New-York tribune., 1903-03-22

AS though a thing; g:.y who for for his help
Could cope with those proud rebel hosts
Who had angelic life.
! or the third section Of the hymn all IS omitted,
except the last stauza. but the first, second ana
fifth (the last OF which the favortte hymn OF
| Mr.. Gladstone and is found n Hymns Ancient
and Modern) used in full. There is an aooreVa-
| tion of the paraphrase of Psalm xc. which the
souls sing in purgatory, and of some OF the ritual
paraphrases in the first scene as well as or por-
tions Of discourse between the Soul Of CTeron-
| thus and his Guaruan Angel But all these allu-
| sons will be better understood after the poem has
! been outlined.
Gerontius lies in "articulo mortis" A great ter
| ror comes over him as he experiences sensation
| never felt before.
this strange innermost abandonment this emp emp,
| tying out OF each constituent ana Ha'uiaI 1oICe
| by which come to be-
His description is interrupted by parentheticaI
| peaIs for mercy and the last he calls upon his
| friends pray for him who has not strength 10
| pray The Assistants (Whoever they may be- IN
| tone a tauy which the fainting soul OF the
| dying man that after second supplicadon by
| :he Assistants ne himself utters prayer and con-
fesson of faith. At the end however. he Is ra'ked
again with a sense of ruin and collapse In great
distress and terror tortured by visions Of Ill. he
calls again for prayers-on Mary. Joseph. and the
| angel that waited Jesus in His agony. The IN
| terCessiOns Of the friends resumed. but eX-
| hausted. with the words OF Committal which Christ
asleep and a priest utters prayer for the dying,
This ends the first part Of the poem, and also OF
its setting. Before proceeding with the thread Of
narrative something may be said of the music.
| Its style is ultra modern. making extensive use
| Of the device OF typical phrases. thematC SYM
| bols Instruments effects large combinations and
irregular harmnntcs Eccls siasttCal themes. that is
to say drafts from the plain song of the Church.
are not employed the frecst rein is given to
dramatic and picturesque expressions. In the first
part there are two dramatic personages to whom
are assigned solo parts-tier0utus tenor. and the
| Priest bass The lines OF the Assistants are di-
vtded between serni-chorus and chorus In the
ond part there three solo Darts-the Soul OF
| Gerortus tenor: the Angel who has the Soul in
| ward rnezZo-s oTraHo ana the Angel IF the Agony,
| bass There are chcruses Of Demons. Angei"al7
and Souls in Turgatory, the voices suhdivi'.ed
! most variolslv The orchestra is very large.
7 sisting Of three flutes, TWO Oh"'s. English horn.
three clarinets bass three bassoo:s zone con-
| tral three tr1Imnets horns three tromhon"s.
bass tuba, TWO harps. organ, three kettle,irirIls
| gong. sChellen string Ot small hells). glorkfn-
| spiel. drums. cvnlaIs. triangle and the usual
strings. The last occasionally ltEi'!el I'M" NJ
teen eighteen OF even twenty parts thus eclpstHg
| Wagners division in1o sixteen parts III one pas
| sage IN 'Trts-@n und Isolde" The score says
| Mr.. a. !. Jaeger. IN his annotated book Of words
published Hy Nov.Ilo & % CHho aNo publishers
Of the orato~iop IS altogether perhaps. the fullest
and most coInf lc:s;"L English music. Mr.. Ja'-
ger might have spared himself the conservative
.'pcrl.ails" -h,. work pr--~cisd by highly SIX
rtf,.4nt r,rr,:!e built up largely "f ti.e themes
which sand s.T,= mental emotions "f 'T'-
! rorttue and he agencies employed for his relief
Mr.. Jaeger has illustrated hts analysis with no less
than seventy-sx musical excerpts, hut they ar" not
! all symbols. To those that he has recognized as
! such he has In the manner OF Wagneria1 com
u.entators given titles. a-d these viii be adopted
in this rnarshaling Of the material utilized IN the
| prelude All Of them have reference TO the first
! scene as Il has been sketched. The first