The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1892-06-25

u. =
the boards for more than fifteen years.
Yet Mr.. Rice, while he has musical talent,
has no musical education, and the melo-
dies which he improvised were necessarily
harmonized and scored by what are called
hack musicians, whom he employed for
that purpose.
Now, however, comes the announcements
that two of the most conspicuous musi-
cians in the United States, Mr.. Dudley
Buck and Mr.. Walter DamrOsch, havo
written or are still writing the scores for
two operas. Mr.. Buck. in fact, finished
the piano score n year or two ago, and u
part of the orchestral score. II Is reported
among musicians that his work was shown
to Anton Seidl, who was the conductor OF
the German opera in New York city. Mr..
Seidl was greatly pleased with this work,
and had the German opera remained upon
tho boards it was his intention to produce
Mr. Bucks work. Praise from Seidl is in
deed praise from Sir Hubert. lie was an
intimate friend of Wagner, aud was when
he came to this country regarded rs the
ablest conductor or director of Wagner's
operas.
MIR. Buck has hitherto been known
mGnly MS a composer of church music,
and in that field he stands pre-eminently
the first of Americans. If ne has devoted
himself to church music his friends be-
lieve it to be due to his opinion that hith-
erto there has been no profitable opening
for an American composer in any other
line.
Walter Damrosch was bred in the midst
of musical surroundings. His father, u
cultured man and very accomplished mu-
sician, established, after labors which
would have appalled, most men, an orator
ical and symphony society in New York.
Out of that grew the German opera, tho
magnificent Metropolitan opera house and
eight years of operate productions which
have been fullyequal to the best that ara
given in European cities.
The senior Damrosch was the director.
He was suddenly smitten with pneumonia
on the day of the performance Of one Of
Wagners great operas. There was no
| leader whom he could call in to take his
| place that night ut the conductors stand,
| SO he asked Walter, then a lad of seventeen
years, to come and sit by his bedside while
| he went over the score with him. Suffer
| ing acute pain, the father explained TO the
| lad the memoranda marked i'll the score,
| and then sent him to the opera Eouse that
night, n beardless STRIPPING to conduct that
great orchestra and the famous singers
| and splendid chorus through ere OF the
most trying Of all German operas That
| one net made Walter Damrosch famous.
| A few days later his father died and this
| boy stood at the conductors stand in place
| of his father during the remainder of the
| season.
OF course he could not have done these
things had he not already become mu-
sician and been carefully trained under
| the loving direction of his father Since
thas time his progress has been very rapid.
| Andrew Carnegie became interested in
| him and built for him noble music hall
! in New York, and there during the winter
season Walter Damrosch appears rs the
conductor of one Of the finest orchestras IN
the world. He has also developed what so
few musicians have, n keen business sense,
and is on the high road to fortune. Fame
he already has. BY reason of his marriage
to the daughter Of Secretary James G..
Blaine, following n most romantic and de-
lightful courtship, Damrosch was brought
socially into connection with many influ-
entail families.
The opera which he is writing is sr6red
to lbretto made from HAWTHORNE s
Scarlet Letter" and this libretto was
written by Hawthorne's son-in-law, George
Parsons Lathrop. If the opera proves n
success it will increase Damrosch's fame,
while at the same time satisfying his high
est ambition, which Is to rank with some
of the great composers.
L. j. EDWARDS.