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A DRAMATIC CRITIC Handel and Haydn Society. The former of the numbers named was, in her mouth, a piece of idyllic religious poetry, the Pastoral Symphony of the oratorio, in- formed with a soul, and uttered, as it were, through the voices of rapt men and jubi- lant angels. The latter was the only utter- ance of the centuries' great Song of Faith to which I had, or have, ever listened with entire satisfaction. Then, for the first time, I heard the spirit's assurance of immor- tality breathed from its depths, not argued with its lips. Here and there, as in the words " Yet in my flesh shall I see God " and " Now is Christ risen from the dead," the singer, as if overborne by a sudden ecstatic vision, broke forth with vehe- ment intensity; but for the most part the words were sung as by a soul communing with the Almighty, not as by a man de- fending a doctrine against men. So, the customary conventional exaggeration of emphasis upon the " I hnoiv " was dis- [ 174 ]
MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES carded, and the stress was thrown upon " liveth," which, by some swift alchemy of tone or accentuation, was charged with the fullness of the soul's conviction ; while, in the closing passages of the air, the words " the first fruits of them that sleep " as- cended like the breath of one who longed to be with those that rest in the hope of a joyful resurrection. Time is most relentless in effacing re- membrance of the work of public readers. Let a strong word, then, be said for Levi Thaxter, who read the poems of Robert Browning in a fashion beside which all other attempts in that kind were, and yet are, prosaic, small, and faint. He was not a professional elocutionist, and his efforts were not deformed by mechanical artifice; his voice was sweet, pure, and of extraor- dinary depth and reach, and his enuncia- tion and pronunciation were elegantly fault- less. The source of his peculiar power was in his full sympathy with poet and poem, [ 175 ]
- Page 149 and 150: CHARLES FECHTER internal discords,
- Page 151 and 152: THERE is XV Edwin Booth no occasion
- Page 155 and 156: EDWIN BOOTH A famous nomen I called
- Page 157 and 158: EDWIN BOOTH creations, because of t
- Page 159 and 160: EDWIN BOOTH ated with his name. Tha
- Page 161 and 162: EDWIN BOOTH gance and distinction o
- Page 163 and 164: EDWIN BOOTH thus to distinguish the
- Page 167 and 168: TOMMASO SALVINI combination tolerab
- Page 169 and 170: TOMMASO SALVINI the past fifty year
- Page 171 and 172: TOMMASO SALVINI ing Shakespeare and
- Page 173 and 174: TOMMASO SALVINI of rare delicacy be
- Page 175 and 176: TOMMASO SALVINI interpretation of K
- Page 177 and 178: TOMMASO SALVINI Every phase of the
- Page 179 and 180: TOMMASO SALVINI and sobbing; strong
- Page 181 and 182: TOMMASO SALVINI fresh and unconvent
- Page 183 and 184: XVII Adelaide Neilson NO player in
- Page 187 and 188: ADELAIDE NEILSON failing health, sh
- Page 189 and 190: ADELAIDE NEILSON to be much remembe
- Page 191 and 192: ADELAIDE NEILSON ing interview with
- Page 193 and 194: ADELAIDE NEILSON " False to his bed
- Page 195 and 196: ADELAIDE NEILSON remember the beaut
- Page 197 and 198: ADELAIDE NEILSON belongs, and at th
- Page 199: XVIII Memorable Experiences of Sing
- Page 203 and 204: MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES mon touch as
- Page 205 and 206: MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES worked less s
- Page 207 and 208: MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES under the nam
- Page 209 and 210: MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES George P. Lat
- Page 211 and 212: XIX An American Theatre Privately E
- Page 213 and 214: AN ENDOWED THEATRE and let the expe
- Page 215 and 216: AN ENDOWED THEATRE for histrionic s
- Page 217 and 218: AN ENDOWED THEATRE direction. I saw
- Page 219 and 220: AN ENDOWED THEATRE will not always
- Page 223 and 224: HENRY IRVING against any lively dis
- Page 225 and 226: HENRY IRVING greatest actor of his
- Page 227 and 228: HENRY IRVING at least to reflect an
- Page 229 and 230: HENRY IRVING have said that he hope
- Page 231 and 232: HENRY IRVING ficial and unessential
- Page 233 and 234: HENRY IRVING the subject of wonder
- Page 235 and 236: HENRY IRVING face is found to be si
- Page 237 and 238: HENRY IRVING grip which he at once
- Page 239 and 240: HENRY IRVING on the stage to the la
- Page 241 and 242: HENRY IRVING superstition, which it
- Page 243 and 244: HENRY IRVING movement of the hands
- Page 245 and 246: HENRY IRVING faculty which is like
- Page 247 and 248: HENRY IRVING that madness with whic
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MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES<br />
carded, and the stress was thrown upon<br />
" liveth," which, by some swift alchemy of<br />
tone or accentuation, was charged with the<br />
fullness of the soul's conviction ; while, in<br />
the closing passages of the air, the words<br />
" the first fruits of them that sleep " as-<br />
cended like the breath of one who longed<br />
to be with those that rest in the hope of<br />
a joyful resurrection.<br />
Time is most relentless in effacing re-<br />
membrance of the work of public readers.<br />
Let a strong word, then, be said for Levi<br />
Thaxter, who read the poems of Robert<br />
Browning in a fashion beside which all<br />
other attempts in that kind were, and yet<br />
are, prosaic, small, and faint. He was not<br />
a professional elocutionist, and his efforts<br />
were not deformed by mechanical artifice;<br />
his voice was sweet, pure, and of extraor-<br />
dinary depth and reach, and his enuncia-<br />
tion and pronunciation were elegantly fault-<br />
less. The source of his peculiar power was<br />
in his full sympathy with poet and poem,<br />
[ 175 ]
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