Arizona republican., 1909-04-29
"EN0CH ARDEN' AT
 THE SCHOOL 0F MUSIC
The Strauss Composition Was Given by Mrs. F. w. Nichols to the Wo- mans Club and Its Friends.

Exquisite Enoch Arden set to picture musici That was the real treat which Mrs. W. F. Nichols furnished last night at the School of Music for the mem bers of the Woman's club and their | friends
 The music of Richard Strauss (who by the way would viciously resent any insinuation that he was related to the | gentleman who acquired fame by writ ing the Blue Danube and other waltZes) is not so well known in Phoe- nix as it deserves to be. This is a trite statement of fact Richard Strauss is today the greatest living force in the world of music; but like other men of genius. and more especially, those who have dared to break away from recog- nized musical conventions, he will probably acquire popular recognition only after his tombstone is moss coV- cred. The general interest shown in the interpretation of Enoch Arden with Strauss music is a commendable sign and Mrs. Nichols should feel well re- paid for her trouble in placing this charming selection from his works be- fore the music lovers of Phoenix.
 
 livery. by Miss Gertrude Trump, while the Strauss accompaniment was play ed by Mrs. Inez Francisco Hughes. The entertainment was preceded by an in troduction describing the work of Strauss by Mrs. Nichols. She said that it was generally recognized that there is an opportunity for art expression lying between grand opera and the drama and to this belongs Enoch Ar den. Any attempt to express human emotion simply with the words of the poem is more or less limited With the addition of the music the picture is complete: the emotion, which the words merely suggest. is actually felt by the listener
 Mrs. Nichols referred to Strauss as the greatest master of orchestration that ever lived; and again as the true musical realist, who translates with greater accuracy than other composers have yet been able to attain, human emotions.
 Every seat in the School of Music was taken when Mrs. Hughes and Miss Trump appeared on the stage. It was a new sensation to many of those pres
  still set to music, is a comparatively new form of expression.
 At the beginning of this article the Strauss accompaniment was called picture music, and that is the way it impressed the listener This compost tion appears to be an effort to direct the mind to certain pictures and cer- tain emotions rather than to the vague tumble of pictures and sensations that one naturally sees and feels when lis tening to instrumental music The truly wonderful part about Enoch Arden is that the emotions were so ac- curately interpreted by the music, and the pictures. if one has the picture habit when listening to music. so vividly drawn.
 There were long passages of the l poem which were without music, the | descriptive parts in particular; and l then, again, the sentiment of the verse | is carried on with a delightful cadence | long after the reader has ceased, and | the music is so interwoven with the | meaning of the words that one is car I ried on with the story told by the mu- | sic, hardly realizing that the words are | not there.
 When Enoch bids farewell to Annie. l slings his bundle on his shoulder and | starts off for the ship, the music fol- | lows him and the picture, as he steps quickly along the dusty road and final ly disappears in a copse of wood. is just as real as if Tennyson had writ ten 1t and not Strauss. When. as children, Philip and Enoch wrangle over Armies companionship and Philip cries out to the stronger boy T hate you" the music echoes T hate you" and when, years later, Philip tells An nie of his love for her, the sentiments. opposite as they are are more vivid and real because of the music than be- cause of the words.
 Any analysis of Strauss music must be unsatisfactory. We feel the effect but we cannot by analytical methods. divine how that effect is brought about. In very general way a slow movement may mean tears and a vi- vacious one smiles, but the former may easily be mistaken for an approaching storm and the latter for sunshine. Per haps it was the words that lent a cer- tain definiteness to the concept, per haps 1t was just the genuis of Strauss: at any rate, at last nights recital, one knew what it was all about, and that is an end not to be overlooked in lis tening to music.
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