eudentriebe
soll tragen herbe Frucht!
Gesegnet ist die Stunde,
sprach sie mit suessem Munde,
mir ist kein Leid geschehn
den Himmel fuehl' ich stehn
in meines Herzens Grunde.

That hour with curse be fraught,
In which thy heart I sought,
If I, in love bestowing,
Instead of gladness knowing,
A bitter grief have bought:
"My soul that hour e'er blesses,"
A rosy mouth confesses,
"Thy love is all I crave,
Then heav'n itself I have
Within my heart's recesses."

Copyright, 1892, by Friedrich Luckhardt, Berlin.

By permission of Luckhardt & Belder, New York.

FRAGMENT OF MR. VAN DER STUCKEN'S "DIE STUNDE SEI GESEGNET."]

Of Van der Stucken's songs I have seen two groups, the first a setting
of five love lyrics by Rueckert. None of these are over two pages long,
except the last. They are written in the best modern _Lied_ style, and
are quite unhackneyed. It is always the unexpected that happens,
though this unexpected thing almost always proves to be a right thing.
Without any sense of strain or bombast he reaches superb climaxes;
without eccentricity he is individual; and his songs are truly
interpreters of the words they express. Of these five, "Wann die Rosen
aufgeblueht" is a wonderfully fine and fiery work; "Die Stunde sei
gesegnet" has one of the most beautiful endings imaginable; "Mir ist,
nun ich die habe" has a deep significance in much simplicity, and its
ending, by breaking the rule against consecutive octaves, attains, as
rule-breakings have an unpleasant habit of doing, an excellent effect.
"Liebste, nur dich seh'n" is a passionate lyric; and "Wenn die
Voeglein sich gepaart" is florid and trilly, but legitimately so; it
should find much concert use. These songs, indeed, are all more than
melodies; they are expressions.

Of the second group of eight songs for low voice, "O Jugendlust" is
athrill with young ecstasy; "Einsame Thraene" has superb coloring, all
sombre, and a tremendous climax; "Seeligkeit" is big with emotion and
ravishing in harmony, "Ein Schaeferlied" is exquisite, "Von schoen
Sicilien war mein Traum" begins in the style of Lassen, but ends with
a strength and vigor far beyond that tender melodist. Besides these
groups, there is a rich lyric "Moonlight;" and there are many part
songs.

A work of considerable importance written many years before and
presented by Franz Liszt at Weimar had its first American production
in 1899