Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People by Constance D'Arcy Mackay
page 193 of 202 (95%)
page 193 of 202 (95%)
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carry great garlands of moss interwoven with pine--about two yards for
each player, so that it can be held gracefully. White stockings and sandals. Hair bound With Greek fillets of white or of silver. Symbolically these spirits represent Joy, Mystery, Peace, Dreams, Hope, Aspiration, Fulfilment, Ecstasy. MUSIC. The songs of the episodes are already indicated on pages 194 and 203. The music for the chorus of the Spirits of the Old Manse can be found in "Songs of the West," by S. Baring Gould, which is a collection of the Folk Songs of Devon and Cornwall, collected from the mouths of the people. The music of this chorus is set to the seventeenth-century folk song called "The Sweet Nightingale" ("My sweetheart, come along," etc.). The incidental music for the Hawthorne Pageant when it is given indoors should be from Edward MacDowell's "New England Idylls" Op. 62, and from his "Indian Suite." "From an Old Garden," "Midsummer," "An Indian Idyll," and "From Puritan Days" can be played between the episodes and the Dance Interlude. An orchestra or piano can add to the music of Faunch's fiddle in the Merrymount scene. The music for the procession should be very stately, and by a seventeenth-century composer, if possible. NOTES ON DIRECTING THE PAGEANT. The first verse of the chorus of the Spirits of the Old Manse should be sung off stage in the indoor production. The stage should be darkened: footlights low. With the next verse the spirits enter, four from right, and four from left, mystic, half-seen figures. As they enter the lights gradually begin to come up, until with the middle of the second verse there is full strong daylight. If the eight voices are not enough a hidden augmented chorus can be behind the scenes. If the stage is such that it can be darkened and lighted at will, a fire-glow effect should be given for the |
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