El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-12
MUSICAL DEBATE AND VARIED PROGRAM
FEATURE THE WONANS CLUB MEETING

oiyer in italy in italian, not German
4-bv NOT then in English in America
Any art that IS TO De IoT the people
must come from the people and be of
the DeOpIe and understood by the peO-
Dle AS a little instance, In travelling
through Italy q NUMBER OF years ago,
shortly after the producIlon OF IPaga-
Iaccf we were driving snort distance,
ont IF Rome, and discussing the opera
and the composer. Our driver became
so interested in the conversation that
he stopped his horses and sang selec-
tfOD after selection from the opera for
11s Could that have occurred in Amer
ica2 No. Neither could 1t have &C.
r7Trred in italy, had the opera bean
sung in other than the Italian Ian
gUage-" ~
berg mentioned the success Of opera
companies singing in EnSIIsn IN New
york and other metropolitan cities and
commented upon the coming production
of Victor Herberts English opera,
madeline" in English in Paris
Following the two arguments, Mrs.
7. J. Pearce, the chairman, spoke about
the importance Of musician made trans
Iations. so that the phrasing- of the
fra rslati0u would agree with the orig
inal Dhrasing Of the words to the music,
and called upon the club members for
general discussion Of the subject. Mrs.
of grand opera in English Mrs. Francis
l. Moore said, in supporting the idea,
'9The time is surely here when the
United States should assert her indie
pendence from foreign music IN every
way. and 90 more to develop Its own
natural resources in music. and one
way that this can best be done is by
having opera In English
Mrs ParviE T7itte also upheld the
idea Of English opera, attributing to
Door translations the preference given
to the foreign language. MRS. ). J.
FreudenLh5s4, in opposing the idea, said:
In a way I am on the renee on this
question. I believe in the development
of American music and opera in Eng
lish, but I like the old operas in the
tongues in which they We're written.
CarusO singing in Lucia di Lammer-
moor, All Lucia Mia, mas much
stronger appeal, I think than If sang
Oh My Lucy The argument that
the opera is not understandable does
not altogether hold, believe, for
whether an opera is sung IN English or
any other language, very little OF the
words can be understood; 1t is the mu-
sic that counts. In going to hear any
grand opera, almost everyone studies
the GbrettO and the score before at
tending the opera, and personally 1
like the operas best sumo in the Ian
guage in which they were composed"
Mrs. J. J. Pearce, the chairman, then
outlined the plot Of the opera of
SWeethearts, by victor Herbert
which was the program Of the after
noon Before the musical comedies
and the ragtime songs became popular,
we had many Of these lighter operas,
comic operas written about light plots.
with light music but good, tuneful
good construction and conform
ing to the best standards of music
she said in a brief comment upon the
presentation of comic opera by the club.
Mrs. c. D. Johnson played the over
tUre from the opera on the piano. Mrs.
W D. Howe sang There's Magic in 4
Smile" Mrs. Jay 2 butcher sang ''The
Ivy and the Oak"
J, ]. Tyndall scored a very big hit
with his clever reading Of ct Don't
Know How I Do 1t, But 7 Do spoken
to piano accompaniment
Mrs Claiborne Adams sang "Jea-
nette's Little Wooden Shoes" with a