The Indianapolis journal., 1902-11-09

dience had not been properly worked upon
to make il receptive TO this kind or
song. One must feel as nearly as he can
the moods and attitude of the audience at
each given point, and then strive to get
his effects TO harmonic as closely as pos
sible with this frame of mind.
Another thing that is involved In the
successful writing OF lyrics is the manner
in which il has been decided to assort the
characters and the various kinds of voices
The composer tells the man who is writing
his first libretto that in his cast of prin-
cipals he must provide for bassos. bari
tones, tenors, sopranos, contraltos and
mezzo-sopranos for the sake of the en-
semble effects and in order to supply all
the material needed for harmoniously
designed musical fabric The prima donna
is, of course, a soprano. Formerly the
part opposite to her, that is, her sweet
heart, was invariably tenor. But tenors
are not usually the best actors, and now
a basso or a baritone is not uncommonly
put in this part. When this is done the
tenor is usually cast opposite the soubrette.
who is usually a mezzo-soprano, and these
two constitute the second pair of lovers.
The contralto is usually sister, friend
or the maid to the prima donna, or else she
is an enemy who is spying upon her.
In either of these arrangements, the ex-
cuse is always handy TO bring them on
together, when both their voices are need
ed for musical effect. Did you know that
a contralto can never be given the star
part in a musical piece? This is the crying
grief of all contraltos, but il is true,
nevertheless, and every case where ii has
been tried has proven a failure. This is
because, IL she were the star, the music
for all the ensembles and finales would
have 10 be pitched so as TO display her
voice. The result would be TO throw the
music low, and the entire opera would be
robbed of brilliance.
And so, hampered and beset by all these
technicalities, and by the additional one
of having to give to each principal at least
one solo, and to no principal too many, the
poor author writes his lyrics. And once in
a while his heart is broken and he is ut
terly crushed to find that song, that has
taken him days to make run smoothly,
that has originality and cleverness in it,
and dash and swing and ginger and that
he has been counting on bravely to make
one of the big hits of the piece, simply
won't do at all-not because it isn't clever
in itself, but because, for some nasty little
technical reason, it can't be worked into
the piece.
After while, the book and lyrics are
turned over to the composer, to be given
the beautiful raiment of notes and tones
and tempo that is as important, or more
so, to its 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 direct
ratio with the ability of the author.
And after il is all done and produced
and presented, the two men who fathered
it are not yet through with their work
They study the audiences and find that the
piece has to be frightened up in spots;
lyrics that didn't 'go' well have to be
shifted, or, worse still, cut out;
the tempo has to be changed in
places, and the critics mutter ON.
inously of the blue pencil which, tC
the two writers, means the same sort oi
heroism that is required to face the sur
| geon's knife. So, you see, the writing of g
musical piece isn't as hilariously a comic
| an undertaking as it may SEEM"
BURTON EMMETT.