Art
£)rama
Music j
s
Edited bv
Eleanor Burtchaell — Clifford Zelirung — Emily Houston
(The following weekly features are printed in the Emerald as indicated:
Tuesday. Lemmy’s Ghost, Society: Wednesday. Art, Drama, Music: Thursday,
Poetry: Friday. World of Sports: Saturday. Library Browsings, Contributions
for aitv of these columns may be left in the Emerald Box at the circulation
desk tn the University Library, or at the Editor's office.)
at——■—«——■>—«—"—"—■—
Art? Why ask me? Listen to
Baudelaire:
What do you like best? say, enig
matical man—thy father, thy moth
er, thy sister or thy brother?
“I have neither father, nor
mother, nor sister, nor brother.”
Thy friends?
“There you use an expression, the
meaning of which till now remains
unknown to me.”
Thy country?
“I know not in what latitude it is
situated.”
Beauty?
“I would gladly love her, goddess
and immortal.”
Gold?
“I hate it, as you hate God.”
Then what do you love, extra
ordinary stranger?
“I love the clouds. . . . the
clouds that pass. . . . there. . . .
the marvelous clouds!”
And so it is with Art. . . . per
sonal.
THE CAMPUS “POT POURRI”
There is really little need for the
architecture majors to wander far
from the campus to find a multi
tude of examples to study. In fact,
like the bluebird, they may be
found right here “at home.” Have
you ever put aside your utilitarian
impression of a building and “look
ed” at it with a sense of apprecia
tion or condemnation, artistically
speaking, instead of having your
usual impression of the place? No
doubt, too many people never see
the beautiful side of things, their
minds are too prosaic, they never
pass a building without thinking of
it as the place where they keep the
horrid lizards and dead cats or the
place where it smells so funny.
The campus is surely furnished
with a pot pourri of architecture.
Have you ever thought of Deady
and Yillard, “grandpa and grand
ma” of the campus, as being of
French Renaissance type? There is
a tale connected with the queer
little roofs of the towers, which are
called Mansard after the man who
originated them. Both halls are of
the style that was so popular 50
yeaTs ago. The library I can com
pliment no further other than to
call it “just building” or pure
American box type—“it ain’t got
no style.” But just the same, I
have seen it through the trees at
times when I might have been more
complimentary. The Administration
building is of the classical, or Gre
cian type. Susan Campbell, Hen
driek’s hall and the Woman’s
building are a combination of Geor
gian and colonial type. This style
would be much more individual
were the surroundings of the kind
that would carry out the Georgian
colonial idea. The Oregon and
Commerce buildings are modern
Romanesque, as the new science
structure will be. Uniformity is
being obtained on the southwestern
corner of the campus through the
furthering of this type. McClure
hall is rather hard to classify,• es
pecially with the “Journalism box”
grafted onto its east side. I can
not say much more about it, except
that it looks outside just like it
smells inside—rather awful. The
Art building seems quite unexpected
up in the northeast corner of the
campus, its creamy-white Stucco, red
tiled roofs, and patio following the
Spanish style, being rather a coy
contrast to the grey sedateness of
the nearby halls. It is the greatest
departure in architecture on the
campus, but one remembers that the
purpose of the building calls for
“something different.”
So you see—an ensemble of this
and that. And because of the irreg
ularity of architectural style, one
finds odds and ends of interest. Of
course, even though regularity of
construction does denote greater ef
ficiency there is more attraction of
interest in the irregular. Some
thing like the boy who said that
good things weren’t interesting—
isn’t it?
I can’t lielp contrasting the cam
pus buildings which were thrown
up in half the time because of the
pressing need of room .and with
about half the amount of money
needed, with the great Liverpool
cathedral which is being built now.
Three and a half millions have been
spent so far, in completing only one
unit of the structure. There will lie
many more millions spent before
the cathedral is finished, the com
pletion of which will take many
years.
What an ideal contrast?
TOLSTOY—‘ WHAT IS ART?”
The librarian gave me a large
book the other day after T asked for
something interesting on art. Tt
was a volume about the sire of an
Encyclopedia Brittanica and mv in
stant reaction held about as much
enthusiasm as if the book had been
the Encyclopedia itself. T have a
[dislike for big books—they usually
begin to bore one after the first
half, for not many authors who
write “big books” put much more
in them than is put in smaller
books. But I was polite and took
it. Now after reading it, I shall
say it did not bore me, and it didn’t
deal with something that died after
the first half. The book was “Tol
stoy on Art,” a translation of the
Russian critic’s work by Aylmer
Maude, the English author. The
translation is handled with clear
ness and lucidity.
It is not a book of lines, curves
and colors—not done in a textbook
style that is intended to give the
reader an education, but a collec
tion of Tolstoy’s essays on art,
which are woven around some
colorful incidents of his life, and
a discussion of the work of De
Maupassant, Shakespeare and some
French, Russian and a few German
writers. The greater part of the
book is given over to the answering
of the question, “What is art?” a
part of which has been previously
published as a separate book.
« * »
I like the normality of Tolstoy.
He dislikes anomalous examples of
any kind, claiming that only the
natural can portray the highest
form. When his work “What is
Art” first came out, it was not
easily taken by the public whose
ideas are often hard to change—
even when they are wrong. It was
new—startling, caustic; it denounc
ed the critics, artists and art schools
that had been regarded as “god”
in their own world.
Tolstoy is not one of the drove
of “noveau intelligent (?)” that try
to put themselves above what they
might call the unwashed multitude
—he is easy to read, agreeable, nat
ural, unaffected and interesting.
SAINT JOAN AND
THE FLAPPER
Shaw’s “Saint Joan” will be a
most disappointing play for the in
dividual whose introduction to
Mediaeval life and spirit was made
via Cabell. To a great class of
readers the Jurgen pargon trans
ports them more completely to the
Middle Ages than would a more
deeply intelleetualized treatment of
Mediaevalism; in other words, they
like their apple pie with whipped
cream on top of it. Those, how
ever, who prefer it plain will get
more of the real spirit of the Middle
Ages out of one page of Shaw’s
play than from a complete, auto
giaplied edition of Cabell. In mod
ern and well written English the
spirit which' underlies the church
and the feudal state is most convince
ingly presented. Shaw, unlike Ca
bell, does not need to depend upon
somewhat doubtful Mediaeval
phraseology or still more doubtful
poetry to create an atmosphere.
Another disappointment awaits
the romance lover for Shaw has
given us a rationalized Maid of Or
leans. As always happens when a
traditional and conventionalized
conception of an historical charac
ter is tampered! writh—and Shaw
does tamper—the lover of the
stereotype ideal shouts in dismay.
Some Of our moderns who retain in
violate in their mental processes
the image of a pale, fervent and
somewhat emaciated Joan, and who
need the persiflage of so called
Mediaeval diction to complete their
stained glass window of the mar
tyr, accuse Shaw of making her too
modern—the epitliej. of flapper has
even been applies. Shaw’s Joan is
just a daughter of a well-to-do far
mer who breaks away from her
home in order to more completely
live her own life—to express herself
if you will. But her imagination
and vision are far ahead of the
woman who does the same thing
today, because her desire for “self
expression” is awakened in her by
voices, voices which whisper great
thoughts into her ear, while the girl
of today is only actuated by a mild
unrest. Perhaps that is one reason
why the latter becomes a stenogra
pher and the Maid of Orleans a
martyr.
The person that condemns Shaw’s
creation with the term “flapper”
is only irritated because a long
cherished picture of Joan has been
smeared and forgets that what they
proudly term the “modern woman”
might be more applicable—that is,
if they also stopped to realize that
the modern woman was essentially
the same in fifteenth century as
she is in the twentieth. The type
is only more numerous today. An
other difference lies in the fact
that Joan was a natural born leader,
or boss, as Shaw puts it. She not
only had the desire bat the ability
as well. In short, Joan was a
genius who had a right to leave the
[paternal domicile in order to Rive
the world the benefit of this some
| what rare type of spirit.
The reader who is familiar with
. Shaw will read the preface. To
those who are not—if such there be
—and who ordinarily skip prefaces,
take warning. In some respects it
is much better than the play.—Dar
: rell Larsen.
OUR “OPERA" SEASON
Harry and Robert Smith's oper-j
iettn, “The Spring Maid,” was the]
second performance given by the j
Brandon Opera company during its
short stay in Eugene. “The Spring
Maid” is the vehicle in which the
charming Mitzi sang herself to one
of her greatest successes.
Ed Andrews, as Roland, the. great
English tragedian, did the best
comedy work of the opera, with the
able assistance of George Oleson and
Chester Bright. One of his clever
est line, “You cannot give a show
without actors, though ’tis often
done,” seemed in a way applicable
to many of the lesser members of
the company.
Theo Pennington's singing voice
is excellent, but both she and Harry
Pfeil play to the gallery in true
vaudeville style. “The Spring
Maid” was very enjoyable to those
who had never seen it before and
was very much appreciated by the
rather large audience.—C. Z.
The first part of the first act of
Reginald DeKoven’s famous comic
opera took on the nature of a
chorus-girl rehearsal at some medi
ocre variety theatre. The succeed
ing acts, however, quickly gathered
the spirit of “America’s Best Loved
Opera” and carried it through to a
successful end. Two of the best
solos, the “Nut Brown Ale” and
the “Whittling Song,” although
spoiled somewhat by the volumn of
the chorus, were very pleasing and
gave Chester Bright and Carl Bun
dsehu opportunity to use their fine
voices.
Geo. “Ole” Oleson, ns Sir Guy of
Gisborne, ably assisted Ed An
drews, as the Sheriff of Notting
ham, in his nefarious designs on
the purse and persons of Maid
Marian and Robin Hood.
The Brandon Opera company’s
four performances were well attend
ed by both college and townspeople
and furnished a welcome diversion
from the usual run of movie shows.
—C. Z.
“KEMPY” IDEALLY CHOSEN
.T. G. and Elliott Nugent’s spark
ling little three act comedy to be
presented at the Ileilig theatre to
morrow night by Mask and Buskin,
is in many ways a most ideally
chosen play. For several years past,
the local chapter of the Associated
University Players have presented
their one play a season with marked
success. Last year the A. A. Milne
comedy, “The Dover Road,” gave
opportunity to graduating members
of the senior company to do some |
of tlie best work of their Univor-1
sity careers. Darrell Larsen, Kato
Pinueo, and Pare Swanson took the
loads.
“Kempy” is a play in which there
are no bits. Five of the eight char
acters can easily bo called lends,
and the other three are of the choice
character parts which a true actor
loves to play. Its vaudeville linos,
suspense, surprise, and humor, all
combine to make a comedy which
should appeal to everyone.
FOUR OPERA STORIES
After hearing the operas present
ed by the Brandon Opera company
here during the past few days, ono
is naturally interested in their his
tory, the composers, and in the his
tory of opera. The four operas pre
sented were from the work of differ
ent periods and were of different
types.
“The Bohemian Girl,” by Michael
William Balfe, was taken from a
romance by Cervantes. The words,
by Bunn, were adapted from St.
George’s ballet “The Gypsy.” The
first presentation was in 1858 as
“La Zingara,” the Italian version
of the opera. Later he added sev
eral pieces and recast the work mak
ing it into “La Bohemieunc,” the
French version. It. was produced
then in Paris in 1860, for which
Balfe was made Chevalier de la Le
gion d’llonneur by the French Em
peror of the French ami Commander
of the Order of Carlos 6 by the Re
gent of Spain.
The opera is a love story of At
line who is stolen by gypsies and
grows up with them. She is inter
restored to her father, Count Arn
heim when he recognizes her by a
scar while she is being tried for
stealing. The songs, probably too
well known to mention include “The
Heart Bowed Down,” “Come With
the Gypsy Bride,” “I Dreamt I
Dwelt in Marble Ilalls,” “When
Other Lips and Other Hearts,” “In
tlie Gypsy ’s Life You May Read,”
and others.
“The Mikado,” or “The Town of
Titipu,” was written by Arthur
Seymour Sullivan with libretto by
W. S. Gilbert who worked with Sul
livan on the greater part of his
many operas. “The Alika” appear
ed in March, 18S5, in London, and
in August of the same year in New
York. It Iras been the most popular
work of tlie two men unless “II. M.
S. Pinafore” be made an exception.
The entire opera is del igl it fully
humorous from Ko-Ko the Lord
High Kxccutioller who is a “re
tailer of state secrets at a low fig
ure,” and Katisha, whom he terms
“that old back number” to Nanki
Poo the Mikado’s son who is to be
executed one month after his mar
riage to Yum-Yum, and Yum-Yum
herself whose affection is consider
ably cooled after she learns that the
wife of one who is executed must
be buried alive. The songs include
only one of Japanese /color, the
march chorus in the second act,
“Aliva Sama, Aliya Sama.” Others
are “You Alav Put ’Em on the List
and Titov Never Will l>o Missed.”
sung by the Lord High Executioner;
flip “TliveO Little Molds From
School Are We,” by Yum-Yu in,
Peep-Bo and Pitti-Sing; “A More
Humane Mikado Never,” which the
Mikado sings when he forgives Ko
Ko for beheading his son Nanki-Poo
though Ko-Ko still must be boiled
in oil because it is tdip law. Then
there are the old favorites, “On a
Tree by a River a Little Tomtit,”
and “The Flowers That Bloom in
the Spring, Tra-La.”
“Robin Ilood,” though employing
a purely English theme, was written
by Americans and is classed by crit
ics as the representative American
opera. The music was composed by
Reginald PeKoven and the liber- •
etto was supplied by Harry B. :
Smith. The first production, in
1890 in Chicago, proved the opera j
a success and it has since proved
one of the most popular of all light
operas.
* # *
“Of ‘The Spring Maid’ one finds
little written. It was translated
from the German “Pie Bprudelfee,”
and produced here in 191”. The
opera was written by Wilhelm and
Willner but translated by Rein
hardt and Smith and Smith.
BACK TO THE GREEK
For the history of opera one must
turn first to the old Greek tragedies
which were always produced with
choruses and even the dialogue giv
en with musical inflection. Between
ancient and modern times no traces
of the opera can bo found except
one or two comic ballad operettas.
Tn the sixteenth century an effort
was made to revive the old style
musical declamation with the re
sult that opera as it exists today
was originated. Beside the grand
operas by well known composers
the Opera Buffo or comic opera Was
developed. It has grown in popu
larity until in America it has been
more popular than the heavier oper
as. American compositions have
boon in light opera and in lighter
style still, running down into oper
oltns and musical comedies.
A FEW CLIPPINGS
Emily Bontly Pow, Id-year-old
violinist and pianist has been en
gaged two weeks with the Coliseum
theatre in Seattle. She plays Sara -
safe’s “Ziegeunerwoison” and
Saint Sacn’s “Rondo Oapriocioso”
with the violin and movements
from Beethoven and Raff Sonatas
on the piano.
* *• *
Oregon and Washington high
schools will have a music tourna
ment by radio, the second annual
tournament, on April 17 and 18. The
meeting will be held at Forest
Grove under the auspices of the
school of music at Pacific univer
sity. Competition will include glee
clubs, vocal solos, duets, trios,
quartets, and instrumental solos and
ensemble combinations.
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A Weekly Bulletin Published for House Managers by
The Table Supply Co. '' u
DO YOU LIKE MACARONI?
Macaroni is a common
food—but still it has
something about it,—
something foreign that
makes it different from
the other staples. Served
with a chili sauce it makes
a real Italian lunch. We
thihk perhaps of soihe
little back alley in Italy
where great strings of
macaroni are sold to bril
liantly dressed peasants,
—the favorite dish of a
country.
tint we get tired of just
one way of serving. Have
; i> yo ’1
you ever tried to see how
many -ways there ai'e to
vary ii ? There is macar
oni and tomato sauce,
made just a little differ*
plat with green peppers -
and topped with bread
crumbs; macaroni cut into
small pieces with melted
butter poured over it; ■ *
macaroni baked with '
cheese that bursts in boil- >
ing biibliles on the tflble.
You can’t help liking J
macaroni that tastes like
that. }
Table Supply Go.
| 104 9th St. E.
Phone 246
. ! ;r,
‘^Let’s Eat”
After the show, after study
or at the end of a dance your
first thought is the Oregana
and one of George’s fried
ham sandwiches or an egg
omelet.
Sflje GDmjatta
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