Scan 53
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1908
14 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. Printed page 34. See the scan on archive.org.
1Massenet
2libretto is really better than the music. Griseldis was fairly successful, as was also Le Jongleur de Notre Dame.
4Massenet continued the work of Gounod, but used his own methods or style in doing it, and all of his works bear the stamp of his individuality. His greatest power is representing the tender passions, and he is also especially successful in portraying the eternal feminine. However, his women can hardly be called individuals, for they are all alike whether biblical characters, fairy creations, or modern French women, all resemble the Parisienne of the present, and most of them are the extremely weak type as in the case of Manon. He has adopted no one particular form, but takes sentiment in general and the taste of the Parisian public for the basis upon which he works.
6Masson, Elizabeth. 1806-1865.
7Prominent English concert-singer and composer of songs; was the pupil of Mrs. Henry Smart, and of Pasta in Italy. She first appeared in public at Ella's Second Subscription concert in 1831. She also sang at the Ancient concerts in 1831, and at the Philharmonic concerts in 1833, usually giving selections from the old masters as Gluck, Handel and Mozart. In 1834 she sang at a festival in Westminster Abbey, and several times at the Sacred Harmonic Society in oratorios. Later she devoted her time to teaching and composing, writing music for the poems of Scott, Procter and Byron. In 1839 she established a Royal Society of Female Musicians, which was finally joined to the Royal Society of Musicians in 1856. She had good technique surpassing her natural ability and an original personality. Her published works are Original Jacobite Songs; and Songs for the Classical Vocalist.
9Materna (mä-tër'-nä), Amelia. 1847-
10Soprano, famous for her interpretation of Wagnerian roles; born at St. Georgen, Styria. When she was twelve years old her father died, leaving his family penniless. Amelia and an older brother went to Vienna, but on arriving there were disappointed to find that no one would teach her to sing on account of her lack of funds. From Vienna she went to St. Petersburg, and three years later to Gratz, where she was discovered by Suppé, who got her into the chorus at the Landes Theatre and later helped her get a position in Vienna. Here she sang in operetta at the Karl Theatre for several years, at the same time preparing for heavier work under Proch in 1868 she sang before Court Conductor Esser so successfully that she obtained a position at the Imperial Opera House, where she made her debut in 1869 in L'Africaine with pronounced success. She had meantime been married to a popular German actor, Karl Friedrich. In 1876 she was given the role of Brünnhilde at the performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen given at Bayreuth during that year. Her interpretation was received with the greatest enthusiasm by Wagner himself, and her rendition of Wagnerian roles has not been equaled in some respects. She sang in the Wagner Festival in London in 1877, and in 1882 created the role of Kundry in Parsifal, visiting the United States that year and in 1884. She retired from the stage in 1897, the occasion being a concert given at the hall of the Musical Union in Vienna. Her greatness lies not only in the exceptional quality and beauty of her voice but also in her dramatic rendering.
12Mathews, William Smythe Babcock. 1837-
13Critic and writer on musical subjects, who has greatly advanced music in Chicago; born in London, New Hampshire. His father was a clergyman, who encouraged the early manifestations of his son's talent and, when he was about eleven years old, had him take lessons of Mr. Folsom of Lowell. He afterward went to Boston to study with Mr. L. H. Southard, and there he enjoyed the friendship and encouragement of Lowell Mason. In 1852 he took a position in Appleton Academy at Mt. Vernon, New Hampshire, although not yet fifteen years of age. In 1860 he became professor of music in the Wesleyan Female College at Macon, Georgia, but in 1861 he was forced to resign his position owing to the Civil war. He supported himself till after the close of the war by teaching at Macon, Georgia; Danville, West Virginia and Marion, Alabama. In 1867 Mr. Mathews came to Chicago as organist of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, where he remained until
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