Litchfield enquirer., 1874-05-07
The Music of the Future.

The Music of the Future.
 In one of our leading New York papers a critic lately asserted that one of our es- | timable local musicians was as great a composer as Wagner; another time he openly called Ambroise Thomas a charla- tan, simply because Thomas's "Mignon" 1 din not suit his taste. But be such "crit. lclsm" as this as it may, it cannot change | the greatness of Wagners music. He has as his most enthusiastic admirers Franz Liszt, Hans von Bullow and most of the greatest musicians of Europe.
 Another question arises; Whether an | opera like ell Trovatore" affords as much ! enjoyment as 'Lohengrin." To the writ of these lines 1t does not. "Trovatore" I l admire. think it is one of the most love- ly of all Italian operas; but those who wish to enjoy really grand and true music must hear "Lohengrin. To the greater part of the New York public "Trovatore" would be the most enjoyable, simply be- cause they are not habituated to the grand, majestic styles. Would they enjoy 'Fid- elio?" This reminds me of the trials that Beethoven was compelled to go through be- fore his beautiful work was appreciated. The critics of Vienna-when 1t was first produced 20th November, 1S05-spoke i'll the harshest terms of Beethoven's work, | condemning it to such a degree that the composer was compelled to withdraw it after the third performance. I quote an
 extract from the leading journal of Vienna
 at that time:
 "A short time ago the overture of Eide
 lio' was performed, and all impartial musi
 clans were agreed that anything so discon-
 nected, shrill, confused. ear-torturing and
 wholly bad had never before been writ l ten. The most distressing themes follow | one another in unnatural harmony, and trivial themes, which have not the faint est idea of sublimity (for instance, horn solo, which was prObpbly intended to re- present. the arrival of the Governor, fin l ish the disagreeable and deafening pro- ducti on."
 This is the way the greatest opera ever written was received, and ''Lohengrin" had reception not wholly dissimilar: but, like 'Fidelio," it has slowly but surely risen into favor, until to-day it is the un- disputed companion-piece to Beethoven's masterwork.
 In New York, and America in general. | Wagner has been treated more hardly and
 unjustly than in any country in Europe.
 Here the critics have literally abused and ridlculed the great composer. Only one
 man was bold enough to oppose these | false views, and that was Theodore Thom-
 as, who, with his matchless orchestra, first
 introduced to us Wagners glorious music.
 To him we are indebted for thorough
 knowledge of what Wagner is, and but 1 for this fact We probably would never | have heard "Lohengrin" at the Academy
 of Music Through him we had already
 heard selections from "Tannhauser, o%o grin, " "Fleigender Hollander," /" "Rienzi," l and "Walkure,'' besides numerous works written for the orchestra alone.
 The opera itself has already been we'll and justly criticised by some of our true oritios- It in e glorious, mojestic opera ! abounding in the most fasclnating and masterly music, and from the first note in the overture to the last note of the finale 1t Is one succession of almost unparalleled beauties. The chorus which greets Lohen- grin on his arrival is one of the grandest things ever sung in the Academy, yet the | other choruses in the opera fully equal it. The solo parts, too, are great and noble, such as not one artist out of hun dred would dare to undertake. To say nothing of Lohengrin and Elsa, look at | FredeTicE's scene in the second act, so
 admirably rendered by Del Puente! There | is art such as people of culture wish to enjoy, and such as will always be appre- | ciated as long as music or the lyric stage exists. Like Beethoven, Wagner has been
 wronged; like Beethoven he has triumph
 ed.-N. Y. EUe. Post. ..
 The Greenwoods company have 0 very
 curious little telegraph apparatus in their
 office, connected by wires with the facto-
 " across the road and with Smiths store across the river. It is an electrical ma chine but the messages are spelled out ill
 plain capital letters that the wayfaring
 man can read at glance. The letters of l the alphabet are printed on Q dial like fig
 ures on the face of clock. A pointer on I the dial points to these letters as the op-
 orator at the other end of the telegraph
 talks through the machine and ill that
 way person watching the hand as it goes
 around can spell out. the words. The electricity is generated by wheel that
 works with treadle like a common sew l ing machine. To send a message the
 operator has another dial with the letter on it, and over each letter is key. Press
 down on a key over A and the pointer at
 the other end of the telegraph wire will point to A and so on with the whole
 alphabet It is a simple machine and
 works to a charm. If Mir. Fitch or any body else in the office wants to ask Mir. I Smith (whose store is 8 quarter of mile
 away) question, he goes to his machine
 and commences to tread 1t like sewing
 machine. This generates the electricity.
 Then to call Smiths attention he presses
 on certain key and the electricity rings
 bell in the store. Mr. 5. goes to his machine and reads of the message very much as if it was love letter. It takes
 but a very short time to learn to operate the machine. This is certainly a step to-
 ward private telegraph linesssfr from house
 to house, which will no doubt be common
 in the good time to come.- Winsted 1 Press. s . A strolling minstrel was recently arrest. | ed out in Missouri for small theft and
 fined g. As he had no money, the judge
 adjourned the court for half an hour and
 the minstrel gave ''show," the court T. Al H.-- = 2..z 1 l. s