New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-08-24
A MUSICAL PILGRIMAGE.
IL.
REFLECTIONS IN WEIMAR.
GOETHE AND LIszT-FACTs ABOUT AN ILLoSihi'
Gus THEATREITHE DOG THAT
oUSTFD GOETHE
GOETHE AND LISz

Weimar July 3D.
Wemnr ceased TO be specifically musical
Macon with the departnrc of List. / fancy that
~ come Of its secret archives were thrown open
70 literary students especially those VINO SUN
find Goethe an interesting subject Tor sthoS, "
might for awhile become literary Mecca p"'
lust now In spite of its idyllc park, lc Is neg
lected by tourists and only historical interest Is
ascribed to il by the travelling correspondent
II is scarcely necessary 10 say that things weie
MOI, ALWAYS thus. During two periods in its his
tory both long, both cventful and Doth Dig WIN
significance in the development of two intimately
oIotod arts the little town held the attention
q, the world as cities with twenty times its popu-
I,t;op forty times its wealth and hundred times
its commercial and political Importance could hoo
hold H. To-day il lives chiefly on the memories OF
those Golden eras: and If those memories were not
so perennial in their beauty and incXhaustipIe III
their educational value, the persistence wlch
which they are forced upon the attention Oh the
visitor would be horribly oppressive ms IN
especially true Of the first and most glorious era
that of which the Grand Duke Charles Augustus
WAS the Perices, and which was illuminated by
light from the minds of Goethe, Schiller, lierder
and Wieand He who comes ~ Weimar now
with the ordinary equipment OF the tourist-b'e-
decker umbrella and strich-appetite for relics
Of the great dead-can still find occupation for
day or two; but he must DC panoplied In good
nature and patience must wrap Linn about ike
n garment, if he wishes to avoid being thrown
into a high fever by the appeals which VIII r
made TO him Ia inspect places and things haNo"eu
to the local mind by association with Goethe
Though The Trbune's Pilgrim came for the very
PURPOSE of putting himself rs much Us possible
In touch with the intellectual activities which
~. ,.to rs.nf
that went out in all directions from the mind OF
the last poet of antique greatness, he found 1t
difficult at times TO avoid paraphrasing the re-
mark made by Mark Twain 10 his Italian guide
when he requested him 10 lump the matter OF his
disouisition and say that God Almighty made
the world after designs by Mchcangclo.'
Goethe is as pcrvasivc in Wcimar as l}uonarotti
in Rome.
A splendid row Of volumes containing the pro-
qramnes, almost complete Of the performances
given al the Theatre and Opera House at Weiuiar
from 1893, two years after Goethe became ITS
artistic director down to to-day, is preserved IN
the Grand Dncal Library. In them the starting
point for many n discourse on the drama, spoken
and sung might lie found The most timely OF
all would perhaps suggest Itself If after peruslI
Of their contents one were to go over TO Inc
Thcatrepa,z aud take a look at the modest play
house which has figured proudly In the history
of the stage For more than quarter of a cen
fury Goethe swayed the artistic fortunes OF the
institution-from 1891 to 1877. For decade
forty wears later Franz List was the soul Of its
operate department. During the first period the
classical German drama was wrought into It's per
feet form verse rriumphcd over prose as a Venice
Of artistic uttcrancc; Goethe and Schiller toh
the actors how they wanted their lines read, ana
even attempted to act in the parts crca'cd ny
Them: all Germany studied the traditions of
Wclmar In the second period the pIe-cmnencc
which the theatre enjoyed was transferred from
It's dramatic - It's musical department There
List. having withdrawn from career MS VIZ
tuoso at the meridian OF its eiIulgcncc, expended
his wonderful powers in behalf Of the classical
masters and the gospel Of the ncw-romantlc art
Toward Wcimar the great fugitive Wagner turned
his face from his Swiss asylum and ongcd to BE-
among those who heard the first strains OF
I.,hcngrin~ Most pitifuly did he implorc
List, who had undertaken the task oil converting
the world 10 belief in the new evangcl, 10 ne
speak protection from his great friend and patron
the grandson Of that Grand Duke who knew now
10 fns,cn Goethe 70 his side for ilty-slN years. SO
that he the political outcast, might visit Weihar
i'm disguise but for night and hear III TACT the
strains 10 which he had so long listened IN fancy
But il was not Wagner alone for whom tho
unscllsh List made propaganda while Chapel
master Extraordinary here Berlozs Zen
venuto CclniH Schunanns "Gcnovc'a, ian
King Alfred Schubert's Alfouso and Estrella
and Corncus's Barber of Bagdnd. beside many
other works OF younger or less renowned com
pocrs all saw the light Of the sto9e-lamps In
this secluded theatre. Yet when Goethe admins
tered rhc affairs of the Court Theatre. Wcimar
huh anIN her SIT
made the Court Opera the heart Of musical Ger
MANY sending out from il the rich, red, nrtcrial
blood which the country needed, the institution
cost less in a year than the Metropolitan Opera
House in New-lorll costs In month. Ihis 1T
ccms 10 me- points out the great lesson which
il enforced by the history Of the Wclmar Theatre
in its two periods of glory true culture is depend
cnt neither on fashion nor on wealth
have taken the trouble 10 look little into
the financial history Of the institution. The
theatre had existed in one form or another for
u long time, when. at the suggestion OF Goethe, IL
was raised to the dignity of Court Theatre in
1891 The orchestra established in / $50 by
the Grand Duke Ernst Augustus father of Gocthc's
patron. This Grand Duke. like many Of Ger
manys royalties, had been musical In his youth.
lie was pupil Of Johann Ernst Bach. and recll-
oncd a good player on the yiol da gambia and
lutte. Later in life, he grew too fond of hunting
and fighting, and maintained only hunting
band Of pipers; but when he made Wcimar his
residence he established a court orchestra and
called his old teacher from Eiscnach to be chapel
master The band numbered twenty men, among
them being Johann Casper Voglcr. who by the
confession OF johann Sebastian Bach was
his greatest pupil The orchestra has
been maintained ever since and has
had men like Ilummel and Chelard among its
conductors, though il attracted attention as
n concert body save under List. This. however,
IS aside from my purpose, which to show
how economically Weimar's llustrious theatre has
been run. In Gocthes time the receipts at the
performances in Weimar, Lauchstadt and Rudol-
stadt averaged 900 thacrs the Grand Ducll