Show I he Music Musi Iua Student Abroad Ml Diverging Operatic Forms Eorms By Pietro Q I must bo be a link fastened UI up I between the operatic reforms of oC V Gluck and the thc coming o of the great great- t- t cst c-af of ot all operatic writers Mozart That link consists of the tho varied arh 1 and numerous forms o of opera opel which professed protested pro pro- tested critics divide Into separate parts and give e to each a name When ohen hen the musicians of oC the Lite seventeenth tse century and of the beginning of ot th tho th eighteenth century became drunk with tho the wine wino of ot un the their 1 own compositions they branched I such forms Corms ant and styles of ot music as their nation and th their lr environment cn provided For music Is as QS different as asNo nr No ro one ono mistakes a n Jew a Frenchman or 01 a German If Jr either bo be a transplanted one Olle There Is the elongated lon elon gat gated gaU d nO nose 6 of ot the Hebrew the tripping gait of or the Frenchman his shrug his knowing glance ant and there is the I I blond breadth slowS slow direct gaze and de deliberate de- de liberate speech of oC the and his stolid assumption that tho earth and th thereof belongs to tho the German Gel Ger mau mai man nation The music of ot those these differing liffering peoples Is and nud always ahva's has been quite as divergent diver diver- diverS gent as their facial racial and racial charac charac- And with it all all tho the Germans aro tho the only race raco that can stand a straight diet of or hea heavy food tood heavy work heM heavy mu music lc and heavy thought I am an pleased to Inform you rou that even en the tho Germans are arc waking up to the Joys JOs of ot th thc trot trot and the tho American rag This certainly does argue that even th the German has som somewhere where concealed a Do spark of gay 13 abandon llon However we wo Americans ns can well afford to exchange a R whole i raft aft of our light musical cargo for oven even a small portage o of the Germans Ger Ger- mans genuine musical sense and depth of oC appreciation Strange to Sa say the Italians and tho the French though similar In some tow few things thinG'S arc aro quite different in others The French rench o are mercurial loving glitter glitter glit gIlt ter for fOl Its own sake alte alce haughty haught rapid rapid- fire lovers and murderers but they lack the Italian Intensity ant and tho fierce passion that prolongs for centuries cen tunes a feud and passes vengeance on for Cor generations 4 r 4 All 11 Sought flight arlet Variety All of ot them however hoever In the seven seven- t and eighteenth nth centuries were tired tnt of or their opera forms forms and and sought for tur variety say Xay better ea say that then as now there were vero only a few who cared carell for tor the gra grave 0 and the serious while the tile mu mass s of oC people wanted entert entertainment entertainment enter enter- t fitted for their lighter moods Most men hl have t tragedy enough I In n all times in the running of ot their sausage shops and their efforts to keep alive c their shoe factories while tho the women women- who make up tho the bulk of audiences In Inmost inmost mo most t countries s In modern times get times get Just nil all the thc s serious hours they need at atthe atthe th the sewing machine and the tho recent InfInite Infinite in In- In finite labor of ot preparing club papers papers- liht lighted d. d with political tits tilts u oer tho the Incoming president or orti ti secretary of the club even so then life held tiO so o much sordid tragedy f r court ourt and populace so much 0 or op oppression op- op pitted against I Ignorance norance ant and despair that men demanded fun fun tun fun last fast und and furious CurIous fun nh oU remember what we said about th the rollicking songs of or the tho old trou- trou I Jours and how v oven en the monks munks cheerfully adopted their tunes and sang tiling tm Joyfully in their churches Then Then Ia in order to hold their congregations d same monks also adopted the in the tile Torm form of ot a miracle pia play and anti Introduced the most absurd effects itt order to produce a laugh One Ono of 4 musical shifts shifts played played in churches bad had ad a chorus about the ass who wino was there the to assist in the pIa play founded on tite flight bt Into Eg Egypt the Egypt the pt the chorus being bens Bray UBray ass bra bray with all an the congregation congregation con con- Joining in tho the absurd i However er the mass of the tle people tho ther lighter H h leI forms of 01 opera J specially In France this kind of ot amusement making combined drama drajna or farce and music lc made an acceptable offering to both court and people Al AlWs Always Al- Al ways Ws yay with the ballet added adderl icon let us name nanno these varied forms Corms off or opera and give o I as definite descriptions of oC each as sa may clarity clarify this sub sub- o t Opera p ra Serla We man not say that all serious opera which of or course coun is meant b bv this word opera serl serla or dramma Jf Ir r Is classical Nor can we i-ay i n that all alt classical opera Is serious So that we wc arc are obliged cd to separate Again this one division dl For serious opera Is usual usually tragic opera while comic opera cera ma may or ma may not be classic S Serious rlou opera however howe Is more usual usual- ly classical opera for It is the higher r art forms Corms in which the best music 1 fir iff ca cast t. t But th there rc is serious opera and classical opera Classical opera Is always enduring enduring- or pr eternal In other words standard music first firt- class class' music Is 18 classical music The The Judgment of ot posterity is necessary to decide a as to what is or is not classical for or contemporaries ics arc are blinded by so many prejudices and aUd preconceived no no- no- no Opera and opera pora buffa burta are about the same thing although the first t fa s French lI light ht opera and the other s Italian light ht op opera ra But iut neither of oC thc these c must be mixed with opera com com- laue which Is altogether another thin thing Wa P Ve will win come to that later Opera Opert Is of a light ht and playful char char- actor In both music and plot in the tho Italian Hallan form the tine dialogue ue is carried on In recitative and there ther are airs and duets choruses In quite the modern style We Vc will discuss illustrations Illus mus- of or these modes anodes later Operetta This a again aln Is neither the opera nor northe the opera oper buffo butta For or t th the operetta is a little opera ope or a hort short one act piece picco of ot course comic li iu in plot and music but of ot even more mor f ephemeral character than th the e op sra buffa b. Mozart himself used this miniature minia- minia ture tore musical art form and gave e u UJ that exquisite tin tiny musical idyll while Rossini also tried his finished hand and gave to the world that other charming oper Oper- etta attn L Opera which Is French d dOes es not mean at all what we e mean when hen we sa say comic opera Rather Rathe It In Ill an opera an-opera opera In which the tho denouement I IS th happy happ and where the dialogue ue i Is t So that when shen you speak o of oC oDera to a European h he thinks you are talking of ot an opera I In hl l there is spoken dialogue Now No ow ehen hn we remember that Carmen an and La a a. Boheme are both what a n French French- m man an or Indeed an any European would call o opera pera wo we ma may seo see what they m mean ean by tho the term Grand opera Grand Grant opera is conceded con con- c ceded eded to mean an opera of a strictly c classical nature in music plot ant and general gen gen- genral e eral elal ral development without one spoken w word ord In ill It Thus all of Wagner's Wagners operas peras o ure are grand operas while some of or M Mozart's classical as aM the they are are not g grant rand grand operas for there Is spoken dialogue dialogue dia dia- dia- dia logue lo guc In man many of oC them If IC not all nil Anther Another An An- o other ther title which Is used In connection V. V with grand opera Is historic opera Ard A rd tills till Is la o so 0 called because of or the tho theas cl class clas as o of subjects which formed formet the tine p plots lots of ot the earlier varieties of oC this pty ty type pe Technically It Is better known a as s the French grand opera to dis- dis ati ti it from the lighter types and to locate it In lit tho the country where here it found fo und its chief chic support It was Min Min- p posed to consist of five fire acts with cia elaborate po o rate orate ballets In in the second and fourth I a net acts ant and to have hn neither spoken dialogue dialogue dia dia- lo loo logue guc nor bare r recitative o but to be o accompanied throughout S was one of the tho founders ofis of ot th this is type and was Its chief p po promoter Meyerbeer's 1 still o operas peras Les Huguenots and L c calne caine ar ard lovel lovely examples of ot this p phase hase o of grand opera It Is of ot a a. more st stately and sonorous form than the German G erman romantic opera and of ot a a. more g gorgeous scope In score and dev develop lop lop- m ment ent But It Is after all only one ono T y I H n e r. t f n fl tl nn ontra A t German Form Komi Romantic op opera ra To man many people the thene tine fine fi ne distinctions which seem to be d drawn rawn bel between tho the various opera forms torms a are arc re mer hair s. s But after all there th ere Is considerable difference and you ou s shall hall got t the brief descriptions of oC each st style yle and you OU can do with It what you OU pl please ease Now ow the Germans before Weber's Webers Web Web- cb e ers er's rs r's da day had clung to their spiels sing w which were melodramas Interspersed W with ith songs and duets ducts and of ot th they ey w were vre re quito willing to listen to to toe th the thc e Italian operas which were having s such uch vogue all over O I- I Europe Mozart m hall had ad given Ji his perfect work to the w world orld yet et ho lie had created no new fo forms only worked over Into pert perfection t the he existing musical forms torms Gluck Cluck had e executed his reforms anti and the German w world orld was wild for tor something distinctively vely ti German In structure and form T This his was supplied by Carl Von Yon eber w who ho Instituted tile thu romantic opera T This ills word romantic hn has different s shades hades of ot meaning ac according to tine the connection In which it Is used As It ItIs itis fino and tho the is applied to literature arts arh Including music the term romantic roman ro tie tic implies that the subject ct Is fanciful and exciting in plot und and development that the treatment is original and not stiff nor particularly classical 1 and d It personal expression ex- ex permits great freedom of ot P to the tho Individual artist This makes make tine the word the opposite of ot academic aea aca aca academic d demic or classical In Germany Gorman this romantic tendency n took Its roots In the mythology and folklore of ot the ancient P peoples WC Picturesque Plc- Plc folk tales and mysticism were component parts I of ot this tills type type of or music drama The Teutonic to folklore was as drawn upon lar largely ely to form basis of ot this great drama form torm which was To to culminate In mi tho the mighty Wagner Vagn r. r These mystic folk tolk leg legends were handled as facts acts and not as ns symbols though although the tine largo large treatment accorded them b ball by byall all of ot their authors from tt Weber eber to to Wagner was both symbolic and poetic In In the tho munificence o of treatment ant and scope That there were ere fairy ballets ballet and Rhino maidens was an accepted fact tact b by these men lInen who proceeded todeal to todeal deal with these projected proJect d facts as realities Indeed The new musical drama form torm caught the tine Imagination of all Europe Ital Italy was herself herselt bored to extinction with her own surfeited richness of oC melodic sameness I- I France was then thon struggling with her historic grand rand opera forms all of ot them bowled merrily along b by bythe bythe the streams of ot light or comic operas which poured out thon In as 88 tireless fashion as YI Vienna inna nna now pours out her Soldier Imitations of the Chocolate and The Tho Merry Widow Ido So that Europe Eu Eu- rope and especially serious and mystic Germany German was carried off ort her tecH fedt and anel Von Weber became tl th the lion of ot the hour Tho The Der Del was epochal and nd with it was born the ro romantic romantic ro- ro mantic mantle opera But Bul after all all for Cor or the tyro tro the man on tho the street there nt ore only three plain types o of opera The Tine grand opera which to him is simply a R. tragedy sung ung b by the tue highest priced European songbirds song song- birds at the Metropolitan tho the light opera as w wd w. call all the various forms under which come Gilbert and Sullivan's Sullivans Sulli Sulli- vans van's operas opera with The Tho Geisha thrown in inn for tor Or good measure and the tiresome and eternally recurring Follies Tollies and their numerous kindred d which are neither operatic fish nor fowl but which s servo serve ryo to pass time for the the dull people tine the people of oC the street And Ant I now to Mozart |