Richard Strauss is to many the artistic problem of the hour. That his art is vital none can deny; that he seeks new paths is conceded. Whether he is justified in so doing is the question that has been asked ever since he sounded a new note in his great orchestral works-of which the one on our program is by no means the least. Whatever one think of works like "Don Quixote" and "Helden-leben," "Don Juan" and "Tod und Verklaerung" powerfully portray all that is implied in their titles. That they have titles-and that an explanation is necessary if one is to arrive at an, understanding of the specific meaning of these works-places them distinctly in that class of "program music" developed by the one who seems to have been his inspiration, Franz Liszt. The present work was performed for the first time at Weimar in 1889, and is based on Lenau's poem, which we quote as follows:

O magic realm, illimited, eternal,

Of gloried woman,-loveliness supernal!
Fain would I, in the storm of stressful bliss,
Expire upon you the last one's lingering kiss!

·

Through every realm, O friend, would wing my flight,
Wherever Beauty blooms, kneel down to each,
And if for one brief moment, win delight!

I flee from surfeit and from rapture's cloy,

Keep fresh for Beauty's service and employ,

Grieving the One, that All I may enjoy.

The fragrance from one lip to-day is breath of spring:

The dungeon's gloom perchance to-morrow's luck may bring.

When with the new love won I sweetly wander,

No bliss is ours upfurbish'd and regilded;

A different love has This to That one yonder,—
Not up from ruins be my temples builded.

Yea, Love life is, and ever must be new,
Cannot be changed or turned in new direction;
It cannot but there expire-here resurrection;
And, if 'tis real, it nothing knows of rue!
Each Beauty in the world is sole, unique:
So must the Love be that would Beauty seek!
So long as youth lives on with pulse afire,
Out to the chase! To victories new aspire!

It was a wond'rous lovely storm that drove me :
Now it is o'er; and calm all round, above me;
Sheer dead is every wish; all hopes o'ershrouded,—
'Twas perhaps a flash from heaven that so descended,
Whose deadly stroke left me with powers ended,
And all the world, so bright before, o'erclouded;
And yet p'raps not! Exhausted is the fuel;
And on the hearth the cold is fiercely cruel.

(English Version by John P. Jackson.)

ARIA, "Farewell Ye Hills," from "Joan of Arc,"

God's will be done!

MISS MULFORD

TSCHAIKOWSKY

Joan must yield obedience to the heavenly mandate!
Yet why this fear arising in my breast,

That breaks my heart and fills my soul with anguish?
Farewell ye hills, and all ye fertile valleys,

Ye lovely peaceful plains, a long farewell.
Joan no more among your shades will linger,

The hour has come, the hour for her to say,
Farewell!

Ye meadows fair, ye trees which I have cherished,
Ah! when I am gone, your flowers will open still!
My grotto cool, my brooklet swiftly flowing,
From you I pass, I never more may see you;
Joan departs, her life with you is ended.

Ye quiet scenes where peaceful pleasures blended,
No more shall I your pleasant ways behold,
My scattered flocks will wander undefended:
The shepherdess is driv'n to leave her fold.
For other flocks must now by her be tended,
When murd'rous war's tremendous plains unfold.
'Tis thus the voice of God to me hath spoken,
No low ambition tempts me by her token.
Madonna! To thee my heart is wholly open,
'Tis filled with sorrow, it throbs with anguish.
Farewell forever more!

PAUL JUON

SUITE, for String Orchestra, Op. 16,

BALLADE: SLUMBER SONG; INTERMEZZO; ELEGIE: DANCE.

"Esclarmonde" was produced in 1889. It is a fairy opera, and, like all the works of that genre, rises in its action above all mundane restrictions, and utterly disregards the dramatic unities.

Dragoons, Smugglers, Cigarette girls, Street boys, etc.,

ALBERT A. STANLEY, Conductor.

CHORAL UNION

GEORGES ALEXANDRE CESAR LEOPOLD BIZET

Born in Paris, October 25, 1838; died at Bougival, June 3, 1875.

The scene of Carmen, the one successful dramatic work of the composer, who was one of the first French composers to discover power in fields other than the dramatic, is laid in Spain. It has no positive ethical virtues—indeed, the leading character, the flippant, careless, heartless Carmencita is the negation of all that we hold dear,—but it has a distinct musical quality of its own, and has become a great favorite, especially with those who do not probe the sources of their enjoyment. The plot revolves around two leading characters, one of whom, by her cruelty and flippancy, forfeits our sympathy; the other, possessing all the dash and bravado of the typical toreador, but no distinct characteristics other than a willingness to accept the intense adoration paid to brawn and athletic skill at all times and in all countries, arouses but passing admiration. The real heart of the plot is bound up in Don José and the faithful and pure Micaela. The first, fickle in love and blinded by the allurements of Carmencita, casts to one side his honor, and later, in a fit of jealous rage, kills Carmen and makes away with himself; the second, attempts to hold her lover by revealing the strength of her love, and by sacrifice of self. Bizet showed himself possessed of true artistic intuition by giving to these characters the most beautiful music in his score, while to Carmen and Escamillo he gave music captivating through its pictorial quality, but appealing to the sensibilities through musical means no higher than the motives actuating the actions of these dramatic personages. There is a peculiar charm to the