Wichita eagle., 1890-02-04

hausen, writer in The Frankfufter
Zeituna draws the materials for brief
but interesting communication.
One hears often the complaint that this
or that piece of music is not Original
It is charged against the composer that
he has borrowed from others, sometimes
even from himself. II we had the cur
rent criticisms of the preceding periods
we might be amused or surprised by
finding similar diatribes on the contem-
norary musicians and their works. Trac-
ing up the history of musical compost
ton into the Middle Ages we find that
even the most distinguished composers
had neither difficulty nor scruple as to
borrowing from the works OF those who
had gone before them.
One of the great facts of the history OF
music is the free use, the very much too
free use. made Of popular tunes by the
COMPOSERS of church music down into
the Sixteenth century. Themes neither
reverent nor edifying were made the
basis of mass, developed into fugues
or canons, so that the less devout MEM
bers of congregation might have their
pleasurable faculties fully gratitied,
chanted by the choir or rolled out by
the organ while they were assisting at
religious service. Even the great re-
former himself, Palestrina, borrowed In
more than one way. He himself wrote
church music on proper themes; he re-
constructed, if we may say SO, more
than one work of former composer,
just as Shakespeare judicionsly edited
an already existing play, and he directly
borrowed, as when he turned the ''Ave
Maria" Of the Spanish composer, Fer
nando de las Casas, into piece for sew
eral voices No one dreams of impuhng
as fault to Palestrina or the other
earlier composers of church music this
free use of materials ready 60 their hand,
any more than we should now censure
NJ. Gounod for developing a theme OF
Bachs into well known religious piece.
Stockhausen, proceeding on the infor-
nation and the actual cases given by
Chrysander, puts before his readers
list of the pieces from which the best
known and most favorite passages OF the
''Israel in Egypt are borrowed Han
del was a great admirer and dlligent
student of Italian music. This Is not to
be wondered at, seeing that there was
practically little other music at the time,
at least in so advanced and organized
condition 1t is not, then, surprising
that ''Magnificat" of Erba, published
about 1890, and q serenade of Stradella,
| who lived about the same time, have
been pressed into the service for the
Israel" The editor, Chrysander, also
cites ''Te Deum" by Uric as having
furnished material. But the "Magnifi-
cat and the serenade are published In
the edition of Handel's works as an ap-
pendix, while the ''Te Deum' has not
vet appeared. 1t will be new and pos
sibly disappointing to many lovers OF
Handelian oratorio to be told that no
less than fifteen numbers of the "1rael
in Egypt have been taken from the
s'Magnificat" and the serenade, as any
one may verify by comparison. The
writer gives list of the passages en-
ployed in the oratorio by Handel Nine
numbers have been taken from the
"Magni6cat." Among them are:
The chorus: 'He is my Cod"
Soprano duet: ''The Lord is my
strength"
The chorus: ssHe rebuked the Red sea. :"
The fragment: ''Thy right hand, Q
Lord"
The great duet for two bases: ''The
Lord is man Of war.
The chorus: 'Thy sendest forth thy
wrath"
Chorus: "And with blast Of thy DOS
trils.'
Duet: 'sThou in thy mercy"
Chorus: "The earth swallowed them. /"
Six numbers are taken from the sere-
made. But there is this difference, that
while the passages from Erba's "Magnfti-
cat" are usually transferred with little
change, Stradella's music furnishes ordi-
narily only the theme or suggestion which
Handel works out. Among these are:
Chorus: "He led them forth like sheep"
and the chorus: He spoke the word
The 'sHailstone" chorus seems to have
been taken from both authors. Cmys-
ander shows how Handel took more than
the suggestion of his Italian chamber
duets" from an Italian composer, SteH-
ami; and again, copying from himself.
borrowed from those very duets some OF
choruses in ''The Messiah" among them,
'For unto us a child is born," ''His
woke is sweet" He gives an astonish-
ing list of pieces by great composers
taken from plain Gregorian Amen,
among them 'G1atias Aglmus, by
Bach; Il will sing to the Lord, from
':Israel in Egypt" the '"Halelujah" cho-
rus. almost note for note, in The Mes
siah;;" the Chorus Of the Furies, IN
Gluck's ''Orpheus," the opening OF the
"Kyrie," in Mozart's Requiem. And
he cites set of duets by Duranse, pub
lished bv Bretkoff, of Leipzc, which are
taken with little change from Scarlatti.
But he also invites musical readers to
note the magnificent work Handel has
produced out of the slender materials
which he found ready for him, at the
close Of the "Hailstune7 chorus and the
duet. ''The Lord is a. Nan Of War" Surely
the great master W 10 produced sEch work
can never be charged with merely copy.
inc. because he made such splendid use
of his materials. Nor should it ever b
forgotten that Israel in Egypt" was be
gun and completed N twenty-four days
Anv composer who can do likewise neec
fear no criticisn.-Saturday Review.
Not Disposed to Iavest.
We meet some queer people among
the many who are constantly fitting iItt
and out of this store, but an old man ane
his wife, upon whom l waited few day
a