on a foundation
built with painstaking care and consecrated artistic zeal, is of far
higher and more enduring value than the most dazzling feats of display
which lack solid, intrinsic support.

X

The Opera and Its Reformers

The evolution of the drama is intimately associated with that of music
and both are inseparably entwined with the unfolding of the spiritual
life of the human race. Man is essentially dramatic by nature, and both
history and tradition show it to have been among his earliest instincts
to express his inner emotions by action and song.

From this tendency arose the Greek religious drama. We find it in
legendary times at the altar of Dionysus, master of the resources of
vitality, in whose train followed the Muses, actual leaders and
conductors of human existence. At seed-time and harvest festivals a rude
chorus, grouped about the altar, told the story of the god's wanderings
and adventures, in simple words, accompanied by gesture, dance and
music. This expression of thought and feeling mirrored the emotions of
the worshipers, kindled the imagination, and strengthened the innate
instinct for freedom. Gradually the narrative detaching itself from the
choral parts fell to individual singers, the acting became more and more
a distinct feature of the occasion, ever increasing dramatic quality
characterized the song, and the materials were at hand for the Greek
drama so fruitful to us in its results.

Greek poetry, in its matchless beauty, may still be enjoyed by all who
have powers of literary appreciation. Of Greek music we know little
beyond the theories which form the basis for modern musical science and
the fact that it was highly esteemed. Aristotle tells us that it was an
essential element in Greek stage plays and their greatest embellishment.
Both AEschylus and Sophocles were practical musicians and composed music
for their dramas. Euripides, less musician than poet, was at least
able to have the music for his works prepared under his direction.
Indeed, words, music and scenic effect were inseparably connected in the
Greek dramas.

[Illustration: CORELLI]

The enthusiasm these aroused is indicated by the fact that travelers
from distant lands undertook perilous journeys to attend the famous
performances at Athens, often remaining in their seats twenty-four hours
before the play began in order to secure desirable places. Fully fifty
thousand spectators could be accommodated in the Len