St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-08-06

intervals. / want an opera with
tunes" in it. 1.-The Heart Bowed
Down. is tune.
There should be as few important
parts in an opera as possible. Take
your prima donna, cOntralto, tenor,
baritone, basso and, if you have another
soprano, make it differ as much as pos
slble from the prlma donna. Don't en-
trust any important vocal music to your
| comedians. Observe as sharp contrasts
| as possible in your music. No two sue
eeeding numbers should be similar; and
here let me say that the successful COM
posers of opera comique are the men
! who have written in a certain vein all
| through work. Operas of the present
| day have no distinctive style. The COM
| poser must be fertile enough TO resem-
| bic himself all through instead Of dab
bling in all sorts of styles and makins
! his work sound as if dozen men had
contributed. The charm OF Sir Ar
| thur Sullivan, Audran, LecocQF Of
fenbach or Auber is wholly due
to the manner in which each number
seems the legitimate sequence of a line
OF melodiouS thought. 1t is all bosh TO
claim that an American school of music
does not exist. Some charming contri-
buttons to song literature prove the
| contrary. But one song does not make
an opera any more than one swallow
| makes summer. 1t is well enough 10
| throw any special melody into promi-
nence III opera, but there must be ssme
color of distinct We nature. | recon-
mend young composers to study Oper-
attic scores and See how true the above
remarks are In their application to the
subject. The man who can sustain his
work through three acts is the man who
"ill reap golden harvest from the pub
lie. The times are ripe for such COM
poser.
Now for the important matter of ac-
mpanimental work. One of the most
difficult things to impress upon the
mind of j writer MOI familiar with
operate music is that accompaniment
music which would sound we'll with a
piano would be ineffective will: an
orchestra. and vice versa. Again. in
the matter of obligatO mOvements-or
airs which harmonic with vocal ariaS.
1t is very difficult to express in an ac-
compartment for piano such ideas. So
! 1t is TO be easily seen that operate aC-
cOmpanimental work is a great study
all by itself. One of the most difficult
things to impress upon novice is the
necessity of condenSing the accOmpani-
ment in four and one-half octaveS for
orchestral purposes. whereas the piano
admits OF seven and one-third OctaveS.
! The harmony of music which
is to go at fast tempo should
be exceedingly smple--in fact. SIM
plicity of style is to be cOurted
in every phase Ut operate composition
eXcept-UrcheStratio Here is where
the deXtrOuS Weaving together of tune,
afterbeat, noise, and the suppressed
emotions of score of widely varying
instruments is valuable and essential.
The strings form one school OF sound,
the reed instruments another, the brass
another, the flutes and English horns
another. In order to use these i'll the
most fascinating combinations perfect
world of experience is necessary. In
fact, should advise anybody who con-
templates writing opera music to
take up 0rcheStration first and fore
most. After several years of good,
honest work in that line the composer
Will be much more apt to know where
he Is at" than by commencing work
with only knowledge of the piano and
the voice as guides.
l started out by saying that | wanted
an opera, but the matter of the nature
OF the opera seemed to me so important
that | have discussed it at some length.
The unity Of the liOrettO and the music
is special study. which must be con-
sidered as sine qua non TO success, but
a composer will soon receive light on the
question by studying eXtant works.
Suffice it to say that the librettist should
be- chosen with great care, and that
composer and liOrettist should work
with absolute unity of interest and
efforts. l don't believe in writing
librettO and then setting it to music.
Music and librettO shOuld.be built line
by line and bar by bar.
If all these difficulties are SurmCunt-
ed. and | am suited by the opera and
the poet. | will produce it at the earliest
practicable moment, with all the access
series to which L have been used in
companies | have been with. On the
usual basis of royalties paid for original
operas, the composer aud author would
draw at least S25.0O0 year for such Il
work, to say nothing of the proceeds of
sale of music and selections from the
work. The better and stronger the
opera the greater the royalties and the
longer its existence. | make this offer,
hoping that it will stimulate sOme latent
genius, or bring to light some undiscOY-
cred composer. But it must be the re-
suit of experience, and not mere anna
flourish effort. l also stand ready To
examine any operas which may be
offered for my inspection. Buckle or
your armOr and grid mp your loins, my
operate craftsmen. l am waiting on
the result of your efforts.