MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 419, 30 January 1909, Page 9

MUSIC.

i ■. .■; .:. (Bs'Trebl£"CLbp.) .''■'; . ■:.-.'■:"; ■;■;.: A Welsh Wagner. ■;};" :^^: ':^ : - : ' : -.^ l: ■'■[ The-' English', composer.:-Jbseph Holbrooke intends; to spph astonish hie cpuntrymen and the:whole world, in fact, with:a new thing under the sun.: He has got hold bf-sonie old Welsh legends which, are, capable of/a treat: ine'nt similar to that'which;Wagher. employed in his "Ring of the:Nibelurigi" Ms ; London: " Standard " thus" reveals 1 ,'his. intejiti6ris:4-' Mr. , Holbrooke- contemrjlates' writing l a. trilogy based -on«. these legends, :the'performance of each drama to be about two and-a half hours in duration. The formV-that • rthese .-..music dramas will take will be a union of tone, poem, and action. There : will alsp be a good deal of;effective work for.an invisible:ch6rus, : while' it .is-probable that the. scenic ■arrangemeiitswill arpuse considerable interest; even among 1 those -who .'affirm that la'st: w ? rd w o "' sta g°. effects, as,-.;iii:.-the--;onimoii-of Mr.,Holbrooke ) the whole'^f;;b'jc^a I ;an(Sjhusi6 drama -is, as .regards invention, .'.still "in its The.'-tit-le of the :'newi\music drama ■is/'-'.Dykn; Sonof the Wave'. , . , ..The. libretto ,is..b}%|lj. T.':E..Ellis, the author'of/'-there-cent:remarkable playf wliichVwas produced.at the-Playhouse in:Masv.'last.--As regards the. music, the little tbat'is 'revealed of,.it:i)oints :to. the,-fact that : ;it : will-break fresh'-ground, bo;ultra' modern'in'spirit- arid digtihctive' iri-; : its harmonic -.and smolodic scheme., The orchestra will-play'a most important, part, -which is -naturally to be ■ expected Mr. Holbrooke'B . former, compositions.: In additjonto the usual .complement 'there ,wi]Lbe partsiJFpr -the bass lllute, oboe :d'amore,:':B-"flat,-and;:alto-clari-inets, three: Eaxophones,, and four saxhorns. ■Ihe latter are notvEo.extravagant-,as-would as the bass;and.contra bass saxhorns :are the usual tuba and'eontra tuba generally /employed. .There wilKalso'bjs a.bass :trumpet ;and the,seldom-used cohcertina, witlr.a new instrument called the"tubaphne, which- will take 'the' place of the- glockenspiel/-which Mr. Holbrooke considers to be: invariably out of tune. •} '-. -:■ ■';-..-,■ ;■■;'..':.; '■ ■-. : :: : - ,- : .:,X '•.■■'. The Influence of Italy;;; ■')■■ '■■'■■ v ,: \."■':.'■ '. : X .-■• The composer of "Cafnien'" : once wrote:— T .\ : ani --an'eQleotie. I lived three years, in Italy,'and I have been influenced, not by the' shameful. proceedings.. of, that country, "but by the temperament, of soine "of - .its . comfx^ IS A W -sensual, nature: is- gripped by' ■..tnat fluent, lazy, amorous, lascivious, passionate music. By convictions I am a German, heart and soul. I put Beethoven above the greatest, the most renowned." Only one man was kno\vn to-make music, quasi-imprb-.visee, or at least-he.-.is.Ghopin, a.strange I.:and"cliarmirig"-.per-jsbnality, inimitable, not-to":be' imitated. Mendelssohn, .among' "other; "faiiliis,,-. treats soraetimes, his■ symphonic ; ahdantes"as songs' without words..- Ihave always: noticed that the compositions.the -least' well rounded 'are always the dearest, at the .moment'-of hatching.'. . -,;':'.-.' ;:y v", : '.' ; ;.; ::.:■:. ':"-,,:,•:.■•■.,.-;..-' Death of Herman Koehlg."--.-v:..-. ; .'V- ;: ."' : '"-" : ;.' i Mr ; Reginald Kemp, Deputy Coroner -for West Middlesex, held an-iiiqrfe'sV'-at Chiswick (lingland) on December 14 concerning the., death ..of Herman ;. Kdenig. .aced .88, . who . diedi \suddeuly.'-V : : .previous Thursday.,. The '' 'deceased,. . was" at. one-time . numbered / amongst' ; : the great musicians ,of. 'the day, ■-. and ■■ in - ; the forties he toured-■ with Jeniiy Lind;: He-was a friend of Sir Julian .Benedict, and 'it is stated that ho acted at one period of iis life aV instructor to Madame Patti. 1 . ■In-his bedroom was found a yiolinf which is estimated to.be worth £300;'.' He leff.a will for a considerable sum, but an application..was made t? , th ?. Ooroner .-at; the "clpse of'.the' Court that his rooms should be - enteredT and his paperssearched in order t-p' Ascertain whether ;there is a- subsequent wiU'ih'e-istence. For years past now. the deceased had- lived tho" •life-of a reciuser , ' ' '■Vi" ~: ,