The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-22

entombed alive; 'IaKfnet heroine TAXES
poison; "Roomeo and Juliet" hero takes
poison and heroine stabs herself; "Pag-
liacci" hero stabs heroine and her
lover; La Boheme," heroine dies of con-
sumption and hero and friends are left
starving! Madame Butterfly" heroine.
deserted and betrayed, commits harakiri
La Tosca," hero is first tortured and
then shot; villain is stabbed by heroine,
who subsequently throws herself over a
precipice; Carmen" heroine decelves one
of her lovers and is stabbed by him; La
Habanera" principal character murders
his brother, goes mad, murdered mans
ghost returns and causes the death of
heroine
Our exchange concludes thus: THAT is
pretty dish to set before the tired bus
mess man" 1t would be hard, it is true
to imagine a repertoire much bloodier
but those who complain of an excess of
stage gore-an array of crime and I'M
happiness" should learn to discriminate
The blood and thunder play" as that term
is generally understood by theatregoers,
appeals only to the coarse and vulgar
But high tragedy" is constructed from a
viewpoint of art. 1t has to do chiefly
with high personages and while 1t need
not have killing or a death scene in it
and there are on the stage as in real
life, terrible tragedies of the heart-the
denoument usually brings agony and the
sword
Grand opera is to music what tragedy is
to the drama. If the composer be mas
ter or a genius he finds in tragedy larger
development of his musical art than in
comedy or happy-ending lihrettos. Some
fine comic operas have been written by
famous masters, to be sure, but they are
few in number compared with those beau-
tiful and enduring operas inspired by
tragedy.
Human experience has It's lights and
shadows and so must all great art, wheth-
er pictorial, literary or musical, have
shadows and gloom, as well as vivacity
and sunshine. In fiction, life in the alb
stract should be truthfully portrayed; but
The imagination informed by truth and
chastened, must be brought into play to
create atmosphere and color and to form
true perspective. Hamlet" should al
ways have premier place in the worlds
dramatic literature, and among modern
novelsts Nathaniel Hawthorne will con-
tnue to grow in popular favor. His
"Blithedale Romance" is delightful COM
edy and gentle satire combined, but his
"scarlet Letter" and his Marble Faun,"
both STEPPED in tragedy, are of higher lit
erary value and are much more widely
read. And what applies to literature
applies with equal force to music. Not
only have the immortal composers select
ed tragedies for their operate efforts. but
in other large forms of composition death
has been the theme
Beethovens finest symphony save one
and the symphony oftenest played per-
haps by celebrated orchestras-is, No
with its noble funeral march. The great
music festivals usually have one even
ing devoted to a requiem mass. Next in
musical rank to Verdis "Othello" is his
requieum At the last Cincinnati festival,
which the late Theodore Thomas conduct
ed two requiems-Verdi's and Brahms
hoven's No. symphony. And yet Mr..
Thomas was no more gloomy in private
life or before the footlights than Mas
cagni or Puccini. But the music inspired
by death was great art and s>such he
had it performed The tired business
man" should attend a buresque show and
listen to musical comedy for diversion.
en-, too who frequent the opera house, is
they are devoid of Imagination, lacking in
appreciation of the play of the deeper
emotions and the springs of the heart
If life were all sunshine 1t would be-
come insipid, and we might be almost
ready to exclaim with MacbAh, II gin
to be a-weary of the sum-" The tired
business man. often needs relaxation in
mrth no doubt; but when he condemns
grand opera one is led to suspect that
he is dull-witted, rather than tired.
Bowie on Alabama School System
In Alabama a question of the highest
Importance is that of education. 1t may