Show The My ter of Ie fhrllls in Music When it was suggested that the melodiousness melodi-ousness of Robin Hood is hardly retained in the Fencing Master Mr de Koven said that in the latter opera he had endeavored en-deavored to make the music more in perfect per-fect harmony with the action of the piece and sought less to present a series of tuneful tune-ful melodies In this he had followed the advanced school of music I dont know but that there is a peculiar set of sensory nerves that are impacted by certain musical i musi-cal sounds and that it is this impact that causes the thrill that one feels under certain cer-tain circumstances You have felt it and so has every sensative person Now I be IGVO the man who can determine exactly the tones that effect this feeling will have made a great advance in musical art That must be the electrical current that reaches into the human frame and gives a satisfaction satisfac-tion aside from the sense of hearing Now in an opera like the Fencing Master put upon the stage as it is with all the resources re-sources of scenery costumes and stage effects the senses of eight and hearing are appealed to and in certain passages where the musio Is worked up to a climax as in the finale to the second act thero is a thrill of satisfaction felt by the listener But there are instruments instru-ments end tones that cause this feeling when the accessories of the stage representation are absent A friend of mine told me that in Arabia he went to hear one of the native musicians play upon a curious kind of t I instrument that had a wonderful effect Ion I-on him At first the tone appeared harsh I aud forbidding but finally he became impressed I im-pressed that there was a something which arrested his attention and held it notwithstanding notwith-standing the fact that his ear rebelled against an apparent discord This feeling I grew upon him and he felt that electric thrill that we have been talking about I 3e heard the man play several times afterward after-ward and always with the same feelings Now this was a barbaric instrument without with-out the melody that wo are accustomed to look for and yet it had that peculiar effect which we are accustomed only to expect from the highest order of composition and execution So there must be some tone or set of tones that when uttered makes complete the electrical circuit with the sensory nerves and the man who can determine de-termine exactly what they are will render a great service to the art of musical composition com-position Washington Star |