The San Francisco call., 1909-05-30
NOTABLE WORK TO
Be PRESENTED
Felicien David's Masterpiece,
The Desert" to Be Given
in Its Entirety
Benefit for the French Church
Viii Be Directed by the
Rev. H. NJ. Thierry
By WALTER ANTHONY

The concert to be given Wednesday
evening. June ,, at the Garrick theater
promises to be exceptionally interest
ing II viii be beneht performance
and the proceeds viii go TO the rehabil-
ltation fund Of the French church. Notre
Dame des Victories. in Bush setreet
near stockton.
isnai lends peculiar interest to the
occasion is the fact that Felicien Cesar
David's great work. The Desert" will
be given in its entirety for the first
time in San Francisco. The hbretto of
this masterpiece is by August Cohen.
and the composer OF the music ranks
with the best Of Frances musical gen
fuses.
In the presentation of the piece an or
-chestra OF 30 instrumentalists and a
chorus Of so singers viii be involved,
and the music viii be under the direc-
tion OF the Rev. H n Thierry.
FIRST SYMPHONIC CANTATA
The Desert" was one of the very hrst
symphonic cantatas TO be written, and
its production at the Paris conservatory
in 1874 was a notable event in the his
tory OF music. The author of the verses
drew his inspiration from his memories
Of the Arabs with whom he had asso-
oisted FOR many years and with whose
character and peculiarities he was ia
miliar. Some of the numbers which
have been heard in detached form are
Prayer 10 Allah" March of the Cara
van" storm on the Desert" Dance of
the Maidens." and the Chant Of the
Nuezzin-" The work is divided into
three parts, The Wilderness" Night
and Morning and David has caught
the oriental spirit and color and has
woven music as iIluminative as il is
eloquent Such was his success in
claiming 10 the bars OF music the spirit
Of the Arab and the desolate grandeur
Of the desert that he was at once com
unissi Oned 10 write the music for Aida. "
which was then in preparation Work
on another opera, however. compelled
the composer 10 decline the commi ssfon
and thus II was that Verdi was given
the task: with what success the world
well knows
tt may not be amiss 10 state that
David's contributions TO French music
were most important He belonged TO
that coterie Of French writer's which
was headed by the great Berlioz and
who gave 10 Paris its first symphonic
music. Neglected they were for time.
but Davids work being more graceful
and less complex than that OF his mas
ter. Berlioz, attained quicker popu-
larity. The Desert stamped its COM
poser as d writer Of genius.
An ORIGINAL WORK
for there is nothing in musical litera-
ture quite like il. On a background Of
solemnity and vastness are depicted
these scenes Of the desert-the caravan
vending its way over the sands bat
ting with the hot simoom. singing
fsnatical songs TO Allah and resting at
evening by the cool spring OF some
green oasis.
David was, no less than Cohen. famiI-
lar with the Arab life and filed with
impressions from the orient. for II will
be remembered that after he had left
Marseilles the composer went TO Con-
stantinople and then travelled through
Smyrna, Egypt and the Holy Land. If
for no other reason, The Desert will
live as one OF the greatest exhibitions
OF program music and as a sample of
what may be done pictOrially in music.
A MUSICAL EVENT
Manager Greenbaum says that the re-
hearsals indicate an artistic success
and that he viii try TO persuade Father
Thierry TO repeat the cantata some
time during next season.
Preliminary TO the presentation of
The Desert the orchestra Will be
heard IN the overture 10 William
Tell" and Charles Bulotti. a local
tenor. viii sing After that a com
pany Of French players viii present a
farce. lei on Parle Francsise"
What VIII make the event Of gen
eral interest not only TO musicians is
the fact that the fund which is 10 be
sweIled by the proceeds viii provide
for the reconstruction of one of San
Francisco's best known landmarks. the
Notre Dame des Victories. to which
church French visitors from all over
the world repaired when in this city
It's rehabilitation viii mean another
important event in the rebuilding of
san Francisco
Tickets are on sale at Sherman.
Clay & Co.'S store in Kearny street
WILL GIVE CONCERT
Miss Mabel Reigelman, soprano. who
has recently returned to her home in
Oakland after studying in Germany
under the guidance Of Madame Gadski.
viii give her first concert on the even
ing Of June at the Macdonough the
ater across the bay. She viii be heard
IN a group Of German songs, classic
and modern. and operatic selections.
GOOD WORK BY LOCAL WRITER
Many OF the band arrangements used
by Patrick Conway at Idora park are
from the pen OF William J. Mccoy. the
C-lifor1is composer, whose Hama
dTyads" music has but recently won
the praise Of New York critics. These
arrangements were made several wears
ago by Mccoy for Patrick Gilmore. and
have been handed along TO Conway
with the late bandmaster's library A
ssxophone SOLO la Favorita," and two
Mexican dances. the former arranged
and the latter composed by Mccoy, will
be included in this weeks Conway pro-
grams.