The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-01
MAY FESTIVAL IS READY
THE CHORUsEs ARE THOROUGHLY
DRILLED IN THEIR WORK.
This Years Event the Greatest from
a Musical Point of View That
Has Yet Been Held.

ming of the notable annual event in which
social and musical circles are more inter-
ested than in any other is now but three
days away The indianapolis May festival
has become a well-established institution
during the ten years OF its existence. and
has done much TO advertise the musical
culture and enterprise OF the city. 1t has
gradually grown from a modest beginning
to be a festival that ranks with the few
great ones of the country, and this year its
varied attractions are superior to those Of
fered by like entertainments in any of the
other cities. 1t has a better array of ia
nous soloists than either Cincinnati or
Louisville, and the works to be presented
are more varied and interesting. The great
work "Lucifer" is to be given here for the
first time in America on a scale never be-
fore attempted in indianapolis, with a
chorus of four hundred. a solo choir of
twenty, a children's chorus of one hundred
and five famous s~oloists. Other notable
works are the entire third act of Tam
hauser," "Omnfpotence," 1.-The Ride of the
Gle" and olaf Trygvasson."
Society is getting its best bib and tucker
ready for the festival. for there are other
considerations in these Entertainments aside
from those that are purely musical to
many people. A number of festival parties
have been arranged in the city, and more by
out-of-town people who will be here this
week. The arrangements for the festival
concerts do not altogether overlook the So
cial side of things. At each of the concerts
there will be an intermission of fifteen min
utes and at the first concert two intermis-
sions, which will give people an opportunity
to talk about the music, their neighbors. the
war and other interesting subjects. All the
concerts will be shorter than usual and they
will begin and end promptly on time.
HOW YSAYE PLAYS.
The festival will present several artists
who are entirely new to Indianapolis audi
ences, and chief among these is Ysaye, the
famous Belgian violinist. He has ways of
his own of doing things, and some of these
ways have perhaps contributed materially
to making him the musical sensation of the
day. He played In Cincinnati last Wednes-
day and the impression he made on one of
the critics of that city is thus detailed:
"When Ysaye plays the fiddle there is
music IN the air. To be sure, he does not
DO much in the way of The Arkansaw
Traveller or Old Rosin the Bow but
when it comes to clawing the classics out
OF one of Mr.. Stradivarius's best fddles. he
approaches the peerless class in his own
sings to a fellow who has a soul for its
music! II weeps, 1t sobs, it chuckles. it
Sins, II breaks INTO broad guftawS, and
then there is a flood of tears-the music of
rain among the leaves-strains of melody
from the throats Of birds, phantom-like
fantasies that weave about ones heart, ex-
quisite sensations that fill the ewes with
tears: Great is the violin, and when Ysaye
lays 1T to his cheek and puts the bow across
It's melodious strings the soul of it Wakens
ana It's spirit is alive and glad it is living.
he sweeps the bow across it and the elfns
go caperlng about 1t in a diablerie dance,
ana the air swims with the spirits Of melo-
oy, the soul is entranced and the ear tickled
until the heart aches.
There are so few masters of the little
graceful, shining music box which masters
most people who attempt to play it, and
very soul of its mysteries. the p~opulace
may be excused for lionizing him.
There are many billions of people in the
world. and there are probably some million
or fddlers. but of the chaps who are really
acquainted with the possibilities of the vio-
I'm there are scarcely enough to fill the
craving room of a sleeping car. Right in
the middle of this small crowd, were it to
be made up, would be found this long
named, phlegmatic Belgian, Ysaye. He
knows the little music machine from the
tail piece. and when he gets it going, the
music comes shaking out of it in waves.
showers, foods: music that is as limpid as
the LIQUID air or the semi-tropics, as mellow
as the sunshine that fills the peoples on the
FOOTHILLS full of gold, and as sweet as the
memory of a dead sweetheart's song, or the
never-to-be-forgotten pathos of a mothers
lullaby.
Music like that is worth while; it glad
denS the old world and makes it a fit place
TO live in, Notwithstanding the rough
places along the road ard the raucous dis
cords mat pass Tor music in the land, and
are really only noise. Bravo, Ysaye, you are
a brick! What a building would be the
house made of such as your"
JACOBY A GREAT SINGER.
Nine. Josephine S. Jacoby will be one of