File:Paul Gilson.jpg

Identifier: moderncomposerso00elso (find matches)
Title: Modern composers of Europe : being an account of the most recent musical progress in the various European nations, with some notes on their history, and critical and biographical sketches of the contemporary musical leaders in each country
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors: Elson, Arthur, 1873-1940
Subjects: Composers
Publisher: Boston : L.C. Page
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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Text Appearing Before Image:
tasie on the melodies of Canada, another
on those of Ireland, half a dozen suites, the sym-
phonic sketches entitled " La Mer, " the " Bucolics, "
after Virgil, three scherzi, a festival march, a fan-
fare march, and many shorter pieces. His choral
works include an Inaugural Cantata, a cantata for
the fiftieth anniversary of the Belgian telegraph,
the oratorio " Moses, " the dramatic oratorio "
Francesca da Rimini, " and several sets of a
capella works. He has also made some interesting
excursions into the field of declamation with or-
chestra, such as " Le Feu du Ciel " (Hugo),
" Christine " (Leconte de Lisle), and the Japanese
fable " Satsuki. "His operas include é Les Pauvres
Gens, " " Frinses Zonnenschijn, " " Les A ventu-
rers, " and " Le Demon, " as well as incidental
music to the dramas " Alvar " and " Liefdeblaem. "
Of these many works the one best known in
America is " La Mer, " which has been given sev-
eral times in symphony concerts. It was suggested
by a poem of Ed. Levis, which is frequently read
before the performance. The first movement gives
Text Appearing After Image:

PAUL GILSON.

THE NETHERLANDS
189

an excellent picture of sunrise at sea, with all the
many-coloured splendours of the dawn. Then fol-
lows some rollicking sailors' music, in which their
lively songs and dances are suggested with due
animation. The third movement portrays a love-
scene between the sailor and his sweetheart, idyllic
at first, but ending in sadness as he must embark
and she gives way to fear of the treacherous ocean.
The finale depicts the tempest, and the sailors
choruses are introduced in mocking irony as the
ship goes down. Through it all runs a vein of
poetic fancy, exquisitely suggesting the beauty and
mystery of the sea.
Francesca da Rimini is another powerful
work. It opens in the realm of shades, where the
guilty lovers find themselves after death. They are
brought before the judge Minos, and Paolo tells
their story. The demons cry for vengeance on the
couple, and Paolo* tries to save Francesca, but they
are condemned. The next scene shows them, as
pictured by Dante, floating about on the whirlwinds
in the second circle of the infernal regions.

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