The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-16

Of the late celebrated conductor,
Hans Richter. The work is "iyide6
into two parts. In the first p ! the
characters represented are IRON
thus, tenor assistants, chorus al the
priest, bass.
"GeNontius, as he feels death =
preaching, describes in wonderful
eloquent words the thoughts, fanct
and terrors which beset him as "
solution nears, as well as the ecs :,
confidence which his religious -4th
inspires in him as he calls on Jesus
and the Virgin Mary for spiritual sue
cor. His utterances are punctuated
with the three canticlies taken from
the prayers prescribed by the Ro-
man Catholic church to be said over
those in the last agony, the three
choruses being taken from the litany
for the dying.
"Gerontius borne up by his faith
and hope in salvation repeats the
! creed in a rhymed paraphrase inter-
larded with Latin lines taken from
hymns and prayers. The end of the
struggle now approaches With the
words of the Savior on his lips, Ger
ontius breathes his last, whereupon
the priest and his assistants sing in
limpressivelys Olemn accents the Pro-
ficiscere: Go forth upon thy journey,
Christian SOUL which amid the peal
ing of bells dies away with the closing
words, through Christ our Lord
'In the second part, the soul of Ger
ontius, tenor, the angel, meZZo-so-
prano, and the angel Of agony, bass,
are introduced, while the chorus re-
presents in turn demons, Angelica1s
and souls An instrumental prelude
Of ETHEREAL delicacy suggest the flight
Of the soul of Gerontius under the
guidance of the Guardian Angel
through space. The soul describes the
strange sensations experienced in this
journey to the throne of God The
guardian appears and greeting the
soul, takes it in charge. The soul,
asking why it's former dread of COM
ing into the presence of God has van
ished, it is told that the bitterness of
death is now gone because the fear
of death has made way for calm joy.
AS they approach the judgment court,
horrible hubbub and bowling is
heard. It comes from the demons
who assemble, hungry and wild to
claim their property.
''This chorus of demons is a most
remarkable piece of choral writing as
difficult Of performance as it is aw-
some in it's effect. Not seeing the de-
mons, the soul asks whether it shall
see the Lord.
eft is told that this shall be vouch-
safed it, but for moment only and
that the sight will gladden. but at the
same time pierce it as it did st. Fran
els Of Old. While the soul and the
angel enter the house of Judgment the
hymn of praise of the angels is heard,
family at first, then arising to STIR
ring climax.
GAS the throne is approached the
angel Of agony is heard praying for
the souls of those awaiting their deliv-
erance from purgatory, to which
voices on earth almost inaudibly add
their supplications. Then in, the SOL
emn instrumental movement the COM
poser by a sudden tonal crash follow
ed by faint reverberations typifies the
souls momentary sight of God, where
upon the soul joyfully enters upon It's
period Of publication welcomed by
the souls in purgatory.
with a beautiful hymn of praise
sung by the souls and ange1icals, the
work comes to an affecting but up
lifting close" G.
Sir Edward Elgar, the oratorio's
composer was born in London in 1857,
and is living there now.