Title: Studies of contemporary American composers: Deems Taylor
Author: Howard, John Tasker
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.


*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Studies of contemporary American composers: Deems Taylor" ***
AMERICAN COMPOSERS: DEEMS TAYLOR ***



  Transcriber’s Note
  Italic text displayed as: _italic_
  Bold text displayed as: =bold=



DEEMS TAYLOR



  STUDIES

  OF

  CONTEMPORARY
  AMERICAN COMPOSERS

  BY

  JOHN TASKER HOWARD

  DEEMS TAYLOR

  .25


  1927

  J. FISCHER & BRO., NEW YORK
  119 WEST 40TH STREET

  PRINTED IN U.S.A.



_Copyright, 1927_, by J. FISCHER & BRO.



  The author desires to express his gratitude to his friend and
  colleague, Paul Kempf, for his collaboration in preparing the
  biographical data contained in these pages.

  J. T. H.


[Illustration:

  _Underwood & Underwood Studios, N. Y._

DEEMS TAYLOR]



DEEMS TAYLOR



I


There is probably no man in America who has done more of benefit to
the profession of composing in this country than has Deems Taylor,
for through his own personal success he has both proved and disproved
certain definite impressions which have clung traditionally to the
composers’ craft, thereby clearing a path that will make it far
easier for others to proceed to worth-while achievement in what has
to date been classed as the least favored of all arts.

He has proved that well-directed musical talent, plus those qualities
generally prescribed by exploiters of success-methods, will find its
way to fame even in these allegedly cold-tempered United States.

He has proved that here a composer may raise himself by the
boot-straps and, suffering an avoidance of cheap sensationalism,
establish himself a figure in the general news of the day.

He has proved that a man may be essentially practical in his manner
of living, thinking and working and yet achieve international
distinction as a creator of highly imaginative music.

He has proved that versatility is no bar to special success—has
smashed the old saw that if you are a jack of all trades you must,
forsooth, be a master of none.

He has proved that there is a substantial market in this land of
industry, commerce and finance for products of purely artistic
calibre; that there is a living to be made out of composition.

Apply reverse English to these things he has proved by his own
record of accomplishment, and obviously your answer is what he has
disproved. Now, add the consideration that he has destroyed the
image so popularly prevalent that good composers must be æsthetic,
pale-skinned, long-haired and rather effeminate individuals,
alternately rhapsodic and morose, constantly publishing their
complaint against a public that neither understands nor appreciates
them, and the case assumes completion.



II


Deems Taylor is a mild-mannered person, of medium height, inclined
toward baldness, wears glasses, has what novelists describe as
well-chiselled features illumined by an expression of intentness,
emphasized by a firmly set lower jaw. As a man he sizes up extremely
well in a group of five, reading from left to right, showing the
Americans who had this past Spring been awarded Doctor’s degrees by
a great American University. His companions in this distinguished
cluster were the Chairman of the General Electric Company’s Board,
the President of the American Museum of Natural History, the
Secretary of State in President Coolidge’s cabinet, and the professor
of literature at Yale University.

In the eyes of his intimates the address of seriousness which he
presents to casual observers is but a mask. For they know him best
as a man of unfailing good humor, a philosopher who delights in the
whimsicalities of life and knows both how to fashion and enjoy a joke.

Mention has been made of Deems Taylor’s versatility. It is not
merely that he can do many things but it is because he does them
all superlatively well that this characteristic deserves stressing.
At various times he has functioned with outstanding success as a
newspaper-man, as critic, as linguist, as translator of prose and
poetry, as an artist capable of handling the brush and pen with
signal facility, as editor, as public speaker; and as a composer.

In the field of journalism, both in his technical musical criticisms
and in his articles on practical musical subjects he writes with
clarity of style, with matured authority and with disarming frankness
and sincerity. Here again his engaging spirit of good humor finds
expression to lighten the burden of his message.



III


It is interesting to trace the steps by which Taylor advanced himself
to a position described by Dr. George Alexander, president of the
Council of New York University, as “one of the foremost of the living
composers.”

Deems Taylor is one of those rarest of residents of New York who was
actually born in that city. His arrival was dated just three days
before Christmas in the year 1885. He made his elementary studies
at the Ethical Culture School and graduated to New York University,
where his many-sided talents brought him a conspicuous participation
in under-graduate activities. The records do not show it, but one
takes it for granted that he penned the sketches which adorned the
year book of his class. Probably he also wrote the sonnet which a
distracted editor called for to fill half a page needed to complete
a folio. At fraternity smokers he could always be relied upon to
entertain; his inimitable burlesque on grand opera, using as his
“props” a varied assortment of straw and felt hats, was certain to
put the crowd in good humor.

The record does show, however, that in association with a class-mate,
William LeBaron, who in later years was responsible for the libretto
of _Apple Blossoms_, the farce, _The Very Idea_, and numerous other
plays, Taylor wrote the music for four comic operas during his
collegiate term. One of them, _The Echo_, was considered good enough
by Charles Dillingham, the theatrical producer, to merit a Broadway
presentation, in which Bessie McCoy was starred.

The innate desire for an adequate means of musical expression must
have reached its peak in the young man’s consciousness some five
years after his graduation from college, for it was at that period
that he undertook the serious study of harmony and counterpoint.
In the meantime he was struggling with the more serious problems
of life, trying to reconcile the meagre salary paid to budding
journalists with the ever-rising cost of living. One knows that this
storm and stress period did exist in his life; his own confessions,
however, furnish but inadequate data upon which to draw comparisons
with similar experiences in the biographies of other celebrated
composers. His journalistic lineage carries him through the
editorship of a house organ, a brief engagement as conductor of a
humorous column in the now defunct “New York Press,” the inevitable
period of unemployment (attendant to all newspaper careers);
assistant editorship of the “New York Tribune’s” Sunday magazine;
correspondent in France for the “Tribune,” in 1916 and 1917;
associate editor of “Collier’s Weekly” from 1917 until 1919; and
music critic of the New York “World” from 1921 to 1925. In August,
1927, he became editor of “Musical America.”

Whether from natural inclination or from pressure of circumstances,
the early studies he had made in harmony and counterpoint under Oscar
Coon were not logically followed by directed guidance in composition,
instrumentation, and other subjects, designed to prepare one for
the career of composer. His sole researches along these lines were
self-made. As a composer he is self-instructed, and it is the opinion
of reliable critics that he made an extremely good job of it. His
studies in musical history were sufficiently profound to equip him to
give a series of lectures on this subject in 1919 in Denver, Colo.

It was at this time that he formed a close friendship with Percy
Rector Stephens, the New York vocal instructor and then conductor of
the Schumann Club. Stephens had confidence in the Taylor talent and
lost no opportunity to promote the young man’s progress. The purpose
of the Schumann Club, it will be recalled, was to deliver programs
for women’s vocal ensemble that would follow as closely as possible
the canons dictating the structure of artist recital programs. To
achieve this laudable enterprise it was necessary to adapt the music
and render translated texts of an entire library for the club. Mr.
Taylor undertook the task with enthusiasm and the product of his
labors was among his first essays in musical-literary effort to court
serious critical attention.

The prize contest for composers, of which we have so many now-a-days
and which are so frequently condemned for their failures to produce a
National school of outstanding creative genius, seems, nevertheless
to find its associations in the biographies of the current class
of American composers. It was through this means, by winning the
first place in the National Federation of Music Clubs competition
in 1913, with his orchestral composition _The Siren Song_, that
Taylor attracted his first recognition as a serious writer in the
larger forms. Within three years he had added to his output, in
addition to numerous songs with piano accompaniment, _Two Studies in
Rhythm_ for piano (Op. 5, Nos. 1 and 2); _The Chambered Nautilus_
(Op. 7), a cantata for mixed chorus and orchestra based on the poem
of Oliver Wendell Holmes; _The Highwayman_ (Op. 8), a cantata for
women’s voices and orchestra, to the poem of Alfred Noyes; and a
song cycle, _The City of Joy_, to the poem by Charles Hanson Towne.
In _The Highwayman_, written especially for the MacDowell Festival
in Peterboro, N. H., in 1914, Taylor gave his first evidence of
that trait that was subsequently accepted as one of his native
characteristics, namely his ability to sense public taste. No student
of his record can escape consideration of this conspicuous talent
in his craft. _The Highwayman_ soon found its place among the most
popular works in this form in our current music literature and
the name and fame of Deems Taylor grew accordingly. He had raised
himself immeasurably from the file of dilettante composers, and
discriminating critics began to look to him for works of lasting
importance.

In this respect they were not to be disappointed. Early in 1917 there
came from his pen an orchestral work, which, through sheer interest
and merit forced itself into the repertoires of all of our leading
symphony organizations: _Through the Looking Glass_. The first
performance in New York proved an event of signal interest in the
news of the day and critics agreed that Taylor had fully lived up
to the promise which his earlier efforts had offered. Within a few
months orchestras in Paris and London had adopted the work, and thus
he won his first recognition among the few American writers who have
had performances abroad. The personal letters which Taylor received
from several of the greatest contemporary musicians both here and
abroad, on the strength of this music, may not be published; they
show, however, that he was now accepted by them as one of them. His
standing was secure.

Interrupting the output of works in the larger forms the record
shows numerous songs, many of which were taken up with avidity by
our leading concert singers and which will be discussed later from a
different angle.

_The Portrait of a Lady_, a rhapsody for strings, wind and the piano,
was the next of his more ambitious essays to win popular approval.



IV


As a practical man Taylor realized that if he were to continue
his growth in serious music, he must find the means of livelihood
in avenues which offered a more immediate return in the currency
of the realm. He turned to the theatre and probably not without a
feeling that here he would find also the fundamentals upon which
he might some day build a work in the music drama form. It was an
inviting undertaking, offering both income and working materials
for future development. In 1922 he wrote the incidental music for
Austin Strong’s pantomime _A Man About Town_, which graduated from
the Comedy Club to the Ritz Theatre. He had “broken into” the
theatrical game and now according to the custom of the Rialto, he was
to be pursued instead of being himself the pursuer in the quest for
commissions.

_Liliom_ required music; Deems Taylor was the logical man to
supply it. A score was needed for the farce-comedy, _Dulcy_; who
better than Taylor could do it? In quick succession he added to
the list incidental music for the Winthrop Ames production, _Will
Shakespeare_, music for the Theatre Guild’s _The Adding Machine_, a
musical setting for Alan Seager’s _I Have a Rendezvous with Death_,
in George Tyler’s production of _Humoresque_; the incidental music
for _Rita Coventry_; incidental music for Gilbert Miller’s production
of _Cazanova_; incidental music for _Beggar on Horseback_, produced
by Winthrop Ames in January, 1924, in which was introduced the
pantomime _A Kiss in Xanadu_; and the score for the motion picture
_Janice Meredith_.

The distinguished use to which Taylor later put the technic he had
acquired in these excursions into the theatre, saves them from
classification as “pot-boilers.” And, what is more to the point, the
music itself which he had written for these various productions, was
of a quality which calls for no apologetic comment. Again he had
shown his versatility and again he had added to the stature of his
name as a creative artist.

During the period of prolific productivity in the theatre Taylor’s
addresses to the audiences of the formal concert halls were less
frequent. Three outstanding works, however, found expression amid
the whirl of activity attendant upon daily reviews of musical
performances for his paper “The World,” with his work often
interrupted by conferences with producers, scenario writers,
playwrights, actors, managers and others, to say nothing of the
supervision of rehearsals. These contributions were the song for
baritone, _Captain Stratton’s Fancy_, a setting of the John Masefield
poem; the symphonic poem, _Jurgen_ (Op. 17); and the suite for Jazz
Orchestra, _Circus Day_ (Op. 18), for which the resourceful Ferdie
Grofé was called upon to supply the orchestral arrangement.

_Jurgen_ offers additional support to the contention made in the
opening paragraphs of this record. It is another example of the
service rendered by Deems Taylor to the cause of the American
composer, for it represents one of the pioneer instances in which
a conductor of an American symphony orchestra has sought out an
American composer and commissioned him to write music for specific
performance. Our composers had accustomed themselves to regard our
symphony orchestras and their conductors as stumbling blocks in the
road of progress. Taylor, in company with George Gershwin and Henry
K. Hadley, and with the far-seeing Walter Damrosch as the instigator,
was helping, then and there, to change a securely established custom.
The orchestra was to go after the composer; and this shattering of
precedent is of far greater consequence than may seem apparent to
casual observance of the facts.

For the same reason the attitude of the Metropolitan Opera Company
toward the American composer and toward homemade opera, is a subject
which offers unlimited opportunities for conjecture. Proof of an
open-minded policy, a sincere desire to bring forth the best that was
to be had, is afforded by the action (during the Winter of 1925) of
the Board of Directors in commissioning Deems Taylor, on the strength
of his achievements in other musical forms, to compose an opera which
would be promised a production. No restrictions were placed upon him:
The choice of a libretto was left entirely in his hands.

Note again the part which Deems Taylor was playing in the breaking
down of traditional methods to set the function of the native
composer in a new light.

When this call came to him, he determined to sacrifice every other of
his manifold activities to a successful prosecution of the mission.
Reluctantly he gave up the duties of music critic—a position in which
he was fast winning sympathetic and widespread approval, even as the
successor of the late James Gibbons Huneker.

He turned with enthusiasm and high hopes to the task of finding a
libretto, a search which promised no easy fulfillment, for little had
been done in this land to stimulate the production of operatic books
that would satisfy the complex requirements of the lyric stage.

Acting upon his own frequently expressed conviction that a genuinely
poetic and dramatic libretto is an indispensable adjunct to the
score of a grand opera, Mr. Taylor turned for assistance to Edna St.
Vincent Millay, whose volumes _Renascence_, _Second April_, _A Few
Figs From Thistles_, and _The Harp Weaver_ have established her as
one of the few great lyric poets of this generation. Miss Millay’s
response to the appeal was an idea based upon a mediaeval legend; it
was the story of _The King’s Henchman_, and it made a strong appeal
to Taylor’s inherent sense of public taste. He could discover in it
those elements which meant operatic success. He bade Miss Millay to
go on with its development and meantime he busied himself with the
laying out of his patterns.

Two years later, on the evening of February 17th, 1927, the world
première of _The King’s Henchman_ took place at the Metropolitan
Opera House. This was no ordinary première, even as brilliant
as such events usually are. For months in advance the sagacious
press department of the big theatre, aided enthusiastically by a
sympathetic press, had aroused public interest in the production.
The “Evening Post” declared that “Never in the history of the
Metropolitan Opera House had a native offering been attended by
such advance interest and such good omens of success as _The King’s
Henchman_.”

At the opera house, in the corridors, on the stage, back in the
executive offices, everywhere there existed a spirit of expectancy
and optimistic hope.

Tickets for the opening night were at a premium; on the final day
they were unpurchasable at any price. Again Deems Taylor was making
news.

The evening itself measured up fully to the anticipation it had
created. It went into the records as one of the most dazzling of
operatic premières; the audience actually liked the performance as
an opera; it seemed to enjoy itself hugely and there was accordingly
wild enthusiasm when the composer and librettist were called to the
front.

What was the effect of all this adulation, this frenzied praise upon
the man who was responsible for the success of the evening? Again we
turn to his intimates for the answer. We find him reading, deeply
solicitous, those words of criticism which measured with scientific
analysis, in a more discriminating vein, the points of weakness in
the score. He was neither professionally “high hat” nor “up-stage.”
It was his first grand opera and he knew that he had yet to learn. He
felt that he could learn most from those who were prepared to show
him how to step higher. He absorbed these comments with none of the
petulance of the prima donna who finds in unfavorable criticism only
the traces of jealousy and lack of appreciation.



V


But most convincing of all in the testimony relating to the outcome
of the eventful evening’s proceedings, was the decision of the
Metropolitan Board of Directors, announced a few days after the
première, to commission Taylor to write a second opera to be produced
within two years from the date of his operatic debut.

Some idea of the public interest aroused through this promise
of a second opera from Deems Taylor’s pen was reflected in the
large amount of space devoted to the project by the daily papers.
For several months after the announcement there was interested
speculation both in musical circles and in the newspapers over the
choice of his libretto. It was not until late in the Fall that Mr.
Taylor, in a column interview, gave out the news that had been
awaited with such lively anticipation; his manner of acquainting the
world with his selection was thoroughly characteristic.

The opera was to be based on an American novel, the identity of
which at that time, remained a mystery. But Mr. Taylor’s practical
collaborator—his librettist—was to be none other than himself!

“I have found,” the composer related to a reporter for the Associated
Press, “the most charming and compatible, the most accomplished
and erudite of collaborators. We get along splendidly together.
It is true that I fuss and say crude things to this collaborator,
sometimes, but it is all taken in good grace.”

This same interview revealed another phase of the Taylor character,
too significant to be overlooked in any discussion that pretends to
reveal the man.

He declared that his new opera would be a product of the great city;
that he had no tolerance for the widely exploited quiet of the
country generally believed to be indispensable to those engaged in
creative endeavor.

“I tried the country,” he confided to his interviewer, “and it is too
noisy. There are katydids, tree-toads, crickets, week-end guests and
mosquitoes; all terrible noise-makers. Besides, New York is the only
place I can be alone. In New York visitors stay ten minutes. In the
country they stay ten days.”

As to the nature of the new opera the composer described it as
tragic-comic; half phantasy and half realism. “It has overtones of
romance and nuances of practical life,” he said. “The emotions are
typically American.”

When the new owners of the weekly periodical, “Musical America,” in
search of an outstanding figure in the field of musical literature,
one who would merit a sympathetic response from the musical public,
selected Taylor for the post of editor-in-chief, they did no more
than to reflect the high esteem that he had won for himself. The
manner in which he took over the responsibility, as revealed in
his declaration of intentions, in the issue of August 27th, 1927,
was thoroughly characteristic of the man. Here he disclosed rare
editorial acumen in a frank statement, analyzing minutely the
qualities which the average American music-lover would seek in a
journal, and promising that his program as director of the enterprise
would adequately satisfy those needs.

And so it becomes apparent that Deems Taylor the man is quite as
important as Deems Taylor the composer. No record of his achievements
in the latter capacity is complete without mention of the sterling
qualities that he built within his own character. The chronicler
of his history finds no evidence on this point more startling nor
convincing than the happy, friendly relationship which exists
between him and his publisher. Here indeed is a miracle, as witness
the biographies of scores of the great composers of all times and
observe the bickerings and transactions of distrust which have marked
their dealings with the men who gave out their music to the world.



VI


Taylor has written more than fifty compositions, a full catalog of
which is appended to this article. Without exception, each of these
works, large or small, is of importance, and individual. Each bears
analysis, but does not demand analysis for its enjoyment. While the
individuality of his work is not essentially an idiom, and never
a formula, there is always an atmosphere and a color that command
attention. The music is thoughtful, yet spontaneous, reflective
though objective; and so well constructed and designed that the
structure does not impose itself on the listener.

Taylor’s severest critics have accused him of lacking a true melodic
gift. The most superficial study of his music should disprove this
charge. The _Looking Glass_ Suite and _The King’s Henchman_ abound
in melodies interesting in themselves and ingeniously and logically
developed. His best work has the quality of inevitability which is
the supreme test of greatness in art, an inevitability which is never
mere obviousness.

Comparisons are ever futile, and it is rarely profitable to compare
one composer with another. Suffice it to say that we may claim Taylor
as a native born composer, who needs no apology, no qualifying
adjectives, no patriotic propaganda, no press agenting, and no circus
methods for gaining recognition. He has gained recognition not
because of or despite the fact that he is an American, but merely
because he has written beautiful music, worthy to rank with the great
works of the world.

On several occasions Taylor has given advice to young composers,
either through interviews or articles written by himself. The
doctrine he expounds is tersely summarised in an article in “The
Musical Digest,” as follows:—

  1. Get to be a professional.
  2. Make everything you do count.
  3. Try not to avoid criticism, and not to mind it.
  4. Try not to make the same mistake twice.

This is not easily given advice to be disregarded by the giver; it is
his own creed, reflected in every work in his list. He has written no
“pot-boilers,” made no concessions to the caprice of a fickle public,
followed no easy paths to a facile popularity.

In an interview in “The Musical Observer” he once stated: “I think
this country will produce some very bad composers and a few very
great ones. Bad ones, because it is so easy to be popular here. You
can please so many people by attaining a certain level—a level which
requires very small gifts. A few great ones because anyone who has
the nerve to be a good composer in this country and is so recognized,
must be big enough to appeal to everybody, as the popular composer is
bad enough to appeal to everybody.”



VII


Taylor’s songs and choral works are by-words on recital programs and
his shorter works are household words in concert hall and studio.
Those that have had the greatest vogue are _Mayday Carol_ and
_Captain Stratton’s Fancy_.

_Mayday Carol_ is a setting of an Essex folk-song in which the
arranger has kept the warmth and simplicity of the original, and yet
given it a sophisticated background. The harmonization is rich, and
the counter melodies dextrously woven.

_Captain Stratton’s Fancy_ is a setting of the poem by John
Masefield, and the combination has proved a song that has been the
delight of hundreds of baritones. The spirit of the rum-loving
pirate, “the old bold mate of Henry Morgan,” is rollickingly
emphasized by the music.

_Banks o’ Doon_ to a poem of Robert Burns, shows Taylor’s lyric
talent at its best. He has achieved the distinction of composing
a melody which has all the attributes of a folk-song. There is
simplicity, restraint, and yet a poignancy which brings out all the
tender warmth of the exquisite poem.

For piano, Taylor has written only two pieces, _Two Studies in
Rhythm_, Opus 5. These are a _Prelude_ in 7-8 time, and a _Poem_ in
5-8 time. The rhythms are never manufactured, or artificial; they are
metric units written as conceived, spontaneous and natural. As in the
5-4 movement of the Tchaikovsky _Pathetique_, one forgets the unusual
time divisions, because of the fluency of the rhythmic sequence.

As a writer of choral music, Taylor has earned an enviable
distinction. Chief among his works for chorus are _The Chambered
Nautilus_, a cantata for mixed chorus and orchestra, Opus 7; _The
Highwayman_, a cantata for women’s voices and orchestra, Opus 8; and
the sixty arrangements for women’s voices of _Traditional Airs_,
which he made for the Schumann Club of New York. In reviewing these
transcriptions, Sidney Grew, the English lecturer and critic, wrote
as follows in “The Musical Standard” (London):

  “In these arrangements of old-time pieces and folk-music Taylor
  seems to have his own idea of the psychology of the poems, and
  occasionally he is (to an Englishman’s mind) drawn away from the
  poetical idea of a piece and controlled by the objective power of
  music. But this remark I make no more than tentatively, because
  to prove it would require a very thoroughgoing study of matters
  not within the range of a reviewer. He has a good contrapuntal
  sense, but is not at all interested in contrapuntal subtleties.
  His harmonic sense is free, yet he does little to disturb even the
  purist. In most of the numbers he achieves or retains atmosphere;
  and in disposing the texts among long notes in the accompanying
  parts he generally modifies the phrases so as to make verbal sense.
  On the other hand, he often brings in a group of voices with quite
  instrumental freedom, giving to these whatever words happen to be
  going at the moment in the leading part. One point will please
  singers, Taylor’s arrangements have no meaningless reiteration of
  words, but are all intellectually clear and direct. Deems Taylor
  makes elaborate use of the humming voice, sometimes as choral
  accompaniment to a solo melody and sometimes as a meditative
  contrapuntal comment on the piece.”

The experience he gained in writing for voices has stood him in
good stead in his opera _The King’s Henchman_, for his magnificent
choruses are among its finest moments.

Of his orchestral works, the earliest was _The Siren Song_, Opus
2, written in 1912, but not performed until 1923, despite the fact
that in 1913 it won the orchestral prize awarded by the National
Federation of Women’s Clubs. Taylor’s opinion of the work is
at variance with those of his fellow critics. At the time the
Philharmonic played _The Siren Song_, as critic of the “World,” he
wrote as follows:

  “We thought it a promising work with a certain freshness of feeling
  and a disarming simplicity of utterance that partly atoned for its
  lack of well-defined individuality. It followed the program with
  clarity and a degree of dramatic effectiveness, although the music
  did not seem to reach very far beneath the surface of the subtle
  and rather neurotic poem whose mood it aimed to express.”

Henry T. Finck, writing in the “Post,” valued the work more highly:

  “Deems Taylor’s _The Siren Song_ is marked Opus 2. It would be
  a remarkably interesting composition if it were an Opus 20, or
  beyond. To be sure it betrays the influence of Wagner, but that’s
  a most desirable influence. The three themes are distinctly
  recognizable and well worked out, with stunning climaxes and real
  dramatic and atmospheric sense for the sea and the siren. It is a
  fine mood picture and well worth keeping in the repertory.”

The piece is written after a poem by Joseph Tiers, Jr., which tells
of mariners hearing the siren’s song, and either losing their
souls, or resisting, being haunted by her voice forever. There are
two principal themes, one representing the “Sea” and the other the
“Siren,” followed by a martial passage in lighter vein.



VIII


_Through the Looking Glass_ was originally written in 1917-19 for
strings, wind and piano, and performed by the New York Chamber Music
Society. In 1921-22 Taylor rescored the suite for full orchestra,
and it is now a regular feature of the repertoire of our leading
orchestras. It is principally through this work that he first
achieved his fame as a composer.

In reviewing the suite for the “New York Tribune,” Lawrence Gilman
wrote:

  “He is wit enough to know that the peculiar distinction of
  Carroll’s delicious masterpiece is the mood of half tender, half
  mocking detachment in which it is conceived; and he preserves this
  balance in his music with extraordinary skill and felicity. He
  neither burlesques nor sentimentalizes his subject. He touches it
  affectionately, even caressingly, as in the poetic and sensitive
  _Dedication_; but in his eye is a twinkle that is imperfectly
  suppressed. Incidentally, he has composed an admirable piece
  of music—distinguished in invention, ingenious in facture, and
  expertly scored.”

The suite is, of course, based on Lewis Carroll’s immortal nonsense
tale _Through the Looking Glass_, and its four movements are selected
from portions and episodes of the book.

The first movement is divided into two parts. It opens with the
_Dedication_, and the score quotes the dedicatory verse of the author:

    “Child of the pure, unclouded brow
    And dreaming eyes of wonder!
    Though time be fleet, and I and thou
    Are half a life asunder,
    Thy loving smile will surely hail
    The love-gift of a fairy-tale.”

A tenderly lyric theme, sung by a muted solo violin, is used to
express the spirit of these lines:

[Music: Andante moderato

Solo Violin]

This melody is next given to the clarinets, and then again to the
strings as its brief development leads to the second part of the
first movement, _The Garden of Live Flowers_. Here Alice finds
herself surrounded by talkative flowers, who, to quote the tigerlily,
will speak “when there’s anybody worth talking to.” The music
reflects the brisk chatter of the garden folk:

[Music: Allegro

3 Flutes]

The second movement, _Jabberwocky_, is without doubt the masterpiece
of the suite, for in it Taylor shows his skill as a tonal narrator,
his humor, and his consummate mastery of orchestration. After a seven
measure introduction, a solo clarinet establishes the “brillig”
atmosphere with this motive:

[Music]

The actual encounter with the Jabberwock is depicted by means of a
fugue, started by the basses “burbling,” which an English writer
described as sounding like “Bach gone wrong.”

[Music]

The fight ends with a series of xylophone glissandos telling us how
“through and through the vorpal blade went snickersnack!” Then the
dying agonies of the Jabberwock, a bassoon cadenza:

[Music]

The hero comes “galumphing back” to this figure, played by the piano:

[Music]

while the clarinet simultaneously sounds again the original heroic
theme.

In the third movement, _Looking Glass Insects_, the composer
again shows us his ability in orchestration, this time with more
delicate touches. The several themes describe the bee-elephant, the
rocking-horse-fly, the snap-dragon-fly, and the bread-and-butter-fly,
but as the composer himself remarks, “there is no use trying to
decide which insect any one of them stands for.”

The fourth movement tells of _The White Knight_, the “toy Don
Quixote, mild, chivalrous, ridiculous, and rather touching,” who fell
off in front when the horse stopped, and backwards when it went on
again.

After a brief, galloping introduction, the first theme starts off
bravely:

[Music]

but falls out of the saddle before very long:

[Music]

The first theme doubtless represents the Knight’s own conception
of himself as something of a dare-devil, but three hard falls
necessitate his giving way to the somewhat sentimental and pathetic
second theme, in which a solo violoncello paints him as he really was:

[Music]

[Music: A page from the orchestra score

“Through the Looking Glass” - “Looking Glass Insects”]

The two themes, in various forms, alternate until the close, when
Alice waves her handkerchief as the Knight rides off, for he thought
it would encourage him if she did.

American critics have been practically unanimous in their praise of
the _Looking Glass_ Suite, but when it was first played in London
(1925) at the Queen’s Hall Promenade Concerts, the English writers
were by no means unqualified in their approval. A perusal of their
comments almost gives one the impression that they resented an
American’s attempt to depict such characteristically British humor.

The reviewer of the “Evening Standard” said: “... his suite is
curiously uneven. In places it is heavy and long-winded; Lewis
Carroll was neither.”

The critic of the “Daily Express” was more complimentary, as was the
“Daily Sketch,” but the writer for the “Morning Post” stated:

  “... his capacity for detail misleads him. Instead of creating a
  vision by a wave of his hand, he fills in his picture inch by inch,
  carefully balancing his outlines and masses, and filling the whole
  of his rectangle with subject matter. A good musician, no doubt,
  but far from catching the white rabbit.”

With these adverse comments we cannot agree. The pages of the Suite
are not smothered with detail, the episodes and pictures of the book
are impressions clearly delineated, and painted with a sparkle and
brilliance that prove irresistible and dazzling.

The _Portrait of a Lady_ was composed shortly after the _Looking
Glass_ Suite, and rewritten in 1924. Ernest Newman wrote of it in the
“Post”:

  “... he stood up like a man to Schubert, Juon and Novak; and at the
  end of the concert only he and Schubert had survived.”

Lawrence Gilman of the “Tribune” said:

  “Out of the empty, agitated air he conjured an image that had
  line and color and background, substance and character; something
  coherent, vivid, personal. And when he was through ... we found
  ourselves richer by an experience and a possession, and wondering,
  as we never fail to do, at the mysterious potency of the art of
  music.”

The work was composed for strings, wood-wind and piano, and,
according to the composer, follows no definite program, but was
designed to be “somewhat analogous to what a painter would call
an ideal head; an attempt to convey the impression of a human
personality in terms of music.” According to the music this
personality has two phases: one grave, meditative and tender, the
other capricious and somewhat worldly. The music has warmth and
depth, and as W. J. Henderson wrote in the “Sun,” “makes one wish to
see the woman.”

The incidental music to _Beggar on Horseback_ included the delightful
pantomime _A Kiss in Xanadu_, to a scenario by Winthrop Ames. Taylor
wrote this for two pianos, and we may well hope that he carries out
his intention of scoring it for orchestra.

The music radiates moonlight and romance, and its humor enhances the
spirit of satire. The opening measures establish the atmosphere with
a 5-4 theme:

[Music]

The Royal Bedchamber episode is ushered in with this vigorous motive:

[Music]

The Princess is introduced with a Valse:

[Music]

In the public park incident, a stirring little march:

[Music]

leads to a more coquettish mood:

[Music]

The third scene finishes as the pantomime began, with a colorful
reminiscence of the opening themes.

Taylor’s next important work is _Jurgen_, a symphonic work for full
orchestra, based on Cabell’s famous novel. His own statement of his
aims in regard to it are as follows:

  “_Jurgen_ was originally planned as an orchestral suite that
  would follow as faithfully as possible the sequence of events in
  James Branch Cabell’s book. But when I started work on the music
  it became increasingly obvious that such a program was not only
  impracticable, but hardly to the point. It would take a cycle of
  suites to do adequate justice to the bewildering multitude of
  scenes, characters and episodes with which the pages of _Jurgen_
  are crowded. Moreover, the importance of Cabell’s romance as a work
  of art lies, not in its qualities as a diverting tale of amorous
  adventure, but in the vividness, the sardonic gusto, the humor and
  wisdom and pathetic beauty with which the tale is told.

  “So, _Jurgen_, annotated in terms of music, has come to be
  concerned much more with the man Jurgen than with his deeds.
  In brief, I have tried to show Jurgen, facing the unanswerable
  riddle of why things are as they are; Jurgen ‘clad in the armor of
  his hurt’, spinning giddily through life, strutting, posturing,
  fighting, loving, pretending; Jurgen proclaiming himself count,
  duke, king, emperor, god; Jurgen, beaten at last by the pathos and
  mystery of life, bidding farewell to that dream of beauty, which he
  had the vision to see, but not the strength to follow.”

Continuing his explanation of the work, Taylor writes:

  “The music is built upon four themes. The first of these, which
  is Jurgen’s own, is announced at the outset, in its broadest and
  vaguest form, by the bass

  [Music]

  clarinet. The second follows immediately, a simple series of major
  and minor triads given out in turn by muted strings and muted
  brass. Its first appearance

  [Music]

  is also the first appearance of the third theme, which is really
  only a motto of four notes in length, which rises a major second
  and falls back a minor second.

  [Music]

  Neither of these themes can be assigned a very specific
  significance. Theme number two might be taken as symbolic of
  Koshchei, the Deathless, who made things as they are, just as
  theme number three is a reminder of Mother Sereda, who bleaches
  the color out of all things and renders life generally futile. The
  fourth theme, broadly lyric, is first heard in the cellos, at the
  beginning of the love scene that follows the first development of
  Jurgen’s theme. This might

  [Music]

  be called—again not too literally—Dorothy la Désirée, or Helen of
  Troy, or the vision of beauty; or what you will.”

_Jurgen’s_ performance in 1925 by the Symphony Society was met with
mixed emotions on the part of the press reviewers. Mr. Chotzinoff,
Taylor’s successor on the “World,” was laudatory with reservations;
Mr. Henderson of the “Sun” felt that the score was too long, but
added that this may have been because it followed Kallinikoff and
Brahms on a lengthy program. He wrote:

  “It is a broadly painted musical canvas which loses itself just a
  little too much in the philosophical depths of Jurgen’s nature.
  The reflective pages in the score are a little longer than the
  reflective mood of a typical audience. These pages are saturated
  with feeling, with poetic character, with musical emotion; but
  they are pages to be read in the shadows of the twilight....
  These pages Mr. Taylor has composed with a splendid verve, with
  brilliant thematic conception, with opulence of color and his own
  unquenchable spirit of defiant humor. There is music in every page,
  music that should bring gladness to the American music lover in
  that it was made by an American.”



IX


No better introduction to a discussion of _The King’s Henchman_ could
be found than another quotation from Mr. Gilman, written in the
“Tribune” on the occasion of the opera’s première at the Metropolitan:

  “Thus we came to the end of the best American opera we have
  ever heard, and so easily the best of the ten produced by Mr.
  Gatti-Casazza at the Metropolitan that there is none other in the
  running. Mr. Taylor has woven a deft and often lovely sounding
  score about a superb poetic text—a text pithy and glamorous
  and full of character; rich in humor and dramatic force, rich
  in imagery that is often startling in its beauty and its swift
  felicity. And this text is apt for voices or for viols. It clamors
  for vocal utterance and for enforcement by the instruments of the
  mirroring orchestra.

  “Mr. Taylor’s score is in the worthiest sense theatrically
  planned and developed. It is obvious that he wrote with his eye
  on the stage, with his intelligence responsive to its tyrannous
  requirements. Furthermore, he has given musical voice to English
  words which, sung from the stage, are not only heard, but are
  expressive, and fitting, and often beautiful. The music, as music,
  “sounds”; it fills the ear, is richly textured, mellifluous, has
  grace and movement and flexibility. It is the writing of an expert
  craftsman, an artist of sensibility and warm responsiveness.”

For her libretto, Miss Millay went to the England of the ninth
century for her setting, and, in authentic Anglo-Saxon verbiage
tells us the story of Eadgar, King of England, a widower who wishes
a second wife. Like King Mark in _Tristan_, he dispatches a trusted
retainer, Aethelwold, to bring to him Aelfrida, daughter of the Thane
of Devon, of whose beauty he has heard. Like Tristan and like John
Alden, Aethelwold falls in love with the lady himself, and tragedy is
inevitable.

It has often been remarked that the weaker the libretto, the better
the opera. If any proof were needed to challenge so obvious a
fallacy, _The King’s Henchman_ provides it, for here is a poetic
drama which of itself stands in perfect security. In the “Tribune”
Elinor Wylie wrote, after reading the poem:

  “If this is not lyric dialogue of the true poetic water, why then
  has it such a magic in it that it has turned me into a fool and my
  taste into untruth.”

The story is grippingly told, the tragedy of it appalling, and the
characters are limned with an insight that makes them real people,
actuated by motives beyond their control.

Because of his wisdom in choosing his librettist, Taylor commenced
his work with a drama that cried out for musical setting, for a tonal
accompaniment to its atmosphere, and to the thoughts and actions of
its people; and if in the making of it he has fallen under the spell
of Wagner’s musical delineation of the kindred love-drama _Tristan_,
or of Debussy, whose love scene in _Pelleas_ is akin to the forest
scene in _The King’s Henchman_, who can blame him, for who could have
avoided it? Taylor himself has said:

  “Its form has undoubtedly been influenced by the methods of past
  masters ...; as to that, I can only hope that its spiritual
  grandfather may turn out to be Wagner rather than Puccini.”

The score of _The King’s Henchman_ makes frequent use of the
_leit-motif_, to represent both actual characters, and abstract
conceptions. The short prelude opens with the King (Eadgar) motive:

[Music]

This is frequently found, later in the action, in a broader, more
lyric form:

[Music]

After a brief development, the curtain rises and reveals the hall
of King Eadgar’s castle with the King and his nobles seated at the
table, while Maccus, the harper, sings of deeds of valor. Then
follows a choral response, with the words:

    “Be the day far off, O harper
    When thy harp is unstrung!
    And thy hand still,
    And thy song sung.”

The Aelfrida motive is first introduced while she is being discussed
as the King’s prospective bride:

[Music]

When Aethelwold is mentioned as the one to get her, we hear his
sturdy motive:

[Music]

which is continued and developed while the knights dwell on his
fitness for the task, for was it not true that

    “He shunneth a fair maid
    As she were a foul marten
    And should a wench but breathe upon him in the dark,
    He would bury himself till the smell of her were off him!”

While they are talking about Aethelwold he enters, and the expedition
is planned, the henchman receives his final instructions, the
Archbishop gives his reluctant blessing, and, as the pledge is sealed
we first hear the pledge motive:

[Music]

which is quoted frequently throughout the opera. As the knights drink
Aethelwold’s health and bid him godspeed, there comes a rousing
choral arrangement of the only folk-song used in the entire work:

[Music:

  Oh. Caesar great wert thou!
  And Julius was thy name!
  That furrowed thy way through a fallow spray,
  And to stormy Britain came!
  But I would not stand in thy stead,
  For I’d liefer be quick than dead!]

and so on, through others of the Caesars involved in the Roman
invasion of England: Claudius and Hadrian. The handling of voices and
orchestra in this chorus is the most stunning choral writing Taylor
has ever achieved. After this song, Aethelwold’s horse is brought in
and he takes his departure as the curtain falls, and the orchestra
sounds the Aethelwold motive as a salvo.



X


The second act is chiefly an extended love scene, and the impassioned
prelude, commencing with the Aethelwold motive, establishes the
mood and atmosphere. As the curtain rises, a forest in Devon is
discovered, on the Eve of All Hallow Mass. A thick fog causes
Aethelwold and Maccus, who accompanies him, to lose their way and
become separated. The orchestra, with muted strings, weaves a
background of forest murmurings as Aethelwold stretches himself
beneath an oak. As he falls asleep a light appears, and we hear a
theme which is later associated with the love scene:

[Music]

As Aelfrida enters with a lantern we again hear her motive. She had
come to practice a magic spell, hoping that her incantation would
bring her a lover. As she hums the tune, “white-thorn, black-thorn,
holy-bough, speed-well,” a ghostly chorus behind the scenes answers
her. As the mist clears, the moonlight falls upon Aethelwold, and she
kisses him. As he arises they fall in each other’s arms; and then
begins one of the most beautiful love duets in the literature of
music. It is based on the principal love-theme of the opera:

[Music:

  Ah, could we hide us here in a cleft of the night,
  And never be found!
  Ah, could we hide us in the night,
  And never be found!]

They tell each other their names, and Aethelwold horror-stricken
learns who she is. As Aelfrida leaves him, to return in a moment, the
henchman is left alone to make his decision. The orchestra tells us
of his inner strife, we hear reminders of the King’s motive, and the
pledge; he tries to flee, but her voice detains him, and as Maccus
appears seeking him, he gives way to his temptation and dispatches
his harper to the King, with this message:

    “Maccus, go back unto the King,
    And say to him:
    That I have seen the maiden,
    And found her nothing fair.
    A comely maid enough, and friendly spoken,
    But nothing for the King.
    Further say:
    That whereas the Thane of Devon, the lady’s father,
    Is rich in lands and kine;
    And whereas the Lord Aethelwold
    Spare the King’s love, hath little else beside,—
    The blessing of King Eadgar is besought
    Upon the wedding of Lord Aethelwold
    Unto the maid Aelfrida.”

As Maccus departs, Aethelwold turns to Aelfrida, saying:

  “Now shall I look no more beyond thine eyes.”

Both words and music, throughout the act, portray Aethelwold’s
intense desire to be loyal to his King, but show the complete
inability of almost any man to resist the spell woven by the forest.
The music achieves a compelling mood of rapturous lyricism, and its
broadly drawn phrases of sensuous melody build up magnificently to
the climax of the act.



XI


The prelude to the third act starts with a tune, in the folk-song
manner, sung by the wood-winds:

[Music]

As the curtain rises we find Ase, Aelfrida’s serving maid, singing
while she spins in the hall of Ordgar’s house, where Aethelwold is
living with his bride. Then comes a tense scene between Aelfrida
and Aethelwold, for she is fretted by her preoccupation with the
cares of the household, and not wholly content with a husband whose
unconfessed treachery must have caused him many sleepless nights.
Aethelwold accordingly plans that they shall leave Devon immediately,
and go to Ghent in Flanders where Aelfrida would henceforth go “in
sighing silk and gossamer and hooded in beaver-fell.” As they sing
farewell to Devon the orchestra commences a theme which is heard at
different times throughout the act, a melody of great beauty and
pathos:

[Music]

But it is too late, for the King is at that moment at the gates, come
on a friendly visit. Aethelwold confesses his deception to his wife:

    “Yea, my child, ’tis true enough.
    I lied to Eadgar,
    Saying thou were little fair.
    Oh, the good smack of truth on the tongue again,
    After a winter of lies.”

He then bids Aelfrida help him keep up his deception to the King, and
to retire and dim her beauty:

    “Go now, and darken thy cheek with the sap of the walnut,
    And dust thy hair with the meal of the wheat,—
    Be foul, be bent, be weatherèd,
    And keep thy bower, that none may see thee,
    But myself and the King!”

Aelfrida departs to do his bidding—or so Aethelwold thinks.

Eadgar and his men enter singing the folk-song of the first act. As
he greets Aethelwold, and asks to be taken to the bride, Aelfrida
suddenly appears in the doorway, in all her jewels, proud, beautiful
and splendid. Eadgar’s arm slowly drops from Aethelwold’s shoulders,
and the orchestra in a discordant crash sounds the pledge motive.

After Eadgar’s sorrowful rebuke, Aethelwold plunges his dagger into
his breast, and a brief threnody is spoken by the King. Then follows
the choral ending of the opera, with the King intoning his lament
against the chorus of retainers and woodsmen, and the orchestra
playing a passage, reminiscent of the “farewell to Devon” theme!—

[Music]

As the retainers lift the body of Aethelwold and bear it away, the
orchestra again plays the pledge motive, and the curtain falls.

[Music: Facsimile page from the manuscript orchestra score

“The King’s Henchman”—Act III]



LIST OF COMPOSITIONS BY DEEMS TAYLOR


  NOTE:—The numbers before each group of titles refer to the
  publisher.


=LYRIC DRAMA=


  [1] =The King’s Henchman= (_Edna St. Vincent Millay_), =Op. 19=
          In three acts


=CHAMBER MUSIC AND ORCHESTRA=


  [1] =The Siren Song, Op. 2=
         Symphonic Poem for Orchestra

  [1] =Through the Looking-Glass, Op. 12= (_Five Pictures from Lewis
         Carroll_)
         =1a Dedication=
         =1b The Garden of Live Flowers=
         =2. Jabberwocky=
         =3. Looking Glass Insects=
         =4. The White Knight=

       =Suite for=
         =Symphony orchestra=
         =Symphony orchestra—reduced=
         =Strings, wind and piano=

  [1] =The Portrait of a Lady, Op. 14=
         =Rhapsody for strings, wind and piano=

  [1] =Jurgen, Op. 17=
         =Symphonic poem for orchestra=

  [1] =Circus Day, Op. 18=
         =Suite for jazz orchestra= (_Scored by Ferdie Grofé_)
         =For symphony orchestra= (_Scored by the composer_)


=CHORAL-CANTATAS=


  [2] =The Chambered Nautilus= (_Oliver Wendell Holmes_), =Op. 7=
         =For mixed voices and orchestra=

  [2] =The Highwayman= (_Alfred Noyes_), =Op. 8=
         =For women’s voices and orchestra=
         =Also for mixed voices and orchestra=


=PART-SONGS=


  [2] =May Eve= (_Thomas S. Jones_), =Op. 11, No. 1=, S.S.A.A.

  [1] =Tricolor= (_Paul Scott Mowrer_), =Op. 11, No. 2=, S.S.A.A.
         T.T.B.B.

  [1] =Valse Ariette= (_Humming chorus_), =Op. 11, No. 3=, S.S.A.A.

  [1] =Banks o’Doon= (_Robert Burns_), S.S.A. (arranged)

  [1] =Plantation Love Song= (“My Rose”) (_Ruth McEnery Stuart_),
         S.S.A.A. T.T.B.B. (arranged)

  [5] =Little Dancing Leaves= (_Lucy Larcom_), Unison

  [5] =The Day Is Done= (_H. W. Longfellow_), S.S.A.

  [5] =Old Ironsides= (_Oliver Wendell Holmes_), S.S.A.B.

  (Written for the Universal School Music Series)


=HARMONIZATIONS AND TRANSCRIPTIONS=


  [1] =Armenian Folksongs=:
        =By the Cradle=, S.S.A.
        =Heart-Longings=, S.S.A.
        =My Grief=, S.S.A.
        =The Well-Beloved=, S.S.A. T.T.B.B. S.A.T.B.

  [1] =Belgian Folksongs=:
        =The Faithless Lover= (L’Abandonnée), S.S.A.
        =Grizzly, Grumpy Granny= (La Boiteuse), S.S.A.
        =In the Country= (La Vie Rustique), S.S.A.
        =The Siesta= (La Sieste), S.S.A.

  [1] =Breton Folksongs=:
        =Before the Shrine= (Disons le Chapelet), S.S.A.A. T.T.B.B.
           S.A.T.B.
        =The Sabot-Maker= (Le Sabotier), S.S.A.
        =The Soul’s Departure= (Le Départ de l’Ame), S.S.A.
        =The Wedding Dress= (La Petite Robe), S.S.A.

  [1] =Czecho-Slovak Folksongs=:
        =Good Night= (Dobru Noc), S.S.A.
        =Lightning Now Flashes= (Nad Tatrou sa Blyska), S.S.A.
        =Song to Bohemia= (Tesme se Blahou Nadeji), S.S.A.
        =Wake Thee, Now, Dearest= (Pridi ty Suhajko), S.S.A.
        =Waters Ripple and Flow= (Tece Voda, Tece), S.S.A. T.T.B.B.
           S.A.T.B.

  [1] =English Folksongs=:
        =The Loyal Lover=, S.S.A.A. S.A.T.B.
        =Mayday Carol=, S.A. S.S.A. S.S.A.A. S.A.B. T.T.B.B. S.A.T.B.
        =My Johnny Was a Shoemaker=, S.S.A. T.T.B.B. S.A.T.B.
        =Twenty, Eighteen=, S.S.A. T.T.B.B. S.A.T.B.

  [1] =Scotch Songs=:
        =Ae Fond Kiss=, S.S.A.A.
        =Hame, Hame, Hame=, S.S.A.A. T.T.B.B.
        =Rantin’, Rovin’ Robin=, S.S.A.A.
        =Whistle, My Lad=, S.S.A.A.


=ARRANGEMENTS=


  [2] =—— ——=            =Southern Medley=, S.S.A.A.
  [1] =J. S. Bach=           =Air= (Humming Chorus), Unison
  [1] =G. B. Bassani=        =Rest and Slumber= (Posate, Dormite),
                                S.S.A.A.
  [1] =G. M. Bononcini=      =Turn Not From Me= (Non V’Ascondete),
                                S.S.A.
  [3] =H. T. Burleigh=       =De Gospel Train=, S.S.A.
                             =Hard Trials=, S.S.A.
                             =Heav’n, Heav’n=, S.S.A.


  [1] =J. Brahms=        =Crimson Clouds= (Rothe Abendwolken), S.S.A.A.
                              =Gypsy Minstrel= (He, Zigeuner), S.S.A.A.
                              =The Mountains Are Cold= (Die Berge sind
                                 Spitz), S.S.A.A.
                              =Now Sounds the Harp= (Es Tönt ein
                                 Harfenklang), S.S.A.
                              =When Sweetly Blossom Roses= (Nun steh’n
                                 die Rosen), S.S.A.

  [1] =G. Caccini=       =Amaryllis My Fair One= (Amarilli, Mia Bella),
                            S.S.A.A.

  [1] =M. A. Cesti=      =Where Sleeps My Beloved= (Intorno all’Idol
                            Mio), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =E. Chausson=      =The Humming Bird= (Le Colibri), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =C. Debussy=       =Afterglow= (Beau Soir), S.S.A.

  [1] =J. Des Pres=      =What Sorrow Mine= (J’ay Mil Regrets),
                            S.S.A.A.

  [3] =S. Donaudy=       =Fragrant Groves and Flowery Meadows=
                            (Freschi Luoghi, Prati Aulenti), S.S.A.
                              =Oh, Hasten, Beloved= (Madonna Renzuola),
                                 S.S.A.A.
                              =O, Likeness, Dim and Faded= (Vaghissima
                                 Sembianza), S.S.A.
                              =O, Vanished Loveliness= (O Del Mio
                                 Amato Ben), S.S.A.
                              =Spring Song= (Sorge il Sol!), S.S.A.
                              =The Lover’s Tale= (Ognun Ripicchia e
                                 Nicchia), S.S.A.
                              =’Tis Love That Sets Me Singing= (Amor Mi
                                 Fa Cantare), S.S.A.
                              =When You Love’s Game Were Learning=
                                 (Quand’ il tuo Diavol Nacque), S.S.A.

  [1] =H. F. Duparc=     =A Sigh= (Soupir), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =F. Durante=       =Dance, Little Maid= (Danza, Danza), S.S.A.
                              =Virgin, All of Love= (Vergin, Tutto
                                 Amor), S.S.A.

  [1] =G. B. Fasolo=     =Give Me Peace= (Cangia, Cangia), S.S.A.

  [1] =G. Fauré=         =After a Dream= (Après un Reve), S.S.A.A.
                              =The Cradles= (Les Berceaux), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =John of Fornsete=      =Sumer Is Icumen In=, S.S.S.S.A.A.

  [2] =C. Forsyth=            =From the Hills of Dream=, S.S.A.A.

  =French=:

  [1]   =XII. Century=        =La Bele Yolans= (Fair Yolanthe), S.S.A.
                                   =La Reine d’Avril= (The Queen of
                                      April), S.S.A.A.


  [1] =XIV. Century=           =Je Suis Trop Jeunette= (Nay, My Years
                                   Are Tender), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =XVII. Century=          =Le Berger Discret= (The Timid
                                   Shepherd), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =XVIII. Century=         =Ah, Mon Berger= (Shepherd Mine Own),
                                   S.S.A.A.
                                     =Chaque Chose à Son Temps=
                                       (Everything Has Its Time),
                                        S.S.A.A.
                                     =La Chanson du Tambourineur= (The
                                        Drummer-Boy’s Song), S.S.A.A.
                                     =Les Belles Manières= (The Ways
                                        of the World), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =J. Gallus=                =O Salutaris=, S.S.A.A.

  [1] =German Folksong=          =Spinnerliedchen= (Spinning Song),
                                     S.S.A.A.

  [2] =R. M. Gliere=             =Ah, Twine No Blossoms=, S.S.A.A.

  [1] =E. Grieg=                 =Are They Tears, Beloved?= (Warum
                                     schimmert dein Auge?), S.S.A.
                                     =Christmas Snow= (Neige de Noel),
                                       S.S.A.A.
                                     =A Dream= (Ein Traum), S.S.A.A.
                                     =Rosebud= (Rosenknospe), S.S.A.

  [1] =J. L. Hatton=             =To Anthea=, S.S.A.

  [1] =Dorothy Herbert=          =After Sunset=, S.S.A.
                                     =The Song of Desire=, S.S.A.

  [1] =Hungarian Folksongs=      =For But One= (Nur ein schönes
                                     Mädchen), S.S.A.
                                     =O Marie= (Marishka), S.S.A.
                                     =Whither Going Shepherd?= (Sag’
                                        Mir Csikos), S.S.A.
                                     =Play, O Gypsy= (Spiel! Zigeuner),
                                        S.S.A.

  [1] =Eastwood Lane=            =The Little Fisherman=, S.S.A.A.

  =Latin=:

  [1] =XIV. Century=           =Concordi Laetitia= (Hymn to the
                                     Virgin), S.S.A.A. T.T.B.B. S.A.T.B.

  [1] =J. B. de Lully=           =Lonely Wood= (Bois Epais), S.S.A.

  [4] =Ethelbert Nevin=          =The Land of Heart’s Desire=,
                                     Cantata, Baritone Solo, S.S.A.

  [1] =G. P. da Palestrina=      =Sub Tuum=, S.S.A.
                                     =O Bone Jesu=, S.S.A.A.

  [2] =Edna R. Park=             =The Romaika=, S.S.A.

  [3] =G. Puccini=               =Love and Music= (Vissi d’Arte),
                                     S.S.A.
                                     =One Fine Day= (Un Bel Di), S.S.A.

  [1] =S. Rachmaninoff=          =Cry of Russia= (A Lament), Vocalise,
                                     S.S.A.A.

  [2] =N. Rimsky-Korsakoff=      =Nightingale and the Rose=, S.S.A.

  [3] =Geni Sadero=              =Beautiful Vine= (Pampina Pampinedda),
                                     S.S.A.
                                     =Hush-A-By= (Era la Vo), S.S.A.
                                     =My Love, My Darling= (Curi,
                                        Curuzzu), S.S.A.
                                     =Out Seaward= (In Mezo al Mar),
                                        S.S.A.
                                     =Rock-a-Bye Baby Mine= (Fa la
                                        nanna Bambin), S.S.A.

  [1] =A. Scarlatti=             =If Florindo Be Faithful= (Se
                                     Florindo e Fedele), S.S.A.

  [1] =R. Schumann=              =Bride’s Song= (Lied der Braut),
                                     S.S.A.A.
                                     =Dedication= (Widmung), S.S.A.A.

  [1] =C. Sinding=               =Anemone=, S.S.A.A.

  [1] =Percy Rector Stephens=    =To the Spirit of Music=, S.S.A.A.
                                     T.T.B.B. S.A.T.B.

  [1] =R. Strauss=               =Devotion= (Zueignung), S.S.A.

  [1] =T. L. da Vittoria=        =Ave Maria=, S.S.A.A.

  [1] =Hugo Wolf=                =Insatiable Love= (Nimmersatte Liebe),
                                     S.S.A.
                                     =The Drummer-Boy= (Der Tambour),
                                        S.S.A.


=SONGS=


  [2] =Witch Woman= (_Celia Harris_), =Op. 3=

  [1] =Plantation Love Song= (“My Rose”), (_Ruth McEnery Stuart_)
         =Op. 6=

  [2] =The City of Joy= (_Charles Hanson Towne_), =Op. 9. A Song Cycle=
          =1. Spring in Town=
          =2. Poor= ...
          =3. ... But Happy=
          =4. The Roof Garden=
          =5. Home!=

  [2] =Time Enough= (_Brian Hooker_), =Op. 10, No. 1=

  [1] =The Rivals= (_James Stephens_), =Op. 13, No. 1=
    =A Song for Lovers= (_James Stephens_), =Op. 13, No. 2=
    =The Messenger= (_James Stephens_), =Op. 13, No. 3=

  [1] =Traditional Airs.= (Harmonized by Deems Taylor) =Op. 15=
      =1. La Bele Yolans= (Fair Yolanthe)
      =2. Je Suis Trop Jeunette= (Nay, My Years Are Tender)
      =3. La Sieste= (The Siesta)
      =4. L’Abandonnée= (The Faithless Lover)
      =5. La Vie Rustique= (In the Country)
      =6. Rantin’, Rovin’ Robin=
      =7. Ae Fond Kiss=
      =8. Hame, Hame, Hame=
      =9. Mayday Carol=
      =10. Twenty, Eighteen=
      =11. The Loyal Lover=
      =12. Le Départ de l’Ame= (The Soul’s Departure)
      =13. Les Belles Manières= (The Ways of the World)
      =14. La Petite Robe= (The Wedding Dress)

  [1]  =Captain Stratton’s Fancy= (_John Masefield_)

  [1]  =The Banks o’Doon= (_Robert Burns_)


=PIANO=


  [1]  =A Kiss in Xanadu.= Pantomine Music. =Op. 16=

  [1]  =Two Studies in Rhythm. Op. 5=
       =1. Prelude= =2. Poem=


=ORGAN=


  [1] =Dedication.= From “Through the Looking Glass.” Transcribed by
  Charles M. Courboin


=INCIDENTAL MUSIC=

  “=Liliom.=” Produced in New York by Theatre Guild

  “=Will Shakespeare.=” Produced in New York by Winthrop Ames

  “=Humoresque.=” Produced in New York by George Tyler

  “=Rita Coventry.=” Produced in New York by Brock Pemberton

  “=The Adding Machine.=” Produced in New York by Theatre Guild

  “=Casanova.=” Produced in New York by Gilbert Miller

  “=Beggar on Horseback.=” Produced in New York by Winthrop Ames
  (Incidental music includes the pantomime “A Kiss in Xanadu.”)


  [1] J. FISCHER & BRO., New York.

  [2] OLIVER DITSON CO., Boston, Mass.

  [3] G. RICORDI & CO., New York.

  [4] THE JOHN CHURCH CO., Cincinnati, Ohio.

  [5] HINDS, HAYDEN & ELDREDGE, INC., New York.



_This Series of brochures will include the following American
Composers_


  ALEXANDER RUSSELL[6]
  EASTWOOD LANE[6]
  JAMES P. DUNN[6]
  A. WALTER KRAMER[6]
  DEEMS TAYLOR[6]


_In Preparation_:

  MORTIMER WILSON
  WALTER GOLDE
  CHARLES WAKEFIELD CADMAN
  HOWARD D. MCKINNEY
  CARL MCKINLEY
  SAMUEL RICHARDS GAINES
  FRANZ C. BORNSCHEIN
  J. W. CLOKEY
  FAY FOSTER
  LILY STRICKLAND
  HELEN DALLAM
          _and others_

  [6] _Now available_



  Transcriber’s Notes

  pg 15 Changed: which the resourceful Ferdie Grofè
             to: which the resourceful Ferdie Grofé
  pg 44 Changed: Hungarian Folksongs For But One (Nur eine
                   schönes Mädchen)
             to: Hungarian Folksongs For But One (Nur ein
                   schönes Mädchen)
  pg 45 Changed: Rock-a-Bye Baby Mine (Fa la Nana Bambin)
             to: Rock-a-Bye Baby Mine (Fa la nanna Bambin)



*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Studies of contemporary American composers: Deems Taylor" ***


Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.