Woman's Club Work and Programs Part 9

Novels: Lover, Edgeworth, Lever, William Carleton. Readings. The New Irish Theater: Yeats, Synge, Lady Gregory.

BOOKS TO CONSULT--Mrs. Alice S. A. Green: Irish Nationality. J. P.

Joyce: The Wonders of Ireland. W. C. O'Donnell: Around the Emerald Isles. F. Weitenkampf: The Irish Literary Revival.

To vary this program, ill.u.s.trate with scenes from Sheridan's School for Scandal, and The Rivals, in costume. Have Moore's ballads sung: Oft in the Stilly Night, Those Evening Bells, The Last Rose of Summer, and The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls. Read from Lever's Charles O'Malley and from Burke's speech on the impeachment of Warren Hastings. Clever Irish stories and famous bulls might be given to close the hour.

CHAPTER VII

THE OPERA

INTRODUCTORY

It is part of a liberal education to be more or less acquainted with the lives of our great composers and the operas they wrote; and the subject is quite as interesting and practical for the women remote from musical centers as for those near them. There are two books any club can own which are invaluable; one is called The Opera, by R. A. Streatfield, which gives a sketch of each composer and an estimate of his work; the other, Two Hundred Opera Plots, by Gladys Davidson tells the story of each opera. In addition to these (and of course whatever is to be found in a good encyclopedia) the score of any opera can be bought at a music store, and a pianist can ill.u.s.trate a talk with leading airs; or, if practicable, one of the modern musical machines can reproduce the voices of famous singers in their great parts.

I--RISE OF OPERA IN ITALY

The year's work should begin by one or more meetings on the Rise of Opera in Italy in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Three little operas were written, attempting to give the old Greek dramas in a musical setting. The first public performance of opera as we know it, however, was given by Peri, in Florence, with his Euridice, to honor the marriage of Maria de' Medici and Henry IV. of France; this was a sort of recitative, set to the music of a violin, a guitar, and harpsichord.

Peri was followed by Monteverde, but the latter's production of Orfeo far surpa.s.sed the former's work on the same theme. His orchestra had thirty-nine instruments, and the effect of the whole was to open a new world of music. At once opera-writing became the fashion, and in fifty years all great Italian cities had their schools of opera, and France had adopted the same ideas. The subjects of all were cla.s.sical, allegorical, and pastoral, and to the recitative, alone, were added songs and arias, and the overture was developed. Some clubs might take for a year's work the subject of Italy of this period, adding the study of art and literature to that of music. A good book to use is Morton Latham's Renaissance of Music.

II--THREE GREAT COMPOSERS

At this point the history of opera divides, and three great composers are to be noted. Clubs should have a paper on each, the material drawn from the encyclopedia.

1. Lulli, though born in Italy, lived in Paris; he wrote twenty operas, all of which were splendidly produced. He used largely the form of recitative, but developed the overture, dividing it into a prelude, a fugue, and a dance.

2. Humphreys, an English composer, was sent by Charles II. to France to study; on his return he had for his pupil Henry Purcell, still considered the greatest musical genius England has produced. His Dido and aeneas is the first English opera.

3. The third great man of the time was Handel, who produced in Hamburg the opera Almira, a mixture of German and Italian ideas, but made beautiful by the charming dance music scattered through it. Later he wrote Rinaldo, and it was brought out with overwhelming success.

Clubs should give an entire meeting to Handel. Many of his well-known oratorios have selections which are more familiar than any pa.s.sages from his operas, however, notably the Messiah and Elijah.

III--THE CLa.s.sICAL SCHOOL

After the death of Lulli the French school followed him with little originality until, in the eighteenth century, Rameau gave opera more rhythm and melody, and added to the orchestration. Then Gluck appeared, studying first in Italy, where opera had degenerated; he wrote Piramo e Tisbe, which failed; later he brought out Orfeo ed Euridice, which at once made him famous. The music is appropriate to the lofty and sad cla.s.sical theme, but is relieved with exquisite reproductions of bird and water music. The whole is one of the great operas. The great song is Che far senza Euridice.

Mozart, though a German by birth, was trained under Italian influence.

His first opera was written when he was twelve years old, and given in his native town. His greatest work was Don Giovanni, though his last, The Magic Flute, is best known. But it was his influence over other musicians, like that of Rameau, which was even more important than his own music. Mozart is one of the most delightful topics for club study.

His charming personality, his friendships, and his life-story are full of interest.

Cherubini's work, at first cold and formal, developed into dignity and even grandeur. His finest opera is Medee, although his one light opera, The Water Carriers, is also well known.

Beethoven gave one famous opera to Germany at this time, his Fidelio.

The music shows strongly the influence of Mozart, but it is original in form and beautiful in execution. The Fateful Moment is a good selection to give.

IV--THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL

Weber, a German, was the first to turn from the conventional type of opera-writing to the romantic. To his solid foundation he added an exquisite, imaginative glow. After years of struggle he achieved success in his Der Freischutz. Oberon, his last work, full of fairylike and charming music, did not succeed. In fact, Weber's greatest accomplishment was the inspiration he gave others, like Mozart and Rameau. The overtures to both operas should be given.

Flotow, a German by birth, wrote distinctly Italian music. His one well-known opera, Martha, still has a certain vogue, though it is remembered more for its tuneful airs than for any real merit. The Spinning-Wheel Song and the Last Rose of Summer are familiar.

Nicolai began his work by imitating Italian music, but later he became distinctly original and wrote a really excellent comic opera, the Merry Wives of Windsor, which stands in the first rank.

Schubert wrote many light operas of slight musical value, and Schumann one of more or less worth, called Genoveva.

Opera-writing now became so popular everywhere that it is necessary to take it up in its different homes, and to divide the work into that done in the earlier and later years. The first is:

V--THE EARLIER ITALIAN SCHOOL

Rossini, born at the end of the eighteenth century, knew little of technical methods, so he followed his native genius. His first great opera was Tancredi, and this was followed by others in a lighter vein, notably the Barber of Seville, bright and amusing, and later William Tell, his finest work, dignified and beautiful. The overture to the last is one of his familiar melodies.

Donizetti, born in the same decade with Rossini, wrote sixty-five operas; one of the best-known is Lucia di Lammermoor, with its famous s.e.xtet. Lucrezia Borgia, probably his best work, is but seldom given to-day, but La Fille du Regiment, a gay, charming little opera, is often presented.

Bellini, who comes a few years later than the last two composers, wrote operas famous in their day. I Puritani, La Sonnambula, and Norma, are all well known. The solo, Hear Me, Norma, is especially familiar.

VI--THE EARLIER FRENCH SCHOOL

Meyerbeer, born in 1791, though of German birth, spent most of his life in Paris. He wrote many excellent operas, even though they were marred by sensationalism. Robert le Diable, L'Africaine, Les Huguenots, and Le Prophete have all been often given by great singers. Les Huguenots is considered Meyerbeer's best work, and the duet in the fourth act is of immense dramatic force.

In contrast with this composer stands Berlioz, born in 1803. His work is serious, with romantic and delicate touches. He wrote The d.a.m.nation of Faust and Benvenuto Cellini, but his great opera is Les Troyens, though it is scarcely known to the public.

Halevy belongs with Meyerbeer, for one reflected the other. La Juive appeared before Les Huguenots, and the music of both has much in common.

Just at this time light opera, or _opera comique_, found in Auber its greatest composer. He began to write late in life, and his last opera, The Dream of Love, was produced when he was eighty-eight. His music was full of gaiety and brightness. Fra Diavolo and Masaniello are familiar, and the part of _Fenella_ in the latter has been taken by many famous dancers. Auber has many followers to-day, notably Offenbach, whose Tales of Hoffman is well known.

VII--WAGNER AND HIS SCHOOL

Richard Wagner, born in 1813, is by far the most imposing and most interesting of all writers of opera. His life and work deserve more than a pa.s.sing paper, and clubs are urged to make an entire year's study of them. At twenty he wrote his first opera, Die Feen, rather a simple affair; this was distinctly in the Italian manner. Next he tried the French method, and wrote Rienzi, with an excellent libretto but showy music. Later, in poverty in Paris, he wrote The Flying Dutchman, a picturesque piece of music with beautiful chorus work. After this came the first of his great operas, Tannhauser, the story of the struggle of a soul between good and evil. This contains two famous pa.s.sages, the Pilgrims' Chorus and the exquisite song to the Evening Star. It is in this opera that there first appears Wagner's distinctive method, the use of the _Leit-motif_, or guiding-theme, which a.s.sociates one strain or one set of instruments with one character. This idea had been slightly used by Gluck, but Wagner developed it.

Five years later came Lohengrin, not as strong a piece of work as its predecessor, though the prelude is acknowledged to be one of his most poetic conceptions. None of Wagner's work was successful, however; and after this point he relinquished the hope of popularity, and determined to write only what seemed to him great music. In this lofty spirit he planned Der Ring des Nibelungen. His subject was taken from the old Norse mythology, the myths altered to suit his purpose. The whole work is in five parts: the Ring, the Rheingold, the Walkure, Siegfried, and the Twilight of the G.o.ds. The plots of these should be read, and such music heard as can be obtained.

Then came Tristan and Isolde, called the Romeo and Juliet of music, and after it, strangely enough, followed a light opera, Die Meistersinger, at once a success; and last, what is considered his greatest work, Parsifal, which he called a Sacred Festival Drama rather than an opera.

In this he returns to the theme he used in Lohengrin--the Holy Grail.

The wonderful and touching mystical music must be heard to be appreciated. For years it has been given at Bayreuth, and musicians from all over the world have gathered to hear it. It is only of late that it has been produced elsewhere.

Wagner's life-work was to alter the whole course of modern opera and give it new dignity and power.