ably _Brunhilde_ and _Isolde_. Her repertoire included forty
roles in all, and the demand for her appearance at festivals here and
abroad became more and more insistent. She sang at the Metropolitan
Opera House in New York until 1917, when the notoriety caused by the
activities of her husband, Captain Hans Tauscher, American agent for
large German weapon manufacturers, forced her to resign. Mme. Gadski
made a close study of the Schumann Songs for years; and the following
can not fail to be of artistic assistance to the singer.

THE MASTER SONGS OF ROBERT SCHUMANN

MME. JOHANNA GADSKI

ROBERT SCHUMANN'S LYRIC GIFT

One cannot delve very far into the works of Schumann without discovering
that his gifts are peculiarly lyric. His melodic fecundity is all the
more remarkable because of his strong originality. Even in many of his
piano pieces, such as _Warum?_, _Traeumerei_ or the famous _Slumber
Song_, the lyric character is evident. Beautiful melodies which seem to
lend themselves to the peculiar requirements of vocal music crop up
every now and then in all his works. This is by no means the case with
many of the other great masters. In some of Beethoven's songs, for
instance, one can never lose sight of the fact that they are
instrumental pieces. It was Schumann's particular privilege to be gifted
with the acute sense of proportion which enabled him to estimate just
what kind of an accompaniment a melody should have. Naturally some of
his songs stand out far above others; and in these the music lover and
vocal student will notice that there is usually a beautiful artistic
balance between the accompaniment and the melody.

Another characteristic is the sense of propriety with which Schumann
connected his melodies with the thought of the poems he employed. This
is doubtless due to the extensive literary training he himself enjoyed.
It was impossible for a man of Schumann's life experience to apply an
inappropriate melody to any given poem. With some song writers, this is
by no means the case. The music of one song would fit almost any other
set of words having the same poetic metre. Schumann was continually
seeking after a distinctive atmosphere, and this it is which gives many
of his works their lasting charm.

THE INTIMATE AND DELICATE CHARACTER OF SCHUMANN SONGS

Most of the greater Schumann songs are of a deliciously ultimate and
delicate character. By this no one should infer that they are weak or
spin