The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-21
WHY ARE ORATORIOS /?
John Fl. Carl.ick Utters a
Protest Against Euter-
pean Monstrosities.

John II. Carrick writes from Worces.
ter to the Boston Journals Editor OF
Talk of the Day" as follows:
In this season of rhythmic hysteria
when our small city is throbbing In the
commissions of an annual attack OF
musical culture, when $4,000 people or.
dlnarily callous to anything more stern
ly classical than Hello, my Baby" ap-
pear clad in the garb of critics and
strive desperately to live up to a wild
reaching reputation, and imbibe enough
nigh class music to last until next Sep
temper, l utter protest against the
oratorio, a salient feature of our "fes-
rivals. This protest I respectfully ad-
dress to you. 1t is no worse than some
of yours anyway.
Mr. Carrick's protest which accom-
panied the letter given above, was pub
lsned IN the Journal and is as follows:
Autumn is here, and the season OF
the oratorio draws nigh. This Euterpean
monstrosity still draws" our musical
evolution seems to halt here, as the
Hoods gather behind a dam. That it is
merely arrested development, that in
tlme the accumulated waters will sweep
the dam away, no one seriously doubts
put at present the stoppage seems COM
plete.
4 never quite understood the enthus-
asm of the Anglo-Saxon race for this
particular form of religious instruction.
| TO be sure l once heard the proprietor
of theatre cafe in Germany valiantly
espouse an oratorio, on the ground that
more e
beer We're consumed during the evening
than when Tristan ind Isolde" held
the boards; but such logic is superficial
at best; there must be more cogent rea-
sons for the grip of this octopus on the
world of music.
In the first place, l suppose that
thousands of people who object to thea
tres and operas attend oratorios, and re-
gard them as elevating and instructive;
(apropos of which, once saw Elijah in
a greasy dress suit and soiled collar, and
have never since been able to contem-
plate the life of the good old prophet
without recalling his understudy)
Nevertheless, it is certain that people
who never enter an opera house swarm
to oratorios, They can safely be listened
to on Sabbath nights, as sacred BY
the cumulative force of the crowd, and
in strict accordance with the theory of
suggestion many who would not other
wise have been ensnared are swept in
with the pious element, the oratorio
begins to draw and the management
can afford to engage famous virtuosos,
who will sing whatever pleases their
patrons, just as Paderewski would ac-
| eede to a request for Yankee Doodle if
proffered by a paying house albeit
with shrug A new throng rushes to
near the famous artists (people would
flock to hear Patti sing My rag-time
girl.") These are some of the stages
whereby the oratorio has throttled the
American public. l do not sweepingly
criticise the music of these funereal af-
fairs. Mendelssohn, Haydn, Dudley
Buck-not lightly do we toy with these
| names. There may be people who can
sit unmoved during that marvellous
burst of song, With verdure clad, the
held appear in The Creation l can
not even tho 1 may sleep through the
last three or four days of it,
But the entire structure is false The
oratorio will in time be relegated to the
place of departed fads, along with
| hoop skirts, civic parades, Fourth of
July orations, and hurdy-gurdies. None
| of the essentially musical races have
ever adopted the oratorio, or tolerated
1t. To Illustrate my objections, with
out invidious criticism, 1 win suppose
that we are present at a grand pro-
duction of a new, hand-forged oratorio.
| entitled Adam and Eve" A large ana
| excellent orchestra probably introduces
the garden party by serious and well
meant effort to reproduce the va
rious cries, screeches, twitters and
growls of the wild denizens of Eden.
The possibilities of the saxophone vo-
gelhorn, trombone and violin are de-
veloped to their utmost; the utility man
surpasses himself. If the composer be
clever, you may amuse yourself by
Following out the evolution of animal
utterance, from the flabby cries of the
crustaceans up to the more advanced
range of the vertebrates; till at length
shrill human yell announces the ad-
vent of Adam. Here, if you have been
attentive, you will look for the raising
of the curtain; and at once a glazing
lncongrultY rasps you. There is no at
tempt in the costuming of Adam and
Eve to preserve the slightest historical
verify The toilettes of the happy pair
are not at all what our early training
has prepared us for. Adam probably
wears a hired dress suit, and carries
an enormous watch fob. Eve is decol-
lete, but even at that utterly ana
chronistic. She wears opera gloves,
and is gowned in white satin. Not even
q wreath VI IS leaves is offered 10 pro-
pitiate our sense of the eternal fitness.
There is absolutely no local color.
Truculent Cain, he of the plated shirt
front, is a bass, and hence probably an
undergrown, bilious creature; while
Abel is a huge, shapeless blond, with a
disappointing treble. There is even a
horrible possibility that the exigencies
of the tragedy may produce a female in
harlequin TO personate Abel. The only
other star in the cast is the serpent,
who makes the first concession to his
torical accuracy; he has evidently
crawled on his belly; the buttons on his
coat are frayed, and his cravat askew
He discourses on the property apple
from behind one of the hideous modern
embalmed palms, set in a green tub
The tragedy wears on to it's conclusion
with a solo from Adam in which he
literally earns his bread by the sweat
of his brow, while naming the various
creatures of the garden; hungry supes
fit in and out as angels, and younger
sons of the worthy couple. Eve and
the serpent have duet which is en-
eored, because it is customary to encore
duets, and there are endless orchestral
interludes representing natural phe-
nomena.
Now, what is there about all this
which enthralls clerks, milliners, cler.
gymen, elevator men, grocers, and il
short, the average American citizen
Frankly, / do not know can appre
ciate Adams tremendous voice, anC
the splendid harmony and polyphony o.
the composition. but why drag in the
Scriptures? What is flatter than tn,
hair-cutting scene in Samson and Deli
lah," when Samson is totally bald, and
Delilah costumed for a pink tea? I!
| the earnest student of biology the wise
for having heard the Pterodactyl coo
Are there not some things which may
be safely trusted to the imagination
Is not even a rudimentary mental con
cept preferable to such crude, bare
harsh Misrepresentation? If we mus
have oratorios, let us pay some atten