The Washington herald., 1919-12-03
Music of Monsieur Beaucaire"
Discussed by British Critic
Momentous Circumstances Under Which
Andre Messenger Wrote the
- Beautiful Score
By EDWARD EVANS.

(The following is an article writ
ten by Edwin Evans. one Of the
best known music critics in Eng
land. soon after Gilbert Miller made
his production IN London of Andre
Messager's romantic opera, Mon
sieur Beaucaire.' founded on Booth
Tarkington's famous story. which is
70 be presented under the manage
ment of A L. Erlanger at the New
Amsterdam Theater, New York, on
Thursday evening, December 11):
A ney score from the pen of An
dre Messager would at any time be
an event In the theatrical world, but
there are circumstances which en-
dow II with a special Importance at
the moment. 1t might conceivably
become q turning point in theatrical
history. Few will be found to deny
that, before the war, the lighter
forms of musical entertainment had
fallen upon evil days. without join
ing the chorus of those trying peo-
pie who always praise yesterday at
the expense of today. IT is permissi-
BILE to say that the art of Sullivan
in England and LecocQ in France
was i'll represented among recent
productions; nor could the situation
be improved by a method which
consisted in taking some Continen-
tai or American success. and Angli-
cising it by the insertion of a low
comedian. a handful of lyrics and a
few pages of supplementary music.
Even when the ingredients are good
a theatrical salad is seldom a tri-
umph of art. and they have more
often been bad, or at least i'll as
sorted 1t is not surprising that the
music became a SECONDARY consider
alton, and in the worst instances,
degenerated into the merest Jingle
tof notes.
The coming of war accentuated
the evil and thereby had unex-
pectedly beneficial results, for many
people who had never troubled
their heads before were aroused by
the general inanity. and began to
ask fO- something better. The re-
suit was an appreciable improve
ment in the music of certain recent
productions. As there had been.
in some managerial quarters. a
firmly held conviction that good
music does not pay. it is satisfac-
tory to note that some of these
have outlived their more blatant
rivals. 1t just needed a work from
a master hand to serve as a land
mark to the new. or rather re-
stored. path of light opera, and
there is no composer with a bet
ter title to supply it than NJ. Mes
sager. who represents the best ira
ditIon in an art in which France
was always pre-eminent. Therein
lies. from a musical point of view,
the special interest of the produc-
ton of Monsieur Beaucaire," espe-
riaIly as Messengers score has
escaped the fate of most musical
productions. and is presented as
SWritten. without additions or al
feratiOns. Its character of romantic
light opera has been jealOusly pre-
served from all contamination. II
is Messenger unadulterated, and
that means charm and grace with
an apparent simplicity which is
based upon consummate musician
ship. The composer Of La Ba-
soche" and Veronique" was not
likely to err In one direction or the
other. He is too wise to let the
grand manner" intrude itself into
light opera and too fastidious to
admit anything tawdry. These are
the two dangers of light opera. and
he has constantly avoided both with