New-York tribune., 1899-04-17
MUSIC.
DON pERosrs oRAroR1o.

10
r.,orio The Resurrection of Lazarus' had its
.rst performance In America II was somewhat
..,nv improvsed performance and extremely
,ae IN parts but the work offers few difficulties
"a no Injustice will be done the composer or his
.rea,,on by n Judgment based upon 1t so the draw
,..s created by the performance be kept In view
rn,s being so. II must have been plain TO every
s.,.ner who heard the composition work of
-. .rd not as a religious function, that the
,~,.i interest which II and Perosis other works
..ve created in Italy must have had in them All
s~,raneous element. Nothing that was heard last
IT,, or that can be read in the score OF the ora
.ono can possibly justify the trnmpeting and
,-,-,n,ine with which the oratorios have been
=, ont into the world. The composer, The
r.huns's readers have had opportunities to learn.
. a Young priest who within year or so has won
.,.h favor al Rome. The highest musical honor
,ha. the Pope has at his disposal has been be-
,,oved on him. and his meteoric flight has bean
sr. that Of Mascagni. only more brilliant. 1t wac
,,ous thought 10 utilize the curiosity which has
.sn stirred up by the reports of his Italian sue
ssses for the good of needy local charity. but
, ,s somewhat difficult to repress the thought that
ossihlv desire 10 make Perosi known here was
,ather 70 the charitable impulse At any rate. the
,rd,ence which gathered in the Opera House last
,ivht was large enough 10 suggest miracle II
s-sinarv artistic conditions prevailed.
--,. Archbishop Of New-York and many shepherds
=. r,s nock honored the concert with their pres
,,oe and II there no signs OF enthusiasm dur
c or after the performance OF the oratoro we
So q was less out OF Difference to the august
,.semblaee and the character Of the work than be-
..,sA there was nothing in the work TO command
enthusiasm.
A. for The character OF the performance dis
.,s.,on can fairly wait upon some comments on the
.-t invited by the fiutter which its composer has
ID g., the world Ia RisurreZone di Lazzaro
: tho third O, the young prest-musicians oratorios
- .ras performed for the first time at the Fenice
1rh,otr. Venice on July q. 1895 In structure 1t
< IKE the two works which preceded 1t. The Pas
,,o, NJ Christ" and THE TRANSPORTATION OF
c,ris," In careless phrase the prototype OF the
,, might be said 10 be that OF the German Pas
eve hut this would call up thought OF Bach.
h,.b nrould best be avoided for the sake OF the
o,rr nrest's work. Italian critics have associated
p,rosis name glibly with the names OF Palestrlna
and Bach but such proceeding indicates so nip
,,nt and nl-informed an attitude toward the two
c-s,fes, masters OF church music. Catholic and
prorestant that it is not likely to be copied In
Germany Ersland or America. In France Ii may
r. for in the attempt 10 daily sentimentally with
te essentially Gothic form Of Bach Perosi has al
,,.sv had a French predecessor in Gounod. who
y-,atIv outranks the young Italian in fuency con-
tstency continuity and sensuous charm
n. st,.le ~ the new oratorios must he dferen-
,,sted from that Of Handel. Mendelssohn and their
,ollowers In a sense 1t harks back to an extremely
ancient manner Of reading the Passion employed
nv the Church in Holy Week. In the Eastern
Church II was introduced In simple dramatic
form as early as the fourth century. the treatment
being somewhat like the Greek tragedies. Unfor-
tunately this period is one Of almost total darK-
ness in musical history and one can only specu-
late about the character of the music used In the
Western Church until the sixteenth century the
Passion was read In way that gave the service
an element which in amplifed form is found IN the
Passions Of Bach and has been adopted also In an
rhrna
descons were employed one to read, or rather
chant (the Gregorian melodies being used). the
words of Christ another 10 deliver the narrative
of the evangelist. and the third 70 give the utter
ences and excamations of the Apostles and people
In Bachs time. perhaps earlier, the service hav-
ing taken so strong hold on the tastes OF the
people that IT was adopted by the Protestants.
choir succeeded the third deacon. recitatives and
srias were distributed among the characters, VINO
became as numerous the persons concerned In
the story, the narrative was interspersed with
hymns appropriate in sentiment and sung by the
CONGREGATION and finally re concert FORM with
orchestral parts etc. which still lives In the Pas
sions Of Bach. was developed.
That form was weakly initiated by Gounod and
IS followed by Perosi. who, however. keeping the
Church more rigdly in view, does not depart from
the Biblical text except TO make occasional drafts
upon the liturgy Of the Church. description OF
portion Of La Risurrezione di Lazzaro will
make this plain. The narrative is that found in
the eleventh chapter of the Gospel according TO
St John. 1t begins with the first verse and ends
with the forty-fourth verses SIX to seventeen
eighteen and thirty being omitted as not dealing
directly with the incidents of the sickness. death
and resurrection Of Lazarus. The personages are
the Evangelist (Storico). tenor; Christ barytone:
Martha, soprano; Mary. mezzo-soprano; servant
bass and chorus The first part of the oratorio
ends with the thirty-rst verse of the Gospel mar
rstive. and its close is thus distributed between
the parts:
Marths-I know that He shall rise again in the
resurrection at the last day. u.
Christi am the resurrection and the nle' ne
that beheveth in me- though he were dead yet
And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall
never die Belevest thou this?
Martha-Yea, Lord ] believe that Inou arr the
Christ the Son Of God which should come into
The Evangelist-And when she had so said she
Martha-The Master is come. and calleth for
The Evangelst-As soon as she heard that she
arose quickly and came unto Him.
The Jews then which were with her in the house
and comforted her when they saw Mary, that
she up hastily and went out. followed her
chorus-she soeth unto the grave to weep there
1nfrma tu scis virtum:
Ad te reverss exhibe
Remissionis gra atiun.
Three stanzas Of this hymn. prescribed to be
sung on the Sundays OF Lent. are sung. the
stanzas being separated by two orchestral varia-
tions the melody Of the hymn. The same
is repeated at the close OF the second part
OF the oratorio when, after Christ has said:
Loose him. and let him go" the chorus sings two
stanzas Of the hymn Ito the sacred heart OF
Jesus" beginning. 20 fons amoris inclyte." and
for close "Benedicamus Domino!' the latter TO a
Gregorian melody in unison with full harmony, and
interludes in the orchestra.
So much for the general construction Of the
work the textual part Of which Is scarcely sub
ject for criticism. although 1t might be said that
TO emphasize unpleasant subject by such reit-
GRAFTON as this Domino. jam foetet quatriduanus
eninn, quatriduanus est enim, Domino. Jam FOO
tet jam foetet. Domino followed by final i'm
pressive lam foetet" in the orchestral part. might
call up a desire that the elisions in the Gospel
narrative had been carried a little further And
rour fey rernarks all that time allows on the