One method of treatment is admitted and
another is not and it is extremely difficult to tell what is what.
I am now going to do a little special pleading for my _Henri VIII_,
which, it would seem, is not in the proper manner. Not that I want to
defend the music or to protest against the criticisms it has inspired,
for that is not done. But I may, perhaps, be permitted to speak of the
piece itself and to tell how the music was adapted to it.
According to the critics it would seem that the whole of _Henri VIII_ is
superficial and without depth, _en facade_; that the souls of the
characters are not revealed, and that the King, at first all sugary
sweetness, suddenly becomes a monster without any preparation for, or
explanation of, the change.
In this connection let us consider _Boris Godounof_, for there is a
historical drama suited to its music. I saw _Boris Godounof_ with
considerable interest. I heard pleasant and impressive passages, and
others less so. In one scene I saw an insignificant friar who suddenly
becomes the Emperor in the next scene. One entire act is made up of
processions, the ringing of bells, popular songs, and dazzling costumes.
In another scene a nurse tells pretty stories to the children in her
charge.
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