The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-01-16
THE WEEK OF OPERA.
Metropolitan Opera House.
~ w. !.

Tm war has had a depressing
effect upon the world Of
music. but naturally nothing
else was to be expected. Art
belongs to the era of peace. II will
not be TIL the war drum throbs no
longer. and the battle flags are furled"
that the painters will cease to make
records Of battle incidents and turn
to the exercise of their ~imaginations.
Not TIL then will the architect en-
deavor 10 find forms TO replace the
shattered ruins which lie across t.u-
rope. Not till then will the composer
sing songs which do not reek with the
mud Of materiallsm
Musical literature has suffered in
more ways than ne. Enterprises
''of great pith and moment have been
temporarily abandoned. The "Ency-
clopedie de la Musique Ell Dictionaire
de Conservatory stopped short after
the third volume. This In itself is a
deprivation Is ~s.AnAs of students
Of muscal art. for no other ws,rk was
planned with quite SO much foresight
a. this one. Let us hope that after
the war Its issue will quickly be re-
0umed.
Tho publication OF books about
music. which was going on at a
brisk pace before the war. has almost
ceased. This, too. is a pity. The gen
erai public naturally cares nothing
about the more important works on
music. Indeed. the more important
they are the more swiftly does the
general reader hasten away from
them. But writer's on music through
GU h country. an ever increasing
army OF serious and eager students.
many of them idealists Of inspiriting
influence, are hungry for more in
formation. and 1t IS a pity that the
supply OF II should be checked at a
! moment of intense interest.
The general reader will not be averse
TO knowing that u knowledge of the
e.Ily history of music has lately been
passing under a keen n searching
review. The indolent acceptance Of
ancient errors has ceased. and scholars
Of ample equipment, fine gifts and
untiring industry have been inves-
tigating every branch Of early music
and discovering that our information
Iabout 1t a generally faulty. often
misleading and 10 i~nfrequently radi-
Cally incorrect.
One Of the contributions to u study
Of the older music which has been is
sued since the outbreak of the war Is
ARNOLD Dolmetsch's The Interpreta-
.tion of the Music Of the Seventeenth
and Eighteenth Centuries" published
by Novello. Ever 4 Co. Of London
Mr.. Dolmetsch will DE recalled by con-
certgoers as a picturesque person who
clad himself above the waist in a vel
vet Jacket and a flowing neck cloth
and who talked coniidentially and in
terestingly about archaic instruments
such as lutes and viols, which he after
ward played for us with the help o.
his wife. a consummate virtuoso on the
harpsichord. Mr.. Dolmetsch has now
gathered in a single volume SOME II
not all Of his studies OF the t%ecllnic. ths
style and the purpose of the art o.
these more intimate Instruments.
1t is not the hope of THE SUNS re-
viewer to deal adequately with thl'
book. But one thing must be said, ant
with AZ much emphasis as possible, tC
Wit, that no musician can afford e
pass the work by unnotced. 1t deals
authoritatively with the questions %
tempo, rhythm, ornaments and figure
hasses. all of which have occupie,
rather vague positions in too many
minds.
Mr.. Dolmetsch's method has beef
that OF Il careful. student. He has as
sembled all that was written on tn
subject by the musicians of the perio,
investigated. lie has found importan
information. for instance, in the writ
ings OF old QuantZ. the flute player an,
teacher OF Frederick the Great. Sc
TOO. he has drawn from Morley. Mac
and others valuable points. He hai
then applied his knowledge to th'
music with which he was already pro
foundly acquainted and has set befor'
MS convincing conclusions as To 'h'
meaning OF directions given by tn
older composers and heretofore seem
ing to be obscure. Mr.. Dolmetsch de
serves the gratitude OF all students o
music for the patience and devotion
with which he has done his work, Tn
volume will be accepted as a STANDARD
work on the subject with which l
deals.
George Shea. an American SINCE
and teacher OF singing, formerly
member of the opera companies o
The Hague, Toulouse. Nancy and othc
cities, has issued a small volum
called Acting in Opera" 1t is pub
l!shed by Schirmer. The author, VIII
is a graduate of Princeton. proceed
with scholarly method to analyze tn
technics Of operate acting as the
are taught in Europe and With tn
most particular care at the Pari
Conservative.
When Alois Burgstaller was a mem
Der OF the Metropolitan Opera Hous
company under the management o
Heinrich Conried he was wont t
stand upon the stage in such compli
Gated attitudes that n wondere
why he remained upright at all. rs
pcciaily was he prone to make spiral
Of his long legs. Mr.. COnried, VIII
knew no more of music than "A kltter
was an actor and a stage manager
He went on the stage one day at
rehearsal and began tn show Burg
staller how he should pose. Where
upon that child Of Bayreuth abrupt
waved him aside and impatlently ex