The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-05-10
English Opera.

THE ENGLISH COMPOSERS AND THEIR WORKS
In the course of an interesting article on
English OPERA writer in the Cincinnati En-
gUjrer of the 1st instant gives this list of the
most popular lyric works on the English
stage:-
Forty years ago Sir Henry Bishop, the
director of Covent Garden and Drury Lane,
wrote no opera, properly SO called. In his
day the nearest approaches to true opera were
plays like Guy 1ndnnerjRg, Rob RlY, The
hnigM Of SBOCd0un, and The Miller and
His Men, interspersed with songs, gees, and
O chorus. 1t was not until five years later
that English composers studied the peculari
ties of foreign music, and founded a
national system upon the tonal and
rbythmical eXcellences of native melody.
A fresh coloring, q new direction and q
novel application of scientific principles
were associated with natural impulses, and
produced English opera. The very first
season the Lyceum, built in 1885, expressly
to exhibit and foster this now musical energy,
was distinguished by the production of two
works of striking merit, the NOUrjaisdd of
Mr.. Edward Loder, and the NOUHtuiR ,SyIDb
of Mr.. John Barnett. The next successful
piecesswas Michael Balfe's Siege Of Rochelle
produced at Drury Lane. This was quickly
followed by the Mud Of Art0iS, illustrated
by the genius of Malibran then in the height
of her powers, and in quick succession, by
the same master, appeared Joan Of Arc,
Cdthdafae Grey, Tile EnchantresS, The
Daughter Of st. Mdr6, Tie Bondnla1a, and,
last and greatest, Tile bohemian Girl, which
Immediately seized the public ear, and ran
for more than a hundred nights at Drury
Lane. Then came Vincent Wallace, whose
Nd1TtdnG was hailed with but little less
enthusiasm than Tile Bohemian Girl.
''The next successes were won by Mr.. Bar
netts FdrmeE, Macfarlane's Do1t QUSG0te
Rockies Amilje; or, Tile Lore Test, and Hen
7iQues, Balfe's Diddeste and Re0Jantte. The
list from 1885 to the present day may, we
believe, be completed by the following operas
in chronological order:-NigM Dances, by
Loder; Macfarrens OhorJes l. Balfe's Maid Of
Honor and S5ciljan Bride, Howard Glover's
AmSat0, Henry Smarts Bertha, Balfe's Bose
Of CASTLE, Howard Glovers Rug Bias, Alfred
Melons VictOriRe, Wallaces Lurljne and
LOCerS' Triumph, Balfe's Pul3taR'S Daughter
SdtaHela and ArmOrer Of Nantes, Howard
Glovers once Too Often, Macfarrens Robin
Hood, Wallaces Amber Witch and Desert
FlOaoer, and few other operattas by Mori
George Macfarren, Henri Leslie, and Arthur
Sullivan.
''Surely this long list of operas all COM
posed in thirty-five years, and many of them
tavorites in England, the Continent of Eu-
rope and America, should be sufficient to
inspire us with the most confident expecta-
tions for the future. That the English Ian
guage yields to musical intonations with a
facility equal to the German and Italian has
been abundantly proved by the English rem
dition of masterpieces like TrO0dtOre, by
Verdi; .SOnnana6uIa, by Bellini; Mozart's
Figaro, and Carl Maria Won Weber's OberOn
We do not hazard much when we predict
that ere many years roll by the varied genius
of America will build upon the solid founda-
ton of England q school of opera which in
process of time may compete, and not per-
haps, without success, for the laurels now
yielded only to the great masters of Italy and
GERMANY :"