The evening world., 1917-03-09

he has never written before "ln the
larger operate form because he was
waiting until ne could find a really
good book" In Mr.. MacEBye's pres
cntaiion Of an impossible Chaucer,
the ilrst English poet laureate, on a
pilgrimage 10 Canterbury IN April,
1887. adapting IN name at least. some
Of Chaucor's written characters as his
companions MI. De Koyen told me
the other dav he had found the book.
other learned persons have lndorsed
Mr. De kovens opinion. But, for me
Mt least. Mr MacKaye's creation Is
too artificial. too palpably made to
order, too lacking In real flesh and
blood human interest to warrant the
faith. His poet is n poor rhymster. "a
pOseur, a puppet. his Wife ~ Bath
with Ave husbands buried and looking
for a sixth. cant be properly named
In The Evening World. and ISN'T real
for minute; his prioress IS some
thing never dreamed ot on land or
sea, and for the rest--what's tho use!
clever? or course Mr. Mackaye's
book Is clever lie has "a record Of
achievements that would assure that.
liut where iB tho hoart OF Il all2 Not
even In the booriahuess Of his cOun-
try pumpkins is there a reflection OF
the soil
Upon this foundation Mr.. De Koyen
has built his work in tho larger
operate FORM" with tho result that
he has erected n more or less i'm
pressive supcrstructure that Is hol-
low. The main body OF the compost
tlon. after all. iE comic opera, or niu-
steal comedy a. what you will
Interesting. amusing, sometimes even
imposing. hut falling Of what would
seem 10 have been Mr.. De KOvcn's
larger purpose. Not that he doesn't /
disclose moments OF inspiration. His
"AllCluyah chorus, FOR instance, Is
fine, thunderously sonorCus, combin-
Ing with tho expression OF devotion,
the spirit OF Love IL lord OF Spring
and the communion OF man with all
things animate and inhnimate. and
the simple fellowship with God which
the Reformation and the Puritans
wiped out and which, unhapplly,
never has been restored.
Splendid too IN the finale as the
procession enters Canterbury Cathed-
raj with the trumpets blaring after
! the manner OF Ncrdrs use OF them in
7 lUt lIlullbn ht'llt III Aluht luf
choir boys and tho Pilgrims chanting
/ their hymn TO 81. Thomas. which is
/ another OF Mr. Da koven's good
/ things. And so. as tho curtain falls,
we forget the puerilc "Eglantine. o
/ to he there with thee in olive-silvered
/ Itnly" and recall the sentiment, II
not the music. OF Amor vincit ON
mia" and lament that the three hour
/ opera wasn't all on tho level of the
/ last fifteen minutes. The orchestral
! introduction To the third act. too, was
worth hearing. In fact. MIR. De
| Eoven throughout tho opera fur
nished worthy orchestral cushion
upon which the action could rest.
Rarely beautiful were the scenes OF
| the Tabard Inn at Southwark and of
| the garden OF the one Ninc-Pin Inn
J at Bob Up-and Down. Fine was the
presentation OF tho west front OF
| Canterbury Cathedral. Mr.. Settrs
chorus outdid itself In vigorous sing
| ing and the ballet caught tho infcc
/ tiun.
In mentioning the principal singers
one must explain that the English
text was expressed mostly by Ger
mans, and, 10 their credit. on the
whole very well. johannes SemDa Ch.
az Chauccr. did not impress me as he
does when singing In German. Mar
gaTctc ObCr wasn't quite as rollick
/ Ing az I expected her to be az the
wife ur Bath; Edith Mason did the
{ best that might be expected with the
COloTlcss prioress, and Marie Sunde-
! Illus, as Johanna, sang better than
she impersOnated her. Besides the
hiE cast held Basil Ruysdael, Robert
l.conhardt. Paul Althouse, Albert
Ectss. Max Bloch, Malatesta, Schlo-
g,L Laurent. Bayer. Rossi. Audisio.
rcEini. Minnie Egcner and Marie
Tiffany Mr.. Bodanzky conducted
with sympathy and appreciation.
Some OF the changes in the score as
printcd-not a few-probably were
due To him,
n..AL. rl-L---L-L ..---L-.-- -.