New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-11-14
A MUSICAL EMEUTE.
WAGNER IN PARIS.
WHIST HEARING OF THE FUNERAL MARCH FROM TIE
RING or TIE NIBEIUNGs-A POPuIAE< rIoAR.

PARIS. oct 3l.--I. IaSutiOup, N~lo Lio us
tingushcd himself in. past seasons by several
more or less iudicious attempts to interpret
the music Of Wagner to Partisan audiences,
produced on Sunday at the second of his
rrcseut series Of popular concerts the great Funeral
March from the last division of the trlogy OF the
Nibelmg, and the consequence was popular uiS-
turbance which the newspapers OF this lilosca cl
tai are complacently discussing as the TaSieIouP
Scandal" The great Cirque OLIVER was Mica 10 Its
utmost limits on the day in question: ana TIC Hi''
part of the programme, on which Inquired the NAMES
of Mepdessohn. F6licien David, GEORGES biI''' an"
Handel WAS listened 10 with all possible dec"iu'n'
Rut when WaQncr's turn came sudden iuil aP-
pearcd 10 attend the assembly. Many OF the three
~ four thousand people were supplied with
1o,.,yti.tlrs and What with these piercing
instruments, shouts, Kisses, and the stamping oil
feet the circus was instantly in an uWoar. linen
began a couuter-dem0H,t1atiO For even among inc
Parisiaus Wagner has ardent admireIs, ami cries Oh
"a Ia porte 81 answered the hootnss and 'at-'aU''
Two or three gentlemen, evidently French WHO
stood near me- were especially Jealous lu drmah"'5
for the composer Of the future fair hearing lh'l
tprpcd lrgrily TO young man behind Them am
with charming uureas uablcness eX'idlm''' 10"
hiss Sir. vou are no Trcnchman, you are Ger
m,nw AtIast the patient Pasd,oup, finding that
,b onoer he waited the louder grew the noise, or
serod hi, men 10 begin and gradually curiosity got
the better of passion. The prri1ima zee was a lar
pne: by no means COZ parable to what Ih'o'"''
Thomas would have given, yet good enough 10 pre-
scut AT least a faint reflection Of the Splend'fs "i
niece of music which associated n }' Is WIN th'.
mcom1arable scene at Bayrruth, "a vision OF hcI'.'
forms dnnly deserted through gathering mSiS' ''.'-
INC slowly up the rocky path with the BODY
Of the dead Serfried ON their shon'-
ders. and the invisible orchestra filing
the tleater with music that eWtomized IN its won
derfnI combination of familiar motives the Whoc
trooedv of the long four days drama. tH the spec
tace was lost in thick clouds, and the solemn strains
died away haunts my memory more peIslelcuii5
than ANYTHING else in the Ring OF the NlncinHs@'
A. Pasdeloup's hundred men played with no par-
ticular enthusiasm, and were inspired by no p2rt-
Mar appeciaOu Of the character oil the music; pn'
at the close the Wagner party in Ill" audience broke
forth into the Hvelicst demonstrations Of delight.
II was now that the disturbance assumed the most
serious proportions. Cries OF Obs! bis" from the
one side hootngs and ca-callS from the other strUc-
oiled for the predominance. Pasdeloup clapped his
hands 70 his ears and stood comic figure ~ despair
Twice he addressed the frantic audience IN VIZ
Orous speech of which not one word could be heard
Three times. having taken up the baton to continue
the concert he was compelled t. put
II down again. observe tLat the news
papers concur in describing the rio' as purely and
simply demonstration against Wagner. can tes-
tfv that II was quite as much demonstration in
his favor. 1t is difficult for single observer ~
ipdge of The sentiments of tumultuous an" d.
yided assembly and speak with confidence only
of what passed under my own eyes the call ID that
mart of The house where happened to he was
almost unanimous for a repetition Of the March
and so far from its being true Paris paper puts
it, that the uproar would not be quclrd I'LL NJ las-
deloup passed on to the Der Frcyschutz' over
ture the TACT is that he began the Der freyschut%
overture three times over and was compelled To
give il ND in consequence of the cries for an encore
of Wagner.
All this is trivial enough perhaps, but the gravity
with which the journals discuss the "scandaP to-
day and pat the French people on the back for their
patriotic refusal to listen to musician who has ma
hcned and insulted them gives il lGdIcrous sort of
importance The behavior of the aut'-N dgner lac
ton is described as grand" the conduct OF the
unfortunate director little less than an outrage
uuon pnbc decency. NJ. PasdelOup undertakes his
own defense in a sensible letter to the Figaro. AT
present" he says IN agner Is judged by us as the
man. and not as the great musician. ] Deheve thdt
France cannot stand aloof from the musical move
ment which is going outside our Tor
ders. and that the Popular Concerts ought to
make known in Paris works which ono may not
perhaps admire, but which one cannot ignore and
which very large part Of my public Is anxious 10
hear IL seems TO me that my conduct durlng our
uisforturcs. when / left mother and wife IN The
hone OF serving my country, will ahs)lve me from
The necessity Of replying to the charges against my
patrioti.m.D But NJ Pasdeloup's plea seems TO have
no effect In more than one journal find 1t scrl-
ously urged that the police ought 10 interfere ana
exclude this Wagner from Partisan Concert-roonS.
writer in the GGuois is perhaps the most comical OF
all who have discussed this grave affair. See ne
saws M Pasdeloup has an lncontestahc right I"
mt what he pleases on his own programmes. But
then. out of his three thousand patrons thele
IRE fifteen hundred 10 whom the music OF the
Niebelungen Trilogy Is repuCnant u. PdsdelonP
has no right to impose his personal passion upon IL
teen hundred people; that is evident Inc question:
then. resolves itself into this: NJ. Pasceloup has
right to play; the puslc has right 20 prevent ms
playing. The two rights destroy each other' what
are you going 10 do y
Observe the delicious inconsequencc: the 1000
people who do wish to hear Wagner are left
out of the account altogether and the right OF thc
other 1000 10 stay at home has not oc-
CURED to anybody in Paris. " 1t appears to me-"
continues the writer in the GGuois, that the pro-
cramme of the concerts falls under the supervision
of the project of police. There are certain dead
walls before which nobody passes; they become IN
time no better than sewers and the police let them
olone. There are other walls before which the
crowd must pass" bat had better not translate
what follows. The conclusion is put with intense
solemnity. The discussion Of Magnetism disturbs
the pubic order; it must be stopped. Once upon a
time piece called lie COdU0n was iItcrdicted at
the Vaudeville because il was occasion Of scan
dial. To-day the authorities must deal with NJ fas-
deloup as they dealt with the Vaudeville. The po-
lice must interfere and stop Wagner az they stopped