Eily refuses to part with her 'marriage lines,'
whereupon Danny Mann, Hardress's faithful henchman, attempts to drown
her in the lake. She is saved by Myles na Coppaleen, a humble lover of
her own, who shoots Danny Mann. Eily's narrow escape has the result of
bringing Hardress to his senses. He renounces his schemes of ambition,
and makes public his marriage with Eily. Benedict's music touches a
higher level than had been reached by English opera before. He was, of
course, directly inspired by Weber, but there runs through the opera a
vein of plaintive melancholy which is all his own. The form in which
'The Lily of Killarney' is cast is now somewhat superannuated, but for
tenderness of melody and unaffected pathos, it will compare very
favourably with many more pretentious works which have succeeded it. Sir
George Macfarren (1813-1887) was a prolific writer for the stage, but of
all his works 'Robin Hood' is the only one which is still occasionally
performed. It has little of the buoyancy which the theme demands, but
there is a great deal of sound writing in the concerted music, and some
of the ballads are tuneful enough in a rather commonplace way. Edward
James Loder (1813-1865) was a good musician, and under more favourable
conditions might have produced work of permanent interest. His
best-known work is 'The Night Dancers,' an opera founded upon the legend
which has been used by the Italian composer Puccini in his 'Le Villi.
Pages:
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358