spirit by
acquiring her musical education at home; while to this she
added the distinction of organizing in 1874 the first native
company to present grand opera on an adequate scale, which

EARLY OPERA IN ENGLISH 39

she did successfully for some seasons. On retiring her
mantle fell upon the beautiful Emma Abbott who made her
name a household word by repeated coast to coast tours,
mostly as Arline in a sumptuous performance of Balfe's
"Bohemian Girl," then at the height of its popularity; from
which, on her sudden death in 1891, she had amassed a
fortune. While not strictly grand opera, this achievement
deserves record for the effect that the quality of the perform-
ances had on our artistic history. The Emma Juch Opera
Company was another of this period to sustain a high
standard for grand opera in English.

The Standard English Opera Company was, in 1885, visit-
ing the principal cities. Then came the National Opera
Company with Theodore Thomas at its artistic helm. This
organization was launched on February 28, 1886, with the
ostensible purpose of placing Opera in English on a plane
equal to that of the German variety which by this time had
blazed its way to popularity and was crowding its Italian
rival near the reefs of the operatic seas. With capable
soloists, a fine chorus, and an orchestra of the quality which
the leadership of Theodore Thomas assured, the organization
gave a repertoire of Delibes's "Lakme," Flotow's "Martha/*
Cluck's "Orpheus," Goetz's "Taming of the Shrew/'
Gounod's "Faust," Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots," Mozart's
"Magic Flute," and Wagner's "Lohengrin" and "Flying
Dutchman." However, the company which set sail, full-
rigged and banners gaily inviting general favor, within two
years limped back into port, its rudders lost somewhere
among the financial rocks. As a good "angel" it had had
the enthusiastic and patriotic Mrs. Jeannette Thurber,
who is said to have sacrificed most of the million and a half
of dollars (which included the earnings of the company) lost
in this effort to promote "the idea of giving opera in the

4O AMERICAN OPERA

English language, for the understanding and enjoyment of
English-speaking audiences."

The early eighteen-nineties contributed the Boston Ideal
Opera Company, later known as the Bostonians, who made
of the lighter operas and the best operettas works of art,
and in them made English in song a thing of beauty that was
understood.

Later came Henry W. Savage, of Boston, the most suc-
cessful American champion which Opera in English has
known. When Mr. Savage acquired the Castle Square
Theater of Boston, with it he fell heir to the Castle Square
Opera Company, a "White Elephant" to former managers,
which by his managerial genius he soon had more than
balancing the accounts at the box office.

Beginning in 1895 with this one company, the spirit of
adventure grew within him till at one time he had companies
giving opera and operetta in Boston, New York, Philadel-
phia, Baltimore and Washington. Next he selected the best
of the artists of all these companies and formed a single
superior troupe for a tour of The States. For the season
of 1904-1905 he organized a special company, importing a
part of the artists from Europe, and brought down upon
his irreverent head the wrath of the "Guardian Angel of
Bayreuth," by daring to give "Parsifal" its first performance
in English a lavish offering, and undoubtedly his greatest
artistic achievement. This he presented successfully in forty-
seven cities from coast to coast. And, for the following
season, he similarly made a feature of "The Valkyrie" in
English.

Then, in October, 1906, at Washington, D. C, Puccini's
"Madame Butterfly" was given in English, its American
premiere; while later in the season the same company gave
to New York its first taste of this delicious work. To all

EARLY OPERA IN ENGLISH 4!

these achievements Mr. Savage added productions of "La
Boheme," "Lohengrin," "Tannhauser," "Carmen," "La
Tosca," "The Girl of the Golden West," and others, and
always in English.

It was of this company's appearance in Chicago that Glenn
Dillard Gunn wrote in the Inter Ocean:

"One of the most grateful features of the 'Butterfly' produc-
tion is the added proof it brings to the oft-repeated assertion
that English is a beautiful language when sung. There was
nothing harsh or guttural, as in German; nothing disagreeably
nasal, as in French. There was no unpleasant rasping of con-
sonants. In fact, these artists sang English with almost the same
liquid smoothness that one expects from Italian."

The real test of the fitness of English for operatic use
was made by Mr. Savage ; and the country voted the venture
a success.

The same struggle for "opera in the vernacular" has been
endured in all countries of Europe; as in most of these
opera in Italian first became the fashion and was only grad-
ually supplanted by the language of any country when that
nation developed composers who could write works of suf-
ficient beauty and importance to rival the Italian compositions.
Germany owes opera in German primarily to Mozart and
Weber; and later, of course, to Wagner. In France the
operas in French of Gluck were virtually the first to compete
successfully with those in Italian by Piccinni.

As yet neither England nor America has produced an
operatic composer on the plane of those just mentioned.
But it must be borne in mind that these are the greatest of
the pioneers of the musical ages. Where shall we look for
a second Mozart? But our English-speaking nations are

42 AMERICAN OPERA

making prodigious advances in the creation of opera. Al-
ready they can point to many which may easily be placed be-
side similar scores produced on the continent of Europe and
once current in the opera houses of the world. Accumulated
technic and tradition may easily, and at almost any time,
now create on an Anglo-Saxon soil a piece which will take a
place in the select company of master works for the musical
stage.

VI
TWENTIETH CENTURY OPERA IN ENGLISH

With the success of Mr. Savage on all tongues, the Aborn
brothers (Milton and Sargent) were spurred to launch their
Aborn English Opera Company in 1902. While some of its
productions were in the class of light opera, still the most
noteworthy accomplishments were in the field of grand opera
in English. Massenet's "Thais" was given its first production
anywhere in English, in the Boston season of 1911-1912.
"Madame Butterfly" had an elaborate revival ; and they made
of "The Bohemian Girl" a work of art.

When in the summer of 1913 the Messrs. Aborn an-
nounced the Century Opera Company program of thirty-five
weeks, they stated that one night of each opera would be
presented in its original tongue. The season opened on
September 15, and correspondence received at the Century
Opera House and the statistics of the box office soon showed
conclusively that the "original language" night was really
not an audience made up completely of the particular nation-
ality of the opera presented, but that there had been an
overflow of people who desired to hear all the operas in
English. As a result, the press of November 5th announced
that "The Messrs. Aborn now have decided to give all per-
formances in the vernacular." These activities were con-
tinued till the spring of 1915. It is interesting to add that
about three-fourths of the singers were natives of our own
country, and that some of the others were English.

Of organizations of more local interest, and which yet

43

44 AMERICAN OPERA

have done notable work, the palm probably belongs to The
Philadelphia Operatic Society, an amateur organization, with
Leopold Stokowski as Honorary President and Mrs. Edwin
A. Watrous, Director General. First conceived by Mr. John
Curtis, a Philadelphia newspaper man, an organization was
effected on April 3, 1906, with Mr. Curtis as its founder and
first president, and with Siegfried Behrens as conductor.
Its first public appearance was in a presentation of "Faust"
in the historic Academy of Music, on April 16, 1907; and
from the first no year has passed without from two to four
performances, though in 1913 there was a spring festival
which brought that year's record up to ten. With the
numbers following the name indicating the times that each
work has been given, when more than once, the following
remarkable repertoire has been offered: "Ai'da" (6);
"Boccaccio" (2); "Boheme, La;" "Bohemian Girl" (6);
"Brian Boru;" "Bride Elect;" "Carmen" (3); "Cavalleria
Rusticana" (3) ; "El Capitan;" "Faust" (7), once with the
Brocken Scene; "Fra Diavolo;" Freischiitz, Dcr" (2) ;
"Gypsy Baron;" "Hansel and Gretel;" "Hoshi-San" (world
premiere) ; "Huguenots, The" (2) ; "II Trovatore" (2) ;
"Jewels of the Madonna ;" "La Sonnambula ;" "Lucia di Lam-
mermoor;" "Madame Butterfly;" "Maritana;" "Marriage of
Jeannette;" "Manon;" "Martha" (5); "Mignon" (2);
"Norma;" "Pagliacci, I" (3) ; "Queen's Lace Handkerchief ;"
"Rip Van Winkle" (deKoven) ; "Robin Hood" (3) ; "Secret
of Susanne;" "Serenade, The" (3) ; "Stradella;" "Tales of
Hoffmann" (2); "Tannhauser ;" two dramatic oratorios
"The Golden Legend" and "The Rose of Destiny;" four bal-
lets "Coppelia;" "Dance of the Hours;" "Dances of the
Pyrenees;" and "The Four Seasons."

John Philip Sousa, Reginald deKoven and Victor Herbert
have been honorary members of the Society ; and when Mr.

TWENTIETH CENTURY OPERA IN ENGLISH 45

Sousa's works have been given he has conducted. The slogan
of the organization has been "Opera in English by Phila-
delphians;" and it is no small achievement that it should
have given their early stage training to such artists as Biatica
Saroya, Marie Stone Langston, Henri Scott (in his operatic
debut, as Mcphistophclcs, in January, 1908), Paul Althouse
(in his operatic debut, as Faust, on January 26, 1911), Louis
Kreidler, and many others but little less known. In all it
has given stage experience to some two hundred and fifty
of Philadelphia's leading soloists, to more than one thousand
choristers, as well as having sustained a corps dc ballet.

Organized in 1923, the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company
gave of its first season but one opera, "Faust," in English;
in the 1924-1925 season, "Hansel and Gretel" in the
vernacular; in 1925-1926, "Hansel and Gretel," "Gianni
Schicchi," "Tannhauser" and "Faust;" while for 1926-1927
five of its eleven evenings were in English.

The Rochester Opera Company has demonstrated the
value and possibilities of opera sung in English by American
singers. It is an outgrowth of the operatic department of
the Eastman School of Music which has "taken a definite
stand in favor of the production of opera in English with
adequate librettos and understandable diction/' Further,
assurance is given of "careful consideration of any American
operas submitted." Rochester performances have included
"Faust," "Marriage of Figaro," "I Pagliacci," "Cavalleria
Rusticana," "Martha," "Madame Butterfly," "Rigoletto,"
"Carmen," "II Trovatore," "Romeo and Juliet," "Pinafore,"
"Pirates of Penzance," second and third acts of "Pique
Dame," third act of "Eugene Onegin" and the second act of
"Boris Godounoff." The season of performances in Roches-
ter runs for four weeks. Early in January, 1926, the com-
pany gave a series of seventeen performances in six Canadian

46 AMERICAN OPERA

cities, beginning at Vancouver, British Columbia; and
in the following August it gave a season of six operas at
both Chautauqua, New York, and Conneaut Lake, Pennsyl-
vania. In April of 1927 it gave in New York one week of
performances of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" and Mozart's
"The Marriage of Figaro" and 'The Flight from the
Seraglio" ; of which it was said in The Nation :

"The diction was not only the best now heard in this city
on the operatic stage, but it was also in English, quashing the
myth that English cannot be sung. The English librettos were
also the best adaptations of foreign operas yet heard here in any
language, quashing the other myth that operatic librettos do not
sound well in English."

The May Valentine Opera Company has been for many
seasons doing a splendid work in the western and southern
states, where it has given more than five thousand perform-
ances of opera in English, from a repertoire including "II
Trovatore," "Fra Diavolo," "Bohemian Girl," "Robin Hood''
and "Gondoliers." It is equipped for touring by motor vehicles
furnished mostly through the generosity of the Chicago
music patron, Mrs. Howard S. Spaulding. Miss Valentine
is the first woman to produce and conduct opera successfully
in America ; Emma Abbott, Clara Louise Kellogg, and other
women in like enterprises, having preferred the center of the
stage rather than to star in the orchestra pit. At nineteen
Miss Valentine led a performance of "Robin Hood" at the
Park Theater, New York, as guest conductor for Reginald
deKoven; and later she conducted for some time under
Victor Herbert. A source of special pride with her is that
her company is entirely American born and American trained.

To American operatic art, and to Opera in English in
particular, William Wade Hinshaw has made a notable

TWENTIETH CENTURY OPERA IN ENGLISH 4?

contribution. His experience as an impresario began in Chi-
cago when, in the winter of 1908, he gave a season of fourteen
weeks of grand opera in English at the International Theater.
This was followed by two seasons on tour, with a repertoire
of "Tannhauser," "Lohengrin," "II Trovatore," "Aida,"
"Faust/* "Carmen," "Martha," "Cavalleria Rusticana," "I
Pagliacci," "Mikado," "Bohemian Girl," "The Serenade,"
and "Robin Hood."

Following four years as a leading American baritone of
the Metropolitan Opera Company and in Berlin, Mr. Hin-
shaw again took up the gauntlet for Opera in English when
he accepted the presidency of the Society of American
Singers, Incorporated, which at the Park Theater of New
York, and in two seasons of thirty weeks each (1918-1920),
gave no less than five hundred performances of grand opera
and opera comique from the standard repertoire. It was for
this activity that the Hinshaw prize of one thousand dollars,
for a one-act opera by an American composer, brought
into existence Hadley's "Bianca."

An even more significant venture was when in 1920 he
placed on the road a small company singing with real art
Mozart's opera comique, "The Impresario." Out of this
effort have come more than eight hundred performances of
the Mozart works for the stage one hundred and fifty of
"The Marriage of Figaro," two hundred of "Cosi Fan Tutte,"
fifty of "Don Giovanni," twenty of "Bastien et Bastienne,"
and four hundred of "The Impresario." What a contribu-
tion to American musical culture has been this taking to the
remotest communities, of the divine art of "the musician's
musician !"

Mr. Hinshaw was the first to introduce the Mozart operas
generally over the country. Outside of New York, Phila-
delphia and Chicago they had scarcely been heard. And their

48 AMERICAN OPERA

hearty welcome has shown that, if not already so, America is
fast becoming a musical nation.

To the Mozart accomplishments have been added interpre-
tations of Donizetti's graceful and finished melodic gift, to
the extent of one hundred performances each of his "Don
Pasquale" and "Elixir of Love ;" with an added twenty pre-
sentations of Pergolesi's "La Serva Padrona." Beginning
on May 6, 1926, the Hinshaw Company gave in Cincinnati
the first Mozart Festival ever held in the United States. All
of these were given with the original translated into artistic
English by two such eminent literary men as Henry Edward
Krehbiel and Henry O. Osgood. And, beginning with 1918,
it is but just to record that in all these achievements he has
had the whole-hearted financial, moral and technical support
of his altruistic helpmate, Mrs. Mabel Clyde Hinshaw.

William Dodd Chenery, of Springfield, Illinois, has done
a notable work in the production of sacred opera. For these,
instead of venturing on original scores, Mr. Chenery has
selected melodies and choruses from the classic writers of
opera, oratorio, and other standard works, and by suitable
modulations, interludes and connecting harmonies, has
woven them into a composite whole which has been scored for
full orchestra. For these he has written his own librettos,
making large use of Bible texts.

"Egypta," the first of these works, in three acts, is based
on the life of Moses, from his being placed among the bul-
rushes till the delivery of Israel at the Red Sea. This was
first produced at Springfield, Illinois, on October 12, 13 and
14, 1893. Since that time there has been no month when it
has not been produced by some community. In the summer
of 1910 it was performed every evening for seven weeks
at the Chautauqua Assembly at Winona Lake, Indiana. For
the following summer at this place Mr. Chenery dramatized

TWENTIETH CENTURY OPERA IN ENGLISH 49

Mendelssohn's "Elijah;" and this had a notable perform-
ance at Boston, during Music Week of 1924, with the famous
Handel and Haydn Society and the People's Choral Union as
the choral bulwark. For 1911 at Winona he arranged
"Joseph," and for 1912 a grand opera on the life of Queen
Esther, which he called "Xerxes/' both of which have been
given many times. Four notable performances of "Elijah"
were given at Springfield, Illinois, in March of 1927, with
Rollin Pease and Arthur Kraft, two authoritative oratorio
singers, as Elijah and Obadiah, respectively. Thus has the
choral and solo art of the masters been purveyed among the
masses.

Of major organizations, not formed for the production of
Opera in English, the mind turns first to the Metropolitan
Opera Company which gave its first American opera on the
evening of March 8, 1910, when it produced "The Pipe of
Desire" by Converse. In all, it has given one hundred and
twenty-two performances of American operas, which will be
found in chapters devoted to their composers. In the spring
of 1919 this company gave a splendid revival of Weber's
"Oberon" and, true to its policy, used the original (English)
text to which the composer had set his music. After the three
repetitions of "Cleopatra's Night" in the 1920-1921 season,
the Metropolitan found no American work interesting
enough for presentation on its stage till the premiere of
Carpenter's "Skyscrapers" ballet in the spring of 1926.

In the season of 1913-1914 the Chicago Opera Company
gave a series of ten popular-priced Saturday evening per-
formances of Opera in English, when, besides "The Lover's
Quarrel," "Natoma" and "The Cricket on the Hearth,"
were announced "Carmen," "Cinderella," "Faust," "The
Secret of Susanne," "Mignon" and "Cavalleria Rusticana,"
in translations. It was officially stated that the advance sale

5O AMERICAN OPERA

of seats for these performances of Grand Opera in English
was on a par with the subscription for other nights, and this
in spite of their not having been offered till several weeks
after those for opera in the foreign languages. This company
has given varying numbers of performances in English, in
its different seasons. On December 15, 1911, it gave to
Herbert's "Natoma," its first Chicago hearing. Particulars
of this, and of the Chicago company's other twenty-two per-
formances of American works, will be found in chapters
devoted to their composers. In these efforts to advance the
operas of American composers, this company has spent more
than one hundred thousand dollars.

During the season of 1924-1925 the largest receipts of
the Chicago Civic Opera Company were on the nights when
the performances were in English. For the 1925-1926 sea-
son it not only gave first production to two American operas
but also produced a liberal number of foreign works in
English translations. With the close of the series Mr.
Edward Moore, noted critic, wrote in the Chicago Tribune:

"From this time on I shall decline to listen to any
arguments about the unsingability of English. As long
as the Civic Company has a nucleus of Miss Pavloska, .
Mr. Lamont, Mr. Bonelli and Mr. Preston, I know Eng-
lish can be sung plainly and that its sounds are entirely
pleasant. I suspected this before ; but this season it has
been proved."

Without being committed to Opera in English, the Boston
Opera Company, among Italian, French and German works,
sang a few in English. The Rabinoff Opera Company ( Bos-
ton) sang always in Italian excepting "Hansel and Gretel"
in English. The San Carlo Opera Company drew the largest
audience of its spring of 1925 season at the Auditorium of
Chicago, for its presentation of "Carmen" in English, using

TWENTIETH CENTURY OPERA IN ENGLISH 51

the Meltzer translation supplied through the Edith Rocke-
feller McCormick Edition. In its several seasons the sum-
mer opera company at the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens
produced only "Martha," "Hansel and Gretel," "Falstaff"
and "The Secret of Susanne" in English.

At the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York,
there was instituted, in 1926, the Rochester Opera Company,
with Vladimir Rosing as its chief mentor. Its announced
object was "To establish a permanent opera company whose
members, including singers, orchestra, technical and execu-
tive staffs, shall be American" ; and "to present opera in the
language of the audience, working toward the development
of an American school of music drama by offering American
operatic composers a medium for the production of their
works."

Mr. George Eastman, the Maecenas of Rochester's cultural
enterprises, in the spring of 1927 financed this group for a
series of New York performances, at the close of which he
announced that this fledgling must in the future scratch for
its own fiscal worms. Mr. Rosing valiantly secured financial
support, changed the name of the group to the American
Opera Company, and its first performance was given on
December 12, 1927, at Washington, with President Coolidge
in the audience. After Washington it was for two weeks in
Boston, seven weeks in New York and four weeks in Chicago,
giving in all one hundred and twenty-six performances from
a repertoire including "Faust," "Carmen," "Martha," "Mar-
riage of Figaro," "The Abduction from the Seraglio," "Ma-
dame Butterfly" and "I Pagliacci," and with Frank St. Leger
conducting. A second season was opened with "Faust" on
October 1, 1928, for a four weeks' series at the Erlanger
Theater of Chicago. "The Legend of the Piper" by Eleanor

52 AMERICAN OPERA

Everest Freer was added to' the repertoire and fourteen other
cities were visited before the early spring. At a luncheon on
May 27, 1929, at the close of a two weeks' return engage-
ment at Chicago, the organization was taken under the spon-
soring of the American Opera Society of Chicago. With a
troupe which gradually had grown to ninety-six members, a
third season opened, on October 7, 1929, again with "Faust/*
at the Majestic Theater of Chicago, with many turned from
the box office. The "Yolanda of Cyprus" of Clarence Loomis
was added to the repertoire ; and Isaac Van Grove succeeded
to the baton. In this season twenty-five cities were visited
and as many more engagements declined a condition brought
about largely through the activity of the National Federation
of Music Clubs. Then, after some rather brilliant accom-
plishments, through powerful support from Chicago and New
York, in May of 1930 the movement came to a rather dis-
appointing end, probably to no small degree through an at-
tempt to over-modernize production. People go to the thea-
ter to be entertained, not to be educated to the notions of
"advanced thinkers."

Concerning this problem, there are those who are con-
tributing effectively toward its solution. Oscar Saenger did
not stop when he had opened the doors of the Metropolitan
Opera House to the American singer. No; he also added
to this an ardent championship of Opera in English. And
in this cause he produced, in the course of training of those
under his direction, about all the standard operas of foreign
composers, but in English. In Chicago the Muhlmann School
of Opera gives all its performances in English.

Many high schools have outgrown the one-time perennial
"Pinafore" and "Mikado" and now present "Robin Hood,"
"Martha," "Bohemian Girl" or "The Secret of Susanne" -
of course in English.

TWENTIETH CENTURY OPERA IN ENGLISH S3

Nor must the contribution of editors, critics and writers
be forgotten. Editorially, our music journals have stood
almost as a solid phalanx for the cause. A leader among
these has been Music News, of Chicago, and none has
flourished a keener, subtler pen than its late editor, Charles E.
Watt, in the advocacy of our native language on the mu-
sical stage. Glenn Dillard Gunn has been an able second
in the metropolis of the Great Lakes. Eleanor Everest
Freer has given magnanimously of her time, talents and
fortune, for the furtherance of the cause. Charles Henry
Meltzer, of New York, has written fearlessly and with a
fine fury as a protagonist of English in our opera. Which
mentions but a few of the more notable advocates of a move-
ment which in the last decade has made prodigious
strides.

Beginning with Wagner's "The Valkyrie," on November
29, 1931, Walter Damrosch instituted a series of broadcast-
ings of Opera in English, at the same time speaking with all
his enthusiasm and weight of influence in its favor. He has
said : "In music dramas, like those of Wagner, the words and
music are so closely allied that the listener who cannot under-
stand the words misses much of the grandeur of the work and
gains only a portion of the joy which its performances should
give."

The New York Opera Comique known till the summer of
1931 as the Little Theater Opera Company has given in the
Brooklyn Little Theater and in the Heckscher Theater of
New York, three hundred and sixteen performances of opera
in English. It began with a production in the Brooklyn Little
Theater, on December 5, 1927, of Nicolai's "Merry Wives of
Windsor." In this season were given also Donizetti's "Elixir
of Love" and deKoven's "Robin Hood." To the repertoire

54 AMERICAN OPERA

were added, as novelties, for the season 1928-1929, "The
Bat (Die Fledermaus)" and "The Chocolate Soldier" of
Johann Strauss and, on a double bill, Bizet's "Djamileh" and
Bach's "Phoebus and Pan"; for 1929-1930, Offenbach's
"Grand Duchess," Mozart's "Magic Flute/' Donizetti's
"Daughter of the Regiment," Auber's "Fra Diavolo" and
Strauss' "Gipsy Baron"; for 1930-1931, Millocker's "Beggar
Student," Offenbach's "Orpheus in Hades," Mozart's "Mar-
riage of Figaro," Donizetti's "Don Pasquale," and Strauss'
"Waltz Dream"; and for 1931-1932, Lortzing's "The
Poacher," Carter's "The Blonde Donna" and Offenbach's
"Parisian Life." All of which was accomplished through
the optimistic enthusiasm of Kendall K, Mussey,

VII

OPERA IN ENGLISH
ITS ADVOCATES

"A language is the instrument of those who use it.
By the forms of its language a nation expresses itself.
Our race characteristics can be firmly determined only
in our speech, and English must ever be the most valu-
able possession of the peoples who speak it."

Brander Matthews.

Opera in the vernacular is an element so vital in the prop-
agation of a school of native opera that a history such as
this would be scarcely complete without a record of some
opinions on the subject.

Art can speak for a nation only when a national medium
is employed. So long as we exclude English from our opera
houses, we stifle all native opera, we strangle the genius which
would create it, and we present an impenetrable impediment
to the musical work for the stage becoming a product of
our people, for our people, and by our people. Frederick
Stock, in a letter to Mrs. Eleanor Everest Freer, wrote :

"I hope that you will succeed in your efforts on behalf of
opera in English, for this foreshadows an ultimate success for a
repertoire of American opera, the greatest boon the American
composer could desire/'

Andreas Dippel, German born, German trained, and em-
inent as an interpreter of leading roles, having identified
himself with American musical art, says that the definite aj^

55

56 AMERICAN OPERA

universal adoption of English as the language for operas
in the United States is the only way in which opera can
become a truly national and popular art among us. Then
our own inimitable David Bispham went so far as to say
that public opinion should do here what the Kaiser did in
Germany demand that opera should be sung in the language
of the country. Continuing, he declared:

"From the standpoint of the artist as well as the audience, the
language sung must be that of the auditors. It is inartistic to
sing in a language foreign to one's public."

America is now, operatically, in the position of Germany
one hundred and fifty years ago the time of Mozart. "Don
Giovanni*' was written in Italian because at that time Ger-
many had not singers skilled in the use of its own language,
because opera in that country was then in the hands of the
Italians.

In opera the English language, for at least three-fourths
of a century, has not had a fair show. There have been and
are practically no English grand operas in any first rate
repertory. Anglo-Saxon playwrights have rivaled all other
nationalities ; but, unfortunately, our serious opera-composers
have not had to the same degree a feeling for the theater.
Then translations of foreign operas into English too often
have been done in such a manner that it would be a poor
linguist who could not see that they did not reproduce the
thought and literary art of the originals. What we need,
and need badly, are more good translators more Osgoods,
more Krehbiels, more Meltzers.

Regarding the limitations of translation, Dr. Walter Dam-
rosch says :

OPERA IX ENGLISH 57

"There is often a loss in the declamatory value in operas which
were originally composed in another language; but there is also
a gain by translation, in as much as the majority of our public
do not understand foreign languages and therefore get a better
understanding of the composer's intentions if his work is sung
in English/'

The Louisville Courier- Journal adds to this, editorially:

"Many of the operas already have been found adaptable to
English in every way. They have lost little of the liquid sound
of the Italian or French. They are an improvement on the
guttural sounds of the German. And above all they are intelli-
gible."

To these Ernest Newman, that astute British critic, has
added an invulnerable dictum:

"This much is certain, that until opera is sung to English-
speaking people in English, it will be impossible to create a really
instructed and critical opera public."

Mr. O. G. Sonneck, so long in charge of the musical sec-
tion of the Library of Congress, and probably our most
profound student of the history of opera in America, has
said in his characteristically straightforward and forceful
way:

(

"If opera in America is ever to attain to the distinction of more
than a sensational and exotic, though sincerely enjoyed, luxury of
the relatively few in a few cities, it will have to be by the way
of good performances of good operas in good English. Esthet-
ically, of course, performances of operas in the original language,
as perfect as money and interpretative genius can make them,
will always be superior to those in translations, even with an
equal investment of money and interpretative genius; but a de-
crease in esthetic valua will be more than offset by the cultural

58 AMERICAN OPERA

value to the people, if they are properly encouraged to listen to
the musical dramas in a language which they understand/'

We have been a people given to stupid reasonings. Italy,
Germany and France have been the three great opera-
producing countries. All the leading opera houses of each of
these nations are in some larger or smaller degree financed
by their government, and this with the proviso that in return
the performances shall be in the language of that government.

Americans flock by the thousands to Berlin and Vienna
to hear Italian and French operas sung in German; then
they hasten to Milan to hear "Parsifal" in Italian at La
Scala ; and the Simplon Tunnel had to be bored twelve and
three- fourths miles through the rock-base of the Alps so
that these same opera epicures could get back to Paris in
time to hear German and Italian operas sung in French.
Added to this our singers scramble for opportunities to do
roles in these same translations !

"O, how wonderfully opera is produced in Europe!*'

"There is such an artistic atmosphere about all their
productions!"

Almost a new dictionary is needed to furnish words worthy
of the theme.

Then these same connoisseurs of the two worlds which the
footlights link come condescendingly home, and, at the first
mention of producing a European opera in English, they are
seized with aesthetic convulsions.

"O dear!"

"No!!"

"Sing an opera in any other than the language in which
it was written? It would be so inartistic, don't you know!"

One of our singers, more temperamental than judicial,
lately went even so far as to cackle that opera translated
into English would be "simply ridiculous."

OPERA IN ENGLISH

59

ORAIND OPERA 11N ENGLISH.

Wouldn't the Parisians be mad if they had to listen to
opera in a foreign tongue? What a shrugging of shoulders
there would be!

Copyright 1912 by John T. McCutcheon. Courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.

And wouldn't the good citizens of Vienna and Berlin rise
in thunderous wrath if their operas were produced only in
English?

60 AMERICAN OPERA

Consistency, thou art a jewel! Let an opera but touch
the deeper emotions that are human, and it soon will find a
place in the hearts that thrill to any language.

If we are to create an American operatic art, it must
be done in the language of the American English. The
idioms and genius of the language spoken cannot but flavor
the thought life of the individual. By these his artistic
instincts are formed. If the composer's art is to rise to any
distinctive heights, it must be sincere ; it must be born of his
very nature. This being the case, if our composers of opera
are to create a truly American product, it must be done in
the English language. It must be in the language in which
they think most idiomatically, in which they express their
thoughts most spontaneously the language of their every-
day life. Again, with Mr. Sonneck:

"Let us wish a long life to the Metropolitan Opera House as
an institution, unique and financially able to strive after model
performances of foreign operas au naturel; but let us wish that
the operatic life of the rest of our country be based in the main
on opera in English/'

The system that has been so long in vogue can do nothing
less than crush out of existence all native creative workers.
The composer cannot go on creating and growing in his art
unless he has the opportunity to see his works brought to
presentation. How else is he to realize if he has brought
to expression the finer feeling which he experienced in the
creating of the work? How else is he to be conscious of
his shortcomings? How else is he to build on the errors of
the past unto a perfected work? All other large nationalities
have for centuries nurtured a musical art in their vernacular
It is only the English-speaking communities that have been
willing to be hitched to the wheels of the art-cars of other

OPERA IN ENGLISH

61

races. Our "British Cousins" can point to but a small
number of their more serious composers who, in spite of
neglect, have created a few notable works for the stage all
too few! Not in stricture is this said, but as an encourage-
ment to the Briton to join in the holy crusade for the up-
lifting of our common tongue. The language which can
voice the soul-dreams of an immortal Shakespeare, that can
sing and melt in the musical cadences of a Tennyson, a
Longfellow, a Swinburne and a Poe, can hold its head
proudly regardless of the censorious tongue that would
name it unmusical. There are passages in our beloved
English poets as sweetly soothing to the ear, as subtly ex-
pressive of the most diverse emotions, as any ever penned
in any clime. Furthermore such singers as Sir Charles
Santley, Dame Clara Butt, our own supreme Lillian Nordica,
and David Bispham, have proven in oratorio and in concert
that English may be sung as mellifluously as ever Italian did
his native tongue.

Our language is our medium of transmitting poetic
thought; and, as the Boston Transcript has opined:

"It is quite possible to write the text of an opera in English
verse that shall have lyric, dramatic and emotional significance,
in the same degree and more, if the librettist only have the
power and skill as any libretto in a strange tongue. It is quite
as possible to make that English text entirely singable and to
fit it harmoniously and vividly to the musical accent and inflec-
tion and to the dramatic suggestion of the moment again if the
librettist and the composer have that power, skill and patience."

And there are many pages of American scores where this
has been done.

Oscar Saenger spoke oracularly when he said :

62 AMERICAN OPERA

"The first step toward the desired end is to create a love for
the language itself. We should love our language as the French
do theirs, as the Italians do theirs we should feel proud as the
Madrid coachman did, who, when I asked him in a half-dozen
languages if he spoke any of them, answered with the utmost
pride and disdain, 'I speak Spanish.'"

We have simply allowed ourselves to be cozened into the
belief that we speak an inferior language, by chauvinists
of other nations or by singing artists too lazy, too indifferent,
to master a new language as they would demand of a foreign
singer coming before their own public. Are Americans to
continue to go abroad to sing the languages of otber countries,
their music, and to develop their art, and then to return borne
only to continue the same course?

Italy bas a national opera; so has France; and so has
every otber nation which fosters the art of operatic per-
formance, excepting England and the United States. With
tbese two countries the powers that rule have conceived and
still proclaim that the operatic works and the language of
any other country are better tban those of tbese nations
possibly could be. But the public of each of our great
English-speaking lands is beginning to fret under the yoke,
and there is a constantly growing demand that our opera be
nationalized. And to this goal there is but one road : Opera
in the English Language.

In "Oberon," despite the literary deficiencies of its libretto,
Weber's genius disclosed the suitability of English to operatic
purposes. Recent productions at the Metropolitan have
proven tbis. If Weber was a genius ; wbat of Sullivan? He,
too, wrote operas. That they happened to be satires rather
tban tragedies makes them none the less opera (though
comtque) and none tbe less tests of tbe use of English in
opera. When not intentional parodies of current operatic

OPERA IN ENGLISH 63

abuses, there are scenes where his musical declamation moves
as smoothly as in any Italian, German or French work.
Transitions from recitative to aria are made with as much
grace as the most fastidious could demand. To come to
the point, Weber along with Gilbert and Sullivan proved that
"it can be done."

Never will we be intelligent listeners to opera until we
understand as much of it as do the European continentals
who listen practically only to their own vernaculars. Which
does not mean that we shall or that they do understand all
that is sung in opera. "To expect this in any language is
asking for the moon." Ensembles, and other contingencies,
make the recognition of all the words at some times humanly
impossible. Mr. Gatti-Casazza has said that even in Italy,
the Land of Opera, and with a language of all most easy
to sing, the average person in the audience is able to under-
stand and identify not more than fifty per cent of the words.
But, when the Italian has heard "The Barber of Seville" in
childhood in Italian, and has heard it at youth in Italian,
by the time he is mature he will, as may often be heard, burst
into laughter at its brilliant sallies of wit and repartee, and
this while his American neighbor sits in stoic silence, wonder-
ing what it is all about.

Of one condition there is no gainsaying; and that is the
cold fact that in every country where opera has become a
national art of the people, their opera has for many genera-
tions, in fact quite from the beginning, been in the language
of the people. Until opera is given in the language of the
country it will never do more than appeal to the people of
wealth, those who follow in the train of Dame Fashion and
who patronize opera largely in the light of a social function
which gives them a certain distinction. Opera in America
may be democratized by singing it in English and making

64 AMERICAN OPERA

it intelligible to the masses ; and this course is the only
sure way to give grand opera a standing that will endure.
What we want and need is to understand our opera. As
well as tunes, we want words and actions to be made plain
to us. Americans have the right already enjoyed by all
European nations of understanding what is sung to them.
For opera is not symphony, but drama with music, of which
words are a part. Until the public understands what it hears,
musical art can only amuse, it cannot educate.

VIII

PAUL ALLEN, GEORGE ANTHEIL, ADELINE

CAROLA APPLETON, MAURICE ARNOLD,

IRA B. ARNSTEIN

PAUL ALLEN

Paul Hastings Allen was born on November 28, 1883, at
Hyde Park, Massachusetts. His parents were American. He
graduated from Harvard in 1904, following which he spent
twenty years in study and residence in Italy. His musical
activities have been as composer, as ensemble concert pianist
and as radio artist.

Mr. Allen's "Symphony in D Major" won in 1910 the
Paderewski Prize. O Munastcrio, a Neapolitan lyric poem
for baritone and orchestra, was first performed in 1912, at
Florence, with Mugnone conducting. It was first heard in
America when given in 1933 at Boston. This composer
has created also a second symphony and three string quartets
and has made over one hundred orchestrations. Beautiful
sound, with clear and logical voice leadings, are prevalent
qualities of Mr. Allen's works.

"II Filtro (The Love Potion),"* his first opera and a
serious work, was produced in 1912 at Genoa. Its libretto
is drawn from a Sicilian melodrama by L. Capuana.
"Milda" * is based on a fable by L. Capuana; and in 1913
it was heard at Venice.

"L'Ultimo dei Moicani (The Last of the Mohicans)/'*
with its libretto an adaptation by Zangarini from Cooper's
famous Indian romance, was begun in 1913 and finished in

65

66 AMERICAN OPERA

1916. It was produced in the carnival season of 1916, at the
Politeamo Fiorentino of Florence, Italy. It is distinguished
as being one of the very few American operas with a pub-
lished orchestral score.

"Cleopatra" has a libretto derived from the melodrama by
Sardou. It has the honor of having been the first opera by
an American composer written on a commission from an
Italian publisher, Sonzogno of Milan. "I Fiori (The Flow-
ers)" is based on a Spanish melodrama by the Quintero
brothers. "La Piccola Figaro (Little Miss Figaro)" is an
opera buffa with its text by Golisciani.

GEORGE ANTHEIL

George Antheil, a modernist of modernists among Amer-
ican composers, was born July 8, 1900, at Trenton, New Jer-
sey. His early studies of piano, theory and composition were
under Uselma Clarke Smith, Constantin von Sternberg and
Ernest Bloch. With later piano instruction from Arthur
Schnabel, he undertook an unpromising concert career; and
since 1923 he has lived mostly in Paris, with public appear-
ances restricted to interpretations of his own works. His
"Symphony in F" was performed in the Concerts Golschmann
of 1926, in Paris ; his incidental music to Sophocles' "(Edipus
Rex" was heard, in 1929, at the State Theater of Berlin; and
"Fighting the Waves," a ballet to the text of W. B. Yeats,
has been given at the Abbey Theater of Dublin, Ireland.

Antheil's rather futuristic opera, "Transatlantic; or, The
People's Choice," was produced at Frankfort, Germany, on
May 25, 1930, and left the critics agape. The cast included
Else Gentner-Fischer, Fritzi Merley, Hans Brandt, Robert
von Scheidt and Maris Vestri, with Hans Wilhelm Steinberg
conducting.

GEORGE ANTHEIL 67

The scene is in the New York of 1930. The story is one
of modern, pulsating America. It is America with knavish
politicians and their paltry political tricks a story of an
election campaign in which an ambitious political demagogue
swaggers and splashes his slippery way from office to office
till he struts in the White House. It is the story of a self-
conceived reformer whom large business interests wish to use
and who becomes involved with the wife of a political under-
ling, and all this manipulated to suit the designs of a "big
boss" in business. It pictures a presidential campaign gen-
erously garnished with cocktails, with a fake raid on a night
club dinner perpetrated for political purposes, with gangsters
"shooting up" the polls.

The music is sufficiently elastic to fit all these moods, and
it calls into service a full orchestra supplemented with two
pianos and two saxophones. The staging requires four in-
teriors with a motion picture screen in the center to help to
carry on the story which is told in three acts with the scenes
running into the thirties. The score, as a whole, has been
described as "neither atonal nor polytonal but rather patchy."
Tiie production earned both hisses and applause, with not
enough of either to drown the other.

"Helen Retires" is a satirical opera in three acts, with John
Erskine as librettist. It is a work of a rather exotic type and
departs so far from all traditional standards as perhaps to be
better looked upon as an experiment.

The opera had its world premiere on February 28, 1934, by
the Opera Department at the Juilliard School of Music of
New York. The cast, the chorus and orchestra were students.
Of the leading roles, Marvel Biddle was the Helen; Julius
Heuhn, the Achilles; Gean Greenwell, the Eteoneus and
Old Fisherman; Mordecai Bauman, the Menelaos; Roland

68 AMERICAN OPERA

Partridge, the Paris; Arthur Mahoney, the Young Fisherman.
Albert Stoessel, of the faculty, prepared and conducted the
performance, which was repeated on the following three
evenings.

Act. l.Menelaos, King of Sparta, has died of old age; but
Helen (of Troy), his Queen, remains young and beautiful. While
the obsequies of Menelaos are celebrated, with "appropriate cheer-
fulness," Helen laments that, though she has had the love of many
men, she has not, herself, loved. She has missed something. She
must love before she dies. So, when she decides that Achilles is
to be the object of this affection and is informed that this hero
joined the shades before her birth, she sets out for the Island of
the Blest to seek his ghost.

Act II. The shades of Ajax, Hector, Agamemnon, Patroklos
and Achilles are in converse when the ghost of Menelaos appears
and relates the continued mischief of Helen, till all are grateful
that the Greek heaven segregates men and women. Here Helen
arrives, seeking Achilles; she woos him to life and he leads her to
a secluded portion of the island.

Act III. In the Elysian Fields, Helen and Achilles sing the
happiness for which Helen has hoped, till some fishermen arrive,
drawn by the spell of their song. The Old Fisherman longs for
the wife he no longer loves but tolerates, which causes Helen to
send him home and Achilles back to the shades, that they may be
the first lovers to know where to stop. She now settles herself for
a comfortable death ; when, in a swirling dance, the Young Fisher-
man reappears, at which Helen inquires, "Now what do you
want?*' and steps significantly toward him as the curtain drops.

The text in brilliant satire, irony and persiflage is not
always the most effective vehicle for musical declamation or
measured song. The musical score was agreed to be uneven
and to make cruel demands upon the voices. Opinions dif-
fered from "a conscious parody" of composers of various
styles, to "the music is direct ... is a revolt from postwar
modernism . . . and the sound effects lean towards the hard

ADELINE CAROLA APPLETON 69

and brilliant." Altogether it may be said to be kaleidoscopic
in its rapidly shifting styles and moods. On the evening of
the premiere both composer and librettist received, from the
hand of Albert Stoessel, the Bispham Medal of the Ameri-
can Opera Society of Chicago.

ADELINE CAROLA APPLETON

With a New England mother of Scotch-English-Irish
descent, and a father of German and Jewish blood, Adeline
Carola Appleton was born at Waverly, Iowa, on November
29, 1886. Her mother was a composer and teacher; so
Adeline began lessons early and at twelve had started to
compose. Her early advanced studies in piano and harmony
were done at Wisconsin College in Milwaukee, and later
she had composition with Dr. Benjamin Blodgett and Carl
Seppert.

Miss Appleton had written mostly for the piano and voice
till the Hinshaw competition inspired her to begin in 1915
'The Witches' Well," an opera with a prologue and one act
of two scenes, which, however, was laid aside and the greater
part of it not written till in 1926. Its composer and librettist
are one, though several lyrics are by Percy Davis. Late in
May, 1928, excerpts from the opera were presented in the
parlors of the Tacoma Hotel, Tacoma, Washington.

The plot is laid in Salem, Massachusetts, of 1692. Paul has
found Zara asleep by the woodland well and brings her to the
cottage of Ellen, a Puritan woman. The beauty of Zara arouses
such superstitious concern that she finally is thrown into the
well as a test of her witchcraft. Zara is rescued by Paul but is
dying, and he, overcome with grief, takes poison; all of which
so infuriates the villagers that they rush forth to hang all the
witches in the Salem jail. However, they encounter Zara's spirit

70 AMERICAN OPERA

rising from the well, fall upon their knees, and there is a ballet
of the Joy Spirits as dawn floods the scene.

MAURICE ARNOLD

Maurice Arnold- Strothotte was born in St. Louis, on
January 19, 1865, the son of a respected physician and of
a mother who was a pianist of reputation and also his first
teacher. At fifteen he began three years of study in the
Cincinnati College of Music; then had counterpoint and
composition under Vierling and Urban of Berlin, and later
with Wiillner, Neitzel and G. Jensen in the Cologne Con-
servatory. Here his first piano sonata was performed at a
public concert. Then, while under the instruction of Max
Bruch, at Breslau, he wrote his cantata, "The Wild Chase,"
and gave public performances of orchestral works.

On returning to America he was for some time active as
concert violinist, teacher and conductor of traveling opera
companies. He then became instructor of harmony, in the
National Conservatory of Music of New York, under
Dvorak. In Europe his tendency to infuse the negro planta-
tion spirit into his compositions had been discouraged; but
now he found a congenial collaborator in his great Czecho-
Slovakian superior who brought to public hearing at Madison
Square Garden the "Plantation Dances" of the younger
composer. In the same year of 1894 his opera comique,
"Merry Benedicts," was produced at the Criterion Theater
in Brooklyn, with Mme. Christine Schultz in the principal
role and the composer conducting. His "Symphony in F"
was produced in Berlin, under his own baton, in 1907.

"The Last King" is a grand opera of which Mr. Arnold
is both librettist and composer. With a romantic background,
a tale of love, and the deposing and murder of a king by a

IRA B. ARNSTEIN 71

rising republican party, there are good situations for operatic
treatment.

IRA B. ARNSTEIN

"The Song of David," designated as a "Biblical Opera,"
and with the musical score by Ira B. Arnstein, was presented
in concert form at Aeolian Hall, New York, on the evening
of May 17, 1925, with the composer conducting.

The press spoke kindly of it, intimating that the composer
had emulated such worthy models as "Samson and Delila"
and "Aida," both in the planning of scenes and in motives
employed for Oriental atmosphere. Also, there was a brief
ballet not free from "more than a tincture of modern jazz."

The leading characters are: David (tenor) ; Saul (bass) ;
Ruth (soprano) ; and the Witch of Endor (contralto).
David's air, Hear My Prayer, Lord, was remarked for
its beauty.

The choruses "were among the best written and most ani-
mated parts," while some felt that the chief merit lay in the
"use of Hebraic melodic elements," and that the work was
"cantata rather than an opera."

IX

ALBERTO BIMBONI, HOMER N. BARTLETT, JOHN

BEACH, JOHANN HEINRICH BECK, F. BECKTEL,

EUGENE BONNER, WILLIAM B. BRADBURY,

CARL BRANDORFF, NOAH BRANDT

ALBERTO BIMBONI

Alberto Bimboni, Italian-
American composer and conduc-
tor, was born in Florence, Au-
gust 24, 1882. He is of the
fourth generation of a musical
family; his father, uncles, grand-
father, great-uncle and great-
grandfather having been all mu-
sicians who in their time excelled
as instrumentalists, teachers and
conductors. His uncle, Oreste
Bimboni, toured many times the
United States as opera conductor
and was from 1900 to 1906 Di-
rector of the Opera School of the
New England Conservatory.

Left an orphan at ten, two good aunts took the young
Alberto under their care and in 1894 entered him at the
Scuola Cherubini of Florence, where he had such instructors
as Antonio Scontrino for theory and Benedetto Landini for
organ ; and at the same time he continued piano study privately

72

Alberto Bimboni

ALBERTO BIMBONI 73

with Giovanni Altrocchi and Giuseppe Buonamici. He
became the official accompanist of the Institute; and thus it
fell to the young Bimboni to accompany, to copy, to arrange
and to rehearse quantities of both ancient and modern music
belonging to the famous library of the Institute.

In June of 1900 he made his debut as composer, conducting
his first orchestral work, a suite in five parts, called "A
Crazy Dream of a Musical Student," which received a two-
column review in La Nasione of Florence. On March 10,
1901, he appeared as organist, playing his first Sonata for
Organ, which was praised by Enrico Bossi ; and in July of
1901 he left the Institute and became a conductor of opera
and a coach of pupils of leading Florentine teachers.

"Calandrino (The Fire- Worshippers)/' a one-act opera
based on a short novel by Boccaccio, was written in 1902,
and in the Sonzogno Competition of 1903 this work was
mentioned among the best ten offered. In 1903 he wrote
also a musical comedy, "I Fiaschi (The Flasks )," for the
students of the University of Florence, which had a run
of twelve performances. In 1907 he organized the Society
of Popular Orchestral Concerts; and in the same year he
became assistant to Vincenzo Lombardi, the eminent teacher
of singing. From this time he was the leading accompanist
of Florence, till in 1911 he made the journey to New York
to marry his pupil, Miss Ella Fuchs of St. Louis.

Within twenty days after reaching the New World, Mr.
Bimboni had been engaged by Henry Savage to prepare his
company for Puccini's "Girl of the Golden West/' and he
conducted its winter tour, in collaboration with Giorgio
Polacco. In 1913 he was conductor of the Century Opera
Company in Oscar Hammers tein's attempt to establish Opera
in English; since when he has conducted seasons for the
Havana Opera Company, the Interstate Opera Company of

74

AMERICAN OPERA

Cleveland, the Rabinoff Opera Company of Boston, and
the Washington Opera Company. In February, 1916, the
first Mrs. Bimboni was taken by death; and in September,
1917, Mr. Bimboni was again married, this time with Miss
Helen Louise Davis, of Marion, Ohio, who had been a
soprano with the Savage companies singing Opera in Eng-
lish. In the same year he began giving all his time to the
teaching of singing, in New York, and to composition.

"Winona," in three acts, may be called an "All-Indian
Opera," in that only Red Men have a part in it. The libretto
is by Perry Williams of Minneapolis and is founded on an
old Sioux-Dacotah legend. The opera had its premiere by
the American Grand Opera Company of Portland, Oregon,

ALBERTO BIMBONI 75

on November 11, 1926, amid scenes of the greatest en-
thusiasm.

The Portland Cast

Winona (First-born daughter) Mme. Minna Pelz

Weeko (Beautiful woman), Winona 's friend,

Alice Price Moore

Chatonska ( White Hawk) J. McMillan Muir

Matosapa (Black Bear) A. K. Houghton

Wabashaw (Red Hat) Wm. Eraser Robertson

Conductor Alberto Bimboni

The action takes place in three settings : An Indian camp at
the foot of Maiden Rock, with Lake Pepin in the background;
an Indian Village; and the Shore of Lake Pepin.

The story is one of thwarted love-motives. Winona loves,
and is loved by, Chatonska. The young brave has broken the
tribal law of the Dacotahs, by leaving the game trail for a
clandestine visit with his sweetheart. He is discovered by
Wabashaw who threatens his life for having met secretly his
niece and ward but relents at Winona's pleading, however, order-
ing the coward's brand placed on the rash young brave's fore-
head, which is accomplished only after heroic resistance on the
part of the victim.

When Wabashaw now attempts to force Winona to wed Mato-
sapa, chief of the Dacotah village on Lake Pepin, and the lover
of his choice, in her despair the young woman seeks the ledge
of Maiden Rock and, as Matosapa appears and attempts to urge
his suit, banters him to follow as she leaps into Lake Pepin
below.

Beautiful Indian legends are deftly woven into the story.
There are hunting songs, war songs, moccasin songs, a
Chippewa lullaby, Indian flute calls, and Chippewa and Sioux
serenades. These were secured both by personal visits with
the Indians of Minnesota and from the Smithsonian Collec-
tion at Washington ; and, while the score is essentially one of
the "White Man's" music, yet, when these Indian melodies

76 AMERICAN OPERA

are introduced, they are left absolutely in their original form
as to notes and rhythm ; never is a quick movement made
from a theme which the Indians would sing or play slowly.
Then, the Indians do not sing in parts; so all chorus work
is in unison, though sometimes antiphonal for variety and
dramatic strength. The score, though modern in treatment,
follows in the wake of Verdi, in that it is an opera for voices
rather than for the orchestra. The rhythms are masterful,
compelling, at times electric ; the work breathes of the theater.
Ma-to-sa-pa's Serenade is of haunting beauty, in a flowing
five-eight rhythm, and charming as a program number.

A gala performance of "Winona" was given on January

27, 1928, in the Municipal Auditorium of Minneapolis, Min-
nesota, with nine thousand people in the audience. The chief
participants were Irene Williams in the title role, Chief Cau-
polican as Ma-to-sa-pa, Ernest Davis as Cha-ton-ska, George
Walker as IVa-ba-sha, and Agnes Rast Snyder as Wce-ko,
with the librettist as general promoter and stage director and
the composer conducting. At the close of the second act, the
composer received the Bispham Memorial Medal of the
American Opera Society of Chicago.

"Karin" is a second serious opera, in three acts, with its
libretto, by Charles Wharton Stork, based on an old Swedish
ballad which had been developed into a short story by Helena
Nyblon. The score was begun in May of 1929 and finished
in December of 1930.

HOMER N. BARTLETT

Homer Newton Bartlett, one of the most prolific of our
native composers, was born in Olive, New York, December

28, 1845, and died in Hoboken, New Jersey, April 2, 1920.

JOHN BEACH 77

He had a precocious talent which was developed by study with
S. B. Mills, Max Braun, Jacobsen and other eminent teachers.
He took charge of his first New York organ at the age of
fourteen, and after several advances became organist of
the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, which position he held
for thirty-one years; and he was the initial founder of the
American Guild of Organists. His Opus I, Grand Polka de
Concert, carried his name throughout The States and far
abroad.

His work is always skillful, rich and sincere; and he is
often brilliant, especially in orchestrations. Among the
nearly two hundred and fifty works which he left are about
eighty songs and as many pianoforte compositions ; a Sextet
for strings and flute; a symphonic poem, Apollo; an oratorio,
"Samuel"; a Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra; and
vocal and instrumental compositions in many forms and
ensembles. An opera in three acts, "La Valliere," was left in
manuscript. He became greatly interested in Japanese music,
based several of his piano pieces on Nipponese themes, and
left an unfinished opera, "Hinotito," on a Japanese subject.

JOHN BEACH

Of John Beach little is to be learned further than that
he is a disciple of the most rabidly modern school. He has
studied with Gedalge ; and his published works include "New
Orleans Miniatures" and "A Garden Fancy" for piano; a
dramatic monologue, "In a Gondola"; and songs. His
"Jorinda and Jorindel" is an opera in two acts. "Pippa's
Holiday" is in one act. It is an adaptation from Browning's
"Pippa Passes," and it was produced at the Theatre Rejane
of Paris in the 1915-1916 season.

78 AMERICAN OPERA

JOHANN HEINRICH BECK

Johann Heinrich Beck, rated by some as a leading
American composer, was born at Cleveland, Ohio, September
12, 1856. Aside from preparatory studies with Cleveland
teachers, his musical education was obtained at the Leipzig
Conservatory which he entered in 1879, having Reinecke,
Jadassohn, Schradieck, Richter and Hermann as principal
teachers, and from which he graduated in 1882.

His talent has been devoted mostly to composition for the
grand orchestra ; but he was successively conductor of the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Symphony
Orchestra, and also of the Pilgrim Orchestra, Hermits' Club
Orchestra and Elyria Grand Orchestra. His overture to
"Lara" was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
in 1886; "Skirnismal" was on the program of the Thomas
Orchestra in 1887; a "Moorish Serenade" was heard at
Philadelphia in 1889; his "Scherzo in A Major" was per-
formed at Detroit in 1890, by the Thomas Orchestra; and
"The Kiss of Joy" was performed by the Cleveland Sym-
phony Orchestra in 1900, and at St. Louis in 1904 by special
request of the music committee. A music drama,
"Salammbo," founded on the novel by Flaubert, was left in
manuscript, at his death on May 26, 1924. When performed
from manuscript, the overture of this work had excited great
admiration.

F. BECKTEL

F. Becktel, an American composer, born about 1864,
left an opera, "Alfred the Great." However, nothing further
can be learned as to the fate of either the composer or his
work.

EUGENE BONNER 79

EUGENE BONNER

Eugene Bonner, a young American composer with rather
strong tendencies toward modernism, has written two operas.
The first, "Barbara Frietchie," was founded on Clyde Fitch's
play of the same name and so pleased Albert Wolff of the
Opera Comique, Paris, that it was considered for production
but abandoned as having a story too distinctly American
to appeal to a French audience. His second is "The Man
Who Married a Dumb Wife," with its libretto adapted from
the French play, "Celui Qui Epousa une Femme Muette
(He who Marries a Dumb Wife)," by Anatole France. In
1924 this was announced for production at the Theatre des
Champs filysees of Paris (with the text in French, of course) ;
but no confirmation of the fulfillment of this promise has
been forthcoming.

WILLIAM B. BRADBURY

William Bachelder Bradbury, the Stephen C. Foster of
American composers of sacred music, was born at York,
Maine, October 6, 1816, and died at Montclair, New Jersey,
January 7, 1868. At first self-taught in music, he later was
a pupil of Samuel Hill and Lowell Mason, and then in 1847-
1849 had supplementary studies under Hauptmann, Mos-
cheles and Bohme in Leipzig. He was one of America's
most gifted melodists, at times almost Mozartian.

Bradbury's dramatic biblical cantata, "Esther," is based
on the story of the beautiful captive Jewess, Esther, who
became queen in the court of Ahasuerus (the powerful
Xerxes of the Medes and Persians) and saved her people at
the risk of her own life. The tunes have an easy, natural

80 AMERICAN OPERA

flow ; their harmonies are simple, sincere, though unpre-
tentious; and, having no spoken dialogue, it might well be
rated as folk-opera. Written in 1856, it has surpassed all
similar works in its many thousands of performances, most
of these having been in the nature of opera, with costumes
and scenery.

If not a master-work, it was good folk-music; it was a
forward step from anything hitherto produced in its style,
on our soil. It was of our soil ; and probably no other single
work ever reached so many of our people, especially in
remote places, and awoke in them a taste for better music
on the stage than had been commonly known in those musical-
ly more or less primitive days.

CARL BRANDORFF

Carl Brandorff, composer of two sacred operas, was born
at Newark, New Jersey, on December 17, 1892, of German
parents. Both mother and father were talented musicians.
The child Carl had his first lessons on the violin at the age
of seven. At nine he appeared with considerable success
in public ; and in this same year he began the study of the
piano. When sixteen he entered the New York German
Conservatory of Music, Carl Hein, Director, where he
studied the violin, piano, harmony, counterpoint, fugue and
composition. On finishing his course of study at twenty-one,
he became for two years professor of the violin and piano
at this same institution.

Mr. Brandorff has done notable work in concert, as organ-
ist and as conductor of choral societies. Then, along with
more than two hundred compositions in the smaller forms, he
has written two symphonies, three string quartets, one violin

NOAH BRANDT 81

concerto, one piano concerto and a trio for two cellos and
piano.

Of works for the stage, Mr. Brandorff has written one
light opera, "The Gypsy Queen," and two religious music
dramas, "Noah" and "Jesus Christ."

NOAH BRANDT

Noah Brandt, composer and teacher, was born in New
York, April 8, 1858, of Russian-Polish parentage ; he died at
San Francisco, California, November 11, 1925. At an early
age his musical talent became evident. He studied violin
with Louis Schmidt and piano with Oscar Weill, in San
Francisco, and later went to the Leipzig Conservatory, where
he had violin under Ferdinand David and Schradieck, and
theory and composition under Richter and Jadassohn. He
also studied theory privately with Roentgen. On graduating
at eighteen, he toured Great Britain, and then had experience
as violinist and as conductor in theatrical and operatic per-
formances. He became a protege of the Countess Fornesca,
who introduced him to Sir Jules Riviere, who in turn spon-
sored and played his compositions and allowed him to sub-
stitute as conductor in the summer concerts at Blackpool.
He first visited the Pacific Coast with a Patti company of
which Col. Malpeson was manager, and soon after made
San Francisco his home.

Mr. Brandt had a fertile invention in composition, and
expressed himself naturally in melody combined with beau-
tiful modulations. His first work for the stage was an
opera of the Gilbert and Sullivan type, "Captain Cook," with
libretto by Sands W. Forman. It was produced at the Bush
Street Theater of San Francisco, throughout the week
beginning September 2, 1895, and was favorably received,

82 AMERICAN OPERA

a weak libretto preventing a lengthy run. On July 12, 1897,
it was successfully brought out at the Madison Square
Garden of New York, under the baton of its composer. The
New York Sun of the thirteenth said, the music was
"original, suitable, and, especially in the orchestration, dis-
creetly ambitious." An interesting coincidence was that the
plot of the opera deals with the landing of Captain Cook on
the Island of Hawaii in 1778, and that the deposed Queen
Liliuokalani occupied a box at its premiere.

A second light opera, "Wing Wong/' to a Chinese story,
was accepted for production at the Tivoli Opera House of
San Francisco but failed of presentation because of disagree-
ment between the management and the librettist as to certain
changes needed for theatrical effect. Mr. Brandt then wrote
a libretto to fit his score rechristening it "A Chinese New
Year" but this never came before the public. A similar
fate befell "Leona," another work of the same type but full
of the Spanish spirit and dealing with life along the Mexican
border.

Mr. Brandt's last work was "Daniel," a biblical opera in
five acts, with complete orchestral score. The text is selected
from the Scriptures, with lyrics added by the composer.

Besides his works for the musical stage, Mr. Brandt com-
posed a Piano Quintet in E-flat, in classic mold. An interest-
ing and valuable contribution is a book of modulations
especially suitable for composers. He also composed and
conducted the music for the Golden Jubilee of the College of
the Holy Names in Oakland, which included a musical setting
of the Twenty-third Psalm for soloists, chorus and orchestra.
All his works are characterized by originality of ideas, me-
lodic grace and rich atmospheric qualities.

GEORGE FREDERICK BRISTOW, JOSEPH CARL

BREIL, JOHN LEWIS BROWNE, SIMON

BUCHAROFF, DUDLEY BUCK

GEORGE FREDERICK BRISTOW

The " American School of
Music" probably never has had
more determined and voluble
'champions than that first intrepid
ipair of our composers, William
Henry Fry and the twelve years
younger George Frederick Bris-
tow. Looking back through the
perspective of three-quarters of
a century, we now are almost
due a sophisticated smile as we
read their dauntless diatribes
against the "systematized efforts
for the extinction of American
Music"; and this at a time when an American school of
music was, to put it kindly, a trifle nebulous; for were not
these two the sole appreciable apostles of our national school,
if school it could be called when one of these members was
fitting his work into Italian and the other into English
molds ?

George Frederick Bristow was born December 19, 1825,
in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Richard William

83

George Frederick Bristow

84 AMERICAN OPERA

Bristow, a recognized composer, teacher, and the organist of
St. Patrick's Cathedral, was a native of Kent, England.
The little George began lessons in music at the age of five;
at ten he was violinist in the orchestra of the Olympic
Theater; when thirteen he became second leader of violins
in an orchestra; and about a year later his first composition
was published. lie was one of the original violinists of the
Philharmonic Society of New York and retained his member-
ship to the end of his life. His first overture was heard at a
public rehearsal of this organization but never at a regular
concert. He was the second American composer to have
works on the programs of the Philharmonic Society; and
when his Concert Overture in E Flat was performed, it is
said to have been very favorably received. His "Symphony
in E Flat" appeared in 1845.

Bristow's muse seems here to have made a long nod
for no important work was again forthcoming till on
September 27, 1855, his opera, ''Rip Van Winkle," created a
stir in our musical world. This was soon followed by a
"Symphony in D Minor" which was written for the orches-
tra of Louis Antoine Jullien, and for which he received what
was then, for an American composer, an extravagant fee of
two hundred dollars. This work had a performance by the
New York Philharmonic Society, at Niblo's Garden, on
March 1, 1856.

"Praise to God," Mr. Bristow's first oratorio, was given
public performance at Irving Hall by the New York Har-
monic Society, on March 2, 1861. His "Columbus" Overture
in D was performed at Steinway Hall, by the Philharmonic
Society, on November 17, 1866; and "Daniel," his second
oratorio, was given at the same place, on December 30,
1867, by the Mendelssohn Union, with Mme. Parepa-Rosa
as the leading soloist, and under the direction of the composer.

GEORGE FREDERICK BRISTOVV 85

A Prize of One Hundred Dollars, for a setting of "Dark
is the Night," a song of the hearth and home, with the words
by William Oland Bourne, was won by Mr. Bristow in 1869.
The "Arcadian Symphony, in E Minor/' performed by the
Philharmonic Society, at the Academy of Music, New York,
on February 14, 1874, was written as a prelude to "The
Pioneer; or, Westward Ho!" a cantata begun by William
Vincent Wallace but finished by Bristow. An ode to the
American Union, "The Great Republic," with text by William
Oland Bourne, was presented by the Brooklyn Philharmonic
Society, on May 10, 1879, with Theodore Thomas con-
ducting, and was published in the following year. His last
two works in the larger forms were the "Jibbenainosay"
Overture, presented by the Harlem Philharmonic Society
on March 6, 1889, under the baton of the composer, and the
"Niagara Symphony," performed by the Manuscript Society
in the season of 1897-1898. Taken all together, and con-
sidering the numerous smaller works, this is not an incon-
sequential array, when it is remembered that during the
greater part of his professional life Mr. Bristow taught music
in the New York public schools.

"Rip Van Winkle"* is a grand romantic opera in three
acts, which had its world premiere at Niblo's Garden on
Broadway, New York, on September 27, 1855. The capacity
of the house was taxed from pit to dome, and enthusiasm
was riotous. Whether the work merited all this emotional
outburst is of small concern. The fact remains that in those
primitive days of the Early- Victorian era both press and
public dared and were delighted to lend patronage and en-
couragement to the composer of their own nationality. By
the end of October the opera had seventeen performances
favored by its superior mounting. It was performed in the
Academy of Music, of Philadelphia, November 21, 1870;

86 AMERICAN OPERA

and was given in concert form, by the New York Banks
Glee Club, on December 11, 1898.

The Premiere Cast

Rip Van Winkle Mr. Stratton

Nicholas Vedder Mr. Hayes

Derrick Van Bummel Mr. Setchell

Dame Van Winkle Miss Louisa Pyne

Anna Mrs. Hood

Young Rip Van Winkle Master France

Alice Van Winkle Miss Gourley

Spirit of Hendrik Hudson Mr. Adkins

A Spirit Mr. Bee

Edward Gardinicr Mr. W. Harrison

Frederick Vilcoeur Mr. Horncastle

Officer of Continental Army Mr. Chambers

Dame Van Duzer Mrs. Hood

The Sheriff Mr. Swan

Conductor George F. Bristow

The libretto, by Jonathan Howard Wainwright, was
later much revised by J. W. Shannon. Aside from developing
the original Irving story, it introduces triumphant marches,
soldier choruses and patriotic songs. In general the critics
agreed that the composer lacked the power of musical char-
acterization as well as of variety of emotional expression,
the principal merits having been found in his orchestration
which "is throughout fluent and full of interesting traits."

American musical art owes much to George Frederick
Bristow. His long, continuous activity as violinist, orchestral
and choral conductor, organist, composer and teacher
(especially in the public schools) could not have done other
than to leave a rich heritage. His inborn modesty and his
distaste for publicity precluded his achieving the recognition
given to many a much less gifted man. His works were
written with the greatest of care and with many revisions.

JOSEPH CARL BREIL 87

They show "purity of form and reflect the noble and inspired
soul of a composer whose name is perpetuated through
compositions which are to some extent classics in American
music."

JOSEPH CARL BREIL

Joseph Carl Breil, composer of opera and for the "silent
theater/* was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 29,
1870, the son of Joseph and Margaret A. (Frohnhoefer)
Breil. His father was of Franco-Rhenish and his mother of
Bavarian blood. Without musical attainments among his
ancestry, he inherited artistic tastes through his father whose
progenitors and near of kin included lawyers, painters and
sculptors.

As a boy he sang in various Pittsburgh churches ; and at
eleven he began the study of the violin and piano. His educa-
tion was secured in St. Fidelis College of Butler, Pennsyl-
vania, and Curry University of Pittsburgh. At sixteen he
began the training of his naturally good tenor voice; and
before his eighteenth birthday he had finished the opera,
"Orlando of Milan/ 1 which was given an amateur perform-
ance in Pittsburgh. He then entered the law course of the
University of Leipzig, to prepare for the profession of his
father. At the same time he pursued his music with private
teachers and voice study with Ewald at the Conservatory.
By the end of the third year music had crowded law into
second place and he proceeded to Milan for further vocal
training ; and on his return to America he stopped in Phila-
delphia for advanced study under the eminent operatic
baritone, Del Puente, a world-famous Escamillo.

For the season of 1891-1892 Mr. Breil was principal tenor
of the Emma Juch Opera Company. In 1897 he went on
tour as musical director of a theatrical company and was

88 AMERICAN OPERA

with organizations of this nature till 1903. During the fol-
lowing seven years his time was devoted largely to the
revision and editing of musical publications. All this time
his creative ability had been developing, and in April, 1909,
he came into notice as the composer of the music of "The
Climax," a play by Edward Locke which was brought out
at Weber's Theater in New York, and from which The Song
of the Soul achieved wide popularity.

His opera, "Love Laughs at Locksmiths," was produced
at Portland, Maine, October 27, 1910. Two years of silence,
and then musical history was made when he furnished the
score for the moving picture production of "Queen Eliza-
beth," with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role. This was the
first attempt to write a musical score especially for a film;
and it attached to Mr. Breil the sobriquet, "Father of Motion
Picture Music." Subsequently he furnished similar scores
for other notable films and plays. Of two comic operas, 1913
gave "Prof. Tattle" to New York and "The Seventh Chord"
to Chicago.

What more natural than that all these affiliations with
the theater should lead to a flight into grand opera? And
so "The Legend" was begun in Los Angeles in 1916, com-
pleted the following year, and produced at the Metropolitan
Opera House of New York, on March 12, 1919, Hugo's
"The Temple Dancer" sharing premiere honors, and Cad-
man's "Shanewis" beginning its second season, to fill out an
evening.

The Metropolitan Cast

Carmelita Rosa Ponselle

Maria Kathleen Howard

Stephen Paulo ff Paul Althouse

Count Stackareff Louis d' Angelo

Conductor Roberto Moranzoni

JOSEPH CARL BREIL 89

The libretto is by Jacques Byrne, well known as a writer
of motion picture scenarios. The tale is of a stormy night
in Muscovaclia, a mythical country of the Balkans.

Count Stackarcff is by day an impoverished but courtly gen-
tleman, and by night a bloodthirsty bandit, Black Lorenzo. He
tells Carmelita that he has captured a wealthy merchant and is
expecting a messenger with the ransom. Carmelita, fearful of
the consequences to both her father and herself, prays before a
statue of the Virgin that Stephen shall not learn of her father's
calling, when Maria, an old servant, enters to say that she has
seen Stephen in the woods, and that he will be coming as soon
as camp is made.

Carmelita is overjoyed; but Maria warns her of the legend
that on this night the Evil One walks abroad, knocks at people's
doors, and that he who opens the door dies within a year. Then,
when Carmelita asks Maria to tell her fortune with the cards,
the death card, the ace of spades, shows each time.

Hearing two knocks through the increasing storm, Carmelita
hurries to the door, finds no one, but soon hears Stephen calling
and admits him. Their temporary happiness is shattered when
Stephen tells her that he has been sent from Vienna to appre-
hend, dead or alive, a murderous bandit, Black Lorenzo. Stack-
are ff enters to await the messenger and is disturbed by the soldier
at the fireside, till assured by Carmelita that he is her suitor.
The inevitable happens when Stephen, in reply to Stackareff's
questions, tells that he is seeking Black Lorenzo. More knocks
and Stackareff, after telling his identity, escapes through the
door. Carmelita seeks to restrain Stephen, then, as he flings
her off to follow Stackareff, she stabs him. Two soldiers bring
the badly wounded father, and, seeing that Carmelita has killed
their captain, level their muskets at her. The curtain falls, and
from behind it the final shot is heard through the music of the
finale.

The opera had three such presentations "as few composers
of the world might hope" to see of their works. In general
it was conceded to have too much of "the rapid outlines of
the moving picture," and, while "the best sort of theater

90 AMERICAN OPERA

music/' still "it lacks the dignity and importance of an opera."
A miniature opera in one act is founded upon the
poem, "Der Asra," by Heine. For this the composer was his
own librettist. It has had one performance, at a program of
the composer's works at the Gamut Club Theater, Los
Angeles, California, on November 24, 1925, by local artists
and with orchestra. The cast includes : Sulamith, the princess
(soprano) ; Astaroth, her slave (mezzo-contralto) ; and
Muhammed Ben Haddah, a court musician (tenor or high
baritone).

In Royal Gardens of the Orient, with terraces, benches, and
a central fountain, Sulamith and Muhammed meet. Though
warned that he is an Asra for whom to love means death, the
Princess leads their emotions to overleap restraint till, in a
mutual embrace, and with lips in impassioned contact, Muhammed
is seized with a strangling paroxysm and, in the arms of the
trembling Sulamith, gasps his soul to flight.

On the same program were given "The Temple Dancer"
and "Old Harvard," the latter a one-scene opera bitffa which
had been produced some years before in Boston.

In 1924 Mr. Breil suffered a nervous breakdown while
working in New York on a musical score for a new Griffith
motion picture. From this he never entirely recovered.
The composing, late in 1925, of a score for "The Phantom
of the Opera," together with the strain of conducting the
operatic concert mentioned, were too much for his depleted
strength and induced a relapse from which he passed away
in Los Angeles, on January 23, 1926.

JOHN LEWIS BROWNE

John Lewis Browne, eminent organist and composer, was
born in London, England, on May 18, 1866, the son of

JOHN LEWIS BROWNE 91

William and Mary Ann (Grace) Browne. He was brought
to America in 1875 and was educated in leading schools of the
United States and Europe.

Dr. Browne is perhaps most popularly known as an
organist, having appeared at several of our World's Fairs,
at festivals, in nearly every large city of The States, and
having given five hundred recitals in Philadelphia alone. In
1901 he was soloist at the Royal Academy of St. Cecilia of
Rome ; and he also is a Member of the Royal Philharmonic
Academy of Rome, a rare distinction. He received, in 1902,
the degree, Doctor of Music, from the University of the
State of New York.

"La Corsicana* (The Corsican Girl)," written to a libretto
by Stuart Maclean (translated into Italian by H. Ringler),
was entered for the Sonzogno Prize at Milan, in 1902,
received "mention," and stood seventh among two hundred
and fifty-six operas submitted. Humperdinck, Toscanini,
Massenet and Hamerik were judges. Published in 1905, this
opera was to have a wait of eighteen years before it had
a look across the footlights ; and yet in the meantime it
passed its third edition, through festival presentations in
concert form.

The first public performance of "La Corsicana," as an
opera, took place at the Playhouse of Chicago, on January
4, 1923, under the auspices of the Opera in Our Language
Foundation, with Edith Allan, Neel Enslen, Ward H. Pound,
Lilian Knowles, Charles J. Cooley and Leo Landry in the
cast. "The Corsican Girl" has been cordially welcomed by
Australian audiences, the Regal Opera Company having made
a feature of it in an extended season of Chautauqua engage-
ments. In recognition of the successful production of this
work, the David Bispham Memorial Medal of the American

92 AMERICAN OPERA

Opera Society of Chicago was presented to Dr. Browne, on
June 21, 1925.

The opera is in one act, with an Intermezzo, and the scene
is a small town on the west coast of Corsica. There are six
solo roles and choruses of Soldiers, Peasants, Girls and
Fishermen. The plot is lugubrious and gory.

Nanna, a peasant girl, who loves Lucien and is loved by him,
has sworn a vendetta for the murder of her brother, Antonio.
Lucien, a French captain, comes in from a skirmish and promises
to return to wake her with a serenade. Arsano, her brother, now
urges her oath, as he intends to force Vittoria to confess the
name of Antonio's assassin. Vittoria, repulsed by Lucien, then
discerns the love between him and Nanna and resolves their ruin,
she herself having stabbed Antonio, in a fit of jealous rage.

As Lucien comes to serenade Nanna, he is met by Vittoria,
who feigns contrition and induces him to wear a ring she took
from Antonio's finger. Then his serenade is interrupted by
Nanna who accuses him of having slain Antonio; and when his
protests have almost convinced her of his innocence, Nanna
discovers the ring upon his finger, and, convinced of his guilt,
stabs him. As Vittoria turns to flee in triumph she is stopped
by Arsano who has learned of her guilt and proclaims her as
Antonio's murderess. Mad with grief, Nanna buries her dagger
in Vittoria's heart and then in her own breast, falling upon the
body of Lucien as the stormy passions of the story are spent on
a sanguine close.

Concerning the music of "The Corsican Girl," Edward
Moore wrote in the Chicago Tribune: "There is reason to
believe that when Dr. Browne composed his score he was
under the impression that all the tunes had not been written
out of the diatonic scale. He was right then; he would be
right today/ 1 He understands the voice and, best of all,
how to create the phrase which is vocal. The Serenade, for

SIMON BUCHAROFF 93

tenor, is one of the most singable and ear-satisfying arias in
all American opera.

SIMON BUCHAROFF

Simon Bucharoff, whose operas have been produced suc-
cessfully on both continents, was born at Berdizew, Russia,
in 1881. The parental name was Buchalter, but its spelling
was legally changed from German to Russian, in June, 1919.
In his fourth year his musical talents began to be manifest;
and at five he became a member of the local choir. At eleven
he was brought to America, was placed under the tutelage
of Paolo Gallico and Leon Kramer, and soon was producing
original compositions. At seventeen he was passing his ex-
aminations as chemist and preparing for medical college.
But the urge of music had its way and in 1902 young Buch-
aroff was back in Europe and studying in Vienna under
Julius Epstein and Stephen Stocker.

Returning to America, ten years were given mostly to
concertizing and teaching in the middle west. Compositions
still pressed for utterance; and, among many smaller ones,
a "Psalm CXLII" for solo, chorus and orchestra and a
dramatic oratorio, "A Drama of Exile," following the poem
of Mrs. Browning, for soli, chorus and orchestra, were given
public performance at Wichita, Kansas.

About 1915 he found the field of musical expression which
has proven to be his best medium of expression the opera.
This was the year in which General Charles G. Dawes be-
came interested in "The Lover's Knot,"* which had just been
completed, and secured for it a hearing by Cleofonte
Campanini, director of the Chicago Opera Company. It was
accepted and had its first performance on any stage, at the
Auditorium, on January 15, 1916.

94 AMERICAN OPERA

The Premiere Cast

Sylvia Myrna Sharlow

Beatrice Augusta Lenska

Walter George Hamlin

Edward Graham Marr

Conductor Marcel Charlier

The libretto is by Cora Bennett-Stephenson, and the plot
deals with a social tangle growing out of conditions following
the great war of The States in the 1860's.

The period is about 1870; the scene, a garden in front of
Edward's home at Norfolk, Virginia. Walter returns from
travels in an attempt to forget his love for Beatrice, whom he
believes to have consented to marriage out of gratitude for his
father having rescued her father from the battlefield, at the
cost his own life. Beatrice has as her guest Sylvia, a North-
ern friend, who is loved by and in return loves Edward, the
brother of Beatrice, and also a bosom friend of Walter. Beatrice
and Edward both mistake Walter's natural courtesy toward
Sylria for love. When entanglements have become too tense for
pleasure, Sylria disguises herself as a man and, in a "crow's-
nest" in the garden, makes violent love to Beatrice in full view
of Edward and Walter. As the two supposed lovers descend
from their elevated "cooing," Edward and Walter, both believing
themselves the dupes of an adventurer, intercept them, the
ruse is exposed, and like all good comedies the story ends with
Walter and Beatrice, and Edward and Sylvia, happy in each
other's love.

Here was a genuine American plot which, with more
of the lightness of opera comique in its score, might have
won a permanent place in the repertoire of our best opera
houses. The buffo song, / Swear 'Tis True, for baritone,
is full of vigor, worth hearing often, and should have a
place on programs devoted to the American opera.

Encouraged by this first success, Bucharoff now under-
took a full-length opera, "Sakahra,"* with the libretto by

SIMON BUCHAROFF 95

Isabel Buckingham of Chicago. The score was completed
in 1919 ; and, failing in encouragement towards its presenta-
tion by an American manager, the composer again went to
Europe. At Paris, Geiger and Pierre Mandru contracted
for an opera, "La Reine Amoureuse" ; but, the book prov-
ing uncongenial, this was abandoned.

In 1921 Mr. Bucharoff went to Germany, and 1923
found "Sakahra" accepted for performance at the Frankfurt-
am-Main Opera House, where it was first heard on Novem-
ber 8, 1924.

The libretto had been done into German by the eminent
scholar and author, Dr. Rudolph Lothar. After six success-
ful performances in ten weeks, an unfortunate cabal made
it seem wise to recall the four further presentations sched-
uled. The press was most friendly and cordial in its recep-
tion of the work, the Offcnbacher Zcitung especially stress-
ing its pleasure in greeting this American work.

Cast of Premiere

The Monk of Val Dieu Robert von Scheldt

Sebastian, his son Willy Thunis

Ignatius, a brother Monk Walter Schneider

Sakahra, a Dancer Elizabeth Freidrich

Nanna, her Nurse Betty Meryler

Mario, Impresario Adolf Permann

First Woman Jacobine Jachtmann

Second Woman Poldi Eberle

A Man Adolf Jachtmann

A Woman of the Street Erna Recka

The period is in the Third Empire, after Algiers had been
conquered in 1830 and the Christian missions had made
headway again.

The subject is one we so often meet in literature, of erotic

96 AMERICAN OPERA

love between brother and sister, and which mostly ends
tragically, as in "The Bride of Messina" and "Die Walkiire."

Raoul, Marquis of Valencia, became a monk after the death
of his beloved, who was a dancer and who had given him two
children, Sebastian and Sakahra. In this monastery his son was
raised. Sakahra, on the other hand, became a dancer under the
guidance of impresario Mario. Her mother had fled with the
daughter of her first lover, when he was called to see his dying
father, and, before her own death, sold the girl to Mario.

Sebastian accidentally sees his sister in a procession. There is
mutual love and Sebastian follows her to Paris. There, at a
festival where Sakahra has to dance before guests, he unsuccess-
fully tries to take her out of the hands of Mario, whom Sakahra
kills with a dagger when he is insisting upon what he believes to
be his rights.

In the meantime the monk has forced the Nurse who raised
Sakahra to admit that she is his lost daughter. Sakahra now
learns through her father that in Sebastian she loves her own
brother. In her despondency she takes poison, realizing that
she never could accede to her father's demand that she tell
her lover the secret; and the curtain falls as Sakahra is dying
in the arms of Sebastian, who remains innocent of the reason.

The opera is fortunate in having a libretto which holds the
attention and is theatrically effective. The work follows the
traditional form of grand opera: showy display of pageant
and pomp, festal processions, choral mass effects, festival
holiday crowds and color, the insinuating charm of the bal-
let, and finally, enmeshed with the sweetest violin tones,
the sacrifice made for love in the flower-bedecked baronial
halls.

Mr. Bucharoff returned to America for a short visit in
1925, when the David Bispham Memorial Medal of the
American Opera Society of Chicago was awarded to him,
in recognition of the successful production of "Sakahra."
He is engaged on a third opera, "Der Golem (The Marble

DUDLEY BUCK 97

Statue)," a symbolic miracle-drama, partly legendary,
partly fanciful, in which a human soul, incarnated in a
Greek statue, causes it to live and then, on its destruction,
escapes to symbolize the unenslavable souls of nations.

DUDLEY BUCK

Dudley Buck, one of America's most noted of organists
and composers, was born at Hartford, Connecticut, March
10, 1839, and died at Orange, New Jersey, October 6, 1909.

His early studies were with W. J. Babcock as piano in-
structor. Later he entered the Leipzig Conservatory (1858-
1859), where he had piano study with Plaidy and Moscheles,
composition with Hauptmann, and instrumentation and organ
with J. Reitz. He then studied the organ with Johann
Schneider at Dresden; and the scholastic year of 1861-1862
was spent with studies in Paris.

Returning to America, beginning in 1862 and till 1903 he
held posts as organist in leading churches of Hartford,
Chicago, Boston, New York and Brooklyn. At the same
time he was one of the most successful concert organists of
his day, and in 1875 was organist of the Cincinnati May
Festival.

Mr. Buck was one of our first composers to gain general
recognition. To melody that is appealing and yet refined
he had the happy faculty of conceiving harmonies that arc
rich, fluent and appropriate. Probably none other of our
composers has left so much church music that is worthy
of continued use. Among his many cantatas, the "Legend
of Don Munio" (to parts of Longfellow's beautiful poem)
is probably the best, or at least best known.

"Deseret; or, A Saint's Affliction," an opera comique in
three acts, with a libretto on a Mormon theme, by William

98 AMERICAN OPERA

Augustus Crofutt, had its first performance at Haverly's
Fourteenth Street Theater, New York, on October 11, 1880.
In the following month it was heard in the Academy of
Music of Baltimore and Pike's Opera House of Cincinnati.
It was a comedy-opera with romantic tendencies and not
without many beauties in the score. However, a man with
about twenty wives did not appeal to the moral standards
of the times as an especially heroic figure, and the work
knew but a short life on the stage.

He next turned to the more ambitious field of grand
opera and about 1888 finished his "Serapis," in which he was
his own librettist. This work never came to performance in
any form. The orchestral score is in the Library of Con-
gress at Washington; and the Boston Public Library
is the depository of the piano score. The subject of the
opera is Egyptian ; the time is the reign of Constantine ; and
the plot is woven about the dramatic destruction of the idol,
Serapis. Mr. Buck tripped before the footlights to bow and
then bow off again, seeming to realize that his place was at
the console rather than in the calcium's glare.

XI

CHARLES WAKEFIELD CABMAN

To find himself, when the
teens were scarcely left behind,
with Fame knocking at the door
to say that he had written one
of the most successful of Ameri-
can art-songs; and then to re-
main through two decades the
loyal courtier of the muse, the
while he was an assiduous dis-
ciple of hard work, till his labors
were crowned by the creating of
one which was to lead all other

Charles Wakefield Cadman A . . . ,

American operas in sustained

popularity, has been the fortune of Charles Wakefield Cad-
man, American born, of several generations of American
ancestry, educated almost entirely in America and as typi-
cally American in his style as any composer our nation has
yet produced.

Charles Wakefield Cadman was born in Johnstown, Penn-
sylvania, December 24, 1881. His musical lineage may be
traced to Samuel Wakefield, his great-grandfather; who in-
vented, about 1825, the once popular "Buckwheat Notes"
as an aid to reading vocal music ; who built the first pipe
organ west of the Alleghenies ; and who was also a composer
of sacred music and author of a book on harmony.

99

100 AMERICAN OPERA

Mr. Cadman received his first musical instruction at the
age of thirteen, and at the fifth or sixth lesson he had written
his first composition for the piano. In his fourteenth year
he left school to become a messenger boy in the Duquesne
Steel Plant of Charles M. Schwab. In this same year, with
hard-earned money of his own, he heard his first opera,
deKoven's "Robin Hood/' presented by the then famous
Bostonians, at the Pittsburgh opera house; and the dreaming
school-boy went home thrilled with an ambition to be a
composer.

During his sixteenth year, and before having a single
lesson in harmony, he wrote "Carnegie Liberty March"
which he published and sold from door to door at twenty-
five cents per copy ; and from this humble starting the piece
grew in popularity till its sales reached approximately six
thousand. "This," he says, "was the start of my musical
career." He now left business, for a position as organist of
a leading church of Homestead and to devote his time to
teaching and composition. A short stay here and he went
to Pittsburgh where his activities included church organist,
music critic of the Pittsburgh Dispatch, organist of the
Pittsburgh Male Chorus, teaching and composition.

During these early years Mr. Cadman received his profes-
sional training from musicians resident in Pittsburgh.
Organ instruction from Leo Oehmler, and probably a year
and a half of study of instrumentation with Emil Paur,
then conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, made
tip the sum of his regular schooling. Mostly he has learned
to do by doing. He has been a voracious student of the
scores of the acknowledged masters of composition in every
line; and he has written, written, written.

His first regularly published compositions, consisting of
organ pieces and ballads, appeared in 1904. Several comic

CHARLES WAKEFIELD CADMAN 101

operas written during this period came to local performance.
Mr. Cadman first won wide favor by his four American
Indian Songs, composed in 1908, and inspired largely by
Alice Cunningham Fletcher's "Indian Story and Song."
These had been rejected by all publishers so that they laid
in the composer's files for several years till called to the
attention of Madame Lillian Nordica. One of them, In the
Land of the Sky Blue Water, appealed so much to the great
diva that she placed it on her program for the Hippodrome
at Cleveland, Ohio, where the audience was satisfied only
with its third repetition.

Mr. Cadman has been a diligent and extensive student
of American Indian folk music. The summer of 1909 was
spent among the Omaha tribe of Nebraska, as the guest of
Francis La Flesche, son of Chief La Flesche. Here he made
a remarkable collection of ceremonial songs and flageolet
calls. Then, in 1910, he accompanied Luigi Von Kunits
to his villa in southern Austria, where for some time he
was with a class in instrumentation. Returning from Europe,
in 1911 he assisted Mr. La Flesche in transcribing large
numbers of the ceremonial songs of the Osage Indians of
Oklahoma, which have been embodied by the Smithsonian
Institution in a history of that tribe.

In 1916 Mr. Cadman became a resident of Los Angeles,
California. He has been a prodigious worker. More than
two hundred songs he has added to our song literature.
Part songs, song cycles, choral works and part songs for male
voices, for female voices, for mixed quartet and chorus,
have flowed from his facile fancy ; and with these have been
works for the piano, organ and violin, the most important
of which have been the Sonata in A for piano and the Trio
for Violin, Violoncello and Piano both of which have been
widely used. In fact, all in all, more than three hundred and

102 AMERICAN OPERA

fifty of his works have found their way into publishers'
catalogs.

Mr. Cadman wrote, by special commission, all the music
for "Rosaria," an allegorical and colorful pageant glori-
fying the history of the Rose as well as its influence on civili-
zation. The libretto was by Doris Smith, of Portland, Ore-
gon, with lyrics by Charles and Anita Roos. The pageant was
presented June 15 to 20, 1925, during the annual Rose
Festival Week of Portland, with five thousand participants.

No record of the accomplishments of Charles Wakefield
Cadman would be complete without due recognition of his
collaborator, Mrs. Nelle Richmond Eberhart ; for has not the
cry gone up that American Opera needs composers not so
much as good librettists? Mrs. Eberhart's sympathetic de-
lineation of Indian character and psychology is but the re-
flex of her youth spent in the atmosphere of the reservations
of Nebraska. She has been the librettist of all Mr. Cad-
man's serious operatic works as well as lyricist of more than
one hundred of his songs. As a librettist her work is clear-
cut, intense when necessary, and musically possible always.
With "Shanewis" she won the distinction of being the first
American woman to have her libretto produced at the Metro-
politan Opera House of New York; and, even more signifi-
cant, it has been the most successful of all American operas.

Mr. Cadman is one of the composers who has singularly
charming gifts of melody, an easy technic in orchestration,
and a fine knowledge and valuation of construction. To
these he adds a sense of the theatrical which serves him
well.

Four operas already are to his credit. "Daoma," an
American Indian Idyl, or Pastoral, was completed in 1912.
It is based on an Indian story written by Francis La
Flesche of the Omahas, and founded on a true Omaha tale.

CHARLES WAKEFIELD CADMAN 103

The theme is the Friendship Vow a vow held as sacred
among the Omahas as is that of marriage. If the plot calls
for little action, and that rather slow, it is but in harmony
with the Indian nature.

Briefly, the story revolves around the love of Aedeta and
Nemaha the David and Jonathan of their tribe for Daoma,
a niece of the Omaha chief, Obeska. Though early in the plot
they discover their love for the same maiden and vow that,
whichever she chooses, their friendship shall not be shaken;
when in battle with the Pawnees, Nemaha, in an evil moment,
yields to an advantage and betrays Aedeta into the power of the
enemy. Daoma, by the canons of romance, follows her lover
(the choice having been previously decided by a game of ante-
lope hoofs) and aids in his escape from captivity and sacrifice.
Amid the clamor of his tribe that the discovered treachery of
Nemaha be expiated with his life, and while Daoma intercedes
for mercy, Nemaha rushes in clad but in his loin cloth an In-
dian custom in great crises and stabs himself.

"The Sunset Trail/' * an operatic cantata, and another of
Mr. Cadman's earlier works, had its world premiere at the
Municipal Auditorium of Denver, Colorado, on December
5, 1922, under the auspices of the Denver Music Week
Association. It was twinned with "Shanewis" on a double
bill and received enthusiastic approval from an audience of
six thousand, both at the premiere and on the following
evening. "The Sunset Trail" evolves from a love affair
between Red Feather and Wild- Flower, together with the
removal of their tribe to a reservation. It has effective solos
with Indian character and choruses of real charm. "The
Sunset Trail" had four elaborately staged performances at
Kilbourn Hall, Rochester, New York, in the week of Novem-
ber 13, 1926, with Dr. Howard Hanson conducting.

"The Garden of Mystery," * sometimes known as "The
Enchanted Garden," for which the plot is derived from

104 AMERICAN OPERA

Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Rappaccini's Daughter,"
was finished in 1916. It had its world premiere on the eve-
ning of March 20, 1925, at Carnegie Hall, New York.
Recent research has proven that it was probably the second
absolutely native American operatic performance. Haw-
thorne, the author of the original story; Eberhart, who
transformed it into an opera libretto ; and Cadman, the com-
poser, all were born in America. The same was true of the
cast, orchestra, conductor and stage personnel. "Shanewis,"
as given in Chicago, on November 9, 1922, was the first com-
pletely American production of an American opera.

The Cast

Dr. Rappaccim George Walker

Beatrice Helena Cadmus

Bianca Yvonne de Treville

Giovanni Ernest Davis

Enrico Hubert Linscott

Conductor Howard Barlow

The opera is in one act of three scenes connected by intermezzi
and with the same setting. The stage presents the mysterious
and wonderful garden of Dr. Rappaccini, the plants of which
have been developed through the use of poisons. Beatrice, his
daughter, also has been nourished on these poisons, and her
breath is fatal. Observing her from a neighboring palace,
Giovanni falls in love with her, enters the garden, and mutual
vows ensue. Always, however, he must remain at a distance,
because of the deadly nature of her caresses. He obtains an
antidote; and she, crushed by the upbraidings of her lover on
discovering that he, too, has become thoroughly impregnated
with the poisons, drinks the elixir, the destruction of the poisons
in her nature meaning also the destruction of her life.

The work contains fluent and agreeable tunes tunes that
have a certain individual hallmark and are not wanting in
dignity. However, certain limitations, evolving largely from
an untheatrical story, which probably will keep it off the

CHARLES WAKEFIELD CADMAN 105

boards of the Metropolitan and Auditorium, put it in the
class of those works which can be effectively staged by or-
ganizations of smaller operatic timber which are looking
for works founded on good literature and with lyric music
suited to their accomplishments.

"Shanewis" * has the distinction of holding public interest
more than any other serious opera of American origin. It
is the heart story, full of human interest, of a modern,
educated Indian girl. To the Metropolitan Opera Company
falls the credit of giving this work its first performance on
any stage, on March 23, 1918.

The opera was presented five times before the close of this
season; and in the following one (1918-1919) it was heard
three times, thus becoming the first American opera to
achieve a second season on the Metropolitan stage. It had
its first Chicago interpretation on November 9, 1922, by the
American Grand Opera Company unhappily the first and
last appearance of that organization. In the next season
Chicago again heard it under the patronage of the Opera
in Our Language Foundation. In Denver it was given two
performances on December fifth and sixth of 1924, under
the direction of the composer and with Princess Tsianina as
Shancitns. It has been presented at San Francisco and sev-
eral other centers ; and at a concert performance at the Oak
Park Club, Chicago, in May, 1924, Mr. Cadman received
the David Bispham Memorial Medal.

Metropolitan Cast

Shanewis Sophie Braslau

Mrs. Everton Kathleen Howard

Amy Everton Marie Sundelius

Lionel Rhodes Paul Althouse

Philip Harjo Thomas Chalmers

Conductor Roberto Moranzoni

106 AMERICAN OPERA

Shanewis, a beautiful Indian maiden of musical promise,
has been educated by a wealthy lady of Southern California,
and is about to make her debut at the home of her bene-
factress, Mrs. Everton.

Act I. Mrs. Everton's bungalow in California. The songs
of Shanewis create a flurry among the guests, while her personal
charms make an appeal to the heart of Lionel Rhodes, the fiance
of Amy Everton. Not being aware of his engagement to Amy,
Shanewis shyly responds to his impassioned love making, but re-
fuses to accept him until he shall visit her people on the
reservation.

Act II. An Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. Shanewis and
Lionel attend the big summer pow-wow of the Indians. Instead
of being repelled, Lionel is fascinated by the pageant. Philip
Harjo, a foster-brother of Shanewis, presents to her a poisoned
arrow, once used by an ancestress to revenge herself upon her
white betrayer. Lionel assures Philip that Shanewis never will
need such a weapon. Then Mrs. Everton and Amy appear, hav-
ing followed Lionel to urge him not to throw himself away upon
an Indian girl, but to return with them. Shanewis learning that
Lionel is the fiance of A my, surrenders him to her, thus repay-
ing her debt to Mrs. Everton. Shaneivis now throws away the
poisoned arrow ; but Philip, having watched the scene from a dis-
tance, rushes up, snatches the bow and arrow, and shoots Lionel
through the heart.

"Shanewis" was written in a rose-covered cottage sur-
rounded by orange groves and situated among the hills above
Los Angeles. Doubtless no small part of its success is due
to Mr. Cadman's philosophy of stage-composition. This we
fortunately have in his own words :

"In the first place, I decided that to employ a too flamboyant
means in my instrumentation would be ruinous, since the story
did not call for a score of Wagnerian proportions; and, while
I have striven for color and effect at all times in both acts, I

CHARLES WAKEFIELD CADMAN 107

wanted to give my soloists and my chorus a chance. Most opera-
goers attend to hear the singers rather than to listen altogether to
the orchestra. Let our composers admit that, whether they like
it or not.

"The orchestra, to my mind, when used in connection with
opera, should be the background, just as an artistic and excellent
piano accompanist should be the background for an equally
excellent vocalist. It is true that in rare cases the orchestra in
opera has been and should be the very foundation and end of
the dramatic subject, as is evidenced in the Wagner scores. But
I think it will be granted that even Wagner in many of his works
considered the singer in no mean way.

"However, to get back to my subject, I felt that Bizet, Gounod,
Verdi and Puccini were models worth taking, and I decided
not to make the mistake of a too ponderous and mastodonic
orchestral accompaniment."

Some of the critics of American opera, who would insist
that no good one has yet been written, have condemned
"Shanewis" as having a story and libretto that are poor.
If the story is melodramatic it is in the best of company;
for are not the texts of most of the successful Italian, French
and German operas in this class ? The ending may be a little
abrupt ; but many a work with incongruities even more bald
we have swallowed at a single gulp, and all because the com-
poser's name smelled of lager or ended in "iski" or "ini."
Wagner, the greatest musico-dramatist of them all, could
at times mangle the dramatic canons.

Whatever else may be said, the plot must be admitted to
be at least novel. The diction is beautiful ; it is poetical,
dramatic and absolutely singable.

After all, the music makes the opera ; and here we come
upon the gem of ray serene. For this music is character-
istic, logical and extremely beautiful. The orchestral score
flows smoothly, and yet constantly shimmers with Indian
color and the Shanewis motive. The songs of Shanewis

108

AMERICAN OPERA

in the drawing-room scene are charming examples of art
song influenced by Indian atmosphere and style. Yet with
all his temptations, the composer did not draw heavily upon
his rare knowledge of Indian music lore. He did not over-
load the score with quotations and derivatives from this

treasure. Members of the cast have fine solos : Lionel's lyri-
cal Love Stole Out of the Sea at Star-break; The Song of the
Robin Woman, of Shanewis; and the duets of Lionel and
Shanewis, probably touch most tenderly the popular heart.

"A Witch of Salem,"* Mr. Cadman's latest opera, was
written while he was temporarily a resident of Brooklyn, and
its orchestral score was developed and completed in the sum-
mer of 1925. The book harks back to a period and people
peculiarly our own the old Salem, Massachusetts, of the
Puritans of 1682, in the days when that historic town was
under the hypnotic spell of witchcraft. Against this scene
and atmosphere of grim tragedy Mrs. Eberhart has limned
a drama of love, passion and revenge.

CHARLES WAKEFIELD CADMAN 109

"A Witch of Salem" had its world premiere on the evening
of December 8, 1926, by the Chicago Civic Opera Com-
pany, with ovations for the composer, it was repeated on
the 20th, and it was "revived" January 24, 1928.

The Premiere Cast

Arnold Talbot Charles Hackett

Nathaniel Willoughby Howard Preston

Thomas Bowen Edouard Cotreuil

Deacon Fairficld Jose Mojica

Claris Willoughby Eide Norena

Elisabeth Willoughby Helen Freund

Sheila Meloy Irene Pavloska

Anne Bowen Lorna Doone Jackson

Tibuda Augusta Lenska

Conductor Henry G. Weber

Sheila Meloy is in love with a certain Arnold Talbot who, how-
ever, has turned his affection toward Sheila's cousin, Claris Wil-
loughby. Sheila is desperately in love with Arnold; so that,
when he repulses her, she decides to have her cousin, Claris,
accused of witchcraft, basing her claim on the presence of a
blood-red cross upon Claris' breast.

Sheila makes her accusation. Just before the hanging she
relents, however, and confesses to Arnold, who spurns her anew.
In desperation she offers to save Claris' life if Arnold will grant
her (Sheila) but one kiss. This he does and she goes to her
doom at the hands of the enraged populace and dies happy in
the thought that Arnold has kissed her.

With "A Witch of Salem" generally accepted as an ad-
vance on his successful "Shanewis" Cadman has proved
his gift for writing opera. It is music of and for the
theater, with the first thought given to the story and its inter-
preters on the stage, and with the orchestra in its legitimate
place in the music-drama, that of illuminating that which is
transpiring beyond the footlights. And the best of all for

110 AMERICAN OPERA

American musical art is that this has been accomplished with
a natural flow of melody and a style that is devoid of foreign
influence. Cadman has chosen to be frankly just Cadman
the Cadman of At Dawning and From the Land of the
Sky-blue Water, and this with an added richness evoked by
the dramatic situation.

"A Witch of Salem" had, on March 9, 1928, a gala per-
formance by the Chicago Civic Opera Company, at the Shrine
Auditorium of Los Angeles, with six thousand in the audience
and an ovation for the composer.

In 1926 "Shanewis" had two performances at the Holly-
wood Bowl (California), the audiences aggregating twenty-
two thousand. Then in the spring of 1930 it was performed
by local talent of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the composer's
birthplace. It was also heard, in the spring of 1928 and the
summer of 1930, over the National Broadcasting- Company
network.

Certainly the creator of these operas is one of the most
original composers that our country has produced. Without
pose, without affectation, and with a truly creative mind,
Charles Wakefield Cadman is an inspirational writer ; perhaps
it is not too much to say, "The most American of composers."

XII

GERARD CARBONARA, CHARLES FREDERICK

CARLSON, ERNEST CARTER, HENRY

LINCOLN CASE

GERARD CARBONARA

Gerard Carbonara has written an opera, "Armand," for
which he was soliciting production in early 1925. However,
his elusive personality has defied communication and made
more definite mention impossible.

CHARLES FREDERICK CARLSON

Charles Frederick Carlson was born in romantic Salt Lake
City of Utah, on October 24, 1875. Both his father and
mother were talented singers ; and his ability in both music
and literature was shown at an early age. At sixteen he went
to Chicago for a short period of serious music study and
then entered for the three years' course in the Music School
of the Valparaiso (Indiana) University.

After studies in New York and Boston, Mr. Carlson went
in 1907 to Vienna where, in the Royal Conservatory of
Music, he had special voice work under Franz Habock and
orchestration with Eugene Thomas, till his return in 1908
to become Dean of the University of Denver College of
Music, and then in 1913 to conduct the Fine Arts College
of Music of Salt Lake City. Beginning with the fall of 1919
he was for two years dean of the department of singing of

111

112 AMERICAN OPERA

Valparaiso University. He then took up permanent residence
in Chicago as a teacher of singing, with all the time at his
command devoted to composition, and especially to the devel-
opment of the concert music drama, a form which he first
created.

As a composer, Mr. Carlson has been an inveterate worker
and has to his credit over a hundred songs, many composi-
tions for the piano, three cantatas and is now at work on his
fourth opera.

"Phelias" * was written in 1913, the composer being his
own librettist. It is based on the poem, "lole," by Stephen
Phillips ; and the musical setting is on modern lines of
operatic form, without arias written to please the ear.

The story is a terrible tale of religious fanaticism. Phelias is
sought by the people of Corinth to drive the Spartans from their
gates. He finally consents but is told that for his victory he
must sacrifice the first object coming from his home to greet his
return. This happens to be his only offspring, a daughter be-
trothed to Laomedon who stabs himself when Phelias kills his
child.

The music of the first half of the work has much of the
austerity of the Greek drama. It is quite in the spirit of
Gluck, though Gluck enriched with modern harmonies. In
the latter half of the score the music becomes more mod-
ernly human.

Of operas, unpublished and unproduced, Mr. Carlson has
written "The Courtship of Miles Standish," a grand opera
in two acts and six scenes, which is of course based upon
the same tale of Colonial days as is Longfellow's idyl. His
"Hester ; or, The Scarlet Letter" has for its foundation the
great novel of Hawthorne; while for "The Merchant of
Venice" his plot was borrowed from the "The Bard of
Avon." For all of these he has adapted and written his own
text.

ERNEST CARTER 113

Mr. Carlson's latest work is "Enoch Arden," a Concert
Music Drama, its foundations being in the poetic tale of
sacrificial love by Tennyson. It is scored for four solo
voices, chorus (or double quartet) and piano. The action,
the sentiments and the emotions of the characters are given
to the audience by a Narrator as each character sings his or
her part, from which the spectator may visualize the scene.

ERNEST CARTER

Ernest Trow Carter, composer and conductor, was born
at Orange, New Jersey, September 3, 1866, the son of
Aaron and Sarah Swift (Trow) Carter. At seven he began
eight years of study of piano and harmony, with Mrs. Mary
Bradshaw. When but thirteen he organized an amateur
orchestra, studied the cornet, was assistant conductor of the
school orchestra; and at sixteen he was playing cornet in a
professional orchestra.

Mr. Carter was graduated from Princeton University,
cum laude, in 1888, and while there he became leader of
the Glee Club and Chapel Choir. He composed the famous
Princeton "Steps Song" and arranged much of the music
sung by the club. In the meantime he had been studying
the piano with Dr. William Mason and singing with Francis
Fisher Powers. He also studied the French Horn with Her-
mann Hand of the New York Symphony Orchestra, and
played in theater and amateur orchestras for experience.

Mr. Carter went to California in 1892 as musical director
of the Thacher School in The Ojai. Then, in 1894, he
decided that music should be the work of his life and went
to Berlin where he studied composition with Royal Music
Director Wilhelm Freudenberg, composer and director of
opera, and with O. B. Boise; and organ with Arthur Egidi.

114 AMERICAN OPERA

Returning to New York, he continued organ study with
Homer N. Bartlett. From 1899 to 1901 he was lecturer on
music, also organist and choirmaster, at Princeton. He then
resigned that he might give all his time to composition, and
for one year sang in the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera
Company, largely as a means of studying opera technic.
He has written vocal music in almost all forms and has
edited many collections. The Andante of an unfinished sym-
phonic suite has been played in Berlin, under Dr. Karl Muck,
and the Scherzo at the Stadium and Central Park Concerts
in New York.

His comedy-opera, 'The Blonde Donna; or, The Fiesta of
Santa Barbara," for which Mr. Carter was his own librettist,
had a successful production in concert form at the Century
Theater, New York, in February, 1912. It is written for a
stock company rather than as a vehicle for a star singer or
comedian and so is adapted to local presentations.

The plot is a triangular love maze of a sea-waif of the Cali-
fornia coast adopted by the Father Superior of a mission ; his
sister, adopted under similar conditions, by a wealthy Spanish
widow; and the foster-mother's own blond daughter; the rela-
tionship of brother and sister being disclosed only in the denoue-
ment. An uprising of Mission Indians against the beneficent
tyranny of the Padres lends dramatic interest.

'The Blonde Donna/' in three acts, had its first full per-
formance when presented on December 8, 1931, at the Brook-
lyn Little Theater, by the New York Opera Comique. This
was a "benefit" for a Brooklyn chanty, with dowagers and
debutantes in evidence. Eleanor Steele was the Marina ;
Patricia O'Connell, her sister Ccarlota ; Hall Clovis, the novice,

ERNEST CARTER 115

Marinus ; Harrison Christian, Gcnio Piastro ; Howard Lar-
amy, Padre Bonifacio ; Arnold Spector, Jacinto and Joe
Hank ins ; Sonia Essin, Senora Blanca ; Crawford Wright,
Tcllacus', Benjamin Tilberg, The Commandautc; Theodore
Everett, Scnor Piastro ; George Griffin, Gabriel, and Bess
Barkley, Anita. Rudolf Thomas was the conductor.

The official "first night," for critics and reporters, was on
the 9th ; when the National Federation of Music Clubs pre-
sented a laurel wreath to the composer. The press was gen-
erally friendly ; and the score was mentioned as "naturally
melodic . . . harmonically conservative . . . never dull."
There were four more performances that week ; and from De-
cember 14th to 19th the same company gave seven perform-
ances of "The Blonde Donna" at the Heckschcr Theater in
New York.

In the Hinshaw Contest of 1916-1917 Mr. Carter's "The
White Bird" * was given second rating among the eighteen
operas submitted. It had a performance, in concert form,
at Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, New York, on May 23,
1922, with the composer conducting.

The libretto of "The White Bird" is by Brian Hooker
who has so many successes of this nature to his credit that
he might without impropriety be acclaimed "The American
Scribe."

"The White Bird" had its world premiere at the Stude-
baker Theater, Chicago, March 6, 1924, under the auspices
of the Opera in Our Language Foundation. At the close of
the performance the composer received the first David
Bispham Memorial Medal awarded for the production of an
American opera, which was presented by Mrs. Eleanor Ever-
est Freer, founder and chairman of that organization.

116 AMERICAN OPERA

Premiere Cast

Reginald Warren Ward Pound

Elinor Hazel Eden

Basil Bryce Talbot

Hugh Dwight Edrus Cook

Marion (Hugh's Wife) Laurina Oleson

John WardweU Haydn Thomas

Nannie, Nurse to Elinor Elaine de Sellem

Guest Huntress Lillian Arthur

Andrew Joseph Nolengraft

Conductor Leroy N. Wetzel

The scene of 'The White Bird" is laid in a hunting camp
by an Adirondack lake, early in the nineteenth century. In
one act of two scenes it depicts a typical phase of American
life never before used for operatic material.

The opera tells a story of life in the woods, where a jealous,
dwarfish, misshapen and bitterly intelligent husband, Reginald
Warren, suspects his wife, Elinor, of being too fond of Basil,
the chief forester of his large estate. Elinor secretly loves Basil ;
but, for her honor and her pride of place, she cannot stoop to
the natural issue. Basil, who owes to Warren both his life and
livelihood, is thereby equally bound to restrain his love for
Elinor. All this Warren understands; and, refusing his wife's
plea to be taken away from temptation, he openly taunts her with
her passion and with the pride which holds it harmless.

John Wardwell, the steward and a Puritan out of New Eng-
land, attempts to warn the unnatural lovers of the dangers of
their hopeless passion. He then conscientiously carries his tale
to Warren who thereupon contrives that Basil himself shoots
and kills Elinor, mistaking in the morning mist the white scarf
about her bosom for a white bird a gull which has been flying
about the camp. When the truth is unfolded, Basil, infuriated,
strangles Warren, and the curtain falls on the usual number of
rent hearts and cadavers.

HENRY LINCOLN CASE 117

The tale is worked up beautifully by the librettist, with
a fine mixture of sentiment, romance and melodrama. The
music is pleasing and so entirely compounded of the melodic
and harmonic effects of the American art song that its
nationality could scarcely be mistaken. Elinor's principal
solo, her duet with Basil at the close of Act I, the quartet of
the first scene, and the "Hunting Song" (most brilliant num-
ber of the opera) are effective selections for detached per-
formance. "The White Bird" made history when on Novem-
ber 15, 1927, it became the first American opera to be
presented in the Municipal Theater of Osnabruck, Prussia;
and it had there three subsequent hearings in that month.

The composer's "Namba," a pantomime ballet, was favor-
ably received when performed on April 22, 1933, at the
Shakespeare Theater of New York, by the Charlotte Lund
Opera Company and the Aleta Dore Ballet. In 1932 he had
received from Princeton the honorary degree, Doctor of
Music.

HENRY LINCOLN CASE

Little can be learned of Henry Lincoln Case other than
that he left two operas. The first of these was "Camaralza-
man," offered for production in 1922, and labeled, by those
who saw the score, as well written. At his death he had
just finished the score of an opera-comedy entitled "Hinotito:
A Romance of Love and Politics"; its libretto by Fred-
eric W. Pangborn. Of this it was written: "The libretto
is highly amusing. . . . The music is brilliant and of a high
quality ; the humor of the work is crisp and catching ; and it
is wholly American, in plot, story and treatment."

XIII

GEORGE WHITEFIELD CHADWICK, JOSEPH W.
CLOKEY, LOUIS ADOLPHE COERNE

GEORGE WHITEFIELD CHADWICK

George Whitefield Chadwick, who was to become recog-
nized as "a veritable American composer/' and this in almost
every known form of the art, was born of old New England
stock, on November 13, 1854, in Lowell, Massachusetts.
He was the second son of a mother who passed on at his
birth. His parents had started their domestic fortunes on a
New Hampshire farm; for Alonzo Calvin Chadwick, the
young "musical farmer," who for ten years taught a singing
school in Boscawen, discovered close harmony between him-
self and a certain maiden of the class, which led to a home-
resolution. Ere long they had gathered in a small chorus
and orchestra; but, rarer still, they had a square piano on
which at an early age their first-born, Fitz Henry, began to
play. Best of all, he was a lover of good music and was to
be the first teacher and to form the early tastes of his four-
teen years younger brother, George, so that they grew up to-
gether, musically, on four-hand arrangements of the
Beethoven symphonies.

At fifteen George had acquired enough knowledge of the
organ to substitute for his brother at church. Then came
the war and service for the elder, after which he entered
business in Boston but continued as organist in his home
church till past sixty. In the meantime, George had finished

118

GEORGE WHITEFIELD CHADWICK 119

the high school and was allowed to study the piano with
Carlyle Petersilea, lately returned from European studies to
Boston. His father had developed a lucrative insurance
business in which he wished George to share ; but a thirst for
music would not be quenched and at twenty-one he gave up
the work of his father's office and entered the New England
Conservatory where he had organ under George E. Whiting
and about six months of harmony under Stephen A. Emery.
The next year, 1873, was spent with Dudley Buck, and the
following two under Eugene Thayer, by the end of which
time he had begun to give organ recitals and to teach ; and
then, in the autumn of 1876, on the recommendation of
Theodore Presser, he became head of the music department
of Olivet College.

Against "vigorous parental objections," in the fall of 1877
he sailed for Germany, settled in Leipzig, and became the
pupil of Reinecke and Jadassohn, the latter taking an espe-
cial interest in him and speaking of young Chadwick as "the
most brilliant student in the class." Two years there led to
such improvement that a movement for string quartet was
played at the end of the school term in 1878; then at the
final examinations on May 30th his String Quartet in C
Major was given; and on June 20th his overture "Rip Van
Winkle" had its first performance; of both of which the
press mentioned the "natural and healthy invention," that the
"composer had his own poetic intentions," and that his over-
ture had "color and physiognomy."

In the fall of 1879 Chadwick went to Munich for study
with Rheinberger, the great apostle of strict composition,
at the same time having score-reading and conducting under
concertmaster Ludwig Abel of the Hermann Levi Orchestra
and inhaling the Wagnerian fever as well as the spirit of a
coterie of young "modern" poets and artists.

120 AMERICAN OPERA

Returning to America in March, 1880, Chadwick settled in
Boston where, at the May Festival (1880) of the Handel
and Haydn Society, his "Rip Van Winkle" overture had
its third hearing within six months. He opened a studio,
taught, conducted, and filled various positions as church
organist from 1883 to 1893 in Dr. Edward Everett Kale's
church. He led the Springfield Music Festivals of 1889 to
1899 and the Worcester Festivals of 1897 to 1901. These
inspired some of his most forceful compositions, including
"Phoenix Expirans" and "Judith"; for he has a rare choral
style. Yale University, in 1897, conferred upon him the
honorary degree of Master of Arts; which Tufts College
followed in 1905 with an honorary LL.D. In 1897 he also
became Director of the New England Conservatory of Music,
where he had been a teacher since 1882.

Mr. Chadwick, of American composers, has won particu-
lar distinction in two forms, the overture and the art
ballad. In his overtures are dramatic development and
climax skillfully manipulated; while his ballads have con-
vincing power through his musical dramatization. His com-
positions have appeared often on the programs of our best
orchestras. With "Up East" audiences he is particularly
popular, for by blood and sympathies he is a New Englander.
He is probably one of the most racially American of all our
composers, but it is Americanism expressed through the
idioms and thought-life of that vicinage to which he belongs,
the New England that has given so much to the culture of
The States.

Mr. Chadwick has a facile sense of the theatrical in its
better qualities. The dramatic instinct is native to his man-
ner of thought. And yet one serious opera, "Padrona," a
biblical opera, and three light or comic works represent his
all for the stage. For how much of this dearth has our

GEORGE WHITEFIELD CHADWICK 121

fatuous favoritism toward the foreigner's stage-piece been
responsible ?

Of these works, the idyllic operetta, "Love's Sacrifice,"
was presented at the Playhouse, Chicago, on February 1,
1923, under the patronage of the Opera in Our Language
Foundation, when it won both press and public.

"Judith"* is a Biblical Opera in three acts, with text by
William Chauncey Langdon, which its composer has chosen
to identify as a Lyric Drama. It has for its central figure
the Hebraic heroine who raised the Assyrian siege of Bethulia
and saved her people from impending bondage, by risking
her own honor and life through going to the enemy's camp,
where by her beauty she enslaved and then suffered herself
to be wooed by the lustful Holof ernes till such a time as she
made him drunk with wine, slew him with his own sword,
and then returned, bearing his head, to her rejoicing people.
It has five principal characters: Judith, a widowed Jewess;
Achior, an officer in the Assyrian army; Holofcrnes, com-
mander of the Assyrian army ; Ozian, a leader in the Hebrew
camp; an Assyrian Sentinel; and, with these, Israelites, Cap-
tive Hebrews, Assyrian Soldiers, and Camp-followers.

"Judith" has not had stage performance but was pre-
sented in concert form at the Worcester Festival (Massa-
chusetts) of 1901, when it aroused much enthusiasm. "Pa-
drona," a tragic opera in two acts, "on a very characteristic
American subject," completes Mr. Chad wick's musical dra-
matic works to the present.

\Vhen the light opera, "Tabasco," Mr. Chadwick's first
work for the stage, was brought out in Boston in January,
1894, Philip Hale said in the Musical Courier; "He of our
American composers has certain peculiar advantages in this
undertaking new to him. He has not only melody, rhythm,
color, facility; he has a strong sense of humor, an

122 AMERICAN OPERA

appreciation of values, and that quality known as horse-sense."
He has a keen sense of and for the theater, as was demon-
strated in his incidental music for Walter Browne's "Every-
woman." All of which incite the hope that he shall have
early encouragement to produce other works for the musical
stage.

JOSEPH W. CLOKEY

Joseph W. Clokey, composer and teacher, was born at
New Albany, Indiana, on August 28, 1890. For several
generations his ancestry had been American, his father of
Scotch-Irish extraction, while his mother was of English
blood and a descendant of Priscilla and John Alden, and a
number of his forbears were accomplished amateur musi-
cians. Joseph was an original child, displaying no striking
aptitude for music. At six years of age he began lessons
on the piano, and at twelve study of the organ was added.
In 1912 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami
University of Oxford, Ohio; and in 1915 he graduated in
organ and composition from the Cincinnati Conservatory of
Music.

Mr. Clokey's period of serious composition began in the
years 1913 and 1914, when he created mostly songs, with
several choral pieces and works for the organ. He then
turned to the larger forms and his oratorio, "Isaiah LV," for
chorus, soli and orchestra, was performed under the auspices
of the Music Department of Miami University (of which
Mr. Clokey had become head teacher of Theory) , on June 4,
1916, with the composer conducting.

'The Pied Piper of Hamelin," * Mr. Clokey's first opera,
was begun in this same year. It is based on Robert Brown-
ing's famous poem of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," from
which Anna J. Beiswenger had developed a libretto. It has

JOSEPH W. CLOKEY 123

three acts; and the cast consists of a Prologue (baritone or
mezzo) ; The Piper (baritone) ; The Mayor (bass) ; The
Corporation (male voices) ; A Townsman (baritone) ; The
Lame Boy (soprano) ; and the Dream-Lady (mezzo-so-
prano). There are also a Chorus of Citizens; a Chorus
of Priests, a Chorus of Children, a Ballet of Tops, Jumping
Jacks, Dolls, Soldiers ; and Night Wind Sprites.

The opera was finished in 1919 and had its first public
performance by the Music Department of Miami Univer-
sity, on the evening of May 14, 1920, and under the baton
of the composer. Since then it has been presented many times
each season, by colleges and choral societies, and it has been
featured for two seasons by Tony Sarg's Marionettes.

Act I. A Public Square by the City Wall of Hamelin. Hame-
lin is infested with rats. The people are in despair, when a
strange creature in grotesque dress appears and blows curious
tunes on a pipe. For one thousand guilders he offers to rid the
town of its infesting rodents; his proposal is accepted; and he
pipes a tune which draws the rats after him to their death in the
river. The Piper asks for his guerdon ; in spite of his warnings
of disaster his claims are repudiated; and he makes good his
threat by playing an air which lures the children to follow him
toward the Koppelberg all save one little Lame Boy who is left
behind in tears.

Act II. The Mystic Mountain. The children are happy with
wonderful dancing toys, airy sprites, and a beautiful Moon Lady
who sings them to sleep when tired. This act is given up largely
to Ballet.

Act III. The setting is the same as in Act I, but months later.
The people and city officers lament for their children. In the
midst of their complainings The Piper suddenly appears. He
reproves the folly and greed of the people and is offered immense
wealth for the return of the children. This he rejects till the
Lame Boy tells of his loneliness and pleads for the return of his
playmates, when the tender-hearted magician pipes his strange
melody which brings the children trooping home.

124 AMERICAN OPERA

Without spoken dialogue, the score recalls somewhat the
freshness of the "Savoy Operas/' Though by no means
beneath the consideration of professionals, the work is well
within the capabilities of talented amateurs. There are
good melody, fine rhythms, a story of human interest, and a
chance for effective stage pictures which mean, good opera.

"The Emperor's Clothes/'* an opera comique in three
acts, the libretto by Frances Gibson Richard, was begun in
1922 and finished in 1924. It has not had public hearing.

The cast is: The Emperor (bass) ; The Prime Minister (bari-
tone) ; The Lover (tenor); The Princess (soprano). Two
Cheats (baritone and mezzo). It is based on a whimsical story
of an emperor and a suit of magical clothes which only the
honest and capable can see.

"The Nightingale" is written to a literary text by Willis
Knapp Jones, Professor of Romance Languages in Miami
University, and this is an adaptation of a Chinese fairy story
by Hans Christian Andersen, the same which furnished the
plot for Stravinsky's "Le Rossignol." It was first performed
at Miami University on December 12, 1925.

"The Nightingale" is an opera comique in three acts. The
speaking parts are accompanied by the orchestra; and the
chorus sits in the pit with the instrumentalists.

The cast is : The Nightingale (coloratura soprano) ; The
Kitchen Boy (mezzo-soprano) ; The Prime Minister (bari-
tone) ; The Emperor (speaking part) ; Death (speaking part) ;
Courtiers, Envoys from Japan; Chorus of Flowers; Chorus of
Distant Voices.

It is the old story of the aged prima donna in the Emperor's
court of a thousand years ago, who by sorcery changes her
young rival into a grey bird condemned to sing at night, and
without hope of delivery unless the august and austere Emperor
shall so far lose his dignity as to weep.

LOUIS ADOLF HE COERNE 125

There are opportunities for beautiful staging and light
effects. The airs are light, delicate and spirited; but as a
whole "The Nightingale" requires better technical equip-
ment in its interpreters than does 'The Pied Piper of
Hamelin." All these are adapted to club or amateur per-
formance.

Mr. Clokey's opera, "Our American Cousin," is based on
the old English comedy of this name, by Tom Taylor, which
was on the stage of Ford's Tfieater at Washington, on the
evening when President Lincoln was assassinated. It was
given six performances at The Little Theater of Padua Hills,
Claremont, California, during the week of March 2, 1931,
and was presented on the evenings of June 5, 6, 12 and 13
each time to a sold out house. Its lyrics are by Willis Knapp
Jones.

Louis ADOLPHE COERNE

Louis Adolphe Coerne, a poetic as well as a prolific com-
poser, was born in Newark, New Jersey, February 27, 1870.
His father was an American citizen of Dutch and Swedish
ancestry; while his mother was an American descendant of
English settlers. His early childhood was spent in France
and Germany ; and at the age of six he began study of the
violin. Having returned to America he graduated from the
Boston Latin School in 1888. He then entered Harvard,
where among his studies were harmony and composition un-
der John Knowles Paine; and from there he graduated in
1890. While a student there he had violin instruction from
Franz Kneisel.

This same year he went to Munich where he studied at the
Royal Academy of Music, having organ and composition

126 AMERICAN OPERA

under Rheinberger and violin and conducting from Abel;
and from here he graduated with highest honors in 1893,
at which time he conducted his symphonic poem, "Hia-
watha," which in the following year he was to lead for the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
At Munich he also played his Organ Concerto, with strings,
horns and harps, which he was later to interpret at the Colum-
bian Exposition at Chicago, for the closing program of which
he was asked to compose a festival ode. This same concerto
he played at the Buffalo Exposition.

A year in Boston, and as organist of Roxbury and Cam-
bridge churches, was followed in 1894 by a move to Buffalo
to become conductor of the Buffalo Liedertafel, the Buffalo
Choral Society, and organist and choirmaster of the Church
of the Messiah. It was while here that he wrote and gave
in concert his opera, "A Woman of Marblehead," which was
based on the now proved to have been unjust punishment of
Floyd Ireson by the Marblehead women.

He returned to Europe in 1899 and for three years de-
voted himself to composing, teaching and editing. It was at
this time that he completed, on commission, a "Mass in A
Minor" by his former master, Rheinberger; and his second
opera, "Zenobia," * belongs to this period.

Returning to America in the autumn of 1902, he had
charge of the Music Department of Harvard during the sum-
mer of 1903, and was associate professor of music in Smith
College during the scholastic year of 1903-1904. The follow-
ing year he wrote 'The Evolution of Modern Orchestration,"
a book which won for him the degree of Ph.D. from Harvard,
the first time which this institution bestowed that degree for
special work in music.

Mr. Coerne returned to Europe in 1905 and it was in this

LOUIS ADOLPHE COERNE 127

two years' stay that his "Zenobia" won the distinction of
being the first grand opera by a native composer of the United
States to have a performance in Europe. The Opera was
first heard at the Stadttheater in Bremen, Germany, on Fri-
day, December 1, 1905, and was repeated on December 6th,
12th and 21st. It was given under the direction of Kapell-
meister Egon Pollak.

The Bremen Cast

Zenobia Frl. Gerstorfer

Afrata Frl. Laube

Aurclian Herr Vogl

Sclcnos Herr von Ulmann

Arches Herr Manz

Ly sip pus 1 1 err Hacker

Roman Officer Herr Helvoirt-Pcl

Messenger Herr Walter

Herr Lauter

Egyptian Tribute Bearers J> Herr Fischcr

Herr Werblowski

Herr Bulte

On the whole, "Zenobia" was favorably received by the
German critics and press; but it has not had an American
performance. It is a spectacular opera, with its libretto by
the poet, Oscar Stein. Its scene is the Syrian city of
Palmyra of the third century, when the Roman emperor,
Aurelian, was warring against its queen, Zenobia. Thus
there is oriental and martial coloring in both the music and
the setting.

The first act transpires before the palace and the great Temple
of the Sun. Her general has returned victorious, and all Pal-
myra is celebrating his victory. There are priestly rites and re-
joicing dances, defiling of captives and offerings of tribute. For

128 AMERICAN OPERA

the moment Zenobia "dwells in the sunlight of happiness" all
power, all ambition, ready to defy Rome itself. Yet love vexes
her pride and troubles her strength, for its object is her low-
placed chancellor, the Greek, Selenos. Then her visions crumble.
The Romans scatter her troops; and she and her court are
Aurelian's prisoners. In her downfall her passion for Selenos
becomes besetting torture; but another pair of lovers at her side
point the way to assuage it. Aurclian, too, sees and loves. She
can be his queen, if she wills; if not, his captive trailing behind
his chariot in a Roman triumph. Once more Zenobia' s pride
flames ; she disdains the Roman, and in death with Selenos seals
her love for him.

After returning to America Mr. Coerne gave most of his
time to teaching and at the time of his death, on September
11, 1922, he held the chair of music in Connecticut College
for Women at New London. Though receiving much of his
education abroad, Mr. Coerne really finished his professional
preparation in America, under Professor Paine. His works
compassed almost every branch of the composer's art. If he
sometimes yielded to his skill in elaboration, still his com-
positions are richly expressive in style, those for the organ
being of especial worth. Among those of larger propor-
tions are a "Suite for Strings," a "Requiem/ 1 the tone poems,
"Liebesfruhling" and "George Washington," and several
cantatas. The greater part of these two tone poems was later
embodied in "Zenobia" and other compositions.

XIV

Frederick S. Converse

FREDERICK SHEPHERD CONVERSE

The name of Frederick Shepherd
Converse belongs in that small
group of American musicians who
are known almost exclusively as
composers. He was born January 5,
1871, at Newton, Massachusetts,
the son of Edmund Winchester and
Charlotte Augusta (Shepherd)
Converse. He is a direct descend-
ant of Deacon Edward Converse
of the Charlestown, Massachusetts,
Colonists of 1630. His father was
a prominent merchant of Boston,
and there is no record of musical
ancestry.

The present composer received his literary education in
the public schools and at Harvard. At ten years of age he
began piano lessons with a local organist; and later he had
instruction from Junius W. Hill, of Wellesley College, from
whom he learned his Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, the principles
of harmony; and in the meantime he had essayed composi-
tion.

In the autumn of 1888 he entered Harvard College, where
he took all the courses under Professor John K. Paine, and
received in 1893 the highest honors in music, his sonata for
violin and piano being performed at the time of his gradua-
tion. Six months of a commercial life planned by his father

129

130 AMERICAN OPERA

proved its unsuitability. Then, on July 6, 1894, he was mar-
ried to Emma, daughter of Frederick Tudor, of Brookline,
Massachusetts, and, the musical urge asserting itself, he re-
sumed his studies, this time in Boston, having composition
under George W. Chadwick and piano with Karl Baermann,
for nearly two years. In the fall of 1896 he entered the
Royal Academy of Music in Munich, where he was mostly
under the instruction of Joseph Rheinberger, till the summer
of 1898, when he graduated with honors.

Already, besides many smaller works, he had composed sev-
eral in the larger forms, including a "Symphony in D
Minor/' which had its first performance in Munich on
July 18, 1898. Returning to Boston, he devoted his time to
composition and private teaching till, in 1899, he became in-
structor of harmony and composition in the New England
Conservatory of Music, and in 1931 became Dean of the
Faculty. In 1902 he was appointed also instructor in music
at Harvard University, became assistant professor in 1905,
but resigned, September 1, 1907.

In his earlier years Mr. Converse had clung rather closely
to the classical models ; but soon after his return to America
his symbolic musical poems began to appear. His "Festival
of Pan," a romance for orchestra, was first performed by
the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under Wilhelm Gericke,
on October 22, 1900, and again at the Worcester (Massa-
chusetts) Festival of 1902. Then in the third week of
August, 1904, it was given at the Queen's Hall Promenade
Concerts, under Sir Henry Wood (just two days, it is in-
teresting to note, before Debussy's "Uapres-midi d'un Faune"
also was first heard in London) ; and at short intervals it
was on the programs of leading orchestras of Warsaw, Cin-
cinnati, New York, and Boston. Other works of large pro-
portions followed in surprising sequence and variety, until

FREDERICK SHEPHERD CONVERSE 131

his dramatic treatment of the symphonic poems naturally led
him into the field of opera.

"The Pipe of Desire" * has been named by its authors "A
Romantic Grand Opera in One Act." It was the first at-
tempt of Mr. Converse to create a serious vocal work on a
large scale, and was finished in 1905. The libretto is by
George Edward Barton, an "architect who makes verses as
an avocation."

The opera had its first performance in Jordan Hall, of
Boston, January 31, 1906, and was repeated on February 2d
and March 6th. It was an all-Boston performance and added
another to her long list of "firsts" in American music. "The
Pipe of Desire" was the first grand opera of a modern type,
by a native composer, to reach American performance
"The Scarlet Letter" having just missed that distinction by
the German birth and childhood of Mr. Walter Damrosch.
The chorus was from the Opera School of the New England
Conservatory of Music ; fifty players from the Boston Sym-
phony Orchestra supported the performance ; while the baton
was in the capable hand of Mr. Wallace Goodrich.

The Boston Cast (All American-born)

lolan George Dean

Naoia Bertha Cushing Child

The Old One Stephen Townsend

First Sylph Alice Bates Rice

First Undine Mabel Stanaway

First Salamander Richard Tobin

First Gnome Ralph Osborne

"The Pipe of Desire" has the distinction for all time of
having been not only the first American Opera to be pre-
sented at the Metropolitan Opera House but also the first
opera to be sung there in English during the regular season ;
which occurred on March 18, 1910. The cast included Ric-
cardo Martin as lolan, Louise Homer as Naoia, with all

132

AMERICAN OPERA

other roles in the care of Americans excepting Leonora
Sparkes, who was English. It had also one other perform-
ance during that season. The Boston Opera Company pro-

duced this same work at the Boston Opera House, on Jan-
uary 6, 1911, and gave it two other performances during that
season. It was presented on February 5 and 6, 1915,
at the Chatterton Opera House, Bloomington, Illinois, under
the auspices of Illinois Wesleyan University, with Henry
Purmort Eames conducting; which were among the earliest

FREDERICK SHEPHERD CONVERSE 133

efforts that showed conclusively that we have native dramatic
music of real worth and that it can be properly, profitably
and popularly produced by earnest amateurs. In fact, with
this opera the cause of the American composer for the stage
may be fairly said to have proved its worth. The story of
the opera Mr. Barton has treated in a style at once poetic and
imaginative. Completed within a single act, it has the merits
of conciseness and rapid motion.

The scene is a beautiful woodland, the characters are part
human (lolan and Naoia) and the others are creatures of the
Land of Fancy. The Pipe of Desire is the symbol of the ever-
creative force. It is the Pipe which God gave to Lilith, the first
wife of Adam. Each day, as she played in Eden, Adam was
moved to fresh efforts and accomplishments. One day, dissatis-
fied, Adam took the Pipe and blew upon it. God granted his
desire; but Adam became a wanderer, while the Pipe was given
to The Old One who still plays it in the depths of the forest.

It is the first day of spring. Elves flit to and fro in the glade,
busy at their fairy occupations. lolan, a peasant, comes singing
up the valley. Against the wishes of The Old One, the Elves
show themselves to lolan, this being permitted on this day of the
year, though not without possibility of danger to the mortal.
They pledge their good will to lolan; and he in turn tells them
that tomorrow he will wed Naoia and bids them to attend.
The Old One remains gloomy; lolan mocks him and his Pipe;
and the Elves demand the "Dance of Spring/' which on this day
The Old One may not refuse them. They join in an ecstatic
dance which amuses lolan; but he, still skeptical, defies the Pipe's
power. This angers the wood- folk; and The Old One, yielding
to the Elves' desires, pipes a tune which forces lolan to dance
amidst their ridicule. Provoked, he seizes the Pipe and, blowing
upon it, realizes but hideous sounds.

The Old One has warned lolan that for mortal to play the Pipe
without understanding its secret means death when he comes
to know it. lolan persists till rewarded with strains of enchant-
ing music. He sees a vision of future happiness and in the
exaltation of the moment calls for his beloved. Naoia rises from

134 AMERICAN OPERA

a distant bed of fever and over rocks and through brambles
hastens to her lover, only to arrive in complete exhaustion. He
has played the Pipe, has fulfilled his desire, but has brought evil
to the treasure of his life. Naoia sinks, a victim of her fever;
and lolan, frantic with grief for his recklessness and loss, falls
weeping at her side. As The Old One plays a song of autumn,
the shadows gather and, earthly desire having left lolan, he, too,
expires.

In 1906 Mr. Converse received a commission from the
Worcester County Music Association to write a choral piece
of large dimensions for its fifteenth annual Festival, which
resulted in his "Job," a Dramatic Poem for Solo Voices,
Chorus and Orchestra. It had its first interpretation on
October 2, 1907, and was performed by the Caecilia Verein,
of Hamburg, Germany, in the spring of 1910.

"The Sacrifice" * must be allowed the merit of being a
strictly American product. Librettist, composer and story,
all are American. Its plot is typically operatic in conception.
Tragedy stalks in the offing almost from the rising of the
curtain; but it is tragedy conceived on a picturesque back-
ground and breathing the spirit of a most romantic epoch
and nook in the travail of civilization on the Western Hemis-
phere.

One of the most important events of the second season
of the Boston Opera Company was when, on March 3, 1911,
"The Sacrifice," the second opera by Frederick S. Converse,
was produced for the first time on any stage, at the Boston
Opera House. Enthusiasm brushed aside the reserve of the
musical and social elect of New England's musical metrop-
olis, and ovations were showered upon Mr. Converse, the
composer, Mr. Wallace Goodrich, the conductor, Mr. Henry
Russell, the managing director, and upon artists creating the
various roles.

FREDERICK SHEPHERD CONVERSE 135

The Boston Cast

Chonita Alice Nielson

Bernal Florencio Constantino

Burton Roman Blanchart

T omasa Maria Claessens

Pablo C. Stroesco

Magdelena Bernice Fisher

Marianna Grace Fisher

Senora Anaya Hedwig Berger

Gypsy Girl Anna Roberts

Padre Gabriel Carl Gantvoort

Corporal Tom Flynn Howard White

Little Jack Carl Gantvoort

First Soldier Frederick Huddy

Second Soldier Pierre Letol

American and Mexican Soldiers and Spanish
and Indian Girls

The composer was his own librettist, with lyrics supplied
by John Macy. The plot is an adaptation from a tale,
"Dolores," in a volume of memoirs, "Los Gringos, or An
Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in
Peru, Chili and Polynesia," by Lieutenant Henry Augustus
Wise, U. S. A.

The scene is laid on the southwest California coast, in 1846 of
those stirring years when the rather preemptory and aggressive
occupation of those regions by the Americans brought an end to
their generations of ease, luxury and security under the light
hand of Spanish and Mexican rule.

Act I. The gardens of the red-tiled adobe cottage of Senora
Anaya. Chonita, her beautiful niece, is melancholy, which
leads Tomasa, her old Indian servant, to make a rabid denuncia-
tion of the Americanos. A note from Bernal announces that he
will be at hand within the hour, and the bearer is hastened back
with the message that Captain Burton is soon expected. Burton

136 AMERICAN OPERA

arrives and fervidly presses his suit, the latter part of which
Bernal overhears from the shrubbery. Scarcely is Burton gone
till Bernal enters in a frightful rage; and to Chonita' s plea
that she needs Burton's protection he threatens vengeance on the
American soldiers and especially on their leader.

Act II. The interior of a desecrated Mission. Amidst the
destruction soldiers rehearse the events of the previous night,
then follow a group of dancing Spanish and Indian maidens,
leaving Corporal Tom alone. Tomasa enters, seeking Bernal;
she kneels at the broken altar and is joined by Chonita; and
Burton and Tom bring news that Bernal has been killed. Burton
now realizes the severe blow which has been dealt to Chonita;
but to his vows of protection, she only urges his leaving her alone
to pray. Bernal, who has been but wounded, enters disguised as
a priest; but the joys of reunion are cut short by Tomasa dis-
covering the returning soldiers. Bernal is hidden in the confes-
sional; the soldiers come, seeking a priest who has been seen to
enter; but, seeing Chonita at the altar, Burton halts the search.
Burton approaches to ask Chonita if she has found comfort, is
misled by her embarrassment on account of BernaVs peril, and
passionately renews his vows. Bernal springs from his hiding ;
Burton draws his sword; Chonita leaps between them, receiving
a severe wound ; and soldiers rush in to bind BcrnaL

Act III. A bedchamber of Senora Anaya's home. Chonita
sleeps brokenly; in a dream she hears a shot and springs up;
Tomasa comforts her, and the morning breaks. A Morning
Hymn is heard outside, and Padre Gabriel enters. He sends
Tomasa to plead with Burton that Chonita wishes to see him
and Bernal before she dies. A cannon shot and the sound of
the Reveille from the Mission Camp fill Chonita with anxiety;
but Padre Gabriel soothes her. Tomasa returns, followed shortly
by Burton and Bernal. Observing the impassioned scene be-
tween Bernal and Chonita, Burton exclaims aside,

"I would give life in all eternity

For one short hour of love like hers."

Chonita pleads for BernaVs life; and Burton, on the rack of love
and duty, calls, "Great God, send me death!" The Padre's
followers answer to his signal ; Burton's soldiers attempt to save

FREDERICK SHEPHERD CONVERSE 137

him; in combat with a Mexican soldier Burton purposely leaves
himself unguarded and is fatally stabbed, dying with the words,
"All that man can do I do for you."

In 'The Sacrifice" Mr. Converse has kept in mind the
operatic traditions, by making the most of scenic resources ;
his plot is full of movement and contrast. The last of the
three acts is the strongest. The dramatic interest increases
from the rise of the curtain till the final tragic outcry of the
Indian maid-servant.

The long love duet in the first act, between Chonita and
Bernal, has melody that is sufficiently simple, tuneful and
comprehensible to appeal to the general public. The Spanish
romanza which Chonita sings for Captain Burton; Bcrnal's
love song from the same act ; the songs of the Gypsy and of
the Flower Girl; and also Chonita' s Prayer, are adapted to
program uses.

Its lack of sustained success has been but the fate of the
great host of creations of its kind. Operas have been written
by the tens of thousands, many of them by the master gen-
iuses of the ages, and yet of all of these what a paltry few
have a certain place in the world repertoire of today. Of
Verdi's thirty, perhaps five may be said to be thoroughly
alive. Of Rossini's sixty-seven, the inimitable humor of
"The Barber of Seville" has kept it always welcome; the
romanticism of "William Tell" brought it a recent revival
after a thirty-five years' nap in Metropolitan mustiness;
while the gorgeous vocalism of "Semiramide" has not been
heard since Melba burst upon us with her dazzling splendor
of voice in the winter of the Chicago World's Fair. The
genius which broods in the most popular Mozart works is
but beginning a renaissance from long neglect. But why
continue? If "The Sacrifice" failed of a permanent place
in the operatic repertoire, still there is compensation in the

138 AMERICAN OPERA

thought that it was a very definite step forward ; for critical
opinion agreed that it was the best opera which at the time
of its production had been created in the United States.

Mr. Converse has written a third opera, "The Immi-
grants/' to a libretto by Percy Mackaye, adapted from his
own lyric drama of the same name. The opera has not yet
had a public presentation. Written on a commission from
the Boston Opera Company, for the season of 1914-1915,
like so many other artistic enterprises, its natural destiny
was thwarted 'by the World War. However, to it belongs
the distinction of having been the first serious opera writ-
ten in America by commission. It is on a theme distinctly
American, and full of dramatic possibilities.

Another work for the stage, "Sinbad the Sailor" has not
yet had public hearing. This is a grand opera of rather
fantastic and humorous quality, and again Percy Mackaye
is the librettist. The plot is a blending of "Beauty and the
Beast," "Sinbad and the Forty Thieves," and other amusing
and delightful features of the Arabian Nights tales.

The David Bispham Memorial Medal of the American
Opera Society of Chicago was presented to Mr. Converse,
through Mrs. Mary G. Read, president of the Massachusetts
Federation of Music Clubs, on January 19, 1926, in recogni-
tion of the merits of "The Pipe of Desire." The token was
bestowed at the close of a program of selections from "The
Pipe of Desire," in Jordan Hall.

Mr. Converse has been a wholesome influence in American
music. His has been the example of the value of a thorough
technical training, even though individual evolution be
slower. Then there have been the coherent clarity, the solid
construction, and the excellent orchestration of his sym-
phonic poems ; and lastly his operas with their fine dramatic
characterizations.

XV

WALTER DAMROSCH, WILLIAM ALBERT DEAL,
JAMES MONROE DEEMS

When the roll is done of those
who have helped to make Amer-
ica musical, what names shall
stand above that of Walter
Damrosch? For full two score
of years he has gone into every
available part of our land, with
Symphony Orchestra, with
Opera, and always as the prophet
of the best in musical art. And
with this, though he first
breathed in the land of Bach and
Handel, he is not ashamed to say,
"I am an American musician."

Walter Johannes Damrosch was born January 30, 1862, in
Breslau, Silesia. His father, Leopold Damrosch, founded
the Breslau Orchestra Verein and then in 1871, when Walter
was nine, migrated to America to become the conductor of
the Arion Society of New York, to establish the Oratorio
Society in 1873, and practically to sacrifice his life in the
arduous labors of piloting the 1884-1885 season of German
performances at the Metropolitan Opera House. His mother,
a singer of great merit, had created the role of Ortrud in the
world premiere of "Lohengrin."

Already, before coming to America, the youthful Walter
had instructions on the piano, from his father; and in his

Walter Damrotch

139

140 AMERICAN OPERA

new home he continued successively with Jean Vogt, with
Pruchner, Ferdinand von Inten, Max Pinner and Bernardus
Boeckelmann the latter, by the use of a mechanical contriv-
ance for lifting the knuckles, so weakening the young pian-
ist's third finger of his right hand as to prevent a virtuoso
career. Throughout these years and after, he was under the
leadership of his erudite father, in theoretical studies of
music as well as in conducting.

The professional career of Walter Damrosch really began
when in the spring of 1878 he acted as accompanist to August
Wilhelmj on his tour of the Southern States. A real achieve-
ment for a lad of sixteen ! At seventeen his father intrusted
him with making from the original orchestration a piano
score of the great Berlioz "Requiem" which was to be a fea-
ture of the monster musical festival of May, 1881, of which
he was to act as assistant drillmaster and official organist.

At eighteen he became conductor of the Newark Har-
monic Society, with which, assisted by orchestra and eminent
soloists, he presented not only the standard oratorios of
Handel and Mendelssohn but also such later works as Ber-
Koz's "Damnation of Faust/' Rubinstein's "Tower of Babel,"
Verdi's "Requiem" and choral extracts from the Wagner
operas. Then in the summer of 1882 he made his first visit
to Europe, when he met repeatedly with Liszt and Wagner
and attended the first performances of "Parsifal" at Bay-
reuth.

For years father and son had labored in almost spiritual
affinity for the building up of their beloved Symphony and
Oratorio societies, to which had been added the production of
German opera at the Metropolitan Opera House; so that
when, on February 15, 1885, Dr. Leopold Damrosch joined
the musical forces of the spirit world, his mantle fell grace-
fully on the shoulders of the younger Walter. Almost in a

WALTER DAMROSCH 141

night he was left to conduct and manage the final week of
the New York season of German opera as well as a short
tour including Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.

In 1886 he was invited to Europe to conduct selections
from his father's cantata, "Sulamith," at Sonderhauscn ;
and on March 3, 1887, he gave in memory of Liszt, the first
complete performance in America of the Abbe's "Christus."
The subsequent summer Mr. Damrosch was at the home of
Andrew Carnegie, near Perth, Scotland, and there he met
Margaret, daughter of the brilliant statesman, James G.
Blaine, who, on May 17, 1890, was to become his life part-
ner. It was in the autumn of this same year that he became
conductor of the German operas for the Metropolitan Com-
pany, then under the management of Maurice Grau.

By 1891 a reaction from seven years of German opera
at the Metropolitan, and consequent deficits for the guar-
antors, brought the return of Abbey, SchoefTel and Grau
as managers and a repertoire that was almost exclusively
Italian and French. Then, to fill the void, in 1895 the Dam-
rosch Opera Company was formed and began four success-
ful seasons which took German opera into every musical
center as far west as Kansas City and Denver, everywhere
initiating the public into the intricacies, beauties and won-
ders of "The Nibelungen Ring," "Tristan and Isolde" and
"Die Meistersinger."

His "Manila Te Deum" was written in the summer of
1898 and produced by the Oratorio Society in New York,
under his own direction, on the following December 3rd,
with Admiral Dewey and Governor Theodore Roosevelt in
prominent boxes.

When at the age of twenty-three Walter Damrosch took
up the baton of the New York Symphony Orchestra, there
were but three of these major organizations in America:

142 AMERICAN OPERA

this one; the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, of which
Theodore Thomas was conductor, and from which were
chosen the men for his traveling organization; and the Bos-
ton Symphony Orchestra. He gave the first performance of
"Parsifal" (concert form) outside of Bayreuth, by the
Oratorio Society in 1887; in 1892 he led the first Handel
Festival in America, in celebration of the one hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the first performance of the "Mes-
siah" ; and in the same year he gave the first American per-
formance of Saint-Saens' "Samson and Delilah," in concert
form. He also gave the first performance since the master's
death, of Handel's "Acis and Galatea." This was followed,
in 1909, by the first Beethoven Festival in New York; and
later came the first Brahms Festival in America.

In the spring of 1915 he wrote the incidental music for
the "Iphigenia in Aulis" of Euripides and for the "Medea"
of Sophocles, for their presentations under the direction of
Margaret Anglin, in the Greek Theater of Berkeley, Cali-
fornia, during the San Francisco World's Fair of that sum-
mer. In the World War he founded at Chaumont, France,
a school for bandmasters of the American Expeditionary
Forces, and also conducted an orchestra of fifty French
musicians throughout the recreation centers, camps and hos-
pitals of the Allies in Europe. On the invitation of the
Ministre dcs Beaux Arts, in 1920 he took the New York
Symphony Orchestra for a series of concerts in France;
which visit was extended, by invitations, to include Monte
Carlo, Italy, Belgium, Holland and England. On this tour
Mr. Damrosch was elected an Honorary Member of the
Orchestra of the Paris Conservatoire and made a member
of the Legion d'Honneur, received the Gold Medal of the
Banda Communale of Rome, and in London was made a

WALTER DAMROSCH 143

Member and given the Silver Medal of the Worshipful
Company of Musicians founded by James I in 1604.

Mr. Damrosch's first opera, "The Scarlet Letter," * was
begun in the summer of 1894. Hawthorne's story of the
picturesque life of old Boston had long held a special interest
for the composer and he had constructed a scenario of the
book some years before starting the score. He now pre-
vailed upon George Parsons Lathrop, son-in-law of Nathan-
iel Hawthorne, to prepare the libretto; and the score was
completed in the summer of 1895. Its first performance
was by the Damrosch Opera Company, at Boston, on Feb-
ruary 10, 1896, when it achieved the distinction of being
the first American grand opera ever produced in "The Hub."
In Boston, New York and Philadelphia it reached in all its
sixth performance by this same company.

The Boston Cast

Hester Prynne Johanna Gadski

Roger Chillingworth Wilhelm Mertens

Arthur Dimmesdale Banon Berthold

Governor Bellingham Conrad Behrens

Rev. John Williams Gerhard Stehmann

Captain Otto Raberg

Jailor Julius von Putlitz

Conductor Walter Damrosch

Boston rose to the occasion with recalls and recalls, and
a laurel wreath and other mementos for the composer. In
spite of the dictum of Anton Seidl, who for years had given
but grudging recognition to the young knight who dared
aspire to his Wagnerian spurs, and who now cynically dubbed
the work a "New England Nibelong Trilogy 11 ; and with-
out refusing to note the all-too-evident presence of Wagner
influences; still there is much in the opera to indicate that
had Walter Damrosch chosen to turn to creative work with

144 AMERICAN OPERA

the same zeal that he has shown as a crusader in the inter-
preting of the writings of other minds, the literature of the
musical world would have been much the richer.

The scene is Boston in the old Colonial days of Governor Endi-
cott; and the performance is divided into three acts.

Hester Prynne, led from the prison and pilloried before the
wagging heads and tauntings of the straight-laced populace, re-
fuses to disclose the name of the partner in her sin; while the
unsuspected Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is made to beg her
to do so. When he is gone she faints in the arms of her hus-
band, Roger Chillingworth, to the accompaniment of the Doxol-
ogy from the near-by church.

Dimmesdale is on his way to Hester's woodland cabin when
Chillingworth meets him and urges that he talk frankly with her.
The wretched Dimmesdale tells Hester of a hidden Scarlet
Letter that flames on his own flesh. Hester then divulges that
Chillingworth is her husband, but declares her willingness to flee
with Dimmesdale, at which he tears the glowing letter from her
breast and for a few happy moments they abandon themselves
to their emotions.

At Boston Harbor Hester discovers that Chillingworth has
taken passage on the very ship on which she and Arthur had
designed their flight. His plans and pleasure melt when Gover-
nor Bellingham and the worthies of the colony enter escorted by
the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. From among
them the black-robed sinner Dimmesdale calls Hester, and hand
in hand they mount the pillory. Dimmesdale confesses his sin
and bares the glowing letter on his skin. The astounded assembly
chants the justice of God while Hester's stricken lover tells her
that he is soon to be in those happy realms of which they have
dreamed; and Hester, divining all, drains a hidden phial of
poison that they may take their last voyage together.

Undoubtedly the most consequential American operatic
work up to the time of its appearance, Mr. Damrosch's Ger-
man parentage and education, and his training almost from
birth, together with long service under the Wagner standard,

WALTER DAMROSCH 145

led him in this instance to undertake to translate an American
theme through a foreign idiom. A capable critic tersely char-
acterized the complete work as ''soaring, too soaring, and
the orchestra is heavy enough to suit the gods of Walhalla
rather than a simple pair of Puritans." Nevertheless, despite
such exotic qualities, there are more than moments of effec-
tive writing and real beauty among these the lovely madri-
gal, 'Tis Time We Go A-Maying, the Forest Music, and
Hester's prayer.

"Cyrano de Bergerac,"* a romantic opera in four acts,
was written to the libretto of William J. Henderson, founded
on the play of Edmond Rostand. In his text Mr. Henderson
followed closely the play, preserving its main incidents and
successfully molding them to operatic requirements. Of it
Mr. Krehbeil said: "His book disclosed a knowledge of the
art of song, of the demands of the theater, and of the needs
of the composer." Ten years before the production, Mr.
Damrosch had been intrigued by the possibilities of the story
for opera, had interested Mr. Henderson, and within a year
they had practically completed the work. Then for nine
years it was thoughtfully allowed to ripen, till given a pri-
vate hearing at the composer's home, when Mr. Gatti-Casazza
accepted it for the Metropolitan on condition of certain re-
adjustments of the last act.

"Cyrano de Bergerac" had its world premiere at the Metro-
politan Opera House on February 27, 1913. In the enthu-
siasm of the occasion there were nine curtain calls at the
close of the first act, for cast, conductor, composer and libret-
tist; and the composer spoke from the stage after the bal-
cony scene and at the close of the performance. The opera
had three other interpretations during that season, but has
not again been in the repertoire. It was given once in At-
lanta, in the week of April 23d, by the same company.

146 AMERICAN OPERA

Metropolitan Cast

Cyrano de Bergerac Pasquale Amato

Roxane Frances Alda

Duenna Marie Mattfeld

Lise Vera Curtis

A Flower Girl Louise Cox

Mother Superior Florence Mulford

Christian Riccardo Martin

Ragueneau Albert Reiss

De Guiche Putnam Griswold

Le Bret William Hinshaw

First Musketeer Basil Ruuysdael

Second Musketeer Marcel Reiner

Montfleury) T ... ,

A Cadet \ Lambert Murphey

A Monk Antonio Pini-Corsi

/Austin Hughes

Four Cavaliers ) Paolo Ananian

) Maurice Sapio
\Louis Kreidler
Conductor Alfred Hertz

The Place is the Paris of Louis XIII, and its environs; the
Time, 1640.

Act I. Inside the Hotel de Bourgogne. In which a play,
"La Clorise," is interrupted by Cyrano when the leading actor
ogles his cousin Roxane to whom a hideous nose prevents his
own addresses. Roxane sees the man she has been led to love.
Cyrano wounds De Guiche, a married suitor of Roxane, and
rushes off to disperse a hundred desperadoes.

Act II. Ragueneau's Cook and Pastry Shop. In which
Cyrano writes a passionate letter to Roxane; but hope is crushed
when he is told that her heart beats only for Christian who is to
join his regiment. Cyrano promises to protect Christian, even
to win him for Roxane by his own wit and verse.

Act III. A Small Square in the old Marais. In which Chris-
tian rebels at but accepts love by proxy; Cyrano woos front
beneath RoxanJs balcony; a Priest ambassador is decoyed into

WALTER DAMROSCH 147

consummating a wedding; for which De Guiche sends Cyrano
and Christian to the front.

Act IV. Scene I. An Entrenchment at Arras. To which
Roxanc is enticed by letters from Cyrano, supposed to be from
Christian, and discovers her misplaced love; Christian leaves the

lovers together; but when he is carried in fatally wounded,
Roxane discovers him to be the object of her true affection.

Act IV. Scene II. A Convent Garden near Arras. Roxanc,
seeking shelter, finds Cyrano wounded unto death. Through
reading Christian's letter he betrays his love, though denying it
to Roxane and dying "without a stain upon my soldier's snow-
white plume."

The score of "Cyrano de Bergerac" is invested with a
fair share of humor. Of the opera no less an authority than
Charles Martin Loeffler wrote to the composer, ''I take off
my hat and bow low to him who could write the score of
'Cyrano.' " The composer has intimated a "more Italian and
French influence in the music than German." Cyrano's
grotesque nose is interpreted by the whole-tone scale, though
Debussy had not yet made this device commonly known.
The Serenade of Act III is probably the number best suited
to concert use; and the love music of the same act is adapted
to opera study club programs,

On December 15, 1926, Dr. Damrosch retired as regular
conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra. He had
become in 1923 the Musical Counsel of the National Broad-
casting Company. His Educational Hours in this connection

148 AMERICAN OPERA

have been an inestimable service to musical culture in Amer-
ica. He received in 1929 the David Bispham Medal of the
American Opera Society of Chicago.

WILLIAM ALBERT DEAL

William Albert Deal was born February 29, 1874, at Day-
ton, Ohio, of American parents ; but, since childhood, Missis-
sippi has been his home. His musical education was finished
with John A. van Broekhoven and Otto Singer of Cincinnati
and Karl Merz at Oxford, Ohio. He was for some years
an orchestral leader in St. Louis and on tour. Of larger
musical works he has written a pageant, based on The Pied
Piper of Hamelin, by Browning, which was produced on May
2, 1927, at Greenwood, Mississippi. Several musical numbers
from this have won prizes.

"The Rings of Chuanto," a lyric drama in two acts, was
first produced at Greenwood, Mississippi, on March 7, 1929,
then at Ashville, North Carolina, in June of 1930; and on
November 25, 1932, it was broadcasted from Jackson, Missis-
sippi. The story is by the composer, with its lyrical adapta-
tion by Mrs. William McQuisto Sykes.

The place is a Curio Shop in San Francisco's Chinatown.
The story is a melodrama of greed and murder for the hand
of an American-born Chinese girl, with the fate of several
persons hanging on the possession of three rings which in
turn bring to their possessors either wealth, love or death.

JAMES MONROE DEEMS

James Monroe Deems was born on January 9, 1818, in
Baltimore. At five he played the bugle and at thirteen both

JAMES MONROE DEEMS 149

the clarinet and French horn. He studied the piano, organ
and composition and finished his study of composition under
J. J. F. Dotzauer of Dresden.

On returning to America he taught in Baltimore till 1858,
when he became instructor of music in the University of
Virginia (an accredited professorship was not established till
in 1919). He devoted much time to composition for voice,
piano and other instruments. An oratorio, "Nebuchadnez-
zar," closes with a triple fugue with three subjects. He wrote
a comic opera and then the grand opera, "Esther," in four
acts, based, of course, on the life of the biblical heroine. Of
it the critic, J. O. von Prochazka wrote that the music is Men-
delssohnian in style with dramatic qualities characteristic of
Mehul. It requires real vocalists of the Rossini type ; and
the orchestral demands are those of the Weber and Beethoven
operas.

XVI
REGINALD DEKOVEN

Henry Louis Reginald deKo-
ven, one of the most distinctly
American of our composers, was
born at Middletown, Connecticut,
April 3, 1859, of early New Eng-
land stock. When Reginald was
just entering the teens, his father
in 1872 moved to England,
where the son was chiefly edu-
cated, graduating from St.
John's College, Oxford, in 1880,
with honors, though the young-
est A.B. of the year. He then
went to Stuttgart to resume the

musical training which he had begun as a child in Middle-
town, with the intention of becoming a pianist. As time
passed his interest turned to composition which he studied
with Genee of Vienna and with Delibes in Paris. He also
had singing with Vannuccini of Florence and did some
musical studies at Frankfort, gaining thus a cosmopolitan
culture.

Returning to America, he for some years resided in Chi-
cago, combining business with music, and there married Miss
Anna Farwell, daughter of a prominent merchant of the
city. His first excursion in music for the stage was "Cupid,

150

Reginald delCoven

REGINALD DEKOVEN 151

Hymen & Co.," on which rehearsals were started by a com-
pany which disbanded before the first performance. The
next operetta, "The Begum," was produced in Philadelphia,
by the McCaull Opera Company, on November 7, 1887, at
once became a popular favorite, and thus initiated successful
American Comic Opera. With it Mr. deKoven became a
pioneer, the beginner of an epoch. This was followed by
"Don Quixote," which had its first public hearing in Boston,
on November 18, 1889, by the Bostonians, the strongest
light opera company in American history.

Mr. deKoven was music critic of Chicago papers during
1889-1891, and then went for some years of similar work
on the New York dailies, mostly with the World. Early in
this period came the most successful of all his light operas,
one which has been given thousands of times and which has
become the classic of the American light opera stage, not
having missed performances in a single year since its pre-
miere. In fact it compares favorably with the world's best
of its type. "Robin Hood" was first presented in Chicago,
by the Bostonians, on June 9, 1890, and soon had carried the
name and fame of its composer not only to the confines of
the United States but also widely beyond. O Promise Me,
interpolated for the particular talent of Jessie Bartlett Davis,
had a vogue throughout the civilized world and for at least
two decades divided favor, at weddings, with the famous
Mendelssohn march. Under the title of "Maid Marian,"
this opera had a successful run at the Prince of Wales
Theater of London, beginning January 5, 1891. Following
it came in rapid sequence a series of sixteen light operas,
among them some of the best created in America, and for
the most of which Harry B. Smith wrote the librettos.

For many years Mr. deKoven had felt the urge to write a
grand opera, and finally this desire became a reality in "The

152 AMERICAN OPERA

Canterbury Pilgrims/' * in four acts, which was begun on
October 10, 1914, finished on December 21, 1915, produced
in New York, by the Metropolitan Opera Company, on
March 8, 1917, and had four other presentations there in that
season. Also the same company presented this work in the
Metropolitan Opera House of Philadelphia, on March 20,
1917. The libretto is by the eminent author and dramatist,
Percy Mackaye, and has for its source the classic Chauce-
rian Tales.

Cast of Premiere

Chaucer Johannes Sembach

The Wife of Bath Margarete Ober

The Prioress Edith Mason

The Squire Paul Althouse

King Richard II Albert Reiss

Johanna Marie Sundelius

The Friar Max Bloch

Joannes Pietro Audsio

Man of Law Robert Leonhardt

The Miller Basil Ruuysdael

The Host Giulio Rossi

The Herald Riccardo Tegani

rp r> i 5 Marie Tiffany

Two Girls -L,r. . ^ J

/Minnie Egener

The Summoncr Carl Schlegel

The Shipman Mario Laurenti

The Cook Pompilio Malatesta

Conductor Artur Bodansky

The place is England; the time is the late afternoon of
April 16, 1387, made memorable by Geoffrey Chaucer, the
Father of English Poetry and first Poet Laureate of Eng-
land, in the first great classic of our language, "The Canter-
bury Tales." For Mr. deKoven's opera the librettist has

REGINALD DEKOVEN 153

made Chaucer the leader of the band of pilgrims and at
the same time the pivotal character of the plot.

Act I. A band of pilgrims is assembling at Tabard Inn of
South wark, just over the Thames from London. Among the
additions are the Prioress, with Joannes, an attendant priest,
carrying her pet dog. Last comes Alisoun, The Wife of Bath,
on a white ass. She is a jolly, whimsical, buxom woman of the
middle class, who has had five husbands and is angling for the
sixth. She at once conceives a whim for Chaucer, rebuffs a
stage full of suitors in his favor and develops a jealousy of the
Prioress to whom Chaucer's heart has been warming and who
tells him she goes to Canterbury to meet a brother returning from
the Crusades, whom she will know by the ring bearing the same
inscription as is on her bracelet. Alisoun leads Chaucer to accept
a wager that if she secures the Prioress' bracelet with the motto
"Amor Vincit Omnia" he is to marry her.

Act II. The Garden of the One Nine-Pin Inn at Bob-up-and-
down, on the road to Canterbury, on the third day of the journey.
The boy Squire makes love to Johanna, newly arrived from
Italy. Chaucer helps the Squire by writing poetic addresses
playfully inscribed to Eglantine, which the Prioress had con-
fided to be her name. The Squire involves matters by mention-
ing incidentally that he has an aunt of this same name whom
his father, the Knight, journeys to meet. The Wife of Bath
shrewdly decides to pass herself off as the Knight's sister, to
steal his ring, to masquerade as the Knight and so to get the
Prioress' companion jewel.

Act III. The Hall of the One Nine-Pin Inn. It is evening.
A double love scene of Chaucer and the Prioress, and of Johanna
and the Squire, is interrupted by Goodwifc Alisoun disguised as
the Knight. She demands her "sister" and shows her ring.
Others in the conspiracy help to convince Chaucer that the
Prioress meets a lover here. The tangle ends in a challenge to a
duel, when the Wife of Bath strips off her wig and beard, and
holds up the ring. She has bagged her game.

Act IV. Before the doors of Canterbury Cathedral passing
pilgrims are blessed by a priest. A Man of Law declares to
Chaucer, now quite subdued by Alisoun, that she, having had

154 AMERICAN OPERA

five husbands, may not wed a sixth by English law, under penalty
of hanging, save by special dispensation of the King, who hap-
pens in Canterbury on this day. On receiving the appeal the
King decrees that the Wife of Bath may marry again on condi-
tion that she shall marry a miller. A miller who has been suing
for her favor presents himself, and Alisoun, kissing him, ex-
claims, "Thou sect pig's eye, I take thee." The crowd moves
towards the Cathedral, there is a reconciliation and the Poet and
Prioress are about to enter happily together as the curtain falls.

"The Canterbury Pilgrims" was given five performances
in its first season, winning perhaps more favorable comment
from the press than any serious American opera up to that
time. It was to have been in the regular repertoire of the
winter of 1916-1917 and was on the stage at the Metropolitan
when announcement was made of President Wilson's declara-
tion of war. Mme. Ober (German) was so affected by the
news that she fainted and was carried off the stage, while
similar scenes were reported to have transpired in the wings.
This so aroused public sentiment that the directors of the
company asked for her dismissal, which unprecedented in-
terference with his prerogatives so incensed Mr. Gatli-
Casazza that he refused to assemble another cast.

In "The Canterbury Pilgrims" deKoven had a subject
wonderfully suited to delicate and poetic musical interpreta-
tion. There were romance, the glamor of a bygone age, with
a chance for keen and clever character delineation. If he
failed in imparting to these that elusive "charm" which leads
a fickle public in its thrall; well a noble stride was made
towards the goal.

The favorable reception of "The Canterbury Pilgrims"
quickened the composer to undertake another contribution
to American Opera. American he was to the core. Amer-
ican Opera, and that in English, he had championed with
voice, pen, and with practical effort. And so, again with

REGINALD DEKOVEN 155

Mr. Mackaye as librettist, and with a commission from
Cieofonte Campanini of the Chicago Opera as a stimulus, he
essayed a second grand opera, based on a Colonial legend en-
shrined in literature by Washington Irving and in the an-
nals of the drama by Joseph Jefferson.

"Rip Van Winkle"* had a successful premiere by the Chi-
cago Opera Company, at the Auditorium, on January 2, 1920,
and it was repeated to the season subscribers on January
8th. For its third performance, on January 17th, to the
general public, long queues stood in the streets, for the ad-
vance sale of tickets. In the full flush of these achieve-
ments, and at a dinner-dance given in his honor by Mrs.
Joseph Fish, in her South Side mansion, on the evening of
January 16th, America lost one of her most gifted melodists.
Mr. deKoven had just finished a dance and had remarked,
"This is a wonderful time for me, 'Rip Van Winkle* pleases
the public immensely," when he leaned back in a settee and
in ten minutes had expired from an apoplectic stroke.

"Rip Van Winkle" was given its first New York perform-
ance at the Lexington Theater, again by the Chicago Opera
Company, on the evening of January 30th. Though pre-
sented on a strange stage, without rehearsal, the audience
was enthusiastic and the critics found nothing to displease
them except what they chose to designate as "muddy orches-
tration/' a condition induced by certain defects of the build-
ing which the stage manager and conductor did not at the
time understand.

Cast of Chicago Premiere

Peterkee Vedder Evelyn Herbert

Rip Van Winkle Georges Baklanoff

Hendrick Hudson Hector Dufranne

Dirck Spuytenduyvil Edouard Cotreuil

Nicholas Vedder Gustave Huberdeau

156 AMERICAN OPERA

Katrina Veddcr Edna Darch

Derrick Van Bummel Constantin Nicolay

Jan Van Bummel Edmond Warnery

Hans Van Bummel Howard Carroll

Goose Girl Emma Noe

Conductor Alexander Smallens

The libretto is derived from one of the most loved folk-tales
indigenous to our soil, in which Rip Van Winkle, a ne'er-do-well
of a Dutch village in the Catskills of 1750, is in love with
Katrina, the buxom, shrewish daughter of Nicholas Vedder,
landlord of the inn. With a threat that otherwise she will marry
Jan Van Bummel, the silly, stammering son of the village school-
master, Katrina sends Rip for a magic flask promised by Hen-
drick Hudson who, with his phantom crew, are on their way to
a midnight game of Ten Pins played in the mountains at the end
of each twenty years. Hudson wishes Rip to marry Peterkee,
the more tractable sister of Katrina, which he brings about by
a magic potion which induces the famous twenty years' sleep of
Rip. All this is developed with many quaint and picturesque
touches that make a delightful plot with a happy ending.

"Rip Van Winkle" is a romantic fairy opera and one of
the most definite steps taken toward a native school of oper-
atic expression. It is essentially American its text having
been developed from one of the most popular of Colonial
legends, by a native son of literary note, its music by one of
the most honored of our American composers. When he
reverted to the " folk-opera/' a type which Weber had im-
mortalized in "Der Freischiitz," and to which deKoven was
the first to lend a distinctly American atmosphere in music,
he succeeded in his "Rip Van Winkle" in reviving some-
thing of the primal glories of "Robin Hood," his first opera
on a similar theme.

In addition to his great array of works for the stage, Mr.
deKoven has to his credit more than four hundred songs and
instrumental compositions for solo and in combination, as

REGINALD DEKOVEN 157

well as for orchestra. He was founder and conductor of the
Washington Symphony Orchestra ; president of The deKoven
Opera Company; and of the National Society for the Pro-
motion of Grand Opera in English. Americanism was to
him almost a religion, and he always fought any form of
foreign musical aggression, propaganda, or aggrandizement
that seemed to limit or to shut off opportunities for our
native composers and their works.

DeKoven possessed unusual qualities for the successful
composer. His fund of melody was quite inexhaustible ; his
harmonies are always appropriate, pleasing and engaging;
his rhythms are vigorous, spontaneous and never stale. But,
before all these, he had a deep and intimate musical knowl-
edge which gave sureness and satisfaction to whatever he
wrote. Like Longfellow, he combined in his works a type
of inspiration and style which pleases the connoisseur, yet
with this intertwined a human touch which makes them com-
prehensible and acceptable to the untutored auditor.

When Brander Matthews wrote, "It is now and again that
there comes a rare writer able to delight at once his brethren
of the craft and the plain people also, and he does this not
by trying to please the public but rather by expressing him-
self and by doing always the best he knows how," he etched
a living portrait of Reginald deKoven the composer.

XVII

FRANCESCO B. D E LEONE, EARL R. DRAKE
FRANCESCO B. DELEONE

Francesco Bartholomeo De-
Leone was born at Ravenna,
Ohio, July 28, 1887, the son of
Giacomo (James) Philomene
DeLeone and Teresa (Cuozzo)
DeLeone, natives of Colliano,
Province of Salerno, Italy, who
had migrated to the United
States, were married at Akron,
Ohio, and then made their home
in Ravenna. Both parents were
lovers of good music, the
mother having some ability in
the art, and both sacrificed that
their son might have a musical career.

The young Francesco's first instruction in music was at
the age of thirteen, on an old melodeon which the mother
bought for twelve dollars, much against the will of the
father. At fifteen he entered Dana's Musical Institute at
Warren, Ohio, where he had piano instruction from Lynn
B. Dana and lessons in theory from W. H. Dana, both of
whom took an unusual interest in the talented youth. In
1907 he entered the Conservatorio Reale di Musica of
Naples, where his piano studies were directed by Nicolo

158

Francesco B. DeLeon

FRANCESCO B. DELEONE 159

D'Atri and Raffaele Puzone, while for composition he had
the instruction of Camillo De Nardis. From this institution
he was graduated in 1910.

His operetta, "A Millionaire's Caprice/' had its premiere
at the Teatro Eldorado of Naples, July 26, 1910, by the
Gravina-Fournier Opera Company, and was produced
throughout Italy. In 1910 he returned to America and
took up residence in Akron, where he became Director of
Music in the Municipal University, and also organist and
director of music of the First Baptist Church. However, it
is as composer that Mr. DeLeone is most widely known.

DeLeone's "Alglala"* might well be called a "Buckeye
Opera." The librettist, Cecil Fanning, and the composer
are natives of Ohio ; "Alglala," the heroine of the story, is a
descendant of an Indian tribe once resident in the state ; then,
too, it had the fortune to have its first five performances
within this commonwealth. It was first heard on any stage,
in the Akron Armory, on May 23, 1924.

The premiere enterprise had the advantage of the power-
ful initiative of Mrs. Frank A. Seiberling, a former president
of the National Federation of Music Clubs, and the "First
Lady of Akron" ; so that when she sounded the call the city
simply fell in line. Back of it was also the American Music
Department of the National Federation of Music Clubs, with
Mrs. Edgar Stillman Kelley as chairman. At an expense
above seventeen thousand and five hundred dollars, the opera
was presented by the Cleveland Grand Opera Company and
forty instrumentalists from the Cleveland Symphony Or-
chestra, with Carl Grossman conducting. As an encouraging
evidence to other communities, of what good management
may accomplish outside a metropolis, the project netted a
profit passing one thousand dollars, which was turned to local
charities.

160 AMERICAN OPERA

Cast at Premiere

Alglala Mabel Garrison

Namegos Francis Sadlier

Ozawa-animiki Cecil Fanning

Ralph Edward Johnson

The scene is laid on the Painted Desert of Arizona; and the
time is about the year 1850. The plot is based upon an Indian
motive of those stirring days of the '49 period; and for its atmos-
phere, Cecil Fanning, the librettist, has drawn from experiences,
observations and research during several seasons spent on the
Crow Reservation of Montana.

There is a short Prologue in which, behind a gauze drop, a
group of Indians, amid clouds and mountain peaks, sing an "Ode
to the Sun, or the Great Creator." The curtain descends for an
orchestral Intermezzo and then rises to show a Chippewa tepee
on a rolling mesa near the rim of a small canyon, the alluring
Painted Desert stretching far into the distance.

Namegos (The Trout), a Chippewa and father of Alglala,
sits before his tepee, moaning for his lately departed Crow squaw.
He calls Alglala to bring water. The beautiful Alglala, full of
life and romance, chafes under the continued gloom and before
going sings the aria, "Mocking Birds," full of her rebellious
spirit. Namegos resumes his lamentations; then, hearing a dis-
tant flute, he stalks off with majestic rage. Ozawa-animiki
(Yellow Thunder), a young brave, comes in the now mystical
moonlight, urges his suit and finally folds Alglala in his blanket,
signifying betrothal. Alglala breaks away and hides in her tepee
till Ozawa-animiki departs vowing she shall be his. When
Alglala comes out softly singing to Ra-men-ni-yo. the Iroquois
god of Love; the real intrigue of the drama is introduced as
Ralph, a young White stranger, enters, faint for drink and food,
as he flees from a false charge of murder in a distant mining
camp. The appeal of the fugitive's weakness and the soft femi-
nine touch of the maiden's ministrations awake responsive notes
in either nature as the scene closes.

Scene II. An orchestral Interlude intimates the passage of a
few hours. The scene is the same; but early morn. Alglala
sings to the fire and to the kettle which swings on a tripod

FRANCESCO B. DELEONE

161

Namcgos enters and reproaches Alglala for having: given care
to the White Chief. Having taunted from her an avowal of love
for Ralph, the chieftain leaves, threatening his undoing. Ralph
comes and while Alglala urges their departure Osawa-animiki
appears. Enraged, he menaces the lovers. There is conilict of
words and then of brawn, in which Alglala seizes her woman's
ax and fells Osawa-animiki. As the Red youth expires .-//gr/a/a
begins a dance of death about his body; then, having shrowded
his corpse with her white blanket, she leads Ralph towards the
"Every-where-water" as their voices fade distantly in sweet
strains of love. Namcgos now enters, followed by a band of
braves. Finding Osawa-animiki dead and the lovers gone, the
outraged chieftain dispatches his warriors in their pursuit, with
the command: "Kill both!"

The opera offers several numbers inviting and suitable for
concert use. Alglala j "Bird Song*' is brilliant and tuneful,

j? 6<ss*~/

with flute obbligato. Her more lyric "Prayer to the Moon" ;
Ozawa-animiki's baritone air, "I Am Catching the Rays of
the Full May Moon"; the sccna of Alglala and Ozawa-
animiki, beginning- "Sly one"; and the duet of Alglala and
Ralph, "Over the Mesa Come with Me"; are worth more
than one hearing.

162 AMERICAN OPERA

On the evenings of November 14 and 15, 1924, "Alglala"
was presented in Cleveland, Ohio, again with much the same
patronage as at Akron. On the evening of the premiere of
"Alglala" DeLeone received the David Bispham Memorial
Medal of the American Opera Society of Chicago, the Gold
Medal of the National Federation of Music Clubs, the Dana r j
Musical Institute Bronze Medal, and a wreath of laurel from
the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs. Then, on January 16,
1925, the musical organizations of Akron Municipal Univer-
sity unveiled in the Akron Armory a tablet commemorating
the first hearing of "Alglala"; and on that evening, Dr.
Nicholas Cerri, Italian consul at Cleveland, Ohio, decorated
Mr. DeLeone with the insignia and title of Chevalier of the
Order of the Royal Crown of Italy, an honor conferred by
King Victor Emmanuel III, in recognition of DeLeone's
success in operatic composition.

If "Alglala" achieved nothing else, it proved that our Eng-
lish language is possible as a medium for an opera libretto.
In it are passages as poetic, as lyrical, as figurative, as highly
emotional, as have appeared in an opera of any foreign
tongue; and yet these same verses never border on the
grotesque or inartistic. For this eminent service Mr. Fan-
ning deserves the gratitude of all well-wishers of Native
American Opera.

Mr. DeLeone has now in a partially finished state another
opera, "Pergolese," which is to be in the form of a Prologue,
three acts, and an Epilogue, to an Italian text by Nicolo
Buonpane. He has also lately begun a second grand opera in
English to a libretto by Cecil Fanning.

EARL R. DRAKE

Earl R. Drake, virtuoso violinist and composer, was born
at Aurora, Illinois, November 26, 1865, and died at Chicago,

EARL R. DRAKE 163

May 6, 1916. He early showed prodigious talent for the
violin, which was developed under such masters as Adolf
Rosenbecker, Henry Schradieck, Carl Hild, and by long
association with that supreme master of his time, Joseph
Joachim. His studies in composition were finished under
Theodore Dubois in Paris.

His career as both concert artist and teacher was brilliant.
As a composer, besides many works in the smaller forms, he
left a concerto and "Gypsy Scenes" for violin and orchestra ;
a Ballet and a Dramatique Prologue for orchestra ; and a
comic opera, "The Mite and the Mighty," produced in Chi-
cago in 1915.

"The Blind Girl of Castel-Cuille" is a romantic opera with
three acts and a ballet. The book is founded on the poem
of Jaques Jasmin, translated from the French (Gascon) by
Longfellow and adapted for the stage by Sig. L. C. Baba-
rini. It was produced at the Globe Theater of Chicago, on
February 19, 1914.

The Premiere Cast

Margaret Clara Pascoline

Angela Fannie De Tray

Jane Marie Zimmerman

Count de CuillS Harry Lessin^er

Baptiste Arthur Pascoline

Paul Kinter Berkebile

Father Le Franc N. R. Mclntyre

Villagers, Wedding Guests, Soldiers, Ballet
Conductor Earl R. Drake

The scenes are those of a village, with Castel-Cuille at the foot
of the Pyrenees in the background.

Margaret, a simple-hearted maiden, was betrothed to Baptiste,
the village beau, when illness made her totally blind, her parents
broke off their engagement, and Baptiste went away. The opera
begins with his return to marry Angela, a friend of Margaret,
whom he has been persuaded to accept; and the villagers are

164 AMERICAN OPERA

gathered for the celebration of the festivities when Count Cuitte
interrupts to tell the story of the former lovers. In the second
act Margaret awaits the coming of Baptiste, of whose return
she has heard, till undeceived by Paul, her brother; and when
Jane, the crippled fortune-teller, counsels relief in prayer that
she love Baptiste less, the distracted Margaret passionately cries,
"The more I pray the more I love." In the dawning of the next
day Margaret prays at her father's grave and then conceals her-
self in the chapel confessional. In the midst of the marriage
ceremony she quietly passes to Baptiste's side, when, as she draws
a dagger from her bodice, an angel appears and she falls dead
at Baptiste's feet.

Melodic fertility and dramatic insight are the qualities
most definitely felt in Mr. Drake's creative works, which are
admired by the public and press.

XVIII

HENRY PURMORT EAMES, JULIAN EDWARDS,
PETER J. ENGELS, RALPH ERROLLE

HENRY PURMORT EAMES

Henry Purmort Eames, pianist and composer, was born
at Chicago, Illinois, September 12, 1872. He came of
Colonial ancestry, none of whom was more than passing
musical. While acquiring a liberal education at Cornell
College, Iowa, and in the Law School of Northwestern Uni-
versity, he studied also piano, theory of music with the
scholarly W. S. B. Mathews, and later had piano lessons
of William H. Sherwood. An 1894-1895 tour with Remenyi
was followed by two years of study with Clara Schumann
and Kwast. Nine years of concertizing and teaching in the
States were followed by three years again in Europe for
study, including lessons from Paderewski, and concert work.
Since this time he has been active as teacher and composer;
and in 1906 he received the degree of Doctor of Music from
Cornell College.

Of works in the larger forms, Mr. Eames has written the
musical score for three pageants, of which the librettos were
by Dr. Hartley Burr Alexander of the University of
Nebraska. "The Sacred Tree of the Omaha" was produced
five times in June, 1916, at Lincoln, Nebraska ; and the music
of this pageant has been performed as an orchestral suite in
St. Louis and Chicago. "Prairie Vespers" and "Coronado"
were presented three times, as a twin-pageant, by the

165

166 AMERICAN OPERA

Ak-Sar-Ben, of Omaha, Nebraska, in September, 1922. In
two of these, Indian themes have been used freely. The com-
poser has devoted much time and study to the myths, music
and symbolism of the Indians and for years has worked to
further music built upon backgrounds indigenous to our soil.
Mr. Eames' patriotic masque, "1917,"* with text by Dr.
Alexander, has had more than forty presentations; and an-
other, ''The Making of the Flag," has been given five times.

"Priscilla," an opera comique, was finished in 1920. It has
been several times performed privately and is awaiting proper
public presentation. As the title implies, the libretto, by
Hartley Burr Alexander, is an adaptation of the Acadian
idyl immortalized by Longfellow; only this time by many
a sprightly turn there is relief from its depressing atmos-
phere. A mildly modern and coquettish Priscilla, a threat-
ened attack of the Red Men, the inevitable "Why don't you
speak for yourself, John?" episode, and gossip Desire Minter
opportunely balming the trustful Standish's unsatisfied af-
fection; all these furnish thrill and drollery.

For the completion of his "Priscilla," Mr. Eames received
the Bispham Medal of the American Opera Society of Chi-
cago, on March 9, 1926.

JULIAN EDWARDS

Born at Manchester, England, December 11, 1855, and
educated under Sir Herbert Oakeley in Edinburgh and Sir
George Macfarren in London, Mr. Edwards became succes-
sively conductor of the Royal English Opera Company in
1877, of English Opera at Covent Garden in 1883, and then
came to the United States in 1888. Several of his lighter
operas had a considerable success. His feeling for things
theatrical was strong and of his works for the stage "Cor-
rina" was first produced at Sheffield, England, in 1880;

PETER J. ENGELS 167

"Victorian" at the same place in 1883; and in America a
tragic opera, "King Rene's Daughter/' was first given in
New York in 1893 ; "Madeline, or the Magic Kiss" in Bos-
ton in 1902; "Brian Boru" in 1896 and "Dolly Varden" in
1902 in New York. His tragic opera, "The Patriot," first
performed in Boston in 1907, was sufficiently distinctive in
its atmosphere to warrant the opinion that the works of his
later years may justly be considered as American.

PETER J. ENGELS

Peter Joseph Engels, composer, conductor, teacher, and
authority on ancient Hebrew music, was born at Cologne,
Germany, June 5, 1867, of old German stock. He came of a
musical family, a brother having been a pupil of Engelbert
Humperdinck and a recognized concert pianist. He began
piano lessons at six years of age and composition at twelve.
At seventeen he entered the Conservatory of Cologne, and
among his teachers were Ferdinand Hiller, Gustave Jensen,
Samuel De Lange, and Isidore Seiss.

At the age of twenty Mr. Engels came to the United
States, and he has been a naturalized citizen since 1892. For
many years he lived in California and was active in Los
Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, as teacher, organist,
and conductor. A number of his choral and orchestral works
were written and performed throughout the West and also
in Germany, many times under the composer's direction. In
1920 he moved to New York to devote all his time to com-
position.

"King Solomon," a biblical opera, is written to a libretto
by the composer, which was first done in German, and this
translated into English by Anna L. von Raven. This work
was completed in August, 1924. It contains an introductory
scene and three acts and requires two and a half hours for

168 AMERICAN OPERA

performance. The Prelude and third act were performed in
concert form at the New Madison Square Garden, New
York, on May 23, 1926, by the forces of the Million Dollar
Music Festival for the benefit of the First Jewish College in
America (Yeshiva), New York.

The Cast

Princess Bathja Mme. Beatrice Vero

Prophet Achija Cantor Joseph Rosenblatt

King Solomon Mr. Saol Roselle

High Priest Zadok Mr. Henry Rosenblatt

Conductor Peter J. Engels

The action takes place in the Jerusalem of King Solomon's
time, and the spectacle combines a romantic story and tradi-
tional facts.

The Introductory Scene: Kidnapping of the shepherdess,
Stilawitht in the presence of her lover, Jorim, by Benajahu the
confidant of Solomon.

Act I. King Solomon in his famous role as judj^e, including
the well-known decision about the disputed infant.

Act II. King Solomon's marriage to the Egyptian Princess,
Bathja.

Act III. The dedication of Solomon's Temple.

"Adelgunde" is a romantic opera with an introduction and
three acts. It is based on an eleventh century legend of the
Rhinegold and a noble maiden in love with a page of the
castle. Again the composer is his own librettist, with the
English version by Anna L. von Raven. The work was
begun in 1920 and finished in 1922 but has not yet had public
performance.

RALPH ERROLLE

Ralph Errolle (Smith), operatic tenor and composer, was
born in Chicago, Illinois, September 20, 1890, of American

RALPH ERROLLE 169

parents of English descent. As a boy he sang in his school's
choir, and when but twelve he began original composition, his
first effort being a march which he whistled to the band-
master of the Military School. At sixteen he became soloist
of St. James' Methodist Episcopal Church and began the
study of theory under the choirmaster, Robert Boise Carson.
At the same time he served as "super" in "Aida" when pre-
sented at the Auditorium by the original San Carlo Opera
Company (later the Boston Opera Company).

A short opera in four acts, "Bondri," was begun in 1909
and the piano score completed in 1912. Then for four years
his creative work was mostly in the form of impressionistic
songs. Through these years his ability as a singer was win-
ning recognition, and it has led him to a prominent position
among the tenors in the Metropolitan Opera Company.

It was while studying to create the leading tenor role in
Parker's "Fairyland" that he was impressed with "the possi-
bility of an opera by an American who, musically speaking,
would express himself frankly without trying to outdo any
composer or any particular school." The result was
"Elmar."

This opera in three acts, for which Mr. Errolle wrote his
own libretto to an original plot, requires ten principal singers,
a chorus, and full orchestra. It was begun in 1916, and five
practically complete scores have been prepared in bringing
it up to the approval of the composer. The story is one of
political intrigue in the Balkans of comparatively modern
times ; and there are a reconciliation and a "happy ending"
quite at variance from the usual finale of operatic carnage.
Only excerpts have been heard in

XIX

JAMES REMINGTON FAIRLAMB, FRANCESCO

FANCIULLI, EUGENE ADRIAN FARNER,

CARL FLICK-STEGER

JAMES REMINGTON FAIRLAMB

This fertile composer was born at Philadelphia, January
23, 1838, and died in New York, March 26, 1908. He was a
church organist at fourteen and later studied at the Paris
Conservatoire and in Florence, lie was four years consul
at Zurich, by President Lincoln's appointment, and at Stutt-
gart was decorated by the King of Wurtemburg with the
"Gold Medal of Art and Science," for a Tc Deum for double
chorus with orchestra.

Returning to America, he was three years in Washington,
D. C., where he organized a company and produced his grand
opera in four acts, "Valerie/* At his death he had published
over two hundred works, fifty of which were choral, and
among them were parts of two operas. His operas, "Love's
Stratagem," "The Interrupted Marriage" and "Treasured
Tokens" (which titles suggest opera comique) were not
produced ; and he left in manuscript also "Lionello," a grand
opera in five acts.

FRANCESCO FANCIULLI

Liberally gifted as a composer and to become world famous
as a band leader, Francesco Fanciulli was born in Porto San
Stefano, near Rome, Italy, in 1853. Educated in Florence,
after serving as conductor of grand opera at the Teatro

170

FRANCESCO FANCIULLI, 171

Goldoni, the Politeama and the Teatro Nazionale of that city,
in 1876 he migrated to America, writing on the way his
''Voyage of Columbus."

In his new home he became at once American in both spirit
and citizenship and soon was active in New York as organist,
conductor of the Mozart Musical Union, and teacher of sing-
ing, which latter calling he never quite abandoned till his
death on July 15, 1915. When in 1892 John Philip Sousa
retired as leader of the famous Marine Band of Washington,
Fanciulli was chosen as his successor. At the rendezvous of
fleets in Hampton Roads, in 1893, associated with the Colum-
bian Exposition at Chicago, his band won by many points
the first prize, over the similar organizations of Europe.

Among other patriotic services he wrote the music for
the Cleveland, the McKinley and the Roosevelt inaugura-
tions. On retiring from his Washington post he returned to
New York where his own concert band gave five seasons in
Central Park and was frequently called the official band of
the city. He led the music for such memorable occasions as
the Dewey festivities, the reception of the fleets of Sampson
and Schley, and the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of
the granting of the charter to New York City.

For the theater he wrote two comic operas, "The Maid of
Paradise" and "The Interpreter." Of serious works for
the musical stage he wrote three. "Gabriel di Montgomery"
was written to an Italian text. "Malinche," whose story ends
with Cortez' conquest of Mexico, is to a libretto in English,
as was, of course, his "Priscilla, the Maid of Plymouth,"
which is based on Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Stand-
ish." This last had its first production on November 1, 1901,
at Norfolk, Virginia, and was on tour as far north as
Brooklyn.

172 AMERICAN OPERA

EUGENE ADRIAN EARNER

Eugene Adrian Earner was born May 20, 1888, in Brook-
lyn, New York. His mother was of the land of Grieg, while
his father came of Swiss and French parentage. As a lad
he played the violin and conducted the orchestra and chorus
of the high school. With school finished, Mr. Earner under-
took banking but studied piano, violin, voice, harmony, com-
position and score analysis. Then came several years de-
voted entirely to study, after which he was called to Boise,
Idaho, as organist and choirmaster of St. Michael's Cathe-
dral and musical instructor in St. Margaret's School for
Girls. Here he staged several seasons of light opera, con-
ducted the Boise Civic Festival Chorus and Orchestra, and
organized the first consecutive Civic Music Week in the
United States.

His one-act opera, "The White Buffalo Maiden," was pro-
duced for the first time on any stage in the High School
Auditorium of Boise, April 26-27 ', 1923, under the auspices
of the Boise Civic Festival Chorus. In creating this work
Mr. Farner had the collaboration of Alfred Grubb, a news-
paper writer with a fine ear and the unique capacity of being
able to reduce Indian and bird musical themes and idioms
doivn to an intelligible tune line, and to put singable and
appropriate words to them. Mr. Grubb not being a practical
musician, it was while transcribing these vocally dictated
songs that Mr. Farner was inspired to create an Indian
opera.

"The White Buffalo Maiden" is the second of an intended
trilogy of one-act operas, or music-dramas. On the pro-
gram it was modestly designated as "A Western Indian
Music-Play." It is written almost entirely around Indian
themes and melodies ; and there are eight solo characters.

The place is the country of the Teton Sioux. From a

EUGENE ADRIAN EARNER 173

pioneer wagon train Kate has wandered maliciously to test
the love of Lieutenant McGowan. She is captured and
brought into the Indian village along with Charging Thunder,
the captive Chieftain of an enemy tribe. Dappled Faun in-
duces Kate to impersonate the mythical White Buffalo
Maiden, bringer of love and peace ; their connivance, to-
gether with the timely arrival of McGowan, dispels the fell
purposes of the Swamp Witch, and wonder of opera!
all ends happily.

In the words of the composer the work is a serious effort
along the following lines :

I. Making opera an appealing medium by

(a) Brevity (one hour) ; avoiding narrative in recitative,
using instead pantomime with musical accompaniment; conden-
sation of material to a series of "big scenes" with opportunities
for each singer, the chorus, and orchestra; by

(b) Being to the point striving for the self -unconscious
naturalness of Gilbert and Sullivan, the direct and simple de-
scription of Gluck, the vocal opportunity in Mozart, the action
of the "movies"; by

(c) Use of small cast, small chorus and small orchestra, facili-
tating productions on tour; and by

(d) A full measure of popular dramatic interest.

CARL FLICK-STEGER

When Carl Flick- Steger's "Dorian Gray," with its libretto
adapted by Olaf Pedersen, from Oscar Wilde's novel, had its
world premiere at Aussig, Bohemia, on March first, tenth and
fifteenth of 1930, the composer was mentioned in the press
as an American. As, however, he was born in Vienna, on
December 13, 1889, was brought to the United States when
about four years of age, received his general and musical

174 AMERICAN OPERA

education here, returned to Europe in 1920 to complete his
studies, has chosen to remain there, and has written his opera
there, it would seem a little strained to lay much stress on the
Americanism of his work.

XX

PIETRO FLORIDIA, CARYL FLORIO,
HAMILTON FORREST

PIETRO FLORIDIA

Pietro Floridia (hereditary Baron
Napolino di San Silvestro) was
born in Modica, Sicily, May 5,
1860, the son of Francesco and
Anna Maria (Napolino) Floridia.
At the age of thirteen he entered the
Royal Conservatory of San Pietro
a Majella of Naples, where for six
years he had as instructors Beni-
amino Cesi and Paolo Serrao for
the piano, and Lauro Rossi for
counterpoint and composition.
While in this school he published
several compositions for the pianoforte which were very
successful.

His opera comica in three acts, "Carlotta Clepier," was
brought out at Naples in 1882, the score of which he after-
wards destroyed. He toured as a pianist in 1885-1886, and
from 1888 to 1892 was professor in the conservatory of
Palermo. In 1889 he won the first prize for a grand
symphony in four movements, offered by the Societd, del
Quartette of Milan ; and late in 1892 he settled in Milan to
devote his whole time to composition. "Maruzza," an opera

175

Pietro Floridia

176 AMERICAN OPERA

for which he was his own librettist, was produced in Venice
in the season of 1894; and "La Colonia" (based on Bret
liarte's "M'Liss") had its initial hearing in Rome in 1899.

Mr. Floridia arrived in the United States on April 5, 1904,
and beginning in 1906 he was for two years a member of the
faculty of the Cincinnati College of Music, after which he
moved to New York.

Two years before doing so, Mr. Floridia had made his
decision to migrate to America. He at once began studying
American literature for a possible story for an opera libretto ;
and, of "The Scarlet Letter" and "Ramona," he chose the
former as appealing more to the dramatic sense. After retir-
ing to Switzerland to spend eighteen months on creating a
score which he felt "should be a work of beauty, based on
simplicity and sincerity," he arrived in America to be at
once greeted with the news that Mr. Walter Damrosch, but
a few years before, had written and produced an opera on
this same theme. However, Mr. Conned, during his incum-
bency at the Metropolitan, gave his opera favorable con-
sideration; but the score disappeared, resulting in a memo-
rable lawsuit in which the composer asked one hundred thou-
sand dollars for property loss and damages, in the midst of
which litigation Mr. Conried died, two months after which
the score was found and returned to the owner.

The muse of American Opera had a mild thrill on the night
of August 29, 1910, when for the first time in our history
a grand opera was given under municipal auspices. It was
the first work of its type ever written in America, commis-
sioned expressly for the celebration of an historical event.
The occasion was the Ohio Valley Exposition ; the sponsor-
city was Cincinnati ; the work was the "Paoletta"* of Pietro
Floridia. Music Hall, of May Festival fame, was filled to
capacity; and at the close of the first act there was a -furore

PIETRO FLORIDIA 177

with forty-eight curtain calls for principals and composer
perhaps the record for America. There was a season of
twenty-nine performances, including matinees and those on
Sunday by special permission of the authorities. For many
of these, hundreds were turned away; and the season closed
only because Music Hall was no longer available.

To write a work for a special occasion, with qualities which
would satisfy the standards of the musician and at the same
time possess the tunefulness which would appeal to the
general public, was the problem of the composer and in
his efforts he seems not to have fallen between two stools.
Which raises always in the captious the question as to
whether a creative artist can do his best work "under orders."
And while, to be fair, it must be admitted that orders, com-
missions and prizes have brought into temporary notice a
deal of rubbish ; yet be it remembered that one of the greatest
operas of all time, Mozart's "Don Giovanni," was written on
a hurried order from the director of the Prague opera house ;
that "A'ida," that propitious marriage of music and pag-
eantry which has inaugurated more opera houses and opera
seasons than any other similar work for the stage, was
written on a special contract with the Khedive of Egypt,
and that not without a considerable bargaining over prices.
Then, in more recent years, was it not the lure of a six
hundred dollars prize on the mainland which brought
"Cavalleria Rusticana" safely into the operatic port?

Premiere Cast

Paoletto Bernice de Pasquali

Jacinta Cecilia Hoffman

King of Castile Tom Daniel

Gomarez-Muza David Bispham

Don Pedro Humbird Duffey

Don Fernan James Hatred

178 AMERICAN OPERA

Don Julian Harrison Brockbank

Cerda Joseph Schenke

Court Crier Joseph Schenke

Chorus of Men, ninety voices
Chorus of Women, fifty voices
Chorus of Boys, eighteen voices

Ballet of fifteen dancers

Orchestra of fifty-three members, with three

stage trumpets, one stage drum and grand organ

Conductor Pietro Floridia

The libretto was by Paul Jones, a prominent Cincinnati
artist who was scarcely less known in the kindred field of
literature. The scenario was sketched from his story, "The
Sacred Mirror," an episode in one of the Moorish invasions
of Spain. The place is the Royal Palace of Castile, and the
time is medieval.

The King of Castile, at war with Aragon, having appealed in
vain to the Sacred Mirror a talisman brought from Jerusalem
by a crusading ancestor commands an Astrologer, Gomarcz, to
read the stars of the royal house. Though pretending to be a
Christian convert, Gomarcz is really a necromancer serving
Azazil, the Spirit of Darkness, and, in spite of age, is infatuated
with Paolctta, daughter of the King.

Casting the King's horoscope, Gomarcz declares that only the
marriage of the Princess will restore the stars of the royal house
to their ascendency and thereby win the war for Castile. While
concealing his motive, he persuades the King to decree her hand
to that Prince who shall achieve the most in arms against Aragon.
At the Fiesta of the Flowers, the King makes his proclamation,
and each prince declares his intention to strive for Paolctta's
hand. With the unmasking the princes are astonished to find
Gomarez among them ; and their ridicule prods him to announce
that he is there only as a proxy for a distant nephew, Prince
Muza, who is ill.

Humiliated, Gomarez appeals to Azazil for a period of second
youth, which is granted. The contest narrows to Prince Muza

PIETRO FLORIDIA 179

(really Gomares in disguise), and a valorous knight, Don Pedro.
Both have proved equally brave against Aragon; but already
Don Pedro is loved by Paoletta. While upbraiding Paolctta for
her inconstancy, Don Pedro is one night surprised by his rival,
upon the sanctuary terrace after forbidden hours. A duel en-
sues; Prince Muza is wounded; Don Pedro escapes, but is for-
ever banished by the King who, too, has fallen under the spell
of Muza.

Paolctta is betrothed to Prince Muza, and on the night of the
marriage the minstrels appear in the Hall of the Scarlet Poppies
1o sing the praises of the Moorish Prince. Suddenly throwing
off his disguise, Don Pedro stands before them. Amid the con-
sternation the priests appear with the Sacred Mirror, to bless
the marriage ceremony and to well-omen the bride by flashing the
Mirror's rays upon her. As the divine light glows upon
Paolctta, Prince Muza's spell over her is broken and with a cry
of joy she rushes into Don Pedro's arms. While illuming the
Princess, the rays have fallen also upon Prince Muza, who slowly
turns to an old man whom all recognize as Gomarez, and who,
dying, sinks to the floor.

Among numbers which would be attractive on the concert
platform are the "Serenade" of Don Pedro, an exquisite
scherzo movement for Paoletta and Jacinta, and the arias of
Don Pedro and Gomarcz, all in the second act. A duet for
Paolctta and Jacinta, in the third act, with obbligati for flute
and two clarinets, is a superlative opportunity for the color-
atura soprano ; while Paoletta's "Dove'* Song which follows
is a beautiful waltz which should still be heard. The Ladies'
Chorus, "Tomorrow/' is especially attractive.

To present the conditions under which a work commis-
sioned for such an occasion must be created, liberal quotation
is made from correspondence with the composer:

"The opera had to be in four acts, requiring artistic opportuni-
ties for the splendid May Festival Chorus out of which I had
one hundred and sixty-eight selected voices to use and plenty
of pageantry, and showy work for the principals.

180 AMERICAN OPERA

"The general outline of the opera was very big. The most
important point, the one the Directors chiefly insisted upon, was
that, while the work should be a grand opera in the real sense
of the word, it should be of such a character as to attract the
generality of the public. 'Popular' was the most insistent re-
quest; easy, melodious, accessible to everybody's understanding
nothing of what they called 'high-brow' music, but at the same
time nothing that could suggest musical comedy, or even light
opera. In other words, a kind of 'Akla/ but in much more
popular style.

"With such artistic limitations on one side, and such a broad
and large outline on the other, you can understand the difficulties
the composer had to face at every step. However, I tried my
best, giving important ensembles to the chorus ; sometimes using
it as three separate choruses, as in the Finale of Act I ; or in two
separate choruses, as in the second act. For the principals
I decided to have simple, melodious work for the tenor, and showy
'fireworks' for the coloratura soprano, reserving for the sombre
magician Gomarez (baritone) the most artistic pages of the
score. Of course, I did so as soon as I was sure that my dear
friend David Bispham was willing to create the role; and he was
really great in it and won the highest appreciation from the pub-
lic, thus demonstrating that real art is not above the heads of the
general public.

"I wrote the first note of the opera on the 29th of November,
1909, and the last note of my orchestral score on August 10, 1910
less than nine months, often interrupted by visits to New York
to engage artists and supervise scenic and other preparations."

Relative to the performance The Inquirer (Cincinnati)
mentioned "such beauties of melody and pageantry as the
historic stage of Music Hall has never before witnessed";
and, "The superb climax of the first act is constructed by a
master hand, forms an overwhelming climax, and is probably
the highest point in the entire work."

The first act of "Paoletta," with some condensation, was
produced at the Capitol Theater, New York, late in March

CARYL FLORIO 181

of 1920. During its run of one week it received favorable
criticism from the press and an enthusiastic reception by the
public. A "Symphony in D Minor," of the composer's youth,
was well received when played by the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra. Mr. Floridia became a naturalized citizen of the
United States in 1917, the delay having been occasioned by
no desire on his part but for reasons of family equity.

For his "Paoletta," Mr. Floridia received, on October 30,
1930, the David Bispham Medal of the American Opera So-
ciety of Chicago. He died in New York, August 16, 1932.

CARYL FLORIO

Caryl Florio (pen name of William James Robjohn) was
born at Tavistock, Devon, England, November 3, 1843. He
came to New York in 1857 and the next year became the first
solo boy-soprano of Trinity Church. Self-taught in music,
his versatility enabled him at various times to essay acceptably
the roles of singer on the stage, actor, critic, player, accom-
panist, leader of the old Vocal Society and Palestrina Choir
of New York; of conductor of opera at Havana and in the
Academy of Music at Philadelphia; and of organist and
choirmaster in prominent churches of Newport, New York,
Baltimore, Brooklyn, and finally of All Souls' Church of
Biltmore, North Carolina, where he died November 21, 1920.

Besides many smaller compositions in both vocal and in-
strumental forms, he wrote a Piano Concerto^ in F; three
cantatas; two overtures and two symphonies for orchestra;
and three operettas, "Inferno" in 1871, "Tours of Mercury"
in 1872 and "Susanne" in 1876. Of grand operas he wrote
two. "Gulda" was written for New York in 1879 but no
record is left of its performance. Of this and his operettas

182 AMERICAN OPERA

he was his own librettist. His "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was
performed in Philadelphia in 1882 a serious opera with
music of considerable merit.

HAMILTON FORREST

Hamilton Forrest, one of the most promising of our
younger composers, was born in Chicago, Illinois, January
8, 1901, of British-French ancestry, none of whom has been
a musician, professionally, though his mother was richly
gifted in this talent.

As a boy he was for three years soprano soloist at the
Church of the Redeemer ; then for four years he held a simi-
lar position at Trinity Episcopal Church, where he, in 1913,
won the medal for musical progress. He also had piano in-
struction from a private tutor; but this his mother stopped
when he was fourteen, because he would not practice ; and it
was then that he began to try his hand at writing.

At seventeen he left high school to enter an office. He
then began systematic study of theory with Laura Drake
Harris and later did similar work under Adolf Weidig, win-
ning in 1824 the Adolf Weidig Medal for Composition, at
the American Conservatory of Music.

In 1925 Mr. Forrest wrote the musical score for "The
Eve of Ivan Kupala," a ballet-pantomime given February 11,
at the Thirtieth Annual Mardi Gras of the Art Institute of
Chicago; and which was styled "a bit of genius." Among
his other compositions are "Masques" for string ensemble;
"A Scherzo-Fantasy," "Scene Kaleidoscopique," and "Danzas
Andalusians" for large orchestra; and "Watercolors" for
fourteen wind instruments and harp. His incidental music

HAMILTON FORREST 183

to "Gas" and "Rails," two plays produced at the Goodman
Theater, attracted wide notice.

"Yzdra," a grand opera in three acts, is written to a libretto
which is an adaptation of a play, "Alexander the Great,"
by Louis V. Ledoux, produced in London in 1907, and which
is in turn founded on a tale in an old volume, Secreta
Secretonnn (Secret of Secrets), usually accredited to
Aristotle. In fact, this legend seems to have had some fasci-
nation for the literary mind, as Hawthorne developed the
same story in his Rappaccini's Daughter, which is again the
foundation for Cadman's "Garden of Mystery." The place
is India ; and the time, 326 B. C.

Mary Garden has accepted the dedication of "Yzdra," and
in fact gave personal help to the composer who was his
own librettist in making the work more effective for the
stage. Of it she wrote : "I have met Mr. Hamilton Forrest
and heard a work that he had finished and found its value
very great." For his grand opera, "Yzdra," the composer
received, on March 9, 1926, the Bispham Memorial Medal
of the American Opera Society of Chicago.

Mr. Forrest has two other operas well under way:
"Kismet," a Lyric Drama; and "Marie Odile," founded on
Edward Knoblock's play with this name.

On December 10, 1930, Mr. Forrest's "Camilla" had its
first performance on any stage by the Chicago Civic Opera
Company, in the Chicago Civic Opera House, with Mary
Garden in the title role. With a prologue and three acts, the
libretto, by the composer, is based on the popular Dumas novel,
"The Lady of the Cornelias," which served similarly for
Verdi's "La Traviata." It had five later performances in
Chicago; and on February 6, 1931, the same company pre-
sented it in Boston,

184 AMERICAN OPERA

Premiere Cast

A Page of 1850 Donna Parke

A Page of 1930 Alberta Baatz

Count de G Michael Arshansky

Joseph (servant to de G.) Robert Venables

Armand Charles Hackett

Gaston (his friend) Theodore Ritch

Prudence Maria Claessens

Marguerite (Camille) Mary Garden

Saint-Gaudens Barre Hill

Julie Coe Glade

Count Giray Antonio Nicolich

The Lady on the Piano Alice d'Hermanoy

A Waiter Lodovico Oliviero

Marguerite's Butler Octave Dua

Nanine (her maid) Helen Freund

M. Duval Chase Baromeo

The Doctor Antonio Nicolich

Paul (a guest) Serge Strechneff

M. Robert (another) Giuseppe Cavadore

Jacques (a pianist) Jean Dansereau

Guests and Ballet
Conductor Emil Cooper

Though the musical score begun in Paris in 1926 and
completed at Chicago in 1927 was written to an English
libretto; in order to please "our whimsical Mary" this was
translated by Jen Lockie, into French for the production.
Which also salved an American public for whom opera, to
seem "grand," must not grate on their sensitive intelligence
by being sung in a language which they could understand.

The lines speak the language of flaming youth, with dia-
logue of stark realism on occasion. One scene is enlivened
by contemporary jazz song hits. For the most part the
characters scarcely can be said to sing but rather to talk back
and forth in emotionalized musical speech.

XXI

ALDO FRANCHETTI,
HARRY LAWRENCE FREEMAN

ALDO FRANCHETTI

The Chicago premiere of "Namiko-San" raised a small
tempest in the musical teapot. While the composer's com-
patriots are to be commended for wishing to claim his art
for their land, still it must not be forgotten that he had lived
twenty-five years in these United States, had written his
score to a libretto in English, and had applied for citizenship
and urged the hastening of his naturalization so that his
opera might qualify as an American composition. With all
this in mind, his work would seem to deserve mention here
quite as much as if it had been created by some of our
American-born composers whose training and chosen idioms
have been so noticeably exotic. After all, so many charac-
teristics of the musical art are international and inter-racial
that an attempted arbitrary boundary is lost in the misty maze
of indefinite intelligibilities.

Aldo Franchetti was born at Mantua, in 1883, a member
of a family of fame and independent fortune. Best known
of those living is Baron Alberto Franchetti whose "Cristoforo
Colombo" was some years ago produced by the Chicago
Opera Company. Nevertheless, Americans may well have a
sentimental affection for a young composer who through his
mother is scion of a family which gave to our struggling
Colonies so devoted a patriot as Paul Revere.

185

186 AMERICAN OPERA

Having had early instruction on the piano and violin, he
entered the Conservatorio Verdi of Milan, from which he
received in 1899 a diploma for composition. During his last
years in this school he composed several works for voices
with orchestra, his final work of this period heing both text
and music for a melodrama entitled "Tempora," a symbolical
idyl in four sections, which was performed several times with
success. His opera, "Reginella Triste (Sad Little Queen),"
won in 1899, against forty-two competitors, the first prize in
a competition for a one-act opera, instituted by the newspaper
77 Tirso. With Carlo Pedron he shared the prize offered in
1920, by the community of Milan, for a composition for
voices alone. Another one-act opera, "Rache," received
honorable mention in the Concorso Tofani (Tofani Contest).
Experience as conductor of several opera companies in Italy
and other countries has familiarized him with the technique
of the stage and developed his native Italian feeling for the
theatrical. He first became familiar to Americans when, in
the early days of the Chicago Opera Company, he came as
accompanist and coach of Alessandro Bonci.

When, in 1922, Mme. Tamaki Miura made a concert tour
of Japan, Aldo Franchetti was a member of her party. They
had met in 1921, at Buenos Aires, at which time Mme. Miura
confided to him her desire for an opera with a foil for her
Cio-Cio-San in "Madame Butterfly." Returned from three
months of travel throughout "The Chrysanthemum King-
dom," and still filled with the romance of that charmed land,
while browsing one day in a bookstore, Mr. Franchetti turned
up the very thing he needed a tragic tale of innocence and
youth (translated from an Ancient Japanese Tragedy) told
by Leo Duran, a French-American writer who lived ten
years in Japan. The original play, called "The Daymio,"
which means "Warrior Chief" or "absolute ruler of a prov-

ALDO FRANCHETTI 187

gruesome ending into one of greater poetry and pathos. Thus
on the night of December 11, 1925, when "Namiko-San"
had its initial hearing, Chicago became a veritable operatic
melting-pot as a Frenchman's tale of Japan which had been
done into an English libretto by an Italian, who also had
written to it a musical score, had its title role created by a
Japanese prima donna singing English.

Cast for the Premiere

Yiro Danyemon, the Daymio Richard Bonelli

Namiko-San, a Geisha Tamaki Miura

Yasui, an Itinerant Monk Theodore Ritch

Sato, an Old Gardener Vittorio Trevisan

Kajiro, Assistant Gardener Lodovico Oliviero

Towa-San, an Old Widow Alice d'Hermanoy

An Ashigaro, a Soldier Antonio Nicolich

The Young Lovers ( Elizabeth Kcrr

^ Jose Mojica

Conductor Aldo Franchetti

"Namiko-San" is a Lyric Tragedy of medieval Japan, tht
action taking place from dusk to early evening. The scene is a
valley, with snow-capped Fujiyama in the distance. Nestling in
the foreground is the tiny bamboo house of Namiko-San, the
sixteen-year-old geisha of Yiro Danyemon, the warrior prince of
the province. Yiro, in carrying out his determination to destroy
all who pilfer rice from his plantation, goes about attended by a
few samurais (knights) and ashigarus (soldiers) dealing prompt
retribution to the captured.

The action begins with a band of Yiro's servants pursuing a
poor old woman who has stolen a small quantity of rice and
whom they capture near the temple of Nikko hard by the house
of Namiko-San.

On a pilgrimage, Yasui, a youthful monk, stops to ask Namiko-
San for a bit of rice or wine in exchange for a blessing. Yasui
has never seen anything so beautiful as Namiko-San, who, un-
touched by love, finds a mysterious fascination in the poverty-
stricken monk; and between them at once springs up a pure

188 AMERICAN OPERA

affection. A bugle call of the prince is heard. Knowing Yiro's
hatred of all monks, Yasui moves to leave ; but Namiko-San first
exacts a promise that he will return in the evening, when she has
hung out a red lantern indicating Yiro's absence.

With a blare of trumpets the prince and his men enter with the
captured old woman; but the appearance of Namiko-San in a
resplendent white kimono gives Sato an opportunity by which he
helps the captive woman to escape. Left to themselves, Namiko-
San attempts by lore-making to quiet the Daymio; but unfor-
tunately he discovers evidences of Yasui's frugal meal and, where
it had been dropped, his rosary. Mad with jealousy, Yiro places
the rosary about Namiko-San's neck, tortures from her the story
of her visitor, and attempts her life, which she saves by wounding
the drunken prince. Then in the gathering night he forces her
to hang out the red lantern, while he waits in hiding in the sum-
mer house. Yasui hastens from the forest where he has been
hiding and refuses to leave till Namiko-San shall accompany him,
when suddenly the prince enters and attacks Yasui f Namiko-San
intervenes, receives the sword in her own breast and falls dying
in the monk's arms.

In the Chicago Evening Post Karleton Hackett wrote :

"The music was dramatic music, after the ideals of today, with
no set arie, yet with a lyric feeling running all through the score
and centering the interest upon the singers. Mr. Franchetti has
theater blood in his veins, and while he wrote a score that was
rich in orchestral coloring, it was nevertheless the tonal back-
ground for the drama unfolding upon the stage. One of the
few opera composers of today who has comprehended this funda-
mental law of the theater and not been lured away by the fascina-
tion of the orchestra."

Lyric passages adapted to program use for opera study
are the solo of the young monk, the delightful duet with
Namiko-San which follows, and the song of the geisha.

At the close of the premiere of "Namiko-San," Mr. Fran-
chetti received from the American Opera Society of Chicago,
the David Bispham Memorial Medal, indicative of a work

HARRY LAWRENCE FREEMAN 189

representing "citizenship and American libretto." The oc-
casion proved again the increased interest that attaches to
opera in which the text is comprehensible, and the complete
feasibility of foreign artists singing acceptably in English.
Even Miura bravely learned the, for the Japanese, so difficult
English and in her first trial made a decidedly favorable im-
pression. Following its initial performance, "Namiko-San"
was repeated on December 24 and then on January 3, 1926.
In the early spring the opera was taken on tour by a specially
organized company with Miura as leading artist and Mr.
Franchetti conducting, and with the Pavtey-Oukrainsky ballet
as a feature of the double bill. On a double bill with "I
Pagliacci," and again with Miura as Namiko-San and Fran-
chetti as conductor, it is being presented for the season of
1926-1927, on a coast to coast tour of the Manhattan Opera
Company.

HARRY LAWRENCE FREEMAN

Harry Lawrence Freeman, composer of twelve operas and
with a tetralogy begun, was born October 9, 1875, at Cleve-
land, Ohio, of Negro parents; the mother, Agnes Sims-
Freeman, possessing an unusually beautiful voice. An elder
sister of his mother had marked literary talent which caused
her to be the first young woman to be chosen as valedictorian
of the Cleveland High Schools.

At the age of seven the little Harry could "pick out songs
and all kinds of melodies by ear" filling in the harmony
parts in many different ways, depending upon the mood of
the moment. At ten he organized a Boys Quartette of which
he was first soprano, director, pianist and arranger of music.
At twelve he was assistant organist of the family church, of
which later he became regular organist. Lessons on the reed

190 AMERICAN OPERA

organ and sight-singing in the public schools were his only
early training.

Of his first original work Mr. Freeman writes:

"My first composition was written in 1892. I was living in
Denver, Colorado, at the time, and a friend had tickets for the
Emma Juch Grand Opera Company which opened the new Broad-
way Theater at that time, with a performance of Tannhauser.'
When I retired that night I could not sleep, as the music had
been a revelation and I was stirred by strange emotions. At five
o'clock in the morning I arose and, seating myself at the piano,
composed my first piece a waltz song of the dimensions of
Arditi's 'Ecstasy.' On each of the next two hundred days I
composed a new song, but without words. It was some months
later that I discovered that I could write verses also. All these
songs were composed before I had one lesson in theory or com-
position, as, in fact, were my first two operas.

"Professor Joliann Beck, founder and first conductor of the
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, was my sole instructor in theory,
composition and orchestration. I also studied the piano under
Edwin Schonert."

A symphonic poem, "The Slave," was begun in 1917 and
completed in 1925. It depicts a day in the life of an old
Negro slave, but has not been performed. The Prayer, the
Intermezzo, and the Romance from "Nada" (now known as
"Zuluki") were performed by the Cleveland Symphony
Orchestra in March, 1900, with Johann Beck conducting.

"The Martyr," in two acts, and the composer's first opera,
was begun in February and completed in July of 1893. Of
this, as of all his operas, Mr. Freeman was his own librettist
( for which he was prepared by studies in the Cleveland High
School, supplemented by years of the study of history, the
great poets, romances, and the tragic dramas). It was first
performed by the Freeman Grand Opera Company, in the
Deutches Theater of Denver, Colorado, in September, 1893.

HARRY LAWRENCE FREEMAN 191

The same company presented it in Chicago, in October,
1893; in the German Theater of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1894;
again in Chicago, at Weber's Theater, in 1905, and also at
Wilberforce University (Ohio).

The Premiere Cast

Pharaoh Abratu Williamson

Mariamum Adah Roberts

Plat onus William Carey

Rci Edward Bennett

Shirah Ida Williamson

Conductor Harry Lawrence Freeman

Plat onus, an Egyptian nobleman, having fallen from the faith
of his fathers and accepted that of Jehovah, has been cast into
prison to await trial. In the presence of the King and Queen he
comes before Rci, the High Priest, for judgment. Against the
pleadings of all he remains steadfast to his faith, and even so
when Shirah, his betrothed, enters to add her importunities.
Rci, becoming exasperated, banters Plat onus for a show of the
po\\er of his God, whereupon Platonus hurls the statue of Osiris
from its base, and amidst lurid lightnings and crashes of thunder
the concourse rushes from the temple, leaving Shirah alone.
Pharaoh discovers and woos her, only to be interrupted by the
entrance of the Queen and Rci, the former of whom spurns the
pleadings of Shirah and condemns Platonus to the stake. In the
shadows of the late night Platonus mounts the pyre, before the
multitude, and is enveloped by the flames.

"Valdo," an opera in one act with Intermezzo, with its
scene in Mexico, was begun in April, and finished in October
of 1905. The plot is original ; and the work had its first per-
formance at Weisgerber's Hall of Cleveland, Ohio, in May,
1906, by the Freeman Grand Opera Company.

192 AMERICAN OPERA

The Cast

Dulcinea Katherine Skeene Mitchel

Axella Dazalia Underwood

Valdo Walter Revels

Xerifa Walter Randolph

Conductor Harry Lawrence Freeman

Valdo, a Mexican youth of high degree, who has been stolen
from his home in infancy, finds himself graciously welcomed at
the villa of the beautiful Didcinea. Xerifa, a mariner of doubt-
ful repute, but betrothed of Dulcinca, discovers the two in the
garden and finally incites a duel, before which Valdo gives to
Dulcinea a curiously wrought locket with the injunction that she
cherish it should he be slain. In the midst of the combat
Dulcinea and Axella examine the locket and discover its meaning,
Dulcinea turns toward Valdo and calls him by his first name,
whereupon he turns toward her, receives a mortal wound in the
back, staggers and falls as Axella turns upon Xerifa and ex-
claims :

"Fiend, thou hast murdered her brother !"

"Zuluki," an opera in three acts, to an original libretto with
its scenes laid in Africa, was begun in May, 1897, and fin-
ished in February, 1898. "The Octoroon," an opera in four
acts with a Prologue, to a libretto which is an adaptation of a
story of the same name, by M. E. Braddon, was begun on
June 7, 1902, and completed on August 7, 1904. "An African
Kraal" is an opera in one act to an original libretto with its
scene in Zululand. It was begun in December, 1902, and
finished in April, 1903. None of these three works has had
public performance.

"The Tryst," an opera in one act, to an original libretto,
was begun in March and finished in June of 1909. It was
first publicly performed at the Crescent Theater of New
York, on each evening of one week, in May, 1911, by the
Freeman Operatic Duo, with Carlotta Freeman as Wampum
and Hugo Williams as Lone Star.

HARRY LAWRENCE FREEMAN 193

The scene is a primeval forest of southern Michigan in the
pioneer days. Lone Star, a young Indian chieftain, comes in
search of Wampum, his sweetheart. He is much perturbed,
having been pursued by pale-faced foes who have shot his horse
from under him but have been outwitted. In the midst of their
tryst a rifle shot is heard and Wampum stands as if of stone.
Lone Star snatches his knife from his belt, hurls it into the
brush, and there is a great cry and the sound of a falling body.
Crushing the lifeless form of his beloved in his arms, he stands
as a graven image, while the curtain falls.

'The Prophecy," an opera in one act, with its ecene in
America, was begun in March and finished in May of 1911.
"Voodoo," an opera in three acts, the action of which takes
place in Louisiana, was begun in July of 1912 and completed
in December, 1914. "The Plantation," an opera in three
acts, with its scene in America, was begun in September,
1906, and finished in November, 1915. "Athalia," an opera
with a Prologue, three acts, and its scene in America, was
begun November 18, 1915, and completed on December 2**.
1916. These four operas are to original libretti but have not
come to performance.

"Vendetta," an opera in three acts, to an original libretto,
with the action in Mexico, was begun in May, 1911, and com-
pleted, October 9, 1923. It was performed for one week
beginning November 12, 1923, at the Lafayette Theater,
New York City, by the Negro Grand Opera Company, In-
corporated, of which Harry Lawrence Freeman is the founder
and conductor.

The Premiere Cast

Donna Carlotta Carlotta Freeman

Zanita Cecil de Silva

Maria Louise Mallory

Inez Marie Woodby

194 AMERICAN OPERA.

Alonzo E. Taylor Gordon

Don Castro Valdo Freeman

Alvio and Abdullah (minor parts), Caballeros,

Senoritas, Matadores, Picadores, Ballet

Conductor H. Lawrence Freeman

The story is of the rivalry of Alonzo, famous toreador of the
Arena of the City of Mexico, and Don Castro, overlord of the
state, for the hand of Donna Carlotta, a lady of rank. When
Don Castro charges Alonzo with being the son of a herder he is
wounded by the Toreador, who escapes. Don Castro later re-
turns to press his suit, only to be repulsed. Then Alonzo comes
and plans flight with Donna Carlotta, which is cut short when
he is stabbed by the skulking Abdullah, Arab attendant of the
Don.

Mr. Freeman has nearly completed "Chaka," the first of a
cycle of four serious works, the others of which will be "The
Ghost Wolves," 'The Storm Witch" and "Nada."

"The Flapper" is a jazz grand opera in four acts, with its
scenes laid in a broker's office and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel of
New York. It was completed on Christmas Day of 1929.

"Voodoo" was presented on September 10 and 11, 1928,
at the Fifty-second Street Theater of New York, with its
three leading characters interpreted by Carlotta Freeman as
Lolo, the Voodoo Queen', Doris Trotman as Cleota, Ray
Yates as Mando, a Negro overseer of Creole extraction, and
with the composer conducting. It thus created precedents by
being the first opera on a Negro theme, by a Negro composer,
presented by a Negro impresario and an all- Negro troupe,
to invade the Broadway district.

The "eternal triangle" of the story evolves when Lolo, in
love with Mando, discovers his attachment for Cleota and
seeks vengeance through her Voodoo powers. At a revelry
of cake-walking, tango, and buck and wing dancing, Lolo

HARRY LAWRENCE FREEMAN 195

crushes under her heel a charm belonging to Mando. Cleota
is brought forward to be sacrificed to the Voodoo God of the
Snake, but is miraculously released ; and, when Lolo attempts
to work a second Voodoo charm, Mando shoots her and saves
Cleota.

In recognition of the merits of "Voodoo" and "The Octo-
roon," Mr. Freeman received the Harmon Award of five
hundred dollars for 1930. At a concert on March 30, 1930,
in Steinway Hall, New York, excerpts from nine of his operas
were presented. His "Slave Ballet from Salome," for choral
ensemble and orchestra, had its premiere on September 22,
1932, at Harlem Academy, by the Hemsley Winfield Negro
Ballet, under the auspices of The Friends Amusement Guild.

"Leah Kleschna," based on the play of C. M. S. McClellan,
made famous by Minnie Maddern Fiske and George Arliss,
was completed on August 15, 1931. Its vocal score of four
hundred and seventy-five manuscript pages, and the orches-
tral score of eight hundred pages for one hundred and te^
musicians, were done in seven and a half months. This com-
poser's fourteenth opera, "Uzziah," with its libretto by Flor-
ence Lewis Speare of the Town Hall Club of New York, is
nearing completion. His "The Martyr" was the first opera
ever written and produced entirely by Negro talent.

XXII
ELEANOR EVEREST FREER

In glorifying the magnitude of
our accomplishments as a nation,
we all too frequently forget to
do homage to those intrepid spir-
its who through the primal for-
ests blazed the trails along which
civilization might follow. Just
so, in art ! And, of these,
Eleanor Everest Freer has been
a voice crying in the wilderness,
"Prepare ye the way of the
American Composer for the
Stage!"

Eleanor Warner Everest was
born in Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, May 14, 1864; the daughter of Cornelius Everest, a
noted theorist, organist, teacher and conductor ; and of Ellen
Amelia (Clark) Everest, for long one of The Quaker City's
loveliest singers. At four she showed promise of being a
prodigy pianist ; but her parents wisely decided on a general
education first. At seven she was having regular musical
instruction from her father and had shown a notable gift for
improvisation. In this year she also sang for Teresa Tietjens
and Colonel Henry Mapleson ; and the great prima donna
suggested taking the little warbler back with her to Europe
to be musically educated.

196

Eleanor Everest Freer

ELEANOR EVEREST FREER 197

At fourteen Miss Everest sang Josephine in a several
weeks season of "Pinafore," by a semi-professional company
which divided its time between Philadelphia and New York.
Then, at eighteen, she went for three years of study in Paris
where she had vocal lessons under Mathilde Marchesi, diction
and composition under Benjamin Godard, and coaching of
songs with Massenet, Widor and Bemberg. In the Marchesi
coterie she and Melba were familiarly known as "the two
Nellies"; while, as fellow-students, they had the future em-
inent "three Emmas" Nevada, Calve, and Eames. Miss
Everest sang, on special occasions, for Gerster, Verdi and
Liszt, the last accompanying her in two of his songs, at a
soiree in the cathedral -like studio of Count Munkacsy, the
illustrious Hungarian painter of the famous "Christ Before
Pilate."

The death of her father called Miss Everest back to
Philadelphia, where she now opened a studio as the first
certified American teacher of the Marchesi Method. Grad-
ually her activities shifted to New York ; and then on April
25, 1891, she was married to Archibald Freer, a young phy-
sician (later to turn, with eminent success, to law) of
Chicago. Seven years of their young married life were spent
in Leipzig studies. Then, on returning to Chicago Mrs.
Freer's music was set aside for the making of a home, till,
about 1902, the creative instinct began to demand expression,
and she subsequently had five years of stimulating guidance
from the renowned Bernhard Ziehn.

Mrs. Freer's first publication was a polka, for the piano,
brought out when the composer was still a school-girl. Her
mind turned earnestly to song-writing when she realized that,
while the best of French, German and Italian poetry had
been ?et to music, yet this was not so true of English. This
conviction was reinforced when, in the first year of the

198 AMERICAN OPERA

twentieth century, she began her campaign as advocate of
vocal music in the vernacular as a necessary step toward the
progress of musical art in America and England, the neglect
of English in both concert and opera being characterized as
"an injustice to the composer, the poet, and the public."

Toward remedying this condition she has set to music, for
voices singly or in combination, more than one hundred and
fifty of the classic and standard English lyrics by seventy-
three poets, eighteen of whom are women. To these she has
added the monumental achievement of creating a Cycle for
Medium Voice comprising the entire forty-four "Sonnets
from the Portuguese" of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This
last was pronounced by David Bispham to be "The finest ex-
pression of feminine love-emotion since Schumann's
Woman's Life and Love.' " Johanna Gadski, Herbert
Witherspoon, the late Charles W. Clark and David Bispham
have used her songs, the last as many as fifteen in one season.

Mrs. Freer's first opera, "The Legend of the Piper/'*
is a musical setting of a portion (the "legend" act) of
Josephine Preston Peabody's poetic drama, "The Piper,"
which in 1910 won the Shakespeare Prize of fifteen hundred
dollars, at Strat ford-on- A von. It deals with the immortal
legend of the Hamelin Piper who piped away the rats and
children. The opera was first produced at South Bend,
Indiana, by the Music Department of the Progress Club,
with Julia M. Rode as The Piper, and under the direction of
Olive Maine, formerly for three seasons an interpreter of
soprano roles with the Chicago Opera Company. On June
14, 1925, it was presented at the Central Theater, Chicago,
by the American Theater for Musical Productions, with
Oliver Smith as The Piper; on January 19, 1926, it was given
with full orchestra, at the Temple Theater, Lincoln, Nebraska
(on a double bill, with Mrs. Freer's "Massimilliano") ; and

ELEANOR EVEREST FREER 199

on February 18, 1926, it was produced by the High School of
Charleston, West Virginia.

"The Legend of the Piper" is a one-act opera. Its place
is, of course, the Hamelin of Browning's poem; and the time
is 1248 A. D. The story is quickly told.

There are the lamentations of the people over the scourge of
rats; the appearance of the grotesque Piper; the bargain of the
Burgomaster to pay a thousand guilders if the Piper shall charm
away the rats; the refusal to pay more than fifteen guilders, after
the rodents have followed the queer strains of the pipe to their
death in the Weser ; and the revenge of the Piper as he changes
his tune and leaves the town with all the children trooping at his
heels.

A plot which involves a whole town naturally employs numer-
ous characters though of many the words are few. With the
Piper come Michael, the Sword-Eater; Chcat-thc-Dcvil; The
Monkey; Jacobus, the Burgomaster; Kurt, the Cyndic; Peter,
the Cobbler; Hans, the Butcher; Axel, the Smith; Peter, the
Sacristan; Anselm, a young Priest; Old Claus; Town Crier;
Groups of Children; Veronika; Barbara, daughter of Jacobus;
Wife of Hans; Wife of Axel; Wife of Martin; Old Ursula;
and Townspeople.

In "The Legend of the Piper" the composer has preserved
the childlike simplicity of conception, the gracious melody,
the easy rhythm, that are needed to reflect adequately the
spirit of legendary folklore. She wisely refrained from
overloading her orchestral palette and in this work set a
new custom in that it has two orchestrations one for "cham-
ber opera" performance, the other for full orchestra. For her
successful setting of "The Legend of the Piper," Mrs. Freer
was presented, in May, 1924, the Bispham Memorial Medal,
at the suggestion of Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick,
Honorary Chairman of the David Bispham Memorial Fund.

"Massimilliano ; or, The Court Jester"* is a second opera

200 AMERICAN OPERA

by Mrs, Freer, in one act and two scenes with an Iniermezzo.
It was written in July and August of 1925, and was first
performed at the Temple Theater of Lincoln, Nebraska, on
January 19, 1926, by the Opera School of the University of
Nebraska, under the direction of Maude Fender Gutzmer.
Its second performance was at Philadelphia, on February
18, 1926, when the Philadelphia Operatic Society, with Mrs.
Edwin A. Watrous as Director-General, presented it in the
Ballroom of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, at the Annual
Luncheon of the Philadelphia Music Club, with one thousand
in attendance and "Opera in English" as the theme for
discussion.

The Philadelphia Cast

Lord Pietro Arthur Seymour

Lord Ascanio Charles Cline

Massimilliano Dr. John Becker

Lady Lucrezia Alberta Morris

Lady Marghcrita Marie McCormick

Gondoliers, Courtiers, Flower-Maidens and Ballet
Conductor Clarence Bawden

The libretto, by Elia W. Peattie, is founded on the old
theme of a lover of low degree who hopelessly worships the
lady of noble birth. The Place is Venice; the Time, the
XVth Century. The Scene is a luxurious Courtroom of the
Doge's Palace.

Scene I. Massimilliano, the Court Jester, is hopelessly in love
with Lady Lucrezia, under whose window, at night, he has been
singing a gondolier's love song, and with whose voice Lucrezia
has become enamored. The father, Pietro, a Venetian Doge,
wishes his daughter to wed a noble suitor, Lord Ascanio; but
Lucrezia begs delay till the morrow when, at a birthday fete in
her honor, she promises to give an answer.

Scene II. The presentation ceremonies over, Lady Lucrezia
tells of a nightly serenade and of her love of the wonderful voice.

ELEANOR EVEREST FREER 201

She begs that some guest (perhaps Ascanio) shall disclose his
identity as its possessor. To the astonishment of the assembly,
Massimilliano lays claim to the voice. All deride him, till he
hobbles forward and sings the serenade. Horror gradually over-
spreads Lucrczia's face; and, seeing her look of contemptuous
loathing, The Jester springs forward, places a kiss on Lucrczia's
neck, and buries a stiletto in his breast.

Though there is modernism in the harmonies, yet there is
much melody. The ballet music is among the better pages;
while Massimil llano's song, / am a Voice to Thee, has a
haunting beauty which should place it in the repertoire of
many a tenor.

"The Chilkoot Maiden"* is a third one-act opera, with
its scene in Skagway, the "Flower City of Alaska." Of it
Mrs. Freer rs her own librettist. But lately finished, it will
have its premiere at Skagway early in the open season of
1927; and the residents of the city have signified their inten-
tion of repeating it annually in commemoration of the days of
1898. The story deals with a Thlingit tradition that every
time a White man crossed the summit of what is now known
as White Pass, the warm breath of the Chinook wind melted
the snow and caused a disastrous avalanche.

"A Christmas Tale/'* an opera in one act, is a late work.
It is adapted from a French play of the same name, by
Maurice Bouchor, which was given at the Comedie Frangais
in 1895, and has been translated by Barrett H. Clark.

"A Legend of Spain"* is also a one-act opera, of which
Mrs. Freer is both librettist and composer. It is founded on
a legend of the town of Archedona, in the time of Ferdinand
and Isabella. A sixth opera in one act, lately completed,
is "The Masque of Pandora." * Its libretto is an adaptation,
by Mrs. Freer, of the poetic work of Longfellow. On Octo-
ber 24, 1933, it had a concert performance in Chicago.

202 AMERICAN OPERA

Mrs. Freer is an American by tradition, her family, on
both sides, having been here since 1650. She is an en-
thusiast, through and through, for American Opera, and
for Opera in English as "a necessary step to complete prog-
ress in our national musical art." Perhaps her most dis-
tinctive legacy will be her twenty-five years of unremittent
wielding of the cudgel in the cause of the American com-
poser. With Brander Matthews, she has believed that "An
art work is completed only when it has been published and
produced." To this end she has given generously of time,
talent and private fortune. She organized the Opera in
Our Language Foundation and later the David Bispham
Memorial Fund, which, in May, 1925, were jointly incor-
porated as the American Opera Society of Chicago which,
among its activities, gave twelve educational performances of
American Operas. Yet this campaign has been waged "with
the intention of excluding nothing good, but of including
the musical art of this country." And a turn in the tide
has been seen.

Our nation cannot have an art of its own without the
creative worker. Many a composer has been heartened to
higher flights because of Mrs. Freer's influence, through the
offices which she has held, through her personal enthusiasm,
efforts and encouragement, and more especially through the
warfare she has conducted for a change in the operatic sys-
tem of our country in favor of the native work and worker.
To whatever effort her hand and brain have turned in this
campaign, it has never been to a movement narrow in scope,
but always to the uplift of the national cause. Perhaps the
best key to her achievements is found in a letter : "I have a
husband, daughter and three grandchildren to live for my
art, which I have always loved ; and my country, equally."

ELEANOR EVEREST FREER 203

'The Legend of the Piper," paired with Leoncavallo's "I
Pagliacci," had four performances by the American Opera
Company, at the Erlanger Theater of Chicago, in October of
1928, which were followed by productions in Boston, on De-
cember 5th, and in Brooklyn, on December 12th. Then on
June 6, 1931, it had two performances at the Memorial Audi-
torium of Sacramento, California, under the auspices of the
civic Recreation Department, with three hundred and fifty
in the production before audiences of about fifty-five hundred
people each. Throughout the week of July 16, 1933, it was
presented twice daily at the Little Theater on the Enchanted
Island of the Century of Progress Exposition at Chicago,
with Leroy N. Wetzel conducting.

"A Christmas Tale" had its world premiere on December
27, 1929, at Houston, Texas. Parts of the opera have been
heard in Chicago. "A Legend of Spain" was presented in
September of 1931, at the Maywood Music School of Mil-
waukee, Wisconsin.

"Joan of Arc," * based on the life of the Maid of Orleans
and emphasizing the event of her divine call to service, is in
three scenes and was heard in concert form as given on
December 3, 1929, in Chicago, by the Junior Friends of Art.
It had been heard on May 5, 1929, over the radio.

"Preciosa," * in one act and three scenes, is based on Long-
fellow's "A Spanish Student," so familiar to literary folk.
Selections from this work have been performed in Chicago.

"Frithiof " * is an opera in two acts and three scenes, with
its text adapted from the poem, "Frithiof 's Saga," by Esaias
Tegner of Sweden. The English version is by Clement B.
Shaw. It has its origin in a Norse legend. As in all her
operas not otherwise identified, the composer was her own
librettist. The work was given a concert performance at

204 AMERICAN OPERA

the Illinois Women's Athletic Club of Chicago, on April 11,
1929. On February 1, 1931, it was given similarly by the
Waukegan Choral Society and the Chicago Civic Choral So-
ciety, at the Studebaker Theater of Chicago, with May Valen-
tine conducting.

"Little Women," * in two acts, is Mrs. Freer's tenth opera.
It is based on Louisa M. Alcott's famous book and was com-
pleted in March of 1934. "Little Women" was first publicly
heard when given on April 2, 1934, by Frances Coates Grace,
in a monologue opera performance before the Musician's
Club of Women, of Chicago.

XXIII
WILLIAM HENRY FRY

"The Father of American
Opera" of a serious type, the
name of William Henry Fry
holds not only a unique niche in
the halls of American musical
art but also an especial interest
for our present study. Born in
Philadelphia, August 10, 1813,
his father was publisher of the
National Gazette, a weekly
newspaper of the time, and the
young William had the ad-
vantages of a liberal general
education. His musical talent
came early into evidence and he was given the benefit of
studies with the best masters resident in his native city.
On the piano he was largely self-taught. But, especially for
that day, he was fortunate in having to guide his studies in
harmony and counterpoint, L. Meignen whose training had
been received at the Paris Conservatoire. When quite young
he tried his hand at many forms of vocal and instrumental
composition. At fourteen he composed an overture, followed
later by two others. A fourth overture, written when he
was twenty, won a gold medal and was given public perform-
ance by the Philadelphia Philharmonic Society.

His first opera, "Leonora/'* with which real American

205

William Henry Fry

206 AMERICAN OPERA

opera may be said to have begun, was written in 1845, with
English text. In the Philadelphia Public Ledger of Wednes-
day, June 4, 1845, appears the following advertisement:

CHESTNUT STREET THEATRE Boxes 75 ctsj Pit
50 Pint Night of the New Grand Opera of
LEONORA THIS EVENING, June 4th, will be
produced (with new Scenery, &c.) the Opera of

LEONORA. Leonora, Mrs. Seguinj Julio, Mr. Fra-
zcrj Montalvo, Mr. Seguin; Valdor, Mr. Richings;
Alferez, Mr. Brinton; Marianna, Mils Ince.
*^* Doors open mt 7j O'clock. Performance to

commence at 8.

Then, in the issue of the same paper on the following
Tuesday may be seen :

CHESTNUT STREET THEATRE.

In consequence of the Great Success of
FRY'S GRAND OPERA OF
LEONORA

It will be repeated tonight, June 10th, and every
evening this week.

(Here follow the cast and hour of performance.)

Though a two-and-a-half inch editorial, on the fourth, pre-
ceded the opening performance, and daily notices of each
evening's entertainment appeared, no press mention of the
interpretations was given until the following in the "Local
Affairs" column of the twelfth:

WILLIAM HENRY FRY 207

MRS. SEGUIN'S BENEFIT. ThU
lady's benefit is announced for this evening,
when will be repeated Fry's Grand Opera of
"LEONORA," in which Mrs. S. sustains
the principal character, and with a power
and effect that we never saw her equal in
any other opera. "Leonora** improves vtith
each subsequent repetition, and is now uni-
versally pronounced the most brilliant spec-
tacle of the opera kind ever afforded in this
city. The audience, which have nightly in-
creased in numbers, as well as in fashion and
gayety will, we have no doubt, on this oc-
casion, fill the house to overflowing.

The Public Ledger of the sixteenth carried an announce-
ment similar to that of the tenth, with notice that it would
be Mr. Seguin's benefit. However the week's series was not
completed, for on the nineteenth the advertisement announced
the last performance as a benefit for Mr. Fry. A four-inch
editorial of a very complimentary nature appeared on the
same day, showing that the work had really attracted much
local attention. Thus the first serious American opera had a
steady run of fourteen nights.

Because of the significance of this work, the casts for the
opening night in both Philadelphia and New York are given :

Chestnut Street Theater Academy of Music
Philadelphia New York

June 4, 1845 March 29, 1858

Voider . . . Mr. P. Richings Sig. Rocco

Montalvo .Mr. Edward Seguin Sig. Grassier

Alfcres . . .Mr. Brinton Sig. Barattini

Julio Mr. Frazer Sig. Tiberini

Leonora ..Mrs. Seguin Mme. De la Grange

Mariana . .Miss Ince Mme. D'Angri

Martina .. Mme. Morra

Conductor .W. H. Fry Carl Anschutz

208 AMERICAN OPERA

On the score of "Leonora" the composer made the inter-
esting notation that "This lyrical drama was produced on the
stage with the view of presenting to the American public, a
grand opera originally adapted to English words." The
libretto was derived from Bulwer's "Lady of Lyons," a
play in which our beautiful and supremely talented Mary
Anderson made one of her greatest successes, and which held
the boards till well toward the end of the last century. Ex-
cepting the hero and heroine, the characters were changed;
and the place and period were transferred from France in
the era of the Revolution to Spain in the time of the early
American conquests.

There were a long overture, the usual solo parts, of more
or less interest, and some rather effective choruses. How-
ever, the work was weakened by an overplus of recitatives
which, unfortunately, had not the suavity nor the spontane-
ously and expressively dramatic fitness which characterize the
better Italian art of this nature. According to Richard Grant
White, this work was much admired; and some of its airs
really became quite popular.

In "Leonora" and in "Notre Dame de Paris" the composer
undertook to harmonize the qualities of the FVench and
Italian schools of opera, in the general form of the French
grand opera as developed by Lulli and Gluck. There was
cantilena after the Italian model ; but the dramatic arrange-
ment, orchestration and ensemble followed French traditions.

Airs from this opera are now to be obtained. These vary
in style, some being in the Irish mold of those in Balfe's
"Bohemian Girl," while others are reminiscent of Donizetti.
Perhaps the number most grateful to modern ears is the glee,
Fill Up the Vine-Wreathed Cup. As a whole the published
numbers indicate a lack of dramatic talent, which, with a
weakness in spontaneity and novelty in the music, may

WILLIAM HENRY FRY 209

explain the limited success of the work. Nevertheless, it must
lot be forgotten that "Leonora" was composed by one not yet
3ast thirty, and in a country and community which were but
it the beginning of creative musical art.

Fry had now become a figure in American musical circles.
For some time he had been on the staff of the Nczv York
Tribune, which in 1846 sent him abroad as European cor-
respondent and representative. There he remained for six
pears, spending his time mostly in London and Paris. His
associations evidently broadened his art. lie made the ac-
quaintance of the younger musical spirits, and Berlioz is
especially mentioned in his correspondence. On his return
to America he became a regular member of the Tribune
staff, as editorial writer and musical editor. The Jullien
Orchestra, then a leading musical organization of New York,
ind the first full orchestra (sixty men) in America, played
Four of his overtures and a symphony. Jullien, in perform-
ng the works of Bristow and Fry, was one of the first
lirectors of importance to give American composers a chance.

William H. Fry was but twelve years the senior of George
F. Bristow. Equally ardent as a champion of American
nusic ; a musical critic as well as a composer ; he made of
lis dreams a substance when on March 29, 1858, he gave
Mew York its first taste of Native American Opera by pro-
lucing "Leonora" at the Academy of Music. The perform-
mce was in Italian, which seems to have been its death
warrant, as such a prostitution of native art deserved. As
asual, the composer was probably the helpless martyr.

"Notre Dame de Paris," a grand opera in four acts, was
:ompleted in 1863. The libretto was written by the com-
poser's brother, Joseph R. Fry, and was an adaptation of
Hugo's great historical romance of the same name.

It was first performed at the American Academy of Music

210

AMERICAN OPERA

of Philadelphia on Wednesday evening, May 4, 1864, as a
feature of a "Grand Musical Festival Inaugurating the Great
Sanitary Fair held for a war welfare fund.*' Three quarters
of a century of honorable service to America's musical art
makes it worth while to note here that the Academy of
Music (the " American" has been lost to its name) still, in
1927, with its perfect acoustics and an atmosphere of stately
and genteel respectability that calls up splendid fantasies of
generations gone, houses the productions by the Metropolitan
Opera Company of New York, the peerless Philadelphia
Orchestra, the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company, the
Philadelphia Operatic Society, many artist concerts, and The
Quaker City's most significant social, cultural and political
concourses.

Improved journalism makes it possible to give many details
of the production of "Notre Dame de Paris" which are miss-
ing relative to "Leonora." The Philadelphia Public Ledger
of May 4, 1864, says the approaching premiere "is attracting
not only attention here, but is exciting a great deal of interest
abroad." It also quotes from the New York World:

"New York may for once envy Philadelphia. ... A large
number of artists, journalists, amateurs and amusement hunters
are going to cross Jersey for the purpose of witnessing the
production of a work which excites the greatest interest in
musical circles throughout the country."

The Premiere Cast

Esmeralda Mme. Compte Bouchard

Gudule Mrs. Jenny Kempton

De Chatcaupers Mr. Wm. Castle

Dom Frollo Mr. S. C. Campbell

Quasimodo Mr. Edward Seguin

Florian Mr. Wm. Skaats

Grand Orchestra of Sixty
Full Military Band of Thirty

WILLIAM HENRY FRY 211

Grand Chorus of One Hundred

Ballet of One Hundred and Fifty

Conductor Theodore Thomas

No other opera had been so elaborately given in America.
For one scene nearly three hundred persons were on the
stage, and all newly costumed. New scenery had been pre-
pared : For Act I, a View of Notre Dame; for Act II, an
Interior of the Belfry of the Cathedral ; for Act III, the
Judgment Hall in the Palace of Justice ; and for Act IV, a
Dungeon in the Prison of the Palace of Justice.

The work was enthusiastically received. The finale of
Act I was "gorgeous, dazzling to the eye, and most delicious
to the ear/' Doin Frollo's song, "Not fifteen summers had
reflected," De Chateaupers' "Some inspiration tells me" and
"Oh misery, oh Esmeralda"; as well as the choruses, "Oh,
happy day, again the bells of Notre Dame ring merrily" and
"A gay gallant soldier" were among those most loudly ap-
plauded and encored.

The seventh and last performance of this series was an-
nounced for a matinee at half-past two on Saturday, May 14 ;
and the opera later had a successful run in New York.

Aside from his works for the stage, Mr. Fry composed
a number of symphonies : "Santa Claus, or the Christmas
Symphony," "Childe Harold," "The Breaking Heart," and
"A Day in the Country," produced by Jullien in New
York. Along with these he also wrote many songs, several
cantatas and a "Stabat Mater."

Though not having achieved greatness, Mr. Fry had a
talent in advance of his environments, broad sympathies and
alert intelligence ; and he in many ways blazed the way for
better things to come. That he produced so largely is quite
extraordinary, when it is considered that for the most of

212 AMERICAN OPERA

his years he was a professional journalist, that he was active
in the political life of his time, that he wrote many political
and economic articles for the press, made campaign speeches
and was musical critic for The Tribune. He had a fertile
musical imagination, and a firm command of the resources of
composition. Lack of time and repose prevented the fuller
working out of his ideas and the more complete flowering of
his genius. His lectures and criticisms were terse, lucid and
stimulating, and he contributed eminently to the musical and
intellectual development of America. He passed beyond
from Santa Cruz, one of the Virgin Islands of the West
Indies, on September 21, 1864.

"Leonora" was given a revival when performed on Febru-
ary 27, 1929, by the Pro Musica group, at the Town Hall
of New York City.

XXIV

HENRY F. GILBERT, FREDERICK GRANT
GLEASON, LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK,
JACK GRAHAM, SHIRLEY GRAHAM,
EDITH NOYES-GREENE, LESLIE GROS-
SMITH, LOUIS GRUENBERG, HER-
MANN FREDERICK GRUENDLER

HENRY F. GILBERT

Henry Franklin Belknap Gilbert is a thorough New Eng-
lander of old New England stock, and one of the most
thoroughly national of our composers. His music is vibrant
with such American characteristics as buoyancy, optimism
and exuberant nervous vitality. Born September 26, 1868,
in Somerville, Massachusetts, his first American ancestor
was Humphrey Gilbert of Ipswich, where he was resident in
1640. Both his parents were musicians of distinction; his
father, Benjamin F. Gilbert, being a composer, singer and
organist ; his mother, Therese A. Gilson-Gilbert, a solo
singer. An uncle, James L. Gilbert, wrote that pathetic song
of perennial simplicity and beauty, "Bonnie Sweet Bessie."

At the age of ten, the boy Henry attended a concert of
Ole Bull which so aroused his enthusiasm that he determined
to become a violinist ; whereupon his grandfather constructed
a fiddle from a few discarded pieces of wood and with a
cigar-box as a resonant body. Upon this young Gilbert
taught himself to play, thus convincing his parents that he
was worthy of a real violin, and at twelve he had violin
lessons from Albert van Raalte.

With increased ability, he played at dances, hotels, in
theaters and in opera orchestras. He studied harmony and

213

214 AMERICAN OPERA

composition under George E. Whiting and George H. Howard,
at the New England Conservatory of Music, in 1888 and
1889; and with the inspiration of study under MacDowell
during 1889-1892, his interest in composition quite superseded
his early enthusiasm for the violin. Then in 1901 he boarded
a cattle boat, bound for Paris to hear Charpentier's ''Louise."
This opera made such an impression that, returning to
America, he gave up definitely all other work, with the de-
termination to devote the rest of his life, good or ill, to the
developing of his musical talent. He set to work to recreate
his musical consciousness; and from this period dates his
famous The Pirate Song : "Fifteen Men on the Dead Man's
Chest." In these years began also a series of contributions
to musical journals, dealing mostly with the artistic or
philosophic aspects of the art. He also lectured at both
Harvard and Columbia universities.

In this period awoke his urge to create for the orchestra.
His works for this medium have been not alone numerous
but, as well, significant. The "Comedy Overture on Negro
Themes/' which has appeared on the programs of leading
orchestras of America and Russia, was a product of 1906,
the same year in which Miss Helen Kalisher, of Jassy, Rou-
niania, became Mrs. Henry F. Gilbert. His "Negro
Rhapsody" had its first performance, under the composer's
baton, at the Norfolk Festival, June 5, 1913; while the
Symphonic Prelude "Riders to the Sea" was first heard at
the MacDowell Festival at Peterboro, New Hampshire,
August 20, 1914, with the composer conducting.

It was the Symphonic-Ballet, "Dance in the Place Congo"
(after a tale of George W. Cable), with its premiere as a
ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House, March 23, 1918,
and a little later in Boston, which really won for the composer
the widest attention from the musical world, Though there

HENRY F. GILBERT 215

were enough dissensions to pique interest ; yet in general the
critics intoned such phrases as, "It is vigorous, fanciful,
delightful music, and the best American music the Metro-
politan has ever accepted for its own use" ; and "Perhaps
the most notable American music yet presented at the Metro-
politan in dramatic form/*

From a personal letter, not intended for publication, two
sentences by Mr. Gilbert are worthy of being the Credo of
any composer of any nationality:

"/ have long ago reached the point where it is far more
important to me to compose a piece of music than to get it
performed.

"I have faith in myself as a composer and am concerned
chiefly that the music I compose shall be fine, and truthfully
expressive of my inner vision of musical beauty."

"Fantasy in Delft" is a one-act opera, the libretto by
Thomas P. Robinson. The scene is laid in the Dutch town
of Delft, in the Seventeenth Century; and the story, far
from being of a sensational nature, is delicate, poetic and
humorous. Such is the outline of the composer. It is a
story of two clever maidens outwitting their prim and proper
old aunt, to enjoy the courtship of their stolid, clodhopper
Dutchmen lovers. The score with full instrumentation for
complete orchestra was finished in 1919.

Submitted to the Metropolitan Management, "Fantasy in
Delft" was returned with the explanation that "despite the
attractive features of the music, we cannot accept the work
because of the libretto," not designating its deviations from
their standards. Offered at the Auditorium, Mr. Marinuzzi,
then chief conductor of the Chicago Opera Company, pro-
nounced it "the best American opera I have seen" ; but, un-
fortunately his associations were severed at the end of that
season; and "There's many a slip."

216 AMERICAN OPERA

FREDERICK GRANT GLEASON

Frederick Grant Gleason, who was to move forward the
artistic goal in American musical composition, as well as to
become one of her most accomplished critics of the art, was
born in Middletown, Connecticut, December 17, 1848. With
him, music was an inheritance, as his father was a skillful
amateur flutist and his mother an accomplished pianist as
well as contralto singer. On the family's removal to Hart-
ford, Connecticut, he entered a church choir, and soon ex-
pressed a strong desire to enter the musical profession. How-
ever, his father had designed him for the ministry; and it
was only after the boy, at sixteen, had composed, without
training in harmony and composition, a "Christmas Oratorio"
which showed undoubted talent, that parental objections were
withdrawn and plans made for his complete musical education.

lie first studied piano and composition, with Dudley Buck.
Then in 1869 he was sent to Leipzig, where he had instruc-
tion on the piano, from Moscheles and Papperitz, and har-
mony from Richter and Dr. Oscar Paul. Along with these,
he had private instruction in composition from J. C. Lobe.
On the death of Moscheles, in 1870, Mr. Gleason went to
Berlin where he studied under Oscar Raif, a pupil of Tausig,
and had theoretical work under Carl Friedrich Weitzmann,
a pupil of Spohr and Hauptmann. A season in London for
the study of English music, with piano instruction from
Oscar Beringer; another period with Weitzmann in Berlin,
with Loeschhorn for piano and Haupt for organ; and he
then returned to Hartford to enter a professional career of
considerable brilliance. In 1876 he moved to Chicago and
thereafter was one of its most honored musicians.

In the field of grand opera he wrote both the librettos and
music of two. His "Otho Visconti," of which the overture
liad been performed in Leipzig in 1892, was given public

LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK 217

performance at the College Theater, Chicago, on June 4,
1907, under the direction of Walter Keller. A grand ro-
mantic opera, "Montezuma," never came to public per-
formance.

Mr. Gleason was reputed to be the leading American con-
trapuntist of his time; and it is probable that the dominance
of the intellectual rather than the inspirational element in his
compositions, of which he left many in almost every musical
form, has been responsible for their lack of appeal to the
general public. At his death on December 6, 1903, he left
other opera scores which, by the terms of his will, are not
to be studied or performed till fifty years after that date.

Louis MOREAU GOTTSCHALK

A somewhat glamorous success as a pianist has rather over-
shadowed the achievements of Louis Moreau Gottschalk as a
composer. Born on May 8, 1829, in New Orleans, Louisiana,
he finished his studies in Paris from 1841 to 1846, with Halle
and Stamaty as instructors of piano and Maleden for har-
mony and composition.

Gottschalk's triumphal tours of America and Europe, as a
pianist, are familiar musical history. He began composing at
the age of sixteen ; and, besides his ninety pianoforte compo-
sitions and about a dozen songs, he left symphonies and other
works for the orchestra. His operas, "Charles IX" and
"Isura de Palermo," were left in manuscript, and there is no
authentic record of their public performance.

JACK GRAHAM

Harry Jerome ("Jack") Graham, soldier-musician, was
born on September 14, 18%, at Mishawaka, Indiana, of Eng-
lish-Scotch and French genealogy. His musical education

218 AMERICAN OPERA

began with piano study under Mrs. Marion Van Dusseldorp of
Mishawaka and organ under Mrs. Annie Giblette of London,
England. It was completed with study of piano and organ
under Wilhelm Middelschulte in Chicago, and of harmony,
composition, orchestration and musical history under Dr.
John J. Becker of Notre Dame University, South Bend, In-
diana. These studies were mostly under the rehabilitation
plan of the United States Veterans Bureau.

Mr. Graham has been active as pianist and as church and
theater organist. His light lyric drama in three scenes, "Lord
Byron," was begun in January and finished in September of
1926. It was presented on December 17, 1926, at the opening
of the University Theater, at South Bend. The libretto, by
Norbert Engels and James Lewis Cassaday, is founded on
Lord Byron's life, while the lyrics are mostly from his poems.

Mr. Graham has written much in the smaller forms. A
serious opera, "Aranea," is in one act, of a symbolic nature
and near completion.

SHIRLEY GRAHAM

Shirley Lola Graham was born November 11, 1904, at In-
dianapolis, Indiana, the daughter of an African Methodist
Episcopal minister. Four of her childhood years were spent
in Liberia and central Africa, where her father filled church
appointments. Her education has been along most liberal
lines. Besides special training under many private teachers,
she has completed courses of study at Oberlin College (Ohio),
Howard University (Washington, D. C), the Institute of
Musical Art (New York City) and the Sorbonne of Paris,
France. For three years she was musical director of Morgan

SHIRLEY GRAHAM 219

College of Baltimore, Maryland ; and she has lectured often
on Negro music.

Miss Graham's "Tom-Tom," an opera in three acts, had
its world premiere on July 3, 1933, at the Qeveland (Ohio)
Stadium, in a spectacular production with full orchestra and
with five hundred singers and dancers on the stage.

Premiere Cast

Voodoo Man Jules Bledsoe

The Mother Charlotte Murray

The Boy Luther King

The Girl Lillian Cowan

Leader Hazel M. Walker

Preacher Augustus Grist

Captain Augustus Grist

Conductor Clifford Barnes
Premier Danseur Festus Fitzhugh

The composer was her own librettist. In her own words,
"the opera is the beating of the tom-tom of the African jun-
gle, which I have dramatized as the beating of the heart of
a people." It is an evolution of her experiences as a teacher
of our southern youth of her race, of Parisian observations
of the primitive music of French Negroes late from Algeria,
and of studies of cabaret life in Harlem.

The story begins in an African jungle village, before 1619. A
tom-tom signal of the elephant hunt is interrupted by the arrival
of slave hunters and the final escape of the The Boy and The
Girl, lovers doomed to be offered as sacrificial victims. The
second act swings to the slave life of our South, with the trans-
planted The Boy and The Girl about to be separated by the fa-
miliar selling of The Girl down the river, which is interrupted by
the sounds of an approaching Union army. Act three is in Har-
lem, the "Black New York," where the Voodoo Man, who has

220 AMERICAN OPERA

pursued the lovers throughout the tale, has started a "back to
Africa" movement, which is decried by The Boy, now a young
preacher. The Girl, now a queen of her realm, croons "blues,"
when an excited crowd suddenly storms the ship that is to carry
them away and there is an explosion for which they blame the
Voodoo Man, whom a young cabaret dancer springs from the
crowd and mortally stabs.

Of the performance a seasoned critic wrote that "with un-
erring instinct Miss Graham has projected the primitive with
such a realism of tom-toms, such a wildness of melodies, such
dark vitality of orchestration, combined with rapid stage pic-
tures" of barbarian African rituals, that the listener is mo-
mentarily carried out of his civilized self. Intensely realistic,
it is also highly emotional and romantic.

EDITH NOYES-GREENE

Edith Rowena Noyes-Greene, composer and teacher, was
born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 26, 1875, of Eng-
lish and Hungarian ancestry, and a descendant of Priscilla
Mullen. Her mother, Jeannette (Pease) Noyes, was in her
day well known in America and England as an oratorio
singer. At six years of age she began writing for the piano;
and at ten she played the march for her mother's second
marriage. These talents were later highly developed by five
years of study under George W. Chadwick and four years
with Edward MacDowell, to which were added much counsel
from Emil Paur. At eighteen she made her debut as concert
pianist, and in 1898 and 1909 gave programs of American
works throughout Europe. She has been an ardent advocate
of American music and founded in Boston the first "Mac-
Dowell Cub" in our country.

LESLIE GROSSMITH 221

Two choral works, "Easter Morn" and "Hymn of Peace/*
for chorus and four solo voices, have had many performances.
A Violin Sonata in F Sharp Minor (on Indian themes) and
her songs have been programed by leading artists.

"Last Summer," a "Sullivanesque" operetta, was per-
formed twice at Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1896, with nine
principals, chorus of one hundred and full orchestra. In 1898
it had also two performances at Quincy.

"Osseo," a romantic grand opera in three acts, is written
to a libretto by Lillie Fuller Mirriam, based on historic
Indian episodes. It was first produced in 1917, at Maud
Freshel's Theater, Brookline, Massachusetts, with two Metro-
politan Opera singers and seven Boston soloists as principals.
In 1920 it was produced at the Copley-Plaza Theater of Bos-
ton, with four local opera singers among the cast, and under
the auspices of the Professional Woman's Club. Then on
May 9, 1922, it was given in cycle form at Jordan Hall,
Boston.

Its four leading characters arc: Osseo, an Indian hunter;
Awano, alien of the tribe of Nipnet; Wauchita, wife of Osseo;
Maynomis, daughter of the Chieftain. The story evolves from
life about the ancient village of Waushakum of the authentic
Massachusetts tribe of the Nipnets, before the advent of the
White Man. It develops those phases and experiences of life
common to all the human family regardless of time or race
misunderstandings, treachery, loyalty, love of man and maiden,
forgiveness and restored harmony and happiness.

LESLIE GROSSMITH

Leslie Grossmith, the composer, was born May 19, 1870,
at Birmingham, England. At four he had piano lessons from

222 AMERICAN OPERA

his mother, and at six he began violin study under his father,
which were followed by piano study under Max Vogrich,
Alice Charbonette and Henri Kowalski, with composition un-
der Leon Caron and Hamilton Qarke and conducting under
Roberto Hazon.

When scarcely more than a boy he became violinist in the
orchestra of the Milan Opera Company, on a two years' tour
of Australia, and then for another two years in a Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Sir Frederick Cowen and Hamilton
Clarke. Next he played for six years in the theater managed
by Dion Boticicault, then became conductor of the J. C.
Williamson Opera Company, and after this he was conductor-
manager of the Royal Standard Opera Company on a tour of
Australia and Tasmania.

Mr. Grossmith's tours as a pianist have taken him through-
out Great Britain, India, Egypt, Canada, the United States,
Newfoundland and to Malta and Gibraltar. His compositions
include many for piano, for violin and for orchestra. An
Air de Ballet won in 1929 the first prize in a Musical Canada
Pianoforte Composition Contest.

In his opera in three acts, "Uncle Tom's Cabin/' Canada
and the United States link musical hands. It is based on the
world famous novel of our slavery days, by Harriet Beecher
Stowe, with the composer as librettist and lyrics by A. M.
Stephen. Its scenes and characters are those of the familiar
book. It was begun in 1925, and the score which is for a
small orchestra of two flutes, one oboe, two clarinets, one
bassoon, two horns, two cornets, one trombone, one tuba,
tympani and stringswas completed in 1928. Of it Charles
Wakefield Cadman has said, "One big virtue of the score is
the excellent sense of the theater."

LOUIS GRUENBERG 223

Louis GRUENBERG

Louis Gruenberg was born August 3, 1883, at Yannava, near
Brest-Litovsk, Russia, and was brought to America when
but two years of age. He first taught himself to play the
piano and then studied with Adele Margulies in New York.
He began composing before his eighth year was completed,
and his first published composition appeared in 1893. At the
Vienna Conservatory he became a master pupil and was from
1912 till 1919 under Busoni. There he won his first prize,
for a piano composition.

Gruenberg's "The Hill of Dreams" won in 1919 the Flagler
Prize of one thousand dollars and was performed by the New
York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch. 'The
Enchanted Isle" won the second prize in the American Zone
of the International Schubert Contest of 1928; and it was
heard in August of that year at the Worcester Festival un-
der Albert Stoessel. "Vagabondia" had been given in
Prague, in January of 1924, with the composer conducting.
A "Jazz Suite" was, in March, 1930, on a program of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Serge Kous-
sevitzky. His "First Symphony" won in 1930 the five thou-
sand dollar prize in the Victor Symphonic Contest.

Mr. Gruenberg's first work for the musical stage, "The
Witch of Brocken (Die Hesa),"* a fairy operetta, was
written in 1912. A more serious work, "The Bride of the
Gods," founded on an East Indian legend, and with its
libretto by Ferruccio Busoni, was finished in 1914, but never
performed. "The Dumb Wife" is to a libretto which the
composer arranged from the novel, "The Man Who Married a
Dumb Wife," of Anatole France. It was finished at the Mac-
Dowell Colony in 1919 and is said to be witty and effective ;

224 AMERICAN OPERA

but, by a legal technicality, it may not be performed till thirty
years after the death of the novelist.

Then, in March of 1930, Mr. Gruenberg was commissioned
by three anonymous friends of the Juilliard School of Music
to write an opera to receive its first performance by the
students of that institution. The result was "Jack and the
Beanstalk," * a fairy opera for the childlike, with its libretto
by John Erskine. In line with its inception, "J ac k and the
Beanstalk" had its world premiere at the Juilliard School of
Music, on November 19, 1931, by the vocal students and or-
chestra of the opera division of the school. Mary Katherine
Akins was the Jock', Beatrice Hegt, the Mother] Pearl Be-
suner, the Princess; Raymond Middleton, the Giant; with
others in such minor parts as the Cow, Locksmith, Butcher,
Tanner, Barker, and with Albert Stoessel conducting. There
were also two performances on the 20th and one on the 21st.

There are three acts and twelve scenes shifting from out-
side Jack's House to the Road to the Market ; the Country
Market, the Road Home; and again outside Jack's House.
Of Act II the seven scenes alternate between the Country near
the Giant's Castle and the Kitchen of the Giant's Castle. The
one scene of Act III is again outside Jack's House.

Mr. Gruenberg's latest opera, "Emperor Jones," * is writ-
ten to a libretto derived from the well known play by Eugene
O'Neill, which the composer adapted to his purpose. It was
produced for the first time on any stage when given on Janu-
ary 7, 1933, by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New
York, when it became the fourteenth American work to be
presented by that organization all during the regime of
Mr. Giulio Gatti-Casazza. Lawrence Tibbett was the Em-
peror Jones ; and the production included also Marek Wind-
heim as Smithers, a Cockney Englishman ; Pearl Besuner, as

LOUIS GRUENBERG 225

an Old Woman; Hemsley Winfield, as a Congo Witch Doc-
tor; a Chorus, with the heads rising above conventionalized
reeds and foliage at either side of the proscenium, while yell-
ing, rather than singing, its derisive or threatening comments
on the action; a Corps dc Ballet; and Tullio Serafm as con-
ductor. Just before the curtain rose for a second perform-
ance on the 13th, the composer received, backstage and from
the hand of Albert Stoessel, the Bispham Memorial Medal
of the American Opera Society of Chicago. The same per-
sonnel presented the opera, on January 10th, at the Academy
of Music of Philadelphia. At the end of the spring season
it had been given nine "Met" performances in New York
and one each in Philadelphia and Baltimore. On May second
and fifth it was produced to sold out houses at the Auditorium
of Chicago, with local forces, excepting Tibbctt. Then Los
Angeles heard it on October thirteenth and sixteenth, with
local talent excepting Tibbett and Windheim, and with the
innovation of a genuine Negro male chorus. Added to which
it had been talking-picturized with Paul Robcson as Emperor
Jones. At the middle of February, 1934, it was produced by
the Italian Opera Company, at the Municipal Theater of
Amsterdam, Holland, with Jules Bledsoe in the title role.
Announced plans were for eight performances, to be fol-
lowed by a tour of Paris, Vienna, Milan, Berlin, Brussels and
London.

"Is it Opera?" was the most persistent query. If so, then
traditional opera must be forgotten.

Emperor Jones, a Negro ex-convict and Pullman porter, has
established himself as autocrat of a kingdom in the African
jungles ; where, when rebellion arises among his harried subjects,
he leaves his throne for the wilds. Here he is tormented by
"ha'nts" and the persistently increasing intensity of the ominous

226 AMERICAN OPERA

beating of the voodoo drum in its doom tattoo, till all the strutting
and braggadocio of his earlier days gradually disintegrate and
he is filled with a growing terror-stricken weakness as he flees
from his vengeful subjects, till finally he ends his wretched
existence with the silver bullet, which, while he has shot uncon-
scionably anyone obstructing his flight, he has retained to be used
as a period to his own "charmed" life. All other characters and
action but serve to throw into more bold relief the development
of the tragic deterioration of this one being.

The work is, after all, scarcely more than a highly developed
monologue accompanied by music in which rhythms and dis-
cord prevail. People either baldly speak their lines or give
them in a semi-recitative, with the exception of the one frag-
mentary outburst of melody in the Negro spiritual, It's a me,
it's a me, O Lord, standin' in de need of prayer, with which
the panic-stricken wreck of an Emperor implores grace and
seeks relief before burying the silver bullet in his brain and
falling to be surrounded by the garish flame-colored ballet of
evil spirits till his body is lifted high and carried off by the
infuriated natives as they surge to a wild voodoo rhythm.

In both New York and Philadelphia there were memorable
demonstrations in recognition of the art of Tibbett, with many
curtain calls for the composer. With superlative criticism,
both praisef ul and derogatory, the future must determine who
were the seers.

HERMANN FREDERICK GRUENDLER

Hermann Frederick Gruendler, organist and composer, was
born in New York City, in March of 1850, of German
parents, his father having been a cornetist. He received his
early musical training from William G. Dietrich, who was
closely associated with Theodore Thomas; and he gives as

HERMANN FREDERICK GRUENDLER 227

evidence of his youthful musical ability that he "hated to
practice." His advanced musical and literary education was
obtained in Leipzig, where he was a student in the Conserva-
tory for four years beginning in 1869. Returning to Amer-
ica, he in 1874 became musical director of the Fay Temple-
ton Opera Company, changed in 1878 to the Belle Moore
Company, in 1884 to the Patti Rosa Company, and in 1901
to the Andrews Opera Company. Each of these companies
made yearly tours from coast to coast in superb productions
of the best operettas of American, English, French and Ger-
man composers. In all he has devoted about ten years to the
production of local opera in various communities.

"La Cartouche; or, King of the Barefoots," a romantic
opera in three acts, with the libretto by P. J. Dugan, lawyer
and litterateur of Pueblo, Colorado, was begun in 1907 and
completed in 1908.

The plot is one of love and intrigue, at Montereau on the
Seine, near Paris, in 1630, in which all hinges on the three days'
reign, according to the traditions and customs of the realm, of
La Cartouche, chief of the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Ir-
redeemable Rogues, who for this period becomes paramount to
the law of the land and, with his fellows, enjoys the freedom
and government of the community, without regard for the will
of the King or of the powerful Richelieu, and brings about a
triumph of true love regardless of blood or birth.

XXV

HENRY HADLEY, RICHARD HAGEMAN, HOWARD
HANSON, WILLIAM F. HANSON

Henry Kimball Hadley, composer and
conductor, was born at Somerville,
Massachusetts, December 20, 1871, the
son of S. Henry Hadley, a musician of
reputation in his state, and of Martha
Tilton (Conant) Hadley. His first
teacher of piano and violin was his
father. He early began original com-
position, and his father found him at
the age of fourteen lying on the floor
writing a waltz. A little later he entered
the New England Conservatory of
Music where he studied violin with H.
Heindl and C. N. Allen, harmony with
Stephen A. Emery, and counterpoint and composition with
George W. Chadwick.

When he was but twenty, Mr. Hadley's overture, "Hector
and Andromache," was performed by the Manuscript Society
of New York under the baton of Walter Damrosch. Then,
as conductor of the Laura Schirmer Mapleson Opera Com-
pany, he toured the United States ; and in 1894-1895 he re-
sumed the study of counterpoint and composition, this time
with Eusebius Mandyczewski in Vienna.

Beginning in 1895, he was director of music in St. Paul's
School, Garden City, Long Island, till 1902; and in the
same period he held different posts as organist in New York.

228

Henry Hadley

HENRY HADLEY 229'

His first symphony, "Youth and Life," was performed in
New York in 1897, under Anton Seidl. In 1899 his cantata,
"In Music's Praise/' won the Oliver Ditson Prize of two
hundred and fifty dollars, in a competition open to the world,
and in which many European composers submitted works;
and it was produced in that year by the People's Choral Union
of New York under Frank Damrosch. His second sym-
phony, "The Four Seasons/' in 1902 gained both the Pade-
rewski Prize for an American composition and another of-
fered by the New England Conservatory. It was performed
in all leading American cities, in London under Charles
Villiers Stanford and in Warsaw under Mlynarski In
1904 he returned to Germany and appeared as guest con-
ductor of his own works in Berlin, Cassel, Warsaw, Monte
Carlo, Wiesbaden, Munich, Mannheim, Paris, Stockholm,
Amsterdam and other musical centers. His ''Symphony No.
3, in B' Minor," appeared in 1906 and was performed in
Berlin, New York and Chicago.

Mr. Hadley became one of the conductors of the Stadt-
theater of Mayence (Mainz-am-Rhein) in 1908 the first
American to hold such a position in Germany and in
April, 1909, his one-act opera, "Safie," to a libretto by Ed-
ward Oxen ford, was produced at this theater and had several
hearings.

The Mayence Cast

Safie, a Persian Princess Marguerite Lemon

Ahmed Konrad Roszner

Alasman, a Magician Fritz Kupp

Zehu, his Son Karl Bara

Mahud Khan, a Persian Nobleman, Safe's Uncle

Jean Hemsing
Conductor Henry Hadley

In this same year he also won the One Thousand Dollars
Prize offered by the National Federation of Music Clubs for

230 AMERICAN OPERA

the best orchestral composition by an American composer.
The successful work was his orchestral rhapsody, "The Cul-
prit Fay," based on Joseph Rodman Drake's poem; and in
May he returned to America to conduct its world premiere
by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra at the Biennial Conven-
tion of the National Federation of Music Clubs at Grand
Rapids, Michigan. In the autumn of that same year he be-
came conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, which
position he retained till 1911 when he took up the baton
of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra which he held till
1915. In the meantime his fourth symphony, "North, East,
South, West," had been written for the Norfolk (Connecti-
cut) Festival and was performed June 5, 1911, under the
composer's conducting. In 1912 he wrote the musical score
for "The Atonement of Pan/' a Grove- Play, or Masque
(practically an opera), which was presented among the
Sequoias, at the summer "High Jinks" of the Bohemian Club
of San Francisco.

Of native-born orchestral leaders he is probably the most
distinguished. His personality as a conductor was so adroit-
ly drawn in The Musical Observer (London), of August,
1911, that it is given:

"Throughout the evening Mr. Hadley wielded the baton in
such a manner and with such success as left no doubt either of
his mastery of orchestral technique or of his love for the work.
While he secured the full and sympathetic attention of the mem-
bers of the orchestra, there were no mannerisms nor theatricals ;
indeed, it was good to sit and listen to such music inspired by
one whose outward appearance could scarcely have less justified
the expectation."

His larger compositions have appeared frequently on the
programs of leading American orchestras, often under his
own baton. He has been a prolific composer in almost every

HENRY IIADLEV 231

form and has more than one hundred and fifty songs (Eng-
lish and German) to his credit. His works probably mark
the highest attainment in serious American composition,
because he has sincerely and unaffectedly expressed modern
thought and culture through the forms and idioms which
for centuries have served as mediums for musical speech.
Of works for the stage Mr. Hadley has composed, besides
the one already noticed, three for American production.
"Azora, daughter of Montezuma,"* a three-act opera, was
written in 1915, had its first performance on any stage at
the Auditorium, by the Chicago Opera Company, on Decem-
ber 26, 1917, and was repeated on January 7 and 12, 1918.
Also it was given on January 26th of the same season, at
the Lexington Theater of New York, with the composer
conducting.

The Premiere Cast

Montezuma Tames Goddard

Xalca Forrest Lament

Canek Frank Preisch

Ramatain Arthur Middleton

Azora Anna Fitziu

Papantzin Cyrena Van Gordon

The Time is that of Montezuma II, 1479-1520. The Place
is Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztecs of Mexico. The
libretto is by David Stephens, author and editor, of Boston;
and the tale is developed with poetic skill and a sense of the
theater.

Act I. A Courtyard before the House of Eagles. Xalca, a
Tlascalan prince, loves Azora, daughter of Montezuma, his con-
queror. At the feast of the Sun God, Canek, the High Priest,
warns Xalca to relinquish Azora, the fiancee of Ramatzin the
Aztec general. As a result there are renewed avowals between
Xalca and Azora; the princess absents herself from the revolting-
sacrificial services and is being rebuked by Montezuma when

232 AMERICAN OPERA

"the coming of Christ's warriors" is announced, and Xalca is
sent against the foe with the promise of any favor asked if he
but achieve victory.

Act II. Inside the Temple of Totec. As 'Azora prays for her
lover, Ramatzin urges his suit. He begs Montexuma to proclaim
his betrothal to Azora; but the princess declares Xalca to be her
choice, though the emperor intimates that his days are few. The
victorious Xalca unexpectedly enters the temple and suggests a
sacrifice, to which Montesuma agrees, intending Xalca for the
victim. As his promised reward Xalca claims Asora's hand,
which so infuriates Montezuma that, mingled with the jubilant
shouts of the soldiers without, he vehemently charges the lovers
that on the following day their "red jewels" a poetic Aztec
epithet for their hearts shall be torn from their bi easts.

Act III. The Cavern of Sacrifice. Papantzin, a sister of
Montezuma, is offering to Azora the consolations of the religion
of Christ when Canek brings news that the emperor will spare
his daughter's life if she will accept Ramatzin. Ramatzin enters,
attended by Xalca who, acquainted with the emperor's offer, joins
the others in urging Azora to yield, only to receive her pledge,
"For Xalca would I live. But if he must die to feed your bitter
hate, he shall not die alone." Montezuma appears ; Azora 'j deci-
sion is made known, and he orders the sacrifice to proceed. Canek
stands with his keen flint weapon raised, awaiting the mystic sign
of a shaft; of sunlight admitted by a cleft in the wall so that it
shall rest upon the victims, when strange voices are heard singing
a noble theme of faith in God; awe falls upon the assembly;
Canek' s hand is stayed; and Cortez, on a white charger and
accompanied by his warriors and priests with white banners, ap-
pears in the entrance. In apprehension and dismay Montezuma
approaches the altar when, instead of upon the sacrificial vic-
tims, the shaft of light falls directly upon the white cross. Canek
releases his weapon and falls senseless before the holy symbol;
Montezuma and his people appeal to Totec for protection ; but the
overpowering manifestation of Christian faith prevails, and the
scene closes with the triumphant strains of Gloria in Excelsis
Deo.

When in 1917 the Hinshaw Prize of One Thousand Dol-
lars for an American opera to be produced by the Society of

HENRY HADLEY 233

American Singers was announced, the award was made to
Henry Hadley for his "Bianca," * an opera in one act, with
its libretto by Grant Stewart and based on Goldoni's comedy,
"The Mistress of the Inn." It was written in 1917 and per-
formed for the first time on any stage by the Society of
American Singers, at the Park Theater, New York, on
October 15, 1918.

The Premiere Cast

Bianco, Maggie Teyte

77 Cavalicre del Ruggio Henri Scott

II Conte delta Terramonte Howard White

II Marchese d'Amalfi Craig Campbell

Fabricio Carl Formes

Pictro John Quine

Carlo John Phillips

Ciro Jack Goldman

Giovanni Franklin Riker

Lucia Bianca Rodriguez

Emilia Isabel McLoighman

Conductor Henry Hadley

The Time is 1760; the Place, an inn near Florence. The
Conte della Terramonte and the effeminate Marchese d'Amalfi are
playing dice in Bianca's inn for a flagon of wine. They are
rivals for Bianca's hand and she accepts gifts from each. The
Cavalier e del Ruggio, a confirmed woman-hater, enters and orders
Bianca about discourteously, in spite of which she proceeds to
carry out her father's dying wish that all guests be treated
courteously and at the same time hopes to win over the Cavaliere,
which arouses jealous resentment in Fabricio whom, however,
she drives off discomfited.

Bianca is ironing her finest linen for the use of the Cavaliere
and to win his sympathy pretends to have burned her hand on the
iron ; but he, while attempting to console her, accidentally touches
the iron, finds it cold, and flies into a passion because of her
deception. With cooked-up grievances the three suitors are
leaving- the inn when the Cavaliere incites a quarrel with the

234 AMERICAN OPERA

Count. A duel ensues, which Bianca is attempting to stop when
Fabricio strikes their swords from the opponents' hands with an
ironing board. Bianca is so overcome with Fabricio' s bravado
that she yields to his embrace, and all join in an ensemble praising
love and chivalry.

Following modern usage, there are no ostensibly set num-
bers in this opera. However, the duet of Bianca and
Fabricio, beginning "Against my will"; Bianca's excellent
air, "Why is Fabricio so easy to disarm ?" ; Fabricio' s fine
cavatina, "The scar is here"; and Bianca's "Now why did
I not think of that?"; each will make an effective program
number.

The year of 1918 was a significant one. In it "The Gar-
den of Allah" was abandoned in an unfinished state and the
composer turned his genius to the creation of "Cleopatra's
Night,"* an opera in two acts. "Cleopatra's Night" was first
produced on any stage at the Metropolitan Opera House,
New York, on January 31, 1920, was repeated three times
before the close of the season, and presented three times in
the season of 1920-1921. It thus became the third American
opera to achieve a major production in a second season. It
was heard over the air, by the National Broadcasting Com-
pany, on May 6, 1929.

The Premiere Cast

Cleopatra Frances Alda

Meiamoun Orville Harrold

Mardion Jeanne Gordon

Iras Marie Tiffany

Mark Antony Vincenzio Reschiglian

The Eunuch Millo Picco

Chief Officer Louis d'Angelo

Conductor Gennaro Papi

The libretto of "Geopatra's Night" is an adaptation of
Theophile Gautier's story, Une Nuit de Cleopatre, and is the

HENRY HADLEY

235

work of Alice Leal Pollock. The title fixes the Time and
Locale.

Act I. The Summer Palace of Cleopatra, showing the fabled
baths at sunset. Attended by her favorite maids, the Queen seeks
refreshment from the heat of the day. As she implores the gods
for a variance of her monotonous existence, an arrow buries its
head at her feet. Enraged, she demands the papyrus wound
about the shaft, from which she reads the laconic message, "I
love you." When Mardion discovers a swimmer far out in the
river, Cleopatra gives orders to Diomedes that he be brought to
shore alive, on pain of death. The Queen's first anger and threats

are disarmed by the intruder's confession that it was he who dis-
patched the arrow. To his passionate declarations Cleopatra re-
plies that she will purchase the life he threatens to spend, with
one night which he may have with her, on condition that he is to
give his life at the next morning to which he agrees. Mardion,
who loves Meiamoun, urges that he forfeit his life at once rather
than surrender to the Queen's desires, but being unsuccessful
she stabs herself and is thrown to the crocodiles; at which
Meiamoun and Cleopatra enter the royal cangia that is borne out
on the tide.

Act II. The Terraces of the Palace, near sunrise. Meiamoun,
attired as a royal prince, and Cleopatra descend the steps amidst
the acclaim of the people, to watch the dancing of Greek girls

236 AMERICAN OPERA

and of maidens from the desert. As a slave brings the poisoned
draught the Queen relents and muses on holding Meiamoun as
king for a month, in the midst of which a herald announces the
approach of Mark Antony. Mciamouns fate thus sealed, he
drains the goblet and falls at Cleopatra's feet. Fulfilling a pledge
to Meiamoun, Cleopatra clasps him to her bosom, presses her lips
to his ; then, to the distant chanting of the priests, she goes slowly
up the terrace steps and out to meet Antony.

Though the score is distinctly rich and modern in treatment
and atmosphere, the composer has not hesitated to create
singable melody and detachable numbers. Perhaps best
among these are Cleopatra's air beginning with "My veins
seem rilled with glowing quicksilver" and her impassioned
song, " 'I love you/ splendid audacity!" which will display the
mettle of any soprano. Then the scene between Meiamoun
and Cleopatra, beginning with "Who are you?," has some
thrilling moments for those who can realize them. The
" Oriental Dances" also deserve special mention.

The composer's last large work for voices is a secular
oratorio, "Resurgam," to the poem of Louise Ayers. This
has had performances at home and abroad. In it Mr. Hadley
shows that all too rare gift among the moderns for writing
music that can be sung : with which there is a handling of the
big forces displaying the master of modern resources.

Mr. Hadley has a rare gift for melody, which he is not
afraid to indulge according to his feelings. There is about
his work no straining for originality or atmosphere. His
music is always sane and fresh, following the fundamental
laws of form and euphony. His works reveal a love for
things titanic ; but when he would picture the diminutive and
exquisite he can indulge in hyper-delicacy. To portray the
grand emotions he has a peculiar liking for the broadly drawn
crescendo of the brasses, an orchestral effect than which
there is none more thrilling.

RICHARD HAGEMAN 237

Mr. Hadley is typically American, both by ancestry and
education. Though he spent some time in Germany for
breadth of study and experience, yet the greater part of his
musical development has been amid home environments.
His worthy works have not been wrought unnoticed. In
the spring of 1925 he received the David Bispham Memorial
Medal in recognition of his notable achievements in the crea-
tion of American opera. On June 25, of the same year, Tufts
College of Boston conferred upon him the degree of Doctor
of Music. Welcome as such must be to anyone, still they
can scarcely furnish the same satisfaction that must come to
this composer from the cordial reception of himself and
his works, by the profession and laity of the musical world.

RICHARD HAGEMAN

Richard Hageman has been so long prominent in American
musical activities that he seems almost as a native. He was
born in Leeuwarden, Holland, July 9, 1882, the son of
Maurice Hageman, director of the Amsterdam Conservatory
and Francesca (de Majofski) Hageman, a court singer. Till
ten years old he was a pupil of his father ; then from ten till
fourteen he studied at the Brussels Conservatoire, and for
two years at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. He played the
piano in concerts at six, was accompanist of the Amsterdam
Royal Opera at sixteen, second conductor at eighteen, first
conductor of French and Italian repertoire at nineteen. He
then spent three years in Paris and came to the United States
in 1906. He in 1908 joined the Metropolitan Opera Com-
pany as assistant conductor, became a regular conductor in
1914, and has since then led the Chicago Civic Opera Com-
pany, the Los Angeles Grand Opera Company, the Ravinia

238 AMERICAN OPERA

Park Opera Company, the Society of American Singers, and
he also has conducted orchestras at the San Francisco Exposi-
tion and at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

Mr. Hageman's long experience as accompanist and coach
of leading opera singers and his success in writing songs for
them naturally led him to composition for the musical stage.

"Caponsacchi" (with "Tragodie in Arezzo" for German and
"Tragedy in Arezzo" for English title) is an opera decidedly
international. The libretto, by our American, Arthur Good-
rich, is a dramatic adaptation of Robert Browning's 'The
Ring and the Book," with its composer a Netherlander who
was educated largely in Belgium and has spent most of his
professional career in Uncle Sam's domain. Could anything
be more typically "American" ?

"Caponsacchi" had its world premiere on February 18,
1932, at the Stadttheater of Friesberg-in-Breisgau, Germany,
with a popular success demanding forty curtain calls for par-
ticipants in the performance, with the composer appearing in
twenty-five of them. The Prologue and first act were broad-
cast to London and thence relaid to seventy-six American
stations.

The composer evidently aimed to create a sincere, well-
made and popular stage work ; and it is said to be excellent
"theater." There are three acts, with a prologue and epi-
logue ; and the work is post- Wagner ian music drama in form,
with but one set number, a sort of lullaby song for Pompelia.
The voice parts are varied from dramatic declamation to
broad arioso, all relieved by a background of flowing orches-
tral melody rich in color.

The time is 1698 and the scene is the judgment ball of the Papal
Palace of Rome. The opera begins and closes with a scene from

HOWARD HANSON 239

the trial of the noble Guido Frcmceschini of Arezzo, for the mur-
der of Pompelia, his wife, which he maintains was done because
of her infidelity with the monk, Caponsacchi, and that her parents
were slain in self-defense. The three acts reveal events leading
to the tragedy and then the ignoble cruelty of Guido, from whom
Caponsacchi has rescued his innocent wife and taken her to Rome
to await the birth of her legitimate child. The plot closes with
the vindication of Caponsacchi and the passing of a death
sentence on Guido.

The premiere cast included Edit Maerker as Pompelia,
Sigmund Matuszewski as Caponsacchi, Fritz Neumeyer as
Guido, Andraes Dollinger, The Pope ; Hans Prandhoff, Conti;
Heinz Daniel, Captain of the Papal Guard, and A Prior ;
Sanders Schier, Pietro', Elvira Arlow, Violanta; Karl Lo-
rentz, The Innkeeper; and Yella Hochreiter, A Waiting Wo-
man to Violanta. There was an augmented ballet for the
dance scene of the first act ; and Hugo Balzer was the con-
ductor.

The opera had also a performance on March 4, 1932, at the
Municipal Theater of Miinster, when there were ovations for
the conductor, the participants and the composer.

HOWARD HANSON

On October 28 of 1896 was born to Norwegian parents
living at Wahoo, Nebraska, a child who, as Howard Hanson,
was to become a leader among American musicians. Now
Wahoo happens to be the seat of a small Swedish Lutheran
college, and at the age of seven little Howard began there
his study of the piano. At eight he wrote "my Opus 1, a
little trio of doleful melodies;" and soon thereafter he was
admitted to the regular classes of the older students of har-
mony and counterpoint.

240 AMERICAN OPERA

But along with this interest in music he kept apace of all
public school work with the highest scholarship standard,
graduated from the high school, where he had led the orches-
tra for which he wrote several compositions ; and then, after
continued studies of piano, violoncello and composition, he
graduated in 1913 from Lutheran College, by a special dis-
pensation as to his age.

A year on a Chautauqua and lyceum circuit furnished the
funds for a year in the Institute of Musical Art of New York
City, with graduation in 1915. This same summer, again on
the road, he provided for the entering of Northwestern Uni-
versity, where he studied composition with Arne Oldberg and
Peter Christian Lutkin, at the same time acted as instructor
of Harmony, though but nineteen years of age, and received
his academic degree in the summer of 1916. That same au-
tumn he became professor of the theory of music in the
College of the Pacific at San Jose, California, and in 1919
was advanced to the position of dean, establishing a new age
record for this academic position. In this same year came also
Dr. Hanson's first opportunity to conduct a large orchestra,
when Walter Henry Rothwell asked him to lead his "Sym-
phonic Rhapsody" when played by the Los Angeles Philhar-
monic Orchestra. He was just entering on his third year as
dean when news came that his orchestral compositions had
won for him the Musical Fellowship of the American Acad-
emy in Rome, in its first competition for American composers ;
so in January of 1922 he sailed for Italy to spend two and a
half years in composition and travel, and, incidentally, to con-
duct several programs of American works given by the Au-
gusteo Orchestra of Rome.

While in Rome Dr. Hanson wrote his " 'Nordic* Sym-
phony," his "North and West," his "Lux Aeterna," the string

HOWARD HANSON 241

quartet which received the Coolidge Foundation commission
in October, 1925, and the choral work, "The Lament of
Beowulf," which had its premiere by the Choral Union and
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ann Arbor Festival
of 1926.

Having returned to America, on a short leave from his
work at Rome, to conduct his "North and West" with the
New York Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Hanson was invited by
Albert Coates to lead his " 'Nordic' Symphony" by the
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Scarcely had he returned
to Rome when a letter from President Rush of the University
of Rochester offered him the post of Director of the East-
man School of Music.

With the realization of the tremendous opportunities of this
great school, he left the quiet haven of Rome to give his time
to organizing the work to which he had been called, to helping
to solve the educational problems of the United States ; but,
with this all, to keep up a sustained interest in his creative
work. In the meantime he has conducted his own works when
performed by many American orchestras ; and along with
these he has inaugurated the Eastman plan for the encourag-
ing of American composers by allowing them to hear their
works under the most favorable conditions. On June 21st of
1931 he received the Oberlaender Trust Award by which he
traveled, conducted concerts of American compositions, and
made contacts with leading musicians in Germany and Austria.

With his "Merry Mount" Dr. Howard Hanson joined the
American composers of opera. Written on a commission
from the Metropolitan Opera Company, to a libretto by
Richard L. Stokes, when presented in operatic form,t on

t The work had been heard, in concert form only, at the Ann Arbor (Michi-
gan) Festival, in the third week of May, 1933.

242 AMERICAN OPERA

February 10, 1934, at the Metropolitan of New York, it
became the fifteenth American work to have a premiere upon
that stage enough to make it historic for all time. There
were nine, ten, fourteen and seventeen curtain calls respec-
tively after the four acts a total of fifty, and said to have
had no precedent at this theater,

The Premiere Cast

Faint-Not Tinker, a sentinel Arnold Gabor

Samosct, an Indian chief James Wolfe

Desire Annabel, a sinner Irra Petina

Jonathan Banks, a Shaker Giordano Paltrinieri

Wrestling Bradford Lawrence Tibbett

Plentiful Tewke Gladys Swarthout

Praise-God Tcwke, her father, and

elder of the congregation Arthur Anderson

Myles Brodrib, captain of the trainband

Alfredo Gandolfi

Peregrine Brodrib, his son Helen Gleason

Love Brewstcr Lillian Clark

Bridget Crackston, her grandmothcr,ller\riettt Wakefield

Jack Prence, a mountebank Marek Windheim

Lady Marigold Sandys Gota Ljungberg

Thomas Morton, Mangold's uncle Louis D'Angelo

Sir Gower Lackland Edward Johnson

Jewel Scrooby, a parson Millo Picco

First Puritan Max Altglass

Second Puritan Pompilio Malatesta

Puritans, men, women and children ; male and female

Cavaliers ; Indian braves and squaws ; May-pole

revelers; princes, warriors, courtesans

and monsters of Hell

Conductor Tullio Serafin

Ballet Mistress Rosina Galli

HOWARD HANSON 243

The time is May of 1630, and the place is near the site of
present day Quincy, Massachusetts.

Act I. 'The Village/' at noonday; with an austere Puritan
hymn heard from the nearby church. Wrestling Bradford, pastor,
emerges and rigorously rebukes Jonathan Banks, in the stocks as
a free-thinker, and Desire Annabel, as an erring woman. After
which he confesses to Praise-God Tewke that he is tortured by
infernal dreams of a beautiful temptress. Elder Tcwkc intimates
that the parson is "over-ripe for marriage" and offers his Plenti-
ful as candidate. Then comes Prence, a montebank, from a band
of Cavaliers at lately founded, gay and May-pole dancing Merry
Mount. lie is being lashed at the whipping post, when Lady
Marigold Sandys and her party arrive and she frees him. The
Puritans would drive the Cavaliers back to their ship ; but Brad-
ford recognizes in Marigold the Astoreth of his dreams, is be-
witched, and proclaims a truce till the morrow ; then, discovering
her intention to wed Sir Gower Lackland, he orders the destruc-
tion of Merry Mount.

Act II, Scene I. Merry Mount. The revels of the May-pole
dance culminate in the wedding of Marigold and Lackland, which
is scarcely consummated when Bradford leads an attack, routs the
Cavaliers, and the May-pole is destroyed.

Act II, Scene II. "The Forest." Bradford encounters Mari-
gold with her captors and commands her release. As he em-
braces her, Sir Goiver rushes on and, in the ensuing melee, receives
a pike in his breast. Mangold is confined, to prevent rumors
reaching England; and Bradford, reproached by Tcivke for his
infidelity to Plentiful, prays for his soul till overcome by sleep.

Act II, Scene III. Bradford's Dream: "The Hellish Rendez-
vous/' In which Bradford discovers Gower as Lucifer and Mari-
gold as Astoreth. Lucifer, to recover New England, lost to his
rule by the destruction of Merry Mount, offers to make Bradford
its Prince, which he nobly declines. But, to possess Astoreth, he
curses New England, signs the Devil's Book, receives the mark
of Satan on his forehead, and the wayward couple plight their
impassioned love. (One of the best half-dozen ballet scenes in the
contemporary operatic repertoire.)

244 AMERICAN OPERA

Act III, Scene I. "The Forest," as in Act II, Scene II. Brad-
ford sleeps. Plentiful has covered him with her cloak and crouches
near in dismay as he dreams and calls for Astoreth. He awakes,
relates his vision, and they enter the wood.

Act III, Scene II. "The Village," an hour later than in
Act I, but in ruin from an Indian onslaught as presaged in
Bradford's curse. A brave drags in and tomahawks Love Brew-
ster; and the church is left in flames as the Indians are routed by
returning colonists. Bradford confesses his unholy dream ; Mari-
gold is condemned to burning as a witch ; at which Bradford hor-
rifies the populace by baring the mark of Satan, seizes Marigold
and springs with her into the flaming church, as the Puritans fall
on their knees and chant The Lord's Prayer.

Critical opinion rather agreed that the libretto, as dramatic
literature, is among the best with which American composers
have been favored ; that the musical declamation shows a sen-
sitive ear for correct accents and scansion; and that, while
there are times when the singing voice is rather cruelly treated,
still there are many passages of great vocal eloquence. Of
choral writing there has been none more masterly in Ameri-
can opera; and the orchestration is glowing, if often so full-
throated as to submerge completely the singers.

In its first season "Merry Mount" had four performances
at the Metropolitan; one, on February thirteenth, at the
American Academy of Music, Philadelphia; one, on March
sixth, in Brooklyn ; and one, on April twelfth, in the East-
man Theater of Rochester, New York. After the premiere,
Leonora Corona, American soprano, replaced Gota Ljungberg
as Lady Marigold Sandys; and on several evenings Richard
Bonelli, also American born, relieved Lawrence Tibbett, as
Wrestling Bradford. The Rochester event was significant
and aroused fervid local enthusiasm, as the score is dedicated
to the memory of George Eastman, founder of the school of
which the composer is director, and donor to the city of the
theater in which the opera was being produced.

WILLIAM F. HANSON 245

WILLIAM F. HANSON

William F. Hanson, authority on traditional Indian music
and composer of two Romantic Indian Operas, was born in
Vernal, Utah, October 23, 1887. His parents had come to
America from Denmark, his father being a skillful violinist,
while other relatives were noted violinists in Copenhagen.
He began the study of the piano as a boy and soon was the
community pianist for churches, amusements and dances.
He graduated in 1907 from the School of Music of Brigham
Young University of Provo, Utah, as a student of A. C.
Lund. Then came studies in Salt Lake City, a course of
organ study in Chicago, and later he was a pupil of Xaver
Scharwenka, Felix Borowski, Carl Busch and Maurice
Aronson.

His youth in Vernal, in close proximity to the Sioux and
Ute tribal homes, developed a strong interest in the lives of
these aborigines and in the preservation of their legends and
music. The Indians named the musician " N Ampa-6- x Luta
(The-First-Tint-of-Red-in-the-East-at-Dawn)"; which they
later changed to x Paree ("Big Elk"). In and out of season
he rode with his friends, listened to their campfire stories,
watched them at play, attended their ceremonials; and all
the while he was jotting down on paper or on the tablets of
his receptive musical mind bits of the lore, the melodies,
the inner lives of these inhabitants of the primeval field or
forest. Much time was spent at their religious festivals and
at their native dances, till he developed a strong psychic bond
with their lives. This stirred within him the ambition to
preserve their traditional ceremonies and music. To assist
in this he was favored by meeting Zitkala Sa, a full-blooded
Sioux maiden who had been educated thoroughly at Carlisle
and the New England Conservatory, whose literary ability

246 AMERICAN OPERA

had made her writings welcomed by such magazines as
Harper's and the Atlantic Monthly and who had published
a book of "Indian Legends." In this collaboration it was
she who furnished the missing links that made a story of the
Sun Dance; she who revised Mr. Hanson's poems, phrase
by phrase, so that they should truly interpret her people;
she who criticized his music, wherever it departed from true
Indian melody.

Of both his operas Mr. Hanson has been his own librettist.
They have been built upon Indian legends, myths, ceremonials,
music and customs, with a view of using only those which
have not been influenced by the white people. Both of them
tell their stories without reference to other peoples. The
composer gave fifteen years to the gathering of his materials
and casting them in the proper mold; and the products are
grand opera in form, the few spoken sentences being accom-
panied by choral Indian chants.

"The Sun Dance," an opera in five acts is, in plot, a simple
romance woven about the traditional Sun Dance of the
Sioux, borrowed from them by the Utes. It is almost en-
tirely a religious ceremonial. The leading characters are the
hero, Ohiya (a Sioux brave) ; the maiden, Winona (a Sioux
chieftain's daughter) ; the Medicine Man, and the jealous
visitor, Sweet Singer, a Shoshone brave. Such beautiful
legends as those of the "Witches," of the "Arrowheads," of
the "Hieroglyphics," and of the "Fireflies" are woven into
the story. In the main the music is based on Indian songs
and melodies, but it at times departs somewhat, to tell the
story and to interpret it to the audience. The songs and
legends used are those which are national in their scope and
are of long traditional life.

"The Sun Dance" had its premiere at Orpheus Hall of
Vernal, Utah, on the evening of February 20, 1913, by the

WILLIAM F. HANSON 247

music department of Uintah Academy, with the composer
conducting. It created a furore which elicited an announce-
ment of performances on the following two evenings, to
which groups drove from communities as much as forty
miles distant. Then on May 21, 1914, it was produced at
Provo, Utah, under the auspices of the Department of Music
of Brigham Young University, with skilled soloists, an
orchestra of sixty, and a chorus of one hundred singers and
dancers including a contingent of native Sioux among whom,
in historic significance, was Old Sioux, one hundred and one
years of age, a reputed cousin of the famous Sitting Bull as
well as participant in the Custer Massacre. Its spectacular
and colorful climaxes created such enthusiasm that it was
repeated for matinee and evening performances on the
twenty-sixth, nor was interest satisfied till the eleventh per-
formance. These were followed by three performances at
Salt Lake City, two in Heber, and one each at American
Fork, Lehi, Springville and Payson. An interesting and
pregnant commentary is the record that at no performance
were there less than ten encores. The opera does not depict
the Indian in the dime novel fashion familiar on the stage
and the screen. It is a sympathetic portrayal of the real
Indian a conscientious attempt to delineate the manners, the
customs, the dress, the religious ideals, the superstitions, the
songs, the games, the ceremonials in short, the life of a
noble romantic people too little understood.

"Tam-Man'-Nacup' " is based upon an annual celebration
of the Uintah Indians, which is the best of the Ute cere-
monials, partly religious and partly social. Interpreted, the
idiom means "Spring Festival"; but it is commonly called
the "Bear Dance."

Immediately after the first thunderstorm of spring the

248 AMERICAN OPERA

Utes build an arena, surrounded by a wall of willows and
young trees, within which the dance is done. An orchestra
of several Indians assembles around a hollow log (or a
similar "property") and there by means of scraping a notched
piece of stick with the bone of a bear's foreleg, to music
intended to represent the growling of a bear, they make a
weird noise as an accompaniment to their songs. To this
"music" braves and squaws dance for hours. On the last
day of the festival a brave, masquerading as a bear, crawls
from his retreat behind a pile of bushes and is duly shot by
one of the dancers, the hide being stripped from the "bear"
to be suspended upon a pole. The opera uses also the
medicine men, the death ceremonial so sacred to the Indians,
the Scalp Dance, the legend of the "Paw-applets'," "The
Sacred Eagle" and others. On May 3, 1928, it had two per-
formances at Provo, Utah, with the composer conducting.
It was given at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, on
May 22, 1929, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
assisting.

The Cast Includes :

Tarn-man' (Spring) Soprano

Tava-mou'-i-seie (Sun Conies) Tenor

Ctitchl' (No Good) Baritone

Medicine Man ( Tam-inan"s father) Bass

Paw-applets' (Water-babies)

The bear; Uintah Indians (men, women and children) ;

Followers of CutchI; Shoshone visitors;

Indian Singers; and Indian Dancers

Practically all the music is of Indian origin and many of
their dances are introduced. The opera has a fine climax in
the appearance of the Water-babies and the deliverance of the

WILLIAM F. HANSON 249

heroine, Tarn-man' , who has observed the death-rites of the
Medicine Men over her lover and has vowed to remain at the
Death-Abode till starvation sliall reunite them. A group
of three songs from this opera won second place in the
Alfred Blossom Contest for American Songs, held at the
Corona Mundi (International Art Institute) of New York.
Mr. Hanson has completed a new opera, "The Bleeding
Heart." It is not historic, like his other operas, but it is in
the Indian idiom. The story, by E. L. Roberts, is based on
a beautiful legend of a cave on Mount Timpanogos, wherein
hangs a large stalactite that is a perfect image of a human
heart.

XXVI

W. FRANKE HARLING, S. H. HARWILL, CELESTE
DE LONGPRE HECKSCHER

W. FRANKE HARLING

W. Franke Harling, com-
poser, pianist and organist, was
born in London, England, Jan-
uary 17, 1887, was brought to
America in the mid-months of
his first year, and that part of
his education which may be
called American was acquired
in 'The Hub." He entered the
London Academy of Music
(England) in 1903, where he
studied piano, organ, violin,
violoncello and composition ;
and, after three years there,
went on to Brussels where for several years he was under
the guidance of Theophile Ysaye whose ability as pianist
and composer has been rather overshadowed by the public
successes of his brother Eugene.

Mr. Harling has been a prolific composer, with more than
a hundred published works, including songs, cantatas and
other choral compositions. "Before the Dawn," a Persian
Idyl, for male chorus and orchestra, was first performed

250

W. Frank* Harlia.

W. FRANKE HARLING 251

by the Mendelssohn Club of Chicago, with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, in 1919, and has since been heard in
most of the leading cities of the United States. "The
Death of Minnehaha," an Indian Pastoral for male chorus,
soprano and tenor solos, with accompaniment of piano, harp,
flute, celesta and tympani, has been performed by many
leading singing societies, including the Mendelssohn Club
of Chicago under the baton of Harrison Wild. "The Miracle
of Time/* a Symphonic Ballad, scored for a large chorus,
an additional male chorus, a large children's chorus, with
tenor solo and full orchestra, was presented in 1 ( M6 as a
prize composition at the Newark Festival (New Jersey)
under the baton of Mortimer Wiske.

His mind then turned to composition for the theater and
Mr. Harling wrote incidental music for a number of pro-
ductions, including "Behind a Watteau Picture," "Pan and
the Young Shepherd," "Shakuntala," and "Lancelot and
Elaine" by Edwin Milton Royle. Along with these he wrote
two short operas, "Alda," which was produced in Boston in
1908, and "The Sunken Bell/' to the poem of Clerhart
Hauptmann, which was accepted by Henry Russell but its
performance prevented by the oncoming of war. Through
writing the music for several plays in which Mrs. Minnie
Maddern Fiske was the leading lady, they were brought into
collaboration on a musical work for the stage, which resulted
in "A Light from St. Agnes."*

It is a Lyric Tragedy in one act. The libretto is an adapta-
tion of a play with the same name, by Mrs. Fiske; and, with
her eminent theatrical position, naturally it would have defi-
nite dramatic values practically treated. "A Light from St.
Agnes" had its world premiere by the Chicago Civic Opera
Company, in the Auditorium, December 26, 1925; and at
the close of the performance and an extended series of

252 AMERICAN OPERA

curtain calls, the impulsive Toinette embraced the composer
before the audience and started an historic osculatory demon-
stration. Then Mr. Harling was presented the David Bis-
pham Memorial Medal of the American Opera Society of
Chicago. Illness of Mr. Lament prevented other scheduled
presentations of the opera.

The Premiere Cast

Toinette Rosa Raisa

Michel Kerouac Georges Baklanoff

Pere Bertrand Forrest Lament

Chorus of Nuns ; Chorus of Roisterers
Conductor W. Franke Harling

The scene of the opera is the interior of a dilapidated hovel
on the outskirts of the Louisiana village of Bon Hilaire near
New Orleans. In the background is the rose window of the
Chapel of St. Agnes. The time of action is from midnight
to dawn; while the silent heroine of the drama, Agnes
Devereaux, lies in her coffin in the chapel on the hill.

Toinette, beautiful and wicked ring-leader of the vice-ridden
settlement, reclines on her cot, awaiting the return of her lover,
Michel Kerouac. Roisterers (returning from a drunken orgy at
Campfleury, celebrating the death of Agnes) break in upon her
and urge that she join their revel; but, tired and moody, she
spurns their entreaties with threats.

Again she is alone. Pere Bertrand, the parish priest, enters
and tries to tell Toinette that she was the one real object of
Agnes' benevolence and pity; but she is unmoved till he reads
a letter from the dying nun invoking him to try to reach the
heart of wayward Toinette and to do all in his power to "show
her the light." The letter mentions a crucifix which Agnes left
for Toinette, and which he reverently hands to her. He is about
to leave as Michel enters drunk, rudely insults the priest, and
challenges Toinette's reasons for remaining at home. He orders
the priest to go, and they are left alone. He has been lurking

W. FRANKE HARLING 253

about the Chapel. He describes the praying nuns about the bier,
the lighted candles, the subdued chanting with the organ, and
the cross of diamonds on the dead woman's breast. Toinctte lis-
tens in horror to his plans for stealing the cross of diamonds and
escaping to New Orleans. She warns him of the alarm bell
which the nuns would ring, at which he asks for the big knife to
cut the rope. Toinette begs him to let her cut the rope, takes
the knife from him and rushes up the hill. The bell rings and
Michel realizes Toinette's deception. He staggers to the door,
meets her returning, wrests the knife from her hand and thrusts
it into her body. As he gently lays her on the cot the morning
sun streams through the chapel window and reflects down on the
face of the dying girl. The crucifix suddenly appears, clasped in
her folded arms. Michel goes slyly to the sink, washes the blood
from his hands, and slinks quietly out.

"A Light from St. Agnes" had four performances at the
Theatre Champs filysees of Paris, in June and July of 1929 ;
and it was presented before the National Opera Club of
America in New York, on October 10th of the same year. On
September 13, 1931, it was given on the Steel Pier at Atlan-
tic City, New Jersey, with Frances Peralta, Greek Evans and
Judson House in the cast.

The opera requires a little more than an hour for its per-
formance ; and it comes near a distinctly American musical
idiom. Much discussion and concern as to the legitimacy
of jazz in grand opera were dissipated when a hearing dis-
closed that saxophones, banjo, xylophone, humming, jazz
rhythms and jazz effects had been introduced into the more
colorful parts of the score, not as musical ends, but as
mediums toward realism and dramatic characterization. It
is an American jazz opera, by the same means as "Der
Rosenkavalier" is a Viennese waltz opera by its rhythms.
The facts are that Creole folk-tunes, New Orleans street-
tunes, and ecclesiastical chants dominate. Yet one almost

254 AMERICAN OPERA

fatal weakness was noted by critics: the drama fails to be
expressed through song the one reason for opera. The
serenade for eight-part male chorus, Memories of Mardi
Gras, the duet of Tmnette and Michel, and the closing scene
are well suited for study club or program use.

"Deep River," designated by its authors as a "native opera
with jazz," caused a deal of discussion as to whether opera in
America was to merge into a new form. However, while
recognizing its many merits, still a work in which two of
the three acts are carried forward through the medium of
spoken conversation with incidental, though very appropriate
and highly artistic songs, certainly could not qualify as
"grand" opera according to accepted standards. The second
act, with continuous and rather elaborately developed score,
evolved largely from three leading themes, does, though,
move in an atmosphere rather distinctly operatic.

The work had its world premiere at Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania, September 18, 1926, was taken to the Shubert Theater
of Philadelphia, September 21, 1926, awoke considerable
enthusiasm, was given sixteen performances in two weeks,
and then had a two weeks season in New York.

The Philadelphia-New York Cast

Tisanne Jules Bledsoe

Octavic Rose McClendon

Sara Bessie Allison

Julie Gladys White

Henri Rollo Dix

Paul Andre Dumont

Jules David Sager

Garcon Frederick McQuirk

M . Brusard Luis Alberni

W. FRANKE HARLING 2S5

Hutchins Arthur Campbell

Mugettc Lottice Howell

Colonel S treat field Frederick Burton

Hazzard Streatfield Roberto Ardelli

Hercule Antonio Salerno

The Announcer Frank Harrison

Mother of Mugette Louisa Ronstadt

The Voodoo Queen Charlotte Murray

Conductor W. Franke Harling

"Deep River/' with its blending of melodrama and grand
opera, was an interesting experiment in stage art, one critic
saying that it marked "a milepost in American-made opera."
The story acquires romantic richness by being placed in the
New Orleans of 1830, among the descendants of the
Acadians enshrined in Longfellow's "Evangeline."

Act I. Cafe of the Theater Orleans. Wherein it is learned
that it is the day of the great quadroon hall of the spring. And,
further, how M. Brusard has lost a mistress. Also showing how
plans are afoot by M. Jules to supply balm for M. Brusard's
grievous wound. And how M. Jides bringeth the lovely quad-
roon, Mugctte, to the cafe. And how all would have been well,
had not three Kentuckianes come down the great deep river to
the quadroon ball.

Act II. The Place Congo. Showing a voodoo meeting, and
wherein the lovely Mugette defies her mother, who seeks a charm
to catch the wealthy M. Brusard at the quadroon ball. And,
further, showing how the lovely Mugette asks a voodoo charm
for a Kentuckiane. And how the Voodoo Queen warns Mugette
against pursuing her love for this Kentuckiane; how the lovely
Mugette turns to God in prayer, which brings down the wrath of
the voodoo worshipers of the devil.

Act III. Patio at M. Hercule's Quadroon Ball. How the
Kentuckianes came to the quadroon ball; and wherein a pledge
and a prophecy are fulfilled.

256 AMERICAN OPERA

"Deep River" showed that Harling has the ability to create
real opera of the Puccini type and that with neither imita-
tion nor plagiarism. The tenor solo at the beginning of
Act III should become a standard recital and study-club
member.

S. H. HARWILL

S. H. Harwill of Chicago has written an opera, "Bella
Donna." He is said to have "unquestioned and no common
ability"; while his opera displays a charming talent and
technic. After vainly trying for years to get his score before
the rulers of the Metropolitan and of the Auditorium,
Toscanini took time to examine it, pronounced it "one of the
most original of scores," and took it back to Italy with him,
advising the composer to follow, which he has done. "Bella
Donna" is announced for early performance in Milan ; and so
Columbia loses the art contribution of one of her talented
sons.

CELESTE DE LONGPRE HECKSCHER

The home of Robert Valantine and Julia Whitney (Pratt)
Massey, of Philadelphia, was gladdened on the 23d of
February, 1860, by the arrival of a little daughter who was
to receive the well-omened name of Celeste de Longpre, and
was to sing before learning to talk. From early childhood
she improvised at the piano and her first composition was
published when its writer was but ten. With her talents
developed by the best masters of the day, compositions for the
piano, the violin and the voice followed each other rapidly;
and then in 1883 she became Mrs. Austin Stevens Heckscher.
Works flowed unceasingly from her fertile imagination till

CELES'IE l)E LONGPRE HECKSCHER 257

her songs found places in the repertoires of well-known
singers.

In the larger forms her orchestral suite, "Dances of the
Pyrenees," which has been described as having "Bizet-like
touches that chase the blood up and down the spine," has
been played by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York
Symphony Orchestra, the Theodore Thomas Orchestra and
others.

"The Rose of Destiny" is an opera with a Prelude and
three acts, of which the composer is also librettist. It is an
Allegory in which "The Rose of Destiny" typifies Mortal
Love as having evolved early in the processes of Creation and
become the real reason for man's existence. In the plot
Mortal Love has the opposition of Fate, which is overcome
by Time. The opera, though not so completely developed
as later, was given at the Metropolitan Opera House of
Philadelphia, in 1918, in aid of the Red Cross.

There is an important orchestral prelude, during which, on
the screen is thrown the evolution of certain plants, cul-
minating in the beautiful rose.

Act I. The Abode of Destiny (cloud world) where dwell
Time and Fate. Fate approaches Time to say that this day she
has discovered Two Mortals stealing the "Rose of Destiny," for
which she will curse The Man and bring The Woman to her
knees, asking pardon. Infuriated by Time's remonstrances, she
calls Jealousy (who appears in flames) and commands him to
"follow the Mortals and bring back the 'Rose of Destiny' in
Morning Dew, to play once more the game she loves so well."
Furthermore she "will send Misfortune" to dog their steps till
they confess they are but babes before her. With Fate gone,
Time (the serene and compassionate) vows to defy her, and
calls his servants to succor The Mortals in peril.

Act II. The Garden of Mortals. Fate pursues her wicked

258 AMERICAN OPERA

designs, with Misfortune haunting the background shadows to
advance and wither the "Rose n when offered to The Woman]
while Jealousy sows distrust between them. On a moonlight
meeting of The Mortals a storm approaches, and in seeking
shelter for his lady The Man takes her to a cave out of which
comes Misfortune. Twice The Man has beaten Misfortune back
when she lays her hand on him and he falls powerless. After a
bitter struggle The Man resolves to leave The Woman and Mis-
fortune drags her victim away in triumph, when a light reveals
a vision of Time with "The Rose" in his hand. Misfortune howls
and vanishes, The Man lying unconscious on the ground. Clouds
separate The Man and The Woman] a servant of Time steals
in, raises and leads away The Man] and the clouds lift, revealing
The Abode of Destiny.

Act III. Time is surrounded by his Happy Hours and Flights
of Fancy, and The Man enters leaning wearily on a pilgrim's
staff and guiding The Woman. Time bestows on them the talis-
manic flower, while an overwhelming chorus chants the glory of
"The Rose of Destiny."

XXVII

VICTOR HERBERT

Born in Dublin, Ireland,
February 1, 1859, of an Irish
family known for its culture,
his grandfather having been
none other than Samuel Lover,
the eminent novelist, playwright
and composer of Irish songs; if
thirty-five years of diligent and
effective service in the musical
life of a country may be con-
sidered to have accomplished
nationality, then Victor Herbert
may, despite a foreign birth, be
justly named an American com-
poser.

At seven he was sent to Germany for education. There
his ability as a violoncellist attracted such attention that when
still a youth he was appointed to the post of first violoncellist
of the Court Orchestra of Stuttgart. In 1886 he came to the
United States as solo violoncellist of the Metropolitan Opera
Company, of which Anton Seidl was chief conductor. He
soon became prominent in the concert life of New York,
playing at Mr. Seidl's concerts and also for Theodore
Thomas. From 1894 to 1898 he was bandmaster of the
Twenty-second Regiment of the National Guard of New
York, after which he was called to Pittsburgh as conductor

259

Victor Herbert

260

AMERICAN OPERA

of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Already he had
attracted attention as a serious composer; and at the close
of the season of 1903-1904 he returned to New York that
he might have more time to devote to creative activities.

While never deserting the field of the art form of com-
position, he had already begun the production of a series of
light operas of which, because of an easy flow of rhythmic
melody and an extraordinary command of the technique of
composition, he produced some of the best and most success-
ful which have graced the American stage. In September
of 1899, Mr. Herbert produced at Montreal his "Cyrano de
Bergerac," with its libretto by Stuart Reed, based on the
artistic and popular Rostand play, and with lyrics by Harry
B. Smith who had been librettist for so many of his light
operas.

With "Natoma,"* which had its world premiere by the
Philadelphia-Chicago Opera Company, at the Metropolitan
Opera House of Philadelphia, on February 25, 191 l,f with
Mary Garden in the title role, Herbert took his place among
American composers of serious opera. New York saw the
same work for the first time on February 28, 1911, by the
same producing company. Chicago leads in the number of
interpretations of this opera, it having been produced at the
Auditorium on December 15, 22 and 28 of 1911, on January
1, 1912, and again on November 29, 1913, by which it be-
came the first American opera to be carried into a second
season by a major organization. Altogether, including on
tour, the Philadelphia-Chicago Opera Company gave thirty-
five performances of this work, including Baltimore, on
March 9, 1911, with Los Angeles on March 8th and San
Francisco on March 15, 1913. In the spring of 1914
"Natorna" was given eight performances in one week at the

t This credit has been sometimes giv>n, incautiously, to a "dresa rehearsal"
held two daya earlier, on th twenty-third. - *euerw*

VICTOR HERBERT 261

Century Theater of New York, by the company of the
Aborn Brothers.

This opera has the advantage of the environments and
atmosphere of a period of which there has been none more
romantic in American history. It is a story of the mission
days of California of 1820, under Spanish rule; and its
name is that of the heroine. Its personnel is cosmopolitan,
including Spaniards, Indians and pioneer Americans. The
libretto is by Joseph D. Redding, of California, who has
achieved some distinction for works in this very exacting field
of literature. "Natoma," when produced on May 22, 1929,
at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, under the baton
of Thomas Giles, became the first serious grand opera pro-
duced by local forces of that state.

Premiere Cast of Natoma

Natoma Mary Garden

Barbara Lillian Grenville

Lieutenant Paul Merrill John McCormack

Don Francisco de la Guerra Gustave Huberdeau

Father Pcralta Hector Dufranne

Juan Bautista Alvarado Mario Sammarco

Pico Armand Crabbe

Kagatna Constantin Nicolay

Jose Castro Frank Preisch

Chiquita, a dancing girl Gabrielle Klink

A Voice Minnie Egener

Sergeant Desire Dcfrcre

American Officers; Nuns; Convent Girls; Friars;

Soldiers; Dancers
Conductor Cleofonte Campanini

Act I. The Hacienda of Don Francisco de la Guerra, a noble
Spaniard of the old regime, on the Island of Santa Cruz, thirty
miles off the California coast.

262 AMERICAN OPERA

As the curtain rises Don Francisco is gazing over the Santa
Barbara Channel while he waits for his daughter, Barbara, who
is leaving the convent at the close of her schooldays. His reverie
is dissipated by the arrival of Juan Alvarado, a hotblooded young
Spaniard, with his comrades, Pico and Kagama, and of Jose
Castro, a half breed. Alvarado, a Spanish cousin of Barbara, is
anxious to marry her for the estate left by her mother ; so he also
impatiently awaits her arrival. Natoma, an Indian girl, who
serves and adores Barbara, has met Lieutenant Merrill of the
United States Brig "Liberty," and already there is a mild affinity
between the beautiful Indian maiden and the handsome young
officer. In response to his entreaty she tells a romantic story of
how she, a princess, is the last of a noble race. On the necklace
she wears is an abalone shell, and she sings the legend of how
it is a token from the Great Spirit, of succor and plenty. Barbara
arrives and meets Merrill; and love at sight ensues. Later, Al-
varado presses his suit and is haughtily refused. In a rage, he
plots with Castro, who has been repulsed by Natoma, to abduct
Barbara the next day in the excitement of the celebration of her
coming of age. Natoma, concealed in an arbor, overhears this.
The guests depart ; Barbara, left alone on the porch, sings in the
moonlight of her love for Paul; he appears, and there is an impas-
sioned love scene. A light is seen in the hacienda ; and Barbara,
thinking it is her father, urges Paul's departure and goes inside.
The curtain slowly descends, as Natoma, now realizing that her
mistress is also a rival, is seen sitting alone at the window, looking
out into the night.

Act II. The Plaza at Santa Barbara, on the mainland.

A Fiesta in honor of Barbara's coming of age is in progress.
Spanish soldiers raise their national flag; trumpeters play a
patriotic salute; vaqueros and rancheros arrive; dancing girls
join in the revelry; and Alvarado and Chiquita do the Habanera.

Don Francisco and Barbara arrive on horseback, Natoma
walking at their side. Don Francisco, as is the Castilian custom,
places on Barbara's head a woof of royal lace, signifying her
succession to his titles and estate; the Alcalde and other digni-
taries of the town join in the ceremony of doing homage to the
maiden celebrating her majority; after which she sings the
brilliant song of springtime, joy and love, / List the Trill in

VICTOR HERBERT 263

Golden Throat, the accompaniment of which is exquisitely beau-
tiful and appropriate. Alvarado has begun a dance with his
cousin when sailors from the United States Ship "Liberty" ar-
rive, and with them is Lieutenant Merrill. The dance changes to
the Panuela, or "Dance of Declaration," in which each young
man places his hat on the head of the maid he loves, and Barbara
angers Alvarado by snatching his hat from her head and tossing
it into the crowd. Natoma has been sitting apart, motionless
till Castro approaches, railing at the new dances and daring any-
one to join him in the ancient "Dagger Dance." Natoma ac-
cepts the challenge, plunges her dagger beside his in the ground,
and they join in the wild dance to the rhythm of the music.

As the dance becomes more exciting and grips the lookers-on,
Alvarado and Pico stealthily approach Barbara, quickly throw
a scrape over her head and attempt to carry her away. Natoma
has been watching Alvarado and she now springs madly past
Castro and fatally plunges her dagger into the Spaniard. The
crowd rushes toward Natoma to avenge Alvarado, but Paid
instantly draws his sword to defend her. At this tense moment
the door of the Mission opens and Father Pcralta slowly ap-
proaches with the cross held high before him. All kneel ; the
Indian girl drops her weapon, approaches the priest and falls
at his feet. The curtain descends as they slowly enter the
church.

Act III. The interior of the Mission.

Natoma is discovered kneeling before the altar while she in-
vokes the Great Spirit to avenge her misfortunes. Father
Peralta tries to comfort her and finally touches the one responsive
note in her nature her love for Barbara when he assures her
that she shall be the means of joy to her mistress and that Paul
and Barbara will be happily united.

The church fills with people, Paul and Barbara taking op-
posite pews near the altar. At a sign from Father Peralta, the
Indian maiden moves down the aisle to near where they are
seated. Guided by her wish they kneel before the altar, and
Natoma, removing the amulet from about her neck, places it in
blessing on that of her idolized mistress. She turns and starts
toward the convent garden, and, as Father Peralta lifts his hands
in benediction, the cloister doors enclose her.

264

AMERICAN OPERA

If, as opera, this work has a weakness, it is in a certain
lack of the dramatic element in its construction. Nevertheless,
there are merits which sustain it on a relatively high plane ;
and few other American operas are so well adapted to study-
club uses.

"Madeleine"* is a Lyric Opera in one act. The libretto
is by Grant Stewart and is based on a short French play,
"Je dine ches ma Mbre (I Dine with my Mother)," by
Delourcelles and Thibaut, which has long been a standard
piece for the French stage, and in this country has become
familiar through many amateur performances of Mrs. Burton
Harrison's adaptation of it as a playlet. "Madeleine" had
its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House, New
York, on the evening of January 24, 1914, and had four
presentations in that season.

Premiere Cast of "Madeleine"

Madeleine Fleury Frances Alda

Nichette, her maid Leonora Sparkes

Chevalier de Mauprat Antonio Pini-Corsi

Francois, Due d'Esterre Paul Althouse

Didier } a painter Andres de Segurola

Conductor Giorgio Polacco

Scene A Salon of Madeleine's home in Paris. It is New
Year's Day of the year 1770.

Madeleine Fkury, a popular prima donna of the Opera, is
lonely. The holiday spirit of the season makes her feel only the
more the emptiness of her theatrical life. The yearning of the
human touch within prompts her to seek companionship by
inviting friends to dine with her.

The first of her morning callers is the Chevalier de Mauprat,
an old beau; but when asked to stay for dinner he declines,
giving as his reason that he invariably has his New Year's

VICTOR HERBERT 265

I

dinner with his mother. Her next visitor is the polished Due
d'Esterre, her devoted suitor. However, an invitation to remain
and dine with Madeleine is parried by his insistence that this
one day of the year he invariably spends with his family.

Petulant at Francois's refusal, Madeleine allows him to go
and at once proceeds to invite his rival. In response she re-
ceives a polite note saying that his mother is expecting him
for dinner. Foiled by her admirers, Madeleine strikes the happy
solution that she will have her maid as a dinner companion; but
Nicette, too, always dines with her mother on this evening.

Madeleine angrily dismisses the maid and promptly indulges
in a fit of artistic hysteria. This is interrupted by the arrival of
Didier, a painter and childhood friend of the prima donna, with
a recently completed portrait of her dead mother. He also is
on his way to a family dinner. However, he tries to soothe
the singer's spirits by insisting that she join him, but in the
dress of her maid lest the presence of the famous Mile. Fleury
should damp the gaiety of the occasion. This courtesy Madeleine
declines. As Didier leaves, she places before her, on the table,
the portrait, and, as a ray of sunlight falls athwart the loved
face, remarks, "Then I, too, shall dine with my mother."

In "Madeleine" Mr. Herbert has given to us of his best
genius for melody. This is notably so in Madeleine's air,
A Perfect Day. Near its close the music rises to real emi-
nence of beauty and eloquence. History was made when
G. Schirmer published the orchestral score of this opera
the first of such to be done in America, and the second in our
operatic history. For the premiere of the "Poia" of Arthur
Nevin, Fiirstner of Berlin had been the real pioneer in making
it possible that the orchestra in a production of serious Ameri-
can opera might play from the printed page. The plates of
this work, however, were, during the World War, cast into
bullets to be used against the Allies,

While standing outside the office of his physician, Dr.
Emanuel Baruch, with whose sister he was conversing, Mr.

266 AMERICAN OPERA

Herbert collapsed and in a few moments was dead of
apoplexy, on May 26, 1924. The Bispham Medal had been
awarded to the composer but its presentation was thwarted
by his untimely passing. This was, however, given to the
custody of his family.

Victor Herbert was one of America's most earnest ad-
vocates of true music. In his own way he did more in
spreading the gospel of good music than most of the classi-
cists ; for he reached the musically untrained and taught them
to appreciate the difference between music of the day and
music of all time. His lightsome art was a stepping-stone
between the trivial things of temporary appeal and the more
complicated classics which are appreciated by the limited
few.

XXVIII

EDWARD JEROME HOPKINS, HENRY HOUSELEY,

LEGRAND HOWLAND, JOHN ADAM

HUGO, F. S. HYDE

EDWARD JEROME HOPKINS

Edward Jerome Hopkins, composer and organist, was born
April 4, 1836, at Burlington, Vermont; and died November
4, 1898, at Athenia, New Jersey. Excepting six lessons in
harmony, from T. E. Miguel, he was wholly self-taught.
At ten he had a regular position as organist, and at fourteen
began composing. He subsequently held positions in New
York churches; founded in 1856 "The American Music
Association" for performing native works ; founded and
supported from 1865 to 1887 the New York "Orpheon Free
Schools" in which over thirty thousand pupils received in-
struction; founded and edited the New York Philharmonic
Journal from 1868 till 1885; and originated popular "Lec-
ture-Concerts" which he gave on many tours of the United
States and in 1890 in England.

He left over seven hundred compositions. Besides many
in the smaller forms, there is an orchestral symphony,
"Life"; a piano concerto; and a piano trio in D. Among
many church works is an "Easter Festival Vespers" for
three choirs, echo-choir, two organs, orchestra, harp obbligato
and Cantor Priest. His opera, "Samuel," was produced in
New York in 1877. Aside from this he left another, "Dumb
Love," and a "Bible Opera" for two troupes, one singing
and one speaking.

267

268 AMERICAN OPERA

HENRY HOUSELEY

Henry Houseley, organist and composer, was born at
Sutton-in-Ashfield, England, September 20, 1852, the son
of William and Anne Stendahl Houseley, His technique and
scholarship evidenced a thorough education according to
methods long prevailing in England, though details are lack-
ing, other than that his musical training was finished at
the Royal College of Organists, London.

At an early age he became organist of St. Thomas' of
Derby, and later of St. Luke's, Nottingham, England. This
latter he held until March, 1888, when he migrated to Denver,
Colorado, to become organist and choirmaster of the cathedral
church of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, which post he
held till his death on March 13, 1925. It was largely through
his culture and tireless efforts that Denver became one of the
leading musical centers of the West.

Mr. Houseley was internationally known, especially as a
composer for the church and the organ. His compositions
have been played by the Minneapolis and St. Louis symphony
orchestras. Perhaps his greatest composition was "Omar
Khayyam," * a dramatic cantata for quartette, chorus and
orchestra, which was first performed in Denver, on June 1,
1916, and has since been heard many times in the East.

An operetta, "Native Silver/' in three acts, was given a
home production at the Broadway Theater, Denver, about
1891. "The Juggler," a light opera in three acts, with
libretto by Randolph Hartley, was first performed at the
Broadway Theater, Denver, with a semi-professional cast,
on May 23, 1895; and was repeated at the same place on
October 26, 1898. "Love and Whist,"* an operetta in one
act, with libretto by Hartley, was produced at Denver,
Boulder, Greeley and Colorado Springs; was given on a

HENRY HOUSELEY 269

double bill, by a company touring the West ; and also was
produced on a vaudeville circuit. "Ponce de Leon,'* an
operetta in three acts, with the libretto by Hartley, did not
come to production.

"Pygmalion," a grand opera in one act, with the libretto
by Mrs. S. Frances Houseley (wife of the composer) and
founded on the legend of the ancient King of Cyprus, was
first publicly heard at El Jebel Temple, Denver, on January
30, 1912. It was repeated at the Broadway Theater, Denver,
on February 16, 1923.

"Narcissus and Echo," another one-act opera, with a
libretto by Mrs. Houseley (deceased, September 17, 1915),
is an adaptation of a story from Greek mythology:

"Narcissus, the son of the river god Cephissus, was of sur-
passing beauty, but excessively vain and inaccessible to love.
The nymph, Echo, became enamored of him and, because he did
not reciprocate her affection, pined away till but her voice
remained. Nemesis, the goddess of retributive justice, to punish
Narcissus for his coldness of heart, caused him to drink at a
fountain wherein he saw his own image and was seized with a
passion for himself from which he pined away, at which the
gods transformed him into the flower which still bears his name."

The opera was first heard at El Jebel Temple, on January
30, 1912; and it was again produced at the Broadway Thea-
ter, on February 16, 1923.

Mr. Houseley was "a very scholarly composer," which did
not preclude his writing many a suave melody with appro-
priate harmonies. His work achieved no greater fame during
his life because he was ''too much of a gentleman at heart to
push himself forward."

LEGRAND HOWLAND

Though his recognition has been almost entirely European,
to Legrand Rowland belongs the laurel for the greatest

270 AMERICAN OPERA

number of performances of a serious opera by a native
American composer. Born at New Haven, Connecticut, in
1872, his advanced education was received under Philip
Scharwenka and Felix Schmidt of Berlin, and from Signor
Moretti of Milan.

Mr. Rowland's compositions include two oratorios, "The
Resurrection" and "Ecce Homo." His first opera, "Nita,"
was produced at the Theatre Nouveau in Paris, and later at
Aix-les-Bains and Monte Carlo.

A second opera, "Sarrona; or, The Indian Slave," of
which the composer was his own librettist, had its premiere
at Bruges (Belgium), August 3, 1903. It was produced at
the Teatro Alfieri of Florence, on February 3, 1906, and
attained a popularity which brought to it two hundred per-
formances in twenty-one opera houses of Italy and Austria.
It has been heard twice in America: in English, at the
Amsterdam Theater of New York, February 8, 1910; and
in German, at the Saake German Theater of Philadelphia,
on March 23, 1911.

The scene is on the Ganges. King Accaro, having plunged
his country into ruin, through extravagance in satiating his in-
fatuation for a Greek dancer, is about to betray it into the hands
of the enemy. The queen, Sarrona, hidden by a statue of
Buddha, overhears both his protestations and treacherous designs.
With dag-ger drawn, she is about to strike her faithless husband
when a slave seizes the weapon. When he declares his own love
for his queen, she admits a reciprocal sentiment; but her pride
of caste intervenes. The best she can offer is that, in case
Buddha should make him king of Nirvana she will love him
forever, at which the slave buries the dagger in his own bosom.

JOHN ADAM HUGO

John Adam Hugo, composer and teacher, was born at
Bridgeport, Connecticut, January 5, 1873. After preparatory

JOHN ADAM HUGO 271

studies in America he entered the Stuttgart Conservatory
where he had piano with Wilhelm Spiedel, composition with
Immanuel Faiszt, and orchestration with Arpad Doppler
and Hermann Zumpe. Beginning in 1897 he concertized for
two years in Europe, and then in 1899 became a teacher at
the Peabody Conservatory of Baltimore, and from 1901 to
1906 was the head of the European Conservatory and director
of the musical department of the Woman's College of that
city. Since that time he has devoted himself mostly to
composition and private teaching, having been for some years
a resident again of Bridgeport.

In a New York competition, Mr. Hugo received, in 1914,
both first and second prizes for a set of four songs. Of
compositions in the larger forms, his Trio in E-flat was first
performed at Bechstein Hall of Berlin, in 1921, by the Royal
Chamber Music Society, and has since been heard in New
York, Stuttgart (Germany), Brooklyn, Baltimore, and
Bridgeport. His Piano Concerto in F Minor was first per-
formed in 1921 ( ?) by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin,
with the composer as soloist ; and it has been heard also in
Stuttgart, Baltimore, Brooklyn and Bridgeport.

His first opera, "The Hero of Byzanz," was begun when
he was eighteen years of age, while a student in Germany,
and three years were spent on this work. Of it Mr. Hugo
said, "I wrote that opera because I loved to write and found
my only consolation while writing it." It came near a Milan
performance. Mr. Ricordi of the La Scala Theater liked it
but thought the libretto too old-fashioned (it being on a plot
similar to Donizetti's "Belisario").

Soon after this episode Mr. Hugo returned to America,
and a long and discouraging search for a libretto suited to
his taste was rewarded when Madame Jutta Bell-Ranske
offered the book of "The Temple Dancer." Contrary to his

272 AMERICAN OPERA

first impression, intimacy with the text bred interest and
this nourished enthusiasm so that the score was completed
in just three months.

"The Temple Dancer,"* an opera in one act, had its first
performance on any stage at the Metropolitan Opera House
of New York, March 12, 1919, with two repetitions in that
season. It was first given in Chicago, under the auspices of
the Opera in Our Language Foundation, at the Playhouse,
on December 7, 1922, receiving also four subsequent repe-
titions.

"The Temple Dancer" probably has the distinction of being
the only serious American opera to have been produced
in Honolulu, where it was presented February 19, 1925, at
4 :45 o'clock, with sensational success. This was achieved
through the enthusiasm of Peggy Center Anderson, who had
interpreted the title role at the Chicago performances, as
she now did again. The enterprising Morning Music Club
was responsible for this innovation which was consummated
at the Hawaii Theater, with a full complement of chorus,
orchestra and corps de ballet, and Mrs. David Lee conducting.
The Temple Guard was interpreted by Lieut. James E.
Adams.

The Metropolitan Cast

Yoga Carl Schlegel

The Temple Dancer Florence Easton

The Temple Guard Morgan Kingston

Conductor Roberto Moranzoni

The story is of a chief dancer in the Hindoo temple of
Mahadeo, who loves one not of her faith. Her love sharpens
her realization of all the indignities these temple dancers are
obliged to endure; so she decides to reclaim from the great
Mahadeo some of the jewels bought at the price of her
abasement.

JOHN ADAM HUGO 273

The figure, Mahadeo, looks on in imperturbable calm at this
attempted sacrilege; but The Temple Dancer is intercepted by
The Temple Guard. Winding the sanctifying holy snake about
herself, she prays to the god in the evolutions of the sacred
dance. The Guard is aroused by her beauty and promises pro-
tection in return for her love. As she loosens her cloak a letter
from her lover is disclosed, which enrages the Guard. He
threatens to increase her torture. She pretends to faint, and he
brings her water, into which she stealthily drops poison. She
begs him to drink, which he does and dies immediately. As
The Temple Dancer again seizes Mahadeo 's jewels, lightning
strikes her dead at the feet of the image.

Of "The Temple Dancer," Reginald deKoven, himself an
American opera composer, wrote in the New York Herald:
"I think The Temple Dancer 1 marks a very definite step for-
ward in American opera-making. " If the story reads better
than it plays, its situations are picturesque and dramatic. The
score is musicianly, well made, and avoids the perils of cheap
orientalism.

On April 23, 1925, the David Bispham Memorial Medal
was presented to Mr. Hugo, by the American Opera Society
of Chicago, for his opera in English, "The Temple Dancer."

'The Sun God," an opera of a full evening's length, has a
plot which is woven about the story of the Incas of Peru,
at the time of the conquest of that country by Pizarro one
of the most romantic and thrilling chapters in American
history. Its librettist is the Rev. Bartlett B. James, Ph.D.,
of Washington, professor of history and political science at
the Western Maryland College, and author on historical
themes. For the opera he has made an adaptation of his
poetic play of the same name.

The opera may be said to be broadly American in that
it is the product of the collaboration of two North Americans

274 AMERICAN OPERA

on a South American theme. As a spectacle it offers op-
portunities quite on a par with "Aida," making it within the
range of possibilities that we shall yet have an American
opera suited to the gala spirit of the first night of a season.

F. S. HYDE

F. S. Hyde left an opera in manuscript, with King Philip's
War in New England, in 1675, as its background. It employs
five principals and a chorus, is in grand opera form and re-
quires one hour and a quarter for production. A letter of
the composer mentions that David Bispham spoke "especially
of its dramatic power" ; while Richard Hageman, "suggested
its present form." Interest in the piece centers "in the
beauty of the music, its color, and the rapid and dramatic
action/ 1

XXIX

ABBIE GERRISH-JONES, JULES JORDAN
ABBIE GERRISH-JONES

Abbie Gerrish-Jones, composer, writer and critic, was
born at Vallejo, California, on September 10, 1863. Her
father, Samuel Howard Gerrish of Portmouth, New Hamp-
shire, was descended from Sir William Pepperell of early
Colonial days, descended from an Earl of Suffolk who was a
scion of the house of Prince Robert de Gerish the son of a
king of Brittany. Her mother, Sarah Jane Rogers, of
Northampton, Massachusetts, was descended from the Pom
de Roi family of France. Mrs. Gerrish-Jones conies of a
musical family, her paternal grandfather having been a band-
master; her father, a flutist; her mother, a mezzo-soprano
known locally as a church, concert and opera singer ; a sister
is well known as pianist and teacher ; another, as accompanist
and coach; while two cousins, Charles Gerrish and William
Gerrish, are organists and composers.

At three the little Abbie played for company "by ear."
The family having moved to Sacramento, at five she became
"a thorn in the flesh" of her seven-years-older sister, by
playing, without effort and from one hearing, the lessons as-
signed by her master. She early studied the piano with
Charles Winter, a pupil of Mendelssohn; later, with Hugo
Mansfeldt, a pupil of Liszt, who guided her in harmony as
well ; and then with Daniel Ball, a graduate of Leipzig and
himself a recognized composer.

275

276 AMERICAN OPERA

Her first composition was written at the age of twelve,
a quartet for mixed voices, to sacred verses by her mother.
At eighteen, her "A Psalm of Life/' to Longfellow's verses,
a Tarantellc, a Barcarolle and Marguerite Waltz for piano,
were published ; and Marguerite Walts was played for an
entire season by the band at Golden Gate Park.

She next studied the pipe organ under Hugo Mansfeldt
and Humphrey J. Stewart. A thorough study of French,
Spanish, German, psychology, philosophy, short story and
scenario writing, all served as preparation for the writing
of her own librettos. A gift for verse, inherited from her
mother and her mother's mother, has given her poems place
in many publications ; and the lyrics of her operas have been
reckoned among the best in their field. Her finishing studies
were done under Wallace Sabin, an Oxford graduate and a
composer of note, in San Francisco.

"Priscilla," Mrs. Gerrish-Jones' first work for the stage
a romantic opera in four acts was written in her early
twenties, two years (about 1885-1887) having been devoted
to it. This, from available records, marks it as the first com-
plete opera, libretto and score, to have been written by an
American woman. Though it admits a limited amount of
spoken dialogue, in both literary text and musical score its
treatment is so serious as to raise it above any form of "light
opera." It is in preparation for production by the American
Grand Opera Company of Portland, Oregon.

The scene is a New England village just before the Revolution,
"when witchcraft made things interesting." The purely fanci-
ful plot is the story of a maiden and a young man of the navy
separated by the exigencies of war, the wrecking of the ship on
which he sailed away, and the besieging of Priscilla's heart by
another who seeks to prove her betrothed untrue because of
his non-return. In his extremity, Guy seeks the Witch whose

ABBIE GERRISH-JONES 277

"craft" is credited with the wrecking of the ship, but is foiled
by Priscilla losing her reason along with all memory of the
wreck and beginning a ceaseless vigil for her lover's return.

Guy has pledged, in case he fails in his suit, seven years of
servitude to the Witch; and his ill success, in the face of
Robert's apparent death, has driven him almost frantic ; so that,
when the Witch claims her pledge, he attempts to stab her, in
which he himself meets death and the Witch disappears in a
burst of thunder and lightning. On the following Hallowe'en,
as Priscilla, with a lighted candle in her hand, is walking back-
ward around the house, entreating in song the sight of her
absent lover, Robert enters at her rear, she steps into his arms,
and the shock brings the return of her reason.

"Abon Hassan; or, The Sleeper Awakened" is a "color-
fully oriental" work in three acts. It is founded on an
Arabian Nights Tale which has been enlarged for operatic
purposes. Parts of the opera have been performed with
success in several of the West coast cities.

The cast required is : Abon Hassan (tenor) ; Zulieka, Hassan's
betrothed (soprano) ; Fatima, his mother (contralto) ; Haroun
Alraschid (bass) ; Mesrour, Haroun' s slave (baritone) ; Pour
Friends (tenors) ; Three Old Greybeards (tenors) ; with several
minor parts.

"The Milkmaids' Fair" is a one-act romantic opera which
was written in collaboration with Pauline Turner Gregory
who suggested the plot and furnished some of the melodies,
Mrs. Gerrish-Jones supplying all the libretto, the lyrics and
the developed score. Aside from a fresh turn in the de-
nouement, the plot suggests almost too much that of
"Martha." In fact, the composer has said of it, "This is
a light opera after the style of 'Martha'"; which is a fair
index to the measure of her more serious efforts. In My
Young Days from this opera has been popular with both
singers and the public.

278 AMERICAN OPERA

"The Snow Queen," a Fairy Music E>rama, was written
to a libretto by Gerda Wismer Hofmann who enlarged on
the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.
This work had its first production in San Francisco, on
February 9, 1917, with Margaret Wismer Nicholls in the
title role. It had a twelve weeks run there and was then
taken to Oakland, where one thousand were turned away
from the large Auditorium Theater on the first night and
where it ran successfully for two weeks. Later it was
produced at Fresno and Los Angeles (several weeks, be-
ginning May 14, 1917) ; at Cleveland, Ohio; in New York
City; and variously throughout the States. The opera con-
tains some of Mrs. Gerrish-Jones' best work.

The opera opens with a birthday party of Gerda and Kay,
boy and girl chums, during which the Snow Queen sees and
covets Kay; and, as he later starts for home, she lures him into
following her to her realm in the frozen North. Heartbroken
on discovering his absence, Gerda clasps to her heart the red
rose Kay had given her "The Flower of Love" and sets out
to find him. She falls among robbers; meets Peter Crow and
his band; encounters The Witch in her enchanted garden; and
is besought by the Child Souls, which have turned to Flower
Souls, to be taken with her. Get da's steadfastness of love, and
faith in her mission, make her immune to The Witch's blandish-
ments and enchantments. Her quest finally brings her to the
North Pole where she finds Kay but frozen into a mere
semblance of the boy she knew. As she sings to him the old
song of "The Flower of Love," he begins to awaken to life, see-
ing which the Snoiv Queen struggles with Gerda for his posses-
sion. Love conquers ; the Snow Queen retreats as Kay awakes to
life and love; the Snow Fairies change into Fairies of Spring-
time; and Gerda, turning to Kay, exclaims, "See, Kay, Spring is
here ! Let us go home I"

"The Andalusians" is an opera in three acts, with a
Spanish plot and atmosphere, the libretto by Percy Friars

ABBIE GERRISH-JONES 279

Valentine. It is a story of banditry and romance in the
mountains of Andalusia. The score was completed in six
weeks, for performance at Stanford University ; but unfore-
seen exigencies prevented a complete production; and only
excerpts have been attempted elsewhere.

In "Two Roses/' a Fairy Opera, which is founded on a
Grimm's fairy tale, "Rose White and Rose Red/' Mrs.
Gerrish-Jones is again her own librettist. It is a tuneful
work in three acts with a vein of fine comedy, which qualities
make it adapted to amateur as well as professional perform-
ances, by adults or juveniles.

Aside from these six operas, their composer has written
five song cycles. One of these, written to lines taken from
Robert Louis Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verses, has
been well received in both San Francisco and New York.
An educational work in three volumes, Rhythmic Songs,
Rhythmic Games, and Rhythmic Dances, with descriptive
interpretations by Olive Wilson Dorrett, has been for many
years in the curriculum of the University of California, is
widely used in the public schools of the United States, and
in foreign countries.

Mrs. Gerrish-Jones was for four years the musical critic
for Pacific Town Talk of San Francisco, for five years with
the Pacific Coast Musical Review, and for four years was
Pacific Coast representative of the Musical Courier of New
York. In 1906 she won the third prize in the Josef Hofmann
Contest for the best piano composition by an American
composer. In collaboration again with Gerda Wismer Hof-
mann, the composer has lately finished a Japanese opera,
"Sakura-San," in which the interest turns on the interpreta-
tions of the reflections of various characters in a strange
mirror. Mrs. Gerrish-Jones is actively at work on a partially-
finished full-evening grand opera, "The Aztec Princess,"

280 AMERICAN OPERA

based on incidents in the early colonization of the Western
world.

JULES JORDAN

Jules Jordan, singer, conductor, composer and teacher, was
born at Willimantic, Connecticut, November 10, 1850, the
son of Lyman and Susan (Beckwith) Jordan. He came of
American ancestry of two hundred years' standing ; and his
father was a choir leader and singer with a fine tenor voice.
On removing to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1870, young
Jordan's unusual tenor voice secured for him a position in
Grace Church and he began studies with G. L. Osgood of
Boston. Music gradually drew him away from the com-
mercial life on which he had first started. He had harmony
under Albert A. Stanley and counterpoint from Percy
Goetschius ; and, a thing quite unusual among male singers,
he continued at the piano till becoming a really brilliant
player. Later he studied singing with William Shakespeare
of London and with Sbriglia of Paris.

Returning to America, he was for thirteen years choir-
master of Grace Church ; and, on its organization in 1880,
he became and continued for forty years to be conductor of
the famous Arion Gub of Providence, with two hundred and
fifty voices, by which all the standard oratorios as well as
many of the grand operas (in concert form) were given.
He was long a favorite concert and oratorio singer; and at
the first American performance of Berlioz's "Damnation of
Faust," in New York, on February 14, 1880, he created the
role of Faust. His successful musical activities led Brown
University, in 1895, to confer upon him the degree of Doctor
of Music. He died at Providence, Rhode Island, March
5, 1927.

Of his compositions in the smaller forms, some of his
songs achieved wide popularity. Mr. Jordan had an unusual

JULES JORDAN 281

gift for creating singable melodies, which gave his school
operettas, "The Alphabet" and "Cloud and Sunshine," and
such vaudeville sketches as "Cobbler or King" and "Man-
agerial Tactics," very wide acceptance. Of five one-act
operettas: "Star of the Sea," "An Eventful Holiday," "The
Buccaneers," "Princess of the Blood" and "Her Crown of
Glory," the last and "A Leap Year Furlough," which is a
short light opera without spoken dialogue, have been often
produced by amateurs, as has also his "Cobbler or King."

Two one-act operas, "The Rivals" and "As Once of Old,"*
have had runs at the Keith and Victory theaters of
Providence, as has "The Buccaneers."

"Rip Van Winkle,"* a romantic comedy opera in three
acts, with the libretto adapted by Mr. Jordan from the
American classic by Washington Irving, has had many pro-
ductions. It had its premiere at the Providence Opera House,
May 25, 1897, by the famous "Bostonians," with the com-
poser conducting, and was enthusiastically received. The
opera was given many performances, with Eugene Cowles
alternating with Henry Clay Barnabee as Rip Van Winkle.
It is also one of that very small number of good things
adaptable to amateurs. When prepared for one performance
at the Teachers' College of Kirksville, Missouri, in February,
1914, only seven hearings satisfied the public. The conductor
on that occasion, D. R. Gebhart, writes that " 'Bohemian
Girl' is the only opera I know, otherwise, that has as many
singable melodies that are worth while."

Mr. Jordan wrote also "Nisida," a grand opera in three
acts, for which, as in all his musical works for the stage, he
was librettist, this time using as a basis one of the "Celebrated
Crimes" stories of Alexandre Dumas. It is a tale of in-
nocence in the form of a maiden, coveted by a profligate
prince who brings about the destruction of her true lover.

XXX

DAVENPORT KERRISON, HOWARD KIRK-
PATRICK, BRUNO OSCAR KLEIN,
WALTER ST. CLAIRE KNODLE,
E. BRUCE KNOWLTON

DAVENPORT KERRISON

Davenport Kerrison, of Jacksonville, Florida, a composer
and a cultured musician with a Doctor of Music degree from
the University of New York, has a list of important works
to his credit. "Canada," a symphonic overture for full
orchestra, in four movements, was written in 1881. A
Concerto in E Minor for piano and orchestra, and a Sym-
phonic Poem, "The Bells" Op. 35, in four movements,
founded on Poe's great poem and written in 1908, are other
important works. At eighty-four the composer still is active
in musical work.

A grand opera, "The Last of the Aztecs," of which he
wrote both the words and music, was completed in 1914 but
has not yet been performed publicly. The period of the
opera covers the time between the approach of the Spaniards
toward the City of Mexico, late in November, 1519, and
its evacuation by them on that fatal night of June, 1520. A
love story is interwoven with historical facts ; there are
a rival's intrigues; and all ends in Gantomosin winning his
Tala. Mr. Kerrison has been characterized as "a musician
of ability," but with a technique "not sufficiently modern";
which latter is sometimes to be deplored not too much.

282

HOWARD KIRKPATRICK 283

HOWARD KIRKPATRICK

Howard Kirkpatrick was born at Tiskilwa, Illinois, Feb-
ruary 26, 1873, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. As a child one of
his favorite amusements was trying to improvise at the
piano. After early musical studies with local teachers, he
entered the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, from which he
was graduated in the Class of 1897. This was followed by
more advanced studies with Mehan and Meyer in New
York, then abroad, in the Conservatory of Leipzig, with
special work in voice training, in Florence and Paris.

Returning to America, Mr. Kirkpatrick has been active
as a teacher of singing, composition and musical history, as
well as in the concert field. As a composer he first became
known for his songs, church compositions, and a song-cycle,
"The Fireworshipers," the text being one of the stories told
by the Prince in Thomas Moore's "Lalla Rookh."

Mr. Kirkpatrick's reputation as a composer received a
distinct impetus with his writing of the music for the great
"Nebraska Pageant," with its concert overture.

"Olaf," a grand opera in two acts, with ballet, was com-
posed in the years 1911 and 1912. Its libretto is an adapta-
tion of an epic poem by Louise Cox, founded on a Norse
myth. It was performed at Lincoln, Nebraska, March 5,
1912, before an audience of two thousand, and under the
patronage of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

The action takes place in the Ninth Century. A land of
cragged mountains and peaceful valleys has long been devastated
by a hideous Dragon which has so decimated the shepherds'
flocks that the King has promised the hand of his daughter
Erica to its slayer. Sigurd, a knight of the realm, after many
efforts to summon the courage to attack the Dragon, has failed.

284 AMERICAN OPERA

Olaf, descended from another line of the Norse kings, returns
from a long absence in the Far East where he has achieved great
victories, appears at a dramatic moment, slays the Dragon, and
wins the charming Erica.

In celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of his associa-
tion with the institution, Mr. Kirkpatrick's lighter opera,
"La Menuette," to the libretto of H. B. Alexander, also of
Lincoln, was presented by the University School of Music, at
the Orpheum Theater, Lincoln, Nebraska, on December 8,
1924. The interpretation was by local talent, with Mme.
Gilderoy Scott (experienced in opera at home and abroad)
in the leading feminine role, and the baton in the hand of the
composer. The music and libretto draw their inspiration
from eighteenth century folk songs and dances. The
opera is allegorical in type, the characters personifying the
classic dances of the period; and because it admits some
spoken dialogue, it would better be classed as Opera Comique.
The scene is the "Villa of the Autumn Leaves Somewhere
in France," and the theme is the rejuvenating power of
music.

BRUNO OSCAR KLEIN

Another composer of opera, whose long residence among
us made many to forget that he was not of American birth,
was Bruno Oscar Klein. Born in Osnabruck, Hanover, on
June 6, 1858, he first studied the pianoforte and composition
under his father, who was organist of the Cathedral of
Osnabruck. Later, in the Munich Conservatory, he came
under the guidance of Rheinberger in counterpoint and com-
position, Wiillner in score-reading and Karl Baermann in
piano.

Mr. Klein came to America in 1878 for a concert tour,

WALTER ST. CLARE KNODLE 285

which resulted in his adoption of the United States as his
home. Till his death on June 22, 1911, he was one of the
leading teachers in New York, of counterpoint, composition
and the piano; and he held posts in some of the foremost
schools devoted to the musical art, at the same time acting
as organist in the churches of St. Francis Xavier and Saint
Ignatius.

As a composer his works are marked by technical mastery,
noble melody, beautiful harmony and formal finish. His
sacred works are mostly in the severe, ecclesiastical style;
while in his instrumental compositions he belongs to the
romantic school of Schumann.

"Kenilworth," his one grand opera, is in three acts with
an Introduction, and is founded on Scott's romantic novel
of Elizabethan life. Though its composer was born and
entirely educated in Germany, still his residence of nearly
twenty years in America, and the fact that he chose for his
libretto an English theme with an English text, make its
recording here not inappropriate. Its one public perform-
ance was at Hamburg, Germany, where it was given, under
the name of "Ivanhoe," on February 13, 1895, with Mme.
Katharine Klafsky creating the role of Amy Robsart. It
thus became the first serious American opera to be performed
in Europe. Information as to its reception in Germany is
lacking, and it never received a public hearing on this side
of the seas.

WALTER ST. CLARE KNODLE

Walter St. Clare Knodle has written "Belshazzar," a
romantic opera in four acts. The story naturally offers
much to feast the eye, and the score is elaborate with
attractive character parts, large chorus and full orchestra.

286 AMERICAN OPERA

E. BRUCE KNOWLTON

E. Bruce Knowlton, composer, musical pedagogue, and
founder of the American Grand Opera Company of Portland,
Oregon (incorporated, 1925), was born at Hillsboro, Wis-
consin, June 25, 1875, of English parentage, his father having
been a composer, teacher and conductor. He developed no
particular interest in music till alxmt sixteen years of age
but soon thereafter entered the Musical Department of Il-
linois Normal College, at Dixon, Illinois, and later studied
at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Madison. Still later he
studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, the Stern Conservatory
of Berlin, and also in Dresden, London and Paris. After
serving as musical director of several colleges, he founded
the Toledo (Ohio) Conservatory of Music, and a few years
later became President of the St. Paul (Minnesota) Musical
Academy till in 1921 he transferred his residence to Port-
land ; and during these engagements he was much of the time
active as conductor of orchestras and choruses.

Mr. Knowlton has been a prolific composer and, aside
from numerous choral and orchestral works in the smaller
forms, he has written five cantatas and the "Oregon Sym-
phony," all of which have had public performance excepting
the last. An oratorio, "The King," was given two perform-
ances at Seattle, Washington, at the Christmas season of
1925, under the auspices of the American Legion, with
John M. Spargur conducting.

"The Monk of Toledo," a grand opera with a Prologue
and three acts, was written in 1915 and revised and rewritten
in 1922. The composer was also librettist ; and the work had
its world premiere at the Auditorium of Portland, Oregon,
on May 10, 1926. Also it has been accepted for production
at Liverpool, England.

E. BRUCE KNOWLTON 287

The Portland Cast

Francisca, a Monk J. McMillan Muir

Henri Leon Delmond

Marie Violet (Vee-o-lay) Gladys Brumbaugh

Maurice Lloyd Warren

Dupont Henry Keller

Prologist Arthur Moulton

Chorus, Orchestra and Corps de Ballet
Conductor E. Bruce Knowlton

The places are Toledo, Spain, in 1854 and Cannes, France, in
1814.

Act I. A bare room of a monastery of Toledo. Francisca
is at prayer when monks are heard approaching from a distance.
They enter; there is a long colloquy during which Francisca
becomes more and more delirious, sees apparitions of the long
past and finally consents to tell his story.

Act II. The second act is "The Story" which had transpired
forty years previously, at Cannes, France, on the night after
Napoleon landed from Elba with his handful of loyal soldiers.
During the festivities it is discovered that a serving girl is
Colonel Violet's sister. Colonel Violet ascertains that one of
his soldiers, Henri, has been discourteous to his sister, and
slays him; then, seized with remorse, and while his sister is
unconscious, he rushes to a monastery.

Act III. A continuation of Act I, with the monks listening to
Franciscans story. He insists that a curse is upon him ; exclaims,
"I am Colonel Violet !" and falls unconscious. The door opens
and Marie, now an old woman, and a group of friends, enter to
greet her long-lost brother. As Marie relates how she has
traversed the earth in search of him, Francisco's consciousness
returns and he recognizes her.

According to the Musical Leader, there is "directness and
richness, both in recitatives and arias. The more extended
and lyric melodies are exceedingly characteristic and of real
loveliness/' However, the general impression is that of a

288 AMERICAN OPERA

former type of "opera" rather than of the modern "play set
to music."

Mr. Knowlton has completed the libretto and also the
musical score of another opera to be known as "Wakuta,"
the locale of which is divided between the great Pendleton
Round Up, the shores of a small lake in the Indian Reserva-
tion in eastern Oregon, and an Indian Reservation of Idaho.
It is a story of the devotion and sacrifice of a white maiden
deluded into the belief that she is the daughter of an Indian
chief but finally disillusioned. The opera, in four acts, was
presented in Portland, on October 14, 1928, by the American
Opera Company with the composer conducting and Betty
O'Neal, C. H. Hohgatt, J. MacMillan Muir and Marjorie
Wells Simpson in the leading roles.

'The Woodsman/' in three acts, is a story of the remorse
of a frontiersman for the murder of an early pal, by whose
wife his illegitimate daughter has been born with a beauty
that wins the heart of a high born son whose family so scorn
her uncultured ways that she returns to her rustic lover. It
was performed in Portland, on April 4, 1929, by the Bruce
Knowlton Opera Company, Inc.

"Charlotte" is a comedy opera in three acts, in which a band
of vagabonds plan to kidnap and hold for ransom Gracia, the
daughter of a wealthy neighbor to their camp. The daughter
elopes, and by a maidenly ruse the vagabonds get Charlotte,
the daughter of their chief, who has been a servant in the
wealthy household; but they receive the ransom when the
bride returns safely. The work was completed in July, 1929,
and was performed in Portland, on December 11, 1929, under
the baton of the composer.

"Antonio," a serious opera in two acts, is a story of the
frustrated love of a Gipsy boy of Prague, for a maiden stolen

E. BRUCE KNOWLTON 289

by his tribe with the hope of a ransom. It was presented in
Portland, on October 27, 1931, under the leadership of the
composer.

"Montana/' a grand opera in two acts, is a story of Mon-
tana, an adopted daughter of a mining camp, who jilts her
miner lover for a handsome and wealthy health-seeker from
the East. Of all his operas the composer has been his own
librettist.

XXXI

WASSILI LEPS, CALIXA LAVALLfiE, JOSEPH

LAMONACA, WESLEY LAVIOLETTE, WILLIAM

LESTER, CLARENCE LOOMIS, HARVEY

WORTHINGTON LOOMIS, OTTO LUEN-

ING, RALPH LYFORD

WASSILI LEPS

Wassili Leps, conductor and
composer, was born in St. Peters-
burg (Leningrad), Russia, May
12, 1870. His early education was
from the local schools, with piano
instruction by his father and
Adolph Henselt. At nine he was
taken to Dresden, where he con-
tinued in day school and did piano
study under Carl Doehring, Buch-
meyer, Eugene Cranz, and Hein-
rich Germer, followed by the mas-
ter-classes of Emil Sauer. Still
later he had further piano work

under Anton Rubinstein and Isidor Philipp, At the Dres-
den Conservatory he had harmony and counterpoint under
F. Rischbeiter; fugue, composition and orchestration from
Felix Draesecke; conducting under Dr. Franz Wiillner,
Court-conductor A. Hagen and Concert-master Leopold
Rappoldi ; and score-reading with Theodore Kirchner.

On leaving the conservatory Mr. Leps became chorus
master under E. V. Schuch at the Dresden Opera House and

290

WASSILI LEPS 291

later conducted in various opera houses of Germany. In
1894 he came to America and soon settled in Philadelphia
as instructor in the Philadelphia Musical Academy, the second
oldest music school in the United States. He was early asso-
ciated with Siegfried Behrens, conductor of the Philadelphia
Operatic Society, succeeding on the latter's death to his
position. With this, which he made the leading amateur
opera organization of America, he continued till 1923, pro-
ducing forty-seven operas. He has quite frequently con-
ducted the Philadelphia Orchestra and for fifteen seasons has
led a regular season of orchestral concerts at Willow Grove
Park.

Mr. Leps wrote his first orchestral composition at the
age of twelve. He had been so absorbed in interpreting the
works of others that in maturer years creative work was
neglected till he met a congenial spirit in the person of John
Luther Long. Under this inspiration he soon made a setting
of Mr. Long's Poem, "Andon," for soprano, tenor and
orchestra; and this was produced by Mr. Fritz Scheel with
the then newly organized Philadelphia Orchestra. Again to
the poem of Mr. Long, and at Mr. Scheel's request, he
wrote a cantata, "Yo-Nennen," which was produced by the
Eurydice Chorus of Philadelphia, under Mr. Scheel's baton,
and has been used by choral organizations of women's voices
wherever English is sung, no less than ten such societies of
New York City having produced it.

His "Hoshi-San" is a grand opera in three acts, for the
libretto of which Mr. Long expanded his poem, "Andon,"
weaving into it a love story and developing a dramatic
tragedy, with an art which had lent such distinction to his
libretto of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly." This was pro-
duced by the Philadelphia Operatic Society, under the direc-
tion of the composer, on the evening of May 21, 1909.

292 AMERICAN OPERA

The Philadelphia Cast

Hoshi-San Isabel R. Buchanan

Jut sun a Marie Zeckwer

Ji-Saburo Dr. Frederick C. Freemantel

The Nio Horace R. Hood

Daibo William J. Baird

Kazidc II. S. MacWhorter

Kato C. J. Shuttleworth

Jurazo W. Garrett Rodgers

The Ambassador Thomas Mohr

Hondo John Lamond

Virgin Priestesses of Jizo, Priests,
Tokunara, Samurai, Messengers,
Temple Guards, Temple Dancers,

and others
Conductor Wassili Leps

"Hoshi-San" is a tragedy of the Japan of 1688 and evolves
from a native reincarnation motive. Loveliest of the dancing
girls of her time was Hoshi-San of the temple of Hachiman.
For daring to love Ji-Saburo, claimyo of the Chosiu clan,
who came to have his swords kissed by the god to insure his
success in war, she has been stripped of her crimson garment
with golden bells and imprisoned in "The House of Sorrow"
wheie, without food, drink or light, she must await whether
the gods shall allow her to perish or will miraculously inter-
vene in her behalf. Here the opera plot begins.

Act I. A Court in the Temple of Hachiman. The morning
prayers of the priests of Buddha are interrupted by the entrance
of the samurai of Tokunara, come that the god may kiss their
swords and thus insure their victory in attempting vengeance
on Ji-Saburo, desecrator of temples. Their petition granted, they
enter the temple from whence their prayers continue to be
heard. Kaside, a blind beggar, guided by her groans, seeks the
imprisoned dancer and offers of his scanty food and drink,

WASSILI LEPS 293

which is refused as, though dying of hunger, Hoshi-San de-
clares she will await the will of the gods since even Ji-Saburo
has deserted her. As the beggar leaves, Ji-Saburo enters and
kills two of the guards as he forces his way to "The House of
Sorrow" where he gives refreshment to and rescues Hoshi-San.
Fearful of the return of the Tokunara band, he begs her to
vow "The Red Bridal" by which, should he be killed, she
would take her own life and meet him in the Meido the place
between the heavens and hells. When Hoshi-San explains that
by this plan they could never meet again, as he would go to the
heavens while she would be doomed to the hells, Ji-Saburo re-
minds her of the power of her dancing and exacts a promise
that in case of his death she will dance as she never before
has done and thus win the permission of the gods that she may
die and be with him. Then, as Kato calls his lord to the im-
minent battle, Ji-Saburo returns Hoshi-San to "The House of
Sorrow" and starts to battle just as the Tokunara enter from the
temple.

Act II. The Interior of the War Temple. Hoshi-San is
praying and waiting for news of the battle when Daibo, the
lantern lighter of the temple, and Jutsuna, his temple-boy,
enter and harrow her with fantastic tales of the battle. To
add to this she sees the procession of victors returning from
the battle and leaving the helmet and swords of her lover at
the shrine. No sooner are they gone than she steals the red
garment and bells and begins her prayer-dance before the gods.
Uncertain of the result, she sees in the blood-stained swords of
her lover "the swift and shining way" which she is about to
follow when the red Nio steps forth, strikes the sword from
her hand, and explains that he is the Spirit of Life, sent by the
eight hundred thousand gods, to grant, because of her fairness
and dancing, that she shall have her choice of life or death
after she has seen death. He summons the Ghosts of Life to
build for her the hill of her skulls, explaining that it is built of
hers, so often had she been born and died; and then to show
the insignificance of love he touches the relics of her lover,
which disappear in smoke. Then, dismissing the Ghosts of Life,
he carries Hoshi-San off to the "Hill of Skulls."

Act III. The Nio is seen dragging- Hoshi-San up "The Hill
of Skulls." She falls, unable to rise again, and the Nio explains

294 AMERICAN OPERA

the meaning of the skulls till he comes to that of a lioness, when
he asks if she dare risk, in her sinful state, rebirth in the
form of such a beast. Horrified, she consents to live, and the
Nio consoles her by saying that there is no love in death, that
love and life are one. In a blinding light he disappears, "The
Hill of Skulls" becomes a "Hill of Verdure," and the girl, in a
white garment instead of the crimson one, conies happily down
the hill. At the base she hears the voice of her lover, turns
to see him but his eyes are gone. His faithful Kato explains
that the enemy chose this penalty instead of death, and that
Ji-Saburo must choose between life with his comrades and with
her between honor and love. Ji-Saburo chooses the woman,
and thus disgraced his men go to die by hara-kiri. Ji-Saburo
tells Hoshi-San that on entering he smelled pleasant fields on the
right and the arid airs of the desert on the left. They start
to the right, but bloody samurai arise as from death, bar the
way, and drive them into the desert.

While there was critical comment that "the libretto lacks
action" and that the music does not stir the emotions; still
by far the greater number of words were those of praise.
There are wealth of resources, invention and much imagina-
tion in the score. "It is rich in melody, with several splendid
choruses and some excellent solo numbers and ensembles."
"The book of 'Hoshi-San' is a poem of exquisite beauty,
written in the delicate and distinctive style of Mr. Long."
Such was the consensus of opinion.

JOSEPH LAMONACA

Joseph LaMonaca was born February 10, 1872, at Noicat-
taro, Bari, Italy, and received his diploma as flutist and band-
master from the Piccinni School of Music at Bari. He came
to America, in 1900, with the Royal Marine Band under
Giorgio Minoliti, played with Creatore's Band, and since

WESLEY LAVIOLETTE 295

1910 has been second flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
He has written an opera, "The Festival of Guari," with the
libretto, by Francesco Cubiciotti, based on a story of love
and intrigue in Hindoo caste life. Incidental Dances from
the second act were on a program of the Philadelphia Orches-
tra for March 17, 18 and 20 of 1933, with Leopold Stokov/ski
conducting.

CALIXA LAVALLEE

Calixa Lavallee, composer, teacher and pianist, was born at
Vercheres, Canada, December 28, 1842, and died in Boston,
Massachusetts, January 21, 1891. His first studies were
under his father, after which he was a pupil of Marmontel
(piano), and of Bazin and the younger Boieldieu (composi-
tion), at the Paris Conservatoire. He came to The States as
pianist with Gerster, for her tour of 1878, after which he
remained a resident, became famous as teacher and pianist,
and for 1886-1887 was president of the Music Teachers'
National Association.

His compositions for the piano became very popular ; and
among his larger works were an oratorio, a symphony, two
orchestral suites, several overtures and two string quartets.
His opera comique, 'The Widow," with libretto by J. M.
Russell, was produced at Springfield, Illinois, on April 1,
1882, by the Acme Opera Company of C. D. Hess. "Tiq ;
or, Settled at Last" was a lighter work for the stage.

WESLEY LAVIOLETTE

To be born of a Scotch mother and a French father, at
St. James, Minnesota, assures a typical American in Wesley
LaViolette, who first saw day on January 4, 1894. He was
educated at the Northwestern University School of Music and

296 AMERICAN OPERA

at Chicago Musical College, through the latter of which he
in 1925 received the degree of Doctor of Music; and since
1929 he has been Associate Director of this institution.

For his opera, "Shylock," the composer adapted his libret-
to from "The Merchant of Venice" of Shakespeare, and the
title role was created for John Charles Thomas. Excerpts
from the work were performed at the Casino Club, Chicago,
on February 9, 1930, at which time the composer received the
David Bispham Medal of the American Opera Society of
Chicago.

WILLIAM LESTER

William Lester was born at Leicester, England, Septem-
ber 17, 1889. When four years of age he was brought to
America and Keokuk, Iowa, became his home. He early had
lessons from a musical aunt, played both piano and organ,
then had piano study under Jane Carey, and began writing
piano pieces and songs at the age of fifteen. Then in 1908
he moved to Chicago, which since has been his home. Here
he studied the organ with Wilhelm Middelschulte, piano and
composition with Adolf Brune, and singing with Sandor
Radanovits.

Among Mr. Lester's published works are eighteen im-
portant choral compositions, of the cantata mold, including
"The Golden Syon," "The Galleons of Spain," "The Triumph
of the Greater Love/' "The Little Lord Jesus," "The Spanish
Gypsies," "The Ballad of the Golden Sun," and others.
Then to these must be added some seventy songs; a large
group of piano pieces ; a suite for orchestra ; a fantasy for
violin, 'cello, harp and organ; and numerous anthems and
part-songs.

WILLIAM LESTER 297

But the work deserving special mention here is his "Every-
man."* This, though not strictly opera, is a serious musical
work for the stage a Choral Opera. The libretto is the
product of the composer and is an adaptation of a mediaeval
Morality Play of anonymous authorship, with additions from
Isaiah, Job, the Psalms and St. Matthew. It takes the form
of a Prologue and four acts. There are fourteen principals,
with a chorus singing off-stage and only between the acts,
excepting in the Prologue and finale of the last act. The
entire work is a variation of the classic Greek drama with
choral interludes explaining and emphasizing the mood
values. As a specimen of this historic form the plot is given.

Prologue. Death receives divine command to search out
Everyman and tell him that his days are numbered. Act I.
Death meets Everyman, delivers his message, and convinces him
of his helplessness. Act II. Everyman calls upon Felloivship,
and is denied aid. Act III. Everyman, disappointed in Fellow-
ship, appeals to Kindred and Goods, and is again denied. Act
IV. Everyman receives comfort from Good Deeds aided by
Knowledge and Confession. Other support comes from Beauty,
Strength, Five Wits and Discretion; but at the trumpet call of
doom all these fail him excepting Good Deeds, who supports
Everyman as his earthly life wanes to the accompaniment of a
celestial chorus.

The score is for full orchestra. On March 9, 1926, Mr.
Lester was awarded the David Bispham Memorial Medal of
the American Opera Society of Chicago, for the completion
of "Everyman." "Everyman" was first performed at Chi-
cago, on April 24, 1927, before the Biennial Convention of
the National Federation of Music Clubs, with the composer
conducting. He has also a partially finished fantasy opera
on an Inca theme, of which the libretto is by Thomas W.
Stevens.

298 AMERICAN OPERA

CLARENCE LOOMIS

Clarence Loomis, composer, pianist and teacher, was born
at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, December 13, 1889. Though
of English descent, he is thoroughly American through sev-
eral generations of ancestry. His grandmother, as Julia King
Loomis, was widely known as poet and writer. His paternal
grandfather was a near relative of Abraham Lincoln. His
first musical training was derived from J. C. Tjadcn, after
which he finished a course at the Dakota Wesleyan Univer-
sity. He then entered the American Conservatory, of Chi-
cago, with Heniot Levy as piano instructor and Adolph
Weidig for composition. He here won the Gold Medal for
both piano playing and composition, was chosen to play with
the orchestra at the graduation exercises, and at once became
a teacher of the piano in this institution ; which post he still
holds.

In the meantime he has had a season of study in Vienna
Leopold Goclowsky being his teacher of piano and Franz
Schreker of composition. His compositions, in many forms,
are original, pleasing, notable for perfection of lyric beauty,
distinctively American, with themes of national tinge. On
the first performance of his Piano Concerto in Chicago, the
Record said there was "vigor to the thematic basis of his
thought and strength to the harmonic garment in which he
clothed it."

Mr. Loomis has written four operas, two of which have
been heard only in private auditions. The first, a one-act
opera, "A Night in Avignon," is founded on the life of
Francesco Petrarcha (Petrarch), the Italian lyric poet and
scholar of the fourteenth century, and father of the perfected
sonnet. The libretto is by Cale Young Rice, a leader among

CLARENCE LOOMIS 299

contemporary American poets. Of this opera David Bispham
wrote, "I have greatly enjoyed hearing your beautiful opera,
'A Night in Avignon.' . . . You have indeed the power of
expressing in music the emotions excited by the text."

A second opera, "Dun an Oir (Castle of Gold)" is to a
libretto by Howard McKent Barnes, dealing strictly with
Gaelic folk-lore. 'It has to do with the love of King Lear
for his daughter and his jealousy toward all mankind who
would seek her affections.

His ballet, "The Flapper and the Quarterback," was per-
formed at Kyoto, Japan, during the festivities attending the
coronation, on November 10, 1928, of Emperor Hirohito and
his Empress. Ruth Page, of the Chicago, Ravinia and Metro-
politan opera companies, was the premiere danscuse\ and the
work was given on her tour of the Orient and Soviet Russia.
"Oak Street Beach," another ballet, was presented by Miss
Page at Ravinia, at the Metropolitan of New York and on
tour.

"Yolanda of Cyprus," is a serious opera in three acts ; and
again Cale Young Rice is the librettist. The score was begun
in Chicago in the winter of 1919 and was completed at Long
Lake (Valparaiso), Indiana, in the summer of 1926. It had
its world premiere at London, Ontario, on September 25,
1929, by the American Opera Company directed by Vladimir
Rosing. Its first performance in the United States was at
Chicago, on October 9, 1929. It was repeated on the 12th,
14th and 19th, and also, among other places, in St. Paul,
Detroit, Peoria, Cleveland, Louisville, Richmond, Washing-
ton, Baltimore and New York in all, approximating thirty
performances.

300 AMERICAN OPERA

The London Cast

Renier Lusignan, a King of Cyprus. . . .John Moncrieff

Berengerc, his Queen Edith Piper

Amaury, his Son Charles Kullman

Yolanda, a ward of Berengerc Natalie Hall

Camarin, a Baron of Paphos Clifford Newdall

Vittia Pisanti, a Venetian lady Harriet Eels

Moro, a Priest Mark Daniels

Hassan, Warden of the Castle Thomas Houston

Tretnitus, a Physician Walter Burke

Minor Characters, Ladies of the Court, Acolytes,

Servants, and others.
Conductor Isaac Van Grove

The place is Cyprus, the time the sixteenth century. The
story develops in three acts and six scenes; and it supplies
three essentials of successful serious opera pageantry, emo-
tional excitement and tragedy.

Berengere is having an affair of the heart with a neighbor,
Baron Camarin. On the verge of discovery by the King, she
appeals to Yolanda; and at the moment the lovers are about to be
detected, the devoted foster daughter substitutes herself in Cam-
arin f s arms. Vittia, also interested in the Baron, spies upon their
rendezvous. At this juncture Amaury is called to pursue the
Saracens, but not before suspicious of Camarin's attention to his
betrothed Yolanda.

On returning, Amaury learns of Yolanda's saving Berengere
and challenges Camarin to a duel. The cowardly Baron refuses,
Amaury collapses from battle wounds, while Yolanda persists in
taking the blame for Berengere's infidelity and is about to be
banished from the castle.

Forced to wed Camarin, Yolanda is but married when the death
of the inconstant Berengere is announced. In the midst of the
funeral, Berengere, not yet quite dead, revives to confess her own
guilt and Yolanda's innocence, and charges Camarin with his

HARVEY WORTHINGTON LOOMIS 301

unfaithfulness. The enraged King hurls Camarin against a pillar
which falls and kills the scoundrelly Baron. Yolanda, freed from
Cafnarin, and vindicated before Amaury and the King, is re-
united with her betrothed amid fervid rejoicings.

The combined Italian and Saracenic atmosphere of the
piece calls for elaborate costuming with sumptuous stage set-
tings and pageantry. Without extravagantly proclaiming it
a masterpiece, the general tenor of critiques is expressed in
the words of one which said, "The composer is happily a
modern who does not hesitate to interrupt his recitative with
something that approaches the set melodic pattern of the aria.
But he is technician enough not to stop his action or delay his
dialogue with a movement written purely for vocal display/'
And another : "It takes but little observation of the delicious
smoothness of his vocal lines ... to see how persuasively
Mr. Loomis has realized the fitness of English to promote and
adorn, alike, a romantic elevated musical discourse." To
which may be added the composer's own words, "If I have
brought out the suggestion that English is beautiful to listen
to, that is as near as I can get to a reason for having written
'Yolanda of Cyprus/ "

Mr. Loomis has completed also a biblical opera, "David,"
built on a large scale, about the tremendously dramatic inci-
dents of that young hero's life. The libretto, by Cale Young
Rice, is derived from his poetic drama on the same theme.
Another opera, "The White Cloud,'* in five scenes, based on
a work of the noted Hungarian playwright, Ferenc Molnar, is
well begun.

HARVEY WORTHINGTON LOOMIS

Harvey Worthington Loomis, one of our most character-
istically American composers, was born in Brooklyn, New

302 AMERICAN OPERA

York, February 5, 1865, the son of Charles Battell and Mary
(Worthington) Loomis. He was educated in the Brooklyn
Polytechnic Institute and had but desultory instruction in
music until he won, through a setting of EichendorfFs
Fruhlingsnacht, a three years' scholarship in the National
Conservatory of Music then under the direction of the emi-
nent Antonin Dvorak who took a lively interest in him.

Mr. Loomis has written more than five hundred com-
positions, of which but a comparatively small number have
been published. He has been particularly successful in
creating atmospheric musical backgrounds for dramatic reci-
tations. He has a deft art in writing music to pantomime,
mimicking anything from the feather duster to a moving
chair. Of these, "The Enchanted Fountain," "In Old New
Amsterdam," "Put to the Test," "Her Revenge," and "Love
and Witchcraft" are mostly to librettos by Edwin Starr
Belknap. Of two burlesque operas, "The Maid of Athens"
and "The Burglar's Bride," the libretto of the latter is by
the clever humorist, Charles Battell Loomis, brother of the
composer.

Mr. Loomis has written a one-act serious opera, "The
Traitor Mandolin." The libretto is by Edwin Starr Belknap;
and no less an authority than Franklin Haven Sargent, presi-
dent of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, declared
it to be a classic among one-act dramas. When submitted to
Toscanini he was favorable to producing it ; but someone on
the staff raised the objection that its having a garret scene
and plot made it too much like "La Boheme," and the score
was returned.

OTTO LUENING

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 15, 1900, Otto
Luening had his his early musical education there and in 1915

OTTO LUENING 303

began two years of study in the Royal Academy of Music at
Munich. Then in 1917 he entered the Municipal Conserva-
tory of Zurich for three years of study of composition under
Dr. Volkmar Andreae and Philipp Jarnach, at the same time
completing his work for a Master of Arts degree from the
University of Zurich. In 1922 he was back in America and
studying, with Wilhelm Middelschulte, the Ziehn method of
composition.

At Zurich and Chicago Mr. Luening had done much pri-
vate teaching; and at Chicago he was the conductor of the
American Opera Company which, when presenting, on No-
vember 9, 1922, Cadman's "Shanewis," achieved the first
all-American performance of an American opera. From this
time he has worked uninterruptedly as composer, librettist,
executive and conductor in behalf of American opera. In
1925 he began a three years* service as Executive Director of
the Opera Department of the Eastman School of Music at
Rochester, New York.

Mr. Luening has been a prolific composer, especially in the
larger forms, and among these works are two symphonic
poems, three string quartets, two violin sonatas, a sextet for
wind and strings, a piano trio, and a Serenade for three horns
and strings. His compositions have had European perform-
ances at Berlin, Cologne, Zurich, Lugano and other musical
centers; and among American cities where they have been
heard are New York, Chicago, Rochester, Los Angeles and
Milwaukee. His works display the "advanced thinker," yet
are "blessed with the virtues of simplicity and sincerity along
with freshness."

In 1930 Mr. Luening received the Guggenheim Award for
Composition ; and it was while thus provided that he created
most of his "Evangeline," a grand opera in four acts. On a

304 AMERICAN OPERA

commission from the American Opera Company, as a novelty
for their next season he had begun on June 1st the libretto for
an opera based on Longfellow's beautifully poetic romance of
Acadian life. The libretto was completed on July 9th ; and
on the tenth the musical score was begun, to be finished on
February 14 of 1932, with the orchestration completed in the
second week of the following December. Excerpts from
"Evangeline" were performed on December 29, 1932, at the
Arts Club of Chicago, on which occasion the composer was
presented with the Bispham Medal of the American Opera
Society of Chicago.

RALPH LYFORD

Ralph Lyf ord, composer and conductor, was born at Wor-
cester, Massachusetts, February 22, 1882, of English an-
cestry. He showed an early talent for the piano, on which
and the violin he began lessons at nine years of age. At
twelve he entered the New England Conservatory of Music
and in the six years he was there he had for instructors of
the piano, organ, 'cello, voice, harmony, counterpoint, com-
position, and conducting, such masters as Chadwick, Good-
rich, Hopekirk, Adamowski and Bimboni. He was then for
two years assistant to Oreste Bimboni in the Department of
Opera, after which he went to Leipzig to study conducting
under Arthur Nikisch.

Returning to America, Mr. Lyf ord was at once engaged as
assistant conductor with the original San Carlo Opera Com-
pany under the management of Henry Russell, and with
them toured the country for the season 1907-1908. When
the Boston Opera Company was organized in 1908 he was
engaged as associate conductor under Felix Weingartner

RALPH LYFORD 305

and made his debut at a performance of "Lucia di Lammer-
moor," which was followed by his leading of "La Traviata,"
"Hansel and Gretel," "Martha/' and others of the standard
repertoire. During the spring seasons of 1913, 1914 and
1915 he conducted nearly two hundred presentations of stand-
ard operas for the Aborn English Opera Company. With
the dissolution of the Boston Opera Company in 1914 he
joined the staff of Rabinoff's Boston Grand Opera Com-
pany; and then in 1916 he was called to take charge of the
Department of Opera of the Cincinnati Conservatory of
Music.

The success of the conservatory work brought an invitation
to organize and conduct the summer seasons of opera at the
Zoological Gardens, the first entertainment venture at that
place to succeed financially, and the first American effort of
this nature to be permanently self-sustaining. In his five
seasons Mr. Lyford produced and conducted there two hun-
dred and thirty-four performances of thirty standard grand
operas ("Martha/* "Hansel and Gretel" and "The Secret
of Suzanne," in English). The standards attained were such
as to attract nation-wide attention and to inspire similar
movements in other cities. Then, in 1925, he left this field
to become Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra.

In the meantime Mr. Lyford had been, as opportunity
allowed, busy with composition; and in 1917 his Concerto
for Piano and Orchestra won the first prize in the com-
petition of the National Federation of Music Clubs. This
was performed at the Biennial Convention, at Birmingham,
Alabama, and was interpreted by Myra Reed (-Skibinsky)
as soloist, and the Russian Symphony Orchestra, with Mr.
Lyford conducting.

306 AMERICAN OPERA

With all this experience of the theater, in 1916 he began
the libretto and score of his "Castle Agrazant"* which was
not completed until 1922. The two Preludes in the work
were played on a program of the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra, in Music Hall, on January 1, 1922, the composer
conducting. The complete opera was first performed at
Music Hall, on April 29-30, 1926, at a cost of fifteen thou-
sand dollars, which had been pledged through the activity of
the American Opera Foundation of Cincinnati. For this
occasion the Cincinnati enthusiasts had the hearty cooperation
of the National Federation of Music Clubs.

While busy with preliminaries for the production of "Castle
Agrazant," the composer received on April 6, 1925, the David
Bispham Memorial Medal, in recognition of his achievements.

Cast of the Premiere

Isabcau Olga Forrai

Richard of Agrazant Forrest Lament

Geoffrey of Lisiac Howard Preston

A Young Boy Fern Bryson

An Old Minstrel Italo Picchi

A Herald Moody DeVeaux

A Knight of Lisiac Herman Wordemann

An Old Servant of Agrazant Mute Part

Knights, Warriors, Retainers of Lisiac, Noblemen and

Ladies of Lisiac, Fugitive Knights of the Cross.

Conductor Ralph Lyford

The place is an imaginary region of northern France; the
time, subsequent to the Last Crusade.

Act I. Before the walls of Castle Agrazant, near sunset.
Richard of Agrazant, a youthful religious zealot, has left his
beautiful young wife, Isabeau, while he joins in the hoped-for
redemption of the Holy Land. Count Lisiac, a former suitor of
Isabeau, seizes the opportunity to renew his attentions, appears

RALPH LYFORD 307

before the castle, and, failing with soft words, first falsely de-
clares the death of Richard and then resorts to slander. Finally
in desperation he orders the great gate to be battered down and
Isabcan taken by force. As entrance is accomplished Isabeaii
conceals a note in the cradle of her late born but now dead
child, rushes to the crucifix, faints, and is carried thus to Lisiac.

A dismal chant preludes the passing of a band of tattered
pilgrims. Richard tarries; he notes the revelry at Lisiac Hall,
then the broken gate of his castle. Rushing into his devastated
home, he discovers the cradle, the stark child, and lastly the
note ; and with his great sword at his lips he vows to avenge his
wrongs.

Act II. The Grand Festival Hall of Lisiac. It is midnight.
Isabcan sits silently amidst the revelry of the banquet in her
honor. As Geoffrey loses self-control and seizes her, a brilliant
fanfare introduces a Herald who announces that three vagabond
musicians are at the gate and desire admission as entertainers.
They are led in a Monk, an Old Minstrel, and a Small Boy.
Geoffrey commands the Boy to sing and asks Isabeau to choose
the theme. She asks for a song of Galilee; and in quaint stanzas
the Boy pictures the recent events at Castle Agrazant. Filled
with superstitious dread, Lisiac orders the vagabonds cast out.
The Monk intervenes, offering to sing a more pleasant strain,
and is recognized by Isabeau as her husband. Throwing off his
disguse, Richard challenges Geoffrey and the ensuing combat
soon draws all into a general melee in which the corridors are
set afire. Geoffrey's sword is broken, and Isabeau, rushing be-
tween the combatants, receives his dagger in her breast at the
same moment in which he is thrust through by Richard's sword.
In the confusion Richard seizes Isabeau and escapes through a
small door, followed by the Boy leading the blind Minstrel.

Act III. A Beautiful Glade in the rocky slopes of a Forest
.near Lisiac. Richard enters, supporting the fast-weakening
Jsabeau. To the soothing song of nightingales she sinks upon
a bed of moss. Richard fetches water in his helmet and then
narrates of his visit to the Holy Land and his first sight of
Jerusalem. In a lofty declaration of faith and love he lifts his
sword high and breaks the blade in halves. Placing the
fragments on a rock, he returns to Isabeau who in a vision is

308 AMERICAN OPERA

comforting her child. Her eyes close as she and Richard sing of a
New Pilgrimage to a Land of Eternal Sunshine and Happiness.

The reviewer for Musical America, obviously relieved of
local bias, measured the work thus :

"Mr. Lyford has written well, but not well enough. His
opera has points of superiority as compared to any previous
American opera this reviewer has heard. It is a better opera,
also, than some foreign importations that have been given as
novelties in recent years at the Metropolitan, for it is the work
of a serious musician who has the courage to avoid the banal.
... Its good qualities were those of a minor work, worthy
of further hearings, but not likely to find its way into the
category of standard operas."

It is worthy of note that on this occasion, aside from the
most taxing three roles, the entire performance, including
stage settings, was by Cincinnati talent. Carefully prepared
and capably directed, the production was a distinctly forward
step for American opera and for all American musical art.

Mr. Lyford died suddenly, of heart disease, in a Cincinnati
hospital, on September 3, 1927,

XXXII

EDWARD MANNING, KATHLEEN LOCKHART

MANNING, MAX MARETZEK, LUCILLE

CREWS MARSH, WILLIAM J. MARSH,

EDWARD MARYON

EDWARD MANNING

This "Canadian cousin" composer, Edward Betts Manning,
was born at St. John, New Brunswick, on December 14,
1874. After graduation from the secondary schools he for
several years studied law ; then music claimed him and in
1919 he began serious study of the violin with Henry Schra-
dieck, followed by four years of composition with Mac-
Dowell, a year with Humperdinck in Berlin, and another with
Vidal in Paris.

On returning to America he became, in December, 1905,
teacher, for two years, of violin and theory at Oberlin Con-
servatory. Then, beginning in the fall of 1914, he was con-
ductor of the orchestra and taught ear-training at Columbia
University till in 1919 he resigned to give his time more to
composition. Among his larger, unpublished works are a
trio for violin, violincello and piano, and a "Requiem Mass/'

Mr. Manning's opera, "Rip Van Winkle," was begun in
1918 and finished in 1931. It is written to a libretto by the
composer, constructed from the familiar tale by Washington
Irving, which it closely follows, with the ballet element em-
phasized. It is in grand opera form and written for those
who enjoy the childlike.

309

310 AMERICAN OPERA

The work had its premiere at Town Hall, New York
City, on February 12, 1932, by the Charlotte Lund Opera
Company, to a full and enthusiastic house ; and it was given
three subsequent performances. H. Wellington-Smith was
the Rip Van Winkle; the dances were done by the Aleta
Dore Ballet ; and Nicola Pesce conducted.

KATHLEEN LOCKHART MANNING

Kathleen Lockhart Manning, a native of Los Angeles, fin-
ished her studies in London and Paris. Along with many
compositions in the smaller forms, she has written an op-
eretta, four symphonic poems, a piano concerto, a string
quartet, and two grand operas.

"Mr. Wu," with its text by Louise Jordan Miln, was begun
in 1925 and finished in 1926. "For the Soul of Rafael" is
based on the book of the same name by Marah Ellis Ryan.

MAX MARETZEK

In Briinn, the capital of Moravia, and on the 28th of
June of 1821, was born a child who, in his maturity, was for
thirty years to play a conspicuous, if not all the time the
leading, role in the operatic life of America Max Maretzek.
Urged by his father, he entered the University of Vienna,
first to prepare for the medical and later the legal profession.
Each of these proving obnoxious, the young Max was placed
under the tutelage of Ignaz von Seyfried, who had studied
piano with Mozart, theory with Haydn, and was a composer,
teacher of theory and noted conductor of his time. In the
winter of 1840-41, though yet but twenty, his opera, "Ham-
let," was produced at Briinn, under his own direction, and

MAX MARETZEK 311

later was wen received in many cities of Europe. A second
opera of this period, on a plot from the Nibelungenlied, was
never completed. He was successively conductor of opera at
Agram, Nancy, Paris and London, furnishing ballets for
productions in the last two cities.

In September of 1848 Mr. Maretzek arrived in New
York, to become conductor of the Italian Opera Company in
the Astor Place Opera House; and the remainder of his
chequered life was to be devoted to an inestimable service
to the musical taste and art of America. His American
debut was, however, to occur at Philadelphia, on October
5, 1848, at the Chestnut Street Theater, with a production of
"Norma." As impresario or conductor, and often as both,
Mr. Maretzek placed Italian Opera on a firm basis in New
York. On November 24, 1859, he presented Adelina Patti,
for her first appearance on any stage, as Lucia, which was
to become one of her historic roles.

In September, 1876, at Niblo's Garden, a spectacular play,
"Baba," was produced, with music by Maretzek and the com-
poser conducting. By this time he had become so American
in his interests and ideals that his subsequent works may well
be said to be American as American as were many others
of that period.

Most significant was the presentation of his "Sleepy Hol-
low ; or, The Headless Horseman/' a pastoral opera comique
in three acts, with libretto by Charles Gaylor, founded on the
story of Washington Irving. This was produced in English,
at the Academy of Music, New York, September 25, 1879,
with considerable success. It was first heard in Chicago on
November 19, 1879. The following numbers from this opera
are available for historical programs: "Spinning Song," "A
Maiden Dwelt in a Rosy Bower" (soprano) ; "Trip to Dance,

312

AMERICAN OPERA

Fair Maids" (rondo for soprano) ; "By Day and Night"
(ballad for tenor) ; and "Knickerbocker Dance" (transcribed
for piano).

Max Maretzek's Golden Jubilee was celebrated on Feb-
ruary 12, 1889, when eminent artists gave a program of
excerpts from plays and operas. His last years were spent
mostly at his home at Pleasant Plains, Staten Island, from
whence he passed away on May 14, 1897.

LUCILLE CREWS MARSH

Lucille Crews Marsh, one of our most gifted of women
composers, was born at Pueblo, Colorado, August 23, 1888,
of long American ancestry. She improvised as a child and
at seven composed a nocturne in correct form, before having
had any lessons. She was a student for one year each in the
Northwestern University School of Music, Evanston, Illinois,
and the New England Conservatory, graduated from Dana
Hall at Wellesley, and received the Bachelor of Music de-
gree from the University of Redlands, California. She later
had one year in Berlin under the instruction of Hugo Kaun
for composition, Moratti for singing, and von Fielitz for
orchestration ; which was followed by one year of orchestra-
tion under Boulanger of Paris.

Mrs. Marsh's Symphonic Elegy, "To the Unknown Sol-
dier/' was performed July 16, 1926, at the Hollywood Bowl,
with Emil Oberhoffer conducting. "La Belgique" is a can-
tata for soli, chorus and orchestra ; and another composition
in large mold is a Sonata for Viola and Piano. This sym-
phonic elegie, her first orchestral writing, and Sonata for
Viola and Piano were submitted in the 1926 Pulitzer compe-
tition and won a traveling scholarship for further European

EDWARD MARYON 313

study the first time this distinction had fallen to a woman.

"The Call of Jeanne d'Arc" is a one-act opera requiring
about three-quarters of an hour for production. Its libretto
is an adaptation of the first act of Percy Mackaye's "Joan
of Arc" ; and it was written in the summer of 1923, but has
not been performed. This opera won, in 1926, the prize
of two hundred and fifty dollars offered by Mrs. Cecil
Frankel.

"Eight Hundred Rubles" is a grand opera in one act, with
the libretto by John G. Neidhardt. It was begun in February
and finished in March of 1926. There are but three roles;
and the work requires about three-quarters of an hour for
performance.

WILLIAM J. MARSH

"The Flower Fair of Peking/' by William J. Marsh, of
Dallas, Texas, is a grand opera of the lighter vein, with its
locale in the Chinatown of San Francisco. Its story springs
from the homesickness of Tung Lung, a laundry man, for his
native land. There is also a love motive in the sentiment
between the Chinese maiden, Mee-Na, and Kinn, a univer-
sity student. The work had its first performance on any
stage when presented at Dallas, on April 23, 1931, with the
composer conducting.

EDWARD MARYON

Edward Maryon, composer and author, was born in Lon-
don, England, April 3, 1867, with an ancestry which was
French-English by his father and French-Dutch by his
mother. His mother sang and played the piano as an ama-
teur, but no professional musicians were counted in his

314 AMERICAN OPERA

family. At five he began piano lessons and at eight the
study of the organ from an all-round musician who taught
him to play eighteenth century music from a figured bass.
At fourteen he was organist of the parish church, and at
seventeen he entered the Royal Academy of Music, where
he had such masters as Oscar Beringer for the piano, and
Ebenezer Prout and Sir George Macfarren for harmony,
counterpoint and composition. At nineteen he was in Paris
specializing in Chopin with I. Libich, a pupil of that master.

The "Grand Prix" of the French Government and a gold
medal were won in 1890 by his opera, "L'Odalisque." This
met with a success that caused him to be elected a Member
of the Society of Arts, London, and Member of the Royal
Academy of Arts, Rome; while the honorary degree of
Doctor of Music and several orders and decorations were
conferred upon him. He later studied archaic languages,
psychics and philosophies, especially under Dr. Carl Hansen,
the father of modern hypnotism. He had instrumentation
and conducting under Franz Wullner, was for several years
at the Royal Opera of Dresden, and on the death of Ferdi-
nand Hiller became City Chapelmaster of Cologne.

Mr. Maryon made his first visit to the United States in
1892; in 1895 he married Francesca Monti Lunt of Boston;
then in 1914 he settled in New York and is at present in the
process of naturalization. His tone poem, "Sphinx," was
performed by the Philharmonic Society of New York, with
Josef Stransky conducting and Louis Graveure interpreting
the baritone solo. "Marcotone," a system of correlating tone
and color in the teaching of music, has attracted considerable
attention.

Of other works in the larger forms the composer has
written: "The Beatitudes/' for baritone solo, double chorus

EDWARD MARYON 315

and orchestra; "Armageddon Requiem," for solo voices,
triple chorus and orchestra; "Rip Van Winkle," an Ameri-
can Ballet; "Helen of Troy," a cinema-opera, for screen,
vocal quartet and symphony orchestra ; "A Lover's Tale," a
World War version of Dante's "Paolo and Francesca," in one
act; "The Feather Robe," a Japanese opera in one act,
founded on a Shinto legend of Fujiyama ; "Chrysalis," a lyric
mystery-play in two acts ; "The Smelting Pot," an American
opera in three acts, dedicated to Walt Whitman ; and "Were-
wolf," an American opera in four acts, dedicated to Edgar
Allen Poe.

An incomplete work, "The Cycle of Life," is a dramatic
allegory of Kosmos, in seven music-dramas, according with
the greatest myths of humanity. It was begun in 1886; the
librettos of all are completed for in all his musico-dramatic
works Mr. Maryon writes his own text. The musical scores
of "Lucifer," "Cain," "Magdalen," and "Krishna" are com-
pleted; "Christos" is nearly finished; and "Psyche" and
"Nirvana" are yet to be written.

"Chrysalis" had, on June 20, 1929, its world premiere at
the Freiburg Opera, Germany, with a favorable reception
and, two subsequent performances. Its story deals with the
grievings of a young man for the death of his beloved in an
aeroplane accident, until, through the mystic power of a
chrysalis from the Far East, he is transformed to a plane of
doubt and irreality and his dozen years dead betrothed returns
and calls him to their reunion.

"Lucifer" is a view of the advent of all formative life, suns,
planets, and creatures.

"Cain" treats of the union of the third and fourth races on our
planet and the attainment of the soul.

"Krishna" is concerned with the rise of the sixth race, ours,

316 AMERICAN OPERA

the Aryan, and the attainment of wisdom in a universal phil-
osophy, the Vedanta.

"Magdalen" is the union of the Hermetic, Henochian and
Hellenic philosophies, into humanitarian ethics, through the
Syrian incarnation, "Christos."

"Sangraal (Christos)" is the blending of the religious with
romanticism, according to the Morte d* Arthur of Mallory.

"Psyche" brings this cosmical record to our own time. It
deals with the World War and exposes the psychic, or astral,
and the spiritual planes.

"Nirvana" furnishes a picture of Space-Time how all form
is transmuted and finally is an union with the absolute Unity,
God.

XXXIII

WILLIAM J. McCOY, J. G. MEADER, ALBERT MIL-

DENBERG, HARRISON MILLARD,

CARLO MINETTI

WILLIAM J. McCoy

William J. McCoy, composer, educator and lecturer, was
born at Crestline, Ohio, March 15, 1848. His progenitors,
of Scotch and Irish blood, had come to America three genera-
tions before his birth. His father was a schoolmaster who
also taught "singing schools/' using in them the "buckwheat
notes" ; and some who have not yet achieved greatly may take
heart from the knowledge that for the youthful William
punishment was a necessary incentive to practice. When but
a lad, California became his home. When he became really
interested in music study he was sent to Dr. William Mason
of New York; and later he had four and a half years in the
Leipzig Conservatory, under Reinecke and Hauptmann.

His first compositions were written at the age of twelve ;
and his interest steadily shifted into the creative field.
A "Symphony in F" was twice performed in Leipzig, in
1872, under the baton of Carl Reinecke.

Mr. McCoy's first important work to achieve an American
production was his score to the "Hamadryads," of which
the libretto was by Will Irwin. It was the third of the
Grove-Plays of the Bohemian Club of California, described
as "A Masque of Apollo," and produced at their great
Sequoia Grove in the summer of 1904. It is a fanciful

317

318 AMERICAN OPERA

story of the spirits of brightness and joy which dwell in the
trees. A suite, which includes the Prelude, Dance and The
Naiad's Idyl from this Masque, has appeared frequently on
orchestral programs.

Again, in 1910, Mr. McCoy was asked to furnish the
musical score for the Grove- Play, this time "The Cave Man/ 1
with its libretto by Charles K. Field of San Francisco, a
skillful writer, and editor of the Sunset Magazine.

As the title implies, it is a story of the Age of Brute Force.
It transpires on a forest hillside of the geological period im-
mediately preceding ours, tens of thousands of years ago. Dur-
ing the overture a radiant morning envelops the scene, disclos-
ing the shut-up entrance to a cave under an overhanging ledge;
and beyond and below is a plateau through which a stream flows
westward to the sea.

On this wild setting is enacted a drama of primeval life and
love. Broken Foot, large, hairy and forbidding, breaks a stag's
neck with a rock and carves the carcass with a flint knife.
Amid bold stories Wolf Skin vaunts the charms of his daughter,
Singing Bird; and when Short Legs vows he will seek her he
is abruptly keeled over by Broken Foot, which incites a broil.
Following a story of a young man with a new weapon of wood
and stone, this hero appears on the hilltop and fells Broken
Foot with the first stone axe. It is Long Arm come to avenge
his father's murder. As Singing Bird warbles along a path,
Long Arm, in fear of failure, woos instead of trying to win
her by force ; and when the terrible Man Beast appears, Singing
Bird leaps for protection into the young man's arms; while he
recalls a keen bite from a firebrand he had dropped on the rock,
recovers it, and, turning the animal fear of fire to advantage,
effectually routs the Man Beast.

Act II is on the same site, but evening fireflies dart over the
pools. About the campfire are told the wonders of fire and the
sweetness of cooked flesh. When at last all sleep by the smolder-
ing fire, the Man Beast stealthily approaches and seizes Singing
Bird, whose screams bring the others in pursuit with firebrands.
Long Arm returns with the faint Singing Bird in his arms and

WILLIAM J. MC COY 319

revives her at a pool. As others come on rejoicing*, tongues of
flame are noticed among the trees and soon the forest is ablaze,
trom cinders dropped in their chase. In consternation the Cave
People pour down the hillside and are beginning to threaten
Long Ann for the damages of his invention, when there is a roll
of thunder and a downpour of rain.

Epilogue. A chorus of Spiritual Voices sings the Ascent of
Man. There is a grand choral procession in which the Care
Men are replaced by Shepherds, Farmers, Warriors, and Phil-
osophers, who overspread the hills. The figure of the Redeemer
appears in the sky, above the multitude, which is led into the
growing light of the dawn that has burst in splendor on the
forest.

"Egypt," an opera in three acts, was written to a libretto
which is a variation of the Antony and Cleopatra story.
Though it has not had operatic production, two acts of it
were presented on September 17, 1921, at the closing concert
of the Berkeley Music Festival under the auspices of the
Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. This interpretation was
given in the Greek Theater of the University of California,
with a chorus of one hundred and twenty voices, an orchestra
of seventy-two men, local soloists, the composer conducting,
and an audience of six thousand people. The performance
was repeated on September 29, 1921, in the Auditorium of
San Francisco, under the auspices of the City Council.

The opera opens at Tarsus, whither Antony has called Cleo-
patra to answer for her treachery to the Triumvirate; but the
fascinating Egyptian Queen adroitly turns her invectives to
protestations of love and carries him off to her Alexandrian
palace. Scarcely are the farewells over, after the famous ban-
quet with its fabled dissolving and drinking of the pearl, when
Cleopatra learns of Antony's treacherous marriage to the sister
of Octavius. On receipt of news of the destruction of her fleet
at Actium, Cleopatra takes refuge in her tomb, whither she is
followed by Antony, wounded by his own hand and dying in her

320 AMERICAN OPERA

arms. Octavian arrives to command the bereaved queen to
"grace" his triumph in the streets of Rome; and, while pretend-
ing to acquiesce, Cleopatra applies an asp to her breast and ex-
pires as Octavian re-enters.

The work has two qualities that tell on the operatic stage :
it is both dramatic and spectacular. Several singable numbers
are published separately and are effective for concert use
or for opera club study.

Mr. McCoy's compositions are characterized by fine
thematic material and splendid workmanship. In fact, they
often show the touch of a masterly hand. His Cumulative
Harmony is in use as a textbook in several states as well
as in many conservatories. In recognition of the quality of
the score of his "Egypt," Mr. McCoy was awarded, on
April 29, 1926, the Bispham Medal of the American Opera
Society of Chicago. At the time of his death on October
15, 1926, he was also National Chairman of the Course of
Study of the National Federation of Music Clubs.

J. G. MEADER

"Peri ; or, The Enchanted Fountain," a romantic opera
in three acts, with libretto by S. J. Burr and music by J. G.
Meader, had its first performance at the Broadway Theater
of New York, on December 13, 1852.

ALBERT MILDENBERG

Albert Mildenberg, composer and teacher, was born in
Brooklyn, Long Island, on January 13, 1878. He was de-
scended from a line of students, writers and artists. Both
Anna von Mildenberg and Anna von Silber were decorated
for artistic musical achievements, Anna von Mildenberg hav-
ing been the eminent Wagnerian singer of Vienna.

ALBERT MILDENBERG 321

At four years of age the talent of the boy became evident
when he began reproducing on the piano any melody played
by his mother, who was a skilled pianist and who became
Albert's teacher till he was fifteen years of age. He then
became a pupil of Rafael Joseffy, and at seventeen was ap-
pointed organist of Christ Church of Brooklyn.

Mr. Mildenberg studied composition with Bruno Oscar
Klein and C. C. Miiller, of New York ; and his first song,
The Violet, was written when he was but sixteen. In 1900
he moved to New York where he established a School for
Municipal Opera and Opera in English. Then early in 1905
he went to Rome for studies in composition with Sgambati.
In Paris he later studied with Massenet and Jemaine; and
for the season of 1907 he conducted the Societe Symphonique.
In July of 1911 he conducted a program of his own composi-
tions, including the orchestral numbers from "Angele," given
by the symphony orchestra of Trouville. He became, in 1913,
Dean of the Department of Music of Meredith College at
Raleigh, North Carolina; and in 1916 Wake Forest College
conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Music.

Of Mr. Mildenberg's larger works, a comedy-opera,
"Wood-Witch," was produced in New York in 1909 ; a one-
act opera, "Rafaello," was presented in concert-form, at
Naples, in 1910; a cantata, "The Garden of Allah," had
public production at Brighton, England, in 1911 ; and another
comedy-opera, ''Love's Locksmith," was performed in New
York, in 1912.

"Michael Angelo (Angele)," the composer's one fully
developed grand opera, had a chequered career. After ex-
amining the score, Sgambati wrote : "His style of composition
approaches very closely the Italian, and it is easy to count on
a cosmopolitan success for this work." To which Massenet
added, "Your flow of melody is rich, but your excellent

.5-- AMERICAN OPERA

unity of word and musical phrase is a rare talent." For all
In's dramatico-musical works, Mr. Mildenberg was his own
librettist; and he created also the lyrics of many of his best
songs.

"Michael Angelo" was accepted and contract signed for its
performance at the Vienna Opera, but was withdrawn by
the composer and entered for the prize offered in 1911 by
the Metropolitan Opera Company, for a work by an
American composer. The complete score, including the
libretto in three languages, mysteriously disappeared be-
fore reaching the judges. Crushed in spirit, the composer
bravely set at reproducing the score from preserved sketches
and from his splendid memory. However, as the work
neared completion his health broke and, after two bedridden
years, he passed away on July 3, 1918, with his beloved opera
at his .side.

HARRISON MILLARD

Though the name of Harrison Millard at once recalls the
Muvessful song-writer, still there is a place for it in the
sinry of American opera.

15i.ni in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1830,
(died there September 10, 1895), he was a choir-boy from
early childhood and at ten years of age sang in the chorus
of the far-famed Handel and Haydn Society. After
thorough training by the best local teachers, he went to Italy
in 1851 to remain for four years of study. His fine tenor
voice attracted much attention, and he toured Great Britain
with the renowned Irish soprano, Catherine Hayes.

He returned to Boston in 1854 and two years later took
up residence in New York, where for years he held an
eminent position as singer, vocal instructor and composer.
More than three hundred and fifty of his songs were pub-
lished, as well as many adaptations from the Italian, French

CARLO MINETTI 323

and German. Of these, many became famous, Waiting and
Ave Maria having been for many years in the forefront of
their class, in popularity. To grateful melody and appro-
priate harmony he had the gift of adding just enough of the
dramatic to win the ears of a period less sophisticated
musically than these first decades of the twentieth century.
A grand mass, four Te Deums and several Church-services
represent larger flights.

His opera, "Deborah," never came to performance. This
having been written to an Italian libretto almost disqualifies
him as a loyal adherent to his native muse. However, in all
his writing there is a tang that is not European, and the
choice of text was probably with the hope that this expedient
would favor the acceptance of his work for production by
one of our operatic organizations, all of which were at that
period dominated by alien influence. His operatic version of
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" was more fortunate in having at least
one performance, though no particulars survive.

CARLO MINETTI

This popular composer was born December 4, 1868, at
Intra, Lago Maggiore, Italy. His parents desired him to be
a physician ; but, after one year at a university, music had
its way and he entered the Conservatory of Milan where he
studied for six years, having composition with Ponchielli
and Catalani, violin under Pelizzari, and voice with the elder
Lamperti, Giovannini and Leoni.

After making some reputation as a teacher of singing and
as composer, Mr. Minetti changed his residence to London,
where he was well received as voice teacher, singer and
composer of ballads. Two songs, written in the London
period, won prizes in American competitions.

324 AMERICAN OPERA

At the urge of his brother, Pietro, who has been so long
the leading teacher of singing at the Peabody Conservatory
of Baltimore, Mr. Minetti came to America in 1896 and soon
established himself at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He died
at Pittsburgh on July 31, 1923; and little is to be learned of
his one opera in English, "Edane the Fair." It is a romantic
work founded on incidents from Ireland's heroic age. "The
score is the work of a sincere, thorough, experienced musician
with a lofty sense of beauty and of operatic writing."

XXXIV

JOHN MOKREJS, HOMER MOORE, MARY CARR
MOORE, ANTONIO LUIGI MORA

JOHN MOKREJS

John Mokrejs, composer and teacher, was born at Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, on Eebruary 10, 1875. His parents, of Czech
nationality, had migrated from Bohemia (now Czecho-
slovakia) in 1864. His mother was known locally as a
singer ; and at seven the little John began playing the cornet.
At twelve he was playing the melodeon and at fifteen had
lessons on the piano. When fourteen he began writing
songs and pieces for the piano; and several of these, in-
cluding the well-known Valcik, which are very much played
today, were composed before he had any training whatever
in harmony.

Going to Chicago, he for several years studied the piano
under Gertrude Hogan Murdough and harmony and com-
position under Adolf Weidig. Later he was for a short
time a pupil of A. K. Virgil and Edward MacDowell in
New York. His published works include about sixty for
the piano, thirty-six songs, an operetta, and two melodramas.
Of unpublished works he has, besides many in the smaller
forms, a string quartet, one melodrama, a piano trio, and a
symphonic poem for orchestra.

An opera, "When Washington Was Young,"* for young
folk nine to sixteen years of age, is unique among such
works, as it has no spoken dialogue, thus becoming a real
juvenile opera.

325

326 AMERICAN OPERA

"Sohrab and Rustum" is a grand opera in one act of several
scenes, written to a libretto by the composer, founded on the
great poem of the same name, by Matthew Arnold. It
was begun very early in 1915 and finished in 1917. Of it
the composer wrote : "Dvorak said, 'Keep your composition
ten years and then see how you like it/ I have done so, and
I like it better than ever."

HOMER MOORE

On a farm in Chautauqua County, New York, and on
April 29, 1863, Homer Moore was born. Both parents had
voices which made them locally known, the mother coming
from a family recognized as musical.

At eight years of age the little Homer began lessons on a
reed organ ; and when sent to boarding school at twelve he
was soon singing in a male quartet, as his voice had changed
early. After some vocal training from a local teacher named
Held, he entered the New England Conservatory for two
years of study. Beginning in 1882, two years of teaching
and singing in Columbus, Ohio, were followed by a season
as leading baritone of Mrs. Thurber's National Opera
Company ; after which he was for three years a teacher and
singer in Chicago.

In August, 1888, he entered the Akademie der Tonkunst
(Academy of Tone- Art) of Munich, where most of his
attention was devoted to the study of the works of Wagner.
Returning to America in 1889, he was active as lecturer,
singer and teacher, successively in Pittsburgh, New York,
Omaha, St. Louis, and Tampa, Florida, where he now teaches
and manages concerts, "for the good of the cause. "

Mr. Moore's first opera, "The Fall of Rome," founded
upon a novel by Wilkie Collins, was begun while he lived in

HOMER MOORE 3J7

Columbus and completed about five years later. His second
opera, "The New World," was written during the composer's
residence in Pittsburgh and had a concert performance while
he lived in St. Louis. Its story is built about the discovery
of America. His third opera, "The Puritans," a picture of
the times when the good people of Salem were burning
witches, also had a St. Louis performance in concert form.
He next started one with Miles Standish as the central figure,
but this was soon abandoned. Then, while residing in New
York, he wrote his "Louis XIV"; and this was produced
upon the stage of the Odeon of St. Louis, on February 10,
1917.

A notable cast was assembled, including such artists as
Marguerita Beriza, Augusta Lenska, Henri Scott and
Florencio Constantino; there was a chorus of sixty singers
and a ballet of forty dancers; the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra furnished the instrumentation ; and the composer
conducted. There were inspiring ovations. Some critics
were hearty in their praise, and others quite as hearty in
their condemnation. Which probably means that neither set
was far in the wrong. Anyway, taking advantage of sug-
gestions, Mr. Moore revised the whole work and it was
accepted by Maestro Campanini for the Chicago Opera
Company but for some reason did not reach production.

A more pretentious work was Mr. Moore's "American
Trilogy" upon native themes and written mostly in his
St. Louis period. These three operas were to be known
as "The New World/' "The Pilgrims" and "The Puritans."

Having been conceived at a time when the Wagnerian cult
was in its heyday, that Mr. Moore's scheme was laid out on a
prodigious scale is no cause for surprise. However, this
very thing, probably more than any other, militated against
success. Then, even more than today, single American

328 AMERICAN OPERA

operas (unless of the humorous type) had to batter down
stone walls of prejudice and unbelief. What chance for a
"Trilogy!" However, it was an omen of America trying to
find itself artistically. It was typical of the American feeling
for things gigantic. But art is not measured by the sur-
veyor's chain. A "Millet" or "Monet" no larger than the
smaller newspaper page may breathe more of the soul of
art, and command a larger market value (if the injection of
the commercial may be pardoned for the sake of lucidity)
than high-keyed canvases that almost would cover a barn.
A one-act opera, treating with a human touch some lighter
phase of past or present American life, might far outweigh
in art values a grandiose pageantry of leit-motifs, super-
natural beings, and mythical monstrosities.

A later opera is "The Elfwife," a mystical piece which has
not seen performance. Also, parts of "The Puritans'* have
been incorporated in a new opera, the scene of which is laid
in California in the days of the gold rush. For all his works
for the stage, Mr. Moore has been his own librettist. After
his varied vicissitudes he writes : "It is my opinion that there
never will be any reasonable chance for the American com-
poser until we have opera companies in all our large cities
and the operas are sung in English."

MARY CARR MOORE

From crooning the wee one to sleep to writing and pro-
ducing grand opera is versatility. Such is American woman !
And so Mary Carr Moore, the home-maker, bore easily the
plaudits of San Francisco when her grand opera in four acts,
"Narcissa," had nine performances at the Wilkes (formerly
Columbia) Theater in the week of September 7, 1925.

MARY CARR MOORE 320

Mrs. Moore has found music a natural means of express-
ing her spirit, since scarcely more than a child. Three
operettas : "Leopard," a weird piece ; "Memories/' and
"Flaming Arrow"; and an orchestral pantomime, "Chinese
Legends," followed each other from her facile pen. Then,
also she has some three hundred songs to her credit grave,
gay, serious and sacred. She was the only woman to lead
the orchestra of eighty men at the San Francisco Exposition
of 1915 interpreting some of her own compositions.

Mary Carr Moore was born in Memphis, Tennessee,
August 6, 1873, her father being Colonel Bryon O. Carr, of
the 6th Illinois Cavalry, a lover of music and possessor of
a fine baritone voice; and her mother, Sarah Pratt Carr,
is the author of several books and plays. Mrs. Moore be-
gan lessons on the piano at the age of seven; and when, at
twelve, she moved to California, the study of singing and
theory was begun. In theory she was for six years under
the guidance of her uncle, John Harraden Pratt, well-known
composer and organist. At fifteen she already had begun
original composition, and her first published song, a lullaby,
was written when she was sixteen.

Gifted with a very high soprano voice, her light opera in
three acts, 'The Oracle*' was produced in 1894 in San Fran-
cisco; and in 1902 it was given three times in Seattle, always
with the composer in the leading role.

"The Flaming Arrow," written to a libretto by Sarah
Pratt Carr, is an Indian Intermezzo in one act and with three
characters. It was first produced in the auditorium of the
Century Club, San Francisco, on March 27, 1922, with
Emilie Lancel, Easton Kent and Marion Vecki in the three
roles, and with orchestra, under the leadership of the com-
poser. It was repeated for the Pacific Musical Society on
May 24, 1923.

330 AMERICAN OPERA

THE STORY

A Summer Camp of 0-ko-ino-bo, on a rocky hillside, early
in the nineteenth century.

The land of 0~ko~mo-bo is desolate with drought ; his people
die.

His prayers to "Burning-Eye-of-Day" are unheeded.

Ka-mi-ah has grown to manhood; he comes again, after four
years, "Wa-ni-ma's sister's son." He woos Lo-ln-na. He will
dance for her people, to his own Earth-Gods, the "Rain-Makers."
But he claims Lo-lu-na as his reward.

0-ko-mo-bo consents; but if, when the moon has left the rim
of yon barren hillside, the rain has not yet come, Ka-mi-ah must
die by the poisoned arrow.

"Memories," an operatic idyl, ran for a season at the
Orpheum of Seattle, with the composer conducting for the
first week. It was also on the Keith circuit. ''The Leper/'
a one-act musical tragedy, has never been produced. "A
Chinese Legend," a pantomime with full orchestra, has had
one performance. A suite for four strings and piano, based
on incidental music to Browning's "Saul," has been widely
used. "The Quest of Signard," a cantata for women's voices,
with soprano and baritone soloists, has had four perform-
ances.

"Narcissa" is an American grand opera, emanating from
the beauty, spirit, history, stirring events, traditions and
tragedy of the Great Northwest. The book is by Sarah
Pratt Carr.

The opera had four performances at the Moore Theater
in Seattle, Washington, in 1912, after which it rested till
revived for California's Diamond Jubilee Celebration at
San Francisco, during the week of September 7, 1925, when
it was prepared and conducted by the composer and had
nine presentations to crowded houses.

MARY CARR MOORE 331

The "Diamond Jubilee'' Cast

Narcissa Alice Gentle

Waskevia Anna Ruzena Sprotte

Eliza Spalding Mary llobson

Siskadce Ruth Scott Laidlaw

Marcus U'hitinan James Gerard

Henry Scalding Orrin Padel

Elijah Harold Spaulding

Yellow Serpent Frederick War ford

Delaware Tom Albert Gillette

Reverend Hull Frederick Levin

Dr. John McLaughlin George Howker

Twelve Minor Characters

Pioneers and Indians
Mary Carr Moore Conductor

"Narcissa" is purely an American work, in both subject
and treatment. It deals with a theme dear to the Northwest,
the journey of the missionary, Marcus Whitman, to Wash-
ington, to thwart the transfer of that territory to Britain,
and the subsequent massacre of himself and wife by the
Indians.

Act I. In which Marcus Whitman arrives at a New England
church, pleads for help to carry the Gospel to the Indians of
the Great Northwest, accepts Henry and Eliza Spalding for the
service, also Narcissa Prentice, his long betrothed, and the
scene ends with their wedding.

Act II. In which Dr. John McLaughlin, chief factor of the
Hudson Bay Company, returns to the Northwest with a new
brigade from London. In which also Chief Pio-Pio-Mox-Mox
(Yellow Serpent}, of the Cayuse and Allied Tribes, is friendly,
but Waskcina (a prophetess) and Delaware Tom fa renegade
halfbreed) prophesy disaster to the Indians. The missionaries
arrive ; Marcus and Narcissa decide to settle at Waiilatpu, while
the Spaldings go to the Nez Perces; and all smoke the pipe of
peace, excepting Delaware Tom and Waskema.

332 AMERICAN OPERA

Act III. In which the Indians are sullen over the destruction
of their pastures; Yellow Serpent and Elijah, his son, soon to
be chief, favor the Whitmans; Dr. McLaughlin exacts new
promises from the Indians ; Elijah, to prevent rebellion, takes his
braves to California on a horse-stealing expedition, with a
promise to Siskadcc of their spring marriage; and Whitman,
discovering that Congress is about to let the Northwest pass to
Great Britain, starts his terrible mid-winter ride to Washington.

Act IV. In which it is spring and Marcus returns successful.
But many Indians are ill and Marcus is unable to cure all. The
expedition returns with many riderless horses attended by wail-
ing maidens, Siskadcc by that of Elijah who has been treacher-
ously shot at prayer, by a settler at Sutter's Fort which he had
succored. This fires Delaware Tom and, unknown to Yellow
Serpent, he and his followers batter down the Mission House
doors and massacre the inmates, including Marcus and Narcissa.
While the Indian women mourn and Siskadce wails on the hill-
side for her lover, Dr. McLaughlin arrives, but too late, and
Yellow Serpent swears vengeance on all having part in the
murder.

"Narcissa" was the first grand opera to be written, staged
and directed by an American woman. The lyric beauty of
the score, its firm and coherent dramatic structure and cli-
maxes, its effective melodies, and an orchestral fabric which
without being massive still supports well the voices and
action, make of the work one suited to presentation by any
community with a good quartet of competent soloists.

In the music allotted to the Indians the composer has em-
ployed the five-tone scale as a basis, but has mellowed it with
an Anglo-Saxon touch that makes for a certain American
wholesomeness pertinent to the subject. There are Indian
rhythms and authentic Indian themes. The lovers' duet
scene of Siskadce and Elijah; Elijah's "When Camas Bloom,"
arid Siskadee's lament over her dead brave, are the numbers
most suited to club or concert use.

MARY CARR MOORE 333

"Rizzio" is a grand opera in two acts, based on the tragic
end of David Rizzio, the faithful Italian secretary of Mary,
Queen of Scots. The libretto is by Emanuel Mapleson
Browne, a son of the famous singer, Celestina Boninsegna,
and an English father. It is in Italian, because, as the com-
poser has said, both the subject is Italian and the work was
created for a promised production in Italy. It was first per-
formed on any stage when given on May 26, 1932, at the
Shrine Auditorium of Los Angeles.

Premiere Cast

David Rizzio Lutar Koobyar

Mary Stuart Dorothy Francis

Lady Argylc Rosalie Barker Frye

Darnley William Wheatley

Murray Rodolfo Iloyos

Douglas Alphonso Pedroza

Ruthvcn Frank Ellison

Erskine Russel Horton

A Priest Frank Ellison

Lords and Ladies of the Court,

Soldiers and Retainers
Conductor Alberto Conti

The time is between seven and eleven of the evening of March
9, 1566.

Act I. An Anteroom in Holyrood Castle, Scotland. In the
plotting of Murray and Lady Argyle for the return of the ban-
ished Lennox and Ruthven, they first undertake to intimidate
Rizzio, then taunt Darnley, the still uncrowned consort of Mary,
with his position ; after which Lady Argylc cajoles Rizzio with
promises of power and even her own favor, if he will but sign
the pact for the return of the proscribed lords. They attack
Rizzio, who escapes by the fortunate return of Darnley. The

334 AMERICAN OPERA

Queen denounces Murray, who leaves her presence with a curse
on his lips. Mary is crushed with the realization of her defense-
less position until Rizzio returns to remind her of the unfailing
mercy of God. Murray, Darnlcy and Argyle now enter, to find
Rizzio at his Queen s feet. Darnley denounces Rizzio, and the
Queen reminds them of their baseness and leaves the room.

Act II. Banquet Hall of Holyrood Castle. Queen Mary and
her courtiers are at supper when Darnley appears but refuses to
sit at her table and is ordered from her presence. Rizzio pleads
for royal leniency and supper is resumed only to be interrupted
again by the entrance of Lennox and Ruthven. When Mary
demands the reason for their presence, Ruthren replies, "To do
justice to this Rizzio." Rizzio makes a noble defense of his
service to the people and announces that he will return to his
native land. All seems well till Mary asks, "Who will then serve
me ?" which so infuriates Douglas and Murray that they lead a
general attack in which Rizzio is mortally stabbed. The Queen
threatens vengeance on all, Lady Argyle kneels repentant by
Rizzio and Murray rushes from the room with a curse on his
own head.

Scenes from "Rizzio" were presented in the summer of
1933, by the Chicago Penwomen, with May Strong and Lutar
Koobyar in the leading roles, the Women's Symphony Or-
chestra accompanying, and Ebba Sundstrom conducting.

"Los Rubios" is an opera in three acts with an orchestral
prelude. It was written at the request of the directors of the
Recreation Department of Los Angeles, for the one hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Pueblo de
Los Angeles. The libretto is by Neeta Marquis, a native
daughter of Los Angeles, and it deals with the early history
of that city, about 1857. The score was begun on May 5th
and finished on June 28th of 1931 ; and the conductor's score
of two hundred and eighty-six pages was done from July 1st
to August 1st. Bits of authentic Indian themes and Spanish
folk melodies are used to evoke period color and character.

MARY CARR MOORE

335

The "villian" is a tenor and the successful lover a baritone.
The premiere performance took place on September 10,
1931, in the Greek Theater, with a cast of local singers,
including Harold Hodge as Don Miguel Rubio ; Dorothy
Newman Smith as Ramoncita and Clara Rubles as Clarito
his daughters; Arlowyn Hohn as Dona Josef a; William
Wheatley as Henry Durley; Douglas Beattie as Mark Mc-
Gregor; Gordon Berger as Peyton Farnham ; Mignon Brezen
as Chona; Lutar Koubyar as Pcdrito; and John Handley as
Sheriff Bolt on. The four choruses and ballet aggregated two
hundred and fifty participants; the Spanish numbers were
done by a Mexican group under Genevievc Garcia ; and Glenn
Tindall was the general musical director. The Greek Theater,
seating five thousand, was filled ; music critics sat on a ladder
against the wall ; a thousand listened outside, and it was
estimated that ten thousand were turned away.

In brief the plot centers about a romance between Ramoncita,
the beautiful daughter of Don Miguel Rubio, and Mark McGregor,
a county surveyor. The latter foils the plots of the rascally under-
sheriff, Henry Durley, who covets the land rights of the lordly
ranch of the Rubio family and would gain them through a love-
less marriage with Ramoncita.

The composer has conducted forty performances of her
works for the musical stage. She has also the distinction of
having won seven prizes in as many years.

"The Flaming Arrow" had two additional performances
at the Yakima (Washington) Musical Festival of 1926, and
it was repeated there in 1927. It was presented also at
Walla Walla, Washington, in both 1925 and 1926. Revised
and amplified to include Wa-ni-ina, the Hopi wife of
O-ko-nio-bo; Le-lo, a priest; a larger orchestra and a small

336 AMERICAN OPERA

chorus; and with the subtitle, "or, The Shaft of Ku-pish-
ta-ya ;" it won a prize offered by the Los Angeles Opera and
Fine Arts Club and was produced on November 25, 1927,
under their sponsorship. In the summer of 1933 it was pre-
sented twice at the Sylvan Theater, Eagle Rock (Los
Angeles). My Dream, a song, received in 1929 the prize
of the Cadman Creative Club ; and in the same year a piano
work, Murmur of Pines, won the second prize of this same
club. On October 30th of 1930 the composer received the
David Bispham Memorial Medal of the American Opera
Society of Chicago, for her "Narcissa;" then her "Four Love
Songs" won in 1932 the prize offered by the League of
American Penwomen for a suite for voice and chamber music
combination of instruments ; and in 1933 she won the prize
offered by this same group for a string quartet.

"Love and the Sorcerer" is an opera with a French text
and flair, though but partially completed. Its libretto, by
Eleanor Flaig, is based on a sixteenth century Provenqal
legend in which the hero commits suicide and the heroine
later dies through the machinations of a certain sorcerer,
Drascovie; till, in the apotheosis, their souls hover in the
clouds above the monks-led funeral cortege of the maiden.

ANTONIO LUIGI MORA

Antonio Luigi Mora was born at Turin, Italy, in 1843, and
at two years of age was brought to America by his parents
when they came to join the Castle Garden Opera Company
of New York, where he was to become a leading organist.
His "Rhoda," an opera buffa, was a pronounced success when
in 1886 it was produced at the Winter Gardens of London
ana the Fifth Avenue Theater of New York. In 1889 he
finished a grand opera, "Richelieu," and took it to London
for copyright and production, where he died.

XXXV

ARTHUR NEVIN, GUIDO NEGRI, MARX E.
OBERNDORFER

Arthur Finley Kevin, composer
and writer, was born at "Vine
Acre," Eclgeworth, Pennsylvania,
on April 27, 1871. His father,
Robert P. Nevin, was locally
prominent as a musician and com-
poser of political songs, and later
widely known as a biographer of
Stephen C. Foster and as editor
and publisher of the Pittsburgh
Times and the Leader. His mother
was born Elizabeth Oliphant, and
both parents were of Scotch
descent.

His first musical instruction was from his father; and
in 1889 he entered the New England Conservatory of Music
where for four years he studied singing and theory. Then,
beginning in 1893, he was till in 1897 at Berlin, under the
guidance of Karl Klindworth for piano and of Otis Bard-
well Boise for composition. His "Lorna Doone" Suite was
first performed in 1897, by the Philharmonic Orchestra of
Berlin, with Karl Muck conducting. On the invitation of
Edward MacDowell, the composer conducted in 1898 a per-
formance of it by the Mendelssohn Club of New York; and
he led a performance later by the Manuscript Society, on the
invitation of Reginald deKoven. It was also on the programs

337

Arthur Nevin

338 AMERICAN OPERA

of leading American orchestras and of the Concert House
Orchestra of Berlin.

Having returned to America, Mr. Nevin followed various
musical activities till he was invited by Walter McClintock,
the collector of Indian lore, to spend the summer of 1903
among the Blackfeet Indians of Montana. While gathering
their melodies and tribal songs, the composer conceived the
idea of an Indian opera based on the traditions of the prophet,
"Poia* ( Poy-ee'-ah)," a legend which may be called the Christ
story of the Blackfeet. At the death of his nine years older
brother, Ethelbert, who had been collaborating with Randolph
Hartley on a song cycle, the younger Nevin now turned
to Mr. Hartley as the source of a poetic book for his opera.
In previous years, and under noms dc plume, they already had
written many vaudeville sketches that were widely produced,
and a light opera which had but small success ; and now,
with Mr. Nevin again spending the summer of 1904 among
the Indians, for a large part of three years their combined
talents were devoted to the grand opera, "Poia."

Meeting with no encouragement for a home production
of their work, composer and librettist decided to brave the
dragons which guarded the then royal temple of serious
musical composition for the stage, in Berlin. That the
gossip of "royal favor" and other "influences" may be quieted,
the story of the acceptance of "Poia" shall be told in the
words of Mr. Hartley as they appeared in an interview in the
Denver News:

"Mr. and Mrs. Nevin and I went over and discovered that a
work had to please unanimously three judges who passed only
upon the libretto. It was successful. It went before three more
judges of the music, who must also agree unanimously. In this
case they were Humperdinck, Karl Muck and Leo Blech. After
these two ordeals the opera must pass under the critical eye of

ARTHUR NEVIN 339

the supreme judiciary, the head of the opera, who decides
whether it will be a success financially. It takes a long time.
With us it was more than a year, so we went traveling about
until we heard the glad news that Toia' had been accepted and
was to have a production."

This production occurred at the Royal Opera House of
Berlin, on April 23, 1910; and again history was made, in
that this was the first American opera of real consequence
to be presented in the German capital the first recognition
of great importance given by musical Europe to America.

The Berlin Cast

Poia Herr Kirchoff

Sumatsi Herr Bischoff

Natoya Florence Easton

Nenahu Margarete Ober

Morning Star Fraulein Art

Natosi (Sun God) Putnam Griswold

Conductor Karl Muck

The premiere took place before a brilliant audience with
the royal family present. Every ticket for the first and
second performances had been taken before the box office
was officially open for the sale. However, the operatic skies
were not cloudless. The production of an American opera
nettled a share of the press. It so happened that the potash
controversy between the United States and Germany was at
white heat. Roosevelt was making his spectacular exit from
Africa, with the intent of visiting the Kaiser. Then, as if
to fan the tempest, a young German, whose opera had been
refused, committed suicide; so that the papers protested
that "The stage of the Royal Opera House should not be
made a checkerboard for political games, while our own
artists are driven to suicide." Even parades and brick-
throwing were urged by the more rabid editors.

340 AMERICAN OPERA

With this in mind, a paragraph from Mr. Hartley's vigor-
ous tale of that first evening is pertinent :

"We were crouched far back in the corner of the box until
the time when we were called to appear before the audience.
We stepped to the front and bowed first to the royal box, then
to the box of the crown prince, and then to the audience. Ap-
plause from the bottom of the house and hisses from the gallery
where the students were sitting greeted our appearance. After
a dozen curtain calls there was each time the same result."

However the opera had four performances, which was
about the usual number per season for a work at that opera
house. Before the work was taken to Berlin, selections from
it had been performed on January 15, 1906, at a concert of
the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with a quartet of
soloists assisting and the composer conducting. Also Mrs.
Theodore Roosevelt had encouraged the authors by giving a
reception in the East Room of the White House, on April
23, 1907, at which the President, his official family, and two
hundred and fifty guests were present. Mr. Walter Mc-
Clintock talked on the Blackfeet Indians, told the story of
the tragedy of "Poia," and Mr. Nevin played selections from
the score of the opera.

The story is that of the prophet of the Blackfeet who
journeyed to the Court of the Sun God, returned to earth
as a sacred religious prince, and taught his tribesmen their
Sun- Worship. The time is before the white man disturbed
the sylvan life of his red brother.

Act I. An Encampment near the base of the mountains, in
the season of the Hunting Moon. Poia, the prophet, and Su-
matsi, the evildoer and braggart, are rival suitors for Natoya,
the beautiful daughter of a powerful chieftain. Sumatsi de-
clares that he has returned from battle to lay a victor's spoils

ARTHUR NEVIN

341

and heart at the feet of Natoya. In the midst of his boastings,
Ncnahu, the Medicine-Woman, interjects derisive comment.
Poia has been rendered impossible as an aspirant for the fair
Natoya s hand by an "unblessed scar," not acquired in noble
warfare, but inflicted by the Sun God (Natosi). When told by
Nenahu that only the Sun God can remove the scar, Poia
dauntlessly undertakes the dangers of the quest.

Act II. It is the time of the Traveling Moon. A scene in
the Wilderness, through which Poia seeks his way, changes to
the Court of the Sun God. Poia demands that the scar be re-
moved, which is denied. Into this poignant scene come mes-
sengers announcing that the Sun God's son, Morning Star, is
hard beset by foes. With his mortal arrows Poia saves Morn-
ing Star; as a reward for which the Sun God grants Poia's peti-
tion and induces in him a profound sleep during which the
Four Seasons pour out on him their blessings and relieve him
of the disfiguring scar so that he lies almost deified.

Act III. A Camp in the high hills; in the Moon of Flowers.
Glorified by the gifts of the Sun God, Poia returns. Sumatsi
plans the hero's death; but, as his hand is raised to strike, the
heavens open, the splendor of the sun descends upon the
prophet, while a shaft of light smites the boaster. The Sun
God claims Poia as his son, with the promise that Natoya shall
be to him as a daughter. But the stroke Sumatsi aimed for Poia
is received by Natoya when attempting to shield him. In an
apotheosis Poia bears the dying Natoya to the glory of his home
in the skies.

342 AMERICAN OPERA

The librettist, Randolph Hartley, was peculiarly fitted for
his adventure. Born June 19, 1870, at Blossburg, Pennsyl-
vania, his grandfather, Rufus Wilmot Griswold, had been
known as an author and as editor of Graham's Magazine.
His mother, as Emily Griswold, wrote a dozen or more books
for children, still read. His father, a clergyman and writer,
was long stationed on the Colorado and California frontiers,
where Randolph was educated mostly by his parents and
much reading. He early contributed verse and fiction to
current magazines and wrote light pieces for the amateur
stage. His first ambitious libretto was for "The Juggler,"
with musical score by Henry Houseley, which was followed
by "Ponce de Leon" and "Love and Whist."

Native melodies have been introduced into the score of
"Poia," but in such a manner that they become an integral
part of its texture. Also, one entire "Prayer to the Sun,
Moon and Morning Star/' has been incorporated into the
libretto. However, in both music and text the aim has been
not so much to reproduce the actual music and words of the
Indians as to create, through the use of figures of speech
and of musical idioms, an art work which would interpret
the Indian in his life and manner of thought, and at the
same time to mold the work to the requirements of the
operatic stage.

"A Daughter of the Forest"* is a one-act opera which was
outlined when Mr. Nevin and Mr. Hartley were in Egypt
and the Near East, while negotiations were pending for the
production of "Poia" at Berlin. It was first named "Twi-
light," and as such was accepted in 1911 at the Metropolitan
of New York, was cast and put into rehearsal, but through a
misunderstanding not produced. Under a new name, "A
Daughter of the Forest," the work was accepted by the
Chicago Opera Association with Cleofonte Campanini as

ARTHUR NEVIN 343

General Director, and was produced at the Auditorium oti
January 5, 1918.

The Premiere Cast

The Daughter Frances Peralta

The Lover Forrest Lament

The Father James Goddard

Conductor Arthur Nevin

It was an American opera, in plot and authorship, and
interpreted hy an American cast.

The story deals with the pioneer life of the trappers of the
Civil War period, and the scene is western Pennsylvania. The
characters are simple country folk, knowing far more of nature
than of mankind.

There are three "pictures," shifting from a woodland stream
in autumn to a humble fireside and back again. The father, a
woodsman, has trained his motherless daughter to his own
philosophy, which is Nature-worship, though incompletely de-
veloped. When, through blind devotion to this system, the
daughter approaches motherhood unsanctioned by church or
state, the father's structure falls to the ground. The daughter
finds escape in suicide; the lover first thinks to follow her, but
on the father's advice chooses a nobler death in battle ; while the
father is borne down by the realization of his own fault in
abandoning the old and tried beliefs established through the wis-
dom and experience of men, before making sure of the sound-
ness of his new philosophy of life.

The authors undertook the delicate and difficult task of
presenting, through the medium of the music-drama, a
mental rather than a merely physical tragedy. A philosophy
of life which in the performance serves as a background, is
designed to give perspective to the characters and to disclose
other than elemental emotions as the impelling forces in the
plot.

344 AMERICAN OPERA

GUIDO NEGRI

Born at Trento, Italy, on November 13, 1886, Guido Negri
is one of that type of the true amateur who devotes himself
to an art from an innate love of it and not as a profession.
He is entirely self-taught in music ; and long years of resi-
dence have made him thoroughly American. His "Quartette
a 1' Antique" has been played by the Philharmonic String
Quartet of Atlanta, Georgia, where he is a leading spirit in
matters musical. On June S, 1932, the Prehtdietto Orientate
and an Intermezzo Sinfonico from his opera, "Cleopatra,"
were on a program of the Atlanta Philharmonic Society.

"Cleopatra" is a serious opera in three acts ; and its libretto,
by Iginio Squassoni, is derived from the "Antony and Cleo-
patra" of Shakespeare. A second opera, "King Philip," with
its libretto also by Squassoni, has been begun.

MARX E. OBERNDORFER

Born, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on November 7th of
1876, and of German-American parents, Marx E. Obern-
dorfer began early the study of music which was completed
at the Royal Conservatory of Munich and under Theodor
Leschetizky.

His musical activities in Chicago have brought many honors
in his way, and he was for two years an assistant conductor
of the Chicago Opera Company.

Mr. Oberndorfer has written two operas. "The Magic
Mirror," with a libretto by Grace Hof man White, is adapted
from a story by Hans Christian Andersen. The libretto of
"Roseanne," by Nan Bagby Stevens, is derived from a Negro

MARX E. OBERXDORFKR 345

play by David Belasco, in which Crystal Herne made a con-
siderable success. Both of these operas were written in the
summers of 1927 and 1928, at the MacDowell Colony. On
October 25, 1931, "Roseanne" was presented in concert form,
before the American Opera Society of Chicago ; and on
December 29, 1932, the composer received the David Bispham
Memorial Medal of that organization.

XXXVI

HORATIO PARKER, JOHN KNOWLES PAINE,
HENRY BICKFORD PASMORE

HORATIO PARKER

Horatio William Parker, prob-
ably America's most gifted choral
composer, was born at Auburndale,
Massachusetts, September 15, 1863.
His father was an architect; his
mother was gifted musically and a
woman of unusual literary ability.
From her he received an early and
thorough foundation in piano and
organ playing, after which in Bos-
L ton he had instruction in theory
from Stephen A. Emery, piano
from John Orth and composition
from George W. Chadwick, the

last of whom was to be one of the judges unknowingly to
award to his pupil the Metropolitan Opera Company's prize
for the historical opera, "Mona." At sixteen he became
organist of St. Paul's Church, Dedham, soon to change to
St. John's in Roxbury. Then in 1882 he began three years
of study in the Royal School of Music of Munich, where he
had organ and composition from Rheinberger and conducting
under L. Abel. While there his cantata, "King Trojan," was
brought out in 1885.

346

Horatio Parker

HORATIO PARKER 347

On returning to America he was for two years ( 1885-
1887) professor of music at the Cathedral School of St.
Paul, Garden City, Long Island, and at the same time was
for a while instructor in the National Conservatory of Music
in New York. Then for five years (1888-1893) he was
organist of Holy Trinity Church, New York, until Trinity
Church of Boston offered him the highest salary ever paid
an organist in that city. In the following year he joined the
faculty of Yale, as Professor of Theory of Music, but re-
mained also organist of Trinity Church till 1901.

Mr. Parker's bent for musical creation became manifest iq
his fifteenth year, and from that time compositions flowed
freely from his pen. It was while at Holy Trinity, New
York, that he wrote his best known work, "Hora Novissima."

This oratorio, in the judgment of many musicians Mr.
Parker's finest and most inspired composition, was first given
by the Church Choral Society of New York, on May 3,
1893. This performance and a later one in Boston brought
him international recognition as a choral writer. "Hora
Novissima" has the distinction of having been the first
American work to be performed at the great Three Choirs
Festival of England; and it was the chief novelty of this
organization at Worcester in 1899, under the composer's
baton. In the following year it again made history as the
first American work ever to be performed at the Chester
Festival. In this same year his "A Wanderer's Psalm"
was given at the Hereford Festival.

Cambridge University made the American composer a
Doctor of Music (honoris causa) in 1902; and this year the
third part of his "The Legend of St. Christopher" was
given at Worcester and the complete work a little later at
the Three Choirs Festival at Bristol.

Dr. Parker became Dean of the Yale Music School in

348 AMERICAN OPERA

1904, retaining this position till his death on December 18,
1919. He carried music as a living factor into the university
life. The New Haven Orchestra owed its development to
him ; he established also a Choral Society which was one of the
city's musical assets ; while Woolsey Hall and the fine building
for the School of Music stand as monuments to his efforts.

The production of "Natoma" in 1911 seems to have stirred
the musical Melpomene. In that same year the manage-
ment of the Metropolitan Opera Company offered a Prize of
Ten Thousand Dollars for the best opera, the text and music
to be of American authorship. This was following the lead
of Italy where "Cavalleria Rusticana" had been the fruit of
a competition.

In the Metropolitan competition it was Dr. Parker's
"Mona"* which achieved the palms. The libretto was by
Brian Hooker, well known as a man of letters and as pro-
fessor of English in Columbia and Yale Universities. The
opera had its first performance on any stage, at the Metro-
politan Opera House, New York, on March 14, 1912.

The Premiere Cast

Mona, Princess of Britain Louise Homer

Enya, her foster-mother Rita Fornia

Gwynn, son of Roman Governor. . . .Riccardo Martin

Arth, husband of Enya Herbert Witherspoon

Gloom, son of Arth, a Druid William Hinshaw

Caradoc, Chief Bard Lambert Murphy

Nial, a changeling Albert Reiss

Roman Governor Putnam Griswold

An Old Man Basil Ruuysdael

Conductor Alfred Hertz

This cast is interesting as being, with the exception of
Albert Reiss, entirely American. The libretto is based
on a story of old Britain, partly historical and partly
mythical.

HORATIO PARKER 349

Quintus, a son of the Roman Governor, has been reared among
the Britons as Gwynn, and has learned to love Mona, the last
descendant of Boadicea. Caradoc, a bard, aided by Gloom, a
foster-brother of Mona, is goading the people to rebellion.
Gwynn, his Roman origin unknown, attempts to keep peace,
thereby becoming disliked. As Mona spreads messages of re-
volt, she is followed by Gwynn, who saves her life and at the
same time informs her father that he can prevent war. He
wins the love of Mona; but his efforts to ward off the revolt
arouse her distrust, and he is held prisoner while her Britons
go to battle. Gwynn now tells Mona of his parentage, but she
disbelieves and kills him, only to learn the truth, with vain re-
gret, after her own capture.

Though never having achieved popularity, the sound musi-
cianship of "Mona" has not been questioned. As opera it
errs in being rather too unmelodic, and not always dramatic ;
but it still remains a strong work. In it the composer dis-
tinguished the last relentless descendant of Boadicea, not
by the wildness and ruthlessness of the music indicative of
her nature, but by the sign of E-flat major.

When in 1913 the National Federation of Music Clubs
announced a Prize of Ten Thousand Dollars for an
American Opera, this time Dr. Parker carried off the honors
with his "Fairyland/'* and again his librettist was Brian
Hooker. This work was presented six times, beginning July
1, 1915, at the Biennial at Los Angeles. The score is in the
Yale Library, the gift of the composer's widow.

The Premiere Cast

Rosamund, a novice Marcella Craft

Auburn, the king Ralph Errolle

Corvain, his brother William Wade Ilinshaw

Robin, a woodsman Albert Reiss

Myriel, the abbess Kathleen Howard

Nuns, Soldiers, Foresters, Villagers, Fairies
Conductor Alfred Hertz

350 AMERICAN OPERA

The scene is a Mountainous Country in Europe; the time,
about 1300. The work is an allegorical fantasy.

Act I. A Valley. Corvain covets the throne of Auburn, his
dreamer-brother. Of a procession of nuns from a nearby abbey,
Rosamund, a novitiate, longs for the world she has forsworn.
Corvain interrupts their progress, for which the Abbess chal-
lenges his presence. Corvain declares his aim for the crown ;
which the Abbess reveals to Auburn, with incitement to action.
Corvain flees, but at night returns, strikes down the King,
seizes the crown, and leaves impetuously. The scene dissolves
quickly into Fairyland with Auburn as king and Rosamund as
queen.

Act II. The Hall of a Castle. Corvain, in regal robes, gives
audience. Rosamund, in distress, enters in search of Fairyland;
and Auburn appears as a pilgrim. He fails to recognize in Rosa-
mund his spouse of Fairyland, and when she strives to make him
see, the Abbess Myricl seizes her in the name of the Church.
Auburn undertakes to reclaim his throne, only to be overpowered
by Corvain.

Act III. Public Square before the Abbey. Rosamund has
been condemned to death for violating her vows. She stands
bound to the stake as the abbey bell tolls. The Abbess offers
pardon if she will recant; but the maiden refuses. As the
Abbess leaves, Auburn enters stealthily, his eyes are opened, and
he recognizes Rosamund as his Queen of Fairyland. Corvain
arrives with his guard. Auburn is seized, and bound to the stake
also. However, as the fagots are about to be lighted, roses burst
into bloom, fairies appear, and the intended victims step forth in
royal robes as rulers of Fairyland.

The glamor connected with his works for the stage rather
dimmed Dr. Parker's achievements in the field of ecclesiastical
composition; and yet it is through the latter that he will be
longest known, for choral writing was his special gift. He
was a man of deep religious feeling; and it has been said
that he was the last of the "big" composers, whether here
or in England, to keep up a sustained interest in church
music. Which may account for a certain lack of the theatrical

JOHN KNOWLES PAINE 351

in his works for the stage. A memorial tablet to Dr. Parker
was placed on his birthplace and former home in Auburndale,
Massachusetts, by the students and faculty of The American
Institute of Normal Methods, and unveiled on July 26, 1926,
followed by a performance of "Hora Novissima" in the
evening.

JOHN KNOWLES PAINE

John Knowles Paine, the first of the American composers
who completely assimilated and satisfactorily created in the
great classical forms, was born at Portland, Maine, on
January 9, 1839. He first studied with Hermann Kotzsch-
mar, and he made his debut as organist and composer at
the age of eighteen. In 1858 he went to Berlin, where he
became the pupil of Haupt on the organ and of Teschncr
and Wieprecht for singing and instrumentation. He returned
to America in 1861 to become recognized as the first native
organist with a complete technic according to German
standards. The great organ in Music Hall of Boston, the
pioneer of large American instruments of the noble type,
had been selected largely through his influence wbile yet in
Germany; and at it he was to make a reputation as well as
to spread its glory.

In 1862 Mr. Paine founded the music course at Harvard,
where he so established the value of music as a form of art
that in 1875 the chair was raised to a full professorship.
Here he trained so many of our younger men who were to
advance the frontiers of American creative art that he has
been named "The Father of American Composers/' His
"Mass in D" was performed at the Sing-Akademie of Berlin,
in 1867, before members of the royal family and a large
audience, with the composer leading, and was well received.
His "St. Peter," the first oratorio published in America,

352 AMERICAN OPERA

was first performed publicly at Portland, Maine, on June
3, 1873.

His "Symphony in C Minor" was played by the Theodore
Thomas Orchestra, in Boston, in January, 1876, and was
used many times thereafter by the same organization. The
"Symphony in A," composed in 1880, and entitled "Spring,"
created an even more favorable impression. The outburst of
thanksgiving in its last movement has been favorably com-
pared with the great "Symphony in B-flat" of Schumann
which is dedicated to the same season. Other important
works were a symphonic fantasy on Shakespeare's "Tem-
pest," the first important American work performed by
Gericke with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; a musical
setting of Sophocles' "(Eclipus Tyrannus," for a series of
Greek performances at Harvard in 1881 ; Milton's "Nativ-
ity," in 1883, for the Handel and Haydn Society; and a
"Columbus March Hymn" for the opening of the Colum-
bian Exposition in Chicago, in 1892.

His last large work was his romantic opera, "Azara."*
The libretto, by the composer, is an adaptation of the poetic
old French Trouvere tale, "Aucassin and Nicolette." This
charming mediaeval idyl, with its sylvan touches, its splendid
Saracenic scenes, and its bold contrasts, presented a series of
alluring stage pictures decidedly indigenous to opera. Pro-
fessor Paine never had the pleasure of hearing "Azara"
presented in public; though it was translated into German
and published with English and German texts.

The Ballet Music from "Azara" was first played at a
Boston Symphony Concert, March 10, 1900. A concert per-
formance of "Azara," with piano accompaniment, was given
at dickering Hall, March 7, 1903, under the direction of
E. Cutter, Jr., who directed another performance at his own
home, with an audience of one hundred and twenty-five

JOHN KNOWLES PAINE 353

society people, on March 14, 1905. The work had its first
concert performance with orchestral accompaniment (with
some omissions), on April 9, 1907, by the Cecilia Society
with B. J. Lang conducting.

The scene is Provence; the era is mediaeval; the story, one of
chivalry. As a guerdon for defeat of the Saracens, Contrail,
son of King Rainulf, asks the hand of Azara, a ward of Ay mar.
Denied in this, he frees Malck, the captive chief, and is dis-
owned; and Azara and Aymar flee to the neighboring forest.
Malck and his followers now kill Rahudf and capture Azara
who is learned to be the long-lost daughter of the Caliph, and
with her they sail off before her lover. Azara escapes, returns
in disguise, is pursued by Malck who, when she reveals herself
at the court festival of the May Day, attempts vainly to kill
her and then stabs himself.

Repeated efforts, before and since the composer's death,
have failed to bring about a stage presentation of what com-
petent judges have deemed a highly meritorious work. An
interesting, if not gratifying, condition in regard to foreign
domination in American opera came to light when in 1907
there was a proposition to stage "Azara" under Conried's
management. Persistent attempts failed to discover, in either
Boston or New York, an operatic contralto or bass who
could sing in English well enough to be entrusted with the
parts. Neither could the chorus, an important factor in this
work, sing other than Italian. The "Ballet Music" and the
"Three Moorish Dances" have been frequently heard on
orchestral programs.

As a composer, John Knowles Paine may be classed as a
mild conservative. At first strongly antagonistic to the
Wagnerian style of composition, he later softened in his judg-
ment just as the compositions of his maturer years took on a
broader significance with less of pedantry noticeable. Our

354 AMERICAN OPERA

musical advancement is indexed by the fact that in his early
career he stood alone as an American composer of classic
ideals. Several of his works, and especially the "Spring"
Symphony, have been heard on European programs. In fact,
Professor Paine may be said to have been the pioneer
American composer in achieving a significant transatlantic
recognition.

HENRY BICKFORD PASMORE

Henry Bickford Pasmore, teacher of singing, organist
and composer, was born at Jackson, Wisconsin, June 27,
1857. He early moved to San Francisco where he studied
organ with J. P. Morgan and singing with S. J. Morgan.
His more advanced studies were composition with Jadassohn
and Reinecke and singing with Frau Unger-Haupt in Leip-
zig, and then singing with Shakespeare and Cummings in
London. He was for some time an instructor in the Schar-
wenka Conservatory and Stern Conservatory of Berlin ; and,
since returning to America, he has taught in the University
of California at San Jose and at Stanford University of Palo
Alto.

Mr. Pasmore has been a prolific composer. His overture
to "Miles Standish"; tone poem, "Gloria California"; and
symphonic march, "Conclave"; a "Mass in B-flat" and
cantatas for soli, chorus and orchestra; are among his
larger works. His "Lo-ko-rah" is a serio-comic opera on a
Thibetan theme; and "Amor y Oro (Love and Gold)," with
its libretto by James Gaily, is on a California plot.

XXXVII

FRANK PATTERSON, WILLARD PATTON, CHRIS-
TIAN LOUIS PHILLIPUS, IONE PICKHARDT,
EDWARD C POTTER, SILAS G. PRATT

FRANK PATTERSON

After the premiere of Patterson's "The Echo," * J. L.
Wallace wrote in the Oregon Journal: "Let us not again say
that good music cannot be composed in America or by
Americans."

Franklin Peale Patterson, composer and musical journalist,
was born in Philadelphia, of a distinguished ancestry. His
grandfather was president of the University of Virginia ;
later, of the University of Pennsylvania, Director of the
United States Mint at Philadelphia, and one of the founders
of Musical Fund Hall, the Academy of Fine Arts, and the
Academy of Music of that city. His father was an amateur
musician of note, though a lawyer by profession. The
subject of this paragraph received his Christian names from
Franklin Peale, chief coiner of the Mint as well as son of
Rembrandt Peale, the eminent painter to whom we are in-
debted for portraits of so many of our nation's founders.

Mr. Patterson was educated at the University of Pennsyl-
vania. While there he had as teachers, Stahl and Schmidt
for violin, Fach for bassoon and Dr. Hugh A. Clarke for
harmony. Later he studied with Rheinberger and Thuille
at the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich. Returning to

355

356 AMERICAN OPERA

America, failing health took him to California, where he
organized the Pasadena Orchestra and Choral Society, lec-
tured, taught and wrote for newspapers, played viola in the
Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra and wrote its program
notes. He then joined the staff of the Musical Courier and
in different capacities served it successively at Paris, New
York, the Pacific Coast, Paris, and back to its New York
office.

During Mr. Patterson's last period of service in California,
in 1918, his one-act opera, "A Little Girl at Play (A
Tragedy of the Slums)/' with orchestra but no chorus,
had several performances by clubs of Los Angeles and San
Diego. It requires but three characters, and forty minutes
suffice for its interpretation. Besides this he has written
"The Forest Dwellers," in one act; "Through the Narrow
Gate," in three acts ; "Caprice," in three acts ; and "The
Echo," in one act. When submitted to the Metropolitan
Directorate, "A Little Girl at Play," a gruesome tragedy, was
returned because of its libretto.

Heard publicly for the first time, under the auspices of
the Biennial Convention of the National Federation of Music
Clubs, at the Auditorium of Portland, Oregon, on the eve-
ning of June 9, 1925, "The Echo" was to thousands of
persons from thirty-eight states the culminating achievement
of the meeting. If the Federation, which has done so much
for the encouragement of the American creative musician,
needed further evidence that success in operatic writing lies
within the ability of the native composer, then the quality
of the work heard and the nature of the reception accorded
it must have served this purpose rather conclusively.

The scdre was completed in 1917-1918, and the composer
was his own librettist. Its premiere was staged at an ex-
pense of twenty thousand dollars which had been subscribed
by the citizens of the Biennial city.

FRANK PATTERSON 357

The Portland Cast

Theudas Forrest Lamont

Acantha Marie Rappold

Yfel Marjorie Dodge

Cunnan Lawrence Tibbett

The Portland Symphony Orchestra, Chorus of selected

Portland singers, the Laidlaw-Oumansky Ballet

Conductor Walter Henry Rothwell

The scene is the interior of a great cave with an opening
at the left-back, through which is seen the sea shimmering in
the moonlight, with a boat on the shore. The only interior
light is the faint glow of a fire before which Acantha sleeps.

Acantha, having been cast upon this barren coast, faces almost
madness from the dreadful, surrounding silence, while still re-
sisting the seductions, of the cave's eerie inhabitants. She is
awakened by a voice from the sea calling for help. With a
rope from the boat she rescues Theudas; and there is the inevi-
table mutual emotional affinity. The elfin cave-people offer
tempting tributes to Theudas, in the form of a crown and treas-
ures; and in the preparations for the ensuing feast Cunnan and
Yfel seek to achieve their end through a draught of magic wine
which they promise will insure the delights of his wildest
dreams ; but as Theudas at last has it at his lips Acantha dashes
the goblet from his hand. Theudas quells the incipient tumult
by ordering that the feast proceed, which serves to introduce
much more logically than is usual in opera a Bacchanalian ballet.
Cunnan and Yfel resume their cunning, but Acantha breaks their
spell by pouring the contents of the magic cup on the cavern
floor and thus sending the evil spirits screaming to their haunts.
There is a long duet of fervid plighting, and the lovers push their
boat from the strand and pass from sight across the sunlit sea.
Thus there is the frequent Wagnerian denouement of "redemp-
tion through love."

The subject matter of the libretto has the weakness of
being not very theatrically gripping. Its allegorical character
dissipates the "human sympathy" element which is the chief

358 AMERICAN OPERA

medium for stirring the emotions of an audience. The
characters incline to the symbolical, as their names indicate :
Theudas, Greek for "a citizen of the world" ; Acantha, from
"acanthus/' a thorny plant, representing "not every woman,
but every wife the restraining influence" ; Yfel, from the
Anglo-Saxon and meaning "evil" ; and Cunnan, Anglo-Saxon
for cunning.

Musically it may be said that the style and workmanship
are modern, yet sanely so. The phrases are often grateful
to both voice and ear; and, when his spirit so moved, the
composer did not hesitate to write a tune which one might
be intrigued to whistle. Renamed "Beggar's Love,"* and
with an accompaniment for piano, violin and violincello, it was
performed in January, 1930, by the Matinee Musicale of
New York.

At the close of the premiere of "The Echo" Mr. Patterson
was to have received the David Bispham Memorial Medal
of the American Opera Society of Chicago and the "accom-
plishment award" medal of the National Federation of Music
Clubs; but, as sudden illness had prevented his attendance,
due announcement was made from the proscenium and these
tokens were forwarded to him at his New York home.
Mr. Patterson has completed another opera based on Herge-
sheimer's "Mountain Blood." Its overture has been heard
at Cleveland under Sokoloff and at Rochester under Hanson.

WILLARD PATTON

Willard Patton, singer and composer, was born at Milford,
Maine, May 26, 1853. Studying first with F. S. Davenport,
J. Whitney and W. W. Davis, his formal education was
finished under Achille Errani and Dudley Buck in New

CHRISTIAN LOUIS PHILLIPUS 359

York. After a successful career as tenor in oratorio and
concert, he settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as singer and
teacher. Among his compositions are several operettas ; the
oratorio "Isaiah" in 1897; two musical epics, "The Star of
Empire" in 1900 and "Foot-Stones of a Nation" in 1906.
"Pocahontas," a serious opera of the Indians and the forest,
was given a concert performance in Minneapolis, on January
4, 1911.

CHRISTIAN Louis PHILLIPUS

In the province of Gronigen of The Netherlands, with their
glorious musical past, was born, on July 13, 1887, to an
Italian-French father and a Dutch mother, Christian Louis
Phillipus. After an early education in the schools and Musi-
cal Conservatory of Gronigen, his studies were completed
with individual teachers of America, to which he had mi-
grated. His musical activities have been mostly in the way
of the concert violinist, instructor of the violin, composer
and arranger. He has created several hundred of songs and
instrumental compositions in the smaller forms. With these
he has written three symphonies, a string quartet in four
movements with accompaniment for full orchestra; and he
has written twenty books of history, fiction, philosophy and
kindred subjects.

Mr. Phillipus has finished two operas, of which he was his
own librettist, and he has outlines for another pair. "Notre
Dame," which is based on the famous novel of Victor Hugo,
was begun in January and completed in September of 1924.
"Richelieu," founded on the play of Lord Lytton, was begun
in June, 1925, and finished October 18 of 1926. Excerpts
from these have been highly praised.

360 AMERICAN OPERA

lONE PlCKHARDT

In the home of American-born parents of French, Irish,
and English extraction, at Hempstead, Long Island, was
born, on May 27, 1900, lone Pickhardt. At the age of twelve,
and largely through her skill in improvisation, she won a
scholarship in the National Conservatory of Music in New
York, which she held for eight years and by which she studied
mostly with Adele Margulies and Rafael Joseffy. A debut
with the Philharmonic Orchestra of New York, in the
Beethoven "Piano Concerto in C" with the Reinecke ca-
denzas, began a concert career cut short by family objections.
Then studies with Henry T. Finck led to a post as assistant
critic on the New York Evening Mail. It was at this period
that she turned seriously to composition, and of her more im-
portant works are a "Concerto in E minor" and another in
D major, for piano.

A grand opera, "Moira," in three acts was begun in July,
1929, and finished in May, 1930. Its libretto, by George
Gibbs, Jr., is a dramatization of Irish legends, superstitions
and mysticism. It was promised early production by the now
indefinitely quiescent Philadelphia Grand Opera Company.

EDWARD C. POTTER

Edward C. Potter, born in Chicago, January 5, 1860,
spent the first thirty years of his life mostly in busi-
ness, with a deep amateur interest in music. For twenty
years he missed scarcely a concert of the Chicago Orchestra.
As a schoolboy he had violin lessons for several years; but
it was only after deserting business that he had serious theo-
retical training from Frederick Grant Gleason.

SILAS G. PRATT 361

His compositions have been mostly for orchestra. These
include a symphonic poem, "The Hairy Ape," after the
play by Eugene O'Neill, a "Symphony in C Minor/' and a
group of "Montana Scenes," depicting the beauties and
atmosphere of that picturesque state. Mr. Potter has written
a grand opera in three acts, "Ishtar," with a libretto derived
from the novel, "Ishtar of Babylon," a story of the profana-
tion of the Temple of Ishtar by Belshazzar and of Daniel's
liberation of the Jewish people, by Margaret Horton Potter,
a sister of the composer. The story has fine operatic pos-
sibilities ; and critics have pronounced the musical score to be
of very great worth.

SILAS G. PRATT

Silas Gamaliel Pratt was born at Addison, Vermont, on
August 4, 1846. Moving to Chicago when quite young, he
early became a clerk in a music store and began training
himself in music. Later he studied with Chicago teachers
till in 1868 he went to Berlin, where for three years he had
piano instruction from Bendel and Kullak and theory and
composition from Wiierst and Kiel. While there an injury
of his wrists caused by overpractice curbed his pianistic am-
bitions, and, as with Schumann, turned his enthusiasm to
composition ; and from this Berlin period date his orchestral
"Magdalene's Lament" and his lyric opera "Antonio."

He returned to Chicago in 1871, became organist of the
Church of the Messiah, and in 1872 organized the still famous
Apollo Club. He was again in Germany in 1875, studying
the piano with Liszt and score-reading with Dorn. His
Centennial Overture (sometimes called Anniversary Over-
ture) was performed under his own baton, in Berlin, July 4,
1876, and won a signal success.

362 AMERICAN OPERA

On his way back to America, Mr. Pratt stopped in Lon-
don. It so happened that General Grant was at that time
a visitor in the city and that a grand demonstration was
being planned at the Crystal Palace. As the composer's
Centennial Overture was dedicated to the popular war hero,
it was a very acceptable number to the management of the
occasion; and this, with the Homage to Chicago March,
which was afterwards performed at the Alexandra Palace,
under the composer's baton, won many words of approbation.

In 1877 Mr. Pratt returned to Chicago where he gave
symphony concerts in the following year. "Zenobia, Queen
of Palmyra," an opera in four acts (the last act being so
divided that the work has been sometimes described as of
five acts), of which Mr. Pratt was his own librettist, was first
produced, in concert form, at the historic Central Music
Hall of Chicago, on June 15 and 16, 1882. This was fol-
lowed by a complete performance, in operatic form, at Mc-
Vicker's Theater, Chicago, on March 26, 1883; and on
August 21st of the same year it had its first New York pro-
duction at the Twenty-Third Street Theater. Its story is
similar to that of Mr. Coerne's opera of the same name.

Mr. Pratt's enthusiastic nature was now attracted to the
cause of American Opera. He planned an organization whose
chief aim was to be the encouragement of native talent and
the production of native works. With this in mind, he
organized the Grand Opera Festival of 1884, and the result
was that the community had opera on a scale hitherto
unknown.

Another visit to London resulted, aside from several con-
certs of his smaller compositions, in the production at the
Crystal Palace, on October 5, 1885, of his "Prodigal Son"
Symphony and selections from "Zenobia." On his return

SILAS G. PRATT 363

to Chicago his former "Antonio" was rewritten, rechristened
" Lucille," and produced at the Columbia Theater, in March,
1887, when it ran for three weeks. His residence was
changed in 1888 to New York, where in 1892 his five-act
opera, 'The Triumph of Columbus," was produced in con-
cert form. Because of its limitations in theatricality, this
work probably would have been more aptly called a dramatic
cantata. His opera, "Ollanta," of which he was also librettist,
never came to public performance.

Mr. Pratt had a strong bent toward "scenic" or program
music, and in this line he produced several large orchestral
works, among which were the "Lincoln" Symphony and the
symphonic poems, "Sandalphon" and "The Tragedy of the
Deep," the latter inspired by the fatal sinking of the Titanic
in 1912. Of a number of larger cantatas for solo, chorus
and orchestra, most of them were strongly dramatic, and
of these "The Last Inca" has been perhaps best received.
In 1906 Mr. Pratt established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
the Pratt Institute of Music and Art, of which he was di-
rector till his death on October 30, 1916,

XXXVIII

G. ALDO RANDEGGER, JOSEPH D. REDDING,
BERNARD ROGERS, CARL RUGGLES, CON-
STANCE FAUNT LE ROY RUNCIE

G. ALDO RANDEGGER

Giuseppe Aklo Randegger, composer, pianist and teacher,
was l)orn at Naples, Italy, February 17, 1874, the son of a
noted singer and the grandson and namesake of the re-
nowned educator and philosopher who founded Rava College
of Venice. Because of his musical gifts he was sent at thir-
teen to the Royal Conservatory of Naples, where at fifteen
he won a free scholarship over fifty-eight competitors, and
where he had as instructors such celebrities as Simonetti,
Bossi, D'Arienzo, van Westerhout and De Nardis. At
nineteen he graduated with the highest record and honors in
the history of the conservatory, receiving the degree of
Master of Music, as well as special diplomas in pianoforte
and organ.

Mr. Randegger wrote and published his first composition
at the age of fourteen, and from that time musical writings
flowed steadily from his fecund fancy. In the year of his
graduation he migrated to America, locating at once in
Atlanta, Georgia, where he soon was a leader in matters
musical. He concertized in the United States and Canada
and then went to spend a year in England and two years in
Italy. Returned to America, he became a naturalized citizen
and soon settled in New York where he has been for years

364

G. ALDO RANDECGER 000

active as teacher, composer, lecturer, and advocate of the
American composer and of opera in English. He also
founded the Societa per la Musica Italiana (Society for
Italian Music) for acquainting America with the hotter
Italian Chamber Music.

His compositions have been played at the Metropolitan
Opera House, the Stadium (New York), and hy the Boston
Symphony Orchestra; and his songs and piano pieces have
heen widely used. Critics have said of his music that it is a
remarkable blending of German modernity with the tradi-
tional natural melodiousness of the Italian, yet always has
clear, evident and significant individuality.

Of these qualities just named is the musical message of
his opera, "The Promise of Medea." Its plot is a clever
adjustment of the legends of Medea, Undine and Mclusine
another serious opera founded on Greek mythology.

Four solo characters are required, and the opera belongs
to that small group of works for the stage which give the
leading part to a contralto. The principal rc A >les arc : Medea,
a beautiful young Greek sorceress; Hecate, the more mature
Goddess of the Underworld; Acson, the deposed King of
Thessaly; and Jason, son of the King and hero of the
Argonauts.

The libretto is by Henriette Brinker-Randeggcr, poet,
singer, and wife of the composer. With a fantastic and
classic background, through a series of contrasted situations
and moods it unfolds the fate of Medea, which evolves from
the Olympian decree that a sorceress who practices her arts
for the sake of a man's love is destined to lose it.

The score, upon which the composer worked intermittently
for five years, is in the best Italian vein. Mr. Giorgio
Polacco said of this opera that it is "a most noble work" and

366 AMERICAN OPERA

"has, besides, the merits of constituting a veritable spectacle
in a very short time."

JOSEPH D. REDDING

Joseph Deighn Redding, lawyer, author, and enthusiastic
music lover and student, was born at Sacramento, California,
September 13, 1859. He was graduated from the California
Military Academy in 1874 and attended the Harvard Law
School in 1877-1879. He entered law practice in San
Francisco in 1882, has been a leading railway and corpora-
tion lawyer, one of the city's patrons of all culture, a lecturer
on art and drama, and a speaker and writer of considerable
note. With these he has been a rather prolific composer,
and many of his songs, quartets and piano compositions have
been published. He wrote, for 1902, the first of the
Bohemian Grove-Plays which have revived the Greek form
of drama in California. He was the librettist of "Natoma,"
the first really successful American opera. Again in 1912
he wrote the Grove-Play, "The Atonement of Pan," in
which David Bispham interpreted the leading role.

The Grove-Play for 1917 was "The Land of Happiness,"
with its libretto by Charles Templeton Crocker and the
musical score by Mr. Redding. This was produced under
the baton of the composer and created so favorable an im-
pression that the authors were urged to rewrite it into a
grand opera, which resulted in the creation of their "Fay-
Yen-Fah."* This work had its world premiere at the Monte
Carlo Opera House, on February 26, 1925, with Fanny Heldy
of the Paris Opera in the title role, thus becoming the first
American opera to be produced in France. It was well
received, and was repeated four times during that season,
with people turned away from each of the five performances.

JOSEPH D. REDDING 367

Then on January 11, 1926, it had its first American per-
formance, by the San Francisco Grand Opera Company, at
the Columbia Theater (the famous Tivoli Opera House
of other years), with Lucy Bertrand, who succeeded Mile.
Heldy for the later Monte Carlo performances, and MM.
Maison and Warnery imported for their original roles.
Though the opera was written to an English libretto, out
of deference to the visiting artists this and the three fol-
lowing performances were presented in the French transla-
tion made for Monte Carlo.

The San Francisco Cast

Fay-V 'en-Fdli Lucy Bertrand

Shiunin Rene Maison

Wang Lou Giovanni Martino

Tin Lot Edmond Warnery

Hou Joseph Schwarz

Conductor Gaetano Merola

Though the story, characters and scene are Chinese, the
theme is the humanity-old one of love triumphant over the
powers of darkness. Its most interesting episodes are in-
duced by mythical beings of a remote, legendary period of
Chinese civilization.

The Prologue. A Forest Clearing, showing the Temple of
Hou, the Fox-God, lord of unhappiness. Hou tells how, for
offending the Supreme Being, he is condemned to an hundred
years in his earth temple, with a day of freedom should anyone
question his power. Hsi-Wang-Mou, the goddess of happiness,
is guardian of the sacred peach tree of which the blossoms fall-
ing upon mortals make them immortal. One of these trees is
within the shadow of the Fox-God's temple; but it is dead and
has never borne fruit. Hou prays for an unbeliever to come
and thus free him for a single day.

368 AMERICAN OPERA

Act I. The same scene. Shiunin, a noble youth returned from
foreign travels, is greeted by fellow-students, when the Viceroy
enters followed by his daughter, Fay-Yen-Fah, coming to make
her first vows to the Fox-God. Shiunin and Fay-Yen-Fah re-
new their affections, but she recalls her father's warning against
being happy near the Fox-God's temple. Impatient and incred-
ulous, Shiunin defies the Fox-God, at which a supernatural
storm breaks and at its height Hou's day of freedom begins.

Act II, Scene I. The Boudoir of Fay-Yen-Fah, who is pre-
paring for the feast of the Birthday of One Hundred Flowers,
while Shiunin again declares his love.

Act II, Scene II. Garden of the Viceroy. At the feast of
the Birthday of One Hundred Flowers, Fay-Yen-Fah finishes
the "Lily Dance" as Shiunin is brought in a prisoner. She
pleads for and secures his pardon; but their short happiness is
soon broken by the arrival of an Envoy with a message from
the Emperor stating that Fay-Yen-Fah is to come to court as the
bride of the Envoy. Shiunin's protests are silenced and he is
driven out for his audacity. The Envoy invokes the Poppies
and they begin a mystic dance around Fay-Yen-Fah. He em-
braces her; she falls dead at his feet; he reveals himself as the
Fox-God, and, howling in derision, returns to his temple.

Act III. The Temple of Hon. Shiunin enters and in the
words, "What is thy power but ignorance of craven fools?"
he denies the puissance of the Fox-God and sets fire to the
temple. A mysterious glow enfolds the peach tree, which is now
seen in full bloom. The spirit of Fay-Yen-Fah appears among
the falling blossoms; the light about the tree gradually envelops
the scene; and the reunited lovers disappear among the falling
blossoms, as all sing of the fall of the Fox-God and the reign
of Happiness in Cathay.

"Fay-Yen-Fah" is a romantic music drama with no
formal arias and no ballet "scenes," each song or dance
fitting as an item in the complete musical mosaic. At times
there is use of authentic Chinese themes, and at others an
unmistakable Chinese atmosphere is created. As in the old
Greek dramas, the chorus foretells or relates events; and

BERNARD ROGERS 369

its music is in unison, a la Chinois, excepting the closing
number which is in four parts. The duet of Fay-Yen-FaJi
and Shiunin, and Shinnin's Serenade are the numbers best
suited to program use. After the Monte Carlo premiere
Jean de Reszke remarked, "Redding and Crocker have ren-
dered an incalculable service to American music."

BERNARD ROGERS

On February 4th, of 1893, was born in New York City a
child to be Bernard Rogers. With his public school course
completed, he was for four years a pupil of Ernest Bloch, then
of the Institute of Musical Art of New York, and afterwards
for several years with Frank Bridge and Nadia Boulanger
in Europe. With his return to America he became in 1926
an instructor in the Hartt School of Music in Hartford,
Connecticut; and since 1929 he has taught in the Eastman
School of Music at Rochester, New York.

A Soliliquy for Flute and Strings was brought out in 1926 ;
and a choral work, "The Raising of Lazarus," appeared in
1929. Mr. Rogers was awarded the Pulitzer Traveling
Scholarship for 1921-22; the Seligman Prize for Composi-
tion at the Institute of Musical Art in 1923 ; and he had the
advantage of the Guggenheim Fellowship for 1927-29. His
compositions have been played by the New York Philhar-
monic Orchestra, the New York Symphony Orchestra, the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic
Orchestra, the League of Composers, the Philadelphia Sim-
fonietta, and other organizations.

"The Marriage of Aude" is a lyric drama in three scenes,
with the libretto by Charles Rodda, an Australian author for
some time in Rochester. It was composed in Rochester in

370 AMERICAN OPERA

1930 and was performed on May 22, 1931, in a Festival of
American Music at the Eastman School of Music, with the
assistance of the Rochester Civic Orchestra with Emanuel
Balaban conducting. It is based on the classic "Song of Ro-
land" of the Charlemagne period.

Scene I. A Hall in Charlemagne's Palace. Ganelon is brought
before The King to be accused of his treachery in betraying the
rear guard of their army to the Saracens. Aude, the betrothed of
Roland, comes seeking news of her lover. Overcome by the loss
of his knights, The King orders the Duke Naimcs to break the
news to Aude.

Scene II. As Naimcs speaks, a vision of the struggle in the
Pass of Roncevaux ends with the wounding of Roland and his
fall with the battle-cry of "Monjoie" on his lips.

Scene III. The Palace again. Duke Naimes tells Aude how
Charlemagne has taken his revenge, while she grieves for the
fallen Oliver, not knowing her lover is lost too. A Knight enters
bearing Roland's sword on a robe of mourning. With realization
of the full tragedy forced upon her, Aude takes the sword, sings
its triumphs, raises it above her head, the ghostly horn of Roland
sounds a pleading note, the sword that the stones of Roncevaux
could not break is shattered in the air; and Aude reels and falls
dead.

The vocal score is mainly in recitative, difficult to sing ; the
orchestration is complex; and the music is continuous
throughout the hour and a half of performance.

CARL RUGGLES

Carl Ruggles, composer, conductor and teacher, was born
March 11, 1876, at Marion, Massachusetts. He took special
studies at Harvard while he had music with Christian Tim-
ner, Joseph B. Claus, Walter R. Spalding and Alfred de
Veto. He founded the Winona (Minnesota) Symphony

CONSTANCE FAUNT LE ROY RUNCIK 371

Orchestra, of which he was for five years the conductor, and
also has conducted opera and oratorio. As a composer he
is best known by his songs. His opera, "The Sunken Bell,"
was written to the libretto of Charles Henry Meltzer, trans-
lated and adapted from the German work of that name by
Gerhart Hauptmann. Of late years he has been writing in
an extremely modernistic, if not futuristic, style.

CONSTANCE FAUNT LE ROY RUNCIE

Constance Faunt le Roy, who was to become America's
first woman to receive wide recognition as a serious com-
poser, was born in Indianapolis in 1836. Her father, Robert
Henry Faunt le Roy, was of old eastern Virginia stock;
while her mother was of Scottish birth and London educa-
tion. The mother was a skilled player of the piano and harp
and with this was a woman of broad literary and artistic
training.

Miss Faunt le Roy's inherited gifts were cultivated by
six years of study under the best masters of Germany, and
through this she developed decided ability in composition.
On returning to her home at New Harmony, Indiana, she
married, on March 9, 1861, the Rev. James Runcie; and
her songs, of which she wrote also the lyrics, were soon in
the repertoires of the best singers in those decades following
the War of the States. Composer-readers will be interested
to know that she left a memorandum that none of her musi-
cal manuscripts ever had been returned from a publisher.
Also there is authentic record that a romantic opera, 'The
Prince of Asturias," by Mrs. Runcie, was at one time con-
sidered for production by a prominent eastern manager.

XXXIX

KARL SCHMIDT, HENRY SCHOENEFELD,

CONRAD BRYANT SCHAEFER, WILLIAM

SCHROEDER, BUREN SCHRYOCK, JOHN

LAURENCE SEYMOUR

KARL SCHMIDT

At Schwerin, in Mecklenburg, Germany, was born on Sep-
tember 24, 1864, a son to August Schmidt, concertmaster at
the Grand Ducal Theater ; and this son was to be named Karl.
With high school work finished and already a thorough musi-
cal foundation laid by his father and Dr. Otto Kade, Karl
(against paternal advice) entered the Conservatory of Leip-
zig, to study the piano with Paul Klengel and Carl Reinecke,
violoncello with Julius Klengel, and counterpoint, fugue and
composition under Wilhelm Rust and Salomon Jadassohn.

In his last year at the Conservatory he became a violon-
cellist in the Gewanclhaus Orchestra and a substitute at the
Municipal Theater, and in 1885 he followed Victor Herbert
as solo 'cellist in the Johann Strauss Orchestra at Vienna.
Seasons at Zurich and Berlin led to a call, in 1889, to a posi-
tion in the College of Music at Toronto, Canada ; which was
followed by engagements as conductor of the Emma Juch
Opera Company, with the Anton Seidl Orchestra of New
York, as teacher in the Frese-Burck Music School of Louis-
ville, Kentucky, two years (1906-1908) as conductor of the
Henry W. Savage Opera Company, and then a return to

372

HENRY SCHOENEFELD 373

Louisville. On October 6, 1906, Mr. Schmidt became a
naturalized citizen of the United States.

For his grand opera, "The Lady of the Lake/'* the com-
poser received on October 30, 1930, the Bispham Memorial
Medal of the American Opera Society of Chicago. The score,
in a prologue, overture and three acts, is characteristically
rich in melody and harmony, each with a modern tang added
to its classic clarity. The libretto, by Wallace Taylor Hughes,
is based on the famous poem of Sir Walter Scott. The story,
along with the overture, leading solos and soloist ensembles,
were given on December 6, 1931, by the American Opera
Society of Chicago at the Fortnightly Club.

HENRY SCHOENEFELD

Henry Schoenefeld, composer and conductor, was born at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 4, 1857, the son of Fried-
erich Schoenefeld, a 'cellist of some reputation, and Sophia
(Saltzmann) Schoenefeld. He first studied music with his
father and with his brother, Theodor, a pupil of Joachim. At
sixteen he became a member of the Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra. Then, in 1875, he entered the Leipzig Con-
servatory where, till in 1878, he had piano instruction from
Coccius and Papperitz, violin from Hermann, theory from
Richter, composition and instrumentation from Reinecke, and
conducting from Schradieck. The season of 1878-1879 he
spent in the study of composition, with Lassen at Weimar.

After touring Northern Germany as a pianist, Mr.
Schoenefeld took up residence in Chicago, where he was
active as a teacher, conductor and composer from 1879 to
1902. Los Angeles became his home in 1904, where, be-
ginning in 1911, he was conspicuously successful as con-
ductor of the Germania Turnverein. In the first Pacific

374 AMERICAN OPERA

Sangerfest (of which Mr. Schoenefeld was the conductor),
at Los Angeles in 1915, this organization won both the
Kaiser-trophies (Silver Cups given by the emperors of Ger-
many and Austria), and it has won four other first prizes.

Henry Schoenefeld was one of the first American com-
posers to use Indian themes in their works. He won, with
his "Rural Symphony," in 1892, the Five Hundred Dollar
Prize offered by the National Conservatory of New York,
receiving his award from the hand of Antonin Dvorak. He
won also another prize offered by the National Conservatory,
with his "Jubilate Mass." The prize offered in 1898, by
Henri Marteau in Paris, for a sonata for violin and piano
by an American composer, also fell to Mr. Schoenefeld.
Again, the prize furnished by Mme. Lillian Nordica for a
song by an American composer was awarded, from Philadel-
phia, for his "Song of Love."

His "Atala" is a grand opera on an Indian subject. The
libretto is an adaptation by Bernard McConville, of the his-
toric masterpiece, "Atala; or, The Love of Two Savages,"
by Rene Chateaubriand, that was written from impressions,
imagery and data which that young explorer and literary
genius garnered while exiled from France and living among
our Indians still in the then imperial wilds stretching from
the Great Lakes to the lower Mississippi and Florida.

In form the work is a music drama in three acts. The
locality is The Floridas; and the time is "The Month of the
Indian Flower-Moon," in the era when "The Noble Red
Man" ruled a boundless empire, himself unsullied by the
unwelcome evils of an exotic civilization.

Love has been born in the heart of Atala (daughter of Sima-
ghan, a Seminole chieftain) for Chactas, a warrior-prisoner
about to be burned at the stake. She begs, as her right, to have

CONRAD BRYANT SCHAEFER 375

him as a slave, thus hoping to save him both from his fate and
for herself. All her pleadings having been in vain, Jonkeska
is about to light the fagots under the victim when Atala seizes
Simaghan's lance and strikes the Medicine Man dead, drives back
the threatening warriors, and declares her love for Chactas.
Chactas entreats Atala to follow him to the wilderness. Having
consecrated her life at the Mission, Atala had promised her
mother that her troth should be given only to one of her own
faith ; and Chactas still worships in the manner of the Red Man.
While he hunts in the forest, The Spirit of Atala's Mother ap-
pears to her ! so that on his return Atala tells him that she must
remain true to her vow, and confesses that because she may not
be his she has taken poison. In the meantime he has met The
Priest in the wood and has been converted; but, unblessed by a
tardy mercy, Atala dies in her warrior-lover's arms.

The instrumental score is modern and requires a large
orchestra, an organ, and large bells on the stage. An Indian
idiom threads throughout the opera: the themes are of the
composer's fancy, but in the Indian mode. When the piano
score was played for staff members of the New York Metro-
politan, it created a favorable impression ; and when in 1924
Mr. Oscar Saenger was seeking a work for production in
English, he declared " Atala" to be, musically and dramati-
cally, the best of all offered ; though his resources made it
possible for him to accept but a one-act opera. The spirit
of religion and sacrifice pervading the piece makes it, like
"Parsifal," capable of sacred performance.

CONRAD BRYANT SCHAEFER

Conrad Bryant Schaefer has written a grand opera in
three acts, "Bridge of Stars ; or, The Impressment," with full
vocal and orchestral score. It deals with the first century

376 AMERICAN OPERA

Christians on the North Sea coasts and their colonization of
America. It might be called a "research opera/' with educa-
tional and political value, and consequently suitable for pro-
duction by educational institutions.

WILLIAM SCHROEDER

William Schroeder, of New York, has written an opera,
"Atala," to the libretto of Rida Johnson Young, the well-
known playwright and novelist.

BUREN SCHRYOCK

This American musician of German descent was born
December 13, 1881, at Sheldon, Iowa, with a Civil War
veteran as his father. At eight years of age he began music
study, and at twelve he was organist of the Seventh Day Ad-
ventist Church of Salem, Oregon, his parents having moved
to West Salem when he was seven. In 1898 he entered Battle
Creek (Michigan) College for three years of study of piano,
organ, voice and harmony. In the scholastic year 1903-4 he
studied and taught in the Landon Conservatory of Dallas,
Texas; from 1904 to 1908 he was director of the Music
School of Union College, near Lincoln, Nebraska ; from 1908
till 1913 he led the Riverside Symphony Orchestra of River-
side, California; from 1913 till 1918 he was conductor of the
San Diego Symphony Orchestra and the San Diego Choral
Society; and since 1918 his time has been given to teaching
and to the production of French and Italian opera.

By the production of more than thirty standard operas he
has had the routine to develop "theater" in his blood, with
the result that he has completed an opera, "Flavia," in four

JOHN LAURENCE SEYMOUR 377

acts. Its story is based on the love of a royal princess and a
shepherd slave who lose their lives in the Christian persecu-
tions of the cruel Domitian. "Guatemozin," nephew of
Montezuma of the Aztecs, is the title role of an opera
lately begun.

JOHN LAURENCE SEYMOUR

John Laurence Seymour, California composer, has to his
credit several works for the musical stage. As a child he
studied with Los Angeles teachers ; but in advanced composi-
tion and orchestration he is self-taught, except for critical
conferences with such masters as Vincent d'Indy, Ildebrando
Pizzetti, Riccardo Zandonai, Henri BiKser and Max von
Schillings. Of his works Pizzetti said that they have "a
remarkable feeling for the theater."

"The Devil and Tom Walker" is an opera in three acts,
written in 1926, to a libretto by H. C. Tracy, which is an
adaptation of the story with the same name, by Washington
Irving a tale of weird life in the Boston vicinity, of about
1728.

"The Snake Woman" is a grand opera in five acts, to
a libretto by Conrad. "Antigone," an heroic opera with a
Prologue and three acts, was finished in 1920. Its libretto
is an adaptation of the classic tragedy by Sophocles, its action
taking place before the royal palace of Thebes.

Two later operas are "In the Pasha's Garden," and "The
Protegee of the Mistress" in four acts ; on a tale by Ostrovov-
sky. An opera comique in one act, "The Affected Maids,"
written in 1920, is an adaptation of Moliere's play, "Les
Precieuses Ridicules." "In the Pasha's Garden," in one act,
with its libretto by Henry Chester Tracy, and based on a tale
by Harrison Griswold Dwight, is announced for the 1934-
1935 repertoire of the Metropolitan Opera Company.

XL

HARRY ROWE SHELLEY, CHARLES SANFORD

SKILTON, WALTER L. SLATER, DAVID

STANLEY SMITH, EDWARD DE

SOBOLEWSKI, TIMOTHY

MATHER SPELMAN

HARRY ROWE SHELLEY

Harry Rowe Shelley, one of the best melodists which
America has produced, was born at New Haven, Connecticut,
June 8, 1858. He is American by both ancestry and educa-
tion, having received the latter by long years of study with
Gustav J. Stoeckel of Yale, and with Dudley Buck, Vogrich
and Dvorak in New York. He has been one of our most
successful organists and has made a large contribution to
the improvement of church music in America, as both
organist and composer.

Mr. Shelley's published compositions cover almost every
form of church music, and in large numbers. One of the
chief charms of his compositions is that they remain very
familiar with "the scale of whole tones and half tones." In
the larger forms he has written two symphonies, of which the
one in E-flat was performed in New York in 1897. His
Concerto for the Violin was performed in 1891. Of three
large cantatas, "Vexilla Regis" was performed in 1894 and
"Lockinvar's Ride" in 1915, both in New York. "Death
and Life," a sacred cantata, has been used from coast to
coast.

378

CHARLES SANFORD SKILTON 379

Mr. Shelley has three lyric music dramas to his credit :
"Leila" in three acts; "Romeo and Juliet"*; and "Lotus
San" ; for all of which he used the same musical gamut that
served as medium for Beethoven and Wagner. None has yet
had public performance.

CHARLES SANFORD SKILTON

Charles Sanford Skilton, widely known as composer and
organist, was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, August
16, 1868. Descended, on both sides, from fighters in the
Revolution and French and Indian War, he is one of our
most distinctively American composers. His higher training
in music was received from Dudley Buck and Harry Rowe
Shelley of New York and from Bargiel and Boise of Berlin.
His two "Indian Dances" have appeared repeatedly upon
the programs of leading orchestras of America and Europe.
Mr. Skilton has a peculiar faculty for catching the Indian
spirit and incorporating it into music which is above mere
imitation.

"The Sun Bride," a one-act opera based on Indian legends
and with Indian melodies introduced into its musical score,
was heard through the radio, on April 17, 1930, with Ccsare
Sodero conducting.

His serious opera, "Kalopin," is based on a story of the
American Indians. Parts of compositions, which already
have attracted attention for their sincere Indian characteris-
tics, are incorporated in the score. For this opera he re-
ceived, on October 30, 1930, the David Bispham Memorial
Medal of the American Opera Society of Chicago.

380 AMERICAN OPERA

WALTER L. SLATER

Walter Lionel Slater, violinist and composer, was born in
Chicago, Illinois, October 12, 1880. His father, a zitherist
and lover of music, had been born in Prussia and emigrated
to America at eighteen, while his mother was Viennese. He
began the study of the violin at nine years of age and later
had such eminent teachers as S. E. Jacobson, Josef Ohlheiser
and Josef Vilim, with harmony and counterpoint under
Victor Everham and Signer G. Tomasi. His first composi-
tion was a waltz, "Sparkling Eyes/' written and published
in 1895.

Of orchestral works, Mr. Slater's Scherzo for Grand Or-
chestra was performed by the New Haven Symphony Orches-
tra under Horatio Parker; while his "Piccolo Pic," written
in January, 1922, has been featured for four seasons by the
Sousa Band. Other compositions for orchestra are : a Taran-
telle for Grand Orchestra, an "Indian" number (used by
Hugo Reisenfeld), Serenade Erotique, and two other pub-
lished characteristic pieces, "Rubenesque" (October, 1924),
and "Skipper of Toonerville" (March 20, 1925).

"Jael," a one-act opera to the libretto of Florence Kiper
Frank, was written in 1916 for the Hinshaw Competition.
The story is biblical in origin and employs four characters :
Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite (dramatic soprano) ; Abigale,
handmaiden of Jael (contralto) ; Sisera, Captain of the Host
of King Jabin; Heber the Kenite (tenor) ; and a small ballet.

DAVID STANLEY SMITH

David Stanley Smith, college professor, conductor and
composer, was born at Toledo, Ohio, July 6, 1877, of New

DAVID STANLEY SMITH 381

England ancestry. He comes of a musical family ; his father,
William H. H. Smith, having been an organist and composer
of church music; his mother, Julia Welles (Griswold) Smith,
was a choir singer; his brother, William Griswold Smith,
of the faculty of Northwestern University, is a tenor and
choir director; and another brother is a singer, as was his
deceased sister. He began the study of piano at six years
of age and shortly after that was working at the organ.
He studied harmony and composition with Toledo teachers
and wrote his first song, She Walks in Beauty, to Byron's
verses, in September, 1893. In 1895 he entered Yale, where
he studied composition under Horatio Parker and received
his B.A. degree in 1900. He later had two years of foreign
study, and became instructor in theory of music at Yale in
1903, assistant professor in 1909, professor in 1916, and
dean of the School of Music in 1920. In the meantime he
had become, in 1917, the conductor of the Horatio Parker
Choir of New Haven; had received, in 1918, from North-
western University the honorary degree of Doctor of Music ;
and in 1919 had become conductor of the New Haven Sym-
phony Orchestra.

Professor Smith's symphonic, chamber and church music
has been performed in many cities; his "Prince Hal" over-
ture has been on the programs of many orchestras; the
"Rhapsody of Saint Bernard," for chorus and orchestra,
was produced at the North Shore Festival in 1918; his
Quartet in C, Op. 46, was on the program of the 1921 Berk-
shire Chamber Music Festival ; besides which he has a long
list of compositions in both the larger and smaller forms.

"Merrymount" is an opera on Colonial life, written in
1912-1913, to the libretto of Lee Wilson Dodd, poet and
dramatist. Its historical background is derived from the

382 AMERICAN OPERA

settlement of Merrymount, near Plymouth, Massachusetts,
and is based on the conflict between the Puritan and the non-
Puritan.

Alain de Rousie, of the roistering settlement of Merrymount,
and Rachel Palfrey, daughter of the stern governor of the
neighboring Puritan Plymouth, are in love. His being of Merry-
mount, and a Frenchman at that, brings Rachel's lover under the
displeasure of her father, with the result that they flee to
Merrymount where they are hospitably received by the genial
Sir Thomas Morton, until through the superstitious fear
aroused by the curses of the witch Goody Price and the jealousy
of Rachel's Puritan lover, they are treated roughly and bound to
a Maypole. In Act II the lovers are freed by a Merrymount
woman, only to fall into the hands of the Governor of Plymouth
who with a band of men has set out to destroy the blasphemous
colony of Merrymount. The offending Alain, in spite of his
escapade with Rachel, is allowed to live, but is banished to his
native France ; and the opera ends with the tragic parting of the
lovers, each trying "to keep a stiff upper lip."

Which but shows that American history and traditions can
furnish every essential of a good opera plot, and that without
turning the stage into a slaughter-pen.

EDWARD DE SOBOLEWSKI

Milwaukee, with its singing pioneers of German origin,
had an American opera premiere as early as 1859. Sobolew
de Sobolewski (translated into Eduard Sobolewski and Ed-
ward de Sobolewski) had been born in Konigsberg on Octo-
ber 1, 1808, of an ancient noble Polish family; and had been
a pupil of Weber in Dresden, and a Kapellmeister in
Konigsberg and Bremen till 1859. At Konigsberg had been
produced his operas, "Imogen" in 1833, "Velleda" in 1836,

EDWARD DE SOBOLEWSKI 383

"Salvator Rosa" in 1848; and "Comola (Komala)," his most
successful one, was mentioned favorably by Schumann, and
so particularly pleased Liszt that it was produced under his
direction at Weimar in 1858. Also he had written three ora-
torios, two symphonies, two symphonic poems, several can-
tatas with orchestra, and in 1858 brought out his pamphlet,
"Opera, Not Drama," in answer to theories propounded by
Wagner in his "Opera and Drama."

Early in 1859 he came to the United States and went di-
rectly to Milwaukee, "The German Athens," which had made
some name as a musical center, because of its German singing
societies. Though a pupil of Carl Maria von Weber, he had
flung himself, body and soul, into the ranks of those who
bore the banner of Wagner and the "Music of the Future";
and he was probably the first composer with a first-rate Euro-
pean reputation to cast his lot with America.

Fired with the fancy that he should be the pioneer spirit of
a new national norm of musical art, this bold, energetic, virile
champion, lured by the musical nimbus that hovered over this
western settlement, threw himself into an exploration of the
romantic early history of our new Republic and became so
inspired by incidents of heroic patriotism, and by the legends
of Indian life, that he chose from them an episode about
which to build the story of an opera. Then for months his
restive genius wrought night and day till was finished the
only opera he was to compose in his adopted country. Thus
was born our first opera founded on a story of the War of
Independence. The grandfather of Sobolewski had fought
under Pulaski, had left an account of this romantico-dramatic
incident, and this the composer used as the germ of his li-
bretto. The hero of the plot was the Polish officer Pulaski

384 AMERICAN OPERA

who was killed in the siege of Savannah ; the heroine, an In-
dian girl who, in love with the brave Pulaski, endeavored to
save him and at the same time met her death.

The program of the production of this work bore the
following heading which is translated from the German, the
language of the society sponsoring the event.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
American National Opera
Tuesday, October 11, 1859

in

Albany Hall

Under Direction of the Composer
Sobolew de Sobolewski

"MOHEGA"

The Flower of the Forest

Great Dramatic Opera in Three Acts

A feature recorded especially of the performance was
the singing and acting of the mixed chorus (Musik-Verein
von Milwaukee) numbering more than a hundred voices and
personating the white soldiers under their commander and
the opposing Indians under their chief. Every individual
had been trained to portray the intentions of the author
and composer. The principal roles and singers were: the
English Colonel interpreted by William H. Jacobs, a banker-
tenor with real skill in both singing and acting ; Mohega, tlie
Flower of the Forest, by the composer's talented daughter,
Malvina Sobolewski; and the Indian Chief, by Emil Ney-
mann, a six-foot baritone, who presented a noble type of
Indian.

The performance! created a deal of enthusiasm. But,
having come to this country as an avowed prophet of the
new school of music of which Wagner was the High Priest,

TIMOTHY MXTIIKR S1T.LMAN 385

Sobolewski's "Mohega" was zealously received by the ad-
herents of that cause and at the same time affronted the
many devotees of the classics as represented by Handel,
Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and thus started a musical
war in colonial Milwaukee as ravenous as any feud that ever
raged in opera-opulent Europe.

Sobolewski felt that he had created an American National
Opera ; but, unfortunately, there was no National American
Opera Company to keep the work before the public and it
was lost to the world. The composer moved to St. Louis a
little later, where he founded the Philharmonic Orchestra,
which he conducted till it disbanded in 1870. He had made
a home on a farm near the city and there died on May 18,
1872.

TIMOTHY MATHER SPELMAN

Born in Brooklyn, New York, January 21, 1891, Timothy
Mather Spelman was educated in the Brooklyn Polytechnic
and at Harvard. In music he studied with Harry Rowe
Shelley, and also had composition with Walter R. Spalding
and orchestration with Edward Burlingame Hill at Harvard.
In 1913 he won the Naumburg Fellowship at Harvard in
consequence of which he studied with Dr. Walter Cour-
voisier in Munich, during 1913-1915.

Mr. Spelman's melodrama, "How Fair, How Fresh Were
the Roses," to Turgeniev's prose poem, was heard in Brook-
lyn in 1909; "Snowdrop," a pantomime in four acts, was
produced there in 1911; a prelude for string orchestra, "In
the Princess* Garden," was heard at Cambridge in 1913, and
also at the Boston Symphony "Pop" Concerts ; and "The
Romance of the Rose," a wordless fantasy in one act, to the

386 AMERICAN OPERA

scenario of S. J. Hume, was heard in its first version, in
Boston in October of 1913, and in its new version, on
December 4, 1915, at the People's Institute of St. Paul,
Minnesota, under the baton of the composer.

Mr. Spelman has two operas to his credit. "La Mag-
nifica (The Magnificent One) 1 ' is a one-act music-drama to
a libretto by Leolyn Louise Everett (Mrs. Spelman). It is a
love tragedy which eventuates in an atmosphere of immor-
ality and intrigue in a capital of South America, in 1800.
He has written also a three-act grand opera, "The Sunken
City," of which he is both librettist and composer.

XLI

THEODORE STEARNS, HUMPHREY J. STEWART,
REGINALD SWEET

THEODORE STEARNS

Theodore Pease Stearns, composer, writer and artist, was
born at Berea, Ohio, June 10, 1875, of pioneer stock. His
grandfather, Hiram Abiff Pease, and his great-uncle, Peter
Pindar Pease, left Stockbridge, Connecticut, in "covered-
wagons," hewed their way to the Western Reserve, and
there founded the town of Oberlin and its Oberlin College.
His mother, Lucy Pease, through whom his ancestry harks
back to the Narragansetts, was born on the toilsome and haz-
ardous journey across New York State. She and her brother
Alonzo fostered the artistic element in their stern Baptist
colony she with her beautiful voice, he as one of the middle-
west's first native portrait painters.

Theodore Stearns seemed to inherit a love for both
branches of art. When he was seven years old, he and his
mother gave recitals of violin and singing. In his twelfth
year the family moved to Cleveland where as a lad he be-
came conductor of the high-school orchestra and, later,
played viola in the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. Here
he studied violin under a Professor Amme and piano and
harmony with Emil Ring. He also showed almost equal
interest in drawing and painting under John Kavanagh and
John Semon. When he entered Oberlin College a new

387

388 AMERICAN OPERA

outlet was found for his energies in writing for various
papers.

It was during this period that the German firm of
Breitkopf and Hartel published a collection of his songs.
This resulted in his being placed by his practically minded
father in a business college "to learn something useful,"
and also attracted the attention of his mother's cousin,
Frederick Pease, to such a degree that his persuasions added
to the mother's ended in Theodore's going, in the spring of
1895, to the Royal Music School of Wiirzburg, Bavaria,
taking with him the full score of an opera, "Endymion," of
which his own libretto was based on Keats' poem; an un-
finished opera, "Hiawatha"; an oratorio, "The Nativity,"
after Goldsmith; and numerous songs.

"Snowbird" is a lyric episode in one act with dream-
ballet, the composer having been his own librettist. Written
in 1919, it had its world premiere by the Chicago Civic Opera
Company and with a cast of American singers, at the Audi-
torium, on January 13, 1923. It had been called to the at-
tention of the management by Victor Herbert, and took with
it the endorsement of Frederick Stock, Maurice Rosenfeld
(music critic of the Chicago Daily News) and of the Opera
in Our Language Foundation. The work was presented with
all the regard for detail and quality that could have been
accorded a product of the most renowned of European
masters ; and at the fall of the curtain there was a spon-
taneous ovation for both composer and interpreters. It was
repeated on December 15, 1923, thus completing a quartet of
American operas which had reached a second season's goal.

The Premiere Cast

Snowbird Mary McCormick

The Hermit Charles Marshall

First Chieftain Edouard Cotreuil

THEODORE STEARNS 38'

Second Chieftain Milo Luka

The Archer Jose Mojica

Anna Ludmila and Corps de Ballet
Conductor Giorgio Polacco

The place of action is a Siberian Coast ; and the Time is 900
A. D. A young Tartar Prince, having attacked his father, the
King, and escaped with a priceless amulet from among the crown
jewels, is living as a Hermit. He rescues a small Tartar girl
from a storm-churned surf, then, as she revives, wraps about
her a white sealskin robe and playfully calls her his little
Snowbird. She begs for the amulet hanging from his neck,
which, after telling how it once belonged to a young prince, lie
gives to her, then croons her to sleep and leaves.

In the Dream-Ballet little Snowbird sees her tiny Dream-Gods
troop out of a cave and play their little drama of love and hate
in the glow of the Northern Lights.

The Northern Lights fade, and in the mystic moonlight appear
the figures of three Tartar Chieftains, with an Archer lurking
behind. They are seeking their lost Prince and agree that
anyone found wearing the amulet shall merit their vengeance.
At this juncture Snowbird emerges from the cave, and the Tar-
tars retreat into the shadows. While singing of her strange
feelings for the Hermit, Snowbird raises the talisman in the
full moonlight; and, recognizing the jewel, the Tartars loose an
arrow by which she falls pierced as the Hermit enters, is dis-
traught by what he sees, tears off his robe, discloses himself as
the young Prince, voices his remorse, and begs that they take
his life now that the first and only object of his love is gone.
To his entreatings if she knows him the dying Snowbird replies,
"Yes, my father," and expires. The young Prince tenderly picks
her up and carries her into the cave, while the Chieftains and
Archer are left in the dim light of the midnight sun.

The story is slight, but there is that dreamy and far-
away subject matter and musical manner which are effective
in the theater. The libretto is fanciful ; and there are creative
force and fine craftsmanship in the score. A weakness which

390 AMERICAN OPERA

has much hindered the advance of American opera was
sensed by Karleton Hackett in his critique in the Chicago
Evening Post:

"It seemed that Mr. Stearns had been more interested in the
richness of the orchestral score than in the effectiveness of the
solo voices. The success of an opera is usually made upon the
stage and not in the orchestra pit."

"The Snowbird" was presented at the Staatsoper of Dres-
den, on November 7, 1928, with Fritz Busch conducting. It
thus had both its European premiere and became the first
opera of an American composer to be heard in this historic
theater. It had there also sixteen subsequent performances.

Mr. Stearns had been musical critic of the Chicago Herald-
Examiner; and in the two years he had spent in Chicago he
had resumed work on a long-planned opera, ''Atlantis";
then, in 1924, his connection was transferred to the New
York Morning Telegraph.

On March 25, 1925, Mr. Stearns was presented the Bisp-
ham Memorial Medal, for the successful production of his
"Snowbird." Then, on the heels of this, American musical
circles, and more especially those connected with writing
for the stage, were set gently athrill by the tidings that a
newspaper, the Morning Telegraph of New York, had of-
ficially commissioned its music critic, Theodore Stearns, to
take a respite of five or six months from duty, while, at its
expense, he set about the finishing of his score of "Atlantis."

In view of the value of American Opera to the art prog-
ress of the nation, the Morning Telegraph was contributing
a highly commendable and appropriate service. To the far-
off Mediterranean island of Capri, with its classic environ-
ment, and exhaling romance from its every cranny, went

HUMPHREY J. STEWART 391

Mr. Stearns and his faithful, helpful and inspiriting wife;
and when in the autumn they returned he not only had prac-
tically completed the score of "Atlantis" but also had created
a symphonic poem, "Tiberio," and an orchestral suite,
"Caprese."

"Atlantis" is a lyric drama with a Prologue, two acts, and
an Epilogue. The librettist and composer are one ; and the
plot deals with the legend of the lost Island of Atlantis. It
is a drama of reincarnation.

The Prologue initiates the listener into the legendary era
mentioned by Plato, Pliny and others of the ancient writers.
It opens on the deserted stage of a Broadway musical comedy
theater where The Man is idly trifling with the love of a Little
Cleaning Girl. In the space of a kiss their memory is flashed
back to Atlantis where The Man was Co-o-za, last king of
Atlantis, and The Girl was Badu-lee-ae, captive queen of the
Zendians.

The two acts, proper, depict the twain's former life amidst
gorgeous settings, develop their love-tragedy, and end with the
Fall of Atlantis. Then the Epilogue shifts back to the present,
to the darkened Broadway theater where, by The Girl's innocent
embrace and an humble realization of the sacredness of love
sweeping over him, The Man is led to recognize The Girl as his
mate of long ago.

"Atlantis" is announced for an early production at the
Dresden Opera House, to be followed by performance at the
Stadttheater of Wiirzburg. Then we shall see and hear.

HUMPHREY J. STEWART

Humphrey John Stewart, organist, composer and musical
educator, was born in London, England, May 22, 1856, to
be the musician of an unmusical clan. Educated under the

392 AMERICAN OPERA

leading masters of that metropolis, and with ability already
recognized, he migrated to America to become organist of
leading San Francisco churches from 1886 till he was called
as organist of Trinity Church, Boston, in 1901, and then
returned the following year to San Francisco to become
organist of St. Dominic's till 1914. He was official organist
of the Panama-California Exposition at San Diego in 1915
and from that time was municipal organist of that city,
giving daily recitals on the great outdoor organ in Balboa
Park till his death on December 28, 1932. He was one of the
founders of the American Guild of Organists, of which, in
1900, he received the gold medal for composition.

Of published compositions, in about every form, Dr. Stew-
art has almost a catalog; and while these are the product
of an erudite and inspired musician yet they abound in that
melodic charm which makes them always grateful to the
public. Among these are an oratorio, "The Nativity/' fin-
ished in 1888; an orchestral suite, "Montezuma," in 1903;
a "Mass in D Minor," in 1907; incidental music to dramatic
productions; and the musical scores for the "Grove-Plays"
of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, for 1903, 1906, 1916
and 1921 ; with many songs and compositions for the church
service.

Of works for the musical stage, Dr. Stewart has written
two comic operas. "His Majesty," to the libretto of Peter
Robertson, was produced in San Francisco in 1890, and "The
Conspirators," with the libretto by Clay M. Green, was pro-
duced there in 1900, both meeting with success. The scores
of these, many unpublished manuscripts, and all of a large
and valuable library, were lost in the San Francisco fire of
1906.

"King Hal,"* a romantic opera in three acts, with the book

HUMPHREY J. STEWART 393

and lyrics by Daniel O'Connell, revised by Allan Dunn, was
first produced at the Grand Opera House of San Francisco,
in 1911, afterwards ran for three weeks at the Tivoli Opera
House, and has been produced many times both in this coun-
try and in England.

It is a story of a gala day in Royal Windsor. How Robert,
the constable, woos Dorothy, a supposed-to-be wealthy widowed
guest of the "Star and Garter"; and how Leonard, a forester, is
frowned upon by the parents of Phyllis, the innkeeper's daugh-
ter. How King Hal, disguised as a huntsman, is struck by
Leonard in protecting Phyllis against his advances, for which
Leonard is condemned to death but escapes and enlists with the
outlaws of Windsor Forest, whither Robert tracks him and leads
the Yeomen of the Guard to capture the entire band. Also how
the mother of Phyllis discloses the mendacity of the Constable ;
how Phyllis petitions the King and saves the lives of Leonard
and all the outlaws ; and how King Hal insists that the mischief-
making Constable shall marry the Widow even though it turns
out that she is without fortune; and how there were wedding
bells, joy, and feasting again in Royal Windsor.

"The Hound of Heaven" is really a sacred music-drama;
though it somewhat resembles the old Mystery Plays, such
as "Everyman." It is an adaptation and setting of a poem
of great beauty and dramatic strength, by the British poet,
Francis Thompson. The work had its first performance as
a music-drama, in San Francisco, at the Easter Season
(April 24, 25, 26) of 1924, when it was elaborately pre-
sented as a Mystery Play. As an oratorio it had its first
interpretation in the Spreckels Theater of San Diego, on
March 9, 1925, when the San Diego Choral Society and the
Cadman Club, with leading soloists and a local orchestra of
fifty instrumentalists, united in a gala performance under the
baton of Nino Marcelli. On this occasion Dr. Stewart was

394 AMERICAN OPERA

presented the David Bispham Memorial Medal of the Ameri-
can Opera Society of Chicago.

The poem is an allegory in which the Almighty is likened
to a hound, relentless and persevering in the chase ; the sin-
ner, to a hare in headlong flight; but how gracefully and
reverently done; too reverently for an outline here further
than that in the end God's love inevitably enfolds the sinner.

REGINALD SWEET

Reginald Lindsay Sweet was born at Yonkers, New York,
October 14, 1885, his parents being Clinton Wesley and
Helen (Adams) Sweet; and of these the mother was artisti-
cally endowed and a cultivated amateur pianist. Educated
at Helicon Hall, Englewood, New Jersey ; at Harvard, from
where in 1908 he graduated with honors in music ; he later
studied the piano with Edward Noyes of Boston and then
spent three years in Berlin, having piano under Eisenberger
and composition with W. E. Koch and Hugo Kaun. He
has been active as a lecturer on theory and appreciation of
music, at the Chautauqua Assembly, and on ultra-modern
music, in New York. Many of his songs have been published,
and several orchestral sketches have been performed at the
regular concerts of the New York Philharmonic Society. His
one-act opera, "Riders to the Sea/' is written to a libretto
adapted from a play of the same name by J. M. Synge. Of
this the prelude has had performance by the New York
Philharmonic Society and by Longy's Orchestral Society
of Boston.

XLII

DEEMS TAYLOR

Joseph Deems Taylor, com-
poser, critic and writer, was born
in New York City, December 22,
1885, the son of Joseph S. Taylor,
of Dutch-Swiss ancestry, district
superintendent of the city schools
and author of pedagogical works.
His mother was of Scotch-Irish
and English blood. Both the
parents were musical in an ama-
teur way. At three years Deems
could sing accurately a tune; and
at ten he began lessons on the
piano and composed a waltz. He

took the A.B. degree of the University of New York in 1906,
studied harmony and counterpoint with Oscar Coon in 1908
and 1913, and otherwise is self-taught in musical theory,
composition and orchestration.

While a senior at college, in 1906, he wrote the score for a
musical comedy for the University Dramatic Club, which
was followed by three others for the same purpose, all to
texts by William LeBaron, librettist of "Apple Blossoms."
His recognition as a serious composer came through the
symphonic poem, "The Siren Song," which won the 1912
orchestral prize of the National Federation of Music Clubs.
A cantata, "The Highwayman/' for chorus and orchestra,

395

Deems Taylor

396 AMERICAN OPERA

was composed to the text of Alfred Noyes, for the Mac-
Dowell Festival at Peterboro, New Hampshire, in August,
1914, and has had more than two hundred performances by
women's choruses throughout the country.

"The Chambered Nautilus," a cantata for chorus and
orchestra, to the poem of Oliver Wendell Holmes, was written
in 1914 and had its first public hearing in February, 1916, by
the Schola Cantorum and New York Symphony Orchestra
under Kurt Schindler. "Through a Looking-Glass," a suite
for orchestra, which presents five pictures from Lewis Car-
roll's "Alice in Wonderland," was written in 1918, has been
played by every major symphony orchestra of the United
States, and has had performance in London, Paris, Leipzig
and Prague. "Jurgen," a symphonic poem written in 1925,
was the first American orchestral work to be commissioned
by the New York Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Taylor has done much brilliant literary work for both
magazines and newspapers, culminating when in 1916 he
succeeded the eminent James Huneker as music critic of the
New York World. After a few years he relinquished most
of the duties of this last position, and in the summer of
1926 he definitely resigned that he might devote his entire
time to composition.

Early in April of 1925 musical America had a sensation
when it was announced that the Metropolitan Management
of New York had commissioned an American composer to
write an opera for its use the first such important recogni-
tion for one of ours. Riotous speculation was soon dispelled
by the filtering news that Deems Taylor was the one so
favored. Which at once incited discussion as to the quality
of "art made to order," and provoked the comment that, aside
from "Aida," no successful opera had been written to con*
tract. Unfortunately, these too captious critics forgot that

DEEMS TAYLOR 397

Mozart's inimitable "Marriage of Figaro" was written on
what was virtually a commission from Baron Wezlar; that
his charming "Cosi Fan Tutte" came to being by direct com-
mission of Emperor Joseph; that "Don Giovanni" was
created to fufill a bargain with Bondini ; and that "The
Magic Flute" was composed to contract with Schikaneder.
Weber's "Oberon," by many considered his best opera and
certainly having one of his very best overtures, was written
after considerable haggling as to prices for Charles
Kemble, lessee of Covent Garden.

"William Tell," containing surely some of Rossini's best
art, satisfied a commission from the French Government of
Charles X. The two Donizetti operas most heard today are
stigmatized in like manner. "L'Elisir d'Amore" was
written to order for Milan, "Lucia di Lammermoor" for
Naples the latter and also most alive of them having been
doubly damned in having its leading tenor and soprano roles
written with the individual voices of Duprez and Persiani
in mind. "Carmen" was the product of a lucky commission
from the Opera Comique of Paris. Then, since it has entered
upon a stage career, Mendelssohn's "Elijah" may legitimately
be listed ; and again both tradition and the written page tell
how certain arias were created with particular interpreters in
mind. No, the assurance of a bed and breakfast seems not,
historically, to have muzzled the composers' muse. Only one
with an unquenchable urge toward the theater, or with as-
surance of a reasonable chance of his finished work coming
to production, would brave the months of travail requisite to
the birth of an operatic score.

"The King's Henchman,"* a romantic lyric drama in three
acts, is written to a libretto by Edna St. Vincent Millay, dis-
tinguished American poet and playwright. The music score
was begun in New York in February and finished at Paris
on September 3, 1926. It was first performed at the

398 AMERICAN OPERA

Metropolitan Opera House, New York, on February 17, 1927.
It was given, that season, two other performances in New
York (one, on March 23d, a benefit for the Knickerbocker
Hospital) ; and on March 29th the Metropolitan Company
presented it at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

The Premiere Cast

Eadgar, King of England Lawrence Tibbett

Acthehvold, Earl of East Anglia, foster-brother

and friend of Eadgar Edward Johnson

Aclfrida, Daughter of Ordgar Florence Easton

Ase, Servant of Aclfrida Merle Alcock

Maccus, Servant and friend of Aethelwold

William Gustavson
Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. . . .George Header

Ordgar, Thane of Devon Louis d'Angelo

Thorcd, Master of the Household to Eadgar

Arnold Gabor

Hivita, Cupbearer to the King Max Bloch

Lords and Ladies at the Hall of Eadgar:

Gunner Max Altglass

Cynric George Cehanovsky

Brand Joseph Macpherson

Wulfrcd Millo Picco

Osiac James Wolfe

Hildcburh Henriette Wakefield

Ostharu Grace Anthony

Godgyfu Louise Lerch

Leofsydu Dorothea Flexer

Devonshire Villagers :

A Blacksmith James Wolfe

A Saddler Paolo Ananian

A Miller Joseph Macpherson

A Fisherman Frederick Vajda

An Old Man Max Bloch

A Blacksmith's Wife Minnie Egener

A Miller's Wife Mary Bonetti

A Fisherman's Wife Grace Anthony

DEEMS TAYLOR 399

A Woman Servant Dorothea Flexer

A Young Girl Louise Lerch

Lords and Ladies, Retainers, Villagers, Fishermen,

Attendants, Cupbearers and Others

Conductor Tullio Serafin

The Place is the West of England, and the Time the Tenth
Century. The plot is based on a Hallowe'en legend with which
is interwoven a love story not unlike those of "Tristan and
Isolde" and "Paolo and Francesca," and yet with a turn that is
all its own.

Act I. The Great Hall of King Eadgar's Castle at Winches-
ter; before Daybreak in Early Autumn. In which King Eadgar,
an early widower, discloses his loneliness ; and then despatches
the noble Aethclwold his foster-brother, trusted friend, and no
fancier of women to go and fetch the beautiful Aelfrida of
Devon to be his bride.

Act II. A Forest in Devonshire, in a Thick Fog on All-
Hallow's Eve. Wherein Acthclwold, lost among the trees, foot-
weary and deserted by Maccus, surrenders to subduing sleep.
And Aclfrida, affrighted by the lonely moor, yet speaks in fear-
ful tones an incantation whereby she may escape wedding the
bumpkin of her father's choice. How, too, Aclfrida perceives
Aethelwold and a charm enfolds them, and that Maccus returns
to Eadgar with the false message that the beauty of Aelfrida is
but a myth, that she truly is old and ugly.

Act III. The Hall of Ordgar's House on the Coast of Dev-
onshire. A Sunny Morning the following Spring. Wherein
Aelfrida has become discontented and quarrelsome with Acthel-
woldj and Ordgar complacently takes thought only of Aethcl-
wold's estimation at court; till approaching men are seen in
the distance, and Maccus arrives to say the King is at hand.
Whereupon Aethelwold confesses to Aelfrida his treachery to
his King and induces from her a pledge to appear before Eadgar
with dust on her hair and stain on her face, as faded with age ;
in lieu of which, goaded by Ordgar and Ase, she appears in her
most sumptuous robes and jewels that but enhance her dazzling
beauty. Whereby Eadgar divines all that has befallen ; at which
Aethelwold confesses that love has been stronger than honor and

400 AMERICAN OPERA

falls by his own sword; wherewith the destiny of the King and
his Lady is left unsolved.

When first presented at the Metropolitan of New York,
the opera moved the audience to real enthusiasm. At the
end of the first act the composer and librettist were called
before the curtain ten times; and at the close of the per-
formance there was an ovation of full twenty minutes for
Mr. Taylor, Miss Millay, the creators of the leading roles,
the conductor and all those connected with the staging of
the work. Mr. Gatti afterwards stated that it had established
a new record for American opera, in that the house was sold
out a week in advance of the premiere, drawing to the box
office exactly fifteen thousand, five hundred and four dollars ;
and that at the time of the premiere it was again sold entirely
for the performance on the twenty-first.

In "The King's Henchman" Mr. Taylor proves his melodic
gift and his sense of the dramatic in composition. Like
practically every other composer since the creation of the
great cycle of Bayreuth music-dramas, he has fallen some-
what under the spell of the wizardry of Wagner. But this
is not in a slavish demeanor; and, with his apprenticeship
served and himself in the master guild where he will some-
time allow his own heart to speak its own untrammelled
tongue, it is easy to believe that the composer of "The King's
Henchman" shall inhale freely of his native air with its aroma
of the forest, its fragrance of far-stretching fields, its odor
of the virgin loam, and that through this and from his own
fine fancy there shall issue a flight of song in a spirit which
is wholly his and ours. Perhaps this desire will be more
nearly satisfied in a second opera which the Metropolitan
has commissioned for the 1928-1929 season.

DEEMS TAYLOR 401

In the two seasons immediately subsequent to the one al-
ready recorded, "The King's Henchman" was presented by
the "Met" eleven times in New York and once each in Phila-
delphia and Brooklyn. When given on February 16, 1929,
"The King's Henchman" became the first American work to
retain a place in the repertoire of the Metropolitan Opera
Company for a third season. Mr. Taylor received also in
this year the Bispham Medal of the American Opera Society
of Chicago.

On a tour beginning November 4, 1927, and closing Feb-
ruary 25, 1928, The King's Henchman Opera Company gave
ninety performances in the East and Middle West, with
Frances Peralta, Marie Sundelius and Ora Hyde alternating
as Aelfrida; Henri Scott, Richard Hale and Dudley Mar-
wick, as Eadgar; Rafael Diaz and Arthur Ilackett, as Acthcl-
wold; Giovanni Martino, Dudley Marwick and Alfredo
Martino, as Maccus; and with Jacques Samossoud conduct-
ing. The opera was also presented once, in 1928, by the
Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company, at Reading, Pennsyl-
vania, and twice, in 1929, by the Vassar Philalethean Asso-
ciation at Poughkeepsie, New York. It thus has had a total
of one hundred and ten performances an unprecedented
record for a serious American opera.

The second opera proved to be "Peter Ibbetson,"* with its
libretto prepared by the collaboration of the composer and the
talented actress, Constance Collier, from the novel of the
same name by George du Maurier of "Trilby" fame. The
opera had its world premiere on February 7, 1931, at the
Metropolitan Opera House of New York, when it had a
lavish production and became the thirteenth American work
to be given by the Metropolitan Opera Company. At the same
time it established Deems Taylor as the first American com-
poser to have a second work presented by this organization.

402 AMERICAN OPERA

Of the large cast, the leading roles were interpreted by
Edward Johnson, as Peter I b bet son (a part which he made
historic) ; Lawrence Tibbett, as Colonel Ibbetson, Peter's
uncle; Lucrezia Bori, as The Duchess of Towers; and
Marion Telva, as Mrs. Dcane; with Ina Bourskaya, Phradie
Wells, Grace Divine, Minnie Egener, Santa Biondo, Philine
Falco, Aida Doninelli, Claudio Frigerio, Alfredo Gandolfi,
George Cehanovsky, Marek Windheim, Millo Picco, Gior-
dano Paltrinieri, Louis d'Angelo, Leon Rothier and Angelo
Bada in lesser parts ; and Tullio Serafin conducting.

The period and places are: Act I. The drawing-room of an
English country house, 1855.

Act II, Scene 1 : The Salon of the inn, "Le Tete Noire," Passy
(Paris), 1857. Scene 2: The dream the Garden of "Parva Sed
Apta," Passy, 1840. Scene 3 : The salon of "Le Tete Noire,"
1857.

Act III, Scene 1 : Colonel Ibbetson's rooms in London, 1857.
Scene 2: The chaplain's room in Newgate Prison, London, 1857.
Scene 3: The dream the Mare d'Auteuil (Paris), 1840. Scene
4: The dream an opera box, 1857. Scene 5 : Epilogue a cell in
Newgate Prison, 1857.

Peter Ibbetson, a young architect of London, in the eighteen-
fifties, is really Pierre Pasquier, of a French father and an
English mother. The early death of both father and mother left
him to be adopted by an uncle, Colonel Ibbetson, who caused the
change in his name. A companion of his childhood at Passy was
Mary Peraskicr who faded from his life at the breaking up of
his home.

In an English country house Peter encounters the Duchess of
Towers, with the result of violent mutual admiration and the
discovery of each other's identity. On a visit at the inn, "Le Tete
Noire," in Passy, Peter sleeps and in a dream The Duchess re-
veals to him the secret of "dreaming true." As he awakes, The
Duchess enters to find refuge from a thunder storm, and they have
their first scene of "grand emotion."

Colonel Ibbetson has been paying annoying attentions to Mrs.
Deane, a noble-hearted and loyal friend of Peter. He posts a

DEEMS TAYLOR 403

letter to her, attacking his foster son's legitimacy of birth. In
Colonel Ibbetson's London apartment Mrs. Dcane shows this
letter to Peter. The Colonel enters, and there is a violent quarrel
between him and Peter in which Peter kills the Colonel with a
stroke of his cane. Peter is condemned to execution ; there is a
commutation of sentence to life imprisonment, through the inter-
vention of The Duchess; and in a forty years later scene Mary
welcomes him to Elysian Fields suggestive of the old garden at
Passy.

In all, the opera has had twenty performances by the!
Metropolitan Opera Company. In the 1930-1931 season
there were six at the Metropolitan of New York, and one
each in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Washington and Cleveland;
in the 1931-1932 season there were six in New York and
one in Philadelphia; and in the 1933-1934 season, three in
New York. In August of 1931 it was given six times by
the Ravinia iPark Opera Company (Chicago), with Edward
Johnson and Lucrezia Bori in their Metropolitan roles. On
December 26, 1933, "Peter Ibbetson" made history when it
opened the New York season of the Metropolitan the first
time that an American opera, or one in our own language,
had achieved this distinction.

Critical opinion has fairly well agreed that, with the almost
unanimous reservations that the music does not always inter-
pret the drama and that it sometimes does miss the elocution
of the words, this work is a considerable advance on "The
King's Henchman."

XLIH
GERARD TONNING, VIRGIL THOMSON

Gerard Tonning, composer, conductor and pedagogue, was
born at Stavanger, Norway, May 25, 1860. His great-grand-
father was a "fiddling parson" and his grandfather an
amateur violinist. He early had a persistent desire to study
music which frail health prevented till he was twelve years
of age. During his stay at the University of Christiania
(now Oslo) he studied piano and composition with Ole
Oleson, the eminent composer. After taking his Bachelor
of Arts and Master of Arts degrees at this University, in
1881 he entered the Royal Music School of Munich, with
composition under Rheinberger and piano from Bussmayer
and Kellermann.

At sixteen Mr. Tonning wrote the wedding march for a
cousin's marriage ; and at the conservatory he created several
songs for mixed voices. He migrated to Duluth, Minnesota,
in June, 1887 ; and it was while there as conductor of the
Concordia Society, the Mozart Society (mixed chorus) and
founder and director of the Beethoven Trio, that his Opus 1 ,
a Ronuwsa for Violin, was written and published in 1891 ;
that his Oriental Walts Caprice for orchestra was performed
several times under his own direction (also at the American
Festival at Seattle in 1909) ; and that his cantata, 'The
White Canoe," for solo voice, chorus and orchestra, with
Tom Moore's "Dismal Swamp" as text, was first performed
in 1898 by the Mozart Society with the composer conducting.

404

GERARD TONNING 405

Other large works are a symphonic poem, "Paul Revere's
Ride/' and a Norwegian Liedersiel Overture.

Mr. Tonning had become a naturalized citizen of the
United States in 1892; and from 1905 Seattle, Washington,
was his home.

"Leif Ericsson (Erikson)," the first opera of a Norwegian
in America a historical music-drama in three acts, with
some spoken lines in the first two but the third act con-
tinuously operatic was written to a libretto based on the
Icelandic Sagas, by C. M. Thuland. The composition was
begun in December, 1909, and finished in 1910. Its first per-
formance on any stage was at the Moore Theater, Seattle,
on December 10, 1910, sponsored by the Leif Erikson Lodge
of Sons of Norway. It was produced, with the Seattle cast,
at Tacoma, Washington, on March 12, 1911; and its third
act was performed at the Brooklyn (New York) Academy
of Music, on October 4, 1924, under the auspices of the
Norwegian National League of New York and the New York
Chapter of the American Scandinavian Foundation. That
these performances were in the Norwegian language needs
no apology. Both the libretto, celebrating a significant event
in American exploration, and the score were written by
American citizens; and though the sponsoring societies
favored the use of their mother tongue, what country other
than Norway has sent us better or more loyal American citi-
zens? Furthermore, its first purpose accomplished, the text
has now been done by its author into English for future use.

The Seattle Cast

Leif Ericsson Fredrik K. Haslund

Erik the Red Olaf Roed

Thor -stein, Leifs brother J. L. Stixruci

Half red Ottarson, a poet Thomas H. Kolderup

Tyrker, Leifs foster-father Adolf Petterser.

406 AMERICAN OPERA

Bjarne Herjulfsson P. Lilos

A Priest H. P. Sather

Thorgils, Leifs young son Borghild Christie

Herjulf, a Viking Carl B. Halls

First Housecarlc P. H. Ongstad

Second Housecarlc Edward Olsen

Third Housecarlc Theodor Pedersen

Gudrid Maja Gloersen-Huitfeldt

Thorbjorg D. Marie Christensen

Oguwanna, an Indian Princess. . .Mathilda L. Jacobsen

Freydis Lita Hemsen

Indian men and women, Vikings of Ericsson's

Expedition
Conductor Gerard Tonning

The action takes place in Greenland and Wineland
(America), in the year 1001 A.D.

Act I. A Banquet Hall of Erik the Red Thorwaldsen, Nor-
wegian colonizer of Greenland. In which Leif, son of Erik the
Red and introducer of Christianity into Greenland, sends Thor-
stcin with a report to King Olaf Tryggeveson (trig-va-son).
Also a childhood love of Leif and Gudrid is revived but quenched
when he receives a rune-shield cast up from a wreck, on which
is a message from Thorgunna, his betrothed, begging that he
come for her and their son Thorgils.

Act II. A Feast at Erik's Hall. In which Bjarne tells of
fruitful lands he has seen to the southwest ; and the colonization
of America is predicted. Ottarson brings news of the death of
Olaf Tryggeveson in battle, a message from the now dead Thor-
gunna, and with him Thorgils. Crushed with sorrow and
humiliation, Leif vows by Brage to seek and find the lands
Bjarne had seen.

Act III. In which Oguwanna and other Indian maidens, en-
gaged in Sun-worship at a river-mouth on the east coast of
Vineland (America), see an approaching Viking ship, think it
their Son-God whom they have hoped to see coming from over
the sea in a big winged canoe, and hail Leif and his men as

VIRGIL THOMSON 407

deities. Leif exhibits the Norseman's white shield of peace and
takes possession of the land which he christens "Vineland
(Wineland)."

The Seattle and Tacoma press received the opera as one
of real merit, with mention of the clearness and dramatic
quality of the composer's work, with "nothing of the neo-
atmospheric about its flexible power." The story has all that
make fine operatic possibilities.

"All in a Garden Fair," a romantic opera in one act, to
the libretto of Mrs. H. W. Powell, was presented at the
Moore Theater of Seattle, November 1, 1913, with full
orchestral support and Mr. Tonning conducting. It is a
summer idyl, a simple and beautiful love story acted
in the costume of the early nineteenth century, in the
garden of Mr. Hobart's seashore villa, with music that is
romantic and melodious, with parts for a quartet of soloists.

On the same evening was presented "In Old New Eng-
land/' a dramatic sketch of the period of 1840 with the
text by Sarah Pratt Carr, for which Mr. Tonning has ar-
ranged as solos, duets and quartets indigenous Colonial
songs of New England unearthed by his research.

Mr. Tonning changed his residence to New York City in
October, 1917. A late work is a pantomime, "Women's
Wiles; or, Love Triumphant," with small orchestra the
text and music by Mr. Tonning; another is a Trio for Violin,
Piano and Violoncello which was well received at programs
of his works, on the 7th and 18th of May, 1923, in Music
and Art Lovers' Hall, New York City.

VIRGIL THOMSON

Musical and literary anticipation were on tiptoe, musical
ears itching and musical nerves atingle, when, on February

408 AMERICAN OPERA

20, 1934, the choicest spirits of modern verse, music and
drama met at the Forty-fourth Street Theater of New York,
to hear the "Four Saints in Three Acts" of Gertrude Stein
and Virgil Thomson. And this once the librettist gets first
mention because it was the text that drew publicity and prime
interest in the performance ; for it seems to flaunt the frank
purpose of saying nothing, but rather of furnishing but a
rhythmic and sonorous frame of word groups on which a
composer might hang some ear-tickling music. It is the
work of one on whom even the loose laws of free verse hold
no galling rein. To illustrate, it begins :

"To know to know to love her so.

Four saints prepare for Saints.

Four saints make it well fish.

Four saints prepare for saints it makes
it well fish it makes it well fish prepare for
saints"

Towards the close is this tricksy sequence :

"Let Lucy Lily let Lucy Lily
Lily Lily Lily Lily let Lily Lucy Lily
Let Lily. Let Lucy Lily.''

Yet, tripped off rhythmically, there is at least the merit of
a certain mellifluous fluidity of syllables. Such text puts
certainly not the least of strain upon the intelligence of the
listener ; and, truly, is its use any more inane than a foreign
tongue libretto in words of which the auditor knows the
meaning of not a one ? Add to these the temerity with which
"Four Saints in Three Acts" flippantly fools the audience
when, by spontaneous propagation, it fills the stage with some

VIRGIL THOMSON 409

three dozen named and unnamed saints, in four acts with a
prologue, and the mind is slightly prepared for what happens.
For the "story" of the opera if it has one deals, but with
vexatious vagueness, with some Spanish saints who have
interested the author.

The librettist's skeleton of the fickle and elusive drama
furnishes a key to its spirit :

Prelude A Narrative of Prepare for Saints.
Act I Avila: St. Teresa half indoors and half out of doors.
Act II Might be mountains if it were not Barcelona.
Act III Barcelona : St. Ignatius and One of Two literally.
Act IV The Saints and Sisters reassembled and reenacting
why they went away to stay.

The principal roles are St. Teresa I and St. Teresa II (be-
cause the composer felt the demands of this role in his score
too great for one voice) ; St. Ignatius; and Compere and
Commere, who speak or sing the stage directions as a part
of the performance.

The production had been brought from Hartford, Con-
necticut, where the same Friends and Enemies of Modern
Music had presented it on February eighth (its world pre-
miere), ninth and tenth, before audiences composed of
"critics and press representatives from the principal cities
of the Northeast and a collection of connoisseurs," as a part
of the ceremonies attending the opening of the Avery
Memorial Theater of the Atheneum. Conventional scenery
was replaced by folds on folds of cellophane through which
played shifting lights in a color scheme of admirable audacity.
There was a Negro cast ; because the composer felt that they
would be less disturbed than white singers by the nonsense
of the words that the Negro singer is more satisfied with
the pure beauty of the sound of the words and music and less

410 AMERICAN OPERA

concerned with their meaning. Costumes were now piously
demure, and now brilliant in silver, blues, and vivid reds and
purples. Alexander Smallens was the conductor. At the
Forty-fourth Street Theater the opera had sixteen per-
formances in two weeks ; and later, beginning on April 2nd,
it had a similar run at the Empire Theater.

Musically, the score displays "direct, simple, swinging
tunes simply harmonized," and "spiced with inspired foolish-
ness and foppish innocuities." Virgil Thomson, the com-
poser, was born in 1896, in Kansas City, Missouri. He
studied music at Harvard and later with Nadia Boulanger in
Paris, where he has lived since 1921. His creations include
choral works ; two symphonies ; a "Sonata di Chiesa," for
clarinet, trumpet, horn, viola and trombone; and numerous
pieces for the piano, organ, violin, and other solo instruments.

If in "Four Saints in Three Acts" the composer is not a
melodist of great distinction, nor of rich harmonic and orches-
trational resources; "his syrupy and dulcet consonances are
those of deliberate intention." He excruciatingly parodies
everything, from recitative and aria to ensemble, from the
Handel chorus to Gilbert and Sullivan, the Negro spiritual
and all sorts of ditties. There are a take-off of a Spanish
serenade with St. Ignatius twanging the harp ; the coloratura
feats of two sopranos while the chorus gathers agape at their
prowess ; and other similar musical witticisms. So that, all
in all, the work leaves an impression of having been inspired
by literary and musical deities lately returned from a frisk in
the courts of Bacchus. The usual dramatic and atmospheric
effects are significant in their absence. The composer him-
self has intimated that "the lack of the expected dissonance
is the most striking characteristic of the score." But "he
knows the voice in a most exceptional degree ; and mirabile

VIRGIL THOMSON 411

dictu an American composer has turned up who knows the
laws of prosody and can write recitative magnificently."
Glory be ! How much these qualities would add to some
otherwise exceptional scores.

The opera if opera at all is one of the strangest in the
annals of the lyric stage. Along with "Emperor Jones,"
"Helen Retires," "Wozzeck" and others, this experiment
may be leading to a new era in the lyric drama. It is given
rather full record here, not because by any known system of
calculation it could be classed as serious opera, but because,
like that classic parody "The Beggar's Opera" of the early
eighteenth century, it might have an immeasurable influence
on the trend of development of lyric drama to come. It pokes
fun at almost every operatic convention ; and nothing will
bring about a so rapid and complete reform as being
laughed at.

XLIV

JANE VAN ETTEN, ISAAC VAN GROVE, CARL
VENTH, JOHN A. VAN BROEKHOVEN

JANE VAN ETTEN

Jane Van Etten (Mrs. Alfred Burritt Andrews) was born
in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her father was Isaac Van Etten,
of old Dutch stock from New York state. Both her grand-
mother and mother had voices which made them locally recog-
nized ; but the future composer of opera was the first of the
family to undertake music professionally.

Miss Van Etten's earlier musical studies were with Signor
Grecco of New York and with the great Mathilde Marchesi
and Sbriglia in Paris. Later she studied with Randegger in
London ; and her debut as Siebel in "Faust" came in 1895,
at Drury Lane. A tour of the provinces, and her success at
Queen's Hall, London, were followed by a series of concerts
in our Eastern states. At marriage in 1901 she retired from
public life and Evanston, near Chicago, became her home.
Her mind now turned to creative work and she studied
composition with Bernhard Ziehn and Alexander von
Fielitz. Songs were soon accepted by publishers ; and later
came her tragic opera in one act, "Guido Ferranti."

This work was created at an opportune time, when the
slogan, "American Opera for Americans," was beginning to
be heard. As yet one looked in vain for an American work
among the Italian, German, French and Russian operas an-
nounced for a season. However, that staunch protagonist of

412

JANE VAN ETTEN 413

American musical art and of Opera in English, Glenn Dillard
Gunn, with Herman Devries as "ambassador," brought
"Guido Ferranti" to an audition, with the result that it soon
was in rehearsal for its premiere on December 29, 1914, in
the Auditorium Theater of Chicago, by the Century Opera
Company of the Aborn Brothers.

The libretto is derived from a play, "The Duchess of
Padua," by Oscar Wilde; and the adaptation was made by
Elsie M. Wilbor. Two songs, The Myrtles of Damascus
and O Form to Which the Palms Have Lent Their Grace, by
Charles Hanson Towne, are introduced.

Cast of the Premiere

Beatrice (Duchess of Padua) Hazel Eden

Guido Ferranti Worthe Faulkner

Serving Men, Soldiers and Others
Conductor Agide Jacchia

Beatrice, the beautiful young wife of an old and despicably
tyrannical duke, loves, and is loved in return by Guido Fer-
ranti. She resolves to kill her husband so that she may be free
to marry the man of her heart. Guido, also, has been on the
point of murdering the old duke; but, forgetting his own plot-
ting when he hears that Beatrice has done the deed, he repudiates
her, at which her love changes to rage and she denounces him
as the assassin of the duke.

"Guido Ferranti" was the first opera written by an
American woman and presented by an organization with the
standing of the Century Opera Company. It was the first
American opera to fulfill the new idea in harmonic interpre-
tation the condensation of the theme into the space of half
an hour and limitation of the cast to less than four persons.
It follows, in general, the style of the younger Italian school
of Mascagni and Puccini; and it won the critical press

414 AMERICAN OPERA

statement that it was "one of the best American compositions
heard in many a day, deserving repetition."

At a meeting of the American Opera Society of Chicago,
on March 9, 1926, the composer was awarded the David
Bispham Memorial Medal, for the creation of an American
opera of real merit. Since that time the work has been
expanded till requiring about one hour in performance.

ISAAC VAN GROVE

Isaac Van Grove, composer and conductor, was born at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1892, the son of a
Polish mother and a Dutch-Polish father. At nine years of
age he began study of the piano. His entire musical educa-
tion was obtained at the Chicago Musical College, where he
had piano under Walter Kniipfer and theory and composition
under Adolph Brune and Felix Borowski. He later did
advanced composition under Bernhard Ziehn.

At sixteen years of age he began writing songs as well as
string quartets and trios. In the larger forms he wrote a
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, and "Prospise," an aria
for tenor and orchestra. For some years he has been a coach
and instructor at his alma mater, and for five seasons he was
one of the conductors of the Chicago Civic Opera Company.
In the winter season of 1925-1926 he led local opera at
Columbus, Ohio, and in several southern cities, and at the
close of this work became conductor of summer opera at
the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens.

"The Music Robber/' an opera comique in two acts, he
has written to the libretto of Richard L. Stokes, music
critic of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The first act was
first performed on June 14, 1925, at the American Theater
of Musical Productions, at which time the composer received

ISAAC VAN GROVE 415

the David Bispham Memorial Medal of the American Opera
Society of Chicago. Later in the season it had several
productions at the Forest Park summer opera of St. Louis.
The first act was begun in February and finished in May
of 1925 ; and the second act was written in January to May
of 1926. It was first performed, complete, by the Zoological
Gardens Opera Company of Cincinnati, on July 4, 1926.

The Cincinnati Cast

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Forrest Lament

Constanse Mozart Kathryne Browne

Franz Sussmaycr Raymond Koch

Josef Deiner Leon Braude

Nancy Storace Mabel Sherwood

Josef Haydn Themy Georgi

Ludwig van Beethoven Herbert Gould

Count Johann von Walsegg Howard Preston

Emanucl Schikancder Benjamin Groban

Priestess (Magic Flute Pageant) Violet Summer

Court Ladies, Officers, Opera Singers, Friends of

Mozart, Characters in Mozart's Operas

Conductor Isaac Van Grove

The scene is laid in Vienna; the time is August, 1791,
about four months before Mozart's death.

Act I. A courtyard between Mozart's Lodging and Schik-
aneder's Theater. In this the ailing Mozart finishes "The
Magic Flute." Deiner, the landlord, comes for Mozart's board
and lodging, and steals his snuff-box. Nancy Storace, beloved
of Sussmayer, announces a pageant arranged by Schikaneder
in honor of "The Magic Flute" ; and, to tease her lover, that she
will betroth herself to Count Von Walsegg if he will produce
a work which Haydn and Beethoven will swear that Mozart
might have written. Walsegg hears Mozart tell Constanze how
a ghostly voice has commissioned him to write a "Requiem" ; so,

416 AMERICAN OPERA

while at midnight the composer is furiously at this work, he as-
sumes the voice of the dream, frightens Mozart into a collapse,
and steals the manuscript.

Act II. Mozart's Study; a week later. The loyal Sussmayer
returns fuming from a contest at Leopold's court and refuses
to believe that Walsegg could have written a "Requiem" he has
played. After this Deiner is made by Beethoven to confess that
Walsegg is the "Music Robber" and will return at midnight to
complete his theft. Mozart, enraged, plans his revenge by secret-
ing his friends so that, when at twelve Walsegg enters, his
ghostly chanting is answered by fiendish voices, tables move,
Mozart sits unperturbed, and Walsegg falls at the master's
knees begging grace, only to be dismissed in disgrace. Mozart,
now restored to his former gaiety, remains happy among his
friends.

Mr. Van Grove writes in a truly original vein. His
score is distinctly American in its accents and rhythms, in
its use and combinations of new instruments, and in its
tonal effects. In the Chicago Tribune, Edward Moore
wrote that "He has something to say that is not an imita-
tion of what other people are trying to say in Europe."
Several arias, duets and choral numbers could be trans-
ferred successfully to program use.

CARL VENTH

Carl Venth, violinist, composer and conductor, was born
at Cologne, Germany, February 18, 1860, of a German father
of Slavic extraction and a Croatian mother. At the age
of nine he began the study of the violin under the instruction
of his father who had been a pupil of David and was also
an organist and teacher. Later, at the Cologne Conservatory,
he studied the violin with Japha and composition with
Ferdinand Hiller, was under Friedrich Wilhelm at the
Cologne Gymnasium, and had the violin with Wieniawski

CARL VENTH 417

and composition with Dupont at Brussels. He migrated
to New York in 1880, and made his American debut at the
Bay States Concerts in Boston, with Julie Rive-King, one
of our first women to gain international fame as a pianist.

In the following year his first published compositions
appeared; he became concertmaster of the Metropolitan
Opera House in 1884; and in 1885 he was admitted to
American citizenship. He was conductor of the Brooklyn
Symphony Orchestra for thirteen years; conductor of the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the seasons of 1911-1913;
and in 1913 became dean of the school of fine arts of
Texas Woman's College and conductor of the Fort Worth
Symphony Orchestra.

Of orchestral works, his Forest Scenes had four and his
Norse Dance had' two performances, at Brighton Beach, in
1887, under Anton Seidl. A Suite for Orchestra had two
performances in 1912, by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra,
led by the composer ; and an Indian Prologue was perf ormed
twice in 1915 by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under
the composer, and again at Fort Worth, in 1921, by the St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra under Rudolph Ganz. A Trio
for Piano, Violin and Violoncello has been performed many
times in New York, Brooklyn, St. Paul, Dallas, Fort Worth,
and in 1924 in Berlin, at the Singakademie. A "Mass in D"
has been published in Germany and heard often there and
in England, and also in Fort Worth; while two string
quartets have been performed by the Manuscript Society of
New York.

In 1923 Mr. Venth won the prize of six hundred dollars
offered by the National Federation of Music Clubs, for the
best musical score to a Lyric-Dance-Drama, "Pan in
America," which was presented on June 13, 1923, during
the Biennial Convention at Asheville, North Carolina, and

418 AMERICAN OPERA

which has had a later performance at Fort Worth. The
work was really a new form, an Operatic Pageant a com-
bination of lyric drama, dance and pageant.

Beginning in 1920, he has composed a number of short
works for the stage, all in the form of grand opera without
spoken dialogue.

"The Rebel" is a fairy opera in five scenes with many
dances a combination of opera and ballet which was pub-
licly performed in Fort Worth, May 29, 1926. It is a full
evening's entertainment of which the composer was also
librettist.

"Lima Beans is a fanciful opera in one act, for soprano
and baritone, which is an adaptation of a "scherzo play"
with the same name, by Kreymborg, and which has had many
hearings in Texas and Oklahoma. "Alexander's Horse," for
soprano, alto and baritone, to the text of Lord Barry, and
"The Juggler/* for soprano, alto and baritone, and "Dolls"
(an extravaganza), to librettos by Venth, follow the style of
"Lima Beans."

"The Sun God" is an oriental opera in one act, to the
composer's libretto. "Cathal," to the text of Fiona MacLoyd,
is a music drama in one act; while "Jack," another one-act
music drama, is to the text of Earl Hard adapted by the
composer.

JOHN A. VAN BROEKHOVEN

Born at Beek, Holland, on March 23, 1856, and educated
entirely by private teachers, John A. van Broekhoven mi-
grated to America and in 1889 founded in Cincinnati a sym-
phony orchestra which he conducted for several years. He
taught composition at th$ Cincinnati College of Music till

JOHN A. VAN BROEKHOVEN 419

1899, during which years he played, under Theodore Thomas,
the viola in many musical festivals in Cincinnati, Chicago and
New York. In 1905 he moved to New York to give his time
to composition and the teaching of singing. His original
works include a "Creole Suite" and "Columbia Overture" for
orchestra, a string quartet and several pieces for chorus and
orchestra. Mr. van Broekhoven's one-act opera, "A Colonial
Wedding," was produced in 1905, at Cincinnati His opera
in three acts, "Camaralzaman," has not been performed.

XLV

MAX WALD, HARRIET WARE, RICHARD HENRY

WARREN, CLARENCE CAMERON WHITE,

GEORGE E. WHITING, T. CARL WHIT-

MER, GUY BEVIER WILLIAMS,

FREDERICK ZECH

MAX WALD

Max Wald, who was to learn to play the piano alone and
to write his first music without a teacher, was born on July
14th of 1889. His father was German and his mother a na-
tive of Illinois. He later studied piano, harmony, composi-
tion and orchestration at the American Conservatory of Chi-
cago ; and, after teaching several years in this school, he went
to Paris for supplementary work under Vincent d'Indy. In
1925 he returned to America but soon went back to Paris to
teach the theory of music and to act as a coach for singers.
Several of his compositions have been performed by leading
orchestras of America. On May 8, 1932, he received for his
symphonic poem, "The Dancer Dead," the second prize of
twenty-five hundred dollars offered by the National Broad-
casting Company for symphonic works, in its 1931 com-
petition.

An opera, "Mirandolina," begun in 1930, is near comple-
tion. It is a lyrical comedy with its libretto by the composer
and based on the "La Locandiera" of Carlo Goldoni, which
served a similar purpose for Hadley's prize-winning
"Bianca."

420

HARRIET WARE 421

HARRIET WARE

Harriet Ware, composer and pianist, was born at Waupun,
Wisconsin, August 26, 1877, and her father was a musician
and a successful conductor of oratorio. At two and a half
years of age little Harriet would pick out, on her toy piano,
melodies which she had heard sung. Then, still a child, she
was taken to a new family home in Minnesota ; and her early
musical education was obtained at Pillsbury Academy.

At fifteen Miss Ware began study of the piano with Dr.
William Mason and voice with George Sweet, in New York.
Two years there, and she went on to Paris where she studied
singing with Mme. de la Grange and with Juliani and com-
position with Sigismund Stojowski; after which she had a
season of study in composition with Mme. Grunewald, grand-
mother and early teacher of Olga Samaroff, and also with
Hugo Kaun.

On returning to the United States, Miss Ware made her
residence in New York where she was married on December
8, 1913, to Hugh M. Krumhaar, an architect, engineer and
musician, and a native of romantic New Orleans. Miss
Ware's first work of large proportions, which attracted at-
tention in the musical world, was a setting of Edwin Mark-
ham's "Undine" as a one-act opera (or Lyric Tone Poem)
for women's chorus and orchestra with piano solo. The
work was first heard in public when presented by the Eury-
dice Chorus of Philadelphia, with the following cast :

Undine Emma Rihl

Prince Hildebrand John Barnes Wells

Sea-Nymphs; Earth Voices
Conductor Arthur Woodruff

422 AMERICAN OPERA

"Undine" has since been twice on the programs of the
New York Symphony Orchestra, and has also been given by
the Washington, Los Angeles and Marine Band orchestras.
In Baltimore it had a very successful performance as a
Ballet, with the chorus and soloists behind the curtain.

The story of Undine is the old legend of the lovely sea-nymph,
not a human being, and therefore without a soul. Unlike her
companions, content with their joyous span of existence, Undine
chooses sorrow and suffering, the companions of human love,
in order to win a soul. Careless of the warnings of the sea-
maidens, Undine yields to the wooing of Prince Hildebrand,
abetted by the chorus of Earth Voices.

The scene is a fisherman's cot in a forest glade, with the sea
in the distance, and beyond this a landscape of caves and grot-
toes, of willows and wind-bent cypresses.

Miss Ware is at work on an opera, "Priscilla," the libretto
being an adaptation of the early American romance of Miles
Standish and Priscilla Mullen. The story of Longfellow's
poem has been followed, but for operatic requirements has of
necessity been elaborated. Already the work has been ac-
cepted for presentation in New York.

RICHARD HENRY WARREN

Richard Henry Warren, composer, organist and conductor,
was born in Albany, New York, the son of George William
Warren who, among other appointments, was later to be for
ten years organist of Holy Trinity, New York City. Edu-
cated almost entirely by his father, he, too, was successively
the organist of leading New York churches. He founded, in
1886, the Church Choral Society with which he brought out

CLARENCE CAMERON WHITE 423

nany new works Parker's "Hora Novissima" having been
vritten for and inscribed to it.

Mr. Warren's compositions include much church music,
i string quartet, several operettas, and a cantata, "Ticon-
leroga," for soloists, chorus and orchestra. His romantic
>pera, "Phyllis," was written in 1897 and produced at the
Waldorf-Astoria Theater, New York, from May 7 to 21,
1900.

CLARENCE CAMERON WHITE

A leader among musicians of his race is Garence Cameron
White, who was born August 10, 1880, at Clarksville, Tenn-
essee, of Afro-American parents. His serious musical edu-
ration was begun at Oberlin (Ohio) Conservatory of Music
ind was pursued for several years with violin study under
M. Zacharewitsch and composition under Coleridge-Taylor
n London, and with orchestration under Raoul Laparra at
Paris. While in London he was first violinist of the "String
Players Club," said to be the finest string ensemble in Europe.
His "String Quartet on Negro Themes" was played twice in
he 1930-1931 Paris season of the Sinsheimer Quartet.

In America, Mr. White has won a considerable reputation
is a concert violinist. For his achievements as soloist and
:omposer he received on February 9, 1929, the first prize of
tour hundred dollars and a gold medal from the Harmon
Foundation of New York.

This composer's grand opera, "Ouanga (wan-ga)," is writ-
en to a libretto by John F. Matheus. The score was begun
n August of 1930 and finished in August of 1932, while the
romposer was recipient of a grant from the Julius Rosenwald
Foundation. Its story derives from historical events in Haiti
mder the rule of King Dessalines whose efforts to free his

424 AMERICAN OPERA

people from the Voodoo rites bring on rebellion, his own
downfall and his death by revolting soldiers. Selections from
"Ouanga" were performed on November 13, 1932, at The
Three Arts Club of Chicago, at which time the composer re-
ceived the Bispham Medal of the American Opera Society of
Chicago.

GEORGE E. WHITING

George Elbridge Whiting, long one of America's leading
organists, and among her most prolific composers, was born
at Holliston, Massachusetts, September 14, 1842, and died
at Cambridge, October 14, 1923. Of great musical pre-
cocity, he began lessons from his brother, Amos, organist of a
Springfield church, when but five years of age. At thirteen
he made his debut as organist, and two years later he went to
Hartford where he succeeded Dudley Buck as organist of
the North Congregational Church during his absence in
Europe, and also organized the well-known Beethoven
Society.

His advanced studies were with G. W. Morgan of New
York and W. T. Best of Liverpool, England, with a season
in Berlin for harmony with Haupt and orchestration with
Radecke. He was organist for the opening of Cincinnati
Music Hall in 1878 and remained for some years to officiate
at this, then the largest organ in America, and at the same
time taught organ and composition in the College of Music.
During his career he officiated at several of the country's
other large organs and was for many years a teacher in the
New England Conservatory of Music.

In composition Mr. Whiting essayed almost every form
from the simple song to the symphony. He wrote great quan-
tities of music for the church service, including two masses

T. CARL WHITMER 425

with orchestra. Of cantatas he wrote "Tale of the Viking/'
"Dream Pictures/' "March of the Monks of Bangor," "Mid-
night" and "Henry of Navarre." His one-act opera, "Lenore
(Lenora)" was written in 1893. Strangely enough, with all
his Americanism, Mr. Whiting wrote this opera to an Italian
libretto probably influenced by the taste and opportunities
of the times to offer this sop to the gods presiding over the
destinies of serious opera in our country. It, nevertheless,
was certain to be American in the nature and treatment of its
musical score,

T. CARL WHITMER

Thomas Carl Whitmer, composer, teacher, organist and
writer, was born at Altoona, Pennsylvania, June 24, 1873.
He was educated at Franklin and Marshall College and later
studied piano, organ and composition in Philadelphia and
New York, under such masters as W. W. Gilchrist, Charles
Jarvis and S. P. Warren. In 1889 he became music director
of Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri, which post he held
till called to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he has taught
while officiating at the organ of the Sixth Presbyterian
Church.

Aside from many songs, choruses and compositions for
the piano, Mr. Whitmer has written in the larger forms a
"Poem of Life/ 1 for piano and orchestra, which was per-
formed in Pittsburgh on December 30, 1914; a motet on
Psalm LXXXIV, first performed by the Cecilia Choir of
Western Theological Seminary and published in 1916; and
an "Elegiac Rhapsody" for contralto, chorus and orchestra ;
a sonata for violin and piano ; and with these he has been a
contributor to leading musical journals.

426 AMERICAN OPERA

For the stage Mr. Whitmer has written the text and musi-
cal score of a cycle of six Spiritual Music Dramas in the
form of a modern version of the "Mysteries" of the Middle
Ages.

"The Creation" is in two acts interpreted by three char-
acters.

"The Covenant" has a Prologue, a Ballet, and three acts,
which require twelve chief characters and a multitude of
men, women and children.

"The Nativity," with a Prologue and two acts, employs
fifteen characters and choruses of women's and of mixed
voices.

"The Temptation," in two acts musically connected, uses
five characters with a crowd.

"Mary Magdalene," in two acts, has ten singing characters
and a ballet.

"The Passion," in five acts, requires a Children's Ballet,
Solo Dancer, Chorus of Men, Chorus of Women, Mixed
Chorus, Multitudes, and with these the Epilogue employs
twenty-nine soloists.

The ballet, "A Syrian Night," is conceived in four parts:
The Night Lights, with Stars, Shooting Star, Moon and
Comet in group formations ; Thv Asp Death, by a solo dancer ;
The Sucking Bees, a trio dance ; and Sunrise, by Male and
Female Sun Worshipers, the Sun (posed dancer) and Guests.
This ballet music was played as an Orchestral Suite on Oc-
tober 30, 1921, in Paris, under the baton of Francis Casade-
sus, and has been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra
under Leopold Stokowski.

At La Grange, near Poughkeepsie, New York, Mr. Whit-
mer has inaugurated a movement for the production of these
Spiritual Music Dramas and other similar works, with the
hope that it may become an American Oberammergau.

FREDERICK ZECK 427

GUY BEVIER WILLIAMS

Guy Bevier Williams, pianist-composer, is a native of De-
troit, Michigan, who has been heard as soloist with many of
our leading orchestras. His opera, "The Master Thief/' is
written to a libretto by Frances Tipton, with its story in the
nature of an Arabian Nights tale.

FREDERICK ZECH

Frederick Zech, Jr., composer, conductor and pianist, was
born in Philadelphia, May 10, 1858, of a very musical mother
and a father who was a maker of pianos. He was taken to
San Francisco as a child, educated in the public schools and
with private teachers, and had as piano instructors, L. Heck-
manns and R. Schumacher. Going to Berlin in 1877, he
spent seven years in study of the piano with Kullak, theory
with Breslaur and composition with F. Neumann, after which
he returned to San Francisco where he since has been active
as teacher of piano, and as organizer and conductor of sym-
phony concerts.

Of symphonies he has written four. Of symphonic poems,
he wrote, in 1898, "The Eve of St. Agnes"; in 1902,
"Lamia," after Keats' poem, and "The Raven," after Poe;
and in 1909, "The Wreck of the Hesperus," after Longfel-
low. Also four piano concertos, a violin concerto, a violon-
cello concerto, a Piano Quintet in C-minor, two string quar-
tets, a piano trio, and many solo compositions have come from
his fancy. All his symphonic poems have been heard in San
Francisco and in Germany.

Of operas Mr. Zech has written two, neither of which has
been produced. The first, "La Paloma," is in three acts,

428 AMERICAN OPERA

of a Spanish flavor, and to a libretto by Mrs. M. Fair-
weather. A second opera is on a large scale a real North
American Indian Opera, "Wa-Kin-Yon ; or, The Passing of
the Red Men,' 1 with the libretto again by Mrs. Fairweather.

Too LATE FOR DETAILS AND CLASSIFICATION

"Daphne; or, The Pipes of Pan," with its musical score
by Arthur Bird, to a libretto by Marguerite Merrington, was
performed at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel of New York, on
December 13, 1897. As it was produced at the Bagby Morn-
ing Musicales, it probably was in one act. Mr. Bird is one
of our gifted composers who for many years has made Berlin
his home.

"The Legend of Wiwaste (wee-wah-ste)," by E. Earle
Blakeslee, is an Indian opera, produced at Ontario, Cali-
fornia, in the early summer of 1927, with Tsianina (the
Creek-Cherokee soprano) in the title role. It is founded on
an old Dacotah legend, and the music is developed largely
from Indian melodies and motives. It is a picture of In-
dian life before the coming of the White Man, and makes
use of such famous ceremonials as the Feast of the Virgins,
the Feast of Hekoya, the Calumet Ceremony, and of char-
acteristic Indian dances. Mr. Blakeslee is a native of Colo-
rado and his musical education was obtained in the University
of Denver, in New York, and from Maestro Cannone of
Rome.

Robert Braine's three-act opera, "The Wandering Jew,"
had a private audition in New York, on May 4, 1927. The
libretto is by the British author, E. Temple Thurston, and
is based on the well-known play of the same name. Mr.

TOO LATE FOR DETAILS AND CLASSIFICATION 429

Braine is a native of Springfield, Ohio ; is the son of Robert
Braine, the eminent violinist and authority on violin lore,
and was educated in America. He is known as a composer
of successful songs, and for his setting of Poe's "The
Raven," for baritone voice and instrumental ensemble.

"The White Sister," a romantic opera by Clement Giglio,
was presented at Paterson, New Jersey, early in April of
1927. Its libretto is based on Marion Crawford's novel of
the same name.

Arthur Hadley's "Azora" had a performance on December
26, 1917, by the Chicago Opera Association, with Anna
Fitziu, Cyrena van Gordon and Forrest Lamont in the cast
and the composer conducting.

"Harold's Dream," an opera by Eugen Haile, had a private
performance on June 30, 1933, at Woodstock, New York.
The composer was born in 1873, at Ulm on the Danube,
migrated to the United States in 1903, and died in August,
1933. Aside from about two hundred songs and a violin
sonata, he wrote the music for a spoken opera, "The Happy
Ending," produced in 1916, by Arthur Hopkins, in New
York. "Harold's Dream" was written to a German libretto
which was translated into English. Another opera, "Viola
d'Amore," was completed shortly before the composer's
death.

Benjamin Lambord, born at Portland, Maine, in 1879, and
died in 1915, received his musical training mostly from Whit-
ing, MacDowell and Rybner. He left a partly written opera,
"Woodstock."

Dr. Derrick N. Lehmer, of the University of California,
has written "The Harvest," a musical folk drama based on

430 AMERICAN OPERA

the conflict between the agricultural Pueblo Indians and the
less domesticated tribes of the desert the Redman's version
of the eternal conflict between good and evil. It was pre-
sented at the Theater of the Legion of Honor, at San Jose,
on October 14, 1933, by the Chamber Opera Singers.

"Chula," an opera in three acts by George Liebling, and
with its libretto by the composer's sister Alice, is based on
life in the Texas frontiers in 1849, with reminiscences of
New York, Scotland and California worked into the tale.
The work is completed for orchestra.

Francis William Richter was born at Minneapolis in 1888.
His musical education was finished under Leschetizky, Gold-
mark and Guilmant ; and he has appeared as pianist, mostly
in European cities and our Western States. He has written
an opera, "The Grand Nazar."

"Gagliarda of a Merry Plague" is a one-act "chamber
opera" with its libretto and musical score by Lazare Samin-
sky. Its story is derived from "The Masque of the Red
Death," by Edgar Allan Poe. The work was first performed
at the Times Square Theater of New York, on February 22,
1925.

Henry Betheul Vincent, born at Denver, Colorado, in 1872,
and educated under Sherwood, Paul and Widor, has attained
success as an organist and choral conductor. He has an
opera, "Esperanza," in manuscript.

Louis Campbell-Tipton and Florizel von Reuter were born
and received much of their musical training in the United
States ; but the former spent most of his professional life in
Paris and the latter has lived most of his mature years in
Germany, so their operas will not be claimed as American.

TOO LATE FOR DETAILS AND CLASSIFICATION 431

The following more or less serious operas of varying
lengths have been found reliably mentioned. Unfortunately,
some writers have used the word "opera" rather loosely,
which leads to uncertainty. However, these are listed with
the hope that further research may relieve this obscurity.
They are: "L'Afrique," by W. C. McCreery (1851-1901);
"The Alcalde," by F. Barry (1863- ) ; "Last of the Mo-
hicans," by E. C. Phelps (1827- ) ; "Ponce de Leon,"
by B. E. Leavitt (1860- ) ; "Ulysses," by W. H. Neid-
linger (1863-1924) ; "Xitria," by E. T. Potter (1831-1904) ;
and "The Night-Watch" (1871), by T. R. Reese.

How many scores are lying hidden away in composers'
desks will, perhaps, never be known. The difficulty of getting
certain data relative to some, as well as the persistence with
which others constantly come to light, warrants the belief
that many are yet to be discovered. Nevertheless, our effort
towards creating a national opera has been such that of it we
need not be ashamed. The three hundred and thirty-one
works for the musical stage, by one hundred and sixty-nine
composers, here recorded, indicate no insignificant accom-
plishment. While contemplating all this, the true source of
greatest gratification is found in that in all their achieve-
ments is discovered an omen that in reality our creators of
opera are beginning verily to find themselves.

The David Bispham Memorial Medal of the American
Opera Society of Chicago was awarded, on March 9, 1926, to
Charles Frederick Carlson, for his "Phelias" ; to S. H. Har-
will, for his "Bella Donna" ; and to Clarence Loomis, for his
"Yolanda of Cyprus." On October 22, 1933, this same award
was made to Bernard Rogers for his lyric drama, "The
Marriage of Aude,"

XLVI
BALLET AND MASQUE

The Masque, one of the earliest of the "Sports of Kings,"
and a forerunner of the opera, and the Ballet, a later develop-
ment and really an opera interpreted by the pantomimic
dance, are so closely related to the more popular form of art
that there should be here a sufficient record to indicate
something of what our composers have accomplished in
these forms.

In our Colonial days pantomimes of a primitive nature
were popular; but the first ballet of American origin,
of which we have authenticated record, was "Two Philoso-
phers/' produced in New York on February 3, 1793. This
was followed by "Wood Cutters'* which was based on "Le
Bucheron," a ballet brought out by Philidor in 1763. Nor
had the metropolis yet risen to a dictatorial position, for in
the provincial but socially elect community of Alexandria,
Virginia, and for June 13, 1799, was announced "A New
Ballet" called "A Trip to Curro," by Mr. Warrell. These
performances, as well as many pantomimes and pantomime
ballets, furnished frequent amusement in the closing years
of the eighteenth century.

Then came a great falling off of this form of entertain-
ment and popular diversion drifted into other channels.
Little in this line, that would be worthy of our attention
here, was done until in the musical awakening of the closing
decades of the nineteenth century we read of Louis A.

432

BALLET AND MASQUE 433

Coerne having written and produced a ballet, "Evadne,"
while a student in Germany during 1890-1893. However,
American ballet seemed not definitely to "arrive" until on
March 23, 1918, Henry F. Gilbert's "Dance in Place Congo"
was presented at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The
distinctional flavor of this literally took the critics and public
by the ears so that other composers breathed hope and dared.
In the following year the "Boudour," a graceful Persian
conceit, by Felix Borowski, was produced in Chicago.

To the present the palms for popular approval seem to
rest with Julius Mattfeld, a gifted New York composer,
American born and American trained. His "Virgins of the
Sun" had its first interpretation on any stage at the Green-
wich Village Theater of New York, on September 11, 1922,
and reached its one hundredth performance. Musically it
is a direct descendant, though no copy, of Debussy; and a
Temple Dance is its most ingratiating number. The story is
a transcription of a Peruvian myth in which a mortal strays
into the Sun God's garden, awakes mortal love in the chaste
bosoms of the deity's daughters, who realize too late their
error and, to conceal their transgression, cast their lover
over a precipice. In the twilight, however, their frailty is
revealed to the father, and they perish, blighted by his curse.

"Sooner and Later," a Dance Satire in three parts, by
Irene Lewisohn, with music by Emerson Whithorne, was
first produced at the Neighborhood Playhouse of New York,
on March 31, 1925, and ran steadily till April 26. 'The
Rivals," by Henry Eichheim, was produced in Chicago, in
the same year. It is a Chinese ballet for which the rural
and urban folk tunes were collected and developed while the
composer was a resident of the Celestial Empire (now
Republic).

Best known of American ballet composers is John Aldeti

434 AMERICAN OPERA

Carpenter, born at Park Ridge (Chicago), Illinois, February
28, 1876, and musically educated by such eminent authorities
as Amy Fay, W. C. E. Seeboeck, John K. Paine, Edward
Elgar and Bernhard Ziehn. Primarily a business man, music
^-especially its composition has been to him a beloved and
vital avocation. His first work in larger form to attract
wide notice was an orchestral suite, "Adventures in a Per-
ambulator,'* which soon found a place on the programs of
leading orchestras.

His first ballet, "Birthday of the Infanta/ 5 following the
original story of Oscar Wilde, had its premiere by the
Chicago Opera Company, December 23, 1919, under the
direction of Adolph Bolm, who also played the leading part
of the Dwarf, with Ruth Page as the Infanta, and Louis
Hasselmans conducting. It was revived by the same com-
pany in 1921, with the Pavley-Oukrainsky Ballet, and per-
formed in both Chicago and New York. "Krazy Kat," a
second ballet or Jazz Pantomime based on the "Krazy Kat"
newspaper cartoons of George Herriman, was first per-
formed at the Town Hall, New York, January 20, 1922,
repeated once, and then for a short period incorporated in
the Greenwich Village Follies.

Mr. Carpenter's impressionistic tendencies in composition
were given a rather free rein in his "Skyscrapers," a ballet
on American work and American play, which was commis-
sioned by the Serge Diaghilev Ballet for Monte Carlo but
not produced there and so had its world's premiere at the
Metropolitan Opera of New York on February 19, 1926.
Music News then said, "It has no story, in the usually ac-
cepted sense, but proceeds on the simple fact that American
life reduces itself essentially to violent alternations of work
and play, each with its own peculiar and distinctive rhythmic

BALLET AND MASQUE 435

character" ; to which W. J. Henderson added that it is "some-
thing American which is decidedly good."

Blair Fairchild was born at Belmont, Massachusetts, and
educated at Harvard where his musical studies were under
John K. Paine and Walter R. Spalding. Later he studied
with Buonamici in Florence and while there wrote the first
book of his song cycle "Stornelli Toscani." Afterwards he
was under the guidance of Widor and Gannaye in Paris;
and there his orchestral sketch, "Tamineh," was played at
the Concerts-Lamoureux in 1918.

December 7, 1921 had a precedent-making evening when
his ballet, "Dame Libellule (Lady Dragonfly)," was pro-
duced at the Opera Comique of Paris the first work of an
American-born composer to be presented in a government
subsidized theater of France.

The story is a fanciful "dumb- fable" in which the Toad
basks in the sun while the Lizard and Tumble Bug drive away
the dancing Bees. Then comes Lady Dragonfly; and in the con-
test for her favor the Tumble Bug can only turn somersaults,
while the Toad and Lizard dance. Lady Dragonfly does her
most bewitching dances before the Toad and Lizard, till in their
frenzy they fight a duel with quills from the Porcupine. She is
about to accept the attentions of the victorious Lizard when the
Butterfly appears and in her fickleness she dances before him;
but he flits away, with Lady Butterfly soon to follow ; at which
the Toad dies amidst sorrowing Frogs while the broken-hearted
Lizard lies motionless on a rock.

As early as 1757 the "Masque of Alfred," by Dr. Thomas
A. Arne, was presented by the students of the College of
Philadelphia. These masques flourished in our Colonial and
Revolutionary periods, but fell into disuse as the opera rose
into favor. However, the approach of the twentieth century

436 AMERICAN OPERA

brought a renaissance of interest in this colorful entertain-
ment. In its growth among us there have been two signifi-
cant tendencies : universities and colleges have given an im-
petus to the revival of the classic masque of the older literary
masters, while in another direction there has been a drift
toward the spirit of the community function.

Literary men of distinction, such as Percy Mackaye, Will
Irwin, Porter Garnett and Charles K. Field, have lent their
pens to the creating of texts for these pageantries ; while
such eminent musicians as Walter Damrosch, Frederick
S. Converse, Reginald deKoven, Charles Wakefield Cad-
man and others, have created scores for their accompaniment
which not only have won local approval but also have found
their way to the programs of choral societies and symphony
orchestras. Notable among these have been "Sanctuary, A
Bird Masque," first performed in Meriden, New Hampshire,
on September 11 and 12, 1913. It has been produced at the
Hotel Astor, New York, at many communities and estates,
and in 1916 had one hundred and seventy performances on
the Redpath Chautauqua Circuit, from Jacksonville, Florida,
to Wisconsin, closing at Chicago on September 11. "St.
Louis ; A Civic Masque," was given four times in Jefferson
Park, St. Louis, in May, 1914, with more than a thousand
participants. Both were the products of the collaboration
of Mackaye and Converse.

The modern Masque has found its most conspicuous
American expression in the "Grove-Plays" presented at the
"Midsummer High Jinks" of the Bohemian Club of San
Francisco, held at the full moon of each August. For forty-
eight years this organization has been staging an annual
Grove-Play, or Masque, in its Bohemian Grove of giant
redwoods in Sonoma County, California. Beginning with
illuminated spectacles, the productions gradually took on
higher qualities until, with "The Man in the Forest" in

BALLET AND MASQUE

437

1902, the entertainment became a play with the text by one
author and the score by one composer, the music being
thereafter so much an integral part of the performances
that they really became opera with spoken narrative. In
general the aim has been to produce plays inherently of the
forest; and that part of this book devoted to William J.
McCoy gives an outline of the plot of "The Cave Man"
which was given in 1910 and may well serve as a model.
A list of the works produced is given:

Author

Gompoier

1902

"The Man in the Forest"

Charles K. Field

Joseph D. Redding

1903

"Montezuma"

Louis A. Robertson

Humphrey J. Stewart

1904

"The Hamadryads"

Will Irwin

William J. McCoy

1905

"The Quest of the Gorgon"

Newton Tharp

Theodor Vogt

1906

"The Owl and Care"

Charles K. Field

Humphrey J. Stewart

1907
1908

"The Triumph of Bohemia"
"The Sons of Baldur"

George Sterling
Herman Scheffauer

Edwin F. Schneider
Arthur Weiss

1909

"St. Patrick at Tara"

H. Morse Stephens

Wallace A. Sabin

1910

"The Cave Man"

Charles K. Field

William J. McCoy

1911

"The Green Knight"

Porter Garnett

Edward Stricklen

1912

"The Atonement of Pan"

Joseph D. Redding

Henry Hadley

1913

"The Fall of Ug"

Rufus Steele

Herman Perlet

1914

"Nec-Natama"

J. Wilson Shiels

Uda Waldrop

1915

"Apollo"

Frank Pucley

Edwin F. Schneider

1916

"Gold"

F. 8. Myrtle

Humphrey J. Stewart

1917

"The Land of Happiness"

Charles T. Crocker

Joseph D. Redding

1918
1919

"Twilight of the Kings"

"Life"

R. M. Hotaling
Harry Leon Wilson

Wallace A. Sabin
Domenico Brescia

1920

"Illya of Marom"

Charles C. Dobie

Ulderico Marcelli

1921

"John of Nepomuk'*

Clay M. Greene

Humphrey J. Stewart

1922

"Rout of the Philistines"

C. G. Norris

Nino Marcelli

1923

"Semper Virens"

Joseph D. Redding

Henry Hadley

1924

"Rajvara"

Roy Noilly

Wheeler Beckett

1925
1926

"Wings"
"Truth"

Joseph 8. Thompson
George Sterling

George Edwards
Domenico Brescia

"The Masque of the American Drama," with its libretto
by Albert Edmund Twombly and the musical score by
Reginald deKoven, was given spectacular performances for
six nights and a matinee, from May 14 to May 19, 1917, in
a specially constructed open-air theater in the Botanical
Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
with about seven hundred people in the ballet, chorus and
orchestra.

438 AMERICAN OPERA

Among out-of-doors entertainments the Apostle Islands
Indian Pageant, at Bayfield, Wisconsin, is of historic in-
terest. Here, from the natural heights overlooking the
Cradle of Wisconsin's History, with the wooded slopes on
one side and the shining blue waters of Lake Superior on
the other, and with the cooperation of hundreds of the
descendants of the aborigines, is enacted each year episodes
from the picturesque though tragic story of the Red Man
showing in artful detail the early free forest life of the
Indian Fathers and the pitiable downfall of a once powerful
coppered people as it wavered before the dominating influence
of the Whites. Of particular interest is the Classic Indian
Opera performed at night, the themes, words and music
of which have been especially written to conform with
American Indian events and customs, with a full orchestra
of instruments adapted to the special effects of the weird
Indian music.

XLVII
LATE GESTURES TO SUCCESS

The first quarter of the twentieth century closed with
encouragement smiling on the American composer. Added
to three important operatic premieres, 1925 recorded three
significant "firsts" in American music. Our leading opera
company, the Metropolitan, set a laudable precedent by com-
missioning Deems Taylor to write a work for its stage.
Walter Damrosch kept company by a contract with George
Gershwin to furnish a "Jazz Piano Concerto" to have its
first performance by the composer with the New York
Symphony Orchestra. Then the Morning Telegraph of
New York tethered itself to musical history when, as the
first among the newspapers of all time, it subsidized its
music critic Theodore Stearns while he sought a congenial
atmosphere in Capri, to finish the score of his opera,
"Atlantis."

Neither were these the end; for in the first years of the
second quarter of the century encouraging indeed are the
reports of awakening interest in opera throughout the United
States. One after another, the larger cities from coast to
coast are realizing what opera means as a cultural medium in
community life; one after another they have been taking
their places in the great movement toward the encourage-
ment of this form of art. Opera study clubs, operatic
societies, and American Opera foundations, springing up
here and there, are concrete demonstrations of an aroused

439

440 AMERICAN OPERA

consciousness of a more general obligation toward the propa-
gation of this most elaborate of the musical forms.

The American Grand Opera Company of Portland,
Oregon, with E. Bruce Knowlton as founder and director-
general, has been incorporated for the purpose of presenting
unpublished grand operas by American composers, its chief
object being to encourage the writing of grand opera by
our composers and to promote the growth and development
of these composers by allowing them to hear their works.

The Los Angeles Grand Opera Company, under the direc-
tion of Richard Hageman, gave in their spring season of
1926 six operas in five evenings, one being a double bill.
There were a chorus of sixty local singers, an orchestra of
fifty men selected from the Los Angeles Symphony Orches-
tra, local singers in seventeen minor roles and guest artists
for the leading ones. San Francisco shares equally in the
movement; and the two cities are planning a cooperative
organization to carry opera to all Pacific communities of
any size.

With splendid backing and such an authority as Oscar
Saenger at the helm, an American Opera Comique is planned,
an organization which shall produce with American talent
both the translations of the best known foreign operas, and
those written by American composers. Without intent to
antagonize any existing movement, there is the purpose to
give operas in English, composed by Americans, presented
by Americans, and sung by Americans.

The American Opera Foundation of Cincinnati began its
activities by the production of Lyford's "Castle Agrazant"
on April 29-30, 1926. The Denver Music Week Association
gives one American opera each year. Asheville, North
Carolina, supports no local company, but in August of each
year since 1920 it has had a one- week festival of opera by the

LATE GESTURES TO SUCCESS 441

San Carlo Opera Company. The Festival of Music at Con-
neaut Lake, Pennsylvania, added, in 1926, a series of six
performances of opera in English by the Rochester Opera
Company. And, while on this thought, perhaps no city of
its size has outdone Canton, Ohio, where, largely through
the initiative and leadership of Rachel Frease Green, the
Canton Grand Opera Company gives each season two grand
operas, its last achievement being a production of "Faust"
in an all-Canton performance with the exception of Henri
Scott as guest artist in his famous role of Mephistopheles.

At the American Theater for Musical Productions, of the
Chicago Musical College, it is purposed to present works
by native composers operas, ballets, pantomimes and other
compositions for the musical stage and that it shall pre-
pare artists for the interpretation of them. A National
Academy of Opera, at Washington, is in process of organ-
ization, with sixty thousand dollars already pledged to its
endowment. St. Louis supports a training school to de-
velop talent for the summer opera at Forest Park. The
New England Conservatory offers a complete course in
preparation for opera, as do the Eastman School of Music,
the Cincinnati College of Music, the Muhlmann School of
Opera, of Chicago, and other institutions.

The National Opera Club of America, Incorporated, is
a New York organization formed in 1914, by the Baroness
Katherine von Klenner. Its slogan is ''Opera for Americans
not alone American Opera," though it has done much to
encourage the native composer. One of its main objectives
has been "to educate audiences in operatic music so that
they might demand municipal, civic and state opera through-
out the United States, and this at a price within the reach
of all."

The following organizations were actively producing opera

442 AMERICAN OPERA

in the United States for the season 1926-1927, with grand
opera as all or part of their repertoire:

New York:

Metropolitan Opera Company

San Carlo Opera Company

Hinshaw Opera Comique Company

Manhattan Opera Company

Century Opera Company

De Feo Opera Company

May Valentine Opera Company

Municipal Opera Company

National Opera Company of America

National Opera Guild

Puccini Opera Company

Opera Players, The

Valdo Freeman Opera Company

Zuro Opera Company
Philadelphia :

Philadelphia Grand Opera Company

Philadelphia Operatic Society

Philadelphia-La Scala Opera Company

Philadelphia Civic Opera Company

Catholic Operatic Society

Savoy Opera Company
Chicago :

Chicago Civic Opera Company

Ravinia Opera Company
Civic Companies:

American Grand Opera Company of Portland (Oregon)

Atlanta Grand Opera Company (Georgia)

Boston Civic Opera Company

Canton Grand Opera Company (Ohio)

Cincinnati Civic Opera Company

Cleveland Grand Opera Company (Ohio)

Dallas Opera Company (Texas)

Denver Music Week Association (Colorado)

Kansas City Grand Opera Company (Missouri)

Los Angeles Grand Opera Association (California)

LATE GESTURES TO SUCCESS 443

New Orleans Civic Opera Association (Louisiana)

Oakland Opera Company (California)

Rochester Opera Company (New York)

Salt Lake City Opera Company (Utah)

San Diego Civic Grand Opera Association (California)

San Francisco Grand Opera Company (California)

Savannah Civic Opera Association (Georgia)

Seattle Civic Opera Company (Washington)

St. Louis Summer Opera Company (Missouri)

Washington Opera Company (District of Columbia)

Zoo Opera Company (Cincinnati)

The California Federation of Music Clubs offered, in the
summer of 1926, a prize of two hundred and fifty dollars for
an opera in one act by a California composer. A good
example to organizations of other states, for the encourage-
ment of local talent!

The Metropolitan and the Chicago opera companies are
wonderful organizations and have made a prodigious con-
tribution to the musical culture of America ; but, unfortu-
nately, along with this they have sown the spirit of "star
worship," which has made the production of good second-
class opera most precarious. And yet opera for the smaller
cities must of necessity lack the lodestone of the sensational
soprano's or tenor's name and must make its greatest artistic
contribution in the form of fine ensemble, an estate attained
only through a series of more or less inferior offerings.

We will become a really opera-loving and opera-under-
standing nation whenever our smaller communities rid them-
selves of their infection of operatic jumboism. They now
have too long clung to the idea of "Metropolitan opera, or
none." The consequence has been, generally none. And,
with this attitude, it will so remain; for no such organiza-
tion has any place on the road or in a theater other than
of mammoth proportions. Scores of American communities

444 AMERICAN OPERA

will have their local opera, as similar ones have in Europe,
when they are but willing to have it on a scale suited to
their resources.

Italy developed a great operatic art because in its com-
paratively small area a little more than one-thirty-third
of that of the United States it supports more than sixty
opera houses giving regular seasons of the nation's best
works. La Scala, the Costanzi, San Carlo and La Fenice
give original production to a few creations of acknowledged
masters of writing for the stage; but it is the smaller
theater of the provincial city that is the laboratory in which
the aspiring young composer tests his work and "finds his
wings" for flight that will carry him into the realms of
higher art and to world recognition. Germany has fol-
lowed in the same course. France and England have begun
to reap the benefits of a similar plan. And therein lies our
lesson.

The managers of these smaller opera houses, and the
composers who wish the benefits thereof, must be willing
to forego much of the glamor of the Metropolitan and
Auditorium. They will have to be content with singers,
not stars; and of the two the former often are much the
better as musicians and the superior as artistic interpreters,
lacking only some insinuating mannerism accepted as per-
sonality. The orchestras will of necessity be small; the
staging will be modest. Nevertheless, prodigality on the
stage or in the orchestra pit has nothing to do with art.
The composer who can create a work as spontaneous as
"The Marriage of Figaro" (modest as are its scenic and
orchestral demands though it does require real musicians
both behind and before the proscenium) and will work
this out at a smaller theater into a production which is
beautiful in its ensemble, will be making one of the greatest

LATE GESTURES TO SUCCESS 445

possible contributions to American Musical Art for the
Stage.

Towards this end of presenting to cities and hamlets
alike the cultural advantages of the musical drama, many
schools, foundations and individuals are striving, hoping,
by taking the best possible opera to the door of remote com-
munities, to make America as great in the realm of music
as she is in the financial and political worlds.

XLVIII
THE DAWNING

Recognition of the American composer, if rather tardy,
has in the last few years become somewhat of a vogue.
Not only our two major companies but also those of lesser
pretensions, our civic operatic organizations as well as special
efforts in smaller communities ; all these are asking for
American works suitable for their purposes. Thus, Ameri-
can composers, who already have written operas which may
have been long shelved, again may hope to see these on
the stage; and others, who have been waiting for these en^
outraging symptoms, may well be busy on new works.

The composer of American Opera deserves the support of
every American who has the best interests of his country
at heart; for, inevitably, with the cultivation of the arts
comes a broader and deeper civilization and a culture that
is based on realities. Unfortunately, the tragedy of our
struggles toward musical freedom has been that most of
American Operas which have been produced have had but
few hearings and then have been given a long, last rest.
Which must have inspired Percy Mackaye, in his preface to
"The Immigrants," to write so pertinently: "The dramatic
structure and use of words which result in these distinctive
art-forms of drama are conditioned not by publication but
by production." So, if an American School of Opera (in
its broad and best sense) is to be developed, there must
be performances of meritorious works by Americans, even
though these be not always masterpieces. Interpretative

446

THE DAWNING 447

artists there will be always; but the creative artist cannot
be so easily found; and, if we do not make it possible for
him to live, and for his works to be published and heard t
he will be crushed out of existence. Instead of so many
scholarships to send Americans away from home, why not
a Foundation to develop them at home where the best of
everything in the way of instruction in and the study of the
allied arts is at hand?

With all this said in their favor, still American com-
posers for the stage must not become peevish because their
products are not promptly presented by one of the larger
organizations. It is but recent history that "La Figlia del
Re" by Lualdi, after receiving a first award in the fourth
of the McCormick contests, knocked at the doors of Italian
impresarios for four years before finding one willing to
allow it to look over his footlights.

The movement in favor of our native composers is gain-
ing momentum. The country is represented by an increasing
number of able writers ; and they are getting far more at-
tention, both from our conductors of leading orchestras and
from the dictators of the policies of our larger opera com-
panies, than was true up to the very recent past. Further-
more, performances of American works abroad are becoming
so frequent as to be taken almost as a matter of course. In
England, in France, in Germany, in Italy, the names of
American composers find honored places on festival and
routine programs. Along with these, in but little beyond a
year, "Sakahra," "Dame Libellule" and "Fay-Yen-Fah," by
Americans, have had their world premieres in European
opera houses.

A prime musical need of America is confidence in our-
selves. In taste, in quality of inspiration, and in individ-
uality, "Shanewis," "Natoma," "Rip Van Winkle," "The

448 AMERICAN OPERA

Canterbury Pilgrims/' "A Light from St. Agnes/' "Alglala,"
"The King's Henchman," "Peter Ibbetson" and "Merry
Mount" are the equals of many and a distinct improvement
upon some foreign importations of recent years.

We have been too much afraid to approve of any art
achievement which had not upon it the stamp of European
favor. The last decade has seen an awakening along this
line. In not a few instances our ventured judgment has
squared with that of the greater world. We have served
our apprenticeship to the muse, have in fact proved our-
selves worthy of a membership in her world guild, and are
now quite able to stand by opinions of our own. Con-
sequently one greatest present need is the cutting loose
entirely from overseas domination of our art life, thus
heartening those creative and re-creative artists who would
advance our musical boundaries beyond their present limits.

"The Great American Opera*' is yet to be written. For
it all loyal believers in the destinies of our native art have
been and are looking. And our composers will not disappoint
us. High ideals, coupled with sincere, consecrated devotion,
will in the end, and that end may be soon, produce that
miracle for which we have been looking an opera on a
distinctly American theme treated from an American view-
point, with an American technique, and this set to music
which is the natural expression of the methods of thought
of a composer who has been developed in an American
environment.

The annals of American Art are young. Only the initial
pages have been written. If in their records all is not of
glory, still there is much that proves the earnestness anc
high ideals of those early men and women who have beer
reaching out toward a loftier form of national musical life
Often the courage of the pioneer has been theirs. It was the)

THE DAWNING 449

who blazed the trail over which our later composers might
follow into the far places of a great art.

Longfellow beautifully said, "The setting of a great hope
is like the setting of the sun"; and aptly we may develop
the figure by carrying it on into : The realization of a
great dream is as the radiant breaking of a beautifid day.
And that day of the Native American Opera is at hand !

450 AMERICAN OPERA

NECROLOGY

Browne, J. Lewis : October 23, 1933.

Chadwick, George Whitefield: April 4, 1931.

Edwards, Julian : September 5, 1910.

Fanning, Cecil: December 7, 1931.

Gilbert, Henry F. : May 19, 1928.

Heckscher, Celeste de Longpre : February 28, 1928.

Jones, Abbie Gerrish: February 5, 1929.

McCoy, William J. : October 16, 1926.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following works and files were consulted in seeking
data for this book:

American Composers Hughes and Elson.

American History and Encyclopedia.

America's Position in Music Simpson.

Annals of Music in America Lahee.

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

Book of Musical Knowledge Elson.

Complete Opera Book Kobbe.

Contemporary American Composers Hughes.

Dictionary of Musicians Baltzell.

Dizionario di Musicisti.

Dictionary of National Biography Lee.

Dictionary-Catalogue of Operas and Operettas which have been

Performed on the Public Stage Towers.
Early Opera in America Sonneck.
Encyclopedia Americana.
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
History of American Drama from Its Beginnings to the Civil

War Quinn.

History of American Music Elson.
History of the Early Eighteenth Century Drama Nicoll.
History of Opera, A Elson.

Hopkinson (Francis) and John Lyon O. G. Sonneck.
Hundred Years of Music in America, A Mathews.
Life and Works of Francis Hopkinson George E. Hastings.
Listening Lessons in Music Freyberger.
Miscellaneous Studies in Music Sonneck.
Moore's Encyclopedia of Music.
Music in America Ritter.
My Musical Life Damrosch.
New Encylopedia of Music, The Pratt
1001 Nights of OperaMartens.
Opera Goer's Guide Melitz.
Opera Stories Mason.

451

452 PERIODICALS AND NEWSPAPERS

Our Theaters Today and Yesterday Dimmick.

Standard Operas Upton.

Victor Book of Operas, The.

Who's Who in America.

Who's Who in Music, International.

Who's Who in the Theater.

PERIODICALS AND NEWSPAPERS

Ann Arbor Times-News; Arizona Republican; Associated
Press; Atlanta Constitution; Australian Musical News.

Badischer Beobachter (Karlsruhe); Baltimore Sun; Bayer-
ische Volkszeitung ; Berkeley Gazette (California); Berliner
Borsen-Courier ; Better Homes and Gardens ; Billboard, The .
Boston: Evening Transcript; Globe; Herald; Morning Globe;
Post; Republican; Transcript. Brooklyn Eagle.

Capitol News, Evening; Christian Science Monitor. Chicago:
Daily Journal; Daily News; Evening American; Evening Post;
Herald; Herald-Examiner; Inter-Ocean; Record-Herald; Trib-
une ; and World Today. Cleveland Press ; Cleveland Leader.

Denver News. Detroit: Free Press; News; Times. Duluth
News Tribune, The.

Evanston Index; Evening Capitol News (Boise, Iowa) ; Etude,
The.

Franco- American Music Society Bulletin; Frankfurter Volks-
zeitung.

Hannibal Evening Courier-Post (Missouri). Honolulu: Ad-
vertiser; Star-Bulletin. Houston Chronicle (Texas).

Independent, The.

Landmark, The; League of Composers Review; Liberty;
Lincoln Star (Nebraska). London: Black and White; Daily
Chronicle; Illustrated London News; Monthly, The; Morning
Post; Music and Letters; Music Review; Musical News and
Herald; Musical Observer; Musical Opinion; Musical Standard;
Musical Times; Observer, The; Opera Magazine; Westminster
Gazette. Los Angeles ; Daily Times ; Sunday Times. Louisville
Courier-Journal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 453

Mentor, The; Minneapolis Daily News; Music Lover's Cal-
endar; Music and Musicians; Music News; Music Review, The
New; Music Trades, The; Musical Advance; Musical America;
Musical Courier; Musical Digest; Musical Forecast; Musical
Leader; Musical Quarterly; Musical Review; Musical West;
Musical West and Northwest; Musician, The; Musikalisches
Wochenblatt; Muskegon Chronicle; Maryland Gazette.

Nachrichten (Bremen); Nation, The; National Press Bureau.
Newark (New Jersey): Ledger; Star-Eagle. New York:
American ; Evening Post ; Herald ; L'ltalia ; Mail ; Morning Tele-
graph; Staats-Zeitung ; Sun, The; Times; Tribune; World.
Northwest Musician.

Offenbacher Zeitung; Omaha Bee; Opera; Opera News;
Ottawa Free Trader (Canada) ; Overland Monthly.

Pacific Coast Musical Review; Pacific Coast Musician. Phila-
delphia: Bulletin; Inquirer; North American; Pennsylvania
Chronicle; Pennsylvania Gazette; Poulson's Advertiser; Public
Ledger; Record. Pittsburgh: Despatch; Gazette-Times;
post. Portland (Oregon): Journal; Morning Oregonian;
News; Telegram. Providence Journal (Rhode Island); Provo
Post (Utah); Pueblo Chieftain (Colorado).

Register, The (Des Moines) ; Review of Reviews; Rocky
Mountain News (Denver).

Salt Lake City : Desert News ; Desert Daily News ; Salt Lake
Tribune. San Francisco: Call; Call and Post; Chronicle; Eve-
ning Bulletin; Examiner; Journal. Seattle: Post-Intelligencer;
Times; Town Crier. Shreveport Journal (Louisiana); Signale
(Berlin); Singing; Social Progress; South Bend Tribune (In-
diana) ; Springfield Union (Massachusetts) ; Sunday Bulletin
(Bloomington, Illinois).

Tageblatt (Bremen) ; Times (Erie, Pennsylvania) ; Traveller,
The; Trend, The; Tulsa World (Oklahoma).

Violinist, The; Volkstimme (Frankfurt).

Washington: Herald; Post; Star, Sunday. Weser-Zeitung ;
Western Musical Herald; Western Woman's Outlook.

INDEX

Quotation marks indicate an opera, another large, complex musical work
or a figurative title ; italics signify the name of a character in an opera, of
a song, an instrumental work in simple form, or a newspaper; (L), a
librettist.

ABBEY, SCHOEFFEL, GRAU,

141

Abbott, Emma, 39, 46
Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau. 141
"Abduction from the Seraglio," 51
"Abon Hassan," 277
Aborn Brothers, 43, 261, 413
Aborn English Opera Company, 43,

305
Academy of Music, New York, 32,

85, 207, 209, 311
Academy of Music, Philadelphia, 44,

85, i8i, 209, 210, 225, 244, 355,

397, 403
Acantha, 357
Achilles, 67
"Adelgunde," 168
"Adopted Child, The," 26
Aeljrida, 398
Aethelwold, 398
"Affected Maids, The," 377
"African Kraal, An," 192
"Ahmed al Kamel," 31
"Aida," 44, 47, 71, 169, 177, 180, *74,

396

"Alcalde, The," 431
"Alceste," 10
Alcock, Merle, 398
"Alda," 251

Alda, Frances, 146, 234, 264
Alden, Priscilla and John, 122
Alexander, Hartley Burr (L), 165,

1 66, 284

"Alexander's Horse," 418
"Alfred the Great," 78
"Alglala," 159, 448
All-American Casts. 38, 45, 132
Ail-American Company, 46, 104, 303,

440

All-American Opera, 440
Allen, Paul, 65
Alisoun, 153, 154
"All in a Garden Fair," 407
Althouse, Paul, 45, 88, 105, 152, 264
Am a to, Pasquale, 146
American Academy at Rome, 240

455

American Architecture, 17
American Comic Opera Initiated, 151
American Company, Old, 24
American Composer, The most, no,

120
American Conservatory of Music,

182, 298, 420

"American Farmers, The," 29
American Grand Opera Company, 74,

105, 276, 286, 385, 440
American Guild of Organists, 77, 392
American Music Association, 267
American Musical Art, 16, 17, no,

445

American Ope"ra Comique, 440
American Opera Company, 33, 51,

203, 299, 303, 304, 385
American Opera Company, Born and

Trained, 46
American Opera, Denned, 15, 16, 17,

33, 328, 448
American Opera Foundation, 306,

440
American Opera Society of Chicago,

52, 76, 03, 96, 138, 162, 166, 181,

183, 188, 225, 251, 273, 296, 297,
304, 3*0, 336, 345, 358, 373, 379,
394, 401, 414, 415, 424, 431

American School of Music and
Opera, 16, 18, 20, 23, 31, 32, 51,
55, 83, 156, 253, 411, 446, 448

"American Scribe, The," 115

"American Tar," 26, 28

American Theater for Music Produc-
tions, 198, 414, 441

"American Trilogy," 327, 328

Americanism in Music, 16, 17, 18, 60,
99, 120, 144, 157, 174, 185, 237,
253, 298, 328, 400, 413, 416, 448

Amy Robsart, 285

Ananian, Paolo, 146, 398

"Andalusians, The," 278

Andersen, Hans Christian, 124, 278,

Anderson, Mary, 208
Anderson, Peggy Center, 272

456

THE INDEX

Andrews Opera Company, 227

"Angele," 321

Anghn, Margaret, 142

Anglo-Saxon Operatic Art, 34, 42, 56,
332

Anne Bo wen, 109

Anschutz, Carl, 207

Antheil, George, 65, 66

"Antigone," 377

"Antonio," 288, 361, 363

Antony, 319

Apollo Club, of Chicago, 361

Apostle Islands Indian Pageant, 438

Appleton, Adeline Carola, 65, 69

"Arabian Nights, The," 138, 427

"Aranea," 218

Archer, The, 389

"Archers, The," 25

Arditi, 190

"Ariadne Abandoned," 26

"Armand," in

Armand, 184

Arne. Dr. Thomas A., 435

Arnold, Maurice, 65, 70

Arnstein, Ira B., 65, 71

"Arrangements," 31, 35

Arth, 348

Art Values, 14

"Asra, Der," 90

"Atala," 374, 376

"Athalia,* 193

"Atlantis," 390, 439

"Atonement of Pan, The," 330, 366

Auber, 35, 54

Auburn, King, 349

Auditorium, The (Chicago), 33, 50,
93, 105, 155, 169, 215, 225, 231,
251, 256, 260, 343, 388, 413, 444

Aurelian, 127, 128

"Azara," 352, 353

"Azora," 231, 429

"Aztec Princess, The," 279

BABARINI, L. C. (L), 163

Bach, C. P. E., 25

Bach, Johann Sebastian, 54, 129, 139

Baklanoff, Georges, 155, 252

Balaban, Emanuel, 370

Balatka, Hans, 37

Balfe, 31, 99, *o8

Ballad Opera, 20, 21, 27, 28, 99, 33,

Ballet, 44, 49, 71, 96, 117, 163, 182,
189, 195, 201, 214, 283, 299, 309,
315, 352, 388, 389* 47, 4 4**

Balzer, Hugo, 239

Barbara, 261

"Barbara Frietchie," 79

"Barber of Seville, The," 34, 63, 137

"Bard of Avon, The," 112

Barker, Nelson, 28

Barlow, Howard, 104

Barnes, Clifford, 219

Barnes, H. M. (L), 299

Barnett, John, 36

Barry, F., 431

Bartlett, Homer N., 72, 76, 113

Barton, Andrew, 21

Barton, George Edward, 131, 133

Basil, 116

"Bastien et Bastienne," 47

"Bat, The," 54

"Bayreuth, Master of," 19

Beach, John, 72, 77

Beatrice, 94, 104, 413

Beck, Johann Heinrich, 72, 78, 190

Becktel, F., 72, 78

Beethoven, 118, 129, 149, 379, 385,

404, 424

Beethoven, Ludwig van, 415
"Beggar's Love," 358
"Beggar's Opera, The," 20, 22, 30,

33, 4ii

"Beggar Student, The," 54
"Begum, The," 141
Behrens, Conrad, 143
Behrens, Siegfried, 44, 291
Beiswenger, Anna J. (L), 122
Belasco, David, 345
Belknap, Edwin S. (L), 302
"Bella Donna," 256, 431
"Belle Sauvage, La," 28
Bellini, 19

Bell-Ranske, Jutta (L), 271
"Belshazzar," 285
"Benevolent Tar," 26
Bennett-Stephenson, Cora (L), 94
Beriza, Marguerita, 327
Berkeley, F. H. F., 30
Berlioz, 140, 209, 280
Bernal, 135
Bernhardt, Sarah, 88
Berthold, Banon, 143
Bert rand, Lucy, 367
Besuner, Pearl, 224
"Bianca," 47, *33. 4*o
Bianco, 104, 233
Biblical Opera, 48, 71, 81, 82, 120,

121, 167, 267, 380, 393
Bibliotheque National*, 19
Biddel, Marvel, 67
Bimboni, Alberto, 7*, 75
Bimboni, Oreste, 72, 304

THE INDEX

457

Bird, Arthur, 428

"Bird Masque, A," 436

Bird When Summer Comes No More,

25

"Birthday of the Infanta," 434
Bischoff, Herr, 339
Bishop, Sir Henry, 29
Bispham, David, 55, 61, 177, 180,

198, 274, 299, 366
Bispham Memorial Medal, 69, 76, 91,

96, 105, 115, 138, 148, 162, 166, 181,

183, 188, 199, 202, 225, 237, 252,

266, 273, 296, 297, 304, 306, 320,

336, 345, 358, 373, 379, 39<>, 394,

401, 4'4, 415, 4*4, 431
Bizet, 54, 107, 257
Black Lorenzo, 89
Elaine, Margaret, 141
Blakeslee, E. Earle, 428
Blanchart, Roman, 135
Blech, Leo, 338
Bledsoe, Jules, 219, 225, 254
"Bleeding Heart, The," 249
"Blind Girl of Castel-Cuille," 163
Bloch, Ernest, 66, 369
Bloch, Max, 152, 398
"Blonde Donna, The/' 54, 114, 115
Boccaccio, 73
"Boccaccio," 44
Bodansky, Artur, 152
"Boheme, La," 17, 41, 44, 302
Bohemian Club of San Francisco,

230, 317, 392, 436
"Bohemian Girl," 31, 37, 39, 43, 44,

46. 47, 52, 208, 281
Boieldieu, 35, 295
Boise, O. B., 113, 337, 379
"Bondri," 169

Bonelli, Richard, 50, 186, 244
Bonner, Eugene, 72, 79
Bori, Lucrezia, 402, 403
"Boris Godounoff," 45
Borowski, Felix, 245, 414, 433
Bossi, Enrico, 73, 364
Boston Ideal Opera Company, 40
Boston Opera Company, 50, 132, 134,

138, 169, 304, 305
Boston Public Library, 98
Boston Symphony Orchestra, 78, 126,

130, 142, 223 352, 365, 385
Boston Transcript, 61
Bostonians, 40, xoo, 151, 281
"Bourville Castle," 26
Bradbury, William B., 73, 79
Braham, 30

Braine, Robert. 428, 429
Brandorff, Carl, 72, 80

Brandt, Noah, 72, 81

Braslau, Sophie, 105

Breil, Joseph Carl, 83, 87

Brett, Miss, 34

"Brian Boru," 44, 167

"Bride Elect, The," 44

"Bride of Messina," 95

"Bridge of Stars," 375

Bristow, George F., 32, 83, 209

Bristow, Richard William, 83, 84

Broadhurst, Miss, 34

Brocken Scene ("Faust"), 44

Broekhoven, John A. van, 148, 412,

418

Browne, Emanuel Mapleson (L), 333
Browne, John Lewis, 83, 90, 450
Browne, Kathryne, 415
Browning, Mrs., 93, 198
Browning, Robert, 77, 122, 199, 330
Bruch, Max, 70
Brusard, M, t 25*
Buchanan, Isabel, 292
Buchalter, 93
Bucharoff, Simon, 83, 93
Buck, Dudley, 83, 97, 119, 216, 358,

378, 379, 424
Buckingham, Isabel, 95
"Buckwheat Notes," 99, 317
Bull, Ole, 32, 213
Buonamici, Giuseppe, 73, 435
Buonpane, Nicolo (L), 162
Burr, S. J. (L), 320
Burton, 135

Busoni, Ferruccio (L), 223
Butt, Dame Clara, 61
"Butterfly, Madame," 40, 43, 44, 45,

46, 51, 1 86, 291
Byrne, Jacques (L), 89

CADMAN, CHARLES WAKE-
FIELD, 88, 99, 183, 222, 303, 436

Car cilia Verein, Hamburg, 134

"Cain," 315

"Caliph of Bagdad," 35

"Call of Jeanne d'Arc, The," 313

"Camaralzaman," 117, 419

"Camille," 183

Campanini, Cleofonte, 93, 155, 261,
3*7, 34*

Campbell, Craig, 233

Campbell, S. C, 37, 210

Campbell-Tipton, Louis, 430

''Canterbury Pilgrims, The/' 151,
152, 154, 448

"Canterbury Tales," 152

Canton Grand Opera Company, 441

458

THE INDEX

"Caponsacchi," 238

"Caprice," 356

"Captain Cook," 81, 8a

Capuana, L., 65

Carbonara, Gerard, in

Carlson, Charles F., in, 431

Carmelita, 88, 89

"Carmen," 41, 44, 45, 47, 49, So, 51,

397

Carpenter, John Alden, 49, 434
Carr, Benjamin. 25, 26
Carr, Sarah Pratt (L), 329, 330,

407

Carter, Ernest, 54, in, 113
Cartoon "Opera in English," 59
Case, Henry Lincoln, 111,117
"Castle Agrazant," 306, 440
Castle Garden Opera Company, 336
"Castle Specter, The," 28
Castle Square Opera Company, 40
Castle Square Theater, 40
Castle, William, 37, 210
"Cathal," 418
Caupolican, Chief, 76
"Cavalleria Rusticana," 44, 45, 47,

49, 177, 348

Cavaliere del Ruggio, 233
"Cave Man, The, 318, 437
Cent*ry Opera Company, 43, 73, 413,

442

Century Theater, 114, 261
Chadwick, George W., 118, 130, 220,

228, 304, 346, 450
"Chaka," 194
Chalmers, Thomas, 105
Chamber Opera, 199, 430
"Charles IX," 217
Charles X, 397
Charleston, South Carolina, *2, 25,

33

Charlier, Marcel, 94
"Charlotte," 288
Charlotte Lund Opera Company, 117,

3io

Charpentier, 214
Chateaubriand, Rene*, 374
Chatham Theater, 29
Chatonska, 75
Chaucer, 152, 153
Chaucer, 152, 153
Chenery, William D., 48
Chicago Musical College, 296, 414,

441
Chicago (and Chicago Civic) Opera

Company, 49, 93, 109, no, 155, 183,

185, 186, 198, 215, 231, 237, 251,

299, 327, 342, 344, 388, 4M, 4*9,

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 241,

251, 360, 369
Chicago Tribune, The, 36, 50, 59, 92,

416

Chieftain, First, 388
Chieftain, Second, 389
Child, Bertha Gushing, 131
"Chilkoot Maiden, The," 201
Chillingtvorth, Roger, 143, 144
Chinese Ballet, 433
Chinese Influences, 367, 368
"Chinese Legend, A," 330
Chinese Musical Themes, 368, 433
"Chinese New Year, A," 82
"Chocolate Soldier, The," 54
Chonita, 135
Chopin, 314
Choral Opera, 296
Christian, 146

"Christmas Tale, A," 201, 203
"Christo," 315, 316
"Chrysalis," 315
"Chula," 430

Church Choral Society, 347, 422
Cincinnati 6ollege of Music, 70, 176,

418, 424, 441
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music,

122, 305

Cincinnati May Festival, 97, 176
Cincinnati, Music Hall, 176, 177, 180,

306, 424
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 130,

181, 305, 306, 418

Cincinnati "Zoo" Opera Company,
tt 5i, 305, 414, 415

Cinderella, 49
Cinema-opera, 315
Claessens, Maria, 135, 184
"Clari, the Maid of Milan," 29
Clarke, Hugh A., 355
"Geopatra," 344
Cleopatra, 234

Cleopatra, of Charleston, 22
"Cleopatra's Night," 49, 234
Cleveland Grand Opera Company,

159

Cokey, Joseph W., 118, 122
Coerne, Louis A., 118, 125, 362, 433
Collier, Constance (L), 401
Colman, George (L), 26
Colonel Ibbetson, 402
"Colonial Wedding, A," 419
Columbia University, 214, 309, 348
Columbian Exposition, 126, 137, 171,

352

THE INDEX

459

"Columbus," 24, 26, 84, 171, 185
Comedy Opera, 24, 114, 281, 321
Commissioned Operas, 138, 155, 176,

177, 179, 224, *4 l > 3<>4 39 6 > 397,

400, 401, 439
Commissions, not Opera, 102, 134,

241, 434

"Comola (Kpmala)," 383
Concert Music Drama, 112, 113
Conrad, Joseph (L), 377
Conned, 176, 353
Constantino, Florencio, 135, 327
Conte della Terramonte, 233
Conti, Alberto, 333
Converse, Frederick S., 49, 129, 436
Coolidge, President, 51
Cooper, Emil, 184
Cooper, James Fenimore, 65
"Coppelia," 44
Corporal Tom Flynn, 135
"Cosican Girl, The (La Corsicana),"

9i .

Corvam, 349

"Cosi fan Tutte," 47, 397
Costanzi Theater, 444
Cotreuil, Edouard, 109, 155, 388
"Courtship of Miles Standish," 112
"Covenant, The," 426
Cowen, Sir Frederick, 222
Crabbe, Armand, 261
Craft, Marcella, 349
"Creation, The," 426
"Credulity, The Force of," 21
"Cricket on the Hearth, The/' 49
Crocker, Charles T. (L), 366, 369,

Crolutt, William A. (L), 97, 9
Cross, Mr., 26
Cubiciotti, Francesco, 295
"Culprit Fay, The," 230
Cunnan, 357
Curtain Calls, Fifty, 242
Curtis, John, 44
Curtis, Vera, 146
Cutter, Jr., E., 352
"Cycle of Life, The," 315
"^Cyrano de Bergerac," 145, 260
"Czar and Zimmermann," 38

"DAME BLANCHE, LA," 35
"Dame Libellule," 435, 447
Dame Van Duser, 86
Dame Van Winkle, 86
Damrosch, Frank. 229
Damrosch, Leopold, 139, 140
Damrosch Opera Company, 141, 143

Damrosch, Walter, 32, 53, 56, 131,

U9, 176, 223, 228, 436, 439
Dana, Lynn B., 158
Dana, W. H., 158

"Dance in the Place Congo," 214, 433
"Dance of the Hours," 44
"Dances of the Pyrenees,' 44, 257
d'Angelo, Louis, 88, 234, 242, 398,

402

"Daniel," 82
Dante, 315
"Daoma," 102
"Daphne," 428
da Ponte, Lorenzo, 35
Darch, Edna, 156
Darnley, 333

"Daughter of the Forest, A," 342
"Daughter of the Regiment," 54
"David," 301

David, Ferdinand, 81, 416
David Rizsio, 333
Davis, Ernest, 104
Davis, Helen Louise, 73
Davis, Jessie Bartlett, 151
Davis, Percy. 69
Dawes, Charles G., 93
Deacon Fair field, 109
Deal, William Albert, 139, 148
Dean, George, 131
Deane, Mrs., 402
"Deborah," 323
Debussy, Claude, 130, 147, 433
De Chateaupers, 210
Deems, James Monroe, 139. 148
"Deep River," 254
Defrere, Desire, 261
De Guiche, 146
deKoven, Reginald, 14, 44, 46, 53,

100, 150, 273, 337, 436, 437
deKoven Opera Company, 157
De La Grange, Mme., 207, 421
DeLeone, Francesco B., 158
Delibes, 39, 150
Del Puente, 87
Denver Music Week Association, 103,

440

"Der Asra," 90
de Reszke, Jean, 369
"Der Freischutz," 44, 156
Derrick Van Bummel, 86, 156
"Deseret," 97

"Devil and Tom Walker, The," 377
"Devil's Synagogue, The," 23
Dewey, Admiral, 141, 171
Didier, 264
"Die Fledermaus," 54
Dimmesdale, Arthur, 143, 144

460

THE INDEX

Dipple, Andreas, 55

Dirck Spuytcnduyvil, 155

"Disappointment, The," 21

"Diamileh," 54

Dodd, Lee Wilson (L), 381

Dodge, Marjorie, 357

"Dolls," 418

Don Francisco de la Guerra, 261

"Don Giovanni," 35, 47, 56, i77 397

Donizetti, 19, 48, 53, 54, 208, 271,

397

"Don Munio, Legend of," 97
"Don Pasquale," 48, 54
Don Pedro, 177, 179
"Dorian Gray," 173
Drake, Earl R., 158, 162
"Drama of Exile, A," 93
Dramatic Cantata, 79, 268, 363
Dramatic Oratorio, 44, 93
Dramatic Poem, 134
Dubois, Theodore, 163
Duchess of Towers, 402
Dufranne, Hector, 155, 261
Dugan, P. J. (L), 227
Dulcinca, 192
"Dumb Love," 267
"Dumb Wife, The," 223
"Dun an Oir," 299
Dunlap, Wiilliam (L), 25
Dunstan, 398
Dvorak, 70, 302, 326, 374, 378

EADGAR, 398

Eames, Henry P., 132, 165

"Early American Operas,' 27

"Early Operas in America," 27

Eastman, George, 51, 244

Eastman Plan, 241

Eastman School of Music, 45, 51,

241, 3<>3, 369. 370, 441
Easton, Florence, 272, 339, 398
Eberhart, Nelle Richmond, 102, 104,

1 08

"Echo, The," 355, 356
"Edane the Fair," 324
Eden, Hazel, 413
Edge worth, Mana, 31
Edwards, Julian, 165, 166, 450
"Edwin and Angelina," 25
Egener, Minnie, 152, 261, 398, 402
"Egypt," 319, 320
"Egypta," 48
Eicheim, Henry, 433
"Eight Hundred Rubles," 313
Eighteenth Century Opera, 19
"El Capitan," 44
"Ellwife, The," 328

Elgar, Sir Edward, 434

"Elijah," 49, 397

Elinor, 116

"Elixir of Love, The," 48, 53

"Elmar," 169

Emery, Stephen A., 119, 228, 346

Emma Juch Opera Company, 39, 87,

190, 37*

"Emperor Jones, 224, 411
"Emperor's Clothes, The," 124
"Endymion," 388
Engefs, Peter, 165, 167
English Influences, 25, 29, 30, 33, 83,

268

English Language, 34
English for Librettos, 46, 48, 60, 61,

162, 301
English Opera, 13, 28, 30, 35, 37, 41,

English Opera House, London, 36
English in Song, 31, 39, 41, 4$, 5,

198, 301, 353
"Enoch Arden, 113
Enya, 348
Erik the Red. 405
Errolle, Ralph, 165, 168, 349
Erskine, John (L), 67
Esmeralda, 210
"Esperanza," 430
"Esther," 79, 149
Etten, van, Jane, 412
"Eugene One"gin," 45
"Euridice," 20
Euterpiad, 29, 34
"Evaane," 433
"Evangeline," 303
Everest, Cornelius, 196
Everett, Leolyn Louise (L), 386
Everton, Amy, 105, 106
Evcrton, Mrs. 105, 106
"Everyman," 296, 393

FABRICIO, 233 *34

Fairchild, Blair, 435

Fairlamb. James R.. 170

Fairweather, Mrs. M. (L), 428

"Fairyland," 169, 340

"Fall of Rome, The/' 326

"Falstaff," 51

Fanciulli Francesco, 170

Fanning, Cecil (L), 159, 160, 162,

450

"Fantasy in Delft," I5
Farner, Eugene Adrian, 170, 173
"Fashionable Lady. The,'* ao
"Father of American Composer*,"

THE INDEX

461

"Father of American Opera," 204
"Father of English Poetry," 152
"Father of Motion Picture Music/'

88

Father Peralta, 261
Faulkner, Worthe, 413
"Faust," 17, 39, 44. 45. 47, 49. 5>.

52, 412, 441

Fay Templeton Opera Company, 227
"Fay-Yen-Fah," 33^, 3^8, 447
Fay-Yen-Fah, 367
"Feather Robe, The," 3 '5
Ferdinand, 24

Festival of American Music, 370
"Festival of Guari," 295
"Fidelio," 30

Field, Charles K. (L), 318. 436, 437
Fielitz, von, Alexander, 140, 312, 412
Fifty Curtain Calls, 242
"Figaro, The Marriage of," 17, 24,

37, 45, 46, 47, Si, 54, 397, 444
Finn, Henry J. (L), 31
"Fire-Worshippers, The," 73
Firsts, Musical, in America
First "Acis and Galatea," 142
First AH-American Opera and Per-
formance, 104, 303
First American Ballet, 432
First American Ballet Commissioned

for Europe, 434
First American Ballet in Europe

(Germany), 433
First American Chair of Music in

University, 351

First American Comic Opera, Suc-
cessful, 151
First American, Complete, Opera

Produced, 25
First American Composer's Chance

with Orchestra, 209
First American Composer Masters

Classic Form, 351

First American Composer Recog-
nized Abroad, 354
First American Composer's Second

Work at Metropolitan, 401
First American Doctor of Music, by

English University, 347
First American Literature, Real, in

Opera, 31
First American Marches! Exponent,

197

First American Opera in Berlin, 339
First American Opera (Grand) in

Boston, 143
First American Opera in Chicago, $o

First American Opera Commissioned,

176
First American Opera Commissioned

by Chicago Opera Company, 155
First American Opera Commissioned

by Italian Publisher, 66
First American Opera Commissioned

by Metropolitan, 396
First American Opera Commissioned
by Newspaper, 390

First Americaji Opera, Complete, by
Woman, 276

First American Opera at Dresden
Staatsoper, 390

First American Opera in Europe,
285

First American Opera (Native Com-
poser) in Europe, 127

First American Opera in France, 366

First American Opera, Genuine, 29

First American Opera in Germany,
285

First American Opera, Grand, 32

First American Opera for Historical
Celebration, 176

First American Opera in Holland,
225

First American Opera in Honolulu,
272

First American Opera on Indian Sub-
ject, 24

First American Opera at Metropoli-
tan, 49, 131

First American Opera at Metropoli-
tan, Opens Season, 403

First American Opera at Metropoli-
tan, Second Season, 105

First American Opera at Metropoli-
tan, Third Season, 401

First American Opera, Miniature,
4i3

First American Opera, Modern, Na-
tive, in Performance, 131

First American Opera, Municipal
Auspices, 176

First American Opera, Native Per-
formed, 24, 131

First American Opera, Negro, on
Broadway, 194

First American Opera in Negro Per-
formance, 195

First American Opera in New York,
209

First American Opera by Norwegian-
born Composer, 405

First American Opera in Osnabrfick,
Prussia, 117

462 THE INDEX

First American Opera Orchestra
Score Published, 265

First American Opera Orchestra
Score Published in America, 265

First American Opera Prize, 30

First American Opera of Real Worth,
24, 205

First American Opera, Really Suc-
cessful, 366

First American Opera in Second Sea-
son, 260

First American Opera, Serious, Local
in Utah, 261

First American Opera on War of In-
dependence, 383

First American Opera by Woman En-
tirely, 276

First American Opera Written,
Staged and Conducted by Woman,

First American Organist with Com-
plete Technic, 351

First American Singer of Interna-
tional Renown, 38

First American Woman Composer
Widely Recognized, 371

First American Work by Boston
Symphony under Gericke, 352

First American Work at Chester Fes-
tival, 347

First American Work Commissioned
by New York Symphony, 396

First American Work at Subsidized

Theater of France, 435
irst American Work at Thre
Festival, 347

,

First Ballet, American Origin, 432
First Beethoven Festival in New

York, 142
First "Beggar's Opera," in Ameri-

can, 20

First Bispham Memorial Medal, 115
First "Bohemian Girl" in America,

3^
First Brahms Festival in America,

142
First "Christus" Performance in

America, 141

First Civic Music Week, 172
First Chorus in Action, 19
First European Composer of First

Class in America, 383
First Film Musical Score, 88
First Grand Opera, Attempt, 23
First Grand Opera Company, Native,

3B
First Grove-Play, 366

First Handel Festival, 142
First Harvard Music Course, 351
First Harvard Music Degree, 126
First Home, Sweet Home in Amer-
ica, 29
First Indian Themes in Composition,

24

First Lecture-Concerts, 267
First MacDowell Club, 220
First "Madame Butterfly" in Amer-
ica, 40

First Mozart Festival, 48
First Mozart Operas on Tour, 47
First Opera Company Native, Ade-
quate, 38

First Newspaper to Subsidize Com-
poser, 390, 439

First Opera in English at Metro-
politan, 131
First Opera, Foreign printed in Italy,

>9

First Opera House, so Named, 23
First Opera House, Fine, 35
First Opera Translated in America,

37

First Opera without London Ap-
proval, 35
First Oratorio Published in America,

35i
First Orchestra, Full, in America,

209

First Orchestra with Opera in Amer-
ica, 22

First Orchestra Score of Opera Pub-
lished, 265

First Organ of Noble Type, 35
First "Parsifal" in English, 40
First "Parsifal" outside Bayreuth,

142
First Pipe Organ West of Alle-

ghenies, 99
First Pulitzer Scholarship to Woman,

312
First Real American Opera Begins,

206

First "Samson and Dclila" in Amer-
ica, 142

First String Quartet, American, 38
First "Thais, in English, 43
First Woman Composer's Opera Pro-
duced by Recognized Company,
413

First Woman Librettist at Metropol-
itan, 102

First Woman Produces and Conducts
Opera, 46

THE INDEX

463

First Work by American-born at Sub-
sidized Theater of France, 435
First Yankee Doodle, 21
Fisher, Bernice, 135
Fisher, Grace, 135
Fiske, Minnie Maddern, 195, 251
Fitch, Clyde, 79
Fitriu, Anna, 231, 429
Flaig, Eleanor, 336
"Flaming Arrow, The," 329
"Flapper, The," 194
Flaubert, 78
"Flavia," 376
Fletcher, Alice C., 101
Flick-Steger, Carl, 170, 173
"Flight from the Seraglio, The," 46
"Flora ; or, Hob in the Well," 33
Floridia, Pietro, 175
Florio, Caryl, 175, 18 1
Flotow, 39

"Flower of the Forest," 384
"Flowers, The," 66
"Flower Girl of Peking, The," 313
"Flying Dutchman, The," 39
Folk Drama, Musical, 429
Folk-music, 23, 33, 80, 253, 284, 334,

407, 433

Folk-opera, 80, 156, 199, 299, 407
"Force of Credulity, The," 21
"Forest Dwellers, The," 356
"Forest Rose, The," 29
Forman, Sands W. (L), 81
Formes, Karl, 233
Fornia, Rita, 348
Forrai, Olga, 306
Forrest Hamilton, 175, 182
Forty-eight Curtain Calls, 177
Foster, Stephen C, 79, 337
"Four Saints in Three Acts," 408
"Four Seasons, The," 44
"Fourth of July, The," 26
"Fra Diavolo," 44, 46, 54
France, Anatole, 79, 223
Franchetti, Aldo, 185
Frank, Florence K. (L), 380
Franklin, Benjamin, 20
Freeman Grand Opera Company, 190,

191

Freeman, Harry L., 189
Freemantel, Frederick, 292
Freer, Eleanor Everest, vi, 51, 52, 53,

55, US, 196

"Freischutz, Der," 44, 156
French Classification, 13, 14
French Influences, 25, 35

French Language, 41, 57, 5$. ** *3

276, 322

French Musical Art, 17, 3*, 208
French Opera, 13, 17, 3*. 3*, 33, 37i

41, 50, 58, 62, 63, 107, 14*, *o8,

376, 412, 444
Freund, Helen, 109, 184
Friends and Enemies of Modern

Music, 409
"Frithiof," 203
Fry, Joseph R. (L), 209
Fry, William Henry, 32, 83, 205
Furstner, of Berlin, 265

GADSKI, JOHANNA, 143, 198

"Gagliarda of a Merry Plague," 430

Gaily, James (L), 354

Galli, Rosina, 242

Gallico, Paolo, 93

Gantvoort, Carl, 135

Ganz, Rudolph, 417

Garcia Family, 29, 34

Garcia, Manuel, 34

"Garden of Allah," 234

Garden, Mary, 183, 260, 261

"Garden of Mystery, The," 103, 183

Garrison, Mabel, 160

Gatti-Casazza, Giulio, 63, 145, 154,

224, 400

Gay lor, Charles (L), 311
Genee, 150
Gentle, Alice, 331
Geoffrey oi Lisiac, 306
Gericke, Wilhelm, 130, 352
"German Athens, The," 383
German Influences, 143, 144, 147
German Language, 41, 57, 58, 63, 95,

276, 323, 35*
German Opera, 13, 17, 31, 32, 37, 38,

39, 41, 50, 56, 58, 63, 107, 139, MO,

141, 412, 444
Gerrish-Jones, Abbie, 275
Gershwin, George, 439
Gerster, 197, 295
"Gianni Schicchi," 4 5
Gibbs, George, Jr. (L), 360
Giglio, Clement, 429
Gilbert, Henry F., 213, 433, 450
Gilbert, James L., 213
Gilbert, W. S., 63, 81, 173, 410
Gilchrist, W. W., 425
"Girl of the Golden West, The," 41,

Gleason, Frederick Grant, 213, 216,

360

Gloom, 348
Gluck, 18, 39, 41, us, 173, 208

464

THE INDEX

Gnome, First, 131

Godard, Benjamin, 197, 343

Goddard, James, 231, 343

Goetz, 39

"Golden Legend, The," 44

Goldmark, 430

"Golem, Der," 96

Golisciani (L), 66

Gomarez-Muza, 177, 178

"Gondoliers, The," 46

Goodman's Field Theater, 20

Goodrich, Arthur (L), 238

Goodrich, Wallace, 131, 134, 304

Goose Girl, 156

Gordon, Jeanne, 234

Gordon, Van, Cyrena, 231, 429

Gottschalk, Louis Moreau, 213, 217

Gounod, 39, 107

Governor Bcllingham, 143, 144

Graham, Jack, 213, 217

Graham, Shirley, 213, 218

"Grand Duchess, The," 54

"Grand Nazar, The," 430

Grand Opera, 13, 14, 23, 35, 36, 39,

43. 49, 64, 418
Grand Opera Festival, 362
"Grand Prix," 314
Grant, General Ulysses S., 362
Grau, Maurice, 37, 141
"Great American Opera, The," 13, I4i

448

"Great Republic, The," 85
Greek Drama, 1 12, 142, 297, 352, 366,

368

Greek Theater, 142, 319, 335
Green, Edith Noyes, 213, 220
Green, Rachel Frease, 441
Gregory, Pauline Turner, 277
Grenville, Lillian, 261
Grieg, 172

Griswold, Putnam, 146, 339, 348
Grossman, Carl, 159
Grossmith, Leslie, 213, 221
Grove, van, Isaac, 52, 300, 412, 414,

4i5
Grove-Play, 230, 317, 318, 366, 392,

436

Gruenberg, Louis, 213, 223
Gruendler, Hermann F., 213, 226
"Guardian Angel of Bayreutn," 40
"Guatemozin," 377
"Guido Ferranti," 412, 413
"Gulda," 181

Gunn, Glenn Dillard, 41, 53, 413
Gustavson, William, 398
Gutzmcr, Maude Fender, 200

Gwynn, ' _

"Gypsy Baron, The," 44, 54

HACKETT, ARTHUR, 401

Hackett, Charles, 109, 184

Hackett, Karleton, 188

Hadley, Arthur, 429

Hadley, Henry, 47, 228, 420, 437

Hageman, Richard, 228, 237, 274, 440

Hagen, van, P. A., 26

Haile, Eugen, 429

Hale, Philip, 121

Hallam Family, The, 33

"Hamadryads," 317

Hamlin, George, 94

Hammerstein, Oscar, 73

Handel, 19, 139, 140, 142, 385, 410

Handel and Haydn Society, 31, 49,

120, 322, 352
Hans Van Bummel, 156
"Hansel and Gretel," 44, 45, 50, 51,

305

Hanson, Howard, 103, 228
Hanson, William F., 228, 239, 245
"Happy Ending, The," 429
Hard, Earl (L), 418
Harlem Philharmonic Society, 85
Harling, W. Franke, 250
Harmon Award, 195
"Harold's Dream," 429
Harrold, Orville, 234
Harte, Bret, 176
Hartley, Randolph, 268, 269, 338,

340, 342
Harvard University, 65, 125, 126, 129,

30, 214, 351, 366, 370, 385, 394,

"Harvest, The," 429

Harwill, S. H., 250, 256, 431

Hasselmans, Louis, 434

Hatton, Mrs. Anne Julia (L), 24

Hauptmann, Gerhart, 251, 371

Hauptmann, Moritz, 79, 97, 216, 317

Havana Opera Company, 73, 181

Hawaii Theater, 272

Hawkins, Micah, 29

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 104, 112, 143,

Haydn, Joseph, 310, 385
Haydn, Joseph, 415
Haymarket Theater, 26
"Headless Horseman, The," 311
Heckscher, Celeste dc Longpre, 250,

256,450
Heine, 90

Heldy, Fanny, 366, 367
Helen, 67

THE INDEX

465

"Helen Retires/' 67, 4"

"Helen of Troy/' 315

Henderson, William J. (L), 145, 435

Hendrick Hudson, 155, 156

Hendrik Hudson, Spirit of, 86

Herbert, Evelyn, 155

Herbert, Victor, 14, 44, 4$, 5, *59,

373, 388

Hermann, 78, 373
Hermit, The, 388
"Hero of Byzanz, The," 271
Hertz, Alfred, 146, 348, 349
"Hesa, Die," 223
"Hester; or, The Scarlet Letter,"

112

Hester Prynne, 143, 144
Heuhn, Julius, 67
Hewitt, James, 24, 28
"Hiawatha," 388
"Hinotito," 77, 117
Hinshaw, Mabel Clyde, 48
Hinshaw Opera Company, 46, 48, 441
Hinshaw Prize, 47, 69, 115. 232, 380
Hinshaw, William Wade, 46, 47, 146,

348, 349

Hirohito, Emperor, 299
"Hob in the Well," 33
Hodgkinson, John (L). 26
Hofmann, Gerda Wisner (L), 278,

279

Holmes, Oliver Wendell (L), 396
Home, Sweet Home, 29
Homer, Louise, 131, 348
Hood, Mrs., 86

Hooker, Brian (L), 115, 348, 349
Hopkins, Edward J., 267
Hopkinson, Francis, 23
"Hora Novissima," 347, 351, 423
Horn, C. E., 31
"Hoshi-San," 44, 291
Hou, 367

"Hound of Heaven, The," 393
Housclcy, Henry, 267, 268, 342
Houseley, Mrs. S. Frances (L), 269
Howard, Kathleen, 88, 105, 349
Howell, Lottice, 255
Howland, Legrand, 267, 269
Huberdeau, Gustave, 155, 261
Hughes, Wallace Taylor (L), 3 73
Hugo, John Adam, 88, 267, 270
Hugo, Victor, 209. 359
"Huguenots, Les," 39, 44
Humperdinck, 91, 167, 309, 338
Huneker, James, 396
"Huzzah for the Constitution," 26
Hyde, F. S., 267, 274

"I FIORI," 66
Illustrations:

"Alglala," Quotation, 16 1
"Beggar's Opera," Announce-
ment, 22

Bimboni, Alberto, 72
Bristow, George rrederick, 83
Cadman, Charles Wakefield, 99
Cartoon "Opera in English," 59
Cleopatra's Night," Quotation,

235

Converse, Frederick S., 129
"Cyrano de Bergerac," Quota-
tion, 147

Damrosch, Walter, 139
deKoven, Reginald, 150
DeLeone, Francesco B., 158
Disappointment, The," Adver-
tisement, 21
Floridia, Pietro, 175
Freer, Eleanor Everest, 196
Fry, William Henry, 205
Hadley, Henry, 228
Harling, W. Franke, 250
Herbert, Victor, 259
"Leonora," Announcements, 206,

207

Leps, Wassili, 290
"Mohega," Program Heading,

384

Nevin, Arthur, 337
Parker, Horatio, 346
"Pipe of Desire," Quotation, 132
"Poia," Quotation, 341
"Shanewis," Quotation, 108
Taylor, Deems, 395
"Winona," Quotation, 74
"II Filtro," 65

"Immigrants, The," 138, 446
Immorality of Stage, 22, 23, 24
"Impresario, The," 47
Indian Folk-Music, 101, 108, 166,

245, 246, 334, 338, 438
Indian Intermezzo, 329
Indian Musical Themes Used, 17, 24,
25, 75, 76, 101, 108, 166, 172, 221,
*46, 332, 334, 338, 34*. 374, 379,
428, 438

Indian Opera, Classic, 438
Indian Pageant, Apostle Islands, 438
"Indian Princess, The," 28
Indian Stories, Legends, Plots, 1 7, 24,
25, 28, 65, 74, 75, 101, 102, 103,
105, 108, 159, 1 66, 172, 192, 201,
221, 231, 245, 246, 251, 261, 273,
374, 282, a88, 297, 3*9, 33i, 33*.

466

THE INDEX

340, 342, 359, 374, 37$, 379, 38o,

384, 406, 428, 430, 433, 438
Indian Spirit and Tone-color, 107,

108, 332, 342, 375, 379, 438
Interstate Opera Company, 73
lolan, 131, 132
Irish School of Music, 208
"Iron Chest, The," 26
Irving, Washington, 31, 86, 155, 281,

309, 3", 377

Irwin, Will (L), 317, 436, 437
Isabcau, 306
"Ishtar," 361
Italian Influences, 29, 34, 35, 147,

301, 3^1
Italian Language, 29, 41, 56, 57, 58,

61, 62, 63, 83, 322, 323, 353
Italian Opera, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29,

3i, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 5, 5$, 5$,

62, 63, 107, 141, 208, 376, 412, 444
Italian Opera House, 35

Italian School (Style) of Music, 16,
17, 18, 32, 83, 147, 186, 208, 321,
365, 4U

"Ivanhoe," 285

JACCHIA, AGIDE, 413

"Jack," 418

"Jack and the Beanstalk," 224

Jackson. Lorna Doone, 109

Jadassonn, 78, 81, 119, 354, 37*

"Jael," 380

James, Bartlett B. (L), 273

James I, England, 143

Jan Van Bummel, 156

Japanese Music, 77

Jazz in Opera, 253, 254

"Jazz Piano Concerto," 439

"Jean de Paris,'* 35

"Jeanne d'Arc, The Call of," 313

Jefferson, Joseph, 155

Jensen, 70, 167

"Jesus Christ," 81

"Jewels of the Madonna, The," 44

Jewish (Hebraic) Influences, 71 121

Ji-Sabura, 292

Joachim, Joseph, 163, 373

"Joan of Arc, 203

Johanna, 152

John Street Theater, 24

Johnson, Edward, 160, 242, 398, 402,

403

Jones, Abbie, Gerrish, 275, 450
Jones, Paul (L), 178
Jones, Willis K. (L), 124, 125
Jordan Hall, 131, 138, 221

Jordan. Jules, 275, 280
"Jorinaa and Jorindel," 77
Josk Castro, 261
Joseffy. Raphael, 321, 360

"Joseph 49
Joseph. F

juaci'u. Emperor. 397

Juan Bautista Alvarado, 261

"Judith," 1 20, 121

"Juggler, The," 268, 342, 418

Juilliard School of Music, 67, 224

Jullien, Louis Antoine, 84, 209, 211

Jullien Orchestra, 209

Jutsuna, 292

Juvenile Grand Opera, 325

KAGAMA, 261

Kaiser, The, 55, 339

Kaiser Trophies, The, 374

"Kalopin," 379

"Karin," 76

Katrina Vedder, 156

Kaun, Hugo, 312, 394, 421

Keats, 388, 427

Kelley, Mrs. Edgar Stillman, 159

Kellogg, Clara Louise, 37, 38, 46

Kelly, Mr. (L), 28

"Kenilworth," 285

Kerrison, Davenport, 282

"King Hal," 392

"King Philip," 344

"King Rene's Daughter," 167

"King Solomon," 167

"King of Wurtemburg," 170

"King's Henchman, The," 397, 403,

448
King's Henchman Opera Company,

401

Kingston, Morgan, 272
Kirchoff, Herr, 339
Kirkpatrick, Howard, 282, 283
"Kismet," 183
Klafsky, Katherine, 285
Klein, Bruno Oscar, 282, 284, 321
Klenner, von, Baroness Katherine,

441

Klink, Gabrielle. 261
Kneisel String Quartet, 37
Knodle, Walter St. Clare, 282, 285
Knowlton, E. Bruce, 282, 286, 440
Koobyar, Lutar, 333, 334, 335
Kotzschmar, Hermann, 351
Koussevitsky, Serge, 223
Kraft, Arthur, 49
"Krazy Kat, 1 434
Krehblel, Henry, 48, 56, 145
Kreidler, Louis, 45, 146
"Krishna," 315

THE INDEX

487.

Kunits, von, Luigi, 101

"LA BELLE SAUVAGE," 28

"La Cartouche," 227

"Lady Dragonfly," 435

"Lady of the Lake/' 373

"Lady of Lyons," 208

La Fenice, Teatro, 444

"La Figlia del Re," 447

La Flesche, Francis, 101, 102

"L'Afrique," 431

Laidlaw, Ruth, 331

"Lakme," 39

Lambord, Benjamin, 429

La Mpnaca, Joseph, 290, 294

Lament, Forrest, 50, 231, 252, 306,

343. 357, 415, 429
Lamperti. 323
"Land of Opera," 18, 63
Land of the Sky Blue Water, 101,

no
Langdon, William Chauncey (L),

121

Langston, Marie Stone, 45
"La Paloma," 427
L'apres-midi d'un Faune, 130
La Scala, 58, 444
"Last of the Aztecs, The," 282
"Last King, The," 70
"Last of the Mohicans, The," 65,

43i

Lathrop, George Parsons (L), 143
Latin's Operatic Art, The, 34
"Launch, The," 26
Laurenti, Mario, 152
Lavallee, Calixa, 290, 295
LaViolette, Wesley, 290, 295
"Leah Kleschna," 195
Leavitt, B. E., 431
Le Bret, 146

Lecture- Concerts, First, 267
"Legend, The," 88
"Legend of the Piper," 51, 198, 203
"Legend of Spain, A," 201, 203
"Legend of Wiwaste, A," 428
Legion d'Honneur, 142
Lehmer, Derrick N., 429
"Leif Ericsson," 405
"Leila," 379
Leipzig Conservatory, 78, 81, 87, 97,

119, 227, 275, 283, 286, 3x7, 372,

373

"L'Elisir d'Amore," 397
Lemon, Marguerite, 229
Lenska, Augusta, 94, 109, 327
Lcona/' 82

Leoncavallo, 203

"Leonora," 205, 210, 212

"Lenore," 424

"Leper. The, 330

Leps, Wassili, 290

"Les Huguenots," 39, 44

Lester, William, 290, 296

Levi Orchestra, Hermann, 119

Lexington Theater, 15$, 230

Library of Congress, vi, 57, 98

Librettists, 102

Libretto, 21, 23, 24, 25, 45, 46, 61,

62, 82, 96, 134, 137, 145, 185, 208,

215, 244, 356, 382, 383, 389
Liebling, Alice (L), 430
Liebling, George, 430
"Light from St. Agnes, A," 251, 448
Liliuokalani, Queen, 82
"Lily of Killarney," 37
"Lima Beans," 418
Lincoln, President, 125, 170, 298
Lionel Rhodes, 105, 106, 108
"Lionello," 170

Liszt, 140, 141, 197, 275, 361, 383
"Little Girl at Play, A," 356
Little Jack, 135
"Little Miss Figaro," 66
Little Theater Opera Company, 53
"Little Women," 204
Ljungberg, Gota, 242, 244
"L'Odalisque," 314
Loeffler, Charles Martin, 147
"Lohengrin," 39, 41, 47, 139
"Lo-ko-rah," 354
Lombard!, Vincenzo, 73
London, 20

Long, John Luther (L), 291, 294
Longfellow, 61, 97, 112, 157, 163,

166, 171, 201, 203, 255, 276, 304,

422, 427, 449

Loomis, Charles Battell (L), 302
Loomis, Clarence, 52, 290, 298, 431
Loomis, Harvey W. f 290, 301
Lord Barry (L), 418
"Lord Byron," 218
Lorenzo da Ponte (L), 35
LorUing, Gustav Albert, 38, 54
Los Angeles Grand Opera Company,
,*34, 44?
Los Rubios, 334
Lothar, Dr. Rudolph, 95
"Lotus San," 379
"Louis XIV," 327
"Louise," 214
"Love and Gold," 354
"Love Laughs at Locksmiths/' 88
"Love Potion, The," 65

468

THE INDEX

"Love and the Sorcerer," 336

Lover, Samuel, 259

Lover, The, 343

"Lover's Knot, The." 93

"Lover's Quarrel, The, 49

"Lover's Tale, A," 315

"Love's Locksmith," 321

"Love's Sacrifice," 121

"Love's Stratagem," 170

Lualdi, 447

Lucca, Pauline, 37

"Lucia di Lammermoor," 44, 305,

3H, 397
"Lucifer," 315
"Lucille, 363
Luening, Otto, 290, 402
Luka, Milo, 389
Lulli, 208

"L'Ultimo dei Moicani," 65
Lutkin, Peter Christian, 240
Lyford, Ralph, 290, 304, 440
Lyric-Dance-Drama, 417
Lyric Drama, 121, 148, 183, 208, 218,

39i, 411

Lyric Tragedy, 187, 251
Lytton, Lord, 208, 359

MACCVS, 398

MacDowell, 214, 220, 223, 309, 325,

337, 345, 396, 429
Macfarren, Sir George, 116, 314
Mackaye, rercy (L), 138, 152, 155,

313, 436, 446
Maclean, Stuart, (L), 91
MacLoyd, Fiona (L), 418
Macy, John (Lyricist), 135
"Madame Butterfly," 40, 43, 44, 45,

46, si, 186, 291
"Madeleine," 264
Madeleine Fleury, 264
Madison Sauare Garden, 82, 168
"Magdalen, 315, 316
Magdelena, 135

"Magic Flute, The," 35, 39, 54, 397
"Magic Mirror, The," 344
"Magnificent One, The, 386
"Maid Marian," 151
"Maid of Saxony," 31
Maine, Olive. 198
Maison, Rene, 367
Malatesta, Pompilio, 152, 242
Malibran, 34
"Malinche," 171
"Man Who Married a Dumb Wife,"

79
Manana, 24

Manhattan Opera Company, 189, 442

Manning, Edward, 309

Manning, Kathleen Lockhart, 309,

310

"Manon," 44

Manuscript Society, 85, 228, 337, 417
Mapleson, Col. Henry ; 37, 81, 196
Mapleson (Laura Schirmer) Opera

Company, 228

"Marble Statue, The," 96, 97
Marcelli, Nino, 393, 437
Marchesi, Mathilde, 196, 412
"Marcotone," 314
Maretzek, Max, 37, 309, 310
Marguerite (Camille), 184
"Marie Odile," 183
Marinuzzi, Gino, 215
Mario, 95, 96
"Maritana," 37, 44
Mark Antgny, 234
Markham, Edwin (L), 421
Markoe, Peter, 24
Marquis, Neeta, 334
Marr, Graham, 94
"Marriage of Aude, The," 369, 431
"Marriage of Figaro, The," 17, 24,

37, 45, 46, 47, 51, 54, 397, 444
"Marriage of Jeannette," 44
Marsh, Lucille Crews, 309, 312
Marsh, William J., 313
Marshall, Charles, 388
Marta, 88
Marteau Prize, 374
"Martha," 39, 44, 45, 47, 5. 5*, *77,

305

Martin, Riccardo, 131, 146, 348
Martino, Giovanni, 367, 401
"Martyr, The," 190
"Mary Magdelene," 426
Mary Stuart, 333
Maryon, Edward, 309, 313
"Masaniello," 35
Mascagni, 413
Mason, Edith. 152
Mason, Lowell, 79
Mason, William, 113, 317, 421
Masons, Free and Accepted, 22
Masque, The, 28, 166, 230, 317, 318,

"Masque of Alfred," 435
"Masque of Pandora," 201
Massenet, 43, 91, 197, 321
"Massimilliano," 198, 199
"Master of Bayreuth," 19
"Master Thief, The," 427
Matheus, John F. (L), 423
Mathews, W. S, B., 165

THE INDE5C

469

pa ,75, 76
d, Julius, 43c
d, Marie, 146

Matosapa,

Mattfeld, Julius, 433
Mattfeld, Marie, 146
Matthews, Brander, 13, 55, *57 **
McCaull Opera Company, 151
McClintock, Walter, 338, 340
McConville, Bernard (L), 374
McCormack, John, 261
McCormick Contest, 447
McCormick, Edith Rockefeller (Edi-
tion), 51, 109
McCormick, Mary, 388
McCoy, William J., 317, 437, 45O
McCreery, W. C, 43'
McCutcheon, John T., 59
McLaughlin, Dr. John, 331
McVicker's Theater, 38, 362
Meader, J. G., 317, 3*o, 398
Mehul, 149
Meignen, L, 205
Meiamoun, 234
"Meistersinger, Die," 141
Melba, 137, 197
Melodramatic Opera, 18
Meltzer, Charles H. (L), 51, 53, 56,

Memorial Tablets, 162, 351
"Memories," 329, 330
Mendelssohn, 49, 140, 149, 151, 275,

397

Mendelssohn Gub, 251, 337
"Menuette, La," 284
Mephistopheles, 45, 441
"Merchant of Venice, The," 112
Merola, Gaetano, 367
Merrill, Lieut. Paul, 261
Merrington, Marguerite (L), 428
"Merry Benedicts," 70
"Merrymount," 381
"Merry Mount," 241. 244, 448
"Merry Wives of Windsor/ 1 53
Mertens, William, 143
Merz, Karl, 148
"Messiah," 142
Metropolitan Opera Company, 47, 49,

105, 114, 137, 139, 141, US, 152,

169, 210, 215, 221, 224, 237, 241,

256, 259, 299, 342, 356, 375, 377,
396, 401, 402, 434, 442, 443, 444

Metropolitan Opera Company Prize,
322, 346, 347

Metropolitan Opera House (New
York), 33, 52, 60, 62, 88, 105,
140, 154, 176, 214, 234, 242, 244,
256, 264, 272, 308, 348, 365, 397,
400, 401, 417, 433, 444

Metropolitan Opera House (Phila-
delphia), 152, 357, 260

Meyerbeer, 34 39

"Michael Angelo," 321, 322

Michel Kerouac, 252

Middelschulte, Wilhelm, 218, 303

Middleton, Arthur, 231

"Mignon," 44, 49

"Mikado," 47, 5*

"Milda," 65

Mildenberg, Albert, 317, 320

"Milkmaid's Fair, The," 277

Millard, Harrison, 317, 322

Millay, Edna St. Vincent (L), 397,

400

Milligan, Harold Vincent, 26
"Millionaire's Caprice, A," 159
Miln, Louise Jordan, 310
Millccker, 54
Mills, S. B M 77

Milwaukee Musical Society, 38
Minetti, Carlo, 317, 323
Minister of France, 23
Miracle-Drama, 97
"Mirandolina," 420
Mirriam, Liilie Fuller (L), 221
Miura, Tamaki, 186, 187, 189
"Mohega," 384
"Moira," 360

Mojica, Jose, 109, 187, 389
Mokrejs, John, 325
Moliere, 377
Molnar, Ferenc, 301
"Mona," 346, 347
"Monk of Toledo, The," 286
"Montana," 289
Monte Carlo (Opera House), 142,

229, 270, 366, 367, 369, 434
"Montezuma," 217
Montezuma, 231
Moore, Edward, 50, 92, 416
Moore, Homer, 325, 326
Moore, Mary Carr, 325, 328
Mora, Antonio Luigi, 325, 336
Morality Play, 297
Moranzoni, Roberto, 88, 105, 272
Morning Star, 339
Morning Telegraph, New York, 390,

439

Morris, George Pope (L), 31
Morton, 26

Moscheles, 79, 97, 216
Moses, 48

Most elaborate of musical forms, 440
"Mountain Blood," 358
"Mountain Sylph, The," 36
"Mountaineers of Switzerland, The,"

*5
Mozart, 14, 35, 39, 4*i 4$, 47, 48, 54,

470

THE INDEX

56, 79, i*9, 137, 173, 177, 3io, 385,

397, 404, 415
Mozart, Constance, 415
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 415
"Mr. Wti," 310

Muck, Dr. Karl, 114, 337, 338, 339
Mugette, 255
Mugnone, 65

Muhlmann School of Opera, 52, 441
Muir, J. McMillan, 75, 287, 288
Munich, Royal Academy of Tone Art,

119, 1-25, 130, 284, 3*6, 346, 355,

404

Murdough, Gertrude Hogan, 325
Murphy, Lambert, 146, 348
Music News, 53
"Music Robber, The," 414
Music Week, First in U. S. A., 172
Musketeer, First, 146
Musketeer, Second, 146
Mussey, Kendall K., 54
Myriel, 349
Mystery Plays, 315, 393, 426

NAM EGOS, 1 60

"Namba," 117

"Namiko-San," 185, 187

Naoia, 131

"Narcissa," 328, 330, 336

Narcissa, 331

"Narcissus and Echo." 269

National Academy of Opera, 441

National Broadcasting Company, 1 10,

147, 234, 420
National Conservatory of Music, 70,

302, 347, 360, 374
National Federation of Music Clubs

52, 115, 159, 162, 229, 230, 297,

305, 306, 320, 349, 356, 358, 395,

417
National Federation of Music Clubs

Prizes, 229, 305, 349, 395, 4*7
National Opera Club of America,

253, 44 1
National Opera Company, 39, 326,

385

National Society of Opera in Eng-
lish, 157

"Nativity, The," 426

"Natoma," 18, 49, 50, 260, 348, 366,
447

Natoma, 261, 447

Natosi, 339

Natoya, 339

Negn, Gwdo, 337, 344

Negro Cast, 409

Negro Grand Opera Company, 193

Negro Influences, 17, 70, 218, 219

Negro Spirituals, 17, 410

Negro Themes, 214

Neidhart, John G. (L), 315

Neidlinger, W. H., 431

Neitzel, 70

Nenahu, 339

Nevin, Arthur, 265, 337, 340, 342

Nevin, Ethelbert, 338

Nevin, Olive, 26

New England Conservatory of Music,
72, 119, 120, 130, 131, 214, 228,
229, 245, 304, 312, 326, 337, 424,
441

"New England Nibelong Trilogy,"

'43

Newman, Ernest, 57
New National Opera House, 31
"New World, The," 326
New York Opera Comique, The," S3,

114
New York, Philharmonic Society,

(Orchestra) of, 84, 85, 113, 130,

142, 360, 369, 394, 396
New York Symphony Orchestra, 141,

142, 147, 223, 241, 257, 369, 422,

439

Nial, 348

"Nibelungen Ring, The," 141
Niblo's Garden, 84, 85, 311
Nicolai, 53

Nicholas Yedder, 86, 155
Nicolay, Constantin, 156, 261
Nichette, 264
Nielson, Alice, 135
"Night in Avignon, A," 298
"Nightingale, The," 124
"Night-Watch, The," 431
Nikisch, Arthur, 304
Nilsson, Christine, 37
Nineteenth Century Opera, 27
"Nirvana," 315, 316
"Nisida," 281
"Nita," 270
"Noah," 81
Noe, Emma, 156
Nordica, Lillian, 6r, 101, 374
Nordica Prize, 374
Norena, Eide, 109
"Norma," 37, 44, 311
"Notre Dame," 359
"Notre Dame de Paris," 208, 209,

210

OBER, MARGARETE, 152, 154, 339
Oberlaender, Trust Award, 241

THE INDEX

471

Obcrndorfer, Marx E., 337, 344

"Oberon," 49, 62, 397

O'Connell, Daniel (L), 393

"Octoroon, The," 192, 195

Oehmler, Leo, 100

Offenbach, 54

"Olaf," 283

Old American Company, 24

Oldberg, Arne, 240

"Old Harvard," 90

Old Man, An, 348

Oldmixon, Mrs., 26, 34

"Old New England, In," 407

Old Oaken Bucket, The, 29

Old One, The, 131, 133

Oleson, Ole, 404

Oliver Ditson Prize, 229

"Ollanta," 363

Omar Khayyam, 268

O'Neill, Eugene, 224

Opera for Americans, 441

Opera Buffa, 90, 336

Opera-Comedy, 117

Opera Comique, 13, 14, 47, 70, 94,

97, 124, 166, 170, 284, 295, 31 x,

414

Opera Comique, Paris, 79, 397, 435
Opera Companies of 1926-1927, 442
"Opera and Drama," 383
"Opera not Drama," 383
Opera in English, 29, 31, 33, 43, $5,

73. 74, 154, 157, 185, 188, 198,

200, 202, 206, 208, 222, 273, 3<>I,

321, 328, 365, 408, 413, 440, 441

"Opera in English," Cartoon, 59

Opera, Grand, 13, 23, 253, 254, *S5

Opera, Native, 55, 254

Opera in Our Language Foundation,
91, 105, 115, 121, 202, 272, 388

Opera, Pure, 29

Opera Training School, 441

Operatic Idyl, 102, 330

Operatic Jumboism, 443

Operatic Pageant, 418

Oratorial Entertainment, 23

Oratorio, Dramatic, 44

Oratorio Society of New York, 139,
140, 141, 142

Order of the Royal Crown of Italy,
162

Ordgar, 398

Orchestras, Early American, 31, 35

Orchestra, First with Opera in Amer-
ica, 22

Orchestra in Opera, 20, 34, 35, 107.
108, 1 88

Orchestral Scores of American

Operas Published, vi, 21, 265
Oriental Influences, 71, 127, 178, 301
"Orlando of Milan," 87
"Orpheus," 19. 39
"Orpheus in Hades," 54
Ortrud, 139
Osborne, Ralph, 131
Osgood, Henry O., 48, 56
"Osseo," 221
"Otho Visconti," 216
"Ouanga," 423
"Our American Cousin," 124
Oxenford, Edward (L), 229
Oxford University, 150, 276
Osawa-animiki, 160

PABLO, 135

Paderewski, 165

Paderewski Prize, 65, 229

Padre Gabriel, 135, 136

"Padrona," 120, 121

Pageants, 102, 148, 165, 283

"Pagliacci, I," 44, 45, 47, 5*. '89,

203
Paine, John Knowles, 125, 128, 129,

346, 35i, 434, 435
Paloma, La, 427
Pangbprn, Frederick W. (L), 117
"Pan in America," 417
Pantomime, 20, 27, 117, 302, 330,

385, 407, 432, 44'
Papantsin, 231
Papi, Gennaro, 234
"Paoletta," 176
Parepa-Rosa, 37, 84
Paris Conservatoire, 25, 170, 205,

295

"Parisian Life," 54
Park Theater, The, 30, 31, 46, 47,

233
Parker, Horatio, 169, 346, 350, 380,

381, 423

"Parsifal, 40, 58, 140, 142, 375
"Pasha's Garden, In the," 377
Pasmore, Henry B., 346, 354
Pasquali, Bernice de, 177
"Passing of the Red Man, The," 428
"Passion, The," 426
Pasticcio, 23, 26
"Patriot, The," 167
Patterson, Frank, 355
Patti, Adelina, 36, 37, 38, 81, 3x1
Patti Rosa Opera Company, 227
Patton, Willard, 355, 358
Paur, Emil. xoo, 220
Pavloska, Irene, 50, 109

472

THE INDEX

Payne, John Howard, 29

Peabody, Josephine Preston (L),
198

Peale, Rembrandt, 355

Pease, Rollin, 49

Peattie, Elia W. (L), 200

Pedersen, Olaf, 173

Pelissier, Victor, 25, 26

Pelz, Mrae. Minna, 75

Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company,
401

Pennsylvania Historical Society, vi

People's Choral Union, 49, 229

Peralta, Frances, 253, 343, 401

"Pergolese," 162

Pergolesi, 48

Peri, 20

"Peri," 320

"Peter Ibbetson," 401, 448

Peterkee Redder. 155

Petersilea, Carlyle, 119

Pharaoh, 191

"Phelias," 112, 431

Phelps, E. C, 43i

Philadelphia-Chicago Opera Com-
pany, 260

Philadelphia Civic Opera Company,

Philadelphia Grand Opera Company,

210, 360
Philadelphia Operatic Society, 44,

200, 210, 291
Philadelphia Orchestra, 210, 257, 291,

294, 426
Philharmonic Society of New York,

84, 142, 314
Philip Harjo, 105, 106
Phillips, Stephen, 112
Phillipus, Christian Louis, 355, 359
"Phoebus and Pan," 54
"Phyllis," 423
Piccinni, 41, 294
Picco, Millo, 234, 242, 398, 402
"Piccola Figaro, La," 66
Pickhardt, lone, 355, 360
Pico, 261
"Pied Piper of Hamelin, The," 122,

148

"Pilgrim of Love, The," 31
"Pilgrims, The," 327
"Pinafore," 45, 52, 197
Pini-Corsi, Antonio, 146, 264
Pio-Pio-Mox-Mox, 331
"Pipe of Desire, The," 49, 131, 138
"Piper, Legend of the," 51, 198
"Pipes of Pan, The," 428
"Pippa Passes," 77

"Pippa's Holiday," 77
"Pique Dame," 45
"Pirates of Penzance," 45
Pizzetti, Ildebrando, 377
"Plantation, The," 193
Playwrights, Anglo-Saxon, 56
Plots:

Allegorical, 18, 97, 102, 131, 133,

135, 138, 218, 257, 284, 297,

3^5, 350, 357, 394
African, 192, 219, 225
American, 17, 32, 67, 79, 84, 85,

94, 116, 117, 134, 143, 148,

155, 166, 171, 192, 193, 201,

204, 231, 252, 261, 288, 327,

330, 334, 343, 377, 381, 407,

4^8, 430
Balkan, 89, 169
Biblical, 71, 79, 149, 167, 301,

380
Chinese, 82, 124, 148, 313, 330,

367, 433
Colonial, 112, 155, 166, 171, 327,

330, 334, 377, 381
Dutch, 215

Egyptian, 98, 191, 235, 319
English, 152, 348, 399, 402
Fairy, 156, 223, 224, 278, 279,

417

Folk Lore, 156, 199, 299
French, 17, 146, 163, 201, 203,

209, 227, 264, 306, 313, 336,
352, 370
German, 17, 168
Greek { 67, 269, 365, 377
Hebraic, 121, 149, 168, 361
Indian (See Indian Stories)
Irish, 17, 324, 360
Italian, 65, 92, 200, 233, 235,

238

Japanese, 77, "7, 187, 292, 315
Legendary, 183, 318, 336, 348,

352, 360, 365, 367, 39i
Melodramatic, 18, 107, 148
Mexican, 82, 171, 191, 193, 231,

282

Mormon, 97
Oriental, 127, 138, 183, 235, 370,

272, 277, 285, 3'5 352, 354,

418

Negro, 225, 344
Parisian, 17
Problem, 18
Russian, 313
Romantic, 131, 156, 168, 183,

221, 227, 320, 324, 370
Satirical, 20, 21, 67

THE INDEX

473

Spanish, 17, 24, 177, *<> 208,

278, 287, 409
Scandinavian, 76, 203, 283, 375,

405
Witchcraft, 69, 108, 223, 276,

3^7, 381

"Poacher, The," 54
"Pocahontas," 359
Poe, 61, 282, 315, 427, 429, 430
"Poia," 26$, 338, 340, 342
Polacco, Giorgio, 73, 264, 365, 389
Politeamo Fiorentino, 66
Pollak, Egon, 127
Pollock, Alice Leal (L), 235
"Ponce de Leon," 431
Ponchielli, 323
Ponselle, Rosa, 88
Potter, Edward C, 355, 360
Potter, E. T., 431
Powell, Mrs. H. W. (L), 407
Pratt, Silas G., 355, 361
"Preciosa," 203
Preisch, Frank, 231, 261
"Press Gang Defeated, The," 28
Presser, Theodore, 119
Preston, Howard, 50, 109, 306, 415
"Prince of the Asturias, The," 371
Prince of Wales Theater, 151
"Priscilla," 166, 171, 276, 422
Prioress, The, 152, 153
Prizes for American Opera, 30, 32,

47, 69, 115, 232, 313, 322, 336,

346, 348, 369, 443
Prizes, not American Opera, 85, 222,

223, 229, 251, 271, 279, 303, 312,

323, 335, 336, 373, 374, 3^5, 395,

417, 420, 423
Prochazka, von, J. O., 149
"Promise of Medea, The," 365
"Prophecy, The," 193
"Protegee of the Mistress, A," 377
Pruchner, 140
"Psyche," 315, 316
Publication of Operas, vi, 21, 23, 66
Public, Fretful, 62
Public Libraries, vi
Puccini, 40, 46, 73, 107, 256, 291,

4U

Pulaski, 383

"Puritans, The," 327, 328
"Purse, The ; or, American Tar," 26
"Pygmalion," 269
Pyne, Louisa, 86

QUASIMODO, 210
"Queen Elizabeth," 88
Queen of England, 36

Queen Esther, 49

Queen's Hall Promenade Concerts,

130

"Queen's Lace Handkerchief," 44
Quine, John, 233
Quintero Brothers, 66

RABINOFF OPERA COMPANY,
So. 73, 305

"Rafaello," 321

Ragueneau, 146

Raisa, Rosa, 252

Ralph, James, 20

Ramatzin, 231

Randegger, G. Aldo, 364

Randegger, Henriette B. (L), 365

Rappaccini, Dr., 104

Rappold, Marie, 357

Ravmia Park (Chicago) Opera Com-
pany, 237, 238, 299, 403

"Real English Opera," 30

"Rebel, The/' 418

"Reconciliation, 24

"Recruit, The," 25

Redding, Joseph D. (L. and Com-
poser), 261, 364, 366, 369, 437

Reed-Skibmsky, Myra, 305

Reed, Stuart (L), 260

Reeve, William, 26

Regal Opera Company, 91

Reinagle, Alexander, 25, 26, 28

Reinecke, 78, 119, 317, 354, 360, 372,
373

Reiss, Albert, 146, 152, 348, 349

Renter Lusignan, 300

Reschiglian, Vincenzo, 234

"Resurgam," 236

Reszke, de, Jean, 369

Reuter, von, Florizel, 430

Rev. John Williams, 143

Revere, Paul, 185

Rheinberger, 119, 126, 130, 284,

,,346, 355, 404

"Rhoda," 336

Rice, Alice Bates, 131

Rice, Cale Young, 298, 299, 301

Richard, Frances G. (L), 124

Richard of Agrasant, 306

Richard //. King, 152

"Richelieu, 336, 359

Richings, Caroline, 37

Richter, Ernst Friedrich, 78, 81, 3l6,

Richter, Francis William, 430
"Rfders to the Sea," 394

"Rigoletto," 45
Riker, Franklin,

233

474

THE INDEX

"Rings of Chuanto, The," 148
"Rip Van Winkle," 44, 84, 85, 119,

120, 155, 281, 309, 315, 447
Rip Van Winkle, 86, 155, 156
"Rivals, The," 433
"Rizzio," 333, 334
"Robert le Diable," 34
Roberts, Anna, 135
Robeson, Paul, 225
Robin, 349
"Robin Hood," 28, 44, 46, 47, 52, 53,

joo, 151, 156

Robinson, Thomas P. (L), 215
Rochester Opera Company, 45, 51,

441

Rodda, Charles (L), 369
Rogers, Bernard, 364, 369, 431
"Rokeby," 30
Roman Governor, 348
"Romeo and Juliet," 45, 379
Roos, Charles and Anita, 102
Roosevelt, Theodore, 141, 171, 339,

340

Roosevelt, Mrs. Theodore, 340
Rosamund, 349
"Roseanne," 344, 345
"Rosaria," 102

"Rose of Destiny, The," 44, 257
Rosenblatt, Cantor Joseph, 168
"Roses, Two," 279 ,

Rosing, Vladimir, 51, 299
"Rossignol, Le," 124
Rossini, 19, 25, 35, 137, 149, 397
Rostand, Edmond, 145, 260
Rothwell, Walter Henry, 240, 357
Rothier, Leon, 402
Roxanc, 146
Royal Academy of Music, London,

3i4

Royal Opera House, Berlin, 339
Royal Philharmonic Academy of

Rome, 91

Royal Standard Opera Company, 222
Rubinstein, 140, 290
Ruggles, Carl, 364, 370
Runcie* Constance F., 364, 371
Russell, Henry, 134, 251, 304
Russian Opera, 412
Ruuysdael, Basil, 146, 152, 348

SACRED OPERA, 48, 80, 393

"Sacrifice, The," 134, 137

Sadlier, Francis, 160

Saenger, Oscar, 52, 61, 375, 440

"Sane," 229

Saint-Saens, 142

"Stkahra," 94, 95, 447

"Sakura-San," 279

Salamander, First, 131

"Salammbo," 78

Saminsky, Lazare, 430

Sammarco, Mario, 261

"Samson and Delila," 71, 14*

"Samuel," 267

San Carlo Opera Company, 50, 169,
304, 441, 442

San Carlo Theater, 444

"Sanctuary," 436

San Francisco Grand Opera Com-
pany, 367

"Sangraal," 316

Santley, Sir Charles, 61

Sardou, 66

Saroya, Bianca, 45

"Sarrona," 270

Savage, Henry W., 40, 41, 43, 73, 74,

372 ^

Savoy Operas, 124

"Savoyard. The," 26
"Saw Mill, The," 29
"Scarlet Letter, The," 3', "a, 3i,

143, 176

Schaefer, Conrad Bryant, 372, 375
Scharwenka, Xaver, 245
Scheel, Fritz, 291
Schikaneder, Emanuel, 41$
Schirmer, G., 265
Schlegel, Carl. 152, 272
Schmidt, Karl, 372
Schnabel, Arthur, 66
Schoenefeld, Henry, 372, 373
Scholarships, 447
Schradieck, Henry, 78, 81, 163, 309,

373

Schreker, Franz, 298
Schroeder, William, 372, 376
Schryock, Buren, 372, 376
Schultz, Christine, 70
Schumann, Clara, 165
Schumann, Robert, 198, 285, 352,

Schwab, Charles M., 100

Schwarz, Joseph, 367

Scontrino, AntQnio, 72

Scott, Mme. Gilderoy, 284

Scott, Henri, 45, 233, 327, 401, 44*

Sebastian, 95, 96

"Secret of Susanne, The," 44, 49,

c Si,. 52, 305

Segum Company, 31

Seguin, Edward, 206, 207, 210

Seguin, Mrs. 206, 207

Seguin. Zelda, 37

Segurola, de, Andres, 264

Seiberling, Mrs. Frank A., 159

THE INDEX

475

Seidl, Anton, 143, 9, *59 37*, 4' 7

Selenos, 127

Sembach, Johannes, 15*

Sembrich, Marcella, 37

"Semiramide," 13?

Senora Anaya, 135

Serafin, Tullio, 225, 242, 398, 402

"Serenade, The/' 44, 47

"Serapis," 98

"Serva Padrona, La," 48

Sey fried, von, Ignaz, 310

Seymour, John L, 372, 377

Sgambati, 321

"Shaft of Ku'-pish-ta-ya," 336

Shakespeare, 61, 112, 198, 296, 344,

35^
"Shanewis," 88, 102, 103, 104, 105,

109, 1 10, 303, 447
Shadow, Myrna, 94
Sheila Meloy, 109

Shelley, Harry Rowe, 378, 379, 385
Sherwood, Mabel, 415
Sherwood, William H., 165, 430
Shiunin. 367
"Shylock," 296

"Sicilian Romance, The," 25
Simplon Tunnel, 58
"Sinbad the Sailor." 138
Sir Cower Lackland, 242
"Siren Song, The," 395
Siskadee, 331

Skilton, Charles Sanford, 378, 379
"Skyscrapers," 49, 434
Slater, Walter L., 378, 380
"Slaves in Algiers, 25
"Sleepy Hollow," 311
Smallens, Alexander, 156, 4x0
"Smelting Pot, The," 315
Smith, David Stanley, 378, 380
Smith, Doris, 102
Smith, Elihu Hubbard (L), 25
Smith, Harry B. (L), 151. 260
Smith, Uselma Garke, 66
Smithsonian Institute, 75, 101
"Snake Woman, The," 377
"Snowbird," 388, 390
"Snow Queen, The," 278
Sobplewski, Edward de, 378, 382
Social Standing of Early Stage, 22
Society of American Singers, 47,

232, 233, 238

"Sohrab and Rustum," 326
"Song of David, The," 71
"Sonnambula, La," 44
Sonneck, Oscar G., 27, 57, 60

Sonzogno, Prize, 73, 91
"Soul of Raphael, For the/'

310

Sousa, John Philip, 14, 44, 45, 171,

380

Southwark Theater, Philadelphia, 24
Spalding, Walter R., 370, 385, 435
Spanish Influences, 17, 24, 82, 135,

335, 4*8

Spanish Language, 62, 276
Sparkes, Leonora, 132, 264
Spaulding, Mrs. Howard S., 46
Spear, Florence Lewis (L), 195
Spelman. Timothy M., 378, 385
Spiritual Music Drama, 426
Spohr, 216
Spoken Opera, 429
Sprotte, Anna Ruzena, 331
Squassoni, Iginio (L), 344
Squire, The, 152, 153
St. Ignatius, 409
St. Leger, Frank, 51
"St. Louis i/' 436
St. Louis Training School for Opera,

"St. Peter," 351

St. Teresa I, 409

5"*. Teresa II, 409

Stackareff, Count, 88, 89

Stadttheater (Mayence), 229

Stanaway, Mabel. 131

Standard English Opera Company,

39

Stanford, C. V., 229
"Star System," 36, 443
Stearns, Theodore, 387, 439
Stehmann, Gerhard, 143
Stein, Gertrude (L), 408
Stein, Oscar (L), 127
Steinberg, Hans Wilhelm, 66
Stephen Pauhff. 88, 89
Stephens, Davia (L), 231
"Stern's Maria," 26
Sternberg, von, Constantin, 66
Stevens, Nan Bagby (L), 344
Stevens, Thomas W. (L), 297
Stewart, Grant (L), 233, 264
Stewart, Humphrey J., 276, 387, 391,

Stock, Frederick, 55, 388

Stoessel, Albert, 68, 69, 223, 224, 225

Stokes, Richard L. (L), 241, 414

Stokowski, Leopold, 44, 295, 426

S tor ace, Nancy, 415

Stork, Charles Wharton (L), 76

"Stradella," 44

Stransky, Josef, 314

Strauss, Johann, 54, 372

Stravinsky, 124

Stringham, Edwin A., vi

476

THE INDEX

Stroesco, C, 135
Strolling Comedians, 22
Strong, May, 334
Subsidized Opera, 58, 435
Sullivan, Sir Arthur, 62, 63, 81, 173,

221, 410
Sumatsi, 339
"Sun Bride, The," 379
"Sun Dance, The," 246
Sundelius, Marie, 105, 401
"Sun God, The," 273, 4*8
"Sunken Bell, The," 251, 37*
"Sunken City, The," 386
"Sunset Trail," 103
Sussmayer, Franz, 415
Swarthout, Gladys, 242
Sweet, Reginald, 387, 394
Swinburne, 61
Sykes, Mrs. William McQuisto (L),

148

Sylph, First, 131
Symbolic Musical Poems, 130
Symphonic Poems, 138
"Syrian Night, A," 426

TALBOT, ARNOLD, 109

"Tales of Hoffmann," 44

"Tam-Man'-Nacup'," 247

"Tammany; or, The Indian Chief,"
24

"Taming of the Shrew," 39

"Tannhauser," 41, 44, 45, 47, i$o

"Taste of the Town, The," 20

Taylor, Deems, 395, 400, 439

Taylor, Raynor, 26, 28

Taylor, Samuel, 21

"Temple Dancer, The," 88, 90. *7*.
272

Temple Guard, 272

"Temple of American Independ-
ence," 26

"Temple of Minerva, The," 23

"Temptation, The," 426

Tennyson, 61, 113

Teyte, Maggie, 233

"Thais," 43

Thayer, Eugene, 119

Theatre des Champs Elyse"es, 79, 253

Theudas, 357

Thomas, Rudolf, 115

Thomas, Theodore (Orchestra), 35,
78, 85, 142, 211, 226, 230, 257, 259,
352, 419

Thompson, Francis (L), 393

Thomson, Virgil, 404, 407

"Through a Looking-Glass," 396

"Through the Narrow Gate," 356
Thuland, C. M. (L), 405
Thurber, Jeannette, 39, 326
Thurston, E. Temple, 428
Tibbett, Lawrence, 224, 225, 226, 242,

357, 398, 402
Tibuda, 109
Tietjens, Teresa, 196
Tiffany, Marie, 152, 234
Tin Loi, 367
Tipton, Frances, 427
Tivofi Opera House, 82, 367, 393
Tizanne, 254
Tobin, Richard, 131
Toinette, 252
T omasa, 135
"Tom-Tom," 219
Tonning, Gerard, 404
Tony Sarg's Marionettes, 123
"Tosca, La," 41
Toscanini, Arturo, 91, 256, 302
"Tournament of the Songbirds," 34
Townsend, Stephen, 131
Tracy, H. C. (L), 377
"Tragedy in Arezzo," 238
"Traitor Mandolin, The," 302
"Transatlantic," 66
Translations, 37, 38, 48, 49, 56, 57,

58

"Traviata, La," 183, 305
Tray, de, Fannie, 163
Treville, de, Yvonne, 104
Treyisan, Vittorio, 187
"Trilby," 401

"Trilogy, American," 327, 328
"Tristan and Isolde," 17, 141, 399
"Triumph of Columbus, The," 363
"Trovatore, II," 44, 45, 46, 47
"Tryst, The," 192
Tsianina, Princess, 105, 428
Turnbull, John D. (L), 25
"Twilight," 342
"Two Philosophers," 432
"Two Roses," 279

"ULYSSES," 431

"Uncle Tom's Cabin," 182, 222, 323

"Undine," 421

Undine, First, 131

Upper Marlborough, Maryland, 22

Urban, 70

"Uzziah," 195

"VALDO," 191

Valentine (May) Opera Company,

46, 204
Valentine, Percy Friars (L), 279

THE INDEX

477

"Valeric," 170

"Valkyrie, The," 40, 53

"Valliere, La," 77

Van Gordon, Cyrena, 231, 429

Van Grove, Isaac, 52, 300, 412, 414,

4i5

Vannuccim, 150
"Vendetta," 193
Venth, Carl, 412, 416
Verdi, 76, 107, 137, 140, 183, 185,

197

Victor Emmanuel III, 162
Viennese Operatic Art, 17, 19, 253
Vierling, 70

Vincent, Henry Betheul, 430
"Vintage, The," 26
"Viola d'Amore," 429
"Virgins of the Sun," 433
"Voodoo," 193, 194, i9S

W ABASH AW, 75

Wagner, Richard, 19, 39, 53, 106,
107, 119, 140, 143, 144, 238, 320,
326, 327, 353, 357, 379, 383, 384,
400

Wainwright, Jonathan H. (L), 86
Wakefield, Henriette, 242, 398
Wakefield, Samuel, 99
"Wa-Kin-Yon," 428
"Wakuta," 288
Wald, Max, 420
Walker, George, 104
"Walkure, Die," 95
Wallace, William Vincent, 85

Walsegg, Johann von, 415

"Waltz Dream, The," 54

"Wandering Jew, The," 428

Wang Lou, 367

Ware, Harriet, 420, 421

Warnery, Edmond, 156, 367

Warren, Reginald, 116

Warren, Richard H., 420, 422

Washington, George, 22, 23, 128

Washington Opera Company, 73

"Washington Was Young, When,"
3^5

Waskema, 331

Watrous, Mrs. Edwin A., 44, 200

Watt, Charles E., 53

Weber, C. M. von, 41, 49, 62, 63,
'49, 156, 382, 383, 397

Weber, Henry G., 109

Weeko, 75

Weidig, Adolf, 182, 298, 3*5

Weingartner, Felix, 304

"Werewolf," 315
Wetzel, Leroy N.,

116, 203

"White Bird, The," 115

"White Buffalo Maiden, The," 17*

White, Clarence Cameron, 420, 423

"White Cloud, The," 301

White, Grace Hofman (L), 344

White House, The, 67, 340

White, Howard, 135, 233

"White Sister, The," 429

Whithorne, Emerson, 433

Whiting, George E., 119, 214, 420,

424, 429

Whitman, Marcus, 331
Whitman, Walt, 315
Whitmer, T. Carl, 420, 425
Whole-tone Scale, 147
WSdor, Charles Marie, 197, 430, 435
"Widow, The," 295
Wife of Bath, The, 152, 153
Wieprecht, 351
Wilbor, Elsie M. (L), 413
Wilde. Oscar, 173, 413, 434
Wilhelmj, August, 140
Williams, Guy Bevier, 420, 427
Williams, Irene, 76
Williams, Perry (L), 74
Williamsburg, Virginia, 22
Wiilliamson Opera Company, 222

"William Telh" 25, 137, 397

Willoughby, Claris, 109

Willoughby, Elisabeth, 109

Willoughby, Nathaniel, 109

Wilson, President, 154

Windheim. Marek, 224, 225, 242, 402

"Wing Wong," 82

"Winona," 74

Winona, 75, 246

"Witch of Brocken, The," 223

"Witch of Salem, A" 108, 109, no

"Witches' Well, The," 69

Witherspoon, Herbert, 198, 348

Wolfe, James, 242, 398

Wolff, Albert, 79

"Woman of Marblehead, A," 126

Wood, Sir Henry, 130

Woods, Mrs., 35

Woods Troupe, 30, 35

"Woodsman, The," 288

"Woodstock," 429

"Wood-Witch," 3*1

Woodworth, Samuel, 29

World's Fair of Chicago, 126, 137,
171, 352

World War, 138, 142, 154, 251, 265,
3*5, 316

Worshipful Company of Musicians,
143

"Wozzeck," 411

478

THE INDEX

Wrestling Bradford, 242
Wullner, 70, 284, 290, 314
Wiirzburg, 388, 391

XALCA, 231
"Xerxes," 49
"Xitria," 431

YALE UNIVERSITY, 120, 347,

, 348, 349, 378, 381

Yankee Doodle, 21

"Yankee Trick, A," 29

Yasui, 187

Yellow Serpent, 331

Yfel, 357

Yiro Danyemon, 186

Yoga, 272

"Yolanda of Cyprus," 52, 299, 431

"Yo-Nennen," 291
Young, Rida Johnson, 376
Ysaye, Eugene, 250
Ysaye, Theophile, 250
Yvonne de Treville, 104
"Yzdra," 183

ZANGARINI (L), 65

Zech, Frederick, 420, 427

Zeckwer, Marie, 292

"Zenobia," 126, 127

"Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra," 362

Ziehn, Bernhard, 197, 303, 412, 414,

434

Zitkala Sa, 245
Zoological Gardens Opera, 51, 305,

:i," 190, 192