Omaha daily bee., 1897-05-30
MUSIC.
SraiESzylciEr1fyrzl


There are numerous points of interest in
the history of the development of the mod
ern music drama. Whatever may be the
ultimate outcome of the higher criticism,
there are some things in Holy writ whose
truth is substantiated by experience. Among
these Is the statement "the first shall be
last and the last first" for the beginning of
opera was the construction of a play n which
the story was musically told, that is, sung
and recited. The first opera was composed
by Jacopo Peri in the year 1884, when at
the house OF nobleman named Corsi, he set
to music play by Rinuccni, entitled
Daphne" 1t was a pronounced success,
and was followed by 'Eurydice," nusico-
dramatic pastoral, which was performed in
1000 at the marriage Of Henry w Of France
with Marie de Medici, at Florence. The
composer himself sang the part OF Orpheus.
The other characters were taken by men
and women Of the highest families in Italy.
Peri claimed that in studying the drama of
the ancients he was led to believe that they
rendered the lines in manner midway be-
tween song and speech. and in his search for
this middle ground he invented what we
recognize dramatic recitative. The music
~was intended to add power to the words and
to display emotion. Everything Of a musical
nature was secondary to and dependant upon
the dramatic demands of the play. In this
simple manner and with this object, the
opera, a form OF musical composition,
came into being. There was no thought OF
giving the singer an opportunity to show off
his vocal technique or the composer to
astonbsh the world with perfectly formed
arias and intricately developed choruses and
concerted pieces. An honest representation
of dramatic situations and emotions was the
handspring of the first music drama.
In 1868 Richard Wagner gave to the world
work entitled "Oper und Drama" in which
he argued for q return to the PRINCIPLES
crystallzed by Peri In his Daphne" and
''Eurydce." Between 1894 and 1868 the
word opera had come to mean almost any
kind of a musical performance in which the
plraphernalla of stage was used. During
the eighteenth century singers developed
such wonderful technical skill that the office
of the composer was almost entirely to af-
ford them suitable arlas wherewith to display
their powers. The drama was of SO little
Importance that 1t was frequently con-
influential singers just such en-
frances as they deemed would
be to their own advantage. Duets were
written-or not written-to please the whims
OF singers who desired or feared rivalry and
comparison; Choruses were introduced as a
foil for the aria that was to follow; accom-
paniments were written for those instru-
ments in the orchestra which a singer be-
lieved to be most suitable to his voice Monte
verde. Scarlatti, Handel, Lully, Lotti, Strad-
ella, carlSSllHl, SueTuDlul anu even
Click and Mozart catered to the whims and
contributed to the prestige of the operate
singer. Click, however possessed such keen
dramatic instinct that he could not avoid
composing under the influence of the situa-
tions OF the drama. Weber and Meyerbeer
carried forward the good work which he
began. and Wagner, In his music dramas,
completely restored the fitness OF things
which prevailed in the beginning. In oper-
attic compositions the first has become the
last.
The Importance OF church music to re-
lgion and to art can hardly be over-esti-
mated. In this country, where concerts are
few, great artists scarce and seldom to be
heard and performances generally mediocre,
church music Is the most potent musical
educator with which the general public
comes In contact. This being the case 1t
is important to the development of the art
that 1t should be as representative as possi-
BILE of the best that has been accomplished
In its own domain. Many Of the greatest
composers have written sacred music, and
many others, though not so great, have fol-
lowed so closely in their footsteps that the
world possesses today a vast etorehouse of
compositions full OF genius and merit. This
being the case II is utterly unnecessary that
church choirs should continue to deluge their
congregations with the trash which one SO
constantly hears, and which was composed
solely to sell, 1t is not necessary to sing
Bach, Handel, Beethoven and Haydn in order
10 have really meritorius music Mozart
Mendelssohn, Schubert and a multitude of
lesser lights have written melodious and
fairly simple sacred music, which would not
only thrill the soul and prepare ii to under
stand the good things In art, but would de-
veiop true religious feeling and forward the
great cause for which churches exist and for
which the service Of worship was Instituted
In ancient times, when sacrifices upon altars