Part 18 (1/2)

Happily for England such a man was, before long, destined to appear.

The nineteenth century had witnessed a monotonous succession of oratorios by English composers, written on such lines as this system would naturally indicate.

They were characterised by earnestness and scholastic efficiency, but of the essence of vitality they were absolutely bereft.

”THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS.”

For some years previous to 1900, it had become evident that a star of great magnitude was rising in the firmament of English music.

Succeeding years had witnessed productions from the pen of Sir Edward Elgar that commanded, perhaps, more admiration than any other feeling.

They were virile in their mode of expression, original and daring in method. They produced rather the sensation of expectancy than the sense of complete fulfilment.

The day, however, was fast nearing when his genius was to burst forth in all its splendour, and, with one great and epoch-making work, restore England to its ancient place in the world of music.

If Sir Edward Elgar had no other t.i.tle to fame, the fact that he brought Cardinal Newman's inspired poem into universal knowledge would have been sufficient to make his name memorable. It is an extraordinary fact that until the production of this oratorio, the poem, magnificent as it was known to be to the few, was scarcely familiar to one educated Englishman in ten. The explanation is not difficult to find.

The tremendous sensation that John Henry Newman evoked by severing himself from the English Church, is a matter of history, and the bitter feelings it engendered were little likely to be a.s.suaged by the publication of a work of such exalted genius, in which Catholic doctrines are portrayed in majestic and fascinating splendour.

As a matter of fact, Cardinal Newman's writings were practically ignored by the reading public until his famous ”Apologia” brought them into universal demand.

To deal with such a theme as ”The Dream of Gerontius” on equal terms with the author, required on the part of the composer, immense resources of skill, and an imagination capable of responding to calls of the most exacting nature.

To say that Sir Edward Elgar succeeded in his great endeavour is to say less than the truth. He did more. By intense devotional music he aided the author in the inspired effort to lift the veil, and reveal, if ever so obscurely, those glories of which holy men have dreamed unceasingly since the dread day of the Crucifixion.

It is permissable to doubt if in the whole realm of sacred music, anything more approaching sublimity has been penned by the musician, than the setting of the n.o.ble hymn, ”Praise to the Holiest in the Heights.”

The whole work dwells in an atmosphere of ecstatic emotion, and words seem strangely inadequate to convey a true impression of its n.o.bility.

The world at large has recognized its supreme merit, and nowhere has this been more eloquently acknowledged than by the great German composer, Herr Richard Strauss, on the occasion of its performance at the Rhine Festival in 1902.

It was hardly to be expected that a work so complex in character and so different from anything hitherto presented in England, should be at once understood and its great qualities immediately grasped.

Hence, on the occasion of the first performance at Birmingham, it scarcely realized the success that those who knew its unique value had expected. Little time, however, was to elapse before English music lovers came to a just appreciation, and its popularity to-day is not only a sign of enduring qualities, but of the immense advance in musical perception that has characterised recent years in the country. There had been signs, many and ominous, of a waning interest in oratorio. The number of works that had any real hold of, or power of attraction for the people in general, were few. The failure of so many new ones to realize the expectations that had been aroused in the public mind before their production, was making an effect that was, in every sense, deplorable; but, happily, ”The Dream of Gerontius” came in time to stem the current of popular feeling, and to add an additional l.u.s.tre to the history of oratorio in England.

CHAPTER VIII

OPERA IN ENGLAND

Italy, the birth-place of opera--Purcell and opera--English people and opera--Charles II. and his court--Italian opera--Its popularity--Managers and great singers--Royal Opera--Dr.

Richter--Opera in English--Dr. Richter and English singers--Mr.

Thomas Beecham and opera in English--Alfred Bunn and his efforts--”Bohemian Girl”--Louisa Pyne and William Harrison--The Pyne family--G. A. Macfarren--Carl Rosa Company--His distinguished artists--Madame Valleria and Mr. Ludwig--British composers and opera--Goring Thomas' ”Esmeralda”--Lack of national feeling--Mr.

D'Oyly Carte--Royal English opera--”Ivanhoe”--Eugene Oudin--Remarkable cast of singers--Difficulties attached to opera in English--State aid--Is it to be expected?--Musical comedy--Its popularity--A successful manager--Basis of the plea for State aid--A suggestion.

Opera, as we know it to-day, is a creation subsequent to the Reformation. Like oratorio, the country of its birth was Italy, and similarly, its origin was connected with the miracle plays of the ancient Church. On its introduction to England, Purcell, with his restless genius, was quick to perceive the possibilities it opened out to the imaginative musician, and it was not long before he was testing his powers in the new field of labour. Unhappily, however, his life was too short to permit him to make any effective appeal on its behalf to the English people, and it soon became looked upon by them, simply, as a diversion of a foreign court or the amus.e.m.e.nt of an aristocracy, with either of whom they were in little sympathy. So far as the ma.s.ses of people are concerned, nothing has happened since those days, to materially alter the situation.