Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-06-17
s.le nrse p.ace, 60 wnom i am 10 sen sne

aThen l presume Mr.. Soapley Smart is
about to make his debut as a classical
composer?n. MIR. Doublebass' lip cnrled
perceptibly as he spoke.
Upon my word, Doublebass, you are
too hard on me- said Smart. "Yo1 force
me to speak more plainly than intended;
first / must have your promise that
what l am about to mention shall never
beyond ourselves"
Mr.. Donblebass inclined his head in
silence. His daughter did the same.
@You are aware" said Mr.. Smart. that
1t is my privilege to be on somewhat init
mate terms, professionally speaking, with
a certain exalted parsonage who honors
our art with his patronage. The concert
! mentioned just now is in aid of the funds
of II wel1-known educational institution.
in order to give eclat to the entertainment
my exalted friend not only promised to
perform n solo on the trombone, his favor
lite instrument, but has offered to compose
an orchestral symphony specially for the
occasion. OF course, the offer was ac-
cepted. As you are aware, my exalted
friend dabbles n little in composition. He
had, however, never attempted anything
on so ambitious a scale as u symphony,
and the task proved more arduous than he
litlAi uutlSlDiilcQ = he iiiliSGli, bttIi
his usual modesty, was the first to
phony,' he said to me at last,
= even exalted use strong
language occasionally, Miss Doublebass-
Hang the symphony. I'm sick of it.
They'll have to do without it, / ven
tured respectfully to suggest that this
would cause grievolis disappointment,
tickets having been already sold. We'll,
look here, Soapy,' he said-that is u pleas
ant way in which the great one is pleased
to address your humble servant OCCASION
must write the COMPOUNDED
thing / demurred as far as could, but
he was firm, and in the end l had to rln-
dertake the job. Now, / can be candid
with you, Doublebass, and | frankly ad
nit that the task ~ not at all in my line.
/ don't profess to go in for high art, you
know. / was at my wits end, when I
luckily thought ef you and the symphony
you had mentioned to me, and here /
am. Now, l think you will see how the
land lies"
Really said Mr.. Donblebass, who had
listened to the foregoing narrative with n
grim smile, 4that is q very great honor you
have planned for me. Now, when do yor
want the symphony"
4At once; we ought to be practicing i.
now
II asked because, as you intimated, II
few alterations will no doubt be necessary,
and they can not be made in a minute"
"You relieve me of difficulty, Double
bass. That is the very thing I wanted TO
say. / can give you till Saturday, but not
later. Unjust be made shorter, you know,
and lighter, my dear sir, lighter
Il understand said Mr.. Doublebass.
Something between Beethoven and Often
.bach.p
aPrecisely-the very thingl' said Mr..
terms he hurried Off to the cab which was
waiting for Kim.
you are not really going to do this
father" inquired Maggie, when the visi-
tor was gone. She had listened to the in
terview in some bewilderment aud was
quite taken aback at the result.
Why not, my dear?" Better be out OF
the World than behind the times, y said the
old gentleman, evasively. Accordingly,
he set to work, with very little delay, and
kept hard at it for the next three or four
days, working far into the night. BY Sat
urday, the revised edition OF the sym
phony was completed and duly forwarded
to Mr.. Smart.
Withina week or two advertisements Of
the approaching concert to which Mr..
Smart had alluded were appearing in
newspapers and on ~boardings, and excited
no little interest in fashionable and musi-
cal circles. 1t was to be conducted by Sir
Bowler Potts, who had the general super
int Evidence of MI the arrangements, and
who, besides being a musician of some tai
ent, had made more money by his operas
and oratories than all the great masters
put together. The Lady Anne Dante WA
to sing one of her own songs, and two
prima dounas of worldly wide reputation
were also announced, though in much
smaller type than Lady Anne, who
had n line to herself. Lastly came
the announcement of the trombone
solo by II. r. II, Prince Albert Of Gotten
Penschen, md the new and original
symphony by the same gifted parsonage.
The prince of Gottci,iP enschen's devotion
to art dated from the days when, as an in
FAINT. lie had first delighted the homely
German court in which he was born by
his astonishing rendering of nursery songs
upon a Iaouth-organ.. Hewa distantly
connected by birth with the English royal
family, and had greatly improved the CON
nection by marriage-which last fact,
coupled with his musical talents, had. at
once demonstrated his fitness for an Inn
portant command in the British Eayy.
This post H. r.. II. Che had been elevated
to Il rank of II royal highness by royal
warrantl had now held for Some years,
ara during that time had shown a zeal in
bringing the refining influence of music to
bear on the British sailor, which had
greatly raised him in the public estima-
ton. With such an artistic feast as the
programme promised, it is not surprising
that the tickets went of most satisfactor-
lily, The prevailing curiosity about the
princes symphony was artfully stimulated
by occasional paragraphs in the columns
OF the papers which supplied fashionable
intelligence. Many of these were written
by Mr.. Soapley. Smart, who did a good
deal of light literary work, and was, more
over, the musical critic of that highly
fashionable journal, The st. James Adj
yertiser. BY this means an impression
wa widely diffused that III. r. H. the
prince of Gotten-P enscfen had produced a
work which would at once elevate him to
a position beside the great classical com
posers of his fatheriand.
The night of the concert duly arrived.
The hall was densely packed with an audi
enc representing the elite of London so
ciety, as well as of the world of art and
letters. The entertainment fully justified
aHthe expectations which had been formed
concerning it, and provoked the greatest
enthusiasm. The prince Of Gotten-Pen-
schen was reserved for the second part; and
when his royal highness appeared after
the interval with his trombone, he was re-
ceiyed with a perfect ovation. Sir Boyler