The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-22

been properly worked upon to make II
| receptive to this kind of a song. One
| must feel as nearly as he can the
| moods and attiture Of the audience at
| each given point, and then strive to get
| his effects to harmonic, as closely as
| possible with this frame Of mind.
| Another thing that Is involved in
| the successful writing of lyrics is the
| manner in which 1t has been decided to
| assert the characters and the various
| kinds of voices. The composer tells
| the man who writing his first hbretto
| that in his cast of principals he must
provide for bassos, barftones, tenors,
| sopranos, contraltoS and mezzo-so-
pranoS for the sake of the ensemble
effects and in order to supply all the
material needed for a harmoniously
designed musical fabric. The prima
donna is, of course, soprano. For
merlY the part opposite to her, that
is her sweetheart, was invariably a
tenor. But tepors are not usually the
best actors, and now a basso or a bari
tone 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 a
sister, a friend or the maid to the
prina donna, or else she Is an enemy
who is sying upon her.
Hard Fate of ContraItos.
TN 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 contraltO can never be
given the star part in a musical piece?
This Is the crying grief of all contral-
tos, but it is true, nevertheless, and
every case where it has been tried has
proven a failure. This is because, If
she were the star, the music for all the
ensembles and finales would have to
be pitched so as to display her voice.
The result would throw the music low
and the entire opera would be robbed
Of brillfance.
and so, hampered and beset by all
these technicalities, and by the addi-
tional 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 utterly
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
cause for some nasty little technical
reason it can't be worked into the
piece.
After a while the book and lyrics
are turned over to the composer to be
given the beautiful raiment of notes
and tunes and tempo that is as impor-
tant, or more so, to it's success as the
wit and skill and Jingle of the hbFet-
lists work. The man of music, too,
has his troubles and disappointments,
but these are reduced In direct ratio
with the ability of the author.
And after it is all done and pro-
duced 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 will have TO be shifted or,
worse still, cut OUT the tempo has to
be changed in places, and the critics
mutter ominously Of the blue pencil,
which, to the two writer's, means the
same sort of heroism that is required
to face the surgeons knife. So, you
see, the writing of a musical piece is
not as hilariously comic an undertaking
as it may seem.
What l have said so far" continued
Mr. Daniels, covers roughly the salient
points in the making of a musical show
so far as the authors are concerned.
myself, and 1 think 1t is my knowledge
of the skill and peculiar talent involved
and my respect for a good authors
brain that accounts for my convic-
ton that 1t would be folly for me to
even attempt to write comic musical
piece myself.
Not All by the Authors.
There are in every musical show,
however, a great many laughs and
comical effects, which audiences sup
pose the librettist Is the author of, but
for which, as matter of fact, he is
entitled to no credit. In saying that in
all Of the pieces in which I appear
am personally responsible for large
share of the jokes, gags 'wheezes,'
laughs and ludicrous tricks and effects,
I am telling no more than the simple
truth and with no desire in the world
to boast. In fact, l should feel that
I were an unskilled laborer as a COM
edian if this were not the case. To
extract laughter from my audiences
in any legitimate and artistic way is
part of my business, and if / were I'M
able to take advantage of every open
ing to coin a fresh joke or to invent a
new and funny bit of business I
should regard myself as only half
equipped for my calling.
Openings of this sort for spontane-
GUS anu lduSIldOl0 l11CkS pre-
sent themselves constantly during re-
hearsals and aftec piece has begun
to be shown to audiences. 1t Is much
less easy to invent a new trick of bus
mess or a comical mechanical effect
than it is to spring a fresh gag and
in working up these mechanical tricks
the self-respecting comedian, who is
jealous of his reputation as an artist
and who wants to be regarded as more
than a mere clown must guard care
fully against falling into any tempta-
ton to indulge in cheap horse play.
TT is not always easy either to draw
the line between horse play and artis-
tically funny tricks. I have never tried
to set down the difference between
these two kinds of stage humor, but
believe I can make my meaning clear
by saying that horse play is a process
Of creating laughter by the employ
ment of mechanical or acrobatic work,
alone with no apparent aid from the
intellecti whereas the more legitimate