Life, 1913-10-09 · page 7 of 44
Life — October 9, 1913 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines two distinct items: **Top section ("Life's Dictionary of Musical Terms"):** A humorous guide defining operatic and musical terminology. The cartoon above shows a devilish figure conducting marionettes performing various operatic actions, illustrating the sometimes ridiculous nature of opera performances. **Bottom section ("An Obviously Good Suggestion"):** A brief satirical dialogue between characters named Bingeleow and Carraway discussing a project to turn Greenland into a garden. Carraway jokes it would be better to clean up Fourteenth Street in Manhattan instead—a sardonic comment on urban neglect and misplaced priorities. The accompanying illustration shows a dirty street scene labeled "BREAKERS AHEAD." The overall message mocks both artistic pretension and urban planning failures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life’s Dictionary of Musical Terms RIA: A title given to a part of an opera to indicate that the singer expects the action to be interrupted by applause at the conclusion. Bravo: The pass-word of the professional claqueur. Bravura: The pyrotechnic style of those virtuosos who habitually exceed the speed limit. Cadenza: A capsule of compressed technique inserted by a soloist whenever the composer’s music becomes danger- ously easy or intelligible. Conductor: An automaton which, if properly wound up, keeps time to the playing of an orchestra. Enéore: A French abbreviation of the Yiddish phrase, “Once more yet again already,” much used by patrons of music who insist on getting their money's worth. Opera; An expensive form of entertainment provided as a background to a sh social display. Oratorio: An old-fashioned relic of the days when the Bible was taken seriously and music was innocently be- lieved to be a combination of melody, harmony and rhythm. Motif: The tag with which Wagner labels his musical ideas. By learning the names of the motifs one can talk intelligently about any of the operas. Recitative: A barking utterance of unintelligible words, used by operatic composers to save the trouble of writing real melodies. An Obviously Good Suggestion ‘I SEE here in this paper that there is a project on foot,” said Bingleton, “to turn the Gulf Stream aside in such a way as to turn Greenland into a veritable garden spot.” “Oh, what's the use of that?” said Carraway. “How much better it would be if they'd only turn it down Four- teenth Street and wash Tammany clean!” BREAKERS AHEAD comicbooks.com