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~JS ?WAJ AND Ox." tiy( Ae Oiat, Tox 18e Of *Wg rs: Art at the hq B.yro, t in Bavaria. all varia, not fAr from Nurem bnt farawAy from any of the a 4in roads for traffil and travel, lies so 4,ittle city, in olden times the gay hil esidence of the Dales of Bayreuth. gal W*the race of thvese had turned ins tei' city also began to decay. ali 'ome old castles and parks, a fine the old thqitre and a lingering 'air of di- his :inctiQn still bor6e witness to its)by- I ne splendor, but the castles looked at ut of d6ad'eyes, and the parks sur- TIh u.nrding them grew to be as dense the . the fabulous hedge of thorns. ' The pos ity itself, with its .thirty thousand jis 'iiabitants, became as quiet and seei noss-grown as tleso old residences, tog -ie temple of life being that of a oec entle half slumber, undisturbed by On: lectrict shocks from the great bat- larq ory outside. Mng This little sleeping beauty of a place 8o was to be awkened from its liundred .eCl years of slumber by Richard Wagner, lift who selected Bayreuth as the proper -site for the great temple of his art, i The Bayreutli Festspielhaus. bui Wagner's Dream. , hu1 For the realization of his longing at to bring his own works before the "" public in what lie conceived to be wa iheir ideal mise-en-scene, Wagner of' might have selected one of the large in German cities already possessing well- u endowed theatres; but lie chose Bay- L reuth because lie wished, first .of all, 4 .to remove his art from the influence M v of the oeficial Genran stmge. He held pla that the latter, especially the opera tee lid not, as lie demanded of the stage, Aontribute to the elevation of the na- by ional morality in- its .highest sense, by Ond lie ardently wished to regenerate it by his own lyrical drama. ''The " German stage,' lie says, ''cannot be 1 helped by the mere laying down of artistic princioles, for the stage in iI whatever condition it is, has become - a habit with the people and is, there- sta fore, a power. Its errors are based Al) upon its whole organization, which a lhas established itself among us and -i1 which favors a faulty imitation of int foreign matter like our French fdsh- til ions in dress. If, then, we must con- Ahe fess ourselves too weak to contend against its existence we must look to tre, -an entirely new institution,' as far . removed as possible from the influ- i ence of the theatre, provided that we really have at heart the development ha of a true essentially German spirit , in this branch of art, which is in- am comparably powerminded.'' ''The true essential German s-pirit'' lia -this is what Richard Wagner, the cur German, finds missing in the. opera of his time, modelled after ithe lig:t fli talian and French products. He, th oreover, blames thie incorrectness a f and incompleteness of the represen-te tations as a whole. \V fr-sd In choosing BayrenthWanrfu- a -4errmore, hioped to get rid of the con- Iini th>nnl theatre-going public, like ' thiiFf6und in large cities. iHe did not W want his audienee .to consist. of men b)o anrd women who, with the straiin of anI hard nervous-work upon themi during sea the day, would go to the theatre to he u"" amused excited or lulled into a gentle dv doze. The festivals at Bayreuth were tutt to be serious, aesthetieal eveiits, not het ~food, either to arouse or satisfy the "i' ( curiosity of the rich and fashionable. b)e / 1' Athens rurnished Model. - Ths idleal of a stage and of its re ]ation, to the public lie found in an e ient A thens: ''H-ere,'' lie says-, ~'where the theg~tre opened it:s door's onily on special andl hallowed fest i vl:where therec wais united with thue enjoyment ofuat a religious celebra-. io,in which the most distinguished men of the~ state took their parts as {poets and actors, ap)pearinig, like eof city and country, and where his populace was so imb)ued with ligh anticipations of the dignity of lie work to be represented, that an eoschylhus and a Sophocles would ring the most sublime of all poetic \creations before the people, certain fof their full appreciation.' Sitneeded thQ gigantie power and lie Teuton perseveiance wvhiichi char cerizes Wagner to give shape to thtis ideal of his at a time wvhen pub ei art life in German was at its loiv :t ebb. Again and again ho was re ked and discouraged in his efforts - pparently insurmountable diffi 4 - not the least of these being uonle heaped upon him by the hIes, especially the musical ,who rr')naged to cause ser stappages in the flowing in of 9eessary funds. Overcame AlU Opposition. t Wagner anid his friends, like a e iace of Siegfrieds, did not know At fear was; they labored on, col ing money by giving, coneerts, i ding Wa'4r sooieties, arrang * otterise etc., fok the benefit o. : - BayrLitidn last,gin'187 htyfive year aftr Wagnei t goneption o. a F'stspielhas o 1,Qstone fof the groat teiM art could be laid and in 1876 -t ibelungenkgp" was given befo enthWusiastl and distinguished'au 'his edifie in its sruebure is 1i tqly bound up with Wagner)s a much. so, in fact, that,.as Wagn iself maya: Architecturehouse hi ned a new significance under t piration- of the genius of nus l the myth of Amphion buildi walls of Thebes by the notes fro lyre has acquired a new meaning, jet us, 'therefore, look attentive this symbol of, the ]Bayreuth ide , most cliaracteris-tic feature Festspielhaus, looking down iE ingly from its pedestal of 'a b t 'outside of Bayreuth is, .that us to consist of two buildings clo other, differing very widely fro h other bo)th in form and siz of these, the stage, is three tim er hati the auditorium, preser a greater height as well as dept that at aiy change-of scenes ti lie apparatus can be lowered ar ed as well. Inside the Auditorium. antering the auditorium, a squa ding not holding over eighite idred spectators, our attention nece arested by the ingenious ai >ressive ornamentation of the sii 1s-which are unbroken by roi )oxes-and by a large vacant spa fro'nt of the st.age, i. e., the pla ally occupied by the orchesti lilt, however, appears to be, tI >r actually is but a thin wood ering over the ' mutisicians whoi 2es are sunk to a dept.h of seve i feet so that thle spectators me 'e a full view of the stage ai d not, at any time, be troubli having to see the technical appa s of the music. (This, by the wa ild prove unfortunate for peoi , like the Shah of Persial get the enjoyment from music out of se it produced.) 'lie lowered place in front of tl re Wagner called der myst.isel zound, i. e., the mystic gulf, b se, he sy it separates the re n the ideal. But it de-serves th 1e for still another mystical. qua olle which, I thinfl, occosiol peculiar beauty and charm whii ier's mu111sic asslilues inl this the i. e., that it changes brass in 1, modifying harshness and inte ,ing sweetnesa of tone. 'he arrangement of seats is lit t seen in the ancient aniphithe excepting that tle shape of tI ihitheatre extending far around< b) sides so as ho form even Imoi i a semicircle, is not imitated. TI ving rows of seats naturally gre ter as they recede from the stag ile always directly facing it, on every seat the spectator i; iII view of the stage, wilile the In owing to the wide proscenium at of it, appears to be at a co aral dist,ance even from those si e onl the front ro0w, ulst ab)ove tile last row of seats, at is e.alledl the p)arqluet, is t far ragathiis and above i lerf, consisting of three rows ts and not primarily planned to a by the public, but chlaritabily a for at least some of the unft ates wholl are not able to procu ter seats. It was heCre, on t row of the gallpry, tha.t summ ore last I spent some of thle 111 "TH1E CLANSMAN"4A 2, elaiatig -hurs of my life. The Oharm of the Place. 1S, There is, as I have intirdated be- 1 le foro, a peculiar beauty about.thq Bay- 0 le reuth..performances not' attained any re where 0e, although the singing and E d. playing may be quite as good, some tinies:-even better, elsewhere. . Now what makes the pleasure of - .t, listening. to Wagner's work in Bay- t Dr routh such an exquisite and -unique g as joy? .I would say that it was, primar ie ily, the genius loei, the atmosphere. z, the almost tangible dramatic and mus ig ieal spirit which pervades stage, or n chestra, auditorium and Which touches v '' from old Hellas itself. 8 ly The people who go to Bayreuth 6 a. are, on the whole, lovers of Wagner's a >f art; they know .what they hear, more v a- or less, and watch for quality rather 11 than quantity.. They iave, moreover, it paid -for their being there dearly-a 3e matter of no small account to the m flerman of the good middle class; and e. they, tlherefore, wish to realp thiq 3s fruits of their material, sacrifice, in. t- peace. Noises, and if they should be h, as caressing, ones as the rustling of 1o a silk waist, or the goin up.and down Ad of a fan, - are hissed down energeti. Olly from the moment tlat darkness settles on the house and tihe first. note re of the prelude is heard from the mys tic gulf. Late-coners so fashionable is in American theatres, are an unheard Ad of (luantity in Bayreuth, for the tc doors are closed upon them without Vs mercy, and no mere.-or position.will e help them to an unmitimely entrance. e Owing to Wagner's wise planning a. of the auditorium there is no seat 1e from which you could not see or hear mit perfectly, anld the seats are large 3e enough, too, to allow of a breathing - space between the separate human Ly bodies. This is a great boon, for if ( any.thing is distracting to a lover of music whose every nerve tingles with r- *tle sound and harmony of the tone y, world ar6~und him it is tile physical le contact with a neiighbor whose frame ir is of the sound-tiight kind, and acts - 4. an isolator to the current of music in one's self. The absolute darkness e in the house, setting in Just before te the first sound is heard, greatly helps e- one to attain the abandonment of l soul which is so necessary for the is true enjoyment of art. In it the I- s(parlte individual souls can forget is their petty fragmentary existene h more easily, and can expand and lift - themselves to the universal spirit, to .0 God, who for so many German minds I. reveals Himself in art and, primar ily, in music, this most unfathomalble, ,e most immaterial, most inward of all I. arts. me When the Curtain Rises. mWhen the curtain rise.s -and the e plastic and dramatic arts work inlhar ie- mony with music our inspiration tak w es concrete form as it were, ''We at e, tin),'' as Nietzsche says, ''the. sub ;o liiest heights of emotion and, having is reached these, we find ourselves in t- the realm of freedem, unfethered by in nature. From here, in immense mir i- ages, we view ourselves .and our striv t- ing,. victorious, perishing kind as something signinticanmt and sublime; inl we take delighmt in the rythmi of pas me $1i11 and in the sacrifice of it ; we is -hear, at the hero's every gigantie nf stride, the hollow echo of death and Ce in its pr'esenice realize (?) the high dl- est charm of life. Thuns ourselves r- changed into tragic characters we re re turn to life in strangely comforted ie mood, with a newv sense oif safety, as er if out of the gratest dang~ers, ex st Icesses and ecstasies we had found our* JlAk IOUSIC MARCH 18, 1907. ay. Iek to the limited, the ilonelike -4bAck Io where, now,- we are ready q liew more superior kiiidness, or, t any rate, more true distinction in .r intercourse with our fellow aen.'' I am sure that, in analyzing heir feelings after hearing one of Vagner's operas in Bayreuth, many Iould feel, as Nietzsche does, al hough they could not, if they would, ive their feelings a like poetic'l ex ressioll. The Ali Pervading Harmony. Now the darkneas, the quiet and everence in the auditorium alone rould not, after all, suffice to produce uch elevation of soul. The stage, oo, and t1hose who are oin it, must, in ome measure, at least, be in harmony ,ith the elevaited tone of Wagner's TRADE MARK REGISTER ED d'S FARM our competil to be "just i original Fish buyers shoul This is the o Fai Norfolk, Va. Columbia, S. O. .PL Plo' HarnlessI Barb Field and Pol line of~ H Newberi great art. And they are; for I think you find more reality and true devo tion among the performing artisto iu Bayreuth than you find anywhere elso~ There may be a few who sing at Bay routh for the sake of money, there may be 'hore who do it for the sake of fame, but on the whole frue disin te'restedness and devotion to the cause are the spiritual flowers that bloo som here. Great singers like Lli Leh man, Frau Sucher, Materna, Brema, J. W. Van Rpoy,- Van Dyke and miany others either did not or do not accept any remuneration of their ser vices at all, or they are satisfied with a ridiculously small sum. To appre ciate thie one must realize that to sing at Bayreuth means an unusually groat expenditure of time and "Imit is t incerest FL The unprecedented popula. ERS' BONE fertilizer has ors to advertise Fish Guan, is good." FARMERS Guano, and, to prevent belt d be sure that our trade-marl nly guarantee that you are g omers' I IMace with Fisl F. S. ROYSTER GUANO w Ge Wlade and Wire, Ci Vire Nail: Jiltry Fencing ardware in ti ry Harda strength. For Wagner, the moister, would not be satisfied with anything falling short of his high ideal in act ing, playing, singing, etc., and now the meisterin, i. e., his wife, Cosima Wagner, .the daughter of Liszt, as you know is following-perhaps some. what too ninutely--4n his footsteps. So there are endless rehearsals of every scene and particle of -a scene until at last art is turned again into nature. If you should ask me which were the features about the Bayreuth fes tivals in which I revelled I should vay that they were: (1) The orches tva, and (2) the choruses. The achievements of the Bayreuth (Continued on page 6.) eS ation he attery" ,Ity of Royster's induced some of >, claiming theirs BONE is the Lg imposed upon, c is on every bag. etting the genuine lone ars, Repaited it and S. and the best ae State. vare Co.