Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-06-15
! II s | G

merchants euQ 0thef peOpG ~
overlooking quite bit of business
by not cooperating with each othei
il fixing up the Municipal audi
iciium. In other cities the graz
opera season is the big social theat.
ficsl and musical attraction OF the
fiiy, and the appearance here OF thu
Chicago Opera company will prob.
soly be the most important and ex-
pensiye and de luxe engageme Il
which will come to any theater h
Omaha during the entire season
Several thousand Of Omaha's highly
cultured people will attend. Under
ordinary circumstances eyeryo1e
would dress his best for the opera
and there would be more or less
social excitement and commercial
activity preceding 1t. But who II
going to buy . new evening gown
or wrap TO wear to opera in Omaha
II 1t is given in the Auditorium
when the auditorium Is In its pressri
condition! There are three gooc
months before the opera in which to
mike II look like the Chamber u
Commerce picture.
The choir OF the Emmanuel Luth-
erap church, Nineteenth and Cass
streets, gave an interesting evening
of music" Thursday evening, assist
ed by the West sisters string quar-
tet and Louis Knettle, baritone,
This choir IL . large organization
OF about 65 voices, which has been
In existence for 80 years. Under
the direction Of Bernard Johnson
the choir has given many concerts,
and those who heard the concert
Thursday evening say that excel
lent musical effects were obtained
and that the general standard Of
the music wss far in advance OF
that usually found in church choirs
OF this sort.
The choir sang several numbers,
the principal one being The Count
less Hosts In White Array" Grieg
with solo by Mrs. Carl Malmberg.
Two groups OF chamber music were
given by the West sisters quartet,
and the solos by Louis Knettle and
Gust Wickstrom, and organ work
by Miss Ethel Bengston were also
fsvorably commended.
The following critical estimate oil
Debussy from the facile pen oil
James Gibbons Huncker In the New
York Times, Is OF interest to all ad-
mirers OF this great French COM
poser:
Long before his death this French
master was critically ranged. Law
renee Gilman, the most sympathetic
OF his commentators, Is also the
ARREST To his essays / 90 for de-
location, 1t would be rash to say
that Dcbussy had achieved his ar
tistic apogee; he may have had sur
prises in store. but 1t Is safe to con-
clude that "Pelleas and Melisande'
ID his masterpiece, that the dewy
freshness OF "L'Apres Midi dun
Faunc" would never have been re-
captured. The symphonic suite,
"Printemps," the "Nocturne," la
Mer," and images" at once reveal
the strength and limitations Of De-
busy, who was not q builder OF the
aofty rhyme" though he was ere
ator OF complex rhythms; not q
cerebral composer-like Vincent
d'Indy, for examplc--but an emo
tlonal one; not q master OF linear de-
sign, but Z coiorist; . poet, not an
architect. His vision was authentic,
He knew that the core OF reality Il
poetry; he lived not ct the circum-
ference but the hub OF things. He
lpathed the academic. He Is the
antipodes of Saint-Saens. He gave
US . novel nuance In music as did
MActcrlinck In literature. Think OF
Interiors" with Its motive--again
Poe--the fear of gearD Debussy 10
1 composer OF nuance, OF half-hintcd
murmurings OF the silent thunder
afloat In the leaves" OF the rutilant
faun with his metaphysical Keno
mania, oil music overheard, and OF
mirrored dreams, Little wonder he
sought to interpret In his weaving
tones Baudclaire and Verlaine, Nal
larms and Macterlinck. He was af-
filiated to that choir OF sensitive and
unhappy souls, OF which Maurice
Maetertinck ID the sole survivor. A
poet himself, Claude Achille Debus-
~. even II he had never written !
bar OF music"