Omaha daily bee., 1896-10-11
MUSIC.


Interpretation, in music, is the object of
all study. To convey a meaning, TO express
an idea, to depict an emotion to make real
the imaginary, to render contagious a CON
dition Of mind or heart to bring into the
present the past to transport into the
future, to apprehend the infinite to be part
OF the eternal, to suffer while enjoying. to
love without loving. to die while living all
this is embraced in the Interpretation of
music. Music is the outgrowth OF human
nature through experience. 1t is intensely
Euman. lt brCathcS the breath OF life IL is
ohUd Of the souk Its night Is aa that o.
an angel but its wings are thoughts. II
seems to speak the language of heaven, but
its tones are those Of earth.
Tho Interpretation OF song or
symphony is but revelation of the message
it contains; it should be as a translation
from a foreign tongue to the unmusicianly
In every well written composition thero
should be a message which can be rendered
plain and distinct. The artist who wishes to
convey this message must, of course. have
read it and understood It himself. per
formance which is nothing more than
succession c! sounds. slow and fast, loud
and soft, Is hardly music. 4 wagon driven
at different degrees OF speed over cobble-
stone pavement will give such a perform
arce. Music is more than noise. it is as
much above IL as mind is above matter soul
above body
Let us look at a sung-one we all know
THE Lost Chord" the poem by Adelaide
Proctor the music by Arthur Sullivan. The
first verse draws a picture. Some one is
seated at an organ and the keys are telling
I story Of unconscious worship. As the soul
reaches out more and more toward the
center of all worship the keys speak palmer
and palmer until they seem to bring down
from heaven to earth the sound of a great
amen" Like crimson twilight it seems to
give a new and wnndrous hue to the scene
"A touch of infinite calm" qulets the
troubled soul, an angel of love hovers over
the sorrows of earth and its perplexties
fade into perfect peace" and then "it
trembled away into silence" this celestial
music, 10th 10 cease" But hone remains
and from 1t faith is born, that deaths
bright angel will speak in that chord again.
and that in heaven / shall hear that grand
amen"
How shall we sing this story? Just as
We would tell it. How shall we paint this
picture? With a thought in every word,
At first quietly, as If thinking aloud, hardly
more conscious OF the telling than before,
when the Fingers wandered idly over the
noisy keys" Il know not what | was play
ing" would be said more quickly as one
would look M at his companion and ad-
dress him, and so II should be sung. One
thing he does know, OF one al-absorbing
truth he Is conscious: Il struck one chord
II music" "Ah, that word muslc!" In its
pronunciation, in its tOne-color should be
condensed all the love of II and all the
beauty Of Il, It should be so said and sung
as TO sum up all that one feels and
knows OF the one art which seems
worthy to be called divine Like
the sound OF great amen. >"
slowly. as II sung by = vast multitude. and
the next time softly, as If il died away in
the distance as the narrator sinks back into
his revorlc AS he dreams the picture be
comes clearer. his former experience seems
cnce more real; the crimson twilight again
warns his soul ana quiets It, let the story
he told gently and simply. The musical
setting to the words with touch of in
finite calm" is wonderfully true to the
natural way of speaking them. How deli
cate is that phrase, how perfect its balance
1t quietcd pain and sorrow like love over
coming strife" faster and stronger, and the
next TWO lines with increasing sadness az
If one were thinking of the vast sorrow
that shrouds in gloom every heart But
the idea is quickly banished and the next
line is almost spoken. A fond lingering
accompanies Into one perfect peace" and
this Is changed Immediately into increased
speed and power, as the vain search for
the "one lost chord divine" stirs the very
soul Of the narrator. Yet quiet and thank
fulncSs comes as he remembers how at
came from the soul of the organ and entered
into mine" What a word mine" Isl four
letters, five sounds. II may be more
nleshtd 10 give than TO receive but still
that one little word writes many a page
OF history and molds many character into
beauty or usliness. What mighty steps in
the music 70 the words, 1T may be that
only In heaven" up through the entire
octave, slow steps, heavy steps as the
weary feet are forced to mount higher and
higher, but what a glorious triumph, tri-
umph that Is brought back to Garth again
as "that grand amen" is heard for the last
time,
The work Of the orchestra last week at
the Creighton theater is deserving Of special
mention, and Omaha music-lovers partook OF
the unexpected feast with decided relish
Franz Adelmann demonstrated that he is a
conductor OF ability and that he possesses
raro trmneSs. diguity and musical taste.
When he came to this city from the World S
fair he brought little but mis- violin solid
Iniisicanship and courage A stranger in a
strange land, he found a home In the warm
ard generous hospitality for which this city
! iS justly noted, end he has slowly but