Arthur Foote has written forty songs--among them, "On the Way to Kew,"
and, "In Picardie"--and is sometimes compared with Franz. Clayton Johns has a hundred songs, his "Winter Journey" being suggestive of Russian music; "Were I a Prince Egyptian," is good. Reginald de Koven is called the most popular of America"s song writers; his settings of verses by Eugene Field are familiar, and his best known song, "Oh, Promise Me,"
has had great popularity.
G. W. Chadwick, the director of the New England Conservatory, has written seventy-five songs, some of them most original. "Allah" is the best known and probably his strongest; but, "Before the Dawn;" "Bedouin Love Song;" and "Green Grows the Willow," are also fine.
Ethelbert Nevin is a well-known and admired writer of lyrical songs.
Walter Damrosch, Horatio Parker, the late Gerrit Smith, Victor Herbert, and many others have been steadily turning out good work.
Edward MacDowell, however, is America"s most distinguished song writer, and his early death was lamented as a national calamity among music lovers. Like Grieg in having a Scotch strain in his blood, his work also shows a certain resemblance to that of the Norwegian. His music is highly polished, always interesting and never imitative. Two lovely settings of old words are noticeable: "Ye Banks and Braes o" Bonnie Doon," and "Kennst Du das Land?" "The Pansy" and "The Mignonette," are the best of a group of six flower pieces; "Menie" is remarkable for its tender sadness and delicacy; but his most popular song is "Thy Beaming Eyes." Critics consider his most scholarly work to be his eight settings of verses by Howells, and "The Sea." See "National Music of America and Its Sources," by L. C. Elson (The Page Company), and "American Composers," by Rupert Hughes (The Page Company).
VI--INTERESTING SONGS
In addition to studying this great subject by countries, and by special treatment of the masters of song writing individually, clubs may be interested to look up and sing many of the old English songs suggested under such heads as these in H. K. Johnson"s "Old Familiar Songs" (Henry Holt):
Memory: "Ben Bolt;" "I Remember, I Remember."
Home: "My Old Kentucky Home;" "The Suwanee River."
Exile: "Lochaber No More;" "My Heart"s in the Highlands."
Sea: "A Life on the Ocean Wave;" "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep."
Nature: "The Ivy;" "The Brook."
Sentiment: "The Last Rose of Summer;" "Stars of the Summer Night."
Unhappy Love: "Kathleen Mavourneen;" "Bonnie Doon."
Happy Love: "Annie Laurie;" "Meet Me by Moonlight Alone."
Humor: "Comin" Through the Rye;" "Within a Mile of Edinboro" Town."
Convivial: "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes;" "Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl."
Martial: "Scots Wha Hae;" "March of the Men of Harlech."
National: "Rule Britannia;" "Hail Columbia."
Books to consult: "Songs and Song Writers," Henry T. Finck (Chas.
Scribner"s Sons); "Makers of Song," Anna A. Chapin (Dodd, Mead & Co.); "Stories of Famous Songs," S. J. A. Fitzgerald (Lippincott).
Collections of all the songs mentioned here, and many more, may be found by writing to music publishers. Public libraries have also cyclopedias of music which will help in writing the biographies of musicians. See "Great Composers and Their Work," by L. C. Elson (The Page Company).
CHAPTER VII
SOME OF THE WORLD"S FAMOUS BUILDINGS
Like so many subjects suggested for club work, the one presented here may be expanded indefinitely. Each of the great buildings given should serve to introduce the subject of architecture and history.
Material will be found in good histories; in the encyclopedia, especially the Encyclopedia Britannica, and in the many books on architecture. Among the most useful in the way of description are: "Historic Buildings Described by Great Writers," and "Turrets, Towers and Temples," both by Esther Singleton (Dodd, Mead & Co.), and "Wonders of Art and Archaeology," by M. Lefevre (Scribner). Ferguson"s "History of Architecture" (Dodd, Mead & Co.) is also valuable. At each meeting there should be ill.u.s.trations shown of the buildings studied.
I--EGYPT"S GREATEST BUILDING
The earliest of the world"s great buildings, and in some respects the most remarkable of them all, is the Great Temple of Karnak, at Thebes, in lower Egypt, built about 1600 B. C.
Introductory papers should describe the country and its rulers, its development and religion. Speak especially of the power of the monarchs and the nation of slaves. Show pictures of pyramids, obelisks, gates and temples. Speak of Thebes, described by Homer as "hundred-gated." Compare with Memphis.
Then follow with one paper on the great ruins on the left bank of the Nile at Thebes, and read Sh.e.l.ley"s sonnet on the fallen Colossus there.
Crossing to the right bank, describe the ruins at Luxor, and so come to the vast and overwhelming Temple of Karnak itself.
Note the avenue of sphinxes, the forest of columns which led to the river bank, the huge fallen capitals, on each of which a hundred men can stand. Give some idea of the immensity of the Hall and what it must have been like when the roof was on, and the whole area of two hundred and seventy acres was in its perfection. Read the description by Amelia B.
Edwards in "Turrets, Towers and Temples."
II--THE PARTHENON AND THE ACROPOLIS
To realize the beauty and value of the Parthenon at Athens, clubs must first study the history of Greece from the time of Themistocles and the Persian wars, through the rule of Aristides and Cimon when, it is believed, the building of the Parthenon was begun. The Age of Pericles, when art was at its height, needs two or more meetings; it was then that the temple was finished.
A good picture of the Acropolis at Athens should be shown to keep the buildings distinct; the one in Lefevre"s book is excellent. Read the description of a procession to the temple by John Addington Symonds, in "Sketches in Italy."
One paper should discuss the architecture of the Parthenon; another should mention the sculptures and paintings; a third may give its later history, noting that while it was intact until 1687 its history from that time has been one of destruction. Mention the injuries done by collectors, especially Morosini and Lord Elgin. What of the ethics of the removal of the sculptures? Close with a descriptive reading on the Parthenon as it is to-day.
Studies of other Grecian temples will be found in the "Isles and Shrines of Greece," by S. J. Barrows (Little, Brown & Co.).
There is a remarkable little collection of poems called "The Englishman in Greece" (Clarendon Press) which will give delightful material for ill.u.s.trating this program with verse from famous writers.
III--THE BUILDINGS OF ROME
The picture of the Coliseum at Rome brings with it the wonderful story of the imperial city at the height of its splendor, and also in its decay. Have meetings on Rome under Vespasian and t.i.tus, who together built the Coliseum. It was completed in 80 A. D., ten years after the destruction of Jerusalem.
One paper may describe its architecture, its arches, its ma.s.sive stone walls, its successive tiers of seats, its divisions for the people and the court, its interesting exits. It covered five acres of land and seated eighty-six thousand people; compare with the great stadium at Harvard to-day.
Follow with papers on the Roman games; at the dedication of the Coliseum these lasted a hundred days. Have one also on the gladiatorial fights and one on the Christian ma.s.sacres, many of which took place here. Read from "Ben Hur" (Harper), the Chariot Race. Show, if possible, Gabriel Max"s picture, "The Last Token." Then take the gradual destruction of the building by Goths and Vandals, and by the people of Rome themselves.
Read from Gibbon"s "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" his description of the building and the events which took place there; and also from the Coliseum, by d.i.c.kens, in "Historic Buildings."
Other buildings which may also be studied are the Pantheon, the Arch of t.i.tus, Pompey"s Theater, and the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, all in the early history of Italy. Clubs may follow the meetings on these buildings with two others on the more modern but no less remarkable St.
Peter"s, at Rome, that colossal edifice in the transept of which it is said that a cathedral could stand. Read from the description in "Wonders of Architecture."
IV--CASTLES AND CATHEDRALS IN GERMANY
Among the many great architectural remains in Germany perhaps the most interesting is the Castle of Heidelberg, standing on a hill three hundred feet above the town. It was begun toward the close of the thirteenth century, and is divided into two palaces and a hall, all of different periods. The extraordinary thing about it is the fact that nearly every style of architecture has been employed in its construction and adornment, yet it remains a thing of beauty. In the Palace of Frederick IV there are chiseled sculptures of five emperors, two kings and nine palatines; in the Palace of Otho Heinrichs there is a lovely Italian facade, with Greek demi-G.o.ds and nymphs, Hebrew heroes, and Roman Caesars. There are four granite columns given by the Pope to Charlemagne, which were transferred from palace to palace before they were finally brought here. One writer has said that there is renown for ten artists in this castle, all of them unknown.