The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-09
:ORATORIO SOCIETY
GIVES JOAN OF ARC
EnricO BOssi's Work Is Heard
for the First Time in
This Country.
BOOK NAMED "A MYSTERY"

The first concert Of the Oratorio so
ciety's season took place last evening
In Carnegie Hall The work presented
was Enrico Bossis "Joan Of Arc"
Which was heard for tho hrt time In
this country. The production Of . new
composition In the now little cultivated
oratorio form was an incident Of i'm
portance in this active musical season.
Bossi a made an impression in his
country. for Italians Of musical
In the theatre. Whether Bossi would be
at homo In the operatic atmosphere u.
however. a question for debate. The
book OF this work Is by Luigi Orsini, who
calls II "A Mystery" 1t Is In q pro.
iogue and three parts. which are sub
divided into twelve scenes. The forces
required for the performance are 80.
prano. tenor and bass soloists. q boy
contralto for one short passage, q chorus
OF adults. boys n girls. orchestra and
organ.
The in which the ifbrettist
mas presented the story ia clearly out
lined by the succession Of scenes. An
orchestral pastorale creates the TRANQUIL
atmosphere of Domrcmy. Joan sinn
to the nightingale and there Is an &C
companyinE chorus. Then celestial
voices. those OF st. CdtherSne and st.
Margaret. deliver the heavenly message
TO the Mold. Now boys and girls are
heard singing while they dance, when
suddenly st. Michael appears and gives
tho Mold detailed commands. Tho pro.
logue ends with the choiring Of encour-
aging angels.
Taking her oath Of allegiance and on.
tering Orleans I'LL the first part Of the
Maids story. The second part 10 occu-
pied with her ride to Rheims and the
coronation Of King Charles. The last
part contains the dream Of JoaR. her
imprisonment. her death and apotheosis.
Il . Dramatic Work.
The work. which is OF course not an
oratorio as the term was formerly un-
derstood. is dramatic in the accepted
meaning of the word. 1t follows In
certain respects the line Of progress in
dicated by Edgar Tinel in his Fran
ciscus." which adapted TO the concert
platform much Of the machinery of the
wasnerian drama. While Bossi a not
set himself tho task OF developing a
score from a set Of representative
themes. ne has used some and with
artistic skill. But his chief aim has
been to present the episodes of his story
in massive musical pictures. utilizing
all the mean At his disposal to paint
the tragedy in great fields Of tonal
color.
In the main. his work has a brilliant
theatric effectiveness. but 1t has some
very hin pages and some downright bad
writing. The latter Is to be found
mostly In the music allotted to the
tenor voice. The ~recitatives Of the Arch
angel Michael are \ sorry lot indeed.
The recitatives OF Joan are q little bet
ter. In some places they arc almost
perfect. but in Others they are weak and
wanting In declamatory value. Doubt
less all OF these would be better II
heard with the original Italian text. but
the bad ones could not have been really
good even then.
The eolo parts are seldom Of the kind
that compel high admiration. They are
generally respectable and workmsnlike.
In the beginning the simplicity OF the
vocal utterance given to the Maid IL its
largest asset. The setting of the words
II am a simple maiden. knowing nothing
of arms or warfare is almost an In
SEPARATION in its perfect suitability. But
there 10 not a wealth OF This kind OF
song speech.
The composer has been happiest In
his treatment OF the mass effects. His
ensembles all sound. They have the
largeness OF line and the o%pulence OF
polyphony requisite to the success OF
composition in this style. The harmonies
are excellentiy planned. and there Is a
true Italian feeling for the climax OF
each scene. The opening chorus. Weary
shepherd. plodding his way" is charm
ing. and the voice OF Joan is contrasted
with II skilfully. The music OF h two
celestial voices is merely rworkmanlike
Much more should have boen made OF
! such an opportunity. on the other hand
the scene OF the dance is delightful and
in 1t the boys voices are admirably used
In the scene between Joan and Sc
Michael tho angels music is he really
excellent feature and supports an other.
| wise weak episode.
Much Successful writtnE.
There are numerous pages OF successfu
writing in tho setting of h allegiance
scene, and here the splendors OF full
sounding chorus and orchestra are lie
loose in broad and plangent harmoniee
The entry of the Maid nto Orleans !.
unsteady ~delineated with theatrical In
genuity. 1t is one Of the brightest part
Of the score. The ride would be con
yentional were 1t not for Bossi's craft!
emplo yment Of harmonic and tnstrumen
tai color. Tho coronation brings tn
most dignifed utterance of the who'll
work, for here the recitatives are planne'
on broad lines, and the choral writing
while by M means novel In style, 1
nevertheless strong n at times I'm
posing.
It is In his composition OF these larg'
effects that Bossi has shown his talen
for works OF this type, The oratorio o
this variety leans heavily on the thea
trical, even while bringing TO its end
a style OF music not suited to the stage
In musical episodes which are grandi
ose. IL not grand. this composer show
a Arm mastery OF his materials. whicl
he employs with facility and assurance
There are some really brilliant pages Il
Joan of Arc and It's production wa
well worth while.
The singers engaged In the perform
ance were Marie Sundelius. who sam
ex%cellently the music OF Joan; Morgan
Kingston. tenor. who made a valian
struggle with the recitatives OF 81
Michael, the Dduphtn and the Duke o
A~lenoon: clifford Cairns. who sang fou
parts and was admirable in the musi
OF the Archbishop Of Rheims: Grac
Northrup as 81. Catherine, Rose Bryan
as 81. Margaret. Lewis Parkinson as a.
Angel and w. d. Tucker as "a Wdtchmar
The boy choirs were from the churche
Of st. Andrew n st. Edward the Mar
tyr and the organist was Charles A