The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-07-01
ABSOLUTELY PURE

while the quality of WORK done by its
meniuers every two weeks speaks wall
Ter a city that can produce SO many art
lsUs Within so small a radius of city
blocks. The Fortnightly was org tn1zed
a. the BEGINNING Of the winter sgason by
a rev musicians, whose numbers includ-
I q Mrs. K. e. Lyle, Miss Lucy F. Nelson.
mr.. and Mrs. w. Hunter Brown and Mrs.
John A. Holland. Its purpose was to bs
the study of the worlds famous compos-
ers. from Bach 10 Wagner. with ref renee
TO their lives. their works, their purposes
and effects on the world OF music. Pro-
Rramn e. are arranged W weeks in adj
vance, e. ch evening being dedicated to a
composer A biz G anhical sketch opens
me programme, and in the selections
from his works that follow, care is taken
to choose these rs nearly rs POI sible rep
res"ntative of his distinctive style
AID methods. When this is the task
of ARTIST who lave given years Of
stuay 10 the subject in haud, the result
will be 81 selt csion valuable not only for
its pow er to charm, but for its education
al Importance The best way of proving
this is to copy a few programmes selected
at random from a sheet Of gay leaflets,
souvenirs of the past wiuter:-
Schubert, "Rosamund," Overture: song.
"Erl-kon1g;" piano solo. Impromptu;
songs, romanZa from "RnsanIund," "My
Sweet Repose,'' aud "Hark, Hank the
Lark" violin, Andante from Second Som
alta. Ballade; Trio. the Coronqch from
"T6e Lady of the Lake." and the Sym
phony in H mol, arranged as piano duet;
Chopin. ScherZo in H. mol, prelude In D
fat; Nocturne (No. l5). the G minor bal
lade. and three songs. IAN Elsgy," "My
Delight" and The MaiGeu's Wish" And
from Il somewhat thorough acquaintance
with musical societies of this section 1t il
safe to say that not one has ever succeed
ed in bringing Wagner into a parlor as
this programme did,
~ rauermarsch" from Gotterdammerung
aud ''Pilgerchor" from Tannlauser. for
piano ana organ; Senta's song from the
"Flying Dutchman;' Preisleid from the
.Meistersinoer;" Evening Star" from
Tannhauser; Spinning Song'' for piano,
and AN interlude from "Lohengrin," and
the "Rienzi" march for organ and piano.
Such programmes are their W best ad-
vocates. 1t Is the prominent Characters
tic of the Fortnigntly that there are no
silent members" Each one is liable to
be called upon at any time, aud almost
| every one is a specialist in his or her own
line. Among the list of names are the
Minnie Nelson Mr. n and Mrs. W.
Mrs. E. W. Fem. Mr.. W. F. Brown
DR.. and Mrs. Durrie, Misses Katrina
| Green, Carrie Chesley, Elizabeth Perkins,
| Susan Co1iu, Ella Woolley. Jessie E.
| Smith, Mary Barton Lamberton, Jean r.
Toffey. Florence E. Turner. Messrs. j. S.
| Adams, Albert LIE Rutte, Vim. G. Carl,
Lou s K. Dresaier aud Duhcan Cameron.
An impromptu musicale always follows
the regular programme, and there is a de-
| lightful social side, which cannot bo con-
| sidered here. The omDose studied in-
clude Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mendels-
sohn, Mozart. Schumann, Schut EFT,
Chopin, List. Wagner. and the modern
| Italian school.
ORGAN REClTALS.
Another sign of the times has been the
| series of free org III r~ecitals given by var
ious churches. THIS is educating the
masses" In the manner you read about.
Tie First Presbyterian Church of Emory
street gave It's friends q remarkable
| series of ~recitals with such talent as
Prof, Preston, Mr.. Carl G. Schmidt and
Mr.. William c. Carl, organisls; MIR. John
Holland, Violiuist, and Miss Lucy Nelson,
all of wnom lave udied abroad and
achieved high rank at home. From d
| specimen programme one can select num-
bar3 from Bach, Glllmlnt, Saint Saens,
Wilbelmj, Raft aud Mend .lssohn. st.
Johns Free Church also adopted this
plan, and gave the general public AN OPP
%ortunitY To hear Mr.. Moritz Schwarz. n
talented young organist and composer
of thi, city. OF our composers
Mr.. Schwarz is undoubtedly the
foremost. During the past year
Schirmer has published his com
munion service, a composition of such
,upete thought and in some respects
almost startling originality in treatment
| or themes, that it is bound to receive ap-
PROBATION. Mrs. E. w. Fem has ais o
written several songs which have received
the best of treatment from more than one
1rtio Mr. Niotor Pojpr hac nan,nncc6
several songs and arranged several more.
The story of the Amateur Operatic AS
ISOLATION and its companion, the J. c. A.
| c.. Opera Company is too we'll known 10
ueed repetition nere. Five operas have
been presented, 1.-The Chimes Of Nor
mandy" "Erminie" and cinderella at
School, "The Brigands" and ''The Condo
the best vocalists in the city. SISTED by
excellent outside talent. THc actual
benefit beyond the enjoyment of tuneful
melodies aud scenic effects has been rather
to the performers thai their audiences.
since they aim oniy to reproduce familiar
comic opera. The greatest direct benefit
it has been to music in the city is The
careful training Nj. Louis Il. Dressler and
Mr.. w. w. Thomas have given their
cheruses. The comic opera stage admits
OF no poor work. The smallest chorus
| girl is under the calcium giare, and must
not only look well but sing well, and
above all preserve the balance of the com
position. AS Il RESULT of months Of care
full rehearsals. we hava forty or more
well trained voices, who have beeu
trained to accept nothing short of pei
lection in time and tone.
Space is not sufficient TO carry the sub.
| ject into the various amateur orchestral
societies, the Thiessen, the Mozart and
their like. the German singing societies
! nr fha mn m hprInSl fn11SlpuIpQ that naya
been held during the wtnter. 1t must
suffice to say that during the past year
the general sentiment in music has been
more elevated, popular taste more refined.
and the average Of performance raised
higher Than eve before. and that if thi-
increase continues in us marked ratio,
as there is every indication 1t will do, we
can say with no false local pride hat Jer
sey City is not only a musical community
but a community capable of producing
and appreciatiug the best music.
NnJT ADDEEING