A telegram read at the funeral services in the Metropolitan
Opera House, New York City, March 31, 1898.
IN the noon and zenith of his career, in the flush and glory of success,
Anton Seidl, the greatest orchestral leader of all time, the perfect
interpreter of Wagner, of all his subtlety and sympathy, his heroism and
grandeur, his intensity and limitless passion, his wondrous harmonies
that tell of all there is in life, and touch the longings and the hopes
of every heart, has passed from the shores of sound to the realm of
silence, borne by the mysterious and resistless tide that ever ebbs but
never flows.
All moods were his. Delicate as the perfume of the first violet, wild as
the storm, he knew the music of all sounds, from the rustle of leaves,
the whisper of hidden springs, to the voices of the sea.
He was the master of music, from the rhythmical strains of irresponsible
joy to the sob of the funeral march.
He stood like a king with his sceptre in his hand, and we knew that
every tone and harmony were in his brain, every passion in his breast,
and yet his sculptured face was as calm, as serene as perfect art. He
mingled his soul with the music and gave his heart to the enchanted air.
He appeared to have no limitations, no walls, no chains. He seemed to
follow the pathway of desire, and the marvelous melodies, the sublime
harmonies, were as free as eagles above the clouds with outstretched
wings.
He educated, refined, and gave unspeakable joy to many thousands of his
fellow-men. He added to the grace and glory of life. He spoke a language
deeper, more poetic than words--the language of the perfect, the
language of love and death.
But he is voiceless now; a fountain of harmony has ceased. Its inspired
strains have died away in night, and all its murmuring melodies are
strangely still.
We will mourn for him, we will honor him, not in words, but in the
language that he used.
Anton Seidl is dead. Play the great funeral march. Envelop him in music.
Let its wailing waves cover him. Let its wild and mournful winds sigh
and moan above him. Give his face to its kisses and its tears.
Play the great funeral march, music as profound as death. That will
express our sorrow--that will voice our love, our hope, and that will
tell of the life, the triumph, the genius, the death of Anton Seidl.