Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-01-16

appeal not only to the ear but to the eye.
In choosing the time and place for his
piece, the librettist gives attention to the
beauty and quantness of the costumes.
the possibilities for striking effects in a
scienic way and the opportunities that are
apt to arise for mis- leading character to do
queer and uproarious things after the
accepted manner of comic opera outland-
iShncsS.
with the building up of the story the
characters come of themselves into the
authors view. These must be cdtdiO-
gucd. and he must select which are to b.
depended upon for the fun and which for
the vocal effects. Not much is usually
required of a comedian in the singing line.
you know. In every musical piece,
whether the star be a comedian or prm
donna, it is always necessary to have more
or less Of an attempt at n love story. as
love ana its attributes, in addition to hay
ing been through ALL the ages tho kcy
to the heart. and the pcckotbook of tn
dear public. serve the puzzling | hr tti~t
in an even more practical way by pr Vid
ing the numerous excuses and m tiv g
for the carrying on of his complica On
and action And besides. what u hcartes
piece it would be if there weren't at lea 81
two or three dainty lyrics Of love to be
sung during its progress. And 20 iu
every comic-musical piece you will ii d
love story.
FRAMING OF THE LBRETTO
at isn't until he has this love story
and the things that are to keep t .
course of it from running smooth olca. %
ly in his mind, and until h. has arrdug !
the relationships of his characters. tnat
the lihrottist begins to 'librct de ms
have written countless notes, memoruId .
and stray lines before. Now lie can really
begin to write the piece as he wants it -
be spoken and sung. First Of al re
writes merely tho story in III log o.. i'm
doing this. he provides for ali of lie tn
frances and exits and the sp-c,hes that
Introduce or accompany them, as well a.,
for the lines that lead up to his impOrta {
situations. He coins his gags. Vorh ~
his funny scenes ana writes the spec hc,
that are to introduce or make excuses TO-.
his lyrics
And then he comes to the nnalcs of
mis- acts. And that's wi, +, he will md
himself splashing around and trying o.
feel bottom. If he hasn't gotten int. .to.-
bic before. When il comes to the finale
Mr. Iihrt ttist is very apt to feel, il i
deed h. hasn't felt so before, that co.,
Nersation with the man OF music miS &
prove very interesting. In this he no
disappointed. The talk IS sure to he in
teresting to the point of excitement All
lyrics feels surer than ever that in t.
finishes to those acts. he can see his oW
male. Sometimes these are not written
until the music, book and lyrics for IN
the rest of the piece have been complet /.
They are the most important of the
single episodes of the work
1T Is probable that prior to this 10
author has been moved by occasional in
SEPARATIONS Of whatever MUS he may be-
blessed with L. throw OF. from TIM to
Vcrs,icd gem for one Of his charac-
tors to sing But now is the logical mo
t. sit down and Systematically begin the
task of writing lyrics. As | have said
tn" speeches Introducing these havo been
written, and tho motive and motif of each
lyric has. therof fore, been supplied
ARRANGEMENTS OF TIE LYRICS.
Tut the knacl< of writing iinging.
clever verses, l. far from being the on Y
thing still required of the toiling lihre is .
" hat is perhaps the most vital techuical
point in the writing of a libretto, is tn"
proper ordering of the lyrics, the arrange
ment by which one secures a proper an /
pleasant contrast of rhythm. of style and
OF voice, and thus makes each lyric most
effective when its turn comes. The work
ing out of this arrangement may be lhen-
cd to the making up Of pre- gramme for
recital sometimes it is not perfected
OiItlI INC piece mas been used before an
audience for some little time
"Another thing that is involved in tho
successful writing of lyrics is the man
ncr in which is has been decided to assert
the characters and the various kinds a..
voices. The composer tells the man who
is writing his first libretto that in his cast
of principals he must provide for hassoS,
baritones, tenors, sopranos, cOntraltus.
and mezzo sopranos for the sake Of the
eng .r,nl,1 off IN,
all the ma terial needed for IA harmoniously
designed musical fabric. The prin n
donna is, of course, 81 soprano. Formerly
the part opposite to her that is, hcr
sweetheart was invariably a tenor. But
tonors are not usually the best actors,
and now basso or "a baritone is not IN
commonly put i'll the part. When this IS
done, the tenor Is usually cast oppos. te
the soubrette, who is usually IA mezzo-so-
prano and these two constitute the So
ond pair of lovers. The Contralto Is usu-
ally sister a friend, or the maid to tho
prima donna. or else she is an enemy who
is spying upon her
HARD FATE OF THE CONTRAI.TOS.
"In either Of these arrangements the
excuse is always handy to bring them
on together, when both their voices are
needed for a musical effect. Did You
know that the contralto can never Ice
given the star part of a musical piece d?
This is the crying grief of all cont alto A.
but ii Is true nevertheless that every ca Sc
where it has been tried has proved a fail
ure This Is because, If she were the star,
the music for the ensembles and nnaleS
would have to be pitched so as to display
her voice. The result would throw the
music low, and the entire opera woud
be robbed of brilliance.
after a while, the book and lyrics are
turned over to the composer to be given
the beautiful raimcnt of notes and tono $
and tempo that Is important, or more SO,
To it's success as the wit and skill and
jingle of the librettists work. The man Of
music, too, has his troubles and disap-
pointments, but these are reduced in di-
rect ratio with the ability OF the author,
"And, after 1t is all done and produced
and presented. the two men who fatherci
it are not yet through with their work.
They study the audience and find that tho
piece has to be Enlightened up In spot .
lyrics that didn't go well have to be
shifted. or, worse still, cut OUT the tenn
20 has to be changed In places. and tine
critics mutter ominously of the blue pen
en- which. to the two writer's, means thu
same sort of herosm that Is required to
face the surgeons knife"
. "a - e. ~ II. " "A.
1., a lhA Kind Vnu U1n LlKo.e Qourhf