New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-15
and Caccini. but sums 1t up significantly" "un-
dar Tho heading Mouteverde"

der the heading Monteverde.'
Now. Kiese wetter does nothing OF the kind His
heading If The Epoch of Montevcrde, Just as n :
speaks Of the epoch OF Carissimi. OF GiucR' e'c''
and he plainly differentiates between the "orRs
which ended AMI those which began the epoch
He specifically mentions the origin CT 'he so-
called opera" In the dramatic style which aroSe
| at the very beginning of this epoch. Moreo'e''
he expressly denies the assertion at the fouiuao"
OF the whole Of Wagner's argument. an assertion
that is false as against the works written In the
last decade Of the sixteenth century ana nrst gem
Grafton OF the seventeenth. but true after the
FTorentne opera had degsnerated into the l'aii III
opera. He says: "Of an aria, or anything which
might be called a dramatic melody, nothing -
anywhere 70 he percelyed" The fact Is that kiese-
wetter could see nothing worthy Of being called an
opera until the aria form arose; and In this ne
only differs from agner in that the aria appealed
to his admiration.
Mr. Ellis has taken the trouble to exhume an
article published In the "Gegenwart to which
! Wagner refers In "Oper und Drama and wouo
be glad to have 1t believed that this was the prime
source of Wagners knowledge. 1t is strange
plea to put forward in behalf of great man l""'
| he should have accepted so wretched HISTORICAL
review for fact but 1t is plain, even 10 MI r'i''
| from illusions to the Florentine protests against
! the domination of counterpart, when wagner
again in defiance Of history always speaks of as
| protests against Pedestrians music that "as
! ner NAV have read something else, ne doesh
know what. Had Mr. Ellis had only slight
/ knowledge OF the musical literature OF Germany
of half century ago he might easily have guessed
at half dozen possible sources for such inforna-
ton He ought to have been made suspicious Oh
Kiesewetter's history, not only because It's au'hor
/ was recognized authority. but because ne was
at one with Wagner in his indifference to the Gre
ations Of the Florentines. Then there was another
of Kiesewetters valuable books at hand oevoted
to a discussion of this very question: and giving
musical excerpts from Peri, Caccini and Monte
verde, namely "Schicksale und Beschafenheit
ces Weltiichen Gesanges, vom frtiben Mlttelalter
bis EUR Erfinduny DIES dramatischen Styles una
der Anfansen der Oper" published in Leipslc
by Breitkopf und IIarte in 1S4l Also Wagner
might have read Finks history of the opera
"Wesen und Geschichte der Oper. von Gottfried
Wilhelm Fink" also pubshel in Le'psc In 1885,
or Fir Freunde der Tonkunst." by Friedrich
Rochlitz published in 1924, in which there IL
chapter on "The Rise of the Opera; or Artcaga's
lie rivoluzion del Teatro musicale Italiano della
sua origne sin al Presente." published In 1913;
or If he could not read Italian, Rochlitzs trans
lation OF the work with additions published In
Ieipsic in 1889 and entitled "Geschichte der
! Italienische Oper", or Winterfeld's Johannes
GABRIEL und sein Zetalter," published In 1884.
and containing an exhaustive study of the musico-
dramatic beginnings.
All these works are classics in their way. and no
man would have dared call himself well-read
uus,cian fifty wears ago without being familiar
with them. We believe that Wagner was ia
miliar with them and If so. while he may have
accepted their views concerning the uninterest-
ing character Of the "musca parlante," he had
no right to ignore their plain teachings az to the
character OF the lyric dramas OF the period pre-
ceding Carissimi
our contention is with Wagner, not with Mr.
Ellis; but In his attempt at Justifying Ills hero the
latter makes a point which bears 10 directly on
Wagners assertion that short comment on IL
may be pardoned Mr. Ellis has found that Peri
and his contemporaries were In the habit OF re-
ferring TO the are" and even the "arie bellissime"
in their works. or course our appeal cannot be
made to the scores which are now at the command
OF investigators as against Wagner; but Kiese-
wetter Fink and Rochlitz are all explicit In say
Ing that the term aria" used by the floren-
tines does not refer to thing remotely re-
sembling the aria of the later Italian opera TO
which Wagner refers when in the volume before
us he emphasizes the erroneous statements maze
In "Oper und Drama" by saying that no other
task has ever been set before the musician In
Italy than the writing OF arias Tor the display VI
the skill Of singers. Finally, Mr.. Ellis might be
asked what he would reply If somebody were 10
ask him whether not he thought II propaDie
that Wagner while making his HISTORICAL re-
searches assuming that he made such)' never
read the histories of Burney and Hawkins, when
! were more talked and written about In Germany
during the first half Of this century than they are
In England to-day
Julien. Wilder. SEIZURE Kuferath and other
French writer's have OF recent years made some OF
the most interesting and valuable contributions
Of the period to Wagnerian literature II Is de-
plorable in view of the statel:ness ana typo
graphical beauty Of the two volumes by the count
de Chambrun and Stanislas Legis, that they can
not be classed with the books OF the writers ehum
Grated above. They have value for the frehch
reader in that they give translations which seem
to be faithful in idea of the dramas from Tristan
to "Parsifal." inclusive, and there is also an IN
struct!ve essay translated from the German on the
origin Of the Niebelungenlied But the essays on
the poetry. music. philosophy. etc. OF wagner
written by the Count such chaos or words
and confusion Of concets that 1t Is Impossible at
times TO take them seriously Beethoven, Haydn.
Mozart Gluck and Wagner are so hopelessy
| jumbed up with Lully and Palestrina as TO sug-
| gest that the Count has hazy notions OF musical
| history, and is wisest when giving vent to his
enthusiasm in hysterica CALCULATIONS or such safe
metal horcal commonplaces as. Haydn c'est un
| lac. Mozart un feuve. ct Beethoven rOcean!
/ Such things may not be very instructive but at
| least they do harm.
TIE CASE OF WAGNER