Transcriber's Note
The book does not contain a Table of Contents.One is provided for the convenience of the reader.
THE OPERATIC PROBLEM
By
W. JOHNSON GALLOWAY, M.P.
London
John Long
6 Chandos Street, Strand
1902
Contents
| The Operatic Problem | 7 |
| Italy | 19 |
| Germany | 27 |
| France | 35 |
| The English National Opera House | 47 |
| Opera for the People | 66 |
Preface
Last autumn, having to speak at an organ recital given by my friend MrClegg, I took the opportunity of giving what encouragement lay in mypower, to the Corporation of my native town, in an endeavour they hadmade during the summer months to provide suitable music in the variousparks throughout the city. To my great surprise that speech was quotedin journals, of all shades of opinion, in the country, and brought mealso a vast correspondence.
A copy of the speech will be found at the end of this book.
As I have long desired that Opera should be placed within the reach ofthose, whose purses are not able to bear the strain of the high pricescharged in England, and having some leisure before Parliament met thisyear, I made inquiries regarding the various systems of running Opera onthe Continent of Europe. I obtained a vast mass of most interestinginformation. How to make the best use of that information was my[Pg 4]difficulty. It was much too bulky to compress into the narrow limits ofa magazine article, and besides, much of it had no peculiar interest forus in this country.
My chief desire was to put it before the public in a form that wouldarouse interest in the subject. Also, I realised that this information,however valuable, was like the desert, in its unwieldy form, and withoutany attempt to outline the conclusion to which it led. So after muchtrepidation of thought I determined to run the gauntlet and march rightup to the cannon's mouth with a scheme of my own for the establishmentof a system for National Opera in this country.
This little book is the result of my efforts, and though I do notpretend that it offers a complete solution of the question, still lessthat it gives a coup de grâce to the schemes of those who have troddenthe same path before me, I do hope it may help to call into existencesome plan for the foundation of Opera upon a popular basis.
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