MUSIC, RECENT PROGRESS OF. 



their hold upon popular favor. After him 

 came Dargomiszki (1813-'69), who contributed 

 "Russalka" (1855), and Seroff (1820-'71) with 

 "Judith," "Rogneda" (both in 1863, the lat- 

 ter repeated twenty-three times within three 

 months), and " Wrazyia Sila" (1870). Young 

 Russia is represented by Cesar Cui (born in 

 1835), with "The Prisoner in the Caucasus," 

 "The Mandarin's Son," "William Ratcliff," 

 and "Angelo " ; by Mussorgski (1839-'81), with 

 " Boris Godunow " (1874, and ever since one of 

 the most attractive pieces on the repertory ot 

 the Imperial Opera) ; by Tschaikowski (born in 

 1840), who, although independent of the young 

 Russian school, ranks unquestionably highest 

 among the Russian composers, and has written 

 the operas "TheVaivode" (1869), " Oprits- 

 nik" (1874), " Wakulathe Smith" (1876), "Eu- 

 gen Onegin " (1879), and " The Maid of Or- 

 leans '' (1880) ; and by Rimski-Korsakov (born 

 in 1844), Professor of Composition at the Con- 

 servatory of St. Petersburg, and the champion 

 of the young Russian school, author of the two 

 operas " Pskovitjanka " (the Maiden of Pskov) 

 and "The May- Night" (1880). Napravnik 

 (born in 1839) contributed " The Inhabitants 

 of Nizhni-Novgorod" (1869); and Rubinstein, 

 who can scarcely be claimed by Russia as a 

 national composer, "The Demon " (1875), and 

 "Kalaschnikov, the Merchant of Moscow" 

 (1880). 



Outside of Russia, Slavonian music is culti- 

 vated especially in Bohemia, where the Na- 

 tional Theatre at Prague is a sort of Panslavis- 

 tic institution, producing, besides the operas by 

 Czechish composers, also those of Russian and 

 Polish writers. Among the former the most 

 noteworthy are Smetana (born in 1834), Dvo- 

 rak (born in 1841), and Mihalovich (born in 

 1842). 



Even into Italy, where the musical life has 

 for generations run in the time-honored chan- 

 nel of national propensity for the purely melo- 

 dious, the modern spirit is gradually making 

 its way. The German influence upon Verdi is 

 unmistakable in his " Aida " (1871), and the 

 " Requiem " (1874). Next to him, the most 

 celebrated modern Italian opera-composer was 

 Am il care Ponchielli (born in 1834, died in 

 Milan, Jan. 17, 1886). Lauro Rossi (born in 

 1812) and Filippo Marchetti (born in 1835) 

 also stand high in the estimation of their 

 countrymen ; Antonio Cagnoni (born in 1828) 

 is another favorite ; Carlo Gomez, a Brazilian 

 (born 1839), whose opera " Salvator Rosa" 

 had great success at Genoa in 1874, and has 

 since been presented on most of the Italian 

 stages, will be remembered here as the com- 

 poser of the Centennial Hymn " II Salute del 

 Brasile," performed at the Exposition in Phila- 

 delphia in 1876. But the most talented among 

 the younger generation is Arrigo Boito (born 

 in 1842), whose " Mefistofele," after a complete 

 failure in Milan in 1868, attracted attention, 

 and was reproduced with decided success at 

 Bologna in 1875, at Hamburg in 1880, and 



since then in various cities outside of Italy, 

 and in New York in 1881. As a poet and 

 novelist he is appreciated in Italy even more 

 highly than as a composer. 



The musical institutions of England are too 

 well known here to require an especial ac- 

 count. The opera is still only represented by 

 the Italian element at Her Majesty's Theatre, 

 and at Covent Garden ; while the attempt to 

 create an English opera, by producing the 

 works of John Barnett, Benedict, Balfe, Mac- 

 farren, and Wallace, has not been repeated 

 for over twenty years. As a novel departure 

 must be mentioned the starring of two Ger- 

 man opera troupes during the season of 1882, 

 for the express purpose of performing the 

 " Nibelungen Trilogy " (by the Leipsic com- 

 pany under Angelo Neumann), and the other 

 works of Wagner (by the Hamburg company 

 under Pollini and Franke). Pecuniarily the 

 enterprise was not a success, but Wagner's 

 music has now obtained a firmer foothold in 

 England. 



Owing to the great mass of material accumu- 

 lated in ten years, the mere enumeration of all 

 important works would transgress the limits of 

 space allotted to this article ; it will therefore 

 be necessary to confine ourselves this time to 

 the opera, which branch of musical production 

 has always excited the interest of the public 

 more than others. 



The general excitement that prevailed in the 

 musical world for a long time before, during, 

 and after the performance of the " Biinnenfest- 

 spiel " at Baireuth in 1876, so completely over- 

 shadowed all coeval musical events, that little 

 notice was taken of other creations. 



The operatic novelties, not as yet noticed, 

 were the following: 



18T5. "The Demon," a fantastic opera in 

 three acts, by Rubinstein (St. Petersburg, Jan- 

 uary 25); libretto by Viskovatoff, after the 

 poem by Lermontoff, based on a Russian 

 legend. The music throughout is of artistic 

 conception, and characteristic; the orchestra- 

 tion for the most part effective and handled 

 with great routine ; the dances in the second 

 act, with their peculiarly Oriental coloring, are 

 especially attractive. "Edda," by Karl Rein- 

 thaler (Bremen, February 22) ; libretto by E. 

 Hopffer, treating an episode of the Frisian 

 history during the Thirty Years' War. " The 

 Queen of Sheba," an opera in four acts, by 

 Gold mark (Vienna, March 10), libretto by 

 Mosenthal. A series of gorgeous pageants 

 with Oriental pomp, royal halls, and temple- 

 scenes, Egyptian scenery and costumes, dances 

 and processions, combine with a brilliant 

 and most elaborate orchestration to dazzle the 

 senses, offering scarcely any resting-point, and 

 consequently at times fatiguing. " Die Mac- 

 cabaer," in three acts, by Rubinstein (Berlin, 

 April 17; Prague, October 10), libretto by 

 Mosenthal, after the drama of Otto Ludwig. 

 The composition is of highly dramatic power, 

 does not dwell on details, and depicts the 



