New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-27
MUSIC.
SIR EDWARD CIGARS NEW oRAToRIo.

even the cities OF his native England. New York
has besn amazingly Interested IN the music OF sls
Edward Elgar. 1t placed itself in the 1orelo7 =
rank OF those which gave welcome 10 AiA0
Dream OF Gerontius' and eager Tor les
successor that refused wait until the score OL
THE Apostles was safe inside Of binders ooafus
before IL greeted It. The sequel OF that Work was
set down for performance by the OTatOrio Society
even before it completed; and If. as seems 10
be the case. '~The Kingdom is. in turn. to nave
its sequel. the still embryonic work Ia couoeless
already destined for production as soon aIter -
takes shape and substance as possible HheI0 -
nothing 20 deplore In all this. provided the enthus
astic eagerness OF DR.. Frank Damrosch IS not per-
mitted 20 darken counsel or seduce popular Ju0s-
ment And for that the public will care Faus
and fashions sway the opera lists. but nave niue
or nothing TO DO with other forms OF music N
the field OF the Oratorio indeed, 1t Is the consefVa
tism Of popular taste not its erraticism. that is
20 be deplored.
1.-THE Kingdom" was performed by the Oratorio
Society at Carnegie Hall last night and. like The
Apostles (of which IL Is a continuation week
ago. it conducted by it's composer The style
and scope OF the work have been set forth IN the
columns OF this journal In it there was little new
70 the music lovers who had familiarized them
selves with the literary and musical scheme or
THE Apostles" Il Is more than likely that the
acquaintance gained from three performances OF
THE Apostles while it may have made the new
music seem less fresh and spontaneous than might
otherwise have been the case QOr there Is much
repetitOus OF thematic material borrowed
from the earlier work. in the new. yet helped to
the higher degree OF enjoyment which the new
work gave. It may also be that the composers
command OF tho material and OF the manner which
he has chosen for his trlOsy Of OratOros has grown
stronger. At any rate. the impression created oy
the new work Of greater breadth. greater
homOgeneity and more convincing power than that
left by The Apostles" BY this do not mean
that the weaknesses which are compelled 20
note In Sir Edwards art have disappeared. They
are. We fear. inherent in the forms of expression
which he has chosen. He has sought TO apply
modern dramatic methods in works which not
dramas. His people not dramatic. though he
gives them names. His music Is not dramatic eX-
cept when It pauses % delineats large and
tnuous moods; and these moods only the cl-
| makes OF scenes which are long and Overhlled
with something supposed to take the place Of dia-
losue, but which is not dialogue. His text is not
dramatic, though divided into scenes and labelled
| with descriptive titles.
The textual fabric Of these oratorios IS Sir
Edwards own invention. IL Is constructed
| out os Biblical passages like that Of many
| another oratoTio. but IL Is neither eplcal nor
| Grammatical 1t IS like the cantos compiled by
| medieval students out Of lines picked out OF
the classic pOets-a thing Of shreds and patches
/ ana 70 give the lines the meaning which
they are designed to have IN the purpose Of their
/ compiler il is necessary TO wrest them, as
| Peter said the unlearned did the words Of Paul
/ and the other Scriptures. Ito their destruc-
uon' Two Illustrations come 20 mind Wnlcn make
this clear. The first scene OF THE Kingdom
\ treats OF the meeting in the upper room" IN
/ Jerusalem, in which there is the breaking OF
/ bread and the selection OF Matthias 20 be one Of
the Apostles. in place OF Judas. The lot Is cast; II
i falls upon Matthias John. Peter, Mary. Mary Mag
/ dalene the Disciples and the holy women address
him. saying: 1.-THE Lord hath chosen you 20 stand
/ before Him TO serve Him; you shall be named the
/ priest OF the Lord" Immediately chorus falls
| IN with the most powerful and thrilling piece OF
/ In MIN va DrfAstsl Spemeth
| Il but small thing that God hath separated you
/ 20 bring you 90 Himself. 90 stand before the
| congregation TO minister unto themr' So II goes
/ on. the music less hortatory than denunciatory.
almost ob1urgative. IL would have been superbly
| appropriate addressed 20 a Fecreant priesthood,
but Is ineOmprehenslhle under the circumstances
/ which Sir Edward wishes to imagine. So
| again IN the scene called I'm SOlOmOn's Porch"
! when the Apostles preach in many tongues after
| the Pentecostal benedictlOn. Peter accuses the
people Of having crucifed Christ. and they murmur
/ in awestTicken tones: His blood be US and
| on our children" But these were not words Of
/ cOntTitiOn and self accusation when they were
/ hurled az PLATE but Of wicked daring and vain
/ glory.
There is need TO dwell these things. They
1 have avenged themselves upon the work by maxi
Ing II unintegible unless the listener follows it
line after line with the book OF words in his hand
| To the ubretto IL the musical purposes are also
| TO be made clear. there should be added a the
matte Baedeker. for IL is what the orchestra dis
courses. plus the signihcances arbitrarily given TO
/ its typical phrases. or symbols that Is OF eonse
Quence. except in the climaNes. in which the COM
poser consents to approach something like the old
Oratorio manner OF the prOpriety and dellneative
value OF Sir Edwards sO-called leading motives
| we little convinced now as we were after
/ the first performance OF The Apostles" He Is a
master IN the application Of Wagner's device but
he is wholly deficient in Wagners ability TO stamp
| the physiognomy OF a character upon a phrase
to mako a series OF tones body forth agency.
/ He is at his best in music that deIineattve OF
| external things-a fact which has fine exemplihca-
ton the descriptive OF the descent OF the
/ fiery tongues at the Pentecostal meeting. But
even here the medium which is effectively in
voked is orchestral color. instrumental device.
/ It is the fashion among music reviewers hail
| each addition 70 the harmonic and instrumental
apparatus advance in art, and u the practice
be correct then The Kingdom Is advance on
/ 1.-The Apostles" as that work was an advance on
/ The Dream Of GerOntius': but with all ad-
miratIon for many pages OF both Of the later
works We still inclined to set down the first
part OF THE Dream the fine flower Of Cigars
genius
/ THE Kingdom had an exceedingly credItable
/ performance the hands OF choir. solo singers
ana orchestra under the direction OF the composer
Only In the broad choral passages like 20 ye
prestsy' and the closing scene. fine setting
/ OF the Lords Prayer. did the choir exhibit the
| confidence and surety essential to a volume OF
tone commensurate with It's numerical strength:
hut It seldom failed to make the composers pur-
| nose plain. The orchestra played with more free
dom and frequently struck like a thuuderbOlt
Suave and ingratiating in the quality OF their lyric
stvle were the solo singers-Mrs Rider KELSEY
Miss Janet Spencer. George HamIin and Claude
/ Cunningham-though we fancy that in each case
the composer had fancied a more drastic style Of
utteTance possible BUT tAs characters are dramat
ically bloodless. H E. X.
1