The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-03-15
THE HERALD AND NEWS.

the $Bayreutl fund. AT last, in 1879,
twenty-five years after Wagnerj's
first conception Of a Festspielhaus,
the cornerstone fof the great temple
Of art could be laid and in 1876 the
"Nibelungenring' was given before
an enthusiastic and distinguished aud
ience. e, :.5
This edifice in it's structure is inti-
niately bound up with Wagner's art,
SO much so, in fact, that, as Wagner
himself says" Architecture house has
gained a new significance under the
inspiration of the genius Of music,
and the myth Of Amphion building
the walls Of Thebes by the notes from
his Tyre has acquired new meaning -
Let us, therefore, look attentively
at this symbol of, the Bayreuth idea.
The, most characteristic feature Of
the Festspielhaus, looking down i'm
posingly from its pedestal Of bill
just outside Of Bayreuth is, that it
seems to consist of two buildings close
together, differing very widely from
each other both in form and size.
One Of these, the stage, is three times
larger tlran the auditorium, present
ing a greater height as well as depth,
so that at any change, Of scenes the
scenic apparatus can be lowered and
lifted as we'll.
Inside the Auditorium.
Entering the auditorium, square
building not holding over eighteen
hundred spectators, our attention is
at once arrested by the ingenious and
impressive ornamentation Of the side
walls-which are unbroken by rows
of boXes-and by large vacant space
iii front of the stage, i. e., the place
usually occupied by the : orchestra.
What, however, appears to be. the
floor actually is but q thin wooden
covering over the musicians whose
places are sunk to a depth of seven
teen feet so that tile spectators may
have full view of the stage and
need not, at any time, be troubled
by having to see the technical appar-
atus of the music. (This, by the way,
would prove unfortunate for people
who, like the Shah of Persia, get their
sole enjoyment from music out of see
ing it produced.)
The lowered place in front of the
stage Wagner called der mystische
Abgound, i. e., the mystic gulf, be-
cause, he says, it separates the real
from the ideal. But it deserves this
name for still another mystical quail
ity, one which, I thinA, occasions
the peculiar beauty and charm which
Wagner's music assumes in this thea
tire. i. e., that it changes brass into
gold, modifying harshness and inten-
sifying sweetness of tone.
The arrangement of seats is like
that seen in the ancient amphithea-
tire. excepting that the shape of the
amphitheatre extending far around on
both sides so us to form even more
than semicircle, is not initiated. The
curving rows Of seats naturally grow
longer as they recede from the stage,
while always directly facing it, so
that on every seat the spectator has
a full view Of the stage, while the lat
ter, owing to the wide proscenium in
front Of it, appears to be at a con-
siderabl distance even from those sit
ting on the front row.
Just above the last row Of seats, in
what is called the parquet, is the
box far ragathis and above this
gallery, consisting Of three rows of
seats and not primarily planned to be
used by the public, but charitably ad-
ded for at least some Of the unfor-
tunates who are not able to procure
better seats. It was here, on the
first row of the gallery, that summer
before last [ spent some of the most