New-York tribune., 1901-05-24

magi. may be any Christmas. They, too.
fancy. are relics OF the old Nativity plays One
feature Of these plays endured in the Protestant
churches of Germany down to the beginning of
the eighteenth century The 'Kindelwiegen''
(cradling OF the Babel incident in the old
dramatic representations of the Nativity. The
manger was produced. and standing a plat
form above II boys representing angels pro
claimed the birth Of the Saviour. Priests enactng
the part Of shepherds gathered around the manger;
10 them came others with questions. and after
the answers, all united in singing lullaby TO the
Christ Child. Such a lullaby. beginning "Slumber.
Beloved is one of the lovely Solo numbers in
the Christmas Oratorio." Peasant plays. re
tanning the incident still to be in the
Bavarian and Austrian highlands few years ago.
In connection with the genesis Of the Christmas
Oratorio' it is significant that this extremely
graceful number had earlier existence In
birthday cantata written in honor Of the heir ap-
parent the throne Of Saxony: then It
lullaby 10 the crown prince instead of the Prince
Of Peace. Ten a dozen Of the set musical pieces
in the oratoro uhe Gospel narrative is not con
sidered) like the slumber song in being drawn
from earlier secular works. and. though IL may
sound heretical. l am tempted 70 say that much
of the simple charm Of the work is due 10 that
fact. The most characteristic (and also the most
puissant) element in the old Lutheran service
the congregational hymns-rested the folksong
OF Germany so far as their melodies
cerned and this element is the same in the
torio is in the Passion Mystery except that
in the former the choraS, with one exception. are
old German Christmas hymns; but I'm the solo
parts as we'll and in the concerted numbers for
solo voices, in which the oratorio is peculiarly
rich. is found of the old feeling yet COM
parat;vely untrammeed by ecclesiastical formu-
laries How far Bach felt himself az liberty TO go
in the introduction Of the secular element is
strizingiy illustrated in another solo borrowed
from the cantata (or drama per musca."
as the form then called which furnished the
slumber song. The cantata entitled Hercules
~ ba arfin Of he nd n he
familiar story of the Grecian heros choice between
Duty and Pleasure After listening to arguments
from both sides. Hercules appeals to Echo
oracle in words like these:
Faithful Echo of this glade.
If ! should be soon betrayed,
i
Where this sweet voice bids. say No.
lEchol No
But If then the warning voice.
on through toll and WEAKNESS,
Guides me to a bitter choice.
IEchol Yes"
In this song the last word of each stanza
peated as an echo b. voice, well instru-
ment of the orchestra, the oboe. It was an old
device in poetry. and particularly charming in mu-
sic for obvious reasons. Long before Bach a Ger
man poet had employed 1t in religious compo-
sition, and Bach seems to have recalled the fact
when he wrote his Christmas Oratorio" He in
troduced the number from the secular cantata
a setting for a dialogue between a believer and the
Saviour thus:
Te Tel me- me. Should Should fear to greet thee?
Nay, Thou Saviour sayest nay.
tEchol Nay
Should / now. from death be flying?
Nay, Thou dost in mercy say.
Yea. Thou. Saviour. sayest Yea.
GEcho1 veal"
This attitude Of familiarity toward the Sacred
Person was carried much further than this in the
HYMNS OF the Pietistic sects-muh too far for
modern taste in the hymns written by Count Zin-
zendorf for instance. for the Moravian church,.
hut II is after ALL a reflex of the German people.
As soon as the German Reformation accom-
nlished the Church fell into the background. the
individual came to the fore and religious music
took on the dramatic expression which we md in
SIS highest estate in Bach's Passions" Here the
sunerings and death of the Saviour. the less
an ineffabe mystery, are depicted as the poignant
experience of each individual believer, and with
an ingenuousness that must forever excite the
wonder of those who unable to enter intimate
" into the German nature. At the Feast of the
Nativity the worshippers sing a lullaby to the
Christ Child: after the crucihxion they gather in
fancy around His tomb and invoke rest for His
weary limbs with MY Jesus. goodnight"
Not 10 amply a standard to to-day's
| nerformance IL may said that only in two par
ticulars was il unworthy of the beautiful occasion
and the spirit which informed H. 1ar. EVAN Will
iams the solo tenor. was In such poor voice and
so unfamiliar with the music that little enjoyment
oould he extracted from his work, and the orches-
| ira largely composed of amateurs seemed much
more concerned with the material part of the music
than it's spirt which not surprising. The
! other solo singers admirable. They were Mrs
/ Iissena De Moss Miss Gertrude May Steln' MISS
/ Tucv Brickenstein and Joseph Baernstein. de-
,igbtfI purity of style distinguished the singing of
Mrs Hissem De Moss. while the sorority of Mr..
/ Raernstein and the reposefulness of Miss Stein
ware calculated to make the critically inclined hold
,r allowance all questions touching the style proper
20 Rscb The choir was letter perfect. and the fine
,,ol,noe and balance of tone given out would have
| haen a revelation many societies with three
,,r,es its numerical strength. Three parts OF the
| ora.orto were sung in the afternoon ana the re
| manning three in the evening The audlence num-
heres about eight hundred IN the afternoon and one
thousand I'm the evening. But the attendance VIII
| ha Greater Tomorrow and Saturday. Many musi-
clans and music lovers from New-fork ana fhlla-
Salnhia are in attendance also people OF note in
! the musical world from places miich more distant
among them Professor Stanley, of the University
of Michigan II H. IN
GRADUATED FROM FRIENDS SEMINARY
The annual commencement exercises of the
| ,,,onas, Seminary at No 226 East Sixteenth-st.
| e-e held in the Friends Meeting House. FIT
,.o,,b-st ana Rutherfurd Place last evening Ter
o,,e, men and women graduated, and the ole
,,eetinx house more than cofifortaoiy mice
with their families and frienos ,,s e. ry
address the class was deLNered py fieiiIs
W Wilbur The exercises ended with tne pre-
incl az the neQQlp4xX