New-York tribune., 1903-03-27
MUSIC.
~The Dream of Gerontius." "

men and women have expended time, labor sno
money for years the production OF new works
only TO have them received with stony indiher-
By the multitudss who affect interest In choral
culture, but are content with the annual Christ
TnastIoe performance of THE Messiah" Exactly
what i was that broke the spell which for so long
had held the public in a sort of stupid enchant-
ment and aroused both interest and appreciation
for Edward Cigars Dream Of Gerontius," can
not definitely be said. Perhaps a dozen causes
worked together for the lovely good: Curiosity
touching 6 work that has been much in public dis
cussfor for two years past; a commendable pride
the part of people of English birth in the fact
that .lec composer of the work was compatriot;
sympathy with Cardinal Newman's poem, pecul-
fary active among to the ancient church;
interest in q subject far from the beaten road
pursued by the writers of oratorios-theSe ana
other may have BEEN influential IN attract
ing the fine audience which assembled in the hail.
There was no question at all as to what 1t was
that turned curiosity interest tionaI pride and
religious sympathy into enthusiastic delight ana
admiration; that was accomplished by the beauty
Of the work Itself and the excellence OF its per
fornance by Mr.. Frank Danrosch and his forces
which gave that beauty eloquent expression There
fore. agan-a noble deed. nobly done, and laNdaoie
the reward.
There has been ample description in this journal
Of the contents Of Cardinal Newman's poem and the
method pursued by Mr.. Elgar in its musicaf set
ting; what remains to be said Is an estimate OF
the composite work. which has resulted from
the cooperation OF poet and musician. A STUDY OF
long at once attraction and a repulslon TO the
ordinary musician roaming through the world OF
literature seeking what he might compose. TO the
composer there was much in the hrst part ready 10
hand So he were willing to keep the church once
in mind for all the lines in which Geron-
titus describes the feelings and fancies which al
fright his soul at the prospect Of dissolution Is
borrowed from the ritual.
True, IL is q portion Of the ritual which so Tar
as We know, has never before been set to music
~ Ieast NOT in the modern sense Here the author
was little else than paraphrast. The scene Wnlch
he calls up in the mind Of the reader is one Whlcn
is Of daily familiarity to the parish priest 1he
three csuticles sung by the Choir OF Assistants
.re drawn with but little alteration but much ao-
breviation from the prayers which the runrlc pre-
scribes shall be said those IN aruculo rnorts
The three choruses from the Litany Tor the
Diving: the first extended solo of Gerontius is a
rnerrical and rhyned paraphrase of the Greed pre-
faced by four Latin lines drawn from familiar
hymns and prayers, but shaped by the poet;
sanctus fortis. sanctus Deus.
Miserere, Judex meus.
Parce mIhi Domino.
The scene eliminates in the concluding number OF
the part bass solo and chorus beginning Fro-
Acisere anina Christiana," which is nothing eise
than the prayer which is recited by the priest
s'vhtIe the soul is in the agony Of its departure
The last words Of Gerontus, Into Thy hands y
Lord are an attempt the part OF the oyihg man
to repeat the words which the ruorc commands
dying person after he is himself no longer able 10
speak.
r4ere # will be seen while the composer is Of
fered a boundless opportunity. there is little e&-
ercise of inventive fancy the part OF the poet.
What Cardinal Newman created was the descripuon
Of the diving agony OF Gerontius and this with a
sententIousness and vividness OF VISION Whlch Ell
ablpd the composer to throw the scene into a
dramatic form with but trifing abbreViation The
second part presented more serious problem.
Here there IS much dealing with pictures OF soul
states ard soul experiences designed to present
5octrjnsI beliefs or specua tions The soul is shown
in its appreciation Of ncorporeal yet conscious ex
istence; in its relations TO time, space ana move
mert.
Much of the imagery is beautiful, but all of 1t
presents difficulties the composer SO, too ooes
much of the converse between the Guardian Angel
an6 Soul. in which doctrines touching the eter
nal mysteries expoundeG according 20 the teach-
frgs OF the Roman Catholic Church; and here MT
Flzar deleted the poem with bold and unsparins
hand What he left however, offered itself TO his
sublimated fancy n most delightfully."- unques-
tonable shape for musical deneation, particularly
in tie way OF contrasts. This is especially true OF
the choral episodes-the bowling song OF the
Demons gathered near the Judgment Court to de-
ride man and his aspirations; the soaring cantcies
OF the AngIicaIs. Praise to the Holiest in the
height" and ths chastened hymn OF the Souls
hope fully awaiting deliverance from Purgatory
psalm xc). Contrasted with these massed ehects
are the peculiarly winning and tender words of in
struction, comfort and admonition addressed TO
the Soul bv the Guardian Angel during the flight
upward TO the Throne or Judgment and While con-
vying il to the place penance the poignant sup
rlicatiou of the Angel of the Agony and the eager
petition OF the Soul transhgured by the glimpse OF
Deity.
Thus recast Cardinal Newman's poem became
an admirable vehicle for music and exerted q
sinzulariy potent influence upon the creative imagi-
nation OF the composer, which almost from De-
ginning to end seems to have been steeped IN a
spi-it OF mystical alteration and devotion. We are
likely to use strong words of praise, for strong
words of praise deserved by MI. Cigars WORK
The English festivals have given Us nothing really
comparable with this work since the days of Men
deIssohn. whose influence crops out occasionally
in the large choral effects notwithstanding that the
means employed and The ends sought antipodean
in the two men. With all his reverence for Mother
Church, Mr.. Elgar stands with both feet in the
world OF modern dramatic expression. He Is
romanticist. whose emotions put into a state
OF hux by the contemplation Of ne1able mysteries.
and who hymns them with complete sincerity and
eleQuence. His attitude toward them is as frank
and ingenious as that of Bach in mis- Passions:
fl is personal relationship prompted by un-
questioning faith and vivifying love When the
ceremonies OF the Church his subject,
as in the first Iart he is churchly; but
even then not traditional except when, by
barking back TO tradition. he is able to aou So
lerrnity to the death scene. He uses the church
chant Fourth Gregortan tone) in the invocation Of
the Patriarohs in the prayer for rescue, but his
harrnonization Of the antphonal Amen Is far
away from that the traditional church musician.
The old forms appear in his excerpts from the
utany but their treatment is that OF the modern
musician, whose aim is to Undue the words with
emotional expression A wealth OF characteristic
deIneation is expended the terrified utterances
of the dying man, especially when they tell of the
grewsone visions which haunt him. and here there
is nothing TO daunt him In the most daring devices
of modern harmony or orchestration. They color