Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-09-20


and sympathetic voice of good com.
pass and great fiexibility; its inton'
alton is perfect. She probably could
1 not sing out of time if she were tC
try. Her singing took our people
captive from the first, and gained
favour with them to the last. Mr.,
Dexter, the tenor, has voice such
as is very rarely to be met with out
side of the great metropolitan opera
companies; for compass, for timbre,
for the perfect facility and accuracy
with which it executes the most
trying passages, we have not heard
its equal in GAINESVILLE. Not on the
same level with these, but excellent
in their lines, were the barytOne
and BASES. Mons. Louis Nathal
showed himself an actor of cOnsid-
cradle ability as well as an accomp-
lished vocalist, some huskiness in
his voice probably being due to
temporary causes. Mr.. E. NJ.
Knight, the buffO of the troupe, also
contributed largely to the ensemble
by his singing and acting.
On Tuesday night the English
comic opera, Fl. NJ. S. Pinafore, was
produced for the first time in Clarks-
vile. This joint production of the
best living English composer and
one of the most popular English
dramatists of the day (Messrs.
Arthur Sullivan and w. S. Gilbert)
has been the most successful Eng
lish opera produced since the day
when the Beggar's Opera made Gay
rich and Rich gay. That opera
was performed more than $50 years
ago, and was literary rather than
a musical work, the songs in it be-
ing sung to old ballad tunes; the
present is a very different affair
every note in the music was COM
posed with direct reference to the
words for which it was written. In
deed, the perfect adaptation of
music to words is a merit which, in
our estimation, Sullivan possesses
over all other English composers
since Purcell. He makes this facul-
ty contribute to the humOr as well
as to the sentiment of the piece, the
dialogue in recitation being some
times made irresistible comic by
this very means. But beyond this
there is very rich vein of melody
running through the whole work,
and the singers were completely at
home, nay, their voices revelled in
the strains assigned to them. The
singing ofMiss Butler and Mr.. Dex-
ter was a complete ovation through
out, the favorite pieces being the
tenor air, "The Nightingale sighed"
the Duet, "Refrain audacious tar"
and, beyond all, Miss Buffers
scena, "The hours creep on apace."
The principal air in this scena, in
Guiding an elaborate cadenza, was
encored beyond mercy, the lady be-
ing compelled to repeat it three
times. Mr.. Knight was also highly
popular in Dick Deadeye, his dry
humor contributing as much as his
singing to the success of the piece.
MEMPHIS RELIEF CONCERT.
Once open, the people of Clarks-
will are not disposed to let their hall
remain idle. The opera company
occupied it on Monday and Tues
day, and then on Wednesday night
a Musical and Military entertain
ment was given there for the pur-
pose ofaiding the relief fund for
Memphis. 1t is wonderful how
quickly our people can get up an
affair of this sort, when induced by
an adequate motive, and they
never had a better motive. Capt.
Crusman, who is by appoint
ment the special commissioners for
raising funds in GAINESVILLE, init
mated to some of our amateurs that
a pressing need existed for immedi-
ate aid, and in three days they
were ready. Prof. Meininger, al
ways public spirited, cheerfully I'M
dertook the Accomplishments, and
the Chickasaw Guards and Bluff
City Grays proffered their valuable
aid, and the entertainment was as
attractive as if months had been
consumed in preparations.
We will not make separate men
ton of our own amateus, whose
talents have often been recognized
in this paper, but will mention the
artistic singing of Mrs. Lamb of
Memphis, which was vociferously
appreciated by the audience, so
much so that she had to supplement
her first piece by adding to it Balfe's
popular air, 81 dreamt l dwelt in
marble halls" Messrs. Peters and
Steel, of the Chickasaw Guards, and
Mr.. Griffin, of the Bluff City Grays,
also gave us some excellent singing,
and the drill of both companies on
the stage was wonderful for its
rapidity and precision. The silent
manual by the Bluffs, in which the
whole manual exercise was run
through without word Of command
or music to keep them together,
was like clock work, every motion
being executed with promptitude
and ensemble that gave the idea Of
the whole company constituting a
single piece of perfect mechanism.
Equal in interest with this, was the
bayonet drill of the Cickasaws,
wherein the soldiers carried their
muskets through all the mysteries
of thrust and parry in carte and
/ tierce with as much ease and
prOmptitude as that with which a