May Festival Of The University Of Michigan PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: ...due to his genius as a composer? In truth, he has been thought of merely as the marvelous pianist, the composer of the Rhapsodies; and attention has long been diverted from his veritable genius. None the less, this latter manifests itself with peculiar lustre in his Faust symphony, the symphonic poems (a form whose creator he was), the masses, psalms, motets, oratorios and, finally, the organ-works. Among these last, the Fantasia and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos ad salutarem undam' is by far the most important. Saint-Saens declares it to be "the most extraordinary piece ever written for the organ." This prodigious work is of vast proportions; its duration is nearly half an hour, and yet the interest does not flag for a moment. Decorative splendor, robust architecture, passionate lyricism, profound meditation--everything combines to make this work a marvel of art and inspiration. The theme is an ancient chorale that Meyerbeer employs in the scene of the Anabaptists (le Prophdte). It reappears continually under the most various aspects and in rhythmic transformations which lend themselves, now to most emphatically energetic expressions, and again to the most mystic tenderness. Liszt was really the precursor of Wagner and Franck. Gotterdammerung, and the Symphony in D minor, are clearly heralded in this Fantasia and Fugue. III. (a) NOEL LANGUEDOCIEN, . Alexandre Guilmant (i837-i9") (Old French Carol.) (b) CORTEGE.... Claude Achille Debussey (i862-i9i8) No composer or the organ in recent times has contributed so much to the enrichment of its literature, along lines that combine the best in the old ideals with the most significant features of the modern point of view, as Alexandre Guilmant. His work as teacher was as...