The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-14

no means ignorant OF the value OF the
materials which the poet brought to
his youthful ardor. In Lobe's CONVEX
cations with him occur the following
significant passage:
-Lobe-t remember very well what
an excitement your Midsummer
Nights Dream overture produced by
its originality and truth Of expression
and that from that moment you rose
high in the estimation Of musicians
and music lovers.
"Mendelssohn-I too believe that.
and this shows that one should trust
a little to luck.
"Lobe-Luck? I should think such
an overture Ii created. not by luck,
but by the genius Of the artist.
MISUNDERSTANDING course IL requires
talent. But I call II luck to have been
inspired with such a subject. a sub
ject that vas capable Of furnishing
me with such musical ideas and forms
as generally appealed to the larger
public. What I could do az a COM
poser I could do before writing the
overture. But I had not yet had he
fore my imagination such "a subject.
That was an inspiration. and the in
SEPARATION was a lucky one."
Prof. Frederick Niecks in his excel
lent book on programme Music"
speaks with sympathy and indeed af-
lection Of this WORK. He says: What
constitutes the chief originality Of the
overture Is the musical creation Of the
mooniit fairy world. with its nimble.
delicate and beautiful population. Be-
~a 80, rn,rls. nSA arn pn1nA m
Oberon and Titania as they meet In
grove or green by fountain clear or
spaneled starlight sheen; the elves.
who. when their king and queen quar-
rel. creep into acorn cups: their coats
made Of leathern wings and rcrcmiCe;
feasblossom. Cohweb. Moth. and Mus
tardseed: the knavish sprite Puck
alias Robin Goodfellow. who delights
in playing merry pranks. and the
scene following Oberon and Titania's
command to their subjects:
"oberon-through this house give slim.
mering light.
by the dead and drowsy hfe;
Every elf and fairy sprite
Hop as light as bird from brier:
And this ditty. after me.
Sing. and dance II trippingly.'
a lTSt. TtntdTSt yout s'iS "
rOte,
To ZACH word a warbling note:
Hand in hand with fairy grace.
We will sing and bless this place"
Through the delicious pages OF this
buoyant creation wander also the less
f,eeting figures Of the comedy. Duke
Theseus and his betrothed. Hypolita
and her court. Lysander and Hernia.
! Demetrius and Helena. Bottom. Snug.
, Weaver and their motley companions.
There has been a tendency To depre-
! Ciate Mendelssohn in recent years and
to reject him as a polite master who
never offended against the etiquette
Of composition. put here is little re-
spect for conventions.
The boy was a boy. The overture is
the eager. ardent work of "A youth
who opened his arms to seize all the
| people OF Shakespeare's play in one
glowing embrace. Side by side with
It's ineffable delicacy OF style in the
d%elineation " fairy life and movement
the composition presents passages
bursting with the exuberance OF youth.
In the search after a universal musi-
cal speech for comedy and sentimen;
the reckless adventurer runs to the
borders Of folly.
In these futurist days We shall not
run any risk Of overvaluing this juve-
| nile tour de force. But We shall do
well never to forget that the most
sophisticated moderns have never
been able to escape the influence of the
boy. Their clowns still wear his cap
and bells; their fairies dance to his
| tunes.
When the King OF Prussia. Fred
erick William ". commanded Men
delssohn to write music for "Midsum-
mer Nights Dream "Antigone" and
"Athalie'' In 1s+3 and the man added
twelve numbers to the overture he
accomplished nothing so spontaneous
and genuine in It's beauty as he had
at II. The familiar wedding march is
the most successful Of the additional
numbers. but 1t has some perilously
weak spots. The nocturne is lovely.
the scherzO is piquant and the inter-
mezzo belongs to the universal cate
cory Of well made.
When all is reviewed the conclusion
must be that the overture was in
! deed an inspiration. A boy could most