The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-01-02
ny w. !. e DEE son.

been made known to the local
public and much has been
learned from them by those
who make the attempt to learn.
Boris Godunov'' and prince Igor"
have certain strikingly similar traits,
chiefly in the character Of their
librutti and In the color impaired
TO their scores by the use Of Oriental
melodic and harmonic idioms. But
for the present We may confine Our
consideration to the books. for too
little thought Is given to the impor-
lance Of this part Of an opera.
Wagner arrived at the conclusion
that historical subjects we're not fitted
for operate treatment and that the
only suitable themes were y be found
in mythology. Wagner was always
an EXTREMIST. as are most men who
are savagely in He could
brook no half way measures and he
denounced all masters who entertained
views opposed to his own. He failed
to acknowledge the indisputable truth
that he himself was not wholly con-
sistent In his bearing toward this
theory.
He began by writing a purely his
torical opera, and his experience In
this drove him to the opposite ex.
IRENE. the pure legend. But when he
set himself to the task Of "Lohen-
grin" he once more found himself
: in the region where fable and fact
were mingled and he was not at
all averse to the splendors OF the
court of Henry the Fowler, the medi@-
val ceremonials and the barbaric dis
play of procession and rite.
In "Tannhaeuser" likewise the gilt
ter and etiquette Of a feudal court
hung about his neck and he sought
tragic expression In the midst OF
princes. mobiles and gorgeous danes.
But at bottom wagner's principle Is
sound. The historic opera Is prone
to he episode and burdened with nom
essential details. For this reason one
. tempted t o speculate as to whittier
composers are tending In their search
after subjects.
The first writers Of opera were
.frmly convinced that the proper SUBJ
jects for libretti were hose In which
remoteness from their own time would
permit full freedom Of treatment.
I With his went the feeling that the
F.. auditors would more readily submit
! themselves TO the spell Of music sung
by age old gods or heroes than by
: melodies chanted out Of the mouths
of their own fo%refathers. In a word,
the inconGruities Of opera must be
obscured by the intervention OF the
golden haze of distance.
Poliziano, who wrote the frst secu-
lar drama given IN Europe since the
close of the Roman theatre. selected
the story Of Orpheus and Eurydice.
which had more claims to operate
treatment than even that incom-
parable youth recognized. He chose
it for its poetic beauty and Its perfect
= fitness TO musical embodiment. But
. he probably did not perceive in 1t an
epitome of the ideals most dear to
the Italian mind Of his time. ideals
immortalized in the Arcadia" Of Sam
azzaro.
This story had one special quality
/; which made it a ut opera subject.
Its interest centred on the emotional
experiences OF the two chief actors.
and out Of these the major portion OF
the play was built. 1t was almost
entirely successful in that it reduced
all else to the condition of mere ac-
.cessory or explanatory matter. Later
versions Of the same story. for 1t be-
came a favorite with composers,
drought into much more brilliant dis
I play certain scenic and terpsichorean
[ features. Operagoers will recall them
lin Gluck's familiar work.
The FlOrentine fraternity took up
this same story more than a century
after Poliziano treated It with beautiful
simplicity. But their type OF opera
was not long to survive. and In a few
years we find certain italian opera
houses %resounding To the strains Of
huge complicated spectacular operas
in which historical subjects were
treated with pompous musical style
md all the accessories Of theatrical
show.
But despite the curious progress of
the libretto we find that the move
Ulent of the music was not toward
the so-called dramatic style of the
present. The opera of the sixteenth,
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
leIan in poetic idcalism and ended
in a fatuous conventiOnality. 1t IL
perfectly safe to say hat the blame
for this rested principally OH the
public.
The earliest experiments In the
lyric drama were brought to com
pletion In the presence of highly cul-
tured courts. After the public opera
house had come into existence in 1887
with the opening of he TeatrO San
Cassiano. Venice. the descent of the
opera to absurdtty was amazingly