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In the garden of my heart sings a new joy; All trembles, all rejoices at my triumph; Around me all is laughter, light and joy, And I tremble deliciously in the memory of my first day of love. Such wondrous life! Ah! I am joyful, too joyful, And I tremble deliciously in the memory Of my first day of love. HORA NOVISSIMA (Op. 30) . . . Horatio W. Parker T HE ancient rhythm of Bernard, a monk in the Abbey of Cluny, was a favorite with the composer’s father, and to him the work is dedicated. In it Professor Parker had a clear field, no one having before attempted to set the ancient poem to music because of the extreme difficulties of the meter. He has done it with a skill which excites only enthusiastic praise from all hearers, and critics at home and abroad unite in admiration of its harmony and the luxury and wealth of its melody. The opening chorus “ Hora novissima ” is of broad outline and melodic interest. A quartet, “Hic breve vivitur,” and a bass solo (in D minor) follow, which have some curious rhythmic devices. Then comes the grand chorus “ Pars mea, Rex meus.” The soprano solo “ O bona patria ” is of a tuneful character and precedes a quartet and chorus, “ Tu sine littore,” which brings the first part to a joyous termination. Part two opens with a tenor solo, “ Urbs Syon aurea,” (Jerusalem the golden,) to which succeeds a double chorus of remarkable vigor and constructive skill. The contralto solo, “Gens duce splendida” is perhaps the gern of the work. An archaic element in the oratorio is provided by the a capella chorus (in C) “Urbs Syon unica,” in which the strict church style is happily seasoned with modern tonality. In the concluding movement “ Urbs Syon inclyta ” (quartet and chorus) the various themes are gathered up and welded with admirable technical development. The PoEm.—In the year 1145 the celebrated Abbey of Cluny was the home of a monk Bernard, supposed to have been born in Moriaix, Bretagne, but of English parents. The dates of his birth and death are unknown and the place of birth somewhat uncertain. He was renowned for his Latin verse. The whole poem con- sists of about 3000 lines and is extremely rare, no copy of the complete work being in this country so far as known. The dactylic hexameter meter in which it is written, together with the complicated scheme of rhyming, make it an extremely difficult composition, even in the Latin, which is so much better adapted than the English to the dactylic meter. The author himself asserted that it was only through divine inspiration that he dared to attempt the work. While the greater part of the poem is a satire, it opens with a beautiful description of the home of the blessed, and this part has been made familiär to English readers by the translation of the Rev. John Mason Neale, D. D., a learned English clergyman, under the title “The Celes- tial Country.” The libretto follows Dr. Neal’s translation of the parts of the poem which Professor Parker has set to music. These constitute about 70 lines out of something over 100 which Dr. Neale translated as “ The Celestial Country.” Many of them will be instantly recognized as parts of familiär hymns, though we may be surprised to learn that their inspiration dates back more than 750 years.
