Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-02-04
A Protest Against Encores.
From ''MusiC''

A Protest Against EncOres.
From '.Music'
1t is fully time for the conscientious critic to
enter protest against encores in general. The
custom so much in vogue of recalling anybody
and everybody upon the least proyccation or
upon no provocation whatever, ia radically
wrong; for the reason that it is unjust to the
performers, and the supposed compliment
necessarily loses its value and Importance on
account of its indiscriminate and lavish use in
our concert rooms.
Professional musicians are paid for their ser
vices and their contract or agreement requires
them to perform certain number of selections,
and it is manfeStly unfair to expect them to
double or even treble their efforts without ade-
quate compensation. There is, of course, no
reasonable objection to manifestations Of salts
faction and delight on the part of an audience,
and no one can blame the performer for ac
knowledging the sameDythc courtesy Ofreappear-
ing for moment and simply bowling his thanks.
This would be in accordance with the canOns of
good taste and is so manifestly proper course
of action that no on could cayil thereat.
AS the matter stands every singer is provided
with an ''encOre', for each selection which he or
she is advertised to sing, and here the full alb
surdty of the practice is evident. At the first
thought it would seem that if a clamOrous au-
dience should be 80 charmed with Miss Smith
inis solo as to demand her appearance, it
would be for the reason that that especial sefec-
ton had been extremely pleasing, and COM
mon sense would suggest that some portion, at
least. of that selection would be the natural re-
Spouse. This is very far from the fact for Miss
Smithini reappears and re"ales her hearers with
something of a radically different character, and
very often on much lower plane as far as nu-
steal worth is concerned 80 that it is not at ali
unusual for Miss Smitiiini to sing Bach
Gounod's ''Ave Maria" and to supplant it with
''Comn thro the Rye" and these anachronisms
being once tolerated, their variety is endless.
Very recently lady sang at a concert an eX-
treIney neat song, with cello obligato. 1t was
we'll done, the cello passages being the especial
feature, and yet, upon recall. the lady came
out alone. and sang vastly inferior song. Now.
this kind Of operation is neither artistic, in
good taste, nor even measurably decent.
The ''previOusness' of this mode of prOce-
dure is far less evident in the case of pianist.
for in these days piano solos are very rarely
played from the notes. and Mr.. Founder can
easily assume sort of imprOmptu and taken
by-surprise air when he Oblgingly consents to
play ''little gem" as an encore selection But
singer has no such refuge, for she must be &C
cOmpanied, and her acCOmpanist must have
copy of her song, and-hayng it-pray how did
he happen to have it with him in such an oppOr
tune moment? Did Miss Snithini feel abso-
lutely certain that her endeayors would be SO
enhancing that she would be compelled to dou-
BILE her selectons3
Bad as this custom is under the circumstances
just mentioned it is infinitely worse at operate
performances; 1t apparently never seems to Oc-
cur to the audience that it is fiagrantly absurd
to insist upon sopranos coming to life again
after having died to slow music-and repeated
her death-song When will people understand
that the dramatic action of an opera must never
be Interrupted by such an anachrOniSm! And
yet this sort of thing occurs at any and at all
times during the performance of any opera.
-------->>~----
The Demon in the Sky.
From the N. Y. Sub
One of the post interesting sights in the sky.
and one which can be watched without teles-
COPE is the variation in the light of the star
AlgOl, whose Arabic name means the Demon.
1t is sometimes called the Winking Demon
This wonderful star is now in a good position
for observation being nearly overhead at night
fall. 1t is the brightest OF the little cluster
called the Head of Medusa, which. according to
the old fable. Perseus carries in his hand as he
hurrles to the rescue OF AndrOmeda. For lit
tie over two days and half Algol shines as a
star Of the second magnitude. Then it's light
begins to fade. and in about three hours and a
third it sinks to the fourth magnitude, gmmer-
ing so feebly that a casual observer would be
unable to distinguish it from the other faint
stars in its neighbOrhOOd. Thus it remains for
eighteen minutes, and then begins to brighten
again. and, in the same time that it occupied in
growing dim, attains it's former brlliancy. From
one minimum 10 announcer is TWO DAYS twenty
hours and nearly forty-nine minutes.
The fact that star thus brightens and grows
dim at regular intervals is in itself wonderful.
but it appears all the more wonderful when we
are told that Algol isa sun, probably larger than
our sun. having an enormous dark body rovol-
wing around it at tremendous speed Some as
tronomers think that this mysterious body will
fall into the star. producing an Outburst of light
and heat that would be fatal to any living be-
ings who might exist within millions of miles of
that distant sun. Such catastrophe would be
visible to us in the sudden increase Of splendor
in the star.
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